9/11

LOTOJA

= 'Logan to Jackson' = Longest single-day bike race in North America = 206 miles, 3 states, one day, 9000 feet of climbing and you must finish by dark.

Saturday was the big day - BB has been training for about the last six months to complete this crazy ride. I had a great time following him and meeting him at the 'feed zones' to give him *you guessed it* food, drink, a pat on the back and send him on his next leg of the race. It wasn't hard at all :)

I am really proud of him and this amazing accomplishment...

Random Thoughts While Running My First Half Marathon

It wasn't fast. It wasn't pretty. But last Saturday, I completed my first (and most likely LAST) half-marathon. The Top of Utah (TOU) half marathon was a good experience in that I set a goal and accomplished it. I was amused at the really odd thoughts that ran through my head while running:

• Mr. Brightside by The Killers was one of the songs on my iPod and the line that really rang true was "I just can't run, it's killing me"


• Another song on said iPod was Tubthumping by Chumba Wumba and I have to say that CPR always pops into my head when I hear that song - plus she just ran her first half last month and was an inspiration to me (btw CPR - if you read this will you send me an invite to your blog? Daph has my email...)


• You know the tv show Alias? Wasn't it convenient that almost without fail, every place Sydney had to infiltrate was either next to or attached to some ultra hip, sexy dance club so she could ALWAYS go dressed up and wear blue wigs? (I told you the thoughts were really random)


• Note to self: Next time you train for a long race, give yourself more than 6 weeks to train


• 2nd note to self: Next time you train for a long race, try to avoid stomach flu the week before the race


• There was a group running in front of me that I began to refer to in my mind as the 'Tanning Salon Trio' - talk about some leather skin - the cool thing was that they were all skinnier than me and somehow I ran past them (sadly, many MANY people passed me)

Whittney is still my hero and beat me by almost 20 minutes.

The reward for running was a night at Bear Lake in our friend's 'cabin' - it's really a house about twice the size of ours and right on the lake. It was a great way to end the day - the kids got to ride on the boat, wave runners and play on the beach. I personally enjoyed the sitting on the beach and eating famous Bear Lake shakes. Thanks Landon and Jen!

Mommy Tag

Lei-lei (in the pink chair) tagged Anushka so here we go:

1.What is something Mommy always says? "Besides I love you?" Don't be mean to your brother.
2. What makes Mommy happy? Being nice to your brother.
3. What makes Mommy sad? When I am mean to my brother. (hmmm - not much of a theme eh?)
4. How does your Mom make you laugh? Remember when you were dancing with daddy and I was doing music on the globe? That was funny.
5. What was your Mom like as a child? A sweet kid (nope I didn't coach her)
6. How old is your Mom? UUUM - 27? (I'll take it)
7. How tall is your Mom? 6 (???)
8. What is your Mom's favorite thing to do? Take care of me.
9. What does Mom do when you're not around? Miss me (no self esteem problems here)
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Soccer (yeah!)
11. What is your Mom really good at? Soccer
12. What is your Mom not good at? Rollerskating (how would she know that?)
13. What does Mom do for her job? Taking care of me and sometimes computer work
14. What is Mom's favorite food? pasta (not a bad guess)
15. What makes you proud of your Mom? When she's really really nice to me.
16. If your Mom were a carton character who would she be? Sleeping Beauty (I like the sleeping part)
17. What do you and your Mom do together? Go eat Jamba Juice when Diggity is at preschool.
18. How are you and your Mom the same? We look like each other (I'll take it)
19. How are you and your Mom different? I'm young and you're old.
20. How do you know your Mom loves you? I don't know how I know - cause you're always nice (that might be a little selective memory).

Tag: Ruby, Alexis/McKinley, Livi, a 'Spirited Sixer', Emma, Pickle

Of Summertime, Parades, Reunions, Camping and such...

I realize that it has been almost a solid month since I've posted but - like many of you - I've been a little busy. Here are some hi-lights of summer 2008 thus far...

We finally got to hang with the Paris crew and meet Gavin for the first time. We took no photos of the grown ups but the kids were the best looking anyway. Diggity and Ruby hit it off and Gavin was about as cute as he could be. This was July 24th - a day that lives in infamy in my memory as well as that of a certain friend's father ;) In addition to partying with the neighborhood fam, BB and I ran the Des News 10K and had a great time with that. He is just about ready to tangle LOTOJA and I was foolish enough to sign up for the Top of Utah HALF marathon. I guarantee it will be my ONLY 13.1 mile run - EVER. As much as I want to be as cool as Whittney, it's just not working.

My brother's little boy, Ian Kent, joined our family this summer and we all got together with cousins for a pre-24th of July barbecue and fireworks display - the kind where the kids get to pick the fireworks and then their choice of display is named after them (e.g. "presenting the Blakely Burner!")


The kids were a hit at the Swedish Midsummer festivities!

Have I mentioned that I love our back alley? Anushka's good buddy, Livi, is always up for a bike ride or kite flying while her mom gives the kids rides on the scooter (love ya Whitt)

We took off with some friends to camp in the mountains - it was fun but slightly stressful. There was a raging river directly behind our tent so we were always on the lookout for little ones who might get too curious. That little cutie in the pink chair is Leia - Anushka's buddy that will be in the same kindergarten class in a few short weeks (is that possible?)

Can you ever get dirty enough on a camping trip?

The river wild.


And speaking of camp, it was time again for LB to head out on a couple different trips with the young women - this year featured another gross lake (full to the brim with some sort of green sludge), zip lines, ropes courses, drama, and a group of absolutely hilarious women who were up there as leaders and definitely made all situations much more comical than they otherwise would have been...

Memory Tag

So, it's been a rough couple days. Yesterday a good friend of mine passed away - WAY too young. Today BB got hit by a car while on his bike - NO WORRIES - he's ok, just a little banged up. His bike is another story. Anyway, I saw this post on my cousin's blog and it looked like just the thing to cheer me up - so DO IT - or not, whatever...
Here's how you play:1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember.2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory of you. It's actually pretty funny to read the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Shout Out to Janae

So, a few days ago, we got the 'black screen of death' on our computer. I'm still in a little bit of panic mode because (of course) it has been awhile since I have backed up files with photos and other important information. We're not sure how much we can recover at this point and I'm trying to stay calm. So, I was just checking out some of my friends' blogs and I guess the same thing has happened recently with Janae's computer - and her recent post reminded me to 'not sweat the small stuff' and just enjoy the extra time I have without my computer. Thanks Janae! :)