Crab Legs and Horned Frogs

I have gotten out of the pattern of sharing relational items regarding our lives. This is probably the case because Whitney and I haven't been near as adventuresome as when we first arrived at Fuller. While this weekend was not very "adventuresome", it was filled with fun and some lovely new people...

On Friday evening Whitney and I went to Macaroni Grill with some TCU folk (Jon and Grete). The conversation and the food was delightful. However, I think that the most stunning feature of this evening was eating at a chain restaurant. We walked in and I felt overwhelmed! So many people, so many tables, so many waiters and waitresses running around, it was a strange, yet, stimulating experience. Whitney and I have not set foot in any sort of chain restaurant for 4 months now... And while it was strange to go back into that world, there was something comfortable about the moment. Regardless, we learned a new card game from Jon and Grete called oh hell, (Michiganders will love this one!) and enjoyed the evening.

Saturday morning we had a lovely brunch with some different TCU folk. While Jon and Grete are Fuller peeps, Ben and Tracy are old friends of Whitney form TCU that are pursuing the "rat race" out here in Hollywood. We walked around Old Town, ate at a fancy little joint for brunch, talked film and Jesus and again, enjoyed more Kingdom minded conversation.
The highlight of the morning was scanning a book called The Sinners Guide to the Evangelical Right. The book is perfect and humbling for those wanting to know how part of the world views evangelicals. From a guide to Christian hair cuts to serious conversations regarding sexuality, the book will surely make you laugh and will surely offend you in some way due to the political incorrectness of the writing. (Maybe being a little offended would be good for some of us...) The book was great, but the potential for meaningful friendship is sacred. And we got to experience that with two new couples this weekend. Good times.

Saturday night rolled around and after grocery shopping and going to see The Prestige, Whitney and I boiled some King Crab Legs.





(Along with wine, you can get crab legs for cheap out here...) We had so much fun cracking them and talking psychology with our friend Charlie who joined us at the end of our meal.

Every year I get a new Christmas collection and during dinner we listened to our new album that we got off iTunes.







We got Sarah Mclachlan’s new Christmas CD called Wintersong. It is good and some of the songs will go down as classics. (We are trying to get in the Christmas spirit, but again, the high today is 93 in Pasadena... Craziness!) We also watched National Lampoons Christmas Vacation last night. I was studying for my Greek midterm (which is this evening) while we watched the film, but I still laughed at many moments.

This was a good weekend. We ate well, we had strong conversations, we met new friends, we laughed a lot, we studied Scripture, we saw good films, and Whitney and I drew closer together. It is weekends like this that seem to be the most formative in our lives for the extension of the Kingdom. Heaven was mysteriously near.