It's all apart of life's pageant

Cancer

I have a lot of things on my mind of late, and it's not scrapbooking or Big Picture. To be specific; breast cancer. My best friend Dottie has breast cancer. Even with all the negative things going on at work, at the end of each thought brings me back to Dottie. Dottie, my best friend with breast cancer. She is going to be a survivor - yes, she is.

Often people ask us "how are you two friends, she is 20+ years older?", then one day we sat down at the end of one our trips together (it was a trip to Sedona, AZ) and listed our similarities and differences. Dottie put together a mini album titled "the keys to our friendship".Here are some excerpts from the album:

    Some of our differences (keep in mind this was 2004)

• size 2 and size 12
• diet coke and diet pepsi
• good sleeper and bad sleeper
• Dixie Chicks and Enya
• Night driver and day driver
• Good eyes and bad eyes
• real teeth and great caps
• west coast dresser and east coast dresser
• patient and impatient
• intolerant and tolerant
• Kate Spade and Botega Venetta

    Some of our similarities

• Love to travel
• Love dogs
• Ability to see, do and move on
• Good food
• The F-U-N criteria
• Organized and list makers
• Don't split hairs
• hotel snobs
• Little warped humor
• Read each others minds

• Shopping
• Enthusiastic and Energetic
• Same expectations

One of the quotes that she included in the album really captured our friendship..."with a good friend, there is a comfort zone like none other, where sharing even silence can be a pleasure." Please send your thoughts and prayers her way! All of mine and good energy goes out to you girlfriend!

Don't forget to get your mammograms and do self breast exams, standing up and  laying down!
 

Portland Bridge Pedal

Our big activity for the weekend was the Portland Providence  Bridge Pedal - what an amazing turnout, over 20,000 people! Because there were so many riders it made for VERY slow riding. We spent most of our time walking our bikes. But there was a little thrill ride on the 405 hwy going up to the Markum bridge - I felt like I was 8 again with no fear and no breaks...then about half way through I came to my senses reminding myself that I am 37 years old and have my dog on the back of bike...I need to slow down! But just for that short moment - it was a true thrill.

We went with our good friends Odus, Tracy and their two boys, and our good friend Jack. Both dh and I were sporting our new bikes. This was my birthday present from dh this year. It is the Amsterdam Electra bike - I wanted something old school with nothing fancy to complicate my life. It has pedal breaks and 3 gears. Yes, the basket is for the dogs! But only one of them will actually fit in it and that is Amos. He was so good and stayed in the basket the whole time. During the 'thrill' ride dh said his ears were flopping in the wind!

1. Bridge Pedal, 2. bridge pedal, 3. Amos @ Bridge pedal, 4. bridge pedal, 5. Bridge pedal, 6. Bridge pedal, 7. Bridge Pedal, 8. Amos @ Bridge pedal, 9. P1000066.JPG, 10. P1000070.JPG, 11. P1000071.JPG, 12. P1000072.JPG

Mind + Body + Soul

Some would say that I have gone over to the dark side or I am going 'woo-woo'. This is an expression used by my lovely husband when describing people who are into crystal reading, I will come back to this comment.

What have I gotten myself into?? YOGA! and I LOVE it. After searching around I found a great yoga studio that is about 15 minutes from my house called Satsang yoga. They not only offer yoga, but special yoga workshops and also Pilates, which I hope to start soon. I didn't want to post about this until I was at least 3 weeks into it and at least give you all an honest opinion. I have been going for 3 weeks straight, 4 days a week for an hour Flow class. Here it goes:

• Yes, you should take an in person class for at least 3 weeks. I think the DVDs are great but you need to have the basics down so you know that you are doing your positions right and have someone correct you. If you are not doing the positions right you may not see the results you want or hurt yourself. This is why I love the small studio that I go to...but I think once you have practiced the positions you could do this at home.
• Yoga studios - you don't need a yoga studio, but just make sure that the instructor knows that you are beginner and will need help adjusting. Be sure to check out your community centers or local community college. I looked into these places but when I went to the classes they were HUGE with no personal attention. My gym only offered their yoga class at 9:30am, which is too late in my morning.
• Yoga instructors - I think they probably range in appearances. But don't let this intimidate you or think they are a bunch of hippies teaching crystal reading. Do find someone that is well trained and I also think it is important for any yoga practice that they be genuinely POSITIVE and emit that positive energy.
• Almost anyone can do this - and you don't have to be flexible. That is why you are going to Yoga! After just a week of classes I notice a difference in my physical well being. Since I sit at a computer all day my shoulders and neck are always messed up - after a week I learned how to alleviate this. 
• The flow class that I am taking links your breathing with your movement. I didn't realize that I really don't breathe deeply during the day - I am surprised that I actually get any oxygen at all!
• I go in the morning right after I do my cardio workout. It has been a great way to start my day.
• Some of the benefits that I have noticed is I am more relaxed, more aware, energized, and my appetite has been curved. The other HUGE benefit that I have noticed...I have lost or maintained at WW weigh in for the last two weeks.

If you are interested you might want to pick up this magazine or this one.

Now the reason why my husband is saying I am on the verge or joining the 'woo-woo' group is because I bought a salt lamp. I had my doubts in the past but there were a couple of people in the class and Dana the owner of the yoga studio that swears by them. Off I went to Wild Oats to check these lamps out - I figured I had nothing to lose if it really didn't work, because the lamp was actually pretty cool looking! I am only on day two of having the salt lamp in my studio, so I will give you an update in a couple of weeks.

 

Camping hair

Last weekend I camped one night with my sister and her family. I thought this will be easy - they have a brand new trailer and a bed for me. What could possibly go wrong? Did I mention that I was up there watching the MX Nationals in our little town of Washougal, WA? It was a cross between going to the county fair and a NASCAR event. The ages ranged from 13 to 30, where most of the 13 yr old girls were walking around with barely any clothes on and hanging onto 20 something year old guys. I was thinking to myself, 'at least Selby won't be doing any of this!' and at the same time thinking of all of my friends that have daughters that age. Raise them to have good self esteem and respect for themselves. Those were the two things I saw missing from these young girls.

We were having a great time until about 2am when I was awoken by all the partying going on outside of trailer. This didn't stop until about 4:30am. I was so glad that Kirk decided to go home and come back the next day. At least I knew one of us was getting a good nights sleep!

So other than the above it was a great time - really! I had the chance to hang out with my niece and catch this great shot of her camping hair.

Remember 1/4" seam...

I decided to take some time and get back to sewing - I am not very good and my sewing talents are limited to very easy items. One of the things I enjoy about sewing or quilting is buying the fabric! Over the last several years they have come out with some amazing designers. I decided to try out this simple bloomer pattern and make some cute bloomers for my niece. I found this fabric with apple and pears on it and they turned out pretty cute and so easy to whip up! I need to take a picture of her in them -

I am also working on some skirts, yoga mat bag (for another post!), these hairclip things...I figure if I am going to bring out my sewing machine I might as well make some use of it!  Plus sewing is very relaxing for me and it takes my mind off of stressful things, because I have to concentrate on what I am doing.

Daily Grind: this hasn't gone away, the FAT is still here! LOL. I am still maintaining at WW, doing the elliptical right now instead of running, and I just started YOGA. That will have to be it's own post, soon I promise. But back to the elliptical - my right foot is in pain. It could be several reasons:

• I am carrying too much weight and causing plantar fasciitis.
• I have been wearing not so good shoes; from flip flops to high wedges and heels
• I slipped and fell in a restaurant back in April and injured it then?

What ever it is I am getting it checked on the 7th. It fortunately has not deterred me from going to the gym - I find that the elliptical when set right can give me a pretty good work out. Then after that I head to my yoga class. But the one thing that I have not changed is my eating habits. If I could just eat less and better...it would solve all my problems right?? ;) Hope you are all doing well and hang in there with me!

Finally the end of July

I have finally come to the realization that July is a crazy month for us. We have an anniversary, 4th of July, my birthday, friends visiting, family functions, work functions, and just the day to day every day stuff! I was telling my friend Jill the other day that July ranks right up there with December. But at least next year maybe I can control the chaos, since most of it I create on my own.

We were able to take a day trip up to Astoria, Oregon. Yes, this is where the film Goonies was filmed and Kindergarten Cop. I had not been up there in several years but heard rumors that they were making improvements to the downtown area and my interest was peaked by Alicia. I always need to remind myself to get out and spend more time in the beautiful states we live in. We took Amos with us since it was his birthday too. But did notice that Astoria hasn't fully embraced dog lovers and we were limited to the stores we could go in. The restaurant had no problem with him though - he loves fish and chips.

We couldn't have asked for a better day - in fact it was cloudy/overcast in town and blue skies here. This is the amazing Astoria bridge, I think it may be longest on the West coast but I am not sure.

And here is the last working covered bridge in the state of Washington - Grays River covered bridge. This bridge was in amazing shape - it had been restored in  1988-1989 but it was first built in 1905. It was a fun little stop and Amos enjoyed a dip in the river.