Keeping the fish alive... post 1

this week I've had the pleasure of house sitting for my friend Shannon! Sadly (for him!) he went on vacation in Kiev, after spending almost a week here I can't imagine why he didn't just go on vacation in his own home! Anyways, it was good cause for me to move in for the week, just to be sure the fish didn't die. (Or the plants, but I am not so sure I am being all that successful at that!) Either way it has been motive for me to come home early every night and somewhat hardly leave the house the weekend just gone, except to run or walk along the gorgeous bay literally steps from here.... o the life of a missionary! It's sometimes so hard to suffer for Jesus here in San Diego!

And as you can see above, staying at home can be fun too!!!

It's like riding a bike

So, I was camera-less this weekend (I left in my office and couldn't be bothered driving 30 minutes to get it... so here is some shots from last Sunday!). Shannon, Micha and I went for a leisurely Sunday afternoon ride on the bay. I realized it had been more than 5 years since I'd been on a bike... i could do it, but only just! Anyway.... summer is just so amazing here in San Diego we stopped for coffee, sat and stared at the very weird people walking past, made an english pal who taught Shannon about Cricket and then back to church... could be descibed as the perfect Sunday.

Shannon
Me....

We got land....

O and for those of you who care.... the church went into escrow on land yesterday... now we start the process of getting the permits we need and then we can BUILD it won't be long now and we will have our very own building!! We are excited to say the least!

Summer has arrived in San Diego!

I love it when Summer hits in San Diego.... people just get FUN! This week I had the pleasure of a late night phone call on Wednesday with an offer of a free ticket to the US Open (which was being held 4 miles from my house)... with a quick email to the staff and a call to my boss I got the day off and headed to the golf! Followed around Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott. Other than's Adam's 4 best friends who had flown from Oz to follow him around I am pretty sure Ali and I were the only one's not screaming Tiger from the sidelines and instead we came out with a few "Aussie, aussie, aussie!!!" moments and GO SCOTT!!! They take your cameras and your phone away (which was a nice change for me not being attached to my blackberry) so I only have a photo of the ticket for you!) All in all... a very inspiring day and some GREAT golf to say the least!

This is me the next day pretending to be a professional... watch out LPGA!
Kathy and I went to a black tie event friday night, some charity event to do with Sports education and the special olympics. This was also VERY last minute and gave me a chance to wear one of the 5 bridesmaid dresses I have collected so far (watch out for news... there is a few more of those dresses to come this year!). Anyway unforunatley the highlight of our night was the drive home (see above) and the stop at In and Out Burger on the way home (see below)... I have discovered that telling people that you work for a church is a quick way to have them stop hitting on you!!!

And.... another shameless self portrait just before going to sleep after a quite night of cleaning my room on Saturday night getting ready for the onslaught of Christine Caine in all our services the next day at church. I had to actually get up early and look half decent before driving her and the fam around! I decided an early night was to be had!

Celebration time....

This last weekend we celebrated Kathy's birthday! with a stunning dinner at Red Pearl Kitchen... (Incredible food) and then some cocktails under the summer sky at J bar! Happy birthday Kathy.... I didn't take anywhere near as many photos as I usually do, which most likely means I was just having too good a time to even think about it!
Mirek & Sarah.... in love.
Sarah & I.... in like, but definitley not in love!
Sarah & Mirek rode their bikes downtown, parking was ridiculous so they didn't end up paying $20 like the rest of us... smart little coookiesKelley, Kathy & Amanda.... heading to J bar, where Kelley narrowly missed punching some girl out on my behalf! It was quite the adventure that night!

And this week.....

I am continually amazed by all the incredible people I am surrounded by.... I love my friends and my life!

Matt Stack takes me to Bronx Pizza, the greatest pizza joint (as far as he is concerned) in the San Diego county! You can see how excited he is about the food!
Some BBQ at the Bennett love shack with great friends!

Downtown with the Lynch girls and new friends.... celebrating birthdays and old college pals! Funny stories! This is everyone two seconds before tequila shots (I'm taking the photo to avoid having to do the shot!) at the classy joint called Lime, the tequila bar (I won't be taking any of you there!)
Reena and I, watching the Padres get totalled by Chicago Cubs Monday night
As stated before, beer and my blackberry tend to rule my life! Here I am.... beer, blackberry!
My gorgeous city.... San Diego
Yep, me... walking in the parking lot, late night Monday after a game, some beer, a good old chat to Cooper our new friend who owns 'the corner' (me above with beer and blackberry sitting in 'the corner') and some great laughs with Reena.... life is sweet.

of late....

I've got soooo much going on right now, I can hardly keep up with myself! So here are some pictures of the week just gone to keep you on your toes.... more of this week to come!
Rachel receieves a SURPRISE birthday celebration after we forgot to celebrate on her actual day! This is the team bursting into my office with a box of icecreams!
Bobby & Jenny love it up in my jacouzzi on memorial day
Memorial day gathering at my place, put on by the faithful socialites Faith and Justin
Me, Micha and some random people I met at the ivy on Sunday evening... I could be wrong but I am almost positive these people don't have legit jobs, but they do come from Mexico City and they did have a LOT of cash??? Who knows....
The bathrooms at the Ivy Hotel San Diego... I know it's weird that I do this, but bathrooms around San Diego always seem to be cool enough to take a quick hello shot of myself to y'all out there!!!