Quail Creek 5K

Also in February I entered another 5k. It was located right next to my house and I thought why not? I was sick all week so I was a little slower than I had hoped, but that's just how it seems to work in this racing world. There's always something you could have done better or differently looking back:)

Here I am at the start.














This is my sister's puppy Ace. He came to cheer me on. This little guy got a lot of attention since this was an event you could bring your dog to. One lady even had her husband take a photo of her with my dad and Ace. We were cracking up about it later... after they walked off of course!













Here I am after crossing the finish line.


































Thanks to my dad for coming with me and taking photos. I ended up winning first place for my age division! Do not be fooled into to thinking that is impressive though... this 5K was put on by the local retirement community;) 


















I find it a little crazy that I got to take home this awesome mug for an 8:50 average, but I'll take it!

UHCH Duathlon

Back in February I entered a duathlon. It was a run-bike-run event. Training for it kept me motivated to continue my running and also eased me into my biking in preparation for the spring cycling events. 





















Luckily we had some awesome friends staying with us this same weekend and so Nick got to come and watch me while our friends kept our other kids at our house. He got there a little late and I was heading off on the second leg when he came up. So here are some pics of me at the end...






















I wish I could have been a little faster on the bike and second leg of running but it was a great experience and I definitely plan on doing another duo again sometime.

Elephant's Head

On February 4th I set off with Candice, Donnie, and Tyler to conquer "Elephant's Head". I can see EH every time I look out my back window, and I have been yearning to hike it for a long time. We had planned a trip last year but when I became pregnant with Little Miss Farrah I was too sick to make it so we cancelled.

 Candice, Don and I drove part way to the trail where we met Tyler. We all hopped into his truck since the road we had to travel down to reach the trail supposedly required a high clearance vehicle. There are two ways to get to/ hike this trail. We for some strange reason chose the longer and harder way to get there and the longer trail to hike. That was our first mistake! We soon realized it was a good thing we had met him. It was obvious we wouldn't have survived this crazy road in my car.

 Tyler was just getting off work after an over night shift. That made for some very fun conversation given his sleep deprived state. I won't go into specifics but there was a lot of talk about hot girls, Brazilian bootie work outs, and Tyler's marriage prospects. If you were there you know how it went, and if you weren't it's better not too:) I'll leave it at that!

After awhile it seemed like we'd been driving for hours. The road was getting increasingly difficult and we figured we were as close as we could get by truck.

 Here we are ready to set off with the Elephant's Head in the background.

Everything started off great. Tyler was telling us all about his Border Patrol adventures and we were making good time. Plus we were planning our next GC trip which is always a delight as you know!

We knew we were looking for a less used trail that would branch off of the one we were currently on. We came to what we though was the trailhead and began to descend into one of the two drainages that separated us from EH. This is where it all went wrong. I like to call this photo "the beginning of the end of my legs"… you'll see why soon.

After this we lost the trail and it took a LONG time to find it again. We knew where to go because the goal was in sight, but getting to it was another story.  We did some super intense bush whacking, which left us scratched up, hot, and frustrated. Tyler and I also got separated from Candice and Don. It took and hour or two of this before we finally reconnected with them and the trail. Trying to reach the base of the peak on the left hand side required us to cross two deep drainages and all through the most prickly and spiky terrain you can imagine. True "desert brush"

Tyler and I right before we got separated from the others. Can you see us? We are very tiny!

Candice Fighting her way through the brush.

We finally found the trail along with Candice & Donnie. Can you see him waving to us from the top of the ridge?

On the way back we were able to find the point where we got off course. If there is ever a next time we will be prepared. I'm not sure any of were thinking fondly of a second hike on this mountain at this point though! We finally got out of the brush and reached the second part of the hike. This was more of a scramble up the boulders along the elephant's "trunk".

At this point I knew I wasn't going to make it back in the amount of time I had told my baby sitter I would. Tyler had also gone into the hike thinking it would be a couple of hours and he could get home and sleep. I made some quick phone calls from the top of the hill where I finally had reception, and Tyler soldiered on through his sleepiness. I might add that his comments only got more entertaining the longer time went on:) After all this was worked out we carried on.

We finally made it to the top!  It was actually a pretty fun little scramble.

We made some friends up there who gave us some fruit and chocolate that tasted delicious after our efforts. We didn't get a photo of them, but they kindly offered to take one of us all together.

The  "Elephant Shrine" on the summit.


Here are my legs after I got home!  Ouch, but it was worth it... I think:)  Our 2 hour turned 6 hour hike was ultimately successful.

P.S. Check out Candice's version of events here:)

Like it, love it, or can't live without it

Kids that do their chores with a cheerful heart!

Friday 3.30

I was looking over the photos that are on my phone right now, and these pictures make me smile because:

...kids will be kids.


... my 2.5 yearly and 7 month old have the same size thighs!


...being independent doesn't always look good.


...I took my kids to see one of the seven natural wonders of the world and their favorite part was these polished rocks in the gift shop.


...I caught nick sleeping with this pink bear cradled in his arms.


...after I let Rand play a game on my phone there are about 20 screen shots just like this.

Thursday 3.29

On Saturday Nick and I are doing a metric century bike ride. I am nervous and excited since I've never done a ride that long before. Hopefully I'll be back next week with a good report.

Goodbye to the Acura

A few weeks ago I posted about getting a new car.
Last week the day came to say goodbye to the old one.
It's been a great car for the last five years, and I definitely would I have continued driving it if we hadn't outgrown it when baby #5 came along.
I actually think I am more attached to Nick's truck than my own car, at least sentimentally.
So although it was a little bit sad, it was mainly just nice to get it sold, cash the check, and have one thing checked off the to do list:)

More photos of my Mom

My cousin came up with several more old photos that include my mom.

Here she is (far left) with her parents and siblings at the cabin in Forest Lakes.













She is in the red dress here.













On the far right in this one.

Like it, love it, can't live without it

My bike... she's nothing fancy when it comes to road bikes but she's special to me:)

Old Photos

My uncle posted this old photo of him and my mom when they were kids (1967) on Facebook so I stole it!

I posted it on instagram and soon my cousin Connie came up with another one for me.

My mom and her brother with their aunt (Connie's mom). I think this has to be around 1960 or 1961?
So fun... I love old photos:)

Felicity

Did any one else watch the show Felicity?
I think I was about 14 when it came out and I remember loving it.
I noticed it on Netflix the other day and so I have been watching it all over again:)
It's it's kind of fun.

ilove

We got a new toy at our house today...

Nick has been trying to convince me what a good idea it is to get "the new ipad". He has told me how much I will love it, and how it can replace my old (circa 2006) macbook. I finally relented and got on board with the idea and he ordered one.

All week as we waited for it to arrive we've been playfully bantering (as we're known to do) about whose ipad it really is, who gets to use it first, who gets it the most, and so on. All along he's been telling me that he had it inscribed with the phrase "Nick's ipad, not Jacie's". By the end of the wait I half believed him:)

So today when the package arrived and I opened it up the first thing I noticed was this...



















He must have sensed that even though I gave my blessing to buy it, I still wasn't completely sold.

Smart man... when all logical arguments fail... use love as a tool to get what you want:)

Oh how I love my tub!

I LOVE my bathtub.
It makes me happy.
It relaxes me.
It calms me down.
It soothes me at the end of a long day.
It takes away my pain when my muscles hurt.
It takes away my stress.
It helped me bring two baby girls into the world!
Actually, now that I think about it, it was water that did all those things...
But the tub holds the water, and makes all these things possible so...
I LOVE the tub!

Like it, love it, can't live without it

Farrah-di-do-da and her two brand new itty bitty teeth.

Dinner on Friday night

The story of Friday night dinner: In which a young woman makes the most of a displeasing situation

Once upon a time there was a girl who made a delicious pizza & a delectable green salad for dinner on a Friday night.
Her family loved it when she made pizza on Friday nights.
On this particular night the children were especially excited.
So excited in fact, that they badgered and pestered her, coming constantly into the kitchen to check on her progress.
Each time they found that dinner wasn't yet ready they whined and complained.
Her husband didn't exactly complain, but he would still play his role in her dismay.
Finally the food was ready.
She set the table, slicing the pizza with care, and giving the salad a final toss.
Then she called the children in from the backyard, where she had sent them when their complaints had grown distracting to her.
She also called her husband, who was doing some very important Internet searches.
She waited but no one came.
She called again, and again but still no one came.
She became a bit incensed.
She was just about to turn grouchy and hunt them down one by one when suddenly she thought better of it.
Instead she sat down at the table all alone and served herself a nice plate of food.
Then she ate it all by herlself, and in silence.
She found this all rather relaxing, which was unusual for dinner time in her household.
By the time she was done the children had wandered in.
They proceeded to complain when they saw she had already eaten, saying, "but mother why didn't you tell us dinner was ready."
She sighed as she began to prepare their plates. She did this partly because she was exasperated with them.
But a little part of her sigh was also contentedness that she had enjoyed her meal alone;)
Later when everyone was done eating and she was cleaning up her husband finally came into eat.
He got to eat alone too.... But as for if he enjoyed it... Only he can tell you that!
The End

They were listening

Sometimes I wonder if my kids absorb anything I am teaching them. I was validated this week when I went to check the kids online spelling assignment. If they have learned nothing else at least I can rest assured that they would rather buy their toys than steal them:)

Looking forward to Spring Break

Next week is Spring Break and we are headed to one of my favorite places... The Grand Canyon. I am going to attempt to get the rest of my family as addicted as I am. I'll let you know how it works:). I can't wait!

I have been pouring over maps...


And even preparing the baby for her first GC experience... Do you thing she'll appreciate it?

Something old, something new

I'm getting a new ride.
Well it's not really new, just new to me.
I tend to like my vehicles new to me and old to someone else though....
So this baby suits me just fine.
Right size (has to tow the boat), right number of seats, right price.
The fact that it was owned by an old man who had nothing better to do than meticulously maintain it is just the cherry on top:)
If all goes as planned I will pick it up tomorrow night and I can't wait!

Like it, love it, or can't live without it

An awesome girl named Candice who watches my kids all weekend so Nick and I can have a little late anniversary celebration!

Rodeo Days

Last week was Rodeo Days! That means a few days off school for the kiddos. On one of them we went to "the grassy place" for a picnic. It was so nice to enjoy perfect weather (sunny but cool) for the short time it exists here in the desert. I get outside quite a bit to bike and run but this reminded me I need to get outside more on lazy days because it lifts my spirits:)

Friends

A few weeks ago we had some friends from out of town come and stay with us.
We haven't seen them in a few years and it was so great to catch up.
They have four little boys so add that to our 5 kids and it was a house full of craziness and fun!
I'm so glad they came:)