What will be will be

Hunger Games

2011-11-19T11:31:00.000-08:00

If you want a good new series to read then read these. Cant wait for the movie!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fye5Nwe4qeI

New boots

2011-11-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

After looking for good winter shoes for a long time and finding nothing I decided I would just have to get boots for the winter! LOVE them! The black ones are Born and soooo comfortable!

These are Kenneth Cole and pretty comfy too!

Stencil love

2011-08-05T19:16:00.001-07:00

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Fixed

2011-08-05T19:07:00.001-07:00

I fixed my problem with my necklaces always getting tangled. Push pins are amazing!

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Test

2011-07-07T21:18:00.001-07:00

Test

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Quick fix

2011-05-29T20:29:00.001-07:00

So I found this little bedside table at goodwill for $8.

After two coats of paint that I had left over from painting my house it looked like this.

It still needed something though so I bought a new knob at lowes for $4 and a piece of nice paper at Ben Franklin for a $1.

Turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!

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If I must

2011-04-24T19:44:00.000-07:00

25 things you may or may not want to know

1. Where were you 3 hours ago? At my parents house with the family for easter lunch/dinner.

2. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? My TV remote control is awesomely pink.

3. What are you wearing right now? Black GAP jeans, black anne taylor loft tank and black slip on shoes.

4. What are the colors of your bedroom walls? A weird gray/blue.

5. Who is the last person you sent a message or comment? Emily Coleman.

6. What does your last text message say? I know right?

7. Can You Taste The Difference Between Pepsi And Coke? Yes!

8. Is your hair curly or straight? Straight/wavy.

9. Which is the hardest thing you ever had to do? Say goodbye.

10. Favorite 2 color combination? Gray and Green.

11. What is your favorite accessory? pearl necklaces.

12. Which current celebrity’s style do you admire the most? none.

13. What is your favorite fashion store/shop? Loft, Forever 21.

14. When was the last time you drove out of town? Yesterday to Maple Valley.

15. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear? Dumb movie (remember me)

16. What was the last thing you bought? Jalapeno cheetos at Fred Meyers.

17. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? A new day...yea!!!

18. Favorite Food? Mexican.

19. Biggest turn off? Stupidity.

20. What do you always have on you/wear? tanktop.

21. What does your screen name mean/ how did you come up with it? Its my name. Deep meaning.

22. Favorite style of top/blouse? One that fits well.

23. Favorite TV show? Project Runway.

24. What is a favorite TV show from your childhood? Full house.

25. What does your dream bedroom look like? Big windows, wood floors, lots of light and color.

Babysitting

2011-04-17T22:51:00.001-07:00

I babysat for my niece yesterday! So cute!

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Makeover

2011-04-12T21:55:00.001-07:00

Painted my bathroom and painted this mirror. It was gold and cheesy but now it looks awesome.

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New art

2011-03-22T22:11:00.001-07:00

Yea! I finally did another canvas!

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The beginning

2011-03-20T14:04:00.001-07:00

It has been a long time since I have written on here. A lot has happened but the biggest is literally my new niece! I love her to pieces, she is so cute! Little genesis has the biggest cutest cheeks!

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YMCA Teen Newsletter

2011-01-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

Read my newsletter and see whats new at the Y with teens this year!

http://www.ymca-snoco.org/Content/Documents/Teens/2011%20Teen%20Update[1].pdf

2010 in Review

2010-12-25T21:10:00.000-08:00

January

The year started out with a retreat for youth group. My girls were midway through 7th grade!

The anual YMCA trip to Mt. Baker was fun this year. We scholarshiped a bunch or teens from the MAP program and they had a blast snowboarding.

February
In February we went on one last youth group leaders trip with Mac and Naomi. We ate tons of fried food and took lots of "family" pictures.

Getting baptized!

March

I went to see Muse in March. They totally rocked.

April
In April Mac and Naomi left to serve at another church. It was totes sad to see them go. They are missed greatly!

May
Youth Leg happens every May with the YMCA. This year I took my biggest group ever to Olympia. 40 high schoolers, lots of awards and lots of drama. It was an epic year.

June

Nathan, Kirsten, Fin and Vivi came out for the summer and I got to meet my god-daughter Vivi for the first time!

I hiked mailbox peak with Nathan, definatly the hardest day hike I have ever done! It climbs about 4000 feet in 2.5 miles!

I also went on a backpacking trip with my dad and two of my brothers. Eastern WA is beautiful in the spring.

July
There was still lots of snow in the mountains in July and we thought the snow would be gone but we still hit snow on this backpacking trip at snow lake. Go figure! It was still a great hike and we made camp on the side of a hill.

I went on a rafting trip on the Dechutes river in Oregon with the YMCA. It was great weather and I even swam a rapid! If you look closely you can see the last boat of teens going down the river.

I ran my my first 5K with my friend Leah and sister Esther! I even finished in under than 30 minutes which is nothing major but was my goal.

Most of my family went down to Colorado for a long weekend for my cousins wedding. I am not sure why there where masks but it was fun!

We visited Red Rock and got to see lots of family. Leah is starting to look pregnant too!

August

I got to travel to North Carolina for a YMCA conference and after it was over I visited some friends in the DC area. It was great to see the capitol for the first time!

I also got to visit my friend Annie in Canada and meet her new baby!

September

Europe! What an epic trip with 3 awesome traveling buddies. Below is us in Ireland at the giants causeway. We stayed with my friend Nicola (far left). Highlights of Ireland where seeing a double rainbow, drinking Guiness in Dublin, the Belfast bus tour and catching up with Nicole!

Highlights of England where visiting the Chatsworth estate (below), London, riding the tube, catching up with my friend Dianne, driving on the other side of the road and the best breakfast of my life at a Marriott hotel. Luxury! (most of trip was not so luxurious.)

Highlights of France where eating a crepe by le eiffel tower, baguettes and going up in the eiffel tower!

The Lourve was pretty cool too. So huge!

Highlights of Italy where visiting the Coloseum, shopping in Florence, the David statue and spending 3 nights on the Island of Capri! Oh yea, and living on a diet of pizza and gelato!

October

I got a little sister! Okay I already have 3 but I am now the big sister to this awesome girl too! Christianna rocks!

I also ran my second 5K of the year. I beat my time by 4 minutes and also somehow got second place in my category!

November

Attended a baby shower for my sister Leah is due in January! Cant wait to meet Genesis soon!

I entered a grant contest for the YMCA to win $250,000 to start a music center in November. We worked really hard but in the end we did not win. I even wore the same shirt for a whole month. We got in some papers and got a lot of good publicity though so we will make it happen anyway!
December

I got a sweet white elephant gift at youth group! Probably the best ever!

December was a month of celebrations with good friends and family. I cant believe I turned 30 this year! Christmas was great with family and I am looking towards a new year filled with more adventure and following where God leads!

Please vote every day in November!

2010-11-01T21:09:00.001-07:00

Long day

2010-10-28T16:35:00.001-07:00

This is what happens at a long day of training!

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Good times

2010-10-26T22:34:00.001-07:00

I went to a haunted house last week with my lil sis. We also did some shopping!

We pretended we were rich and searched nordstoms but did not find anything good enough ;)

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Yea!!!!

2010-10-26T05:42:00.001-07:00

Testing my blogpress app. Does it really work?
How about pictures?

Teens facebook

Blue

like I know right?

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Ready for winter!

2010-10-21T21:32:00.000-07:00

I got the best coat today! I have been wanting it for awhile and after being cold for the last few mornings I finally got it. Its soooo comfy I dont want to ever take it off!!

can you tell the difference?

2010-10-10T18:58:00.001-07:00

So i painted a mural on my sisters wall for her nursery. Here is the one she found online.

Here is the how it turned out. I think it looks pretty nice, a little different but basically the same.

4 countries in 3 weeks

2010-09-27T04:05:00.000-07:00

I just got back from 3 weeks in Europe. I went with 3 awesome girls, Emily and myself at the Parliment building in London, pictured above, and Minta and Marissa Buse pouring over maps on the London tube, pictured below.

We stayed with a friend of mine in Belfast for 4 days and took a day trip down to Dublin. I loved Ireland soo much! The weather and scenery were similar to the Northwest, green and wet. It was so much cuter though, from wee Irish pubs to cobblestone roads and cute little houses with lots of sheep. We had to make a trip to the guinness brewery of course!

We spent 1 day in Liverpool, home of the beatles! Emily loves the beatles so we took a cab tour and got to see where they all grew up along with popular landmarks like pennylane, which is a beatles song and an actual road as well.

We stayed two nights in Paris, it was rushed but we got to see all of the major sites. My favorite was eating a nutella crepe by the eiffel tower! We also loved the baguettes and the french fries!

Italy was amazing! We stayed in a cute bed and breakfrast in Rome and saw all of the major sites in a day: Trevi fountain, Coloseum, the Spanish stairs, the Vatican and lots and lots of ruins.

There were nuns and priest everywhere near the Vatican. It was so funny to see them riding the subway and doing everyday stuff. We found a cute little nun even smaller than Emily!

Our final destination was the Chatsworth estate, better knows as Pemberly in Pride and Predjudice. The county of Derbyshire was so adorable. We rented a car to get there and I got to try my driving skills in a manual on the left side of the rode. I surprised myself and did a pretty good job.

We also stayed for 4 days on the island of Capri. It is a mostly vacation island off of the Italy coast. The weather was warm and we got to tan and shop and eat for most of the time. It was near the end of our trip so it was some much needed relaxation time! The whole island was adorable, with small streets, white houses and tons of cute ironwork everywhere.

It was a wonderful trip and I am so glad i got to make it happen. If I had to do it over again I would definatly revisit Italy and the UK. It was very rushed and I would love to go back and see some places with more time to do it. If you get the chance to visit Europe do it!

The best

2010-09-01T23:22:00.000-07:00

These are my favorite pens ever!!! I love them. I found them at university bookstore in different colors. Love it! I guess now I will have no excuse not to doodle in Europe. I also got a new pair of skull candy head phones for the trip. I'm starting to get excited!!!

Freezer challenge

2010-08-28T10:17:00.001-07:00

I leave for Europe in 1 week! I have decided that instead of shopping for fresh fruit and veggies I am going to attack the contents of my freezer and any perishable food since I will be gone for three weeks. Good thing i have a huge bag of frozen fruit and vegetables! I think I can do it, I might just need to get creative. Any ideas for these monster bags?

Boys will be girls

2010-08-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

ha ha ha ha!!! If you have not seen this yet get ready to laugh!

Fail!

2010-08-25T21:27:00.000-07:00

This makes me laugh because the dog just looks sooo determined to jump through the hoop but its going to fail so miserably!

see more Epic Fails

The latest rage

2010-08-24T23:53:00.000-07:00

So the newest thing to do at the YMCA is to make stencils. This awesome Marley stencil took an hour to cut out but it was totally worth it. Hours of fun! I am considering starting a custom shirt company. I really want to make a double rainbow shirt next!

2010-08-24T23:01:00.001-07:00

Yea!!! I finally figured out how to blog from my phone!

So jogging at night can be pretty awesome.

Test

2010-08-24T22:55:00.001-07:00

Testing.......

Hannah Lunstrum

new start

2010-08-23T07:46:00.000-07:00

Yea for a fun new blog design! Now I need to figure out how to blog from my phone. Anyone know of good apps to use? Do i really have to pay $10 for the iblog app? I know it is not a lot but at the same time it is!

I am liking Esthers idea of a 30 day blogfest. Kind of like the opposite of fasting. I want to try it but I think I will change it a little bit....hmmmmm I will have to get back to this, its time to get ready for work.

Part of me wants quiet/Part of me wants to riot

2010-08-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

So my sweet Grandma has been bugging me about this forever so I finally put together a book of my poetry and paintings from the last 10 years. It contains some of my favorite art pieces I have done and some bad poetry. You will have to give the poetry a break, most of it was written 10 years ago, the writings of an angst filled 19 year old! You can check part of it out online here:

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1485615#

I love blurb, I recently made a yearbook one of my high school groups at work and it was super easy and fun! It only shows part of the book, if you want to see the real thing I have one (and so does my Grandma) or you can buy it :) Support a starving artist! Okay, I'm not starving but some new paint supplies are badly needed.

YEA!!!!

2010-07-05T20:37:00.000-07:00

Last October the Monroe YMCA hosted a 5k run and it inspired me. I put it off for quite awhile but finally this past week I ran a 5k with these two girls, Esther and Leah.
I am pretty proud of my number. It is legit!

Here we are after the race. It went pretty fast and I made it under 30 minutes which was my goal. I know that is not anything groundbreaking but for me it was fast.

I came in 116th or so but 8th or 9th in my age bracket as far as I could tell.

swimming

2010-06-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

I have started swimming and I love it! Its hard but at the same time a totally different hard than running. You dont get all sweaty and gross like running and you totally work out your arms and core too. LOVE IT!

Fun with color pencils and pen (from last summer)

2010-06-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Thief

2010-06-10T23:06:00.000-07:00

Dear thief,
It makes me really sad that you stole my longboard and guitar. You didnt even take my sleeping bag or camelpack in my backseat. Obviously you were not desperate and living on the streets cause a sleeping bag and water holder would certainly come in handy. You didnt even take my CD player, you just took off the face and apparently looked at it. Obviously you are super lazy or too stupid to take out a CD player. You didnt take my cool sunglasses either which probably means you are not cool.

While I really hope you turn your life around and stop being an idiot I also hope that you fall on your but everytime you try to use the longboard. Maybe that will knock some sense into you!

13 things that really make me happy!

2010-05-29T00:04:00.000-07:00

1. My Job. I really love building relationships with teens and seeing them grow and develop. Its so rewarding to know that I can have a positive impact on someones life and hopefully make the world a better place. It sounds so cheesy but I really do want to make a difference.

Dancing. I really wish I was better at it but dancing really makes me happy! My secret dream is to win "so you think you can dance" someday!

3. I love color! I love bright colors and sharp contrasts. Just looking at something colorful can brighten the moment.

4. Being creative. Nothing feels better that finishing a piece of art and liking what you made.

5. Sunsets and sunrises. I don't see a lot of these due to my sleep patterns but everytime I do I realize what a pathetic artist I am and I'm reminded who the true artist is.

6. Family. As I get older I realize more and more how awesome my family is. I truely enjoy everyone getting together despite all of the teasing and awkwardness that comes with it. I really do love this gang!

7. Chocolate. Anything chocolate will never cease to make a day a lot better!

8. Trees, Nature and the color green. Again, I love bright colors but the color green in nature is so sureal. Especially when its sunny, greens get so amazing.

9. Friends and laughter. This goes without saying but friends really make life worthwhile. Who would I laugh at and who would laugh at me without friends?

10. Mountains and Hiking. Even though the physical part of hiking can suck at times I really enjoy being at the top of a mountain/hill and seeing a beautiful lake or view. They remind me how small I am and make me glad I am not in charge of the world.

11. Listening to Music. Music, music music. I cant even really express how happy music makes me. Music can take any ordinary moment and transform it into something special.

12. Traveling and learning about other people and places. While traveling can be scary and awkward I dont know what I would do if I was not always thinking and learning and challanging my views and thoughts.

13. Knowing I am loved by God. When all else fades thats whats really matters.

Goodbye

2010-05-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

So long, farwell, its time to say....goodbye! Casey James went home this week. He will be on the finall anyway though next week so not really a loss. I guess i want Bowersox to win, Lee is a good singer but I'm not sure Lee could go solo and I have never been a fan of bands that form around 1 person. I like the ones that are cohesive and are not all about one person. I think Bowersox could pull off a solo acoustic thing. Anyway, no matter what people say this has been a good season. Much better than Chris Allen and Adam Lambert from last year.

What is magical?

2010-05-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

Rainbows are magical.
Climbing a mountain is magical.
Sunrises are magical.

Sunrises are magical

Random updates

2010-05-03T21:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went Hiking to Heather Lake. There was snow at the top and it was like traveling to another world. It was so beautiful and peaceful!

Here are cupcakes I made for Emily's 21st birthday! They were pretty delicious. Nothing like funfetti!

Here is a drawing I did at Take the Next Step. It turned out pretty well and looks just like the awesome couch in the the teen room.

This Wednesday I leave for Olympia with 41 high school students. It will be a fun 4 days of debating and other awesomeness. I cant wait to go but I still have a lot of stuff to do to prepare. YIKES! I should probably go to bed!

Its about time

2010-04-14T08:13:00.000-07:00

The dream of every young twenty year old is finally happening for me! I am going to Europe this fall. Its official, myself and 3 friends bought tickets monday to fly into London for 3 weeks in September. The main countries we want to visit are England, Ireland, Italy and Greece with a quick stop in Paris. So excited! Every year I think this might be the year but finally it will happen. It feels good to finally do something I have always wanted to do. I really cant wait to see Bath England and visit Chatsworth (the estate pride and predjudices' pemberly is based off of) and Liverpool, where the Beatles are from. Obviously Greece will be amazing and I cant wait to see old friends in Ireland and London.

These three crazy girls and Marissa (not pictured) will be living large in Europe this fall!

Top 4

2010-04-06T21:41:00.001-07:00

Here are my favorites for American Idol. Yes, I love the show and watch it every week. Its interesting because while some shows talent gets less and less I think American Idol is getting better and better. There are a lot of unique people on the show this year. So here is who I hope wins!

Andrew Garcia - My future best friend!
Love him! His last few performances have not been the best but I love his voice and style and he is just so cool and I wish he were my friend. We could totally be friends Andrew, call me! I don't think he will win but I hope he makes the top 3.

Casey James - My future Husband

I dont think he will win because he is not super comercial but he has mad guitar skills and is a great singer and could come sing to me anytime he wants. Super hot as well, how many men can rock the golden locks? Casey will you marry me?

Lee DeWyze - My Future Neighbor
This guy is just so darn cute. He seems like a really normal nice guy with a rockin voice. I think he might even have a chance at winning too. He would be a great neighbor, he could paint my house, do some yardwork and sing at the same time. Lee, will you be my neighbor?

Crystal Bowersox - Future Winner of AI
This girl rocks and I think she will win. Her style is not something I would probably listen to but she is awesome and rocks the dreadlocks. Not someone you would normally see on American Idol, love it!!

Hopefully tomorrow is better than today!

2010-04-01T22:16:00.000-07:00

Going to see these bands tomorrow! Even though I try not to take peoples drama personally sometime its hard not too. Why cant we all be friends?

My Favorite Causes

2010-03-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

Escuela Havila Nicaragua - I taught English here last summer. This small school outside of Managua Nicaragua is such a hope for the poverty that surrounds it. The kids are so full of life and hope despite the hurt and poverty that surrounds them. The second poorest nation in Latin America after Haiti, Nicaragua is a country of corruption and chaos but also beauty and hope. LOVE these kids so much!

http://www.nsb.org/serve/global/sponsor-a-student

Urban Promise Toronto - I served as an intern here for almost two years after high school. This is where I learned about social justice and got a taste of the real world. It was eye opening to me as a 20 year old who grew up in Monroe to realize that not everyone grows up with everything they need and caring parents. This was also the first time I really saw people living out their faith and serving others and gave me a passion for youth and Jesus Most importantly though, it gave me the nieve but noble desire to change the world for the better. This link is to a story about a boy named Jordan. Jordan was just in middle school when I worked at Urban Promise. Its so awesome to see how he has grown up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Canada and turned into such a blessing to his community!

http://www.urbanpromise.com/test_jordan.html

the cure for a headache on a rainy day

2010-02-26T15:52:00.001-08:00

I found the perfect cure for a headache in the middle of a Friday! Follow these instructions exactly and you will feel better in 2 shakes of a persion kittens wiskers.
1. Go home.
2. Take 2 ibuprofen.
3. Break out a fudge bar and fall asleep to a episode of Burn Notice.
4. Wake up 30 minutes later and eat some of these!!

One for the dogs

2010-02-22T22:25:00.000-08:00

So here is a really humiliating story!

Every week I go to Sky Valley Education Center to teach Youth and Government. Most of the time I park in the front. Usually when I go in the morning I alway smell the mouth watering taste of something baking. Cinnimen Roles? Fresh bread? I could never place the smell but it was marvolous!

A few weeks ago the parking lot was super full when I went to Sky Valley so I had to park in the back. As I walked around the building the amazing smell got stonger and stronger. It must be close I though, so I started looking around at the warehouses and saw some open doors. I walked closer to see what they were baking. I saw baking racks with something on them but i could not quite see. Then I saw a pallet of boxes close to the door and squinted hard to read it. Much to my surprise it said "Wet Nose, the All Natural Dog Treat"!!!! All this time it was dog food that had been making my moulth water! I laughed sooo hard at myself and then quickly left before anyone saw me sniffing dog treats.

I supose if you own a dog this is the place to get treats. http://www.wet-noses.com/
You might be tempted to eat them yourself though so maybe not!

A Slice of my Life

2010-02-17T20:59:00.000-08:00

7:00am Alarm goes off.
7:30am Shower, get ready, eat breakfast, make lunch.
8:30am Out the door, deposit check, pick up odds and ends at Fred Meyers
9:00am Drop off inter-office mail at Everett YMCA
9:30am Go to starbucks, spill coffee all over myself while getting out of car, go to Teen Action Team Meeting at Mill Creek YMCA, discuss new statistics database, improving teen centers and other programs.
12:00pm Drive back to Monroe YMCA, eat lunch, answer email, correct youth and government bills, and return phone calls.
1:00pm Meet with team member for fundraising and trained them on how to fundraise.
1:45pm Pick up laser tag equipment for Teen Night Saturday, meet with organiztion and ask them for money for the YMCA.
2:30p Finish correcting youth and government bills, finish funraising event flyers, make copies of them and do other odds and ends.
4:pm Run home and change coffee stained clothes.
4:30pm Return to YMCA and set up for volunteer fundraisers dinner.
6:00pm Fundraiser report dinner, youth and government demonstration, eat dinner!
7:oopm Clean up
7:45pm Run for 30 minutes.
8:30pm Return home, stretch and watch American Idol!

Another busy day!

I know A Man Who has 2 Sons

2010-02-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

I have always known

It has always been you

I have pushed you aside

I have looked for others

I have always known

It has always been you

I have slept at your feet

I have stumbled on this path

I have always known

It has always been you

I have found peace in the darkness

I have found joy in the light

I have always known

It has always been you

I have watched them drop besides me

I have never had someone beside me

I have always known

It has always been you.

One long stinkin month and no weekends for me.

2010-02-02T16:57:00.001-08:00

All I can say about this is that the 90's are totally coming back! So this has been the longest month I have had in quite awhile and I am so glad its over even though it was a lot of fun. It started with a friday to monday trip to Baker snowboarding with teens from the YMCA. It is pretty funny watching nubes learn how to snowboard. Soo many face plants! Then right back to work for me on Tuesday!

The next weekend was a huge Youth and Government District meeting that I bought 3 six foot subs. They were stinkin huge! The event was a good way to spend a saturday, although hectic as I was the one coordinating the whole event. 70 high schoolers can eat a lot of food. That day was topped off by out Minority Achievers Gala dinner at the Everett Events Center with wine and dancing. Then back to work on Monday!

The next weekend I went to Winterblast with my youth group. I got to go rollarblading and go to the supermall (which is super ghetto) and my cabin did a pretty legit version of pants on the ground for the talent show. I am glad my good friend Holly went! Then back to work on monday (yestereday.) Needless to say I am a bit tired now and ready for some weekends off.

Help Haiti!

2010-01-14T22:01:00.000-08:00

So I have been out of it lately and I don't watch the news much. I heard some bits and pieces obout the earthquake but not till tonight did I sit down and read some of the news about it. Haiti is the poorest most underdeveloped nation in the western hemisphere. Part of me cries out why here God? Of all places, why here? Please do something to help! I know everyone has some extra money laying around. Donate to the red cross or world vision or something.

The night was sad.

2010-01-09T21:59:00.000-08:00

The night was sad.
Everywhere it went people would run and hide.

One day the sun went for a walk.
It went to talk to the night but every time the sun got close the night would run away.

After hours of chasing the night the sun got tired.
It yelled from a distance, "why are you running from me?"
"I am not running," said the night. "When you get close I do not exist."

The sun was very sad.
It did not know what to do.
The sun thought for a long time.

Finally it had a brilliant idea.
It took a piece of itself and threw it with all of its strength.
It hit the night and shattered into a million shimmering pieces.

Then the night was happy. Bits of the sun lived in the night and now they could talk forever.
People did not run from the night anymore.
They even came in search of the night and would gaze at it in wonder.

Mr. Wickham

2010-01-08T21:10:00.000-08:00

Psalm 73

A psalm of Asaph.
1Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.

3 For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong.

5 They are free from the burdens common to man;
they are not plagued by human ills.

6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
they clothe themselves with violence.

7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity ;
the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.

8 They scoff, and speak with malice;
in their arrogance they threaten oppression.

9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.

10 Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance.

11 They say, "How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?"

12 This is what the wicked are like—
always carefree, they increase in wealth.

13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;
in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.

14 All day long I have been plagued;
I have been punished every morning.

15 If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
I would have betrayed your children.

16 When I tried to understand all this,
it was oppressive to me

17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.

18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;
you cast them down to ruin.

19 How suddenly are they destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors!

20 As a dream when one awakes,
so when you arise, O Lord,
you will despise them as fantasies.

21 When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,

22 I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.

23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

27 Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

28 But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds

Best dollar spent ever!

2010-01-08T20:39:00.000-08:00

I bought my first app for my iphone a few weeks ago after downloading many free ones. Well this one was totally worth it. You can totally change the look of peoples face or make them supper skinny or fat. Its soooo much fun!

Modern Prophet and two of my favorite books

2010-01-06T19:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some quotes from a few of my favorite books, incidentally by the same author, Shane Claiborne. I would definatly recomend reading them. If you do I would love to discuss them with you. I can garrentee that you will probably disagree with something if not a lot of "Jesus for President" but you will also be challanged.

From Irrisistable Revolution:

"I think I've lost hope in the church," I confessed, broken hearted, to a friend. I will never forget her response. "No, you haven't lost hope in the church. You may have lost hope in Christianity of Christendom, or all the institutions, but you haven't lost hope in the church. This is the church." At that moment, we decided to stop complaining about the church that we saw, and we set our hearts on becoming the church we dreamed of.

There are congregations on nearly every corner. I’m not sure we need more churches. What we need is a church. I say one church is better than fifty. I have tried to remove the plural form churches from my vocabulary, training myself to think of the church as Christ did, and as the early Christians did. The metaphors for her are always singular – a body, a bride. I heard one gospel preacher say it like this, as he really wound up and broke a sweat: “We’ve got to unite ourselves as one body. Because Jesus is coming back, and he’s coming back for a bride not a harem.

And that’s when things get messy. When people begin moving beyond charity and toward justice and solidarity with the poor and oppressed, as Jesus did, they get in trouble. Once we are actually friends with the folks in struggle, we start to ask why people are poor, which is never as popular as giving to charity. One of my friends has a shirt marked with the words of late Catholic bishop Dom Helder Camara: “When I fed the hungry, they called me a saint. When I asked why people are hungry, they called me a communist.” Charity wins awards and applause but joining the poor gets you killed. People do not get crucified for living out of love that disrupts the social order that calls forth a new world. People are not crucified for helping poor people. People are crucified for joining them.

I asked participants who claimed to be “strong followers of Jesus” whether Jesus spent time with the poor. Nearly 80 percent said yes. Later in the survey, I sneaked in another question, I asked this same group of strong followers whether they spent time wit the poor, and less than 2 percent said they did. I learned a powerful lesson: We can admire and worship jesus without doing what he did. We can applaud what he preached and stood for without caring about the same things. We can adore his cross without taking up ours. i had come to see that the great tragedy of the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor but that rich Christians do not know the poor.

From Jesus for President:

“It is hard to imagine a gospel that is more of an antitheses of Jesus’ gospel and the Beatitudes than what we hear today in the church: “Blessed are the rich”; “Blessed are the troops”; “We will have no mercy on the evildoers.”

The American project may have been a result not so much of malicious people as of bad theology – or wanting the right thing but pursuing it by the wrong ways.p173

"To claim that one’s citizenship is in heaven is to say that you pledge allegiance not to any kingdom of the world but to Jesus and the body of those who take on his suffering, enemy-loving posture toward the world. This is what Peter meant when he called the church ‘a holy nation, a people set apart,’ a people who are supposed to live as ‘aliens and strangers in this land.’”

The Year in Review 2009

2010-01-01T22:50:00.001-08:00

I started 2009 with a party at my brother Peter's house. I can't believe this was a year ago!

In February we take our anual YMCA trip with teens up to Mt. Baker. Heres to the 3 brave souls that made the journey with me, Brent, Minta and Jesse!

Here are two of my good friends Holly and Tricia at Jodi and Shawns wedding in February.

In March my friend Andrea came out from Toronto and we spent the week at the Oregon coast with Jessica.

We had lots of crazy teen nights in April, May and June. This one was 80's night if you could not tell. I loved the craziness. That is one of the actors from Miami Vice sitting next to me :)

It was a great year for music, U2 released their new album No Line on the Horizen. It is amazing of course. Yes this is a Joshua Tree Picture, oh well it works.

My sister Leah got married in May, it was so much fun and a beautiful wedding. Welcome Josh Hoover to the family!

Ahhh, what a cute picture!

One of my good friends from high school, Megan, had a beautiful baby girl named Sofie. The first out of all my friends, that must mean we are getting old :)

Work changed a lot this year. Two of the teen directors, Jennifer and Regina left, leaving me and Eleanor as the orignal two. I also moved from Snohomish to Monroe with my new roomie Tricia. Who can I talk to about work now?

I traveled to St. Louis for a 4 day conference on innovation in May. It was super interesting and the best training I have ever been too.

I left for Nicaragua in June to teach English for 6 weeks. This was the 4th grade class, they were my favorites.

These were two kids i remember from visiting the previous year. The kids were so precious. Not very motivated to learn anything but none the less they were amazing. I returned in July, it was hard to come back but also good.

In August I went to summer camp with Cascade Church. As you can see by the picture we did some crazy things. It was an insanely fun week. My team kicked butt the whole week but lost in the end. My girls cabin did a rap melody and won the talent show. Go Captain Planet!

I broke my first bone as summer camp. I fell out of a moving golf cart and somehow ended up breaking my big toe. It is mostly healed now but still feels weird sometimes.

I bought an Iphone is September. It is one of my favorite toys ever! I am still having tons of fun with it.

In October we had a sleepover for the 7th grade girls small group at Cascade. It has been great leading the same girls now for a second year.

In November I went to a Conference in Texas for work. I ordered my first room service. It was delicious. I like luxery, har har har!

Yea for my second wedding of the year!

My other sister Esther, got married in December so I got to be in a second wedding. It was very elegant and beautiful. Welcome Flyn!

The second Twilight movie came out and I went to my first midnight showing! I am really not that obsessed with the movie but everyone seams to think I am so I might as well play along. This is a poster we made in the Teen Center.

Nathan and Kirstin had Virginia Lunstrum in December and I now have a new neice on the other side of the USA. I can not wait to meet her next summer!

There was lots of Christmas cheer this year at the YMCA Teen Night. We found this elf running around the YMCA. Wow, scuba made it into my blog twice! See if you can find his other appearence. (Brent and my sisters also made 2 appearences - lucky!)

I had a great birthday, which I failed to take pictures of :( I did win one game of bowling though, so that was pretty good. Celebrated Christmas with the family which was great as always.

I got baptized the Sunday after Christmas too. "God the father made you and chose you long ago, and his spirit has made you holy. As a result you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:2

Needless to say this has been an amazing year full of blessings, travel, firsts, and fun! Obviously this last picture shows what a great year it has been.

Peace out, I need to sleep now!

Baptism

2009-12-26T19:14:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow I am getting baptized......I will write more on this after it happens.

After 29 years.........

2009-12-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

1. I can still surprise myself by the dumb things I do.
2. I usually do not act my age.
3. Music is still my favorite.
4. I have great friends and family that care about me.
5. Most people are pretty nice if you get to know them in the right setting.
6. Kindness goes a long way (now if only I could be kinder - maybe in the next 29 years I will be able to say I am.)
7. Always be yourself except when you are at work and get paid to be nice.
8. Most people really want to be understood and listened too.
9. Relationships are the key to just about anything.
10. People can change but it usually happens very very slowly.
11. Finding the perfect pair of jeans is a wonderful thing.
12. Friends move away and you slowly lose touch. Family is always there. Be happy if you have a good family.
13. A good sleep can fix just about anything.
14. Following Jesus is not always easy.
15. I have finally learned that exercise CAN be fun. Not that it always is.
16. I do not like huge crowds of people.
17. I still hate going to the dentist.
18. Spiders are still gross!
19. I have learned to like avacados and am learning to love mushrooms.
20. I still love cheese.
21. Planning and organization skills are really important in life.
22. I still cannot stand drama queens (or kings.)
23. It feels really good to be generous.
24. People need more opportunities to give and be generous.
25. You can tell a lot about a person by how they spend their money.
26. My memory is already starting to go.
27. If you have common sense you will do well it life. Most people dont have it.
29. God has a plan for my life and I still trust him with it.

One coloring contest, one weddings and a snowboarding!

2009-12-23T11:52:00.001-08:00

It has been awhile since I have blogged and with good reason. I have been busy! Now that the holidays are here I have a bit of time to relax. So every quarter all of the management staff from the YMCA of Snohomish County gets together and our CEO talks about upcoming and current issues affecting the YMCA. Bla Bla Bla. Being the YMCA we also do some sort of feel good get to know you activity as well. Well we did one of those and it was "heart warming" and then at lunch we had coloring contest! When I heard there were prizes I thought to myself, "I can totally win this!" I worked tirerlessly through lunch and guess what? I was one of the 3 winners! Okay I only won $5 but hey, I will take any win and cash I can get. Here is the winning picture. (The man is our CEO.) The key to winning a coloring contest is to go way over the top. The original picture was a floating head of santa and the words. I added all of the rest.
I was planning on not having a christmas tree this year as usual since i always go to my parents house but my roommate had a fake one. I must say in the past I have been apposed to fake trees but i must say it turned out quite nice (not that this picture really shows that) and I am glad to have fake one rather then nothing.

My Little sister got married last week! She looked absolutely gorgous and the whole wedding was very nicely done and very elegant. I am so happy for her and my new brother in law. Here is a picture of her getting ready!

Here is a picture of the happy couple before they left. I might forgive them someday for making us take pictures in the freezing cold in our dresses the day of the wedding:)

Yesterday I went snowboarding at Stevens Pass for the first time this year. It was okay snow and super fun. We also road up the chairlift with slash from ACDC. Okay that was really our friend Jake who likes to wear wigs. Sounds weird but my friends are actually quite normal.

Today is my 29th birthday. With all of these years lived on earth I will have to share some of my wisdom from 29 years later tonight. Stay tuned!

2009-12-23T11:52:00.000-08:00

Annoying comment writers

2009-11-30T19:29:00.000-08:00

Dear Lady who always post the weirdest comments and videos on one of my favorite blogs,
I am not sure why you even read that blog or if you even understand what you are reading because you always have something negative to say or something completely unrelated to the current post. All of the conservative christian speakers videos that you post are really creepy and totally from the 80's. I hate to break it to you but just because some of the fashions from that time are back the 80's are not. Maybe you should post some of your own ideas instead of just weird creepy videos. Here is a video that one of your last weird videos reminded me of except this video rocks.

(Thanks Esther for inspirering me!)

Another totally unrelated video, so cheesy, totally loved it.

Another random video, one of my favorite new bands, just trying to get the video to fit my blog.

Good friends, snuggies and Texas!

2009-11-09T21:00:00.000-08:00

Celebrated birthdays this week with Megan and Val.

Best chips and salsa verde in Monroe, WA - Mi Tierras!

Snugglies rock! I used to make fun of snugglies comercials and was pretty sceptical but who could resist this zebra print snugglie? So warm and still easy to eat!

So I went to Texas a few weeks ago for a YMCA work conference. The best part of the trip was the third night when I ordered room service and watched TV all evening. It was very luxurious.

Went to a Texas steakhouse one night and had this amazing filet. It melted in my moulth. Also the best garlic mashed potatoes I have ever had.

The conference was lots of sitting around and listening.

We also had lots of good "Texas" food. Beans, potatoes and 3 kinds of meat.

The view from my hotel room. I stayed at the Sheraton, it was super nice. I love sleeping in hotel beds, they are so big and cozy and i love the blackout curtains! You could sleep any time of the day with those!

Good evening ya'll

2009-10-30T21:33:00.001-07:00

Driving back from the airport from 4 days in Texas. Will post some pictures soon about the trip and what a YMCA conference is like cause I am sure you are dying to know!

Why I love fall

2009-10-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

I love walking around Lake Tye, especially when it is windy and sunny. I love the fall probably for all of the same cliche reasons everyone else does but thats fine with me. I think I love fall and spring because they come and go so fast but are so beautiful you have to enjoy them while they last.

I love the trees changing color. Its like its their last celebration before they sleep for the winter.

The leaves are gorgous of course.

Even the alge is colorful.

I love the storms that role in and the sound of rain on the roof.

More colors.

I love wearing jeans.

My second favorite new scarf.

My favorite scarf.

Last few weeks recap

2009-10-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

Leah rocking out to rock band - this picture is a little blury but i think it adds to the rock and roll aspect.

I curled Sarah's hair for homecoming.

One of the gorgous sunsets we had in monroe last week.

Youth Group has started up again. This is a sweet game of dodgeball. We won!

Driving with Leah and Leah to Esthers house to put together wedding invitations. It took about 20 minutes.

My Teen Center at work. YEA!

These pictures were all taken with my iphone by the way!

The best $200 I ever spent

2009-10-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to get an iPhone for a long time now and finally I did! I remember thinking years ago how cool it would be to have your music and phone together on the same device. Well I was right, it is awesome. What I did not realize back then was all the other cool things that could be on it as well. Being able to check my email, blog, Browse the web or steam music from the web is so cool. The comercials are actually right too, there are apps for everything, I have a bible ap so anywhere I go I can read or search my bible and more! I am sure it will become old soon but right now I am really loving my iPhone.

Empanadas

2009-10-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

So I made some amazing empanadas but unfortunatly I can not find my camera cord! AGH! They take forever to make but are totally worth it. I will have to put the recipe on my tastebook. This picture is what I found online, not my empanadas but oh well.

When in Everett.....

2009-09-23T22:35:00.000-07:00

So I never really had a urge to blog about food but Leah and Esther have inspired me. Yesterday I got my times mixed up and found myself in Everett a half hour early for a meeting. Right away I new what I had to do. I had to go to Pave, this place, http://www.pavebakery.com/ to get a lemon poppyseed cookie. They are amazing! I have had lunch there too and its great. So if you ever find yourself in downtown Everett go to Pave!
Sorry I ate it before i could take a picture:(

Miracle League

2009-09-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

We live in a pretty cool town when a million dollar baseball field is built for special needs players. Here is a video from King 5 news //http://www.king5.com/video/featured-index.html?nvid=397983

If you look really closely you can see me in the outfield in a green shirt in one of the clips. The YMCA and the Monroe Rotary sponser the league and I got to be a buddy for one of the players which means I help them if they need to and cheer them on. It was pretty cool and inspirering.

Island Adventure

2009-09-04T20:15:00.001-07:00

I am so ready for 3 days away at Whidbey Island (I am sure I did not spell that right.) This has been a really long week. I went home in the middle of the day to work at home cause there were so many loud boys in the teen center and I could not get anything done.

On a good note I went back to the dentist and they filed down my filling and seemed to think that is where the pain was coming from. Hopefully it gets better. Please God!

I am falling apart. Literally and also from laughing.

2009-08-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks have been hard on my body. First I broke my toe at camp from falling out of a moving golf cart. Dont know how that broke my toe. Then I came home from camp and proceeded to get a fever and cold for 3 days straight. The day after I recovered from the fever I had to go to the dentist and get a filling where they drilled, pounded and filled one of my back teeth. During the filling it sounded like a whole freeway of cars was in my moulth and although they gave me enough shots to not feel anything it sounded horrendous. My jaw and tooth are still sore 2 days later. Check out my broken toe! You can sort of see the purple line stretching across my big toe.

This week I started looking through my old journals and pictures. Needless to say there is some stinkin hilarious stuff in them. At one point I even made up a secret code so no one could figure out what I was writing. It was so good I have no idea now what any of it says. I new there was a reason I was in love with Gavin Rossdale. How good is this picture of him?

This is one of many old journals that I covered and decorated.

Art

2009-08-12T21:33:00.001-07:00

I love this artist's work. Here is her website http://www.rachelsalomon.com

Mt. Biking

2009-08-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

This past week I went to Bend Oregon for a Mt. Biking trip with kids. Sadly we only got to go 1 day since one of the places canceled on us. that one day was pretty amazing though.

I hate helmets, they make my head look like an egg. This was at the top of a 2 mile climb. Not fun. We got to go downhill 11 miles though so i guess that made up for it.

In other fun news my sister got engaged, yea!

6 weeks in Nicaragua

2009-08-09T20:54:00.000-07:00

Here I am wearing a gasmask at Volcano Masaya (sulfur sucks.) It is an active volcano that apparently errupted a few years ago. I did not know that until after I went.

This is one of many lightening storms I got to see. It rained every few days and was usually followed by a nice lightening storm. When it did rain it cooled down a lot which was a nice break from the humidity.

People working in the city dump
Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. 48% of the population in Nicaragua live below the poverty line, 79.9% of the population live with less than $2 per day, unemployment is 3.9%, and another 46.5% are underemployed. As in many other developing countries, a large segment of the economically poor in Nicaragua are women. In addition, a relatively high proportion of Nicaragua's homes have a woman as head of household: 39% of urban homes and 28% of rural homes. According to UN figures, 80% of the indigenous people (who make up 5% of the population) live on less than $1 per day. According to the FAO, 27% of all Nicaraguans are suffering from undernourishment; the highest percentage in Central America.

Teaching English was like watching the TV show lost. The first half of class was spent reviewing what happened and the second was spent getting lost all over again. The kids were not super motivated to learn but they were a lot of fun and very friendly.

The family I stayed with, the Bustamantes. All in all it was a very interesting trip and I learned a lot but I am definatly happy to be back and live in the states.

Here I go again

2009-08-08T20:03:00.001-07:00

My computer crashed during the winter and now that I have a new roommate and access to her computer (Thanks Tricia!) I am going to attempt to start blogging again (I also take insperation from my sister Esther who started a blog.)

This picture is of me in Nicaragua where I recently taught English for 6 weeks. I will post more about Nicaragua soon!