coldplay

Last weekend I went camping with some friends for the Coldplay concert over at the Gorge. I love eastern wa sun...the scenery not so much. We slept in tents out on a little spit, swam in the Columbia, floated on fun islands, wake boarded, biked, ran, admired petrified wood, ate coconut bars, and listened to an amazing concert...they even played my favorite song green eyes. It was an unbelievable weekend!

After the camping trip I went straight to malia's shower in Kirkland and had so much fun hanging out with the girls and showering malia with yummy food, gifts, games and love. So much love! I hope she knows how much she will be dearly missed as a roommate! I guess she can go live with a boy...

the fourth

man of iron

2009 Coeur d'Alene Ironman

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination.


I can only imagine the determination it takes to train for and complete an Ironman. The race consists of three legs: 2.5 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. Yeah, that's right a full marathon after all that other stuff. I was a spectator at this year's Ironman in Coeur d'Alene supporting a good friend that trained all year for this one 11 hour day. So much relentless work goes into hundreds of days of preparation for one single day's performance. What if you had a stomachache? bowel issues? a cold? an injury? I don't think it would matter. The athlete's determination would endure and he would complete the race regardless of any obstacles.


From the sidelines I was overwhelmed by the energy, the athleticism, the diversity...it was one of the most inspiring days of my life. If I was crazy (like four of my friends) I would have signed up and paid the $600 entry fee the next day for the 2010 race. Luckily, I have some of my mom's head on my shoulders and knew better (at least for now). But I did walk away from the experience with a renewed and energy and joy towards life and training for my small "Olympic" distance tri in July. Watching people of all shapes, sizes, and ages battle through the day with perseverance and endurance makes you realize that anything is possible when you put in the work to prepare...there is a reward - the finish line.

There are so many races in life...and so many finish lines to cross. All I need is determination.

A lot of waiting for 30 seconds of cheering Brian on 10x

Brian "airplanes" in to finish strong in 10 hours and 55 minutes

a memorable birthday week

It started with berry tarts and strawberry-rhubarb pie, a late night movie - Monday.

Moves to extreme workout Tuesday with spinning class and run around greenlake in the rain and occasional thunder and lightening!

Wednesday was normal with writing sub plans, a nap and a late-night swim. Oh, and love listening to the band - Owl City (kind of a cross of postal service and hellogoodbye). Check out the song Hello Seattle.

Thursday - day off! An early-morning run, errands (new license plate), salmon dinner with Jennie and Alicia, laughs at Alec's acting debut, celebrating until midnight at the stube - happy birthday!

Friday - SUGAR HIGH - my students shower me with love and sweets...I had to drink gallons of water to stay hydrated. Before I get out of the parking lot - cookies with orange zest and dark chocolate (yum!) and a latte. Morning start - donut. 1st period - lemon shortbread, strawberries and whipped cream, some fancy chocolate brownies. 2nd period - cupcakes in ice cream cones and reeses peanut butter bars - starting to feel woozy. 3rd period - overwhelming amounts of sugar that I was able to save for later - swedish fish, starburst, hot tamales, sour patch kids and watermelons. Then, if that wasn't enough the Spanish class came in to sing "Feliz Cumpleanos" and Mrs. Vargas gave me a "fiesta in a bag," authentic Mexican everything - chips, salsa, pastries, juice, yogurt, orange soda! (all went to packwood) And to top it all off I made an ice cream cake to share with the faculty...too much...time to detox. Is it ovbvious I like sugar? I go home...run (trying to burn off some of the calories), pack, drive to packwood with the girls!

Saturday - Packwood = Paradise (when the weather is 70+). Long bike ride with Meg, laying out by the creek, dad's lattes, flea market, pulled pork sandwiches, clue, sleeping in the tent, mom's angel food cake, ice cream cake (really? two?), campfire, qt with housemates.

Sunday - buttercreek breakfast, run with Malia, clue, swimming pool, bike ride, creek walk, goose nest, nap in the hammock, reading, burgers, leftover cake and of course s'mores...just what I need...more sugar!

Today - Memorial day...a day to remember...not only those who have sacrificed for our country, but those friends and family who make little sacrifices to love me! I feel so overwhelmed by their love...seen in so many ways - birthday cards, hugs, socks, earrings, e-cards, laughter, love, bike rides, runs, long car trips, facebook messages, massages, flowers, questions, cooking, baking, listening, talking, playing, singing, and just spending time with me!

I am so thankful for the friends and family God has put in my life...thank you, thank you, thank you!

ocean

I spent the past few days along the oregon coast with friends...one who is getting married a week from today! It was fun to walk along the beach, make meals together, eat candy and watch movies, talk about life...most of which was centered around marriage and kids (I was the only one single). I didn't have much to contribute to the conversations regarding marraige and kids, but I enjoyed listening in and laughing about the funny and awkward moments. I'm so thankful to be where I am in life - independent and free to make spontaneous changes. Now I just want to make sure I am living that way and take advantage of the opportunities. Someday I won't have the same freedoms, not that it will be a bad thing, it will just be good in a different way.

Christmas Slideshow

3 Snow Days and a Trip to LA

LA Trip

Click on picture to view album


Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Seattle has been a Winter Wonderland the past week and I have reaped the benefits! School was cancelled Wednesday through Friday last week so I am now in the middle of a two and a half week break...although we will have to make-up the days sometime...it feels great right now to have a bit of extra time off before Christmas. Of course, I made pancakes one morning to share with my roommates and took walks in the snow. It also gave me time to finish making Christmas presents and pack for LA.

Luke, Kendra and I left Friday afternoon to spend the weekend in LA with my Mom and Dad. My Dad was helping out at a basketball tournament in Anaheim and so we flew down to meet them. I was a little sad to leave the snow, but didn't mind the sun and mid-60's temperature! We went to Universal Studios on Saturday and Disneyland on Sunday. I wasn't that excited to do the theme park thing until I got there! Disneyland really is a magical place, especially at Christmas when everything is decorated. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of the castle at night or the fireworks because the camera batteries died. sad. Space Mountain was scary...and made me a bit dizzy, but so worth it! Splash Mountain was wet. I was in the front and I got soaked down to the undies...we had to go back to the hotel and change...it was that bad! Universal was great too...the theme was Grinchmas...so we saw some Who's and the Simpson's ride was pretty much amazing. We also went to a Waterworld show...where they acted out part of the movie. It was incredible! A plane crashed, people jumped off tall buildings into the water, jet skis were all over the place and there was fire! Hollywood is pretty cool.

All was well, until our flight was cancelled Monday due to snow at SeaTac. We weren't able to get on any flights over the next two days so we decided to road trip it in the rented mini-van. Dad and Luke drove the entire way, Kendra called her mom for road updates and hotel information, Mom and I sang Christmas songs in the back and I ate absurd amounts of candy! We stopped at In-N-Out for dinner and stayed the night in the Relax Inn...an old 50's motel in Yreka! All in all it was quite an adventure and besides ice on the road in Salem it was pretty smooth sailing. Oh, except for the part when I got home first, followed by Mom and Kendra and we had to shovel out the driveway so we could get three cars in! The girls did most of the work before Luke and Dad showed up! (I think they planned that out purposefully!) I'm just so thankful to be home for Christmas. It was a crazy adventure, but one I would do again!

LA Slideshow