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

From sea to shining sea of boxes

To be fair a lot of these are empty and I haven't broken them down yet, and a lot of these are full and I haven't even looked at them yet

There is a hallway somewhere under all this

More boxes.....

So I suppose I should update my blog considering I got a personal request from Kallie, and you should never say no to a cute pregnant lady. So since I last wrote, I have traveled 3000 miles with two dogs and a trailer, and my mom bless her heart. The trip was loooooooonnnnnnnnggggg. We stopped about every 3 hours to let the dogs out and to stretch our legs. That made for a much longer drive, and by the way in case you are wondering, North Dakota is the most BORING state ever (so boring it deserves all capitals). The dogs did pretty well in the hotel rooms considering. Although trying to keep them quiet was a task at times. They did not adjust so easily to the time changes, so they were getting up progressively earlier every day. Instead of at 5am they were getting up at 3:30 or 4. And not going back to sleep, which usually meant we were up for the day as well. We only suffered one bathroom accident on the whole trip, and I felt completely vindicated in my germ-phobic tendencies of never going barefoot in hotel rooms after that. So after 6 days of being in the car for 9-11 hours each day we finally made is to WA! (Cheering in the background). My sisters came down from Seattle and brought us dinner, and we got to spend some time together before they took my mom back with them to Seattle before her flight the next morning.

Mom and I survived the trip!

Jenny, Mom and I

We made it to WA!

Cheers to being close to family again

Love my sisters

I have gotten to spend the time I’ve been here exploring the area and spending time with my sisters which has been wonderful.  We live in Lacey which is on the border of Olympia the capital of WA. There are bike lanes, crosswalks and sidewalks. It is so amazing to live near freeways, grocery stores, culture and Starbucks! No more driving 25-30 minutes to just get to town. Olympia has one of the best Farmers Markets around and I have definitely taken advantage. The farmers market is located on the waterfront and it is a beautiful walk around the harbor.

View of the Harbor

Capitol Bldg which overlooks the water

Love the smells & sounds of the harbor, reminds me of Santa Cruz

Walking along to the Farmers Market

Over the last 3 weeks I have been getting stuff done around the house, which is still surprisingly time consuming even though I didn’t have any of our stuff since it was still in storage in VA. Apparently being completely incompetent is a pre-requisite to work in a certain office at Ft. Lee.  Since I was leaving NC on July 15^th we were very much hoping that by the middle of June we would have our orders so we could file them and have our stuff moved to WA instead of up to VA where Eric is. Well of course that didn’t happen, so 7 (SEVEN) weeks after we were supposed to get our ‘official’ orders, they finally came in at the beginning of August. So our stuff made its way across the country and got here last Thursday. So only a month without any of our stuff, not great but not the worst I have heard in military circles. Sharing on an air mattress with two dogs however was a little cramped, but I was most excited to have a place to sit again. I did not miss having a TV for a month, but I did miss having a desk/chair. Trying to sit cross legged on the floor writing a 30page paper was heinous. I finally started camping out at Panera Bread Co to write my papers and take my finals because they had tables and chairs, and cookies!

Me, Jenny, Carolynn and Ashley. My sisters and I got to have dinner with our cousin Carolynn, after she got home from spending the summer working at the US Embassy in Ghana. She is starting her 2nd year of law school at Cornell and was home in Seattle for a few days.

Dinner with the family!

I am slowly getting settled in, there is a 17 mile-long wooded trail about a ¼ of mile from the house, and the dogs and I go on an hour long walk every day. One of the biggest differences between here and NC is that out here you always see people out running, biking and walking their dogs. Which is just how it was where I grew up, gotta love the west coast!

I’ve still got about 150 more boxes to unpack and the house currently looks like a tornado blew through it. My wonderful sister, Ashley, came down for the weekend and spent 3 days helping me start to unpack and move boxes. I’ve got a triathlon coming up on Sunday that I am most definitely not prepared for, but I am looking forward to wearing my new tri wetsuit!

Delicious finds from the Farmers Market.

The lavender is now drying on my wall, and it smells heavenly.

Flowers for sale at the Market.

The last few weeks...

So since my last post 3 weeks ago I haven't done anything. Really. I've just sat at home wishing for things to do, oh wait sitting idly by is not in my nature. I remember growing up my mom would ask me to just sit still for 5 mins, yes I was one of those kids. And yes, I know if we have kids we will have a payback child for sure.

So over the last few weeks I flew out to CA for 12 days to attend two weddings, see family, go to my mom's 60th b-day/retirement party and see friends. While still trying to keep up with hmwk and papers (colossal failure).
It was so much fun to go to Holly & Dan's wedding and it was absolutely beautiful. Holly looked amazing, as did her bridesmaids, two of whom are dear friends that I hadn't gotten to see in awhile. And I have to add that having an In N'Out truck quite possibly made it the best wedding Eric has ever been to, including our own! The food was delicious and the weather perfect for such a fun day.
Eric then left back for VA and I flew onto the Bay Area. I got spend a couple of days at home seeing my friends, Robyn, Desi and Eliza before driving down to Clovis to begin the wedding festivities for Kim. It was so much fun being back in Clovis, I really miss living there. Kim and I have been friends since freshmen year when we lived on the same wing in our dorm. We then lived together for 2 years off campus and have been back and forth to see each other since graduation. Since Kim's wedding was on a Friday night, the rehearsal dinner was Thursday and the festivities started Wednesday. It was a great time to be surrounded by some of my closest friends whom I don't get to see as often as I like. Kim was a beautiful bride and we had a lot of fun getting ready for the wedding. Kim also lucked out with a beautiful location and perfect weather. Her photographer Ken Kienow was amazing, and if you ever looking for pics to be done, you should use him.
My mom's party was held at our family's place in Santa Cruz, my grandma's house and it was a blast. There were at least 50-60 people there for the authentic Louisiana Shrimp Boil, the chef was amazing and so was the food! I had never been to one before and it was quite entertaining, I think the bar and karaoke machine helped too! It was nice to catch up with my mom's friends who I don't get to see that often. My sister Ashley flew down for the party after her HALF MARATHON that morning (I come from a line of crazy people), and we got to spend the next day relaxing on the beach and strolling through downtown Santa Cruz.
I also managed to fit in seeing my dad and got to look at his beautiful wedding photos, he got married in May to a wonderful woman, welcome to the family Cindy!
The night before I left Desi and I had our classic chick flick movie night and went to see, The Proposal which was surprisingly good! At least we no longer cut class to go see movies together, because that NEVER happened in high school......

I flew home and was back at work the next day and frantically trying to play catch up (still am) with my schoolwork. In hindsight I should have taken this quarter off because it was difficult trying to get all my work done on time (didn't happen). I'm guessing that moving next week and starting my cross country drive with the dogs (yea I'm certifiably crazy) will only add to the backlog of homework I have.
So today is my last day of work before the madness ensues. I am going to really miss these kids, and I wish they were moving to WA also so I can continue watching them.
The dogs and I leave next Wednesday/Thursday depending on when the movers actually finish boxing up and packing the truck. The moving company says it will only take Monday and Tuesday and I laugh at that estimate.
These last few days I have been spending a LOT of time plotting our trip to WA. It is hard to find hotels that accept dogs, that aren't sketchy and where I won't end up with bed bugs. I spent a lot of time on mapquest and tripadvisor.com which were both very valuable sources of information. The dogs and I will make our way to Lexington, KY and then onto Chicago to pick up my mom who will finish the drive with me (Thank you, thank you, thank you). From there we will hit all the major hot spots of Minneapolis, Mn; Dickinson, SD; Missoula, MT and I think I'm forgetting a place..oh well.
So if I don't end up posting from the road (probably won't happen, but I still beat Kallie in posting pics from the wedding) this will be my last post before I make it to WA! I think I'm going to write a book called "Abby & Bear go Cross-Country". I'm sure they will provide much entertainment along the way, although I'm secretly hoping they sleep for most of the trip!

My two favorite bridesmaids!

Holly you are STUNNING!

Finally get to have picture of us that I didn't stretch my arm out to take!

In N' Out! Yum!

Court, Jaime & I. All the roommates together again!

Beautiful Chickim & I

We are so funny, we make ourselves laugh!

Um not a great pic I know, but the only one with the couple

Food from the shrimp boil

Raging Cajun food! Yum

Seriusly great food, people & drinks!

The girls, just missing Jenny.

Desi, Robyn, me & Eliza my favorite girls.

Because Im stubborn

Goals for this triathlon:

1) Don't drown-Check
2) Don't fall off bike- Check


I had my triathlon during the first week of June. I was really looking forward to this one because I spent a lot more time in the pool getting stronger as a swimmer. Not quite sure how I survived being on a swim team for 5 years growing up....Also I'm still not quite sure why I chose to do a triathlon in NC in June (90 degrees and extreme humidity is not pleasant!), but I feel that Rebecca's encouragement was a part of it!


Luckily my AMAZING husband came home for the weekend and helped me with the driving and was my own personal cheerleader. I was also blessed to be able to borrow a very nice road bike from Brooke, so that I didn't have to rent one or use my mountain bike. Thank you Brooke!


Saturday I expected to rest, hydrate, carbo load and see our friends Joe and Gayla off onto their next adventure with a goodbye dinner. What I didn't expect was to get knocked on my back by either food poisoning or a 24 hr stomach superbug. Saturday night after missing the farewell dinner and desperately trying to re-hydrate I had to make the decision of whether or not I was going to still get up at 4 am (4am!!!!yuck) and drive to the triathlon to compete. The intelligent/rational part of me knew it probably wasn't a good idea. I knew that I was dehydrated and my body was exhausted from fighting off the bug (and losing I might add). But since my stubbornness is also another glorious gift of mine I decided to muddle through it. Because hyponatremia... so not a big deal ( Ok actually a big deal).


Eric and I got up at 4 (again I have a wonderful, supportive husband) and drove the 2 1/2 hrs to the event.

By time I got through the swimming portion (Ok, rather during the middle of the swimming portion) I knew I probably had made the wrong decision. But c'est la vie, I was going to finish this race unless they carried me out on a stretcher (which I envisioned happening during the middle part of my run).

So I finished the race and didn't do that badly, I got 9th in my age group and 34th overall out of 240. But I'm hoping the next one feels a little better going into it.


If it looks like I'm choking Abby, I can assure you I'm not but that it's the only way to get her in a picture sitting still.




My wonderful hubby






Still smiling (only because I haven't started yet)






Fake smiling as I go from the swimming part to the bike part.
And like I take pictures as the end!