I'm loving...

sipping Good Earth on the porch

listening to rodrigo y gabriela

and the favorite quote of the day from my micro prof...

"we are just a big bag of juicy goodies"

quality

"You're killing it!"

That was one of my favorite cheers from this past weekend. Yes, race day finally came. Tri-babe Meg and I completed our Olympic triathlon in the scorching Chelan heat on Saturday morning. It was 3 hours and 9 minutes of fun, determination and effort until my sweat ran dry...literally dry. Luckily people along the run portion of the course stood out in their front drives with hoses to spray us down! I had wanted to finish in 4 hours...which was a generous amount of time taking into account mishaps along all three legs.

The swim was a bit tough at first. I started off strong but then all of a sudden freaked out and it took me a few minutes to catch my breath and get my face in the water again. At least the side stroke kept me moving forward! :) After I separated from the crowd I basically yelled at myself in my head saying "you better pull yourself together, this race has barely begun!" Once I got myself going I started passing people and finished feeling strong as I ran out of the water to my bike. The bike was fun. It was beautiful scenery and the hills were rolling, not steep like the ascent up 77th to my house! I hydrated and pushed myself as far as my legs could go....however, I didn't eat enough and my legs were exhausted at the end. So when I started the run I was trying to fight through my tired legs. My stomach was in a serious cramp...but I told myself "just keep running, just keeep running" kind of like Dori on Finding Nemo. As I was running up the hill just before the finish line all of my friends and parents were cheering me on and it felt so good to have the support...I couldn't stop smiling...except for when my headband fell off and I had to put it back on right before the finish line. i guess I could have left it off and shaved a couple seconds of my time...oh well, I'll have to remember for next time!

It's funny. I feel good about what I accomplished, but I always want more. I have to remind myself that I gave it my best and that's all I can ask of myself. Enough of this not feeling adequate. I trained and I crossed that finish line and as Phil would say "You are doing it, You are a triathlete!"

coldplay

Last weekend I went camping with some friends for the Coldplay concert over at the Gorge. I love eastern wa sun...the scenery not so much. We slept in tents out on a little spit, swam in the Columbia, floated on fun islands, wake boarded, biked, ran, admired petrified wood, ate coconut bars, and listened to an amazing concert...they even played my favorite song green eyes. It was an unbelievable weekend!

After the camping trip I went straight to malia's shower in Kirkland and had so much fun hanging out with the girls and showering malia with yummy food, gifts, games and love. So much love! I hope she knows how much she will be dearly missed as a roommate! I guess she can go live with a boy...

maple scones and blueberries

Maple scones and blueberries don't sound like a good mix, but I wanted to mention two yummy treats I've made recently.

Today I made these Maple Oat Scones from Sweet Amandine. She tweaked a recipe found in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook so you know they are not the healthiest scones...a lb of butter and 4 eggs...seriously. They will have to be a special treat, not a daily ritual. I'm going to bring them camping this weekend for the Coldplay at the Gorge (that way I won't be tempted to eat them all myself).

A few weeks ago I made yummy blueberry bars from a recipe found in Gourmet. It was basically a crumble topping split in half. Half pressed down in the bottom for a crust (which had a little crunch to it) and half sprinkled on top of 3 cups of blueberries mixed with a jar of blueberry preserves. They were so good! I'll see if I can find the recipe and post it to the blog.

slow down

Not like I really need to slow down anymore...school has been out for almost a month, I only have microbiology 3 days a week and the rest of the time I hang out, workout, read, study, bake...pretty much heaven. But then in the slow down there is anticipation for the rush to come. This time the rush is unknown. I don't know what to expect once I stop getting paychecks from the school, finish my class and am working part-time at the salon. what next I ask?

For the moment I am going to listen to my Missy Higgins station on Pandora and bake some Maple Oat Scones (a recipe I've wanted to try for ages now!). Sounds like a good short term solution/distraction from thinking about the unknown to come...

the fourth