40 x 40 - 26. Ride the Train to See My Family

Before I tell you about riding the train, I feel like I need to set the scene:

In the summer of 2012, I went to Salem to spend a few days with my best friend Dawn and her family.  We had a great time visiting and spending time together.  We took her boys up to Portland to a warehouse that is nothing but trampolines.  We jumped for an hour and I don't think I have ever been so sore afterwards.

The next day Dawn and I went to the Portland Saturday Market.  We browsed around and found some treasures.  On our way back from Portland, about 10 miles from the exit for Dawn's house, I looked down and noticed that every light on my dashboard was on.  I made the split-second decision to not say anything to Dawn.  No reason to panic both of us.  I figured at this point that we were still moving forward, getting closer to her exit.  My car was still running, and as long it didn't start smoking, we would just keep going.

I started inching over from the fast lane, to the middle lane, to the outside lane.  Dawn was continuing to tell me some funny story about her boys, completely oblivious to my racing heart.  Finally we reached her exit.  Once I slowed down my car, I realized that my car no longer had power.  I could not accelerate anymore.  I calmly said to Dawn "don't panic, but I think my car is dying."  I have to give her credit that she didn't panic too much.  Luckily we had made it off Interstate 5 and were on the Parkway (which is still a busy road, but nothing like I-5).

We made a few calls, one to the local Hyundai dealership service department and one to Dawn's husband. It was 3:30pm on a Saturday and the dealership closed at 4:00pm.  They would not open again until Monday morning.  I called AAA and was lucky enough to get a fast tow to the dealership, just minutes before they left.





Meanwhile, Dawn's husband came from home a few blocks away and picked up Dawn.  She took him back home and then met me at the dealership.  Feeling bad for me, Grant decided to come along and treat me to a cupcake at his favorite place downtown.



So now I am stuck in Salem with a car that won't be ready for a week to 10 days depending on what they find when the service department opens in two days.  This was also about the time we were going to Gold Beach to go fishing for a few days so it seemed like a waste to rent a car to get home and then get back up to Salem in two weeks.  After talking with Scott, we decided that he would drive up on Sunday and pick me up.  We are housing one of our boys spare vehicles at our house so once we got back home I had something to drive. 

So I made it back home, leaving my car in Salem for a diagnoses.  This is one of the times in the story where I tell you how blessed I was that my car broke down when it did.  It could not have happened in a better place.  There is no dealership in our town; the nearest one being 77 miles away.  Had my car broke down at home, we would have had to had it towed all the way to the dealership.  That would have been a little expensive.  I was blessed to have Dawn with me, and to have her husband so close that he was able to come help us.  I was blessed that we made it off the Interstate before we had to pull over.  I was blessed that my husband had the next day off and could come and get me, never complaining once about driving 9 hours roundtrip in one day.  I was blessed that we had a spare vehicle to get us around for two weeks.  And I was especially blessed that my car was just under 100,000 and still under warranty.

Flash forward two weeks and a new alternator later.  How to get back to Salem to get my car?  Our town is right on the mainline of the Amtrak train.  Fortunately, so is my hometown. We researched taking the train north as an option.  The final cost of a one-way ticket, with our AAA discount, was $44.  That's well below a tank of gas to have someone drive up in a second car.  This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted to ride the train to see my family, but I guess when the opportunity arises, you take it.

When my car was fixed my brother-in-law and my nephew ran up to Salem to pick it up.  (Again, count your blessings!)  They were not going to be in town the weekend I was planning to go pick it up, so they dropped it off at the train station in Albany.  Scott had to work so he took me to the train station on his way to work.



Seven hours later I got off the train in Albany, got in my newly repaired car, and drove the four hours home.

Ok, so I know this is a stretch to say I rode the train to see my family.  But we are getting close the deadline for this list, and the stretch is going to have to do.

Riding the train was fun.  It would have been nice to have a partner, but I got lucky and got a nice kid to sit next to.  I plan to do this trip again, for fun next time.  Maybe in the winter when the view from the train will be completely different than in the summer.

40 x 40 - 17. Get A Pedicure

I'm sorry this post is not very exciting.  I know that most of you don't really want to see pictures of me at the local spa*, plus I was too chicken to actually take pictures during the process.

Back in May, Mother's day weekend to be exact, I hit up my good friend Heather to see if she would want to go to the local spa* with me and get pedicures.  Neither of us had done this before and were both a little nervous about the process.

We made appointments to assure that we would be able to sit side-by-side during the whole ordeal.  We laughed, we cringed, we tried very hard to relax while a stranger rubbed, buffed, scrubbed, and massaged our feet and legs.  But most of all we had fun.

I don't exactly remember what this photo is from, but I am guessing I wore shoes that were new and apparently rubbed me in all the wrong places.  The Band-Aids kinda take away from the pretty pink toes.



































So I have officially decided that I enjoy pedicures.  I have been back to the spa* twice since May.  Maybe I will have to make a quick stop by the spa* and get a holiday polish.  Maybe that will help me feel more festive.

*By spa, I mean the local Regal Nails at WalMart.  I love that they are fast, you don't need an appointment, and they don't expect you to make an conversation.  Plus I love watching all of the people of WalMart.  It's quite entertaining.

40 x 40 - 40. Be a Better (Friend) Person

I owe this whole list thing to my good friend Heather.  Every year she posts a similar list on her blog, which you can check out here.  After seeing her list, I was inspired to set some goals for myself.  Some of the items on my list are easy to determine if I completed them or not.  Others are more of a gray area.  When writing my list, I needed one more thing to reach 40.  I thought why not be a better friend.  I'm not sure how to judge if I have been a better friend over the course of the last two years.  I guess you would need to ask someone other than me about this one.  

The other day I was reading Heather's latest post and noticed out of the corner of my eye that one of her items still undone was to practice 12 Random Acts Of Kindness (RAOK).  I love this idea!  I wondered how I could tie this into my list.  Then I thought what if I changed #40 to just be a better person.  Then I challenged Heather to spend a day with me practicing 12 Random Acts Of Kindness each.  She immediately jumped on board with the idea and we spent two weeks each planning our list, not telling each other what we planned on doing.

We met up on a Sunday morning, compared our lists, and headed out to spread a little kindness around our community.  I won't give away what Heather's were.  You have to read them for yourself at her blog.  As for me, here is the list in no particular order:

1. Leave a surprise gift for a child - My friend Kim's three year old daughter recently started ballet and tap dance classes.  I picked up a few books about ballet and dancing, tied them together with a ribbon, and made a little card that was signed by a character in one of the books.  I gave Kim a heads up that we would be coming by.  I asked her to give me a few seconds after ringing the doorbell to get back to my car before she let Kenzie open the door and find her surprise.  This was my first act of the day and it definitely got my heart racing.

2. Take flowers to a nursing home and ask the front desk to give them to someone - This tied in with an item from Heather's list so we went in together.  We asked the ladies at the front desk to please give our items to someone who doesn't get many visitors.  In addition to cheering up a resident, it also brought a smile to the ladies who helped us out.

3. Hang a sign on a bulletin board - I will admit that I got this idea off of Pinterest.  I printed out a sign that said "Take What You Need" and included pull-off tabs at the bottom that had various words.  We went to a local grocery store and I hung it on the bulletin board in the entryway.

4. Send a care package to a soldier - I thought this would be easier then it actually is.  I did a lot of research on how to send a care package to a soldier overseas.  But in the end, I determined that it would be very expensive and most likely my care package would never actually reach a soldier.  During my research I came across an organization called Give 2 The Troops.  I was excited to also find out that they are actually based out of my hometown.  I felt good about making a donation to this organization.  

5. Leave a note on a public bathroom mirror - At one point during this adventure we ended up at the local gym.  I thought this was the perfect place to hang my sign.

6. Tape a bag of microwave popcorn to a Red Box - This included a sign that said "Make your movie night complete with this free bag of microwave popcorn."  

7. Leave a treat for someone - This item, far and away, was the one that took me most out of my comfort zone.  It's one thing to leave something behind for someone to find later.  It's another when you actually come face to face with the person you are RAOKing.  For this item I put together a basket of goodies for a new family in town. There were toys and coloring books for their four small boys, a loaf of zucchini bread from a local bakery, and tons of brochures that I picked up at our local Chamber of Commerce highlighting lots of things to do in and around our town.  I wasn't sure what I was going to say to them when I delivered the basket.  It took me a while before I was ready to do this one.  Unfortunately when we got to their house, no one was home.  I was secretly relieved.  We left the basket on the porch and headed out to our next RAOK.

8. Return a shopping cart for someone - This one made us laugh the hardest.  We practically stalked the people in the parking lot at our local grocery store.  First we had to select our target, and then we had to act nonchalant while trying to time our approach to someone just as they were finishing loading their groceries.  What seemed like the easiest thing on our list, turned out to be one of the funniest.

9. Buy a coffee for a stranger - Of course I had to include this cliche.  Early in the day we went through our favorite coffee stand.  After getting our coffees, I slipped this note and the attached $5.00 to the barista and asked her to use it to pay for someone else's coffee.  She smiled and took it.  As we drove away we heard her turn to the other barista and say "how cool!".  That was all the encouragement we needed to continue.

10. Leave change on a vending machine - You have no idea how hard it is to find a vending machine when you are looking for one.  This was the very last RAOK of the day. We settled for this water refill station at the local grocery store.

11. Randomly distribute $1.00 scratch-it lottery tickets - I made little signs that said "Is today your lucky day?  Enjoy this Random Act of Kindness".  I attached them to five $1.00 lottery tickets.  We then walked through a local store, randomly setting them out for people to find.

12. Leave $1.00 bills around inside the Dollar store - This was along the same lines as the lottery tickets.  I made a note that said "Use this dollar to buy something that is not on your list.  Treat yourself."  I attached them to five $1.00 bills and left them all around inside the local Dollar Tree.

It took us about two and a half hours to complete 24 Random Acts of Kindness.  So what did we get out of this little adventure?  We stepped outside of our comfort zone several times.  We got some exercise (we actually ran a couple of times!).  We probably looked a little suspicious a few times.  And, in the end, we got the great feeling that we spread a little happiness to more people than we will ever know.

40 x 40 - 15. Catch a Steelhead

I have talked before about our annual girl's steelhead fishing trip.  This year was our fourth year of battling for that elusive giant steelhead that would win one of us the Women with Bait tournament title.

The first year, I landed two steelhead, the first two fish I ever caught!  Also, the last two fish I ever caught!  The next two years I would come home with nothing.  When that happens, you tell yourself that it's not about actually catching a fish, it's about being out on the water with your friends all day.  And while that is true, it still sucks to be the only one on the boat to not catch a fish. TWICE!

The weather this year was beautiful.  When we weren't moving up and down river, we took our jackets off to enjoy the sunshine.  We stopped at a little beach to enjoy lunch.  Heather and I would have been fine taking a little nap at this sunny spot.

But no, Paula and Laurie were determined to get every minute of fishing in.

Heather was so excited to catch her fish.  Chad, the bait boy, did his job of landing the fish on the boat.  Don't be fooled, this little fish put up quite a fight.

When Chad wasn't busy netting our fish, he spent a good amount of time breaking the ice on the river so that we could get farther upstream.  We had to be careful not to breakup too big of ice pieces because they would then float down the river and disrupt the other boats out this day.

Then it was my turn!  I was so relieved to land this guy.  I didn't care how big he was, I just wanted to have something in my hands!

We were coming up on an ice bank with everyone's line in the water.  The boat driver told us all to go ahead and reel up and he would move the boat back to a good position.  As we're reeling up, Paula shouts that she has a fish on, which tells the rest of us to reel up faster so that we don't get caught up in her line.  That's the point when I realize that I too have a fish on.  As I open my mouth to say something, I hear Heather, who is standing next to me, yell that she has a fish on!  The next few minutes were a blur.  Three out of four us with fish on our lines. The boat driver desperately trying to negotiate the large iceberg that we are heading directly towards while trying to turn the boat in every direction so that we don't loose our fish.  The bait boy running from the front to the back of the boat yelling that we are going to CRASH.  And Laurie calmly grabbing the net and going from one to another landing our fish.  It was one of my most favorite fishing moments.

At that point, the boat driver needed a few minutes to regroup.  He immediately docked the boat on a snow bank and kicked us all off.  We were all so excited, we just kept telling each other the story over and over.

In the end, we would each catch at least one fish that we got to keep.  There were a few others, but they were native and we had to throw them back.

Here we are on the snowbank right after our triple landing!  Not only can Laurie net fish, she also caught the fish that would eventually come in second in the entire tournament.

You might wonder what the boys do while the girls fish the tournament.  This year they rented two drift boats and went fishing on a different part of the river.  Scott had a good day fishing as well.

We are all set for next year.  We've picked a date, reserved a boat, made lodging arrangements, and started planning what we are going to take.  Laurie has set the bar pretty high for the rest of us.  But me, I'll just be happy to catch any fish.

40 x 40 - 13. Complete Project 366 (Final Update)

Take a picture every day for an entire year.  It sounded pretty easy when we committed to Project 366.  Both Scott and I like to take pictures, and one or the both of us always has our camera with us.  Plus, with the capability of taking a decent photo with our phones, we had the opportunity o take a photo pretty much 24 hours a day.

So why were some days harder than others?  On more than one evening, the last words I muttered to Scott before we went to sleep were "did you remember to take a photo of something today?".  I am proud to say that we did take at least one photo every single day.  We ran into a slight problem when the SD card in my camera stopped working and we were not able to get about five days worth of photos off it.  We had backup photos for four of the days, but we did lose the photo for one day.  I know in my heart that we took a photo, so I had to get past that one and move forward.  We replaced that day's photo with one of the broken SD card.  After a few tense moments, I came to the conclusion that it was just part of the project.

Since the project is officially complete, I can cross it off my 40 x 40 list.  I can also catch you up with a few of my favorites from days 201-366. 

Day 212 - The day I stepped outside to find my cat but found this very large bug on my front porch!

Day 223 - The day we came home from a trip and found this really cool new yard ornament courtesy of our friends the Hoskins.

Day 227 - The day that Scott spent out on he Barry Point Fire.  

Day 261 - The day that Scott and Scotty went out hunting.

Day 274 - The day that we walked down to the river and Mack refused to come back home.  He would spend all day swimming if we let him.

Day 277 - The day that Kim and I went on the local farm tour.

Day 294 - That day that Scotty, Scott, and Nick went to the Boise State football game.

Day 303 - The day that Tonja and I went to the see The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Ross Ragland Theater.

Day 308 - The Saturday morning I backed through the garage door and officially trapped myself at home for two days until Scott got home from Ski Patrol.

Day 315 - The day we (Scott) re-ran the cable under the house to set-up his man cave.

Day 319 - The day the chickens figured out how to turn on their white light inside their coop all by themselves.

Day 328 - The day Dawn and I went shopping at 3:00am to get the best of the Black Friday deals.

Day 330 - The day Daisy discovered what happens when….well, I think this one speaks for itself.

Day 337 - The day that the rain soaked through the newspaper and made a heart shaped watermark when I opened it.

Day 359 - The day that Georgia and I got the same scarf (from two different people) for Christmas.

Day 360 - The day we went ice skating for Christmas.

Day 363 - The day my husband asked me out on a lunch date, then drove me four hours to Denio, Nevada for a famous Denio Burger.

Day 366 - The final day of the project!

Both Scott and I agreed that it felt strange not taking a photo on day 367.  Now I just have to figure out what I am going to do with all these pictures.

40 x 40 - 6. Attend My 20-Year Class Reunion

I can never understand when people say that they don't want to attend their high school reunion.  I had so much fun in high school and I have so many great memories.

I look at these pictures of myself from 20 years ago and I feel like they were taken just yesterday.

If given the chance, I wouldn't tell myself anything about how life would turn out.  All the good, the bad, and the ugly that has happened over the last 20 years has brought me to this point and I can't imagine being anywhere else.

There were, of course, those embarrassing moments in high school.  Like our senior English teacher who made us wear a Kermit the Frog puppet on our head on our birthday.  (If you look close, I am wearing a Ricky Van Shelton concert t-shirt that I got when we went to the Alabama / Ricky Van Shelton concert at OSU.  How many of you remember him?)

I always had the best Halloween costumes.  When you are blessed to have a mother who can sew just about anything, you learn to take advantage of it.  This photo would reappear at my high school reunion.

I also always had a homemade prom dress.  I loved this and was proud to tell everyone that I had a one-of-a-kind dress.  On more than one occasion my dad had to entertain my prom date while my mother finished sewing me into my dress in the back bedroom.

This was Junior/Senior prom my sophomore year.  I got to attend because my date was a junior.  The other couple in the photo are my friend Colynn and my cousin Troy.

This is Junior/Senior prom my senior year.  I went with my friend Chad.  Chad and I had been friends for all of high school and it seemed fitting to go together.  After prom, we drove up to Portland and watched the OMSI laser light show to Pink Floyd.  

But my favorite prom memory is from Homecoming my senior year.

Walking out on the football field during halftime of a football game with my dad is one of my all-time favorite life memories.  (No, I didn't win.  Jane Scheie did.  But it was enough to just be nominated!)

My freshman year was clouded by the school flag controversy.  For the entire school year, there was a huge debate about changing our school flag to something other than the confederate flag.  This newspaper article is from the beginning of my sophomore year.

It wouldn't be until the middle of my junior year before the confederate flag would be taken down from the school gym and replaced with a custom designed flag.  We were so young and naive.  We couldn't associate this flag with the history that it represented.  We could only see that the system was trying to take something away from us.  Looking back as an adult it's easy to see that the right decision was made.

Every year the class took their official photo in front of the tree that the first class planted in the courtyard.  This was a tradition that would only be changed when vandals cut the tree down a few years ago.

Can you find me in this photo?

Look close.

Immediately following our graduation ceremony, the parents put us on buses and took us up to Portland for an all-night party aboard the Portland Sternwheeler.  The next morning they brought us back to a local park in Albany where we had a little final ceremony and released balloons. 

Flash forward 20-years:

Remember how you thought everything was so big when you were a kid and then you go back and you realize that it was just normal size.  A walk down memory lane would not have been complete without visiting the place that gave me such great memories.

The class tree was gone, and in it's place was a beautiful flower garden.

Oh to be 18 again!

I never could have imagined how nervous I would be.  What if nobody recognized me?  What if I couldn't remember other people's names?

People did recognize me.  I did remember everyone's names.  But the nervousness didn't wear off; and I was not the only one.  When the formal part of dinner was done, and the emcee said that we had two hours to go until the next scheduled event, everyone just sat there.  No one got up to mingle.  No one got up to get another drink at the bar.  No one moved!  It was so obvious it was funny. 

Finally, John Barnes (who was always the outgoing one of the class) got up and silently walked to the front of the room.  He took the microphone and looked out at all of us.  He said that if no one was going to mingle, he was going to call us all up one at a time and ask us questions about our life.  It took a few people being called up before people started volunteering to go up.

Everyone was grateful that John did this.  It was so much fun hearing about where people are and what they are doing with their lives and their families.  It made it much easier to "mingle" later.

The turnout was not the best, but those of us that did attend had a great time.