Category: Uncategorized

“How would you feel about going and exploring Portland tomorrow?” my friend Sarah Beth asked me. “Okay,” I said. A month or so ago, in my finding beauty post, I wrote that “This summer, I’d like to visit various pretty/awesome spots in Oregon and blog about them.” Portland seemed like a logical place to begin.…

Today I just wanted to post about something non-controversial that wouldn’t require pictures. I was going to look up one of those “15 Random Facts About Me!” tags we used to do in Xanga days,  but they were all so silly/narcissistic that I decided instead to answer questions that real readers have asked me on…

It happened at midnight. I was about to go to sleep when suddenly, the good sweet country air was replaced by the sour cloying scent of skunk. It is difficult to describe how strong the smell was, but it was bad. The chemicals began to burn my throat. Jenny’s bedroom door slammed, and I met…

I’ve lived in Oregon for 75% of my life. I know it’s pretty. But like gum stains on the Walmart parking lot or graffiti on boxcars, at some point things become so commonplace that I don’t really notice them anymore. (This may also be due to the fact that approximately half of my life is…

Yesterday, Shasta’s Fog wrote a blog post about what it’s like to be single in a Mennonite community. It has since gone “Menno-viral” and stirred up some controversy. This blog post is a response to that blog post. In my opinion, here’s why I think her article is important, and how I think it should…

There’s something that I’ve been avoiding writing about on my blog: I quit going to the University of Oregon and started going to Oregon State instead. It’s not a big deal, but I don’t like to talk about it because when I tell someone I switched, their first question is, “why?” And I never quite…

For the month of April, a few of the Smucker ladies are embarking on a blogging project. Nothing too fancy, but I plan to post every other week day, with Mom and Jenny filling in on the other week days. Today Mom said, “so, like, are you going to write a post introducing the blogging…

Some days I am just SO THANKFUL to find an inch of tea left in my travel mug. I’m not sure if I can play the “I’m so busy!” card because I’m really not THAT busy, just stuck in a body that tends to crash into a fatigue puddle after 2:00 pm. Which is, unfortunately,…

Merry Christmas! Christmas Day began at 1:00 am, with someone banging frantically on the balcony door. And it wasn’t Santa Clause. My family went to the beach for Christmas this year. Amy, Jenny, and I got the master bedroom of our rental, the idea being that we could all sleep in the giant Queen-sized bed.…

I was exhausted when I climbed onto the bus Tuesday afternoon. I sat down next to a young sophisticated college student and zoned out, lost in my own tired thoughts. “I like your hair style.” I looked across the college student to the woman with yellow hair on the other side of her. “Thank you,”…