The Life of: June 2010

Monday, June 28, 2010

Some Thoughts of Mine

I can't believe it's almost July! This year has flown by for us. I know it's far from over but it just feels like we were playing Mario Kart on New Years or climbing the boulders in St. George just a few days ago. For the last few days I've been wanting to come post things but my mind was caught by other tedious chores and things. So I'm going to try and remember it all and jot a few thoughts down here...

~Stomach Update~
It's been about a month and a half since the doc scoped my tummy and diagnosed me and I go for another scope in 4 weeks from today...the sad and frustrating thing is that my stomach hasn't gotten mucch if any better. A few weeks back, I decided to start following all of the docs orders and went over all the notes he sent home with me again because I was still feeling crappy, then I switched to a new pill a couple weeks after that because it was still not great, that seemed to help more but then we found out that pill was 4x the cost of the other, so I am back to the first one and have had my ups and downs.

~Shopping Carts~
Here's a funny thing... I don't know if it's a curse or just coincidence but it seems to happen to me everytime I grab a cart...I walk to carts and eye each one to try and make the best choice (i.e. the one that doesn't have a handicapped wheel that you can hear from across Costco or feels like a car without power steering and you have to get down low and act like a football lineman), I make my choice and start rolling it in the store. After having something already placed in the cart or I am too far to go back for a new one, I discover a flaw and it's not just a little guy, it's one that you want to place a paper bag over your head you're so embarrassed.

~The Cruise~
I don't know what it is...well I take that back, I'll just explain. Since the cruise I have been the happiest, most relaxed self I've been in a good while. It's like it rebut me. Right before the cruise I was teaching part-time, substituting, and serving full-time. I was way past the burnt out stage. I had been dealing with so much stress with my teaching job and bringing it to the serving job and then the only time I'd see Dave was at Goodwood and we were both on high stress there so it just wasn't good. Just to prove our busy lives, when we calculated our entertainment spendings for April it came to be $1.07, a redbox. We were pathetic. We are now on summer break from school and we decided to put serving behind us. The Cruise came at the perfect time for both of us! I am now working at Sylvan Learning Center during the days which I am really enjoying it. I am also happy to say that Dave and I are now using our entertainment fund to it's full potential!

~Lotoja Training~
A year ago, I would've not imagined myself where I'm at today. Up until this last fall it had been 11 years since I had placed my bottom on a bike seat other than a spinning bike at the gym. I have to say I've come a long way in road biking in such a short time and I'm really enjoying myself. It's been a fast paced learning experience since the race is in just 11 short weeks but I knew it was going to be. Usually I am a baby when it comes to things that I don't think I can do, scared to do or just don't want to do (luckily, I married the most patient man in the world!) but I have taken things pretty well, for example, Dave and I took a ride around base and then went to highway 89 via 193 and back through South Weber. Dave just happened to not mention or remind me that we'd be hitting 89 on it's down slope...holy cow, was I freaking! The one thing I was scared of was hills and I've been pretty good easing my way into going down bigger and bigger ones but this was the biggest, fastest, and longest thus far. I hit 41 mph and we were averaging probably 35-40 the whole way down to South Weber Drive. I couldn't get resistance to pedal until being on SWD for a few minutes. It was a big rush! Also being next to cars going at highway speed wasn't the most comforting feeling either. Another thing I worry about is letting my guard down as I get more comfortable with it. I just make sure I don't and hope I don't. It's been such a great learning experience. I try to do 3 rides a week and then I run the other 3 days. I've been on a couple longer rides and have learned the importance of food and hydration, we all have (Ryan, Bridget and I). I have to point out that I did out last Dave on our ride Friday...that's big! It's been a lot of fun. I plan to continue perfecting it after Lotoja.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Latest House Projects

I've been wanting to do something for our kitchen window because it was just too boring without anything. I've been playing with different things and then finally decided to make my own curtains because I hated everything I saw in stores, thus I went straight to Sunny and walah! my second sewing project...

My friend came and helped me with this project. I love having loved ones that are talented! It's in our entryway and it was hard to take a picture of because it is a bit of a tight space there. It's not complete either, I need to find a few more pictures to put in some of the frames but this is our picture wall thus far!

My garden is doing really well too! I just picked some fresh peas today! I'm so excited the plants are growing and producing!! I can't wait for more!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

It's #3!

Three years ago we walked out these doors...

to begin our eternal journey together,

and I couldn't have been happier!

Happy #3 love! I am the Luckiest!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Our Mexican Riviera Cruise

So we are back from our cruise and it is time to reflect on the time we had...We had the best ten days of our lives! (Well Dave had the 7 best days of his life, 3 of them were spent feeling woozy.) No, the whole ten days weren't spent on the cruise but that was the best part. We decided to take our time on this vacation. We were in no rush and I think that is what made it one of the best vacations ever. I warn you now that this could be long and below you see a novel of pictures (which isn't even close to how many we did take and should have taken) but this trip couldn't have come at a more perfect time in our lives and was everything we hoped it to be and more. Going to Mexico is always a funny experience because you get so used to saying "No, gracias" that you bring it back into your normal life or back on the ship where everyone speaks english. I had a couple funny wake ups like that.

We left Friday, May 21 and drove to St. George where we stayed overnight. We stayed up late watching episodes of Man vs. Food (probably my favorite show of all time) and snacked. We woke up Saturday morning, went for a run, lounged and then packed the car to head to L.A. We arrived in L.A. around 5. We stayed at my uncles house in Glendale. We perused L.A.'s hot spots and sights with my aunt and uncle for a few hours then they made us dinner and we hung out. I wish we would of had our camera cause we went to the observatory which was cool; we found out it is in a lot of movies while watching some of them during the week. Sunday they took us to a few more sights and then drove us to Long Beach where our ship was awaiting us. Waiting in all the lines to check in and all took awhile but as soon as we got on that ship we went to our room, dropped off our luggage and then headed for food. Yep, we were the stereotypes cruisers already, there for the food. We were able to explore the ship a bit before sailing, too.

The first night we headed to dinner at 6 which was our assigned dinner time each night. We sat down, met our servers, ordered our food, got our starter and thats where our night pretty much ended...Dave officially started feeling the queeziness. Dave rested most of the night while the rocking got worse but that night was the worst of it. There were a few more times where Dave felt queezy but it wasn't half what the first night was. I think next time we'll try the patch that you can wear instead of the bonine.

Other than those few times Dave felt that way, the trip was great! The first two days we were at sea so we got to relax, get some sun, swim, and yes, eat. We also spotted some sting ray swimming next to the boat. There were dolphin and whale spottings during the trip too.

Since Dave served in Chile, he speaks spanish and knows his way with the bus system so we used the public transit while in Mexico because they can't rip you off. Our first stop was Puerto Vallarta. We wanted to go snorkeling and took a water taxi to a remote place that you can only get to by boat called Yelapa (later to find out we were suppose to be dropped off at another place). We followed our tour guide through his hometown to a neat waterfall and then lounged on the beach there the rest of the time. After getting back to Puerto Vallarta we roamed the towns streets, picked up a couple tacos at a taco stand and then stopped by Walmart to grab some Mexican Vanilla and some sodas before heading back on the boat.

Mazatlan, we had mixed feelings about. The beginning was rough because we almost turned around to get back on the boat after being haggled nonstop for 15 minutes trying to get on our own way through Mazatlan. I had to ask a guy to please, leave me alone because he followed us a block or so and was in my ear the whole time. After that the day was amzing! We enjoyed a long walk to see some cool things around the city, went to the aquarium, saw a seal show, went to the beach, and roamed some more.

Cabo San Lucas was Dave's favorite by far. We took a water taxi to a private beach called Lover's Beach and he was able to snorkel and he enjoyed every second of it. After, we roamed the streets and found some things to buy. I found some cool salt & pepper shakers. I don't know why but I'm obsessed with them when I see them anywhere. I also got to indulge in some bubble gum ice cream. YUM.

The last day was a bit windy and cloudy but we still go some hot tubbing in and Dave even got burnt laying out. I told him he would but he didn't believe me. That morning we tried to go running on the track on the top deck. It was funny because we got up there and not one person was around. I'd guess that the wind speed was coming at us about 40-50 mph. We had a blast trying to run in it. One side we'd be sprinting trying not to fall over from the push behind us and the other we'd be working on our stability trying not to be pushed to one side or another.

We left from my uncles house around 11:30 Sunday morning and arrived in St. George less than 6 hours later. It was a nice night in St. George so we went for a run, made some dinner, and lounged some more. We took Monday to drive the rest of the way and stopped at my parents for a bbq.

As I said before, the trip was everything we needed and hoped for. Now being back for a few days, I feel refreshed and as I could take on anything...knock on wood. Although we ate a ton, literally, we think since we made it a goal at the beginning to walk the stairs everywhere (only took the elevator maybe 3 times the whole week) we didn't feel the weight gain too bad. We walked so much my legs were sore by the end of the week. I'm looking forward to our next cruise, we just need to find a cure for my husbands weak stomach-any ideas? He called me a sailor because nothing affected me, I loved every second on that boat!

Day 1: Board and Sail