So, the hair is different...

I just realized I never made a comment about how I chopped my locks off and dyed them VERY blond.  Well, consider yourself informed..  :)

My sis-in-law took this for her birthday calendar...I don't just go around taking semi-glamour shots of myself on a daily basis.   Or maybe I do....

Can I get a WOOT WOOT!!!

Yesterday a nice sized envelope arrived in the mail addressed to my husband.  I didn't open it because (1) it was for Trev, and (2) it was from the school district he works for-nothing interesting for me to see  :)  Anyway, Trev opens it when he gets home and it's a hand written letter of congratulation from the big guy himself-the Superintendent of the district-and a copy of a big name newspaper with an article about Trevor.  This newspaper named him "Baseball coach of the year"  What a nice surprise that was.  We had NO idea.  The head honcho wrote this really nice letter congratulating him on his efforts and praising his staff and team for working so hard this year.  The article was very nice, too, talking about the turn-around the team experienced this year and talking about some of his players and what they contributed to the team.  It was a really great feeling to have him recognized in this manner.  It definitely put a smile on Trevor's face!

One more photo...

Team Rockstars....because we rock!

RAGNAR...We came, We conquered!

Wasatch Back came and went and I cannot wait for it to come again.  Yes, I know, I am demented.  BUT, I had a great time competing.  First off, let me explain-The Wasatch Back is one of many Ragnar relays and it is 188 miles worth of running, running, running!  Oh yeah, it's about 30ish hours of no sleep as well.  So, I was on team Rockstars and we ROCKED!  We are not the fastest, but we were not the slowest either.  We were out there to have fun!  I was runner 1 (out of 12) and my legs were as follows:

Leg 1 7.9 Hard

Leg 13 8.5 Very Hard
Leg 25  4.8 Easy
I finished my first leg and I just about passed out.  Not even kidding.  I was beginning to think I was going to be one of the 12-15 ambulance calls for the race!  I finished leg 1 just fine, but after about 15 minutes and drinking tons and tons, I got dizzy and nauseous.  Not a good combo.  However, I had smart teammates who brought pretzels with lots of salt. So I recovered and began thinking that maybe I was crazy and this was not going to be fun after all.  I.was.wrong.   After cheering my van-mates on and getting excited for them (and feeling bad at times-some of those legs were HORRIBLE!) I regained my energy, composure, and all around positive attitude.  We had a blast!
I rocked my second leg, which was all downhill (except the first mile).  When I finished that one, I was so excited.  I actually ran that leg one minute faster than my first leg.  ROCK ON!  Oh yeah, this was at 10pm.  I turned my iPod off and just looked at the stars... and all the other runners passing me...So my van-mates didn't start running until midnight, 1am, 2am, etc.  We ended up sleeping at a high school, in their gym for about, oh, 2 hours, before having to get up and finish our 3rd set of runs. 
My 3rd leg was supposed to be my easiest-but I think it was my hardest.  It was an incline (though gradual), there was a horrible head-wind, AND I am about dead/tired.  But I finished.  My van-mates finished.  It was awesome.
Since we were van 1, and had some hours to kill, we decided to rent a hotel for a few hours to freshen up.  Did you know that hotels don't really do that?  Well, we found one that did.  Let's just say that we are hoping we don't end up on the internet somewhere....I kept thinking Norman Bates was going to break through the bathroom window. Carla hated the shower curtain, our toilet didn't flush, and the exterior walls of the motel were pink stucco.  It.was.awesome! 
The entire experience was well worth the training, the pain (after), the hills, the heat, the dust, the stinky sweat, the laughs, the jokes, the giggling, the "woot woot's", the sqealings, and the pride we felt when each one of us finished and then our entire team ran across the finish line.  Awesome job Rockstars!!!!!

Our "van"

This was not a nice hill for Tia.

I nicknamed Carla, "The Determinator"

This dude ran in snowshoes, a teammate of his had a tent on his back, another one a kayak oar and life vest, and yet another had an air mattress on his back.  CRAZY!

Another non-nice hill for Lesa

The view from the top of Avon.

Getting ready for our night runs.

Here I go!

Last leg!

Me, Lesa, Sabrina-I personally love my hair!

Tia, Kathy and Carla.  Carla was scared to death of the gondola ride.  Sorry, I had to post the "fear"

Well, ladies, see you next year!!!!

Birthday Boy!

Z-Man turned 1 on June 17th and of course, we had to throw a party!  All the family came-it's easy when we all live within a 10  mile radius of each other.  Here are some milestones for this precious little boy:

1.  He is walking (actually started while Trev and I were in Sacramento)

2.  He has 4 teeth

3.  He is sleeping through the night...except while cutting a tooth

4.  He is VERY happy...except while cutting a tooth
5.  He LOVES his blue blankie
6.  He LOVES animals, especially our cat, Jaq (who is missing now, sniff, sniff)
7.  He LOVES his momma and dadadada
8.  He is into climbing-uh oh!
9.  He like real food now
10. He loves to explore

Good morning Birthday Boy!

Gotta test out the toys.

He got his own smash cake to go along with the themed cake

YUMMY!

Mission Reunion-2nd honeymoon????

I am very late in this post, but here it is. Back on June 4, 5, & 6, Trev and I embarked on a trip back to Sacrament, CA, where Trev served his LDS mission. We flew out with Nate and Jill for this fun-filled adventure. Nate and Trevor were companions for 4 months and I am sure they were/are soul brothers. These two have this amazing bond with each other-like they were brothers in another life. Not to mention, Jill and I get along quite fittingly as well. In fact, the song by Train, "Soul Sister" (sp?) seemed to be playing everytime we got into a car, so we dubbed it our theme song for the trip.

To start things off we arrived at the San Jose airport and rented a car to drive to the mission area. I think we were in the car for 8 hours that day sight seeing, stopping at old apartments, former churches where they attended, parks they frequented, etc. We even stopped at "In-n-Out" to eat....YUM! That night we attended a devotional where the current mission president and his wife spoke. Then Pres. and Sis. Nixon spoke-I can see why Trevor admires this man so much. He and his wife are so spiritual and knowledgable and funny!

The next morning we went to the Sacramento Temple for a session. I have never been in a temple so tiny! It was a great session full of missionaries there for the reunion and their spouses-quite the group. Then off to lunch with everyone.

That night we went to a Hmong barbeque at the house of the first native Hmong bishop. He and his family presented quite the feast. It was fantastic!

On Sunday, Nate and Trevor went to church at 9am to a ward they served in together and then at 1pm we all went to another ward that they also served in. We were able to see peole they knew and worked with 12 years ago! We even got a dinner invite, which was greatly appreciated!

We had such an amazing time-we laughed and laughed, and reminisced like crazy. It was great to see Trevor and his mission buddies talked about the "old days, back in the mission". I am so grateful that Trevor served a mission. I am glad he had that blessed opportunity. It has shaped him in such a positive way to prepare him for all he has now and all he hopes to accomplish in the future.

GREAT 2nd honeymoon!

One of the church buildings Trevor attended.

Another one the Trevor and Nate frequented.

Soul Brothers

Jill and I at the Sacramento Temple

Smile!

The party!

Pres. Nixon-he is really quite the character!

If there was such thing as the 4 stooges...we would be them.

These two remember names, faces and stories galore!

The Hmong feast.

The great people who prepared this for all us.

The party!

So intense...

Trevor's first house.

This tree is HUGE!  I couldn't get the whole thing in my lense!

Old Sacramento

We had our own rooms the entire time except this night.  We arrived at 11:30pm and had to be to the airport by 5:00am the next morning.  GREAT MEMORIES!  Thanks Nate and Jill!

RAGNAR here I come... or not

I have been training for the RAGNAR run for months now, so one would think I could run 8 miles without too much trouble....right? Well, factor in cold (check), wind (check), more flippin' wind (check, check), a bit of rain (check), a GINORMOUS hill and sore muscles from planting flowers for four hours the day before and I could have sworn I just ran a marathon. I have been SORE all day!!! OUCH! And not the good sore that lets you know that your bum is getting smaller-this is the hip-flexer aches, your bones are now 32 years old and your joints can't be fooled anymore SORE! Oy! Next Friday and Saturday are the days (21 miles worth of running-YAY ME! said sarcastically) that will either prove to be well worth the miles and miles of training or the deal breaker that says, "you are not ready for that 1/2 marathon in August. I am looking forward to RAGNAR-but let's be honest, I am not a spring chicken anymore, but I am trying to be!