"Bidi Bidi Bom Bom"

My love for the Spanish language originated in high school with Senora Sanchz y barr. One of my favorite projects in this class was when my friend and I made a Spanish music video to Selena's, "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom". Our outfits were right up there with Selena's--jeweled hats, sparkles, and pleather pants.

I studied the language for three years in high school, but we all know that doesn't mean too much. One of my biggest regrets was not pursuing the language in college. So when my friend Lisa asked if I would be interested in taking a conversational Spanish class, I jumped at the opportunity. On the first day of class we received our syllabus. One of our assignments was a cultural project. We had all of these grand ideas to have a fiesta, bring our friend's in that served mission in spanish-speaking countries, make a movie/music video. Unfortunately our enthusiasm dwindled as time went on. However, we did learn to make some yummy espanol dishes: Tartas de manzana (creamy apple tart), and tres leches cake. It was a hit. We were a hit. We are a hit! Basically our professora loved us. She told us we went above and beyond her expectations for this culture project. Luz and I were proud students. Here we are with our yummy spanish desserts.

Here we are with Professora on the last day of class! Please note: a). our certificates of completion (we didn't just pass, but we received a P+!!), the laminated notebooks in our hands, with spanish advertisements, actors, just like the good ole days! Thank you Chelsea. My Zac Efron folder was also a hit :)
Adios amigos!! Me Encanta Espanol!

Go Cougs!!!

Introducing Strebin and the Lost Brothers

My Brother Jeffrey performs for his high school homecoming assembly. Got to miss

those days J He's the one playing the guitar, and wearing the big white shoes?! Jeff,

you're so dreamy!!!! I bet all the girls were swooning over you!!

"Forever"

This past weekend I went with a group of friends up North to visit the great state of Vermont, and all its beauty! It really is one thing to see pictures in a magazine, and another to actually see it in person. It was gorgeous! We made it just in time for peak foliage season. It really was a perfect weekend. We stopped to explore random bridges, towns, monuments, hiking trails, ski resorts, and festivals. We also found time to watch an entire season of the Office. We traveled through eight states and the District: Virginia, DC, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Check, check!!

We had some good times in the car...maybe, just maybe, we played a few rounds of would you rather, and marry, make-out, or kill. Peter's face is pretty great in this pic.

Shandi drove us into the big apple, to pick up Kyle's favorite nyc style pizza.

Right after we picked up the pizza, we noticed a ton of people waiting outside the theater showing, Hamlet. Shandi and I both realized at the same time that people were waiting for the one and only, JUDE LAW, to exit the theater. In a matter of seconds, the boys took over driving, and we joined the other Jude fans in hopes to see the dreamy star. And YES, we did see him. Here he is driving off...

We stayed with Kyle's parents Friday night, who are currently serving a mission in MA.

Here we are checking out a fall festival in Vermont. I love the church in the background.

Fun times in the cabin...we even got to watch a romantic comedy :) If that's how they are categorizing Blood Diamond these days. I cried through the entire movie.

We had to stop for this dam picture....

We hiked up a trail in Mt. Ascutney State Park, that overlooked the valley, and into New Hampshire.

We even traveled to Brigham Young's birth place in Whitingham, Vermont. Several monuments were placed throughout the town, but this had to be my favorite,

"A Man of much courage, and Superb Equipment."

Thank you Shandi for organizing a wonderful weekend!

"Do you need me to hold your hand boo?"

This week I am participating in training all week at an off-site location (an especially safe neighborhood in SE DC :). Back when I interned in DC in 2005, a classmate once told me if I ever ventured to the southeast quadrant of DC, I would get shot. Fast forward four years of my life, and here I am, spending at least 50% of my time at work in the southeast quadrant. But hey, I am still around, and getting very accustomed to my second home.

Today the local fire and police department joined forces to provide community members an opportunity to get vaccinated for the H1N1 influenza where I was attending my training. With as many youth and families I interact with on a daily basis, I thought it would be a good idea for me to get the shot. I joined a few of my colleagues and headed upstairs to face the needle. After hearing the story about the NFL cheerleader who now experiences a neurological condition brought on by a flu shot, I was a little nervous to go through with the shot. As I walked up to the large man who would soon administer the vaccine, I started to chicken out. My co-worker proceeds to ask, "Do you need me to hold your hand boo?" I put on a strong front and looked away from the needle, only to find out he was all done. And there you have it. No swine flu for me. Go get vaccinated!!!

Unified Yoggers Rocked the Ragnar

Years ago I thought runners were kind of ridiculous. Why would you run when you could pick up a basketball or Frisbee? Why would you put yourself through the misery and boredom? Confession. I. LIKE. TO. RUN! I enjoy the challenge of pushing my body and mind to do something I originally think is impossible. It is such a satisfying feeling when you complete a race. Last weekend I participated in the Ragnar Relay with 11 other friends. We started in Cumberland, MD and ran along the C&O canal, in to West Virginia, and ended in DC for a grand total of 200 miles. I was a little apprehensive at first, when I heard we'd be running 200 miles. I am still a sane person, and that does not sound fun to me. But when you divide the mileage amongst 11 other people, it isn't too bad. My team started at 1:00p.m. Friday, and ended the race a little after 5:00p.m. on Saturday, which put our time at 29 hours. The official results posted, and were were 21st overall (out of 150 or so teams), and 4th in our division! Our average mile time was around 8:30. Each person ran three separate legs. The craziest part was running by yourself, with a headlamp in the middle of the night. My second leg was at 1:30a.m...with practically NO sleep. My first leg was about 7 miles, and definitely my strongest. We rented a couple of 12 seat passenger vans, slept when we could, and survived off of trail mix, jelly beans, water, and bagels. We did rent a hotel half way through the race, so that we could stop and shower, and attempt to get some rest. I think I got a total of three hours :) Anyway, so glad I participated, and would definitely do it again next year. Here's how I feel about running,

Meet the Unified Yoggers:

Yes, you see that right...at my final exchange, my teammate decided to run his last leg in an American flag speedo. Classy.

My van consisted of: Travis, Colton, Justin, Katie, and Destiny

Ready for the race to begin!!

Here we are at the finish line with our medals!

We ran into our friends from the other teams