working hard for her money

here's some pics from the john day drive:

who wants them?

vehicle of choice currently: 2009 prius, not in this color though

i could have told the odot that this area of "sunken grade"

needed to be repaired before this ever happened on santiam pass

but who listens to me?

work has been busy! i mean busy...

in the past 2 weeks i have: flown to boise to then drive to ontario,

drove to bend and back for a meeting, went to madras and back for another meeting,

drove to john day and back in less than 24 hours.

but i have enjoyed being on the ground level with the counties and individuals i work with. they're wonderful.

18 miles

so after j&a rolled in last friday at 4:30 a.m.

i couldn't quite go back to sleep

so i decided that i should just go on my 18 mile run then

after slightly ripping through my house

looking for "gu" that i bought

(which i'm a true believer of)

and being unsuccessful

i finally hit the road for the grocery store(s)

i didn't find any after 3 stops

so on for the miles i went

i did buy a heafty granola/clif like bar

so after 10 miles i tried to gobble down a bit to have some substance in me

in the 4 blocks i walked

as i was walking, a man was pulled on the side of the road

with a trailer

he asked if i could help him tie down something that was loose

i said sure and started to help him

the conversation goes as follows:

man in camo- "are you going to school?"

me- assessing my outfit

skivy short purple running shorts,

white athletic shirt with a bright coral/orange sports bra,

new white running shoes

and small camelback on my back

me-hmmm..."no, i'm running."

camo man- "i just saw you, you weren't running"

me- "i just ran 10 miles and have 8 more to go,

i'm training for a marathon."

camo man- "oh"

this blew my mind!

number one. the only school nearby in this small town i was in, is a high school.

number two. thank you for thinking i'm 18 or less but really?

number three. thank you for letting me know you saw i wasn't running. i'm sorry i took a small break for some substance.

needless to say it made me laugh the rest of the time

it helped me keep something else in my head

since i run music-less

the adventures in running...

pacheco memorial day memory making...

it was like Christmas eve night on Thursday night

i stayed up late

but analee told me Santa wouldn't come if i didn't go to sleep so...

after driving 12 hours straight the pachecos arrived at 4:30 a.m.

after i returned from my 18 mile run

and worrying them because i took so long

(funny post to follow about an experience then)

we headed for the coast

fortunately it was sunny

unfortunately it was windy and made it chilly

but we made it to cannon beach

poor things drive 12 hours then 5-6 hours later i put them back in the car

to see rocks on the coast

and get tillamook cheese and ice cream

saturday it was to abiqua falls...

beautiful, stunning

and a short hike

the rest of the hike was done by their subaru.

thank you 'baru!

it was just nice to be with great friends

we checked out cute small towns

i bought a printer for $8 bucks at a yard sale

(i've never owned a printer)

and jose hooked it up for me
we saw the famous salem soapbox races

not to be confused with pinewood derby races

we went longboarding....

i longboarded cautiously

remember my "longboard accident"

a good year and a half-almost 2 years ago
when i looked like a garbage pail kid...

strange how i'm so careful even when i have insurance now...

we played some banana game which is really speed scrabble

church was most enjoyable with analee

i don't think i've giggled in church like that in a while

then they had to go monday morning to get back to the beehive state

it was fun to see their faces

i'm so happy when friends marry friends...

i'm grateful for the miles and gas $$$ and other $$$ spent

for my friends to see me

ahhh gee...

miss 'em already

the favorite is engaged!

for those of you who don't know yet

my lil' sister is getting married!

august 21st!

quick recap:

the favorite has been in school at byu-hawaii

(i know rough life

and to think she was thinking of staying in idaho)

so she's been dating a wonderful guy named wolfgang

(he's from austria)

they've been dating over a year

and quite honestly my whole family likes him

i met him last summer when he came to our hometown

we all have been a fan

but we tried to keep our opinions to ourselves

and let the favorite decide

and well she did

when she called me to tell me

she decided she wanted to be married

i don't think i've ever heard her feel so confident in her life

i made this big sister even more excited

then just a few weeks later

she got officially "ringed"

(this past thursday)

CONGRATS!!!

love you both

three cups of tea

may i recommend this book to you i don't get to see greg mortenson himself but i do get to hear the co-author david oliver relin

thursday night, here in salem!

this book is very humbling and inspiring

i just finished and recommend it to everyone

it inspired me to be a true, honest, genuine, patient person

it promotes peace, education, fairness

and reminds everyone of the cause of helping children and youth

it reminded me of the value of relationships and trust

it was a wonderful book, go read it.

last night on my way back from my trip

i picked up some chinese food

my fortune read:

You will be involved in many humanitarian projects.

i've never loved a fortune so much.

i only hope so and realize i have to make the fortune real.

maybe that's going for a PhD in literacy

maybe it's getting more involved locally

maybe it's helping others to be literate

it is a part of a the relief society's goals

i'm a member of...

lots of thoughts

can't wait to be inspired tomorrow.

drivin' in style

no, i'm not pregnant.

i do ride in style though for work

rental cars can seem exciting to drive

when you have a vehicle that has almost 230K

so when i flew into boise...late

this is the champ i got

clean and comfortable

not smelly like the last rental i got from boise

my ride was pretty slick

the best part was having a large soda

and feeling like a true mom

i felt like i fit right in with my idaho plates

i even offered to drive everyone to DQ after our meeting.

no takers though...

babies everywhere!

well the good news is out!

a bunch of my good friends are having babies!

and i'm super excited for them.babies in current peoples' bellies include:

analee

amanda

ashley

hmm i just notice those are all As... interesting!

CONGRATS to everyone!

i can't wait to be the favorite aunt!

not the sharpest tool in the shed

so i just missed my flight for work

i have a habit of:

a. not looking at my flight itinerary till the day of

b. not looking at the right time (like today)

luckily they were able to book me on the next flight

and not charge my work or me for the change

i'm lucky

i think i have a mental block around flight itineraries and getting to the post office

better news to be posted at 5p.m.

you ruin everything for everyone, all the time

listen bike pump

i needed you to work properly on saturday

i'm a woman and i have needs
my needs on saturday was to ride down a single track
you prohibited me to so by malfunctioning
when my friend, matt's tire popped...
the job you were suppposed to do
didn't happen
i don't like driving an hour on a beautiful sunny 80 degree day to corvallis
to NOT ride on a single track
may this new home be a reminder of how you should have worked.

drying out

viva las vegas! dry heat has never felt so good!

snapshot of the weekend/vacation thus far:

friday. fly in late...

wait for hilary and katrina to get out of the concert.

watch some one's bags at the airport waiting for the bomb to go off since she took a good 20+ minutes and they kept replaying the notice to not ask watch unknown peoples' bags for them.

didn't blow up

sat. morning

5 mile strip run...running down the las vegas strip that is.

kinda fun.

soaking up the rays at the monte carlo pool.

101 degrees has never felt so good.

i was drying out my body.

i just wanted to stay there the rest of the day.

early dinner with a good end of a playoff game.

lil' shopping but acting cheap, as normal.

freshen up for dave matthews (and jason mraz)

walk across the street to the mgm.

excellent concert.

i shed a lil' tear in my eye.

the energy in concerts of a beloved artist baffles me.

belting the lyrics with everyone else.

dancing in a restricted area.

being charmed by other dave lovers.

a shout out goes to my freshman roommate, da becca jex, for introducing me to dmb.

i was memorized by crash and played repeat for a good hour or longer

it's been a love affair ever since.

my earnest devotion has lessened through the years

but the love still lingers in my heart for dmb.

i haven't listened for awhile

but some lyrics reminded me

of my connection in some philosophies of life

sunday.

church with the mom, dad and grandpa.

great meal, with my aunt that always is serving...

chillaxing with family

backyard firepit

stories from g-pa about relatives

especially about the his g-mother and mother...

hence the day

priceless...

dirty ho

cat fight

if you think this is bad, you should see the other girl.

or he was a lil' bit of a "rough" kisser.

either of these would be acceptable for this new addition to my lip.

the truth of how it really came about is embarrassing and won't be shared.

so i'll use the first two reasons incase anyone asks.

my co-workers said people pay to get their lips to stick out.

not interested in that, thanks.

also they said you could hardly notice it...

untrue, it's noticeable.

and it looks trashy.

embarrassing.

don't you know it's may?

dear oregon,

i appreciate your green, lush and mossy beauty here but i'm writing to inform you that it's may. in the month of may, it's supposed to be sunny. in the month of may, it's not supposed to have eight days of showers and only 2 predicted days of sun. i appreciate that it got over 55 but over 60 would be better. spring is nice and all but it can still be spring with more sun. because of your recent actions i may have to wear my green galoshes daily so i can even get out of my house or feel like leaving my house each morning on my way to work. remember the saying is "april showers bring may flowers" not "may showers." if you could kindly give attention to my needs, i would be very obliged.

sincerely,
me

p.s. i'm not convinced in buying that state sticker with a heart in the middle yet. please convince me to fully love you as a state. it's not a threat, just a mere suggestion.