San Rafael Classic Triathlon- June 20th 2009

First of all, I would like to apologize for the idiocy that is Blogger. I cannot scroll my photos or reorder them (although I used to be able to, it no longer works for me). My photos also randomly disappear after I spent all the time uploading them. So these photos are not in order and make no sense. However, I have spent the better part of 2 days trying to get it to work the way is always has in the past, to no avail. I give up.

Me at the finish line (as you can see, this photo should go at the end...)

Getting on my bike (and this photo should go with the part of the blog that talks about that)

After the race...

Shopping at Gateway.

I have been a busy little racing bee as of late.... On June 20th, I had another triathlon. This one was in Huntington, UT, the town I grew up in. I lived there until I was 16 and that's when my family moved to Idaho. I have only been back a handful of times and this seemed like a good opportunity.

None of my training buddies could make it but lucky for me, a couple of awesome friends agreed to go with me and make a girl's weekend of it. Thanks Sandi and Lisa! You guys were a blast.

We headed out on Friday morning. We stopped to potty 100 times or so (thank you hydration), and made our way to SLC. The only thing I could think about the whole way was getting a pair of tri shorts that I desperately needed. I bought a pair, fell hopelessly in love with them, and lost them in one fell swoop. The truth is, I knew I couldn't live without them, so deep was my affection.... So we went to the Salt Lake Running Company and thankfully they had some left. I checked the hangers and found the 2nd pair to be mediums. I was thrilled and all was right with the world.

Then we went to eat at Tucanos. Tucano's is my faaavorite place. We had fun. See below.

Then we did a little shopping. Well, we didn't actually shop. We just walked through stores and let our jaws hit the floor that acid washed jeans in teal and purple, with bows and zippers are on the shelves once again. Wow for realizing I'm old.

After that, we headed to Huntington and got checked into the race and into our hotel. Right before bed, I tried on my new shorts and *GASP* they were the wrong size! I was soooo mad! I had checked the hanger several times but not the tag! After I stopped fuming I decided nothing could be done about it so just go to sleep and relax.

I had a much better race this time around. My swim went as it always does. Slowly but surely ;) I came in just above the middle of the pack. My T1 went much better than last time and I took 2.5 minutes (still not great but much better than Salem Spring!). The bike portion went well. It was a 7.5 mile climb and then turnaround and descend for a total of 15 miles. I came in 3rd on the bike portion at 55:01. T2 took me 53 seconds which was close to the top. The run is where I always know I can make up some time from being such a slow swimmer :) I gave it everything I had and came in 1st on the run with a time of 22:47. My overall time was 1:43:56.

Overall, I took 2nd place by 6 seconds (argh!) and first in my division. I would have loved to take that title but I know I gave it all I had and I can't be too upset with that. It was a very small race (hence my doing so well ;) but I enjoyed it and hope I can squeeze it in again next year.

On the way back, we ate at Cafe Rio, and stopped at the Salt Lake Running Company again, where the nice man happily exchanged my worn shorts for the right size. And once again, all was right with the world.

I had a wonderful time with the girls and a great race. Couldn't have been better! Except if blogger would let me type a cohesive blog with pictures and all, that is...

A few more family pics

So I was having serious uploading issues yesterday when I posted the first blog and couldn't get all the pics on there. And when I try to edit, half of what I have uploaded disappears. So rather than fix the original blog- over and over- I figured I would just add these babies to a new one.

Thanks to April Farnsworth of April F Photography who took these for us.

Family pics May 2009

This Week's Fave's- Kiddie Style

As I was cleaning my house, I was thinking about each of my kids and how seriously awesome they are. I decided to do a blog about my favorite thing this week about each of them.



Mason- This week I have noticed so much how Mason loves his little brother Jaxon and how good he is to him. Sometimes when I go to put Jax down for a nap, Mason will say, "Nooo! I want him to stay up!" It warms my heart that he loves spending time with Jaxon so much. He thinks Jaxon is the funniest person in our family (he's right).




Savannah- This week, Savannah has been the most incredible helper! She is volunteering to do all sorts of work, and doing such a great job! When someone else complains, "I dont want to...", I keep hearing her say, "I'll do it!" and jump right in. From wiping off counters to folding laundry to helping with the babies, she has been such a great help. She also told me this week that she loves organizing! She has been helping my organize my scrapbook room and has been going through her own drawers and closet and organizing them just right. Such a sweet little girl!




Jaxon- Jaxon has been learning all sorts of new words and phrases this week. His favorites right now are "couple times" and "few minutes" although he says, "Cupa tibes" and "Bew minutes". He puts those on the end of almost every other phrase. "I take out Murphy cupa tibes!", "I eat dinner bew minutes." It's so cute. He also yells out the names of letters as he watches Super Why. So cute! He is such a fun little boy!

Jayden- Jayden has learned several new tricks this week. He shakes his head, blows raspberries, and claps his hands. Clapping is his favorite and if you try to get him to do one of the others, he will usually clap instead :) If you say, "YAY!" he will start clapping and he is so proud of himself! I love watching all the things he is learning.

I feel so blessed to have my 4 amazing children. Every day I get to spend with them is wonderful. While I have many enjoyable things in my life, nothing compares to the joy of being a mommy!

Salem Spring Triathlon- May 30th 2009

Finally, it is that time of year again- race season- YAY!

We had our first triathlon of the season this past weekend, and it was a blast! Daniel, myself, Tammy, Hidee and Torrie all traveled to Payson, UT for the Salem Spring Triathlon. This was my first time doing the race (although my friends have done it before) because prior to this year, I kept gettin' pregnant before it ;)

Last year, I vividly remember when all the girls headed out for this race. I was 8 months pregnant and I dreamed that I decided I was doing to do the race anyway. I was out there running in all my pregnant glory, thinking it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be! lol...

Anyway, so back to this year...we got down there the night before and decided to brave the water. We didn't have open water up here yet. The week before, we took our wetsuits to our gym and swam in the outdoor, unheated pool. Oh. My. HECK!!! It was sooo cold and miserable! That's what we were expecting when we got to Salem, but lucky for us, the water was beautiful! We swam justa bit the night before to get used to it.

The next morning, it was race time. The weather was perfect! It was warm, but not too hot and not windy. Storm clouds were threatening but they held off until after the race.

Now to the race- the swim portion was about like I thought it would be. I'm pretty slow. I got stuck behind someone frog leggin' it and couldn't get around her. I don't know what was more pathetic- that she was frog leggin' it the whole time or that me, freestylin', was behind her ;) But anyway, it went fine and I finished in about 18 minutes, which is pretty much what I expected to do it in.

On to T1. This is where my problems began. You don't care to hear what the heck I was doing spending 4 1/2 minutes in T1 when most people were out in 2. All that matters is that I was doing a whole bunch of things I should know better than by now! I wasted a bunch of time I needed since I came out of the water already behind. Phooey.

On to the bike. The bike was a really fun course (minus the potholes). Lots of ups and downs. My only problem was since I came out of the water slow, I was behind some slow people. It's a narrow course which makes passing difficult. But all that aside, I really did like the course and rode it in about 46 minutes, which is a respectable time, although nothing amazing.

Then came T2, where all the problems I left at T1 picked right back up and took off. I had it in my head that I wanted to run with my MP3 player, but my MP3 player was having issues and I spent an eternity messing with it, to no avail. So off I went without it only to have the best run I've ever had in a triathlon, without it! Note to self: Don't waste the time in transtion fussing with an MP3 player you don't need anyway.

I completed the run in just over 25 minutes, which was a really great time. I was beyond thrilled with that time, coming after jello legs from the bike.

All in all, I came in just above the middle of the pack, and I can see that had I been smarter about my transitions, I actually would have had a really good race. So lessons learned. But I had a blast and can't wait to do this race again next year.

Dan raced also. He chose to race Clydesdale which is with the men over 200 lbs, instead of with his age group. Dan had a really good swim, coming in just under 15 minutes. Dan biked the course in about 48 minutes and rain it in just over 28. His transtions were far better than mine. We finished in close to the same time. Dan swam faster, I biked and ran faster, but since he had better transitions, he came in a minute or so faster than I did and came in 15th in the Clydesdale division.

All my friends had a good race also and we had a realy enjoyable weekend. What race would be complete without a little shopping and some really horrifically unhealthy food? ;)

Next up I have a 10K race on the 20th of June and then an Olympic distance triathlon- SPUDMAN- July 25th!


Torrie Miller, Hidee Beddes, me and Tammy Mobley before the race.

Daniel and I before the race.

Me running, waving to Jason, Torrie's husband, who was kind enough to take pics for all of us.

Stinky, sweaty me and the beefcake after the race ;)

Ode to a little sister

I recently had the chance to take my little sister, Miriam's family pics. I was editing them and ready to post a few to my photography blog when I decided I had other plans (you can see the pics of my beautiful sis and her beautiful family at http://annamariemillerphotography.blogspot.com/).

Miriam was born when I was 23 months old. I dont remember that ;) What I do remember however, is cutting off the hair of her brand new Barbie, and telling her it had cancer. My mom made me give her my new Barbie.

I remember being such a smart cookie. No really. I decided I wanted to carve something, as all children do, into the dresser. And as any smart child knows, you DO NOT carve your own name. So I carved Miriam's name into the dresser. My parent's came a yellin' soon enough. She insisted she didn't do it. Of course, they didn't believe her. I remember them saying, "Oh really? I'm sure it was Anna who carved YOUR name into the dresser" And she received her punishment.

I remember (in spite of what I have told you thus far) being a timid child, while Miriam, was....not. And thus began the pattern of me daring Miriam to do anything I didn't dare do. That way, if it turned out badly, I would know before I was the one in over my head.

Case in point: One day we went out to the Huntington Lake. We went in the back side where there was a rope swing. I was not the rope swing, type. Miriam, on the other hand....so like any chicken big sister who wished she were a little more daring, I said, "You go first, you're the brave one!" Never one to turn down a dare, off she went flying through the air and into the...barely inches deep water. One or two hollars later, we were carrying her out of the water and out of the park. Yup, foot was broken.

I remember many fights about her taking and wearing my clothes. I clearly remember the day my father told me, "Someday she will be your best friend." I just as clearly remember rolling my eyes thinking my dad was a complete idiot if he thought she and I would be friends.

I remember teasing her ceaselessly about how the boob fairy skipped over her and visited me twice. Oh wait, I still tease her about that. The height fairy did the same thing.

I remember one small bathroom and 3 teenage girls. And I vivdly remember 1 small bathroom and three teenage girls - with PMS!

Don't let me make it sound like I was a trouble maker and poor Miriam was the victim. I assure you, Miriam could hold her own! One birthday, I got given a *songs from heaven* Tetherball! I was so excited. We headed up to the park with the whole family to play. Somehow Miriam got hold of it and was holding it over her head, threatening to throw it as hard as she could, just because she wanted to (it wasn't attached to the pole at the time). I very calmly said to her, "If you throw that, I will hit you as hard as I can." She threw it. I hit her has hard as I could. My parents watched the whole thing play out and told her, "She told you...." The only time I ever hit anyone.... And Miriam did get her hands on a knife or two in her day. You'll have to ask Rachel about that one....

I remember when one day my dad was right. All of the sudden, she was my best friend. All of the sudden, I didnt care if she borrowed my clothes. In fact, we readily enjoyed sharing each other's wardrobes (as much as the 6 inche height difference would allow that is!), talking late into the night about boys, kissing, clothes and girlfriends.

So here is my ode to my little sister. Miriam, I love you! I am so thankful I have you as my little sister. I cherish every memory we made growing up, even the ones that caused you broken bones and trips to the ER :) Stay beautiful, inside and out, as you always have. You are amazing.

Love, your big sis.

P.S. Rachel, I haven't forgotten you babe...that's for another day ;)

A week of Dancing...

Wow. We survived last week! Amazing. Oh, and for those of you who don't remember me, I am AnnaMarie and I used to blog ;)

Anyway, last week was insane. Monday, Savannah had gymnastics, as well as rehearsal for her ballet/jazz finale. Tuesday at noon, I had my rehearsal at the Civic Auditorium for my ballroom performance. Tuesday at 4, Savannah, Mason and I all had our dress rehearsal for the year end ballroom concert. We finished up with that about 10:00pm. Wednesday evening was our performance. First of all, let me just say that Staci puts on an awesome program and it was amazing!

Savannah performed first. Her mini's class did 2 numbers. The first one was "Wishin' and Hopin'" and was so cute. Then they did their "Who let the Frogs out?" cha cha, which she loves. They were adorable! Sorry for the upcoming photos that are so small. My FTP is down and I can't get to the full size files (I will replace them when my FTP is back up) so this is all I have!



Mason performed a little later on. They did their "Lollipop" cha cha and their "Shake your Groove Thing" disco. That one is so hilarious!



I performed later on....eek. Anyway, we did a cha cha/samba/jive medley to Mama Mia and had a great time. We started off wearing robes and each doing some sort of household chore. I was sweeping. Then we moved to the side of the stage and took off our robes (yeah, I stripped on stage, for the record ;) and dropped our props. Then we did our dance. At the end, we all fell on the stage in exhaustion as the lights went down. When the lights came back up, we were still laying there. The announcer said, 'Ladies? Ladies?" and then they made the boys come pull us off the stage ;) Aren't we funny hehe...

The entire program was so great! My kids have both loved being a part of it this year and they cant' wait for tryouts next week to see which team they will be on next year.

Thursday night was Savannah's dress rehearsal for her ballet/jazz recital for Dance Unlimited. Friday night, Mason had a performance at the church for a ward party. He did both of his dances and did a great job.

Saturday night was Savannah's year end recital for Dance Unlimited. She performed "I'll be there" ballet number, and "Popsicle" jazz number, as well as a little cha cha number at the end with the boys hip hop class. She did so great! Afterwards, after she chastized me for not buying her flowers (telling me, "fine, I'll just get made fun of then"), we went out to eat with her best friends, Maycie and Taylie, and their family. We had a great time together!

I am so proud of both of them for the job they did! While it was exhausting, it was a fun week and they did amazing!