shawn and loren

this weekend

2008-05-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

We're going to a conference about living in community.

Hopefully we'll network some and learn some.

We'll post post-conference.

Possibility

2008-04-23T11:27:00.000-07:00

Recently I wrote a poem to encourage my sense of hope. Since then I've shared it with friends and many have given me back a sense of joy and renewed purpose in writing. Go slow and read it twice - hope you enjoy it. - Shawn

Possibility
by Shawn Latourelle

Early in the morn
when the birds are waking
the light on the water
dawns first

The silhouette of the trees
Is still dark
Waters glow with fore light
In the pre-dawn silence

Here
Is where possibility waits
Along with the sun
(not hurried but coming)

Yet when the sun climbs over the horizon
Potential is born
And its beauty is blinding

Brighter than my eyes can stand

Larger than my heart can contain

Longer than my past can overcome

Is the Vast desire of Hope

Freely released in each new Day

dessert

2008-04-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

so maybe one day shawn will write about the Good Friday service. Until then, I'll continue blogging.

tonight, we were waiting for dinner to cook (Shawn was cooking; I was catching up on things). I said I wanted to have dessert.

Shawn said, "you should've gotten some when we went to the grocery store yesterday."*

So I said (in response to him saying I should've gotten dessert at the grocery store), "I felt guilty about wanting to buy dessert because you were there." He, in turn, says, "I really wanted you to buy dessert."

Seems we've still got a ways to go on the communication thing.

*(since we've been married, Shawn's gone to the grocery store by himself. We tried twice, when we were first married, to go together, but it didn't work out. BUT the past two Sundays, we've gone together. And we made it. And it was good times both times! Sunday mornings seem to work. It frees up a night and we still have the rest of Sunday for such things as tennis, running errands, taking naps, and going to church in the evening.)

Good Friday

2008-03-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

Loren and I attended our first Good Friday - Tennabrae style. It's a specific service where the lights are slowly dimmed and it ends in the dark. Symbolizing the light of the world being extinguished on Good Friday.

It was encouraging to see community wide participation from Episcopalian, Methodist, Baptist, Calvary Chapel, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, churches. Each Pastor/Priest gave insights on the last words of Jesus while on the Cross. We couldn't help noticing the breadth of viewpoints given. I told Loren "when we open the doors wide we'll get a wide breadth of perspective" Loren was touched near the end when one of the Catholic Priest spoke on how we in the Christian tradition have much more in common than we differ. He also said that what we agree on is vastly more important that what we disagree on -Amen! Then (unscripted) he began to lay the cross down, but because he was advanced in years he needed help, so the Baptist minister got up and helped him lay the cross down. What a great symbol of the entire evening. - Peace Shawn

Tennis

2008-03-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

we've been taking advantage of the weather and of day light savings time (even though I don't like it not being light out when I wake up these days) by playing tennis. we have two courts near our apartment. one is just a couple of blocks down the street. the other is just on the other side of downtown. shawn is better than I am, for sure, but I'm able to at least hit it across the net a few times and we occasionally have a good rally. we are averaging playing about two days a week.

Spring is Here

2008-03-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

so it's been a while since we've blogged. since the last post, Spring has sprung.

Proof of such is a tree outside our apartment.

Trip to Tahoe

2008-03-23T20:08:00.000-07:00

the weekend of February 22-25, we spent in Lake Tahoe. A couple friend of ours invited us to join in their weekend away, so we agreed! We planning on going from Friday evening until Sunday mid-day. But we got snowed in! It snowed from Saturday around 11a until 10p Sunday night. It was so beautiful. We went snowshoeing both Saturday and Sunday. Sunday after our snowshoeing expedition (we went down the end of the street we were staying on because we heard there was a trail head there. But there was so much snow that we ended up making our own trail) we went sledding in the back yard. It was a blast!
We took a few photos. It was nice to have a taste of the snow. And fun to be snowed in just for a day. Our drive back on Monday was clear skies with little traffic.

what we did today

2008-02-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

there's a first time for everything. today we helped out with a first in Marin: churches coming together to serve the community by cleaning up park areas. we chose to clean-up where we had our rehearsal dinner back in June: McNear's Beach. the weather was beautiful, everyone's spirits were up, we met some new people and had an all around good time.

You can read the article here in the Marin Independent Journal.

differences

2008-02-08T14:43:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night, I went to the local sports bar to watch basketball (DUKE vs. UNC). Shawn went to an Ash Wednesday service at a local Episcopalian church. Interesting dichotomy, I thought.

famous!

2008-02-02T19:59:00.000-08:00

Shawn made his television debut this past week!

He built some furniture for a local version of Extreme Home Makeover.

The website is linked below. When you go over to it, click on Episode 43. Then go to the session called 'Our Living With Pets Makeover Revealed.' It's the 5th one down on the right-hand side.

If you wanna see him in action go here.

Nothing like free advertising for free assembly!

a break in the rain

2008-01-27T11:54:00.000-08:00

it rained from Monday through Friday. Saturday there was a break in the rain, so Shawn and I decided to take advantage of it. We walked from our place to the house in which he used to live. We hung out with the couple who still lives there from when Shawn lived there. They both had been on both of our hearts and minds, so we decided to stop in and see how things were going. Seems like there was a good reason for it. We chatted for about an hour and a half, them doing most of the talking. They're dealing with a few things that we had no idea about, so we know how more specifically to pray. Then we headed down a few blocks to a place up for rent. Cute loft-type place. High ceilings. Kind of small. We're not looking to move. It's just fun to see what else is out there. Then we walked downtown. Then we walked to the library. Shawn read Christianity Today magazine. I found a Poetry magazine and then checked two books out about being a writer. 'Bird by Bird' by Anne Lamott. We'll see what happens.

Then we walked back to our place. It was refreshing to be outside, with no rain. To spend time with friends. To get some reading in. A good day in the life of the Latourelles.

something we're looking into

2008-01-25T11:19:00.000-08:00

Have been reading up and praying about this: Sojourners

You can also check out their blog.

Thinking maybe something like this but adapted for Marin.

date night

2008-01-22T21:43:00.000-08:00

every other Tuesday is date night. tonight, we just had an evening at home. it's been raining since yesterday morning and it's a bit cool out, so I decided we'd just stay in.

pizza+wine+candle light+jazz+chocolate=

one happy couple on one good cozy date night!

us

2008-01-22T21:13:00.000-08:00

some friends of ours got married this past Saturday. i got to coordinate/direct the rehearsal, wedding and reception. it was a good time. and they're married.

here's a picture of Shawn and me outside of the chapel after the happy couple's wedding ceremony.

walking

2008-01-21T20:40:00.000-08:00

yesterday, Shawn and I walked from Blackie's Pasture

(part of the trail pictured above)to downtown Tiburon, via Belvedere. I think it's at least 5 miles round-trip.

last Sunday Shawn and I took the Tennessee Valley trail (top picture) from the starting point to the end (the ocean, just above) and back. It's about 3 miles round trip.

both were fun. the trip to Tiburon was a little longer than expected, but we got fresh air (and a good bit of wind) and were able to enjoy the views of the Bay and the tips of the Golden Gate bridge.

more about christmas

2008-01-13T21:38:00.000-08:00

we got the tree December 2. we decorated throughout the first week of December. we listened to Christmas music all the while. since we were going to SC for Christmas, leaving on Christmas Eve, we decided to open the gifts we'd gotten for each other on Sunday the 23rd. Shawn gave me the Charlie Brown Christmas Special soundtrack (I've been wanting it for years); a book of Rilke poetry, and some slippers (LOVE them...they keep my feet nice and warm; and I've never owned a pair of slippers before). I gave him some pancake mix, a bar of dark chocolate, a pruning saw (for the Christmas tree next year) and some cologne (SLATE from Banana Republic). We went to SC and spent the week with my family. One of the highlights was a trip to visit the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC.

our first christmas

2008-01-11T17:47:00.001-08:00

live garland atop the bookshelves in the living room
the advent wreath Shawn made from live garland

we bought our live tree from the high school down the street; it was just 5 feet, but as you'll see, fit nicely in our apartment
the tree all lit up

pictures of all sorts of things

2008-01-10T20:19:00.000-08:00

at the reception on our wedding day
a bowl of grapes
we went to the Filoli House for Shawn's birthday
my first trip to Lake Tahoe
beautiful Lake Tahoe!

four months

2007-10-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

four months. i've been married four months. that feels a bit weird. sometimes it seems longer than that.
i've been having the urge to travel lately. france. i want to go to france. shawn can come, too. he's never been overseas. i really want him to experience life overseas.
so tonight is date night. we take turns planning dates. it's my turn. since it's our fourth monthiversary, i thought of a four-part date. start with dinner, go to worship (singing four songs; reading four scriptures), then to our 'homework' for our Bible study, then to dominoes (Mexican trains to be exact). should be fun.
i think Shawn might come by work today to 'surprise' me. he's only got one job in San Fran today so he'll have the time. that would be fun.
so yeah, that's about it.

random randomness

2007-09-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

on my lunch break, i called shawn (usually do). he and ken (guy from church helping him out on fridays with work) were going to job #2. i was on my way to the grocery store. a girl from church is having some co-workers over. we're having a southern-style potluck. the latourelles (ahem, Loren since she's the southern one; southern Minnesota does NOT count as southern) are responsible for jiffy cornbread and green bean casserole. so as i'm gathering canned goods i hear a girl on her cell phone say, 'i think i'm four months pregnant, but haven't seen a doctor, yet.' um, ok. first of all, that's sad. second of all 'think'? four months and you 'think'? anyway, THEN the other highlight was getting hit-on by the cashier. solid gold that is. yikes. maybe if he were the fireman in front of me in the line...just kidding (i think).
last weekend was the reception in SC. i'll try and figure out posting pictures on here from shawn's mac. it's not my favorite thing in the world...
we started a couple's Bible study (that's a bit weird sounding to me still). there are three other couples. should be good. home builders is what it's called. this week is on oneness. there's homework and everything.
i'm procrastinating at work. it's friday. i'm ready for the weekend. we're not doing much, but still. i've become addicted (again; i'd stopped for a while) to grey's anatomy cause i can watch online. since we don't have a tv, that's my only choice. pretty happy. i'm catching up from when i was on teh hiatus. at least i didn't cry watching the last two episodes i viewed.
one day perhaps i'll get shawn to post something...
he made my sandwich for today's lunch. he's a great one, i tell ya'.
back at it, i suppose.

writing

2007-08-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

a friend sent me another person's blog. this person had, in alpha order, a list of 18 links to all kinds of notecards and such. how fabulous.

http://www.cavallini.com/products.html

http://www.finestationery.com/

http://www.graphicimage.com/index.html

http://www.katespaperie.com/store/productView.php

http://www.lovelydesign.com/

http://www.luxepaperie.com/

http://www.papercupdesign.com/index.html

http://www.paper-source.com/

http://www.russellandhazel.com/ideas.html

http://www.seejanework.com/

i'll make them usable later. get to meet a friend from high school for dinner (shawn's coming, too)

san francisco

2007-08-11T10:58:00.000-07:00

while we don't live IN san francisco, we live near enough to go into the city for dinner whenever we want (we met friends at this amazing Chinese restaurant called Old Mandarin there Wednesday night) and actually the lady from whom we're buying the golf is in san francisco.

i'm a bit bummed, however, that i won't get to vote for mayor in the upcoming November elections. check out this list of who's running for mayor:

Candidates in the Nov. 6 San Francisco mayor's race:
Harold Brown, retired teacher and blogger
George Davis, nudist activist
Tony Hall, former supervisor
Lonnie Holmes, San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department manager
Harold Hoogasian, flower shop owner
Grasshopper Kaplan, taxi driver
Quintin Mecke, program director for the nonprofit Safety Network Partnership
Gavin Newsom, incumbent
Wilma Pang, music teacher
Michael Powers, owner of Power Exchange sex club
Chicken John Rinaldi, showman
Billy Bob Whitmer, educator
Josh Wolf, blogger

pancakes and zoom

2007-08-11T08:57:00.000-07:00

every weekend since we've been married shawn's made pancakes. most of the time it's been on saturday morning. most of the time coffee is included. from time to time, i get bacon, too. YUM-MY. i think my favorite were the fresh peach pancakes (peaches IN the pancakes). this morning it was mixed-berries. it's been two months since we've been married. somewhat surreal. really good. happy.

today we're buying a car. it's a 2002 VW Golf fully loaded with 30,000 miles on it. it's going to replace shawn's geo metro (1994, NOT loaded...i mean no air conditioning, no radio, no power anything included no power-sterring, 197,000 miles with original clutch still in). it's pretty exciting.

we're going to drive to Point Reyes to celebrate!

date night

2007-07-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

wednesday nights are date night. we started that when i moved out here, while we were still engaged. we decided to continue that 'tradition' even after we got married. we trade off who plans the date so neither of us bears the weight of the responsibility. last week was shawn's week. we went mini-golfing, had dinner at the clubhouse (the mini-golf is a part of a golf course), then hit the hot tub at our apartment complex. very nice.
this week...baseball. we went to a giants/braves game here in sfo. we were hoping to see bonds tie the record for most home runs, but alas, they didn't even start him (something about going into 13 innings the night before; sissy). so anyway, we only were able to get standing room only tickets because of the hype only to find no hype really since he wasn't even playing. but it was a great game and the giants actually won and we found seats about half-way through the game. AND my great husband bought me garlic fries (gilroy garlic fries no less) AND later on when it was chilly cause we were sitting in the bleachers, he bought me some hot chocolate. the best hot chocolate i've ever had...ghirardelli (go figure). Yum-my.
fun times. i like date night. it's a good idea...and most of the time great fun...

i thought earlier today of something else about which to brag on my husband, but now that i've sat down to type, it's escaped me. so sad...buying me the best hot chocolate i've ever had is reason enough to make him the best husband ever.

it's past my bedtime...and i have to get to sleep before shawn starts snoring or else is hard for me to get to sleep at all...

the wedding and more...

2007-07-24T18:49:00.000-07:00

so instead of writing about the wedding, here's the link for the pictures. ignore the ones of just me (i'm not a fan of those, for the most part). it pretty much tells the story of the day, though. the tiramisu was yummy (in place of the traditional cake).
http://naturalight.instaproofs.com

and the honeymoon...we have pictures of that, too, but those will come later. here are words for that time:

we stayed in town for two nights at the hotel where we had our first date (it's a restaurant and hotel). we ordered room service..that was a first (of many on the trip...ahem).
anyway, so then we drove down the coast on highway 1. friends of ours let us borrow their white mustang convertible. that was rad. we stayed in Morrow Bay the first two nights. During the day we visited Hearst Castle, Paso Robles wine country and the little downtown that is Morrow Bay.
next we drove further south to a little Danish town called Solvang. all the buildings are quaintly danish style and some of the townspeople even dress as such.
next we headed for Santa Barbara. this was our favorite of the trip. we stayed in an ocean view room (free upgrade thanks to the nice lady behind the desk at the hotel (she didn't even know it was our honeymoon)). it was awesome. the town was great, the weather amazing. we hung out on the beach some, had dinner at this seafood joint. the next day we went to the art museum and did some window shopping. there was an Anthropologie store there, so I was happy.
then we just headed back up 101 to San Rafael. it was so relaxing and fun and low key. a great time.

it was hard to get back into the swing of things, but i think i've managed to begin to adjust.
i start a new job tomorrow. done with the two part time gigs. not a fan of lying psychologists or working at starbucks. the hours and the inconsistency and the manual labor added up to 'no thanks.'
so my new position is Program Coordinator for the Doctor of Ministry department at GGBTS. i think it'll be good. it's a promotion job-wise (i'll even have two part-time administrative assistants working under me) and pay-wise, which is somewhat surprising considering it's ggbts.
so i'll let you know how i like it.

brag-worthy Shawn-isms:
he's made pancakes every Saturday we've been married so far (i think the peach ones this past Saturday are the best yet)
he cooks in general about 3/4 of the time
we go on walks together (i've told him i need to walk more and so even when i'm lazy and don't want to, he suggests going for a walk and walk we do)
he walked me to the car the other morning when i had to leave at 4:30a for work but was scared leave the apartment
he tells me i'm beautiful on a regular basis

that'll do for now, i suppose...
i'll get shawn to post some pictures of the honeymoon when he has some time

a start

2007-07-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

As of tomorrow, we'll be married a month. Four weeks from yesterday. My how time flies.

I LOVE married life.

i'm not a fan of working. but i suppose that's why they call it work.

my plan is to start with the story of our wedding day and then go into the honeymoon details and then from there get more spiritual perhaps (at the moment. we read a chapter of scripture at least 4 times a week together).

so wait for it.

for now i have to go to bed so i can get up early to work at Starbucks (not for long, though...which is a whole other post...)

loren