work.out.

want to know a work out?

skate skiing.

it worked me

over the mlk holiday weekend
i tried this out for my first time
with my friends on saturday,
then again on monday
let's just say they had mad skills
compared to the poky lil puppy

look at chelsea
she's even smiles while skiing!
there's only pure concentration in my facial expressions
in holding up the back...

then there's kirsten...
who raced in high school and college

she never even seemed winded!
forget running regularly
if you want to work for it
try this out.
also so much more quieter than snow shoeing.
cheers to a good groomed course...

council butte...j cubed

early one friday morning

we tried to make it to sunrise...

i was late...

but it was cloudy

anyways so no real sunrise to see...

right?

this was my first "urban" hike

in the sense that we started at ohsu

and walked through staircases

upon cement staircases

through campus but it was all part of the "trail"

weird.

what's that saying?

keep portland weird.

at the top...

jeff and jonas were perplexed

at the echoing ability of the magical circle

then their true characters came out...

they needed a good picture of themselves...

and i thought women were bad...
let's just say
16 pictures later
we gave up getting the perfect shot
this is just a taste of the pictures...
i like our smiles here best

but jeff is only 3/4 there..

also i don't look so pasty here

and it's my blog so if this picture makes me feel tan

it gets posted.

deal with it people.

after escaping the more urban part

of the hike

it was back to true oregonian style

moss and all

i tried hiking back barefoot but got too cold

jeff on the other hand

was being more grounded

and having a more "in touch" session

with mother earth.

jonas and i were...

well warmer.

pretty great for a few hour break
before starting work at 10:30 a.m.
comp time is worth it
for time off like this.

strategic

in my efforts of doing strategic planning
around community issues and juvenile crime prevention
for my job
i've realized these tactics have spilled over
to all areas of my life

case in point: last night
while running last night
i began to feel ill
around my mid-way point

a lil' walking
i hoped would help
but it didn't do the trick
i knew i was going to get sick

so in the residential neighborhood
where i was running
all i could think about was being strategic

a. strategic in where i was going to be sick
b. strategic in where i would not gross out people driving by
(right timing)
c. strategic in where i wouldn't gross out cute school kids
as they walked to school the next day

i feel the timing and execution went well
(i know probably too much info)
but i was able to run again afterwards
and i made it home
strategic-ness= success
think about it.

rain, sun, no tsunami

after proving myself again
that i CAN be an oregonian
i camped in the rain on the coast
friday night

strangely everyone wimped out
but two of us

after a great lil hike to cape falcon area
after a nutritious nutella banana
eaten on the beach behind
our wet campsite

my tent was a champion
and kept us dry
graduate school was so worth it
since i got a tent and amazingly warm sleeping bag
for a present of celebration
thanks again mom and dad
it's amazing to think i didn't use a tent for years
now i'm understanding why you actually need one
sometimes

after my friend departed me
to go to work
i decided for some good contemplative
meditative
chillaxation time on the beach
after properly situating myself
with an enjoyable book
and my journal
the sun came out of the clouds
and...
five minutes later i see mr. state park man
drive up in his 4 wheeler and loudly tell the peeps next to me
and so he wouldn't have to repeat himself
a tsunami at 2:30?
get off the beach?
as i looked at my clock it was 2:17
so i obeyed and walked up to my car
got the scoop from the other peeps
that if it got bad they'd sound the alarm

so placing myself next to my car
which was conveniently next to the sign
for the tsunami escape route
i awaited for the surge of the ocean with others...
i admit there were times i thought a big wave was coming,
but it never came
and although others stayed on the beach
i couldn't bring myself to sit
peacefully again on the shore.

as the arizonian i am
i got cold.
got a warm drink.
sat in my car to block the wind
and wrote in my journal there.
i heard the ocean o.k.
not quite what i wanted but it worked for a bit.
thus my quest in earning that moss covered heart continues.