Great Thursday- Great Weekend

I have had several great days starting with Thursday.

BIKE RIDE

My brother puts on a ride through Canyon Bicycle for new riders or for people who have just purchased a new bike, so I headed up to Sandy after work to go on my first ride since the accident. It was a supposed to be a mellow ride so I thought for sure I would be ok. My dad planned to ride with me and so we headed down. He had be go on a short ride before to get comfortable again on my bike and make sure I was ok. When we returned back to Canyon Bicycles to join everyone else for the ride we pulled in to a parking lot of Team Canyon riders. There were six or so people all decked out in Canyon Bicycle gear and ready to ride. I got a little scared and intimidated at the sight and thought of riding with this group of hard core riders. It was rather chilly and cold but the ride went well. I felt comfortable and safe on the bike which is good. My shoulder was weaker than I thought and I will have to do some lifting to get it back to normal. It felt good to get back out on my bike and I enjoyed the ride. We went sixteen miles in just about an hour and I am proud to say I am still set to ride to St. George with the family.

TWO NIECES IN TOWN

I have two nieces that are in town and it has been so fun to see them. Kennedy lives in Switzerland and came home with JJ after his trip over there. Upon returning home JJ's little girl Attley came home for the week. Both have been staying at my parents house and lets just say they have been a handful. They are both so very different and funny. It is crazy that kids can entertain adults for so long. Four hours we have just sat around and watched them and laughed with and at them. I decided since I never get to see these little girls that I would come up to Sandy and spend the weekend. Kennedy is 15 months old and Attley 12 months. Kennedy acts like the mom to Attley and we find her saying NO NO NO all the time. There is a lot of jealousy between the two of them and they want to have whatever each other has. I think the funnies thing is how they do various things to get our attention. I have posted a few pictures of each of them and some videos. All day I tried to get a video of Attley saying her favorite phrase "tickle tickle".

THE GIRLS

This is a picture of Kennedy. She is so beautiful. She has curly hair and looks just like her little brother Cooper when he was younger. She has these amazingly blue eyes and eye lashes that are so long every girl would die to have.

Attley is a doll. She always has a smile on her face and if you smile she totally gets this huge grin and laughs. She has strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes and is 100% JJ's little girl because she looks so much like him.

IKEA ADVENTURE

My mom and I decided to be brave and take the girls to Ikea. It started out really well and by the time we got to the checkout we had two little girls having serious breakdowns and crying. So stressful. Although it should have made me want to go running in the other direction of having kids I actually can't wait to have children... not anytime soon though. Unfortunately we had to pass by the kids section and Kennedy picked this dog and would not let it go. She just kept giving it a huge hug.

Here are a few videos of the girls helping JJ build a draw system. Both were so willing to help and hand him things. Attley just kept saying Da and handing the hammer to JJ. It was so cute. Another great thing they have learned is to throw Angus (the dogs) ball so that he will fetch it. They do this all day for him.

Pretty Proud- Spring Is Here

So in an attempt to make my backyard a little nicer I spent a Saturday in the fall working on a little flower bed. Millie used to dig around in this little cement space and it would just drive me crazy. I finally got some wire dividers to keep her out. Since I had a home I decided I needed to plant some bulbs in this little flower bed. After planting them last fall I was so sad to come home to find my smart dog had dug all the bulbs up and placed them in a pile for me. She must have thought she was doing me a favor. Anyway I replanted them and for weeks after I had the flower bed surrounded by boards to keep Millie out. Due to the nice weather I went out in the backyard Saturday to find that Spring has Sprung and my flowers have started to sprout. A huge smile filled my face and I was so glad for the wonderful weather. Millie learned quickly not to get in the flower bed and I am so grateful.

My parents dear friends Mike and Sue Stevens sent me flowers after my biking accident so I have had a wonderful smell in my kitchen, the colors and flowers have just made it feel so much like spring.

Let's Just Say It Hasn't Been My Best Week

************WARNING GORY PICTURES *****and or long post********

So I don't even know where to start other than to say it has not been a good week for me. As stated in my previous post my New Bike- First Ride went ok but I did have that one uphill tip over. The next little part of this story is based off of what I have been told. Not by my memory or account of the details. So after a days work including payroll (which I do remember doing) and taking meeting notes I decided to go for a bike ride. I had talked to Janelle and Lindsey sometime between work and home and carried on my conversation with Lindsey Jill as I prepared to go on my bike. I put my ipod in and hopped on my bike. I headed south on the old state road towards Springville. Nobody is really sure what happened but we think my front time blew out and I weaved off the road and smacked right into a cement wall. (Please keep in mind that I do not remember this at all). Anyway a guy saw me crash to say the least and turned around to help me out. Apparently after he helped me I stood up and was walking and talking. I told him the appropriate number to call for help. Once the adrenaline faded I guess I crashed. Anyway I was rushed to the Utah Valley Regional Hospital ER. I was asking the same people the same questions sometimes four or five times. At one point I remember coming to at the hospital to see my second parents, Doug and Helen Orton, visiting me. I later found out he and my dad gave me a blessing. Anyway at the hospital I was treated for a severe concussion, thirteen stitches to connect the top half of my ear to the bottom half, bruises and soreness. The poor guy who stitched my ear up, I am told was asked four or five times each of the following questions What is your name? Are you married? How long have you been married? Do you have any children? WOW. I would then repeat myself. Come to find out He had been married for seven years and had no children. I would then follow by WOW! I know very nice of me. Anyway I also can remember that my nurse had on lime green scrubs for St. Patrick's Day (this I do remember). Needless to say it has been a pretty rough couples days. When people ask how I feel I can only think to say "like I have been hit by a car". Well it wasn't a car but a more sturdy CEMENT WALL. I have been home from work the last two days recovering. I am in pain and am grateful for my 800 mg ibuprofen (Lortab made me so sick). Janelle was a sweet heart and brought me food and Gary & Colleen from Kneaders were so kind and brought me soup, rolls, and the best turtle cheesecake. I have had countless phone calls and everyone has been so willing to help.

Now that I have recovered I still have no memory of much on Monday. I remember wearing green and creating payroll for work but that is about it. It is a scary feeling not remembering things and I think what really has me bothered is that I still have no idea exactly what happened to make me crash. The doctor told my Dad I may never remember the accident, which is kind of good because I hope to get back out on my bike as soon as I can. Anyway I have posted pretty gross pictures of my ear and neck. Just a little visual of my accident. Sorry if they gross you out!

BEFORE

AFTER 13 STITCHES AND A LITTLE CLEAN UP

New Bike- First Bike Ride

Thanks to my wonderful father who has a deep interest in getting me involved in road biking, he fronted the money to get me into my very first road bike. After two trips to Canyon Bicycle to get sized, fitted and all dialed in with all the gear I needed I finally had a full set up. I decided to come up to Sandy to ride with my dad Saturday. I little preface to my Saturday ride would include a Friday night 9:10 p.m. indoor soccer game, and Saturday morning a 9:00 a.m. soccer game. I then grabbed all my warm clothes and headed up to Sandy for a bike ride. My dad is an intense road biker and a good ride for him consists of about a 20 mile ride in a hour. So I knew I was in for a hard ride. Although my family has been into road biking for years I had never been on a ride with them in all my years. With my bike all set up and my new bike shoes with clip ins (which I had never used before) I got all geared up for the ride. If you know anything about me you know I don't do spandex, but I gave in. It was cooler weather so I had on long spandex, a long sleeve biking jersey, a jacket, ear warmers and gloves. I had the whole setup on. I have to admit I looked quite goofy but you could say I looked HOT I guess!

My parents live on the benches in Sandy so the first part of the ride was downhill and mostly flat. As we just kept going farther and farther from home I was getting a little concerned because to get back to their house it is purely up hill. We decided to take 110th south up. The first several climbs were going well but after I passed Alta High school I started up a pretty steep climb. With my out of shapeness and my tiredness I started to fade fast and soon found myself not pedaling. Well since I was not moving up hill gravity took its toll and I started to fall. There was a moment in slow motion where I knew I was going to fall right over. Being new to the whole clipping into you the pedals I totally couldn't get my foot out fast enough and real fast found myself hitting the ground with a big thud. Having both my feet still clipped in and lying on the ground the poor van that passed me and wondered what the heck I was doing and not know if they should stop and help or what. Finally, after much struggle I got one foot and out and stood up. Exhausted I could not get clipped back in since I was on a straight vertical hill. My dad having long reach the top of the hill and having not seem me reach the top turned around to catch his daughter defeated mid hill. What an experience! Having conquered one of the three hills I had to get up I felt so defeated just as it started to snow on my first bike ride. I was cold, exhausted and thirsty as ever to say the least. Anyway thanks to my encouraging father I made it home with must more ease up the last few hills than the other. Overall it was a really good ride. I have learned in order to get ready for this Ride to St. George I am going to have spend a lot of time on my new bike, and get in better shape.

**** It is my Dad's 60th birthday and I wanted to give a tribute to him. He is such an amazing father and has always been there for me. He has supported me in every aspect of my life from soccer games, to making sure I reach my fullest potential. He is so wise and gives such great advice. I love his passion for all of his many great talents such as photography and biking. He brings out the best in people and I love that about him. One thing I have always loved is that he tells you what he is thinking. Often times you don't want to hear it, but as I have grown up I truly love the advice and support. ****