My fabulous weekend and "star" experience

This last weekend was a ton of fun! Sarah was stilll prego, the little one just wants to hang out inside mummy, so I ended up staying in DC for the first weekend in a very long time. I still went a head and rented the car for the weekend though because I had a lot to do. So Friday was nice, I got off work, picked up the car and went shopping. I got all my grocery and necessity shopping done and made it home in time to watch Numb3rs.

Saturday was gorgeous! A large group of us met up near-by and headed out to Virginia to go apple picking. we stopped at this little restaruant called the Apple House for lunch and then it was on to Stribling's Orchard. It was beautifully cool and still sunny and the picking was good. I had so much fun and now I am planning to make a couple of apple pies with my pickings. That night I hung out with a couple of other friends from church and we ate chili and cornbread and carved our pumpkins. Overall it was a great day.

Sunday was one of the best days ever!! Pastor Mark's message was amazing and very convicting. He finished off his series on the Elephant in the Church by confronting the Apocolytic Elephant. To hear his sermons check it out on itunes Podcast National Community Church.

But the best part of Sunday morning was actually getting to meet Dave and Kate Schmidgall. They are the missionaries that I have mentioned a couple of times previously, who are working with a church in Edinburgh, Scotland called Eikon. I didn't get the chance to meet them last year when they were at NCC's Mission conference but my friends knowing my passion for Scotland told me about them and I was able to find them online through their website. I have been following their work there in Edinburgh since shortly before they left, via their blog. Let me just say that what the team at Eikon is doing in Edinburgh is AMAZING!!! You should see the way that God is working there. All that to say that it was so wonderful to finally meet them in person. I felt like I was getting to meet my version of movie stars. I am really hoping that God will allow me the awesome opportunity to go to Edinburgh in the Spring and help with my church's Buzz Conference!!

In other news...pray!!! I have an interview tomorrow for a job that I would really like. It would be a cut in pay but the job would be amazing! I would get to work in a great environment, with great people, and actually be busy doing great work. I will tell more after the interview!!!! Please pray though!!!

On a more serious note...please be praying for my co-worker John. This past Friday night two of his daughter's were in a terrible accident. The youngest at 16 Sarah was killed and the oldest at 21 Melissa is in critical condition, in an induced coma with brain damage. Please please pray for him and his family. He has three other children as well. It could be months before he comes back to work due to the extent of Melissa's injuries. Please please pray God's will in his life and for the recovery of Melissa. Please also pray for peace, comfort and strength for the rest of the family to make it through this extremely difficult time.

The best and the worst of it.

This past weekend was both good and bad. Let's start with the good.

I finally made it to the West Coast for the first time in my life. I went to Oregon to attend the wedding of a friend. It was absolutely lovely there. It reminded me so much of Scotland that I just wanted to stay. I got to go with a friend and have a lovely time driving the scenic highway to Multnomah falls and then on to Mt. Hood. It was lovely and quite enjoyable. I also got to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life. I was like a child running at the waves coming in and running away when they got too close. It was amazing!! We were there at night for a bonfire and just to see two of God's greatest pieces of work in the same place was breathtaking. The sky was blanketed in stars that ran down to meet the wide expanse of the mighty Pacific. How can anyone say that a big bang did all that? Really?!

I got to see and spend time with old friends and make new. It was great! The wedding itself was beautiful. The bride was out of this world gorgeous and the groom was handsome in his tux. Everyone looked dapper and beautiful. The reception was an elegant affair in a renovated old JC Penney building. I'm talking the good ole building with wood floors and ornate decorations. I spent more time at the reception reacquainting with old friends and making more new ones. I met the Reber's a wonderful family. Carissa and I share a passion for cars that I have never found in any other girls I have ever met. It's nice to know that I am not the only girl who enjoys "boy" things. :-)



Then came the after-party. All the folks from DC and all the groomsmen trotted round the corner to a local bar. The reception ended before 9 PM and none of us were ready to hit the sack quite yet. Spent time shootin the breeze and then shootin some pool.

The worst part of the weekend then hit like a gale force off the bow. My friend that came out with me decided to do something that I and a lot of other people really didn't think was wise. We all loved them and didn't want them to get hurt or make a fool out of themself. Well let's just say, I confronted them and it did not go well. I and another friend spent the rest of the night worrying about them, where they was, how they were and if we would actually see them again the next morning. It was awful. We also worried about the person on the receiving end of their decision. They were drunk and had no clue what was going on. They didn't even no the other had decided to stay until they walked back in and we didn't.

That was the worst part of this whole trip. Two people that I care about deeply and neither one coherent to make a good decision. I hate fighting with people, I really do. I love my friends and would do anything to ensure that they never had to deal with pain in their lives. However I can't back down from what I said to the one. I still believe that what I told them was true and I stand by it 100% but that doesn't make it any easier that they still won't talk to me and that they hate me. I hope that someday they will realize this and see that I only cared about them. Until then I want them to know that I still love them and am here for them if they need me.