The Housewarming Party

Today was an extremely simple day.  There wasn't anything particularly interesting other than the housewarming party we have been planning to go to all week.  Before I get into the details of what happened, here are a few tidbits.

The housewarming party was for a couple named Jenny and Eugene, a Korean couple with two (adorable) kids that we met at Kaleo Church on Sunday.  Normally, they have a Bible study, but they just moved into a really nice place that's literally three minutes away from our apartment.  It's one of the houses on the cliff that we keep wondering what would happen if there ever was a rain storm here.

The party was pot luck style and we signed up via an evite for what to bring.  Jenny was making lasagna, so I decided salad would be a good simple thing to bring.  These Californians are all fit and toned, so salad seemed like a safe bet.  Dustyn and I headed to the grocery store around 4:30 to purchase the items we needed.  Once in Ralph's (one of the grocery store brands here) we went to the fresh vegetable section.  I picked up red and green bell peppers, a cucumber, an avocado (to please the Californians), and then headed over to the pre-packaged salad section.  

This is exactly where the problem began.  The big bags of salad all had sections that were brown and gooey.  Yuck.  So, after skimming through five or six of these bags and not being happy, I decided we would just have to go with several of the smaller bags.  (PS: I checked the evite before we left to go shopping to see how many people had RSVP'd and there were 24 positive replies.  Therefore, I needed a lot of salad.)  I grab five bags of salad because frankly, some nights, Dustyn and I can easily devour one of those small bags.  It seemed reasonable to me.  Dustyn gave me his raised eyebrow, crazy eye look that means "what are you doin'?".  Uh-oh.

Have you ever been to a pot luck where it seems like you're bringing the pot and a lotta people are getting lucky?  Let me explain.  In the past, we have been subject to getting the bad end of the deal with pot lucks.  We brought a large quantity of things that cost way more than if Dustyn and I had just eaten alone.  In return, there were people who got off easily by not bringing anything at all or by bringing the "easy, cheap" things.  Dustyn got upset with me because our bill walking out of Ralph's was $45.  Yeah, Dustyn and I don't spend that on ourselves for a "regular" meal.  For that kinda money, we're talking about a special occasion, anniversary dinner (or a yearly visit pity dinner with dessert).  I guess his whole point was, tonight we would be setting the precedent for nights to come (hopefully) and we could end up in the same cycle all over again, footing the bill for future events.

We finally made it back to the apartment, cut and diced everything up, and headed on our way to the party.  I must insert here that Dustyn was really nervous.  He's much more introverted (with first meetings) than I am, so the amount of people made him pretty nervous.  We put aside our little tiff and went into the whole event with open, ready hearts to meet new friends.  We weren't aware how close we lived to Jenny and Eugene, so we were the first couple to arrive, and we got a grand tour of their home.

Jenny is a stay at home mom with their two, adorable kids.  Eugene (I know I'm going to chop this up) works for a company that helps churches get on their feet financially; it turns out he's also a fantastic painter.  He's got skills.  Slowly, people began to crowd into their house.  The shroud of people's names started to be tossed at us.  I was praying that I could match names and faces.  Not an easy task.

We hit it off pretty quickly with a couple (Daniel and Misty).  They have been married for three years and Daniel's a lot like I am - pretty outgoing, a social butterfly. Misty is  more like Dustyn - okay with meeting people, but wants to stay secluded from the group after she's found her comfort spot.  We talked for a long time about the church, our jobs, marriage, where we're from (everybody loves Austin by the way), and how we met. We learned that Daniel and Misty met through e-Harmony.  Yep, they're the first couple I've met that has actually had an online site to work for them.  It's ironic because Daniel and two of his four other siblings met their spouses on this website.  How cool is that?  

While we were eating, I sat on the floor next to two new girls, Heather and Marian.  Heather just moved here from the Northeast.  She is a nurse, and enlisted in the Navy two and half months ago.  She was stationed in Rhode Island for basic training for five weeks and she was told to move here.  She's been here for two weeks and just like us, knows no one.  I have to say that I've never met a sweeter, nicer, more complacent person in my entire life.  She joined the Navy because she felt like she was called to be a support for the men and women who are hurting and need a friend.  They see so many things and don't really know what they're fighting for exactly.  Most of the people she's come in contact with so far have been young boys, just out of high school whose wild spirits need to be tamed.  How selfless is she?  She's a nurse, so she's serving people every day and she joined the Navy to help people that are internally in pain.  One other thing she said that touched my heart is that "we don't have to necessarily go to China to tell people about God."  I completely agree with her; I do not whatsoever disregard going to another country (in fact, I'm a huge supporter...my friend Anne just went).  But for me, I'm not sure if God will ever place that opportunity in front of me, so I have to grasp that there are people surrounding me that are in need of finding Him.  I think Heather is maybe a little older than I am, which is probably why her joining the Navy amazes me.  She had an established life prior to this, and I'm intrigued because I feel like her passion for what she's doing runs much deeper.

I mentioned that I was sitting with two girls, but have failed to tell you about Marian.  She's probably right around my age and was supposed to go to school in New York to major in statistics right after graduating high school.  She decided that wasn't for her. She had a plane voucher to anywhere in the country and decided she had never been to California, so she was moving here.  She hopped on a plane and her parents gave her two weeks to find a place to live and a job or else she had to go home to work for a year before starting college.  She said it was a struggle, but in those two weeks, everything fell into place.  She found a job... as a sushi chef and an add in the newspaper for a roommate with a guy who owned a house and rented out rooms for $300.  She's been here for four years now.  Again, what a leap of faith.

The three of us dissipated and I went back to talking with Dustyn and Misty.  I think I am a lot like her, in some ways.  We got onto the subject of reading, which she and I both love, and I asked what she's currently reading.  The book is called "Highly Sensitive People".  I laughed when I heard this because my friends Anna and Kim helped me to discover that I am definitely one of those people.  I become wrapped up, immersed in emotion and completely live in the moment.  I'm going to get the author's name from her and maybe give it a whirl.  Maybe I'll have a little more insight to myself.  

Remember when Dustyn and I got married and just three short months after that lovely day, Leslie was taking me to the hospital for my first kidney stone?  Not exactly similar, but Misty had to take Daniel to the hospital six months after they got married because he completely shattered the femur in his leg and had to undergo a ton of surgeries.  Poor Dustyn and Misty... they married rotten eggs.

Misty and Daniel probably live about five minutes away from our house as well.  I was telling her about my hair appointment on Saturday and asked if she ever heard of the salon before.  (Go ahead, guys... laugh it up.  Of course I'm going to the salon.)  She said she had... and ironically, it is right around the corner from where she lives.  I got her number, so I might give her a call tomorrow to see if she's available for lunch before my appointment.

After the talking subsided, everyone decided to play a game.  There's this guy David (how ironic that this group has a David and a Daniel!) who is super energetic, extremely funny, and the point of interest for the next story.  Have you ever heard of the game 20 Questions?  Well, David was chosen to be the person in the center of the group, being asked the question.  He was told to pick his favorite hobby... only, he didn't know that everyone was going to be basing their questions on going to the bathroom.  For instance, he was asked "Do you wash your hands after you do it?", "Do you do it in the presence of men or women?", "Do you sit down to do it?", and "How old were you when you first started doing it?".  He knew that there was an alternative game to the actual game going on when the entire group laughed at a few of those particular questions.  Wanna know what his actual "hobby" is?  Memorizing famous speeches.  Who does he remind me of?  Our good friend Brian. :)

Since everyone knew the general idea of that game, we decided to play a game very similar to Three on the Couch.  Oh my goodness... I can't wait to play this version of it with you guys in Texas.  Instead of everyone being someone else in the group, we each got a slip of paper.  We had to write down a famous name that everyone should be familiar with, and then toss it in a bowl.  Then, all of the names in the bowl were read through... but only twice.  Then, there was a person that started the game by guessing which of those names belonged to someone.  Would you guess that I put in the name Frank Ghery, an extremely well known architect, and was the first person to be knocked out of the game.  Before deciding on that name, I looked around the group and decided that no one would be able to associate that name with me.  Yeah right. Sneaky Marian remembered that I'm an Interior Designer and put two and two together.  Dag nabit.  It was sooo much fun though because in addition to trying to figure out who's who, you also have to remember the famous names.

We played a second time, and this time, I submitted the name Nelly.  Who would guess that I would submit a famous rapper's name?  Hardly anyone, until this guy got lucky at the end.  They kept pegging me with Jodie Foster and Mark Twain.  Evidently, I look like a fan of "Flightplan", "Panic Room", and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn".  Hehe.  

After the games subsided, it was pretty much time for everyone to go home.  We were invited to a day at the beach with a group on Saturday.  I'm pretty sure some BBQing and beach volleyball are involved.  We'll see how it goes.

I know this blog was more informative and informational than the last have been.  Not quite as much humor in this one.  Tonight was a lot of fun, but I am sort of in a weird mood.  I guess now it's all up to God as to whether or not any of these relationships move forward and grow.  It's nice that the seed has been planted, but it's not in our hands anymore.  Please continue to pray that God will continue to work in our lives.  

In addition to that prayer request, please pray for our friends Brian and Kristin.  We were just informed today that their father, Mr. Herbert, is being released from the hospital because they are unsure of how to help his cancer at this point.  Please pray for Brian's mom, Eda, that she can find peace and strength with this news.

Time to hit the bed and catch some zzzzz's. Good night.