What it's like to turn 27...

Yesterday was my birthday. How did I spend it? well, the first half of my day was spent at the doctor's office. Not my ideal way to enjoy the day of my birth, but I guess it's a bit ironic...right? :) (You know...cause that's the first thing I ever saw, the hospital and doctors...)

I had a 10:00am appointment, got there about 9:30, was brought into the exam room about 9:45, but didn't get to see the doctor until about 10:30. I really enjoy squandering my hours lounging in a that lovely hospital gown for 45min without seeing anyone. But, it was sort of worth it. See, I've been having numbness/tingling in my right leg for a while now, and it just seemed to get worse, so I got a referral to a physical therapist. (Oh, and I finally got an inhaler for my asthma, always forgot to bring that up on doctor's visits)

The rest of my birthday went far better. I spent the afternoon with my friend Katelyn and her son Holden (16 months). Such a blast being able to hang out with friends and feeling somewhat useful. :) I even got a new pair of shoes!

Luke got home close to 7pm and we were able to enjoy a lovely steak dinner out at 4th Street Brewing Company in downtown Gresham, OR. Super yummy! We had a nice leisurely dinner, talking, and sharing stories.

We arrived at home around 9:30 (yeah, that's right 2.5 hours at 4th Street) I got to blow out the candles on my cupcakes and open a few gifts from Luke.


It turned out to be a really special birthday.

One final note: What does it feel like to turn 27? Like I'm really getting old. I got to go to the physical therapists today and found that it wasn't just my sciatic nerve, no, no, I have a bulging disc. If you think of me/us please pray that my back will heal quickly, and that both Luke and I will find work. Luke is currently working two part time jobs, but would really enjoy a full time youth ministry job. For me, I'd really like to have a part time job that I enjoy, possibly in baking or helping clean houses/babysit for moms when they need a break.

Birdie!

I had my first taste of golf yesterday; Luke took me out to McMenamins Edgefield where we played the East Course (12 par 3's). I think I'm hooked. It was a really nice afternoon, not many people around so I was able to mess around with strokes and learned am a HUGE fan of Mulligan's. :)

I've been playing golf on the xbox for over a year, and know most of the golf vocabulary, but was not thrilled about embarrassing myself out on a course. Luke was super patient and an excellent teacher. And even though I never once got par, I did get one Birdie. I can't wait to go again! (by the way, Luke pulled out 3 Birdies for the day)

It's been a long time since Luke and I have been able to go out and enjoy time together without feeling rushed to get back for either a youth group event, school, track, work, or some other responsibility. I'm a fan of dates with my husband.

Reactions

The other night I was browsing my facebook page and a friend of mine (Alisha Cotner) had posted, 'The President is about to make an announcement.' The last time I heard anything similar, that caused concern, I was a senior in high school, waking up to a radio broadcast saying, "All Federal buildings have been evacuated.." That same concerned and sick feeling flooded over me. Was there another attack? What's wrong?

Luke and I turned on the news and a few moments later we found out Osama Bin Laden was dead. I was a little surprised at my reaction. I began to cry. Even though I know, with such an evil person, it was necessary to take him out, I couldn't help but be sad that there was no hope for him to be redeemed and reconciled with Jesus.

I wondered if back in Jesus' time, the zealots and rebels were looking for someone more like Bin Laden, someone to push back at the Romans with tactics so harsh and fierce to cause fear and submission to anyone who would even think to mess with Israel. But Jesus came instead.

Another friend of mine (Karen Wagner) posted, "...after hearing a lot of news and comments today I can really only think of one death that I know of that really brought peace and hope and "made things right"------ and that was Jesus'"

I kind of feel that that sums it all up right there. Is it weird that that's where my mind and heart were as I watched the news on 5/1/11?

Blasts from the Past

Recently I've had random memories from the past pop into my head; from food and recipes to videos and TV shows that I used to watch as a kid. It's been great being able to search for them on internet and share them with Luke.

One of the recipes that I've been wanting to make, but can't find the recipe, is Breakfast Volcanoes, at least that's what I remember calling them. The closest I can find is Eggs Benedict. It was one of my favorite, special Saturday morning, meals; English muffins with scrambled eggs and a special sauce covering both.... YUM! I guess I'll have to dig through my mom's old cook books to find it. :)

The TV shows and movies began with talking about some of our favorite shows growing up, like ZOOM. Then I started thinking about all the movies I loved watching, here's a sampling of a few of them:

1. Psalty Kids Praise 5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNSvyb4Q0Ds)
2. Friendship's Field (Feature Films for Families)
3. Davey and Goliath: Easter Special (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBEXxiol_RU)
4. Toymaker's Dream (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbNMhV7v7QI&NR=1)
5. Rigoletto (Feature Films for Families)
6. On Our Own (Feature Films for Families)
7. Split Infinity (Feature Films for Families)

Some of them make me laugh as soon as they begin, it's very obvious what year they were made in, and even though I still have an appreciation for them, sometimes it's a little painful to sit through the acting. :P

More Ramblings

After I posted my "wonderings" there have been a few things going on in our lives that I thought I'd share.

First, we sold our Subaru!! We had been trying to sell it for several months with little to no interest in it through craigslist. Well, we finally did sell it and we are SO happy to have that off our list. It was a nice little car to have when my Toyota died, but after the purchase of our Neon in November we've had little use for it and it turned into a weight we just had to carry around.

Track season has begun. It's been fun getting back into it. This will be my 4th official year coaching at Madison, 5th if you count the half season I helped with when the previous pole vault coach left. Anyway, I have been enjoying spending the afternoons getting these kids to jump and see that they are capable of more than they think they are. I have 8 consistent vaulters and I'm hoping for great things this season.

This last weekend my older brother surprised us with a visit. It was so nice to spend time talking, hiking, and catching up. We went up the Columbia River Gorge and enjoyed a short hike up to Latourell Falls. Luke and I had some of our engagement pictures taken there but had never hiked the entire trail. It was a nice little hike, even with the mud and rain.

Finally, I don't know if you've noticed the rumblings and flashes, but we had a brief thunder and lightning storm today. :) Happy times. Never will you know the difference between partly cloudy, showers, rain, etc. until you live in the North West.

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?