Adorned in Grace

Over the past few months some ladies I know have been putting together a fashion show for Adorned in Grace. I know only a little about what this ministry is about, but, since Luke and I are interested in caring for teens, we decided we should attend this event.

From what I've gathered, Adorned in Grace is a ministry that takes donated formal wear, sells it, and donates all the proceeds to helping young girls get out of sex trafficking here in the northwest.

Want more information? They have a facebook profile and a web address http://adornedingrace.blogspot.com/

If you would like to come to this event, follow the link above. We'd love to see you there.

Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennet

Last night Luke and I went out to our usual browsing spot, Borders, to find a book to read together. We've been reading stories to each other, as often as we've had a book to read, since we've been married. As we wondered through the Classics section we discovered that nearly every shelf had at least one spin-off book from Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'. It started out a little frustrating, like "Really, who wants to read about Miss Darcy and Miss De Burg setting up Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy?" But then it turned into a kind of eye-spy game.

Just now, I went to Border's website and searched for Mr. Darcy. Seventy-seven, yes, you read that correctly, 77 different titles with that character! Did Jane Austen know her created character would one day become the ideal man, or at least one idolized by many?

What about the name Miss Elizabeth Bennet? Let's take a look shall we? Zero results. There are a few spin-off books about her sisters and then a similar number of books that are under the name Mrs. Darcy. But, as you can see, Mr. Darcy has grown in popularity far above the Bennet's.

Anyway, after all that, we ended up buying 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'Peter Pan.' Hopefully these books will keep us going for a little while, as we finished 'The Princess Bride' in a matter of a couple weeks.

Any suggested reading you would like to share?

Random Thoughts

There are times that I think 'This would be something to post as my status on Facebook.' Other times, I just want to share a random thought with someone, so I thought I'd share a few of them here.

Enjoy the randomness:

1. I love seeing the little hand-prints on my windows after I babysit kids.
2. I wonder why, after I've completely scrubbed down the bathroom and kitchen, I now have sugar ants everywhere, when I didn't have them before.
3. I smile when I hear 'Paper Planes' and 'I Got a Brand New Girlfriend' remembering girl times with Chelly Keller and Shelia Maia.
4. I'm curious to know how couponing works out if I don't get the newspaper and I don't want to spend a fortune on printer ink.
5. I wonder what will happen June 13th, the Monday after Luke's last day working for Cornerstone Church.
6. One of my favorite things in the world is when little kids run up to me, give me a big hug, exclaim excitedly 'Rachel!', and then eagerly show me everything they've colored, made, or just something that is special to them.
7. I wonder why I love chips so much and could down an entire bag if I'm not paying attention.
8. I wonder if this is the track season that my pole vault record will come down at Madison H.S.
9. I wonder why people think Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber are so great.
   
10. I wonder if we'll ever sell the '91 Subaru Legacy.
11. I wonder what my life will be like in 5 years.
    

A Birthday, an Adventure, and an Anniversary

This last weekend was a full one! Beginning with Luke's 27th birthday and ending with our 2nd wedding anniversary.

Trying to think of something to help celebrate Luke's birthday, besides letting him play halo all day, was a bit of a challenge, as it's January and really really wet outside. But we were able to do more than I thought possible.

We began with some hot apple cider and biscuits for breakfast and then he opened his gift from me. A Chicago Cubs hat. If you know anything about Luke, buying him a hat is a big deal, they last forever and he wears it all the time. So, I picked one I didn't mind seeing everyday. :P

For the rest of the day, we went downtown to tour OMSI and see an IMAX movie. When we got there though it seemed everyone else had the same idea. So we thought we'd try finding the Portland Art Museum and, with a little help from my mom, we were able to find it, but no parking. We then wondered over to 23rd to have some hot cocoa at Moonstruck. After all that we decided to give OMSI one more try and we were able to find parking right away. We wondered through most of the exhibits and the 'Hubble' IMAX was great. Getting home a little later than planned we enjoyed some steak for dinner, which Luke barbecued and then the finally of some red velvet cake I had made previously.

Sunday we decided to begin celebrating our anniversary by staying up to the mountain cabin for the night and eating out at Calamity Jane's. Since it had been raining so hard the last few days the creek level was way high. I was a little stressed out and Luke thought it was the best thing ever, taking pictures and videos... a little lesson on the differences between us. :)

If you've made it this far, congratulations, we're nearly done. :)

Our anniversary was really great. We enjoyed some crescents and orange juice for breakfast while sitting by the fire up at the cabin.

After packing up we headed back home to get ready for our evening date out at the Newport Seafood Grill. (yay for gift cards!) It was a nice simple evening to enjoy together, just talking and looking out at the city view.

I am looking forward to the next several years with Luke. These last two have been some of the best, however sometimes challenging, years of my life.

Christmas 2010 - New Year 2011

This Christmas was far more enjoyable than I had anticipated, I tend to be a bit of a grump around the holidays, but this year was far more relaxing than last year. :)

Part of what made this season better is that we're learning the value of the word "no." It is a difficult one to say sometimes, especially when you want to see family, or splurge on that dinner or movie. Even though we weren't able to go to all the family gatherings this year, we had a better time all around because we weren't over-extended and exhausted the entire holiday season. And I think our family benefited from that. :)

Picking out our tree was rather entertaining. We went out, just the two of us, and decided that we would have to pack the tree inside our car as we didn't have extra rope lying around.


Don't worry, it fit. We were even able to close the trunk!

We had an enjoyable time decorating the tree with our childhood ornaments, plus a few that we've begun to gather as a couple.

As 2010 drew to a close I began to think about how much we've been through...

-Luke turned 26

-We celebrated our first anniversary together
-Spent time with Dan & Julane and the Meierlings in Walla Walla
-Spent A LOT of time with the Cornerstone Youth Group (retreats, special events, hangout nights, etc.)
-Coached track at Madison High School
-Went to Slovenia to teach at an English Camp
-Celebrated my 26th birthday
-Luke ran in the Hood to Coast Relay
-Enjoyed trying out tons of new recipes. If you know anything about Luke, he's a picky eater, but he has been great "loving me the eating way" ~ Mr. Rogers' song 'There are Many Ways'
-Began babysitting some great kids
-Had several family Christmas gatherings
-Enjoyed New Years Eve with Paul & Karyn (along with their kids) and Luke's friend Chad

There are so many things that happened this year. A lot of struggles and ups and downs. But it's all brought Luke and I closer together and stronger as a family.

I thank God for all that He's done for us in 2010 and I'm looking forward to 2011.

A little history

Sitting curled up with a couple sweatshirts on and enjoying some music via Pandora Radio made me a little reflective this afternoon. I've been thinking about the last few years and all that's happened. Life has changed so much since the summer I turned 21.

Five years ago I was sitting curled up with a blanket working on a puzzle and watching Princess Bride. Not too uncommon, except for the fact that I was in Central Asia, experiencing my first Christmas away from home. I remember being really lonely. Not wanting to be over with the Neuharth's too much (They were my host family)because I wanted them to be able to enjoy family time without a guest, at least for a while.

I had been living in the Neuharth's guest house for about four months. I greatly enjoyed living nearby and teaching in the school where all four girls attended. Such a huge responsibility for someone with little experience teaching and even less teaching in a school.

A year later, December 2006, I was returning home from a semester at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC. Again, I was struggling with loneliness. I felt like a failure as I wasn't returning to TWU the next semester, but rather returning to Mt. Hood Community College. I had decided I wasn't going to be a high school math teacher. I wasn't sure what else I was going to do and felt really lost.

However, God seemed to close the door to TWU at just the right time. About a month and a half after coming home from Trinity I started attending a college group. The second week I was there I met Luke, just after his 23rd birthday. Four months later we were dating.

Christmas 2007 I was hopeful for the future. Still, I wasn't completely sure what direction I was heading. I had finished my Associates Degree, but what was next?

Christmas 2008 Luke and I were in a fog of wedding plans and stress, only a month to go til our wedding day. Trying to make it through all the holiday events as well as stay partially sane was starting to get overwhelming, until God decided it was going to snow. Because of the snow we were able to have a simpler Christmas. Luke took the bus out Christmas Eve and was able to spend Christmas day with my family.

Christmas 2009 I thought would be a simple one. Considering we didn't have wedding plans to stress us out. However, being married, as it turns out, adds about triple the Christmas responsibilities. :)

We ended up going to about 9 of the 11, or so, Christmas gatherings, and on top of that, we had our car broken into. It was a very busy few weeks.

This Christmas season we are trying to keep things as simple as possible. And as for the future, there are a lot of unknowns. Definitely a time where Luke and I are needing to rely on God. I am anxious, worried, stressed, and excited about what our future holds. I know it can change so quickly, as the last five years has shown.

There are so many blanks in this brief overview of the last five years. I hope it makes a little sense.

Thanks for taking time to read through this...

...oh, and

Merry Christmas!

Dissapointment and Turn Around

So, this last Monday was another one of my weigh-in/check-in's. I was pretty discouraged in not seeing any improvement. But, after thinking it through, I realized a few things, I didn't gain any weight, I did add a little to waist and hips, but not enough to really be mad about. The last few weeks were a little rough physically and emotionally, getting sick and then losing motivation definitely showed in those numbers too. I'm hoping it also means muscle has been built too, cause I know I'm feeling better and my clothes are starting to fit better...

So, yesterday I decided to break down and start counting calories too. I researched a little on how much it takes to lose weight and stay healthy at the same time. Did you know that to lose one pound you have to burn 3500 calories? It sounds a bit daunting. But if you think of it as a kind of game to play it isn't too bad.

I'm planning on tracking how many calories I intake, how many calories I burn during my exercise routine, and, hopefully, I'll be able to see small improvement in my monthly weigh-in/check-in.

Today I walked for an hour, which turned out to be 4.09 miles. (If you walk outside and don't have a pedometer check out http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/) That's about 490 calories burned!

I also found a site where I can enter in the food I've eaten and track my exercise. As far as I've found, it's free. If you want to check it out yourself the site is: http://www.everydayhealth.com/

Anyway, I'm hoping that this will keep my interest and keep me going for a while. :)

Any takers on keeping accountable with me?