I feel old.

I feel OLD. No offense to all you real old people. ;)

But seriously!? Little Sydnee is 10! I absolutely cannot believe it. Sweet little baby Syd is now sweet big girl Syd. She has braces! And she carries on full on conversations about just about anything. She is in the 5th grade!

I remember talking with her about whether she hoped the baby in her mommy's tummy was a brother or a sister (don't get me started on the fact that baby Samuel is in KINDERGARTEN.) And we were JUST stomping ants in front of her house! (See blog circa 2006, sniff sniff.)

This is craziness to me. Am I the only one?

Fall so far...

You know what I love? Washington. Its so beautiful. All the time.

This Thanksgiving, like most of the ones in the past, we spent the holiday at Aunt Sandy and Uncle Bill's cabin. It was rainy, and sometimes there were snow flurries, but at least there was some snow on the ground!

We had amazing food, as per usual. And Leighton joined us this year! She is so sweet, and I loved just sitting with her and talking to her.

Excuse me ahead of time for this blog being a little scattered. I may jump back and forth between things. Any way, I made sweet potato fries for Ashton a couple weeks ago. They were definitely a crowd pleaser, as my roommates also stole quite a few. ;)

I just cut up the sweet potato (very hard to do, actually) and brushed it with oil, added a little salt and pepper, and baked in the oven until they browned. Much better than chips with lunch. :)

Moving right along, we some elves decorated Fox Hollow the other night. They brought tons of lights and stockings for every barista and they even watched Elf while decorating! Don't ask how I know that, its just a guess.

Like the elves, Orting has been busy decorating as well. I cannot express how much I LOVE driving through town under the Christmas lights. They are super old and the bells aren't centered but I love it. I don't think pictures can capture how perfect it really is.

One of my favorite things to do at Christmas is open my mom's box of ornaments. She has the most beautiful antique ornaments from my grandma, and maybe my great grandma, as well as silly ones from when I was little. Its so fun to look at each ornament and remember decorating the tree in years past. And I love waiting to find my very favorite one, which she actually GAVE to me this year! (The one in the bottom right that is minty green and says 'Merry Christmas!')

I also love making Christmas cookies. I usually do it twice. First at the beginning of December... just for fun. Then a second time right before Christmas as gifts for all my friends and family. :)

Mom came over one day when I had Ashton, and we made a TON of cookies.

Ashton had one, and he LOVED it.

I was really excited for Saturday. Why? I got to watch baby Cam again! I was his nanny from the time he was about 6 months old until he was almost 2! It was so cool to see him all grown up and talking! I'm used to talking to babies even when they can't respond, so I kept getting surprised when I would ask something and he would talk back! He is precious!

And lastly... I have developed a deep love for all vegetables. Its strange, but good. The other night, after watching the Grinch, I decided on going to Tacoma Boys. No matter that it was 12:30, they are open 24 hours! Thankfully Aaron came with me, because I might have fallen asleep driving home otherwise. Anyway, I love Tacoma Boys. And their vegetables. And yesterday I made mushrooms and broccoli and snap peas, all from Tacoma Boys, for lunch. If you've known me for any length of time, you would know this is not normal. But I guess I have a new normal?

Happy December!

Maybe its because I am always working. Or possibly its because I didn't have internet at my house for 6 months. Or perhaps its because my best friend now lives outside my bedroom door and whenever I have free-time, I usually spend it going on adventures with her. Whatever the reason, I have not been blogging.

When it comes to blog worthy stuff, I've done a lot. You know, like redoing furniture and decorating my house and building stuff and SEWING stuff and baking and cooking. But when it comes to taking pictures of it all and blogging about it so other people can see, I've definitely failed. And I feel terrible because many of my dearest friends live VERY far away and I want to keep them updated and reassure them that I am still alive and crafting.

So maybe my new year's resolution will be to blog more often? Probably not, because I NEVER keep resolutions. And actually, I never really make resolutions. So forget that.

I'm going to keep on living and blogging when I have a chance. So maybe tomorrow, next week, or next year.

Life in the PNW

And just like that, September is over. It flew by. Gone are the sunny, cool days and the newness of school. Now begins the gloomy, rainy, muddy weather for the next 7-8 months. Boots, scarves, jackets, hats, hot coffee, baking while it's raining out, pumpkin everything... I am overflowing with joy for these months.

Reflecting on the last few weeks, I am amazed at how good God is. I've been learning 2 Corinthians 12:9 first hand...

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

I have very few moments to myself, and they are usually spent sleeping. Otherwise I am working at Fox Hollow, making coffee for all the lovely faces of Orting. Or watching Ashton and playing with trucks and books and trains. Or doing endless homework and studying for Psychology and Apologetics. Or working at the high school, doing office work and talking to students and wishing it were my real job right now. Or running Maschhoff children somewhere... gymnastics, karate, school, Fox Hollow. :) I love all of these things, but there is absolutely no way I could do all of this on my own.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a worship night at Fox Hollow. It was the last time Mary, Sarah and I all worked together... bittersweet. :) I am so thankful for them in my life! We all went to high school together, each a year apart. I probably wouldn't have been close with them if it weren't for Fox Hollow, but now I can't imagine life without them! [Super cheesy, I know.] I used to think Mary was shy, but I know different now. She is honestly one of the funniest people I know. And Sarah is just plain wonderful. I will miss working with both of them, but I'm not worried about not seeing them. We all love crafting too much to stay apart. ;)

Speaking of crafting and September, I have been dying to have Scrabble magnets. I think they are the coolest thing ever. Well... Mary and Sarah made me a set for my birthday! I was so surprised and so happy! I went to Ikea with Gram like I do every year for my birthday, and I bought a white magnetic board for the letters. The verse I have up on it in the picture is Psalm 27:14. :)

Lastly, a picture of my sweet hometown. Pam makes fun of me because I am always in awe of Mt. Rainier. It is so beautiful! This picture is like a perfect fall day. Cloudy and cool but the mountain is peeking out! I love it!

Septembers.

My years always start in September. January is cool for everyone else, but its just how I've always marked my years. Its probably because that's when I was born. Or because school always feels like the beginning of the year... who knows.

Something I am really thankful for is that I started blogging so long ago. Sure... my first posts from back in the day are little annoying. I cringe reading some of them, and laugh at others. My spelling mistakes are ridiculous. And the things I thought were funny or interesting are surely not. But having my blog is a cool way to watch how I've grown over the years.

September 2006:

My senior year in high school. I had my little teal Pontiac and a ton of classes with Mr. Tarry. 3 out of 5, actually. My very best friends were Katy and Talicia. I'm pretty sure Katy and I had all the same classes.

September 2007:

I lived in Alabama. I didn't blog a lot for two reasons, I had school and a job. It was my first job, at Starbucks, and I loved it. The beginning of my coffee career! I said something about not having that real 'home feeling'. I think that has something to do with that age and stage in life.

September 2008:

Ah, 2008. My first year of my twenties. I worked at Forza and made about 5,000 new friends. I spent my days making coffee and my nights running around Puyallup like we ran the place. This was also the September that my precious Pontiac got crushed. Not by my doing, of course!

September 2009: (I didn't have a blog post in that September, WEIRD)

Probably my hardest year thus far in my life. I lived in Georgia for half of the month. My new car was smashed, I got two annoying tickets, I was homesick... but I grew a lot. God used that time in my life to really strengthen my relationship with Him, and to learn to trust Him fully.

September 2010:

This was another slightly hectic year. I had been a full-time nanny for almost a year at this point, and was feeling like I had no social life. Spending 12 hours a day with two boys who cannot talk, and no other human interaction... was really taking a toll on me. But this is also when I started to really enjoy antiquing and crafting and baking. And I took full advantage of naptime by doing all those things while the boys slept!

So that brings us to the present. September 2011. My life is full of biking and coffee making and school and nannying and younglife. I love every minute of it. God has blessed me with amazing people to work and live with. I'm sure I'll have a better reflection of this September in a few years, when I have more time to process it all. ;)