Well, I can see that I have been neglecting this blog far too long - for a whole lot has happend since then, and yet at the same time not much at all. I'm still enjoying my job at McMinnville Montessori school while Seth works with his dad. A little over a week ago we had the pleasure of witnessing his sister Danielle marry Clayton Bedell in a private ceremony in a beach house on the Oregon coast. It was beautiful.

That same weekend we were able to celebrate an early Christmas with the Finley's at the beach house, which was really quite delightful.

We are now looking forward to (another) early Christmas with my parents and siblings and then an (actual) Christmas all on our own snowshoeing.

It has been a really good year for us, with a lof of changes and adjustments, and a lot of growing- which is always a good thing. I can't wait to see what's in store for us both!

My new life

Changes. Changes it seems have been my life as of late. Good changes, it's true, but changes all the same. On August 8th, 2009 I married Seth Finley, the love of my life. It was a beautiful wedding (what bride doesn't think her wedding was beautiful?) but we had a truly lovely time, it was great to see everyone who came out to celebrate with us, we were really blessed by all the people who were able to join us.
Afterwards we headed off to eastern oregon, idaho, washington and Nelson, B.C. and then back to Astoria, OR where we enjoyed a splendid couple of weeks relaxing and wandering about aimlessly. Such bliss. Coming home we have spent the last few weeks settling in as I started my new job as an assistant Montessori teacher in McMinnville and as the Mandate School started up again. (We are helping out with the Mandate school randomly this year - Seth is at this very moment off with the students on NIKO a five day outdoor leadership program.)
This was my third week at my job (first week with students) and I absolutely love it. I think it will be a really good fit for me. We are loving being in this community (Sheridan) and have settled nicely into our apartment. We even picked up a roommate - Dawna Jager, a great friend of ours. God has been faithfully providing for us, like always, and blessing us in so many ways. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us this next year!

Spring

Time is slowly starting to fly by. Sounds like a contradictive statement, I know, but what I mean is that while time seemed to drag by it's slowly picking up speed. Or something like that. It seems to me that just as cold winter days can seem to drag by hour by hour somehow spring days can sometimes seem to skip by all together in a blissful kind of way. Of course this is still Spring in Oregon, so this only happens every few days, but I will enjoy it anyway!
Also, as I find myself spending more and more time here in the Valley (that's the Willamette Valley for those of you folks who are a little confused by this termanolgy) spending time with friends and family (especially a particular someone) the time totally seems to be getting away from me! But with my wedding in just four months, I'm actually okay with time speeding along for once! Hurray!

Engaged!

So last weekend was pretty freakin' awesome, if I do say so myself. (smile!) I drove over to Silverton, Oregon for the leadership conference on Friday night and spent a great two days surrounded by amazing people, encouraging words, and a good atmosphere. (Whatever that means!) All in all, though a little exausting, it was nice. Then on Saturday night I drove to my parents house and then spent the day in Sheridan (Sunday) going to Open Door (surrounded by people who "didn't know anything about the possiblity of Seth proposing, I'm sure") There lack of knowledge or assumptions was shown in many ways (winks, slaps on the back, and knowing smiles. haha. You've gotta love it! Anyway, that afternoon after spending a couple of hours at Seth's parents house we drove to Portland. (The Cambodia team of Mandate students was staying up there Sunday night at my brother's house, since there flight left early Monday morning. So Seth and I drove up before they did (Seth was their ride to the airport) and we stopped at a coffee shop on Hawthorne near Mt. Tabor, took our coffee to go and decided to walk up to the top. This was a great idea, but for stability challenged people such as myself, apparently walking up a hill, drinking coffee (even with a lid) and holding a conversation, this can prove to be too much (even for great multi-taskers such as myself, perhaps adding one more element like holding one of the triplets would have made me better at it, who knows.) Anyway, I ended up spilling about a quarter of my cup of coffee (i know, how awful is that?) and this was good coffee, so though Seth offered to hold my cup for me (show off - his was perfectly un-spilled) I was determined to drink it (while hot - it would be a clear waste not to.) So (being a sensible person) I saw the futility of continuing on the path we were on (walking, drinking coffee, talking) and decided to sit down and drink the rest. There was a convenient retaining wall between two houses which made a fine bench to sit on (apprently looking out over Portland - since we were on a hill, but for some reason I don't remember the view. I just noticed my coffee, an rv parked to the left of us, and of course, my companion.) He told me later it was a nice view, and I'm sure it was. haha. Anyway, we sat there talking for a while, then he turned toward me and asked me if I would marry him! I (of course being so calm and collected -not) gave out a little shriek of an answer (which he said he didn't hear) and hugged him (but being smart as he is, he took it for a yes. I confirmed this later with a more clearly pronounced "yes.") Then he pulled out the ring, which (amazingly) fit perfectly. Wow. That's cool. (He hadn't gotten my ring size or anything, but was just planning on sizing it later.) Anyway, then we walked the rest of the way up Mt. Tabor and around the resevoir and gorgeous view (just in time for a beautiful sunset and great view of Portland at night.) It was perfect. I feel so overwhelmingly blessed to be marrying this amazing man (who was right under my nose for years - like 12 years actually!) and didn't even know it! So, for those of you who will be around Amity, OR August 8th, you should come join us for a sweet celebration (that would be our wedding.)

Quick review of my life as of late.

The longer I go without posting a blog, the harder it is to write one, maybe I'm just getting out of practice - or perhaps there is both way too much and at the same time not enough to write about. What I mean is, to fill you in on all that is going on in my life would take pages and pages, and would bore you to tears, and yet to tell you what is going on this week (though being much shorter) would also cause you to lose interest (is it gone already?)
Anyway, I'll do my best to highlight points of interest in outline form, just to keep things simple.
Work- going well, the babies are almost 9 months old, I can hardly believe it! They're doing great, (other than the cold I gave them last week!) Will and Lydia are almost crawling - Will even sits up all by himself, and Clara has started rolling over (finally!)
Roommate - LOVE her! Beth is awesome, I have so much fun hanging out and just being together. She always finds ways to encourage and bless me.
Church- My church "city church" (used to be "oasis") has gone through a lot of changes lately(name change, location change, people leaving, etc.) but I'm really excited about it over all- it's always so sad to see people go, but I understand it - well, somewhat.) I truly believe their (the pastoral staff) hearts and visions are in the right place - truly following Jesus is not often very popular or easy, when you really get down to it, but it's the only way to go!
Bend - beautiful as always, if not having some tempermental weather changes (sun warm, snow, sun cold, rain, fog, etc. and that can all be in one day!)
Significant other- hehe. I actually have one. He's pretty much amazing! (of course!) Seth is an amazing blessing in my life, I am so grateful for him! Our first "unofficial" date was snowshoeing up Tumalo mountain, so you know he's gotta be a keeper!
Youth Group Girls-They are so much fun, they keep me young (or at least I use them as an excuse!) and continually teach me so much!
Misc.-I've been reading several amazing books, most recently "The irresistable revolution" (not a book for those who don't want to be challenged and grow.)
Yeah, so that's about it for now. (Hope I didn't bore you too much!)