TRI

WOOHOO!!! I did the Sprint Triathlon!! The whole race was set up at Genessee Park in Seattle right at the Stan Sayers pits. I had to swim 0.5 mile, which is 18 laps at a pool, or 36 lengths. It took me about 21 minutes. I then had to run out of the water to my transition area where my bike was. I took about 6 minutes to run there, take off my wetsuit, dry off and put my running shoes on. I also got some water and some energy stuff while I was there. I then ran out with my bike to Lake Washington Blvd where I biked 12 miles across the I-90 express lanes. This took me about 43 minutes. Once I got back, I got a quick drink and off I ran. I was EXHAUSTED! My legs felt like rubber and were soo heavy! I think the first mile took me forever! I had to stop like 3 times for some water and to rest my legs a little on the first one alone. Once the second mile hit, I felt like I got in a groove. The problem was, I had to pee the entire time I was running and that really slowed me down! I crossed the finish line and kept on running to the portapotties. The run took me 30 minutes, so about 10min/mile.


Matt was great and tried his best to catch me at each interval. There were over 5000 competitors and each had people there to see them, so he was in a crowd all day! He missed me get back from the swim, but he made it to all of the others! It was so hard to find him at the end of the race.





Here I am preparing my transition site at 6am.




Putting on my wetsuit at double o early





wetsuit again



NERVOUS picture





Running out of the swim.



Putting my bike back, getting ready to run




You can barely see me in the distance on my run...this whole portion counts as my "transition" between events, so I tried to be quick.



Sprinting the finish

close up of me at the finish

All done and taking everything back to the car


The Ultimate Supporter


A couple of the girls from work who did it with me...we're on the first place block. I cannot see because the sun is my eyes (good excuse for a bad pic)

yard

Matt worked all weekend by himself on the yard. He used this crazy contraption that he rented to dig holes in our clay-like soil, and carry loads of dirt.


He planted all of these plants (finally!!) with the use of that crazy drill! Thank goodness, because it would have taken much more time by hand!


The wall is all filled in behind now and we will hopefully get some plants in there soon!


Random rocks in the dirt will have a better place once we have more plants.


wide view

I am SO proud of how much he got done this weekend!

pictures

I borrowed my friend's road bike the other day and the rear tire needed some pumping. This is what we saw when the tire was taken off. They think the tube was defective...ha!



Here is the infamous retaining wall. Matt will be backfilling and adding soil this weekend...more pics to come.


Close-up


Firepit

Bees on my oregano

start of the steps

steps

Wall

"Another picture, Mom??"

the mother load

vacuum, that is.

I got a brand new, fancy pants vacuum! It vacuums WAY more than my other Dirt Devil did! It also comes with a shampooer attachment and I LOVE IT!!!

Here is a picture of the massive mosquito bites all over my back and arms. It's hard to tell, but they're there. Also, on the back of my left shoulder is a bruise that Whiskey made trying to swim with me in the lake.

Mt. Rainier

Mt. Rainier was gorgeous for us yesterday! We hiked up Sourdough Ridge off of Sunrise. The mosquitoes were swarming constantly, and we even had bug spray! Matt got away with only 2 bites, but the rest of us got eaten alive! I have over 40 for sure and usually don't get eaten by them too much. These ones were tiny, but packed a punch!

Matt and I at the top of our hike


Megan, Me, Matt, Katherine



Amanda, Jim, Megan, Katherine


Same

We left around 1:30 pm to head home and got stopped right away by a van pulling a trailer that jack-knifed on the two lane curvy road. Their brakes went out at the top and just had to keep going until they slowed. God was sure looking out for them because no one got hurt! We were stuck there for about 2 hours, and then still had to drive all the way back down through Enumclaw then home! I swear it took forever!!

All in all, a great day!!

tourism

Matt's cousin, Katherine and her friend, Megan, are in town from Alabama. We showed them EVERYTHING there is to see!!

Saturday in Seattle:

Riding the monorail (Bryan, Amanda, Katherine, Megan)


Ready to ride the Light Rail on the first day!


Ready for the Sounders game! (In line for a hot dog)

Sounders vs Chelsea

girls

Matt and I at Kerry Park on Queen Anne

The girls at the Troll in Fremont

Sunday we went Canoeing (instead of kayaking) at the Arboretum near UW. It was awesome!! Plus, it was only $10 per boat per hour!

Today includes a lake trip, and tomorrow includes a Mt Rainier trip. Anyone interested??

The Latest

Here are some pics of what has been happening at the house lately.

The beginnings of a real fire pit



some of the retaining wall and the steps that will go up the hill in the middle of it


We had to dig out a portion of the hill so we could bring the wall back a little



My Mom's boyfriend Sam was able to bring these rocks into the yard for us!! They are MASSIVE!


Our driveway is filled to the brim!


A close-up of the stone


One of my new dahlias compared to Matt's hand



One of the hanging baskets out front...at least some of my plants are thriving!


We are also painting our living room FINALLY!! We just started today, so these are mid paint



You can see the previous tan paint to the left


Sexy husband taping

We had the pleasure of hosting the Joner family for the weekend and they are adopting this itty-bitty!! She was adorable, and loved Whiskey-me, not so much! With the fam, we had 9 people staying at our home for the weekend!

Wary of me holding her

Matt has been working hard not only at work, but also getting the supplies for all of our improvements! It has been a challenge having the right materials at the right times. And something always comes up extra that we will need, which means $$$! We cannot wait until this project is over! We will invite everyone over soon for a BBQ and campfire!

We are painting the family room a lovely shade of green. It only took 4 samples to get the right one! Thanks to Awesome Amanda, we found the green we were looking for.

I have been trying to swim a couple days a week and I feel like I am getting better, but I still need a lot of work. Maybe I should just backstroke the whole way??? :)

Matt and I went to church this morning and really enjoyed ourselves! We always feel better when we do. I had taken this weekend off, so we should actually be able to go next Sunday also, which would be a full two weeks in a row! Since I can only go to church every other week and we have been so busy, we have had a hard time getting motivated to get up and find a new church. We liked the service we went to today! Yippee!

On Friday, we have Matt's cousin Kathryn coming over from Alabama for a few days. It'll be busy, but we'll have a great time touring the area!

weekend

On Friday we spent the day in Cle Elum wakeboarding, tubing, and wading in the water with Bry and Amanda. It was perfect and I am sooooo sore!

Yesterday, we went to Ocean Shores to spend the 4th with Matt's family. Delicious food, fun games, campfires, smores, fireworks on the beach, kiddos, a fun skateboard thing, and a dog who didn't seem to mind the fireworks. Besides the loooong trip out there, it was way too much fun!

I think today will be spent at Rattlesnake Lake with the hubby attempting to teach myself how to swim further than 20 feet...

list

Things I am thinking about today:
*we are trying to paint our family room a shade of green. I have tried two different colors, and I still don't really know what I want. Why is this so hard??
*I made a blackberry & peach crisp today and it smells delicious! I can't try it until I bring it to a BBQ though. What if it doesn't taste right?
*I allow Whiskey to have toilet paper and paper towel rolls when we finish them. He eats sticks all day, how could a little bit of cardboard hurt? I swear I had only given him like 3 total. However, the other day Matt put a new toilet paper roll on and Whiskey hurt the click of the roll and came running in from the other room!! He's too cute!
*I have to start swimming again to train for my Sprint Tri...otherwise, I will probably die in the water about 20 feet in.
*I got a new bird feeder (again!) a couple weeks ago, but I have yet to see a bird eating from it. Same bird seed and everything! And right next to it is a bag feeder with thistle in it that Goldfinches eat at ALL THE TIME. What am I doing wrong?
*We will soon be starting a retaining wall project in our backyard. This time, we are spending the money to have someone else do it. Yay!
*Matt and I rarely see movies-theater and home alike (I know, we're odd). However, I think I have seen Miss Congeniality I & II a bagillion times each...I just love Sandra Bullock! I will have to see The Proposal, but knowing me it won't be until it runs and reruns on tv...
*I love the "letleonardin.com" commercials for the aquarium...that fish is so cute! And when the seal smooshes his face up against the goldfish in the bag, adorable!
*There are 2 brand spanking new puppies in the neighborhood, and a husky puppy coming this weekend...yeeessss!!
*I hate that I can be idle and lazy so easily...

cookies

I made some cookies today made with whole wheat flour. I have to say, I would probably do this every time now!!

These are very simply 4-ingredient peanut butter cookies:http://www.thegoodmoodfoodblog.com/2009/01/yummy-wholewheat-peanut-butter-cookies_20.html

These are the chocolate chip cookies and are delicious!!http://www.aldenteblog.com/2009/02/whole-wheat-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe.html

Pictures are in the links!

birthday shout-out

Happy Birthday, Nana!!! I am sorry I didn't call you today, I will call this weekend. LOVE YOU!!

dinner

I made this for dinner tonight:

it's called Chicken Masala, and I found it on http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/ I LOVE this website!! In fact, most of my meals have been from here lately. I just always seem to have the same ingredients in my house that she has! I made her Key Lime Pie the other day and it was to-die-for! I will be making the spinach salad with hot bacon dressing this weekend too! I can't wait!! She always posts pictures of the step-by-step process of her meals, so it is so easy to follow along. Plus, she's pretty funny!

Food Bank

I forgot to mention that Matt and I worked at the Food Bank in Shoreline on Saturday! It was with a group from Matt's work plus three other work groups. We were only there for about 3 hours, but I had a lot of fun! We opened the bags people donated, sorted, sorted and sorted!

Me (in the midst of the sorting)


Matt (this was at the end when we were just cleaning up)

BBQ

I got a recipe for a chicken marinade the other day and finally BBQed the chicken today. It was delicious!! Usually, my BBQed chicken comes out really dry because I tend to overcook it-not today, baby!!

I used halved chicken that I got on sale-bone-in, skin-on...this makes for some moist chicken!!
Marinade:
1 -1.5cup or so Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 -3/4 cup or so Olive & Vegetable Oils total
1-2 eggs
1-2 TBS poultry seasoning
2 TBS salt
1 TBS pepper

Marinate for 24-48hrs...then grill


I actually used this very same marinade on some country-style ribs the other day, but only marinaded for about 4 hours. I then BBQed them, and they were also delicious!


Matt and I are obsessed with grilling lately. The one thing we have been loving is a BBQed onion. Cut it like a bloomin' onion, so not all the way through. Then put it on some foil, add some EVOO and garlic salt and BBQ away! Thanks to Bryan and Amanda for this one!