PB's Birthday Cont'd

Diana, one of my youth leaders. She and I have remained close over all these years and I so value her friendship!

Nancie, another one of my youth leaders who is near and dear to my heart!

Micah celebrating in style.

Too precious for words!

Levi finally gave in and fell asleep during the celebration!

PB's Birthday

For the last weekend of summer, I headed home to CA to spend some time with Grampy, my parents and Heather and the boys. It was a great time full of lots of laughs and bargain hunting!

While I was home, Pastor Bonner (PB as my family calls him) had an 80th birthday party and I was so glad to be able to attend. There were over 300 people there and it was unbelievable! It was so great to see so many people that I hadn't seen in years and years but who were such a part of my growing up years. PB is such an amazing individual and the amount of people who showed up to his party shows what kind of a person he is: genuine, caring, humble and an amazing heart for God and His people. I want to live my life in such a way that I will have 300+ people wanting to attend my 80th birthday...wow!

Grampy had us all over for lunch one of the days and it was so fun. He is so hospitable and such a great host!

My sweet sis and Levi trying to grab the camera.

Family Shot (we missed you Tiffany!)

Me and Jen, my childhood best friend. I am so thankful for our friendship and how it has remained close over the years and miles apart.

Julie, Jen's little sister, and I. I love this girl!

Heather and her childhood friend, Heidi!

Steve Scott, one of my favorite people. He never was my youth pastor but we still bonded and I so appreciate him in so many way! (not sure why this is underlined and I cannot get it off!)

Kirsti's Wedding

My best friend from college got married August 22nd and I went to be with her in Minnesota for the week leading up to her wedding. As the maid of honor, I wasn't able to do much during the wedding prep part as I live a thousand miles a way, so it was nice to help her out a bit while I was there. We enjoyed a few quiet, low key days together before things got crazy. I treasure those times of pillow talk, giggling and being sassy together. Many memories were made!

The wedding was absolutely beautiful! It took place outside on this really neat farm and the weather couldn't have been more perfect!

Hannah, Kirsti's little sister, Kirsti and I posing at a minor league baseball game we went to. Fun times!

Kirsti's siblings and I practicing walking out during the rehearsal.

The bride and I posing for a friend picture.

Jeremy and Kirsti cutting the cake.

Posing after a very long day.

I loved every part of my time in Minnesota but the highlight for me was bonding with Kirsti's family. I feel like a part of their family and it was so great to spend such a special time with them all. It was great to see her out of town relatives that I have gotten to know and grown to love over the years. It was hard leaving and I must admit that I had tears in my eyes as I said goodbye to these precious people!

Florida

The first week of August, I took a trip to Orlando with my friend/coworker with her family. We had a very full week of activities so it went by super fast but we had a blast. The only downside to the whole trip was the many blisters I got on my feet because of new shoes. Boo!

Our first day was spent relaxing after getting to our hotel at 2am and trying to adjust to the new time zone. We enjoyed a leisurely shopping time in Downtown Disney and checking in to our nice condo where we stayed for the rest of our trip.

The next day we went to Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, three of the four parks of Disney World. These parks were fun but were more shows than rides so we only spent a few hours at each one.

Angela and I at one of the parks, not sure which one.

The next day was spent at Universal Studios with Angela's brother and his friend. The day ended with a fun dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. I must say that out of all the parks we went to, Universal Studios was my favorite because of all the fun and exciting rides. I did learn that day that I am not into the roller coasters that accelerate and slow down at a fast pace. I was a bit light headed and dizzy after all of those rides. Am I really getting too old for those rides? Sheesh.

Posing in front of Hard Rock

The next day, Angela and I along with her brother and his friend went to the Magic Kingdom. I have to say that I enjoy Disneyland a lot better. Not only was Space Mountain (my fav ride!) closed but Disney World didn't have the Matterhorn or Indiana Jones. It was nice though because we rarely had to spend more than 30 minutes in line for a ride.

On our last day in Florida, we headed to the beach and enjoyed some time in the sun. Storm clouds and rain quickly approached though and we were forced to leave! :) It was beautiful though and the water was nice and warm. We did see a shark patrol helicopter fly over us, which was interesting.
That night we went to Midieval Times, this dinner and show place. It was great. We ate yummy food without utensils while we watched a shown of men with swords riding on horses. It was entertaining to say the least and we had front row seats!

The trip was amazing and definitely a highlight of my summer! Now I can say that I have been to Disney World! :)

Melynda's Birthday/Day of Fun

My lovely roommate had her birthday in July. Three of us celebrated with her on her actual day and when Katriina got back from Finland we celebrated in style with a day of fun which included a scavenger hunt of sorts that led us to a chocolate factory, the famous troll, Alki beach and Gasworks park. It was a very fun and adventurous day that ended with some bonding time in the hot tub. Good times, good times!

The pictures are a little out of order, but you get the gist! :)

Being our crazy selves on the beach right before it started raining.

Down at the Kirkland waterfront on Melynda's birthday.

Touring and tasting some yummy chocolate.

I love this picture because it makes us look as if we are a band.

Celebrating in style at Olive Garden.

My summer was very adventurous and I already have some things to post from my first week of school but these things will have to wait until this weekend.

Neglected

Yes, I have neglected my blog this summer. I am so sorry to those who actually follow this. I plan to update in the near future with lots of pictures and stories. Summer school is finally over and I ended up with a B+ in my stats class...woot woot! :)

Until I can update this, I will leave you with a picture of one of my many silly moments of the summer.

Favorite 4th of July

This 4th of July was nothing really out of the ordinary (okay, maybe some events were) and it ended up being one of my favorites! I really wasn't looking forward to this day and really didn't expect a lot and I think that is what made it so great.

It started with a yummy breakfast with my roommate, taking a trip to Kohl's and finding some bargains, spending a few hours in our garage (the coolest place in our house) and then heading over to some new friend's house for a BBQ. I loved that it was so simple and yet meaningful. It definitely comes with some great memories that we will laugh at in years to come. Melynda and I enjoyed a lot of laughs and conversation. She is such a great friend and I love that we can spend time just being quiet together and also spend time laughing so hard that we cannot breathe.

Melynda and I enjoying some "down home" style lunch in the garage. The only thing we really were missing was a kiddie pool and Melynda figured a foot bath was the next best thing.

Sporting some sexy racquetball goggles that were found in our garage.

Showing our racquetball moves

I do not have pictures to document the BBQ I went to but let me tell you about these people. I met Al and Alyson three weeks ago through a small group at my church. They are some of the most hospitable and sweet people I have ever met. Alyson and I both felt this immediate connection to one another and decided to take advantage of the fact that God crossed our paths. As I sat at coffee for two hours with this dear lady, I couldn't help but be thankful for her and the way we were able to be so real and share what was on our hearts. I totally can be myself and comfortable with that around her and the rest of our small group, it is such a neat thing. I am finding more and more that God shows me His love through people in my life and this is such an indication of that. At the end of our time together, Alyson asked what my plans were for the 4th and I told her nothing (really, at that point I didn't plan on doing a whole lot). She invited me over to her place and I told her I would think about it. Over the next day or so, I knew I wanted to hang out with her and meet her family (she has kids my age and her grandson is my favorite 3 year old that I play with in the nursery at church).

Anyways, with all of that said...I had a really enjoyable time at their house getting to know the family and watching the boys blow up explosives in the middle of the street. I drove home that night thankful for new friends and thankful for such a great 4th of July!

How is summer school you ask? Oh, I am getting used to it but would not categorize it as fun. I am just trying to get through it with decent grades. It is rough spending 4 hours in class and then coming home and spending another 4-5 hours on homework. It pretty much consumes my life but oh well.