Another lazy Sunday

Not much to report in regard to the weekend. I spent most of yesterday catching up on the last few episodes of Law and Order: SVU while Andy worked. Here are some other updates in bullet point formation:

• Our Las Vegas vacation begins in 38 days (as well as my 30th birthday)! We'll be staying at the Golden Nugget on historic Fremont Street, taking in dinner and a show, relaxing by the pool, drinking, perusing the multiple buffets, and potentially getting swayed into hopping on a few rides. I've been on the NYNY coaster and the Big Shot atop the Stratosphere, but the other two rides scare the bejeezus out of me!
  
  
  
• We celebrated Andy's 31st birthday last week with family at Gustav's.
  
  
  

  

  My nephew Tommy is a huge ham!

  

  Happy Birthday Andy!

  
  

  
  
• We hiked Dog Mountain on Thursday and it took us just over 5 hours round trip, but was well worth the multiple days of sore calves and core muscles. This is our second hike of the season; our first was the very easy Multnomah Falls. Not all of the flowers were in bloom on Dog Mountain, but the weather was perfect: 75 degrees, plenty of sun and minimal wind. No rattlesnakes were sighted, but we did encounter a bit of poison oak.



I wasn't too sure how I was going to make it up the side of the mountain.






The last .4 miles!






Us at Puppy Point






Andy, on top of the world.



Looking northwest toward Mt. St. Helens.






Looking southeast into the Columbia River Gorge.






Looking west.






The last pull to the summit!

• We're still in the midst of C25K and will be running W6D2 this evening. It's been nice to engage in other outdoor activities, and we've also had to kick our own behinds a few times to run in the rain (which is actually quite refreshing). I was very surprised that I could run for 20 minutes at a pretty decent pace, without stopping! We've been looking around for 5k races that are compatible with our schedule, but need to do a little more research before we commit.

Week 2!

I was a day ahead of Andy, so I repeated W1D3. HOLY COW! My shins pretty much gave out on me and I walked for runs 5-7. Again, I caught my second wind and was able to complete the last two runs. Andy's shins also gave him grief... I'm quite glad that I had the chance to repeat this run.

W2D1: It definitely felt easier running longer and stopping less. The shins were still a tad achy, but the workout seemed to zoom by.

W2D2: The endurance is there! This run was by far the least tiring, but the shins (again) were not having it. Not as painful as the extra run in W1, but enough to not allow for speedy jogs.

Overall, we're completing about 2 miles of walking/jogging each time AND we've managed to workout out 4 out of the last 7 days! Tomorrow will bring W2D3; here's hoping the last two days of rest will have helped the muscles repair!

In other news, we went out to Screen Door last night for dinner and it was fantastic. I enjoyed the Screen Door Plate that included a few samples of their house made mac & cheese, fried catfish and coleslaw. Andy had a massive portion of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and collard greens. We also ordered the hush puppies as an appetizer, not realizing how large the dinner portions would be. We brought home a LOT of leftovers! Following our feast, we checked out Full Metal Jacket at the Laurelhurst Theater for $3, while enjoying some after dinner coffee and candy. Talk about being desensitized to all things war... What's crazy is that I had previously seen the first 45 minutes of the film in a high school video production class, complete with all swearing and graphic imagery. Watching it 12 years later, I'm wondering how my teacher got away with showing it to a bunch of 16 and 17 year old kids. I recall him stating that the language wasn't anything we hadn't heard before, and we were supposed to pay attention to the filming style and incorporation of music. It's definitely an attention keeper no matter what your age!

Couch to 5k

If you're unfamiliar with Couch to 5k, the program gets you off the couch and jogging 3 times/week. By the end of 9 weeks, you should be able to run non-stop for 30 minutes. Here's a link for a synopsis of the workouts.

Personally, I'm still undecided on running a 5k. However, I have a feeling Andy is interested and we'll sign up for something before too long. I just completed W1D3 and Andy completed W1D2. I may repeat day 3 to stay on par with him and the extra run shouldn't hurt either.

Day 1: Felt like blah, running in cloudy weather on the nearby Burnt Bridge Creek trail. The run was easy at first; I made it 2/3 of the way before I felt super achy all over and walked the last 8 minutes.

Day 2: Felt okay, running in cloudy weather on the road/grass. Definite shin splints during the first 10 minutes, although I felt alright until the half way point and started dragging during the 5th run. I caught my second wind for the last two runs

Day 3: I felt good, running in cloudy weather on the BBC trail. I tried landing on my toes instead of my heels, which seemed to help keep away the shin splints. I did have a few right foot cramps for the first 5-10 seconds of the last few walks.

I'm trying to stretch for 20-30 minutes each day to keep myself limber. Yesterday before my run, I pulled a muscle in my back but ran anyway as it felt better than sitting in pain. Hopefully the strain will subside with my heating pad, stretching and rest!

Back in the 'Couve

Our stint at the beach came to an end in mid-January. After a long month of packing, looking for work, moving, and ridding our lives of landlord/neighbor stress, we made it back to our home town safe and sound. Andy secured work at his previous place of employment and I found part-time work with a local non-profit (as well as started volunteering at my old gig). From what I've been told, my hours will quickly move to full time in the next few weeks which will be good for the ol' pocket book.

In other jobby job news, Andy has interviewed for an apprenticeship with Bonneville Power and it'll most likely be another week or two before he is potentially offered a position (or told to try again next year). If so, the position could place us in Vancouver, Longview, Olympia, Wenatchee, the Tri-Cities, Eugene, Salem, or Kalispell, Montana. I haven't been, nor have I wanted to think about potentially moving again, so we're taking life one day at a time, which is the best anyone can do. We're pretty much keeping our fingers and toes crossed that if offered a position, it keeps us here in town!

I am lacking in recent photos and I really wish I had something awesome to post. This shot from the August 2010 Lady Gaga concert will have to do.

I don't think Andy was tired; I think the flash caught him off guard!

This is a "problem" I've had in the last year: not taking my camera with me, as I have one on my phone. When I do track down my camera, I end up having to charge the battery, thus taking pictures of other things/people with my phone and never any of myself or the two of us. Here's to more photos!

Let's play catch up

Reverb... oh, Reverb. How I've neglected your prompts for one reason or another 99.

December 13 – Action. When it comes to aspirations, it’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. What’s your next step? - Keep applying for jobs/secure a new job, so we can move back to PDX!

December 14 – Appreciate. What’s the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it? - My family. My husband. My friends. Even though many of us are far from each other, we keep in touch (or at least make a damn good effort to try). I've also come to appreciate my down time, expressing gratitude by taking care of myself and getting in a lot of Cara time.

December 15 – 5 Minutes. Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010. - 2010 started off fairly mellow, with a busy work season and the anticipation for spring. Spring found you with a little family drama, but great happiness for your nephew and taking steps away from your sister. With summer came job changes and a big move, even bigger than you'd ever imagined it to be. With autumn, changing leaves and weather, more ideas for big changes have appeared on the horizon. Now with the winter solstice and holidays upon you, keep up with your wishes and dreams and enjoy the upcoming weeks with your family.

December 16 – Friendship. How has a friend changed you or your perspective on the world this year? Was this change gradual, or a sudden burst?- I don't think anyone has significantly changed my world perspective... this is such a heavy question! I'm amazed with my friends who are able to make big moves to new cities, big changes to their families, big breaks from relationships, and big additions to their homes... I often wonder what I'll be doing next that will be big. I'm sure a lot of the changes have been planned and maybe others on a whim. Even still, (to me) change is hard but often a good thing!

December 17 – Lesson Learned. What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward? - Not so much about myself, but about letting other people have time to themselves, as I so much need it now and again. Time to breathe, to think, to destress, to cry, to do whatever it takes to get back to feeling normal and sane.

December 18 – Try. What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did / didn’t go for it? - I want to try to travel more. Very little traveling happened this year, although plans were tentatively made, but then changed due to moving/job changes/etc.


December 19 – Healing. What healed you this year? Was it sudden, or a drip-by-drip evolution? How would you like to be healed in 2011? - I don't think I needed to be healed this year... not sure what will happen in the future.