Merry Christmas!

I hope that everyone who reads this blog had a very Merry Christmas - I know that mine was really great! Last week David and I went up to Spokane and visited his family. There was still some snow on the ground up north, but no new flakes fell while we were there. The boys all went skiing one day during our stay, but I'm glad I didn't join them because it was rainy and slushy the whole time. Besides, I got to spend some quality time with my mother-in-law. We went and ate at the Mongolian Grill and did some window shopping together.

David and I spent Christmas morning at our own apartment. He was just like a kid and woke me up early to open our presents to one another. I didn't get the new car and new bedroom set I really wanted, but I was pleased with all of my gifts. (note: I really did not expect those large presents anyway...) We then went to the Christmas service at our church. The kids put on a really cute performance (they all did so well!) and David and I had a reading part during the program too. After church we made some yummy omelets for brunch and then took a long winters' nap. (just like the Christmas poem says we ought to do) We then played with some of our presents and had Eric and Niki over to watch Eight Crazy Nights and play games with us.

On Monday, we braved the malls to exchange some gifts and take advantage of all the great clearance deals. (In case you're curious, we are stocked with Xmas wrap and ribbons for the next several years!) Later this week we will be going to visit my family and will join in our annual Christmas party with all of my extended family too. Man, it really is nice to have such a long holiday break!

So About that Movie...

I'm gonna' have to go see The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe again because I only got to see the first half of it. It's a funny story really...well, at the time it wasn't so funny...

David and I took the youth group to see the flick on Sunday evening. We got to the theater and David was waiting outside for one of the kids who was going to be late. I took the other five teens inside to get seats. We entered the crowded theater and found 4 seats together. A couple of us sat in the those while the others searched for more seats. One of the kids went back out to get some nachos and I thought that another kid, we'll call him "Gus," went along with him. Anyway, the previews started, most of the teens had seats, and the one kid returned with his liquid-cheese-covered chips. A little bit later, David and the last teen came into the theater and joined us. We were ready for the movie to start! Except for one small problem...no one knew where Gus was.

Our group looked through the theater and then David left to search the whole building. I stayed in my seat and tried to watch the movie, but I started getting distracted when Gus' parents arrived and started looking for Gus in the theater too. Then I noticed security personnel roaming about and finally several police officers patrolling the aisles. At this point, I gave up trying to watch the film and joined the search party in the lobby. We were really worried because no one knew where Gus was. They started reviewing the security tapes and I was imagining all the things that could have happened to him. I started feeling guilty for not keeping better track of the kid. Did he get abducted? Was he hiding from us? Where the heck was he?

Well, we waited in the lobby and kept searching all the theaters until our movie ended. We searched the crowds of people as they exited, and suddenly we saw Gus making his way out! Get this, the kid had been in the front row the whole time! He didn't even know that we were looking for him and didn't notice the search party that kept walking past him (not to mention the fact that we never noticed him!) *sigh* So at least the story had a happy ending. Although, I really need to go see the movie again - this time without any kids!

Month-long Summary

I wasn't too quick with that Thanksgiving update I guess... We did have a great time visiting both of our families though. We spent three days with David's family first. His parents moved to Spokane, WA and we got to see their new house and help them unpack a little. Then we went and stayed at the Elkins Resort in Priest Lake, ID for Thanksgiving. His family (extended family - grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, nieces, nephews, etc.) got together in a big cabin to celebrate the holiday. (And when I say cabin, I use the term loosely because this thing had 7 bedrooms - it was so beautiful!) Lots of good food was had and we even saw a little snow. We were a bit disappointed though because we brought all of our snow gear and there wasn't enough to go out and play in. No snowmobile fun for us...

After our Idaho trip, we drove down to Philomath to visit with my family. They are currently remodeling their house (okay, so they've been working on it for years and years...) so things were in an upheaval, but we had a nice relaxing time. My mom went crazy baking pies and various types of bread and we played lots of games. David went with my brothers to watch the new Harry Potter movie, but thankfully they let me stay home and hang out with my sister. (I apologize if I offend any HP fans, but I'm just not really into it that much.)

Now it's December and I can't believe that it's only 2 weeks until Christmas! That means I only have 14 days to get all my Xmas shopping done. (Yeah, that's right, I haven't started yet...) I'm excited that I will have a week and a half off for the holidays. David and I are planning to have some time with both of our families and also to continue some new Christmas traditions of our own. We got our tree about a week ago and had a fun time putting up all of our decorations. We still don't have any presents under it, but I'll work on that in the next couple of days.

My new job is still going well. I think I am done with weekend training for awhile, and I'm relieved that I will be able to catch-up on some things now that I know how to do them. The stacks were getting pretty large for awhile there... Speaking of work, I got to hang out with some old co-workers last week (not that they are old, but it sounded better than saying ex-coworkers, for some reason.) We had Chinese food at a restaurant near the old CU branch when it was downtown, and then saw Walk the Line. I would recommend the movie - I thought it was really good. I had seen a documentary about Jonny Cash awhile back and it seemed like this film was a pretty accurate portrayal of his life. And Joaquin and Reese can really sing - I was empressed! Tonight we are taking the teens to see The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and I'm excited about that. I really liked the book and the film looks very well done. I'll let you know what I rate it!

The New 8-5

I know that I haven't written in awhile, but I have an excuse! ...At my new job I don't have hours and hours to spend on my blog, ebay, Craigslist, etc, - like I did at my old job. I am really enjoying working at Cascade though. It's a little bit weird to be back after being a student here for 4 years and then being away from this environment for a year and a half. (although I just live down the street from the campus...) Anyway, I think it's fun to be back and my co-workers are great! (That's a shout-out to all of you that read my blog, and for the FTCU homies - I do miss our fun times...don't think I have forgotten about you! ...and I'm still up for the tattoos if you are!) I still haven't learned everything in my position yet, but I'm working on it and having a good time. Yeah, enough about work...

I am very excited that it's Thanksgiving time! I get a five day weekend which is fabuloso. David and I are driving up to Spokane to stay with his parents tonight (they just moved there last week) and then we are heading to Priest Lake in Idaho to spend a few days at a big cabin there with all his relatives. We are hoping for lots of snow 'cause we are bringing all our gear and there is rumor of snowmobiles. After some fun in the Spud State, we are driving down to Corvallis to see my family too. (There will not, however, be any snow or rumor of snowmobiles there...) I'm sure we will have fun nonetheless. I'll give y'all a full report when I get back!

This Just In!

I almost forgot to share this tidbit of information! I will be starting a new job next Friday. Cascade hired me to be the Office Manager in the Admissions Department. I am really excited to start and will share more about it when I have actually begun.

Yard Work, Animal Print Clothing, and Wet Seats

I had a "vacation" last week that was fun. David and I drove up to Couer d'Alene, Idaho on Saturday after I got off of work. We stayed there until Wednesday and helped David's grandparents get ready for winter. We took in all their yard furniture and ornaments (seriously they have more fancy crap in their yard than anyone I know!), pulled up all of their seasonal plants, recarpeted their boat trailer, and chopped some wood. Then we went and helped them out at their cabin on the river. We brought in their boats and dock awning and then repeated the chore of dragging in all their yard knick-knacks. After all the work was done we got to have a couple days break there.

Halloween has come and gone yet another year. David and I joined a couple of parties, carved a crazy pumpkin, and ate our share of candy. We decided to dress up as cave people, and David crafted us some costumes out of a furry leopard fabric. I wore a bone in my hair and he wore a nasty long black wig. It was pretty stone-aged.

It seems that some theives decided to celebrate the holiday by trying to steal my car. When we went out to leave for work this morning we noticed that my passenger side window had been smashed-in. It was raining really hard and the inside of the car was getting pretty soaked. The meanies ripped out my stereo, took apart the steering column, emptied the glove compartment, and threw stuff around in the trunk. Thankfully, it doesn't look like they took anything (not that there was anything worth it in there anyway...) And I have the bestest husband ever, because he took care of all the mess and replaced the window all himself. He's pretty awesome.

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!

Day Off Favorites

Aaaahhhh....(to be read as a content sigh, not as yelling...is there a better way to type that?) Anyway, I had the day off today and it was very pleasant. I got to sleep in until 10:00 and then David made me waffles for breakfast. We just stayed home most of the day and I worked a bit on our scrapbook. This evening we went over to Eric and Niki's for dinner and now David is at Cascade "observing" the initiations activites there. (I think he just wants to pick on all the pledgies.) For those who care, I heard that Deltas have 22 pledging right now. Whoop, whoop - go DEP!

Now, please enjoy a list of my favorites and not-so-fav's (as related to my day):

Fav - triple chocolate brownies and cherry ice cream Not - oatmeal raisin cookies
Fav - sunny days (like this afternoon) Not - dreary drizzly days (like this morning)
Fav - waking up and realizing you can sleep as long as you want Not - waking up to a buzzing alarm
Fav - sound and smell of clothes washing Not - smell of clothes left in machine several days, oops
Fav - completing a scrapbook page Not - gluing all the stinkin' pieces down (with a cheap glue stick)
Fav - wearing comfy old sweats Not - wearing toe socks (they are super-weird)
Fav - listening to 104.1 the Fish Not - listening to cheesy sales CD for work
Fav - taking care of houseplants Not - finding millions of tiny bugs in plants and trying to kill them
Fav - enjoying a long hot shower Not - paying the bills for it later
Fav - ravioli from the can Not - pnut butter mixed with syrup (David eats that sometimes...)
Fav - days off! Not - having to work Saturday instead

Midnight (Blogger) Snack

Well, it's past my bedtime and tomorrow is a work day, but I am breaking all the rules and updating my site rather than going to sleep. I'm just not tired yet. David is staying with one of the teens from our youth group right now. The kid's mom took his dad into the hospital because they think he might have had a small stroke. David was asked to stay with their son until his mom was able to come home. I just talked to my hubby and he was in the process of alphabetically organizing the family's DVD collection. It might be a long night... I hope Paul is okay and is able to come home without any complications.

After church this afternoon a group from Central went and helped one of our neighbors with her yard work. Our friend Shaun is organizing a RAK group (Random Acts of Kindness) that will be going out and helping people around our church community. Today we visited a woman named Pamela and helped her with debris and cleaning around her house. She was quite the character, and she gave us a bunch of information about organic gardening as we helped her put plant mulch around all her vegetation. It was nice to get a bit dirty and help someone out. She kept thanking us and said it was such a miracle that we got so much work done. I felt like we hardly did anything, and it made me realize that I should be doing more. (I also realized that it would be a lot of fun to have my own yard - I enjoy plants and it would be nice to have my own little piece of earth to work with. Someday I suppose...)

David and I were watching the movie Twister tonight, but had to stop it in the middle when he had to leave. He bought it during his trip down to Mississippi - ironic huh? He's weird like that. Anyway, I kinda' want to go watch the end of it now, 'cause it's been a long time since I've seen it, but now it's after 11:00 so I really should just go to sleep. blah... Is it really the beginning of another week already!?

Hello...

Whoops! I haven't updated this thing in awhile...sorry folks...I guess I was just so excited when David got home and then I've been a bit busy since then too. He got home late on Monday evening and I was soooooo happy to see him. They drove straight through from Tulsa and were a bit tired when they reached OR. He was glad to be home too, but said it was a good trip. He's got pics and stories if anyone is interested in hearing about the work they did sometime.


So what else has been going on? I've been working a lot and also attending sales training for my job. I got to go to Lori's wedding - it was really sweet. Tina was in it and bawled the whole time. hee hee I went to Tabitha and Coleen's dread party. It was my first experience dreading hair and it was pretty fun. I went to Amanda's house for dinner and she was a fabulous cook as always. David and I looked at some brand new apartments that we were interested in, but then we found out that they aren't allowing pets anymore. We really want a doggie, so that won't work for us. I had a dinner meeting for work and then went to Eric and Niki's to hang out. I had Friday off which was so nice! I needed a day off... David had a second job interview in the morning (he hasn't heard anything about it yet...) and then we went shopping downtown in the afternoon. It was nice to just relax and spend time together. We had dinner at Troy and Shauna's and then watched Sahara. Sadly, I was not able to keep my eyes open through the whole thing...

A Couple Katrina Pics

I got a couple more pictures from Long Beach (where David and his dad are now.) Just click the link: http://www.xanga.com/private/home.aspx?user=CRudey if you want to see them.

One Week Report

Well, David has been gone for a week now. I got ahold of some pictures from the area that they are working in. I have one of the pictures of the roof of the church building they are repairing on my Xanga site. http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=CRudey David said that this building has become the central distribution site for supplies to the city.

Two or three semi trucks drop off supplies there every other day or so. David and his dad have been going to the Red Cross tent nearby to get their meals, and the Salvation Army has set up showers for everyone to use. They have met other volunteers from Colorado, Chicago, and the surrounding southern states that are using the same facilities.

David said that one lady with a home in the neighborhood decided to go live with some of her friends and GAVE her house to another family whose home had been destroyed by a falling tree. David and his dad helped fix up her house for them. It's so incredible how generous the people are being down there! Oh, and David's oldest brother Don, who lives in San Antonio is bringing a truck load of wood over to them this evening since usable lumber is scarce where they are. Hopefully they will have enough to finish the work they want to accomplish while they are.

He and I

David's Update: He and his dad have been in Long Beach, Mississippi since Friday and they are staying in their camper there. They found a church in the area that is hosting work crews and is handing out food and water for at least 100 people daily (3 meals per day.) He says that people are starting to return to their homes and the work crews are helping them put things back together. He and his dad are starting by repairing the roof to the church where the food is being served. He says it has been really hot and muggy down there but he is doing okay and is enjoying helping people out.

Carrie's Update: My life hasn't been nearly as exciting... On Friday I had Coleen, Niki, and Shauna over for a girls' night. (Much easier to host without a husband around. ) On Saturday I had to work and then went with Jamie, Amanda, Roni, and a few other friends to the Sausage Festival in Vancouver. I did in fact eat a weiner, and also an elephant ear. No one would ride on the Zipper with me and I was bummed, but Jamie won me a stuffed pig at the Super Payloader game!

8 States in 3 Days!

A quick update about David's travels... He and his dad made it into Kansas on Wednesday night and then last night they were camped out near the Texas/Louisiana border. They should be in Baton Rouge today to start working, but I haven't been able to talk to David yet. I am excited to hear about the work they are doing.

My Good Man

Good thing David is unemployed right now. (Never thought I would say that!) The break in his employment gives him the chance to help out with the Hurricane Katrina destruction which is really exciting (and scary.) He and his dad left yesterday morning to drive down to Baton Rouge, and they will be spending a couple/few weeks down there helping with the relief efforts. It sounds like they will be mainly clearing debris, helping with rebuilding efforts, and handing out supplies. Several of our friends, family, church members, and the teens at Camp Yamhill this weekend made donations to help them fund their trip. Thanks so much to everyone who contributed!

I talked to David last night and they had made it into Utah. They were stopped at an RV park to spend the night. (They are taking Jim's truck and camper filled with all their tools and supplies for the trip.) They were both tired but looking forward to the work ahead of them. Please keep them in your prayers/thoughts/etc.

Changes

I am sorry to report that we did not make it to the top of Saddle Mountain this weekend. It was a three mile hike to the top and we made it just past halfway. It was a beautiful hike and lots of fun, but one of the girls in the youth group wasn't feeling well and we had to keep stopping for her. If we would have had more time, we might have been able to go up farther. The views on the the hike were amazing though, and I want to go back sometime and do the whole trail!

David has an interview for a job in Vancouver today. A friend from our church is a manager at a specialty gas company and David is applying to be a delivery/sales guy. Please say prayers/send happy thoughts/etc on his behalf! (For those of you who may not know, his youth ministry job with Central is ending this weekend after Faith Quest. They let him know about a month ago that financially, the church wouldn't be able to pay him after the summer. We were pretty bummed about it at first, but we plan to stay there and volunteer - we have really enjoyed working with the teens there and I think the group is finally starting to grow.)

David and I are also looking for a new apartment right now. The ghetto just isn't cutting it for us anymore. If you know of a place in the Mt. Tabor/Gateway/Central area that has two bedroom apartments at a decent price - let us know! (Oh yeah, and they have to have a washer and dryer hook-up, dishwasher, deck/patio, and allow small dogs - 'cause we really want to get one!)