Home Improvements: Laundry Room

There's no question our laundry room was an eyesore. The walls were nothing more than cold, unwelcoming slabs of cement. Insulation hung between the exposed pipes lining the ceiling and years of flooding and abuse made the old linoleum appear to crawl across the floor. This room was in rough shape. We decided to fix all that though, and even better, it was conveniently done while we were on vacation. Troy just wanted new flooring and for the room to be finished. I only wanted those things too plus a sink. Boys don't understand the desirability of a sink. :) And that's what we got!

A wall was built to encase the sink. Due to some space issues we couldn't get the tank and water softener to sit behind the wall, but that's ok. It came down to either everything behind the wall or a sink and you all know which one I picked. We replaced the linoleum with tile and installed three light fixtures: a three-prong light by the appliances, a light over the sink and a track light along the shelves.

Another wall was built to slightly mask the furnace and new shelves were built. Troy made this little gizmo to keep the dogs isolated by the shelves so people can still use the washer and dryer without being tackled. :) Lastly, we replaced the doors. Completion of this room has done wonders for the temperature downstairs too! Gee, I never thought I would be excited about a laundry room.

Jingle Bell 5K

How do you wrap up a day of skiing? With an evening 5K of course! Though my quads were already burning from racing Troy down the slopes, I took advantage of Troy's nap time by jetting down to SLC for a moonlit run. I have started plenty of races in the pre-dawn hours, but racing at night was a first. And I can see why these poorly lit runs aren't more common. Besides the fact the temperature dipped to 10 degrees, the drivers in this state are just awful! You would think someone would notice dozens of runners with flashing red lights clipped to their clothing, but apparently that's assuming too much. It was fun to take part in another race, but having to dodge distracted drivers that carelessly darted through crosswalks and stop signs is a tad too stressful for my taste. And what did I get after my slow 31 minute finish? A full blown cold. Sweet!

Home Improvements: Office

So our office has been done for awhile now, but me, being the lazy blogger, never got around to mentioning it. I wish I had a before picture. The walls were of course beige and the dingy carpet was stained and worn from years of use. Troy did the hard work of tearing up the carpet and replacing it with lament flooring. I did the fun part: painting and picking out furniture. :) The only furniture that stayed was Troy's chair from residency. We replaced the desk, changed the light fixture and consolidated all the books stored on Troy's rickety pre-residency bookcases onto one large, white bookcase (on the opposing wall). The loveseat was a must have for me; I like to lounge as I type and play my guitars.  Due to the size and shape of the room, it's hard to get a good photo, but at least the above pic gives an idea.

Giving Thanks

A belated happy Thanksgiving to all my dear readers. Though the holiday passed us by weeks ago, I still  haven't forgotten all my many blessing for which I am thankful:

*First of all, Troy. I know I mention him in every gratitude list, but he is, I feel, one of my greatest blessings. He such an incredibly kind man and every day I realize I love him more.

*My family. We had the chance to spend Thanksgiving with my parents this year and it was such a wonderful, laid back day.

*My jobs. Yes, I am thankful for all three of them. :) Things have been progressing rapidly over the past three months and have lead me to some new exciting endeavors. I will elaborate later.

*My testimony in the Gospel.

* Our health

This list could go on forever, but these are just a few gifts that I thank Heavenly Father for every day.

Legacy Parkway Duathlon

Each year I commit myself to one new, larger physical challenge to be completed before my birthday. Last year it was skiing a black diamond, the year before that was running my first marathon. This year I picked a duathlon. As some may remember from a previous post, a duathlon has been on my list of short-term goals for about a year and on April 17th, I can scratch that goal off. The Legacy Parkway Duathlon consists of a 2 mile run, 20 mile bike followed by another 2 mile run; I hope to do a longer race later next year. Now, as you may have realized, November is not an ideal time to begin a biking program, especially in Park City. To work around the snowy months, I have decided to attend 3-4 spin classes a week for my bike training and run 30-60 minutes 3 days a week. Come early March, I will move my biking from the gym to the SLC streets. If anyone has any training/transitions/general advice, feel free to post it.

Wounded

Abby had a rough day.  During my second to last PE class yesterday, I received a text from Troy saying Abby is now missing part of her ear. Scenarios that would leave my dog deformed rushed my mind as I responded with a simple "how?" Apparently while on their daily run, Troy, Abby and Shady had a less than pleasant encounter with an unleashed German Shepherd. The dog darted at Abby and seeing the crime taking place, Shady stepped up to defend her buddy. After the scuffle was over, Abby came out looking like Evander Holyfield and Shady received a cut across the chin. The tears immediately started to flow when I saw the poor thing, blood soaked and whimpering, in the laundry room. My initial reaction was to march over to the neighboring house and give the alleged owners a piece of my mind (by the way, I don't know how moms do it. I was insanely angry last night over my dog. Jeez, I can't imagine if my child was hurt), but after taking an hour or two to calm down, I realized the better, and more anonymous, approach would be to call Animal Control. Hopefully that is the last time we see that dog.

Naples, Italy

When we decided to take this trip, I realized there were only two sites I really cared to see: the Leaning Tower and Pompeii. So when we finally made it to Naples, we spent our entire day at the ruins.

In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the Roman city and several thousand of it's inhabitants under 60 feet of ash and pumice. Pompeii was rediscovered in 1738 and is still being excavated by archeologists today.

What was once the marketplace of Pompeii

Cast of the pregnant woman

Man praying

Courtyard at the entrance of a home

In the chariot-worn streets

Kitchen

Mosaic on the doorstep

Pompeii is a close second for our favorite Mediterranean destination (Barcelona was our first choice). You could easily spend days just in the ruins and hopefully, just maybe, we'll get a chance to dedicate more time to further explorations of Pompeii.

And that concludes our European trip. Besides some local getaways, we don't have any trips planned until February. But that's ok because ski season is just around the corner!

Halloween Half Marathon

Second half marathon this year is over! Becky and I made a quick trip down to Provo on Halloween to participate in the festivities. True to form, I spent little time preparing for the run. Actually, unless I can somehow count getting chubby in Europe as an alternative training program, I hadn't done any type of training for about a month prior to this race. Whoops. So I planned to take it as a leisurely run, but my running partner, coming fresh off a finish at the St. George Marathon, is a little more determined than me. Darn her. :) So we crossed that finish line in 2h 20 m. A slight improvement from my last half.

A few thoughts on the race: This was undoubtedly one of the poorest organized runs. The last bus was to leave at 6:45 am, meaning I had to leave my house no later than 5:15. I got there at 6:30 to find dozens of shivering people still waiting to be picked up. We ended up not getting on the bus until 7:30! The race started up Provo Canyon so there was no alternative means of arrival at the start line. Due to the delay of the buses, the race started an hour late. It was a fun run, but I would be hesitant to sign up again next year.

Palermo, Sicily

Sicily was... interesting. Though it was fun to see, Troy and I can safely say it was our least favorite stop. The first thing you notice, well besides the unmistakable stench of garbage rotting under the hot sun, is the traffic. Three or four rows constantly screamed down the two lane streets. Cars drove the wrong way down the road, on the sidewalks, etc. But we noticed a theme: as long as you blare your horn, you are completely exempt from traffic laws. Red light approaching? Just honk as you cruise through the intersection. Pedestrians in the road? Not a problem as long as the trusty horn is working. Fortunately we were able to see a few sights and live to tell about it!

Garden located in the historical area

Another church. Are you surprised?

We spent the bulk of our time strolling along the coast

We concluded Palermo is much prettier from a distance

Winter Playlist

"All These Things That I've Done" - The Killers

"Know Your Enemy" - Green Day

"Drop It On Me" - Ricky Martin

"I Know You Want Me" - Pitbull

"Wonderful Night" - Fatboy Slim

"Fire Burning" - Sean Kingston

"Drop" - Ying Yang Twins (edited version a MUST)

"Single Ladies" - Beyonce

"New Sensation" - INXS

"Paper Planes" - M.I.A.

Tunisia, Africa

After Spain, we sailed to Africa. Tunisia is a small Arab country nestled between Algeria and Libya. Troy and I had planned to follow our usual routine: grab the map and start walking, but then the warnings started flooding in. Warnings about the intense haggling, the high risk of having jewelry stolen, the dress code (shoulders and knees should be covered), etc. I started to picture Tunisia as the Tijuana of Africa and having made two trips through Tijuana, I started to get discouraged. Thankfully, Tunisia was nothing like I had envisioned.

With the swarm of warnings prior to disembarking, we decided this would be a good place to take a tour. Our first stop was the Roman bath ruins. This set of ruins was the third largest in the Roman empire preceded, obviously, by the baths in Rome. This area was gorgeous!

Troy wandering around the baths

Pieces of pillars that once stood around the ruins

On the mountain overlooking the city

After exploring the ruins, we headed to the blue and white village. This small village reminded me of a town you'd expect in Greece. All the buildings were white to keep the rooms cool during the sweltering summer months and the blue shade on the doors and windows apparently helps repel mosquitos.

Our trip through Tunisia was shorter, but we didn't feel we missed anything. Honestly it wasn't on the top of our "places to see" list (or even on the list for that matter), but it is fun to say we have at least been to Africa.

Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Our goal for Mallorca was to simply relax. Since we still hadn't adjusted to the eight hour time difference and after the long trek around Barcelona the previous day, we decided all we really wanted to do was lie on the beach. But before we could roll out the towels, we strolled around a few buildings and even attended part of a religious service held in an old Catholic church. Now we could hit the beach...

The beaches in Spain are topless beaches. After two days of basking on the sand, we decided the mindset must be the less someone wants to see you topless, the more likely you'll be unleashing the ladies for all to see. And this is where the sneer comes in. As Troy slowly panned his gaze across the horizon, with the corners of his lips turned sharply down, he realized there were nothing but chubby, partially clothed grandmas for as far as the eyes could see. Poor Troy didn't realize exactly how much flesh he was going to see. So that's the reason - or is that two reasons?- most of our pictures from Mallorca will stay securely tucked away on our backup drive and never see the light of day.

I seem to have a lot of pictures of Troy checking a map

If it weren't for the centuries-old cathedrals, Mallorca could easily pass for southern California

Barcelona, Spain

Of all the places we visited, Troy and I agree Spain was absolutely, by far, the prettiest. You'd turn one corner on the narrow, stone-lined streets and find yourself smack dab in the middle of a farmer's market, on the steps of a cathedral or in front of a bull fighting arena. Even though we explored the city for roughly 11 hours and logged well over 10 miles by foot, we felt we hardly made a dent in the fabulous town.

Christopher Columbus near the port

La Rambla street. This entrance to Barcelona was lined with street performers, artists, florists, etc. At the bottom of the street, where the photo was taken, it doesn't look so spectacular, but it was one of my favorite sights.

Temple Expiatori de la Sagroda Familia (quite the name, huh?) We saw more churches than I'd even care to count, but this one stood out as the most unique.

Figures on the Temple

Entering city park

We spent a few hours in the natural history museum. Troy was quite smitten with this 50s style foosball table.

I personally enjoyed the pre-foosball section of the museum

I have a story about the beaches in Spain, but it's more applicable to tomorrow's post. So when I reference Troy's sneer, you'll know what I'm taking about. ;)

Outside the Picasso Museum

In the Gothic area. Not sure what exactly was going on when this photo was taken.

Enjoying the sunset by the ocean