Luke and I at the covered bridge in Westfir

PICTURES!!!
Just some picture that Andy took before he left for Egypt


Luke being a rockstar... hmm.. so out of the ordinary... (and no, he's not high he just has tired-eyes)

Andy and Luke... you can't tell in this picture but they both have soul eyes
Andy, Luke and Casey
Me and Luke... again, he's NOT high
Ok, that's a little better... at least both of our eyes are open
ahhhh....blush... it'd be a really cute picture if it wasn't so blurry...
Nicolette and Lindsay

OK Folks
I check this blog everyday for comments. Because THAT my friends, is exciting!! But do you know what I find when I do my daily check??? Disappointment... that's all I find... Disappointment.
Leave me comments.. make my day better

Summer Lake Day
Lindsay, Nicolette, Scott, Lorelei, Brandy and I (and three little kids) took a little trip up to Elk Lake on Saturday to soak up some rays and do a little lake-swimming.
Here are some pictures.

New Battles
I realized recently that in my quiet time, and in my journal I'm afraid to write down or talk about the good things in my life. I'm afraid it will serve as a painful reminder when they go away. And I began thinking about why that is my mindset. Why do I constantly feel like "this too shall pass"? I doesn't make sense, I could come to no logical conclusion, there is no basis for that feeling.
But my life IS really good right now, in fact, there are a lot of things that I didn't even know could BE this good. But I want God at the center of it. I don't want my eyes so focused on the good things around me that I lose sight of Him in this. He is still my sole affection, still my heart's desire, still my refuge.
"You give and take away" I have learned that well, I have learned how to fight through, and praise Him when things are hard; learned how to be with only Him in the midst of a crazy, scary crowd; learned how to bless His name, even when He's taken something away that I thought I needed and wanted.
But I haven't learned how to fight this battle yet (and it's a good one for Him to teach me now). I have gotten really good at being content and complacent waiting for Him to "take away" before I'll praise Him, before I'll get really close to Him, before I'll bless Him.
But I am determined to walk through this new battle with grace. I won't get stuck in waiting for Him to take this away from me before I'll praise Him. If he DOES take it away, if this ISN'T His best, I WILL praise Him because I want His best and nothing less. But I'm not ging to sit around and wait for that to happen, I'm going to love and get caught up in the situation He has me in right now.
Both feet in. I'll abandon my escape route.

Unlikely Encouragement

I will run when I cannot walk
I will sing when there is no song
I will pray when there is no prayer
I will listen when I cannot hear

Sitting in the waiting room of silence
waiting for that still soft voice I know
offering my words up to the rooftop to Your heart
trusting that this closet's where You are

Lord I know if I change my mind
You will change my heart in time
Sovereign Lord this time's from You
so I sit in the waiting room of silence
cause its all about You

I will fight when I cannot feel
I will trust when You dont seem real
I will tell when I cannot speak
I will step when I cannot see

VEGAS BABY!!!
Nicolette, Lindsay and I took a roadtrip down to Albuquerque a couple of weeks ago, and on our way back up to Oregon stopped in Las Vegas where Seth and Luke met us for a fun-filled night of gondolas, fancy restaurants, and waiting in 118 degree parking garages for a locksmith to make new keys to Luke's car.
All-in-all, it was an amazing trip, it was really good to get to see old friends from Albuquerque and catch up a bit, and really fun to be in Las Vegas.
Luke and I got stuck on our "romantic gondola ride" with an old couple from Vegas that was celebrating their one-year anniversary. Apparently the tradition in Italy is for the young couples to make out under the tunnels while you get serenaded, so... we akwardly sat there as the old couple across from us did just that... the WHOLE time...
awkard, but really funny afterwards. :-)
Here are some pictures from our trip.
This is Luke sleeping in the car, me being bored driving by myself, and taking funny pictures of him... He hasn't seen them yet... shh... don't tell.
This is Lindsay with a little Colorado city in the background... what were we doing in Colorado you ask??? Well.... This is what happens when I fall asleep and leave Lindsay and Nicolette to do the navigating... we end up in the middle of Colorado... 5 hours out of the way from where we're SUPPOSED to be... it's a good thing THEY had a good time.

Healthy eating habits of a road-tripper.
The infamous gondolas.....
Our fancy restaurant experience...
The picture is really blurry, and you can't see the icky couple in this picture, but you get the point...
The happy-crew entertaining ourselves at the Venetian while Luke broke into his car to get the gondola tickets.
Apparently I'm the only one that enjoyed being lost in Vegas for an HOUR before we found the strip, and ultimately the Venetian where the boys were waiting for us... what do you think, does Lindsay look like she's enjoying herself in this picture??
And finally, this is us at the Hoover Dam, we had the picture taken really fast because we chose the great parking area that is surrounded by port-a-potties, and turns out 118 degree heat and nasty port-a-potties is a bad combination.

Giving in:
I know that these days everyone has a blog, so in an effort to remain "individualistic" I have avoided it. That said, my best friend Keri is in Japan right now on a missions trip and she wanted me to get a blog so that she could keep up with me and so that I could put pictures on here for her to see.
Plus, i don't actually care that much about being my own person... go with the flow, swim downstream, that's what I always say!!! :-)
So welcome to my life.. it's basically just organized chaos, but I love every minute of it.