The Usual

4/15/2011

I can’t believe it’s already the middle of April! Of course, no one would know it here because I don’t think it will ever stop raining. But you know what they say, April showers bring May flowers so let’s hope we only have 15 more days of rain. (yeah right) BUT anyway, my life has been relatively normal for the past couple of weeks. My dad graced me with his presence early this week and we got to go to dinner and ice cream on Tuesday, and then to lunch on Wednesday. YUM. No calzones on this trip though :( After he left I resumed my week at school, except I didn’t go to any classes on Thursday because I was sick. This was the first time all semester that I was actually sick and had to skip classes. Luckily today I am feeling excellent and am ready for the weekend. Convenient? Yes.  Although I don’t have any set plans for the weekend, except work of course, I am excited to have a couple days to relax and sleep in. I am currently snacking on some delicious strawberry ice cream, sipping tea, making wheat berries for dinner, and listening to Lady Antebellum. Yes, this is setting me up for a perfect weekend.

Dad munching on his sushi at dinner

As many of you know, I have given up shopping for Lent, and I cannot WAIT for April 24^th. My items on hold at lululemon are looking more and more appealing as the days go by!!!!! I am also in the market for some Vibram Five Fingers shoes for running and day to day activities. At Skogg yesterday, I learned that Fit Right NW (a recreational shoe company in Portland) has the Five Fingers and I am so excited to snatch a pair. Now, I realize that my incentive for giving up shopping during Lent was to save money. And (D & T) if you have looked at my bank account lately, you’ve seen well I’m doing. That being said, I have a couple of justifications for purchasing the Five Fingers:

• 1.       Running in them will allow me more range of motion, improve my balance and agility (yeah yeah go ahead and laugh), and improve my posture.
• 2.       I will use them for kettlebells as they are flat and will get rid of the natural “sway” that running shoes have.
• 3.       They’re super weird looking, and as long as I’m living in Portland I want to embrace my weirdness.

So there you go. I am super pumped and have been researching which ones I want to buy. Now I just have to decide which color I want. I was going to wait and put them on my birthday list, but there’s no way I can wait that long. Also, I’m not like Nick, meaning I don’t get my birthday presents 3 months early. Great. Anyway, I have been working on more important things to put on my birthday list so keep your eyes peeled for a list :). Speaking of birthdays, today is official 3 month countdown until the big 2-1. YAYYYYY!

Vibram Five Fingers Bikila!!!! :)

I also learned a rather upsetting piece of news this week. Don’t freak out, it’s not serious. But I am not very happy. I learned that a lot of girls in the nursing program don Dansko Clogs. If you don’t know what these are, I am so happy for you. I wish I didn’t. HOWEVER, I might have to buy a pair before I start my clinicals. Barf. But I’m sure my mom would be so excited to buy her daughter her first pair of “cowboy boots” as I like to refer to them. UGH I AM SO MAD. If I have to buy them I’m going wild, maybe leopard print. Gross, I don’t even want to think about them anymore because I’m going to be sick.

Dansko clogs aka Cowboy Boots

Although I am having a wonderful time writing this, I have to scoot on to work now, but thank you so so so much for reading, and I look forward to writing more next week! Hugs xoxox

ps. Here are some pics from the week/weeks past that I've forgotten about. Enjoy!

Diane loving life at the Nike Clash of the Champions Tournament in Eugene.

Fed and Sharapova play Nadal and Azarenka

DELICIOUS wheat berries that I made this week. Excellent for lunches and dinners. YUM :)

Memories Shmemories

I decided the purpose of this blog is going to be a walk through time. I had a facebook conversation with Nick where we batted around different funny memories from when we were little, and I thought it would be fun to share my most fond memories of my childhood. Here we go!

1. How we used to go on so many bike rides growing up, and I would undoubtedly fall on every bike ride. I remember one time I fell on our way to Safeway (a 7 mile ride). I fell on mile 3.2, and made it all the way back to home with no band aids, bleeding from my elbow and knee. Ouch! But I was so tough.

2. I used to get so excited for the 4th of July parade every year. I thought my bike was decorated so well and I loved sitting there and watching the horses and kids go by. My least favorite part was the fire trucks because they were so loud.

3. Nick and I used to wake up at 2am on Christmas morning and sneak down to see the presents. Now, I always had to wake him up because he was so sleepy. But we would go on "missions" to the Christmas tree every half hour to see if everything changed. And if Santa had eaten our cookies, which he always did.

4. Nick went through this huge rollerblading phase and we went to countless skateparks. Most memorable by far was when Ray showed up in his kneepads at the San Ramon skatepark. I remember I thought I was really cool because I was one of the only girls there. Balla!

5. How I used to be SO scared of the dark. I slept with my lights on all the time and would not go anywhere in my house unless someone turned the lights on first. (I'm still a little scared)

6. Make me P-R-O-U-D

7. Soccer tournaments were so much fun. I loved going to Subway in between games and feeling like I was playing soccer all day. And hearing my dad go crazy on the sidelines was super funny.

8. Nick and I used to go to swim in the morning, tennis in the afternoon, and soccer at night 5 days a week. I don't know how we did that and still had time to go to the Pearsons and play in between.

9. Ski Trips!!!!!

10. Dad and I used to go grocery shopping every Sunday morning and get the best doughnuts. 

11. Costco muffins were the epitome of my childhood.

12. EYYY Pono, go big or go home.

13. In elementary school, the 4 of us, (Jon, Jess, me, Nick) got to school 9283740397 minutes early every day.

14. Dad pulled over on the freeway to wait for the rest of my class on our field trip to Point Reyes, and a cop pulled up behind him, earning him the nickname “Mr. Ticket.”

15. In Arnold how Brian, Kerry, Nick, and I would play Dead Man Rise or Sardines all night.

16. In 4^th grade at St. Francis we did the play The Wizard of Oz. I was the Coroner and held the sign upside down and then switched it really quick thinking no one would notice. NOT.

17. Nick and I, among others at the Oakhurst Junior Program, made nicknames for everyone we didn’t like including “Bacon and Eggs” and “Big Butt Boy.”

18. Nick was Jesus in the Stations of the Cross hahahaa.

19. When I was 5 years old, I broke my ski because I went off a jump and I cried about it. Little did I know that was the start of my BA career.

20. I swallowed 2 of my retainers…. Durrrr

21. When our family was in Rome Nick and I got attacked by a flock of pigeons. And Aunt Marie held our hands SO tight.

22. Anything and everything was a competition when I was little. I guess not much has changed…

Well I’ve had enough of the memories. I’m tired of thinking. This week was really draining. I procrastinated a little bit too much and Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were spent in the library writing papers and studying the Economy. By the way, I hate it. I got to work all weekend and let me tell you, I LOVE IT. On Friday we had a donation based yoga class after hours for the Tsunami recovery in Japan.  The class was tough, especially because I went to Skogg (formerly Spinach) in the morning and then did yoga outside of lululemon for a while during my shift. On Saturday Michael Skogg from the kettlebell gym came in to do a demo and I got to swing with him for a little bit. Who knew that working could be so much fun! Today (Sunday) at work we didn’t have any demo’s or yoga practicing, but it was a great day none the less. Sunday’s are my favorite days to work because I love our Sunday Crew.  Tonight I am finishing up my Spanish homework, going to church, and then practicing piano to wrap everything up.

Sending lots of love and my best wishes to everyone! :)

Me swinging a kettlebell with Michael in store on Saturday. Dad- check out those guns

Mom- haircut!