Moving on, and moving up.

As many of you may already know, my time here in Portland has finally come to an end.

About a week ago, I put in my notice to the OPH and my final day of work will be April 8, 2010. After that I will be moving to Omaha, Nebraska.

I can already hear a lot of you saying “NEBRASKA!?!” But yes, it’s true.

My cousin Meg, who I am very close with is expecting a baby girl May 17th. I am going primarily to help her with the baby. She’s rather young, and in a matter of speaking, doing this on her own. I’ve always loved kids, and would love some at some point in my life- but until then, I’ll do my best to help her take care of hers :)

I’m very lucky that I know a few people on the way which will help break up the drive a bit. My first leg of the trip will start on April 20 and take me to Lehi, Utah where I’ll stop and stay with my good friend Alisa for a day or two. From there I’ll continue onto Greeley, Colorado to stay and visit with my old Cheer Ltd. friend, Brodie. I’ll stay with him through the weekend then continue on into Omaha on either that Sunday or Monday.

Once I arrive in Omaha my highest priorities will be helping Meg with whatever she needs me to do, and finding a job in the area. Considering that I’ve been waiting tables these last four and half years I’ve thought about finding another serving job since it can pay so well. But honestly, I’m making this move to better my life and move on to the next step- so that will only happen if after weeks of searching I cannot find work. It is my goal to find office work (I’ve never NOT worked in food), or hopefully, I can get enough photography work, that photography will FINALLY be my main source of income. I’ll definitely keep everyone posted on my job status when that time comes.

I am so extremely blessed to be part of such a loving family. I am so thankful that not only have my parents been kind enough to let me live with them these last five years, but now my aunt and uncle will be letting me live with them. I really cannot wait to live with them and see how the cornhuskers do things.

As new and exciting as all this will be... I won’t be able to get too comfortable.

A few of you may already know that I have had plans in the works for about six months now to move to New York City sometime in September.

I’m moving there to follow a long time dream of mine to become a full time fashion photographer. I plan on finding a working photographer who I can intern/assist with for an indefinite period of time. I have been told by many people that the best education a photographer can get is not through school, but through assisting a working professional. So- that’s exactly what I’ll be doing. I hope that after some time I’ll be able to branch off and focus completely on my own work. I do not have any particular photographers lined up as of yet, but again will keep you posted when that changes.

As cheesy as it is, I have to give a big thank you to Facebook for reuniting me with old friends and keeping me updated with them. It is through the glory of FB that I have kept in contact with my future NYC roommates. I plan to be living with two girls I cheered with in high school, Alaina and Emily! We’ll all three be moving there together at the same time learning and exploring the city together. From the conversations we’ve had thus far, I honestly don’t think I could ask for better roommates.

I know I’ll be sad to leave the life I’ll just have started in NE, but I know that I need to give NYC a chance right now and I could not be more excited to live that part of my life.

I’ll be updating every couple of weeks, so if any of the above sounds remotely interesting to you- check back to see what I’m up to!

Also- I’ll be having a going away party on Saturday April 17th. The location is TBA at this time. I’m hoping to find a bar that has a photo booth- any suggestions?

AND- I’ll be having a moving sale that same weekend! Please come, or spread the word!

Thank you for taking the time to read all of this, I know it was a long one, but really important to me.

29:13

What’s with the title you ask? Oh that’s just my time for the 2010 Portland Shamrock Run!!! I ROCKED that 5K!

Now, I certainly did not get the fastest time in my group, but that is the fastest I have ever finished a 5K! I’m so proud of myself! And I felt like I was running slow!

It’s not often that I get a Sunday off. And when I do, it is generally because I want to get out of town. So it is even more rare that I would spend a free Sunday in Portland.

I could not have asked for a more perfect day.

I woke up bright and early get get a banana and some oatmeal in before the race (gotta get those carbs!) and headed over to Johnny, Jori, and Jakes house to head out to Beaverton to meet all the other Next Level runners. We all made it down town with about 40 minutes to spare before the 5K race started. Perfect opportunity to take a few pictures before we ran!

The whole Next Level group before the run! *Notice the sun isn't even up...

Me and Lisa, my former trainer. I miss her!

Jo and I after we'd both passed the finish line! I'm so proud of both of us!

One of the things I really love about The Next Level is the sense of team... whoever finished first was waiting at the end to cheer the other’s on. It was fantastic. One of the Next Level runners, Gladis is 75! It was so great watching her pass through the finish line. She is such an inspiration... and proof that it is never too late to get in shape and take care of your health!

After everyone was done running we were all starving! I went with Jo and the rest of her family to Marco’s Cafe and had the yummiest bacon and cheese omelet! At breakfast Jo’s brother, Mat offered me his suite tickets to the Blazer game that night (with free parking included)!

GO BLAZERS!!!!

Of course I couldn’t turn that down so I got ahold of a few people I thought might be interested which turned out to be my sister, my good photographer friend Quavondo, and his friend Jason. We had a blast at the game and of course, because they’re just awesome, the Blazers won!

Can you see Jessica? She looks so official!!!

Anna and I having a chin-off... who do you think won? I think I got her beat by about 5 chins!

Quavondo and I rootin' on the Blazers!

Jessica was in town for the night to work with a guy who does something big and fancy for the Blazers. She got to eat all the free food she could manage while she was working so after the game she wasn’t too hungry, but she made sure to let me know that dessert was a must! ;) Well where else would one go at 10PM on a Sunday night in Portland but Papa Hayden’s!? Sooooooo delicious! I got a triple chocolate cake and she got some yummy raspberry chocolate cake-thing. I do not regret it, not even a little. I can’t wait for next weekend when I finally get to go up to the Tacoma/Seattle area to see her new digs! She has to work while I’m there, so I plan on keeping myself entertained with H&M therapy :)

Well I hope everyone’s week is off to a great start. Wish me luck on my final tomorrow night! I will feel such relief when that damn test is over and done with!

Till next time...

Do you, ZUMBA?!

I’m sure you all could agree, that your days off never seem to be enough.

There’s never enough time in a day to get all the things done on your to-do list that you wanted to. Well I’m no different, but I must say, today was a rather productive day!

I woke up nice and early to get some breakfast and then get to the gym in time for some Zumba! Have any of you ever tried Zumba? It is honestly the most fun I’ve ever had working out in my entire life. The entire hour, I never stop smiling. Now, I probably look like a complete idiot the whole time. But I’m quite fine with that; in fact, I think that’s half the fun. Have any of you seen the episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. where Phoebe and Rachel go running in Central Park and Rachel discovers Phoebe has her own take on running....? Well I feel like Zumba is for the Phoebe’s of the world. And you burn a ton of calories while doing so! And it’s not just for girls! There are guys in the class too! I highly recommend anyone and everyone give it a shot, at least once.

After the gym I headed over to Hapa to meet up with my old workout buddy, Jan. It was so nice to get a good healthy meal, and catch up with her. Straight from lunch, I headed over to my friends (who is to remain nameless for the time being) house to do the first of many in maternity series! She’s only 9 weeks right now, but we’re going to do a shoot each month up until the birth! I can’t wait to see her little baby bump grow!

Check back in about 7-8 months to see how the series develops!

After the shoot, I made it out to Tualatin to visit my good friends at Oregon Photo to pick up some pictures. I love that place. If any of you have any printing needs, I encourage you to check them out.

So for a while now, I’ve really been craving some homemade baked macaroni & cheese. I’ve never tried making it with chicken, but I thought that sounded like it would be pretty yummy too :)

For my birthday my boss, Jo bought me the recipe book, Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld; in that book, they have a recipe for some pretty good looking mac n’ cheese so I thought I’d give it a go! I’m such a picky person, that the book is perfect for me. It basically is a ton of recipe’s on how to get fruits and veggies into your diet by pureeing everything and adding them to your favorite dishes. (shhhhh it’s meant for kids!) The recipe called for “white puree” which just consists of cauliflower, zucchini, and lemon juice. I didn’t have any zucchini, so I added red bell pepper and red onion. I know the whole point is to make it white so your kid doesn’t know it’s in there... but when you’re making it for yourself, that kind of takes out the element of surprise, plus I love the flavor of the bell pepper and onion I just hate the texture. So here’s what I put into my mac n’ cheese:

• Safeway brand organic whole wheat rotini

• non-fat milk

• “white” puree

• Albertsons brand organic boneless, skinless chicken breast, grilled (2)

• Tillamook special reserve extra sharp cheddar (by the way, it says to add only 2 cups. TWO CUPS!! Are they crazy? Yeah, I probably added at least 5 cups)

• two egg whites

I also was very pleased to find at the store tonight, Mike’s hard raspberry lemonade. It’s my favorite and it’s limited edition! So of course I HAD to get some, right?!

I should probably add that while I took a look at the Deceptively Delicious book, the recipe I used was actually from The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine, which is essentially the same concept, I just happened to like the recipe better than DD... for tonight.

So alright, maybe that Zumba this morning was completely pointless... but I don’t feel that bad. My dinner was delicious! Plus I had a healthy breakfast and lunch. AND I’ve got the Shamrock Run coming up on Sunday! *Wish me luck!*

Well I will leave you all with that. This one has gone on much longer than I expected it would. I commend any of you who actually read the whole thing. Pretty boring if you ask me (but not as boring as... you-know-what, right Jenny G!?)

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

1st blog post

Real original title eh?
Well I don't have much to post for this first one... just trying to figure out how this whole blog stuff works.
I feel much inspiration from many different bloggers including, but not limited to: my sister, my high school friend, Erin (though her blog more inspires me to get my act together to start a photography blog or website which in turn would help create jobs for myself), my old Cheer Ltd buddy, Jessica, and especially lately, Missy. Missy post's a blog daily of what she eats as a way to keep herself accountable for living a healthy lifestyle. She was published in Shape magazine back towards the end of 2009 and I've been following her ever since.

So I think you'll be getting a whole mix of posts from me.

Snapshots.

Food posts.

"Real" photos (my work).

Vent sessions.

Love sessions.

More to come soon....

I don't know when or how often I'll be posting, but please do check in every once in a while.

And please! I appreciate any feedback! I'm very new to this and am interested in hearing your comments and/or suggestions!