#9 negative - distance from family

august will be the last month of the sky is big in pasadena.  

i have accepted a position at salford mennonite church in harleysville, pennsylvania.  we will be moving in september, so august will be my farewell month to the city of pasadena.  when we moved here from virginia i posted a list of the ten things i would miss most about harrisonburg.  i figured that would be a good way to end our time here, so each day i will be doing one final rundown of life in this great city.  i have prepared two lists - ten things i won't be sad to leave behind, and twenty of my absolute favorite things about pasadena.  i am going to start with ten positives and ten negatives, alternating back and forth each day.  concluding with my top ten things about life in pasadena.

#9 negative - distance from family

let's face it, we knew this would be an issue before we even moved here.  pasadena is far from where i grew up, and far from where meredith grew up.  we've made friends here that are like family, but we still miss those who we love dearly.  we won't miss the distance from our family.

contest time!

okay people, here is how this thing is going to work.  we have an extra copy of the lovely novel "helen of pasadena", set in (you guessed it) the city of pasadena.  if you would like to own this book, simply leave a comment on this blog entry with your answer to the following question...

in which pasadena park is this pint-sized train depot located?

if you need a refresher on the pasadena parks, you can check out my park series from last year.  the winner will be chosen at random from those who post the correct answer.  i will announce the winner on sunday's blog post.

pasadena

as my time at fuller seminary draws to a close i find myself growing more nostalgic about our experience in southern california.  this photo was taken in 2007 on our last day of the four day journey from virginia to california.  we snapped this photo as we got on the 210 freeway for the last bit of driving before we arrived at our new home.

we still don't know what our future holds, but for this stage of life, pasadena has exceeded our expectations.

north lake avenue

looking down on altadena, and further down pasadena.

pasadena from mt. wilson

i went with a group of friends yesterday to take a 10 mile hike around mt. wilson. although this picture is pretty hazy, we were pretty impressed with the view of our city from above.

griffith park view from the top

not exactly sure, but I think this is in the general direction of pasadena. the view is spectacular, and it is also free! if you are in the area, check it out - only a 15-20 minute drive from pasadena. having someone visit is making me aware of just how much there is to do around here.

on a side note, this week marked my 1000th visitor to the blog! thanks to everyone who has checked out "the sky is big in pasadena".

to walk or ride...

it's rare, but sometimes it works better to chain the trusty steed and set out on foot. the next few posts will focus primarily on pasadena's doo dah parade - an event which I found works better on foot than on a bike.

rose bowl from above

with downtown pasadena in the distance. hopefully i can capture this shot without so much haze in the future.

memorial park station

a gold line metro stop in pasadena

attention shoppers

north of the 210 shopping carts are a big deal - they even are equipped with anti-theft devices

city hall in daylight

it's so hard to take a bad photo of this building

quintessential pasadena photo

it's taken a while, but I finally have a few pictures of pasadena's landmark colorado blvd bridge.

maranatha college prep

quite possibly the most beautiful high school campus I have ever seen

cruzing down los robles

ever expanding pasadena sky(line)

love the flames.

no live animals

this sweet guy makes me a little homesick for virginia every time I go to the saturday morning farmers market

electrical storm

the bright lights of colorado blvd

eye candy

the very well endowed ceiling of velo pasadena

San Gabriel Mountains, highly modified

paseo colorado

as we were told, built with disregard for the need for low income housing. while beautiful, this also is a prime example of the incredible amount of money and power that exists in a city with a growing number of impoverished people.