Back to Where the Trees are Green and the Air is Clean

I don't get to see my family very often these days. Especially since one sister lives in NYC, a brother is in Germany, another brother in AZ, and the rest of my siblings and my parents are in various cities in Oregon. So it was great to be able to spend time with my family in May.

Allie, my mom, and I had breakfast at Busick Court. Haven't heard of Busicks? Well, if you are ever in Salem, Oregon, you HAVE to go. Hey, Rachel Ray did.

The fam bam, minus Chris, Kyle, and Adam.

My CUTE parents. They are  my best friends. Man, I love them!

I'm not afraid to make the jump.

One of the things on my bucket list is to go skydiving. I especially wanted to do it before I have kids and more responsibility. My mother-in-law bought me a skydiving pass a few Christmas's ago and I finally got to jump when I was in Oregon last month.

This is a look of excitement and sheer terror mixed. Oh, and don't you love the orange jumpsuit. I look like I  belong to a prison street cleaning gang.

The plane is taking off!

This is the target in the landing area. I landed 3 feet away!

The scariest part is right when you jump out of the plane. When you are free falling, though, it just feels like there is a lot of wind.

Exit Altitude: 9800 feet

Freefall: 38 seconds

Average Speed: 135 mph

Maximum Speed: 141 mph

Coming in for a landing!

Landing!

With two feet firmly planted on the ground, and all I want to do is jump out of a plane again.

This is my friend Troy. He was the ONLY person who would go with me. 

This is our instructor. He was great. I had a great time. I want to go again!

Thunderstorms

Right now I am sitting on my couch, snuggled up in the quilt my mother made me, listening to the most glorious thunderstorm. I absolutely  love thunderstorms. I love them because they remind me of how marvelous and powerful nature is, and how small I am. I also love the memories that thunderstorms bring to me.

I remember as a young girl, my sisters and I would wait by the window to see the lightening until the thunder cracked. Then, we would run as fast as we could to our bed and hide under the covers until we gained enough courage to venture out to the window again. We would do this over and over, laughing the whole time, until the storm was over.

When we were a bit older, ages six or seven, we would pretend to be on a ship in the sea during a horrible storm. We would rock back and forth on our big rocking chair that my great grandpa made, pretending that it was a ship being tossed in the waves. Mother had a candlestick holder that we would hold and it made the imaginary scene even more real to us. The thunder and the lightening added the final touch to our adventure. I can still hear Cecily yelling, "Beware the rocks off the port bow!"

As a teenager, thunderstorms meant that swim practice was over. Some of you might not know this, but I swam competitively for ten years. I was even captain of my high school swim team my senior year. I was never very good, but I had a lot of fun. In Sacramento, most of the pools, including all the ones I swam in, were outdoor. So, we swam in all kinds of weather. Rain. Hail. Wind. We braved it all. The only weather that would force us out of the pool was lightening. I remember swimming laps and hearing the crack of thunder. My coach would blow the whistle and we would jump out of the pool as fast as we could. After all, we had been told how people who swim in thunderstorms always get struck by lightening and drown and we weren't going to let that happen to us.

In Oregon, there were lots of thunderstorms. I have a lot of sweet memories of watching thunderstorms with Joe when we were dating and engaged. Thunderstorms make for perfect snuggling weather. We would make hot chocolate, cuddle, and talk for hours. Those were some of the best days of my life.

The rain has slowed down and its been awhile since I've heard a crack of thunder.  I think I can see some sunlight poking through. That's the thing with thunderstorms--they never last forever. Soon the sun comes out and the sky is calm again.

Luna De Miel

I realized that I never posted any pics from our honeymoon. We only had 2 days on the Oregon coast before he had to move back to Utah and I had to start school again. But we had a great time in Cannon Beach. It was stormy and gloomy and perfect for cuddling.

Muah!

Haystack Rock. We could see this from our room.

We did venture out, although the wind and my hair had a great battle.

The wind almost won!

We had the room on the top right.

We absolutely HAD to stop the the Tillamook Cheese Factory for some ice cream. If you are ever on the Oregon Coast, it is a must. Not only do you get free cheese samples, but they  have the BEST ice cream in the WHOLE WORLD. I promise!

See, Joe can't get enough! Haha!

Today's Journey and a Beginning

My legs are sore and my bum is numb from sitting in the car for 13 hours. I've driven through three states today and made the long journey from Provo, UT to Salem, OR. It was a pretty uneventful trip except for a bird hitting my windshield and totally freaking me out. Poor bird. I drove it alone as Joe had to stay behind to work. I love Oregon. It is just beautiful here and it is great to see my family. But I have to admit, I miss him already. I better really focus on my extership or I can see these next four weeks as being very long and lonely without him.

I left early this morning and was able to make it here before dark. I love leaving for road trips early in the morning. They just go by so much faster that way. It was a beautiful drive. All of it (including Idaho) was green and lush. Spring is my favorite. I also was accompanied by a lovely Book on CD. I listened to The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. I'd heard great things about it and I have to say, it's a great "read." It's about an African women who opens a detective agency in Botswana Africa. It not only chronicles her work as a detective, but also tells the life journey of her and her father. Although there are some slow parts (it may just have been when I was getting tired driving), by the end all the events fall into place into a enjoyable resolution. It was a great way to pass the alone time on my drive. I hardly ever get to read anything for pleasure these days. So to be able to listen to a CD and listen to a whole novel in one day was really wonderful.

I'll be here in Salem for the next four weeks working for a local law firm and missing my husband. However, I am excited to get some "real world" legal experience and reconnect with Nathan and Cecily. Nathan is as tall as me now. I'm officially the shortest of all of my siblings. The oldest and the shortest. Ah well, there are worse things.

Jury Duty

Found this funny cartoon here.

"The prohibition of women on juries was derived from the English common law which, according to Blackstone, rightfully excluded women from juries under "the doctrine of propter defectum sexus, literlally, the 'defect of sex."'

~United States v. De Gross

960 F.2d 1433, 1438 (9th Cir. 1992).

Tell me that's not a gross statement to you.

I won't take the right to be on a jury for granted again.

On another note, I finally called the Marion County, Oregon jury duty coordinator to clear up my little jury duty mishap. Turns out if you don't show up when you are summoned, they can put out a warrant for your arrest. They didn't do that to me because, as the nice lady said, "we don't jump on that." But hey, it's one more thing off my chest. I actually wish I could participate on a jury. Goodness knows once I graduate from law school, no attorney will ever let me on their jury. This might have been my only chance. Sad.

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean...

I love the beach. There is just something about standing on the sand, feeling the wind rushing over you and gazing and into that deep blue that makes me feel alive. I guess that's why I try to get there as much as I can. I'm so grateful that I only live one hour away from the ocean. This weekend Jared invited a bunch of us to hang at his beach house for the weekend. It was a much needed break and so much fun.

Thanks Jared!
I found a whole bunch of muscles shells. I had never seen so many in one place. You can't really see them in this picture, but I am holding up a whole string of them. Oh, and I really love my new blue jacket :)

Joe vs ocean.

Daniel, just looking around.

The gals.

Just close your eyes and imagine the sound of crashing waves. Take a deep breath.

Walking the Red Carpet

I walked the red carpet....

Yes...that's right. This weekend our Relief Society had an Academy Awards Enrichment Night and we all dressed up for a lovely dinner and awards. It was really too cute and so fun to get out those old prom dresses that have been hanging in the closet for years. Basically everyone came in what they felt most beautiful in. The men served us dinner, and awards were handed out. For the past month we have been nominating each other for awards. I received "Most Expressive." It was a blast and the enrichment committee did a fantastic job.

Melanie, Lindsay, Anna & Cec

Jackie & I

Jilyn & Amanda

Me & Stephanie, the coolest Relief Society President.

Isn't Cecily just gorgeous?

The guys were saints and took care of the kitchen for us. They were true gentlemen.

I wish I had a crown!