My Mom Rocks!

Even from 2,000 miles away my mom can bail me out!

After our women's home game on Saturday I headed to an outlet mall with my roommates. I had my computer packed because I knew I'd be finding another wireless cafe to write my men's soccer story later.

We visited a couple stores and I called up a cafe to check if they had wireless and then headed there way. Upon ordering my drink I found a table near a plug-in only to discover I was missing my power cord. This wouldn't be a problem for most laptops, because they can run on battery. However, my battery has about a 5 minute lifespan and I refuse to buy a new one. But in this situation it was a gut-wrenching experience. Should I just wait until we are back home in 4 hours to write a story or should I find an alternative plan?

Well I hate when game stories are posted hours after a match, so I knew I needed to find an alternative. MY MOM. I called her up and she logged on to my e-mail and read me the box score, which was a challenge considering she has never seen a soccer box score before....not sure if she has seen a complete game either!

So after receiving limited box score info from her, I hand wrote a story. After completing it I text her the entire story! She then typed it and sent me an e-mail with the story and the headshot I needed to post it. I quickly logged on to my computer went straight for the website to post the story and my e-mail and posted it!

It was amazing that my battery died about a minute after posting, but it was up! I was so relieved to have an awesome mom who can help me from 2,000 miles away. Love you Mom!

Landscape Marketer

I am starting to get my feet under me a bit now with marketing ideas for Landscape Concepts, Inc. here in Forest Grove. They wanted me to start a Facebook page and a Twitter account. I still am not the biggest fan of Twitter, but am starting to understand it can play a large role in viral marketing.

The first week I didn't do a whole lot, I created the ad for a sale on the front page of the website, posted it and updated the website. I also had to find the need software, Ebay became my best friend for a while and I eventually won the bid war!

This week I created the Twitter account and designed the background. Let me tell you that was not as easy I had hoped due to the different types of browsers used, I had to make as many pictures visible as possible and I think I got it after 6 attempts! I also got my first experience listing an excavator on Ebay. I decided to use Twitter to announce the selling of the excavator and my auction got over 40 more views during my 4 hours at work on Friday. I guess Twitter is a viral marketing strategy!!

The software came pretty quickly so I am now well prepared to create ads, brochures, newsletters and update the website.

Landscape Concepts, Inc: http://landscapeconceptsinc.net/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/landscapeinc
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gales-Creek-OR/Landscape-Concepts-Inc/149730238386441

I Survived!

The first crazy weekend for me at Pacific is over and I survived! I am completely exhausted, but happy it all went relatively smoothly.

I spent nearly 24 hours in the press box of Lincoln Park Stadium over the 3 days. Friday was a men's and women's soccer double header. They took on Whitworth and for the guys this is the team who has won the conference 4 years in a row and are chosen to do the same again this year. So the nerves were high. The women went into overtime and pulled out their first win! They scored just 2:34 into the overtime period and in soccer that ends the period. The men pulled out a 2-1 and while that sounds awesome it was full of stress of my student worker crew. A time discrepancy between our scoreboard and the refs caused our coach to get a yellow card and Whitworth got a free kick that bounced off the top crossbar with 7 seconds left. The coach was still mad by the time I sent workers down with stats and they both go ripped! I felt bad for them, but in the end I decided it was nothing to stress about. We scored 2 goals, they scored 1, therefore we still had the win no matter how close the kick was at the end.

Saturday was the event that everyone in the office has been stressed about...the first Pacific home football game in 19 years! Pacific disbanded football after the 1991 season, but has brought it back this year. Our team is mainly freshmen, so it is a bit of rough going. Coming from Central's strong football tradition I was asked a bunch of questions I was unable to answer. I have worked 2 games while at Central and attended maybe 4! Volleyball season kind of overlaps football now doesn't it? :) However, I was asked to be there as support for the statcrew and my boss. My main responsibility during the game was to keep the Twitter feed going with the play-by-play and then post game get the players and coaches for interviews and tape an interview with the head coach for YouTube. Over 3,000 people attended the first game and the support was great for the young team. I just found it interesting to see so many tents set-up tailgating on campus grounds, because that is rare at Central! The Boxers didn't win, but I think the support they got was a moral victory.

Sunday I was back in the press box for another soccer double header. The women pulled out their second victory of the season against Whitman and the men followed with a 4-0 shutout of Whitman. The day went smoothly, but was just a long day after other full days of games!

While all these games were going on at the stadium, the men's and women's golf teams were also hosting their Pacific Invitational. The women golfed Saturday and Sunday and the men golfed Sunday and Monday. So while I didn't have to be at the meet, I had to be in the office to send results to the other SIDs and write stories when the meets finished. Over the weekend I wrote 8 stories! Coming up with wording to sound different each became harder as I got more tired! But overall I felt like I achieved a lot during the weekend!

Sunday I wish I could have been in Greene celebrating my mom's birthday, but clearly the distance does not allow that. I was able to talk to her before the soccer games and got a card sent to her, but if anyone wants to take her to DQ that'd be great, because I couldn't!!

This week I spent Monday getting out the weekly notebooks, which I am finally getting better at! Tuesday morning I got the honor of writing about the 3rd and 4th men's soccer players to receive student-athlete of the week. Each week I have to nominate soccer players who had good playing weeks. Each week this season Pacific has won the men's offensive player and it has been a different guys each time. This week my defensive nomination was selected too! It's kind of cool being able to nominate someone and then have them selected and for 3 weeks in a row!! The other new press release I got to write was the fact that the men's soccer team jumped from not being rated to 14th in the national poll. They are currently 6-0-1 and have a good chance to finish right at the top of the conference. After the rating I was told if they make it to the national tournament there is a strong possibility I would get to travel with them to cover it all, so let's keep cheering on the Boxers!!

Wednesday I finally got a day off!! It is my first day off since labor day and trust me it's much needed. I got to sleep in and get a bike ride to Hagg Lake in, plus a nice little stop to pick some blackberries along the route. Then I headed to Hillsboro to get my oil changed. Let me tell you it was an experience! I have never gone to Jiffy Lube, in fact I always just schedule my car to be serviced when I am home on break. And in Greene, the mechanics just know what to do and will pick-up your car at home! Here I was asked a bunch of questions, had to pick out my oil and make decisions! AHHH! Then wait patiently while they finished. Oh well, add it to my list of new experiences. After the oil change experience I just bummed around Hillsboro and hit up Panera, because I have the MyPanera club card and had a freebie to use. Also I highly recommend the Pumpkin Spice Latte! It was great to just have the day to myself.

How Lucky Our Small Town Is!

Wow, I have come to realize how lucky Greene, Iowa is to have a library at the level it is. The other day I wanted to get a biography, because I am sick of reading fiction books. So I decided to use my Boxer Card (the Pacific ID) at the public library in Forest Grove.

I went in planning to get a biography on John Wooden. You'd think a very common one to find, considering he was one of the best coaches in the nation. Anywho, after I was directed to the biography section I roamed the bookcase, NOTHING, NADA! John Wooden didn't exist, in fact most of them on the shelf were rather old. Not saying old books stink...well actually they do...but I mean their text isn't bad, but there were now newer people. So I found the computer card catalog and searched for John Wooden. To my dismay they had nothing at all, not even already checked out books. I was very frustrated, but decided to settle for some fiction.

After finding a book, I went to check out and gave them my Boxer Card in order to set-up a library card. I was then asked for a my current address so I told her, she then needed proof. Really, I have lived here for 3 weeks, and my Driver's license still is from Iowa...I have a staff ID I clearly am not running away with the book. However, I was unable to check out a book. I guess I have to figure out proof of my address, suggestions?

What I discovered at this library was there was a big emphasis on the technology. Lots of computers in the main area. Honestly, what I love about our library at home is for a town of 1,000 people we have a great selection of new and old titles. The librarians takes suggestions from the public and the library teen board makes new book picks. It is a community oriented library. Greene residents should feel lucky to have the resource they have!

Update on Life

Honestly, I have worked. It just looks like from my blog that I have only gone on adventures and read. But not that we have internet at our house I can do more regular updates!

I have started to get into a routine, well as much of a routine the sports information world allows. During the fall I am the primary contact for men's and women's soccer and golf. It's an interesting schedule, I am not used to having games on Saturdays and Sundays. The conference Pacific plays in, the Northwest Conference (NWC), schedules conference games on Saturdays and Sundays and a very rare Wednesday. The Sundays really surprised me, I am was just used to having Sunday as a day off at Central and also being able to attend church. With games starting at noon there is no way I can get to church and back in time to get set-up!But I am figuring it all out slowly.

The first home match was about a week and a half ago, and it was the first full soccer match I have watched in my entire life. I know, how can I be the primary contact for the support, huh? Well I have learned a lot about it in the first month here. The women's soccer coaches, husband and wife duo, are the youngest people in the office besides me and have answered all the questions I have had about the game at this point. So I am finding the groove I need to write logically stories about the matches! All my stories can be viewed at http://www.goboxers.com/ Mine are all the soccer and golf, of course!

I also have had a chance to play a lot of volleyball. The head volleyball coach discovered I played for Central and asked if I could come in and play with them at practice. Well I couldn't refuse the chance to get on the court again. Pacific doesn't have JV programs, so coaches only have a varsity team to work with and have to make cuts. So to make sure they have enough to scrimmage I go in and play!

The one problem I have to adjust to is using a Mac computer. I have used purely Windows computers throughout college, so having to adjust to the Mac version of everything was slow at first but I am starting to get it down.

At Pacific I am only suppose to be working 26 hours a week, because of how they have my pay allocated....I am yet to keep my hours under 26 since I started. But with all the sports starting it is hard to keep it under, if something needs to be done I need to get it done. However, with only working 26 hours I figured I would try to find a minimal part-time job on the side. After a bit of searching I came up with a landscape company in Forest Grove that was looking for a someone to do marketing and web updating for them. I contacted them and now I am working about 10 hours a week there. I figured it would be nice to get a bit more marketing experience and improve the skills I already have.

The first problem I ran into with my car after it trekked all the way out here was a low coolant light coming on. Well, I should say a light coming on because I had to look it up in the owner's manual to figure out what it meant. I really was dreading going to a mechanic here, especially if it was something simple. So I called up Mark, my mechanic at home, and he walked me through it and I did it myself. I felt so accomplished.

The next problem came during the Iowa State vs. Iowa game. Our cable and internet hadn't arrived yet, and I was decked out in layers of ISU. (Because I have been told Oregon doesn't have seasons, it has layers...just add or subtract!) Well I thought of going to Buffalo Wild Wings, but had to no desire to sit there that long and probably have to fight to have a game of Iowa teams on. So I used our 'stolen' internet and loaded the live stats, it looked like a bunch of foos ball men moving around. Unfortunately, things did not go ISU's way and it was a disappointment, but I still wore my layers proudly!

Sunday, Chantel and I tried yet another church (there were no home games!) in Hillsboro. It was an incredibly small church, smaller than my church at home! And was definitely geared towards families with young kids, so not quite what we were looking for. On the way home I saw a sign for a garage sale, and since we still didn't have furniture, we detoured. It ended up being a great detour! We got a couch and a loveseat for $50....in a lovely floral print. But the problem we had was getting it across town. So something in me, made me walk around the neighborhood and whenever I saw a truck in the driveway I knocked and asked if they would help. At about the 5th door I found someone willing to help us out! I honestly still can't believe I went door-to-door asking for a truck driver...a year or 2 ago you couldn't have paid me enough to do that!

Lastly, I wish I could be at home to see some of my siblings sporting events. Daniel is in his last jr. high season of cross country and has made solid improvement over last year. Leah is wearing my #3 this year for the Bearcats. I know they aren't having the most outstanding year, but they are young with no seniors on their team. I am very hopeful that they will improve this year and next year will be a great year for them. If any of you get a chance, please go watch them for me!

Next time I promise to keep this shorter, but I had a lot to fill you in on!

Recipe: Fudge Puddles

Instead of a weekend of adventures, we stayed in and baked and cooked full meals. And by full I mean they also had dessert. The recipes we used were out of a recipe book Natalie's sisters had put together for her. The fudge puddles were so good I must share. They are very similar to peanut butter cup cookies, but the fudge is so enjoyable with ice cream.

Ingredients:For cookie part:1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Fudge:1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stir together flour, baking soda & salt. Cream butter, peanut butter, white & brown sugars. Mix in egg and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Stir the flour mixture into creamed mixture. Shape the dough into 48 balls, 1 inch each. Place in mini muffin tin (only about half way up).

Bake dough for 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven & immediately make wells in center of each with a small spoon. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Then carefully remove to wire racks. Fill each shell with chocolate fudge mixture.

For filling, put chocolate chips in a pan and heat on low until the chocolate melts & thins out. Stir in milk & vanilla as heating, mix well.

***You can also use a large muffin tin, but it will make less and it is almost too much to eat at once! We did some of each and added Tillamook ice cream, it was great!

Book Review: The Wedding

Yep, I have finished another book. It would seem from my postings that all I do is go on adventures and read.....not a bad life huh? The Wedding is the first Nicholas Sparks book I have read in over a year. It is also one that got thrown into my stuff in my rush to pack, because Jodee so graciously helped me pack and was in charge of books. So I finally read it and it was great, because it was less predictable than the last one I read. I didn't suspect the surprise that happens in the last 10 pages. So I highly suggest you don't give up on it before you get there...and DO NOT read ahead either!

This book is the follow-up to The Notebook, however after seeing the movie a thousand times in my life I decided not to read it before. I also hate the differences between movies and books and chose not to put myself through the stress of the differences. Noah is still alive in this book and has almost reached the age of 90, while still doing well for his age he is slowing down. One thing that stuck with me was everytime Wilson, his son-in-law, visited him he asked, "You doing okay?" Noah always responded with "Could be better, Could be worse, though, too."

I found that little saying so true. We get ourselves to a point in our lives where we think nothing else can go wrong because it's already so bad. But is it really? Your view on life is a mindset, you have to see it through a positive lens! Choose to see the good and not dwell on the bad! As I ran through the streets of Forest Grove I thought about this saying quite a bit today and decided, Life is truely what you make it, sure it could always get worse, but you're alive and free, why complain?

Adventure: Into the Wilderness

After a long first week of classes for my roommates we wanted to do something that got our minds off of class and work for me. Friday was Chantel’s birthday so we let her decide what the weekend would look like.

Camping in Ecola State Park

Camping. This is what Chantel elected to do. She has containers of her camping gear in the garage and has camped literally around the world. So she found a hiker’s camp in the forest at Ecola that was free, besides the camp parking fee. Friday after work and classes we packed up her jeep and off we went.

As we left it was sunny and nice and we were hopeful, however after we crossed the coastal range fog and clouds rolled in killing our chance of watching the sun set over the ocean! But we still held high spirits, after a short stop in Cannon Beach we decided to just go to the camp area and hang out. By the time we made it to the park and got our parking passes it was starting to get dark and we still had to hike a mile to the camp area. We quickly gathered the essentials needed at the campsite and started our hike up.

Now this up was actually kind of miserable and hysterical. We had limited light, but that wasn’t the problem. After walking for about 10 minutes it started to rain and the hill seemed to get steeper and not to mention we had no idea how far we had gone. But we trudged on. Eventually, we found the camp area because others who had made it up there in light had a fire going and had claimed all the bunks that were available. So we had to scope out a flat place to put up the tent, a tent for 2 people. Meaning someone had to sleep outside, Chantel was excited for this until about 2 a.m. when the rain became harder and into her face.

We all survived the night, but the next morning none of us were well rested, but we got to enjoy our breakfast overlooking the ocean and listening to sea lions. Then it we took a different trail along the ocean and back to the beach, where we enjoyed sitting on a overlook and watching the early morning surfers. After sitting for a while we climbed through the rocks on the beach to get a tide pool and found crabs and starfish and over sea creatures.

Tourist Towns

Our plan to hike a mountain fell through after our long hike in the dark and rain the day before. But we decided to hit up the tourist towns along Highway 101. First it was Seaside, we found the beach and walked barefoot enjoying the warmth of the sand. Then we made a pit stop that ended up being much longer than planned at an outlet mall in Seaside, but I must say we walked away with amazing deals!

After the long pit stop we cancelled the continuance north on 101, due exhaustion starting to set in. We drove south on 101 and enjoyed random overlooks into the ocean and stopped once because we spotted blackberries in the ditch. When we finally made it to Tillamook, I had to sit in McDonalds because it was the only source of wireless internet and write a game story while Chantel and Natalie toured the Tillamook cheese factory. When I finished I joined them at the factory for cheese samples and dinner. After dinner we had to have Tillamook ice cream and let me say it was amazing. My sticky bun ice cream tasted like a fresh sticky bun. After all that we felt overly full and incredibly tired. Bed time came about 10 for me, because I had to be at a game on Sunday morning…

Hiking to Elowah Falls
Labor Day I went hiking with my uncle Doug. He had taken my parents when they were out here, but I sadly missed it because I had to work. On our drive to Columbia gorge we took a scenic byway instead of the interstate. I love just driving through the tunnels of trees, it’s beautiful. We stopped at Crown Point overlook into the Columbia River Gorge and then continued on. As we drove there are many places to pull off and hike and many different waterfalls you can see on these hikes. We even passed right next Multnomah Falls, which was incredibly busy. So that will have to be for a different day. When we finally made it we hiked to Elowah falls and then just sat and enjoyed the calmness of the area.

After our hike we headed to over the Bridge of the Gods to Washington, where we went to Skamania Lodge. The Lodge is back off the main route and surrounded by trees and has an amazing view into the gorge. It has a patio and chairs that are set-up just to let you sit, so we did for a while before having dinner on the patio.

Book Review: The Coast Road

Another Barbara Delinsky book has hit my hands. When my mom and I were wandering downtown Forest Grove we discovered an antique store that also sells used books. So I got one, as did both my parents.

This book is set in the northern coast area of California. The main character Rachel has been divorced from Jack, a workaholic, for about 6 years and been living with her 2 daughters, Sam and Hope, in the canons of Big Sur. In a hurried night she is hit from behind while driving and pushed into a valley off the highway. Upon being rescued she is still alive and put into intensive care with a severely broken leg and in a coma. Not knowing who else to call a friend calls Jack. He is finds it necessary to drive the 3 hours to be at the hospital with Rachel and support his daughters. The next part of the story continues with Jack taking care of his daughters and spending his time at the hospital. He puts off work for weeks and starts to see the things he was missing in life and quits his firm in order to make a change and put his family first.

While at times the story is predictable it does have a good point. Enjoy life; don’t just get wrapped up in working and making a living. If all you worry about is measuring your success in money you have failed. There is so much around to appreciate and it’s important that you do just that. Find time for your family and those important to you.