Mt Hood Trip

Our trip, to say the least, was a blast!  Kerisa and I snowboarded two days in a row.  The second day we went with our friend Steve who is king of the mountain and he took us down the Alpine!  In his words, it was the best day EVER skiing in the back country.  Fresh tracks the whole way down and to top it all off we hitch hiked in the back of a truck 6 miles back up to the top. 
The weekend wasn't complete without a few awesome rides down the trail tubing.  The rest of our mountain crew don't snowboard or ski so we had fun showing off our stuff down the kiddy hill tubing.  By the end of the day the runs were getting icier which made us go even faster!  All in all it was such a fun weekend and the place we stayed was 1st class.  I couldn't have asked for a better crew to spend 4 days with than these guys.  I hope we get to do it again next year!

Summer and Fall update

Just a few things I've been up to this summer and fall. Picking fruit, planting in my garden and coaching volleyball, including a trip to San Antonio! Things are winding down into Winter now which means coaching 12U club volleyball and decorating for Christmas!

Coach Player Tournament

Saturday was a first for me and 4 of my 12U players.  We all played in a tournament together at the White Sands Beach facility in Hillsboro.  We were the youngest and (besides me) shortest team out there.  The girls thought it was really cool to play and dive (and dive and dive) in the sand.  I was a little concerned that some of them weren't going to last the day and get what to do but by the end of our 3rd game they were diving and moving toward the ball more than they ever have before!

We didn't win any games (we came REALLY close once...25-27) but they had a blast and we all came out virtually unscathed. 

Well, ALMOST unscathed.  I maaaaaay have broken my toe.  Yup, there's my toe.  All black and blue (and yellow and green and purple).  It's quite sore...and I can tell you this picture does not quite portray the array of colors that my toe has turned in the last 24 hours. 

But, we had a blast.  I had a lot of fun and thanks to my girls' wonderful parents I have pictures to prove it.  I will definitely do this again.

 

Ellen and I waiting for a ball to be served.  I knew I had a lot of fun yesterday; I guess the smile on my face proves it!

 

Katelin, the youngest player on my team, learning how to dive for a ball.  She was my NECTAR setter all day.  Did I mention she's only a 3rd grader?

Here's the whole crew between pool play games.  I'm not sure if Isabella could smile any bigger.  That girl has so much energy!  We all had so much fun, definitely going to plan for another one of these soon...minus the toe injury!

Whale Push Ups

Another day...another push up.

We have been doing A LOT of push ups in practice lately.  Whether it's not calling the ball, or walking when we need to hustle or whatever.  Lots of push ups.

Today, one of my players had had it...

Me: Ok, 5 push ups!

Player: I hate push ups

Me: Me too!

Player: Why can't we do WHALE push ups?  (Then she proceeds to lift her arms and legs above her head keeping her stomach on the floor).

Me: (laughing a lot) Ummm, if I did those I'd break myself.  Thanks.

Whale push ups?  Seriously?  Who is her PE teacher anyway?

The Latest Noodle

I can always say that "it's been a while" since I've posted since it's always a while between posts.  So, I'm going to skip that line this time.

Instead I am going to try to write more often, and be ok if there aren't pictures to go along with my posts.

My 12U team that I coach with my good friend Carly has kept me sane the last month or so when bargaining and state tests would drive anyone insane.  I have kids as young as 9 on my teams and they always make me giggle out loud every practice.  No matter how terrible my day is when I spend time with those guys it always make my day.

At our last practice we had a very special interaction occur that went a little something like this:

Me: We need a word to say anytime you guys mess up and have to run and touch the end line

A random player: Noodle
(others at this point shouting in agreement) "Yeah noodle!"
Me: Um ok, "noodle" it is (I looked at Carly and just shrugged...of course they would pick a word like that)
(A little while later)
The game carries on with either Carly or I shouting "NOODLE!" anytime the game required it.  Until one point I apparently took it too far...

Carly to me: I can't believe you just noodled them for that.
Yup, noodle is now a verb.

What's Happening?!

 A LOT HAS BEEN HAPPENING!  At my mom's this summer my niece (sort of) and I put up cedar planks on my mom's shed.  The two windows have are new (nice job Carlos!) and then Carlos went back and "fixed" all my mess-ups!  In the end I think it turned out great!

 Yep, the fun didn't stop at my mom's shed...no I didn't build the pergola but I stained it!  ALL FOUR SIDES OF THE 2x2's!  It was 9 hrs just that day.  In the end it was my sister holding a flashlight while Tramaine and I were brushing like crazy to get it done since it was super dark out!

 Tramaine, Dawn and I enjoying bbq'ed oysters!  I ate so many that day I still can't stand the idea of eating them!

 Later that weekend I got to make my own glass bowl.  This is where I added the color.

 After I added the yellow and red, I then added the turquoise...all the colors in my kitchen.  It was exactly what I thought it was going to be but I really like how it turned out.

 That blob turned into the biggest bowl that the glass maker said he ever had made in his kiln.  I felt pretty cool.

 My glass blowing buddy...you should have seen some of the random stuff he's made.  Some is a bit xxx...weird!

 My bff the otter was eating a snacky while we watched him...he was very cute.

 He was soo close!

 Horrid picture of me...not too shabby of Tramaine.  Don't worry, that's just a SHARK behind us!

ROAR!

Backyard and Garden

 

The great backyard has even changed since I took this picture but this is just an idea of what we've been doing this summer...lots of staining!

 

My garden is coming right along. I can't keep up with this gigantic rhubarb plant I have growing!  Its leaves are bigger than all 4 of the cats combined!

My herb garden has grown out of control this year too...luckily I can use almost all of them!  Its great to make fresh pesto, use the yummy rosemary on grilled potatoes and cut up chives in my sour cream to top those potatoes once they come off the grill!  All in all its been a lot of fun to learn to do.  I didn't think I had much of a green thumb but these raised beds are making me look good!!