no longer a fraud

Want to hear something embarrassing?

I finished my last semester at BYU in April 2010.  I had one GE requirement left to fill- Civ II. I originally planned to take it spring semester, but since I was able to find a job so quickly, it made more sense to take History 202 through independent study so I could work full time. My goal was to finish it by the end of the year, when we'd be leaving Utah anyway.

I just took the final a week ago. And was sure I failed it. But miraculously, I passed! So I can finally proceed with actually graduating from BYU.

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, we did survive the aforementioned Civil War Century just fine. I would even say it was one of the more enjoyable centuries we've done.  The first quarter was a killer and I was contemplating doing the short route, but then I had a little conversation with myself and was able to finish with no problem.


First rest stop at Gathland State Park

Nothing beats a PBJ.

Finished! With free ice cream!

Beau's got the Seagull Century in Assateague, VA this week. I opted out because my month is so full of horse stuff, so this will be the first century we haven't done together.

This picture cracks me up. Every Sunday when we come into our class, the accordion divider is open and Beau closes it with the kids "helping". This week, Beau and I must have been setting up chairs or something because before we knew it, the kids had  closed it themselves. Teamwork. It was so cute how they were evenly spaced out pushing it shut.


Also, we have a new nephew! Truman, or "Big Baby" (both from Toy Story and referring to his 10 lb 8 oz size).

We love having 6 nieces and 6 nephews! And 2 more baby girls on the way!

Finally, last weekend I competed in my first recognized event with Jimmer. Stay tuned for more pictures.

rainrainrainrainrainrainrain

this weekend:
The Civil War Century.  105 miles

It has been raining non stop all week and while this race is rain or shine, I'm wondering how accessible these roads are going to be. Also, the pre race email stated that the roads will probably be too wet to mark and riders will have to rely on cue sheets.  AWESOME.

By looking at this map, one would think that things are pretty smooth sailing when you hit mile 62, right? Somehow these maps always lie to me.

Either that, or it will be pouring the whole time and we'll call it quits after a couple hours.

Even if we end up doing a shorter route, this ride will still be fantastic with the scenery.  It's so much easier to do long distances on supported rides because of the plentiful fuel and company.

my four loves

In the past few months since I've been doing the 40+ hours per week office job, I have made sure to utilize my Saturdays to the best of my ability.  Almost every week I have a schedule written in my planner to make sure I can get it all in- running, riding, going to dinner with a friend, horse shows, bike rides, temple trips, hiking, shopping, etc.

This past Saturday was one my favorites.

Made a friend on my 8 mile run.  I usually park a couple miles from the W&OD trail, hop on the trail for a few miles and turn around and come back.  Shortly after I joined the trail, a girl came the other way in Vibrams. We did the "sweet shoes" comment to each other, and she turned around and asked if she could join me.  We had a grand time talking about running, cycling, triathlons, families, the church, and all sorts of things. 

Then I went to a dressage clinic with Lorna Donahue at the barn. 

Learned a ton and Beau was able to come watch as well.

Beau and I went to Middleburg, one my favorite places in the world.  It is hunt country and horse person heaven.  It seems like every little shop has something horse related in their name, decor, products, or logo. At the grocery store, the ratio of people in barn clothes to normal is about 1:1. The locals are all snobby and I love it.

After picking a few things up at the Tack Exchange, Beau and I went to lunch at the Upper Crust bakery, which was documented by the Daily Dollar!

Then we went on a bike ride through Middleburg and Philomont. Beau's new smartphone showed our elevation profile like this:

yikes.

"How come I'm always the one in pictures?" "Because you're prettier than me."

To finish out the day, we changed clothes and went to a friend's wedding reception. 

There are few things I see at weddings that I feel are actually worth the time and money that went into them. Here is one exception: after going through the receiving line, we were escorted to a little bench and the photographer took our picture.  At the end, we were handed the framed photo to keep. Genius!

Best Saturday so far. Running, horses, cycling, and Beau.

i got the moves like jagger

This week was a good week because...
- Cheddar Bunnies were on clearance at Harris Teeter.
- My bike and I became best friends again. We had a little bit of separation and she got jealous that I was spending more time with the Vibrams.
- I competed in my first dressage show and it was fantastic.
- Beau had more fun at said dressage show than was expected.
- There is a not-dead turtle somewhere in the woods by rt 606.
- I completed my first bid proposal at work.
- I learned the magical properties of fabric when cut diagonally to make it stretchy.
- We saw HP7.2 with Katie and Joe
- I unexpectedly needed to buy a new dressage saddle this week and found a smokin deal on CL.

I have started so many blog posts in the past little while and have yet to finish any of them.  On one hand, we are super busy over here with work, riding (horses for me, cycling for both of us), vacationing, looking for an apartment, deciding to not move, making future plans, etc., but then when I look back to see what needs to be updated, it doesn't seem like there are many exciting things to tell. And a lack of photos, as per usual.

Thankfully, I have sisters-in-law that DO take pictures, so I can give a decent account of our lake vacation to Colorado!

The main reason for this gathering was to celebrate Beau's brother Brady coming home from his mission in Brazil. Yay Brady!

 errbody

Check out these beautiful children.

Beau's family is big into waterskiing, and they are all amazing at it. I prefer to watch from the boat.

Isn't this the cutest?

Models, I'm telling you.

This is me surviving and feeling uncomfortable because water is frightening to me.

Other stuff? We went for a jaunt on the AT with the Anna and Rob and baby.  This is us in the swanky Ed Garvey shelter.. when I die I want my money to go to building nice AT shelters like this. Well, some of it anyway. The rest can go to the church.

I don't think I've introduced the world to my new man, Jimmy (who also answers to Jimmer). He is a super athlete, imported from England, and a former Advanced level horse.  Which means he used to do stuff like this:

And now he has to be bored and do this:

Okay, we usually jump much higher than this, but it was our first show when I'd only had him for a couple weeks.  But we competed in my first dressage show last weekend, and did really well.

The End.

a race, a mission, a job, a car

I am happy to report that both Beau and I have jobs!

Beau's ultimate goal is to work for the FBI, CIA, DIA, or some other acronym.  Unfortunately, the hiring process takes FOREVER, so Beau has been looking for something else in the meantime.  A couple weeks ago he was able to get a job in quality control at Don's Johns, a portable restroom company.  Also, when he was interviewing there, they mentioned another position open and I was able to interview and be hired for that as well.  Random? Absolutely.  But we really like the company and people and we're in a good situation. 

Hooray for jobs!

You might think this would save us from buying a second car. But my work day starts at 7:30, and going to the gym beforehand puts me out the door at 5:30. Beau doesn't need to be there till 9, and some days he finishes later than me. A lot of good Craigslist searching (really just checking it every half hour) lead us to finding our little Hyundai Accent. Beau looked through hundreds of used car ads to find one that had low enough miles and within our price range.

On a totally unrelated note (but the only thing I have pictures from), I ran my second half marathon! This was the first race ever that I did by myself- I couldn't cajole any friends, sisters, husbands, or moms to join me.  It went really well and I definitely had more fun in this race than others I've done.  Full report can be found here.

Cheesin.

I love me some Vibrams.

This is Rosario. We met at the starting line and ran the whole thing together!

Beau gets a gold star and 50 points for being my support staff.  He woke up at 4:30 to drive to the race in Pennsylvania while I slept in the car, ate the pre race donuts they had out, took some pictures, cheered me at the finish, fetched my post race snacks while I got a massage, and drove me home. Way to go, husband.

Jobs-check. Car- check. Now we're on a mission for an apartment...

this is how we do unemployment.

Cap2Cap 50 mile ride in Richmond, VA.

Our entry in the ride also got us a great BBQ lunch and lots of free samples from sponsors.

Afterwards, we went to colonial Willamsburg and walked around town.

Matching bows with Adriel!

Cheesy flatwork shot.

See, unemployment is all fun and games! Just kidding. It stinks. We are trying hard to find jobs. 

Last week, we went on a 50 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail. We left Wednesday afternoon to start in Pennsylvania and finished  Saturday around noon at Harper's Ferry where my parents picked us up and took us back to our car. I <3 the AT.

This next series displays some of the animals we saw that I could catch.

day 1: toad. we actually saw lots of toads, but this was just the first one.

day 2: box turtle!

day 3: baby snapping turtle! this little guy tried to eat me.

Not pictured: lots of big black snakes. Including one in a shelter we stayed in. Maybe that's why there were no mice in that one...

Of course, I forgot the Joby so we had to do these silly self taken shots.

Harper's Ferry, atop Weverton Cliffs

seven

Because I seem to have the inability to produce a coherent thought, here is the mashup of things I have been meaning to share:

- I re-read all 7 Harry Potter books in about 2.5 weeks. It was one of the best decision in my life. Especially as it coincided with the viewing of this video:



- We saw a snapping turtle on Smith Circle. It was scary.

I saw a baby box turtle at the barn and it was the size of a quarter! It was cute.

- We have been house sitting for a few families in the area and it has been tons of fun! If anyone is going away and wants a cute couple to stay in their house, we are up for the job. And we really like dogs.

- Beau comes to work with me on Mondays and we have fun.

- We went to see the cherry blossoms with Zack and Jocelyn and Millie over conference weekend and had a grand time. Jocelyn takes good pictures. I am a little embarrassed at my schleppy appearance in this photo, but not embarrassed enough to not post it.

 
- A few weeks ago, I was teaching a 7 year old girl on her pony Simon.  Everything was going fine until he spooked at who knows what and she ended up falling off.  I went to her to dust her off and put her back on, and much to my surprise I find her with blood squirting out above her elbow and a bone sticking a few inches out of her arm. Hello! The poor girl was very brave and didn't cry too hard while we waited for the ambulance.  Unfortunately, the healing process isn't going as well as predicted and SEVEN surgeries later, she is still in the hospital. I believe she is supposed to come home on Monday.

Blogger is being really slow. Until next time, friends!