Holiday Team Building

Today the Student Administration team at Sonoma had our Holiday Team Building project- decorating cupcakes! Amanda is known for her excellent cupcakes, so she baked cupcakes for us to decorate today. After our weekly team meeting, we got all the ingredients together, turned on the glee Christmas CD and decorated the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with red, white and green frosting along with a ton of other fun sprinkles.

We had a fun time making them!

Then we took the cupcakes in trays and delivered them to our co-workers in HR, our other teammates in CMS and the development staff.

Chace's Birthday

Today Dustin and I went to Chace's birthday party. It was crazy. There were tiny people running around everywhere. Diving into the ball pit, siding down the slides, hiding in the jumpy forts, pulling on my sleeves- craziness; but fun! I was somehow coerced to slide down the slide not once, not twice, but several times! We got a few fun pictures like the one here with Dustin, me, and Chace's older brother Cooper. Cooper just kept running back up the slide and yelling "C'mon Ross!". I don't know where these kids get all the energy!


After all the fun in the play area, it was time for cupcakes and presents. Chace was so cute and behaved so very well with all the commotion! What a fun day.

Halloween

Dustin was able to come to Santa Rosa for Halloween and we got to spend it with my friends and co-workers at Peter & Michelle's party. Evan and Emily both knew Peter was going to be a cat so they dressed as cats too. My two roommates, Evan and Emma are in the picture with me and Dustin. Michelle made some awesome drinks and Peter coordinated some fun games. Dustin and I won two of the three games. Well, he won the "Chubby Bunny" contest hands down- way to go Babe! :D The video is one of the first few rounds before everyone else was eliminated.


After all the games were over the drinks we'd been having certainly set in. Dustin found his way to the dancing pole and proceeded to show us a few tricks! Everyone had a fun night.

Dad's Surgery

In September we found out the chemo and radiation didn't eliminate my Dad's cancer. His doctor, Ace Jones, recommended surgery. This was devastating for our family, and my Dad. His battle with throat cancer over the last year had been a difficult time, and we'd all believed he had beat it. Today, October 1 my Dad was in surgery at St. Lukes for 9 hours. I waited with my Mom, Erni, Carrie and Sally as friends and family stopped in and said hello and prayers with us. We were all elated when we got the "A OK" from the doctors that the surgery went well.

That evening, I stayed the night with Dad in the ICU. He wasn't able to speak, as we expected. But he was able to write, and boy did he! I stayed up most of the night reading out loud what Dad was writing and communicating with him in this way. We took turns staying with my Dad so we could read what he was writing and make sure he was comfortable. Between myself, Mom, Erni, Carrie and Sally- he was well watched over.

It will be a long battle fighting the cancer from this extremely invasive surgery. Dad will have a tracheotomy for several weeks. He will be back on the feeding tube for months- just like last year from the radiation & chemo. With my Mom's loving support, I know my Dad will be doing well soon. I'm looking forward to my Dad's recovery and the Holidays with my family in Boise.

Boise Road Trip

September 3rd, Dustin and I hopped in my car and headed to Boise on our first road trip. Twelve hours each way. The drive was so much better with Dustin along, especially since he drove a lot! Several times Dustin was getting his grove on while driving, and once I actually caught him on video with my iPhone.



We spent a lot of time with my family and friends. It was a very nice trip. My favorite picture from the Labor Day weekend was of Dustin, Chuck and me out one evening.

Santa Rosa Marathon

Well, the day finally came. The day I was to run 26 miles with my training friends Irene and Trisha. Sadly, I wasn't able to run at all due to my extremely painful shin splints. I've gotten some really good advice from some local runners including buying new shoes (again) as well as some exercises to help build up my shin muscles. I'm still jogging at lunch (usually 3-4 miles) and hope to do the next half marathon at the end of October. One day I WILL do a marathon, but for now I'll live vicariously through my training partner Trisha.

Below is a picture of Trisha after jogging for 5 and half hours, headed for the finish line with her two boys who joined her at the end of the race.

Way to go Trisha! Just Awesome!

Tainted Love

For my second time since moving to California Emily got a group of us to go see Tainted Love (an 80's cover band) at the Last Day Saloon in Santa Rosa. Pictured above are (left to right) Laura, Emily, Ross, Katelynn and Dustin. We all met up at Katelynn's house and had some drinks together. Then we took a few minutes for the posing pictures (below is a group shot) and then we headed out. We all had a great time dancing to the 80's music and enjoying our beverages. Dustin was an angel for being our DD. He was exceptionally patient and kind, even putting up with us eating his french fries on the way home! Thanks Babe- I owe ya some fries ;-)

Houseboat Trip- Lake Shasta, CA

My friend Tyson and his girlfriend Alena organize an annual houseboat trip. I was so fortunate to be invited to go with them this year. We ended up taking four cars and trucks from Sonoma up to lake Shasta where the houseboat was. Tyson brought along his boat for wake boarding and tubing. I drove my car with Dustin, Evan and Katelynn. Upon arrival we started off right away popping a few cans and sliding down the slide into the water. The scenery was beautiful and I met some great new friends! Dustin and I had so much fun!!! (Here's a picture of the two of us on the tube:)
There was a small incident when we jumped in from the top of the boat and Dustin injured his ear. We ended up having to leave Saturday evening and go to the ER in Redding. Fortunately he didn't permanently damage his ear, but it was severely traumatized. We ended up spending the night in Redding, and then met back up with our lake friends that morning.

I'm not sure what my favorite part of the trip was; watching shooting stars with Dustin, playing catch phrase with Emily and Evan, tubing and driving around the lake... or dancing on the houseboat with the other crazies...I really hope we can go again next year!

Fourth of July

This fourth of July weekend I flew back to Boise for my Brother and Mother's birthdays. On Saturday we took the family boat out to go tubing and playing around Lucky Peak. Chuck, Song, Wes, Andrej and Ashley came along for the fun. It was a good time, and I didn't lose my hat on the boat! Yes!


(Wes, Andrej, Ashley, Chelsie, Adrian, Chuck)

On Sunday (the fourth) it was an awesome surprise to find out that my friends had organized a limo drive to the Snake River valley wineries for wine tasting! We went to several vineyards and tasted wines. We purchased some of my favorite (ice wines) and drank them up too! When we got back to Boise we had some drinks at Pitchers and Pints then blared some music out of Adrian's office downtown. Then we headed over to PF Chang's for dinner and then down to the park to watch the fireworks. What an exhausting day! Who knew Boise was such an amazing place to visit!?! :-D Loving it. Can't wait to go back and see my friends. YOU ALL ROCK! And Happy Birthday Bro.

San Francisco Pride

This was my first time going to San Francisco Pride. Joe flew in from Boise and I picked him up at the San Francisco airport. We saw some amazing sights in the city, and had some really good times. We saw a fire downtown and watched the firemen respond. We hit up some clubs and went dancing.

On Saturday we drove my motorcycle to the city and met up with Ian and Shawny. We went to the events in Civic Park. Sunday we watched the parade; Sonoma State University had a float in the parade, their first one. It was awesome seeing my school have their float in the parade. I couldn't believe how looooong the parade was. We watched it for over three hours before we gave up and went to the events center. I think we'd only seen about half of the parade!

That afternoon in Civic Center the Backstreet Boys performed a couple of songs. By that point Des had met up with Joe and me. (See picture above) It was a great event, everyone was having a wonderful time. Joe seems convinced to move to SF. I'm glad he liked it so much.

It's definitely an event I'd like to be at next year!

Cozumel Mexico

(Wes, Andrej, Francisco, Ashley, Ross)

This year for our annual Mexico vacation we decided on an all inclusive resort on the Cozumel island. Ashley flew to San Francisco from Boise and I met up with her there. We then took a cab to get sushi nearby and met the nicest couple who owned the place. They had friends back in Boise, what a small world! Then we took a cab back to the airport and after small trouble "scanning" the passports, were were set for our flight to Cozumel via Houston.

The flight left San Francisco after midnight and then arrived in Houston early that morning. Then we had some down time before we headed for Cozumel. It was wonderful finally landing and getting to our hotel where we met up with Wes and Andrej. At check-in we were upgraded to the members only area of the restort- SCORE! The room was very nice and overlooked the member's pool and then beyond that was the ocean.

I'd worried about the rain; there was only one day where Ashley and me were heading to dinner at Roberto's (a reservations only italian restaurant with amazing food) that it started to rain. I remember asking Ashley "I have an umbrella, should I get it" and she'd said, "no, we'll make it there". Sure enough, it absolutely dumped buckets on us and we were drenched for dinner. With that one exception, the weather was amazing the whole week.

One of the days the four of us took a small boat out onto the water and Andrej expertly navigated us around the bay (not! lol, but it was fun regardless). Once we almost left Ahsley out in the ocean when the wind picked up and the boat started to leave her behind! Several times we barely escaped with our heads as the boom swung about the boat. It was a lot of fun; pushing people in, steering around the water, jumping in here and there. When we decided to go back in, Wes and Ashley ended up having to push the boat with their expert swimming skills as the wind just wasn't in our favor. The only downside was this was the first technical glitch for Andrej on the trip; his iPhone had been in one of the bags we took along and sadly it didn't survive all the water.

I'd never had a massage or pedicure before, so I went along with Ashley to see what all the hubub was about. Oh my gosh! The full body massage was amazingly relaxing as I drifted off and relaxed. Then we had herbal tea and relaxed in the hot tub after the massage but before our pedicure. Then we got to sit and chat, dream of our future plans while our feet were cleaned up and massaged. WOW! I'm telling you, if you ever get a chance, have a massage and pedicure. It's defintely on my list of things to do again!

Most nights we ate dinner at Roberto's. And most nights I didn't remember leaving the restaurant. I mean, a full course italian dinner with all the wine you can drink; that's just trouble! There were so many funny incidences; like the congo lines around the bar and pouring tequilla in people's mouths. One of the funniest drunken evenings was when Ashley and I had been jumping off the end of a pier with some guys (whom I ended up wearing his "favorite Golds" shirt somehow pictured here) and we told everyone "See you at the bar!" and we went back to get ready but ended up falling asleep. Then Ashley woke up about 10pm and couldn't get room service (cause we'd missed dinner) and I awoke to the sound of the most forlorn voice yelling "ROSS!!! THEY WON'T FEED US!" amongst other comments I think she also said "We're going to starve!". Still intoxicated but now also hungry, I somehow managed to get a hamburger for Ashley and Fajitas for me ordered up to the room. Yes! It was a great save. And hillarious to think back on.

Senor Frogs

Two nights we went downtown Cozumel to Senor Frogs. That place was a blast! They had great DJ'ing and on one of the nights excellent dancing. There were a lot of other tourists of course, and we all had a great time. I do remember on the way home on the first night Wes taking a speed bump WAY to fast and it scared the crap outta the rest of us. But it was good fun to look back on. haha!

I did spend a lot of time on the beach, playing my music or reading Eclipse (I finished the whole book in two days- in anticipation of the movie coming out later this month) So many fun stories... mostly I enjoyed the time with my friends and I cannot wait to go again. We're thinking we may need to go this winter. I'm totally in. Ashley, Andrej, Wes- thank you so very, very much for the most awesome vacation!

Point Reyes Lighthouse

After my half marathon this morning I was ready to take a nap, but it was just too beautiful outside for sleeping! I decided to get out my motorcycle and go for a drive through the redwoods and then along the ocean. I thought a picnic lunch at the beach would be fun. On my way, I stopped of at Lombardi's Deli and picked up a sandwhich for when I arrived. Before I headed out I checked out my maps on my iPhone and glanced at the street names. Then I turned on Pandora and headed off to the ocean. However, I never went through the redwoods or even ended up where I thought I was going. I ended up going south on highway 1 and going toward Point Reyes. As I crossed over onto the point, I saw signs about a lighthouse. So I followed the signs. Well, little did I know that May is the windiest month at point Reyes and the winds were above 35 mph. On my motorcycle, this was at first obnoxious, then strenuous, and after 20 miles of it; chilling! The view beautiful, if a bit windy, was worth it. I sat on the cliffs overlooking the ocean and ate my lunch, all the while strongly holding onto my backback, gloves and napkin. Then I walked the mile down to the Point Reyes Lighthouse and looked around. Water as far as the eye could see. It was a nice thing to do, but if I ever take a friend I'm going in my car. ^_^

My First Half Marathon!

Today I got up at 5:30am. Why!? You ask? Because today was my very first half marathon! I met up with Trisha at the Stony Point starbucks in Santa Rosa and we went and picked up her sister-in-law Jaime. Then we went and picked up Irene and wala, our jogging team was complete and ready to compete!

(Left to right: Jaime, Ross, Irene, Trisha)

We've been training most saturdays by jogging through Annadel State Park. Our goal is to prepare for a full marathon. In the meantime, we're running other events and working our way to that crazy 26.2 miles. Today's event is the Windsor Green Half Marathon. I was very excited and even a bit nervous, as I've never done anything like this in my life. It's thanks to Trisha, for helping me discover what a passion I have for jogging. Thanks Trisha!!!

We got together as close to the starting line as we could and as we heard the announcer calling out the countdown you could feel the excitement in the crowd. As it reached 15 seconds I started "Shiela" (my Runkeeper Application on my iPhone) so I could track my progress and listen to some music. The first mile I just tried to avoid the crowd. Then the second through fourth miles I focused on passing the people in my way. By the time the fifth mile came around I was averaging 8 minute 15 second miles and I knew I needed to slow up if I was going to pull off the whole 13.1 mile track. By the time the sixth mile came up I'd had my first energy pack and was settled into my pace. It felt great! I really enjoyed the run through the back country roads around the small city of Windsor. It wasn't until the last mile, running headstrong into the sun, with Shiela on the glitch that I struggled. That last mile was really rough! But I made it with these final numbers:

Total Distance: 13.1 Miles
Total Time: 1 Hour 56 Minutes
Average pace: 8 minute 50 Second miles
Finish List

It was a GREAT first half marathon and I'm looking forward to more!

Bidnight Madness

After having a good rest following my morning jog, I got ready and went to Sonoma State University for the eleventh annual Bidnight Madness! This event is held to raise money for the athletic teams at the University so they can fund their activities. I met up with several co-workers out front and as we walked in the Athletes were there to greet us and give us our beer or wine glasses for the evening. Then we were escorted to our tables where we had pretend gambling chips we could use at the various gaming tables. I tried my luck at black jack and did ok. Then I headed over to the poker table and racked in a good win with trip 7's. Then I went in on a pair of 10's and lost most of it. All in good fun!

I walked the silent auction tables and bet on gift certificates to the Cheesecake factory, Outback Steakhouse and Vlopis (a local italian restuarant). There was kind of a theme with my auction items :) Then I noticed a two person full day ski pass that hadn't been bid on so I bid on that as well. Long story short, after all the bidding was done I won the Outback and ski trip auctions. I'm looking forward to using them!

It was a fun night with co-workers, faculty and students. I'm already looking forward to next year.

12 Miles!

Today I was up at 5:45 am, got my jogging gear together and headed to the parktrail entrance of Annadel State park. My co-worker Trisha, her sister-in-law and Irene were all prepared to jog 12 miles. April 17th we ran 10 miles, but for me this would be the first time ever running 12 miles. When I ran the 10 miles I was having shin splint pains on my left leg, so Irene had me take a tylenol before our jog. Trishsa had brought along some "Gel" for extra endurance boost as needed, and I had my iPhone with Runkeeper monitoring the jog and pumping out tunes.

Annadel State park is absolutely breathtaking. Evertime I jog there I end up stopping at some point to take a picture. This time I took a picture as we were rounding out "Marsh" trail on the back side of the park. This was one of several natural creeks or springs that flowed down across the trail.

I lost track of how many deer we passed. They are so used to people that when we jog by them they just look at us as we pass within feet of them. There are also wild turkey's and I have yet to see the mountain lions and cyote's that signs around the park warn of. There are a lot of other poeple out enjoying the park, too. And it's common to come across other joggers, walkers, horse riders and mountain bikers.

We finished our twelve miles at a record pace! It took 2 hours, 29 minutes at an average pace of just over 12 minute miles. Much slower than street running, understandably as we ascended over 1,600 feet on our jog. The paths are mountainous and occasionally very rocky. The "upside" to the upward climbs is that the higher up you go the easier it is on the way back down!

Trisha and Irene have been training for a marathon held in August. We're going to do a half marathon in May and I think I'm going to keep on training with them for the marathon and give it a shot. I never thought I'd say that- I'm looking forward to it!

31

The last few weeks have flown by! Work has been busy with Fall 2010 enrollment and some process cleanup I hadn't expected. So while I haven't had time to blog, I have been having a lot of fun!


When I came home Tuesday evening my roommates (Andree and Gia) had put flowers in my room with a birthday card, a coconut delight, and a bottle of wine! It really made my evening; they sure got to know me quick! Then we met Mary out at Takae Sushi and had a delicious dinner. Mary surprised me with some delicious toffee and chocolate covered crackers. Yum!

That Saturday, my friend Emmanuel and I drove my motorcycle down to the Petaluma Butter & Eggs festival. I'm sure it was a fun morning, but by the time we got there everyone was clearly enjoying their beverages. Then we decided to head up to a friend of Emmanuel's (Omar) and go swimming at his house. When Omar heard it was my birthday weekend, he said we should go to the city and that we could stay at his place there! I was very excited. We all got ready and drove to San Fran and went out to the clubs. I met a lot of people that night and we had a great time.

The next day I woke up four stories up, as high as the trees in downtown San Francisco! We got everyone up and went out in search of breakfast. I had the best eggs benedict of my life and then Emmanuel and I drove back to Rohnert Park. I had such a great time, and I'm looking forward to hitting the city again!

Finally Broke Down...

and purchased my first "App" (application) from iTunes. I've had my iPhone since August 17th and have been enjoying it everyday since. However, I've never, ever ever ever purchased an application. I always use the free ones. This week I was jogging with my co-worker Trisha and she told me about an iPhone application called "RunKeeper".
You can chart out your run, you can program intervals, you can set your own playlists from your iPhone and it tracks your calories, elevation, distance- pretty much everything. THEN it posts it online (location/map postings optional, for obvious safety reasons) and you can review your progress. You can also take pictures and it posts them at the spot on the maps where you took them! It's pretty much amazing. I've already used it once this weekend when walking around Spring lake with my roommates. I can't wait to use it for jogging and have "Sheila" (that's what I've named the voice that says "You've gone 1 mile" or "Run Faster" or "Slow down") keep me on track. I even made a new iPhone playlist so I have some new music. STOKED! 7 miles, here I come (again!). :)

Idaho Potatoes - Finally!

We picked up some authentic Idaho Potatoes in the grocery store and my roomie Andree made baked potatoes. (You can tell they're authentic by the inflatable potato man that is floating above them...) So finally, after living in Idaho all these years I get some massive quality Idaho potatoes! Go figure, I have to go to California to get the good ones. Thanks Andree- dinner was Yuuuuuummy! ^_^

Nor Cal Radio

The massive amount of radio options in the Northern California area has been wonderful! But it's not only the many radio stations I have to chose from, but the great quality of the music they play! I have six speed settings on my car radio. The first two are for Christian music stations- Yes, two! There are two Christian radio stations in the area. Then three and four are devoted to top 40/contemporary music and then five and six are devoted to dance stations! There's really no comparison to the radio stations back home. I hardly ever listen to pandora in my car anymore (something I often did in Idaho) because there's always something on the radio.

Tonight on my way home from work one of the the dance stations was playing a power mix; live. It was so cool. I listened to most of it before I thought to record it to share with my friends here. So if you want to hear what the dance station power mix ended like; take a listen. Meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy my Nor Cal Radio. ^_^ Hai!

Tamarack Vacation

My first week at SSU has come and gone, so how better to celebrate than flying to Boise and taking a weekend vacation at Tamarack!? It was really inspired by Andrej as a surprise for Wes's birthday. Ashley picked me up from the airport Friday and we went to the store for supplies. After that we headed over to Andrej's house and met up with Sarah, Andrej and Wes. Then we all headed up to Tamarack! The cabins were just phenomenal. There was a master suite with jetted tub and fireplace. Two separate large rooms with their own bathrooms and a loft area- plenty of places for everyone to sleep! We played board games, had some drinks, some great food (Thanks Wes!) and spent a lot of time splashing in the hot tub. Three days and two nights just went by too quick!

I had a great time tracking some of our silly quotes:

When trying to correctly identify the 10 commandments Ashely proposed one of them was "The right to bear arms!?"

When describing a story where she'd been driving, Sarah said "And then I got lost in a cul-de-sac!"

When Sarah saw Ross's first name on his license and said "Oh, I like Samuel" Ross replied with "Yeah, Samuel's my first name, but I go by Ross."

Green Music Center

This afternoon a couple of my co-workers and I got a tour of the new Green Music Center on the Sonoma State University campus. It's a state of the art music and arts venue. The entire facility is made of a beautiful oak wood from the flooring, to the banisters and the blinds. You may be able to see the temporary seating in the picture. The facility isn't quite completed and is expected to be completed this year. I'm looking forward to experiencing my first concert here as the sound is supposed to be amazing.

California!

Well I've been here for four days and I'm only just now taking a minute to blog. There's been so many things to blog about- the drive down with Chuck, moving into my new place, my hours and hours at the California DMV. But I'll start at the begining...

Friday (January 22, 2010)
I picked up the rental truck. I drove the massive beast with trailer in tow to my house. Backed it around the tiny cold-a-sac and unhooked the car trailer. Then backed it into my driveway. I frantically packed the last few items around the house with much help from Casey, Chuck and Javier (Thanks guys!). Then I slept my last night in my home on an air mattress.

Saturday (January 23)
Chuck and I got up really early. I finished tossing in the last few items into my car (Sheets and towels). Grabbed my stereo, gave goodbye hugs to Chelsie and Javier and we were off. The weather was bad so we headed through eastern Oregon instead of south through Nevada. We went through Burns, Redding and stopped for the night in Vacaville. The worst part of the driving was just inside the Northen California border after Adain's pass. It was snowy and slushy. But we did ok. Poor Chuck was so hot the whole trip, and I was freezing. I was wearing a coat and winter gloves and he was wearing track pants and a t-shirt. Here is a picture of Chuck trying to cool down:

Note there is SNOW outside and that on the inside I had the air on COLD. What is wrong with him!? Gesh, I wish I had that kind of metabolism. After 15 hours of driving we were getting rummy and we were glad to stop for the night about 11pm.

Sunday (January 24)
Chuck and I got up early again... 7am. We had a breakfast and headed out at 8:15 for Rohnert Park. We drove through Napa and then Sonoma Valley. It was beautiful. We got to my new house about 10:30 and unloaded the truck. Then we cleaned it out and took it up to Santa Rosa to return it. Then Chuck and I hopped in my car and off to Oakland to Melo's for lunch. It was an italian restaurant in Pleasant Hill that Chuck really liked. We also met up with a friend of mine named John. Later I dropped Chuck off at the airport and headed home.

Monday (January 25)
I unpacked things and settled in a bit in my new place. I went to the DMV and applied for my CA drivers license and took the drivers and motorcycle exams. This took about 3 or 4 hours. I was unfamiliar with some of the unique laws so needed to study up on the motorcycle exam. (like "When being pursued by the police and you choose to evade arrest and if someone is killed during said pursuit you are subject to 1) a fine of xxxx 2) 6 years in jail 3) not more than 1 year in jail) Sorry California, I'm not used to knowing the laws on being pursued and evading the police...

Tuesday (January 26)
I went back to the DMV and passed my motorcycle exam and got a temporary CA permit. Then I registered my car (both of which I needed to wait in lines for about an hour). Before my vehicle registration could be completed I had to 1) verify the mileage and 2) go get my car smog tested. I waited outside the DMV to get my car mileage verified. This took about an hour, meanwhile the car in front of me died so they had to push it out of the way... 0_o' Then I went to a smog tester where they rev'd my car for about 20 minutes and said I passed. Back to the DMV again, where yes, again I took a number and waited about another 45 minutes to give them my smog paperwork.

Wednesday (January 27)
I did not go to the DMV today, I could not stomach it. Instead I put my new plates on my car.

Then I went to SSU where Meryl helped get my Emplid established in PeopleSoft. I'm hoping tomorrow to get my parking permit and ID card (in opposite order...). I also need to get some new clothes for work and insurance on my car. I suppose I need to go back to the DMV once more to register my bike, but not sure I can do that before it arrives Friday as they have to verify the mileage. ugh.

I'm glad I have a week before work starts, how could anyone get all of this done in less time!? AHHHHH!!!!!

On a happy note, the weather today was gorgeous and I had to have my sunglasses on just to see. The rolling green mountains are very pretty and I'm very much looking forward to driving my motorcycle!!!

A few shout outs too- without Chuck I couldn't have done this and survived; thanks Bro. Without my parents I couldn't have left my bike in Boise, thanks Mom & Dad for getting it to the transport guys even though they were late! And thanks to Javier and Chelsie, I'm not worried at all about leaving my house in their hands. They're the best!

Miss you all very much~

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Tonight Chelsie took me to dinner at Chili's and we both had the boneless buffalo salad, with jalepeno ranch, Yum! I had the presidente margaritta which was ALSO a yum. When we got home we got out the strawberries and chocolate and made up some chocolate covered strawberries. It's always fun cooking with Chelsie, especially because she always learns something. Tonight she learned when I say it's HOT I really mean it's HOT! I overheated some of the white chocolate and dang was it HOT! I'm excited to take them into my co-workers tomorrow for my last day at Boise State University. It's nights like this that remind me how lucky I've been to have such great friends, and how much I will miss Boise, ID. But I WILL be home, to Boise, often.

My Last Poker Night

It was sad to think this is the last time I'm hosting Poker in Boise, at least as a resident of Idaho. Generally for poker night we have about 5 to 8 people and then we go out afterwards. Tonight there was about 20 people and 14 of us played poker; I had to make a whole separate table in the living room.

While we were playing poker, Kari led Chelsie, Krystal and Tashauna in Wii dancing. They were really good and I even took a chance at it once. I wasn't very good, but now I'm thinking of buying a Wii! It was a lot of fun!

And the winner is...Kristen! With so many people playing, the winnings were over $100 dollars! Congratulations to Kristen winning the biggest pot ever.

Ashley's Surprise Party

Today I went over to Ashley's surprise 30th birthday party. She had arranged a game day and we all decided to make it into a surprise party for her, it went really well! I always enjoy spending time with my Boise State HR buddies.

Regan was absolutely hillarious fun when playing the game "Taboo". We broke all sorts of game rules and got so bad as to actually spell some clues out.
Here's a picture of us trying to figure out what on earth Regan was describing.

I'm laughing now just thinking of how much fun we had. There was even a point where Ashley's brother was giving terrible clues and so I just gave up and shouted out "Ducks" as a completely random answer. That had Michelle and I in tears and it took us a few turns to compose ourselves. What a great time!

Goodbye Boise State Co-workers

Tonight co-workers from Boise State came to eat dinner and talk as a sort of goodbye-dinner. Next week is my last week at the University and I wanted to spend some time with them outside of work. We had the banquet room at Smokey Mountain Pizza & Pasta on Parkcenter reserved. It was so nice seeing everyone and talking about things other than work (mostly!).
It was great that Diana was able to make it with her newborn, Kailee and Ben. Here's a picture of Kris holding little Kailee.

After dinner several of us headed over to Bardenay for drinks in Boise's Basque district. On the way there we met up with Ashley, her boyfriend Casey, Adrian, Andrej and Wes. They had the most thoughtful gift, a picture frame collage of our Cabo San Lucas trip! I'm really looking forward to hanging it up in my new room!

After a couple drinks at Barenday, we walked over to the Balcony. It was so sureal being with my co-workers at my favorite dance club. I can't even remember how many songs we danced to, but it was great fun! The club closed down and we had to go home all too soon.

This was a night I will always remember.

First Winter Ride of 2010

Tradition has it that every year I take a "First winter ride of the year" in the new year. I take my bike out on a beautiful clear Idaho day and ride up to Lucky Peak and look over the lake. This year I felt like having some company and so I called up my friend Ashley, and she was excited to come along. I suited up in my full leathers, checked my bike, grabbed the spare helmet and my Pandora (tunes on my iPhone) and headed off to pick up Ashley. She was a great passenger on the back, and the ride was gorgeous.


We took this picture on top of the Lucky Peak dam. It was really cold, but the view and the company made it all worth while. What a very memorable "first ride of the year". 2010 is going to be amazing.

Boise State Sunrise

On my way into work today there was the most beautiful sunrise. Driving from my house to work takes me East every day. It was nice to enjoy the beautiful sunrise all the way in. When I got to Boise State, I walked to the top of the Brady parking garage and took some pictures with my iPhone. The picture really doesn't capture how beautiful it was, but it gives you an idea.

Bronco Football

I've been telling people for the last two weeks that the Bronco's were going to win the Fiesta Bowl, and I would STILL be a Bronco when we won! It was great to see my vision come to fruition. The Bronco's won 17-10 beating out the horned toads (Texas Christian University) in an upset. Chelsie and I saw it up close on the big screen at our friend Jami's house. We had a great time hanging out with the Dye family and I know it's friends like these I'll miss so much when I move to California.

Skiing Bogus; Again

I've been skiing at Bogus Basin for about half my life now. I lettered in Skiing in High School, and have been an avid skier ever since. I've had such great times up on the mountain with family and friends. There's even been a handful of times I've enjoyed the solitude and beauty of the mountain on my own. However this weekend I went up Friday night with my friends Andrej and Adam. We had a good time, and even tossed back a drink at the lodge. The view of the sunset was the most beautiful site to behold.

Then on Saturday I headed up and met my cousin Matt on chair six. We had a great time catching up as the chair broke while we were riding up on it! Then after Matt headed home I met my friends Clint and Song for some night time skiing. We really booked it around the mountain, I can't remember exactly how many runs we did, but it must've been a record!

On the way home, some ladies had stranded their truck in a snow bank and I pulled over to see if they were OK. Before I knew it, I was digging out their tires and then driving their truck out for them. Felt a bit like a good Samaritan and glad I was able to help them out. Now, after two full days of skiing, I'm exhausted and going to have to get ready for heading back to work on Monday!!!

New Years Eve

This New Years Eve my brother Chuck, and friends Ashley and Sarah went with me as we traveled around Boise. We started out by going to my friend Song's house where we ran into friends and met some new people. Then we were off to Hotel 43 where Ashley's friends had a hotel room with a stocked up bar and all! After a few drinks there we headed a few streets over to Pitchers 'N Pints looking for our friend Andrej. When we didn't come across him there, we dropped Ashley and Sarah off at the Stonehouse for the rest of their New Years. Then Chuck and I headed over to the new club Sin for our second night in a row. (It just opened the night before) There we proceeded to get our drink on and had a great time!!! The next thing you know, it was morning and I was verifying everyone was ok. What a fun way to ring in 2010 with friends and my brother Chuck.