Vacay

Here is a photographic journal of our trip to Portland. For some reason I didn't break out the camera while we were in Boise. That was dumb! We had a great time visiting our Idaho relations and seeing our new niece! (My apologies for the small sized pics. Just click to enlarge, I started making them bigger towards the end.)

This is mi familia, ready for a ragin' good time!


This is me, self portraits are my obvious favorite, although I'm not sure why, they aren't the most flattering, are they?


This was one of my favorite roses, we went on a tour of the International Test Rose Garden in Portland. They try out new rose plants. This one was called Abbaye De Cluny. (We also went to Powell's Books on this day which is the biggest bookstore in the world, they claim, and we hiked 3 miles in a beautiful arboretum, but my batteries had given out at this point.)


On Tuesday we drove to Astoria. This is the Astoria Column. Apparently a bunch of memorials (twenty-something) were built across the country in honor of the explorers/pioneers that came west.


The column had a sweet, sweet view, which we had to enjoy for only a brief second because after hiking 164 steps to the top, standing on a small little balcony of sorts, we were freaked:


If you didn't know, Astoria has had a few movies filmed there, including a movie called Goonies. Our car was not allowed to go up the little pebble drive and this is the sign informing us of that. The next two pics are for my SIL Julie:


Behind the bushes on the left there is a very large Greek flag that I didn't catch in the picture. Apparently a very Greek family lives there now. No Sean Astin :(


On Wednesday we drove to Kings Valley to visit the Jillicious bakery and its owner, Jill (and Jeff of course). We ordered a couple of items from Jill, but she went WAY out of her way to make sure we were super taken care of. I'll let the pictures do the talking (but let me just say that I didn't even get a picture of the brownies or the yummy lunch):




At Jill's place she has a sweet pond where the kids spent HOURS frog hunting:



Sweet lily pads:


H., me, Jeff and Jill:


Then we ventured to the coast (again) and saw Cannon Beach (where we made pigs of ourselves at Pig 'N Pancake) and saw Haystack Rock:




Then we went on a super mini hike just off the highway and saw salmon berries. These look good, right? Brittany confirmed that though they are edible, they are extremely tart. Thanks B. for taking a hit for the team!


Proof that B. was there!


This is how H. and I look while on vacation, rested and happy!


Tour of Tillamook where we (I) had too many cheese samples and bought yummy ice cream:



Sav asleep, B., and Mack (who was faking it!):


Proof that B. actually has a husband. Poor Wyat was super busy with a crazy chemistry class so we didn't see him much, but thanks W. for allowing us to crash at your pad!


We also went to Voo Doo donuts (picture stolen from B's blog):


We spent money on gas and food (obviously) but only $1 at the column (for a whole year's worth of parking on site) and $10 for clothing rental at the Portland temple. We were super happy to find so many wonderful things to do in Portland without having to spend money on entrance fees and such. Who wouldn't prefer to spend their hard-earned dough on food anyway? We also hit up two different french bakeries while in Lake Oswego (we went to one of them twice and the other three times). The kids, H. and B. also floated the Clackamas River, courtesy of W.'s family and their "fun tires." Despite H. thinking he was going to miss the "get out point" and freaking out to the point of almost drowning (thanks B. for saving your big bro's life), they enjoyed the river float a ton.

Thanks to B., W., Jill, and Jeff. Also thanks to the unknown owners of the beach house we stayed at (unknown to me, but not to B.).

And, thanks to Miss Georgia, who assured me that this would be money well spent. Miss Georgia, you were right!

I told H. that this was our best vacation yet and that includes the freebie we had last year at Disneyland.

Wheeeeeee...........

Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time on H.'s bike. His bike has been hanging in our garage for a while, needing new tubes. I bought some tubes, got the bike down, and with the help of my two willing and able children, we replaced the tubes. So, I've been toodling around on the bike for the past few days, but yesterday I got serious. Ok, not really serious, because I know what a serious biker looks like and I'm not that person. But I did ride for about 8 miles total. I know, that doesn't sound like much, but will you tell my bum bones that? Ouch!

We rode down to our old bishop's car lot because our van is giving us trouble....I know, you're in shock, right? And we are trying to decide if we should fix the van, again, or get a small car/truck and a small payment to go with it.

I thought it was pretty funny that we went riding up on a bike to tell our old bishop that we need a car.

Anyway, so we rode down (which had a lot of downhill time as it turns out) and then back (which means we were going uphill a lot). It seems like on a bike ride you really should put in the work during the first half of the trip so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor during the last half.

But, either way, both legs of the trip were super, super fun! The weather was nice and cloudy, a little cool, and at one point I was super squinting because raindrops were piercing my cornea going downhill! But I totally loved it! Talk about cross training! But since we only have 1 working adult bike in the house we need to get another one. I'm thinking maybe a new bike for me? and then H. can have our one working car. We'll see.

I felt like a little kid because I really did feel pure joy while riding that bike. There were sweaty times, times when I had to shift down to the lowest gear available, and then there were exhilarating, high speed, wind on my face and through my hair times. I loved it!

Now onto today's business:

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! As I get older I can see every single day how much good father's sacrifice for their wives and children. I am so grateful today for my dad and for H. I am truly, truly blessed to have had such good men in my life.

Dad, H.: You deserve all the happiness and joy that Heavenly Father can give to you. Big hugs and kisses and a day filled with good fun, good presents, and good food to you both! I know a lot of other good men out there, father's and fathers to be. To you all: Enjoy your day, you deserve it!

Why I Love Psych Reports:

The patient states that he does believe he is "the prophet." He states that his white beard serves as evidence of this. He then laughs bizarrely.

Can You Read My Mind? (Lois Lane Theme)

It's 8:12 in the morning on Saturday. I'm waiting for H. to wake up to go on our walk/run this morning. (We're supposed to run, but we'll see.) I'm dressed, the house is quiet except for the happy lull of the washing machine, and I'm wasting time at the computer....waiting....waiting....

Can you guess what I'm thinking about? I bet you can't. Twenty-four hours ago I couldn't have guessed what I would be thinking about. So, here is a major clue:



My mom has had these bad boys in her cupboard for SIX WHOLE MONTHS...untouched I might add. They have been tucked away, unopened, still fresh inside their happily sealed package. Every time I come to my mother's house I take a longing look at this package and then instead of opening the box, I walk away. I make a comment every third visit or so about how it would be great to have some Candy Cane Jojo's. My mom usually ignores my comments. Ok, she probably doesn't hear me because I'm usually talking to myself. So the last time I was at her house I said, "When are we going to open these up?" My mom tells me I can open then right then if I want. "No," I say, "let's wait until I come next time." Next time was to be one week later. Fast forward to last night.

H., the kids, and I come back from H.'s work party at the zoo (fun I might add and I will super try to download a pic from my cell phone of the kids), and I am hankering for something yummy. (We stayed at my parents house last night.) My mom and I go to the pantry and she points out all the yummy cookie/brownie/cake mixes she has. But, I'm not feeling invested in baking AT ALL. Then I see the brightly striped red/white package of joy. "Hey, can I open these?" Sure, says my mother who just rejoined Weight Watchers the night before. (To her credit, I think she had 1 cookie...that woman is a ROCK!)

I tried to be ginger about opening the package, but I failed, after a few attempts I just got desperate and ripped the dang thing. I then proceeded to pour myself a glass of milk. And I ate. Mmmmmmmmm......I had 5 cookies and they were worth it!! 150 calories for 2, so that means 375 calories of cookies at 10 p.m. at night. Nice call, right?

Addendum: Magic, part 2

This morning I knew I would be "cross training." My run yesterday made me feel like I could just cruise on a nice walk this morning (and be completely justified in doing so). I was cruising all right, like an 80-year-old with a front-wheeled walker!

Ouch, ouch, ouch! Things hurt today. I couldn't even do a decent paced walk for goodness sake.

After my slower-than-snails walk, I sat down at the computer to work for a while. H. called me up for family prayer and for S. to get a father's blessing pre-girls camp and as I stood up, holy-moly....everything was screaming! Then kneeling down for the prayer was horrible....but nothing compared to trying to get up from kneeling! I had to call H. over to assist! Then he says, hey, let's say our prayer. UGH, really? So I get back down....and have to have him help me up again.

Maybe H. should feel grateful that I'm giving him a peak into our future life together.

Do You Believe In Magic?

H. was feeling sick yesterday so I knew he wouldn't be exercising with me today. I geared up with S.'s iPod and took to the streets on my own. I did a route that does not have the hill of death included, its a route that basically runs around my house and the trail along the creek. It is 0.75 miles around and if you go around 4x, you've gone 3 miles.

After a quick little walk to warm up, I started my usual trot. Since the hill of death wasn't on my route today I thought I might just be able to run the entire 3 miles. And....yesiree.....I did it! I even made myself pass my house on my fourth time around to go to the place where I actually started to run, so that I could KNOW of a surety that I ran an entire 3 miles.

For the last 1.5 laps I was S.T.R.U.G.G.L.I.N.G. The 2 songs that were playing towards the end were "Defying Gravity" from Wicked and "Do You Believe in Magic?" Appropriate, no?

This is how long it took me to run and how long it took me to STOP sweating once I had finished (in minutes):


This is what my face looked like until just a few moments ago:


I really wanted to get a pic of myself so you could see just how bad it was, but my camera batteries are dead at the moment. Here is what I found online:


And, just as a fair warning, DO NOT Google "fat girl running" and expect completely benign pictures. Ick. Also, I don't wear ANYTHING that exposes my midriff while running...or ever! And my stride is about half of what is pictured here.

So, do you believe in magic? I know I do. June 1, 2009 will forever live in my own personal history. A day that started with the sweep of a wand and the determination of a fat girl and POOF....MAGIC!

Cross Training

This week I've taken to running again. My heel is feeling pretty good and isn't all inflamed, so I thought I'd get back on the proverbial horse. Yesterday I ran for 2.5 miles and even tried to brave the nasty hill. As I kept running and running towards the hill I was considering running up it and here was my thought process:

Me: I'm almost at the hill. If I run up the hill and keep going I will have run an entire 3 miles. Wow, can I do it? Should I do it? I dunno, I'm feeling tired and a bit worn out, but, maybe.....

Suddenly H. says: Are you going to run up the hill?

Me: You never should have asked me that.

H.: Sorry.....um.....you're not going to run up that hill are you? I mean, there's no way you'll make it. It's too hard.

Me: Now you're getting the picture.

So I trod up the hill, all the while my dear husband is saying: Just one step at a time, don't look up, just one step at a time.

I made it one-third of the way up the hill. Semi-pathetic, but still a semi-victory for me. When I got home, I was fighting back tears again....shocking.

Then last night I go visiting teaching to some of the best ladies, EVER! And we end up having a conversation about how we're supposed to cross train, how doing the same thing every day is hard on your body...etc....

I woke up this morning and just wasn't feeling the running love, but I often don't feel it and do it anyway. But today I mention my cross training conversation with H. and he says something like "I told you so," and I'm taken aback.

Me: What ever do you mean?

H.: I told you that you should do something different every other day to allow your body to recover. Did you know that walking is considered cross training when you're running?

Me: Well that's all I needed to hear. I'm cross training, not being lazy, right?

H.: Right!

I was loving my cross training today. Thanks to all my loved ones who assured me that I was not being lazy, but rather thinking like an athlete! Maybe I have more athlete in me than I realized!