After 108 days of being away, the day finally came. November 26th. as i wrote my last post i was in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport ready to board my plane to Oregon for 6 blissful days:)
What i feared the most did end up happening. *sigh* the 6 days flew by in the blink of an eye (<- look i made a rhyme!)
Wednesday morning dawned a beautiful oregon morning...of course because In Oregon there are NO ugly mornings!!:):)
Mom and I headed up to church to clean our half before Thanksgiving services on thursday. Id missed that little job! Mom and I have spent many mornings cleaning the house of the Lord and honestly its enjoyable:) CHristmas time can be kind of a pain what with all the glitter that gets brought in on all the little dresses and finds its way into every crevice of the building but it always makes for a good laugh:) The rest of the day was spent at home in the kitchen with mom preparing a thanksgiving meal. I had seriously such a fun time being able to A) actually bake and B) to have all the ingredients to make something decent!! Ahh the small things a broke college student learns to enjoy:)
Thursday morning dawned Thanksgiving day. It was so fun to be back in church with my Silverton church family! Just being able to look out across the pews and know every single person in the congregation was enough to bring a smile to my face:) After church mom, dad,evan, cam, brady and I headed out for the coast where we stayed at the Restless Surf in Yachats. For those of you not familiar with Restless Surf its our Oregon churches Cabin at the beach. So next time you fly or drive our way and want a night at the beach, you have a place to stay:)
Once we got the cabin mom and I cranked on the ovens and began to cook/warm up our thanksgiving meal. Honestly it was one of the best thanksgivings i can remember in a long time. Small and cozy, just how i like it:) Dont get me wrong i do love the ginormous Sinn holidays but there is nothing quite like celebrating thanksgiving with your immediate family for the first time ever. Friday morning Mom and I went shoppin! We didnt get to shop as long as we would have liked since we had the only vehicle and the boys were waiting back at the cabin to go fishing, but we still had fun! I forgot how much i missed shoppin with that wonderful lady!:) i sure do love my mamma:)
After Mom and I got back to the Cabin the boys didnt end up fishing, instead we drove the beach line as a family scouting for good fishing places for future trips:) Its a drive you cant get bored on unless your scrooge. I mean you drive miles and miles and see continuous sandy beaches, and crashing waves. how can u not enjoy it!? When we did end up getting back ti the Cabin, Ev went out to the rocks below the cabin and ended up catching 5 perch! Yummm:) They better wait till i get back to eat them!
On saturday after packing up, mom, dad and I went next door to visit Garth and Connie Steffen, an old couple from our Portland congregation who built a home 9 years ago next to the Church Cabin. They're such a cute couple! im really glad we took some time to visit them:) the rest of the day was spent in Depot Bay where the boys went shore fishing off the rocks and mom and I browsed through all of the little shops along the boardwalk there.
Im so thankful we were able to spend the time on the beach that we did, it was a sight for sore eyes! and i loved every moment of it!
Sunday was spent in the house of our Lord. It was so good to sit under the sound of Gods word with my family surrounding me. What a blessing. Another blessing was during the morning service when i got to hear Jim Zollinger our new minister in Silverton preach his 2nd service. I had Jim as a bible class teacher my junior and senior year and thoroughly enjoyed every moment. Hes such a kind and compassionate man with a gift of connecting. I always enjoyed listening to his lessons. After church I spent some time at Doug and Carolyn Staabs house. Doug and Carolyn are my next door neighbors who lost their son Michael this summer. Michael and I grew up together, and was my childhood best friend. There is hardly a day that goes by where i dont think about him, and memories of our childhood. It was so good to spend time with them, especially as we are into the holiday season and each of these "firsts" that they face is a struggle. Dont forget to add this loving family in your prayers!
Sunday evening was the all church caroling. One of my favorite things about the christmas season:) Bringing love and cheer for all to hear;)
Monday sadly was the day that i had to bid my family farewell and hop a few planes back to iowa. Back to *brrr* a shivering 20 degrees. 20 degrees which has now turned into the single digits! yikes! On the way to the airport Mom and I made a quick stop to our beloved Costco:) Costco trips with mom are the best!:)
What i feared the most did end up happening. *sigh* the 6 days flew by in the blink of an eye (<- look i made a rhyme!)
Wednesday morning dawned a beautiful oregon morning...of course because In Oregon there are NO ugly mornings!!:):)
Mom and I headed up to church to clean our half before Thanksgiving services on thursday. Id missed that little job! Mom and I have spent many mornings cleaning the house of the Lord and honestly its enjoyable:) CHristmas time can be kind of a pain what with all the glitter that gets brought in on all the little dresses and finds its way into every crevice of the building but it always makes for a good laugh:) The rest of the day was spent at home in the kitchen with mom preparing a thanksgiving meal. I had seriously such a fun time being able to A) actually bake and B) to have all the ingredients to make something decent!! Ahh the small things a broke college student learns to enjoy:)
Thursday morning dawned Thanksgiving day. It was so fun to be back in church with my Silverton church family! Just being able to look out across the pews and know every single person in the congregation was enough to bring a smile to my face:) After church mom, dad,evan, cam, brady and I headed out for the coast where we stayed at the Restless Surf in Yachats. For those of you not familiar with Restless Surf its our Oregon churches Cabin at the beach. So next time you fly or drive our way and want a night at the beach, you have a place to stay:)
Once we got the cabin mom and I cranked on the ovens and began to cook/warm up our thanksgiving meal. Honestly it was one of the best thanksgivings i can remember in a long time. Small and cozy, just how i like it:) Dont get me wrong i do love the ginormous Sinn holidays but there is nothing quite like celebrating thanksgiving with your immediate family for the first time ever. Friday morning Mom and I went shoppin! We didnt get to shop as long as we would have liked since we had the only vehicle and the boys were waiting back at the cabin to go fishing, but we still had fun! I forgot how much i missed shoppin with that wonderful lady!:) i sure do love my mamma:)
After Mom and I got back to the Cabin the boys didnt end up fishing, instead we drove the beach line as a family scouting for good fishing places for future trips:) Its a drive you cant get bored on unless your scrooge. I mean you drive miles and miles and see continuous sandy beaches, and crashing waves. how can u not enjoy it!? When we did end up getting back ti the Cabin, Ev went out to the rocks below the cabin and ended up catching 5 perch! Yummm:) They better wait till i get back to eat them!
On saturday after packing up, mom, dad and I went next door to visit Garth and Connie Steffen, an old couple from our Portland congregation who built a home 9 years ago next to the Church Cabin. They're such a cute couple! im really glad we took some time to visit them:) the rest of the day was spent in Depot Bay where the boys went shore fishing off the rocks and mom and I browsed through all of the little shops along the boardwalk there.
Im so thankful we were able to spend the time on the beach that we did, it was a sight for sore eyes! and i loved every moment of it!
Sunday was spent in the house of our Lord. It was so good to sit under the sound of Gods word with my family surrounding me. What a blessing. Another blessing was during the morning service when i got to hear Jim Zollinger our new minister in Silverton preach his 2nd service. I had Jim as a bible class teacher my junior and senior year and thoroughly enjoyed every moment. Hes such a kind and compassionate man with a gift of connecting. I always enjoyed listening to his lessons. After church I spent some time at Doug and Carolyn Staabs house. Doug and Carolyn are my next door neighbors who lost their son Michael this summer. Michael and I grew up together, and was my childhood best friend. There is hardly a day that goes by where i dont think about him, and memories of our childhood. It was so good to spend time with them, especially as we are into the holiday season and each of these "firsts" that they face is a struggle. Dont forget to add this loving family in your prayers!
Sunday evening was the all church caroling. One of my favorite things about the christmas season:) Bringing love and cheer for all to hear;)
Monday sadly was the day that i had to bid my family farewell and hop a few planes back to iowa. Back to *brrr* a shivering 20 degrees. 20 degrees which has now turned into the single digits! yikes! On the way to the airport Mom and I made a quick stop to our beloved Costco:) Costco trips with mom are the best!:)
So here i sit now with a belly full of warm vegetable soup that i threw together after school today. It wasnt that cold when we left the house this morning so like a dummy i left my winter coat at home. Ya...bad idea. I froze on the way home! so soup was the perfect solution to my chilled bones. The remainder of my day will now be spent sitting in this kitchen chair with 2 chapters of workbook to fill out and a text book in front of me to study from for tomorrows test. the # of tests that i have between now and dec 17th is astronomical!! i cringe just thinking about it :( bleh. but it will all be worth it in the end!!:)
God is good!!
Wishing you all many warm blessings in the remainder of this week!:)
God is good!!
Wishing you all many warm blessings in the remainder of this week!:)
Heres a little duck dynasty for your wednesday that will leave you smiling:)