Goal Attained

So, at the beginning of the year, I posted that I had a goal of running a 10K this year. I attained that goal on July 4, 2009, when I ran the Butte to Butte, in Eugene. Last weekend, I did something I never thought I would be able to do. With my dad, I ran a 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) in just over 2.5 hour. The official average per-mile rate was 11:31. I am pleased with that time, and more than that, I am pleased that I finished. It was no easy feat. Believe me!

Since I last wrote, we have moved and love our new place. Steve is working his rear off. I am busy at work as well. Parker is happy, although he wishes his pack were around more.

My fantasy football team is terrible this year.

I'm about to turn 30.

Not much else to say; when you're working all the time, there's just not a whole lot to write about.

Moving Food

Moving food is one of my pet peeves. Why do we buy so much food that we have to cart it from place to place as we change residences? Well, I have decided that I am going to do my very best to have to move as little food as possible when we change homes in 2-3 weeks. That means that even if it doesn't "sound good" at a particular time, if it's here and I don't have to buy anything else to make the meal work, we're going to eat it. What does that mean tonight? It means I at a microwavable thing of macaroni and cheese that Steve thought would be a good idea to buy about 8 months ago when he needed quick meals on the go because of his job at the time. After eating it, I can say with certainty that microwavable mac & cheese is NEVER a good idea. Parker might disagree. i should have given it to him.

Next, I think I will go for a PB&J sandwich. It's hard to go wrong with that, and I have all that I need for it. And it will get the nasty mac & cheese flavor out my mouth. blech.

Movin' on up!

So, Steve and I are moving. Yes, again. This time will hopefully be the last for a long long time. We found this AWESOME house to rent in Northeast Portland - in a great neighborhood and I think it will suit us very well. Parker is peeved though because there is no doggy door at the new place and he's being downsized from a half acre to a tenth of an acre. But you know what I told him? I told him it would all be worth it because the place will be big enough for him to have his own doggie bed back - which, if you have been to our current place, you would know there is NO ROOM for a doggie bed. There's barely room for a people bed.

The landlords are going to grad school in southern california so they are looking to rent their place for a few years and then move back - which is perfect for us because maybe in a few years, Steve's business will have enough "history" to let us qualify for a home loan and we can just buy a place.

I will provide photos when possible.

New Year's Resolution Update

This year, as you may recall, I resolved to live more in the moment and to take advantage of opportunities presented to me. I have to say that I am excited and astounded by the results I've received. I said "yes" to training with a friend to run a marathon (she's running the marathon; I'm participating in some of her training); I said "yes" to a concert with a friend I hadn't seen in over a decade; I took advantage of some last-minute Blazers tickets given to me by a coworker, etc. There have been a lot of really good spontaneous adventures so far this year. I am learning to enjoy and embrace the unplanned.

Running

So... I made a resolution several months ago to run a 10K and I did. I ran the Butte to Butte on July 4. And I'm still running - with many thanks to my friend Annie, who is keeping me motivated. Today, I conquered a mileage marker I never thought I would EVER hit. Today, I ran nearly 11 miles. And I have a new goal: a half marathon on September 20. Going into this morning's run, I thought I was only going to run 8 miles and I was thinking there was no way I would ever be able to run a half marathon (13.6 miles), but it didn't work out for me to have an 8 mile route, so I ended up going about 10.7. I am feeling totally inspired after today's run - like I can do ANYTHING. I admit, the last 1.5 miles were miserably hard and there was no way I could have run another 2.5 miles, but I still have a month to get there. I'm feeling pretty awesome (aside from the lingering pain in my ankles and knees). Hooray.

No More Chiquita

So, I'm feeling very inspired by the movie "What Would Jesus Buy." If you haven't seen it, I would recommend it. Know that it's super one-sided propaganda, but I am willing to be brainwashed! It inspired me to go to the website: www.responsibleshopper.org

Steve and I have decided we're going to make one change every week or so, and slowly change our consuming habits. This week, it's NO MORE CHIQUITA brand items (e.g. bananas). According to the website, Chiquita is responsible for so many human atrocities. I'm done with them forever.

Organic bananas, here I come.

Going for a 5:30 a.m. run

And I'm EXCITED about it, but need to go to bed.

G'night!

Casualty of heat

Well... Steve is gone and I came home to find the house so hot at 9p.m. that I just want to scream. But, I went out to make sure our animals have enough food and water. Parker is great (he has the kiddie pool to play in and drink from). Check. The chickens needed some water. Check. But all is not well. Liza has escaped from her cage. I try to catch her. She is not willing to be caught. Oh well, I think, I'll go check on Henry. Henry, however, has fallen victim to the heat, I think. He is dead. I feel terrible that we didn't do enough for him... he had water and the whole bottom of his cage is open and off the ground, but i guess that doesn't help when there's no breeze... it just wasn't enough these high heat days - to be in a cage. I am really bummed - but I admit, I'm not bummed that he's gone. We had already decided that we were going to post them on craigslist to give them away. I'm just bummed that we didn't do enough to keep him alive - like we failed. Ugh :(

This heat is really miserable.

Holy Moly - has it really been 6 months since my last post?!

I suppose it has! Over the last six months, much has happened and it would take too long to post here. I will say, in one of my last posts, I indicated that I was going to start training to run a 10K - and i did it. Ran the Butte to Butte on July 4. It was good to do - and I'm still running regularly - mostly because my friend Annie is keeping me inspired.

I have gotten back in touch with a lot of folks from my growing-up years and that has really been a blast - forming new "old" friendships and whatnot.

Steve and I became official members of our church this month.

We have gone camping a couple of times this summer, and have few more trips planned - maybe even climbing the middle sister at the end of August.

All in all, life is pretty good. Maybe I'll post something more before another 6 months has gone by. But only if you're lucky. Very lucky.

February Has Gone By in a Blur

I can't believe that February is almost over! I am so glad for it.

Last weekend, we went to San Francisco for a wedding reception - a friend of mine from law school got married, and threw a big party. Both she and the groom are Indian and so the wedding festivities were in the Indian tradition (although, I have learned that they shortened the traditional 4-day event down to one evening). There was dancing, great food (the chicken Marsala was phenomenal) and it was great to see some of my friends from law school. I also had my first real henna experience, and I have to say, my skin doesn't take it very well - it looked more orange than brown on me, but that's what I should expect, being pastey white, instead of gorgeous brown. Oh well. Both Steve and I enjoyed ourselves immensely.

We also got to see Jessica and Joonas while down there, and that was fun. We played BUZZZZ which is a pop culture trivia game on the Playstation 3. (It was raining and COLD so going out was not the most appealing option).

We did have a chance to go to an aquarium and, of course, eat clam chowder out of a sourdough bread bowl. I took the photo posted below and I think it's AWESOME.

OK, Brielle... happy now?

Tonight, I got a fantastic surprise

Stephen is always doing things to surprise and spoil me. Tonight, I came home and he made me stop in the entry-way and tell him what would make me feel like the Queen of Sheeba... then, he made me close my eyes and he walked me into the kitchen. When I opened them, there it was... gleaming and glistening in its wonderful newness. What was it you ask? It was none other than a perfectly round, perfectly non-stick crepe maker. Indeed. I am in heaven.

I may or may not have...

... called and spoken with Dr. Laura this week.

The depravity of man

This past week, I have been feeling overwhelmed by the depravity of man. My own depravity, along with that of our species collectively. I am deeply saddened by its presence all around me, and within me. How does God endure the heartache?

What could have been...

I have realized about myself that I often look back at times, when they're coming to an end, and think "man, I wish I would have done that different, developed that relationship more, spent more time with that person, done more fun things with that group." It has, on more than one occasion, left me feeling like I've missed out- with regrets. Sooooo...I think my New Year's Resolution (a bit late I know) is to try to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves more often... and to make more of an effort to instigate opportunities, as well. I guess, I'm going to try to be more outgoing, in a way - less reclusive. Here's to a new year.

As it turns out

One of those days turned into one of those weeks, and I have little hope for improvement tomorrow. Work has just not gone well this week - all except Tuesday. Tuesday was a pretty good day (I was in Salem for an 8-hour deposition that wasn't nearly as boring as most!) And then I worked for a few hours in the office, after everyone but Graham and Donnie had gone home. I closed the day by indulging in my guilty pleasure of American Idol. I admit it's true. Perhaps I shouldn't do so quite so publicly.

I really don't know what's going on at work, but it just feels like no matter how hard I try, it's not going right. Shelley recently told me that when she was a waitress, she would sometimes get a "nightmare table," where no matter how hard she tried or what she did, everything would just go wrong. I guess I feel like that this week.

My parents are coming this weekend for a visit, along with Kim, Fred, and August. I am happy about the visit. We will eat good food and play with a good baby and generally relax, I think (hope). OK... I'm off to bed. Maybe a bit more sleep will help tomorrow go better.

One of those days...

So, today, I had a ton of work to get done. It really seems like with my job, it's feast or famine - or maybe it's just the result of me being a procrastinator, that I don't think there is stuff to do on my cases until there's a deadline pending - it's just not true and I need to be better at that. Anyway, it seems that this week has a ton of important stuff going on in many of my cases, so I knew I was going to have to work a long day today... which I did. What I did not know is that many things would go wrong, making my day even longer. First, my computer kept crashing; then my time-keeping program crashed - then the printer driver wouldn't install... and then, the ultimate UGH... I forgot to save something I'd been working on for over 2 hours and POOF, it was gone. It was my own stupid fault for not saving it as I went along, and so I have no one else to blame, but it was upsetting because then I had to recreate the document, and of course there is no billing the client for that mistake... So I lost quite a bit of time. I am feeling exhausted now. I am going to bed, hoping that tomorrow goes a little more smoothly.

Working toward a goal

I ran two times this week, and will try to run again tomorrow. The first day was ROUGH, the second, not so bad... maybe third time will be the charm and I'll be able to increase my distance a little bit.

Last night, two of our renters stayed at our apartment after they flew in from their holiday vacationing and that was fun. We ate my new favorite food: crepes. First, we had savory crepes with chevre, spinach, basil and ham (well, turkey for Suzanna, since she doesn't like pig). Then, we had dessert crepes with Nutella and banana.... this is my learned phrase from Germany. "Bitte - einen crepe mit nutella und banane" - that's all you need to know to survive the Christmas market in Frankfurt.

We have not eaten dinner tonight because Steve is slacking and didn't make anything. I will go investigate.

Lazy-fest 2009

Well, 2009 has officially begun, and the first weekend is being spent by Steve and me, at home, with Ian. Matt & Brielle arrive tonight for supper. It will be fun to have the clan here. We're spending our time lounging around, playing with the dogs, playing Age of Empires. I am soaking it up while I can, because I think I'm going to start getting back into 10K shape tomorrow - starting a new running schedule and workout routine. Of course, it will be a long row to hoe because I've let myself get so badly out of shape, but I would like to run the Butte to Butte this year again.

We had a good new years eve this year. We went to a church members home and mixed and mingled, and then we had communion, sang hymns, and prayed together, at midnight. It was a good way to start the year.

I am craving crepes with nutella and banana, so I think I will make that for a snack later today. With that, I think I will add my two favorite photos of Christmas 2008 and be off. Cheers!