SUCK!!!!!

that's all i gotta say.

GO CHIEFS!!!

Please Lord, help Tony and Larry to do well! I need the fantasy points!!!

So another weekend down... and once again, it was a good one!! Friday night I hung out with Alex for awhile after work. We went to our usual dinner spot... McDonalds!! For those of you who knew me in college... I actually branched out and got a chicken sandwich and ice tea!!! Not the extra value meal #2 with a Dr. Pepper. Write it down! Anyway, we headed to the new housing development and stopped at some of the new parks. It was a lot of fun... her brother didn't come along this time, so it was just me and her, and we didn't watch a movie, so we actually got to talk which was great!! We ran into Liban, who was in Literacy Club 2 yrs. ago (the year Alex moved to Mississippi) and he said he had a football game on Saturday so Lily and I headed back to the park on Saturday afternoon to watch him play. However, I managed to grab the wrong key and locked us out of our house... no keys, no phone, no money... it was fabulous. Praise God, though, b/c He hooked us up with a beautiful day so we walked to Univ. of Portland and laid in the grass for awhile and then to our landlords house so we could get back into the house. It turned out to be a really nice afternoon!! Then we headed to Andee's soccer game and then PSU's football game. Fun times! I met a PSU football player on Thursday night at our Literacy Club orientation. He's not sure if he'll be able to mentor b/c of his schedule, but he was going to talk to some of the guys and I hope it works out to have them in the program. The kids need to see some strong christian male influence. We'll see how God works it all out. Anyway, after the game we met up with our friend Stacey for some dancing. She met a boy and wanted our support. Come to find out later, I think she really just wanted us to be able to ID him if she came up missing. Hehe... just kidding. I'm sure he's a nice guy!

Sunday was my first real ZOO CREW class at church. No 3 yr. olds mixed in. I'm so happy with my class, they are SO smart and for the most part, well-behaved!! I'm suppose to be there every other month, but I don't know if I'll be able to stay away!! They're awesome!! So... I'll probably end up back in class next month, unless the Chiefs are actually on TV, that is!!

Speaking of... GO flippin' CHIEFS!!! I'm so excited for tonight's game!! I even took the night off from babysitting so I could fully enjoy Monday Night Football!!! Now only if I had friends that enjoyed it as much as I do... sigh. Oh well, I'm guessing there will be several calls back and forth with my folks to gripe or cheer or just scream in excitement! I can't wait to go home in October and watch the game with my family on the big screen!!! It's the little things in life that make me happy!!

Beatlemania!!

So, I LOVE the Beatles. Last year Lily and I went to the Oregon Symphony when they hooked up with 4 guys that looked, acted and sounded JUST like the Beatles! It was the most amazing experience EVER... so much fun!!! Well, last night, Lily and I headed over to Crossroads Community Church to hear Ken Mansfield speak and share his testimony. He worked at Capitol Records and had the lucky break of being assigned the Beatles! He had great stories from those crazy days of hanging out with the Beatles but better yet, he shared his testimony of coming to know Jesus as his own personal Savior! It's crazy how you can seem to have everything... fame, fortune, the "dream" life... yet it's still not enough to make you truly happy, you still seem empty. God's the only thing that can fill that void. When I start to think about it, it blows my mind how marvelous and amazing God is. Words can't express the JOY that comes from knowing Him. You can't explain it, you just have to try it. I promise you... if you honestly throw your hands up and give Him a shot... you will NOT be disappointed. It's not about giving up your life and all the fun things that you do... it's about experiencing freedom. It's a release of pressure... knowing you don't have to be in control, God already is. He's taking care of you and everything around you. It' s not always easy, but trust me... it's so much better than NOT having Him in your life!! I've been on both sides of the fence... and I'll never turn back. Too many people get stuck on the "religion" aspect and forget that it's about a relationship. God isn't this idol that you worship and put up on a pedestal... He's the one and only God... He holds me tight and cries with me when I'm sad, He laughs with me & probably at me at times, and he loved me enough to send His only Son to die for ME. Even if I was the only one on this Earth... he would have sacrificed His life for me. It's overwhelming. Whew... didn't mean to go there, I guess someone needed to hear it! Peace out 'til next time!

For most of you...

a perfect weekend might include a spa treatment, winning the lottery, a tropical get-away... mine includes a little pigskin, linebackers, wide receivers, maybe some tight ends :-) and of course, a win for the KC Chiefs!! Needless to say, I was in heaven this weekend!! Saturday, Lily and I went to a Portland State football game!! The game was awesome and we had so much fun!! It worked out well b/c Lily's cousin was at the game also, so we sat next to her so Lily had someone to talk with, and I could zone in on the game and just hit her out of excitement every now and then!! We sat in the student section, so once again I miss college!! Although, FHSU has much better fans!! The PSU TKE's were representing, though... I have to give them props!! One of my accounts here in the NW has a son that plays for the team, so Lily and I went to cheer him and the Vikings on and he kicked butt!! 8 tackles, 2 for loss, and he recovered a fumble from the opponents 4 yd. line and ran it back for a TD. He got ripped off though, b/c the refs weren't able to get to the end zone in time and they called it back to the 1 yd. line. Jerks. Anyway... the game was awesome!! We've got another one this weekend, I can't wait!!

Sunday was my first day teaching children's church again!! I teach the kindergarteners, but they 3 yr. olds didn't have a teacher, so they merged them into my class. It's hard enough keeping the attention of 5 yr. olds... throwing 3 yr. olds in the mix was insane!! But it went well and I've got a great class from what I can tell so far!! My friend's daughter Amiyah is in my class finally, I've been waiting for her since she was 2... so this class is special already!! After church was football, a little nap... and more football!! GO CHIEFS!!! They kicked butt... my fantasy football team... not so much. But who cares... the Chiefs are 2-0!!!!!

Sidenote: Lily and I chilled at home on Friday and watched Fever Pitch and some other movie that I can't remember, b/c I was too busy being infatuated with Jimmy Fallon. Never thought he was cute until Friday... he had us rolling, and oohing and aahing... sigh. He's pretty funny in Taxi, too, with Queen Latifah. We rushed out and rented that one on Sunday!! The movie is worth renting just for the gag reel at the end... Lily and I both were grabbing our abs in pain, tears rolling down our faces, it was so dang funny!!

A little weak... but highlights nonetheless

Wow... weekends aren't what they used to be! I remember the good 'ole days of college football, dancing the night away @ the Home, feeding FHSU lineman after hours @ the sorority house (and struggling to keep them from moving beyond the kitchen), laying out on "pebble beach", snoballs, etc. And then there was age 28. Here are the highlights from my past weekend...

* After 2 hrs. of working out at the gym, the HOT light was on at Krispy Kremes!!! Oh yeah, I'll take 1 dozen, thank you very much!!!

* My roommate, who NEVER gets emotional, actually shed a tear!! Granted, there was only 1 and it was accompanied by laughter... it was a tear, nonetheless. It's down in the record book!!

* My nephew Ethan spoke to me on the phone for the first time!!! Ok, all together now... "Aaahhh..." Most of you know that I work at Dr. Martens and I bought him his first pair of Doc sandals for Christmas back when he was 6 mos. and now that he is 2, he can FINALLY fit into them!! He wore them to church on Sunday for the first time and walked around saying "Cece's (that's me) shoes" all afternoon!! So when my sister Steph put him on the phone, I asked him if he liked his shoes, he said "YES" and when I asked if he wanted me to bring him some more shoes home, he said "NO". Hey... the point is he TALKED TO ME!!! It made my day!!!!

*And last, but not least... the Chiefs actually showed up for their season opener!!! YEAH!!!!! Yes, I realize preseason isn't the best way to judge the upcoming season b/c they're checking the new guys out, trying to make cuts, blah, blah, blah... but dang... is winning 1 game too much to ask!?! So I'm feeling much better... and big thanks to Mr. Larry Johnson for kicking butt and helping me win my first fantasy game!! Now be nice to your girlfriend. Anyways, GO CHIEFS!!! I can't wait for this weekend's game... not only is it a great rivalry in the AFC... it's proven to be a great rivalry at work! My boss is a huge Raider's fan!!! We'll see who's posting game stats on who's computer Monday morning!!! :-)

Labor Day

My friend Ana, her daughter Jayden and I headed north to her family's cabin on Lake Sutherland up in the NW corner of Washington for Labor Day weekend. It's about 15 miles from Port Angeles where Ana grew up and where her parents still live. We arrived Friday evening and stopped by her parents house to say a quick hello, picked up some groceries and headed to the cabin where her brothers and a bonfire were waiting for us! The weekend was pretty chilly, we were curled up in front of the fire with sweatshirts and jeans most of the weekend, but it was a nice change from the hot summer weather and got me in the mood for fall!! We headed out on the boat several times to watch her brothers wakeboard and we even braved a few trips out on the jet ski!! Other than that, we had bonfires (and s'mores) down at the water every night, played lots of cards and dominoes and ate tons of good food!! It was a great end to the summer...

So, now it's official... the crazyness of fall is about to hit me at full force!! Lord, help me!!

And just when you think you have free time....

August rolls around and it's just as packed!!

There wasn't as much traveling, which made the month seem more relaxed! In a nutshell... Lily and I hit up a Lu'au in NE Portland, skipped the church picnic to watch cute boys play in the annual King of the Beach volleyball tournament at the coast. We hung out at the river one weekend and watched other people paddle (Zambo opted out of this race) but of course, Lily found herself subbing in for other teams... I just soaked up the sun! Lily's family ended up making another visit to the NW, this time her oldest sister Cat, youngest sister Leilani, and once again, the entertaining nieces and nephews... Kamia, Alexie and E-dawg!! I didn't get to spend much time with them this time around b/c I already had tickets for my newest love...

X-games! Move over basketball... and bring on the skateboarders and bmx bikers!!! I'm now infatuated with BMX'ers Dave Mirra & Ryan Guettler and skateboarders Bucky Lasek, Shaun White (also pro-snowboarder), Andy MacDonald and PLG!! I caught a few shows on ESPN this summer and fell in love!! When I found out the Dew Actions Sports Tour was coming to P-town, I got my tickets and spent 3 whole days watching these events all my lonesome!! That's big time for a girl who HATES going anywhere or doing anything by herself!! I was in heaven, though, and got tons of pictures and video to re-live it until the next show comes to town!!

And to top the month off... my friend Sara, her fam and I all headed to the Clark County Ampitheatre to watch James Taylor!! Aaahh... WOW!! It was wonderful!!! And now I'm inspired to learn how to play guitar.... we'll see how long that lasts!!

Then there was July...

Oh my goodness! Started off with a bang for 4th of July! No pun intended. Zambo teammate, Dr. Chris throws a party each year at his house on the lake, so the day consisted of food, sun, boats and getting thrown in the water! And since we didn't get enough Zambo love that weekend, we headed out to another teammate's (Wynne) family vineyard the following weekend for a bbq/bonfire/camping extravaganza!! Most of the folks braved it in tents, but Lily and I roughed it in the back of her GMC. Hey... we had to get up at 7am for church, like we really wanted to get up earlier to put a tent away!!The next weekend was my b-day weekend, and yet again, another weekend with Zambo!! They had races up towards Seattle, so me and my girls Andee and Stacey (the original) headed up on Friday to stay with Andee's folks in Seattle. We cheered our hearts out on Saturday for Zambo and then kidnapped Lily and Kate (friend on Zambo) back up to Seattle to meet up with some our Seattle friends, Jen and Mwiza!

The following weekend I flew to Kansas City for my friend Molly's wedding! It was so great to be surrounded with all my college friends again! It has been probably 6 or so years since we've all been together!! Folks are married, engaged, have kids or atleast have them on the way... but it was like we never skipped a beat!!

I got back from KS Sunday night, just to leave again Tuesday after work. This time I was headed east to George, WA for Creation Festival 2005. This is the christian music festival my friend Ana and I went to last year!! It is such an AWESOME experience!! This year we took Ana's daughter Jayden, her friend Marissa and met up with Ana's 2 brothers and we were a little more prepared for the camping aspect, as well! We even made it to the river several times to get relief from the 100 degree temps!! We saw another great collection of artists including TobyMac, MercyMe, Newsboys, Michael W. Smith, Rebecca St. James, Audio Adrenaline, Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp, Joy Williams, Pillar... the list goes on!! And as you can see from the picture... you can't ask for a better backdrop for a concert!! The sunsets were beautiful, and words really can't express the experience of worshipping God under the stars, surrounded by His creation, praising Him along with 25,000 other believers. It's amazing!!!

Let the updating begin...

I flippin' LOVE summertime!! I'm busier than heck but love every minute of it!! The madness started in June with the Rose Festival, which also meant my groupie season began! Funny how it takes on a whole new meaning when you're 28. Back in the day it was the FHSU football & basketball teams, or the Larks baseball team, or even my friends rock band Pillar. Now it's a paddling team called Zamboanga, consisting of "kids" ages 19-60ish from all walks of life. Lily, my roomie, has been paddling with Zambo for 3 yrs. now, so I've become a regular in their tent, eating their food and cheering them on with all my might for the entire 2 minutes they're on the water for each race!! It's actually pretty exciting, especially when they're up against Kai i'Kaika, which is the equivalent to Kearney for all you FHSU fans!!

June also brought the beloved parents out to the Pacific NW. It has been 4 yrs. since they've visited their daughter, so apparently the whining worked! We visited the coast and toured the sights of Portland... Dad got to see lots of boats and mom got to see lots of "real" malls!! (yes, I AM claiming that "The Mall" in Hays, America does NOT count as a real mall) We visited the Bonneville Dam along the Columbia River, so dad got to see the fish ladders which entertained him for quite some time! We also went on a boat cruise, which meant dad was up talking to the captain the majority of the time and mom and I were left at the back of the boat to munch on chocolate and enjoy the scenery! There's so much to tell, but alas, I must move on...

One day after my folks left, our house was again full of family! This time with the Taliulu's!! Lily's mom, dad, uncle, 2 nieces and a nephew made the long journey out from Salt Lake City to fix her car and my lawn mower (to our neighbors relief) and the children provided much entertainment. Once again... fun times!! And this was just the beginning...

Am I insane...

Quite possibly! Like I need one more thing to add to my list of "To Do's". But everyone else is doing it, so of course, I feel the need to jump off the cliff, too!!! And just think... if you can keep up with me on this, you won't need to read the 5-page book that I send out every year updating you on my crazy life!

Just to give ya a little background on the name... upon moving to the Pacific NW, I found myself in a nice little circle of friends that already had a Stacey. To avoid confusion, I was quickly given the nickname Kansas and it's stuck ever since! I've even got my dad calling me Kansas! Gotta love it!

I'm gonna keep this first post short and simple (cuz you all know I can ramble)! But I've got a lot of exploring to do with this new blog toy... so peace out!!