Google Fun

Jamie had a brilliant idea (as she generally does) and I have decided to copy her...I went to Google and typed "Carrie needs" into the search bar. These are my favorite results:

Carrie needs more than deep-breathing exercises. (from the book Sharks, Jellyfish, and Other Deadly Things)

Carrie needs a nice, hot bath. (from a discussion about the Stephen King novel, "Carrie")

Carrie needs to change and adapt to a more adult style now. (Isn't that true!? - from an American Idol debate regarding the infamous Carrie and Bo.)

Carrie needs to get to the hospital, but they're blocks away. (from an episode of Sex in the City)

Carrie needs to return too. (according to 44% of those surveyed about Days of Our Lives)

Carrie needs to go home. (Mmm-hmm, that one is true - from another website about the American Idol star, but I think I should personally take this advice - I'm out!)

Day Off Excitement

It's such a treat to have a day off in the middle of the week (even if you have to work a Saturday in exchange.) I had Friday off and it was such a beautiful day! I had a dentist appointment in the morning - yay no cavaties! Then David and I wandered around Lloyd Center for awhile, but we didn't find anything to waste our money on. We stopped at an Asian place and had pad thai noodles and bubble tea with tapioca for lunch. mmmm I had an eye appointment in the afternoon and was told that I have perfect vision and healthy eyes. That was a relief 'cause you know I look like a libraian when I put glasses on. (No offense to those of you who wear glasses - I think they are cute, just not on me. I've tried on several pairs just for fun, and no matter the style, I really just look like I belong in a library. Not that there's anything wrong with that either, 'cause I like libraries and I used to work in one. Anyway...)

In the evening, we drove out to Banks, (it's a city off 26 past Hillsboro) for my brother-in-law's football game. David's little bro Ben plays for Astoria High School and they had a game out this way so we decided to go cheer him on. The game was tied in the last minute, but then the Braves snuck in a touchdown. Sadly, the fishermen did not go home with a win. It was fun to watch though, and I hadn't been to a high school game since, well, back when I was in high school. Those were the days...

Another Checkmark on my P-town List

I enjoyed another new Portland experience this weekend. It was my brother Ben's birthday last Sunday and he wanted to come up and celebrate with us "in the big city." (My family is very small-town.) My mom drove up on Friday with Ben, one of his friends, my other brother Jeremiah, and sister Alyssa. We gave him his presents that evening and then put them to good use. He got a couple fun card games and a nerf foam dart gun from us. (His friend gave him the exact same gun, so our apartment suddenly became a friendly battlefield.)

On Saturday we rode the MAX down to Saturday market. My siblings were wide-eyed at the many characters that we saw while downtown. (I guess our little hometown doesn't offer that much in the way of diversity...) We enjoyed elephant ears and a greasy lunch while there and I bought my mom some earrrings made from ash from Mt. St. Helens. She loved them.

Afterwards we went to the Avalon for video games. (This was the new experience that I made reference to before.) We loaded up on nickels and then tried to accumulate as many tickets as we could. I kicked Jere's booty on Dance Dance Revolution, but David totally beat me on one of the racing games. I got addicted to one of those games where you shoot your nickel and try to make it push others over the edge. (Jamie knows what I'm talking about.) Oh, and I found that skeeball is great for a few quick tickets and requires minimal skills. In the end, my efforts paid off with a large deck of cards, a cheap plastic bracelet and several tootsie rolls. I can't wait to go back again.

*Sniff, Sniff* Story

This has been a quick week for me. I've had loan training the past couple of days, and that has actually been pretty cool. I'm looking forward to being able to help our members in a new area. David has been working with his dad in Astoria, which is good because it helps us pay the bills, but it's bad because it means that I have to stay here without him.

I have a funny/weird story from earlier this week to share. I thought I was burning our apartment down - seriously! I was getting ready for work on Tuesday and turned up the thermostat before I got in the shower. I was almost done when I smelled a really strong plastic stench. I thought maybe it was the hot water pipes or the shower curtain, but it was a really bad smell and I realized that it actually smelled like something burning... I was freaked out so I jumped into action! I turned off the shower, grabbed a towel and raced out of the bathroom trying to find the fire so I could put it out. (I had this terrible image of myself running around outside our apartment in the freezin' cold in only a towel trying to find someone to help me - eek! So I was hoping that this would be a job that I could take care of myself... I also was imagining David saying, "I TOLD you not to turn on the heaters in the morning..tsk, tsk," while we looked upon the rubbish pile that used to be our home...) But none of those things happened, so you can relax a little. The burning plastic smoky odor was coming from our dining room, and upon closer inspection, I noticed that there was some kind of leaf in one of the baseboard heaters. After I opened all the windows and let the heating elements cool down, I extracted the leaf with a couple of pencils. It turned out to be a pink petal from a freakin' fake flower! It had totally melted and filled our apt with a horrid stench. Where this mystery petal came from - I have no idea. We have lived in this place for a year and a half now and it was never in there before. I honestly don't remember that there has ever been a time when we have owned plastic pink plants, so it's a big mystery. At least the story has a happy ending. ...and I think the smell is almost gone...

Food and Fun Makes a Girl Happy

No way, I can't believe that the weekend is over already! It went by really quickly - funny how that always happens... I had to work on Saturday and then had training for an hour and a half in Beaverton after that. Danny had a bunch of friends over for a "house warming" party that evening. How long have they lived there already...? Anyway, it was fun and Daniel was an excellent host. (It was good to see you too Jamie.)

Today at church wasn't particularly inspiring for me. I think I was just tired or crabby or something. David shared some pictures and stories from his Mississippi trip which was cool, but that was the only part when I felt really engaged in the service. We changed our worship format recently which has been refreshing, but I just wasn't feeling connected for some reason...

We had Shaun, Jessica, Eric, and Niki over for lunch (Jessica made a killer lasagna) and then went to check out the new addition to the Portland Art Museum. It's worth the trip! (It was also fun to run into lots of people we knew there.) Tonight we hosted the youth group at our house. Picture 9 rowdy teenagers crammed in our tiny apartment for a couple hours. They're good kids, but it's always a bit of a relief when it's time for them to go home. I know I've said this before, but I am always impressed with how patient David is. Oh and an update on David's job hunt...he found out that they hired someone else for the delivery job in Vancouver that he'd been interviewing for. So it's back to the hunting for him. Let us know if you have any connections!