I was thinking about the Olympics today with all the news about the 2016 games being in Brazil (and not Chicago). It made me wonder what country had hosted the games the most often. So, being the geek that I am, I pulled up a website about the locations and made a spreadsheet. Here are the stats of how many times the games have been held in each country. Mind you, this does not include games that were scheduled then canceled due to war, but it does include the unofficial games in the early 1900's in Greece. It also includes announced locations for games that have not yet occurred. So, here we go:
United States--8
France--5
Greece--4
England--3
Germany--3
Japan--3
Italy--3
Canada--3
Sweden--2
Australia--2
Russia--2
Switzerland--2
Norway--2
Austria--2
Belgium--1
Netherlands--1
Finland--1
Mexico--1
Korea--1
Spain--1
China--1
(Former) Yugoslavia--1
Brazil--1 (just announced)
With the US hosting these spectacular events 8 times in the 113 year history (3 more times than the France in second place), that's the US hosting an average of once every 14 years. I'm okay that Brazil gets a chance in 2016. I think we've had our share for a while. Does that make me un-American? I just think of it as spreading the wealth, literally and figuratively. And don't worry, I'm still very patriotic! :)
Friday, October 2, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
What's new
Jeremy called yesterday and reminded me again that I have not added to my blog in a long time. Well, I guess, I don't really feel like my life is all that exciting. However, to appease my big brother, here is an update on my life:
CHURCH: I'm still serving as the Activities Committee Chair. We have the big ward campout coming up this weekend, which I'm a little anxious about. I'm sure it will be fun, but I can't seem to get myself motivated to finish everything up. I guess it will come to the point where it needs to be done. Nothing like a deadline to motivate, huh?
WORK: After searching for a full-time job for about a month and a half, my boss had a baby a month early. I didn't feel comfortable quitting while she was on maternity leave, so I put the job hunt on hold for a bit. Her first day back is tomorrow, so I've started looking again. Fingers crossed!
FAMILY: Bekah came to visit Oregon last week, and it was great to have her here. I enjoyed my time with her. She's such a sweet girl who really wants to do what's right. It's such a blessing to have her in our family.
Matt has a concert coming up for the Oregon Symphonic Band. It's one they play every year and is held in a local park. It's one of my favorite concerts of the year because it's so casual. People bring their kids and pets, and they often will bring food to enjoy while they listen to great music in a beautiful setting. Usually, I go with friends and family and take some card games to play during the concert. This year, the normal announcer won't be there, so I volunteered to announce each song before it is played. Should be an adventure!
During the recent hot spell here in Oregon, we had an impromptu mini-family reunion while everyone gathered in the air conditioning for a couple of days. I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was wonderful to have my family together and have it be so comfortable. I really am so blessed!
Okay, well, that's pretty much it. Exciting, huh?
CHURCH: I'm still serving as the Activities Committee Chair. We have the big ward campout coming up this weekend, which I'm a little anxious about. I'm sure it will be fun, but I can't seem to get myself motivated to finish everything up. I guess it will come to the point where it needs to be done. Nothing like a deadline to motivate, huh?
WORK: After searching for a full-time job for about a month and a half, my boss had a baby a month early. I didn't feel comfortable quitting while she was on maternity leave, so I put the job hunt on hold for a bit. Her first day back is tomorrow, so I've started looking again. Fingers crossed!
FAMILY: Bekah came to visit Oregon last week, and it was great to have her here. I enjoyed my time with her. She's such a sweet girl who really wants to do what's right. It's such a blessing to have her in our family.
Matt has a concert coming up for the Oregon Symphonic Band. It's one they play every year and is held in a local park. It's one of my favorite concerts of the year because it's so casual. People bring their kids and pets, and they often will bring food to enjoy while they listen to great music in a beautiful setting. Usually, I go with friends and family and take some card games to play during the concert. This year, the normal announcer won't be there, so I volunteered to announce each song before it is played. Should be an adventure!
During the recent hot spell here in Oregon, we had an impromptu mini-family reunion while everyone gathered in the air conditioning for a couple of days. I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was wonderful to have my family together and have it be so comfortable. I really am so blessed!
Okay, well, that's pretty much it. Exciting, huh?
Sunday, June 7, 2009
A sad day
This morning, as I was taking a shower, I was thinking about a kid in our ward named Gabe. I don't really know what made me think of him, but he was on my mind. He had been a deacon when I got called as YW President, and he was a ball of energy. By the way, that didn't change the entire 4 years I was in there. We always had to do a little wrangling with Gabe, mostly because he was usually flirting with some of the girls we were trying to engage in an activity! So, I had been thinking about Gabe. I got ready for church and checked my Facebook. One of the other Priests in our ward had commented that he was going to miss Gabe and this other guy. I thought that was strange, but I figured maybe he was talking about after graduation when they would be leaving for college or something.
Less than an hour later, I got a call from my mom. She had been in the foyer at church after her ward's meetings and heard that Gabe and the other kid had both been killed in a car accident last night. When she told me, I was in shock. He was a such a vibrant kid with so much ahead of him. My heart broke.
Church today was extremely difficult. There were lots of tears, and the testimonies centered on the Plan of Salvation and the power of prayer. It turned out to be a nice meeting. The worst part for me was seeing my former YW crying and knowing they were in pain.
After we got home this afternoon, Facebook was covered with comments about Gabe and posts people made to his wall in his memory--great tributes.
It's still so surreal. I feel like I'll walk into church next week and see that silly guy that teases me like crazy. He will be missed!!
Less than an hour later, I got a call from my mom. She had been in the foyer at church after her ward's meetings and heard that Gabe and the other kid had both been killed in a car accident last night. When she told me, I was in shock. He was a such a vibrant kid with so much ahead of him. My heart broke.
Church today was extremely difficult. There were lots of tears, and the testimonies centered on the Plan of Salvation and the power of prayer. It turned out to be a nice meeting. The worst part for me was seeing my former YW crying and knowing they were in pain.
After we got home this afternoon, Facebook was covered with comments about Gabe and posts people made to his wall in his memory--great tributes.
It's still so surreal. I feel like I'll walk into church next week and see that silly guy that teases me like crazy. He will be missed!!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Utah Trip
Matt and Rebekah. You think they like each other?
Cindy with her parents and a couple girls.
Jeremy taking something apart that he's not supposed to, I'm sure. 
My mom is going to kill me, but I just LOVE this picture!
Dad peeking out from the caboose.
Hannah, Elizabeth, and me. Nothing like self-portraits!So, I finally got some pictures from our trip to Utah for Elizabeth's baptism downloaded from our camera. Also, as a bonus, here's a funny video of Sarah wearing my sunglasses. Enjoy!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Job Hunt
Yep, it's true--I'm looking for another job. It's rather bittersweet. I really like my job, and I love the field of adoption. There really is nothing better than seeing families come together! The downside of my job is really why I'm leaving--I'm only working part-time for a non-profit salary. Unfortunately, my agency doesn't have the money or the workload to move me to full-time. I feel like I can contribute more financially to our family now before we have kids. So, I'm taking one for the team and looking for a full-time job.
I've been sending out resumes and cover letters like crazy. Although it's a tedious process, I'm attacking it in my usual...uh...methodical way. I know Heavenly Father will bless me with whatever I need to be doing right now as long as I'm making the necessary efforts. I'm so grateful that I'm in an emotional place right now where I can walk into a new job and feel like I can rock it.
So, keep your fingers crossed for me!!
I've been sending out resumes and cover letters like crazy. Although it's a tedious process, I'm attacking it in my usual...uh...methodical way. I know Heavenly Father will bless me with whatever I need to be doing right now as long as I'm making the necessary efforts. I'm so grateful that I'm in an emotional place right now where I can walk into a new job and feel like I can rock it.
So, keep your fingers crossed for me!!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
JT
Please excuse the interruption of my blog for this brief message to my old roommate from college:
Hey, JT,
If you haven't read your email recently, will you please take a look? I sent you a time-sensitive message. :)
~JO
Hey, JT,
If you haven't read your email recently, will you please take a look? I sent you a time-sensitive message. :)
~JO
Thursday, May 14, 2009
I'm Pathetic!
You know, I didn't think that Home Depot would ever be the subject of one of my blog entries more than just, "We went to Home Depot...again!" This time, however, I actually have discovered one thing that kind of surprised me--I'm willing to sacrifice sleep to go to there. Can you believe it?!? The girl that would rather sleep than eat breakfast or put on make-up. It's true.
So, let me give you the background. On Monday, Matt and I headed to the infamous store for some supplies. We have some friends coming into town this weekend with two little boys. Yeah, we needed to finish some projects downstairs to make the place tolerable. Anyway, while we were there, we were picking up some lights for the room that will become my office. Because our house is...quirky, we either have to do track lights or have the only light fixture in the room positioned so conveniently in one corner. Not ideal.
Off we go to the track lighting area. I find some pendant lights that I really like. They are white bell-shaped lights that will look great in there, and, better yet, they're on clearance! We search the shelves, nothing, so we ask an employee to help us. The only one they have is the display one. Too bad I want three, huh? I asked if any stores in the area have them. After some research, he finds out that the only one in the area has any. He calls and is told that they have three, but they won't hold them overnight. I don't know if it was because they were on clearance, but I was a little bummed. He said the store opened at 6:00 am if I wanted to go get them in the morning. 6:00 am? On my day off?
Because I didn't prefer any of the other options for "artistic vision" of that room, I dragged myself out of bed at 5:00 am the next morning to get ready and head out for the drive. Google Maps said it would take about 35 minutes, but I wasn't willing to sacrifice my lights if I didn't plan for all the traffic that might be out during the 5 am hour. Okay, I was a little obsessed about getting those lights and was sure that if I didn't get into the store EXACTLY when it opened, some scheming contractor would snatch up the only remaining ones, so I would be left with second best.
Needless to say, I got there with 20 minutes to spare. It turns out that Google Maps is pretty accurate at the crack of dawn! At 6:00 by my watch, I went into the store, grabbed the loudest cart in creation (which is extra loud in a quiet warehouse) and headed for the track lighting. I got there, found the display, but I couldn't find any of the boxed lights. Surely they couldn't have sold them in the first 30 seconds the store was open, could they? I snagged an employee that unwittingly crossed my path. Luckily, he knew what he was doing and found me the clearance shelves a bit away from the lighting section. There, to my joy, were three of the pendant lights I was searching for!!
I grabbed them, a few other things we still needed, and headed home. Mission accomplished!!
So, let me give you the background. On Monday, Matt and I headed to the infamous store for some supplies. We have some friends coming into town this weekend with two little boys. Yeah, we needed to finish some projects downstairs to make the place tolerable. Anyway, while we were there, we were picking up some lights for the room that will become my office. Because our house is...quirky, we either have to do track lights or have the only light fixture in the room positioned so conveniently in one corner. Not ideal.
Off we go to the track lighting area. I find some pendant lights that I really like. They are white bell-shaped lights that will look great in there, and, better yet, they're on clearance! We search the shelves, nothing, so we ask an employee to help us. The only one they have is the display one. Too bad I want three, huh? I asked if any stores in the area have them. After some research, he finds out that the only one in the area has any. He calls and is told that they have three, but they won't hold them overnight. I don't know if it was because they were on clearance, but I was a little bummed. He said the store opened at 6:00 am if I wanted to go get them in the morning. 6:00 am? On my day off?
Because I didn't prefer any of the other options for "artistic vision" of that room, I dragged myself out of bed at 5:00 am the next morning to get ready and head out for the drive. Google Maps said it would take about 35 minutes, but I wasn't willing to sacrifice my lights if I didn't plan for all the traffic that might be out during the 5 am hour. Okay, I was a little obsessed about getting those lights and was sure that if I didn't get into the store EXACTLY when it opened, some scheming contractor would snatch up the only remaining ones, so I would be left with second best.
Needless to say, I got there with 20 minutes to spare. It turns out that Google Maps is pretty accurate at the crack of dawn! At 6:00 by my watch, I went into the store, grabbed the loudest cart in creation (which is extra loud in a quiet warehouse) and headed for the track lighting. I got there, found the display, but I couldn't find any of the boxed lights. Surely they couldn't have sold them in the first 30 seconds the store was open, could they? I snagged an employee that unwittingly crossed my path. Luckily, he knew what he was doing and found me the clearance shelves a bit away from the lighting section. There, to my joy, were three of the pendant lights I was searching for!!
I grabbed them, a few other things we still needed, and headed home. Mission accomplished!!
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