Happy New Year!

Happy 2009 everyone-
Quick update on me: I am STILL in Portland, OR one of the best cities in the nation! I went home for Christmas this year. However Snowpocalypse of 2008 hit Portland just as I was trying to leave town and things did not look good. But with the help of friends with SUVs, 4wheel drive, and a special friend with snow experience (she's from Alaska) i made it to the airport and left on time! I couldn't believe it...
I spent time with family and saw everyone. My niece is just about the cutest thing you ever did see. my parents new house is lookin good. they have a pool and the Garagemahal as my dad has named it. this garage is useful, but HUGE! slowly they are beginning the inside work that i think will get completely done this summer. it is wierd going home, but not home. i thought it would be really awkward but after the 3rd day it sarted to feel like home because home is where the heart is and my heart for sure is with my family.
I am thankful too for a family that is fun, funny, exciting, relaxed, eats good food, and all in all is a restful place for me to be.

i needed to go home more than i thought- i was awake one night thinking about my life in portland and how i missed it and yet thankful to be in Texas. i am not moving back to Texas anytime soon, but wish it was a LOT closer to Portland- my sister and I share this wish:) I needed to be known, to be understood, to be around familiar things, places, and people. To not have to explain myself, or go into a 5 minute background story of why i feel the way i feel or think the way i think. It is tiring not being known and not really having true rest in friends. to be completely rested, fully relaxed and at peace with a group of people, totally known and understood. this is what my family does for me and how they make me feel and i am very thankful that i have them, just wish they would move to the NW too!! Now don't get me wrong i love portland, i love the people i have met here and grown to love... BUT family is family, and home is home and you just can't beat it!!

Now I am back in PDX and thankful for a job, thankful for an opportunity to learn how to plan a wedding (or at least help) with a friend from church, deepening relationships, and hopefully moving out of my studio apt. if you have ever lived in 500 sq ft or less with no door to a bedroom you know how it can mess with your psyche;) Thankful for 2008, looking forward to changes coming in 2009 and great adventures, not sure what they may be but i'm excited!!

well that is enough for now, i will post pics tonight!!