Road Trip!

I recently went on a trip with my parents down to visit family near San Diego, California.  We drove.  This, however, is not the first time we've driven down there, no, not by any stretch of the imagination.  In fact I can count the number of times I haven't driven down there on one hand...2, but I have been down there well over a hundred times I'm sure!

With that being said, it is 1,018 miles from Corvallis to San Diego, a drive time of about 16 hours and 30 minutes according to Google Maps directions.  My parents and I did it in one day, a long day, but one day, again, not the first time we've done that either.  But along the trip there are key things that I always remember, look for and reminisce about from when I was a kid.  I thought I'd share some of them with you, and maybe a funny story or two.

1) We always stop for gas in Grants Pass, Oregon.  When I was little we went to this gas station that was near the caveman in Grants Pass.  We switched gas stations several years ago, so it's been a very long time since I've seen the caveman, but I still remember what he looks like.  We got off on the exit that he stands at this trip, but I didn't see him.  Here is a picture of him that I found online though:

2) Just as you get into California, there is "The Rusty Dragon."  I don't remember when he showed up, but I don't really remember him from when I was really little (but then again I could have been sleeping, coloring, throwing up...you know, all those things little kids do in the car).  But now he's a highlight of my trip.  I always "check-in" at the rusty dragon on Foursquare as I drive by.  On my way down I didn't get to because I was actually driving (a problem I never had as a kid) but I was able to click this really blurry picture of him on our way home!  The rusty dragon has a rusty cow friend too...but he's near...

3) The State of Jefferson!  If you haven't heard about this, you should look at this: http://www.jeffersonstate.com/
It gives you all the information on the "State of Jefferson"

4) Did you know that the closest In-N-Out Burger on I-5 is in Redding California?  Well, it is.  This is a MUST STOP place on our trips to southern California.  I know exactly how to get there...oh man, I can taste the Protein style Double Double and fries just thinking about it!  Oh...and California now has a law where you have to post the calories for everything...not cool California, not cool.  I didn't want to know how many calories are in a Double Double! This shot isn't from the one in Redding, but from the In-N-Out in Kettleman City, where we ate dinner.  Pretty awesome shot for a cell phone if you ask me!

5) I was born in California, did you know that?  Yep, Sacramento!  Woohoo!  Well, here's a funny story for you.  When I was little I wanted to be a spy, why, I don't know, but I did.  I had a pair of Foster Grant sunglasses that were black with a little red FG on the ear piece that was a circle.  They were my "super special sunglasses" and I would pretend that I could shoot lasers from my sunglasses if I pushed the little red "button" and could save the world...my target:

The "spaceship" that landed in Sacramento, also known as, the giant Sacramento Water Tower just off I-5.  This was always my target of choice.  Even to this day, as I drive by I have the secret urge to shoot down the aliens that have landed...and yes, this was before I ever saw Men In Black.

6) The Grapevine and all the wonders of the LA area.  I always look for Magic Mountain, San Dimas, Disneyland, and when I was really little I tried to keep a tally of all the palm trees...that was impossible, but I still tried. I would sing "I heard it through the grapevine" as we would drive through the mountains on our way.  But Lyons Ave In-N-Out was always the last stop before Grandmas! (but not this trip...it was too late)

7) Ahhh...Grandmas!  We would pull in and all of the familiar sounds and smells would come flooding back.  It really is a home away from home. I don't think I can put into words how being at my grandparents place makes me feel.  It's always warm and cozy feeling, and not because of the temperature but because of the love of my family.  Here are just a couple pics from there.

This was my Grandpa's sign.  I though it was a cool shot.

I'm Picking at night...yeah, it's hard to pick grapefruit with a flashlight under your arm

I Love Southern California!  It makes me feel like I'm safe.  And it's always hard to say goodbye to family down there.  Here's one final shot of Mt. Shasta from the Weed rest area...another must stop. :-)

Do you have a place that you like to go that always brings back wonderful memories? Where?

Puppy Love

Lucas and I got a dog a couple weeks ago.  

His name is Fletcher.

I've had a dog since I was a freshman in college.

His name is Jack.

Now we have Jack and Fletcher.

Our house has become INSANE! 

But I love both dogs for different reasons.

Would it be bad to say I love Jack more?

Let me explain:

Enter: Jack.

As I said, I've had Jack since I was a freshman in college.  I got him in January of 2004 (you can read this if you want to relive the journey I took to get him, it was for my writing class) and he has been my little buddy every since. We've been through a lot together.  He's been there through the all nighters, the heartbreaks, the joys and several VERY long car trips.  No matter what, I always knew that I could come home to an unconditional love that made me feel so special.

Enter: Lucas.

When I met Lucas one of the most important things for me was that he know I have a dog and that he needed to like Jack and Jack needed to like him.  It says a lot about a man how he treats a dog.  Lucas and Jack hit it off right away, to the point that now Jack listens to Lucas more than he listens to me...but that's probably because Jack knows that I'm wrapped around his little paw.  The three of us have been a happy little family since really before Lucas and I got married.  We would do lots of stuff together.

Enter: Fletcher.

Fletcher is one and a half.  He's also a Vizsla.  He is a ball of energy!  I think what I really like about him is how expressive he is, but this is also one of his downfalls.  He's always "talking" to you.  Be it whining, barking, or just this crazy squeaky yawn thing, it seems as though he's always making noise.  He LOVES to play and after last night I'm pretty sure he's a dog surgeon (He managed to take the squeaker out of a toy through one small hole, that I could hardly see).

Enter: Love.

Before Fletcher, I was able to allot all of my puppy love to one dog, Jack.  But now that there are two it's really difficult to share the love.  I mean, if it's this hard to do with dogs, what am I going to do when I have kids?  I want Fletcher to know that I do love and care for him, but at the same time I don't want Jack to think that I don't care about him because I have to split my time and energy between both.  It's also so much easier for me to overlook the "bad" things Jack might do (like not sitting the first time I ask or barking at the doorbell on TV) but when Fletcher does something that I don't agree with I don't feel bad at all when I reprimand him.

I'm really glad this isn't how God looks at us.  He's not just sitting up there saying things like, "Oh, Katie's been at the Christian thing for a long time, I'll let that one slide.  But oh...Little Johnny over there, he's pretty new at the Christan thing, I'd better yell at him."  God has got the "Sharing the Love" thing down pat.  He disciplines us when we need to be disciplined and he's always loving.  God doesn't play favorites.  When we believe in his Son we're welcomed into the family, and not as second class citizens.  It even says in Ephesians 2:

 ¹⁹ Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹ In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²² And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

I just need to work on realizing that Fletcher is part of my family now, WITH Jack, and that I need to love both dog's equally.  I'm really glad that I get to practice with dogs before I have to deal with kids! :-)

So, what do you think?

I Believe I Can Fly...

 I am afraid of heights, but more importantly I'm afraid of falling from heights.  I tried rock climbing when I was in college and I LOVED it, except for the part where you climb UP the wall. ha ha! The one thing I really regret was the fact that I only made it to the top of the wall a couple times.  But a couple weekends ago, something crazy happened.  Watch this video and you'll see:

This video was taken when I was helping out with my church's youth group AFTERSHOCK at the Disciple Now retreat weekend at Camp Tadmor just east of Lebanon, OR.  This is called, "The Giant Swing."  I'll give you some perspective: You're strapped into a harness, your team pulls you 60 feet into the air, and YOU have to pull a little string to activate a quick release.  This means that have to reach over and cause yourself to plummet 60 feet with just a cable holding you up. 

But as you can see from the video, I did it.  I try to see what God is teaching me through different events that happen in my life.  I had to think about this one for a week, but here I go:

God has got us from the start.  When I would rock climb, I would get about 15 feet up the wall and start saying to myself, "Did I tie the knot right? Is my partner belaying correctly? Is the carabiner up on the top strong enough to hold my weight?" I would talk myself out of climbing any higher.  With the giant swing I sat at the end of the cable the whole time, I knew from the start that it was going to hold my weight.  We need to believe that God is there from the beginning, even before things get scary, he's holding us up.  And God's ALWAYS got his eye on us; he doesn't get distracted.

Our brothers and sisters in Christ are there to support and lift us up in hard times.  My friends were the ones who pulled me up the 60 feet.  I didn't do any of the work, they were the ones who did it.  When I got to the top, they supported me as I prepared to swing.  Your fellow believers are there for you.  Like we learned at Disciple Now; you need the body of Christ to help you live a resurrected life.

You've got to let go and trust that God is going to catch you. You reach over, pull that quick release and trust that God's got you.  It can be hard to let go, to have things out of your control, but when you decide to follow Jesus, he asks you to let go.  The only person that can let go is you.  YOU have to pull that string, YOU have to let go and give up the control of your life. YOU need to trust that God's got you.

Sit back and enjoy the ride! If you listen really closely to the video you can hear someone in the background say, "I though she was scared?" Yeah, I was scared!  I even asked the guy who strapped and clipped me in, "How many people have died on this thing?" But once I released and trusted the cable, I was able to enjoy myself and have a little fun and even let go and relax(I did the "Lazyboy" move)! It was great and very freeing. 

The crazy thing was, I had an urge to go a second time too...HA! :-)

How have you trusted that God will help you Soar?

Sciuridae...esquirel...skiouros - aka SQUIRREL

I really like squirrels. I think that they are fascinating!  It is one of the things I miss the most now that I'm no longer a student at Oregon State.  If you're a student there, or have ever been to OSU, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.  The squirrels there were so friendly and EVERYWHERE.  They would run up to people, but never actually let you close enough to touch them.  Anyway, Squirrels are the one thing in my life that seem to be a constant.

That may see strange, but here is what I mean.  Some of my earliest memories growing up are when I lived in a city called McMinnville, and I remember seeing the squirrels run along the telephone wires outside our house.  Then when we moved I remember seeing some (not nearly as many) at our new place, but then when I started attending Oregon State, my love for them grew.  I like any type of squirrel too: grey ones, brown ones, ones that live in the ground and the ones that live in the trees.

This is Matt's Squirrel

You might be wondering why I'm writing about this.  Well, they have been coming up even more now!  First of all, one of my friends at work, Matt, has a little squirrel that sits on his desk.  His name is "Matt's Squirrel" (and you can follow him on Twitter) and he loves the book Imaginary Jesus.  This little guy has been everywhere, he helps us out in the office and even enjoys lunch with us.  So that's one reason.  The second is my Youth Group AFTERSHOCK back home has "Squirrel Moments" to the point that we put them on a shirt! Or maybe it's because Matt (the same guy I mentioned earlier) says I like squirrels because it's sounds kind of like my last name.

 

(This is a squirrel moment)

No, I like squirrels because they are curious and dedicated.  Two qualities that I find enduring.  We have a bird feeder in our back yard, and so far I think the squirrels have eaten more of the food than the birds.  We've tried lots of things to keep them off the feeder, but they still find a way to get to the food.  Even now, they're picking up the seed that falls to the ground.  They can run up the tree with my dog Jack right on their tail and never miss a beat.  I wish I were like that.  I wish I were persistent when it comes to things I want to see happen.  I often try once, fail and give up.  Squirrels don't do that.  Plus, I like their big bushy tails! ;-)

I looked up squirrels on Wikipedia and realized that one thing that squirrels do is help to plant trees.  That's right, they are one of God's foresters! According to the Wikipedia article, Squirrels have trouble finding food in the early spring because all of those nuts that they buried earlier are sprouting and growing.  Plus, how does a squirrel remember where they put all of those nuts?

Here are a couple videos of just how smart squirrels are! Enjoy!

I think we can learn a lot from squirrels, even if you don't like them.  Here are a few things I've learned:
1) Be persistent - God created us for a purpose and if we give up we might be missing out on something great!
2) Be sure to plant - We're called to plant God's word.  You never know, maybe some of those seeds we plant will sprout and grow, which is awesome, even if we don't get to receive the benefit.
3) Balance and concentration are important - If you take your eyes off of the branch you're leaping to you might miss and fall (which isn't so bad if your a flying squirrel).
4) Having a big fluffy tail is awesome!

Do you like squirrels? What's your favorite animal that you learn life lessons from?

So, There's This Boy...

All last week Facebook was reminding me that my anniversary was yesterday (Sunday, April 10th) which is all well and good, but how could I forget the day that my life completely changed?!  I actually found it quite humorous that it was giving me a warning for an entire week that my anniversary was approaching, I mean, they don't even give you that much warning for birthdays.  It's usually just the day of that it says, "Hey, its 'so-in-so' birthday!"  Well, maybe Facebook is trying to create a world where no one forgets things like anniversaries.  But whatever...

Anyway, "So, there's this boy..."

I don't know how many times I hear these words!  It's kind of fun and exciting because I know where the conversation is going to head.  Here I am, an experienced married woman (HA!) giving advice to lots of different awesome women!  But I think it's funny that most of the time it starts of with those exact same four words, "So, there's this boy..."  Now, if you're reading this and have said those four words to me, thank you for feeling safe enough around me to talk to me about it...I really do appreciate that you value my opinion ;-).

I think that I'm so excited when people (especially girls) want to talk to me about relationships because i remember sitting in those exact same shoes.  I remember back in 2007 when I sat down with my VERY good friend and said, "So, there's this boy....His name is Lucas."  When I hear those words I hope that they'll find the love that I have found in Lucas. 

But often times not too long later (in some cases anyway) the "So, there's this boy" turns into..."AHHH!!  I hate boys!"  Which gives me the opportunity to minister in a different way.  I can be the comforter and the person who sits and listens as often the tears come. 

So, here is my advice to the, "So, there's this boy..." group:

Take your time...if he's the right guy he'll come to you.  Be sure to pray about him and you, both as individuals and as a possible couple, but ALWAYS keep God in the conversation...OK, you don't have to be one of those couples who is always like, "Hey Babe, wasn't Romans so amazing today!  Paul is..." and that's all you ever talk about, but God should be the foundation of your relationship/

And for the, "AHHH!! I hate boys!" crowd:

Take your time...the right guy will come to you.  Be sure to pray about him and you, both as individuals and as a future couple!  Yes, pray for your future love...ask God to be making you exactly who God wants you to be for him and pray that God will be making him exactly who God wants him to be for you.

That's my advice...you know from that very experience, 1 year married, 25 year old woman (who still acts like a kid!)

This was from our wedding...Two becoming One with Christ (the White sand on the bottom) being the foundation of our relationship

 

 

 

 

 

So, tell me about your boy, girl or your current great dislike of the opposite sex. :-)

 

Daydream Believer

I love daydreaming.  It's probably one of my favorite past-times.  I think it happens the most while either in the car or on a jog.  I'll think about anything and everything; things I think would be fun to do, places I'd like to see, movies I'd love to produce and talk shows I'd love to be interviewed on about the movies I'd love to make.  While some think that this is a strange thing to do, it's really quite normal for me to be talking to myself in the car...I always wear my bluetooth headset so I don't look COMPLETELY crazy.  So I guess this is my theme song???

I think that dreaming is a gift that God truly gives us.  Without dreaming movements like Campus Crusade for Christ, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and even that church that made the movie Facing the Giants, wouldn't have reached the world in the way that they have.  I've been thinking a lot about this because of a book one of my friends suggested I read.  It's called: The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson.

It's a great book about a guy named Ordinary from the land of Familiar; yeah, it's a parable and a story.  The book is about the journey that Ordinary goes on to leave Familiar and go out in the world to pursue his Big Dream given to him by The Dream Giver (God).  It talks about the people trying to keep him where its safe, times of doubt, giants that he must face and fight, and the work of faith through it all. 

This book really, truly touched how I look at aspects of life and the trials I may face while working toward my dreams.  While there were parts that I may not have fully agreed with (if you want to know what those are, just ask), overall I loved this book and would recommend.  It was a super quick read (I'm a slow reader and read it in only a couple days) and well worth it!

I read this book because it was a recommendation from a friend... 
How about you? Do you have any books you think I should read?

Want to walk a mile in MY shoes?

I am not the most girly person in the world, I'll be the first to admit that.  I'm totally ok with it too, but there is one thing that I LOVE that is kinda girly...shoes.  I really like shoes.  Late last fall, Lucas and I went shopping and I found some really amazing Kenneth Cole flip-flops for like $4! 

Aren't they totally cute?

Anyway, yesterday was the first day above 60 degrees so I was really excited about finally getting to wear my really awesome flip-flops!  However, my feet were NOT happy with me!

Don't get me wrong, the foot-bed of these flops are super comfortable, but I don't know if it's because my feet have been hidden inside of shoes since November, but the pretty flowery straps caused super huge bruises on the tops of my feet.  I've heard the saying, "Pain is the Price of Beauty," plus, they are Kenneth Cole...which means that yes...they were designed by a man...need I say more!  Anyway, I told myself, "Suck it up Katie.  Everyone LOVES your shoes, keep wearing them! It'll get better."  Well, it didn't. 

By the time I got home from my day of work at around 7:30, I could hardly walk from my car to the house without tears in my eyes.  I kicked off my shoes, sat down on the couch and watched Modern Family with my husband.  I showed him my feet and he couldn't believe it either.

Well, now what?  I still think these shoes are awesome, but they hurt my feet so much! I wore my super comfortable flops today to give my feet a break, but I think like everything else, what hurts me only makes me stronger, right?  I'll give them another chance in a couple weeks.  I realized I'm really mean to my feet.  Years of running (often times without socks...stupid, I know) have taken their toll that's for sure.  When my feet are unhappy, I'm unhappy, so why do I do this?  It might be like the age-old question, "How many licks does it take to get to the tootie-roll center of a tootsie pop?"

The World May Never Know!

What about you?  Have you ever worn shoes that hurt your feet just because they were cute, or anything like that?