Mom and Dad came to Oregon!

So this is little late, but my parents came to see me in Oregon in August. We had a wonderful time! I wanted them to see the coolest places around here (in my opinion) so we did a lot of driving. It was pretty exhausting, but we saw some incredible sights!

Friday we drove to Crater Lake, which was my first time there. It's one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen! Such incredibly blue water...but wow it is freezing!

Our first view of the water

The man can be a brat, but I love him! :)

Dad hung out on this bench while Mom and I hiked down to the water

The water was just such an incredible color of blue...never seen anything like it

Saturday was my mom's birthday and we spent the day in Newport on the coast. It was pretty chilly, but I've grown accustomed to layering up when I visit the coast, any time of the year.

At the pier in Newport where we watched a lady with a huge knife go crazy on some fish

Kory preached on Sunday morning, so we went to church and then had a very relaxed rest of the day. My parents taught me the value of Sunday afternoon naps, so we enjoyed those after lunch. I went running and then joined my parents on a tour of Myrtle Creek that evening. We drove around to the covered bridges and pretty locations all around this area.

Monday we headed south to California for a trip to the beach and the Redwoods. We did all the touristy things like driving through a tree, which of course is a slight disappointment, but makes for great pictures. It was my parents first time to see the ocean so we made sure Mom got to put her feet in the Pacific. The Oregon coast is beautiful, but it's not really the place to get in the water. Just south of Crescent City we found a beach with warm sand and cool water and it felt great to put our feet in and play for a bit.

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The water felt so nice that day!

I could ALMOST reach all the way across the opening of the tree

Cheesy tourist attraction, but we loved it!

So stinking tall!

This was one of the really fat ones...we didn't even get the whole trunk in the picture

It's always fun having visitors and getting to show them around this incredible place I get to call home!

Rachel's Trip to Oregon

I had such a great time with Rachel this past week! Here are some pictures of our trips to the coast (Bandon, OR) and to Portland for the weekend.

I really love this picture of Rachel and baby Beckham in her belly :)

It was really foggy on the beach, but it was still fun to play in the water and the sand.

Saturday Market is one of the best things--so much to see and eat and do!

Waiting for the MAX for one hour...ugh. Poor 7 months pregnant Rachel--not a great situation.

We got this picture taken in Powell's...notice our names on the marquee board. It's not a very good picture of either one of us, but at least we got cool books!

Many more pictures can be found on my Facebook page.

AND now on to some other random thoughts...

Kory and I watched the Dark Knight last night. I really love that movie! When the movie first came out, there were several people who told me that this was my dopple-danger. Any thoughts? It's always hard to tell if someone looks like yourself, I think. I guess I can see a little resemblance...

My parents will arrive on Thursday and I'm very ready for them to be here! We'll be making lots of fun trips to the coast, the Redwoods, Crater Lake, South Umpqua waterfalls and hopefully there will be some time at the river in there also. It's supposed to cool down quite a bit the end of this week, so hopefully they'll get to experience some beautiful Oregon weather.

It has been brought to my attention that a few people I know have been in Oregon recently and not called me. This practice is unacceptable!! :) For reals though, if you're anywhere near me, please let me know. I'm willing to make a trip and go out of my way to see friends/family if at all possible.

Running is still going really well. I'm currently going 2.5 miles...and as I type that, I have a hard time believing I can really run that far. Granted, some parts of the run are at a snail's pace and I'm barely moving my feet going up those hills, but I am moving and that is the important part!

I have a picture in my cubicle of Rynn, Kecia, Sara and I eating in Rosa's right before I left to move to Oregon. That picture is awesome, but it has some food/drink on the table, and it taunts me every time I look at it. As we speak, I am craving some Rosa's more than life itself. Oh I want it so badly! I know there is one in California, and some times I consider driving the 8 hours or whatever it is to taste that queso.

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!!

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.

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.

Paperwork and Pictures

I got my Oregon driver's license and license plates today, so I think that makes me an official Oregonian. I had to take a driving test also, which was a bit harder than I expected. I did pass on the first time though, so I was happy about that.

We had SO much fun with Kory's parents this past weekend. I am so happy they came to visit! We went white-water rafting on Saturday and it was one of the funnest things I have done in a long time! Ben had a tough time staying in the boat and that made for an entertaining day for everybody. haha Everyone but Kory was thrown from the raft at some point, but Ben definitely got beat up the most as he fell out in some really rough rapids. My arms are sore from rowing and my legs are sore from trying to hold onto the side of the raft, but it was definitely worth it.

I had a tough time coming back from Texas last week. It was just difficult for me when I realized I live 1800 miles away from all our friends and family. Some days the distance isn't a big deal, but it was really hard after getting to hang out with everyone at the wedding. After a couple days, I regained my love for Oregon and I am once again very happy to live here! :) It was perfect that Ben and Jackie arrived this past week, however, and it helped me not to feel so homesick anymore.

Here are a few pictures from Rynn's wedding weekend that I finally got uploaded:

Excitement

1. Kory is taking the youth group to a camp next week and I have to stay here to work, so I’m bummed to be missing out on that. I am excited to watch a lot of chick flicks and have some good 'me' time though.

2. I will be traveling to Salem for new employer orientation next Tuesday and I think that will be cool. I’ll be taking the company Taurus! Woohoo!

3. It has been crazy hot for Oregon this past week! It was 107 degrees yesterday!! Now I know some of you TX/NM people are thinking, “That’s nothing! We have that every day.” Well, the problem is that a lot of people don’t have air conditioners so that kind of heat is really dangerous here! Luckily, I have a great air conditioner in my apartment and at work.

4. I am very excited to have our first visitors next month! Kory’s parents will be here in a few weeks and I can’t wait to show them around this beautiful place. The rest of you should start planning your trip here!

5. Another fun thing coming up soon—I’ll be flying back to Lubbock in two and a half weeks for Jeff & Rynn’s wedding. I am pumped to see everyone and have an awesome weekend together!

6. I use too many exclamation marks! I just went back through and took out a ton of them because I realized I use them after almost every sentence. I will try to calm down—I just have a lot to be excited about! :)

Georgetown Fun

All these pictures are courtesy of Kory's mom, Jackie. She took these last week while I was hanging out with the Mereness family in Georgetown and Austin.

Kory's hair really isn't quite as crazy as it looks at first. He was teaching me how to play WOW.

Sitting on the couch watching Wife Swap and eating Chex Mix

We went to play soccer in the park, but didn't last too long because it was SOO incredibly hot!

Downtown Austin right after we ate some yummy Mexican food at Rio Grande; No we didn't plan to match each other.

Kayaking on Town Lake--we got really wet but the cool water felt so good!

Oh how I love Austin! I will live here someday.

Recent Pictures

Here are a few more pictures of some fun things I've done recently:

Chase Field--Arizona Diamondbacks Stadium

Diamondbacks beat Cubs 7-2

Inner Space Caverns with Kory in Georgetown, TX

Easter Weekend

To begin the Easter weekend, I found a book I wrote in the 2nd grade: The Happiest Easter Ever. Wow! I was quite the talented writer and illustrator at age 8. I read the book to Kory over the phone and he was laughing so hard he could barely breathe. It isn't THAT funny. However, if I were to draw those pictures again today, they would probably look almost identical to the 2nd grade drawings. Art is not really my gift.

We went to my grandparents ranch for Easter weekend in Weed, NM. If you haven't been to Weed, you really haven't lived. My grandparents don't have cell phone service or a computer at the ranch, so I always load up on reading material to take with me. I read two books this weekend: Multiple Blessings by Kate Gosselin (mom from Jon & Kate Plus 8 on TLC) and Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell. They are two VERY different books, but I enjoyed both of them.

Our family had planned a big all-day picnic and fun day in the mountains on Saturday. The weather had other plans. It snowed and the wind blew and it was unbelievably cold. We moved picnic locations 5 or 6 times trying to find a warmer place and ended up just eating quickly so we could get back in the warm cars. I guess July is a better time for a picnic in the mountains.

We had a 'big kids' Easter egg hunt on Sunday and I was really dreading it. There were only 5 of us there (two of my cousins and their spouses) and I just wanted to stop after the little kids egg hunt. Well, I ended up finding all but one of the money eggs and got more cash than anyone else. I won't complain about the big kid hunt anymore.

I pulled a W. on Sunday when I was talking to Kory about the "crucification" of Jesus--I knew it didn't sound right but couldn't think how to fix it. Yes, I quickly realized the correct word is "crucifixion." My bad.

I didn't take any pictures last weekend, so here is the only recent picture I have that isn't from Europe.

Hanging out with Kory in Lubbock last week :)

Highlights

My time in Europe has been incredible! I still can't believe that I have really lived in Ireland and England and got to see and do so many amazing things! Here are some of my favorite experiences/moments from the past 7 months:

Finally reunited with Kory after 4 months apart!! September 2008

Kissing the Blarney Stone in Blarney, Ireland--September 2008

Kory's birthday trip to Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland--October 2008

Leaning Tower of Pisa--December 2008

 Eating gelato on Ponte Vecchio Bridge in Florence, Italy--December 2008

 Eiffel Tower in Paris, France--December 2008

Hanging out with friends in Lubbock, TX on my "Christmas break"--December 2008

Christmas with my family in Weed, NM--December 2008

Birthday trip to Oxford with Rynn--January 2009

Lion King in London, England--February 2009

Loch Ness, Scotland--March 2009

Jeff and Rynn's engagement in London, England--March 2009

Meeting Joshua Radin after his concert in London, England--March 2009

Les Miserables with Evan and Jacinda Simmons in London, England--March 2009

Eating gelato in front of the Colosseum in Rome, Italy--March 2009

Hanging out with Rynn everyday and sharing this trip of a lifetime with her! :)