The summer is off to a busy start! Our weekends have been filled with fun times with great friends! And our weekdays filled with hard work; it is so exhausting to learn a new job!! So far the job has been great, I feel like I am finally starting to get things and I am not having to ask so many questions. One thing I love about working for Nike are the opportunities to learn about athletes. Last week they had the first viewing of a documentary that was made about Joan Benoit Samuelson, the first woman to win Olympic gold for the marathon. She came out and spoke after the movie- she is amazing. She's in her mid-fifties and still runs 80 miles a week. They also had a few other runners who are hoping to make it to the Olympics come and speak as well, Kara Goucher, Dawn Harper and David Oliver. So cool! Definitely got me inspired to run. I am actually going to be running a half marathon with a friend in just a couple weeks (we'll see how it goes, considering I've had like 4 weeks to train). This last weekend Colin ran the Seattle Rock & Roll Marathon....it was his first marathon and he did awesome! He finished in 3 hours and 35 minutes!! It is a good start to his season because in November he will be doing a Full Ironman Triathlon! He was able to get a free entry through the Prostate Cancer Foundation by raising money for it. So go to the link below and donate! ;) It will be a crazy summer of running, swimming and biking in store.

Finished Product

from the frames pictured in my last post we decided to make mirrors out of most of them and then add pictures to a few. I think it turned out pretty good!

Feeling crafty :)

Today Colin and I spent the afternoon at the Rebuilding Center in P-town... It is pretty much awesome. If you've never been it's basically just a warehouse full of old doors, cabinets, desks, molding, etc... we went looking for a desk or small table to refinish and we came out with a handful of cool vintage moldings that we decided to make frames out of (and no desk). I'm thinking we will put mirrors in most of them and possibly B&W pics in a couple. I thought they turned out pretty cool, it's like homemade anthropologie for a way cheap! (the moldings were like $.25 each!!)

Changes !

So some major changes have been made! Oh my goodness, it happened very fast, but I am so INCREDIBLY EXCITED! I have given my notice at my current job and have accepted a position with NIKE! For those of you who may be unaware the Nike Corporate Headquarters in located in Beaverton, OR, about 2 miles down the road from our apartment. It is an amazing campus and from everyone I have talked to an awesome place to work.

I have to tell the story of how it happened. For the past few months I have felt like I wanted a change in my job. I didn't do much about it, until one weekend I got my butt in gear and fixed up my resume and decided to apply to a job I saw online at Nike. I have always wanted to work at Nike but submitting an online application felt like it was just going into a black hole. The next day I called my former boss that I worked for at the Career Development Center at Pacific, and I asked her if she had any contacts at Nike or if anyone was registered in the Alumni Network that I could meet with. She said she thought she did and would get back to me, but she also let let me know that on that Friday there was a job fair. Normally I have to work until 2:30 on Fridays, but I happened to have worked more during the week and I would be getting off at noon, and the job fair started at noon. I wasn't very enthusiastic about going, I would probably be the oldest person there since it was mostly for college seniors (and "recent" grads) and Nike was not on the exhibiting list. But I figured I would go and get some practice in. While there I was informed they would be having a Networking session where students could meet with other professionals and talk to them about what they did. I took a look at the list and there was one lady from Nike. When the networking session started she was busy talking with others, so I decided to just go home. I got in my car drove down the road and then I felt like I really needed to go back, I turned around and drove back (this is totally out of character for me, if I'm already going home, I'm going home!). I walked right to the networking session and no one was talking to her, I went over started talking to her, let her know I had applied for a position, told her what I was looking for, what I did in my current position etc. and we totally hit it off. She told me she was going to have a couple openings in her department soon, and based on my experience I would be a good fit. She gave me her direct phone number, the names and e-mails of 2 people that she told me to send my resume to and 2 weeks later I was called for an informal interview, later that day I was called for an official interview, had an interview and then got offered a job! I actually was offered a different position than the one I interviewed for but it sounds awesome. So I accepted. I have to say with how easily this all happened, I definitely felt God orchestrating the whole thing! I start my new job May 23rd. I will keep you lovely people posted on how it all goes :)

This month for book club we read "From a Name to a Number" an autobiography of a Holocaust survivor, Alter Weiner who lives right here in Hillsboro. My co-worker who hosts the book club picked the book because she personally knows Alter, and last Saturday he came and spoke to our group, we all invited friends and family to join our group for the night. The book was great. Alter is not a professional writer but he needed to tell his story so we would never forget the horrible things that the Jewish and other religious & ethnic groups suffered during World War 2.
Even without the book being edited and English not being Alter's native language it is pretty good. It gives you a true and authentic view of what happened during those times. I was brought to tears several times while reading the book. Alter is a great speaker. He is very funny and somehow has not ever taken things for granted in life, because of his experience in several different concentration camps in Germany. He makes no money off of the book- all proceeds are donated, and he spends his time speaking to churches, schools and communities about his experiences. I felt honored to meet him and hear his story. He mentioned that some young people he talks to have never even heard of the Holocaust and there are others that deny it ever happened. This seems absurd to me. I think it is important to continue to remember these events so we don't repeat it. I recommend the book to everyone. And if you have the opportunity to hear Alter or any other Holocaust survivor speak you should take it.

Spring!

Well, it has been spring for almost a month now but it definitely hasn't felt like it! It has been dark, gray and rainy! Today there was actually some sun! This year I am going to attempt a garden plot at our church's community garden. I am not doing it all by myself, my friend had a plot last year and was looking for someone to share it with this year. We spent the morning pulling weeds and preparing to plant! I am looking to forward to having fresh vegetables whenever I want. I think we planning on planting onions, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, strawberries, peas, zucchini, carrots....and I'm sure I'm leaving a few things out. I will keep you all updated on how it goes and any gardening tips would be much appreciated :)

Recipes!

So the last few weeks I have been on a "trying out new recipes" kick. First off I have given up coffee for lent. This is something that needed to happen. Spending almost $4 for a cup of fancy coffee practically every morning is no good. So I have replaced coffee with a morning smoothie that I found on the Cheapskate Cook blog I mentioned in my last post. See recipe below. It has spinach in it which may scare some people off, but you can't even taste!!!! The fruit flavors totally overpower the spinach. I think this is my new favorite way to get my vegetables in my diet.


Makes 1 big smoothie or 2 small smoothies

INGREDIENTS:

•1/2 C. water
•1/3 – 1/2 a small orange, peeled and sectioned OR a generous spoonful of frozen orange juice concentrate
•4-5 medium-sized strawberries (if frozen, make sure they’re sliced)
•3/4 of a banana, sliced into 1” chunks
•3-4 handfuls of fresh spinach
•Optional: You can throw in a few chopped baby carrots, slices of cucumber, almonds, and /or ground flax seed for added nutrition. Or even protein powder.

DIRECTIONS:

•Layer the ingredients in the blender in the order listed
•Blend together, beginning on a low setting, then increasing until it’s on high. Maintain a vortex in the middle of the mixture while blender is running. If there is no vortex, add more water as necessary
•Thanks to the marvelous blend of all these different colors, you will probably have to add 1-3 more handfuls of spinach/kale to get a strong green color. I usually add them while the blender is running and keep it running on high until I don’t see any more leaf fragments.
•Pour into a glass and enjoy!

The next thing I made the other night that was absolutely delish was the brownie recipe below. TO. DIE. FOR. Seriously. I found this recipe on the Dave Ramsey website (I know that is totally random). I have to admit that I usually don't attempt to bake brownies from scratch because they kind from a box usually turn out better for me, but these were great. I also didn't have all the ingredients for the fudge frosting, so I just added like a cup of chocolate chips to the batter and put the peanut butter on top. so good. ENJOY! :)


INGREDIENTS:

Brownies

1 cup of butter (2 sticks, no substitutions)
1/3 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs (at room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18-ounce) jar peanut butter

Fudge Frosting

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick)
1/3 cup whole milk (no substitutions)
10 large marshmallows
1/4 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
1 (16-ounce) package powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:


Brownies

1.Melt 1 cup butter and 1/3 cup cocoa in a saucepan over low heat until butter melts, stirring constantly.
2.Remove from heat and cool slightly.
3.Combine sugar, flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
4.Slowly add chocolate mixture and beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended.
5.Add eggs and vanilla, beating until blended. Do not overbeat.
6.Spread mixture into a greased 15 x 10 inch jellyroll pan.
7.Bake in 350-degree oven for 25–30 minutes. Every oven is different, so I recommend inserting a toothpick in the middle of the brownies and making sure it comes out clean. If not, cook one minute at a time until done. Don’t overcook.

Peanut Butter Topping

1.Spoon mounds of peanut butter across the top of the hot brownies. As peanut butter begins to soften and melt, gently spread evenly across the top of the hot brownies.
2.Let cool completely, and then chill for 30 minutes until peanut butter sets up firm.

Fudge Frosting

1.Cook 1 stick of butter, milk and marshmallows in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until marshmallows melt.
2.Remove pan from heat and gradually sift in 1/4 cup cocoa, beating with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy.
3.Sift powdered sugar and gradually stir into cocoa mixture with hand mixer until smooth.
4.Spread frosting over peanut butter; place back in fridge and chill at least another 20 minutes so fudge frosting will set.
5.If not serving immediately, cover with foil and keep in fridge.
6.To serve, trim off all of the edges of the brownies. Cut into small squares (these are very rich). Optional: Garnish each piece with 1/4 of a miniature peanut butter cup. Best served at room temperature