Rainbow

Another beautiful rainbow over Eugene....

Beginning of the end

This morning I moved back to UO for my final year. I'm so excited - and today has gone so much better than I could have hoped for :)

My work schedule is perfect. I have great shifts doing my two favorite things - barista and dining room. I work the opening barista shifts on Mon and Wed (my class schedule is all day Tue and Thu, and Fri afternoons). Everyone has to work one weekend shift and mine is Sunday nights, which means that I get to spend Friday night, all day Saturday and most of Sunday with Chris when I'm home. The dining room shift is mainly keeping the dining room clean and stocking shelves. Sounds kinda crappy but I love it because I don't have any mutha uckers messing with my shi :) No customers, no bosses, no coworkers. As long as I keep myself busy and stay out of trouble, no one bugs me for 3 whole hours. Hells ya.

My new room is absolutely amazing! Last school year, I shared one of the smallest double rooms on campus (about 140 sqft). This is a picture of my old room (and for the record my side is the left lol):

This year, I have a single room with a sink. There's so much space I have no idea what to do with myself! lol I'm still unpacking and getting settled, but here's a quick shot of my new room:

There's also two big wall lockers which can't be seen in the picture. Along with a dresser and vanity sink/medicine cabinet, the storage space is practically tripled what I had before. All the furniture and fixtures are brand new. I can still see the contractor's markings on the wall and smell the new laminate smell in the drawers. This may not sound like much, but the UO housing has been compaired to dungeons by the Princeton Review. My building was featured in the opening scene of Animal House; the dorm room they lived in before joining the frat was how my room once looked. The new updates are greatly appreciated!

Not to mention there's an elevator in this building so we didn't have to lug all my stuff up 5 flights of stairs. The laundry room is on the same floor so no hauling my clothes down to the basement. There's a tub in the shower room (although I haven't actually tested it out yet, it's nice to know the option is there lol). I can drink the water that comes out of my tap too, unlike the gross shared water fountain in my old hall.

And omg - the view! I can actually see Autzen Stadium, which is about a mile away.

In about a month when the trees lose their leaves, the view of the stadium will get even better. I wonder if I'll be able to see the big yellow O?

My old room didn't have a horrible view. Being able to look down on Hayward Field was great:

But for the most part all you could see was the roof of the covered walk ways below and the brick wall of the other building. (Sorta unrelated, but there's talk the Eugene Marathon will actually start and finish on Hayward Field. Kick ass! Although I'll probably only be walking the half this year depending on when I get knocked up, should still be a lot of fun.)

So far, there's a couple downsides to my new room. One, just two outlets for the entire room and none by the sink. Two, I now live right above the chow hall. Nice because it's much much quieter than my old room (no people standing below my window fighting at 2am or annoying people singing over the loud speakers at Hayward Field), but not so nice because I can smell everything that's cooking. Today was chicken strips, cheese sandwich and french fry day - drool! Tomorrow night is bbq chicken.

After I got moved in, Chris stayed with me for most of the afternoon. He made sure my computer was up and running, got everything arranged just right for me and helped me put up some strings of purple lights around the room. We went out to lunch then bought my books and some supplies, then sat in my room and talked for a while. He wanted to spend the night with me, but we couldn't leave Hank outside alone all night (it's been cold and I'd worry, plus Hank gets really anxious if he misses a meal). But now there's enough space in my room that both Hubby and Hank-dogs can come stay :)

Obviously, I'd live in a cardboard box if that what I needed to do for my degree. I no joke lived in a tent in my parent's backyard two summers ago*. To just have this opportunity to be at UO is an immense blessing. To have this space to live in on top of everything else is so much more than I ever could have asked for.

* In order to graduate at the same time as Chris, I needed to take second-year Japanese over the summer. Unfortunately, Oregon State does not offer second-year Japanese summer term; I'd have to attend either University of Oregon or Portland State. That same summer, Chris was in OCS at Quantico, Virginia and I was responsible for the pets. Our families live in Portland and my parents agreed to have me and Hank stay the summer with them, so back to Portland State I went. Unfortunately, my brother was also living with my parents after returning from Japan and my sister has my old bedroom. My options were to sleep on my parent's couch, sleep on my sister's floor, or pitch a tent in the backyard. I opted for the backyard.

Home! (for now)

Yeah, those socks just kicked your ass ;)

I'm so glad to be home!

The trip to Yellowstone was fun. This was my dad's first major family trip, so he was really in to it. It was my 4th time in the park (June '89, September '96, and June '97) and so much had changed, especially Mammoth Hot Springs. Some of the old paths I remember were completely covered because there had been so much growth, but now so much of the springs were dry and inactive.

Very nice to visit Chelsi and Colt too. They took us to a yummy distiller for dinner then a tour around Boise. So much more than I thought there'd be. We might have to come back for some skiing on winter break :) Chris and I stayed with Colt's mom in Boise. She's awesome and we had some great conversations about everything from politics to feng shui.

Chelsi and Colt also just got two russel terrier puppies, lots of fun chasing around after them. Their cute little puppy smell and noises - awww! Chris and I had been talking about getting a blue heeler puppy because Hank seems like he needs a little friend. We'd name her Clemintine - Hank and Clem awww! But after spending the night with the puppy crying (they hate being separated in the kennel) and stepping barefoot in a pile of puppy poop, I think we're okay without having to go through all that again lol

We got home from Yellowstone last Friday, then we had to be back in Portland on Saturday. I was supposed to run the Champoeg Half on Saturday morning, but I was a lazy lump in our house. After being here there everywhere for the past 6 weeks, being home in my own bed feels so damn good.

Sunday morning, Chris's mom completed the 1 mile walk in Portland's Race for the Cure. She was so worried that she wouldn't be able to finish or that she'd be the last to cross the finish line, but of course, she did fine :) Last year on her birthday, she didn't think she could walk two blocks from a parking garage to Old Town Pizza. So for her to do a mile is great. I think we might have her talked into going for a 5k next year.

On the TTC front, no luck this month :( (btw, that's Trying To Concieve not Terriorist Training Camp lol) I was 3 days late and super excited, but nope. Must have just been out of whack from the trip or something. Boo.

To help us, we bought a Clearblue Easy ovulation machine. Not knowing when to do the doing was stressing us out more than using a kit (we're a little type A lol). Plus, we both agreed we would have paid $200 to be pregnant this month, so spending the money will be worth it. Tomorrow I get start peeing on a little white stick 10 days a month - good times :)

PDX Tri

Saturday afternoon I picked up my packet for the tri. I was surprised to not see that many people there; I thought the tri would be much busier. I switched from the Olympic to the sprint distance. Even without the staples in my noggin, I think 1/2 mile swim is barely doable for me. There's no way I was going from the 1/4 mile swim at the Midsummer tri to a 1k swim :P

After the packet pick up, we headed to Psycho Safeway downtown for a little brown bag lunch/breakfast. That place never changes. Even though it's been very nicely remodled, it's still a swirling malestrom of the unwashed/elderly masses (and a richy rich down from Goose Hollow every now and again).

The wedding went nicely. The Marine wives got to sit around and chat while our hubbies were getting dressed in their blues and taking pictures. The coordinator was a little odd. She would not let Nikki and I sit with Jiana in the church, so Jiana had to sneak across the aisle like we were in grade school or something. The ceremony was beautiful, especially the touching homily. I always cry at weddings! :_) lol

The reception had the most delicious peach, vodka, and sparkling wine cocktails at the hosted bar, so of course I had to drink plenty of those lol Chris helped himself to lots of Black Butte Porter too. For some reason, Chris and I kept getting bugged by the bartenders about getting two drinks when we're the oldest Marine couple there. Even our friend Ed, who is married to someone under 21, wasn't getting harrassed about double fisting. Guess you gotta keep an eye on us "skeezy eastsiders" as Ian put it lol (Ian also grew up in ghetto fabulous SE Portland, although I think I'm the only official Felony Flater, and the reception was held at the Multnomah Althetic Club in the afore-mentioned Goose Hollow neighborhood.)

Chris decided it was time leave about 9:30pm. He said that he was only thinking about getting me to bed for the tri in the morning, but it was suspeciously after the host bar closed and as soon as the dancing began. Hmmmmm....

Even with the help of some Tylenol PM's, I couldn't get to sleep until after midnight. Waking up about 4am sucks. I think that's the worst part of racing - tearing yourself out of bed at an ungodly hour. Why can't more races be like Boston and not start until noon??

We get to the race and find a great parking space under the Hawthorne Bridge. I get my transition area all set up, got a latte from Starbucks, then just waited for my wave to begin. (Although a good thing to note: go to the honey bucket before you put your wetsuit on.)

I didn't get nervous until we had to head down to the dock. I suddenly felt like calling the whole thing off and hiding under the bed with Hank.

The best part of the swim (besides when it's over): wetsuit=awesome! I wasn't sure what to expect, how warm it would keep me, how that water would feel, ect. I cautiously put a foot in Willamette. Yeah, it's officially cold. But there was no delicate way of slowing getting into the water, so sploosh - off the dock I went. And yay! the wetsuit made the water nice and snuggly :) I felt even warmer than getting into the pool sometimes.

The gun went off and I clung to the side of the dock for a moment letting most of the wave leave. I instantly hated putting my face in the water again. And as a bonus surprise, my goggles decide to fog up too. I tried to rinse them out like I do in the pool but without a bottom to rest on that wasn't happening. I gave up and decided to lick them. I went from foggy whiteness to spitty glopness. Ug. Well, I wasn't out there to sight see. As long as I can head in the direction of the blurry orange buoy I'll be alright. (Now I know that you can take a break on one of the kayaks, but at the time I thought that just touching one of the helpers would mean a DQ.)

I was cruising towards the turn around buoy. I wasn't setting any records but it didn't feel like I'd never reach the buoy either. Zoom under the bridge. Zoom to the turn around. Then, wait a minute, what the hell is this? Why do I keep getting closer and closer to the seawall? Why is getting back to the bridge taking so freakin long?? Oh. That's right, the current. I forgot, I'm now headed against the current >:( I tried telling myself it's no different than when you're running and there's a little head wind, but I kept feeling like I was just treading water.

Finally I'm passed the bridge, finally finally finally I reach the last buoy. Then it was time to get out of river. And my legs refused to work. The rocks were especially slippery and even though there were volunteers to help you stand up and reach the shore, I kept flopping back into the water. Reaching solid land, I'm usually overjoyed to begin the bike. This time, I left everything I had in the water.

I slogged through the bike. Two loops of ug. The hills killed me. If I had a cadence counter, I think it would be at 12. My derailer kept making an evil noise. I was scared to switch gears. Although, the sights were wonderful. I went past the new Andaluz house, where I hope to have our little Mulk munchkin at. The gardens, the OHSU trams, the Chart House.

One loop on the run. Down to the Steel, up to the Hawthorne. And I was finished :)

No finisher's medals for us :( We got a frisbee printed with "Yes, I swam in the Williamette". And yes, I've hung it on the wall with all my medals and certificates lol

1/2 mile swim - 31:22
T1 - 4:04
16.4 mile bike - 1:28:53
T2 - 1:29
5k run - 32:41

My weekend...

What were you up to??

Hood to Coast pictures (finally)

Headed up to Mt Hood (some of the road I'll soon be running)

When we arrived at Timberline Lodge, I had a sense of deja vu. Except the last time I was at this spot it looked like this:

The start for Timberline Marathon, September 2006. We need to stop meeting like this lol

Ready to start this bitch, about 6pm

The clock on the right shows how much time has passed since the first teams left that morning

Handing off to Dan in exchange 1

My first road kill

Meeting up with Van 2 at exchange 6 in Sandy, about midnight

My vanmates trying to sleep under the Hawthrone Bridge in Portland, about 1am

One of the tallbike jousters. I wonder what they were thinking of us lol

The exchange marker spray painted under the bridge. If I were the tattooing sort of chick, this would be a great design

Taking pictures of myself in front of the OMSI sign, then I went off to do some dancing in the parking lot, about 2:30am

The sun rising over Mt Hood, near Scappose (sorry it's so blurry, couldn't find a good spot to balance my camera)

Watching the sun rise from the van on Hwy 30

Vans and runners in exchange 24, about 10am. (This is only about a fifth of the vans stopped at this exchange. Hood to Coast has over 1000 teams, which means more than 2000 vans and 12,000 runners will be passing through this weekend.)

One of the most beloved Hood to Coast traditions: In line for the honey buckets. The clouds soon disappeared then the day got very hot and sunny

My blister and a view of the van's floor.

Resting and waiting for Van 2 (I was using one hoodie for a top, one for a blanket, and a packet of toliet paper as a pillow)

Dan, me, Jeff, Kim, Brian still waiting for Van 2, about noon.

Some of the roads in our last legs

The chick in the white t-shirt holding the clip board passed me up like I was standing still, then wasn't even sweating. Damn I hate Nike sponsered teams lol

Smoochies from Chris when we arrived in Seaside

Me and Kim at the after party waiting for Van 2 to officially finish

Watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, about 7pm

Finally! We crossed the finish line as a team about 8pm (27 hours after I started at Mt Hood)

Pictures from the marathon

Chris forgot to take my camera, so all these pics are from his iPhone:

Me at the top of the hill at mile 8 (you can't really see the hill, but I swear it's there!)

Behind the mall at mile 18. Chris refilled one of my fuel belt bottles with Coke - mmmm! He's so awesome! (I had to wear the Fuelbelt because Gleukos=vomit. Why does every race in Oregon insist on letting them onto the course??)

Heading into the finish chute. Jason, Erin and Hank are cheering on the left hand side.

Me, Erin, and Jason after the finish. I was too busy eating my bagel and trying to keep warm under the mylar to think about showing off the medal lol

Compare with the Recycle Run 15k from two weeks ago (not really able to see it in this picture, but there was snow on the ground that morning):