Oops, I forgot to post things here

You might have thought that we forgot about the blog. We had not forgotten about it. We kept meaning to post things, but we just never did.

So what have we been up to. A lot of different things. Instead of recounting what we have been doing, I showcase the pictures of things we have done.

First, I hope you are keeping up with my photo of the day. I have posted a picture everyday since I received my new camera.

Next, the Tempe Town Lake drained one night when the dam burst. Of course I was there the next morning documenting the destruction. The good news is that they are building a new dam and they hope to have the lake refilled in time for the Arizona Ironman.

For our anniversary we finally went to Sedona and Jerome. It was cloudy and rained almost the entire time, which allowed us a unique view of the area that you normally do not get until November - except that it was still warm.

We promise to get back to posting things more often.

The Arizona Renaissance Festival

Saturday was not just the Spring Equinox, but also a day for us to visit the Arizona Renaissance Festival. The festival is located about a 30 minute drive from us, just east of the Superstition Mountains.

We made sure that we attended all three jousting tournaments. The first one ends with no real winner declared after a great spectacle of the catching rings on their lances, running obstacle courses, and then jousting each other. The second one ends with a bit of a temper tantrum with two knights challenging the two to a "duel to the death". The final joust ends with all of the knights eventually being dismounted and then engaging in sword play. At one point, an "evil" knight wields a flaming sword. But in the end a "good" knight wins.

We also caught a show of a guy that does all sorts of neat tricks with a whip, including one that is on fire as he uses it.

There were a lot of street entertainers and costumes to see. We started planning what we might wear for Halloween and next year's ren faire.

The girls had a blast and it was a beautiful spring day that was nice and warm. Yes, we all did come home with a little sunburn from the AZ sun, but it was a very mild one.

This was also the end of Spring Break for the girls, they go back to school on Monday.

Pictures from the Arizona Renaissance Festival:

Getting back to normal

First and foremost, Steven got his bike back today! So after a long seven and half weeks, he will begin biking to work again. The weather has been cooperating, and we are looking forward to the high temperatures getting into the mid-80s this week with the lows still hovering in the low 50s. Plus the girls are on spring break this week, so the good weather is a very welcome thing after the soggy February we just had (1.36" - 19th wettest on record) the followed the 4th wettest January (2.43").

Not too long ago, Lindsey had another chorus concert and Steven recorded (see video below). He has also been having fun with his new camera. He has made a point to take a picture everyday that he shares on Flickr. Take a look at the album below.

Dawn picked up tickets for us all to go to Senior Day for the ASU Men's Basketball team. It was great to see ASU wallop UCLA from the tip, but it was sad to see ASU miss the NCAA Tournament despite finishing second in the Pac-10 Conference during the regular season.

Steven also took a day off to join Lexi and her class for a field trip to Chase Field. They enjoyed getting a behind the scenes tour that included the visiting team's locker room and the home team dugout.

Chase Field Tour:





Picture of the Day:

So even though Steven's bike isn't fixed yet, I decided it was time to get back on my bike. It suddenly hit me that the triathlon that I want to participate in is only 9 weeks away. So all sorts of activity this week. Monday and Wednesday involved walking/jogging with Tuesday being a bike day. I am averaging about 2 miles on the walk/jog and about 10 on the bike rides. Thursday I combined them trying to simulate doing both of them in one day. I did ok. I spent too long in the transition area( the house) but did ok with doing both activities in one day. I included some weight lifting and then after weeding the front yard I took Violet for a walk. So yesterday was an active day. I was hoping to get another active day in today, but had to go to ASU to solve some problems with my registration there. That took most of the morning and then getting a wedding present for some friends took up a good chunk of the afternoon. So I guess I will have to find some time this weekend to squeeze in the exercise. My plan is to ride my bike to work on Monday and Wednesday and on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday next week do the double thing again. I am doing the weightlifting every day.

I had forgotten how meditative getting in the groove when exercising can be. Lots of random thoughts going through the brain when you are out on the bike. I know that part of my problems with food are hating to cook for myself and feeling as if being able to buy lunch out gives me a sense of doing something for my self. In the past I used to take that as the only thing that I could do for my self. Since moving out here, Steven has worked hard to make sure I knew that I came first to him atleast. It has taken some time but I am finally ready to believe it. I have spent some time convincing myself of it and I feel as if it is finally starting to take hold.

Oh well onto the plan for the next week. Well Saturday we are going to get our veggies from Bountiful Baskets a food coop we belong to. Then off to an ASU Men's basketball game. Somewhere in there will be some physical activity of some sort. Jogging atleast 3 days next week with bicycle riding 4 days. Weight lifting 4 days and sit ups atleast 4 days. I want to improve distances next week. I am not worried about time right now. At this point I am not swimming, as our pool is still too cold for me to get in so I will have to simulate some swimming strokes here with the weights until I can get in the pool.


lost inches this week. will post more later

well, my friends are blogging about their weight loss and I just sit here getting fatter. This year has been overwhelming so far. Christmas was wonderful, had Patrick out here, the weather was nice, got good grades in my class I was taking. The students I teach earned good grades so I felt awesome. Steven got me both Jillian Michaels Ultimate Fitness and Wii Active for Christmas so I had workout plans for indoors until I can get outside again. Christmas day Patrick left to go back to Virginia. I didn't realize that I was so exhausted until after he left. I started back to teaching on January 4th and picked up a lot of substituing at work. The paycheck liked it but the good exercise habits I was hoping to build didn't materialize. I find that right now I am having issues in putting on 3 or 4 different sets of clothes in one day. I don't like it. It bothers me to make that much laundry or exert that much effort. So when something came along to stop it I didn't put up much of a fight. In January we had some fantastic rain storms. Of course Steven was still riding his bike, but picked up a stone during one of the storms and did horrible things to his brakes and rims. So his bike has been out of operation since the middle of January. Having to take him to the metro atleast 2 days(if not all 5) a week and substituting made sure I didn't ride my bike or keep up my exercise routine when I got home. I don't always appreciate an audience(my children) that tells me they can do it better or that I am doing it wrong so I don't exercise when they are home. So there has been no exercise since his bike broke which is about 6 weeks now. I have also taken this semester off from classes and have found that I drifted from my goals a little. The break has been good, but I am ready to go now. Steven keeps telling me public accountability helps so counting on y'all for some help.

It was my goal to run in a 5k on the day before Valentines Day. It was a source of major disappointment when I didn't run. However, I did take Steven out for a wonderful Valentines dinner at the J&G Steakhouse atop the wonderful Phoneican Resort on Camelback Mountain. Finding some thing to wear was a real pain in the butt and he will tell you he saw about 3 outfits before i got in the car. so new goals:
I want to particpate in the SheRox(http://www.sheroxtri.com/) sprint distance triathlon on May 8th. That is a half mile swim, a 13 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run. I feel as if I can do the bike ride already. The swim will probaby be the most challenging since it is still a little cool for the pool(at least to my thinking). The run would just be reallllllllly slow right now. So I plan on getting back in the saddle by training for it and telling you all about my progress. Steven can take pictures with his spiffy new camera and you can tell me about your efforts. Send me pictures of you too so that we can encourage each other no matter what our goals.

right now here are my stats(no laughing or gasping)
weight no idea not going to find out yet
measurements:
neck 14.5
upper arm 14
bust 44.5
waist 40.5
abdomen 46.5
hips 46
thigh 26
size 16/18

goals:
to reduce that size down to a 10
by July 1

bike ride would like to be doing 100 mile rides by Sept 1 with Steven
swim want to be able to swim that mile
running: 1/2 marathon by next January?
hiking with Steven on the hard hikes by the fall

Secondary goal: to knock Steven's socks off when on our 16th anniversary August 1st I put on a dress that is so little and sexy that he has to deal with all the other guys looking at me when he takes me to dinner.(Start saving dear!!!!!)

Slow month

Despite having some great weather, we have not been able to get out to do much. The first problem is that both of my bikes have had severe mechanical breakdowns. The good news is that my commuting bike has repairs underway.

However, I suspect we will be getting out more soon. I have recently purchased a new camera, a Nikon D-5000. So you can expect some fantastic pictures on this site in the near future. One of the things I am going to try to do is take at least one picture a day with the camera and post the best one of the day to an online web album.

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

Today Lindsey turned 14 and Steven shot some portraits for her.