It has been far far too long since I last wrote in my blog. I have no excuse and the consequence will be an epically long blog post. I never even posted that I graduated back in June and it is now September already. That means I skipped months worth of blog posts. So here we go! Back to June!
NCAA Track Championships at Hayward Field
I got tickets right above the finish line at the NCAA Track Championships and my dad and I went to the meet. We saw Aston Eaton and Andrew Wheating run and all of the other awesome UO track athletes. I ran down to the fence to get a high-five from Andrew when he did his victory lap. Here’s me waiting:
And I promise this next picture is him reaching out to give me a high-five. Just ask my dad, he took the picture:
Shortly after the track meet came my thesis defense and finals week. My thesis defense was outstanding! Professors Priscilla Southwell, Melissa Cheyney, Juan Epple and Helen Southworth all attended as members of my thesis committee. After I gave a brief presentation on my project and conclusions they asked me tough questions to determine the strength of my work. Afterwards I left the room with my friends and family and they discussed my performance and awarded me a “Pass with Honors.” Thank you to Mom, Dad, Janell, Mark, Will, Adrien, Jon, Johanna, and Kelsey for attending as well. It was wonderful to have you all there for support!
With thesis done and finals done I only had graduation left to look forward to. I decided to only attend the UO Honors College graduation ceremony. I could have also attended the general UO ceremony and the Romance Languages ceremony but I decided that one was enough. The morning of graduation I invited friends and family to go on a hike and then come to brunch at my parents’ house.
Here’s a photo of our hiking group on top of Mount Pisgah:
That evening I attended the graduation ceremony. We lined up ourselves to walk in and sit down so I go to place myself right between Christie and Adrien. Unfortunately the lighting was bad at night in the ballroom and reception area so I only have a few good pictures. Here’s my mom and I after the ceremony:
After graduation I started working full time in the UO Development Office. This is my third year working in the Development Office and I have learned a lot from working there. But my job there ends in just a few weeks because I can no longer work as a “student” worker now that I’m one full term past graduation.
On the weekends I also work for Eclectic Edge Racing helping with event set up, timing and results for running races and triathlons in Eugene and surrounding areas. It is mind blowing how many running races occur in the Eugene area during the summer. On most weekends runners can choose from multiple running race options without leaving town. No wonder this is Track Town USA. I was introduced to Eclectic Edge because they do the timing and results for the UO Triathlon Team at the Duck Bill Thrill. At the beginning of the summer the owner William told me they were swamped with work so I offered to help out and I am glad I did because I’m really enjoying it!
Tiffany’s Wedding
In July (yes I’ve only made it to July, August is still yet to come) Tiffany got married!! Wooohoooo!! I was a bridesmaid for the first time ever and family from my mom’s side came from all over to visit and help celebrate. My cousins Della and her husband Lee and their three boys, Jay, Cole and Shane stayed at my parents’ house for a few weeks! They brought their horses (Briar and Rebel who used to be our horses) all the way up with them from Arizona. The three boys are 14, 12, and 10 and they are so much fun! I loved having them around and they can come back anytime in my opinion. Of course I also work from 8am-5pm so I didn’t have to, I mean get to, spend all day with them everyday.
But! Back to the wedding. Here are a couple photos of the beautiful bridal party and of family.
I thought I had more pictures to show but it turns out the good pictures are on my mom’s computer so these will just have to do for now. But in summary, the bride was gorgeous, the weather was really hot, the cake was delicious, and it felt wonderful to see so many family members all together for the occasion.
A few more weeks of work passed and then August rolled around. I was desperately in need of a vacation and some fun. And Will it turns out was in need of a road trip companion to help him get from Portland to Asheville, North Carolina. He had been saying he was going to move there since winter so the time had come to follow through. We decided that we would take the trip together just a couple weeks before we actually left. The only problem was Will didn’t have a car. But he had two weeks and his parents’ offered to put $5,000 toward a car for him as a graduation gift.
Of course just because he had two weeks doesn’t mean he used those two weeks. Down to the day before we left I was still hesitant to tell people that we were going because I didn’t know whether or not it would actually happen. But when he finally bought a car (the day before our departure day) I was convinced and ready to go!
While he was hurrying to buy a car the day before we left I went boating with the Hutchinsons at Hills Creek Reservoir. I got up on the wake board on my first try! I love it so much that Kitty could have pulled me back and forth across the lake all day and I wouldn’t have stopped until my legs and arms gave out. Thanks for inviting Sierra and I and thanks for the fun time!
So Will and I had a car, we had a plan and we packed. We traveled for two weeks and we survived! Will has now been in Asheville for a few weeks, he has a job and he has a house. I couldn’t possibly write about the entire trip in my blog, especially not in this post which is already very very long. But I will list off the highlights. For the full view of the trip check out the photo album: Will & AlexAnn Road Trip Photos
Road Trip Highlights:
1) Lots of hiking, both in Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park in Montana and in Yellowstone.
2) “Boiling River” swimming spot in Yellowstone. It’s a spot where the hot springs flows into the river and you can sit in it. It’s a little tricky to find the perfect spot because the flow of the water makes it shift between hot and cold but it felt so good after a few days of not showering.
3) Visiting my Aunt Chris in Sheridan, Wyoming and seeing the Koi ponds build by my Uncle Dave above their earth home (the front is normal but 3 sides and the roof are built into the hillside). My Uncle Dave was killed by lightning on July 12 while out running to train for the Leadville 100 ultramarathon. I’m really glad we were able to stop and visit my Aunt and see my Uncle’s ponds during the trip.
4) We visited Will’s Grandma Greta in Neilsville, Wisconsin! She took very good care of us, that’s what grandmas always do.
5) We mountain biked in Brown County State Park in Indiana. This is the self-proclaimed “Mountain Biking Mecca of the Midwest”. We rented cheap bikes so I was single speeding it the whole way. Also the bugs were HORRIBLE and it was EXTREMELY muggy. Will made me go in front because he said, “You have to because if I go in front I’ll go to fast and I’ll crash!” So I went in front and got all the spiderwebs in my face.
6) CouchSurfing in Asheville, North Carolina (at some very interesting houses). If you haven’t heard of CouchSurfing before check it out: CouchSurfing.org.
7) Swimming in the Atlantic Ocean! It will never cease to amaze me how you can actually SWIM in the ocean in some places! It is so cool!
8. The plane ride home was sad because my vacation was over and I was leaving Will behind in North Carolina. To make matters even worse the flight experienced a lot of turbulence and I felt sick most of the flight. But this still falls into the “highlights” because I happened to sit next to a Nurse-Midwife who studied Midwifery at OHSU on my flight from Chicago to Portland. I was thrilled when I found out she was a midwife and I asked her questions for the rest of the flight.
My quick list of highlights ended up being quite long. In the future I will be better about writing more consistently to avoid huge posts like this one. Fall is slowly sneaking up on us now. I know because my UO friends are trickling back into town. I suddenly have a social life once again! I’m taking the GRE at the end of this month, then I will be taking two classes at LCC fall term and working. In a couple weeks my brother is getting married at Salmon Creek Falls Campground in Oakridge. Sierra and I will be flower girls in the wedding ceremony.
Last thing, I want to say thank you to my family for letting me live at home this summer! It has been great. And especially thanks to Sierra for letting me share her bedroom. I am lucky to have such a generous little sister!
