Pursuit of My Happiness

Gluten Free S'mores

2011-09-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

I forgot how much I love S'mores. The years before being gluten free, I was fat-free, calorie free, sugar free... pretty much food free. So, until last night I hadn't eaten a S'more for at least five years.

Oh! the melty chocolate, gooey marshmallow, and CRUNCH of a delicious graham cracker!

This recipe comes from Gluten Free Tuesday at Serious Eats. It is SUPER easy and can be made dairy free without hassle.

Ingredients:

Dry:
1 1/2 C brown rice flour
1/2 C cornstarch
1/3 C dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Wet:
5 TBL butter, cold
6 TBL milk
3 TBL honey (I used agave)

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine dry ingredients. Pulse to combine.

2. Add butter and pulse until mixture is course. Try to eliminate all large clumps!

3. Add milk and honey. Pulse until dough forms. Scrape side of bowl when necessary.

4. Set dough on a lightly floured (with rice flour) piece of 12x16in parchment paper.

5. Pat dough into a rectangle. Dust the top of the dough with rice flour.

6. Place another piece of 12x16in parchment paper on top of the dough. Roll dough out until it covers the paper. The dough will be about 1/8in thick. PS, if you don't have a rolling pin, an empty vodka bottle works well. I have no idea how I don't have a rolling pin!

7. Carefully remove the top piece of parchment paper.

8. Transfer dough and bottom piece of parchment paper to a baking sheet.

9. Using a pizza wheel, score dough into rectangles. 6x2 3/4in is standard size. 3x2 3/4in is S'mores size. I didn't measure.

10. Poke the dough all over with a fork!

11. Preheat oven to 350 and chill dough in refrigerator for 10 minutes.

12. Bake for 15 minutes or until brown!

13. Remove graham crackers from pan (with or without parchment paper) and place on wire rack to cool.

14. Cool completely. Break along scored lines.

15. EAT! Eat S'mores, use as pie crust, or eat for a snack!

These are delicious, and as well as I can remember, they taste like graham crackers. Scott liked them too! We, however, burnt our graham crackers slightly. Despite the slight burnt flavor, they were perfect. Next time, I will not go to REI while I have graham crackers in the oven.

Hello again, Eugene.

2011-09-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

Dent Bridge is 15 miles (40 minutes) away from my grandparents' house. Very pretty.

I love vacation and I love my grandparents. Their strange little town in Idaho is nice, but it's definitely not for me. Surrounded by cat 1 hills, only two health food stores in (probably) a 150 mile radius, high fructose corn syrup with every meal, Folgers coffee, no gym or swimming pool in town, soaring obesity rates, and smoking permitted in bars. My grandparents live a bit out of town, so internet isn't very efficient. Thus, we had no internet. I just am so happy to be back in Eugene. I don't ever want to leave. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an overstatement. However, Eugene is my home.

It's true that I am looking at graduate schools in other cities and states (gasp), but I have a check list for possible residence locations...
-A reasonably priced health food store within 15 miles
-Some sort of flat terrain to run & ride
-Smoking ban (Berkeley has a smoking ban on SIDEWALKS!)
-Somewhat mild temperature
-Easy recycling would also be nice

I also have a special appreciation for Oregon because we don't have sales tax and we don't pump our own gas. I realize that we pay for both of these luxuries, but I like Oregon the way it is. Plus, I've only lived in states with this norm (Oregon and Montana).

Today is our day to readjust to our somewhat normal life. Internet time, grocery shopping for foods without HFCS, a walk in flatland, good coffee, and maybe we'll go to a bar... just to appreciate the ban.

Oh, a final note: The health food store in my grandparents' town was charging $11.95+tax for a jar of almond butter! I thought $4.25 at Trader Joe's was steep.

Daily Diet

2011-08-31T20:39:00.000-07:00

Life. Sometimes it just takes over...

The last few weeks have been really tough for me to run. I'm pretty tired and I REALLY need a massage... really. I think there are multiple knots in my shoulder region that could be easily mistaken for bone. I will be taking advantage of the free massage after the race this Sunday and I will probably schedule a massage when we come back from Idaho.

Another reason I have been feeling like junk is because (honestly) I have been eating junk. Through out the day I eat pretty well, however, still not enough calories. At night is a different story. Scott and I usually watch an episode of our current TV series (currently Scrubs or our second time through House MD) to settle in before bed. We also usually eat ice cream, chocolate, Sour Patch Kids, and/or some other form of sweets. Horrible. I know. One reason I never think much about this is because we go to bed pretty much right after we eat the delicious grossness and I don't feel the impact on my body. However, if I eat most any of these things during the day, I feel tired and sick. I'm beginning to think these treats have an impact on morning workouts...

Thinking about my sugar consumption, caused me to re(re)(re)(re)evaluate my diet. Like I said, I eat pretty well but I want to be really in tune with what I eat and how it makes me feel. I am going to pay close attention to what I eat and the affect it has on my body. I want to know if it makes me feel healthy, like junk, tired, energetic, full, satisfied, ect. I might track this in a paper journal (easier to access throughout the day) to see what kind of changes I need to make. I should also compare how my food makes me feel to my performance in my training.

What kind of changes? Less sugar. More movement towards a Mediterranean diet. This shouldn't be too difficult since I already try to eat veggies, fruits, and use olive oil in cooking. I want to eat more fish. I want to look closely at dairy. My chiropractor once told me that I have intolerance to lactose, but I have continued to eat yogurt, cheese, and cottage cheese. I want to know how dairy affects me, bad or good. Gluten is still off limits. The other day I went to the store to buy some sprouted wheat bread, but I chickened out. Too scary. There are plenty of other options anyways.

I want to give a shout out to Heather because she's awesome and really inspiring. She has truly been on a journey to really evaluate her body and her personal needs. Yes, she inspired me to look closer at my fuel. Thank you :)

Have a good Thursday. The week is almost over!

Beautiful Bread

2011-08-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

A question I hear often is "what kind of bread do you eat?" Well, homemade... If you want to know what flours I use, here's a list:

millet flour
garfava flour
tapioca starch
potato flour
teff flour
cornstarch
flax meal
almond meal

These are the flours that make the fabulous bread pictured above. Yes, all of them in one loaf. Since I don't use flour containing gluten, the flour doesn't bind like wheat flour. The "bread" will crumble, fall apart, sink, or burn if there is no combination of flour. There's your food factoid for the day!

As far as my training, I am getting worn out. I know that I'm not eating enough, so I went to a nutritionist on campus yesterday. She was helpful to some extent, but I still don't really know how to eat more. I know how to balance food groups, but to increase my overall caloric intake seems to be difficult for me. An athlete training in three sports needs a bit more than 1,700 calories a day or else performance is going to decline or just not improve. I can feel my body asking for more food. I guess I eat my loaf of bread today...

I Love My Crockpot

2011-07-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

Crockpots are AWESOME. Every Wednesday night, we come home after 9pm and we're usually very hungry. It's hard to make food when I'm really hungry, so I devised a plan to make food in the crockpot every Wednesday.

This Wednesday's recipe was Asian Shredded Beef. It was delicious and very tender, falling apart tender! I had to cook the roast on high, so it did dry out a little. I recommend cooking any roast on low and for 8-9hours. Here's the recipe:

Asian Shredded Beef

2-3 lb roast (frozen or fresh)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons agave
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons garlic
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Place the roast in the crockpot.
Sprinkle with spices.
Cover with agave and ketchup.
Whisk together hoisin sauce and soy sauce. Pour on top of other ingredients.
Cook for 8-9 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high (if you're crunched for time).

Some people like to serve this style of dish with fresh cabbage. I made rice earlier in the day and reheated it when we came home.

Tracking Update

2011-07-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

I don't have any new pictures for today's blog, so I thought I'd post a picture of what I was doing this time last year. Extraño México.

This morning I woke up early to swim laps during the early hours. It was a great swim. When I came home, I still had a warm husband in bed. I ate and took a nap. What a good morning.

An update on tracking my food... I tracked for about four days and was consistently under-eating by at least 300 calories, more like 7-800 on days with multiple or long workouts. I did learn that my carbohydrate, fat, protein ratio is nearly spot on. That was encouraging. After learning that I don't eat enough but I know what to eat, I stopped tracking. Now I know that I need to eat more.

Spanish class has been very consuming. Last week I spent my mornings working on homework for a single class. I considered dropping the class, but it was already a quarter over. Tomorrow it will be half over. My decision? I changed the class to pass/no pass. SO liberating. I'm already less busy.

Tonight is an evening group ride. I hope it goes better than last week because four flats in one group ride is just ridiculous.

Bit by a Barracuda

2011-07-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

Oh, and t

This weekend was exciting! On Friday, I ran my usual short run in the morning and then my long run on Saturday morning (this week was 8 miles). However, in between the two runs I went for my first mountain bike ride with Life Cycle Bike Shop. I also had the first three crashes/fall overs of my cycling history, all of which happened when I was moving less than three miles an hour. It caused some major bruises and scrapes though! I find new bruises every time I look at my legs. I guess it's a fairly common occurrence for mountain riders.
We rode cross country on Rigdeline Trail, a hiking trail just outside of town. It's very scenic, covered with trees, a pretty narrow path, and at times it has a drop off. The drop off scared me quite a bit, but I'm told I'll get used to it. I was surprised that we were allowed to ride on those trails since I know plenty of people run and hike there. When I asked someone if he ever encounters anyone on the trail, he said that last year he hit someone a broke their wrist! Scary for both people. I hope I'm never going fast enough to crash into a runner/hiker.

Overall, the evening was really fun. The guys were so supportive and patient. I'm pretty sure I'll do it again. I know that if I continue to ride mtb, I will gain quite a bit of spacial awareness, balance, and confidence on my road bike.

Oh, and the name of my post came from the brand of bike I rode. It was a cross country racing bike from a couple years ago.

My DIY Compost Can

2011-07-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

When compostables are thrown into a landfill, they actually produce methane-the yucky greenhouse gas almost 75% more powerful than carbon dioxide! The alternative is composting. We've chosen to start composting.

After looking at various compost bins, I decided to make my own. I found a DIY plan online and bought all of the necessary items.

My total bill: $14.24
$15 for a compost bin. That's a steal.

Crafting this compost bin was really easy and fun (Our neighbors may have thought otherwise since we drilled about 60 holes at 9pm last night). The difficult part of this DIY project was finding the outdoor trash can with a lid! Bargain stores and the local multi-purpose mart didn't have any. I had to buy one from a major hardware store. Oh well. Aside from the can, all I needed was a bungee cord and a borrowed drill. To make the compost bin, we drilled 3/8 holes along the sides of the can, around the rim, and in the bottom. It's important to have quite a few holes because the compost needs a lot of oxygen to compost. We didn't drill any holes in the top because we wanted to prevent rain from filling the can. We are using a bungee cord to prevent animals from opening our compost bin and stealing our food. The bungee cord also serves as another purpose-keeping the can closed when mixing the compost. To mix the compost, we will just turn the can on its side and roll it over a few times. We're trying to collect all of the leaves that fall on our patio to cover the food in the compost.

There's one thing we've yet to figure out about our compost... What are we doing to do with it once the composting has begun? Well, we don't have a garden, so we probably won't be using it ourselves. We might take the compost to Scott's parents' house. If you need/want compost, let me know!

Libros a mano

2011-07-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

For a thank you to the owner of Gary's Coffee (where we had our wedding), I am building a scrapbook. I am using cardboard from a box for the covers and scrapbook paper for the pages. After looking through some different ideas online, I decided to use scrapbook paper for the "binding" as well. I plan to tie the book together with pretty ribbon and viola! I will have made a book! I can tell that I'm going to have a hard time giving away the finished product. It's just so cool!

Tracking went well yesterday. I was really close to the carb, protein, and fat ratio suggested for female athletes. As far as calories in/out, I was a bit shy of my recommended daily intake. This could be because I feel like I'm being watched and I'm subconsciously cutting my intake. This morning I learned that when I eat oatmeal for breakfast, I'm not eating NEARLY enough. I tried to supplement my oatmeal with a nectarine and I was still eating about 150 calories less than I need for breakfast. I'll figure it out.

Yesterday I also started my Spanish class. I feel strange taking Spanish in the United States since I learned most of my conversational Spanish in Mexico. In class I realized that I need to review the language. I can understand almost everything, but speaking is really difficult (after a year break). I almost can't believe that I left class wishing I were in a science class instead. Good thing I have plenty of science classes in my future.

Hasta luego, Amigos.

Tracking Food

2011-07-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

I am not a huge fan of tracking what I eat. I pay attention to what I eat and when I eat it, but to track nutritional value of all foods is just exhausting. When I was in high school, I tracked the fats, calories, and sugars in EVERYTHING I ate. It wore me out and once I stopped I didn't think I would ever track again. However, I'm tracking again.

This time, I am tracking my intake and exertion to judge how much I need to eat to sustain myself for training. I need a decent amount of calories for the exercise I'm doing (between 7-8 hours a week of swimming, biking, running, and strength training), but I'm not sure if I'm eating too much or too little. I don't really intend to make this tracking phase one of weight loss. It's more just to adjust my eating habits to my needs.

Last night, I entered my different homemade recipes to find out the nutritional information. I set up an account with a diet website to make the tracking easier for myself. Today, I begin tracking.

(No, what's pictured above isn't my entire breakfast. I forgot to take a picture of my PB & Banana Pancake before I ate it.)

Once again

2011-02-20T20:28:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile...
Revamped my blog. Now I am writing about food adventures and training for the Eugene Half Marathon taking place on May 1st.

Stay tuned for new posts :)

Residual Pain

2010-02-02T14:49:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday's track workout was brutal, remember? Yes. It hurt. I think I may have mentioned that my calves felt like they were splitting up the back. I still have some pain left in my right calf. I decided to call Gilad today to ask for advice. His advice sucks... well, it's probably best. However, I don't like it.
REST.
I suppose I will be taking the day off from running. Maybe I could do some swimming or biking, but a day of rest will probably be good for the muscle.
I think I went into running at too high of an intensity. I should have eased into it more. No track workouts for awhile...
Tomorrow, depending on how I feel, I will go riding with Blair.

Ah, and yesterday... Yesterday was a CORE workout, which didn't help my calf. Given, that it is mostly to build core muscles, there is also quite a bit of running involved. We did stairs. Okay, they did stairs. Along with ants, stairs are my biggest fear. Twice I have fallen down stairs and become seriously injured. The first time I broke my ankle. The second time, I ended up with a sprained ankle, scratched up body, and rocks in my knee... leaving a permanent scar. That's why I ran the track instead of doing stairs. Ugh. They freak me out and I get dizzy going up... and down... and at the top. Yep. Don't like stairs.

Resting to heal my calf is my current position in my training. Wow. I didn't make it two weeks before needing to recover from an injury. I guess that's how out of shape I am.

Tonight is the weekly "Biggest Loser" viewing at our place. Last week, we had Julie & Julia over. Ha ha ha.

I CAN SWIM!

2010-01-31T21:39:00.000-08:00

Wow. Today was really difficult. I went out with the UO team to take the tour of the race course. Ohhh man. Not ready for a 60 mile ride. I made it 45, or so. It was really difficult and had three tough hills. I wouldn't have made it as far if it weren't for the extremely kind people I was riding with. In the end, I felt really discouraged. This is my fourth ride since September. I think I'm doing okay. Maybe next time... or maybe next time I'll go on the 'no-drop ride' with the shop team. That seems nice.

So, to follow this crazy ride, I decided to attend swim practice. I ate enough and the sport is different enough that I was able to finish an hour in the pool.
This was my best swim workout... I know, I'll get even better. Today, I felt like swimming went better than my ride. :/ I was able to SWIM! I am feeling the water and learning to breathe without drinking the whole pool. yuck. Anyways, I did so well I even got to participate in drills with the rest of my lane!
Two new guys started swimming today, so that was encouraging. I was slightly better than someone, which pushes me. If I have someone to follow me, I have someone to stay ahead of. Yeah... today was a great swimming day.

Oh! I also turned in paperwork for the tri-team and paid my dues. I guess I'm really doing this... Also, I signed up for the Truffle Shuffle. My friend Julianna is supposed to run with me. We'll see. If she doesn't join me, I will run by myself :]

I'm tired. Ready for bed.

Ridin' Dirty!

2010-01-30T23:37:00.000-08:00

I've been a little terrified of riding in wet and cold. However, I am trying to break this mid set. Today, I rode with team that leaves from Life Cycle at 9am. Scott came too. The pace was a little faster than what we have ridden in our last two rides, but I was feeling really strong... THEN... I dropped my water bottle, right at the base of a hill--the first hill. Scott turned back to get it and the leaders didn't find out until too late. Nevertheless, we were dropped and had to expel major energy to catch the group. This led to taking McKenzie short, by ourselves, rather than McKenzie long with the group.
Today, I rode without fenders.
Today, I bought fenders.
I was absolutely covered in mud... well, maybe not as bad as mountain bikers (it's beginning to interest me, finally). Everything was wet. Dirt covering my face, in my mouth, and I actually could wring dirty water out of my hair. Ha ha ha. mmmmm. fun. :]
No, really. I did enjoy it. I think I may be broken of my fear of winter riding.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer. The shop ride is taking a tour of the UO road race route. The mileage is pretty high, I think 60. I'll be going. Let's hope I don't die. I'll pack lots of food and make sure to fill both of my water bottles.
Also, tomorrow is a swim practice. I need to go to this too. I need to go because I missed Tuesday's practice.
Remind me why I want to do this? I want to complete a challenge.
Gilad is always encouraging to talk to about my training. I do not like swimming, and I am not good at it. However, it's the shortest distance in the tri, which makes it do-able. I just plan to kill everyone on the bike :]

The Last Few Days...

2010-01-29T22:40:00.000-08:00

If anyone reads this, I'm sorry I haven't written anything for a few days. Not too much exciting...
Wednesday, Blair and I went for a 2.25 hour ride. It was really nice. She pushed me and I was tirrreedd. I was pretty cold too, but overall, it was pleasant.
Thursday, I TOOK A DAY OFF! I really needed a day off, so I took one. I'm really proud of myself for taking time off. Anyways, I stayed home and ate too much Heath Bar ice cream. /sigh.
Today, was the the 2nd core work-out I have been to. I noticed that A. the 1.5 hours went by so much faster when I am in just a week's better shape and B. it was a lot easier.
I'm thinking about tweaking the current training schedule to incorporate more of what I love... riding. I'm actually having a difficult time, mentally and physically, with tri-training. I pushed aside the fact that I don't know how to swim. It's really hard to keep focused and not let my mind wander towards training with the cycling team/Life Cycle. We'll see if tweaking the schedule helps me... I want to stick with this, but if I become miserable, I will put an end to it. Sometimes I wonder if I actually thought this through before I committed to it. :/
Well, time to veg and watch Food Network until 2am.
Tomorrow is a cycling day.
Sunday is probably going to be really busy with a mix of a 60-mile ride and an hour swim.
WAhooo. Let's get some good sleep.

Oh yeah... running.

2010-01-26T21:08:00.000-08:00

Today was a track workout, my first one.
First off, I just want to say that I'm really blessed to run on Hayward field. I really enjoy the UO.

For those of you who aren't track-letes, here are a couple distance clarifications: 400m-one lap/.25 mile, 800m-two laps/.5 mile, 1600m-four laps/one mile.
The workout was as follows:
Warm-up: jog one mile (OKAY! I'm done... let's go home.)
400m-run really hard (watching everyone run away from me now...)
400m-jog (catching up to a couple people)
800m-run a little less hard (ooh... there they go)
400m-jog (calf-cramps like I've never had before)
1600m- little less hard than 800m (ugggghh... half way and I am no longer surrounded by anyone else)
400m-jog (everyone is rested and ready to begin their next phase)
800-run building back up (oh! there's that pancake and banana I ate)
400m- jog (just two laps left...)
400m-run hard (ughh, everything HURTSSSS)
400m-jog...
followed by a few more laps that I forgot to count...

Basically, it was really hard. This was the second time I have ran in five, or so, months. I was really frustrated during this workout because my lungs could do more, but my body wouldn't let me.
MacKenzie attributes it to so much time on the bike. I guess that makes sense. I've spent so much time building lung capacity on my bike, but I haven't experienced any high-impact sports for quite some time.

Walking to my car, I thought 'why am I doing this? I clearly didn't think this through. There's no way.
Why am I doing this? I guess it's just for the experience. Maybe I'll get better at it and will appreciate it more with time.
I really want to finish this project. I need to finish this. If I don't learn to love it, it only lasts until May.
I'm in this until May... then we'll reconsider triathlons. Or maybe, I'll just go back to my bike. It'll be nice out then...

Holding on and relying on Him to give me strength.

Day off!

2010-01-25T22:02:00.000-08:00

Today was my day off. I will either have Mondays or Fridays off depending on my ever-changing work schedule... side note... I've almost been at Yumm! for an entire, consecutive year. I'm feeling antsy. I've never made it this far before.

Tomorrow will consist of a track work-out led by MacKenzie. Running time on Hayward Field! How cool, huh? Not sure what to expect with the track workout, but I'm sure I'll survive. I can run... swimming is where I meet death.
Tomorrow I shall also pay my team dues and fill out paperwork. Let's make this team thing official.

Consuming Less Chlorine

2010-01-24T21:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday didn't feel like a real training day, so I forgot to blog... oops.
We went for a ride... sigh. That's what I love. I love living in spandex on a frame for three hours.

Why am I training for a tri if I love my bike so much?
good question... I guess I just want the experience.

Today was a swim day. It went a lot better than Thursday. I consumed less chlorine and actually started to understand breathing technique. I also got to participate in some drills that the others were doing! WOW! That is an accomplishment. I've been so slow that I haven't been able to do anything but try to swim a whole 25km. Anyways, the coach said she wishes she would have video taped me to show me how much progress I've made in the last two practices. I can tell I am getting better.

MacKenzie is a great coach, but she's kind of overwhelming. I'm trying to learn to swim, in general. She's also teaching me to keep my center of gravity on my chest, my head underwater... looking 45 degrees ahead of me, breathe to the side, grab the water, kick with my thighs, and I have to get over my fear of the deep end of the pool.

In a conversation with my friend, Tom, he mentioned that I would eventually "feel" the water and be able to actually swim instead of try to not drown. I think today was the beginning of that feeling.

Swim practice exhausts me. I just feel sleepy... not sore. Uff da. Off to study for a bit.

Core Workout

2010-01-22T09:33:00.000-08:00

Day four:

This morning was the core workout that the UO cycling team puts on. Funny thing is, when I was riding with the cycling team I never went to their workouts. Now, here I am going to them.

623am: roll out of bed. Eat pizza, drive to the UO, and make myself unbelievably sore.
7am: This is where it begins for the morning. Basically, we run a lot... then do some jumpy things and the "creeper walk."
740am: relocate to room 47. ha. This is where we do sit-ups and such.
830am: depart.

Not much to say... I'm really tired and will probably be pretty sore tomorrow. As for swimming yesterday, I am not sore. I'll probably feel all of this in the next day or two.

Tomorrow is the UO/Life Cycle team rides that I have been avoiding. I will go.

SWIM BIKE RUN!

2010-01-21T22:19:00.000-08:00

Alright, so you may have read on Facebook that I would be training for a triathlon. I've started. Today was day one... or day three... not sure which to call it.

Here's how it began:
During the summer, I was on a Life Cycle ride and had a friend mention that she rode with Life Cycle for cross-training, but she was on the UO triathlon team. This planted a seed. A few months later, I talked to another friend about a triathlon. Water to the seed. Months later, last weekend in fact, I decided that I wanted to train for a triathlon. Bought some stuff at REI and now I'm on my way to training.

Day 1, Tuesday, January 19th: running on my own. I MADE IT THREE MILES :] great, but that's half of the distance in an Olympic distance triathlon.
Also, this was the day of the UO triathlon team meeting. Went and gathered information about the training schedule (going to have to change my work availability... sorry Judy!) and I also learned about WildFlower, the triathlon the team goes to in May.

Day 2, Wednesday, January 20th: relax day before it all begins...

Day 3, Thursday, January 21st: Swimming... I learned to swim today. I didn't know that I had no idea how to swim... apparently I was flailing and kicking and that's not an effective way to swim...? Okay. No, it's not effective. I learned to keep my head in the water, to attempt to breathe to the side, and to really PULL the water. I think I drank a lot of chlorine today.
I'll be needing a new swimsuit. The one I have is very uncomfortable and doesn't seem to fit. Also, a swim cap would be nice. Waiting on mine in the mail... If it doesn't get here by Tuesday, I'm buying another one!
The coach, Mackenzie is AWESOME. She is the most encouraging person I have ever met. I don't think I would have made it to practice without her.
Another bit, I met a girl at the meeting. Her name is Megan. We are now friends and accountability buddies. She's super friendly and this will be her first tri too.
Tomorrow morning, Megan will be texting me to make sure I am awake for the 7am core workout. I should probably get some sleep... after ice cream.

It's Been Awhile

2009-03-21T07:40:00.000-07:00

That sums it up.
I've been really busy. I went back to school and I have loved it.
I finally made up my mind that I am going to become an elementary school teacher. So, here I am back in school working my way towards a goal. This next term will be my last one at Lane, then I will be off to the U of O in the fall. I'm not sure what my major will be, but it won't be education. Weird, I know. I am going to PSU in May to take a look at their College of Education. I believe I am bound for PDX some time soon. PSU offers a degree in General Education as well as Special Education and I like that. Scott also needs to move to a bigger city to find audio engineering work. Nothing in Eugene.
It's Spring Break. I cannot believe it. I have been looking forward to this moment since June... really. I'm in Arizona with Scott right now and I am loving it. I have escaped rain and I am in 90 degree weather. This is our last weekend in Arizona and next week is Scott's last week of school. He wants to come home, but he is sad to leave. I am so happy that he has come to like it here--well, his classmates and the school, not so much the big, hot city.
Last night, one of Scott's classmates had a session (his final project sort-of-deal). We were at the school, in the studio for a long time and it was very late. We got there around 7:30pm and I made Scott take me home at midnight. He didn't get home until 4am. I've been told that's normal for studio life. It was really cool to see the giant console with 48 channels. It was neat to see a $70,000 tape machine. It was cool to see Scott's school and to see him in his element. *WARNING: BRAGGING MOMENT AHEAD* Scott is so good at what he does. He is top of the class and audio engineering just seems to be so incredibly natural for him. His classmate couldn't figure something out and Scott stepped in and twisted some knobs, pushed a few buttons, and switched a few cords. Then it was fixed. It is so cool. I got to see professional recording with really good mics and in a really good recording room. I was, and still am, really impressed with the studio. I got to see the live sound room, which was really cool as well. There is literally a concert stage/venue in Scott's school. So, maybe I am committing myself to something difficult. He'll have late nights while recording, but I am in.

Today we might go to the Red Rocks in Sedona. I want to go to the fancy pizza place called Pizzaria Bianco. Supposedly, it is the best pizza in the United States and there is a two-hour wait for any given time. We thought about going to the Grand Canyon, but I think Mr. Sleepy Head was up too late to drive that far today--it's an eight hour drive. I'm not sure I want to drive that far either. We'll see what the day brings--hopefully good food. :]

MVP

2008-08-18T20:58:00.000-07:00

So, my mom and I got the MVP pass at Hollywood Video.
We went at 5pm to get a movie (27 Dresses, third time I tried to watch it).
We finished and decided we wanted another movie.
I went back to the movie store three hours later, walked in with no cash in hand, and walked out with two movies. So cool.
On the way home, I saw an old lady pushing her poodle in a stroller. The dog had a blanket.
When I got home I told my mother how cool it is to not pay for movies. In regards to that she said, "It's like the gym only you don't have to work out."
I replied, "Yes. Instead you get to sit in front of the TV and eat."

Trip of a Lifetime

2008-08-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I recently took a trip to Los Angeles. Some people think it was for the Dream Center and others know that it was to have first hand experience with the International Church of Christ. My motivation to go to Los Angeles at the end of July was to go to the Jubilee held by the International Church of Christ. A friend of mine from Yumm!, Whitney, invited me to go to the conference with her and another friend/coworker. At first I didn't think I could go because I wasn't going to have enough money for the trip or the event. As July approached I realized that my heart was being tugged towards LA for that trip. Here's the amazing things God did with the trip to LA.

Where better to start than...
Day one, Friday July 25th:
It was nearing 6 o'clock when Joy would be pulling into my driveway asking if I were ready to leave. The truth was, I hadn't even began to pack. I really didn't want to pack. My mom got home and I kept complaining to her that I didn't want to pack, I didn't want to go, and I had no reason to go.
The reason for the trip was because Whitney, a CY! coworker wanted to go to her church conference. Kayte, also a CY! coworker, was going as well. Being friends with both of them, I wanted to go. Whitney has been part of International Church of Christ for some time now and Kayte was being taken through the Bible studies to become a Disciple through baptism. I had heard things about the International Church of Christ through my pastor, A.J. Swooboda (best college pastor ever) and I had read things online. I didn't want to believe the things I was hearing because Whitney and her friends are so awesome. I wanted to experience the church first hand. Thus, beginning the journey to LA.

Joy comes to Junction City to pick me up so we can hang out for awhile before I go off to LA.

Whitney and Kayte decided that they wanted to go to LA a couple days early so we could play in the city. I was along for the ride at this point, so I could make no objections.

God bless Joy for her servants heart.

Anyways, Joy and I went to CY! and coffee beforehand and we got to talk. Joy prayed for me and dropped me off at the park that Whitney's church was having their 'Bible Talk.' When I got there, normal things were happening. Tyler was preaching and everyone else was listening. I did notice that the group was very vocal and would shout things back at Tyler while he preached. Normal again, just different than EFC. Once I brought out my Bible I realized that not only did I have a different translation than everyone else, I also didn't have a 'discipling Bible.' When Tyler finished preaching the Word, Whitney and her church went around the park to 'share their faith.' Now to ICOC, sharing faith meant going to people and inviting them to church--not my idea of faith-sharing (usually I would include some part of the Gospel). At this point, I felt a little awkward because I didn't go to the church, so I didn't feel comfortable inviting others to the church. On top of that, I didn't know if I really agreed with what the church believed. Eventually we stopped 'sharing our faith' and Whitney and I left for Kayte's house.

Day two, Saturday July 26th:
Whitney drove through the night and we stopped in Sacramento to meet Whitney's cousin and Kayte's cousin for breakfast. Once we were fueled up and ready to go, I drove. Eventually, meaning 7pm, we got to the place we were staying. We were staying with some girls, disciples, from ICOC. The girls were really nice and welcoming, but I still felt out of place. That night Whitney, Kayte, Janelle, and I went to dinner at Chipotle and to Santa Monica to play in the warm Cali ocean. Once at the beach, I had to pee so Kayte and I went to find a bathroom. After deciding the bathroom was too gross to pee in, I found Kayte and we began to talk.

Here's where I figured out why I went to LA:
Kayte and I both shared that we felt really awkward around the disciples because neither of us were part of the church. Then we decided we didn't want to go to church the next morning. Kayte's friend Steven lives on the Marine Base in Oceanside (3o miles north of San Diego) so we figured we would go visit him instead.

Day three, Sunday July 27th:
We ended up skipping church and driving to Oceanside. The entire way down to Oceanside, about two hours, Kayte and I talked about the awkwardness and how we didn't really want to go to the conference. Kayte also shared the reasons she didn't really want to be part of the church and I shared my views and opinions. Finally, we got to Oceanside and picked up Steven and his friend Patrick. They wanted to go to Sea World, so we went to Sea World. After Kayte tried to the wrong direction on a one way and kill a parking attendant, we parked. Once we got to the booth we realized the price of the ticket was $61. I was not going to pay that price. The boys got in for free because they are Marines. We ended up pretending that we were their dependents and 20% off our tickets. Sea World was hot, boring, and expensive. Eventually I got sick of being bored and decided to have fun. At the end of the visit, it wasn't awful. We went back to Oceanside and Steven bought us dinner.
Kayte and I got back to the disciples' apartment at about 1am and fell asleep.

Day four, Monday July 28th:
Whitney woke Kayte up to go to 'Bible Talk' at Kayte's school. Kayte and I both wanted to go just to see her school. We ended up going to the Bible study and we walked around Kayte's school. Afterwards, we went to the mall to waste some time, played volleyball at the dorms, and went back to the house. We went to Safeway to get some adr food and then went back to the apartment to hang out and fall asleep. I talked to Scott on the phone for a little while and he decided he was going to come spend some time in LA because he had extra time before school started. He would arrive on Wednesday.

Day five, Tuesday July 29th:
This is the day that Scott left Arizona to drive 400 miles to LA. It was also the day that I freaked out because I realized I didn't have enough money for the week. I looked into bus and train tickets back to Eugene. Kayte and I went to coffee that morning and decided to tough it out. We went back to the house, got Whitney and went to find Steve, who was lost in LA because he tried to find the disciples' apartment. On our way to find Steven, apparently there was an earthquake but none of us felt it because we were driving. Anyways, we found Steven and then headed for the mall to meet Scott. The entire way up and back Whitney sat in the backseat of the car with her headphones in while she texted whoever was more important than us. We met Scott at the mall (/sigh) and Whitney found another disciple. She went off with her and Kayte, Steven, Scott, and I walked around the mall until Whitney called us and told us she was ready. Whitney was ready to go back to the apartment, so that's where we headed. I drove Whitney back, Kayte went in Steven's car, and Scott drove his own. On our way back, Whitney asked me if Kayte liked Steven and I told her I had no idea. She said she was going to have a talk with Kayte and figure out what has been going on.

When we got back to the apartment, Whitney left and the four of us decided we wanted to go to the San Diego beach. Kayte got in Steven's car, Scott in his own, and I in Kayte's. We drove to east LA to drop Scott's car at his friend Ryan's apartment (where he was planning to stay) and we headed for San Diego, Kayte and Steven still in Steven's car and Scott and I in Kayte's car. Well, about 30 minutes into the trip Scott and I got a call from Kayte saying that Steven's car decided to be American and overheat. We pulled over and it cooled down. Back on the road. Ten minutes later, another call saying the same thing. This time, Kayte told us to go ahead and we would meet later. Scott and I thought that was a great idea and we headed for Huntington Beach. we hung out on the pier, watched the sun set, and walked around for a little while. I called Kayte to check up on her. She said they were getting closer to Oceanside.

Scott and I were getting hungry so we decided to head towards the restaurant Acapulco. We got there at 9:05pm to find out they closed five minutes before. Irritated and hungry we went to find food somewhere else. After driving a 28 mile stretch full of restaurants, we decided we couldn't decide where to eat. We headed to a grocery store. Kayte called. They were in Oceanside at the Barracks. Scott and I decided we didn't need food because it was 9pm and we still had to drive back to LA.

At 11pm we got to the Barracks and found Kayte and Steven with two other guys, who were drinking up a storm. I didn't feel comfortable, so I told them we had to leave. After getting Kayte in the car we decided to stay in a hotel for the night because Scott was on four hours of sleep, I couldn't stay awake, and Kayte didn't want to drive.

We found the Travellodge right on the freeway. We checked into the hotel and went to our room. Once we got in the room, we realized we forgot to ask for non-smoking. Scott, so patient and lovingly, went to the front desk to get us a new room. The front desk gave us a new room that wasn't non-smoking, but hadn't been used for awhile. It smelled better. Exhausted we all laid down. Surprisingly, none of us fell asleep right away, but eventually we did.

Day six, Wednesday July 30th:
I woke up with a nice surprise at about 8am. Scott and I texted back and forth until Kayte woke up at about 9:30am. Scott showered and we headed for breakfast. Unlike Scott, Kayte and I were completely unprepared. Neither of us had a toothbrush or a clean change of clothes. So, we started our day quite unclean feeling and probably looking.

Kayte decided where we were going to eat, Carrows, because Scott and I would have never decided. After we ate, we headed back to LA. We went to Guitar Center, drove around trying to find Beverly Hills, and then we called Ryan (Scott's friend) to meet up for dinner. He knew of this AWESOME South American place called Bossa Nova (If you are ever in Hollywood, you must go). So, Kayte and I meet Ryan for the first time and I mention we are running out of money and don't want to stay in the hotel in which Whitney and all of her disciples are staying. He offers his apartment. Kayte and I look at each other and say that we'll probably take him up on that sometime soon. Once we were stuffed full of delicious food, Kayte and I take her car back to the disciple apartment and Scott goes with Ryan to the recording studio.

On the way back to the apartment, Kayte and I decide we want to stay at Ryan's that night. We go back to the apartment to get our stuff and head to Ryan's. We ♥ Suzi. At this point, we think we'll be staying at Ryan's for five nights so we decide to get some groceries. The boys meet us at the grocery store because Ryan realizes he left his apartment a mess for a week or so when he went to visit his family. We go back to Ryan's place and park Kayte's car behind Scott's. Scott helps us carry our luggage up one flight of stairs, through a lobby, into the elevator, and down the hall to Ryan's 1930's style studio apartment. When Scott mentioned that it was small, he didn't tell us it was the size of a normal living room. And when he said there was nothing in it besides Ryan's stuff, he meant there was nothing in it. There was no kitchen at all. The bathroom sink was his kitchen sink. The place would be bare walls without any possessions in it.

Anyways, Kayte and I finally get our shower and invade Ryan's bed. Kayte and Ryan fall asleep really quickly and Scott and I end up watching the smog set until the early morning hours. Eventually we both go to sleep.

Day seven, Thursday August 1st:

I woke up and rolled over to find Kayte looking out the window. The first thing she asked me was, "Where are Scott and Ryan?" I told her that I didn't know, but I was confused why Scott didn't say anything to me before he left. Kayte said that Scott's car was gone, but she didn't hear them leave. Kayte looked out the window and calmly said, "There's Scott and Ryan." She paused and then continued by saying that she thought Scott's car was stolen. With disbelief I shook my head and started saying no. Well, I looked out the window to find Scott pacing back and forth on the balcony with paper in his hand and a stressed, but still calm look on his face. Scott hung up the phone and came inside. Yep. His car was stolen.

Without a bit of food for breakfast, all four of us head down to the LAPD. We report the stolen car to the policeman that says ORY GONE and head back to Ryan's "apartment." Ryan leaves for work and we decide to go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to find some towels. We walk the stars and then go to Universal City Walk to meet Whitney. She had some stuff of ours and we had some stuff of hers. We get to the hotel we are supposed to be staying at and have to wait with a large, questioning crowd of disciples for a half hour. Finally, Whitney meets us and hardly acknowledges me. We walk back to the car and Kayte and Whitney talk. Kayte tells Whitney she doesn't want to be a disciple and then Whitney and her disciple friends say bye and walk away.

Kayte, Scott, and I get in the car and drive to the Griffith Observatory. Once we got to the top of the mountain, we sat in th car for 20 minutes amazed that there was a decently quiet place near the city. We got out, walked the observatory, saw massive amounts of smog, a piece of the moon, and went back to Ryan's place, to eat. When we got back, we all crashed. We took naps and then Kayte decided to call her not-mom, Rhonda, who she lives with, to tell her what's going on.

Basically, Rhonda freaked out that Kayte was with me, my boyfriend, in my boyfriend's friends' apartment. She tells us to find a hotel. It's 10pm and I don't feel like moving. Scott helps us load our luggage into the car and we go find a hotel. At this point, I'm mad because we had a free place to stay and now I'm supposed to pay for a hotel that I don't want to be in. Kayte reminds me how awesome Scott is and I feel a little better.

Kayte and I get to the apartment, I call Scott and she calls Steven. I'm on the porch having a breakdown because I'm tired, I want to go home, I'm running out of money, and I have to say bye to my bf so that we can go back to Oregon and he can go back to Arizona. I couldn't handle the phone conversation so I drive to Ryan's pick up Scott and drive him back to the hotel. We both have minor breakdowns because we know the bye day is coming, Scott doesn't want to record music anymore, and I don't want to go to Master's in a few months. We comfort each other, say we'll make it work, and then I take Scott back to Ryan's. He said to call him when I got back to the hotel. I was so tired and I wanted a shower that I forgot to call. Scott freaks out because he thinks I died. I called him back and everything was okay. We all fell asleep.

Day eight, Friday August 2nd:
Scott decides to come back to Oregon with us, Steven wants to have dinner with Kayte to talk about some stuff, we say okay to both, pick up Scott, and head for Oceanside. This time we were planning to stay at Oceanside because we knew the hotels were cheaper down there. On our way we decide to go to Venice Beach. Really touristy and not much else to see. We drop Kayte off at the Barracks and we go our separate ways for dinner. Scott and I found food at a really good Japanese restaurant and sorbet at Albertsons. Trying to find the best deal and location, Scott and I visit at least ten hotels. The second to the last we decide the sorbet might be melting. We eat some and keep searching. Every hotel only has one bed and smoking. Finally we find a non-smoking room and take it. Scott and I get into the hotel and crash. Kayte calls and says she's staying with Steven because they can't find the place. I shower and then we fall asleep.

Day nine, Saturday August 3rd:
I wake up to another pleasant surprise. Scott gets in the shower and I turn on the TV for a little while. He comes back out and we just decide to hang out in th hotel room until Kayte calls. Afternoon Kayte calls and says that her and Steven are on their way. They get to the hotel room and Scott actually decides he's hungry. He wants a sandwich, so we venture to find Subway. We find Subway, then decide I should eat so we go to Chipotle. Steven got a call from the Marines saying he's on some sort of duty. He takes us back to the hotel room and then Kayte decides she wants Chipotle. We go back, get Chipotle, and hang out at Borders for a little while. I wanted to go to Whole Fooods, so we drive a half hour to Whole Foods.

Once we got back to the hotel, Kayte and I went swimming while Scott talked on the phone. We finished swimming, took showers, and fell asleep.

Day ten, Sunday August 4th:
Because we're close to LA we decide to go to Angelus Temple, the foursquare church that owns the Dream Center. We get ready for church and head to LA. The drive was fine, except the car was not. Days before we noticed that the transmission was acting up, so we threw some more fluid in it. Nonetheless, the Check Engine Light was still on and we still had little power while accelerating. We got there and everyone was impressed by the huge church. Matthew Barnett spoke and he did well. After everything was over, I thought to myself I cannot imagine this being my every Sunday service and then I dismissed the thought.
After church, we hit the road and headed to Sacramento to stay at Forrest's house (remember Forrest? Kayte's cousin?).

We make a few stops for gas, finally go to In 'N' Out, and arrive at Forrest's apartment at 7:30ish. He, again, takes us to a great place to eat, and then we go back to his apartment. Kayte and I decided we wanted sweets, so we took the car to Safeway. We got a little lost, but ended up buying some cheap gas. We got back, I took a shower, and we all fell asleep.

Day eleven, Monday August 5th:
We decided to try to get the car fixed. We took the car to the mechanic and he said it would take a couple hours to fix. He also said it would make it back to Oregon. We take that and go forth, or north, to Oregon. Well, we tried. We stopped at McDonalds, realized we were next to Guitar Center and had to go in. This is when Kayte and I decided we were a band. After Guitar Center, we stopped at Walgreens to get magazines and then we really left the city. We got turned around, back tracked, but eventually got on the right freeway.

Scott drove most of the way back. Thank God we had him with us because he knew how to drive the mad car. We made a quick stop at Scott's grandma's in Cottage Grove. At about 7:30pm we roll into my mom's driveway and unpack my suitcase and the orange box Scott was using for a suitcase. I hugged Kayte and then off she went to Springfield.

We had such an adventure. None of us would trade this trip for anything. Kayte and I developed an awesome friendship and the relationship between Scott and I grew infinitely the amount we could have thought it would grow in just six days.

Now, Scott is in Arizona, I'm staying in Eugene, and Kayte is probably moving to LA. We just all want to live in the same place and never give each other up. We're a trio now and we are so sad that we are going to be separated for a short period of time.
This trip helped me figure out that Kayte is one of the chosen ones. Two of us knows what that means, and the rest of the world will find out probably in about two years.

I love you guys.

& God decides to mix it up

2008-08-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

So, after extensive talking with leaders and praying and not eating very much I received new direction from the Lord.

Next year, I am staying in Eugene.
Master's Commission is no longer in my plans.
I am excited to stay here in Eugene and serve at Faith Center.

Basically, funds didn't come in like I thought they would and I lost excitement about going. I talked to a few different spiritual leaders in my life and reached the conclusion that I'm not done growing here. I also realized that I was going to MCLA to do things that can be done from the place that I absolutely adore, Eugene.
I was going because I wanted to find my God-given talents, so I could use them in the future.
I already know I want to work with kids and I believe God has blessed me with talent to work with them.
I was going because I wanted to help people.
I can help people here in Eugene.
I was going because I wanted to memorize scriptures.
I can memorize scriptures here.

As far as the new plan, I think I'm going to EBC in the fall to get my Bible Certificate. I'm jobless and I don't know where I'm going to live, but I have more peace about staying here.

I'm not ready to leave Eugene and I believe God has awesome plans.
Family, I'm so excited to grow with you this upcoming year.

Financial Freak-out

2008-07-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

So, I e-mailed Master's Commission the other day to find out how much money is in my account. My progress, as of now, is $510. I am extremely thankful for every penny that people have given me. However, I need more than ten times that amount.
You see, I have a savings account that I have been adding to for awhile now. By no means is there enough money to put me through the program, but it will make a significant dent. I never knew what this savings account was for, but this might be it. God may have been reserving money for this certain purpose.
Anyways, I'm going to send out more letters and pray a lot.
Please pray for me and if you would like to support me financially checks can be made to 'The Dream Center' and sent directly to Los Angeles.

The Dream Center
ATTN: MCLA
2301 Bellevue Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

& be sure to include my name on the memo line.

Thank you to everyone who is giving me support in any way they can; financially, in prayer, and emotionally.