somebody’s baby girl

That’s the title of a rather sad Jon Foreman song.  The song is sad, but it has a good message.  The song reminds that no matter how “off-track” someone’s life has gotten, she is still “somebody’s baby, somebody’s baby girl.”  

I like to remember that.  It reminds me to love others.  It reminds me that I am loved.  That I am somebody’s baby girl.  I belong to not only some awesome parents, but to my Heavenly Father, who loves me with unfailing love.  Everyone is somebody’s baby.  I need to remember that and remember to love like I believe that.

On a lighter note, here’s a rather telling shot of me as somebody’s baby girl….

jocko’s

Tonight my parents and sister came to visit from Bako.  My dad was pretty stoked to take our fam to a quality steakhouse in Nipomo.  It’s called Jocko’s….and let me just say: Bakersfield has nothing on this place in terms of okie-ness.   When we got there we parked in the back, and walked around to the front of the restaurant.  On the way in, we stopped and admired the 20+ slabs of red meat cooking on the outdoor grill.  My dad’s excitement grew.

There wasn’t a whole lot of room to sit and wait for the hostess to prepare our table, so we went into the bar area to find a place to sit.  In my usual hardcore style, I ordered a Shirley Temple.  I admired the dark-stained wood panelling on all of the walls in the bar area, and was even more impressed that each individual panel of wood bore its own genuine cattle brand.  Now we’re talking.  I also couldn’t help but notice the attire of the clientele in the bar…Let’s I felt a little out of place in my dark jeans and Gap crew neck shirt.  I probably would have felt much more at home if I was wearing a down coat with the arms zipped off, like the girl across from me.  Or maybe if I had a black bra on under my white shirt or a flannel plaid shirt I’d feel better. These styles seemed to be pretty popular in this joint.  On second thought, maybe it’s my lack of peroxide blonde hair that made me feel out of place.

We sat down at our table and I immediately took notice of the lack of table cloth.  But no worries, there were some great paper placemats that did the trick great:

Please note the martini on the Bull’s tail.  Is that just weird to me?  Also…they have the word “genuine” spelled “Jenuine.”  Awesome.  I’ll also let you know that that’s not the only grammatical problem on the place mat.  From my seat, I also had a prime view of the meat cooking outside on the grill (my Mom’s pointing at it):

I ended up ordering a BLT, since I had more than my fill of red meat at Firestone in SLO last night.  Bad choice.  The bacon strips were seriously a quarter of an inch thick.  They might as well rename it a “HLT.” That’s Heart attack, Lettuce and Tomato.  On another point of interest, the history of  the restaurant was given in great detail on the back page of the menu.  I learned that it’s a family business that started as a saloon in the 1800s.  I was really enjoying the stuff I was learning about the restaurant and the Jocko family.  I was slightly caught off guard by the last line of the “history” which read: As our sign says out front, COME IN AND MONKEY ‘ROUND.  What?  What does that even mean?  What do monkeys have to do with Nipomo, the Ag community, steak, or the Jocko family?  I will continue to ponder this for a while.

For your consideration….the Bull and Martini image once more:

I hear that the steak is real good.

ps- if you are a woman over 5′6″, you may have trouble fitting into the bathroom stalls. My knees practically hit the door when I was sitting in there.

shooting stars.

I love meteor showers.  I mean, really love them.  I love to look up into the dark night sky and see the stars.  The blackness of the night is pierced by the brilliant light of the beautiful stars each clear winter night, but last night was extra special.  Last night, December 13, 2008, was the Geminids meteor shower.  From what I hear, it is the second biggest of the year, just behind the famed Perseid meteor shower of mid August.

Last night, I enjoyed a wonderful dinner reunion with half of the team that went on project to El Salvador this past summer.  We convened at Jacob and Caellin’s home for delicious homemade burgers (thanks Jacob!) and a perfectly constructed caesar salad made by none other than Adam S. Nixon.  It was so much fun to be able to see Sara, Kaylee, Alyssa, Adam and Kelly last night.  We laughed and reminisced as if no time has passed at all since we last saw each other in August.  I love friendships like these….they are just so natural.  After a rousing game of Bang, Jacob, Caellin, Sara, Kaylee, Kelly and myself headed out for an after dinner stroll around the Douglas’ neighborhood.  

It was the coldest night we’ve had since I’ve been here this quarter.  I love cold nights.  They make me want to snuggle up to the people I love, and believe me, that’s big for me.  Let’s just say that physical touch isn’t my cardinal love language.

Anyway, as we headed out of the house, I mentioned to my cohorts that Dec. 13th is a big night for meteors.  I second guessed my announcement as soon as I made it (why do I lack such confidence in myself?).  I then mumbled that we probably wouldn’t see many shooting stars, thanks to the amazingly bright gibbous moon that was rising in the eastern sky. Just then, a bright meteor streaked across the winter night.  It was breathtaking.  We preceded to walk up to the San Luis Obispo adult school baseball field, and turned with our backs against the bright moonlight to see what we could of the meteor shower.  I saw at least 10 shooting stars, each more beautiful than the last.  I even got to share my (very small) knowledge about meteor showers with Jacob, which was great.  

After a half hour or so of star gazing, we returned to Jacob and Caellin’s home and were reunited with Alyssa and Adam.  We played what I believe to be the funniest game of “Telephone Pictionary” that I’ve ever played.  We laughed and enjoyed good time together as members of Christ’s body.  I mean, the whole reason we ever met in the first place was because we went out into ministry.  Later that night we saw a bunch more SLO students who were spending time at Alyssa’s house.  The night was filled with fun and unexpected happy moments.  It was the merriest night of the Christmas season so far.

All in all, I just feel so loved by my Heavenly Father.  He loves me so well, so perfectly.  He whispers his love to me in the most amazing ways: through genuine community where He is glorified, through beautiful displays of the heavens that he created, through the wintery weather he sent me today.  I feel his unfailing love in the steady drum of the rain on my roof right now, and through the remembrance of the gift of his Son that he gave us.  He is Emmanuel.  He sent his Son to reunite me with him.  To reunite you with him.  He loves us each so well.  I want to overflow with thanks to Him.

Black and White Party

 

The life of the party:

 

Because I can:  Awkward nature revealed in the previous post is shining through here.  My mind is going, “Too many beautiful people…must act foolish now!”

 

This is much better:

 

Too good, for too many reasons….pay attention to detail in this one

Zillions

Zillions of ideas for blog entries pass through my mind each day.  Well, ok, maybe like 1 or 2.  But still…why can’t I manage to write them down here?  More to come.  I need a creative outlet.

Also. I love having Peter Maitland Kelly here.  He is a wonderful brother and a wonderful friend!  We spent some good bro/sis time together this weekend…lunch with Nana and Papa on Friday, CP football game on Saturday, and lunch today!