New New New

I can't believe Y2K was 10 years ago! Remember when we all thought there would be flying cars by 2010? A lot of big events in my life happened in the 2000's: got my first car, graduated high school, moved away from home, started and graduated college, moved abroad, got my first real job...a lot of growing up happened in the past decade, particularly in the past 5 years!

It is crazy to think about what this next year and decade will hold for me. I'm going to just think about the next year because I can't even begin to comprehend what my life might look like in 10 years. I get very excited by the thought of change and new things happening and exciting events in my life. For some people, I know that stresses them out and they just want things to stay the same. I love thinking about all the fun things that could happen in this next year...especially the ones I won't see coming at all! I would have NEVER guessed one year ago that I'd be living in Oregon right now with this job.

It was a very bittersweet thing to return to Myrtle Creek after Christmas. Before I left, I would tell people at work at church in Oregon that I was going home (to Artesia) for Christmas. Then, in Artesia, people would ask when I was leaving and I would say I was going home (to Oregon) on Monday. I definitely feel at home in Oregon and when I got back to my apartment, I had that relief that comes from being home. It's just a strange feeling to say "my parent's house" or "my parents live in NM". I guess everyone probably goes through this at some point in their life, so now is just my time to work all this out in my mind. Unless something drastic changes, 2010 will be the first time in many years that I lived in the same place for an entire year.

I rarely make New Year's Resolutions. I remember one I made in high school and that was to become ambidextrous. I actually followed through with that one and can eat and write pretty well with my left hand. Obviously, my right hand is still dominant and I use it for most things, but I think my ability to use both hands is at least above average.

I fell down the stairs at work today. Painful, but mostly embarrassing. I was trying to put the water bottle lid on right when I fell, so water went everywhere. I had to immediately go teach a class after that incident, so that was pretty lame. I have been reading Twilight and I feel like just reading about Bella's clumsiness has made me clumsy! I had never read the Twilight books--not against them or anything, just never got around to reading them, so a lady at work brought it to me to read. I really like it but it's definitely different reading the book after seeing the movie. I just picture the movie characters and scenes as I read it, but I don't mind because I HATE the picture I had in my head being ruined when I see the movie.

My job interview is tomorrow--yay! I'm so glad it's finally here. I've been waiting and hoping this day would come since July, so it's great that it finally arrived. Now, if I don't get this position, it will be quite awkward to keep working here with the other person who got the job. I feel really confident though and am planning to just get the job so there won't be a problem :)

Kory and I plan to stay in for New Years Eve and do very little! We're both so exhausted from our travels and crazy pre-Christmas schedules that we're really excited by the idea of watching movies, playing games and laying around on the couch for the Holiday. Mostly, I'm happy we'll be inside where it's warm! I just realized that one year ago I was arriving in London. Wow.

Holiday Pictures

I always made fun of people who dressed their animals in costumes, but this was so worth paying $1 for the Santa suit.

Kabie loved being in his sweater. She laid down there forever and almost went to sleep. I think she must have liked that it was warm in there.

My Christmas tree finally got some presents underneath it this past week.


Presents under the tree at our church building to give away to struggling families in our community as a part of our Christmas Service.
The kids sang several Christmas carols and were hilarious. I love that kids they can sound terrible and still be so stinking cute!

At our youth group Christmas party, one of the middle school girls did face painting. She did a great job!

Random Thoughts about Christmas & Summer

I am getting very excited to fly home for Christmas this week! I fly out Christmas Eve morning, so the airports might be pretty crazy. We'll drive to Portland after our youth group Christmas party on Wednesday night. My flight leaves at 7:25 a.m. so it's going to be a very early morning after a very late night. BUT being home with family for Christmas will make it all worth it!

We had our Christmas Service and Giving Event last night and it went really well! We had 30 families and 91 children who received food boxes and Christmas gifts. We also had a fun program with Christmas carols, skits, an awesome music video, stuffed animals for each of the kids, a children's version of the Christmas story and an awesome message about Peace on Earth from Kory. I have a few changes I'd like to make to our program next year, but it still went really well, especially for my first year organizing it.

Kabie (Kory's kitten) is a definitely a female. That girl has some insane mood swings. One day she loves being held and will fall asleep in your arms or lap and follow you around and loves affection. The next day, she runs from you and refuses to let you touch her and will go crazy if you try to pick her up. Maybe she is still adjusting to her new home and owners? Perhaps we need a visit from the Cat Whisperer. Does that even exist? I know they have one for dogs and horses.

A lady at work recently asked if I had a Master's or just a Bachelor's and I said "Oh, I just have a Bachelor's." Then another lady piped in, "JUST a Bachelor's?? What do we have? None of us have a degree period." :) Thank you! I worked stinking hard for that degree.

I am so ready for summer! Now that I know how wonderful Oregon is in the summer-time, I am planning so many fun trips and activities as soon as we get some warm weather. I am becoming a pale Pacific Northwesterner...but not in the cool, vampire way. I want to go camping on the coast, swim a lot, visit Crater Lake, go white-water rafting, see the Redwoods, hit Cannon Beach, float the river, go to SU Falls where you can slide down the waterfall, hike a 14er or two, and definitely spend lots of time chilling in the water that is so abundant around here! Oh sweet summer...come quickly!!

Kory's Xmas Present

Training

I had a great time at training this past week. The actual training was ok but the trip was really fun! :) Parts of the training were really useful and helpful, but the whole thing was not very organized and that is very frustrating for me.

We went shopping almost every day after training. I found a suit on sale at Banana Republic in an outlet/factory mall. I was prepared to pay quite a bit and consider this an investment. When I got to the register, it was on sale and much cheaper than I thought so I was super pumped about that! I am hoping to wear it to my interview soon...assuming I get an interview, I guess. I have never had a suit before, but putting that thing on makes me feel so professional and in charge! I am still not sure I want to wear one every day to a job, but it's fun to put it on in my apartment anyway.

Deb and I had a ton of fun and it was great to hang out with her so much outside of work. I still haven't really found any friends my age here, but this gal has a lot of spunk and is very young and fun, despite the fact that she graduated high school the year I was born :) We came back with a lot of new ideas to implement in our office, so we're excited about those changes.

I can't believe it's still not technically winter yet because it is COLD COLD COLD! I still haven't seen any snow, but everyone keeps telling me Oregon doesn't really get a lot of snow. Of course, they also said it doesn't get extremely hot here ever and we had like 2 weeks of 100+ days this past summer, so this year appears to not really follow the typical weather patterns. On the positive side, it hasn't rained a ton lately and I have seen quite a bit of sunshine, so that is great for my mood!

Recent Pictures

Here are some pictures I have been meaning to post recently and just keep forgetting. My cubicle at work is just about finished (now that my job could potentially end in a month :) haha) and has lots of pictures and decorations in it now.

This is my plant from home that keeps dying, so hopefully it's going to fare better at work.

The plant I had to move because it was attacking my face.

And the pretty blooms that recently appeared.

GREAT Weekend

The concert on Friday was awesome!! That band is so incredibly talented. Kory and I were both SO impressed! Unfortunately, we didn't have a great turn-out of teens, but the ones who were there really enjoyed it.

My Saturday was pretty close to my idea of a perfect day. I woke up late, took a nap, watched a movie while cuddled up on the couch, decorated my apt for Christmas and ate dinner and hung out with Kory that night. I rented My Sister's Keeper because I knew I really wanted to see it, but I wanted to watch it at home where I could cry as much as I wanted with no inhibitions. I laid on my couch under a blanket, eating popcorn, drinking a Dr. Pepper, enjoying a chick flick and just crying my little eyes out. PERFECT!! I know guys will never understand why you'd want to do that, but females will totally get it when I say it was a healing cry.

One of our youth group girls brought me a 4 ft Christmas tree and a table to set it on. She is very sweet! I put lights and ornaments on it and got it all decorated Saturday afternoon. I drank some egg nog and had a grand ole time. It's a pretty small tree and it's nothing grand or fantastic, but it makes me happy so that is all that matters. The only other decorations I have are some place mats, kitchen towels, candy bowls and the wreath, but they are all out in full force. I'm thinking I'll probably try to buy some more Christmas decorations when they go on sale right after Christmas Day.

I'm trying to be pretty thrifty right now and save my money since I don't know how long I'll have a job. That is the main reason why I didn't just buy a tree. My temporary positions ends in January and I will hopefully interview for the limited duration position in the next few weeks, but I'm in the waiting process right now.

We ate at Olive Garden in Eugene last night. Gosh I love that place! Neither of us had eaten there in a year or two, so we made the trip to do some shopping and eat there. I could eat my weight in those breadsticks dipped in alfredo sauce. Yummy!

It was COLD COLD COLD this morning when I left for work! Yikes! Everything was frosty and it looked like we had a light dusting of snow last night. I get to leave work at 3:00 today to head up to Albany, OR for a 3 day training. I am not entirely sure what the training is about, but I think it's an orientation to basically teach me to do the job I have been doing for the past 5 months. Should be fun :) I am excited to get out of the office and take a trip though. I'm sure Deb and I can have a good time while we're there.

Concert and Christmas

I wrote this last Friday and forgot to post it, so here it is now.

We have a free rock concert at our church tonight for the area teenagers. The band is called The Beautiful Is Dead. Several of the band members grew up going to our church and their parents still attend. They are not a Christian group, but are just a group of Christians who play music together. We're excited about this outreach opportunity and hope we'll get a lot of community teens who wouldn't otherwise set foot in our church building.

My plant at work recently started attacking me! I looked up one day and it was growing towards my face and every day, its limbs grew closer and closer to my head. I had to move it to the other side of my cubicle so it wouldn't obstruct my view of my computer screen. It has really flourished there and even started blooming with some tiny cute flowers.

I just found out we have those lights in our office that have Vitamin D in them...SADD lights maybe? I think that is what they are called. Anyhow, because we can go a long time without seeing any sun, they give off Vitamin D and are supposed to keep us happier and non-suicidal. I suggested we get some UV bulbs as well and we can tan while we work!

Remember that dead plant I had a picture of a while back? I keep forgetting to water that thing and it has come very close to death several times. I decided to bring it to work with me because I spend more time at work than I do at home, during the week at least. Everyone waters their plants on Friday afternoon too, so I should be better about remembering to water it.

My wonderful mom surprised me and mailed me all of my Christmas ornaments as well as some lights and tinsel to go on the tree! I was SO excited to open the package the other night. I had decided against getting a tree because I would have nothing to put on there once I had one, but now I can get one! A girl in my small group told me she has an extra tree I can probably borrow this year. Ideally, I'd like a real one because they're everywhere here, but I don't have a stand either and am not sure how I'd get it to my apartment anyway. So, however it works out, I'm excited to have a few Christmas decorations in my apartment. I bought a wreath this week but can't hang it on my door because there is no hook, so I have it hanging on my porch light instead. Classy, I know.

Post-Thanksgiving Update

Thanksgiving break was so fun and relaxing for me! I can't really explain why, but for some reason, Robby and Lynsey's one-year old daughter, Anna Kate, thought I was the coolest person ever! Of course, I loved the attention and the fact that she was always looking for me, letting me hold her, sitting in my lap and giving me the goofiest smiles ever. The second I walked in the door, she walked up to me and held her hands up for me to hold her like we'd known each other for years. She has the cutest little fake smile she would flash at me every time we made eye contact. We laughed at her "stranger smile" many times during the weekend.

We went to see The Informant the day after Thanksgiving and I wasn't really impressed. It doesn't really have a plot and isn't too entertaining, in my opinion. It's based on a true story and it's really just setting up this very quirky character the whole time. It's also really hard to follow and I spent almost the whole movie just trying to keep up. I did enjoy New Moon, however. I know it's corny and geared towards teenage girls, but I am a sucker for a love story. I can handle a little cheesiness if it is a happy ending :) I'm definitely Team Jacob. After seeing him, Edward just seems like a pale, skinny, old guy without much of a personality. Yes, I'm totally shallow and Jacob's good looks don't hurt either.

My wallet went missing about a week ago. It was such an ordeal because basically my money was trapped in my bank account and I couldn't access it. I had a hold put on my checks and went ahead and canceled my debit card just in case. I had other checks so I tried to use them, but nowhere will accept a check without picture ID. My driver's license was in my wallet so I had no picture ID. I also couldn't withdraw money from my account at the bank without picture ID. So, I figured I could just get another Driver's License and then be able to get money out. Well, you have to pay for a DL and they don't accept checks, so I couldn't get money to pay for that! Ugh! Anyway, hopefully it is all worked out now, but it's been such a mess. Luckily, my wallet was found and hadn't been stolen, so no money was gone at all. It was a good way to not spend any money for about a week or so at least!

It's Civil War week in Oregon! That means that Oregon State University and the University of Oregon are playing each other in college football this Thursday. People have been talking about it for months and I'm getting really excited for it. Of course, I'm a Ducks fan and hope they win. We'll go over to watch the game and eat pizza with a very fun couple from church. They are a divided family--she loves the Beavers and he is a Ducks fan. Should be interesting!!

I just realized I haven't taken any pictures in quite a while...so this blog is probably boring you all with just stories. I'll try to take some pictures and post them this week.

Recent News

Kory is gone the rest of the week to Austin to be with his family for Thanksgiving. I'll head up to Portland on Thursday to celebrate with the Wells--I'm so excited! I'll bring my awesome cooking skills and make some killer frozen rolls for us to enjoy.

I'm currently working on a program for a Christmas Family Giving Event at church next month. It will be a candlelight service followed by giving needy families food/clothes/toy boxes. I'm really excited about this and think it's going to be a great event!

I am also going to begin working in the nursery at church once a month during services--should be interesting. In theory, it sounds easy enough to watch some kids while their parents are in the auditorium, but somehow I have this feeling I have no idea what I'm getting myself into...

This week I put in my application for a new position that is opening up at work. My current position is temporary and ends January 15. This new position will last through June/July 2011. It's essentially the same job I've been doing...just for an extended time period. The Employment Dept is creating lots of temporary and limited duration jobs to beef up staff during this tough economic time. The idea is that when the economy improves and we don't need so many staff people, the jobs will naturally come to an end and they won't have to lay off a bunch of people. I have to go through the application and interview process just like everyone else...no special treatment for me being a current employee. :( Sad day.

Marriage

Quote from a lady I work with: "I will never be married again. It's way too much sacrifice and not near enough in return."

Then she tried to convince me marriage isn't worth the hassle. What a sad view of marriage.

She also told me she doesn't know anyone who is happily married--they are all trapped and just don't have the guts or money to get out of the marriage, in her opinion.

Wedding Fun

I spent last weekend in Midland for Michael and Danielle's wedding! It was such a fun weekend and they had an awesome wedding! They know how to throw quite a party :) Love my rub so much!

All the bridesmaids in our awesome dresses! These are maybe my fav dresses for a wedding ever! (unless I was in your wedding and you are reading this, then yours were my favorite :)

Beautiful bride!!

I don't miss West Texas for this reason...ugh. So brown and ugly. This was what I saw as I looked out the plane window leaving Midland.

I spent the whole plane ride being sad about living so far away from friends and then I saw this outside my window in Portland and I remembered why I love living here!

Loving Christians

Today at work I overheard two gentlemen talking while waiting for the fax machine. I heard the older man say, "The Christians are the ones who pulled me off the street, let me eat their food, gave me their own clothes, paid for me to see a doctor, kept me alive really. I was homeless and dying of pneumonia and if they didn't take care of me, I would be dead right now. You want to talk about real love, these people didn't know me at all and they saved my life. Then they introduced me to Jesus who could really actually save me in the way that matters."

I was tearing up at this point and trying not to let him see me eavesdropping on his conversation and crying at his testimony. This man then went on to talk about his baptism and the church he currently attends and times he has been homeless since then, but how his faith in God has sustained him through it all. It was SO encouraging to me to hear a story of Christians showing Jesus' love and changing someone's life. We don't hear these stories nearly enough so I just wanted to share it with all of you so that you will hopefully be encouraged to show that same love today.

Football Fun

The Oregon/USC game on Saturday was AWESOME! It was such an exciting and fun game to watch--especially in person. The crowd was so into the game and did such a great job of being LOUD! Many times, I couldn't talk to Kory who was standing right next to me because we couldn't hear each other. It only rained for about 15-20 minutes the whole game and wasn't really too cold. You can look at this Facebook album to see my pictures from the game: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019075&id=160201160&l=f31df4e6cb

Apparently, people think they can call the Employment Department if they have questions about ANYTHING at all. I got a call recently from a guy who wanted to know the city bus schedules and routes. Today a lady called asking me if this random welding college in Idaho will accept the Pell Grant. I have also answered calls where someone asked me if it was supposed to rain, how to hide from an ex-husband where he couldn't find her and to list every job currently open in the State of Oregon.

With all the recent rain, it is beginning to green up around here! It's so pretty! I love seeing green grass and autumn leaves at the same time.

Fun Fall Pictures

Youth Group Pumpkin Party

My veggie platter I took to the Boo Bash Potluck at work

Halloween Costumes at OED (Oregon Employment Dept)

My new fun rain boots! And yes, I have them on with my orange pj pants. I looked awesome!

Fun Fun Fun

Youth Group Wednesday Night
Pumpkin Party last night
Boo Bash at work today, ChristFest tonight
Oregon/USC game tomorrow

LOTS of fun to report on/post pictures from! I will start with Wednesday and Thursday. One of our youth leaders had to step down from volunteering, so I have taken over the juniors and seniors in my small group. This worked out perfectly because we have only had 1-2 seniors coming lately, so now I can have a bigger group and more kids consistently. The juniors are a really crazy and fun bunch, which I really enjoy, but getting them to focus has been quite a challenge lately. I'm not very good with this "discipline" role.

We had a really fun party for the youth group last night. I wore my kimono and Kory went as Peter Parker. We carved pumpkins and watched Nightmare Before Christmas and had a costume contest and played Haunted Hallowingo (BINGO). I made sugar cookies for everyone to decorate, but we ran out of time and didn't get to do that. I was glad I had already carved a pumpkin this year and could just watch and take pictures of everyone else.

After the party, we had rehearsal for ChristFest at church and then I had to put my food together for our potluck today at work. It was a late night and it has been a long time since I stayed up late! How did this happen to me? Ugh. I used to be such a great night owl and I went and got old with everyone else. I really hate that work has done that to me. I feel like a small part of me has died.

So, tonight is ChristFest and then we'll head to Eugene for the Ducks vs. USC football game tomorrow. Should be a really exciting game! I'm pumped! I'll post pictures of everything as soon as I can get them all uploaded.

Weekend Update

This past weekend was pretty busy and this week looks to be the same. I went to a volleyball game, homecoming, 2 soccer games, and 3 church meetings over the weekend. South Umpqua's homecoming was Friday night, so we went to the football game to enjoy the festivities. There were a few things that I think should have been changed...the homecoming court was all smushed up on the track with the cars and you could barely see them, while the announcer was out on the field in full-view of everyone. There was also only one convertible and so with all the other cars, you couldn't even see the girls inside. They also didn't have enough cars so several girls were in the back seat of a mustang. Anyway, it was fun because we found two families from church and got to watch the game with them. They even treated us to fried bread with apple butter, which was quite yummy!

Saturday morning, I had my last soccer game coaching the Green Dragons. They were so much fun and I'm really glad I got to coach them! I'll miss the cute kids, but I definitely won't miss getting up early on Saturday mornings. We also went to a high school boys' soccer game on Saturday afternoon to watch one of our youth group kids. Unfortunately, he didn't get to play, but it was an awesome game! It was the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the state and our team won 2-1 in overtime to beat the undefeated team. Very exciting!

A couple months ago, I found a book in Barnes and Noble called The World According to Twitter. I don't use Twitter, but thought this book sounded interesting so I picked it up to start reading. It was SO funny! I was laughing out loud in B and N and really loved this book. The author, David Pogue, is a NY Times columnist who wrote a question on Twitter each night and then recorded the best answers he got (his followers on Twitter replied and the entire book is made up of their responses). The questions are about all sorts of topics from first kisses to movie sequels to lifelong regrets. I didn't end up buying the book because I was already buying a couple others. I found the book again this past weekend and it was on sale, so after reading some more of it in the store, I just bought the book. I spent Saturday evening/night reading the entire book. It's just SO stinking hilarious! The book also includes many inspirational, heart-breaking and really smart tweets, however. This book has me seriously considering getting a Twitter account now. I'll post some questions/responses in the next couple days from this awesome book!

Pumpkins and Hair-cut

We didn't get to go to the Roloff Pumpkin Farm last Friday. Very sad!! :( It was supposed to be raining really hard Friday afternoon so we cancelled and then, of course, it didn't actually end up raining. I did enjoy a lazy day at home though, so I won't complain. Kory and I carved pumpkins that night to make up for my pumpkin sadness. You can see how stinking thick that thing was!! It was definitely a workout to get that thing carved.

I also got my hair cut this weekend. Here is a picture at the middle school bowling event where you can see my new hair-cut. It's quite a bit shorter, but doesn't look a lot different than before. My hair has a mind of it's own and it pretty much does the exact same thing whatever the length. I like it though and it takes way less time to dry, so I'm happy.

TV Shows

We have been watching the 1st season of BBC's The Office lately. Of course, I like the American version better, but it's not as bad as I have heard some people say. I think it's pretty funny, but I can see why some people wouldn't like it. British "Jim" isn't charming and endearing and cute...he's ok, but not anything fantastic. Speaking of The Office, the wedding was awesome!! You do realize that if Michael married his current lady, he'd be Pam's dad, right?! Well, step-dad, but it doesn't matter. It would be just another hilarious disaster.

What do you think about them making another season of Scrubs? I am personally against it with every fiber of my being! They should just let a good thing die. There was a GREAT series finale and that should have been it. Plus, if Zach Braff is going to be in 6 of the first episodes to get it started, how are they going to just phase him out half-way into the season? Ugh. I hate it. Even if it turns out to still be funny, Scrubs is not Scrubs without JD. That's DUMB! I don't have TV so I won't be watching it when it airs, but I probably will have to watch at least the first one online just so I can see what they are doing with the show. My curiosity will definitely get the best of me. Even if I hate it, I won't be able to stay away.

Plants Need Water? What?!

fSo...apparently, you are supposed to give these water or something? Who knew??

I woke up to find my plant like this on Tuesday and realized I hadn't watered it for over a week. I was so afraid it was dead and gone, but went ahead and watered it anyway.

Luckily I came home 8 hours later to find it alive and well! :)

This plant seems to be perfect for me. It SCREAMS at me when it needs water. Hopefully this sort of relationship will continue to keep it alive and me happy.

Pumpkins!

I have really been wanting a green Oregon ducks sweatshirt for a long time now. Even before we moved here, I wanted one because Rachel has had one forever and I loved it. They were pretty expensive everywhere I looked, so I kept waiting to get one. We are going to an Oregon Ducks/USC football game on Oct. 31 for Kory's birthday present, so we went to the Ducks store in Eugene last weekend on the way home from Seattle to get some Ducks gear to wear to the game. They had $15-$20 sweatshirts so I finally have one now. I'm very excited!

We have our first soccer game this Saturday and it should be really funny. I had to miss team pictures last week, which made me very sad. It was also our last practice, so I'm just really hoping these kids learned what a thrown-in and goal look like.

Even though the mornings and nights are getting quite chilly, it is still warm and sunny here in the afternoon. Of course, that means I miss all the sunshine because I'm at work. Boo. I have soccer games the next 3 Saturdays, then the Ducks game, then Danielle's wedding...so I have lots of weekend fun to look forward to right now!

My next trip that I am VERY excited about is going to Roloff Farms just outside Portland. If you have ever seen Little People, Big World, then you know what I'm talking about. This pumpkin farm is run by the Roloff family and is only open to the public during the month of October. Lynsey, Anna Kate and I will venture out to the farm on Friday, October 16 and I can't wait! I have that day off work because the State of Oregon has begun implementing unpaid furlough days for all state workers. So, it stinks I won't get paid that day, but I'm excited because I get to take a fun trip and maybe see some celebrities! You can bet we'll be taking the wagon tour of the farm...hopefully Zach won't drive us off the bridge!! (Probably only my Mom will get that)

Here is the link to my Seattle pictures on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018613&id=160201160&l=bced65d879

Making a Statement

There are two groups of people who come out to the streets on Friday afternoons in Roseburg, Oregon.

One group stands on the sidewalk of a major street wearing red and holding signs saying "We support our troops!" or waving American flags.


The other group stands a block away wearing all black and holding signs that say, "End violence, promote peace!", "Women in black mourn violence", "Grow beyond violence", etc.


People wave and honk as they drive by the group they support and I always find it interesting to see how the sign-holders and drivers react to each other.

Hiking

I found this blog post I started a week ago and never finished because I didn't have the pictures on my computer. Here it is one week late:

Kory and I went hiking with two of the high school seniors this past weekend. We went to 3 different waterfalls and had a lot of fun! The falls weren't flowing as much as usual because of the time of year, but it was still really pretty. I am clearly not in very good shape because I am pretty sore from these very minor hikes.

Here are a few pictures from our hike. They aren't great quality because I discovered at the end of the day that it had been on the close-up setting the whole time. Oops!

Lost Pictures

I found quite a few pictures on my camera this evening that I never put online, so here are some random photos from the past month.

South Umpqua High School (in Myrtle Creek) football field

It's no Bulldog Bowl, but the view is pretty great!

These boys found these clothes in a closet in the church building and ran into youth group Wednesday night in these outfits. It was hilarious!!

They played a game of hot potato with an onion and if the music stopped while you were holding the onion, you had to take a bite of it!

First birthday celebration--cupcakes at youth group!

Seattle!

We had an AMAZING trip to Seattle this past weekend!! It was so much fun! I absolutely loved the city and we packed a lot of experiences into a few days.

I am currently working on getting the pictures on Facebook, but that is proving to be quite the ordeal. As soon as I have them all online, I'll give you the link so you can check them out if you aren't on FB. Until then, enjoy this shot of downtown as we waited on the ferry.

Soccer Coach

I started coaching an Itty Bitty Soccer Team (4 and 5 yr olds) with the YMCA this past week. They are SO cute and it's a lot of fun for me! We only have 3 weeks of practices and then 3 weeks of games, so it's a pretty short season. I am somehow supposed to teach them about defense, positions, throw-ins and goal scoring in 2 hours over the next 2 weeks before games start. They barely got the concept of kicking the ball without falling down this past week, so it should be quite entertaining.

We had a great time hanging out with people from church this past weekend. Kory and I went to the Norris' home to watch the UT/Texas Tech football game Saturday evening and had a delicious Mexican supper with them. They are a lot of fun and it was great to get to know them better. They were so gracious to let us raid their home and watch a game they really cared nothing about.

Sunday, the Cockrums invited us over to have Dawn's famous manicotti and oh my goodness--it was WONDERFUL!! After an awesome dinner, we all watched The Karate Kid together. I had never seen the whole movie, but it is one of Kory's all-time favorites so he was ecstatic for us to watch it! They are an awesome couple and it's hilarious to watch Danny command the kids to drop and give him push-ups so they can go to the neighbor's house.

We haven't been very good about being social and spending time with other adults from church, so hopefully we will do better about that after having so much fun this weekend.

Update

We are going to Seattle in a couple weeks for Jessica and Trent's wedding and I am really excited! I have never been to Washington before and I have heard great things about Seattle. It's Kory's birthday weekend so I am taking Friday and Monday off work and we're spending the whole weekend up there. I'll get to see several friends that I haven't seen in a while also, so it promises to be a GREAT weekend.

I can't believe it is already the middle of September! We moved to Oregon 3 months ago...it has gone by so quickly. It is still warm and dry here almost every day. Everyone keeps telling me the rain and cold weather will be here in October and stay until March, so I'm trying to prepare myself.

Life with no TV or internet at my apartment is still going well. I really don't miss either of them too much. Kory has internet access at his apt, and since you can watch TV shows online, I am really not missing out on anything, but I am saving quite a bit of money every month.

Have you seen the news stories about Steven Anderson? He is a Baptist preacher from Arizona that openly announces he prays Obama will die and go to hell. He preached an entire sermon called "I hate Barack Obama." You should google him or check out some videos of him on YouTube. It is AWFUL! I can't even believe he is a preacher. No wonder people hate Christians so much. I don't care how much you disagree with Obama's politics or decisions or whatever...that is NEVER ok, certainly not for someone who proclaims to live for Christ.

I want to grow a garden.

I recently read an article about how the sales trends of men's underwear is a great indicator of when the recession will end. It was hilarious! This is a legit theory that economists have. There are people tracking these underwear sales to make economic predictions. Just when I think the world we live in can't get any more ridiculous... :)

A couple of my family members/friends are considering making a move to the NW and I'm so excited about the possibility. I love my life here, but having people close to my age to hang out with would most certainly be welcomed.

Anyone who knows me very well will be quite shocked by this next statement. I have been cooking quite a bit lately and I am really enjoying it! Last night, I made California chicken (chicken breast with melted cheese, bacon and avocado on it) and it was quite delicious, if I do say so myself.

I really love staying up late. I am a night owl and I think I always will be. Even if I am tired and have to get up early, I still love being up late. For the first time in many years, I am going to bed semi-early and getting up at 6:30-6:45 each morning. I thought this would help me transition into being more of a morning person and enjoying going to bed early, but I seriously hate it. I think I just feel like I'm missing out on the fun the night has to offer or something. I went to bed at 10:30 last night and was laying in bed seriously wanting to get up, but forcing myself to stay in bed so I could get to sleep. I wonder if I'll ever start enjoying an earlier bed time.

Susan Creek Falls

Here are a few pictures from a waterfall we hiked to last weekend when Kory's parents were here. I forgot my memory card so my camera could only hold a few pictures. It was a beautiful place and, as usual, is much better in person.