CHI-TOWN!

So this last weekend I met up with my two sisters Emily and Rebecca in Chicago. This was a tradition started last year in DC and this year we thought we would work the Chi-town angle and it was some kind stuff. We were able to take advantage of Rebecca's work hotel, even if that meant that I had to sleep on the 18th floor concrete slab! I met up with Rebecca on Thursday night and Emily cruised in the next afternoon straight from C-ville.

NERD ALERT!! (Matching sweatshirts)

One of the highlights was all the kind food we ate over the weekend. We had some good pasta from Rosebuds and then on Saturday night we went to this newer restaurant in town that was off the food chain! We took it as a good sign the we could only get a reservation at 10:00 at night. Little tough for Emily because that's what time she goes to bed but for Rebecca and I, the single folk, night's just get underway!

Another highlight was going on an architectural boat tour along the Chicago River. This was something I have been wanting to do for quite some time and finally was able to do it. Another extreme highlight was my divine deseret at my introduction to Grand Lux Cafe. This thing was the bomb.com! It was two slices of rich fudge cake filled with chocolate chips with two scoops of ice cream and top ped with chocolate sauce. It basically changed my life and gave Linda a run for her money! On Friday night we all went to a karaoke bar to tear it up. This was a lot of fun as you can see on the video as I tried to bring the house down...Sweet Caroline style.

Yeah, I know I''m tone deaf but it's all about having fun! Emily's first time was nothing but butta as she duet'ed with Rebecca to Madonna. Don't believe me, just watch the video!

The only downside was taggin along with them while they got their shop on all weekend long along the Mag. Mile working the Anthro and Diesel angle. At these times I would just go take photos of the great architecture of Chicago.

All in all, it was a lot of fun and we already got plans for '08...bean town style!

New York state of mind - Marathon style!!!

4:24!!!!!

These numbers will stick with me for quite some time. Many moons ago Rebecca talked me into signing up for the NYC marathon. Yes, it was in a moment of weakness and I don't know what I was thinking. But after following to the training schedule, almost to a "T" it was time to ready to ROCK and ROLL! I hopped on the Greyhound bus and cruised up to the Big Apple on Friday night. I got into town and checked into my hotel. The rents were already there but were staying at different locales. Rebecca got in late that night and thought it would be fun to talk my ear off at three in the morning. Finally she got the net and I was able to fall asleep. We woke up Saturday morning and cruised over to the Javitts Center to meet up with my mom and Marc and my dad. We got our bibs and it became official... we were really going to do this. So a few hunny later (on lame photos, videos and apparel) we were out of there before I could drop more money. We then met up with Emily who flew in last minute for the festivities. So there we were, the whole crew chillin in the Big Apple. We went to Carmine's to carb up for the big race. After that, we transferred hotels. This will be a recurring theme to take advantage of the employee rate that is offered now that I am gainfully employed by Marriott. So after that, we chilled a bit and then went to dinner at a fun Thai place out of Times Square. After mapping out the points where the family was going to be, then changing it two times over, we were ready to say goodbye, knowing that the next time we see them would be while running in the greatest marathon in the world. So we got to our hotel and got everything ready. We all finally crashed about 11:30. We set our clocks accordingly for the time change and we were off. In the morning we started to prepare by pounding some fruit, bread and a lot of water. We hopped on the subway down to the Staten Island Ferry and to the start. Things were getting tight! After hearing the starting gun, we waited 35 minutes for us to cross the starting line and we were off! It was a great day for running. At the four mile mark we saw my mom and Marc which gave us a huge boost. Then at mile 8 we saw Emily and my dad as they took this photo: Then at mile 12 we saw my mom and Marc again. We were supposed to see Emily and my dad at mile 15 but a Subway sandwich got in the way of that and so we missed them as we crossed the 59th Street bridge. We ended up not seeing our family until the finish line which was a BUST. We cruised up First Avenue with all the tall buildings lined up the roads and thousands of others. It was truly a sight to see. After a quick dip in the Bronx we were headed towards the finish line in Central Park. I broke away from Rebecca as the crowd picked up their intensity. I had to dig down deep but spuratic chants of "T-Love" kept me going to the finish line. (I taped "T-Love" with athletic tape on my shirt right before the starting line and it was the best thing I ever did!) I finally approached the mile to go mark and the crowd was louder and louder. They really made me feel like a world=class athlete, which I most certainly am not but it was such a great feeling coming up that stretch of Central Park and seeing the finish line. As I crossed the line, I couldn't help but think of the 2500 bones which I helped raise, all the aches and pains, doctor's visits, losing the seven pounds that I don't have to lose, the nipple bleeding, the early morning runs, the 100 dollar new shoes and everything else....IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT! Check out my results here by punching in my name:

http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/results/index.php

I was happy with my time but now I have something to shoot for the next one! It is up there with some of the happier moments in my life and was truly an incredible experience. It was so great to have my whole family there to share it with me. This has gone on for too long so I will wrap it up. For a better recap, check Rebecca's blog at:

http://www.ruby30.blogspot.com/

Halloween!!!

Princess Jasmine!

Old Man Rivers still lives!!

I have heard a lot about spending Halloween night down in Georgetown along M street and I figured this was the night to put it to the test. Let me just say that I was not disappointed! The scene had a feel that was similar to Times Square on New's Year Eve and a somewhat Mardi Gras (although I have never been to Mardi Gras). I met up with some friends and after pounding some grub we hung out on the street and just "people watched". It was the coolest thing I had seen in a while. I could not believe some of the costumes that people put on. It felt like I was on the set of a horror film in Hollywood. Some of these were not able to be captured on film but I did my best so take a gander at some of these costumes!

Big Pimpin!!

Is it Really Worth it???

The other day while I was training for the marathon and cashing 15 miles on a training run, I noticed some red substance on my shirt about a mile before finishing. I thought to myself, what could it be? Well, sure enough it was my right nipple bleeding from the long run. It was not all that painful and I did not notice it for some time. Later that same day I was holding my shirt away from my chest to keep the pain down. It made me wonder, "Is this really worth it???"

Paris

Rebecca doesn't know how to take a decent photo!!!

Who needs the Kwik E Mart???

In anticipation with "The Simpson's the Movie" coming out later this month, 7Eleven partnered with the movie to turn 12 7Elevens across the country into Kwik E Marts. Once hearing about this, I quickly found out that there had to be one in the DC area. Sure enough there was! One day after work, I cruised up there to scope it out. I can say without hyperbole that this was a hundred times cooler that I had thought! Take a look at some of the photos. I felt like I was living in Springfield!




Enjoying a Squishee with Homer



Running into Marge outside


Rollin with Ralph


"Chillin" with the old man in the freezer.

My other shirt is clean

Chief Wiggum doing what he does best.

All in all, it was a total blast as the place was totally packed with people taking photos. Trust me, I was not the only one! I bought my own box of Krusty O'a, Buzz Cola and much more. Too bad there was no Duff! Thank you, come again!

4th of July!!!!

Here are some photos from the 4th of July weekend where Rebecca came out and we spent the weekend together.

Chowing down a Chipotle burrito at the pool! She was good...even the leftovers on my cheek

I owned Rebecca while out running...she better kick it into gear for the maraffffffon if she's going to beat me. And yes Homer was not happy about her running time.

Biking along the Potomac

Again, I owned Rebecca as she complained, whined, moaned, griped and complained the whole way as our goal of 40 miles was accomplished by me but she could only account for 16.

On our hike above the Potomac and Shenendoah rivers!

Weekend trip in Utah

Here are a few photos from my trip back home to Utah the other weekend. It was a last-minute arrangement but I was glad I was able to go. I spent a lot of time with Penny which is always really good. It was also fun because Emily was back for a friends wedding so we were all able to spend time with each other. Some of the highlights included eating at The Paris, sibling sleepover at Rebecca's, shopping, swimming, Utah Arts festival, listening to a complete tool talk about Greek mythology and how it relates to Mormon mythology at Penny's class down south. Good times as always!

NYC Marathon

On November 4, 2007, Rebecca and I will be running the New York City Marathon! We applied with 98,000 others in May and anxiously awaited the lottery results, which were posted on June 12. Rebecca was accepted but I wasn't, so Rebecca worked the system to sign me up to run through Meals on Wheels. The catch? I have to raise $2,500 big ones between now and race day. Click here to check out my personal website to learn more:

https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=230680&lis=0&kntae230680=DA1D6728DC1A47859A20F1958D14C24B

I was first inspired to run a marathon when Emily and I flew out to support Rebecca during the Salt Lake City Marathon last summer. I ran 5 spontaneous miles with her with no troubles. Earlier this spring, I ran a half marathon and survived. So I felt that another 21.2 miles would be a "piece of cake." We'll see. Above are some photos from my previous races but that was just a 10k and a half marathon so we shall see what happens! Just remember:

LIFE IS A GARDEN....DIG IT!!!!

Lawyers Have Heart 10k

So this last Saturday, I decided to run another race and see how much I have improved since my first race. My running career started last December, when at the spur of the moment, decided to run a 10k with no training. My goal was just to finish without stopping. Well I did my at a time of 1:00,04 I felt there was a lot of work still left to be done. So this being my second 10k, I was curious to find out my time. The race was located down in Georgetown and it was a great morning for a race, albeit on the hot side. There were thousands of runners as we started the race. Click here to see the map:

http://www.runlhh.org/_assets/pdf/LHHRaceMap%202007%20Final.pdf

The first part was not all that bad but as I made the halfway point and headed back towards the finish line, the sun started to heat up. This made the race brutally difficult as I was trying to keep my pace up. The stretch from mile five to six was not fun at all as we were out in the open with the sun beating down and being magnified by all the surrounding concrete. It was a difficult stretch and at times, I felt as though I needed to stop. But I told myself to keep going. I did pass the finish line with a time of 54:14 so I was able to improve by about six minutes. I was shooting for 52:00 but with the heat and the water stops, I was not able to make it but I do feel good about it. Check out the results:

http://www.runwashington.com/results/searchable.html

So after that, I was checking out the report on the race and was looking at the photos. To my surprise, I made the website write up! Check it out and look at the second photo towards the left at the guy in the yellow shirt and red shorts! Not all that impressive but it's a start!

http://www.runwashington.com/news/jun07lawyersrpt.html

Livin' it up with Penny...DC style

Well, after many months, I finally got my ultimate wish as Penny came out over Memorial Day weekend to spend the weekend together. This was something that I was looking forward to ever since she came home from Oakland and perhaps longer. We definitely packed it in with the limited time that we had and all the fun stuff that there is to do out here. It was filled with fun events, good meals, lot of humidity and heat, linda's fudge cake, picnics, canoes and a whole bunch of other stuff. We had some good times being that we were on our own and were able to spend the most amount of time with each other.