A Day With Tara and Taryn is Never Boring

I met Taryn two years ago when we went to school together at Mt. Hood. We got to know each other doing music together, and have been great friends ever since. She's definitely one of the funniest people I have ever met and every time we get together we always have some sort of adventure! I will attempt describe our day, just because everything was so funny... to us at least, some of the things might be "you would have had to be there" though so just humor us haha.

We hadn't seen each other in a while since I am going to school in Seattle now and she is in Gresham so this summer we made it a point to get together. She invited me to go with her to a modern church downtown on Saturday night called Solid Rock, so of course I said yes and we went out for the day.

We met up around three and went downtown to hang out. For reasons not mentioned we ended up driving, which really made this adventure even more fun a crazy! Now if any of you have ever driven in downtown Portland you know that it isn't very fun and can be extremely confusing, especially when you are trying to find a parking spot. We drove around for a while and Taryn had to parallel parked for the first time! She made it and did very well. I was proud :)

We decided to walk around Saturday Market and the Waterfront for a while to check the place out. All you Portlanders out there can vouch for me that there are all kinds of crazy people and things that you will see. One of our favorites were a man riding a tiny tricycle dressed as a chimney sweep, and a guy dressed in leather and chains walking a cat on a leash. There were many more though and if you haven't walked around downtown Portland I highly suggest it!

We were going to meet a friend at Pioneer Square a little later so we decided we should go closer to it and the church we were going to that evening so we headed back to the car. Very quickly we realized we didn’t look to see where we were parked in the first place so consequentially we wandered around for a good half hour looking for the car! By that time it was 5:10. But we laughed it off and kept on going.

Since we didn’t want to pay anymore to park we decided to try and find a McDonalds with a parking lot to park in (and we wanted a smoothie). Not even knowing where we were we used the GPS on her phone, but that took us to the World Trade Center which did not have a parking lot for free let alone a McDonalds in it. Taryn knew of one by a Panda Express though so we just put that in to the GPS and hoped it take us to the right one. Luckily it did but it was 2 miles from where we wanted to be and we had already walked a ton! That's what you get for listening to a GPS!

Anyways we went in to get a smoothie. And here comes one of the funny parts. Taryn orders and here’s how the conversation went: “Can I get a Wild Berry Smoothie and the biggest cup of water you can give me?” Cashier: “Sure, that will be $3.14.” Taryn: (Hands him 3 dollars) “oh wait I can find 14 cents for you.” Cashier: “Don’t worry about it I’ll cover it for you.” Then I go up to order my Berry Smoothie… Taryn: “Wait you never gave me my change” Cashier: “You don’t get change, you should be giving me 14 cents!” Taryn: “What? I’m confused…” The cashier explains the scenario we just witnessed and Taryn and I both start cracking up realizing that he had said he’d cover the 14 cents and we had instantly forgotten. He basically thought we were crazy the rest of the time we were there, but if he would have just given her the biggest FREE cup of water instead of paying 25 cents that wouldn’t have happened. It really was hilarious I swear! We then left the counter to drink our smoothies, when I pipe up and say “Dang I have a bunch of random stuff in my purse” I pulled out 3 parachute men. We started hysterically laughing over that and Taryn says oh I have some weird stuff in mine to, and she whips out a light that goes on the back of a bike with a broken compass. “I found it on the street and though my brother would like it to fix up.” By this point we a laughing so hard that we’re crying and the entire restaurant in looking at us. We decide its time to leave… Did you have to be there to think it was funny? Sorry!

We get in the car because we don’t want to walk two miles and turn right out of the parking lot and are looking around waiting for our turn to get on the main street, we waited for a while. Then we realized that a homeless man was pointing at us a little frantically to go the opposite direction. We then noticed we were on a one way street…facing the wrong direction! Never fear, these kinds of things just happen when Taryn and I are in a car together. We tried to make a u-turn and ended up facing the homeless man head on and we were about 2 feet away from him. He just continued to look at us, unimpressed, like we were crazy because we were laughing so hard and kept pointing in the other direction. I think he sees that a lot, well I hope he does. We make the turn and start working our way back to the area we were supposed to be in. Along the way we turn into almost every dead end and wrong turn possible, but that was mainly because there is so much freakin construction going on downtown that we kept getting turned around (or at least that’s what we are saying). Finally we find a place to park and this time we make sure that we look to see exactly where we are so we can find the car later. By this time it’s about 6:15 and we were meeting her friend Jenna at 7:30.

We walked around for a while in Pioneer Square just hanging out and debriefing on the day that we have had so far, laughing hysterically the whole time. At 7 the church we were going to has a BBQ before the service starts at 8 so we decide to head over and grab a bite to eat. We get our food and got to sit down, but all the tables were full already so we go over and sit in the fancy low-to-the-ground striped lawn chairs available. We sit down and start eating when suddenly Taryn looks over at me and I have collapsed and folded into my chair! It was a little embarrassing, but funny at the same time. After another good laugh and a few awkward stares we finish dinner and get a call from Jenna saying she was almost there and to come meet her. Up we go again to walk the 5 long blocks about 3 times. We were kind of being dramatic since we had walked so much! Finally we meet up with her and go to church! I really enjoyed it, since I hadn't been to something like that in a while. It was good for me.

When it got over it was about 9:30 and we decide that it's time to go home. Proudly we remember where the car is so we take one last walk stopping to listed to a band on the way. Our final adventure, taking Jenna back to Clackamas Town Center. A few wrong turns later we made it on to the freeway. Luckily Jenna knew where we were because Taryn and I are both directionally challenged. Just talking and reminiscing about the day was enough to keep us laughing throughout the entire ride. We finally get Jenna safely back to her car and say goodbye. Then after getting stuck in the parking lot (one of my peeves) for a few minutes we were on our way home. A couple of nearly missed exits later and we made it back to my house.

It was such a good (and tiring day)! My legs were shaking from walking so much and my stomach and throat hurt because I've never laughed so hard over a 9 hour period! Excellent time. I love you Taryn Zickefoose! P.S. Let me know if I left anything out... Hahahahahahaha!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

On July 20, hosted by the Portland Beavers was the annual "Bark in the Park" at PGE park where you can bring your dogs with you to watch the baseball game! So who better to bring than but my beloved basset hound Libby. We are always looking for ways to get her out and socialized since she is still a pup (although no light weighted small fry as you can see in the picture above). Plus it was going to soon be her 2nd birthday so I thought this would be a great early birthday present! And I really wanted to go since recently I have started to become a fan of watching baseball (Thanks Lisa. ...although it will never replace my love for basketball and the Portland Trail Blazers!) This time they were playing the Aces from Reno, NV, and even though they aren't the greatest team they won 2-1!


Since it was my puppy's first time to a baseball game, we had to do it up right! Above is a picture of her eating her first ballpark hotdog, something everyone must experience! Of course she loved it! Maybe because she kinda looks like a hotdog herself...? As well we got her a miniature Beavers baseball bat, which she proudly carried around. My dogs are so spoiled!

Naturally we met a lot of other dogs there as well which was so fun! One of her favorite new friends was a 5 month old baby beagle named Willie, he was so stinkin' cute! And they played for a while in the stands. We met a lot of other people there as well all who either adored her (because she's adorable) or said something along the lines of "Whoa! That's a long cool looking dog!" It was great, we all had a blast!

After wandering around the stadium for a while visiting and meeting new friends, we took a seat and watched the rest of the game. There she is just enjoying watching the baseball fly across the field and resisting the urge to run down and chase it. (As well she continuously tried to reach her neck out and snag that couple's hotdog in front of her). She's such a laid back dog, I love it! All in all it was a great day at the ballgame and we can't wait until next year! Anyone who lives in Portland and has a dog should definitely join in on the event!

Jammin' With Jam!

The other day my family and I made homemade jam! For most of us it was our first time making it, but lucky for us my cousin Andy's wife Heather is queen when it comes to anything and everything sweet and deliciously homebaked! So she gave us a tutorial on the art of jam making.

We started off by going to Rowell Bros. Fields on Scholls Ferry Rd. In Hillsboro, a u-pick berry farm to get our most important ingredient. We decided that we wanted to make blackberry, raspberry, and boysenberry jam. We ended up picking about 50 lbs worth of berries!! It was time to go back to the house and start cooking up the deliciousness that would be homemade jam! By the end of the day we were pros making nearly 30 jars of jam! We could have made more because Lord knows we had more than enough berries to feed a large army but we got tired and decided to call it a day. Since I had such a great time I think I will attempt to teach you how to make it as well! So here goes... Keep in mind that this is only the recipe for most berry jams, except strawberry so don't try and make peach jam with this recipe!

You will need:

(utensils)

-2 large sauce pans

-Mixing spoon

-Hot sterilized jars with lids like in the picture

-A funnel

-Tongs

-A towel to place the hot jars on

-A wet washcloth

-Extra bowl to hold sugar

(ingredients)

-5 cups of the berry of your choosing

-4 cups granulated white sugar

-1 tsp butter

-1 package pectin

*Makes about 3, 1 pint jars of jam.

Preparation:

In one of the sauce pans boil hot water and place the lids in the water to sterilize. As well the jars need to be hot so the best way is to just put them in the dishwasher and turn it on with no soap. If you dont have a dishwasher they can set in the hot water but make sure you get as much water as possible out before adding the jam. Keep them boiling on the stove until needed. Next measure out 4 cups of sugar into a bowl and set aside.

Now its time to start cooking!

Measure out 5 cups of berries into a large pan as close to exact as possible. Add the pectin, butter, and 1/4 cup of the sugar you measured out earlier. (There should be 3 3/4 cups sugar left in the bowl now.) Place the pan of ingredients on the stove and continue to stir, mash, and mix together until it becomes a liquid and is brought to a boil. When it starts boiling quickly add in the remaining sugar. Mix in vigourously (it will probably start to foam and rise but thats ok, keep stiring and it will go down). Let it come to a rolling boil again and time it for one minute, then remove from the heat. Make sure you are stirring the whole time it is on the stove to keep from burning.

Now its time to put them in the jars! First take the boiling water holding the lids off the stove. Set the jars up and using the funnel fill them with the jam leaving only about an 1/8 of an inch at the top of the jar. Then with the wet washcloth, wipe down the edges of the jar so there is no spilled jam on the outside or around the rim. With the tongs carefully take the lids out of the water and put them on the jars. When they are on tight, flip the jars upsidedown to seal and leave them for about 10-15 minutes. After flip them back up and you are done! To check if they sealed push down on the lid, if it doesn't pop then it worked! If not thats ok to, just stick it in the fridge and you are still good to go!

Congratulations! I hope you enjoyed making jam as much as I did! If you want to make a different type, inside the box of pectin there will be recipes and directions for many other flavors of jam!

Love is in the air...

Over the last few years since I have been out of high school many of my friends have tied the knot and gotten married! Which I think is great! I love weddings and am so happy to have been a part of so many of them!

Katie and Josh Tompkins

A few years ago on August 10, 2007 my cousin Katie Judd and her husband Josh Tompkins got married! I was the Maid of Honor in their wedding! It was actually the first wedding I had been to and one of the most beautiful! I love you Kate and Josh!

Angela and Andrew Block
On September 20, 2008 Angela Rassmusen and Andrew Block got married. I met Angela while going to school at Concordia University, and although we didn't know each other for very long then I was so happy she thought of me to invite to her wedding! She is a great friend and helped me out through a lot at Concordia.

Gina and Steven Gandee

This last year on October 24, 2009 my long time high school friends Gina Ellis and Steven Gandee were married. I met these two doing theater in high school freshman year and we have been friends ever since! This wedding was great not only because it was Steven and Gina, but because it was sort of like a mini high school theater group reunion! We all got to be together again for a great night and it was so good to see everyone!

Amber and Matt WestfallJust last month another friend from high school had a wedding. On May 14, 2010 Amber Drape and Matt Westfall got married! I was a bridesmaid in this wedding and so honored to to be a part of such a great friend's big day! Amber and I met sophomore year in high school and have been great friends ever since! I love her to death and couldn't imagine a life without her in it!

Megan and Ted Moore

Just yesterday on June 26, 2010 my two good friends Megan Petrie and Ted Moore got married. It was a perfect day for a beautiful outside wedding! I met Megan when I went to school at Mt. Hood Community College. We were in the musical "Drood!" together and instantly became great friends! Plus Ted is hilarious, they are perfect for each other! And guess what?! I caught the bouquet at this one... you know what that means!

Congratulations to all of my friends and family who have gotten married over the last few years! I love you all and wish you nothing but the best in your new lives together. You are all perfect for each other in every way and am grateful to see you all so happy! Can't wait for the next wedding, who knows who it will be...? Congrats again, I hope you live "happily ever after!"

Moved Out... 6/12/10

Bellarmine 740

Everyone is now officially moved out of SU and finished with the 2009-2010 school year. It has been a great one, with many stories to tell (which will be coming in the next few posts most likely).

Move out day is both exciting and depressing at the same time. As well it is stressful, overwhelming, and a time to hone your organizational skills like none other! About a week and a half before school got out it was time to start collecting boxes to put EVERYTHING in to get it all out on time (approx. 9:00am on 6/12/10).

So here's a little story on the box collecting extravaganza Alyssa and I went on. We decided that we were going to meed quite a few boxes so we went to Safeway to ask if they had any left over that we could have. They gave us about 4 boxes which was nice. Next we went to another Safeway because we were going to need a few more, but we were a few minutes to late and didn't get any from them. Feeling a little defeated we went to QFC up the street from the school. Little did we know when we got there this guy in the produce area told us we could, "go downstairs to the back and go through the 2 black doors, then take what we want." Through those two doors we found a mayhem of boxes so naturally we started piling them into our cart. We probably came back to school with a good 20+ boxes including a giant "Pistachios" display box we probably weren't supposed to take, which was way more than we needed! We jammed them all into my car, and barely was able to fit them all. We took them up, dropped off a few in Alyssa's room then somehow managed to stash the rest of them into Lisa and mine. Needless to say it was very cramped in there for the remainder of our stay at SU. Little by little we got all our stuff packed away into storage but let me just say, the process took forever and we were climbing over boxes for days!

Here take a look at some before and after pictures of Mine ad Lisa's shoebox of a dorm room during the process of packing and after we got everything out...

Before

After

It was quite bare, sad, and depressing to see our once lively room looking like such an empty little closet... But it was time to say goodbye to good old Bell 740... and everyone in it. That's always the hardest part of the end of the school year is saying goodbye to all your friends. (And I have to say, it is extremely lonely sleeping in my room all alone every night). However as difficult as it is we know we will all be together again in just a few short (well kinda long) months. By the way... Thanks to all of my wonderful friends (Lisa, Alyssa, Allie, Courtney, Connie Rae, Angela, Morgan, etc... etc..!) for making my first year at Seattle University a fantastic one!

21 years ago...

I have realized that it has been far to long since I have written a new post. Due to the busyness of the last month of school before we moved out I literally have had no time to myself (although I know that is a terrible excuse) so I think now it's time to PARTY!

On June 10, 1989 at 5:15 am I was born into the world... So naturally on June 10, 2010 I turned 21!!! That's right, it was my 21st birthday! My friends and I kept up the tradition of going to the Spaghetti Factory for dinner at the end of the term. Great idea, since I was given the most horrible birthday presents by my teachers, called FINALS! Gross. It was an excellent way to end the year and celebrate my birthday! SO once I was done with exams, we got dressed up and went out.

The very first time we went to the Spaghetti Factory we had this awesome waiter named Tyler, who was hilarious because he literally came to our table every two minutes asking if we needed anything and gave us tons of extra ice cream and bread to take home. Throughout the night we eventually became friends and he pretty much just hung out at our table the whole time. We then decided that it was officially tradition to come to this restaurant at the end of every term and have Tyler as our waiter (even though he only was one time we went there). This time however we had our new favorite waiter named Erik F. (who also happened to be a friend of Tyler's, crazy right?) Here he is taking our orders and checking my ID for the first time!

This is me after I ordered an Agave Fruit Punch margarita on the rocks. Which was delicious by the way!

After dinner we went back to school where my fantasticly wonderful friends had a delicious cake waiting for me. It was an ice cream cake with red velvet cake and "birthday cake" ice cream from Cold Stone! Which we then ate off of Spiderman plates and napkins that my mom sent up to Lisa along with decorations and, you guessed it Spiderman loot bags! I am only turning 21 after all...

So to everyone who made my birthday so fantasic, I would like to thank you! It was a great night and I appreciate everything you guys do for me! I love you all and can't wait for the next person's birthday to celebrate!!

RELAY FOR LIFE!!

This weekend I participated in Relay For Life 2010 with my team from SU "Colleges Against Cancer." It was quite and experience, but done for a great cause. All together the event raised over $26,000 to donate to the American Cancer Society to research for a cure! My team individually raised almost $5, 000 making us the highest donating team at the event! I am so proud to be a part of that group!

For those of you who don't know Relay For Life is an event put on by the American Cancer Society organization in which groups of people get together and raise money to donate to cancer research. Many individual teams participate and on "relay day" we all get together and walk around a track for 20 hours celebrating the lives of people who are living with cancer and remembering those who have lost the fight. There must be at least one person walking the track at all times symbolizing that people with cancer never get to take a break. It is a very powerful message that we try and get across, and hope that someday there will be a cure so these people can live their lives in peace.

Although it is a serious event, we like to make it fun as well. This time we had a talent show to win $250 to donate to your team. My friend Alyssa and I thought, hmmm "shoot we have talent, let's enter" so what did we do? We got up in front of hundreds of people wearing big red and black tutu's we made and did the "Line Dance"that I learned at Dance Marathon this last February. Alyssa didn't know it before hand, so I taught it to her in about an hour the day before, and lo and behold we win the darn thing! Are you surprised? Well we were for sure, because there were some really good people there! It was pretty but we were super excited because on top of the $250 we also won 12 liters of iced tea! Probably one of the best prizes I have ever one on a hot summer day!

As it got later and later into the night (keep in mind the event went from noon on saturday to 8am sunday morning) it started to get cold, but we kept on walking. Eventually a few of us decided to take a quick nap to recharge and it was so freezing in the tent that we were imitating lines from the titanic instead of being able to sleep! Luckily our team captain's name was Jack to it made the "Jack, I'm so cold" lines sound more legit.. haha. Not to mention that I forgot to bring socks and only had flip flops which broke on me around 11 o'clock that night, so I had to makeshift a pair of gloves into socks to keep my feet warm while walking around the track... you really just had to see it to find the humor.

However, one of the most powerful moments that keep everyone going is the Luminaria Ceremony that happens at night during the event, where you decorate and write the name of someone you know that was affected by cancer on a bag a they are all set out around the track and lit up with candles that glow throughout the night, representing our loved ones. You look around and see hundreds of glowing bags and remember that you are doing this for them, and that is motivation enough.

It was a very eventful event, but we all had a ton of fun while doing something very rewarding at the same time. If you know someone fighting cancer, or have ever lost a loved one to it you know how devastating it can be so encourage any of you to find a Relay For Life event close to you and participate in it, it's something you won't ever forget.

"En la memoria de mi abuela, Amalia Moreno"

May 26, 1931 - December 20, 2009

Do Work!

So probably one of my (and my roommate's) favorite shows is "Rob and Big" featuring pro skateboarder Rob Dyrdek and his bodyguard/roommate/best friend Christopher "Big Black" Boykin. It is basically one of the most hilarious shows ever on MTV consisting of a camera man following them around as they go about their extremely entertaining daily lives.

Along with them in their Hollywood home, is their skateboarding bulldog named Meaty and their mini horse named Mini Horse, which yes sometimes comes in and lives in their house when he's not hanging out in his luxury stable out by the pool.

What makes this show so funny is all the crazy things that they get themselves into on a regular basis. For instance they have tried time travel, brought ghost hunters into their homes, entered Mini in a mini horse competition, bought a net gun like spiderman and were shooting everyone in the city, discovered the art of turtle racing... the list really goes on and on. Just some of the things they say and do are so funny, that I am pretty much laughing for hours after! They remind me of my friends and I sometimes which just makes it even better, and some of the things they say are just hilarious. Maybe one of my next blogs will be "favorite quotes by Rob and Big!" Haha. So if you have not ever seen this show before... PLEASE watch it! It will change your life... well probably not but it will make your day better for sure!

Now get out there and "Do Work Son!"

Just click this link and it should take you to the website to watch full episodes of all 3 seasons!
http://www.mtv.com/shows/rob_and_big/season_1/series.jhtml

• P.S. My birthday is in t-minus 51 days (June 10th) and I would love to own all 3 seasons on dvd! Just a side note :) .... haha kidding, but seriously.

There's nothing like a baby basset hound...

So recently I have seriously been missing my dogs while being away at school. As I have said before my dogs are my life and I truly do love them. Here's a little something else about my basset hound Libby...she loves to chew things. Fun for her... bad for us. I figured I would give you a list of things she has chewed and/or eaten thus far since we have owned her (about a year and a half). Well here goes nothing...

• Her kennel
• Her toys
• Her toy box
• Her collars and my other dog Nikeah's collars
• Her leashes
• My cat Tipper's favorite catnip toy
• The carpet
• My iPod
• My phone
• My mom's phone
• My mom's other phone (after she had to get a new one)
• The remote control
• The charger to my computer ($80 to replace)
• A baseball (literally ate it and we had to take her into emergency)
• Lightbulbs
• Batteries
• My school books
• My sheet music for choir
• The broom
• Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, Quarters
• Garbage
• Got into my 40lb bucket of frosting for cake decorating
• My cake decorating supplies (colored frosting everywhere!)
• Pens and pencils (her very favorite)
• My shoes
• The catfood
• Her bed
• My sunglasses
• Plastic water bottles (full and empty)
• A huge box of dog biscuts
• A box of plastic silverware

As you can see she definitely is a problem grade C kind of a dog. Along with all of these things (and I'm sure there is more but I have tried to block some of the things out of my memory) she eats basically any food she can possibly get to. We can't leave anything on the counter, or out in the living room if we let her stay out there instead of being in the kitchen while we are gone. However, nonetheless there really is no choice but to love her, becaue who could stay mad at a face like this...?

Dance is Music Made Visible

I'm not one of those people that have been dancing since I was 3 years old but it has been a part of my life for about the past 8 years now. It is something I am extremely passionate about and work at on a regular basis whether I am in a studio class or alone in my room. Dance will be a part of me for the rest of my life.

My interest in dance started when I began getting involved in theater. I have been in a few musicals in my time so musical theater was kind of my first experience (other than some sweet swing dance classes I took with some friends) with dance and movement. I loved it instantly and started taking classes in jazz and ballet as well right away. After about 2 years into my high school career I started taking parter style dancing in ballroom, latin, and salsa. Those were so much fun and we took those classes for 2 years. I still love that style, but it's been a while since I've gotten to do it.

I have been taking lyrical, modern, and contemporary classes for about 3 years and have found that this particular style is what I like doing best. It is a way for me to be able to express myself without having to talk about it, or write it down. I can just get out whatever I am feeling right there and put as much power and expression into it as I want. I am a very creative person, I love to designing, and singing as a way of getting my feelings out, but there is something about movement that just takes everything to a whole new level, and that's what I love about dance.

I have recently, as in the last year or two, started choreographing routines. It hasn't been anything big, mainly solos for myself, but I have ideas that I would someday hope to have groups perfom. I've been getting inspiration from my classes and songs I have listened to, but the routines are mainly staying inside my head because it is kind of hard to try them full out in the closet that I live in. We'll see though, maybe someday it will happen. I keep hoping for the opportunity.

Until then I will continue to keep dancing, performing, and loving what I do!

Playlists Say A Lot About A Person...

Playlists on one's iPod can be as vague or straight to the point as you want them to be, and that's the beauty of iTunes. Being able to customize everything to your liking. I have quite a few playlists on my iPod Touch, some listened to more often than others but none the less important in its own way. The names on my playlists, as well as some of the playlists themselves are unique but fit me quite well... And with that here they are.

• "Stuck in the 90's" - Consisting of all those great bands we used to love (and still do!)Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, N'Sync, Aqua, Brian McKnight... need I say more?
  

• "Classical classics" - For all your Beethoven, Vivaldi, and Sibelius needs.

• "Disney Music" - Mulan, Little Mermaid, Lion King... in short.. THE BEST!

• "Feelin' The Love" - When you are in the mood for some romance, here's a gigantic list of love songs!

• "Genesis" - Mt. Hood Community College's vocal jazz ensemble! Represent! If you haven't heard our amazing award winning group yet then get down to Portland and check them out or let me know and I'll try and hook you up with something!

• "Jazzin' It Up" - Got a lot of Michael Buble, Louis Armstrong, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and let's face it, the fabulous Mt. Hood Community College Jazz Band... Probably one of my favorite genres!

• "Jesus Music" - Consisting of all the Christian bands that I love. Relient K, Casting Crowns, DC Talk, Switchfoot...

• "John Mayer Road Trips" - A tradition between friends. We always had to listen to John Mayer every road trip so it was just easier to make a playlist!

• "Keepin' It Country" - This has all the country songs you just love to sing in the car with the windows down! Rascal Flatts, Dixie Chicks, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley...

• "Movie Music Mania" - This has all the soundtracks from some of my favorite movies! Moulin Rouge, Music & Lyrics, Twilight, August Rush...

• "Musicals" - Filled with classic and modern musicals! From one's I have performed in to one's I someday will! Wicked, Rent, Les Miserables, Hairspray, The Music Man... I just really love musicals.

• "Run, Run, Runnin Workouts" - Mainly consisting out hip-hop and upbeat song to keep me pumped and energized while I'm running or working out!

• "Spring Break Troutdale Style" - Consiting of "Do You Know" By Enrique Iglesias 18 times, made specially for me by my roommate... thanks for the sweet mix Lisa!

• "SU Road Trips!" - This has all the songs we (Me, Alyssa, Lisa, Maddy, Ally, and Courtney) like to jam out on while going on our roadtrips and adventures in Seattle. Most often played "Dont' Stop Believin" by Journey!

Tradition, Tradition!

My Cousins!

From left to right. Front row: Matt, Christian. Back row: Andy, Me, Josh, Katie

Traditions in my family are never normal ones, because my family is never what one might say.. normal. We have quite a few of them that we do every year. Here's some so you can get to know my family and our quirks a little better.

Most of them happen at the end of the year towards the holidays but we do have one that resides over the 4th of July weekend. We have property in Long Beach, WA with a few trailers on it so every year we go up there and spend about a week soaking up the sun and enjoying spending time with each other (most of the time). In Long Beach there is always a 4th of July festival that we attend as well as a parade, which my mother usually inserts herself in one way or another... when that happens we pretend we don't know her, but inside we love her dearly! While at the festival we get elephants ears made by the best elephant ear place ever! After we have spent the day there we go and buy fireworks (the really big ones since those are legal in WA, but not in OR!) and take our cars down onto the beach for the remainder of the day, pick a good spot and set up camp. We usually bring a tent thing and play some card games and stuff while waiting for it to get dark, as well as digging a hole for a bonfire! Once it gets dark we start letting the fireworks loose (we always get the panda bear, the chinese pagota, and the bees which flew up my dad's pants one time, even though they are kinda lame... we still have too!) After all ours are gone it is usually time for the "Fireworks Show Spectacular" put on by the city of Long Beach, so we sit on top of the cars and watch the amazingness happen!

The next traditions happen around Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have our Thanksgiving dinner every year at my Aunt Debbie's house in Oregon City (Home of the end of the Oregon Trail!) And it wouldn't be a Thanksgiving dinner for us without "brown 'n serve" rolls, pistachio pudding, and a giant bowl of olives! After we eat we spend hours and hours playing "Apples to Apples," "Taboo", and a dice game called 10,000. After we are done we say our goodbyes... until the next day.

The day after Thanksgiving we always get together to go through the Christmas lights at the P.I.R. (Portland International Raceway). There they decorate the race track with tons and tons of Christmas lights and you get to drive through it at night and look at them all. In short it is a Christmas light winter wonderland! But before we can do that we have to go out to dinner at a resturant which we have no idea what the name of it is, but we just call it "The Cheesy Mexican Place." Inside there is a manequin missing a few fingers and with hair looking a little sparce, but she's our favorite and we look forward to seeing her every year. We named her Rosarita. As well they have some blow up beer bottles hanging from the ceiling along with other random as ever decorations. That's why we call it "cheesy." They do have a really cool giant fish tank which used to have a puffer fish in it and we couldn't wait to see him every year but 2 years ago we were informed that he was taken to the hospital for an illness and didn't make it. That was a sad day in our family. The food there, let me be the first to say is not very good and nobody in the family likes going there because the food makes us sick, but tradition is tradition and we have to go anyways! The employees at "The Cheesy" expect us to come every year!

There's a couple family traditions for ya! I hope my family isn't to strange for you!

Lisa and Alyssa... This one's for you!

So here are two of my best most fantastic friends that I have meet at my time here at SU.

Lisa, (middle) also my roommate from Fort Collins, CO in the Great Rocky Mountains puts up with more than I can describe living with me but I love her to death and can't imagine what my life would be like if she wasn't in it! Much more boring that's for sure. She's my P.I.C (partner in crime), roadtrip buddy, alarm clock, and the one person I can count on to come with me when I want to do something adventurous or crazy! Opposites attract, and then become the same person is all I have to say with this one!


Alyssa, (right) is from Nashville/Jolten, Tennessee which is super exciting because she knows how to speak southern! And she can even do it while speaking Spanish! (after hours of Lisa and I bugging her to do it) She was my 1st friend at SU, and will be a part of my life until the day I die, because she has no choice :) We basically have the same brain and were probably twins separated at birth that don't look anything alike and have different birthday's... if that makes sense.

This is our song summing up our relationship. The three best friends that anyone could have, and we'll never, ever, ever, ever, ever leave each other!



I love you both, and know that only you two could fully appreciate this!!!

In addition to these two I have made some other absolutely wonderful friends at SU that need recognition... Ally (my inspiration), Courtney (my Portland sidekick), Maddy (chihuahua on back), and Angela (just plain awesome!)

"Hey Buddy How's it Going?"

As you may have read in one of my previous posts, I talk and act like my car is a real living thing, he's got a name and everything... and I feel that since he is part of my family you should probably meet him!

Buddy is a 1995 white Ford Explorer who has been in my family since he was born. Previously and originally he belonged to my aunt, while I was sporting my first car which was a bright teal Geo Storm (gotta love those baby's.. yeah not really) However, one fateful day about a week before I was moving out and going to school my freshman year at Concordia University the good old storm died on me. Now I knew this was coming for a while but didn't think it would chose such inconvenient timing. But alas, I was car-less. Luckily around that same time my aunt was getting a new car and she so lovingly gave me Buddy so I would have transportation! And that is how we were brought together!

We have been through quite a lot together in the past 3 years I have owned him. He has taken me and my friends on some sweet adventures, and has all around been a great and reliable car! I really haven't had much trouble with him other than 2 major times when he broke down in some very inconvenient places. First off there is "The Keizer Incident" which I won't go into now, but I'm sure my dear friends Sam (also used to have a Ford Explorer but now makes his appearances in a sweet Z4 BMW!), Rose, and Alfonso remember quite vividly. And then the "Halloween in Seattle Incident" when Me, Lisa, Alyssa, and Maddy were planning on going to some haunted houses but broke down about 5 minutes into the drive... he was just scared to go that's all.

Other than that he really has been so good to me and even if there is going to be trouble, he always makes sure I'm in a safe spot first. I love him dearly and hope that he will be around for a long time with many more adventures to come!

Introducing Your Portland Trail Blazers!!!

For those of you who don't know (and I would be incredibly depressed to find this out so just pretend like you do) the Portland Trail Blazers are Portland, OR NBA Basketball team. And anyone that knows me knows that I am a die hard Blazer fan! I figured that since this blog is about me they should be acknowledged.

Currently they are number 8 in the league getting ready to go to the 2010 NBA playoffs to claim the National Basketball Championship title. (We could hope!) I am just going to give a shout out to some of my favorite players on the team:

My number one favorite player of all time is #10 Joel Przybilla. He's my main man! Unfortunately he is out for the season of 09-10 due to a knee injury.

Second favorite player, hot guy from Spain is #5 Rudy Fernandez! He's currently the teams amazing 3-point shooter.

Now not that I don't love and appreciated this next player, but I feel that I am obligated to have a picture of him because he is the All-Star of our team... introducing, #7 Brandon Roy!

These are just some of my favorite players but here is a slightly more detailed and less bias roster:

NUM PLAYER POS HT WT
#12 LaMarcus Aldridge, pos: F, 6'11" 240lbs.
#88 Nicolas Batum, F, 6'8" 200lbs.
#4 Jerryd Bayless, G, 6'3" 200lbs.
#21 Marcus Camby, F, 6'11" 235lbs.
#33 Dante Cunningham, F, 6'8" 230lbs.
#27 Travis Diener, G, 6'1" 175lbs.
#5 Rudy Fernandez, G, 6'6" 185lbs.
#6 Juwan Howard, C-F, 6'9" 253lbs.
#24 Andre Miller, G, 6'2" 200lbs.
#8 Patrick Mills, G, 6'0" 185lbs.
#52 Greg Oden, C, 7'0" 285lbs.
#31 Jeff Pendergraph, F-C, 6'9" 240lbs.

#10 Joel Przybilla, C, 7'1" 245lbs.
#7 Brandon Roy, G-F, 6'6" 211lbs.
#23 Martell Webster, F, 6'7" 235lbs.

Pet Peeves, Oddities, & Random Talents

Here's a little more insight to what goes on in my brain, makes me tick, or just makes me.. me.

Pet Peeves: not many but those that are there make me crazy!
- when people take food out of the microwave early, but don't clear it after.
- when people don't use their blinkers while driving.
- people who walk slow.

Oddities:
- I have to hold the case when I watch a movie.
- When I eat Tums, I only eat the yellow ones.
- I'm obsessed with drinking Powerade
- I love the show Lost Tapes and thoroughly believe in them.
- I totally believe in the Loch Ness Monster... Nessy!
- I sometimes I talk to inanimate objects.
- I love Twilight. (yes it's considered an oddity to most of my friends and the Seattle area)
- I love commercials! And when it's really funny, I can't stop laughing (Like when it's 11 at night and my roommate is trying to sleep... sorry Lisa!)
- I have a very weak stomach and any type of medical-like words or sights will gross me out! Sometimes to the point of passing out if it's bad enough...
- I refuse to ever use a port-a-potty
- I have a very sensitive nose, and sometimes randomly smell odd things (like Eggo waffles, steak on a BBQ, blue raspberry lollipops... you get the picture)

Random Talents:
- I can pretty much tell every song coming up in my iPod by the first note.
- I know all the words to "Ice, Ice Baby"...
- And the Harry Potter movies 1-4 at least, word for word.
- I play a mean nose whistle.
- I have a gift for memorizing birthdays.

This is all I can think of right now, however I'm sure there is more so I will add them when they come to mind... keep checking back!

Everyone loves cake!

So here is something that you should probably know about me aside from school and such... I am a professional cake decorator. Not like I have a business or anything but my friend Rose and I took a class last year on cake decorating. Upon finishing the class and passing our final project we were certified in the art of cake decorating and can now work in professional bakeries! So here's a couple pictures of some of the cakes I have done.

This one above is the very first cake I ever made! I think it looked pretty good for never having done anything like this before :)

This one is the first cake I made using fondant. It's almost like edible clay that you sculpt, mold, roll with a rolling pin to flatten out to cover your cake, and cut out shapes to spice it up! You can also dye it different colors! It's pretty tough to do actually, and never try to use it when they weather is hot! Just trust me on this one...

This is one where we learned to do flowers. Daisies are my favorite to make. Leaves and vines are fun with the tiny little flowers because you get to use a special frosting tip, and roses are just plain hard!

I didn't make this one in class but we did something like it. Someone actually asked me to make this one for her daughters birthday, and this was the finished product. This is where the fondant sculpting technique can in handy!

This is probably my favorite cake I ever made... it's a sand castle! For our final in class we had to come up with an idea that showcased our mad skills. Let me tell you it took the entire 3 hours we had to create it (we had to do all of it in class) but alas here is my finished product earning me an A+ and a certifying certificate in the art of cake decorating.

Time to make some "MAJOR" decisions

So I'm going to let you know a little bit more about my education and talk about my major today... As you already know I am a junior at Seattle University. I am majoring in criminal justice with a specialization in forensic psychology. Now a lot of people are not really sure what a career in that field entails so let me tell you. Forensic psychology consists of applying psychology to the criminal justice system. Many get it confused with forensic science however which is more dealing with lab work, chemistry and crime scene investigation. A forensic psychologist is someone who will examine the defendant and decide if they were insane while committing the crime. As well they analyze a criminal's mind and determine whether or not they will reoffend through administering a series of tests and interviews. Forensic psychologists will often testify as an expert witness in court and provide there opinion on the sanity of the defendant. I have always been interested in psychology and realized after taking a forensics class in high school that it would be something I would really enjoy and be good at.

But I'm going to let you in on a little secret... Up until the time I decided to go to SU I was an art major studying interior design. Art is something that has always been something that I love and really makes me happy. I actually finished high school with a visual arts degree and graduated from Mt. Hood Community College last year with an Associate of Arts degree. I'm not entirely sure what drove me to change pathways and go in the forensic psych direction but recently I have been questioning whether or not it was a good idea. I am really starting to miss all of my art and design classes and just being able to be creative, which isn't something I really can do as a forensic psychologist. So at this point in time, I'm not sure what I want to do. (which is kinda scary since I am supposed to graduate next spring!) Should I change my major or stay with this one...? Any ideas? Ahhh, I don't know!! Decisions, decisions...

Let's Play Catch Up

So I have decided that the next few blogs are going to be consisting of me filling you in on things that have consumed my life in the last few years... things like my college experiences (serious ones, you'll hear the funny stories later) and a little more of what I am all about. My major, interests... blah, blah bare with me, I want you to know who it is that you are reading about. So first off here is what I have learned about being in college post graduating high school (Reynolds High School class of '07 shout out!)

I graduated high school on June 8th, 2007, wow that seems like so long ago, feeling extremely happy with my life. Perfect grades, graduating with honors, amazing friends, perfect boyfriend, awesome family support, going to a perfect little private college. And I was quite confident that it was going to continue to go on like this as I started the next chapter in my life. Well that was not necessarily true...

After an amazing summer I moved out of my house for the first time on August 24, 2007 to live in the dorms at Concordia University in Portland, OR where I would study Art/Design and Psychology. I was super excited because it seemed like it was going to be so great for me. Plus one of my best friends to this day (shout out to Amber Drape!) was going to the same school and I wasn't to far from home so I could easily make a trip back if I needed to. Things were going great... until I got there and realized they weren't. I started to get home sick, my roommate and I didn't have anything in common, boyfriend problems which eventually ended our relationship after 2 and a half years, and a very unwelcoming feeling from my school. I was not happy there, miserable in fact, and decided that it was doing no good for me or anyone around me to stay there. So I left Concordia at the end of the term and moved back home.

I wanted to stay in school so I enrolled at Mt. Hood Community College a few minutes away from my house and went there for the next two years. There I planned to study art and major in interior design. I was pretty unsure about it but instantly felt more at home when I went in to the performing arts dept. to see about the theatre and music programs (another reason I hated Concordia, they had no theatre programs!) and on the spot the director of the upcoming musical offered me a part in his show Drood! So excited to be back in a musical I accepted and began to start rehearsals. This was probably the best thing that could have happened to me at that time, keeping my mind off of other things... During that time I met some amazing people who are still my great friends to this day (Megan Petrie, Allie Timm, Sara Currie, Michael Mitchell, Jordon Schultz!) It was a great year and I couldn't wait to go back for the next. The year 2008-2009 was equally fantastic meeting so many people from doing theater and music that will be my friends until the day I die and then after (Sam Solano, Rose Reynolds, Taryn Zickefoose!) Love you guys! This year I graduated from MHCC with my Associate of Arts Degree on June 12, 2009. I was about to move on to the next stage of my life...

Seattle University!!! My current place of education. I moved to Seattle on September 19, 2009 transferring in as a Junior. I'm here now currently majoring in Forensic Psychology. Loving every minute of it! This was truly one of the best moves I have made. I am finally content with where I am and loving it! I'm not going to say a lot about living here now because there will be stories galore coming! Just know that I love Seattle, I'm having the time of my life and I have the best roommate in the world... Lisa S. Ackerman!

All in all I have been through many transfers, 5 schools total (some online) Concordia University, MHCC, Chemeketa Community College, Clackamas Community College, and Seattle University. It's quite difficult when it comes to having to turn in transcripts to your school haha. But if I have learned anything in all of this it is "do-overs" are ok, and you need to take care of yourself and go to the places that work best for you.

My Two Favorite Things

Anyone who knows me knows that my dogs are my life and I love them more than anything in the world. So naturally they should be the first things that I write about...

NIKEAH

This right here is the best dog in the world in my book. This is Nikeah, born on May 1st, 2001. She is an 8 year old Black Lab, and the center of my universe. I got her the summer before I started 7th grade from Long Beach, WA on July 6, 2001. We were staying in Long Beach for 4th of July weekend like we do every year. One day while walking through town I saw a sign pointing to the Long Beach Pound (where she was born) saying "Lab Puppies!" Instantly I knew I had to at least go check it out and see these adorable dogs, so I easily convinced my mom to come with me. Little did I know, that day I would find my most loyal friend. There were pups running everywhere except for Nikeah. She was the one who ran straight up to me while the others we busy playing with eachother, and she hasn't left my side since. I persuaded my mom to let us get her (keep in mind my dad doesn't know about this yet) and so we put our name on her and said we would be back to pick her up on our way home. Still not telling my dad, once we started heading back to Oregon I said, "Oh wait dad we have to stop at the pound and get our new puppy!" A slam on the brakes and "What! Are you serious?" was his reaction, but knowing my dad I knew her wouldn't be able to say no once he saw those pretty puppy eyes. We went and picked her up and she rode on the back of the seat by my dad's head all the way home. She was so little! Of course she went through her puppy stage but as the years went by we realized that there was no way we could get a better dog. She would do anything for me and I for her. I love her more than anything and I cry everytime I have to leave her and go back to school..

LIBBY

This is far from the best dog in the world, but she's sure one of the cutest! This is Libby, born on July 27th, 2008. She is a 1, almost 2 year old Basset Hound. Just a baby :) We had been in the market for a new puppy for a little while because Nikeah seemed to be lonely and needed a friend. Originally we were looking for a Welsh Corgi because those are my dad's favorites and in his terms of agreement... and they are so darn cute! During our search however I came across an ad in the Oregonian online. Cutest puppy, reasonable price, good looking family lines. I had my parents take a look and they liked her, so we made a call to the family from Newberg, OR. On September 28, 2008 Libby came into our lives. And boy did she change things! As most of you know Bassets a extremely stubborn and very hard to train, and if you didn't well I am here to tell you... they are! She has been a handful to take care of, chewing everything in sight (maybe one day I will make a list for you of everything she has eaten). But naughty as she is, she really has brought a great joy to us and has been a great addition to our family. There is never a dull moment around her. She's full of personality, humor, and teeth that just don't seem to stop chewing!

Guess what...? You're reading my very first blog!

So this is my very first blog ever! I'm super excited about it. Basically I've never really been into the whole blog thing but have recently been introduce to it by a dear friend, who's blog inspired me to start one! Thanks Ally, you're awesome :)

So, a question that may have plagued mankind for centuries; Something that my friends ask themselves on a regular basis I am sure... What the heck is Tara rambling on about now? That is probably what this blog is going to be composed of... a day in the life of Tara. Things you may or may not want to know about me and my life. But don't worry, you can ask anyone and they'd say I have quite an exciting and interestingly bizarre life so hopefully you will never be bored. I know I'm not! Just wait I've got all sorts of ideas and stories ready and waiting to be told.