20 City Church

Today is our last Sunday in New York, which means its our last time to worship at City Church. We're going to miss this church so badly.

When Mr. Miller arrived for law school in August of 2005, there were a lot of uncertainties in his life. But one thing he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was that he wanted to be a part of City Church. He had visited its sister church in Fairfax, Virginia a couple months earlier, and he was profoundly affected by the doctrine-rich sermons and song lyrics, the parents and children who clearly loved each other, and unabashed, vocal worship of God by all the members.

When I joined him in New York as his bride, I instantly found a wonderful, warm circle of friends in City Church, which helped me adjust quickly to my new town. For example, although they barely knew me, the women of the church not only celebrated my marriage with a post-wedding shower, but also celebrated Evangeline's arrival ten months later with another party.

Some of our very best memories from our time in New York are Sunday morning worship services, talking about the Bible in the Gonzales' basement on Wednesday nights, and breaking bread with these brothers and sisters at restaurants, parks, and apartments around the City.

We know the Lord has a new church family for us in California, but we also wish we could take City Church with us.

Two become one

My dear friend Megan married her perfect match on Saturday. As a member of the bridal party, I was fortunate to be "behind the scenes" with Megan and Steele, their families, and the other members of the wedding party. Here's a photographic journey of the experience.

The Bachelorette Party at the ArtWalk in Scottsdale.

Putting together bouquets and making petals from thousands of rosebuds at the McGinnity's home.



The groomsmen's hats.


The church




Megan's parents at the rehearsal [marriage looks even more beautiful with time]


Gettin' pretty




Enters, the Bride



The wedding feast





Ready for life together, starting with a trip to Italy!

2 Visitors

Honestly, they come mostly to see New York City. But the happy plus is that I get to see them too. I've blogged about many of my visitors already. Like when the babe came to Brooklyn, brunching with Nicole on my 26th birthday, catching up with the Herrods at the Empire State Building, and the comfort of my mom coming to help with Evangeline.

I failed to blog about many other visits, such as the Spring Break visit from my precious friend, Liz. Although we were toting a six-week-old around, we still manage to tour The Met, walk through Central Park, stroll along the Brooklyn Promenade, see Ground Zero, visit the FIT museum, go to the top of the Empire State Building when visibility was at zero, wander the neighborhood boutiques, and see WICKED on Broadway! "I'm defying gravity..."

Two months before that, Andrea visited me for a weekend. Andrea, who had already investigated New York as a tourist, showed me Seaport Village, while I introduced her to The Met and The Strand, a ginormous independent bookstore in lower Manhattan. The rest of the time, we talked, talked, and talked.




And then there was the timely visit of Ev, and Marilyn and Jenna Lorence. I met them for brunch at Five Points Restaurant (an alleged Rachael Ray favorite) on January 19. They surprised me with an informal baby shower. Ten hours later, my water broke. Thanks ladies!

This week is heavy with visitors. On Wednesday, Keith's college buddy, Andrew, was in-town for business and came for dinner. Then the guys went to a Tiger's game at Yankee Stadium. And, as I type, Ev is watching scenery fly by on a train bound for New York for one last visit.

Damase and a composer LIVE

I rediscovered the transcendence of live classical music last week. A friend from church is a talented oboist and a member of the trio, La Senorite!. The trio performed four twentieth-century pieces at The Gershwin Hotel (click on the link to see some crazy exterior design!)

The evening's menu:
Sonata for Flute, Oboe and Piano {Jean-Baptiste Loeillet}
Trio for Flute, Oboe and Piano {Jean-Michel Damase}
Sonata Notturna, Op. 71 {James Cohn}
Trio for Flute, Oboe and Piano {Madeline Dring}

I favored the Damase piece with its mournful dissonance and subtle rhythms. You can download it free here.

But, as much as I liked Damase, I went numb with excitement when James Cohn stood to introduce his piece. I was incredulous; a real, live composer standing just ten-feet from me! Afterwards, I approached the man wide-eyed and drop-jawed. Turns out he was very nice.

We talked about art. I was surprised to learn that his philosophy of art was populist. He does not compose for himself; he makes music for others. He said he views composing the way one would prepare and present an elegant dinner party for friends. His goal is to satisfy his audience. And he succeeds.

(Note: the second picture shows Shirley Chang, the amazing oboist at center, with the "Chang Gang" from City Church)

Luz + Camera = Magic

Photo credits: my very gifted, creative friend Luz who also plied her talent to make Evangeline these. The three of us spent precious moments together during the visit to Arizona.

New Year's Eve

We rang in the New Year with some of our wonderful friends from Sovereign Grace City Church. Thirteen people crowded into our small apartment for an evening of bunco. After helping throw countless parties at my parent's spacious home in Arizona, I had doubts about hosting an event in our 650-square-foot apartment. But my friend, Jaymie, pointed out that people in NYC expect to squish into small spaces. Well, squish they did. We even had people seated in our bedroom. Still, the cramming created a lot of energy, especially once the game started.

None of our guests had played bunco before, and several expressed suspicion of this "brainless game created by suburban housewives." Before long, however, loud shouts and laughter filled the evening. Clearly the suburban game translates well to the urban environment. I also learned that several seemingly mild-mannered members of the church are actually viciously competitive.

Everyone enjoyed the fine spread of food: my mom's famous sausage balls, Cucumber Slices Provencal, Kierstyn's Quick Pesto Roll-Ups, chips and salsa, fresh vegetables and spicy Ranch dip, Death by Chocolate, ginger wafers, and mini-chimichangas. Drinks: water, wine, coffee, champaign, and Martinelli's for the pregnant ladies (Karla and me) and our littlest guest, Pasha.

Mr. Miller was a master host, keeping his guests' glasses brimming, engaging all in conversation, and organizing the bunco tournament from start to finish.

We left the main room in chaos with confetti, glasses, and dice strewn about so that we could wake-up to it in the morning and savor for a little longer the joy we experienced in spending time with our friends.

Between rounds of bunco

Roll those dice!




Jaymie and Dan :-)

Tim takes the party hat to a whole new level

Brett likes confetti

Yolanda's creative solution for carrying a cell phone
while wearing a pocket-less dress

Keith opens the bubbly - only ten minutes to go!

CELEBRATE!

Andrea comes to Brooklyn

My dear friend, Andrea, is visiting from Arizona. She's blogging about our adventures here!

Thanksgiving re-cap

Mr. Miller and I spent the Thanksgiving holiday with my grandparents in northern Virginia. They live in a lovely colonial home just outside the beltway. As young children, my sisters and I romanticized the house because, unlike our home in Arizona, it had a stairwell and everything in the house is beautiful, from the fine china and hardwood furniture to the oriental rugs and heavy drapes. Though I still love all those things, my tastes have matured and what I really enjoy about visiting that home are the conversations with my Oma and Opa. They are a treasure-trove of fascinating stories and wisdom. Oma is an Arizona-native whose family came to the area before statehood. She grew up as the belle of the small mining community, Hayden. She met Opa at a dance at West Point, where he was a student. After winning and wedding her, he whisked her away from Arizona to travel around the United States and abroad as needed by the U.S. Army. Among other things, Opa served our country in the Vietnam and Korean Wars while Oma stayed on the home front to manage her home and raise my mom and uncle. I am so proud of both of them and their model of faithful service to their country, to their family, and to their marriage.

We shared the actual Thanksgiving meal with our dear friends the Lorences. The Lorences recently left Arizona to return to Fairfax, VA, their home of many years. My family spent quite a few holidays with them while they lived in Arizona so seeing them was a reunion of sorts! Though the location had changed, the food and conversations was excellent as always. I was struck at how quiet the house was compared to several years ago. The high-pitch chorus of children's voices that used to greet us at the front door has vanished. Instead, Nate, the oldest son, is driving and Jenna, the oldest daughter, is well into her college career. Thankfully, Brent, my special boy and the ring-bearer at our wedding, still gave me lots of hugs in spite of having graduated into big-boyhood.

Mere minutes before digging in (l to r, Justin, Marilyn, Josiah, Chloe)

Josiah, the littlest Lorence, being cute

Thank you, Lord, for this meal and these people!
(l to r, Mr. Miller, me, Nate, Josh, Brent, Justin, Jordan, Josiah, Chloe, Jenna, and friend Marie) Not pictured: Marilyn - hostess, wife, mother, friend and chef extraordinaire

In Mr. Miller's absence...

...I tried to keep busy to ward off loneliness, with mixed success.

Unquestionably, the high points were visiting with my new friend, Susanna (and her adorable son, Micah), and my old friends, Mike and Cathi Herrod. I met Susanna through City Church. We have in common, among other things, English Lit degrees, being sandwiched between two sisters, being raised by parents who got radically saved during the Jesus People Movement, pregnancy, newerish marriages, and a love for Christ our Savior. She is ahead of me in mothering, so I get to benefit from the wisdom of her experience and her joy in parenting. She is such a happy mama!!! Susanna's anecdotes and interactions with her son make me eager for the arrival of my daughter.

Cathi was my supervisor for almost two years at the Center for Arizona Policy, an organization she now leads very well. She is also an important mentor of the Titus 2 variety. She and Mike have invested a lot of time and resources in me, even letting me stay at their home on occasion! They are also both attorneys, so I look to their marriage as a model for Mr. Miller and me. Mike and Cathi were in NYC this weekend visiting The King's College with their daughter. They graciously made time in their schedule to share conversation with me on the first floor of the Empire State Building. It was a blessing and a bit of Arizona joy in the midst an otherwise rainy, solitary afternoon.

Road-trip wonders, or 9 states in 9 days

Between Mr. Miller's last day at O'Melveny and our return to Brooklyn, we took a road-trip across the West. Our trip covered nine states in nine days. We did not see much of the terrain because we traveled 2/3 of the trip at night in order to maximize our time with visiting people.

Journey/Leg I: With the car weighed down by our many boxes and suitcases, we traveled from Orange County through California and Oregon to Kennewick, Washington. There, we spent five relaxing days with Keith's immediate family: Dennis, Christine, Annie, and Arthur. Chris and Dennis hosted a wedding reception where I met many of their old friends and neighbors. I also reconnected with the many members of Mr. Miller's extended family, including my cousin Jen.

Chris and Annie prepared quite a spread for the reception. It intimidated the crowd until a few brave souls ventured for it. The rest of the people followed like locust.

The cooks...the couple.

Sadly, I took no other pictures of the reception because I was too busy gabbing.

Mr. Miller's big project during our stay in Washington was going through fifteen boxes of his papers and treasures accumulated over the last 27 years. Going through the boxes triggered many special memories, which he shared with me. I learned so much more about his childhood. He had a hard time parting with anything, including these old newspapers reporting the 1987 world series and the cold war.

After toil and tears, he successfully winnowed fifteen boxes down to twelve. We packed as many of the boxes into our car as possible to store in Phoenix until our move to California next year.

Perhaps my favorite times were conversations with the family over meals.

Before we left, we attended the county fair. There, I tried funnel cake for the first time, and ate the famous "Beaver burrito."

We also had the opportunity to watch Uncle Craig and Uncle Brian perform with their respective bands.

Brian's BandThe FansBrothers Rock-out

Journey/Leg II: Another night of driving, this time through Oregon, Idaho (hello, Boise!), Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. We arrived at Michael and Christine Francisco's home shortly before dinner. Michael, Keith's best friend and best man at his wedding, greeted us at the door with a wary looking Geneva--his six-month old daughter. After a couple minutes, Geneva resumed her nearly perpetual state of smiling.

For the text 34 hours, we shared meals, talked, played cards, and smiled at the baby. Christina and I watched Becoming Jane, which was a disappointment. The film's Jane Austin is more akin to Lydia Bennet than Lizzie. The Rockies provided better entertainment that night with their come back to beat the Nationals in the ninth inning.

Journey/Leg III: We opted for a normal night's rest instead of driving. Rising early on Saturday, we drove through Colorado and New Mexico to Arizona. We had daydreams of a leisurely steak dinner at my parent's home in Gilbert but a three-plus hour traffic delay outside of Phoenix instead brought us home at midnight.

The next day, we began our journey back to New York City, thankful to not be driving. Not that we disliked the road-trip. We saw dear friends and family. We became acquainted with half of the gas stations in the West (an eventuality of pregnancy). And, we saw a lot of small town America and no-town America (i.e., most of southern Wyoming). Not bad for nine days.

A Final View of Phoenix