Grandma Georgia's 90th B-day

Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's 90th birthday we go! We drove to Vernal to the home of Norm & Pam Pease, Chris' dad & mom, where they were hosted the luncheon to celebrate Georgia's near century on the planet. Chris & I gave her the first of the Jan Karon books, "At Home in Mitford" and a nice bookmark. She loaded up on all kinda of sweet notes, cards, and gifts from all of the family, friends, and community members who showed up to honor her. It was really nice, and fun to see everyone. We were even able to snag a family photo, which I'll post on here once it is received.
Happy Birthday Grandma Georgia!

St. George

Chris, Myself, Phat Jimmy, Charlie & Luwana Canfield, and Shane & Cooper Eliason all hit trails outside of St. George this weekend. We put about 90 miles on the bikes and had an "epic" ride due to abnormally nice weather and soft, no-dust trail conditions. We went through some of the old Rhino Rally big bike course, and hit a bunch of HUGE clay hills that were like riding a roller coaster. It was great because no one was hurt (I got a cactus to the leg that is kind a blue and swelling) and all the bikes were fine.

I was hauling down this trail into a wash. Jimmy was in front of me, parked and watching as the rest of us dropped from the trail, down a 4' step and on. HOWEVER, I picked the left side of the trail and saw Jimmy flagging me "no! no! no!" so I slammed on my brakes-- but it was too late; the front wheel of my bike was already over the edge and I crunched my pipe, again. Turns out he was worried I didn't know how to "jump" my bike and thought that I'd endo over the handlebars when I hit the ground. It was pretty funny; I was totally centered on the edge of the ledge-- like that one time in high school when I high centered my mom's van on the cemement parking barrier in the Layton High School parking lot. The guys had to come grab my bike and pick it up and off for me. Wish I would have got a picture of that.

On the way back, Chris hooked us up with a room in Cedar City so I could see my Grandma Bernice. Ironically, my father, Lawrence, was also in town so we all hooked up at the Sizzler for all-you-can-eat shrimp and to catch up. It was great getting to see them again.

Think we are going to go down and ride and camp from Christmas - New Years in Mesquite.

Speaking of Christmas: Got home to set up the Christmas tree last night, and woke up this morning to a downed tree-- yes ornaments all over the place, glitter, tinsel in a bind... it's a mess. My poor tree is now lopsidded and jacked up. Charlie Brown tree... ;-(

Had a great weekend - and I'm getting into the Christmas Spirit!

Page, AZ Final Race Report

I sucked. I took 4th place, and will not be placing in the Top 3 over-all. This is a pathetic picture of me nearly in tears, seriously considering NOT finishing the last loop.

Ok, so there was this new little girl who raced: she is 13 years old, like 100 pounds, and she placed 3rd in the NATION. She spanked me like a naughty schoolgirl, and even beat Trish by like a good 10 minutes!!

The course was some of the deepest, nastiest, most horrible whoops ever (a "whoop" is a little/deep "hill" in a series of closely compacted hills, that you have to either roll your bike up and over, which is exhausting, or you have to hit them so fast you skid over the tops of them - which is scary as hell). I forgot to pack earplugs, so I did not get ONE MINUTE of sleep the previous night before. I was already pooped before the race began and just didn't have the energy to perform like I needed to.

Secondly, I was NOT prepared with the skill and speed necessary to do well, and got my ass handed to me. Here is some crazy cool footage of the Big Bikes trying to get up "THE HILL." We didn't have to go up this hill on our course, but you can see how deep and sandy the terrain was, and how difficult it can be once you lay your bike down, to pick it up and get going again without sinking.

youtube.com/watch?v=vUSZRGocVwM

Third, I feel this is somewhat of a conspiracy: toward the end of the first loop, there as a 45-degree angle turn-off that was market with yellow ribbon (signaling a wrong-way) as well as some pink ribbon down in the near distance (signaling the correct way and part of the course) so initially I thought it was a wrong way, HOWEVER-- there was a little kid standing at the intersection POINTING to GO DOWN the turn-off. I ended up miles down the course, in the middle of the freakin' desert, in some construction site. I had to turn around, find my way back to the nearest race workers and ask them for directions. Turns out, the turn-off was NOT part of my course, and that I had lost nearly an entire loop's worth of time by the time I was back-on-course. So Trish ended up LAPPING me, along with another girl who placed 3rd place.
I am trying not to believe it was a ploy to see me fail. After speaking with the other racers, the course was poorly marked and we ended up missing a couple turns throughout. But I was the ONLY one that got re-directed off course. I'm trying to chalk it up to an inexperienced/young race worker's mistake... and not something else.

More drama: Chris was attacked by some dude who is a member of the Sage Riders club (the club that hosted the race). I was sleeping back in our room, but apparently he and a couple of our other friends walked into another hotel to go watch some footage of the race, when this huge drunk dude (A member of the Sage Riders Motorcycle Club) asked him, "Are you Chris? Let's go outside" started mauling him!! The drunk dude got pulled off, so Chris walked back into the hotel lobby, upset and loudly asking where this dude was, what his problem was, ect. Then the dude attacked him again! The police got called, so when people ripped the huge guy off Chris the second time, apparently he "went for a walk" in the desert and was nowhere to be found when the 5-0 rolled in and cuffed Chris.

Long story short: Chris didn't go to jail. But when Chris walked up to a couple of our close friends (who are also Sage Riders) to ask them for information about the attacker with the police present, they flat out REFUSED to even acknowledge they even KNEW Chris! These are people that we've been really good friends with?! So Chris had his feelings really hurt, and he was pissed at how spineless our friends where. The whole circumstance has spiralled out of control due to people only seeing/hearing part of the episode and blaming Chris in person, on the phone, and on the Internet. It's not pretty.

All-in-all, I don't believe we'll be driving 700+ miles to go to the Arizona race next year.

I'll let you know how I place over-all when the points are tallied and become available.

Start Your Engines

We are off this weekend to the very LAST, LAST race of the Desert Racing Series. We will be in Paige, Arizona Friday-Sunday this weekend, dueling it out for the last possible chance to beat Trish (#1W TNG) and take 1st place.

Chris has prepped my bike to perfection (as much as it can be at the end of a grueling, damaging season) and I'm about to head out the door to jog 1.5 miles, stretch, and do some push-ups. I'm loading up on carbs and water--- and getting ready to dish out a big serving of

EAT MY DUST - TRISH!!!!!

Wish me luck. If I don't take 1st at this race, I loose 3rd place on the Over-All scheme of the points system, and that will really blow.

Jericho Ride

Went riding in Jericho yesterday with Kerry (Old Buzzard), John Schultz, Ross (Spamburger), Mike (lthom), some new dude named John, Chris and myself. I felt slightly silly, as I was the most inexperienced rider there, the youngest, and the only Chick, but it was completely swell. I was "in the groove" in the morning, and completed the 1/2 half of the day without injury or accident-- AWESOME!

They had me racing through some really tight, technical, steep, rocky stuff, and I had to hold my breath on a couple of the sections... but it was so exhilarating to get THROUGH the tough stuff without eating shit.

The second half of the day was slighly more challenging. Cherelle and Jake showed up to join us too - and Cherelle, I'm sure, feels my pain today! We had already completed 32 miles before lunch, and after lunch, I only made it another 12 before I threw in the towel and BEGGED to go back to camp via the road, not the trails! I crashed like 7 times, falling face-first down a steep rock slab, hitting Neutral instead of 1st 20' from the TOP of a super-steep hill which resulted in me stuck and scrambling on the slope... among a few other tragedies.

My bike weighs 213 lbs. so I only have about 3-4 crashes where I PHYSICALLY have the upper body strength to pick my bike up. After that, I'm toast-- and I have to rely on the other people in the group to help me upright my rig.

We did hit one super duper muddy hill which will now be know as "Mud Slide Hill-'O-Death" and had to traverse through "Little Dutchman's Gorge-O'-Pain" but I made it out with only a few major bruises.

I totally feel ready to KICK SOME TRASH at the very last Paige, AZ race that is taking place this coming weekend. BRING IT ON!

Chris' 36th Birthday - American Fork Canyon

Chris turned 36 this past weekend, and we celebrated by taking the weekend off and camping up American Fork Canyon. Though it was a cold and stormy, we had a completely fabulous time!

I gave Chris a much anticipated Helmet Camera so he could mount it to his helmet and take videos of our rides 'n races. I also gave him a nice dose of the new Armani cologne "Armani Diamonds"--which is delicious!

We invited a bunch of people to come up and meet us for a ride, but I believe the weather forecast was a deterrent. We did have Russ come up for a sweet afternoon ride, but missed out on the other folks. Too bad, because the weather on Saturday morning, after the rain shower, was awesome! Slippin' 'n slidding through the muck and mud eventually turned into some sweet conditions when things dried out a little! I have to admit, I was a little nervous trying to get down what I will now endearingly refer to as the "Indiana Jones Ravine of Peril" -- but managed to descend the muddy, rocky, ravine with all limbs intact, and no giant rolling rock chasing us down the mountain.

We didn't loose our dogs to the Hippies this camp trip, nor did our littlest puppy get disoriented and fail to return to camp; we didn't get the trailer lodged in a post-monsoon muddy mountain grave, and Chris seems to be happy- so I'd consider it the entire adventure a success.

It was refreshing to spend some alone time in the serene mountains again before the snow fell, and to hang out "as a family" just the 4 of us - Chris, me, Keno, and Shet.

I hope he enjoyed his time there and is excited about starting a new year. 36 years old... wonder what this one will bring!

Happy Birthday, my Super-Sexy Moto Man!

Fantastic Contraption

I am absolutely addicted to this game. I don't usually like computer games, but I'm telling you: this physics-based on-line game is the next best thing to the game "Boggle"....and I ADORE "Boggle."

If you haven't tried it, go to this link:
http://www.fantasticcontraption.com/

There are 21 total "levels" and the objective gets increasingly more challenging with every level.

I simply COULD NOT create an object that would get the little red circl (the object) up the stairs and into the final "box" destination/goal using the wheels, rods, and water pressure rods that were provided. Then, this morning, I had a STROKE of GENIUS and finally created the perfect machine! It's like a little tank, but hinged in the center.....

Check this out - just hit "play" and then "start":
http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=3659681

(and once you play the game, you'll appreciate this even better!)

FAILED ATTEMPT LINK JOURNAL (so I can come back and remember what I tried):
http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=3661365
http://FantasticContraption.com/?designId=3662144

Green River Riding Trip

Chris and Jon (Local Hero) joined up with some other guys to hit trails in the Green River area this weekend. He goes for a Boys Ride every fall and ride Dead Cow Loop, 5 Miles of Hell, Lenny's Butterfly Trail, and other notorious trails in that area.

Chris was the Ride Director this year, rallying forces on his own for the first time. From his reports every evening, sounds like the trip was a success!

Apparently he had one crash that he says re-broke his pinkie finger (again?!!) but no other tragedies. I missed him and am glad he's on his way back home this evening. Maybe one of these upcoming years I'll have the skills to be able to go on one of the trips-- but from the looks of these pictures, I'm a couple years out yet! Holy crap, look at the height of those giant steps?!!!

I've never been on the "5 Miles of Hell" trail, but I don't think I want to go....

Chris' Snoring Issue

So Chris is currently in Green River on his annual "boys ride" with his gang, but I thought it was SOOO funny to read the post his friend/roomate posted on MotoUtah.com about his adventure trying to sleep in the same room as Chris (AKA "Slave" on MotoUtah):

"Slave and I are in Green River and we rode 5 Miles of Hell yesterday. I was up all night before the ride getting stuff taken care of, then the ride tired me out. It's 5:00 AM in Green River.....I'm not sleeping. SLAVE1 has the loudest, most horrible, I'm at the door of death, smokers snore that I've ever heard. Each breath sounds like he's fighting for his life. I tried putting the pillows over my head, sleeping on the floor on the other side of the bed.... the only thing I still want to try is punching Slave in the neck as hard as I can. Luckly for me, the lobby is playing country music. Wait, I hate country music. How do you deal with it KTMgirl?"

I couldn't help but respond:

LOCAL, Didn't Slave give you the set of Instructions I sent with him for you?

1.) 8:30 PM: Take sleeping pills (Sleep Rite brand is best) so you can be tired by 10:00
2.) 9:00 PM: Drink a White Russian to aid the effects of sleeping pills
3.) 9:30 PM: Remove remaining Captain & Coke from Slave; the less he drinks, the longer he stays awake, providing you a better chance of falling asleep before him.
4.) 9:45 PM: Mix another White Russian, cuz Slave is still drinking, and if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Maybe you won't remember your hours of non-sleeping in the morning....
5.) 10:00 PM: Make Slave put on Breath Right Strip; if he's too intoxicated to apply, you'll need to stick it on him yourself-- WATCH OUT: he'll try and swat at you, be light on your toes!
6.) 10:30 PM: Build WALL-O-PILLOWS at least 18-24" high as a sound wall - the more dense the pillow, the better.
6.5) INSERT EAR PLUGS WITH DECIBEL RATING OF 32+.
7.) If he falls asleep before you and is still snoring despite your efforts, quickly YANK the pillow out from under his head to buy yourself 6-9 minutes of snore-free time to try and fall asleep.
8.) If the pillow-yanking method doesn't work, just kick him in the shins whenever he snores, and DISREGARD the mean, half-slurred response you'll evoke from him--he doesn't really mean whatever hurtful things he says!
9.) 11:00 PM: Pretend you are Victor Frankl or a POW being tortured, and practice mental dissociation from your horrid reality.
10.) 12:00 AM: If you are STILL awake, you might as well give up, find a good chick flick to watch in some other room, and pop a couple more sleeping pills; after a couple nights of this, the foggy haze of delirium will begin to FEEL like real sleep!
GOOD LUCK, CHAMP!

PS. He's a great snuggler!

"Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse

So after 6 years of owning the book, I finally finished the Novella "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse. It's a classic. I just haven 't been in the frame of mind or stage of life where I feel I would have appreciated it, until now.

To summarize, kid wakes up and realizes he wants to know the meaning of his life. Joins the wandering "Samanas" who are like roaming, self-denying "sages" who meditate on life and practice minimalism to the extreme. Studies with Gotama Buddha for a while, but decides to strike out on his own. Gets caught up in the world, become rich, impregnates his hot whorish lover, and leaves her before finding out shes prego because he hates being "of the world" and is all suicidal. Lives alone and wanders for a long time in the forest and becomes roommates with a Ferry Boat guy that lives at a river who is a "sage." His girlfriend/kid run across him like 10 year later and she dies, leaving the kid with him. Kid runs away because he hates living like a freakshow by the river. After years of "studying the river" and looking inwardly at his own life and lessons, Siddatha, then a famous Sage and spiritual leader, concludes that the best thing you can do for yourself is realize that life is like a river - full of transition, ever flowing, constantly full of change. He believes that each person has to strike out on their own, and independantly realize their own destiny, finding their own way to their inward "awareness" or consciousness, not necessarily through a specific system of religious practices, beliefs or dogma.

Quote "He saw all these forms and faces in a thousand relationships to each other, all helping each other, loving, hating, destroying each other and become newly born. Each one of them was mortal, a passionate, painful example of all that was transitory. Yet none of them died, they only changed, were always reborn, continually had a new face: only time stood between one face and another." Chapter 12, pg. 121

It was a great book, written in 1922, and full of imagery and a good message. If you haven't read it and want something a little "deeper" to chew on, this is a great read for a blooming psychoanalyst - or for a good dose of free-spirited religious philosophy. If you decide to read it, curl up with some Herbal Tea, some Nog Champa incense burning, and some Nepalis music playing.

Your "inner Hippie" will be very happy!!!

(Here's a link about the real guy - very interesting after reading the book.)

http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/siddhartha.html

Knolls Race 10.11.2008

...THE RESULTS ARE IN:

I took 1st place at the last race! But before you get too excited- realize that Trish didn't show up to this race-- so lame!!! I don't feel victorious. However, she will be at the next race in Page, Arizona next month. It's the very last race of the year - and my very last chance to beat her.

I'm in 4th place OVER-ALL because I was disqualified from one race, and missed another. The girl that's in 3rd right now, will TAKE 3rd place if she shows up in AZ. If she doesn't show up in AZ, I may have a chance to place 3rd over-all, if I do well at this last race. Mostly, I wanted to place over-all, and feel slightly pissed that I'm 4th overall.

RACE REPORT: Well, it snowed! I froze my butt off and my hands and face were completely numb throughout the whole race. We were all bundled up, but I don't have all the cold-weather gear. The wind was blowing like crazy and it was a MISERABLE course- mucky, sandy, snowy, blowy, freezing!!! I just took my chillin' time and didn't crash, because it was slippery!

Chris didn't race this race - he worked it. He actually was a sweet heart and asked to help with my race, so I had the opportunity to pass him four times throughout the course. Being a Boyscout, he'd built a massive fire in the middle of the stormy desert to weather out the storm and was there cheering me on the whole time, helping everyone who was getting stuck in the super-deep sand!!! Trooper. He also lucked out and won a couple items from the Raffle they auctioned.

Mostly I hung out in the trailer and cooked Mexican food all day after the race-- it was too freakin' cold to hang out!!!!

But you should have seen some of the folks that crossed the finish line - looked like they'd just drug themselves through a mile of muddy trenches! Check out these pics. The pic of this one dude illustrates just how deep it was in some spot - so deep, the back tire is burried and guys were peddeling themsleves through the sand, trying to keep upright!

FINAL RACE:

November 15th

WOO HOO!!!!

Just thought I'd toot my 'lil horn for half a second:

AFTER 5 YEARS, 35+ SUCCESSFUL TRANSACTIONS, 200+ HOURS OF STUDY, TWO SLEEPLESS NIGHTS CRAMMING, AND 4+ NERVOUS BATHROOM STOPS, I FINALLY PASSED ---
MY REAL ESTATE BROKER'S TEST!!!!!
IT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT TEST I'VE EVER, EVER TAKEN!!!!!!

[CUE BRASS BAND!!!]

I'm half tempted to throw a party for myself, considering I was 99.98% convinced I wouldn't pass while I was at the testing center. I was all kinds of frazzled considering I studied until nearly 2:00am, woke up at 4:00am to study some more, had to drive 25 minutes out of my way to Clearfield to get my freakin' Real Estate Calculator I'd forgotten to bring home, then got to the testing center ONLY to realize that I'd left my bloody driver's license in my jeans at home in Centerville, which was required to take the test! The test coordinator told me I had exactly 37 minutes to drive home to Centerville, get my license and be BACK on 12th street in OGDEN to qualify for my test---- driving 110 MPH on I-15 DURING rush-hour, I was exactly 7 minutes shy of being dis-qualified from taking the test upon my return!!!

Then, it took me 3 hours and 47 minutes to complete the test- exactly 13 minutes less than the maximum time allowed, and holy sh*t, I was sweating bullets. My freakin' BRAIN hurt from thinking too much and cleanching my jaw.

But, the stars aligned, and I PASSED!!!!!!! I triumphantly celebrated by (1.) Taking a nap (2.) Getting a 1 1/2 hour massage at the spa (3.) going out to dinner courtesy of my handsome hunk!

Who's yer Broker?! ya baby!!! ;-)

Didn't Know If You Guys Saw The News:

MotoUtah BBQ

Chris and I hung out with the crazy folk who frequent http://www.MotoUtah.com/ (which is a chat site for local ATV riders, Motocross Riders, and Desert Racers) at the MU BBQ this weekend. Chris is obsessed with the site, and we've actually made some really awesome friends from people we've come to know on the web. Chris has quite the "following" of individuals who adore and abore him, including this guy, John, who actually made a shirt in honor of Chris - as "Slave" is his user name on MU.

I had to work late, and missed a lot of the action - including Chris being attacked by Will's crazy hoard of children, resulting in a broken pinkie finger! He's so cute with kids!

Since the party was over by dark (but the night was young!), Lenny, Chris, and I headed downtown for a good time - the details to remain undisclosed .... lol.

Too much fun for one weekend! I am ready for Chris' finger to be healed... I think he's milkin' it a wee bit!

Book Report - Eat, Love, Pray

I only read this book because my (psychic) mother suggested it. I hated the title and thought it was lame, but I started it anyway - and lemme tell you - it's been a 'lil slice of Happy Pie every night I've read it for the last couple of weeks! I was awake until nearly 3:30am this morning finishing the dang thing! What a powerful, romantic, spiritual, realistic, soul-stretching experience this book has been!

I can relate to the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, in every single way - her depression, her tremulous romantic, mental, professional and physical challenges, and the constant anger, resentment, doubt, and fear she inwardly stews on! The constant feeling of unworthiness, incapability, repression, lack of traditional values and lifestyle, which she feels is chaotic emotional misdirection and quietly lets mount and build. I just "get it" because I am SO THERE.

I admire her ability to call it quits on the behaviors, lifestyle, relationships, and circumstances that she recognizes are leaving her unfulfilled. She says, "I was not rescued by a prince; I was the administrator of my own rescue." I wish I too had the ability to get paid to travel the world for a year, writing a book and soul-searching in Italy, India, and Indonesia! It was wonderful living vicariously through her travels, through the meditations and prayers, experiencing, second-hand, the great relief that comes from the release of giving yourself permission to believe in happiness again. And moreso, believing that you are divine creator of your own Happiness. And - to take it one step father - it's wonderful to have your heart opened to the belief that it's OK to "ask" the Greater Power for assistance FINDING a way to create happiness for yourself again. All three of these things have been so far removed from my thinking for the last year or so, it's like a river of opportunity running through my heart again.

Like many others, I've been groomed and raised in a conservative family and taught the religious dogma that has made many people happy - it just never "did it" for me. This book, however, had reinforced a very important principle that is best captured in this quote:

"Yogic scriptures say that God responds to the sacred prayers and efforts of human beings in any way whatsoever that mortals choose to worship-just so long as those prayers are sincere." The Upanishad says, "People follow different paths, straight or crooked, according to their temperament, depending on which they consider best or most appropriate-and all reach [God], just as rivers enter the ocean."

This book has gently re-surfaced a desire to be independently happy - to create my own happiness in whatever spiritual way I feel is best for me, and to find happiness in all the circumstances I find myself in. More than that- I find my interest in believing in God has been re-ignited and, yes, I've been regularly praying for the first time a long time. I've been going to the meditations and classes taught at that Zen Center in SLC a lot more too - and every time I leave there, coupled with the later reading of this book and my praying, I feel like I've taken a spiritual shower after a year of camping in the desert without a bath! I am falling in-love with Zen, like I've been waiting for it my whole life.

"Zen Buddhist believe that an oak tree is brought into creation by two forces at the same time. Obviously there is the acorn from which it all begins, the seed which holds all the promise and potential, which grows into the tree. Everybody can see that. But only a few can recognize that there is another force operating here as well-the future tree itself, which wants so badly to exist that it pulls the acorn into being, drawing the seedling forth with longing out of the void, guiding the evolution from nothingness to maturity. In this respect, say the Zens, it is the oak tree that creates the very acorn from which it was born." Maybe I am currently traveling down a spiritual path created by a Greater Me, being pulled into the Truth that will make me the bigger/healthier/happier Me I will soon be.... wow! Deep....

I have to admit - I feel lightly enveloped by a shimmery layer of optimism that I haven't felt in a long time; I feel (as cliche as this is) "at peace" with my slightly (shitty) circumstances, because I feel CAPABLE of genuinely loving life, loving the people in my life, and earnestly wanting to share life/love/the pursuit of happiness with other people - again! I feel like I want to find my life's purpose and go help starving children in Africa again. I feel like "life" isn't all about what I GET from it, but what I can GIVE and SHARE with other people! And yes, that includes a big fat dose of giving forgiveness to myself and to others as well.

Oh I could go on and on and on!

[end of tangent.]

Just read this book- you'll either love it or hate it. But I thought it was delicious!

Sugarloafer's Cow Dung Race, Delta UT

Chris and I went out to the Sugarloafer's Cow Dung race in Delta over the weekend of the 13th.

To summarize, I took 2nd place, again! HOWEVER, I had a terrible start and was far, far behind the group off the line because my bike wouldn't start! I did, however, keep my pace very steady through all 4 loops and was able to regain my position.

Through the pits, Chris kept saying, "Trish is right in front of you!" and I didn't believe him UNTIL I PASSED HER! I totally caught up and diced out the entire last loop with her - I honestly thought I had it! I was, literally, praying out-loud "God, just let me win ONE freakin' race!" and was even screaming at Trish, "Common' Trish, just let me win ONCE!"

We were coming around the FINAL stretch of the race, she was right in back of me, and I tried to take a sharp turn too fast and washed out! She made the corner, and ended up winning the race. I'm tellin' you: If I crash, or fumble, or hesitate at ALL during a race, she beats me.
We only have 2 races left - one in Knolls, and one in Page, Arizona. I only have 2 more races to beat her - and, I'm currently ranked 4th in my class, because I missed one race and was disqualified from the other. DAMN IT. So I've gotta kick some butt and take names to even PLACE over-all. Keep your fingers crossed.

Chris didn't race this race, but had fun hanging out on Pit Row, watching the more experienced riders come through the "Endurocross" section of the loop - it was unlike anything we've seen before, and really fun to watch these guys get stuck on the obstacles! Check out the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=homHORBEpmw

Adams Canyon - for Hollie & Erin

In celebration of the newest additions to both Erin's and Hollie's families, I thought it'd be cool to spend a day in the place that the 3 of us loved the most, growing up. You guys already have all the baby stuff, so for my present to you both, I thought I'd take my camera and put together a little photo journal of our greatest place! Thought it'd be fun for you guys to see the memories we had of being kids while you are in the middle of raising your own!

It took about 4 1/2 hours (what is it, like 3 miles high?), but I MADE IT to the freakin' top of that canyon, all by myself! It was great, you guys would have loved it - the weather was perfect (a little rain), and the water was low. It's changed a lot since we've been up it - it's much more "groomed" than before. But all the classics are still there: the grooling sandy switch backs in which you say "Holy crap, why am I doing this?!", then the glory of that canyon opening up to you. I laughed out-loud when I saw the "Swiss Family Robinson Tree" in which Erin and I made elaborate plans to one day build a home in the branches and live with the squirrels... LOL. Then there's the tree I was forced to climb 30 feet into the air, OVER the river, to see my carved initials... Then there are all the awesome pools that fill in run-off season, that I remember swimming in. The waterfalls - and the continual contest to see who'd get submerged in the FREEZING water first! Then past the camp ground where Stephanie and I tried to camp out one night, only to hike ALL the way down in the middle of the night because were were COVERED in spiders and Box Elder Bugs!!! I always think of Erin when I get to that scary wall we have to cross on all fours, and Erin: "Oh no! I dropped my water bottle in the river!" and David Powell climbing all the way down there to get it for you... TENDER! And then there's the long stretch in which Hollie tripped and slid down, belly first! - not so funny, but still, kinda funny! And the final 3rd waterfall - hanging out in the sun and playing in the pool of water.

What a great day. Miss you guys both a ton, and wish were all together again to enjoy this. I love you gals, and hope you're both doing well playing Mommy!

-Christie (boo boo)

Eat, Pray, Love

I'm reading a book called "Eat, Pray, Love" which I'll elaborate on later, but I wanted to post this quote that really hit me today. For those of you who frequently check my lil' blog, I hope it leaves you something to think about.


"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake."


A whole new perspective about what it means to really love someone. This quote today hit me in the gut with a remembrance that a "real love" is the person who sees what you are capable of being, even when you are in lowest form, and is willing to risk it all fighting (sometimes even you) to make sure you become the healthy, happy, joyful, whole person you deserve to be.

It is from rubble that some of the greatest cities were rebuilt.

Fly Fishing Ogden River

So Eric, my bro, and I woke up super early this morning and decided to try and fly fish the Ogden River. Having never officially tried to fly fish on my own, yet alone instruct a completely inexperienced person, it was interesting to say the least! I've gone a few times with Chris, but never without him.

I got hooked up with a really fabulous deal on some very nice gear, so after we grabbed coffee, we loaded up and hit the water, just below The Oaks restaurant. The weather was PERFECT and the water was really great. Apparently the dam was open, so the river was much deeper and faster than we were anticipating, but it was still really fun.

We ALMOST caught a little Brown, but it didn't get far out of the water before it ripped off the line, dang it. I did, however, successfully catch a tree and Eric!! LOL - (don't worry, he didn't get too hurt!) So, minus 1 furry little fly (which ripped out in the tree) and part of Eric's hand, we came out of the experience unscathed, a success by any measure!

I really do love fly fishing, I've decided. I just kinda suck at it still. But I have mastered the Surgeon's Knot, so I'm well on my way, watch out!

NIN: Lights in the Sky Concert

Chris and Local Hero (John), a friend from MotoUtah, went to the Nine Inch Nails concert tonight at the E Center! Chris was going for Cliff's, Chris' best friends', birthday- I think Cliff turned 36 this year. I haven't received the report yet since it's only 11:30pm, but I'm sure the concert was awesome. Shelly, Cliff's wife, rented a suite, and planned for a handful of people to be there, how cool is that? There are a bunch of cool You Tube videos of live NIN performances that are impressive, like this one:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFx2TmQfM-o

I had to work late at the model home tonight, which paid off because I think I'll get a sale out of it, we'll see. Hate to miss the party, and it's weird not being with Chris for these kind of events...

Hopefully he makes it back home in one piece and everyone had fun!!!

Happy Birthday Cliff!

National MX Track in Mona, Utah

Like the ROCKSTAR he is, here are pics of Chris today in Mona, Utah at the new National Motocross track. For all the crap he's given others about being MX'ers, looks like he'd be a good MX candidate! Seems like the Motocross'ers get hurt a lot more often then Desert Racers, so I'm not sure I'm super excited for him to ride tracks more often, but you've gotta admit - he looks freakin' hot!

Sand Mountain

Chris spent the afternoon a couple weekends ago at Sand Mountain with RM Chick & Co. He put a new spiffy paddle tire on his bike and said he had a pretty good time. I didn't go because I hate the freakin' sand! From his report, he only had 1 pretty gnarly experience, getting caught in some brush! LOL. Crazy boy!