pics from jan and feb…Fun on the ice and days in the monastery

This January the ponds and canals froze for the first time in some years. I also took a retreat at a beautiful monastery in south belgium in February.

Finally posted again!! After 8 months!

Happy New Year! I don’t know if anyone reads this anymore but I thought I should post again and put up some puctures from my Christmas trip to Normandy. This New Years was my first in The Netherlands, and I can safetly say that it was different than anything I have experienced before. First of all, Kathryn was here…..this was our second New Years Eve together! Crazy! And secondly, the Dutch love to shoot fireworks at midnight on New Years and the days before and after. Now…I am not talking about the weak US fireworks we buy on 4th of July…..the ones they get here are intense! I felt like I was in a war zone all throughout the day and night on the 31st and especially at midnight…it was crazy. People must spend thousands of euros on fireworks and some of the neighbors fireworks were really ccool and elaborate. Some were also just loud! Here are a few pics below from Kathryn and I’s trip to Normandy. Happy New Years everyone!!

one year anniversary

I am realizing that I am just not from the blogging generation…I can’t seem to remember to post regularly! It’s not that I don’t have things to talk about. I just don’t make time to tell anyone about them. Sorry about that! Anyway, my one year anniversary here just flew by on Tuesday. It is hard to think that I have been here over a year. In some ways it feels like I just got here and in others it feels like we’ve been here a long time. I have definitely been blessed and learned alot since being here. We’ll see what the next year holds! Below are a few picts of my trip to New York in February.

new years

I’ve been looking back on 2007 and I must say that it has been an amazing year….I moved to the Netherlands, met Kathryn, started a new job that has been interesting and challenging, worked on getting a new CD done(all year long), participated in great friends weddings, married my first couple and performed my first funeral and baptism, and visited amazing places that I have always wanted to see. I have definetly been blessed and I am excited to see what 2008 has in store!

SinterKlaas is coming to town!

For all of you non-Dutch folks reading this, one of the big things around here on Dec 5th is Sinterklaas. This, for many Dutch is kind of like our commercial Christmas….this is when the presents are exchanged, etc… and then for many, Christmas is just a religious holiday. The interesting thing about Sinterklaas though is that you see all these Zwarte Petes running around with their black face and oriental costumes. Every year Sinterklaas (Santa) takes a boat from Spain and comes with his group of ‘elf’s’ from Africa(hence the blackface). So, unlike America, you don’t see alot of Santa’s running around during the holiday season, here you see groups of Zwarte Petes giving out candy. Happy Sinterklaas everyone! 

 

4 services, 2 sermons and a baptism today!

Today I performed my first baptism. There was definitely something sacred and special about being able to perform this sacrament, but I felt alittle under-prepared since I had to plan and preach at all the morning services, and plan and preach another service at a special thanksgiving service this evening!!! There was alittle too much going on this Sunday!!  PS…if you want to learn alittle more about what I do with music at my church, go to my new church music blog: www.godsongsinaforeignland.blogspot.com  

Kathryn comes to NL!

A couple weeks ago Kathryn came to Den Haag and we had a GREAT time just hanging out around NL and also traveling down the Rhine river in Germany to see castles. Here are the pictures to prove it!

6 months in Den Haag!!!

Wow…I haven’t written for a long time. Sorry to my mom and the few of you who still check this every once and a while. I must say I have been VERY busy since my last post. Let me put the last couple months in cronological order:

August-early September: Went back to the states for my first trip since moving, was able to play at and be a part of the weddings of two close couple-friends of mine, and see many dear friends who I missed dearly in Pasadena. It felt like coming home and that I had never really left……and I was sad to leave. I also just really missed my life in Pasadena….being more of a musician and songwriter and having good friends around…..and realized I should have taken more advantage of those things while living there. I enjoy life here in NL but do miss my friends and parts of my life in Pasadena. After my first trip to Pasadena I flew across the country to NY to visit my girlfriend, yes I said GIRLFRIEND, Kathryn. I spent a few days with her then flew back to be with my family (who I also missed) in Tucson. Then back to LA for another wedding and then home.

September: Got home from a great holiday to alot of work, part of which was to supervise the installation of the new sound system(which is awesome by the way….I am now a full convert to digital mixing boards). Went to Paris for a staff retreat. Got VERY sick in Paris and spent the weekend with a raging fever in bed while my co-workers had a great time. Generally got back into life here in Den Haag……it’s getting cold and rainy here folks. The beginning of a LONG, dark winter.

Oct: Kathryn came for a two week visit and we had a great time. I saw parts of the Netherlands with her that I had never seen before(she lived here for a year and a half and introduced me to some cool museums/parks) and we went to see castles in Germany for a few days. I must say, the castle cruise on the Rhine in Germany has been one of my favorite trips so far. It is only about four hours from my house and it is just beautiful…..quaint German towns in the picturesque Rhine valley, cool medieval castles all over the place, good weather, great wine and yummy German food. Being there with Kathryn probably also made things just alittle bit better as well:) Now I am back in Den Haag for a week and then I go to Paris AGAIN to lead worship at a youth conference. What a great life!

I will post pictures of my Rhine trip soon! Below are some pictures I took of downtown Den Haag on a rare sunny day in September. Blessings and tot ziens(see you later in Dutch)!!

Going back to Cali!

Hey all my Cali friends,
I am coming back for a short visit this weekend and next week! Let’s hang out!

Just a wee trip to Dublin

So, I took a short trip to Dublin, Ireland a couple weeks ago, sort of a pre-birthday trip to visit a friend of mine….and I must say that I do like Dublin! The city itself, especially where we were in Temple Bar, was definetly party central, and from my hostel I could here party revelry until past 3a very night, even during weeknights. But I loved the pub culture there…every night we went to listen to music at a pub and each night there were young people and old men and women in the pub, a whole age range, just singing along to the music with a Guiness in hand.

My favorite part of the trip was going to Glendalough, a 6th century celtic Christian monastery that St. Kevin started. Here are some pictures of my time there.