Story of Redeemer's

There has been a chain of events over the past two years that have all played out to put us in a position where Kory has been offered and accepted this new position. It all started right after we moved to Oregon.

We had only been here a couple weeks and we didn't have internet at our apartments yet, so we drove to Roseburg and were using the internet at Starbucks one afternoon. Over the next hour or two, we heard a couple next to us who was talking to another man about some issues he was struggling with at that time. It was very obvious to us that the couple were ministers and as they got up to leave, Kory did something very out of character for him.

He got their attention and let them know he overheard part of their conversation and he assumed they were ministers. We explained we just moved to the area and Kory was a youth minister in the area and he just wanted to meet them and tell them they encouraged him. Well, it just so happens that they were youth ministers who were in the process of transitioning into different ministry roles at their church. However, they were in the process of creating a Youth Minister Alliance for all the youth ministers in the county. So Kory gave them his contact information and we parted ways.

A couple months later, Kory received an e-mail about the first meeting of this new Youth Minister group. They met on Saturday mornings so Kory & I began going to meetings and loved it! Sadly, they have since started meeting during the week, so I can no longer attend, but Kory goes every month and we've built some great relationships as a result of that. In fact, one of my closest friends here is a gal who I met through that group.

So last Fall, the group (DCEF 2.0) was hosting a county-wide youth rally to coincide with See You at the Pole. Kory & 2 other youth ministers spoke at the event and fun was had by all. Unbeknownst to us (that's a fun word!), the middle school minister from Redeemer's was at that event and heard Kory speak. So when their winter middle school retreat rolled around and they needed a speaker, Redeemer's contacted Kory to ask him to be the guest speaker for that weekend.

Kory had to be gone my birthday weekend to speak at that retreat, but we both agreed it was a great opportunity and so he did it. He had a wonderful time at the retreat and came back singing the praises of Redeemer's and even said he would love to work for a church like that!

A couple days later, Kory received an e-mail from the Middle School Youth Minister saying, "Hey, we're looking for a High School Youth Minister. Know anyone who might be interested?" Kory wasn't looking for a different job, but this one seemed to kind of fall in his lap. Again, we decided this was a great opportunity and he should at least look into it. He applied for the position and several interviews and meetings later, here we are, about to move so he can work as the High School Youth Minister at Redeemer's Fellowship.

It's amazing to look back and see how that one simple conversation in Starbucks led to all this! Now, I certainly believe God could have worked this out in a different way if He wanted to, but I love knowing that simply following God's prompting can lead you to very exciting opportunities in the future!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Change is a great word to describe my life right now. Marriage itself brings a lot of big changes: living together, sharing money, different last name, etc. However, we have quite a few more changes happening in the next couple weeks.

Kory just accepted a new job with a different church. The great part is that the job is in Roseburg, Oregon...which is the city I already work in! That is wonderful news because I can keep my current job AND I don't have to commute anymore. It wasn't terrible-about 25 minutes-but I will be very happy to be able to run home for lunch or to live in a town with a movie theater and Sonic! We are moving to the big city, y'all. From a town of 3,000 to one with 22,000. That is a big deal, mainly because it puts us half an hour closer to Chili's :)

Kory will be the high school youth minister at Redeemer's Fellowship and we are both SO excited about it! I will have to post about the incredible way God brought this opportunity into our lives soon. It is awesome to see how He's been working. The plan is to start that job after the wedding and honeymoon.

So we got Kory's stuff all moved into my apartment yesterday and he is staying with a friend for the month of May to save a month of paying rent. This means we get to move again right when we get back from the honeymoon. We have got a lot of my apt packed up now also so we need to start looking at housing options in Roseburg pretty soon.

Redeemer's is a church of 1,000 people and we currently worship in a church of 130 people...so that will be an adjustment. All of these changes are positive, though, and we're very excited about all of it! It's just sometimes a lot to take all at once.

However, I'm so thankful I don't have to quit my job and look for another one. That makes a huge difference in lowering my stress level. In fact, I really don't feel too stressed out by all of this...I just feel excited and ready for it to all start happening!

The next few weeks are pretty crazy for us. Last Monday night (May 2), we met with the youth ministry volunteers and let them know about this new job and made plans for Kory's transition. Then, Kory was preaching Sunday morning (May 8) and announced it to the church body, so it's officially "out" and we can tell everyone we're moving now. This Wednesday (May 11), we'll talk to the youth group kids about it, so I'm sure that will be kind of hard. We have two more Sundays to attend church at Tri City and then we'll be gone for the wedding. When we return from the honeymoon (June 5), Kory will have one week off and then start his job at Redeemer's and we'll make the move to Roseburg.

We got Kory completely moved out of his apartment because I wanted to come home from the honeymoon to a clean apartment where we were all moved in and settled...silly me. I should have known it wouldn't be that easy! However, God is dumping blessing after blessing on us, so we will not complain. We will just be excited about the changes that are coming our way! :)

Random Thoughts

I got sunburned a couple weeks ago and my skin is just now peeling. The skin on my arms is coming off in pretty big chunks and while I know it sounds disgusting, it is actually quite cool!

When I was younger, I remember thinking that an office job had to be really easy and I didn't understand how people could be so tired after working in an office all day. For my job at least, I can say that it is mentally and emotionally draining. It's not physical labor or active work, but I still find myself worn out by the end of the day. While I really love my job, I know I wasn't made to spend my life in an office. Anytime I'm away from work (weekends, vacation, etc.) and I find myself outside during the daylight hours, I am so happy to see sunlight and to know what life is like outside these 4 walls. My dream job would be to NOT work. I'm so ready for retirement already!

I always had a hard time remembering which ocean was the Pacific and which was the Atlantic, but now that I live in the Pacific NW, I can finally keep it straight.

Almost every sentence I type ends with an exclamation mark. I just read back through this post and deleted multiple !'s where they weren't really appropriate. I am trying to use them sparingly so they will really show excitement when they are used. I don't think I'm the only person who overuses them, however...my time on social networks proves that most girls use the ! WAY more than necessary.

Although I haven't completely given up on Dr. Pepper, I am definitely drinking less these days. Amazingly, I've found that if I don't buy any, I don't drink any. If all I have to drink is tap water, then I will drink tap water and be satisfied with that for the most part. As with the exclamation points, if I drink them less, I find I enjoy them more when I do have one.

I now have one close friend with a baby and two more friends who are pregnant, so I think it's safe to say I'm in the life stage where all my friends will be having children. That is craziness to me...we surely aren't old enough for that!

Kory will take 18 teens to church camp this next week, so I'll be getting in lots of time with Veronica Mars while they're all gone. Onto Season 2! Rachel will arrive the following week and then my parents after that, so I have a lot to look forward to. I can't wait to show them this beautiful place I get to call home!

Long Overdue Update

Wow! We have been very busy lately, which is kind of a change from my typical lifestyle in Oregon. (I haven't blogged in a while, so this one is pretty long to catch you up!)

CrossX was this past week, which was a mission trip for the Hillcrest Youth Group from Abilene, TX where our good friend Evan Simmons is the youth minister. Our two youth groups worked together on service projects all week and then we went to the coast for a weekend retreat together. The week was amazing!! Oh my goodness, I still smile when I look back on everything that happened that week. I feel a lot closer to many of our kids and feel like I really connected with several of our girls. I am going to try to do a girls sleep over this weekend, but I know my 10:30-11:00 bedtime won't work out so well with teenage girls!

I have this renewed energy and excitement about working with the youth group! God just really worked on mine and Kory's hearts this past week and we both feel like it coming right at the 1 year mark was no coincidence. Speaking of which, I can't believe we have lived here for over a year now!! Hopefully I can do an extensive one-year post soon.

Summer has finally really arrived in Oregon and I'm thrilled!! Granted, summer here means that we're in the high 70's and I don't think we have reached 80 yet...so it's perfect! It's warm and sunny in the days and then at night, it's still cool.

We are starting a new small group at church for young adults this week. Kory is leading the group and I'm hosting it at my apartment, so it will require quite a bit of work for me to clean and get things ready, but I can't wait! Hopefully people show up...even if it's only a couple people, I think we'll still be happy to have other church friends to hang out with. Young adults is a pretty loose term...if they don't have grandkids, we'll allow them to come! haha

In just a couple weeks, we're going white water rafting with a bunch of people from our church, so that is guaranteed to be a good time! The only thing I don't like is that the entire day is spent throwing people off their rafts, or squirting them with water guns and soaking them, and it's not quite hot enough for that! It's fun to get in and swim or to sit on the raft and be dry, but I remember freezing to death last year when they would get me wet and then I was sitting on the raft shivering. I would prefer an old person's trip where we don't tackle other people, and ram into their rafts, and surprise attack each other with super high powered water guns.

My laptop has died and been resurrected so many times now! Thank goodness it keeps coming back...it is really old, it's actually Kory's old laptop that is probably 5 or 6 years old, but I really don't want to buy a new one. Hopefully this one will keep hanging on for a while! I need to get my iPhone update so now that my laptop is working again I hope to get that done soon.

June Pictures

Here are some pictures from the past several weeks. I am too lazy to rearrange them so they are in random order.

Multnomah Falls just outside Portland

High School Graduations for Youth Group Members

Random Updates

A co-worker told me today that I am the most talented person he knew. I was really flattered until he told me that it was because I was walking down the stairs in high heels, taking a drink with one hand and texting with the other.

I have been running for two days in a row now, which is a big deal for me. If I run tonight and make it 3 days, we'll be approaching world record status in my book. I always get super motivated and run for a day or two and it quickly fades. I'm not trying to become a marathon runner by any means, but I would like to be in better shape (I feel like walking up my stairs shouldn't make me out of breath!) and be healthier. It's definitely not because I enjoy running. I really hate running actually...I'd much rather ride a bike, so I need to check into buying one of those. I have gone running at 9:00 p.m. both nights because it is still light outside and really cool! The weather has been really nice the past couple days so I'm hoping it's an indication that summer weather is on the way!

Today I decided to wear a pair of shoes I almost never wear to work because they really hurt my feet after wearing them all day. The heel is much higher than I typically wear, but I knew I got to be at my desk for at least 4 of the 8 hours today, so I thought I could make it just fine. Well, of course, that didn't happen...I should know better than to plan for that. One of my co-workers didn't come in today so I was covering for her and ended up on my feet for most of the day. Yikes--my feet and calves are burning!! Back to flats for me tomorrow...I'm just not a heels type of girl.

Evan and his youth group will arrive this Saturday and be here for a full week! I am SO excited to see them and get to spend the week with them. We'll be spending a couple days on the coast for a weekend retreat and the camp we're staying at looks awesome!

I have quite a few pictures I need to post of recent events (high school graduations, painting the youth room, ministry fair, etc.) but I always forget that when I'm at home and have my camera cord. Hopefully I can remember to upload those soon.

Weekend

It's not even summer and Kory is gone all the time leaving me here alone :( Hopefully we can hang out next weekend!

My apartment is getting out of control dirty/gross. I HAVE to clean it this weekend! I'm obviously not being productive on the computer tonight so hopefully tomorrow I can get a lot done.

Life Update

I can't wait for the May flowers to come because we have certainly seen a LOT of April showers. My Marmot rain jacket was a bit expensive and I remember I had a hard time paying that much for it, but it is absolutely worth every penny. Plus it brings back good memories of time in Ireland.

I have been very pleased with the people who have gone home from American Idol and Biggest Loser the past two weeks. I really love Darus and hope he wins BL! I also like Ashley and Sam and Michael and would be happy for any of them if they won. As far as American Idol goes, I really like Lee and Casey and hope one of them will win it all. I'm afraid Crystal Bowersox will win and I really don't want that.

Next month I get to go home and see friends and family at Julie's wedding!! I'll be in Artesia Friday evening through Monday morning. I am very excited to see Julie and get to hang out with her and then have a day with my parents. Hopefully I'll get to meet sweet baby Dawson that weekend too!

I used to think it was the worst to be at work when it was cloudy and rainy and dark outside because I wanted to take a nap, but I'm also discovering it's REALLY hard to be at work when it's sunny and beautiful outside because I want to be out there and not in this building! So, it turns out that I don't like being at work when there is weather outside :)

We're having a rummage sale for the youth group next month so I'm trying to go through my apartment and see what stuff I can give away. I LOVE the feeling of purging my home of junk! It's an addiction for me...I want to keep finding more stuff to get rid of. haha My mom doesn't share this love of mine, especially when I lived at home with her and would do that and try to get rid of her stuff!

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

Thoughts on TV Shows and Youth Events

30 Hour Famine--We did the 30HF this past weekend and it was awesome!! I was never really hungry all weekend, probably because we were so busy and didn't have time to think about food. We did several service projects, had worship, played games, drank lots of juice, and slept outside in cardboard boxes. It got COLD in the night and we didn't get much sleep, but it was still a really fun weekend! We had about 30 kids and they raised over $1600 to help people in Ethiopia who are hungry.

American Idol--Crystal Bowersox is really talented but I don't want her to win because she said she was only doing this to make money for her son to have a better life. I get that she wants to provide for her son, but there are other people who want this so bad and put so much more of their heart into it. I don't want her to just go through the motions and come out winning. She doesn't even look like she is enjoying it or trying really hard. I like several girls a lot so far--Didi, Lacey and Siobhan. I dislike most of the boys and am ready for them to go home. I like Casey, Lee and sometimes Big Mike and that's about it. I'm SO ready for Alex to go home...I don't want to look at that mullet for one more show! haha

40 Days of Water--Our youth group is now involved with the 40 days of water...except we got started a little late so we're doing 4 weeks of water. The idea is that we'll only drink tap water for the next 4 weeks and save the money we would have spent on cokes, coffee, tea, etc. All that money will be donated to Blood:Water Mission which is a group that builds water wells in Africa for people who don't have access to clean drinking water. I am on day 4 of no Dr. Pepper and am doing fine. There have definitely been times where I was about to go get a DP and realized I wasn't supposed to, but I'm not having caffeine withdrawals or anything. My mom pointed out that my overseas travels have prepared me for life without Dr. Pepper! haha

Biggest Loser--I am still not 100% sure who I want to win. I think Sam has an awesome chance because he is so hard-core, but he's also building so much muscle that he probably won't keep losing a ton of weight from here on out. I love Daris and really hope he sticks around for a while. I like most of the other people but am not too attached to them. I think O'Neal will probably be the next to go home. I just really don't want Lance to win because I still dislike Melissa so much...even though she's been gone for a while.

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!

Football and Resolutions

National Championship tonight! Hook 'em Horns!! It starts at 5 on the West Coast, so I will have to rush out of work and get home so I don't miss too much of it.

It is now illegal to talk on your cell phone while driving in Oregon unless you use a wireless hands-free device. I still haven't got one...I probably need to get on that. I think it's a great law, but it's seriously annoying to me as someone who enjoys talking on the phone in the car. Yes I know it's dangerous and I would NEVER want to put my life or someone else's in danger...so I guess it's good they passed a law to make people like me be more careful.

I am not going to Lubbock for Master Follies this year...and I'm very sad about that. Two years in a row now! :( I can't believe I haven't been back since I have been out of college. Oh well--I suppose this is the price I pay for living in cool, far-away places. I care way less about seeing the shows than I do about seeing people.

We're taking the youth group inner tubing in a couple weeks and I am SO excited about it! I am not sure why, but I am beyond pumped. I know it will be fun, but I might be getting my hopes up a little too much. I do love playing in the snow and we haven't got ANY here, so maybe that is part of it. I never would have thought that Southeast NM and West Texas would get more snow than somewhere this far north. It's probably because we're so close to the coast I guess. I will get to wear some of my new super warm clothes to play in the snow too, so that is exciting.

The holidays continue for Kory and I! We have Christmas, New Years, 2 year anniversary, my birthday and Valentine's Day all within 8 weeks of each other.

Ty got me My Spanish Coach for the DS for Christmas and it's awesome! I feel like I'm learning a lot and it's pretty fun. My favorite is this game where you get to whack gophers on the head if they say the Spanish word you're looking for.

I think we're all aware that most of the time when we tell someone we are praying for them or we will pray for them, we actually don't. Ok, well I'll just speak for myself...I don't actually spend much time in prayer after saying that. I am really trying to work on that. I have good intentions when I say it--it's not that I want to lie and make them think I care when I really don't. I just forget about it and never remember it again to follow through with the prayers. So, two people have asked for my prayers this week, and I have prayed for both of them several times. So far, so good!

I'm also trying to read the Bible through this year and I have read every day so far (you only read 6 days a week). I realize we're barely a week into January, but I'm celebrating the small victories. I rarely make New Years Resolutions, but this year I decided this was a great time to start making some spiritual improvements in my life. If you feel bold enough, I would appreciate you asking me about these resolutions from time to time to keep me accountable. I will do the same for you if you'll tell me what improvements you're trying to make this year!

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!

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.

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.

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!

Oregon thoughts continued

MORE reasons why I love being here: Preacher called me twice this week to check up on me and sent the church secretary to my apt last night to make sure I'm doing ok here by myself this week with Kory gone :) Lady I lived with right when I moved here took me to eat and was making sure I'm not homesick or anything and didn't want me eating alone since Kory was gone.

I'm going to a coffee shop to listen to some music with a 60 year old lady from church tonight--she is so fun! Also, I just found out I am going to be able to volunteer with the Special Olympics this fall. I am going to help coach soccer and we have our first meeting tomorrow to get everyone signed up. I can't wait!!

Fall weather continues today. I'm sure there will be a point when I get tired of it, but I am loving it for now. I wore a sweater to work today and I am already ready for some egg nog!! :)

There is no sales tax in Oregon which is fabulous! The 9% income tax isn't so great, however.

I have a plant at work now! This lady gave me one of hers...however it just looks like really tall grass. It's kind of odd looking, but I love it anyway. I want another one but I feel like I need to keep this one alive for a while first.

This year is Oregon's 150th birthday. Did you know that is called a Sesquicentennial?? Me neither, but the signs everywhere say it is.

I am really spoiled to getting my gas pumped for me and I would have it no other way. I seriously dreaded getting out of the car to pump my gas...not sure why, but it is so fun to know I can pull in and someone else will pump the gas for me and I can just sit in my car and relax. We have noticed, however, that when you don't pump your own, we rarely look at how much the gas costs.

Kory and youth group are gone to camp this week so I am here alone. I am ready for friends to be back! It would help if I had TV or internet at my house I am sure. The fair is in town this week so I thought I might go, but it is $9 per person just to get in!

I went to Salem for new employee training this week and it was REALLY good! It was fun and interactive and I learned a lot. I love my job even more after this training. Speaking of, I'm finally getting into a routine at my job which I really enjoy.

I feel pretty settled in my life right now and that is a GREAT feeling. It's such a relief. I love the experiences I had over the past year of my life, but it is SO nice to feel at home somewhere. I just feel very content right now.