Lucerito's Blog

2012-01-23T18:35:00.000-08:00

T-Minus 5 days

Today is Monday, January 23rd....and this weekend is OUR WEDDING!!! AHHHH! I am so excited! We have all been working so hard on prepping for the ceremony and reception. Mom has been a tremendous help with everything- running lots of errands, making origami flowers, working on my dress, making phone calls etc. Dad is working on officiating the ceremony which we are thrilled about as well as helping us pull the details together-thank goodness we have his help! And my fiance, Josh, has been helping create seed bags, pamplets, run errands, make phone calls, and generally keep me CALM! I have been tough to live with this month as I was a complete worry wort!

At any rate, THANK YOU ALL! Here are some photos of our hard work that has gone in to making this wedding so special and one-of-a-kind:

Front door sign for Tumalo Creek

Ceremony Programs

The backside of the programs

Wedding Wine Glasses

Cranes bring happiness and good luck!

Origami flowers

Our wedding invitations

And the making of the "Good Thoughts" Box

The finished box! :)

2012-01-14T20:50:00.001-08:00

Photography Adventure to Fort Rock, Oregon

This Friday, my dad and I took a drive out to Fort Rock. It is about 30 miles East of Bend. We were experimenting with a "new" style of photography...and by "new" I mean new to us. It seems as though everyone knew about this but us! HA! At any rate, we took our first HDR photos and learned to use the software today. Here are the results! We will definitely be taking another photography adventure soon :)

2011-12-28T21:39:00.001-08:00

Amazing Night Sky Video Footage

I ran across this some time ago and just can't get enough of it. Check out THE best time lapse video of the night sky I have ever seen....

The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

Talk about making you feel tiny in an enormous universe! There is no way we are alone....look at those billions of stars!!!

2011-12-23T11:19:00.000-08:00

This quote made me think about positivity at a time when I really needed to-job applications! Perhaps it will do the same for you.... :)

May you all have happy thoughts and big smiles this Christmas!

-Christina

2011-12-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

Cake Shopping

Boom. I said it. We went cake shopping! :) It is going to be an amazing cake and sooooo tasty! We went with something that can "safely" travel from the bakery to the venue which is always a concern during the winter in Bend....slippery roads and tall cakes dont mix well. That's all I'm going to say. Can't give away too much!

2011-12-07T19:45:00.000-08:00

Our 4 Year Anniversary

Today was our four year anniversary. We met after both Josh and I moved back to Bend from Idaho (separately of course). Today we went skiing with our families on Mt. Bachelor and we skiied our butts off! And because we skiied so hard, we were starving....a bit early. We went to Soba Noodles for an early dinner. This also happened to be the place where we had our first date...ever! This was followed by a quick visit to Goodies where we each got a Grand Marniere chocolate.

Tonight we are watching The Santa Clause to get in to the holiday spirit. Our Christmas tree is decorated and we have our snowflake lights hanging up :) I am the luckiest girl!!!! Thank you Josh for 4 amazing years! :)

2011-12-05T20:13:00.000-08:00

The Hot Tub!

We went skiing. For four days in a row. We were sore....until we jumped in the hot tub! The Christmas lights definitely helped. Thank you Debbie!

2011-12-03T21:25:00.000-08:00

Learning to Telemark Ski

Josh just did a great post on the same thing so I will send you his way..... http://www.ikayak2live.com

For the past couple years, Josh and I have been wanting to try Tele-skiing. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this obscure sport, picture alpine skiing with a big dash of cross-country tossed in. Instead of having your heel locked down to the ski, you are "free-heeling". In addition to the free heel aspect, telemark skiing utilizes what is called a "tele-turn"whereby the skiier dips one knee to the ground and creates a "v" shape which initiates the turn. This style became popular thanks to the Norwegian, Sondre Norheim.

So with all that in mind, Josh and I are having a BLAST with the new sport. We have both been avid alpine skiiers for a long time and independently decided we wanted to try tele skiing. It has been a big challenge for me to not fall back in to my alpine habits but when I get the turn right...holy smokes....it just feels like dancing. Mom described it as a ballet which seems to be the best description I've heard. Speaking of mom and dad, we have all been skiing together and really enjoying it! It's been more than five years since we have all been on the mountain together ! They are being very patient as I learn but with any luck, I will be back over on Pine skiing a bit faster very soon! ;) Here are some pictures from skiing on Friday-

2011-11-29T17:59:00.000-08:00

Family Time

Today in every sense of the word was, "epic". Josh and I got our day started with a mad search for Josh's contact case. Yikes. Eventually we conlcluded that despite our efforts, his case was lost forever. *sad* BUT we headed up and met my mum which made it allll better! (See below photo). It was our second day on our tele skiis but we had sooo much fun it should have been illegal. Mom is a superstar and she skiied beautifully. You wouldn't have believed it was only her first day in five years! Wow. THEN, Josh's mum showed up to make it four instead of three. :) We did several runs off of pine and Sky and finished the day off after a brief rest at Pine Martin lodge. Can't complain about a thing. Tomorrow, we meet my mom again for more fun. WOO HOO! :)

The Superstar

The View

Josh and my mom on the lift

Looking up Skyliner Lift

Me, Josh, and Debbie on the "easiest run down"

Josh and I having waaaay too much fun

My mom and I :) Team Russell!

At the top of Skyliner Chair

Resting and trying to figure out how to get to the cars with as little effort as possible

Josh and myself riding the chair

2011-11-28T19:42:00.000-08:00

Wedding Plans, Thanksgiving, and the Great and Mysterious Job Search

This Thanksgiving was absolutely wonderful for both the Russell and McKeown families. Josh and I spent Thanksgiving day with my family this year and Kim and Jesse migrated down to Bend from Hood River. It was pretty nice to have everyone together! Incidently, Thanksgiving day was my first day on my tele-skiis....EVER. Josh and I are brand-spakin' new to telemarking. We've both been alpine skiiers for over ten years and breaking those muscle memories is very challenging. We headed up to Mt. Bachelor for opening day on Thanksgiving day and after waiting in line for our season passes for what was too long to mention, we hit the slopes.

4 runs later and we were stoked on tele skiing. I can't say my skiing was even remotely close to what it should be (my left leg didn't listen to my brain and instead flopped around like a wet noodle) but Josh looked GREAT! His cross country background definitely helped! After our 4

runs we headed down to have a huge dinner and enjoy the evening with the family.

(Below) Working on the Chicken Puzzle

The growing family :)

The next day, Josh had work so I planned to do a Riverhouse paddle with Kim and Jesse. Unfortunately, Josh comandeered all of my paddling equipment. I scrounged around in our gear room and pulled together enough parts to go boat! Who would have thunk it. :) That eve I was picked up by Kellie and we headed out to Debbie's house for the McKeown family dinner. Josh followed shortly after and we enjoyed our second Thanksgiving dinner.

This weekend, I spent my time recovering from two big meals, and I used my time to prepare for the wedding. I finished the wedding invitations, reconfirmed my appointment with the Cake Lady, got up to speed on marriage licenses, looked in to a wedding band for Josh, started (and nearly finished) our "Good Thoughts" box, and edited the wedding webpage. Boom!

Here is the "good thoughts" box...in progress!

Below is the very advanced diagram I put together of Tumalo Creek all prettified with decorations! I used my brand new artist tablet and let me just say it will take some adjusting. I am a bit clumsy with my pen but I will get better! Thank you mom and dad!!!!

That was a lot to do but I feel much better having made progress. The dress is graciously being tailored by my mom so hopefully it will be all finished this week. We have all been so busy that it has been put on the back-burner with the holidays. It sure is unconventional but we are rockin' "unconventional" the whooooole way!

The job hunt continues but I remain positive. And as good ol' Van Wilder once said, "worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get ya anywhere". Bend is still my dream town to find work in so I am being persistent and working hard to find something. :) Josh and I are strong. We will make it work!

2011-11-19T14:54:00.000-08:00

Missing Pepper

It's been two years since we let Pepper go but it still feels fresh to me. She and I had a lot of good times together- from growing up in Texas to Lake Creek to the coast to visit Kim at U of O. She came with me on many trips and lived with me at my apartment for several months. The snow outside reminds me of how much Pepper loved life. She was happiest with a mucky, nasty tennis ball and lots of snow on the ground to roll around in. I wish she was still with us but I know she is in a place filled with tennis balls, doggie treats, and snow. Not to mention peanut butter. mmmmm....peanut butter. She was a great companion and she could teach all of us to be happy with the simple things in life.....

Here are some great pictures of her....

Diggin a trench in the snow and playing with her tennis ball. She would knead the ball so much that she couldn't fit it in her mouth anymore from the snow stuck on it. The trenches always resulted from the kneading as she would do that for hours if we let her.

Here is Miss Pepper Salt Russell on the beach in Florence, Oregon. She never knew quite what to make of the seals but she DID know exactly what to do about the seagulls- chase em!

This is a particularly touching photo to me. She and I both feeling under the weather, hiked down to watch Josh finish the Little White race in Washington. The "trail" was not really a trail at all....so we had quite the time getting down to river level. Ugh. She was a trooper and by the time we got down, she happily sat and enjoyed a rawhide chew.

I know that posting about Pepper may seem silly but I would like to think that by keeping her memory fresh, I am respecting the time we had together. Miss you, Pepper. :(

-Tina Tina Bo Bina

2011-10-12T21:47:00.001-07:00

Rogue River Engagement Trip

This september was quite special. Not only did we move back to Bend, but Josh proposed to me on our Rogue river multiday adventure! I said yes of course! It happened on our first evening of the trip. I was making veggie burgers when Josh disappeared in to the tent. When he returned he seemed distracted. I began to ask him something when he said, "you know i want to spend the rest of my life with you. Right? " i replied "yes and you know i want to spend the rest of my life with you too, right? ". Then he got down on onekneeand asked me to marry him! I was in complete shock and probably said yes a dozen times. If he didnt hear me the first time he heard me on the second third and forth "yes"!

The rest of the trip was amazing. We were both so relaxed and ecstatic to be engaged. We realized we can now officially call one another, 'fiance'...so we made sure to use the newly legitimate word!

Somewhere in there, however, we began to stress about telling my mom and dad. Josh was wanting to ask my dad prior to asking me but due to unforseen circumstances, this didnt happen. This left josh and i feeling like we had skipped a very important step in our books.

When we returned to civilization, josh and i went to see my parents and tell them the news. I was so nervous i could barely eat! Once the cat was out of the bag, we both reelaxed tremendously. It felt great to be able to tell everyone. Kim was especially excited and made sure that i knew she was supportive. "you said yes, right!?" was her first question. Awwww.

Now begins the period in which most women turn in to Bridezillas. I am happy to report that this is not the case. We are hard at work picking out the venue and date but have decided that in the interest of not yanking everyone around, we should wait on picking a date until my job search is more complete here in Bend. WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!

2011-10-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

Lower Deschutes Rafting Trip

Sorry for the complete lack of posting lately. To say we have been busy would be an understatement. (*See below blog post) This particular trip happened the second week of September with Josh's family. To celebrate Debbie's retirement and our move back to Bend, we settled on three days/two nights on the lower Deschutes River. We put on at the Trout Creek campground and took off in Maupin. Check out the photos below-

Loading up

Tyler UNloading

Debbie, Kellie, and Paisley

Tyler rowing the Puma!

Kellie

Josh and me on our incredibly sturdy watercraft- Alli and Jaws

Running the GNAR! Hahahahahaha!!!

Josh and I rowing the Avon

Josh and I at camp 1

Camp 1
Heading to White Horse Rapids Class 3
Josh navigating White Horse in the Avon

At camp 2 after a long day- sunburned and dehydrated, but happy!

Debbie enjoying a cup of coffee the next morning....

And the unpacking! Ugh!

2011-10-12T12:13:00.001-07:00

Home

I am finally home...in Bend that is. Josh and I have moved from Portland back to Bend and boy does it feel GREAT. We chose to go to Portland for me to complete nursing school but other than that, there wasn't a whole lot of motivation for us to stay. When I passed my NCLEX and our lease was up, we came to a cross roads- stay or go. GO! Josh and I ended up having a more rushed decision than we had expected due to a nasty landlord but we ended up weighing the pros and cons well. In the end, the decision to move to Bend came out on top and we are so happy here. We've been paddling nearly every day and have done more in the past month than we did all year in pdx. Kind of sad but when you have everything so close, you can do an awful lot in a short period of time!

We returned at the start of September and immediately jumped on the Lower Deschutes for a three day raft trip. Then returned and proceeded to paddle everyday whilst applying to jobs (myself). Around the third week of Sep. we headed down to the Rogue River for a five day raft trip and then returned for a four day Steens trip. Mixed in between has been day-hiking, mountain biking, and plenty of quality family time.

At this moment, I am still searching for jobs but as I and the rest of my nursing cohort knew, there is a long road ahead to find work. That is ok. I will find something...I just know it. Keeping my fingers crossed and the positive thinking, going. Is there any room out there for a professional kayaker/RN/artist? Come on! :P

2011-09-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

Berry Pickin' in Parkdale,OR

For a fun weekend, the family met up for some blueberry picking in Parkdale,OR. It is just South of Hood River and about two hours from PDX. It was fantastic and I have never seen so many big blueberries...did I mention these were the SWEETEST berries EVER?! MMMMM I will make sure to make it back next spring for more....

(Above) Kim and me

(Above) check out the view

(Above) Mom and dad are happy campers

(Above) look at those berries!

2011-08-28T11:54:00.001-07:00

Christina Russell; BSN, RN

I did it! On August the 20th of 2011, I took the nursing boards for the state of Oregon and passed. The exam could be a minimum of 75 questions or a maximum of 265 questions. It just depends on how long it takes the computer to determine competency. My exam cut off at exactly 75 questions and I was sure I had failed it. I had about 15 'select all that apply' style questions which made me very uncomfortable with my answering capability... not to mention I had about 8 in a row! There were lots of meds that I didn't recognize and syndromes I had never heard of. The day after my exam, I met my parents on the Oregon coast for my dad's birthday celebration. Incidentally, I had no reception where we were camped so until I drove in to town on Monday eve, I had no idea of my exam status. As I parked the car for dinner, texts starte

d to come in. Josh's was the first I saw, "Congrats hun! You passed! You are an RN!" :) I was ecstatic and proceeded to run up the road to my parents screaming, "I passed!". I will never forget that day.

Thank you to everyone who supported me through the thick and thin of school. Josh- you were my rock when I came home from clinicals exhausted or grumpy, not to mention with puke on my scrubs. You helped me prep for exams and made me dinner when I was too tired to do it myself. And bless you for letting me spread my study notes all around and even bring them on vacations! You saw all my bad moments and helped me through them. I couldn't have done it without you! To my family- you supported me through it all, from the very beginning- at Albertson when I was an environmental studies major to COCC when I decided to go for it. You were there when I was applying to school, when I stressed about "what I wanted to be when I grew up". You supported me in every way possible and because of your love and support, I have succeeded in school. Thank you for putting up with my last minute change in plans from exams, or that assignment my teacher just decided to give me on a whim. And last but not least, my nursing peeps- I have never met a group of individuals whom I can say more wonderful things about. You are all inspiring to me and I will never forget you. I expect you all to make yourselves at home in Bend when you come visit! ;) Thank you for taking my late night phone calls, and thank you for helping me in clinicals with those rough moments...Adina- cue 'digital removal' memory...not going to say anything more.

For those of you that got frustrated with me and didn't quite understand what 'nursing school' meant, I guess you will only know how hard it was if you do it yourself. Kayaking certainly took a back seat because I had to give school my full attention. That's just how I did it and it got me through. Remember, don't take my being unavailable as synonymous with 'lack of caring' or 'lack of interest'. That would be a wrong assumption...and you know what they say about 'assumptions'. ;)

I am beginning a new chapter in my life and I couldn't be more charged up and ready to go! I have taken a temporary job with Mollen Immunizations in Bend,OR. I will be in charge of flu shots for the Bend area. Woo hooo! Thus, I am in the process of moving. The packing is almost all done and it sure feels great. Thank you to mom and dad for letting me use the trailer! It has made all the difference. It sure feels strange to be in the house with nothing in it. Nala cat seems to be doing just fine and acts as though nothing is wrong. Funny. She sure will know when she is riding in the front seat. Ohhhhh boy. Cue the 'cat freakout'!

Until next time....I will post again once I am home....ah I can call Bend 'home' again!

And because I am choosing to do what makes me happy, here is an inspiring quote:

Life is the sum of your choices.
— Albert Camus

2011-08-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

Last Day of Nursing School- EVER

Look at my wonderful classmates! We did it! This was taken on the morning of our May graduation but we finally received a photo on our LAST day of class.

Hello world! I just completed my nursing program at the University of Portland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am still in complete shock. At times, I never thought it would come, but of course it did. :) I had my comprehensive ATI exam in which I had to score a minimum of 75% to pass. This equated to a 95% pass score on the NCLEX. I pulled out an 80% which told me I have a 98% chance of pass the NCLEX first go.....thank goodness.

I followed my graduation with an ACLS class because that will definitely help with job hiring. Phew! That was a long couple days. The world is now at my fingertips but so is the debt crisis in America (which has me wanting to leave the country in search of a more functional government...good lord). I know this is not a solution but it sure looks nice right now! Once I get some experience in nursing, I am outta here...to places that ACTUALLY have jobs! I am so excited at all the opportunities I am unsure of how its supposed to go....how do I get this whole "life" thing started? There is no handbook so I am going to make the best decisions I can, do as much fun stuff as I can, and soak it up.

Today, I signed up for my NCLEX as I finally got permission to test from the OSBN. :D Im taking it on August 20th so send any spare good ju ju you got my way please!!!

Now off to bed...where I will dream of fun, exciting things like kiteboarding and paddling in Chile :)

2011-07-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

Nerves of Steel...or Spaghetti

This week has been all about positivity! I am mentally prepping for my comprehensive ATI examination that concludes my nursing education at the University of Portland. I have ot pass this exam in order to take the NCLEX so I am quite nervous. My regimen to be prepared has been:

-read my Medsurge ati book cover to cover

-read OB, Peds, Mental Health, and fundamentals ATI books cover to cover

-take focused assessments on the ATI site

-take the comprehensive practice tests

-get lots of sleep

-get up early

-think positive!

-work out

-DONT think of the big picture

-make tasty meals :D

So far it has worked. I have to score a 73% on the ATI to pass. This equates to a 95% score on the NCLEX. GOOD. I just took my practice comprehensive and I got a 73.5! CLOSE so I need to get it up a bit more. I want more of a buffer for sure. At any rate...I'm feelin good and so eager to move on with this next chapter in my life. I'm SO excited!

2011-07-02T22:57:00.001-07:00

Ruckel Creek Backpacking Trip-Also known as "The Hiked that Kicked my Butt!"

I would like to start this post off by saying that I love backpacking. My family and I have always been interested in challenging ourselves and we don't shy away from a tough trip. On this particular occasion, Josh and I selected Ruckel Creek for a two day, one nighter. The hike is about 6.3 miles in total. It was listed as 'difficult' but having done several desingated 'difficult' hikes that turned out to not be difficult, we thought that premise applied here as well-oh how wrong we were.

Me-the eager beaver :)

The old abandoned Columbia Gorge highway...from wayyyy back when.

Ruckel Creek

Ruckel Creek Falls

The whole trip began with an ominous slope. Josh jokingly said, "Ha ha it's going to be like this the whole way..." We were impressed that the switchbacks themselves, needed switchbacks. It was a bit ridiculous really. We gained 4500 feet of elevation in 6.3 miles! Absolutely beautiful scenery for sure but bloody painful packing.

Right at this moment-Josh and I thought we were getting close! BAHAHAHAHA....not yet....

I really liked this shot-another mountain meadow

I proudly wear Icebreaker clothing! Those New Zealand sheep have great wool!

Stopping to look at the flowers :)

Josh and I kept thinking we were almost done with the uphill and THEN it started. The trail went from switchbacks to literally, straight up. My theory on this is that the guys/gals putting the trail together got sick and tired of switchbacks and thought, heck, we'll just go straight up! By this time, our thighs were thoroughly whipped and we had next to nothing left. We were each carrying 40 and 45 pound packs up the hill. Josh proudly declared

that "this isn't fun anymore" and the clouds descended on our mountain top.

The Cheezits didn't stand a chance! :D

We arrived at Benson Plateau after 5.5 hours of hiking with spaghetti legs and heavy eyelids. With the fog, it looked like we were in J.R.R. Tolkien's world...

Anyways, we got to Benson around 4:30 pm and wandered around looking for our supposed "view". With the fog, we have no idea where it actually was. The temperature had dropped to the mid forties and the fog made it feel even cooler. I gotta say it felt GREAT to take off my boots :)

We quickly cooked up a massive package of Annie's Mac n'Cheese (mmm) and crawled in to our sleeping bags. We were asleep by 6pm. Wow.

The next morning-

arrived and we were up at 7am. We had a fabulous breakfast-courtesy Josh hauling up some Safeway cheesey bagels :)!!!!

Can you tell we were pooped?!

The hike down-We thought it was a nice change

The view back up the trail....daaaaaang

I was stoked on all the foliage...

A beautiful day of hiking!

Soakin' it up!

Josh scanning the area for flat spots for "next time"....we have no plans to go back at this point!

One of the many mountain meadows- complete with a stream!

God bless MSR-we love your filter!

The view looked much better with sunshine!

Would I recommend this hike to anyone? Unless you are wanting an intense training trip, I wouldn't. The trip is entirely uphill and despite some gorgeous views, the ratio of views:scenery is a little skewed. The first 3-4 miles are steep but the last 2 miles feel like they are straight up. There is a spring at about mile three in the mountain meadow (so bring a filter) but after that, no water sources. Once committed to Benson, you are goin' all the way because it is the only flat spot on the hike! Make sure you know what you are in for and then bring lots of calories. Have fun and let me know what you think of the hike if you give it a go!

2011-06-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

Star Mountain Backpacking....Errrrr Off-Roading Trip

This was an interesting day. Josh and I decided to attempt the Star Mountain summit hike near Copper Creek,WA. It was supposedly a beautiful hike along an exposed ridge.

The morning of, we literally only made it two feet out of the house when-I dropped my walled INTO the Columbia River. We live on a houseboat and between my loaded backpack I was wearing, the flood stage of the river, the swift undercurrent, the side-railing, and the change in the wallet, I couldn't grab it before it sank :(. The river is muddy as heck and you can barely see a half foot down. There was no way I was going in. So, there we were. Standing in shock as my wallet drifted downstream. There went EVERYTHING....well not really everything but in my moment of being a deer in the headlights, it sure felt like it!

Josh-ever the cool-headed man, sat me down and we wrote out everything that I had lost. We promptly hurried over to the Oregon DMV to get a new driver's licence. Then we headed to Wellsfargo to close out all my accounts, canceled my credit cards and made a call to the hospital where I had just picked up a visitor badge. You can imagine how terrible it sounded to call the hospital and tell them their visitor badge was somewhere in the bottom of the Columbia River because I was clumsy and dropped it off my houseboat. Yeah. I really couldn't stop laughing and crying. The whole thing was really pretty hilarious. It could have been MUCH worse!

Despite this wallet tragedy, we were not deterred! We decided we should still go packing. Why not?! We drove out and after some time, found the right forest road. At this moment I will now jump on my soap box and talk about the awesomness of the Toyota Landcruiser. If ya don't want to hear it, blow past and check out the photos yourself...

The Landcruiser is awesome (of course). Not so great for highway but off-piste- it's a beast. I love that I can drop it in to low or 2nd and climb just about anything. We were on some seriously rough roads back there and the good ol' Darkness kept on goin'. KNOCK ON WOOD. :) Ok, I'm done now. But I love my car and I will keep it running as long as I can!

Back to the trip, we ended up hitting snow at 3000 feet. With such a wet and warm winter, we thought we would be ok on the whole snow thing. There were about 5-6 feet of snow on the ground with a serious 1000 foot drop off to the side-cue "do not attempt" thought. We turned back with a 16 point turn carefully orchestrated with the help of Josh.

On the way down, we stopped at the lower elevation trail head with a different approach to the summit.

The headwaters of Copper Creek at trailhead #2

The Darkness...prowling the jungle...:)

We will return soon to try out the Bluff mtn-Star Mountain summit! It has been an awfully cool year so this will likely be late July/early August. Till then...get out and have an adventure! :D

-Christina

2011-06-17T19:07:00.000-07:00

Graduation!

I am not officially done but if I wanted to walk, I had to do it in the spring. This fall, we have an ice cream social to celebrate and a roast to the teachers! Here are photos from my unofficial graduation from the University of Portland School of Nursing! :)

All of us pretty excited :)

Kathleen came to support me....she is awesome!

My community/leadership professor and I

2011-06-16T10:32:00.001-07:00

Eileen Lake

I was going through photos this morning and found hundreds of photos of my trip to Eileen Lake with dad. It was a beautiful hike! :) Dad and I were a great team.

FYI: We did a three day, three night trip. We camped in a beautiful meadow about 4-5 miles from Eileen on night one, Eileen Lake on the second night (and it rained...of course), and the same meadow as before on the third night. The mosquitoes were minimal and the weather was pretty much perfect.

mom, pepper and I at Devils Lake Trailhead

The packers- AKA "Tumbleweed"(dad) and "Orence of Arabia" (me)

Hiking up to Lacante Crater

The only shade after the open field...thank goodness!

Descending from the plateau to the meadow

BEAUTIFUL

Toadstool! :)

Arriving at the meadow AKA campsite #1

The VERY cold babbling brooke-I took a VERY quick bath here...and promptly sunbathed to warm up

The campsite

On the way to Eileen! Go "Tumbleweed" go!

The Husband

Eileen Lake!

The View from the Eileen Lake Ridge

Dinner time

What a sunset!

The next day-hiking back to the meadow. It was a HOT one.

One of the many lakes you pass on your way to Eileen...

Happy packers we were!

If you are interested in doing your own Eileen Lake hike, buy a Three Sisters Wilderness Map. I believe the whole hike was about a 20+mile out and back. Park at Devils Lake Trailhead off of the Mount Bachelor Highway. DONT leave anything in the car. Better yet, have someone drop you off. Plan for all sorts of weather in the Three Sisters Area and always bring a rainfly or tarp. If you go in the fall, plan on getting an evening thunderstorm like we had. Mosquitos can be bad at the trailhead area so bring bugspray. You don't have to worry about bears here, but the birds and chipmunks will get your food if you leave it easily accessible. REmember, pack it in and pack it out! I don't want to see your TP out there. ;)

Hope everyone is out enjoying the beautiful sunshine (or rain if you are in PDX)

-Tina Tina Bo Bina

2011-06-14T11:54:00.001-07:00

One Step Closer

Last weekend, I went home for a family visit. While at home, mum, dad, and I managed to cram a LOT in to the weekend. One of the highlights for me was jumping on their motorcycle for the first time. I can't tell you how amazing it felt to finally be taking a step toward achieving my dream of riding a motorcycle like Louis Pryce. For those of you who are not familiar with her, she is from England and rode from Alaska to the tip of South America. Her book, Louis on the Loose inspired me to want to ride and do my own trip. I hope to do my own version of that adventure someday and learning to ride a motorcycle is a big step in the right direction!

2011-06-07T20:15:00.001-07:00

Our 3 1/2 Year Celebration

June 7, 2011

I am so proud to say that Josh and I have been together for 3.5 years. WOW! I feel so lucky and priveleged to know someone as special as Josh. Tonight, I was sneaky and made sushi to surprise Josh on our 3.5 year "anniversary". I got him! He had no idea I was being sneaky...well maybe he did but it sure was fun. :) I am the luckiest girl in the world!

Lookout world! Here we come! :D

2011-06-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

"Don't Worry. I've Got Bandaids In My Utility Belt"

School is almost over. I have....8 weeks until I take my finals and 9-10 until I take my NCLEX exam (Nursing boards). The sunshine is coming out both literally and metaphoricallyl speaking. I am in full review mode and actively studying all my ATI books we were given to prepare for our NCLEX exam and end-of-the-year ATI comprehensive exam. In order to take the NCLEX, I must first pass the ATI comprehensive.....PRESSURE! EEK!

Here are the topics covered:

-Fundamentals of Nursing

-Pharmacokinetics

-Community

-OB/Pediatrics

-Mental Health Nursing

-Medical/Surgical Nursing

-Nutrition

Thus far I have completed my review of fundamentals and am deep in to Pharm (which is taking a lot of review time). I'm weak in this area as I'm not good at retaining information I have memorized.

Meanwhile, I begin my BEST CLINICAL EVER as I am working at Providence Milwaukie's wound care clinic. I love my preceptor and she is flexible. Perfect. It's a small one room clinic with a teeny tiny office. This is going to be aweseom because wound care is awesome, of course. There is an entire wall of bandages and tapes....wow. Did I mention her patient chair is a dentist office chair?! It goes WAY UP! Love it!

This dog is way cuter than my patients...

Hopefully this capstone will have me learning a LOT about wound care....especially since I want to go in to this specialty right after I take the NCLEX. Bring on the grossness....I got Band Aids! Just kidding.... ;)

2011-05-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

Springtime...er...Winter....er....Summer?

Im not really sure what time of year it is. The calender says it's the end of May but the weather does not. Hmmmm. My shorts and Chaco sandals are staring at me with the look of, "why not pick me, today?". The plants are actually doing a great job of convincing me that it's spring time, though. Check em' out! :D

Strawberries

Baby Spinach

Garlic

Dill

Our baby basil plant!

2011-05-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

Eagle Creek Backpacking Trip 2011

With the sun out, Josh and I decided to take our FIRST backpacking trip together...EVER. We both have been avid hikers independently, before we met and we finally decided it was time to backpack, together. I can't believe we haven't been hiking before but I guess we have been so focused on kayaking we didn't give it a second thought. At any rate, after much research, we decided a good hike would be the Eagle Creek trail. We headed up on Thursday morning around 9 and got on the trail around 10. It was 70 degrees and crystal clear....beautiful! We passed a few people but it was still pretty quiet on the trail. We hiked past the gorgeous waterfalls all our paddler friends have run and decided that we would head up past Tunnel Falls to get out of the "dayhiker zone".

Around 2:30 we kept looking for a recommended site that

a fellow hiker suggested....BUT in passing a beautiful creek-side site, we concluded that we wouldn't let "best" be the enemy of "better" as my father says and we took a GREAT side right next to the creek. Always good advice! :) We had a flat site, privacy, and WATER. Hooray!

Josh and I decided that a campfire would be GREAT. It was about 40 degrees and damp out by 8pm. Here are some shots of Josh using his "fire-starter" skills.

THEN we realized we had used-up all of our drinkable water...darn. We brought out the water purifier and began the process of cleaning the creek water....yum!

Day 2- The Return Home

Day two we woke up around 8 and cooked some egg whites...had them with tortillas. mmm mmm. We were suprisingly packed by 9 amd took off by 9:30 for the trailhead. We were shocked at the number of day hikers we came across....about 30-35 in total. Definitely didn't feel like we were in the wilderness. Too many people. BUT it was gorgeous!

We hiked about 3 hours on Friday and arrived at my car (all safe and sound) by 12 pm. It felt great to be off our feet and we sure didn't mind getting home early to beat the Friday traffic.

***If you decide to hike the Eagle Creek trail, know that htere are dozens of wonderful campsites and the scenery is epic. Go on a weekday to avoid the crowds and make sure to park in the first lot on the left to avoid break-ins. There is plenty of water so if you have a purifier, you are golden and don't have to worry about bringning excess water (which means excess weight). Have fun out there!!!!

-Tina

2011-04-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

Meditation on Monday

The rain fell quietly on the river behind the house

Birds chirped in the bamboo that overhangs the back deck.

Mama and Papa duck tucked their beaks under their feathers

Carefully watching me in the window

Nala sat next to me

Reminding me of her presence

Queen Nala

The air smelled fresh and clean

A slight breeze forced the raindrops toward the window

Monday peace.

I am relatively new to meditation. It has been a part of my life for only a year and half but I continually find it is becoming more and more influential in my life. It is part of the practice of Buddhism which has an ultimate goal of ending suffering and finding happiness (i.e. becoming enlightened). Reaching enlightenment is a lofty goal. I don't think I will ever accomplish this in this life time, nor do I expect to. However, I meditate to practice "calm abiding"-which means focusing the mind on one thing with clarity and stability for as long as I wish. In addition, meditation is helping me find inner peace through "special insight". It is a continual source of learning and inspiration. MUCH harder than most people think it would be...harder than I thought it would be. I practice what's called "Mindfulness Meditation" which in short, means being mindful of the moment and the world around you through the above described practices.

What an amazing feeling it is...to meditate. Being present puts everything in to perspective and really emphasizes what is important in life. I am grateful for all the love and happiness I receive in life. I am grateful for all the love and happiness I can pass on to others.

"Happiness never decreases by being shared."

-Buddha

2011-03-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

Spring Break on the Stormy Coast

March 14-18, 2011

Josh and I left casually on Monday morning for the Oregon coast which was being hit with one of the biggest storms in a while. Not only were the winds topping 50 mph, but the swells were passing 21 feet.

We opted out of surfing for the first few days because we wanted to live....but instead went and played on the Wilson River which was EPIC :)

Over the course of the trip, we stayed in a yurt at Cape Lookout which is about a half hour from our playspot-very convenient. We especially enjoyed the yurt because it was DRY and WARM. A very big thing on the coast in a storm! It's the only way to go in the winter and sure was nice to be able to dry our gear out between sessions! Check out the photos below:

(Below) The skylight kept things open and light inside...pretty nice.

(Below) I hung up Christmas lights to make it especially cozy and fun

(Below) Just a bit of weather...

(Below) Serious chop!

(Below) Perhaps the yurt is a better place right now than on the beach?

(Below) Josh ready to catch one of the best waves we've been on in a while...."Wall Wave"

(Below) Backsurf!

(Below) Josh and I made the connection that a throw rope would make our time spent going upriver much easier!

(Below) Stretchhhhhhhhh

(Below) WOOOOOOAH!

(Below) Me in a backsurf

(Below) Heading upriver on das rope. This got very exhausting on the 20th+ time up the eddy...

(Below) Paddle twirl!

Following our play sessions on Monday and Tuesday we needed a day to rest the muscles. We decided to take a trip to the Tillamook Cheese Factory which was awesome because it involed cheese tasting and icecream. :)

This was followed by a drive over to Cape Meares next to Oceanside (which is a pretty neat little town). The views were amazing. In the summer, it is a perfect spot for whalewatching and the lighthouse is open for viewing.

Pretty view!

(Below) I want to be a lighthouse keeper!

(Below) and THAT'S why we were afraid to go surfing out there....20 footers all day long!

And then there was the sun....

Oregon Coast sunset...classic.

Josh and I had a fantastic time getting out of town and enjoyed trying out the yurts. They really made the trip fun! The boating was spectacular and the company was even better ;) What a recharge! Now to head back to school....but I have energy!!!

2011-03-04T22:51:00.000-08:00

Medsurge Clinicals

I JUST finished clinicals! Hooray! Mind you, this is just Medsurge II but it still feels good to have gotten that much closer to finishing the program.

My good friend AJ took these photos of our last day of clinicals....thank goodness one of us remembered a camera! :)

We are all thrilled to have made it and feel like quite a team. We made it, together. Each of us helped one another and we really had a good time. Between bodily humor jokes and rushing in for a "code brown", it was pretty fun.

For my last day, I made a special chocolate malt to celebrate!

From left to right: Hillary, me, and Adena

Hopefully I will have more photos from my next set of clinicals...but I am unfortunately by my lonesome at my next site. Heck, it will be fun!

2011-02-21T21:47:00.000-08:00

What I Learned this Month

***This photo makes me all warm and fuzzy inside so here it is. It looks like a sweet spot to be!

1. Early is the new on time. This really shouldnt count as something I learned this month-I had this figured out after two weeks in school! No joke. Walking in at the designated meeting time is considered LATE. Bahahaha.

2. Senioritis should be a medical condition. :)

3. You must take your exam in the same condition in which you study. That means WELL RESTED.

4. A good cup of tea helps focus the energy during an exam

5. "Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get cha anywhere"

6. I know more than I think I do. And what I don't know, I REALLY don't know it

7. Pen lights are the first thing to be sacrificed in clinical! Catheterization? Where's my pen light?!

8. Apparently there are a LOT of people with MRSA precautions at the hosptial. Doesn't anyone follow the directions when taking antibiotics?

9. Real life genuinely looks like it will be more mellow than nursing school!

10. Positivity is key to a good experience! :) that's not really a surprise but it sure has helped me this term. :)

2011-02-06T18:22:00.000-08:00

HotSauce 101- An Experiment Gone SO Right

Josh and I are in love with hot sauce! It makes everything better.....burritos, chips, veggies, tofu...it is soooo good. I got to thinking that it would be pretty fun to make our own sauce. It is dangerous business making hot sauce-but we were prepared :)

We headed to fred meyer to pick up some habanero peppers which (if you don't already know it) are extremely spicey. Hot peppers have heat measured in Scoville units. A standard jalapeno is about 2500 scoville units. The habanero- 100,000 to 350,000! BOOM! That's the sound of my taste buds catching fire!

I decided that making a standard habanero hot sauce with no added infusions would be the best to try first. I grabbed some rubber gloves to avoid chemical burns on ma fingers and proceeded to chop 10 peppers while the carrot, garlic, and onion were grilling.

Once the onions and carrots were soft enough, I added them to a blender WITH the chopped peppers. BLENDDDDDDDDD and then add the vinegar. Return to the stove and let heat for a few minutes for the flavors to meld together. DON'T sniff the steam!

End product- The hottest hot sauce I have ever had. WOW. Only a 1/8th tsp was enough to make me scramble for a glass of milk! Our next batch will only have about 5 peppers but let's just say that this batch will keep us coming back for more.... :)

Good luck if you make your own sauce....just don't forge the gloves :)

2011-01-24T11:39:00.000-08:00

Finding Happiness in a Brick of Tofu

"Happiness comes from within. Do not seek it without."

My new year's resolution for this year (and hopefully the next) is to become happier from within. My life right now involves a lot of homework and "jumping through hoops". This can either be very frustrating and difficult, or I can choose to be positive and enjoy what makes it such a unique experience. Our own experiences are what we make them to be. Will I ever live on a houseboat again? Who knows. Will I ever be in Portland again? I don't know. What will I be doing this time, next year? I have NO idea ha ha ha but I sure hope Josh and I are having a blast! Finding inner happiness for me comes when I am not struggling with "attachment". I am happy when I can be genuinely happy for another's happiness and understand that each of us just wants to be happy. Some of us can be misguided but we ultimately are the same. When I can acknowledge that, my outlook on life and the future is so much better. This is a minute to minute battle for me but I sure am getting better!

Happiness and enjoyment for me right now, is my sauteed brick of tofu. Mmmm mmm. I lightly browned it and cooked it in a thai peanut sautee my sister gave Josh and I for Christmas. It smells wonderful and I can't wait to take a bite. I will continue to spend time meditating on inner happiness and the link it has to compassion and selflessness. Perhaps this tofu will give me the necessary energy to have an epiphany! :)

2011-01-18T19:18:00.000-08:00

The Washougal is Flooding!

Jan. 16, 2010

Yesterday was an epic day for boaters in the Pacific Northwest. Everything, and I mean everything, was flooding. The photos that have emerged of the rivers such as the White Salmon and the Clackamas are nothing but crazy! Some of us decided to head up to the Washougal River for a play run. The night prior (when we were planning) the flow was 2,600 with a forcast of heavy rain. We only expected it to rise to 6000 max. The morning of- 12,600! With those flows in mind we spoke to a good friend, Paul Kuthe about his experiences on the run at 14,000. He said he went as safety for a rafting team but that there was epic play to be had. It was big but you definitely wanted playboats. With that knowledge, we followed eachother up to the take out to find ourselves in shock at the flow. Little did we know, it was actually peaking t 20,000 cfs! The Washougal, to our knowledge, has never reached this flow and potentially has never been run higher than 14,000. ***Note- we just discovered the max flow to be reached in 1978- 26,000 cfs. WOW! So there you have it, it HAS been higher. I would be interested to see photos from that flood! We have a few photos from the shore but there were NO eddies and no way to get good shots of the day. One of the many people stopping to check out the river and see what we were doing, got some footage which completely lacks the perspective. ( I'll post the video later in this post.)

The put-in made all of us class five boaters pucker up. There wasn't really a spot to get in. The flow was so high that the trees were halfway underwater. I managed to find a "calm" eddy but that was me in denial. It was pretty chaotic really. This set the tone for the entire run and boy were we in for a day.

Just downstream from the put in we joined with the main Washougal from the North fork of the Washougal. In the first minute we heard what we thought was either thunder or shotgun...turns out the entire riverbed was shifting. Rocks were tumbling down the river with us. Definitely made us all feel insignificant. The run was quite possibly the most intense, biggest whitewater I have ever paddled. The crux of the day was a rapid (normally class 3 at 2,000 cfs) called Big Eddy. We scouted from the road but obviously could not grasp the true size. We all thought it looked like a few nice play waves and "stay right". Well, coming in to Big Eddy, I got hit by a tree coming down. It slammed down on my stern in one of the massive boils and sent me shooting forward. None of us stopped in the eddy that looked as though you couldn't get out of it. We rallied through waves that must have been 20+ feet tall and so completely non-uniform that there was very little "river reading" going on. There was a diagonal hole on the bottom left which we all avoided but we were ll thinking the same thing- "don't swim". We shot through the rapid only to find we were missing one person. Turns out, he eddied out above the rapid and as we thought, couldn't get out of the eddy. He had to hike up to the road with his boat. But we were starting to worry we were going to be on body recovery. Here is one of the rapids downstream of Big Eddy. It is shot by a onlooker....We show up in the video around 00:25.

I am so glad I jumped on the run and was very VERY happy to be with a competent crew. We all were humbled by the experience. Stay safe out there and if photos of the day come in, I will post them for sure!

Stay safe out there :)

-Tina

2011-01-15T13:14:00.000-08:00

Playtime on the Washougal

It has been dumping rain this past week and a sweet play spot came in that is about a half hour from our house! SO CLOSE! It's a cute wave on the Washougal River that has both a stompy pile and a steep glassy face for big tricks. The eddy service is pretty good but if ya miss the eddy, you take the "mini tour" AKA " The tour I missed while at Skook". Anyways, here are a few shots of Josh and I havin a blast on the wave. We were the only ones there which was fine with us but we couldn't believe how quality this spot was. Wow!

This is what must be done if ya miss the eddy....paddle back upstream to the island in the middle of the river and then put in at the top of it. It get's tiring REAL quick!

But this is the goodness right here......SO fun! I am just learning how my new boat paddles and it sure is fun fun fun!

Tired but happy

This picture is terribly overexposed as my camera needs some love, but I loved the vines about the eddy...

Josh doing whaat he does best, BIG blunts

Me realizing I get to walk back up and do it all over again because I missed the eddy. More exercise! :)

The day was awesome and after 3 hours of surfing, we could barely roll our kayaks. We headed downstream and in true kayaker spirit, Josh jogged our shuttle! :)

-Tina

2011-01-11T09:55:00.000-08:00

Das Hagan Gorge

Let me just take a moment to tell you how excited I am about being done with this semester... I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy happy happy happy! :) I think that about does it. I am finally getting time to go paddling and that's about all I want to do. Today, after a few days of heavy rain...and I do mean heavy, Josh, myself and a few Hood River and PDX kayakers headed up to Hagan Creek.

I have been wanting to get back on Hagan for years now after my first time down it with the flu. Let me just say that I did more walking than paddling the first time down so I was stoked to return and actually paddle everything! Hagan is considered a class 4+/5 run and drops 260 fpm. The hard part with Hagan is there are no guarantees. Hagan doesn't have a gauge so you have to check the EF Lewis and Washougal to figure out how much water is in Hagan. It is also heavily impacted by freezing levels and with it being winter, we had to consider that. We managed to hit it while it was a medium, ish flow. Way more water than the last time I was on it. Perfect flow for clean lines and less elbow bashing! EF Lewis was at 3300 and the Washougal was at 3800 for your own reference.

There are four major drops on Hagan: Hagan Daaz, Euphoria Falls, Teakettle Falls, and Crack in the Earth. For a full, comprehensive write up, check outhttp://www.oregonkayaking.net/creekframe.html . Jason Rackley has a bomber site for us, Oregon paddlers to use. He pretty much rocks my stinky socks...

Please note-the memory card filled up above Teakettle and Crack in the Earth so I supplemented the head-cam with footage from our handheld camera :) Enjoy!

Below: Snug as bugs in a rug

Below: our crew chillaxin'

Below: Me runnin' Hagan Daaz

Below: Nick Jacob rockin' the Remix on Crack in the Earth

My view through Euphoria...

This is definitely one of my favorite creeks in the Pacific Northwest. Quality drops SO close to home. Amazing. I wish it ran more often but that's part of the charm :)

Hope everyone is getting ready for Christmas and out on the river enjoying the winter!

-Tina

2010-12-21T22:20:00.000-08:00

New Art

I've posted some new art on my art blog....check it out!

Here is the link:

http://www.nitrosisterart.blogspot.com/

-Tina

2010-12-04T23:45:00.001-08:00

My Art Blog is LIVE...again!

Hi everyone! As you may or may not know, my official art page is not up anymore due to my lack of painting lately. However, I am now contributing to my art blog again :). Finally! It's been over a year since my last post and I promise to actually post photographs of my work. If you are in the mood, pop over and check it out. I did what I like to call a "soul painting" tonight.

http://www.nitrosisterart.blogspot.com

-Tina

2010-12-02T18:05:00.000-08:00

East Fork of the Lewis

Today was my "day off" because I made it my day off :) I didn't have class and with all the studying I have to do this weekend, I thought I could pull off a day of paddling. Josh and I made some calls and in the end, there were four of us: Scotty Baker, Chris Bench, Josh, and myself. The EF Lewis was running at 2000 cfs which was lower than when we did it last time, but we still had a blast enjoying our day on the river :)

Sunset Falls

Me catching my boat as it tried to runaway

Me on Horseshoe Falls :) SOOO fun!

Isn't that pretty?

Chris on the drop

2010-12-01T20:47:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was a diamond in the ruff. Josh and I were able to get home and spend more than just a day enjoying the holiday! We headed home the night before Thanksgiving and after a 5 hour drive following miss Kimi, we arrived at Debbie's house and soaked in the hot tub....oh yeah! It was such a great way to start the holiday! :)

I don't know about you, but Thanksgiving comes in for a tie with Christmas for best holiday of the year. It's always amazing to spend time with the family. Though I don't like the root of the holiday, our families take it as a time to celebrate our relationships.

On Thanksgiving Josh and I were hoping to paddle with my sis, kim and her boyfriend, Jesse. But that didn't work out for them so Josh and I went anyways :) It was so beautiful to be on Riverhouse with all the snow....here are some photos:

When we got back from boating, I just couldn't warm up. SOoooo I jumped in the shower and cleaned up all nice for our din din :)
Josh and I watched After the Sunset before we started working on the dishes which was so nice to just SIT and not have a worry in the world. It really is the simple things that are important!

My contribution to Thanksgiving was one terrible joke, bourbon sweet potatoes, rolls, and green bean casserole. Although I stand by the joke :)

The day after Thanksgiving, Josh and I headed out to Sunriver to celebrate Thanksgiving #2 with my family. The snow started to fall that afternoon and despite josh and I having some homework to do, we sure enjoyed our time. We all cooked a kick butt dinner and sat down to enjoy eachother for the evening. We followed dinner by watching a much loved movie, It's Complicated. Miss Kim fell asleep watching it but it was so nice for all of us to be together.

The next morning Josh and I helped shovel the snow that had fallen...about 8 inches! But it was pretty durn fun :) Then, because he had work the next day and the weather was pretty icky, we decided to head out around 11. It was so hard to leave and we really wished we could have stayed through Sunday. But we sure made the best of what we COULD do!

I have finals in a week and then Josh and I will be coming home to Bend for the holidays.... can't wait! Thanks to everyone for making this such a wonderful Thanksgiving!

2010-10-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

Learning to Become a Stronger Buddhist

10-28-10

It's not easy. Nor should it be. It's a personal journey I'm taking and at the moment I certainly feel like the waves are getting the best of me and pushing me back to shore. I'm not very good at metaphors but that's how it feels. One of the most lovely sayings that I have been trying to follow is this: "Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." If I can make something happen, I will. If I can help someone, I will. Learning to always be kind is challenging but I am working to get there. When one is kind to another, it's not just the other that benefits, but you do the most. We are all connected and if passing a little bit of joy is possible, we should always do it. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all were a bit more kind? It doesn't matter what you believe in- kindness and love are universal.

Here's what I'm trying to say....but in a much nicer way:

We can reject everything else: religion, ideology, all received
wisdom. But we cannot escape the necessity of love and compassion....
This, then, is my true religion, my simple faith. In this sense, there is no need
for temple or church, for mosque or synagogue, no need for complicated
philosophy, doctrine or dogma. Our own heart, our own mind, is the temple.
The doctrine is compassion. Love for others and respect for their rights anddignity, no matter who or what they are: ultimately these are all we need.
So long as we practice these in our daily lives, then no matter if we are
learned or unlearned, whether we believe in Buddha or God, or follow some
other religion or none at all, as long as we have compassion for others and
conduct ourselves with restraint out of a sense of responsibility, there is
no doubt we will be happy.

~ Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama ~

2010-10-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of my coast trip over fall break :) Lumpy Water Symposium was goin' down and Josh and I were happy to be a part of it! It was held in Pacific City which I have never been to and after Lumpy, we headed up to Nehalem Bay. Hope you like the photos!

Our diggs for Pacific City

A boat from the last Dorey Fleet comin' in

Who is that handsome man?! ;)

The view from the cape....amazing!

BEAutiful!

Our wonderful campsite up at Nehalem Bay

2010-10-12T19:12:00.001-07:00

Tonight I accidentally made the best pizza ever. I started off with a layer of pesto followed by mozzarella cheese...then sliced roma tomatoes and rosmary.

Turns out, this is the best pizza ever! WOW! This made my evening....and my stomach is happy. Mmmmmm mmm. I'm always amazed at how tasty home-made food can be. It is not expensive, it is not easy...but it sure it tasty.

On that note, I will say that I am SOOO excited for my fall break. Josh and I are heading to the coast for a 7 day vacay which is much needed. Neither of us has been out of Portland for a couple months and we have the travel itch. It will be so nice to wake up in a tent and cook scrambled eggs on the jetboil stove. I am always suprised at how important it is to get out and follow my dreams. Spending time with Josh is so important to me and being on the coast always brings things in to perspective. The important things are not the jobs or the items that we use every day. The important things are the ones you love and those things you want to do in life. So away we go! Off on another great trip! :) Hasta pasta for now!

PS I fell on some thumb drives!!!!

Meet my lab buddy....she is not feeling well!

2010-10-07T13:42:00.000-07:00

Kayaking is AWESOME

Here are some photos of our last trip to Bend :)

Josh's sister just delivered her first baby girl last Wednesday morning at 5:59am and Josh and I headed back to Bend for the event. While we were down there, we decided to take a quick break and run dillon/lava.

Here are some picks of our boatin...enjoy!

Coming in to Lava one- the 'great swirly' (it only get's worse as the flow goes up)

Onward to Lava 2!

I think I remember how to do this.... Lava 2

Lava 2...AKA the rapid that will hand you your a$# if you aren't on top of it!

It felt amazing to be back in my boat. It made me realize just how much I love love love paddling. This may sound silly but it feels like there's a hole in my heart when I am not out paddling. :( Soooo this trip made the world look much better. Can't wait to get back out there! Halloween Truss paddle here I come! :D

Stay wet out there and enjoy fall!

-Tina

2010-09-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

Adventureland

Over the years, I have come up with quite the list of things I MUST do before I kick the bucket. Assuming I make it out of school alive, here is a part of the list as it stands right now :)

1. Get my nursing license and survive nursing school -work in the OR ,work as a flight nurse, then work in remote clinics internationally.

2. Hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexico border to Canada

3. Get my motorcycle endorsement and circumnavigate South America

4. Live in Chile for a couple years...DO LOTS OF KAYAKING

5. Move to New Zealand for a few years...ALSO DO LOTS OF KAYAKING

6. Get a tattoo

7. learn how to surf (I can check the box next to this one :D )

8. Dye my hair purple! ( CHECK!)

9. Travel to Thailand

10. Learn fire poi (halfway there...using glow poi now )

11. Take up kiteboarding

12. becoming a vegetarian chef

13. show my art at a gallery

14. actually SELL some of my art

15. run a 60 foot waterfall

16. write me own cookbook

17. grow a garden (check)

18. Raft the Colorado River :D

19. Get my own raft

20. Learn to make killer Irish Coffee (check)

21. Go skinny dipping where I really shouldn't (check)

22. See the pyramids of Egypt

23. Work as a nurse at the Everest base-camp

24. live out of my car

25. gauge my ears (Check)

26. Adopt a dog

............. I am still putting together my list so this is to be continued :)

2010-09-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

24 Amazing years!

This September 17th, I celebrated my 24th birthday...but we celebrated a week early because of my funky school schedule and clinicals starting the day of my actual Bday. My family gave me the gift of coming to visit me in Portland. It was soooo nice to see everyone and the best gift was getting to catch up with everyone. Kim and Jesse looked great and mom and dad are making me so proud-they're taking trips left and right and mum is getting her motorcycle endorsement! How awesome?! Here are some pictures of the evening...enjoy!

Josh and I enjoying the back deck and killer cupcakes! Thanks mom!

My family and I sitting at the Hidden Bay Cafe (below)

On my actual birthday, I had a 12 hour clinical at the family birthing center in Vancouver,WA followed by an 8 hour clinical day afterwards. It was a great day but left me pretty pooped out. Josh surprised me with decorating the house, cooking me a wonderful dinner, and making me feel so special. It was an amazing evening :) Thank you Josh!!! I love my throwbag!!!! :) (This throwbag replaces the poor one that is still hanging off a tree branch on the Rogue...if you see it, please wave at it!) I can't believe I'm 24...how time flies! I gotta get on with my crazy planned adventures...hurry up and finish school right?!

-Tina

2010-09-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

Gu Gel, Wailing Babies, and C-Sections

Nursing school continues to put me in to departments of nursing that I'm not so sure about. I am thrilled to be experimenting with so many areas of nursing but one thing's for sure....crying babies-not my thing. My most recent misadventure involves time in a family birthing center. I still am not sure what I'm "supposed to do". Probably because they never actually give us direction. "Here's the floor. Here's your nurse. Have fun!" Ohhhh ok. There are six of us...all in purple scrubs, and we run around that floor like chickens with our head cut off. "Christina go get a denture cup for the OR." Umm. This is my second day here. Where is the utility room again? Oh the utility room doesn't stock them. Who do I call? Let me ask a complete stranger who I should be talking to. In the midst of all the chaos, Im still trying to figure out protocols and how people like their jobs. A woman with pink hair walked by and I eagerly asked her what the

protocol was on "un-naturally dyed hair". "Well clearly there is not protocol." ouch. OK. Note to self, not all nurses like nursing students. BUT most of them are willing to put up with us which happens to be a good thing for us.

Sooo how did my first two days of clinical go? See my method of stress reduction below...

Day 1- NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit)

It was a brand new wing of the hospital and I don't even want to know how much all the fancy glass lamps and cliche wall art cost. There were four babies in the unit and all I can say is that I'm hearing crying babies in my sleep. What is the best form of contraception ever? Time in the NICU. I learned that babies have an insatiable appetite and good lord their poop is beyond smelly. I have no words.

Day 2- My request for time in the OR was met with an 8 am C-section delivery. The patient didnt get the memo though and showed up a half hour late. This was her fifth scheduled c-section (that means she already has 4 children by c-section). This was her fifth and she knew the process very well. My nurse had a hard time starting an IV for fluids as the patient's veins rolled. Bummer. But five tries later and we were set. We headed for the OR and I found Gwen Stefani blaring on the overhead speaker. So THIS is how the surgeons do it?! As the student, I leaned against the wall in the corner and tried to stay out of the way as the baby was pulled out. The whole procedure took three hours. MUCH longer than it normally does but due to lots of scar tissue from previous surgeries, going slow was the way to go. Watching the operation was fascinating and it definitely confirmed my thoughts that I would like to get my two years of practice out of the way in the OR. :)

Today, I'm studying for my first OB exam and my first Biblical Traditions exam as well. I'm sick with what I think is a cold so I have tissue stuck up my nose and cough syrup on the countertops. This is definitely a day for comfort food and movies. Alas, it must wait till studying is over and done with.

Hope everyone is staying healthy out there!

2010-09-05T20:34:00.000-07:00

This diagram demonstrates the many shapes and sizes Nala cat can become. My personal favorite is the "Meatloaf". Not only does she quickly get in to position, but she is very difficult to move.

Also, Did you know that cats have 22 facial expressions, 20 of which are negative?

To further demonstrate how special Nala is, here's a cartoon of what she does with the cardboard book box we have given her....this is spot on!

2010-08-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

Is this thing on?

NOTE- I have no idea why this thing is all underlined....sorry.

Hokaaayyy...senior year started yesterday! YEAH! I can't believe my senior year is here. Wow it feels like it's taken forever...oh wait. Cuz it has! So many prerequisites I can't even remember, a short stint at Albertson college of Idaho, and a wonderful few years at COCC in Bend and here I am. I can't wait to be done with this. I absolutely love the work and am pretty stoked to be in this field...BUT I have senioritis and I will not apologize for it. :)

What I observed on day one of this semester:

1. According to Shane: "None of us were thinking about school until 8:09am." Thank you Shane for clarifying that for the teacher. :) Ur awesome.

2. I missed the quiet campus we had all summer

3. There is WAY less parking available during fall semester

4. We have a new cafeteria which feels like an upscale restaurant....THAT's where my tuition went! Damn.

5. Purple hair- it's comin back....and the nursing school can't stop it!

6. I really missed my school buddies!

7. WE ARE SENIORS! HOLY SWEET ASPARAGUS BATMAN!

8. My parent's are having way more fun than I am right now... Check out the photos-

2010-08-28T19:18:00.001-07:00

Yukata Repair

Dear mom,

I love my yukata! Thank you for hemming it up for me. I have not fallen flat on my face since! :) Hooray! It takes me right back to Japan. Let's go climb Mt. Fuji again...but this time, with more fleece layers!

2010-08-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

Lower Deschutes Multiday

This August was the first REAL break I've had all year. Typically, nursing school gives us "breaks" and then assigns homework to do over the break. That, in general, means it's an extended weekend during which you can accomplish the assignments. This, on the other hand was a true break....no homework! :) To kick off the month, I took my parents on a multiday raft trip on the lower deschutes river here in central Oregon. It's a pretty mellow section but gorgeous scenery. It was about 95 degrees each day with clear skies...doesn't get much better. Here are the highlights from the trip! Enjoy!

To set this up: JOsh and I drove out the night prior and camped out....we ended up camping along the lower d in a sweet spot...where we quickly discovered that the ticks were out and about...grody.

The next day we all met up at The Oasis and loaded the vehicles for shuttle. It took us a while to get all the gear loaded up in the rafts at the put in, but it was soooo worth it!

(Below) Josh rowing dad and I downriver

(below) the barge of happy rafters!

(Below) My turn!

Around 4:45 pm Debbie saw a porta potty which meant-campsite. She quickly nabbed an eddy to check out the site and I rowed over. Turned out to be a fantastic spot with a great view of the night sky. Did I mention the Perseid Meteor Shower was peaking during the nights we were camped out? Yes. It was epic. Big fireballs, about 25 meteors an hour (that I saw) and lots of "ooo's" and "aaahhh's".

Anyways, back to camp, we set up camp pretty quickly because we were starving for dinner! Our meal: burritos with homegrown jalapeno peppers!

(Below) I have no idea what is going on here

Once it got dark enough, I enjoyed some quality spinning with safe glow poi. Im slowly learning new tricks and getting more solid with the ones I know. I hope to make the jump to fire poi by next August but I'm taking my time.....don't want a pair of singed eyebrows or flaming hair if ya know what I mean!?

The next morning we got up pretty early. We were all up and having coffee around 7 am and had our tents and gear bags packed by 7:30! It heats up VERY fast on the Deschutes and once the sun is up, there is no reprieve.

For breakfast, JOsh and I cooked everyone scrambled eggs, veggie patties, and buttered toast with jam. It was sooo good and filling! We even brought veggie hot dogs to slice up and put in with the eggs...we find it gives us vegetarians an extra kick of protein for the day!

(Below) Rawr! Dad packing up Debbie's tent

(Below) Debbie enjoying breakfast from the chefs

(Below) Check out that view! It was an amazing day...

(Below) Josh playin around :)

(Below) Mom and I having a blast!

(Below) Uh oh....this is slightly precarious...

On our second night, we were hoping to camp at the Buckskin Mary rapids so we would have a fun spot to swim...BUT it was getting so windy and we wanted to call it quits early. Again, we found a site via spotting a porta potty. Awesome. We had the only bit of real shade for miles and flat ground for campsites. Dinner? Spaghetti with marinara sauce and homegrown Basil! YUMMM!!!!

After dinner, mom and I decided to spin poi for a bit. In what felt like an hour, mom learned about five tricks that took me two weeks to learn! WOW! Needless to say, she has ordered her own poi and we are going to spin together! :)

(Below) Debbie enjoying my new Aire sleeping pad with Riley

(Below) Dad relaxing at camp

(Below) Josh and I

(Below) Our valiant campers/River rats!

That night was pretty great. We all went for a swim in the way too cold water (it was much colder than last year!) and enjoyed a relaxing evening filled with good conversation, good company, and a GREAT sky. WOW.

Our last day on the river turned out to be even windier. We got up early and packed up camp as usual. Josh and I made breakfast again and we all got the rafts loaded. The last day is always the most exciting (rapid-wise). we did about 12 miles and took off the river around 2. By the time we had retrieved the vehicles and loaded the gear, it was 5. We all went our separate ways as we had to get back to portland and mum and dad had to return to Bend. BUT we had an amazing time. I sure hope we can do it again soon! Special thanks to EVERYONE because these trips don't happen easily! Thank you thank you thank you to everyone for the flexibility, patience, and optimism! Love you!

-Tina

2010-08-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

"We have absolutely no talent at SUPing in the ocean...none whatesoever."

This week, Josh and I decided to head over to the Oregon coast for some R and R. It has been a while since we were over there and with Josh working so hard at Aldercreek and me on break, what a perfect time. The swell forcast was about 5-6 feet with 8-11 second periods between sets. Not perfect but we headed to our secret spot and soaked it up.

Our partay vehicle: We pretty much had everything we needed.... SUP boards, playboats, and the surf kayak. Interestingly enough, we discovered we have no talent whatsoever for stand up paddle boarding in the ocean and decided to stick to something we can do....playboat bahahahhahaha! We went out in the surf for all of five minutes and decided it pretty much sucked on the SUP boards. but we tried! I think the Oregon coast is just too rough for novice SUPing.

Observe the taj mahal tent....this is a fred meyer tent. Josh and I bought this baby last year for our river trips. Yes, we know it's huge...BUT, this means we can really go luxury on car camping trips- this means fluffy pillows, blankets, and.....a lava lamp for "mood lighting" (you can never have too much mood lighting).

(Below) Yes...that is a movie going on the laptop....

On this go around, Josh tried the surf kayak. Turns out, it's pretty awesome. On multiple times, Josh and I anticipated a hard core wipeout but were completely suprised with a "ride of the day". Josh also learned about the tell tale rule of the wetsuit wearer. This rule is best described by this quote: "There are two kinds of people. Those who lie, and those who pee in their wetsuit." Ah yes.

Anyways, back to the purpose of the trip-surfing. The swells ended up being primo on our last day. Nice weather, sunny skies, and perfect waves...atleast until the wind started. This is me after going back to shore for a quick rest and stretch. It was friggin windy and cold so I made it quick....

(Below) Josh heading out on the surf kayak....Josh is on a sit on top? Whoa!

(below) Josh goin' out....

(below) I love camping on the coast!

Below) A view of Nehalem Bay

(Below) Happy campers :)

2010-07-30T17:57:00.001-07:00

Change in Art Webpage....

So...cuz I can't afford to keep paying to host my art site with the domain name I want....here's the one assigned to my art page :) Hope everyone is gettin' out and paddling! :)

http://www.wix.com/kayak24_7/round-2

-Tina

2010-07-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

Summer in Portland feels like you are marinating in a slow cooker. It's that damp heat that sticks to ya! Our floating home has no AC but hey, look! We have a HUGE "swimming pool" out back - The Columbia River! I keep my mouth shut because I'm sure there's stuff in there that my body would be pissed at but that cool water just makes the heat bearable.

Here are some photos we took tonight for kicks and giggles...enjoy!

Ummm...that looks kind of cold

Me so happy :)

Whooshhhh!

Our neighbors are renovating their home....their logs are play things :)

Ah, Nala cat....She is watching quietly

Le Spinach!!!!! Look at it! It's growing so fast!

My partner in crime....he looks like he has something mischievous planned doesn't he?

Swan dive!

BOOM!

2010-07-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

Revitalized!

This last week was my mid-summer break in nursing school. We had 9 days "off". I use the term "off" loosely, because my teachers seem to look at our breaks as an opportunity to assign lots and lots of obnoxious assignments. He he! Luckily, I had gotten most of my assignments done the first few days of break so when the opportunity came up to spend 4 days out of town with my partner in crime. I was STOKED. That word is in caps to emphasize that my level of 'stoke' was on a level I had not experienced for a while. Suffice it to say, I was VERY VERY excited! :)

We had a couple options but ultimately, we settled on heading back to the Rogue River for a 4 day, 3night kayak trip. You would think it odd that every break I've had, I've headed to the Rogue but it's not. The Rogue is a very special place to Josh and I. It's a place where we can be off the grid and totally away from everything. We drove down to the put-in on Monday night and put on the next morning around 11:30...enjoy the photos!

(Below) Our campsite on Monday night....aka the put-in or Rand

(Below) Getting the cruiser unloaded is a sloww process

(Below) Josh showing me how to approach unpacking....ARG!

(Below) Our first beautiful campsite....funny story. We put in at Rand which added an additional 4.8 miles on to our day. We thought we would camp around Doe Creek but most of the smaller sites were taken and trying to respect larger groups meant passing by some nice sites. We continued downstream and stopped just above Upper Blackbar rapids. We thought we might camp out at a small creek but we felt unsettled and continued down....

Around Horseshoe Bend, we realized we were running out of sites and we had already paddled 14 miles. We passed Lower Horseshoe Bend campsite and picked a spot just around the corner. I'm not sure what the site is officially called but it turned out to be pretty nice! :) Our day ended up being 15.8 miles long!

(Below) Josh pumping river water....turns out the rogue is pretty dirty and we had to clean the ceramic filter after each pump session. Thank goodness we had a filter!

(Below) Josh and I on a mini hike

(Below) our early morning at the site- once the sun climbs over the hills and hits the tent, you pretty much have to get up otherwise the tent will cook you.

(Below) paddling down to Zane Gray's cabin

(Below) Here is the gem of a campsite that Josh and I gunned for on our second day on the river. Josh remembered it as being pretty nice and boy was he spot on! Everyone that floated by said something like, "wow. You two landed a great site!" It sure was. We arrived at camp MUCH earlier than the previous day which suited us just fine. For the entire afternoon, we spent time swimming in the river, hiking, eating, and playing with my Poi. Next time- we hope to snag the same site...

(Below) the view of our site from the hiking trail on river right

(Below) A happy camper

(Below)Me feeling pretty durn happy

(Below) on our hike

(Below) Playing with my new glow poi

(Below) Josh soakin' up the sun...we absolutely loved the campsite and thoroughly enjoyed our scrambled egg breakfast with homemade bread the next morning

(Below) downstream from our site by a few miles, we stopped at the ranch just above Mule Creek Canyon. The ranch has been around for a looonnngggg time and it's always fun to hike up and check it out. This time, Josh and I were surprised to find a very successful garden with just about every type of fruit or veggie that you could grow in southern Oregon. There were even pear trees. Nice. We pretty much felt like nerds for being so in to the garden but hey, having our own has given us a newfound appreciation for gardening.

(Below) After navigating through Coffeepot in Mule Creek Canyon, Josh and I approached Blossom Bar. Dun dun dun! Just above Blossom is this great site that we contemplated taking, but in the end concluded that we should cover some more miles before setting up camp. Next time...next time. It is a huge gravel bed in the middle of the canyon with great swimming and flat sites. Only bummer is that unless you have a shade tarp, prepare to roast on the rocks!

(Below) Heading down toward Blossom

Unfortunately, as we passed through Blossom, we noticed a yellow raft VERY pinned in the Picket Fence. The fence is infamous for pinning rafts and this one bit the dust. Sure hope no one got hurt.

We headed downstream past Blossom and toward our expected site. There's a great little sand spit in Huggins Canyon that we were shooting for. No one is EVER there so we figured we would be spending a fabulous afternoon there and not have any worries regarding bears. Nope. We rounded the corner to find two campers with NO RAFT or kayaks to be seen. We've never seen this before. WE are guessing that the campers took a motor boat up from one of the lodges and were parkin' it there for a few days. DARN! What are the odds?

With that option down, we started to look for new sites. This is when it got frustrating. We found a wonderful site just around the bend from Solitude. We were so tempted to take it but we were hoping for more shade. We opted to head downstream to camp at Upper Tate Creek and play at the waterslide. We arrived at the site to find it barren, hot, windy, and there was NO SHADE. Because we have to pack light in our kayaks, we did not have a shade tarp. After an effort to string out our rainfly from the tent, we abandoned hope of making shade and headed further downstream feeling a little defeated.

At this point, we were both pretty irritable and just wanted to set up camp for the day. We were approaching the last campsites and found them all taken. I guess everyone was on the same mileage pattern as us and there were way more small/medium sized groups than we expected. We hung our heads in frustration at the thought of not finding a campsite. We've never had this kind of problem before but I guess there is a first for everything.

I am happy to say that I believe things happen for a reason and for us, it meant that all our irritation in finding a site actually brought us both to a site neither of us had camped at and it was out of the wind. Thank goodness. Looking on the bright side, we had a fantastic swimming spot, a nice flat campsite with a sandy beach, and NO neighbors. Check it out!

(Below) Josh whipping the poi around

(Below) Me practicing the Lotus Flower

(Below) Josh doing the Butterly

(Below) More play time for me

Below) Bear siting across the river the next morning

(Below) What used to be my throw bag....

So...funny story. Our site we ended up at did not have a bear fence and the rangers specifically said there had been a lot of mamma bears our with cubs. Josh and I did NOT want any bears visiting our camp so we decided to hang our food. We grabbed my throwbag and after a few throws, we had it stuck in the tree pretty well. Someone else apparently had the same thought as us and had left a short white chord hanging in the tree. This chord wrapped around our rope and when we tried to free our bag, it only got worse. To make a long story short, after much yanking and then Josh climbing in to the tree, we decided it was not worth getting hurt over and I cut the rope. We now have one very expensive bear rope for future river trips.

(Below) Our last day on the river...paddling the lake water toward the take-out

(Below) Celebrating the amazing trip we had together

(Below) Good bye Rogue! We will be back SOON!

2010-07-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

School Update:

Ok. This is a testament to how my life is currently revolving around school (which is kind of sad, but currently necessary). My week consists of lab on Monday, class all day Tuesday, Wednesday off and then clinicals all day on Thursday and Friday. Homework gets done on the weekends which leaves.....half of Wednesday for Josh and I. This is definitely the worst part of the whole thing :( My life is one huge schedule with carefully scheduled pee and snack breaks. It's a bit sad but ya know what? It must be done. Nursing school has set up a huge structure of hoops to jump through and by golly if I have to go jumping through the hoops in flames, I'll do it.

So what's the riveting news? Well, I started my Medsurge clinicals a week ago. I'm on the Ortho/Neuro floor which means lots of poor soles that fell and broke a hip, femur, knee or some other extremety/joint. My excitement for the day: install an IV line! I know I know. Don't burst my bubble with a "Christina, that's not that exciting." The fact is, I have to find amusement and fun in the little things if I'm going to come out of this thing with my sanity. :)

In addition to medsurge clinicals, I've also ignored the fact that I in no way possess a green thumb; and I am growing fruits and vegetables: butternut squash, jalapino peppers, strawberries, blueberries, orange bell peppers, MExi-peppers, basil, rosemary, garlic, and tomatoes. YUM! So far everything is surviving and doing ridiculously well!

so...yah. That's my life right now. I'm sooo excited to be done with my summer term and then I will have time for fun things!

2010-06-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

Rogue River Self-Support:

AKA -"Fun Stuff You Can Do When NOT in Nursing School"

I'm finally getting to write this post and just looking at the photos makes me feel happy :) Over my break between spring and summer semester, Josh and I did not have corresponding schedules. Josh was working his tail off at Aldercreek in Portland and well, I was getting caught up on everything I had not been able to do- simple things like, taking care of my health, getting a hair cut, and sleeping in. Somehow, between getting things done in Bend and Josh's work; we were able to do a self-support Rogue River trip. Honestly, we were lucky to have gotten things together like we did. We snagged two Liquidlogic Remix XP's and all our ultralight camping gear and headed to Bend for some business before our trip...

Schedule:
Sunday- Left Portland at 6, arrived in Bend at 9 pm
Monday- went to doctors visit, got hair cut, dropped by Aldercreek of Bend, picked up items at compound and went grocery shopping for the trip, visited mom and dad, visited Josh's mom, sister, and brother in law, and oh yeah...we did sleep.
Tuesday- got up at 5 and left by 6 am to drive South. Arrived at Galice ranger station at 11:30 and put on the water around 1pm....there was a moment when josh and I looked at my sleeping bag and back at the boat wondering "How the heck are we going to fit that bag in that boat?". Suprisingly, we fit everything and THEN some. :)

Below are some pictures thatt represent the awesome time we had together. I have to say that it was diffferent to be on the river with NO ONE around. There were 2 other rafters that we saw the entire time. The weather was great, the flow was high, and the company doesn't get any better! Enjoy!

(Above) Josh and I are pretty stoked to put-on...our first self support in kayaks

(Above) This was the set up- Water and pretzals...sadly the pretzals abandoned ship in the first rapid :(

(Above) Using the filtration water bottle Kim got me for Christmas..Thank you Kimmy!!!

(Above) Josh is demonstrating how to carefully sit in a kayak that has a gallon jug of Orange juice in the cockpit...

(Above) Josh was clearly excited to be at our first campsite

(Above) Me enjoying the fire Josh got going for us....Did I mention our fire pan was actually a "Turkey Pan"? It worked an it was CHEAP.

(Above) josh making the BEST dinner ever! Annie's Mac n' Cheese!!!

(Above) Everyone loves the Rio

(Above) More campfire fun...

(Above) Now THAT's a fire

(Above) Our first breakfast on the river...scrambled eggs with veggie hot dogs and orange juice

(Above) Josh running through Lower Blackbar

(Above) Exiting Mule Creek Canyon and picking our lunchspot...

(Above) The lunch spot...this creek was crankin!!!

(Above) Me paddling toward the infamous Blossom Bar rapid

(Above) Day 2 campsite....Half Moon Bar...beautiful huh?

(Above) Having fun roasting marshmellows!

(Above) Happy campers :)

Those photos pretty much sum up the awesomness that is the Rogue River. We hope to get back out there this fall for a 5 day trip...crossing our fingers! :)

Till next time!

-Tina

2010-05-16T22:49:00.000-07:00

Last week, Josh and I decided to do some stand up paddle boarding at Vancouver Lake. It was a beautiful day and we hadn't done it before out here in Portland. Anyways, here are a few shots of the day. I had so much fun and best of all....got a great workout :D WOO HOO! Tomorrow we're off to do more SUPPING before I have class on Tuesday and we'll take more photos for sure. :)

2010-05-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

That's exactly how I feel right now with nursing school.....

We made it! Well, through my first semester anyways! I'm awaiting my final scores but so far it looks like I retained a bit of the information I was taught :) The first semester was definitely a torturous one but ya know what...I only have four more to go! Take that nursing school.

Lessons Learned-

1.You cannot console a nursing student who has officially wigged out... we all wig out. When it happens....just let it run its course. It's better this way.

2. Life? What is this thing you speak of? Oh that's right. That thing I USED to have. HA!

3. Purple is not a "natural" hair color and no matter how much you wish it were in the rule books as "dark plum" , it will never be there. When pigs can fly, nurses can dye their hair fun colors.

4. By the book, by the book, by the book, and just when you think the nursing program could use some funk; more "by the book". "It's how it's always been done". Bummer. I'm pretty sure that some patients would find some purple hair to be delightfully fresh.

5. Pharmacology- I used to like you, and then I realized that memorizing all these things I would look up anyways, wasn't the best use of my time. My drug book and I are on a first name basis.

6. Early is the new on time.

7. The University of Portland's Nursing School couch needs some serious love. Have you seen it? Do you know where it lives? I do. In front of the elevator and near all the professors' offices....it's where you wait before a dispute with a teacher over a point on a test. THAT couch should be inviting, loving, and soft. Perhaps this couch has had too much time outside or too much time with stressed out students. I think we need a NEW couch. I'm afraid of what's growing on it.

8. We are all tired, stressed, grumpy, and ready to be done. If you randomly selected anyone in the class, that description would fit.

9. The librarian is your BEST friend.

10. APA is NOT your best friend

Here's something I learned from living in Portland. The drivers all suck. Californian's are aggressive. But atleast they are paying attention. Portlanders are oblivious. I've never seen so many people run red lights, run stop signs, NOT observe that only 2 ways of traffic must stop and the other 2 must go, and lastly; blitz all the way to the end of the merging third lane where they hope to sneak in and avoid hopelessly sitting for fifteen minutes.

This is me after taking my last final exam- Pharmacology. Brutal exam but I was very happy to get to kiss the school goodbye for a week.

Until next time nursing school,

Tina

P.S. My apologies if I am overly sarcastic and negative....it just had to come out. :)

2010-04-07T20:18:00.001-07:00

Nuring School +Life =Difficult Poo

Soooo...it's almost the end of my first term of nursing school. It's really starting to show in me. I'm down to 100 lbs. soaking wet and I can't sleep well. I've gotten to be completely apathetic which is probably the worst part of it all. I have lost a lot of my motivation but in the end, I know that in 4 semesters, I can travel the world!!! It definitely helps. Josh has been a tremendous source of support for me in these tough times and so has my family. Every now and then, the work load overwhelms me. As it is, when things are winding down, I have to write 4 papers this weekend and study for two exams. There's only so much I can do in the day. I guess, once I'm done, I'm pretty sure I can get through anything next to nursing school!

I've been trying to meditate every day and it has helped, but the most beneficial to me has been my time with Josh and time paddling. If I can get out once a weekend, I can usually get through the week and my grades show it :)

Speaking of which...I had a big Fundamentals exam today in my 5 credit class....I think I got a high b or low A. I studied so hard for that puppy but I'm having to really work on not over-reading a question. Good ol' NCLEX questions require that you pick the "best" option out of the provided answers...ew. I don't do well with those types of questions. I'm having to really re-think the way I process questions- not easy to do! Teaching an "old dog new tricks" is bloody difficult!

Sooo along the lines of taking care of myself....Im off to take a bubble bath...YAY!!!

-Tina

2010-03-03T23:12:00.000-08:00

Kayaking as a Religion-

Found this on a friend's page and loved it. Exactly what I think of kayaking. Enjoy the read!

So many times kayakers sell themselves short,
The sport is grueling, isolated and scary as fuck.
There are few sponsors, few girls and few pictures that do justice,
But those that go, are the few on earth who know what it is like,
What it is like to sit at the top of a big falls with your heart going 90 mph and your calling on any gods you may have prayed to in the past to deliver you safe,
or what its like to sit at the bottom of some crazy big water stoked you made it out in your boat,
The people around you are more important,
than any friend, parent or girl/boy friend ever was,
the feeling of sheer joy is simple and undescribable.
Surfers have their movies, babes and stardom,
Mountain climbers can have their climbing societies and banquets,
but kayakers have a deeper gift from exploration.
A gift only intense fear and non-control, going with the water, can produce.
A feeling that nature is always stronger, but as a kayaker you can work around the edges and get it done.
No sport is more committing, dangerous or scary.
No activity brings you more in tune with natures power.
That is why Kayakers are the most focused, in-tune, intense and committed explorers in the world today.
While I love to surf and I ski all year. Kayaking and the kayaking lifestyle is on a whole differnet level. You don't get to the bottom of a wave or ski run, hug your bro and say "Fuck Yeah", but in kayaking, that is strandard. Keep getting it done, keep going to those places that so few have gone before. While thousands have been to Waimeai, Jackson, Alta, Jaws or Mavericks, only a handful have been to the deep, spiritual canyons that hold the goods that kayakers find so fulfilling.
So just like the surfers of the 1950's, fell free to rebel against what is accepted, and "run the shit".
Go to the places no one goes and find the adrenaline no one knows about. Because that is what it has always meant to be a kayaker, and that is what it will mean many years from now.
There is no better feeling than at the bottom of a big drop, and there are no better people than the ones you are with on the river. Craporadon-2010

2010-02-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

Weekend in Nehalem Bay, Oregon

This weekend, Josh and I left Portland for some much needed R and R on the coast. The swells were 8-10 feet with 14 second periods...bluebird days. Great surfing, decent kite-flying (not much wind) and no crowds. We camped out on Friday night at one of our favorite campgrounds- Nehalem bay and made a big batch of Mac n' cheese. Did some studying, watched a couple movies, and repeated the same thing on Saturday. AWESOME. We love the coast! Here are some photos of us flying kites. Didn't get any surfing shots and we were worried our camera would get stolen if we left it on the beach :(

2010-02-07T20:13:00.003-08:00

Weekend of Awesome, Awesomeness...it was just that good :)

Last weekend, Josh and I headed out to guess where....BOB'S HOLE! It's back! YEAH! We lucked out and were given a sunny day and perfect flows from the River Gods. Couldn't have asked for a better Friday. To top it all off, our good friend Nick filled us in on some sweet hot springs about 40 minutes up the road from Bob's. Here are some highlights from the day. Thanks, Astral for keeping me afloat! You all rock! :D

2010-01-31T15:04:00.000-08:00

Week 4 of Nursing School:

Highlights:

1st Pharmacology exam

1st meeting with client/partner

1st true migraine from studying

1st official breakdown...I just fell apart when I looked at the big picture. Lesson learned: don't look at the big picture- it's just too big!

I also found this hilarious comic series called Simon's Cat. Drawn by a British animator...check it out. Priceless. This brought a few laughs to by day for sure :)

http://www.simonscat.com/flyguy.html

The weekend was officially AWESOME. check back for photos of our surf sesh at Bob's Hole on the Clackamas, our visit to Bagby hot springs, and a run down the Upper Wind. The weekends get me through the week!
Week 5 looks like it is going to be a big one so I'm pretty stoked to have gotten out and played. I'm going to need the energy this week for sure. I have my first Fundamentals exam and my first Multicultural Nursing quiz as well. I meet my client partner later in the week and hope to have din din with my sis on Wednesday. Here we go!

-Tina

2010-01-24T18:36:00.000-08:00

Upper Wind- 5.7 Feet

Josh and I FINALLY got out on the river for the first time since we moved to PDX! HOORAY! We had so much fun. Did the upper wind today at 5.7 feet. Corey Morton showed us down the drops and we soaked it up. Didn't get many pics as we hadn't fully charged out cameras but here's what we did get :) Can't wait to get back there.
Hope the rain continues to pour down...our goal is to hit Joe Bobs this Tuesday after my classes :) YAY!

-Tina

2010-01-11T17:27:00.000-08:00

1st Day of Nursing School...AKA "Scare the Living Poo out of Students" Day

Alright. It's official. I am now a nursing student. Today, January 11th was orientation at 8:30. Everyone expected it to be just orientation. I was wondering if we would have classes or not so I brought my books....good call. Turns out they decided we WOULD have classes after orientation. All in all I started at 8:30 and finished NRS 312 (Intro to Nursing Practices 5 credits)at 2:30. I didn't bring lunch so Im finally getting some grub in me while nursing a headache. Seriously, despite orientation which felt like the faculty was trying to make me pee my pants (or poop them), I really enjoyed my first class and Im still excited. Did I mention one of my teachers has an accent that's hard to understand? Oh this was meant to be. My dad had a teacher just like that when he went to med school. Priceless. What says "meant to be" more than attending nursing school and having a teacher with an accent teach one of the hardest classes...just like my dad. Too funny. Anyways, I guess I will give you my list of classes for the first semester:

NRS 301- Nursing Theory and Knowing (2 credits)
NRS 310- Intro to Multicultural Nursing (3 credits)
NRS 311- Communication in Nursing (2 credits)
NRS 312- Intro to Nursing Practices (5 credits)
NRS 315- Pharmacology (3 credits)
____________________________________________________
Total= 15 credits + 8 hours of Clinicals
*that Pharmacology is going to be a doozy!

Anyways, I'm going to finish some of my reading for classes and try to hit the sack early. I got a good workout session this evening so Im pooped.

Special thanks to everyone for all the support! I couldn't do this without you!!!! Love and Hugs,
Christina

2009-12-11T23:33:00.001-08:00

Pepper Russell passed away on December 10th. She was very sick and we had to make the decision to let her be at peace. She was a river dog and loved going on kayaking trips. She traveled everywhere with my family. Many people treated her like their very own dog and for that reason, I feel the need to post this. We will all miss her smiling face at the put-in's and take-outs. We will miss her disgusting tennis ball in our laps, and we will most of all miss her unconditional love. Please remember all the good times we had with Pepper. She is at peace now.

-Christina Russell

2009-12-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

Skiing!!!!

Today Josh and I met Kellie and Tyler for a full day of skiing at Mt Bachelor. It was the first time the four of us have skiid together. Pretty awesome! Special thanks to Kellie and Tyler for the tickets! Your rock out stinky socks. Happy to report no major crashes...but we all did practice the crash/roll on Skyliner :) To get those photos, we have to kidnap Tyler's camera...dun dun dun

Enjoy these!

From Skiing December 09

Here is the full album on Google

Skiing December 09

2009-11-29T16:13:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving 2009

This Thanksgiving was the first EVER in Russell history that "the boyfriends" were participating in. To re-iterate the significance of this, I always like to remind myself that it has been 22 years of NO BOYFRIENDS. Mister Josh was of course invited last year but was unable to attend so I guess this was the first year that they were invited and could make it. Pretty awesome. My sister, Kim, brought her new boyfriend Jesse along from Hood River. I think he had good fun with us :) We sure are a crazy family but nothing compared to the fam of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".

Josh, ever the creative one, brought along the wii. Turned out to be the best thing that happened to Thanksgiving in a while. Recap: Mom is a champion bowler, Josh turned Pro, Kim and I had a very close bowl off (I lost), and Jesse bowled the highest score at that point....222. No one got hurt which was a GOOD thing with the wii....did you know they have a term for wii specific injuries at the hospital? Ask Dan.

Anyways, enough talk. Here are some photo highlights of Thanksgiving with the Russell Family! Happy Turkey Day everyone!

2009-11-23T20:56:00.000-08:00

Boat Repair and Curious Kitty Cat....

This weekend, we got out for some good paddling on Dillon/Lava. However, before we were able to get out, we had to patch Josh's boat. The patch was temporary but we sure were hoping it would last longer than it did. It came off just below Dillon Falls (atleast we think) but the plastic did melt in to the crack enough to prevent lots of water coming in. Josh's boat now has a partially repaired crack that needs more work before we can jump on the river again. Here are some photos of the process:

Above- Miss Nala was very curious during this whole process. What the heck were we doing? She sat under the Christmas tree watching our every move. She is too funny....

2009-11-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

My New Art Page Has Been Updated:

I know I've already posted a bit about my new art website but here is a link to the freshly updated site. I think it is less overwhelming with color and a bit more professional. Hope you enjoy it...

http://www.nitrosisterart.com

2009-11-16T14:08:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, Josh and I headed over to Newport to spend four days with my family. It was my mom's birthday and we were celebrating in style. The coast was (as usual) VERY stormy. The winds were averaging 50 mph and the rain came down in buckets. The waves were roughly 25 feet from trough to crest and the windows rattled all day long. Thankfully Josh and I were able to get out for a couple runs.

The house we rented was just North of Newport at Beverly Beach. Unfortunately for us, the storm was so strong that we seriously had no beach to look at the entire time. We were crossing our fingers for some beach time so we could teach mom and dad how to fly their new stunt kite but I guess that will have to wait. :( A+ for effort though :)

Here are a bunch of photos from the weekend. Thanks to Josh, we had a Wii to play which was great fun. We had several bowling and tennis tournaments. The puzzle my mom brought was a hit and we all spent plenty of time trying to put the "100 chickens" back together. Did I mention we had GREAT food? Pad Thai, Green Curry, and Sushi. YUM! What a birthday celebration! We all had so much fun and look forward to more trips like this in the near future :D

2009-11-13T22:21:00.000-08:00

The End of Two Paintings

It took me forever but I am very pleased with both of these babies. More so with "Illumination" than "Party Wave". Sometimes I can overwork a painting and then be very disappointed. This happened with "Party Wave". Tragic. BUT messing around with paint IS always fun.....

I'm on to two new paintings. One is enormous by my standards. You will see once I post the initial photos. It's is going to wipe out my stash of gorgeous blue paints. Time to place another order with Daniel Smith!

"Party Wave"

"Illumination"

Hope you enjoy!

-Christina

2009-11-11T18:17:00.001-08:00

Check out this sweet new Astral PFD!

It's the LE (Limited Edition) out for only a short while. Show your support for Astral and order up. With Rasta colors and their patented design, you will be safe and look cool on the river. Contact Aldercreek of Bend if you wish you place an order with Astral: 541-317-9407

2009-10-19T23:22:00.000-07:00

Recent Pictures I'm Diggin'.....

Took these photos in Costa Rica and here at home.

2009-10-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

Costa Rica 2009

Hey there! I just got back from 2 weeks in Costa Rica. Holy poo it's cold at home! The day we got back, it was 32 degrees with freezing rain. Big change from 90 degrees with 100% humidity. I'll take it though! We had a great time in CR and loved the people but it sure is nice to be home. Here are a few pictures from our trip. We started the trip off with a 4 hour drive to Tamarindo. Spent four days of surfing there and got really burned. Decided to take 2 days off to recover from the sun and spent those 2 days at Playa Hermosa...condo world. It was pretty but I wouldn't go back to that spot. After HErmosa, we headed back south to Playa Grande. It was definitely the best spot on the coast for us. Beautiful private beach (one of the many Leatherback turtle nesting sites), big surf, and a great hotel. Rip Jack Inn was right on the beach and the owners were actually from Portland, Or. Stayed there for 3 nights. By then we were pretty pooped from the beach and headed inland to Vulcan Arenal and stayed at Hotel Linda Vista del Norte. WOW is all I can say! Enjoy the photos and if you ever need info about Costa Rica, I'll fill ya in!

Here is the link to my photos on Google: http://picasaweb.google.com/nitrosister/CostaRica#

From Costa Rica

From Surfing

From Hot Springs

2009-09-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Mood Painting...

I did this the other evening on a scarp piece of watercolor paper. I had a fun time with the colors but I must say Im not happy with the ink on the wave face. Oh well. You have to be daring with art!

2009-09-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

New Art Website is LIVE!

Check out my brand spankin' new Art website!!!!!! I have spent the past few days working on this and am sooo proud of it! Please check it out and let me know what you think. Any and all feedback is appreciated so if you think the site looks like crap, let me know! ha ha. no. really. Let me know.

Here's the address: http://www.wix.com/kayak24_7/Christina-Russells-Artwork

PS I tried to include a screen shot here but they're so darn finicky. Just go check it out :)

-Christina Russell