beach cruiser.

i really want one.
with fenders and a basket.
to ride around downtown all summer long.
i shall save all may and june, and maybe then i can afford one!

take a hike!

monday was my day off and i got to hangout with two of my high schoolers: jodi and whitney. we met at my place in the afternoon then headed to silver falls. the drive out there is SO pretty - just tons of postcard-ready-country. and the weather was amazing! sunny and warm which is a miracle here.

we got there around 3:45 and hiked the canyon trail - takes about an hour and a half. we went behind two falls, had some great conversation, and even got whitney to put a millipede on her face (she'll do anything for a dollar!).



i loved the scenary, i'm such a sucker for nature. the view and hike was great too. but most of all i just loved getting to know those girls better. i truly believe they will both change the world one day, they're seriosuly that gifted and incredible.

how cool that i get to do this with my life... i am so lucky.

i love my life.

seriously.

i just made the best dinner and followed two recipes at once!
fancy too...

crispy breaded cod with parmesean cheese dipping sauce, creamy mashed potatoes, and steamed carrots.

oooo la la.

plus the new grey's is on in an hour.

it doesn't take much, huh?

ohana means family.

man alive, i had such a great weekend! first my bf came wednesday til today and it was lovely to be re-united. i love matt more than anything in the whole wide world, even fried chicken or rootbeer. and that's saying a lot.

so then saturday lisa and stephen came into town and got to stay at my apartment!! i was very excited. they're so easy to be around, just a lot of fun and laughs.

also, i had my first teaching in flipside over the weekend.

the topic?
dating and relationships. (what a doozie for a first time!)

that went pretty well even though i was so nervous that my notes majorly shook in my hands.

the highlight of course was my accidental play on words when talking about the power of sex. i meant to say that there's always a catch when something is so great and powerful, but instead i said, "there's always a but when it comes to sex." i caught myself before anyone else could, which only made it funnier. i wish i could be funny on purpose.

anyway, here's some of my faves from the weekend:

bowling... matt and stephen were pals all weekend! it was almost like they were the ones dating, what a cute couple.


stephen is almost the best bowler i know, only lisa has first in my book on account of her hop throw, strike/spare action, and 103 score!

here's how you can tell we're sisters: i'm holding lisa's wrist like only a sister would.

isn't she so cute?? (i took that picture - thanks. set the shot up and everything.)

last but not least, we went to the end of the oregon trail today and omg was it lame. don't ever go there. no matter what anyone tells you. its bad. but we still made fun of it by pretending we were settlers with bonnets. and ps. covered wagons are so much smaller in real life! not at all like you'd think or imagine in fourth grade!

i love my family and my matt. and i love getting to share oregon with them all together. these are the kind of memories i will sit and treasure on those days when i get homesick.

District Conference

i'm at a conference for the denomination of the church i work for over the next few days. salem alliance is the church and the christian and missionary alliance (CMA) is the denomination. they divide their churches up into districts then have conferences that bring all the church leaders together every so often for vision casting, business time, and getting to know each other. there are 22 geographic districts and 8 ethnic districts in the US.

our district is made up of all the pacific northwest regions. and our conference is in portland this week.

well its pretty overwhelming to walk into a place where all the pastors and youth pastors and such of all the churches in oregon, washington, some of idaho, and alaska are hanging out together. so i get a little wierd. but i do have brian (the pastor i work with), michelle and josh (the middle school pastors) to cluster with so i don't feel so awkward.

anyway, today as we were checking in and what-not i looked up to see the president of the CMA in front of me. someone had pointed him out to me before and i was so excited. i tried to sneak a quick shot of him from behind with my camera phone only he turned right around and caught me!!



so in embarassment i did what any self respecting girl would: i looked down and pretended to be texting someone. only he decided to walk over and ask, "so how'd that work out for you?" only to get a deer-in-the-headlights look from me. graciously he turned to michelle and said, "why don't you take a picture of us together?" and i was so so happy. he even put his arm around me!! we looked like such pals.



so i made it my wallpaper and showed everyone at dinner. my supervisor and senior pastor were both so impressed and everyone mostly laughed at how star struck i was. then steve (my boss) said i should try to take a picture with all the big wigs of the CMA / our district before the conference was over.

I mulled the challenge over as I listened to the current District Superintendent (the guy in charge of all the pastors and churches) talk in our first session. He has served in that role for 8 years or something and is now moving on to something else. So this was his last word / talk to all the pastors. It was a really cool thing to listen to (especially since he's from New Zealand and has a rad accent).

well at the end, there was a recieving line (the guy and his wife stood by the door and shook people's hands) before we got dessert. i decided to take up steve's challenge to the "Big Cheese Scavenger Hunt" and asked michelle to take my picture with them:



they totally said to everyone earlier on stage that they weren't going back to New Zealand yet, but of course I was whispering to michelle and missed this fact. So after the shot, I said, "Good luck in New Zealand!"

the whole thing cracked josh and brian up (but brian more cause he had tears coming down his cheeks after we told them the story). he thinks i should make trading cards once i get all the guys.

so two down, only a few more to go!

on my list:
the president of simpson
the new district superintendent
and maybe some of the committee-official-looking guys.

christmas in april?

this was the view outside my window yesterday morning...






snow was falling and sticking to the roof-tops, trees, and cars.

as soon as i noticed i got super excited and told matt all about it saying, "it's just like christmas!!"

he was quick to question whether christmas was appropriate for april.

which in turn caused me to wonder, "where in the heck do i live again?"

Oh yeah, freezing cold OREGON!

just last saturday i was literally sweating in shorts!

i tell you what, if this absurdity continues I'm about to put up lights and play carols to help my mood.

i blame global warming.

light therapy.

so there's this idea in the world today that based on where you live latitudinal-ly, you may or may not suffer from seasonal depression (also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder which ironically shortens to SAD). basically the less sun you see, the more inclined you are to sleep more, eat more, and all around be bummed. there are two theories for why: either your internal clock is off or the chemicals in your brain are imbalanced without the stimulant of sunlight.

"1. With decreased exposure to sunlight, the biological clock that regulates mood, sleep, and hormones is delayed, running more slowly in winter. Exposure to light may reset the biological clock.

2. Brain chemicals that transmit information between nerves, called neurotransmitters (for example, serotonin), may be altered in individuals with SAD." (http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/2300/2361.asp?index=9293).

the major symptoms include:
1. Fatigue
2. Increased need for sleep
3. Decreased levels of energy
4. Weight gain
5. Increase in appetite
6. Difficulty concentrating
7. Increased desire to be alone

Light therapy, sometimes called phototherapy, is one possible solution to the problem. For the last 20 years companies have been creating "sun-in-a-box." A simple box that has bulbs bright enough to change your mood, sleep system, and energy levels. They use white fluorescent light tubes which are covered with a plastic screen to block ultraviolet rays (because UV essentially slowly kills you).

Amazingly, your eyes have special light receptors within them that are intricately linked to your brain's chemical producers. Not only that, these receptors are regulators of the circadian rhythms which control your sleep cycles. So by sitting in front of one of these lights for 30 minutes a day you can re-balance the sunlight you're missing during the winter.

Make sense?

Technology seriously astounds me sometimes. Never before has anyone been able to clinically diagnose being sad, chemically describe the reasoning for that diagnosis, then industrially create a solution for it.

We are incredible people.
We are have literally taken the 4 1/2 billion year old, 900,000 mile wide, 93 million mile away Sun, harnessed it's power and goodness, filtered out it's negative side effects, and finally used it to improve the quality of our days (http://www.hao.ucar.edu/Public/education/basic.html#howBig).

incredible.

In any case, I find myself struggling with 4 of the 7 symptoms listed for seasonal depression: I am continually tired, have been sleeping an extra two hours a night than usual, have trouble sleeping, and find it hard to pay attention. There are three options I have come up for this...

Option A - the stress of moving to a new place and starting my first full-time job.
Option B - it could be due to the fact that Oregon sees less sun-light than California and I work in a basement without windows.
Or Option C - a combination of the two. New climate + New people, places, demands = SAD paula?

i'm not sure exactly, but i am researching and considering an investment in some "sun-in-a-box" to bring a little extra joy to this transition.

i shall keep you posted upon the results.