Starting the New Year off right

Colin and I have signed up for our first run of the year. We will be doing the Shamrock Run in downtown Portland. I am doing the 8k (5 miles) and Colin will be doing the 15k (which is about 10 miles). I thought about going for the 15k, but I think the 8 will be just right! I even did my first run of the season last night and made it 4 miles! That's pretty good for not really running since my 1/2 marathon.

So, I received some money for my birthday and Christmas and decided to do a little shopping for myself. But please, someone tell me why it is so hard to find things when you actually have the money!? I finally decided on a few things below.


New pair of jeans!! They are straight leg so I can wear them with my new boots!



Or the jeans would go well with my new pair of flats I ordered from my shoe club. I haven't ordered anything from them in a while so it was fun to have some money and be able to!


I still have a little money that I am hoping to put toward home decor. I would love to do something like the picture wall I found on marthastewart.com, pictured below. But I don't want to buy too much because we have decided to move when our lease is up. We would like a bigger place. I think 2 years in this tiny box is enough ;)

2011!

Happy New Year everyone! This year went by so fast and it was quite an uneventful year, compared to last year...but I can't say that's a bad thing. It was a low-key year. A few of the highlights of 2010 include: Cruise to Mexico, Disneyland Trip, Alaska Trip. (I have been searching our apartment for the camera cord to download the pictures from our trip, hopefully they will be coming soon!).

I took a look back at some of the things I wanted to accomplish in 2010 and I am proud to say that I did most all of them! I read more, got more involved in our church, cooked a little more and finished a half marathon!!! I love writing out goals, I have always been a goal setter. Here are a few for this year:

1) Continue to go where the Lord leads me, in work, church involvement, serving opportunities.

2) Serve more! This has been on my heart a lot in the past year. I want to do more for others and stop being so selfish! (I admit I can be completely and utterly selfish sometimes). Our church has so many opportunities and the Oregon Food Bank opened a new location right across the street from our apartments...so I have no excuse!!

3) The diet I was on for a while was short-lived, I think because I was trying to make too much of a drastic change, this year I want to make small changes (more veggies, less carbs!) for overall health1

4) Last year I completed a half-marathon, I haven't ran much since! So in 2011 I want to try and sign up for shorter runs every other month, starting in Feb or March! That way I keep on going! Maybe I will end the summer with another half marathon....or even a triathlon...we'll see :)

5) I want to start a side business coordinating weddings! I was the girl who had her wedding planned from a young age (I am a planner!), it's kind of sad that my wedding is done with...so I can still get my fix of weddings by planning for others! I got a book and I'm looking into certifications...and I need experience. If you know of any one getting hitched and they need some help send them my way!

Those are the major goals...for now. Wishing everyone out there a blessed and happy new year!!

December!

It is my favorite month of the whole entire year! This month is filled with so many fun events, the birth of Jesus and my birthday ;) I finally ventured to the mall today to cross a few items off of my Christmas list, it wasn't as crazy as I thought it might be. Call me crazy but I absolutely LOVE going to the mall during the holidays! I only ended up with one gift so I will be venturing out a few more times, I only have 2 more weeks to shop, since we will be leaving for Alaska the week before.

Colin has been a bit of a scrooge. I love decorating for Christmas, but we both decided not to go cut down a tree since we would be out of town for a chunk of this month. When I told my co-worker we weren't getting a tree she kindly brought me a fake one to borrow. I was excited (normally I'm against fake trees but a fake one is better than none). Apparently I was mistaken, Colin thought that by not cutting down a tree we wouldn't be doing any decorating whatsoever....um, you're not getting out of it that easily!

So all evening I put up the tree and other decorations while Colin sat on the couch and vocalized how he was not going to help me with anything....that's fine got it up myself, thank you very much.

Despite Colin's scroogeness for Christmas decorating he has the right idea of the season, as I type he is volunteering at our church's cold weather shelter for the homeless and has told me he doesn't want anything for Christmas except money donated to World Vision or other charitable organizations. Wow, I really married a great guy, didn't I?? Although, I really love the commercialized Christmas stuff (tree, deco, shopping, holiday food), helping those in need is really what I should be focusing on! I hope everyone takes some time to think of and serve others this holiday season!

Ready or not...here come the holidays!

Cannot believe Thanksgiving is only days away!! It feels like the holidays kind of crept up on me this year, especially since just a couple weeks ago we were in Disneyland enjoying 102 degree weather (and, I was enjoying it!). (Pics from trip below!) It would be weird to live somewhere that doesn't have much change in seasons, I LOVE sunny hot weather but I don't think the holidays would feel the same without cold, gray, wet, miserable weather. lol.

So since I haven't felt ready for the holidays I decided to decorate our place just a little early. I only decorated our table, we decided not to get a Christmas tree this year since we will be gone- we will be in Alaska the 17th -27th. So I felt decorating early would be warranted :)


Scented pine cones! I smelled them when I walked into the grocery store and couldn't resist!


Chopped these red berry things that I bought an a clearance sale after Christmas last year... not sure if they are suppose to be cranberries or what


DISNEYLAND!!


The Fam out to dinner!


At the San Diego Zoo!

So much to do, so little time!!

It has been a while since I last updated the blog!! We have been so busy lately. Colin and I have been leading "small" group for young adults at our church this fall (I put small in quotes because we have almost 30 people in the group!). It has been pretty awesome, we are making some great relationships and growing closer the Lord everyday. In the beginning we were both a little hesitant to be in leadership positions like this, but wow, it really has been great so far! We are excited to see were it goes as we continue on!

Last Sunday I completed my first half marathon!! I don't think I could have picked a harder one to do for my first. The first 3 miles were almost completely up hill! And on top of that it was POURING, and windy and cold. It was almost totally miserable. But about half through it I started feeling pretty good and when I finished I felt so accomplished! I think it will be a while before I do another but I am definitely glad I did it!!

Today I am spending most of the day packing for our California trip! We leave bright and early tomorrow morning! I can't wait! I so need a vacation!!!! We're going with most of my family to celebrate my Grandma's 80th birthday. We will be staying in Oceanside which is in between San Diego and LA. We plan on going to Disneyland, the San Diego zoo, shopping, hanging out with family and relaxing by the pool!! We'll post pictures soon :)

Changing Seasons

Happy Fall Everyone! Tomorrow is the official first day of autumn and boy does it feel like it! Leaves are changing color and falling! It's practically pitch black out when I get up in the morning and the air is starting to have that fall crispness to it...and most importantly Starbucks is promoting pumpkin spice lattes and toffee mochas :) It's a new season! For Colin it is a new season in his life as well. Today is his last day working for the City of Portland, this is the longest position he has had since he graduated college, and it has given him so much experience. Hopefully enough for him to find a full time permanent position...what would that be like?! It seems twice a year we find ourself in this spot where the future is unknown. It has been these times when we realize how much we need to rely on the Lord and let him show us how great he is. We've also learned our lessons in managing money through these times. This time is not nearly as scary since we have gotten our budget down to work with just one income, it's just inconvenient because it means we won't be able to pay as much on our debt! We appreciate your prayers we try to figure the "what's next"!


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. -Jeremiah 29:11

Life Update

Wow, I have been slacking in the Blogging Department!! The last month or so has been jam-packed with fun stuff!!

At the end of August we went backpacking with another couple from our church. We went to the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness next to Eagle Creek. It was wonderful! We didn't see any other people while on our hike and we camped right next to the creek. The weather held up until our hike back to the car it started to a rain a little bit. It was fun to get out and spend a little time with nature :)
All geared up!

The next weekend was our anniversary!!! 2 wonderful years of marriage :) I have to say that sometimes wonder how I got so lucky with Colin. He really is a great husband and a wonderful man of God. I strive to be as good to him as he is to me!!
One of my favorite wedding pics :)

Also during our anniversary weekend my friend Michelle made a spontaneous visit from Idaho! I usually only get to see her once a year but this is number 2 :) She just started selling Premier Designs Jewelry so I put on a party for her last minute so she could write the plane ticket off as a business expense! We went out on the town one night to a Karaoke place called Voice Box for a friends birthday shindig. On the way there we were both saying how we probably wouldn't be singing any songs. But that wasn't the case I think we sang like 20 songs....all songs that took us back to our high school and middle school days (aka boy bands) :)
Me, Michelle & Ashley...singing our hearts out

We spent Labor day weekend in the Ochoco Forest (down by Prineville, OR) at a cabin with Colin's family. It was so fun! We made amazing meals (we were definitely not "roughing" it), played games, took walks and just relaxed.


These last couple weeks I have really been stepping up my 1/2 marathon training. I asked Colin if he would start running with me to keep me going since he isn't training for anything. And it has been great! So far we have done two 4 mile runs at a way faster pace than I am used to and a 7 mile run. I was pretty proud of those 7 miles!!! It's been a while since I was able to make it that far! I still have a little over a month left until the big day, I know I can do it!

This last weekend our church had a free concert with Warren Barfield. I had never heard of him before this, but he was AWESOME!!! And I actually did know a couple of his songs. One of them was featured in the movie Fireproof (great movie by the way). So we bought all 3 of his CDs. Below is a link to a song you may recognize if you've seen Fireproof... enjoy :) "Love is Not a Fight"