The Number 2

Fun facts about the number 2...

- My sister and I are two years apart, which means we experience many milestones in life within two years of each other. Yesterday she had a birthday - Happy Birthday Brooke - I love you!

- She was born two years, two months, and two weeks after me and I was privileged to experience our childhood together and I love where our relationship has come now that we are "adults".

- Two years ago (today) I graduated from college, now it is Brooke's turn in just a matter of days.

- I will soon be making trip number two of three this year to Texas to celebrate Brooke's success in completing her undergraduate career.

- Brooke turned 22 yesterday - have I said Happy Birthday yet?!?! =)

- I really only want to spend about two minutes on this post because I've got the Blazer game on and I am hoping they can pull this one out...

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood...

It has been unseasonably beautiful in Portland the last few days and I've been soaking up as many rays of sunshine as possible. This last weekend was spent getting caught up with some chores around the house, a baseball opening game, and discovering a great hiking/running trail not far from my home. We've got the windows open and its so great to be reminded of what summer will be like eventually. Of course we know it's just a tease right now, but you've got to enjoy every moment of good weather you get around here.

I really don't have any news to share, or photos to share, but I thought I'd check in quickly anyway. I hope the sun is shining and flowers are blooming wherever you are reading this!

What's keeping me up at night...

Is this wonderful book Jantsen's Gift written by Pam Cope. I'm more than halfway through and loving it. I had pre-ordered it on Amazon back in February and I was pleasantly surprised when it was delivered at the end of last week. This book is about a family who experienced great tragedy when their 15 year old passed away suddenly in 1999 and their journey after losing their son and brother. With the funds donated to Jantsen's memorial fund, the Cope's started an organization called Touch A Life Foundation and have rescued, assisted and loved on many children in Vietnam, Cambodia and Ghana in recent years. I commend them for confronting the extremely ugly human trafficking issue that is rampant across the world head on (and for clarity sake, "the world" includes the United States). I highly recommend this book, and I'm not even done with it yet!

You can check it out on Amazon here: Jantsen's Gift. I'm happy to share my book, but I'd also encourage you to support this ministry by purchasing your own copy if you are able to. Okay, that's all the time I can bear to spend blogging, now back to the book...

Pear Blossom 2009

So I only have a few minutes, but I wanted to put a few pictures up from my weekend in Medford with my family and give a quick update....

Friday I got to hang out with my mom and sister and do some random errands and just relax. It was nice to have the day off. That evening we had dinner with some good friends at an Italian restaurant so we could "carb up" for the big race the next morning.

Saturday was an early morning as we had to be at the starting line by 6:45am for the 5K that Brooke and Lauren were doing. We cheered them on and you can see them on the course and finishing below...

Mid-run / walk with smiles!

Brooke and Lauren crossing the finish line!

Then a little before 8:30 my mom and I lined up for the start of the 10 mile race. This is us just before the race, ready to go!

And this is us at the halfway point.... Brooke and Dad were great supporters by coming to the halfway point to cheer us on (mind you they managed to get in a Donut pit stop on their way to the halfway point).

And finally, proof that we did cross the finish line....

Big thanks to those who cheered us on - it's amazing how much more fun it is to run when you have friendly faces cheering you on along the way! Now what's the next race you want to do Mom?

I'll update with more pictures as soon as I have a chance. I've finally gotten a new computer so I'm doing a lot of playing around and setting up (my old computer was the laptop I got when I was a freshman in college, so I am in shock at how fast this new one moves!) Hope you all had a wonderful Easter - it was certainly a great weekend back in Medford for me with the family - it's so rare for us all to be together anymore so it was an extra special weekend!

Beautiful Sunshine and Miserable Allergies

Hope of the end of a cold, dreary and rainy winter came this weekend with beautiful sunshine. Granted, the clouds are back now, but it was definitely a beautiful weekend and Monday. Unfortunately with the sun, came major allergens in the air and I am apparently back to being allergic to everything. For the last 5 springs, I haven't had any allergy problems. As a kid I had a lot of allergies - I played soccer and was allergic to grass - you can put two and two together on what that means. I thought I had grown out of them or just had been allergic to stuff in the Rogue Valley..... apparently I was wrong. Stuffy nose, watery eyes, scratchy throat, the whole nine yards. Now I'm trying very hard to get it under control before this weekend for the big run. It helps to be able to breathe when you are running 10 miles, right?!?!

In the sunshine this weekend I headed to the farmers market, went for a long run down by the waterfront and went out for a friends' birthday Saturday night. Sunday was busy with church, going to lunch at my grandparents house, church meeting and the home community Sunday evening. All in all it was a good weekend.

Now I'm looking forward to my weekend back in my hometown, seeing my sister, running a race with my mom and celebrating Easter with my family. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures from my upcoming weekend to share here.