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.