whew!

I had a BUSY, but wonderful week! Here is a recap since I last posted:

Thursday:
I had no substitute work, so I was able to get a lot of cleaning and errands done! I spent a lot of time resting, dyed my hair by myself (first time without mom!), and then spent a great evening with the girls.

Friday:
Halloween! I subbed for middle school Social Studies & P.E., and saw the craziest costumes. Who knew Dorothy and Strawberry Shortcake could be SO scandalous on a 13 year old. It was very disturbing. What happened to the days where middle schoolers would dress in innocent costumes?

After returning from work, Lena and I had Golden Spoon for dinner (their pumpkin frozen yogurt is so delicious!), then headed to Hollywood to pick up Nicol and go to a concert on Sunset Blvd. at the Roxy. We saw Ingram Hill, and they were great in concert! After the concert, we battled traffic and the hundreds of people that were on Santa Monica Blvd for Halloween. They close off the street and have a huge block party, it was a crazy experience trying to drive through the swarms of people. We got back pretty late, and Colleen came over to spend the night, so we could go to the beach the next day! :)

Saturday:
Woke up from the sound of Sarah calling, to go running/rollerblading at the beach! We left my house at 5:15, drove to Laguna. When we got to Laguna, we realized there was no beach boardwalk, so we got back in the car and drove to Huntington. We had a great time with Colleen & Sarah running, and me on the blades. After working out, we sat on the beach and at the muffins I made, and watched a fishing context, and surfers. We were chatting about how blessed we were to have that experience, how God has blessed our friendships and how He has brought us together, and then BAM, we were hit by a wave! We had no time to react, and we were soaked! It ruined the muffins :(, gave us wet bottoms, but we laughed and had a good time with it! Bonding moments like that is what makes life fun :)

I got back from the beach, took a long nap, and just relaxed the rest of the day! I felt blessed to have some down time before a busy week!

Before the waves...

After the waves...

Sunday:
I've been meeting with Sarah before church to go through Life in Christ, the core values and conversations for becoming part of the Mosaic volunteer staff. I love this time together before church, I've been so blessed. I've also started greeting at Mosaic, and its been fun to meet many people. At church we've been going through Erwin McManus' new book, Wide Awake, and its a great sermon series. After church, I had a She Serves ladies lunchin, then left quickly to go to a Benefit Concert at Pepperdine University in Malibu.

Lena, Danny, Colleen & I went to the Benefit Concert. The Pepperdine campus is gorgeous, right on the beach. It was an all afternoon event, that was sponsored by Invisible Children, Lifebread, Nightlight, UNICEF, World Vision, and more. They had vendors from TOMS, Ethos water, and clothing from the fashion show. Some students from Pepperdine modeled the different lines of fair trade clothing, and Armani even had a line there! They also had a speaker on Human Trafficing, giving information about the sex trade and slavery here and abroad. It was interesting to hear more about trafficing, its an issue I am very passionate about. Its estimated as many as 1.2 million children are trafficked each year across the globe, yet it falls under the radar for many many Americans. They also had a refugee from Sudan speak about escaping and surviving the conflict in Southern Sudan. After the speakers, they had some student musicians, and Justin McRoberts and Matt Wertz performed. The concert was very good, it was so fun to see Matt Wertz finally! Listening to Sweetness in Starlight under the stars....Amazing! After the fashion show/concert, we went to Hollywood to get the famous Pink's hotdogs! Fun experience, even though I'm not a big fan of hotdogs!

Armani's Fair Trade Line

Danny & Colleen

Matt Wertz

Lena at Pinks

Monday:
I subbed 7th/8th P.E. You can call me Coach now. :)

Tuesday:
Disneyland Day! After subbing 2nd & 4th grade classes, Danny & Colleen picked me up, and we headed to Disneyland where we met Lena, Christie, Scot, Sarah, and Nathan! I was so excited for Disney Day, and it was a blast. We went to California Adventure first, then headed over to Disney. I turn into a different person at Disney.....there is so much joy at that place :). Its fun to act like a child, and get excited to go on the Peter Pan ride. Our last ride of the night was Space Mountain, my favorite. When we were walking to the exit, I realized I lost my cell phone, it was in my pocket, and was no longer there! Sarah & Scot helped me out so much, we ran to the desserted ride, asked around, went to the Disney City Hall, the Lost & Found, filed a report, and left. I was so upset, and thought my phone was lost forever, since it most likely fell out of my pocket on the ride. I thought for sure it had shattered, and was upset I was so careless. I decided to call the phone, and Disney personel answered! SO AMAZING! I arranged to pick it up the next day. I have to say, way to go Disney Lost & Found :).

Wednesday:
I subbed a 4th grade class half day, and a 2nd grade class, picked up my phone, then had a night of coffee and conversation with the Mosaic She ladies. I'm so blessed by this community.

Thursday:
Subbed for 5th graders, made carrot/raisin/chocolate chip cupcakes, then headed over to Kat's to make Stamp It Up cards! It was so much fun making the cards with Priscilla, Sarah, Lena & Kat. We made 10 Holiday cards, and I loved every minute of it with these ladies.

Friday:
Subbed Jr. High ELD classes, then Kindgergarten. What a random day, the change between 13-14 year olds & 5 year olds was tough! After subbing I had the most wonderful Spa experience at Aveda. A couple months ago I recieved a 50% off card from Aveda, and decided to use it on Friday for a haircut. My new stylist, Monica, spent 2 hours with me! Gave me a head & neck massage, an arm & hand massage, a great cut, and great conversation! I was so relaxed when finished, went home, watched a movie, and was in bed by 9:30. It was the life :)

Saturday:
I had subbing training from 8-1, and it was such a wonderful training! Usually those aren't very good, but this one was so helpful and applicable. I was able to talk to other subs in the district, share ideas and frustrations. They even gave us a couple nice resource books. After training, I went home and Sarah & Scot picked me up for the Mosaic LA Film Fest at the Silent Theater in Hollywood. It was such a fun experience seeing short films, they each brought out such different emotions. I was amazed at the talent of people. Cress Williams from Greys, E.R. & Prison Break was there as a judge, along with other producers/writers/directors. After the film fest, we found a little Mediterranean restaurant and enjoyed some apetizers!

Scot & Sarah Burbank

Today:
Church & rest!

This week was very busy, but I loved every minute of it! I have to say once again how blessed I am by my roommates, the Mosaic community, and my employment as a substitute teacher. God is good :)