Lovely Weekend

I had a great weekend! Warm weather, good food, and great company! This past Friday I went up to Tacoma to visit my aunt there. We had a good time-- went to the movies and saw the new X-Men film- "Wolverine". We both really enjoyed it! :-)
Saturday morning we went for a 5 mile walk, then took naps (we were both tired!) Remembered just in time to watch the Preakness Stakes, which, was an incredible race. I knew Rachel Alexandra was going to win. I just knew she would. :-) We also visited Gig Harbor and walked around, down towards the docks and watched the boats on the water.
Sunday we had church in the morning but afterwards packed up our lunch and took the dog down to the beach for some more gorgeous sunshine! I got sunburned. But that's ok.

Hopefully pictures to follow shortly. :-) I hope your weekend was as nice!

(And for all 2 of you who read this and might care...27 days til camp!)

May

Wow. I can’t believe it’s May. Well, actually I can. But it seems to have gotten here so fast. I think there are only 40 days until Family Camp starts and 47 until I leave for Poland.
Wait…did I just say 47??? Um—I think I have some list writing to do…

So, the past 25 days or so I’ve been working, doing some projects, visiting my older sister in Canada. Don’t think I mentioned that before—that’s cause I s’prised her. :-) Yup. She didn’t know I was coming. I’ve been planning this since the end of January. It was great! She had no clue and was completely shocked!
We had a great time. It was a really good for both of us. Now I miss her and can’t wait until June! :-) Only about 40 days!

(Did I just say that again?!?)

Good Friday

I like this quote

"There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man." ~ Winston Churchill

From one 'Couv to the next

Today I am headed up to Vancouver, BC with my sister Becka and our friend Adrianna. We're going up to visit some friends that are coming with our group on our mission's trip this summer to Poland.
I'm looking forward to it. *code for: I get to leave work early!*

I'm also looking forward to trying out my new toy that I just got...



I think I'll make Becka drive for a while so I can program the new thing...I'm trying to read the manual before I use it...slightly techno challenged over here... :^)

Have a great weekend!

First Day of Spring!

And it's here; gloom and rain included, but spring is here! Our daffodils in the front yard are pushing up their heads and the hyacinths are tentatively opening their buds. And I just updated my blog photo. It makes me happy. :^)

This week has been a busy one. Last week was too. Our office at work has been moving our first floor office space to our second floor office space. This has required a lot of cleaning out of large file cabinets, lateral files, emptying drawers, dumping outdated materials, an all-in-all general re-organizing and purging effort. Plus I'm training to take over the accounts for one lady who is going to be leaving at the end of the month. I've also been going to a weekly calf-sorting with my Fence Riders group. It's been so much fun--I haven't done any sorting or ridden yet, but I'm getting to know the folks there and been doing some "networking". (I think I'll have a couple options for mounts by the time Fair is here.) :^D Everyone in the club has just been so nice and I'm really happy to be doing what I've wanted to do for so long.
It's been a busy couple of weeks. I'm ready for a break. I think I'll go to Mexico this weekend. Or maybe I'll just have a margarita...that's cheaper... :^)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm wearing green. And singing the Lorica (at least in my head). I love St. Patrick's Day.

And it's only 3 days until Spring!

You'd think I'd have learned...

Yesterday, I was locked out of my house. Again.
This is the second time in the past 6 months this has happened.
What makes it different this time is that Rebekah was with me.
We had been at a friend's house after church and had come home separately from the rest of our family (we take two cars to church anyway).

(In my defense, I hadn't grabbed my keys from the key rack that morning because I was riding with Dad. Since I usually take my keys with me whether I'm driving or not, I did feel like I'd forgotten something.
Again in my defense, we thought that Dad and Mom were already home. Which we found out in short order...they were not...)

I did notice very quickly, that our second story window on above the overhang was unlocked and went to borrow a ladder from a neighbor. Rebekah climbed up (she was in jeans, I in a skirt, however, I would have done it if we both were in skirts), popped the screen out, opened the window, climbed in and ran down to open the front door. I returned the ladder to our obliging neighbor, and all's well that end's well.
So maybe I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but maybe I can claim to be the most versatile???

Did I mention that I didn't have my cell phone with me? It was charging on the counter. Oh, and that unlocked window? It's locked now.

And the Word of the Day is:

revanche • \ruh-VAHNSH (the N is not pronounced, but the vowel is nasalized) -- noun
: revenge; especially : a usually political policy designed to recover lost territory or status (Thanks to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

In other news:

I finished the 1st project mentioned in my last post. Hallelujah! And as for the second---it's all stripped of it's painted 'glory' and is ready for staining. (For those of you who are dying to see pictures...I might have some up...eventually. I make no promises. :-)

And now for something completely mindless because you have nothing else to do with your time but read my blog:

The Name Game

1. YOUR REAL NAME:
Rachel Unger

2.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:(mother and fathers middle names)
Lenore Prescott

3.NASCAR NAME:(first name of your mother's dad, father's dad)
Joe James

4.STAR WARS NAME:(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name)
Ungra

5.DETECTIVE NAME:(favorite color, favorite animal)
Red Horse

6.SOAP OPERA NAME:(middle name, first street you ever lived on)
Grace O. (I’m all about the anonymity)

7.SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning)
The Green Coffee (seriously, that’s gross)

8.FLY GIRL/GUY NAME:(first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
Raer

9.HOOD NAME:(favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
Mud Slide Shortbread (mmm!!)

10.YOUR GANGSTA NAME:(first 3 letters of last name, add izzle to the end
Ungizzle (sounds like a breed of Orc ---pardon my nerd)

11. YOUR GOTH NAME:(write in black, and the name of one of your pets)
Black Daisy

12. ROCK STAR NAME: (current pet's name, current street name)
Eighty-Sixth (I don’t have any pets :-( )

13. YOUR HIPPIE NAME: (what you ate for breakfast plus favorite tree)
Chex Magnolia

14. YOUR CRIMINAL NAME: (name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy bar)
Heavenly Snickers (what???)

15. YOUR CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit plus garment you're wearing, with an "ie" or "y" added)
Pineapple Shoesie (related to Strawberry Shortcake?)

16. YOUR SPY NAME (favorite season, favorite flower)
Fall Yellow Rose (puhleeeeze…)

That's all for now folks! Toodles!!

Projects

I’ve been working on a few projects lately. I hope to have two of them done before April. Not that anything is happening in April, I just figured that it’s a far-enough-away-but-also-close-enough-to-motivate-me time frame, plus spring will be well on its way, and it’s before I start gallivanting off around the world in June. Wait, you didn’t know that I was a galivanteer? ;-) Actually, I’m only going to Poland with a group from my church and one other for a mission’s trip for two weeks, but we will be stopping in Germany sometime along the way; but it is the furthest from home I’ve ever been.

But I digress; the topic on hand is projects. The first that I hope to have done is the blanket I began making for my nephew a long time ago, so long, I’m not entirely sure of the date, I just know he wasn’t born yet…he’s now 14 months old….yea…time to finish. The other project is one that is the first of its kind that I’ve ever done. I acquired a dresser (for free- yes!) from a neighbor. It was in need of some repair and a lot of TLC. Thus far, I have all the drawers glued or nailed back to working order, and stripped of their hideous brown paint with a sad attempt of white distressing over it. The top of the dresser is all sanded of paint but the sides still need to be done as well as the front. I’m having so much fun! And this is actually turning out to be a rather cheap project, because I got the dresser for free, we already had glue, nails and even the stain that I’m going to use, so far the only thing I’ve had to buy is the paint stripper and cleaner - $14 total. Makes me happy. :-) I wish I had taken a before picture of the dresser so I could post an after shot, but maybe I’ll just post what it looks like now, then the final product.

Life Check

Last night we had some good friends over after church, the Dahlin family and the Shearer family. We had a great time playing games and some good discussions as well. Among those discussions came up the subject of covenant children and what kind of people do we want our children to be. We were talking about the different examples of characters and qualities (or lack thereof) that are so prevalent in our society around us and how we respond to those Biblically. Topics of smoking, tattoos, etc were brought up. I know people that I consider friends that participate in these activities. They know I don’t approve or agree and I won’t participate in them. But it makes me wonder sometimes what they are thinking.
As Amy and were continuing talking, she mentioned that she points to people like me and my sister and some others as examples of what she wants her daughters to emulate. Wow! Talk about a responsibility! While it’s nice to hear things like this, it’s also very humbling. Its things like this that God uses to help me keep my head straight. Even as an adult, I am still accountable to my parents since I'm still part of their household. But I am also being held accountable by sources much smaller (and younger) than just my parents. I teach Sunday School to 2-3 year olds. Jesus had some very heavy (no pun intended) words on this subject in Matthew 18:6. I have to ask myself: What kind of example am I helping to set? Who am I and what is my life saying to these kids?

A Spirit of Selfishness

What does it mean to sacrifice? Is it merely setting aside what we want to do? Is it just giving up on our desires, time, energy, wants, etc? We give and we give and we give. Often, I find myself saying, “Ok God. I’m giving and sacrificing, and serving—where’s my return? Where’s my reward?”
And that’s where the real problem lies. We give and “sacrifice” and we are looking for something in return. We expect something back for all we’ve given up.
I think that true sacrifice is service where nothing is expected in return. We give because Christ gave. It means giving of our time and energies, and foregoing our own desires for the service of others without expecting something back. Jesus came to serve. He sacrificed and looked for nothing. When we truly sacrifice, we will gain all.
I’m reminded of something our pastor said in a sermon not too long ago: we are not saved to a spirit of selfishness. That statement always comes back to me as a powerful reminder of who I am called to be – a servant in Christ’s Kingdom.

Catch-All

You know that drawer in your house, or that spot on the counter or table or that basket on the desk or by the stairs that always seems to have anything and everything (or just about) in it? It keeps getting added to, occasionally gets organized for about 2 minutes and then is back to holding a bunch of stuff, important, not so important, odds and ends, stuff nobody knows what to do with, wants to claim, stuff nobody know anything about.
I've discovered, that’s kind of like me: the catch-all drawer.
Somehow I know where just about everything is; know who’s in charge of what; either has the right stuff for people or can point them in the right direction; have lots of different things thrown at me at once; occasionally gets organized – at least it’s organized to me; sometimes I confuse people; sometimes I don’t; I multi-task.
Some people call it the junk drawer. They are misinformed.
That junk drawer? It’s a whole ‘nuther ball of wax...

Happy 2009!

I know it's a week past, but the Year 2009 is still very young. I hope your Christmas and New Year's celebrations were joyful. Our family had a busy month of December and we had a wonderful time visiting with our family that came to visit us.
Gramma came down from Ohio and Bethany, Alex, and Jordan were all here for about 20
days. Oh, and Baby Barendregt #2 came along...yes, I'm going to be an Auntie again in August! :-)

2008 was a good year, but I am very thankful to see it behind me. God taught me much this past year and I am so thankful for His faithfulness and love shown to me through the trials and also the good times. His mercy endures forever! One way God demonstrated His love was helping me complete all my classes required for my General AA degree at Clark College. I'm so thankful to be done and know it was not my hand that got me to the end.

I like to make resolutions every year, or at least set myself goals to measure by the end of the year. Sadly, those don't always get kept, or I go astray for a while on some of them. I decided to share most of this years goals with you. (All 4 of you) ;-) Maybe if I post them somewhere where somebody other than myself will see them, it will help me be more accountable. Feel free to ask me how I'm doing, bug me, pester, scold, encourage, etc. Accountability is a good thing!

2009 Goals

~ Bible: daily reading
~ Health: go to the gym 4x a week (I have the membership, I need to USE it!)
~ Service: seek out opportunities at church, missions, other volunteer opportunities/groups
~ Reading: the stack of theology, biographies, and history on my floor and bookshelves (I'll post the reading list later)
~ Finances: stick to budget plan; buy new car by 2010 or earlier.

I'm sure there is more that I should resolve to do this year, but I don't think all goals have to be set at the beginning of the year. Life happens and God is in control.

Cameo #6

Olivia

The baby of the family. My little Pixie. :-)

The other night, all of us sisters were sitting around the table talking and Olivia was making us laugh so hard. We weren't laughing at her, we were laughing with her. She has a very sharp wit and is really a lot of fun to be around! Sometimes it's hard to believe she's only 8. I look at her now, so tall and smart and wonder where the cute, dimpled little baby went. Well, you just have to get her to laugh really hard and you'll see the dimple. :-)

From a very young age, Olivia has had a talent for art. She has an great eye for 3-D detail and her pictures are really fun to look at. And to get!
Livy loves to sing and usually is. Her sweetness brings a smile to the face of those who know her. She's into everything Princess or American Girl. She just got another AG doll for Christmas--a friend for the one she has. Thanks to her brother, she also knows more about Star Wars and Legos than any other girl her age I've met.

She's definitely a Pixie and all our lives a bit sweeter for her.

Cameo # 5

[For those of you that thought I'd forgotten or didn't care about the rest of my family...you were wrong...I just got delayed. Hey, I can still be thankful into Christmas can't I? ;-) ]

Jared

My one and only little brother. :-)
Jared is 100% boy. Star Wars, Legos, building things, guns, action figures, you name it. If I was ever to write a handbook on little boys, I'd make sure to mention that they have hollow legs and come fully equipped with sound effects including the following: disgusting noises, explosions for 1001 different types of weaponry, and goofy laugh for silly jokes.

Jared is the kind of boy that is always looking for ways to help you. When he learned how to mow the lawn this summer, I did a little happy dance and sang the "Hallelujah" chorus-the whole thing. (ok, so not maybe the whole thing...)He always has a great attitude if I ask him to help me with the dishes or some other job where we work together. The older he gets, the deeper our conversations are. It's been really fun watching him grow and seeing our relationship develop from being just the Big sister/2nd mother figure to just being a sister and a friend.

If you ever want to know all the names of the Portland Trail Blazers, their stats, most recent scores, who they're playing next, or any other fun fact about them, Jared's your man. He loves basketball and watching the Blazers play. (He likes to remind me every time he sees Brandon Roy that he has a signed ball from him.)

Jared and I have a lot in common and a love for reading is no exception. Everytime I see him reading, it's usually a new book. I love it when he comes and asks me to borrow a book of my shelf. :-)

Jared was born when I was 11 1/2. I don't think I could ever imagine what life would be like without him. I remember holding him right after Mom and Dad brought him home from the hospital and wondering to myself what life would be like when he was my age. Suddenly, I find that time is here and I love what life is like with him in it!

Cameo # 4

Rebekah

Where do you start when describing one of your bestest friends? As I mentioned in my post about Bethany, Rebekah is the other reason why I have any fashion sense today. Not that we ever agree on clothes, but at least she admits that I look like I belong in the right century. ;-)

Rebekah has this magnetic charm about her makes everyone- old people, young people, weird people, freaks and geeks alike, love her. (I’m weird and slightly freaky so I would know.) That and she’s so darn cute! I think she’s actually beaten Bethany’s record of how many people she knows at school…
Rebekah went from being the youngest of 3 to the middle of 5. She’s borne the “forgotten-middle-child” syndrome very well.
Growing up she was my “let’s go outside, get dirty, and build forts” pal. Rebekah was a good child and Mom and Dad knew it so even though I used to try to get her in trouble, it didn’t always work.

She’s one of the only people that can annoy me and make me laugh out loud simultaneously. She’s my movie quoting, road trip, let’s-stare-at-people-and-make-up-stories-about-them, buddy; we could go on for hours and have tons of fun that only we can understand.

Rebekah is finishing her pre-reqs at Clark right now, training to be a nurse. Once again, I get to listen to all the intricate details of Anatomy and Physiology class or her current project on----- tapeworms. She has a very strong stomach and an exceedingly brilliant mind.

Some things you might not know about Rebekah:
1.I have a few nicknames for Rebekah: Buzz, Robin, and Tonto
2.She can hear song once and then go play it on the piano.
3.Rebekah inherited Mom’s wonderful sense of direction. I’ve stopped arguing with her about whether I should turn left or right or go back the other way- I got tired of hearing “I told you so.”

I suppose there is a lot more to say about her but I'll close by saying this: My life would be exceedingly dull, lusterless, and completely devoid of chandelier earrings if it wasn’t for Rebekah. :-)

Cameo #3

Bethany

My little-big sister (I’m taller than her). Sometimes I think about my friends who don’t have big sisters and kind of feel bad for them because I feel like they missed out in some way.

Bethany, as the oldest was a guinea pig for a lot of things, homeschooling for one. She got to try out all the new curriculum before I had to use it.
Growing up she was great to play Barbies with and house and dress up. She was also great for instigating trouble and then getting me into it... not that I didn’t cause enough of that on my own, but that’s a topic for another day…
Bethany has always been a girly-girl (she used to call me over to where she was to kill spiders); she liked being clean and pretty. She still is that way today, but now I know that she’s not afraid to get down and dirty if she has too.

Bethany has great fashion sense, and honestly, it’s probably because of her and my other sister Rebekah (see tomorrow’s post) that I don’t only wear T-shirts and blue jeans EVERYWHERE (only every-other-where). ;-)

Bethany is a nurse. This meant that for four years I had got to listen to the long winded descriptions of the “vast majorialis-imperlus sephornitusis.” Don’t get me wrong---she’s really smart and secretly I was impressed—if I only showed that I was annoyed. ;-)

One of the most amazing things about Bethany is watching her as a mom. She married this really great guy named Alex (who, by-the-way, is a good big brother-in-law)and they have the cutest little boy, Jordan. No, I'm not biased; he just is. To know her as a sister, a friend, see her as a wife, has all revealed things about her character. Watching her as a mom has been really neat. There’s strength of character and determination of will that I never saw, even when she was in nursing school. I admire that immensely.

Some things you might not know about Bethany:

1. She can be kind of gullible. Ask her about the ice-maker story. She might tell you. If not, see me...I will! :-)
2. She helped open a human skull in a class for nursing school.
3. I think at one point she pretty much knew every single person at Clark College either by name or just by reputation. She was popular. :-)

Yeah, she’s pretty much an amazing big sister and when she’s gone I miss her tons, and when she’s visiting, we always have a blast. Did I mention she’s coming next week?!?!

Cameo # 2

Mom

You know how mommies are supposed to be soft, warm and smell good? My mom is. :-)
Born and raised in Vancouver, WA, Mom has lived in this town her entire life. I think that’s pretty neat; not many people can say that.
Her grandmother taught her to sew and over the years, she has made my sisters and I (and my brother too) so many beautiful clothes. One of my best memories growing up was hearing the sewing machine humming in the next room as I went to sleep at night. She’s taught me to sew as well.
A stay-at-home mom, she’s one of the hardest working people I know. She has homeschooled my siblings and me from day one; something I am thankful for every day. The skills she and dad taught me, prepared me for college and for life in the working world.
Mom has an incredible eye for detail and a talent for organizing and planning. Holidays and birthdays at our house are always amazing because of Mom’s hard work and direction.
And I don’t know how she does it, but she makes the best peanut butter and jam sandwiches.

Here a are a few things you might not know about Mom:


1. She does an amazing imitation of the voice of the Wicked Witch of the West. 
2. She makes the perfect apricot pie (you know, the one my dad asks for every birthday.)
3. She has the best sense of direction out of everybody I’ve met. (A trait, that unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve inherited)

And I wouldn't be who I am without her. :-)

Cameo #1

As promised, here is the first of the cameo posts about my family.

Dad

Born in Seattle, WA and raised in the mid-west in Cincinnati, OH. He wasn't what you would call an angelic child and with some of the scrapes he got into, I think it's a miracle he lived past 5 years of age. But, God had bigger plans for him.

One of those plans involved being getting married and being a dad to 5 kids.
As a father, he's always been a wonderful example of hard work, Godly character and how to make "groan-out-loud" puns.

He loves to study theology and is very good at teaching it too. He also knows more Scripture by heart than anyone else I know. I call him The Walking Concordance.

When I was learning to drive, I found that I preferred driving with Dad instead of Mom. I think it was because he didn’t panic if I got too close or anything…he would just get loud if I did something REALLY wrong. Now he tells me that I’m a good driver. :-)

At Christmas time, you have to either hide the sugar cookie dough or just not tell him that you’re making sugar cookies. Sometimes though, I set aside a little ball of dough, just for him…(yeah, I know, I’m a suck up.)

Five things you might not know about my Dad:

1. He’s a wiz at packing the car for Family Camp or Camping or any kind of trip that involves massive amounts of luggage and ‘stuff’. It always manages to fit!
2. He’s a big softie when it comes to a cute puppy.
3. If he asks you your birthdate, it's most likely that he will remember it for the rest of his life.
4. He always asks for apricot pie on his birthday.
5. He can do a remarkable impression of a singing Elmer Fudd.

He's a great guy. Yeah, I'm kind of attached to him.