Merry Christmas! Jesus Lives!

(Kitty) Merry Christmas everyone! We're having a wonderful and relaxing day after a really lovely Christmas with our friend Doug and his family. I got the coolest gifts from John! One was somewhat expected - I'm going to the motorcycle safety class where they teach you to ride and you get your motorcycle license! Woo-hooo!! The other was completely out of the blue - two hours at a firing range! Woo-hooo!! We've talked about it occasionally over the years (because I was in the Marines just long enough to get an Expert badge on the range and loved it, and living in the country as a kid I did some target practice and loved that), but we've never gotten around to going to a firing range. I told John we definitely have to go do it together! I can't wait!!

Of course, we had plenty of fun opening gifts with Doug's 2-year-old nephew, and everyone gave all kinds of fun gifts to each other. But the best part was spending time with people we love who love us. We hope you had an equally blessed holiday. God did a wondrous thing when He came down here to fulfill the law that would've condemned us. The best present we could ever have - we have! Living forever with God who will love us forever! Yea!!

Whimsy and Joy

(Kitty) According to the calendar, today is the first day of winter. Someone in the bank said, "They call this the first day of Wind-er." I laughed out loud, though I'd never heard that before. Last night, the wind started and I don't think it's quit yet. I woke up four or five times last night when the wind whistled so loudly under our door that it woke me up!

But on the way to the bank, I saw a sight that filled me with whimsy and joy. In the air a block ahead of me was a flock of a hundred or more birds. But they weren't going anywhere. They swooped together one way, then took a dive together and up in another direction, back and forth and swirling around. The more I tried to figure out what they were doing, the more a crazy fun joy welled up in my chest. And that's when I decided that's what they felt! I think they were all just playing together in the wind!

I was never so glad for a nice long stop light. For whatever reason, I felt more Christmas-y at that moment than I have all week! (Except when I delivered gifts from the church yesterday. That was awesome!) Those birds stopped looking for dinner long enough to participate together in the joy of the moment. It was beautiful watching them dance in the air like that.

I pray that for you in the next week - that you stop in your preparations occasionally to participate with your friends or family or the strangers around you in moments of whimsy and joy. God loved the world so much that He came down in the form of His Son - the JOY of the world! Like glitter that sticks to everything, bits of that joy can be experienced everywhere.

Enjoy! And Merry Christmas from John and me! We love you! :)

Living a Fantasy Life

(Kitty) The other day I decided I was tired of being grumpy about the traffic in LA. I needed some way of not getting angry every 2.3 minutes. So I figured - I'm a writer, I'll just make up stories about these people. So when the black Mercedes to the left cut me off to change lanes, I decided he was a doctor on his way to deliver someone's first child. (It is Christmas, after all. A time we're remembering someone else's first child's birth.)

When the red Miata ran a red light in front of me, narrowly missing all the traffic - like me - accelerating through the green, John said he must be on the run from the mob, trying to get away to live another day.

And when the white pickup next to me kept swerving into my lane, oblivious to the fact I was taking up space there, I knew he must've recently been blessed with 20/20 vision via lasik surgery and was still trying to get used to being able to see everything.

You can call me looney tunes if you want. But my blood pressure is still resting at normal levels, even a mere ten days before Christmas. That's a fantasy I can live with.

Ya Gotta Love This!

(Kitty) John sent this to me this morning. It's John as a character in The Simpsons! Isn't it funny? (And it looks like him, too!) If you want to try it, go to http://simpsonizeme.com/ and upload a photo of yourself. I'll have to try it later. The site says it's too busy right now! :)

Our First Christmas (Tree)!

(Kitty) - I know, I know, it's hard to believe. We started out sharing our Christmas holidays with family, then we were alone and broke, then we moved around a lot. Then this weekend John said, "I think we should get a Christmas tree." Just like that, out of the blue.

No, we haven't moved out of our 343 sq ft studio apartment. So I asked the obvious - "Where would we put it?" John suggested a tabletop tree to sit on the edge of our desks; the next day, there we were fighting the crowds at Target. Last night, we decorated our home with a Christmas tree complete with lights and bulbs (even 4 Happy Feet bulbs - thank you, Sean!) and a big red ribbon at the top. (Target didn't have any stars less than half the size of our entire tree!)

I love it! It's so festive! And we even have a small lighted nativity sitting next to the tree. I love it! Due to the joy of digital cameras - we took about 40 pictures of us until we got a good one for our Christmas photo stamps. Next weekend, we're taking pictures of ourselves with Santa hats sitting on John's motorcycle for our Christmas card photo! LOL! It'll be great!

Hope you're having a great week! Remember to thank God for the best Christmas gift ever! :)

(Kitty) - YESSS! I DID IT!! I wrote 52,415 words in 30 days! And because I was busy hanging out with my sister Bonnie, and then at our friend Doug's for Thanksgiving, I was seriously behind by last weekend. I wasn't sure I could make the final word count, but I decided not to give up. In the last 7 days, I wrote nearly 35,000 words!

Now, if you'll give me a few days to get caught up on bill-paying and other sundry details of life, I'll get some regular blogging in and let you know how our life is going out here.

We hope you're all well! God bless you!!
:)

So Much to Tell You - But Not Now

(Kitty) By the time we get thoroughly caught up with tell you all the interesting stuff that's going on in our lives (like John's birthday party!), it'll be Christmas. But hey! At least that means we'll start the new year with a clean slate! LOL!

So...just to let you know, I won't be posting anything all next week. One of my sisters is coming to town! Bonnie will be here for the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association 2007 National Conference. So I'm being kidnapped (yea!) for the week. We're going to visit San Bernadino where she was born, and hopefully get in a trail ride, and who knows what? :)

Meanwhile, if you're interested, I've written 8263 words in the first 8 days of National Novel Writing Month! Now, we're supposed to be done writing 15,000 words by the end of today to reach our month-long goal of 50,000 words. Yeah, I don't think I'll be writing 7000 words today! LOL! But I'll get caught up. Maybe if I type instead of eat over Thanksgiving weekend I won't gain any extra weight AND I'll get caught up in my word count. :)

Talk to you later! And have a lovely week!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Found this picture online and thought it fit us perfectly. Happy Halloween everyone!

A New Job!

John-
Hi everyone! I'm sorry I have not written in a while. I just started a new job! About four weeks ago I gave my notice at my job. Kitty was getting worried about my mental and physical health working at Threshold Entertainment so we sat down and talked and prayed about it. We asked God to give me a solid sign on when to leave Threshold. Well, I got the definite sign four weeks ago today, so I gave my notice the next day.

I spent two weeks decompressing and getting my sanity back. Then about two weeks ago, on Tuesday, October 16th, I saw posting for Dreamworks looking for layout people. I thought I'd put a resume in there and check the web for other job postings. On another web site I found a posting for MotionBuilder people (that is a program I used at Threshold for manipulating motion capture information.) I saw that the company name was Lightstorm Entertainment, which is James Cameron's company (if you don't know who he is, do a web search for his name.) I sent my resume and a link to my on-line demo reel to the e-mail address listed. 10 MINUTES later I got a response asking if I could come in the next day for an interview. I said I'd be happy to come in! At the interview they told me that the project was AVATAR, which was the movie I was hoping to go to New Zealand to work on with Weta Digital (Peter Jackson's company.) The interview went so well they offered me the job at the end of the interview. A couple days of contract negotiations and I had a job by Friday, October 19th and started last Monday. Mr. Cameron will be in New Zealand until the end of the year filming a bunch of live action parts for the movie. He'll be back "in office" at the start of the year to do some work with the mocap.

We have discovered God works in wondrous and exciting ways when you have faith and trust your whole life to Him.

Happy Writing!

(Kitty) For all you writers out there, here's something you want to know about - or you may already know about it. November is National Novel Writing Month. Somebody came up with the idea that we should all try writing 50,000 words in a month - and do it together. So they created a web site and now nearly 100,000 people around the world are writing together every November!

So, many of my writer friends and I are planning our stories, our word count, where we're going to write, where we can write together, and how we can write nearly an entire book without also eating an entire grocery store aisle's worth of food (or worse, an aisle worth of Halloween candy). :)

Let me know if you're participating, too! I'll see you there!

We're Safe

(Kitty) Hi everyone! Sorry - I can't believe it's been three weeks since we posted!! So much is going on, and there's so much to tell you, but all that busyness is why we haven't posted!

Just wanted you all to know we're currently safe and well in regards to the fires. We found out in church Sunday morning, near the beginning of the disaster, that one of our sister churches, Malibu Presbyterian, had burned to the ground that morning. Very sad, but there is going to be such a swell of help and support that we'll see all kinds of blessings as people come together. As their pastor said, the Church is not a building.

Of course, I think it's far worse to lose your home, and so many people have. One of our friends is trying to keep us updated for prayer purposes - her home has not burned, but it's been in the line of fire for a couple days. Another friend sent out a prayer request for her family's house as they were being evacuated. Another friend is using their home as a "refugee camp for their family in San Diego."

I've been in Temecula, a part of Riverside county, this week, housesitting and writing. It's been disturbing to go out every day to the store or to get my friend's mail and see a new fire, more smoke, darker skies. Two fires popped up Tuesday about 30 miles away, and they've gotten worse, but truly aren't near me. Still, the situation is so sad for so many. I pray for safety for the firefighters and for those whose homes are near the fires, and I've also been praying that people's insurance is current! One friend said that her parents' house is uninsurable due to its proximity to the Northridge earthquake some years ago. Wow. Who knew you could own a home that couldn't be insured? (Not me.)

Anyway, John and I are safe and well. I'll be in touch as soon as I can to tell you all the interesting and wonderful things going on in our lives this past month. Sorry to keep you waiting so long. But know that we love you!! :)

Better Safe Than Sorry?

(Kitty) Just a little LA ranting here...for the last 20 years I've been driving a car. In that time, I think I've gotten one parking ticket, two "fix-it" tickets, and that's all. Every now and again I think, "You really shouldn't be so over-careful. There's almost no chance that someone is going to run that red light. (But people do!) There's almost no chance someone's going to whip around that blind corner." (But people do!) Etc., etc.

In the last week, I've almost been hit about three or four times! Now that isn't different from any other week in LA, but this week it just pissed me off. How come I'm the one being careful and "everybody else" thinks they can just do what they want? Tonight in a parking garage I slowed way down at a place where I was the only lane that had the right of way - if I hadn't, I would've been rammed by a 30-something cute guy in a big expensive car. He was looking down at the seat when he almost hit me. Then he looked up, stopped fast, smiled, and motioned for me to continue. As if!!

Buddy, you really better watch it. Someday I might recreate that scene from Fried Green Tomatoes when Kathy Bates rams a sports car with rich, hot young people in it - they steal her parking space and call out, "We're younger and faster." She punches the accelerator and repeatedly rams their car, then calls out, "I'm older and have more insurance!"

Series Premiere

(Kitty) We had such a great time last Monday. We watched our friend's Internet series - like a TV series, but with short episodes - at a Premiere party! The series is called Dirty Bomb Diaries and it's a cool kind of "War of the Worlds" thing on a smaller scale. Click on the link and watch an episode! Or all of them! :)

Change Is Comin'

(Kitty) Only God knows what's going to happen for sure, but changes are coming. John has an interview with a great company in the San Francisco area next week. Kitty is about to change positions with her local RWA (Romance Writers of America) chapter, and being in San Francisco could be good for her. More than anything, though, we want God to send us wherever He wants us to go. We'll let you know what happens!

Babies!!!

(Kitty) I've been meaning to post this for a month! But it's been a busy month! :) Turns out four sets of friends have "recently" found out they are pregnant - and one already has the new baby because it's taken me forever to get this up! LOL!

Mel & Andrew and Baby Turnham

Mel & Andrew are our great friends from Sydney, and we were thrilled to hear they became pregnant recently. Baby Turnham is due in February and plans on surprising his/her parents with his/her gender. Here is a picture of what he or she looked like last month. I plan to finish crocheting Baby T's baby blanket sometime in the next year or two.

Andrea & Brady and Baby Justin Nasfell

Andrea and Brady are long-time friends in the LA area. Justin was born on August 26 (my own mother's birthday!). We saw him at church this past Sunday and wow! I forget how tiny 3-week-old babies can be! His parents look tired, but happy. His big sister Emma was all smiles. Here he is right after he was born.

Dave & Ann Marie and Baby Barndt

Few babies have so many loving prayers lifted up to our Heavenly Father before their birth as little Baby Barndt. He or she is a little fighter, tenacious and determined. He/she already has two fantastic big brothers who are helping Mom and Dad out while Mom rests. Another ten weeks or so and Baby Barndt will be big enough to be born if he/she insists on it. Please pray mother and child continue strong and healthy, and that God's unsurpassing peace enfolds the whole family while they wait.

John & Karine and Baby Woldhuis

John and Karine are also wonderful friends from our church back in Sydney. They are currently missionaries in Loja, Ecuador along with their little angel girl, Evie. Karine is just a few months pregnant and is going to have their baby in Quito, Ecuador. The pictures of the country are beautiful, but I'm sure the pictures of the new baby will be even more beautiful.

Duke

I'm sorry, but I can't resist! You all know that I go mushy in the knees quicker over puppies than babies. :) My sister Bonnie's dog, Mooch, died a few months ago after 15 years of working with Bonnie and her therapeutic riding program (using horses to give physical therapy, see http://chumtherapy.net/). On her birthday, August 27, friends gave Bonnie a new puppy named Duke - because he was born on John Wayne's birthday. He's a 3-month-old black and white border collie. Bonnie says he's quiet, smart, loving and already attached to her side. I'm sure he and all the horses and kids are going to be very good friends. Isn't he just precious?

John's Birthday Invitation!

(Kitty) Hi guys! Sorry it's been so long since we've posted. I was out of town for two weeks, then the last week has been crazy busy. But part of what's keeping us busy is planning John's 40th birthday party. Check out the invitation! (Ignore the fact that the picture color is off. It looks a lot better printed. :) )

Amazing Biking Trip!

(Kitty) On Sunday, we were so tired of life and the day had dawned so beautifully that we made an instant decision - play hookey from church and go on a bike ride!

We'd never really been south much before, so we headed that direction. Since we weren't trying to get someplace, we kept veering west whenever we could so we could stay close to the ocean. Great decision! We saw so many cute little "downtowns" in a bunch of beach towns. We recognized some of the names - Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach. But many were cute names that I've never seen on a map.

Two things stuck in our minds - one, we drove past the Trump National Golf Course and both of us were thinking, "Hey, this is the place that was on 'The Apprentice' TV show!" And the second thing was a part of the road called Portuguese Bend. It's a curvy bit of road (and there's a subdivision there with, apparently, the same name) with warning signs to drive 10-15 miles per hour because the land for the next mile is constantly moving! Isn't that wild?! Explains the new blacktop - they probably have to repave it every time the road cracks away. The shape of the road is very weird - curves around back and forth, and also has a lot of deep dips, hence the slow speed limit. It was a strange mile to ride.

The whole trip was about 75 miles and took us about 3 hours including a 20-minute break for food and gas - and to let our behinds get the feeling back! By 10am, we were back home - and it was already 82 degrees! We stayed inside for the rest of the day with the A/C on! LOL!

Now we can't wait for the next opportunity to drive some more. We're thinking maybe we'll go farther south and spend the day at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Or not. Who knows? All I know for sure is that neither of us is keen to get on the freeway yet, so we're just going to enjoy driving slow for a while longer. :)

Cute Picture of the Future

(Kitty) I finally pulled this off our camera today. Here is John with Spike, the mascot from Animation Mentor. We met Spike when we were at Siggraph two weeks ago, along with the very nice Admissions lady, Victoria. If John ends up enrolling in A.M. for the January term, you'll hear A LOT more about it, so I'll just stop typing now and leave you with the picture. I will say, they are all so nice!

Hope you're having a great day! :)

Too Hot!!!

(Kitty) That's all I've got to say. It's just too freakin' hot! In May and June, I was so blissful with the Santa Monica weather - which made me suspicious. So I went to weather.com and looked at the monthly averages. Sure enough, August and September are supposed to be the hot months here.

Today, I can definitely feel it!!! Thank God for air conditioning!

Our First Bike Night!

(Kitty) John found out that there is a "Bike Night" every Tuesday up at Universal CityWalk. It's sponsored by the Saddleback Restaurant, which ropes off a huge area in front of the restaurant for the motorcycles to park (FREE parking, I might add, which is HUGE in LA) as well as a 20% discount off food and drinks for the bike riders.

We rode up there last night to check it out. Inexplicably, the traffic was awful. Yes, that is sarcasm. But it was still a nice ride. Took us over an hour to get up there, and about 50 minutes to get home. That's because we still don't ride on the freeways. Which is fine. We took some streets we normally don't drive, saw some things we normally don't see when we're driving a car, talked at the red lights. It was fun. :)

Anyway, so we got up there and we were in the 50% of bikes that were nice but not special. Then we walked around and looked at the other bikes (like everyone else at Universal CityWalk was doing). Some had interesting colored lighting, some had amazing paint jobs, some were part of a club or whatever with the club name painted on all the bikes. One was even some kind of 3-wheeler with 2 wheels in front and 1 wheel in the center in the back, and it had two bucket seats side-by-side. Sort of reminded me of a dune buggy, but I have no idea what it was. Had a great paint job, though!

So we parked, immediately took off our riding jackets because it's August and still hot after dark, and walked around the shops. Then we meandered back to the restaurant for a surprisingly pleasant dining experience. By some fluke, we were seated in a dark corner in front of two TVs - one playing baseball highlights and one playing music videos. Between the two TVs, the kissing, the two guitarists who came by and played "Peaceful, Easy Feeling" by The Eagles for us, the great waiter named Lake, and the FABULOUS breaded mushrooms - we had a great night! I think our biggest problem at this point might be finding the will power not to go up every Tuesday night and blow our "dining out" budget! LOL!