Fall

I think fall colors are beautiful. The way the trees get painted golden yellow, bright red, pale orange, and so many other colors. Living this fall in a city with so many trees, the colors never end. Somet trees remain green but if you look at the landscape you see yellow, orange, and red dotted throughout the shades of green. It is really pretty. On my drive home from work there are some particularly pretty trees which have caused me distraction almost to the point of dirivng off the road as I admire their beauty.

In the past, I have always thought I disliked fall because it meant winter was coming and the temperature was dropping. I am a peculiar person in the fact that I think I am part cold-blooded so if the temperature is cold I am cold. For instance, my hands feel like little ice cubes right now typing away on the keyboard. They will probably not warm up fully again until April!!! I have just had to get used to that fact. But I have discovered the past few years how to appreciate the beauty of fall and now learning how to appreciate it in a city which is much different from fall in the country.

The country in fall not only looks of fall but smells of fall. You can smell the grapes ripening on the vine which is just heavenly! (I wish it was able to be bottled and sold as air freshener!) You can smell the colder air and the crisp smell of the leaves falling off the trees. I don't know how to explain it, but somehow it has a smell to it. Plus the smell of apple crisp, apple pie, apple butter, baked apples, applesauce...........on and on. (Boy, how much can you make with apples). These smells are comfortable to me knowing that winter is coming and people will go home and spend time with their family sitting around a fire, drinking warm drinks, and connecting. At least that is my picture of the holidays and I hope it to be true for most people.

Fall in the city is turning out to be different not only from the smells (mostly car exhaust) but also of what I view people's lives to be like. Driving home yesterday, I drove through downtown and the people were all in a hurry to reach their destination or get home or just cross the street without getting hit. They spend more time working, more time commuting, and less time with their families. This is a big generalization I know, but overall there is less time spent at home becasuse of the commute issues and working long hours. Not to say that the holidays can't be the same in the city as anywhere else but there are defnitly differences.



I like living in a new place and learning to appreciate new beauty - knowing that God has created all of it. I will leave you with this verse:
"let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the Lord..." Psalm 96:12-13

Addition

This is in response to a comment about my previous post from a wonderful, but somewhat misguided, friend.

Why root for the Cougs? Why all the fans? What is the attraction?

Because they are THE COUGS! Because it is Washington State University. That is what we do. We are Cougars.

For proof, one needs just to look at the Pac-10 standings. Who is above Oregon State right now?

That's what I thought............ ;)

GO COUGS!

I am so pumped up to attend the Cougar Football Game this Saturday. They will be taking on the Oregon Ducks - with the highlighter yellow jerseys - extra bright so you can see them get trampled on the field. ;)
Since moving to Portland, I have become somewhat of a rebel - living in Duck & Beaver country. I mean Beaverton? Silly name for a town if you ask me. But I do not care about all of this - I proudly wear my cougar clothes and drive around with my alumni license plate cover.
WSU was just a great place to go to school - I can't explain it but the school spirit there is something special. Especially in the fall. There is nothing like standing around for two hours (after being up half the night partying with the alumni in the parking lot turned RV park) and rushing into the stadium (after first removing all lids from water bottles, having your backpack searched, and getting a free pack of sunscreen that is hardly enough to cover your nose) only to find that you have to wait in ANOTHER line to get to the student seating section. WHAT?
After the hassle of getting to your seat, you sit around for two more hours counting down until kickoff. Kickoff is the best! The band playing, the crowd yelling, keys jingling, the Cougs running out on the field - no other experience.
And of course nothing beats Glen Johnson's voice over the speakers - "and that's another Cougar First Down"! Take of all of this plus Butch, cheers, screaming fans, high fives, the marching band, $5 water, $8 pretzels and you have the best Saturday experience you can imagine!!
So, anybody want a ticket?

I'm Engaged!

Wow, I cannot even believe that this is true. Chris & I are engaged. I'm reminded of it whenever I look at the beautiful ring on my finger. It seems so strange to think about being married, in the role of a wife, Chris in the role of a husband.
It is so foreign but so exciting at the same time. I have been thinking and dreaming and wishing for this day for such a long time - always a little envious when I heard another friend who became engaged and now that day has finally come. I'm not sure how to feel, what to think, how to act, what to do first.................but I suppose all of that comes in good time.

The Lord prepares us in such good ways for these things. For me, really teaching me patience and trust in Him and His plan for my life. I want our wedding and our marriage to glorify God and show others His great love for us. That is a big desire of my heart.
What a sweet time, I feel so loved by the Lord and by Chris and by all of our friends who share in this excitement. :)

One Month!

Ok so my one month anniversary of living in Portland was September 26th and my first anniversary of working was October 5th so I thought maybe I should evaluate how life in Portland is going. Here is a list of my likes and dislikes. Enjoy!!

Likes:
-working for Campus Crusade in the Regional Office
-Starbucks
-Chiptole
-The Ugly Mug (cool coffee shop in Sellwood)
-The Rose Garden
-Tiffany - my roommate
-polite drivers (yes there are some!)
-Washington Square Mall being only 10 minutes from my house!
-working above the Columbia Outlet Store
-helping plan Collide - our CCC Northwest Winter Conference
-living close to the beach
-seeing the sunset colors from Skyline Blvd
-walking to Coldstone to get ice cream and burning off the calories before eating them!
-the bridges - especially the Steel, the Broadway, the Fremont, and the Sellwood Bridges
-the provision God has given me to live here

Dislikes:
-too many traffic accidents
-cell phone dead spots in my apartment complex
-rude drivers
-seeing so many homeless people downtown
-one-way streets
-no left turn except for buses (what's the deal with that, maybe I should buy a bus)
-crazy bikers


All in all, I have enjoyed my first month here. It has been a great learning experience but it has been a good one. My job has been so interesting getting to see the inner workings of this organization that I was involved with at WSU. It's so great to come to work every day knowing that the people I work with have hearts that burn with a desire to see college students come to Christ and then serve Him for the rest of their lives. I am so lucky to have this opportunity and to have so many people backing me in this venture through financial and prayerful support and love!