This is going to become my "creative" blog... maybe? If you happen to be reading this, wow! Luke and I (and Baby Bro) have a family blog as well - http://brochateau.wordpress.com.

My friend Jesse has started a card club...and I get to be part of it...helping me achieve some of my "goals" in the last year of my 20s... There are 4 of us participating. Each month, we send at least one blank card that we have created to each of the others. I went with a Thanksgiving-ish theme for this month. Some months I assume that mine will look similar to each other. This month, they each took a slightly different direction. Each card has a front panel that slides off, leaving a blank panel for messages.

what we've been up to since moving to the west coast

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2 Months!

So, we've lived in CA for almost 2 months! We still have our SC phone numbers but other than that, our "things" have been switched to CA. Here is a quick photo update which really only provides a small glimpse of things...we've been busy!

My friend Kari and I took advantage of a free train ride into the city. Our plan was to go for brunch...alas, the place we were planning on eating had been closed (just for a few days) for remodeling.... There weren't a lot of other options so...we ended up at Panera...
I met Kari at the beginning of our time here. She had just moved out from Tennessee. We enjoyed having extra time to hang out while not having jobs. (We are both now employed)

A highlight of our time here thus far has been "jam nights"! A wonderful family in our church has hosted us and several other musicians for dinner and music on a couple of Friday nights. This is something that we would love to do if we had the space - We're SO thankful for the opportunity and space provided. Luke has compiled/invited a different group both times and it is fun to watch (and listen to) the variety of talents!

A few weeks ago we made it to the coast (Montara Beach) with a couple of Luke's cousins and their kids! One family lives only about 20 minutes from us and the other was in from Reno for the weekend! We had a lot of fun! Neither of us have lived this close to any of our first cousins before.

We have a piano! I accidentally found a great free piano on craigslist...and it is now in our living room...determining where all of the other furniture goes! We're excited! It is a good piano that just needs a little touch up work. The guy giving it to us even loaded it up and delivered it. Some friends helped unload it...causing a tiny traffic jam on the first night of the summer concert series in the park just down the street from us.

4th of July! We did a little bit of everything that day...ended by fireworks! We had parked near a movie theater so, instead of braving the traffic to get out - we went and saw "Get Smart" - it was fun! (That sounds a little like an elementary school report "it was fun") So on that note - I'll finish with a poem that I wrote in elementary school...

I like the 4th of July
It's when the fireworks fly
It makes a big, big boom
When the fireworks zoom

FIRE!!!

You may have heard that hundreds of wildfires are burning in Northern California. Beyond hearing about them, we're smelling them, feeling it in our breathing, and seeing the soot that has come in from our bathroom window being open. It smells sort of like a campfire...

Here's a short write-up on the situation: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gwSSrT7-LciDlr1tYmyE9e19oX9QD91GKFNO2

A Photo Update!
Our weekend, minus a few activities, plus a few details, summed up in photos!

We've attended two MLB games since we've been out here. One A's game - versus Detroit - in a luxury box with Tyler Martin and friends (THANKS Tyler)! This past Friday evening we went to AT&T Park in San Francisco and watched the A's beat the Giants.

We were also in a luxury box at AT&T Park thanks to our friend Erin's employer! Erin's husband, Bob, works at Grace with Luke and we've enjoy spending time with them since we've been here. One added highlight of being in the luxury box was running into Kristi Yamaguchi in the hallway! I could have reached out and touched her. She was honored before the game with a Giant's jersey...for winning "Dancing with the Stars"...I think!

On Saturday, Luke and I headed back into the city. Before heading in, we met up with our friends Garth and Dan. We knew Garth from Seattle and he's now living in Los Angeles. Dan and his wife, Claire, live about 20 minutes from us. Once in San Fran, we enjoyed walking around Union Square. We had a yummy and affordable dinner at "King of Thai Noodle House" and then...

...we went to Border's to enjoy an in-store concert by Sam Philips.
This is what had taken us into SF in the first place.


On Sunday afternoon, we hiked "The Dish" with our friend Bonny. The weather was perfect! Once we got past the incredible uphill start, we really enjoyed our time. :) Bonny then treated us to Fraiche - frozen yogurt!

The Dish (it is very large!)

Blogging?

I'm not sure why I'm so hesitant to "start" blogging. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to "get going"? (Other than having a baby...? :)) I think that pictures help blogs so...that will be my next step to being a better blogger

Other items for suggestion:

• Good summer reading?
• How to handle an upstairs neighbor who is a light sleeper? Closing the lid on our toilet or opening our closet doors and walking seem to wake her up...
  

Things here in California are going pretty well! We're feeling a bit more settled, although I still don't have my clothes unpacked...

In the past week I:

• Ruined clothing at the laundromat - black pens and industrial dryers don't go well together!
• Interviewed for a job - the guy interviewing me was younger than me! It would have been a lot of hours and little pay so, i passed.
• Went to an A's game - in a luxury box! A new friend with season tickets had access and had a sort of "celebration" to welcome us. Fun stuff!
  
• Had dinner with Luke's cousin - Scott and his family live in the area and have recently welcomed a new baby!
• Connected with more people on facebook!
• And a handful of other things like starting to have people over for dinner and games!
  

I'm enjoying exploring by foot! We live withing walking distance to a couple of grocery stores (including a Trader Joe's), and about a 20 minute walk from a mall! Not having a job can get expensive! I've been trying not to let it though...

So, selling a house is not for the faint of heart! At least not selling our house across the country :). I'll spare you the details but it has gotten a little bit hairy!

This week I'm looking forward to:

• A Giants game - also in a luxury box!
  
• Lunches and breakfasts - with new friends!
• Hanging things on our walls!

Until next time....

We're in California!

Hey all...I think that I'm going to try to start blogging...?! For the time being...here is a quick update -

Luke and I just moved to California! Luke is the new worship director at Grace Presbyterian Church in Silicon Valley (Palo Alto/Stanford University area). We're living in a little apartment in Menlo Park. We arrived here a little over a week ago and our things (POD #1) were delivered yesterday...a little later than expected! We also found a car yesterday - 1996 Volvo Wagon :). So, now it is time to get settled! Luke leads worship for the first "official" Sunday tomorrow morning...got to get some sleep!

Our new mailing address is: 932 University Drive, #1, Menlo Park, CA 94025

Life in a small college town...
So, I often am amused by the "quirks" of living in a small town and figured I might as well share them...it is ok if no one reads them. (Jen, thanks for the push to update this more than once a year!) We love Clemson and Pendleton but also like to laugh about things that seem so simple but well, sometimes aren't so simple...like getting a cup of coffee at 7pm on a Wednesday evening...

Tonight, Luke and I went out to see "Bee Movie" at The Astro (more affectionately known at "The 'Stro") It is the fantastic $2 theater in Clemson. The internet said that the movie started at 7pm but when we arrived, it actually was scheduled to start at 7:30...so, what to do. Let's get coffee. Where? Jittery Joe's? OK. So, we drove to Jittery Joe's...closed!! Ah, yes - school is out so things shut down. Where now, well, after eliminating other options because they were either too far away, probably closed, or involved going to the grocery store for coffee, we ended up at Sonic (if you aren't familiar with this chain - www.sonicdrivein.com) which now that I think of it is a year old here in Clemson! We enjoyed our Carmel Mocha Lattes (the total cost for 2 was $4.77 - quite the value, don't you think!?). We enjoyed them while staring across the street at the Starbucks that is under construction...what is happening to our small town?!?! Starbucks!!! After sitting in the car for 20 minutes - listening to the new Alison Krauss and Robert Plant album - we headed back to the movie theater. And yes, the movie was cute...

A Year In Haiku
Two years in a row... doesn't that make it a tradition? Continuing the spirit of last year, here is our Year End Letter in cryptic, Japanese poetry (with a little explanation for each below):

One bathroom, now two
Entertaining multitudes
Luke est Magister

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One bathroom, now two
Finally settling into our house more, we got busy painting and painting and painting... but for the bigger jobs we needed someone with a little more knowhow! So we hired a contractor to add a second bathroom in a preexisting closet. Losing storage space, we had him add another closet as well as some shelves for a pantry. And if that wasn't enough, we had him install a new front door... whew! We are enjoying home ownership a great deal, and it's great to have things more and more how we want them to look. (more photos on the way)

Painting the bedroom

Painting the kitchen red

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Entertaining multitudes
One goal of fixing up the house was to spruce it up for the many guests that we hosted. In July, 70 people joined us to celebrate Luke's 28th birthday with Kansas City style barbecued brisket. Thankfully the weather cooperated so everyone could play in the backyard; otherwise, where would we have put that many people! For Thanksgiving, we hosted 15 for dinner, and then a few more joined in for games and dessert. In addition to these larger gatherings, we welcomed many other guests, including a monthly Young Adult Bible Study, our "adopted" students from church, and Luke's Mom and sister, Rebecca. (One side note, Luke's Dad was unfortunately not able to make the trip to South Carolina this year due to an unexpected appearance of blood clots in his lungs. He has recovered well, and the doctors will monitor his progress over the next year to decide what the next step will be. Thank you for your continued prayers.)

Blowing out the candles

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Luke est Magister (translation from Latin: Luke is a teacher)
In addition to his continued studies at Erskine Seminary, Luke took on a number of jobs this year, including teaching. He learned Latin over the summer in order to teach a class of 11 students for the local home school co-op. He also began teaching piano lessons to 7 year old twin brothers, Will and Sam. At church, he continued teaching the Young Adult Bible study, and added substitute teaching for Sunday School and preaching twice for the evening worship service. All of this in addition to his work in music at the church and at home, including transcribing music for the latest releases from Indelible Grace Music and Sandra McCracken. These added experiences help to confirm Luke's desire to work in music and teaching for the church, and help him narrow his focus as he begins to look for a job to take after graduation.

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Other highlights of the year:

• Sarah continued in the same position that she's had the last two years as an executive sales assistant at The Cliffs Communities. This job puts her in contact with many interesting people and . A highlight of the year for the company was to have Tiger Woods announce that he will be designing his first golf course in the US at one of The Cliffs Communities.
  
• We didn't travel quite as much as last year, but we did make it to Kansas City for a DeBarger family reunion over Memorial Day weekend.
• Not as many weddings this year, but the babies have begun! We became godparents to Annabelle Johnson, Nick and Jen's new arrival in Kansas City.
• A highlight of the year was to have our friends' Amy and Michael Parks moved in next door in January, and then welcomed their new baby Will over the summer.
  

Wishing you Tidings of Joy this Christmas and in the New Year!

A Year In Haiku
Instead of sending out a Year End letter, we decided to create a haiku that summarized our year in a glance. "What's a haiku" you ask? It is a Japanese poem that doesn't rhyme and has a syllable scheme of 5-7-5. Here's our haiku (with explanation of each below):

Rent is now mortgage
Busy with work, church, and school
Car mileage is high

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Rent is now mortgage
Our biggest "news" for the year - We bought a house! After a process which began and ended with calls to our landlord, and exploring a handful of options in between, we were able to purchase the rental house we have been living in since moving to South Carolina. It is a fun, old mill house, one block off of the Pendleton Town Square. We've been learning more about the art of room painting, landscaping, and "getting rid" of mice. It would be fabulous to have you come test out our guest room!

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Busy with work, church, and school.
Each week dictates which of these aspects takes up the most of our time and how much we get to see each other. Work, church, and school all overlap for Luke at times. He is now the "worship intern" at Clemson Presbyterian Church. This year he completed the church's first worship CD - for which he played, sang, recorded, and engineered. He's enjoying being part of discussion about worship, planning and leading music for the evening services, playing music in morning services or doing sound when he's not playing...the list goes on... Every once in a while we get to sit with each other for an entire service. Sarah is enjoying getting to know many people and has been blessed with the opportunity to co-lead a women's Bible study.

As for school, Luke has reached the half-way point in working toward his Masters of Divinity degree at Erskine Seminary. He is doing very well in classes (receiving an award in the spring for Hebrew) and is thoroughly enjoying all that he is learning. In the summer, he traveled to New York City to take a course on the Christian Use of Art. In the fall, he began learning Greek and preached his first sermon in class.

Just before the 2006 New Year came, Sarah took a new position within the Cliffs Communities, a group of seven "master-planned golf and wellness communities" in the mountains of the western Carolinas. She is working as a sales assistant to one of the sales executives–Ross Kester. Sarah now has her Real Estate License and is learning the art of selling. The job is fun and stretching and provides many opportunities to meet many interesting people (at least on the phone) and do interesting things (helicopter tours and a James Taylor concert were a couple of highlights.

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Car mileage is high.

After driving from Seattle to South Carolina in 2005, we never thought we'd have another year like that one for putting miles on the car. Well, we were wrong! Work for Sarah and school for Luke put a steady amount of mileage on the cars. On top of that, we had a number of road trips for weddings, vacation, and family reunions, taking us to Florida, Mississippi, upstate New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Tennessee (and all the states in between).

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That's our year in a nutshell! We hope that you and your family are doing well this Christmas season and we look forward to hearing from you soon! Leaving a comment is a great way to do it :)

what kind of a weirdo has a blog?