suprise!

Monday night, Michelle Anthony hosted a Christmas Party for our Family Ministry staff. It was a tacky sweater party so we (almost) all showed up in ugly sweaters! Michelle gathered us all outside and took some group photos, and then gave a toast. It was awesome, and I figured we'd go back to the food and laughter pretty quickly...

...i was wrong...

Alex stepped forward and said that he wanted to make a toast as well. He said that he was thankful for Family Ministries because that's where we met, and that he's fallen in love with me. At that point my memory is a fog because i saw him walk forward and start to reach in his pocket to get something. I knew he was going to propose and I was so excited. I started laughing and crying and the same time! He got down on one knee (and neither of us can remember what he said!) and asked me to marry him...

...of course I said YES!!!. Chantal (Michelle's daughter) was snapping pictures the entire time. Michael prayed a blessing over us, and I quickly removed my tacky sweater for the second round of photos!

I don't think either of us could be any happier! It was great that he did it with our ENTIRE family ministries team (minus Brianna who caught my sickness!) who really has walked alongside us for the past 6 months. Kit, Tommy, Keri and Michelle were in on it, and Alex was very smart to not tell any of the gals I work with because I was completely surprised! It was a great night, and there's only more goodtimes to look forward to! The question of the hour is...so, when's the big day?? And honestly we have no idea! We just got engaged 2 days ago! I will definitely keep everyone informed on the wedding planning...as soon as there are some plans to tell! I don't have the pics from Chantal yet, but here are some shots minus the tacky sweaters::

the big present

So for Alex's surprise, I blindfolded him and we headed up to Anaheim Hills where a friend of ours had set up for Alex to take rides in some amazing cars! He didn't know where we were until we started driving uphill and didn't stop driving uphill for quite a while! He figured it out, but was super excited anyways!! He was able to ride in the Ferrari Enzo, and a Bugatti. Neither of us had even heard of a Bugatti, but it is the coolest car I've ever seen! Here are some fun pics of the day...

Leadership Christmas

Last night we (the church staff) held an event to thank and honor our leaders forthe past year. The decor was very "winter wonderlandy" and there was even a white carpet for our wonderful leaders to walk down! It was a super fun event complete with amazing desserts, two gameshows, the craziest version of The Twelve Days of Christmas you'll ever see, and dancing!! I must admit the dancing was my favorite part! We had so much fun being silly and the best part of the night....i got ALEX out on the dancefloor!!!

This is such a fun season....our next party is monday, and we will be wearing the UGLIEST sweaters you've ever seen!

p.s. I am giving Alex his Christmas present tomorrow so there will be pictures up soon. It's a BIG suprise and i think he is going to be so excited he might pass out....stay tuned for the pics....

little chefs

Yesterday I took Maliah to her cooking class...she had tons of fun and it was super cute to watch :)


in my car... then eating her creation

making dessert and loving the chocolate frosting!

finally

I've been meaning to post pictures of this for a couple of weeks now, but i've been waiting for alex to upload them :) on October 20&21, we launched four new classrooms in children's ministry. Two of the rooms are mine and i am super proud of them! There is a dot room, and a candyland room. Andrea Reece helped me with the design and the wonderful boyfriends and husbands of the kids ministry staff, and some faithful volunteers helped me bring the design to life!

...and you can see what alex's favorite part of the new room is!

girls night out

Last night, 17 of the ladies on staff went to see Wicked! It was definitely stressful trying to finish up work and be ready to leave at 5, but it was well worth it! I had so much fun with the girls, and the show was pretty amazing too. I feel like the last person on earth to see it, but so glad that i did get to experience it. if you haven't seen it, you definitely should, because it's amazing!

now it's back to the craziness of trying to open two brand new classrooms this weekend...

back

because Jeannie called me this morning and told me that i need to keep up the blog, i will TRY to not be a super slacker and make this thing worth while!..and since i'm now addicted to facebook, i can post this on there like nicole does!

so how about a quick update on the life of angelina...

...well, i've been sick recently which is not fun...fever...chills...badtimes...
...2 new preschool rooms open up next week, and you better believe that there will be pictures as soon as we finish decorating because they are going to be SO CUTE!!
...today is my first day off in 3 weeks!! and i plan to do nothing...

well, that's all for now...time to get back to the nothingness that i was doing before jeannie called.

goodbye blog.

so i think going three months without a post means that i am a blogging failure! no one probably reads this anymore, or ever did, so i am officially done blogging. goodbye blogging world.

because you asked...

okay so people in the non-myspace, non-rockharbor worlds have been asking to see pictures of me and alex (well not really me...just alex...so here you go (jenny!):

håkan inge backman.

today i woke up to a phone call from none other than håkan!! I missed his call on wednesday and almost cried becaus i miss him sooo much! so yah, it was great to be woken up by one of your best friends from halfway across the world! (håkan lives in sweden) We had a great conversation and of course there was TONS of laughter because i don't think there's anyone that can make me laugh harder!! and the best news is that he has a layover in LA this september and i get to see him...so what if it's only for 4 hours!! YAY!

it's going to be a good day.

busy.

i think that's my only excuse for not blogging. i am a busy slacker.

so i guess some updates are in order...

1. i am moving to costa mesa this weekend...

2. i am dating an amazing guy....

3. as of july 1, i will be full time at RH

that's pretty much it for now i guess! time to work...

because i don't want to be one angry muchacha....

...i will blog.

i really don't have a whole lot to say...i hung out with steph and kaelyn last night, and here's a little bit of the action:






that's all for now...must go shopping...

time for a little rant...

now it may be late and i am probably cranky, but i am really seriously sick and tired of people taking political views and claiming that (or at least implying) their view should be the blanket christian view on a topic. believe it or not people, Jesus had no party affiliation, no stance on many of the minors that people battle over. please can we stop sounding like idiots and practice what Jesus DID preach....LOVE GOD. LOVE OTHERS. bottom line.

okay i'm done now...maybe i shouldn't read blogs late at night...or maybe i just shouldn't read them anymore!

theiheartrevolution

tonight i made a hillsong united cd for amy with some of my favorite united songs. there is no doubt that hillsong has some amazing worship leaders that are undeniably annointed by God. so i decided to start reading about what they're doing and i came across a blog posting by joel houston (the leader of united) that talks about THE I HEART REVOLUTION project that they've got coming in 2008. It really inspired me. Let me know what you think...Here's what he said:



THE I HEART REVOLUTION

I have a t-shirt.. it has an "I" which I'm thinking is in particular reference to the person bearing the garment.. a heart – which has accordingly become the universal symbol for love.. and an "N standing along side a Y" – which is intended to refer specifically to the city of New York as opposed to other acronymic possibilities such as "nebulous youth" or "ned's yaught"

Now I just like the t-shirt.. but the truth is; i heart ny.. I really do.. it's an incredible city; the skyline.. the lights.. the landmarks.. the frenetic pace of it all with it's orchestra of sirens, car horns and life in motion.. a statue called liberty? Banana coloured taxis.. the sky lost amongst scrapers.. and in the midst of it all a jungle within a jungle pretending to be a park.. I love it.. there's intrigue and character to be found around every corner.. it's a city of a thousand personalities.. a cocktail of cultures and colours fused together to create a landscape that in many ways has become a symbol of the modern era.. but what makes new york new york.. and what I love most about the place; is the people.. they are in truth it's definition.. they are the movement, the energy, the life within the structures.. they are the landscape the sound-scape.. the history and the future.. they are ny.. and they are what I heart..

see the world is a place made up of places.. and every place has a history.. and every place's history is reflected in what becomes it's culture.. and culture itself is defined through its people.. and the people; well, they are the future… and the future is now..

so then - looking at it in the same light but from the other side of the room; at this moment in history, we are the people in the places.. and we are the ones defining cultures.. and we are the ones creating history.. and so the question must be asked…. If we are the future; how's it gonna look..??

I don't know about you.. but if our generation is remembered for ipods, myspace, and youtube we missed it.. if history speaks of our generation as self indulgent pioneers of the digital age, reality television and purpose built celebrity we'll have failed.. the world will change by itself.. for better or for worse.. it changes daily.. but who will be the ones to shape it.. and how will it look?

in and of itself revolution is neither good or bad.. revolution represents change.. a shift in culture.. History is marked by revolutions.. social and political.. some have represented victory, freedom and justice, however on the flip-side.. too many have become infamous representations of despair, oppression and injustice.. all it takes for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing.. for the church – the hands and feet of Jesus and His plan for the salvation of this big, broken sphere of dirt, water and life we temporarily call home, this has never sounded with more urgency.. it's time for a revolution.. fuelled by a dissatisfaction with self-centred living and complacent faith.. driven by a desire for truth, love and justice..

that's what this is all about…
every generation needs a revolution.. and this one needs to look, sound, walk and breathe like love..

it's not a new concept.. it's an eternal concept.. it's the reason we are alive.. it's the fundemental call of what it means to be a follower of Christ..

Love God.. love people.. that's it.. that's the revolution.. revolutionary I know.. but if we understand what that means.. if we get it.. if we establish in our thinking how that looks.. and we start living it.. we will change the world.. it's not so much about the big stuff.. it's just about the stuff.. it's about the people in the places being the answer - in the places.. and together; becoming the answer to the big stuff.. it's about your backyard.. it's about my backyard..

The world has watered love down to slogans and t-shirts.. lollipop pop songs and popcorn munching excursions in visual indulgence... all of which are fine.. but we throw the word around.. we confuse it's definition.. we diminish our understanding of God's command.. love is the quintessential human emotion.. it is the desire of every human being to experience, and in turn express love.. and God himself IS love.. and he desires to be loved.. and who are the carriers of His spirit..?? it's us…

So that's the call.. that's the mission.. that's what this is all about..

A generation expressing their worship; moreso expressing their heart for worship in the action of love.. toward God.. and toward the world we live in.. and the people who inhabit it.. it's not about highlighting the darkness.. it's about becoming the light that diminishes the darkness.. it's the gospel.. and it is now..
we're all in this together..
much love...

joel

((please note: this is not called 'I heart revolution… we don't love revolution.. we're a part of a revolution fuelled by our love for God.. our love for life.. and our love for people.. it's called "the I heart revolution.."))

oh, and fyi, the new hillsong album releases in the USA on May 22....it's already out other places so you CAN get it if you really want.

AI

i just caught up on the you tube videos of the performances from eariler this week, and whatever you may think about americal idol, this performance was freakin amazing. i will be sad when this guy goes home, but i don't think that idol is the last we'll be seeing of blake lewis.

1 reason i shouldnt be married, and 32 why i should've been at coachella

a friend to be left nameless had the opportunity to go to coachella this past weekend and turned it down because his wife didn't want to go. i think that this is the perfect reason why i am NOT ready to be married...if my spouse didn't want to go i would peace out and say have a great weekend! HA!

and let's see some reasons why i should have been at coachella this weekend:

Bjork
Interpol
Arctic Monkeys
Sonic Youth
Rufus Wainwright
Stephen Marley featuring Jr. Gong
Nickel Creek
Silversun Pickups
Tilly and the Wall
Amy Winehouse
Red Hot Chili Peppers
the Arcade Fire
the Decemberists
the Good, The Bad and The Queen
Travis
the Rapture
LCD Soundsystem
Blonde Redhead
the New Pornographers
Regina Spektor
Ozomatli
Ghostface Killah
Rage Against The Machine
the Roots
Kaiser Chiefs
Damien Rice
Placebo
Explosions in the Sky
Lily Allen
Amos Lee
the Kooks
Mika

july 13 is the best day ever...

so my good friend christopher tagged me for this birthday thing. apparently a lot of stuff has happend on my bithday but here are the things that peaked my interest...

1837 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom moves into the first Buckingham Palace in London and is the first British monarch to live there.

1923 - The Hollywood Sign is officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles. It originally reads "Hollywoodland " but the four last letters are dropped after renovation in 1949.

1983 - Around 3,000 Tamils were slaughtered by Sinhalese Buddhist majority in Sri Lanka and some 400,000 Tamils fled to neighboring Tamil Nadu, India and a lot found refuge in Europe and Canada. This incident, known as Black July led directly to beginning of civil war in Sri Lanka. this is a little interesting considering i have been to sri lanka and have a HUGE heart for the people!

oh and guess who i share a birthday with??.....one of the Caesars....nobody else was really interesting!

tru

STN

so we all know that there is a very special place in my heart for
surfing the nations. I think this organization is awesome and the people that commit their lives are absolutely amazing! I just saw the roll out for the new steelroots tv show that Russell Brownley just finished. It's a show for steelroots, and here's the roll out...hope you like it! I personally can't wait for it!

move over taquita and kaui!!!

so i'm now accepting resumes for videographers who would like to film the crazy antics of roxeanne and i. today we had so much fun, and really we make ourselves laugh so much so i think that if we had our own show, we would make a lot of other people laugh too....the only problem is that we might drive phil absolutely crazy....hmm that may be a chance that we have to take!

so i started off the day thinking that we would go to the alley to go purse shopping, and then head back to the oc for some work time...little did i know that i would get lost trying to get there (it helps if you turn the right way when you exit the freeway!) and then decide that we really need to go to H&M so that we wouldn't have to deal with the crowds at the new one in south coast plaza. well i know that the beverly center is on la cienega before melrose, and i've always taken the 10, asked for a little help with directions, and still got lost!! we ended up making a huge circle before finally finding the la cienega exit! woohoo! i didn't find as much as i usually do, but maybe that's because i was just there a few weeks ago! but yeah, it was fun, and then we had delicious chipotle...afterwards we decided that we were going to try out pinkberry frozen yogurt because roxeanne had been seeing it in magazines and stuff, so yeah we got directions, and even wrote them down, but roxeanne threw them away right after on accident!!! we were just talking about how we lose things!! HA! it was pretty freaking awesome....oh yeah, and we got caught in a wind tunnell and had old man twins sit right by us....AMAZING!

i'm getting tired but i feel like so many funny things happened that i should write about, but maybe y'all will need to wait for the show....but what will the theme song be??

oh and in case you didn't get the memo....this week is FAT week, so enjoy it!

ROCKHARBOR in the news...

we got some good press this weekend, i feel like we were represented well which is always questionable when dealing with the press.

You can check it out here: http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1645550.php

24 is the best show ever...don't read this if you're not up to date with the show!

yet again...24 blows my mind! so after dinner tonight, i decided to relax with a little bit of 24 (like it's really possible to relax during that show!). i watched monday's episode, and let me tell you, it was AMAZING! peace out Fayed! "say hello to your brother."--jack bauer. wow. jack is a badass. he always has been, it just keeps getting more intense! and audrey is back...granted she is being held captive by the stupid chinese guy that had jack, but we all know that jack cannot be beaten by the chinese. i can't wait to see how he's going to make them pay for mistreating the love of his life! wow, i think that i am way too into this show....

...in other entertainment news, this is the first time that i have watched more than the season finale of American Idol, and i must tell you i do have a favorite...i don't think he's going to win, but Blake is definitely my favorite!

tomorrow holds a trip to LA with Roxeanne so maybe i should clean out my car....eh, why not wait till the morning?! let's see, i think it's time for some sleep, it's early, but hey i've got some cleaning to do in the morning before LA!

hmmm...

So, first things first...Easter week. I don't even know what to say about easter because there's so much! it was crazy....CRAZY...125 kids first service, and about 70 second service! we had tons of volunteers, but still 125 kids in one tent is going to be crazy regardless of the amount of help! it was such a fun morning, and i really do think the kids had a great time, and hopefully learned something!

i have enjoyed my time off...shopping a little too much, but hey i earned it! roxeanne is on spring break so we've been having lots of fun. i might gain 20 pounds this week, but i'm going to be having fun! HA!

i've been staying in irvine this week,and it's so nice to be in a big house all by myself...i used to think that there's no way i would want to live by myself, but i actually do like it!

i really have nothing entertaining right now, and i need to get into work, so i guess that's all. boring. sorry.

happy day

happy day is a song off of tim hughes' newest album...they've been playing it at RH, and i LOVE it...that's right, it gets capitals! it makes me soooo happy! imagine that!

good friday and easter are so close, and while i'm excited, i'm also terrified...6 weeks on the job and already a huge event...yikes! i have to-do lists, and supply lists written out but instead of them going down it seems like they keep getting bigger! i know that God is in this, and that it's all going to work out, i just don't want to mess up...but no worries...i'll just listen to happy day again! :)

current obsessions

*dustin kensrue's album "Please Come Home"
*Rediscovering Alex!
*easter....my mind is constantly on all things playhouse/easter related
*diet CHERRY pepsi
*baking! (too bad i can't eat it because of slim fast...."
*Golden Spoon!

I was able to see Jenny and Darrenn twice this week when i didn't expect to see them at all! AND i had dinner with Phil and Roxeanne last night, AND i get to have lunch with Will tonight...it's like a Revolution extravaganza right now and it makes my life wonderful!

okay so blogger is making my title post look like some sort of middle easter text....not exactly what i am going for...oh well, who needs titles anyway?? so yeah, i am moving at lightning speed and i am actually really enjoying it. we are so busy at RH with the GO campaign, and Easter, and my kids are singing this weekend in The Centre! i'm really excited, they know the song super well and i think everyone will love seeing them...hopefully people will think that they are so cute they will want them to serve in The Playhouse on Easter!! Easter is going to be off the hook people...seriuosly, a 60x60 ft. PLAYHOUSE!! how stinking awesome is that?! I'm excited to see how it all turns out! i guess that's all i have to say except i FINALLY get to see Will on Friday! YAY!

bills, bills, bills

so not having health insurance is pretty new to me...and so i've been making payments on all these bills from when i was sick after bangladesh...some of them are starting to get down to a reasonable amount where i don't feel like i'm drowning in them, but it still sucks...the best part is that not only do you get the hospital bill, you also get the lab bill, AND the doctor's bill...oh yeah, and 2 tylenol cost $200!! is that ridiculous or what?! my mom should have just given them to me out of her purse!! it's crazy how every little tiny thing costs so much! it's time to get health insurance!!

while searching online for curriculum for Good Friday, I came across this poem of sorts. I'm not quite sure why this hits my heart so deep, but it does. the way it's put together on the website is really cheesy, but the truth that it holds is weighing on my heart (and i hope that someday i can live up to all of this!!) so i thought i'd share:

I am a minister. I minister to the largest mission field in the world. I minister to children.

My calling is sure. My challenge is big. My vision is clear. My desire is strong. My influence is eternal. My impact is critical. My values are solid. My faith is tough. My mission is urgent. My purpose is unmistakable. My direction is forward. My heart is genuine. My strength is supernatural. My reward is promised. And my God is real.

In a world of cynicism I offer hope. In a world of confusion I offer truth. In a world of immorality I offer values. In a world of neglect I offer attention. In a world of abuse I offer safety. In a world of ridicule I offer affirmation. In a world of division I offer reconciliation. In a world of bitterness I offer forgiveness. In a world of sin I offer salvation. In a world of hate I offer God's love.

I refuse to be dismayed, disengaged, disgruntled, or distracted. Neither will I look back, stand back, fall back, or sit back. I do not need applause, flattery, adulation, prestige, stature, or veneration. I do not have time for business as usual, mediocre standards, small thinking, outdated methods, normal expectations, average results, ordinary ideas, petty disputes, or low vision. I will not give up, give in, bail out, lie down, turn over, quit or surrender.

I will pray when things look bad. I will pray when things look good. I will move forward when others stand still. I will trust in God when obstacles arise. I will work when the task is overwhelming. I will get up when I fall down.

My calling is to reach boys and girls for God. It is too serious to be taken lightly, too urgent to be postponed, too vital to be ignored, too relevant to be overlooked, too significant to be trivialized, too eternal to be fleeting, and too passionate to be quenched.

I know my mission. I know my challenge. I also know by limitations, my weaknesses, my fears, and my problems. And I know my God. Let others get the praise. Let the church get the blessing. Let God get the glory.

I am a minister. I minister to children. This is who I am. This is what I do.

By:Roger Fields

swedes.

i love swedes. really i do. i have been babysitting for a swedish family recently and they are wonderful, and this past thursday, i was able to talk to Ola and Håkan on the phone...two of my favorite swedes! Hakan said something that i really needed to hear. "enjoy life angelina." so simple, but so needed! i love my swedes!

mid-march resolutions

so i totally missed the boat with new year's resolutions. i have however been doing a little self-examination over the past couple of days, and realized a couple of things that i'd really like to change. so, i have 3 goals for myself:

1. use my time wisely...free time has gone from something i had an abundance of to something i need to cherish because it comes so seldom these days...with that, i've decided to greatly decrease on the amount of tv i watch. seriously, i think i'll try to keep it down to 24 and the hills...wow, that's a big step for me, but i think it will be worth it. maybe i will actually finish one of the 12 books i'm in the middle of....

2. i'm on a shopping fast...when kristin and tessa left, i decided to go on a shopping fast. the amount of money i spend on clothes, shoes, accessories, stationary, and so many other wonderful things is ridiculous! absolutely ridiculous. so, being that i spent an obscene amount of money over the past two weeks, i will not be shopping for anything for myself. i have a few gifts to buy, but other than that, it's neccessity only. this is definitely going to be the hardest one for me.

3. working out needs to be a priority...not because i want to lose weight, although what girl doesn't?...but more because i always feel so good after a nice run. and trust me, i'm not running fast, or for lond distance, but a great jog makes my life so much better...so yeah, i need to get on that.

so there you have it, these are my new goals for myself. i hope that i can stick with it. and the real reason i am putting these things on here is so that if you hear me talking about some random show, or my cute new shoes, you all can get on my case and hold me accountable!

bangladesh.

so, i have been getting so amped for bangladesh. i know it's like 8 months away, and i don't even know if i will be able to go, but hopefully by then i will get some time off. anyways, that's not really the point. the point is that i love this country. after i heard the girls on last years team talk about how crazy and insane it was, i wasn't sure why i wanted to go to bangladesh, but i knew that even with their intense stories, i had to go. I can actually remember the moment that i knew that i was being called to bangladesh. the guys from last year's team were sharing with our high schoolers and i knew. BAM! just like that i knew. it's one of the clearest things i've ever heard in my life. so....all that to say that i realize as much as i've talked about it, a picture says a thousand words, so here are some photos to tell the story....