So to start, I promise the header is relevant. Promise. Just
stick with me through this super long post!
I’m not sure where the last year went. It was fall and I had
just done tough mudder, then it was winter and it was the holidays and then it
was spring, and I was training for another half marathon, then July came and
went in a blink. Then August did the same thing. I can’t keep up.
The point of this blog was to keep up with my life. I
haven’t been doing a good job of that. I haven’t been posting because when I’m
happy and there are things I want to post about, I’m busy doing those things,
and I think that I’ll get to it later. When I have time to make posts, I’m
usually in a not so happy place, and it’s not a side of me that I like to
share. It’s not something that I know how to share, and it’s not something that
I’m proud of. So I am choosing not to dwell on that side. I only talk about it
now, because I feel like somehow if I acknowledge it, then I can control it.
Moving on.
July was a rush of preparing for my second sprint Triathlon,
which was wonderful. I bettered my time from last year and had a wonderful
couple of days with my family and my roommate enjoying the sun. I have no
complaints about that fantastic week. I’m thinking that next year, it will be a
Olympic Tri, and not a sprint! Here are some super fun pics!
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| The roomie's favorite baby ever! |
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| Roomie and I headed to the lake in the Jeep! |
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| Paddle Boarding! |
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| We're goofballs |
I spent the beginning of august catching up on work from
being out for 3 days, then getting ready for my trip to San Francisco the third
week of August. The roommate and I took our time driving down highway 101,
stopping along the way in spots along the Oregon coast, and then threading
through the redwoods in Northern California.
We arrived in San Fran on Wednesday night, and had a yummy
dinner with the roommate’s mom and her boyfriend. We stayed in an over the
garage apartment that we found on airbnb, that was outside of San Fran, in
Hercules. We had a slight emergency on the way out to our dwelling for the
week. The brakes on the car failed, NBD. We were cruising along highway 80,
going about 75, after sitting in traffic for an hour at 10pm on a Wednesday
getting out of town (traffic, everywhere, all the time, I don’t know how people
do it), when I went to brake and the pedal didn’t have any pressure. When I
pushed it all the way down it would slow the car, but not really stop it the
way you need on the freeway. I decided that this was not the time for panic, so
I very calmly told the roommate, that we didn’t have any brakes but it was okay
and I was going to get us to our place and then we could deal with it in the
morning. At first she didn’t understand what I was saying, because apparently,
my tone did not match my words. Understandably, roommate was not as calm. With
some steel gripping of the steering wheel (mine) and minor hyper-ventilating
(hers) we made it to our exit, and were able to get into a shell station and
get the car stopped. In moments like this, I know with complete certainty that
there is a god. If the brakes had failed while we were on curving 101, or while
we were in heavy traffic, I shudder to think of the outcome. Luckily it
happened at a place where I could move to the slow lane, put on the flashers
and cruise at 50 miles an hour, always looking for the escape route in case a
car cut us off. It wasn’t until we were stopped at the shell station that I
realized how scared I had been, when I tried to pump gas and my hands were
shaking too badly to get my card out of my wallet.
Luckily all was well, and we went to Les Schwab the next
morning and the wonderful guys there flushed the brake fluid for free, as the
suspected culprit was air in the hydraulic line due to either a seized caliper,
or just heavy braking boiling the fluid in the line. There was no further car
excitement for the remainder of the trip, thankfully! I think that night was
enough car excitement for my whole year.
The place we stayed was beautiful, and the rest of the trip
was so fun and so relaxing. A good friend of ours that’s currently living in
Sacramento came out and stayed with us for a couple of days as well. We did
some kayaking and lots of goofing around and sightseeing. Overall, a wonderful
trip, here are some of my favorite pictures!
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| Goofing around on the Oregon Coast |
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| Newport, OR |
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| Baker's Beach in San Fran |
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| Rawr! |
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| Dancing in the street in Little Italy! |
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| Three Amigos Reunited! |
Since I’ve been back I’ve just been soaking up the rest of the summer here in Seattle, going on hikes and spending time outside, as well as getting ready for my second tough mudder, coming up in 4 short weeks!
I did make one other small decision during all the time I had to reflect while we were in California.
I’m going back to school.
It’s something that I’ve wanted to do since I graduated, and
I’m glad that I spent that last 4 years working and figuring out what I enjoy.
I now know that I really love numbers, and spreadsheets and finding the
balance. Something I didn’t know about myself when I graduated at 22 with a
marketing degree. The only thing that’s been holding me back is the cost, and I
just don’t think that’s a reason not to get something that you want. I have the
will, and I will find the way.
