Resolution Follow-Up

So I was looking through old blog posts today and found this one that describes my 2010 New Years Resolution to make friends here in Oregon.

Well, I am happy to report that I did it! There are 3-4 girls that I hang out with on a semi-regular occasion and I would consider all of them to be my close friends. It certainly took work, but I am excited that I followed through on last year's resolution and made it happen!

Shower Weekend Day 2

Saturday was our work day as we spent most of the day working on wedding projects and crafts. When I say "we" worked, I mean my mom and bridesmaids worked while I talked to them, played with Beckham and avoided work in general.

All of the bridesmaids but Julie (who had a baby 1.5 weeks before) got fitted for their b-maid dresses and they looked great! The lady who made them is incredible. We sent her a picture we printed off from David's Bridal's website and she made dresses that are exact replicas...without a pattern...and for 60% less! She's amazing! We'll get Julie fitted a little closer to time for the wedding, but since this lady made 4 dresses in a week, we're not worried at all.

Speaking of Julie and her baby, Grayden, I got to see both of them on Saturday! It was SO wonderful to meet the little guy and get to hold him. I do mean LITTLE...he was only 6 lbs and was precious!

Especially after holding Beckham earlier that day (17 lbs!), Grayden felt light as a feather! I loved getting to see Julie and her brand new baby, brand new house and brand new car. Lots of excitement! What really took me by surprise was the fact that as I went to hug her goodbye, I lost it. I started crying and couldn't get it together.

It just hit me all of a sudden that I live so far away and I won't get to see her baby grow up and just felt sad to be across the country from her! This emotion continued to sneak up on me all night...including during my recipe shower that night. I was also very tired and getting sick by this point, so I think I was just completely wiped out.

My throat was KILLING me during that recipe shower and I knew I was getting the flu. Ugh! Really?? The timing was terrible...but I pressed on! The cool thing about the recipe shower is that people give you a recipe, an ingredient for that recipe, a kitchen utensil and a piece of advice for marriage and for cooking. Unfortunately, you're supposed to read the name of the recipe and the two pieces of advice out loud to everyone at the shower.

It hurt bad enough for me to just talk, but everyone was talking so loudly I was having to shout and my throat hurt so bad I wanted to die. I have never been in that much pain from my throat, but I put on a fake smile and tried to make the best of it. It really was fun to get all those gifts and see friends and family, but my body aches kicked in about this time and I was so emotional, I knew I needed to get to bed soon.

My wonderful b-maids packed all my gifts for me, thankfully. We left the shower to go clean up the room at church we worked in all day. I also got to open our gift cards from our Amarillo gift card shower that was held a few weeks before. We were INCREDIBLY blessed from that shower and got a ton of gift cards! The best part was that they travel easy and we get to pick what we want: win-win!

This is a good time to mention that we have 5 wedding showers, plus a lingerie shower for me! It's overwhelming how many people are loving on us and giving us awesome gifts. Getting married is SO fun! :)

Life is not a Fairytale

I had a realization this weekend about the huge gap between the way I picture my future and reality. This is especially true when it comes to weddings. When I pictured my wedding and even my showers, I thought I would be in great shape, my nails would be beautiful, I would be excited and happy and having the time of my life.

In reality, I was exhausted, I haven't worked out in far too long, my nails are a real mess, I spent most of the weekend sick and I was so miserable at times I wanted nothing more than to be in bed cuddled under warm blankets.

However, I had amazing friends and family who helped me pack gift and do wedding projects and loved on me, even though I clearly had plenty of germs to share. No one noticed my personal appearance was not identical to the brides in my bridal magazines. I hated that I felt bad this weekend, but I have been reminded over and over it would be much worse if it happened wedding weekend. (I will be taking lots of vitamins and medicines prior to wedding weekend now...I think little sleep and pure exhaustion equals sickness for me.)

I still had an incredible weekend and really enjoyed the time I got to spend with friends and family and future family! I see now that God was teaching me an important lesson about how we can set ourselves up for disappointment by ridiculously high expectations. I am learning to be content, whatever the situation. A wise friend told me she calls it choosing joy. Right now, I am still feeling sick and am waiting in the Phoenix airport for my delayed flight, but I choose to be grateful I have time to read my book and write some thank you notes and eat lunch without being rushed. I feel happier already!

Marathoning for Miracles

I finished a marathon! Well, sort of. I ran in a marathon relay race as the second leg (6 miles) and then our whole team crossed the finish line together, which was really cool!

Prior to the race, the farthest I had ever run was 4.5 miles. That was several weeks earlier and I only ran twice in the last 3 weeks before the race. The cold weather, rain and darkness of Oregon fall had completely destroyed my motivation.

The day before the race, Jacinda and I drove the entire course of the marathon, which initially intimidated us both, but turned out to be a great idea. The race took us out to the boonies and much of our time running was out on dirt roads south of Abilene where the cows and cactus reside. A few people took the wrong turn and did the wrong route, so we were happy we knew what turns to take because of mapping it out the previous day. (There were also arrows and signs and people to help direct, so it really does puzzle me as to how they got lost?)

Jenise ran the first leg of the relay which was 5 miles. Quick shout-out to Southwest Airlines, Jenise's employer and the friendly people who carried me to TX and back. If you are flying any other airline, you are wrong :) Jenise ran mostly through Abilene neighborhoods and down one very long dirt road.

She tagged off with me and sent me around the Abilene airport on a dirt/gravel road that was a little bit slippery (with all the little rocks) and a whole lot dusty (with cars driving past us at ridiculous speeds). My plan was to run 2 miles, stop at a water station and then walk for a couple minutes, before running 2 more miles and repeating the process. I ran the first 2 miles and didn't have a water station because I just passed 2 at the starting line and the 1 mile mark. So, I decided to keep going and stop at the water station around mile 3. When I arrived, I realized I wanted to try to run through while drinking the cup of water and throw it down when I was finished because it seemed like a hard core runner thing to do. So, I kept running past mile 3 and was still feeling really good! As in, I didn't even want to stop and wasn't really out of breath.

About mile 4 I realized, "Hey! I could run this whole thing!" So I decided to just keep going since I'd already made it that far. The last mile was difficult because I was getting winded a strong wind picked up and was blowing in my face, but the perfect song came on and I picked up the pace while jamming to "Body Moving", quite possibly the best workout song EVER!

I have never said this about running before, but it was really fun! The flat roads of Texas were awesome after running on hills in Oregon. I think that is why I was able to run so much farther than I expected--I didn't realize just how much a difference it would make to be on level ground.

Jacinda and Jenise's cousin were supposed to run with us, but she had sick babies and wasn't able to make it. Luckily, Jacob (Evan has running connections in Abilene--we don't know him at all) was able to step in at the last minute. He is a marathoner, so 8 miles was no big deal for him at all.


Jacob, Jacinda, me and Jenise

We definitely didn't win the relay, but we also didn't get last, so we were pretty happy with being right in the middle!

Texas Weekend

This past weekend I went to Abilene, TX to run in a marathon relay race and see some of my college friends. It was so much fun! Even the running was fun, which is something I have never said before! More on the race in my next blog...

I read Diary of a Wimpy Kid while in Texas and really enjoyed it! There were multiple times that I laughed out loud while reading it. I saw on the inside cover that there are several other books in the series, so I plan to read those and see the movie soon.

Thanksgiving is this month and I am so excited for it! Partly because I will get to go home for the holiday and partly because it is my favorite holiday all year! Only 13 days of work left and then I get to fly to NM/TX. I actually just looked at a calendar and realized I get a 4 day work week this week and next-yay!!

My last day in Lubbock I woke up 15 minutes before we had to leave, didn't shower, had no makeup on, threw on a T-shirt and jeans and headed out the door...felt just like I was back in college! :) I realized recently that people in the South dress up way more than people in Oregon.

It is funny to watch people on a plane when it lands. Some people have that phone out and ready to turn on the millisecond the wheels make contact with the ground. I have even witnessed some who have their finger on the button, as if they have no time to spare to get back in touch with the world!

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.

Friends, Fall and Fatties

Rachel will be in Myrtle Creek this evening and I'm VERY excited to see her!! I will take off work Friday so we can spend the day on the coast and then we'll head to Portland for the weekend.

It's starting to get dark earlier at night and I know that Fall will be here before I know it. I'm actually pretty excited for Fall weather and football and rain and cool temperatures, but this was SUCH a short summer. It rained until the middle of June, so it feels like summer just barely started and now it's already going to be over soon.

I was telling one of my co-workers about my running plans and she said, "Oh great! If you're running that much you're going to get skinny!" So you're saying I'm currently NOT skinny? Hmm...she's obviously trying to give me a complex.

Brynn made an excellent comment about my last post. I think she is absolutely right that God is present in the details and that it takes lots of little moments to add up to a big moment in life. I think God cares about the details of my life, but I think God is working for His for the good of man and for His glory. I don't think God's concern for the details includes my selfish/materialistic wants and needs. If I pray that I'll win my basketball game and the other team prays they will win, then who does God side with? I think God can certainly give and take away health, injury, talent and many other things that would affect the outcome of the game, but I don't think God is going to move the ball in or out of the hoop based on my prayers/wishes. I think we've made God out to be a genie in a bottle where I can wish/pray for anything I want and He'll give it to me.
I believe God has given us free will and that He allows us to make choices. Certainly He is involved in our life and He cares about the little choices I make each day. Those little choices I make are what determines my character and makes me the person I am today. So, Brynn, I hope I understand what you were saying and if I do, then I absolutely agree with you! I should have made myself more clear in that last post. You gave me a great reminder that God knows the number of hairs on my head and he dresses the lilies of the field. He is not a God too big for our little mundane human lives!

Late Night Thoughts

I am laying here on the couch (bed is covered in clean clothes and I am too lazy to put them all away) and I have a thousand thoughts running through my head so I will attempt to type them out here and then hopefully I can get to sleep.

My coworker won't stop talking about her son's wedding and she told me last week it is a potluck. I am trying not to judge but that just screams tacky!

I really really want a more flexible work schedule. I love my job but I HATE the 8-5, no exceptions. I am not made to live my life in an office.

After a year living in Oregon, I feel strangely put of place. I don't feel like this is home, per se, but it is certainly very familiar. I love it here but I just have this strange feeling that I will never truly belong here. That sounds negative and I don't mean for it to...I just think I will always look at this Pacific NW culture from the outside and compare it to NM/TX. I guess I can't expect to feel the same about a place I lived for one year vs. 23 years somewhere else.

Nobody told me how hard it is to make friends as an adult. Most of my college friends are discovering the same thing I am and I think it took most of us by surprise. I just never really thought about it in college and now I see that I may never have friendships that close again. It kind of makes me sad, but it also makes me really appreciate those friendships and makes me want to keep in touch even more.

For the first time in a very long time, I can look back at the past year and say that not much has changed. I have the same job, live in the same apartment, drive the same car, am in the same relationship, etc. I guess this is called settling down and being stable?

Sometimes I feel like my friends who are married and having babies are speeding ahead in life without me. It is like I am left behind as a college student still dating and they are full blown adults and I can never catch up now. I guess one of the true tests of friendship is whether you can remain friends even when you are thousands of miles apart and are in very different life situations and all you have in common is love.

I really miss TX/NM people tonight. Typically I try not to write this stuff down for everyone to see because I want to be a positive and optimistic person. However, I think it is more important to be real and for me to be able to share what is on my heart--good or bad. Lonely is a feeling I never really experienced until after college graduation. It has been hard for me to learn that missing someone or longing to be somewhere else doesn't mean you can't enjoy where you are right now. I love my life here and absolutely feel that I am right where God wants me. There is no better place to be than in the center of His will!

Picture Update!

After church in the park

Visiting the Redwoods

Julie's Bridal Party

I revived this plant...literally brought it back from death...very excited about it!

My boy can be sweet sometimes...hand picked roses...not sure where he stole them from though, he won't tell me that much.

100th Post!!

**I wrote this blog yesterday and forgot to post it. I'll try to add pictures of my trips soon!**

Wow, I can't believe I have posted 100 blogs. I will celebrate #100 by telling you about the fantastic week I had hanging out with friends.

I got to hang out with Lynsey on Thursday night when we stayed at her apt before flying to NM early the next morning. It was so great to catch up with her! Laying on a bed, staying up late chatting about girl things is just good for the soul! I was sad to miss hanging out with Anna Kate, but I did see her for a minute and she is SO tall! I really think that girl will be the same height as me when she is 5 years old :)

Brad came to spend his vacation with Kory and I last week and it was SO much fun! We went to see Iron Man 2, visited the Redwoods, celebrated my new job, and went to Portland.

I went to Artesia over the weekend to be in Julie's wedding...although my travel plans were interrupted and at one point, I wasn't sure I was going to make it!

There were thunderstorms in Dallas on Friday and DFW airport was completely closed. We re-routed to Waco, which was also closed, but we were running low on fuel so we had to land immediately in Killeen at the Ft. Hood military base. We spent most of the afternoon in this tiny airport and I ate my lunch out of a vending machine. Thank goodness I had my iPhone to entertain me all day. Many more things went wrong that day, but I did make it to Artesia about 10:30 or so that night. I missed the rehearsal and dinner and lingerie shower, which was REALLY disappointing, but at least I made if for the wedding, which was the most important part. Wedding day was very fun! Julie is the most ridiculous bride I know, but I love her just the same :)

I got home about 7:30 Monday night and a couple hours later, had more friends coming to visit me! Hannah C. and Britni J. stopped by on their Western States road trip and spent the night at my apt last night. It was great to see them and catch up on life! I'm pretty sure it's been 2 years since I've seen Britni--which is crazy! I have got 5 hours of sleep or less 3 of the past 5 nights so I'm completely exhausted. It was wonderful spending so much time with friends/family, but I'm excited about going to my apt tonight and laying on the couch to watch Biggest Loser and living this small town, slow-paced life I'm used to.

Speaking of Biggest Loser, I am beyond excited for next week's Finale! I don't really know what they'll do on tonight's show since the final four is already decided, but I'll love watching it anyway. I missed last week's American Idol, so I'll definitely try to catch it this week. I just really love Casey James so much...I think he'll be a star even if he doesn't win because he'll have so many females in love with him...including Cara D.

FRIENDS :)

May is the month for friends!! Brad will be here next week, I get to see lots of friends and family at Julie's wedding in a week and a half, two college friends are hopefully staying a night with me the next week as they drive through Oregon and there is a possibility of seeing another friend at the end of May. Like most other things in life, I never fully appreciated friends my age until I had ZERO that I see on a daily basis.

Oh Biggest Loser--how I LOVE you! This week was so emotional with the make-overs. The guys looked so great! The girls didn't really look much different, but it's still incredible to see their tiny little waists after 16 weeks. I really really want Daris and Ashley to make the top 4 and then to start dating! I think they'd be so cute together. On the other hand, I am NOT ok with Sam and Stephanie. I never liked her--I think she whined too much. I love Sam and they don't make a cute couple at all.

I didn't watch American Idol last night because I was watching BL and Parenthood. However, I did have a fantastic dream about Casey James...we were definitely in love :) I listen to Kidd Kraddick on the way to work, however, and this morning they were all saying they think Casey is getting kicked off tonight. My dream was obviously an omen that he will be heart-broken today and need my love to comfort him. I prefer to watch the singing and results show the same night and fast forward through everything but the contestant performances, judges comments (unless they're annoying) and the actual results. The quality of contestants on AI this year is definitely down from previous years. If Casey gets kicked off, I will lose a lot of interest in the show...as will many other females I presume.

Last weekend was a very productive time for me! I got my apartment REALLY clean...like dusting and sweeping and beating the rugs and the stuff I don't do very often at all. It feels so nice to come home to a very clean apt. I also cleaned out a lot of junk and have quite a bit of stuff to donate to the youth group rummage sale later this month.

I can't believe I will be in Artesia in 10 days. I haven't seen anyone from there since Christmas. It's weird that I'm at a place in my life where I might see my parents a couple times a year! On that note, I can't really explain why but I have really started to feel more like a young adult lately and less like a college student. I actually like the feeling...it helps a lot at work to feel like I'm not some kid hanging out with the grown-ups.

This Friday, I have an interview for a permanent position at work. It would be the exact same thing I'm doing now, but without an ending date for the position. The only other person in our office who is a Limited Duration also is my closest friend here, so that really stinks that we have to compete against each other for the job. As long as one of us gets it, I'll be happy. I'm hoping to retire by 2011 anyway, so it's ok if my job ends :)

Seattle Mission Trip

We had an INCREDIBLE time in Seattle this past week for our Spring Break Mission Trip with the high school students from Refugee Teen Ministries!

9 teens and 4 adults spent 7 days ministering to the homeless and needy people of Seattle, WA

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to hang out with Ross and Allison!

On Monday, our entire group was homeless for 24 hours. Sunday night we went to a mission downtown and traded our clothes for some they had in their closet so we could look homeless to better fit "the part". We gave up our cell phones, money, cameras, etc. and were only left with $2 and one piece of ID. Sunday night we slept at the mission and began our journey. Monday morning we served breakfast and did the chapel services at the mission. After breakfast, we were given our assignments for the day. Each group had 3 pages of tasks they needed to accomplish during the day. We headed out about 10:30 a.m. and had to be back at the mission for supper at 5:00 p.m.

Our group was busy ALL day long. We did complete each of our tasks, but there was no time for resting. Some of our tasks included locating the courthouse and sitting in on a hearing, finding an AA meeting, getting counseling on avoiding STD's and birth control, locating a free shower and having a group member take one (we didn't get showers at the mission so we were a bit smelly), getting treatment to get rid of bed bugs, find where we could wash our clothes for free, etc. Each of the assignments were something that a homeless person might have to do in a typical day. We had to find places that would allow us to use their phones or computers for free, which was quite difficult. Of the $2 we were given, we were allowed to spend $1 on ourselves and $1 on someone else. Our group got a free lunch at a mission, so we were able to spend all $8 buying food for other people.

We served lunch Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Orion Center, which is a drop-in center for homeless and at-risk teens and young adults. Our group planned the menu, bought the groceries, cooked and served the meal for about 60 people each day. The teens really stepped up and did a great job! We had tuna melts/ham melts/grilled cheese, burritos and spaghetti and all three were very tasty.

Wednesday we also cooked for about 100 people living in Tent City--a group of homeless people who live in tents and have formed their own community. We made chef salad because we had to transport the food but it took forever to make that much salad. We were so proud of the kids because they worked SO hard all week!

Thursday we made some care packages to hand out that included items such as chapstick, socks, gum, deodorant, etc. We also had the opportunity to talk to members of Northwest Church who came from lives on the street filled with addictions, prostitution, abuse, etc. who have fallen in love with Jesus and turned their lives around! They have such powerful testimonies and it was awesome to get to hear their personal story of redemption.

Friday we got to take some time to just tour the city and enjoy some of the sights. We went to the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum, which was awesome! My favorite part was a room where you get to assemble a rock band and you get instruments to play and you can rock out on stage while they film you and take your picture. I was on the maracas and we sang I Love Rock and Roll. You get a souvenir concert ticket to your performance, so that was pretty fun. Our band's name was Lifeless Nightmare and the guys were The Essence of Brutality.

Lifeless Nightmare! Minus the awesome maraca player :)

This was certainly a life-changing trip and I'll continue to share our stories with you over the next few days.

You can find a lot more pictures from our trip in my Facebook album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021496&id=160201160&l=f21c40c391

Old Pictures

Here are some random old pictures I found on my computer that I wanted to share:

Prude Ranch in NM: fond memories

In Memory of Follies Weekend. Once upon a time Kappa had winning shows :)

Too soon? Eh, I'm over it.

Love my 2 best friends...just wondering why my hair is slicked back??

Kory with the armadillo his dad killed in the front yard

Random Updates

I had two opportunities to make friends last weekend! Saturday morning Kory and I went to the county-wide gathering for Youth Ministers. There were quite a few people there who were in their 20's and are working in the area in youth ministry. I see definite friend potential there! The group will meet once per month so hopefully I can start building some relationships with a couple of the girls I saw there.

I also went to a Scentsy party at my supervisor's daughter's house. It was fun and I enjoyed the girls there, but they were all best friends from high school and weren't really my group of friends. They're almost all single moms and we just really didn't have much in common. I'm glad I went to the party but it was not really a success as far as establishing new friendships.

We took the teens inner tubing on Monday, but as soon as we arrived at the tubing hill, a tree fell over and knocked down the power line. I mean, we had been there like 5 minutes and we watched it spark and fly off the telephone line. So, they shut the tube hill down because you would slide down the hill right to the place the power line was sagging. I was SO bummed that we weren't going to get to inner tube! The teens found a sled buried in the snow and used it to slide down one of the side hills. They also had a snow fight, built a snow man and just played in the snow for a while. We had a great time even though we didn't get to tube as planned. There was a jump built at the bottom of the hill we were sledding on, so I video taped all the teens flying off the sled and slamming into the nearby hill. haha So maybe I'm not responsible enough to be a sponsor...I just made sure to zoom in on them as they were writhing in agony and pain.

Kory and I are going to begin attending the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Seminar at our church starting in February. The church is paying for us to attend, so we'll be doing that every Monday for 2-3 months. I'm also going to start leading a Bible Study for our teens that want to go deeper in Scripture every Sunday night, so things are going to be quite busy for us.

Oh yeah--and I get to go to Seattle with the youth group for a Spring Break Mission Trip which I am REALLY excited about! I loved Spring Break campaigns in college and am pumped to be able to go on one again!

My Resolution

So I already told you about some spiritual disciplines I'm trying to improve on this year, but I have finally figured out what my Resolution will be for this year. It might take me a full year, so I am going to attempt to get started soon.

2010 is the year I will finally...make some friends here! I am passed the 6 month mark of living here, so I'm settled in with a job and apartment and routine for my life now. I have finally come to the realization that friends aren't going to just drop into my life. I'm going to have to make some effort. I really miss my friends from NM/TX but I can't keep living across the country only keeping in contact with them and not having friends here.

Believe me, I have a ton of excuses for why I can't make friends here: I live in a really small town; there are hardly any people my age around here; I work full-time with a lot of old people; young adults who have ambition/values/character typically get out of this town and move to Portland or Eugene; I live in one town and work in another which complicates things; I'm tired after working all day and want to just go home and relax/hang out with Kory...the list could go on and on. The problem is that I'm genuinely not happy without friends here. I plan to be here for a while, so I need to quit thinking of this as a temporary place I live. I am here to stay for a few years, at least.

Don't get me wrong, it isn't that I don't like the people currently in my life in Oregon. There are people at church and work that I enjoy being with, but the fact is there is no one who I meet with outside of work or church to build a relationship with or just hang out. I am currently trying to brainstorm ways I can meet friends.

If you have seen I Love You, Man then you understand the sort of predicament I am in! Instead of man dates, I'm guess I'm just trying to pick chicks up and go on friend dates :)

Any suggestions for how I can meet friends?!? The main problem I have is that I don't know where to go to even look for people to be-friend. Do I just walk through the grocery store and when I see someone I think I'd like, use a pick-up line and ask for her number?

I'm feeling quite lost. I've never had to seek out friends before. I guess it's always come naturally to me because I was in school and surrounded by people my own age. Friendships were pretty much handed to you in college and I graduated high school with the same people I started Kindergarten with 13 years before. So, here I am, opening myself up to rejection. I have a couple ideas for people I want to be friends with, so I'll report back to you on the friend search as it develops.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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: