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!