Santa Cruz, San Jose, and "San Fran"

Greetings! I know it's been approximately ten days since I've written about the life and times of the Proffitts, but we've been extremely excitingly busy!

First of all, we painted our kitchen. I haven't taken pictures of it yet, so hold your horses. Plus, you haven't even seen our living room (the first room we painted) so maybe you should see that first:



Cool, huh? Notice the orange walls and the really low couch and the big sitting cushions...

















Next up is the entertainment unit. Thank you, Ikea! This is the view from the low couch....we really like it. We don't watch TV much, and when we do, Daniel has come up with a creative way of rigging the TV so we can watch movies in bed with popcorn and chocolate and root beer. That is the best way to watch a movie!



























Exciting, huh? Our kitchen will be posted next...it's blue with darker blue stripes! Really cool. And there may not ever be a time again when I'll want an orange living room and a blue striped kitchen. So why not enjoy it while we still can?


Moving on to the even more exciting event of the last week or so. My parents, (D&D, as they are so called) came to town to visit! And we had a blast. Before they came, Daniel asked me what I thought about them coming in and if I felt like the dynamics would be different. I'll admit, I was a little anxious--not in a bad way, though. I just wanted to make sure the house was in order and that we had a game plan for while they were here. We were really looking forward to them being our guests and getting to treat them and show them that we're not just "playing house", but we really are a married couple who's doing great!

They got in last Friday evening and we drove the hour from the San Jose airport to our lovely abode in the Santa Cruz mountains...maybe the best part was that we hid dreadful traffic on the way home and it was 95 degrees outside with no wind and, get this, no air conditioner! But Dad & Dawn were troopers and did not seem to mind that their shirts were sticking to their backs and sweat was running down our foreheads. Yes, disgusting.

On the way back, we stopped and got Dad his first Jamba Juice smoothie, which he did enjoy and thought they should open one in Amarillo...they really should! And when we started getting into the mountains and the amazing redwood trees that hover on either side of the road, I could tell D&D were really excited/surprised at the beauty in which Daniel and I live.

We took them out on our deck that night and we just sat and cooled off and talked, and then Daniel grilled some salmon and we made stuffed zucchini and bread and all sorts of other good stuff.....I had to show my parents my excellent new cooking skills, and if I do say so myself, they were very impressed.

The next day was....shopping day! Dawn and I had female bonding time at the humongous Valley Fair Mall and had a hay day along with the other zillion shoppers in the mall, and Dad and Daniel went and had some male bonding time....such a great day! We ate some mexican seafood on the coast that night and split some amazing death by chocolate cake. We had a good food weekend, that's for sure!

On Sunday we headed up to "San Fran" to see the sights and sounds of the city and eat some more good seafood on Fisherman's Wharf as well as TONS (literally) of chocolate at the home of Ghirardelli...you would not believe the chocolate stuff they have in that factory. I'm serious.

And of course, if you're in San Francisco, you've got to stop at the Golden Gate Bridge. We did just that!



Me and Daniel, of course.


















Dad, with the bridge...love this pic.





We tourists, taking a leisurely stroll.....towards seafood!
Some small fishing boats parked on the pier...

So, we Proffitts and Wells had tons of fun touring the city and stuffing our faces with lots of food and Ghirardelli fudge.

We were sad to see them return to Texas, but we were and still are so thankful for the weekend we spent together. I needed a taste of home, and it was really amazing to discover my parents in a different light--as a fellow married couple who also happen to be amazingly fun, caring, incredible people. Daniel and I were looking forward to blessing them while they were out here, but D&D ended up knocking our socks off with blessing after blessing. Daniel and I were amazed and so grateful...

Oh! And during Daniel and Dad's bonding time, they went and got Daniel a brand new grill!! The one we had grilled salmon on Friday night had been a gift for Daniel's HIGH SCHOOL graduation and was the teeniest thing I'd ever seen...not conducive for any kind of grilling, actually. So Dad blessed Daniel with a new grill.....Here it is in all its shiny glory! We bbq'd chicken on it the next night, and man, it was good.

And did you know that California people call a grill a barbecue? I dont' agree with that. It's called a grill, and you barbecue ON it. It's not called a barbecue. So feast your eyes on this bad boy:

So, life in California continues as usual......

The California transition keeps on, and every day brings new emotions. I am constantly being challenged to be more Christ-like, and I'm being challenged to figure myself out in ways I never thought I would. I do know I am surrounded by the people and things and experiences I am for a reason, and every day a little piece of that is revealed to me. I am learning things I would not be able to learn if I wasn't right here, right now, with my husband. So, ultimately it's good. Hard? Yes. Have I cried? Many times. But we keep on keepin' on, and so we keep on.

Love and blessings to you!