Lack of blogging skills

Wow. I am really slacking on this blog thing. The point of this whole thing is to give my family and friends a place to see what I'm up to (and who knows if anyone really reads this thing). Anywho, I said I would update with all the pictures from Adam and Jamie's wedding... but since the first blog took so long... forget it. All I can say is, I bought waterproof mascara for that weekend for a reason, and I put it to good use. I cried every 2 minutes during that ceremony, I made TONS of new friends, and we all had the time of our lives.

Moving on...

Since August many things have changed in my life. Dave is working three jobs now (that's right... three). He is still delivering bread for Big River 5 mornings a week. He is also now hosting lunch Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday at Big River. And to add to that, he is now working at the Corvallis Cyclery a few afternoons a week. He's a busy boy. And that's a good thing. Because I'm just as busy.

I was recently promoted to the manager position at my coffee shop in Corvallis (might I add that was my second promotion in under 4 months. Go me). As soon as I was told that I would be stepping in as manager, I was busier than a bumble bee. My first week of manager I worked seven days, caught a mild case of strep throat, and worked over 43 hours. Yeah. Killer. Since that first week things have gotten a little easier. I am now recovering from another cold, but things are running more smoothly. There were a few mishaps those first few weeks (like the week that Food Services of America delivered us a case of Grey Popon mustard instead of our usual 30 lb. box of Ghiradelli white chocolate. I threw a fit. We still have that box sitting in the back room... we did get our chocolate 2 days late.... after I yelled (politely) at a few people on the phone.)

The last weekend of October we are going to Coffee Fest though, a perk of being manager now. A trip to Seattle with my boss, Paul, fellow manager of the cafe, Garrett, and my assistant manager, Desiree. In honor of this upcoming trip, I would like to share with you a video I found on the Barista Guild of America blog. It makes fun of how dramatic and ridiculous competing professional baristas can be.

Hope all is well with everyone! I'm really looking forward to my trip and to the holidays. I miss my family! Got to get going... Dave should be home from work soon!

The Week of the de Laveaga Wedding

So, as I mentioned in my last post, Dave's good friend (and now my good friend too), Adam, got married last Sunday. We packed up the Subaru on Wednesday after we got off of work and sped off to Central Oregon. Adam and Jamie's families has set up for us to be there with them for most of the week. There was so much to do and so many new friends. Let me break it down for you:

Wednesday: Dave, Jess, Brian, Romo, and many others drove from Corvallis to the main house (also known as the girl's house because it was were the bridesmaids stayed with the bride's parents). It was also Jake McGinnity's birthday, the bride's little bro. So a BBQ and party soon commenced. There was hot tubbing, glow-golf, and shot-gunning of beers. There was also a giant banana.

I passed out at about 11:30, the boys stayed up late.

Thursday: We awoke to a smokey house. Even though the doors and windows were closed, the wind was bringing smoke to the resort from a wild fire south of Sisters. Mrs. McGinnity (a.k.a. Boss, yup, that's her real nickname) made "egg squishy", and fruit salad for breakfast. Soon after that, the boys and I packed up all our stuff and moved into the bachelor house, a condo on the other end of the resort. We then proceeded to organize a large river float in Bend. The boys all piled into their cars and took off while I waited for Sarah to arrive at the resort. She arrived not too long after they left, so we caught up with them in Bend. By then they had realized that a float was too much effort, so we settled with hanging out at a river front park and wading in the water.

Dave and I decided to celebrate our 2.5 "anniversary" with dinner at Deschutes Brewery (alone) and had a nice drive back to Eagle Crest together. Then more hot tub action (8 dudes, and Sarah and I in one hot tub, all at once) more beers, then bed.

Friday: We woke, some of us in a more delicate state than others, to a day full of celebrations. The boys had planned an all day bachelor party for Adam and left quite early for disc golf on Mt. Bachelor, mountain biking, eating, and other boyish activities.

As for me and Sarah... we layed around. I had a nail appointment at 11, followed by lunch with Sarah, then we popped in on Jamie (the bride) to see if she needed anything. We then all went and laid by the pool for a few hours. Then we all showered and met back at 8 for the bachelorette party! We took a few cars to Bend and started at a nice restaurant called 900 Wall. We were there for a bit before we decided to move, and it just so happened that we went to the same bar as the boys! After that the parties joined forces for a night to be remembered, and forgotten ;) I was up until 3:30ish. The boys were up until 4:50. Yikes.

Saturday: We all woke up on Saturday morning really late. (And for me that's like 10:30). The boys need to get a fitting in for their suits in Bend. So we all piled in cars and drive out. We went to lunch, then went in for the fitting. All the boys had really bad gas by this point, so it ended up a pretty funny event. By the time we had finished that, and got back to the resort, it was time for us to get all cute for the rehearsal dinner. I was considered a "spouse" in Adam and Jamie's mind, so I got to attend. It was so much fun, and I even got a few tears in thanks to Gus, the bride's little sister, when she started to talk about Adam and Jamie and their love for each other.

Sunday as the day of the wedding. It was amazing. We all cried, and danced the night away. I will miss all of those people so much, and can't wait to get everyone together again!

Jackie's Second Visit and Ragnar Relay

So after a week of being away, Jackie drove back up to Corvallis (all in one day, might I add) and helped me to prepare for Ragnar. In the days leading up to the relay, I didn't have much to worry about but getting everyone together and hitting the road (I set it up this way... I have anxiety about leaving on time and being places on time...) The day of our departure finally came, and, thank goodness, I had volunteered to work a short morning shift at work. Had I not worked, I probably would have been having a heart attack by the time we finally left.

Annie, Dave's baby sister, came down the night before. Jackie was there. Sarah came over. Lissa drove up early. Kasie and Justin came and got coffee from me, then came over later. Schwartz, Persons, and little Persons all showed up (with minutes to spare). Everything seemed to be going to plan. When we arrived in Salem to meet Romo and John Wulf, the stressful bits began to bear their teeth. Romo, Schwartz and Wulf all wanted to drive their own cars up so that they could part with us after the race to go to various parts of Washington. Well did that turn out to be a fiasco or what?! A caravan 5 cars long on I-5 though Portland, Olympia, Tacoma AND Seattle is a tricky thing. By the time we got to Everett, where we were leaving the spare vehicles, Dave and I were both so frustrated with the situation that we were yelling at each other. Not to worry, 5 minutes later we had kissed and made up... per standard procedure. :)

So we got the campsite by 10pm, set up, had a snack and hit the hay. Of course, I could only sleep in until 5am. I was really tired. As I emerged from my tent, I found that Lissa was missing. Only to find her asleep in her car, because she had been up all night throwing up. Food poisoning. Awesome. We packed up quickly and set off to the starting line.


There's Dave at the start in the white shirt, pulled up black shorts and stylish head band. By 9:30am, we were off! We didn't run into any problems until the second van's night run. Lissa was feverish and unable to run... So they had to shuffle runners around in order to complete their legs. Well Kasie got hurt in the process and they fell 2 hours behind schedule. When I woke up at 5am on the grass at Deception State Park, and no phone call from the other van, I panicked. We were far enough behind that the clean up crew for the exchange set ups would be catching up quickly. I had to make a quick decision and have Sarah skip her leg, and have Dave start straight away, so as to make up for lost time. The other van was hurting so bad that they skipped a few of their third legs as well... unfortunate but we finished in a timely manner.


Team Photos at the finish :)


I am still recovering. Have yet to run... I attempted a run a few days ago... only to find that it hurt REALLY bad. For all Ragnar pictures, good and bad, check Facebook ;)

Dad then came up to visit us on the Friday after... it was good to see him! I miss him lots and lots. We are constantly attempting to talk him into moving up here closer to Dave and I, because when Jackie leaves, he is going to be really lonely. Hopefully, Dave and I can get a bigger place and maybe he can come up for Christmas and all that. Hopefully.

So now, without even blinking, we are moving on the final event of the Summer of 2010. Adam, one of Dave's good friends, is getting married this weekend in the Bend, Oregon area. We are all REALLY excited to get the WHOLE gang together and celebrate our bro tying the knot with an AMAZING girl. Lots of pictures and stories to come. :)

Jackie's (First) Visit and the 4th of July!

So last week, Jackie was here to visit with us. She was super bored at home and wanted to get away. We tried to get some shopping done for her dorm, but she has most of it done already. It was SO hot here last week so for the most part we just sat around and watched True Blood when I wasn't at work.

She was also here for 4th of July... her and I had a ton of fun with the fire works. We both had our Flip video cameras and this was the best movie of them all!

**Warning: Jackie has a dirty mouth, so it's her cussing not me :)**

She left 2 days ago, but will be back by Monday this next week for our Ragnar Relay race (Which is in 10 days... I think I might throw up from excitement!!)

Poor Blogging Skills

So I must say, up front, that lately I have had some poor blogging skills. I haven't posted anything since May (sad, really) even though there has been much more going on.

Harry Potter and I still have our daily meetings. I am currently on Happy Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (the 5th book). I blasted though books 3 and 4. Again, I have found that there are some many little details and even some characters that are completely left out of the movies. I mean, if they got every scene of the 4th book (which is 734 pages long) into a movie, it would probably take days to watch. But I'm just saying... it's amazing to me. JK Rowling is such a good writer...

My little sister Jackie graduated from high school on June 6th. It was fun to have the whole family together! Dave came with me. I wish we could have spent more time there, but hopefully Dad and Jackie will come up this summer and stay with us :)

My my fierce little honor student and her Tahoe

From left: Mommy, Grandma Camille, Jackie, Daddy, Aunt KayKay and meeeeeee!

Koehler women.

Jackie atop a delicious red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. It was gone by midnight.

Dave and I have also kept busy the last 2 weekends with graduation parties here. Oregon State's graduation was the 13th, so Emma had her party at her parent's house in Beaverton on Sunday. This last Saturday my family friends, the Page's, had a party for Meghan for graduating from OSU, and Michael for graduating from high school. It was really fun, and we got to see their whole family too.

July is already filling up with plans for adventures and activities. There's 4th of July. We have Alissa's graduation party on the 10th. And our Ragnar Relay race on the 23rd and 24th. SO excited! Hopefully I will have the time to get all the pictures and funny stories up on here for all to see!

Me vs. Harry Potter

As you may know, since becoming a college grad, there is a bit more free time on my plate than I have ever had. My mom always put it well, "You need to stay busy to get things done." It's true. I need a list of things to do, otherwise nothing gets done. I have found that I have a lot of hobbies, including art and crafts. I have put together a lot of social events for friends and family, and put collages of pictures from those events together (don't believe me? Come by the house...)

So as of late, the books I have been TRYING to read have been flops (at least for me). I tried reading The Lovely Bones, but being a recent college grad in "The Great Recession" and lots of clouds and no sun will make a girl depressed, so I had to stop because it was making me more sad. So, with the movie coming out, I picked up Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Let me just say, being familiar the movie helped LOTS, because that book was a difficult read. It was like reading a college text book. NOT pleasure reading. At this point I gave up on trying to find a good book to read, because it is very rare that I can't make it through a good fiction book. But then, an idea hit me: While reading about the up coming TWO movies to cover the seventh book of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, I got the idea to tackle the entire series again before the new movies come out. My plan is to re-read each book and watch the movies in between books.

So far, so good! I have already completed the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I BLEW through it. Yes, it's an easy read, but there are many details and descriptions in the book that didn't make it into the movie that I had since forgotten. It has been many, many years since I had read it, so it was really fun to read. I have also already Netflix'd and watched the movie. Now on to the next!

I am already about half way though, but during my recent trip home to California, I fell asleep with the book in bed and I think it fell behind the bed. I packed up and left without Harry! Ugh. I'll probably just go to the library and check it out until I go back to my Dad's for Jackie's graduation. So far though, there are way more details in this book that I had forgotten about than the first. I must have breezed though it too fast all those many years ago :)

I'll keep you detailed on my project here... all is otherwise good. I have this feeling that some big changes are on the way though. :) (If it's not, I'm gonna make it happen!!!)

Walk for Water 2010

On March 21st, a few of my co-workers and myself drove up to Portland for World Water Day and for Portland Roasting's event, Walk for Water. We had two teams of ten, with all three locations of Coffee Culture represented. It was really fun! Here is the video of footage from the event that Portland Roasting put together.... gives you something to think about... :)