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 ...

I love my hair. I know, odd way to start a blog, but I'm sitting here at work eating lunch and a comment made about my hair made me laugh. I'm going to tell you about it, but have to preface it first... My hair is naturally curly, and I love it, but I got it cut a while ago and it looks really good straight too. So, on any given day, it will be curly or straight. No big deal right? So back to my lunch. This guy leans over my cube wall and asks, "Is that a wig?" WHAT!!!??? He proceeded to say that my hair is always changing, he thought it was brown last week, and that he was just curious... It made me laugh... "Is that a wig?" I give him props for asking...

This came to me in email form and we had a blast laughing through it. Hope it brightens your day! KNOW THE SYMPTOMS Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder. Somehow I feel better even though I have it!! Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests: I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my check book off the table, and see that there is on...

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 ...

My roommate flew out to the East coast last week to meet her brother and drive back to Portland with him. She left her car and told me to feel free to use it! Seeing as I don't have a car anymore, this was really nice. I got to thinking on Wednesday or Thursday that it would be really fun to go to the beach. Then I though, why not get a hotel room and stay a night? So, I got online and found a cute hotel in Cannon Beach, cannonbeachhotel.com. I noticed they had this deal for last minute bookings, half off! So on Thursday I called and booked a room for Saturday night. I ended up splurging a bit and got a "Premier" room. It was that or the "Basic" and though they both looked nice, the Basic was missing a tub and fireplace. So, I headed over on Saturday and I am SO glad I went! It was gorgeous on Saturday and the drive over was very nice. My room was amazing! A great four poster bed, a gas fireplace, an awesome tub... It was wonderful. I'm thinking this is goin...

Stess, Stacy and I went to Bagdad theater to see “Marley and Me” yesterday. It was a good movie! For anyone who has ever loved a dog, it’s a tear jerker. One of the things I really liked about the movie though was the whole concept of family. The movie starts with the couple getting married, and throughout the whole movie they stay married and faithful to each other. Yes, they have hard times and they fight and life is tough, but they never even consider separation or divorce. So, if you’re looking for a good movie that shows a family that stays whole and is healthy, I recommend this one. Bring Kleenex though…

Tonight I went to the Blazer's game. It was a lot of fun, they won and I got to go for free. Can't go wrong with that! Interesting observation though. For the half time show they brought out all these girls from probably age 3 to high school age. The girls had gone to some type of camp that the dancer's for the Blazers put on. The final then was getting to perform at the game. It was very interesting to see the girls and how they danced. There was an adorable little girl, probably 3 or 4, who just looked cute and was out to have fun time. You could tell she was the kind who just liked to dance for the fun of it. Then you had the slightly older girls who were divided between wanting to dance cause it was fun, and wanting to dance because they wanted to look and act beautiful. Those who wanted to just had fun didn't really have all the moves down and didn't particularly look great, but you could tell this was a highlight for them, simply being able to be out ...

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...

I'm looking through my pictures, trying to find a specific one, but I've run across these four pictures that I just want to post. No big reason other than it was a fun weekend. A while ago Stess came up to Ptown and we got to hang out with our "Brothers" Ryan and Kyle. Kyle didn't look at the camera, Ryan made a face, my camera didn't focus on Stess and I, and then the sky was just cool. So, for no real reason, enjoy!

I was over at Stacy's tonight watching a show, but before we watched it she was showing me a youtube video of Il Divo, a group that she really likes. That got me thinking about a group I heard about last year called "Straight No Chaser". They're an acapella music group that performed back in 1996. Well they have a great video that Stacy has posted on her site. Check it out. They're amazing. Since Stacy posted the Christmas video I thought I'd post another favorite we watched a few times tonight... After watching those a few times we saw that the group is back together and has put out a Christmas cd! I love it! Stacy bought me a copy for Christmas so I can enjoy it for years to come. It's so much fun! It reminds me of all the choirs that I was in growing up. All the Christmas concerts we performed. The acapella songs sung and the fun times. Thanks Stacy!

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've been training a new hire class for going on three weeks now and I thought I'd share a bit about my class. I am teaching 20 men about how to be a technician on my contract. That in itself is a feat. Me, someone with very little technical experience (that's a step up from none), teaching 20 guys with varying degrees of technical ability, most of which probably have much more experience than I do. However, even with this being the case, the class is going really well! On the first day I did have one woman, but she bailed and never came back. I can only assume she was intimidated by the daunting task ahead of us. So, now I've got these guys in a classroom for 40 hours a week, three weeks long. It's been fun. I've got the older gentlemen who vary from not knowing anything about "modern" computers to knowing more than their fair share of information. I have the guys who transfered from other contracts and those who are new to my workplace all to...

I know... it's been a while. Sorry! I've been a little busy so let me let you in on what my life has been like for the past 3 weeks... Like I said in my last post, I got pulled into a new hire training class the last week of June. It was so much fun! I loved it! No, it wasn't easy and my class was probably the worst type of class to have. One third of the class were transfering from another contract and the rest were newbies. With the transferes there I wasn't always sure if the newbies got it or not. To top that off, all my resources were gone, either in India or on vacation. But even with all that, I really enjoyed it! Everyone graduated and though we've lost a few since then, mostly attendance, I think they're getting it and doing a pretty good job. Aside from work, I've been getting ready for Mongolia! I'm leaving tomorrow for 3 weeks! Nope, not at all excited... Stacy is going to take me to the airport tomorrow morning. We get the joy of being t...

Lani tagged me! Eight things I am passionate about: Family Friends My relationship with my Savior Coffee Brownies Traveling Music Books Eight things I say a lot: Thank you for calling HP Total Care I'd like a tall, double shot, vanilla latte I like the part in "Firefly" when... Hi Stacy! Jell-o Yes Sir, Captain' Tight Pants I can't wait to go to Mongolia! Amen Eight things I'd like to do before I die (no particular order): Get my nose pierced Go to Spain Go on a cruise Revisit Uruguay Own a home Be debt free Get married Be the Maid of Honor in my Sister's wedding Eight books I've read recently: Velvet Elvis Blue Like Jazz Irresistable Revolution 3 books by Steven Lawhead 1 book by Gilbert Morris 1 book by Beth Moore Eight Movies I have seen eight times: Pride and Prejudice French Kiss You've Got Mail White Christmas Shrek Pirates (if you count all three multiple times) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Gilmore Girls

I was reading through some old documents I've had saved for a while. Over a the next couple weeks I'll share them, but here's one just for fun. Enjoy! A frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see from her nameplate that her name is Patricia Whack. "Miss Whack, I'd like to get a $30,000 loan to take a holiday." Patty looks at the frog in disbelief and asks his name. The frog says his name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it's okay, he knows the bank manager. Patty explains that he will need to secure the loan with some collateral. The frog says, "Sure. I have this," and produces a tiny porcelain elephant, about an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed. Very confused, Patty explains that she'll have to consult with the bank manager and disappears into a back office. She finds the manager and says, "There's a frog called Kermit Jagger out there who claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,0...

My birthday was Sunda. It was also Father's day. My roomate, Hannah, asked me to go out on Monday for Margarita's as a local restaurant had them half price! So, I was looking forward to Monday since I'd never had a traditional margarita, only the really fruity kind and not very many. Monday came aroud and work was surprisingly slow, so on a whim I signed up for VTO (voluntary time off). Low and behold, I got it! I was free from work about an hour and a half earlier than planned! Per the usual, I calles Stess when I got off. All excited that I had the rest of the night off, I told her I'd been vto'd and was on my way home. She was surprised and we talked for a bit before she had to go since she and her roomies were in the car and we don't like talking on the phone in the car with other people. I called Hannah then and she had just started cooking dinner so I told her I'd call when I got off the max and we'd go from there. I got off max, decided 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...