triathlon

so i did it! i finished my first triathlon since i was like 7. i did good in everything except the transitions (something to work on). the whole thing was a .5 mile swim, 12 mi. bike and 5k. i came out of the water third in my division, had the longest transition, was so frustrated at the 40+ group wizzing by me on the bike, and finished the run thinking i should have gone faster. oh well. it was way fun though and i think im hooked!

my wonderful husband came with me to be my super support! he was so great, cheering me on and taking some awesome pictures. every time i saw him it made me want to go faster, push harder and make him proud. next time, i hope we can get do it together.

justins new toy

a few weekends ago we went to newport so justin could have a surf day and play with his new toy, his 3 meter kite. it was a gorgeous day at the coast, sun shinning and very little wind. great for me sitting in the beach watching him surf, but not so good for trying to fly the kite. we were having little luck getting it to stay in the air because the wind kept changing directions. what we did do with it was really fun, and even i gave it a try.

we went down to the harbour to get some lunch and loved having the whole fam together.

weekend with pops

so at the beginning of the month, my dad and his friend came up to visit justin and i for a weekend of rush concert and sight seeing. we headed up the columbia gorge (this is such a beautiful drive! highly recommended) and stopped off at the multnomah fall, which is right off the freeway. we then continued up to george, washington (yeah! seriously) for the rush concert. this amiptheatre is called the gorge, and it is stunning. it sits right on the bluff overlooking the columbia river. it is so pretty. it was a bit windy, but watching the show with the sun setting in the background was awesome.
the next day we had it all planned out to go check out mt st helens, since its just over the border from us. it had been sunny and clear the whole drive until we got to the point where we should have been able to see the mountain. yea, thats right, should have! in true northwest fashion, it will be clear and nice until you get to where you are going, and thats when the clouds roll in. we got into the park and could barely see 20 ft in front of us. just a big white cloud where this massive volcano missing its top should have been. such a disappointment. i doubt i will be able to get justin back in a car for a few hours to go see it again any time soon. so when you look at these pictures, imagine a huge mountain behind us and that this is just like a green screen or something.

crazy weekend

this weekend we got a ton done. on saturday, justin and i got everything boxed up and moved out of our house. thats right, our house is empty. we had originally planned to leave some stuff like an air mattress, bike and stuff for me to use while i lived there for these last few days, but changed our minds while we were packing to just take everything out at once while we had the big truck. this way i wouldnt have to make multiple trips this week to finish hauling up our stuff. so after 12 hours of packing and loading, we finally finished our house at 11pm. we drove back up to my aunts house, again not in the original plans, to go sleep in a real bed.

we unloaded everything sunday, with the help of my fam, into my grandmas garage. i must say, it drove me crazy that after 12 hours of work the day before, we had the entire thing unloaded and ready to go in like an hour and a half. not that i wanted it to take all day again, but it seems like all our hard work was undone in seconds. but, its all unpacked and on to the cleaning!

our memorial day bald eagle we sawthen we got to go fishing with my family on the columbia gorge, which is absolutely beautiful, for shad. this is a fun fish to go for because we only go when there is tons of them heading up the river, and we use them as bait for other fish like halibut and tuna. so when we go, it is almost guaranteed to catch stuff. i think we finished the day wit like 16 total fish. so fun.

and we have also taken up playing doubles in tennis with my aunt and uncle. it has turned into boys vs. girls, but since the first time we played, us girls have been on a losing streak. despite our killer 4 game come back last night, we still lost all three games. i think we need to continue our lessons and maybe get some practice time with out the boys there to help hone our skills!

happy birthday to me!

last weekend was my birthday, and as justin was preparing for his first final (also on fri) he made a point of telling me how busy he was, and wasn't going to have anytime. he asked "if we could just celebrate it the next week." ok, so i won't lie, i was pretty bummed. i was like, seriously! you cant put your books down for 1 hour so we can at least go to dinner. probably not the best response to his need to harness his stress and pass these important classes. anyway, so i spent most of the week coping with the fact that this just might not be the biggest birthday celebration, but who needs that at 23. i needed to get the facts that it might just be me cuddled up with my dog watching a marathon of sappy love stories, vegging out ice cream and cookies (i would have to make my self), and counting down the minutes till justin came home. granted he would be on brain-overload, and a totally stressed out version of him, but him non the less.

i got up fri morning and hopped in the shower as usual to get ready for work. when i got out, there were beautiful roses on my night stand, and the smell of eggs and ham in the air. much to my surprise, he had cooked up a wonderful breakfast and even managed to buy a present! he had gotten me the nike dri-fit running pants i so wanted. i was so excited, but still had the looming thought that he would be busy all evening, and this would be the extent of our festivities.at work, the wonderful gals got me a bouquet of fresh flowers, some gigantic cookies, and a wonderful card. yea, someone else remembered. my great friend brooke also sent me an edible bouquet to my office and i was so excited!! my friend lisa also hooked us up with these sweet balls we were having so much fun playing with at her house. Thanks Lisa!!as i arrived home, i was totally ready to get into my comfy pants, and hang out at home. when justin got home, he said he was done for the night, and he mentioned a few surprises still to come, so get ready. we went out to our favorite restaurant, beppe & gianni's, which also happens to be a 5 min walk from our house. one of our favorite shows is the amazing race , and justin happened to get in touch with the last couple that won, and they called to wish me a happy birthday. THANK YOU Tk and Rachel!! i could not stop laughing for hours.
when we got home, the surprises continued. he had also gotten me a birthday cake with candels from cold stone, and got me an awesome camera. oh my gosh!! i cant believe how wonderful he is, and how it went totally out of his way and spent so much time to make me feel so special, all while in the middle of his law school finals! what and amazing husband i have and i am so greatful for everything he does for me and our family.

on saturday, i did 2/3 of our triathlon and then went with justin to play volleyball. it was finally a nice warm day, and we had so much fun. spent a wonderful sunday at church and with our friends at a ice cream sunday bar to celebrate. it was such a great weekend and i am so greatful to everyone who made it special.

playing with the comp and my pics.

ultimate army

Terracotta soldiers:

we flew into Xian (in the middle of the country) and spent the day looking at these amazing clay soldiers. the first emperor of china, Qin Shi Huang, had ordered an army to be made to help him in the next life. over 7,000 soldiers have been found so far, and none of them have the same face. the army consists of soldiers, generals, archers, horses, chariots, ect. and were once all painted. they were buried with the emperor and discovered when a local farmer was digging a well and found one of the heads in his bucket. oh and did i mention this was all done in like 200 BC. this is yet another example of the great power the emperors had over the people in their time. and again, no pictures do this place justice.

This day also happened to be our three year anniversary. I cant believe that it has gone by so fast, we still talk about when we were dating like it was last week. after dinner we went across the street to underneath this freeway overpass, but the people of Xian had turned it into like a dance club. they had music and hundreds of people dancing. we jumped right in and im sure stood out. i was a lucky lady getting to dance with the boys. that is something i will never forget. what a way to spend an anniversary, you cant even plan something that good. we usually dont make to big a deal out of the "holidays" mostly just spending time together. but considering we didnt have a "first dance", it was pretty cool. later that night the town had fireworks that we watched together from our hotel room. I still cant believe how wondeful life has been with him, and how much more i love him then when we got married. our plans change daily and tomorrow seems so far away but with him i have no worries.

Called to serve

Garrett, justin's youngest brother, got his mission call this morning and is to report to the MTC on July 16th to serve in the Japan, Sendai Mission. Congrats Garrett, I know you will make an awesome missionary! Your wonderful enthusiasm and spirit will lighten the people in northern Japan! And you will be missed! We love you and are so proud! Now you can really perfect your ninja skills.

long lost pics

my ever so dear, funny, not-so-computer-savvy mother finally sent me the pics from when she journeyed up to Oregon in the beginning of February. bless her heart, after failed attempts of emailing, making cd's, sending the cd's, and uploading all to no avail. she finally sent a jump-drive containing them. that arrived yesterday, and i was so excited to finally see how they turned out. while she was here we hiked to the top of the local spencers butte. its only a quick 45 min hike to the top, although it was through snow. we had a fun photo shoot at the top.

our family photo

thanks mom, and remind me to give you a computer lesson next time im down there.

Hutong tour

we boarded some rickshaw's and went for a tour of the hutong area. this is a place in beijing designed after the original chinese dwellings. most of the homes are very old, and have been rebuilt patterned after what they would have looked like. our tour guide explained the importance behind the gates, and how different gate accesories determine the status of the family living behind it. we also went into a traditional housing, where you walk through narrow alleys and between tons of walkways to get into the traditional courtyard. afterwards, we climbed to the top of the drum tower and heard a demonstration of the traditional drums. very cool.