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I know you guys are still reading... just not commenting. Pidat, this means you. :)

Okay, so Wednesday I had my singles group, good times as always. I did the announcements... they tried to get me to sing them but I would not. Someone told me I AM Quarterlife... and I was like, no, I'm not. What I am is Wednesday Night Queen... somehow I always end up planning these Wednesday night large groups! Weird. I love it though! Afterwards we went out to Red Robin... I chatted with some new people which is always good times.

Yesterday my cube neighbor made me SICK... I won't get into that, but it ended in a debate about what sick really is. I have a sore throat and a cough, but he says I'm fine. Whatever. The point is, I didn't run yesterday. I DID go to book club, that was a hoot as always. We read The Namesake -- GREAT book, highly recommended. Then I just called the boy from this weekend... we ended up talking for over an hour. The reason he hadn't called is basically because when I called him Sunday night I said something like "ahhh, sure, so you're not going to answer the phone when I call, huh!" He thought I was serious and assumed I was the type of girl that is really clingy, demands to be called, etc. So that's why he never called back. I thought that was really funny, because when I left that message on Sunday I was being soooo sarcastic. He just doesn't know me well enough to pick up on my sarcasm yet. So we straightened that out and talked for over an hour on the phone. He's having some friends come into town this week but asked what I was doing and said hopefully we could meet up this weekend. Tonight I'm going to bed early but I said tomorrow night I'd give him a call and let him know what my plans are. I'm having dinner with some girlfriends tomorrow but after that I'm free so I might see if a couple of the gals want to go meet up with him and his friends... we'll see.

Bah. Okay so that's my story. I'm leaving work in a couple of hours, going to Portland Running Co. to pick up my jacket and then go to my weighs class. I'm kinda mad because Portland Running Co. East said they had a pink jacket with black trim, so I was waiting for that one to be delivered... then they hadn't called 3 days later, even though they were supposed to call in 1 - 2 days. So I called today and they were like "oh... yeah, we only have black with pink trim". Which is what the West side store had to begin with, so I could have just had the jacket on Tuesday and not had to drive ALL the way down there again. Oh well... :(

Orthopedist Day!

Sooo, let's see. Monday evening -- gym night. I ran 4 miles and then had my weights class, which makes Monday my favorite gym night of the week! After that I was incredibly lazy, didn't really do much at all. I read for a while and then went to bed at 8. I know that's early, but I hadn't slept that much Saturday or Sunday so it evened out in the end. NO CALL FROM BOY. Boo!!

Tuesday was slightly more exciting. I went to lunch at Chevy's with Tim and Marie -- good times! I looooove Chevy's, I think they have great food, chain or not. Tim gave me an REI gift card, which was incredibly sweet. Tuesday night, I ran 3 miles at the gym, walked about 15 minutes, and biked for about 30 minutes. After that I went home, showered, and had my leftover shower. Then I went to Portland Running Co. and picked out the GREATEST jacket. I know stores like that are more expensive, but you get quality stuff that you know will work, and the salespeople are GREAT. It's like REI - you know they've used the stuff and will be totally honest about what works for what situation and why. So the woman helped me pick this great jacket out, and I wanted a different color so it's on it's way over from the SE store. Should be in today or tomorrow (I'm hoping for today, but either one will actually work... if it comes in tomorrow I'll just pick it up Friday). I'm going to be definitely ready for whatever weather on Saturday. After that I stopped by the mall and got a cute shirt from The Limited, then I went to Old Navy to get some flip flops and a hoody, then Target for odds and ends. Then I finished up my taxes and went to bed early again... loser! Hahaha but I enjoyed it.

Today I had lunch at Hale's with Andy and then this afternoon I have an appointment with the orthopedist for my knee! Hopefully he'll fix me up... or even better, tell me it's nothing to worry about and just do some stretches or something. That'd be just dandy! We'll see what happens. Yippie! After that I'm going to go down to Portland Running Co. if my jacket's in, and if not I'll get some dinner and then head to Quarterlife at church. Good times, good times.

The Birthday Weekend...

...was absolutely amazing! Definitely the best birthday I've had since my 21st, and it was right up there for one of the best ever. GOOD TIMES.

Friday night I went to a Jars of Clay concert at church... it was fun, I got to talk to some people I didn't know super well, and we did clean up at the end of the show. That was cool too cause I got to learn more about the church's physical layout (we have a whole new wing that I didn't know that well). So that was a good time, then we helped with some kitchen clean up and then by then it was 12:30 so I went home and went to bed.

Saturday I had a great birthday party yesterday! Well, first of all, back up a little -- I ran 5 miles in the morning, WOO HOO! I had to run inside because it was so cold out, but it felt good. That night I went out with 11 girlfriends and we had a BLAST. First we went to dinner at one of my favorite places downtown... while we waited for dinner, we had a drink upstairs in the bar area and bumped into this guy a few of us knew from work. We'd never seen him "out" before and he was quite attractive, fun, and friendly, which was entertaining. Down when we were seated for dinner, his party got seated too, so we kept going over to visit him and he kept visiting us. So after that we went across the street to my FAVORITE club, and told the guy from work to meet us over there.

A few people went home before the club so we were down to just 7 of us now. After just 20 or 30 minutes, the work guy came and chatted with us for a long time... when he went to go check on his friends I go "okay I wanna make out with him!!" So did my other friend, but a neutral party decided I should be the one to make out with him because it was my birthday and for a few other reasons. When he came back we chatted some more and he bought us all drinks, then I went to the bathroom. When I came back, he was leaving! So I went over and told him to stay... but he had to take care of some drunk friends. He seemed like he really wanted to stay, and he said in the scenario where he couldn't come back, to have a fabulous birthday, and in the scenario where he did come back, he'd make sure I had a fabulous birthday. Too funny! Well anyway, after that we danced it up for a while. Then we were kinda joking about how I needed someone to make out with... so I was kinda checking out a few lovely young fellows, and pointing them out to the neutral party (she's married). One she was like "oh yeah, he's cute"... and he happened to be text messaging, so I went over and gave him a hard time about it. Well that started up like an hour and a half long conversation. During this time my friends had met up with some other friends, so I wasn't abandoning them or anything. After that I went to his apartment to talk (and kiss... ) for just a little while. My friends were stopping by the hotel of some friends who were in town... yes, that was sketchy. But about an hour later my friends came to pick me up (they knew where the apartment was) and then I went on my marry way home. It was SUCH a fun night! Hehehehe.

OH and for birthday presents, one of my friends got me some YUMMY Victoria's Secret lotion and spray... it's sparkly! And the other friend got me these GREAT running socks and a running log (she's the one running the 10K with me next weeked). Toooo sweet! I love presents. My parents got me a knife for a knife set I'm collecting and a few other little things. I got a couple of checks, a VS gift card from my sister, and some random stuff from my grandparents (ask me about that story!). And my other grandparents sent an REI gift card. Yippiee. :)

Last night I went to CPK with Andy, Mike, Vin, and Geoff -- too fun! I had no idea it was going to be that great, but it was a really fun evening. I had told them all about the guy and how I was hoping he was going to call... and they kept teasing me by calling me and getting me all freaked out. They said "didn't you jump all day every time someone called to say happy birthday"... ummm, no, because I didn't think he'd call until around 8 PM. This was at about 7. So then, about 7:50 I got a text message saying happy birthday -- FROM HIM. Yay yay yay. I was so excited... and I was SHAKING when I was texting him back. Everyone was like what the heck is wrong with you? It was quite odd. So yeah, I told him I'd call later... and I did, but he didn't answer. So I'm *hoping* he calls today... but who knows?? He's quite fetchy though! Then after dinner I went with Kristie and Andy to Kristie's friend Brad's house to watch Grey's Anatomy -- I love that show. So yes, it was a lovely evening. Very good times all around... what a fabulous birthday weekend!!

Day 3, back in the saddle again

I was going to post a picture from this weekend's party, and then I realized that they're not on this computer. So sometime perhaps when I'm at home I'll post a party pic or two. I guess I could pull one off of facebook and try that option as well. Maybe in a minute. Anyway, just saying hello. Yesterday I finished my taxes and did some laundry, then went to my young adults group at church. After that some of us went out to IHOP, then I pretty much just went to bed. Nice boring night. Today after work I'm going to hit the gym and try to run 3 miles even though I REALLY don't feel like running that far... then I'm going to go home, shower, and go with Andy to the Cheesecake Factory. Yuuuuum I love the Cheesecake Factory. Yay!

2 days in a row yay yay

Soooo yesterday was rather dull. After work I went to get my Remicade. For about 2 years now, I've used my right hand pretty consistently as the IV location. Last time (in December) I decided to use my left hand so I could write Christmas cards while I got my Remicade. It worked fine. And my right hand ALWAYS works fine. So, yesterday I decided to try my left hand again. It didn't work -- no blood return. She really tried to get the needle in the vein, and it looked like she was dead on... but it didn't work out. Okay, so we put a hot pack on my right hand, and she tried it... no blood return! So weird. This is a nurse I've had many times before, too. So she called another nurse, and she tried again in the left hand, after heating it for a while too -- NO BLOOD RETURN. What am I, a freaking ghost?! So then the second nurse (who I have also had before) finally found some freaky spot in my left arm that she jabbed the thing into. YUCK I really prefer it in my hand. Most people hate the hand since there isn't a lot of fat there and it can be sensitive, but I'm so used to it and I just prefer it. Plus now I have 4 needle holes in my body... that are bigger than normal since they had to move the needles around inside me so much to try to get some blood return. I look like an IV drug user! Haha. It was quite the amusing afternoon.

Then I went to the gym and ran a couple of miles -- I didn't want to push it too hard cause Remicade can make me tired, but I felt fine. After that I grabbed a little dinner, read a while, and went to bed. A good day overall!

Yuuum, had Panda Express for lunch today, it was quite tasty. And afterwards I went to the cafe in my old building and got some coffee, then I got to see some people from my old job which is always cool. I like catching up. Good times people, good times. :) Tonight is young adults group at church!

Um, I'm an idiot

So I didn't really realize that I'd told you most of that stuff before in the blog. Oh well... I guess those really were the main points since I hit them all again. And you got to learn that my knee FEELS better but it not working properly. OH and I ran 4 miles this weekend, which is the farthest I've ever run!

The usefulness of blogging

Well, I have decided that there is actually some value in blogging. For one thing, I know that people read my blog, particularly people that don't get to keep up with me that often, like Heather and Laura. :) And I can go back and look at what I was doing a year ago, or whatever. Like I was thinking about Valentine's Day last year -- my aunt was here and we were up in Seattle (it was a Monday). Then on this Tuesday last year, we went to the coast and then to a vineyard for some wine tasting on the way back... soooo fun. It was nice to have those 4 day weekends occasionally. That was probably the best use I ever made of one though. We did so much that weekend!

Let's see, major events in the last month or so -- not so much. Broke up with Bryan a little over a month ago, but I think that was mentioned already. I've gotten way more involved with the young adults group at my church, it's been good times. Meeting lots of cool people through the group! There is a group of about 5 girls that gets together pretty much weekly to discuss a question from a Sex and the City episode (you know, the ones Carrie asks) which is pretty fun. I also went to a super bowl party and am running in a 10K with some church peeps too. So that's exciting. I went to Corvallis to see Adds for a weekend and went to church camp with the high schoolers to serve them their meals one weekend too. I've been running a lot in prep for the 10K... my knee is not doing great, but I have an appointment with an orthopedist next week to check on that. I've been reading a LOT. I read A Walk to Remember, I'm reading a Nelson DeMille book, I'm reading a running book and a book about relationships, I read a great book called Namesake, I finished A Million Little Pieces and the 6th Left Behind Book, and I'm also reading the 5 People You Meet in Heaven. And one other book I can't remember. So I read and/or finished 4 books since January 1 (a couple of them I'd started in December) and I'm in the middle of 5 other books. I know, I'm out of control. I have Remicade today so I think I'm going to finish 5 People You Meet in Heaven tonight and then focus on the running book a little bit. It's called Running Injury-Free which I definitely am needing with my knee right now. Although it doesn't hurt anymore, it definitely rubs in an odd way when I straighten it completely, which is not right!

I had a Mardi Gras party this weekend, pictures are up on facebook. One of my friends said his favorite thing about the party was the diverse amount of people there -- so true! I have neighbors, work friends, church friends, other recent college grads, plus their friends... so it works out to be a good group and people always meet people and stuff. Bryan and I had a GREAT chat at my party, and it was the first time we've really seen each other since we broke up. We ran into each other at Old Chicago once about a month ago, but this was the first time we talked in person. YAY to that. I'm excited. I might have to think about doing some picture posting in here for non-facebook users, but clearly will be more selective than what I post on facebook. That's the nice thing about facebook, at least there is SOME security!!

Okay that's it for major life updates. :)

January in Review!

Wow I don't know where to begin, it's been so long since I've posted. Don't know if I put it on here or not, but Bryan and I broke up about 3 weeks ago. That's been a REALLY positive thing. It was weird because everything was going really well and I was enjoying it... and then one day we both realized it wasn't right. I couldn't see myself with him in the long term (not to mention God was like "um, hello, break up with this one!") and he didn't like having a girlfriend (I was the first girlfriend he'd ever had). So, that was weird but good. The poopy thing is he's been working a LOT so he's super tired and never wants to go out at all... I think that was one of the hardest things for him, not being able to just sit and have time for himself. Not that he couldn't have, but we just ended up hanging out a lot, especially because of the excitement of wanting to hang out with each other a lot when we were first dating. Ahhh too much to explain in the blog!

I went to high school camp this weekend at church and served all of the meals to the high schoolers -- that was hard work! It was REALLY good and rewarding though, I met a lot of people and had a great weekend. The camp was a Young Life camp in Oregon that used to be this kind of compound where a cult lived... VERY interesting story, lots of background and history there.

My young adult's group at church has been great as well... I'm getting more involved, and last night was the best night I've had there ever. I'm trying to figure out if I want to be more involved with it, or do high school ministry, or neither. I really like having time to hang out with people that AREN'T Christians, so it's a hard line for me to draw. I just haven't been able to figure it out yet. Bah...

I have this 8 week free pass to Bally's so I've been going a LOT and loving it soooo much. My knee has been kind of hurting off and on so I'm trying to listen to it carefully. I took a week off from running but Monday I ran a mile, Tuesday a mile and a half, Wednesday 1.75. So I'm building back up to it. Today I won't run and tomorrow I have a weights class that I take and then a baby shower right after that so I probably won't get to run Friday either, but Saturday maybe I'll see if I can do 3. Before Christmas my knee was doing great and I could easily do over 3, but it's been bad in January. I was also running outside a lot which is easier for me... when the weather is nicer and the days are longer I will go back to running outside. I am going to join a gym though... after the 8 weeks at Bally's are over I'm going to do a free pass to 24 Hour Fitness and a free pass to LA Fitness (both are like a week or two) and see which gym I like best. Both 24 and LA have pools, so they have that going for them. But I DEFINITELY do want to have a gym membership! I just absolutely am loving it. I was going to say something else but I can't remember what it was for the life of me.

Tis all for now... I'm going to try to update more. I know, I know. You've heard that before. But I've had a lot of requests lately!