Engaged

 

 They are engaged!

 After 5 years of dating Hunter and April got engaged in August.  ( I know I am a bad mom

but I haven't posted anything since July ) Hunter proposed at the Sea Life Aquarium at Arizona Mills.  The plans are to get married sometime in the summer of 2014 once April has her degree in Computer Networking and Hunter is finished with his Fire Science Program.  The smart kids that they are wanted to finish school and get their jobs situated before marriage.

The picture above is after they told us and of course the picture below is of the beautiful ring.  

The rest are ones that I have taken during the years and I just wanted to embarrass them. Since

that is what I love to do.  Welcome to the family April.

                                       The ring!

Bartlett Lake Olympic Triathlon

 1500 m Swim, 24.8 mi Bike, 6.2 mi Run

 Mike competed in his first Olympic Triathlon this past weekend out at Bartlett Lake. This race is ranked the toughest most beautiful triathlon in Arizona.   We were up at 3:15am to get ready and out the door by 4:00am.  I realized why this race is considered the toughest when we were driving on the incredible hilly road that Mike would soon be biking 24.8 miles on.  Hunter went with us to cheer Mike on and keep me company for the approximately 4 hours it took to complete the race. Due to the location of the race there really isn't anywhere to watch other than during the swim.  The rest of the time you only see the athletes when they are in the transition area.   I was cold enough in the morning that I was wearing a jacket and of course that is when the swim part of the triathlon is done.  By the end of the race it was 82 degrees.  Mike did fantastic.  The official times are not available on-line yet but when we left he was placed 4th in his age group.  He has been training a lot and it showed.  When we did get to see him he looked strong and confident.  After the race and the following day his body feels great and only dealing with a sore knee.  Half Ironman in two weeks.  I think he is ready.

 

 

PANTRY MAKE-OVER

Started a new project before finishing another. Never a
good idea but here it is.

Yes this was my gross pantry shelf. I didn't want to paint it because it tends to get sticky so I went to my trusty Pinterest site and looked for ideas. Purchased plain white contact paper at Walmart for under 5.00 and one roll was barely enough for all of my shelves.

I purchased two rolls of the black and white contact paper on Amazon just because I couldn't find any in town that I really liked. Amazon had quite a few to choose from and the cost was right around 20.00. Two rolls were plenty.

It was pretty easy to put the contact paper up and one person could do it however it is much much easier with two. Having someone to hold it while you position it correctly is a huge help.

I purchased most of my glass containers from Walmart because it is so much less expensice then most places. A jar I got at Walmart for 4.79 I saw at Cost Plus for 7.99 and Hobby Lobby for 6.99. I did get some at Cost Plus just because I wanted a variety.

This is the end result and I couldn't be happier. It didn't take much time at all. It could easily be a day project and it looks so much better. You can't see in the picture but I used black electrical tape at the end of the contact paper and it looks very nice. You would never know it was electrical tape and it is cheap.

Still need to finish the Laundry room.
Ordered some supplies I need and they are due in any day now. So excited!!

PINTERST

I think that pinterest might be the devil. I love to look on the site but I wish that was all I did. It has such great ideas and I love things nice and neat and in their place. The problem is I find out that something can look better and I am all over it. I now have my dvd's alphabetized.

Sad, I know.

FUNNY RUNNING SHIRTS

I am thinking that I need to purchase these for the marathon in
November for me and Mike.

LAKE PLEASANT

After church on Sunday we threw the kayak's in the back of the truck
and headed to Lake Pleasant.

Taylor is volunteering with the kayak during Ironman Az so she wanted to spend some time getting familiar with it. Plus this was her first time swimming in the open water which is a huge adjustment when you are use to the beautiful black lane lines.

Taylor and I ride the kayaks
next to Mike while he swims to a nice cove where we dock the
kayaks and join him swimming.

Taylor and I having fun while Mike loaded the Kayaks.
Water temperature was perfect and it was surprisingly clear.
So clear that Mike found a fishing rod.

It was a little cold even in July when you got out of the water but only until
you are dry which takes all of 2 minutes.

And so it begins ...........

Unfortunately life had required us to put triathlon training on hold for the last six months. After we volunteered for Ironman Arizona in November 2011 we all left with a burning desire to give it a try and decided that 2013 would be the goal. A race of this magnitude requires a huge time and financial commitment. You are required to pay a non refundable fee one year in advance. This has been a pretty huge decision for us to make and not taken lightly. One thing I needed to do was visit a Podiatrist about some painful feet issues. I didn't want to start the process only to have to bail because my feet couldn't handle it. I was told I could wear custom orthotics to eliminate my pain and wait on surgery until after the race. Right on!!!! I have a few months to drop about 20 pounds and get my current training schedule from 3 - 5 hours a week up to 20 - 25 hours a week. Oh yippee .
What Mike needed to do was look into a tt or transition bike. This is the most expensive piece of equipment needed to compete in triathlons and a good bike is worth it's weight in gold. Really I should say diamonds because the bike only weigh about 19 pounds. Timing was perfect due to a friend wanted to sell his and offered it to Mike for a great price. It is a 2012 Specialized Transition Expert and it is one sweet bike. Don't get me wrong, it's not a Cervelo but it will do. :)

2012 Specialized Transition Expert

Zipp 404s

Helicopter Ride over Sedona

For my parent's 50th wedding anniversary my father purchased
a helicopter ride over Sedona for my mother and one of her daughters.
My dad was in the military so flying a helicopter is old news to him. My oldest sister, Kim quickly declined the offer and Kris had a prior engagement. So guess who got
to go? Yep the one that is afraid of heights.

My mom was sick on Saturday when the flight was scheduled
so my dad ended up going after all. The helicopter was much smaller
than I had envisioned and there were no doors on either side.
I was chosen by the staff somehow ( I think based on weight ) to sit
in the front with the pilot and my dad was crammed in the back
with a nice couple from Chandler.

In the first minute or so of the flight I was panic stricken and had to
talk myself into not having a full on attack. I am pretty good
about convincing myself that obviously people do this everyday and I couldn't
imagine the pilot wanted to die either. Beside the lady that checked
us in said they had a 20+ year perfect safety record.

I started to really enjoy the ride and the absolutely beautiful scenery.
The pilot was able to bring us very close to several Indian ruins and gorgeous
red rocks. All was good until he banked the helicopter and I thought I was
going to fall out with nothing to hold on to. I prayed a silent prayer and
was good again.
I did not find out until the flight was over that the two in the back were
just as nervous as I was and had tightened their seat belts a few times
during the trip. I thought I handled myself pretty well considering everything
and I never once screamed out in horror.

Now I can honestly say that I am so thankful to of had that experience
and I did enjoy it immensely. I can also say that there is no way
my mother or either of my sisters would of survived. They would
of had to land the helicopter and let the screaming lunatics off.

I am positive that is something the helicopter company has done before.

MOAB, UTAH

We had another wonderful trip to Moab, Utah for the annual Vehicross get-together.

We had a around 25 Vehicross's at the event this year with people coming from
all over the United States and Canada. This is a picture of
just a few of them.

Here is Michael sitting on the edge of a rather scarey cliff. He obliviously
does not have a fear of heights like me and about 90% of the others in our
group.

Don't ask about this picture. All I can say is that is was not

Photoshopped in any way. What you see is what you get and yes
he is heavily insured. ;)

I had fun but would of enjoyed it more if the weather was the same

as last year. I was looking forward to the cool air with occasional rain
but ended up with massive wind, no rain and about 20 degrees warmer.

Mike in his happy place.

This picture is out of order. It was taken on our way home after 6
days in Moab. Vacations are wonderful and exciting but there is
something about the Arizona sign welcoming us home.

Welcome to Utah. Get ready to have fun, do crazy things and hopefully

drive home in your own vehicle. ( Last year we were towed home )

This is the crazy stuff I was talking about. Mike had to
reassure me several times on various trails that we would
be okay and that the car could handle whatever we were doing.
Even with his reassurance I spent most of the time
on "Hells Revenge" with my eye closed.

Our promise to each other for next year is to spend some
time on our mountain bikes and river rafting. Possibly doing
a 4 x 4 trail every other day. This will make me and our Chiropractor happy.