What's my age again?

My brother aptly pointed out that I was the ripe age of 8 when the Blink-182 song was released, but that doesn't stop me from quoting a classic on my birthday. Yes, I turned 23 this weekend, and I got to spend my time with my wonderful boyfriend in Walla Walla. 

When I arrived, he was at work, but he had a dozen lavender roses waiting for me and a note reminding me that I'm loved ... and that I'm now two years older than him--it's only for a month but he enjoys calling me a cougar for it. 

Later, he gave me a bigger birthday gift--a black blade ceramic knife by Kyocera. It's really the best. I'm over the moon about it. It will likely be the only knife I ever use now. 

The other part of my birthday gift (yes, he spoils me) was a home-cooked meal. He let me choose everything. I made the salad based on a zesty kale salad I had at a friend's house a few weeks ago, and a mushroom lasagna I'd been wanting to try. I was really proud of him--he did everything with the lasagna without help. I had a fun time explaining how the flour, butter, and milk mixture he was making was called a roux. For dessert, we had lemon sorbet float with grape juice (or alternately with a berry wine). Woah, baby. It was good.

It had been far too long that we'd been apart. It was nice to cuddle in the breeze of the a/c, watching Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amélie, and talking face-to-face. Amazingly, we only watched one episode of House of Cards. 

image via nypost.com

Sunday morning, we went to Bacon & Eggs. We'd heard great things from all our friends about it and decided to try it out. We made it right between rushes and waited an extra two minutes (gasp!) to sit outside. Had we arrived later, it would have been too hot, but a 10 am brunch did just fine for us. Michael ordered the special for the day, Eggs Benedict with heirloom tomatoes, pesto, hollandaise, and bacon. I ordered chilaquiles with two poached eggs. I'd forgotten how much I love chilaquiles. We both highly recommend Bacon & Eggs if you're ever in the Walla Walla area.

Fight right

I've read a lot about relationship and about fighting and I've always prided myself on my argument/discussion abilities. Well, pride comes before a fall, and I've realized, this week especially, that I'm a horrible fighter--probably one of the worst. 

In fact, I find that I want to be right more than I want to find a solution. This is not a good attitude and I know it needs to change.

"Before Your Next Fight, Read This,"the title says. And it's right, which means you probably need to read this right now. I wish I had. 

This is probably the thing I needed most to hear: When fighting, "I can say and do things to turn both of us into partners. All it takes is persistence in trying to understand [my S.O.'s] point of view so that [he] feels appreciated."

Find out what I'm talking about here. I'm sure this article made the rounds when it was first published, but it really needs to resurface. 

No easy answer

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Today we lost a duck--Mac. For a few weeks, we've known that there is a momma raccoon with three little babies living in the backyard, but today tragedy struck. The two ducks were let out into their bath and forgot about. I took Kindra's brother to the gym to her mom could do things around the house. I got back just when Kindra was getting home from work.

As I came in and sat down on the couch, I heard a yell from Kindra. At first, I couldn't tell if it was excitement or fear. Further cries established that it was sadness. I ran outside to find her with one of the two ducks, clutching her tightly in her arms. The other, she told me between sobs, had been killed by the momma raccoon.

Kindra went inside and got a gun. She waited for the raccoons to show themselves but when the little heads appeared above the fence. She turned around, put the gun away, and left the house.

This is not an easy thing to deal with. The chickens and ducks are pets, not just livestock. I think I would have reacted exactly the same.

But now I wonder, what should be done? Should we put extra barriers on the coop and leave the raccoons as they are? Should we relocate the raccoons? Should we exterminate them? None of these options are good because no matter what we do, we've already lost a duck--a favorite duck.

This is not a happy day for us. Only time will tell what we decide.

Strength

Campsite before summiting Mt. Whitney--Hitchcock Lakes

Three of my girlfriends, Kindra, Julie and Sera, and I are prepping to backpack the Lost Coast. The Lost Coast is an 55 mile stretch (approximately) of hiking trail in northern California along the beach. The closest town would be Petrolia, CA. There's not much around but it is beautiful. It's known to be a trip to remember--a trip you will never regret.

Last year, Kindra, Julie, and another great friend Brenna, hiked from Onion Valley to Whitney Portal, summiting Mt. Whitney the 8th day of our 9 day trip. Julie was in great shape because she runs. That, and she's always been really fit. Kindra, Brenna, and I are all about the same level so starting out was pretty tough. By the end of the trip, we felt pretty unstoppable, but I remember distinctly on the first day, thinking we would never get away from the parking lot. It seemed like we could see it every time we looked back.

This year, I hope to be more prepared, not because I don't think I can do it, but because I want to be able to enjoy the trail more and not be so focused on my pace and breathing--I want it to be a more natural experience.

Brenna, Julie, Me, Kindra
At the end of our 9-day journey--Whitney Portal

So, Kindra and I have been doing one of those infamous 30-day-challenges. We chose the "Beach Body Challenge." We hate the name, but we picked it because it works a lot of different parts of the body. It seemed more holistic, which we like.

Today, we made it to day 12. We did the day 12 challenge yesterday because we both overused our wrists at work--go figure. So today, we tackled day 11: 25 pushups and 75 tricep dips. It was unpleasant--quite unpleasant. A lot of grunts and stifled curses floated through the house.

Today's challenge made me realize just how weak I really am. I cannot successfully complete a single pushup because I have a weak wrist. Okay, that's actually a cop-out. I can't successfully complete even one pushup because I have no arm strength.

I've always said I want to be strong, but I've never done anything about it. Now, I'm doing something. I want to keep it up and pick up the pace. I want to be ready to do things at a moment's notice.

Me at the top of Mt. Whitney.
The flag is a copy of a flag some of our friends used
in a music video for Walla Walla University

Manual labor

For the last three weeks, I've been taking care of an older couple's home in the area. I met the wife, Gwen, at Jazzercise and when the group went out to coffee afterwards, I made it a point to give my number to as many of the Jazzercise ladies as possible. I made sure I emphasized that I'm willing to do hard work outside in the sun, or clean, or do pretty much anything they might need. Just an hour later, I got a call from Gwen and another call from a woman named Mary who needed me to house sit and take care of her dog for four days.

I'm a little bit embarrassed I took this photo,
but this was after my first day of work.
I was pretty proud.

My soapbox topic for today is that if you're willing to work hard an make yourself available, good things happen.

The reason I'm in Maltby, WA this summer and not at home in NorCal, or in Walla Walla, WA with my boyfriend, is that I'm taking summer classes at Everett Community College. I decided to add another minor to the mix during my last year of college (genius or crazy? The jury's still out). In order to make this happen, I have to take one Into to Web Design and Intro to Photography, otherwise my class load will be overloaded come fall.

First day of class at EVCC

I was very excited about this because I get to live with my best friend, Kindra, and her family in their amazing fixer-upper house complete with a treasure trove of a garden. However, my summer classes only last 8 weeks and this really isn't enough time to get hired and trained out in the "real world."

So, I took matters into my own hands and hired myself out to Gwen and Mary. Last week, I was at Mary's house taking care of the cutest golden doodle, Daisy, and every Tuesday and Wednesday, I've been pulling weeds in scorching sun and pouring rain at Gwen's house. I even spent 6 hours digging and hole and power sawing roots out of the way so she could plant a new hydrangea bush in the perfect spot. I've gained muscles and a tan, and invested in a awesome pair of purple work gloves (I swear, it makes a difference for my attitude).

My work may not be much, but it's getting me through the summer. I have a small income that I was worried I wouldn't have at all. I'm so glad I put my pride aside and gave my number out. I even gave my number to a realtor when I walked through the open house she was hosting down the road. These may not have been the jobs I envisioned working this summer, but I'm proud of my work ethic and I'm proud that I made a good enough impression to some strangers that they hired me with no hesitation.

This is Daisy. She was a handful, but so nice!

Making splashes

For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to wait until I designed my own blog layout and created a logo before I started writing posts. I realize now, that was a terrible idea. 

I can start writing posts right now, at this very minute and when things come together, they'll come together. So what if my blog isn't the prettiest out there? I want to write and share things so I'm going to. I'm jumping into the blogosphere head first and we'll see where it takes me.
I know my reasons for blogging will change as time goes on for now, I'll just share what I want to share and as I get feedback and see how much I enjoy certain types of posts, I'll change the way I write.

So, hello world! It's me, Andrea, and I can't wait to get to know you!