If These Streets Could Whisper: Summer Fun!

I'm not sure what it is about summer time. As a kid, it was always a glorious time of slowing down, getting to do things we didn't have time for during the school year, playing for hours on end. I realize I'm not a kid anymore, and that my summers as an adult aren't going to look exactly the same, but for the past several years summer time around here always gets so much busier than normal! But nonetheless, I love it :) For those not on facebook, I thought I'd do a bit of a recap of our summer thus far. Summer has found us:

Enjoying LOTS of fresh produce from Farmer's Markets
This was our dinner the other night, huge fresh salads and homemade bruschetta using delicious heirloom tomatoes.

Seeing lots of friends from years past
This is me with my dear friends Jean and Kelli from college, along with Jean's two little munchkins in San Diego.

My husband has had the chance to reconnect with a few friends from his Florida days, and we're looking forward to having another of his Florida friends stay with us in August for a night.

Leisurely Conversations
I've always loved my small group, but this summer we're going through The Good and Beautiful God together which has provoked some great conversations with one another as the evening fades away and wine is sipped over dinner.

Games!
We've enjoyed a couple different evenings with friends playing games together. 4th of July we played a lot of Banagrams (kind of like Scrabble) with friends from church, and we've enjoyed a couple games of Settlers of Catan and Ticket To Ride with other couples.

Church Stuff
GPC gets its new pastor in just 2 weeks! We're pumped! We've had some fun youth stuff this summer, seeing movies, going to a Dodger's Game, and of course, coming up in just two weeks--HOUSEBOATS! Charles has had fun playing Ultimate Frisbee with youth and leaders on Thursday afternoons (not really my thing...especially in the mid afternoon heat!).

Hiking
We have done a couple hikes around here, although lately it's been awfully hot!

Weddings!
Yes, it's the theme of 2010 for us. So far we've had three weddings this summer (I think we have a break now until October) which have all been very different from one another and very fun in their own ways!

Peter & Susan
This was the wedding Charles was able to officiate which was very honoring for him. It was quite the event, in the grand ballroom of the Hilton with over 300 people there!

Jen & Eli
This one was SO fun for me, it was a fantastic reunion of college friends in my favorite city on the planet!
The happy couple

2001-2002 Hill-Moyer Peer Adviser Staff

Roommates! Heather & I

Missy, Darbee and I

David & Joy
This was definitely the most unique wedding I've ever been to. And honestly, in many ways, the most beautiful. The wedding industry is out of control, as anyone who has planned a wedding is aware of! David and Joy are a couple from Fuller who are 100% committed to some rather counter-cultural ways of living that I think are so needed in today's society. They are both vegetarian, both very environmentally conscious, in love with nature, and completely invested in and immersed in community living more so than pretty much anyone I've ever met. They wanted their wedding to reflect all these values. And they pulled it off! About 300 of us gathered in the Redwood Forest near Santa Cruz, CA last weekend to celebrate this couple. Just about everything used in the wedding was either natural, recycled, donated, or reusable. Guests were told to bring their own plastic plates, cups and eating utensils (which did not seem to phase anyone, people literally just showed up with picnic baskets, it was great!). The wedding was a vegetarian Mediterranean feast that was also potluck. Guests were asked to bring something from their list, and we dined on hummus, pita, feta cheese, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, falafel, and tabbouleh--it was delicious. Decorations were bright and festive and handmade. Table cloths were butcher paper that could be recycled. Centerpieces were glass jars with ribbons tied around them filled with wildflowers. Donated fabric from family friends was ripped into strips and woven onto fishing line for festive ambiance. The weekend was truly a labor of love, from their community to them and from them to their community (the wedding party saw their job as servers, so they served us our meals which was a beautiful touch). They also wrote some of their own vows, which I'm not always a huge fan of, but both my husband and I agreed that these were the best set of personalized vows we'd ever heard--well done David & Joy!