... to Ahh! A whole month went by without a blog!!!!

Yikes! I can't believe it! I thought my last blog was in October, but no it was September! Shesh. What kind of a blogger am I?

Well as you might have guessed lots has happened. So I am going to have to only tell the highlights. Oh let me tell you what has been going on. A couple Mondays ago was the highlight of the Fall so far. It was a great morning, I got up on time, made my lunch, had breakfast and left for work with plenty of time to spare. I turned left out of the driveway to go down the green valley road and right before I went down the hill into the woods, right next to that new huge house... BAM!! A deer tried to commit suicide on my car! I mean BAM! I rammed that thing so hard it flew OVER my little innocent Neon and slide off into the ditch I sat there in the middle of the road a little stunned. I saw a little bump in my hood so I thought "oh I got time to turn around a get my sisters truck."
So I backed into that fancy house's driveway and there straight ahead, starring into my headlights was the 3-point deer. I thought "great I killed a deer, just what I need" So I hurried home got out of the car, and I saw how bad the damage really was. It was awful! I started shouting a little at my car" Good grief, I can't believe this" I exclaimed. I stormed into the house, got the keys, stormed back out and into the truck, mumbling and grumbling all the way. I pealed out of the driveway and when I got back to the crime scene the deer was gone!!! How dare he leave my car in shambles and then run off! It was terrible. I would have felt better if I had killed it if he was going to do so much damage to my car!
When I got home later I could REALLY see how bad the damage was. He totally crumpled my hood, took out a headlight and bashed the side of my car. Apparently he cracked my radiator and the frame around it. Can you believe it! Seriously, why do these things happen to me? I have to admit though, there is a small happy ending to the story, besides finding a clump of deer fur in my headlight.
I went over to Nicole's to help her with some homework and she was telling me that the game warden goes through her coffee stand and apparently he went through that Monday. He was telling her that he had to go pick up a deer somewhere. Nicole very sweetly said "Oh, my friend just hit a deer today." His reply: "Was it the one on 212th?" Hahahaha! So unless someone else on our road happened to hit a deer the same day I did... it was the same one! It must have hopped the fence and went off and died somewhere. Vengeance is mine! So yeah, the total damage came to $2100, more than what my car is worth. So we totaled it out and now I am on the look out for a new car. Whew!

... to become the proud owner of a Necky Manitou Sport!!

That's a kayak for you laypeople. As of yesterday, I now own a cute little 11' single kayak with one hatch, adjustable seat and foot pedals, and a harmony paddle. I am so excited! I tried it out today on the family pond that is shared by frogs, cows, ducks, bugs, muskrats, and beavers. It was nothing but smooth sailing , it cut through the water like a hot knife through butter. So stable, so roomy, so comfy; I don't know how anyone can go with out it. (Except for the guy I bought it from in Seattle.) My sister Kathryn and I have been looking for a couple of them to invest in. Now, we just need to find one for her. We hope to go out to the sound this weekend. It will be fun to see what happens! Now all I need is a name for it... any ideas?

... to say goodbye to her beloved sister.

My younger sister Alison is in the Army as most of you know. Well last October we found out that she would be going to Iraq this summer. Summer has come and Alison is still going to Iraq. She left on the 22nd for Wisconsin for additional training, from there she will be sent to Kuwait for a bit and then to Iraq. It was a rough day saying goodbye to her, we all had a rough time.
I could not believe the dedication and devotion the men and women have for their country. For moms to leave their husbands and kids, for dads to leave pregnant wives, boyfriends saying goodbye to their girlfriends... What an honor it is to have a sister serving her country. I can not describe the pride I have.
Alison will return to us next august so please be praying for her safety and the safety of those around her. I know she will be a great asset to her team and will be a light in the darkness. I love her tons and miss her so much.

... to spend time with my precious family.

My family wanted to spend time together and do something fun. So we hopped in the car and drove to Seattle in search of fun. We found fun at Northwest Outdoors Center on Lake Union. We rented some kayaks and headed out on the lake. We explored the house boats where some crazed swimmer attempted to tip me over, crazy. We viewed the docked boats and then on to the shores of Gasworks park. It was perfect out on the water, we enjoyed every minute of it! We then headed over to Southcenter to see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (which is quite the disappointment.) We finished off the day by having a scrumptious dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. What a great day it was with the fam!

I found my dream vehicle at Southcenter, a moped!

... to Alejandra and Devin's wedding!!

WAHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Congratulations to Alejandra and Devin Schock!! I love you both and I am so very happy for you!

Alejandra's wedding was perfect in every way, nothing went wrong. I had a blast the whole night, (except right before the toast I was so nervous!) The wedding was at a gorgeous mansion on Fox Island right on the water with a view of the Tacoma Narrows and the top of Mt. Rainier. The wedding started at 4 and the party did not end until 11. There were all the usual fun times, the toasts, the cutting of the cake, the tossing of the bouquet and garter, and of course lots of dancing. Alejandra and Devin did a salsa number for their first dance it was so wonderful!

... to a Bachlorette Party!!!

Whew, has this month been crazy or what! I threw Alejandra her bachlorette party last thursday. It was a ton of fun and was relaxing for her.
We started the day out at Starbucks and then moved on to my favorite event, glassblowing! We all went to the Tacoma Glassblowing Studio to have some fun. It took us a while to pick out colors, style and shape, but once we got everything figured out things got real hot... literally.


The guy made Alejandra a rose as a wedding gift.
All the bridesmaids minus one were there and a couple of friends. The party included Alejandra, Nicole, Charly, Lera, Jenny and me. What a fun group! Glassblowing was a blast, everyone enjoyed it!
Glassblowing was followed by a relaxing picnic in Point Defiance Park.

We were starving by then and definately needed the smorgasbord. The day ended at the rehearsal dinner on Fox Island.


It was a fun-filled day!

... to Rio Blanco.

Happy birthday Linda!
A week ago I went out with a couple friends from work to celebrate Linda's birthday. We went to Rio Blanco in Auburn, not far from work. We had a great time celebrating, chatting and eating Mexican food. Linda has been going here for 10+ years so she is well known at the restaurant. We of course had to tell the waiter that she was turning 18 and that they needed to sing happy birthday to her. It was nice to hang out with my coworkers outside of work!

... to the King County Fair.

Ah, the King County Fair. It's just so popular that they decided to let it be free! Yeah, that should tell you something. Me and the muff went to check it out. We saw the 4-H dogs, cats, chickens, goats, cows, horses, rabbits, alpacas and oh I don't know, oh yeah pheasants. We watched the kids tractor pull and yeah, um, I really don't remember what else there was to the fair besides getting some scones. Me and Kathryn though ad fun with the alpacas. I think that one was trying to eat me. The cats were pretty spoiled. This one was well, I think it is kind of ugly. It was nice that the fair was free and nice that it so close. Good times in Enumclaw.

... to reach Auburn.

I have been part of a King's Kids team called Crimson Bridge, for over 10 years now. I have been on staff for I think half of that time. Crimson Bridge always divides into smaller teams for our summer outreaches. This year was my first year leading a team. I led a team into the wilds of Auburn, our home town. My team was amazing though! They were pretty much willing to do anything! On Monday we served the city of Auburn by volunteering to clean Game Farm Park. We raked pine needles and pine cones for three hours, and I did not hear one peep of complaining! Wednesday we went to the Auburn Food Bank to help sort two big crates. We sorted 2200 lbs. of food which may seem like a lot but in reality that only lasts half a day at the food bank. Thursday was a day to minister to our pastors. We split up into two groups and went to 6 of the 7 pastor's homes to do lawn care and wash cars. It was a blast! Friday, we spent an evening at Centennial Park overlooking Auburn just praying and debriefing the week so far. It was so nice to relax with the team. Saturday was our last day of outreach. We watched the kids at the Pentecostal Church at Muckleshoot's grand opening of their new facility. The kids were great!
Overall, it was great to help out in our own community. I think the home team outreach can only get better from here!