Hannah has mentioned multiple times that she doesn't know what Berkeley looks like and would like me to send her photos.

That sounds like a lot of work. Also I don't want to stand out and take photos because people will know that I'm new and it will ruin my street cred.

So instead I'm taking y'all on a digital tour oooooooh

Using pictures from google.

Professional.


This is what our chapel looks like. Nobody likes it. Well, few people like it. Our chaplains compare it to the Flinstones. It was designed to look like a tomb so...check.

Pro: you are never sweaty.


This is my favorite coffee shop!

Orrrrrr this one

Sacks is great, you can sit on coffee bean sacks. Also the guy who runs it is hilarious and they play the best music. Strada is busy so it's only good when you go at like 8am...so...

Obviously these are the important things about Berkeley.


My favorite cheap eats is El Burro Picante and they have this weird little burro outside. Anyway, like I said, these are the important things.



Here's a beautiful scenic picture that someone else took. But it's pretty legit. The clock tower is the Campanile in the middle of campus. It's great. It has bells and plays music (not the Harry Potter theme so UNL's got them beat there).

And of course the bay and the Golden Gate bridge, which I can sometimes see from the top of our hill on a clear day (it's always foggy).

There you go! A free tour! It's really beautiful here. And full of stone cold weirdos but I love that about it.

Thanks for all your prayers. You are in mine as well.

Bad news first: we didn't get that apartment either.

Wah wah so sad. Ugh. Pity party.

Okay, now that we've moved on.

We saw the Avett Brothers this weekend. WHAT.

It was pretty stinkin' legit. Brandi Carlile opened and she was legit and then my heart exploded because I love the Avett Brothers.

You know when you move and you feel like the first couple of days you are just treading water? Just trying to keep your head above the waves?

Well I finally feel like...maybe...I'm past that point. I mean, I'm sure I will feel it again BUT now all my stuff is (basically) put away and I have groceries in my cabinet and I've finally met some students.

Praise the Lord.

Exciting CA news in 3 bullet points!

1. At 3:20am there was a magnitude 6.1 earthquake in Northern CA! You guys! It was crazy. I've never experienced an earthquake before so it was nuts. My teammates share a room so we all woke up and waited until it was over and nothing feel over or off the walls. Literally the only damage is that our floor lamp tipped over (but didn't fall)...but also it's old and jankey so that may have happened before.

But pray for Northern Cal, especially the Napa area because it was rowdy up there; fallen furniture, fires in trailer parks, no electricity, etc.

2. So John and I are getting married in November which means our teammate Carlos needed to find a new roommate. And today there was 2 (two) people who got in contact with him about living with him. A great problem to have.

While he figured that out, John and I hip hopped over to padmapper and began to hunker down on our own apt search.

Carlos took a picture because it was "Sooooo cute".

And then he asked what a garbage disposal was and we rocked his world.

I knew there would be a lot of perks to moving to Berkeley and being a missionary here.

1. I would be with John. That's the main one.
2. Berkeley is a cool place.
3. Our offsite retreats and planning weekends take place in Napa Valley.

Game changer.

It takes a lot of get FOCUS onto a campus, but it takes even more effort to get it into a diocese or a state that's new. Getting FOCUS to CA took literally 15 years. One of the main reasons why there are even missionaries out here is because of Judy Barrett.

Judy and her late husband Jim own a winery called Chateau Montelena. In 1976 there was a wine tasting in Paris, now called "The Judgement of Paris" and no American wine had ever won the competition, or taken seriously, but the Barrett's entered their chardonnay and it won a blind taste test and won the whole dang thing. They basically put Napa on the map. Also there is a movie about it, which is grossly fictionalized says Judy.

Anyway, they are amazing people. They love FOCUS and Judy is our Berkeley Mom. She has a sweatshirt to prove it.


She just loves us. And we are so grateful since we don't know a lot of people out here and we are desperately missing our family and friends. It was such a gift to be in a home and not a barely unpacked apartment.

She gave us strength for the journey and I am so grateful.

I love these because I'm a perpetual cranky old man and this helps break up the monotony of being cynical.

That sounds pretty dramatic. I mostly just complain about weather and kids these days and old person things.

On to some happy things!

1. NEW TEAM

So placement night at New Staff Training is pretty out of control. The first years all get little envelopes and then they read where they are headed and then they cry (maybe?) and then they come and find us. We are all gathered in the cafeteria with signs and t-shirts to welcome them. It's overwhelming.

But we got a new team mate! He's great and I'm super pumped to get to know him better. He's a first year from Columbia (the country) who attended Columbia (the school).


Here's a dark photo of us all. We were celebrating with our Director, Steve (rocking a Cal colored polo) and drinking champagne by the fountain.



2. BEACH DAY


 We didn't have sumo suits, but it was still fun.

I get beach anxiety. I have fair fair fair white fair skin that burns when I think about the sun for too long. So normally I like to go to the beach for like 20mins and then call it a day. But, when you go with a group (and you don't drive) you end up being there for all of the day.

Which actually was super fun and I only got a little burned.

Plus side of training being in FL: the weekends are rad.



Romantic sunset shot of us wearing gym shorts and modest one pieces.

Props to Stephanie for hosting this beautiful link up and for reminding me not to be a cranky old man.

Head over to Blessed to Be for more Little Happies!