What I've been working on

I have started working out again. It's been way too long since I have and I decided to get my butt into gear. I decided I needed to workout with someone who would make me workout. Well that person is Jillian Michaels. That woman scares me!! I've been working out to her 90 day body revolution. I haven't been doing her meal plan (it's a lot of fish, I can't eat that much seafood!) but I have been trying to eat healthier and smaller portions. She is kicking me into gear that is for sure! It's been great so far. I'm on week 3 and feeling it! I feel so much better and I have actually been sleeping at night! I haven't had a sleepless night since I started this workout! Can't wait to see how the rest of the workout goes and how much it helps me :)

Busy Busy

I was just talking to my mom about all my plans up to September.. Wow!! I'm going to be really busy this year, but I am so excited!! :) Lots of posts to come! Hopefully lots of hikes, I know there will be lots of trips, and a few events. The beginning of which will be...

Regional Conference in Tacoma for Gold Star Wives. A day of meetings, but otherwise a good weekend to spend with other widows in my area from WWII to now. I always learn so much from these women! This year I get to go up to Tacoma instead of just to Portland. I won't be making National Conference in Colorado this year, but next year I know it will be in Tacoma or Portland which will be a lot easier! Especially if next year is anything near as busy as now.

I always get together with GSW once a month for a meeting. This will be my second year going to Regionals.. It's crazy to think it's been almost two years of being a military widow!

 http://www.goldstarwives.org/  

I just finished the "Tiger's Curse" series recently. (Tiger's Curse, Tiger's Quest, Tiger's Voyage, Tiger's Destiny) I loved them! They were an easy read, but at the same time I learned a lot about Indian and Chinese culture and religion. These books are based in Oregon, India and various countries around it. They are in libraries and they sell them at Deseret Book (so they are also a clean read).

Tiger's Curse

by Colleen Houck

Synopsis

Passion. Fate. Loyalty.

Would you risk it all to change your destiny?

The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that’s exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and  mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.

Tiger’s Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more.
 

 "I was wrapped up in the sweet romance and heart-pounding adventure of TIGER'S CURSE.  I found myself cheering, squealing and biting my nails--all within a few pages.  In short, it was magical!"  -Becca Fitzpatrick, New York Times best-selling author of HUSH, HUSHhttp://www.tigerscursebook.com/book

Exhausted

I just got back from Dallas, TX tonight and I am absolutely head to toe, mentally and emotionally exhausted!! It was a great weekend and a lot of fun, but it was so bittersweets. Snowball Express is an amazing organization for the children of our fallen troops since 9/11 ages 5-18.. so you can see why it was so exhausting. The families, volunteers, and companies who donate are absolutely amazing. There were a couple thousand people there. I definitely want to volunteer again next year! As crazy of a weekend as it was it was amazing, and I was able to meet and spend a lot of time with some amazing people and children.

http://www.snowballexpress.org/

Multnomah Falls visit

 Today some plans fell through and I had been talking to a friend last night about needing to see these gorgeous falls again since it's been too long for it only being an hour away from me, so today I took Tayler and Emma and we headed off to brave the cold and the wind and see the falls :)

 Mt Hood looking gorgeous today on our way to the falls

 The bottom of the top waterfall

There was another waterfall a quarter of a mile away from Multnomah falls so we decided to go see it as well

It was a beautiful and full day :) Now to start packing tomorrow for Dallas, TX!

Veterans Weekend

 This weekend has become a busy one for me. This and memorial weekend just used to be a time when I took off with friends and enjoyed the sales and the nice long weekend. Now it's full of events with veterans and in cemeteries. This weekend has been set aside to thank those who have served and are still serving in the military, especially if you don't every other day of the year.

 Saturday night I went to a ceremony in Portland at Skyline Memorial for their POW/MIA ceremony with the moving Vietnam Memorial Wall. This is the last year it will be in Oregon because they are retiring the moving wall. It was very impressive and the ceremony very moving. (the closeups on the wall have a film over them, that's the condensation from the fog, it was 30 degrees)

 Me with some of the Korean War veterans that I met. 3 marines and 1 corpsman (the corpsman is the one with the giant smile and the rope around his arm). They had some amazing stories and they were all talking to me about Ryley. They had all been at his funeral. It sounds like they go to as many funerals as they can for those who die in combat from Oregon.

 At the ceremony they had all of us in attendance hold candles the whole time.

They had a table set up on stage with 5 empty seats, 5 hats, 5 upside down glasses etc for the men and women who are no longer with us and those who have not been found from the 5 different branches of the United States Military. They also unfolded an American flag, sounded the 21 gun salute, played taps, and refolded the flag and presented it to a widow that I know. They also presented her with the folded MIA/POW flag and some other documents. It was  a very moving ceremony and I'm glad I was able to be there with her and some of the other widows in the area.

Sunday Ryley's family, some of his friends, and some family friends went to the Elks Lodge for their Veterans day ceremony. While there they presented Ryley's mom with their Elks Medal of Valor. It was very moving as were their speeches addressed to those Veterans still alive and in attendance.

All in all it was a very moving and powerful Veterans weekend. Remember to thank those men and women in the military for their service and not just on Veterans day.

Fallen

I've seen these books everywhere and was really curious about them, but hesitant to read them until I heard from someone how they liked the books. Well that happened this summer. My cousin was reading them and told me they were really good. So far I've only finished the first book, but I enjoyed it! 

 Some Angels are Destined to Fall

There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a page turning thriller and the ultimate love story.

“Sexy and fascinating and scary…I loved love loved it!” -P.C. Cast, New York Times bestselling author of the House of Night Series (from Lauren Kate's website)

I just started the second book, Torment, the other night. Can't wait to see how this one and the other 2 books go! :)