Weekend Update

I had a fun, yet not too eventful weekend. Saturday Kory and I spent the morning playing video games and messing around on the computer. We had to run to the church to pick something up and on the way home, realized we hadn't eaten lunch yet. Since it was the 4th and all, we decided to stop by the store, pick up some food and go to the park and cook out! We had hot dogs and threw the frisbee while they were cooking. It was great! Kory had the sad realization that the reason the park was so empty was because everyone else was with family and friends at their homes...but we still had fun with just us two.

Dan Jocoy, Tri City's preacher, is out of town for 2 weeks so Kory preached today. We spent all afternoon Saturday working on church stuff. Kory was preparing his sermon and I was working on class material. Since Kory had to preach and do VBS this week and prepare youth group and lots of other things, I taught the high school class for him this morning. Saturday evening we had supper and watched a movie before heading out to the fireworks in Riddle, a small town about 10 minutes away. The fireworks were really good, especially for such a small town. I was very impressed. This year is Oregon's 150th Birthday so there are events going on all year to celebrate that occasion.

I had prepared well to teach class today and had all my notes ready. I got to Kory's office at the church building this morning to print off my notes and his office computer wouldn't recognize my USB drive. I wrote down some notes from what I could remember and then just had to wing the rest. We had 4 kids in class this morning--1 of them is Autistic and 2 of them are currently in Rehab. They are all great kids, but it definitely made for an interesting dynamic in the class! Kory did a great job preaching today. His sermon was titled "Christianity Isn't Boring!" and it was very well received. One of the amazing things about this church is that his lesson wasn't needed to guilt or convict people; he was merely affirming what so many of these people are already involved in. TCCC is a family of movers and doers and passionate Christians! It's so awesome to be involved with all the good that is going on here.

VBS is this next week, so Kory and I both will spend our mornings at the church building helping with that. I am the assistant to the craft lady and Kory is a crew leader, which means he is in charge of a group of 3-5 kids and will stay with them all morning ushering them between stations and such.

We found Sonic in Roseburg (20 min north of us and the town I'll work in) and have been there twice in 3 days now! I didn't realize how much I missed it until I had a Vanilla DP there Friday. Oh it was heaven! We went to Roseburg this afternoon for a Sonic and Wal-mart run. I have a feeling I will be making a lot of those while here. We also went to Home Depot and Kory was smiling ear to ear when we left. When I asked him why, he told me that "being in that store just makes you feel like a REAL MAN!" He then proceeded to grunt like Tim Allen! haha I also found out they have Hobby Lobby in Roseburg, so I am pumped to visit there soon!

Summer Fun

I took several girls from the youth group swimming at South Umpqua Falls today and it was SO fun! It is only about an hour drive from Myrtle Creek and it is beautiful up there! The really cool thing is that you can sit down and slide off the waterfall into a pool. There are also a lot of rocks to jump off of and lots of fun to be had. Kory came to join us later in the afternoon and we all had a blast!

I just love summer time so much! I'm sure we'll all be sunburned and exhausted tomorrow, but it was great fun today anyway. I hope we will get to do lots more fun outdoor things this summer. Oh how I love living in Oregon! :)

This picture makes the waterfall look tiny, but it is much bigger in real life!

JOB JOB JOB JOB!!

I got a job!! God continues to bless me in amazing ways! Yesterday was my first day of actual job searching. I went into the employment office in Roseburg (about 25 min. north of Myrtle Creek) to register with them and begin my job search. When I walked in, the lady I talked to at the front desk pulled me aside right after finding out I have a college degree. They were about to have a staff meeting so I filled out my registration on the computer to wait for them. The manager came and got me and took me back to his office for an informal interview on the spot. In about 5 minutes, he offered me the job and had me start filling out paperwork!

My position is in the Welcome and Assessment Center (WAC). When people walk into the OED (Oregon Employment Department) I will talk to them and basically help them get a job. I will help them get registered and take the computer skills test or refer them for jobs or whatever they need. I am excited because I will get to interact with a lot of people and I won't be sitting in a cubicle bored all day. I am a little nervous though because they all kept warning me that I need to learn to not take it personally when someone is rude to me. They are probably really stressed and having a hard time because they don't have a job and need to feed their family and are really in a tough spot. I am NOT good at this sort of thing. I'm too sensitive and I take everything personally...SO I will either come home crying every night or I'll learn to toughen up and let things go.

The job is a 6 month temp job for now. The manager, Shawn, told me he thinks that is the best way to begin a job (of course he was trying to convince me to take it...) because it's job security for half a year but if you don't like it, it's an easy out at the end of 6 months. I like that because I am a very non-confrontational person and it would be really hard for me to quit a job just because I didn't like it. Anyways, another benefit of starting as a temp is that the hiring process (because it's with the govt) is really rigorous and it's really hard to get hired because they have to make sure it is fair to people with disabilities or minorities, etc. BUT if you get hired as a temp, then you can make the transition into full-time pretty easily. Several people told me there would be some full-time jobs opening up in the next few months, so I could stay with them if I like what I'm doing.

I don't start until July 15, so that means I have two weeks to finish getting settled in here and hang out with the teens! I'm really excited about that! We have several swimming trips planned already. I also have a few things I need to do here like set up a bank account and get my license plate changed, etc. I hope to get all that done before I start work since I won't have any time in the day after that. This job is 8-5 Monday to Friday. One thing I really like is that the workers in the WAC all rotate jobs every couple hours so no one gets burnt out or bored doing the same thing all day long. I am SO excited to enjoy these next couple weeks and not feel guilty because I'm relaxing instead of looking for a job or apartment. Yay!

Here are a couple more pictures of my apartment as it slowly starts to look like home. I don't have much decoration stuff, but that will have to wait until I start getting a paycheck!

Upstairs bathroom

Dishes drying in the kitchen; i like that there are so many windows in this apt

I got this desk at the youth group garage sale last weekend

My little brother got this for me at Christmas one year and he thought it was the greatest gift ever! It hangs above my kitchen sink.

Dining room--The couple I stayed with right when I got here gave me this table

Living room--my mattress doesn't come in until next Wed. so I have been sleeping on the couch for the past week

Settling In

I have kind of disappeared for about a week or so because I don’t have internet at my home. Sometimes I can connect to a wireless network and steal from the neighbors, but it is very unreliable.

We found apartments last Monday and moved in Tuesday. It all worked out perfectly. God is so good! Kory and I have apartments in the same complex and he lives just a few doors down from me. (If I leave Kory’s apartment after dark to come home to mine, he can stand on his balcony/stairs and watch me to make sure I get in my apt safely. It’s not really a scary place to live, but I am on the end of the building and I have visions of someone running out of the forest to snatch me.) We have spent most of this past week moving in and unpacking all our stuff. We have been working on it in between lots of other activities, though, so it’s taken us a while. I am pretty much done as of toy. I still have a few things to put up on the walls, etc. but that is about all. I need to buy more decoration stuff, but that will have to wait until I actually have a job. Speaking of jobs, I have had two interviews here so far. Neither of them worked out, however, so I am still on the job search. I am just starting to really look hard this week now that I am all settled in and everything.

Kory and I have got a ton of hang out time lately and it has been so fun! He has a new TV and an awesome living room set-up. We’ve been playing a lot of Xbox lately and let me tell you, I need a LOT of practice. I am ok at FIFA (soccer) but I am terrible at Forza, which is this car racing game. It’s a racing simulator so one little turn of the wheel too far and you go out of control for like the next 30 seconds. I spend most of my time slamming into walls and going the wrong direction. However, the VERY BEST game we play is called: (get ready for it!) The NIV Game!! We both died laughing at the discovery of this game, but now we play it and love it! haha The best part is that the game includes an NIV Holy Bible that must be used for reference on many of the questions. It is basically a board game with Bible trivia questions. Some of the questions are even about the footnotes of the NIV Bible! It’s so funny!

The TCCC (Tri-City Church of Christ) youth group had a garage sale and car wash this past Saturday to raise money for summer camps. We spent a couple hours in the sun at the car wash and I got a sun burn! I never thought that would happen in Oregon. The past week and a half has been pretty warm and wonderful! I love it! Everyone here keeps apologizing for their incredibly hot weather (upper 80s) and I just smile. The two fundraisers raised a lot of money and were really successful! It was fun for us to hang out with a lot of the kids and get to know them better. We have some really great kids here and I am excited about hanging out with them more this summer!

We tried to go get new drivers licenses and license plates at the DMV the other day, but it’s quite a process to get it all changed. We have to wait for more paperwork in the mail and then we’ll fill out several forms and pay a couple hundred bucks and bring our cars in for VIN inspection and take a knowledge test and then hopefully, we can have Oregon plates. Hooray!

We each have two-bedroom apartments, so we have room for you all to come visit us! I mean, we don’t have beds in the guest rooms, but there is lots of floor space J haha I realize this is getting pretty long but I feel like I have so much to tell you all! Our apartments are totally different set-ups, but cost the same exact amount to rent each month. Kory’s is a two bedroom, one bath with a living room, kitchen and small dining room. It is all on one level, but you have to walk upstairs to get to his front door. My apartment has two floors. The top floor has my two guest bedrooms and a fairly large bathroom. Downstairs I have my living room, ½ bathroom, dining room and kitchen. If you want to see pictures of our homes, you can look in this Facebook album.

We have made several trips to Roseburg and one to Eugene this past week to buy stuff for our homes. Roseburg is only about 25 minutes away and Eugene is about an hour and a half. I am starting to get a feel for where things are located in the area. I love that the views are beautiful any direction you look! We learned about several really good swimming spots this week and I hope we can try them out soon!

First few days in Oregon

Two families in the church have graciously allowed us to stay with them for a while until we can find places of our own. There are several towns here that are all located fairly close together. From South to North, they are Canyonville, Riddle, Myrtle Creek, Tri-City and Roseburg. I think they trying to keep Kory and I as far away from each other as possible. haha Kory is in Canyonville and I am in Roseburg! We both have awesome families to live with, however, and we are really grateful for their hospitality!

Saturday morning I met Kory at one of the elder's houses so we could unload our U-haul trailer. Jake is letting us store all of our stuff in his garage while we find housing, so we're also really thankful for that. They are definitely taking care of us here! After unloading everything, we took the trailer back to the Uhaul place in Roseburg and met Ken (I am staying with him and his wife Sylvia) for lunch. While there, Allyn and Becky (the current youth minister and wife) came in and we got a chance to visit with them for a while also.

We drove around town Saturday afternoon looking for rental properties and apartments. We found a few places that we can look into next week. It was good to kind of get a feel of where everything is around here. I get car sick really easily and these mountains roads aren't good for me. I am ok as long as I am driving, but I have got sick every time I have been a passenger so far. I hope I will get over that eventually. We went to see the church building Saturday afternoon after looking for places to live. I have included some pictures of the building and areas surrounding it. The views are beautiful every direction you look around here!







Saturday evening we met the Augsburgers, which is the family Kory will stay with for a while. We had dinner with them and then hung out at their house that night. Sunday morning, we had 4 kids in the high school class and ended up going to McDonald's to hang out and get to know the kids. Allyn (the current YM) is still working until this next Sunday so Kory is just kind of hanging out for a bit longer.

Sunday morning service at church was really great. It was much more relaxed and informal than most church services I have attended. A lot of people in the congregation got up to talk about their fathers and honor them. It was really cool! Dan Jacoy is the preacher and the man is crazy passionate and excited about life! He is a lot of fun to be around and I'm excited to get to know him and his family more. We had a Father's Day picnic in the park Sunday afternoon. It was pretty chilly and rained off and on, but it was still really fun. We got to meet a ton of people on Sunday and are slowly starting to put faces and names together and learn who is related to who, etc.

I have been SO exhausted ever since we got here. I am sleepy ALL the time. Kory and I have both been going to bed pretty early every night also. I am in bed before my host parents almost every night. I have been going to bed about 10 or 10:30, and if you know me, that is REALLY early for me. Of course, I am also freezing here. It is taking me a while to get used to this cool weather. The sun was shining today, but I am still wearing jeans and long sleeves. I need to just put a huge coat in my car and plan to have it every day. I hope I get over both of these soon.

Kory took me on a date last night here in Roseburg and it was great. It's so wonderful getting to see him everyday and not just have a telephone relationship. We are going whitewater rafting with some people from church in a few weeks and I am pumped about that! I have never been but always thought it would be really fun. Kory and I are also going to head to the coast this week and spend some time at the ocean before we both have jobs and our days filled up with busyness.

Moved to the West Coast!

We made it!! Kory and I officially arrived in Oregon yesterday and are already falling in love with this gorgeous place! Here is the run-down of how the past week of moving went for us.

On Monday, Kory picked up and loaded the U-haul trailer and drove from his grandparents house in Panhandle, TX to Artesia, NM to my parents house. We easily fit all of our stuff in the trailer and didn't even have to put very much in either of our vehicles. I was very excited about that!

We left Artesia Tuesday morning. There was some construction in NM that was annoying, but that was about the only problem we encountered. The trailer slowed us down quite a bit, so our 9 hour drive turned into a 12 hour day! We were both pretty sleepy after lunch so we played road trip games with each other on the phone (I Spy, I'm Moving to Oregon and I'm taking..., Six Degrees of Separation, etc). It was successful and we both stayed awake--hooray!

We drove into Phoenix right at dusk and it was beautiful! There was a cool breeze blowing so it felt great outside and the city was SO pretty! I think I could live there if it could be sunset all day long :) I absolutely LOVE the restaurant Moe's, but it closed in Lubbock so I haven't had it in about a year. Kory and Ty allowed me to eat supper there Tuesday night and it was so delicious!

Wednesday we drove through Arizona and Southern California. I was super sore on this drive and by about lunch time I was really sick of being stuck in a car all day. The drive did get much prettier when we entered Cali, however. They have planted trees and bushes along the roadways to actually make the drive aesthetically pleasing--what a concept! Kory got to experience In-N-Out Burger for the first time on Wed night. It was so yummy! We spent the night in Fresno, CA.

Thursday was just a terrible day. We got a late start, got stopped on the highway for a really long time because of an accident, got lost in downtown San Francisco (my fault), then couldn't park the trailer anywhere and had to leave San Fran without doing any fun things...pretty much everything went wrong. Our fun day turned into the worst and most frustrating day ever! We did get to swim in the hotel pool that night though, so it made everything better for me. We spent Thursday night in Fairfield, CA.

Friday we drove through Northern CA and Oregon!! This day of driving went by fairly quickly as it was our shortest and also because we were excited knowing it was our last day to drive. We stopped for gas shortly after arriving in Oregon and I was thrilled to have my gas pumped for me. It is illegal to pump your own gas here, which is actually great because it makes you feel like someone really important! :) Plus, they washed my windshield and that definitely doesn't happen often. Oregon is, of course, absolutely gorgeous and I can't believe we really get to live here.

When we arrived, we met one of the elders, Jake, and hung out with him for a little bit. Kory had a meeting with the ministers and elders that evening so he went to his meeting and I drove to meet the family I will be staying with for a while. The Nichols' are wonderful people and I am excited to get to know them more!

Praise God for a safe trip! Thank you so much for the prayers offered on our behalf while we traveled. We are VERY excited about the adventures and new life ahead of us here!

Here are a few pictures of the trip. You can check out my Facebook album for more pictures if you would like.

Beginning the long roadtrip on Tuesday morning

I got pretty good at taking pictures while driving...while keeping safe, of course!

Westgate Shopping Center in Phoenix

Finally arrived in Oregon Friday evening! Yeah!!

Be Careful!!!

As I prepare to leave, I have noticed a TON of people telling me to be careful. Now I realize that most of these people are asking me to be a responsible driver and make it there safely. I understand and appreciate that. However, many people say "Be careful over there!" as if living in that state is much more dangerous than this one. It is in America people! I was in WAY more danger walking the streets of London alone.

Why are we so careful? What are we so scared of? A couple days ago I heard a man tell an elderly couple to be careful when they said goodbye to leave the restaurant. Be careful doing what? Walking across the street? Taking your dentures out at night? Why do we live our lives in fear? I am tired of being asked to live a safe life. Now this definitely doesn't mean I am going to be irresponsible or drive like a maniac and put lives at stake. I am making a change however.

I have decided that I am no longer going to ask people to live carefully. When I leave someone, I will tell them "Live adventurously! Be brave! Enjoy live! Carpe diem! Take big risks! Live your life!" Feel free to join me in bidding farewell to a boring, predictable, CAREFUL life! I promise it's more fun this way :)