Adventures in Babysitting

This past week I have been babysitting for a family that had a bike accident on one of our races. They have four children from age 16 down to age 9. I stayed at their house most nights to make sure they were not getting into trouble. Can I tell you how hard it was?

After dealing with: boyfriends coming over, constant X Box playing, kids that hate showering, random pancake making while I was out of the house, high school drama, playing with stuffed animals, hybrid cats sneaking up on me in the middle of the night, driving around the neighborhood looking for kids that took off, shopping at the mall and being constantly asked to buy things, kids having to go to the bathroom during a movie, making sure the kids are fed, and many other adventures, I feel like I was given a Parenting 101 class.

It's been an eye opening experience into the world of parenting. Good times.

P.S. I lost weight this week though and got to my lowest weight in a while. Hmm...maybe that parenting thing won't be all that bad.

Frazier Mountain Madness 2011

Holy Hill Climb. Is all I have to say. This race is the hardest hill climb ever.

Alright, now on to the whole race. We raced the Frazier Mountain Madness in Taos Ski Valley this past weekend and had a great time. They switched the races around this year and had you do the cross country first. They also switched it from clockwise to counterclockwise. We thought it would make it easier, but it made it harder!

The second day was the hill climb. Here I am at the starting line with Karen Richel's Yeti. I wanted to try out a hard tail and this bike is really light so she graciously let me use it. I was able to shave off almost ten minutes from my time last year!

We got a really nice condo for a pretty good deal. Here is Mike posing with his air pump.
Mike got second place both days! He rocked it!

On top of Frazier Mountain...over 12,000 feet up in the air!

The view of the Taos Ski Valley behind Mike.
We made it! (It was getting cold because it was about to rain and we were all sweaty!)
Taking time to enjoy the scenery over 3000 feet above where we started!
Mike and I playing around on our way down after the race!
P.S. Our good friend Alan Rishel fell during the race and was airlifted to Santa Fe and is in stable condition. He has gone through two surgeries and is fighting hard after puncturing his lung, breaking his ribs and clavicle, and having an irregular heartbeat. Our prayers go out to him and his wife Karen.

Run Forrest Run!

So I have a dog that is addicted to running, so now its gotten me to go for a short run every morning, just to get him off my back! I really enjoy it, once I get out there, and I'm excited that I started this routine with him. He comes back all tired and leaves me alone, and I feel awake and rejuvenated.

So seeing that I have the running bug again, I am thinking about running a couple races coming up. Next stop: Labor Day weekend. I think I am going to go up to Roswell and do the half marathon. A lady in our ward told me about it and she is going to do it. I thought it would be fun to run with her since she and I both did the Las Cruces Half Marathon last December. That brings me to the second big race. The Schramms (who are big runners) are coming down the first weekend in December to run the half with me again. This one is so easy because there are no hills and its extremely flat and it ends in a stadium with people standing around cheering for you. (Not to mention, it was just a walk back to my house, since its right next to my neighborhood!) Last year I did it in 2 hours and 6 minutes. This year's goal is to get under two hours!

We will see!

Liz's Favorite Things Summer 2011 Edition

Its that time again for me to post some favorite things. Here are some things that have helped me out around the house this summer! If I were Oprah, I would have a show and give these things to my audience members!

A Hallmark Scrapbook Kit. Every year I scrapbook and it gets messy and expensive. I love the kits that are already premade.

A gift certificate to a salon. Man, it feels good to get your hair done!
Lowes has helped me with the house so much this summer! We now have new curtains on our back sliding door, new landscaping out front, and new light bulbs, etc. for fix-er-up-ers around the house.

Lavash bread from Trader Joe's is so great for quick meals. Mike and I really like making pizzas and these are easy to use. Lay them on a tray, put on your favorite toppings, and put in the oven for eight minutes.

P.S. Trader Joe's is AMAZING!

When I want to ride really well, I drink the Gatorade Prime. This stuff is legit. I swear I won a few races because of this stuff!

Petco frisbees have saved my house from being massacred by the dog. These are so cheap, but keep the dog busy!

I wish we had a DSW in Las Cruces. Every time I go there, I find a pair of shoes that last so long!

My Droid X. I use it for playing music, looking up EVERYTHING, watching NetFlix, playing Scrabble with family, keeping track of my workouts and eating habits, and so many more things.

Jen had me use this stuff when I went to Vegas. It's found at Target and its called Botanics Clay Mask. It was only 9 bucks, but it makes your skin so smooth!
I love my Babycakes cupcake maker and I'm jealous of the people who got the cake pop maker!

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a really good time on the Fourth of July. Mike went for a ride with the brothers, while I hiked with my dad and Georgia at Aguirre Springs. Barney had to get into the festivities by wearing his star scarf.

Dad and Georgia came for the weekend to hang out and enjoy the Fourth of July! Barney did awesome on the trail.

The gang of dogs ready to drive down to the river for some swimming!

This picture is hilarious. They look like little kids getting out of the pool!

The leap!

Look how far he goes to get the stick!

The aftermath.

The night ended with watching the Las Cruces fireworks from a distance and then lighting some of our own. Wendy got some awesome fireworks. We were impressed!

We couldn't stop looking during pictures!

Barney ran away during the fireworks. He did not like them. We really thought we lost him until Uncle Brad went to look for him and Barney came right to him!

"I love my Uncle Brad!"

Adventures of Barney the Dog Part Two

So we found out our dog is a swimmer! Mike was brave enough to take him down to the river and try it out. Barney got to spend some time with his cousins Riley, Molly, and Trixie for the fourth of July. They were able to have some good times in the water. (See our 4th of July post!)

Riley gets a little jealous of Barney. He is drowning him in this picture!

Atten-hut! (Love this picture!)
He looks like a little weasel coming in out of the water!

Mike compared them to a bunch of gators. I love everyone's shadows in the background!