Christmas in January

Well, since my dad spent Christmas in Chicago with Cristie's family and then we met in Florida on the 29th we didn't get an opportunity to have a Christmas with my dads side of the family.

It was a very casual night with pizza, chicken wings, salad and just lots of catching up. My uncle Scott made a great discovery - Ritz, my dad and Cristie's labradoodle, has a great resemblance to Will Farrell. (I'll get a picture and post it)
After a quick couple rounds of presents we pulled out the Wii. In Chicago, Adelle and Julia got the new dance game. This pretty much provided the entertainment for the rest of the night!

This is my uncle and cousin attempting the game, my dad singing in the back, and me dying of laughter


And miss Avery got some very cute Kitty Jammies


Oh family, at least you can always fall back on 'I didn't pick them' ... right?!?! =]

International Softball Federation Tournament 2010

Most of you already know my softball history and my love for the game, so when I was approached to go to Plant City, Florida for 2 weeks to help coach an elite 16U team in an international tournament I couldn't say no. Not only was this going to be a great building block for my coaching background; but, the whole point of this tournament it to help spark bring softball back into the Olympics.However, let me tell you, 2 weeks is a LONG time!!! Overall, the NW Elite team finished 5th (out of 30+) and I got to spend some quality time with my father and a long-time good friend (college national champ, 3 time All-American & USA player) Ashley Charters - inside joke because this has become her intro. to everywhere she goes =]

This was a pre-game warm up game of Feet, Knees, Butt, Back...They loved it ;0)When the team didn't make it to the final day of play we helped Ash put on a little clinic with the teams from Korea, Bahamas, Russia, Canada, and Philippines. Here's Ash teaching her throwing technique.

We also got to spend 2 days at Disney World - 1 day at Epcot and the other at Magic Kingdom. On the second day though my dad and I were a little tired of waiting in lines and following moms pushing strollers all day so we ditched out early and headed to....Gator Land!!!Though it was the winter and they weren't too active (cause they are warm blooded) it was still really cool to see hundreds of gators. We even got to see 4 White Gators - no they are NOT albino, they are white. Apparently, there are only 12 recorded in the world and this park has 4 of them.

Summer Fun

The last two weekends have been CRAZY!!! John and I spent this last weekend in Bend, Oregon for the American Fence Association gathering. John works for his family business - Pacific Fence and Wire - and every year the companies in the association get together for a weekend. Everyone gathered Friday night at the hotel Rivers Lodge for a social hour and cocktail party. Saturday we traveled to Eagle Crest and played golf in a scramble tournament. To both John and my surprised we played all 18 holes (we were only planning on 9). But...I did win a prize! $50 for the women's longest drive! And John won $20 from a raffle AND a new polo, just for having to play on the Presidents team =] Neither of us are much golfers. I have actually only been once in life and it was more of a mini course. Luckily though we are both baseball/softball players and seem to have the same flaws in our golf swings.

Last weekend was another busy one. Saturday night our clan celebrated our friends, Katie, golden birthday. The big 2-3!!! Boy does that make me feel old...
On Friday we had a big BBQ to celebrate John and his roommates moving into their new home. Some of our friends from Corvallis who are still finishing school even came up to be there too.
Me & John

Ted, Nate, Carl, John, & JakeThat night we all went to the Trace Atkins & Toby Keith concert at the Clark County Amphitheater. This was a blast! John & I even ran into one of the local radio VJ's and got our tickets upgraded...FOR FREE! I love Toby Keith and his patriotism. Some of his songs even bring me to tears just thinking about the men and women that risk their lives everyday for our freedom. What a great night it turned out to be though. Good music & good company!
Carl, John & Ryan

Me, Lindsey & Monica

Life's a Journey

So this blog was originally created to keep friends and family updated on my travels and living/studying abroad nearly 2 YEARS AGO!!! Boy have a failed at keeping ya'll up to date and for that I apologize. With that said, lets see if I can do a quick catch up over the last 2 years...

Last Spring I met the love of my life - John :)

John is from Portland and we met at Oregon State University. We actually went to rival high schools and had a lot of the same friends in college but didn't cross paths till last year. John is the youngest of 7 & graduated from OSU and now works for his family business - Pacific Fence & Wire.

In November I ran the Seattle Half Marathon with my best friendPaige, her mother, sister, and sister's fiance. In May of 09 I ran the Eugene Marathon (yep, all 26.2 miles) and though I felt like I was going to die after that...I reallydid NOT enjoy this run. Seattle is very, very hilly, there were very few water stations and at those water stations very few people working. It w

as a good experience, but not a run I'll be doing again. However, I am attempting to train for the Portland Marathon in October now...

In December I graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in Business Management & Spanish - FINALLY! What an amazing feeling...it really is indescribable.

As a graduation gift, my dad & Cristie took the family to Mexico for Spring Break and a little rest and relaxation (though with Adelle and Julia - Cristie's girls - that really doesn't happen). We went to Cancun and stayed at an all inclusive resort called Dreams Riviera. Though we had a lot of fun, this really wasn't John & my "scene". TONS of little kids and you can only lay by the pool for so long until that becomes boring.

Sadly, I didn't get any of my own pictures from the trip but here's the resort link to give you an idea - http://www.dreamsresorts.com/drerc/

Though we do not live together, John and I bought an incredibly amazing dog - Stout! He is a boxer/pit mix and we got him when he was 8 weeks old from a friend of a friend in Corvallis. Today he is 6 months old and quite a smarty pants. Basically we are crazy

in love with him! He is not only entertaining but he keeps us busy and is good company since I'm living out in the boonies in North Plains.

What other big events...

Well I am currently living in a 3 bedroom apartment in the basement of my uncles home in North Plains, Oregon. As for work, I am on contract with Nike in the Archives Department through Kelly Services in a temp-to-hire position. It is a lot of grunt work, but it's a foot in the door with a great company and I cant complain :)

I think those are the major things. There is so much to look forward to on updating you all on - summer fun, John & I are season ticket holders for OSU Football, and in September we are going to Texas for my birthday AND to watch OSU play TCU at...THE NEW COWBOY STADIUM! WAHOO!!!

Cheers & GO BEAVS

Living in Spain

 Santander, Spain
I'm sorry for such the long delay, but I have not been able to access the internet from my own computer so adding pictures and staying motived has been very difficult...but that has all changed!!
So I have officially been here for a month and a half after this next week and I have to admit that I am getting to the point where I am ready to come home. BUT! I did get the best surprise this weekend!! 

So, Rick's parents live in Barcelona and sometime last week Rick text me saying that they were going to be stopping in Santander and would love to take me to dinner.  Of course, I was thrilled to not only get a real meal (other than my host mom's cooking :0( ) and spend some time with people I know.  The plan was to meet Friday afternoon at the hotel they were staying at and go from there.  When I arrived at the hotel I was waiting in the lobby sitting on a couch when I saw MY MOM and RICK walk around the corner!! I'm pretty sure my chin hit the floor when I first saw them.  I was so happy! My mom fooled me good! 

Things are going pretty good though.  I did however catch the flu last week that is going around here and had to miss 2 days of school.  School isn't too bad. Class from 9:30am-2pm Monday thru Thursday and the professors are pretty cool.  It's A LOT of left brain thinking speaking in Spanish for 4.5 hours but I have learned so much and my spanish is improving daily.  I've                    

posted some pictures of my room and the apartment I'm living in so you 

 can all see.            

The weekend of the 10th we had a four day weekend because Columbus Day was on Monday (obviously a big holiday here) so 2 friends and I decided to go to Dublin, Ireland that weekend. I was really disappointed with Dublin to be honest.  I guess I was expecting more green fields, lots of Irish dancing, and bag pipes which I saw none of the above! We did visit the Guinness brewery, Trinity University, the Jameson distillery, did some shopping, and St. Patrick's Cathedral.  This was also my first time staying in a hostel.  Not the best sleeping setting, but it's all about the experience, right?  

Living without the internet...

Ok, so things are going pretty well here and I have A LOT to catch you all up on but the past 3 weeks I have been living without the internet! For those of you who know me well enough, this is life threatening for me. My point however, is that because I have to walk 30 minutes to the University computer lab to use the internet I can´t upload any pictures to share with you all. I am SO bummed about this because there is so much that is going on here and I have already planed trips to Dublin, Paris, and London. I guess you all will have to be creative with your imaginations and just plan on getting together when I return to see all the pictures!

The beginning of the longest trip EVER!!

So our last day in Barcelona we did not plan very well...It was pretty much a half day in Barcelona because our plan was to go to Valencia, however we did not buy a train ticket in advance so when we arrived at the train station at 10:30am hoping to catch the 12:30pm train we were stuck in the station for 4 hours because it was sold out and the next train was at 2:30pm. Yeah, not fun!! Anyways, we finally made it to Valencia where my dad decided to rent a car and drive the rest of the trip (do you see where this is going...). 

In addition to the car we rented a navigation system which is just as helpful as a boat that doesn't float! So after a 3.5 hour train ride and thank goodness a 15 minute drive to our hotel we were finally settled. 

It was a really cute hotel right on the beach but let me remind you that we arrived around 6:30pm so the day was pretty much gone and a lot of restaurants were closed for "siesta" and wouldn't open again till about 9pm. So we decided to walk along the beach for awhile which was nice, BUT it was night time and NO ONE else was out there and just kinda out of place. Really what I'm trying to get to is that going to Valencia was a complete waste of a day and a little bitter about it...

But here are a few things I have learned about Spain in general:

1. Taxi's think they own the streets

2. Motorcycles/scooters are the best and easiest, yet most dangerous, way to get around

3. There are NO speed limits when driving through the city so ALWAYS look both ways before crossing the street

4. The napkins here are like tissue paper

5. Almost everything closes from about 2:30/3-9 for "siesta" which leaves almost nothing to do but wonder around town or nap

6. When visiting Spain you eat A LOT and walk A LOT and then eat some more

7. You do not really leave tips here, like maybe 5% if the service was spectacular 

(more to come with pictures)