reality settling in

so we have been looking forward to the month on july for along time now. it was going to be spent with wonderful friends and family and adventures. probably the best month ever. well it is now half way over and the reality of the end of this month are setting in. tomorrow, big g- justins youngest brother- goes into the mtc to begin his 2 year mission in japan. it also happens to be our last day in utah, which has turned out to be so awesome and even better than we could have planned. playing on the boat with the rollins in brigham, cafe rio...twice, family, the mattices, tennis, family pics, and thats just the beginning. now we are left with a road trip to cali, a few days with my family and one week from today we board the big metal bird to oz.

where has all the time gone? it seems like 2 weeks ago i was finishing my last day at my job, packing up the house and still unprepared for the upcoming move. little worries though, as it was still so far away. well those worries have turned into stress-overload. good news though. we officially got our student visa, which means we wont be thrown out of the country. and everything else will be just fine.

out of commission

well, tons has been going on, and i will have to catch you up asap, but that will have to wait. we had a huge lul in our summer, but everything is picking up speed.

two weekends ago, justin and i did the "run for justice" 5k and had a blast. last week my bff sheri came out from utah to spend the week with me and go to the best tim mcgraw concert ever! ill fill in details and tons of pics later. lets just say, we got up to the second row, he touched our hands and we got our pictures signed by him.

then we all left on friday and justin and i came out to Cincinnati to relive some of his old memories. he lived here from '88-'96 doing most of his k-12 ed in cincy (as he calls it). anyways, it just so happened that this weekend also happened to be the 10 yr reunion for the high school he would have graduated from had his family stayed here instead of moving to the Philippines. what a coincidence eh? so after a day of touring the old schools, house, and child hood memories, we went to this reunion. we were both so surprised at how many people still remembered him and it totally made his day (again, pics to come later)

we have a few more days here, complete with of course a rush concert, (for those keeping tabs, that will be number three in the last 2 months... i know.) then its back to work for justin and off to NYC for me! i have never been but am so excited. for anyone who has advice on what to do, see, eat i would love some advice! there will for sure be a yankees game, but other than that, it will be 3 days of who knows.

once i get back on the forth, it will be a few days before i start the 2 week road trip to utah and ca before hopping on a plane to oz on the 22nd. wish me luck.

fyi

so i finally got a bike for the triathlon i am doing in 9 days (AAHHHH!!!) and decided to take it out for a ride yesterday. mind you i have never ridden in clip pedals before. im coming down this road and this car pulls up next to me. i look and see this old lady driving and decide to ignore her and maybe she will take a hint. 2 mintues later, she is still there. finally i take out my ipod and wonder what possibly is so important that you need to try and stop me. as im coming to a stop and trying to hear what she is saying, i totally forget that i am clipped in and fall right over!! now my leg is all scrapped up, i totally embarased myself, and still have no idea what she wants. finally i ask and she says "does this road go to indepenedence?" you have got to be kidding me right??!! that is what was so important that you couldnt continue down the road 1 more mile to see the sign for yourself?? so FYI- do not bother a bike rider! unless they have dropped something totally crucial, like an entire tire or their leg, do not stop them! i guarantee you will be cursed like crazy the rest of the ride!

from a distance

ok, so since justin and i have been married, it seems like we are constantly having to live apart for some amount of time for some reason or another. first was when he had to come up early to start his law school, and i wasn't going to be able to come up until mid september because of my schooling. it was only about a month-ish and we thought that it would be the only time so we could manage just fine. then, the next year, we had to spend the entire summer (may-september) in separate states because our school/work schedules did not match up at all. again though, we thought it would be the last time and we could manage as long as we made a trip out every other week. that plan didn't end up so well, we went the entire month of july without seeing each other. bad idea! but thinking that would be the final time, as i had finally finished my school, we managed. how does it work out though that now, once again, we are living to two different houses during the week while justin works in portland, and i finish up working the school year in eugene for the next 5 weeks? may i just say that i cannot wait until we never have to live apart like this again. it totally sucks. so hopefully, for the last time, i had to say goodbye to the hubby so he can live in a different city.

april showers..

so i know that little saying is "april showers bring may flowers" but come on. i am so stinking sick of the rain! maybe ill combat those who persist in jinx-ing the rain with something of my own. "rain, rain, go away..." that will get 'em.

poor koda

our luvable pup got bit by a husky last night, poor girl. she is doing ok, but we are all a bit shaken up, justin and i included. we were out for our usual run, she was sniffing other dogs as usual, until this one went angry and bit her just below the shoulder on her leg. a deep gash but she is doing good. we are in touch with the owner (go figure another law student), so everything should work out just fine.

what a reality check though. i know she is just a dog, and it compares nothing to kids, but for know she is our kid. it tore me up inside to see her so scared and hurt. holding justin back from kicking that other dag to china was another thing. he has his "anger issues" (as i call them), but i must say he handled himself very well. and making sure that koda stopped quivering, yelping everytime we touched her, and bleeding made for a long evening. i think by the end of it, we got about 4 hours of sleep. so i solute all you mothers out there, especially those who go through things worse than a mean bully. im sure im going to have to hold myself, and my husband, back if ever our kid gets picked on.

politics

So Justin sent this to me earlier this morning and I thought it was very interesting. Not that I am endorsing Barack, and Im certainly not endorsing Hialry, but I think its a good to check out everything they say, even the little stuff.

Say what, Barack?
Posted on June 28, 2007 - 2:15 pm by MorningGlory By Paul R. Hollrah

Tuning in to C-Span recently, I found myself listening to a speech by Senator Barrack Hussein Obama, Jr. He was standing in the pulpit of a black church in Selma, Alabama, and as I studied the body language of the dozen or so black ministers standing behind the senator, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the little head-bobbing dolls that people used to place in the rear windows of their 1957 Chevrolets. If their reactions are any indication, the new Schlickmeister of the Democrat Party is actually a pretty accomplished public speaker. However, as he spoke, I found my BS alarm going off repeatedly, but I couldn’t quite figure out why until I actually read excerpts of his speech several days later. Here’s part of what he said:

“..something happened back here in Selma, Alabama. Something happened in Birmingham that sent out what Bobby Kennedy called, “ripples of hope all around the world.” Something happened when a bunch of women decided they were going to walk instead of ride the bus after a long day of doing somebody else’s laundry, looking after somebody else’s children.

“When (black) men who had PhD’s decided ‘that’s enough’ and ‘we’re going to stand up for our dignity,’ that sent a shout across oceans so that my grand father began to imagine something different for his son. His son, who grew up herding goats in a small village in Africa could suddenly set his sights a little higher and believe that maybe a black man in this world had a chance.

“… So the Kennedy’s decided we’re going to do an air lift. We’re going to go to Africa and start bringing young Africans over to this country and give them scholarships to study so they can learn what a wonderful country America is.

“This young man named Barack Obama got one of those tickets and came over to this country. He met this woman whose great great- great-great-grandfather had owned slaves; but she had a good idea there was some craziness going on because they looked at each other and they decided that we know that, (in) the world as it has been, it might not be possible for us to get together and have a child. There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don’t tell me I don’t have a claim on Selma, Alabama. Don’t tell me I’m not coming home to Selma, Alabama.”

Okay, so what’s wrong with that? It all sounds good… but is it? Obama told his audience that, because some folks had the courage to “march across a bridge” in Selma, Alabama, his mother, a white woman from Kansas, and his father, a black Muslim from Africa, took heart. It gave them the courage to get married and have a child. The problem with that characterization is that Barrack Obama, Jr. was born on August 4, 1961, while the first of three marches across that bridge in Selma didn’t occur until March 7, 1965, at least five years after Obama’s parents met. Obama went on to tell his audience that the Kennedys, Jack and Bobby, decided to do an airlift. They would bring some young Africans over so that they could be educated and learn all about America . His grandfather heard that call and sent his son, Barrack Obama, Sr., to America. The problem with that scenario is that, having been born in August 1961, the future senator was not conceived until sometime in November 1960. So, if his African grandfather heard words that “sent a shout across oceans,” inspiring him to send his goat-herder son to America, it was not Democrat Jack Kennedy he heard, or his brother Bobby, it was Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Obama’s speech is reminiscent of Al Gore’s claim of having invented the Internet, Hillary Clinton’s claim of having been named after the first man to climb Mt. Everest… even though she was born five years and seven months before Sir Edmund climbed the mountain, and John Kerry’s imaginary trip to Cambodia. As one of my black friends, Eddie Huff, has said, “We need to ask some very serious questions of the senator from Illinois. It’s not enough to be black, it’s not enough to be articulate, and it’s not enough to be eloquent and a media darling… The only question will be how deaf an ear, or how blind an eye, will people turn in order to turn a frog into a prince.”

under construction

sorry, i am in the process of revamping my blog. i have been growing ever so sick of the look it currently has, however, i have yet to find something i like better. please pardon the "not-so-cute-ness". Thanks

have you ever...

i thought this was interesting considering i have a list of my own of lifes little pleasures. maybe one day ill publish that on the blog... My answers are in red

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink

02. Swam with dolphins

03. Climbed a mountain

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive- does a corvette count?

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid

06. Held a tarantula

07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone

08. Said “I love you’ and meant it

09. Hugged a tree- we are in oregon

10. Bungee jumped

11. Visited Paris

12. Watched a lightning storm at sea

13. Seen the Northern Lights

14.Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise

15. Gone to a huge sports game

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa-no but i held it to make sure it wouldnt fall all the way over

17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

18. Touched an iceberg

19. Slept under the stars

20. Changed a baby’s diaper

21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon

22. Watched a meteor shower

23. Gotten drunk on champagne

24. Given more than you can afford to charity

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment- try the middle of relief society spiritual moment

27. Had a food fight

28. Bet on a winning horse

29. Asked out a stranger

30. Had a snowball fight

31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can

32. Held a lamb

33. Seen a total eclipse

34. Ridden a roller coaster

35. Hit a home run

36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking

37. Adopted an accent for an entire day

38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment

39. Had two hard drives for your computer

40. Visited all 50 states

41. Taken care of someone who was drunk

42. Had amazing friends

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country

44. Watched wild whales

45. Stolen a sign

46. Backpacked in Europe

47. Taken a road-trip

48. Gone rock climbing

49. Midnight walk on the beach

50. Gone sky diving

51. Visited Ireland

52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love

53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them

54. Visited Japan

55. Milked a cow

56. Alphabetized your CDs

57. Pretended to be a superhero

58. Sung karaoke

59. Lounged around in bed all day

60. Posed nude in front of strangers

61. Gone scuba diving

62. Kissed in the rain

63. Played in the mud

64. Played in the rain

65. Gone to a drive-in theater

66. Visited the Great Wall of China- march 2008

67. Started a business

68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken

69. Toured ancient sites

70. Taken a martial arts class

71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight

72. Gotten married

73. Been in a movie

74. Crashed a party

75. Gotten divorced

76. Gone without food for 5 days

77. Made cookies from scratch

78. Won first prize in a costume contest

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice

80. Gotten a tattoo- no but i know what i would get if i ever did...

81. Rafted the Snake River

82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”

83. Got flowers for no reason

84. Performed on stage

85. Been to Las Vegas

86. Recorded music

87. Eaten shark- cow tongue...

88. Had a one-night stand (mormon... kisses only)

89. Gone to Thailand

90. Bought a house

91. Been in a combat zone

92. Buried one/both of your parents

93. Been on a cruise ship

94. Spoken more than one language fluently- spanglish

95. Performed in Rocky Horror

96. Raised children

97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour-RUSH all the way to scotland!!

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge

102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking

103. Had plastic surgery

104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived

105. Wrote articles for a large publication

106. Lost over 100 pounds

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback

108. Piloted an airplane

109. Petted a stingray

110. Broken someone’s heart

111. Helped an animal give birth

112. Won money on a T.V. game show- concert tickets on the radio?

113. Broken a bone

114. Gone on an African photo safari

115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced

116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol

117. Eaten onions that were gathered in the wild

118. Ridden a horse

119. Had major surgery

120. Had a snake as a pet

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon- and jet skiied up it also

122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours

123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states

124. Visited all 7 continents

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

126. Eaten kangaroo meat

127. Eaten sushi

128. Had your picture in the newspaper-the day i was born

129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about

130. Gone back to school

131. Parasailed

132. Petted a cockroach

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes

134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey

135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

137. Skipped all your school reunions

138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

139. Been elected to public office

140. Written your own computer language

141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you

145. Had a booth at a street fair

146. Dyed your hair

147. Been a DJ

148. Shaved your head

149. Caused a car accident

150. Saved someone’s life

stitches.

so last week justin calls me on my way out of work and says he need to go get stiches. he was playing volleyball with university club team and apparently can't dive for the ball like he used to. anyways, we have a good friend, Brant Cooper, who is a doc here in town and we hoped he could help us out so we didnt have to sit in urgent care for a few hours just to get his face sewn back together. such a gracious man, left his family at 630 at night to go to his office and help us out. we so appreciated it! his chin ended up needing 5 stiches in it. now he calls it his football quaterback scar from back in his glory days. i love this kid.

half way down

so justin and i are about half way done with this crazy summer we got going on. its hard to believe that we have been doing this whole living apart thing for 2 months now. and believe me its alot harder than it sounded. i thought all the time would fly by, and although it hasnt been to bad, i still do not recommend trying it. i love my husband more than anything, but not being with him makes me feel like we are in two seperate worlds, which is not a good feeling. but needless to say, the count down is now on for when the day comes i get to see him again.

moving

I tell you what about stress, i am getting to know the sight of it very well. this weekend is our time to say goodbye to our beloved apartment and move on to bigger and better things(also know as brooke and ryans). as i pack up all of our belongings, i find myself thinking we have way to much stuff. i am constantly saying "there it is, i have been looking for that!" as it had fallen into the black hole of a closet or behind a dresser. but i as i come across the old dusty remote we had been missing, i wonder do we really need it. the good thing about packing is it makes me make a decision. do i really need this enough that i want to pack it up and have to unpack it again in the fall? or is it unnecessary to have and we can part with it right here and now. what a difficult decision, and not best made when it is 10 at night and you are exhausted and just now beginning the packing for the night. i feel when justin isn't here to stop me, i throw out a lot more than i originally planned and just call it consolidating. but as more and more stuff is put into boxes the reality becomes more real. the routine i loved is disrupted. i cant wait until this is all done and i can begin again.

home sweet home

oh how i wish this week would last forever! on monday justin starts work in portland, and the long summer begins. it almost sems like a dream untill it starts. like how could i live two hours away and only see him on weekends? it seems so silly! but just as soon as it begins, it will end.