Remember

Remember the many voices of young and old singing praises to God in the warm summer evenings?
Remember the hours spent late at night searching the clouds for the twinkling of stars?
Remember the serious conversations squeezed between mid-afternoon activites.
Remember the tears when the end of the week came and we had to part.
Remember the lessons we learned.
Oh, these were some of my very favorite days. <3

Washington in December

45 days. Almost 6 and a half weeks. That's how long I was home. My calendar went from very little scheduled to meeting up over 33 times with friends and out of town family... How crazy is that. Along with that came CAP work, grocery shopping, holiday baking, appointments, even getting sick.

Highlights? (in chronological order)

Taking some desperately needed self-care/me time. Fort Casey with paints. It was lovely.

Photo shoot with this girl. Working through things together and growing. Constantly growing. Eating good foods and drinking good coffee. :-D

Derping around with old CAP cadets and siblings...  

Exploring Fort Flagler. Drift wood talks, ferry rides, dark corridors... 

Seeing my Little Fuji Family again. 

Going to the Seattle Aquarium with the Jamieson Family. Driving around Seattle, being with Mr. and Mrs. J as they saw Pike Place for the first time... 

Going to Leavenworth with Nick and Jane. It felt like a true escape. 

Anyway, this break may have had it's rough moments, but overall, I'm thankful for the time I got to spend here in Washington. 

Sunday

Most Sundays are leisurely in our household. Yesterday was far from quiet. It could be categorized as chaotic. It started at 6:45. I had to admit I turned off my alarm and laid in bed for a moment wondering why in the world I had to get up this early.

By 8:00am, I was ready for the day, backpack multiple changes of clothes in hand. Said goodbye to Dad, who is out of state for the next few days and headed for Granite Falls and the Mountain Loop Highway. Starting in January, I'll be cooking for weekend activities there, so I needed to scope out the "kitchen"- it is barely qualified to be a proper kitchen... -_- Kinda disgusting and old. It should be an adventure.

From there, around 10:45am, I headed to Canyon Hills Community Church, barely making it to the 11:30am service with Gracie and Nick. I changed my shoes and shirt in the car at random stoplights as well as fixing my hair. I rather enjoyed the service and wish it was a closer church. We talked for about forty minutes after the service while waiting for the traffic to die down.

Gracie invited us to hang out at her house until dancing started, an offer Nick and I quickly accepted. Once dancing started, I learned the bare, bare basics of the dance that was taught before we ditched and went to find alpacas (which turned out to be llamas) and ended up wandering through the woods. many ferns and branches were thrown at each other...

Volleyball was right after the dance, and we headed that way to catch a game before dark. It was sad cause it was the last game I'll get to play this year since I'm leaving next Saturday. Nick, Gracie and I, after much thought (and little brains) ended up in the Target parking lot, towering candy corn and talking.

It is days like yesterday that make me happy and appreciate the little things in life.

Sunday

Sundays are usually relaxing. Yesterday was far from relaxing, but I somehow came out of it feeling happy and fully of energy...

Between waking up and Church, I went and had a business meeting for Civil Air Patrol and toured the "kitchen" I will be spending the weekend in once a month. It was a sad excuse for a kitchen, I'm not sure I've seen a kitchen in worse condition and that's saying a lot. I barely had enough time to do the entire tour and get to Church on time - okay, I was a couple minutes late and ended up changing my shirt and shoes and fixing my hair at stoplights on my way.

I hung out at my friend's house for the next few hours before Joyful Dancing started. I took about three minutes to learn the very, very basic step of what was being taught before two of my closest friends and I ditched to walk around the woods nearby.

Volleyball was already in full swing by the time we got there after the dance. I caught one game before it was too dark to play. I really just wanted to say goodbye to people since I won't see them again for at least another two months...

My friends and I weren't ready to call it a day quite yet, so (after many brainless moments of trying to find a place to go) we went to Target, bought drinks and candy and talked in the parking lot. We stacked corn candy up to look like corn, at Espresso M&Ms (which are amazing!) and talked pretty late. It was fun. I'm lucky to have such cool people in my life!

Weekend Work And Weekend Play

My weekend had 14+ hours of Civil Air Patrol classes in two days, which I was stressed out about, so I am relieved that it is over. It was another goal for this year that I got done! Squadron Leadership School was a good learning experience and really threw me out of my comfort zone.

My Squadron Leadership School class. 

After the class was done, I felt immediate relief. What made my day was that a couple of my friends came over that night for Fish Tacos, Italian sodas and brownies while watching The Kid. We ended up visiting long after the movie was done. I am so blessed to have friends who come over spontaneously and hang out until the wee, early morning hours.

August

I've neglected this blog horribly in the last few months. Mostly because I was busy, partially because I have very little internet as far as evenings and being in my room (the trailer) where I like to work and partially because I keep getting self-conscious about my writing. Starting now, I'm hoping to post a little more frequently. I won't always share to social media, so check out other posts as well...


To catch you up on August:

August was, without a doubt, the best month of my entire life. I never thought I'd say that about what is usually a crazy and exhausting month. I think the two back to back summer camps of previous years wore me out. This August only had one summer camp. My favorite summer camp. The one where the days were long, nights were short, filled with happy memories, good people, new friends, old friends, hard work, sickness, stargazing, traditions, talks with God, laughter, stare-downs, letter writing and pranks.

Amazing stargazing with friends.

Pranks and initiation rites.

Ian's first year! It was awesome!

I came away with such a happy heart, carefree, stress free and incredibly thankful for the people and opportunities God has put in my path. I could have been more content.

But then the post activity sadness set in. Everyone either lives far away or has a busy life. Then, at 2am after a movie, we threw around the idea of a road trip. At first, it was one of those eventually/I wish trip ideas, but then schedules and calendars were pulled out. A little under two weeks later, three friends, my brother and I headed out on a fantastic road trip down to Crater Lake.

Never before have I felt so comfortable with a group of people. It was natural, peaceful and fun. We got to explore Cannon Beach/surroundings and Crater Lake. We saw the most amazing display of stars we have ever seen, sang songs, played Jeep Beep and sat through traffic, ate veggie chips and gummy peach rings. We told stories, laughed and took in God's amazing creations (seriously, Crater Lake, Diamond Lake, Cannon Beach and stargazing had breath-taking views). Saying goodbye was hard to do, but plans for future adventures were talked about and friendships grew stronger.

Between those main adventures, mini things happened all over. The volleyball nights (I'm in love with playing volleyball), afternoon at Kayak Point, surprising my twin at her work, cleaning my bedroom and making it my home, cooking and going to the fair are among many happy moments from this month.

Kayak Point with friends

Surprising Gracie at work

Fair day with Jane

Memory book with Gracie

But it wasn't all happy. I had a couple super challenging days. I had things that were hard, decisions that felt impossible and where adulting became harder. It was all good, I learned some valuable lessons and felt like it drew me closer to God.

And that, folks, sums up the craziest, most peaceful, fun month of my life! I'm excited to see what all September holds!

Zucchini

Today was a great day. I went to the J. family's house at noon to hang out with the younger kids cause Mrs. J. had something else going on. It was fun, we talked, they showed me their shell and rock collections, their trophies and ribbons and other things they thought I'd be interested in. They're sweeties. We went on a walk in their neighborhood, the boys picked me gigantic handfuls of dandelions and clovers. On the way back, this sweet couple offered us some produce from their gorgeous garden. They gave us mass amounts of ripe pears, plums, tomatoes in different varieties and zucchini. It was quite the 1/4 mile walk back with four kids and bags full of produce. An adventure!

We spent the rest of the afternoon eating lunch, doing dishes and chatting about random stuff before I left. I seriously <3 those kids.

Got home and almost immediately started making zucchini bread with Jane. The kids had been dying for more since they ate the last of the previous 12-16 loaves we made (okay, we gave away quite a few)... Jane and I settled on making x6 our recipe, a total of 12 loaves. Everything was going great until I counted out the last of the eggs. The recipe called for 18 total. I had 17.

1 egg short.

I could have made it work. I don't think it would have ruined the batch of bread, but I wasn't willing to risk wasting 6 cups of oil, 6 cups of chocolate chips and a multitude of other ingredients. So not worth it.

I grabbed my wallet. I would just head out to Walmart, just a five minute drive away. I stood stupidly in the driveway, the only car there was Dad's car. Jane wandered over to Craig and Janay's house and borrowed an egg with the promise of a loaf of zucchini bread tomorrow.

Crater Lake

It was a rather spontaneous plan, made in the parking lot of a movie theater at 2am. A plan that none of us actually thought would happen. A little less than two weeks later after much planning, some challenges and lots of excitement, we got in the van and began to drive. We kept looking at each other. Eyes lit. Smiles wide. Hearts happy. We were on a road trip. It was immediately comfortable, like being with family, we had talks and silences, serious and jesting conversations, we sang, danced and snacked away the 476 mile drive down to Crater Lake, Oregon. Best weekend of my life.

We stopped off at Cannon Beach to have lunch and to see the beach. It holds fond memories for the majority of us, but now it has even more fond memories of getting drenched by misty rain. Of frolicking in the waves. Of soggy hair and cold feet. Of homeless chic and delicious warmth from Insomnia Coffee.

And then more driving. Warming up under blankets, snacking on peach rings and figuring out that veggie straws are way more fun to eat when you blow out as you bite. Crumbs were everywhere. From Oregon gas stations and an overly flirtatious attendant to pulling over for yet another bathroom break (yes, I lost the game the most) we drove. The excitement of realizing that in just a few short hours were were out of state. 

We set up camp, including not bringing a proper second tent, which meant the boys suffered a bit as far as the sleep department... Ate dinner and literally hung around the campfire for hours until it became dark enough to see the stars. The adventure to find a "good" stargazing location in and of itself was fun and entertaining, if not a little scary as we drove down construction roads in the black of night around Crater Lake. We found a glorious field (a dessert, actually) that was dark and perfect. As far as looking up. It was so breathtakingly beautiful I can hardly describe it, but I will try.

The view was vast, we lay, heads together in the center, blankets, sleeping bags and towels keeping us warm and laying on a tarp to keep up dry. None of us knew that apparently Crater Lake is among the top ten dark sky locations in the National Park System. We could see so many stars. We laughed at the location of the big dipper and how some of us couldn't see it. We held our breath, then burst out laughing, but that was the only sounds. There was no constant roar of the highway, so sirens or dogs barking. Pure, blissful silence with the only sound being the peaceful breathing of these friends. We lay out in that field until we were gibberish with exhaustion, or in some cases, fell asleep. We could see so many stars, layers upon layers of stars and breathtaking shooting stars. We were also extremely lucky to have had a new moon that night, so it was even darker! It gave me perspective and made me appreciate God so much more. 

The next morning I was up first. I walked down to Diamond Lake and sat on the dock. I made hash for breakfast and we packed up the tent and campsite. We took our time. We drove to Crater Lake and the first sight of it in the day light was mind blowing and made me unreasonably excited. I had wanted to go here for many many years.

We drove around, stopping at many of the outlooks and taking pictures or hiking past fence lines. We hiked up to a lookout tower and sat on the edge just looking at the magnificent view. It felt so unreal.

The drive home was more or less dreaded, not because of the distance, but because none of us wanted this short little adventure to end. None of us wanted to recognize that we were going different directions within a few weeks. Our conversations skipped between serious and giggly. Friendships strengthened. Sure we've known each other for ages, some, up to eleven years, but in that particular, short weekend we became true friends.

Since then, we've gone on other adventures, expeditions to forts, watching sunsets and starry nights, late night talks and near constant Facebook chats. Then it happened, life got in the way. I left first, making the 2385 mile journey to Tennessee. Another left a week or so later to begin his 1500 (ish) mile drive to Arizona and closely following that, my best friend made the 5239 mile journey to Peru for a missions trip.

And that is my little story of one of my most favorite weekends of my life.

Friends

From last weekend:

I have friends of all ages, adults, parents, teens, kids, toddlers... I'm lucky I have so many amazing people in my life. On Friday, I got to hang out with some of my favorite little friends. It was an early start, I won't lie, after CAP the night before, I was exhausted. I spent Thursday frantically making gingerbread cookies to decorate, pack for Tennessee and still drive Jane to choir and CAP in the evening. To add it it, Dad was just in from Turkey, so we wanted to catch up and hear all his stories.

The little J. Kids are super sweet. They love talking, running around and playing games. 

We talked from the time the parents left to nine or nine-thirty. The breakfast, then we played with bubbles and then we played hide and seek. They had some really creative hiding spots. After all that, we decorated gingerbread cookies. I requested that they do as pretty as possible, which, for the first time ever, actually seemed to work! 

Joyanna's creations 

Timmy's creations

Nathan's creations

Some of my creations

Stefanie's creations

Jane-O's creations 

We had a lot of fun besides decorating. We made personalized pizzas with the option of two sauces, two cheeses, two veggies, olives and two different kinds of meat. They were delicious! Jane was amazing, she did dishes and helped me keep an eye on their very quiet baby. She was pretty stoked, because she got to help feed baby goats and see other animals. :-) 

Canadia, Parties and Suits

So yesterday morning after a crazy evening the night before hanging out with some good friends for hours and hours (which was amazingly fun even though we didn't get back until 1 am), we left at 8 am for a trip to Canada to visit Grandma. The drive felt really short because I slept for a good deal of time.

Ever since I've been in Washington again, I've have really bad allergies. Don't really know if it is from the dogs and cats, the mold or dust, but I am having quite a hard time breathing with an itchy throat. Nothing helps. I'm really hoping it goes away because it affects what I do. Last time it lasted for a month before going away.

We hung out at Grandma's for 24 hours, played games, visited and just had a good visit. It was good to see her again although it was a really whirlwind visit. We're home again now and after a break and making the giant holiday shopping list, Ian, Ev and I went to Kohl's and JCPenneys to look for a suit for Ian for the 12th Night Ball.

We were just pulling up to Kohl's when we all saw this girl probably six years old outside the store and crying. Ian immediately told me to go see what was wrong with her and he would (illegally) park the car. I walked up to her and asked her if she was okay. She said she couldn't find her mom. I asked her which store they had been in and we were on our way to the customer service desk in Kohl's when she saw her mom and ran to her. It made me furious that the mom didn't even realize her daughter was gone and ignored her hug when the girl ran up to her.... Some people...

We found a suit and it looks great on him. We also found a gorgeous dress for Ev. A a-line dress with silhouettes of ladies in vintage looking dresses and hats.

Anyway, Christmas shopping and Mockingjay (and I know that sounds sooooo teenaged girl...) tomorrow with Mom.