His New Favorite Spot

Maximus changes his favorite spot to nap every now and then and this is his new favorite. It's in the office in the recliner in there. The problem? It's microfiber and he is shedding!! I have to vacuum this darn thing ALL the time!

A Pleasant Surprise

I had just run a HUGE event called Healthy Kid's Day at our YMCA. The stress for this event was unreal. But it went off without a single problem and the community said it was the best event they had ever had at the Y. So I guess it was worth it. But I came in on Monday and found these on my desk from one of the vendors thanking me for such a successful event. It seriously made my day!! Even if it was a little creepy coming from the guy that it did.

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes

This is our Healthy Lifestyles Director from the YMCA. We helped support this event that raised awareness of abuse towards women. Men from all over Douglas County walked a mile in red or pink high heels. It was fun to watch!

And the Beard is Back!

It must be a man thing. Or a phase or something. But if it stays too long, I start threatening not to shave my legs!

Chris' Birthday and a Weekend Away

I finally got some comp time and Chris and I decided to take some time off and get away. We left Maximus with our pals the Arnells and drove off to the coast. We stayed at this amazing hotel and spa called the Overleaf Lodge in Yachats, Oregon. It was so peaceful and just what we needed. Our room had a fireplace and a great view of the waves crashing against the shore.

I had to get a picture from the website to do it all justice.

The spa was right down the hall from our room so we spent a lot of time there. They had a warm water bath that looked right out to sunset and the coast. We spent a lot of time here. They also had hot tubs and I took a relaxing bath soak. We also got a couples massage and ate an amazing meal right on the water. It was the perfect weekend!

This was the view from our room. I kept the balcony door open most of the time so we could hear the ocean. It was exactly what we needed.

The Ides of March? Almost...

So...this happened March 16th. Almost the dreaded day. I was having a rough week at work and very busy. I walked into our staff meeting and it turned out that our Active Older Adults trip was short one person and needed another chaperone. Well...I was nominated and left right away. It was SUCH a fun trip! We took a trip up to Salem and road an old steamboat ship on the river. While on board, we were served lunch and had a theater show. Afterwards, we toured an amazing old mansion and we went to a park and rode this carousel. I was having so much fun thinking maybe work wasn't so bad. UNTIL....

Me having so much fun! More fun than I had had in a long time.

I return to the YMCA and find this in the parking lot...We guessed that it happened about 1 in the afternoon. My poor car was broken in to. There was glass everywhere!

What did they steal? My cute gym bag that had over $1500 worth of workout music in it. Yep...all my Turbokick rounds, Piyo rounds, all my choreography notes, and other work out CD's as well as some equipment for teaching. The sad thing was that they probably thought this was a purse and probably just threw it all away. What they didn't know was that this SERIOUSLY hurt me! It would have been better if they took my purse!! It took me months to recover all the music and supplies to teach my classes. I had some of it backed up but not all of it.

So here I was the next day after spending forever trying to get all the glass out of my car. I felt like a total hick! And of course it was raining! We live in Oregon. Thankfully, I was able to get it fixed that afternoon so I wasn't a redneck for more than a few hours. When you move from a big city to a small town you think you are safe...apparently not. Needless to say...that same day Chris and I went out and bought a shotgun. Desperate times and a bad economy make people do crazy things and we wanted to be prepared.

The good thing about rain is that they bring rainbows. This rainbow framed our house! So cool! Since we have been here this has happened 3 times. The sky is so pretty here when it rains and then the sun comes out. We even get double rainbows ocassionally.

Little Guiseppe Gets Married!

With exception to Dan, who couldn't make it, the Umina kids were back together again! And of course causing all kids of trouble. It was so great to see everyone and have such a fun time dancing and celebrating.

Here is the group shot. Missing from the photo is Grandpa and Thelma. Chris and I really tore the floor up dancing with our nieces and nephew. There are just too many pictures to post here. It was such a great trip! Congrats to Joe and Jessica

Our Newest Hobby-Cycling

Chris and I have officially joined the world of cycling! We both bought road bikes and are now into all that cycling entails. It is a very expensive hobby! This picture was taken on our first ride together. There are some gorgeous country roads here in Roseburg and it was a beautiful day! This spot is where the North Umpqua and South Umpqua rivers meet. The Umpqua river is a big part of Roseburg. You can see in the picture that the South Umpqua (on the left) is more full of silt and sediment and the North Umpqua (on the right) is a gorgeous clear turquoise. They collide at this point. The North Umpqua is also a VERY fun river to float down.

And I'm back...

Hello folks!! So you say...where did Patience's blogging go? I was so on top of things until my job literally consumed my life and almost killed me. Well...maybe not killed me but definitely took me on a downward spiral. So...I quit my job and got a new one and here I am. It's been almost 7 months since my last post. Yikes!! I will be doing lots of updates in the next little bit so stay tuned. I will start with March of last year but will probably just do short posts to get myself caught up. I will also add some more updated songs to my playlist. Thanks for continually checking back in in hopes that I would post again. Your faith has been rewarded. Here they come!