Yeah so....

I totally fell of the Holiday Bootie Buster bandwagon in the past few weeks. There has just been waaay too much going on and I didn't feel like logging on and keeping track of all those points, or lack thereof. I'm kind of disappointed in myself for quitting on yet another thing I was doing, but today I took a step in the right direction.

I registered for the 2010 Women of Steel triathlon in American Fork, Utah on May 22. This will be my second tri and I couldn't be more excited! It's a women-only race, which realy excites me since I'm all about girl power! ;)

Let the training begin...

HBBC Kickoff

Yesterday began my participation in the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge over on Run to the Finish so to keep me accountable and hopefully motivate me even more, I thought I'd post my beginning stats and some SCARY photos. Wish me luck!

Weight: 171.4
Waist: 35"
Hips: 39.5"
Bust: 37"
Thighs: 24"
Arms: 11"
Neck: 13"

Beating the Winter Blahs...

This winter I am bound and determined NOT to let the crummy E-town weather get me down the way it has in the past few years. In order to do that, I plan on becoming a workout machine, o.k. maybe not really since I do also have a husband, kids, house, job, etc., etc. to take care of. How do I plan on doing this you ask? Enter stage right....The Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge! A friendly competition to keep us all a little lighter during this crazy time of uber amazing goodies and super stressful time management in order to fit it all in!

Basically, the gist is: You earn points for a myriad of things from running/walking to weights to eating all your fruits and veggies (just like mama made ya). For those of you who know me pretty well, you know that all it takes for me to kick it into high gear is some good old fashioned competition. I'm so excited to see what results will come from this, and plan on posting my progress here.

Check it out and let me know if you're going to join in too!

Becoming an Obsession

At the total expense of my house cleaning, laundry washing, project completing, heck even some days showering; I'm becoming totally obsessed with finding great blogs to read on a daily basis.

I've thought of a few reasons for this:

1. I've always been an avid reader, and as I've gotten older, have grown more and more intrigued with reading about real people's lives.

2. I want to be one of those people who others want to hear about. For some (egotistic, I suppose) reason, I have an overwhelming desire to wax poetic about the mostly mundane things that occur in my day to day life.

3. There are just so many cool blogs out there!

I thought I would share some of the really great ones I've discovered over the last few days and weeks.

www.nieniedialogues.com : If you haven't already discovered this AMAZING woman, you've been missing out! As a survivor of a near fatal plane crash, she really has a beautiful perspective on life.

www.fatcyclist.com : The funny, poignant, and sometimes sad stories of an avid cyclist.

www.thepioneerwoman.com : From city girl to country housewife...need I say more?!

There are many many more, and I hope to keep discovering! Feel free to recommend any you think should be added to my list! I only hope that someday I can be half the blogger these and so many others are!

Gratitude

In this month of "thanksgiving," I feel like I have a lot of things to be truly grateful for in my life. I am so grateful for the wonderful man I am married to. Sure, we've had our up and downs; and believe me, some of the downs have been REALLY low, but underneath it all, we really are meant for each other.

I'm also super thankful to have two healthy, thriving, energetic (although sometimes too energetic, lol) boys to keep me on my toes. It is so amazing to me the things they do, say and learn on a daily basis.

I have amazing friends as well. I can't even count the times we've helped each other up when we're down and they are always there no matter what, any time of day. One of my goals in the upcoming year is to work on becoming a better friend.

Needless to say, I'm very blessed and in this season of giving thanks, my goal is to express that and let the people in my life know how much they mean to me. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

If You Only Knew....

If you only knew
I'm hanging by a thread
The web I spin for you
If you only knew
I'd sacrifice my beating
Heart before I lose you
I still hold onto the letters
You returned
I swear I've lived and learned

It's 4:03 and I can't sleep
Without you next to me I
Toss and turn like the sea
If I drown tonight, bring me
Back to life
Breath your breath in me
The only thing that I still believe
In is you, if you only knew

If you only knew
How many times I counted
All the words that went wrong
If you only knew
How I refuse to let you go
Even when you're gone
I don't regret any days I
Spent, nights we shared
Or letters that I sent

It's 4:03 and I can't sleep
Without you next to me I
Toss and turn like the sea
If I drown tonight, bring me
Back to life
Breath your breath in me
The only thing that I still believe
In is you, if you only knew

If you only knew
I still hold onto the letters
You returned
You help me live and learn

It's 4:03 and I can't sleep
Without you next to me I
Toss and turn like the sea
If I drown tonight, bring me
Back to life
Breath your breath in me
The only thing that I still believe
In is you, if you only knew

If you only knew

-Shinedown

I'm So Excited...And I Just Won't Hide It!

OMG! you guys...her comes an admission that I catch flack for all the time: I FREAKING LOVE NBC's 'The Biggest Loser'. And starting this week, it seems like the teaser commercial for the new season is on every 5 seconds! Maybe this means I'm watching too much tv, or too much NBC for that matter, but each time it comes on, I'm instantly glued to the screen. *Warning* Embarrassing moment ahead: This morning, while watching 'Today' I actually teared up when the one showing the lady who lost her family in a car wreck aired.

Now, before you pass judgment and think I should be in the looney bin, hear me out....What other reality television show on tv today leaves you sitting on your couch full of warm fuzzies, and motivated to stay healthy and take care of yourself? Huh? Answer me that one America! I've seriously thought about making one of those paper chains to count down the days until Sept. 15. Ok, not really, but wouldn't that be cool?! *wink, wink*

So, until that beautiful date FINALLY gets here, I'll just have to scratch my reality tv show itch with the last few weeks of CBS' 'Big Brother...what? 30' I never said I didn't like the pointless ones... ;)

A Swift Kick in the Pants

The week from HELL is now over, the volleyball team has begun training and to keep it present in my mind, the universe so kindly delivered one of the worst head colds I've experienced in quite some time. I'm not one to let a little phlegm, sinus pressure, and man voice slow me down though.

This morning the boys and I hopped in the car (speaking of...I'll come back to that later) and headed to the lake with my best friend and his dad to witness some slalom water skiing at it's best. The morning could not have been more beautiful! It was a little chilly first thing, but the sun was soon beating down on us. We've been water skiing with these guys a few times before, so the boys are never hesitant to hop in the boat and enjoy feeling the wind in their hair. I was in such a hurry to get going this a.m. that I forgot the camera though...pics some other time I guess.

We came home about mid morning, and you'd think I would have grabbed ahold of this beautiful day and never looked back right? Oh-ho-ho how wrong you are my friends. Although still in my swimsuit and cover-up, I have not set foot outside the walls of this humble abode...I even took a two hour nap! Apparently the cold is winning. I hate being sick this time of year, and being that this is the last weekend of summer (at least school free summer); I'm feeling especially angry with Mother Nature for delivering this unfavorable illness to my doorstep.

Ok....Back to the car comment. I GOT A BRAND NEW CAR!!! See, for the past six years I have been driving a dependable, yet elderly version of the Nissan Pathfinder. How elderly you ask? Well, lets just say that in dog years it was pushing 80. Last weekend, the shroud that surrounds the muffler finally succumbed to years of rain, weather, etc. and fell off mid-drive to be dragged along the road until I stopped to try and figure out what the crazy loud, scary noise was. So, after taking a picture of said piece now lying on the road, I quickly sent it to H and very politely, though intensely bitter at the same time, asked if I could now get a new car. By Wed. I was rolling along in a brandnew 2009 GMC Acadia!

I must give credit where it's due, so thank you Pres. Obama and Administration for creating the CARS, sometimes better known as Kash for Klunkers program. We received a $3500 rebate to be put toward the purchase of a new vehicle. I do have to admit I'm a little sad that the vehicle I've been driving for the duration of my marriage, as well as my children's lives will now become reminiscent of the cube from Transformers, I'm super in love with my new cushy ride. And the kids are adjusting nicely to the new anal retentive, no food in the car mom!

A Moment's Peace

I'm a total sucker for beautiful scenery, and especially a sunset picture and my family's recent trip to Island Park, ID and Yellowstone did not disappoint. I never get tired of simply driving around and witnessing the overwhelming power of nature. We spent a week relaxing, catching up with family, and sneaking glimpses of some amazing things.

I came home feeling very refreshed and really looking forward to what lies ahead in the next few months. Starting tomorrow, I will be embarking on a new adventure, and this trip was exactly what I needed.

Tomorrow begins the next chapter in my life's passion, volleyball. Not only do I love playing whenever I get the chance, I've also been coaching for the last ten years. When we moved here four years ago, I had to sacrifice an opportunity that I'd been waiting my whole life for, but it was the best thing for my young family at the time. Since then, I've had to swallow my pride as well as my "don't you know who I am?" attitude and begin anew from the standpoint of earning the respect of the already established coaching staff in this town.

My chance has finally come. This summer I was offered the sophomore coaching position at the high school here. Even though it's not my first choice, I'm definitely grabbing this chance and running with it for the time being. Tryouts start tomorrow, and to tell the truth, I think I'm more nervous for this then I ever was to actually be trying out as a player. Only time will tell, but I'm confident in my ability and know that with my dedication to the sport will pay off in the end.

Wish me luck! I'm excited to be starting this new adventure!

Not my best side for sure...

As promised, here are the triathlon pics. I really don't like any of them (ok, maybe the bike one is ok), but I really am proud of my accomplishment! I did the Echo Triathlon, and was in the sprint distance race. It consisted of a 1/2 mile swim in Echo Resevoir, a 12.5 mile bike along the canyon wall north of the lake, and 5k run along the Rail Trail that is lakeside! It was a beautifully cool, cloudy morning; which I am sure contributed to my ability to finish!

I finished in just over 2 hours, which was super slow for my age group, but it was actually faster than I thought I would finish; especially considering I had some serious water bottle cage issues on the bike that ate up about 5-10 min.! I felt so exhilirated at the end, and cannot wait to do another one!Just coming out of the water...The swim was definitely the hardest part for me. And man those wetsuits are not flattering!

Just beginning the bike. This is right as my water bottle cage was starting to totally fall off of my bike. I ended up holding my water bottle for the entire ride. I was also holding an energy gel packet in my mouth, lol.

Trekking along on the run. By this point, I was pretty worn out, but super determined to finish!

Aaahh! The finish line. I didn't even know there was a photog, or I may have made a better effort to look cuter. I'm pretty sure this is just a look of pure relief that it was over! My time was 2:10: 56 or something close to that. Nowhere to go but up from here!

My own place...

After much thought and reflection, I decided I need a place to call my own. On the internet that is, lol. Sure, we have the cutesy, all-American, family blog with the standard cute kid pics, funny kid moments, etc., but I need a place where I can come to rant, rave, bitch, moan, gloat, etc.

So, here I go. I decided to name this place "just learning to tri" for a few reasons. Last Saturday, I completed my first ever triathlon. It was a sprint distance and was held at Echo Resevoir in Coalville, Ut. Man! What an experience! I'm wishing I would have started this blog months ago, when I signed up for this great adventure in insanity, but no time like the present huh? The other reason I named this place to lay my thoughts out in words, is that over the last year or so, I am slowly learning that you can only do your best, and that is all anyone (including yourself) can/should ask of you.

I don't know if it's because I'm nearing a milestone birthday (the big 3-0!) or what the hell's going on, but I'm feeling very reflective about life these days and am really going to use this as my forum to get those thoughts out of my head to be sorted through accordingly. Feel free to join me on this journey into hopefully bettering myself! It should be an interesting, sometimes entertaining trip at the very least...