Vacations, Updates, Etc...

I know. I haven't been very good at keeping up on the blogging. My apologies to Jenny and Ashley, who i think are the only ones who read this. I'm not sure how I'm going to fit in all that's happened between now and my last blog without writing 6 pages, but I'll do my best.

Lets see... Well for starters, I went on my much anticipated Mexico vacation! It was great, as any vacay in Mexico should be. Although I thought we were going to Cabo San Lucas, it actually ended up being about a 30-40 min bus ride north of Cabo, in San Jose. Still amazing, we had a swim up bar and were staying right on the beach. Sun sun sun, for a whole week, i came back with the best. tan. ever. (Don't be too jealous, it's almost completely gone now)


However, to be completely honest, I have to say it was kind of a bust in some ways. I love Mexico in every way, but unless you have the money to spend (and a lot of it), I think there are better places to enjoy Mexico and not feel like such a tourist. I most certainly don't regret going and am so grateful for the time i got to spend with my family, but for all the fuss Cabo gets, there were a few things about our trip that were kind of a disappointment. Drinks everywhere, were COMPLETELY skimping on alcohol. Be wary when you buy the two-for-one happy hour drinks, its gonna take a LOT more than two drinks to get your buzz on. No matter how good of a deal it seems, make sure you ask for more alcohol when they are "dumping" in the booze.
The resort we stayed at was indeed right on the water, but it was "a dangerous and unswimmable beach due to strong undercurrents," and we were urged not to swim there. Regardless, we swam anyways, but we had to be careful and it was more stressful at times than the beach should ever be.
Bahh, i wont sit here and list all the complaints about vacation, it was vacation! I loved it and i absolutely love spending time with my family. Next time ill just purchase my own bottle of booze and make my drinks the way I want:)

After I got back home, a few days later Dave and I drove up to the most northwestern corner of Washington to meet my parents and brother for a weekend trip to the San Juan Islands. We drove (yes, drove!) onto a ferry that took us for an hour-long ride to Orca's island where we were staying. It was BEAUTIFUL. I absolutely had an amazing time there. Right off the boat we went to meet with our kayak instructor for a 4 hour kayak trip on the ocean around some of the islands. It was Dave's very first time in a kayak and we had so much fun. We stayed in the yurts, which were most defiantly as awesome as we anticipated, our three were very private and on the water, with "clothing-optional" hot pools nearby. (note, we chose the option to wear clothing) The whole community was extremely hippy-vegan-organic style, and i loved how untouched the whole island seemed. I defiantly would love to go again.

This last weekend, Dave and I drove down to Silver Falls, about an hour and a half south of Portland. It's a state park with ten waterfalls on a nine mile loop that you can hike,there are biking trails and a lodge. Many of the waterfalls you can walk behind, and the two that we hiked to were both walk-behindable (real word? no, probs not). It was a beautiful drive, hike, and day. Plus, I scored a box of peaches on the way home. Nom nom nom.

Other than that, not much has happened, although those things have kept me busy enough. I have been working, but I'm about out of work at the gardening center and currently looking for another job. I am going to Paul Mitchell next week to talk with them about attending school in November. The more I think about it the more I feel like its going to be the change I really need, and it's the kind of change and opportunity that I moved here for. It's more money than I like to think about but it's a direction for me, rather than wandering aimlessly through college just because it's better than not going to college. I'm strongly feeling the need for some kind of direction right now.

The last few weeks (well now that i think about it it felt more like months...) I've been in a "funk." I've been getting migraines again, almost daily, which takes so much out of me that it makes it really hard to function like a normal person some days. It's been causing a lot of tension in my relationship and just a lot of tension mentally for me. I hate taking pills every day for them, and in some ways i feel like if i could just tough through them without any help, it would pass. But it hasn't really been working that way and nothing throws my day off like waking up with a migraine. I sleep more than I want to, and yet i still always manage to feel exhausted and irritable. I hate me when I feel this way.
I am trying to start some better habits in my life again. When I was on Weight Watchers, I learned so many good habits that I carried with me for a year, but I feel like they have tapered off and I feel out of control with my life again. So, I decided that first and foremost I need some new motivation in my life. In Weight Watchers, there was a whole room of motivation for me, but unfortunately I am more broke now than I have ever been, so, I turned to the self-help section of Barnes and Nobles. Sad? Sounds like it, yeah. But no, not really. Actually it's kind of nice to read about people who feel like you do. When you aren't in school and don't work with people your age, its really easy to feel like your alone in the way you feel.
Anywho, I'm turning this post into a page out of a diary (which, i suppose a blog is kind of like a diary...) What I am wanting to get to is that last night, I went out. I went to a friend's house, stayed out until two, came home, hit my pillow, and slept until 1:00 this afternoon. And I slept great. (Minus needing to take some aspirin this morning for a headache before going back to sleep). Normally sleeping till one makes me feel like a lazy pile of dirt. But today, I felt amazing. I felt great, and I went running! Not just any run, but I ran for forty-five minutes! Okay, it was more like a heavy walk/run, but I felt motivated and I just can't even type how good it feels to feel good again. More on that later...

Oh, and Ashley, since I know you can't see my pictures on facebook/myspace anymore here are links to pictures for you, miss you!
Mexico-
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=95707&id=505338374&l=6ad227f107
San Juan's-
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=98889&id=505338374&l=36c43b62f1
Summer in General-
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=89759&id=505338374&l=7b52be4887

OH, and P.S.
We are planning on visiting home in September! See you then!