white christmas

yep. it sure was. just a dusting...but still, festive, and fun while it lasted.

coffee & friends

Today is my last full day in Oregon...more specifically, at Fox. Everything is pretty surreal right now. I'm not sure it has really sunk in yet. The last few days have been spent studying for finals, yeah, but also making priceless memories with friends that have meant the world to me for the last year and a half. I'm so thankful for each of them. Over the weekend, some of my roommates and I did some maintenance-y stuff around the apartment. We discovered that there was an electrician, a plumber, and a baker among us.

Today...my wonderful friend Annika and I went to Portland to grab some coffee at Stumptown. If you ever get the chance, you should definitely go there. SO delicious!

Their coffee is delicious art...no joke.

New Orleans

I've spent the last six days in New Orleans...cementing more details of my move and the next chapter in my life. It really seems like everything is falling into place (praise the Lord!). I've for sure got a subbing position, but am also looking for something that pays more. I've for sure got a place to live that is close to the Brantleys and the Carlsons which is wonderful.
Seeing how they do community was awesome and I'm so looking forward to being part of that. I can't even express how excited I am to go back down there and not have a "departure date" to leave.

Here's a picture of Cafe Du Monde...one of my favorite places down there.

the runaway

I got the chance to run away to Kansas last weekend to visit my wonderful sister and to have some time to just rest. It was much needed and well spent.

thank you to my amazing hosts :)

sunrise...

There's nothing like a sunrise to remind you that today is a new day...a clean slate...a fresh start. It's a great thing to be able to grab a cup of coffee, go outside to breathe the crisp fall morning air, and enjoy a renewed perspective on life. Praise God for that.

Psalm 90:14
O satisfy us in the morning with Your loving kindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

putting words to it...

There is something wonderful about downtown Portland after midnight. It's hard to put words to, but just know that it is wonderful.

This week has been ridiculous, crazy, hectic, stressful, frustrating, blah. Sometimes it is just really, really hard to love or even get along with certain people. I mean, really.

"Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while."
-Jesus (Mark 6:31)

That's sounding pretty dang good right about now.

birthday wishes...

happy 21st birthday to my...

trick-or-treating buddy...

my rodeo friend...

my dance pal...

...my partner in crime.
i love you sis!

home...

Dorothy was 110% correct when she said there is no place like home...

Praise the Lord for the four day weekend I got to spend at home. I got to hang out with my family and friends, drink some delicious Tully's coffee, visit Seattle, and of course, watch the sun go down from the Kirkland waterfront. It was much needed.

rainy season

well, it's officially the rainy season in the great northwest. but...that doesn't keep us from going to the beach.

the countdown...

this is my completely awesome countdown calendar. i have a piece of paper for every week i have left at school. every friday, i have a little "one week down" party where i tear off the top number and rip it to shreds. it's quite fun. as of 2:45 today, this calendar will read 10 weeks! i can't believe the semester is already a third of the way over. so exciting!

the beach...

Another weekend...another adventure. This time some friends and I took a mid-night trip to the ocean. It was weird to think that in a few months, it won't be the Pacific that I'm looking at, but the Gulf of Mexico. Crazy.

pictured (clockwise) me, julie, ryan, and sandra

wandering portland

My cousin, Aaron, is in town for a week and we got to hang out last night. After a little confusion in finding the right roads, we made it to Pioneer Place in Portland. We had a wonderful Thai dinner and then headed to the Apple Store. But the real fun started when we left...and couldn't remember where we parked.

This is us, very much lost.

BUT...20 minutes later, and after Aaron started deciding which way to go, we found the car. It had been on 4th all along.

mid-night roadtripping

So, around 9 last night some friends and I decided to go visit another friend of ours that lives in Bend, OR. What can we say...we missed her. Within 20 minutes we were in the car and on our way. Time was filled with talking and music, and of course, crazy awesome pictures. When we got to Bend, we called Cora (our friend) and asked her to come out and play with us. Little did we know we were waking up her entire family. But they were gracious and it was nice to meet them all. Cora toured us around lovely Bend...and it was oh so fun! Tired and bummed that we had to go back to school, we hugged our friend and piled back into the Ford Ranger we'd traveled in. The next three hours were filled with less talking, less music, but still, a lot of fun. AND, we even made it home safely. Weekend well spent, I'd say.

the apartment...

settling in

After a long night of packing I headed down to GFU last Saturday. As usual, the drive was great. There's just something about being in a car with blaring music and windows rolled down that I find relaxing. This completely baffles my parents...but for me, it works.

A few hours later I got to Fox, checked in with the RA, got my key, and with the help of some wonderful people (thanks mom and dad!) got everything unpacked and put away. I'm living in a teeny tiny, but super cozy (and well decorated, I might add) apartment with three wonderful girls. Surprisingly, everything we all brought fits.

Sunday, a roommate and I traveled up to Portland to go to Imago Dei. If you haven't been, you should go. For sure.

And today was the first day of classes. I'm only taking four (plus a once a week night class) and they're all on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Because I'm leaving after fall semester I dropped all of my original classes (which were mostly for my intended major...and it would have been crazy busy) and signed up for things I thought sounded interesting. Therefore, my schedule looks like this:

Far East History (probably my favorite)
Child Development
Learning
French
Incarnational Youth Ministry

Honestly, I really, really like every single one of them. I have a feeling it's going to be a fun semester!

looking back...and ahead

I absolutely LOVE reading over my old journals—or just flipping back to the beginning of the one I’m writing in now. Tonight I flipped back to the beginning of the summer. I’d written a lot about my frustrations and anger with God and questioning going to New Orleans. Some excerpts:

“God, I don’t understand why you put me at Fox. I just don’t understand. Some of the people I’ve met there are so great. My roommate, I couldn’t have asked for a better one. And some of the other girls were great too. But a lot of times I feel like everyone is living so safely. I love to push boundaries. I hate being roped in or stereotyped. I like doing my own thing and going against the grain. It seems like that just doesn’t happen at Fox… I feel like you’re leading me down this crazy path that could go in a million ways. I feel compelled to go and work with kids and teenagers—not sit in classes that, when it comes down to it, have nothing to do with real teaching. God, is this really the plan you have for me right now? If it was, would I be feeling this way?”

“I also turned in my application for the New Orleans trip yesterday. To be honest, I have no idea whether I’m going or not. I know I haven’t spent enough time prayerfully considering it…but I did feel the push to at least turn in the application. This was the first application I was weary about…and I took the longest to fill it out completely. Going to Louisiana would be an amazing experience. I can see myself ending up in the south. Yeah. Right now, it’s just all in the Lord’s hands. I know he will use whatever the outcome is for good because he promises that to us in his word. I’m really curious to know who else has applied for the trip. No one I know so far has even given a second glance at the application…so it’s going to be really interesting. Again…I’m trusting in the Lord to pull through here and I know he will. For me, getting back into church and “the God thing” has been weird. I really wasn’t feeling it at all at school. Maybe because people put me…and I put me…in that “bad girl” role. But I’m getting back into it in a different way than I’ve ever experienced God before. What our campus pastor said to my Christian foundations class…about getting away from being the “perfect Christian” to letting the spirit woo her back, that really hit me. I’m really hard and critical of myself when it comes to being a “good Christian”, so backing away from that and allowing myself to be wooed is kind of a new experience…and one that I find myself enjoying much more. It may not be normal for Christians to do that. I really don’t know. But I do know that it’s working for me. I can see God working in my life again and it’s a nice feeling. It’s kind of like those spoof MAC commercials Aaron was showing me. To be a Christian doesn’t mean wearing our Sunday best to attend church, or memorizing the whole bible, or buying into every new Christian fad. We can wear jeans and attend Saturday night service. It’s not about checking things off on the perfection list. It’s about loving God, and letting him love you back. After writing this, I’m starting to realize how much I’m excited for this summer—to see God’s work in my life and everything that is to come. Sounds corny…I know.”

“I now know that I’m definitely going on the New Orleans trip. YAY! To be honest, I feel like God really is pushing me to go. I’ve always been interested in the south and so I’m really looking forward to taking in that part of the country. I’m also looking forward to helping people—especially kids. AND…there’s always the God aspect of the trip. Feeling so pushed by Him makes me think that something incredible is going to be learned by me throughout the course of the whole thing. I’m really looking forward to it. Yeah, it’s going to be difficult to come up with money for that, my trip to Kansas, and $$ to pay off my freshman year college loan, but I’m definitely confident that God wants me to do all these things this summer. And how can you say no to God? Honestly.”

“God is a good thing to talk about. I can definitely see his hand in my life lately. I wasn’t going to apply for New Orleans, but it just kept coming to the front of my mind. Now, I’m more than excited about going. I’m way, way past excited! He knew I needed to be there. It’ll be an adventure…and one that I am really looking forward to.”


Isn’t it interesting how things make a lot more sense after the fact…when you’re looking back at it all? I love that. I leave for my last semester at Fox on Saturday. I’ve been dreading going back all summer—but when I think about it now, it’s more like a chance to take it all in for just a little bit longer before I have to say goodbye. I’ve met some great people there and have developed some really meaningful relationships both at school and at the teen center I work at. Truthfully, those will be the hardest things to leave—albeit just in the physical (wahoo for letters, the telephone, and the internet!) As Saturday gets closer, joy rather than anxiety, is what’s increasing.

On a sillier note, my down comforter is ripped. Therefore, there are white feathers flying around in my room. I have to laugh about it because it reminds me of the scenes at the beginning and ending of Forest Gump (probably one of the best movies ever)…and well…that just makes me smile. ☺

The Zoo

This is Mackenzie...

...and this is Marley.

We were buddies at the Zoo. Here we are on the carousel.

Now that summer is almost over, I've decided that I really do love my job. Working at a daycare is just...fun. What other kind of job lets you go on field trips and spend the mornings making fun art projects? Where else can you be silly and everyone around you joins in? And then there's nap time. I just don't think it gets any better than that.

Last Friday we took all the daycare kids to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. It was a blast. I got to buddy up with two of my favorite little girls and we had the time of our lives.

Someplace to Start

Okay, okay. So I've decided to get a blog. I'm not really one to go very in depth online, but with all the big changes coming my way, I figured, what better way to keep people up to date? Plus, blogs are all the rage right now...am I right? :) Ha-ha.

Just in case you haven't heard, God has definitely thrown me a curve ball this summer. For as long as I can remember, I've had a passion to work with kids--especially the difficult ones. What can I say, I love a challenge. But on a trip with the college group from my church this summer to New Orleans, He instilled in me a passion for that city--for those people. After a period of listening, prayer, and discussion, I've decided to pursue that passion. In January I'll be moving down to New Orleans with the hopes of becoming a teacher there. It may be a few years down the road--but that is the goal. In the mean time, I hope to find a job in a school...maybe secretarial, TA, and/or in an after-school program. I'll also be taking night classes at Loyola...I have to get that degree somehow. :) To be honest, I'm both excited and scared at the same time. New Orleans will be an adventure--one that I definitely feel God leading me towards. Then again, it's New Orleans...and I'm a teenage white girl from the suburbs. But like I said, God's hand is in this, and going is part of trusting Him. I love that about God. In so many differeny ways He just asks you to take His hand, close your eyes, and jump in with both feet. New Orleans, here I come!