Sunday, July 29, 2007

Daron's visit

We visited the renowned Tacoma Glass museum...



Then we stopped off in Seattle for the afternoon to see the sights and walk around. Pike's Place market, shops, and of course the Cheesecake Factory. Then we headed over to Marymoor Park in Redmond to see the Fray in concert. It was amazing, and the venue was the coolest.



Monday, July 23, 2007

The birthday weekend...

Went out with this great girly...


Then on Sunday, did a little bowling with fun people from church. And I won't mention who happen to win both games...





Right before getting a speeding ticket from a merciless cop in Fircrest. You'd think I would learn. I wasn't flying, just not paying attention through Nazi-ville with a shady 25 mph speed trap outta nowhere. The mayor can thank me for supplying his salary for a day. Ugh.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Maybe the best...

I came home from work yesterday to find out I had received two packages in the mail. I started getting excited because I realized they might have something to do with my big fat 25th birthday today. We're only 5.5 hours in (according to my time zone), and it already may be the best birthday yet. Maybe I should have moved away sooner.

I opened Mom's family package first...which resulted in confetti all over my floor. There were about 5 cards in there, 3 of them singing awesome songs like, "Brick House", "Celebrate", and my fave (from Mom herself) "Whoomp, there it is". Hilarious. They had packed it full of goodies and gift cards. Seriously, I cried.

Then I open a package with big tupperware container full of Lecia's home-made sugar cookies! These are change-your-life cookies, and they have awesome purple icing with different words on them. Money. There was also a cd that I broke down and watched last night that had almost all my extended family on video telling me happy birthday. Most of them pointed out that I was a quarter of a century old, halfway to fifty, etc. Yeah, thanks for that! You're making this whole quarter-life crisis thing way easier. lol.

No, but seriously. I say this all the time, but they keep outdoing themselves: I have the best family and friends ever. I hope in some way God has used and will use my 25 years of life in even a fraction of the way these people have blessed me.

P.S. I'm seriously feeling good about being 25. I feel content. It's a good thing.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

T-2 days from the quarter life crisis...

And I'm doing okay. The time and energy the residency requires is exactly what I need to be distracted from any loneliness or overwhelming feelings of homesickness. I think it actually works to my advantage that there are few distractions or pulls on my time. I'm meeting people, making friends, trying to keep in touch with old ones, and make a life here.

I hope to get some peeps together so that I won't be alone on my b-day. I'm not certain about the plans yet, but there may be a a little country line-dancing involved. We'll see.

Oh, and as a little follow-up to my last small bit of ranting...I had a great talk with a couple of friends, and I just needed renewed hope. God is faithful. I can still live with my belief that boys are not so smart, but only one has to prove me wrong, right? He's out there in the wings. And if you know him, go on and give him a heads up, would ya? Tell him to holler atta player.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Newness and a little of the same old...

I just returned from a camping trip with Discovery Church this weekend. We went over to a place in Eastern Washington and camped out near the Wenatchee (I think) River. It was so peaceful at night to hear the water right behind our tent rushing over the rocks. There were so many families and people of all ages on the trip. My carpool got there late since we had to get off work and get our stuff together before heading out. Lauren (my new friend) and I shared a tent and spent most of the weekend hanging out. She's a nurse so we always have fun conversation topics.

We went rafting with the morning group and had a blast. I've been rafting a ton in many different settings, but this was different. The rapids were surprisingly exciting despite their low class rating. We jumped out voluntarily more than once in order to beat the sweltering dry heat of Eastern Washington...not to mention we stayed drenched since each boat was equipped with their own water gun, so water fights were incessant. Saturday was relaxing. I enjoyed meeting new people and witnessing true community as people took turns watching children, making meals, and cleaning up together.

I didn't realize how much I could enjoy the outdoors in such a raw setting. Normally I'm heading back to a hotel room after witnessing such beauty. But last night I equipped myself with a flashlight, my Bible, and a journal and headed down to the "watering hole" (where you could walk down to the river without weeds and a steep bank). I sat out there by myself, taking it in. It was beautiful, even under just starlight. It was refreshing and comforting to kinda crawl up in God's lap there.

On another note, some things don't change. Boys and girls. Same old, same old. I'm a little disheartened. I wish as a Church, we were better at training people to love each other and establish stable family units. It just seems like there's not enough time to strip people of their life-given scars, rebuild their concept of a Christian home, and then equip them to be part of one in the midst of the practical things like college, jobs, and savings accounts. I would just like to sit all the high school/college kids down and give them a typical Lauren Webb sermonette on who they are in Christ and how to guard themselves and treat other people in dating relationships. Boys...ugh. I can't tell you how many times a week I hear or see or experience a situation where I just wanna yell, "MAN UP!" I'm praying about it. I don't mean to sound so bitter. I'm not. I'm just gonna be praying for renewed hope. And God is faithful.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Sunday's are the hardest...

but they're still not too bad. Saturday was an amazingly fun time of playing games with a group from the church I've been visiting. These kids are great, and I see great friendship potential within the group.

Back to missing people...thankfully soooo many people have made an effort to contact me and see how I'm doing. It's overwhelming and humbling to see all that God has blessed me with in terms of support. THAT'S why I am confident that I could go anywhere and do anything He asked me to. NOT because I'm strong enough or smart enough or tough enough, but because He's overwhelmingly invested beautiful souls in my life.

I spoke with Dad and the fam yesterday, and he once again made mention of how "far" away I really am this time. That actually brought tears. I think this transition has hit my family a little harder than it has me. I have the newness to distract me; they are left with the hole that I filled. Hopefully we'll all just grow in communication skills! lol.

Then today in the mail I received a letter from my sweet friend Leela and my Meemaw. I have received many cards and letters from other friends and family as well. It never fails to lift my heart. The words are so encouraging, and the effort is impressive.

It's times like these that I realize that who I am and what I've done or may do has little to do with me. I'm just living the story God's so creatively written. What a freedom. What a gratitude I should live on. What a blessing you all unceasingly are!

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Here's a few more things I encounter in daily life...

Where I live and some views from it...



Where I work



A cute little coffeehouse I like

The park I walk through on the way to work...


Monday, July 02, 2007

Met some peeps...

I like the church I visited yesterday. I plan on visiting a small group they're having on Thursday. I'll keep you posted. I teared up during the music; that's usually a good sign. Met a nice girl about my age with my name, and I look forward to getting to know more people there.

While training with one of the technicians today, I got to interact with a large range of inter-pharmacy personnel. It was a blast. I look forward to interacting and cutting up with them over the course of this year.

AND...last but not least, I found a group that plays ultimate frisbee online, and I went and played tonight! It was a lot of fun despite the fact that I was the worst player on the field. I'm not even supremely horrible; these kids are just studs with the disc. I'm looking forward to learning more strategy and gaining more skill. The people were really nice and encouraging. Yay, fun and good exercise AND the opportunity to meet more people. It doesn't get any better.

I took Lecia's request to heart and started snapping pics of my daily environment. I'll try to post them this week sometime. Thank you all for taking the time to read. It keeps me from feeling lonely.