FUN TIMES

Cali was great! Wade & Evie were wonderful hosts. They made us feel so welcome. And they fed us like we were kings and queens! Their home is very inviting. We visited a ton, which was nice, especially for me, because with the exception of Alanna, I didn't know Greg's siblings very well. We played games, watched movies, took walks, played with Chloe, the dog, and hung out. Simple. Relaxed. Family. Beautiful.

WHAT'S THE HAPPS?

Wow. Has it really been almost 2 weeks since my last blog?? A few updates:
WEIGHT LOSS: I'm in the 280s now! Woo hoo! Granted, it's 289.4, but I'll TAKE IT! I'm still going to the gym a couple of times a week, and ice cream is still a weakness for me.

SINGING: What a weekend of singing I just had! Saturday, I sang The National Anthem at the American Heart Association's annual Heart Walk. That was really fun. There were about 3000 people there, and the weather was beautiful. Sunday, I sang a solo in church. It was a song that I had wanted to sing ever since I first heard it 5 years ago. I also sang on the worship team. So much fun!

MY CHRISTIAN WALK: The sermon yesterday was really good, which was a nice contrast to what felt like a beating up during the week. I think satan tries to get us down sometimes and we get in trouble when we start to believe the lies. Yesterday, the lies were set to the truth and I found some peace. I love the song we closed with, "I Surrender All." Even though I don't "have what they have" (they, meaning those who have babies, a house, a high-paying job, more money than me, etc), I can rest in Jesus & give all my worries to Him. My job is to be faithful to what He asks me to do (in His still, small voice). The results are up to Him. Listening for him. That's what I'm working on this week.

TRAVEL: We are getting ready to go down to California this weekend to spend time with all the Kammer siblings. I'm a little nervous just because we'll be doing a lot in the water and my body is not where I want it to be. But, I'm not going to let that stop me from having fun and being myself.

I hope you readers are doing well and recovering from our heatwave (if you're in the Portland area, you know of what I speak!). Life is good.

SOMEONE'S PHISHING!

Argh! Someone has hacked into my hotmail account and hacked me right off! I hate that! They did this a couple of weeks ago, too. And it's someone whose 1st language is not English so then I worry that I'm unknowingly getting involved with some Nigerian bank scandal. Ugh. So if you get an email from me that A.) isn't written with proper spelling or grammar, and/or B.) is recommending you go to a web site for products or services, and/or C.) has a ton of people on the "cc" list, PLEASE DELETE IT! And then run a virus scan.

I'm taking measures to make sure this doesn't happen a third time. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience. Hopefully, the only thing these phishers will catch is my wrath!

A Weekend of Ups & Downs

Friday night, Greg and I went down to Salem to meet Kristen & Matt, who were in Salem for Matt's graduation. It was fun! I swear - we drove around Salem for an hour just looking for a cool place to go. It was late - about 10:00 - so after we didn't find anything cool, and after Greg had stopped at Rite Aid to ask where stuff was (it ended up being closed so it was no help at all), we ended up at good ol' Shari's. They didn't disappoint, meaning the Shari's experience was as weird as it usually is. We wanted to toast Matt's graduation so we did, but with PLASTIC cups. Then, we were sitting there in a deep conversation, and the waitress comes over with a huge garbage can and a hose, leans down right by Matt and Greg's feet, plugs in the hose, and starts vaccuuming! Kristen could NOT stop laughing. From there, we went to Winco to get some medicine for Kierra. The ONLY reason I mention something as exciting as a stop to Winco is because I started taking pictures in the store, despite Matt's objections. He was like, "Seriously? We're in the grocery store." I go, "Well, I'm sorry. I take pictures of what we're doing and this is ABOUT as exciting as our evening has been!" We all laughed.

Saturday, we celebrated Damian's 5th birthday. There were about 20 people there. Scott planned the games (pinata, jedi training, and treasure hunt) & Tae-Ja and her mom did an awesome job on the food!

The rest of the weekend was tough for me. Greg and I were going to take a pregnancy test today, May 5th, but by the 2nd, it was clear we would not need to. I was fine with it until I sat behind a newborn baby in church. We ended up leaving before the sermon began. Then, I saw babies everywhere: the library, the grocery store, etc. So that made for a hard day. But thanks to Greg and Kelly, I'm feeling better today. Greg always talks me down from my ledges. And Kelly gave me a little gift bag with spa goodies in it. She also invited me over & it was so great because she set up a foot bath for me and we gave ourselves pedicures & facials & watched The Office. It was a "tiny piece of heaven" as Hezzy says. Today is a new day, and God is still God. He knows what the plans are for our family. I trust in Him.

FUZZY BRAIN

It's Thursday morning. Wish it were Friday. 7:55 is too early to be thinking, let alone too early to have been at work for an hour already. Got a lot on my mind. Got God on my mind. Justice and mercy. Mercy and justice. I hope I have more mercy than justice. Got friends on my mind. We all have struggles. Pray for one another. Be there for one another. There is power in sharing troubles. There is power in fun. Have fun today! That's my goal. And I'll get right on it just as soon as I wake up.