Oregon, Sweet, Oregon

So I went home to Oregon for a short break in between classes and it was nice being back there, especially with it being summertime :)  The flowers were blooming and the sun was shining.  I love Oregon summers!! 

Before I get into the details, I have to tell you a crazy story about the actual drive to Oregon.  So, I was about at the half way point--I had just filled up with gas in Biggs and was continuing through the Gorge--and I see billows of smoke up ahead and tapping brake lights in front of me.  Hmm... Everyone came to a stop ahead of me and the oncoming traffic stopped as well.  We were clearly not going anywhere for quite some time so I got out of my car, along with many other people, to see what was going on.  Here's what I saw:

Um, what?!  Even though there was a median, they stopped oncoming traffic because there was so much black smoke and large flames.  I still had no idea what was going on though.  It looked like there might be a large truck involved, but I wasn't sure.  I waited there for about 30 minutes while they got the fire under control. This shows some of the flames.

After waiting, and then watching the oncoming traffic pass by, along with people videotaping us from their camera phones to show how far the traffic was backed up on our side, we finally got to slowly drive past the wreckage and see what held us up for so long.

I'm still not entirely sure what happened because there was only one vehicle involved, but apparently this truck was pulling a long trailer (flatbed) which contained something explosive because the entire thing was charred.  I just hope that whoever was in the truck was able to get out before the explosion took place.  This was quite an eventful drive home.  It was a clear day, so I had a nice view of Mt. Hood.

While I was home, I spent a lot of time lounging around the house and then started feeling kind of lazy, but a good kind of lazy, if one does exist.  It was nice to not have plans and just be.  It was fun playing with our dog Stevie and spending time with my parents--catching up on their favorite shows.  There is always something on TV to watch when I go home because here in Spokane, we only have about 20 random channels, and most of them are public broadcasting.  I do every once in awhile catch Cash Cab, which is pretty funny.  Anyway, TV really isn't that important, as I have definitely realized while being in Spokane and not turning on the TV in weeks.  It's actually refreshing.  There are some fun shows, but it's not absolutely necessary to watch them.

I was actually productive when I was home, and completed about half of a Young Life t-shirt quilt that I've been working on.  I did not realize how difficult this one would be!  I made a quilt for my mom about 2 years ago, which I have to say was quite good, especially that I hadn't made a quilt before.  However, this t-shirt quilt is much more difficult for a couple reasons.  First, t-shirts stretch WAY more than regular fabric.  I have used this material as backing to help fix this, but they still stretch.  Second, the pieces are all random sizes that I have put together in a crazy design, meaning, there are straight lines, but very few.  Third, because t-shirts are stretchy, when sewing them, they often turn out weird, and not very straight, and then sometimes don't fit together with the other pieces :(  Last, I'm a perfectionist and so I've taken out A LOT of stitches and re-sewed a good amount of pieces together to make it look better.  Along these lines though, I heard from my sewing teacher a few years back that quilts are not supposed to be perfect.  The Amish would actually mess up their quilts on purpose (usually a small part) because only God is perfect.  I thought this was interesting, and it actually encouraged me when I made small (or big) mistakes with my quilt (or in life).  Here is a picture of my quilt before I started sewing, so the pieces are just laid out.  It's a collection of my Young Life t-shirts, some of my brother's, and some from friends.

One of my friends, who lives in Tennessee now with her husband, was in town and invited me to play Bingo in Salem.  Well, I of course said yes haha  My mom found her old Bingo daubers and we met Kristin and Holly at the Bingo Hall.  It was hilarious!  We had a fun time and I felt so nervous listening to them call the numbers and trying to mark the numbers on all 12 of my Bingo cards.  It was a little crazy, but Holly won $130 and we all had a good time.   The funniest part about Bingo was that everyone is silent during the game and I couldn't help but snicker and make comments the whole time.  My mom kept telling me that the people were going to come tell me to be quiet, but I guess we weren't too loud.  Apparently my mom and her friends have been shushed a couple times when they played Bingo at the casino years ago.

Besides quilting, watching TV, and playing Bingo (wow, do I feel old haha), I got to visit with friends and go fishing with my parents.  This was a fun trip, except that we had to get up so early.  If you know me well, you know that I am NOT a morning person...at all!  Well, getting up at 5am was not exactly what I was expecting when my parents asked if I wanted to go fishing, but I made it.  I slept the entire 2 hours there and 2 hours back.  We got there around 8am and we were the only ones on the lake. Well, I would say, duh, because who else would get up that early, but I guess people do get up before 8am and actually accomplish quite a lot in those hours before I wake up :)  Anyway, we had a great time and I caught the first fish, just had to put that out there.

We all ended up limiting out, which means 5 fish each--it used to be 10 some years back.  It was fun spending time with my parents (and of course our dog).

Dad and me...I was trying to be taller than him, and he didn't want that to happen :)

Here's Stevie checking out a duck.  Fortunately for the duck, he's not a water-dog.  I think the duck was taunting him though. 

Needless to say, we had a great time fishing, and ended up making it home before noon.  Wow, I didn't realize how much could be accomplished in the morning :)

The next mini-trip while in Oregon was to Eugene to visit my friend Lindsey who is working down there, and my friend Kimmie is working at Camp Harlow.  On the way there, I saw a gorgeous rainbow!  There were actually several cars parked on the side of the freeway taking pictures, and I kind of regret not pulling over too. 

The colors were so bright!  And, it turned into a full rainbow.  (there was a reflection from the car window)

I finally got to Eugene and my good friend Lindsey had some plans for us that night.  We went to Sweet Life and got some desserts to go and then went to David Minor's which is a little theater & pub.  We ended up watching the Goonies, a classic :)  It was a very fun night and I was glad to see my friend!  In the morning we went to The Vintage for brunch, and had mimosas--Lindsey hadn't had one before.

We walked around near campus (U of O...not my fav, because of course I'm an OSU fan--go BEAVS!) and then met up with Kimmie.  We browsed some thrift stores, had a light lunch, and got bubbletea :)  I didn't get to stay as long as I would have liked, but it was so fun seeing my friends. 

On the way back to Keizer, I stopped at my grandparents and we talked for an hour.  It was really nice.  I remember going to my grandparents (or any relatives' houses) when I was younger and not having much conversation, mainly listening to the adults talk.  It's great to be able to talk with my grandparents and share our lives.  I felt so grown up haha 

The fourth of July was pretty uneventful.  We didn't buy any fireworks, as we haven't for a couple years now.  I did spend some time with just my parents, which was great.  As my departure date quickly approaches, I am cherishing these moments more and more.  We sat outside under the the vines and flowers and had a small fire to make s'mores and then we watched our neighbors' fireworks.

The last night I was in town, I took Kristin over to my friends', James and Annaleah, house.  I used to lead in our church high school youth group with them, along with Chad & Jessica Harvey, who joined us, along with Melissa Kramer (who has come to our girls' nights at Annaleah's) & her boyfriend.  We relaxed, enjoyed each other's company, and spent another night by the fire. 

The next morning was kind of sad and I didn't really want to leave.  Maybe it was because the sad eyes our dog gave me after I had to tell him to get out of my car (he jumped inside when I wasn't looking).  But, maybe it was something more.  I had to tell my friend Kristin goodbye for 2 1/2 years.  I won't see her before I leave for Nicaragua and I suddenly started to realize that saying goodbye to family and friends for 2 1/2 years might be harder than I thought. I usually don't get emotional telling people goodbye because I know that I'll see them soon. I didn't get emotional talking to Kristin, but it hit me the next day. Two and a half years is a long time!  I know everyone says it will go by so fast, but I also know that there will be SLOW days, weeks, and even months. Don't get me wrong, I am so excited to go to Nicaragua, but it definitely is going to be hard. This is where prayer and faith come in. I've been praying for Nicaragua for quite some time now and I have faith in God's plans for me there. I appreciate all of the prayers that have included my name & what I'll be doing in Nicaragua. I am thankful for all who have supported me so far. It is incredible to know that God has something so wonderful in store for me and He has blessed me with people in my life to intercede for me, to petition for safety and protection over me and my travels. These are things that add to my faith and encourage me in my journey. 

Thank you Lord for my trip to Oregon and thank you for your protection and guidance every step of the way.