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.