Oh Enero!

January... has been an interesting month and yet a good way to start a new semester. It's weird to think this is my fourth semester of college already... it's going by FAR too fast! Anyways, let's talk about the month of enero (january). I feel like listing them in bullet points simply because most people like bullet points right? I will elaborate from there on...

January 4-11 ::

- Snowboarding in Mammoth

This picture was too good to leave out from your blogging eyes: My brother in a gondola in mammoth.

- Picked up Allison at LAX after 3 weeks in Boise

- Went to an art show in Fullerton: My brother plays stand up bass with a few friends who have started their music career through their songwriting and this night he played with his friend Ryan Welch, Tim, Cory Adams, and my Dad in front of a full house are artsy friends. The room was honestly packed. Fun night!

- Drove to San Diego to start school...

January 11-18 ::

- Started classes: This semester I'm taking 17 units. First time for everything! Here are my classes... World Literature (at 7:30am.. ), Christian Tradition (with an awesome prof), World History (my class looks out at the ocean!), Spanish II (Se habla espanol?), Voice Class (time to brush up on the pipes).

- Gave my first tour of PLNU on monday in over a month. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays at 10:30am. I'll give you folks a tour!

- Drove a van to The Salvation Army in Downtown SD to feed hungry people

- Lead worship in Time out for the first time in 4 weeks.. really nice to be back in the swing of things.

- Played in Chapel on monday and got the call to play on friday at 7am that morning...

January 18-25 ::

- Kayaking: Rented Kayaks from the Rec Room on Sunday and made a day of it in the La Jolla Cove. Allison and I rented a double Kayak and right before I went to purposefully tip us over at the end of the day, she yelled, "GARE, SHARK!" We were floating above 8 Leopard Sharks within 40 feet of the shore in the cove. They were at least 4 feet long! Glad I didn't tip us ;)

- We drove all the way to downtown and realized that I left the ors on the shore in La Jolla Cove

- I had a really raw and genuine experience of worship in the Time Out service on wednesday night. A full band played with me and the set was:

1) You're Beautiful- Phil Wickham

2) Hosanna- Hillsong

3) Beautiful Lord- Leeland

4) Glory In The Highest- Chris Tomlin

5) Beautiful One- Tim Hughes

6) Rain Down- Delirious

Obviously the theme of the night had an element of God's beauty and seeing Him through the eyes of our Creator. My friend Kasey just returned from studying abroad in Costa Rica last semester, which I highly recommend in college and something that I really want to do, and he spoke on the love that God has for us and how we are shown that love through the natural world everyday.

- Allison and I ate at a really great Thai Restaurant called Spice and Rich Thai Kitchen in La Jolla the next weekend and after saw Slum Dog Millionaire after. It was really well done. Deserves many awards.

- Skating = Sprained Ankle. Went long boarding with some friends on Saturday and the first hill we bombed, I went straight down, getting WAY too much speed and took a wide turn before hitting a major street because there was a good amount of loose gravel on the inside turn. I couldn't make the turn in time and ended up running into a curb that launched me across the divider. The bottom of my foot took a pretty bad hit against the edge of the curb seeing that it was the first point of contact to cause any type of slowing down. So this past week I've been either on crutches or hobbling around but nonetheless, I'll make it past the bruising and swelling.

This week has been tough academically, physically (FOR SURE!), and spiritually. God has been teaching me about His character through life and wise people sharing their wealth of knowledge with me. And here I am on Friday afternoon so thankful for the weekend. My friend Kyle came down to visit for the day so we're going to do some exploring so I gotta run but I hope you're all doing well :)

grace and peace

G

Ps: if you are lactose intolerant or know someone who is, tell them not to eat pizza even if they take lactose pills beforehand. Es no bueno por el estomago!