Butt Shots

So Thursday we caught up with Dad and my cousin and his girlfriend at Capen park. They meet there every week to climb rocks. Why? To show off their muscles of course!

Did I participate? No.

Did I enjoy watching, taking pictures, and generally hangin out with the family? Heck yes!

Should I suck it up and participate one of these days? Probably. :)

The climbing teachers - Dad and my cousin.

E attempting to climb (with Dad's advice).

My cousin's girlfriend climbing...as you can see, the rocks were a bit wet.

Currently Reading: Nothing?! I almost went to Wal-Mart to buy a book today. I finished The Used World by Haven Kimmel

Wordless Wednesday

A little late...but I'm still up so it's technically still Wednesday for me.
This was our vball group tonight - yay!

When you get about Columbia...

You might try ridin' your bike or just usin' your feet...

Just a cute little jingle they've got goin on with this new campaign - Get About Columbia

It's a very cute campaign and I really think people might be listening. My cousin and his girlfriend, E & I went on a bike ride today, it was fun. The weather has just been awesome lately and the trails in Columbia are seriously amazing. You can get almost anywhere. I was telling E he should really ride his bike to campus - using the trails - because it's less than a mile from his apartment (the trailhead) and it comes out right at the Engineering building on campus. How much more convenient could it get (he's an engineer)?

It's amazing how many more cars you see with bike racks...hopefully that means more people are biking. If I still lived in CoMo, I would be all over those trails!

I bought a new bike seat today and, W-O-W! It's much more comfortable on the bottom. :) It has what the company calls a "comfort release zone" and lemme tell ya, it works!

Well...it's popcorn night so I have to head to the folks. Oh, this could be bad...but I'm starting to really enjoy biking - it makes me really despise when I have to run. :) Haha, running's never been my favorite hobby, but it's good for you, so I do it. Maybe I'll just bike....?

Currently Reading: Just finished Peony in Love by Lisa See - need to find my next book.

No more farmer's tan for me!

Today was fairly uneventful, but I feel the need to make up for my massive lack of blog updates lately, so here I am. Lucky you :)

5:30 a.m. - Alarm went off...HA!

7:00 a.m. - Realized I missed my gym's bootcamp...dangit!

9ish? - Finally rolled outta bed. Seriously. I have to start going to sleep/waking up at a normal time!

12:00 - Back to CoMo

2:00 - Biked to Rocheport (see previous posts beautiful pictures) by myself, thank you very much.

5:30 - WI - lost 3.4! Yay!

Now - Reading. Ahh...love summer.

The only thing that coulda made today better would be a good game of volleyball. Seriously, since E and K are gone, B seems to think we can't play. I mean, I know a two-man team is kinda cuttin it close, but there's always people at the courts to join up with! Ahhh...I'm having withdrawal.

The bike ride was great. I kept my pace up and was pooped by the end, but I did shave about 20 minutes off the time it took to ride it last week with E and K, so that's good, right? And of course I went sleeveless because the horribly weird looking farmer's tan is just not my cup of tea.

Sorry for the boring post, maybe I can find a cute picture to add....hmmm....I betcha it'll be a cute one!

Currently Reading: Same as yesterday

One would think...

That not having a job in the summertime would lead to me having more time on my hands meaning more posting. Ha! No such thing!

Fun things so far this summer:
1. Sand volleyball baby! Seriously, I'm addicted. It's bad.
2. Housework. You say dreadful?! I say F-U-N! Details on this latest derangement below.
3. MudBall '08 here we come!
4. WW is working! I might actually meet my 15lb by July 4th goal!
5. Calling all adorable puppies and kittens - volunteering at the Humane Society
6. Oh yeah, finished that duathlon...silver medal?! Still a little bewildered by that one.

Fun things waiting for me:
1. Float trip? I love float trips, anyone wanna go?
2. Minneapolis, gotta visit the little bro
3. Firemen Volleyball Tournament on the 4th - yay!
4. Finishing the bathroom in my parents house - all that HGTV might actually have helped!

So, I thought I'd be bored out of my mind, but my parents have definitely helped to quash that - in a good way. I told them I'd help out around the house. They built our house about...12 years ago, and there are parts that either need touching up or things that just never got finished. Two years ago they added a sunroom and it is still incomplete (no floors - besides the plywood), so I figured if I filled in all the nail holes and caulked around the windows/etc. they might actually finish it. It's lookin good. The other thing that I'm super excited about? They might let me finish the bathroom in the basement! I know that sounds like a weird thing to want to do, but I watch entirely to much DIY housework on HGTV and TLC and have always kinda fantasized flipping a house. So, what better to warm up on than a basement bathroom that doesn't even have walls? We'll see how that one goes.

Last year my friends and I participated in the local Big Brother Big Sister MudBall Tournament. It was a blast. Normally I don't enjoy wearing dirt, but it was pretty darn fun if I do say so myself. Well, turns out they're doing it again this year in about a month. Stay tuned for pictures.

I just completed my orientation to volunteer at the Central Missouri Humane Society tonight. I'm excited. I love animals. Love them. Just today I watched three kitties and three dogs play around at Mom and Dad's. Seriously, if I didn't teach, I'd probably do something with animals. They're so great and cute and can always cheer you up on a bad day. What's not to love?

So, I started Weight Watchers in May...like May 5th or something. So far, great! I mean, if you're looking for quick weight loss, it's definitely not for you. But seriously, it's not a diet. You just have to watch what you're eating. I always said before I could do weight loss on my own. I mean, my Mom and Dad are pretty darn healthy people, but I just never had the discipline before. Now, oh yeah. I have WI tomorrow here in CoMo, so hopefully this past week went as well as the week before (-3lbs!) that would be sweet and would put me at -12 total. My clothes are definitely fitting better and that's always a nice feeling.

The following are some pictures from our bike ride a couple days ago. I'm trying to take more pictures because, who doesn't love pictures?

Where we usually bike...flooded over.

A spot along the Katy Trail where they used to store explosives...or so Dad says.

The Missouri River, along the Katy Trail

Isn't this cool?! An arch (the only one) along the Katy Trail in Rocheport, MO, which used to be a railroad. It was so pretty! And nice and cool inside, which was nice.

Currently Reading: The Perfect Fit by: Louise Kean

Still Alive

So...the duathlon is over and I made it! More than that, I medaled. :) Laugh all you want, I didn't believe it myself. Saturday morning we left CoMo around 6 a.m. and we got to Sedalia just in time to go. Thankfully it wasn't too hot, but there was a slight wind. When I say slight what I really mean is that it was probably around 20 mph. Try biking into that!

The first 2 mile run was good, I finished in well under 20, yay me. Obviously I wasn't going for fast, I just figured I had to finish the whole race, so I better pace myself. Then came the biking. The first four miles or so wasn't bad until we reached the turn around point. There were tractors everywhere! I guess they were having some sort of parade and I managed to get stuck behind quite a few tractors. Argh. So, after managing to worm my way through them it was time to turn around and head into the wind. Oh my, talk about a struggle. It was so windy it was hard to get going faster than maybe 15 mph going down a hill. So, needless to say that made it even more of a struggle going up the next hill. Haha, I'm sure I looked funny to passersby. About 8 miles in I passed my Dad, K, and E. K got a flat (which totally sucks because he could've been at the top!) and Dad was helping him fix it. I was pretty excited to have caught up to them, but within minutes they were ahead again.

Let me tell you. Running after biking, is not easy. Not that I thought it would be...but damn. My legs felt like jello. So, I ran what I can pretty much guarantee was my slowest two mile run ever, but I did finish! Even before E... :)

Amazingly none of us were sore the next day. Three of us medaled. Dad got bronze (in his age group), Cousin E got gold and I got silver (both in our age group). Needless to say, there weren't many 20-29 year olds.

After the race.

Nerves

So, tomorrow's the big day. The duathlon that is. I'm just gonna say that after last weekend I'm extremely nervous. I discovered that nervous and an athletic event don't quite mix that well. Last weekend after the running we jumped on our bikes and barely had time to catch a breath. Well, halfway into the biking I was still breathing just as hard - probably worse - and the chain popped off my bike and I just about had a crying fit. Haha. Crying and biking do not mix well. So, today I'm trying to convince myself that no matter what I don't need to get "worked up" tomorrow. I'm just gonna go to finish. I know I'm not going to be near E, K and Dad. If I'm lucky Elizabeth and I will keep up with each other. That'd be nice.

So, in other words: This blog post is pointless unless you wanted to know how nervous I am about tomorrow. I'll check back tomorrow with the results! :)

Currently Reading: Nothing (OMG!) As soon as Erik leaves on vacation I'm reading Ender's Game.

Wordless Wednesday

A loooong weekend

So, my weekend started last Thursday (I'm blaming the long weekend on the lack of blog updates). I convinced E to go to STL with me to pick up my little bro and his girlfriend. We got to the airport and headed straight to the arch - I'll post my fav arch picture for tomorrow's Wordless Wednesday. It was pretty fun, it had been a really long time since I'd been. I forgot how small the tram is!

S, D & E on the tram.

Before our trip up to the top, we explored the museum beneath the arch. It was pretty cool, the layout was a bit weird, but it was interesting.

This had to be my favorite sign. Seriously.

Huh...a large cow. Who knows the purpose of this one.

All in all, it was a good time. I'm definitely glad we went. I miss my little bro, he's a good guy - and his girlfriend's not bad either. :)

So, after the Arch trip it was a family filled weekend. We had dinner with my Great Aunt Dot and my cousin Ann at Emmitts, good place that one. Then the next day it was my cousin's graduation party.

Yesterday was another story! Man. So, we decided to do a practice duathlon, so we'd know how hard it will be next weekend (ahh! it's that soon!). So, E, K and I drove to my parents hauling our bikes along. We started at about 4:30. Now, let me tell you. If you're not used to running in hot weather, you're stupid to try. I run every week, but not if it's over 85. It was 90+ and I was dying. The two-mile run wasn't bad, but then the heat just attacked you. I never was able to get my breath until we quit biking. E was a great guy and didn't leave me in the dust (he is sweet). I felt like such a weenie! I mean, I run and then bike every week, but it was HARD. Dad laughed at me and said, "Well, that road is definitely not rolling hills [which is what the duathlon course will be next week], it's a lot harder." Thanks Dad! So, now I'm really nervous for this weekend. Then again, I'm not sore at all, so that's good, right?

I think I've decided I'll be volunteering at the Humane Society this summer. I'm excited. I am a bit of an animal freak. I found out last week that I don't have to take 9 hours of education courses this summer, so it was a bit of a struggle to find something to do this summer. But when Mom suggested the Humane Society, I definitely perked up. Yay...

Currently Reading: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy