Halloween

Happy Halloween!

I meant to post this last night, but after my delightful walk, I just wanted to relax in my cozy apartment and eat delicious food and watch silly Halloween movies from my childhood. Can you blame me? I think not.

I did go on a fabulous walk, though. I was sure to go before all of the ghosts and ghouls decided to come haunting the streets. And I have to tell you - I was terribly disappointed by the lack of Halloween decorations! (Okay, I'll be honest - my apartment doesn't have any decorations up either - not even a pumpkin!) If I had a house, I think I would make it my goal to deck it out in Halloween spookishness. :) I only saw maybe a handful of houses on my entire 3 mile walk that had more than just a jack-o-lantern outside.

One of my favorites had their entire front walk-way lined with pink flamingos! And some of the flamingos were wearing costumes - it was hilarious! I wish I would've snapped a photo of it, but I didn't want to look suspicious! So I'll just keep it in my memory banks for future reference.

I actually took more photos on this walk than I have before - there were just so many interesting things to photograph! These walks continue to make me think that I need a new camera - one that has fancy features and takes crisp photos. Perhaps, as I continue to focus on fitness, I can buy one for myself as a reward - and incentive.

That is a look at the beautiful parkway that is near my apartment. Both sides of the street, as well as the median on the road, are lined with gorgeous trees. They change with the seasons so well!

Yep, no cars can go down this trail. One of my favorite things about the area where I live, is that I have such easy access to nature trails and safe, paved pathways. It makes walking a breeze, and really helps me to get away from it all.

 I do believe I was jamming to some Lady GaGa...

The beavers sure have been busy! There are so many trees like this in the area. But what's funny is I haven't ever found the dam! (P.S. Go Beavs!)

Can you tell that I had fun experimenting with my shadow? :c)

This bridge was *slippery*! I had to be really careful and slow my pace down. I certainly didn't want to end up in the ditch below!

Someone actually still had dahlias blooming! I couldn't believe it! And they were gorgeous - not trodden on by recent rains at all - you could've guess this photo was taken in August.

The sky was giving me a splendid show.

Whomping Willow, anyone?

Wow, I really wish the colors on this would've turned out better. This photo doesn't do it justice - the red was like hot coals in a fire.

How lucky am I to live in a place where we still have crops of trees and wooded areas near our neighborhoods? I'm so thankful for that.

The puddle was great - reflecting every detail of the tree from so far away.

I am loving going on these walks and posting photos from them. I feel so good when I go out for a walk.  Breathing the fresh air, paying attention to the details in life - it's super motivating and inspiring. And the best part? I was down 2.6 pounds today. Yep! This walking thing sure is awesome. :c)

Take care, until you hear from me again.

Terwilliger

Hey, hey!

So I went on another walk! Aren't you proud of me? I was super excited because this time I got to go on a walk with a friend! (Megan is the best!) And what's even more boss is that we got to walk around in her neighborhood, near OHSU. 

It was the perfect evening for a walk, too. It was chilly, but the hills got our hearts pumping and our blood flowing. And our silly conversations kept us laughing for the entire walk. :) It's so nice to be able to exercise and not even realize that you're "exercising." Friends definitely make it more fun.

We had some spectacular views, and it made me long for a better camera! (Hello, Sony Cybershot from 2006? 6.0 megapixels? Not so fantastic these days. I'm DYING here, people.) Anyway, we had a fantastic walk up and down the hills, and out and around some incredible neighborhoods.

Side note: I can't wait to own a house. Some of the homes in that area are stunning - and I'm sure completely out of my price range - but spectacular none the less. I would've taken photos of them, but I didn't want to look like a creeper... Maybe next time I'll be more courageous.

Here are some of the photos from our walk (like I said, I wish they'd turned out better!)

It's so nice to feel like you can get away from the city...

All of the houses on this road looked like they were slanting...!

I loved these doors! The knockers were held by dog heads...

Such an amazing view...!

Just looking at these photos makes me want to walk around in that neighborhood again! And I definitely want to photograph some of the amazing houses around that area, also.

Can't wait until next time!

Jump Start

I had three brain explosions today. (Yes, I'm fine, don't worry). They looked like this:

• Color coding my schedule at work, so I know which activities fall into which ASCA categories
• For the past seven weeks, I've been taking care of everyone except for myself, and it's time for that to change
• I'm going to turn this blog into my personal mission to have more fitness, more fun, and more photography in my life

And I'm super excited about all three of them!

So, here's the new plan. At least 2-3 times a week I plan on going for a walk, so long as the weather is nice. (And even if it's not, I might still make myself go). I love to walk, and it's a great way to get me back into a regular fitness routine. While I'm on my outings, I plan to take photos of beautiful sights, bizarre happenings, and just things that interest me in general. I think that the added phun of taking photos is going to be more of a motivation to walk and get out. (I so often find myself getting home and doing the same old boring things - making dinner, watching some tv, doing laundry, etc.) I'm looking forward to the added bonus of getting out and taking some phun pictures to share with you!

So, here's my first attempt. Don't judge - I got this idea 3 minutes into my walk, and so I didn't have my camera with me. So these are just silly cell phone pictures, but I wanted to be sure to get started and really try this out! So, here we go!

 

 

Okay - you cannot laugh at my boss red hat - I won it at BINGO!

 

 

And that's it for now! I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful phriendship...

Fantasy Football...Concerts...Blogging

What a mixed bag of topics, right? Yeah, I'm going to have to work on narrowing that down. :c)

At any rate, those are the things that are on my mind right now. I'm obviously new to this blogging thing (welcome, by the way... perhaps if I was more thoughtful my first post would've been a "This is Who I Am" kind of thing... alas...) I'm sitting here waiting for the Packers/Saints game to get underway, and thinking about the possibility of my Fantasy Football team (appropriately titled 'Laces Out Dan!') winning this year! Coming in 2nd place last year was a bit of a heartbreak, but my eye is on the prize this time. Take no prisoners! ;c)

And concerts... well, I'm still reeling from the Taylor Swift concert the other night. My favorite band, NEEDTOBREATHE, opened for her. It was so incredible to see them on a huge stage, but it also made me miss their usual sweaty rock shows! They're an amazing band who put on a phenomenal show, and are better than they know. I highly recommend you check them out - www.needtobreathe.net

And blogging - well, here's my first attempt! I can't promise it won't be boring... But I can promise to do my best to be honest as I navigate my way through this thing called life. I think it's going to be my therapeutic outlet. Being a school counselor can get pretty heavy, so having an outlet is crucial. I've tried to journal before, but it just never panned out. And here I feel like I can put complete thoughts out into the universe - instead of fitting it into140 characters. My thoughts get really big sometimes...

Well, kick off is about to happen, so I better run. Perhaps I'll make it a goal to write again on Saturday. I'm headed to a baby shower - should be fun!

Until next time...