Utah

Finally I'm back!

Its been way to long since I've posted.  Andrew and I moved to Utah in October and we are just starting to feel a lil bit settled in and relaxed.  Andrew took a job in South Jordan selling medical insurance so that's what took us out of California and to Highland, UT.  We are currently just renting a basement apartment in Highland and hope to not be here to long (in the basement apartment I mean, UT I wish, but it'll probably be home for at least a few years, if not longer). We are enjoying it here, but definitely miss all our friends and family back home, the nice weather and of course the beach.  I'm currently studying for the GRE and to get my fitness instructor license.  I'm also thinking about substitute teaching while I'm studying (we'll see how that goes).  We are loving living so close to family, even tho we left a lot of family in California.  We are really close to two of Andrew's brothers and plenty of other family so its been great! 

That's all I have for now.  Hopefully the mountains will continue to get snow, cause I'm dying to hit the slopes (its one thing I'm stoked about living where we do....great snowboarding).

Hopefully I can start blogging on a regular basis, I've never been good at it.  I'm not very good at journal writing either, oh well!     

I tried to post some pictures, but my internet is not letting me...I'll try again tomorrow.

Surfs Up.

Took some shots of us surfing. This is the best thing to do for date night.



Caught some more dinner. The big one Benjamin is holding is his FIRST fish ever at age 6. You can see Christian in the distance, not too thrilled about touching any fish.

Monsters

Fishing with John, caught some big fish, had a tasty dinner.

Viva Mexico

Went to Mexico in August, great times. Was hard to come home and not have bath warm water everywhere to swim in.

Yosemite & Rafting the American River

So the end of our central coast loop and family reunion ended in camping at Yosemite, (my first time there, Jamie went before when she was tiny) and then, Jared, my brother-in-law, took us rafting on the American River. One night we hiked Half Dome in the evening to see the sun set and missed it, but the hike back was fun in the full moon. People left leather gloves at the bottom of Half Dome to use when climbing the cables, that was great for our hands. The one shot below you can see my brother-in-law, Jamie and I in front of Half Dome at night with a 13 second shutter speed, there was plenty of moon light, it was just hard to stay still for 13 seconds. Some of the highlights: (most of them pictured below)
Climbing Half Dome
Swimming in the freezing rivers and waterfalls, the days were hot
Chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast
Seeing a small bear (might as well have been a big squirrel)
Amazing views
Hanging out with family


Can you tell who needs a hair cut above? It was windy on Sentinel Dome.





We then rafted the southern leg of the American River with another brother-in-law. We were so stoked that he took us, especially with my sister being pregnant and due in 5 days. (Sierra Jeppson was born on the 24th of July) Jamie had been wanting to go rafting for months, she was probably the most excited. The rafting photos are not of us, but they show two rapids we went through called Satan's Cesspool and Bouncing Rock. The boat behind us got flipped on one of the rapids, and the boat in front of us lost a passenger on the other rapid. Great times. Would love to do it again.

Cayucos 2 / Monterey Aquarium

Here are some more shots at Cayucos and our visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We cruised up the central coast again and this time the bull elephant seals where there.

Cayucos / Central Coast

So we have headed north through Morrow Bay, Cayucos (and were lucky to stay at Jamie's Grandparents house) and will soon be hitting Big Sur and Monterey, here are some shots of the day, many more to come from my brother-in-law's kite boarding session. Maybe we'll see some more zebras passing Hearst Castle.

4th of July Race Revisited.

So here are some shots of the race, notice how Jamie is in front of all the dudes. And I don't know what my hands do when I run. One photo looks like I'm dancing to "Stay'n Alive" with my thumbs up. Anyway the race was fun and I look like I was dog tired in these photos although I didn't think the race was that bad.

4th of July Race & Upcoming Sprint Tri

Jamie and I ran the Laguna Niguel YMCA 10K on the 4th. It was a great race, fun and scenic. It was the first time I have ran a strictly running race for almost three years, but that race 3 years ago I got a BAD side ache and walked most the race. The latest race I ran without a side ache was the Rex E Lee 5K my freshman year at BYU almost 9 years ago. It was good to know that I can now run faster/better than when I was in high school cross country 10 years ago. Jamie took first in her age group, she is an animal and wasn't very far behind me, considering her legs are much shorter than mine. Coming up in August I'm going to be doing the Sprint Triathlon at Camp Pendleton again, if anyone is interested in doing it with me let me know, Jamie is going to be out of town. They expect the Tri to sell out soon.

Wasatch Back 08'

Jamie ran the Wasatch Back this year with our sister-in-law and her team. The race is almost 200 miles long from Logan, down to Heber, than back up to Park City. Here are a few shots from the race. There were 12 members on her team, two vans, all runners took turns running, so it was a giant relay. She has more info about it than I, so ask her if you have any questions. She said she had a ton of fun, wish I could have done it. I got to sit in the sun for 6 hours at an exchange booth volunteering, (it wasn't that bad, check out the view of Mt. Timp that we had below, not too shabby) but our trip to Utah was a blast, always is, I mean I got to eat at the Italian Place. Took some cool shots of Rock Canyon I'll post later. More info about the Wasatch Back race can be found here: Wasatch Back
Our blog is "The Runningbeans" but it only appears to be Jamie that is running all the races. I'm trying to talk myself into the sprint triathlon again at Camp Pendleton in a few weeks, that should be fun. Also on the 4th of July we are running a community 10K, so chalk one up for me, Jamie doesn't have a monopoly on all the races yet. I can still run faster that her.....for now.

Mud Run 08'

Last year Jamie cleaned house at the Mud Run and took first in her age group running as an individual. This year she ran with a group of friends as a team and here are some of the shots. I played photographer this year and ran around taking photos. Another group we went up with, "Team Speedo," you'll see why in the photos, took first in the team category overall.

Brasilian Limeade - aka: Best Summer Drink Ever

Tastes like Brasil. This stuff is so delicious. I saw a bunch of limes and instantly thought of Brasil and the time I worked at Rodizio in Provo. This drink is so creamy and easy to make, and brings back a lot of memories of Belo Horizonte. I can drink a gallon of the stuff. Here is the link to the recipe: Brasilian Limeade. After reading the short recipe, yes you put the limes in the blender with the peel, and when serving make sure you serve in a cup full of ice, it makes it so cold, and use a straw, its hard tipping back a cup full of ice. I can't get enough of this stuff. It tastes almost as good as coconut milk straight from the green coconut that has been chilled. Jamie isn't a believer in this drink, but it was the number one ordered drink at Rodizio. (okay really #2, #1 was water, Provo residents are cheap)

Wear Sunscreen!

I'm mostly posting these pictures because I'm sick of looking at myself in spandex, but also to share a lesson that I had to learn the hard way (although I still have a hard time remembering sunscreen). Yesterday I had to have a chunk of tissue removed from my side. It was not fun! About a month ago my dermatologist found "pre-cancerous" cells (don't worry I don't have skin cancer) when I had a mole removed and so he said they had to remove more tissue as a precaution. Which basically transaltes to me as a nice scar. (warning: if you are easily grossed out, do not look at the following pictures)

The skin looks weird around the stitches because that's where the band aid was.

So lesson learned...wear sunscreen! (Sorry I know its a very gross picture)

Tri Pics

As much as I don't love seeing myself in spandex, here are a few pictures from the triathlon.

Here's two of Andrew on his bike.

*Next race the Wasatch Back Relay Race June 20-21st. If anyone wants to train for a triathlon, let me know, I can't wait to do another one.

Baby Mack has arrived!

My cute sister-in-law Allyson and her husband Jon welcomed their first baby yesterday afternoon...baby Jenner James Mack. I don't want to steal her great news so if you want to see pictures and find out more info., here's her blog....I'm sure she'll be posting pictures soon.

Allyson has always been such an amazing sister-in-law to me, actually more like a sister and great friend (she once picked me up from my apt., drove me to the dr. and sat with me for over an hour when I was sick and Andrew was in class). I met Andrew only months after she started dating her now husband, so it was fun hanging out when we were all dating (and married). It's nice to have someone that's going through the same stages in life as I am right now (we got married just 6 months apart and she's only 9 months younger than me). So what I'm trying to say is I'm so excited for them and wish I was there to hold the lil boy.

St. George Triathlon, Jamie wins 1ST !!!

(I know thats not jamie running, we are waiting for pics) So we did it. It was a ton of fun, and a ton of work. Jamie took 1st place in her age division, Congratulations Jamie. (More bragging for my wife, she also took first in her division in the mud run last year) The wind and waves on the lake were so bad they canceled the swim halfway through, too bad I was already out there. The water was difficult to swim in. When you came up for air you sucked up water from that waves and white caps. Not easy. AND, the swim was against the wind and waves, it was like swimming upstream in a river. It got so bad they were pulling people out of the water left and right with the boats and canoes, hence the cancelation of the swim. There was one swimmer that saved two other swimmers by holding them up until a boat got there, at different times not two at once. Then the bike portion was straight into the wind as well. Flat road and you are using a super low gear, that was crazy, and the drifting sand banks, that was exciting and tasty with the grit it threw in your mouth. The run was all on dirt trails, some people said that it was a little sandy, I'd say it was a lot sandy. Not as bad as running on dry sand on the beach, but almost at times. Overall it was awesome and I think Jamie is going to make me do more, but I can take it.


Our weekend was great, we got there Thursday and stayed until Sunday, The weather in St. George was great, and it was good to eat at Bajio and Pizza Factory. Great to see my brothers, Lionel, Henry and John. Lionel competed in the triathlon then went and hiked the narrows at Zions afterwards, he had more energy than I did. There is some great scenery around St. George, but I was only able to take shots one day so we headed to the temple.

Happy Birthday Jules!

Today is my youngest sister's 15th birthday! Julianne I love you and I'm so glad I get to see you everyday. I love living so close to you (just two rooms down :) ). You are so much fun to be around and Andrew and I love that we get to spend so much time with you. Happy Birthday!!

Funny video clip from my sister's wedding

So I have procrastinated for two years the editing of the video that I shot at my sister's wedding. It was over an hour and a half. I did most of the editing a few months ago, and was putting the finishing touches on last week when something went wrong and my countless hours, yes I in fact mean countless, of editing were lost, so I unfortunately will be sending them the raw footage with no edits. With a 20 gig file that is easier said than done. Anyway I posted a funny clip I found while editing, not surprising once you watch it, and if you have ever seen the Manti Temple.

Triathlon Time

So Jamie and I are doing the St. George Triathlon May 10th, just over a week away, and we are nervous and excited. We did our first sprint triathlon at Camp Pendleton last year and had fun so we decided to do a longer distance one this year. This involves a lot of training compared to last time when I made it to the pool once and ran a little and called it good. This time is much different, mile long swims and 35 mile bike rides to train. Friends from here are competing along with a brother from Utah, two other brothers are coming to hang out and cheer us on, it should be tons of fun.


Things I've learned from training for this triathlon:
1. My wife is competitive and it feels like I'm already racing her each time we swim.
2. I've learned to swim, that is a huge accomplishment on my part, not well but I've learned.
3. Padding sewn into bike shorts can never be too thick.
4. Bike shorts cost way too much.
5. Bike shorts are way too ugly.
5. Bike maintenance is very important. I learned the hard way from a tire blow out and a few rolls on asphalt at 20 mph. I should have taken pictures of the damage.

6. A thin layer of polyester is no match for asphalt.
7. Amazing how you worry about how many people see you crash versus worrying about bodily harm.
8. Water drains from my nose for hours after swimming, is that normal? (thats more of an observation)
9. Pizza is never a good meal before a long swim.
10. New shoes feel so much newer if your old ones were nearing their third birthday.
11. Guzzling propel during a long ride always makes me want to puke.
12. You can buy a carbon fiber seat post for $130....?!?! $130 for 12 inches of PIPE!
13. Polarized sunglasses are nice.
14. The farther your mouth is opened while riding, the further the bugs make it down your throat.

At least this time I'll be on a real bike (pictured above) my favorite christmas present from my in-laws. This is a ride coming back from my Laguna Beach route. PCH has some great views for biking. I hope training at sea level doesn't kill us.

For better or for worse.

In the past week I've been told that I look like the following three gentleman, I'd like to take that as a compliment-just because they are famous, but my ego was quickly trimmed down to size when a family friend and his wife told me I looked like the third guy and immediately Jamie started laughing. So do you know who they are? Name all three to win.

What I've been up to this week!

I've been in at my sister's house visiting since Tuesday and I'm loving it! We've shopped a ton, eaten PLENTY, played rock band, went shooting (it's the Midwest), watched movies and basically just have hung out everyday. I'm here until Thursday and I'll be sad when the time comes for me to leave (although it will be nice to be back in warmer weather). Above are two of my favorite pictures (bummer the top one isn't in focus tho). I'll post more pictures of my trip when I get home.

Do Not Feed The Animals

A Collage of recently snapped animals. Wish I could get a shot of the owl outside my window at night, or the roadrunners I see around here on occasion.

Canon Photo Stitch is a cinch.

I've taken multiple panoramic shots before and stitched them manually in photoshop, sometimes its easy, other times it is a long process. I finally decided to get out my Canon Photo Stitch software and give it a try. As you can see the results of 7 photos I took while at the top of the St. Louis arch turned out pretty good. I still did some color matching afterwards in photoshop, but it was much faster than me doing it manually. (I couldn't get a correct curve on in the sky doing it manually) If you look close "I" can find imperfections cause I know where to look, but overall its something I will be using again.

Which one is more white trash?

My sister has finally sent the super nasty shots of my beard. Vote for the worst. I got a hair cut that day and went shopping in Rocklin with the mustache on the right, it was awesome to see how people looked at me. I looked like a fool.





Here is another shot my sister took of us while I looked like a mountain man. It could be a wedding announcement photo, even though that was three years ago. These are the only shots, other than our wedding, that we could say were taken by someone that knew what they were doing, I guess that statement is debatable for our wedding photographer though.