Advent Conspiracy

Our church is starting this session on Advent Conspiracy. We watched this promo video this last Sunday, and I thought it was moving and inspiring. I am really looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Fire

We had a fun weekend celebrating Paul's B-Day. On Friday night we went up to Tualitin, shopped at REI for a bit and then had dinner at Claim Jumper. On Saturday some of his family came down to celebrate. For Paul's birthday we got a fire pit for our back yard. Paul said he wanted to roast marshmallows for his birthday cake. I felt bad that he wouldn't have candles to blow out or anything that resembled a cake, so I made a pre-s'more cake. On Sunday we had a nice lunch with some of my family and then celebrated a bit with our bible study group. Happy birthday my love!

Today

Happy 26th birthday, Paul!

Yeeha!

Paul and I continue to pack in as much as we can into each day...I wonder if that will ever stop :)

Saturday was suppose to be a day that we would go get a coffee, maybe run a few errands and do some work around the house. Well, instead on our way to coffee I thought it might be a good time to pick Paul's bike up from Peak, so we headed over to Corvallis. Then we saw the farmers market going on so stopped at that before getting his bike. Then I went up and saw a friend in Salem for a few hours before we decided to go up with some coworkers of mine to the PBR (bull-riding).




We have started a bible study/community group at our place on Sunday nights. Paul and I continue to enjoy our time at our new church home and have enjoyed meeting lots of nice people. We have had 13 people each week at our study, which is perfect for our house.

Paul's birthday is this Sunday. We have plans to go to dinner with some friends Friday night and Paul's family is coming down Saturday.

Oh, and I have Friday off! I am so excited to have a day off; feeling like some canvas painting is in order!

All things Corvallis

We got to enjoy some of our favorite things Corvallis has to offer yesterday:

Every good thing starts with some coffee...



and then some shopping at the...



and finishing with some football...

My Favorite Things

Teaching this year has been going really well. Knowing from June that I would be teaching a blend and younger students allowed for me to pray a lot for my patients and ability to meet the challenge. My class of students have been gems, yes I am busy planning for 1st graders and 2nd graders, but having such sweet students totally makes it seem like not much. I keep meaning to take a pic of my classroom to post, but in the rush of things in the mornings always seem to forget the camera. Some day soon!

My first favorite thing: hanging out with friends! Paul and I feel like we have driven all of Oregon this weekend. Friday night we drove up to his families house for a family dinner because one of his uncles was visiting from back east. Saturday, we drove to Lincoln City to celebrate a friends 30 birthday. It was so gorgeous over there, one of the best days I have seen at the coast weather wise. Then we drove back to Salem to spend the evening with almost all of my college roommates (all minus Holly, Laura and Sarah). One couple has 1 1/2 year old twins and another has twins on the way! It was so much fun!

My second favorite thing right now: books! Last weekend Paul was at a men's retreat, so I went with my parents camping. It was such a relaxing weekend, and I read an entire book! What a great way to spend a few hours outside! I also went to the annual book extravaganza at Grass Roots book store in Corvallis. This is where teachers get together and hear/learn about new children's literature. Some highlights:

Change of Plans

Well, Paul had really wanted to go backpacking over Labor Day weekend. We did this over Memorial Day weekend and had a really fun/relaxing time. We even made plans to meet up with Brock and his family on Sunday. But as the weekend got closer and closer it became very apparent that rain was going to change our plans. So, we made last minute reservations at Eagle Crest in Central Oregon and headed over there for a relaxing weekend. Our third wedding anniversary is this coming Wednesday so we coupled getting away this weekend with our anniversary celebration.

We found a very cute town house and took full advantage of the tennis courts, pools/hot tubes, jogging paths, restaurants, and Bend that is like only 30 minutes away. On our drive home we stopped just outside of Sisters and did a hike to 8000ft. It was a great way to spend the weekend before school!