It's my birthday!

Happy Birthday to me!

...but man has it been a long morning. The lady at Starbucks did not give me cream cheese for my bagel, and now I have a headache. And Kris called this morning and did NOT wish me a happy birthday. And I have 5.5 hours of classes today. Woo freaking hoo.

We're supposed to go to dinner tonight, but that means TiVoing Grey's. no fun. But thank God for TiVo, anyhow.

when life strikes..

Today in the middle of Synoptic Gospels Lori got a phone call from her boss. Lori works as a Youth Leader at her Lutheran church on Whidbey Island. She has done this job for 9 years and has teenage children of her own. Lori has decided after doing this job for so long without a degree that she should come get some formal training and a degree. She drives over here 3 days a week. Lori has become the mom of our Y&F classes, and we all adore her. Everytime Lori speaks about her yg kids and her job in general, those who are around her can feel how much she cares for these kids.

During break Lori got up and walked to the back of the class, and within a minute or so word filtered through the class that the mother of one of the youth in her group was killed last night. Lori tried to hold it together after class started again, but then finally packed up her things and headed to the ferry and home. As she left our teacher (who was singing some hymns for some weird reason) had us pray for her and the situation and then we sang some more songs (still not sure how that fits in with our class, but oh well...) and then prayed for her again.

Now sitting in our y&f class, I think we are all a little out of sorts. Death happens so fast, and when you sign on to do this kind of work, you are asking to be in this vulnerable position. I just think to May of 2005. To Kayla, and Jennifer, and what went right and wrong and how God uses the pain and the good in our lives to do His work. Seeing Lori today brought me instantly back to that day in the hospital. To hearing possibly the worst, most pain-filled, excrutiating outburst I have ever witnessed. To be there in that moment when someone realizes someone they loved and cherished and prayed with and for was gone. Help us Lord.

welcome to January...

...how has almost 1/12 of the new year disappeared?

January has been full. We rang in the new year atop a building in the heart of Seattle, watching the fireworks at the Space Needle. Then Sophie and Annabelle turned one year old on the 5th. They are almost walking and saying a few things (Sophie is the biggest parrot) in babyspeak. Then the next Wednesday we got 9 inches of snow in Issaquah, and I got to walk up the hill from the Fred Meyer where I got stuck back to work. In 6 inches of snow. I was frozen by time I made it back. A few days later Sophie had the first of her surgeries, and she did well. Her face has almost healed, and we'll see in the next week exactly how much of the tumor they got out when the swelling finishes going down. Since then it's just been a lot of school and work.

In two days it's my birthday (happy 23!) so this weekend we went out to celebrate. Kris, I, Dionne, Mel, Jason, Curtis and Chris went to PF Chang's at Westlake Center. It was fun and tasty and we all had a good time. THEN we went to a house party in Factoria. That was interesting...all in all it was a really good night.

This weekend Kris and I are going home for my cousin's wedding. I'm doing here photography, and we're doing my birthday on Friday night. Then I get to get up early on Saturday with my mom and we're gonna watch the Australian Open Men's Finals. I miss watching early morning tennis finals with my mom.

So I finally have spring break plans. I'm going with Andrew and Jess and the kids to Disney World. I think I am sort of excited, because I'll make some decent $ and get to go to Florida and lay in the sun and meet Kris' sister and her family who live in Orlando. I've never met them, and I'm pretty stoked to finally meet them. And the rest of Kris' family will coincidentally be down there at the same time, so hopefully I can meet up with them. I think Epcot is the place I want to go on my day off. I'll have to consult with Paulette first, as she's been there more than anyone else I know.

Day #5 and #6

Saturday: I went shopping at The Commons at Federal Way. That's not REALLY Seattle, but it's close. I also got to work in the dark, because Issaquah is still in the dark with no power. It wasn't so bad, and actually fun because Kris was with me and there were candles everywhere. It was pretty and a calm night, once the kids went to bed.

Sunday: Today I...drank some Starbucks. That's a Seattle thing, right? So maybe today was not a day when I did alot of Seattle-ish things, but what can you do. I had a lazy day, because there was no church and it is cold outside.

Day #5

Today after I got off work early (the power was out in Issaquah) Mel and I went to Westlake Center shopping. I got Kris' anniversary stuff almost done, and Mel and Dionne's 6th and 7th days of Hanukkah. Westlake Center is so much fun during the holidays, and today was no different. And after the shopping spree Mel and I had something to drink and headed home. It was fun fun fun, and we're going to do it again!

Day #4

Today I got to experience the Wind Storm of 2006. We lost power at work (our house is still lit up, but it's super windy outside), and traffic was really bad so I stayed there for a while. We might get hurricane force winds tonight. I can't imagine what it's going to look like when I open the front door tomorrow.

I also got to experience the Seahawks getting their asses kicked. two weeks in a row. and it was for the division. suck.

Day #3

Today I went with Jess, Ethan, Sophie and Anna to Children's Hospital. Sophie spent the first 6 months of her life there, and we went today to drop off 50+ magazines for the breastfeeding rooms and to drop off pasteries and muffins and oranges in the Parent's Area, where parents stay overnight in these sparse little rooms when their children are in the NICU. It was fun, but let me tell you..traffic was a pain and dragging three young kids all over the hospital was not easy. So for today my experience in Seattle was the amazing place that is Children's Hospital. They save many little teeny lives every day, and for that, Thank you!

Day #2

Today Ethan and I visited a very wet, cold and deserted Woodland Park Zoo. I think it's been 15+ years since I've been, and to be honest, I was a bit disappointed. Since it was cold the animals we're really out so much, and after about an hour Ethan was ready to call it a day. We did, however, managed to see the Elephant (not pink, much to Ethan's dismay. He has a new book, and in it, there is a pink elephant. he wanted the elephant to come over to his house, but we tried to explain to him that the elephant would ruin his house, if it could even find a way in. he didn't believe us, so I figured a little trip to the Elephant's home would fix the problem. or not...), and also a lone giraffe, and some hippos.

I thought I'd make a little list of some of the things I'd like to experience (and re-experience) in Seattle in the next month:

-Pike Place
-Gasworks
-Westlake Center
-the Space Needle
-the Japanese market
-the Ballard Sunday market
-a ferry ride

maybe I'll get to do some of these when my cousin is in town...!! yay for visitors who give me a good excuse to act like a tourist all day long!