Everyday is a New Adventure

And so it begins again...

2011-12-23T08:14:00.001-08:00

So long Seattle, hello Oregon
(after a road trip to Las Vegas--no pics)

So I realized I miss blogging. It seems that I have had the most to write about this year, however have apparently channeled that creative force into other areas. I am going to start again, however feel that a photo recap of this year is a good start to the actual writing.

So in order, here are the highlights of the year (at least the ones I have photos of):

St. Louis

We added to our family: Meet Abby.

Jack Robert

Phoenix Aurora

Miles Jeffrey

Our new home

Oona Cassini

Sean & Ashley

Chad & Nicole

Mark & Katie

Becky & Sean

Ben finally got to roast a pig

(Missing are pictures from the Portland Marathon with Annabelle...we finished!)

The start of Christmas

Thanksgiving 2011

Ben and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and an upcoming year full of new adventures.

More to come soon!

Road trip!!

2011-03-18T08:06:00.000-07:00

We have officially left Seattle and are transitioning between there and Portland with a road trip. We just spent two lovely days in Pasco WA with Jordan, Scott, and of course Luke and Emily who are too cute and fun for words.

We are now traveling Southeast to Viva Las Vegas. It's a 16 hour drive and one hour in we are pretty excited. We'll see what happens at hour ten.

Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas is a sneaky little bugger. Throughout the year, I occasionally comment that Christmas will be here tomorrow. Typically this comment comes out when someone talks about how fast time goes (or is going). So even though in May, I will tell you that Christmas will be here tomorrow, I am still astounded at how fast the holiday sneaks up on me....I mean, it's going to be here next week!

I know I should not be surprised. We got our tree November 28th, I've watched just about every Christmas movie possible, and all the presents are bought and wrapped...but I guess when I finished the quarter this week, I didn't realize that there were only 6 or 7 days till Santa came a calling.

As with most people, I love this time of year...the movies, the music, the trees, the lights, the endless supply of goodies, but most of all the goodwill and generosity of others. Sometimes it's hard to see through the craziness of the malls, the stress of getting everything ready, and the dour of the economy, but there is something inertly good about most people during this time.

A couple of nights ago I was watching the national news and they ran a story about children's (and adults) letters to Santa. This year, post office workers were reading a lot of letters (you know to filter them before they get to the big guy), and finding out that children were not asking for toys, but for clothes, and even food (cue Angela crying). Within minutes of the broadcast, ABC said they got a flood of emails and calls from viewers asking if they could be Santa's helpers for these children (cue Angela sobbing). The thought of what complete strangers are willing to do for others, is always astounding. I hope it continues all year.

We hope you all have a wonderful holiday filled with love, joy, friends, family, good food, great wine, and lots of laughter!

Merry Christmas!

With love,

Ang & Ben

The Aftermath

2010-12-17T08:43:00.000-08:00

Hands down--busiest quarter ever. Yet, probably also the most fulfilling--it's funny how those two typically go together. Besides teaching my own course, and the two papers that were finished and submitted for publication consideration, the general exams took over my life. I turned them in yesterday with a few hours to spare, and although I typically feel anxious about turning in final projects, this time I just felt done. I walked off UW campus and felt overwhelming tired. Hopefully they went well, but I guess I won't know until January.

Until then, I have promised myself that I will not think about my answers--in fact, what is uncharacteristically weird, is that I have not thought about anything. It's like my mind has gone completely blank. Maybe it has just shutdown, in an effort to rebuild and reboot later on. What I am most happy about though, is the reclaiming of the house. Here is what the study table (or the dining room table) has looked like for a few months:

Although they cannot all go back to the library at once, the returning has already started. Bring on the Christmas movies and couch time!

A few thoughts on bullying and more.

2010-11-13T08:09:00.000-08:00

I thought this was pretty powerful, and commend Cindy McCain for speaking out, going against her husband's stance (John McCain). She (and others) point out one of the glaring problems with discrimination and bullying: our leaders' refusal to give equal rights to all.

Anti-Bullying PSA From NOH8 Campaign @ Yahoo! Video

Two Years.

2010-11-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

At this time two years ago, I was walking down to get coffee for the crew coming in to set up for the reception (and by crew I mean lovely lovely friends and family). I cannot believe that Ben and I have now been married for two years. Since he has to work today we celebrated last night, first by watching the wedding video that Grace and Phil recorded (and I am eternally grateful to have a copy). We watched part of the ceremony, but basically skipped to the end to see the toasts, and comments from people at the reception.

Ben and I both agreed that not only was that one of the most fun times of our lives, but that we wish we could live it over again, just to have the same group of people all in a room, having a good time. I am sure everyone remembers their own wedding the most fondly, but I just remember an atmosphere of joyfulness and celebration, of love and family, of laughter and dance.

At the rehearsal dinner

The past two years have been remarkable, set off by a wonderful night of our families and friends united together (and if I hadn't lost my laptop, I would include more pictures), and I am looking forward to the next 62. Oh, and thank you for the well wishes on the video....they are hilarious to say the least. And if you don't think you made an appearance...don't worry, you did.

The Book Bindery

2010-10-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

Here is a pretty sweet write-up in the Seattle Times about the restaurant where Ben is working: The Book Bindery. You know it's pretty popular when only after two weeks from opening, this cook's wife couldn't get in....on a Wednesday. I'm very excited to go someday and feast, or sample wine in their winery, or just peer in through the window, which sounds like it might be my only shot at it until after the holidays!

A sad day for the laptop

2010-09-07T09:25:00.000-07:00

Ben and I had an accident on the plane ride to Atlanta a few weeks ago. In an effort to avoid spilling my water all over the laptop that Ben was watching a movie on, I handed him my water glass while I attempted to get back in my seat. He wasn't watching...I wasn't watching...an ever so unfortunate kick...water everywhere...laptop dead...no bueno.

A week later we visited the Apple Genius Bar for help. The nice man helping us told us it would cost $800 to fix and since it was two years old, our best bet would be to probably just buy a new one. Then his further justification led to this conversation:

Man at Apple store to me: "People typically replace their computers every three years."

Me to Apple store man: "Who are these millionaires?"

Ode to Summer

2010-09-06T08:54:00.001-07:00

Oh summer, how I enjoyed thee...and how thankful I am that you are over.

Let me start off by saying that my summer was lots of fun. North Dakota, 4th of July with family, weddings, the long bike ride, Vegas, South Carolina, and getting to be outside during the week trying to keep up with the youngsters. (Yes, I even enjoyed the one week of cheer camp).

Shane, Jeremy, Gma, Me, Ben, Sean, Ashley

Grandma's House

Darla, Jen, Liz, Me, Marlene

4th of July in Longview

Self-portrait

STP, Day 2, 6 a.m.

(More Vegas pictures to come)

South Carolina

School doesn't start for 3 more weeks, which I will spend getting ready for the new term. I'm excited to once again teach college students, especially since I won't have to tell them to stop throwing sand, keep their shoes on, keep their limbs in on the merry go round, be good sports, etc. etc. PLUS its FALL (or just on the cusp)!!--where everything feels new again: sunny days, crisp cool nights, rainbow of foliage, football, holidays, and some Trader Joe's pumpkin pancake mix on the way.

Summer you were lovely, but I'll see you next year.

Ben's Nieces and Nephew

2010-09-02T07:57:00.000-07:00

In South Carolina, Ben and I got to spend a week with his nieces and nephew. They all have completely different personalities, which were fun to get to know since we don't get to see them very often. Those little buggers definitely kept us on our toes to say the least. We had a blast hanging out with them, and can't wait to see them again.

Laura

Charlie

Ella

Anna

Straight out of a Pat Conroy Novel

2010-08-29T07:13:00.000-07:00

We landed back in Seattle yesterday after spending a week in South Carolina. My images of the South are based off of what most of us rely on when we've never physically been somewhere: the media. The south to me, or at least the coastal south is full of moss covered trees and marshy beaches...basically how Pat Conroy has described it. And what a wonderful job he did. The real images matched my expectations. When asked what she might want from South Carolina Margaret joked that if I saw Mr. Conroy to grab a book and get an autograph, in which I replied I would grab two. Little to my knowledge that he lives on Fripp Island...and where did I spend 6 days last week? FRIPP ISLAND! No, I did not see him, but I thought it was a fun coincidence. Our trip was amazing, relaxing, and full of Ben's family who we hardly ever get to see. I'll post more pictures soon and tell some fun stories....like how there are alligators roaming around the island and on the golf course....scary. But until then here are some images of sweet South Carolina:

Off our back dock

By the boardwalk

Sunset off the dock

Gaye, Brian, and Ben

(It stormed this night as you can see from the clouds starting to form)

Viva Garth Vegas!

2010-08-10T06:53:00.001-07:00

About six months ago, I got on a mailing list to be notified when Garth Brooks tickets were going on sale. Now I know some eyebrows just furrowed....and a question lept out of your mouth saying..."Garth Brooks?". Yes. Garth Brooks. He came out of retirement last year and is only playing shows at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas, which are like gold to get your hands on. Why? Garth Brooks! The man used to sell out shows faster than anyone in history, and even if you think you do not know many GB songs...you are wrong. I bet you know at least five...at least. Anyways, the tickets sold out uber fast, BUT if you got on the mailing list they saved some tickets...and lured you in with a package deal. An email came saying I had 48 hours to call and claim my concert tickets and two nights at the Wynn Resort...oh yes I will thank you. I think I called in three hours just to make sure they weren't really going to give my tickets away. SO a long story short, this last weekend two old married ladies traveled to VIVA LAS VEGAS! There were no heels worn, no clubs hopped, and minimal gambled, but Jordan and I had a blast!

We met in VLV around noon on Friday, walked out to a wall of heat and a taxi line that rivals any Disneyland ride and set out for the Wynn Resort. At first I was a little upset that we HAD to stay at the Wynn, but not when I walked through its front door. The resort is amazing (resembles Wonderland), so amazing, that Jordan and I jumped up and down when we saw our hotel bathroom. The bathroom people. Most people don't spend much time in their rooms in VLV, however it was so nice, it could have served as a vacation spot unto itself.

Friday afternoon was spent walking the strip, dodging in and out of casinos to 1) check them out, and 2) to get some much needed AC. Hot is an understatement. On our way back to the hotel we popped into the discount tickets area (I was looking for Cher) and saw Phantom of the Opera tickets 1/2 off...oh yes we will thank you. So we hurried back to the Wynn, showered and headed out to the Venetian where we got our free drink at Tao and off to the show. Apparently the Venetian spent $26 million to set up Phantom, and it was noticeable. The show was amazing (yes, I will be using that word a lot in this post). The actors were incredible, and the chandelier dropped it like it was hot. A burger at Margaritaville, one Bellagio water show, and two old married ladies were in bed by midnight (give us a little credit, this is WAY past our normal bedtimes and we had been up since 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. respectively).

Day 2 started off with Jordan sleeping in (a rarity for a mom with two almost two year old twins), and me swimming and lounging by the pool. I went down around 7:30 to avoid the crowds, but also because it was already 90 degrees. After a relaxing breakfast on the terrace we headed out to the older end of the strip and popped into Circus Circus. Now the last time I was in VLV, Jen, Greg, and I got stuck in Circus Circus...literally. We had to shoot out a back alley after wondering aimlessly for 20 minutes trying to find an exit. I do not have fond memories, but that is all changed. Not only did I win $8.70 on a penny machine (living the high life right?), but also played blackjack for an hour walking out with more money than I walked in with...woo hoo! We had as the sign said, "slots-o-fun." Back to the hotel, a chance meeting with an old college friend (Beth Wertz) and it was time to get ready for Garth! A pre-show mojito and we sat down to our front row balcony seats...about 12 rows away from GB (small scream of happiness).

There are few words to describe the show. It was Garth, his guitar, and a tour through his life including all the music that inspired him or his family. He played his classics, but also Haggard, Jones, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Elton John, Randy Travis, George Straight, etc. etc. etc. Even if you're not a country fan, or a GB fan, you would have still had a blast. He was hilarious, told all these great stories about how songs came about, sang a surprise duet with Trisha Yearwood, and the whole time was wearing Carhart jeans, a sweatshirt, and baseball hat. He was gracious, genuine, and very down to earth...plus he played 30 minutes longer than expected, which was lame for the people waiting for the later concert I'm sure, but he could have played all night with no complaints in the audience. AMAZING!

Five hours of sleep and we were both back on planes out of VLV. It's definitely a different world down there, full of debauchery and any other word you can think of...but this old married lady had a fabulous time....slots o fun...if you will.

A Case of the Thursdays.

2010-07-30T07:23:00.000-07:00

Every Thursday, things start to change in sports camp. The kids are used to each other, tired of each other, tired in general, and a little bit over the whole thing. We call it "a case of the Thursdays." Crying because it's not our turn to get on the swing yet? Case of the Thursdays. Do not want to participate in any game...EVEN when it's the one they specifically chose to play? Case of the Thursdays. Etc.

The truth is that us counselors get a case of the Thursdays also because we are also used to the kids, tired in general, and a little bit over the whole thing. Yet, yesterday there was a bright spot that made it all better. I pretty sure I won't be able to describe it accurately, but it was one of the cutest things I had seen in a long time.

The all sports camp was playing a game of Pig Pen, where basically the kids hide and try not to get spotted by the kids designated as Farmers. If they are spotted they go to the Pig Pen until they are rescued by another...well...pig I guess. Hmmm....this game all of a sudden doesn't seem politically correct. Whatever.

Well, one of my favorite campers ever (Nicholas) who is about two feet tall, with an ear to ear smile and freckles, decides to curl himself in a ball in the open field. His tactic basically is "if I can't see you, OBVIOUSLY you can't see me." It might have been a case of the Thursdays, but I laughed until I almost cried. How cute is that? Other kids are hiding in bushes, running like banshees away from everyone, and Nicholas just decides to be a rock in the field....and the best part? It worked.

Thursdays are hard, but I'll take a case of the Nicholas Thursdays any day.

Happy Friday!

Where does summer go?

2010-07-26T07:11:00.001-07:00

My grandma pointed out yesterday that this is the last week of July. Although I had some vague recollection of the date, I had not realized that summer was almost over. Yes, that is a little dramatic and a touch of an overstatement, but it always seems like summer goes so fast. Here I thought I would wait till August to start thinking about fall quarter, feeling in my bones that it was light years away...but no...just five days from now and I should be writing a syllabus and emailing professors about my upcoming exams. Where did summer go?

Ben and I still have a few trips planned (i.e. Vegas with Jordan and Garth Brooks, and a week long trip to the beaches of South Carolina), but camp (aka my summer job) is half way over, and my school procrastination is knocking at the front door. I sometimes miss the summers of youth that were not filled with obligations, but only one vacation, and hours and hours of riding bikes, eating ice cream, and waiting for school to start again with new clothes and a clean pencil holder. Yes, I was a little dorky and liked school, and apparently still am, but as a kid, it seemed like summer dragged on and school was a welcome relief. Come September I might feel that way too since fall is my favorite time of year (as seen here), but right now I am dreaming of a long last week of July....and thoughts of fun summers past:

In Disneyland

On the water (sorry girls, I look pretty sweet myself)

Backpacking with friends (Herb & Ben)

At the beach

Rolling around town

Happy summer everyone. Enjoy!

204 Miles of...Soreness and Accomplishment

2010-07-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

For Ben's 30th birthday present, I signed him and myself up for the Seattle to Portland bike ride, along with recruiting some friends to attempt the journey with us. I mean, who wouldn't want to ride 204 miles for their birthday? At the time (early February) I figured we had, oh I don't know, five months to train, so it wouldn't be a problem...you know, more about the journey than the destination.

Well the short story is we didn't train. Nope, not at all. The one 40 mile ride to Redhook doesn't count in my mind, since we stopped in the middle for 2 hours and ate nachos. But there we were crossing the start line on Saturday at 6:05 a.m....happy, optimistic, and woefully unprepared.

(At the start line)

The first part of the ride is beautiful. We rode down by Lake Washington and at this point the sun was starting to rise so it was really quite breathtaking. Then the sun went away and it was very very cold, but I had on knee length blue polka dotted socks which kept me warm, and also drew a lot of compliments I found out. Later on I realized that I was kind of a mile marker for people, because for some reason, although there are 10,000 riders, you pass and repass a lot of the same people. Anyways....we stopped at the 22 mile stop and then again at 55, mostly riding all together. Then things changed.

After the Day 1 mid-way point, we seemed to separate and that is when things got tough. Miles 55-70 are along this uber busy highway where you ride single file with a headwind and just your thoughts. Yuck. I stopped at the next stop by myself, and the boys stopped at mile 70 to wait for us. Once there, they took off wanting to make it to Centralia before 4 p.m. I called Annabelle who was a few miles back and not feeling well (stupid migraine), so she opted out which was super sad, but in hindsight probably a smart decision. The sun was starting to come out, and so was the pain. My knees hurt, my legs were worn out, and I won't even talk about my tush...that's saved for Day 2.

(Ben and Allan at the 70 mile stop)

Miles 70-85 were along this cool trail that resembles the Burke-Gilman, and I chatted to the unicorn ladies and other fellow riders I had met along the way. But by this time, I was stopping every 7-10 miles to stretch, rub my knees, and suck down some Gu, or other energy helpers. Thankfully...oh so thankfully I made it to Centralia at 4:15 p.m. To be honest, I really thought I wasn't going to be able to make it the next day. Everything was sore and stiff and my knees were done. I was so tired that I crawled into my sleeping bag at 7:45 and didn't even brush my teeth (a big deal for those who know my teeth hygiene habits). Then as if I blinked, it was 5:15 a.m. Day 2.

(At our camp site, 99.3 miles into the ride)

Day 2 started out...well sore. We popped some Ibprofin and headed out to the Chevron station for breakfast and the bathroom. This is the one thing I would do differently if we do it again. There are tons of organized stops with food and bathrooms, but the lines are stupid and add so much down time which in the end makes you more tired. So Day 2, we only stopped at one organized stop, and instead went to gas stations or other places where there were no lines and no chaos. When you are at a place with thousands of riders and their bikes, it gets a little nuts. Anyways, we started Day 2 at 6:45 and after suffering one flat, we were off through the rolling hills. The first 20 miles to Winlock are amazing. Up and down, up and down, where the ups are manageable and the downs are cruise worthy. This was my favorite part of the whole ride in terms of scenario and pedalability (yes, I made up that word).

This is one of my favorite photos of the trip. If you look to the left of Allan, you will see the world's biggest egg, located in Winlock Washington. We then rode to Lexington where the two nicest ladies were waiting with turkey sandwiches and Cool Ranch Doritos.

Yep, mom and gma were waiting to cheer us on, and allowing us to bypass the chaos at the organized stop a mile back. We took a nice lunch break and then rode through Longview and over the Lewis and Clark bridge into Oregon. I also liked this part of the ride a lot, since I knew where we were. Over the bridge and the sign said 48 miles to Portland. We were 75% done by this point, but my butt was 100% done. Sore, is an understatement.

We rode Highway 30 to Portland, and although the organizers of the ride said there were only two hills the whole trip, their pants are probably still on fire from being liar liars, because the whole damn ride was an incline, especially on Hwy 30. Some guy even passed me and said, "I sure am tired of these hills." Me too my friend, me too.

Once I saw this sight I almost cried with happiness:

Portland was in sight. As I wrote before, I really was worried I wasn't going to be able to do it. We had joked that we would ride to Longview, get breakfast at the Pancake House and my dad would drive us the rest of the way. When we reached Lexington and saw my mom and gma, I knew we could physically do it, but not until I saw this bridge did it really sink in. The fun part of Day 2 was that I kept up with the boys the whole way so we entered Portland together and finished just under 4 p.m....faster riding then the day before.

At the finish line were Annabelle, Jen, Katie, and Mark cheering us across, which was an amazing sight. We were so tired, so sore, BUT....

WE DID IT!

The next couple of days were filled with rest and friends, but this picture of Ben describes how we felt:

If you look closely you will see that Ben fell asleep with one shoe on, and 1/2 a sock hanging off. Happy 30th Birthday Ben, you did amazing!

And an Adventure it was...

2010-06-21T08:09:00.000-07:00

To start with...this post will never capture how terrified and scared my mom, grandma, and I were last Thursday afternoon. I cannot even put into words the absurdity of the situation, and even though it's a pretty remarkable story to tell...I probably could have done without it.

Last Thursday, my mom, gma, and I headed out on our trip to Edinburg, North Dakota to bury my grandfather's ashes in the dark North Dakota soil where growing up he picked and hauled potatoes and every other thing you could imagine to earn money. Before he passed, he would always tell stories of fond memories he had growing up in Edinburg and how we would still like to go back and haul potatoes. It seemed fitting to take him home.

So us three ladies boarded a plane to Minneapolis out of Seattle followed by a connection to Grand Forks, ND. The first plane ride was unmemorable and I can tell you all about running from one end of the airport to the next with only 20 minutes to connect and switching gates, and not having time to eat or pee, but that is boring, and besides the point.

We finally get on our little 50 seater to Grand Forks, and take off. The ride is only 44 minutes, and it is going pretty smooth. But then, the plane makes a sweeping turn 30 minutes in and the captain comes on and says, "Bad news everyone. We have an engine indicator light on and it's not causing a problem right now, but they don't want to land a plane where they cannot service it, so we're heading back to Minneapolis." Basically I heard "engine problem" and started to panic. Then he told us the temperature was going up in the engine, but we should be fine...blah blah blah...then he got on and said he had power again so we're fine. AGAIN? Does that mean we didn't at one point? Finally we were back in Minneapolis and headed to another broken plane with the same passengers and crew. This time it was the bathroom, but I didn't care as long as all the necessities worked: engine, wings, landing gear, pilots, etc.

So literally after 30 minutes from landing we were back in the sky headed to Grand Forks again...phew...BUT then the captain comes on and says drinks are on him and we better have one because there are thunderstorms ahead. Sidenote: Most of you don't know, but maybe you do, that I'm not the best flier. Yes, I will board the plane and can probably maintain a conversation, but it is not my favorite thing to do, and if the plane so much as sneezes, I freak out. Needless to say, my gin and tonic was gone in 2 seconds.

So here we are 30 minutes into our 2nd flight to Grand Forks and the plane starts to freak out... and I mean FREAK out. Up, down, side to side, and not like "oh Angela were there a few bumps you sissy?"...no like the plane was out of control and everyone was wondering if it was going to tip over freak out. Mom and I are holding hands, grandma can't even look at us, and the plane is silent. But it doesn't end here...oh no.

Finally we are out of the storm and the sky looks better out of gma's window then mine, BUT then the captain comes back on (mom poignantly said later on our way back to Seattle that everyone time she heard the crackle of the pilot's mike her heart dropped) and says, "just to make this trip even more interesting, we are going to circle for a while, because they just cleared the flight tower because of a tornado." WHAT???? A TORNADO???? "But don't worry we have plenty of gas." Oh good, because I need one more thing to think about.

Circling...circling...circling...

"We have an update everyone, there is a plane in front of us and they are going to attempt to land. If they make it down okay, we should be on the ground in 11 minutes."

1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, no descending, 4 minutes, 5 minutes, not one flipping foot lower in altitude....9 minutes...

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to stay up here a little longer, the plane in front of us was 1 mile from the runway and a tornado touched down on the field. They cleared the flight tower again."

Panic, disbelief, uncertainty....waiting.

Circling...circling...circling...

"All right everyone, the storm is coming in on both sides of us. We have a pocket to land, so we're going to attempt to land." ATTEMPT? By this time, I could have parachuted out of the plane I wanted out so bad. I told my mom I would rather ride a donkey back to North Dakota then fly there again.

Thankfully the two best pilots in the whole world put us safely on the ground. I could have kissed them both. My gma's cousin Lana was at the airport waiting to pick us up and she told us for over an hour the tornado sirens blared and they were all stuck in the basement of the airport just in case this tornado hit:

Yes, this picture is courtesy of the Grand Forks Herald, and was one of the few that touched down at the airport that day. The plane in front of us landed in Fargo, and we were apparently one minute from heading there ourselves. Thankfully we didn't, because I probably would have boarded a train back to Seattle, rather then get on another plane.

We then waited in the airport to ride this out:

The rest of the trip was less adventurous, thankfully, besides the next day when you could barely step outside without getting blown down the street. But on Saturday we got grandpa all settled at home and that day the sun shone so bright, with the most beautiful sunset, almost as a thank you. We know he is now finally at peace, and so are we.

The two flights back were filled with high anxiety for the unexpected, but thankfully again they were normal. We did experience some turbulence over Montana, which I am guessing is from the tornados they also experienced yesterday. I know that we were very fortunate, because the tornados caused a lot of damage to areas of North Dakota and Minnesota, with lives lost. However, if I never fly during extreme weather again, I would not cry.

Right now, I am happy to keep my two feet on the ground...at least for a little while...and so are these two ladies:

Look how happy everyone is on board the plane back to Seattle. After this trip, everyone was ready to come home.

Back on the Wagon

2010-02-16T11:01:00.000-08:00

...and on the blog too.

I'm not going to lie. After New York, I fell off the wagon. And not so much as just fell and left, but was dragged along behind it for a while. Since November, my running has been sporadic...3 times a week, no running for two weeks, etc. But now I'm ready to get back on.

The problem is that for penance for getting off, you have to earn your way back on. Forget flashing your "I ran a marathon four months ago ticket"...it's expired. Why? Because when you take 4 months off of anything, you lose it.

So currently I'm pushing, at times pulling the wagon, and it sucks. The miles are tough, my breathing labored, and the little voice inside my head is going: you did this to yourself sucker! And to be honest...I'm slightly afraid that I might bail again.

To counter this, I need inspiration--more inspiration than tight pants (which is starting to happen). Tight pants do not make me eat less cheese....I can't, it's too good...nor do they stop me from eating so many Zours that my tongue bleeds...so I need to exercise.

No, my inspiration lies in accomplishment; from both myself and others. My own inspiration is now signed up for the Rock n' Roll 1/2 marathon in June, and the Seattle to Portland bike ride in July. I'm also toying with the idea of running the full Portland marathon...we'll see. Until then, I will strive for my goals, and look to the lovely people around me for additional inspiration. What kind you ask? Well...

The inspiration that comes from seeing your mom brush off the running shoes and getting out there 5-6 days a week (sometimes twice); from your grandma taking daily hour long walks; from watching you husband suffer through excruciating pain to cross the finish line; from watching your best friend challenge herself to do something that was never her strongest area (way to conquer Lake Union Katie!); from watching Becky become a dolphin, and punish her first triathlon; from having friends who will sign up for races with you on a whim (thank you Sara); from friends who continuously will sign-up with you for numerous events and push push push you to be faster, but still eat nachos afterwards (Miss Allen); from watching former 'non' runners pick up the sport and become certified runners (minus the certificate--nice job Sara G.); from having your twin call and say she was inspired to finish a 1/2 marathon before turning 30; and many many more (Kelsey, et. al.).

Of course, inspiration comes from non-running/athletic achievements, and any time any of you put yourselves out there and do something that takes effort and determination, you are an inspiration to me.

Tally Ho!

A Decade in Review

2009-12-30T12:47:00.001-08:00

A tweet from Annabelle got me thinking about the New Year. Instead of recapping 2009, she looked back at the past decade, which got me to do the same. It has been a remarkable 10 years, full of major highs and lows. Here are the highlights in no particular order (for both good and bad):

Graduated college, started college, graduated college, started college
Moved 1 billion times up and down the west coast
Visited 15 states: Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii, Utah, Arizona, Montana, Missouri, Colorado, Illinois, Texas, Minnesota, Maryland, and New York
Traveled through 12 different countries: Canada, England, France (2x), Switzerland, Austria, Germany (2x), Italy (2x), Greece, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Spain, and Jamaica
Saw the Pope on Easter
Skied the Alps
Maintained childhood friendships, rekindled ones of old, and created new lifelong ones
Witnessed vows of love, and new baby blessings
Ran countless miles, including two 1/2 marathons, 1 full marathon, and a triathlon
Sent my grandfather Abel out to sea
Said goodbye to the tough Norwegian bird that was my great-grandmother Olga
Got to know my sister and brother
Said a tearful, heart-wrenching farewell to the greatest person I have ever known: my grandfather Lyle
Met and married the love of my life
Laughed, loved, cried, danced, sang, played, praised, hugged, mourned, fished, swam, skied, biked, snorkeled, celebrated, cheered, indulged, humbled, and always was, and am, eternally grateful for every day on this earth
Along with countless other things I am sure to recall later on.

I have never been a big resolution maker, but last New Year's eve, I made a new year's goal to run a marathon, which I made happen. I feel that goals are easier to strive to, so for the next decade my list of goals is great--none too overwhelming, and hopefully all accomplishable. I hope they are celebrated with you all.

Happy New Year!

Taking a break from finals

2009-12-07T07:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took a momentary break from finals, to go with Ben and get our Christmas tree. We ended up getting it from the same place as last year, but there was one big difference...oh about a mile. Last year, we hiked uphill to right about where we live now, and carried our tree home...1 mile. This doesn't sound like a long way...but with a Christmas tree, the mile is amplified.

Anyways, after our 2 block walk to the tree lot yesterday, we settled on what we thought was a Charlie Brown size noble fir. It was so small that Ben could carry it by himself. But once we got home we realized it was a lot bigger than it looked outside, and is absolutely perfect for our little place. Due to the unfortunatel incident that happened during the move, we only have 3 ornaments, but we've made do. There is also our dried red pepper making an appearance on the tree...and one of my new favorite ornaments (see below):

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

Ozzie, one of our new ornaments from Crate & Barrel

A perfect place for a NY marathon finisher's medal.

Happy Holidays!!

Start spreading the news....

2009-11-04T12:46:00.001-08:00

Ah...New York...what a wild ride.

I'm not sure where to start...with the marathon...or leading up to it...basically the whole trip was a blur.

Well let's start with the good stuff: WE FINISHED THE MARATHON!!!!!!!!

Ben, Dan, and I woke up at 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning feeling slightly more anxious than we wanted to admit. The day before we had walked through Central Park and saw the finish line. Two things happened at this point:

1. Right before we crossed the 26 mile banner, Ben and Dan took a great photo, demonstrating a move, that I am pretty sure both would still struggle with completing today:

and

2. We all started to feel incredibly anxious, nauseous, and found ghost pains all over our body, which is how I continued to feel until we crossed the start line.

So nervous, anxious, and excited we caught the subway to Manhattan, took the 6:15 a.m. ferry out to Staten Island (with a great view of the Statue of Liberty, and two girls doing the walk of shame home after a wild Halloween night, not expecting to be surrounded by 44,000 runners--classic). Then on to the buses to Fort Wadsworth and let the waiting begin.

Since the race didn't start for another couple of hours, the four of us (Annabelle met us there) sat around, ate bagels, waited in the bathroom line, wrote our names on shirts, and got more and more nervous. Two things I learned to bring to future races from this ordeal: your own toilet paper, and something to sit on. Annabelle took off first since she is much faster than us, and then 30 minutes later it was time to start.

The marathon started with a cannon blast, and good old Frank Sinatra singing "Start spreading the news" and then we were off. The whole marathon was incredible. Fun at times, agonizing at others, but overall a memorable experience that I will never forget.

The first 11 miles ticked off pretty easily, especially with the help of the cheering crowds in Brooklyn and awesome bands. We high-fived, pumped our arms in the air, laughed, and throughly enjoyed ourselves. Unfortunately during Mile 11, Ben's poor IT Bands flared up, and at Mile 14, we made a heart-wrenching decision to each run at our own pace. I caught up to Dan at Mile 17 and we ended up finishing the race hand in hand, with Ben just a little bit behind us. Miles 18-22 were the toughest for me. I wasn't winded or tired, but by that point everything started to hurt...the bottoms of my feet, knees, hips, and lower back. To say I hit the wall would be an understatement. I basically hit it, and then drug it behind me for a few miles. But once we reached Mile 23 I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It also helped that I saw Michael J. Fox cheering for Team Fox right before that mile marker.

The last 3.2 miles Dan and I didn't stop, or even get liquids at the aid stations. Instead we committed to finishing, soaked up Central Park, and finished with smiles on our faces. When Ben crossed a little later I cried. If you've ever had IT band issues you know how painful they are...and to run with them hurting for 16+ miles is remarkable, to say the least. At one point Ben said he would just plant one leg and sweep the other one around so to not bend his knees...amazing is how I describe him and his efforts....amazing.

Annabelle was waiting at the recovery tent with Michael (who was working the event), and we sat and shared stories, huddled under our foil blankets, and sat in shock. Overall, it was more memorable then I can describe.

During the run, especially toward the end, I thought that this was probably my last marathon. However the New York Times, captured it beautifully. The next day they ran an ad saying "Today, I bet you think you'll never do a marathon again....See you next year." Now that the pain has worn off, I'm ready to set a new PR...

Maybe next year.

Annabelle at the Expo. (This was the easy part).

On the Staten Island ferry...tired, nervous, and excited. (Statue of Liberty real small in the back).

The four finishers and the man that made it all happen.

Here are some other fun pics from the trip:

Ben and Lego Chewbacca.

In Central Park.

On top of the Empire State Building.

What a marathon finisher's plate looks like the day after the race.

The Final Countdown...

2009-10-31T06:46:00.000-07:00

Ben and I landed bright and early yesterday morning feeling a little delirious from not sleeping for 24 hours (as a side note, I think I am an anomaly b/c even Ambien does not work for me when flying on a plane). Yesterday was spent walking around the city, getting our race stuff at the expo, taking a 3 hour nap, eating lots, and spotting our first celebrity (America Ferrera). We are now getting ready and going to head out to Central Park.

Today will be spent walking around some more, going up the Empire State Building, and lots of other fun touristy things. Tonight we will crave pumpkins, carbo load, and go to bed early with what I anticipate will be a bunch of nerves. Ben thinks he is getting a blister, I am kicking myself for not bringing better walking shoes, and Annabelle swears next time she is going to wrap herself in bubble wrap....

I think we're ready.

Famous? Oh Yeah.

2009-10-28T17:43:00.001-07:00

Here is part of my 15 seconds of fame:

http://uwnews.org/uweek/article.aspx?id=53177

Follow us on Race Day

2009-10-26T15:15:00.001-07:00

So if you want...not that you will...but just in case (mainly this is for my mom)...you can track us on race day and see how we are doing. Just sign-up at: http://athletealert.ingnycmarathon.org/Alerts.aspx and then add us as your runners to watch!

Inspiration Sent by Grace

2009-10-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Grace sent Ben and I this card today:

I literally almost did what this card said not to do, from laughing so hard.

Thank you my friend. Thank you.

Four More Days

2009-10-26T08:16:00.001-07:00

Okay, so the marathon is technically in 7 days, but we leave in 4 days....excited? I can barely contain myself. I am still paranoid of all of the germ carriers on campus, and will keep Purrel stock up until we get back. Then as of Therese's recommendation I will relax a little, so I don't create the next super-bacteria that wears a cape and laughs at your pitiful trying to stay healthy precautions.

Other areas of concern? Not hurting myself, which is easier said then done. Yesterday I was walking on a sidewalk maintaining an inner dialogue that went something like: "Angela, you should really wear better footwear. Your Ugg boots are slightly too big, and you need to make sure you don't do something stupid like roll your ankle. Okay focus...one foot in front of the other." As I was having this conversation to myself, my ankle literally rolled off the sidewalk and gave me a heart attack.

But I am loving the taper mode, which basically forces me not to run long distances (very helpful with trying to manage time). The training is complete and all I have left to do is finish my school work, pack my bag, and pick a mantra that will push me through the wall. I am open for suggestions.

A Great Day

2009-09-13T09:04:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a wonderful day. After spending Friday night running around Lake Union and eating victory nachos outside at the Nickerson Street Salon with my wonderful friend Annabelle, I went to sleep thinking it was a great night. And then I woke up Saturday and realized I was going to harness Friday night and turn it into a great Saturday. SO, yesterday I:

Spent the morning with Ben lounging around the house
Got new running shorts, that have a boy short underneath. (I can't wait to try them out on our long run tomorrow!)
Ate a Molly Moon's ice-cream cone ('scout' mint) before lunch
Picked up my library books that finally came in
Enjoyed the beautiful hot Seattle late-summer day
Watched the Huskies beat Idaho...Go Dawgs!
Read one of my new books
Watched a movie
Made a salad out of my Runner's World magazine, which was delicious (sweet potato & bacon?...yumm)
And thoroughly embraced relaxing on one of my last day's before school starts.

I am excited for fall, but as long as summer wants to keep giving us these warm sunny days, I am going to make sure to enjoy them to the fullest. What did you do?

A Lovely Weekend...and A Hint of What is to Come

2009-09-09T20:38:00.001-07:00

The last week was filled with family, friends, love, laughter, good food and wine, and the beginning of my favorite season. My aunt Darla flew in from southern California Wednesday evening and we spent Thursday traversing throughout Seattle. We ate at one of her favorite old breakfast spots in Greenwood (Phinney Ridge Cafe), and window shopped our way through the University Village and of course Target, where she bought Ben and I a beautiful new house warming present: a living room rug that is soft to walk on and not covered in four years worth of memories. We then dined at Ben's restaurant, gorging ourselves on scallops, halibut, and the best dessert: peach crepes with black sea salt.

Early Friday morning, Ben and I headed south to Eugene to be a part of Allan and Kelda's wedding weekend. There we ate well (Belly for the rehearsal dinner), helped with last minute adjustments as the less than 1% chance of rain decided it wanted to be a wedding guest, and watched our friends exchange their vows.

(Ben and I before the ceremony)

(The lovely bride)

(Her grandmother's veil)

My favorite part of the evening was finding all of Kelda's personal touches, including little birds everywhere (my absolute favorite). Here is an example of one hanging out in the cream puffs (side note: I ate 7 cream puffs...and 1 cupcake...and a lemon bar--don't judge me...they were delicious).

We then headed back North to visit more family and friends, and then drove to Seattle in a monsoon. I have never been on the freeway when out of the blue, all the cars slow down 20 mph, when there is open road. But you literally could not see out the window...scary to say the least. Back at the house we spent the rest of the weekend hanging pictures (no bare walls!), hanging out with family, and tackling a 14 mile run. Yes, you read that right...14. Now I know we're training for a marathon (26.2 miles), but 14 is still a big deal to me...it's the longest either of us have ever run (see Ben, I didn't write about what you thought I would write about...yet...).

Overall, the weekend was lovely...but the icing on the cake was that I saw signs of my favorite season: fall. I'm not sure if it was the cup of tea, the change in the air, or the fact that I heated up my frog warm-up that Therese gave me in an effort to loosen up my back...but I got a glimpse of it. And guess what...I LOVE FALL!

Why you ask?

Well, the simple answer is because it's BEAUTIFUL. The leaves change and outside looks like a painting. But I also love: the beginning of football season , when the air turns crisp, and back to school and all the anticipation it brings. Plus, after a long hot summer, snuggling up with a cup of tea in a warm sweater starts to be very inviting. The cool nights allow for better sleeping, and there is the hint of the holidays, which brings fun movies that you save for those special times, meals that your mother made meant to put meat on your bones, and fun decorations. The speed also slows down for awhile (at least until the end of November). Gone are the plan-filled weekends that last from the 4th of July to Labor Day, and instead they are full of long runs through RED, YELLOW, and ORANGE filled streets, chili in the crockpot, my Jake Locker jersey, and a fresh start.

I have always felt like Fall is the true beginning of the year. There is just something about it that says clean, crisp, new, and refreshing. I could go on and on...carmel apple ciders, carving pumpkins, etc. I hope everyone had a lovely Labor Day weekend, and please enjoy the last summer days we have...because the leaves are changing...literally.

Some Kitchen Context for my Mother

2009-08-30T13:42:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of photos to give the Mickey post a little more context.

The full kitchen and bar area:

When you walk into our place, the door is in the middle of the room and if you look left you see the above image, and to the right is the living room. There are windows on each side of the door, and underneath each are the dining room nook (you can see my bike tire in the lower left hand corner--it is leaning up against the table); and to the right under the window is my office area.

Here you get a glimpse of the living room and the neat bookshelf that our landlords didn't want to part with, but also did not want to ship to Atlanta. It originally was under the living room window, but after Ben and I both almost had a meltdown trying to figure out how to keep it under the window and fit a desk in the new place, we decided it fit perfect under the bar, and we didn't have any barstools anyway.

Around the corner of the bar is the hall/bathroom/bedroom area. These are all the pics for now--at least until we hang some stuff on the walls....

Secret Addiction

2009-08-29T17:36:00.000-07:00

Thinking Ben and I have a problem:

What's even sadder is that this was just from the pencil holder, and does not contain the numerous Sharpies scattered throughout the rest of the house.

Little Things Around the House

2009-08-25T12:03:00.000-07:00

There are a few little things around our new house that I really enjoy. Not the place itself (although I am rather fond of the ice machine), but things that we brought with us. With the loss of my Christmas ornaments during the move, I realized that they were just "things," and what matters most is not the objects but the people around you that make the objects memorable (I won't lie though--I still miss my ornaments and hope that the person who found them really needed them...but I digress). So I'm not too attached to the "things," but since they were not accidentally left in the free box, I'm going to celebrate them, because they make me smile. Case in point: Mickey.

Now as most of you know, I am rather fond of Disneyland. Yes, the lines are long, and there are lots of kids, but if you go at the right time (during the week after Labor Day), you get to act like a kid yourself and run from ride to ride eating as much ice cream and churros as your little heart desires. I enjoy the uninhibited freedom that Disneyland invokes, and brings out the playful kid in all of us.

When Ben went with me to Disneyland for the first time I was a little nervous. Would he act like a kid himself, or laugh at how I skip from ride to ride? Although this is not entirely fair to him, I had predetermined that Disneyland was the deal breaker or maker. I needed to be with someone who could let loose, and as soon as he turned to me and giggled before our cart took off on Space Mountain, I knew I had a keeper.

After our long day of fast passing, Ben and I decided to buy our first souvenir together. We went through each shop and finally decided on some matching coffee mugs. Yet, when we bought them the sales receipt said at the bottom: "WARNING: PRODUCT CONTAINS LEAD PAINT THAT MAY CAUSE BIRTH DEFECTS." The sales clerk told us that the state of California MADE THEM put that on the receipt, and he assured us they were fine (SIDE NOTE: thank you California for looking out for my health). Ben and I looked at each other, and back at the store and decided that we did not have the energy to find new souvenirs, and that we just wouldn't drink out of them until babies were born, and we couldn't harm our future kids with our "happiest place on earth" memorabilia. At the old place we hid them so none of our guests would accidentally be exposed to lead paint, but at the new diggs they are happily displayed on a top shelf (perfect placement by Margaret):

So when you come visit, please note that for your safety, you CANNOT drink out of them--cute as they may be.

The second time we went to Disneyland, we decided on something a little smaller, and that no one could get poisoned from:

I just love this little guy. He happily sits on the stove and watches over the kitchen. This was his spot at the old place, and he does such a good job looking out for the kitchen that he now has a permanent spot no matter where we live.

He shares the stove with my favorite green teapot Ben got me in San Francisco, the salt and pepper, and the adorable little vase that Blythe got me for Christmas that we hold oil in. You'll also notice the brown lump on the other side of the stove. It's a snake, although it kind of resembles a pile of poo. Mickey is not happy about it, and I am also not too thrilled, but that is where Ben wanted it. Since he tolerates the Mickey's all over and giggles on Space Mountain, this one he can have.

Danskin Completed!

2009-08-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a very exciting and fulfilling day. To start off with...I FINISHED the triathlon! I know that is typically how the blogpost should end, and there were many ladies wearing pink shirts that had a quote from my favorite Runner's World writer Larry Bingham (aka The Penguin) that said something to the effect that the "great thing isn't that I finished, it's that I started," but to me, finishing was a big deal.

AND a HUGE congratulations to Katie, Sara, Connie, Margaret and the rest of the Longview ladies, and the triathlon ass-kicker Becky. Everyone had a great race, but Becky decided for her first triathlon she would show the Danskin what's going on and finished 3rd in our age group, 27th overall (out of 5,000 women) and a ridiculous 2nd overall in the swim (1/2 mile in 11:02...damn!). I've decided we're going to start entering her professionally. WAY TO GO LADIES!!!

Here are a few pictures that I stole off Facebook (I illegally entered through Grace's account), so beware the site might crash again!

Here is Becky and I super nervous waiting to get the show on the road:

This is the start of our swim. Class #26 red caps! I'm pretty sure Becky was around the first buoy by the time I was still waiting to start and peeing on everyone. (Yes, I am aware that is too much information, but it's true...I also peed when I exited the water and ran to my bike. I never knew I had a hidden super talent, but apparently it's peeing anywhere, even while running. Don't get too grossed out, I was completely covered in water, and urine is a disinfectant---WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION)...OKAY I get it....moving on...

What I learned from the swim is that next time I will wear a wetsuit. The water was a little choppy and right away I drank almost half of Lake Washington, which freaked me out more than I ever thought it would. So instead of pumping out the freestyle like I've been practicing for months and months, I did a lot of the backstroke, breaststroke, and anything that would keep my butt afloat (even floating on my back and just kicking). The water temp was great, but the buoyancy of a wetsuit gives you more freedom to use your energy to propel forward instead of trying to stay on top of the water. Overall, I am proud that I finished the swim in under 20 minutes, since that was my weakest leg going into the race, but next time I won't get so freaked out and/or hydrate myself in the lake.

The next leg was the biking portion....a 12 mile ride over I-90 on the Express Lanes, onto Mercer Island and then back again. I witnessed two crashes because some ladies could not downshift fast enough, but I managed to weave through the chaos (42 minutes and change).

Lastly came the 5K run. I'm not sure if you've ever rode a bike hard for a while and then tried to go running, but if you ever want to experience what some have labeled the "Kona shuffle"...give it a shot. You feel like your legs are going as fast as they can, but you're not sure they're actually moving. My goal of the running portion was to pump until I couldn't pump anymore. Becky captured two great photos of this at the finish line:

Me pumping to pass the lady in front of me....

and victory times two (passing her and finishing with a 8:53 pace!)....

The race was both amazing and interesting. When we finished I wasn't sure I would want to do one again. It was a strange concept for me to be racing when you have to change activities and try to keep going fast while you're unsuccessfully trying to pull a dry shirt over a soaking body. I literally got stuck and had to ask another racer to help pull my shirt down--not my finest part of the race.

Yet now that two days have passed, I am experiencing the racing high and am very stoked, (and even proud) of myself for taking on this challenge, giving it everything I had, and finishing with a respectable time, fun memories, a great bonding experience with other ladies (especially my friends)....and a little piece of hardware:

So yes, I think I will take on this challenge again...and maybe lasso Becky's leg during the swim.

Last, but definitely not least...I owe a big THANK YOU to everyone who supported and cheered us all on, especially a few die hards who came out bright and early, and without their cheers I'm not sure I would have continued to push as hard. It's amazing what a few "Go Angs" can do when you're exhausted from getting out of the lake, pushing the pedals, or cranking out the last few miles. THANK YOU to all our well-wishers who were just waking up at the start of the race and sent lovely messages, and support throughout the whole training process!

To the fans who were present...THANK YOU....most especially ANNABELLE, and my swim coach KATIE, who got up early and biked to the race to cheer us on, but also provided doughnuts afterwards to a hungry athlete (thanks Annabelle!!!)...and to the two superfans who got up at 5:30 a.m. (one with only a few hours of sleep under his belt).

Thank you SEAN and BEN!

And a special double thank you to my support, my rock, and my devoted husband. You are amazing!

And as I started, I will finish...I DID IT!

Cheers!

Argghh!

2009-08-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

I'm all marked up and ready to go to bed, with visions of a triathlon dancing in my head. At 7:58 a.m. tomorrow start thinking good encouraging thoughts for #3610....arghhh!!!

P.S. Notice anything in the background? As soon as I cross the finish line it's time to celebrate....ARGHH!!

Mr. Ben Knutsen-Phelps

2009-08-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in swim class we did a time trial for the triathlon (1/2 mile swim). Now to me, swimming laps in a pool is like running on a treadmill. All I think about is wanting to stop, how much longer I have, and if I'm going to make it. After 100 yards, I seriously contemplated quitting and catching my breath (my quitter moment), but I pushed through the mental block and finished. As always in swim class, I finished last, but when I was done and she told me my time I felt like this:

Then I joked with Ben all night that it was kind of like he was married to Michael Phelps...or more like his pinky toe. I stopped when Ben said it was creeping him out, even though I assured him Michael Phelps would probably be a fun partner to have around. The point is I was excited...so excited I high-fived the girl next to me. Granted I'm more like a turtle than Phelps, but to me it was a great accomplishment. Bring on Danskin.

What Happens when I Log in:

2009-08-07T08:27:00.001-07:00

After my post about Facebook I logged into Grace's account (with her permission) to see some of the pictures from the reunion and this happened:

Facebook also experienced a failure, but it was not clear whether the disturbance was related to the attack on Twitter.
“Earlier this morning, Facebook encountered network issues related to an apparent distributed denial-of-service attack that resulted in degraded service for some users,” the company said in a statement. (New York Times)

I'm pretty sure it was because I logged in. Further evidence that I shouldn't be on Facebook. Ever.

To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

2009-08-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

There are no technological advances that I can think of where I have actually felt peer-pressured to be apart of, except one. I have never felt like I needed a big screen tv (ours is 19" wide), any gaming systems since when Super Mario Bros. was at its height in popularity, and although we have Mac computers, it's because I like them, not because someone said it was what I had to have to be cool. I don't even feel pressure to have the IPhone...but there is one thing where I totally feel like a social misfit for not being apart of: Facebook.

It started this year during school, when a girl in my class asked if I was on it since she had tried to add me as a friend and couldn't find me. I politely said no, and immediately felt the backlash of scorn.

"WHY?"

"HOW CAN YOU NOT BE ON IT?"

"One time my classmates and I formed a group on Facebook, and you didn't know where the party was unless you were on Facebook."

Wow...All of a sudden I was the unpopular kid who wasn't invited to the party. Ouch.

Every now and then I think about it, especially when some of my diehard holdouts cross over (Booie), but then that fleeting thought passes and I go on with my life.

Then there was this weekend...the 1999 R. A. Long High School reunion. To start off with, I didn't even know about the reunion, because they contacted people through Facebook (once again...unpopular). Okay, fine. I still found out. Then at the reunion I was also repeatedly scorned for not joining. "HOW COULD YOU NOT BE ON FACEBOOK?" "HOW DO YOU COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE?" Directed to the person taking pictures: Me: Where will the pictures be posted?...Him: "Ummm, it's called Facebook." AHHH!!!

Okay for starters...how do I communicate with people? I call them. I email them. I send them letters. I hangout with them in person. Secondly...

When did friendships become one stop shopping? I'm sure it's easier to see what people are doing, but at what cost? Do we lose a sense of personal connection when instead of calling our friends to see what they did last night, we can just go online?

By the next morning (8 hours later), some of my high school friends had already received friend requests...which means...people went home after the party (2 a.m.ish) and posted pics and added new friends. Did I feel left out? No. Especially when those on Facebook said they were going to have to untag themselves from pictures. (Will I sneak into Gracie's account and look at the pics...probably, but just for the pics, not to snoop.)

I have other reasons for not joining. The two biggest being that I think I would secretly like it and devote too much time that could be put towards school, and secondly, I don't want to be tagged to a photo that a future student might see. And the last reason now, is that if I cross over, I will officially not only be unpopular, but a hypocrite. So to Facebook or not to Facebook? It is one's own choice, but I do ask...or rather plead....please do not make people feel bad for not participating. We are not lepers...we do have friends...we have our reasons...and we never ask in all caps: WHY DO YOU FACEBOOK?

Kudos

2009-07-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my husband pulled out the big guns....well maybe the big legs. Dan Z. is in town (who is also running NYC) so we thought we'd all go out for our long run together. Having played some fun-filled games of volleyball this weekend (after taking 10 years off from the sport) I woke Sunday morning to no working muscles in my legs. It literally felt like my quads had been removed (imagine peg leg walk with a lot of wobble). Three ice packs, a billion ibuprofen later, and a good night sleep, and we were ready to hit the pavement Monday morning.

Overall the run went well. 9.5 miles of nice conversation, blistering heat (it's hot here), a third running partner which is nice to mix things up and push us to running our best (way to go Dan on his longest run ever!), and me lagging in the back on the hills, but finishing strong with everyone.

The real point of my post is that Ben did awesome. Ben typically hits his stride during our long runs, but after working this third 60+ hour 6-day week, being on his feet all day, going to sleep late, plus training during the week, he pulled out the big guns and set the pace, ran ahead when we needed to go single file, and was an inspiration to me. Way to go Ben.

95 days till the marathon....

The way we roll.

2009-07-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

Last night Ben and I went to Serious Pie. The pizza is delicious, and "serious" is a good way to describe it--they don't mess around. The best part of the whole meal (besides the pie) was the look on our waiter's face at the end of our pizza:

Waiter: May I take away your pizza slab?

Us: Of course.

Waiter: You guys want to see a dessert menu?

Us: Ummm...actually we would like another pizza.

Waiter: (confused)...oh. Do you know what you want?

And we finished that one too.

When he came back again, we joked that we wanted a third pizza, and he laughed saying it's been done before. Although "it's been done before" his look betrayed him a little bit. I think he was worried we were serious...just like the pizza. I love training for marathons. Yumm.

The bike ride

2009-06-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

This past week I bought a bike. She is an easter egg blue Kona, which they have nicknamed the "Honkey Tonk." As soon as I brought her home, Ben's bike let out a huge whistle, which I immediately scolded him and told him "she's a lady." Well ten minutes later they were making out, so apparently she is not quite a lady. Anyways, it's great having a bike again. Every bike I have ever owned (except the beautiful Schwinn Ben gave me) has been stolen: Huffy White Heat=stolen; Raleigh=stolen; Trek=stolen on a Sunday morning in front of the Heathman; so when I bought it I made sure I got a top of the line lock and a pit bull to tie to the bike when I'm not around.

To break her in, we thought that a ride out to Redhook Brewery on the Burke Gilman was in order. I mean if you haven't ridden a bike in ten years, why not try for a 50-miler your first week? So yesterday we geared up and headed out. A quick stop at the bike shop and once to use the bathroom and we were on our way. The ride was lovely: warm, sunny, light breeze (except on the way back), and mostly rode along the water. We made it to Redhook after only one wrong turn and sat on the patio with our well deserved beer and a lunch, joined by Ben & Mellena, and new baby Keira. Blissful.

Then came the ride the back, where I literally met the devil himself...or the devil's torture tool. See picture:

Once I got back on my bike I knew I was in trouble. It's not really my butt that hurts, but these bones I never knew existed. I mean does this thing even look comfortable? No. Is anyone's butt that small. Not in my family (no offense to anyone).

After a mile back on the trail with my full belly I tried every possible way to sit, or not to sit, cursing the maker of this stupid seat. And I know it was a man (no offense again), because no woman in her right mind would design something this poorly. If it was designed by a woman, comfort would be the number one priority. Think tractor seat size (where you actually use your natural cushion back there), lined with faux fur, and a least two inches of mattress foam (think Posturepedic), with a possible massage option once you really needed it. But no. I have a three inch wide piece of brick that the bike guy told me "well it's just that you haven't ridden in a while," and my husband said "give it a chance, you'll get used to it." Uh-Huh.

I'm no dummy. What I've learned is that anything over 20 miles requires padded shorts. And anyone who questions me, I double dare you to do the 50 miles on the devil's torture tool listed above...then you'll be happy to join my padded butt gang.

Overall, great trip and I love the bike. The adventures will really begin now.

Sent from my mother

2009-06-22T12:17:00.000-07:00

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.
It is the most-requested column I've ever written."
My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once
more:
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree..
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others.. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special. (Drink the wine too!--that's for Booie)
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

A Week in Review

2009-06-10T09:05:00.001-07:00

The past eight days have been pretty intense, and I am thankful that the last week is coming to an end. The week started with Ben getting his wisdom teeth pulled. The surgery went well, but the recovery has been a little prolonged. (Squeamish people skip to the next paragraph). Basically what both Ben and I have learned is that you don't rip-out your blood clots thinking they are gauze. First, your wife grows very faint at the sight of all blood, and it causes the healing process to be painfully extended.

Then there was my birthday. As most people, I love my birthday, but this year it was not full of all the bells and whistles. A chipmunk-cheeked husband (poor guy), 900 degree weather, two final papers, and missing the man who sang me happy birthday for the first 27 years of my life, made ringing in 28 different, to say the least.

Finally there were the last two papers of my first year of graduate school. Coupled with the first two scenarios described, it's been more of a pressure cooker than past quarters.

What I have learned from this week is that sitting at the computer causes a few things:

1. If you don't keep training for the triathalon/marathon, or do any exercise what-so-ever, you not only become stressed, but coupled with eating your weight in good-n-plenties, learn that once you put "real pants" on (real meaning no elastic waist band), they will probably be a little tight..maybe more than a little.

2. After a week of a sore mouthed husband, he is not the only one wishing it would heal.

3. It is good to have someone edit your papers--high heat and extreme conditions make your thoughts a little muddled.

4. You need to set a timer to remind yourself to do important things like eat (for those of you who know me, it is extremely rare when I forget to eat), and finally,

5. Try not to forget the real world. The laundry spilling out of the closet, no non-beige food in the fridge, and the dead fly on the floor should all be red flags that you haven't taken your eyes off the screen for a while.

Tonight, Ben is taking me out to really celebrate my birthday, and for being done with school. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to the summer with my two little credits, a part-time job, and somethings I have been missing for awhile: fun and friends.

Happy Summer!

Bathroom on the brain

2009-05-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

Today one of the bathrooms in the library was "out of order". The bathroom was actually blocked off with a piece of caution tape, and if that wasn't enough to deter people, the customary "out of order" sign was also hung. For starters, I would never enter a bathroom that had a caution sticker. Granted, I always enter public restrooms with a certain element of ingrained "caution" (I mean truthfully, you never know what you are going to get), but if there is a sign cautioning me, it must be really awful--or at least that is what I think.

A number of scenarios entered my mind trying to determine what could have happened that would have caused the closure. My juvenile mind immediately thought of gross things--that someone had...ahem...all over the bathroom. Come on admit it, you probably would have thought about it too, unless unlike me you have better things to do with your life than to wonder why a bathroom was closed--please, don't answer that thought, I'll just assume you do. But then I started to think of other reasons: logical ones, like there was a leak or something was broken; illogical, like there was a body in there (not logical because of the lack of police presence), and then it dawned on me that I will really find any excuse not to work on my final papers, even obsessing about bathroom closures. Are there any other possibilities you can think of for the bathroom closure? Fun times at the library, I know.

The sneeze heard round the theater

2009-05-08T09:19:00.001-07:00

I admit that when I get on the bus, the whole swine flu thing enters my mind. And it isn't necessarily the swine flu I am thinking about, but all the germs circulating in that tiny non-ventilated vehicle. My hunch is though, that as long as no one sneezes in my mouth or licks my eye, I'll be okay with a good hand wash after riding.

However, I think others are a little more ~~paranoid~~ cautious. Case in point, Ben and I went and saw a movie the other day (Wolverine), and at some point during the movie I sneezed. If you know me, I sneeze pretty loud, and a lot for that matter (allergies, morning, etc., whatever), but I dutifully covered my mouth with my arm, Ben said "bless you" and I thought all was well in the world until I saw him--One of the other five movie watchers who turned around and gave me a look like I had vomited all over him. It went on for so uncomfortably long that I kind of got the giggles. Ben noticed too, as we discussed what I should have done on the way home. I was thinking an appropriate fake cough right in his ear, probably would have sent him running in panic out of the theater.

I guess you can't be too naive about the flu, but glaring at an innocent girl with piercing eyes of fiery, while all she wanted to do was look at pretty Hugh Jackman and eat Raisinettes, was a little much. I mean, it's not like I licked his eye or anything.

Directions

2009-04-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

At least once a week I get asked for directions, and most of the time it's when I am running. I first thought it was because I had a sign around me that says "really good with directions...ask me!", but after my run yesterday I know the real reason--it's because people feel sorry for me.

Yesterday I was huffing and puffing with my bright red face, that was probably wrinkled in pain, because my run was so terrible. Everything hurt: shins, calves, feet, lungs...elbows..whatever. Then I heard a honk, and a nice lady pulled over to ask how to get to I-5 North. Secretly I think she knew the way, but felt so bad for me, that she thought she would give me a break and a chance to catch my breath.

Basically it's a sympathy stop. After yesterday's run--I'll take it.

Ridiculous

2009-04-21T22:53:00.000-07:00

My softball team lost to the department of statistic's softball team tonight 20-2. Nope that isn't a typo...I'll type it again, just so you know I'm serious:

20-2.

Words cannot even describe...I mean the stat's team? Granted I love math, and am all for making math a career, but I just don't remember much of the baseball/softball players in high school studying up to be math majors in college, grad school no less. I guess that just goes to show you that you never know what you'll become upon leaving high school.

Next week we face the English department. Hopefully we can put up our first "W"...that, or we'll get beat 30-1...fingers crossed they are all reading books while on the field. We need all the help we can get.

My two things

2009-04-13T20:58:00.001-07:00

Today it dawned on me what items I can't live without: floss and deodorant. Now granted, there are many items that would make life easier, and I'm sure that someone could list something that might alter my list, but as of right now, those are my two essentials. Why? The first is because I would rather pull my own tooth out with a rusty piece of hardware than have something stuck in my teeth. Case in point: after having a lovely lunch with my friend Sara last week I noticed that something was in my teeth. You couldn't see it, but it felt like a grizzly bear was in my mouth trying to pull my teeth a part. Not being able to get it out myself, or having a rusty piece of hardware, I pulled into Target with screeching tires, zoomed down the floss aisle, ripped open the package and felt utter bliss. I gratefully paid my .97 cents, and all was right in the world again. Apparently I don't like having things caught in my teeth...now I know.

Now deodorant. The problem with deodorant isn't that I stink (well not right now), but rather that I always forget to put it on....always. One would think that I would have a Costco closet of it lying around, but no, I have two: one in my bathroom, and the other in my gym locker. So if I forget to apply when I leave the house, I have to a) turn around; b) go down to the gym; c) suffer (any others too); or d) pull the floss fiasco and head to the store. I start swim classes tomorrow, which are inconveniently at a different gym than my deodorant, so I'm faced with having to bring my bathroom one, and risk leaving it. In truth, there should be deo in every purse and bag I own. When I leave it should be phone? check. wallet? check? deodorant...you betcha.

Anyways, it might be a silly thing to write about, but I feel better knowing what two things I need, and should be the first two things packed when I go somewhere. Any contributions from others are welcome.

Making the most out of it

2009-04-06T09:07:00.003-07:00

So yesterday was fabulous...thank you mother nature. Ben and I went for a run, walked around town looking at terribly overpriced shoe-boxes that they call condos (500 sq. ft. for $275,000?-stupid), and then I headed up to the park to read. I wanted to make sure I enjoyed every second of the beautiful day.

What I love about us north-westerners, is that we seem to take what we get, and make the most out of it. For instance, since it has been cold, rainy, and cloudy, for a few months, to us, the 65 degrees feels almost tropical. At the park everyone was out playing frisbee, reading, running, etc. I even saw a few brave women in swimsuit tops, pretending like we were in Hawaii (we're not)..but then I rounded the corner by the water reservoir and saw him: thong man. Lying facedown chatting with a friend. Now I know it's been cold, but apparently for him the warmth, Vitamin D, and possibly glow to his face wasn't enough...he's been waiting for today...because heaven forbid his cheeks don't get a tan...like I said, we make the most out of it.

April Fools w/o the Fools

2009-04-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

As if Mother Nature was playing a cruel April Fool's joke, without the Fools...it's snowing in Seattle in April.

No Joke, no April Fools...snow.

I blame myself. I've been complaining about the weather, and then yesterday commented that I shouldn't be complaining, because at least it's not snowing (as it is in the rest of the country), nor are we sandbagging to avoid the floods (poor Fargo). Thanks Mother Nature for rubbing it in.

An Uprising in the Northwest

2009-03-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

Something is brewing in the northwest. Something, that if it doesn't change quickly, will lead to an uprising—at least in Seattle. We're not asking for much, but people are definitely starting to wig out a little bit. What we need? Spring.

At first I thought it was just me. My first annoyance was when it snowed last week...in March. I love the snow. It's pretty, magical, blah blah, but not in March. December? yes. January or February? yes. March? no. Then the sun came out, and things started to bloom. Although the sun is lovely, I'm not sure why things are blooming when it is 24 degrees in the morning. Look at the wonderful sunshine, and don't forget to sprinkle ice deterrent on the steps, because they're slippery. Why? Because it froze last night. And today? High of 38...sweet. It's like we're in North Dakota.

Now, I'm not complaining about the sun, but I would like to stop wearing a hat, scarf, mittens and 14 layers to school each day. And I realize I'm not the only one. The Roanoake Bar and & Grill has two words printed on their outside board. Not the weekend game or happy hour specials, just two words: SPRING NOW.

Today it did reach a balmy 50, and there were two groups of people that celebrated this tropical temperature. People, like myself, who still realize it's freaking cold and appropriately wear a jacket and hat, and the others...the ones who are at their breaking point and the thought of anything over 50 is considered summerlike. Normally they wait till after spring break to pretend that they're warm in still winter weather, but today they proudly (and coldly) sported tank tops, flip flops, capri pants, left their jackets at home (wished they hadn't) and sat outside.

If it doesn't get warm soon, I'm going to just have to pretend with them...but seriously if mother nature doesn't throw us some 60's soon...all bets are off, and she'll see what us northwesterner's are really like.

In Memory of My Favorite Man

2009-03-03T08:16:00.000-08:00

The Soon to be Famous Bella Peaches

2009-02-13T10:59:00.000-08:00

The other night I was witness to a rare event...watching your friend, the one you've known since you were eleven, who you've shared countless experiences from roadtrip fastpitch games to their wedding day, do something courageous--something they've dreamed about and actually had the audacity to make happen (which I would argue, not many people do).

The beautiful Grace Mackey performed her first burlesque show...and stole it from everyone else on that stage. Going to the show, both Katie and I were nervous. Not nervous in the sense that we didn't think she was going to be amazing, but more anxious for your friend to do something courageous. Not many of us can get on a stage in front of a bunch of strangers (and dear close friends and family, including your mom) and shake what your momma gave you in a classy, memorizing way that you knew right away she had a secret talent that now everyone gets to witness.

She was ridiculous--beautiful, talented, and outright sexy. It literally brought tears to my eyes to watch her, mostly out of pride for my friend, but also to see her succeed.

Next month she will be performing with the Tempting Tarts (that's right she was already asked to perform with a group after just a few short weeks of classes), and then who knows...my guess is that our Greasy Butts will be a very famous Bella Peaches before we know it.

Way to go Grace!

Triathlon Here I Come (Updated 2/12)

2009-02-10T11:04:00.000-08:00

So it took 2.5 hours, but myself, Katie, Connie, Becky, Sara, Heidi and Margaret are officially signed up for the Danskin Triathlon.--a .5 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride and 3.1 mile run.I haven't swam, oh...let's say its been many many years...I'm guessing splashing around in a pool doesn't count, so that will be first on the agenda. I'll definitely need to hire Mr. Dan Abel for some state champion pointers (okay that was in diving, but he's still a fantastic swimmer). The most exciting part? New swimsuit, goggles and swim cap! Yeah!

Why? Just Because.

2009-02-04T14:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's National Geographic Photo of the day: Pig and Piglet, Africa

Long Hair? No Mas.

2009-01-29T12:33:00.001-08:00

Today is the last full day of my long hair. It seems like a silly thing to blog about, but it can be a pretty big deal. Every few years I grow it out and then cut it. I'm super excited this time, because it's long enough to send to Locks of Love. Sometimes I get freaked out about cutting it...what will I look like? Will I like it...because it's not growing back (reference to Lars and the Real Girl--love that movie!)? Will I look like a total nerd when I ask my hairdresser to give me a haircut like Katie Holmes? (probably...definitely). Yet what I'm not worried about includes not missing sweeping, picking, pulling my hair off and out of everything and everyone. It gets everywhere. Ben even asked when I was finally going to cut it...granted that was because I was shrieking b/c he accidentally laid on it and I was trapped....Let the haircut commence! Pictures to follow soon.

Back in the Game...Kind of

2009-01-21T18:04:00.000-08:00

A long time ago, in a land far far away, I used to play racquetball, but again...it has been awhile.

At the end of last quarter I found out two of my classmates played every week and they invited me to play. During the snow storm, I thought I would rekindle my skills and dad and I played a few games at the Y. I felt pretty good...not bad...but then came last week.

Last week was our first match-up...cut-throat style. Six years out of the game versus two guys who have been playing for a while?

Killed.

Demolished.

Slaughtered.

I mean I've never played where the ball is served at me at 9 bagillion miles an hour. And on top of that? I couldn't lift my right arm for three days. Plus, it hurt to even write my forearm was so sore.

The next day I was recapping my trip down loserville to Ben and he reminded me of a conversation that he had with one of the guys--that he used to play very competitive tennis...professional in my book. That's when it all started to make sense. No matter where I hit that stupid blue rubber ball, he was always there for the return. Seriously, I would hit it an inch off the ground and out of nowhere he would dive and get it (okay not literally, but you get the point).

The rematch was on today...and guess what? I didn't get killed quite as much. Of course they won (and not by a few points either), but I gave them more of a run for their money. My serves were better placed, my shots stronger, and my feet quicker. It could be the secret 5 a.m. serving drills I run every morning...just kidding...

My arm and back hurts as I'm typing...but not as much as last week. Woo Hoo!

The Tough Norwegian Bird

2009-01-12T19:53:00.000-08:00

My great-grandma Olga passed away today. Although she was 91, it still came out of nowhere. I haven't seen her for many years, but in my mind her image as the tough Norwegian bird has never changed. This was a lady who still did the jumble and crossword every day, who told me once that "it wasn't too cold today" in her town of North Dakota...followed by "it was -11." Not too cold? Negative 11? And this was in her late 80's? That's right, tough Norwegian bird.

Last year before she went to bed, she reached over to shut the blinds, fell, and broke her hip. Not wanting to bother anyone, she decided to pull a blanket off the bed, and lie on the floor till 6 a.m., when it was okay to call someone. Eight hours on the floor with a broken hip? Tough bird. I told her that next time she should call me, because I would have had no problem "bothering" people late at night in North Dakota, even it was -11.

The twins (my mom and gma) are flying out Wednesday, while I head South to hang out with grandpa. I know back there they will encounter many other tough Norwegian ladies, and probably a few Icelanders too. Ben thinks its the salted fish that keeps them feisty and kicking with their "yah sure ya betchas" and yummy Lefsa. I have a few thoughts of my own too.

What we know for sure is that our tough Norwegian bird Olga Rheaume will definitely be missed.

Yah sure ya betcha.

Three Cups of New Year

2009-01-03T09:52:00.000-08:00

I do admit that I have not hit the pavement once and logged any miles since the beginning of the new year. Nor have I abstained from anything most people swear to stop indulging in, as can be witnessed by the pan of half-eaten fudge brownies I made last night. I did not make any new year's resolutions, just one personal goal. However, I feel that I started off the new year right, with a feeling of contentment towards what 2009 will bring, and reading one of the best book's I ever experienced, further supporting my hopefulness: Three Cups of Tea.

When Ben and I were in Cinque Terra, we both read through all the books we had brought, along with each other's (my personal favorite was A Year in Provence), so we headed to a shop that featured English books. There were only a few selections, and since demand was high and supply low, the paperbacks were all reasonably priced for around $25 USD...yikes. This was when I first say Three Cups of Tea, but Ben was more interested in another book A Fortune Teller Told Me (which by the way, is another super interesting book), so we bought that and enjoyed it in Siena.

Remembering how interesting the book looked, I put Three Cups on reserve at the library, but since I was number 253 on only 20 copies, Margaret was kind enough to lend me her copy over Christmas. I read the forward the other night with marginal interest, but last night I sat down to put in a few chapters and by 11 p.m. read the last page.

This book is remarkable...well, the man who it is about is remarkable: Greg Mortenson. A brief synopsis is that Mortenson having unsuccessfully climbed K2, accidentally wandered into a remote village of Pakistan on his way down...so remote, he was the first foreign visitor to ever set foot in the town. Learning the village had no school, and due to the gratefulness for saving his life, Mortenson vowed to come back to the village and build a school.

His struggles, dedication and accomplishments are truly extraordinary, as is the realization that one person can honestly make a difference; and in an area most Americans associate with hatred and terrorism, he is able to shed light on the problems of these stereotypes, and how by building schools instead of dropping bombs, we can truly promote peace.

It might sound corny, or not that interesting, but I promise you, you will be blown away.

Happy New Year!

An Extraordinary Year

2008-12-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

Looking back on 2008, it seems almost unfathomable all that has transpired. When we rang in the new year, Ben was living in San Francisco and now one year later we're married and in Seattle.

The year started off with traveling adventures to St. Louis and then the six-week trek around western Europe. Those trips were amazing and changed our course together--i.e. if you can spend six weeks of 24/7 togetherness carrying a heavy backpack, lost, tired and smelly, and still find each other appealing, than the sky's the limit.

The summer was full of wedding planning, a lot of running, and preparing to leave our beloved Portland for the Emerald City. Truthfully everything after September 21st (the move date) is a blur filled with new jobs, the realization I am a student again and have to be self-motivated, to the wedding and everything else in between. We are still mourning the loss of Pablo, yet with the circle of life were blessed with little angels (Emily & Luke, Cameron).

In the last few days of 2008, I am enjoying my freedom and sleeping in, while Ben works tirelessly at his new job. It doesn't seem fair, and I do feel guilty, but as he keeps reminding me, everything will change come Monday so I better enjoy it. And so I am.

We hope the new year brings everyone happiness, joy, love and lots of laughter. See you in 2009.

Oh How Fast Things Can Change

2008-12-23T09:09:00.000-08:00

Two weekends ago on Saturday evening (December 13) it started to snow. As excited as I was when I saw the first few flakes, I was worried about Katie and Mark driving to Seattle for the Jingle Bell Run the next day, and whether or not the race would be canceled. Katie assured me that the Jingle Bell organizers would not cancel the race ("no matter what"), so we watched the snowflakes accumulate knowing that tomorrow we would be running "no matter what."

At 6:15 a.m. the alarm went off and the four of us (Ben to work; KT, Mark and I to the race) headed out the front door and walked downtown in the freezing (24 degrees) weather. To make a long story short, I fell, we thought the race started at 8 a.m. and were downright flabbergasted when at 7:15 a.m.we realized in the "Arctic Blast" that we had to make ourselves warm until 9 a.m. when the race really started. Mark was so excited, since this was his first race, and we traveled from booth to booth gathering free stuff (coffee, blinking lights, handwarmers, chapstick) and then resided in the mall until it was race time.

We ran carefully through the icy streets (making sure to not run over any elves, santas, reindeer, penguins or gingerbreadmen...we apparently missed the dressing up memo), and then faster through the tunnel where the ground was safe and a spontaneous chorus of Jingle Bells broke out. After the race we walked home, enjoying the cold weather, feeling like true Northwesterners (no weather will stop us) and went home to eat pancakes hoping it would snow more (once KT and Mark made it safely to Tacoma).

Oh how fast things change...

It is now 1.5 weeks later and I hate the snow and cold weather. HATE IT! I actually went outside yesterday and shouted two words I never thought I'd say: "STOP SNOWING!" Growing up in Longview, or the Northwest in general, we typically do not see snow, so when it falls, we normally rejoice at it's beauty, the rare chance to have a "snowday" from school and work and bundle up in our jammies and just enjoy the silence it brings.

Not anymore.

It won't stop. It won't allow us to leave the house (I feel like I'm on lockdown), nor will it allow anyone else to travel. Friends are stuck in New York and California. Family are stuck in Portland and Seattle and the snow is threatening to keep us apart for Christmas. Granted, everyone is safe, with electricity, running water and lots of food, but every night I pray for rain. Whoever thought people in Longview, Portland or Seattle would want rain...

Oh how fast things change.

Merry Christmas wherever you might be.

A Student's Wish

2008-12-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

Dear paper fairy,

Please come over and finish my papers that are due next week. They are already started, but since I am suffering from either severe lack of motivation or writer's block, or just anxiety about making these papers ridiculously perfect and trying to salvage my grades that have indeed suffered this quarter due to multiple external forces (i.e. a move, wedding, etc.) I can't seem to finish them.

Okay, okay, you're busy...fine. Do you think that when you are swooping down to help another floundering student you could hit the kid across from me at the table in the library with your magic club (wand...whatever) on the head so that he'll turn his terrible, and I mean terrible, and super loud music down that is blasting through his headphones and causing me to have to put on my headphones just to drown him out? I know I'm from Longview, and enjoy my fair share of country music...but that is just bad. And in my arsenal? That's right it's the Christmas with the Rat Pack CD, take that! Because it's the only thing I have downloaded on my laptop besides the Charlie Brown Christmas which is coming up next. Christmas joy coming at you all day long. I hope he pukes on my early December joyfulness (well at least when I'm not doing papers).

Of course, it's not half as annoying as the girl last week who was popping her gum while doing her math homework. I appreciate you stepping in and sprinkling some magic paper fairy dust over her head so that she fell asleep. Drool is better than popping.

Yes, I will now get back to my paper. I'll still be here in a few hours and the next couple of days though if you change your mind.

Under pressure (and loves and hugs),

The student

All 687

2008-11-29T20:47:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to all of the photos. Kudos to Sean Morrison, the coolest wedding photographer (and probably Vancouver Washington high school teacher) ever.

http://www.seanmorrisonphoto.printroom.com/ViewGallery.asp?userid=seanmophoto&gallery_id=1366221&curpage=1

The Student Life

2008-11-25T15:00:00.000-08:00

Head: "Angela do your homework."

Angela: "No!"

Head: "Seriously, just get it done."

Angela: "No!"

Head: "Double seriously, if you just do it, then you won't have to worry about it, be less stressed, and get to watch a movie tonight."

Angela: "...hmmm...(lip quiver)...oh man...okay...kind of...I'd probably watch a movie anyways."

Amazing

2008-11-14T21:16:00.000-08:00

When thinking about this last weekend, a few words come to mind: amazing, incredible, magical, down right fun, and of course, whirlwind. Ben and I had the most amazing time getting married and celebrating with our closest friends and family--and what a great bunch they are, especially together. Our only wish was that we would have had more time to talk with everyone, to catch-up, hear what was happening in their lives and just soak the people we love, and rarely get to see, in. That is where the whirlwind part comes in...it just goes so fast.

Regardless, it was amazing and there will be much more to write about, but below are the "teasers" are wedding photographer sent...I can't wait for the rest, plus to see the photos and videos everyone else took.

http://seanmophoto.wordpress.com/

Here are some more from Angela, the 2nd photographer:

http://cardasphotography.typepad.com/blog/2008/11/angela-and-ben-are-married.html

Cutest, Most Unhappiest Truffle Maker Ever

2008-11-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I had this grand idea that Ben and I could make chocolate truffles for the wedding favors. We found these cute boxes, and the thought of truffles inside of them seemed perfect. I asked Ben how much trouble they would be and he said they were time consuming, but we could do it. The idea was grand until last night.

Having made all the filling, Ben started to ball the truffles...all 450 of them...everything is fine. Then the trouble began. After they are balled, the truffles need to be dipped in chocolate and rolled in cocoa powder. The first nine truffles turned out awesome...then something happened, and there was a serious malfunction. We're not sure what happened with the truffles, why they wouldn't settle, but I will say there was chocolate everywhere, a truffle graveyard in the sink, many foul words still hovering in the atmosphere...and one very, super unhappy truffle maker.

Basically we had to abandon truffle making last night...get a good night's sleep...and then Ben started up at 7:45 a.m. this morning. There have only been a few swear words, but mostly it's pretty quiet in the kitchen, and I'm trying to stay far away. We still have chocolate everywhere, but they seem to be settling...and I can humbly admit that maybe my truffle idea wasn't so grand...next time we'll buy....but until then, I hope everyone enjoys the chocolates at the wedding.

11 days...

2008-10-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

11 days...and 45 billion things to do...

small things:

write vows...(oh wait, that goes under big things)

nevermind, i guess they're all big things...

create slideshow (fyi, the pictures of ben as a little boy are so cute it's ridiculous)
make 300 plus truffles for favor boxes
create music playlists for mingling and the dance party
get bridal party gifts
make sure the hair/make-up team, photographer, violinist, minister, etc. etc. etc. are all on the same page...not sure which page...maybe 84
order food, wine...
hope it doesn't freeze so there are still flowers at the farmer's market (not really a to-do, just a small dance to the rain god every night, about keeping it liquid, and not ice)
write thank-you's to...well...everyone...(this is actually very relaxing...i know i'm kind of sick)
and what was "GC"? i wrote it on my to-do list and now don't know what it was...urgh
keep family in check...i swear you never know the lovely intricacies of your family until it's wedding time.
and just a few more things...

not complaining...love planning the wedding...and not stressed...just a little overwhelmed that there isn't enough time in the day....maybe i should stop blogging...okay...bye.

Trapped

2008-10-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Grace and Phil got married. Grace is one of most dear friends from high school and Katie and I had the pleasure of being in her wedding party. Overall the wedding was a blast...beautiful, elegant, fun, and very reflective of the bride and groom--I mean who else would have a treasure chest of costume props for guests to take polaroid pictures with for the guest book? Tons of fun.

Yet, one of my favorite moments of the weekend was not at the wedding, but the night before, because something chaotic must happen for every wedding. I seriously think it's a part of the wedding check list, but one that got accidentally cut-off due to the printer.

Wedding Dress? Check

Flowers? Check

Something totally crazy, unexpected and involves a little bit of panic? Check

After the rehearsal dinner we all went back to the Best Western Loyal Inn in downtown Seattle. As her last night as a single girl, Grace wanted to go to the bar and play pinball. Fair enough. The whole bridal party was staying on the 4th floor (top of the building), so we all piled in. Doors shut, elevator moves a floor, and...stops. Nova. No go. Nervous giggle by everyone.

Now when I say everyone, I literally mean all 16 of us...like sardines. Yep, 16 of us thought we could pile in and that if we went over the 2,500 lb limit, the elevator would beep, or not move, or something safer than just stopping between floors two and three. After a minute of staring at each other and giggling, we pushed the panic button (well someone did, b/c truthfully you really couldn't see past the person two inches from your face). The conversation with the frontdesk kid went something like:

Best Western: Uhh...are you guys stuck?

Collective 16: YES!

BW: How many of there are you?

Elevator: (with hesitation)...umm 15?

BW: Are you serious?

Elevator: ...well...16...but that is beside the point...We're STUCK!

BW: Um...okay, that's probably the problem.

Collective 16: Thanks genius.

Silence...

waiting..

taking pictures to try and pass the time...

wave at the people outside...(thankfully one of the walls was clear and looked outside, otherwise i know there would have been pandemonium).

waiting..

anonymously entering our weight into a cell phone to see if we were over the limit (83 lbs over to be exact)....

calling loved ones...

Finally, we pushed the panic button again.

BW: Oh-yeah...the fire department is on the way.

Me (in my mind): Oh-gee thanks buddy. Thanks for keeping those stuck in the elevator up-to-date on what is going on...I mean couldn't you have told us that after you called them....hate being stuck in this elevator...is there enough oxygen, will Erin freak out...get us out!

After 20 minutes in the elevator, the fire truck rolls up-and for future reference, they don't come sirens blaring-you'll just have to sit and wait. Lights off. Power off. Doors pried open. Nice, oh so very nice, firemen pull us out. Many thank yous...and then on to pinball with a good story to tell.

The fire department shut the Best Western elevator down until they installed specific safety features. Regardless, if it worked or not, I took the stairs the rest of our stay.

After the fiasco, Grace and Phil had a marvelous, chaos free wedding.

Poop on my Leg

2008-09-29T20:31:00.001-07:00

I should just leave the title and not offer an explanation. I mean, doesn't the title tell the story? And, I'm not sure why someone would tell this story about themselves, but hopefully wherever Pablo is, he'll get a good laugh.

Last week I went to school and then to the gym. Upon leaving the gym in my workout gear, including shorts, I hadn't noticed that it started to rain (aka pour), so I sloshed my way to the bus-stop kicking water and mud up my bare legs. The bus ride home was the same as usual, walked the five blocks home, said hi to Ben, and headed for the shower.

Now before getting into the shower I noticed a particular large clump of mud on my calve...or so I thought. Innocently thinking I would wipe the big clump away, I did just so...and noticed a rather un-mud-like consistency.

This is when I started to dry-heave because as the title implies there was poop on my leg. I'm not sure how it got there, because it wasn't my poop and there was no poop on my shoe to think I had flung it up there on my travels. My guess is that some sicko wiped poo on the lower seat of the bus, where my calf innocently rested, waiting for some poor drenched girl to take it home. Gross. And come-on...who does that happen to? Me. Lame.

Watch where your legs lie...or suffer my poo on the leg fate.

Pablo Remembered

2008-09-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since my last post, which I will write about another day and time. Today I would like to celebrate a friend who passed away this last week Paul "Pablo" Reiter. He was a remarkable man, genuine, funny, kind-hearted, and loved his wife of 21 years and son of 16 to an amount greater than any other. He will be missed, and our hearts and prayers are now with Lori and Zach.

Jen put together a blog of photos of Pablo if you want to see this great man in action.

http://pabloremembered.blogspot.com

Good Sport

2008-09-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

The day we got back from California, Ben and I had an engagement photo session with our wedding photographer. Truthfully, this is something neither of us had heard of, and we were going to swap it out of our package deal, but our photographer told us it was a good way for him to get to know us and vice versa so the wedding day would go more smoothly. Fair enough. At the time, Ben was all for it, yet as the day grew closer he grew more weary.

As we walked down to meet Sean Morrison, a high school photography teacher in Vancouver, and an all-around nice guy, Ben kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to do this. I reassured him everything was going to be fine knowing he a) really doesn't like his picture taken, b) really really doesn't like his picture taken for two hours and c) really really really doesn't like his picture taken for two hours in public, making lovey dovey faces at me.

We started in China Town, made our way to downtown Portland, stopped by the Ace Hotel to use their photo booth, circled back to the park blocks and then finished in Pioneer Square. Overall, Ben did really good for hating every minute of it and the pictures turned out pretty good too. There are a few when you can tell he's over it and there might have been once or twice that I told him if he looked away from the camera entirely, it wouldn't make this go any faster. I'm proud of him and glad we did the photo session, because more than anything it made me feel more confident in our photographer and I'm excited for our future wedding pics.

You can see the photo session here:

http://flickr.com/photos/sanblaspdx/sets/72157607221495376/

Happiest Place/Race on Earth

2008-09-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

Ben and I had a fun filled mini-vacation in Southern California. The two big highlights were running the Disneyland 1/2 marathon and then of course, going to Disneyland and running from ride to ride.

This is the 2nd year I've done the race, and the first for both Ben and my aunt Darla. We got up at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday morning to join around 15,000 other runners and walkers. The course starts in Downtown Disney, goes through both the California Adventure and Disneyland, through the streets of Anaheim, around the baseball park, back through the Cali Adv. and finishes in Downtown Disney. Overall, it's a lot of fun.

However, there are moments during the race when you mentally question yourself on what you're doing mile after mile and then, for me at least, a moment around mile 10 when your left knee starts to question what you're doing. I have never in my life had a knee pain like this, the kind that shoots up to your hip. Ben was great. He ran a solid race, felt good the whole time and was a wonderful motivator. When my knee said no more, he reminded me we were almost there...just a few more miles.

The last mile for me is always one of the toughest. You know you're almost done...that it's almost over...but the steam just isn't there sometimes. What will make you crank it up a little bit is looking at your watch and realizing you are so close to one of your goals.

Goal #1: Finish

Goal #2: If possible, beat last year's time.

Goal #1 wasn't a problem, but I wanted #2 also, so I dug deep and Ben and I cruised the last 1/2 mile. Finishing time? 6 seconds faster than last year. (I'll take it).

We cheered other runners on until we saw aunt Darla powering through to get her medal. If you've never met her, she is truly amazing. Once she says she'll do something, she goes in full speed ahead and never looks back. Last year she told Ben that if he ran the race with me, she would do it too...and there she was...kicking 13.1 miles worth of ass and taking names.

We had a great weekend and earned every trip on Space Mountain.

4:30 a.m...early but excited

All done!

One Thing Off the To-do List

2008-08-28T07:11:00.001-07:00

After three days of waiting and 14 million credit, eviction, criminal and reference checks, including past, present and future landlords and employers, Ben and I were finally approved for an apartment in Seattle! Capitol Hill to be exact.

My grandparents made a good point that maybe it's a good thing they were so thorough, meaning that everyone who lives there should be top-notch, but still...3 days? The kicker was that we have to pay an extra $100 refundable deposit because Ben only has one housing reference, which makes no sense to me. If we can't pay the rent, what will that extra $100 do? O-well, the point is we got it! And to top it off?

Our landlord is a clown.

Seriously.

He dresses up in full get-up for events such as SeaFair or Bumbershoot. Thankfully he didn't show up in full costume when he showed us the place...that would have been too much, and honestly...a little scary.

Stuck Twice

2008-08-14T07:31:00.001-07:00

Normally I wouldn't write about something like this, but it is so comical...and typical, I just couldn't help myself. Squeamish readers beware...it's about giving blood.

A little background information is needed before I begin. First, I have A- blood, which only around 6% of the U.S. population has, making it kind of rare. I caught onto this in college, when the Red Cross called me almost every week to donate.

Also, I don't mind giving blood. I have probably donated 10-15 times and have seen the importance of donating, due to family members needing blood in critical situations. With that said, I'm not a very good blood giver. I don't get anxious, however I have either passed out or got light-headed and had to be propped back, feet up, cold rag on forehead, hand-over mouth and nose coughing, etc. on more than one occasion...okay probably 75% of the time--but I've always successfully donated. Then came yesterday.

You ever have foresight...when you just know something is going to happen? Well as I was waiting for my pre-screening at the donation site, I glanced around to see who I wanted to draw my blood and who I didn't...and then I saw her. One girl, that I knew I didn't want, but would probably get. She wasn't wearing a sign that said "I'm brand new," but she had that ora about her. The usually process followed: pre-screening, big glass of water, escorted to the bed by the nice volunteer...which bed? The newbie. The one I had picked out from the very beginning. Why do I call her the newbie? Because she flat out told me she was new. Fine. I don't care. As long as she was good.

I told her my history, that I get light-headed, which she said was fine, she'll lay me back...okay. Then she started hunting for the vein, and couldn't find one...so I switched sides, still no luck. I think my veins knew about my inclination, because the Red Cross has never had a problem finding one before. She brought over another nurse, who found one right away....great. Then apparently it went away. She called another nurse, Jim, over--he found it again...great. Then Jim squatted next to me and started asking me questions to distract me...poke...waiting...waiting, Jim and newbie switch sides, I feel the needle being moved around, Jim says he can't find it...light-headed...take it out.

Now, I know I'm a little stubborn, and I could have walked away then, but I've never not been able to donate, and the Red Cross started their old trick again, and have called me the last two weekends--Saturday morning, 9 a.m., like clockwork. So I gritted my teeth and asked Jim if he wanted to try the other arm...forget newbie. He said okay, found a vein, went through the whole process again, marking, iodine, iodine again and then...poke...nothing. Finally a third nurse came over, moved the needle around and found it.

The best part was, that I had told newbie from the beginning that I only wanted to be stuck with that damn needle once..but no, two pokes, two fiddling around with it...an hour and a half later, two bandaged arms, two cookies in the canteen and one successful A- blood donation. From now on, at least when it comes to donating blood, I'm going to trust my gut...no more newbies.

Husky Part Deux

2008-08-03T08:08:00.001-07:00

The past couple of weeks have been filled with amazing friends and family, the most beautiful pregnant bellies in the whole world and lots of decision making. The biggest decision? It's time to become a Husky once again (not that you ever really stop). I finally made up my mind and will start school again this fall. Ben and I will pack up and head north come September, and although I am excited for our new adventure I am also sad.

I'm sad to leave Portland and will miss living with my sister and our lovely little apartment. I will miss my friends and being able to conveniently walk everywhere. I will miss weekly hot turkeys at Goose Hollow with Booie, and burger, movie, beer night at the Mission, but I know we will live in the great city of Portland with all our good friends someday again, which makes the decision a little easier.

With all of that sad, plus many more things not mentioned, I am excited to live close to my Seattle friends again, to go to Mariner games (hopefully next season will look more promising), to utilize the IMA, which I helped pay for its renovation my senior year at UW, and will be able to proudly sport my Jake Locker jersey without jeers from Oregon Duck or Beaver fans.

The move, starting school, looking for jobs, etc. will add to our already busy fall, meaning the wedding, but we are looking at it with excitement and possibility rather than stress and disappointment. If you haven't had a chance, here is the link to our wedding website: www.angelaandben.weddingwindow.com... and one more things....go dawgs!

How Fast Time Goes

2008-07-16T07:11:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we've been back from Europe for more than 2 1/2 months--it's crazy how fast time goes. At the time, I was very excited to come home, and after spending 1 hour in my cubicle was not sure why I had ever wanted to leave. I miss walking through new cities, standing at the counter drinking espresso and living a lifestyle that doesn't involve caring about time. But as they say, all good things must come to an end, and now a new adventure has started.

As most people know by now, Ben and I are getting married. Yeah! We decided on a short engagement and now have less than 4 months to get the ball rolling. Thankfully, I'm a stress-free kind of girl, and am trying to approach planing a wedding the same way. However....

I can't believe how much weddings cost! The average U.S. wedding costs $29,000. $29,000! In most places that will pay for four years of college, or is a substantial down-payment on a house. At first I thought this was outrageous, until I started to learn more about wedding planning. There is a reason wedding planning is a billion dollar industry.

When you first get engaged somewhere along the way you will receive a planning book with checklists on all the things you must do in order to have the perfect wedding. After looking it over, I crossed about half of them off. But even by not doing most of the things recommended, items start to add up. Cake, photography, rental space, food/drink, flowers, attire, etc. etc. etc. People are starting to make adjustments in order to combat the cost, such as presenting a styrofoam cake and serving sheet cake, or plugging in the Ipod, however things still add up quickly. Ben and I are extremely fortunate to know some fabulous people who are helping out, and without them we wouldn't be able to have the wedding that we are planning, so as an upfront...thank you thank you thank you, with many more to come.

Just for fun, here are some general wedding pricing (the key is not to say "wedding" to anyone, because I swear it bumps the price up).

Wedding Gowns: I tried on a whole bunch the other day, and my two favorites could be mine for a mere $3,300 or $4,600 with a $500 veil...yikes!
Cakes: $1,000
Wedding Photography: Nothing less than $1,500, and if you want your photos, more like $2,500

Anyways, the moral of the story, get into the wedding business...just kidding. The moral that I have learned so far is not to feel pressured on doing everything the wedding business says you have to do to have a perfect day. The day will be lovely no matter what, and as long as you're happy, everyone will have a fantastic time.

Home Sweet Home

2008-05-13T08:55:00.001-07:00

All good things must come to an end. Ben and I left Europe at probably the right time. We were still having fun, were kind of sad to go, but anxious to come home. It's a funny thing though once you know you're going home...you want to be home right away, which of course never happens. We arrived at the Barcelona airport to find a 3 hour delay...sweet. Then we were asked about 50 times if we had accepted any packages to take home, which apparently people have done before and they turned out to be bombs. As we waited and waited and waited for our plane I kept eyeing people in the terminal, to see if any of them were likely suspects to bring a package home. All in all it was a little unnerving. Eight hours after boarding we arrived in New York to find out our connection, that American Airlines was sure we were going to make, had already departed. So we accepted our new tickets on a later Delta flight. Off to our new terminal I got on a train when the door immediately shut behind me with Ben on the other side. We were able to make it 6 weeks in Europe without losing each other and 10 minutes back in the states..bam...separated with no cell phones. Now needless to say this doesn't sound like a dire situation, but if anyone has ever been to the JFK airport, they might know how confusing the place is and how much fun it is to try and find someone. 30 minutes later and 1 hour from takeoff we were reunited...now both at our breaking points. We had to be cut in front of the ticket line, cut in front of security, secretly screened (wanded, bags checked) and the race to the terminal was on--watch out people with walkers. We sprinted to our terminal (as advised by the Delta checkers) to arrive and find out?.....our plane wasn't even boarding. Delay...delay...get on plane, sit for over an hour...6 hours later...home!!!

So we finally made it back. And as fun as it was to be in a new adventure, the comforts of home sure are great. I missed little things, such as drinking fountains and ice water, and the big things too...family and friends. I didn't miss my cell phone or celebrity gossip, but I guess it's a trade off. Now it's back to the real world. O-well..it's nice to be home.

The Last Stop

2008-05-09T06:35:00.000-07:00

It's fun when you don't have any expectations about a place and it completely blows your mind. Ben and I didn't have any real knowledge about Barcelona, other than some personal recommendations from people who had visited. However, even with those recommendations, we still weren't prepared for how much fun we were going to have...that is once we got out of the scary hostel...aka the bar. The architeture around the city is nothing I have ever imagined. Mostly designed by Antoni Gaudi in the early 1900s, the buildings around the city (and Park Guell) are something out of Grimm's fairytales. They radiant brillant colors and are so unconventional, it's amazing they were even conceptualized (Pictures don't do it justice, but I'll try anyways). Our new Ben also gave us great tips on the best tapas place in Barcelona...yumm...and we spent our remaining days walking around the city, visiting the Picasso museum, seeing where the 1992 Olympics were held, and experiencing the intensity of what it feels like to stand next to two of the biggest bulls I have ever seen...big. We're sad to go, but excited to get home...probably the perfect time to leave.

Hurray for Ships! Off the Boat.

2008-05-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

Our week in Tuscany ended very peacefully. We had a wonderful week enjoying Tuscan wine, beautiful countryside and a relaxing environment. On Friday we headed south on the train to catch a ferry over to Barcelona. One of the chapters of a book Ben and I read on this trip was entitled ¨Hurray for Ships!,¨which became our motto as we headed to our ferry with anticipation and excitement. Once onboard our motto quickly changed to Öff the Boat¨. It took 20 long hours, watching young Italian kids (our nemises sp?) on this trip frolick around behaving as terrible as they did in Cinque Terra and sleeping in between rows of seats on a concrete floor, well kind of sleeping...¨off the boat¨¨. The good thing about the boat was we met a nice boy named Ben who lives in Mass. but is a tour guide in Barcelona...like it was meant to be. He took us to our hostel and gave us lots of great tips. Yeah for Ben! This is the first hostel that Ben and I have stayed at and it´s hilarious. 20 person dorm bunkbeds...I don´t need to go into detail. Let´s just say that Ben and I have nicknamed everyone in our dorm and we are the old folks and Ben´s first words this morning were Ï hate this place¨. I almost spit my cereal out laughing so hard. Apparently we have crossed the age barrier for youth hostels.
Barcelona is wonderful though, warm, sunny with lots to see and a laid back atmosphere. The perfect place to end our trip. We´re getting close to the end...very excited to come home, but said that it´s almost over. See you all soon!

Yeah Pictures!

2008-04-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

yeah pictures! the first is the town of Manarola that we stayed in Cinque Terra. #2 is me at the top of city no. 3 Corniglia. If you look in the background you will see our town of Manarola that we just hiked from...3 down 2 more to go. No. 3 & 4 are the Colosseum at night and Ben and I in it the next morning. The 5th is Ben peeling fava beans outside our villa in Siena. He was enjoying himself so much, he decided he must have been a peasant woman in a former life. Lastly, the view from our Tuscan villa...yeah!

Rome to Siena

2008-04-26T01:31:00.000-07:00

The 4 days in Rome flew by as quickly as the city moves...fast. We did the touristy things: went in the Colosseum, threw our penny into the Trevi fountain, gazed at the Sistine Chapel, all the while trying not to be tourists. Rome is covered with them, in big groups, wearing matching scarves and taking pictures of everything...everything. Ben and I got up early every day to beat the crowds and managed to really enjoy ourselves. That is until we would leave (enter tourist destination) and be bombarded with people trying to sell us purses, sunglasses, belts, watches, pens, light up colosseums, etc. They were incredible. When it would start to rain, they would call in the Delta Team to replace the sunglass stands with umbrellas...every 10 feet, 3 euros...sorry to say no one is getting a green prada bag or gucci sunglasses. Even if I wanted one, after 4 days of being pestered, I wouldnt have been able to live with myself. We left Rome early yesterday to head north to the Tuscany area and make our next camp in Siena. Yesterday was a good example of how traveling isnt always glamorous. Long story short our first train was late, which caused us to miss our 2nd one, which left us at the train station for 3.5 hours. We arrived in Siena, took the bus to town...which was so crowded, without our big packs, I am sure we would have lost each other. Crowded why? Festival day in Siena...aka holiday. Few buses running, so back to the train station...hot...sweaty...heavy backpack...new bus to our villa...nice, but out in the middle of nowhere. No more buses running to town (festival), no open grocery stores (festival)...etc. We dined on Cornflakes and peanut butter last night, but had a good laugh. Today we woke up fresh, with a beautiful sun outside and our ready to eat lunch...a big lunch. Hope everyone is well. Love and miss you!

Cinque Terra

2008-04-22T05:42:00.000-07:00

Over the past 6 days, Ben and I have enjoyed the five towns that make up Cinque Terra (literal translation in Italian: Five Town). They are everything the pictures show they are, beautiful, unique, set in picturesqe surroundings, and are a good example of how there are no more undiscovered cities sleeping quietly without postcard stands and tourists. I first heard about Cinque Terra 4 years ago from travelers over in Europe who described how they spent a week hiking between the cities which are connected by trails. I think that was about the time Rick Steves also found the place, and now it is no longer a secret. Of course, we make up the postcard stands and tourists (I realize that), but at the same time, I wasn't expecting the level of tourism that now inhabits the town...but I digress. We bought a 3-day hiking pass, and anyone who buys the 7 day one is crazy. The second day we were there, we decided to hike the whole trail. I asked Ben if he wanted to do it and his response? "Sure, we're young and in shape." Now the trail is about 5.5 miles long, but in some places it is rugged, hilly, with lots of stairs, etc., however the ocean side view makes the trip worthwhile. The next day, "Mr. In shape" and "Ms. Young" had a serious hitch in their giddy up and only hiked to one town that day... and contemplated taking the train back.
The biggest obstacle of the trails isn't the terrain, but rather our fellow travelers. At first, I thought it would be the Holy Hiking Poles. Somewhere in Germany, someone has made a fortune telling people they need hiking poles for the trails. They are named the HHP's because when fifty of them got off the train at once with their backpacks, tourguide holding a brightly covered umbrella and poles, the first words out of my mouth were "holy hiking poles." Yet, I'm not sure how much those poles actually get used...I only saw three sets on the trails. The true obstacle is the groups of Italian kids. They come in packs of at least 30, most likely on a field trip, and are never hiking on the trails, but sitting, waiting for their teacher(?) to catch-up. The problem is that they are oblivious to everything except their sunglasses, Nelly-sized belt buckles shining proudly and each other. No one else exists. Swear words were uttered when we would see them and we would brace ourselves, elbows out, to try and get through the packs.
Overall, we had a great time. The scenery was incredible, the gelato and limoncino exquisite, and we stayed in the cutest apartment surrounded by olive and lemon trees with the nicest owener, Senore Imere, who left us fresh lemons. Neither Ben nor I have ever had lemons like these ones. They smell the way you think lemons should smell, but have never actually experienced the aroma before. We dried some seeds to take back. We both acknowledge that there probably is a reason we haven't seen lemon trees in Oregon, but we'll try anyways.
Ciao! (pictures to come, I promise!)

Au Revoir France, Ciao Italy

2008-04-16T05:49:00.000-07:00

The past 6 days Ben and I have been hopping from French city to French city, making our way south. We spent 2 days in Lyon, drooling over restaurant menus, two days in Avignon, drooling over the meal an old friend of the Heathman made us (Levi anyone?), and two days being spoiled by friends from Longview in Villefranche. We even got a home cooked meal. Basically the moral of the past 6 days is we ate well...very well. Plus, we had lots of fun seeing the cities. Each one was very unique. Lyon with its restaurants galore, Avignon with its history meshed with kids on dirtbikes riding the city, dressed better than Hollywood stars, and than Villefranche, the cutest most quaint town right on the coast. Ben and I hiked all around, finally enjoying some sunny weather. Now we are finally in Italy...Cinque Terra to be exact. We are staying 1km above Manarola, which truthfully feels like 15km, b-c it is straight uphill. Our apartment is wonderful: big, eco-friendly with a sweet kitchen and patio. We have no complaints. Our travel roots are now planted for 6 days where we will enjoy the paths, towns and lemoncello...or limocino in Italia. Ciao!

The Last of Paris

2008-04-08T07:41:00.000-07:00

Today is our last day in Paris. We went to Versaille earlier. Louis XIV lived a good life. However, the Sun King could get a little advice from Walt Disney on how to effectively get people in and out of his kingdom. Rick Steeves advice of the day: go before 10:30 a.m. or don't bother. We're both excited to get on to our next adventure, but sad to leave this beautiful city. After buying 2-4 crepes a day, Ben decided to cut out the middle man and we have been living off his homemade ones the past few days..we think the crepe man whispered traitor today when we walked past his stand. By the time we get back to the States, everyone, even Ricky Bobby, will be saying they love his thin little pancakes, especially with Nutella...dang they're good.

Paris Part Deux

2008-04-07T04:47:00.000-07:00

Paris is a happening place right now. Yesterday was the Paris marathon and Ben and I did a Louvre marathon in their honor (Ben's favorite?: Venus de Milo...Mine?: Winged Victory). We then toasted them by eating crepes (LCJ-nice call with the Nutella) and took a big nap. Today we went for a morning run and realized every police officer in Paris was at the Eiffel Tower. Obviously, by only getting to the internet once every few days and not having English speaking television), we are a little behind the times and didn't realize the Olympic torch was traveling through Paris today. Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief...Ben and I decided not to participate in the Tibetan protests and are safe...ready to eat more crepes...basically we're eating our way through Europe..yumm. Tomorrow is our last day in Paris and we're going to take a morning trip to Versailles and then be very Parisian and sit at a cafe the rest of the afternoon...well maybe not, but it's a nice thought. We'll then head south to Lyon, Avignon and Nice before making our way to Cinque Terre on the 15th. Au Revoir!

Ah...Paris

2008-04-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since we last posted. First, we decided to get out of Germany a day early, however Germany decided it didn't want us to leave too easily. After a communication breakdown with our German hosts (we tried to politely say we were leaving early, they thought we were questioning the price...one good will gesture got us back in their good graces) we headed to the train station. Six trains and two buses later, we finally made it a whole 5 km out of Germany. Ben and I had a few good laughs at the two American dummies who only speak English, and were sitting on the trains while everyone was getting off, b/c we didn't understand the announcement that the train was broken, or they were doing bridge work. Once we were on the buses, we also didn't know where we were going and again laughed at ourselves...two American dummies...smiling and nodding. We made it to Stausborg...not quite what we were expecting. After arriving at a hotel our guide book said was cheery and comfortable, we took the last room available. The lovely front desk girl asked if we wanted to see it...6 trains, 2 buses, 70 pounds of backpacks, and a recommendation from our guidebook?...no, we'll take it. I think this girl won a ham, or a bottle of booze, or something for finally booking htis room, because anyone who would have seen it beforehand, would not have taken it. Let's just say...bad...and i have pictures to prove it.
Early Wednesday morning we rolled up our sleeping bags, that's right we slept in our bags on top of the bed (tyee motel anyone?) and left for Paris...Ah Paris. We are staying in this cute Parisan apartment 5 minutes from the Eiffel Tower. Today we walked along the Siene river up to Notre Dame, which still stuns me with its beauty, and then back through the Louvre, and the Champ de Elysses. Ben is like a kid in a candy store with all the fromaggeries and shops that state on the window "foie grais." Plus our neighborhood is like what Paris looks like in my dreams: open street markets, cute apartments, cafes...we're pretty happy right now. Au revoir.

If I Have to Eat One More Sausage...

2008-03-31T04:33:00.000-07:00

so these pictures are in no particular order. the first is the outdoor street market in frankfurt...that´s right we´re eating sausages and drinking wine at 10:15 a.m. The second is when we first landed in Germany. The third is Rothenburg, Germany and the last one is Frankfurt. More photos to come. We´re off to eat...oh you guessed it..another sausage. This will have to be my last one...it´s getting ridiculous. We are heading to Paris on Wednesday. We miss you all, and love your comments.

Stepped Back in Time

2008-03-30T03:43:00.000-07:00

We made it to Rothenburg Germany, and have officially stepped back in time. We are staying in a walled in city, that does not contain any modern buildings. The folklore goes, that the city was going to be destoyed, unless someone could drink a gallon of wine in one swig. The mayor stepped up, drank, and the town was saved (obviously there are a few missing elements of this history lesson, but you get the idea). We are enjoying ourselves, walking around, and will probably hit the German countryside tomorrow. I really want to go see the Cinderella castle--Ben is stoked, but we´re not sure how far away it is by bus. Yesterday, we ate something other than sausages. Ben has been on the hunt for the best bratwurst in Germany, but even he got tired yesterday and we ate Italian. Partially, b-c we needed a bratwurst break, partially because the owner came out and spoke to us in English, so we could understand the menu. We´re about to get back on the sausage hunt for lunch, and then head to the crime/torture museum..we`re skipping the doll museum...that sounds too scary. Herb, Ben is looking for your cheese. Bye!

Things I Never Knew or Didn't Remember

2008-03-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

1. I didn't remember how much I hate jet lag, and how hard it is to shake at first. Yesterday, I was a zombie--basically I'm surprised I didn't have more spelling errors other than monster.

2. I didn't know how many words actually contain the letter y. On German keyboards y and z are flipped. Yesterday's blog took forever to type--partially b/c I was sleepy, but mainly because I didn't want our words to come out as zesterdaz, or latelz, etc.

3. I didn't know that almost all of Frankfurt was bombed by the Allies in WWII, so every building is post 1940s. They have actually nicknamed the town Mainhatten, b/c it looks so modern. Also, everything or everzthing has the word main in it--just to make it confusing to us travellers who are already confused by not speaking German.

4. My favorite word is drüken (it means push).

5. I didn't realize how silly phrase books are. We bought one at the airport b/c we forgot the one that was given to us on loan, however we realized today that it doesn't matter if we ask something in German, we still won't know the answer: where is the store? (in German)....wait wait, bitte (please), can you speak English?...besides hello, please and thank-you our German conversation efforts are futile.

6. Something for everzone to know (sorrz I can't change them all). If the man at the coffee stand asks you 3 times how many sugars you want, and you say none every time, there is a good reason he is asking. Basically multiple the number of times he asks you by one or two and you'll get how many sugars you should have asked for (even if your don't take sugar)..you do in Germany.

I asked Ben if he wanted me to add anything, so here it is, Ben's tip of the day: Stop at the outdoor market for wine...large pour. Thank you Ben.
Verabschieden!

We´ve Officially Landed

2008-03-26T02:15:00.000-07:00

Currently, Ben and I are sitting at our hotel trying to manage German keyboards (my favorite symbol is ö)...that´s right--we made it! However we almost were seriously delayed. Note to travellers, double check and triple check your itinerary. By a fluke I pulled ours out last night and noticied it had completely changed and we were departing at 7:15 a.m. into Dallas, vs. the óriginal 11:30 a.m. trip to Chicago. Everything ended up fine, except we arrived in Germany a little earlier than expected:6:10 a.m. We feel like we´ve been up for 2 days, and are trying with every effort to stay awake until early evening to beat the monstor that is jet lag. After a few hours walking around searching for the infamous German sausage (or rather a German shop selling saugages at 8:30 in the morning), and finally finding one underground, we are huddled in our warm hotel...did I mention it´s snowing? Yeah, it´s a blammy 33 degrees. So we´re going to drink lots of coffee now, and put an extra layer of clothes on...brrrr...but...yeah!

The Big Pack

2008-03-22T08:14:00.001-07:00

We are leaving this afternoon to head up to Longview for a couple of nights and then to Seattle for one evening before we fly out. I can't believe we're almost out of here. Yesterday was my last day of work for 2 months, and although I'm elated, it still feels surreal. Obviously, my brain is not entirely on vacation since I checked my pdx email account this morning and lost some sleep last night racking my brain if I finished all my projects, returned phone calls and set-up any last business with enough progress that I wouldn't leave everyone flailing to clean-up my mess.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited. I am a little worried on how I'm going to stuff all of my travel gear into my backpack. I guess it's not really fitting it in there, but more, fitting it in there with enough space to bring stuff back (unless the dollar gets any worse, than everyone gets my memories), and still being able to haul the big red beast from one city to the next.

I also forgot about all the emotions that accompany being gone for this long: excitement, nervousness, unexplained bursts of joy, baffled moments of sadness, and the anxiety (both good and bad) of leaving your comfort zone to experience something new.

Now I'll finish tying up the details, and we'll be off...everyone cross your fingers that the dollar gets a comeback!

Last Big Luck O' the Irish Step

2008-03-16T16:27:00.000-07:00

Today was the Shamrock run--our last big, planned event before we leave. Originally, I thought Ben and I running the 15K (9.32 miles), sounded like a good idea...a get in-shape goal to prepare us for 7 weeks of lugging heavy backpacks around Europe (they are not packed yet, but I assume they'll be heavy). Of course that was before Ben got hit by a car, and we started working tirelessly to save money for our trip...come on dollar...just get a little stronger. Needless to say, we were not in prime 15K shape, however we did it... in 1 hour 28 minutes and 36 seconds, I might add. That includes running all the way up Terwilliger...and I do mean up. In my opinion we did pretty good...hey we finished! We didn't stick around for the trophy ceremony, but I'm pretty sure we won the award for most snot-rockets blown.

So now we'll head-off to Europe, not in the shape I imagined, but more with a little hitch in our giddy-up, since we both have sore knees and ankles. Now the packing begins...one last week of work...and seven days to ice away our well-earned accomplishment.

Anyone who's ever run a long distance, or just started running will enjoy this video.

We're Almost There

2008-03-12T11:35:00.001-07:00

13 days and counting...