Happy 2010

Harvard doesn't quite understand the "dog bed" concept.

So I'm a little late with a New Year's post but that's ok. It's not like I'm in the habit of updating on a regular basis anyway. Life has been pretty good so far in 2010 if I recall correctly...

New Years was kinda crappy, but I've generally thought it was an overrated holiday anyway. That was Thursday night.

By Friday I was feeling good. I worked on unpacking and had sushi with my friend that night. It was a nice way to spend the day.

Saturday, I went to my usual kickboxing class and had a good chat with one of the other regulars. She said she was going to a tango practica later that night and said I should go too. I said I'd think about it. I did some more unpacking than called up my friend Gina to see if she wanted to go to the practica with me. And she did! So we went! It was pretty intimidating. I've never tangoed so it was all new, but it was fun. We learned some basics and met some new people. I'm glad that I tried it, but I don't know if I'll go back. I think I want to learn a dance, I'm just not sure tango is it.

On Sunday I went to church then to lunch with a friend. It was so nice out that we walked Greenlake after. Beautiful winter days are so few and far between that we would have been foolish not to!

Then Monday came and with it came school and basketball again. Both are fun and challenging in their own ways. I heart teaching. It's totally worth getting out of bed every day for.

On Tuesday I got to have dinner with my friend April. We went to El Salvador together with our church. We had good food and great conversation. The relationships that came from that trip have meant SO much to me I can't even begin to articulate it.

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty much business as usual, except for snowboarding. I'm a chaperon for the school's ski and snowboard bus. Which means I get to go snowboarding every Thursday for the next six weeks. It makes for LONG (13hr) days, but it's super fun and when else do I get to learn to snowboard and ride for free?!

On Friday I had an awesome day. I don't usually work on Fridays unless I'm subbing so I had the day off. I used some gift cards to buy a bunch of books online and groceries at PCC (I've decided to "go organic" and this was my first real step in that direction). Then Harvard and I went for a nice two mile long walk through my new neighborhood. I found a park (and P-Patch) that I didn't know was there then made my way down to the Lake Washington shores. It was so nice. We really lucked out with the weather too. It sprinkled occasionally but didn't start raining until we were almost back at the house. Once we got back I did some organizing/cleaning while Harvard napped. Later that night I went to see my pastor's son play varsity basketball. I haven't been to a high school basketball game in ages. It was fun and I was surprised by how many friends from church came to watch too.

Saturday my friend took me to my first orienteering race at Marymoor park. If you aren't familiar with orienteering it's pretty basic. They give you a map with check points on it and you go to the check points (in order) then return to the start. My course had 11 check points. The toughest course had 28 check points. I ran around, got muddy, tired, and cut up but had so much fun! I think I'm definitely going to have to do it again sometime. Sometime soon. AND it's something that Harvard can do with me. Unfortunately, kickboxing isn't the most pet friendly activity. From there I raced home to clean up so that I could meet my friend Stacey for lunch. She's another friend from my El Salvador mission. Like I said, those relationships have been a blessing! Then Saturday evening I babysat. It was a long/busy day. But it was such a good day.

Yesterday (Sunday) Harvard and I went to church. Yes, I took my dog to church with me! We got there early so we could go for a walk then we stood out front of church to greet my friends as they came by. I think Harvard enjoyed all the attention. He took a nap in the truck while I was at the service. After we went to puppy class! I've been looking forward to this class since the last class ended. This is Intermediate Obedience/Beginning Agility. Harvard is going to get to weave through cones, go up and down ramps, and jump through hoops. Not to mention hone his other basic commands like staying and heeling. He's such a good little student. After class he got his nails trimmed then went home for a much deserved nap. I got to organize my closet which is something I hadn't done. I had been just putting everything in there that belonged in there. But now everything is where it ought to be and it is so nice. I'm feeling much more settled now. For dinner I went over to a friend's house. We had Mexi-Sunday because Mexi-Mondays are no more. It had been several weeks since Christine and I had hung out so it was really good to talk with her. We also watched Away We Go, which is super cute.

So that's been my life lately. Mostly good things are going on. Each day I'm feeling more settled, relaxed, and optimistic. I suppose I should fill in some blanks... Flynn and I are no longer together as of a little over a month ago. That change meant I had to move, hence all the unpacking and organizing. I'm working on trusting God's plan for my life and so far so good. So yeah. 2010. I think it's going to be a pretty good year.

Harvard on his way home from puppy class. He's falling asleep sitting up!

He tried to fight it... but it was useless. The sleep was inevitable.