a week in America's unhappiest city

Business week ranked Portland OR the unhappiest city in America.

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/02/0226_miserable_cities/2.htm

Who could be depressed when there is all of this do to in the city and state

 Thanksgiving day Turkey trot

Jake playing spiderman

Riley and Wilco.  Do you see that mischevious look on Riley's face.  Yep, she woke up Wilco and this was the only photo she was willing to pose for. 

the beautiful Oregon coast

jump roping with seaweed on the beach

indoor football for the boys

It may have rained almost everyday I was in Oregon, but that didn't stop us from shopping, playing in the yard, exercising, watching movies, eating, and playing games. 

According to this link

http://www.neatorama.com/2010/02/16/the-happiest-and-unhappiest-cities-in-america/

 I'm headed back to the 4th happiest city in the America.  With finals looming 2 weeks down the road, I'm not sure that I'm going to feel the happiness bug for a few weeks....

seeing Mick made my day a little bit happier....

 In April, I saw this article in a news pop-up on my computer. 

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/03/30/in-unhappiest-u-s-city-one-man-spreads-joy/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl3%7Clink3%7Chttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.walletpop.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F03%2F30%2Fin-unhappiest-u-s-city-one-man-spreads-joy%2F

Prior to clicking on the link, there was no idication that the article would be featuring Beaverton Oregon, my hometown and a street less than a 1/2 mile from my house that I travelled daily while growing up. 

I don't travel to Portland very often but I came home for the holidays and saw Mick in action standing on the corner in rainy 30 degree weather. 

(ps-it is illegal to talk on your phone while driving in Portland, OR but I have not heard that it is against the law to snap photos with your phone while driving)

Forecasting Winter...

SALT LAKE CITY -- The KSL weather team has been warning us for several days now: "Say goodbye to fall. Winter is on the way."

Based on this most recent news update--here is my tribute to FALL, because I for one am not looking forward to winter. 

FALL highlights up PROVO CANYON. 

1. Learning to fly fish...okay, being taught to fly fish.  I cast a line that did not have a hook on it and then took photos while my friend cast with a fly.  I would not say I really learned how, though I had an excellent teacher.  I didn't catch any fish.  You need a hook and a permit to do that, of which I had neither. 

2. Biking up past Southfork on a crisp autum morning. 

 

 3. Hiking Stewart Falls with a few other girls from the nurse practitioning program.  A much needed distraction between class and studying. 

I'm not ready to say good bye yet, but at least I've enjoyed it while it lasted.

Your future health care....

Is in our hands.

Don't worry--we still have 22 1/2 month to go before they let us loose. 

it RUNS in the genes

Growing up, Julie was always the athletic twin.  She played basketball, soccer, ultimate Frisbee, etc and I happily stood on the sidelines and cheered her on. 

When we got to college, we started running together.  Together meaning, we started together.  She would quickly pick up the pace, run a few blocks ahead of me and then circle back around to meet me only to get a few blocks ahead again and circle back around.

Since then, I've overcome my fears of running = bulky legs and can actually keep a decent pace with Julie.

In June we ran the wasatch back relay together...

This was our 4th year running it.  3rd time running it on the same team. 

In july, I ran the Hobbler 1/2 marathon down Hobble Creek Canyon in Springville Utah.

 

I surprised myself and ran a personal best at 137:19.

That's 7:26 min splits! For 13.1 MILES! I had no idea I had that kind of speed in me. 

And to top it all off, I came in first for my age division.  

 

Last week, Julie ran the St. George Marathon. 

She qualified for the Boston Marathon running a 3:38. 

And I happily stood on the sidelines cheering her on just like in the good 'ole high school days :)

Fall Only Comes Once a Year

I love Fall, but with school I have not had a chance to enjoy it as much as I would like.  Last year I was a "leaf peeper."  I ran off off to DC and Boston with the sole desire of being out there in the Fall to see all the beautiful colors.  So when Ryan called me late Monday night about hiking first thing Tuesday morning it was hard to resist. 

But when the trail head started like this:

I should have know that I might be getting myself into a hike that was harder-or more rugged--than I anticipated.   According to the hike guide printed off the Internet, we needed to cross the river at a bridge.  That pipe was the only "bridge" we could find. 

But who can say no to this:

OR this???

Me either.  But in case you were worried, Ryan did pack along a helmet for me.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe because last time we went rappelling in June down in Zion I managed to flip upside.  Thankfully, the backpack I was wearing took the brunt of the hit from the rock wall and not my head.  But it was probably the weight of the backpack that caused me to flip backwards.  Go figure.  My head was definitely safe from any danger on this hike, but my body temperature dropped a few degrees as the sun decided to stay hidden behind clouds most of the day while we descended through a beautiful, yet frigid waterfall. 

And maybe I did pray once or twice that I would a) not slip as I descended down the waterfall with rocks covered in moss that offered very little in the way of traction, and b) not freeze before making it down because for a while there I couldn't feel my feet and that doesn't help with getting your footing on uneven ground. 

And since I'm writing this, you know that I made it.  And despite everything listed above, it was a great hike on a beautiful Fall day with fun friends.  I always love finishing something that is hard-something that I doubt in my capabilities but am somehow able to accomplish with the help of others. 

And in case anyone was wondering-this was better than doing homework.  I still managed to do well on my test 2 days later.  I think I needed the break :)  Justification and Procrastination at its highest!

2 is usually better than 1

Julie and I, we do a lot of things together.  We're twins and it comes with the territory. 

Last week we canned peaches together.  It's a really big chore if you have to do it all yourself and was much better doing it together. 

Last night our combined efforts included making peach cobbler with the left over peaches.  I was putting some ingredients into the cobbler.  She was putting other ingredients in.  She was also pulling other ingredients out of cupboards while I read down the list of ingredients needed.  I figured she had pulled everything out that we had put everything in from the list.  We mixed it up and Julie kept saying it didn't look right.  I had never made the recipe before so I had no idea what it was supposed to look like.  Julie was telling me that I didn't measure things properly, while her husband chimed in and said, Julie you never measure things.  He was not surprised in the least that it didn't "look right."

We baked it and started eating it.  Then she realized...

we forgot to add the eggs.

HA-I guess our combine efforts failed this time around.  So what happens when you forget to add the eggs to cobbler-a floury (wheat flour, I might add) and sugary topping...less like cobbler and more like a coffee cake top.