Northwestern College

my weekend has been full of attending Homecoming events. friday night at my high school and saturday at my college homecoming. It was a perfect day to be outside enjoying football and old friends. i love Northwestern and am so thankful for the four years of education, sports and friends that i got. I was excited to see friends...but was pretty sure that there wouldn't be to many people there that i already dont see on a regular bases. but much to my surprise i did see a good friend of mine that i dont think i have seen since 1998 or so. Paul Brandenbury (sorry no picture) played football and basketball and was a great guy all around. now he lives in Germany with his wife and works for the secert service....thats right, he protects very important people- people like the presdient....crazy. it was good to catch up with him. I spent most of my time with a new friend, Nate. Nate is not a NWC
grad...but wanted to check out a game. So that was fun (sorry no pic of him either). After a good game of football (we lost by the way)... again- football is always more interesting when you know someone playing...
I headed over to a friends house to hang with
1997 NWC grads. Of course there are alot of our good friends missing from the picture that we wish would have showed up to the game ( Heather)...but it was still fun to catch up with these few. good times, great oldies!!! the girl in the back row was my college roommate for all four years - tammy sue! she was a great roommate and she will always hold a special place in my heart. her husband, bart is stand to her right. jamie is the one holding the baby and is the onwer of his house. i actually didn't know jamie in college...but he went! guess our paths weren't meant to cross til now. Sara- the one sitting in front in the red was and still is a good friend. i alwasy enjoy what she has to say. sara was the innocent one in college...never did a thing wrong. i love her. joe and jason - two guys in the back, are great dudes. i love hanging out with them and have grown closer to them in the past year than i ever was in college; so thats cool. joe and i actually went to a movies after the sun went down. overall-a well spent afternoon with great people. i am going to include a couple more pics of my afternoon. i love swinging....makes me fell like a kid again. go out and try it!

High School Homecoming.

so a couple of my 1993 high school grads decided it'd be a good time to hook up and go to our high school homecoming football game. oh the memories!!! i am glad that Mora MN is only a bit over an hour away, cuz it's nice to make a couple hour visit and have good time with old friends like i did tonight. Jeremy, Andrea and I were very good friends in high school and made many memories there. And of course, we are still making memories together as friends. I decided to it would be funny to pull out the old lettermens jacket and wear it around. I was surprised that it still fit. I loved that jacket and got tons and tons of use out of it. Andrea and Jeremy had to make fun of me...of course, i deserved it. I still had the medals i won on my the jacket - so as i walked it made jingling noise. nice! I seem to remember back in the day watching football was fun and i actually enjoyed the game and cheering for my friends; like jeremy. but watching this football i realized that high school football is sooo boring unless you know someone playing. We didnt do a lot of watching; we did mostly chatting with people as we ventured throught the crowd. We took our picture at the sign that our class raised money for and put on in front of our high school...we thought that'd be a good place to pose. GO MUSTANGS!!!!!

Iron Girl Du-athlon

This past weekend my sister-in-law, Carey, and I took part in the RYKA Iron Girl Du-athlon in Bloomington. For those of you that do not know what a du-athlon is...well, it's a run-bike-run race. This race was a 2 mile run, 22 mile bike (which was all up hill), and a 2 mile run. I was excited for Carey to come down and spend the weekend with me and to compete in this race with me. We spent Saturday afternoon checking in at the race, went to church, stood in line at the Olive Garden for a little over an hour (but had some great converstation while waiting), and than eat some well needed carbs for the race. I am not sure if this has ever happened to some of you before, but as I laid in my bed and went over my list of things I needed to bring I had a epifany...."My shoes", I thought, "where are they?" So I got up out of bed and started to look for them and than I remembered- 'volleyball practcie'. Ya see, I am coaching the 8th grade team at my school and I forgot my tennis shoes there after practice on Friday. So, Carey and I got up out of bed and went to see if I could get into school...and of course, I couldn't. So....no tennis shoes for the race. Fortuntaly, I had a very old pair of nike shoes that I keep in the back seat of my car incase of emergency...(see picture). These shoes have not been worn for at least three years and they are about 1/2 size to small. My toes were looking forward to the experience (note- major sarcasism). So not only was I neverous about the race, but now I had to worry about doing the race in shoes that might cause me pain! Carey was a bit nervous as well; mostly about the biking and about the transitions. I told her she had nothing to worry about and that she would do just fine, and that she did. She tore out and did the first 2 miles in 15 minutes. WOW- what I wouldn't give to run a couple miles that fast. I started off a lot slower than that, a time that I am a bit ashamed to share with you all. (smiles). Once on the bike I felt comfortable and was looking forward to the 22 mile bike. The sun was out; still a bit chilly on the hands, but nothing major- and the scenery was good. I caught Carey at mile 9...she was looking good! But I didn't stick around long. I needed to get a solid 10-15 minutes ahead of her so she wouldn't pass me on the run. I finished the very hillly bike course in 1 hour 20 minutes and was ahead of Carey by about 20 minutes. And to make a long story short- I finished in 2:10:30 and Carey was only a couple mintues behind me finishing at 2:16:44. Even after the 22 mile bike she still ran the last 2 miles in 17 minutes- seriously, she is so fast! ....It was a good time. We both felt decent afterwards! Tired, but a good tired! My legs hurt a little that night while I was falling asleep, but nothing major. I highly enjoyed the race and my time with Carey. It was my last race for the year and I am excited to give my legs a break...but am already looking forward to next summer to see if I can impove on my times. Carey- Thanks for a great weekend! NO WORRIES>

3:16:57

So I servived the bike race/tour. I have grown to love my bike alot. I purchased it back in mid July and have spent many hours on it training. I never thought I'd like biking as much as I do. It's a place I can unwind, a place I can just be by myself and not worry about anyone else. A place I can push myself and go hard, or a place that I can just take it easy and enjoy the scenery. I also took on a role that my friend Linda does when she bikes....I pray! So it's refreashing to get on it. I need to name my bike- like guys do with cars. Any ideas?????

When I woke up the day of the race it was raining out and I was not looking forward to spending hours upon hours on my bike. But... the rain stop- and unfortunatly the wind started. It was a long windy ride. But it was also good...if that is possible. I started the race out with my friend Katie from high school. She is so fun and I love being around her. She was not into athletics in high school but the past years has become an avid biker, runner, cross country skier and canoer. She makes me smile. I was proably a bit over motivated for this race and left Katie behind at mile 3. She was riding a mountian bike so I am sure her miles were a lot tougher than mine on my cross trainer. Katie finsihed with a smile on her face and nothing but good things to say, thats why I love Katie. After I ditched (for lack of a better word) I set out to find Mike. Mike has been a life long family friend of mine. He is my best friend (Jens) dad and let me tell you---this guy is so frustrating; but I still love him! He is in the best shape and every time I think I might have a chance at beating him at something he goes off and still wins. The dude is a machine. If I am in half as good a shape as he is when I turn 54....I will be loving life. I am not sure when I caught him but all I do know is I peddled very very hard to catch up. He stopped to refill his H2O bottle and I kept on going (big mistake). I stayed ahead of him for a solid hour or so and was feeling good about it...but (dont ya just hate buts)... out of no where he caught me and I was never again able to take the lead. I was a bit on the dehydrated stage....I was being stupid and didn't want to stop for H2O. (note to self and others out there- ALWAYS STOP FOR WATER). The last 10 miles kicked my butt and Mike sprinted out ahead of me, finishing 8 minutes or so ahead of me. I was bummed out for a while but then refocused my thinking. It's not about beating people- it's about doing something I enjoy and doing it to feel satisified; a lesson I have been trying to learn all summer long. I had a couple of goals going into this race. #1 - to finish in less than 3 hours and 30 mintues- which I accomplished; finishing in 3 hours 16 minutes and 57 seconds. #2 - to not stop....and I almost accomplished this goal. But...mom called as I was heading up the biggest hill so I got off to answer the phone. I needed her to bring me H2O! #3 - was to average above 16 miles/hour and I barely did that averaging 16.4 miles/hour. nice!!!! #4 was to beat Mike...well, guess 2.5 out of 4 isn't all bad. It was a hard race. My quads and calfs killed and I was tired afterwards...but it was a good tired and a good race. And regardless - I am proud of myself. (and i dont say that very often). I will be sad to hang up the bike when winter gets here. and Mike....someday I'll catch ya and maybe even beat ya! :)

$44.99

seriously I have never spent a more worth while $44.99 in my whole life. Yesterday I bought a pair of biker short that have padding in the butt (not sure you can see it in the picture). Yes, they are spandex. Yes, they are not that fashionalbe. Yes, the show every inch of your body fat off. Yes, they are the MOST COMFORTABLE thing to wear while biking. I have no idea why I have spent the past four months riding bike without them. Today I went for a 10 mile ride and my butt has never felt better....those short are very very very good for the butt. I am so glad I got them before the big race on Saturday. 60 miles without some extra padding on the back side may have killed me...now, I'll be riding in comfort- ok, ok- maybe I shouldn't use comfort and 60 mile bike race in the same sentence. huh!!!!! best buy ever! out

T-Train' 4th Birthday Party

aren't birthday's the best. so i attended taylor's 4th birthday party today and it was a hoot to see how much fun she was having. as you can see she is very much into princess stuff. she was all dressed up - like Ariel from the little mermaid! her parents hold a pretty big bash for her party; where adults and youngsters alike get to play. they hold a 2-on-2 basketball tourney and a 2-on-2 badminton tourney. unfortuntaly the rain put a damper on the ball tourney, but some of us hard core badmintion players decided to play in the rain anyways. last year sara mortensen and i took the championship. this year i had to find a ringer partner to play with cuz sara was unable to attend. so uncle (that would be taylor's uncle) jim and i got paired up to play together. we
were excited to play, as you can see. the game was an intense and fast paced one - and regardless how good we look in the pictures we lost 15-17....bummer! i was looking very forward to winning the award again this year. next year i guess! birthday's- so much fun!

also another very enjoyable thing in life is caribou coffee. i am addicted to it. i spent a couple hours there this morning before church drinking a large white chocolate mocha while trying to get some school work down. i figured i wouldnt get much school work done tonight and for some reason i get distracted at home so caribou it was!

so who out there is a US Open fan? I am.; especially when the final game is andy roddick and roger federer playing. so i spent my late afternoon on the floor in front of the TV. i loved it. i get so into it and was cheering on andy big time. i do like roger and the fact that the dude is inbeatable...but andy - come on! He's a stud. but like my badminton game the turn out was not what i wanted and roddick fell to federer in four games. i think i like watching tennis more than i like wathing basketball- ok, sometimes...not all the time. this afternoon was one of those times. someday i think i'll get tickets and go to the US Open. any volunteers that want to buy me the tickets?????? smiles around.

Twins Game

There is not a better way to spend a saturday night than going to a twins game with some friends. John (who works at the same junior high as i) and Caleste (his wife) arranged a baseball outting with some friends of theirs from chruch and decided to include me (thanks guys). it was great night! it was a great game. the twins are playing great ball; they won tonight 2-1 and the game was pretty intense. i guess (according to john) they are only two games behind from taking the #1 seed in our division. please feel free to correct me if i am wrong. cory- another friend from my school, joined us as well. so it was a fun night out watching good baseball, with good people, enjoying some very expensive food and of course people watching. people crack me sometimes!!! no stories impaticular...

my first week of school went well. i am enjoying my new schedule and being back in the locker room teaching physical education again; but i miss my cute 7th graders walking into health class not knowing a thing...timid like even! nothing to eventfull happend during the week. alot of going over rules and expectations, getting to know names, making up seating charts, getting school pictures down, learning names ( i already said that); you get the idea. i am the worst at learning names. i am excited to actually start teaching on monday and i am sure will have more stories for you than!

tried to get on my bike this morning to go for a quick little spin- but got 2 miles out and had to turn back cuz i was freezing!!!! goodness, it went from being in the upper 70's to the low 50's over night...literally. i was not dressed well for a bike ride. i need to purchase some gloves and maybe even some sort of hat. i was cold! i have spent the past couple months getting ready for a 60 mile bike race i have this saturday! i am pretty sure i am NOT ready for it! oh well....

no worries!!!!!

apples to apples

so today was a good day. started off worshipping at church. i love my church. every first weekend of the month my church spends time reflecting the cross and the table - thus we take and enter into communion. after chruch i spent the afternoon cleaning and cooking. someday i'm gonna make a man a darn good wife. i love cooking, espcially for other people. for some weird reason it's a relaxing thing for me. i also really like to clean- ok, not all the time....but again, for some odd reason i find it relaxing and it has a calming effect on me. plus, doing those two things while it's raining out; with a bit of thunder mixed in makes it a perfect afternoon to cook, clean and relax.
i was getting ready for some of the girls basketball players to come over for some food, fun and fellowship. we snacked while we laughed at some of shelbys stories- man oh man is that girl a hoot. the fun part (besides the story telling) was playing apples to apples. i have never played before, thus got my butt kicked by college girls. but it was fun and a pretty easy game to play. those girls always bring joy into my life; i am very thankful they find me cool enough to spend a sunday evening with!!!!! thanks kids!
one more day of freedom before i start up my school year! i am excited, nervous and ready to tackle life in my school building. "cant steal my joy!" is my personnal school year theme....and i am pretty sure i am going to put it to use.