Old College Addictions

I was looking through my old emails from college and came across this, it definitely brings back some memories. For those of you who attended college between 1999-2004 you might remember some of these, and don’t pretend like you don’t remember:

Everyone tells you about the vices that you will be faced with when you go to college; drinking, smoking, drugs, all of which can turn into vicious addictions. And there are a myriad of programs helping those who are alcoholics, smokers, and drug addicts. But where are the support groups for the REAL college addictions?

NAPSTER: Sure, it seems innocent enough. Let me just download this one song that I HAVE to have. But soon that one song isn’t enough, you’ve had a taste, and now you’re hooked. You become jealous of your roommate’s extensive collection, or a car drives by your dorm room blasting your soon to be favorite song.

You spend hours downloading. Just when you think there isn’t another song you could possibly want, at 3 am the punks downstairs start blast Nelly’s Ride Wit Me (with the base turned up so high intitially you thought your rustic AKA old and decrepit dorm was collapsing). So you spring out of bed chastising yourself for being so neglectful for having forgotten that classic (meanwhile the fact that you also forgot to study for your psyche test doesnt faze you).

Then you stare at the screen, with great anticipation, watching the song download with the speed of a one-legged hurdler. Then an hour and twenty minutes later, when you have 99% of the song there is a Transfer Error and you lose the whole dern thing. Then whenever you hear Ride Wit Me, instead of enjoying the song like you used to, you are fulled with scorn because you dont have it safely tucked away on your hard drive.

Then when you go to write a paper (because thats what you swore to your parent’s the brand new computer was for) you can’t save the document because there is no more room. So you tearfully delete the theme song to Gilligan’s Island (which has brought you hours of enjoyment) to make room for your History
paper. You contemplated deleting your Billy Joel collection that you cut class for three days and it took you 72 hours to download. The aggravation of it all was probably not worth the $20 it would have cost to buy his greatest hits CD.

Meanwhile the hundreds of dollars you spent on CDs in the past is wasted because you havent listened to a CD since you moved in. So you swear that you’ve had enough of Napster and you hate it and you hope it
gets crushed in court and you’ll never use it again. But the NAPSTER icon is still there, lurking on your screen, waiting for you to have a relapse.

INSTANT MESSENGER: On the surface, a great way to keep in touch with your high school pals. But beyond the facade (i know, big college vocab word) it’s a sinister force keeping you from studying or sleeping. You could be studying or reading and you hear the sound of the door opening and it sends you hurdling for your computer to see who just signed on.

It is nice to chat and keep in touch, but soon instant messenger begins to dominate your life. You hear the message bleeps in your dreams. You start to refer to your friends by their screennames. It also encourages extreme laziness. You find yourself iming your roommate who is sitting next to you at her
computer to ask what time she wants to go to dinner. But then there are the lonely times when no one is signed on or everyone has an away message.

One would think you’d be able to study during these lonely times but NOOOO! You sit and read everyone’s away messages. You might stop to study for five minutes, then you get up again to see if anyone’s away message changed while you were gone.

In a way, the Away Message is an addiction in itself. You spend hours sitting at your computer, thinking of a clever away message. You thrive on the compliments and messages that friends leave you. But then there are those days when you couldn’t think of anything funny to say, or maybe you just didn’t have time.
You get back to the dorm and no one left you a message, even though you were gone for several hours. You feel empty, like you disappointed everyone. You start judging your self worth by the quality of your away message and the responses it receives.

You get nervous sitting in class, you can’t concentrate, wondering who’s on line, if they’re reading your away message, what do they think, what conversations are you missing? Then you race back to the dorm, grunt hello at your roommate (who is on instant messenger), plop at your desk and as you place your hands on the keys and hear the familiar, comforting bleeps of a buddy saying hello, you finally feel at peace.

SNOOD: DO NOT DOWNLOAD SNOOD!! I don’t care who tells you it is a great game, how much fun it looks, or the happiness you think it will bring you. It is the DEVIL. It’s only purpose is to serve as a distraction from completing homework. I do not care how much will power you think you have,
this game will destroy you.

A Year That’s Come and Gone

This past weekend Adam and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. Although we have been ‘together’ for almost 6 years, this was our first celebration as husband and wife. We both took the majority of the week off and got some much needed work done around the house. We debated back and forth between going somehwere, having a ’stay’cation and staying at a hotel in Houston, or just staying at home. In fact we were debating that until about 3 on the afternoon of our anniversary.

After all the going back and forth, we decided a quiet night out to dinner, some drinks and an evening inside would do just fine. Adam surprised me with flowers Saturday morning with a really sweet card. We slept in until noon, and after I debated writing him a small book, I decided to save my ‘card’ for dinner. I wanted to tell him everything that he had taught me over this past year, and without making you all gag from all the sappy sweet stuff, I wanted to share some of the highlights of what I’ve learned from my husband this past year:

1. XBox Player Navigation – While I once frequently got lost in dark corners playing Halo and other shoot em up games, I now, for the most part navigate my way through a game. For those of you who do not play video games this will make absolutely no sense. But with the increase in technology you now not only have to move your body in a direction, but you also have to move your head. This frequently caused me to get ‘lost’ in video games, but alas my charming husband has taught me the correct video game form.

2. How “Not to go into the kitchen” – Adam does most of the cooking in our house. We have a pretty good system. Everyonce in awhile I will cook the peripheral items, but for the most part he cooks, and he’s really good at it. There are a few things he has perfected: asparagus, brussel sprouts, and breakfast tacos. Not likely combinations, but they are indeed all excellent when he prepares them. When Adam cooks, for whatever reason, he likes it to be a surprise. He frequently says, “get out of my kitchen.” It’s not really his kitchen, and I am definitley allowed in it, but he likes to be in there by himself when he’s cooking up his masterpieces. This was especially difficult in our apartment when our kitchen was open to our living room, then I just had to either go in the bedroom or watch TV and not turn around. It was one of those things that he would do everyonce in awhile when we were dating, and now I just find it incredibly endearing and sweet.

3. How to Finish What You Start – This last year as Adam and I trained for the triathlon together was an incredibly difficult/amazing experience for us. At many times I wanted to give up and throw in the towel, but he was constantly there to give me encouragment, kind words, and tough love when I needed it. He is incredibly perceptive towards people, especially me, and he always seemed to know what type of ‘love’ I needed. He knew when I was truley hurting, when I was tired, and when I was just whining. I couldn’t have done it without him, and can’t wait to do more this year.

4. How To Unfold Fold Towels - So for the most part I do the laundry in our house. I don’t mind it, I get a strange sense of satisfaction when the laundry hamper is empty and all the clothes have been folded and put away. I am very picky about how things are folded, Adam not so much. There seems to be a universal way in which men fold tshirts that is just shy of gently placing the neck of the shirt on the bottom, anyone know what I’m talking about? Anyways, all that to say that Adam and I have certain things that we prefer to do inside the house. So imagine my surprise when every morning after his shower the towel would be nicely folded on the towel rack. That’s great! you might say, but it’s not so great when a wet towel is folded in a bathroom that doesn’t get good circulation. Needless to say, I spent a good portion of this year unfolding his very nicely folded towel on the towel rack so that it would last more than a couple days without smelling like mildew, gross. We talked about it a couple times, but he never really saw the need to not fold it, so I would just unfold it. At first I was irritated because he wouldn’t do things my way, and then I said that to myself and realized how selfish that sounded.

5. How To Compromise – I am by nature not a good compromiser. I was raised with a brother who was 5 years older, so we didn’t frequently have to share things. It is not a secret that everyone in my immediate family is pretty particular in how they like things. From their food to their hair, we all have opinions and are not afraid to let them be known. Well, Adam has been a giant mirror for me in this area, and has taught me SO much in this area, and so graciously I must add. Even the whole towel thing I have realized is just not a big deal, either wash the towels more frequently, or unfold it if I want it done another way. I love how gracious he is in his willingness to compromise. I think for awhile I was under the impression that the weak compromise, the strong convince everyone else that there way is best, and I think the opposite is much more true. The strong can compromise and know what things are worth discussing and what things are just a good laugh and a brush off the shoulder. Anyone that knows Adam can agree that he does this so well. He chooses his battles carefully and strategically, and I respect him so much for that.

6. Working Hard – I could make this list 500 pages long, but I’ll keep it short for this year The thing that I have learned the most from Adam is that he is such a hard worker. He has managed, somehow, to have a demanding full time job, go back to school, and run a start-up web design company, and still manage to come home every night and have a blast with me. It blows my mind how hard he works, and how he does everything with such excellence, and that’s what I love about him.

And I guess those are the things that you keep teaching each other through out marriage, and that’s what I can forsee being so fun and challenging over the rest of our lifetime together. This past year has been amazing, we’ve had a lot of fun, have learned so much from one another, and have fallen more in love. I can’t imagine looking back 25 years from now, Lord willing, and looking back over what the Lord has taught and what we have taught each other. I love him so much and am so proud to call him my husband.

Happy Anniversary Sug, Love You!

Party in the USA???

Ok, so I’m gonna be brave here and admit that sometimes I listen to “Top 40″ music, and sometimes it happens to be some high school pop song. I don’t actually go searching for these songs, but everyonce in awhile one will come on that catches my ear, and I’ll sing a little bit and dance in my car. Maybe I should join some bad music annonymous group or something. “Hi, I’m Lindsey, and sometimes I really like to listen to music with no redeeming qualities except that the tune and beat get stuck in your head, and they entertain me in car.” There I said it. Confession over, now to the real issue with this music. So lately, every time I hear Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA” I really want to sing, and I really want to dance, and so I do. But here’s the thing, the title of the song is the last line in the chorus, which oh by the way, has nothing to do with the song:

“So I put my hands up, they’re playin’ my song
The butterflies fly away, I’m noddin’ my head like “Yeah!”
Movin’ my hips like “Yeah!”
Got my hands up, they’re playin’ my song
I know i’m gonna be ok
Yeah! It’s a party in the USA!
Yeah! It’s a party in the USA!”

So for those of you who have never heard the song (or are just too ashamed to say you like it too), the whole premise is that she’s going out to LA, she’s a small town girl from Tennessee or something, and she’s nervous in the big ‘ol city. Then she’s in the taxi and a club and she hears her favorite song, and all is well, she’s got her hands up cuz they’re playin her song. Get it? Ok, so now that we are all on the same page, I would like to submit the question, where did the “Party in the USA” come from?

Well, here’s my hypothesis, actually it was mostly Adam’s, but I totally agree, so I won’t take 100% credit. Her record label came up to her, and was like, “Miley, we need you to be a serious artist, we need you to write your own song. We’ll give you a super songwriter and producer, but you need to write the lyrics. The public needs to know who Miley is as an artist.” Miley thinks, “Hmm…what can I write about?? I know! Nodding my head and moving my hips, perfect, that’s what I do best.” She goes on about the process of writing her lyrics gets, “Got my hands up they’re playin’ my song, I know I’m gonna be ok….crap! what ryhmes with ok???…Hmm…I got it! ‘Party in the USA.’” It just so happens they’ve played her up to be a country girl turned pop star, even better that her dad is Billy Ray Cyrus, known and loved country singer. Her record label thought about it, someone probably mentioned the line didn’t go with the song, and they then probably said, ah let’s go with it. Play up the USA theme, and make it the title of the song, “Way to go Miley! That was terriffic.”

And that ladies and gentleman is how this song was made (or at least that’s what I think).

A Little of This and That

Now that our weekends don’t revolve around bike rides, long runs, packing, or moving, we are finally getting back into our new schedule. We had a great weekend and were able to get a lot accomplished as well as spend a lot of great time together. The weather was of course amazing, and it was so nice to just get out and have some fresh air.

A great new thing we found: YELP
If you are still using citysearch, then it’s time for an upgrade. I love this website and love the application on my iphone even more. It helped find a great new little wine bar/eatery, and I plan on using it frequently in the near future. It is especially helpful when you have this conversation with your spouse/bf/gf/friend:

Person A: “Where should we go eat?”
Person B: “I don’t care, you decide.”
Person A: “I don’t care, let’s try something new”
Person B: “Hmm…well I can’t think of anything, there was this place that someone was talking about the other day but I can’t remember”
Person A: “Oh well, wanna go to Onion Creek (insert name of frequently visited restraunt here)?”
Person B: “We always go there, but I guess, it’s cool”

So get out of your restraunt/wine bar/coffehouse rut and try something new. Yelp helps, I promise!

PLONK Bistro
This wine bar is about a 5-10 minute walk from our house. I found it on Yelp (see it does work). It opened just a few weeks ago, it’s located at Ella & 43rd street. We got a cheese dish and a couple entrees. The wine was pretty reasonably priced and the food was good. It was not crowded at all, which was so nice.

After an unsuccessful desk shopping trip on Friday, we ended up having the discussion above, where to eat. A friend had recently told me that Tiny Boxwoods was now serving dinner. As one of my favorite places for breakfast and lunch, I convinced Adam to give it a try. We were really really impressed. There was a bit of a wait, so we sat on the lawn in cushy chairs and sipped a glass of wine and chatted. The rest of the evening was filled with perfect wine and food. The amazing atmosphere does make the food better. We sat outside at a quiet table, had an excellet waitress (Madison), and talked about our dreams of one day living overseas. Great night!

Saturday was spent desk-hunting, and we finally found one! We are officially grown-ups now. I think there is a line that you cross over when you don’t buy your furniture at IKEA anymore. Not that I don’t love IKEA, in fact I like it very much, it’s just that our furniture purchase to furniture throw away/sell rate was getting a little high. We needed something that was a little more durable and that we didn’t have to spend hours reading sweedish instructions to assemble at our house.

After a quick trip to COSTCO, sidebar, does anyone else love going to COSTCO? Seriously, I think Adam and I could spend a whole afternoon in that store. We really didn’t NEED to go, I just wanted to get some water and walk around to see what other things I could get in bulk that I probably didn’t have any room for anyways. That was a long sidebar, so after COSTCO we went for a bike ride along the TC Jester trail. Someone told us that this trail goes all the way to downtown, um…it does not. After winding up at the bottom of a very steep hill right before I-10, we realized that this was not going into downtown, and because we were on our road bikes, we really didn’t feel like exploring, so we just headed back to our house. Which leads me to my new favorite place in our neighborhood:

Our courtyard. I guess that’s what you would call it. We have this area in front of our house that’s fenced in and isn’t part of the yard, we have a couple camping chairs out there, and Adam’s parents graciously gave us there chiminea. So, Saturday night we sat outside by the fire, eating grilled cheese sandwhiches and tomato soup, with a bottle of wine and just relaxed. It was awesome. My cousin Jess was in town, so she came over and we just sat outside and talked. It was perfect. So relaxing. I intend on spending many more winter evenings out there.

That’s about it, sorry for the disjointed post. Hopefully one of these days, when there are no longer boxes in each of our rooms I will post pics of the house. Have a good day!

Quick Update

Well we made it, after a long weekend of moving…now we only have 500 of the original 1200 boxes left to unpack. No it’s not really all that bad. Actually the ‘move’ went amazing, it might even go down for one of the quickest moves ever. My dad and Adam packed the Uhaul in less than 1.5 hours, and Cody, David and Adam unpacked it in less than 1.5 hours. And where was I during all this unpacking and packing? I was packing and unpacking the crazy amount of boxes that we have. Seriously, I have no idea where all this stuff came from. I think maybe when Adam and I moved into our apartment we did it over time. He moved in first, and then we gradually moved stuff in little by little until we got married – so there was no “big moving day.” So now we are putting things away, trying to figure out what to do with 3 rooms. I already have a list of projects I want to complete a mile long. Adam has been good about slowing me down and reminding me that this is not in fact our home that we own, so my re-modeling projects might have to wait for another day. But I will post pictures soon. I do like the neighborhood, and the area. Very exciting!!

A few blogs I like…

I know many of you read many different blogs, some of them are probably friends, some may be people you hve no idea who they are, but you find them interesting or funny. So I figured I would share some of my favorites with you:

style/SWOON
Erika found this one and shared it with me, and it has quickly become a favorite. This girl is amazing, I think she has more creativity in her pinkie then I do in my whole body.

Stretch Marks
Melody found this one and this woman is hilarious! Seriously needs to be a stand up comedian. She’ll defintiley make you laugh.

Grasping for Objectivity
I forgot how I found this woman’s blog, but I love reading her updates. She’s funny, creative, and her daughter is adorable. Her writing definitley inspires me to be better.

So what about you? Any blogs you like to read that inspire you, make you laugh, or are just enjoyable to read?

Just Checking In

Random post today…

I just read over my last post from yesterday about how we only have today, and after re-reading it I think some of my points might have come across a little differently then I was intending them to. Mainly, I was trying to convey that we shouldn’t waste time with the things that just don’t matter in life when it comes to our relationships, and that we should enjoy the moments that we have with those we love because we don’t know what could happen tomorrow.
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Onto antoher topic, the move is quickly approaching, we start packing the truck tomorrow, woohoo!! It’s so weird packing up the house, there seems to be an endless amount of stuff – and to think of all the stuff we got rid of in the garage sale!! I do have to say that after garage sale I feel good – it’s nice to just purge some of the stuff that we don’t need. It’s been exciting daydreaming about where things will go in our new place. Where we will hang pictures, put furniture, things we need to get, etc. I am not super excited about the whole unpacking process – just becuase it always feels like your life gets turned completely upside down, and I always have this nagging desire to unpack EVERY box on moving day, which I’m pretty sure just isn’t going to happen. But we are both really excited!
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We’re trying something new once we move – No TV!! I’ve always wanted to try going without cable/Uverse/Dish just to see what it would be like. I am a self-professed TV addcit, there are so many shows I love to watch. We didn’t purpose to do this when we moved, but it turns out that AT&T Uverse doesn’t service the neighborhood we are moving to, and I really don’t want to waste money on dish or cable becuase I just don’t think they are as good, therefore we are just going to not do TV. I think it will free up a lot of time, at least an hour or so a day, which means more time for Adam & I to hang out, read, study, work out, etc.

Slightly related to no TV is the whole waking up early issue. I am really hoping to get into a habit of waking up earlier in the mornings so that there is time for reading/journaling/breakfast making/lunch making/walking/running. I have been so convicted lately of waking up with just enough time (sometimes not enough) to get dressed and run out the door, always in a hurry, and I just want to change. I want to be a morning person. I want to wake up enjoy my coffee and hang out with Adam in the morning. I mean seriously, I could add a couple hours to my day if I would just get my lazy butt out of bed. And I think with the move I will have a chance to change that. I hope to meet Stacey early in the morning a couple days a week to run, I won’t have the hour and fifteen minuite commute, and Adam will have to wake up a earlier because he will have a bit of a commute now – so I’ve been praying that things will change. I know it will be difficult because I am lazy in the mornings, but it is truley a desire of mine.
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The Duathlon is only a few weeks away – and our training has been slim. I have been trying to speed up my running, I have actually broken the 10min/mile pace – 9:45 actually, but can’t sustain it for longer than a mile and a half, but I’m working on it. That probably sounds so slow to some people, but coming from a 12:30min/mile pace – it’s quite an improvement. Last night was the first time in a long time where I felt good running. I think it had a lot to do with the amazing weather and my killer songlist, but that’s just my opinion. Still working on what I want my goals to be for this race coming up. Adam has some killer goals – under 8min/mile in the run and averaging 21+mph on the bike – so he will be finishing quite a bit earlier than me S’ok though.
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That’s about it for today, have a good day!

We Only Have Today

I’ve been thinking lately just about life, love, family, friends, etc. About the plans we make, the fights we get in, how easily we get frustrated with one another, and then it all kinda hits me at once. It seems like lately more than ever, I have been hearing about random people my age dying, in car accidents, of cancer, of some rare form of disease, and it just stops me dead in my tracks.

Being a newlywed leads to a lot of emotions in one year. From the planning, to the wedding, honeymoon, first arguements, vacations, day-to-day life, etc. All of my preconceptions of marriage have been blown out of the water, from how amazing marriage is to how difficult it can be, and I know those will only continue to grow and change over time. But I have been especially convicted lately about how much time I waste being frustrated over little things because in truth it doesn’t matter. I only am promised today, not today even like maybe the next few minutes. Let’s be honest, I could drop dead of some rare blood clot, get diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, Adam could get in a car accident on the way home – we live in a horribly broken world where bad things happen. And no, I should definitley not live in fear of these things happening by any means, but I should live each day to its fullest because I don’t even know that I have tomorrow. And I think that means getting over things, letting things brush off my shoulders, forgiving easily, not worrying about the stupid petty things that we get so entangled with on a day to day basis – not just in marriage but in life. I am richly blessed, and I need to remember that each day, that today is a gift, my life, my husband, my job, my family, my breath – it’s a gift, and tomorrow it could be gone.

It’s funny because I was writing a blog in my head last night about how doing a garage sale, packing, and moving houses should be a required course for pre-marriage 101. I was laughing and talking about it with Adam last night. We just had a garage sale and are currently packing/moving, and it is definitley bringing out our differences, and I am continuly being reminded that my way is not the only way, and it not even the right way – it’s just my way, and I don’t need my way all the time. (if that made any sense) There has been an increase in communication around logistics/scheduling/organization that just naturally brings out differences in people that think and are completely opposite.

But then I read blog, about a young couple, my age who were happy, traveling and the wife was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year. She had surgery, radiation, was fine and had a baby. They were home for almost 2 weeks, the wife randomly started having seizures, went into a coma, became brain-dead and they had to remove her from the ventilator all in a matter of days!! She was home, healthy, with her new baby and husband and now she isn’t. Wow. Our life is so short, merely but a breath, and then we are gone. And so now I’m not writing about moving and a garage sale because they aren’t important. What is important is that I get to experience these things with my husband, we get to learn each other in different ways, and get streched and grow closer, we can spend time laughing, remembering, just being together becasue we only have today.

(You can read about the story I mentioned here, please pray for the husband and his new little girl and their family, that the Lord would bring them peace and comfort in such an unbelievably difficult time)

Labor Day Weekend/Austin Triathlon 2009

Let me first start off by saying that the whole weekend was great. Adam and I and my parents drove up to Austin on Friday to start our Labor Day weekend a little early. We were soon met by my brother who came in town as well to hang out. It was soo nice to get away. We stayed at a nice house near the lake with great rolling hill views. Which were perfect for a glass or wine or cup of coffee depending on the time of day. We brought all our our own food, so we did a lot of cooking, had some great meals, and took some beautiful bike rides around sun set. I must say there is nothing more relaxing then waking up without an alarm clock, and walking out to a deck with cool air and a hot cup of coffee. I want to go back already.

Saturday after our naps we went to a great local winery called Flat Creek Estate. It was very relaxing and we had some appetizers and looked over the valley. That afternoon, due to my fear of falling off my bike going uphill, dad, Adam and I practiced hills around the place we were staying for about an hour. It definitely helped me feel more comfortable in the fact that there was a slighter chance of me falling. On Sunday we went into Austin to go to the expo for the triathlon. I would advise anyone out there who has bike-envy to not attend one of these events. You can buy EVERYTHING at those expos, it’s crazy. I never knew there were so many different types of Cliff Bars and GU packs. After we checked in, got our numbers, and were officially signed up for the race we walked our bikes down to the transition area to check everything in. Things became quite real at this point. Rows and rows and rows of bikes hanging on metal poles. All kinds of bikes, road bikes, tri bikes, mountain bikes, bikes that cost more than 2 of my cars easily. And since it was a cool 100 degrees, we decided to go have a picnic down at Barton Springs.

We sat on a picnic table across from the diving board and cracked up laughing as people dove into the water. Great spot for people watching. It actually wasn’t too terribly hot in the shade and turned out to be a very nice picnic. After deeply regretting that we did not have our bathing suits we returned to the house and decided to hop in the pool at the place we were staying, and it was good. Sunday night we had my mom’s amazing spaghettini dinner to give us lots of energy the next morning. I contemplated taking a bottle of Tylenol PM’s to knock myself out so I could sleep, but opted out and just sat outside and listened to music after dinner. Eventually, Adam and I fell asleep, and around 4am decided that I could not sleep anymore and so our day began.

We left the house around 5 to ensure that we arrived at the event area with enough time to set up our transition stuff, and get written on, and all that fun stuff. I have never been so nervous in my life. Chris decided to wake up early with us as documented the whole thing. When you walk into the transition area, they have to write your bib numbers all over you because obviously you don’t wear them in the water. On the back of your calf they write your age. The conversation with my marker guy went something like this:

Guy: “Bib number?”
Me: “1241″
(Guy writes on legs and arms and motions for me to turn around to write age on my calf)
Guy: “Age?”
Me: without hesitation “28″
(Guy writes 28)
(I hear to my write Adam tell his marker guy “27″)
Me talking to Chris: “Does my calf say 28? I think I just told that guy 28, I’m not 28, I’m 27, I just turned 27″
Chris: (laughing hysterically)
Me talking to guy: “Um, I’m 27 not 28″
Guy: “You don’t know how old you are?”
Me: “Apparently not this morning”
Guy: “Well, I can cross it out with this huge marker, or you can be 28″
Me: “28 it is”
(I walk away feeling not so bright, and horribly old since Adam is walking in front of me with 27 written on his leg, dangit!)

I’m 28:

Right before I become horribly embarassed that I’m 28:

After quickly setting up our stations and getting ready, Chris and I played a quick game of “guess the person’s age before they walk by.” Apparently I am the worst person at telling how old someone is – defintiley was off by at least 7 years each time. Maybe they forgot how old they were too. Probably not. It was starting to get exciting once the sun came up, everyone was there, ready to go, numbers on, eating the last bits of their breakfast. Our start time was 8:55, so we had a while to soak things in. I have never seen so many in shape 40+ year olds in my life. We took a few group shots before the race:

The whole group (L to R): Lauren, Hayden, Jesse, Lamar, David, Adam and I:

Just the boys with goggles:

Adam posed for a TYR/Speedo ad (totally kidding):

Right before the swim:

Our biggest fans, complete with matching jerseys and homemade sign, aren’t they cute?:

The boys went first into the swim. Lauren and I followed 30 min after. I thought I was going to have a panic attack in the water. The horn blew and we took off. Swimming in open water with 45 other people around you is a lot harder than I expected it to be. I consider myself to be a decent swimmer, but ended up doing breaststroke half the time just to avoid feet in the stomach and arms hitting my head, very strange. Getting out of the water we ran to our bikes and hopped on. Well, maybe not hopped on right away. I took my time almost 8 minuites, but hey there’s always next year, right? My gloves were inside out and I couldn’t get my feet clean. After a quick swig of water I was off on bike, ready to tackle the hills (btw, running in bike shoes is a lot harder and more akward than it looks):

The bike was tough, but I felt good. Heading up the main hill that lasted at least a mile, I felt confident, and did not fall (can I get a hallelujah!?) Heading back into transition I did not want to run, I was tired and knew the run would be tough. The transition was much quicker this time, I think I cut it down to 3 min or so, still not lightening speed, but again there’s always next year. A nice guy even came over to hold an umbrella over my head while I changed shoes, which was so nice considering it was like 11:30 at this point and so so hot. And then I was off on the run. My legs have never felt heavier, ever! Heavy enough that I totally ate it like 100 yards out of the transition area. That’s right, I didn’t fall on the bike, but I did fall on the run. Perfect. No worries though, I was cracking up laughing at myself until I remembered that I had 3 miles to run and then things weren’t so funny. I made it though and crossing the finish line was great!

And then I was done. After getting over the fear that I might have a mild heart attack from stopping, not really – just a tad hard to breath, I was able to celebrate with everyone and see how their races went. Adam’s went amazing, he accomplished all of his goals and did SO well, especially in the swim which was his biggest concern. We were all so excited to have finished and finished well. There has been talk next year of my dad, Chris, and even Stacey and her soon-to-be-hubby Jeff joining the fun. We can’t wait!!

Go Team Ashworth – Kona Ironman 2010!!!

K, maybe 2020. We made it. It was definitley the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, physically, but I made it to the finish line and it felt amazing. I honestly feel like Adam and I did our best to prepare ourselves for this triathlon. Granted it was only a sprint, but looking at the shape we were in vs. the shape we are in now gives us a sense of accomplishment, and helps us to better define our goals for the future. It feels so good to have finished this race. For such a long time, I was always the girl who ‘is going to do this’ but never did it. I always quit, whether it was from an injury, lack of willpower, or just sheer laziness. And so running across that finish line, it felt like something broke, that chain that always made me feel like I couldn’t do it, those voices that said this is too hard, you should just give up now. I even remember telling the precious ladies of my bible study that I was scared to tell people I was doing this triathlon because what if I didn’t do it, what if I gave up again? But this time the Lord had a different plan for me. He surrounded me with women that were full of encouragement and love, parents who supported us to the point of waking up at 6AM on Saturday mornings to go for long rides, a brother who flew all the way from NYC to watch us compete, and a husband who wanted nothing more than for me to succeed and to finish. I was so excited to see his face when I turned the last corner, out of all the people that were there supporting me, I knew that he understood the most what it took to accomplish this for me. He talked me through the days when I wanted to quit, he held me when I cried becuase I was afraid I couldn’t do it, and he stayed up talking with me the night before when I was too nervous to sleep. Adam thank you so so much, I love you more than I can say and Happy Birthday!!!

As soon as I get some pictures of the race and the Labor Day weekend I will post soon. We had a plethra of people there taking pictures, and I can’t wait to share them. Everyone in the group did amazing. Congratulations Lauren, Hayden, David, Adam, Jesse & Lamar!!!