Phoenix

I'm sitting in the airport in Phoenix, waiting to board a flight home to DC. I've been here since Sunday for a work event and on Monday night Charlie joined me for two nights. He had a ridiculous time getting to Phoenix (missed his connection in Houston) and got in later than we had planned. Boo Houston airport.

Anywho, some thoughts on Phoenix. Anyone who tells you it's a "dry heat" out here is just trying to make you feel better as you sweat through your second shirt of the day. 105 degrees is hot no matter how you slice it. Hot doesn't really do it justice. I would more readily describe it as a visit to the sun, if the sun were made of concrete surrounded by desert. When I landed at the airport at 9:30 PM, the pilot said "Welcome to Phoenix, where the current temperature is 105 degrees!". Did I mention it was nighttime?!

After I accepted how hot it is here, I began enjoying myself. I was here for a Tribal meeting and I really enjoy working with the tribes. I feel that in general, the Native Americans I work with are much friendlier than their state counterparts and I really enjoy learning about their culture and how we can help them deal with their unique issues related to their community. During my free time I spent much of my time in Scottsdale, visiting the mall, eating and finding a self-serve yogurt joint (a la Sweet Frog for those in the Southern VA area).

After the meeting ended yesterday, Charlie and I had an ambious agenda for our afternoon/evening in Phoenix. We started by going to the Desert Botanical Gardens, which, b/c if was the 2nd tuesday of the month, happened to be free! Woohoo! And I'm glad it was free because although it was very beautiful, I was ready to head back to the air conditioned rental car after 1/2 hour. What can I say, I'm not built for heat.

Then we went and checked into our hotel for the night- the Firesky Resort (a Kimpton!) , took a dip in the pool and had a complimentary margarita (or 2, but who's counting?!). We then went to dinner at an organic burger joint which is a nice compromise for a organic loving girl and meat needing man. Finally, we when to an Arizona Diamondbacks game, to cross another stadium off Charlie's list. At the game- he caught a fly ball- something he has never done before. He was so pumped!

And now they're boarding. Gotta run...Phoenix was fun, but I'm ready to be home!

~KC

Give it a Tri

Back in January, I was contemplating the new year and what I wanted to accomplish during it. I'm not really one for resolutions because I think that choosing some audacious goal that you're not already working towards is just asking for failure. I'm more of a "new years improvement" kinda girl. I like to pick something that I've already been working on and add to it. And because I am my mother's daughter, I take almost an entire month to get around to stating my "improvements". (Hi Mom!)

So, in January I decided to strive to actually eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day AND complete an event that would challenge me. Over the past couple years I have been more and more into healthy living and have made exercise a part of my routine instead of just something I did as penance for eating cake. Last June I ran my first 5K and have since kept running for my personal workouts, even improving my pace. Charlie had taken up long distance running in the last couple years and as I would cheer for him in his races, I began to want to set more challenging goals for myself. However, you will NEVER find me running any half marathons:

(after Charlie's 1st 1/2 marathon in Charlottesville, April 2011)

So I looked around for another option and found the Reston Sprint Triathlon, which I signed up for after getting a couple friends to join me. A sprint triathlon consists of swimming, biking and running in that order. A sprint distance is a good distance for a beginner, though an even shorter distance is available called a "mini triathlon". The mileage for the Reston Sprint Tri broke down like this:

Swim: 1/4 mile (400 meters) in a pool

Bike: 12 miles

Run: 5K (3.1 miles)

After biting the bullet and forking over my money, I began to train. I trained for 4+ months, which may have been overkill but I am a bit of a perfectionist. I wanted to do my best and though I knew I would finish, my goal was to give each section of the event my all (aka- no walking my bike up a hill!). And I completed the race on June 5th!

(Cheesy! Before the race- after getting my "body marking")

The area in which you move from each event to the next is called the transition area. This is where you take off your goggles and swim cap, put on your shoes and grab your bike to go out for the bike ride. And where you return with your bike to drop it off before you go run.

(That's me setting up my transition area before the race. Charlie didn't alert me he was taking a picture so I kinda blend in with my black bike! )

My awesome friends Joy and Jarrod did the tri with me. I wore a tri suit which is a special suit that is made of bathing suit material but has padding for the bike ride and grips on the legs so that you can run without it moving around. I was worried about what to wear because there was NO WAY I was going to be running in a bathing suit and I didn't think swimming in a t-shirt would be a good idea. The tri suit was perfect- it offered support (ahem) for the run and dried quickly after the swim. And (the best part) I got it on SALE! (Hi, Mom!)

(Joy, Jarrod and I before the swim on the pool deck)

To begin the swim, you couldn't dive- you just had to jump in and start swimming. The swim was a little more difficult than my practice swims because I was excited and a little nervous so my heartrate was faster, making it harder to catch my breath. Plus there were people passing and people to be passed (which I did once-woohoo!).

(I'm so passing you lady-in-black-swimcap!!!)

The bike was a bit frustrating for me because I bought a hybrid bike instead of a road bike. Road bikes are faster but I didn't like the feel of the handlebars and knew I wouldn't be using it for lots of competitive racing so I opted for the more comfortable hybrid. So, as a result, I had a very slow bike ride compared to a lot of other riders. It was frustrating having all bikers with road bikes whiz right by me even though I was pedaling my hardest! Plus, there was one loooong hill in the course which was a four mile loop, meaning we had to ride the hill three times.

(Exiting the transition area with my bike)

(On one of my bike laps)

The run was also somewhat difficult mainly due to the fact that I had biked 12 leg-pumping miles right before it. There were some hills in the course but it could have been all downhill and my legs still would have felt like Jello at the beginning and filled with lead at the end! However, Jarrod ran the entire run with me which was so nice of him because he could definitely could have run much faster. My normal running pace is about 10 minute miles and after the bike ride this run consisted of 11 minute miles!

(Jarrod and I beginning the run)

When I finished I was so proud I had done it! Charlie came over and gave me a hug and the first thing I said was "I'm so glad that's over!". As with the 5K, I was not sure I'd ever do one again as soon as I finished but am now thinking that I should at least get another use out of the tri suit!

(Joy, Jarrod, Me, and Daniel- our friend who also happened to be competing. He finished so far ahead of the rest of us he was already cooled down and had taken off his finishers medal :)

Charlie was a great spectator, cheering every time he saw me, taking lots of pictures and providing lots of support to me before the race, especially when I got nervous. Thank you for all your support honey!!!

Home Improvement?

So.

We've been having some home improvement issues around our house as of late.

This Saturday, I did something dumb and opened our dishwasher without cancelling it mid-cycle.

Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

It would not reset and I had to call Sears. Luckily (!!!) we bought the warranty on it and a repair is covered. They tell me they can send someone Wednesday (today). Fine. Dishwashing by hand commences.

Sunday morning, after I've gotten ready for church, Charlie comes upstairs and tells me he doesn't think the fridge feels very cold. And now that he mentions it, I had noticed that the freezer, while doing a fine job keeping meat frozen, had let all the bread thaw. (No idea why). We determine that if the fridge isn't already dead, it's gasping it's last breath. Placing all things cold outside on the deck commences. Except for food in "flimsy" containers- that goes in the garage so the squirrels don't get it.

No church for us- we scour the internet for fridge reviews, decide on one that looks good and head to Home Depot to see it in person. We leave feeling amazed at how quick and easy they make it for you shell out lots of money. And they can deliver it on Wednesday.

Woot! Wednesday = best kitchen day ever!

I should note that we had been thinking about replacing our fridge anyway so this was not a huge deal. I actually smiled when Charlie told me he thought it was dead. Our fridge is constantly packed because I love to cook so we normally have lots of leftovers as well as every ingrediant you could ask for crammed in there. So I had been dreaming of a larger fridge for a little while. We had seen a great deal on a fridge around Black Friday this past year and we hemmed and hawed over it and finally decided we shouldn't spend the money on such a large purchase we didn't really need, particularlly so close to Christmas. I'm kind of kicking myself now b/c although we found a decent deal on Sunday, it wasn't as good as the Black Friday deal. Oh well.

On Monday night, we come home from dinner at our friend's house, Charlie goes to the bathroom and flushes the toilet. Wait for it....and....the handle breaks off. What?!?!

Charlie assures me it's a $5 fix but I'm still a bit incredulous. Everyone pray that the stove keeps working ok? Because that's the last appliance left in our kitchen that we haven't had to replace yet. (Though it's as old as all the others, which were the originals in the house, making it approximatly 16 years old).

Today was Wednesday. Things did not go as planned.

Rick from Sears appliance repair calls and says he'll be there at 9:30. Lovely!

Home Depot delivery calls and tells me they'll be early- how 'bout 9? Lovely!

Home Depot men arrive and survey the situation. Sad news. Fridge cannot fit through our front door without the storm door coming off the hinges. I am not aware of how to remove said door from it's hinges and they are not allowed to attempt it.

The back deck entrance is considered. Oh. More bad news. Too slippery (from the sleeting rain) for the guys to carry a heavy fridge up it safely. Totally understand. I wouldn't feel like getting crushed by a fridge today either.

So, they must come back after we take the door off the hinges. So disappointed. Mildly annoyed that we will still be fishing through coolers and grocery bags in our garage (all is down there now due to the sleet and snow) trying to find our cold items whilst praying it hasn't gotten a tad too warm to spoil whatever dairy product we wish to consume.

Ah well. They can deliver the fridge on Friday, provided Charlie removes the door before then.

Then, Rick, our (extremely nice and helpful) dishwasher repairman shows up. And guess what?! The dishwasher is apparently not broken anymore and turns on perfectly when I try and show Rick how it doesn't work. Dishwasher = Traitor!

Rick assures me that it's fine and proceeds to make sure it truely does work and isn't just putting on a show for company. It does. I ponder how many gallons of water and time I have wasted washing dishes by hand the past few days as I assure Rick that I will most definitely give him an awesome rating when they phone survey me about his visit.

So, at least the dishwasher is working!

But please don't ask to pee in our powder room or have a glass of milk.

~KC

A great loss

As many of you know, Charlie's Dad, Carson, passed away on December 19th. Though he had been having some health issues and had undergone a few surgeries recently, his passing was very sudden. That Sunday was a bit of a blur and it's still hard for me to believe that he's not here. The memorial service was that Wednesday and though it was hard saying goodbye, it was also an uplifting expierence. Hearing from so many people who knew him as a man of quiet faith was wonderful and comforting. Charlie and I are thankful that Carson knew Jesus as his Savior and we are comforted by knowing he is with the Lord.

I didn't stand up and say anything during the service because I wasn't sure I could hold it together and I couldn't decide what I wanted to say. The first time I met Carson was one of Charlie's softball games when we were dating and at first he intimidated me. He was a quiet man but would let you know how he felt about certain things. However, over the years I grew to love him and was glad to be able to spend even more time with him during the last few months.


Carson was in the hospital during Charlie's 2 week trip to Norway this September and though my sister-in-law and her family were up one weekend, I was the only family member within a hundred miles during the majority of those 2 weeks. I visited Carson in the hospital and helped him get back to his apartment after the stay. We had some great conversations during those two weeks and I was blessed to be able to get to know him all on my own. Now that he's passed, I'm so glad I got to have those times with him.

Charlie and I really want to thank everyone who brought us meals, sent us cards and emails, prayed with and for us and came to the service. We are so blessed to be surrounding by fantastic friends and family.

We will always love and miss you Dad: lover of the Beatles, reader of Scripture, life long Yankees fan, owner of many coffee pots, loyal father.

~KC

30. It's kind of a big deal.

Charlie turned 30 on November 3rd and I took it upon myself to make a big deal out of it. His gift is a trip to go see the Yankees during Spring Training in Florida this spring. We went out to dinner and celebrated with the special homemade "strawberry long cake" I make for him each year.

I also surprised him with a party on November 14th. Which I was sure he had some clue was going to happen.

Nope.

It was awesome. He was totally surprised, had no idea I was planning something. Sometimes it's nice to have an obvious husband. ;)

The party was baseball themed and we all chowed down on ball park food such as hot dogs, nachos and buffalo chicken dip.

I also made a video with pictures throughout Charlie's 30 years, which I've uploaded below. Wasn't he just the cutest little boy ever? I think so.



So my darling hubs is now 30 and likes to brag that he "robbed the cradle". 2 and half more years and I'll leave my 20s as well. But I'm not wishing for that to come fast.

~KC