Finally Updating

So it has definitely been a while since I have updated my blog, so know that I have some down time, I figured it's about time. Keep scrolling down as I am updating in reverse chronological order.

September

We took some time off and headed up to Boston for a week to travel around and spend some time with Dave and his family.

We had a great time. We made trips for Rhode Island, New Hampshire and the coast of Massachusetts. Cape Cod was on our list, but Obama and his family were there vacationing and it was going to be virtually impossible to get out to the island.

Cliff Walk - Newport, Rhode Island

Cape Ann - Rockport, Massachussets

Climbing Mt. Monadnock, New Hampshire (3,165 feet)

August, too

Right after the Tri, I came home, took a nap and drove up to Rochester, sans Michael. My sister was visiting from Utah, and since I don't get to see often, it was worth the trip.

It was great to see her. Unfortunately, I was arriving as my brother was leaving. But we did get a day all together.

We cut Mom's hair.

August

Mid-August I did the Luray Triathlon. I wasn't feeling too good, so I didn't do so good. The temperature his over 100 for the run, many people were affected by the heat. But, I still had fun ;)

Rebeccah, me, Brenda, Maddie

Harris ---- Me ---- Maddie



Brenda ---- Rebecca ---- Me

Rebecca, Maddie, Harris

Harris trying to make me feel better :)

July

Fourth of July weekend was great. We went to the annual gathering at the Olson Farm where there is a huge spread for breakfast. Everyone brings something to share along with eggs, ham, pancakes, omelets, sausage, etc. A heart attach in waiting. Last year there were an estimated 750 people.


Bro. Olson is a member of our ward and well connected with local military base. He works with disabled veterans. This year, as with others, we honored a soldier lost in the war in Iraq and presented his mother with our appreciation and a tribute to her son. He also had soldiers as far as World War I in attendance that we had the opportunity to honor. One of them was originally from my home town in Rochester, New York.


Luckily it wasn't as hot as it had been in other years, making the program a bit more enjoyable this year.


Later that day, we met friends at the Antietam Battlefield for the Maryland Orchestra and fireworks. A friend's wife in the Orchestra as a violinist. Again, we had a GREAT time.

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A few weeks later I did the Diamond in the Rough Triathlon. This is my first one in open water, the Chesapeake Bay. I slacked off a bit in my training, so I didn't think I did as well - boy, was I surprised when I won 3rd place in my division!

June

Following the Pokomoke Triathlon, a few of us did another Sprint Triathlon in Rocky Gap Maryland. It's more of a fun one up in the "mountains" of Maryland. Mike joined us on this one. It's always fun to have him running it too. My friend Rebecca come in 3rd in her division!

Unfortunately, we have no pictures since we were all doing the race.

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A couple of weeks later several of my friends and I ran the Baltimore 10 miler. We had our Pasta Party the night before as our calorie builder, but this time, Mike made homemade pasta with homemade sauce for us. Yummy! Later that night, or should I say morning, Dave and Beth came in from Boston to Beth to run with us. It's always that much more fun when they come!

It turned out to be an awesome day: 80 degree, rain and thunder/lighting. It actually is me preferred running climate.

The Start of the race, just before the rain started :)

Jim, Brenda, Rebecca, Dave, Maddie ---- Brenda, Harris, Rebeca, Dave, Maddie

Mike and I (yes, Mike ran it too) ---- Becky and Rich

Becky, me, Beth

Pocomoke Triathlon

So we went back to conquered the first triathlon Maddie and I did two years ago - we wanted to crush our times - and we did!

4/10 mile Swim from 16:03 to 13:22

14.3 mile Bike from 57:22 to 45:50
5k Run from 51:47 to 30:37

I wonder what I could have accomplished if we had really trained! It was a beautiful and perfect day of 82 degrees. How insane are we though, drove 6 hours round trip to complete a 1.5 hour race.

The best, Rebecca was not thrilled about doing this race at all, especially the swimming, and yet she came in 3rd place in her age group - way to go girl!

Two weeks until the next one :)

Run-a-Muck Mud Run

(Dave/Maddie, Harris/Rebecca, me/Mike, Brenda/Bill)

Saturday we joined some friends and did a crazy 5k 'mud' run. We decided to enroll as costumed teams - what were we thinking :) We had a blast! The guys were the hit. People kept coming over to get pictures of them.

Before:

After:

Until next year ... 'The Cougars'

SLC Family Reunion 09

Wow, it has been a while since I've updated my blog! Well, not much has been going on - it's been cold ...

After Mike found out he had a torn ligament in his left knee and bone grind, we ran the DC National 1/2 Marathon :) I did have my best time yet at 2:09. It's fun when you feel exhilarated after completing the half, have your best time yet and then a full marathoner comes in right behind you beating the record by 3 minutes - bubble burst :(

After that, it was again cold ...

But just recently I returned from a fantastic trip to UT for a Morey family reunion. Unfortunately, none of our spouses were able to be there - even those that live there were traveling on business (sure convenient for them :) I guess they didn't want to participate on the family sing-a-longs.

We did experience all four seasons while there ... Tuesday was pouring rain, Wednesday a blizzard through the evening of about 6" of snow. Thursday and Friday warmed and melted, and by Saturday and Sunday it was in the 60's/70's. Ah, Spring time in Utah :)

Overall, we had a wonderful time! We were able to attend the temple and do some family work. I even ran into the father of an old friend I "hung out" with in college - Bro. Tinney. I wish I had time to have caught up more on his life. Later that evening I was able to reconnect with some dear friends I have not seen in over 17 years - the Radmalls. It was great to see them and catch up!

Friday was McKay's birthday so we played Laser Tag. I have never done this before ... we had a blast. Dave has a 3" war wound on his forehead - those walls will just jump right out in front you. I was beaten by my four year old nephew in the stats :) Nice.

On Saturday we ran the SLC Marathon races. Dad, Dave and Libby ran the 5K, Sue and Kathy ran the 1/2 Marathon, and Debbie and I ran the full. Just an FYI, last week I was in a soft cast with tendinitis on my right foot and wasn't sure I was going to be able to run at all - I completed it with no foot issues! Had many other issues, but no foot issues :)

We look forward to next year's family reunion/race!

New Year's Update

Ok, so it's been a while since I put an update on my blog. You see, I have found this new thing (well, to me it's new) ... it's called Facebook, and it can be addicting. As a result, I have been letting my blog fall to the wayside. I apologize to my avid and dedicated readers/reviewers :).

Anyway, since my last post, we had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's with family in New York, had a belated New Year's celebration party at our home with friends, froze in the cold Maryland January winter, enjoyed a long weekend in Boston with family where we were snowed in and enjoyed our sweats and games, and went to Myrtle Beach with friends to run the Myrtle Beach 1/2 Marathon to celebrate Valentines Day.

Other than, not much going on here.

I have also slacked in the photography department and have not taken any updated pictures. I know, I need my brother and/or sister around to take care of that for me!

Overall, all is well here in the frozen Tundra and I am ready to come out of hibernation to enjoy warmer weather - or at least anything above 30.

Tag - You're it!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both
2. Real tree or Artificial? Got tired of cleaning needle and setting up lights - so now it's fake and I love it!
3. When do you put up the tree? First week of December.
4. Do you like eggnog? Um, no thank you.
5. Favorite gift received as a child? My Friend Becky doll.
6. Hardest person to buy for? My Mom - too many things I would love to get her.
7. Easiest person to buy for? Mike
8. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes - Thank you Grandma King.
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? I'm too lazy to do either
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Where do I begin ...
11. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf
12. When do you start shopping? November
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? As a white elephant gift, yes.
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? I love to make Christmas cookies - my chocolate buttons and brownie biscotti
15. Lights on the tree? Only white
16. Favorite Christmas song? What Child is This
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Both
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star
20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? When we are with family, one on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas morning.
21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Running from one house to the next, to the next, to the next ... that's why it's nice to stay home sometimes.
22. Favorite ornament theme or color? Red, Gold, Burgundy, Green
23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Stuffing!
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? New pedals and shoes for my tri bike.
25. Who do I tag? Emily, Debbie, Kathy, Libby, Sue, Beth

Holiday Greetings

To all my Democrat Friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to implythat America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the onlyAmerica in the Western Hemisphere .

Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wished.

To My Republican Friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving

We had another wonderful Thanksgiving here in MD. Mom and Dad, Dave and Beth and the kids all came down to enjoy a fun weekend of eating, shopping and playing. It seemed to be a bit less stressful this year as we did a little more pre-day preparations ... until 15 minutes before we sat down to eat ... the CO alarm went off indicating GAS ... long story short, we did not leave the house or call the fire department but learned it was a faulty code due to a bad battery.

But Rach ran in her first 1K while Beth, Mike and I ran in the 5k Turkey Trot. Dave also gave us our early Christmas present - Rock Band 2 - so we stayed up until 4:30AM playing.

It's always great to get together with everyone! We miss all the family and hope all had a wonderful holiday as well!

Cozumel, Mexico

I am finally updating my blog with our pictures of our fantastic trip to Cozumel, Mexico with our dear friends Dan and Michelle. We were both celebrating our 15 year anniversary. Oooa, Oooa!

We had a great time visiting the Mayan ruins, snorkeling, parachuting, jet skiing, swimming with dolphins, riding a chicken shuttle :), and traveling around in our desired Jeep!

By the way, the iguanas are like moles - they are everywhere!

Thanks guys for a great vacation!!!

Halloween Harvest Party

This Saturday we had a Halloween Harvest Party at our home with a few friends. We started with a digital scavenger hunt where we broke the group up into three teams with a list of pictures they had to take with their team doing items on the list. We had a blast! And no one got arrested - phew!

We ended the night with food and Rock Band.

Here are a few pictures of our crazy night ...

Baltimore Marathon

(Mike, me, Becky, Brenda, Beth)

Well ... we did it!

It was a beautiful day - high of 76, which starting at 8:00am, the weather was perfect! We started the day by taking a limo out to the race so we wouldn't have to stress about parking, traffic, etc. There were 13 of us that rode out together for the full marathon. It was awesome as the stretch limo drove right up to the front and dropped us off at check-in.

There were so many people (17,000 runners), we had a hard time just getting to our starting positions. It was insane, but great at the same time.

Mike and Beth came down later for the half marathon - Mike did awesome completing it in 2:10 - Great Job Mike! Beth completed it in 2:55 - she said her body was done at mile 3 but she finished it!

For me, well ... I did complete my 20 miles I trained for, but after that, my body was DONE - I walked the last 6 miles. Up until mile 20, I was on par for a 4:40 time, but ended up doing it in 5:20 - ugh. I realized at around mile 19 that my body is just not built for running marathons and I was done.

But now I am already planning my strategy for the next one - what is wrong with me :) Salt Lake, here we come! (Mike said he is going to do the full with me - he is going to kick my butt)

Below are some of the photos Dave took, there will be more to come. Enjoy ...

(Beth - Maren, me, Becky at mile 25.5)