Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Library
I went to the Pasadena library today. In China, I dreamed of just ordinary libraries. Anything with some English books. But this library...dang. It puts to shame any other library I have been to, excepting the Library of Congress. It was like a museum of books. The library is in this massive California mission-style building with a little courtyard in the front and imposing wooden doors. The library was spread over four levels. I kept wandering into new rooms: the business room, the reference room, the fine arts room, several reading rooms. Almost a whole floor of fiction. Cases and cases of biographies. Two whole shelves of books about trains. A whole children's room big enough to be a full-sized library. I wandered around in awe like you do in a museum, gazing on the books. It was too overwhelming to decide on which one to pick up, so I just looked and breathed in the smell. Coincidentally, it is quite near to two jobs I applied for (honestly, that wasn't the reason I applied for them. not the main reason.) Convenient...
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Fires
Several people have asked if the Southern California fires are in our area. There are currently 16 fires going in the LA and San Diego area. Part of the problem has been the strong Santa Ana winds (up to 100mph) which are starting to calm. The fires have destroyed 1,500 homes and half a million people were evacuated (apparently the largest evacuation in state history). The largest fires are close to San Diego. There are a few that are to the east and west of where we are in Pasadena, but they are not very close. The sky has been a bit smoky, that's about all. You can check out this link to see a map of the fires (http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wildfires/2007-10-23-california_fires_N.htm).
When we were driving down across the mountains to move into our apartment on Monday, we passed near the San Bernardino fire. As we came down the mountain pass, clouds of smoke curled upwards and filled the sky. The sight was eerily beautiful. Down the mountain, the sky was brown. Dust flew across the road and trees bent and swayed as we drove past half a dozen overturned trucks and half a dozen firetrucks heading toward the fire. Strangely, we also past several road crews planting trees along the freeway bank. Interesting timing.
Anyway, things are okay where we are. We got moved into our apartment. I put up a few pictures (www.flickr.com/photos/ruthiemarie). At the bottom are a few pictures I took as we were coming down the mountain.
When we were driving down across the mountains to move into our apartment on Monday, we passed near the San Bernardino fire. As we came down the mountain pass, clouds of smoke curled upwards and filled the sky. The sight was eerily beautiful. Down the mountain, the sky was brown. Dust flew across the road and trees bent and swayed as we drove past half a dozen overturned trucks and half a dozen firetrucks heading toward the fire. Strangely, we also past several road crews planting trees along the freeway bank. Interesting timing.
Anyway, things are okay where we are. We got moved into our apartment. I put up a few pictures (www.flickr.com/photos/ruthiemarie). At the bottom are a few pictures I took as we were coming down the mountain.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Sadie, Sadie, Married Lady
Wow, I never write anymore. I haven't updated my blog in a month, and my last flickr photos are from China. Oh well, I have good excuses. Getting married is time consuming. It was great. I enjoyed it. I'm glad it's only going to happen once.
The past month has been pretty crazy. We flew back to Georgia about a month ago for two weeks of hurried, harried preparation. I was pretty stressed and exhausted and going crazy before the wedding, but once the actual weekend came, I felt a lot better and really enjoyed things.
It was great to see friends as they started coming into town. I got to introduce Kevin to people: "Kevin, this is one of my best friends. Meet Kevin, he's going to be my husband tomorrow." All of my sisters were home - the whole family in one place, which rarely happens. Kevin and I had three friends fly from China to come to the wedding. We are still amazed and impressed by that. Twenty something people flew in from California. I saw friends I hadn't seen since college.
The rehearsal went well. Several people commented on how organized I was, and that made the tons of planning seem worth it. Things went smoothly, and I was in a good mental frame of mind so I didn't yell at anyone or flip out or anything. In fact, I felt so calm the whole weekend. Almost stable. That was a nice change. At the rehearsal dinner, we got to introduce all the Californians to some good Southern cooking. Authentic stuff - fried green tomatoes, collard greens, chicken livers, biscuits and gravy, chicken and dumplings, cobbler.
I really enjoyed our wedding. I thought it was the best wedding I had been to, though I may be a bit partial. I was wondering if it would seem surreal or fly by, but it didn't. I very rarely feel completely "in the moment," but I did that day. The moments felt so real and full of color, and I was so happy. I enjoyed standing up there and smiling into Kevin's eyes, seeing Patti at the piano, hearing my friends retell our story and read our favorite Scriptures, and listening to Josh play and sing our song. I loved exchanging our vows and feeling the weight of what we promised. We shared communion, lit our unity candle (slightly tricky), and our parents came up to pray blessing over us. I thought it was a great wedding.
The reception is a little bit fuzzier. I'll have to ask other people who were there. We were pretty tired (and a bit dehydrated and hungry) by that point. I felt like I looked tired, although I enjoyed going around and seeing people. We got to scarf down a few bites of food (some excellent spinach dip). We didn't trip over my dress when we danced. We figured out how to cut the cake (is that supposed to be confusing?). We even sat down for a few minutes. I think we did a few other things too, before leaving in a cloud of bubbles.
The honeymoon was great. I wasn't stressed or worried about anything for a whole week. I felt like a different person. A nicer, saner person. We headed up to the Smoky Mountains where the leaves were starting to change for fall. We stayed outside of the touristy area in a little country town. It was a great southern experience even for me, and I'm from the South. Everyone was super friendly and called me "honey" and said "you'nses" and asked if we were just visiting, which should have been obvious. We ate a lot of down-home, southern food. We did a little bit of hiking and picture taking, and when we drove back through the park on our way home, the leaves were bursting with color. I think of orange and yellow and red, but I also saw magenta, lemon, peach, and some that looked just like pumpkin pie.
After a couple of days in Georgia, seeing my family, opening gifts, visiting social security, and repacking...we are back in California. And tomorrow, we are moving into our new home. We will live somewhere! We won't even fly anywhere for two whole months. We will unpack our suitcases and hide them away. Such geographic stability! After we get moved in, I will tell you all about our new apartment and show pictures. I am pretty excited about it.
So this is my life update. Quite a lot has happened since last month. I am getting worn down by all of this moving and changing and stressfulness. I am a little confused about my identity (although I guess if SS now considers me Mrs. Felt, I'm ok.). I still have to get a drivers license (after studying a 90 page driving manual!), find a job, write a bazillion thank you notes, and figure out this cooking thing. But I like being married. I like it a lot. I'm so glad that Kevin and I get to be together wherever we go. It reminds me of the words to a song Kevin sent me back in China that says, "You feel like home to me/You're where I want to be/These windows and doors just don't do it no more/You feel like home to me." I'm glad to feel at home.
The past month has been pretty crazy. We flew back to Georgia about a month ago for two weeks of hurried, harried preparation. I was pretty stressed and exhausted and going crazy before the wedding, but once the actual weekend came, I felt a lot better and really enjoyed things.
It was great to see friends as they started coming into town. I got to introduce Kevin to people: "Kevin, this is one of my best friends. Meet Kevin, he's going to be my husband tomorrow." All of my sisters were home - the whole family in one place, which rarely happens. Kevin and I had three friends fly from China to come to the wedding. We are still amazed and impressed by that. Twenty something people flew in from California. I saw friends I hadn't seen since college.
The rehearsal went well. Several people commented on how organized I was, and that made the tons of planning seem worth it. Things went smoothly, and I was in a good mental frame of mind so I didn't yell at anyone or flip out or anything. In fact, I felt so calm the whole weekend. Almost stable. That was a nice change. At the rehearsal dinner, we got to introduce all the Californians to some good Southern cooking. Authentic stuff - fried green tomatoes, collard greens, chicken livers, biscuits and gravy, chicken and dumplings, cobbler.
I really enjoyed our wedding. I thought it was the best wedding I had been to, though I may be a bit partial. I was wondering if it would seem surreal or fly by, but it didn't. I very rarely feel completely "in the moment," but I did that day. The moments felt so real and full of color, and I was so happy. I enjoyed standing up there and smiling into Kevin's eyes, seeing Patti at the piano, hearing my friends retell our story and read our favorite Scriptures, and listening to Josh play and sing our song. I loved exchanging our vows and feeling the weight of what we promised. We shared communion, lit our unity candle (slightly tricky), and our parents came up to pray blessing over us. I thought it was a great wedding.
The reception is a little bit fuzzier. I'll have to ask other people who were there. We were pretty tired (and a bit dehydrated and hungry) by that point. I felt like I looked tired, although I enjoyed going around and seeing people. We got to scarf down a few bites of food (some excellent spinach dip). We didn't trip over my dress when we danced. We figured out how to cut the cake (is that supposed to be confusing?). We even sat down for a few minutes. I think we did a few other things too, before leaving in a cloud of bubbles.
The honeymoon was great. I wasn't stressed or worried about anything for a whole week. I felt like a different person. A nicer, saner person. We headed up to the Smoky Mountains where the leaves were starting to change for fall. We stayed outside of the touristy area in a little country town. It was a great southern experience even for me, and I'm from the South. Everyone was super friendly and called me "honey" and said "you'nses" and asked if we were just visiting, which should have been obvious. We ate a lot of down-home, southern food. We did a little bit of hiking and picture taking, and when we drove back through the park on our way home, the leaves were bursting with color. I think of orange and yellow and red, but I also saw magenta, lemon, peach, and some that looked just like pumpkin pie.
After a couple of days in Georgia, seeing my family, opening gifts, visiting social security, and repacking...we are back in California. And tomorrow, we are moving into our new home. We will live somewhere! We won't even fly anywhere for two whole months. We will unpack our suitcases and hide them away. Such geographic stability! After we get moved in, I will tell you all about our new apartment and show pictures. I am pretty excited about it.
So this is my life update. Quite a lot has happened since last month. I am getting worn down by all of this moving and changing and stressfulness. I am a little confused about my identity (although I guess if SS now considers me Mrs. Felt, I'm ok.). I still have to get a drivers license (after studying a 90 page driving manual!), find a job, write a bazillion thank you notes, and figure out this cooking thing. But I like being married. I like it a lot. I'm so glad that Kevin and I get to be together wherever we go. It reminds me of the words to a song Kevin sent me back in China that says, "You feel like home to me/You're where I want to be/These windows and doors just don't do it no more/You feel like home to me." I'm glad to feel at home.
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