Transition

Whew!

On August 22nd my mom, Lucy, and I woke up early and hit the road for Oregon. We stayed in the home of some friends in L.A. (with their Weimereiner), stayed in southern Oregon with my brother's family, and arrived in Portland that Thursday. It's been a weird week, moving into a new place, and also trying to find a new home for Lucy. We quickly realized that although Lucy is the sweetest, calmest dog we know when she is comfortable, she really needed someone to be with her in the condo at all times. That was not going to work for us. My mom and I agreed that we really hadn't thought through the Lucy situation as well as we should have, and we immediately got to work trying to find her a new home.

Luckily, today, I got a phone call from a wonderful lady with two sons who was so extremely excited to have Lucy. I could tell from the very beginning that this was it. She talked about how she had a golden retriever in the past who also had hip pain, and was so reassuring that she knew that it would take a little while for Lucy to adjust. It just felt right. Although I was sad to pass her off this morning, I know that Lucy will enjoy her daily walks and living in a home where she is loved on. And I know this family will love on her!

So I'm looking for a job - I had a nanny job interview that went well, and I go back for a second interview next week. The parents seemed extremely down to earth and very realistic about the nanny's position and responsibilities (plus the girls were really cute and they live in a great part of town). I really, really like them and want that job, but also have an interview on Monday for another job. We'll see what happens.

I don't have that much more to report except that we've been enjoying the weather here in Portland - it was really warm (80-90) when we got here, was cool this week, and will warm up to 90 for the Labor Day weekend. In true Portland fashion it will be sweltering the first couple weeks of school!!

Not much else to say, so I'll leave you with a picture from my last Saturday in Mexico. I went with my wonderful friends Melissa and Christina to the beach. We chatted for a long time about this and that, and then Christina and I donned wetsuits (my first) and went to conquer the waves on a surfboard (her) and a boogie board (me). So much fun! It was a great day. Thanks friends!

Best of

It's been a while, yet again. My manfriend came to visit, and when he visits I don't write much. I don't take many pictures because he takes so many pictures, and for some reason there seems less to write about. When I get pictures from the last week back from him, I'll be sure to post them - we did some fun things while he was here.

I decided to do a "best of" post today, a simple post about some things I found fun, interesting, or even silly over the past week and a half, and that I just want to share.

First of all, the Boston Marathon was on Monday, and although the elite Kara Goucher didn't win, she did set a personal record for herself which is amazing in itself because she had a baby last fall. Wow!

Two bloggers that I follow also ran Boston. Small Town Runner ran even after an injury, so she did an amazing job, although I know it wasn't the performance she wanted. You can read about her race experience here and here.

Skinny Runner did two marathons last week - the exclusive Gansett marathon and then Boston two days later. She's crazy. You can read about her Gansett experience here and Boston here.

My running? Not so elite or exclusive. Well, it's exclusive because I run by myself with Lucy. She's the exclusive member of my exclusive running club. We only met twice last week for really short runs, but we keep it like that to keep it exclusive. That's just how it is.

But really, I'm hoping to be building up again. I've been lazy, and I know it's mostly all in my brain. I know I can run much farther and many more miles, I just have to convince myself of that while I'm running. It needs to happen because Manfriend loves foods and desserts even more than I do, and if he's eating chocolate cake....

Said manfriend left yesterday on a plane back to go home, but before he did that we headed to the Scripps Aquarium in La Jolla.

 While it was nice, and there were a lot of fish to see, I think we both agreed that it was not as good as the Newport Aquarium on the Oregon Coast (which at one point owned Keiko, the whale from the Free Willly movies, and you know that was a big deal to me as a kid).

After the Aquarium we went to a great little restaurant called Prep Kitchen and enjoyed a lunch on their patio. We tried to find a park to hang out at it, but apparently everyone else in San Diego thought it'd be fun to go to the park in La Jolla yesterday as well, so we had to drive down to Pacific Beach to even find a parking spot next to a park. But we did. Then I put that man on a plane.

Any and all exciting adventures that were had last week will have to wait to be told, but I will tell you right now that we did play Connect Four, and although I think the score was 9-1 (him), I did win thumb wrestling later on. In case you need a reminder about how cool Connect Four is:


And on a completely unrelated side note that must be written because I am from Portland, I give to you the website Dads: The Original Hipsters (a little bit of questionable content included).

Have a great Easter.  

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who bring good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of salvation, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion 'Your God reigns'". Isaiah 52:7.

Home

I got asked again last night where I consider home to be. Is it Portland or is it Mexico? Having been away from Portland for a year and a half now, the question is warranted. When I leave Portland, do I feel like I'm going home? When I leave mexico to visit Portland, do I feel like I'm going home? Is Portland my real home but Mexico is my home away from home? Although I've only been living in my Mexican town full-time for 6 months, I've been in and out of that ministry and that town for over 8 years.

On the flight to San Diego this morning, I couldn't help but think about these questions. While today I feel like I'm heading "home" to my house, my belongings, my job, my friends, my church duties, my dog, my roads for running, and my Mexican sunrises, I left my heart-home. I say goodbye to my best friends, my family, my wonderful rain, and anything I could want at my fingertips.

Make no mistake, I continually ask myself if what I do is worth it. Is it worth only seeing my friends and family twice a year? Is it worth missing out on so many moments with them?

It is. I continually ask myself, and I continually remind myself that it is. My beautiful students are worth it. It is worth it when Andrea crawls into my lap to read a book with me. It is worth it when I walk in the cafeteria and they yell my name and want a high five. Those funny, crazy kids at church are worth it. It is worth it when I teach them a new game and make them laugh by falling on the floor. Most of all, it is worth it because I know God is in it.

Am I missing out, or do my gains outweigh my losses?

I am always asked where I feel my home is, but more often I am asked how long I plan to be in Mexico. I shrug my shoulders and say I have no idea. For how long? I'm not sure. But for now, it's worth it.

100

I'm at the airport with about an hour to kill. The Portland airport is nice enough to have free wifi. I thought that was a given these days, but I've recently learned that's not the case. Portland wins.

This is my hundredth post on this blog. Considering that I only started this blog a few months ago, it means I don't have a life and I will blog about whatever little thing pops into my head. Actually, that's not true. I really do have a pretty good filter. You should count yourself lucky that I don't write everything I think. I would scare you all off pretty quickly.

In elementary school, a lot of classes count the days of school and once they reach the big 1-0-0, they have a big celebration day and talk all about the number 100. I thought I'd glean some ideas off some teacher websites of things I could incorporate on my blog for my big 1-0-0, but they were pretty lame, like "draw a picture of yourself in 100 years". That would be a sad picture for myself. So, instead of telling you 100 reasons I love peanut butter jelly (or 100 ways to eat it), I'll just leave 100 alone.

Instead, to commemorate 100 blog posts, I'll defer to what has quickly become a classic on this blog. I hope for your sake that this is the last time this happens. Here goes nothing.

Amanda hadn't had her picture in the creeper glasses yet!!

 Too cute. She even matches the mixer.

What guys? You think the glasses could come out without me taking a picture? Get real. Let's hope this is the last time. 

In the meantime, I'm listening to Trueb, an Oregon City band from my high school days. I wish I could find an internet page with their music, but I can't. Nathan Trueb was the first person I saw shred a guitar.  Considering he's my age, and I was in high school at the time, it was a pretty big deal. I'm also composing an angry e-mail as to why I can't find a Willamette Week newspaper at the airport.

Ch-ch-changes

You know you've been gone too long when there are changes going on back home that freak you out. I'm going to state three changes about Portland since I've been gone, and because I like a tidy little list, I will list them in order from least crazy to most crazy. I guess that should actually read "least crazy to craziest", but if I were to go back to correct it then I would be pretending to be good at writing.

Three Portland Things That Have Changed Since I've Been Out of the Country (In Order From Least Crazy to Craziest)

1) They changed the Made in Oregon sign! While this is not a shocker (they talked about it before I left), it still threw me off when I saw it. The sign can't make up its mind. White Stag, Made in Oregon, Portland Oregon. Whatever. 

Numbah 2) There are new license plates! What used to be reserved for vintage cars that never got their plates changed has now revamped itself into a 150th anniversary plate for Oregon. Ahh... The Pacific Wonderland. I love you. 

Super Duper 3) I drove my friend downtown a couple weeks ago. I was driving her car because she's from out of town. I acted like I totally knew what I was doing, until I hit East Burnside and 14th. AND WHAT? Immediately diverted to Couch Street all the way to the Burnside Bridge. Color me surprised.

I will leave out any discussion on Cesar Chavez street.

My Portland vacation has come to an end. Tomorrow I'm looking forward to free wifi at the airport, a new Willamette Week, hopefully no touching at airport security, and warm sunny weather where I'm going.

By the way - I think my title to my list is the beginning of a Master's thesis. Am I right or am I right?

A bunch of stuff

Run: 10.8mi/1:51:00

Some day soon God and I are going to have a talk. And this talk will consist of me explaining to God that hail is not okay. Also, I think it should be a rule that if you start out a run on an overcast morning without rain, it should stay rainless. But, this is Portland and those prayers will be laughed at. Wet feet, wet pants, wet shirts, wet ponytail.

Lest I complain more, I will say that it was actually an enjoyable run - I felt completely okay the entire time, I ended well, and it didn't feel like work. That's always a good sign. I missed my tempo run this week. Actually, scratch that. I didn't miss it, I just couldn't seem to do it. We'll leave it at that.

I know, I know. Five years ago I said Ugg boots were ugly and that there was no need for them. I have found their niche, and it's to wrap my tired feet in shearling goodness after an 11 mile run. Can't imagine it? It's like tucking your feet in for a nap, wrapped in a blanket of rainbows and glitter.

It's been busy around here, and I apologize to all my readers (Mom), who have missed my posts. I've had a couple Portland-y days, which have been nice and a good reminder as to why I love this city so much. #1 reason why I love this city so much is that people I love live here. That's a good reason. In the last couple of days I have:
1) Eaten at Ken's Artisan Pizza
2) Belted out some karaoke with my best friends at Voicebox
3) Grabbed dessert at McMenamins
4) Visited the Rhodedendron Gardens
5) Picked up books at Powell's downtown
6) Eaten nachos and burrito at The Taco House, an old family favorite
7) Partaken in Korean bbq
8) Gotten to check out Pix Patisserie
9) Run on my favorite part of my favorite trail, which will remain a mystery to all of you stalkers out there.

And tonight - #10 - College basketball.

Pretty good, no? And now it's time for pictures.

The lovely creeper glasses made a special trip, all the way from Mexico. Safely tucked away in our minivan's glovebox, they anxiously awaited to be on Stevie's face again. In case you missed it last time, the creeper glasses made their debut at my parents' dining room table in Mexico, and then again at a dinner among friends.

Thursday night they made their debut at karaoke.

 But somehow they didn't make it on Amanda's face. This will be remedied in the near future.

One day, one day I will learn how to take pictures that are not blurry. In the meantime, my friends do not stop moving during karaoke, and therefore this is the best karaoke shot I got.

 Stevie gave me the 20 bucks she owes me for drinking hot dog juice. That was a great, great moment.

And pictures from the rhodedendron garden.

 And this guy's walking around, flaunting his style like Kanye. You can't blame him, he's lookin' pretty fly.