Summer 2010

A few months back, I stopped posting here because my focus was less on running and more on other crap that, honestly, no one wants to hear about.  I’m constantly trying to figure out how to better organize myself and be more efficient, but feel like those attempts always manage to fall short.  I started a blog that only I could read – mainly I liked the format of the blog and wanted to use that to keep myself organized.  It is a nice tracking device and to do list that you can organize with pretty links and background images.  I kept up with that for a while but stopped doing that as well.  I can’t believe I still have not come up with a foolproof way to make me organized and sane.  I’m almost 33 for god sakes!

I also started a yoga blog, but intend on using that as a tool for reaching out to students and developing a “business”. 

So, without rambling more (ha!), those are the reasons I haven’t been blogging.  But, I miss it a little and miss you a lot!  So, here I am, for the time being at least. 

I tried looking back on old posts to see where I left off so I could provide some updates:

1. My Bangs:  They’re starting to grow out and I’m happy!  Life with bangs is kind of tough, esp for a girl that likes to spend 0 minutes on primping.  But in other hair news, I recently went a little darker…  Not sure if I love it but it is what it is – a change. 
2. My Mom:  Ugh.  She is doing okay but her chemo started off really tough.  She got very very sick after the first treatment and ended up in the hospital.  They changed the formula and it got better after that.  Instead of a family trip in August, we decided it wasn’t a good idea, I went to visit them at their house. 
3. My Yoga:  Really really great.  On my yoga blog I put together a list of what I’d accomplished over the past few months.  I used it as part of a request for donations for Living Yoga, but I’m so glad I documented it all in one place.  If you want to see that list, please click here.
4. My Running:  Non-existent.  It makes me sad too.  After I healed from the marathon I did a few really fun trail runs in Forest Park w/Josh.  We had a blast, but for some reason stopped doing them.  Then, after a longer break, we decided to run just a few miles in the morning first thing.  We kept up with that for about two weeks and stopped again.  I’m not quite sure why.  Although I was in great shape from yoga, I had lost a lost of cardio fitness, and running was not easy.  It is so humbling to go from marathon-ready to that shape.  Not easy. 
5. My Garden:  So much fun – we built raised beds and I planted a shiteload of tomatoes there.  Because of the colder temps, many of these ended up green but its all good.  I have many lessons learned to incorporate for next year.  I could go on for novels about the garden, but I won’t…
6. Travel:  I spent 4 weeks in Italy, London and Spain.  So much to report on there!  I’m hoping to dedicate an entire post (or many) to this trip.
7. Fun Stuff:  Lots of fun summer activities and now ready for the fall stuff.  We had a garden party/BBQ that I’ll post pics of below.  It was classy for many hours until late-night started and all hell broke loose.  At least no one called the cops.
8. Injuries:  This deserves a post of its own.  I’m scared about the condition of my body.  My knees especially – they’re kind of f’ed.  The crunch around on every step/bend and after all of the walking in Europe, I can tell something ain’t right.  Aside from that, I have ganglion cysts in my wrists and my left wrist has been bad for a while.  I can’t really do downdog for long or anything else that puts weight on it.  Makes me very sad.  I’ve had this for many years but it usually doesn’t matter that much.  However, now with yoga, I NEED my wrists to be okay!  Other, less urgent things are:  bunion – one is starting to bother me; right elbow – I slammed it falling down the stairs 11 months ago and it still hurts.  I suspect there is nerve damage or a little bone fracture, so I need to find out what to do about it.  I’m taking action on all of this by going to a doctor, so will report back after I’ve gone.

That little report was obviously not in order of importance, nor did I cover deets, but it is something.  Something to get me started FGS!  Now, w/o further ado, here are some pics!

 

I treated my mom to a spa day before her surgery in June.

 

After my mom’s surgery (she looks pretty good!), about to head back to Portland.

Yoga night at my house (followed by Champers!) with the girls.

Fun times at the lake.

4th of July @ the lake.

My little peanut/niece Eleanor in Michigan in July

Taking my other niece Amelia put-putting in Michigan in July.

Alisa’s bday lunch at Veritable Quandary with PDX peeps.

Classing it up on the Columbia River

Classing it up at New Old Lompoc in Portland

Being outdoorsy near Mt. Jefferson in July

Coast trip August

 

Backyard BBQ in August

All cleaned up for wedding in September

Amazing camping trip near Bend, OR in September (this deserves a post of its own)

Garden booty in September!

Back to the scene of the crime (Chicago) for our 1st wedding anniversary in late September.

Our perfect little family home at sunset in October…

Meetup with Petra in London in October.

Bullfight in Madrid in October.

Wow – going through my summer pictures again makes me realize how much I did and how I should never take anything for granted.  That was nice.  There is so much more to be said and posted here, but this is about all I can muster for now.

Peace!