PNW Tour 2011 (a little early)

Okay well I'm not sure if I should break it up in days or if I should just bombard with one big 'ol post. =) I'm thinking one big 'ol post. Because the week was that amazing.

Well I got to sneak a few days in before the team got there and not a second passed once I landed that I wasn't smiles from ear to ear. Mikaela took me to the airport and I was ready to roll. One flight later and I'm in Oregon. 

Kelli and Heather (roomies from college) came and picked me up. I love it. We live in three different places and we all still come together and it seems like no time has passed. The girls tricked me when they picked me up and instead of a nice lovely hug that I expected coming my direction they attacked me with an old joke from college. Gotta love it. From the airport we were off to the Tin Roof a great place in the NE area of Portland. Then we were off to the coast. We got to catch up over dinner and the great 2 hour ride home. We rolled into Cannon Beach pretty late and just slipped in the house and off to bed. Well I planned on slipping into bed. I walked into a house full of surprises. My sister flew in early ( I wasn't certain I was going to see her on the trip ) and brought her two munchkins with her. I haven't seen Ryder since he was born and Taylor was under the impression I lived in heaven. So I was glad to clear that up.

In the slightest! Heather -Loo came down with her Papa and sis. Holly just had a new born baby and I had yet to see my new little cousin and Heather .. it's been years since I have seen her. UHG so much love.

Us girls hit the beach for some fun photos and just some good 'ol time together. It was time to update our documented fun and this time we wanted to some "cute" ones according to Kelli. So with that we were all having a blast and from there is was back for some family time, a solid dinner and then the girls jetted off to their real life. 

Monday came and it was jammed packed with appointments, interviews, luncheons and simply errands. It seemed like it was the fastest day ever and maybe it was but then again... I was so amping for the team to come I could barely handle it. Monday night was just family loving and watching "Tangled" for the first time with Taylor. She kept saying " JuJu do you really like it? Really?" I loved it! She is being Rapunzel for Halloween and Ryder is Pascal (her little lizard sidekick).Too cute. I could barely handle the reality that I was home. My sister was there and I was just loving on my little babies like it was nothing new.

Well that is the first section of being BEYOND blessed in Oregon. Then Monday night comes and guess what is next. Tuesday :) And Tuesday = the team!

HOME!

20 years later and still the best of friends. Micah Ann -- man oh man have I missed you. It's been since December since I have seen Micah and that is by far the longest we have gone since we were 4. This woman makes me smile.

Classic Tay. Mom -" Guess what Tay we get to see JuJu tomorrow." Tay -" She's coming back from heaven?"

Oh man. I can't believe I got to see Kelli, Heather and Micah all at once. Too much love for one girl to handle.

HJK once again. Heather and Kelli picked me up from the airport and we went out to an amazing dinner and headed to the beach. We had a blast just catching up and a good little sleep over. It was so fun having them all to myself for the morning :) Beach walk and fun! i432.

Me and my Grampy

Me and my Grammy

O heather loo. I haven't seen my cousin in so long and it was such a fun surprise to walk into the house to this. First off my siste flew home and surprised me .. then my Grandparents ...then Heather.. I knew they would all be in town at some point this week but not all today and man was it fun.

Home so far = success.

24. oh boy

Yup I turned 24 this month too. Yikes. My birthday started on last Wednesday when for our extended quiet time we went to the beach + my favorite coffee shop. So much love! It was the perfect way to start the day and the beginning of some birthday fun. 

AND.... I had some visiters for the first time ever. Kaela and Becca made it to the island. They came on Thursday and we had a blast just catching up. They then came over on Friday (my real birthday) and celebrated at the beach with me and all my closest friends from STN.

A load of us went to Chuns (my favorite spot) to surf, cruise and just have fun. They all sang me happy birthday in the water and we just had a fun time as a family celebrating my birthday. I felt so blessed.

That morning I also woke up to a clean house, a lovely card and fruit from my roommates. Now I understand why my whole life my Mom always said all she wanted was a clean house. I get it now Mom!

At staff meeting they sang Happy Birhday and made me cupcakes and at bible study we all shared about our favorite birthday stories. Ah well 24 this shall be fun.

Kauai SLS Adventure.

This was an adventure trip all in it's own new level. It was the first trip I lead as the "directing leader" and man was it an epic learning experience. We hiked the Kalalau trail on the Napali coast of Kauai.

11 miles. 8 hours. 13 team members & an adventure we will never forget. This specific spot is called the balcony. 3 ft wide and deadly. It is pure red rock slip and is at a death flirting angle to the boiling ocean below. One slip and your done. You could only imagine how I felt being responsible for 13 lives crossing this little walk in the park. YIKES.

But once it is all over you get this. My body shook for about a good two miles after crossing that 15 minutes of hecticness. But trust me it was worth it. Man oh man was this hike constantly breath taking and the valley once you go done was even better.

So 11 miles in we were ready for camp. The team killed it. I was so impressed by their attitudes and it made my job as a leader cake. I had some guests leaders on the trip too that pretty much allowed me to breath. After a month of crazy planning man am I glad that this trip is over. Well sort of.

Each day we were in the valley we got to hike about 5 or 6 miles. We found orange groves, a community garden, scaled waterfalls, jumped in epic pools, slid down natural water slides, made friends with the hippies, loved on the locals, swam in the ocean, cave explored and so much more to tell. God just over blessed us with our days in the valley. The team lead like natural leaders and really put the leadership training to the trail. Parts of the hike were literally impossible without a team and it was a beautiful thing to see everyone fully being a servant leader.


On our way out, after an emotional wait and a crazy realization we were ready to hike out. And you know the truth couldn't be more well.. truthful. God is always on time. Our boat came and we were boated back just as planned.

This is me finally getting to the boat.  My 50lb bag wrapped in plastic and after a 15 min swim I was hoisted into safety. No more shark bait.

This is a small part of the team doing the swim out to our rescue. So fun. So many crazy stories and such an experience!



A little bit as of late.

I guess I'll start with  my birthday. Well October has just been straight up fun in the first place. Charis' older sister Carri came into town for a bit and it was SO much fun getting to know her and hang out with her baby boy Bauer for a bit. It was was some much needed family time while I've been away from mine far too long. 

As I flip through the images I have been either tagged in or posted up or taken with my phone I realize what a daunting job updating always is. But well there will be a few tid bits and this week I really want to keep it updated :) As for now...

This month my good friend and roommate Mikaela turned 21 this month and we had a blast! 

We went out on the town for dinner  and got all done up after hitting the East side for a few rays of sunshine. It was fun dressing up for once. We never go do that!

I was just thinking about our roommate night we had this month too... it has been a blast being around a bit more for the girls in the leadership school and we had so much fun making dinner together. I made my Mom's classic feta stuffed chicken and the girls were tripping out -- thinking that I never cooked. Ha.

I just remember that I haven't talked about the trip to Kauai and that deserves a post in itself. So with this little update -- I'm off to write a new one. Happy belated birthday to Mikae.