A hiking we will go...

CJ and I have been hiking fools lately. About six months ago we decided we would climb Mount St. Helens. We are going with a group of 10 other friends on July 22-24th. CJ's 30th birthday is on Friday July 22nd. We will be camping at Climber's Bivouac Base Camp and then departing Saturday morning at 4:30 am for the summit. Yes, you heard me, 4:30 am! Yikes ;-)

To prepare for this we have been hiking all over the NW. Over Spring Break we went to Orcas Island in the San Juans. We hiked Mt. Constitution and had a spectacular view of all of the sound.

We've also hiked Smith Rock, Sahalie Falls, Coyote Wall, Council Crest, and Saddle Mountain. It has been great training and I think we are pretty prepared for the climb. We will be hiking over 4,500 feet in five miles to reach the top with an elevation over 8,300 feet. We have to wear gaiters and rent an ice pick from REI. Apparently the view from the rim is spectacular and then you get to glissade down the mountain when you are done. It sounds exhausting and awesome all at the same time. It is supposed to take 9-10 hours total. I am confident I will need a lot of ibuprofen afterwards ;)

For more information on climbing Mt. St. Helens, check out the National Forest Service Website. I will definitely blog about it when we get back.

great news :)

I AM KEEPING MY FIRST GRADE CLASSROOM AT ROSEDALE ELEMENTARY!!!!

With all of the budget cuts, I was sure I would be losing my job. The Hillsboro School District had initially thought 65 positions would be cut since they are losing almost $20 million in funding from the state. But, with enough retirements they are keeping most of the positions. Not only do I get to stay full time, but I will be in the same school and grade level!

I am ecstatic! I love my school, my students, and my teammate. Yay!

Favorites in the Kitchen

I love my kitchen for what it is. It is decent in size and layout. I have tried to do as much as I can to make it my own. Someday I will be able to build a kitchen that looks like the one in the movie, "It's Complicated" {Click there to see it, it is fantastic!} For now, I am filling it with some fantastic and much needed appliances, organizers, etc.

The best blender a girl could ask for- The Vitamix 5200. My sweet husband bought me this for my birthday last year. You can blend anything you could ever think of in about 10 seconds. These are the same blenders used at Jamba Juice. It has a motor with 2 horse power- it is crazy! I have made soups (yes, it gets hot enough to make soup), ice cream, sauces, marinades, and smoothies. Delicious! Today's smoothie is: kale, raspberries, carrots, pineapple, pomegranate juice, and water. AMAZING!

Another fantastic appliance is the Bialetti. It is an Italian espresso maker that makes 6 shots of espresso in five minutes. I love making a homemade nonfat latte, I really love it when CJ makes it for me ;)

Finally, I have reorganized my spice racks, shelves, and cupboard. I bought this cute little wall hanging for most of my spices {and the awesome knife rack}. Then I reorganized the spice/medicine cabinet. So much nicer!

30 Before 30 List

I will be turning 30 in November, yes, 30~ How did this happen so fast? It amazes me how quickly the days go by {I know, I sound like an 85 year old woman!} Last October I began to write my 30 before 30 list. This is a list of things I want to do before I turn 30. I've had the list on my iPhone but had yet to publish it publicly {really, for no rhyme or reason.}

Here it is- in no particular order:

1. Visit Crater Lake

2. Take a cooking class

3. Go salmon fishing

4. Eat at Salvador Molly's

5. Hike up a mountain to see the sunrise

6. Read Jane Austin's complete set- 8 of her finest novels: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Lady Susan, and Love and Friendship

7. Learn how to make sushi

8. See a concert this summer at Edgefield, Maryhill or The Gorge Amphitheater

9. Go to The San Juan Islands

10. Make my own infused vodka

11. Take a sewing class

12. Run, yes RUN a 5k

13. Watch the movie Chinatown with my dad

14. Eat at Voodoo Donuts

15. Eat at the renowned Mama's Restaurant in San Francisco {Not just the for the food, but because my dear friend Felicia is a 3rd generation owner/baker/flap-jacker extraordinaire!}

16. Watch the Oregon Ducks play in the National Championship ~ Go Ducks!

17. Make at least one new friend {Cheesy, I know but it is important to expand your comfort zone once in awhile.}

18. Lose 8% of my body fat- I am not making a pound goal but a body fat goal

19. Learn a new game

20. Create a strong workout plan with a trainer and stick with it!

21. Do a brewery tour of Hood River

22. Go to the Dallas Cowboy stadium to see the Ducks play LSU

23. Do something I don't think I can do

24. Visit Maryland to see my dear friend Mrs. Pearson

25. Go to Boston

26. Hike Mt. St. Helens

27. Learn how to shoot a gun

28. Stay at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas

29. Remodel our 2 bedroom apartment connected to the garage

30. Get pregnant

To Date I have completed:

2. Take a cooking class- I did this in Mexico, it was so fun!

7. Learn how to make sushi

15. Eat at the renowned Mama's Restaurant in San Francisco {Not just the for the food, but because my dear friend Felicia is a 3rd generation owner/baker/flap-jacker extraordinaire!}

16. Watch the Oregon Ducks play in the National Championship ~ Go Ducks!

17. Make at least one new friend {Cheesy, I know but it is important to expand your comfort zone once in awhile.}

19. Learn a new game- I love Phase 10! Thanks Reagan and Eric :)

20. Create a strong workout plan with a trainer and stick with it! I LOVE Annie Flitcroft at Hawthorn Farms. She is a rockstar trainer.

Coming up and or progress made:

-This Sunday I will be running, yes running {shocking most for me} the Shamrock 5k.

-Tonight we will be going on a double date with Jay and Nicole to Salvador Molly's. I cannot wait, but do not think I will be participating in eating the Fire Balls that were on Man v. Food :)

-Next weekend CJ and I are staying at Orcas Island (in the San Juans) for 3 nights

-In 3 weeks Miss Emily and I are doing a girls trip to Hood River for the brewery tour!

-I am currently working with my personal trainer and in 5 weeks I have lost 2% of my body fat! And an inch around my (abdomen, bicep, waist, thigh, hips, and chest)

-Our two bedroom apartment is currently being remodeled as I write this

a special thanks

to those family and friends who have been there for us in the last few months. thanks to those of you who went out of your way to be there for us. for sending kind words. keeping us in your prayers. we love you all very much. thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

xoxo, amy and cj

So quiet!

CJ has been gone for five nights now. He is in Glendale, AZ for the National Championship {GO DUCKS!} while I have to stay at home for work. Don't feel too bad for me. We will be in Cancun in two weeks.

The house is sooooooooo quiet! My sister and her boyfriend Evan only left an hour ago. So, this is what it would be like to live alone? Hmmm, not sure if I like it. I have had something fun to do each night and have been able to keep myself busy, but I don't know if I would be happy living on my own. I enjoy my own company, but I also really enjoy the company of my husband. I miss him.

Great New Dish!

Here is an amazingly simple recipe that is delicious! It is from Martha Stewart. I added shiitake mushrooms to it as well:

~Stir Fry Noodles with Eggplant and Basil~

Serves 4
8 ounces lo mein noodles
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon light-brown sugar
4 teaspoons vegetable oil1/
2 pound Japanese or other small eggplant, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick
5 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, torn, for serving

Directions:
Cook noodles according to package instructions; drain noodles and rinse with cold water. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar and stir until sugar dissolves.

Heat a large skillet or wok over high until hot. Add 3 teaspoons vegetable oil and swirl to coat skillet. Add eggplant and stir until golden on both sides, 4 minutes total. Push eggplant to side of skillet and add 1 teaspoon oil. Add scallion whites and garlic and stir until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add noodles and soy mixture and toss to combine all the ingredients. Serve topped with scallion greens and basil

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/stir-fried-noodles-with-eggplant-and-basil

Can you say "delish?" Oh, and it is great with a glass of Merlot. Or two.

Life keeps moving on

Yes, I woke up at another ungodly hour this morning. Again. At least it was 4 am. I only have a little longer until it is a decent time be wandering through the house. Having a hard time sleeping is only one of the awesome side effects of a miscarriage. Some of the others I won't go into detail about. You can research those lovely ones. My favorite, and I'm not being sarcastic, is the fact I have been using retail shopping as my therapy. I figured I could spend $1000 to see a shrink and maybe get some help, or have it hanging in my closet. I chose the latter. Although I am sure CJ is not too happy with my many recent purchases he has yet to say anything which is very unlike him. Although I know my shopping binge will have to end soon I am enjoying some of my new fall clothes. Thankfully I am getting paid on the 20th, that should make my bank account and my husband happy.

I know some of my friends are afraid I might not be grieving this appropriately or giving myself enough time. I don't really know how to grieve it, or what to do. I have yet to read a book on how to grieve the loss of a baby. A baby I wanted more than anything. A baby I spent two weeks in Belize talking to and letting myself become attached to. A baby who I still yearn for everyday, especially at four on Sunday morning. A baby I only had for four weeks before it was taken away from me. I am doing the best I can.

I am doing better and it is helping me that I have a class full of twenty adorable first graders to go to every morning. I am loving my class. Their sweet smiles are helping me cope.

As a way to become normal I posted our pictures of Belize on my Facebook page. I was so happy then. It took me a month to do because it is hard to look at those pictures. It was such a magical trip. It feels like years ago. So feel free to look at those and I highly encourage your next tropical vacation to be Belize. We loved it. It was such a calming, wonderful place. This picture is now my screensaver because it is so nice to look at. I took this on one of our boat rides out to snorkel the Barrier Reef.

my heart aches

and i don't know when i will be happy again. we found out this week i am in the midst of a miscarriage. i have no words for how i feel. we were supposed to be 8 weeks along. i have yet to completely miscarry and have to most likely go in for a procedure (d & c) next week. thankfully i have had to stay busy with new teacher orientation but coming home is absolutely dreadful. i am so sad and wonder if i'll ever be the old me. someone once said "death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person, what is worse is what dies within you." i now understand this. i feel empty. cj can't help, neither can my parents, and my sweet friends, who all have been wonderful in their own ways, can't help either. i feel numb. so numb.

that's all. maybe someday soon i'll post of our wonderful trip in belize, when we were celebrating being parents.

Canning!

This summer I decided I would try to do some canning. My mom and I used to make jam when I was little. Whenever I get a "wild hair" to do something I go all the way. I couldn't just make organic raspberry jam, I had to make organic blackberry and strawberry jams as well. I am also making three different kinds of pickles, jalapeno jelly, and tomato basil sauce. A lot of the ingredients are from our garden and yard. I picked 4 lbs of blackberries from our field! I was determined to make these organic and local. All of the veggies/fruits are either grown in my yard or from a local organic farmer. I am very happy to support local farmers all the while keeping my friends and family healthy!

I will post more pictures soon. I have only taken a few~ enjoy and let me know if you want some jam ;-)

One of eight jars of raspberry jam

Some of the blackberries I picked

Me after picking a lot of blackberries :)

Modern Day Slavery

Here is a very sad article about Portland and a world I know very little about. My mom has worked with different organizations to get the word out and to help stop this modern day slavery. Educate yourself, read it, and do something!

Dan Saltzman, Portland City Commisioner says: “There’s too many young girls whose futures are being sacrificed by our ignorance.”

Pray for Peyton

CJ's old recruiting partner, Trevor and his his wife Brittney are going through a really challenging time. Their daughter Peyton (2.5) got Ecoli which has caused Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, while visiting an animal petting farm. She has been in Doernbecher for 12 days and still hasn't been released. Please keep little Peyton and the Janeck family in your prayers.

ubi caritas

ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
exultemus, et in ipso iucundemur.
timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.
et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

for a girlfriend who needs this right now

A Reunion of Sorts

I was quite nervous to attend my ten year high school reunion. I had an "interesting" high school experience as most people did. I attended LaSalle High School for the first two years. During my sophomore year I was pretty sick with an ovarian cyst and mono. I also had a boyfriend who attended Milwaukie HS. I transferred to Milwaukie at the start of my junior year thinking it would be awesome. Well, it was and it wasn't. Said boyfriend and I broke up and I had to find a whole new set of friends. Although I enjoyed both schools and made friends pretty easily, it was still a challenge. LaSalle was great because most everyone was coming there from a different junior high since it was a private high school. We all had to create new relationships. On the contrary, MHS had its core group of friends in my class. Coming in during the third year of HS made it pretty tough to break in. Although I was on dance team and became friends with a lot of the "in" group, it wasn't easy. When I graduated I was excited to move on. For the kids at MHS that were attending college they were either going to private school or Oregon State {insert yuck face!} I was super excited to leave high school behind and go to UO.

During college and post college I would run into some peeps here and there as well as "friend" them on Facebook. I knew what people were up to and they knew what I was up to. That seemed like enough to me. I was happy they were happy and hopefully they were happy I was.

Skip ahead 10 years and I have two reunions I have been invited to. MHS's reunion was held in June at the Rose Room at the Rose Garden. I did not want to go. I did not think I had good memories of HS. I hummed and hawed about going until CJ finally said, "yes, you are going! You will kick yourself for not going." And, he was right. I had a blast. I realized I had a great high school experience. I had friends, a full social calendar, I was prepared for college, and should not have felt nervous at all. It was so great to run into my old friends. Yes, there definitely was an OSU click that gave me a hard time but I remember why I enjoyed so many of the people that went there. I was so impressed with what they are doing with their lives and how they are giving back to the community. Nurses, teachers, counselors, business owners, engineers, pharmacists, and social workers to name a few! I even reconnected with some of the girls I loved in HS. I look forward to our next reunion but have faith that I will be seeing some of my friends sooner than that.

LaSalle's reunion is in September at Kennedy School.... hmm, do I go? :)

Happy, Happy Birthday CJ!

Cheers to my sweet husband CJ who is turning 29 today! I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you.

Tonight we are going to Bridgeport Brewery with 20 of our friends! It will be a great time. I even had a fabulous Oregon Duck cake made for the occasion by my friend Kyrie. Funny story, I actually grew up with Kyrie from the time she was very little. She and my sister were great friends and I actually babysat her and her brother. Now she is all grown up and a baker! She is so cute and talented :)

I will post pictures after the fun night, but for now I thought I would share this:

{My favorite picture of the birthday boy, ever!}

Summer Reading

I have read some great books this summer. A few for teaching and a few for personal enjoyment. For my fellow teachers, here are some great books:

Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov

Reaching All by Creating Tribes Learning Communities by Jeanne Gibbs

Teaching Outside of the Box: How to Grab Your Students by Their Brains by LouAnne Johnson {Author of the book that inspired the film Dangerous Minds}

The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease

So, after all of the school reading I have read I needed some light pleasure reading. My friend Reagan told me about the series by Charlaine Harris. Her books inspired the HBO series True Blood. Her first book is called "Dead After Dark." There are 10 books in this series. They are fast reads and are very addicting. They are the adult version of the Twilight series. WOW! Crazy, passionate, murder, and filled with vampires. I am usually not into fantasy but these are good!

Ahhh, reading! How I love you~

It is official!

So, I can finally blog about this~ I was hired full time at Rosedale Elementary as a first grade teacher. I have had to keep my mouth closed since the beginning of May when I was given a permanent contract with the district. Since the district {and the entire state} had to figure out money/funding/positions, etc. my principal didn't want me telling a lot of people. I felt/still feel extremely honored to have been hired in such dire times.

I am super excited to be back at the school I was at this year, work with amazing people, and learn the ins and outs of first grade. My co-teacher, JoAnn, is FABULOUS and I cannot wait for all the fun we are going to have.

When I found out and signed my contract back in May my parents and CJ sent me these beautiful bouquets.

BEEEEEEELIZE!

Please come soon. CJ and I need you to be here!

OK, enough whining but we really cannot wait to go to Belize in August! We are so looking forward to spending 12 days on the tropical shores of Belize. We are heading there to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary and to get away by ourselves. The last trip we took just the two of us to somewhere tropical was Maui in Oct. 2008! It is time to escape. We will be staying 6 days in Belize City and 6 days on the island Ambergris Caye.

Doesn't this look breathtaking? {This is Ambergris Caye}

So, people have asked "why Belize?" I answer back, "why not?" No, but really we wanted to go somewhere warm but we have done Mexico quite a few times. We went to Costa Rica for 2 weeks for our honeymoon and have always wanted to go here. CJ and I are both licensed scuba divers and they have one of the top 5 reefs for diving in the world. I also thought that since it is situated south of Mexico and East of Guatemala that it would be nice for us to have CJ there since he speaks Spanish fluently. I was surprised to find out that it is a British Colony and the majority of the natives speak English or Creole. There is some Mayan influence but it also has a lot of European and African descendants.

I am super excited to see the Mayan Ruins that date back to 600 BC. I also am looking forward to snorkeling, diving, a massage, visiting the Baboon Sanctuary {which protects over 1000 Black Howler Monkeys} and much more.

When we get back I will post the pictures and tell you of our fun journey~

Camping is a way of life!

CJ and I love to camp. We have gone on three long camping weekends since Memorial Day. We love to find new places to explore, hike, build a great campfire, and enjoy the Pacific Northwest. Rarely, and I mean rarely do we stay in a state campground because we so enjoy being out in the wilderness. We did however stay at a group site with peeps from our kickball team. We stayed on the Santiam River at Cascadia St. Park. We had such a great time! It was sooo pretty there. Yes, there were park rangers, yes there were other campers, but it was still fun. Here are a few pictures:

We hiked up to Soda Creek Falls- super pretty!

CJ on our hike

The view from inside our tent!

Our end of camp

Tate found his way on top of our bed :)

Bailey licking her lips after finding some yummy morsel.

We were lucky to have been told about the place in Prineville that I blogged about early this summer. We went there again for the 5 days over the Fourth of July. It sits on the outskirts of the Prineville Reservoir. There is no dock nearby so we had to drop our boat off at the state park and drive it in which took about 15 minutes. From the state park it takes another 15 minutes to drive on a very windy, dirty, gravel road. Once you get there though, it is heaven! It is so peaceful and quiet. Well, until we get out of the car that is! We had a great time with our friends, Emily, Reagan, Eric, and Matt. We also had our three dogs and Daisy (a 110 pound American Bulldog!)

The rocks CJ jumped off of...

Campsite

The whole gang (L-R: Matt, Eric, Reagan, Emily, Amy, CJ, and all of the dogs!)

Ems and I

CJ getting more ice~ we went through a lot of it!

The campfire provided hours of entertainment for the boys

Our boat at dusk

Visit to Boise, Idaho

Back in March my dad and I drove to Boise to visit my grandmother Jeanne. She has been ill and they moved her into a retirement community at the age of 89! Up until this winter she has remained very active in the community as a floral judge, Boise State Alum {who never misses a home game}, and hanging out with her friends. When her heart started giving her trouble she was admitted to the hospital. She was in and out a few times and we thought we were going to lose her. Thankfully she is doing much better and enjoying her new home. Here are a few special pictures to me that I thought I would share with you.