TRI THIS!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Okay, so as you can probably tell by our blog background, I did and thoroughly enjoyed doing a triathlon today. This was my first "official" sprint triathlon event. I'm teaching a sprint triathlon class and in charge of a sprint triathlon put on at my work on Saturday, so I figure I better sign up and do an official one to see how its run.

So I signed up for the Coyote Carrera Sprint Triathlon- which 300 people were registered for.

Tracie, an awesome client I trained for 7 months, and her partner Martha raced in the event with me. It was fun to have friends to share the experience with!

They live two blocks from the start, so we met and rode down from their place..

We had a little craziness before getting down. My bike was completely squeeky and Tracie's tire was flat, so we ended up loading another bike unto the car for Martha to use.


At the race, setting up my spot. I loved how intense some of the people were- the guy next to me had 4 packages of goo. FOUR! Good gracious!

7:30 am- just waiting to get the show on the road!

579! Wha, wha!

Tracie and I before the start..

Jaylen LOVED all the bikes- and tipped one over, so we had to keep a close eye on him..

Waiting for the start... it was hilarious watching all these crazy people in spandex warming up. We had a good laugh mimicking the crazies.

I'm all the way on the left looking pretty confident- HA!

We counted down to 10 and we were OFF! FINALLY!

Coming back in from the 3.1 mile run (which I heard later was actually longer than they thought)- I was feeling great at this point- We ran along the beautiful Bosque trail that runs along the Rio Grande and I was #8 coming in, so I was HAPPY!

That top 10 spot didn't last long on the bike. ERRRR! It was so frustrating to have people whizzing by you on their road bikes saying "On your left." I was very sick of hearing that by the end of the 13 miles, but I finally get to say it to someone else on the way back in..

On the way back in to transition to the swim. I didn't see anyone ahead of me with a mountain bike, so I was happy even though I was frustrated by being passed by a lot of people I'd worked hard to pass on the run..

In the pool- ABSOLUTE CRAZINESS! 300 people in a pool is crazy. Granted we weren't all in there at one time, but it sure felt like it. I was kicked/slapped/clawed/ran over and after I got out I realized my foot was bleeding. It was hard to swim when you couldn't really glide out, but amazingly, I loved every minute of it!

Frustration...

When I got out, I seriously was trying to wrap my mind around what just happened. That swim was like nothing I've ever experienced.


Back to get my stuff! I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!

My awesome and best support team- my cute 2 boys!


Wow, I definitely just started a new hobby. I had a blast training for it- If I didn't feel like running, I'd bike. If I didn't feel like biking, I'd swim. It was so fun to learn to swim and I feel so much more well rounded and healthy than when I just ran to train for the marathons. It was definitely challenging to race, but it was actually really FUN! When I was done, I felt the accomplishment and felt energized and happy- where on the marathons it was more a feeling of being emotional and physically beat over the head.

Much more to come when it comes to triathlons! My next feat is to plan and successfully pull off being in charge of running one this weekend! Shew! Wish me luck!

Funniest nap yet!

Jaylen is one funny kid.

He woke up from his nap today, came out his door, looked at me with very sleepy eyes then walked back into his room. I peeked in on him and told him to come snuggle me when he was ready. 10 minutes later I heard snoring. I peeked in and found him sleeping like this:

Whenever he'd stir, he'd rock himself with his feet. It was pretty entertaining to watch.

Went back to reading and peeked in 30 minutes later and it evolved into this:



And finally he ended up like this:


What did I ever do for entertainment before I had a kid?

Jaylen stories

I am an official bike owner! I'm teaching a sprint triathlon course and am about to compete in one in a week or so, so I finally broke down and bought a bike. I also got a trailer to put Jaylen in- so far so good. I went on a ride with a friend and we were out a little tooooo long (2 1/2 hours) for Jaylen, but he did really awesome until the end (I don't blame him...).

Anyways, as I was pulling up to Walmart to get some slime for my tires, I hear Jaylen saying, "Bananas, oatmeal, fruit, turkey..." and I stop, listen and realize he's giving me a grocery list of the food he wanted to get at the grocery store. Its amazing how much he gets that I don't even realize yet.

Another little funny thing Jaylen is doing is saying, "Goodbye Alligator!" We were sitting out on the porch one night and Jaylen would jump on his bike, ride away, wave and say, "Bye, bye!" I told him "See ya later alligator!" and he cracked up laughing. So now he loves to say, "Bye bye Alligator!" He doesn't quite get the rhyming thing, but oh well, its really cute.

Out of the mouth of babes

Jaylen was driving me crazy yesterday.

I told him, "Jaylen, you're making me really angry right now."

To that he replied, "Mommy, you hungry??"

Darn kid.

Cooking Meat

HELP!!!!!

I love eating meat. Unfortunately, I'm not so hot at cooking meat. DOES ANYONE HAVE SOME TIPS OUT THERE?

Chicken- Are you supposed to always cover it in the oven? It seems like I've baked chicken covered and uncovered and its usually not as tender and juicy as I want it to be, or like the recipe says it should be...

Roast/crock pot- I AM SO ANGRY ABOUT THIS ONE. I'm about to throw my stupid crock pot out the window. I tried cabbage and corned beef recently, some pork and have done a few beef roast and my meat NEVER turns out tender, or that "fall apart" consistency. Its always done all the way through, but completely chewy and rough. I've used all different cuts of meat also. I have suspicions my crock pot is messed up- cause everything is always cooked and done in half the time recipes call for, even on low- but does anyone have any ideas what I'm doing wrong??

I LOVE, LOVE meat but can not produce a tender, juicy meat on my own! WHAT AM I DOING WRONG!?

HAPPY EASTER!!!

What an AWESOME WEEKEND! Wow. I have no idea what the temperature has been, but it's been summer warm. We played tennis (Sunburn!), went to an Easter fair held by my work where Jaylen LOVED the bouncy things, ate yummy cinnamon rolls, Cafe Rio burritos, had an Easter egg hunt, played at the park, and watched awesome sessions of General Conference. Here's a peek at this weekend...

I love this guy! He makes life so FUN!

Jaylen was so cute searching for eggs- He had to stop and eat whatever was inside before moving on..





Aaron was excited I hid one for him too!

It took Jaylen awhile to find this one.. pretty challenging, huh?!

On the way down to search for eggs!

Bubbles on our porch on Saturday afternoon..


Jaylen's all about them!

Here's the bouncy at the New Mexico Sports and Wellness Easter Fair


A little clip of Jaylen looking for eggs at our place...

We also picked up some underwear for Jaylen. I figured I'd put them on him and see how he reacted when he peed his pants. Well, 10 minutes later he peed all over me, the floor and didn't care one bit, so we'll be waiting a few more months to really get into potty training. He was really cute in his little undies while they lasted! He sure was excited about them!


This seems like an odd placement for this, after talking about peeing pants and all- but I really enjoyed conference this weekend. I forgot the guys name, but he talked about the love of mother's in the afternoon session and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! I felt on the verge of tears the whole talk and just felt so grateful to be a mom. I've realized I'm not so much of a newborn baby person, and it took me awhile to really connect and enjoy having a child. I've really come to truly enjoy and love having Jaylen and really want to do my best to love and take care of him the best I can. There really is nothing like the love a mother has for her child.

I also thought about how awesome Aaron's mom is to have 3 boys she's loved and taken care of for all these years and still has such an awesome bond with them. She's been a great example to me of how to be a successful, awesome mom.

Having a relaxing, enjoyable weekend has really helped me step back and think of all I'm blessed with. I have loving, awesome friends. I have a healthy, loving family.

I'm most thankful today for the Savior and the great sacrifice he made for mankind so we can go back and live with our Father in heaven. Conference always makes me think of being with family growing up watching conference, especially my Dad. I'm so incredibly grateful I'll get to see him again and that he taught me the essential things in life to be happy.

You're awesome Jesus, we love you!

Oven Fried Chicken in Honey Butter sauce

I've found some awesome food blogs recently and have been trying out some new recipes- it's been so awesome! Here's one of the latest ones- I've been posting them over at the Family Recipe blog- allithinkaboutisfood.blogspot.com

Chatting with Jaylen

Here's a little clip of Jaylen the other morning. Its so fun to pick his brain and see what he's thinking. He loves talking about the blender, making smoothies (smoopies), popcorn (crack-corn), candy (ne-nes) around the house now days. Its too funny!

A quick story- after getting done training at the gym, we got in the car and as soon as I got in, Jaylen said, "Time to go home and hug Daddy??" It was super cute!