100 things about me... updated!

I was re-reading old blog entries, and I decided to update the "100 Things About Me" Post... since some of it isn't true anymore. :) (anything with a --> is the update)

100 Things About Me
1. I am very anti-pets (this stems from being allergic to most animals) --> really only semi-anti-pets now... I'm not allergic to dogs anymore and they're totally growing on me!
2. I'm a Christian (and I will never forget all of the God-talk Jenni and I had during tennis sophomore year of high school)
3. I like martinis... my favorites are cosmos and apple, or any from Portland City Grill
4. I adore red wine, especially since I've moved to Portland. --> I have even joined a vineyard now... I love going wine tasting. :)
5. I was a cheerleader in high school.
6. I've lived in Houston, Chicago, Iowa City, and Portland
7. I'm a fifth-generation Texan, my great-great-grandfather was even a judge in the REPUBLIC of Texas.
8. I like preppy clothes... Banana Republic and J Crew are my faves. --> Sort of true... my favorite thing to wear is really polo shirts, jeans, and flip flops. Just boring!
9. I'm a Republican, but a very liberal Republican.
10. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie.
11. I went to Florida for spring break every year from kindergarten to sophomore year of high school except two.
12. I love playing X Box, but I only have 3 games and they're all at least 3 years old. --> I got a 4th! Dance Dance Revolution! I really rarely play X Box though, but it's fun!
13. I have learned, especially recently, that I know myself VERY VERY well, better than most. --> I don't know if I know myself better than most, but I do know myself well.
14. I love camping... both real camping and the "go to an RV park" kind.
15. I love Chinese food, but I really think Thai is the new Chinese. --> Oh man I LOVE Thai food!!
16. I met James Van Der Beek when I was 17.
17. I'm obsessed with reading the message boards at theknot.com. Not the wedding related (WR) stuff, but the NWR postings on the Planning and Ettiqutte (P&E) board. They're all about the acroymns on the knot. --> Yup, pretty much still love the Knot, but I am fasting from it for the rest of the month of May actually.
18. I get irritated when people use bad grammar, and even more irritated when they spell grammar grammer.
19. My favorite movie is The Saint.
20. I really love TV shows on DVD, even though they're probably one of the more pointless things in life. I need to get the new Tivo that is $400 but lets you record all of your Tivoed shows on DVD.
21. I've been driven in a stretch Hummer limo to many places in Chicago.
22. I was on the park district swim team from 5 - 8th grade.
23. I was "supposed" to be a lawyer, everyone else in my family is.
24. I love how close my sister and I are becoming. --> Awesome!! We have become really close, and it's amazing.
25. I really like living alone, but even more than that I like having the "right" roommate... Michelle, Dena, Addy... I've been lucky roommate wise. :-) --> Brad is cool too!
26. I have been to 49 states. --> Never been to Vegas though, but that's changing tonight!
27. Breakfast food is one of my favorite types of food, especially at Walker Brothers in Chicago. --> and Hales in Portland!
28. I worked at a store called Card and Party Outlet for 3 years in high school.
29. I love technology.
30. I don't believe in love at first sight. --> But pretty soon after that!
31. Lately I much prefer buying stuff for my house than new clothes.
32. I want to run a half-marathon one day. --> Are you kidding me?!?! One day is in 30 days!!!! I didn't even know I had this goal, and now I'm going to do it? I guess I'm now saying I want to run a marathon one day!
33. I've wanted to get my tounge pierced since freshman year of college.
34. I've been in and out of love... but it's debatable about how many times.
35. I have Crohn's Disease.
36. I was a big fan of the 90's Chicago Bulls. Fair weather fan, if you will.
37. I love SUVs.
38. I absolutely adore my apartment. --> I absolutely adore my HOUSE.
39. I thrive on being around other people.
40. I have never been skinny dipping.
41. I like Chris Tomlin way too much, but not for the reasons you'd think.
42. My mom is the person I'm closest to in my life. --> Geoff is now...
43. I can't STAND Oregon drivers.
44. I was a big fan of Hello Kitty in 7th grade when it was popular.
45. I've owned 2 cars. ('Scort and Jake)
46. Greek IV was by far my favorite college activity.
47. I had a crush on Joey Larocca from 5th grade probably through the end of high school.
48. I've never done a "beer bong" or "keg stand", but that shouldn't surprise you.
49. I love my major - industrial engineering.
50. My second cousin is an identical twin who has a set of identical twins and a set of fraternal twins.
51. The number one place I'd like to visit is Thailand. (woah, Jenni, that is so weird... maybe we should go together!)
52. I was a lifeguard one summer, and hated it even though I had wanted to be a lifeguard for about 10 years.
53. I did the best in my class on almost all of the simulators in drivers ed, including the stick shift one.
54. I know nothing about wine, and only what Vinnie has taught me about beer, which is enough to get by. --> I know some stuff about wine now!!!
55. I was in a sorority with 100 girls.
56. I'm actually really shy, although most people don't believe that.
57. I love bike riding. --> I need to buy a bike, because I want to do a triathalon!
58. I don't like shopping with other people.
59. I spend hours at the library and bookstores. I got in trouble for staying up late at night to read when I was younger.
60. My parents just celebrated their 25 year wedding anniversary. --> Well, 26 and a half years now.
61. When I start dating someone, I tend to fall very hard and fast.
62. My favorite TV show of all time is Friends.
63. I love brain teasers.
64. I might get my MBA one day.
65. I'm probably much too reflective of a person.
66. My favorite dessert is cake. --> chocolate cake, if you will. ;)
67. I played the flute for 8 years and took private lessons. Since college I've played only a few times, except when I was in orchestra at church last year. My flute actually is in Oregon with me though.
68. I love skiing.
69. I hate Arizona. (Don't hate, Hart)
70. I think any city smaller than Chicago is too small... so much for Portland
71. I have 20-15 vision or something like that, but I wear glasses with just prisms in them for when my eyes get tired (I have some weird muscle thing that I don't really understand)
72. I have never had a cavity.
73. Chipotle is my favorite fast food.
74. I have never been overseas, but I've been to Mexico several times and 3 Canadian provinces. --> I have been to Spain and Belgium now!!!! :)
75. I love waterparks and amusement parks.
76. I like going for random drives.
77. The three food establishments I miss most: Panera, Steak & Shake, and Noodles. --> OMG Noodles is coming to Portland!!
78. I've been climbing and repelling thanks to gym class in high school. --> Yeah, that and the fact that I go to indoor rock gyms, took a mountaineering class, and have summitted several mountains!
79. I call one set of grandparents Mimi and Gaggy and the other Mommom and Poppy.
80. I sleep in a queen size bed.
81. I have two ear piercings in my left ear and one in my right.
82. I love water sports, but don't get to do them enough.
83. I would rather have the internet than cable or a dishwasher.
84. I really love cooking, but it's no fun to cook for yourself. --> I hate cooking. Who am I kidding?
85. My current favorite three shows are ABC Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, The OC, and 7th Heaven. WHAT? Seriously though, 7th Heaven is my new addiction. I don't even like TV that much but Tivo makes you watch more TV, and it's nice to chill for the hour or so I have between sleeping and work. --> My favorite shows now are probably 24, House, and The OC
86. My favorite vacation of all time was to Yellowstone. --> My favorite vacation of all time was DEFINITELY to Cabo last year!!
87. I really want to go on an Alaskan cruise.
88. I get my hair cut sporadically on a whim, never planned out ahead of time.
89. I love my birthday probably more than any holiday.
90. I would rather be cold than hot.
91. I'm very hardcore about God and what I like to call my "personal relationship with Jesus", but I can't stand the terms 'devout' or 'religion' (and even 'Christian' is questionable... too much negative connotation).
92. I've had my heart broken.
93. I started as a computer engineering major in college.
94. I tend to find happiness no matter what the circumstances, where I am, or who I'm with.
95. I was never grounded or given detention.
96. I have a good relationship with my parents and family.
97. I got waitlisted to Duke.
98. JetBlue is my favorite airline.
99. I loved my internship with UPS.
100. Vinnie and I broke up tonight. Way to sneak that in there, huh? But yes, I'm okay, blah blah blah... I'll be fine. It's a long story, and I'm sure I'll post it, or at least parts of it, tomorrow. It kind of came out of nowhere, neither of us expected it, but I'm not that surprised by it in a lot of ways. Again, I'll explain tomorrow. --> I have the most fabulous boyfriend in the world. :)

See, I'm being consistent!

This is my third update in 3 days. It only takes 21 days to create a habit, ya know. ;-) But I am not going to update again until at least Monday... expect a good update that day, it will be the Vegas update!!

Yesterday I was supposed to meet Geoff at REI at 4:00 PM to get my $50 back from the GPS I just bought 3 weeks ago that is now on sale. I was still on the phone on a phone meeting at 3:50... and 4... and 4:15, 4:30, 4:45. Then I FINALLY was off the phone... I felt so bad! :( Poor Geoff, but he was so sweet... he waited and walked around the mall and got himself a smoothie and everything. I finally got there just before 5, and he had already sent me a text asking if I wanted to get Chipotle for dinner. It was like he knew how bad I felt about being late and instead of being mad he was NICE! Who does that?!

After REI (I got my 50 dolla, and I also got new hiking pants, a new sports bra, and a FABULOUS Marmot waterproof breathable jacket that I've been waiting since January 2005 and was on clearance), we went to Chipotle and grabbed some dinner. Then we went home so I could change clothes quickly before church because I was hot and disgusting... then we had Quarterlife, which was lovely as always. I was excited the normal A/V guy was there so I didn't have to run the Powerpoint, but the speaker actually asked me to anyway, which made me sad cause I couldn't sit by Geoff. Geoff was doing the announcements... and after he announced the speaker, he came and sat next to me in the back during the talk. Out of nowhere, he didn't even know I was sad I couldn't sit by him, he just wanted to sit by me that much! How sweet is he?

Wow, this is like the blog of nauseating Geoff details. BARF!!!!

So after Quarterlife we went back to REI to pick up Geoff's car, and he went to his apartment to grab a few things and I went home. I ran into Christie the neighbor who I haven't seen since Easter, and I started chatting with her for a long time... she was telling me about a friend of hers who's having an affair, among many other random things. We were still talking when Geoff came over to my house about 30 - 45 minutes later. Christie finally got to meet Geoff, she says she loves him and totally approves. We were talking to Geoff for a while, and he seemed friendly and wanting to talk to her/us, but just kind of weird. Finally I was like "wait, what took you so long?" and he showed us he had bought ice cream... I ruined his little surprise! Oh boo to me. Oh well... I did laundry and packed and he read Sports Illustrated online and then we had ice cream and chatted. It was a lovely evening.

Okay, to reward you for getting through all of that, here is something funny. I was in a phone meeting this morning and this finance guy gave this total random number about something... and then the guy who was running the meeting said "wow, did you have to stand up to pull that one out?" OH MAN that was sooooo freaking funny. I love it. :)

Have a fabulous weekend everyone! I love ya!

The omelet man

So, almost every morning I go downstairs to get an omelet for breakfast at work. I usually have meetings starting at 7 AM so I generally get to work a little early and then go downstairs to get my brekkie! The added bonus of going down before 7 is that it's ALWAYS the good omelet man. If you go down around 7:30 or so, it may be him but he may have already changed shifts with the not-so-good omelet man who doesn't cook the omelets all the way through, and that's just sketchy. So, this is just a shout out to my omelet man. I think I may love my omelet man more than my boyfriend. ;-)

Yesterday after work I went over to Geoff's and we took my car to go visit his mommy... I LOVE Geoff's mom, she is seriously amazing. We are going wine tasting over Memorial Day weekend, so I took her a map of the vineyards and kind of showed her the places I am planning on taking her. She was all excited, she asked if she could keep the map. Then Geoff and I went to Panda Express and then back to his apartment. He took my car because he was going down to SE Portland for a certification test for work and my car gets better gas mileage. I visited with Eric for a while and then it was time to leave for dance.

I get in Geoffrey's car... and start it up. Um, yeah. As I'm driving away, I realize the speedometer doesn't work. Neither does the radio, or the turn signals, or anything. Hmmm, fun. So I drive to dance sloooowly (it's not too terribly far away) and then ask Eric what the deal is! Yikes! Everyone's making fun of me for first of all driving Geoff's car, and second of all because I BROKE IT! But the odd thing was when I was turning it off, I kind of had to jiggle the key to get the key out, and the radio popped on. So I kinda had a feeling it would be okay after dance. More on that in a minute...

So at dance, I was all alone... how fun is ballroom dancing alone!? I had been giving Geoff crap about it all day, because our instructor is this goofy little guy who thinks he's funny but really is not. Example: "what's the difference between East coast swing and West coast swing? About 3000 miles... heheheh" It reminds me of my dad! But anyway, I danced with the instcutor and it was FUN! He was teaching me all of this new stuff and I got to be the person he demoed dances with and everyone clapped for me! Plus I got to dance with Kyle and Trevor which is cool too. Kyle is 6'5" so it was CRAZY dancing with him, yikes! So dance was much more fun than I had anticipated!

I get back in the car after dance and it was just fine... everything worked, which was good. So I drove to my friend Stacey's birthday party... it was fun! I'm going to Vegas tomorrow with Stacey, Carrie, and Katie, and we were all there. Woo hoo! We got Stacey a gift card to Tiffany's, she was SUPER exited about it. I got more detail from Katie on her relationship which was exciting... we're going to try to sit next to each other on the plane so we can talk even more, our relationships are very parallel to each other. The significant others were also all talking to Geoff about making sure he picks us up from the airport on time Sunday night, etc. They are all so protective of us which was great. It was just really cute. Fun birthday party!

Then we came back to my house to watch House and Boston Legal... this was the first time we didn't watch it at Eric and Geoff's. My Tivo was a big hit... everyone loved the "do-do, do-do, do-do" noises it makes. The guys were just having the greatest time with it. You probably had to be there but it was QUITE amusing!!

T-35 hours until the plane for Vegas leaves!!! :)

Hand-holding Envy

I've told that story about the little girl holding my hand to a couple of people, and it seems like people wanna get their own hand holding stories in. Patrick commented "When i was like 6 i went to Ohare with my dad because he worked there and I toured the airport. When we were walking out, I was holding the hand of some random dude I thought was my dad til i realized my dad was walking next to me on my left. it was weird, perhaps he was trying to kidnap me. but my dad was like yo why you taking my kid." And my sister said "a little girl threw sand at me the other day at the beach, and then came and sat next to me. Does that count?" Yeah, I guess so.

For the record, I wasn't trying to kidnap anyone!

Shout-out to Jenni and Patrick who are reading and commenting!

So I got this sketchy postcard in the mail from what looks like my high school, saying they are creating an alumni directory and to please call them to verify my information. My mom had already told me that my sister got one, so I called them up yesterday. First of all, it was clearly some sort of company that may or may not have been contracted by my high school to get the information. The guy kept pronouncing the name of my high school wrong, and then he would like throw in the name of my high school mascot which just made things weird! So he gets all of my info, including work info and email address... and then asks if I would like to reserve my hard-cover copy of this book that will have information from 1907 - 2006 including pictures. I was like "uhhh how much dollas this gonna cost me?" and he's all "oh, it's just two easy payments of $49.99". WTF?! When did this become an infomercial? I was like "uhhh no thanks". He was like "well how about the soft cover? It's 10 dolla less and ya gotta keep track of your friends". Yeah, I do buddy... thanks but no thanks, I'll pocket the $90 and send my friends a postcard instead. Iffy at best.

Last night I SKIPPED A RUN. I don't remember the last time this happened, at least not without good reason and not without the ability to make it up later in the week. I don't have time to make it up later, and I took a NAP instead. What a scandal. I love it. Since I'm going to Vegas in two days this is going to be a low mileage week anyway, so whatever. It was fun!

I went to Carlyle, a quite yuppie (yuppy or yuppie??) restaurant in NW Portland last night with Andy (with Andy last night would probably be/sound more correct). Anyway, they have $1 martinis with the purchase of an appetizer on Monday nights - 1 appetizer = 1 $1 martini. So we each had an appetizer and a drink. DUDE! I have never had a regular martini before... wow. Strong. But good, and I had a burger that was pretty tasty. I would go there again. Then we went to Oba! because they have $3.75 drinks during happy hour, but only during their EARLY happy hour. Sad. But I still had their queso dip... DUDE I think that is my new favorite food. It is going to be my downfall. I think I need to go on strike from french fries for the rest of the month too... they are bad Bad BAD! But yeah, so we had a couple of drinks there and chatted it up and just had a grand old time!!!

I was telling Geoff that I was going to this place and then for some reason I thought of fondue. I told him that I'm going to take him out for fondue sometime, and he said "I love fondue!"
I said "Not as much as meee!! I actually own 2 fondue pots too."
He said "That's cuz you have more money than you know what to do with. How many times do you actually make fondue then?"
I said "Meany! I only bought one, one was a gift. And you know me too well. And I do NOT have that much money!"
He said "Ha! Thought so. We should actually make fondue some night. That would be good."
I said "I love that you know me so well. We can make fondue whenever you want."
He said "How do you think I know you so well?"
I said "I don't know why, but I know you do. You were so right about never using the fondue pots"
He said "Well that was an easy call. My guess is that they are still in the boxes somewhere too, or in a cupboard way in the back."
I said "Yeah you know me too well."

Totally busted. In my defense, I have used one of my fondue pots once, and the other one I only got for my birthday in February. So they're not totally useless. Andy has two fondue pots, and he's never used either one! He says it's a yuppy thing to have fondue pots... but I don't know about the never using them part.

See, now that blog was better. Still told you the story of what I did yesterday, but I made it (in my opinion) much more entertaining.

A few funny things...

So, here are a couple of funny things that happened over the weekend:

- My roommate broke his wrist last week (no that's not funny) and then Saturday asked me to help him with something. Since he only has one hand, he couldn't clip his fingernails so he asked me to help him with that. So weird! At first I was freaking out and my hands were shaking, but it was totally fine. But still weird.
- When Geoff and I were at his store getting change, there was a small child in there at the same time. She walked up to me and started holding my hand!! Geoff said he thought I was going to freak out and pull my hand away, but that's only because he thinks I'm terrible with children. Really I sweetly stood there and held her hand. But what mother lets her child hold strangers hands?!?! WEIRD!!

I dunno. I wish my blog was more funny. It used to be so much better when I was young and funny and had funny roommates. Now I got nuttin'...

The Weekend Update!

Alright, here's what happened...

Thursday: First I had my class at the gym... oh how I love that class. I love my teacher and how she pushes us and it just kicks my butt every time. She is good! Then I had book club... SERIOUSLY one of my favorite days of the month, every month! It was really good this time, we were at the host's beautiful new house and it was just gorgeous and we stayed for a long time and it was so fun. Then Kristie dropped me back off at Geoff's and I watched House with everyone. Woo hoo.

Friday: Cinco de Mayo! Kristie and I met up with some girls downtown... like 20 girls! That was a hoot... these are girls that picked Kristie up at Winter BrewFest downtown in January. They got her number and invited her to this deal every month, this is the second time I've gone. It's great cause they are non-Intel and they are just a lot of fun to be around. Totally diverse group. So that was a good time as always. We went to Oba and then to Henry's. Then Kristie and I decided to get a couple of bottles of wine and go stalk Geoff and Eric's house and wait for their men's meeting to get over. So that's just what we did. When it was over we busted in and hung out with the guys... I don't think they were quite as excited about it as we were... ;-) Oh well. Kristie and I had fun at least. Eric too. Probably not Sleepy Geoff...

Saturday: Slept late, but that's when I always get my sleep for the week... Saturday mornings! I got up around 11, ate a little something, and then rested until 12:30 when I got up and ran. I ran 10 miles so it took me until about 2:45. Then I showered and went to get some Chipotle... yum. I heart the Chipotes. Then Geoff was finished with work so I took a nap with him at his apartment, which was very nice. Then Geoff, Eric, and I all went to Geoff's brother's high school play - it was good but long! 3 hours long... yikes! Afterwards the three of us went and got some dinner at Shari's.

Sunday: This day had so much potential... Geoff and I were going to see each other alone for the first time in who knows how long... we were going to go to church, then breakfast, then do some shopping, then go to the Fiesta his mom had planned at his church (party and missions auction). But... Geoff woke up and was throwing up!! :( Which was very sad. We ended up stopping by his work to get some change for his mom for the Fiesta, and then dropping it off at work for her, and then we went to Geoff's and watched TV/movies and played on the computer all day. Even though I was really sad Geoff was sick, it ended up being okay. I really was excited that I got to spend time with Geoff alone, so it was nice in some ways. It obviously wasn't exactly what we expected, but that's okay.

Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday was ballroom night... what a hoot, I'm loving that class! We learned more of the swing, which means we know foxtrot and swing reasonably well. The 8 of us are thinking about taking a swing class this summer, yay! :) Then we watched House and then we watched Boston Legal, then Geoff and I talked for a little bit.

Wednesday was nap day... only I didn't really get much of a nap cause I was waiting for John to come pick something up at my house. After that I went to Quarterlife with Geoff and then we went to Chili's for dinner with everyone. Yummers. Then Geoff and I left early... scandal... (okay not really early but slightly before everyone else) and went to my house to talk.

This morning we have been told by at least 3 friends that we need to take more nights to ourselves, not be as social. That is hard for us because we both have so much we want to do with friends and activity wise (together and seperately), but we agree I think we need to be more aware of this. Interesting. Actually, a lot of Monday and Tuesday involves watching TV with people, so when new shows are over at the end of the month maybe we'll have more time to hang out by ourselves after basketball and dancing. But I love the friend time! Oh well, it is fun. :) The next free day that we don't already have plans for is May 18th... two weeks from now. Crazy. But that's okay.

I've also been super busy at work... 8 hours of meetings the last two days. I got one rescheduled today so I have some time to go for a run and have lunch, YAY. I can't wait. 15 more minutes until run time... woo hoo and stuff!

I miss how funny my blogs used to be. I'm not funny anymore in my old age. Go re-read spring/summer 2004 for a real hoot!

Last night's update

So yesterday I met Kristie and Geoff at Old Chicago for lunch -- yum. I love their lunches because they have specials that are miniature pizzas or calazones with a salad. Good times. After work I went home and watched the end of Grey's Anatomy with Geoff and then we watched House because we didn't watch it last week because we went to Vin's to play Settlers of Catan instead. Then Geoff and I went to Red Robin for dinner, and then we went to the park and swung on the swings for about an hour and a half. It was super fun and we had a great conversation! We talked about the future and the past and just got to know each other better... we spend a lot of time doing that and it's wonderful.

Then I recruited some fellow drinkers to go have a drink with me -- Bryan and I were going to go to Bugatti's but they were CLOSED because of some issue... they're normally open until 10! Then we got Kristie to join us and went to Rose's, but they're closed at 9 always. So we finally went to Stanfords and had pretty much the worst waiter I've ever had in my life. Wow. But at least I got to drink. I am such an enabler! At around 10 Geoff called to say he was on his way home from basketball and did I want to meet him and Trevor for 24... I reminded him to get milk and bread on the way home (that was a request from his roommate!) and said okay. But I was persuaded to stay and drink more, so I didn't go over there until around 11. The guys entertained themselves by having a cigar before I got to Geoff's. So then we watched 24 and stayed up too late and now I'm tired! But today is ballroom day!!

And the latest update...

So the latest “weekend” news… this past weekend we had the Quarterlife retreat… it was amazing amazing. Geoff and I went down early Friday (we took the day off, slackers!) and had a totally great afternoon together. We had lunch, then walked on the beach, then had ice cream… it was lovely and romantic and perfect. Then NEXT weekend I’m going to Vegas with the Sex and the City girls. It should be totally great, I’ve never been before. I’m very excited!

I have been training for the half, I got up to 9.25 miles this past weekend. I actually ran with FOUR other people… can you believe that on a retreat of about 20 people, 5 of them wanted to get up at 6 AM to run 9 miles? Psycho. But it was a great run, I wasn’t sore at all and we ran on the beach for about 6 of those miles. I have this new GPS running watch that first of all is super cool and second of all told us all how far we needed to go. The half marathon is 6 weeks away and I’m definitely running in it!!! 10 miles this Saturday. Oh, I did end up joining LA Fitness, and I now swim once a week. And the Bally’s instructor is still there, and she teaches a class that I LOVE taking on Thursdays. Also, ballroom dancing lessons are going GREAT, Tuesdays are one of my favorite days of the week.


Just so you get a feel for my life these days, here’s a “typical” week:

Sundays: Church with Geoff at his church if he’s not working, otherwise I go to my church around 5 PM. Usually just a pretty chill day. No working out! (yesterday I made an exception and swam, but I was just needing to expend some energy!)

Mondays: Nothing in the afternoon usually… sometimes a run (between 3 and 6 miles) and sometimes a 5:45 class at the gym. I usually go over to Geoff’s at 10 PM to watch 24 with him, Trevor, Kyle, and Jenny (friends of ours… Kyle and Jenny are dating).

Tuesdays: Ballroom night! I love it!!! And then we usually go to Geoff and Eric’s apartment to watch House and occasionally Boston Legal. “We” is me and Geoff, Eric and Sarah, Trevor and Carissa, Kyle and Jenny. That’s the dancing crew – only me and Geoff and Kyle and Jenny are dating though.

Wednesdays: Quarterlife… I go early to setup, Eric’s on the setup team with me and usually Geoff goes early too. Then we usually all go somewhere afterwards for dinner.

Thursdays: Usually a gym day, I like to go to the class at LA. If Geoff’s not working it’s usually my only one on one day with him, which is nice.

Fridays: Sometimes a happy hour… usually don’t see Geoff much cause he has a men’s meeting, but there’s almost always an hour or so that I see him. Two weeks ago we went to see a movie, this week I’ll go downtown for Cinco de Mayo with some friends.

Saturday: Long run day, then I usually take a nap. Saturday night is almost always something fun, this week it’s poker night. Two weeks ago it was a game night at my house.


Workout wise, I make sure I have one swim day, one weights day, two rest days, and I run the long run each Saturday that is a mile longer each week. I also add 10% to my total distance each week… so last week I was at 18 miles… I ran a 4 mile run, 5 mile run, and 9 mile run. This week is 20 miles, so I’ll probably run two 5s and the 10. It works out quite well!!

Shoot, I missed a month

Wow, people, you let a whole month go by without even letting me know that I missed posting. I suck at life!!

Of course there's a boy involved. Y'all know me too well to not have known that. When else do I completely disappear off the face of the Earth?

Okay so here's an update I wrote during April to some friends of mine... I will write more after I post this.

What is going on with me? I don't even know the last time I wrote so I don't know what's new and what's not! I'm involved with this ministry at my church called Quarterlife, it is for people that are... guess what... in their quarter-life (aka 20-somethings). It is really fabulous and I'm... guess what... Wednesday night coordinator! No joke they seriously have Wednesday night large group meetings. It is all oddly familiar. But good! I would like to change the formatting of the way the Wednesday nights work a little bit, but the pastor doesn't provide me nearly as much freedom as Emery did which is an issue I sometimes struggle to deal with.

I am dating this lovely young gentleman named Geoff who is also involved with Quarterlife leadership, he's currently planning our spring retreat. And when I say young, I mean young... he is 20!! Advice -- don't date a minor. You can't go to happy hour, wine tasting, clubs, bars, ANYTHING!! Other than that (huge) flaw, he is absolutely wonderful. I'm really enjoying spending time with him and getting to know him... we really "get" each other and are quite comfortable around each other. We also have a good group of common friends which makes things even more fun (actually one of his best friends is the brother of one of my good friends which is pretty funny!).

A group of gals from Quarterlife and I have these "Sex and the City" nights where we ponder questions from SATC (when a relationship dies, does the ghost always haunt you? which comes first, the relationship or the sex?) from a Christian perspective. It's really cool to get to share our thoughts, experiences, struggles, etc. with each other. We usually get together on Friday or Saturday nights and go to a bar or restauraunt and discuss! We're also taking a tirp to Vegas together in May... yay!!

Okay, so my whole life DOESN'T revolve around Quarterlife believe it or not... LOL, actually I don't love the ministry itself, I just happen to have met some fabulous people through it. I've been doing a lot of running lately. I ran in my first 10K and now I'm training for a half marathon on June 10th. It is so much more motivating to run when you're training for an actual race. I've been throwing in some body sculpting classes and swimming for a little cross-training, and it's going great. Tonight I'm starting ballroom dancing classes with Geoff and 6 other friends... should be very... well, interesting at least. We'll see how it goes!

I went to Spain to visit my sister who is studying there in March... it was great! It was the first time I've gone to Europe so it was a wonderful experience and it was cool to be able to see my sister and my mom. She is loving it and learning a lot.

The Workout Update

Wow. I tried LA Fitness yesterday, and I was way overwhelemed and not at all impressed with their sales staff. I don't react well to strong sales pushing... if you want to sell me something, present me with a good product at a reasonable price, and I'm sold! But if for any reason you need to spend 45 minutes trying to sell me your gym when I've explained I'm trying several different gyms before I make any decisions -- I most likely am not going to choose your product. I was soooo incredibly frustrated, but I am not going to go into all of that now. The gym was VERY nice, new equipment, etc. But I had a very negative impression because of the sales staff. I had to get to a dinner so I didn't have MORE time to argue, otherwise I would have explained that they were a big part of the reason I wasn't interested. Today I'm going to go give their pool a try (granted, an advantage they have over Bally's) and tomorrow I'm going to try out one of their classes. Then my 3 day trial pass is over (as a side note, I had an 8 week trial pass at Bally's, and they presented me their specials the first day and then called again when my pass was over to give me their specials once more... that was PERFECT).

One interesting thing that happened at LA -- I was on the treadmill, running upstairs on this sort of overlook thing. Then I see my instructor from a class at BALLY'S walk in! Too funny. So she and I are yelling to each other - her downstairs, me on this treadmill. Ridiculous! We can barely understand each other, too. So about 5 minutes later my run and cool down were over, so I went to go try to find her. I did, and she was about to start teaching a class at LA, only her 2nd one but she was going to be doing that one and picking up another class at LA in June as well. I told her how I was shopping around, trying LA and then 24 Hour. She said good for me. THEN she said that she was just talking about me in class Monday and said "anyone seen the girl that always stands right here, had totally transformed her body since she started taking the class?" (WOW I can't believe she said that!!) I told her I felt like I got all squishy on vacation and she said I still looked great... for some reason her opinion really matters to me so that was exciting. So then I told her I hoped I'd see her at Bally's or LA... it will be sad if I choose 24 and don't get to see her again. But anyway, that was a highlight.

Later Wednesday
Just got back from the pool at LA... WOW!!! I was on a swim team when I was little, was a lifeguard in high school, and then swam almost every day my junior year of college, but haven't swam since then. When I started again my junior year, I was barely able to finish 500 yards, so I wasn't expecting much from today. So I got in and swam 10 laps easily... then another 10. Then I did 10 of backstroke, then 10 of breaststroke... then 30 more of freestyle. I figured the pool was just 15 yards, since it was going pretty well. So I stopped and asked someone, and he said 25... I was like "no way, I haven't swam in years, and it's so easy, so I figured it had to be 15"... he said "yeah, it's 25, and you look like you swim every day... especially your breaststroke, it is beautiful... you're a breaststroker, huh?" "yup!!!" So then I swam another 10 laps of breaststroke (what can I say, he inspired me!), then 20 of freestyle and then I was done. Add it up -- that's 100 laps, or 2500 yards, in about 55 minutes. Very decent time and DEFINITELY decent distance. I'm not easily impressed with myself, I have high standards for myself, but even I thought "wow... I really AM in great shape". So yeah. That moved LA Fitness up in my head, since Bally's doesn't have a pool and I just looooove swimming. Yay yay yay!!

OH and I found a half marathon training schedule today that is 12 weeks long and there's a half marathon in Portland in... 12 weeks! So, um... yeah. I'm gonna start training! I need 12 miles this week and I've already done 5, so should be easy to get 7 more in 3 more days. If it's all going well in the next month or so, I'm signing up for the halfer.

I've become one of those crazy exercise people I used to hate hate hate...

Comment, people!

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!

Quick Update

I had a request for an update, here's what I got. I've been working on this for a long time, actually I worked on it a long time ago and then stopped. So I'll just post it now and then later today or tomorrow I'll give you something better -- actually heartfelt rather than a list this time, which I know a lot of you like much better.

November 26: Went to Bugatti's with Tim, Andy, and Kristi. Then went to Applebees with Brent, Tim, Bryan, Kristie, and Roommate Brad. Then Malones with Kristi and Brad (and Shaun and Chris, sorta)
November 27: Wine tasting with Brad, Kristie, and Andy. Yuuuum! (And before that I got up early for church and to workout, what a good girl)
November 28: Took the day off… slept late, went to the Roadhouse for lunch, went to Starbucks (Bryan's first time ever… got him addicted, hehe), to see the 4th Harry Potter Movie. Bugatti's of course for dinner that night.
November 29: Had a FABULOUS run (the first of many), then met up with Danny, Geoff, and Morgan for happy hour at Old C. Bryan met up with us later too… and we decided to make a running bet. I lost… I ran something like 11.7 miles that week and he ran 13 or so. Boo!
November 30: Quarterlife
December 1: Dinner and the OC at Andy's. Also stop in to visit work at my old job… soooo fun!
December 2: Potluck at my friend Chris's house (climbing buddy). John goes with me, then he practices spinning at my house.
December 3: Shopping in the afternoon with Katie and Jessica, so fun. Dancing at Aura with Bryan, Mitch, and Carol!
December 4: Hale's in the morning, yum as always. Church in the evening.
December 5: Took the day off (again), went to Woodburn to the outlet malls to do some shopping with Bryan… also went to Wal-Mart. Then came back to Tigard and ate at CPK and stopped by The Container Store, Crate & Barrel, and REI (three of my favorite stores). Instead of Bugatti's, we met Chris and Kristi and some of their friends downtown at Henry's for some food and drinks… and discovered the beauty that IS Jubelale!
December 6: Took the day off (AGAIN)… slept late, then went for my first run with Bryan… woo hoo for that! Then we went to Portland City Grill for dinner.
December 7: Quarterlife senior banquet… served the seniors at church for their banquet, it was a grand time. Got to bond with John over lots of dish cleanup!
December 8: Got a heck of a lot of errands done, but don't really remember doing too much else exciting (for the record… I can remember a lot of these days, but for those I can't, I'm using my Outlook calendar and my credit card bill to try to piece stuff back together… wow)
December 9: Russell Street BBQ for dinner with Andy… Jubleale! Yummy!!!
December 10: Andy's birthday and birthday party -- hang out with Amanda, Morgan, Geoff, John, Katie, and Andy at Andy's house
December 11: Church
December 12: Stopped by Bugatti's cause I had to say goodbye to the staff since I wouldn't be back before Christmas… then went to Kristi's Christmas party! Met Bryan's brother Jeff's girlfriend Robyn, and played Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture with Chris & Kristi, Jeff & Robyn, and me & Bryan. We *would* have won if I wasn't so worthless… I seriously made us LOSE points, not even the Trivial Pursuit king himself can come back from that one!
December 13: Had lunch with Vin at Qdoba, that's about all I remember from that one. Oh and had a WONDERFUL coffee/breakfast with John in the café!
December 14: Quarterlife
December 15: Book Club… only 4 of us there, but I love that book club!
December 16: Remicade… what a great way to spend a Friday night!
December 17: Christmas Party… tons of people showed up… I got to meet Katie's brother, Christie's brother and cousin, and some of Brad's friends. A lot of little groups of people that didn't know each other well (Brad's friends, my neighbors, church people, work people, etc.) but I think it ended up being okay.
December 18 - 29: In Iowa. There's not a lot to tell, it was pretty much shopping and spending time with family all day every day. I ate at Panera 4 times though, which is good!!! Yuuum I heart Panera.
December 30: Go to check in to my flight around 2 AM, find out that it has been cancelled (the Denver-Portland leg). :( Boo to that. So I call to get a flight, next thing I can get is 8:30 PM, getting into Portland at 10:30. So sad! Don't really sleep at all (maybe 45 minutes), go to the airport, and end up having to wait only 6 hours in Denver (instead of 12!) and get to Portland around 4:30… Tim picked me up, woo hoo to that. Bryan and I were supposed to hang out at 3, but we ended up just meeting each other for dinner around 6ish, super quick dinner. And he was able to come over for a few hours later that night, which was nice.
December 31: Drama-city!

Weekend

Last night was SUPER productive! I went to dinner with my friend Andy, then we played some DDR for just a bit so he could see what it was like. Then I whipped it into high-gear... started cleaning and I pretty much haven't stopped since, other than to get some good sleep! I've gone through pretty much my house house organiztionally, bought a few things like new mats for inside the doors and a big broom for my garage, done 2 loads of laundry, and steam cleaned the carpets. When my roommate finishes up some work he's doing on his truck in the garage, we're going to move both cars out and sweep the garage and then organize it a little better than it is right now. I'm also going through all of my mail that piled up while I was home for Christmas, and doing some financial stuff too. I had a party a few months ago and my friend John thought it would be a good idea to bring balloons filled with mylar confetti -- NOT COOL. There has been mylar confetti all over my house since November, despite numerous vacuumings, sweepings, and moppings. So I spent well over an hour on my hands and knees picking up all of the mylar confetti I could find from the whole house. Most if it is finally gone. My roommate also took apart my vacuum to get all of the mylar confetti out of it, so that it doesn't keep spewing it out every time I vacuum. So hopefully that situation is mostly over with. It looks so much better and I feel so much better! Also, my neighbor (that I share a long flag lot driveway with) has a large tree in her front yard that the TINEST little leaves fall off of... and get onto my car, in my garage, on everyone's feet, and ALL OVER my house... it's out of control. All of the leaves are finally off of the tree now, so I'm going to sweep out the garage, and when it's nice out and not wet, I'm going to sweep off the driveway. Hopefully that will take care of a lot of that problem, and then I can finally have clean floors again. Yippeee!!!

Just Today

Maybe tomorrow I'll do one of those posts where I do a quickie update on everything that happened in the last 2 months. :)

Today was another good day... work was good, my manager and I had a talk about some new things I'm going to be taking on this year which is exciting because things are getting a little slow for me lately, and I also got some problems solved that have been lurking for a couple of months. Then I ran a few errands after work and got some things taken care of. After that I played DDR for a little bit -- I had NO BEAT today at all... I just couldn't get the steps right, song after song! I don't know what was wrong with me. Then I made some dinner, watched a little TV, and cleaned up a little bit. I just got back from First Thursday, which is on the first Thursday of every month (go figure, huh?) in the Pearl District, which is a trendy area in Northwest Portland. Basically all of the art galleries down there stay open late and it's sort of a place to see and be seen -- pretty fun, especially in the summer when it's nice out and more crowded. A lot of people also stop by the nice Pearl bars and restaurants to grab a drink, too. There was a "Public Canvas" in one of the galleries tonight which anyone could paint on, so I left my mark on that... just call me Ms. Ar-teest! Now I'm going to go journal in my private journal and then bed. Tomorrow's Friday, yeah!!

Of course it will be a quick one

Ok so just a quick note... try to give a lowdown on all of the big happenings lately:

October 14: Go to Ringlers downtown with John, Andy, Amanda, Geoff, Dominique, Vin, Michael, British guys, etc. This is the night John ends up moving to my house for a week or so. Found out John was a Christian too, we were both reading the 4th Left Behind book!
October 15: Watch the Northwestern game in the morning with John, both of us were feeling sick so the day was pretty worthless. Biggest event of the night was going to Barnes and Noble to buy the 5th Left Behind book.
October 18: Stay home sick from work for the first time ever... ugh I had the worst cough for that whole week!
October 19: Went for a run (shouldn't have done that but the cabin fever was killing me), then went to Old C with John, Korey, and Marie... the RCGs were there too.
October 21: Went to Henry's, then Aura with John, his friend Jose, and Jose's roommate.
October 22: Went to Brazen Bean, Bar M, then Aura with John, his friend Jeff and Jeff's wife Rose.
October 23: Went to church with John for the first time.
October 26: Went to Quarterlife, the singles group at church, for the second time ever (yaaay day shift!) and the first time for John. Met my friend Katie at Elmer's when we went for food. The White Sox win the World Series!!!!!!!
October 28: Went to Voodoo Lounge downtown, met guys in a bar and gave them my number for the first time ever, both called the next day so weird! Then went to a foam party at Baraccuda with Marie, Andy, and John. Wore my cute Halloween costume... soooo fun!
October 29: Went to Aura with Tim and John... Tim's favorite holiday is Halloween, it was excellent. Make a special call to work, talk to Bryan and tell him to come out with us next week.
October 30: Went to church with John and sat with the QL crew!
November 2: Quarterlife again, this time went to The Freshman afterwards for food.
November 4: Addy's in town!!! We go to Russell Street with Danny, Morgan, Steve, Andy, Geoff, Michael, Rachel, Tim, and John. Then we were gonna go home, but we decide to go to Henry's. Then we were gonna go home, but we decide to go to Aura. LOL. Super fun night!!! Although it did end up with me in the closet -- must work on the closet episodes. And there was a great burrito... Adds will love that one. ;-) Paged Bryan to see if he still wanted to go out with us the next night, then sent pages all night telling him what he was missing out on all night. That pager has got to go.
November 5: John and Tim are worthless! We go to Old C with Bryan, soooo not fun. Then I go home and cuddle with Adds... always fun!!
November 6: The first time Tim joins us for church.
November 7: The first date with Bryan, though I didn't know it was a date at the time. Kicks of my Bugatti's OBSESSION... I love the staff there, I don't know what I'd do without that place!
November 8: Second date with Bryan, go to Old Market Pub which doesn't cut it so it's back to Bugatti's for us!
November 9: QL, followed by Chili's where I officially get Katie's and Bonnie's phone numbers!! LOL it's like I'm a guy.
November 10: PCG downtown with Tim and John... can you tell this was a great week?
November 11: CHRIS TOMLIN!!!!! AHHHH!!!! It'd been over a year. And Matt Redman and Louie Giglio, too fun!! What an awesome night of worship. :) :) Then I met up with some QL'ers at a pool hall, and John and Katie and I come back to my house and talk until 6 AM!
November 12: John and I take Katie out for a night on the town, Joe joins us! We go to Aura (OF COURSE!!) and have a super fun night. LOVE IT.
November 13: Watch the first Harry Potter movie with Bryan.
November 14: Bugatti's night, of course. And it's Bryan's birthday, so his cousin and cousin's girlfriend, and his brother, and John and Tim join us at Bugatti's. Then we go to Old C and Brent and Deborah join us. Very fun night!! And it was the pre-party planning meeting for my party that Saturday.
November 15: Harry Potter marathon... which actually is just a lot of talking.
November 16: QL, dinner at Chevy's afterwards!
November 17: Andy cooked me dinner and we watched 2 episodes of the OC at his house!
November 18: Pre-party planning... Addy and I went shopping for cute PJs, then John came over to setup, then Marie came over to help prepare stuff, then Brent, Tim, and Bryan came over just to say hello and be obnoxious. And Roommate Brad was there too, he's always fun!
November 19: Pajama Party!! Mitch DJ'ed, John had his lights going, and sooo many people were there. Friends from tons of different groups, the neighbors, etc. A really really fun night, this has been all the talk all week.
November 20: Chill with Addy and Bryan... so cute.
November 21: Bugatti's night, what else? We're "regulars" now since we've gone 3 Monday nights in a row!
November 22: Thanksgiving Extravaganza at Brent and Deborah's, so fun! FABULOUS food and then some interesting Nintendo and whatnot...
November 23: Thanksgiving Eve Service at church, then out to Cheesecake Factory with a bunch of QL'ers!
November 24: Thanksgiving! Charles makes a wonderful meal and then we watch movies together, a lovely day.
November 25: Ended up at Bugatti's with John and Tim, planning the next party, which will allegedly be a Christmas Party December 17. Don't know exactly what the dress-up rules will be yet, but I love theme parties so I think I'm always going to make people dress up. It's just too fun!

Okay so there's the lowdown on my life... only I feel like I didn't really tell you anything about my life, just what I've been up to with my crazy-busy-ness. And I didn't even get to tell you about stuff like who I've been to lunch with or what I've been thinking or feeling or how much God has been absolutely blessing me and being amazing lately (not like He's always not). So maybe next week if I get some time. :-)

Blaaaaah

Okay, this is offically my 200th blog! Not bad for about a year and a half of blogging... that's like one for every other day. Of course my rate is way slower now, but I'm a busy little day shift bee now! My three favorite Portland restaurants are Bugatti's, PCG, and Russell St. I just decided this today. By the time Thursday rolls around, I will have been to all of them in just 7 days -- I think this is probably a first even for me. I'm so proud. :-) Everyone always talks about living downtown, and yeah, it'd be awesome... but really, I go down there at LEAST once a week, and I only have to wake up at 6:30 to be at work by 7... why would I want to wake up at 5:45 or something crazy like that? BARF. So yes, life is good... been having some HIGH QUALITY Quiet Times lately which makes me a very very happy girl. :-) :-)

My how time flies

Oh my friends, it has been so long. I'm sorry I am so bad about writing... I maybe should just retire my blog. I've been soooo good about journalling lately. Like I say, when the journal is really good the blog is really bad and vice versa. I've had a lot of clarity added to my life lately -- that is a GOOD THING! I feel calm, relaxed, and at peace. When I was first changing jobs I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off... I was always busy and had no time to myself. This past week has been such a blessing in many ways... I have been sick, so every day (other than perhaps a walk) I have been at home and just relaxing! Looots of journaling and QT, and spending time with a friend who is staying with me for a while which is fun too. I so love just sitting and talking to people for hours, hearing stories about their lives and backgrounds and the way they think. It's so interesting to me! What a joy. Northwestern football is making me very happy and it's awesome to have the White Sox in the World Series! I love fall... everything about it just makes me feel warm and cozy. Ahhhhhhh happiness!

Good Morning! :)

Okay seriously every time I sign in to blogger it tries to get me to do the AdSense thing. But don't worry... I won't do that to you guys. ;-)

I know, it's been a while. I can't believe we're already on Wednesday!! When did I last post? Must have been Friday. Friday night Andy and I went out to Urban Fondue... yuuuum so good. Definitely had a really nice night, DESPITE the harder-than-usual Portland rain we encountered. Saturday I went to Wal-Mart as mentioned, then Fuddruckers (sp?) since we were down in the "Tigard part of town". Saturday night Andy cooked rack of lamb for me, Amanda, and Geoff... yuuuuuum! Very tasty. Then Amanda made an AWESOME AWESOME two layer / swirl cheesecake... Andy said "tastes like one of those things that you'd eat at a mom and pop little pastry sthop". Definitely yummy. And lots of wine, which was fun. Sunday morning I went to buy a new bed with Marie (for her not me) and then lunch at Chili's and then a quick stop to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Sunday evening was church with Andy and Charles, and then Andy and I went to Russell St. BBQ since it's open again!!! Woo hoo to that. Soooooo good. Then we watched the OC at his house... oh, how I heart the OC. Monday I didn't do ANYTHING after work!! I talked on the phone for about 3 hours, but other than that spent the whole night by myself. I was so proud. Tuesday night I went to the grocery store with Marie and then Red Robin.

Oh, and I went on this HORRIBLE run yesterday... I ran my normal path but it was killing me... my left shin was not playing nice! Maybe cause I haven't run in two weeks... :-) But I can't help it... I was recovering from climbing and then got SUPER busy. Need to making running a priority. But there have been walks and trips to the gym, so it's not *SO* bad. I was hoping to run again today but it's kinda rainy out, so it better clear up by around 4.

Lots of meetings today and tomorrow, but I like it cause the day goes by very quickly.

Addy -- you are too cute. I know you're busy with school and all of that fun stuff... I miss you too! The tickets to Chris came in the mail yesterday!!

Oh, and one more thing... pretty much all of the things I was complaining about the other day either were resolved or at least I stopped being so upset about them. Resolved, mostly, which is awesome!

Ad Sense

I'm thinking about putting AdSense on my blog. That means you'd see the ads like you see in your gmail when you read my blog. But I'd make money when you read my blog. Hmmmmm what to do? Weigh in people with comments. I wish I was as cool as Craig (craigslist Craig) and not a sell-out. Haha.

Well, it's Friday! Woo hoo!! And I've been pretty good about doing at least some updates all week, so yay for me. It's been a good week -- busy, as expected, but I got everything done. And this weekend I will definitely have some down time (though not tons of it) which I'm totally looking forward to.

Had an awesome conversation about God last night... I love talking about God and I love talking about me, and this conversation combined the two and it just made me soooo happy. I was such a huge fan. I remember when I used to go to lunch with Katrina and she'd ask me so many questions and it was just awesome. It's times like this when I wish I'd gone on staff with GIV or become a youth pastor -- it's like I feel like I'm applying everything that I've learned over the years. I remember going to lunch with Katrina last year and how much fun that was!!! Oh man... so exciting.

Happy weekends people. I get to fix my neighbor's computer, go out for fondue, go to Walmart, have dinner at Andy's, and go to church. Should be a GREAT one!!!!

Frustrated!

I'm having kind of an irritated afternoon. Nothing is really going the way I want it to.

Vents...
1. I miss my old job. I could make a list of pros and cons about the old vs. new, but there are a lot of things (perhaps especially the people) that I miss about my old job. Maybe I'll make a list and then I'll probably feel better.
2. This is sort of related, but I'm very annoyed because two of the somewhat major reasons I took this day job have now evaporated, which makes me mad. I guess I shouldn't let other people have such a big impact on my life, but I've never been selfish in that way. Maybe I should be.
3. I was involved in this conversation at lunch that I found very annoying. I mostly just sat through it and didn't talk, but it made me uncomfortable. It felt very petty to me, like some sort of junior high rivalry. I know that wasn't the way it was intended, but it was infuriating.
4. Realistically I know I need some time to myself. I might have some of that tonight, but it's unlikely. I'm starting to feel clostrophobic which is bad because it means I will push others away for a longer time than if I'd just done the right thing and taken a night for myself this week. Maybe I need to be more strategic about making sure that I keep one night (Monday - Thursday night) to myself each week.

Those are all of my major vents... I'm sure I could make up more but those are the ones I HAD to get off my chest. Thanks for listening!

Wednesday

Yes, it's Wednesday. Should be the first day of work but instead it's already half over!!! Kinda fun sometimes.

So this weekend was awesomely fun... Doug came Friday morning and we went to the wineries/vineyards for most of the afternoon. Yay to that! Lots of fun. Then we grabbed some dinner and watched a movie and had some more... wine. :) Saturday morning we got up and got ready for my BBQ, then people came over and we ended up just making a whole night of it, the neighbors came over and it was reasonably fun. Kind of a crazy night and very emotional in many ways, but it was actually kinda cool. Sunday morning I talked to Doug and decided dating was definitely a no go! Surprising and kind of sad in some ways cause I really had expected it, but it was a good decision overall. Then my aunt and uncle came and I gave them the grand tour of the house, then we went to lunch at Henry's. After that Doug and I walked around downtown for a while, then went to church with Andy and Charles, and then went to Helvatia Tavern with Andy. Fun day! Hmm let's see. Monday I had lunch with Andy, then went to the mall with Amanda and then talked to Tim for a loooong time. Tuesday I went for a walk with Marie, went to dinner with Tim, and then played Magic with someone's who's name is being kept anonymous to protect his or her identity. It's been a good week. Today I had lunch with Alex and am having dinner with Andy. Thursday is lunch with Andy and Amanda and book club. Friday is undetermined for lunch and then dinner wtih Andy. Saturday is probably lunch with Tim and then dinner with Andy and Amanda. BUT Friday and Saturday could change if Russ comes to town. BUSY WEEK... I need to slooooow down. But I'm loving it. :-)

Who I Am Hates Who I've Been

No not seriously. I just feel like these lyrics are awesome. Story of my life lately! Good song. By Reliant K.

I watched the proverbial sunrise
coming up over the Pacific and
You might think I'm losing my mind,
but I will shy away from the specifics...

'cause I don't want You to know where I am
'cause then You'll see my heart
in the saddest state it's ever been.

This is no place to try and live my life.

[Pre-Chorus]
Stop right there. That's exactly where I lost it.
See that line. Well I never should have crossed it.
Stop right there. Well I never should have said
that it's the very moment that
I wish that I could take back.

[Chorus]
I'm sorry for the person I became.
I'm sorry that it took so long for me to change.
I'm ready to try and never become that way again
'cause who I am hates who I've been.
Who I am hates who I've been.

I talk to absolutely no one.
Couldn't keep to myself enough.
And the things bottled inside have finally begun
to create so much pressure that I’ll soon blow up.

I heard the reverberating footsteps
sinking up to the beating of my heart,
and I was positive that unless I got myself together,
I would watch me fall apart.

And I can’t let that happen again
‘cause then You’ll see my heart
in the saddest state it’s ever been.

This is no place to try and live my life.

[Pre-Chorus x2]
[Chorus]

Who I am hates who I've been
and who I am won’t take the second chance You gave me.
Who I am hates who I’ve been
‘cause who I’ve been only ever made me...

So sorry for the person I became.
So sorry that it took so long for me to change.
I’m ready to try and never become that way again
‘cause who I am hates who I’ve been.
Who I am hates who I’ve been.

Life is Good, Eternal Life is Better

I have that song stuck in my head. It's by Stellar Kart... never heard of them, but the first time I heard that song it was a really meaningful time -- ask me the story. Rich and Rufina are on their way over I assume, we're going to go to lunch. I think I'm going to recommend PCG, but there are lots of good places to eat downtown. I have so much to blog... I could write forever. Or I could write secret emails to you Andy... :) Seriously. I started this blog with the intention of making it one of those epics where I pour my heart out to the world... but I'm not in the mood for tht right now. Maybe tonight if I have time. For now though, just enjoy your Sunday. Kelly LOVES Sundays because Sundays are church days!!!!! :)

Hello my friends...

Okay this will be a quick one. Last weekend was GREAT... finally got my summit of a glaciated peak, so I can join the Mazamas (www.mazamas.org). Woo hoo and stuff! Very exciting... I almost teared up when I reached the top, and those of you who know me (Christine and Addy) know that I'm "stone cold" and don't cry for anything. It was such a huge accomplishment. I was thinking that even graduating from Northwestern wasn't as huge an accomplishment as this... the only other day I've maybe felt as proud was the day I got INTO Northwestern. Anyway, it was amazing and awesome and cool and makes me want to keep climbing.

I've spent lots of good time with friends this week... dinner with Tim, a movie with Marie, dinner at Andy's, Vin helping me with my house, chatting with Kristie the neighbor, Chevy's with Amanda. It's been absolutely amazing. And Doug comes tomorrow, then I'm having a BBQ Saturday, so the friend time will just keep going. As much as I feel totally lost sometimes, I kind of like not having responsibility and not having to worry about what's happening next in my life. Life just sort of goes along, you have to just enjoy the days and have fun and not worry too much about what comes next. So yeah -- life es good. Wow that is so Julius. Anyway, things are good, I'm happy, that's about it. I'll give you a better update hopefully after the weekend! Oh yes -- and I do love the new job, in case you were wondering.

And my next door neighbor is AWESOME -- he helped me fix my lawnmower and he is just awesome, so is his wife. I'm so blessed to have such awesome neighbors. And I found out yesterday that she went to a Bible study in the morning, I'll have to see what that's all about. Yay! Huge shout out to everyone who helped me with my house this week -- it looks totally amazing. It's what I've wanted my house to look like for months! It's all come together, and I'm so glad Doug and my aunt and uncle are coming to give me a kick start in getting it done. "Get er done" as my new work peers would say.

Soul Searching

So lately there have been a lot of men in my life, telling me they like me or think they like me or whatever else. I've been overwhelmed. I've been struggling. I've been learning a lot about me, these men, who people are, the way the world works, and a lot of other stuff. It's been good, but challenging. I've been close and far from God all at the same time through it all. He's definitely been challenging me and pursuing me every day. I've been challenged to be honest and straightforward with myself and others -- I think the hardest piece is being honest with myself. I'm very good at playing tricks on myself, but I also know myself well enough that I can easily look at myself and see what I'm doing. Why I'm trying to protect myself and those around me. But really, I need to make sure that I'm doing everything I can to not hurt my friends.

I've been challenged with sharing my relationship with God with people who in a million years probably wouldn't have guessed I was a Christian. I don't have a whole ton of Christian friends here, especially with working nights. I hope that changes, and that was actually a big driver of going to days. So I tend to be a little bit more personal about my faith than I was perhaps at school or other times. I want to have a "live out loud" faith, but I have struggled with that.

I had the joy of going to church with Andy on Sunday. It's so obvious to me how God is pursuing me! Our pastor came back from his 6 week summer vacation, and it was one of the first times that I've been in Oregon for "3" of something -- he sings a song every year about his 6 week vacation, and this was the 3rd year I've been here for that song. The airshow that we had over the weekend was another 3rd of mine. Wow, hard to believe it's been so long! Anyway, so back to church. The pastor started a 10 week series on Marks of a Christian - the overview was Sunday, and he used 1 John as his text. He pointed out 3 essentials -- faith, obedience, and love. He said that most Christians are pretty good at 1 or 2 and struggle at one of the others. But, to be a Christian means to be growing in all 3 all the time! It's painfully obvious to me that I always have struggled most at the obedience part, so I'm really trying to be more obedient. There are some decisions I made a month or so ago that were hard but I've been doing okay with them so far, so I hope that continues. I also think I've really been somewhat stagnant in faith and love... those are strengths of mine but I want to build on those! I've been reading 1 John kind of over and over since then, and I have been just absolutely floored a lot... there's so much in that text, and for as many times as I've read it before and as much highlighting as there is in that particular book of my Bible, there's so much more to learn! I'm so excited for the next 9 weeks as we delve deeper! And I just so adore my church, there is always something that I'm absolutely challenged with there. That to me is one of the most important marks of a good church -- feeling like a sermon is personally challenging you, like God is speaking to you!

This is a somewhat sporadic blog. But it's all of these thoughts I've kind of been cooping up for a long time. Now I just want to share so much. I finally had my Kelly time tonight. I went for a walk with someone who I hope will turn into an even better friend tonight... I enjoy walking and talking, and she said she wants to do it more, so I hope that happens! Then after that I made sure that I didn't see any of the "boys". I actually talked to all of them on the phone, and really want to see some of them, but I can't. I needed to focus on me and God, and have that time alone. I needed a BIG chunk of it, and I haven't had that in enough time. I function much better when I've had Kelly time and Quiet Time. I feel much less confused, I know what I want, and I know some of the hard choices I have to make and hard conversations I have to have. I question Doug... as sure as I was that he was the man who was created for me... I have strong doubts about that now. I was talking to him today and just really really wondering. He will be here in about 10 days, so we'll see how it goes. I am leaving my heart open, but again with the guarding. ;-) Some other doors have very much been shut, but one particular door that I thought would have been shut before it was open has not been. One of these guys that allegedly likes me hurt me very much several months ago. It wasn't entirely his fault, but I've very much held it against him for a long time. I watched a movie with him the other night, and was VERY guarded at first. But, then we got into conversation... I learned a lot about his life, his background, the reason he makes certain choices, his faith, etc. And I shared a lot about mine. It was just good to talk, and I know that he cares a lot about me. So that's made me think -- and again challenged me very much.

I love being challenged. It's hard, but it makes life interesting and it makes me grow. I've not grown a lot in the past year or so, but I've grown VERY much in the past 3 months. I hope this continues. I like the woman I'm becoming, and I realize how young I am and how much time I have to continue to make choices that will shape who I will become.

So, this has been very KELLY. It's very much me, my thoughts, my feelings. The way I think a lot of the time, when I'm being truly honest with myself. I don't share that often with you guys, very rarely in fact. But you read my blog, so hey, you might as well know who I really am. I might end up taking this post down, but at least some of you will get a flavor of the real Kelly. Especially some of you who don't know me as well. I'm almost scared for you to see this... but I want you to know. And honestly, I know you care enough about me that knowing me more will be only a positive thing.

Thanks for reading, and more than that, thanks for being my friend.

The First Weekend!

So, the first two days of my new job were awesome. I think this job is going to be really good -- very challenging and a completely different direction than my old job. I'm really looking forward to it! The first two days were actually a little slow with online trainings and stuff, but I think that will go away very quickly. We'll see. So then Friday night I went over to Vin's, and had a great great time! I had a nice chat with Geoff and I also sat down and talked to Dominique for the first time in a long time. There have been many boys coming into my life in interesting ways lately, so it was cool to tell her the whole story! Then my sister's boyfriend Charles called and was upset, so that kind of put a damper on things. That really upset me more than it should have, but I went home at that point and talked to some other friends to just kind of vent and undwind. Saturday morning I picked Andy up from the airport and TRIED to go to Russell St. BBQ, but it is still closed from the fire. Boo. So then I came home and got a LOT done around the house and yard and kinda chilled until about 10 when I went to go watch a movie with a friend. Had a really nice time there, and then came home and slept. Today I really really want to mow my lawn if I can convince Vin or someone to help me with that, and maybe the BBQ too. We'll see. Then I'm going to church at 5 and then YIKES have to get ready to work tomorrow morning. Ew ew ew. I miss my Mondays and Tuesdayas already! But I still love being a normal person, I can see a difference in me already. But I can't stay up until 4 or 5 AM like I have been this weekend. Silly night shift friends. Hehe. I had something else I was going to say but I completely forgot it, so maybe another blog later if I remember. :-)

Wedding Pics!

Okay, didn't want to make you wait. Here are a few pics from Laura and Randy's wedding!

Labor Day weekend!

It's been a GREAT weekend in Chicago. :-) Of course. Who would have expected anything else?

Friday night was awesome. The last night of work on my job -- sad but nice. Went out to dinner which was great, and got to see everyone one last time. Went for a run about 4:30 AM, definitely tripped and fell. So embarassing! But it was dark out so I have a sort-of excuse?!?! Hehe. Great night at work. I heart my job... very very scared about moving to the new one. Praying about that...

Saturday afternoon I came in and Tim very graciously picked me up. Then we went to Duffy's downtown for Stacey's going away party. We got to see Jennifer and her fiance Steve, Patrick, Emily, Kathleen, Stacey, Mike, Chad, Nikki, Hart and his girlfriend Becky. That was 11 of the 15 high school group friends right there! The pics above are from Saturday night -- the first is me and Tim, the second is me and Kathleen.

Sunday at the wedding there was of course Laura and Randy, Jen, Anthony, Hart, Tim, Emily, Jennifer and Steve, me, Patrick, Hart's girlfriend Becky, Nikki and her boyfriend, and Andrew Ellis! So that added another 4 people from the high school group... The wedding was absolutely lovely, lavendar which of course I ADORED. IT was a super fun time, great dancing, great food, great catching up with friends and watching two great friends get married! I thought they also did a wonderful job of blending their Catholic and Jewish faiths. I'll post wedding pics tomorrow. I love this pic posting thing!

Monday I got up and my parents and Christine came to visit, YAAAAAAY. So much fun! We went to Noodles for lunch (YUM DIDILY YUM DUM). Then we drove around somewhat randomly and then went to Woodfield. Weird, haven't been there in a while. We spent about 5 hours together, it was great to see them. Ugh, I should have taken a famliy picture. Boo to me. THEN Erin Birk came and met up with me at the mall!!!!! Yaaaay I had so much fun with her, she is so much like me in so many ways and it was good to catch up. I really want to convince her to move to Portland -- I'd have a climbing partner in crime which would be awesome. Patrick too. Both of them have expressed an interest in it so that would be totally awesome. (an interest in both climbing and moving.) So anyway, great times. Then I came back to Tim's house (he and his family have been SO kind to let me stay with them all weekend) and chatted with him and his parents for a few hours, then watched some TV with Tim. I should have called my friend Joel right at 6 PM when I got home, we'd talked about getting together but I just didn't really think of it. About midnight I go upstairs to go to bed, and he's online so I IM him. He was my mentor (boss?) my internship 4 summers ago, and we liked each other at the time though never did anything about it because of work. We haven't seen each other in 3 years (we worked at different facilites but the same company the summer of 2002), so we really wanted to see each other. So he finally convinces me to see if Tim is still up, so I ask Tim if it's okay if I go out and just stay out until the morning (so I don't have to wake anyone up coming back in). He says it's fine, so Joel comes to pick me up about 1 AM and then we go to his condo in Schaumburg. It was REALLY nice, he'd just redone it and he has great style. So we put a movie in but really are just chatting for a few hours... then we finally kiss, 4 years later. Hehehe, it was great. It was a really nice evening, good to see him. He says he's going to come out to Portland, but he is fickle so I doubt him. He says in his own online profile - ".....Oh and I never do what I say I'm going to do. I'm unreliable as a friend." So we'll see. All the same it was a good night.

This morning Joel drove me home (to Tim's house) and then we had lunch and chatted. Then I took a little nap and then I woke up and went to dinner with Patrick, then just drove around Palatine, etc. Great night, and a great end to a great trip. I'm looking forward to coming home to Portland tomorrow!! YAY YAY!!!!

The only people of the 20 high school friends in "the group" that I didn't see this weekend were John, Aileen, Julius, Kaley, and Heather. Not bad at all! - actually I think the best we've done in 4 or 5 years.

So much goodness!

First of all, hi Marisa. :-) I'm so excited when I find out people read my blog!!! Especially when I blog-stalk them too!

So I had an amazingly wonderful weekend! My last long weekend. Tear. So on Saturday I slept a few hours and woke up at 1:30 feeling wonderfully refreshed. Went to a BBQ at my boss's boss's house, which was goregous and had a great backyard. Cool to hang out with some work people and just really great conversation. That night I came back home and kinda had a lazy night. Rented a movie and went to bed early like the true dork that I am.

Then Sunday I woke up and spent most of the day with Andy... we took a drive around Portland and went to a farmer's market and found a new gellato place! Then I went to church and then I went to a BBQ at Geoff's house. I met his friend Amy from California who is SUPER cool -- I wish she lived here.

Monday morning I woke up and randomly checked the "free" section of Craigslist -- the 4th item on there was a free lawnmower! YAAAY! So I call the guy up and end up going over there to get it. He even gave me a free weed whacker too while I was there. My lawn is DEFINITELY going to thank me for this. I haven't gotten to use it yet, that will have to wait until I get back from Chicago and have more time, but I think it's going to work out just fine! I also saw an add for a really nice $20 gas grill, so I had emailed that guy about that. He and I arranged for me to pick it up at around 7:30 PM. So then I met Geoff and Amy at Portland City Grill before her flight left. I had a great time with them and then headed back this way to get the grill. The grill guy was SUPER nice, had just sold his house and moved into a condo, so basically just wanted the grill to go to a good home. So we stuffed it into Jake, and then I went and met some friends at Macaroni Grill for Brandon's birthday! We had a great time and I had a lot of really good conversations that night. I'm such a sucker for great conversation!

Tuesday morning I had my Remicade. The greatest part was there was PATIENT BINGO! Apparently the hospital has it every Tuesday at 1:00 PM! How fun! So this cute 80 year old man volunteer guy convinces me to play... first I said no, but then I re-evaluated my IV bag and how much longer I had when he came back to get me to play. So I turned to channel 75 on my TV and this woman volunteer lady was calling out the bingo numbers, then if you won you called her extention and they sent another volunteer over to check your card. Needless to say I didn't win, but that's probably good... I'd feel kinda bad when I was just there for 3 hours. I'm happier than people who are in the hospital for who knows how long get to win. Then Tuesday evening I met Amanda at Red Robin for a house discussion dinner... it went REALLY WELL! I'm so excited for her to move in, we got everything worked out logistically and I think as roommates we'll work out really well. We both really need our space, and there is plenty of room in my house so that we'll both be able to do our own thing. We talked through a bunch of different scenarios so it looks like it will work out well. And I talked to Charles, my sister's boyfriend (who lives in Portland), and he said he will help me paint the house. All I have to do is buy the paint! I will probably take him out to dinner or something too, but he is so super friendly. And he said that he is going to start coming to church with me too (he thinks) so I will have a new church going partner now that Addy is gone (she left on Saturday... I guess I didn't make that update... very sad. I almost cried, and as Addy, Christine, and Charles will attest, I am "stone cold"). Then Tuesday night Vin came over to catch up and then help me with my lawnmower and BBQ a little, but I think he'll have to help me more in the future.

Doug is coming to visit in September, I'm very excited about that! I don't know what the future holds for us, but I'm excited to at least hang out with him. We've been challenged by distance for years, but it seems now that he realizes that if he wants us to have a real chance he should move to Portland. He said that, which was quite interesting. Don't know really what to think about this, but I'm guarding my heart and praying about that to see what is in store for us. I think I'm going to have a BBQ the weekend he comes to try out my new BBQ and let him meet my friends.

I bought a new computer this morning... mine has been unreliable with the battery for almost 6 months and the DVD/CD drive stopped working in January, so I've had my eye on prices for a while. Dell has some REALLY good deals, so I bought a new Pentium 4 with a 17 inch flat panel for $430 this morning. It will be so nice to have a new computer that I can depend on and have at home when my work laptop is where it should be -- at work. I'm also scheduled to get a new laptop at work in about a month, so it will be nice to have all new machines! Wow I'm a dork. I was reading my old blogs a week or so ago about how Jenn had encouraged me to fast from theknot.com, and I did an entire internet fast. I am thinking of doing that again sometime soon.

I only have two more nights left at my current job... I will miss it soooooo much. I know there are a lot of exciting new challenges and opportunities ahead, but I'm very scared. This will be a great thing for my social and personal life, but it's scary to go to a new job where I have no idea what to expect, esepecially when I was really finally getting good at my old job. I'm trying to get as much "negative" feedback as I can from co-workers this week so that I can improve as I step into my new job. Yaay for challenges and the unknown.

Laura and Randy's wedding in Chicago this weekend, yaaay! I haven't been there in over a year, which is crazy to think. Stacey is having a going away party Saturday night, so I'm going to go to that. Then the wedding on Sunday, and then my parents and sister are coming to visit Monday. Tuesday is open but I'm hoping to have lunch with Grant and then maybe catch up with who knows who else. Please let me know if you'll be in Chicago and/or available to see me that weekend! I guess it's not and/or, more of an and. :-) Wednesday I come back around noonish and then have the rest of the day off and then start work Thursday MORNING. Yikes, I don't even know how to work in the morning. Oh, and I'm veeeeery slow and irresponsible and a procrasinator, so I haven't secured anywhere to stay yet in Chicago -- so if I can stay with you please let me know. :-) I'd be very grateful.

Wow there is just so much to update... this is what happens when I'm so bad about it. I'm trying to improve, and I think I'm getting a little better, but still not what I used to be. I'll keep trying guys. :-)