Yet another night out...

It's that time of year and we've got sales reps and regional managers coming in and out as we prepare for a new season. Kelly was in town this week, and it also happened to be Sara's last week... so we made it count! We hung out in the basement for awhile, until they brought our biggest account down for a marketing schpeel and we were a little too loud for our mktg manager... so we headed to a couple other places for food and then took over a dance floor a few blocks down. We didn't have to fight too hard... we were the only ones there... as always, nothing but entertainment!!

Sara, Me & Kel

Shaun bustin' in on the girl pic!

Matt's turn!

We're rockstars... we know!

Kelly & Matt

And again...

You can never have enough pics...

Fun times...

and of course, you can't forget the self-portrait!!

I have no explanation for this one... who knows.

Go Matt, go Matt...

Just a slight height difference...

Chris was playin' the "cool cat"... but made up for it on Friday!! LOL!!

Makin' fun of my "thumb dance"...

Another fun night with the Dr. Martens family!

Portland Timbers!

Friday after work we headed over to Blitz... it's become our new favorite place for cheap eats and drinks! They know our order before we even say it... gotta love it! Anyway, we chilled at Blitz for awhile, then jumped on the Max up to PGE park for the Timbers soccer game. After the game we headed back to Club FreeDM for some music, video games and pool action... always good times with the DM folk!!

Amy & Shaun

Shaun & I

Me, Sara & Tony

It's a given... the Sprinkler WILL come out before the end of the night!!


Go, Go Gadget watches! Twin powers ignite!!


Shaun & I

Dykes, Chris & Shaun

Amy & Chris

Dykes & Shaun

Timber Jim!!!

Sara & Amy

Me & Sara

We had the penalty kick... and it's IN!!! SWEET!

Learning pool from the master...

I think I heart him...

Actually, I know I do!

Paul Wright is one of my faves!!! And he rolled back thru Portland (the Couve, actually) for a concert out at Crossroads church!!

Ana, Jayden & I

I met up with Ana & Jayden for a pre-concert meal at Applebee's, then we all headed to the church for the concert! I didn't realize until we got there that he was actually opening for Leeland... so that was an added bonus! I only knew 1 song of Leeland's from the radio, but I really liked them! We didn't stay for the whole thing, tho... it was a little loud for Miss J! After the concert, we chilled back at their spot for a bit and I got to meet their dog Charlie... it was great to hang with my girls again!!

Accidentally hit the night vision... oops!

*smooches*

Ana & I

Cinco de Drinko!!

Sara & I

I hooked up with some friends downtown Saturday night to celebrate Cinco de Mayo! I showed up a bit late, b/c I checked out our Saturday night service at church but shortly after I joined the group, we headed off to a new spot for some dancing!! Pure entertainment, as always!!

Malinda & Sara

Chris & Shaun... don't ask!

Me, Sara, Kim & Malinda

Malinda, Shaun & Sara

Chris, Sara & Kim

Malinda & I

Ice skating queens!

My girl Alex and I hung out on Saturday afternoon... it was the usual, McDonalds and one of her favorite pasttimes... ice skating! My "almost" 30 yr. old ankles can't hang like they used to, but I survived and then we topped the day off with some ice cream!! Fun times!!

Silly, camera-happy girls!!

Another one bites the dust...

It's official... after years of trying, Stacey G has finally made it out of Portland. God blessed her with a job in the big state of Texas, so we celebrated her last night in the NW with a happy hour at one of our favorite spots!! Congrats Ms. G... you'll be missed!!!

The fab 4 is now 2...

Me, Sara, Stacey & Andee

Sara & I - can't end the night without a self-portrait!

It all started with a rainbow...

A couple of weeks ago it seemed as if the world was about to crash down on me... hard. Within in a span of 10 days I found myself dealing with heartache on so many levels and it just didn't seem to stop. It started with one of my oldest friend's mom hearing "there's nothing more we can do" from her cancer doctors, then another friend's adopted son getting put in juvy for having a gun in his locker, the good 'ol "boys suck" drama, and then to top it all off... finding out 5 days before I'm suppose to leave on my Hawaiian (get away from all this drama) vacation... we have to postpone it. WHAT!? God... really? And in my own words... Are you freakin' kidding me?! The Hawaii bomb was pretty much the icing on the cake.

The next morning I got up... pretty drained. It was sunny to the east when I walked out the door, but when I got in the car, I noticed it was pretty dark to the west. Dang it, probably should have brought my coat. Anyway, I headed off to work, going over the St. Johns bridge as I do every morning and there was THE most beautiful rainbow in the sky! It appeared to start at the opposite end of the bridge and it arched over the top, crossed the river and ended at the river's edge. It was gorgeous! I found myself thanking Jesus, because I was pretty sure that He sent it just for me. Well, apparently some other folks on the bridge were enjoying my rainbow as well, b/c they caused a 4 car pile up and jammed up traffic! Lovely.

I got to work and dragged Sara to Starbucks to tell her about Hawaii and find out that she's thinking of leaving DM. Aaagh. Shoot me now. But atleast she's just moving a few blocks away, so I'll still have my gym and happy hour buddy... it's not like she's moving to UTAH or anything!! :-) Anyway, happy flippin' Tuesday, right? Well, Tuesday is cell night and Pickles sent an email asking us to write down 10 things that we're thankful to Jesus about. Let's just say... I wasn't feelin' too thankful at that point. I shrugged off the request and didn't think about it again until I got off work and was driving to cell, when all of a sudden it hit me...

I'm thankful for rainbows.

Hmm... I'm also thankful for sun breaks on a rainy day.

By the time I got to Pickles, I was well on my way to composing my list of 10. Which included, this lovely time of singleness (despite the boy drama) so I can travel and be free! The request that seemed so untimely... was of course, exactly what I needed... and it was God's perfect timing. Since I wasn't leaving for Hawaii in a couple of days, I decided to get out of town anyway and head up to Seattle to spend some time with my friend Jen. On the way up there I called Lily, who also decided to take Friday off and we chatted for over an hour. She listened as I hashed out all the things running around in my head. I told her about all my drama over the past couple of weeks, the beautiful rainbow, Pickle's "list" and how my attitude had turned to thankfulness by the end of the day... she started laughing and said "and it all started with a rainbow".

That's when it hit me. God created the rainbow after the storm. It was a sign that the flood (storm) was over, and it was His promise to never flood the earth again... which to me, also represents God's faithfulness. He holds true to His promises. He promises to give me the desires of my heart when I delight myself in Him (Ps 37:4), He promises to give me everything I need when I seek Him first (Matt 6:33), He encourages me to cast all my cares on Him (1 Pet 5:7) and He promises to work ALL things out for the good of those that love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). He's faithful and He keeps His promises.

That rainbow on Tuesday morning WAS for me!! At the time I thought it was just Him smiling down and blessing me with His gorgeous creation after a rough night... but He was reminding me of His faithfulness, it just took me awhile to get it!! He's still in control, no matter how things look through my eyes... and He loves me SO incredibly much, enough to send me a rainbow... a hug to let me know everything is going to be all right. His mercies are definitely new every morning!

Thank you Jesus!

Birthday girls!!!

So yesterday was April 30th... which meant it was once again time to celebrate our bdays!!! Amy (who's got a big bday coming up at the end of this month) joined in on the festivities as well!! This month we decided to take advantage of the dry weather and hit up our first Beavers game of the year. Granted... it felt a little more like February, but it was definitely good times!! We camped out in the Widmer beer garden and chatted it up, did some people-watching and even caught a few glimpses of the game!! And hey... Jared from the Subway commercials was there, too... beat that!!

How stinkin' cute...

are my nephews!!! Here's some random pics from the past couple of months...

Baby J

Sethie's 2nd bday in Feb

Gone fishin'... or atleast gearin' up for fishing season!