Celebrating One Year of Friendship, and 2 Months of being in the USA!

The 15th of June marks exactly a year since we met in Palm Springs. We were introduced by a mutual friend, Kerry, at the 2008 conference and our eyes met that day for the first time! It just so happened that Resolved this year fell on the exact same weekend so we got to celebrate this anniversary in the same place that it all went down in! After the morning sessions we jumped in the car and headed off to the Aerial Tramway that takes you up the mountain against which Palm Springs is nestled.

We arrived and bought our tickets for the cable cars and watched ours dock at the station ready to take us up, up and away! We had no idea what to expect up there, but we had had some suggestions to take a jacket with...

When we arrived at the top after an exciting ride in the rotating tram we landed on what seemed to be on another part of the world because it was so different to the desert-like, flat terrain of Palm springs. The view of the surrounding area was absolutely breathtaking and you could see for miles and miles!
After a bit of exploring, we headed indoors where it was warmer to get some lunch. On our way there we met a tame squirrel who was quite happy to be stroked. This was a great treat for me because we don't get to see squirrels like this back home in Durban... Such delightfully bushy tails and cute little ears... I believe they are seen as a real pest here in California.

We spent the afternoon just chatting and wondering the peak of the mountain but had to head back in time for the evening session of resolved so we begun our descent to the warmer plains down below!


Before we headed back to the conference centre we went to see the giant wind turbines that litter the hills around the area, also something I'm not used to seeing, and enjoyed the arid landscape that is so typical of southern California (I've been told to use the term SoCal - it's what the locals have nicknamed it!)

A random boat in the middle of nowhere! For the video of the parable of the "Pearl of great price" which was filmed here in Palm Springs for last year's Resolved Conference, click on this link - it's very cool:

http://www.resolved.org/Video.aspx?height=410&width=640&titlevar=TheParable&videosource=

We had such a great time of reflection over the last year of being the closest of friends and the wonderful journey that our 2 months of living in the USA has been. Thanks for sharing it with us!

The Resolved Conference, Our Trip to Palm Springs

After meeting Andrew for the first time at the 2008 Resolved conference, there is always going to be a special connection to this weekend of the year, and this event. Friday finally came about and we madly did a whole bunch of packing in the morning before we headed off. Before we left Newhall, we fetched another seminary couple, Johnny and Jenny McClaughlin who were going to carpool with us up to Palm Springs and enjoy the benefits of our Air Conditioning which is a must have in the extreme heat up there! We hadn't spent much time with this Irish couple together so we were excited to get the chance to get to know them better. We had a great drive up there, and arrived with plenty of time to get some In-N-Out before checking into our Hotel!

Johnny and Jenny McClaughlin, seminary couple

The giant wind turbines were are all over the hills near Palm Springs

The beautiful mountains that make up the backdrop to Palm Springs

Our Hotel, The Marriot Courtyard

Our room in the hotel

The Registration table - arm bands this year instead of tags

The long wait for 3500 people, mostly young adults, before the first session - a whole buch of pushing and shoving! And total anarchy once the doors do open!

No, we don't know the people behind us who are smiling!

With the best biblical teaching you get and music of the highest class, we will be thouroughly saturated in the Word this weekend!