To Date or Not to Date...That is the Question

Single life is interesting. I am definitely more aware of my surroundings...that is the cute men. It has been a long time since I have even looked. What I have realized in a short time is not to judge a book or a guy by its/his cover. Sometimes a cute guy opens his mouth and he isn't cute anymore and sometimes the geeky, semi-cute guy ends up looking cuter after a long-depth conversation and a good laugh.

I haven't quite figured out whether or not I am ready to date again. I am kind of happy being single. I don't have to plan things for anyone but myself. Where will I meet my next boyfriend? I don't know. Let's take a look back at how I have met guys in the past.

(Fade out and cut in to me sitting on the Red Line Train in Chicago)

Mr. Red Line
I was on my way to work at a wine shop in downtown Chicago. I sat down next to a guy wearing a Cub's shirt and who was proudly holding a baseball. We struck up a conversation about the Cub's and he told me the story of how he caught this ball. We had a good laugh and he told me he was from Des Moines and he worked for a company that was just featured in the top 500 companies. My stop came and I got up to leave and so did he. I could tell he wanted to ask for my number but he never did. We proceeded to walk up the stairs and then said goodbye and went our separate ways.

All day I was super mad at myself for not having the guts to ask for his number. With just a few known facts including city, fortune 500 and name (Mr. Red Line), I was able to find him with a little tool called Google. I sent him an email and he responded. He said he couldn't believe that he didn't ask me for my number. Well, luckily I am a Google expert...right Dawn? We are still in contact to this day.

It is amazing to think back of how I have met some great guys. Some have turned into forever friendships and other just a good story.

Stay tuned for Mr. Construction Worker, Mr. Batting Cage, Mr. Florida & Mr. NHL.

The World's Shortest River

The D River is a river in Lincoln City, Oregon. Proclaimed the "shortest river in the world" by the State of Oregon, it was listed in the Guinness World Records as the world's shortest river at 440 feet (130 m). This title was lost in 1989 when Guinness named the Roe River in Montana as the world's shortest. Attempting to reclaim the title, the people of Lincoln City submitted a new measurement to Guinness of about 120 feet (37 m) marked at "extreme high tide". Starting in 2006, the Guinness Book of World Records did not list a category for shortest river.

The river flows from Devils Lake, under U.S. Route 101, and into the Pacific Ocean, entirely within the city limits of Lincoln City. The river had been known by several names, including simply "the outlet", and earned its short name in a contest.

Getting Back to the Wine

I have been so busy at work that I have lost focus of what I truly love: wine. Today I am excited because I don't have to do anything. I have enjoyed sleeping in (10 whole hours of sleep), cleaned my apartment, went to the gym, got the oil changed in my truck, cooked and now I am going to read magazines and wine books. It is raining outside so I don't feel guilty about spending the day inside being lazy.

I have been living in Oregon for almost four months now. It is hard to believe how quickly time flies and the amount of changes that can occur during such a short period of time. I am still deciding if this is the right place for me. I need to give it some more time to see how everything unfolds. The hardest part is being away from my family and friends. Luckily I have a few visitors coming to visit over the next few weeks.

Harvest is about to start, and all the interns are arriving in the valley. I am jealous. I want to wear my gumboots again. I never imagined it would be so hard to let that lifestyle go. I thought I was ready to work a 9-5 job and dress up again, but there is a huge part of me that loves the excitement and hard work in the cellar. Not to mention it is a (H-E-double hockey sticks) of a lot less stressful.

Want to know how small of a world the wine industry is? Last weekend while winetasting at Domaine Drouhin I met an intern from New Zealand. H knew Gus. No last names needed. I worked with Gus at Oyster Bay. I will keep you up to date with harvest information. Right now we are just prepping the cellar so we are ready for fruit intake. The fruit is still ripening and has a little ways to go. Well, time to get back to enjoying a glass of wine while I read about wine. What a life!

HUG-A-THON Success

Thanks for all the HUGS!

Heaps of Fun

This week my friends, Leah and Nathan, who I worked with in New Zealand and Australia stopped on by for a visit. They have been traveling around the USA in their super sweet Chevy propane van for the past few months. Portland was one of their last stops before continuing onto Canada where they wil be working harvest before returning to Australia in November. It was nice to see them and spend some time at Somewhere Else Tavern, playing Photo Hunt (X Rated) and watching funny game show mishaps on You Tube.

Cheers to all my friends world wide. The wine industry is such a small world. For instance, today while winetasting, I met a guy from Australia who knew Gus from Oyster Bay. There were no last names needed because we knew it was the same Gus. I am excited for harvest to begin and am a little bit jealous I will not be wearing my gumboots this year.

Multnomah Falls

8/24/09
Multnomah Falls is a waterfall on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge, located east of Troutdale, between Corbett and Dodson, along the Historic Columbia River Highway. The falls drops in two major steps, split into an upper falls of 542 feet (165 m) and a lower falls of 69 feet (21 m), with a gradual 9 foot (3 m) drop in elevation between the two, so the total height of the waterfall is conventionally given as 620 feet (189 m). Multnomah Falls is the tallest waterfall in the State of Oregon.

My friend Steve took me here. What an amazing place!

Minn. competition showcases wines from frosty northern states, where the grapes sure do suffer -- latimes.com

Minn. competition showcases wines from frosty northern states, where the grapes sure do suffer -- latimes.com

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Results of CATnip 5K

The results are in. This was not an official chip timed race.

REBECCA ROCHESTER wearing bib #269. Unofficial time of 22:39.5 (average of 07:17.6 minute mile).

96/351 finisher

22 / 192 female finisher

Not a personal record or anything, but better than expected.

http://jeffwhuber.com/CATnipFriday_2009/mile_results.htm

Willamette Valley Vineyards Blog

Hello! For those of you who follow my blog, you should also follow the Willamette Valley Vineyards blog. I don't write this blog but it is where I work. Here's the link: http://willamettevalleyvineyards.blogspot.com.

Also, I am featured in this blog posting: http://willamettevalleyvineyards.blogspot.com/2009/08/pouring-on-first-wednesday-at-travel.html

Check it out!

Friday Night CATnip 5K

Last night I ran in the CATnip 5K race in Sherwood. It was a fundraiser for CAT rescue and adoption. It was nice to run with a group of people. It is amazing how much faster I run when it comes down to a competition. Approximate unofficial time 22:40 (not a PR but acceptable). The creepy old guy (40-50 years old) who asked me out at the last race was there. He had the nerve to come up and ask me out again. He said he tried to call and left me a message. DUH! I didn't get a message because he had the wrong number and even so, wouldn't you think that if I didn't call back I wasn't interested? I ignored him and then when he walked away, I ran to my truck and got the heck out of there.

Training for the Portland Marathon has been hard for a few reasons: I really don't have a place to run like I did in Chicago. I have to drive 35 minutes to get to Forest Park in Portland and adding an extra hour of driving time a day just isn't possible. So I have been running at my gym on the treadmill...boring! Secondly, with the recent breakup from Mr. Wrong, I haven't been eating the healthiest or sleeping. I have made a promise to get back on track starting tomorrow. So at this point, I have decided to delay my marathon quest until next year. Right now I need to to get myself healthy and strong both physically and mentally again.

Pictures of the race coming soon.

Link to race website: http://catnipfriday5k.org/catnip/

Hug-A-Thon

I am taking it one day at a time. Work is keeping me busy and I am trying to refocus on all the positive things I have going in my life.

One of my favorite things to do each day (except Sundays) is checking the mail. Nowadays it is rare to receive anything in the mail besides bills or junk mail. So I am asking each and every one of you who reads this blog to take a few minutes out of your day to Mail Me A Hug. All you have to do is write on a piece of paper the word HUG and mail it to me. You can type it, scribble it or whatever. But I guarantee that, that little piece of paper will brighten my day.

For 44 cents, a piece of paper and an envelope help brighten up my day. To participate in the Becky Rochester Hug-A-Thon, send your HUGS to the following address:

Willamette Valley Vineyards
Att: Becky Rochester
8800 Enchanted Forest Way SE
Turner, OR 97392

HUGS
Becky

A Million Pieces

My heart is broken into a million pieces. Imagine saying goodbye to someone over three months ago and promising each other that you will meet again soon. You plan, you get excited and then one day everything comes crashing down. You realize that you will never see that person again. You never knew that that would be your last hug, your last kiss, your last goodbye.

That is what makes this so hard. I don't get a proper goodbye. I am left with so many unanswered questions because Andries will not answer his phone or send me an email to explain why he all of a sudden changed his mind. He says he loves me. That is his answer. Yet I have to sit here and pretend like I am okay. Everyone keeps asking me when he is coming and all I can say is never.

It is hard to move on, when you don't know why you are moving on.

Facts of Life

Fact: Alcohol does not cure sadness.
Fact: Too much alcohol will cause severe hangovers.

Last week I was angry. This week I am sad. After all I have been through with Andries, I still am in love with him. Can you believe that? I know a lot of people don't understand, but he is a good guy. He just is indecisive and over thinks things. He is the guy who makes me coffee in the morning. He cooks for me and makes me laugh. He encourages me to be a better person and not to give up when things get tough. He is my best friend. I wanted to point out some good things about Andries since there are so many and I never got the chance to explain what I liked about him.

I pray (yes I said pray) that somehow I will get through this.

It's a Juicy One...(Grapes Not Included)

I got dumped on SKYPE. Yep. Over the Internet! After waiting 3 months for Andries to arrive in the USA, he missed his flight and then 5 days later wasn't sure if he should come anymore. So I told him that if he didn't know by now, he would never know. End of story.

I have met some great guys over the past few years. Call it bad timing, me always moving, or just their shyness or my shyness that nothing ever happened. I still talk to the couple of guys I refer to here. Even flirt. I am even sure they know who they are. But a girl can only do so much.

So I pledge to myself to only pursue happy, healthy relationships. It begins....now.

Grandma's New Convertible...Amish Style

Back on the Wisconsin farm, it looks like Grandma's got a new convertible. I miss times like this. Loving and missing my family and friends.

Becks

Crushed...

This time I am not talking about grapes, but instead my poor little heart. By now you would think I would be used to my personal love life always being a bit of a mess. I thought that this time around things were finally on the up and up. Andries, my boyfriend, was supposed to catch his flight in Johannesburg yesterday afternoon and land in JFK Monday at 7 AM. Three months since we were together last. I have been counting down the days for over a month now and tomorrow was the BIG day. We have been looking forward to a future together in Oregon. For some reason I knew something had happened.

I got home from the gym today and there was an email from Andries. He missed his flight (there was a car accident blocking the highway) and was too scared to call me as he felt that I would be mad and wouldn't believe him. I have never had to try so hard to love someone before. At first I thought it meant he wasn't coming at all and my heart broke into two. There are somethings in life you cannot control. This is one of them. At the end of the day, I am just happy he is okay. I am sad and had a good cry, but he can always rebook his ticket and I can always wait another day, another week and another month. We had a great conversation this afternoon via SKYPE and hopefully this roadblock just makes us realize how much more special we are to each other.

I remind everyone to cherish each and every minute with the people you love. Because you never know if and when you will see them again.

You Better BEElieve It!

Can you guess which foot I was stung on? I was on mile 1.25 when I felt something drop into the tongue of my shoe. All of a sudden I felt a burning pain and knew that I had been stung. The bumble bee was trapped between the tongue of my shoe and my leg and was stinging me like crazy! I flicked him out and fell to the ground. Son a of BEEtch. My ankle hurt! I pulled out a few pieces of the stinger and got up to finish the rest of my 14 mile run. It was a good run and the pain from the sting disappeared. It wasn't until the following day that the swelling, burning and itchiness occurred. I rubbed anti-itch cream on and iced and it kept getting worse. So I finally gave in and went to the Salem Urgent Care.

My doctor entered the room buzzing like a bee. I liked him from the beginning. Took one look, said oh my! And prescribed me a steriod pill and another diuretic pill to reduce the swelling. So Week #8 of my Portland Marathon Training is on hold. 30 miles to log this week by Sunday and I am at 0! Hopefully tomorrow it will be better and I can get back on track.

BEE careful!
BEEcky

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Birthday to me! I turned 29 on the Fourth of July. What did I do? I spent the morning on a peaceful 12 mile run in Forest Park in Portland. What an amazing place to run! I have found my runners paradise here. In the evening, I met my friend Dawn at Press Wine Bar where we had dinner before we headed to the St. Paul Rodeo. We watched bull riding, roping and hot cowboys on horses. It was great. My only complaint was the lack of nice wine/beer.Coors Light was the official sponsor and therefore the only beer served. I woke up the next morning with a nice Coors Light headache!

Looking back on past birthdays:

28: Australia Balloon Popping. I was in Tawonga South, Victoria Australia. Nathan, my roommate, blew up tons of balloons and put them in the hallway. It was hilarious. We had cake and celebrated with sparklers and by popping balloons.

27: Minnesota Demolition Derby. This was a low-key birthday I spent at a demolition derby in a small town in Minnesota. I watched the fireworks from Joey's car because it was raining.

I think back to all the things I thought I would have accomplished by now. I thought I would be married, have a couple kids and own my own business. I have not accomplished any of these things, but I have accomplished more than I ever imagined.

I am excited to turn 30 next year! I plan on spending my 30th birthday climbing Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. Training for the climb will begin after the Portland Marathon in October. Anyone who cares to join, let me know.

What Does Google Got On Me?

I was curious to see what Google had on me, so I Googled myself. First search: Becky Rochester wine. Of course my blog popped up, Bargetto Winery newsletters, along with the R Little Vineyard website, but then I found I was featured on a brochure for the Mid-American Wine Competition. Check it out! www.midamericanwine.org/Food-WinePairing.pdf

Next up, Yahoo!
Found an article on me in Make Mine Wine: www.impactbybarb.com/MMW_Fall_08.pdf

Bet you're curious now. Go ahead Google yourself.