Ode to my Madre

Madre and her girls

Oh sweet Madre.  You really are my favorite.  I miss you.  Darn those hours between us. 

Today I took a little trip to the County Courthouse.  I walked from my office in the freezing cold, nearly got ran over by a guy on a razor scooter and had to deal with the crazies at the bus stop. I was freezing, and flustered, and creeped out.  I entered the building and there is was, the smell of my Madre (she has worn the same perfume my entire life).  You never know when you're going to find it!  Today, Yamhill County Courthouse smelled of comfort, of my madre's perfume. What a weird place to find it, but I'm sure glad I did!

Love you!

Goodbyes.

I'm not good at goodbye.

I ignore the feelings and they creep in.

I push them deep until they spill over in one big, snotty mess.

Today I had to take Tracy, Tyson and Kai boy to the airport. They are going to Peru...moving, far, far away for two years. My mind and heart are running a gamut of emotions. How do I adequately describe the contrast between what I'm feeling?  

More on the Smiths and their general amazingness later. But, for now please pray for safe travels and such!

I miss you guys already!

Really?

I find this a little concerning. 

I enter a public restroom, a women's public restroom mind you, and wait in line. For a while. And then out of a stall appears a completely average looking woman.  I mean, she could be your mom, my mom, anyone's mom.  Point is, based solely on her appearance I have every reason to think that nothing is out of the ordinary with the lady. So I enter the stall that she just vacated to find...

...the toilet seat up. 

Yeah, really.

Weird, I know.

I have no idea what's going on in there, I'm just saying, looks can be deceiving. 

And me, being the weird, analyze and remember everything girl that I am ponders this little fact and thinks, "huh".

Today...

Today the heart of God is an open wound of love. 

He aches over our distance and preoccupation. 

He mourns that we do not draw near to him.  

He grieves that we have forgotten him.  

He weeps over our obsession with muchness and manyness. 

He longs for our presence. 

- Richard Foster

Mission: Half

Ok, here's the deal: I happen to own a few pairs of shoes. Alright, to be honest it's more than a few. And it seems as though I wear the same pairs over and over, leaving a closet full of great shoes that at one time or another I just "had to have". But really, I don't need half of what I have. So, I decided to get rid of half. And I want to encourage you to think about it, what can you split in half? It's not about passing shoes on to my mom, or my sis or my nieces, they've got plenty. But I've come across this organization Soles 4 Souls that take new or gently used shoes and get them to peeps that really need them. How rad is that! If you feel so inclined check out their website here and see how you can get involved. 

Join me on Mission: Half and get creative about giving!

Vacation Letdown.

I'm in vacation letdown mode. I love it, I hate it. It's good to be home, but yet so nice to be away. Last weekend I was in Sunriver/Bend for our annual Youth Staff Retreat. This was actually my first time in Sunriver and I had a blast and a half. Here's a few pics from the trip.

At the Bend Brewery...Besties!


Shooting with the ladies


Public bridge stretching


Kass! Man, I love this girl!


Team Bold & Jelly!


Park time with Ben, Kass & Matt


Check out that view! We had amazing weather all weekend!


Chillin' with the lodge mascot. No big.


Ah, Cait.