My Parents

I have great parents. No. I have awesome parents. They are wonderful. I love them so much. And when I talk to other people who know them, they gush about them too so I feel even more justified to brag about them. My dad is an amazing servant. He will lay his life down for just about anyone and in any way he can. He helps cook every Sunday night with a team preparing food for 75 people attending Alpha. I always hear how he volunteers for all the worst jobs like dishwasher duty. He also is always the last to leave so he can make sure any lone women gets walked to their car safely. That is just who he is. He has always put his family first, sacrificing his own wants for the benefit of the rest of us. He models Jesus' sacrificial and practical love to us.

My dad is also one of the most loyal people I know. He will stick with people through a lot. He always roots for the underdog which came in handy when the Beavers sucked for so many decades. And this may be a weird thing to love about your dad but he is absolutely NOT a handy man. However, he will almost always give a go at a project no matter what it is. Now it might take five times as long to complete the project and four more trips to Home Depot than it needs but he still tackles it. He has taught me everything I know about home improvement. :) I have to thank him for that because even though I may not have had the most knowledgeable of teacher, he taught me to try. I feel incredibly more self sufficient because he instilled that courage in me when it comes to maintenance stuff. And I love getting the giggles with him when working on a project with him that is going awry.

My mom is such an amazing and talented lady. Every time she sits down at the piano she astounds me. She recently prepared a bunch of old jazz standards for our Alpha celebration dinner. I got to sit in the sound booth and simply listen to her play for about 45 minutes. It was great. I took me back to when I was a kid and she would practice in her studio. Now, anytime anyone plays the piano, it comforts me. It is kind of like how we all have a comfort food that we eat when we are sick or feeling blue. For me it is someone playing the piano. We recently got a piano in our apartment and occasionally Maile practices when I am home and I love it.

Everything my mom does is done with excellence. Truly, if you want something done well, ask my mom to do it. She is reliable and follows through on her commitments to people. She is currently looking for a new job and I think anybody would be absolutely crazy not to hire her. They really couldn't go wrong. My mom is a lifelong learner. She went back to school when I was in high school and got her Masters in music education. I think with straight A's too. She is so smart and such a hard worker. Then, even though music had been her life since she was a child, she went back to school again when I was in college and this time she got her associates degree in computer technology and started a completely new career path. She will forever be a cheerleader for people wanting to know themselves better and who want to do something new with their lives. I know she will always be there beside me when I need a push and she will walk alongside me as I figure it out.

I could go on and on but I just wanted to say all that. Mom and Dad, I love you. Thanks for everything.

Adam and Eve

Two Fridays ago I went over to ACMA, which is a fine arts high school in Beaverton for their production of "The Apple Tree." My mom was hired to play the piano for the musical and she was doing it with her friend Jody who was on the synth. You never know what to expect from high school productions. I have been to my share of shows that make you want to sneak out the back before intermission. But occasionally I see something that really impresses me.

This was a very unique production. It was basically three short, seemingly unrelated, stories. The first was called Passionella and was set in like the 1940s. It was about a chimney sweep who wishes to be a movie star and gets her wish only during certain hours of the day. She falls in love with another movie star who doesn't want to give her the time of day because she is so "fake." Little does he know. Passionella is played by my friend Kyley who is a fabulous dancer and adds quite a bit of humor and glamour to this role. (She is giving the thumbs up with me to the left) Anyway, the two movie stars do end up getting married and they both discover in the end that they have both had some fairy godmother help to be "famous" and they both turn into their regular everyday average self as the curtain closes. Hmmmm...interesting.

Next short is set in like the fifth century or something like that. It felt very Romanesque in costume and feel. It is about a princess who is in love with a soldier. When their love is discovered he is sent to be judged. Now in this land the queen has set up a very odd system of justice. The accused is given the choice of two doors. At one door is a lion. If he chooses that door then he is obviously guilty and obviously immediately punished. If he chooses the other door, he is innocent and there awaits a woman that he then marries. So this soldier is given a choice and the princess finds out from the lion keepers which door the lion is behind. But she is also a jealous person and can't stand the thought of him marrying the person behind the other door. So in the end of this short act, we see her point him in the direction of a door and we never get to know if she chose death for him or not. Doubly, interesting. What does that have to do with the first short? These are written to go together. Hmmmm....?

The final half of the show follows Adam and Eve as they are first created and getting to know each other and their environment. I was supremely impressed by the two actors who staged this entire act. Their acting was compelling and the story made you think about something that gets entirely glossed over in Sunday school with the flannelgraph. They explored things like how did Adam and Eve know how or what to name the animals. In what ways were men and women different from each other before socialization ever had a chance to direct otherwise. Did Adam and Eve ever fall in love. What did that process look like? When you have no past to learn from and no teacher, how do you learn about the world? It was a very thoughtful, humorous and, in the end, touching show.

Now I am still trying to figure out how the three parts flowed together. They did mention the color brown during each show but I have no clue why. I also found out later that it was written by Mark Twain and was intended to be show in the opposite order of acts. Adam and Eve were supposed to start it all and Passionella was supposed to conclude it all. That piece of knowledge didn't really solidify anything for me. Oh well. It was a fun night. Since you couldn't take pictures during the show I don't have any to show you except these. Many of the actors and their parents showed up at Red Robin later where my parents and I were grabbing grub. The guy in the middle played Adam.

Cupcakes make the world go round

Ok I know that this is a day late and a dollar short but I have to tell you how Maile and I actually got through the voting process this November. First of all, it took three and a half hours for us to work through all the people and measures on the stinking ballot. Since we had anticipated such a long voting journey we decided we needed provisions and rewards. So we first pre-treated ourselves to dinner at the Montage so that all those carbs would give us the energy we needed to push through. (If you have not had the privilege of eating one of their famous mac and cheeses then stop by sometime and check them out. YUM!!) Then we stopped by Freddy's and bought our favorite beer. Because beer was going to help take the edge off when Sizemore's poorly written measures were making us frustrated and angry. Lastly, we needed a reward system to keep us going. We bought and baked our favorite funfetti cupcakes with funfetti frosting and sprinkles. Just the sight of them will cheer you up. We buckled down and filled in our little round circles and every once in a while, when we felt the momentum and resolve faltering, we ate a cupcake. So I just want to thank cupcakes for the important role they played in this year's election.

Halloween was so much fun. For five years now my church throws this huge party for the neighborhood. We buy 26ft high inflatable slides and bounce houses, fill the kids up with sugar for two hours and let them back loose on their parents. It's marvelous. We have tons of carnival games and cotton candy, popcorn and pronto pups (corn dogs). I had one person tell me that she was trying to find something else just as fun or more fun than the Halloween Extravaganza to take her grandkids to this year and couldn't find anything. Our party was the best thing happening for kids. YEA!! I love this event because it gives us a tangible way to meet our neighbors and serve them in a really practical and fun way. I hope we never stop doing this. The picture to the left is of my friend Elinna and I at the Extravaganza. Obviously I was a cowgirl (Yea creativity!) and I think Elinna was going as one hot mama.


Dad and I headed down to Corvallis again for another Beaver game. This time we got to sit a little higher. While the excitement of being practically on the field was awesome, we ended up watching most of the USC game on the jumbotron. This time, we had a big light pole right smack dab in the middle of our jumbotron sightline. Good thing we didn't really need to see it from where we were sitting. The Beavs are still on a very tentative path to the Rose Bowl because of our win over USC. But we have four huge games to hurdle over first. On Saturday we barely won over ASU. It was one of those really stressful games that wasn't played particularly superbly by either team. But we scratched out a win and Dad and I got to try out our new rain gear. We were hot but we were dry. Not we've got UCLA, CAL, Arizona and Oregon left on the schedule. Yikes. Should be interesting.

My good friend Karen Snyder was in town this Wednesday and she and Maile and I went out to Huber's for drinks and desserts. Hubers is known for their Spanish coffees which they make flaming tableside. I was very impressed by how this server could do a three foot pour in an arc over his head. Crazy! It was good to see Karen, who is leaving to serve for the next two years with Wycliffe at their national offices in Orlando, FL. I'll miss not being able to see her more often. And I know she'll miss the NW. Just maybe not in January when it is 70 degrees and sunny there.

Ok, that's the update. I've actually got the night off so I am looking forward to some down time. Catch you all later!

The Mile High (DRYYYYYYYYY) City

So this weekend I took the opportunity to visit my brother Travis and his fiance Pam in Denver. They generously bought me a ticket to come out and see them and help them out with their new house that they bought. Before I say anything though I just want to comment on how stinkin' dry that place is. Not only is the air thin but it has no moisture whatsoever. Well...I shouldn't exaggerate. I heard that there was 1% humidity when I left on Sunday. I got a nosebleed the first morning I was there. And this coming from the girl who always has "moisture" in her nose because of her allergies. Ok, well enough with that rant. I'm just so glad to be back in Portland where my skin doesn't feel like it is turning into a desert.

I arrived late Sunday night and Pam was sweet enough to come along to pick me up even though it meant a short night of sleep for her. And of course they brought Kaiser. Kaiser is their two year old Weimeraner that they just adopted three weeks ago. He is a sweet boy. Here is a picture of him getting his cuddle on with Pam on the couch on Friday night. Pam was a little tired for some reason.
On Friday Travis and Pam had to work so I slept in and then got to work painting their master bathroom. Trav came home after lunch which was good because Kaiser had already destroyed a pair of his shoes while under my watch. Trav and I spent the rest of the afternoon fencing in this dog run that he is building. Their backyard is fenced but it is a three foot tall fence. Easily jumped over by the Weimer. I wish I had a picture of the run he built. Very cool. Good job Trav.

Pam came home before we were finished and we all piled into their Nissan Titan for a much needed trip to the dog park. After that we picked up some movies, more paint and some dinner groceries and went home. They cooked this fabulous tri tip steak, green beans, salad, bread dinner complete with wine. I discovered that my brother hates red wine but we oddly enough have the same exact favorite beer, Blue Moon Belgian White. Pam and the dog slept through War Inc., a very interesting tongue-in-cheek movie about what the world might look like if corporations ruled the world rather than governments.

Pam made a great breakfast on Saturday morning before we all piled into the truck again to go back to the dog park for a Weimeraner Shelter Meet and Greet. Basically I got slobbered on a lot by 10-15 beautiful Weimers and other such dogs saying hello to everyone. I also realized what a great job Travis has been doing training Kaiser. In only two weeks Kaiser knows how to sit, lie down, stay, heel and leave food alone that is sitting right in front of him. And most of those commands he knows by hand signals only. Amazing. Trav is a really patient and firm teacher.

After the park, we painted the hallway and the guest bedroom and finished painting the master bathroom. We also finished putting up all the rest of the fencing for the dog run and raked all the backyard leaves. At that point my right arm was about to fall off from exhaustion so we decided to get pizza and go bowling. Yea, that's right. Bowling with the exhausted right arm. Needless to say I sucked it up. But I have so many excuses to use this time. I mean...besides the tired arm, I didn't have my own ball with me. That just totally throws you for a loop. Then they turned off all the lights for "cosmic bowling" and I couldn't see the arrows on the lane anymore. Then there was all the flashy, strobey lights swirling around me....And it is as this point that I felt old. What is wrong with me? At what point did cosmic bowling turn from fun and awesome to bothersome and obnoxious. So I sighed to myself and we went home and watched Leatherheads.

On Sunday Travis and Pam took me to this awesome breakfast joint called Toast. Ironically enough, one of Maile and I's favorite breakfast spots here in Portland is also called Toast. The Littleton, CO Toast kind of specializes in pancakes. Since none of us could decide what kind of pancakes we wanted, we ordered a "flight" for the table. Kind of a sampler of four short stacks of four different kinds. So cool! We had lemon blueberry, oreo cookie, bananas foster and blueberry granola. I loved it. Yay cool breakfast joints!
After our hearty breakfast Pam and I headed out to do some more hard work at the mall. We were on the prowl for the perfect bridesmaid's dress for me. Pam had this great and generous idea of letting each bridesmaid pick out a cute black cocktail dress for the wedding. That means we all get to wear something that is flattering on us and that we will most certainly wear again. Gold star for Pam!! We headed to the White House, Black Market store which, as the name suggests, kind of specializes in all things black and white. Gloriously, we bought the first and only dress that I tried on. I nearly kissed the service clerk I was so happy that this wasn't going to be a long ordeal. And I love the dress. It is super cute and looks great on me. Thanks Pam!! (Sorry, I don't have a picture of it!)

Ok well this is getting long and I am sure most of you don't care that much about all the little details of my trip. But let me just finish by thanking my brother and Pam for hosting me. It meant a lot to me to spend time with you both. I love you and wish you lived closer. Good luck with the new house and the new dog! And if anyone is in Denver, look them up. They have a fabulous chocolate brown guest bedroom now to host you in. :)

No Pictures!? What kind of posting is this?

So yea. I don't have any pictures to show you from all my adventures over the past week. I don't have a picture to show you of Maile and I standing in line for rush tickets at the Gerding Theater to see Guys and Dolls last Wednesday. I don't have a picture to show you of Maile and my new favorite youtube video but you can watch it here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iUU6jTqB6k. I don't have a picture of me leading worship at our women's retreat at Cannon Beach. Neither do I have a picture of me leading a merengue dance class at that same retreat. (Besides, pictures of the ladies learning the dance would have been much more fun anyway.) I also don't have a picture of the piano concert that my mom and I ushered for on Tuesday. And last but not least I don't have a picture of Maile and I trying Pok Pok last night which was voted Portland's best restaurant in 2007. You can't see my amazing meal I had.

I'm sorry that you visually missed out on vicariously living through my life this week through these pictures. I will try so much harder in the future to bring to you the best that my camera has to offer. Until then, ciao.

Marriage. Marriage is what brings us together today.

I have had the special privilege of being able to attend nearly all of my friend's wedding. Last Saturday I got to see Jeff and Melinda tie the knot. I met them both in college through InterVarsity. As I looked around the reception I caught myself reminiscing about all weddings of my friends in the room. I couldn't think of a one that I hadn't been able to go to. What a great gift!


I was lucky I made it to this wedding at all though. I was in NW Portland eating a great meal at the Industrial Cafe with Maile at 3:40pm. With a gasp I realized that I had forgotten that Jeff and Melinda's wedding was at 4pm in Lake Oswego! Luckily, we had just finished paying so we jumped up and ran to the car like madmen. Well, I ran to the car like a mad man. Maile giggled at me because a guy on the sidewalk starting laughing at me because I was freaking out so much.
I had to drive home to SE Portland to drop off Maile and change clothes but somehow I was less than ten minutes late to the wedding. Whew! (Thanks Maile for printing me out directions so quick!)

The wedding was beautiful and the party afterwards was awesome! Everyone was dancing and having a great time. I left the party nearly four hours after it started and it was still raging. If you want to see more pictures, check out the album on my facebook page.

Love you Melinda and Jeff! Best Wishes!!

Irises and Shows

So I decided with all this good weather we had this weekend and free time I actually had, I would do some yard work in my little patch of land out back of the apartment. I was pruning down my irises and must have done something not right because I can barely move today my back hurts so bad. It is fine when I am sitting still but I am having a very difficult time rising from a sitting position or bending over in the slightest. Oi, that'll teach me to do yard work. On the other hand, my iris bed sure looks good.

On Saturday night, Dad and Mom and I went to a concert that some of our friends were putting on. It was very good. Tammie Dees has such an incredible voice. She did everything from Jazz classics to Opera. Tricia Collier, who I sing on worship team with, was also there performing with Tammie. Here is a picture of the two of them on stage. Good job girls!!
Mom and I ushered this weekend at the Newmark Theater for Menopause the Musical. The show was hilarious but just as hilarious were all the menopausal, hot flashing groups of giggling women who came in for the show. The room was absolutely freezing before we opened and once the seats were filled it was nearly hot. There were only like 10 guys in the auditorium. Some of them definitely looked like they had been dragged in there. Ha! I think it was good for them, though, to gain a greater understanding for what women go through. I definitely think that women got the worse end of the curse. Course, we did eat the apple first...

BEAVERS BEAT #1 TROJANS!!!

I was there! My dad and I got tickets for a few Beaver games this season and this was one of them. Oh my gosh, it was an incredible night of football. Too see OSU play that first half felt like we were in a dream. Every call seemed to go our way. The penalties went to USC and the challenges went to the Beavs. Quizz Rogers hid behind the offensive line andUSC never could find him. He rushed for 186 yards. His brother James also brought in two touchdowns. It was incredible! And we were seated in the front row the whole time.

The third quarter felt more like how the game was predicted to go. (The Beavs were favored to lose this game by like 27 points or something.) USC came back after half time and made two runs down the field with the energy and ease in which we normally see them play. It got a little scary but made the fourth quarter even more exciting. A key interception by Laybourn in the fourth gave the Beavs that extra lead to 27 to 14. And I'm convinced that the USC touchdown with two minutes left in the game was due entirely to the student section pouring into the Beaver sidelines and dousing Riley before the game was done. Stupid! They were a distraction and could have cost the Beavers the game if USC had recovered their on-side kick and returned for another touchdown. They would have won because our last extra point had been blocked.

Anyway, such a great night and very awesome to have experienced it with my dad. Go Beavs!!!

Apartment Dwelling Animals

Last night our apartment got a little excitement. I was cooking dinner and had a friend over. I went into the kitchen to find the kitten kind of spazzing out. She was visibly distressed about something in the general vicinity of the refrigerator. Now about a year ago or so, my other cat had alerted me to a giant sized rat that was hiding behind the fridge. I left the kitten "guarding" the kitchen while I went in search of my flashlight. I was hoping and praying that I would not be finding another rat and I was preparing curses upon which I would heap upon my landlord for not doing anything about the situation last time.

I peered around the fridge and was disgusted to find, not a rat, but a snake. A snake was in our apartment behind our fridge! It was slowly venturing to leave the safety of the back of the fridge and move along towards the back door. I freaked out. I threw Shalom (the other cat) towards it because back in the day, when we lived at the other house, she was an avid snake hunter. She ignored the thing. Useless creature!

So I called the closest boy to come rescue us. Johnny, one of my upstairs neighbors, came flying down with his two buddies all excited about the snake. We pushed aside the fridge and he managed to snag a grab at it, flinging it into an empty kitchen trash can. We all breathed a sigh of relief. Maile called Johnny at that moment and he told her he was standing in her apartment with a snake he just caught behind her fridge. She thought he was joking. I wish it had been a joke. She was almost home so she insisted we keep the snake until she could see proof of it.


The snake didn't seem quite like a normal garter snake. It wasn't colored exactly like one and it had this bad habit of occasionally shaking its tail at us. He didn't have any rattles on it so we kind of ignored that. It also would lash out with its head like it was attacking. That was a little disturbing.

Maile got home and we decided to throw it outside. Johnny and Maile ran about a block away and tossed the thing. They came back and I thought the adventure was over...until someone said something to me this morning...


I was retelling the night's exploits to the gals at work and one of them asked if the snake had maybe escaped from a neighbor. A sickening feeling of dread fell over me as I remembered the countless reptiles that my immediate neighbor Kerri owns. In particular a pretty little snake that she keeps in a cage in her room. OH MY GOSH!!! I just threw out my neighbor's pet!! Crap, what do I do?!

I called Maile and she called Kerri and the rest of the evening's exploits were told to me. Apparently, when Johnny was outside the apartments later, Kerri came out freaking out about her lost snake. Evidently one of her cats had knocked over the cage and the snake was missing. Hmmm...where did it go. Johnny told her about rescuing me from the snake that I found in my kitchen earlier and she made him go searching through all the bushes where they had thrown it. And amazingly enough, they found it! Praise God!! (BTW the snake was a corn snake. )

I am relieved at how the situation ended. However, I am over finding rodents in my home. Not cool.

Yea, I finally exist in the blog world

I do not consider myself a writer. When I picture a writer, I think of a person who writes because they must. They need to put pen to paper and create. It is part of living for them. These people seem to enjoy the art of journaling and writing without necessarily an end goal in sight. I am not this kind of writer. Instead, perhaps you could call me a utilitarian writer or a pragmatic writer. And in that sense, I feel that I am quite adept at the craft. I write to accomplish a purpose. I write to finish a school paper, design marketing material, or a church program.

Writing for a blog seems very much like journaling except that others are expected to read what you pen. However, I have been inspired recently by many friends and family's blogs who have effectively used their blogs as a way to keep everyone informed about their lives and activities. That to me seems filled with purpose, and while I can't imagine most people caring to know about my daily activities, I figure I can at least make a go of it. So here goes...

I seem to fallen into a habit of taking on way too much stuff in my life every Fall. As September started I thought I was being a good girl because I had turned down the offer to join a bowling league team again. Yay, one more night free. Yea right! There are just too many good things to be a part of. On Monday nights, Maile (my roommate) and I are taking a personal finance class. The course is called Financial Peace University and is through Dave Ramsey's organization. I had heard recommendations from many many people who had taken the course so I got pumped about getting debt free and experiencing a sense of freedom from the stress of finances. The class so far is very, very good. I would recommend it to anyone!

I decided a few months ago to take on the role of leading worship at my church's women's retreat for the fourth year in a row. This is one of those things that you forget every year how much work goes into it. Lucky for me, this year I have my mom on my team and she is indispensable in the help and knowledge she brings to the table. It has made planning this year and preparing for this year's retreat so much easier. Thank you Mom!!! So my Tuesday evenings are generally spent with my wonderful team of gals who are leading this shin-dig with me. We jam together at Jody's house for a couple hours learning songs, working through the music and laughing a lot.

Wednesdays were supposed to be this glorious night off. So far, that hasn't really been the case. Something seems to pop up each week. But they tend to be awesome stuff like taking my workaholic friend Jay out on the town or shopping at REI with my parents. Every couple of weeks an evening meeting is thrown in for good sobering measure.

Worship team meets on Thursdays but I'm not always on the team so I get a night off every so often.

Fridays and Saturdays are the nights that my mom and I usually usher at the Portland Center for Performing Arts a couple times a month. This has been great. I love that I get to do this with my mom and we get to see a lot of shows; many of which are awesome and the occasional one that you wish you could sneak out of except for the fact that you are ushering the darn thing.

Saturday mornings...er, Saturday afternoons are my time to hang out with Maile and get some good roommate time in. Recently she has taken over the bar at Paddy's where she works so she often doesn't get home until after 5am on Friday nights. Thus the shift from our roommate breakfasts to our roommate brunches as she needs to sleep until at least noon. I love this time I get to spend with her and rarely will give it up for things that come up that could conflict with it.

Sundays I spend with the community of faith at Greater Portland Bible Church. My parents are a part of the same church as I am so I get to serve alongside them in ministry. It also means I get the privilege of spending time with them at least once a week (if not more) as we have lunch after church. I really cherish and enjoy the time I get to spend hanging out with them. They are awesome. I really have amazing parents.

On Sunday nights I run the sound and lights for Alpha. Alpha is a place for people to come without fear of judgement or condemnation to hear more about Jesus and the Christian faith and ask any questions they may have about spiritual matters. The evening starts with dinner, then a video, then a time for small group discussion. I'm hoping that people find answers and peace to life's most difficult questions and discover the hope to be found in the person and diety of Jesus.

So anyway, that is a little snapshot of my life. In case you didn't know...I work full time at my church. I provide administrative support to several ministries including worship and missions. I won't offer commentary about working for a church. I'll perhaps save that for another post. However, I'll say that it is both a very rewarding and purpose filled vocation and one filled with the burden of many, many people's lives.