From Minneapolis to El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula

Living Quarters - Two days after moving to California, I found a beautiful place to live with a wonderful family in North Hills (on the border of Northridge). I live in a lovely blue Colonial house with a mom and dad; their 16-year-old son (I finally get to "try out" that brother I've always wanted); and their dog, Champ. Currently there is work being done in the backyard as they are putting in a pool, hot tub, and grotto. Should be done by Christmas!

Job - It took me a little longer to find work. But three weeks ago, OfficeTeam placed me in a Temp-to-Hire position at a Jewish High School. I'm the Front Receptionist in the office where my main job description is multi-tasking! But what a neat environment. I'm also learning / teaching myself Hebrew and currently working on learning the alphabet. (Thankfully, I have many resources to assist me...many teachers at the school are fluent.)

Seasons...? - While Minnesota has two seasons (Winter & Construction), California has two seasons as well. Summer & Summerer. A week after arriving here, it reached highs of 117. At night, we found relief when it cooled down to somewhere in the range of 89-91 degrees F. It's now mid-90-ish during the day, but cools down to about 70-ish at night.

A month ago, when I walked into a Starbucks and found they were promoting their seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte, I smirked thinking, they totally put their Fall drink out waaaay too early. It's nowhere near Autumn yet. Oh, wait!... It still feels like the middle of summer here! Not only that, but ridiculous of all ridiculous, stores have had Christmas decorations up for three weeks now! It's just so wrong in 90-degree weather.

Church - Now attending Grace Community Church, home of John MacArthur, I am adjusting to a new "church schedule" (Sunday morning services, Sunday School, Sunday Evening services, and Wednesday night services - all with different messages), as well as trying to get plugged in with a new church group, Hillside, my Bible Study within Crossroads, the Young Adults Ministry at Grace. I'm also starting to remember Bethlehem as the "little" church I used to attend, as Grace is about 9,000-strong. It's wonderful to sit under the teaching of Pastor John, No. 2. And Rick Holland is a fantastic College Pastor; I appreciate his teaching so much! (I miss Pastor John [Piper] terribly.)

Language Barrier - There are two, actually. Being Minnesooooootan, I talk a particular way...and, like, totally not like I'm from, like, the West Coast, or anything! Yeah, duh! No one seems to process the word 'pop.' They all cock their heads to the side and give me a wary look until I realize that I am, in fact, having 'soda.' (I will not convert to saying soda. It is pop and always will be.)

The other is far more prominent due to the overwhelming population of zero-English-speaking-Mexicans who somehow landed a job that services the public. Consider the following conversation:
Armchair: Hi, I'd like to find out how much a man's haircut costs.
Lady: Y'u wan' haircut?
A: No, I'd like to know how much one costs.
L: Ok. Haircut?
A: No, how much?
L: One o'clock haircut, ok?

Gym - After frequenting World Gym for about a month with Armchair, it has become a favorite activity several days a week. My most recent accomplishment was 4 pie (360 lbs.) on seated leg press. YEAH BUDDY!

Appearance - The aim of this paragraph is to announce the new addition to my face: a pierced nose!

Any more updates? - I'm sure there's much more to share, but that's all for tonight. Hope that catches many up on where I've been the last...several...days.