Beginning of a Journey
Lent feels like it started quite early this year. Like, *poof* and it was there. I had Andy with me this year to start Lent off, which was really wonderful. He was here for his reading week from Newman, and it was such a blessing.
We started off by going to a hockey game on Sunday: Anaheim Ducks vs. Los Angeles Kings. We were in the Honda Centre, and holy crap does that thing get tall when you’re in your seat, head nearly in the lighting. The first level is a much more normal gradient, the second and third are very IMAX like in the seating, as in if you stand up, you might fall to your death. Yeah, Andy’s heights fear was definitely maxed out, but he was able to lean forward in his seat by the end *applause*. That was a fun experience, and it was only possible through Vanessa who had a bunch of free tickets to give away.
What else did we do…hung out lots. Monday (I think) we took a walk down to the Pier and had fish & chips for lunch, which was really nice. Then it looked as though it was gonna downpour on us, so we headed back up the huge hill. And then it rained.
Tuesday something happened. Though I can’t remember anymore. Wednesday we did stuff again. Ah, now I remember: we went Swing Dancing! yup, and we had a blast! It was very lots of fun, and I can’t wait to do it again with him. We both learned some new moves, and it was so much fun messing up and having to start over. I loved it.
Yeah. Okay, so I don’t know if you’ve been able to tell so far, but I’ve been writing this thing in increments cause I haven’t been able to write a total story for awhile. So forgive me if it sounds weird when I’ve been talking in near present tense though it’s been awhile.
Thursday we headed up to The Getty Museum to see the Icons of Sinai. These icons are some of the oldest (if not the oldest icons in Christianity). Mind, we didn’t see ones that were from before 7 or 800, but we missed a few too. They come from St. Catherine’s Monastery, which is at the foot of Mount Sinai and the oldest Monastery in Christianity (at least that’s still running, if not completely the oldest). They were pretty darned cool. They also had books from 1000 or so that had copies of the New Testament in them in the original Greek, can you believe that??? It was so cool! Andy and I totally wanted to flip through the book and try deciphering more of it. I even read enough Greek at one point to realise what we were looking at was the start of Mark’s gospel! I am still so impressed with myself about that. Yeah. We spent the whole day getting up there, viewing, and then getting back. It was an amazing experience.
Friday – Sunday. Engaged Encounter. This was a very awesome and very needed experience. A number of things happened that we hadn’t expected, and one of the things that I felt most happy about doing was doing some goal planning for our future as a married couple. That opened up a few things that we hadn’t thought about before, including how to get to those goals. So that was, for me, one of the most powerful parts of the weekend and most needed. It was really awesome and I’m really glad we had that time together.
Monday, Andy left for Edmonton. And that was that. We spent about 45 minutes wandering in Palm Springs, cause we had a bit of time, and that was really nice. I enjoyed that quite a bit. I’d love to go back there to see more of it.
That was Andy’s trip here for his reading week. I’m finally done this entry *whew*! The next one will be the amazing Religious Education Congress .. amazing for more reasons that the workshops and speakers.
Until next time, folks.
Peace,
Jane
Andy and I above Lake Elsinore
Before the hockey game. Andy in his new spiffy xkcd shirt.
hockey!
Sittin in our seats up high
On the San Clemente pier
The Getty Museum
Andy thought this wall looked a little like the Helm’s Deep walls, so he pretended they were for about 30 seconds while I took the shot
IT was a weird funky statue behind us. We didn’t know what was the front or the back.
Weird funky art inside that looked like there wasn’t much intent. Andy was trying to figure it out, but eventually gave up.
The Icons from Sinai!
We had pancakes one morning. They were tasty
Okay, story: I thought the package was for ham slices. Turns out it was a ham steak instead. So Andy’s digging into it here.
On the road back tot he Palm Springs airport
Kinda cool statue
This was a kinda ‘old western’ view of Palm Springs. The buildings looked really old. Therefore, a picture was needed.
There was a sign that said ‘Regina’. We took a picture.
Our lunch before Andy’s flight. We ate on the grass under a tree at the airport. I think people were avoiding looking at us.
Last picture before Andy left!
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