Triathlon #2

Well, it’s over. My second Triathlon was on Saturday morning. How did it go, you may ask?

The 400 yard swim-AWFUL! My last triathlon only had 35 or so women, so the mass swim start was not that bad. This triathlon consisted of over 1,000 women. We started in age waves, so I my wave contained at least 100 women. All swimming toward the same marker. I got kicked, hit, splashed, and got water in my mouth every time I tried to breathe. Yuck. It was not fun. I never quite got into my rhythm and so my swim was just plain yucky.

The 11 mile bike- AWESOME! My last triathlon was a 10 mile mountain bike, which I completed on a horrible old bike. Last time I was not as prepared for a mountain bike course, and due to my many bike problems, some falling off my bike and a few HUGE hills, the course took me over an hour. This time I used Mark’s brand new road bike which was super lightweight and fast. This was not a mountain bike course and there was only one minor hill. I finished in less than 45 minutes.

The 3.1 mile run- GOOD! I was able to run most of the way except for walking a few of the hills. I felt good and even though I ran a bit slow I was surprised at my level of endurance at this point.

I did this Tri with one of my best friends, Elena. After my amazing experience training for the San Jose Tri in June, she decided to jump in and do a triathlon with me. We couldn’t train together because she lives about an hour away from me, but we talked often about our training and we encouraged and supported eachother through the process. I’m so glad that she jumped in to do this, otherwise I don’t know if I would have done another Tri this year. She finished less than 10 minutes after me, I’m so proud of her!

And what, you may ask, did I do after this amazing morning in which I finished my Triathlon in 1 hour and 28 minutes?

I went to Great America!!!! (but that is a story for a whole different post)

Reese at 16 Months

I thought it was about time I updated everyone on what is up with Reese these days. I’ve been a horrible blogger lately when it comes to our little munchkin so here’s the run down of what’s new:

A glimpse into the future…

Mark and often discuss the things we will force Reese into being hope Reese will be interested in as she gets older.

Of course Mark always says that as soon as she is old enough he will be taking her to the park all the time to teach her how to play soccer. He goes on and on about how much better of a shot she has at going pro because she is a girl, and if she gets an early start she will be a pro soccer player for sure.

I, on the other hand, have quite different ambitions for my little girl. It’s already very evident that this child has a dramatic streak a mile wide, and she is most definitely a ham. She has proven already that she has my coordination skills and when you ask her to “do her two-step” she does a little jig. Therefore, I am fairly certain that my prediction will be correct.

This girl is a born performer.

Hit and Run

For those of you who know me, I have had a not-so-secret love affair with a particular car for a very long time.  Meghan thinks I’m crazy, but she spends hundreds of dollars on shoes that hurt to walk in.

The car is a 1985 Volvo Stationwagon, previously owned by my parents, who were generous enough to pass it on to me a couple years ago.  It’s my first baby, my true vehicular love.  And it was maimed today in a cowardly hit and run.

It was parked in my office parking lot that we share with about 8 other companies.  I am, needless to say, devastated.

*On a side note, Meghan would like to add that the “hundreds of dollars on shoes” comment was a vast understatement. Thanks.

Oh how I miss you…

my camera.

The SLR is away for repairs. And so I find myself without a camera for a time. You would think I would be ecstatic. I am, for the next couple of weeks, INCAPABLE of taking any more photos and am thus forced to work on the photos I have already taken. I cannot schedule any sittings, shoot any more photos that will clutter my already full list of photos to edit, nada! Excellent, right?

But all I can think about is how I wish I was taking photos. Yesterday I found an adorable tutu in the back of Reese’s closet that someone gave us when Reese was born and now will finally fit her. I was so excited and I immediately began thinking of the photos I wanted to take of her wearing it when I realized that the camera is in the SLR hospital. Bummer.

Camera, it’s just not the same without you. Please come home soon!

Once upon a time…

There was a baby girl whose name was Reese. She was a pretty special little one. No one knew it but she was a princess. She wore ordinary clothes and lived in an ordinary house, but she was a princess nonetheless. All little girls are princesses, or so she had heard. So she danced around the house, and walked on her tiptoes like she was royal, and practiced her most proper greeting (“hi-ey”), all the while knowing that she was a pricess and should act as such.

And so little Reese was content with her secret royalty. There was just one thing poor Reesy lacked. She had no princess dress to twirl and dance in. Everybody knows that you are not really a princess without a poufey fancy dress. She longed for it. The world was not right until one day, when her Fairy Marmee decided that Miss Reesey really needed a fancy dress. And so, far away in Utah Marmee procured the most beautiful dress with poufs and bows, ribbon and flower petals. It was truly a sight to behold! Mommy Meghan traveled the great distance to bring the beautiful dress home (and of course attend Aunt Kellee’s wedding). Reese squealed with delight at the sight of this fantastic dress and spent the day gleefully twirling in it and swishing the skirt. She was the belle of the Elder’s Quorum Baby club and all the other babies gaped at her beauty.

And so, the little Reesey Princess lived happily ever after with her faithful steed, Cibo. And she twirled and danced to heart’s content in her fabulous princess dress.

The End!

My Love/Hate Relationship with Photography

I just got home from a whirlwind trip to Utah. It was three days and I never got to bed before 1am or up later than 7am for those 3 days. Plus I spent every moment doing something and the only time I just sat quietly was on the plane ride to and from. To say I was tired would be a gross understatement.

My little sister Kellee is married. It’s strange. I still see her as 15 years old and living at home in my mind. But she is 22 and has married the most hilarious and amazing guy. She asked me to co-photograph her wedding, which I was happy to do.

Photographing weddings is hard work. You want to make sure you capture this most beautiful and memorable day in a way that will please the bride and groom, both their sets of parents, and also yourself as a photographer. That being said, photographing your sister’s wedding (in which you are also a bridesmaid) is 10x more difficult, because if you screw up- that’s your sister’s wedding photos that suck and you will never be able to make it up to her.

I did not bring Reese with me on this quick trip to Utah. Mark was not coming with and there was no way I could handle this little munchkin while also focusing on the task at hand. Especially since she is STILL in her clinginess phase, which I am beginning to believe is not really a phase at all, but simply her personality. If she sees me, she wants me holding her and shrieks until I do. Fun right?

Is it horrible of me as a mother to admit that while I love my daughter to pieces, I really didn’t miss her as much as I thought I would on this trip? I was too busy to miss her. I also relished the simple act of spending my entire flights to and from Utah in complete silence reading a book and even dozing off at one point. I’m sure if the trip were longer I would have missed her more, but frankly I hardly had a moment to wonder how she was doing without me. It was kind of fun to jet-set, kid-free. Plus I knew that my fabulous hubby would do a fantastic job watching her while I was gone. He even survived “the night of the creepy toy coming to life” incident, which I will post later.

The day of the wedding I completely had several melt-downs and to all who saw me that day, I apologize if I was in any way rude, short, or generally pessimistic. I was coming unraveled just a bit, you would be too. But in the end, my sister had her fairy tale wedding, and I got to capture the entire thing with my camera. And here is the result:

Love you guys!