Ice Cream Social Bonanza

As many of you know, I am going to Uganda this summer through a volunteer program called HELP International. I will be there for six weeks and will be working on projects that will help empower people there. To try to fundraise some money to cover the numerous expenses involved, I am throwing a large ice cream bash! Imagine cold stone, home made style! It's going to be great!

As part of the fundraiser, we will be collecting $10 per person at the door. It goes directly to the non-profit organization and it goes to subsidize the expenses of the trip as well as towards the program projects in country.

The clubhouse has a ton of space with a nice fireplace and chatting area to mix and mingle. There will also be a indoor basketball court and a theater room for those who are interested!

Directions to the Belle Monet Clubhouse:

Take exit #275 off the freeway. If coming from the south, turn right. If coming from the north, turn left. Turn left at the first stoplight, then take the first right once on that road. Turn right on Sam White Lane and Belle Monet Condos will be on the right hand side. Take the second entrance and drive to the back of the parking lot. Don't park in any spots that have a number on it. Make sure it says visitor to avoid being towed.

Thanks and I hope to see you there! Feel free to bring friends, but please let them know it is a fundraiser!! Let me know if you can make it so I know how much ice cream and toppings to get! Thanks!

My New Running Philosphy

I think I have finally found the trick to doing well in races and enjoying them at the same time. It goes a little something like this...

1- Don't train
2- Don't set a goal time
3- Eat some sugar
4- Get very little sleep
5- Don't worry

Apparently this NEEDS to be my new philosophy to running races. I usually train my guts out when I have a race coming up, I don't eat sugar, I go to sleep unusually early and I set a lofty goal time for myself.

In preparation for this race, I have run a little here and there, but not intensely and not massive amounts of miles. I ate a nice banana split and a yummy mint chocolate cupcake the night before the run, I got up at 2:30 to drive down to Moab (getting only four hours of sleep) and I didn't have any major expectations in regards to my time. It paid off!! I felt great!! Not just okay, but great. I kept a good pace and I didn't slow down as I got to mile four and five. I was able to keep the same pace and smile while I was doing it. My friend Ryan gave me some important advice the night before the race. He said... "When you get tired and want to slow down... don't." I was happy to report to him that I took his advice.

Here are the four other friends who ran with me before we headed up the canyon to the starting line. We are doing our "running pose."



We all had to be bused up the canyon near the Colorado River to the starting line. This picture proves that they wanted to assure us that the buses were not "school" buses. It gave us quite a laugh...



Four friends went down with us who were not running. They camped out at about mile 3 to cheer us on. From my stance in the photo, you can see why my friend Mark yelled out that I was having way too much fun. He was right!



Morgan and Jen felt really left out by the fact that they weren't running, so they decided to join us... Oh wait, we were just running so fast, they were catching up to try to get a photo! Ha ha...



The coolest part is that all five of us placed! There were 739 total runners. Jim took 4th overall, Dave took 15th, Jake took 17th, I took 52nd and Kari took 78th. Plus, Jake, Jim and I all took first in our age group, so we got a sweet Kokopeli trophy. Dave took 2nd in his age group and Kari took 3rd in her age group, which means we all went home with either a trophy or a medal. Talk about exciting! Here is a photo afterward with our awards.





The fun of the day didn't end here however. We spent the remainder of the day hiking and exploring Canyonlands. For those of you who know me well, you know that the southwest and the Colorado Plateau brings me extreme joy! I love the West and I love Utah's National Parks. The day was amazing and there isn't much that could have made it any better. Here are some additional photos in no apparent order...










This trip definitely made my top 5 list in regards to adventure trips. Good friends, good food, good times.

Times like these...

I was working late in my classroom one night (nothing new) and out the blue, these three great kids sauntered into my classroom...


If you can't tell the resemblance, these three are siblings. In my past 6 years of teaching, all three of these kids were my students. The youngest is in my class right now and the oldest is now in 8th grade at the junior high. The oldest invited me to come see him run at his track meet coming up. Will I be there? You bet I will.

It is visits from past students like these that make me remember all the late nights in the classroom are well, well worth it. It gives me hope to think that I actually am making a difference.

100 Mile Success

My first century is complete! While the weather conditions were not ideal, I had an amazing time. Lynn, Cami, Barry and I (shown in the picture above) rode the entire ride together.


It was 41 degrees when we started. Add the wind chill and it made for some very icy fingers. It took us 7-8 miles to thaw them out even with full fingered gloves. We began in Bloomington, headed to Hurricane and made our way to Laverkin.


The entrance to Zion National Park was the 60 mile mark and the turn around point. We also met up with a few other friends here. The twenty miles prior to the turn around were very difficult. There was a head wind that caused us to have to pedal very hard, even on the downhills!


After lunch, we actually had a bit of a tail wind and were going at a very quick pace, but Lynn got a flat tire so we all stopped until the tube was successfully changed.


The last three hours made for lots of rain and a flat tire on my bike as well, but we had such a great time. Here we are after finishing up. We were all soaked, not to mention freezing. However, regardless of the weather conditions, I had the most amazing time. I can't wait for next year!

Looking Like Louis...

So last week was "Mountain Wo-Man" and this week was Louis Armstrong! Aside from the long red hair, I think I'm the spitting image don't you think? Of course in my hurry to change my clothes, I didn't think to take my earrings out. One of my students asked if Louis wore earrings!