Dancing with the King of the Ages!

When I was 8 my parents started looking into foster care and the possibility of adopting. I don't remember much about the process, just lots of paperwork and strangers coming over to our house to make sure it was livable. I'm sure they asked Stess and I questions about our parents to make sure we weren't being abused, but for the most part nothing really changed until I was 9 when we went to pick up this kid, a 5 year old boy who's father had abused him. His name was Troy. Troy was with us for a year and a half before he went back to his dad. We had some great memories, along with the inevitable sibling moments :) The three of us got along great, for the most part. Stess was a little closer to him than I was, partly because of age and partly because they had much more in common, preferring sports to books. Troy went back to his dad for about 6 months before there was more abuse. I still remember Mom picking me up from school and asking what I would think if Troy ...

Well, my trip to the Philippines is still a go! No, I'm not excited... Not even a little ;p I fly out around 2pm on Wednesday, July 29th. It's quite a long flight, but I honestly don't mind. I love flying! In fact, I was at the airport on Friday night, to catch a shuttle to go to Corvallis, and got excited seeing the planes as they land! I've always been that way though. I remember when I was growing up, my family lived near the airport and we knew all sorts of missionaries, so it was quite common for us to go to the airport to pick up people. This was all in the days of guests actually being able to wait at the gate and see the plain coming in. We have pictures of my sister and I standing at the big windows watching eagerly as the plains are taxing in. So, as long as I can remember, driving up Airport Way in Portland, headed to the airport gets me excited. There are so many possibilities! Anyway, I'm getting off track... I haven't written much lately,...

For several years now my parents have really gotten into riding bikes. We've always had bikes, mountain bikes to be exact, and made much use of them when we went camping throughout the summer. I even remember one winter in Portland where we pulled them out and rode in the snow! My mom's sister and husband got a tandem bike and Mom and Dad took to the idea and bought their own. They loved it so much they started doing tandem rallies and riding all the time. Dad's on the front and Mom on the back. Well, apparently dad got tired of looking at the white line on the road while mom pointed out all the deer and about two years ago they bought a recumbent tandem. Since they've gotten into riding my sister has and, to some degree, I have as well. Stess is much more into it and two years ago Mom and Dad got her a street bike, an upright one. Last summer Stess and I joined Mom and Dad on a tandem rally and it was really fun. I rode with Dad and Stess with Mom. The only th...

Yeah, I've not been that consistent with this blog. What can I say, life's been busy. I worked over 7 hours over time last week. Needless to say, I was a little tired. I did make that up on the weekend though and went to see Wicked again! I showed up two and a half hours early and put my name in a lottery for a $25 ticket. And I got one! It was a ton of fun and I'd do it again but alas, Wicked has left Portland... This weekend Mom, Dad and my Sister are headed up here for Easter! They're coming to my church and I'm "hosting" dinner! Oh the responsibility! We're having ham. We've had it before so there's not much I can screw up. My roommate is out of work and has been since December. She's an accountant and is looking hard but no luck yet. Her brother moved out here from Boston a few weeks ago. He's living with us for now. He's also unemployed... Last night I think he applied for a job where I work. I don't think he's plannin...

Stess came up on Thursday night as last week was spring break. On Friday we went and saw Wicked on Broadway. It was SO MUCH FUN!!! I didn't know much about the show, other than it was a Broadway and a take off on The Wizard of Oz. We had good seats bought about two weeks ago. We ended up being on the second balcony but on an aisle and right in front, so the view was pretty good. Madre and Bonnie were there too, different location but there none the less. So, I have to tell this story on Stess, cause it was funny! We sat down and were looking at the program. We're looking at the song list and she turns to me and says, "This is a musical?" I looked at her and said, "Yes!" I didn't realize she didn't know it was a musical. She enjoyed it though, so that didn't matter much, and she knows now... All in all, Wicked was so much fun! I'd go again if given the chance. After the show we joined Madre and Bonnie for desert at Pappa Hayden's. Mmm, it ...

I had to say goodbye to my car today. On my way home from Stess', on my way to work, it died. No resurrection for this car, it's dead. Uncle Phil was great and came and picked me up. He called in a favor and a junkyard towed my car without charging me. When they heard what type of car I had they said there's no resale value to it, so I didn't get anything for it. So, I'm very glad I live in Portland at this time and so close to public transportation.

Around Christmas my Aunt and Uncle borrowed a friends Wii just for fun. Our family liked it so much, especially my parents who have NEVER owned any type of gaming system, that they decided they wanted to buy one. So, about two weeks ago my mom calls me and asks me if I'll call Toys R Us to see if they have any Wii's because Best Buy and all the stores in Bend and Redmond were out of them. I didn't find any but they were still looking. In fact, they'd bought the Wii fit because it was available but couldn't play it without the Wii. This weekend Stess and I went down there to visit and Dad and I were going up to the mountain to snowmobile (Stess was on a DATE!), and Mom calls saying Best Buy has 10 Wiis and should she go in to town and get one. She did so Sunday evening we all set up our own little characters and played tennis. Then on Monday, while they were at work, Stess and I played more. Today my right arm is so sore!

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family who read this, and to anyone else who happens along! While I'm stuck at work, for a short shift, and wishing I were with family I thought I'd post something, since I have the time and this list seems to be making it's way throughout bloggland. Yes, I borrowed this from Stacy who borrowed it from... My Favorites of the Christmas Season: Smell - Baking (pumpkin bread, nutmeg, cinamon, bananna bread, fudge...) Song - Angels we have herd on high Food - Mom's swedish bread Symbol - christmas lights Tradition - Chinese food on Christmas Eve followed by opening up one gift, usually pajamas if they were under the tree Movie - White Christmas Sweet - fudge Gift Received - Last year mom got be a book I didn't think she'd actually buy and I've loved having it! There's a link to it here . Gift Given - I was pretty excited about my Dad's gift several years back. Compiling his music into one big 3 ring binder. Meal - Ha...

It has come to my attention that Santa Clause is not very technically savvy. Every time my sister and I call him, he says hello and then promptly, sometimes not so promptly, hands us over to Mrs. Clause. Santa also does not email very often. In fact, I don't think I've ever had an email from Santa Clause. And then there's blogs. Apparently one of Santa's elves told him I had a blog, but would you believe it, he doesn't read it! Instead Mrs. Clause dutifully gets online and puts in my blog address to read to Mr. Clause what is going on in the day to day life of me. None of this do I mind, however I got the most astonishing email from Mrs. Clause this evening. Apparently Mrs. Clause has forgotten the directions to this wonderful blog, of which I should write much more often than I do, and is in desperate need of the directions. Never you fear, I would NOT want to deprive Mr. and Mrs. Clause of the joyous ramblings of my day to day life, so I've sent the di...

List of Ninety-Nine I stole this from Stay who stole it from Mikaila who stole it from Carrie. I've bolded all the things I have done and put stars next to the things I want to do. 1. Started my own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii *** 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than I can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland/world 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sung a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris*** 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea *** 14. Taught myself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child*** 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty*** 18. Grown my own vegetables 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France*** 20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitchhiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice*** (I've been to Venice, but have not ridden a gon...

I know, it's been a while since I last posted anything. I've been trying to come up with something really great to write about, but nothing's coming to mind. So, instead of some wonderful pearls of wisdom, you get the mundane. Well, maybe not mundane, but my life as it pertains to: ...Living quarters. I'm pretty settled in to my place now. Last Sunday I got home from church and shortly after both roomates did. We had a chance to sit down for lunch together, not planned, it just happened. It was a fun, non-stressful time. We actually had a neighbor come by and give us a welcome gift! Later we went to the park and threw a ball for Brandi, our friendly dog, and played on the swings. All in all, a very relaxing time just hanging out. Later Jamie and I went to Target, with 2 stories! Jamie was really funny, being from a small town, Target with an escelator that you can put your cart down was quite an adventure. ...Church. I'm still trying to find a...

Stess (my lil sis) and I are constantly talking at least once a day. Every day she has little stories about her kids at school or about a new bulletin board she put up, or some great idea she had about teaching this subject. Well today I suggested she create a blog to record all that on. I'm trying to get her as addicted to this thing as I am. Anyway, while I was talking to her this evening I finally said that I'd just set one up for her so all she has to do is post stuff. So, I came home, much more excited now that I had a mission, and started a blog for my sister. I'm hoping she'll customize it a bit to her liking, but in the meantime I tried to make it reflect her personality. So here it is, my lil sis has a blog now. Feel free to visit and say hi! www.missstess.blogspot.com Love you sis!

Since I got back from Mongolia life has been pretty hectic so I appologize for not posting more pictures (still to come) or telling you more about my trip (also, still to come.) When I got back I realized I had 2 weeks to find a place (Praise the Lord, He provided!) and move (this weekend). On top of that, last weekend was a big family gathering, and stuff at work is changing along with my schedule. But, in an effort to at least give you something, I thought I'd tell you about one story from Mongolia that wouldn't have happened last year. Stess, Kate and I went evangelizing in the countryside with Pugi (the pastor) and Oyuna (our translator.) We ended up at a home with three generations all living together. They were all there and invited us into their home. Pugi spoke with them first, telling them what he did and why we, the Americans, were there. They asked what we did for work in the states. Kate works as a manager in a hotel and Stess is a teacher. Both those seem to t...

I have some pictures but not my camera, so I'll post pictures of my weekend tonight, but I thought I'd post something since it's been a while... This weekend I went to Albany for several reasons. On Saturday Mom, Dad, Stess, Nicole and I all rode our bikes in the Strawberry Festival Centenial Ride. No, we didn't ride 100 miles, but we did half that. Okay, some of us did half that. Since we had a beautiful little girl and a cute dog who couldn't join us on the ride Nicole and I switched off. She started with Mom, Dad and Stess and they rode the first 25 miles, from Lebanon High School to the other end of Foster Resivore in Sweet Home. I followed with the baby and the dog. Mom and Dad have two tandem bikes, one is an upright and the other is a recumbant. I prefer the recumbant by far! They all did great on the way to Foster. I met them at one stop and was very glad to have mom nearby as the little one had a blow out and didn't want to drink the formula I...

I haven't posted anything in a bit, so I thought I'd go ahead and give an update. Life has been busy, what with getting ready for Mongolia, going to Albany, Lebanon, Sisters, preparing for my cousin's wedding, going to wedding showers and weddings, and just living life! Two weeks ago I was blessed to see Lydia get married! That was a great weekend. Last weekend Stess, Nicole, Ahryanna and I all went to Sisters. Didn't do much, just shopped and spent time oohing and ahing over an adorable little GIRL. I've decided I'm going to look for those plastic stick on earings for her. Purple isn't cutting it. This weekend I'm going to Albany/Corvallis/Lebanon for a Mongolia fundraiser (An Evening for the Orphans), my Aunt's 50th birthday party, another Mongolia meeting, and another friends wedding on Sunday. On the work front, I was in an associate trainer training class for two weeks. I just got my test back today and I got 100%! So now all I need to do is act...

My sister, Stephanie, was in a triathlon this weekend. She did the biking portion of the race. This was her first race and I'm very pleased to announce that she won!!! Congratulations Lil'Sis!

I know, it's bee a while since I last wrote anything, so I figure I'll catch you up, as much as I can while at work. My computer isn't working so that's my excuse for not writing lately. If you send me an email, sorry I haven't responded. I can only check it at work on my break so it doesn't happen much. Life is pretty much the same. I'm still liking my job. Currently I'm trying to get promoted to the senior position. Starting tomorrow (Thursday) I'll be coming in to work for training at 7am! Yuck! But, the upside of that is getting off at 4pm, so okay, I'll take it. Mongolia plans are heating up. I'm getting more excited about going. My "Aunt" Sandra is joining us this year so that's going to be great! I got my passport renewed and all I need now is shots :( I'm going down to Corvallis a lot, which I enjoy when I'm there but don't enjoy the thought of all that gas money! Church is great, when I get to go...

Isn't my nephew cute?!

Today my sister is 25! No, really. She was born on April Fool's Day. I had lots of fun with that as a kid, but that wore off rather quickly. You can only give so many rocks before it starts to loose it's purpose. Today she's actually in Portland for a job fair. I'm praying hard she'll get an amazing offer up here and move this summer. I'd love to live with her again. She was bummed the fair was today as she's waited 3 years to celebrate her birthday with her students. She's got all sorts of tricks planned. Lucky for her she'll be back tomorrow and the kids are all planning to celebrate with her then. Last night we went out for dinner with a bunch of friends. We had a great time! I'll add pictures later. So my sister is 25. A quarter of a century old. She's amazing. Love you Stess!

So I know this is early but I have reason to write it today and not friday. Ten reasons I'm glad it's Thursday... 1. I have Friday and Monday off, so it's a 4 day weekend! 2. I got a couch this past weekend, so there's room to come visit me. 3. Stess' birthday is on Tuesday 4. I'll see my parents and Stess on Saturday when I pick them up from the airport 5. I get to go to the airport 6. I get to drive a big red diesel truck 7. I may go to the beach this weekend 8. Finally I'm reading "The Shack" and it's really good 9. I have peanut butter chocolate skinny cows at home 10. Thanks to Lani, I have "Alias" at home!