The Rendezvous State

I feel like I've had an idyllic California experience.
Corrie met us at the produce stand at Underwood farms where her mom works when we got here. As we were picking out vegetables to eat in an open air, completely wooden produce stand, I actually felt like I was in a California I had pictured. It was so refreshing to be in the state that I had once considered to be totally fake because it didn't have any buildings that were 60 years old or the fact that I could access Gucci, Starbucks, or water because it was pumped into the desert...but this time I was surrounded by agriculture: lemon trees, orange trees, vineyards.
That same night we went to the beach. I've never been to the beach at night when the moon and stars were reflecting off the waves. We took our sandals off at the edge of the beach and walked through the cold sand to the waterfront. As we stood with our feet in the sand looking at the waves, I realized how awesome it would be to own property on the beach front, even though it would cost several million dollars. Maybe someday in a far off land....
The next day we went to Santa Barbara and went shopping downtown, went to the Santa Barbara Mission and rose garden (gorgeous), and went out on the pier. I took a lot of pictures of the sailboats. It was at this point that I realized that California would seriously hinder my judgement in any romantic endeavour, because the surroundings are so beautiful and amiable.....which means it's perfect for a good thought process in writing form.
Then we went to Corrie's friend's reaffirmation of her baptismal vows. As we prayed for her, I was reminded why we have community--to show that God is real-the cloud of witnesses. That was definitely stressed that night and I felt it through the small community that was around that night, even if it was just to play the Wii and to stand around and talk.
We went to a Jars of Clay concert tonight in a small venue. The sound quality and closeness factor made the whole experience amazing. They played for about two hours and it was a great concert musically. On the way home, we drove past Disney Land as they were shooting off fireworks for their evening parade. We were on the freeway, so we were almost at the same height where the fireworks exploded....it was beautiful.
Through all of this we have been listening to the new Lifehouse CD, which makes it sort of movie soundtrack like as I'm looking at all of my surroundings.
I love being here...we're going to the beach and then heading back to Arizona tomorrow, maybe in hopes of catching a Diamondback game and going to some favorite AZ places. Back to the arid desert after the cool ocean breeze....and then eventually back to humidity.