Presidio Relay - or David Parker's 7th Annual San Francisco Relay Race

On Saturday morning, I was in a relay race in the Presidio with some friends. And I'd better tell you before you scroll any further - this post is full of good looking people. Men especially (And women named Rachael). Watch out!

And you can't really tell by the looks of it, but it was absolutely freezing outside. Well, cold for San Francisco and for everyone to be outside for 3.5 hours in it! But here we are - keeping ourselves warm and preparing for the race.

Me and Rachael - in our glamorous weekend outfits. At least this time we actually did go running. Last weekend, maybe not so much. Anyway - moving on.

I know you all love some Marshall. I was lucky that I convinced him to come and run the second 3.5 mile loop for me the night before. He was super speedy - even if he did get lost on the course. Which I find extremely ironic since he's lived in the Presidio for about 6 years now. ha! Now I know that all my married girlfriends out there (ahem -Shelley and Karli) are wondering why I'm not dating these guys. I do believe that at least 3 of them have girlfriends, so there's your advance warning to not give me crap. ha!

Scott


Dave & Marshall making the baton hand-off.
Unfortunately, Marshall wasn't quite ready!

Chris

Dave

I wanted a picture of our 2nd place team - we did really great, no thanks to my 12 minute pace. Seriously - these guys are all so speedy!!! Lucky for the other team, I was a great handicap. :) Right as we were taking the picture, Scott came and put his arms around me all prom style, which made for a hilarious shot if I do say so myself.

The winning team - and I will say that it was OK that they won since they were part of the Young Single Adult team. Rachael won a special award for being the fastest female runner, Scott for having the most amazing sweat band, and Jared for being best dressed and skinniest legs.

Gloating a little, are we?

Updates

So maybe I've been on a bit of a blog break and I didn't mention it beforehand. I've been pretty stressed the past week, so I apologize for being a little out of it. Obviously the fastest way to lose readers is to stop blogging. Let's have an update then shall we?

In no particular order, here are the things that I've been thinking about lately:

• I was browsing Britney Spears's celebrity playlist the other day on i-tunes and I realized that I already own every single one of the songs. Does that scare me or you more? I'm not sure. Five minutes before that, I downloaded some Jonas Brothers. If you want your own secret copy, shoot me an email and I'll hook you up. :)
  
• I've been on the planning committee for my office holiday party the past year and this past weekend is when the big party happened. For the most part, everything went fine - no major drama and even after being on my high-heeled feet for 6 hours straight, I'm able to walk again. And I wore red tights - so I got a picture with Red Pants himself. Pictures to come, my friends.
  
• I was in a race on Saturday morning - a relay to be exact and although my pace is slow, my teammates were super competitive and we came in 2nd place. I do think that I ran pretty well though - and I was faster than I usually am, which is a step in the right direction. I will have pictures of that tomorrow.
• I was supposed to run in another race Sunday morning, but I was tired from the party the night before and I was stressed about the next bullet point.
• I taught a class at church on Sunday about family history - I haven't been given any negative feedback, and I think it went well. I was happy with the way it all turned out and I think that I met the goals I set for myself.
  
• My parents are coming to town this weekend for my grandmother's 95th birthday party. Yes, that's my still-living-on-her-own-and-taking-care-of-the-yard-work-herself grandmother. I like to think I got all my good genes from her. No offense, Mom.
• In my car, it's been non-stop Christmas music since I got home from Costa Rica. I love me some Christmas music.
• Lost my Santa costume from last year's Christmas party. Seriously - does anyone know where it is? Poor Santa is naked somewhere and needs his clothes back.
• Last Friday was our church's annual Christmas auction. I purchased grocery shopping for a month (thanks Jane!), a ride to the airport, and some adventurous activity involving a shotgun and a horse. You probably think I'm kidding, but seriously. A shotgun and a horse. Probably not at the same time, but I'll keep you posted.
• 90% of my Christmas decorations are finally in place - and preparations for my roommate holiday party are underway. Bring on the holidazzle! I can't wait!
• Anyone interested in going to Thailand in April?
  
• I watched High School Musical on Saturday for the first time. Stop judging me. And I liked it. Stop judging me. Sometimes I miss EFY for keeping me in touch with tween trends.
• I have to give a shout-out to Rita who qualified for the Boston Marathon on Sunday morning. I am so proud of her. If you know her, you should email her and tell her what a rock star she is - since it's the truth. Way to go, Rita!
  

Life is good - and this week will be busy as usual. I will do my best to keep you updated. After all, that's what this silly little blog is here for.

Costa Rican Adventure!

I'm up to my eyeballs in the aftermath of Atlanta and a week-long vacation, so please don't hate me for taking so long to get my life back together. This morning I made a critical to-do list - things that I've been procrastinating for months and the crap has finally hit the fan and ohmygoshIhavetogetitalldonetoday. or else. As of lunch time, I have crossed 6 things off the list - hopefully by the end of the day I'll be much closer to getting done. ...breathe...

So for your enjoyment, sit back, relax and pretend that you went to Costa Rica with me for a few minutes.

The first thing we really did upon our arrival in San Jose - other than sleeping - was get in an armored car (I was obviously traveling with my Dad) and get on our way to Guanacaste, which is a region of Costa Rica. Along the way was the Costa Rica temple. Here I am with my Dad in front of it - super small, but I was glad that we got to at least stop by and see it.

After a few hours of driving through the countryside, we arrived at La Pacifica, which is a restaurant on Hwy 1. Considering that I live in a town that Hwy 1 also runs through, it is strange to think that if I just go south for a few days, I'd be able to drive there. Little did I know that I'd be eating most of my meals at this restaurant over the next three days. Good thing it was delicious. The best part of each meal was the jam - homemade of course - that went with their warm bread. Oh deliciousness. I brought some back home and my resident experts have informed me that it is guava jam.

And on our way out of the restaurant, this was next to the driveway, wishing us a nice day. Please note that there was no zooming involved on my camera's lens. I seriously just opened the door of the armored car and took the picture. Remember that one time that I was so grateful to live in the US where these animals aren't the normal varmints in my yard? Oh yeah - I remember that time.

We arrived to our beach house in Playa Coco in the afternoon and enjoyed the warm weather. Here I am with my Mom out on the patio.

And then I met my new best friend - I asked her in Spanish what her name was several times, but she never answered; just followed me around the entire time we were there.

All too quickly the sun set, but lucky for us, the view was spectacular. Check that out! I'm not so sure anymore than pollution makes for beautiful sunsets. We weren't exactly in LA, ya know? To escape from the bugs, we shut ourselves inside the house - (mosquitos are to my legs like Edward is to Bella. Seriously - they lurve me.) - and my dad, Gary, and I proceeded to play various card games until about 1am. Yeah, that's about 7 hours worth of card games. Hearts and rummy - my bum was sore by midnight and I had to stand around the table to finish. I knew that I wasn't going to win, but I don't think my dad wanted me to have the pleasure of having a sore bum AND winning. :)

In the morning, we had the option of going fishing or giving the zip lines a whirl. We unanimously decided to go with the zip line. Here's a picture from the club house of someone in the group before us going on the first segment of the line.

And this is the only picture of the entire gang - all ready to strap ourselves to a cord and swing across the jungle. I think that Kim and Gary look a little nervous - don't you?

We were on the lines for about 2 hours - you zip from platform to platform through the tree canopy and dodge snakes along the way. Well, maybe not at least while I was there, but I hear it's possible. And I even wore flip flops (my all-weather-all-terrain shoes of choice) without a problem!

I should have taken more pictures of the bridges and ladders we had to climb during our adventure. If you are afraid of heights, I'm afraid to say that maybe this isn't the activity for you. My sister Allison NEVER would have made it. Swinging bridges aren't even on my top 10 list, if you know what I mean.

But hanging out with hot Costa Rican guys, ok, twist my arm.

Of course I stood on the hill so it makes me look like Gigantor next to my zip line crush, Giovani. Of course all the guides were quick to learn my name and luckily I speak just enough Spanish to get by and talk a little with them. And no, I wasn't dumb enough to do any of this with my Dad around. :)

That evening, we drove back to La Pacifica, which is by Canas. My dad's boss owns the ranch, which has some hotel-like rooms, tilapia farms, horses, and other random things. Here's a picture of the little room I stayed in. My parent's was much more like an apartment, but mine was just a little bit more rustic of a hotel room. Supposedly there were little frogs in the shower, but I didn't see them if they were there.

The next morning, we got up early and after eating some more delicious food, we went horse back riding. I took a basic equitation class my sophomore year in college, so it was nice to be back on a horse after so long. My horse didn't seem to like me too much, but here was my view as we went around the ranch that morning:

Rice paddies

Some canals with signs that (translated) said: Danger - crocodiles could be in the water. Eek! I was very glad to be on a horse.

I tried several times to take a self portrait but being jostled around by a horse who doesn't like you doesn't always make for a steady or good picture. :)

Here's a tilapia pond. In fact, all of the tilapia that is raised here is sold in the United States. I could have seen your dinner. Weird. The age of the tilapia determines what pond they live in - and here are some guys harvesting some of the tilapia with their nets.

I didn't take any pictures inside the restaurant of our Thanksgiving Tilapia, but I had mine with a side of plantains and avocados. Oh yummy. I'm not a huge fish person, but the tilapia was quite delightful if I do say so myself. Our flight was early early the next morning, so we left after dinner to go back to San Jose and stay the night close to the airport. Before leaving though, we checked out some of the rescue birds that they keep outside of the restaurant. Based on the personality of these birds, I'd never want a parrot for a pet. MEAN birds - sheesh. I'll stick to a mean cat, thank you very much.

I thought Costa Rica was a beautiful country and even though my Dad scared me half to death about the snakes, I didn't have a single problem with a bug or a varmint of any kind. I'd definitely like to go back and have more time to enjoy the scenery - and maybe some of the locals. :)

alive

I was not eaten by snakes in Costa Rica. You can stop worrying. I'll be back tomorrow.

Steph

The Meetings Meeting in the Meetings Office.

This Friday I thought I'd bring you a smorgasbord of pictures from my trip to Atlanta. The picture below is in the Owner's Club at the Georgia Dome, home of the Falcons. Louise and I found a small room in the back of the club with a few playstations and went to town.

What a way to relieve some stress after our first real day of the meeting opening. We were both laughing so hard that we cried. I'm sure you all figured that I'd be a pro at video games and I hate to burst your bubble, but I'm not.

The one thing I am a pro at though is getting down on the dance floor. I also sing when I dance, in case you were wondering. Uzi, I have a feeling that you'll appreciate the following picture: (What am I doing with my hands?! ...I need to work on my moves. More shimmies, right?)

I walked outside to check my voicemail and the next thing I knew, our CFO was wanting to take a picture with me. I'm a poser after all, so why not?

And of course, a picture of me and Stout.

And for for old time's sake, here's a picture of me a few years back out on the dance floor and from the looks of it, I'm leading everyone in the electric slide. Oh, good times. Where would I be without the hundreds of stake dances I went to in high school?

Go figure.

Today I was in a meeting all morning. Sometimes, meetings are effective. This was not one of those times. During the entire meeting I wished so badly that I had my cell phone with me so that I could send my boss text messages about people around the room and their various levels of intelligence. But, we were sitting across the board room table from each other and my cell phone was sitting on my desk. Our only available method of communication was the occasional eye roll at each other, which at times, seemed more effective than the meeting we were in. Go figure.

And speaking of communication, did you notice that gmail got a new feature today? You can set a theme to your email page if you so choose. Mine was "beach" early this morning, went to "ninja" in the afternoon, then has settled on "candy" for the time being. Who knows what it will end up as by tomorrow morning. I guess some things will just depend on my mood. If I were a betting girl, I'd bet that in the morning, it ends up on "beach" again - I think I miss hearing the roar of waves in my sleep. Go figure.

Last night I was all scheduled to attend my monthly LAC activity, but somehow, at 6:30, I couldn't tear myself off the couch. Chalk it up to various excuses, but I was tired and proceeded to watch two movies, visit with friends who stopped by, and Kirsten and I ended the evening with a call to the police to get a random drunk man from Oklahoma off our front porch. How did I know he was from Oklahoma? Well, that's where he thought he was last night, according to the conversation I heard outside my living room window. That would explain the porch sitting. In an old nasty lawn chair, nonetheless. Go figure.

Now that its almost the weekend, let's talk about last weekend.

Let's pretend that I didn't tell you anything about Saturday already. And I sure wasn't as good at taking pictures as I wanted to be. The weather in SF this weekend was warm and somehow (as if I didn't know this already) I think that mother nature forgot that it is November. NOVEMBER, people! Late November at that!

Early Saturday morning, I headed up to the Oakland temple to help spread Christmas cheer and also, put up Christmas lights. There was quite the group there to help and service activities are always fun, no matter what you do. There were quite a few people moving items around from the life size nativity scene and when Dave and I saw the opportunity to move a giant pachyderm, we jumped at the chance. I know that my huge muscles make the camel look so light and airy, but be assured that it was not light OR airy. It was quite awkward and heavy.

After stringing lights for about an hour, Rachael and I went and took her grandmother to breakfast, which was nice. We hurried home and then Silvia came to my house a few minutes later to spend some time with me and give me a birthday present - an hour long massage! Woot! I'd had a long month with the half marathon and the stress of my meeting, so this came at the perfect time. And yes, for those of you who are confused about me having two birthdays in one year, my birthday is still in September and yes, I still accept gifts year round. Silvia lives in Santa Cruz so if you are in need of an amazing massage, let me know and I'll hook you up!

Feeling relaxed and rejuvinated, I headed down south with Peter to a wedding reception for some wonderful friends who live in Palo Alto. Their reception was beautiful and I was sorry to not be able to stay longer and hit up the dance floor.

We left early since our ward was having our Annual Jazz Thanksgiving dinner & dance and it has been FOREVER since I have:
a) been to a ward activity - I'm usually out of town
b) seen some of the friends pictured below:

LaNae & Ben,
and for real, I think I hadn't seen Andrea since like...September.

To top it all off, I got home around 11pm, went back out to Safeway and then climbed gratefully into bed at 12:30am. I won't even get into Sunday where I sat in meetings for over 5 hours. All in all though, I'm just happy to be home and back to life as usual. Sorry for my long absence.

Best & Worst

I thought I'd share the best and worst from Atlanta with you. While there a friend took me to the Buford Hwy Farmers Market. There you can find anything imaginable - deep friend sea creatures or even dried anchovy tea. I can't imagine many more things that are more vile than this.

And then when I got home, there were chocolate covered strawberries, and cookies and milk to greet me from a close friend to tell me that she loves me. Seriously? Totally made my day.

And while we're on the topic of great things....
Only 3 more days until THIS: squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Come on. Fess up. Who out there already has their ticket for Friday EXCEPT me?

You say Ala. I say Bama.

It isn't very often that work takes me to a place that is within two hours of places like Alabama. I think that the last time I had been in Alabama was when I went to visit my cousins in Mississippi sometime in the mid 90's. The real reason that I went was to visit a dear, dear friend whom I call "Mama" and she ain't my mother. After talking the day away, we went to get some real Southern barbeque and to really celebrate my return to the South, we ate deep friend pickles.

Here's Mama showing me how to appropriately eat friend pickles. Sounds gross, but they were delicious. I almost ate the entire basket.

After dinner, we went to visit Mama's friend Phyllis and talk some more and then laugh a lot. And laugh we did. Between the three of us, I don't think you could find a more talkative bunch.

Spending the day with Mama was exactly what I needed. I almost lost my voice by Sunday from having talked so much! I hadn't seen her since I was in my teens and I have to say that it was like no time had passed at all.

Thank you Mama for having me! You're the best!

Did I forget to mention....

This weekend was packed - very tiring, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. Last night I could hardly keep my eyes open at 10:15pm, so I climbed in bed quite happily at such an early hour. With all the hustle and bustle that work has been the past few months, I'm not sure if I ever mentioned a little trip that I'm taking next week....

to Costa Rica...

Did I? Even my roommate didn't know I was going, so yeah. Next Monday I leave for 5 days and I'm heading to Central America. This week I need to find some shorts. Anyone know where I can buy shorts in November? I have a friend who once got a worm in his leg after going to Costa Rica - maybe I just need a new pair of jeans. And based on the weather forecast, a rain poncho.

Pictures from this weekend, coming right up.

Deal or No Deal

Ok so even though I'm back from Atlanta, I'm doing more important things like catching up on sleep and spending time with some much missed friends. I've been intending to tell you all about my trip to Alabama, so though my weekend is pretty slammed, how 'bout we make a deal? I take pictures of my madness and then you tell me how glad you are that I'm back.

Deal? deal.

Oh - and then I'll tell you all about my wonderful weekend in Alabama.

That's all for now. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend - siz

I'm back. Stay tuned.

Coldlanta

I can't believe that it has been a week since I posted. The last week has flown by and I'm ready to go home on Wednesday. So much has happened that I will never blog about, but I have truly been humbled by the love of friends and the great humanity that connects us all no matter what our beliefs are.

Some of the great things that happened today:

• I slept in until 7:30. Considering that the past few days my alarm clock has been going off at 4:30, that is a huge feat.
• I was gifted with a foot rub and pedicure today from someone who loves me. After walking in heels for about 11 hours yesterday nonstop, it was exactly what I needed.
• I'm going to the melting pot for dinner tonight. Yum.
• This morning I shared a cab with a few ladies standing behind me in the taxi line. On our way to the convention center, I asked them if they knew a specific person in their company since it is someone I have worked with for years and never met. Who knew that she was sitting in the cab with me. I love when things like that happen. We hugged as soon as we got out of the cab.
  

And with that, I bid you adieu until I'm back in San Francisco. More love from Atlanta.

Blush and Bashful

Voting Day. I'm in Atlanta until next week and although I will try and post soon about my weekend in Alabama, don't hold your breath. Nothing personal, folks. My southern accent is just about full blown and I've eaten more delicious food in the past four days than the past few months combined. All fat free, of course.

The weather here in Atlanta is fabulous - I haven't worn a jacket once and how can you not love that? Fall weather in the South = awesome. Considering that I need to run a few miles in the morning, I'm heading to bed. At 9pm EST. I'll find out who won this election in the morning. I can't handle this right now. Must. Get. Sleep.

Hope everyone is well - wherever you are. Love from Atlanta.

Miles for Migraines

If you are in the San Francisco area and like to run - especially for a good cause, think about running on December 7th for Miles for Migraines. I have a friend who is getting her post-doctorate degree in migraine studies.

Here's some of the information she sent me today:

I have been working hard to start a new non-profit organization to raise awareness and funds for migraine research because it is the most common neurological disorder for women under 50 and can be completely debilitating. Migraine affects more than the number of people who are effected by asthma and diabetes combined and yet it gets less than a tenth of the money for research than either of those disorders. When migraine researchers pleaded their point with NIH-- NIH responded by saying that the public didn't care about migraine. This is a grass roots effort to show that we do care about it and want to do something about gaining more funding for migraine research.

Register here. I signed up for the 10k today!