My dear friend Robyn.
Roses were so abundant in Pasadena.
Robyn's friend John's garden...a living tapestry."Make a sacrament of the present moment." from Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre de Caussade.
This is the statement that I walked away with from my time in Santa Barbara. It encompasses everything I want in life and everything I have. Here are some details surrounding the trip.
The weekend actually started out on Thursday as I was preparing for the trip. My friend Robyn, who invited me on this adventure, called and said that her dad was in the hospital in Prescott after he fell. A little background on that phone call is that her dad Bob is dying of lung cancer and was enjoying himself at the casino, one of the few pleasures he had left. He tripped and fell on his face and didn't catch himself. His injuries were/are significant including a broken eye socket and too many fractures on his face to count. Robyn took her mom to the hospital in Prescott and then proceeded to drive her mom down to Phoenix where Bob was being airlifted. (Praise God that he survived the trip as he had so many complications!)
Upon hearing this news I completely assumed that the trip was off. Totally understandable and I was looking forward to spending time with the family. I went to bed and hadn't prepared a thing for the trip when I received a phone call at 10:30pm with Robyn saying her father is stable and she'll be ready to go by 7am the next morning.
Friday morning I threw a few things together, got in the car and headed to Robyn's to pick her up. We were on the road by 8am (she had driven up from Phoenix that morning, crazy lady) and off to quite a start. Poor Robyn spent half the morning updating friends and family on the status of her dad, which was exhausting for her. But, there's nothing like a little U2 to lift your spirits and get you in the mood for a road trip. We interrupted Bono so consistently for the next 7 hours with our thoughts and questions that we only got to listen to 3 songs on the way there.
Our first stop was Pasadena, where Robyn and Joey lived. She showed me their old house, which was absolutely yummy with roses climbing all over the picket fence. Next we went to their friend John's house who is an avid gardener and I drooled all over the luscious plantings. I have to say that I can totally understand why people would live in California. It's gorgeous. LA gets such a bad rap but once you get into the nice neighborhoods (we're talking 700k for a 1200 sq.ft house) it's stunning. It was "picture me here" type of neighbor hoods. Robyn took me to this delicious cafe in a neighborhood similar to Madison Park on steroids (and sun). After lunch we went to the Pasadena Showcase House which is a house of certain size (we're talking mansions over 10k sq. ft) that gets a "remodel". Designers from all over LA come and do their best work on both the inside and outside. We just looked at the outside as the tickets for inside were $40, which would seriously diminish our $100 budget for the weekend. It was lovely. It was so sweet for Robyn to squeeze this treat into our time. I did see my first Botox treatment at this house. Strange what we women do to ourselves.
Once we left Pasadena we headed north towards Santa Barbara. Robyn and I were chatting for oh, I don't know, at least 10 miles, when Robyn said, "If there's traffic, and there's always traffic, that 10 miles we did will take 1.5 hours to commute". Okay, so that's not so lovely. Her comment was that everyone moves out further and further into the suburbs so that they can afford a house but the men are sacrificed by working 12 hour days and hence only seeing their families on the weekend. Crazy. So now I understand why so many of my friends are "from" California - seriously half of Prescott is from California.
Coming into Santa Barbara we headed first to the beach to take our first and only walk on the beach. It was gorgeous out and it truly felt like we had entered Hawaii. It was so lush and tropical, I didn't expect that. We then took the back roads through some fancy "village" where Westmont college is located and the "oh-my-gosh" factor was huge. The houses there were unreal! The front lawns were on acreage and that's just what we could see through the gates. It was stunning. Of course, it was all so over the top....a dream that so few can actualize it's crazy.
After our tour we headed to Kym and Dom's house where we were staying for the night. Dom works for a Nano-tech firm and Kym stays home with their 2 beautiful children, ages 1.5 and 3.5. Before the kids were born Kym & Dom saved up their money and took a 2 year around the world trip to see what God was doing in different parts of the world. As you can imagine, conversations with Kym were insightful and thought provoking.
Saturday morning we headed to the local coffee house and then with latte in hand we headed up the 101 to Jalema where the retreat was going to take place. We arrived surrounded by green hills, huge trees and a beautiful simple retreat area. There was one main house with 2 bedrooms and a loft and a bathroom. It had a generator for electricity and a kitchen. It was a gorgeous, simple cabin with such attention to detail. The other options for sleeping were 3 bunk houses, one made out of wood and 2 out of canvas. They too were gorgeous in their simplicity. The community houses shared a bathroom with an outdoor shower. There were two flocks of goats nearby with young kids (baby goats) in the mix. Outside there were 2 outdoor cooking areas, complete with stone sinks and fire pits. One area had a full on fireplace that I so want to replicate at my house.... It truly was an idyllic setting for our time together. And to think the people that owned the property bought/built it for occasions such as ours. Amazing.
There were a total of 15 women, all of whom were in their 30's and most were married and had children. Many had been friends at Westmont college, but wonderfully they were very open and engaging with me on so many levels. The facilitators for the weekend were Debby Bellingham and Linda Tarman. Linda's husband was the chaplain at Westmont before moving to Washington DC to partake in The Fellowship. Debby is a PhD in....theology....not quite sure but she was the area director for Young Life in San Francisco. She wrote a book called "The Mentored Life" which is becoming an amazing tool for me. I also am reading a book Debby referenced called "The Story of a Soul" which is the autobiography of a young woman who influenced the world through loving Jesus.
This is the statement that I walked away with from my time in Santa Barbara. It encompasses everything I want in life and everything I have. Here are some details surrounding the trip.
The weekend actually started out on Thursday as I was preparing for the trip. My friend Robyn, who invited me on this adventure, called and said that her dad was in the hospital in Prescott after he fell. A little background on that phone call is that her dad Bob is dying of lung cancer and was enjoying himself at the casino, one of the few pleasures he had left. He tripped and fell on his face and didn't catch himself. His injuries were/are significant including a broken eye socket and too many fractures on his face to count. Robyn took her mom to the hospital in Prescott and then proceeded to drive her mom down to Phoenix where Bob was being airlifted. (Praise God that he survived the trip as he had so many complications!)
Upon hearing this news I completely assumed that the trip was off. Totally understandable and I was looking forward to spending time with the family. I went to bed and hadn't prepared a thing for the trip when I received a phone call at 10:30pm with Robyn saying her father is stable and she'll be ready to go by 7am the next morning.
Friday morning I threw a few things together, got in the car and headed to Robyn's to pick her up. We were on the road by 8am (she had driven up from Phoenix that morning, crazy lady) and off to quite a start. Poor Robyn spent half the morning updating friends and family on the status of her dad, which was exhausting for her. But, there's nothing like a little U2 to lift your spirits and get you in the mood for a road trip. We interrupted Bono so consistently for the next 7 hours with our thoughts and questions that we only got to listen to 3 songs on the way there.
Our first stop was Pasadena, where Robyn and Joey lived. She showed me their old house, which was absolutely yummy with roses climbing all over the picket fence. Next we went to their friend John's house who is an avid gardener and I drooled all over the luscious plantings. I have to say that I can totally understand why people would live in California. It's gorgeous. LA gets such a bad rap but once you get into the nice neighborhoods (we're talking 700k for a 1200 sq.ft house) it's stunning. It was "picture me here" type of neighbor hoods. Robyn took me to this delicious cafe in a neighborhood similar to Madison Park on steroids (and sun). After lunch we went to the Pasadena Showcase House which is a house of certain size (we're talking mansions over 10k sq. ft) that gets a "remodel". Designers from all over LA come and do their best work on both the inside and outside. We just looked at the outside as the tickets for inside were $40, which would seriously diminish our $100 budget for the weekend. It was lovely. It was so sweet for Robyn to squeeze this treat into our time. I did see my first Botox treatment at this house. Strange what we women do to ourselves.
Once we left Pasadena we headed north towards Santa Barbara. Robyn and I were chatting for oh, I don't know, at least 10 miles, when Robyn said, "If there's traffic, and there's always traffic, that 10 miles we did will take 1.5 hours to commute". Okay, so that's not so lovely. Her comment was that everyone moves out further and further into the suburbs so that they can afford a house but the men are sacrificed by working 12 hour days and hence only seeing their families on the weekend. Crazy. So now I understand why so many of my friends are "from" California - seriously half of Prescott is from California.
Coming into Santa Barbara we headed first to the beach to take our first and only walk on the beach. It was gorgeous out and it truly felt like we had entered Hawaii. It was so lush and tropical, I didn't expect that. We then took the back roads through some fancy "village" where Westmont college is located and the "oh-my-gosh" factor was huge. The houses there were unreal! The front lawns were on acreage and that's just what we could see through the gates. It was stunning. Of course, it was all so over the top....a dream that so few can actualize it's crazy.
After our tour we headed to Kym and Dom's house where we were staying for the night. Dom works for a Nano-tech firm and Kym stays home with their 2 beautiful children, ages 1.5 and 3.5. Before the kids were born Kym & Dom saved up their money and took a 2 year around the world trip to see what God was doing in different parts of the world. As you can imagine, conversations with Kym were insightful and thought provoking.
Saturday morning we headed to the local coffee house and then with latte in hand we headed up the 101 to Jalema where the retreat was going to take place. We arrived surrounded by green hills, huge trees and a beautiful simple retreat area. There was one main house with 2 bedrooms and a loft and a bathroom. It had a generator for electricity and a kitchen. It was a gorgeous, simple cabin with such attention to detail. The other options for sleeping were 3 bunk houses, one made out of wood and 2 out of canvas. They too were gorgeous in their simplicity. The community houses shared a bathroom with an outdoor shower. There were two flocks of goats nearby with young kids (baby goats) in the mix. Outside there were 2 outdoor cooking areas, complete with stone sinks and fire pits. One area had a full on fireplace that I so want to replicate at my house.... It truly was an idyllic setting for our time together. And to think the people that owned the property bought/built it for occasions such as ours. Amazing.
There were a total of 15 women, all of whom were in their 30's and most were married and had children. Many had been friends at Westmont college, but wonderfully they were very open and engaging with me on so many levels. The facilitators for the weekend were Debby Bellingham and Linda Tarman. Linda's husband was the chaplain at Westmont before moving to Washington DC to partake in The Fellowship. Debby is a PhD in....theology....not quite sure but she was the area director for Young Life in San Francisco. She wrote a book called "The Mentored Life" which is becoming an amazing tool for me. I also am reading a book Debby referenced called "The Story of a Soul" which is the autobiography of a young woman who influenced the world through loving Jesus.
The time spent at the retreat was a mixture of community of silence and of togetherness. We would begin our time together with some reflection directed by either Debby or Linda and then we would disperse for contemplation and solitude. After a pre-determined time we would return to process through our time alone and often learn insights from others as well as ourselves. It was a rich and fulfilling time. One of the beauties of our time together was the absence of electricity. It was natural to get up when the sun rose and go to bed shortly after the stars came out. The rhythm of life that is encouraged when electricity is absent speaks to me. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why Balin and I love backpacking.
Sunday we departed and headed back down to the L.A. area. We spent the night with Robyn's in-laws in Long Beach. I saw where Joey (Robyn's husband) grew up and could see why he had such a love affair with the beach. It is truly gorgeous there and has such a community feel. I love how the houses are snuggled in next to each other, yet each house has it's own unique character and expression. I don't think I saw two houses exactly alike. Not to mention that where Joey's parents currently live is amazing. There is a community in Long Beach that is located on these canals that lead out to the ocean. You can literally paddle your kayak to the ocean or go to the beach which was a couple of blocks away. California is densely populated but having seen some of the neighborhoods I can understand why. It's gorgeous and has a wonderful laid back appeal.
The ride home Monday was highlighted with discussions on politics, theology and thoughts on the lyrics of U2. Robyn made my day, I smile even as I write this, as she attempted to drive my Jetta (which is a manual transmission) out of the rest area parking lot. She bunny hopped it several times and had all the fellow travelers looking at us with big eyes. I was getting out and going to drive when a guy asked me if I knew how to drive a stick. He looked a little nervous. Robyn redeemed herself though as we pulled off to the side where there were no on-lookers and she sailed smoothly from 1st to 2nd and on to the freeway.
We got home safe and sound to our husbands and kids. The kids were so excited to have us home and the husbands were too. It was wonderful to take such a beautiful trip and yet it was equally wonderful to come home to such a beautiful family.
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