I LOVE...

... the beach.

... sunny spring days.

... these little girls!


So on Sunday afternoon I played hooky and accompanied my friend J and her girls, L and M, to Cannon Beach. L is 4 and M is 2.


L wanted to be partially buried in the warm sand...



but M was undoing our burying efforts as quickly as we were building the sand up! She was a little worried that her sister was going to get stuck and not be able to get out! This was the result of her worry:


But we did eventually get our project complete and made L a "beautiful mermaid tail".


It was a wonderful day... and it makes me happy that summer is almost here! Can't wait for more days like this one!

M.D.W

... and for those of you who don't know, that means Memorial Day Weekend.

It was a spectacular weekend! We started it off by going down to Waterfront Park to see the fireworks for the kickoff of the Rose Festival. We had a great spot and stood and watched the lovely display (which I think were better than any 4th of July ones I've seen since moving to Oregon) and ate hot delicious elephant ears.

I got to hang out with friends and family and attend a dear friend's birthday party (we are all getting OLD, in case you weren't aware). It was very pleasant, and the weather made it much more enjoyable. I always wish this time of year was longer because the weather is always perfect for a couple of weeks and then all of a sudden we are in a heat wave and I get all sweaty and gross just walking from my office to my car in the parking lot (which is like 50 feet tops).

At the end of the weekend I got to spend some time at the lovely Oregon Coast (pictures to come) with some great kids and friends! Also, we ate more elephant ears and raided a candy store.

Now it's back to the daily grind, but I'm so thankful for the long weekend and especially the reason we had it: to remember those who have served and are still serving our country. Without you I wouldn't be able to enjoy a long weekend with friends and family, eating junk food and hanging out on the pristine Pacific coastline. I don't think we show our gratitude enough (I know I don't). So a BIG thank you. We are grateful. We are proud of you.

All the More Reason...

I ate a hamburger yesterday. I know. I haven't eaten real meat in such a long time it was weird. It smelled and tasted wonderful and I enjoyed every bit of it, because, I thought, I'm not really eating it any other time so why not now?

And then I got home.

And then I thought I was going to die.

My body reinforced why my whole vegetarian diet was a good idea. It didn't like the delicious greasy beef patty that I forced it to digest and I was left feeling icky and too heavy all evening. I even woke up a couple of times in the middle of the night because I had a stomach ache... and this morning I was left feeling bloated and INSANELY thirsty (seriously, I drank 2 liters already and it's only 10 am).

And guess what? I am now craving a HUGE GREEN SALAD. Mmmm. I'm a dork, I know this. But I just didn't think that my body would adjust so completely and so quickly. I think I'll stick to veggies at the next BBQ.

Weekend Update

I had a pretty eventful weekend -in a nice way. Friday was the Ben Folds concert, so I met up with some friends and had a great time. I did realize that my list of pet peeves is longer than I thought. Explanation: DO NOT try to keep a conversation going during a great concert. I will ignore you and move away from you. I came for the music, not to chat with you. This is why we go out to eat after- to talk and hang out and catch up. Back to it.

The show was amazing and it makes me feel like I need to learn to play the piano. I cannot believe how awesomely talented some folks are. It just seems unfair. I still enjoy watching them, though.

Saturday was an outdoor birthday party at a park; it was a beautiful day so being outside was my priority anyway. I guess I had to make up for that because my phone got DESTROYED by little boys on bikes. Awesome, but still didn't detract from the great weather and getting to spend some time outside with friends.

Oh yeah, and I had to buy a new cell phone. So my phone got set over by a bench, and then got knocked off said bench and then a gaggle of boys on bikes rode by and one rode STRAIGHT OVER my phone. Cracked screen, nothing worked, YAY. But I got a new one about an hour later and I LOVE it. So oh well.

Saturday evening was dinner and hanging out with friends. Got to catch up with folks I haven't seen in a while. Stayed up WAY to late (I'm getting old, what can I say?). Slept in on Sunday, went to church, came home and took a two hour nap, watched the Survivor Finale, and ate good food.

Speaking of... the next Survivor will be in Samoa. I'm totally applying. I could Survive in Samoa. You may just see me in autumn on t.v.... if I actually do it. I just may.

Another TV tangent- I watched the Grey's Anatomy finale... WHAT. IS. SHONDA. THINKING? I may or may not watch next season. Maybe I will forgive these people, but maybe not.

A Letter

Dear Perez Hilton/ Intolerant Folks,

Do not disguise your intolerance of other people's beliefs by asking questions you don't want the answers to and then exploiting the opinions of others and labeling them intolerant and/or ignorant. Two way street, here. You ask someone's opinion about something, you get it. You cannot discredit what they think... it is THEIR RIGHT to think how they want. I'm not saying everyone's opinions are correct (on the contrary), however you cannot shame someone because they gave you their opinion. It is theirs to give. And you have yours to give.

Furthermore, slandering and berating someone because their opinions differ from yours is just plain rude and in bad taste. Not that you (all) care about respecting others (but you are quick to throw a fit when you don't feel "respected").

I want to make it clear that I am neither defending/supporting Carrie Prejean nor am I agreeing with either party in the matter; I'm just simply stating that there are better ways to go about getting your voice heard regarding the topics you are passionate about. Guess what PH/Intolerant/Ignorant People- you may have voted for one Barack Obama and guess what his stance is on marriage? He sides with little Miss California. I haven't heard one single slanderous/mean spirited thing said about him regarding his opinion on the subject and he was quite open and honest about his stance during elections.

So before you jump on someone about how they feel and think remember, don't ask questions unless you are ready to hear the answer and don't persecute people for thinking differently than you do. We live in America and diversity is what makes this country so wonderful. I don't expect anyone else to think/feel/act/speak the way I do and I expect that much courtesy from everyone else. Live and let live.

Happy Mother's Day Weekend

I guess most holidays are evolving from a singular day of celebration to a whole weekend (see Memorial Day, Labor Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving). I shouldn't be surprised that this is now the standard for Mother's day. What were we to do but plan a whole weekend for dear old Mom?

Saturday we took my mom to Horsetail Falls to walk the trails and see the beautiful falls. There is a part of the trail that takes you behind the falls which was pretty neat.


There were some absolutely gorgeous views on the trail.


Afterwards we went to a nice dinner (Thai) and then went home and took long naps.

Sunday we had a nice brunch together and just hung out. It was very nice to get out with Mom!

A Million Things to Do...

...but only a handful of inconsequential things on my mind.

1. Where can I find my favorite red sparkly nail polish? I don't even know what the color is called, but a few years ago I bought one of those trial packs of Sally Hansen nail polishes (they are tiny little bottles containing the newest colors so you can try them before buying a big bottle). I grabbed it because I LOVE red toenails and it had a fabulous sparkly red in it. I used it up and went back to the store to buy the big size of that red, but they didn't have anymore... just a spot where it should have been. So then I bought a couple more of the small sizes to use until they got more in. I'm down to my last little bottle of it and STILL haven't been able to find that exact same polish. I may go crazy. If I were to name the color I would call it Ruby Red Slippers, but I didn't get to name it and I still don't know the flippin' name. I've looked on the website and can't find it either so I'm thinking they don't make it anymore. I guess I will have to find a replacement.

2. Where should I take my mom hiking this weekend for Mother's Day? That's what she wants to do so I am trying to plan it. We've been to Multnomah Falls before so I don't want to repeat it. I was looking at some of my hiking books and online and I think the following are good options:

• Silver Falls


• Bridal Veil Falls


• Horsetail/Tripple Falls (close to Bridal Veil)
  

Any suggestions? We don't want to drive for hours to get there, so anything longer than 1.5 or so hours travel time is too far.

3. I need to buy new hiking shoes. Truth be told, I've never had my own hiking boots; I've always just used my mom's because how many times have I gone all out hiking? Not very many, and never with my mom. Since I'm taking her hiking I figure I need my own pair to wear. I've been looking at a couple Nike models. Who knows what I'll end up getting, if any.

4. How I can become a millionaire in a short amount of time with little to no resources. That is the question.

I Just Don't Get It

... and maybe I will one day... or maybe never. I was reading an article today about how people prefer their hair dirty, as in not washed for a few days. I don't understand. Do you?

I guess it may be how I was raised (as in cleanliness is next to godliness), you know- taking a bath or shower on a daily basis unless we were camping. Or it may be that I like how my soaps and shampoos and conditioners smell over unwashed person smell. Either way.

One could argue that you strip your hair of natural moisture, etc... but they make gentle daily shampoos and conditioners for that. Not a good enough argument for me.

One could argue that it's better for the environment- less water wasted. I take relatively short showers and baths anyhow. I guess they make dry shampoos, which I've tried out of curiousity- they don't last long and are kind of expensive and build up a bit in your hair.

Maybe these people don't work out on a daily basis because I don't know about you but once I'm all sweaty I need to wash my hair (and body) or else I have a complete meltdown- who wants to be smelly?

Anyway, just wanted to throw this out there.

Friday Night Fights

I got free tickets from the radio to last Friday's Lumberjax Lacrosse game. It was a playoff game so all the fans were totally decked out and excited. I was just excited to see some live Lacrosse (it's one of the only sports I get psyched up about). The Jax played the San Jose Stealth.

I took Brian and my parents. I think my mom and I had the most fun watching and got really into it. Brian was too busy people watching (even though he used to play Lacrosse) to know what was going on and my dad doesn't get too worked up about anything but football, and even then only mildly so. Anyway, I think the best part of the game was trying to see the player's faces when they'd get into fights and the helmets would come off to see who was missing teeth. A surprising number of players are. Some memorable moments:

1. The announcer saying "Stealth's Ball" after a shot clock violation and my mom thinking he said "stealth ball". She thought he was just commenting on a quick move by a player and not announcing the change of possession. She cracks me up. She also didn't catch on to the fact that the other team's name was the Stealth for a good portion of the game.

2. Watching the young boys in front of us. There were probably 10-12 of them all under the age of 12. Every time the Jax scored, they would stand up and make noise like everyone else, but then try to high five as many people around them as possible. There were some cute "older" girls behind them, but they would all chicken out trying to get high fives from them. Then after one goal the smallest and nerdiest of the boys actually got a high five from the girls and all the little boys went crazy. That kid had the biggest smile on his face for the rest of the night. The girls giggled like crazy.

3. The Dancing Guy. There was some guy there dancing his heart out during some of the downtime. They pan the camera around the audience and show the crowd dancing to the music during time outs and such. They found this one guy who was all out Footloose-ing it. He was good and really into it. Every time they caught him dancing everyone forgot about the game and just watched him. Insane. I should learn some of his moves. I also wish I had a video of it to post.

4. The fights. I don't know what it is but I cannot resist a good Lacrosse brawl. And the thing about Lacrosse is that the refs usually let the fight go on for a bit- unlike in other sports where they break it up right away. Anyway, so one of the San Jose players kept on messing with one of the Jax players... for no reason. Even though the guy never really had the ball and wasn't being agressive or anything (he was just playing the game and trying to be useful to his team) the Stealth player was just pushing him around and being a butt. Finally the guy had enough, threw down his gloves and stick and jumped on the Stealth player. All of a sudden half of each team was in a standing pile of headlocks and chokeholds. The refs of course were going crazy and other team members from the sidelines had to run in and break it all up.

My mom and I were thinking about getting season tickets for next season. And by thinking about it I really mean we'll do it, but have to wait until they actually go on sale!

Updates... and a Question

I thought it would be a good idea to update everyone all the changes I've made recently.

First, the eating. So it's been about a week since I decided that I was really going to stick with the whole vegetarian/whole grains/no processed sugar/limited dairy thing. It's really not that hard until I forget to tell people when they are making food for me. I went to McMenamin's with a friend and ordered the spicy tofu burrito. It was good, but I totally forgot to mention to the server to have them hold off on the sour cream- so I got my burrito with a HEAPING pile of sour cream. I scraped off as much as I could before I dug in. I was really surprised at myself because I LOVE sour cream (I could eat it just plain and have been known to do just that with blue corn chips) but I didn't really even miss it. The burrito was fine without it. I then went to dinner at a friend's house last night and forgot to mention the whole "no meat' thing and they made roast. I love roast... I "loved" roast. And since I forgot to mention that I wasn't eating meat to them before I went over for dinner I took the smallest portion of meat I could (seriously it was about the size of my index and middle finger put together) so as not to appear rude and then I filled up on salad and the excellent herbed and grilled green beans. Next time I will remember to warn people ahead of time.

NOTE: Don't worry, if you invite me over for a meal don't feel obligated to make a vegetarian meal... I think a lot of vegetarians feel this way. I can bring over my own alternatives because that's probably easier for all.

Anyway, so I've been finding it easier and easier to stay away from the junk food eating this way because I'm actually having to read labels and think ahead of time about what I'm going to eat for meals. I've had ONE soda this past week which is amazing because I used to drink a ton of diet soda daily (not so good). Other than that I'm finding some great alternatives to my usual snack foods and staples.

Second, training. So I did very little last week. I was a little ill for part of last week; the most I did was walk around the neighborhood, and even that caused me to take a two hour nap. I'm starting up again full force this week- got to my 5:30am class this morning and I'll be running probably every evening. We started a new Nike+ challenge at work and all of the districts are pitted against each other. We are a very competitive group so my coworkers motivate each other to log the miles (we can run or walk), and since Nike + tracks not only your miles but your time, everyone runs to beat each others times! Fun stuff. I think the upcoming races won't be an issues.

Third- bikini. Not there yet, of course, but I did dig my summer stuff out of the boxes in the garage. Pants are getting looser, shirts are hanging differently... that's a good sign! I tried on one of my one piece suits... looks good so at least I have a back up, but I don't want to use it.

Finally, I have a question. It's a bit late, but I'm still seeing all of the Rip City stuff around town, so here goes: What the heck does Rip City mean? I don't get it. I didn't grow up in Portland so I totally missed what's going on. Plus, we are from the Rose City... this has nothing to do with "Rip" anything. This probably shows how little I know about basketball and our home team, but many of you know that I'd much rather watch Lacrosse or Hockey (I kind of like knowing that a fight will break out at a moment's notice). Someone please tell me what the deal is!