Forest Park Frolick

Sunday was my "run day."

I've got this crazy idea that I want to run 7 miles a week.  That could be 1-mile a day, two 3.5-mile days, anything.

My idea is that eventually running may get easier.

But let's be honest.  Running never gets easier.

ANYWHO.  Since it was really warm outside, boyfriend recommended we go to Forest Park.  You know, because it's shaded and "flat."

As long as it's flat, I'll go.  I don't want any stinkin' hills.

Lo and behold our run was not a running path, it was a hiking trail.  

Hiking as in "not flat."  

Hiking as in "switchbacks."  

Hiking as in, "straight uphill death."

I made it the entire 5 miles.  No I did not run the entire 5 miles - because I would have died.

But we had fun and enjoyed a beautiful part of Portland.

I thought I'd share some of our photos :-)

The hikerun was so green - it's crazy to think this is right in the middle of Portland

Our hikerun led up to the Pittock Mansion.  I always wondered what the big whoop was until we saw the view.  If only I could show in a picture how long Aaron just stood there mesmerized staring at Hood.

Where's Waldo Boyfriend?

We ended the entire hikerun with some Lardo.  Nothing like a massive sandwich to gain back all of the calories you just burned :-)

Nightmares

I'm posting this secretly hoping someone will come forward and let me know I'm not the only one 

OR 

They have a miraculous cure for this but...

I have nightmares.

Like... a lot of them.  

Constantly.

Don't only kids get nightmares??  

Last night was a bad one.  Like one of those, "I can't tell if this is real or fake" kind of nightmares.  The rest have been easy for me to wake up and justify, "That could never happen" or "This is just a dream."

But last night's woke me up at 2:30am.  And kept me up, even after bravely searching the entire house.  

I'm on of those people that when I hear a noise, I'll pull the covers over my head.  Like that would really help prevent an intruder from finding me. So I made a point last night to put my big girl pants on and search the house.  The entire house.  Every closet, room, floor, garage, etc.  

Everything.  

Had someone actually been there who knows what I would have done, but I felt like this would put my thoughts at ease and allow me to go back to sleep.

Negative, ghostrider.

Via

I stayed up the rest of the night terrified of what I had just dreamed about and how something like that could even enter my subconscious.

Realizing this is nightmare #4 in the past 7 days made me realize I have a problem.  How do you fix your dreams?  If I had it my way I'd dream about shopping sprees and being a mermaid (because who doesn't want to be a mermaid).

But instead my dreams are causing me to wake up in a puddle of sweat with crusty eyes (where I could tell I had been crying at one point).

So here's my next dilemma:

How do you go to work looking exhausted only to explain, "I'm really tired because I have nightmares."

Ridiculous, right?!

Let's talk BODY

I saw this fun little linkup on Babbling Brookelyn's bloggy.  At first I was a little unsure until I started reading her answers. 

It was one of those posts where you think, "Hey I want to play too!"

So here is me playing.

The Rules:

1. Be a dear and follow the host and co-host via GFC or Bloglovin' 

(or both if you're feeling extra kind.)

2. Remember to post the link up button on your blog or in your link up post for everyone to see.

3. Link up to a specific post (not just your main blog url).

4. Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. :)

1. My toes cross.  I think it started out as me doing it when I was younger, for whatever reason,  But they're stuck that way now.  I had surgery on my right foot to correct the crossing (and remove my bunion) but little good that did.  My picture I'm trying really hard to hide my bunions.  AND bunionettes.  Basically I try to hide my hobbit feet whenever possible.

2. Itty Bitty Teefers.  I have tiny lateral incisors (those are the two teeth that are next to your two front teefers).  I've been meaning to get these bad boys veneered for quite some time so it doesn't look like I have holes in my mouth, buuuuuuut veneers are around $1,000 a pop and I'm just not made of that kind of spending money.

3. I have freckles on my lips.  They've always been there.  If you're a freckly person, you know that freckles come and go.  So occasionally I'll have some really super dark freckles for about a week until they start to fade away.  When they're that dark they look like food.  Numerous times I've had people tell me I have food on my lips.  No sweet poopsie - those are my freckles.

4. I have cankles.  And I swear if I hear anyone say one more time, "You're skinny, you don't have cankles" I'm going to punch a puppy.  If you take one look at my calves/cankles, you'll see that there's no beginning to my foot and no ending to my calf.  They blend and mesh.  

5.  I have a freakishly long torso and small legs.  I can sit next to a friend who is 5'11 and be as tall (if not taller).  It's like an optical illusion.  "Hey why is this 5'3 girl as tall as me when we're sitting down?"   To compensate for my long torso, my legs decided to not grow and my torso was having plenty of fun on its own.  I've had plenty of people ask me, "Are you sitting on a higher chair than me?"  No.  No that's just my torso playing tricks on you.

A much needed weekend

Alright Bloggy McBloggerson - it's time for a heart-to-heart.

The weekend before last was an amazing weekend.  It's exactly what I needed physically, mentally, emotionally, everything.

I've been in Portland for a little over a year.  If you asked me before I moved if I was excited or not I'd say, "How am I going to make friends?"

I'm not in school anymore.  I don't go clubbing.  How do you make friends outside of college?  Troll the local grocery store and approach every 22-30 year old female I see?

Get my point?

As expected, it really is hard to make friends when you live in a new city!  Boyfriend works nights and sleeps days with Tuesday-Thursday off work.  Basically we have 100% opposite schedules.  So I typically spend my weekends blog-stalking, errand-running, and gym-going.  And the few couple-friends we've made here have similar schedules.  It's like working M-F 8-5 is uncommon around these parts.

ANYHOW - I digress.

So the weekend before last I went home. 
Originally I booked my flight to meet my new niece and nephew baby twinnies.

But then boyfriend popped the question.  And this "quick trip home" turned into a hunt for a wedding venue (more to come on this later).

So between seeing my family, playing with babies, and hunting for venues, I wanted more than anything to see my friends. 

As you can tell Lou was a little more than excited to see me too.

It was a wonderful weekend. 

I laughed. 

DIDN'T CRY. 

We drank. 

We danced. 

We stayed out till 3:30am. 

We wine-walked. 

Our diet consisted of junk food (see: blue Symphony bars and Doritos above)

We just had a typical Reno weekend with some amazing people.

I really just needed this kind of a weekend filled with those "instant connection" type of friends.  It's not forced.  It's easy.  And it's even more easy to pick up where you left off.  When I left Monday morning to fly home I felt like I was leaving a boyfriend.  I felt like I was going through a breakup.  I felt like I couldn't believe it was ending - and I didn't want it to!

It was a wonderful weekend and I can't wait for my next trip back home.

Papa Mark doing his DJ thing.

I also can't forget the pictures of Tahoe from the Fire Lookout :-)

Planners vs. Do-ers - $$$$

This post could go in a few directions, but I'm taking it in the financial direction.

I'm frugal.

Not super crazy frugal, but I'm always crunching numbers and thinking about how much we need to save each month for trips/gifts/wedding etc. 

I was chatting with the fiance a while back and he said

"There are planners and there are do-ers."  

And it's really so true.  Together, he and I make a decent income.  

According to one of my professors in school, we are DINKs (Dual Income No Kids).  

We have some friends who are not DINKs but still manage to constantly be spending and buying and traveling.  

Living the life, really.

That's when this conversation happened.  I asked, "how can we NOT afford to do all of that also?"

It's not that we can't afford it, it's that we choose not to in order to save an extra buck.  For what?  For retirement?  Yep - I'm that anal 26-year old who is saving for retirement.  I'm clearly a planner.

This is how I budget - envelope system

PLANNER

• We plan and live for the future.  
• We scout out hotels far in advance for the absolute best deal
• We miss out on opportunities because we are concerned with not wanting to spend that much money.  Why buy a brand new car when you can buy a perfectly good used car?
• If we can't pay cash, we aren't buying (aside from homes, cars, etc).  Things like mattresses, furniture, computers, etc.  If you have to take out credit, how badly do you really need it?
• We avoid credit like white socks and flips flops
• Appetizers just mean more $$
• We max out our 401k
• We coupon (ok, not all, but it helps stretch the dollar!)

DOERS

• You live in the now
• You live spontaneously and plan last minute trips, just for the heck of it.  You don't think twice about having fun when us Planners are concerned with, "What can I cut out of my budget this month to afford this?"
• Happy Hours are your thang, $7 here and $7 there - it's no big deal
• You don't stress about whether or not you can afford something - if you want/need it you get it
• You pamper yourselves and others - why buy a used car when you can spend a little more to get something brand new?
• You do all of the things the planners are planning for

I'm not saying either is right or wrong.  In fact sometimes I'm jealous I'm not a do-er.  I like to believe I'll be set when it comes to retirement, but sometimes I think it's ludicrous that I'm planning for my life that's over 30 years away.

So, dear bloggy friends, are you planners or do-ers?

I'm not praying for Boston

This post could go over really poorly.  

But this is the real me.

Hear me out.

If you don't like it, don't read it.

If you don't agree, I don't mind.

I followed the Boston marathon tragedy when it was first happening.

My co-worker received a text from her friend who was at the event before anything even hit the news.

So we followed the news throughout the day.

My heart goes out to the three people who were killed.  

And my heart goes out to their families.

And to those who were injured.

But I'm not sure my heart goes out to Boston. 

I've been scouring the internet and news trying to see if part of Boston blew up and is destroyed.  

If people are now homeless and the streets of Boston are filled with mayhem.

I'm not finding any of that.

There is undoubtedly more hype about the Boston Marathon tragedy than when 26 people were murdered at an elementary school this past December.  Why are we not praying for Sandy Hook?

 I just feel like it's being a little sensationalized.  And for the families/people who were actually affected, I feel like they're being overlooked.  Why pray for them when you could pray for BOSTON. 

But just so people don't think I'm a total ice queen I thought I'd add this lovely picture a friend sent me. 

 

Bulb Urge

I'm not sure what has gotten into me, but I have this urge to plant flowers.

Not just any flowers.

Dahlias
and Ranunculus

WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!

My mom was in town and we went to home depot where I found bulbs.  Dahlia bulbs. 

I'MBUYING!
IWANT!

So I bought.  

And planted.  

Then two weeks later Polly ate them.  All of them.  That whore bad dog.

Moving on. 
So we were driving home from the Tulip Festival and passed something called, "Swan Island Dahlias."

Well, that's a no-brainer. 
We went. 
We conquered.

Tempest from Swan Island.  You bet your booty this will be in my garden this summer!

So homeward bound with even more Dahlia bulbs.

THEN while googling Dahlias and how to be the best Dahlia-bulb-planter and thrive in my new obsession, I found RANUNCULUS.

And these are to die for. 
They're beautiful. 
Light. 
Fluffy.
Girly. 
Colorful. 
Lovely. 
Really just lovely.

... so then I bought some. 
Because naturally my Dahlia bulbs had to have some Ranunculus bulb friends as well.

The bad part is Dahlias can't be planted until the end of April.  So the more I wait, the more inpatient I get, and the more I google new flowers, and the more I want to buy!!

I already have no idea where I'm planting all of these sun-dwelling flowers.  So I'm not sure what I'm going to do if I keep buying bulbs I can't plant.

Again - moving on.

So Aaron and I made a quick run to Winco to get some dinner (I like my groceries like I like my wine - cheap).  While walking into the store LO AND BEHOLD I find some RANUNCULUS!

... so I bought them.  Because my Ranculus bulbs would need some more mature Ranunculus mentors to look up to.  

Obviously.

Just thought I'd fill you in on my latest obsession.  GOODNIGHT!

The time I got hit by a semi...

I'M OK I'M OK I'M OK

This morning on my way to work was a prime example of why we all loathe semi drivers.

You know when you're in the far right lane on the freeway (with no shoulder, of course) and a car starts coming into your lane?

Naturally you honk, and the car stops.

But what happens when that "car" is a semi? 

.... he doesn't stop.

Let's throw in an added "scare factor" here:

On the other side of the median was a drop off. 

I was on a bridge over a massive body of water.

Luckily I slammed my breaks fast enough to get by with just a missing rearview mirror.  Thank goodness I reacted quickly and slammed on my breaks before he could slam me into the median.  I scraped by with a missing rearview mirror.

SO, PORTLAND DRIVERS.  If you see a semi with the license plate of 85895, steer clear.  Because he's a grade A asshole (sorry for the language, but it's well deserved in this case).