Preface;
Okay, Our adventure was two fold. First to stay in Portland with our urbanized friend Bailee/fake sister to Lauree. Bailee's very small but comfy studio apt. happens to be very near "the pearl" for those of you who know Portland. Loved our time with her.
Second, and the ultimate destination for the trip, was the Green Villa Barn in Independance, OR., to attend the wedding of our very special friend Jenny Miser (aka, MY Jenny). Wild horses would not have kept Lauree and I from this event. Worship schedule at church however, would and did keep Len from attending. That key factor would become the "inspiration" of our Girls Adventure Weekend.
It is important to your understanding of why I refer to our trip as an "adventure".
1st and formost it is this; I "don't do" driving. What I mean by that is, large city traffic is not my friend. I am directionally challenged and I only navigate by "go straight", "turn left/right", "stop up there", landmarks are my friend, ie; Left at the AM/PM ect...no N-S-E-W for me. Does NOT help in the least. I can find stuff on maps but don't do so well translating to driving directions.
Fortunately...my daughter, bless her brain, has very good instincts for directions.
She pulled me out of a few tight spots and saved me from a meltdown. LOL! seriously!
So the driving was one part of the adventure.
We spent Saturday evening shopping. We had fun checking out lots of stuff, bought a couple of things and then I got overcome with the urge to cut my hair! "So do you want to get our hair done?", I ask. "Seriously?", she replies. Two minutes later we were sitting in Master Cuts, me getting shaped up and Lauree having hers highlighted and layered! It was so fun to be spontaneous like that. And we don't look half bad either. :) Bailee was shocked at our "adventurous" move and we were glad to have her affirmation.
We enjoyed a restful night of sleep on her futon and got up for church together. She drove us in my car (i dodged the drive) to Imago Dea (sp), where we really loved their ministry. Good teaching and musical worship.
Then it was out to breakfast and a bit more "window shopping" in her neighborhood. I'm proud to say that niether Pottery Barn or Williams-Sonoma got any of my money (yet). Sure did get some good ideas for our interior makeover though.
So...the real adventure begins when we lost track of time relaxing and chatting back at Bailee's place. I was planning to leave for Independance (very near Salem) by 3 o'clock to be on time for the 5 o'clock wedding. None of us had a clue how long the drive itself would be, but i thought a couple of hours was good planning. Well it would have been if we hadn't left her place at 3:40! And then we still would have been fine if we could have found the enterance to I-5 South and there wasn't a detour at the sign we needed that took us down to a railroad crossing with the
l o n g e s t and slowest train I have seriously EVER waited for. As the line of cars got longer and longer behind us (it was 90 degrees by the way) people started backing up and turning around. It was real weird spot but we decided to go for it too. I'm glad we did, but we still couldn't find another way to the exit we needed. As Lauree's genious direction oriented brain kicked in, she said let's try this...so thanks to her, we finally made it to the freeway. I only went too fast a few times ;).
Well, we got to the wedding late, but we did get get to witness their vows and had a great time at the reception.
Our Jenny Girl was a beautiful bride and Chad a very sweet and handsome groom. I love him a lot and am so blessed by their lives of dedication to the Lord. I know they will enjoy a long and happy life together. And I know we'll stay in touch as friends. Here is a picture of Lauree and I with Jenny and another of "my girls", Katie Keith.
By the time we left the Reception it was about 8 o'clock and we had a very long drive ahead of us. But this time it was Lauree's turn at the wheel. She drove all the way home without a hitch or any signs of intimidation from the big trucks that own the road at night. In fact, it was an eye opening experience to see her in a new role as "driver". It gave us both a lot of confidence in how she handles herself in a long distance situation. After all, she is going to be heading out on her own in one more year. I'm very proud of her confidence and the way she handled different situations.
So...as an overview of my weeked, I see that I have gained more confidence in my own driving, I made fun memories with my daughter and with friends, I let go of a piece of my past that was very hard but good to give up, I witnessed my daughter grow up a little more...and I liked it all. My heart is full.
Change Is Good.
Isaiah 43:18-19
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!
