Splash and Sprint Triathlon

So remember that post a few months ago about how I finally learned how to swim? If you had asked me then about doing a triathlon I would have said you were crazy. Well, I don't know what happened between then and now, but here I am doing a sprint triathlon. I will say that in December, Marty and I started working out at an awesome place called O.zone Fit. The idea is you do short, intense workouts that kick your butt. Over time I've noticed my endurance and strength getting remarkably better. This is the reason I decided to embark on this challenge. I signed both Marty and myself up in March for the big event on May 8th. I was most nervous about the swimming part. It was 400 meters which was 16 lengths of the pool at the South Davis Rec Center. Marty and I went a couple of times to practice before the big day. Mom and Tressa came to document the historic occasion and were very patient since we were some of the last ones in the pool. I had the runs 4 times that morning in anticipation of the swimming. Sorry to be so graphic, but you need to know how freaking scared I was. When we finally lined up, there were 4 other people from our ward who were there doing it as well and then it got fun. When I finally got in the pool, I had to do the backstroke about every other lap, but I still finished and was so happy to be done with that part! Marty was a much faster swimmer than me, but that was okay. He was sweet to wait for me to do the bike portion. Our skills and pace were equal in biking and running so we stayed together for the rest of it. The bike was 11+ miles and the run was a 5K. Thanks to our workouts, neither of us were sore at all and the bike and run were fairly easy for me. We even had a couple of our trainers there at the finish line to cheer for us. I have to add a disclaimer for how pasty my legs were. I get free laser hair removal at Dr. Dunkley's office where I work sometimes and you can't have it done if there is any kind of sunless tanner on your skin. Clearly I was ready to be lasered as you can tell from the pictures. Unfortunately, they couldn't fit me in before the race. The saddest part is that after all of that, they cancelled my appointment the following week. I was a titch upset, but what's done is done. So sorry for the blinding whiteness. The point of this post, however, is to celebrate the fact that I did something new and that I had fun doing it. Marty was a perfect teammate and we will most likely do this again someday.

Marty's graduation

On May 1st, Marty walked for his MBA. Only employees of University of Phoenix also get to wear that special flower. He will be officially done in September and I couldn't be more proud. He has done this in spite of working on the house, working full-time, and keeping me happy. It's been a crazy year but he has stayed focused, organized and kept his priorities straight. Thank you to our moms who came to support him at the ceremony and to Tressa who joined us for lunch afterwards. Congratulations, hunny! Also, thanks to those of you who sent cards and gifts. Completely unexpected, but so appreciated!

Happy Birthday Marty!

We have been celebrating Marty's birthday for at least 2 weeks now. It started in New Harmony at his parents house on Valentine's Day. Marty and his brother, Travis and their niece, Maddie, shared a party there. Then Marty got to share another birthday party with my brother Devon, his wife, Alicia and their daughter, Aria. Alicia is very prego and forbids me to put pictures of her on my blog. But we have a cute one of Marty and Aria. Then yesterday was Marty's REAL birthday and I surprised him by inviting a bunch of our good friends in our ward over for cake and ice cream that night. He got to celebrate it on his own with all of the attention on himself. I was Betty Crocker all day and barely got everything done in the nick of time. I made him a key lime pie, a super rich chocolate cake (my first round and double layer cake ever), and herb crusted salmon with risotto and salad for dinner. We literally sat down to eat at 7:30 and I had told people to start coming by at 8:00. So I was trying not to look obvious as I scarfed down my food without much chit chat. I was putting the last few dishes in the dishwasher when the doorbell rang right at 8:00. Whew! Marty was very surprised, even though later he said he wondered why the house was so clean. We have such great friends here and it was really neat to see how many came. The pictures don't show everyone who was there. Thanks to everyone for keeping such a good secret! I had fun doing all of that for my sweetheart. I love you, babe! Happy 35th from your cougar!

The basement before and after

I finally did it. Here is a very long posting of pictures documenting the immense time and effort we (mostly Marty) put into remodeling our basement. I hope the pictures speak for themselves, but just in case I'll explain a little bit. The basement used to be 2 large rooms with a wet bar and fireplace in the larger of the two. We turned the smaller room into a bathroom and small bedroom with a hallway into the laundry room. The larger room had a recessed floor which Marty framed into an even floor and covered the fireplace space. The wet bar was redone, Marty built shelves in the closet he framed in the new bedroom, and he stained the bathroom cabinet himself and put the hardware on. Upstairs he built a half-wall where an oak railing used to be. We still have some crown to put up in one small section of the new hallway and a few other little ends to tie up, but the bulk is done and we love it! Now we have room for people to come and hang out! So please do :). Thanks to my talented, skilled and hard-working husband who made this all happen in just a few months on top of working full-time and going to graduate school. He's one in a million and I'm a lucky girl. Mmmmwwwaaa! Also, thanks to Travis for helping with the tile in the upstairs and the slate in the bathroom and thanks to Shane for assisting us with the plumbing and getting us high quality bathroom gear. :)

Anderson family reunites

Well, we did it. All 10 of us plus 3 spouses and 5 grandkids were together for Christmas this year. One came from France, one from England, one from Philadelphia, one from Washington D.C., and 5 from Florida. Because it was such a miraculous event, we made sure to document it by getting family pictures done. It was a dang cold day, but we still managed to smile and have some fun. I can't tell you how true to form the one of the boys and the mom is. One of my favorites. I think my mom looks so beautiful in these pictures. What a lady. Thanks, mom and dad for being great parents. I mean, just look at the fruits of your labors. A sight to be proud of. Ha! Should I even attempt to name everyone for those of you who don't know my nutty family? Ok.

Back: Keaton, Tressa, Kryn, Amy, Rudy (the dad), Karen (the mom), Jaron, Alicia, Marty, Kindy, Gregan

Front: Hayden, Damian holding Merin, Zade, Ava, Devon holding Aria

Love every one of you!