Oh How I'll Miss Thee

The time has just about come...the boxes have been packed, the apartment has been cleaned, the jobs have ended, the education has been achieved, now all that's ahead of us is the move.

In memory of my over 5 years, and Marcel's 4, in Forest Grove here is everything I am going to miss...

• MAKA--I never called us that before but as I was making a list of everything that had to get done before I could leave this place, a party with MaryBeth, Amy, Kelly and Allison was on the top of the list. My handwriting is large, but my planner isn't, so it became the MAKA party...I could go on and on about why I'll miss these girls. People say that high school is the best years of your life and I believed them...until I went to college, where I made the friends I'll have forever. They were there for me through everything. When school, home, Marcel, or just life in general was getting the best of me, they helped me see the bigger picture.

• Pacific University--I'll start by saying this was not the school's logo the entire time I was a student, but now it's undergone a much needed facelift. Pacific was my home away from home for a year, and then finally became my home when I started spending my summer breaks here too. I can still remember the first time I called this place my home to my mom! It gave me more opportunities than I ever thought I could get out of college. I met some of the greatest people ever here, had the coolest bosses ever (even the President!), and had more fun than I could ever try to recall.
• Sonrise Church--It reminds me of my first semester at Pacific, trying so hard to find a church that wasn't just a college group; we all wanted a family church, one that had kids, young adults, adults and even an elderly crowd. With the help of Whitney's pastor at home, Sonrise became just that for us. I started attending there January 2005, and teaching in the Preschool Sunday School Class (the same class I taught up until moving) in October 2006. It gives me hope to know that if I was lucky enough to find a church that would help me grow spiritually once, I will be able to do it again, as Marcel and I search for a new church home together.
  I don't believe luck actually had anything to do with it! It was more like a God thing :)
  

• Meadowlark--Our first place! How could I not miss the place we spent our first 6 months of marriage? While we were stressed about having a place to live, this place practically found us. It provided us a safe place to live close to school and close enough to work. I may or may not miss the actual apartment, but the time spent in #34 will be cherished forever, and I know that we will always look back on the days spent here.


• Bailey Avenue--I drove by this road every day I drove to the gym from Forest Grove and have no recollection of it until my first day back to work after my honeymoon—when I was finally a Bailey. For reference, I had been working at the gym for nearly 7 months at that point! In a book we got from Marcel’s mom, I read about the importance of prayer cues, having something to remind you to pray specific prayers. This street served as my prayer cue to pray about my marriage, my husband, my life as a wife, whatever was on my mind and heart about our marriage. While I hated the 30 minute drive through the city, this sign slowly earned a place in my heart and started me praying about the most important thing in my life. Now that I have dedicated time to continually pray those things early in our marriage, I can continue to follow the same pattern even without my prayer cue.

• 24 Hour Fitness & Banana Republic--I started working at both these places, hoping they’d be very temporary until I could find something more practical for my using my education. I soon felt very discouraged when job searching was going nowhere so I was happy to take a month or two off from looking. Then the economy happened and I was simply grateful to be working at all, when at 1 point, 14% of people in Oregon weren’t. I spent probably way too much time complaining about these places, but looking back now they were awesome. At both places, I met great people and learned great things about myself. Plus, as I recently told my mom, the gym has taught me more about parenting than I ever thought I’d learn before actually becoming a parent.
  
• No Sales Tax--When I went to the dollar store the other day to buy Christmas wrapping paper, I took in a single $1 bill. After the move that is something I'll no longer be able to do. It seems so little, but still something I'll miss!