Friends

So Doug's been out of town this week and it's given me a quiet house and lots of free time to think. Think about random stuff that you normally don't think about because you are busy with a million other things. I've been thinking about my friends. It seems like when you are little, EVERYONE is your friend. You sit by them at reading time, or share your crayons with them and suddenly they are your BEST friend. No questions asked. Then you grow up a little, and you get more picky. You look for qualities you didn't know existed when you were sharing your crayons. You want someone who is trustworthy, or kind, or a good listener. But you also have your reputation at stake (middle school, high school... c'mon we were all there) and you maybe blow off people you were friends with before because maybe they aren't going to get you in with the popular crowd, or help you get to know so-and-so better. Or maybe you're the person who is friends with EVERYONE, no matter who they are, you had tons of friends. Or maybe you were the one who had a close circle of friends, you were nice to everyone, but you were known to always be with those certain few people. You think as you go off to college those friendships are going to last forever! But then as you pick a major, or get on a different school track and you see them less and less, and suddnely, you are where I am today. Almost 25 years old, and with no friends, only acquaintances.

I realized it. Every friendship I cherished so strongly just a few years ago has morphed into that dreaded acquaintance. You say hi here and there when you see them on Facebook or online, but that's it. You don't know where they live, you don't know what they're doing, and you start to wonder... how did it get this way? How did I get to be such a bad friend that I lost my friends? And you think, I should have emailed more, I should have made more of an effort, I should have called more, but in the end it's like, would that have changed anything? Or is this just how life is? Is this just how it happens when you grow up, get married and start your own adult life? Is this part of growing up? Losing your friends? and if so, why didn't anyone ever tell me that? I miss my friends.

So maybe it's too late, or maybe it's a lost cause, I but I want those of you who read this blog and think of me as your acquaintance to know how much I love you, and truly cherish what you have been in my life. I know we are all spread out all over the country, but for what it's worth, you always have my friendship, and I will make so much more of an effort to be more than just your acquaintance! Because no matter how old you get, you always need friends!

Working toward a more toned and trimmer ME

Well the holiday are come and gone, thank goodness! Not that I don't enjoy the time with family or the wonderful season, but I don't much mind the leftovers that roll over the top of my pants when I sit down. I keep thinking I can just start eating healthier and it will go away, but then I'm on the mountain and I am panting up a storm carrying my board to the lift or back to the car and then I know something more needs to be done. So with many thanks to one of my work benefits ($20 dollars a month toward a gym membership) I am going to join Curves. I worked out there in Portland one summer with my stepmom, and it was so fun, so quick, and I could not believe what a difference it made in my physique, so I am going back. I went in today after work to sign up, but I was encouraged to wait another week for one of their promotions to come out so I can save some money, which I am totally ok with, and then I will go back and sign up. I did let her weight me, and measure me, which was not the most fun thing in the world, but it will be nice to see those inches get lost just in time for summer to come!

I don't have a work out buddy, so it's just me, and I could definitely use some encouragement and motivation along the way! I will keep updating the situation on here so you can all hold me accountable for making an improved ME!

Leah & Daniel's Visit to Bend

Doug's sister Leah and her boyfriend Daniel came to visit us from Houston this last week. We had so much fun with them!! We spent Saturday showing them around Bend, and went out to eat at this really neat restaurant downtown called "deep". It's a really modern japanese restaurant that mostly serves sushi. Being that I am not much of a raw fish fan, I had little strips of beef that you cook on a 1000 degree rock in front of you at your table. Needless to say, it "rocked"! Here's how it works- You drop your raw meat on the rock, watch it sizzle... and then you dip it in the yummy sauces and ta-da! I'm a huge fan!
Leah and Daniel wanted to try snowboarding so we all went up to Mt. Bachelor and hit the lifts. Doug and I finally ventured away from the mini hill and went on a real run. It was really challenging but also a lot of fun.
We also went Ice Skating- I hadn't been in sooooo long, but it was such a blast! There is a resort on the way to Mt. Bachelor that has an outdoor rink you can skate at from November until March, and we decided we'd give it a shot, and Im so glad!



Here's a video I took on the ice skating rink



It was so fun to have them stay with us! I hope we can see them again this September in Austin, TX at ACL Fest, which I am still trying to convince Doug that we need to go to!! I wish they lived closer so we could do fun things like this more often with them, but I am definitely thankful for them fun times we are able to have when we do get together!

Family fun in the snow

This weekend my parent's came out to visit with my two nephews, Michael- 7 and Adam- 6. A lot of our snow here in town has melted in the last few days so we drove up to Mt. Bachelor and went tubing at the tubing park there. You get to tube for 2 hours, and they even have a tow that you hook your tube on and it pulls you back up the hill for another run down. Doug and I had so much fun, I felt like a kid again! Even my step-mom Mary-Lynn who doesn't like rides or anything really fast or scary was having a fun time and riding down with no hands at the end of it all.

An action shot of me on one of our run's down

Doug on our way down

Doug quickly realized that the smaller the tube, the faster you go- look at him being reckless!

My cute parents enjoying the snow

This was where we were tubing at, pretty cool!

We also built the coolest snowman ever! He even has his own snowcat courtesy of my husband's handiwork in the snow! We had a great snowball fight too!



My dad should be a pitcher! Look at that throw!

My nephew Michael getting ready to nail me!

Now we get to look forward to Doug's sister Leah and her boyfriend Daniel coming to visit us for a week this Saturday!!

Poor Britney!

Most of you already know this, but I am a celebrity gossip junkie!! I LOVE people.com and probably visit it 2 times a day to see what everyone is up to. And I must say how sad I am for Britney Spears! I have never been a big fan (her song Toxic is pretty hot) but to see her personal meltdown plastered all over TV and the web I start to really feel for her. Sure I think she has issues, but we all do! What's sad is that instead of struggling through them quietly in the comfort and presence of those close to her, she has to go through them for EVERYONE in the world to witness, and that can't be helping the situation. And what I realized today is that I am not helping either! By being one of those people who watches Entertainment Tonight and checks people.com for new juicy gossip I am feeding that papparazi and public press monster and making it so there is a need for people to hound her down for the latest news. Granted it isn't all MY fault, but I do feel a little guilty that my afternoons are made more interesting when I read that she was released from the psyche ward at UCLA and that her parents fear for her life... anyway... I guess she should expect all of the attention... it does come with the territory of being a well known celebrity. Either way I do feel for her and hope she can pull through the crisis that is her life and can do it before her little boys get old enough to remember how much of a wreck their mom was. I'm rootin for ya Britney!!

So much snow!

We have been getting tons of snow here in Central Oregon lately! I don't think either of us knew exactly what we were getting ourselves into moving from sunny warm Orlando Florida to Bend (mountain ski town) Oregon! What a contrast!! But needless to say, we're getting along just fine, and think the snow is awesome! Plus it's afforded us the opportunity we never would have had living in Orlando to go snowboarding!

This is totally a hobby I am starting to fall in love with!! It's really hard, and I have a newfound respect for those professional snowboarders you see in the X-games and whatnot who make carving down the mountain and jumping off rails look like a cake walk. I can BARELY make it down the run without falling down, and have just started being able to turn so I don't crash into people, fences, or trees, which I have done all of. I have figured out how to stop and slow down without falling, which is a MAJOR improvement compared to the first time we went. Our first trip up, I was scared to death, and speed = TERRIFYING! But every time I would start moving I would pick up speed, get scared, and the only way I knew to stop was to make myself fall down! It' a little different now. At lease when I get going faster I don't get scared, I know how to slow down, move around people, and best of all I don't fall off of the lift anymore!

If you haveb't tried snowboarding and you live in a place where you have a mountain close enough to visit I totally recommend it! It's such a good work out and really fun too!

Here's some more pictures of our little winter wonderland!

Our apartment from the parking lot

The snow Doug's truck has accumulated

Read any good books lately?

Well I am so sad to say that I have finished the Twilight series I was reading by LDS author Stephanie Meyer, and it was so wonderful! I can't wait for the 4th book to come out later this fall! I am eager to see where Jacob ends up and if Bella and Edward finally tie the knot!! I feel so lame for getting so into a teenage targeted book about a girl who falls in love with a vampire and is best friends with a werewolf but it's so well written, I can't help but tear through it!

So now that I've finished that series my afternoons at work are getting pretty boring without a good book to read when it's slow. Do you have any suggestions of some good books I should check out? I am considering reading books from Oprah's book club, but that would just make me feel old, so if any of you young hip people have any recommendations, I welcome them!!

Stupid Blogger!

I know, I know my blog is so plain with so few pictures, but each time I try to upload them, its freeze up on me, and never finishes!! So bear with me, it's a work in progress!