Summer Lovin'

The last two weeks have been simply fantastic. Between family vacation, wedding planning and just the smaller and greater ways that God is allowing things to fall together is making this time of life so fantastic. We started this month with a great weekend at the coast, accompanied by two of our dear, dear friends, Ryan and Brigette Tack. It was overcast and slightly wet, but the hike we took that day was such a wonderful time of fellowship and marveling together at the creation of our Lord.
The very next week, my parents took Christian and I down to Bend for a nice little getaway. Wow, Central Oregon is seriously the place to go when you want to get a 20 minute tan. Christian and I went on long, amazing bike-rides together (one which was between 12-15 miles, which killed me because the last time I rode a bike was in Australia (which ended in my first, over the handlebar crash by the by)). We even got to float down the Deschutes river holding hands, talking and people watching. The whole time together was amazing. So wonderful to get away from the typical day-to-day life, being able to spend some good quality time with family and learning to take advantage of this precious time that we have left here in my "home".
This crazy fun month has ended with a trip to the Hillsboro Saturday Market and the Washington County Fair, both of which are fabulous places to run into people you know. I took the opportunity to snap some pictures up of silly kids and great products.
God has blessed us so much in life, as well as this month. I am sure there are several ways that we have not even realized, but in the ways that we have noticed, they have been great. Literally. Great. Christian was given a new place to live, with a couple who are letting him live with them for free, gave him a car, and are literally taking care of him as though he is the son they never had. We also found out that Christian's parents will (Lord willing) be able to come for the wedding, which we had been told prior that it would be impossible, and they couldn't afford it. We just found out, today in fact that two of our closest Paraguayan friends, Allen and his beautiful new wife, Daisy will be coming to be a part of our special day as well! There are so many other ways, but the rest are a little more personal ways that the Lord has just provided and provided over and over again. I am constantly amazed at the ways that God shows that he has his hand on Christian and I. My soul is at peace, knowing that God is so clearly in control. We are so looking forward to the times to come, knowing that this God who gives so abundantly never changes, whether things are seeming good or bad to us. Not every piece of a mosaic is pretty, but it takes every piece to make the beautiful picture.
Here are some pictures of our July :-)

Mission Accomplished!

Okay, so for those of your who read my last blog post, I ended it by saying that another thing on my "first time" to do list, was make a strawberry/rhubarb cobbler. Well, this last Tuesday evening I went to the farmer's market to buy some fresh, local produce. I was getting kind of discouraged  because almost every booth was out of strawberries already, and it didn't look like anyone was selling rhubarb. As I was leaving, I happened to pass a booth with, to my great happiness, strawberries!!! Not only did they have strawberries, but upon walking up to the booth to take a look, I saw that they had a big box of fresh rhubarb sitting behind the table (not visible to passers by). I asked if I could buy some, and sure enough, strawberries and rhubarb at the same stop! Yay!

Last night, I looked online and found an AMAZING recipe for strawberry/rhubarb crisp, which I realize is a bit different than cobbler, but my goodness it sounded so good. The recipe called for 3 cups of rhubarb, but I only had about one and a half... I didn't realize how much I would need at the time that I bought the rhubarb stalk. I saw that I had some blueberries on hand, so instead, I used about 2 cups of those. I am proud to say that the end result was a delicious strawberry/rhubarb/blueberry crisp!!! (If I do say so myself ;-)) If anyone wants the recipe, here it is http://allrecipes.com/recipe/rhubarb-strawberry-crunch/detail.aspx (granted, I tweaked the measurements and ingredients a tiny bit, but it's all depending on what you think will taste the best :-))

 I got there a bit too late with the camera. My parents and my man had already begun to devour it. ;-)

A Week of Firsts

I think that the blog title pretty much says what the content of this post is about. This week was my (Linda's) week to experience a lot of "firsts". For example, this week I was blessed with the opportunity to photography my first wedding! And let me say, it was the best first experience that I ever could have asked for. Duane and Elaine and all of the guests and relatives were SO easy to work with, the weather was beautiful, and the setting was gorgeous. This week I was also given the blessing of sharing my man's birthday with him for the first time... You know, when I could finally give him his birthday present the same day as his birthday without having to ship it, I could make him a birthday cake and watch him eat it, etc, etc. That was amazing. I posted my first post on my photo-blog, and am super excited about that. I also hiked Multnomah Falls for the first time ever which, trust me, is a lot harder than it sounds.
All in all, this week has been an amazing week. Not just because of the events, but the weather has been beautiful. It hasn't really set in yet that this will be my last summer as a single, my last summer in Oregon (probably for a long time), my last summer in school and my last summer with all of my childhood friends and family close by.
So many things are changing, and while they're changing for the better, I can't help but wish that it could all stand still just a little longer. As summer school is coming to an end and wedding plans are being set in place, my heart gets excited knowing that I will get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend and love, but I know that soon the bitterness of leaving will take it's toll. The thing that I must keep reminding myself is that regardless, God is so in control. He is leading me and Christian to far better things, and that ultimately my life is not about my comfort, but about finding my worth in glorifying my God. I must pray also in all things. Like James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." And also like the famous quote, "I don't know what my(our) future holds, but I know Who holds my(our) future."

Back to the theme of "firsts", I think that another first that I will attempt this week is making my first strawberry/rhubarb cobbler! (Thanks Julie, for the inspiration of that idea ;-)) Wish me luck on that venture!