Adios, au revoir, go away

Peace out April. You were a sucky month, and we're glad you're leaving. HELLO May, welcome welcome! Bring your sun and your flowers and your lack of doom. That'd be swell.

Thanx :)

Crafty Easter Deliciousness

Ok, I know I have really fallen behind on my postings, Easter WAS a week ago after all, but it's been a long tough week and I'm just now getting around to having some me time :) Besides, this super fun and EASY treat can be made anytime! I just rolled out the rice krispies on a cookie sheet, used an egg shaped cookie cutter, dipped the egg shapes in self-hardening chocolate, added some fancy-dancy sprinkles and we were good to go! I love having other people's kids to spoil with stuff like this, and highly recommend it as an easy, tasty treat! Try with flowers, hearts, whatever you'd like!

:)

Updates and changes...

So I know it's been FOREVER since I've posted anything about running, and that's cause lots, and yet not a lot, has been happening. As we all know, training got interrupted for a while thanks to sickness and such... well, the cruise definitely didn't help that. I was able to get one good long run in before we left, and planned on running while on the boat. Well, sea sickness, a tiny gym with 3 treadmills for 1600 people, and a flooded running track (yep, flooded. storms are awesome) all combined to make for lousy running conditions. In fact, no running occurred while aboard "The Awkward Ship," which did not make me a happy Stephi.

SO. Fast forward to a week or so ago, April 4th. My first time back with the running group in 6 weeks, an anticipated run of 9 miles, and the hopes of running the full still in my head. I got there early to check in with my coach Jill, and we talked about how I still wanted to go a few more weeks before deciding that the full was the way to go, or dropping down to the half. Last year, you had until the day before the race to make up your mind, so I knew that I had a while. Off on my run I went, and it was grand. Great weather, good pace, strong legs, I was feeling great. I got to the 2 mile check in point, and Jill says to me "Um, so I just learned something." She had been talking to our other coach about me waiting a few more weeks to decide if I was going to stay with the full or drop down, and she let Jill know that the Marathon committee had decided that the deadline for people switching races was April 10th. Um, wait one second. That was FRIDAY. A full week before my endurance testing, goal crystalizing, ability confirming 22 mile run. How was I going to make an informed decision? I was devastated. I knew (know) that I have the ability to finish a full marathon, but after the gap in training, was I going to finish in a way I was proud of? Can you be proud of a marathon if you walk a large part of it because your body isn't ready? Would I be proud of my finish if I barely made it? My stubbornness would take me across the finish line, I knew that, but would my heart be in it?

With those questions and the sudden loss of a weekof confidence building running weighting on my mind I quickly lost all the awesomeness my run had possessed. I just wanted to go home and cry. I did cry a bit on those trails, not sure what to do. I walked another mile, gave up on the run completely, and turned around, resigned to running the half and being heartbroken about it.

I got back to where Jill was waiting, and she was surprised to see me so quickly. I told her my decision, and she thought it was the right thing to do. She knew how hard it was for me, and she knew I could have done it, but she wanted me to be proud of myself, and she knew I wouldn't be if my finish at the marathon was mediocre, or worse. Instead, she gave me a plan.

So ladies and gentleman, bloggy friends and family, here it is:

I am going to run the Eugene Half Marathon. I am going to run it well, because I will be more prepared, and am able to more easily train for a race of that length. I will enjoy my experience, instead of dreading it, because I know where I stand, I know what I can do, and I will easily be able to measure myself against my performance last year. And when all that is said and done, the race ran, the celebration celebrated, I will continue on, to this:


The Inaugural Rock 'N' Roll Marathon in Seattle, June 27th. I have registered, hotels are booked, I AM IN. We have made the Half Marathon simply a stepping stone on a path to still achieving my goal, albeit in a different setting, but it's a Full, it's the Rock N Roll, and I am excited! So keep an eye out for our newest graphic addition, as I update you on my progress, and finally become a marathoner!

#14

At work, we have a competition known as the Ei3 program (don't ask me what it means, I don't remember). You are ranked individually, and as a branch, based on your completion of your annual goals. Every month we get an update of where we stand, and then at the end of the year the winners get prizes and a big dinner, etc. Well, back in February we found out that my branch (woot N Delta!!) was one of two finalists for Branch of the Year, along with our Pioneer branch (way to go Lane County!!). What did that mean for us? It meant a party!!! We went on a swanky dinner cruise in Portland aboard the Crystal Dolphin, where there was food and dinner and music and an all around good time. And, fantastically enough, it was a chance for me to accomplish something on The List: #14, find an occasion to wear my little black dress. So here you have it, me looking about as fancy as I get :)

On the charter bus ride to Portland

Melinda and I are on a boat! :)

I'm hoping to get more pictures soon, and if so I will post them, but in the meantime, here's a little hint of a great evening, and one more thing I've checked off :)

Sean-Sean Calling To The Far-away Towers

here's the haps, the capers, the deal, folks; i'm a wee bit bored, and i find i need fulfillment, some sort of enjoyable task to take my mind off the everyday...in short, i need a hobby. i've tried a few, and they're just not quite what i'm looking for, for a variety of reasons, which i'll get to in a second. for those of you who don't know me that well i kind of run the gamut of the American male; i'm a little nerdy (comic books and video games), a little literate (reading really is fun!), a little rebellious (far too long to list, but on an unrelated note did anyone catch my music reference?), and a little adrenaline-rush-style-"ain't-got-time-to-bleed" crazy (on sunday, my father-in-law wasn't surprised that i want to wrestle a bear). i want something physical, a little or a lot daring, and relatively inexpensive. here are some things i already do or am already planning on doing:

Motorcycles:




this is currently my favorite. i'm getting ready to sell my car ('03 eclipse, anyone?), and if i decide to go this route i'm going to get whatever bike i can for the money that i get, or maybe a little higher but no more than $2k over. i don't want to have to make payments, or at least make them for too long. fortunately, i can get a lot of bike for between $4-5k; unfortunately, i have a hard time justifying spending that amount of money, but my real issue is that even if i do it will amount to more of a mode of transportation for me than an enjoyment activity. not that it won't be fun, it just becomes...not mundane, but...in this case i think that familiarity might breed boredom if it's something i do everyday.

Videogaming:


i already do this quite a bit already, not that i think it's a bad thing, i'm just looking to...diversify. this time without my tv (imagine "VIZIOOOOO!" to the tune of "KHAAAAAAANNN!") has pointed out that i really don't have much else that isn't reading or loving my wife.

Exercise:

...would be swell if i wasn't already doing it, at a minimum, twice a day. also, more of a work thing for me. besides, did you see that picture? my muscles cast their own shadows. (and for the record, he's better looking than me, but more importantly i can so take that guy. he's wearing capris.)

Baseball
i do love me some baseball. i have it on my iphone, so i can listen to my beloved Sox (for those who are curious about the inconsistencies, i capitalize those words that merit capitalization) everywhere i go. other than that, and occasionally boxing, i couldn't give a wick about professional sports.

those three are what i have going now, just to give you an idea of what i have going on. here are the actual candidates:

1: Practical Shooting Competitions
These are tournaments wherein a person has to shoot on the move through simulated tactical environments, scoring for time and accuracy. this appeals to me for obvious reasons, both personal and professional, but the downside is having to hang out with other gun enthusiasts. the gun culture is ridiculously macho, so much so that even a decorated combat vet ("like myself," he says, buffing his purple heart) doesn't really fit in because i'm a big scary lefty liberal. even being a firm second amendment democrat doesn't carry enough weight with these people. i walked into a gun store a couple months ago and a employee asked if i was "ready for the revolution" against obama. i don't really have the patience for that kind of thing. another downside is money; shooting is expensive, and putting together some good firearms would take a lot of time and probably necessitate my getting a job (horror of horrors, i know). on the other hand, there's the incredible amount of awesomeness inherent to getting to run around with a gun again.

2: Orienteering
orienteering is a sport wherein one uses a compass and map to navigate from one point to another. this isn't something i'm terribly good at; i can generally get you from A to B, but get me in some dense woods and i'm thoroughly screwed. so this would be good practice, be outdoorsy, and is inexpensive, requiring naught but map and compass. the downside: there are only so many orienteering courses here in oregon, and most of those are near portland or bend (a ways away). also, land navigation for me in the army was a special kind of torture, so there are negative connotations in my brain.

(i included that particular image of a portugese wind rose, renaissance forebear to the modern day compass rose, because that also happens to be the rockin' cool tattoo on my left shoulder, for those who may never get to see it, that i got in honor of my wifey).

3: Surfing
i've alwaysalwaysalways wanted to do this. growing up in california i was unable to swim (long story) and always had to watch while my friends and virtually everyone else got to hop on a board, and now that i'm learning to swim i'm anxious to get out there, and stephanie could teach me. but: oregon's water is cold. real cold. and given travel time to go to new places (both a good and bad thing), this could get real expensive, real quick.

4: Triathlon
maybe i don't tell her enough, but stephanie's marathon stuff is inspiring to me. sure she doesn't come in first, but she's out there doing it, and the real victory, as teddy put it, "belongs to those in the arena." she makes me consider doing triathlons, which sound fun and would probably fit in with my special kind of masochism, but at the same time i A) can barely swim, B) have horrible knees that probably shouldn't run that far, and C) hate bikes. hate bikes. so as cool as it sounds, it just doesn't seem like a good fit. and i'd have to buy a fancy-dancy bike (which i double-hate) and shave my body. not that i have that much to shave (you should meet my friend brandon), but even so.

there're probably other things, but i can't think of them just now. and so i turn to you, dear people that i can't really claim to know: i've discussed these and other options with people i actually do know, and have come to no good conclusions. having talked my poor friends to death, i'm hoping that you folks might think of something that i haven't. please leave your questions/comments/testimonials/suggestions/snarkiness in the comments area.

stay classy...internet.
sean

#24 and #16

Our Anniversary Cruise
(fulfilling #24 and #16 on The List)

For our 1st anniversary, Sean and I took a week long cruise on board the Norwegian Majesty. We sailed from Charleston, SC to the Bahamas, Florida, and then back.

Welcome aboard "The Awkward Ship"

You know how Carnival is "The Fun Ship?" Well, they mean it! We took a cruise on a Carnival boat for our honeymoon, and had a blast. Norwegian?? They're The Awkward Ship.
Anything to do with this boat was awkward. To start with, the Embarkation was crazy. Typically you pull up to a terminal, like an airport, drop off your luggage, go through security, get your room keys, and head to the boat. But Charleston has apparently never heard of such a thing. You get in your car (if you're lucky it's a taxi, don't drive your own car) and drive to the port, where you will sit in a line that is AT LEAST 6 blocks long, through the run down industrial part of town. At least in taxi's you have an express line, if you have your car you wait in an even longer line to get into the parking lot. But really, the whole thing is a parking lot. A run down, dusty, abandoned "bodies are probably stashed here" type lot. They don't let you out of the car until they see your passport and luggage tags, then you toss your bags into some unmarked cart, walk across the dusty open lot to a bus, and they drive you the 100 yards to the warehouse where you will go through security. It was SO weird.
The awkwardness didn't stop there:
We had a room with a window, which was neat, but the furniture was set up in such a way that you had to climb across the bed to get in and out of the room... awkward. This is the view out of our window though, I think we're still in Charleston?? Maybe not...
Norwegian believes in "Freestyle Cruising" which means you can eat in any of the dining rooms whenever you want, and can have your own table, no eating with strangers
necessary! We decided to try it out our first night, and the dining room was really
formal, even though it was the "casual dining room." The waiter got upset when we
only wanted one appetizer and no dessert and kept bringing it up over and over. Awkward.
Most of our experiences on the boat fell under the "awkward" category. The staff was unfriendly, the food wasn't all that great, and (through no fault of the cruise line) we hit storms, which made me sea sick (yay!) and it was just all around weird. Needless to say, we won't be cruising on Norwegian again.

Off The Boat

Although the mode of transportation wasn't all that enjoyable, the travel part of the cruise was amazing. Anytime we weren't on the boat was a great time!! Now, what you've all been waiting for: PICTURES!!!

Great Stirrup Cay
This island is owned by Norwegian. We spent the day snorkeling, hanging out with a couple we met, getting sunburned, and mocking some over confident college kids.

Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau was amazing!! It is the capital city of the Bahamian Islands. We took a tour of the city, visited two old British forts, went to a Pirate Museum, and then wandered around the city.

Ft Charlotte

Nassau Harbor

Grand Bahama Island
On Grand Bahama, we spent the day at Lucayan National Park. We toured some underground caves and then went to the beach before heading to a local place for lunch, where Sean tried conch for lunch (yep, like a conch shell. It's the muscle inside).

Ben's Cave

Mangrove swamps between the caves and the beach

The most beautiful beach in the whole world!!

Cape Canaveral, Florida
Our last day in ports was spent in Florida, where we got the chance to visit Sean's grandparents. I had never met them, so it was great to be able to spend the day with them! They are wonderful people and we had a great time. We went down to the beach, went shopping, hung out on the Cocoa Beach pier, and pretty much just spent the day getting to know each other better. We had lunch on the beach, and dinner at this restaurant down by our cruise ship terminal (because this was a normal port, not Charleston! lol)

All in all, it was a good vacation, but we were happy to get home (even though we spent 18 hours in airports and planes on the way home, and we all know how I feel about THAT!).

Happy Anniversary to us!!

#25

Meet our Lemon Tree!! I've named her about a million times, but nothing's stuck, so if you have a suggestion, let me know :) Right now she lives on the kitchen counter, but once we've passed "the first full moon in April" (ominous, right???) she can live outside and start producing fruit! I'm really excited, if everything goes well I'll probably get a lime tree too :)