Et Cetera

I'm back! I didn't really go anywhere...but life did get REALLY busy around May. Since then, I was hired by the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Eric graduated from high school, we went back to the Oregon coast, more time was spent on the boat, I took the GRE, and Terry and I moved to Bellingham - and those are just some of the major things! Another reason why I ventured back to the blogging world: internet in the condo is a major upgrade from the wireless internet at my mom's house (envision a house near the airport where a cell phone will lose service every time a plane flies overhead, a shoddy wireless box, and very questionable "high speed" service - I think it was less than 1Mbps). I swear that each post would take 20 minutes to load.

I didn't even know where to start for an update, so I decided that an "et cetera" post was appropriate. That way, I could cram some of the miscellaneous photos from the last few months into a somewhat scattered layout.

First, right before I was hired by Padilla Bay, I ran in a 10K race in Mt. Vernon. Those of you who know me well could tell anyone about my serious running habits - I go every morning, no exceptions. However, I suffered a mystery ankle injury in 2010 that sidelined me for 12 months. I may have ground my teeth down to nubs in frustration, but I did eventually find the root of the problem. I went through several doctors who had ideas ranging from a stress fracture to tendonitis. Nothing worked. After a recommendation from my grandma, I saw a podiatrist who took two minutes to look at the calluses on my feet and gave me the easiest solution I could have hoped for. I now have a rather expensive pair of shoes and inserts to align my ankles when I run. In March of 2011, after a year of irritation and break downs, I trained last minute for a 10K race to try to get myself back into shape. It just felt SO GOOD to be able to run again. In the beginning of May, I snagged third place in the Have a Heart run and I haven't stopped running since. My shoes don't even have a year of use and I already need another pair.

This is a hug at the start line with my mom. She ran the 2 mile race and I continued.

In June, Eric graduated from high school.

Summer fire pit s'mores. They made me take a break from studying for the GRE. Someone should have told me what a bad idea it was to take the GRE at the end of August. I spent so many summer weekends trying to learn vocabulary - do this in the winter!