Finally! I rejoined society today after months of spending every minute of my free time in my 486 square foot studio, in front of a computer, with two animals. I have tickets to a lecture series through illahee.org and this evenings lecture was by Dr. James Tabor. He is well known for his historical research on several types of religion, including Christianity. I will absolutely purchase this book and read it when my academic life is a bit slower. He is very involved in studying the historical documents that influenced the formation of Christianity. Currently he is excavating ancient ruins in Jerusalem in search of cultural artifacts that could reveal additional information about Jesus Christ. It was fascinating and also opened my eyes to how much I don't know about this time in history. His observations and points were captivating, and I look forward to learning more. It is exhausting really when you think about all the things there are to learn about in this world. I'm tired just thinking about it. It is my bedtime.

If you are interested, check out his website http://www.jesusdynasty.com/ .

This is my life

I have to blog just one entry on the monotonous lifestyle that could very well drive me away from research. This really is a lot of behind the scenes, attention to detail, put your smart hat on and get ready to write some really dry text. Ugh! Even though this is my research and it is exciting, I really just can't wait to be done with the sitting in front of the computer part, while it is beautiful outside.

The good news is that I practically have a garden sanctuary behind my apartment building with a year round stream, vibrant bird life and a lot of squirrels who gladly partake in peanuts I put out for them. This makes my pets VERY happy. I guess I am my Mother's daughter!

Spring is a time for softball....

Spring is a time for softball. I don't have time for softball right now and I can't even commit to any teams with my trip around the corner. So, instead I daydream about Sundays filled with softball and barbecues. My daydreams are really what are getting me through this very stressful time. My most recent goal is to make recommended changes to my dissertation over the course of the next 2 days. This is a lot of work, but can be done with two "full" days of concentration and deprivation(predicted to be 70 and sunny tomorrow!). My cup is half full though. I see a bright future filled with good times, good people and great work! I'm actually really excited about what my professional future holds! Until then, I have dreams of future softball games and memories of games from the past. This pic is definitely a blast from the past. I LOVED high school fastpitch! Middle infield was my place! Someday soon, I'll get a chance to get back out there, only I won't be a student anymore. The end is near Beth!

Oh Sweet Hood!

Okay, I think this will be my last blog on one of my many trips to Mt. Hood. It is still snowing in the mountains (10 inches tonight!), but I'm not sure I will get up there for a while. Hopefully there will be glacier snowboarding in July!!! Anyways, these pics are among my favorites. I love Hood in the background.











This is an action photo of Heatherbee catching air off a jump (and nearly breaking her arm. Hopefully she won't kill me for posting this pic!). I LOVE SNOWBOARDING!

Starbucks with a view!

This was probably the most scenic Starbucks visit I have ever had, and I have been to a lot of Starbucks! Atlantic City, New Jersey Baby! I have more pics from my weekend trip, and will post them as soon as I get the good ones from another bridesmaid. Stay tuned....

St. Patty's 2008

St. Patty's day this year was an unexpected celebration for myself. My very good friend Jenny drove up from Philomath and invited me out with her friends Peter and Micheal. I was just going to go out for one drink and then back home to work on my dissertation. Well... it didn't work out that way, because the truth is that spending time with Jenny is SO MUCH FUN! So we stayed out, enjoyed good music, they enjoyed some guinness and we took advantage of the company of a few Portlanders. We decided that it was fun to have pics with all of our new friends to document the fun evening. We are so cheesy~

We had a BLAST! Unfortunately, the night had to end sometime, so we stopped for a VooDoo donut before retreating home. Yummy!

The next morning, we had breakfast at Genie's(Only the best breakfast in Portland) and Peter showed up right on time but forgot to run a comb through his hair. He fit right in with the rest of the ecclectic SE crowd.

We ended the day with shopping in the Hawthorne district. Jolly Ranchers and new cheap sunglasses. Portland is really growing on me.

Come visit me again Jenny and thank you for the much needed break from dissertation!

BFP(Blast From the Past)

This picture was not taken in the distant past. It was taken in '02, when my very good friend Jess and I went to Europe for 7 weeks. This was by far my favorite destination- Santorini, Greece. I posted this pic because I will be flying to the East Coast this weekend to celebrate Jess's shrinking Bachelorettehood in Atlantic City, NJ. We have had some VERY good times and I couldn't miss an opportunity to celebrate all the wonderful things that are happening in her life! Cheers JESS!