Triathlon

Andrew and I did our 1st triathlon on May 23, up in Auburn. We had some friends and family, Sheila, Chad, and Uncle Ryan, do it with us which made it that much more fun. Andrew finished in 2 hours and 21 mins. Sheila and I stayed together the whole time and finished in 2 hours and 27 mins. As tired as we were when we finished, I definitely think this triathlon will be the 1st of many.

Auburn Sprint:

1,000 meter swim

18 mile bike

4.3 mile run

The swim: Can I just say that whoever invented the wet suit is my new best friend!!! Swimming a lake though was a new experience. Talk about confusing. Majority of the time I had no idea where I was going. I had to stop and look up after about every 5 strokes.

The Bike: We were told that the first 6 miles was all solid up hill, which they were definitely right. But why is it that when we finished mile 6 we were still going up hill.... they forgot to mention that pretty much the whole course was up hill.

The run: Beautiful course along a stream and through trees.

Great Experience!

1st Annual Tea Party...

...was up in Shaver a couple of weekends ago. I got home from work on Friday to see my 3 best friends leaning out the side door to my house. What a great sight! From there we were off for a girl's weekend. As life goes we are going to have to make time to hang out so what would be better than an annual get together.

Here are some pictures from our 1st...

(fun buns for life)

Thank you GSue for letting us enjoy your cabin!

San Francisco

Doesn't life fly by? In the midst of all that life brings, I decided to surprise Andrew with a weekend away in San Francisco. April 9-11 we took off and headed for the city. Our goal: to hangout, enjoy each other, experience the city, see Wicked on Broadway, and finish off the trip with a Giant's game. All was accomplished except for one thing. Sunday we woke up to a down pour of rain which kind of ruined our plan to enjoy the Giant's game. We couldn't give up that easy, so we bought rain ponchos and headed to the stadium. We walked around, enjoying the incredible view, but to no avail the rain did not stop. Finally we couldn't wait any longer and headed out. Come to find out later that the game finally started 4 hours late. I guess this means that we must go back.... darn

Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Andrew's amazing photography:

Farmers Market

Stow Lake:

Town's End: An amazing breakfast place

AT&T Park:

Spring Week at Reagan

The week before spring break was full of excitement. That was the week the 5th grade went to Sierra Summit, but even more exciting than that was our dress up days. Each day was a different dress up day and being an elementary school, I think the teachers got more excited about this than the students. Who doesn't love an excuse to dress up.

Thursday: 80's Day

Monday: Nerd Day

I love the people I work with!!!

All home at the same time!!

That might be normal for some friends but for us girls, I feel that these times are going to be few and far in between. God has an interesting way of leading people in all sorts of directions. For my girls, this is definitely the case. Yes, I miss these girls when we are gone but I wouldn't change a thing. Each of us is following where God is leading and for that I am thankful. What a blessing to have 3 friends, basically from birth, that love and look forward to these weekends where we can have breakfast at J & Ms and hangout and talk all night. I am encouraged and challenged in my faith when I talk with or are around these girls. I love my girls and can't wait for more weekends like this!!!

Field Trip...

We were able to take our 5th graders to Sierra Summit last Tuesday for a day at the snow. The majority of my students had never been to the snow before and all but 2 had never skied or snowboarded. It was a day of first and I had so much fun being a part of it. Here are a few captured moments from the day.

3 great girls in my class

This boy thought it was more fun to ski down the hill backwards. And I have to say, I was very impressed.

Who could ever forget this guy. I have never met anyone more excited for life.

Love the olympics...

I am pretty sure that my favorite thing every 2 years is the olympics. Both winter and summer, I just can't get enough. My favorite thing about them are the behind the scene stories that they share about the athletes. Did you know that Shawn White has his own personal half pipe in the middle of nowhere!!! How crazy is that. Watching them makes me wish that I had been an olympic athlete. Maybe a speed skater or apart of the curling team.

Our new favorite appliance...

is a blender. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It gets used for every meal these days.

It has become a Monday tradition that Andrew and a few friends go mountain biking on their day off. This last Monday was no different except for one thing. At about 2:00 I received a text message while I was at school from Andrew saying that he was on his way to the emergency room. I talk with my principle and was able to leave school a little early to meet him there. After some xrays it was declared a broken jaw bone. Poor guy had a gash on his cheek from where his face broke his fall on a rock and was totally swollen. He was in too much pain to talk.

The rest of the week consisted of doctors appointments and surgery on Thursday in order to put his jaw back in place with the help of a metal plate. The doctor informed us that Andrew will need to be on a liquid diet for the next 4 weeks.

Thus brings up the topic of the blender. Andrew's diet now consists of smoothies, pudding, jello, and pureed soups. I have done a lot of research about different types of soups that he can drink rather than chew. I might say that some of them have been pretty tasty. Here are some of our favorites:

Split Pea Soup

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

with my Christmas money...

I purchased my very first ipod. (a yellow ipod nano) I have been totally loving it. My favorite thing so far has been listening to books on it on my way to and from school everyday. I am not quite sure about running with it. I like to be aware of my surroundings so I haven't quite decided if I will use it for that or not.

My next adventure...

May 23 - Auburn, California

Andrew and I have decided to try something new. We think we are up for the challenge of trying out a triathlon. We have signed up (which means we can't back out now) and we will officially start training in February.