SFO Layover

Currently on a 3-hour layover at San Francisco International Airport, waiting for a flight to SLC where I will meet up with my family! Chanel is driving to SLC right now, probably approaching Vail.

She had an absolutely horrible experience with the movers yesterday. TV dropped, bins broken, clothes spilled in the street...not how you want to spend your last full day in the state you have grown to love.

Looking forward to this afternoon!

I don't know the Bay Area too well, but I assume this sign is bad news.

Unbelievable!

Our Sherwood home is taking a bit longer to close than we hoped. We are not sure when the USDA will fund the loan, and with all of us arriving from our drive from Colorado on Monday the 2nd, our living arrangements have had us a little stressed. We asked the current home owners to rent the house to us until the home closes, and they agreed to...for $100 a day. We can stay in a hotel for $98 a day, so we declined the offer. In the meantime, Chanel suggested we contact the bishop in our new ward to see if anyone in the ward might have a bedroom we could all stay in for a few days.

We just heard back from the bishop. He has an entire HOUSE we can stay in!

A member of the ward has a three bedroom home on his property that he is going to lease to the mission program. The missionaries will not move in until September 10, so we can stay there until the 9th! 

So amazing. Such a great example of an answer to a prayer and a demonstration of the Lord's love.

I will FINALLY be with my family again this Saturday. In less than 48 hours we'll be back together, just as we should be. We have all been through a lot these past 40 days and 40 nights. I think this experience has made our love stronger. We certainly will appreciate each other more now that we know what it is like to live apart. 

I wouldn't say it has been hard as in challenging. Chanel has fixed the washing machine and set the sprinkler system and done countless other things that I would have taken care of if I was there, and she's done so very well. I've kept myself safe and my belly fed and my laundry clean. It's just been hard to be apart from each other. Apart we are completely capable, but together we are all that, plus happy and chill. 

Just Realized...

I've been at the Burn home for almost a week, and this is the first time I noticed they have a waterfall close by. So weird...I've run by it several times. I wonder how many other cool things are around me that I haven't noticed yet? Not just this neighborhood, but life in general?

Mac and Cheese

The Burns are treating me so well. This afternoon I received this text:

Of course I accepted the offer. It means my dinners are all set for the entire week! I don't have to buy any dinners for myself because I have two frozen dinners in the freezer at work (Thursday and Friday), a ward picnic on Tuesday (I pick the best times to attend wards and branches!), and a vendor dinner on Wednesday. I'm a cheapskate, but I ain't no dummy! Turning down a free meal is not a smart thing to do.

The Mac and Cheese was awesome. Green beans were served on the side. 

I am counting down the days. Four more days apart from the family! Saturday will be incredible.

Chillin' With The Burns

My one month lease in my deluxe apartment in the sky has expired. My buddy from Gates, Jerry Burn, and his wife have graciously offered to let me stay with them for 10 days until I fly to SLC to meet up with my family and drive to Oregon. 

Jerry lives about seven miles from Wieden + Kennedy. So I run to work in the morning along Cornell, and then take the train back to their house after work. As I type I am doing so in their home, at their dining room table, all alone.

They are currently at Hood to Coast, a nearly 200 mile relay race. Mrs. Burn is walking two legs of the relay race. An incredible feat given the fact she is about 70 years old. They will return on Sunday.

They are so generous. They gave me my very own room:

Such great people. Jerry picked me up from WK after work on Wednesday and took me to Panda Express, where we met up with his wife and son. Mrs. Burn then went to work at a hospital, where she is a delivery nurse. Later that night Jerry and I went to get some frozen yogurt. While we were at the yogurt shop his friend Randall arrived. Randall is on the left:

Turns out Randall is LDS, and he offered to take me to church with him on Sunday.

I am very comfortable at the Burn residence, so I hope that means this next will fly by!

Iron and Wine's cover of Such Great Heights is playing on Pandora. It gives me such a cool feeling. So much going on in my life with a new job, new environment, away from the family. So many emotions running through me, and this is just a perfect song to be listening to right now. 

First Live Work

We launched my first W+K project today: a very simple tumblr for Velveeta.

The next iteration, scheduled for release next month, will involve an outside vendor's help and will be more dynamic. But still, this is my first project. Pretty exciting.

Colorado and Oregon Running

Thought I'd start this post with this sign:

According to Bolder Boulder swag, "Sea level is for sissies." I certainly took pride in running more than a mile above sea level while living in the CO. I feel like Colorado runners are hard core because they train at altitude every. single. day.

And I remember running in Vegas or San Diego or LA and thinking it was easier than running in Colorado.

But you'll never hear me say running in Portland is easier than Colorado.

In fact, I'm going to come right out and say it: it's harder.

It's harder for two reasons:

1. It's unbelievably hilly. And not just for short stints. I'm talking hills that go on for miles. Steep hills that feel no need to level out just so you can catch your breath. These hills are beasts. But the reward of running them is the strength you develop. Not sure if I have become a better runner since moving here, but I am certainly a stronger runner thanks to these hills.

2. It's humid. You don't notice it when you are walking to work or to the store. But you do notice it when you finish running a 10k and your shirt is heavier than you are.

Both Oregon and Colorado offer beautiful scenery for runs. I loved looking at the Rocky Mountains when I ran in Colorado, loved running by big farms with horses and cows grazing in the fields. But I also love running in Oregon, with its incredible deep greens and trees that seem 1,000 feet tall.

Bottom line is I love running in both places. But I have a much deeper history of running in CO. Looking forward to my next phase of my running: the Oregon years.

Side note: be careful when you run by bushes in Oregon. Most are harmless, but a couple have caught hold of me.