Where has my memory gone to?

Away. The answer is that my memory has gone..AWAY! In my update post, I mentioned several things we had been up to and places we had gone to. We, then I, actually went several other places than previously mentioned and can't believe I forgot! How could I?! One visit was to visit my dearest friend Amy (who, if you remember cheered me up with this basket) Everyone needs a Friend Amy (she deserves a title) and I have one! And guess what else? At the beginning of the year, Friend Amy and her sweet hubby moved to a small town on the Oregon coast, (a little over 3 hours away) and ever since, we haven't seen as much of each other. Anyway, we were able to go visit them and their cute coastal town in May and it reminded me how much I miss my Friend Amy! It was soooo good to catch up with each other and to explore that part of the Oregon Coast. Poor Brent had to work a lot that weekend, so Friend Amy was our bonafide tour guide most of the time. She took us to see some of the local coast, then the beautiful Umpqua lighthouse (where you can stick your head inside the light of the lighthouse.....BEAUTIFUL!!), along with a pretty good museum and an awesome, hole-in the wall bakery (don't remember the name but Amy and I bought pink pigs that were like homemade twinkies!!). Then we went four wheeling on the beach, built a bonfire and caught up some more (along with some hot dogs,beer and marshmallows.)

The Umpqua lighthouse (coast guard housing is stationed around it)

Friend Amy and I!!

Aaron and I

The view from inside the lighthouse lamps

The piggy twinkies...mine is on the right :)

My beautiful, sparkly nails- compliments of Friend Amy

Hanging out around the bonfire after four-wheeling

Reunited!!

So that was one awesome trip I failed to metion, BIG TIME! Again, how could I? I can't wait to see them again!

Another one I spaced was a few weeks after that. I went with my family to a graduation party of a little girl I used to babysit. We camped out in my parents new travel trailer (nice!) and then went to a "grunguation party." What's a grunguation party? Well, we were told the theme was to dress grunge (like Nirvana-90s-grunge) or so we thought. My family went all out and dressed the part. However, we were the ONLY ones dressed up in grunge. Embarrassing and funny and never again!

My version of grunge

My sister and I hanging out as 2 of the 4 grunge members at the grunge party...haha!

My cute parents

My sister and I dressed in real clothes

And there you have it! Two more trips done in the time I was away!!

It was the best of times, it was the worst timing

I think I failed to mention in my update post that Aaron is now a bicycle mechanic at a local shop. As a result, he is able to keep his finger on the pulse of what bikes are available. Luckily, he picked out an awesome Giant bike for me and we've been riding a lot lately. I told him I wanted to try trail riding and so we've been doing a lot of that lately too.

Yesterday we went on a (wait for it) 15 mile trail ride at a Lake 45 minutes from our house with some of the same friends we did the Dirty Dash race with.  It was hard for some of us (ME), especially since there were a lot of hills.

Just the same, it was also a lot of fun....until the very last stretch. I'm no sure what happened. I could have been going too fast and one of our friends said I had been standing pedaling, sat down and let go of my left handlebar. At that moment, though, I hit some loose sand and gravel and ate it...in front of everyone. The result? This guy:

The worst part is that I had survived the entire ride and I only had possibly 1/10 of a mile to go on the flattest part of the trail and I ate it.  I think my pride was hurt a bit too.  But today, my leg hurts a lot worse than my pride and looks worse to me too, but what do I know? I'm kind of a drama queen when it comes to my own injuries and this is pretty dramatic/traumatic. So I took the day off and have been resting up. I've read it can take up to two weeks for the pain to stop and I can't wait.

Outfit Post

I'm so rusty with posts, I can't even think of a witty post title (sigh). But in my opinion, here are a few things to write about: For only the second time this summer, I actually did my hair. Because I never do my hair, I was actually surprised with how much it has grown. I also remembered to take a picture of an outfit AND I'm posting it....so that's not nothing, right?

Shirt: Maurices

Skirt: Boutique from a trip

Sandals: Ross

Hallo there! Where have YOU been?

Let me get this straight...it's been TWO WHOLE MONTHS since I've posted anything? You mean I didn't even bother to stop by and let you know I'm still alive?! Well, rest assured. I am alive (as most of you who know me and have probably seen me in person already know...) and kicking- with some bouts of screaming involved...but that's another post. So how bouts a quick update, hmm? First off, my "personal" computer is still broken. I guess it hasn't been as much of a priority as I originally thought, and so other things have filled its' place. To be honest, the break from blogging has been nice and I hadn't missed it at all until I decided to stop by and check things out. Then the guilt of not keeping up slapped me in the face and I got to writing!

Since May we've managed to keep somewhat busy, mainly plugging along with work and day to day activities (my goodness! It's been so long since I've blogged that I can't remember where I left off...excuse me while I catch myself up with what I've done in my life lately).

Okay! I'm back. Now I know where to begin. Since my last post in May, I've tried out several new recipes. Some have been bad and others good: eggless cookie dough for pure, unadulterated consumption, anyone?! Don't worry, I plan on sharing the ones that turned out.

I also went wake-boarding and actually STOOD UP!! on the board/water after more tries than I'd like to admit to.  I could hardly make a fist or pull up my pants for a couple days (too much info?). I've stopped by Goodwill and scored a few finds, but only a few since I'm still trying to simplify.

We just got back from a trip to Fort Bragg, CA where we visited some amazing friends.  We played on the beautiful beach and ran into the turquoise ocean's waves. We also ate some amazing food (Piaci Pizza and Cowlick's Hand Made Ice Cream) and sampled some equally amazing beer: Kilt Lifter and our friends' very own homebrew. All was delicious!  I think I have a crush on that little coast town now!

Last, but not least, Aaron and I entered and completed the Dirty Dash race.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the race, it's a 3.5 mile run/obstacle course with a whole lot of mud involved. It was SO much fun!! Our team was loosely based off of 'Monty Python and the search for the Holy Grail.' Our team name was "Muddy Python and the search for the muddy trail." Aaron was the "Famous Historian" and I was his bewildered wife. We are the two on the lower left, in the front row.

Pre-race

After the race...SO muddy!

After the race, I had mud everywhere. We walked to a nearby river and just bathed in it instead of using the available showers! But it was so worth it!

This week I'm getting ready for a yard sale for next weekend. It's all part of me trying to get rid of as much unnecessary stuff as possible, and make a bit of money off of it too!

Well! That's it in a nutshell!! I will keep you posted (MUCH sooner than later this time!)