The year is off to a great start! I have been trying to run more using my Nike+. I'm not sure what it is about being able to post my runs on facebook for the world to see but it is SO motivating! I'm hoping to sign up for a few races soon to keep me going.

It has been raining cats and dogs! The last few days we've had threats of a 2012 snow-pocalypse (the weathermen here are SO dramatic :)), but we woke up to maybe a half inch of slush and a downpour. I'm ok with that. I really only like the snow if I don't have to drive in it. Give me 6 feet of snow so I really can't go to work and I'd be fine (as long as its all melted in a few days!)

Colin and I are making a conscious effort to eat better! Pass the fruits and veggies please!! We've made some really fun things. One thing that I think everyone should try are Kale chips! Toss some chopped up Kale with olive oil and garlic salt, bake @450 for about 15 minutes and you've got yourself some really delicious and healthy chips!! Seriously, try it.

We started a new bible study series with our small group last Sunday. I think it's gonna be good! We have a few new people which is always exciting. For the next 12 weeks are doing a series called "Called" from Campus Crusades for Christ. Really looking forward to it.

Anyway, that is all for now.

2012!

Wow, talk about blog neglect! I cannot believe it is 2012 and in some ways I can't believe it is only 2012, my job at Nike has me working in future seasons, we are currently working on the Summer 2013 line! It gets me all confused.

December was a great month. 2 weeks after coming home from our Arizona trip we went to Vegas. We had a blast!! I don't think either of us have done so much walking in our lives (except maybe when I lived in Europe)! We had a lot of fun walking through all the different hotels with their different themes. Seeing the fountain at the Bellagio was my favorite! We went with my best friend Michelle and her husband and their good friends Mark and Alex. They all went to the National Finals Rodeo and Colin and I went to see Ka a Cirque de Soliel show. It was awesome. My sister is living in the Vegas area now so we were able to meet up with her and get chauffeured around town a little! It was way fun.

The group

My sister, Tawnya & I

When we got back home it was all about Christmas. We had a pretty low key Christmas, spent a lot of time with the fam and friends that were in town for the holidays. Nike is closed the week between Christmas and New Years so I enjoyed 10 days off! It was great, I don't think I've ever taken time off work that wasn't for a trip or something. It was really nice and relaxing.

I'm looking forward to the new year! I have the same old goals I do every year; exercise more, eat better, read the bible more, serve at the church more, read more, watch TV less, pay off debt, etc.

We already have some fun things to look forward to in 2012, in May we will be making the trip out east to celebrate Colin's cousins wedding!! We are going to make a vacation out of it and hopefully stay for over a week to visit with family and visit a few of my good friends that live in New York! In June Colin and I are in our good friends, Jesus and Natalie's, wedding! We have been in small groups with them at our church for the last couple years, we are so excited and honored to be a part of their special day! By the end of the year (if all goes according to plan) we should be completly debt free!!

Oh and one last 2012 resolution, write my blog posts!

Ironman, Family & Turkey!

We are back from our Arizona trip! We had a wonderful sunshiny time! Of course, I had to get sick with something the day before we left and was sick mostly the whole time we were gone, but it was still a great trip. The first few days in Arizona were spent checking in Colin's bike, watching him do a practice swim, buying Ironman gear and just mentally preparing for his race! Sunday was the big day and it went amazingly! He finished the swim 5 minutes slower than he was hoping at 1 hour 5 minutes, but then killed it on the bike with a time of 5 hours 37 minutes (more than 20 minutes faster than he was hoping to go)! We missed seeing him on his first bike loop since he was going so fast. We parked it for his run and saw him 3 times! He had a marathon time of 3 hours 47 minutes! only 12 minutes slower than his Seattle marathon time. Giving him an overall time of 10 hours 43 minutes! I couldn't be more proud of him!! No, I did not go sign up to do the Ironman but a smaller triathlon might be on the horizon for me sometime in the future :) I was a horrible photographer for this race, so we did buy a CD of the professional pictures taken. It was worth it!


Best Photo I snapped of Colin starting out on the run!

After the race we spent a night in Sedona with Colin's parents. It was beautiful! The weather was great (mid-seventies) and the scenery was amazing. We headed back to Mesa to spend Thanksgiving with Colin's grandparents and Aunt & Uncle. It was fun, lots of food and good old fashioned games!!



We got home Friday night and then spent Saturday wine tasting with my family. Then Sunday we had a second Thanksgiving dinner with my extended family. I've probably had enough food to last me the next few weeks!! It was a little challenging to get up for work this morning! My clock is definitely not on the 6:30am wake up time! This week I am looking forward to getting back to running a little more. Colin and I are doing the Jingle Bell run this Sunday, it's just a 5k but I haven't been able to get much running in with this dang cold. I've been utilizing the Nike+ and oh my goodness, I LOVE it! Yes, I work for Nike, but this is the best thing ever!

I also was able to squeeze in a little holiday decorating this weekend! Looking forward to getting a tree :) this is definitely the best time of year! I just love Christmas! Here are a few apartment pics of what I've got so far.



Planning to put our tree to the left of the fireplace, we'll probably venture out for one this weekend! (Those curtains are new and way, way too long. I'll be hemming this weekend, maybe sooner since they are driving me crazy!)

Only 1 more week until we leave for Arizona for Colin's Ironman!! This also means a vacation for a week and Thanksgiving! So I cannot wait. I think Colin & I are both ready for him to be done. Training for something this long takes up a TON of time! It will be nice to have a weekend where we aren't planning around 6 hour rides and 3 hour runs!!

Last week I was given a little promotion at work. I am now a Lead for our team! Which is awesome. I love my job!!! Everyday I love going to work! Like today for example, it barely even crossed my mind that it was Friday and a holiday where half the country didn't have to go to work. I lived for the weekend at my last job. This was my prayer when searching for a new job that I would be content where I was. God has blessed beyond belief!

This last weekend was filled with some fun fall festivities! Friday night we had a game night with some of our good friends- Sarah & Lance and Geraldine & Bryan (Sarah and I have been good friends since 1st grade!) It's always fun getting together with old friends :)

Saturday night Colin and I organized a group outing to the Sauvie Island corn maze, with our church group. It was so much fun!! We went through a few times and even got pretty lost.



Colin and I joined a winery! After visiting this winery with every guest that comes into town we finally decided we should just become members! It includes free wine tasting for us and 2 guests at any time (any takers ;)) and every few months we get a shipment of wine and the winery hosts a pick-up party. For this month we enjoyed a hay ride tour through the vines and tried the different wines along the way. When we got back to the tasting room we tried the wines that came in our shipment along with a food pairing. It was pretty fun! And it couldn't have been a more perfect fall day!

Leaves are a fallin

How did it get to be fall already?! This summer went by insanely fast. Probably because we were so incredibly busy! But secretly (even though I am a hot weather girl through & through) I'm kind of liking the rain, yep I said it.

My job at Nike has kept me occupied, I'm starting to feel like a workaholic. There have been a few late nights and weekends, but at least I love my job and love the company I work for (also, loving the overtime pay since I am currently paid hourly)! And I guess this is the time to do that since we don't have kids yet.

Our Financial Peace group has been awesome so far. We obviously love the teachings and have been following for a while, but it's so cool to see other young people get excited about it too! We have about 14 people in the group. Yep, all crammed into our apartment!! It's fun though.

Last weekend Colin and I took a glass blowing class. Thanks to my mother-in-law for the Groupon! It was fun! We made stemless wine glasses, mine turned out a little sad looking. I didn't get enough air when I blew into the glass so it turned out really small and super thick. Also, we had to sping the glass in the fire while the instructor added the color and I wasn't spinning fast/consistenly enough (my arm was getting so tired!) so the color ended up really globby. Colin's turned out perfect. He's the artist in the fam :)



We look like we're enjoying ourselves. that's a good sign!

Also, now that it's starting to rain, it's getting close to the end of gardening season. This was our first year doing a vegetable garden and I had no idea how much we would actually harvest! The other thing I learned is that we are not used to eating that many vegetables!!

One weeks worht of harvest!

Life is good :)

Things have felt pretty busy around our household, the summer has been filled with work, family visits, church events, and physical training (for Colin, not so much for me). We spent last weekend camping at Crater Lake with some good friends from church. It was awesome, the weather was great. I had never been, and that's kind of sad considering I was born and raised in Oregon!


Colin used his photography skills to take this awesome pic of the lake. The water was unbelievably blue!




Some exciting news, Colin found out last week that he is finally getting hired on full time/permanently with the City of Portland! Hooray! We are pretty excited about it! We were planning to be a one income family again for the third time in the 3 years that we've married! Sheesh! So we are pretty happy that we can continue with our financial goals of paying off our debt! This fall all the small groups at our church will be going through Financial Peace University (the Dave Ramsey class) and we are so excited to get to facilitate one of the groups! We love sharing about how much of an impact it has had on our lives with others and it will be a great motivator to keep us going!

We have some fun things coming up, November is Colin's Ironman in Arizona (pray for his training!) it is the weekend before Thanksgiving and Colin's grandparents live down there and his parents will be flying in for the event, so we will be staying a week and spending the holiday with family! I've never been to Arizona, definitely excited to mark that state off my list :)

I've also never been to Nevada and in December we are heading to Las Vegas with our friends, Andrew & Michelle, for Andrew's big 3-0 birthday. It will be quite the experience, but we are looking forward to it.

Well, that's all I've got for now. Life is good :)