Christi loves volleyball

I (Ryan) just went to one of C's tournaments. She loves volleyball. She played pretty well and when she was warmed up was killing the ball. Many people don't know this but she actually played on the UVSC club volleyball team. She was invited to tryout for the college team right out of high school but had messed her ankle up before the state tournament started and was hobbled up. I'd like to think that if she hadn't had that injury she might have played college volleyball.

We like to get together and play pepper (a volleyball practice for two people). Honestly I can say that it is really nice to have something that we both love to do. She has taught me a lot and I'm proud to say that the girl out there killing the volleyball is my wife. Kind of cool.

Side notes ...

1. Yes, I wore the same dress to a few of my major events this year. Love the dress and don't have the budget so let's just say it got A LOT of use.
2. My blog's are long. I no longer write in a journal so they are very lengthy. I realize this and realize some may not care, but it's all good ...
3. Seems like all my fun events are over for the summer ... SAD!!!
4. Got to hang out with some friends last night from my college days ... LOVE you all.

Air Academy High School Reunion 2010

My weekend in Colorado Springs in August was EPIC. Seriously … I had the BEST time that weekend and I am so happy it turned out so well! On Friday morning I flew to Denver and met up with Jesse Berry now Tevanga. Miss Jessie is a mother of 3 kids and looks absolutely amazing! We’ve been catching up over facebook the last few years but being able to hang out with her for a weekend was just so much fun. Allie was picking up Jessie so I hitched a ride to Colorado Springs as well. My plan was originally to stay with Ashley Potter throughout the weekend but since I went without Ryan my plans changed. We bought Ryan a plane ticket but two days before decided to cancel it. He had the chance to go hunting with his buddies and not many friends were bringing their significant others to the reunion so I decided he would be much happier if he stayed behind. I think he agreed. After arriving to the springs at our friend Katie’s house, Jessie and I went and did a little grocery shopping by ourselves. This allowed us to do some good girl talk. After that we headed back to the house to get ready for the first event of the evening at Old Chicago’s Pizzeria and Bar.

Friends! Jenna, Erin, me, Katie, Erin, and Allie at Old Chicago's.

John, Jessie, Trisha, Ashley, Dan and me.

Dan - "cleaning" the bar being "creepy". I love this guy!

When I showed up I didn’t really know that people that were there but soon enough my good buddies showed up – Dan Walsh and John Rembold. Love those guys and hung out with a lot over the weekend. Dan now lives in Boston. We see each other prob once a year since he lived in Vegas and traveled to Hawaii back when I lived there six years ago. Old Chicago’s turned into a lot of fun. It was actually “cool” to show up for the reunion venues unlike the reunion in Seattle. This one just flowed so great and so many people came which made it a total blast. I even had a slice or two or some delicious pizza that evening. One of my best friends Ashley Anderson showed up around 11:30 that night and I was so happy to see her! Ashley and I have stayed fairly close over the years and I consider her a close friend till this day. I ended up staying with her 2 of the 3 nights due to location and my late night party habits. We were out pretty late on Friday and enjoying every minute of catching up with old friends. Some great laughs and reminiscing about old times was just so wonderful.

On Saturday morning Ashley and I woke up and Dan and John came over. We just chilled on the back patio in the morning sun and again laughed about old times. Then Jessie picked me up and we headed for Garden of The Gods. Jessie and I decided to do a run/hike through the park and it was so much fun. It was a great workout, beautiful and again so much fun to catch up on each other’s lives.

Garden of the Gods with Jessie - Before our "run, walk, hike". It was beautiful.

After our workout we drove over to Manito Springs which I LOVE to meet Dan and John for lunch and my other friend Scott showed up as well. We decided to go to another place and eat called Jake and Telly’s. Dan suggested it and it was delicious! Super yummy Greek food and my salad was perfect! Ashley Anderson came and met up with us, Jessie peaced and we went to Ashley Potter’s parent’s house in downtown. We got to meet her cute son George but he wasn’t feeling well plus we had to get back to get ready for the evening festivities. I told Ashley Potter I would most likely stay with her that night but due to my late night party habits it went down a little different. Ashley Anderson and I got ready and her mom’s house and were off for the night and super excited about it. The actual reunion was held at a Bar downstairs in what was called the Elbo room. We had a private bar and some booths around the room dedicated to just our class until like midnight when some other weirdo’s started joining in. The venue was fairly conducive to good conversation but still a little loud. A few more classmates showed up that night and it was so fun to see the crowd of boys I used to hang out with! They were so much fun and I can’t believe it has been pretty much ten years since I’ve seen them. We all had such a good time that we’ve talked about planning a ski getaway here in Utah this winter. We even danced towards the end of the night and it was sooo fun! The best time I’ve had dancing in a LONG time! I would have kept dancing except it was 900 degrees since there was no air conditioning. Most people hadn’t changed a whole lot but a few scandalous events were going down. My friend Austin ended up letting my drive his FJ back to where I was staying on Saturday night because I was out until 4 am! I stayed that night at my friend Katie’s and could not fall asleep until after 6 am. I have no idea what was wrong with me but I felt HORRIBLE on Sunday morning. I even threw up. What the heck? I don’t even drink so I am not sure what was wrong with me. Sunday was the sad day since we all had to head back to the airport. We did get one last hu raw in when we met at the park for little food and goodbyes. Overall the weekend was a huge hit. I wasn’t expecting much after the Seattle reunion itself was a letdown minus so much fun time with Jessica and Alex. Again, Colorado was an absolute blast and I think it for sure set the precedence for reunions to come in the future. It was well worth the time and the money. And thank goodness it was so much freaking fun because I came home Sunday night and was laid off Monday morning. Not cool. Kadets … thanks for a great weekend! LOVED all of it and looking forward to seeing you next time!

Erin, me, Dan and Ashley AKA - Professor Potts. Thanks to Ashley I made some good friends and Air Academy.

Ashley Anderson - my other partner in crime throughout high school and John Rembold.

Austin, Pat, me, Chris and Hunter. It made my night to see these boys. It has been way too long!

Dan - AKA the psychologist, Chris and Pat. I can finally tell them apart again!

Spent a lot of time with these 3 in high school and over the weekend. It wouldn't had been the same without them!

This picture is more of an inside joke. But Dan ... this captures our high school joke perfectly!

The group who planned this weekend did an AMAZING job! I am so glad I went and can’t believe how well the weekend went. One of my favorite times in 2010 for sure! Give em’ the Beak!

Rome and Michelle’s High school Reunion. AKA - Jessica and Christi’s High school Reunion.

Jessica and me before our highschool football game. We look AWESOME. Check out Jessica's Birkenstock's!

The weekend of July 28^th I flew to Seattle for my ten year high school reunion. I actually didn’t graduate from Inglemoor so I guess technically it wasn’t “my reunion”. I was born in Minnesota and moved to Washington when I was one. I lived in Redmond, WA until I was 16. My family moved the summer before my junior year of high school. Redmond will always be where I “grew” up. I just couldn’t imagine not going to the ten year when I spent 16 years of my life with some of this people. Literally 16 years considering I have baby pictures with one of them to prove it. This is how the weekend panned out.

Thursday evening I flew out on Southwest. The flight was delayed a couple hours but luckily I had Carly Hart now Crandall and her husband Scott to keep me company. I’ve only met Scott briefly so it was fun chatting with them for a couple hours. The only bad part was it put me into Sea Tac at 9:00 pm when I had planned on hanging out at the Red Hook brewery outdoor movie with Danny Martinsen, Ryan Ellsworth, Kati Naish and of course Jessica and Alex who were picking me up from the airport. We still made it to Red Hook and still got to hang out but it was definitely dark when I got there. Jessica is truly one of my best friends. Ryan and I visted her and Alex last summer in Boston. Jess and I went to school together since first grade and I even supposedly “stole” her boyfriend in 5^th grade. Jess and I have spent a lot of time traveling together. We grew up going to Lake Chelan, Levenworth, and even Florida! We’ve spent time together in Arizona, Las Vegas, and Boston. Jess and I laugh a lot when we are together and I was thrilled to be spending the weekend with her and Alex at her mom’s house in Lake Forest, WA. Alex and Jessica were married two years ago in Seattle where I was the matron of honor.

Jessica and me at the Space Needle for her 16th Birthday.

Jessica and me at her rehearsal dinner. Seattle August 2008.

Matron of Honor. I was so honored Jessica asked me! August 2008.

The Space Needle. July 2010.

It was an absolute GORGEOUS day in Seattle!

Danny is one of my best guy friends from Washington. Danny and I met when I was 6 years old and we were on the same t-ball team. Danny has always been a year younger than me in school. We hung out a lot in Junior High. I had not seen Danny in at least 9 years so I was really excited to see him as well. The day I moved to Colorado, Danny showed up that morning at my house with a “gift” to remember him by. It was his baby blanket! All these years – 12 to be exact I’ve hung on to the blanket. I finally took it with me this trip to give back to him. I only thought that was right. Danny’s the best and whoever he ends up with will be one lucky girl.

Breakfast and Woodinville Cafe. Delicious Eggs Benedict! Jessica, Danny and me.

Seeing Kati and Ryan was also great. Kati was a really good friend in Jr. High and high school as well. We would cruise around in her cream Toyota camry called the “Cream Machine”. We played sports together and definitely tried to get into any trouble we could. It was so great to see Kati and joke about all the good old times. We ended up leaving Red Hook and hung out in a parking lot on the tailgate of Kati’s boyfriend’s truck reminiscing about the old times. It was one of my favorite nights that weekend for sure. Friday I didn’t have any plans until Ryan Sorensen called me and asked if I would be the secret camera girl for his brother’s proposal to his girlfriend at the Space Needle. It was a gorgeous day in Seattle so of course I thought it would be a great idea. The proposal went off really well and the view from the Space Needle was spectacular. What a fun experience. After my afternoon downtown I headed across the I-90 floating bridge to visit my best friend from Sunrise Elementary, Amber Peterson. Amber and I played softball, did track and ran cross country together. Unfortunately for me her family moved to Lake Sammamish after 6^th grade. We had not seen each other in ten years. We had so much to catch up about and we had very little time Friday evening as she was taking off for Whidbey Island for the weekend with her family. I met her little girl – Autumn and chatted with her parents briefly. I wish I had more time to catch up with her but the time we did have was really great. Amber is married to the lead singer of Train. I’m sure you’ve heard their hit song on the radio this summer “Soul Sister”. That’s a whole other story. Friday night I hung out with Ryan Sorensen and his wife Shelley and their son Max. Ryan and I met in 7^th grade. Ryan and I became better friends in college and have stayed in touch. He’s a great guy friend. Someone who has proven to have really great morals and stands for who he is. Max is adorable and his wife Shelley is beautiful. They are expecting another boy any day.

Saturday in Seattle was the big reunion day. Jess, Alex and I went to breakfast with Danny at the Woodinville Café on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon the sun came out again and Jessica and I had some girl time on the back deck sunning ourselves before the big night. Then … the big night. Ten years in the making … and unfortunately I was a little disappointed when it was all said and done. The venue for the reunion was at a bar in downtown Seattle that was also open to the public. It was dark and loud and there were a lot of people there we didn’t know so it was not conducive to catching up and reminiscing after 10 years which is really too bad. It was really great to see some old faces and see who has and hasn’t changed. I really wish some more of my girlfriends were there but it was great to chat with the few that did show. Wasn’t exactly my scene as the night went on but overall I am glad that I went.

Jessica and I before the reunion.

Ryan Sorensen and me.

Some old guy friends. Thanks Matt for wearing the classic Class of 2000 t-shirt!

Sarah, Jessica, me and Carly.

Lunch at Red Robin. Delicious!

The Woodland Park Zoo. So fun!

Thanks Jessica for making the weekend so much fun! Can't wait to see you and Alex again!