Oregon pixs

I wanted to write all about my fun time in Oregon, but I have two wonderful college friends in town and want to go play with them, so I shall let the following pictures (and video at the end) tell the story.

Oregon

It's time for Adventure #2 with Amy! This time we are road-tripping to Oregon to see our good friends Jenn and Steve get married. We will be stopping in Ashland to stay with an old roomie, Laura (aka: Lola) and then driving up to Portland after the wedding to see our friend Haley! Yeah! I've never been past Ashland, so I'm looking forward to seeing the state.

(Ok this is really random, but the image of playing "Oregon Trail" just popped into my head. Thank goodness we're not going to Oregon in a covered wagon with 4 oxen, 3 broken wagon axles, 56 pounds of fresh buffalo meat we've just shot, and dying of dysentery or cholera. Ford the river? Or caulk and float across?)

giving blood

I have never given blood before. I've always had good excuses.

"I don't weigh enough." (high school)
"I'm mildly anemic." (college)
My recent ones have been:
"I'm scared I'll faint."
"There's enough people who donate. They don't need me."

But then something happened a couple weeks ago that has shaken me up a bit. There is a dear, dear family who go to our church. I'll call them the Kay's. Dad, mom, 3 sons. Life has been pretty hard lately. They had a house fire a couple years ago. The dad lost his job and has been unemployed and looking for a very long time. And two weeks ago this happened:

Their middle soon, Jacob (17 years old), was at the beach with some friends. They heard a crash and ran over to see downed trees and power lines in the trees across the road. Jacob (who wants to be a firefighter when he grows up) attempted to put out a small fire on part of a tree. His friends heard something they describe as an explosion and what was like fire coursing down his whole body. Apparently, he came into contact with the the fallen power line. He suffered a concussion and severe electrocution, causing burn spots on his head, neck, hands, arms, chest, feet, and backside, mostly 2nd and 3rd degree burns. He was taken to the hospital, where the doctors told his parents that it was a miracle he was alive.

Since then, he has been in a paralytic/narcotic coma, had three or four surgeries to remove dead muscle tissue, battled pneumonia, and has had a hard time breathing on his own. All of us who heard the news were shocked and scared. Everyone has been praying like crazy for Jacob and his family. And even though prayer is the most important thing right now, I was starting to feel helpless. How could I help more?

The Kays have started a blog where they share updates on Jake and what we can do to help. One of ideas was donate blood in Jacob's name. I remember reading that and being convicted. I've never done it, but it is time.

I'm scared. It probably seems so silly, but I am. I've had shots before, had blood drawn, etc. But the thought of sitting down for 10-15 minutes and watching blood leaving my body and filling up a big ol' bag making me a little nauseous.

And yet, who cares? It seems so small compared to what Jacob and his family are going through.

Obviously, my blood won't be going to Jacob. But since they are using lots of blood on him, it's a cool way to give back to the American Red Cross. And this is something tangible we (many of my college students and co-workers are doing this, too) can do during this scary time.

I was hesitant to blog about this, because I didn't want to come across as "Hey, look at me, I'm giving blood, I'm so great" because that is definitely not the case. This has nothing to do with me and everything to do with a high school boy who is fighting for his life and his family who I love so much. It hurts seeing them in so much pain.

So friends, on July 30th, I'll be rolling up my sleeves. Nervous? Yes. Worth it? Abso-freakin-lutely. BTW, If you want to read the Kays' family blog, let me know and I'll email you the address.

Raging Waters

Yesterday, I took the college students to Raging Waters - our nearby waterslide park.

I have not been to this water park in 20 years. I barely remember it. I wasn't sure if the college students would be into it, but they totally were! There was 18 of us who met at the church and piled into 4 cars. We got a sweet discount because we had a group. Nice.

It was a great day. The only bad things was it rained a little around 1 pm. It wasn't a downpour, just some sprinkling. But other people started freaking out. We didn't mind though. One of my (smart-aleck) students said loudly, "It's a waterpark. You're gonna get wet."

We went on all the rides. Some were single rides, some you could go with one or two other people on innertubes. My favorite was the "Dragon's Den". You get in an innertube with a buddy and get shot down a tunnel into what looks like a striped toilet bowl. There is a huge dragon in the middle who glares at you. You spin a few times around him and then get sucked down to the bottom. It was so fun!

We ended the day with an obligatory stop at In 'N Out. Ahhhh....bliss.

you've got to be kidding me

Just when I think my nephew can't get any cuter.

The Big Apple

When can I go back??

That was the first question I asked myself as soon as I got on the plane to fly home.

Seriously, such a good trip. That is one of the most fun cities I have ever visited. I am so glad I finally got to go.

I have so much to share, but I don't want this blog to be two million pages long. So I'll try and re-cap as much as possible. I just posted a ton o' pixs on facebook, so you can check those out if you want to see 'em.

Ok, so Amy and I set off for New York on a Thursday. I won't mention the 3 hours we had to wait for our Super Shuttle at JFK airport, but I WILL mention that the hotel we found from priceline.com was perfect. Midtown East, two blocks from the Chrysler Building and Grand Central Station and a bonus was an awesome view of the Empire State Building from our window (I love when it lit up at night!).

Our first full day will filled with fun times: Bryant Park, Times Square (they've blocked off two blocks for pedestrians and set up plastic lawn chairs - so fun!), double-decker tour bus to see the whole city (thanks for the idea, Tira!), Rockefeller Center, NBC Studios, Radio City Music Hall, top of the Empire State Building (woohoo!), dinner at Gallagher's Steakhouse (Mmmmm...), back to Times Square/Broadway area, etc. Whew! Full day.

One of my highlights was that night. We were walking by Shrek the Musical and the show had just gotten out. All the actors were coming out the stage doors to sign autographs. Amy and I saw Shrek (Brian d'Arcy James) come out and so we looked at each other and jumped into the line. We didn't have Playbills or anything for him to sign but we still tried to pretend we had seen the show. When he got to us with his Sharpie, we said, "Um, can we just take a picture with you?" He was so nice. As we took the pix, Amy turned to him and said, "You were great tonight." I could not stop laughing.

Our next day started off with brunch at a restaurant recommended to us by my friend Lacy. It was inside Le Parker Meridien, near Central Park. It was called "Norma's" and you can only get a seat there by reservation. SWANKY. We feasted and met the guys at he table next us. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention...we had made it a goal to meet as many people as possible on our trip. We took pictures with all of them. It was so fun!

After a quick stop at Carnegie Hall, we went to Central Park. Another highlight of the trip! We seriously spent the whole day there. There is so much to do and see. We sat and watched a softball game, walked by the Carousel, I danced and sang "That's How You Know" like Giselle (from the movie Enchanted) through the gingerbread house, took pictures of all the horse-drawn carriages, walked down the Mall, walked around the Bethesda Terrace and Fountain, watched turtles swim in the pond next to all the people in their rowboats, visited the Hans Christian Anderson and Alice in Wonderland statues, went to the Belvedere Castle, the Delacorte Theater where Shakespeare in the Park happens (Anne Hathaway is doing Twelfth Night), and then my friend Kristen met us!

Kristen and I worked at camp for two summers when we were in college (her camp name was Willow and mine was Bouncer). She now lives in Manhattan and met us on the end of the Great Lawn where Amy and I were people-watching. It was a beautiful day, so tons of people were out sun-bathing, birthday parties, ultimate frisbee, reading, walking their dogs, ahhhh. The 3 of us walked around the Reservoir (when you're halfway around, you can look back and see the NY skyline - so pretty!) and then visited the Conservatory Gardens.

Kristen found us this yummy Cuban restaurant on the Upper West Side so off to the subway we headed. There was a wedding reception going on at the table next to us and our waiter snuck us some of their wedding cake! He put it in a bag and left it at our table with a whisper "Don't get me in trouble!" and a smile. It was so rad. I felt like little special things like that would happen to us all the time. After dinner, Kristen took us to her cute apartment. It's right by Times Square and you can see Radio City Music Hall from her window.

The next day after eating NY bagels and taking pictures with two policemen (who were so funny they should start their own comedy show - one of them took our picture with the other cop and then said, "Brian, you look fat in this picture. Lemme take another one...") we took the subway downtown. We walked around Wall Street and flashed our money in front of the NYSE. Trinity Church was near there so we popped in. Such a beautiful cathedral! We found out they housed injured people when the WTC fell back on 9/11. We then walked down to the water and took the ferry to see Lady Liberty. She is so regal! I loved seeing her in real life.



We went to Ground Zero which was really hard. They have barely built anything in 8 years, but maybe that's a good thing. We had heard about Lombardi's Pizzeria in the SoHo/Little Italy area from my friends Christy and Sarah so we went there for dinner. BEST PIZZA EVER! Oh my gosh, I was in heaven. Can you tell we ate a lot on this trip? Then we wanted to walk around Greenwich Village that evening. Can you tell we walked a lot on this trip? We hunted down Magnolia Bakery for their famous cupcakes (MMmmm...), took some pictures with NY firemen, and then toured the nearby neighborhoods where they filmed Carrie Bradshaw's apt. in Sex and the City.

Our first stop the next day was Grand Central Station. Have I mentioned yet how much I love the energy in the city? It is electric. The minute we stepped outside our hotel, it was contagious. Anything is possible, everything is exciting. In Grand Central Station, I enjoyed watching people walking all over the place. Places to go, people to see. Amy and I wanted to go back to our plastic lawn chairs in Times Square and eat NY hot dogs, so we did. Then we went to the Late Show with David Letterman theater and went to say hello to Rupert at the Hello Deli around the corner.

We headed to Serendipity's for their famous frrrrozen hot chocolates (we were told to go here by everyone we spoke to). While we waited for our table, we went to the corner candy store: Dylan's Candy Bar. Holy cow, I think I got three cavities just by walking inside. Serendipity's is so kitchy-cute. The frozen hot chocolates were bliss. I bought some mix so I can make them at home. We each bought necklaces from their little store to remember the experience.

We then went to FAO Schwarz and took pictures with the Lego statues (Harry Potter, Batman, Chewbacca, etc) and then tried to do chopsticks on the floor piano, like in the movie "Big". Across the street at the Plaza Hotel, there was a huge crowd and we found out Mariah Carey was shooting a new music video. Sweet!

Our last night we had tickets to see In The Heights on Broadway. YOU NEED TO SEE THIS SHOW! It was beyond what I imagined. The story, characters, singing, dancing, music, everything was phenomenal. A lot of the dancing was hip-hop so I was stoked. After the show, we went and met the cast by their stage door. I was so excited to take a picture with the main character Javier Muñoz (he played Usnavi). I think I have a bit of a crush on him. Tee hee! They were all so sweet and friendly, singing our Playbills, taking pictures, and patting my arm as they left. Cute.

We were so sad to fall asleep that night because we knew we had to leave the next morning. The Empire State Building shone blue and white our last night. Farewell wonderful city! Thanks for all the memories and special times. We flew home and I had to go to work the very next day. Booooo....

I am still recovering from the trip (you could probably tell we didn't sleep much). But it's been so fun looking at pictures and sharing stories with people. What a great vacay. Can't wait to go back and visit The Big Apple again. Thanks for reading!

New York

Well, the time has finally come.

I am off to New York, New York! Woohoo!!

I'll be back next Wednesday.

Time to par-tay in the Big Apple.

beach volleyball

Every Monday evening in the summer, the college group gets together for some beach volleyball. Last night was the first one and it was a blast! We played for a couple hours, then ate dinner and went on rides at the Boardwalk (on Monday and Tuesday nights, rides are only 75 cents. Woohoo!)

BTW, it has been sunny and beautiful the past few days. I LOVE SUMMER!!!

Boyz in da Hood

Changes are a-coming, my friends.

We will soon be getting BOY housemates.

Oh yes.

Starting next month, the Gordon House will be co-ed.

This is very strange for me. Actually for all of us. We've lived here for 7 years and it's always been girls. And before that I had female roomates in college AND grew up with all sisters. And now...living with BOYS!?!?

Here's the sitch. The house belongs to the family of one of our previous roomates, Jen. Her grandparents built the house in the 40's. Both died back in 2002 and the house was left to Jen's dad and aunt. Jen's dad and aunt were both living in different towns, didn't want to move, and didn't want to sell the house, so they offered it to Jen and some friends to rent. Boy, we jumped on that. Sweet!

Jen's brother Scott moved into the area a few years ago. We always knew he could move in whenever he wanted to (because it's his family's house). But up till now, he has lived in an apartment with guy friends. However, he wants to go back to school and get his Masters degree, so he needed a place with cheap rent. Guess who has cheap rent?

We have two roomies moving out this summer. Joanna is moving into a house with a friend about 10 minutes away and Annie is getting married. That leaves two open rooms. Scott and his friend Nate were thinking of spliting a room, because Nate is in a band and won't be there often (because of touring). Yes, we will have a rockstar living with us. Have you heard of the band "Sherwood"? (Like Sherwood Forest in Robin Hood?) Well Nate is the lead singer of Sherwood.

THEN, Scott's current roomate Travis was looking for a place to live. So Scott asked if he could move in, too (if we had an extra room). We did, so he is. Travis is also a singer/songwriter/musician. You can check out his music here. Travis will be the first one moving in next month. Scott and Nate will move in January.

BOYZ IN DA HOOD!!

Dear Megan

Dear Megan Fox,

I'm sure you're a nice girl and all, so please don't take this the wrong way. But I don't GET IT. You've been in ONE movie. One. And no offense but it wasn't the greatest acting I've ever seen. It was actually some of the worst. So what's the fuss? Is it your looks? I guess that's part of it. Your last name? Fox is a cool last name, I suppose. But I would say it's definitely NOT your acting skills or that (annoying) Marilyn Monroe tattoo on your arm. Why must I see you all over the internet like you've made 5 million movies? And I finally caved and started receiving Entertainment Weekly magazine again, and guess who was on the cover of my first issue. Booooo....

Oh well. That's all I wanted to share.

When does Transformers 2 come out?

Sincerely, Sarah M

spelling bees, parties, and sweet potatoes

It was a fun weekend.

Friday night I went to see a musical with my sister, Liz. It was called "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee". I had heard of it before, but didn't really know anything about it. It was so great! There are 6 contestants (adults acting as adolescents), 2 judges, and a moderator. And the thing that made it even more fun was they brought up 4 people from the audience to play other contestants! If you were chosen, the actors on stage showed you what to do and say. Liz and I tried to sign up to be possible candidates but we arrived too late. Oh well, next time.

Saturday was two par-tays. The first was a BBQ for little Eli who turned 1. He is the son of two very good friends, Amy and Josh. My favorite part of baby/little kids' birthdays parties is watching them when they get their cake. Are they gonna eat it? Smash it on their face? Make a mess? Eli did all three. He didn't seem too stoked on the taste so he mostly mashed it up and flipped his plate repeatedly. Love it.



That evening was my friend Jenn's bachleorette party! Woohoo! She is getting married up in Oregon this summer so she wanted to have her bachleorette with her friends in town. It was at this amazing Italian restaurant where there was wine, candles, and live Italian singing throughout the night. Jenn's maid of honor had bought a T-shirt that said "Advice for the Bachleorette" and we all got to write words of advice on it with a Sharpie. Then our friend Jody (big props to you) started going around asking strangers in the restaurant to sign it, too. Jenn got marriage advice from tons of people, and some written in different languages! It was awesome.



Sunday was the day we celebrated my Dad's birthday and Father's Day (a little early). It was wonderful to spend time with the fam, and of course little Judah. I think he gets cuter every time I see him. The big news with him lately is that his bottom two teeth have come in. So now he can eat "solid food"! (solid food = mush) Amy was feeding him sweet potatoes for the first time and he was making the BEST faces, I HAD to grab my camera and take a video. I seriously could not stop laughing.



Fun, full weekend. Today at work I went to Costco with two students to buy all the food for our summer kick-off BBQ. Summer program starts in 2 days! Let's do this!!

another bittersweet goodbye

Back in January I had to say goodbye to a close co-worker, Christian. He worked in the high school ministry for a few years and then left to be a Jr. High pastor in Fresno. And now I have to say another goodbye to a close co-worker. Clint, our High School director (who has worked at our church for 7 years), is resigning to go back to school full time and become a counselor.

Again, I am so happy when my co-worker buds find fun and new opportunities for growth. But selfishly I want them to stay. I have had so much fun in the office with Clint throughout the years, it just won't be the same without him.


Favorite memories of Clint:

* singing Disney songs ("Be prepared!" -Scar from The Lion King and "A hundred bad guys with swords!" -from Aladdin)

* the many times he pretended to fire his high school staff: "That's it, Judy. Pack your bags." or "Christian, clean your desk."

* 3 amazing mission trips to Mexico with the high school and college group. Driving through Rosarito to all the different work sites. "I own the toll booth! I own the road! I own the taco stand! I own the police! I am Mexico! YO SOY MEXICO!!!" - Clint

* getting the students in bed at night: "Consider the option of BED. You and your sleeping bag should be ONE right now..."

* long talks in the office after everyone else went home. Ministry, students, church, Christianity, life, God.

* Listening to him rant about how one day he will write a book for youth pastors titled What's Wrong With My Youth Group? "And when they turn to chapter 1, it will just be a mirror. That's it. They can write notes in the rest of the chapters..."

* all our high school vs. college games during the year: softball, soccer, and flag football. Clint pretending he was going to make all the students take steroid tests before each game.

* playing songs off his iPod to add to the 90's playlist compilation - an afternoon of amazing music and nostalgia

* Youth Specialties training day. The leaders wanted all the youth workers to do an interactive get-to-know-you game. All other tables got up to play except our table. Clint: "Are WE the tools? Or is everyone else?"

* loud belly laughter and then saying, "Oh crap" through the laughs

* while reading The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell (speaking of TOOLS - I could not stand this author), Clint would make comments like, "I hated this section. I wanted to pee on it..." or pretending to be Maxwell: "I'm so freaking cool! I should marry myself!"

This and many more. Man, those were good times. Clint, thank you for spending seven years of your life loving crazy high school students. I know God will continue to use you in the lives of the people (kids, adults, families, marriages) you counsel. I will miss you!

i'm tired

The past two weeks have been busy.

Waitasec...

This was supposed to be my "break" from work. As in, I'm still working but don't have college program to plan for, so I can chill, catch up on some sleep, re-coop from a crazy semester/school year.

But I always forget this time of year. Lots going on. Which don't get me wrong, I LOVE. It's extremely nice to finally have time for my roomates and friends. I miss them when life gets busy. But I feel like there's been too much going on; like it's all happening at once.

Graduations, graduation parties, so many birthdays, bridal showers, baby showers, goodbye lunches or parties for friends or co-workers leaving town, a bachleorette par-tay, an open house for friends who just bought their first home, etc. All within two weeks. And I just looked at my calendar - my next two weeks look like that, too.

I'm tired.

I conked out today for a 2 hour nap. I was dead to the world. Again, I hope I don't come across as complaining because I am so grateful to have these reasons to celebrate life with wonderful people. But is there a way to spread things out? It makes me thankful work stuff is slow. I don't think I would have been able to do this all (or at least with any energy) if work was like normal.

P.S. - New York: 17 days and counting...

Fun Friday

Guess who I get to spend my day with?



Woohoo! I'm so lucky!!

what I'm learning about myself (part I)

My boss approached me a month or so ago.

"Sarah, I want to coach you."

"Huh?" I asked.

"I'm going to take a year and 'coach' you," he replied.

"Huh?"

Basically my boss wants to help me grow as a leader. He has been working with a guy who has been coaching him and he wants to take this opportunity to coach me. He says it's helped him a lot. Hey, I'm down! I am always seeking ways to grow in my leadership skills. Many times I feel like I don't know what the heck I'm doing.

Last week was our first coaching session. It was a preliminary meeting to discuss what the year will look like. I was given a book to work through. And then my homework was to 1) take a test about my leadership styles/personality and 2) set aside a day this week for a "retreat day" to start the whole process.

This post is kind of long and is actually more for me to work through what I'm learning. But if you feel like reading, go for it.

Here is what Sarah is learning about herself (thanks to the test results and book I have started working through):

* I am overly sensitive to criticism of my work. Why? Because I'm a perfectionist and am already so hard on myself. I have super high expectations for myself and my job performance. So when other people try to give constructive feedback, I get defensive. I need to chill!

* I prefer things to be orderly and approach work in a systematic manner.

* When I see something that is wrong, I want to fix it.

* I display enthusiasm for almost any project.

* I am capable of making daily decisions routinely but usually become cautious about the bigger decisions (SO true!)

* Ok, this one hit me - The test results said I am basically introverted but have great people skills (and some extroverted tendencies). Whaaaat? I have always considered myself a total extrovert. But then I stopped and thought about it. The past four years at my job, I HAVE found an introverted side of me that I never knew was there. I still love people but I'm finding that after being around people, I need to be by myself for awhile and re-charge. Instead of being 100% extroverted, I feel more like I'm 50%/50%. I think my job has caused this. It's so emotionally and spiritually draining that after work, I feel like I have nothing left to give. I don't have energy to be around people and have conversations. I need to be alone to rest my heart and spirit. I'm trying to decide if I'm ok with this change in my personality. I think I am.

* I avoid face-to-face conflict. SO true. I dislike confrontation. And not just between myself and others; I don't like seeing conflict between anyone (I don't even have to be involved). Charlie (my boss) was trying to help me figure out why this is true, and I couldn't put my finger on it. Is it because I'm the middle child and I felt like I always had to be the peace-maker in my family? I felt like my theme growing up was "Why can't we all just get along?" Why can't I realize that conflict can be handled in a respectful, loving way and it's not always bad? What is my deal?

* I respond to challenges in a cooperative manner and want the "team" to win.

* I enjoy analyzing the motives of others.

* I want to establish good will with others and to influence them in a friendly and sociable manner.

* I enjoy providing a warm and friendly place for the college group.

* I need a support system; I don't want to feel like I'm alone in ministry.

* I prefer not to verbalize my feelings unless I'm in a cooperative and noncompetitive environment.

* In the book, I realized I want to grow in my faith for selfish reasons, not because I want to grow closer to God. (Ooooo, good conviction for me)

Good good good stuff. It's bringing many things to light. This is part I. I'll post more as the coaching continues...

Happy B-day Ese!

It was one of my roomate's birthday (her name is Jessica but I call her Ese) and to celebrate, she wanted to go on a night hike. So when we all got home from work, we piled into Jen's (another roomate) car and drove to the entrance of a trail Ese likes.

It was a beautiful hike! The sun was setting and there were wild flowers everywhere! I am so glad I brought my camera. And we didn't run into another soul the whole time. It was like we owned the forest.

We hiked up to the "Observation Deck" which has a gorgeous view of the surrounding area in all 4 directions. We had secretly brought some chocolate goodies and candles so we could sing happy birthday to Ese. We ate, drank, talked, and laughed till the sun started going down and then we started heading back. As it got darker, we whipped out the headlamps. It was pitch black by the time we reached our car.

What a great way to spend an evening. Happy birthday Ese! We love you!