November Already?!

I am absolutely shocked when I look at today's date - already November 6th?!! Time is flying by out here so fast.

I had an amazing time at home for Canadian Thanksgiving and Matt and Sarah's wedding. It was so great to be back in Ontario to celebrate a wedding and a holiday. The whole Team V clan was home for Thanksgiving dinner with Nana and Poppa and Uncle Rick, and we had such a nice couple of days just being together. Matt and Sarah's wedding was a perfect day, and there is nothing more joyous than watching two treasured friends unite their lives under the Lord! Plus it was a blast to get to see all of my friends and to celebrate together. In so many ways, it was like I had never left, and I am so thankful for that. What a blessing it is to have friends so close and united that we can pick up just where we left off months prior. I am so thankful for my girlfriends!!

I was very anxious though to get back to my hubby after 5 days apart. I don't think either of us realized just how much time we spend together until we were suddenly not together anymore! We have found one of the best parts of marriage to be the joy of just doing everything together, so I really really missed him when I was home!

Our stream of steady visitors has now stopped flowing so it's just Mark and I until we come home for Christmas. We are so looking forward to being home, and yes we are very much looking forward to snow and our beloved Ontario! But for now we are enjoying married life and our new adventure, and most of all we are enjoying watching the Lord provide. I have been able to find a part time nanny job which provides for our grocery money (they have to pay me in gift cards to keep it legal), which has been an incredible blessing to us. Mark was also offered a job on campus as Intramural Coordinator, which was timely provision after his previous job opportunity had fallen through. We are learning so much about trust and humility already in just a few short months, and we are so thankful for all we are being taught!

"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own". Matthew 6:34

Ontario-Bound!

As I write this I am on an US Airways flight heading towards Philadelphia. Once I arrive, I have less than 1 hr to make my connecting flight to Buffalo which will take me to meet my mom and Nana at the airport! I can’t believe it is already time to head home for my good friend Sarah’s wedding on Saturday! When we moved in August, this was the date that I was looking towards as my chance to see all of my family and friends again, and I can’t believe the day has already arrived! I am so excited to see Sarah and Matt united in marriage and to be home for Canadian thanksgiving!

Time has flown by so fast, especially because Mark and I had some more visitors over the past few weeks! My parents and my brother were out visiting from September 24 – October 4. They spent 7 days in Santa Clarita area with us and then moved north to San Francisco. While they were in our area, we spent time at our apartment, in Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Burbank. We even had a VIP tour with our Canadian friend Mike who works at Warner Bros. studios. It was SO neat to see where so many famous films and TV shows are made. Some of my highlights were seeing the spot where the ‘upside-down kiss’ from Spiderman was filmed, and being able to stand in front of the Jumbo Mart and under the El train from ER. It was awesome of Mike to take time from his busy day to show us around.

We also had our very first star meeting on my dad’s birthday. We went to Charthouse restaurant in Malibu and happened to be eating there the same night as Adam Sandler and his whole family. We got to meet him and my dad took a picture with him. He wished dad a happy birthday and gave Mark a few pats on the back – he was thrilled. He looks exactly the same in person and was very nice. His kids are pretty cute too.

Another very cool part of their visit was the night we spent at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel on Hollywood Blvd. This hotel was the spot where the very first Oscars were held and is right across the road from Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the Kodak Theater (where the Oscars are held now). The hotel was a really neat mix of Old Hollywood and modern glamour. You may have heard of Tropicana Bar, which is their poolside bar. If you’ve seen The Hills or Entourage , then you would definitely recognize this spot. At night it’s all lit up and you can chill on the chaise lounges and couches while they have music playing. Some nights they have a DJ there too. We got to hang out by the pool the next day too, and enjoyed some of their world-famous burgers (mmm so good) for lunch. It was only due to my parents’ generosity that Mark and I got to spend this night with them there, and it was so much fun! The best part is you don’t have to be staying at the hotel to hang out by the pool – Mark and I are definitely going to be back!

The Fro-Yo Phenomenon

Something I have noticed after just a few short weeks in the LA area is that Californians LOVE their frozen yogurt. There are countless chains and stores everywhere here selling varieties of fro-yo and toppings. Maybe it has something to do with the health-conscious nature of people who live so close to LA, but ice cream is nowhere to be found. While Britt was here, both of us were craving some scooped ice cream (Cone Shop anyone??), and we actually could not find any stores that serve that kind of treat! When I made a comment to a friend of Mark's about our desperation to find scooped ice cream, he confessed that he couldn't really understand that desire, and why wouldn't we just head to one of the many, many frozen yogurt joints?

All of this being said, I must confess that I have fully conformed. While my friend Brenna was out here visiting, we checked out a new shop called Tutti Frutti, and we absolutely fell in love. Tutti Frutti offers about 10 flavors of fat-free and low-fat fro-yo, and tons of toppings, all in self-serve style. So you grab a bucket, fill it up with however many and whatever flavours you would like (some delicious examples - cookies and creme, vanilla bean, strawberry cheesecake), and then top it off with anything from cookie dough pieces to fresh diced mango. And the best part is that you pay per ounce - 35 cents an ounce! So when you're all done, you set your bucket on the scale and pay a pretty small price for tons of deliciousness! Brenna's was only $2.30! Another great aspect of Tutti Frutti is that you can sample as many flavours as you like before making your own creation - I think Bren and I both ate a full bucket's worth of yogurt before we decided on what we wanted to get!

Needless to say, Mark and I have already been back!

In case you are interested, here is their website: http://www.tfyogurt.com/

And here is a shot of Brenna and I eating dins on our balcony. Thanks again for your visit Bren! It was so much fun showing you around, catching up, and of course, wedding planning!!

Fifty Dollar Find

We found this couch at Goodwill in LA for only $50! It was really dirty but all it took was a steam cleaner and three hours of muscle and sweat by Tara, and it is almost as good as new!

Apartment Update

Our place is starting to take shape as we slowly collect furniture and get organized so here are some updated pics!

We are being provided for by God and we are blown away daily at how He is taking care of us out here. We can't afford to buy much furniture, but we were able to find a FREE dining table and chairs through the church, as well as a really cheap couch from Goodwill. That gave us enough to be able to get a few small things, like a desk for Mark, from Ikea. It is amazing to sit back and just watch what He is doing for us out here!

Seesters.

Well Britt has gone back home and I am missing her terribly. It was such a blessing to have her here for a full week. Since she left for school in April I have seen her twice but both times have been rushed and busy so this was our first chance to really catch up and spend quality time together in several months. It was so much fun to show her around Hollywood and the rest of LA, as well as just to have time to chill, eat great food, and learn about what is going on in her life out in BC.

Mark and I were absolutely blown away by how much my little sister has grown up and matured in her time at school. She is now a confident, assured young woman who has really come into her own. She was infinitely patient as Mark and I unpacked, shopped for furniture, and generally forced her to live in an absolutely disorganized mess for seven days.

It is amazing to watch someone grow up like that, and to also transition from just a sibling relationship to a deep friendship. Britt, I miss you like crazy and I can't wait to see you again. Thank you for all of the great talks, laughs and memories. Love you tons!

Here are some more pics from our week together, including some of the crazy wildfires that have been raging over the past 2 weeks. The air has been smoky for about a week now, and ash collects on our car and our balcony every day. There seems to be an end in sight though, as the sky is clear blue today and we can see the sun! And don't worry Britt - the Hollywood sign is still alive and well and not burned to the ground.

Adventures With Britt!

Britt is here and we are having an absolute blast! Mark and I are trying to show her as much as we can in the week that she is here so we've been super busy. On Monday we went to Santa Monica to see the famous Pier and Third Street Promenade. Tuesday we hung out by the pool and then went to see a live taping at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank. We saw the taping of the 2nd episode of the new season of The New Adventures of Old Christine, which stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus (aka Elaine from Seinfeld). The tickets are free, and you just have to line up about an hour beforehand to get into the show. As the live audience you get to see the entire episode taped, in the different sets. It was SO neat to see the actors live and up close like that, and to watch how a tv show is made. The thing that I found so fascinating was that they are actually testing the episode out on the live audience. If lines are delivered and the audience doesn't laugh, they literally rewrite the scene to make it funnier! So they'll break for like 5 minutes, the writers will gather together, they'll show the actors the new lines, and then they'll record the scene again! If there are bigger laughs, they stick with the new lines. It happened in a few of the scenes we saw - first go they weren't very funny, and then after the re-write they were hilarious. If you have not seen this show before (which none of us had!), it is actually really good and Julia Louis-Dreyfus won an Emmy for her role in it! Anyone who is looking to visit us out here, this is an experience we would totally recommend and love to do again. You even get free pizza and water as you watch!! Some of the other shows you can watch live are:

- Hank

- Two and a Half Men

- Ellen

- Dr. Phil

- Conan O'Brien

www.tvtickets.com shows more of a list too!

Here are some pics of our adventures in Santa Monica and at the WB. Of course we had to introduce Britt to In 'n' Out burger and Cold Stone Creamery so here she is having her first taste!

Stevenson Ranch cont'd

More pics - here's our bathroom, balcony, view from balcony, and pool.

My little sister Britt is here visiting for the week which is absolutely amazing - she has been away at Vancouver Film School so I haven't seen her much since she left in April. We are having a blast showing her the sights and she is helping to stave off my homesickness!

Stevenson Ranch!

Welcome to our new home! We are starting to get settled in and here are some of the first pics of our new apartment. Keep in mind we do not have ANY furniture yet so it will look much different once it is actually set up! The pics are:

-outside our building

- kitchen

- living room (aka Britt's room for the week)

- bedroom (note the air mattresses - we can't WAIT for our bed to come on Friday!)

More Vegas

Back in Business - Day Six!

Hey All - sorry for the lack of blogosphere updating the past couple of days but our internet connection is patchy and we have been running around like crazy and attempting to unpack. But we know we are leaving peeps with a severe lack of photos and info so here you go!

Our last day of driving was HOT. Driving through Nevada was crazy - hours without anything around, and the sun just beating down. We were worried about the car overheating in the desert sun so we didn't have the AC on...and by mid morning it was 45 degrees celsius. Let's just say we are SO thankful for air conditioning in our new apartment!

We drove down the Las Vegas strip on our way through - even at 7:30 am there were quite alot of people out and about. It was neat to see and we'd definitely like to go back to see it all lit up at night. Another cool thing about day six was seeing the Grand Canyon off the highway. Here are some pics from that day!

You Have Arrived...

Man it was crazy to hear our lovely GPS friend Maggie tell us that this afternoon around 2pm PST!

We are safe and sound in our awesome new apartment.  Thanks to our wonderful brother Matt we have all of our stuff inside and now we just need to unpack.

More to come, but we wanted to let everyone know we made it and to thank you for your prayers! Praise God we travelled 4150 kilometres with no issues whatsoever!!

And now the real adventure begins... 

Day Five

Hello from HOT St. George, Utah! Currently it is 43 degrees Celsius outside which made for a very warm last couple of hours in our drive today! We left early this morning (6:30am) to try to beat some of the heat. The morning was nice and cool but got very warm very quickly this afternoon - you can definitely tell that the desert is not far away!

Unfortunately I (Tara) got a migraine this morning at 8am so I was not the happiest of passengers today. It was really too bad given that the Utah scenery is unlike anything I have ever seen before, so I wish I would have been able to enjoy it more. There is not much around in terms of civilization, but the views are spectacular. We went a full 150 miles through the mountains without a single building in sight!

The highlight of our day was probably stopping at Dairy Queen for lunch and discovering that not only has butterscotch dip NOT been discontinued here, there is also an option for CHERRY dip cones too!! Mark had that kind and it was awesome!

There was also a pretty intense controlled fire that we passed today, purposely set to decrease the risk of wildfires.

We were so happy to finally arrive at our hotel this afternoon and to go for a swim in the indoor/outdoor pool to cool off. Now we're going to have dinner at Cracker Barrel (I've been waiting for a Cracker Barrel dinner all trip long!) and we'll be up bright and early tomorrow morning again. The high tomorrow in Nevada is supposed to be around 40 degrees so we're hoping to be in California by mid morning or early afternoon.

Mark and I were talking today about how fast this trip has gone by, and though we're happy to be almost to our new home, it is bittersweet. We definitely have some great memories and have been so blessed to see all we have seen!

We realized today we have been lacking in the playlist department so here's an update!

Tuesday and Wednesday:

Phil Wickham - Singalong

Thrice - Beggars

Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends

Dave Matthews Band - Listener Supported

Rascal Flatts - Feels Like Today

Keith Urban - Golden Road

Paramore - The Final Riot

John Mayer - Where the Light Is

And today...

Derek Webb

Jon Foreman

U2 - Best of 1980-1990

Chapel Band 2010!

*There has been a lack of music the past few days as we have been mesmerized by the scenery around us and that has been entertainment enough!

Day 4 More Pics

We had to make a new post just to fit more pics - here you can see the transition in scenery we saw today - it was incredible!!