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Weekend in Review – a bit late

Dec 20th, 2011
by gazelle.
2 comments

Yeah – this usually happens on Monday. As it happens, I spent Monday on the couch, moaning dramatically (which did not seem to impress the cats, at least not enough for them to fetch me important things like cocoa or the remote).

I had a great weekend. Really awesome. BUT – I may have overdone it a bit. This is something I struggle with ALWAYS, and especially now.

Anyways – on to the fun!

Friday, I hit the Hatha 2 yoga class with my friend & fellow preggo Emily. It was pretty awesome, although I totally tipped over once. I’d like to blame my balance issues on pregnancy, but am pretty sure that they’ve always been with me. After yoga, we did a 5-mile hike in Forest Park (in 90 minutes, bitches!), and then refueld with brunch at Besaw’s. Yum.

Then I shopped at the Nike Employee Store (Yay!) and picked up gifties for the architect. I also really had to resist buying tiny UO onesies for Alvie. CUTE.

By the time I got home Friday, I was wiped out.

Saturday, I planned on going to the prenatal yoga class, and got up and dressed in my yoga finery. I knew the class was at noon, but just before 10, decided to check to ensure it really was noon and not 11:30 or 12:15 or something. Yeah. It was at 10. I didn’t so much make it. :(   The Wednesday prenatal class that I’d previously attended is at noon. Not so much the weekend one. Oops!

Instead I went grocery shopping and then made a delivery to east Vancouver before heading home to collapse in a pile of sore and mentally prepare for Zoolights! I have never been to Zoolights, even though I actually worked at the Zoo for the first couple of years I lived in Portland AND have been a Zoo member for the entire time. I have worked at the opening night of Zoolights, but never actually went in.

The architect & I met up with friends, and we rode MAX over to the Zoo. It was fun – and I’m glad we went. However, now we know that we ride the train FIRST, and not after walking around. Due to the 1 hr and 20 min wait for the train, we decided to just leave. We went to Mellow Mushroom for dinner (the architect was likely reminded of home, as this is a pizza chain common in the South) and then home to bed.

Sunday was naked santa nut brunch day!  (hee.) Some friends and I got together for brunch (delicious french toast bake, bacon, chocolate croissants, mimosas, OJ, toffee), then a naked lady exchange, then secret santa gift exchange, then the Nutcracker! So fun. (There was no actual nudity – sorry!)

Again, I was totally wiped out, and spent the rest of the day doing….nothing? I don’t even remember. I made chili and cornbread (which was delicious), but am not sure I did anything else.

 

We clean up nice, don’t we? Also, I am short. And blueberry-esque.

Anyways – I have all of next week off, and am planning on sleeping and working on my capstone, and sleeping. I cannot wait. I just need to get through this week of crazy work, and then 11 days in a row of no work! YAY!

 

Happy week! AND Happy Chanukah to all who will begin celebrating tonight!

Three Things Thursday

Sep 29th, 2011
by gazelle.
4 comments

1. Yesterday was the last full day with the in-laws. To celebrate, I took the day off work and we went to the Coast range for a hike. We hiked along an abandoned railroad, through two tunnels, over a few trestles (which I was not actually warned about ahead of time; a perhaps wise decision on the part of the architect, because I may have actually gone to work if I’d known I’d be crossing abandoned trestles), to our destination – another trestle. For someone with a fear of plunging to her death, this was an interesting hike. Also interesting? Apparently hiking along rail lines & having to step on rail ties, thus rendering the gait jerky and uneven, causes great soreness. Ow. (The last photo is more of a dramatic re-enactment; the other photos are from yesterday’s hike.)

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Dramatic Re-enactment

 

2. I know everyone’s been on pins & needles about my Toast contest.  It was an interesting contest. There was the humorous speech contest for two areas (5 contestant, 2 winners) and then the Table Topics contest for the same two areas (6 contestants, 2 winners).  My club had one contestant in each category. The contest itself was one of the most disorganized things I’ve ever experienced.  What should’ve taken no more than 90 minutes took 2.5 hours. We had to fill out bio forms before the contest, but they lost a few of them in that 2.5 hours. There weren’t enough certificates for everyone, and the names on the program were incorrect. CRAZY.

So – the humorous speech contest. The other area’s contestants went first. As they spoke (it was three men), I found myself wishing I was in their area – I would’ve kicked ass.  Then, it was my area’s turn. There were only two contestants from my area. Me and another woman. I drew first speaker. My speech was about overcoming fear, and was pretty funny.  Near-death experiences always make an audience laugh (seriously!). It was my best delivery of the speech EVER! I sat down knowing I had the contest in the bag.

And then, the other woman got up to speak. I’m not sure if her speech was better than mine, but it was definitely funnier. When she sat down, I knew it could go either way. We’d both delivered excellent speeches. Hers was funnier – and it was a humorous speech contest – but mine was both funny AND inspirational. I had a feeling that she would probably win. And I was right. I did get 2nd place, but since there were only two of us, that wasn’t as meaningful as it could’ve been!

But – at least I know that I didn’t lose because I did poorly, but rather because my opponent did better. And even more awesome? Although I was nervous as the speech time approached, the second I got on stage, even though I was speaking in front of more people than I’ve ever spoken in front of before (and lots of people I didn’t know, as well as my husband and in-laws), I felt fine. No nerves at all. I stumbled over a word in my introduction & skipped the 2nd line of my speech (I only memorize a brief intro and conclusion, and the middle parts are outlined, but I don’t try to memorize the entire speech).

So – I didn’t win, but I think I’m kinda sorta still a winner, and all that crap! :)

3. Tomorrow night I am hosting a fancy (more or less) dinner party (see #17). I am very excited. Because of limited space (and the number of plates I own), I had to limit the number of people I could invite, so if I didn’t invite you, it’s not because you’re not the awesomest person I know! You are! I promise!  Anyways, I hope I remember to take lots and lots of pictures, I hope no one notices that my table settings don’t all match, and I hope the wine is delicious and no one leaves hungry (my greatest fear!).

It will look just like this....I just need to pick up the extra chandaliers

Where Were You When We Were Getting High?

Aug 17th, 2009
by gazelle.
12 comments

I had the best weekend – it was seriously the battery recharge I needed.

A bit of background – when I first started dating the architect, the first activities we really did together were camping & hiking stuff – and it was our first hike together that really made me realize that I needed to lose weight.

Anyways – so, we hiked. And camped. And it was fun! And then we moved to Portland. And bought a house. And I became a runner. So, instead of hiking every weekend & camping every 2-3 weeks in the summer, we started gardening (which, of course, I love), and household projects, running many miles, and drinking with our neighbors, etc. SO – this year, I told the architect that we were camping at least THREE times – once a month in June, July & August.

June came around – the first weekend we had picked out got pushed back due to party attendance (for once, not me). The second weekend it was storming EVERYWHERE we thought about going. 50 mph winds, hail, etc. Nice to watch – unless you’re in a tent.

So – July….and we had a weekend! But then, we had an out-of-town guest instead.

Finally – it was August – and nothing – not an 18 mile run, not a pulled groin muscle, nothing – was keeping me at home.

We had selected our August camping spot a few months ago. There is an area in the Cascades of northern Washington that the architect did his Master’s thesis on. Anyone who knows the architect well would know that he LOVES old mining sites. And I love ghost towns. And often, they go together, so it’s worked out well.

He’s been telling me about Monte Cristo for about 7 years now, and finally I got to see for myself.

There isn’t a lot left at the townsite – most of the buildings are from the 50s when there was a resurgence of interest in the area. There is only one building standing from the town’s heydey in the early 20th century.

But it is beautiful.

Friday – we drove all day, stopped in Seattle for coffee with a friend (yay) and then headed out. We parked about 4 miles from our campground & started backpacking. It was grey and misty and pretty.

It got dark quickly, and the architect started looking for a campground he knew existed on the way. Finally, we had to give up & make camp so that we weren’t in the dark.

I slept so well that night – crawled into my sleeping bag at about 9:30 & slept until 9 the next morning. Guess I was tired!

Saturday morning, we packed up & hiked the remaining 1.5 miles to the campsite. About 50 feet past our sleeping spot, we passed the campground we’d been trying for the night before!

After arriving at the Monte Cristo campground, we set up camp, and then headed to the town site & then for a hike.

Rusty Wheel - Monte Cristo townsite

Rusty Wheel - Monte Cristo townsite

We did this crazy-ass hike up to a place called glacier basin. I was a little worried about my torn groin, but after about an hour, I didn’t even feel it anymore.

Glacier Basin

Glacier Basin

When I say crazy hike, I mean pretty crazy. There was a lot of rock scrambles & some bouldering. In two places, it was so crazy that there were ropes (and some people actually BACKPACKED up & down this section…..glad it wasn’t me!)

We stopped & just enjoyed the view a few times – although the architect was struck by how much the glaciers had receded in the eight years since he’d been before – there were only a few small ones left.

After the hike to & from Glacier Basin, we were soaked! There was so much new growth, now that the snow doesn’t cover everything for as long.

Unnamed falls - I suggested renaming to Amy Falls Down

Unnamed falls - I suggested renaming to "Amy Falls Down"

Once we got back to the townsite, I wandered around with the map created by the Monte Cristo Preservation Association and tried to piece the town back together.

The sun started to break through the mist just as the day was winding down. We went and had our dinner, and then went out for another small hike. There had been so many landslides in the past decade – a result of the glaciers letting go of large rocks that then wipe out bridges, and roads – so we kept singing Oasis’s “Champagne Supernova.” The architect always sings, “someday you will find me, carpeting the landslide” so that was a never-ending source of entertainment, of course!

On our evening hike, I spotted this:

So we were extra careful to hang our food that night -and warned our fellow campers that we might not be alone.

It rained Saturday night – but we were well-protected by our tent & the trees.

Sunday morning dawned foggy – it felt like we were caught in a fairy story. But by the time we were ready to hike out, the fog had burned off, and we had our only sunny day. I kept saying, “I guess you weren’t lying about the presence of the mountains!”

The backpack out was more challenging. My groin really started to complain. Apparently bouldering is good, but carrying an extra 30 lbs on the back = not good.

One of the places a bridge was washed out.

One of the places a bridge was washed out.

We didn’t make it back in time to get to Lake Stevens to see these guys finish their 70.3, which was a bummer, but even with the fact that my groin muscle is STILL angry, I wouldn’t trade this trip for anything in the world.

It was a much needed break for both of us – and we’ve pledged to make this an annual trip. It was great to spend time in a place that meant so much to the architect, and I know he enjoyed sharing it with me. And we really got a chance to just be together – something that hasn’t happened in too long, what with unemployement/money woes.

Best weekend ever.

TAGGED! And PT Plans

Feb 16th, 2009
by gazelle.
14 comments

First, the fun. Skinny Runner tagged me to post the 4th photo in my photo folder. That didn’t work out so well – My photo folder has 5 folders, each of which have additional folders, that occasionally have even more folders.

So – because I am a giant dork, I opened my photo folder & then chose the first sub-folder (2006) and then the second folder (July) and then the 3rd folder (July 5) and then the 4th photo (told you I was dorky).

AWWWWWWW – that’s me & one of my bestest friends Brad just a few weeks before I left SoCal for Portland.  We had to get as many last minute happy hours in as possible – which is good, because we’ve only hung out ONCE since I moved (I would like to note that the hanging out came when I flew down there – he’s never visited me).  Can you believe how much heavier I was then? CRAZY (I’m pretty sure it was the abundence of good Mexican food – which we had at least once a week; now we have Mexican maybe once every couple of months).

And now for the PT plans.

It’s hard whittling down the exercises, and I try to get all fancy, with different exercises each night, and then I JUST DON”T do it.

So – I will commit to doing these exercises every night while watching my beloved Discovery Channel (call me Mike!).

1. wall squats with ball & handweights – 3 sets of 15 each

2. one-legged squats – as many as I can do in a row without dying on each side (we’re aiming for 3 minutes of one-legged squats on each leg)

3. Four-way hips  – 2 sets of 20 each, on each leg (I tie one end of stretchy band to something immovable, loop other end around ankle; then standing far enough away from table for resistance, I do 20 leg lift things, rotate 90 degrees, repeat, until I’ve stretched the leg in all 4 directions, then switch legs, then repeat, so each leg does 8 stretches; it’s easier to see a diagram, but I don’t have one)

4. Jumping squats (3 sets of 15 each, making sure to pay attention to knee tracking; there should be no wobble)

5. Forward/Backward lunges (2 sets of 15 each)

6. Hopscotch (basically hopscotch in place, alternating single jumping leg; 3 sets, 30 seconds each)

7. Clock reach (holding 5 lb weights; 5 sets of 1 minute each on each leg)

Afterwards, ICE! Ice on knee, and ice massage shins (both shins).

Tuesday, Friday & Sundays – FOAM ROLLER (those are run days).

Sundays, if I get brave, ICE BATH. I know it will help. My PT says it will help. People who are crazy enough to do it say it helps. But DAMN! After a run, I usually want a hot shower (lately, anyway, not in the summer).

I am also going to start the push-up challenge again, which I’m pretty sure I can do during commercial breaks.

Weekend Day 3 of 5

Nov 29th, 2008
by gazelle.
10 comments

I am loving this five-day weekend! I wish every weekend was this long.

It’s been a great few days. After the Turkey Trot on Thursday (and the mimosas) I made a butternut squash gratin casserole & some chocolate/pumpkin brownies for dinner.

The architect & I headed over to my cousin’s to help her finish up her cooking & help her drink before the first guests arrived. It’s awesome living that close to her – it’s just a quick jog home for cinnamon sticks & whole cloves!

We had a pretty good time, but ended up leaving earlier than we’d planned.

Friday we slept in a bit, and then went to brunch with my cousin & her boyfriend. Then, I lazed some more & worked on our budget some more. Since we’d left my cousin’s before pie time, we headed back over to her house to pick up our stuff (table, chairs, crockpot, etc.) and get some pie!

Today was another lazy morning, followed by a beautiful 4.5 mile hike in the fog & mist past several waterfalls. We started at Multnomah Falls & ended at Wahkeena Falls.

Tonight, I made & canned 7 more pints of pumpkin butter, made some vanilla-rum extract (or at least started the process) and had some nog. YUM!

It’s been a great day….and still two more days of weekend fun! Tomorrow I’m planning on a run & then a number of household projects (button sewing, hemming, ironing – you know, the exciting stuff!).