December!

It is my favorite month of the whole entire year! This month is filled with so many fun events, the birth of Jesus and my birthday ;) I finally ventured to the mall today to cross a few items off of my Christmas list, it wasn't as crazy as I thought it might be. Call me crazy but I absolutely LOVE going to the mall during the holidays! I only ended up with one gift so I will be venturing out a few more times, I only have 2 more weeks to shop, since we will be leaving for Alaska the week before.

Colin has been a bit of a scrooge. I love decorating for Christmas, but we both decided not to go cut down a tree since we would be out of town for a chunk of this month. When I told my co-worker we weren't getting a tree she kindly brought me a fake one to borrow. I was excited (normally I'm against fake trees but a fake one is better than none). Apparently I was mistaken, Colin thought that by not cutting down a tree we wouldn't be doing any decorating whatsoever....um, you're not getting out of it that easily!

So all evening I put up the tree and other decorations while Colin sat on the couch and vocalized how he was not going to help me with anything....that's fine got it up myself, thank you very much.

Despite Colin's scroogeness for Christmas decorating he has the right idea of the season, as I type he is volunteering at our church's cold weather shelter for the homeless and has told me he doesn't want anything for Christmas except money donated to World Vision or other charitable organizations. Wow, I really married a great guy, didn't I?? Although, I really love the commercialized Christmas stuff (tree, deco, shopping, holiday food), helping those in need is really what I should be focusing on! I hope everyone takes some time to think of and serve others this holiday season!

Ready or not...here come the holidays!

Cannot believe Thanksgiving is only days away!! It feels like the holidays kind of crept up on me this year, especially since just a couple weeks ago we were in Disneyland enjoying 102 degree weather (and, I was enjoying it!). (Pics from trip below!) It would be weird to live somewhere that doesn't have much change in seasons, I LOVE sunny hot weather but I don't think the holidays would feel the same without cold, gray, wet, miserable weather. lol.

So since I haven't felt ready for the holidays I decided to decorate our place just a little early. I only decorated our table, we decided not to get a Christmas tree this year since we will be gone- we will be in Alaska the 17th -27th. So I felt decorating early would be warranted :)


Scented pine cones! I smelled them when I walked into the grocery store and couldn't resist!


Chopped these red berry things that I bought an a clearance sale after Christmas last year... not sure if they are suppose to be cranberries or what


DISNEYLAND!!


The Fam out to dinner!


At the San Diego Zoo!

So much to do, so little time!!

It has been a while since I last updated the blog!! We have been so busy lately. Colin and I have been leading "small" group for young adults at our church this fall (I put small in quotes because we have almost 30 people in the group!). It has been pretty awesome, we are making some great relationships and growing closer the Lord everyday. In the beginning we were both a little hesitant to be in leadership positions like this, but wow, it really has been great so far! We are excited to see were it goes as we continue on!

Last Sunday I completed my first half marathon!! I don't think I could have picked a harder one to do for my first. The first 3 miles were almost completely up hill! And on top of that it was POURING, and windy and cold. It was almost totally miserable. But about half through it I started feeling pretty good and when I finished I felt so accomplished! I think it will be a while before I do another but I am definitely glad I did it!!

Today I am spending most of the day packing for our California trip! We leave bright and early tomorrow morning! I can't wait! I so need a vacation!!!! We're going with most of my family to celebrate my Grandma's 80th birthday. We will be staying in Oceanside which is in between San Diego and LA. We plan on going to Disneyland, the San Diego zoo, shopping, hanging out with family and relaxing by the pool!! We'll post pictures soon :)

Changing Seasons

Happy Fall Everyone! Tomorrow is the official first day of autumn and boy does it feel like it! Leaves are changing color and falling! It's practically pitch black out when I get up in the morning and the air is starting to have that fall crispness to it...and most importantly Starbucks is promoting pumpkin spice lattes and toffee mochas :) It's a new season! For Colin it is a new season in his life as well. Today is his last day working for the City of Portland, this is the longest position he has had since he graduated college, and it has given him so much experience. Hopefully enough for him to find a full time permanent position...what would that be like?! It seems twice a year we find ourself in this spot where the future is unknown. It has been these times when we realize how much we need to rely on the Lord and let him show us how great he is. We've also learned our lessons in managing money through these times. This time is not nearly as scary since we have gotten our budget down to work with just one income, it's just inconvenient because it means we won't be able to pay as much on our debt! We appreciate your prayers we try to figure the "what's next"!


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. -Jeremiah 29:11

Life Update

Wow, I have been slacking in the Blogging Department!! The last month or so has been jam-packed with fun stuff!!

At the end of August we went backpacking with another couple from our church. We went to the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness next to Eagle Creek. It was wonderful! We didn't see any other people while on our hike and we camped right next to the creek. The weather held up until our hike back to the car it started to a rain a little bit. It was fun to get out and spend a little time with nature :)
All geared up!

The next weekend was our anniversary!!! 2 wonderful years of marriage :) I have to say that sometimes wonder how I got so lucky with Colin. He really is a great husband and a wonderful man of God. I strive to be as good to him as he is to me!!
One of my favorite wedding pics :)

Also during our anniversary weekend my friend Michelle made a spontaneous visit from Idaho! I usually only get to see her once a year but this is number 2 :) She just started selling Premier Designs Jewelry so I put on a party for her last minute so she could write the plane ticket off as a business expense! We went out on the town one night to a Karaoke place called Voice Box for a friends birthday shindig. On the way there we were both saying how we probably wouldn't be singing any songs. But that wasn't the case I think we sang like 20 songs....all songs that took us back to our high school and middle school days (aka boy bands) :)
Me, Michelle & Ashley...singing our hearts out

We spent Labor day weekend in the Ochoco Forest (down by Prineville, OR) at a cabin with Colin's family. It was so fun! We made amazing meals (we were definitely not "roughing" it), played games, took walks and just relaxed.


These last couple weeks I have really been stepping up my 1/2 marathon training. I asked Colin if he would start running with me to keep me going since he isn't training for anything. And it has been great! So far we have done two 4 mile runs at a way faster pace than I am used to and a 7 mile run. I was pretty proud of those 7 miles!!! It's been a while since I was able to make it that far! I still have a little over a month left until the big day, I know I can do it!

This last weekend our church had a free concert with Warren Barfield. I had never heard of him before this, but he was AWESOME!!! And I actually did know a couple of his songs. One of them was featured in the movie Fireproof (great movie by the way). So we bought all 3 of his CDs. Below is a link to a song you may recognize if you've seen Fireproof... enjoy :) "Love is Not a Fight"

Robert A Sachse 11/14/1927 - 8/16/2010 R.I.P.

On more of sad note, my grandpa (my mom's dad) passed away on Monday of this week. It was pretty sudden. He was riding his bike down at the harbor (like he did everyday) and fell and broke his hip. He was rushed to the VA Hospital and then he started experiencing heart failure and had to be put on life support. His kidney's started to shut down a couple days later. The doctors said he probably would not live without being on life support and he passed away a few days later. In a way it is almost better that he didn't have to live for weeks or months on life support. His quality of life up to this point was pretty good and the last thing he did was what he loved doing...riding his bike. The timing is kind of crazy since we have a trip already booked to go down and visit them in California in November. It will still be good to go down and visit my grandma, and have family around her during this time. Just wish we could have gone down sooner so Colin could have a chance to meet him.

Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
-1 Thessalonians 4:17-18

Lake Steven's Tri & other fun things from the weekend :)

This last weekend we headed up to the Seattle area for Colin's last triathlon of the year! I think he has been feeling a little burnt out and he was just ready to get it over with. This was the first major Ironman sponsored triathlon that he has done. So all the famous pro-triathletes were there. It was kind of cool! And the course was actually set up pretty well so I could get a few pictures. This was definitely more organized than some of the smaller races we have been to!


Starting out on the run!

Looking good on the bike!

Finishing strong! Way to go!!!

Happy to be done!

When we got to Seattle we went with our friends to an outdoor bike races. Then Saturday we went to a Seahawks game. It was pretty fun and our seats were like 2nd row. I have never been to an NFL game...it was only pre-season, but still pretty cool.

Friske's & Kambak's outside Quest field for the Seahawks game!

How is it August already?

I cannot believe it is already August!! I am hoping for a long indian summer to make up for all the dreary weather we had in June. So now Colin and I are hoping to fit in a few trips to take advantage of the weather while it's here! This weekend we may go camping, just for a night or go to the beach. I vote for the beach, I like to camp but the weekend of August 21st we are going backpacking with another couple from church and labor weekend we are going on a camping trip with some of Colin's fam, so the beach sounds good to me :). Colin has his last tri for the season the weekend of August 14th, in Lake Stevens Washington. We will be staying with our friends Brian & Elisa again, they are so nice to let us come stay with them every time we are up there!!! And our 2 year anniversary is on the 29th of this month!! I'm not sure if we are going to for sure yet, but we both kind of wanted to head up to Wild Waves (a water/amusement park) in Tacoma for the day! I haven't been there in years! That is our tentative plan.

We have lots to look forward to! The other night we booked plane tickets to San Diego for November. We will be heading down there with my family to celebrate my grandma's (my mom's mom) 80th birthday. Colin has not met this side of the family so it will be fun and I haven't been down to see family since I was a sophomore in college. We will be going to Disneyland (Colin has never been!!), the San Diego zoo, hopefully surfing and other fun stuff!

For Christmas this year are going to Sitka! It will have been 2 years since we were there last. First we are going to make a stop off in Anchorage and see Ashlee, Brian & the twins for a few days. Should be a fun trip. Though I really love the sun and the summer I am looking forward to our winter trips :)

Bye Bye Bank of America!!!!

We have finally paid off our car! WOOO HOO!! No more payments to Bank of America. ever. again. Now we just got to start plugging away at our student loans :) It looks sexier, now that it is totally paid for :) lol

Fun times!

The last few weekends have been packed full of fun times with great friends!! I absolutely love having a full schedule, I can't get enough of it. Last weekend I decided to take a couple days off of work and give myself a 4-day weekend so we could fit in seeing everyone that was in town. That Friday we drove out to the airport and picked up our friends Clay and Cara. Originally we weren't going to be able to hang out with them, but their flight came in like 6 hours late (apparently that can happen when you are flying from a tiny town in Alaska), so we were able to hang out and go to happy hour at Stanford's. It was fun! That night we had a game night with my friend Sarah, her fiance Lance and our new friends Geraldine & Bryan (and their adorable little boy, Bradley).

Saturday we met up with Becka, Brian (who was here from Alaska), Clint & Katie (who came up from Medford) and went to the International Beer Festival in the Pearl. It was fun, and hot. That night we went to Forest Grove where Brian & Ashlee and their boys were staying for the week and hung out and had a bon fire until late that night.

Sunday we went to church with my family. It was fun to go there since I hadn't seen a lot of those people in a while, then we went out to lunch at the Spaghetti Factory with my sister, she was in town from San Antonio (yes, it seemed like everyone decided this was a good weekend to come to Portland :)) Then we headed out to Shute Park in Hillsboro for a picnic that Becka and I put together for our college friends to get together and see Brian & Ashlee and the boys. It's always hard to come in to town and try to see all your friends individually, there is just never enough time. So getting everyone together in one spot was great!

Katie & Clint w/ Lucas

Becka & Lucas

That night Becka, Nate, Clint & Katie came back to our place to hang out at our pool and have a BBQ. Katie & Clint stayed with us that night before heading back to Medford. Then Monday I spent the day with my sister, we went shopping downtown and on NW 23rd. That is one of my favorite things to do, especially when the weather is SOO nice!

Then this weekend I took Friday off and we had Brian & Ashlee over for their last night before heading up to Seattle to see family. We took the boys swimming and then we all went out to Chevy's for dinner. It was a great way to end their visit! We can't wait to see them again, and hopefully 2 more years won't go by before seeing them. I think we have decided to go up to Sitka for Christmas this year and doing a stop off in Anchorage to them.

Me with Adam! How cute is this little guy!?


The Cook Clan :)

Saturday I worked for my dad's business and Colin finished up a tile job that he did for one of his co-workers. So we made some extra $$ and put it straight on our car!! We only have a little over $100 dollars left on the car (which will be paid this Thursday!!) and then we only have our student loans to pay off!!! Yay! Yesterday we did some planning and we could probably pay those off in a year and a half!! Becoming debt free is getting more and more exciting. We decided once we are debt free we will plan our next vacation. I think we both agreed we would like to go to Cancun or the Bahamas, somewhere tropical for sure. So now we just got to buckle down and get them out of our lives forever!


Yesterday was a nice relaxing Sunday, we went to church and then I went to our pool for about 2 hours while Colin did some training for his triathlon. Then at about 7pm we decided to paint our apartment. We have had the paint for probably a month and have been talking about painting since we moved in over a year ago! We were done painting by 8:30pm and it was dry by 10pm so we could put everything back in its place! It was really fun. The color is called Oat, but it turned out a little more yellow than I was thinking it would be. But I guess it's better than white!


We did a lot of eating out with all the friends we have had in town so my diet has not gone very well these last couple weeks. I am happy to get back into our normal routine and get back to the diet.

Recipes!

So it has been about 2 full weeks of being on my diet and it hasn't been all that bad. I will say I have not followed it perfectly and have discovered my major weakness (which I already knew) Starbucks coffee drinks! I can have coffee, but it's the milk and sugar that I'm not suppose to have. So I am slowly weening myself from them ;) The easiest way for my to stick to the diet is to basically have the same things everyday. Typical day: Egg scramble w/ cheddar, tomatoes & green onions for breakfast; fruit for morning snack; Tuna salad with pickle for lunch; nuts & dried fruit for afternoon snack; and grilled chicken with some type of steamed veggies or a salad for dinner.

So at the beginning I decided to try to make some baked goods with almond flour and coconut flour and none of them have turned out very good. So I have pretty much given up on that. But I have discovered a couple really good recipes posted below!

Homemade pesto- Just throw all of the following in a blender, we had it over grilled chicken.

huge bunch fresh basil
2 tablespoons pine nuts
3 cloves garlic
pinch of salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Homemade salad dressing- My salads have included Romaine Lettuce, Roma tomatoes, red onions, avocados & cucumbers- Loading up the veggies!! Throw the following in the blender. I will say this dressing only lasts a day or two in the fridge, the olive oil eventually becomes solid....maybe I shouldn't be keeping it in the fridge..?? haha

2/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 small clove garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons orange peel, grated
1 1/2 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste

I will keep you all updated on other yummy things I discover while doing this diet. I will say that even though it's only been a couple weeks I have noticed a difference in the a way I feel. And I pay for it big time when I deviate!!

We have been eating so much chicken tonight we are going to try making some ground beef and using lettuce as a "taco shell" We'll see how it goes:

SCD Taco Meat

I lb of ground beef
2 -4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 small onion grated (Use fine grate)
1 tsp cumin
½ cayenne or Chipotle chili pepper
salt to taste

Brown beef in olive oil. Add garlic and onion. Try to collect onion juice and put into pan, too. Add cumin, cayenne and salt to taste.

Serve with romaine lettuce leaves (as taco shells), cheddar, homemade salsa


And we are going to try the recipe below to made our homemade salsa. Basically chop and mix the ingredients below and let sit for an hour before serving!

5 Roma tomatoes
1 white onion
1 clump of cilantro
3 tomatillos
1/2 a lime
1/2 tsp. of salt
pinch of paprika
dash of olive oil (optional)

Ocean Shores Tri

This last weekend we made the trip up to Washington for the Ocean Shores Triathlon. We first went to Yelm to pick up my brother Tim from a camp he is working at for the summer and then drove to the beach. This was a great triathlon to watch, it was fairly small compared to some of the others we have been to but that made it super easy to get good pictures and be able to see both Tim and Colin at their transitions. As always this triathlon got me thinking about doing one....I think I might just start doing more spin classes and lap swimming at the gym and kind of pretend like I'm training for one. Then when I actually get a bike I might just sign up for one.

Colin was the second person out of the water, he really did great on the swim! Since he was out of the water so fast the race officials didn't have everyone out directing them where to go on the bike, so Colin missed a turn and ended up going about 4 miles out of the way! But he still did great and improved by almost a half an hour from last year. He got 1st in his age group and 14th overall!



After the triathlon we drove to Yelm and dropped off my brother and then headed to Olympia to hang out with our good friends Brian & Ashlee, they are down here visiting from Alaska and we haven't seen them since our wedding!! It was kind of a spontaneous visit and I am really glad it worked out. We got to meet their 8 month old twin boys. They are the cutest little things ever!!


Here I am holding Lucas and Ashlee is with Adam :)

Blogs

So I have a few blog obsessions. I've had fun googling "design blogs" or something like that and seeing what comes up.

The first blog is one that Colin's cousin was recently featured in, it is called Apartment Therapy. It is pretty cool and highlights some of the cool ways people have set up their apartments. And since I am all about apartment living right now it's a cool place to get some ideas! Here is the link to the feature: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/dc/house-tours/kims-personalized-mount-pleasant-flat--120264


The next one is called Oh Joy! I came across this blog when it was listed as one of the top 10 home design blogs to check out. I really like the style of things on this one: http://ohjoy.blogs.com/


This last one is a blog as well as a newsletter you can subscribe to through e-mail. It's called GOOP and is actually created by Gwyneth Paltrow. One of my co-workers was talking about this one time and I had to check it out. It has everything from fashion, food and entertainment. http://goop.com/

Fun in the sun!

Well, the little sun that there was this last weekend, we had fun in :) This week we are finally getting some heat! and believe me, I'm not complaining! I get to enjoy the sun from my office and by the time I get off work it's still warm enough to enjoy some sun poolside :)

This last weekend Colin & I both got to enjoy a nice 4-day weekend for 4th of July! We went to a wedding Saturday night, at the Overlook House, where we got married! It was fun to go back! Then on the 4th we went out to Scappoose to hang out with my grandparents and my parents for a BBQ. Then Monday Colin & I spent most of the day at Ikea & other home stores to buy a few new things for our place. We bought new curtains, new pillows for our couch & for our bed, new bedding, a new lamp and some kitchen gadgets! It was way fun! Of course we spent more money than either of us were planning on, but it was worth it!!

This was a difficult weekend to start my diet, I think I did ok considering. At the wedding I tried just to eat the veggies, and fruit, but I had a little of the breaded chicken too. At my grandma's BBQ I did pretty well, I only ate fruit and some shrimp, and Monday while we were out shopping we stopped at Red Robin cause that was about the only place around that would be close to having anything I could eat and I got a salad with a vinaigrette dressing on the side- but really I wanted big honkin burger w/ fries. Yes, this is going to be hard. I've decided it will probably be best if I stop obsessing about it and not get so worried if I slip up here and there, that will help with quality of life...

This weekend we are headed out to Ocean Shores, WA for another triathlon! This is a big one for Colin- a half Iron Man, 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run! And my brother will also be racing in the triathlon. He is doing the Olympic distance which is .9 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike and 6.2 mile run! I am excited to be able to cheer both of them on. When looking at the race they also have 5k, 10k and half marathons. If I knew that sooner I would have signed up for a run!

Serving Others

Our small group completed a service project last night, we helped do some much needed yard work for an older couple that goes to the church. It was so fun to get together and do something for someone else! God has really been laying that on my heart lately. I am a selfish person, I can say pretty confidently that we are all selfish. Jesus was all about serving others and just participating in relationships with others. I think we often forget that and we stay in our own little worlds doing whatever we want and not taking the time to love our neighbors! Here is a pic of the crew. It's a little blurry...



Memory Verse for the week:
Hebrews 12:1-2
1-Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

2-We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

Trying the diet

So a couple days ago Colin and I decided to go to New Season (grocery store) and buy a few things to start the diet. We bought some almond milk which was the only new thing. We had to buy the unsweetened kind because I can't have anything with added sugar, but I decided to get vanilla thinking it would be better. When I got home I tried a little and it was probably the most disgusting thing ever!!!! Colin's co-worker told him that just the regular almond milk is way better than the flavored kind. But I don't usually just drink a glass of milk anyway, so I think it will be ok in things. This morning I put a little in my coffee and it wasn't so bad. Yesterday I tried to eat according to the diet but that is going to be very hard without doing a total makeover of our fridge/pantry. I had eggs and a banana for breakfast, a spinach salad with a homemade olive oil/red wine vinegar dressing, an apple, & cheese slices. For dinner we had grilled chicken and steamed brocoli. Doesn't sound too bad, right?! But we had our bible study and I had 2 cookies....so yeah. It's gonna be hard. I think it will be easier if I plan my meals out ahead of time and make all my baked goods like every sunday or something like that...

Wedding season is in full swing. My cousin Shannon got married 2 weekends ago, that same weekend we celebrated my friend Sarah's engagement (Sarah and I have been best friends since 1st grade! So happy for her and her soon-to-be hubby!!), then this last weekend I got to be in a wedding for my friend Molly. Molly and I met while working together at the pool during high school, we have a lot of fun memories of spending our summers together working! Her husband, Blaine and I actually went to Pacific together and then she randomly met him through some friends and found out that he knew me, it's a small world!! She made an incredibly gorgeous bride and Colin and I had a fun time dancing the night away at their wedding!

This last Saturday, Colin was doing some bike training and he got hit by a car! This is exactly why I have not started biking, the cars scare me! He was going pretty fast in the bike lane and going past some cars when one of them did not have their turn signal on and decided to turn right, right when he was passing and they collided. Colin was pretty lucky, he just had a few scrapes and bruises but nothing broken and his bike was fine. The people felt horrible and gave him a ride home, it happened only a couple blocks from our apartment. I was on my way home from working for my dad and I see this car in front of me with the trunk wide open and a bike sticking out that looks like Colin's. So of course I follow them straight into our apartments, I had no idea what to think!!! But things could have been a lot worse and I'm just glad he's OK.

My half marathan training has taken the back burner with all the stuff we've had going on lately, I'm hoping tonight I will change that and get out for a nice run! Also, I have been considering doing a complete overhaul on my diet. I have had a disease called ulcerative colitis since I was 8 and I've been on and off medication since I was diagnosed depending on the state of my condition. I recently had to go back on medication and my mother-in-law sent me a book about a diet for people with digestive diseases such as mine, and my doctor had suggested I make some changes in my diet. I have been reluctant to read it because I HATE going on diets, but I have a completly different reason for going on this diet, it's not to lose weight but to better my overall health. So, I might give it a try, but it is very restrictive. Basically it is eliminating all disacharide and polysaccharide carbohyrdates since these require extra breakdown in the digestive tract. These are found in pastas, breads, rice, starches, anything sweetened with sugar (sucrose), no soy, most all dairy (no lactose). So that's pretty much everything I eat...haha. I can have pretty much all meats (no hotdogs or anything that has been processed), fruits, vegetables, honey, juices that have no added sugar, nuts, almond milk, real butter...and lots of homemade stuff. The book has a whole section of recipes, homemade ketchup, yogurt, breads, muffins, etc. So we will see. I think the hardest thing will be getting Colin on board and the expense....but I feel like it might not be that much more expensive if we are making most of the stuff I eat...and I like to cook and bake, so that's good. No chocolate or my sweet coffee drinks, giving those up will be a challenge!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday to all! I am very excited for the forecast for the next week or so, clear, sunny and in the 80's! That's my kind of weather! My goal for today: Go to the gym- run!!! I have been a MAJOR slacker in the exercise department of my life and I need to ramp it up a bit. I'm hoping the sunshine will bring some much needed energy & motivation!

Wedding season has officially begun! Tomorrow we will be celebrating with my Dad's side of the family for my cousin Shannon's wedding! I am so excited for her and her soon-to-be hubby, Nathan!!

I am next on the list to choose the book for my book group! I need suggestions!! One book I've heard is good is, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, it's written from the perspective of an autistic boy who loses his dad on 9/11. Has anyone read it?

New Things

So Colin and I have been asked to lead a young adults group through the summer for our church, I have been helping with a women's group and we decided to go co-ed through the summer and Colin is our men's leader! Last Wednesday was our first one and Colin was the only guy, so he got to hang out with about 8 girls! He's a good sport :) Last night 2 other guys came, which was really cool, it's hard to get young men to go to a church group...so we are working hard on reaching out. And Colin is great at that, he really is able to connect with people and make them feel like their job or their major in college or whatever they do is awesome. I am excited for the accountability and growth this will bring in our relationship with God.

Each week we will have a memory verse, which is great because I haven't done this since high school youth group. The girls and guys will break off for connection and prayer time and then we will come together and do some type of activity; play a game, go to the park, do a service project etc.

Memory verse for the week: "Each time he said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Exhausted!

It's Monday again (it always comes too fast!) and we spent the weekend in the Seattle area for Colin's first triathlon of the year...and I am absolutely EXHAUSTED!!! I need another 3 day weekend to make up for it! Friday I took the day off of work and we headed out of the house around 9:00am and made it to Kirkland around noon. We spent the rest of the day registering Colin & his friend Brian for the tri and then stopping at a couple triathlon stores..that was tiring, it would be like Colin having to tag along with me and a friend while we shopped for clothes and home decor! So I was tired, then Saturday was the big day we got up around 4:50 and got ready to head out by 5:30. At least the weather was nice! But there were torrential down pours the night before so it was SO muddy!!! The running course had to be re-routed due to flooding in the park where they were suppose to run, but I guess it worked out all right. The water temperature in the lake was 59 degrees, which is pretty darn cold!! Usually it's warmer but since it has been such a cold spring it hasn't had time to warm up. The water temp slowed Colin down in his swim, but he still did great! He had a great bike time and a great run time! I am proud of him :) It did make me want to do one...someday...when I get a bike. For now I will swim & bike at the gym and hopefully it will stop raining so I can do some outdoor running!


Colin and Brian after crossing the finish line. Nice work, boys!!


Colin and I after his finish

Lately it feels like we have been spending money all over the place and we haven't made much progress on our debt so we decided to purge a few things and make some extra cash! We posted 2 mountain bikes (that seriously never get used), our leather chair, our TV stand, a wine cooler we have no place for and dvd/surround sound system to sell on Craig's List. So far we have sold 1 of the bikes, the chair, the tv stand and the wine cooler, for a total of $400 extra dollars to go towards paying off our car. Yes, we are crazy!!! But it's all just stuff and someday we can buy all that stuff back when we aren't in debt and actually have cash to pay for it. And our apartment feels much bigger now! It's kind of a good feeling not to be attached or feel like the stuff we have defines who we are.

Ok, so now I am going to talk about some stuff...haha. Below is my shoe pick for the month of June. I haven't even gotten them yet and I'm already re-considering. I saw a pictures of girls who got them and they were SO cute, but they are a 3 inch heel and I am starting to get the sandal bug.

What do you think!?

Here are a few other options I could exchange them for if I'm really not feeling them when I get them.

These ones are a little different, but I kinda like them....



And these are cute too...but I'm also not sure about spending $40 for sandals. I found a really cool website, www.urbanog.com they have some really cute sandals in styles that I have seen for really expensive, but they are cheap! Which may mean cheap quality as well. Wow, the desicions I have to make in my life!!!

Oh Monday...

Today has just been one of those weird I'm not myself kind of day. Well, it doesn't help that it is Monday and that the weather has been unseasonably cold!! But I made it through the work day and now I am just trying to make some dinner, have a glass of wine and unwind. Maybe try to continue in my next book club book, "Love in the Time of Cholera." I have tried to read this book before and I didn't get very far, so I am attempting again. I got the book from the library about a week ago and I think I'm 2 pages in....anyone have any words of encouragement on this book to keep me going?! I am sure it will get better, I have been told it is good.


So, I have another obsession to add to the list. After getting my facial last weekend, I went online and purchased the face cleanser she used, it is amazing...Eminence Soy Blueberry! The product line is all organic and the flavors are so good. After using the cleanser for a couple days I decided I had to get the moisturizer too...so I did, and the best part with each order they send a couple samples! Yay! So much for cutting back on our spending....next month :)

We had a wonderful sunny Birthday weekend for Colin and now it feels like it should be October! It's cold and rainy...not cool!! I did get to enjoy the sun this last weekend.. Friday after work I laid out by our pool for a good hour or two, then Saturday I did a walk for Pregnancy Resource Center's in Portland with my women's group, then I had an appointment for a facial and laser skin treatment....probably the weirdest thing ever!! I think I was suppose to be given eye protection for the laser treatment, but I she didn't give me anything. so at one point the red and purple lights were flashing so fast and so bright I thought I might have a seizure...haha. It felt like every muscle in my face was twitching...really strange. But my skin looked nice afterwards...the things we go through for beauty! lol. Then that night I had my book club meeting (book review below). Colin's birthday was on Sunday, I felt kind of bad because I had so many things going on I hardly saw him on Saturday, so I told him Sunday was his day to do whatever! But it was my week to help with the coffee cart at church, so after that it was his day!! His parents got him a GPS system so we decided to drive around and try it out. We went to a bike shop so he could spend some of his birthday moolah on some gear (he is definitely a gear head, I think he had all of the top of the line gear before he even did his first triathlon! haha), then he decided he wanted to drive to the beach and have dinner there, but on the way he saw the sign for the Rogue Brewery and we decided to stop there instead for some burgers. Wasn't the most eventful birthday but I think he still enjoyed it.


I finished the reading "The Art of Racing in The Rain" and I really enjoyed it. It is written from the family dog's perspective...I have never had a dog so I wouldn't say I connected so much as maybe someone who is a "dog person" but I thought it was a cool way to tell a story! The story itself is sad and has somewhat of a cliche ending. It's a quick read and I would recommend it! And I hear it is soon to be a movie, which I will definitely go see!

Also, I just received the wedges from below and I love them!! They are the perfect height not too tall and the perfect color red! I am wearing them right now :) I just wish I could be wearing them with a white sundress instead of with pants!! C'mon summer!! Also, an exciting update with Shoedazzle they are now adding handbags! So now you can choose a bag or a pair of shoes each month or both!!!!!!! What else does a girl need?!?!!? Can you tell I am a little obsessed?!

Here Comes The Sun!!

Yay! It couldn't feel more like spring/almost summer!! The sun is out, it's going to reach about 75 and I am going to spend my afternoon break getting a half-priced Starbucks frappuccino during their happy hour! What could be better than that?? Maybe if I was off work and actually got to enjoy the sun...yeah that would be much better!

So I received the sandals from my previous post and one of the top straps came twisted and it was sewn in that way, so I sent them back and I am getting these ones instead. One of my co-workers ordered these in a tan color and they were soo cute! I am going with the red to add a little color to my summer wardrobe!


Ok, that is all for now :)

Can it just be summer already?!

It is May already! But it sure doesn't feel like it, in fact some areas of Portland got some fluffy white stuff yesterday....in my book that is not cool. haha. I am so ready for the pool to be open at our apartment (and 80 degree weather) so I can come home from work and lounge by the pool with a book until the sun goes down :)

I have FINALLY uploaded the pictures from Colin's trail race, below. I am constantly amazed by Colin's athletic ability!! I have never been very athletic, I try...but even when trying my hardest I don't think I would ever be awesome, but Colin can accomplish things without much training. I honestly think he could be a professional triathlete! Ok, I will probably never see him again after saying that because he will be training non-stop to reach that goal...haha :)


Before the race!


The crazy runners!! I was just fine being the photographer on the sidelines :)


The big finish! WHOO HOO!!!


Ok, so I joined that shoe club, and I received by April shoes (the heels from my last post) and I absolutely LOVE them!! It's called ShoeDazzle in case anyone is interested!! Here is a picture of the shoes I chose for the month of May. Yes, I got sandals because I am SO ready for it to be sandal weather!


So some new things that are going on...I was asked to help lead my small women's group that I go to for church. I've been going to this group for almost a year now so I know the girls pretty well, but the thought of leading was really scary to me! Am I good enough for this, do I know the bible well enough, how will the other girls react to me taking on this role..yadda yadda.. But the thing is, is that I have been comfortable at where I am at in my "walk with God" and I haven't really moved from that comfort zone, so I think it is time. I think doing this will add a whole new level of accountability to my life, and keep me on track. I've already help lead the last 2 weeks and it has been pretty easy, I mean this is a group of 8 girls, when girls get together we like to talk, so I don't have to say much at all! haha.

Life is good!

Fun Stuff

I have been kind of blogger-slacker lately. Honestly I have been waiting to blog for after I upload the photos from Colin's last race. But my camera is at home and I usually only have time to blog during lunch while I'm at work. So expect pictures in the near future :)
I have started to seriously train for an upcoming run...yes, I was inspired after Colin ran his 20.3 mile trail run in just over 3 hours!! We decided to do a run in Eugene, there is a 20k, which Colin will be running and a 10k which I will be running! I was super motivated to go run the other day, but it was raining so I decided to do a treadmill run at the gym and I made it a whopping 2 miles....not so good. Last night I ran over 4 miles at the gym and this Friday I am hoping to run outside with a friend and make it 5 miles...we will see :)
I have been indulging in a few guilty pleasures lately...first off, I have finished Twilight and I am 2 chapters away from finishing New Moon. I am really excited to get to the next book because I have not seen the movie, I saw both of the first movies before reading the books, but honestly I wouldn't say it ruined the books, it just gave more details!! Which is fun! Colin thinks I am insane for getting so into these books! haha. I can't tell him that he has to read them to understand because I am sure he won't like them like I do. I think I will read the third book and then take a break to read my next book club book, which is "The Art of Racing in the Rain" it looks so good. It is written from the family dog's perspective and I think they are making a movie out of it, which explains why there was such a huge waiting list at the library....I may just have to buy it.
The second indulgence....I signed for a shoe club. Yes, that is right!! I will be getting a new pair of shoes every month. Well, I ordered my first pair and if I like them and there is no hassel I will continue with it. It's cool though because you fill out a survey of styles that you like and then every month they will send you 5 shoes to choose from based on your survey and you can always opt out of the month if you don't like any of the shoes (or you can tell them if you are looking for something specific that month) or if you don't want to spend the money...it is $40 per pair with free shipping. These are the shoes I picked for April they will be nice to wear to work. I am hoping to at least get a couple of each style, heels, sandals, flats, boots etc.!


And Colin thinks it's cool too. He has gotten some fun toys as well, including an aero helmet for his triathlons, I will post a picture of that soon too!

I thought I would update you all on things....not that there is a whole lot to update on...haha. My life stays pretty much the same, but I just change up how or what I am doing. I guess... does this make any sense at all!?!? Anyway, I have pictures below of our apartment, and projects that I have started working on. I just recently purchased something called "e-mealz" this is a subscription where they send you a weekly dinner menu and grocery list, each week uses the groceries for multiple meals. So far it has been great, well I have only made one of the meals, I was going to make one last night but Colin surprised me by bringing home pizza and bread sticks...I do love pizza, but I was excited about starting this plan. Also, I took the list and did the grocery shopping and it only cost a grand total of $30 for an entire week of meals! I shopped at Winco though, so that made it really cheap. But at that cost I can substitute in some really great gourmet ingredients from Whole Foods or Trader Joes :). Or stick with cheap to really cut down our budget and pay off our debt!! The funny thing is that my mom has been telling me about this meal planner that she has been making for me (since I got married), and since planning out meals and grocery shopping efficiently is the hardest thing for me I decided just to buy the "e-mealz" subscription since I wasn't sure if I would really ever get the planner from my mom, but of course this last weekend she finally gave it to me. Isn't that how life works! So I am going to use a combination of both...I will update you on how it is working for us!

So just last night I jumped on the band wagon and began reading "Twilight" and I couldn't put it down! haha. Colin was getting a little frustrated that I was so consumed in the book, but he had the NCAA finals to keep him busy. I am actually trying to read it as fast as I can because I have a book I need to read for my book group in a week and a half! The book for the group is call "The Widow Clicquot: The story of a campaign empire and the women who ran it" I think it is based on a true story and it's not a huge read so I should be able to get it done.

This weekend we will be taking another weekend trip! We are going to Central Oregon for a race Colin is doing, a 19 mile trail run!! Talk about crazy! The race is in Sisters but we will be staying with Colin's aunt Kim in Prineville. Colin's friend Joe and his girlfriend Morgan will be running it as well. And I will be cheering them on! No 19 mile run for me, that is basically as hard as a marathon!! I have been extremely lazy lately. It has been very hard to drag myself to the gym. I have a lot of things going on so when I don't have something going on all I want to do is have a nice night at home where I can cook a good meal and read!! Hopefully when the weather gets nice I will get inspired to run more outside.


Here is my little herb garden that I attempted. I ended up buying a variety pack of herb seeds, BIG mistake. Things started sprouted up all over and I had NO idea what anything was....so I got rid of it and I'm going to start it again with only one type of herb per pot!!!!



My dad was nice enough to build me this cubby/shelf that I was hoping to mount on the wall, but it is too big. So it is resting on the counter for now.



We have tried to find creative ways to use these vases from our wedding...
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This is our entry table that could use a little work, Colin's stereo is on it and it doesn't even work...it's ugly! One of my future decorating projects!

All things Idaho!

This last weekend Colin, our good friend Becka and I made the trip out to Boise Idaho for our college friend's (Clint) wedding. I love going to weddings! And especially when I can turn it into an excuse to hang out and see some of your best friends!! One of my best friends from college lives in Caldwell Idaho with her husband, we only get to see them about once a year, but they are so much fun to hang out with and they love to give you a true "country" experience!! Here are some fun pictures that capture the events of the weekend.



Colin and I at Clint's wedding. and yes, his beard is getting just a little out of control!


The day after the wedding we went out to a place called Leslie Gultch to fish. Here are the girls, Michelle, me and Becka!


With Michelle and Andrew our wonderful Hosts!


Hey look, I caught a fish!! If you can't tell from the picture I was pretty excited :)

One thing we didn't catch on camera were the wild mustangs that we drove around to find. They have a refuge for them and it was so cool to see! Wish we could have gotten close to take some pics!

That is all for now from this adventure. There will be many more to come. We are planning a bunch of fun trips. In a couple weeks we will be driving down to the Bend area for a 19 miles trial run that Colin is doing. We are possibly going up to Sitka at the end of May. And we will be headed up to Seattle at the begining of June for a triathlon. Looking forward to some spring/summer fun and good weather!

Forward Motion

I am titling this blog after one of my fave songs right now. I usually will have a favorite song and listen to it on repeat constantly until it starts to drive me crazy. haha! I should end that crazy cycle. Anyway, I am going to try and post it on here for you to enjoy as well. It's got kind of a cool rock vibe, which isn't always my favorite, but I love it! (Ok, I can't figure out how to post a video or a link to a video...help!!)


I have many things in the coming months that I am looking forward to, that will help me move in a "forward motion" (I had to tie it all in ;)). First off, Colin and I going up to Seattle this weekend to visit some friends. Colin's friend that he grew up with in Sitka, Brian and his wife Elisa live up there. Colin and Brian are both into triathlons, so it will be good for Colin to have a training buddy for the weekend, and it will just be nice to get away!

In 2 weeks we will be making the drive out to Boise for our friend Clint's wedding and we'll be staying with my friend Michelle. I am super excited for the wedding and to spend some time with Michelle and her husband Andrew. Ever since she transfered from Pacific after our freshman year we have made it a point to visit each other every year. Usually it is a spring break trip, since she and her husband are both teachers, this is going to be very quick trip only for a weekend, but it is better than nothing!

Then we have 2 weddings in June, my cousin is getting married (very excited for them!!) and then I am in a wedding for one of my good friends that I worked with at the pool through high school. Weddings are always fun! I love celebrating love :)

Then in July our good friends Brian and Ashlee, from college will be down visiting from Alaska! We haven't seen them since our wedding and they have since had 2 beautiful twin boys!

So lots of fun with good friends!

Project Update!

So in some of my earlier posts I posted pictures of all my ambitious ideas I wanted to do in our small apartment. I have actually only completed a couple of them and that is the little grocery list clip board & I printed out the freezer labels. Probably the easiest ones from the list. haha. I continually add projects to this list, but I haven't been able to accomplish many of them because we have decided not to give ourselves allowance until we get the car paid off. Hopefully it will only take 2 more months! Then maybe I can negotiate "back pay" with Colin. haha. Just kidding, that would kind of defeat the purpose of giving it up in the first place. So the projects will just keep adding up I guess. Here are a few more fun ideas from Design Sponge and Martha!


I want to sew throw pillows! And apparently prints with birds on them are totally in right now :)


Homemade air/drawer freshener


I think this is so neat! It's a jewelery holder made out of wood and painted white. So girly!!


These are three small benches painted and put together to create shelving. I think it looks very Pottery Barn-ish. Probably not something I can do in our current apartment, but someday!


This would be an easy thing to do and free up some space on our coat racks!

Ok, I think that is all for now!! Hopefully in a couple months I will be able to take pictures of some of these projects completed!!