|
| It's been 3 years since I left Australia. It doesn't seem so long in some ways. And then other times, when I think about how much has changed at the church there and how much has changed in my life... it is a long time.
During this time I...
- have worked at 2 different graphic design jobs.
- got married!
- bought a house.
- became a parent to a huge crazy black lab!
- have gotten into 5 (5!!!) accidents, none of which were my fault. Rear ended x 3, deer x 1, Mexican named Jesus x 1
- became a Aunty twice over.
- said goodbye forever to my Great Grandmother, and one of my Grandma's. (My family has lost 2 and gained 2... makes me want to sing The Circle of Life from the Lion King)
- traveled to Hawaii, Colorado, Washington, Canada, Oklahoma & California
- welcomed Aussies into my home 3 times.
- been camping only 3 times, how sad!
I am sure I will think of something else interesting as soon as I post... but as you can see a lot has happened!!
| | |
| Laura just left, and it was sad to say goodbye (again). ItBut I was glad she was going home to see her family, I knew she was missing them, and they her.
I tried to show her some sites in Portland, and I was just looking something up when I came across these Trivia Facts. Found them interesting, thought I would share. BTW, I am most embarassed of "RipCity", most proud of no sales tax.
Portland Trivia
- The Portland Saturday Market is the largest continuously operating open-air crafts market in the United States.
- Powell’s City of Books, occupying an entire city block, is the world’s largest independent bookstore.
- The Port of Portland is the largest wheat export port in the United States.
- Portland’s Junior Rose Festival Parade is the largest children’s parade in America.
- Portlandia is the second-largest hammered-copper statue in the world (the Statue of Liberty is the first).
- Portland’s International Rose Test Garden is the oldest in the nation.
- More Asian elephants (27 to date) have been born in Portland than in any other North American city.
- Portland is known as the epicenter of America’s craft brewing renaissance.
- Portland
is home to both the world’s smallest dedicated park, Mill Ends Park (24
inches in size), and the nation’s largest forested city wilderness –
the 5,000-acre Forest Park.
- There are 37,000 acres of parks in the Portland metro area.
- Portland’s nicknames include “Rose City,” “City of Bridges,” “Rip City,” and “Rivercity.”
- The Oregon Brewers Festival is the largest gathering of independent brewers in North America.
- The city of Portland was officially incorporated on February 8, 1851.
- There is no sales tax in Oregon.
trivia found on www.travelportland.com
| | |
| I have been doing a lot of thinking about the future lately. I want to make a difference with my life. Much more than what I am doing now. But I feel unsure, unfocused, and just without a path before me. Well, I do see a path, it is the one I am on, a selfish life really. Most of Jared and my time is taken up by, work, and house work. Our spare time is spent playing with the dog, playing church softball, spending time with family, and on wednesday nights we host a small group from church at our house.
We actually have gotten involved in a few things more than we were. I work in the nursery at church every 2nd Sunday, Jared and I do the powerpoint and audio for service for one month at a time every 3 or 4 months. And then the lifegroup at our house, Jared has to lead the discussion every other week (which is not in his comfort zone). But do these things really matter? It sure doesn't feel like it. We spend a lot more time and energy on our house, cleaning, weeding, planting, painting, decorating etc.
Things I want to do in the not so distant future (in random order):
1. Have kids.
2. Mission work
3. Train and walk a half marathon
4. Start my own company
5. Be a full time house wife
6. Service projects
7. Lead a one on one bible study
8. Make friends with someone that isn't family or a church member.
As you can see, I don't think I can do all of those things, since many conflict with each other. I really need God's help in my life right now to lead me in the right direction.
| | |
| Last night was Dlyan's (our 10 month Black Lab) first night of doggie training. The first 15 mins he was the worst dog in the class. Dragging Jared around, whining and barking to get to the other dogs. He just loves strangers! The last 15 mins he was the best dog in the class and I have no doubt will continue down this path. When we got home, we realized we never put any water down for him after he ate. So we did and he drank 3 bowl's full. Then we gave him a bath, which he tends to drink a lot of bath water. We took him outside after the bath, he did his business. This was about 9:00 pm. An hour later we went to bed, and didn't take him out to pee again, because he normally doesn't go before bed if he just went an hour before. Big mistake. We awoke at 5:55 am... just 5 mins before my alarm goes off. To the sound of pee. Yes that is right. PEE!! Everywhere, Jared starts yelling at the dog, all I can do is sit up in bed and watch the poor dog pee all over our bedroom. He was walking and peeing. Stopping and peeing. Walking and peeing some more!!! He knew that he shouldn't be peeing in the house so he went in the corner to cower and pee. There was pee all over our bedroom. ALL OVER. It took us an hour and every rag in the house to clean up the carpet. There was not one area that didn't have a drip or a puddle in it. I have never seen a dog pee that much. People say, "you think having a dog is just like having a child... then you have a child, and it's way harder." They never had my dog. | | |
| Our visiting Aussie family just left yesterday.  We had a great time with them and hope to see them again soon, here or there! Caitlyn is very cute, she even said "Dylan", came out like"Dinnn"! Jared and I were very sad to see them go. One week was just not long enough, of course, no matter how much time is spent with them, I don't know that I would ever like saying goodbye to wonderful people like Tammy, Phil and Caitlyn. | | |
|
