I Am a Triathlete

Nora, Amber and I raced our triathlon today, and it was so much fun. I think I'm hooked! I love the variety in the race and training. I don't feel that it is as hard on my body as a marathon or half marathon.

Last night we packed up the kids and husbands and spent the night up at Nora's cabin in Kamas, just a few miles from the start of the race. All night the three of us tossed and turned, we each felt as if we were going to vomit in the morning. I had never been so nervous before a race, it was so odd.

Last Saturday when we were swimming in the lake, I was scared to death. I thought for sure I was going to die, there is 0 visibility. When I got to the middle of the lake I started thinking about how nobody would notice if I just sunk, and started wondering how deep it actually was . Had I not swam in the water before the race, I might have chickened out when I saw that EVERYONE had a wet suit on. There were maybe 3 other people besides Nora, Amber, her sister and I without wet suits. But I had a blast during the swim. I wanted to make sure I took it easy so I had energy left for the rest of the race. After I got out of the water, my legs felt like jello, and they didn't feel like they belonged to me. Michael saw the look on my face and was pretty worried.

Once I hopped on my bike, I felt great. The ride was beautiful! Just a note to any of you who may be thinking of doing a triathlon. DON'T, I repeat, DON'T even think about trying to use a $50 Walmart bike like I was about to. I rented a road bike for $30 and it was great, well worth the money. When Nora, Amber and I would ride our bikes on the road (me on my $50 Walmart bike), they would be about a mile ahead of me.

The transition from bike to run was really smooth, but it felt so hard to run. Again, my legs felt like they didn't belong to me and I couldn't get them to move faster. The first half of the run was on the road, the second half was on a trail. It was hot, hilly and rocky. There was a point where I thought if I just stopped and walked, I would still make it to the finish line in under 2 hours which was my goal. I found the strength to push myself through it. Amber's parents were there to take her kids so Jake (her husband) was sweet and ran with her to pace her. When Nora started training just 2 1/2 months ago, she could barely run a mile, and she kicked some buttocks today!

Sprint Distance:
Swim: 750 meters, 1/2 mile
Bike: 13 miles
Run: 5K/ 3.1 miles

My Time
1:41:10

On a side note, Michael had his own triathlon, keeping 1.Reece, 2.Maya and 3.Mason happy for 5 hours without any help. He only lost Maya one time, when I asked her about it, she told me that "Dad just wandered off." He missed my finish because he was getting the kids settled in a spot on the grass so he could video me coming in. I told him to expect me to come in around 2 hours, so he thought he had some more time. He was completely shocked when he saw me walking around looking for him. I'm so grateful for a husband that supports me in all that I want to accomplish. Thanks Michael, I couldn't do it without you!

It's like Christmas in August

My friend Nora, has "make ahead meal" group that she has put together. The last two months they have had an opening, and I was able to be a guest participant. Here's how it works, there are ten people in the group. Each person makes 10 of the same meal, freezes it, and then we all exchange. So you end up with 10 different meals, including the one you made. They are each portioned to feed 4-5 people and your total cost should come out somewhere around $75. Last month was wonderful, if I didn't feel like cooking (which is almost every day), I would just pull out one of the meals and follow the instructions. Everything was included, and all the hard work had already been done.

I was up until 2 am the night before the exchange finishing my meals. I don't know what I was thinking, but I thought it would be great idea to do fried rice and won tons. 400 won tons later, I was exhausted! One night of HE** for 10 nights of barely cooking, is worth it to me.

Today's Harvest

5 ears of corn
3 purple tomatoes
5 crook neck squash
2 yellow bell tomatoes
and a bunch of cherry tomatoes

We are up and ready to go

Some of you may have noticed I have been hibernating for the last few weeks, and some of you have heard that I am starting a new photography business. Portraits By Marisa is closing their doors to make room for a photography business I have been dreaming about, but never knew how to achieve. I have been working a lot lately getting things rolling.

My friend (since 4th grade) Megan and I both got started in photography at about the same time 5 years ago, she was in Texas and I was in Utah. We both got our first digital SLR camera about 5 years ago and we both got the same camera. There were many phone calls between the two of us as we were figuring out our cameras as well as figuring out how to start our photography businesses. We were constantly teaching each other knew techniques in photography and photoshop. About a year and a half ago, we both upgraded our cameras and had a great time learning about our new cameras together.

We both had the same complaints about our photography businesses, we weren't taking the type of pictures we loved to take. We often talked about having a photography business together and how great it would be, we would be the type of photographers that we knew we were meant to be. Since she was in Texas and I in Utah, it just couldn't work. Then, her husband got a job transfer to Utah. The last few months have been a whirlwind as we have been planning, designing a 'what to wear guide', designing our website, getting our portfolio together, and scheduling our first few shoots.

Our website is now up and running, and I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome. Together we were able to make the leap from our old photography businesses, and start our new endeavor together, the way we have always wanted to do it. Megan and I both have our strengths in different areas, and together we make a great team.

Without further delay, I present to you Moondoggie Photography!

Summer Chores

(I apologize if you have seen this picture on my backyard farming blog, but I'm entering this picture in a contest and have to post it.)

Volcanos

Reece is now in cub scouts, this week they each got to make a volcano out of a small pop bottle, which they covered with clay, and sent us home with instructions on how to make it erupt. I thought it might be a good photo op, so I got out the old camera.


"Come on mom, stop messing with your camera so we can do this thing."

Still waiting

Ah, mom is finally ready, Maya is thinking she needs to look at the camera and smile, notice the fake crooked smile.

Maya is still adorning her "fake smile", Reece jumped back a little nervous about the mini explosion.

Observe the look of terror on Mason and Madison (a neighbor friend)

Mason got over it, Madison still looks a little weary. Reece and Maya are loving it.

Reece pours in the remaining vinegar, hoping for round 2

Reece has his arm out as if to say, "everyone stay back, let the trained professional handle this"

Excitement and approval from all the spectators.

Here on the instructions:

How to make a volcano erupt

Ingredients
3-4 Tablespoons of baking soda
1/2 cup vinegar
a few drops of liquid dishwashing detergent
about 1/2 cup of water

Using a dry funnel, put the baking soda in the bottle. Add a few drops of liquid dishwashing detergent and about 1/2 cup of water. Using the funnel, pour the vinegar mixture into the bottle and quickly remove the funnel.

If you want the lava to be colored, add a few drops of food coloring to the vinegar. The volcano will erupt immediately, when the vinegar reacts with the baking soda, carbon dioxide gas is formed and the bubbles push the "lava" out of the "volcano".

Have fun!

The Perfect Sheets

The only problem is that my husband thinks that the bed should be divided by weight. So since he is bigger than me, he should get 2/3 of the bed and I should only get 1/3.