let freedom ring

july 4th is always a special day - one of my favorite holidays. bright sun and hot weather, kids running through the sprinklers during the day and with sparklers in their hands at night, the nostalgia of a fireworks show, the smell of summertime - all of it brings a sense of peace and a feeling of gratitude for the blessed country i am a part of. the big event this year, as pictured above, was the delta demolition derby (or d cubed as i affectionately like to call it). christian, generously invited me to be a part of this tremendous traditional. really, what is more american than old cars ramming into each other, exhaust filled air, dirt flying into your face, and people watching the show before them in absolute awe. the derby was really fantastic, the people watching even better. my top picks for the people watching contest were unbelievable. there was a gentelman standing near us (yes, you heard it, standing room only at this derby). the first differentiating characteristic that caught my eye was his camo neoprene cover on his bottlenecked beverage. what kept my attention was his turquoise bling. i've seen turquoise before, but NOTHING like this. he had 3 HUGE stones on EACH hand and a MASSIVE bracelet on EACH wrist. i can't imagine what that guy was worth! just seeing him would have been worth the drive to delta. however, even better was my next siting. i saw a woman...i think. her hair was butched on top. the sides were super short. the top was spray painted red, middle was spray painted white, and the bottom blue. oh, but wait, she had stars buzzed bald on the bottom section of her hair that didn't have any spray paint color filling them in - so they REALLY stood out. it was absolutely amazing. i have NEVER seen anything like it before. talk about patriotic! i was so amazed by both of them that i completely forgot to pull out my camera and get a shot. the only disappointment of the whole derby - not getting a picture to document these people who, without even knowing it, made my heart leap with joy.

on different note, the drive to delta was loads of backroad fun. we didn't take the freeway. christian's GPS led us on a road less traveled. one of my favorite parts was a section of smooth blacktop. as we drove down the oscillated path, i felt the same way i do when riding a roller coaster. we were like little kids at the fair - wide eyes and laughter filled the air conditioned vehicle. what a pleasant surprise. the conversation to delta was also very pleasant. one of my favorite parts was talking about the gratitude in our hearts for what we have been given. we discussed the star spangled banner. while the whole anthem is eloquent, i'd like to make special note of the fourth verse:

oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

between their loved home and the war's desolation!

blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

and this be our motto: "in God is our trust."

and the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

let freedom ring.

greener pastures

as i was riding the little red riding hood century in cache valley last weekend i looked around and couldn't help soaking in the beauty of the valley. the air was so clean and the pastures so green. i began longing to road ride on a daily basis in such a picturesque place. as i began aching to be back in the place i call home, i suddenly realized that although, literally speaking there are greener pastures in cache valley...

figuratively speaking, there are far greener pastures for me elsewhere...

and i was reminded how grateful i am to be in the lovely slc.

let the games begin

lotoja is a road cycling race held annually on the first or second saturday in september. the race is believed to be one of the longest single-day road cycling race in north america, if not the world and is the longest one-day race sanctioned by the usa cycling or the united states cycling federation. lotoja starts in logan, ut and travels into southeastern idaho and finishes in teton village, wy. the current course covers 206 miles and includes three mountain passes. the total climbing during the race is nearly 10,000 feet with the race finishing about 1,800 feet higher than it began in logan.

this race is something i've heard about since i was a kid. as i young lass, i thought it sounded like an insane thing to do. as i approached adolescence, i thought it sounded like a really cool thing to do, but never thought of myself as being an individual able to accomplish such a task. as i am approaching my 30th year of life on this earth i've decided to take the plunge and participate in this dauntingly exhilirating event. i have been mentally preparing myself for about 8 months now. last september i had an epiphany that the celebration of my 30th year needed to be a unique sort of revelry. i've been thinking about it ever since. i made it through the first step - the lottery registration. this was a feat in and of itself. now, on to the training. i've started long rides each saturday. i've also started interval training each week. i've tried to become more proficient in riding in pace lines with a group - a definite work in progress. starting to train again for something has been a welcome change. after last year's half ironman, i had a lapse of motivation to train for any type of endurance event. as most people with an addiction, i've relapsed, and i'm back on the training bandwagon. i'm trying to be a bit more realistic about this training. fitting it into the balance of the rest of my life is the task at hand. it's been a gratifying challenge. i've still got a few months to figure it out. we'll see how it pans out. at this point i'll just say, let the games begin...

things to do in the rain...

enough said.

wrinkles

interesting. i am not yet 30, and i have wrinkles. i fondly remember living in hawaii a few years back. i was 23 years old and at the prime of my life. when we would go to the store, angie would always look at the wrinkle preventing lotions. i couldn't figure out why she was worried about such things. it seemed to me, a waste of time and money. six years later, i get it. (sorry for judging, ang. you were right, i was wrong.) i now have wrinkles and there is no going back. i'm not going to sugarcoat it and try making it sound better than it is. i'm getting older - not much wiser, but older. i'll embrace it.

mile high city

okay, for all you fans who have wanted to see pictures of christian, you can check them out below. we took a little trip to littleton, CO to watch his brother, paul, play in the the MCLA tournament. byu made it to the final four...

the game ended sadly, but we all still looked great in the pictures afterward.

come on baby, light my fire.

wink, wink, nudge, nudge...

we made it to mile high stadium to watch a professional lacrosse game.

we heart art. this orange masterpiece was outside the art museum in denver. you can't see the tears in my eyes, but there were definitely tears. i hit my head really hard on the breathtaking orange steel. i must have been distracted....

there you have it, my weekend in colorado. for more details, please feel free to contact me on my cellular device.

where everybody knows my name...

knock, knock - who's there? ralph waldo emerson wasn't, even though this is his pad.

apparently touching john harvard's gold foot increases intelligence. i'm just sayin'...

josh and whitney are one of my role model couples. they have definitely made my top 10 favorite couples list. .

i just really loved this red door - and whitney makes the cutest pizza delivery girl i've ever seen.

i love to see the temple.

i'm slow on this post. however, i feel okay about it. i am historically a slow person. i 've never staked a claim on being fast. speed is not my forte. i go at at steady, even pace. endurance is more of a skill set i consider my own. having said that, here i am, posting pics from my trip to boston, about three weeks after my return to utah. i headed to boston, where everybody was supposed to know my name, for about a week. beantown was an adventure. i was on the last leg of my walking pneumonia when i got onto the plane. it was kinda rough. i felt good about the fact that i was sick BEFORE the plane ride. it helped me feel confident in the fact that i didn't contract the swine flu on the plane. i thought my sickness was over because i'd been sick for four weeks, to the doc twice, and through one set of antibiotics. i was feeling a little better, but the plane ride just didn't help. the week was full of a lot of coughing, a low sexy voice, mucinex, a few bags of ricola cough drops, schmoozing with clients (did i mention this was mostly a work trip with a few days of fun with whitney and josh tacked on to the end), and some great sight seeing. whit and josh are phenomenal friends. monday night they came to my hotel. whitney had a care package in hand and josh gave me a blessing. i felt the spirit so strong the moment he started the blessing. i knew i'd get better..and i did. i stayed sick throughout the week, but i did slowly get a bit better.

some of my favorite memories of boston include:

• the union oyster house - the oldest restaraunt in the U.S.
• walking down the cobblestone streets of boston along the freedom trail at night feeling the solemnity of the historical city i was in and putting on my "mean face" so that nobody would mess with this "little girl in a big city"
• practically walking to cambridge with lori while we were trying to find the tram station to cambridge
• running into the sister missionaries on the streets of cambridge
• cvs stores and dunkin' donuts every 50 feet
• the girl from nepal i met near fanuel hall and quincy market who sold me a hand-made journal
• meeting up with whitney for fro yo and to walk around harvard square
• a weekend with my sweet whitney - talks about our families we love so much, pride and prejudice w/ popcorn and hot tamales, walk/jog along cambridge river, the sacred grounds of the temple, the homes of ralph waldo emerson and nathaniel hawthorne, the historical grounds of lexington and concord, author's ridge, inspiring conversations w/ whitney, our shopping splurge at target, dinner from a little turkish pizza place, watching nascar with whit and josh, and church at the infamous cambridge 1st ward

there it is, my trip to boston.