6th Anniversary Getaway!

This past weekend saw us celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary! Six whole years! To celebrate we were fortunate enough to pack up the car for a weekend out of the desert heat with Sonora in tow. We actually left after a 12 hour shift for Amanda, leaving around 9:00 pm to get a head start for the Central Coast of California. We spent the night in the Palm Springs area of California, which was comfortable and gave us the ability to get through LA the next day without having to deal with extensive traffic, although of course there was a little bit we encountered. I don't think you can ever completely avoid traffic in LA. Our destination for the weekend was Paso Robles, a wine country area roughly halfway between San Francisco and LA.

I (Rob) had found a 900 sq. ft. farmhouse for rent in the hills and meadows West of town. It was a renovated, historic little farmhouse on a working hay and cattle farm, and the house was surrounded by gardens, and enclosed so that we didn't have to worry about Sonora taking off through the pastures. It was beautiful, peaceful, and relaxing. It wasn't like living near or on a dairy with a persistent bad smell. In fact, I don't think we really smelled the cattle even when we were up close and checking them out. The smell of all the bales of hay was rejuvenating and refreshing for us coming from the city. The highlight of the house was the wraparound porch, and so we were able to spend mornings, evenings, and nights sitting outside enjoying the crisp, clean air. The screeches of red-tail hawks flying over the pasture were welcome, and watching them dive, play, and fight with each other was like watching a show on Discovery or something.

Photo of us outside the same winery 6 years apart!

 Over the weekend we were able to relax, eat some tasty food, and visit wineries (the reason for out destination). We were actually right in the middle of several vineyards at the farmhouse, and I was able to run through the woods, vineyards, orchards, and meadows on Saturday morning with Sonora...that was fun compared with Phoenix sidewalks!! There were some amazing wines and the scenery was truly spectacular. It was Amanda's favorite scenery if only there were a stream or river coming through it I think she would have stayed forever! We ate a remarkable meal at Thomas Hill Organics for our official anniversary dinner, which was pretty amazing food.

On Monday we heading back to Phoenix, going through the town of San Luis Obispo. We actually stopped by two wineries which were basically the first ones we ever visited, back when we were dating...keeping our reminiscing going! Luckily we were only heading to San Pedro in the LA metro area to spend the night with our good friends who just moved there from Seattle. We had a great dinner with Joe & Joanna Lacanlale and then crashed at their new home on Fort MacArthur in government housing as Joe recently joined the Coast and is stationed in Long Beach. It is a cool, historic, old officers quarters home with views of the port.

Tuesday, we made it home without incident. All in all, a very relaxing anniversary getaway (other than coming into LA on Monday) and some much needed time to clear our heads, connect with each other, reflect, and dream a bit. Now we are on to year 7!!

October Update

Amanda & I at Wine Wars,
Page Springs Cellars

It is Saturday morning and I'm just hanging around the house watching college football and taking care of some household tasks. The past month has gone by quickly, but its been a different quickly. It isn't necessarily the busiest time for us, but it is a work hard time frame. Work does seem to be a primary focus these days, with our separate schedules keeping us on the go, and making us cherish the days we do get to spend together. Some weeks are better than others, and its why we plan little day trips to Northern Arizona and elsewhere. It also doesn't hurt that we need to go North to pick up our Wine Club shipments.

Speaking of wine, Arizona actually has some really good wineries! We've joined a couple of clubs, which let us get quarterly shipments of wine. I know I enjoy it a lot, and we start to see the differences not only between varietals, but between vintages of the same varietal. In other words, we can see how different years of wine are different from each other...based on growing conditions, soil, and the way they blend and age the wine. We get several tastings for free with our wine club memberships as well, so Cottonwood, Cornville, and Jerome have become a bit of a second home. Even Sonora likes going up there because she knows there are hikes nearby (Sedona is just 15 miles North!) and a couple of really fun dog parks where she can run and play.

In fact, Sonora absolutely loves playing fetch. On weekend mornings if I don't go run, I can take Sonora by car to a nearby neighborhood park to play fetch. She doesn't even need a leash these days, and is only interested in the ball! If others are around, she just says hi and then goes back to the ball! Last weekend, she even let me know when she was tired and needed water, by running back to the car and waiting for me to open the door! She knew it was time to go home!

One final note of the past month is that we are full-time attending a new church. A friend and classmate of mine is the lead pastor of a small church plant called Emmaus Road. We've been supporting them in various roles over the past year, but with me being done with school there are also some opportunities to serve and do pastoral care within that community. I love their vision, and they really do get to know each other. What's funny is they meet just about a mile or two from where Amanda works at John C. Lincoln, so now we really are more tied to Central and North Central Phoenix than we are in Avondale, where the house is. If property values were different...would we look to move? I'm not sure!

Personally, I realize that there are some major drawbacks to the suburbs for me. I think community loses some of its value. Everyone just does their own thing, living their own schedules and there is not a genuine connecting with those around them. Even churches have this challenge, which is why some of the programmatic, attractional models work well but lose some of the pastoral care and "life together" which is better found in other models of church. For us, its a matter of God's call, and I truly feel God calling me to serve in a role that builds up community around the Kingdom of God; that values individuals for who they are, and not what they do or don't do for the organization or in life. This is the call of the church I believe, which is not programs or even "doctrine" as primary, but simply Jesus Christ, and the love and grace which comes through His proclamation of the coming of the Kingdom of God. We live in this love, aware of this grace, together remembering we are ALL beloved by God.