TADA!

Ok, so I'm totally acknowledging the fact that this is probably not all that exciting to you guys. BUT...it's very exciting to me soooooooo...bare with me! I got my new and dazzling (well, not new...it feels new though) bike back yesterday from the shop. Jason did an amazing job...including such hard things as getting the chain line straight. The only thing the guy at the shop really worked on was the back brake...which was sort of mushy before but now feels AMAZING! This bike has caused a ton of stress! Poor Jason has been working on it for a while now. He may not be super fast but he does a near perfect job. Good job Jason and thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all the great work you put into getting my bike up and going. Sooooo...for some pictures now!

My Bike Before (shown below)...eeeew, isn't it old and ugly?!? :-) We had already put the new fork on and so I'm trying to hold up the old one in front of it.

Then Jason took it apart and I got the frame powder coated...I chose white...obviously!:-) Here it is fresh from the powder coat place!

Jason putting the bike back together...what a mechanic!!! Notice the King headset...oooh la la! Yes, one of my splurges!

The bike complete!!!!!

Me happy! (and looking like I just crawled out of bed...what's up with frizz?)

So, that's the bike in all of it's glory. The brakes feel amazing! The steering feels so smooth (that's what the King headset was for). I have more travel in the front with the new fork. There are no more annoying creaks anywhere in the bike. Most of all the peddling is soooooo smooth. That was the first thing I noticed when I hopped on the bike. Wow. Jason bought me the nice, more expensive bearings for the bottom bracket and yeah...they were worth every penny...that um, Jason spent! :-) So, I'm going on a test ride after work and am really excited. I hope I don't fall though! :-) I don't want to scratch my new paint job! hehe!

Also, I thought that I would go ahead and throw this picture in the mix. This is Pastor Muralee from Sri Lanka that we went and saw at the Laity's BBQ. I mentioned it in a blog a week or two ago. I love how they don't smile in pictures. It cracks me up!

Ok, well, I hope you enjoyed my bike stuff! :-) I hope everyone has a great day! Adios!

10KOM and other news...

Welp, I'm back from the weekend. It's nice that this week is a 4 day week. Yay for 4th of July and church picnics...I love church picnics.

Ok, let's start with Saturday. I slept in...sort of, and had a nice slow morning. Jason called me when he woke up and we went to Linnea's for coffee and waffles. Yummy! Then we went to Barnes and Nobles and read magazines...well, Jason did. I went on a search for cheap fabric for curtains. I didn't find anything that I really liked so I think that I will be using some plain flat sheets instead. That's fine. Also, I'm working on a new fun purse...yay. Pictures to come. Then we cleaned the chains on our bikes and Jason was finally able to fix the creak in his bike. He won't admit it but he is quite the bike mechanic. It's funny to go to the bike shops with him because I think the mechanics really like talking to him. It's probably nice for them to have someone who knows all the "lingo" and gets what's going on.

As for Sunday...I woke up at 6am and Jason picked me up at 6:30am. We drove over to Madonna mountain to do the ?KOM. It's ?KOM because I had no idea how many I was going to do. The goal was 4. I will say that yes, I successfully completed my goal. Was it pleasant?...mmmm...not really. Lap 1 was lame...it was a warm-up and definitely didn't feel good. Lap 2 felt great. Lap 3 felt pretty good. Then on Lap 4 I started thinking about everything that I could possibly eat. I thought about pancakes, sausage, my cliff bar in my pack, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I had in the ice chest at the truck. By the top of the mountain I was running on NOTHING...but didn't realize it. I started thinking about why it was I felt so crumby. There were other girls who kept going and going...who finished the 10. I was thinking..."Man, am I a pansy or what?" On the way down my 4th lap I started thinking about why it was that I felt SO bad. I couldn't figure it out. Upon thinking about it I realized that this is my 5th ride in about 3 weeks (after not riding at all for 2 months or more). That's pretty bad. I like to do 3 rides in one week...so it should have been more like my 9th ride. It's been busy though with moving and yada yada. So, I finished the 4th lap thinking, "I guess I'm out of shape." The weird thing about it was that I wasn't out of breath, nor did it feel like my legs were totally done. I just felt weak and completely energy-less. After finishing my 4th lap I ran to the truck and sat down. I completely inhaled my Cliff bar. Then I broke into the sandwich and ate that. Then I sucked down a GU (an energy gel.) After I ate that (in about 5 minutes...literally) I was sitting there and finally realized what was wrong. I feel so stupid too for it. I didn't eat before the ride. I had a cup of coffee and that was it. I'm not a breakfast eater. Before races though I always eat. I have no idea why I completely forgot to eat before it. Oh well. I wouldn't have done 10 but I think that I might have been able to do 6 or 7...maybe :-).

Jason came down from the mountain after 5 laps and we went to church. At first he was fine with doing 5 but then later on he was bummed that we didn't ditch church and do all of them. Oh well. When I told Jason that I didn't eat anything before the ride and not until the end of my 4th lap, he was shocked. "Of course you totally crashed Anna." Yeah...I know. :-)

So, it was a learning experience. There are many things that are sore on my body...like my rear, my lower back, and my hands. It was...fun? Yeah, it WAS fun...mostly because it was a challenge. We both got a free t-shirt out of it and a $25 gift certificate for a restaurant in Morro Bay from Scott....even though we didn't complete the challenge. What a guy! We also went to a BBQ at Art's to bid farewell to John...a mechanic there who is moving with his wife to Ecuador for two years to teach...can we come? John and his wife are super nice and I wish I could have met her earlier.

Overall, a good weekend though. Not too shabby at all.

*Note: I just got a call from Jason telling me that my bike is DONE! Jason built it up but took it to the shop to make sure that it was all done properly. So, it's officially complete and that means I can ride it today or tomorrow. Tomorrow sounds a little more appealing..considering the state my rear end is in! :-) Pictures to come on tomorrow's post! Yay.

Good Morning Friday!

Well, it is Friday and this weekend has big plans...big big plans. Well, not really. Tonight, Jason and I have our lovely "date night." The agenda consists of Klondike's pizza with a pocket full of quarters (yes, we elbow those kids out of the way and play video games). After that we're going to see the much anticipated Wall-E. I have been looking forward to the release of this movie for so long. I hope that it's as good as I'm hoping. I thought Kung Fu Panda would be corny but I actually really liked...it was quite funny. So, we'll see.

Saturday morning involves coffee, pancakes, and a mountain bike ride. Jason is really and truly, pretty much done with my bike. Yay. We are going to take it to the bike shop after work so that they can double check what he did. Maybe then I'll be riding my new re-vamped bike...maybe.

Sunday is the a fore mentioned 10KOM. So, I thought, hey, we're going to be riding on Sunday...there's no need to ride on Sat. Boy, am I naive! Jason said that Sunday's ride won't be that big of a workout and so we should ride on Sat. too. Here is where I am NOT naive though. Jason thinks that he's just going to go up and down Madonna a couple of times and that's it...while everyone else attempts to do 10. I know him though. He's going to get there, have all those guys there, he's going to get all pumped up...and there is no way he's going to go, "Ok guys, two's good for me! See ya!" Nope, we are going to be doing way more than 2 rounds on Sunday. And I'm going to be dead tired. I was thinking about packing a book and a thermos of coffee in my Camel-back...so I can sit and relax while Jason is peer-pressured into doing the whole thing probably! :-) We'll see though!

"Bruce, I'd like for you to ease up on the mountain biking."

Welp, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Until Monday...!

A Moment of Clarity

Do you ever have one of those moments where you look around you and just feel overwhelmed by how blessed you are...and how you deserve not a drop of it. It happens at random times for me. It's almost always triggered by either me playing music, hearing some other amazing person glorify God through their music, or even more so, through viewing God's glorious hand in nature. They just seem like true moment's of clarity. It's when you aren't doting on what you don't have, when you aren't thinking about the next thing, the next worry, when all around is sweet and calm...your heart just overflows with thankfulness to our great, great God.


I wish I could have this mentality always. Life would be so much clearer and so much more free. It would definitely be much more God-centered and people-centered, rather than me-centered. I had one of those moments last weekend as I was enjoying myself in the ocean. I went under a wave and when I popped up it just hit me. There was so much beauty all around. Here I was in the ocean that God created. I have so much and yet so often I think I don't. Above all I have a God who chose be before time and who loves me. I have a hope that far outweighs anything this world can offer. I have Christ who loves, who cherishes me, and with whom I may place all of my trust and worth in. How sweet that is! Sometimes it just makes me giddy with joy!!! :-)

Yesterdays Ride

Hello all. Hope the Wed. is treatin' you all marvy harvy. I have a full days of work ahead of me. Wed. and Fri are my 9 1/2 hour days. ugggh. It's slow going until 3pm. For whatever reason after 3pm it seems like it's almost over...even though there's still 2 1/2 hours left.

Yesterday, Jason, Ben, and I hit Madonna mountain for what ended up being a really fun ride. We went around Lemon Loop and then up to the top. We took Rock Garden down. I had a near death experience with some crazy down-hillers. Jason and Ben are way faster when it comes to downhill. Especially with Rock Garden. This is only the second time I've ever gone down it. It was super fun but I definitely didn't huck myself down it. Well, I'm going along when all of a sudden I thought I heard something. I turned around and saw this guy flying down at warp speed. I dove into a really pokey bush and made it out of the way just in time for him to yell in my ear, "Two more!". So, I waited there with the woody branches stabbing into me until the other two went by. I made it to where Jason and Ben had stopped and waited for me (they too had seen the guys speed by and wondered if I was now a flattened little "Anna pancake".) I rode up to them and told them about how I was almost ran over but had moved out of the way barely in time. Jason was annoyed. Aside from the fact that it was me who was almost ran over he's afraid that one day they're going to ban mountain biking on Madonna mountain because of these psycho down-hillers. Granted, if I had 6 or 7 inches of travel on my bike I'd probably go fast too. The problem though is that there are no designated mountain bike trails on Madonna. They are all fair game for hikers...including Rock Garden. There could easily be someone hiking up these trails. There's enough turns and corners that you really have to be careful when down-hilling. Some of these guys go SO fast, and they don't really give a care who's in their way. So, at the end of Rock Garden Jason we met up with the guys and Jason talked to them. It was the typical, "One nice guy in a group of jerks." The guy who almost ran me over was actually really nice. He had a terrible noise in his bike and Jason actually ended up fixing it for him. His other two friends ditched him though and he ended up riding with us a little bit. So, long story short...we finished the ride, it was really fun, and I fell at the last corner out. Duh. I don't fall on the technical Rock Garden...I fall at the end...where it's practically flat! I got a little "dirt rash" on the arm but no real harm done. :-)

Sunday, at 7am, Jason and I are heading out to Madonna for the 10KOM. 10 times up and down Madonna mountain. The is a total of 22 miles up and 22 miles down. That is, if you actually finish it. I don't foresee myself actually doing 10 of those things. For a few reason really... First, it KILLS the lower back. Second, my lungs may poop out on me. Third, my legs may poop out on me. Fourth, it sounds a smidgen bit boring. Fifth, the longest ride I've done since being back on the bike was 15 miles and maybe 3/4 of those miles were climbing miles. So, there you have it. We'll be sure to take some pic's of the gang. There's a whole brigade of guys from church doing it...maybe a girl or two too. Maybe Julie Theule or someone can get out there and represent the Grace girls who ride. :-)

Today as of Now!

So, I think that I would like to invest in a camera. Jason has a really nice one. He never uses it though and I'm always paranoid to borrow it. I would rather just have a cheaper one that I can bring everywhere and have fun with. My budget is between $100-$200. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Well, Jason was almost done with my bike yesterday. I say "was" because we just found out that the brake levers don't match the brakes. There were these old school booster things that they used to make it work but they are really old looking and the bearings in them are pretty much toast. We decided to take them off and try to use something else...no go. That was a mistake. Poor guy. He was soooo close. Now he may have to take all the cable out of the internal housing (which is the biggest pain in the rear). My other option is to buy a new/used set of more modern brake levers/shifters. That would be the easiest thing for him...the most expensive for me. I have my eye on a set on ebay but we'll see how high it goes up to.

I'm officially one month away from vacation...yay!!! I never realized how wonderful vacations were until I had to work full-time. This will be my first vacation in 7 months...not bad. I'm not sure if that's a long time. Probably not. It feels long to me though.

So, today's funny story:
The character's in today's story involve me and a little two or three year old girl with no pants on. She gets speech therapy along with her brother and sister, they're triplets and pretty much the cutest thing in the world. She has a tiny little girl voice and she says her r's like w's...so cute!

Me: "working"

Kid: Excuse me.

Me: Yes? (I try not to laugh upon realizing that she has no pants on).

Kid: I pottied.

Me: Oh, that's...good?

Kid: No, I pottied somewhere naughty.

Me: Oh, you did?

Kid: I pottied on your fwoor (floor).

Me: Oh, ok. (thinking, what in the world?)

Kid: My mommy said that I need to say saw-wee (sorry) for pottying on your fwoor.

Me: Oh, well, that's ok. I forgive you. Did you potty on the carpet?

Kid: yes.

Me: Can you show me so I can put some carpet spray on it?

Kid: Pwease don't spway (spray) me!

Me: What?

Kid: My mommy spways our kitties when they awe (are) naughty. I'm weally saw-ee (really sorry), pwease don't spway me (please don't spray me).

Me: *Laugh* Ok, I won't spray you. But can I put some spray on the floor to make it all clean again?

Kid: Yes.

Then I go and tell her mom who completely cracks up. I think that it's really funny that she made her little girl apologize to us for having an accident on our floor. They are the best behaved kids I've ever seen. I'm very impressed at her parenting skills. Ok, I just had to share that highlight of my day! :-) PS: I included a translation of what the little girl said...just in case I wasn't getting the effect across properly :-)!!!

Aaah, coolness...finally.

Welp, it's Monday. The weekend was scorchin'. Well, Fri. and Sat. were. Sunday was beautiful. On Fri. I got off at 3pm. Jason got home at 4pm. We pretty much headed straight to Avila. We first got fish and chips from the Custom House for dinner. Then we went and got into the water. We left the beach at 7:30pm and it was still "beach weather". It was so weird.

On Saturday morning the Jase and I went downtown to get iced carmel macchiatos! Yumm...dessert in a cup!!! I had Cara's baby shower to go to at 10:30am. Jason didn't want to go home to his hot house and so I left him downtown to read in Barnes and Noble. I stole his car...as usual :-) A recommendation for those of you who like to read from Jason...if it's ever over 100 degrees outside, your house doesn't have AC, and you like to read...plant yourself at Barnes and Noble. Jason thoroughly enjoyed it and it was nice and cool.

After Cara's baby shower I went and rescued him from downtown (I felt bad leaving him down there for so long and so I left a little early :-/ ) We then went to where half the population of the central coast was...the beach. Uggh. It was so hot. We were there for at least 3 hours and I think we were in the water for 2 hours of that. I am proud to say that I only got a little bit sun burned...not bad. The waves were kinda big for Avila and so we had fun body surfing and getting tossed around by the waves. It was really really fun. We topped the day off with each getting one of those chocolate chip cookie toll house ice cream sandwiches from the Avila Grocery. YUM! I love them. Jason was never too into them and then he met me...:-) I got him hooked!

By Sunday it had finally cooled off. The plan was to go to the beach again. But the forecast was a bit off. They said it was supposed to be 92 degrees. It was more like 75. The beach was even cooler than that. So, after church we walked to CBO and got a couple of parts for my bike...which Jason is SO close to having finished (I really underestimated how long this project was going to take). After that we had yummy pizza at Woodstocks and watched part of the Euro (soccer tournament). It was Spain vs. Italy...two places where Jason has lived and played soccer with the guys there. I later did some grocery shopping while Jason worked some more on my bike. when I came back the thing was almost all back together. It was crazy! We're having some issues with the brakes but otherwise it's doing pretty well. There's the Madonna 10,000 this Sunday which Jason and I plan on doing. I think it's 1000 feet to the top of Madonna and apparently you do the mountain 10x's. That sounds hard...and boring. It's like running around a track over and over. But, we're going to do it none the less. We'll see if we really do it 10 times though. Anyways, I really want my bike back by then. The one I'm borrowing is ok but I don't really like the "feel" of it. It's a little too big also and so it'll be nice to have my bike finally back!

Ok, welp that was the weekend in a nut shell. I hope everyone managed to stay some what cool! Have a great Monday!

Ummm...

In case anyone wanted to know...the current temperature is 111 degrees. WOW! I thought North Carolina was hot. 106 degrees was pretty normal there. I think the hotest I remember it being there was 110. So, just thought that I would record this monumental day. I'm going to Avila to go SWIMMING when Jason get's off work!!!

WooHoo!

It's Friday!!! This weekend's agenda involves the following: an early mountain bike ride to beat the heat, finish organizing and unpacking mi casa, Saturday morning Farmer's Market, beach, beach, BEACH, and Cara's baby shower...which I still don't know what time it starts. Anyone know? The invitation got lost in the move.

So, this morning the alarm went off at 5:15am. I got up, loaded the truck, and was off at 6am (and I'm pretty sure it was 80 degrees). I got to the studio, unloaded it, unpacked some, organized some and...it's coming together nicely. The studio isn't perfect, that's for sure. There are stains on the walls, carpet, and etc. With all my junk in there though you can't really tell...as much. Overall too, I'm just so thankful that I HAVE a home. It's a gorgeous mansion to half the world. I was thinking about Mexico and how all the kids are down there this week building homes. The fact that a large family lives in half my space, with no running water, or anything is just so humbling. It makes me feel so stupid for being selfish and winy about a dirty house. Give me a break. If half the world was given my house to live in they would JOYFULLY clean it up, with out a doubt. So, thank you Lord for blessing me! Help me to see ALL that you have given me and that I truly deserve nothing.

So, I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday. Try to stay cool!!! Oh yes, so, obviously it was very very very hot yesterday. Well, I came home...to Megan's home and the house was sweltering. Uggh. I could NOT fall asleep because I just couldn't get comfortable. So, I took my quilt, spread it out on the floor, through the pillow down with it and completely slept through the night. :-). It was so much cooler on the floor. A note: I don't recommend this to anyone who is pregnant, or has back problems. It sort of reminded me though of being a kid. From about the age of 8-13 I would fall asleep on the floor...with nothing, not even a pillow (in the summer, North Carolina winters were freezing!). I'd fall asleep and then at about 2am I'd wake up and crawl into bed. Weird. I'd also sleep on the driveway on warm days. I still think that it feels so comfy to lay on the driveway...weird.

Warm...Much!?!

It is scorchin' outside. Let's check and see the current temp...I'm guessin' 100 degrees. Let's see..HA!!! It's 103 degrees. Ok, so I LOVE the heat! 103 degrees though...that's a little too toasty. I think I like about 90 degree weather. 85-90 degrees is perfect...unless I'm at the beach. Then the heat is muy bueno!

The weekend looks to be perfect though. About 90 on Sat. and 85 on Sun. It makes me want to go buy a sun dress! :-)

So, I went to Jenny Fugler's baby shower and it was quite fun. I was supposed to bring the pie (which was not thawed all the way) to the house early. Instead I was there right at 7. oops. I kind of came in in a flurry too. I hate it when I do that. I always feel obnoxious. I was running late though, throwing together her gift last minute, trying to eat a tortilla with a lb. of cheese in it on the way before I doped up on all the desserts, trying to remember where the Patty's house was since I've been there once and it was like two years ago, and completely sweaty. Riding my bike to work was a very bad move. That's what had me so crunched on time. Oh well, you live and learn. It was so great to honor Jenny and her sweet little girl though. Lisa Leonard shared some great words of encouragement AND gave Jenny the sweetest, cutest necklace ever. Lucky girl! :-) I was one of the last one's there and said my good-bye's to J. It's weird to think that the next time I see her she will not be pregnant anymore and will have a sweet little girl. Her exact words were, "Anna, the next time I see you I will have gone through the worst pain ever!" Well said, Jenny. haha. So, it was a great night and I CAN NOT wait to meet that little girl named Pat Rose Fugler! Sorry Bets, Rose will have to be her middle name!

So, Sat. apparently is Cara's shower....duh! I thought that it was in two Sat's. I was so excited that I had some extra time to finish her gift...or not! Good thing I saw everyone last night. I would have showed up next Sat. at her mom's house (I didn't even get the place right!). Yes, I DID get an invitation...I either didn't read it or have really bad reading comprehension. Maybe a little of both! :-)

Wednesday Ramblings

Well, we have made some progress on the studio. I think that if the toilet gets cleaned (I cleaned the rest of the bathroom but not the toilet... :-), and if the floors get swept and mopped, along with the refrigerator getting cleaned it will be livable. I'm going to purchase a couple of area rugs to cover up the nasty stained carpet and also get some wall hangings to cover the spots on the wall...oh, and make some curtains. I think we'll be good to go after that. Phew. Finally.

Last night I went to the Laity's to see Pastor Muralee. I met him in Sri Lanka on my second trip. He is an amazingly Godly man who is really doing the Lord's work over there in Sri Lanka. Despite all the violence and the war he is still praising God, not living in fear, and trusting in Him and the fact that God is not done with Sri Lanka. There is still work to be done there. It's always so refreshing to meet and talk with people like that. It makes you see how small your faith is. It makes you see how faithful and loving the Lord is, that He can comfort someone and be their one desire when everything around them is falling apart. It was so neat. The Laity's were great hosts and thanks for the amazing tea Lara! It totally felt like Sri Lanka. All we were missing was the 80 degree night time weather!!!! :-)

So, tonight is Jenny's baby shower. I just realized that I left her pie thing at home and that I rode my bike to work. Smooth move. Oh well, I'll figure out a way to get it. I'm not done with her gift though...sad. I guess I'll mail it to her and it will be one less thing she'll have to pack and go home with. Ok, have a great Wed. everyone!

What a busy week...

I find it funny that I have had zero activities...I mean zero after work for the last month or so. Nothing really planned, no going over to friend's for dinner. This is fine because often times after work I'm kinda just done...doing nothing is fine with me. Then comes the week that I move. This alone would be a crazy week but on top of that we are scrubbing that place top to bottom. Also, here are the things that I've been invited to/plan on attending. Tonight Pastor Muralee is coming from Sri Lanka and Lara and Darin are throwing a BBQ for him. Jason met him once and I have spent time with him on the last two trips I took to Sri Lanka. He's an amazing man of God and it would be great if Grace supported him in his endeavors for the Lord. Wed. morning I'm meeting with Jenny Fug who is one pregnant mama. I'm so excited for this!!! Wed. night I have another party and I need to make a pie for it. We were also invited by our friend Stephen Kiyoi to come over and have dinner with him and his roomies on Wed. night. I'm not going to that....Jason might. So, when it rains is pours, eh? Crazy stuff. So, I don't think that I'm going to be all moved in by today (that was my goal)...maybe by Sat.? :-)

I feel totally overwhelmed with stuff to do. I have to finish my present for Jenny...well for Patty (that's her little girl's name). You see, I got tired of calling her baby an "it". So, I picked out a gender neutral name, "Pat". Well, Pat turned out to be a Patty and not a Patrick so...thus the Patty name! Good thing I don't live near her. The kid would think it's name is Patty from birth and probably have an identity crisis. Oh well. :-) I need to make a pie. I need to make Cara Badger's baby gift by next week for her baby shower. I need to go buy some super cheap fabric and make some temporary drapes for my studio...so I can take down the NASTY blinds. Did I mention cheap? Ok, actually that's all. Wow, I seriously felt like there would be a list of at least 15 things. Well, I guess clean my studio, move, clean Megan's room that she let me borrow for a while, and go get my bed can be added to that list.

Anyways, so this is obviously a woe's me post. sheesh. What a wimp. Half of you probably have a list like this AND have at least two kids. It will all get done though...I know it will. Just maybe not in the time frame that I would prefer! ;-) Ok everyone, I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday and..yeah. hasta!

Good Monday to you!

Hello all. I hope you are all having a good Monday. I just got into work actually. :-) Well, I've been here for about an hour. I got the morning off, drove up to my parents house, and picked up all my things that they were so graciously storing for me! It was like Christmas!!! I forgot all about most of the stuff! :-)

The weekend was pretty good. Saturday was nice. Jason and I went on a mountain bike ride. I managed to convince him that Lucky Charms was in fact a great lunch...well sort of. He ate them but felt really empty and sugared out about an hour later! :-) Ooops. So, we went to the bike shop, ordered some new parts, and then went to Muzios and split a sandwich. We concluded the day by watching "The Golden Compass" with his parents. Not too bad.

Sunday was...ok. We went to Jason's cousin/my friend Ashley's graduation from Poly. SO boring. You couldn't even hear what the speakers where saying because there was a terrible echo. After that we went to Ashley's family's house in Pismo and had a party. That was fun. The weather was great and the food was amazing. Over all it wasn't too bad of a day.

I just had coffee with my dad for "day after father's day". For Father's Day he didn't want to go to church. haha. They live like 45 minutes away though...it makes sense that sleeping in and not having to be anywhere sounds nice to him. Funny stuff. So, since I didn't see him yesterday we got coffee today. My brother came too. I was quite fun! I can't remember the last time dad and Zach, and I all hung out together like that.

Well, we are picking up my bed and kitchen table tonight. We are also CLEANING! Why do you ask? Because the guys didn't clean a single thing before they left...at least it seems. Lame. Some of the blinds are broken too and the closet door is taken off. There are probably more things wrong that I've yet to discover. Oh well. At least the place is small. I don't think that it will actually take very long to get it looking good. Moving though is no fun. I'm hoping to be sleeping there tomorrow night. We'll see though how much gets done. Well, I hope you all have a great day. Until we meet again!!!

My Frame is Back!

Hello fellow bloggers! I hope everyone is doing marvy harvy!!! It's Friday so that in and of itself is great! Well, yesterday I got off of work and gave my rent money to the guy I'm renting the studio from. I'm not used to dropping that amount of money all at once. Some what painful but also good. I ALSO went and picked up my mountain bike frame. The guy there did an amazing job!!! Wow, it seriously looked so cool. It pretty much looks like a brand new frame! He even rebuilt the chain stay. (That is the part of the frame that runs along parallel to the chain. It often times get chunked from chain suck. Mine was really bad looking). We had some ferrules that were stuck in the frame too and he managed to get those puppies out. Jason worked forever on it and no luck. He told me he worked a ton on it and would have charged anyone else $130 or $150 for the work he did. He charged me $100. That was very nice of him but it was kinda lame to have to pay $20 more than I budgeted. Oh well.

So, Jason was super excited and wanted to start putting it together right off. We took it to Foothill Cyclery because the guy there has a passion for old bikes...especially Klein's. We go to Art's for the service and the people, CBO for the prices, and Foothill for my bike. :-) Jason can pretty much put the whole bike together except for pressing in the bearings in the bottom bracket and the cups inside the head tube (he could do this too except this job involves very expensive tools. Since you only put a bike together once or twice...it doesn't justify the amount of money you would spend). So, we handed it off to them at Foothill and within 5 minutes of giving it to them they had chipped the paint on the bottom bracket. Yeah, I was not a very happy camper. I didn't really make a big deal about it, I just wanted to know if it would compromise the paint job...would it continue to chip. They assured me "no". I mean honestly, what are they going to say, "yeah, sorry, oops!". I doubt it. So, I walked around the store, they worked on it for maybe 20 minutes, and guess what my labor bill was.......$50! What!?! Uggg. Art's would never have charged us that! My gosh. The only consolation was the fact that they gave me a handful of carbon fiber spacers (about $30 worth) to go with my new King headset they installed. I think they felt bad about chipping my 1 hour old, $100 paint job. They better!

We ended up spending a while in there. They kept trying to convince us that we needed all these things...like a $1000 wheelset. Or a pair of $100 tires. Or this, or that! This was the owner by the way. I made fun of him and said, "Wow, aren't you quite the sales guy!" He didn't like that I guess and said that he was a mechanic not a sales guy. Whatever! Of course he's a sales guy, he's the owner for crying out loud. Anyways, they loved my bike!!! They begged me to bring it back in and show them when I was done putting it together. They also really liked the white paint job. It was cool. It's such a simple and fast bike. I don't think they see things like that much anymore.

So, that's the story of my bike so far. Jason is going to take a little bit of car paint to the chip mark and hope that works. He also has already put on on the crankset and brakes. What a little mechanic. I told him he should work on bikes or a living...shoot, $50/20 min is pretty darn good! :-) When the bike is all done I will post on here some pictures of the process. Probably just the before and after. If you want a more detailed look you can skip on over to the OneSource Cycling blog. I'll let you know when you can do that! :-) Okay everyone, have a wonderful weekend! Until Monday.

Bike Frame and Tan Lines

Well, yesterday I finally got the call that my bike frame is done. About time! I turned it in 12 working days ago. I guess he said that it would take 7-10 working days. I thought it would take less time though for whatever reason. I'm really excited to go get it and yet pretty nervous. I'm kind of afraid that it's not going to look that cool. Oh well. It needed to be painted either way, it had a bit of corrosion on different spots. So...after work today I'm going to go pick it up! Hopefully it won't cost more than he said that it would...that's sort of all I budgeted for. :-) After we get it we have the long and tedious path of putting it all back together. Ugg. It's so much easier to take it apart! :-) Hopefully though...maybe in a week or so, I will be riding my own revamped bike. That will be exciting!

Did I mention that last weekend when I went on a ride I didn't wear any sunscreen? We were out from about 11-1pm. Pretty much the peak of the day. We remembered the sunscreen, or the lack of, on the way out to Montana de Oro. Hmmmm. Let's just say that I can no longer make fun of Jason and his bike jersey tan. I have a very defined, bright one myself. I got pretty burnt. I cringe every time that happens because I know that it's really not good at all. I'm too fair to be getting burnt. I have that skin though where I burn and then turn tan. Not a deep rich tan like Jason but a freckly tan. So, currently I have pretty dark arms and very white shoulders with a defined line across the middle of my upper arm, differentiating between the tan territory and the white territory. I have light hands too with a very lovely glove line. Hmmm. Oh well. As if that wasn't bad enough, from my knees up for about 4 inches it's tan too. Not the rest of my legs though. Oh well. I had a tank top on and went downtown. I forgot about the line and felt some what awkward. Then I went to the bike shop and felt a little more at ease. They get it! Jersey tans are just part of biking I guess. :-) I guess if I ever want to wear a tank top this summer (with out a farmer's tan) I might consider investing in a sleeveless jersey. We'll see though! :-) Ok, adios friends!

Hump Day!

I'm sorry but I always laugh at that nickname for Wednesday. I'm kinda crude obviously. I can't believe that it's Wednesday. Wahoo. Only two more days till the weekend. Only two more days until I have to clean, organize, finish packing...and more. There are so many things that need to be done. I have to finish packing everything at Megan's. I need to clean that room spick and span. I need to drive up to my parents house and get all of my stuff there. I need to get all of my stuff from Jason's. (Actually he just has my coffee maker, blender, and tv). I need to get my bed sometime this weekend. I have to take a load over on Sunday evening. I also need to take a load over on Monday morning. I need to pick up my table and chairs on Monday too. All the heavy stuff needs to go on Sunday night because Jason will be helping me. Everything else is up to me on Monday morning. I'm super excited to organize though and make it all homey. Busy, busy!

So, my fab friend Autumn is coming into town this weekend. That will be great. Apparently she may be moving back down here. I'm only slightly excited. Yay! I haven't heard the whole story yet though so that will be interesting. Also Jenny Fug is coming into town with Travis and her basketball belly. Yay! I must say, Jenny, my baby outfit that I'm whipping up for you is pretty stinking cute! :-) I'm super excited! I'd post a pic but...it would sort of ruin the gift!!!

Finally, Kate, I don't know if you are reading this but I'm almost done with your bag. Yay!!! I will for sure have it for you on Sunday. I'll try to find you. Ok peeps. Peace to yo muthah! :-)

The Weekend and Ikea

I can't believe that it's Tuesday. I feel so out of wack for whatever reason. I love spontaneity and yet I really love the comfort of routine. It's funny when I miss a day of work or what not. It takes me a day to get used to it usually. Anyways...

So, first, I mountain biked on Saturday!!! Umm, two words..."outta shape". It didn't help that rather than do a 6 mile Madonna Mountain ride I did a 15 mile Montana de Oro ride. I made it though. I was all over the trail, could not pick a line, stepped off the bike at least a half dozen times when normally I would have cleaned the trail, fell twice, and had a pair of tired legs but...LOVED IT! It felt so good to be back out there, enjoying God's amazing creation away from everyone, and cranking away on the bike. The full suspension was quite lovely too.

As for Monday, I took the day off and went to Ikea with the Iunkers. Dori and Lindsey picked me up at 6am. Lindsey is not much of a morning person and so Dori and I talked the first half of the trip. Then we stopped and got coffee and suddenly Lindsey started talking. Imagine that. :-). Our first stop was at Stanford. The doctor checked out Lindsey's foot and all is well in Lindsey's foot world. She gets to walk now and can take her boot off in two weeks. Wowie!

Next stop...IKEA! It was like going to Disney Land. I was so excited!!! We first tried to convince Lindsey that she could jump onto the escalator with one foot. I demonstrated this technique for her but it apparently wasn't appealing. After we found the elevator, learned the low-down of the carts and where to get them, we set off. When we first walked in I was thoroughly overwhelmed. There was so much visual stimulation, I didn't know where to look first. Then I got into shopping mode. I'm beginning to realize that I'm a total "power shopper". I get in, get out, and I'm done. Granted, Lindsey was on crutches...so it made her a little slower. :-)

We ended up shopping for 4 HOURS! Can you believe that? $95 later I left the store with 3 pots, 2 pans, potholders, a side table, steak knives, 2 trash cans, two lamps, two ice cube trays, a dish rack, a colander, a set of food savers (tupperware), a set of glasses, an ironing board, 2 vases, a set of sheets, and a toilet brush. Not bad eh? I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff. Anyways, it was super fun. I could have bought a ton more but I was really trying to stay within the budget. I only went $10 over. Not too shabby. There were also some things that I was planning on buying but didn't. I just didn't like the quality of some of it. It was a wonderful and fun place though.

So, now I'm back and it's time to get back to work. I have a bunch of packing and moving to do. That is all going to happen on Sunday evening. It's also Jason's cousin's graduation party and Father's Day so I'm not sure how I'm going to squeeze it all in. What will end up happening is that I'll have to spread it out through the week. Boo! I would rather stay up all night and just hammer it all out, but I don't think that will be happening. Oh well. Anyways, it a gorgeous day today and I hope some of you get to enjoy it! Until tomorrow...probably! :-)

i just may be hittin' the trails tomorrow.

So, I haven't done any cardio exercise in about 2 months I believe. I "feel" out of shape. It's sorta lame. Anyways, the bike frame is not done yet and there are still some things that need to be done in order to get me on it again. My ankle is still slightly swollen too...mostly around that knobby bone thing on the outside of my foot. Anyways, there is a guy at Jason's work who is like 2 inches taller than me. Funny huh? Well, I bought my current bike from him. Him and his wife have no kids and so they are able to spend money on toys. He has at least two really nice mountain bikes. Jason told him that I haven't been able to ride in a while and guess what Mike volunteered to let me use...his Specialized S-Works! Ummm...yes please! The S-Works is the rich man's bike (or the severly in debt man's bike)...pretty much top of the line. I don't fore see me ever getting one of these bikes...which is fine. It's VERY VERY nice! Would you like to know how much one of these pieces of work runs? Well, if it's the Stumpjumper, $7400. If it's the Epic, $6900. So...two words...DON'T-CRASH!

*Aaawwwwwwww!!!* I believe that the angels just might sing at the sight of this beauty. I certainly am!

Note: I just found out that I can have Monday off! Ikea here I come! I'm so very excited. Kristen informed me that they even give you a map! Wow! The trick though, and I always do this, is not spending too much. I have this problem where I think that just becuase it's cheap it won't add up to a lot of money. If you throw 50 things into your cart though...and they're all only $2...that's still $100. It sneaks up on you a lot easier when everything is cheap!

Also, praise the Lord, I have a bed! This wonderful girl sold me her bed for an absolutely amazing deal!!! It's Ikea too. Ooooh! Thank you so so so much!!!

Oh yeah!

One more thing...I am looking for a twin mattress. I would live to buy one new but can't really afford it. The thought of buying a used one from someone that I don't know though kind of grosses me out...not sure why. So, if anyone has a spare twin mattress lying around let me know!!! I don't care how firm/soft it is. I can fall asleep sitting up...the feel of the mattress does nothing for my quality of sleep (granted a giant spring stabbing into my back may not be all that great...a small spring might be ok! :-) hehe

Ikea possibility and dreamin' of a vay-kay!

So, there is the lovely possibility of me actually getting to go to Ikea...because of the wonderful Iunker ladies!!! Lindsey has a doctor's appt. for her foot (big surprise! haha. jk Linds...I love you and your gimpified foot!). Her appt. is somewhere up north, near Palo Alto and that is where Ikea is. Her and her brother are moving out and getting a place and so they too are in need of very cheap house stuff. The catch is that it's on a Monday, thus I need to get it off from work. Hopefully it works out! If so...yay! And you thought I was excited to go to Target. Targets got nuthin' on Ikea!

So, I still don't have my frame back. Hopefully I will get it back today or tomorrow. I'm desperate to ride again. Ugggh. We have to replace the bearings (or we want to since it's all taken apart) in my bottom bracket. Hopefully we'll do that today so that if I DO get the frame back, then we can get started on puttin' that puppy back together!

I move into my new abode in a week and a half. Yay! I'm super excited. I had a realization though last night. I'm taking a week off at the end of July to go camping with Jason's family. I'm beyond excited. It's a week of camping, fishing, hiking, bouldering at Bishop, and mountain biking at Mammoth...pretty much the perfect vacation. This is the first time though that I've taken a vacation while working full time and paying rent. A week of no work makes my check $400 less. That's a big deal. I realized that I'm going to have to be a little more thrifty this next month and tuck away a little more to make up for that deficit. Lame! Now I see why everyone loves paid vacations.

It's been about 5 1/2 months since I started working full time. I feel like such a baby but...I need a vacation! I know, I know...it's been 5 whopping months! Still though. Working full time is so much...work. I could really use a little time to just be refreshed. Hopefully that will happen when we go camping. I'm trying not to count down the days...being that it is a little over a month away! :-) So...here's some pictures of a couple of the things we will be doing. I thought I would live vicariously through the people in the pictures for the mean time!

One of the trails in Mammoth! There's about 100 miles of single track to be explored. Good thing I have a new fork! :-)


There's some definite downhill courses that will be a blast to do. If they're too technical for me...Jason will rock 'em.

One of the best features...the gondola rides to the top! Although, I realize that Jason won't let us be too lazy! :-) There will definitely be some uphill climbs!

Bouldering at Bishop! I've been wanting to go here since we started climbing. Hopefully it won't be too hot. It's better to climb in cool weather. The rocks have more friction!

See that mat at the bottom. That's what lies between you and great injury! ha! No, I won't climb too high...I think. :-)

Random...Really, Really Random!

So, I think that people on Craigslist have decided that if you have a tacky piece of furniture that is twenty years old, and place "vintage" in front of it...that it will sell for more. I just want to tell them, "Actually, your furniture is not "vintage," it's just hideously old and ugly...and you will never get that price for it!" I guess that wouldn't be very nice! :-)

I've been craving soda lately. Weird. I mean, really craving it. I used to drink a lot of soda when I was in school. I don't know why. I guess water is just a little boring sometimes. Then I stopped. It's expensive and not all that great for you. I've kicked a lot of not so good habits and they have been rearing they're ugly heads again lately. One of those is eating right before bed. Sugar cereal is one of my main food groups. I used to eat one or two bowls right before bed. I quit doing that though...mostly becuase eating when I'm tired wakes me up, and I would stay up later then I really wanted to. The last few nights though have ended with a bowl of Lucky Charms in the belly. Oh well.

Oooh, wanna see the new bathing suit I got? I can't believe that I got it for $8!!! At first when I looked at it I thought it sort of looked "old ladyish." When I tried it on though...I really liked it. It's super cute on, it covers all of the rump (so many suits ride up, way annoying), and I feel very "secure" in it if you know what I mean. ;-). And yes...it's a one piece. I still wear one pieces...always (not just at church events!). Nothing against two pieces. I think if I were married I would maybe wear a two piece. It doesn't even bother me that all my friends wear one. I just think that I personally would feel really ackward in a two piece with Jason (since, for the most part, when I'm in a bathing suit I'm with him). I have underwear that's more modest than some of these two-piece suits out there...sheesh! Fortunately he fully supports and desires for me to stick with the one piece so, there you go! I will say though that the one-piece comes with a price...an almost transparently white stomach! Yuck! :-)

*Note: I actually didn't intend this to be a discussion on why I like one pieces...nor is it condoning those who wear two pieces. If you wish to leave your opinion on the matter though...go for it!!! :-)

the weekend report

Monday is here. It came fast, and yet slow. For whatever reason, Saturday felt like it was three days long. It wasn't a bad day or anything...I just got a lot done. So, Jason left on Friday night to go on the men's retreat. It was a little odd not doing our typical Friday "date night." I didn't really want to sit around all night so I called Rebekah Weeks to see if she wanted to go get
In-n-Out in A-town and then pay a visit to Target. So, we went up, enjoyed our In-n-Out, made friends with the family that was sitting next to us. (Our bond was formed through them eaves dropping on Bekah and I's conversation about Harrison Ford. Apparently the dad went to school with him and his brother.) We got to Target and I was beyond excited. I skipped from the car to the door of Target (just ask Rebekah...she thought it was funny...and slightly embarrassing!) I went there to get home stuff and left with...clothes! haha. Figures. The home stuff was actually cheaper at Bed, Bath, and Beyond so I couldn't have a wasted trip to Target...that would be silly! I scored though. I got a super cute $8 bathing suit, two pairs or great shorts ($11 each), and two super cute shirts...that I can wear both to work and around town. Yay! Concluding the trip, on the way home, Rebekah beep-boxed while I "rapped". It was great fun.

I woke up early on Saturday and went "yard saling". I drove by one place and they had nothing that I wanted. Then I got coffee and decided that I was done (just not in the mood). Oh well. At 9:30 I picked up my two black chairs that I mentioned in the post or two before this. They were actually being sold by a guy in the philosophy dept. that I knew. Small world. It was kinda funny when he opened the door. Then I got a pair of pants and a pair of jeans, $8 each, from Aeropostale in AG (what a deal!). I hit the kitchen store in the outlets there but it was a bust. I was then plagued with cramps. I went home and watched 27 Dresses, which was...cute. Once those subsided I went and washed and vacuumed Jason's truck. After that I did some actual kitchen and home shopping at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I closed the day with some sushi for dinner, painting my toes (Cara couldn't get a babysitter for our pedicure), and watching "Juno." (Two movies in one day...what a loser.)

Sunday was church, the second to last Sunday school class for this year, and lunch with my mom and brothers. At about 4:00 Jason came home and I met up with him, had coffee, and talked about his trip. And THAT was my weekend in sum! I'm hoping to get my bike frame back in the next couple of days. The hope is that I will be hittin' the trails this weekend. That may be a bit too hopeful though. I'm excited to post the "before and afters," and the process of my "beast" being made new!

Hasta Luego!