Details of the Event!

*Note: If you have no idea what the "event" is...you are so behind in Grace Church news! haha. Just scroll on down to the next post and you will understand completely! :-)*

First off, thank you so much for all of your support and love. It means a TON to Jason and I! You guys are all great!

Ok, so here it is. Basically, we got home from vacation on Sat. evening like I said. We didn't want the vacation week to end because it's always so hard to go back to work. We wanted to try our best to make Sun. fun. Jason originally thought that he would propose on the actual vacation...while on that gorgeous hike that there are pictures of in my previous posts. The trail was a lot more busy then the last time we went and we ended up running into his parents quite a bit while on it (we hiked ahead and then they caught up when we stopped to fish and what not). He wanted it to be a private affair so he changed his mind about asking me then.

Sunday night we decided to go see Kung Fu Panda...like I said before. I didn't realize it but he had brought his jacket and had put the ring in the pocket of it. When he got into the car he didn't put his jacket in the middle of us...like he usually does, but kept it on the side of him, next to the door. I didn't even notice. He said that he was afraid I would try to fold it or something and feel it in the pocket. So, we saw the movie. After the movie in AG, on the way to Avila, we had to stop to get gas. I didn't really think anything of it then either but I moved his jacket for some reason and he grabbed it from me and put it in his lap. Funny stuff. We got to Avila, had dinner, and then walked on the pier (none of this is particularly abnormal because we sometimes treat ourselves to Custom House and we always walk after we eat big meals to digest a little).

So, after we walked on the pier Jason started to just casually walk over to the swing sets. This is significant because this is the place where I really kinda "let" myself start liking Jason. He was pursuing me for a while and I just didn't know what I thought. I liked that he was active and adventurous but I wanted to be sure that he was passionate about the Lord and people and that he was going to be able to lead me spiritually. It's funny because I think we all have an image of who we are going to marry. He didn't fit the "image" at all. He was better! :-) So, at this same swing set about 3 1/2 years ago we sat and talked for hours probably. This is when I got a glimpse into his heart and started to see his passions for God, people, and life. This is when I thought, "Hmmm. Maybe he's not so bad! :-)" I had told this to him about a year ago. He remembered it and decided to use it later on :-).

So, we were swinging and deep in some conversation. A proposal wasn't even in my thoughts. I think since it was the day after vacation and we were a little bummed to be home it didn't even cross my mind!!! Well, the night was beautiful, the stars were out, and the waves were crashing on the shores when a big group of high school age kids came running at the swing sets too. Haha. They were out of control. It was funny. We laughed at them and kept talking for a while. It was starting to get late (9:30pm...that's late for us on a work night) and he suggested that we walk back to the car but go along the beach to get there. So we walked along the beach slowly and took in the beauty. It's funny. The beach is so close and yet we rarely go...especially at night! I remember thinking about how I liked the way you couldn't really see the waves form until it broke and you saw the white from the crest hitting the ocean. Then, kinda out of nowhere he (oooh, it's getting PG here!) kissed me. It was a little random. I felt a tiny bit of movement between us but I didn't really clue in on what it was (he was taking the ring out of his pocket and using the kiss as a decoy). So, he then said, "It's time I ask you a question"...or something like that. Then I knew! He then got down on one knee and gave me "his speech," and asked me to marry him. Included in that is what I affectionately call "The L Bomb" aka I Love You! We didn't want to take those words lightly and decided that it was best to wait until we were engaged to say it. It was so so soooo sweet. So intimate and perfect. Not a soul was around!

So, after I said, "YES!" I pretty much freaked out. It's funny because you picture it happening but I really didn't realize the flood of emotions that would occur. I think I cried a little, laughed a ton, maybe screamed a little, and smiled so hard it felt like my lips would fall off. I remember asking him if the ring was pretty...I couldn't see it since it was dark. He said, "Yes, it's very pretty!" Wow, what a surreal and amazing thing. After the proposal we walked back to his truck. It was a little late and so we didn't really know what to do. We couldn't really call anyone because it seemed a bit too late for that. He was like, "So, what do you want to do now?" I said, "I don't know!" He then drove me home and dropped me off at my abode. I freaked out in disbelief about 8 times on the way home. I told him I felt like a giddy fool. He said that was a good thing! :-) So, Mon. night we told my parents (although my dad already knew! :-) and Tues night we told Jason's parents (who were still out of town) and his sister, Wed. I told a couple of close friends, and Thur....well, I told all of you!!! :-) So, I hope you enjoyed our sweet little story. I sure enjoyed the event!!!! :-)

Here it goes... :-)

Well, this is probably the post that many of you have been waiting for. What's that do you ask? Oh, don't play coy with me! I know that all of you who know Jason and I have been secretely waiting for the post that says...."I'm engaged!"

Well ladies and...uh, ladies (I don't think there are any gents who read this) **Edit: There are some men that have read this and sooooo I take that back! Ladies and gents, Jason and I are ENGAGED!!!

Jason proposed on Sunday night while we were walking down the beach (yeah, after the Custom House on Day 8 of vacation). It was so sweet and intimate. Just the way that I imagined it would be. Perfect! It's still a little nuts. I mean I know that I'm engaged and that we are getting married and yet...it still feels surreal. It's been nice keeping it hush hush for the last few days. It's given us a little time to adjust to the idea. Crazy! I am just so thankful to our great God who has showed Himself to be SO faithful through out our relationship. He has been our Rock through our friendship and dating relationship, He is our Rock during this crazy planning time, and will be our Rock in the years to come. I am so thankful to the Lord that He has given Jason to me as a best friend, now a fiance, and soon...a husband. Praise God!

So my fabulous friends...there you have it! We were a little nervous to let it out in the open (I don't really know why...I think that it's just been slightly anticipated by a few :- ), but eventually we gotta spill the beans! :-) Anyways, I thought that tomorrow I would post a little more on the details of the proposal...it seems every girl wants to know all about that. I know I always do! (I'll see what I can remember. It was sort of a blur.)

Olivia! I fully laughed outloud when I read your comment on the last post. Funny stuff!

Also...let me not forget...a couple of pictures. :-) (It is really hard to get a good picture of a ring...it took me a few tries. The pictures don't do it justice but that's ok!)

Days 6-8

So, to preface this there are some pictures posted. I added some to the end of my last two posts and this one has some too!!! YAY!

Day 6: Jason's parents had two weeks for vacation (Jason and I only had one). They decided that they would camp for half and rent a condo for the other half. So, we packed up all our stuff and headed over to Mammoth to stay in the condo. It was an ok day. Oh, we also "bouldered" before we left. That's in quotes because the routes were SO hard. It was a good attempt though. So, it was our last full day and packing kind of broke it up. It was nice though to not have to worry about packing and all that jazz before we left. We got to sleep in a bed and take a shower. We also watched some TV which was really weird. It's funny how little you miss things like television and Internet when you're in the great outdoors! We got some Mexican food to conclude the day.

This was a behemoth of a dandilion. It was seriously bigger than my fist! It was really exciting!

Day 7: This was a very uneventful day. It was a travel day. It went by way slower than the ride to the campsite. Jason and I took Jason's dad's truck with the bikes back home and left his parents there to continue their vacation (with their Camry)...lucky dogs! It was nuts to drive home with those bikes on the back. It really weighted the back of the truck and kind of made the back swing around more than I'd prefer. We got home at around 4:30 though and unloaded everything. We didn't want vacation to be over just yet so we decided to do something fun that evening and not go to church the next morning. Oooooh, so naughty. So, after unloading it all we went to Panda Express and rented a movie. That was quite fun.

Day 8: Sunday! So, I slept in and had a nice easy morning. Jason called me and picked me up to take me to Linnea's to get latte's and waffles...oh, and an apple pastry! :-) After that we did some cleaning and what not for his parent's. We also went climbing at SLO-OP. Jason decided that we needed to go see a movie and go out to eat to top the vacation off. So, we went to the old theater is AG and saw Kung Fu Panda for the second time. That was the first time I had been to that theater. I really liked it. We saw Kung Fu Panda already when it was first released but we had this really loud annoying little girl next to us. She was way too young to be there but the mom just wouldn't take her out. Anyways, we saw it again and thought it was so funny. We really missed a lot of lines in it. After that we went to the Custom House in Avila, sat at the bar, and split a fish and chips and a beer. Yummmy! We were hoping to see his brother but he wasn't working that night. We ended the evening with a very lovely stroll down the beach... :-). It was a great way to end the vacay!

This was a field at our campsite where I kept trying to convince Jason to frolic with me. He wasn't as excited about the idea as I was (sshhh...I have been able to get him to do it with me a couple of times in the past. I think he was bashful since his parents were there...hehe.)

Days 4-5

*PICTURES ARE POSTED AT THE END OF THIS ENTRY AND THE LAST ONE!*

Ok, so I didn't post the pictures that go with the last post. I'm also not posting pictures this time too. I promise I've been really busy and so I haven't had the chance to actually get the pictures on here from Jason. I'll tell you why I've been so busy after I finish my chronology of my trip! So, tonight, I should be able to post the pics...there's nothing going on as far as I know.

Day 4: We will call this the "Epic Day". One of Jason's co-workers told him about a trail that we had to ride. It was called the "Old Rock Creek Trail" or something like that. He said that it was one of his favorite trails to ride...ever! So, we decided that we had to do it. Mike, Jason's co-worker said, "And maybe if you're lucky you can get your dad to pick you up at the end!" Jason took this to mean that if you wanted to go easy then you could have someone pick you up. What Mike should have said was, "You HAVE TO have someone pick you up at the end." So, naive and unprepared we started off on the trail.

There were three parts. The first part was so fast and beautiful. You rode on a little single track trail along a stream. It was so fun. Then we crossed a road and started out on the second part. That was the same...a fast, single track. It seemed to get a little technical toward the end but it was still super fun. Then we got to the third part. This part was by far the longest part and SUPER technical. More technical than anything I have ever ridden. All three of the parts were downhill. On the last part there were a ton of times that I had to get off and walk. Jason smashed his brand new bike in a couple of spots. I smashed my knee so bad that I had to get off the bike and grit my teeth together just to keep from screaming at the top of my lungs. When this happened Jason ended up running back up the trail after me because it seemed like I was taking too long to get to him. (He rides ahead of me and then stops periodically to make sure I catch up on the downhill). After what seemed like forever we finally made it out to the end of the trail. It was a very gnarly trail.

Upon exiting the trail though we realized that we didn't know how to get back. The original plan was to take a road back. When we saw the road though there were to ways to go...up or down. We didn't know which way. The end of the trail emptied out onto 3 houses and a closed diner. There were some construction guys there and we asked them what they thought was the best way to get back. What do you think he said? "Go back the way you came!" My heart sank. I was so tired already and to think of doing that same horrendous trail UPHILL was not what I had in mind to do. We had to though. It was Jason's mom's birthday and we were supposed to meet them. We didn't want to ruin her birthday or make them worry. I realized shortly after we started up the trail that I had very little water left. We hiked/ran our bikes up the third part. I got stung by a bee. We drenched ourselves in the river a few times to stay cool. Jason gave me the rest of his water too. We were in survival mode. 4 hours later we emerged tired, thirsty, and sunburned. We did it though!!! It was super hard and not all that fun at the time but it sort of felt like an adventure...a battle that we conquered. I felt kinda hard core! :-) We would do it again...no doubt. We would CERTAINLY have some one pick us up at the end though.

Day 5: I'm not quite certain how Jason managed to talk me into doing Mammoth Mountain again but he did it. I was so pooped and sore from the day before. On the Day 4 ride Jason's brakes starting pooping out. We ended up spending some time at Footloose Sports...a very cool store. We got to know some of the bike guys there. That was fun. Anyways, once we got to Mammoth we did some uphill at the beginning to feel like we got a little bit of a work out. Then after that it was all about the downhill. Some of the guys at Footloose recommended some trails. The signage was horrible on the mountain and so we ended up doing some trails we didn't want to do. We did one called Kamikaze. The trail is exactly what the name implies. You basically go down the trail as fast as humanly possible. Most of the black diamond trails were meant for dowhillers. I went down the trail but I felt so tossed around from it. My ankle joints and hands started to ache half way down. I just don't have that suspension to cushion the blows of all the bumps. Jason thoroughly enjoyed it though! He pretty much dive bombed down it...although he swears he was going "slow". :-) The day was great though. We found this trail called 7 Bridges and it was really cool. It was fast and there were all these rickety bridges to go over. Very fun!!! It was a great day.

To be cont.... :-)

Days 1-3

Well, I am back! Vacation was...wonderful. Just not having to go to work was great! Then to get to do a bunch of fun things on top of that...priceless! Hmmm. So, how should I break this up? I guess I'll go day by day. That would probably be the best. I'll put the pictures that go with the day underneath it. (Today I'll just do the first couple of days and post the pictures that go with it tonight...Jason has them)

Day 1: We got up quite early. We got on the road at about 6am. The plan was to be on the road at 5am but loading the bikes took a bit longer than we anticipated. Note to everyone out there. The Yakima tail hitch bike rack states that it holds four mountain bikes. It technically does! Unless you have a bunch of K-Mart bikes though...I don't recommend trying it with out a ton of zip ties and rags to tie around crucial parts that rub against the bike next to it. The damage could have been worse but some not so great things happened to our bikes because of how jammed on they were. No bueno in my book. A big no bueno is Jason's book. We were the typical paranoid bikers. :-) The drive though went by fast...really fast. Jason took the straight highway and I took the windy road up through Yosemite. We rolled into Big Meadow at about 3 or 4pm. We managed to snag the last campsite on the creek (very coveted) :-). We unpacked everything, set up camp, and got all settled in. It was a good travel day.

Day 2: We hit Mammoth Mountain right off. The original plan was to wait a couple of days to get acclimatized to the mountain atmosphere. Jason just couldn't wait though :-). So, off we went. Our first impression of the mountain...DRY! We went straight to the top. There were no trees or anything green for that matter and the trails were loosey loose. It was fun though. We took an intermediate trail first. It was fun but not all that challenging. Then we took an advanced trail and that was a bit more fun. I ate it of course and finished the day with a bloody knee. The trails were fun though. It definitely improved my downhill and made me more confident. Jason was a super stud. He did this super hard downhill part without stepping down. I was thoroughly impressed. I walked it of course. :-) (Also, only the top of the mountain was desolate...the middle and base had trees and stuff.) We finished the day with a trail called "Downtown". It was supposedly an "easy" trail. It was 6 miles of windy, fast, and smooth downhill. It started at the foot of Mammoth and dumped you off downtown. It was so FUN! We were one of the last one's on the trail and so we put it into the large chain ring and cranked as hard as we could. There were some sketch moments where I was pretty sure that I was totally out of control but it was completely and totally a blast!!! Jason was slightly giddy from it all! :-)

Day 3: We headed up to Mosquito Flats and did a day hike. We packed our lunches and our fishing poles and hiked up to all these different lakes and streams. It is so gorgeous out there...I just love it. You have these streams and lakes surrounded by green and wild flowers with a backdrop of mountains that still had snow on them. We fished along the way. I caught one fish! :-) My line was actually tangled and so the bait was just sitting in the water as I tired to untangle it. A fish bit onto it and then got away because I couldn't reel it in. Then another one bit on and Jason grabbed the line itself and pulled the little guy in. The one time I catch fish...the line is tangled. Go figure. The fish out there are wild and so it's pretty hard to catch them. They get startled by the slightest shadow. Jason caught the world's smallest fish! It was a tiny little thing.

Ok, to be cont. Pictures to come tonight!!!

Anna is *Contemplative*

Funny story. Well, kind of. So, I have a facebook account...along with the rest of Cal Poly and actually so do a lot of adults like Annie Danner, Lisa Lewis, etc. Ha! I just said, "so do a lot of adults". Because I'm not one right? duh. I honestly feel 17 still. Weird. I don't think you really become an adult until you are married...and have kids. THEN you're an adult. :-)

Ok, back to what I was actually going to say. So, my Religious Studies Prof told us that we were a very narcissistic generation because of things like Facebook. On Facebook you can put a status like, "Anna is off work for the next week". This shows up for all your "friends" to see. So he said to us, "Do you all actually think that people care that you are "eating peanut butter and carrots" at the time. No! No one cares." It was kind of funny. So, I think about that periodically...and I have never once posted a status because of that. Maybe I need something more monumental that people will be interested in like, "Anna just found $20,000 in a trash can." That would be worth posting for a status! :-)

Also, I'm kind of confused. So, you know how soda isn't that great for you?!? Of course you do. Well, I was sitting here, drinking my soda when I suddenly looked at the nutrition facts. I was kind of surprised...a soda only has 140 calories. How can 140 calories make you gain weight? Even if I had one every day...would it really do that much? Maybe people have more like 5 sodas a day. I guess that could do some damage. I think I just figured there were more like 300 calories in a soda or something. Really though...140? That's not THAT bad. :-)

Oh, I made a nursing thingy. I'm sure most of you have seen them. I think that there might even be a woman in the church who makes them. It's basically a rectangle with an adjustable loop to go around the neck. It makes breast feeding easier so you don't have to worry about holding the blanket up too. I made it for Cara. She said that she was hoping to get one but hadn't received one. I told her, "I'll make it!" I had actually never seen one in real life so I went on to Etsy and looked at what was on there. Many of them used a little bit of boning at the top so that it curved out a little...allowing air flow for the babe and also a way for the mom to see her baby. Anyways, I used some of Amy Butler's Midwest Modern...I've never used that line. I think it came out cute. It was definitely pretty easy, AND my sewing machine worked great. I love it when it has "good days". :-) Anyways, I did one side with the fabric on the left and one side with the fabric on the right. Fun stuff! The boning was a great idea too!

Ok, well, enough ramblings. I am checking out of the Blog World for 9 days! Talk to you in two Mondays from now! Woohoo!!!

Mail is fun!

So, I spent a little bit of my tax refund thing. I mostly put it into the savings account, but I did have a little splurge. Basically, I'm always cold. The perfect temp for me is literally between 85 and 95 degrees. I think that feels wonderful! Not a huge fan of humidity though. Anyways, Jason and I have done some climbing and bouldering as you all know and by the time 4 or 5 o'clock hits I'm freezing! I decided that I needed something that I could climb in that would keep me warm. Being that we live in Cali. and our winters are pretty mild...the last real thing that I've bought that was made to keep me warm was probably my snowboarding jacket. I have some Old Navy fleece that keep me fairly warm and a couple of little hoodies from Old Navy. That's about it.

Last Fri. I went into Mountain Air to see what they had. Everything was of course super expensive. I tried on one thing though that I really liked. It was an Arc'teryx zip up. Mmmm. Here's the thing. Like everything else, the "mountain clothing world" also has "levels" of clothing. You have North Face which is probably one of the cheaper brands, then you have Mountain Hardwear, then there's Marmot and Patagonia which is sort of an upper middle ground, and then you have Arc'teryx. :-) It's the rich man's mountain gear. I'm not a rich man...or woman. The jacket though was perfect. It wicked the sweat away. It was warm, but not too warm. It would stand up to being rubbed against rock...and it has a lifetime warranty if anything falls apart. The price though...$175 (and that's low for the brand). hmmm. I also wasn't sold on the color that they had. They had the full zip-up in this burgundy color. Then they had a pull-over that was in this nice brown color. Basically I wanted the full-zip in the brown. So, I left with a mission...find what I want online, but for cheaper! :-)

So, here is my plug-in for an online outdoor store. Backcountryoutlet.com is the place to go! First, I went on to the Artc'teryx site to see if they even made the jacket I wanted in brown...nope. Bummer. So, I typed in the exact name of the jacket into Google and came up with a whole list of things. Some how I ended up at Backcountryoutlet.com because I remembered it being recommended to me a while ago. I managed to find exactly what I wanted, in brown, and for only $100 w/ free shipping. I saved $75 and got what I actually wanted (not sure why they had it but the site said they didn't make it)! Hey now! I was very excited. So, it came yesterday and I really love it. I can wear it around town but also climb and hike in it. Yay!!! Thank you government, and thank you Backcountryoutlet.com. Another cool thing...backcountry just sent me a 50% off coupon...for my WHOLE next order. So, the Patagonia hiking boots that I've been eyeing at Mountain Air...the one's that are $140. I can get the same one's online for $70. (That's an incredible deal for hiking boots!) Ok, enough on this. If you need camping stuff, backpacking stuff, outdoor clothing, etc. Take a peak at that place!!! So, here's my sweet find...

This is the style that I got but the one below is the color. Except the zippers aren't an ugly light brown, they are a dark brown that blends with the color of the jacket. Also the gray along the sleeves and neck is not that bright...it's really dark and blends too. Ok, so actually the brown looks ugly in this pic. You get the idea though. The material is a really tight weave...it sort of has a "sweater look" and the inside it a thick warm fleece. It has sealed zippers and all that jazz! :-)

The Tamale Man comes to the Rescue!

Well, I once again forgot my lunch. I probably forget it once a week. I seem to be running late for work once a week and this is when I usually forget it. Anyways, I was sitting at my desk, wishing that I had my lunch. My stomach was growling and I was thinking of what I would buy at Trader Joe's for lunch. All of a sudden the tamale man comes in asking me if I would like to buy a tamale/chili relleno plate. WooHoo! Good timing! I didn't actually have any cash but I always give him an I.O.U. If he had a schedule of when he came by I might actually be able to pay him the day of for once. So...I have lunch, yay!

Normally he just sells tamales, like 6 of them. I like that better. I eat two for lunch the day of, leave two in the fridge at work for the next day, and give two to Jason for his lunch the next day. The combo platter I got was ok today but I actually wasn't a huge fan of the chili relleno. The chili was weird tasting and I normally like that dish. Oh well. So, I have a happy tummy. I'm a sucker for home made Mexican food!

Well my friends...I have two more days left until vacation. There won't be any blogging for a whole week! Wowie! :-)

So I was thinking...

I have some "life goals"...I mean, doesn't every one? Some of them are pretty attainable and will most likely happen naturally with each phase in life...like getting married and having children. There are some goals though that are a little more lofty and a little more adventurous. So, here are some of mine:

1. Witness the Northern Lights

2. Sky dive

3. Take a road trip from Washington to the bottom tip of South America.

4. Cycle across the US...from Cali. to North Carolina's Outer Banks.

5. Conquer a major peak (haven't decided on which one yet).

6. Live abroad and learn a second language.

7. Serve the LORD and be CONTENT no matter where I am.

8. Run a marathon.

9. Backpack through Europe.

10. Do the 3 day mountain bike race in Utah.

11. See the Grand Canyon (I still haven't seen it)

12. Go to Israel.

13. Snowboard on the Swiss Alps.

WARNING: VERY lofty! 14. I would love to (one day) take some part in sharing the Gospel with an unreached people group. I mean, I could do the dishes and wash the laundry of the people that are actually doing the ministry if it meant I got to form relationships with the people group and witness God's hand at work.

So, there you go. Not sure why I decided to write about that. I have lately been wanting to carry out #4, and#6, and of course I probably need to work on #7! :-) I noticed that most of those are totally things that need to be done while young. I should think of some that can be done when I'm a little older. I mean, I guess my Nana was 70 years old when she went sky diving! :-) Really...it was amazing. We have a video of it and all. (The pic. is not my Nana, it's some other studly elderly woman who did it!) :-)

PS: On a totally different topic...I'm totally addicted to the Tour de France. Two nights ago I flipped it on for some background noise. I ended up sitting down and watching it...and I didn't go to bed until the stage was complete. The scenery is AMAZING and I was mesmorized by the competition and sheer strength it takes to do this race. I watched stage 9 as Ricco attacked Efimkin (or what ever his name is). He started out 2 1/2 min behind him and then totally closed in on some pretty good climbs. On stage 10 I watched team mates Piepoli and Cobo come in together as 1st and 2nd place. Very cool. I believe they are starting some of the hardest stages...into the Alps. So, that will be really cool to watch.

I <3 Weekends!

I think that the sun miiiight be starting to peak it's little head out today. Yay! This weekend was gorgeous. Such a nice warm temperature. Not quite warm enough to go to the beach but that's ok.

So, on Friday Jason and I went and visited the Badger's at the hospital. We saw little Sadie Joan! She was so sweet and super cute. Jason just loved her. He's so good with babies. Jason has that whole "body heat" thing going for him. She was totally crashed out in his arms. The one time she screamed bloody murder I was holding her :-). I guess I don't have the touch. He's super excited for his sister to have #3 in late Oct. Yay!

There was no mountain biking and no climbing this weekend. Shocking huh? Jason has a bum shoulder and I ordered him to back off of it for a while. He decided that it was probably a good idea. We instead opted to go on a hike. It ended up being a 14 mile hike...or about. We went up in Irish Hills and hiked what we normally ride plus some more, and then looped back and did it backwards. There's a lot of trails back there that I didn't even realize. We found a "hiker's only" trail that would be really fun to ride...but we won't because we are "good, respectful mountain bikers" :-). I have to say one thing that I was very surprised about...my legs and lower back were sooooo tired from hiking. Both Jason and I were really surprised. I just figured, "I'm in ok shape, I mountain bike." Walking though uses different muscles than biking. The front of my legs...in the shin area were pretty sore the next day. Wow. I guess it's good practice for the vacation...especially if we do end up conquering Half Dome.

So, Jason got a new toy. A new 2005 S-Works frame, a Talas fork, and a front derailleur. It was a really good deal. It's in great condition too...the frame has had 5 rides on it. Jason is pretty much going to get a new bike for not much money at all. He's going to transfer some of his parts from his old bike and there is a guy who is going to buy his old frame and everything else left on it. Crazy. Basically he couldn't decide if he wanted to drop the money at first. I know he can afford it. He just wasn't sure if it was wise. So, we went to CBO to have them look at the possibly new frame and get their opinion on whether he should buy it. Then out of no where a guy asks Jason if he could possibly buy his old bike. I think that helped solidify the decision. So, he has a week to rebuild the new frame. He now has almost 5 inches of travel rather than 3. He is a good down-hiller and so I think he will really enjoy the extra suspension. I'm really excited for him too. He did SO much for me and my bike. So, I'm happy that he can put some time into a bike for himself. He got almost 8 years of use with his old bike so he's about due I think. He definitely went the "financially responsible" route too!

Well, Happy Monday everyone!

P.S. So, I totally write this blog with the idea that only females read this. I installed that world map thing on my page. I saw how people all over the world have viewed my blog! I began to realize that I might want to watch what I say. I'm sure there are posts on here that are more "female appropriate" then "male appropriate." Who knows though. :-)

The conclusion I've come to...

Office space at the place I work may be over priced. If you don't know, I work at a place where they rent office space to small business owners. I help over see the business complex as a whole. Soooo exciting :-). So, I've shown office space to two people today. I showed one particular office to person #1 The office has a window but it's really small. It's $695/month. He said, "Wow, I pay less than that and I have a nice office downtown with a parking spot." I reply with an, "Oh wow!" I guess he was looking to save money and pay a little less somewhere. Honestly too, our office spaces aren't all that nice, they feel 70's ish...which is when they were built. There's a newer section of the building that are pretty nice but most of those are rented. Then person #2 comes. He straight out tells me that our office spaces are overpriced. Oh. Ok. Sorry?

After #2 left I decided to hop online and do some comparing. They're right. You can get a bigger office downtown for about the same price as one of our smaller ones. Being that it's downtown and the rent is so high...it would seem that it should be more money...not less. Strange. People keep leaving too here. My boss/the owner is kind of one of those landlord's who are really picky and are all up in your business. Renter's would prefer to not see their landlord unless they need them. He doesn't grasp that. I think that people get annoyed and find a better place where they can feel left alone. It's sad but true. Someone needs to tell him....but it certainly won't be me. Or anyone else for that matter. He's like 80 years old for crying out loud, who'd have the heart to break it to him? So, that's the conclusion I came to today.

Did I mention that it's Friday??? Yay oh yay!!!

Morning Ride...

What a warm, beautiful day!!! I especially experienced this on my solo mountain bike ride this morning! (It was a small one up Madonna Mt.) :-) First off...there were a ton of people out there. I was the only mountain biker but there were tons of hikers and runners. I think that it was the most I've ever seen...and it was at 8am. It was such a warm morning that I think it enticed more than just me to get out there and have a little work out. I rode over to the Marsh street entrance and rode up that route. Then I went down the back and dropped into Laguna Lake. It was pretty fun. By the time I was half up the mountain I think I had dumped about a gallon of sweat. I was so hot. Even my arms were totally saturated. I saw my old cross country coach and some of his high school runners while coming down. Cross Country season is in the fall and he always did optional conditioning days during the summer in order to get a little head start on training. Madonna mountain was one of those runs. I remember those days. I really loved cross country...even though I cursed it often during many of the races. i.e. Mt. SAC. Ugggh! That was a killer.

It was sort of fun to get out on my own too. Before I met Jason I was a fairly avid runner. I ran Bishop's peak about 3x's a week. It took a lot too for me to be willing to sacrifice that time. I have no idea but sometimes I just like to get out and work my body on my own. I think it's a time to just...think. Jason's the opposite. He likes people to go with him. One, for motivation and two, for that competition (maybe it's a boy thing). He's not a fan of me riding on my own. He'd prefer that I stick with the smaller rides like Madonna if I'm solo. I realize that I ride a lot faster and push myself way harder when I'm with people. So, that's a good thing. Maybe that's why I enjoyed the ride so much...there was no way for me to know how slow or fast I was going...no competition. I just got to crank away and think...and it didn't involve any thoughts about how far away I was from the person ahead of me.

Ooooh, before I forget...Congrats Cara and Keith on your babe!!! Little Sadie Joan is her name I believe! I think that she should be out by now. Yay!!! Can't wait to meet her! :-)

So close...

GOOOoooooood Morning! So, I finally got the notice in the mail telling me that I have officially graduated. Golly, finally! It hasn't been easy to obtain the degree...not because of the classes I had to take but because of all the weird logistics and forms that I had to turn in. Uggh. I got the letter yesterday telling me that I had received my degree and to check the Cal Poly Portal to make sure that my degree and minor were correct. I almost didn't check it and then I thought...well, it's Cal Poly...I probably should. And guess what...they don't have my minor on there! Aaaahhhh! It really wouldn't be that big of a deal except for I have been running around going back and forth for about a month. I thought...Finally, I'm done! Nope! So, I have to get back on the phone once again and figure out what went wrong. I just really want my stinkin' diploma. I don't see how this should effect that though because they don't put your minor on your diploma anyways. This would be so much easier if I wasn't working 8 hours a day. The Record's Office is open select hours a day and of course I'm working during those times. Oh well. It'll get taken care of!

Well, I've been checking SLOJobs and other sites for another job. I'm not desperately seeking or anything. It's more like if something is enticing enough than I'll apply for it. I found the perfect job yesterday. Well, it's only part time...very part time...so it's not perfect. It involved coming on MWF from 10am-2pm to care for an elderly couple in their house. You would clean for them, make lunch, and also make a dinner that they could just re-heat. Oh, I wish I could do that! It said on the ad "similar experience required". I got all excited at the thought that, "Hey! I do have that experience!" I could not swing that though. I'd have to find like 4 house cleaning jobs to go with that, or something, in order to make it possible. Oh well. What can you do!?!

So, the weekend is quickly approaching my friends and I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday. Adios!!!

T-Shirt knit and Sunday School

Ok, so last weekend I experimented with that jersey knit stuff...um, no! It's ridiculous. My machine kept sucking it up. Very lame. I used an old shirt that had a stain on it...rather than buying new stuff. It was a bit thin and so maybe if I used some more sturdy stuff it would work better. I don't know. I want one of those cool dummies that you can adjust to your size and put clothes on. That would be way easier. I'm sure those are very affordable! ;-)...or not.

I just got reminded that tonight is the Mustang Water slides family night with Grace Church. I'm not really sure if I'll end up going. It just seems like it would be very cold. Cold and I don't do all that well together. I guess we'll see.

So, I just gave the final "I'll do it" to Dori for teaching the 4th/5th grade girl's Sunday school class next year. I've been teaching Sunday school off and on since I graduated from high school. I did the 4's and 5's with Jason this last year and that was...interesting. I loved them, they cracked me up, but there was a TON of disciplining. I tried to work out a system, but gee whiz. Some of those kids were so naughty that it would sort of ruin the class. Anyways, Jason wanted to take a break...and also knew that little kids were not really his thing. I was going to take a break too but then Dori asked me to do 4th and 5th grade girls...only until Dec. though. There is another teacher who is out of the country who normally does the class but she'll be back in Dec. So, I sat on the idea for a while and the more and more I thought about it, the more and more I wanted to give it a try. I've done junior high, I've done the nursery, I've done 2's and 3's, 4's and 5's, and now, why not...how about 4th and 5th grade girls!?! If it was a co-ed class I don't think that I would do it but since it's only girls...it just sounded really fun. So...I'm teaching Sunday school again. :-) I'm excited about the curriculum and being able to go a little deeper than say a 4 or 5 year old can go. It'll be really fun! Do 4th and 5th graders do crafts? Hmmm. I guess I can ask them!

Weekend happenings...

Hello all! *Sigh* It's Monday. This weekend was alright. I am rather happy to say that vacation is in less than two weeks. Yay! Poor Jason though...he has a bumm shoulder. It seems that at least one of us has been injured or sick in the last couple of months. First Jason was sick, then I was sick, then I had a hurt ankle, and then his shoulder started to hurt...a lot. We keep trying to get into shape but...it's just not really happening. Oh well. Anyways, I guess you can pray for him and his shoulder. I don't think that it's anything serious because there is no moment that he can pinpoint and say "This is when it started." It just kind of came out of nowhere. He's going to REALLY back-off of physical activity for a week. He kept trying to do that but wasn't successful. If it doesn't get better after a week then it's off to the doctor for him!

So, Friday was the church picnic which was fun as usual. Jason's parents went and saw these famous horses at the Madonna expo center later in the afternoon. We thought about doing that but instead opted to go bouldering at Bishop's peak. (See, he's not good at being un-active). That was really fun. I was determined to finish a route and eventually got it. Yay!!!

You know, I love mountain biking...a lot. Recently though I have really grown to love climbing. It's sort of hard to explain why. It seems like people either think you are crazy or they totally get it. I understand how one could come to both conclusions! :-)

I love how it makes you feel strong. Most of it's technique though and not really bruit strength. I think there is a huge sense of accomplishment with it too. Usually the routes are technical and involve thinking and problem solving. You also usually try it a handful of times before you finish it (or some you still can't quite get). There is a very definite beginning and end to it also, a definitive goal to accomplish...make it from point A to point B with out falling. When it's done and you finally conquered that route...I don't know, you have a little internal celebration. There's also that point where you reach a certain height in a lot of bouldering routes where you think to yourself, "Will the mat really protect me all that much at this point?" It's kind of scary, it's very motivating to finish well, and it also gives you a little rush! :-) Finally it puts me out into the beautiful outdoors that the Lord has created. It's a wonderful way to meet non-believers and be a light to them. It's a very communal and friendly sport and so there are a ton of opportunities to meet people. Just Friday we ended up climbing with people from Boston. I guess I just thank the Lord that he created our bodies so magnificently that we could scale up the side of a rock. Isn't that amazing?

Anyways, I'm looking forward to trying some rocks out in the Eastern Sierras. That will be great fun! I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend! See you later!!!

Anna...The American Gladiator and...seamstress?

Well, last night, actually the night before, I had a dream that I was competing on American Gladiator. I was totally kicking butt too! In the dream, I woke up in the morning and got a call from American Gladiator telling me that I was chosen to compete. If I won than I would receive $50,000. Sweeeet! So, I figured, "Hey, I can run over and compete with enough time to open work at 8am...it's ok if I'm a few minutes late!" So, I went and competed in the last relay thing that's on the show. That relay thing that looks so fun to do if it was a casual competition...definitely not something I'd want to do on TV in front of millions of viewers. I totally creamed the girl. It was pretty cool! I was so pumped! (I also was pretty much convinced that this was all really happening!)

So, they wanted me to compete again but I told them that I had to go open for work first. I ran (literally, like next door) over to my work and opened it. It was 10am! Oh no! Just two hours late. I saw the owner there and snuck into the building and sat down at my desk. I pretended that I had been there all morning (I'm very deceitful in my dream!). Finally I told my work that I had to go back over to the American Gladiator set because I was going to win $50,000. They let me go. So, I went back and competed in that thing were you are strapped to a harness and you have to put the ball into the hoop that's way above you. You have to hit the button to make it take you up there. Yeah, I totally won on that too. So, basically, I think that I secretly want to compete on American Gladiator. I think that most of the events looks fun. I don't think though that I would appreciate being slammed by she-man's. They are some seriously beefy women. I could do without that! :-)

Ok, now that we have covered the "Anna the American Gladiator" we can start on the "Anna the seamstress" part...the seamstress with the ghetto, fabulous sewing machine (I seriously am not a seamstress AT ALL...I can't even read a pattern!) So, two nights ago I was working on another bag when all of a sudden the sewing machine went at warp speed all by itself. I was working on a strap that I was trying to keep a nice, neat, and close edge to...HA! Good thing it was at the end of the strap and part of it will be covered. Anyways...so yes, my machine has a true mind of it's own. Sometimes it turns on, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it sews at 80 mph all by itself...with my foot off the pedal and all. But, this is not the point of this post...

I'm going to attempt a couple of shirts. The first one involves a t-shirt knit material (I'm planning on leaving the edges raw and just letting them roll on their own...it should be simple)...we'll see how that goes though. The other is very cute in my head. Probably won't be so much in real life. If only we could zap the image that we have in our mind into the real world. That would be so much easier!!! :-) So, if they come out cute...I'll post. If not...I'll tell you, and won't post it!

ride...heartburn...and rent

I rode my bike yesterday for the first time and it felt great. Everything was so smooth. I was a little timid on the downhill...I really just didn't want to fall and break and scratch anything. That feeling will go away soon enough though. So, it was great! I loved riding it!!!

On another note...I've had heartburn for the last couple of days, off and on. It's not really the painful kind (except for last night)...it's more the warm and fuzzy kind. Strange. I oddly kind of like the warm and fuzzy kind. Anyways, not sure what to attribute that too.

I paid for my first full month of rent yesterday...ouch! Welcome to the real world Anna! It's funny how it takes 40 hours to earn a paycheck and yet if you want...you could spend the whole thing in 5 seconds. Hmmm. That just doesn't seem right!

Well, I hope everyone has a great Wed. and tomorrow is "Friday". Yay for three day weekends! I'll probably see most of you on Friday at the church picnic! :-)