Some more pics from LA…
With Batman and Robin at Six Flags
Visiting the UCLA campus
Royce Hall
People + Sam in front of a library
Setting up for the Festival of Books
Venice Beach
Dodger Stadium, we won!
My boys in blue
Saw Jennie Finch, she’s hot.
Of course, gotta have In ‘N Out!
Here’s some pics from L.A.
This is the house I grew up in. I’d like to have it back someday but I think this may only be a novel idea. See that basketball hoop? That belongs to my brother and I! Same one. The neighbor said that the kids play with it all the time which is pretty cool. The people who currently live in the house weren’t home but it would’ve been nice if I could have met them.
My street, Toland Ave.
I played baseball here as a kid.. lots of good memories. Sounds weird but it smelled exactly the same, so good. Smell = nostalgia for me.
Santa Monica Beach. The pier in particular.
Griffith Observatory. I love it.
(this is written on the go so you’ll have to excuse its choppiness!)
I’m in LA right now. Thought i’d finally make my way down here. Good thing the flight was flippin’ cheap, the $89 kind of cheap. I haven’t been back in 8 years so I’m glad to be here. I’ve been taking a bunch of pictures but can’t upload any of them yet so you’ll have to make do with boring words.
Spent the first day on my own strolling down memory lane. I went back to my hometown and saw my old house. That’s as surreal as it gets, folks. The family that lives in it now still have the basketball hoop that belongs to my brother and I. Even looking at our old mailbox was weird. I was tempted to jump the wall into the backyard to take a gander . I decided against it, how creepy would that be?
I went back to Palmview Park and saw the baseball diamond where I played Little League for so many years. Everything looks mostly the same. Everything smells the same– I love nostalgic smells. Very specific and very good memories.
I went back to my old elementary school.. it used to be red. Now, it’s blue. I saw my 6th grade teacher. She didn’t recognize me but then again, i didn’t expect her to either. She was like, “Are you a Senior now??!” And i said, “Not quite. I finished high school already… and, college.” Hahahaa, she felt so bad but who can blame her? It was nice catching up.
I met up for dinner with some old friends from elementary school. That was especially nice.. i guess there’s a bit to catch up on after 12 years. It was kind of like being in a movie though. “Everyone since then is either dead, pregnant or married with kids,” they said. Sounds harsh and cliche but that was the update in a nutshell! Sobering to think about it. A guy i played with in Little League died in high school during a street racing accident. Some got into drugs, a few more serious than others. Some have kids already, either living with girlfriends or already divorced. One girl has since posed for Playboy. Life. Brings people places. But at the same time, some friends are doing great. A handful are happily married. Actually, two i know of are in seminary. Some went into the army or Marines. One’s a cop. Accountants, marketing, teaching, grad school. Life. Brings people places.
Sam flew in the next day and we went to Santa Monica beach (but not before pit-stopping for burgers at In ‘N Out!). I miss SoCal beaches. Nice, soft, warm sand. We walked the beach, the waterfront shops, and the pier is nice (a fun ferris wheel, rides, carnival games). Afterwards, we went to check out the hostel that we’re staying in in Hollywood. It’s a cheap but fun place with an easy community feel. People are from all over, lots from down under (NZ and Australia). London and the rest of Europe, Japan as well. We’re a few blocks away from Ron Hubbard Blvd (the founder of Scientology). There’s a huge Scientology Center and right next to it is a very nice looking “Church of Scientology Celebrity Center.” Is that whack or what? A church for celebrities…
In the evening, we went to one of the best places around LA: the Griffith Observatory. I love this place. I wish i had gone more as a kid. It’s incredible. Mountains and oceans and nature are glorious, it’s true. But city lights… they can be breathtaking as well. LA is MASSIVE. Literally, as far as the eye can see are city lights. Relative to the rest of greater Los Angeles, downtown LA looks tiny even though it’s pretty darn huge. 4 million population is a good chunk of people.
The next day, we went to Six Flags Magic Mountain. I miss that place! It was goooood times. Especially the fact that we scored $26 admission tickets even though it usually costs $60 at the door. Thrilling roller coasters in amazing sunny weather, it was grand. Okay, here’s the deal people. There’s lots you can do in terms of theme parks around LA but Magic Mountain is IT, hands down. Disneyland is for novelty’s sake. Universal Studios only draws in tourists cos they don’t know any better (that it sucks). Knotts Berry Farm is for the family. But for coasters, Six Flags Six Flags Six Flags. I don’t even have time to describe how crazy it is. Praise the living Lord for physics and engineering!
After 7 hours of coasters and fun in the sun, we headed back and Sam joined a bunch of people from our hostel to see a Comedy Night at some place around town while I passed cos i felt pretty wiped and sunstroked. So instead I opted for a low key evening sitting in a Starbucks doing some reading. Good thing i registered my Starbucks card cos i got a free Tall to Grande upgrade. Btw, i’m sad that Starbucks made the Original Pike Place Blend accessible everywhere. It’s supposed to be available at Pike Place in Seattle only! It’s called “original” for a reason! Well, i’m sure Starbucks will enjoy the profits of it this quarter.
This morning, we went to see the UCLA campus. Oh dear, it is a bee-u-tee-full campus indeed! The buildings are amazing- great architecture. It actually makes me want to be a student again. Okay, only slightly. Well, not really. Though Sam noted that it’d be great to do campus ministry down here. I’m sure it would. We went around to look for the Campus Crusade chapter down there but couldn’t find them. It would have been nice to say Hi. But even visiting the campus for a few hours totally felt like what a university campus is like.. students going to class, hanging out in between, lounging and sitting on the grass. There’s a massive event happening called “Festival of Books” and there are rows and rows of tents and chairs set up for it. Next to the student center was a demonstration to remember the Armenian Genocide of 1915.. a big crowd of people with placards and megaphones and speeches. And next to them? A booth set up with a petition for you to sign for energy conservation. Oh, university. It’s great!
After UCLA, we decided to beach it up again and headed to Venice this time. I rented a cruiser bike for $6 and rode along the beach. Very nice. Even though Venice Beach is so close to Santa Monica, they feel pretty different from each other. Venice Beach is full of hippies and Santa Monica is full of yuppies. It’s an experience either way.
After beaching, we hopped onto the Freeway, into the traffic and slowly made our way just past downtown towards Dodger Stadium. How can i come down to LA and not go for a Dodger game??! It beckons me! We scored SWEEEEET tickets (season pass holder seats on the field) for a SWEEEET deal (22bux). Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 8-3. I wore my jersey proudly. It was enjoyable but I found that games in Seattle are much more interactive.. they get the crowd going a lot better.
Tomorrow, we meet up with Kevin x2 and leave LA back to Vancouver for a 3-day cruise. Sam found re-positioning fares so they’re a great deal: $140! The ship is returning from the Caribbean and dropping loads of people off in LA and we’re just grabbing their beds for a few days while it sails into Vancouver. Nice.
Some other thoughts before I jet. I like being here in LA. Sun. Palm trees. Mexican food and Mexican candy left right and center. People practically speak more Spanish than English, it’s great! El Pollo Loco, yum (churros are 2 for a stinkin’ dollar!) LA is huge but freeways help with that. I thought i was an aggresive driver, but relative to LA, it’s nothin’. Okay, this post is really choppy and on the go. I hope i’m getting a tan out of this trip. There’s so much to see, you can’t really exhaust it. Pictures will have to wait!
I can’t write something here and let it definitively define me. That seems obvious but I realize that what I do choose to write or reveal here (and on my blog as a whole) is in a sense, the/a basis of what people have to work with. So i guess the following is just a very skeletal framework of where I’m coming from. But know that the things of life that fill in that framework will never be exhaustive– which can actually be an annoying and over-complicated thing at times. But I have no problem admitting that I’m still trying to figure some things out myself. Feel free to take it as it is I guess…
My name’s Steph and there’s always things on my mind: opinions that I’m forming, beliefs which are solidifying, issues that I’m questioning, experiences I am evaluating, doubts with which I am wrestling, frustrations that i tend to be suppressing, life moments that I’m enjoying. And in all these things, I find myself lacking in ability to articulate it all. And beyond that, I think I’m too afraid to do so anyway. But whatever will find itself on this blog, I suppose it’s another step towards unfolding another part.
I was born in 1984 and grew up in the Los Angeles area but moved to Vancouver around the time of high school. It was a trade-off between sun and rain, between surfing and snowboarding, between non-colored money and coloured money– note the added “u,” between the ignorant but sometimes funny stereotype of Canadians and the equally ignorant and pigeon-holed stereotype of Americans, between never going to the doctor or dentist and now going at the slightest inconvenience.
I graduated from the University of British Columbia in English and Sociology. For the most part, I enjoyed studying what I did and found the university experience invaluable. Since graduating I’ve moved to Calgary, Alberta to work with a Christian missions organization called Power to Change (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ, Canada) under the campus ministry division called Campus for Christ at the University of Calgary.
I call my blog “Canaan Bound” because life for me boils down to faith. Canaan Bound is a reference to the biblical story of Abraham (Genesis 12 and onward) who left everything he knew and set out for a place of incredible promise (Canaan). And although he did not know what it would look like or how the details would play out, he chose to trust and place his faith in a God who he knew was good. God honored Abraham’s obedience and as a result, Abraham has left a legacy of faith that has lasted generations upon generations, reaching even up to mine, extending even beyond mine. At the end of it all, I think I’d like to do something like that too.
Mmmm, oh yeah, and I love baseball and still unashamedly enjoy the novelty of boy bands from time to time.
#2
“The smallest dreams got pushed aside
for the largest ones that changed my life”
From the song, Rite of Spring
On the album, I-Empire
So it seems this whole lyric countdown is taking longer than expected. Life is busy, better late than never! I was pleased to buy this for $11.99 at Future Shop last year. I do like Angels & Airwaves’ first album better overall, but this one still gets decent rotation on my playlist.
When i think about this lyric, i can’t help but pit my itty bitty self-will with the greater dreams that God would have for my life. There is a pivotal and constant battle between my fears and doubts on one side and fully plunging myself into Hi(s)Story on the other side. “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life”– understanding this overshadows all of my expectations and short-lived disappointments.
I’ve only been angry with God one time in my life. Which i think is kind of ironic because there’s been other more serious crap junk in my past that would, by the human perspective more deservingly “warrant” my fist against God. (I don’t believe that though).
My third year of university was supposed to be spent studying at UCLA. When i graduated from high school into university, one of the reasons why i chose to go to UBC was because i knew they had an exchange program that partnered with UCLA. That was my goal. And honestly, at that time in my life, studying at UCLA even if only for a year was the only thing i ever truly wanted with 100% intention and ambition.
So in my second year at UBC, i filled out all the Exchange application forms, wrote a couple essays, got references here and there, researched my potential schools, met all the deadlines, paid the fees, earned all the necessary grades, danced in a few circles, and I was a go.
You’re supposed to apply with your top 3 choice schools. But I went into this only wanting one school. It was pretty much UCLA or BUST for me. While lots of people would opt to travel overseas to Europe, Asia, Australia, etc, i just wanted to head back to Southern California where i grew up. That was exotic enough for me. I wanted to go back, i wanted to see old friends, i wanted to experience everything i thought i was missing.
When i went in for the general orientation about the exchange program, they said that one of the hardest schools to get into were the University of California (UC) campuses. And out of the 12 UC schools all across the state, UCLA and UC Berkeley were the most competitive. “So don’t get your hopes up” was what they were saying.
But i did it. I got into the UBC Exchange Program, a few weeks later into the UC system, and then finally acceptance by my top choice. I still have the snail mail letter from UCLA.. its fancy letterhead paper officiating it all. I was looking forward to that year of Exchange probably more than anything in my life up to that point. I was prepping to go, looking into housing, making a budget, browsing potential classes, telling friends.
And then as life would have it, something came up. Things i couldn’t control prevented me from going. I hated it. I thought in endless circles about how i could get around the problem. I even entertained outrageous, stupid and selfish ideas to get me there. Yet in my heart of hearts, i knew i couldn’t leave Vancouver for that long at the time. But that didn’t stop me from being mad. Really mad. And at God. Yeah, i was being a whiny kid but it really did crush me to have to give this up. It’s hard to explain all the reasons why it meant so much to me. It was the biggest dream i could have dreamt at the time. UCLA was on my radar ever since i was in elementary school. But moving out of state kind of eliminated the $25,000/ year education option. But having this opportunity with Exchange, to get that for just 1 year at a $4,000 tuition price tag– what a friggin’ steal!
I eventually got over it. Learned how to surrender once again. Learned a new lesson about trusting God. In hindsight, it really was a small dream. Especially in comparison to my desires today, i kind of feel embarrassed about my devastated reaction. Yet at the same time, i know it was real. It was a big blow. But i’ve grown a lot since then, thus making it a much smaller issue when i think about it today.
For the most part, i’ve given up the constant wonder of “what could have been” that i held onto for so long. Not just in that one potentially great year, but i had held onto that question even years before the whole Exchange fiasco. What would my life have been like if i had stayed in LA? My friends would be different, my education would be different, my experience and all of the above, different. Maybe.
But i trust in God’s sovereignty over my life. I’m really glad for where i am today. Where God has led me, not just geographically but in how he is indeed shaping me for Hi(s)Story. Smaller dreams getting pushed aside. Larger ones are changing my life. And i’m grateful.
There is a greater narrative that exists outside of my own subjective experience and existence. I’m thankful that this is true because if it was not, i would be found lacking. I think we all would. The fact that my finite being is being reconciled into an infinite Story gives me immense assurance.
