It's Coming on Christmas..

Well, it is that time of year again. December 3rd and I already feel as if Christmas is over. It seems to come and go quicker every year. As I look back on my childhood and think about past Christmas', I have so many wonderful memories. Waking up December 1st and knowing... ITS TIME TO START DECORATING! My mom would fill the house with cinnamon candles, home made decorations and what seemed like thousands of poinsettia's. I remember her pulling out this ceramic tree with these little plastic pins that would illuminate when you plugged them in. Every year she said the same thing, "Erin, do you know who made this tree?" I would always respond with "Oma?" as if I was not totally sure. My mom would be singing Christmas songs and the one I remember hearing the most was the famous duet by Bing Crosby and David Bowie... Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth. She always told me that Opa used to sing it to her when she was younger. Those stories still don't get old. I remember every year we would Christmas shop and my brother and I would decorate our rooms with lights and small trees and homemade wreathes and stockings on our doors. It was perfect. Every Christmas Eve, we would get dressed up and go to church. My favorite service. Always touching and the fact that it was a candle lit service made it extra special. Then we would load up in the car and go look at lights before heading home. Once we were home we would have summer sausage, cheese and crackers and now our new tradition... pizza. Before heading to bed, we would open one gift to hold us over until morning. And as you can guess... we would go to bed and lay awake anticipating what Santa had left for us. Christmas morning came and I remember my brother and I would BOLT out to the living room. We would anxiously await as we heard mom start the coffee pot and put in the cinnamon rolls. Finally the coffee is ready and she would take a cup into my dad.... and then... slowly.... he would roll out of bed. Nick and I were about to burst at this point. But before we could open presents, we had to read the Christmas Story. AND THEN FINALLY.... it was time to open gifts. We always got the neatest things. I remember one year we wanted a trampoline so bad. Our cousins had one, so we figured we should too. But since we were in the middle of a remodel, we could not afford a big one. So my mom rolls in a small, red exercise trampoline. And you know what? It was perfect. We loved that thing. I loved everything about Christmas back then.

Lately, it just seems like Christmas is more of a hassle than anything. Nobody decorates like they used to. You drive through neighborhoods to see lights, and you are lucky if even half the street is decorated. School is now required to call it "Winter Break" because they have to be politically correct. People go in debt in order to buy gifts for people they don't even want to buy for. I am struggling myself this year financially. I wont be able to buy for the people closest to me and it is killing me. But at the same time, it has really forced me to get back to the roots of Christmas. I am remembering all of these things from years past and it almost makes me sad to see what Christmas has become. Has it always been this way? Was my mom just so good at making every Christmas so special that I didn't realize how much of a hassle people seem to think it is? I sure hope not. While the presents are nice, it's not what Christmas is about. I love to see the lights and the decorations and it makes me sad when people don't get into the spirit, but I have to remind myself, that is not the most important thing. I wish that everyone including myself could take time to step out of the stores and remember why we celebrate CHRISTmas. The birth of Jesus Christ. Our saviour. We need to be celebrating him, his life and what he came to earth for. And we need to slow it down and enjoy time with our family. That time is limited. It is so precious and I want to look back on my life and be glad that I spent quality time with my family. I really hope that people will take a step back, slow down and just enjoy this holiday season. Stop worrying about money and grab your family, some mugs filled with hot cocoa and pop in a classic Christmas movie. I have every intention on making this Christmas count. I hope you do too.

Home.Sweet.Home

Well, I have officially been in Oregon for four days. I am sitting in the living room having my morning cup of coffee and just staring at the light drizzle coming down outside the window. I have said it before and I will say it again.... ahhhhh the Northwest! I am in love. I am struggling, because being here reminds me of how much I love this place. Not Gresham necessarily, but Oregon and what is here. My parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. It is hard to not want to just stay here. It did make me realize, however, that I do want to be close to my parents when I decide to settle down, get married and have children. With that said, I think my Montana days are numbered. I am not planning on getting married tomorrow, heck, I can't even think of a guy I would want to be with forever as of right now. But I do want to establish myself again. Find an apartment. Transfer to another Starbucks and hopefully get promoted sooner. The thing about living where there are more than one Starbucks, is that the possibilities of getting promoted are much greater.

It has been so nice to get to spend time with family. It really makes me appreciate them so much. I am one lucky girl to be surrounded by so many people that I love. I could not be happier. Or so I thought.

I got the best news yesterday! Laura and Bre will both be here next week! I get to see two of my best friends while I am  here!! I am overjoyed! I have not seen either of them in so long. It was Christmas the last time I saw Laura and June when I saw Bre. Another plus to moving back home, I will get to see them whenever they come back home. Which would be so nice to not be in Montana missing the time when everyone has come home and I am still there.

Now don't get me wrong. I love Montana. I love my family and that I get to see them every day. I love the church I am involved in. Sometimes I am scared that if I move back, I will not be involved or I will not go to church as often as I do. I know that I will have to push myself. I know that I will miss a lot of people and things about Montana. Mostly, my aunt, uncle and cousins. But I have just really realized how important it is to be close to family.

Enough about that. I just had to get my thoughts out I think. Time to get moving and get ready. On the agenda for today, shopping and pedicures with my mom! Its going to be great! That is all for now!

Nothin' beats Oregon in the fall

Yup, I said it! Which means of course, that I am in Oregon! After a looooong and uncomfortable train ride, I arrived at Portland Union Station this morning at 10:25. I slept on and off through most of the ride until around 8:30. I finally decided to look out the window and take in the Northwest. I was taken back by the beauty! There were so many amazing colors. Green and yellow and orange and red! AH! It was amazing! I found myself totally lost and just staring out the window. I really didnt notice anything going on around me. As I looked up onto the hills, the tops of the trees were covered in fog. It looked almost...dare  I say... Twilighty. Another thing to love about the Northwest.

As I stepped off the train, I was instantly hit by the smell... if you are from here, then you know what I am talking about. That smell that comes right before the rain hits the ground. I just stood there and took in a huge sniff! I didnt care who was looking. Nobody could take that moment from me. The air was crisp and cool and evertyhing was perfect.

I called my mom to let her know I had made it and she was running a little behind, so I decided to head into the staiton and look around. There is not much to it, but Union Station is pretty cool. Kind of historical. I sat on a bench and watched people for a while before I decided that I was in desperate need for a caffiene fix. I grabbed a double tall white mocha and went out front. You know your in Portland when the first thing you hear outside is a symphony of car horns, street sweepers and sirens. For some reason, it made me feel right at home. I was pretty much in heaven.

The first person to come up to me outside was an older gentleman. Probably late 40's I'd say. He was selling news papers for the homeless. I opted out on buying one and went back to reading my book. About twenty minutes later he sat on a bench next to the one I was sitting on. He pulled out a baggie with a sandwhich in it and a bottle of some Dr. Pepper knock off. As he helped himself to his lunch, I could not help but feel a tug at my heartstrings. My mom always tells me I am too compasionate, and it is times like these that make me think she is right. I have a hard time watching people eat alone. It makes me wonder what their story is. Why they are alone. Have they lost a loved one? Have they ever had a loved one to eat with? So many things run through my head, but today all that ran through  my head was to pray for him. So I did. I prayed that God would bless this man that I didnt know. I asked God that if he was homeless as well, that he would find a place to live. I just prayed for a while until the tears dried up. Then I looked up and my mom was there. We loaded the car with my bags and as I was getting in, I looked over and the man smiled at me. I said to him "have a really great day" and he said "well thank you, you have a good day as well." I hopped in the car and he was standing right in my view and nodded at me. I feel like this was God saying "Hey Erin, he is surely going to be blessed today". It just gave me an overwhelming feeling that everything was going to be okay.

So, that is my first hour in Oregon. I hope that man is  blessed today. I hope everyone is blessed today. I know I am and I cannot wait to see what other awesome things happen on this trip!

First blog...

So I have decided to write a blog. Not really for anyone to read, but mostly so I can just get my thoughts out. I have been stuck at home for over three weeks now with an ankle injury and I have three more weeks to go. I figured that I should do something productive with the rest of my time off. The first three weeks consisted of watching countless hours of TV and movies on Netflix. I think my brain could quite possibly be fried! Time to start reading or doing something that will feed my brain and possibly spark some creativity.

Yesterday, I made a five month calendar and each week has a different book to read. I have tried so hard to set a goal to read a book a week and for some reason I blow it off right as the words come out of my mouth. So starting Sunday, I will start the book 5th Avenue 5 A.M. The synopsis of this book is "Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's and the dawn of the modern woman". I figured this is a good book to start my 5 months off with. I am slightly obsessed with Audrey Hepburn and Breakfast at Tiffany's. What girl isn't?

So I guess I will end today's post with a little bit about myself. I am 24 years old and having severe anxiety about turning 25 in December. I moved to Kalispell, MT in May of 2010. So far it has been an incredible adventure. I have gotten really involved in church and I have made some really great friends. Bonus, I have grown even closer to my family here!  I have worked at Starbucks for a little over 4 years (hence the title of this blog). For the most part, my life is pretty awesome! Great friends, great family and great things yet to come. Now it is time to get this Friday started! Who knows what is in store for today? I am sure it will be nothing short of awesome!
Until next time!