SEATTLE and BELLEVUE!!!

So....I went to visit my sister in Bellevue, Washington in June, and I still haven't posted anything about it. tehe. I took the train. Not only was it a bargain, but I LOVED IT!!! It was so relaxing. I liked it so much, I would take a trip just for the train ride. Plus, all the train stations have these intricate architectural details. I love the charm of old architecture, and the train stations certainly don't disappoint.
This is where my sister, Nicole, works. It's like living in a magazine....it just gleams. She works in this huge design showcasing place, where tons of designers display their pieces ranging from light fixtures, to furniture, to fabric, carpet, rugs, everything you can think of...I think it's 5 stories high, and brimming with the most gorgeous things you could ever imagine.
So, Bellevue is Seattle's eastside neighbor. I know they call Seattle the Emerald City, but its more like Water World. Everywhere you turn there is water, whether it's fountains, bays, waterfalls, streams....it's ever-flowing and glistening. This is a picture taken from the road Nicole drives on everyday to get to work. Serene!
More water.

Here I am at the FIRST Starbucks ever!!! Although I don't drink coffee, and I'm sure there are plenty of bad things about Starbucks, I do appreciate how they brought the coffeeshop lifestyle to America. I love to sit in their modern cafes and read while drinking tea. They have really been able to make it popular in the US, and not just Europe.
What do you know, another fountain!
And another one
And another one....in Bellevue. This is among the most beautiful parks ever!!!
This fountain is close to the space needle, and music project. Surrounding it are all these really unique benches. We couldn't resist a photo shoot.








Snow-qual-me falls. I don't know how to spell it, but that's how it's pronounced.




What a fun time!!! I want to go back and visit! I love Bellevue! Thank you Choles!

Ode to my lost chum

My dearest chum, Amy, has left. No she isn't dead, she's off to New York for her Master's Degree. Yep, she's a smart cookie.....and we always have fun together. About 10 years ago we founded the

Antiquated Daft Chum Society of Giddy Noodle-Users..... ADCSGNU......"The" Society

We have a handshake, a mantra, and a commitment to being fabulous in every way.....tehe.....we both love cooking, traveling, funny accents, acting, reading, music and other wonderful pastimes. Can you believe we've been friends since 1st grade? Destiny, I tell ya.

Every year we go to "our spot" on the river, to sunbath, jump in the water off this big log, rampage through orchards, play swamp monster, and have a picnic....with a side of home-canned pickles.

Sadly, we could only do it once this year, and we had to fore-go the picnic, and the sunbathing, and the swimming.....but we still made it!


It was an absolute MUST to have High Tea at Ruthie Bee's before she left......total no brainer

One lump? I'll take 4!
How dare you steal my scone!
Tea cozies double as boxing gloves......I think I could totally take her....well....maybe.
Where's the next course?


These are pics from the river spot. It's a killer to get there (probably a mile walk, but we have to climb over barbed wire, shuffle past blackberry bushes, and nettles, and then we have to cross this marshy area, sinking knee deep in mud and algae (that's where swamp monster comes in), but it's always worth it.


Sad, our only trip for the WHOLE summer. : (
I had to borrow Amy's OLD jeans from when she was more curvy to avoid getting my legs scraped, so I thought I'd try to make myself as ugly as possible in this pic....I think it worked....... : ) Hey good lookin'! We're so cool.....geez......I think we're like the coolest people we know. (Say that last part in a Napoleon Dynamite voice (that's how I intended it, like when he's talking about the picture he drew of that girl.....or the liger.....I think its like the best drawing I've ever done....lol.....something like that)

PICTURES!!!! finally

The Outdoor room.

BEFORE........well, we had started deconstructing after I took the pic....so it wasn't quite this bad, and it wasn't full of rubbish either. But it was originally for storing wood for the fireplace....but they replaced the fireplace a long time ago.....so we thought we could use the basic structure to create a patio/porch area.


AFTER

After tons of work.....buying sand, leveling it, laying heavy concrete pavers, priming, painting, putting on a new roof, attaching new 2 by 4's, attaching 52 railings, (after priming and painting those) installing lighting, laying down bark, and some more things I'm glad are over....here's what we got. Thanks so much to Chad's dad for helping. Their family is always so willing to help with any project, and we're so grateful. We try to return the favors, but I think we'll never get out of the red with all they do for us.

THE DINING ROOM

So, I had already gotten to work by the time I took this pic, so normally it was cleaner and there were some gold frames and pics on the walls.....but this was basically it. The yellow was just wrong....dirty.....too much.....subconciously driving me crazy for a long time.

AFTER

All I did was paint the walls, paint a small piece of furniture, spray painted frames and filled them with creative, cheap, home-made art.......and ta da. OOoooooddddles of improvement eh? Well......I like it anyway.


So, I painted this. I felt bad about painting it, cuz it was really unique, but the colors had become dingy.....and dingy=bad vibes. If something is constantly dirty looking, even if it's clean, it drives me bonkers. So, hello clean white......Mmmmmmmm.....we likey! The piece itself was interesting enough, it didn't need all the crazy painting anyway. (Chad found this at a garage sale and surprised me with it....way to go hubby!)


This is a Rome shadow box I made. Super cute. I went to the U of O bookstore and found super cheap, decorative papers....like this map, and threw some stuff together. The pic at the top of the post are some other things I made.
This map is so cool. It's shows all the big monuments in Paris. Why Paris and Rome? Because they're known for great cuisine! Plus I took a renaissance architecture class about Rome, and it's cool to find all the things I studied on it...Porta Pia, Piazza de Colonna, St. Peter's ....and what girl doesn't love Paris?
THE RACE

Yep, I started at the very front. The girl next to me was a speed demon....she won (among the females) and she was really nice. Nice people rock!
My cheering section! (minus Chad and my Dad) Thanks family! At about 2 1/2 miles, they were waiting for me, and when they started cheering I couldn't help but run faster, and I passed the guy ahead of me, and stayed ahead of him the entire rest of the way. All thanks to them. : )

Before the race......fun fun.

The scoop, the skinny, the latest

I have honestly been wanting to post for a long time, but my camera isn't uploading pics to the computer, and I have tons of cool pics to go with the posts, but ol' well. Pics will come later.

The race. It was groovy. Chad's family and my dad came to support me. Awesome. I had made a killer playlist for my ipod to make the race really fun and pump me up, but when the race started and I pushed play, NO MUSIC!!!! We're talking Rocky soundtrack, killer oldies, and everything that makes me hit the burners. I kept fiddling with it for the first mile, but after that, I let it go. I had nothing to distract me from my loud breathing, my fatigued legs, or the thud of every step pounding the pavement. Lame! But, I was able to finish as the 3rd female overall. BOOYAH!

Travel. I went to visit my sister Nicole is Bellevue/Seattle. 'Twas fantastic. I LOVE TO TRAVEL. I love going new places, seeing new things, getting the feel of different places, eating different cuisines. The city was beautiful. It's like waterworld. Everything was surrounded by water, there were tons of fountains....seriously, fountains galore, I should have brought tons of pennies for wishing. It was awesome. Pike's Market, the Space Needle, Downtown Shops, Beautiful Parks, Tasty Food.....the pics will do more explaining. Bellevue is "growing like a weed" as Choles would say. Everything was so new, fresh, and modern. It was charming. So when I got home, it made me want to make my own place that way.

Home Improvement Projects. Chad and I have been working on this covered outdoor patio area in the backyard. We're almost done, and as every improvement project, it took longer than anticipated. But, it's looking great and we can't wait to hang out back there and eat yummy food.

I redid the dining room. It needed it. It just felt kinda dirty to me, I wasn't enjoying it, and every good cook needs a rockin' place to eat their food. Hello! So, paint it I did. For $30, it feels 100 times better. I also did some really sweet artwork. Oh my goodness, I love the dining room now. It feels more clean, more relaxing, and more sophisticated. When you work at home, it's important to enjoy your environment.....don'tcha think?

Cooking/Baking. I have officially developed a love for cooking. It rules! I love to work in the kitchen. I love trying new recipes. I'm dying to get better and better. I seriously want to go to culinary school. I love looking through recipes, watching cooking shows, chopping with my awesome knives, zesting, making a big mess in the kitchen, the smell of garlic roasting in olive oil, everything. I even like cleaning afterward....well, I don't love it, but I find a weird enjoyment in it. I just like using my hands and being in the kitchen and getting stuff done. Recently I made Chilean Empanadas.....MMmmmmm. Seriously, I couldn't stop eating them.....I need to half the recipe next time.

Okay, later.

Training for my first 5k

So, I am officially registered for a 5k. A few weeks ago I was jogging on the treadmill, having a jolly good time watching American Idol and sprinting during the commercials. When I was done, I looked at my time and I had run 4 miles in about 30 minutes....and I thought, hey, that's a pretty good time. Did I really just run a 7:30 mile for 4 miles? Is that right? I couldn't really believe it. (It turns out, it was probably more of an 8:00 minute mile) I knew I was getting in good shape, but that was definitely a PR for me, as far a pace is concerned. So, driving home I was thinking, hey, I should get in a race. I had always thought about it, but I decided to commit to it. So, I talked to my sister and my boss (both runners) and got a little guidance. (This was about 3 weeks ago)

So my race is June 7th. Finishing the race is not an issue, I go that distance or farther every time I go running. The issue is speed, I want to be speedy. My goal is to run a 7:00 minute mile. 3 weeks ago I was at a about a 7:30, then 1 1/2 weeks ago I was at 7:20 and last Thursday I was at about a 7:15. I have run in the past, but I never really tracked my progress. I would just run to get exercise and burn off some of the junk food I may have eaten. Now my motivation is completely different. I am running harder and more consistently because I want to get faster. It's cool that it's good for me too, but it's really just this competitive spirit in me saying, you must kick booty, train harder.....lol. But let me tell ya, in the running world of Eugene, I'm a TURTLE! I went to a running group called the FastRunnerz last week, cuz I wanted a challenge. These people are crazy. They are so speedy! They were disappointed that they were only running a 6:00 pace. Another guy was saying he needed to get back in shape cuz he ran a marathon at a 7:30 pace. Needless to say, I had to keep reminding myself that I can't compare myself to seasoned veterans. So, it was my first time ever going to a running group, and I chose one of the more difficult. Naturally, I was feeling a little out of my league, but I held my own pretty well. Just when I was getting confident this lady shows up. She looks like a stinkin' model......tall, long legs, big bosoms, beautiful, toned, a golden tan (not orange)....wearing this cute sports bra and shorts. I'm thinking.....DANGIT.....at least I was one of the cute ones before.....now this chick has to come along and take away the one thing I have going for me. I mean, if I wasn't super fast, at least I could be among the cutest females. Then I'm blown out of the water by Heidi Klum....lol. Ol' well. It really wasn't that big of a deal. It was just another instance where I had to tell myself, Jess, you're doing your best, and you're not ugly, so be happy with whatcha got.

Even if I do run at my goal pace on race day, I will probably be the 40th female to cross the finish line. (it's true, I looked at past race results) But, it's the challenge to run faster than I ever have that excites me. I admit, many times when I'm running for speed, I think......gol, this is TORTURE, I want to stop, I'm never going to try to run at this pace again.....but then when I finish and my breathing is back to normal, I look at my watch and say, wow, that was pretty dog gone fast. I feel a sense of accomplishment, and then I think, I bet I can run faster next time. I'm still debating whether to go to that fastrunnerz group again, but I think I will. A tough workout only makes you stronger.....it's just getting through it that's the hard part. But really, what's 40 minutes of pushing your physical limits? Half the battle is fighting against your brain's dialogue of, "I can't go any faster/longer." I really believe that training for a race helps you face other challenges, because you become accustomed to telling yourself, "I can do it," when you really question if you can.

I am so excited for my race. It will be my first one EVER! We'll see how it goes. For those who may not know, a 5k is 3.1 miles. A marathon is 26.2 miles. I will run a marathon one day. I simply must. Though, I'm not too anxious to tackle it quite yet. YIKES!