Sweet Guava

Segal Sisters in Manhattan!

2007-01-16T19:05:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of my day trip to Manhattan...

Dylan's Candy store... how have I never been there before?? Yes, I bought candy pajama pants!

This is pretty much my mantra...

Seeing as I think "Eva" when I see fun pajama pants, I couldn't help but bring her a pair too!

The candy pajama pants made it in almost every photo...

Segal Sisters!!

One Chapter Ends

2007-01-16T18:52:00.000-08:00

Back in November, as I was stressing about finishing my thesis, the one thought that kept me going was “all things end eventually.” Just like a book, whether good or bad, eventually you reach the end. So, in some respects this is actually kind of a sad thought, but in the case of my thesis... it was what kept me going each day... knowing that the light at the end of the tunnel was real and that eventually this chapter in my life would finish. And finish it did… as of December 15th 2006, I finished a master’s of science degree in mechanical engineering.

On my way to New York for the holidays, I kicked back and relaxed while reading the December 2006 Runner’s World issue for some inspiration on some longer training runs as I contemplated running a half marathon this spring. I came across this quote which confirms that not only am I runner, but I also think like one… John Bingham (the Penguin) writes:

“But even the longest runs end. Even the worst races are over eventually. The days and the miles and the races keep adding up. And before you know it, you are someone you never expected to be. You are a runner… Waddle On, friends.” Ah, so perfectly appropriate for what I had just been through!

And speaking of Runner's World - in the latest issue there is a hysterically funny article about Lance Armstrong's experience running the marathon. The author happens to be his ex-wife, Kristin Armstrong, who has a truly unique and witty perspective regarding Lance. Here's the link if you're interested... I highly recommend it!

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297--11422-0,00.html

Winners!

2007-01-16T18:46:00.000-08:00

Just a few shots of my super fun fall league team, Flucker :)

Amazing Strangers

2006-11-10T23:02:00.000-08:00

So, back in August we went camping on the Olympic Peninsula. One of our stops was at the Oxbow Campground on the Hoh River. First thing in the morning we were taking a stroll with Ella and ran into a couple with a gorgeous golden who Ella immediately befriended. They were hysterical, rolling in the mud together on the river's bank. I attempted to take some photos of this priceless moment, but my camera decided to "malfunction" and I couldn't get any photos! Luckily, the couple, Suzy and John, offered to send me some of theirs, so we gave them our address and went on our way.

Well, a nice surprise arrived in the mail today... and here they are...

probably one of Ella's happiest and dirtiest moments yet!

Thank you Suzy and John!! We'll have to meet up for another play date some day!

Hiking Annette Lake

2006-11-10T22:48:00.000-08:00

I took Ella to Annette Lake, a seven mile hike off of Rt. 90, about 45 minutes from Seattle. She had a blast racing up the trail, running with Val’s dog, Fife, splashing in the icy lake at the top and then tearing back down. Her endless energy never ceases to amaze me.

I love this photo... it really captures the essence of the day!

This is Fife, Val's dog...

Moving Right Along

2006-11-10T22:12:00.000-08:00

October is one of the hardest months of the year for me... suddenly, something I've been putting so much time and energy into both physically and mentally for the past 8 months is over and I find myself constantly searching for things to fill its void (besides my thesis that is!). Playing fall league on Flücker helps. This is my outlet to throw pretty much anything ("dangerous overconfidence" is our motto), play any position and just relax and have fun. As if that wasn’t enough fun in itself… we also get to play on new turf fields almost always to music supplied by one of the members of the team, Xtehn (who also supplied the jerseys from his company 5 Ultimate.) Thanx X!

A few action shots...

and I finally get to play with Dave again!

Ella is always a good sport while we play, hanging out on the sideline and enjoying the endless pats on the head from passersby. I could swear she actually watches the game some of the time…

She posed like this on her own, I swear! Her red frisbee is one of her favorite toys and luckily, it's indestructible!

NW Regionals

2006-10-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

One thing has led to another and I haven't managed to post for quite some time, so I have some catching up to do. My ultimate season ended with the Northwest Regional tournament that took place in Burlington, WA. Unfortunately, we did not have the best weekend as a team and therefore finished 8th overall, losing to a team we had beaten earlier in the season. Even though the overall outcome of the season was a bit disappointing, there were definitely some sweet moments both during this tournament and throughout the season. Looking back at the photos makes me really miss everyone!

Thanks to Eric Mattson and Liz Korb, we got some sweet shots during game time....

He actually got a picture of me getting a "D" in the Schwa game!

Meredith getting a sweet poach "D" in the Rough Riders game:

I took a few shots myself after playing on Sunday...

...mostly of us being silly on the sideline and heckling...

Our fearless leaders:

And of course some shots of Ella...

with Cash...

and with her best friend, Rippley:

Chicago Curse

2006-09-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

Viva went to Chicago for Heavyweights for the second year in a row. And yet again, Chicago got the better of us. Although this year we were much more prepared for the jet lag by getting in earlier, staying at a hotel closer to the fields, sleeping in beds, getting to the fields over an hour early and getting a good physical warm-up, we still did not play up to our potential. I've been struggling to determine why we played so poorly after such a good trip to Colorado. I think despite being physically warmed up, we were just not mentally all there. So small mental mistakes by everyone added up to an overall poor Viva showing. Not to mention we were missing some key players. I would guess this will be our last trip to Chicago… at least for a few years! We did manage to come back against a team in a very upwind-downwind game and score the upwinder when we HAD to, or else lose! So we ended up 5th overall out of about 20 teams. Hopefully sectionals and regionals will go better when we have our full roster in our own time zone…

Mini-Pack: Sized Small, Medium & Large

2006-09-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

Yup, my mom definitely has a mini-pack. These pups are hysterical. They each have a very distinct personality and they all HATE being left behind (whether you're leaving the house or just going to the bathroom). People say that usually when you have more than one dog, the dogs become "dog dogs" as opposed to "people dogs". Well, that is certainly not the case with this trio. As soon as anyone leaves the room, they run to the gate and anxiously await your return. They are insanely playful... at times so much that you may think WWIII has landed in the living room!

All three dogs have attended obedience school. And what cracks me up is that my mom hasn’t changed one bit with her new “children”… just as she proudly displayed my “happy grams” in 1st grade… she now has a fridge plastered with her pups’ certificates for passing puppy class, and the 1st and 2nd grades! I have definitely learned that life is incomplete without a dog (or three!). It is just impossible not to be happy around these little ewoks. I wish there was some way for Ella to meet those three. I'm sure they would just love each other! Too bad you can't reserve a seat on a plane for your dog... I just don't have the heart to put her in with the baggage! One of the downsides to living so far away.

Frog Blog

2006-09-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

I discovered this frog at my dad’s house hanging out on a mantel and just had to take its picture. I’m not sure why I was so intrigued by this frog in particular… it’s one of many in my dad’s collection. I suppose I just liked its goofiness amongst all the other beautiful works of art on display… a “diamond in the rough.” Mostly, I like that both my parents have an affinity for frogs and extensive collections, so I thought I’d share one!

A random childhood memory relating to frogs just for fun… when I was learning to read and had just learned the “-ing” ending, I could not for the life of me read the word “frog”… I would start to sound it out… “fr-, fr-, fr-…” but always return to “FRING!” and that darn “-ing!” ending. Finally, my mom couldn’t take it any more and shouted “it’s FROG dammit FROG!” and I’ve never forgotten the word since… thanks mom J

Growing Up Part 2

2006-09-12T13:33:00.000-07:00

Ella isn't the only one growing up around here... last week I traveled back to my home town (Bethesda) for the wedding of my childhood friend, Tal Alon (now Gospin). And for the first time in five years saw both her and Sally Glynn (now Hauser) at the same time! We went together to get manicures (my first one since my high school prom in fact!) and spent some nice time hanging out and catching up. Sally is expecting a baby boy in December and is just glowing from head to toe! It's hard to believe that 10 years have passed since we were just graduating high school... and that I have known those two for 16 years!

The ceremony was beautiful, both Tal and Dan seemed magically happy together, and Tal’s parents were beaming happiness from ear to ear.

In addition to getting married this year, Tal graduated from medical school and got accepted to a residency program at Columbia University in Manhattan, her first pick! 2006 will be quite THE year when all is said and done... I WILL finish my master's degree this December, marking this as my last year of school (ever?!)... my sister, Talia, WILL finish her record album...Mike will start a program in sustainable business.... Eva had a baby boy... Sally will have a baby boy... Ella, Dante and Max joined the family... Mom became a "survivor"...the list goes on and on!! Good thing there are still a few months left to the year to finish!

Olympic National Park

2006-08-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

We finally made it out camping with Ella to the Olympic Peninsula.

We started out our trip with a 4.5 mile hike at Lake Quinnalt where it was hot and sunny. From there, we headed to the coast and stopped at Kalaloch Beach where it dropped about 20 degrees and was completely socked in! There were only 4 tiny campsites left, so we decided to press our luck and find something else.

As we drove just a few miles inland, we drove out of the fog and found our way to the campground called Hoh Oxboh... and what a find it was! The campsites were huge, right on the river and best of all, it was free!

We kicked it at camp, ate some food and s’mores by the campfire and headed to bed just after sunset. In the morning, Ella made friends with another golden retriever pup. They wrestled in the dark sand down by the river and before we knew it, Ella looked more like a black lab then a golden! My camera decided to “malfunction”, so I don’t have any shots of them, but the owners of the other golden took my address and said they’d mail me a few shots!

We continued on to La Push and Rialto Beach where we took a pretty long walk and explored a few tidal pools down by some of the sea stacks. We grabbed a delicious lunch of fresh fish at a restaurant in town (The River’s Edge was the name I think) and then headed inland to find camping.

We ended up at Crescent Lake which was pretty nice despite being pretty close to the road and bringing on the challenge of staying at the top of the tent due to a steep grade throughout the campsite. The next morning we drove through Port Angeles, finding a quaint part of town for coffee and breakfast. Our final stop was at the Dungeness Recreation Center near Sequim. We walked the trail on a bluff that overlooks the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Viva! @ Co-Cup

2006-08-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

As Shelley so eloquently stated...

"Colorado Cup was delicious!"

Viva brought it to Boulder, CO (Aug. 5-6), missing semifinals by just one point to Safari (San Diego, CA). We had three "universe" points (game is tied, next point wins) making the weekend quite the nail-biter for all of our fans! So, overall we came in 7th, well above our 12th seeding. We are psyched to see some new teams next month when we head to Chicago (well, Naperville actually) for the Heavyweight Championships.

15 FEET OF FEMALE...

Growing Up

2006-08-07T17:24:00.000-07:00

That's right, Ella turned 6 months old on July 24th! Just wanted to share a few more recent pictures.

Last week she was reunited with her brother, Chase. They had a grand time chasing each other around the yard and garden. Ella can certainly be fierce when she wants to be!

Chase even "encouraged" Ella to take a swim... when she wouldn't take the plunge herself, he just gave her a little push! She wasn't too pleased as you can see from the dreaded look in her eyes... and found her way out immediately!

HOT, HOT, HOT!

2006-07-25T16:45:00.000-07:00

The Viva retreat at Belfair State Park was a huge success! Although the campsite was crowded with lots of little kiddies, we were able to block out all that and focus on US! Some highlights included intense scrimmages on both days, Shorty's mad skilz at creating FIRE, sweet smore makin', fun game playin', swimmin' in the hood canal, and the garter snake! Hopefully playing in the hotness will help us at Colorado Cup in two weekends!

Lounging around between practices...

Singing the Little Mermaid...

Just being goofy!

SNAKES!

Alex's Visit

2006-07-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

Well, now that Dave has moved to Seattle, Alex has two good reasons to visit! Not to mention, his wife Margaret had a wedding to go to on Lopez Island. Alex finally learned from his previous visits that when you come to Seattle, you go hiking and was happy to have his hiking shoes this time! Now he just needs to remember a pair of flip flops for the post-hike drive home!

We made our way to Mount Rainier National Park and hiked Tolmie Peak (about 6 miles round trip and 1500 feet elevation gain... perhaps equivalent to a 20 mile urban hike that Alex will tackle in about a month when he does the 3-day... perhaps not!).

There were crystal blue lakes, wildflowers and pretty views almost the whole way making it one of the better hikes I've been on. Too bad dogs aren't allowed in NP. Stupid rules! Dave also cooked us an amazing meal of homemade crab ravioli and blueberry pie. I brought the chocolate cake.

More on Ella

2006-07-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd put up a few more pictures of my baby. She's growing so fast and yet still only weighs 30 pounds. We are feeding her, I swear! We took her canoeing for the first time a few days ago. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me to capture her first swim. She jumped in after a duck and started doggie paddling like a champ! She seemed a little peeved when she got out to be wet from head to toe, but after about half a dozen shake downs, she seemed unphased and ready to do it again! Next time I will surely bring my camera.

Ella's First Hike

2006-07-05T15:28:00.000-07:00

We took Ella to Denny Creek for her first real hike on the 4th of July. She seemed to have a really good time frolicking in the water and exploring. We did end up carrying her part of the way over some of the really rocky stuff because we were worried about her paws... we didn't want her to over do it. Anyways, she tolerated our overprotective parenting like a champ!

After the hike she got to experience fireworks for the first time... she seemed unphased by all the noise. We certainly have a laid back pup!

Potlatch 2006

2006-07-05T14:32:00.000-07:00

Ah Potlatch... one of the most fun, biggest coed tournaments in the world! The unique aspects of this tourney are gift giving between teams, music all day and into the night, and a salmon bbq. We had a blast this year playing with a Seattle area team called Tastybites. Besides for the little ones on the sideline, Mike and I were two of the youngest people on the team, which we rather enjoyed.

We made a strong showing, but didn't have the numbers to make it through Sunday I'm afraid. We ended up winning our first two games on Sunday and then let the team we just beat from Austin move on to the next game (we were down to savage women and 9 people total!). They ultimately won the B pool!

Mike's 30th Birthday

2006-06-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

We finally were able to celebrate Mike's 30th birthday 2o days late... and what better way to start a new decade then family style Italian food at Buca de Beppo! From there we headed down to Pioneer Square to get our groove on at the Last Supper Club. The hip hop room was slammin with a great DJ. The entire night was a blast mostly because of the friends that joined us. Thanks to all who made it out!

The Pack

2006-06-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

I just can't help but post more pictures of my mom's "pack"... they are too cute for words!

Solstice 2006

2006-06-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Viva! traveled to Eugene, OR for their second tournament of spring 2006. The highlight of the weekend was coming back to beat Homebrood 9-7. We also played a good game against Rare Air but left a bit to be desired vs. Schwa. You can't accomplish all your goals in one tournament, right? Other highlights of the weekend included the free bowling at the party and Voodoo beating Furious George to advance to semis.

This was also Ella's first full tournament experience. She seemed to enjoy all the attention and outside time and didn't seem to mind the long car rides. Highlights for Ella included the plethora of rotten banana peels on the sidelines, wrestling with Rippley and the constant attention.

Seems that I wasn't the only one photographing Ella this weekend...

Ella Update

2006-06-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

My pup is growing up... fast! She's not only growing taller almost everyday, but also constantly learning new things. Her list of commands is constantly growing too and includes sit, down, stay, wait, bring it, find it, leave it, drop it, off, kennel up, do your thing, shake, gentle, enough, and most importantly...kisses. That's a lot for a pup who's not even 5 months old! True they are all still works in progress, but she definitely understands them at this point. It's more whether or not she chooses to listen! I'll have to add "bang bang" to the repertoire eventually in honor of Rainey, Macie and my Philly connections.

Flowerbowl 2006

2006-06-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

Viva headed to Vancouver, BC for our first tournament of the spring season, Flowerbowl.

We came in 5th in the elite division and played some great games, including beating two teams that beat us last year. And of course we had all you can eat sushi at Tanpopo's on Saturday night.

Here are some action shots from the weekend thanks to Laura!

And finally draining our legs at the end of a long day!

And then there were three...

2006-06-03T00:19:00.000-07:00

Meet Max...the newest member of the Segal pack.

At just under 2 lbs, he's the littlest member of the family! Sounds like Lola and Dante have taken him under their wing as their third partner in crime. Mom, consider yourself out numbered!

Talia Segal

2006-05-31T23:06:00.000-07:00

Living in NYC, she's a budding music star planning to go on tour this fall! You should check out her website for the latest info on upcoming performances... just click on Talia under "Friends" in the sidebar.

Coach Guava

2006-05-31T22:05:00.000-07:00

I am also a middle school ultimate frisbee coach.

I just finished my fifth season and was part of the original staff when the program began in 2002. It's come a long way since then, fielding two teams with more girls than boys!

These are my tough girls: Campbell, Simone, Lilian, Sierra and Sasha.

Some players from the 2005 season... and yes, most of them are taller than me!

These are my co-coaches from this past season: Nate, me, Jessie and Jimmy.

More Pups!

2006-05-31T21:27:00.000-07:00

You also have to meet my mom's pups, Dante (left) and Lola (right). They are tiny little shitzus with gigantic personalities! My mom is having such a blast with them that she decided to get a third one... his name is Maximillian Cole. I should be getting pictures of him any day now (hint hint) :)

Viva! 2005

2006-05-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

This is my "fresh" women's ultimate frisbee team. If you want to learn more about the team, check out the Viva Ultimate link. A new season is just beginning and tryouts are underway... looking forward to a great third season with these fun chicks.

Ella

2006-05-31T14:13:00.000-07:00

Meet Ella, my new golden retriever pup. She joined the family on April 16th and just turned 4 months old on May 24th. She has to be one of the sweetest, most laid back pups. We're so lucky!!