Rough Patches

Sometimes life's terrain becomes....

a little rocky.

more unstable.

challenging.



My life the last couple weeks has been a little like that.  Tough stuff at work.  The kind of stuff that makes normally very composed, poised people sit at their desks and cry.  And then there's my own career-life things to think about in depth.  That whole "am I doing with my life what I want to do and what I'm called to do" kind of stuff.  


I am trusting and I know that it will all work out how it is supposed to.  God has been faithful before to show me what he has in mind for me.  It's just that I've learned I have to wait.  To be honest, I don't really like the whole waiting thing.  We could point fingers at the "hating to wait" on this instant gratification society we live in, but I think waiting has always been challenging.  However, as is often the case, the challenging thing is what must be done. 
 



So I will wait.
 



Although it is an active wait.  I am searching, pursuing, seeking out what may or may not be ahead of me.  And I will move forward as I have opportunity.  But I will trust that when doors close, it is for a reason.  When I feel stuck in the mud, I'll remember that things will clear out, eventually.  It just won't be in my own timing.

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I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, 
and in his word I put my hope. 
My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning, 
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, 
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.

Psalm 130:5-7

I have to run...

Over the last 9-ish months I've acquired somewhat of an obsession with running.  Going for a good run gives me a chance to clear my head, sort out my thoughts, and see my surroundings through a new perspective.  Sometimes it is hard to get out the door for a run, but when I do it I always feel better in the end.  There is something to be said for pushing through, enduring discomfort at times, to reach a goal.

I'm now addicted to it.

Wow.  Addicted to running?

Did I really just say that?

Yep, it is true.  I've been in a funk the last couple weeks between being sick and traveling and other unrelated things so my running has been not so consistent.  However tonight I really needed to run.  Physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually.....all of me needed to run.

You see, when I run I am not just training and exercising my body.  What I most get from running is the opportunity to spend quality time praying and sorting out my thoughts.  Sure, accomplishing a goal by going a specified distance is great, it feels good and I'm always amazed at what the human body can do (and even more so that my body can do it!).  However when I'm out running for an hour, I spend most of that time praying.  I could write a list a mile long of what I pray about.  You should know that if you read this blog because you know me....there's a 99.78435% probability I've prayed for you while running.

Tonight was no exception.  There's lots to pray about and sort through.

So I ran.

Even though it was late and the sun had already gone down.

(Don't worry, I had my pepper spray with me!)

And I feel better after having done so.

That's why I'm addicted.  I always feel good after (and during) a run.  My thoughts are always more organized, and I've had a nice chat with God.

So I will continue to run.

(And I might even add some yoga for variety in the coming weeks!)

Great friends + Beautiful ceremony + Amazing food = Kelly & Ben's Wedding Weekend!

I enjoyed a wonderful weekend in Texas over the Labor Day weekend celebrating my dear friend Kelly's wedding.  I flew into Abilene last Saturday and was blessed with lots of time with dear friends.  I met Kelly my freshman year at Pepperdine and while we were only in Malibu at the same time for a schoolyear, she is one of my dearest friends.  It was great to meet her (now) husband and get reconnected.

Jen, Kelly, me and Katie at the Rehearsal Dinner at Casa Herrera...

Oh the stories I could tell about our adventures that first year at Pepperdine.  

We laughed all weekend reminiscing!

Jen putting a flower in Kelly's hair before the ceremony...

The beautiful ceremony...

Jen and I at the reception...

Lauren* and I at the reception.....

*I got to know Lauren through Kelly when she would come visit Malibu and then later would I was in Abilene visiting.  It was so great to get to see her and catch up with her again.

Jen, Katie and myself...

 I miss these girls.....I'll just keep trying to convince them to come to Oregon (ha! that will be the day!)

Kelly wore a beautiful tea length wedding dress.....

Here is a picture of Ben and Kelly's first dance as husband and wife...

Just a little dancing....

  

Jen, Kelly and me...

 

 And the newlyweds are off...

After the wedding we headed over to one of the hotels where many family members and wedding guests were staying to visit a little more (really to just keep the party going).  The wedding was seriously fun, amazing food (I kid you not, the BEST wedding food I've ever had - tilapia, mashed potatoes, green beans, delicious bread and salad), and delectable cake.  I judge weddings by the cake.....this one was one of the best!

The next day (Labor Day) I headed back to Dallas with Katie, Ryan (her husband, and Jen.  We went to uptown Dallas for really great Mexican food and then we rode a trolley around the uptown/downtown area.  While I've visited the Metroplex and been through the area several times over the past few years, this was the first time I actually got to see the downtown area.  I have to admit I thought it was a really cool area.  I'm not really a big fan of the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but I did enjoy being downtown.  Maybe I've become more of a city girl than I realized?!?!

Katie and I on the trolley....

Jen, Katie and Ryan on the trolley....

 

The trolley ride was free and we just happened to be walking by it and spontaneously decided to go for a ride.  We had lots of fun!  The trolley is from the early 1900's and is lots of fun to sit back in, relax, and enjoy the ride. 

I flew back to Portland on Tuesday morning (thank you Kate for the early morning ride to DFW!).  It was nice to have the afternoon on Tuesday to get groceries, clean up the house and just be organized for the week after a fun, but tiring, weekend.  

These kinds of weekends are always bittersweet.  It is so wonderful to be together with my friends, but the reality is we all live in different (and quite distant) parts of the country so get-togethers are something special.  When we were at dinner Monday evening, Katie made a comment about how great it would be to all live near eachother so we could have dinner parties and hang out.  It would be so great.  Unfortunately it would be tough to get me to California (really tough if you know me at all) and Texas would be quite the stretch as well.  And sadly (for me) I think it would be nothing short of a miracle to get any of my college friends to relocate to the NW.  So for now we'll have to settle for seeing eachother whenever opportunities are presented. 

I loved getting to see my close friends and celebrating Kelly and Ben's wedding over the 2009 Labor Day weekend! 

2 years?!?!

Earlier this week (or maybe over the weekend) marked my having lived in Portland for two years!  It's a little tricky determining an exact date for when I moved here, but it is easy to say at Labor Day so that's what I'm going with.  

Why am I going with Labor Day?


Well, Labor Day weekend 2007 was when my parents brought up my few worldly possessions (I've accumulated a lot in 2 years) and moved them into my grandparents' home.  The day after Labor Day was the first day I worked as a temp at the paper company up here.  (Yes, much like Ryan on The Office......I was a temp at a paper company.)

Approximately two months after moving in with my grandparents I started temping at the company where I now work and a month after that I was offered the position as an employee.  Right as I transitioned I moved into my first place of my own.  It was a little 495 sq. ft. studio apartment on the west side of town.  For the first time in my life I was completely self-sufficient.  I paid all my own bills and the only mess I had to clean up was my own mess.  Work was really crazy at that point and I was often working 50 hour weeks.  I found a church home at that point as well and started making friends in the Portland area.  


Six months later, in the middle of the summer of 2008, I found a roommate and so I moved out of my little Studio.  Due to timing and leases and other things, I was a nomad for the month of July doing a little house-sitting and crashing at a friends' place for a while as well.


At the beginning of August 2008, I moved into my current apartment in NW Portland.  I have loved living in the city and being so close to downtown and the hustle and bustle, all the while not feeling like I'm in the middle of hustle and bustle.  Walking to work has been convenient, and a true blessing during the Arctic Blast of December 2008.  


Over the last year I have developed many more friendships, and loved getting to know the city and its people better.  I've explored by running through the city, hiking its trails and walking through its neighborhoods.  It is hard to believe I have been here two years already, although sometimes it seems like I have lived here for a long time.


I know that I'm a real Portlander because I no longer pause when asked where I'm from.  My friends gave me a hard time this weekend for my Oregon pride (oh the irony as I was in Texas!), but I can't help but tell people when they ask that I love the Pacific Northwest.  


While I have no idea where life will take me in the future.  I do know I will always have a special place in my heart for Portland.  And it's not really because it is green and beautiful, or filled with culture, or that it has four seasons (although all those reasons certainly contribute!).  Rather Portland will continue to be special to me in the years to come because of the time I've spent growing and developing here as a post-grad young adult.  

 

Come visit anytime!

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I will post about my weekend trip to Texas as soon as possible.  It was a great, long weekend filled with good friends, timezone changes, marriage and a 2am Wendy's run.  Expect lots of pictures!

Pondering....

My mind runs a hundred miles an hour.  I am always thinking about something.  Sometimes I am thinking about important things, like what do I want to accomplish in my life and am I doing what I need to be doing right now.  Other times I'm thinking about not so important things like what do I want to do Friday night or should I wear jeans or a skirt tomorrow.

These days I'm thinking about important things at least as much, or maybe more than, thinking about the not so important things.

What kinds of important things?  

Well....things such as....

Am I becoming who God wants me to be?

What do I want to do on a daily basis?

Where do I want to be?

What brings me the greatest joy?

How will I conquer my greatest challenges and fears?

I could write many more questions of things I ponder on a daily basis.  I'm a firm believer in re-evaluating life on a regular basis.  However not so regular that it drives you crazy; if you ponder too much you may miss too much living!  I have a tendency to drive myself crazy thinking, so I'm making a conscious effort not to do that right now.

Life has a tendency to bring change on a consistent basis.  I'm convinced there is much change for me on the horizon.  However I haven't the slightest clue what that change will be.  What I do know is the Lord will be faithful, as He has in the past, to provide me with everything (and much, much more) than I need.  And He will be faithful to clue me in within His timing (I learned that lesson two years ago).  

So until He clues me in, I will think, pray, live, love and enjoy life!

In a few hours...

I am headed back to Texas....

This will be my third trip in a little over six months....

The only sad thing about this trip is I don't get to see my sister....

I guess I've become used to seeing my sister in Texas....

But this time I'm going to celebrate a good friend's wedding....

And I am blessed to spend time with very close college friends. You know, the kinds of friends that would take you to the airport at 4:30am....

Too bad I don't exactly have any of those here in Portland yet*....

So I'll take myself...

In literally a matter of hours....

In between that coming ungodly hour** and now....

I will sleep.

*(To any Portland friends that may read this....if you would've been willing to take me to the airport at the previously mentioned ungodly hour....please don't be offended that I didn't ask you....no one should have to take me to the airport before 6am.....that's the beginning of godly hours for airport duty....in my opinion.)

**(And to my non-Portland friends, I do have Portland friends who probably would have taken me ....please don't think I have no friends.....but I can't bring myself to ask someone to get up before godly hours for airport duty to take me.)

Vacation revisited....

I have more of the pictures from my Hawaii trip now.....so I thought I'd revisit that island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where I spent a wonderful 10 days earlier this summer lounging around.

Day 1 at the beach (this was the 4th of July beach party)

Dinner on the LanaiCelebrating the 4th of July the best way possible!

At the Waikaloa Bowl for a concert and fireworks...

Melissa and I hanging out in the water at Mauna Kea....so amazing....

Shaved Ice in Kona...
Margaritas by the pool....it's 5 o'clock somewhere right?The whole group at the Luau...
We hiked down to a black sand beach at the Pololu Valley...
I took a turn on the rope swing....my mom was kinda freaking out....

...but it was fun!

After snorkeling we checked out the City of Refuge...
we learned a lot about the ancient culture...

we spent 45 minutes one evening trying to get a gecko out of the condo....

here are examples of our strategies....

sweep the gecko out, catch the gecko in a tupperware, or avoid the gecko by staying on the coffee table...

after getting the poor gecko out of the condo, we enjoyed the amazing Costco sorbets
(while ignoring the other gecko hanging out on the wall)....

All of our time was spent relaxing one way or another
and the sunsets were always a great way to end the day...
And I know we will return one day...

how do I know this?

Well, we committed to it when we were on the way to the airport for my trip home...

Hope you enjoyed my look back at an amazing vacation....it was a wonderful 10 days!