Quarter Of A Century

A little over a week ago, on May 20th, I hit a milestone - my 25th birthday. My twenties are now on the downhill. Eek! I believe this year was the best birthday yet. I know I say that every year, but this year will truly be a hard one to top.

I woke up early to find our living room decorated like this:

Now, I go to bed around midnight and wake up by 5:15 so you can imagine my surprise that Troy actually found the time to do this. Attached to the vase, I found the starting clue for a treasure hunt. The clues chronicled our romance - starting with our first date and ending with our wedding. All around the house were clues leading me to where Troy made me dinner on our second date (he grilled) or the time I legitimately beat him at foosball, but my favorite was the starting clue. It was in reference to breakfast, something along the lines that I would need my energy to find the remaining clues. After Troy rolled out of bed, he made me my favorite breakfast and that's when I noticed the clue already taped to the bottom of my plate. It was really cute and obviously his way of buying time since I am always awake first. :)

The hunt eventually ended with me finding two tickets to the symphony. I love the symphony! This shows how over the top sweet my husband is because he insisted on me having something to open on my birthday even though in March he bought me backcountry skis, boots, skins, beacon, backpack, etc. - basically the works for an early birthday present. Yeah, I was super stoked about that gift. :)

We started off the day with a few rounds of bowling and pool. Bowling was a close game - Troy beat me by exactly two pins so I had to nurse my bruised ego by beating him three out of four games in pool. :) 

Bowling was followed by a few hours of shopping (Troy really is a trooper!) then off to a fancy dinner at The Riverhorse on Main. I swear this was the best meal I have ever eaten. Yummy!

After dinner, we went to a movie and topped off our evening with some cake. It was a full day of fun and I feel fortunate to have shared it with such a wonderful man.

Legacy Duathlon Results

A mere six weeks after the event, I am finally getting around to posting my results. This was my first duathlon so I opted for a shorter distance (2 mile run, 20 mile bike, 2 mile run). The race was fantastic! Being a nut, I decided to pit my heavy mountain bike against all the svelte road bikes (much to Troy's disapproval) for the 20 mile ride. I won't lie - it was rough, but I finished with a total time of 2 hours 21 minutes.  So my verdict is duathlons are definitely addictive, and I will undoubtedly race in one again very soon, but next time I will give myself a little more of a competitive edge with a road bike.

Zions National Park, UT

Zions was our destination choice for our May get-out-of-town trip.

Hiking to the Emerald Pools

The Upper Emerald Pool

Top of Angel's Landing

Don't let the smile fool you, Troy was actually pretty scared. :) 

I had to lead the way up and back.

The Narrows

Birthday Girl

That little lady on the left is 58 today. Happy birthday, mom. 

I Married A Bum

Once five-year-old Rajshon discovered I was married, the questions came flooding in. "Is your husband handsome?" he'd inquire, "Is he strong?" Every day he'd pry a little further in what appears to be a measuring up of his competition. "Does he like Spiderman because I LIKE Spiderman," was last week's question (apparently a fondness of super heros is a deal breaker). But this week was the best conversation I've yet to have with my little wooer:

"Do you know where your husband is?" Rajshon asked during lunch.
"I do. He's at home right now." I responded. (Troy had worked until 3 AM that morning)

His face instantly reflected equal parts disgust and sass as he retorted, "You need to tell him to get a job!"

Yes, apparently my husband is a bum. :)

Run For Relief 5K Results

After a week on the road, my body was crying out for some exercise. But, as you can imagine, I was not feeling in tip-top shape for a 3 mile run. After my 90-minute yoga class, I headed over for a leisurely run, finishing in 34 minutes. I walked, jogged a little, and walked even more. :) This is the second year I've participated in this charity run and I plan to show up next year... in much better shape, of course. :)