The Best Summer Ever Part Two: The Month of June

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Pandora current song: Prayin’ For Daylight by Rascal Flatts

Me & Lace at a Diamond Backs game
this summer.

June still seemed like the beginning of my summer, but it was the last month I spent in the beautiful state of Washington. So what did I do? Read on! Duh.

One of my favorite memories with Lacey was sleeping out on the trampoline at night. Once I got home from Phoenix, my dog and I listened to the frogs and looked out at the stars for a wonderful night outside on our trampoline. Since we live on 10 acres away from town, sleeping outside at our house seems like you’re sleeping in the middle of nowhere. Granted, I didn’t have my best friend with me, but the experience brought back a lot of memories. I did end up with a visitor that walked around the woods around me, but I fell asleep before I could figure out what it was. Maybe a deer, maybe a coyote, maybe a raccoon. Who knows.

I wasn't the only one who enjoyed being at home. My
cats enjoyed the lazy life and being able to hunt outside.

I continued running farther and farther. I started to realize my new 12 mile loop took me all around the Manchester area which brought more memories to mind every time I went a new way. I also brought my sisters bike home from storage and biked to the Southworth ferry along the water front a few times. I hadn’t been on a bike in forever, but once you know how to ride, you never forget. I’d never biked that far before, but it was a great workout up and down the hills of Port Orchard. :) 

I wasn’t immune to work though. Every other week I had to crunch numbers and pay bills. I usually drove to the Gig Harbor Starbucks and set up camp there to work on finances on my iPad. That iPad came in handy all summer as it came with me everywhere. If I ever needed to create a spreadsheet, it was always available. Technology allowed me to have quite a flexible schedule, which is why I got away with my crazy travels. 

My new car!

On June 4, I woke up early to buy my first car. Lesson No. 1: Never buy a car alone. Lesson No. 2: Never buy a car alone especially if you’re a girl. Lesson No. 3: Car salesmen suck. It took ALL day to actually get into my new car and drive off. I was completely taken advantage of so getting into the car was a bitter sweet moment. I drove off with a brand new Mazda 3 Grand Touring Edition with all the bells and whistles. Zoom Zoom is so right. That little car has some pep! It only had 38 miles on it when I drove away. I have a few more on it now ;) (My pictures of the new car)

On my way home, I caught up with a long lost friend, Brandon Scheller. He’s like me in a man’s body. Driven, leader oriented, enthusiastic about life, and a huge WAZZU Cougar fan. He’s one of those friends I’ve always been able to say anything to. We utilize each other for honest opinions and support. A true friend I have come to miss.

The day after was another summer treat. I spent the morning with more high school friends I hadn’t seen since high school AND got to see Brittany Lyman's, another best friend’s, engagement ring (yep, definitely made me jealous, but again that won’t happen to me for ages). We got together for Aly Dean’s baby shower. I was the only non-engaged/married person in the group, which was nuts. The only single one left in our group. And if I look half as good as Aly while I’m preggers, I’ll be happy as a clam. The group of us talked about our favorite memories, lives since high school and enjoyed each other’s company.

Edmonds - Kingston Ferry. Isn't this gorgeous?

After that, I took a ferry to Edmonds where I continued my trek north towards Canada. I
didn’t get that far north, but I ended up in the Bellingham area on the doorstep of one of the best Roomster sisters ever. Sister because we are Tri Delta sisters for life and Roomster because we have ridiculous pet names for each other from our last year spent in the sorority. Desilee Valeri and I may not have grown up together, but we matured into adults together in college. Her and I are the crazy adventure enthusiasts and know exactly what each other is thinking without even saying it. Our intuitions about each other are hardly ever wrong. She is a friend like no other.

Anyway, I spent a timeless weekend with Desilee. Her and Patrick showed me around Bellingham and the boardwalk. Desilee and I took a walk on the creative side and designed plates with cut glass that was later heated and shaped into dinner plates. We walked around in Vibram FiveFinger shoes, which are the new fad, especially in Bellingham. (I want some for running!) We also stopped for coffee and chatted for hours.

On Sunday, we went to church, which was something I had missed...both church with Desilee, but church in general. I truly miss my church in Dallas and hadn’t been to a church since I left as the churches in Nebraska just don’t compare. The best part about the sermon was that the pastor talked about different paths in life. He talked about vacations with his family where they’d leave home in Saskatchewan, Canada and drive on endless desolate roads to finally get to their destination. He compared Saskatchewan to Nebraska and claimed them both to be hell on earth. OMG I laughed out LOUD!

I left Desilee’s house and drove to Central Washington to spend a few days with my boss, George Garlick, and his wife. George and I had plans to crunch numbers and work, but he ended up getting the 24-hour flu. I ended up taking Carol to dinner where we spent over three hours chatting at Bonefish Grill. She is such a wonderfully kind woman and I love our conversations. George finally got better so we were able to get three days of work accomplished in about 3 hours.

Dukes Chowder House.

Friday, my mom and I met Desilee in Seattle for dinner at Dukes on Alki Beach and a Broadway show, Candide. Des had never been to a Broadway show, so she had no idea what to expect. She thought it was going to be boring with a bunch of snooty, stuck up rich brats, and sure you have a handful of those, but most of the people at the 5th Avenue Theater were friendly, regular people. At first, we thought the show was going to be a bit risqué with an opening scene of sex on stage, but it ended up being pretty good. I was nervous because of all people and all broadways, I didn’t want Des’s first experience to scare her away from them forever, but we had a blast. After, we consumed Cheesecake Factory’s famously fabulous cheesecake accompanied by mouth watering cappuccinos.

That next week I saw Brandon Scheller and Shawn Hoey in Bremerton for a WSU community visit by the University President, Dr. Floyd. GO COUGS! I saw past 4-H dog leaders there as well as caught up with Dr. Floyd.

I had lunch with my TWIN, Brittany Lyman!! She’s also another friend that I can be away from and pick everything back up like the good ol’ times. We just get each other too. She told me about her engagement and wedding plans. The best part was that she asked me to be a bride’s maid!!! I was so honored and excited!

Desilee, Monique, and me!

That weekend, I drove out to Desilee’s little sister’s horse show in Graham to watch her do her thing. She made my heart melt when she saw me walk up, she got off her horse and ran over to me to give me a big hug. For only seeing her two years ago at Desilee’s wedding, I had obviously made quite an impression on her. She was such a doll face on her horse, but he ended up with a heat rash and didn’t perform as well as Monique, Des’s little sis, had anticipated. I did get to see her win the Best Overall Performance trophy and spent the day talking with Desilee and her father. Monique’s best friend, Cynniya, also showed her horse that day. Those two girls are quite the horse handlers. I learned a lot about horse shows since I hadn’t been to many before. I love that family!

More biking and a heck of a lot more running occurred. I also started playing baseball with my mom’s dogs hitting the ball down the property while they played in the outfield and brought the ball back.

The next fishing trip was for sturgeon. To keep those suckers, they have to be between 4.5 - 6 feet long! They are a lot of fun to catch but we didn’t touch ANYTHING all weekend. I luckily brought my GMAT study guide so I was able to learn a lot while I sat around waiting for the fish to hit the line. I also ended up getting motion sickness so I became a pile of worthless lard for most of the last day.

About five minutes before we were going to head home, a sturgeon FINALLY swallowed the hook. My dad asked if I wanted to take the pole, but all that was on my mind was having to pee. It took forever for my dad to bring up the sturgeon that I started getting beyond frustrated because I felt like I couldn’t hold it any longer, but I couldn’t pee while a fish was on. Someone had to spear the sturgeon once it hit the surface and someone had to organize the gear. After what seemed like forever, the fish was in the boat. My dad was so happy he had a fish in the boat, he requested pictures with every camera and phone on board. Then I had to write down that we caught a fish on our punch card. What seemed like an eternity later, I finally said STOP to the madness, pulled out a bucket and dropped my pants. I think I peed for 5 minutes and lost 10 lbs of liquids. Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I was finally relieved. :) And yes, a girl peeing on a rocking boat in the middle of the ocean water in a bucket without walls for privacy is quite an interesting experience.

Pirate down at the beach.

I had a surprise visit by another Tri Delta sister, Miss Carly Jivelekas!! She flew from Idaho to see the clan without any plans, and she ended up hopping a ferry to visit me! We woke up at 4AM so I could take her back to the airport. It was a beautiful morning as Mount Rainier looked stunning.

My sorority! Delta Delta Delta.

One of my mom’s goals for the summer was to get out walking so we started with a 3 mile circle along the water. I had just bought a $1,400 camera so I took it with me to start playing with it. Mom and I captured spectacular photos of her dogs on the water front. I couldn’t wait to take more pictures!! (My pictures of the pets) We also took 

Murrow Hall
College of Communication

pictures around the house after I planted the annuals in the pots on our deck and front porch. (My pictures of our flowers.)

OFF TO PULLMAN!! I spent a weekend of new memories and remembering memories of college with Brandon Scheller and a few others. I spent dinners with friends and the days walking around campus. I went crazy taking pictures with my new camera and captured the life I lived for 5 years. Walking all over made me miss college even more. (My pictures of Pullman!) I also challenged Brandon and Shawn to a game or two of racquetball. It took me a game of warming up, but I was able to dust off a few moves to hold my own. I think I ended up winning half of the games we played. Man I miss racquetball. I think I will need to build my own court when I buy a house. :)

Bryan Clock Tower
I love this iconic building on campus.

While I was in Pullman, a job opportunity became available. A job that would be incomparable to anything I was doing in Nebraska. The job was a recruiter position for WSU where I’d either focus in Seattle or travel the country talking at high schools and organizing alumni events. The wheels in my head turned with ever contemplation of “what if.” A mind numbing, never ending process of wonder, reflection, deliberation and reasoning. I tried to dissect the potential pursuit of the impossible because I know I’d be much happier with the outcome. More to come later...

The GO COUGS barn on the
way to Pullman! 

Newly remodeled Martin Stadium

My mom injured herself once again right before I got home for the summer. Somehow she overextended the muscle in her leg while she was running through an agility course with her dog. She fell of course, but forgot to put her hands out to break her fall. She then cracked a few ribs. Lately, my mom has just been a big broken mess, it wasn't really a shocker. I think my sister and I got our blonde hair from a recessive gene of hers. lol JK But seriously, we must have. Anyway, she had a dog show to compete in during our July 4 vacation in Oregon and she didn't think she'd be able to do it. Naturally, since Pirate is my running buddy and I miss dog showing, I didn't give my sister a chance to step up. I had a great time taking Pi through the obstacles, but I was definitely a rookie when it comes to agility and knowing where to place myself. AND I need to work on my memorization skills.

Mom & Pirate at agility practice.

For the second time this summer, I got to see Lacey!! Her and Steve came to Washington to visit so we invited her and her family to join us for freshly caught sturgeon kabobs for dinner. We also had my mom’s famous strawberry salad. Unknown to me, Lacey is allergic to walnuts. What a great best friend I am, huh? She ended up with a killer cold sore from chewing on the nuts in the salad, which she didn’t tell me about until I saw her again in Phoenix. I felt SO badly!

This summer may seem great on paper, but the ever consuming “what ifs” and mind numbing frustrations of work never ceased to follow me everywhere I went. I hate the what if game. I love a sense of adventure, but when it comes to work and important decisions about life, that’s a totally different story.

To end the month, I went wedding dress shopping with Brittany! I wasn’t able to dress shop with Desilee or Lacey, so I was honored to shop with Britt. I loved that she was so particular so it made shopping for her much easier. Randomly enough at the first shop we walked into, my freshman year roommate was getting fitted for her best friend’s wedding. When I called out her name, she screamed at the top of her lungs and ran over and jumped on me with the biggest hug ever! She’s been in Atlanta since she graduated so for her to randomly be in Seattle and at the boutique Britt and I went to was priceless! I wish I was able to catch up, but either way I loved seeing her.

Britt and I spent all day trying on dresses and walking all over Seattle. We ended up at an expensive dress boutique where we found the absolutely most perfect dress. Well, it was over $4K and well out of her budget range. It’s never safe to just try on expensive items for fun. I know that one better than anyone. I usually end up not having any self control whatsoever. Good thing I wasn’t dress shopping!

Well, that concludes the month of June. Yeah, that was just June! Crazy huh? ;)

Boldly challenging status quo!

Pandora current song: Better Than Me by Hinder

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