eastern washington, here i come

so, we're leaving for lake osoyoos in approximately 8 hrs. and i haven't packed a single thing, i have 6 or 7 cds to put on the ipod (not crucial, but it would be good to have), i have to get food/towels/brushes for the dog, do some chores that i apparently have to do before we leave (because people are going to be bothered by them while we're gone??), and here i am, writing a blog. i'm good at time management :)
i just had a really bad day today...except for around 9:00 this morning ;)
it's just been really stressful, and i just realized that i have to stop by the church in the morning before we leave and turn in my time card because i forgot today in all of the fluster.
anyway, the main point of this post is to inform you that i'm gonna be gone until labor day weekend, and also to post some pictures of my newly painted room :)
i LOVE it! sara helped me paint and we had a really good time. then, after the painting was done we decided to clean all of the junk out of my room. i ended up throwning away to black garbage bags full of junk. just weird stuff that i didn't even remember having. anyway, here are the pictures:






there it is! when i get back i will put up some pics of my new dresser and duvet cover :)
i'm really happy with how my room turned out.

i'm sure i'll have stories about eastern washington when we get back.

pictures!

I did it! i'm posting pictures!


the part of the river next our campsite

a big log jam

the bridge

sandy swimming

beau chased the stick too

one of the best pictures- we really were falling over
sandy totally won!



so there are my best pictures. some of the others didn't turn out well.
i really want to get a new camera that has a WAY better zoom and a WAY bigger view screen.
i also want to get a good photo program on our computer so i can edit the pictures.


(maybe a camera that takes film so that i can order a ton of film and not get it on time and then UPS can ___________!!! right beckles?)

Rained out

As you probably know, my family has been camping for about a week. i didn't really want to be there for the majority of the time, but i did enjoy being outside and at the river. i also enjoyed being able to drive into town on my own. since i didn't really want to be there, i used this privelege a couple of times.
beau came out to stay with us for a night. this was extremely tiring, but he had a lot of fun. i taught him how to skip rocks, which i am very proud of. i really like teaching little kids new things and seeing how excited they get when they can do it. (probably why i want to be a teacher...) i took beau on a pretty good bike ride for a 5 year old. we also went floating down the river in our little boat, after which we got into a splash fight. i won.
as i said in my last post, i am trying to take more pictures of everything i do. so i did take some pictures of the river. i don't know how they turned out yet, but hopefully i'll post them soon.
i also had rachel out to the campsite to spend the night. that was great. we haven't hung out all summer and it was really good to catch up.
i slept in the trailer last night because of the rain and the lack of knowledge about the rain fly/how to assemble it. i borrowed .justin and kristi's tent because my got lost (any help?) and i couldn't figure out how to get the rain fly on, so it let a little bit of water through the sides. it was quite a surprise the first night after it rained to climb into my tent and put my hand in a puddle...
anyway, i slept in the trailer from then on and this morning i was awakened by my parents talking- one of the most annoying ways to wake up! they were talking about the rain and decided it was time to come home because the weather wasn't getting any better. all of this was fine with me, except for the fact that it was 8:35 and they decided then was the time to get up, get dressed, and go out in the rain to retrieve all of our things and pack up. thankfully they let me stay in bed for a little while longer, but then i had to get out of the coziness and pack up all of the wet things outside. not enjoyable.
all of that to say, that for one of the first times i can remember, the rain has actually chased us away from camping.
we're leaving on saturday for eastern washington where there is bound to be more dependable weather...i hope. i'm really excited for the fresh fruit over there.
i think i'm gonna be painting my room on wednesday or thursday. my dad and i are going to buy the paint tonight. i'm pretty excited, but that does mean i have to clean my room...lame. i do enjoy having a clean room, but it's just a lot of trouble for something that i know will only stay clean for a week (if even that).
[mom- you are not allowed to make any comments on that last part :)]

sorry if i rambled a lot in this post...i really have no idea what i said.

here i sit...

i just visited holzgrove.com...which all of you need to visit. the pictures are fun and the movies are fun too :)

i have a lot going on right now and for the next few weeks.
summer's almost over, but i'm just now starting to do stuff.
my family is leaving to go camping tomorrow afternoon.
we're going to schaffer state park. it's in elma [or at least close to elma].
we go there every year. it's a great place full of tradition and memories. i'm pretty excited to go, but now that i work i'm going to be coming into town early with my dad almost every day.
i'm really excited that i can drive now though. it gives me more freedom to come into town or stay out there.
i'm going to be having some of my friends come and spend the night with us while we're camping. that'll be really fun. i love to show people the place that i feel like i practically grew up camping at.
before my friends come out to camp, we are all going to paint my room :)
i'm painting two walls green and leaving the other two white.
i got a new dresser at ikea which i'm also really excited about. it's a really dark brown, almost black, color that will look awesome with the green wall.
i also got a new douvet [sp] cover for my comforter. it's double sided and is black and white.
i'll take a picture of my whole room when it's finished...maybe a before and after shot?
i can't wait. i've been wanting to paint my room for a long time and now i'm finally going to do it :)

the green one on the top row is the shade of green i want it to be.
i still haven't bought the paint or found the paint chips, but this is a pretty good representation of the green i want.



after schaffer, my family [+judy?] is going to go to this lake in eastern washington.
it's called lake osoyoos. what a weird name...



this map can at least give you a general idea of where it is.
the lake is really shallow and pretty warm.
since it's right on the border of wa and canada, there's border patrol boats that go back and forth along the lake all day. it's pretty cool to watch.
the closest city is about 3 miles away, but it's really small. there are no restaurants or anything. it's mostly just antique shops and stuff.
canada is about a 20 min. drive away from the place we camp, so we usually take a day trip to canada.

i'll have to put up some pictures of our new trailer for everyone to see. it's pretty nice. especially when you compare it to our old one. i'll try to put a picture of it up too.
we definitely have a nice upgrade.

my goal for these camping trips is to take a lot of pictures.
we'll see how that goes.
i hate our camera, so i don't use it very often, but we'll see how i do :)

unconditional love

the Bible has a lot to say about love. in the concordance of the NIV Bible there are more than 335 references to love. i have been called to love all people, no matter what their situation, no matter who they are, no matter what they believe, no matter how hard it is. as christians, we have all been called to love these people. there are so many conditions that can keep people from loving others. it's ridiculous. some conditions seem worse than others, but they really aren't. in my opinion, those "conditions" are actually sins. and God has told his followers that no sin is greater than another and that we need to love the sick, poor, hungry, wretched, undesirable, sinners. love your neighbor as yourself. a common phrase for christians. sometimes a phrase that i stop listening to or reading because it is talked about almost too much, like a really good song you hear for the first time on the radio that you end up hating by the end of the week because you hear it too much. love your neighbor as yourself. love the sinners in you community. love the sinners in your church. love the sinners in your family. love the sinners in your country. love the sinners you work with. everyone is a sinner and deserves as much love as the person next to them. every outcast deserves as much love as the pastor of your church. unconditional love. love your neighbor as yourself. love those who have hurt you in the past. love the people that continue to hurt you as you read this. love is for everyone to give and receive, no matter what has happened or what will happen. jesus loved everyone he came in contact with. jesus loved the cripples, the diseased, the annoying, the smart, the nice, the happy, and the sad. there was no one who went unloved. why do humans look down on others? better yet, why do we as christians look down on others? why do we stop loving those who need it the most? why is it so hard to love the people who we have loved before, but have made a mistake and gone the wrong way? love your neighbor as yourself, no matter what the circumstances may be.

unconditional love.


i really needed that because i've been trying to love people who have hurt me in so many ways for a long time. i'm not saying that i am able to do all of those things i just talked about or answer all of the questions i just asked, but we all, as christians (or even non-christians) need to think about love and how every person on earth deserves love and compassion, even if they don't seem worth the time or energy.


i know i need help to love the people i "hate." i know i can't just simply love them all of a sudden. but i am willing to try my best.

my week...

it's been a while since i've posted a blog.



here's why-i will take you through each day:

Friday (last week):

• work @ 9:30am
• busy at work
• leave shelton @3:45
• go to kent/des moines
• see jeff
• pick up jeff
• get home late

Saturday:

• sleep in until 11:30 ( i hardly ever do this)
• help jeff get ready for his show
• go down to uracco @ 5
• get cords from the church
• listen to jeff play at uracco (7)
• go to faith/megan's for games until 1pm

Sunday

• get ready for church
• get coffee, listen to ipod
• go to second service
• drive to the mccombs @ 2pm
• hang out with kaylee/brendon/wyatt
• drive home
• sit and watch friends (i could have blogged at this time...)
• hang out with jeff

Monday

• hang out with the judah man at urraco
  
• get coffee/do madlibs
• drive to olympia with jon/jeff (a great time with just the 3 of us...hasn't happened in...ever?)
• get home from olympia @ 4ish
• prepare for bbq for jeff
• hang out with friends and family until everyone left

Tuesday

• work @ 12:30
• get off work and hang out with jeff
• eat a yummy dinner with just our fam.
• play some croquet
• watch "ewoks: battle for endor" (yes, you can laugh :)

Wednesday

• leave for the airport at 8am
• drop jeff off
• go to ikea
• get a new dresser and a cover for my down comforter
• go to camping world :(
• sleep in the car while mom and dad are in camping world
• drive home
• start housesitting for my aunt and uncle
• have friends over to spend the night with me

Thursday

• get up @ 10
• go to work @ 12:30
• get coffee after work
• drive home and see mom
• go back to my aunt and uncles
• hang out w/ faith and megan
• watch tv/play with the puppy
• sleep

so now you know my busy schedule and why i haven't been blogging recently.

by the way- i really like lists. it's easier to write, easier to read, and it takes a lot less time :)