Bolder Boulder 2009

It took me 31 years, but I finally have gotten myself in shape enough to run. I have been addicted to running ever since Jan...don't ask me how and don't ask me why, as it's still puzzling to me because I HATED running prior to that. Today was my first race, a 10K at the BolderBOULDER. I won't lie, I had a hard time sleeping the night before and I was nervous coming to the starting line but with my brother Josh by my side and and a goal in my mind I was set to go.
In Feb when I signed up my goal was to just finish the race, by April I wanted to be under an hour and as of last week I wanted to beat 55 minutes (I may have thrown out there 50 minutes but that was the Big Hairy Audacious Goal). The run went well, started very fast but kept an 8:30-8:50 pace for the whole race, of course there were some slow periods like the "cattle herding" going on as you enter the stadium but with all that, I finished at 54:31.65 (8:47 Pace). I was so stoked and it looks like we have started a new memorial day tradition as the rest of our family felt the bug and committed to running next year. Here are some pics to of the days events:











...next stop, Aug 8th 2009, Idaho Springs Half Marathon

Cubs game and UT Trip

Last week I was gone on a couple business trips. First stop was in Chicago for a client briefing at our distribution facilities. Of course, while I was there I couldn't miss the opportunity to catch a Chicago Cubs Game at Wrigley. Figuring it would be a "once in a lifetime" opportunity I spared no expense and we sat 6 rows behind home plate. By far one of the top 3 baseball experiences of my life. Such an amazing place and so full of history it is hard not to be nostalgic.







The last stop of my trip brought me to UT. This time around though, thanks to Frontier botching a flight of mine about a month ago, we had a free ticket and Teresa and Rachel joined me on Friday and we stayed at Teresa's sister's house until Sunday evening. Good times had by all and Rachel was overly spoiled by her gracious cousins. Even Grandma Jagard showed up and surprised us. So with all her cousins, both sets of Aunts and Uncles and her Grandma she was showered with attention and she partied late nights like a rock star.










Thanks for a fun time everyone, we can't wait to do it again!

Two month recap...

With life being so busy, I have to resort to these recaps. It actually snowed about 6 inches last night and has lingered today so that gives us plenty of time for indoor activities...to include updating our blog.
So here we go:


First off in the family visits was Teresa's brother Denny. He was in town for a gig and Rachel had a fun time playing with him.


A couple weeks after that, Teresa's brother Jon and his sweet wife Liz came into town for a wedding and spent a few extra days with us. It was great having them here and Rachel loved all the attention. Hopefully they loved Colorado enough to one day move out here.








A couple weeks after that Teresa's mom flew out for a week and was so surprised by Rachel's growth and growing personality. Rachel really has been so much fun as of late and keeps us well entertained throughout the day.



She LOVES to read, and gets any chance she can get to pick up a book and either read it to her self or bring it to mom and dad to read. Some of the shorter simple books we have memorized..."I know what I want to be when I grow up, an Astronaut" (from her fav, Big Birds letter "A" book)

Even though we had some rough weather these past few days, this winter has been very mild, almost half the days where 60 deg or better...sometimes even reaching in the high 70's. That gave Rachel some opportunities to play outside and venture to the park almost any day it was warm.





She also found Joy in feeding herself at any occasion, though we have noticed that she has the "hide the food" trick down as she stuffs her unwanted veggies down at the crease of her seat.




She learned the sign for "baths" and gives it to us 4-5 times per day, of course we disappoint until the evening when she can finally have her chance to splash and play in the water.




For Easter we went to Nana and Pop's place (Eric's Mom and Dad's). Rachel loved the time with her grandparents and their dog Cassie. She also got to play with Uncle Josh and Aunt T. We were unsure if she would get the concept of the egg hunt but she learned fast and after only a couple minutes was running all over the yard finding eggs and placing them in her basket.