I Heart My Home

On my first day off on Monday, I cleaned my house. It had been messy and dirty since we got back from Portland and it was driving me crazy, but I hadn't had any time to tidy it up until then. After I got done hanging up all the coats, organizing the mail, recycling the pile of newspapers, washing the dishes, doing the laundry, tidying the bedroom and cleaning the bathroom, I was able to bask in the glow of my cleaned house. And I realized, at that moment, how much I really do like our house. It's quirky and needs quite a bit of repair, but it's ours. It's home. After going 4 years without a "home" to speak of, it always feels nice to walk in our front (or back) door and know that I'm home. Not an apartment or dorm room that I will be moving out of at the end of the school year...home.

On a completely different subject, I'm so completely excited about this weekend. Nathan has taken this Friday off and we're getting up fairly early to head up to Anthony Lakes for the night. Who knows if it's going to be good skiing or not on Friday, but one of our friends has graciously let us use their cabin for the night. So if we go skiing on Friday, great. If not, we'll just sit in the cabin and relax all day. Maybe we'll rent some snowshoes and try snowshoing for the first time. On Saturday, we're planning to sleep in, laze around all day, and then head to the ski lodge to listen to the live music they're having that afternoon, after which we will head home.

On Sunday, I think we're going to try out a new church. Both Nathan and I got use to being a part of a relatively smaller church while we were in college. After moving here, we both found it kind of hard to get excited about going to the huge-for-Baker Nazarene Church that I went to with my parents while I was in high school. Nothing personal against people who go there, I just think Nathan and I prefer something smaller and more intimate. We're not sure where we're going to go yet, but we'll keep you posted.

Besides all that, the schedule that is my life is picking up again. Young Life has started again, we're signing kids up for summer camp, and we're getting ready for our Annual Fundraising Auction & Banquet that is on March 14th. SO much planning and whatnot to get done for that! Tonight several of us are getting together to video tape some skits for club that lead up to the skit that we're doing at the banquet.

I'm so incredibly excited to take kids to camp this July. Last summer at Malibu was phenominal, but I have been missing Wildhorse Canyon like crazy! But I can't believe I'm already planning days off in June and July! I have yet to schedule anything in August, but I know it's just a matter of time. I'm hoping to possibly put together a camping trip to Eagle Creek with a group of friends for the weekend of June 13th, but who knows if all the snow we've gotten in the mountains will be gone by then!

On top of that, Nathan and I are also planning a trip for the first week of June, to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. Last year's anniversary was fun, going to a Mariner's game up in Seattle with Nathan's dad. But this year, I have demanded that we take that time just for us, no one else, to relax and enjoy each other's company, no matter where it is. We were toying with the idea of going to the coast, but pretty much everything there is either booked up or rediculously expensive. So maybe Bend...