2011 Alliance, Denver CO

This was my first Alliance (Higher Education User Group) conference with my Sonoma State co-workers! We planned to arrive in time so that we could do the IO Consulting 5k fun run. Amanda, Trisha and I got up early in the cool Denver morning and joined some of the other conference goers for the run. Jaime and Meryl cheered us across the finish line. After the run we took a short break, and then ran it again! HaHa! It was a lot of fun.


We got out one evening for some delicious drinks, one with pear and vodka and one with blueberries vodka and dry ice. Another evening IO Consulting hosted a party atop one of the Denver city skyscrapers. There were beautiful views all around the city and delicious hours'doeuvre. It was fun catching up with the Boise State contingent too! The conference was busy back to back sessions each day. It was great seeing all the other schools up on the next version of PeopleSoft. All in all one of the best I've ever been to!

Emerald Across The Bay 10K

One of Trisha's favorite runs- so we had to give it a try! Dustin and I were already in the city for his Birthday weekend. I left him sleeping in the room and headed out to meet Trisha, Emily, Amanda and Irene for the Emerald Across The Bay 10K. The weather wasn't the best, but it was a beautiful jog. The hardest part was running from sea level up to the Golden Gate bridge! Phew! It was a nice jog- but there was no time to fraternize with my street team afterwards. I had a call from Dustin and apparently the wine, vodka, redbull and beer didn't mix well. He was very very sick! So back to the hotel where a late check out was in order.

Dustin's Birthday Weekend!

What a crazy, crazy weekend. Friday night I drove down to UCSC and we finished moving Dustin out of his apartment. It was a hard night for him, to pack things up, marking a closure of one chapter and the beginning of another. After packing the last few items, we celebrated his birthday with the college roomies. Saturday Dustin and I went to the city and had dinner at our favorite spot; The Sausage Factory in the Castro. We had a bottle of red wine with dinner and Dustin was enjoying it! Then we headed over to Lime and met Jeremy and Merrit for drinks. Dustin kept saying "Where's my birthday drink!?" so I would oblige. At first he wanted vodka red bulls, and then later it was blue moon beers. We had a lot of fun talking with the guys and having drinks. Then we headed over to the Cafe where we danced the rest of the night away. We had a room in the city so we didn't have to drive too far. It was a really nice weekend. The cake pictured is actually from the next weekend- when we celebrated his birthday at his grandmother's home in Sebastopol.

Headlines

I don't generally blog about politics or the headlines, but GESH what is going on!? Finding out today that the house proposed NPR be defunded just pushed me over the edge. The political agenda from the right seems to be slash all domestic programs to the point of dysfunction and ensure those most in need of assistance will not find it, more tax credits for corporations (because we all know profits go to the "workers" not the top 1%), and bust collective bargaining for people who get up each day and work for a living. All of this points to one thing; bad news for middle class America which is good news for the richest of rich.

Here are some highlights from the news in Idaho (one of the reddest states in the union) over the last few months... What is going on? I feel like we're in crazy country USA.

2/28 Lawmakers will roll out their proposal to cut more than $38 million from the government health care program that covers the most vulnerable people in Idaho.

2/25 Senate passes two-thirds of Tom Luna's reform plans

3/5 Lawmakers cut higher ed to year 2000 level

3/14 Governor of Idaho disappointed in Idahoans (Wow Otter... Wow...)

3/17 House passes bill to allow guns on Idaho college campuses (Had to include this, it's just so tragic)

Some relatively recent statistics on how "Average Joe" american is loosing ground faster and faster each year.

• 83 percent of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the people.
• 61 percent of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.
• 66 percent of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.

Click here for the full article.

St. Patrick's Day Strawberries

Today is St. Patrick's Day and at work we had a potluck with CMS, HR and Payroll. There were delicious dishes all around. Of course what I brought was on the desert table and man was there a spread! Green rice krispie treats, cookies, brownies, cupcakes and of course my chocolate covered strawberries with a bit of fancy green white chocolate drizzled on top in a lacy back and forth pattern. My roommate Emma did a few designs also, complete with four leaf clovers. It was a delicious day!

St Patrick's Day is also the same day as my Grandma Florence's birthday. I used to take the day off and she, my Mom and I would get lunch. Today my Mom called me at work and said hello and we talked for a bit. It was nice, in way, remembering Grandma and her "Green" birthday. I miss her very much and I remember and treasure all the wonderful times we had.

Sonoma Wine Tasting

Finally- after a year of being in Sonoma County, CA, I finally went wine tasting! It was a big wine tasting weekend in Sonoma, so Emily planned a wine tour with Jennifer, Amanda and me. We started at the Francis Ford Coppola winery which had been recently renovated to include an outdoor pool! They had some delicious food to pair along with the wine. From there, we headed to Truett Hurst winery. It was a little busier there, despite the overcast weather! Then we went to the Rued Winery and lastly the VLM winery. It was a lot of fun with good friends and wine!

An Early Spring Boise Visit and Greenbelt Jog

I hadn't been in Boise for over a month, so I was due for a visit! This weekend was planned to be spent with my Family. Chuck is always AWESOME to pick me up from the airport. He even let me borrow his car Friday night as I scooted around town. The visit was perfect timing, too, because my best friend Katie was moving to Portland on Saturday and we got to see each other Friday night before she left!

The best news of the whole trip was that my Dad was once again cleared by the doctors as cancer free. He had been concerned that perhaps there was something coming up again, but thanks be to God he is still in good health. It made for a high spirited weekend of cards and food with those I love and care about very much. Sunday afternoon Mom and Dad went golfing because it was such a beautiful day out. I had brought along my jogging supplies and after seeing that my street teammate Trisha had completed a full 26.2 mile marathon... I knew I needed to go for a run as well. I headed out from my parents house towards downtown Boise. I had planned in my head to go 2 miles out and 2 back. I got to the 2 miles and thought, I can do 3 out and back. I got to the 3 miles and thought, I can do 4 miles out and back. I stopped a couple of times to take pictures because the scene along the greenbelt in the wildlife preserve area was just beautiful.
I got to the 5th mile and thought, Veterans park is just up ahead. I ended up jogging almost 11 miles and it was wonderful! I know I'm ready for the upcoming Alliance 5k, Emerald Across the bay (10k) and the Windsor half marathon (13 miles). :D So when am I going to do my first full marathon....?