the northwest revisited: part 2

On our second day we went to the Oregon Coast. We went to the lighthouse at Cape Meares and had a little tour. WE GOT TO GO IN THE LIGHTHOUSE. What a dream come true. It was blistering hot up in that thur lighthouse, but the view was stellar.

We went to Oceanside and walked around on the beach for a while. The whole trip I had my phone in my back pocket and my camera bag around my neck. But for the beach I decided to ditch them both and just take my camera around my neck. Lucky I did, because that would have been yet another piece of my technology swallowed up by a body of water. Because, you see, Lizzie and I were just walking around, taking pictures, and Jake was climbing a log pole while Brian took pictures on the GoPro. The waves would come up on the beach and maybe touch our toes.

 

AND THEN. 

This gargantuan wave thrust itself upon the shore; hurling itself at everyone and everything in it's path. Lizzie has fast reflexes and booked it outta there. I saw the wave but didn't think it would be too much of a nuisance. But oh, how wrong I was. It hit my legs hard and I almost fell as I was running away. All I could do was just plant my feet there and try not to get knocked down. Unfortunately, it did knock me down pretty quickly. I had my fancy camera in my right hand. When the wave finally toppled me over I landed on my left hand (which later became extremely swollen, like a ripe tomato, but not red like a ripe tomato. More like purple like a plum). Just wanted to be descriptive in case you don't know your color wheel well. And, what do you know? I sprained my thumb.

Anyway, the water swirled around me and swept me up the beach. My first thought was, 'Oh my gosh, I'm wearing clothes and they're soaked now,' but after that all I could think about was saving my dear camera. Jake and Brian were back by the pole, both of them got pretty drenched, including their phones. (Luckily their phones made it). All they could see was my head and my camera above the water. Finally the wave slowly went back down and I felt some arms behind me help me up. Those arms belonged to this really cute guy (pictured below). It's like those stories where the girl is drowning and the cute lifeguard saves her life. Except on the extreme level that would be a ten and my story would be a two. And also he wasn't a lifeguard. And also I wasn't drowning. But still. There are similarities.

We stopped along the way home to use the bathroom. A massive pile of sand spilled out of my pants onto the bathroom floor. I got a tissue and tried to sweep it all up, but I couldn't. There was just too much sand. So, sorry guys who work there. I left a beach in your bathroom. Actually, you're welcome.

the northwest revisited: part 1

I've been dying to go back to the northwest from the second I stepped foot outta thur. So for like, 8 months. A few weeks ago, it finally happened and it was pretty fantastic. I got so excited when were driving along the Columbia River Gorge, even though it was 2 in the morn and dark as dark. But man, you could still see that tree line against the night sky from the pine trees and I love that. A lot.

Brian, Jake, Lizzie, and I left for the long stretch of driving Friday evening. We stopped at Jake's mom's house for some dinny din din and drove all night like a boss, except there were four bosses. We arrived in Vancouver at roughly 4:00 am. We dropped in at Betty's house and took a few hours to snooze. After catching those zzz's I hopped in the shower and it was ice cold. The heat was off and gosh dern it, I couldn't remember how to turn it on! But no matter, we all showered in it anyways (not together). We went to Killer Burger with Gordon and Betty, themselves! and got peanut butter burgers. Everyone was skeptical but after trying them they were totally into them. 

We drove on over a bunch of bridges to the Saturday Market in Portland. We feasted our eyes on the strangest people; a knife thrower, a hipster, two men doing some weird martial arts, bums...

We found the Cullen's house and some old guy was sitting on a chair reading by one of the massive windows. He probably hated us. Daggum nosy kids!

We went to a park and walked up this trail amongst the trees for a few miles, which was rather scenic. And then all we wanted to do was eat and sleep. So, we did, okay?

spiders.

I have arachnophobia I think. I hate spiders just as much as your average girl. I won't scream if I see one. I will shiver a little and maybe get a little squirmy. Every night I get into bed, search under and over my covers and look all around the walls and ceilings to check for spiders. Usually there are none in sight. Now, what caused this paranoia you may wonder? Many experiences.

Once in high school, I was reading scriptures in bed when I saw a movement in my peripherals. I looked to the pillow next to me and there was a spider intruding on my sleep premises! I quickly turned to my right to grab a tissue. I turned back to the spider, prepared to kill, but it was gone! IT WAS GONE. I tore my sheets apart trying to find it, but alas, it was too clever for me. I slept on my bare bed with a quilt that night. Def not in my covers. Ever since then, pre-bedtime spider checking is a normal routine in my life.

One time in college, when Lizzie was my roommate, I had a dream in the middle of the night (Imagine that!). In that dream, a spider was on his string lowering down from the ceiling, about to make my face his landing post. I woke up and shrieked and jumped out of bed, heading for the light switch. Lizzie woke up and thought I was getting kidnapped. Once the light was on I came to my senses. I told her about my dream and apologized for my outburst. Then we examined my bed, just in case. Lo and behold there was a spider on the side of my bed. For realz. We freaked out. That was the day I learned of my sixth sense.

The following summer, Lizzie and I were in a new house. I had an identical dream, freaked out, ran to the light switch, turned on the light, then realized that I was now in reality. There was no actual spider this time. Just a creepy crawly nightmare. That was the day I learned that I maybe don't actually have a sixth sense. Dern it.

This summer, 5 out of 7 mornings I would get in the shower (clarification: I showered 7 of 7 days) and there would be a spider, just waiting to wash up. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't handle the swift speed of the water streams, or the immense quantity of water spewing out. So, down the drain he would go. Luckily, my dad got some sprayage and there are no more spiders in my shower, or anywhere. I can step into the shower with no more worries of spider guts on my feet.

But, pre-bedtime spider checking is still a nightly ritual. And post spider nightmare checking is a monthly tradition.

half of a marathon

i completed half of a marathon a few weeks ago. that's 13.1 miles, if you didn't know. i never thought i'd make it that far. but, i did! obviously. katie and i ran it. not together though, because katie beat me by like 25 minutes. after one mile she said, "see ya!" and took off. it's okay though, because i just kept going. it was like the tortoise and the hare. except the hare totally won, but the tortoise still finished. and it was actually fun! running down big cottonwood in the mornin. the last few miles got a bit treacherous, especially the last little bit to the finish line. i couldn't keep running! i had to stop! but i couldn't! there were too many bystanders! so i ran my little heart out and finished with a whopping time of 2 hours and 17 minutes!

lindsay, mom, dad, and a cute boy were waiting for us at the finish line.

after the big run i grabbed some powerade and pizza and got a nice little massage.

I can finally check that off my dear bucket list. But of course I'll do it again. I think.

(Sorry, these picz are kinda blurry due to phone camera lack of quality)