Sigh....

I hardly know where to start with this entry... so much has happened since my LONG ago post in June.

I suppose new love takes priority.. yet it seems to run all together.

At 34 years of age, and who knows how many crushes and hopeful new relationships, it seems a bit foolish to be so gushy and sentimental. Yet, here I am, feeling 13 years old and giddy as ever over the very thing that should be old hat by now.

John and I met in our Singles Ward, ironically, the last place I thought I would meet someone special. We were partnered up in an ad hoc church activity as team mates, and after several months of friendship chatter, we blossomed into something much more. Starting with a midnight hike on the 4th of July, a midnight showing of Harry Potter and a camping trip with people neither of us knew well, and the list can go on and on and on. There's hardly been a night since then when you couldn't find us together doing something fun. He's truly a blessing in my life and I'm grateful for the new experience of getting to know him and enjoy his zest for life.

My family has been fitfully planning a reunion for the last year. I was half in and half out for so long, wanting to give my relationship with John every chance to grow. But at the last minute, I couldn't resist the call of an adventure to get on the road and join them all in Bend, Oregon for a little camping, and canoeing and sight seeing. Unfortunately, it was so rushed (11 hours to drive there, and only about 1.5 days to play) that my camera didn't come out of it's case much.

The campsite had biking paths all over, and I was so eager to get my bike there and play. We packed both of our bikes on the back of John's car and got with it 24 miles of Bend when

**** the rack broke****

I heard John calmly say "there goes your bike" and I turned around to see my bike bounce about 6 feet in the air, and launch into the weeds and dirt on the side of the road.

Of course, I'd much rather tell the story of my crazy descent from the top of a mountain, losing control just at the end of the trail resulting in the fabulous disfigurement of the tire rims. John likes to tell people that I found my way back from the one way Hades Trail. :D

I'm thankful that all that was damaged was my bike, and it is fixed easily enough. We've decided that if biking is important enough on future trips, we'll rent a bike instead of packing them with us. :(

We saw another fascinating phenomenon. Mom alerted us to it before we even got on the road. She saw this odd looking tree with some strange shaped branches, and as they got closer, discovered that it was full of shoes!!! This picture is only a small sampling. If you do a Google Search for "shoe tree" you'll discover that there are several such trees all over the country. This particular one is found outside of Juntura, OR.

My mind has been spinning for a long time, trying to decipher the story behind the beautiful pair of pink ballet shoes hung relatively low on the tree, or the muddy football shoes hanging from the upper most branches.
There's a brief update on my life of late. Pretty consumed with living rather than documenting it. I'm truly blessed in my life and grateful for the things that make life worth living. :)