Three years...

I had a nice time enjoying some dinner with two friends this evening and as we talked I realized that I graduated from college three years ago pretty much to the day.  Crazy.  Now I know to many people three years seems like nothing.  But to me, right now, it's amazing to think about how much I've grown and changed in that time-frame.

My life in Portland is good.  I have made a lot of friends (which is a real challenge for me, the introvert), have a good job, become plugged into a church and come to a place where I am very much self-sufficient.  (Well, with the exception of that AAA membership my parents are kind enough to provide me with.....that was a lifesaver that night on I-5 when my tire blew-out.)  I operate independently.  My decisions are all my own and I am proud of who I have become.  Three years ago I knew I could do all these things.  I knew I was well-equipped, however I hadn't experienced life completely on my own.

That first six - nine months after graduation....they were rough.  I was discouraged with a fruitless job search and feeling lost.  However with the help and encouragement of family, I made it through.

I worked hard to prove myself professionally at the office, accepted any social invitation knowing that was how I was going to make friends and lived by myself for the first time ever in my life. 

Now I am blessed with friends and lots of things to do and I really enjoy my life here in Portland. 

Three years ago at graduation if you had asked me what my life would look like now, I could've come up with multiple scenarios.  I'm happy with the scenario that has played out. 

Happy Birthday Kelooki!

Hope you have the best day possible Brooke!

I love you and hope your twenty-third year of life is even better than the first twenty-two!

Happy Birthday!

Dear Blazers,

(specifically Brandon Roy, Juwan Howard and Marcus Camby)

At this very moment, the three of you are my favorite Blazers (not quite all-time.....Drexler is my only all-time at the moment.....but that could change).  Brandon (or B-Roy as I like to call you...... from my couch), you coming out to play yesterday after just having knee surgery was nothing short of incredible.  There is a lot of talk about if that was a good decision or not, and frankly right now I don't really care.  What I do know is you gave the guys on the floor the confidence they needed to get the job done.  I laughed when LaMarcus said he finally was able to get an open look once you were on the floor because suddenly the Suns had to turn their focus on you.

And Juwan (or Grampa Juwan as I affectionately refer to you.....from my couch), thanks for being a passionate leader for those guys.  The young ones, they've needed you this season and you have gone above and beyond.  Seriously, above and beyond.  Good work.

Finally, Marcus Camby, I still don't know you that well (hence no nickname to yell.....from my couch).  I think maybe in your past you were a bit of a punk.  But I like that you are here in Portland (you must be so relieved to not have to be seen in a Clippers jersey).  Thank you for usually showing up defensively and rebounding.  I'm glad you'll be around for two more years (even if my views on paying $21 million to a pro athlete aren't exactly positive).  Welcome to Rip City!

And the rest of you Blazers, you're not too bad yourself.  Please give your all in Phoenix so we can finish out the series in the Rose Garden Thursday night.  After all the injuries this season, to win a playoff series would be incredible. 

Sincerely,

Kayla

Friends, etc.

So clearly my March was so busy, I didn't have much time to blog. 

What have I been up to?

(Is it sad that I have to look at my dry-erase calendar in the kitchen to even remember?)

I had a great weekend with my good friend Crystal at the beginning of the month.  It was a particularly beautiful weather weekend so we spontaneously decided to go wine tasting.  We only made it to one vineyard that day, but it was great to get out and do something different.  Here we are at Erath winery...

Besides the usual things that fill my days (aka work), March was busy spending time with many friends.  Both new and old.  Friends are a great blessing and I am grateful to be surrounded by so many.  It took me a while to make a good group of friends here in Portland, so I am continually thankful for the friends that I have become close to here recently.

I watched the movie Food Inc. with friends this month.  It is a documentary about the food industry and highlights some very interesting facts about what is in our food.  After watching it I have thought even more about what I eat and purchase when it comes to food.  I want to eat and buy ethically, however that is actually a challenging task at times.

Mid-month I struggled through the whole time change thing.  It was rough.  I love the extra sunlight, but adjusting my schedule by one hour.....kinda stinks.

More friends from out of town were here mid-month and I thoroughly enjoyed going to dinner and showing them my neighborhood.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love my neighborhood?

The Portland Farmer's Market started this month.  I enjoy going to it, however it is always crazy busy.  There is going to be a market during the week right in my neighborhood this summer.....it's a wonderful thing.

The end of March was filled with starting a marathon training program and more friends.  Yep, I'm really going to do it.  I'm really going to run a marathon.  That's the plan. And I'm looking forward to it.

Sometimes....

....you get a note on your front door telling you your landlord wants to show your apartment (which is being converted to a condo) on Sunday.  It's the Friday afternoon before.  Oh, and he's going to do a walk through of your place on Saturday.  While it is within his legal right to do this.....it is still really annoying.

....you are up late all week, busy with activities after work, so you decide just to stay in and hang out by yourself on a Friday night.  And you enjoy it.

....you decide you want to make home-made pretzels, so you invite friends over to watch the Olympics, because you can't be left alone with homemade pretzels.

....you decide training for a marathon is a good idea.  

....you are blessed with getting to celebrate your dad's 50th birthday and your own birthday with your parents on a long weekend.  And it's a lot of fun.  

....you wish you had found a way to go to the Vancouver Olympics because they are only six hours away, but then you realize it would have drained your bank account and the HD TV is a good "silver" to the experience of actually being there.  Or at least that's what you tell yourself.

....you go to a Clothing Exchange where a group of ladies all bring clothes they are tired of or don't fit and you swap.  It's a wonderful idea.  You come with clothes you don't want anymore.....you leave with a few "new to you" pieces of clothes....and your checking account is none the wiser.  Lots of fun and highly recommended.

....you long for summer in spite of a mild winter.  And then you realize you have another 3 - 4 months of rain.  Oh well....having four seasons is really pretty awesome.

....you decide to try and prevent getting allergies this Spring by eating local, raw honey everyday.  Apparently because the bees are pollinating local flowers, having small amounts of the local honey works similar to a vaccine by building an immunity.  Or something like that.  Anything to not have to take allergy medicine.

....you can't hardly believe it is almost March.  Where did the first two months of 2010 go?

2010....highs and lows....

Highs and lows.  We're only three weeks into 2010 and I feel like I've already been on a wild ride.  There's been exciting moments, and there's been trying moments.

I am trying to figure out what kind of year 2010 might be.  I'm confident it will contain change, probably a lot of it.  It's inevitable really.  What kinds of change?  Well that's to be determined.....

The first high of the year.....Brooke and Ezra's wedding!  It was a beautiful celebration. I'll let the pictures tell the story.....

Doing Mom's hair.....

The ballroom (notice the beautiful canopy).....

The gorgeous bride pre-ceremony.......

Touching up the makeup.......

A picture of us....getting our pictures taken.....

My Mom escorted by my Uncle Chuck into the ceremony.....

How did my dad hold it together?  He chose a spot on the wall in front of him, and stared at it.

True story.

He continued to stare at the wall while his voice came on over the sound system with a message he had recorded the night before.

True story.

He talked about how there are three times in every father's life where he sees it is necessary to cut the cord.

I got choked up when he talked about the first time. 

You know, when Dr. Foster handed him the scissors and told him to cut the cord.

I held it together after that.

True story.

"Cutting the last chord"

The vows....

Mr. and Mrs. Witt....

Cutting the cake.....check out that cake topper....

Then we started dancing.....Grandpa said he didn't know how to dance.....I didn't care.

I gave a toast.....

Saw so many great friends....

Team Brooke (aka "the Bridesmaids").....

My parents made it on the dance floor....

And we sent them on their way with fireworks....

It was a fun weekend filled with family, friends, memories, laughter, tears and lots of love.  Definitely the first "high" of 2010.

As far as the low goes......well globally I immediately think of the immense pain in Haiti.  My heart breaks for the suffering that is entrenched there.  My trials don't really seem all that huge when I consider what so many face there.  Personally, well, we don't have to go there.  Let's just say sometimes life has bumpy roads. 

I realize I'm a little late on the whole "wow, this is 2010" obligatory blog post.....but this has been my 2010.  Celebrations.......and a bit of "low"......

2010 will be a good year, maybe not an "easy" year (do those even exist anymore?), but a good year.  Why?  Because through all the highs and lows I've got a Savior who'll never leave me.

Did you give up on me?

So you all have probably given up on me.  You thought I wasn't going to blog again, right?  Yeah.  Life has been a little busy lately.  But I do still intend to chronicle life stuff here.

Here's a quick run-down on my life recently...

Early November we celebrated my Mom's 50th birthday.  It was a really fun weekend with family in from out of town and great friends coming together to celebrate with a big party.  My Mom is one of my favorite people and it was a joy to celebrate her that weekend.  I didn't get any pictures of the party....but we did get this picture of us after the party...

 Happy 50th Birthday Mom!

It was over that weekend that I got to meet my sister's (at that point in time) boyfriend.  Since then, my sister became engaged and we have done a great deal of wedding planning (hence the lack of blogging).  Mega-congrats to Brooke and Ezra!

(many thanks to Rachel McCord for capturing the engagement)

Over Thanksgiving I headed south to Medford to be with my parents and do wedding related projects.  We took an hour break to eat Thanksgiving dinner at Rooster's with a good portion of the older population of Medford.  Mildly un-traditional, but still very delicious.  It was great to have a few days off and to spend time with my parents.

My mom is a rock star wedding planner....binder and all.  This was one of the final steps of our Thanksgiving-Wedding project....

My sister came up over the first weekend in December to find THE wedding dress.  Given the short engagement, we had to find a dress that weekend.  I never really believed that you just "know" when you've found "THE DRESS", but I stand corrected because we could definitely tell from Brooke's face when she put the right one on.

Here she is leaving the Bridal shop with the dress.... 

I got a Christmas tree and decorated the apartment for Christmas....I know, so grown up of me.  I've been talking about wanting a tree for a couple years....and since this year I'll be here for Christmas I decided it was time to actually get a tree.  The great thing was that I was able to get a tree from a Church that was selling trees to raise money for the Beaverton Homeless Student Fund and an orphanage in Africa.  

Here's my tree....in the living room....

It's been a busy, but good last month and a half.  I'm looking forward to the coming month and all the big events happening!

Phew.....now I feel somewhat updated.