Friday's Top 10 List: Things I Loved About The Weekend

The Monday Version

I usually do a Top 10 list on Fridays - thus the name - but I'm throwing caution to the wind and doing it on a Monday instead. And since so few folks read the blog these days, I'm treating this bloggity-blog thing as more of a personal journal, so I'm sure that no one will mind.

Anyway, ready... set... list!

1. Hillbilly Hoedown - This month's ward activity came complete with chili, cornbread, Mormon Moonshine (rootbeer), pie-eating contests and babysitting provided! Oh, and an insane amount of missing teeth and an overabundance of oversized overalls. If that doesn't scream 'Good times!', I don't know what does.



2. Style on the Cheap - Over the weekend, I was surfing the web and came across some fun, frivilous, frugal fashion-y sites. Made me think I can make some nice revisions to my wardrobe & style without killing our monthly budget.
   


3. Oh, what a beautiful mornin' - Every day I wake up, see the sun shining and can open the windows without being assaulted by killer chicken methane gases - I chock that up to a blessed thing.
   


4. Operation Cupcake - If ever someone is sad, ill, bored or just needs to be cheered up, the first thing that pops into my mind is cupcakes, of course. So, when a close friend was badly hurt in a mountain biking accident last weekend, Dave bought him a mountain bike magazine (much to his wife's chagrin, I'm sure) and I made my Peanut Butter & Chocolate cupcakes. My hope is that a little sugar and a lot of love poured into those babies can heal 5 cracked ribs, one punctured lung and a bruised liver; if not, at least it will take his mind off of the pain, I suppose.



5. General Relief Society Broadcast - For some odd reason, I've missed the last 2 or 3 of these broadcasts. I was glad that I made it to this one - and thanks to the carpooling kindness of one of the sisters in my ward, I got to hang with a huge group of awesome ladies. While I nibbled on Haribo gummy bears, Sister Beck spoke about the purpose & organization of RS, Sister Allred spoke with her sweet accent of relieving the poor and saving souls, Sister Thompson addressed the saving nature of keeping of covenants, and President Uchtdorf talked about pretty blue flowers.
   


6. Forget-Me-Nots - I'm not sure what it is about President Uchtdorf, but I adore that kind man and the wonderful talks he gives during conference. This one was no exception, as he used the Forget-Me-Not and its 5 petals as a metaphor of things we should not forget: Forget Not to be Patient with Yourself; Forget Not the Difference Between Good and Foolish Sacrifices; Forget Not to Be Happy Now; Forget Not the 'Why' of the Gospel; and Forget Not that the Lord Loves You. Favorite quote: "Sisters, wherever you are, whatever the circumstances may be, you are not forgotten. No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you, with an infinite love." Love love love.
   


7. Surviving Church - I absolutely love our son, but he was a holy terror yesterday and I don't know who he is and what has he done with our angelic little boy. Lately, he's taken to slapping our faces with wild abandon while we hold him during church and it nearly drove me to the brink yesterday. Coupled with the fact that none of us got much sleep the previous night (spontaneous family slumber party on the couch), it was one tough day. BUT! I love that we made it through church, including an extra 40 minutes in sacrament meeting and waiting while Dave attended BYC after the block - and that we are living to tell the tale. Totally giving myself a high-five on that one.
   


8. Back to Basics - The reason we had an extra long sacrament meeting yesterday was for the Ward Council to present the ward's goal & game plan for the year; namely, to Strengthen the Family. I absolutely loved it. We absolutely need it. It's going to be awesome to put it into action. Plus, they made this pretty poster that we can hang on the fridge to chart our successes. I'm all kinds of excited about implementing The Plan.



9. Sunday Dinner - Leah & Logan Black were coming over for dinner, but had to raincheck as a family thing came up. So, we did dinner solo and you know what? It was just nice to have our little family - the three of us - sit around the table and eat good food. I whipped up beef stroganoff, a side of green grapes & raspberries, a salad of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and green peppers, chased down with icy cold water. It was simple, tasty, relaxing and it was exactly what the doctor ordered after a chaotic Sunday.
   


10. Bike Date - Best Part of the Weekend, hands down. Dave rushed in from helping a scout complete his Eagle Project, and announced that it was such a beautiful day, we were going on a bike ride. Thanks to the awesome babysitting assist of Jillian, Janaya, Jessica & Bret, we dropped off the kiddo to run free in the Webbs' backyard of fun while we hopped on our bikes. Heading north, we rode along the Interurban Trail, down into the Snohomish Valley, up Highway 9 and Cathcart, and managed to circle back to the Webbs' house in less than 90 minutes. Not bad for a 20-mile bike ride!

Smile, or Else...

... you're on camera!

I remember reading the huge packet of information, prior to race day. One of the bulleted race rules - marked in BOLD letters - stated, "Smile during the entire race!" I remember laughing at how absurd that would look: smiling like a fool while your body feels like it's breaking in two.

But, as I pushed my way up a hill on the bike course, I heard someone yell, "Smile!" and like Pavlov's dog (as well as not wanting to have a heinous picture), I flashed my pearly whites for the giant zoom-lensed race paparazzi. At that point, I was dead tired from a killer swim and my legs weren't doing what I was asking of them. But, my body wasn't breaking in two, so I hoped the smile wouldn't look too artificial.

Instead of t-shirts, we were given the choice of one complimentary race picture from the wide array of images taken over the course of the event. I think that I had 5 to choose from: 2 from the post-swim (egads, no!), one from the biking, and 2 at the finish line (where I did look like my body was breaking in two). I opted for the one on the bike where I put on my best face.

I don't think it turned out too badly; in fact, I actually kind of like it now!

Little Hands Helping

Through our Service, we Honor Those Who Died

Taking part in the LDS National Day of Service, we spent our Saturday morning at Gateway Middle School with countless ward members. We had so many people turn out for the service project, the work was done quickly and many people were asking for more to do.

Much of the time I was running around with Benjamin as he played with his bouncy ball. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it to bring him to things like this when he is so young, and doesn't understand why we do things.

But then I see that he's beginning to understand.

Reflections at Seattle Hill

On a lazy Friday evening with no definitive plans, what does one do? Well, we...

* gaze up at the clouds in childlike wonder

* hold hands with someone we love

* practice our best jump shots, lay-in and world-famous granny shots

* run at breakneck speed for no reason but to feel the wind in our face

* shoot a few more baskets because practice makes perfect

* jump on a swing and do so with wild abandon

* kick, throw, bounce, repeat

* drink in each lovely moment as the sun paints the sky a hundred dazzling shades of gold

"To the dull mind nature is leaden; To the illumined mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Under the Harvest Moon

"But now it's gettin' late/And the moon is climbin' high/I want to celebrate/See it shinin' in your eye."

Each quarter, we get together with folks from our old ward to eat good food, enjoy seeing old friends and take in the excitement of our festive dinner parties. This time around, Allison, Linda & I planned the event and decided (fingers crossed for good weather) that we would hold it in our backyard, which overlooks the Snohomish Valley. Little did we know that particular day would be one of the hottest days of the year in Seattle!

With Autumn fast approaching, our group decided to go with a theme of golden, red and brown to celebrate the impending season. We invited everyone to bring food (we potluck with such a large group) that was in keeping with the comfort foods of fall.

After stringing up several lighted garlands and spreading tablecloths, we covered the tables with candles, leaves and ceramic bowls filled with snacks and candies. A large drink dispenser was filled with water and sliced oranges, while countless tealights scattered across the yard came to light. Paper bag luminarias lined the walkway, directing partygoers down to the festivities.

As people arrived, they placed beautiful dishes filled with plentiful & aromatic foods. There were gorgeous tamales, piping hot meatballs & rice, a delicious tomato & pasta soup, mango & greens salad, fresh rolls, amazing stuffed chicken breasts, marbled sweet bread and Linda's famous pumpkin bread pudding with crème anglaise.

Oh heaven, thy name is comfort food!

But besides food, we had a murder mystery to solve! Thanks to a very creative BYU roommate of mine, who was kind enough to ship the game to me, it was completely free! The only minor problem? She had written it for 12 people and 18 people had RSVPd! So... I had to quickly write SIX characters into the game. It was no small task and I was sweating bullets to finish just 30 minutes before people arrived. Talk about intense deadlines! Despite the fact some folks had more in-depth characters than others, everyone seemed to enjoy it and really got into the night's activities! Everyone arrived in character, some in incredibly impressive costumes too. And although it was so stressful to pull it off, I had countless people come up and thank me for such a fun evening - which makes the craziness worth it!

Here are some of the "attendees" (L-R):

Jonathan Clancy (mystery writer) & his dear movie star friend, Olivia Vance; Jean Dupont (aspiring archaeologist) & Inspector Claire Harlow (me!); mysterious socialite Lydia Wellington & her travel companion, Dr. Roger Bryant; Colin Buckley (the butler) & Ariadne Clancy; Madeleine (the maid) & Dr. Norman Gale, DDS. Others not included in picture: Lady Cicely Horbury - rich wife of an Earl & Armand Dupont - famous archaeologist (the Watsons); Vivian Davis & Peter Westwick - the flight attendants (the Palomeras); Jane Grey - Hairdresser & Alistair Sloane - banker (the Loloheas); James Ryder - concrete magnate & Venetia Kerr - English noblewoman (the Valentines).

It was a lusciously warm and exciting night, filled with amazing food, hilarious antics and loads of "who dunit?" questions floating in the evening air.

Play Date with Topher

My mommy makes a mean mac n' cheese.

While Allison and I were busy putting things together for the big dinner party Friday, our little guys played their hearts out.

By the time I got upstairs to check on them, balls of all shapes and sizes were strewn around the room, various colored blocks were stacked into incredible skyscrapers and literally, hundreds of fishy cracker remains were ground into the carpet, couch, clothes and hair. These guys had strung up Fun from one end of the room to the other. If we had a chandelier, I'm sure they would have been swinging from it like little monkeys.

Unfortunately, the boys were worn out and hungry while we were still finishing some things, so I made up some Easy Mac, filled sippy cups with icy, cold whole milk and gave each kiddo a generous handful of freshly-washed, red grapes.

Big smiles on both boys?

I think I'd call this a very successful play date!

Ready or Not, I Tri-ed!

Lake Stevens Triathlon - September 10, 2011

After 6 weeks of fairly intensive training and two weeks off to nurse inflamed knee joints, I found myself facing one of the greatest challenges of my life. While this triathlon was only a sprint, I still felt quite trepidatious to take it on.

Suzanne, my tri buddy, & I arrived at 6:30am to pick up our bibs and get our things set up in the transition area. I had a dinner party the night previous (I know, major poor planning on my part); combined with the late night getting into bed, my nerves made for a fitful night of sleep. So, as I was prepping that morning, the fatigue was a fairly big obstacle. Still, I was registered and knew I had to do it.

Suzanne & I at the transition area

Pre-race pics with Suzanne and some other participants who also happen to attend our ward

Dragging myself out of the water and doing my 1st transition (took way too long!)

Another post swim shot (I was exhausted) and crossing the Finish Line

Suzanne & I (me w/ a mouth full of food); Julie (her husband also competed and is another participant from our ward)

My awesome support team - tired troopers that cheered me on through all legs of the race

The swim was absolutely my most challenging and terrifying part; swimming 1/4 mile with a large pack of people was not something I was prepared for and I panicked mid-swim. Thankfully, I had a strong back stroke which got me through the rest of that leg. Unfortunately, it wiped me out so I took nearly 4 minutes in the first transition; I fought weak, shaky legs as I dried off, and strapped into my bike shoes and jersey.

As I began the 9.8-mile bike portion, my strongest event, I was feeling lethargic and slow; my rubbery legs just didn't want to do anything else and we had a few big hills to climb. I downed some energy gel which I hoped would perk me up, but although it was a pleasant-sounding berry flavor, it was not tasty and made me gag a bit. However, I did get my second wind halfway through and was able to make up some good time.

The second transition was much better; I believe it was nearly a sub-2 before I started out on the 5k. My legs were definitely tired and my pace was much slower than anytime during my training. With a forecast in the mid/upper 90s, I was kind of worried about heat exhaustion, so I just took a "slow and steady wins the race" mentality. Well, I wasn't focused on winning so much as just crossing the finish line. I caught up with Suzanne and we ran a very slow pace together for a bit, but then I pulled ahead because I caught another "second wind".

Crossing the line with the last bits of energy I had, I was happy to see that I came in with a time of 1:34. Unfortunately, I thought I would take much longer so while Dave and most of the folks from our ward cheered me on at the finish, my parents showed up minutes after I finished.

Yesterday, I looked up the race results. I registered for the Athena category, which is for any female participants over 150 lbs (the secret's out!). Surprisingly, I finished 3rd in that category; if I'd been in my age category, I would have been 13th. So, all in all, I was happy with the performance, especially since I had the knee issue and couldn't train much those last two weeks.

I am so happy it's over and proud of myself for training and finishing a multi-sport race. Absolutely the biggest challenge was the swim, but I'm hoping to take some lessons or get some pointers from my swim coach friend. It's best that I get ready because Suzanne has already said we're signing up for two triathlons next year!