How about some Weeding

When I purchased the home I was so excited to have my own yard, and house, but what I didn't realize was the amount of yard work I would have to do. Since my life has slowed down I decided that I would start working in the yard. My house was starting to look white trash. I think my least favorite things is yard work. Well I told my mom this and she her comment was that she enjoys it because she likes being outside. My comment back was I would rather clean toilets any day, than weed. Anyway I guess it is nice after the hard labor and back pain.

BEFORE

AFTER

Blake the Hard Core Biker

So my brothers good friend Blake, whom he works at Canyon Bicycle with, is an amazing biker. While in St. George we had the pleasure of going out to Virgin to watch him show off his skills. It's pretty cool. I would never have the guts to do anything like this.

Bicyclist Start Your Pedals...

So last week was the St. George ride. As most of you know the weather in Utah was not all that great, which made the trip difficult. There is so much to say about the ride and yet I feel pictures would do justice. I thought I would give a brief run down of the trip though. Thursday morning a pack of guys started from Sandy, Utah. Being that I am a girl and not as well trained I decided to meet up with them in Provo. Well Provo turned into Payson, but I was glad to shave off a few miles of the ride. From Sandy to Payson the rain poured down on them. The pour guys when we stopped for them were cold and wet. After some grub we all took off towards Nephi. The weather had cleared a little but it was just darn cold. The goal, Day One, was 127 miles for the group. That put us in Gunnison to end the first day. We slept in Salina and ate at Mom's Cafe. The next morning the group set out through Richfield, Joseph, Rock Canyon, Mary'sville and the journey ended in Circleville when the wind was unbearable. In hopes of riding in the car 2o miles south and then riding back to Circleville, we were encountered with a blizzard of a snow storm cutting that day short. Panguitch was a great place to rest for the night. The hotel was supposed to have a jacuzzi, and continental breakfast. Oh how we were disappointed to have neither and to top it off the majority of us had cold showers. The third day was biter sweet.

*** A side note is that when I decided to ride to St. George because it was supposed to be downhill and not too many big hills***

Whoever said there weren't a lot of hills was very mistaken. We left Panquitch and all I can remember is hill after hill. After leaving the small down of Hatch there was 30 miles of straight hill climbing. I felt like I was going to die. The nice part of the hill climbing was that after we had 30 miles of downhill. Anyway three VERY very large hills later (hill to LaVerkin, hill to Hurricane, hill to Coral Canyon) we arrived in St. George. We experienced all kinds of weather: rain, hail, snow, wind, and sun. Overall it was a great experience and it was a great feeling to finish. Congratulations to everyone that was there.

Meet the Riders

Papa Jenkins and Greg Taylor

Todd Nuttall and Scott Seare

Richard Nuttall and Randi Buie

Tony, Karen and JJ

Matt

PICTURES OF US RIDING

The Clan pushing onward

Lacy Kay

Karen and Scott

The Group outside of Hatch

Getting ready to hit the hills

In the city of George

Todd Nuttall with Family


Expressing how we feel

Group at St. George House

Coop the Man

My Nephew Cooper is so funny. He recently was here for a 3 week stay and we just couldn't get enough of him. He is at the perfect age where he remembers everything and is so fun to be around. My sister-in-law in Switzerland started a blog and it has been so fun to read. I was reading her blog today and came across this post from her. It is hilarious so I thought I would share it all with you. Sorry it is so small. If you want to go the the actual blog the address is at the bottom.

http://web.mac.com/emilyajenkins/Jenkins_Family_Blog/Blog/Entries/2008/5/21_love_Love_is_in_the_Air_love.html

Attley Jenkins

My brother JJ has the cutest little girl. She looks just like him and is adorable. She moved to Alabama and so we don't get to see her as often, but thanks to her mom we get pictures every so often. So I thought I would post some pictures so everyone can see how cute she is and also get some insight on a wonderful addition to our family. Attley was so cute last visit she loved being around JJ. Every time he left the room, or put her down for that manner she would get so sad. It was adorable and annoying all at the same time, but it just shows that kids really do know who their parents are. So this post is dedicated to JJ, one of the best fathers I know. I see his endless love for Attley and my heart goes out to him during this time of separation.

I love this picture of her cheesy smile. Adorable.

Salt Lake Century Ride

I feel privileged to say that after much convincing myself, butterflies from fear, and some preparations I road in the Salt Lake Century Bike Ride on Saturday. 100 miles on a bicycle can be rough. In preparations for the St. George ride this coming Thursday (yes the butterflies and fear are still around) we did the Century ride. We had quite the crew riding with us. Our group consisted of some 15 riders that were family or friends of my brother or dad. Of those 15 I think most of them have jumped on the band wagon and are doing the St. George ride.

The picture above is the group we rode with and the guy who took the pictures finger. That is me right in the middle. I feel pretty good about the ride. I finished in 5 hours and 35 minutes (on the bike time) and averaged 17 miles per hour. The race provided food and stops every twenty miles stocked with oranges, bananas, all kinds of treats, lunch, Gatorade, water and much more. It was really awesome. Today being Sunday I am recovering and resting. I have some sore muscles, but feel a whole lot better than I thought I would. While on the ride I drank at least 12 water bottles full of water and never peed the entire race. Seeing that most of the riders in our group have been riding for years unlike me who bought my road bike some 3 or 4 months ago I feel I did pretty well. On top of just getting my bike I have had one serious bike accident, a tip over on my bike and very little time to train. All in all I am proud to say I enjoyed the ride. While on the ride your body goes through so many emotions. You feel fine and good, and then you hit rock bottom. There were a few times where I got dropped by the group due to hitting the wall and being exhausted, but I finished.

I am little worried about the St. George Trip. What started as a casual ride with mostly my family and a couple other guys has now turned in to a large group ride, with some seriously strong rides. At first I agreed to ride knowing that it would be a little laid back, but I don't know how much it will be like that. So I am just trying to keep an open mind and be positive for the ride.

Ear Was Hurting

So my ear has been bothering me since the accident. I didn't think a whole lot about it, but just thought ears take awhile to heal. It got to the point where I couldn't sleep on that side at night because I would wake up and my ear hurt. Well on Sunday I went to Janelle's for dinner. After the meal I was telling her about my hurting ear problem. Being a great friend she said here let me look at it. Immediately she saw the problem. I had a stitch still left in my ear from my accident. I was shocked. She cut and pulled out the stitch. It hurt a little seeing as it has been almost TWO MONTHS. Two months of skin growing to the stitch. We did some digging and we think that there aren't anymore. Thanks to Janelle hopefully my ear will start feeling better.

Kitchen Remodel

So the Kitchen was the first room to be remodeled in the house. It has been one of those projects that has just keep going. I thought since I hadn't posted anything about the finished product (or very close to finish) I probably should. I have some really cool things in the kitchen that I am proud of. So I thought I would give some insight on the work...

In the kitchen used to be this hideous apple wall paper. In deciding to take it down seven layers of wall paper dating back to the 50's were uncovered. The walls were textured and painted tan. Surprisingly there was bead board on the bottom half of the wall, which was just painted.

My kitchen table used to be my parents old table way back when. Growing up it was the kitchen table of countless Jenkins dinners. With a little stain and finish it looks a lot better.

When we moved in the previous owner left us these four wonderful chairs. At first I hated them but with a little paint they fit right in.

You know your house is old when you have decorative trim that is like mine. See picture below. With the help of my parents and brother we painted the cupboards and added new hard wear from ikea.

After several remodel projects, the kitchen sink (which might I add is shallow, long, and OLD) was tinted red from the remodel, stained and dirty. I purchased one of those tub and sink refurbish kits to do the tub. I was a little worried about how it would turn out so I thought I would test it out on the kitchen sink first. It actually turned out really well. It looks brand new.

To add storage to the kitchen I bought this shelf at Ikea to help store kitchen items, which has totally helped.

I love my old stove that came with the house and I added these Ikea hangers to help hang my red pots and pans which is a good accent in the kitchen.

My hardwood floors are my favorite addition to the house. I love them. I have put several rugs down so Millie doesn't scratch them up to much but the wood is beautiful and adds so much.

Hope you have enjoyed the Kitchen Tour!

Finished Bathroom

I finally feel like the bathroom is finished. I have a few touch up things to take care of but for the most part the bathroom is FINISHED. I love my new bathroom. I love blogs with a lot of pictures and lets face it that pictures speak a thousand words so..

BEFORE

AFTER