Really?

So the government has put out a report saying women should now not get life-saving mammograms for another 10 years, and in a couple of years a majority of us will be on government healthcare....I'm sure there is no connection. Heck the idea to wait ten years makes sense if the number of cancer cases is rapidly dropping, we found a cure and we have fixed our sedentary lifestyles & unhealthy eating habits, but we haven't.....What a disappointment this decision is.

If only I could actually dance as well as I do in this video. I had to make a new one, and keep this tradition going for a 3rd year.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Post

Lately my blog posts have been as elusive as the Great Pumpkin (great movie!) So in order to have an incredibly long post to catch up all 5 of you (that might be a generous estimate) who read this, here you go!

~After leaving DC, I spent some time in VA before Eric and I left for Florida. We had originally planned on a cruise to Italy with our friends Stu and Leslie, but the Army (deep sigh) decided that instead Eric was going to rigger school (thanks for that). So instead we made our way down to the 2^nd happiest place on earth, and spent 6 days in Orlando.

What made Orlando even better was the freak heat wave with temps in the mid 90’s during our entire stay, which wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t so humid. It was like trying to breathe in jello. I somehow convinced Eric that participating in a 10k through Walt Disney World was a really fun idea. So we signed up for the Race for the Taste, which started off at ESPN Wide World of Sports, then went through Hollywood Studios and ended up at Epcot. Despite the rancid humidity it was really fun running though the parks before they opened. And at the end you got to stroll through Epcot’s food and wine festival (which was delish!)

Before the race through Disney World (still smiling)

It was so humid that I felt the Army 10-miler the week before was much easier than this race...it was that gross.

Splash Mountain

Yay I finished the race AND I didn't get heatstroke!

Smiling through the stickiness!

I flew back to WA two days before Eric, and he spent time with our friends Gabe and Mari in Fayetteville. Where he came back with even more respect for Mari, and all the work it was with two little one’s while Gabe was away.

~Our husky, Bear decided to welcome me home by eating a rope or towel the next day while I was at work. That evening he started throwing up and getting sick every 20-30 minutes, after a call to the emergency vet at 1am, they told me to come in at 7am if he wasn’t any better. At 7 after neither of us going to sleep since he was still throwing up twice an hour I took him to the vet. After a long tense day of running tests, x-rays, barium drips, they determined that he needed to go to a 2^nd hospital to have a scope go down his stomach to see what was going on, and there they discovered a rope/piece of towel that was caught in his small intestine, so off he went into emergency surgery. Oh and I was supposed to be at the airport an hour away picking up Eric, so I thoughtfully rented him a car to pick up, then there was a blackout (I know seriously) at the airport and they were processing all car rentals by hand. So needless to say, it was a very long day. Bear came out of surgery and we picked him up the next day. The vet told us that if he hadn’t had surgery within the next 2 hours he wouldn’t have made it. Since we don’t have kids, our dogs are our kids to us, and its so hard watching them sick and hurt, I cannot even imagine what it is like when it’s your own child. But Bear pulled through and earned the new nickname Zipper Belly from my sister. He just got his staples out this weekend and he is back to new.

~ I finished my quarter of school and I have a glorious ten days off before I start again, but it is my last quarter and I will finish in January (huzzah). I spent last weekend at an intensive 2-day yoga-fit training in order to decide if teaching Yoga is something I am interested in, I learned a lot and I am able to teach level 1 yoga classes now, but I think I will continue towards my 200hr certification before I add one more thing to my plate.

~My sisters came down for a Halloween pumpkin carving contest, which Eric won (I think he got the pity vote since he was a novice) but it was a lot of fun to spend time with them. It is so nice to be close to family again~

Eric's awesome pumpkin

Yes my sisters and I dressed up, Eric was a party pooper

What I have a weird sense of humor...

Yay Eric won!

Back to the East Coast for a spell

Well I am back on the East Coast already, and luckily the first stop is my favorite place on the entire eastern seaboard (not to be dramatic or anything) DC! I love DC and have gotten to come over and spend some time here during the last 3 years. In fact I can say that it is the only place on the east coast that I would ever consider living. You know when you go to a city and just know you could live there and love it, thats how I feel about it. Even the different times Ive gone and had a great time in NYC, Miami, San Diego, Atlanta, it's the only place I have ever felt like I could live.


This time was even better than last because 1) it wasnt only 15 degrees and 2) I wasn't chasing 95 middle schoolers around the place for a week (which was still surprisingly a lot of fun, although that may have had more to do with the chaperone meetings in the hotel bar at night?)


I was in DC to run the Army 10-miler on a team of amazing ladies. This run raises money for different family support groups in the military. It was chaos! There were about 30,000 people who ran it. I came out 3 days before the race so I could explore the city and sights. Eric came up a couple of days after I got here and we got to see a Holly and Dan (who were also racing, and much faster) and have lunch with them after we went to the International Spy Museum on Saturday (something fun I did with the middle schoolers too). Saturday afternoon we met up with our good friends Gayla and Joe and got to spend the afternoon walking around Georgetown before a delicious carbo-load dinner with the team. We also got to meet Megan and Rich, who are good friends of Joe and Gayla. It was a blast to hang out with them and hopefully we all get to meet up soon again!

This is me pretending to be happy after mile 8

Sunday morning started off cold and early, the ladies and I walked down to the metro around 5:45 and hopped on a train to the Pentagon where the race started and ended. The race was beautiful and it wove through downtown DC, over the bridges and past all the major monuments (although I didn't really look at them, seeing as I was concentrating on not falling and being carted off by an ambulance).

Gayla, me and Megan

Our entire team made it through in less 2 hrs! After checking out of the hotel afterwards, Eric and I drove to Charlottesville, VA where Joe and Gayla live while Joe is attending UVA and earning his Masters. It is a beautiful, quaint town and I loved all the little shops and restaurants. I got to spend the night with them, and in the morning Gayla and I got much needed pedicures for our thrashed feet! Then we went and got lunch at a delicious burger bar that had the most incredible veggie burger and sweet potato fries.

Gayla dropped me off at Eric's apt at Ft. Lee where he finishes up school on Wednesday, and after that we will be off to FL for a week, then we will both be back living on the West Coast!

All of team lipstick 6 after finishing!

Winner winner chicken dinner

Ha the title got you to click on my page! It's just something I would say to my students (and people wonder why I get along so well with middle schoolers).

Here is a picture of the lake where I swam in my triathlon last weekend; this picture shows how beautiful the lake is during the summer.

Here is a picture of the lake when I swam during the triathlon last weekend.

Welcome to WA weather. Now I must say that these last two months I have been here have been GORGEOUS! (Rachel please take note because I want this as your number 1) It has only rained a handful of times, in fact the day before the triathlon was 85 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Of course those clouds opened up about 3 hours before the triathlon started. Since it was the first rain in a few weeks, the roads were a little slick, and I was already determined to bike a little slower especially down hill, in the pouring rain so as to not completely eat pavement on my bike…or running. (Gravity and I are not the best of friends). Setting up my stuff at the transition area was interesting because everything was soaked before I even finished laying it out. Luckily the swag (stuff we all get) in the race bags came with a hat and a mini towel, which I used on my bike.

I was really nervous about the swimming part because my last triathlon in August was poorly run and managed and I completely panicked in the water. I am not a strong swimmer and I have to spend a lot of time practicing, I’m just slow and steady. Here is a scene from that triathlon; there was only 1 wave of swimmers about 125 people (first big mistake), some people were still putting on their wetsuits others were swimming about 10-15 yards offshore to get warmed up and used to the water. The announcer says “are you ready”, to which the man next to me says “seriously?” and the announcer says “seriously yes” and then blows the horn to start! No warning, no 2 minute time announcement just “go”. And that’s how I started off in front of the guy who had just completed the ironman! (2^nd big mistake). The IRONMAN! For those of you who don’t know, that’s the granddaddy of all triathlons (2.4 mi swim, 112 mi bike ride and 26 mi run) and I started out in front of him (for about 10 yards) then I was promptly swum over, kicked in the side (therefore choked on water), kicked in the face (knocked my googles down) and that’s when I panicked. I finished the swim but I also left a scathing review on active.com regarding the entire race, including the fact that they had 1 person in a rowboat as the only “lifeguard” or help in the water. (3^rd mistake)

So long story even longer, I was very nervous about the swimming part of this tri, but guess what…it rocked! They spaced out the waves of swimmers by about 4 mins, each group was given a color-coded cap and you swam with your group, there was also 3 people who swam with each group to give assistance to whomever needed it. They also had swimmers treading water to assist, paddle-boarders, and kayakers throughout the swim portion. This time no one swam over me or even got close enough to kick me, I swam on the outside of the perimeter (a farther distance, but that was fine with me as long as I was by myself). In fact I’d dare to say that the swim was the warmest part of the entire race, of course my wetsuit helped.

I finished the swim, and hopped on my bike. I was freezing at this point but didn’t have any water-proof clothes with me and knew my cotton clothes would only make me colder. The bike part was great except for the hills (not the uphill) but the downhill. At this point it was raining so hard that it was stinging, all I can say is that rain is a great motivator to go as fast as possible in order to finish. Biking down hill in the rain was a little nerve racking, especially when a car would go by. However there were a lot of volunteers stationed along the route to make sure everyone was safe and going the right way. I’d say they had about 100 volunteers who seemed to be incredibly happy to be out in the rain helping. (Crazy? Perhaps)

I didn't eat pavement on my bike, but it was a valid fear.

Luckily by the running portion it had tapered off to a drizzle and my motivation was to finish and get in warm sweats and some hot starbucks! Luckily the rain motivated me to go the fastest I ever have and I ended up placing 2^nd in my age group and got a medal during the awards ceremony! I then won a brand-new wetsuit in the raffle and I NEVER win things so the pictures they have of me winning, I look completely shocked. Aside from the rain, it was a great event and I look forward to doing it again next year.

So you think it's time for a new post?

I suppose that since I basically only blog once a month, that it is finally time for a new blog. Well you are right, but I'm going to have to put you on the back burner until mid-terms are over. I would love to procrastinate and write a lengthy, witty blog but since I am only one quarter away from graduating (Que the Hallelujah music) I should focus on school, especially since I am leaving for two weeks at the beginning of October and I usually get a lot (umm actually nothing) accomplished whilst traveling. I will leave a bloggy shout-out to my dear friends Eliza and Courtney who both got engaged this summer. Their weddings will be this spring and I CANNOT wait! Eliza and I have known each other since middle school, and Court and I have been friends since college, and even after 3 1/2 years of marriage, Ive still lived with her longer than I have Eric!

Eliza, Desiree and I.

(You two should be happy I didn't put the pictures of us modeling muu-muu's on here)

Court and I