Here's to 27!

Hard to believe it's been a decade since I was 17 years old...but it's true. I think 17 was my favorite birthday year...I fell in love that year, perhaps that's why ;) And the guy I fell in love with at 17 is now my husband and he is still making me feel special 10 years later. I am reminded every single day how blessed I am to be his. Just look at what a fun, birthday surprise he had planned...


A birthday dinner at my favorite restaurant!



Then, we were off for another birthday surprise...

A visit to see ZooLights at Point Defiance Zoo!




I sure do love this fella!


They were so pretty =)


My favorite little spot of the night


Then we got to this little spot where there was a bench for sitting and admiring and we started to walk past it, when I noticed my husband was smiling from ear to ear. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was going to get down on one knee and pop the question! So I asked him what was up and we sat down on the bench, when he gave me the most beautiful Christmas present...

Now, the picture I took didn't come out well, so I borrowed this one, but I just love it! It's so beautiful and I'm so lucky to have such a thoughtful husband =)


Then a very nice stranger offered to take our picture...a nice variation from the self-portrait =)

After we said goodbye to the zoolights, it was time to go home so I could finish packing for my trip home. After spending most of the day in airports and on airplanes, I was so happy to have a little welcoming committee meet me in New Orleans. Mom, G, Jared, and Zack were all smiles when I finally arrived. And I was also thankful to have a little help with my luggage.


Zack excitedly grabbed my first bag and said "I got this one Kitty. I'm driving this one." And he took off with it =)


And Jared grabbed the other one!


But this suitcase came with a special label...or should I say a special warning sign!


Zack even tried to load it into the car for me =)

So we all loaded up, stopped for dinner, and then went on to good ol' Mississippi. The next was a special day for me because I got to celebrate my birthday with my family (minus my sweet hubby). I spent the day shopping and having lunch with my Mom and little sis. Then, Dad had suggested we go out to eat at a place called Swamp Bottom for dinner...so we did and boy, was it de-lic-ious! And of course, no birthday is complete without one of these...


My 27th Birthday Cake!


Yay for 27! I've always preferred the odd numbered years anyway...not sure why, they just seem like more fun =)


Blowing out my candles and making my wish!

Now, I know you aren't supposed to tell your wishes, but I am going to break that rule. As I blew out my candles, I wished for my Dad to get his health back and for his cancer to go away. The day after my birthday, I left with Mom and Dad for Dad's next checkup at M.D. Anderson. Unfortunately, my wish has not yet come true because we found out today that Dad's cancer is no longer stable and his chemotherapy has stopped working. This means his tumors have grown and he will start a new chemotherapy in January. It was definitely not the news we wanted, but it's the news we were given. I am still trusting God with my Dad, I always will, but it's still difficult to process. No little girl, no matter how old, wants to see her Daddy weakened or anything less than the strongest man in the world. So I will continue to hope...continue to pray...and continue to trust in the One who is forever in control. And of course, I'll spend every birthday wish I have hoping for a miracle.

My 20 Year Old Confession

I once was a mega-fan.

I had the albums (cassette tapes at the time). I had the VHS concert tapes. I had the apparel. I was even in the official fan club.

All for these guys...

I think it's the only time in my life when I was a mega fan of any kind of band...but I was serious...and I was also 7 years old.

In fact, when I started 1st grade in 1990, this was my lunch box...

However, I didn't get to keep it very long because it quickly became the talk of my conservative, private, Christian school and they made me cover the front of it with stickers...still a sore subject with my Mom to this day, ha!

My cousins and I would get together for sleepovers to watch this tape over and over

And here's my dorky confession (but remember, I was a mega fan)...each of us had our favorite NKOTB...and we would sit so close to the tv watching this tape, just waiting for our favorite to have a close up shot so we could make kissy faces at the screen. I told you we were serioius =)

I wanted so desperately to see NKOTB in concert, I could hardly stand it. But tour after tour, they didn't come close to south Mississippi...until on year, they were going to be in Baton Rouge and my aunt was going to take her daughters and had invited me!! I'm not sure I've ever wanted anything so bad in my life...all 7 years of it. But ultimately, I wasn't allowed to go because the concert was on a Saturday and they would spending the night, meaning I would miss church on Sunday, which was definitely not allowed in my house. I cried...and cried...and cried.

But thank goodness dreams never die, because on July 8, 2011, 20 years after being denied the chance to see my favorite band, I'll be seeing these fellas at the Tacoma Dome!

Now to be honest, I could really care less about the BSB...they are my sister's favorites and the boy band of her generation, but they are definitely not the reason why I'm going. I just can't wait and am already feeling like the seven year old mega fan again!

And don't worry...this concert is on a Friday...and I won't be missing church =)

Moving On...

It seems like only yesterday that we celebrated our first monthly Life Church service at Forza. But it wasn't yesterday...it was September 13, 2009.

And it also seems like only yesterday that we had our first baptism service...but it was actually May 2, 2010.

However, it was only yesterday that we celebrated our last meeting in Forza.


Forza will forever be special to us. It will always be our beginning place, our starting point for publicly reaching out to the people of DuPont for Christ. We miss it already, but are so very excited about what God already has planned for our next chapter. This coming Sunday we will have our first service in our new location, Chloe Clark Elementary School. It will also be our first service with our expanded church family and I just can't wait!!

Here are a few images of our last Sunday gathering in Forza...


The last song...


The last welcome...


The last sermon...


The last Forza crowd...

And of course, I can't forget our last setup for Life Kids at the Rubber Room.


But all of this just means that next week, we'll have a lot of new "firsts" and that makes me excited!

"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." Ephesians 3:20

Thanksgiving in Portland

Instead of a traditional Thanksgiving this year, we opted for an adventure in Portland! We went to Portland to celebrate our second anniversary in 2009 and loved it...so much that we decided to go back for another adventure. So Thursday morning, we headed for Oregon with our friends Mark and Tifaney.


Here we are in Portland!


But our first stop was for a Thanksgiving Dinner at Denny's. It felt just like we were in a holiday movie...the one where the turkey gets all burned up and the entire family has to go out to dinner instead =)

New York isn't the only place with a Macy's Thanksgiving Parade...

Portland Macy's has their own little version.






Enjoying the parade


Even Santa made it the parade!

And just for Mr. Darron, I took this picture...

That's a lot of Ralphie's! =)

After the parade, we did a little walking to Chinatown.


But it wasn't very exciting, so Derek started looking for a new place to check out.


Where to next, hon?

So we did a little walking and found this cool mural

It is a weird place, fun, but definitely strange...hmmm...maybe that's saying something about why we love it so much!


We jumped in line with some others for a delicious treat...


Portland's famous VooDoo Donuts!


The motto here is..."Good things come in pink boxes"


Look at all those crazy toppings!


And here's our very own VooDoo Dozen...when you order a VooDoo Dozen, they pick them for you, and we were quite pleased with their selection.

Once we had our donuts, we enjoyed a little Black Friday shopping around town. I especially enjoyed the shopping because Oregon is completely TAX-FREE! That's right, no tax on any purchase, yay! In the midst of our day we opted for a movie matinee and then onto a little more shopping.

Once night fell, we headed to Pioneer Square, along with 10,000 other people for the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.

Beautiful Christmas Tree


Here we are with the tree, although you can't see it very well.

You've probably heard about this tree ceremony...as it turns out, this ceremony was the target of a terrorist attack over a year in the making. Thankfully, the FBI caught on to it back in 2009 and had been stringing the plotter along. He had a van of explosives near the ceremony, but they had planted him with a fake detonator, and as soon as he attempted to set off the explosives, they arrested him. We had no idea that anything was going on until we heard it on the news back in our hotel room. Talk about scary! Every time I think about it, I get chills. Praise God that the attack was prevented and 10,000 plus lives were saved, including ours. We are so incredibly thankful!

Saturday morning, we were headed home and decided to take a little detour to stop at Multnomah Falls.

It is gorgeous!


I really wanted to make the short climb to the bridge, but it was freezing and I was getting wet from the wind blowing the falls as it was, so this was as close as I came. Maybe next time I'll get to make that climb.


And here we are with Mark and Tif for one last picture at the waterfall. I'm so glad we got a chance to spend a few days in Portland with such great friends...we have so much to be thankful for!

We Were All Snowed In

We woke up on Monday morning to this gorgeous winter, or should I say fall, wonderland...

Just look at that beautiful blanket of snow!


Then a sweet family of deer decided to join us

I have to say, I certainly didn't mind being stuck inside. This is what I saw to my left...


This is what I saw right in front of me...


And this is what I saw to my right...

Not a bad day, wouldn't you agree? =)