Alec and Katie

a good week…

Last Tuesday was Alec’s birthday and he celebrated in an extremely selfless way – by asking for donations to Generosity Water, a non-profit committed to helping the 1.1 billion people in our world without clean water. It’s a cause dear to our hearts and it’s an honor to partner with them to see wells built around the world. With Facebook donations from family and friends (and a few bills handed over to him in person) he raised almost $500 to bring clean water to those who need it! It will definitely become a tradition for us. Of course, we did take time to celebrate Alec – I made sure to indulge him with a homemade breakfast feast and we joined up with friends at a small pub in Santa Monica and had a great night.

Also last week, Alec and his production partner, Bob, shot a new web show! I’m not sure how much I can and cannot say, but I saw some of the footage and it is hilarious! They shot it in our apartment, so the day before the shoot, I came home to a clean, minimalist apartment and realized it was missing all our decorative items! Posters, beer cans and half dead plants took their place and soon, I was living in someone else’s pad! I was impressed and thankful to come home to a very clean apartment the night they finished the shoot – Alec and Bob cleaned up after their crew perfectly. After seeing the footage, I appreciated this even more – those guys made a very realistic bachelor pad! I am so proud of all Alec is doing and love seeing his new projects… stay tuned!

I spent Friday visiting my dear friend Cass and her newborn son, Alex. He was an angel and I loved sitting on the couch holding him, watching Dan In Real Life and listening to the rain. It’s hard to believe Cass and I used to sit on that same couch watching movies in the rain… but that was almost 7 years ago and we were settling into our first ‘real’ jobs, living in our first apartment out of college. Times are a changing! Later, Alec and I joined up with Michelle, Thom and their sons Tommy and Erik for their Friday dinner at The Counter and were fully entertained by Tommy’s antics. We love those boys!

Saturday, we helped organize a Valentine’s couples dinner at the Odyssey in Granada Hills. Our good friends, Anthony and Bonnie, had the idea and called on a group of us to pull it together. It turned out to be a wonderful night and we really enjoyed it! We had dinner (with a great view), dancing, salsa lessons, amazing prizes to raffle off, an inspiring message from our Pastors Philip and Holly, and of course, formal photos….

The planning team!

Atheist: I truly believe Africa needs God

Interesting commentary from atheist and journalist about what’s working (and not working) in the face of Africa’s gigantic problems (AIDS, poverty, no clean water, etc.).

As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God

“Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.”

Hello, January!

Welcome, 2009! Well, January came and went, and here’s a little bit of what Alec and I were up to:

• We spent New Year’s Day continuing with our tradition of lounging around all day with Luke and Jill. We did manage to get ourselves off the couch to have a really great dinner with some couples from church that I’ve known for over 6 years.
• Kirsti came into town for Cass’ baby shower (Afternoon Tea at The Peninsula Hotel) and we had a wonderful time.  Whitney and Brennon (who are currently living in Belfast) were also in town which made the celebration all the more special.
• We were both asked to be in weddings and couldn’t be more honored to support our dear friends Hayley and Cam and Patric and Kat. Thank God they aren’t getting married on the same day! )
• We said goodbye to a wonderful friend and Pepperdine administrator, Jim Brock. He will be so missed…
• We celebrated the historical inauguration of Barack Obama. We were both extremely moved watching history being made and seeing our new First Family come to the White House. I had a special appreciation of the peaceful and collaborative “change of power”, especially after recently being in Africa, where in many areas, that is certainly not the case. We are praying for the heavy tasks ahead of our new President.
• Alec’s production company, Space Shank Media, hosted their first New Media Brunch for professionals in the Los Angeles area at the Blu Jam Cafe.  They also welcomed a new addition to their team: a fancy schmancy camera with tripod (HVX 200, to be exact, as if I know the difference….). It is currently in its case, awaiting it’s coming out party.
• We hosted 2 baby showers and welcomed Alexander Lee Andriychenko (Jan. 26th) and Adam Elijah Wilson (Jan. 23rd). They both came within a few weeks of their showers!
• My boss, Holly, spoke at Saddleback Church for their “Girl’s Night Out”. I was thrilled to support Holly and since Saddleback is located in my hometown, I loved getting to spend time with my parents (and their dog, Abbie) and to have quality time with Becky, Norm, and my God-daughter Charlee.
• Alec’s site, Historical Tweets, got 150,000 views in January and was written up in the UK Telegraph and the Times of India, to name a few
• Alec and his mom, JoAnn, got to see our sister-in-law, Hannah, and our nephew, Sebastian, while they were visiting in San Diego. Sebastian is getting cuter by the minute!!

Since we love eating at new restaurants (and old favorites), here are some we visited:

• Monsoon (cheap happy hour with Pat and Kat)
• Library Alehouse (post holiday catch up – and SpaceShank brainstorm – with Bob)
• Casablanca (just the two of us…at the place where we had our rehearsal dinner)
• The Griddle Cafe (Sara and I shared a ridiculously big apple french toast before she went to work on the SAG awards)
• Santa Maria BBQ (Alec and Kenny chowed on awesome BBQ in Culver City, while perfecting their comedy genius, I’m sure)

And since times are tight, we also enjoyed meals at these fine dining establishments:

• Villa Ebeling (a true budget meal… we literally brought over what was in our fridge and made dinner with what we had between us. It was amazing.)
• The McNayr Chateau (with Amy and Jeremy)
• Casa de Hammond (Doro and Katie – cupcakes count, right?)
• and lots of Potluck gatherings!!!

It was a great first month of the year and we are looking forward to what’s ahead in 2009…