The Reverend Brian Ward

It's official.  Brian is called and ordained. We gathered with family and members of his home church, St. John's Lutheran, on Thursday night to celebrate Brian's ordination into ministry.  After nearly 10 inches of rain and still falling,we were reminded once again of our rainy wedding and our new trend of celebrating big events in the rain.  Many kind people made it to join the celebration despite flooded basements or washed out roads, and a very meaningful event was created to welcome Brian into his ministry.  Delicious food was served by many busy ladies in the kitchen, and tables full of desserts were shared following the service.  So many people came together to support Brian in his ordination, and he reflected on the many who have supported him all along his journey.

For a nice blog post about the ordination visit http://stpaulfullerton.blogspot.com/ which is the St. Paul Lutheran Church blog. 

Riding along

A quick stop in Colorado for the night, complete with pasta dinner from mom, and breakfast in Denver with Jenna and Dad!  We all had yummy and cheap breakfast burritos, while dad ate up his spicy Mexican jalapeno biscuits and gravy. He is a sucker for biscuits and gravy!



Then back on the road for us by late morning on Tuesday! A long but good drive for us newly weds, revisiting the mid-west which we so recently moved away from.  We read aloud Eat, Pray, Love, listened to Radio Lab podcasts, and made it late into Minnesota with rain hitting us just an hour from Mapleton.  Lots and lots of rain now here in Southern Minnesota.  They are saying 9 inches of rain in the last 24 hours (which would be normal rainfall for 3 months!), and it is just now letting up.  More to come on Brian's ordination which is coming up this evening!  Think of him as he officially enters his ministry as an Ordained Pastor of the Lutheran Church!

On the Road Again...

You may be asking why we are so quickly back on the road after just settling in to our little haven in California.  We have two primary motivations for this trek, and several secondary advantages.  The first and foremost reason we are headed back to Minnesota is Brian's ordination which will be on Thursday in Mapleton, MN.  The second reason is the wedding of Shannon and Alex.  Shannon is a Ward side cousin, and we are happy to be able to make it to their celebration this weekend.  And of course as we travel across the country we get to see a lot of family members who live in the states between the West Coast and the Mid-West.  So after just a week and a half of living in California, here we are on vacation!   

First stop: Phoenix, Arizona.  We made it to my sister and brother-in-law's house on the Northern side of Phoenix by Sunday evening.  Chris and Alyssa, and their two dogs, cat, turtle and pet rats welcomed us to their home and shared with us a day of fun in the desert!  We spent Monday together mostly focused on food (good, fun, fresh, and sometimes Vegan food).  Alyssa is eating vegan these days and shared with us some of her favorite raw and/or vegan recipes.  We also did some site seeing in Cave Creek, a little area North of Phoenix that has some shops and local artisan work to peruse.

Monday night we adventured with vegan and gluten free bread. While I experimented with the grains and binders, Alyssa made a delicious sweet potato lettuce wrap dish, with chard.  Her coconut milk, lime, and herb dressing for the wrap was oh-so-good along with a warm piece of the bread fresh out of the oven.  It was all so good we couldn't stop oohing and awing all through consumption.

The evening ended with a trip to their favorite yogurt place, Mojo. Yummy frozen yogurt was eaten by all!

We had such a great time with Christopher and Alyssa, and we are excited for upcoming visits, since we now live only 6 hours away from them in the South West!   Many more food adventures to come!  Thanks for the great hospitality Alysstopher!  We love you!

An Inside View

 Welcome to our apartment in Brooklake complex. Clean carpet thanks to Brian and a donated vacuum from church a church member.

 Looking from our front door into the apartment.

                                                          

This room is self explanatory :)

Here is our new bed. For three months we slept on floors, air mattresses, futons, and many other borrowed platforms for sleeping.  Now we have our very own bed together. 

The most important part of any living space is of course the kitchen. We will spend lots of time in this space cooking together, possibly quarreling, which we happen to do frequently when we cook together :) Tonight, however, Brian got the kitchen all to himself to make some delicious dinner while I was busy blogging.   

Boxed Dinner

Tonight's dinner made entirely by Chef Brian Ward.  Homemade tortillas and fajita fixin's all on top of our very own kitchen table/box. We are in the process of acquiring a table, but in the mean time, we have this lovely box which serves the purpose just nicely. Yummy dinner with my husband!  As you can see, dinner was delicious!

Wonderful skillet thanks to Chris and Brittany.  Box/Table provided by the Lisells who bought us our pots and pans!

                                                  Have a great Friday night everyone!!

California Residents

Here we are: La Habra, California. Newly married and ready for adventure.  Our adventures have brought us here, to Northern Orange County, where trails wind through the city, rolling hills surround us, and the ocean is just 45 minutes to the West.  We are new to the South Coast, and the things we are learning include a challenge to both ski and surf in one day, and a warning to prepare for the dreaded Santa Ana Winds that come from the East, blowing hot dry air.

We have unpacked our boxes that were filled with yet-to-be used wedding presents and clothing that have been stored away for 3 months. Piece by piece we are acquiring furniture to fill our empty apartment.  Our big purchases: a new mattress and bed frame, and a new refrigerator. And of course generosity from the congregation has provided us with a couch, end tables, bookcase, desk, lamps, and a vacuum cleaner! And I have spent many hours spending gift cards to further domesticate ourselves with belongings including cleaning supplies, cooking supplies, and bedding.  

What are we doing here?  Brian is joining St. Paul Lutheran Church in Fullerton as Mission Outreach Pastor.  And for me, other than the role of pastor's wife, I am looking for work, and have a potential job opportunity at a residential treatment home for teenage girls and their babies. Oh teenage girls, we all know the drama that comes with that stage in life! So I have lot's of patience to build up as I head into that lion's den.

Brian and I wish to share our lives with you as we embark on our adventures of marriage, careers, and life in California. We aren't sure if our stories will be interesting to you, or fun to read about at all. But we nonetheless want to write about domestic life together in this crazy new state.