Sunday Lesson

This past Sunday we had a lesson on the

Atonement.

It was really nice because the teacher showed a video about Christ.

It was suggested to go on You Tube and watch this video.

I get so sad how mean and cruel people can be,

even when going on You Tube to look this up. I just really like how when

we do think of Christ that it can bring us back

to reality why we are here and

it helps me to stop worrying about the

petty things

in life.

We all need to be

reminded, especially me.

Just thought I would share this. I was really touched when I watched it.

Life's What You Make It.

My friend Lisa and I were talking yesterday about how sometimes people (especially perfectionists) often are too busy looking at what they want rather than just enjoying the moment and what they have at that time. I am known for this "grass is greener" mentality and am guilty of wishing things away! It's fun to dream, but have fun while waiting for the dreams to come true!

So while I'm figuring out ways to pay bills, clean the house, go on vacation, fix house problems, fix bike problems, etc. I decided to take on some projects around the house that are actually turning out pretty fun and worthwhile.

I started recycling! It makes a difference with trash!

I decorated Mike's den with his mountain bike pics.

I'm starting a garden.

I'm digging a patio and building it myself.

I made my first loaf of homemade bread.

I love growing plants. These beauties are lasting a while!

I jump started Mike's truck, moved it, washed it, and now we only have two cars out front!

I gave up the battle with 100 degree weather killing my plants and put in fake plants!

I got the Lexus started and we are selling it!

Can I say I love summer??

NMORS- So Far!

So we are seven races into the sixteen race season (which ends in October!) and we're not even halfway done yet! I was thinking about how each race is so different and all the cool places in New Mexico I have seen! Let's do a recap of the race season so far.

1. Coyote Classic (El Paso, TX): Technically not in NM but had the biggest show yet. There were over forty people in just Mike's category alone. Mike and I practiced a lot over the winter and it showed because a lot of people from northern New Mexico couldn't practice because of the snow! Mike podiumed for third and I got first!

2. Tour of Socorro (Socorro, NM): First day. Hill Climb. Raining like crazy and raging rivers to deal with along with cold. It was so cold they had to shorten the climb because the top of the mountain had snow on it! Mike got second! I got first. My best time out of all of my races. No clue what was in the air that day, but I liked it!

3. Tour of Socorro (Socorro, NM): Cross country. Personally, not a fan of this trail and the fact that expert and sport were passing me so I had to keep stopping. One part I actually had to lean because the trail was so narrow. The ending is a ton of hill climbs that kicked your butt! Mike did it twice, I only had to do it once..thank goodness!

4. La Tierra Torture (Santa Fe, NM): Short Track. Never had done a short track before. It basically is a mini race of going in circles on the mini-track a few times. I call it the "lung busting" race because of the altitude and how fast you have to push it! I was breathing so hard! I was first, but even better fourth overall out of guys and girls! It was fun being up with the guys. Mike rocked it and got third on this one. I loved seeing him creep up higher and higher on each loop. Our favorite race overall.

5. La Tierra Torture (Santa Fe, NM): One word. Snow. Boo! It was so weird because the day before was so nice! I seriously considered DNF on the starting line because I was so cold! It was terrible. Snow in the eyes. Mike fell. I fell. I got beat by a sport girl that was in my category. Not a good race.

6. Oak Flats (Albuquerque, NM): We didn't preride this one so we had no clue what we were getting into. Lots of trees! Beautiful scenery. I was getting pummeled on the downhill but managaed to get it together for the last two miles of uphill. Thank goodness for uphills. If not, I would not have placed first. Mike's brakes were gone but he still managed to finish!

7. Parajito Punishment (Los Alamos, NM): It's a punishment alright. Between the 10,000 ft altitude and the branches and rocks conspiculously placed on the trail, I took a major beating. (Let's just say my leg looked like a leopard after pre-riding this race.) I am so glad I wasn't sport. I'll be honest, I felt like I was not in good shape for this race. Could have been all the buffets and birthday cake and brownies. Still got a first by six minutes, but barely made it. Mike again had bike problems but finished. The best part was he was standing still for a good ten minutes and had a really good time. He would have easily placed if his chain hadn't weirded out. I really like that he went ahead and did the race and came in so quickly!

Next up: Sandia (Albuquerque, NM). My goal is two hours and thirty minutes. Everyone does the same race so I will be racing against sport too. I want to beat some sport people to see if I am ready to move up. It's a hill climb so I am preparing to kick some butt!

Let Them Eat Cake!

My mom saved our wedding cake and froze it. When I drove back home, I had to put it in a cooler...and this was the result.

Pretty gross right?? The frosting kind of looked rotten but the cake looked normal when we cut it. So what do we do? We eat it anyway!

(Sidenote: Please ignore the lack of make up. Remember, I am on summer vacation, darn it!)

Mike and his very proud look.

Overall diagnosis: Cake=good. Frosting=not so good. (Mike said he got a sick feeling in his stomach later that night.)

Happy Anniversary to us!

A GNC Experiment

For the last few days, Mike and I have tried out this kit from GNC. We both have different reasons for why we are using it. I mainly wanted to try it out because I have hit a weight plateau, even after the amount of biking and working out I do. I saw this in the store and looked up the reviews and found that most people lost about seven pounds in one week on this. I am not really doing it for the weight loss, more just to see if I can get below my plateau and try and get a routine of taking supplements (which is highly recommended by ALL the fitness magazines I read) as well as drinking some protein shakes (which should be done after a workout).

It is so good to get you in a routine! I am on day three right now and I haven't even weighed in but I can tell a few things. One, I love how it helps me to eat healthy all day (it comes with a meal plan). I really need someone to tell me when to eat and what to eat. I found I had a lot of this stuff already! Two, I have built muscle. I just looked in the mirror and could actually see my belly button. No joke, I have never seen my stomach like it has. Three, the shakes are really good and keep me full. The only thing that wigs me out a little are the supplements. I get really jittery and also can't sleep. (Hence, why I am blogging at the wee hours of the morning.)

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on our final results. This kit is supposed to "kick start" a balanced diet and really like how it prepares you to be healthy. It's fun to experiment and be a nerdy science teacher on myself. Ha ha.

It Makes You Think...

I had a scare today. Last week I went to the doctor for a check up, just to make sure I was healthy and everything was ok. The doctor told me my results would be back in a week or two. So today, while I was at the gym, I got a call from the doctor's office. I didn't get a chance to answer it so I let it go to voice mail. No message. So I called them back and they told me they would call me back later to tell me who tried to call, etc.

While I was waiting, I started to think about all the things that could go wrong. It seemed like it was taking forever for them to get back to me, so I started to think it was bad news. I thought about what I was going to have to say to Mike if it was bad and then I started to think about how grateful I was for everything I had right now and how lucky we are to just make it through a day.

Long story short, it was a mistake that they called me and my results are not back yet. I thanked the lady for letting me have a peace of mind. Ha ha.

The point is...think about it. What if you got a phone call with bad news. What things would you want to be grateful for? What things would you regret?

P.S. Yes, I know I am crazy. He he.

Summer Ambitions

I am so excited because I brought my computer home from school so I don't have to share with Mike anymore. :) I'm sure he appreciates that a lot too.

Anyway, I have so many summer projects that I am trying to take on and get done by August and if they are finished, boy will it be nice! (I live in a fantasy world.)

The first thing was that I was offered a job to teach for NASA and the stuff I make with my students will get flown up in a shuttle next April! There may be a chance I can't do it because I signed up for it last minute, but it will make up for disappointment that I didn't get to go to Space Camp with my coworkers this year. (I have wanted to go to space camp since I was in the Young Astronauts Club in elementary school. Can you believe how nerdy I was?)

I am working on our backyard too. It is my goal to put rocks in by the end of the summer. I already cleared out one of the side yards in the 100 degree heat!

I am decorating Mike's den with his mountain bike pictures. Since we are going all out this year (due to the fact that we plan on starting a family soon and feel like we need to go all out before I get pregnant), we have a ton of really nice pictures from the races and I am really excited to put them up.

I would like to start the whole cupcake thing, but it seems like every Wednesday and Saturday is booked til July. I really like the idea of cupcakes in a jar and tried it out and it actually looks really cool.

I'm very excited to sell the Lexus and get Mike's truck registered and put in the garage. That means we will no longer have four cars and have them all out front of our house! (So white trash. Haha.)

I have a huge list of books to read this summer and I'm starting with one that my sister got for me. It's called " These is My Words" by Nancy Turner. Any suggestions on other books?

First Anniversary!

For my birthday and for our first anniversary, we decided to drive to Vegas with the bikes and have ourselves a good time!

There was a UFC fight going on and everyone looked exactly the same in their "Tapout" shirts. Here is Mike mocking...

We walked over to Citycenter and checked out the sites.

Including the tornado tubes!

We did A LOT of mountain biking!

And saw some cool views..

And pretty flowers..

I like this shot. The downhill was so fun!