Car in shop = biking!

I took the car in for a tune up today in Ballard and thought...cool...I'll be able to load my bike and use it to get back home and around town for the day! So in I go at 7:15am drop off the car get all my snazzy bike gear on...the guy at the counter was like, "oh, I'd offer you a shuttle, but it's obvious you don't need one." I felt like a true seattlite (sp?). Anyway, biked home, rested; biked to the gym, did pilates; biked to edmonds waterfront, had a snack; biked home through woodway and shorline, died on the hills! It was such a scenic ride on the way home, but kind of like a rollercoaster...

I was so tired of biking I had to have one of my roommates drop me off at my car because I didn't want to get back on my bike!

Micro Lab

My journey to nursing has me in a classroom this summer at UW sitting in Microbiology lectures and working in Microbiology lab. The first lab assignment was to collect microorganisms from various places - your skin, bathtub, sink, etc. and then incubate them at room temp on TSY medium (a growth medium). So I got to work. I split my petri (reminds me of land before time) dish into 8 different sections and started inoculating...my ear, fingerpad, fingerpad after purell, shower, tolietseat, cell phone, and computer keyboard...one was left blank because I ran out of sterile swabs.

A week later I checked in on my work and found some interesting results...

• Purell doesn't work...MO's grew ferociously...although there was a little less diversity than the original fingerpad sample.


• My ear was freakishly clean - only one little colony (I think it was a stray from the air)


• The colonies from the shower were (not surprisingly) the same color as the pinkish gunk that builds up between cleanings.


• The sample with the largest growth, fuzziest growth and most diverse growth was....wait for it....the computer keyboard! SICK! but I do use my computer everyday, multiple times a day...and think about all the places your fingerpads touch...it was disgusting. Let's just say my next project is to research ways to sterilize/clean my computer and cell phone (it wasn't any prettier!)

I wish I would have taken a picture in lab...next time I'll bring my camera so you can all be enlightened in regards to the microscopic world!

man of iron

2009 Coeur d'Alene Ironman

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination.


I can only imagine the determination it takes to train for and complete an Ironman. The race consists of three legs: 2.5 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. Yeah, that's right a full marathon after all that other stuff. I was a spectator at this year's Ironman in Coeur d'Alene supporting a good friend that trained all year for this one 11 hour day. So much relentless work goes into hundreds of days of preparation for one single day's performance. What if you had a stomachache? bowel issues? a cold? an injury? I don't think it would matter. The athlete's determination would endure and he would complete the race regardless of any obstacles.


From the sidelines I was overwhelmed by the energy, the athleticism, the diversity...it was one of the most inspiring days of my life. If I was crazy (like four of my friends) I would have signed up and paid the $600 entry fee the next day for the 2010 race. Luckily, I have some of my mom's head on my shoulders and knew better (at least for now). But I did walk away from the experience with a renewed and energy and joy towards life and training for my small "Olympic" distance tri in July. Watching people of all shapes, sizes, and ages battle through the day with perseverance and endurance makes you realize that anything is possible when you put in the work to prepare...there is a reward - the finish line.

There are so many races in life...and so many finish lines to cross. All I need is determination.

A lot of waiting for 30 seconds of cheering Brian on 10x

Brian "airplanes" in to finish strong in 10 hours and 55 minutes