Check out my podcast, with a special Pasadena guest!

Many years ago I lived in Pasadena. This blog was one of the ways I explored my new home, and how I met new people - especially those in the blogging community. Some of those connections have lasted well beyond our final year in Pasadena. One of those people was the incredible Ann Erdman, who was Pasadena's Public Information Officer for many years, and who wrote the lovely Pasadena PIO blog.

Last year I started a podcast with a friend of mine called The Sound Logic Podcast. Each week we listen to an album from Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Even though I haven't seen Ann in almost 9 years since I moved to Pennsylvania, Ann was kind enough to join us on a recent episode as our special guest!

You can listen to that episode right here;



If you enjoy that episode, please subscribe in your favorite podcast app so that you don't miss any future episodes, and please get in touch if you'd like to be a guest in the future!

Is anybody out there?

After more than a year off, I'm back to being a photoblogger.  I've enjoyed the freedom stepping back for a while, but lately I've been craving the creative space that I discovered when I began "the sky is big in pasadena".  I considered giving this one a facelift and starting it up again, but after some serious thought I felt better about simply starting anew.

You can follow along at my new photoblog, 113 and Beyond.  I hope to see you there!

acting like a tourist!

our incredible week in california has come to a close. we had so much fun!

the sky is big

i forgot how hard it is to be a daily blogger! must be rusty, as i missed yesterday.

i'll try and post another to make up for it. we get on the plane to fly home soon.

back to fuller

after spending four year on this campus, it feels a little strange to be just visiting after being away for a year. granted, i have many warm memories, and it is good to be back.

re-discovering our favorite foods

in our four years in pasadena, we fell in love with the many culinary treasures of this area. part of our goal this trip was to enjoy some of that food all over again. so far we are doing well with that goal.

city hall

a familiar icon that was featured many times on this blog during my four year run.

a token pasadena sky

of course a trip to pasadena needs to include a few gratuitous shots of the big sky.

having a blast!

We are thoroughly enjoying our California vacation! Getting to the Santa Monica Pier may be near the top of our adventures so far!!!

mountain retreat

The first thing we did after our arrival was to head to the mountains to reconnect with our church family from Pasadena Mennonite who had gathered for a retreat weekend.

back to california!

just over a year has passed since we left our home in pasadena. today we travel back for a short visit! i thought it might be fun to blog while we are here. if anyone is still reading, i hope you enjoy!!

New Blog

If you are looking for a way to access my latest photography, I have started a new blog for our congregation, Salford Mennonite Church.  You can check it out right here.

photos from ben

greetings from pennsylvania.  i'm not sure if anyone is still checking in on this blog, but in case you still have it bookmarked or running through your blog reader, i've just started using "instagram" - an iphone app that allows you to essentially be a photoblogger from anywhere.

i take photos - not surprisingly, often of the sky - around our new home area.  this link is an example of what you might find if you become a follower of mine on instagram.  if you have an iphone/ipod/ipad, check it out and become a follower!

the end.

and so, we've reached the end.

the sky is big in pasadena lasted through four years of daily photos.  this is the one thousand four hundred and forty-first consecutive daily blog post.  this humble site has seen over 90,000 visitors and thousands of wonderful comments.

i set out to give myself an artistic outlet during my time in seminary, and i never imagined how big it could become.  it has been an incredible journey and i am extremely proud of the result.

but to be quite honest, i am ready for a break.  i'm sure i'll probably start blogging again sometime in the near future - maybe in a different format and certainly in a new location.  i don't know quite what my blogging future holds, but i can say that today's post is the last one for now.


i want to say thank you to everyone who has ever visited, and an even bigger thank you to those who have commented, become daily visitors, or added this website to your blogroll or rss feed.  your appreciation of my work has been what has kept this project going.



and finally, there are plenty of good blogs out there about pasadena and the san gabriel valley.  the sidebar of this blog contains many of them.
 
my favorites are these fine sites.  if you haven't already, please add these incredible blogs to your reading list...

pasadena daily photo (petrea is the best of the best and an incredible inspiration)
glimpses of south pasadena (laurie is also incredible, just further south)
91105 and beyond (newer on the pasadena scene, but lots of fun photos)
all over pasadena (the newest pasadena daily photographer whom i just discovered)
pasadena pio (our public information officer is an incredible blogger and wonderful person)
cafe pasadena (not a daily photographer, but knows and comments on ALL area blogs)
an immovable feast (my favorite local food reviewer)

#1 - friends

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.

today we have arrived at #1.


#1 - friends

i almost can't write these words without getting a bit choked up.  without our friends, pasadena would never have felt like our home.  without our friends, pasadena never would have become a place we longed to return to.

we met an incredible array of wonderful people during our time here - not all are pictured above.  some of you are still very much in our lives - even if you don't live right next to us anymore.  some of you we knew for only a short time but you left a lasting impact on us.  some of you we met through school, others through church, a few through mutual friends, and even a few of you through this blog.

thank you for being such a big part of our lives.

and thank you for making pasadena our home.

#2 - city hall

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.  we have arrived at the top ten things about life in pasadena.


#2 - city hall

much like the pasadena sky, city hall was a frequent subject of my daily photo blog.  it has appeared seventy times in four years - not quite twice per month, but getting close to that mark.  it was one of my first blog posts ever, and is easily my favorite thing to take pictures of in town.

anyone who comes to visit us remarks about how beautiful this building is, and they are always amazed at how easy it is to walk in and around.  pasadena's beloved public information officer even gave a private tour to some local bloggers last year which was a ton of fun.  i will miss this beautiful building.

#3 - sky

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.  we have arrived at the top ten things about life in pasadena.


#3 - sky

okay, i know the title of this blog has the word sky in it.  you would think this would have come in at #1, right?  well, to be honest, it almost was #1 just out of principle, but i think my top two come in just above. 

this blog has shown hundreds of photos of the beautiful pasadena sky - many of them coming as part of the incredible skywatch friday photo community (all of which you can see here).

#4 - pasadena mennonite church/palm sunday peace parade

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.  we have arrived at the top ten things about life in pasadena.



#4 - pasadena mennonite church/palm sunday peace parade

i cheated a bit with this one.  realisticially, these both deserve their own entry in my top ten.  but because they are pretty closely related, i tied them together. 

pasadena mennonite has been our incredible church home while we've lived here.  we have been welcomed there with open arms and have found meaningful relationships that will carry on beyond pasadena.  this community has acted as our substitute parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles.  they have been our mentors and peers in ways we never could have imagined.

the peace parade is one of the things that this church does annually as a way to make a public declaration of a commitment to peace.  it is held every year on palm sunday and has grown to include many other local groups dedicated to peace and an end to global warfare.

both of these things are special to me, and i will miss them deeply when we move from here.

#5 - farmers markets

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 (which thankfully, are already posted), and twenty of my absolute favorite things about pasadena.  we have arrived at my top ten things about life in pasadena.

#5 - farmers markets

picture this - fresh produce, all year long.  so goes life in southern california.  and if you live in pasadena, you are fortunate to have access to farmers markets on tuesday morning at villa parke, wednesday afternoon on south lake avenue, thursday nights in south pasadena, and saturday morning at the high school.  if you expand to a few towns over you find markets in countless others on all days of the week.  amazing!

#6 - pasadena public library

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 (which thankfully, are already posted), and twenty of my absolute favorite things about pasadena.  we have arrived at my top ten things about life in pasadena.

#6 - pasadena public library

the public library system in pasadena is extensive with countless programs happening at ten different locations across the city.  we've been fortunate to live near two locations - the beautiful central library (shown above) and our local villa parke location.  books can be requested from any branch to be picked up at whatever location is convenient.  the main central library has frequent art displays, a small used book store, and a coffee shop (among other things).  I will certainly miss the library.