A new job and a new city!

I recently got hired to work at the Gates Foundation and I am moving to Seattle.  Just a few major life changes in the works! Seriously, planning a wedding, moving states, starting a new job… this is just nuts!

Maybe I need to change my blog name… I will no longer be backhand-springing through Bridgetown. What are the nicknames for Seattle? I feel a Google search in the near future.

Oh, and the wedding is in 3 months. Call me crazy! No seriously, feel free, I wont deny it. 

Danke Schoen

Seriously! Thank you for sticking around to the point that you will even read this. Christmas happened, I went to Austria, cheer season is happening, etc. Long time no post.

A lot has happened and I am going to start with Austria! It was amazing you guys. I have been back for a LONG time and I have yet to upload my photos. Instead, I will email myself a few from my phone so I can show you. Yes, I am that lazy. Just let it go. I am also not able to take any more photos at this point… my phone is full. I have resorted to deleting apps, music and audiobooks. All to avoid plugging my phone in for 10 minutes. Priorities!

First we went to Innsbruck and served at a Young Life camp for US military kids stationed overseas. It was a blast! Awesome kids, awesome skiing, awesome views!

Night sledding

At the top!

After camp we went to Salzburg. I LOVED Salzburg. It was by far my favorite stop. It had the city feel that is so intriguing (like Vienna) but it was still in the Alps and beautiful (like Innsbruck). We acted like Liesel and Ralph (Sans Nazis), climbed to the fortress and drank beer made by monks.

The top of the fortress

Our fun travel companions!

The Sound of Music Tour

Being Liesel and Ralph... 26 going on 27

Then we went to explore in Vienna. We prayed at St. Stephens, ate schnitzel (overrated) and simply just enjoyed everything Austria has to offer!

Schonbrunn Palace

That's all for now!

Do you have a sense of self?

What kind of question is that!? Makes you think, right? Ummm... yeah, I developed it while eating string cheese and watching E! News. Okay, I’ll take it seriously.

I think some super important self-development time in my life just happened over the past 4 years.

I was single, I was working, and all of a sudden I had the responsibility for taking ownership of who I am. It wasn't college life, or circumstances, or family, or a relationship. It was me. Alone. Finding out who I am as an individual. I was deciding to find a church, I was deciding how to live, and I had to stop depending on others and my community to define me. I went to church alone, started volunteering, started dating (kinda/ not really.. I didn't date. That is a lie).

The past 4 years have been a challenge, but they have been fun. They have shaped me into who I am now. I know that this will continue in different ways, but for now, I feel really good about how God has used this season of my life. I seriously cannot even imagine being in the relationship I’m in now without having had that time to develop a sense of self. If Brian and I kept dating right after college, I would probably still be that same co-dependent girl. I would let my circumstances and surroundings define my relationships and faith. Herd mentality, you know? Having the opportunity to discover who I am, as an individual, was seriously the best gift ever.

I think a sense of self and self-confidence go hand in hand as well. We all have our insecure moments… especially around meanies or intimidating people, but in general, self-confidence is necessary in order to be a functional human being whom others want to be around. Go on! Discover who you want to be! Many years ago, Destiny’s Child told us to be independent women.  I may not be quite on the level Beyonce and co. were singing about… as all of my immediate family members live in the same city as me. But I’m trying Bey! Give me a freaking break!

I know this GIF is from the Survivor vid. But it is WAY better than the ones from Independent Women. Get off my back.

I hope that answer was serious enough for you! If you want to get to know me for reals, you can come over and we can read tabloids, watch ABC family and eat some cake and/or ice cream. Preferably both.

Apparently I take questions, so if you have any others, let me know! They could be thought provoking things like, “Who is your favorite character on Pretty Little Liars?” Or as serious as, “If you could perform one spell from Harry Potter, what would it be?” See! I am super deep. You can thank the past 4 years for that.

“Coffee” or “A coffee”

Alright folks. Brian and I have an ongoing disagreement. It’s not so much a disagreement as it is a debate laced with him thinking I’m annoying. Can’t win em all!

When I am going to go get a specialty espresso beverage, I call it “getting a coffee.” If I am having drip coffee at a restaurant or brewing it at home, I call it “having coffee.” But really, even if I go get drip somewhere and bring it home, I say “a coffee.”

This drives Brian insane. He says, “It is just coffee!!! There is no 'a' in there!” I clearly disagree. If I am ordering a prissy drink like a 2 pump pumpkin spice Americano with room… that isn't coffee, it is a coffee drink. I feel sort of bad that it annoys him, since I don’t even know when I say it. Except that I don’t feel bad at all due to the fact that I’m right.

Look! It's Brian with "A coffee."

Can I get some input here? Am I a crazy person for saying “a coffee” when I am referring to Starbucks type coffee bevs?

Even though I annoy Brian, he somehow manages to love me. It must be all that voodoo I did to make him date me. Sometimes he even likes the songs I share with him. So let’s take a cue from Whitney and #backthatazzup. Today calls for some some Betty Who:

You can download some free Betty Who here! I am currently obsessed.

Let’s talk about weddings.

At one point, Brian came to town and we did the wedding thang again. (I am losing track of time and weddings at this point) Basically we are professional wedding goers. Just part of the deal when you are in your 20s! But a wedding sure makes for a fun (free) date. Dinner, drinks, dancing? Yes please! Plus the romance is built in. Guys have it super easy in the summer. No effort necessary. Just put on a nice shirt and show up, and then they get credit for the date. Not too shabby! I don’t have any specific opinions about this, I just wanted to point it out. Other activities that have recently happened in my life include: blading on the Eastbank and drinking pretty coffee.

At a wedding! What else!?

A perfect photo bomb by Tyler! 

The group! Photo by Jess

I am currently in Sunriver (cheating on Black Butte). And I went to another wedding last weekend. I’ll probably post about both of these things in due time! Later gators!

I could be Kathie Lee.

Thankfully, I have read a million posts about how hard it is to blog in the summer. It is so tough! So thank you for the posts. It re-assures me that I am not a crazy lazy person.

On to today’s post, that happens to be about the Today Show.

I love Kathie Lee and Hoda and I am unashamed. I think they are hilarious! I started watching them in college after my early classes. Because really, what are you going to do at that weird time of the morning? Duh, watch 4th hour of Today and then watch Regis and Kelly. I loved that these shows would throw a teensy bit of real news in with their amazingly hilarious host chat. Otherwise, they would mainly discuss news that I find pertinent, celeb gossip and scandals, before moving on to awesome segments about new shows, movies and books. Or seasonal segments about beauty, fashion or food.

Basically, I feel like I could do this job. And I think I could do it well. I am aware that I would be in the Kathie Lee role, the overly honest, semi-inappropriate for network TV, lots of laughter and crazy facial expressions, host role. Don’t worry guys, I already have a Hoda. Marina is subtly ethnic, has knowledge of the real issues, loves music and secretly loves the nonsense!

I MEAN!! HELLOOOOOOO!!!!

Plus, we both love wine. Ahhh wine.

If you don’t watch them now, as I assume you don’t because of work, you wouldn't know that they are doing a “find our college counterparts” search. I am devastated that this search is happening at a time that I am no longer eligible. RUDE! This contest would be in the bag! I still watch their host chat and selected segments online when I can. Yes, that is how much I love them.

Dear KLG and Hoda,

Let me be part of this contest? Or at least agree to grab a drink with me!? I will fly all the way to NYC for it!
                                                                                                   Love, Laura

This is when they lost it doing a story about gas.

See ya later!! 

Did Harry Potter make me single?

I have had a really busy week. Because of this, spending my only veg time writing posts was not on my list of things to do. Food and TV won this week. Sorry! But I’m really not sorry. Then I was all of a sudden motivated. Why? Because I realized I have never really written about my love for Harry Potter on here before. What’s that you say? “Laura, you reference your love for HP often!” Wrong. Yes, I reference it, but there has never been a post dedicated to my love for the wizarding world.

So here we go. I love Harry Potter. It is my favorite book series of all time. Over the years I have re-read a bunch of the books. Book 3 was my go to during high school. But I mostly devour 5 through 7 at the pool each summer. Note: book 7 came out the summer before my senior year in college. So we have only been blessed with the entire series for about 5 years now. Crazy right!?  

I just started the series again. I can honestly say that I have never read the entire series in consecutive order before. I would re-read later books again, but usually just before the next one came out! I remember making my high school boyfriend take me to the midnight release of book 5. Poor guy. He didn't read them, and I was a crazy 16 year old obsessed with children’s books. He dumped me when he left for college a month later. I wonder if it had anything to do with my ignoring him to read that book? Huh. I guess we’ll never know. When I say ignoring him, I really mean it. After he chauffeured me around and stood in line with me to get that book, I had him drop me off at home and I stayed up all night reading. I am pretty sure he didn't hear from me for the next 5 days. I was such a charming teen…

My fave of all time is Half Blood Prince (book 6). I love it more than the others because there is romance!

Here I am in college dressed up as a quidditch player for a sorority date party. Libby was my date (no comments please).

The movies! Duh, I love them too. Awesome job Warner Bros. Did I go to midnight showings? You bet I did. Did I dress up? You bet I did.

We were 22 when this happened. We are wearing our graduation gowns from college. This would be embarrassing, but it isn't! Harry Potter is awesome. I’m not embarrassed in the slightest. Although, I got dumped that summer too…. Maybe there is a theme here. Crap! I love Harry Potter, but has Harry Potter kept me from love?

Have a great weekend folks! I'll be out at the Antone Ranch with the horses and a HP book!

Social media etiquette.

I use Facebook wrong and I don’t even care! I use it wrong because I don’t like to spend my time uploading crappy photos one at a time to my “timeline” or whatever. Isn't that what Instagram is for? And no, I don’t have them post in multiple places. Why? Because it is confusing for people! You know, etiquette wise. Seriously, what is the etiquette there? So I liked my friends photo on Insta… do I also go like it on Facebook? Isn't that overkill? Their thought, “whoa, Laura must REALLY like that photo. She liked it 2 places!” I don’t want to be an over eager social media user, but I also want my friends to get more likes! They are probably really into the likes. I didn't realize HOW into “likes” someone could be until I started dating Brian. He will say things like “let’s see how many likes you got.” Uhhh. Really? My snarky response, “I do not derive my self-worth from the likes I get on Instagram.” I say things like this because I don’t get a lot of likes… whatevs.

I just added pictures from the past 4 months-ish to Facebook. I still use it like I did in college. We would add new albums all the time! But now I just add more pictures to an old album because I don’t have enough pictures for one topic. Is it just me? Or have we all started taking WAY less pictures than in college? Each night out in college could have its own album on Facebook. Now… not so much. Just one Insta per friend gathering.

Please enjoy some of the photos that went up. If I am posting pictures on my blog, do I really need to also post them on Facebook in a timely manner? I say no.

February / March

April / May

May / June

So please forgive me for using Facebook wrong. Actually, nevermind. I’m not even sorry. But can someone please tell me what our etiquette is for ‘likes’ on the same picture posted on multiple social media sites? It is annoying. And the fact that I am even asking this makes me feel old.

Only one post this week! I’m off to Seattle for a wedding! Thank the heavens above that it was sunny this past weekend. My white legs probably would have blinded the bride causing her to trip down the aisle. Don’t worry guys, they got a little color. I have full confidence that everyone’s eyes will be just fine. But I’ll probably use some self-tanner just to be safe.

My biggest concern was my tan.

For a long time my summers were spent at the pool. As I sit here at my desk, I reflect. Literally. My skin is so pale it is reflective. I long for the days where I spent my time at the pool! I will obviously be spending my weekend in the sun, but it is just painful to think of those former summer days while I am sitting here at my computer. I didn't have a care in the world. Or if I did, it was about a boy or something else stupid. Come back to me dear summer! I did not appreciate you as I should have.

Summer 2008. Ignore my crazy face. 

4th of July 2008 when we had missed the fireworks. I only added this because Brian is in it! I like him, sue me. 

At the time these photos were taken, the most important things to me (and probably Lauren and Marina) were as follows:
1. Being tan
2. Getting Lauren into Happy Hour (she was still 20)
3. Frozen yogurt

Happy sunny days my friends! Don’t forget your SPF 30!
This post is about college summers when we actively neglected out part time jobs and internships. Still to come? A post about childhood summers!

Everyone loves free stuff!

Free stuff is awesome. Everyone loves it! The gentleman I am dating (I don’t know what to call him on here. I hate it when people refer to their significant other with a nickname. His name is Brian, so yeah, we’ll just call him Brian) is very charming. VERY. He refuses to get a single punch on a punch card, gotta go for the double punch! and he is always looking for a bonus or a discount. You know what? He usually gets it due to his charm. This has honestly become an issue since we started dating, because in many cases I will be with him! Having a chick with him really cramps his style. And by style, I mean flirting potential with random females working at Dairy Queen. You would think this would bother me right? It doesn't. I want him to get free stuff too! So, as a solution, I either need to hang back or bring some charm myself in order to get the extra service and potential freebies.

Ways we have been successful as a team:
- One of us hangs back while the other uses their charm.
- We both bring the charm and a few jokes at each other’s expense. Sometimes people just think we are funny, decide they like us and want to be our friend! I mean who wouldn't!?

We honestly have gotten to a point where the scenario is evaluated and we can usually stay on the same page. There have of course been occasions where one of us just loses it (usually me)… but sometimes people are stupid and you just need to get your item or check and get out!

One issue is that Brian isn't good at reading the server. Sometimes (all the time) he gets all “what do you recommend?” (side note: My dad does this too… Lord help me) when clearly the server doesn't have a lot of time to spare! They are busy that night and just want our order and want to move on. They will look at me with desperation and annoyance in their eyes. My solution is to rush Brian, which he is oblivious to and then asks follow-up questions about spice level in a few items. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes this is gold! Sometimes the server wants to kick-it and share their expertise. If this is the case, I will join in with the schmooze, it just doesn't always go down that way.

So this post is pretty pointless (like all of them). I hope Brian doesn't get mad that I wrote about him. I called him charming! Plus he says that all publicity is good publicity. I hope he considers this good publicity. And really, it is more about being kind to strangers than getting free stuff... sorta.

On a completely different, but slightly related note, I got $20 worth of free face mask from Sephora last night! I have been reading about this one mask that is $70. Who pays $70 for face mud!? Crazy people that is who. Also, the people who pay that are clearly not aware that Sephora will make you a sample of anything! All you have to do is get bold and ask. I got a sample of “super mud” and it is amazing. You can see the spots on the mask where it was pulling oil out of your pores. SICK! I would post a photo of it, but you would likely throw up on your computer.

I’m off for the long weekend tomorrow afternoon! Booya! BBR here and here and here I come!

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What do I do with my life?

4 things I have been doing instead of writing worthwhile blog posts:

1.) Watching Scandal
I am addicted to this show! Entire first season is on Netflix and the entire second season is on Hulu Plus. I really love the show and the suspense, but to be completely honest, I am finding myself a little scared at night. Like move quickly through the apartment scared. It is reminiscent of how I felt after watching Are You Afraid of the Dark on Nickelodeon. Do you guys watch Scandal? Do you love it? Does it scare you as bad as it scares me?

2.) Being a cheer coach
We picked our new team! The girls are great. It isn't cheer season or anything, but during slow times like this I end up checking in with girls a lot more about their actual lives and not so much their cheer lives. During the season I see them every day, but it is 100% cheer 100% of the time. Not right now though! I swear teenager’s lives are far more complicated than ours were at their age. I think it is because they have all this crazy technology to make everything worse.

3.) Going to Starbucks on a regular basis for mediocre espresso drinks
Yell at me for going to Starbucks all the time. Do it! I dare you. I live in the NW and good coffee is a big deal. So is buying local, eating organic, wearing hemp clothes and not using an umbrella. Okay, so I buy organic produce when I can and I don’t own an umbrella even though it rains 9 months out of the year here. You caught me! BUT I do go to Starbucks. Why? Because they are everywhere and they are consistent. Consistently mediocre? Yes. But whatever. I can always count on Starbucks for familiarity and I find it comforting. They are also really fast. And if it takes longer than 5 minutes they will give you a free drink ticket. So quit your judging! I don’t have time to get up early so I can go to the local coffee place and wait ten minutes for pour over coffee or manually pulled espresso. [Zack Morris Timeout: Going to a suburban Starbucks is “late for work torture.” It is crazy slow. Don’t do it!]

4.) Working at my regular person full time job
My busy season is fast approaching. Both yesterday and today my lists have been getting longer and longer. And due to the fact that all I am doing is adding to my lists… there is no time to do any of the tasks that would let me cross something off!

Have a great day! Peace to all.

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A very vino weekend!

This weekend I wine tasted and it was fantastic!

One of the major benefits of living where we do, is that we basically have our very own Napa Valley just a hop skip over in Yamhill County. Yes, it is a much chillier and really probably not like Napa Valley, but it is very beautiful none the less. And they have wine! So… yeah. It’s awesome. Know what else is awesome? The fact that I went to college out there! I would say that we all (speaking directly to my fellow wildcats) took for granted that our college was in such a beautiful place. At least I can say that we took advantage of the wineries for a couple years. Turning 21 in wine country was not so shabby!

We started the day with brunch and mimosas, packed the car with snacks and hit the road! We visited Penner Ash, Adelsheim, Bergstrom and Colene Clemens. Our least favorite was Adelsheim. They were crazy pretentious and had pathetic pours. We paid to be in here! You might as well be nice and quit being so stingy with your vino! You have a few grape vines… I don’t think you’re going to run out! All the others were marvelous though. Amazing wines at Penner Ash, snacks and cool stories at Bergstrom and Colene Clemens had a pup and a fire place. Who doesn't love a cute puppy and cozy fireplace!?

Get ready for a ridiculous amount of photos!

Sista friend! 

Marina and my lovely mother! 

Mama Jo was our chauffeur extraordinaire! 

Just a few texts went out... Sorry I'm not sorry Brian! 

Pretty friends and tasty wine. This was the place w/ snacks! We were about it. 

Marina's new friend

I hope your weekends were stellar too! 

Old is the new young!

Today is my birthday! As a gift to myself, I will not be writing a big long blog post.

So please go about your day and celebrate me. You may also celebrate my mother! Today I thank her for her (epidural free) hard work to bring me into this world.

I was born. You are welcome.

Spring Break is maddening.

Why did school give us spring break? I understand summers off for the teachers to regain sanity (so they don’t turn to the darkness and become evil). I also see why there is a winter break. It is so people can stay inside all day and not freeze to death for a couple weeks in the winter. You may think it is because of the holidays but you are wrong! It is a fact that *75% of the time, Hanukkah doesn't even fall during winter break! I call that holiday discrimination.
*Not a real statistic

But seriously what is the point of spring break!? It is just rude and discriminatory for us non-students/ non-parents of school age children. It is like it is expected that everyone just DOES spring break and escapes the remaining cold to go soak up some sunshine. As a non-student with a normal job, I say “down with spring break!” Even other normal people without kids, who have normal jobs, act like spring break is a real thing for everyone! Tell me, why does my news feed contain multiple people my age going on vacation to Palm Springs, Hawaii, Texas, Mexico, Bend and Whistler? They all have normal full-time jobs! Wouldn't they rather go at a less expensive time? AKA not spring break? You aren't in college anymore. It is time to let go.

One thing I do miss about the good old days of spring break is the awesomeness of the MTV spring break special! Remember the crazy guy VJ with long hair who was always chewing on a toothpick or cherry stem? He wore flares and platforms… must look him up. He was totally on something. I wonder if he is still alive. Songs that I recall from MTV spring break performances: the Thong Song by Sisqo and Tipsy by J-Kwon. Really mom? You let me watch that stuff!? Actually, you probably had no idea. I was sneaky like that. I don't really want to link either of those dirty videos. So instead, this video of J-Simps is hilarious! From the gauchos to her movements while singing... yikes. Enjoy!

I used to love spring break for obvious school escaping reasons. I assume I will love it again at some point. But for now, since I am bitter and at home, I say no to spring break… and yes to equal rights.

Like how I added that at the end!? I am SO political.

The end of an era.

The past 24 hours have been a doozy. My roommate/ hetero-life mate/ BFF and I will not be living together anymore. We have lived together since 2006. Yes, your math is right. That is 7 years!!!! We are living through a Monica and Rachel scenario… it is the end of an era!

I am excited and praying for both of our futures. Who knows what they hold!? It is always scary going from the known to the unknown. But God sure loves to remind us that we need to trust Him!

Enjoy a ridiculous amount of photos in honor of our many years spent cohabitating:

Snow at Linfield! -2006 / maybe '07?

On a mission trip to Honduras. -2007

As Legends of the Hidden Temple contestants. -2007

When Libby studied abroad in Ireland I had to leave my group in London to visit her. There was no way I would make it through the whole semester without seeing her! This is us at the St. Charles Bridge in Prague. -2008

The view from Prague Castle. -2008

Setting records... nbd. -2008

Graduating from Linfield. -2009

Cutting the cake at our domestic partnership ceremony. Kidding!! -2009

1920s themed party. -2010

Rockin' it at the Metolius River. -2011

Doing this tribute post makes it look like one of us died or something. Haha! For the record, we are alive and well. Oh, and we are still friends. Sometimes stuff like this creates tension, but Libby was up-front with me and I was openly sad in front of her. Seriously, snot everywhere! I hope you enjoyed the photos from the past as Libby and I embark on this transition through BFF-dom.

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