Today's post is brought to you by the movie.  Watched it with Mom.  I should post pictures of my shoes... My 4 inch heels that scream sexy are sadly having to take a back seat to practical and comfortable shoes.  Still those practical shoes must have my style and as Reyrey can tell you they are still me, even if they are not quite as HOT as my silver glitter heals or leather boots.  Still, you have to grow up and set a good example sometime and for me that time is rapidly approaching.  As is my birthday.

I will have done some things this year (of life) that I have wanted to do for years, and others that I never thought I would do but now will have.  And this year isn't even over yet.  I will put up a full list soon, but for now, know... the times they are a changing.

OCRosie is a woman on the move, a gal with a plan, a mission, goals, dreams, some really hot "(#*) me" (as my Aunt puts it) shoes and some other shoes that soon will (I hope) say "Young, intelligent, professional, fun, quick, to be taken seriously, and likely to surprise you (in a good way, most of the time)".

Remember that choice I mentioned a few months ago.  The one that I was going to keep private until it was outwardly apparent?  The one that I knew would upset some people, shock others, and make others gasp and then say "of course?"  Well it can't be kept to a small group for much longer. 

"She's a woman child in a state of Grace"

Oh how true.

And it is Amazing Grace.

Not many fish, but a lot of fun was had in Canada.  Home safe and enjoying my blessings.

I am leaving tomorrow on a 14 hour drive with a two hour ferry ride, yes 16 hours total.  I was finishing loading the suburban with my dad when we realized the back door of the 'burban is broken.  Not going to be much fun having a broken car to unload, but can't really switch vehicles easily either.  Fun.  A little plastic part broke, one without which the back doors don't work well at all.  Dad went to try and get the part from the local dealer at 4:30 as soon as we figured out the problem.

Please pray that my dad is able to get the part we need, that we have a safe drive tomorrow, are safe on the water all week, catch a bunch of fish, have a lot of fun, and then have a safe drive back. 

The excitement never ends.

You see I had a conversation recently where the voice on the other end of the line said, "Whatever you want is fine."  And we were talking about spending money- significant money in my book.

Don't say this if you don't mean it.  If the person you are talking to does say it- take full advantage of it like I plan to.  Leaving for the store now.

*Update*
So I have been really mum about what has been going on in my life.  For various reasons, I have chosen to only vaguely reference some of the things taking place.  That person was the voice on the other end of the line.  Things are good, and the future looks very bright.

Having been up north for a month and a half now, I am missing my friends from California something fierce.  I am headed further north next week to fish, but it seems to my huge joy, that Eugene came north this weekend to fish. 

Yeah, Eugene is about an hour south of me, in Lacey, fishing with some friends!  We are going to try and meet up to see each other while he is up here and I am on this side of the state.  Seeing someone from I most recently consider "home" will be really nice.  Seeing someone from XIX?  That is just downright great.

Most of my time up here has been spent getting ready to eventually move on, that means going through boxes, trying to find jobs, and evaluating where I want to live next.  The time with my friends has been great, Carolyn was in town/state to help her sister and brother-in-law with the newest baby for a month, I have spent quite a bit of time with Krista and the kids, and Ellicia is getting ready to get married- although I have gotten some time to spend with her too, but getting to see a more recent friend (the girls and I have been friends for at least 14+ years) will be a nice treat.

Here's to hoping we can meet up sucessfully, that I don't get lost- I haven't really been on this side of the state driving in over 5 years, and that we have a good time together.

So if you got to redo a bathroom, and you new that it would be a guest bathroom as well as yours, how would you decorate it?

Would some crazy bright fish or penguin print shower curtain be out of the question because of what it might tell well educated and refined folks who come to visit?  Would you instead go with something stately and elegant that shows your maturity and style?

These are my thoughts as I look at shower curtains.

What do you think?

 I was a good little American and spent mine.  Not hard to do while unemployed and with gas prices the way they are .

Going to see some friends and some stores in the Portland area for a few days.

Went shopping with a good friend yesterday.  We had a great time, bought the gift we were searching for, and then headed out to dinner and a movie.  It was so nice to have a friend to spend time with.  The problem with being up here is that very few of my friends are here anymore, and those that are here are married, or have kids, or work odd hours so I can't spend as much time with them as I would like.  Yesterday though I got to help out one friend by being childcare, and enjoy another friend's company until midnight.  It was a very good day.

The second friend and I watched Sex in the City.  I think we both liked it, and as a review I just read on a Christian site said- it doesn't talk to singles like we are children.  So many Christian books, seminars, or teachings on being single are written/directed to teens or college age target groups.  Few if any in the church really have anything to say to adult singles that isn't patronizing or trite-  and do we really want to hear from those our age who got married years ago and then try to tell us how to date now?  I know I don't. 

So Carolyn and I sat and watch as a movie, that came from a very secular view point, pretty realistically portrayed what life is really like- hard.  Full of struggles for those living it to find themselves, their base and then someone to love whose base allows the two of them to grow together as a couple- or not.  I thought it was refreshing to watch love and life play out as it really does- in a way that is messy, confusing, and not the "Prince Charming" line of garbage I think far too many groups from Disney to the Church sell fully or in part to the girls and young women of this age.  In reality God make women just as passionate, just as smart, just as motivated as men.  We have the same urges (yes those urges) as men, we dream the same kind of big dreams, we long for the same sense of connection - but to teach girls that they should just sit around meekly and wait for some guy to come fix her life and its problems?  To in any way indicate that those who are single find themselves that way because they didn't listen to God's call on their lives when they were younger?  I find the remotest suggestion that God doesn't call women, like men, to places and positions of power, advanced skill, or influence, while they are still single, absurd.  And to tell these same women that God really wanted them not use the talents and the skills He gave them and instead stall and wait for a man to make her goals possible?  To suggest that this guy will maggically resolve all of her hurts, flaws, and issues too?  To somehow imply that this guy will not come with hurts, flaws, and issues of his own?  Insane. 

So to sit there last night and see four distinctly different relationships played out in front of me on the screen was wonderful, refreshing, and a much better reflection of real life with its joys and sorrows along the way than most movies geared at women.  In real life not all stories have happy endings, the guy doesn't always get the girl or the girl the guy, the dream job doesn't always come along at just the right moment, and the taxes are higher not lower than expected.  Sometimes all of those good things do happen in real life.  But more often than not only some of those things happen to any one person, and they don't always continue on until the end of time. 

As stated in the movie- not all love stories are forever- but that doesn't make it any less a wonderful and real love story.  Or life any less worth living, mess and all.

I reflected on that thought as I had a frozen margarita before bed- I didn't have the stuff to make a cosmopolitan in the house.

Going through boxes of old stuff is like a trip down memory lane.  For me it has been a time to remember boyfriends past.  I dated/ hung out with some great guys over the course of my life.  The high school boyfriend who wrote me beautiful letters filled with words of affection written in Spanish and drawings that filled in the edges and illustrated his thoughts.  The guy I hung out with in college whose Fraternity brothers always welcomed me into the house when I came over and who would introduce me to people as "[Guy friend's last name here]'s woman" to people who didn't know me.  It meant I was always welcome in the house and was never hassled buy any of the guys for being over late, coming over late, or going home buzzed.  Then there are the notes from guys I no longer even speak to, and gifts from them- some of my favorite clothes might I add.

Going through boxes is a trip through my past- one in which I only have to look at the happy times with friends and past boyfriends because those are the only things I kept.  My mind reminds me of the reasons we broke up, but some of my things remind me of the great times we had together.  That is how it should be don't you think.