Getting ready to go...
Jailbird and Eve (Julie G.)
It was a fun ride with good friends, good food, and drinks! Hope to do it again next year!
From Minnie Mouse...
MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Ancestors - Genelogy
I guess according to them, Alexa is a good mix of us! No wonder people say she looks like me, when I think she looks more like Kyle!
Halloween pictures to come at the end of the week!!!
Last night as I was tucking in Alexa, just looking at her made me realize how truly blessed I am with my life. Some reasons why....
Kyle - My true love. He has been a great husband and a great father. Yes, there are times I want to just scream at him, but some of that is just me being difficult too! He has stuck by my side through my tough times and makes me feel extra special when I really need it!
Alexa - my little miracle! To think, 3 years ago we were anxiously awaiting her arrival! Her little personality has so much character. A true joy to be around. Some days I still can't believe that she is really mine and how much she has blessed our lives with love and fun!
My parents - My relationship with them has just grown more and more over the years. I admire them for all they have been through. When I'm having rough times with Kyle I think of how they have made it through some tough times and how much they are still in love! It truly gives me hope that no matter what I will have a marriage that is as strong as theirs!
My siblings and their families - growing up we were the typical siblings and fought A LOT! Tracee, I did wear your clothes even though you told me not too! Ben, even though I thought you were the biggest brat, I would have done anything for you! Now we get along great and I really look forward to being with them. I absolutely LOVE my nieces and nephews and hey, my in-laws are pretty cool too!
My Parents In-law - I am very fortunate that I get along great with my in-laws! I know there are some out there that really dislike going to the in-laws, but I've even gone and stayed in Cedar Rapids with mine without Kyle...how often does that happen? I know we have our differences sometimes, but hey, who doesn't!
All my other friends and family - I am surrounded by great people! There are so many that we have a ton of fun with! You know who you are.
So all in all...Thank You to EVERYONE for enriching my life and making a positive difference in my life. I am truly blessed to have a great circle of friends and family!
Take Care and Love you all!
As of Sunday I am now 34 years old...man that's starting to sound old!
My weekend started great. I got off of work about 1:45...as my boss said, "it's the last Friday of summer, no one should have to work today!" I stopped at the store, came home an picked up a little and then went and got Alexa from daycare. That night a few friends stopped by to grill and have some drinks. It was laid back and fun!
Saturday, Alexa and I lounged around in the morning and then got ready to go to Omaha for the night. Once Kyle got off work we headed over, checked into the hotel, and waited for my parents to show up. Once they arrived we headed over to the Old Market to browse and get something to eat. There's a fun little Christmas store that had LOTS of neat stuff, called Tannenbaum's. Definitely check it out if you really like to decorate for Christmas.
We ate a Southwestern American grill called Stokes. It was really good! Service could have been better, but oh well, it's a chance you take going to a new place.
On Sunday we took a trip to the Omaha zoo. Make sure you are ready to walk hills! There are lots of them. The zoo has definitely changed in the last 15 years. Some very cool exhibits and for being there for 6 hours we didn't even see everything! I would recommend it to all! Some of my favorite pictures of the day.
I LOVE Polar Bears...this guy was walking around and swimming when we went by...very cool!
This gorilla liked Alexa...he crouched down by her and checked her out!
I also think flamingos are really cool. Very pretty!
The butterfly house was one of the coolest things we did. Our camera doesn't do so good with still shots...this is one of the better pictures.
A few weeks have gone by and we've been a busy family!
After the Hickory Grove Triathlon I had my sight set on completing a good CyMan Tri on Sept. 7th. Well, I got lazy! I didn't train like I should have, more maintained than anything. I had about the same time as HG, but all in all it should have been faster as the bike was shorter. You can read my account here.
On Sat. Sept 6th Alexa headed over to G'ma and Papa Sedore's for a week vacation. She had a lot of fun and I got her room painted while she was gone. It is now Daddy's Little Girl Pink! Basically a little girl pink. She loves it! Her comment last night, after being home since Sat. was..."look at this pretty pink room!" She just can't get over it. I also ordered new valances to go with her pink curtains to break up the pink a little bit. I'll post a picture when I get the new valances up.
Kyle has started Cyclocross practices. He is gearing up for the last race of the season. On Nov 29th and 30th is Jinglecross in IA City. This year the Cat 3 riders are staged with the Cat 2's. Making it a harder race and he wants to do good! So every Tues. night is practice with other training rides in between. Cyclocross is fun to watch. The riders have to go over barriers and run up hills with their bikes. So it's ride, get off and jump over barrier, hop on and ride some more, hop off and run up a hill, back on and ride some more, barriers, etc. I'm excited for this season of racing to start!
Alexa is still enjoying SONshine Preschool and Daycare. Last night we had the family picnic. She had a lot of fun running around with all her friends. The preschool is based at our church and we are very happy with the program. She has been there since May and was excited to go back after her week at G'ma and Papa's. On Sat. she asked, "Mom, do I get to go to preschool tomorrow?" I had to inform her that she only had one more day to wait and she was so excited!
I know there is more as it seems I've been running around like crazy...but I just can't think at the moment! This weekend is a trip to the Omaha zoo...pictures to come!
My sister still has 4 puppies that they need to go to good homes! Comment if you are interested!
There are 3 black and 1 yellow lab left. The yellow is female and one black is female.
OK....so I was just reading through my post again and noticed I didn't mention a couple of people! I big thanks to Kurt and Mindy for coming out too! I know Kyle appreciated the help with Alexa and it was nice to hear multiple people cheering for me!
Also thanks to Julie G. for keeping me sane the week before. I was so obsessed with getting a better time that I was getting really nervous for the race.
THANKS TO ALL!!!
Sunday was my second race of the season, the Hickory Grove Sprint Triathlon. I was up bright and early at 4:30 to head up to Colo, IA to set up transition and get some good warm-up time.
After setting up, talking with Julie G, and my online buddy Dora, I headed down to the lake to warm-up. By 7:30 the air temp was about 60 degrees and water temp 77 degrees. First wave was off at 8:00am...Julie G was in this wave and she did great, I got to cheer her out of the water before I started 18min later!
Ready...set...GO! I was off to the swim. It felt really good until about halfway back after I rounded the buoy. My arms felt like dead weight. The only thing that kept me going was the girl to my right. I didn't want her to get too far ahead of me. I didn't know if she was in my age group or the one below me as they gave us the same color swim cap...I just wanted out of the water before her!
The bike felt pretty good! I'm going to have a bike fit done before my next race for sure. My feet still don't feel quite right when I'm riding and now that I have the seat that I want, I need it adjusted just right!
The run is definitely where I need the most work. I was a sprinter in high school and it is challenging for me to get my breathing just right. In high school I used an inhaler during practice, but haven't had one for years! I've been trying to regulate my breathing without medication, but may have to just buckle down and get tested again. We'll see how this winter goes with training. Anyway...I did walk some, but still had the best run time to date. Just under 11min miles. I would like to be at 10min miles...we'll see!
I finished in 1:37:10....9 1/2 minutes faster than last year! My overall time was 16th out of 25...not too shabby! I was amazed and happy! My goal was 5 minutes faster, so I'm not sure what I'll make for my goal next year!
Check out Julie G's account of her race here...she did awesome!
I've decided that every year we are going to do 1/2 year pictures for Alexa, this way we can do a picture each year in her Dad's biking jersey and I can get other professional pictures other than just her birthday in winter clothes.
Tracie Shaner of Shaner photography has taken her pictures since she was 18months...I LOVE her! She takes a bunch of pictures, finds the best ones, then puts them on a CD so you can print what you want, when you want! It is a great service and we will use her as long as both of us are around!
Here are some of my favorites from the last photo shoot....and these are from an uncooperative little girl that morning!
she loves the pretty flowers...
Such a little lady...
Kisses from Mom...
Kisses from Dad...he was out riding the same area where we took the photos...she wasn't amused that he was all sweaty...she doesn't like that much!
Alexa and I headed back to Marcus this past weekend for the Marcus Fair and my 15yr Class Reunion. We had a full weekend and had a lot of fun.
Friday morning I headed out on my bike to Tracee's house. Mom and Alexa followed a little later. They went by with about 6 miles to go. Mom slowed to make sure I was OK and traveled on. I made it out to Tracee's (16.5miles) in just over an hour. Not bad for some good hills and a headwind!
Once at Tracee's we jumped in the truck and headed over to the old place to check out Molly's puppies. 10 lab puppies. 2 female and 8 male. Here are some pics if anyone is interested!! Just let me know!
On Friday night and Saturday we headed up to the Fair. They have 3 buildings with exhibits. One with all the food/craft judging. Farm animal judging, and even amusement rides! Alexa decided that she liked the bounce house and Pooh's playhouse the best!
A view from the corner of the pasture. The paints were absolutely beautiful!
A great weekend with family and friends! Make sure you check out my class blog for pictures from the reunion.
There have been some changes in the Sedore household and it definitely reflects in our attitudes!
Kyle has started a new job. He is now a Service Advisor at Hummel's Nissan. Plain and simple he needed a change. His first day was Aug. 24 and so far so good! He likes it and already he seems more relaxed and happy.
As for me. I have decided that I need to focus on myself and my family a little more. So that means no more coaching at the YMCA. I have toyed with the idea for the last year, but kept on going as I thought it was the one thing that was keeping me sane. You know, a break from Alexa, giving her and Kyle time together, but it really wasn't, it was causing more stress.
I'm sure I will miss it, but it will be good to focus on me!
I am going to focus on getting Alexa involved in a couple of programs at the Y, and focus more on my training so I can continue to do Triathlons next summer. I have 2 more sprints this year, I want to try and complete a sprint each month next summer and my ultimate goal is Hy-Vee Olympic distance Tri in 2010!
Our lives are definitely changing and we are realizing that different things are important to us now then what was most important 2-3 years ago!
Finally...an update! Julie G did a good story on our blog, check it out!
I was actually a little nervous for the 3 days as I was sick for 2 weeks and only had one week to start working out and get a little saddle time in before the ride. All in all it went really good and I'm ready to do it again! Sounds like it may be family trip next year with Mom, Tracee, and any other family that wants to come along. I will definitely have to get more riding in before doing a whole week though.
A couple highlight pics of the week.
Once again, it was a blast and I will definitely do it again!
This weekend will bring lot of cycling for me and lots of trail work for Kyle!
I will be heading over to Mo. Valley on Saturday with the Pella Cycling Club and ride the first 3 days of RAGBRAI! I'm excited and nervous at the same time. The first 2 days are the hilliest days of the ride...my legs don't like hills! I guess it will be good training for me! I'll post pictures on Wed. when I get back.
If the rain holds off Kyle will be working up at 7 Oaks all weekend getting the trail ready for the upcoming races. They have a lot of work to do! They've already replaced the bridges and now need to get going on the actual trail. Check it out here.
Have a GREAT weekend and we'll see you on Wednesday!
The last couple weeks have been kind of crazy. I've been going up and down with what we think is a stomach bug...I'm still not totally unconvinced that it's from the water I swallowed at the Hy-Vee tri.
Anyway, other than going up and down with stomach issues...some days are a lot better than others...we had a good 4th Holiday and have just been trying to relax!
Bob and one of his crazy sleeping positions.
