Beatiful Places I get to go :)

I promised myself before I got on another plane (tomorrow Ben & I are going to AZ), that I would share with the world some pictures from some of the beautiful places I have been to over the summer. As you know I have the opportunity to travel quite a bit being a meeting planner. Sometimes this is fun, like when you get to go to Savannah, Chicago, DC, Charlotte, Nashville and so on. Sometimes, I know it may be hard to believe, but it's not so fun in places like Little Rock, Cincinnati, Las Vegas, Dallas, etc. I don't know, sometimes I am just content staying right here in little old Portland where sometimes the beauty takes your breath away.

Savannah, GA

View from my hotel room.

Do you see Forest Gump? Well, there is the bench.

...and then there is Chicago :)

Hey T! Most fun when you can visit friends.

Chicago is a very cool city!

And back to Portland...Ahhh....

Tagged...Thanks Jen

I've Been Tagged!

Rules:Post rules on your blog. Answer the six "8" items. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment.

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
Worked
Shopped for Xmas presents
Bought some art
Went to the dentist to get fillings and then leaving because my dentist mis-diagnosed me
Packed for AZ
Did Laundry
Made apple butter...again
Went to bed at midnight...way too late

8 Things I Look Forward to:
My cruise with Tev in January
Christmas with all the Corley's
Thanksgiving in Arizona
For our house to be finished
Being a mom
Ben graduating
Ben getting a grown up job
Retirement

8 Restaurants I Like:
Pizzacato
Papa Hayden's
That little mexican place on 23rd street
IHOP (I just love their sweedish pancakes)
Chevy's
Southpark
Hot Lips Pizza
Aqua Riva

8 Things On My Wish List:
Have a family
Be debt free
To serve a mission later on with Ben
Lose weight (never ending wish)
To stay in love my whole life
For my friends and family to be happy
To successfully own my own business & work from home
Continue to go on at least one vacation a year

8 Favorite TV Shows:
Amazing Race
Survivor
The Bachelor
America's Next Top Model
Dancing with the Stars
Girls next door (hate to admit it)
Grey's Anatomy
90210 (sometimes)

8 People I Tag: (You're It!)
Rachel
Valerie
Torey
(I don't know that many people that blog?)

Your running the wrong way....

Stretch and grow!














My Cheerleader














Am I really ready for this.....NO :)














Well I have my number...hear I go!

Sooooo after I ran Hood-to-Coast I was so impressed with myself that I decided to sign up for a half marathon with my friend Karie Cason (Dain's wife). Little did I know that after I ran HTC I would have no desire to keep training. So when the week before the half marathon rolled around and I had not been training I simply called Karie to say "no go" on the half, that I could maybe run a 10K. I experienced a little dissappointment there and so I decided to keep to my earlier and crazy committment to run. Saturday bright and early we drove down to Eugene and started to run. After about 2 miles, I forced Karie to run ahead feeling the pain of not training already and I was quite a bit slower than her. About three miles into it...ahhh a water station...distracted and happy to get my thirst quenched I threw my cup in the trash and kept running. Continued to run and run and run...I started to wonder where the mile markers were, knowing that I had to have at least run another mile if not two??? The trail ahead came to a dead end and went on to a street in a residential area. Hmmmm, I wondered to myself where is everyone I did not think I was the last one in the race??? I swear there were people behind me before.... before when, before the water station. Hmmm, I asked a lady on a bike coming ahead, have you seen any runners up there. Nope she responded....strange I thought. I must have missed a turn off somewhere? I started to run back, the lady on the bike came back to me and said she ran into an official up ahead and said what I had thought... I missed the turn. Dumb leaves on the ground, dumb people at the water station, why didn't they come after me? I had now ran at least two miles in the wrong direction and was for sure the last of the runners. As I came back to the missed turn, I yelled at the water station people and then kept running ahead. The trail markers were gone, I was tired, I could not muster the enthusiasim to keep going, so I returned to the start. I ran 8 miles that day, ended up very sore and learned some very valuable lessons....


Lesson #2 Don't run with your music to loud so you can hear the dumb water station people yelling at you telling you that you are running the wrong way.


Lesson #1 Never attempt to run a half marathon without training for it.

What is up with the Blake's????

So I went out of town last week for an event and lost touch with the outside world (meaning you). Rest assured that the Blake's are doing well, very well, despite these tough times! We must be on the right side of something or someone :)

A couple of updates for our fans:

• We closed on the house!!!! Best news of the year...well, besides our marriage.
• Therefore, we got to remove the contingency on our new house. They can start building now!
• I went to Savannah and came back...The SACUBO Fall Workshop was a success! For those of you that don't know, my old company MRA, contracted me through my new company Henry V, to manage the SACUBO (Southern Association of College and University Business Officers) events two times a year. Eventually I plan on being an independent contractor, this would be my biggest client. Things are lining up well!
• I became an LLC! Recently I found a business partner named Amanda (long story how I found her). She is great, has a passion for events and weddings and has a sweet accounting background, which I needed desperatly. We launched together Northwest Green Event Management doing business as Northwest GEM. Everything is still a work in progress but you can check out our website http://www.northwestgem.com/
• Winter came to Portland :(
• My brother David turned 50! Actually he is leaving for Thailand tomorrow and will be celebrating in style.
• My mom adopted a pug (more details later)
• Ben got a job! It is only part-time but it gives us a little xtra Christmas or house money.

I hope all is well out there, from reading your blogs...sounds like it is!