i guess i'll just begin again

Sorry to keep going ON and ON about my race.
I mean, I'm not THAT sorry.
It WAS pretty amazing.
Here are the rest of the pictures I have from the event.
I can't wait for my next race!! I'm officially hooked.

Here's my walking with my awesome bike and all of my transition gear before the race begins. I love Las Vegas!

Gearing up! I was soooo nervous!! Can you tell? I borrowed the wet suit from my friend Camie. Sexy, right?

Here the nervousness almost crossed the threshold from "Butterflies" to "I think I'm going to puke." I look fly in my swim cap, though, so that's a plus!
The swim was the leg of the race that I thought I would complete the most-easily. I mean, I'm a good swimmer. What's so hard about 750 meters in a lake?
But at 7am with 1000 other racers around me as I looked out at the dark, deep lake, I had second thoughts. Then, when I got in and it was SUPER chilly, I kinda started to freak.
The swim ended up being my WORST leg. By far. Not that it took me longer than the bike or run, but I am pretty sure I was hyperventilating and breast-stroking with my head above water (instead of the freestyle I spent hours in the pool practicing!!) 90% of the swim. Not cool. But at least my next race I can't do much worse on the swim!

Next was twelve miles on my bike. K got a picture of me on my beautiful bike, but it's hideous (me, not the bike), so you don't get to see that one. The course was crazy hilly and for the first few minutes I was really struggling mentally, but I just sang "Ready to Start" by Arcade Fire to myself to keep my legs peddling and after a while frustration and fear turned to pure bliss. I don't know how else to describe it. Pretty much all I can remember is how amazing it felt once I hit the half-way peak and got to turn around and whiz down the huge hill that I had just crested on my way back to transition. I was smiling ear to ear. And singing out loud at times. But only when no one else was around. Mostly.
My bike is the best ever and I love it and we had a really great day together, me and my bike. Which I love. A lot.

The last leg is the run; 3.1 miles. The first mile of the course was desert and rocks and holes and insanity! I couldn't believe it. They definitely didn't include that little tidbit in the race info! I have never run on sand before and I'm pretty sure I thought I was going to eat it big time. But I was able to keep that blissful feeling going from my ride and stuck out the run, which turned out to be a piece of cake. I have been training on the indoor track at BYUI and doing three miles of around and around and around felt like a big accomplishment. Out in the desert it kind of just felt cathartic. That's a weird thing to say, but it's true. I sang "How Firm a Foundation" in my head on this leg (though my foundation at the moment was anything but firm. stupid rocks.) and felt so blessed to have my body and the ability to do the race and friends and family who love me and were cheering for me. If I almost had a mental breakdown on the swim then I just about had an emotional one on the run. But in a good way.

Before I shut up about this stupid race forever I just want to say thank you to all of my bloggy friends who were rooting for me. I thought about you when I was feeling discouraged or tired or fat or whatever. You helped me do this. And I'll be forever grateful. I love you guys!

herr did

When I was in Vegas last week I got my hair did by my little sister-from-another-mister, Mrs. Stephanie Angulo. She and my baby sis have been besties since kindergarten!! Anyway, she is an amazing stylist and hair person (I have no idea what to call it! sorry), and she even hooked me up with a hot pink feather hair extension thing! I'm so hip now. Seriously, I'm fooling EVERYONE into thinking I'm cool. It's pretty much a miracle.

Anyway, her husband, Trevon, has a photography/videography studio (Canico Studios) and he came out to help Mallory, also a very talented photog, take pics of our family in a park in Henderson (coming soon!) on Friday evening, and to take pics for Stephanie's hair-persony portfolio. Here's how the portfolio pics turned out. What do you think!?

i'm moving past the feeling

Well, I did it. It's done. Over. Finished. Completed.
I am a triathlete.

stuck in the moment

Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, school is over!!!
For a little over a week.
Then I'm back into it.
But I passed all of my finals and had a great first semester back!! If only I could get through a little bit faster because I am exhausted just thinking of starting all over again mid-April. Sigh. Oh well. At least I'm getting it done!!

More good news: My triathlon is in one week from tomorrow!!! I have been training and preparing for about three months now, and I am ready to rock!!
A final bit of happiness: We leave for Las Vegas on Sunday morning, with a pit-stop in Provo to go to my niece's blessing! And we will be gone for a whole week! And my baby sister is going to take pictures of my family for me and we are going to see ARCADE FIRE on Thursday night and we are going to swim and relax and I am going to meet my nephew, Sir Giles, for the first time. EVER. He is nine months old, y'all. I cannot wait!

Now for the bad news.
First, About an hour and a half after my last final, Carter started to throw up. And I mean REALLY throw up. About two hours after that, Avery started in as well. And ever since then my life has consisted of cleaning floors and beds and toilets and sheets and clothes and cars and... well, you get the idea. Av is doing a lot better today (FINALLY!), but C is still not looking so hot.
And that leads to a bit of bad news that might sound familiar to you:
WE LEAVE FOR VEGAS IN ABOUT 36 HOURS!!
pleasegetbetterpleasegetbetterpleasegetbetterpleasegetbetter
Finally, I am terrified to compete in this triathlon!! What was I thinking?!?
*gulp*
*deep breath*
*sigh*
...sorry about that. I go from jumping-up-and-down excited to hiding-under-the-covers nervous about every five minutes. It'll pass. I know I can do it!!! ...I think.
Anyway, that's all from me for now. Just thought you should know.
Oh, and, you know, in case you have a prayer or two to spare, they would be mighty appreciated over here.

bugs never tasted so good

My friend Stacy dropped some of her soon-to-be-FAMOUS cookies by the other day and I just had to brag about them. Seriously, how gorgeous are these things!?! And, they taste even better than they look, if you can believe that.
You want to know the best part? She brought them by to say "Thanks for letting me watch your girls free of charge!!" Are you kidding me? I should be thanking/paying/worshiping you, Stace!! The kids always have such a great time with Stacy. And she took my girls so I could chip away at the mountain of homework and finals that I have this week! I am so so so grateful. What a wonderful person.

The other best part of getting a surprise gorgeous cookie present is that now I know how super talented she is!! And I have hired her to do cookies for the girls' birthday parties!! Avery's is next month and so far I have a pro face painter and now some seriously dazzling cookies on the agenda! And we're doing a bug/Spring/green-themed party so these things were the perfect trial run!!
How do I know so many talented people?