Year-End Trip

In the spirit of trying to blog more frequently and not feeling compelled to write a novel each time, I'll just post a few pictures from the FCC high school year end trip last weekend. I missed half the trip (including the white-water rafting, dang!) but had a blast chillin' in Sacramento (well, more like melting in Sacramento) with some awesome high schoolers. Enjoy a few photos.





I love seeing Danny have so much fun!

One of our very talented teens made this bag out of recycled Target bags - with crochet needles. It was, as he put it, "the talk of the weekend." SO cool!!

I had a great time driving these girls around. They're a blast.

We went to the Sacramento Rivercats game (they are the Oakland A's minor league team) and watched them whoop up on the San Francisco Giants' minor league team. We sat on the grass so the kids could stretch out and run around and it was so much fun. $1 hot dog night too!

Mini-vacation

This past weekend felt like a full vacation even though it just lasted three days. First, I had a sleepover with my Pepperdine roommates who still call ourselves A-14 after the apartment we occupied for years. I haven't had a sleepover with adults in so long - and this was complete with brownies and the new member of our "apartment" - Patty's baby Zoe. Patty and Zoe came from Germany for the summer, and although Zoe is 9 months old, Friday was the first time any of us had met her and we're pretty much in love. She's beautiful and energetic and smart - you actually have to work hard to make her laugh because she's so smart that the usual "booga booga" amuses her only slightly. We had a great time catching up, discussing world issues, and laughing hysterically.

Saturday after the sleepover ended Danny and I went to Sonora (a small town in California gold country) to stay at a friend's mountain cabin with my parents for two days of relaxing. Since we had about a week in between the end of spring and beginning of summer for both our jobs, it felt so good to take two days to worry about nothing. I didn't even wear a watch. I took a book that was just fun novel reading that I didn't have to underline, memorize or process for later. We never left the cabin, but still got lots of fresh air and sunshine by spending our whole day on the deck. We ate incredible barbeque and fresh baked pies. We even had a vegetable pot pie from a local Mennonite farm - delicious!

Yes, we each have TWO plates of food in this picture. Glorious.

The Fitelsons are alive and well!

Wow time flies! Yes, we are alive and well, and still very busy. The school year has just ended for both the high schoolers and Fuller, which means we get about a week to breathe before summer kicks off.

This week I completed two things that have had me swamped and stressed: Fuller graduation, which I was largely responsible for, and my Spring quarter class. Graduation took up all my time at work, and writing my final paper for my Spirituality class took all my time outside of work! Since Wednesday I've had some time to relax and it's been great.

On the youth ministry side of life, we had a great time at the FCC family camp on Memorial Day weekend (including Danny's annual "ballers only" grass volleyball game), Danny planned and executed a great grad banquet for the seniors, we had our last Tuesday night for the year, and now we're ramping up for the summer.

The past few weeks my youth ministry self and Fuller student self have been able to collide since my final paper for a class on spirituality was about teens and spirituality. As part of my research, I read Mark Yaconelli's book "Contemplative Youth Ministry" and was blown away by it. I highly recommend it to anyone in youth ministry or who has teenagers in their life. It's made me see the kids in our youth group in new ways and made me feel more convicted to be a good role model.

The most exciting news in our little family is that we have booked tickets to Italy in October! We are both in need of a vacation and I can't wait to explore a new culture and country I've never seen. It will be Danny's first time overseas, and he's starting to get excited - mostly because we saved a ton of money by going in October instead of August. We'll spend 3 days in Rome and 3 in Florence. We welcome any travel tips from those of you who have been to those cities! I've got about 20 travel books and am loving reading them with expectancy.

I'm off to bed. I hope to post more news and some pictures soon. At the moment I'm too sleepy to remember anything we've done the past three months, so I'll call it a night. Leave us some love!