A Very Merry Thanksgiving!

Ok - I'm STILL full. No joke. I suppose I've been eating a bit less for the past 4 months so Thursday, being thanksgiving of course, was my excuse to go CRAZY. We ate allll day. ALL day folks. We had a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving. We spent it with our good friends Chris and Rachel Hall. We have so much fun with them that we actually had them over on Wednesday night for a sleep over. There's something so much more fun about having a more prolonged celebration - even if they do only live one mile north of us. Wednesday night we went out to see Australia (fantastic film) and had fish tacos at Rubios - one of our very faves.

Thursday morning, Deb and I actually got up early for a little bike ride in a meager attempt to make some extra room for food. When we got back, Chris and Rachel had the parade on and the thankfulness BEGAN! We began cooking our 14 pound bird (way too much meat for 4 people) around 11. I was in charge of basting - something I tend to pretty much rule at. You won't find a better baster. Dinner was ready at 3 and we had turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn casserole or bread or whatever, crescent rolls, and stuffing! It was all VERY good! After cleaning up we decided to take a little walk to help digestion and then we came back to watch one of our all time favorite movies - Love Actually! If you haven't seen it - see it. We have so much to be thankful for and this Holiday with friends only reinforced that.

Friday Deb worked and I hung out with my new friend Jacob! I began a mentorship program through a local organization called the Lake Avenue Foundation. It's linked to our Church and does work with families in a less privileged part of Pasadena. One of their programs is mentoring - so I applied and they matched me up with Jacob. He's 8 years old. I was given free tickets to the LA car show - so we went. We had a GREAT time together. He is a sweet, fun little guy. We just went from car to car - getting in any of the ones that were open and pretending to speed away! I'm excited about this. I'm excited to get to know Jacob more and I'm excited to get to know his family more. They are wonderful people! It's so easy and natural to hang out with people that pretty much look just like us - so I'm excited for the opportunity to connect with people that come from completely different backgrounds and even speak another language (spanish)!

So there's our last couple of days. Now - I'm going to sleep. Happy Sunday.

Brilliant Bluegrass!

This past Thursday - we went to a BRILLIANT concert. It was in a small, intimate side room at a place in West Hollywood called 'Largo.' You may have heard of a fantastic group called 'Nickel Creek.' Well - two of the groups three members are brother and sister named Sean and Sara Watkins. And every couple of Thursday nights when they're not on tour playing in front of thousands they host a little concert called 'The Watkins Family Hour.' So we went. The 'little room,' they call it, sits only about 50 people. Around 9PM, Sara and Sean and three other guys got up on this tiny stage with one old fashion mic and jammed blue grass for two hours. We just sat there and took it in. And it was such a chill show. They'd just pick what they wanted to play up there and without skipping a beat - they'd go right to it and play brilliantly! Just one of many many things we love about living in LA :) I've borrowed a picture from my friend Ben's blog. It's a picture with Sara and Sean in the middle. On either side are two guys that went with us - John and Alan.

Can't wait for THANKSGIVING! I rode my bicycle up the steepest hill I know of today in preparation for Thursdays gorging. It really kinda sucked. We're planning for a great time with our good friends Chris and Rachel! Hope you have a great week!

much love,
timmy (and deb)

27

Hard to believe - yet another year of life has come and gone. I am, as of November 12th, now 27 years old. Don't worry those of you who are older than me and wish you were 27 again - I'm not going to complain about how old I feel. I won't do that to you. I don't really think anyone has the right to complain about how old they are unless they're in their 100's. Even if you're 90 and start saying "Oh, I'm just so old" - you know a 91 year old will pipe in and say "Now you shut up! Do you know what I wouldn't give to be 90 again? It only gets harder from here whipper snapper." (At what age to you actually start using the word "whipper snapper" anyway?) But if you're 109, you're kind of the oldest person alive. When you hit that age, you've merited the right to complain about age. All that to say I - at 27 - am doing just fine. In fact, I'm feeling GREAT! I feel healthier and lighter than I did at 22. California is GREAT! I have to keep remembering that back east, people have had to take their exercise (if they are still exercising) indoors. It's 91 in LA today. I love being able to ride my fantastic bicycle all year round! I do have to remind myself, however, that 27 is DONE. I may have that age next to my name - but my 27th year is finished. I am now beginning my 28th year. It's a little more depressing to think that way - but I just have to be realistic. Goodbye 27. :) We celebrated with our friends the Widemans and the Whites by eating some fantastic Thai food at our favorite Thai place - Saladang. mmmmmmm! Deb made me the bestest cake on earth - German Sweet Chocolate! I've got a picture for you to drool over!

We are well! I began the process of producing my voiceover demo reel last Monday. This is the thing that makes everything possible within the voiceover actors world. It's going to make it possible for me to get an agent and from there get auditions and WORK!! We're (me and my producer) starting with my commercial demo and after that will work on the animation demo. It's an investment - but it will be worth it! I'm very excited. The process will take a few months. I've had a few comedy gigs recently that went decently.

Deb and I are SO excited for the Holidays! We get to go home for a visit in just about 3 weeks! We go home for a week on Dec.9th! So maybe we'll see some of you readers when we're there!

As always - hope you all are well and that your life is blessed!

Timmy (and Deb)

ps - visit my website if you haven't recently!

New Things!

So these past few weeks have been filled with new, exciting things. Three in particular. NEW THING #1 - we have a NEW CHAIR! And not just any new chair - but a brand new leather chair WITH a leather ottoman. And it's REAL leather. This thing is so comfortable and it looks great in our apartment. I've always wanted some kind of leather form of furniture. I love the way it looks, feels, AND smells. In fact - I'm sitting in it right this second! I'm attaching a picture - just so you can feel a little bit jealous. But you are more than welcome to come visit and sit in it as LONG as you want!!

NEW THING #2 - I just posted a NEW VIDEO!! It's one my wonderful sibling Kyle and Kara and I shot this past summer. It's entitled Egyptian Tune. It's an intrinsically thoughtful and academic look at the ancient empire of Egypt. Enjoy!



NEW THING #3 - We have a NEW PRESIDENT!! I have to admit that I'm pretty excited about this. All politics aside - it's just so exciting to be a part of this incredibly special time in History. If you're not as excited as me - that's fine. But I have a lot of hope for our country with this new addition to the White House. GOBAMA! Let's commit to keeping our new leaders in prayer!

Well - that's about all for this time. Hope all is well with YOU all.

Timmy (and Debbie)