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Okay ... so it's not tomorrow but it's less than a week since my last post so I should get some credit, right?! I'm gearing up for some "mommy time off" so I'm trying to make sure the house is ready (aka clean and stocked with food) and the closets and dressers are full of clean clothes ;)
The triathlon that I had trained so hard for is now a thing of the past, but my memories of the training and the actual event are still so fresh ... maybe since I haven't really stopped working out (although I haven't gotten to the pool the way I would like and look forward to biking again tomorrow morning)!! The entire process from the training to the actual event were so great! Tori must have known when she asked if I wanted to do a triathlon that this was exactly what I needed right now. I really only had 6 weeks to train and certainly wish I had had more time but I WILL have time to continue training for my next race (yes, I will ABSOLUTELY do another race this year - if not 2)! I'm looking at a race in September, Thanksgiving Day, and possibly a holiday one in December. Can you say addicted?! Not really by the competition of it all but rather the idea that I pushed myself so far outside my comfort zone and tried something that I never even imagined I would do. I went from despising running (and sucking major wind by 1 mile) to being so proud that I could run for 40 minutes without stopping. Now I look forward to the days I run *GASP* Yes, I said it out loud!! I loved the quiet time I would have with just me and my iPod as I rode my bike in the early mornings while it was still cool outside (relatively speaking). Tori and I had a great time at the pool working on our swimming and enjoying ourselves and marveling at what we were training for. The camaraderie and support from all of the others who were training and competing was truly inspiring. Everyone was willing to share what they were doing, tips they had learned, etc. The whole experience was completely empowering and something I will never forget.
The morning of the 19th was much cooler than I expected. In fact I didn't look forward to having to get out of the pool for fear I would freeze to death! I got to the rec. center around 5:45 A.M. for a 7:00 A.M start. I had been up most of the night with Kendyl who was throwing up - good times the night before the race. Steve was actually getting up with her but I wasn't getting much sleep. I was able to borrow a road bike at the last minute so had to get my pedals onto that bike and get a feel for it before using it in the race. Kinda scary to switch out on race day but that bike helped me shave some major time off of my bike portion and I am now having to save my pennies for a nice road bike (preferably a tri bike) ... my mountain bike from college just won't cut it!! There was plenty of time to stand around and talk to friends about how nervous we were. I got checked in and had my number - 31 - written on both arms and legs. Sure made reality set in!! There were 49 people who were racing which was such a great number ... especially considering I knew 80% of them! Made it a very comfortable situation since so many of us were 1st timers :) They started the swim at 7:00, sending one swimmer every 15 seconds. After the first 25 people they took a 2 minute break before starting the next group. The actual race itself is kind of a blur considering how long and hard I had trained for it, but it was exhilarating and fun - I tried to enjoy every minute of it! Those were my main goals in the race ... to finish (and run the entire thing) and have fun. I succeeded in both! The run was very hard for me that day (considering I came down with stomach flu that afternoon I was just very thankful to have finished) because I hadn't practiced transitioning from the bike to the run as much as I needed to, but I ran and didn't stop which is what I wanted to accomplish. Here is a glimpse of what my race day looked like:
Steve went out and bought posterboard the night before and helped the girls make signs to hold up along the race route. He also made one for Cougar ;) It was so fun to see them cheering me on from the sidelines!! I can't count the number of times they told me how awesome I did and how proud of me they were that day. It meant the world to me. They finally understood what I had been spending so much time getting ready for! Here is what my cheering section looked like (including a pic of me and Tori at the finish line):
Now, I didn't expect to be "competitive" in this race - and I wasn't - but I was happy with my time. Really, I was happy to have finished!! I finished the race in 55 minutes 54 seconds coming in 19th out of 49. I now have more training and races to look forward to and I'm excited to continue on. This race was a "mini" sprint triathlon so my next race will be longer ... I look forward to the challenge :)
Don't bother telling me this boy and his new haircut are not the cutest thing in the world ... I won't believe you!!
Had to post my layouts for the first week of class. The first one is the sample LO that Jessica created in the video lesson ... basically copy and learn the tasks. This lesson was WAY more complex than some of my previous lessons and it took me much longer to complete ... about 2 1/2 hours!! We learned to:
Create complex shapes with the Photoshop shape and marquee tools
Use compound shapes to create clipping masks
Create straight scalloped edges on patterned paper
Add "pop" to a photo with a colored overlay
Wrap ribbon around objects
"Hang" a tag from ribbon
Create compound masks for a single sheet of patterned paper
Create a semi-transparent journaling block with shaped text in it AND
Recolor textured items on their own layer
The second one is our "challenge" LO for the week. We were supposed to create it ourselves using several techniques from the lesson and including different criteria that we choose. It was definitely a challenge ... I have such a hard time choosing what papers and embellishments to use ... but I was happy with the way it came out and was thrilled to remember how to do some of the tasks on my own!!
You are witnessing one ... a new post after FAR too long!! I won't begin to bore you with all of the reasons I haven't had/made the time to post lately. Let's just say my plate is full and I don't always do the best in the balancing act department ;) It's been PTA meetings, church meetings, digiscrapping class, helping out where needed in other areas, and did I mention I'm training for a triathlon?! I keep thinking "once I get _____ done then things will slow down so I can breathe." Unfortunately by the time I finish one thing it is on to another. The good news is that things are going well and getting accomplished!!
We have Stake Auxilliary Leadership Training coming up next week so we are busy planning for that. I got lucky and don't have to speak so I'm getting to do the fun stuff like invitations (which are already in the mail ... should have arrived today or tomorrow), creating notebooks and matching pens for the YW presidencies, and creating a sample notebook to help the leaders train their young women to be leaders themselves. All of it is time consuming but enjoyable - far more than having to prepare a talk (sorry, S)!!
Bigger than that meeting is the fact that my adorable baby boy is turning 1 on Sunday!! I can't believe a whole year has passed since that sweet little boy came to our home. Life has been enriched in so many ways in the past year and it has been so fun to see my girls shower our little guy with love. He is going for his first haircut tomorrow so he looks extra handsome for his birthday pics ... you know I'll be posting plenty!!
Onto triathlon news ... the race is a week from this Saturday and I am starting to get really nervous about the whole darn thing!! I feel like I have been training pretty hard for it - haven't missed a day (except for taking weekends off) for over a month now. Then I talk to others who are training and feel there is no way I will be ready by the 19th!! I am running 3+ miles consistently now without feeling like I will die. I've run the actual 3.2 miles outside a few times now and actually can't believe I can do it ... it is such an accomplishment for me!! I almost feel silly thinking about how proud of myself it makes me since I know that is such a little thing for many, but it is BIG for me and it makes me feel so good to think how far I've come in my running in such a short amount of time. I even ran the whole thing pushing a DOUBLE jogger with Kendyl AND Cougar in it the other day (with a potty break in the middle for Kendyl)!! I really need to work on transitioning from the bike to running the rest of this week and next ... and getting from the pool to dressed and on my bike. The photos of this event should be pretty entertaining ;) Hopefully Steve can get some good ones while trying to juggle 4 little ones cheering their mom on!
The airline we bought out tickets to Hawaii on (for our trip this summer) filed bankruptcy this week and canceled all of their flights, leaving us scrambling for tickets before prices skyrocketed due to the higher demand. We've had to file a claim with our credit card company but should be getting our money credited within 6-8 weeks. We actually got lucky and saved $150 with our new tickets ... even though we are now on a red-eye flight home rather than returning at a reasonable hour :(
My newest digital scrapbooking class started last Monday and it is beyond amazing. It is called Digi: In Deep and that is exactly what it is!!! I can't even begin to list the things I've learned in the first 2 lessons. It is challenging, exhilarating, frustrating, and empowering all at the same time! It is pushing me to try so many things I never would have imagined and is teaching me ways to do things in Photoshop that I never would have thought to try. Jessica is such a fabulous teacher and her resources and videos are worth way beyond what I've paid to take any of her classes. She'll be starting a new session of all her classes, starting with her beginning class, in May if you want to dive in. My newfound knowledge and relationships I've built through taking her classes have changed my life.
Okay, okay ... I'll wrap it up ... that is the drawback of not having posted for 2 weeks - You get all of the mish mash ramblings of my life in one long-winded post!! Thanks for hanging in there waiting for something new. Now if I could just get around to creating the new header and blog look that I've been itching to work on ... maybe after the race and my class ends ;)
Steve went out and bought posterboard the night before and helped the girls make signs to hold up along the race route. He also made one for Cougar ;) It was so fun to see them cheering me on from the sidelines!! I can't count the number of times they told me how awesome I did and how proud of me they were that day. It meant the world to me. They finally understood what I had been spending so much time getting ready for! Here is what my cheering section looked like (including a pic of me and Tori at the finish line):
Now, I didn't expect to be "competitive" in this race - and I wasn't - but I was happy with my time. Really, I was happy to have finished!! I finished the race in 55 minutes 54 seconds coming in 19th out of 49. I now have more training and races to look forward to and I'm excited to continue on. This race was a "mini" sprint triathlon so my next race will be longer ... I look forward to the challenge :)
