The road less traveled

Remember one of my fitness goals is to be able to ride my bike to work without stopping, which includes going up a steep steep hill for approx two blocks. pant, pant, jiggly legs....

Nevermind that Landon came up to my work yesterday to each lunch with me and he did it in 15 minutes....without stopping! Whatever boy wonder Landon! Sure show your Mom up there dear one.

I haven't rode my bike to work this week, but I have been riding my bike in 5 to 10 mile little road trips. Yesterday I managed to make my body run 1 mile. progress? I dunno....it hurts a little too much today.

Will I keep going???.....definitely. It's gotta hurt a little to reap the rewards.

I decided to take a few pictures of the bike road less traveled (lately) so that you'll all have empathy in my cause......Or cheer me on!!!


From about 3/4 mile away from the Hill

Getting closer...... can you see it?

ooooohhhh....my yegs hurt already!

Hello steep hill....have we met?

Conquer!

Once up the hill then you are on the main campus. Here are a few pictures of the outside of the Chase Fine Arts Center where I work.

Looking southeast

West side of the building......hi facilities guy!

New concert hall that was built about 2 years ago. It was all built with donations! It's kind of an odd looking building from the outside, but inside it is amazing!

The front doors where I walk into every day

The outdoor court yard, where I have lunch sometimes! It's nice out there in the summer.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Matt saves the DAY

Yahooooo!

Matt was able to save my Cedar City pictures from the Shakespearean Festival. I didn't get pictures of all the apprenti, but I did get the majority. =)

Jeremy, JR, Landon, Jessica and ChristianBric, JR and Landon

These two (JR and Landon) might as well have been brothers!!

Landon with "Bill" (that is what the kids called WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE!) It's a bit irreverent, I know.

Especially for Youth

While Landon and I were away at the Utah Shakespearean Festival this past week. Joshua and Tanner attended Especially for Youth (EFY). This was Joshua's 2nd time attending and Tanner's first time. It's a great experience for them to associate and meet youth from their own faith.

By Thursday all Tanner wanted to do was sleep, so we had to do a little coaxing to get him out of door on Friday morning -- which I think he will say it was well worth it as Friday was "dance" night. The report was that Tanner danced with 8 girls and Joshua with no less than 15! =)

We did pull them both out of EFY to travel down to Weber State University to go and watch Drum Corp International on Thursday night.

They both had a busy, but insightful week!

They enjoyed being able to sleep in Saturday morning!

Utah Shakespearean Festival

What a wonderful week! I had the opportunity to travel with 7 theatre apprenti to Cedar City, Utah to attend the Utah Shakespearean Festival. These 7 students range from 16-18 in age. They are obtaining hands-on experience by working for the Old Lyric Repertory Company this summer and one of the fun things they get to do is attend the USF.

I went as a chaperone with another gentleman from the Company. Landon also was able to travel with us on this adventure.

We saw 6 shows in 3 days time. Show at 2pm and 8pm each day. It was a busy schedule. In the mornings we took tours and attended actor seminars. One of the tours included seeing the underground tunnels between theatres that the actors and actresses use so they aren't seen in their costumes.

The six shows that we saw were:
Cyrano de Bergerac
Othello (3rd favorite)
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
The School of Wives (2nd favorite)
Fiddler on the Roof
Tamming of the Shrew (My favorite!)

I took a couple of pictures of Landon with the apprenti, but I took my old camera and now it won't download the pictures! bummer. I'll keep trying.

One of the highlights of the trip was able to go to the Executive Director's, R. Scott Phillips, home after the Tuesday night's performance of The School of Wives. He's the head honcho of the Festival! His back yard was incredible and was all decked out with sodas, snacks, lights and tables. We all felt very important. The other chaperone, Fred, who accompanied us was a good friend of Mr. Phillips...so they caught up while the rest of us ate snacks, admired the yard, and talked.

It was a wonderful time. A couple of the shows were a little "Shakespeare wordy", but both Landon and I soon found ourselves really understanding and enjoy the theatre experience. I've already asked the boss to SIGN ME UP FOR NEXT YEAR!


Tamming of the Shrew

The School of Wives

Othello

Garden Chair

Today I painted my new Garden Chair and placed it in my flower garden! It turned out so fun, I just love it. I found a fun pot and planted some flowers to sit on the chair.

I also bought two new Sand Cherry Bushes (just right of the chair).....in hopes that they will fill in my empty spot near the house. The guy at Home Depot assured me these bushes could handle the heat!

Thanks Mom for such a FUN HOSTESS GIFT!

4th of July Switch-A-Roo times 2!

Happy 4th of July!

This morning we headed over to a neighboring town in which the Skyview Marching Band was playing in the parade. This was the first parade for the "rookies" (or 1st years), which included Tanner.

Last year at this same parade (which was Josh's first parade) he wore the wrong shorts. Fortunately for him, I happened to be wearing jean capri's so we did a switch-a-roo in the van and rolled up the capri's into shorts for him. I however, could not fit into Josh's shorts (what?), so I had to wrap a blanket around my waist for the remainder of the parade.

Here's a "proof" pic from last year! =)

So...today I was happy to see that everyone wore jean shorts today! Yeah!

However, some of the rookies didn't get parade shirts! They ran short. So all the band Mom's who were wearing parade shirts --- found other kids who were wearing undershirts (that would fit us) and traded. We managed to do the switch-a-roo with about 6-7 band Mom's and found enough shirts for all the band members to march! Even if it meant putting on a white-t that was a little damp under the armpits from the prior teenage wearer! (which I did......whooopeeeee)

It was great to see everyone pull together to make it all happen in time before the parade started.

The weather was warm, but overcast, which provided some relief from the sun and heat.

Landon got into the action and was able to walk with me along the sidelines with the band. He particualarly stayed close to the drum line as he's working to be there someday.

Warming Up!

We're marching.....marching......

Marching Band warm up -- They have a lot of fun with this.

Little short "snippets" of the parade. It was difficult to walk with the band as well as take pictures and video. Sorry if it's a little shakey!

Half Year Resolution

It's July 1! Half of the year has already come and gone. It's only taken me 6 months to get my rear in gear and make some goals. I have lost my "mojo" for a time....hopefully I've found it again! Not sure really why I let it go on for so long.

Really everything in my life is going well. I have nothing to complain about. Life is sweet!

What I have to complain about is my own doing.

I'm tired of when I bend down, my fat roll goes with me and typically I can't breath during this time frame! I'd really like to be fourty and fabulous, not fourty and fluffy! It isn't me and I have no excuse!

My sisters and I have ALL made a goal together to help us all to get more fit and healthy. We are going to run the Top of Utah ........................5k in September!

Yes, I know you were thinking that I was going to write Marathon, didn't you? We needed to make an obtainable goal for us all. We are all at different points in our fitness levels and running (or walking) 3.2 miles seems to be reasonable. Even some of our children have decided to join us! We're making it a family affair.

It was in 2001 that I did run a marathon, but at this point I'm feeling content in completing just one! Training was a bit overkill and I got burnt out. However, I do have to say that running that marathon served a purpose in my personal life....so it was all good!

Writing down goals work! So I'm going to write them down for all to see......

1. Exercise for at least 30 minutes each day, except Sunday
   
2. Ride my bike to work 3 times a week


3. Make it UP THE UNIVERSITY HILL riding my bike without stopping by August 1


4. No Sugar


5. Fix healthier meals for my family


6. Run 1 mile by August 1
   

I'm challenging the following people to write down at least 5 goals and post them on their blogs.

• Matt
• Kim
• Amie
• Annie
  

If you want to join the goal making extravaganza and don't have a blog you can leave your goals in the blog comments! Happy goal making! It's Half Year Resolution Time!