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Back on the Right Coast

Sorry for the lack of blogging.... but I am spending time on the "right" coast with friends and family. I will be back to blogging from the wrong coast after the New Year.

Merry Christmas.

31 is the new 29

I turned 31 yesterday. And, it wasn't so bad.

Now, to fully understand why my 31st birthday NOT being an issue is truly blog worthy, I must take you back to this time last year.

I was freaking out! I did NOT want to turn 30. Mostly because I am a thinker an over thinker. I was comparing myself to the people around me in graduate school and the friends with whom I had graduated high school and it seemed like they were all a little farther ahead in the game of life. Everyone seemed to be married. Most had kids. Many owned homes. And I was turning 30 while still in grad school, boyfriend-less, and renting a room in a house.

So I did what anyone would do... I went to CABO. My sister was in desperate need of a vacation as well so we packed up, found a warm destination, and spent 6 days in January reading, sunning, drinking, swimming, whale watching, snorkeling, eating and just NOT being a grad student (me) or an overworked, mom and wife (sister).

I know it's not healthy to compare myself to others. And, in this situation it was meaningless. I was still in school, but I was getting a PhD - pretty cool. I had owned a house... a house I loved. I sold it to move away to grad school. I had been in a couple long term relationships, but the truth is that I had just not found the right guy. And, kids... well, let's not go there, but suffice it to say I am thankful that I was able to go through the madness that is graduate school and academic job hunting without the worries of parenthood.

So my 31st birthday came yesterday and was actually quite enjoyable. (I think it is the "funnest" day to be on Facebook and enjoyed birthday wishes from friends and family.) I got to talk to my mom, my dad, my sister, and my brother (an an attempt at birthday wishes from my 2.5 year old niece). I had a great catch-up phone call with Claire Cook! I had a productive day at work with well wishes from colleagues. I got my hair cut and ended the day at dinner with friends.

God really does know what he is doing. Why do I insist on measuring him against some crazy, self-imposed timeline?

Brooke Fraser

Despite the hectic pace at the end of the term and the crush to both finish classes (read: grading) as well as have two papers ready for the Western region deadline (Dec 20), I have decided to try and have a life. Ambitious, I know. That meant holding to my decision to attend a Tuesday night Brooke Fraser concert at the Douglas Fir in Portland with my friend Trina. The show rocked! (And Brooke blogged about the show, too.)

As recently as October, I had never heard of Brooke Fraser. I committed myself to go to the show and then decided I should download some tunes so I would know what I had gotten myself into. Brooke is sometimes described as pop, but there is no way you can listen to her music and not know what she believes. If you don't know Brooke's music, listen to some and you will love her. She is multitalented - writing the songs, playing the keyboard and multiple guitars as well as providing the vocals on the songs. It was a true artist show. She is touring on her new album FLAGS. You should own it :-)

Sorry about the generic photos. I took some at the show, but with no flash photography, they didn't really turn out. And that is a shame because one of them featured the accordion.

Civil War

This weekend was the Civil War in Oregon... when the Beavers face their arch rivals... the Ducks. There is more hype for this game than most any game I have experienced. On the line this year was a birth in the National Championship game if the Ducks won. If the Beavers won, they became not only bowl eligible but also "Giant Killers".

This year's game was hosted in Corvallis and it was the College Gameday Game (apparently their are people on the planet who do not know about College Game Day so here is the explanation: The crew -Chris Fowler, Desmond Howard, Lee Corso, and of course, Kirk Herbstreit - of ESPN take their show on the road and do nationwide pre-game coverage from a college campus. Students come, cheer in the background, and hold up some hilarious and borderline inappropriate signs. They commentators talk about all the big games of the day and predict a winner.

I did not go out to the quad at midnight when the fun apparently kicked off (though not officially until 4:30am), but apparently Beavers know how to do it up right.  While walking across campus on Friday, I did manage to catch Kirk on set shooting some early segments.

So the game didn't turn out like we wanted UofO won 37-20, but the Beavers definitely did not let the Ducks play their game. And I loved the new throwback uniforms....especially the gloves.

Go with the Flow

I don't want to stress. I don't want to wake up dreading my to-do list. I don't want to seem short and snippy with everyone around me because they are interfering with my ability to get work done. I don't want to lay awake at night - unable to sleep - because the term has reached that critical point where all the work needs to be done at one moment.

But I do.

I wanna be a go with the flow person. I wanna truly believe that it will all get done. I want to lay down at night knowing that I worked all day and was productive and that, even though it did not all get done, it was good enough. I want to be nice to people, even when I have a lot on my plate.

How do I do that?

My StengthsQuest results indicate that I am an Achieving, Deliberative, Focused, Competitive Learner. I think that people with this combination should come with warning labels. We are, by nature, focused on checking things off the to-do list and doing it better than anyone else.

NOTE: Among a group of my Missouri friends, we talked about "being a duck" and letting the small things just "roll off your back." Since we are in the middle of the build up to the Civil War game between OSU and UofO, and College Gameday is setting up out on the Quad today, I don't think I can use the term "Be a DUCK." I could say "Be a BEAVER".... but I don't know if it has the same connotation.

Wordless Wednesday is a go...

I follow a number of other blogs... and more than one of them uses the concept "Wordless Wednesday". I think it is a fabulous idea and I am officially using it. The idea is that each week I post something on Wednesday that needs no explanation. It could be a great photo or something I come across that is worth sharing. I will start tonight with my favorite photo of my niece Katie - who will turn one on New Year's Eve.

Where did I pack that social calendar...

I know I used to have a social life. In Columbia, it always seemed to be filled with tailgates, departmental get-togethers, movie nights, Encore desserts (I miss y'all Annie, Claire and Sara), and Office nights ("That's what she said" Heidi and Jonathan).

But, as anyone who has moved to a new town without knowing anyone could attest, that social calendar doesn't get put to much use when you first move... unless it is to pencil in the cable guy. And, I don't make friends that easily. I am not exactly a social butterfly. (I know, you're shocked!)

Apparently, 4 months is the magic mark. Today, I was looking at my Outlook calendar and expecting to see more of the same: Days jam packed with meetings and appointments and classes from 8-5 followed by a sad, lonely existence in my apartment from 5-bedtime. No, my friends - I have a life.

I don't know if it's because of the season (because some of my appointments are no doubt obligation holiday invites and everyone is included) or because I am really starting to build a sense of community in Corvallis. In the next two weeks as the workload for the term is at it's most intense and with a research deadline looming large, I have:

• A Collegiate FFA Christmas party
• A First Friday game night with NW Hills Grad and Career...including pot luck dinner and games
• Harry Potter and dinner out
• Page CXVI concert....performing at Dox during Sunday morning service and at 1st Presbyterian Corvallis on Sunday night
• Departmental Christmas Party
• Dinner and Brooke Fraser concert in Portland
• Book club (Gulliver's Travels)
• WeightWatchers Meetings (I include them in my social calendar because the people at my meeting are really nice and I need to control SOMETHING in my life this time of year so this works!)
• My birthday (Yup, turning 31 - not freaking out like I was when I turned 30... more to come on that in a future blog post.)

I want to come out of this with stronger, deeper friendships. And, maybe, just maybe, there will be part of me that wants to come back from NC after the holiday break because it feels like I am connecting here. Here's hoping!

Anchoring Myself

When trying to lose weight it is helpful not only to have a goal, but to have an anchor... a reminder of what you need to be doing when times get tough. It can be any object but for many people, it is a "before" picture. 

How's this for a motivation picture? Eeek. 

Let's forget the fact that I had just come back from a retreat to the coast with the CFFA officers and overslept and didn't get a shower and didn't pack a belt: this picture was taken without my knowledge and posted to Facebook. I was horrified! It is just awful. It is the heaviest I have been in my life and it was captured on film. Ugh. 

I can make a lot of excuses for how I got here: "The PhD process is stressful". "I've had two miserable back surgeries that have compounded the weight issue and complicated any weight loss efforts." "I've been heavy my whole life." "I am a picky eater." They are all true, but they are still excuses.

Since this picture was taken (September 25th), I have started a water aerobics class and began using the Weight Watchers program. I am currently down 15 lbs (I even lost weight this week with the Thanksgiving holiday) and hope to never see another picture like this one. Until then... it is posted on my fridge as a reminder of where I will never go again. 

My Thanksgiving

What a great day. . My colleague invited me over (only a 20 minute drive) to their small family gathering....and, man, did they put on the real spread: Ham, Turkey, stuffing, rolls, pumpkin pie with ice cream, salad, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, bean dip, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, gravy, peppermint bark, Marionberry cobblery-goodness, pecan pie bites, and Martinelli's. My contribution: no-bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies - because it just isn't a Lambert holiday without them!  I am happy to have found friends who are willing to let me crash their family Thanksgiving. I am truly thankful to be finding a sense of community in yet another new place.

No travel and no airports... and, yet, through the miracle of SKYPE, I was still able to see my whole family and the decorated Christmas tree at the Lambert House. It's not the same as sitting around the table with them, but the next best thing when you have 3000 miles separating you and only a 4 day weekend. It was nice to chat "face to face" with my mom and dad, get a compliment on my outfit from a sister across the country and wave at my nieces and nephew --who always manage to make me smile when they are excited to see me :-) Thanks for setting that up, little brother!

And, now I have on my "I ate too much" pants and am going to settle in for a slow evening on the couch. But, Thanksgiving makes me all the more eager to get home for the Christmas holiday. And with a mom that loves Christmas as much as mine, this holiday is sure to be epic. Check out this shot of a Lambert Christmas tree from the past!