On the bookshelf: the end of summer reads

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - Once I finished with this book, I immediately sent a text to my friend asking if he had read it and could explain what the heck I missed.  I knew I must have missed something... I needed my high school English teacher to help me break down the book, find the hidden meanings.  I've heard from many that The Alchemist is their favorite book, so I thought it would have many more "ah-ha" moments where I wanted to run through the streets shouting its message. Okay, probably not, but I thought it would be bigger somehow?

Though to my surprise, everyone at our next book club had the same response:  It was a beautiful book with a very simple message, be kind, listen to your heart, and follow your dream. That's it!  Now I'm very happy and content with the simplicity of the story.

Insurgent (Divergent Trilogy book 2) by Veronica Roth - Read about my thoughts on the first book here.  While Divergent really explored the factions that make up this new world and how Beatrice and her brother make their way through initiations and training. This second book puts these skills to the test as the world turns upside down with corrupt leads and war.  It's quite a thrilling ride.  Now, we have to wait until next year to find out what happens!  This young adult book is a great, easy read.  I'm really enjoying the series.  Now,  write, write, write, Veronica. 

Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon - Our book club pick for the month was a creeeeeepy one; gearing up for Halloween it just made sense, but I'm a huge wimp and I had to read this book in the daylight with someone else next to me.  I just finished it up on our recent trip to Oklahoma and by the last page, still had no idea how it would turn out.

It was quite the thriller, and a really good one, if that's your sort of thing.  I'm just glad I finished it! 

Redman Olympic Triathalon

After spending a lovely evening with our friends Joey and Stacy on Saturday night, it was soon early  morning, and race time for Ryan!

We made our way to Lake Hefner around 6am to warm up and find friends Carol (who was twinkies with Ryan) and Joe.

I particularly liked the sign on the dock that said "do not pee in the lake".  That's you, athletes!  Keep that water and red dirt clean. 

Ryan came out of the water strong and smiling.  Carol is right behind him, you can see her pink swim cap (and twinkie outfit) bobbing behind.  I snapped a photo right before they ran off into the transition area to grab their bikes and start the second portion of the race.

After lap 2 Ryan yells "Medic T-2" at me and keeps riding past.  So I jump up and tell the woman near that Sprint 2 Lap sign the message and she stares at me like a crazy person.  The other volunteers standing near get on their walkies to see if something happened on the route (which I assumed too) and then say, "that doesn't make sense, T-2 is the transition area and he hasn't been by there yet".  They couldn't figure out if Ryan needed a medic or if he saw someone else who needed a medic and was yelling the wrong code.  Heck if I know!  We were all stumped and ultimately did nothing.  When in doubt...

He flies by us 2 more times and then off to the transition area again to start running.

FINISHED!

After the race, Ryan ran straight from the finish line to the medical tent.  He was the athlete who needed help, he sliced his thumb on the spokes of his tire on lap 2 but didn't want to stop competing.  Nothing a little gauze and tape couldn't take care of, but what a way to run a 10k, with a bleeding finger.  Poor guy.

These guys are rockstars.
They swam 1.5K, biked 25 miles, and ran a 10K, all before 12 o'clock.

Some Things Never Change

...and I'm quite okay with that!

Like preference of hangouts while spending time in Tulsa.  We only had 1 night with friends before the race in OKC and the overall consensus was McNellies, a pub in downtown Tulsa that has been our place of choice for many years.  Maybe it's the familiarity, but we always end up here, and always have a great time.

Another thing I've found that hasn't changed much  is our gang of friends.  I've known most of these friends since middle school and feel blessed that we still make time to get together.  Another great night in good ol' Oklahoma.    

The Open Road

The open road is a beckoning, a strangeness, a place where a man can lose himself. -William Least Heat Moon (William Trogdon)

Oooooooooooklahoma

We're off to Oklahoma for a long weekend in search of friendly chatter, family time, and Ryan kicking butt at his next triathlon.  We have puppy and bike in tow and are setting off... NOW!  At 2am.  Like crazy people. 

Be back soon.

Birthday Celebrations

My guy turned the big 2-9 over the weekend!  So we had a little backyard cookout in celebration.  I blew up 29 balloons and put little messages inside each one.  We made burgers and had an ice cream cake.  And Ryan asked all of his friends to bring over a 6 pack to exchange with each other.

Notice the competition down a few houses?  Ryan really wanted to join forces with the princess party.

We played ladder golf and chatted and had a great evening.   Happy Birthday, my love! 

Currently...

via

attempting to // bike everywhere.  We moved to a great little part of Denver that has shops and eateries just biking distance away.  And when we ride to Little Man Ice Cream, I don't feel so bad due to the exercise to and fro.  Ice cream and biking, It's a win-win, really. 

excited about // Fall!  The leaves are changing, there's a crispness in the air; it's truly right around the corner, friends.

listening to // Sanders Bohlke.  His music goes hand in hand with the approaching fall season.  I have to dig out my old cd every year, I can't explain it really. 

loving // this pleated, polka dot number from Dottie Adele. 

hating // all the animosity in the world right now.  I just want everyone to forgive and love each other.  Sometimes it's almost too much to bear. 

looking forward to // a trip to Oklahoma next weekend!

reading // Don't Breathe a Word, our Halloween book club pick.  I don't really do scary, so I just hope I can make it through without having to sleep with the lights on for a month.. or 3. 

stumbled upon // the greatness that is Nutella.  Wow, just wow. 

watching // Dance Academy on Netflix.  Recommended by a friend and I'm completely hooked.  You should go watch it too. 

spending time // hammock laying in the backyard.  It doesn't get much better.

Take me out to the balllllllgame.

We are huge baseball fans, meaning we like to get rowdy, wear team colors, and eat hot dogs (okay, Ryan eats the hot dogs).  Actually hoing to baseball games are always a good time.  So when a friend called and said she had 2 extra tickets to the game Monday, we just biked ourselves down to the stadium, and had a fun (free!) night. 

Littlefoot Triathalon

Ryan has been training, and training, and training the past few months for this upcoming sprint triathlon.  He and Elsa have been inseparable (okay, I made up a name for his bike, humor me).

We got up at the crack of dawn to head toward Golden, CO.  Our friend hosted the race, so I decided to volunteer and help out however I could.  Ryan was participating, of course, so we arrived around 6am, just in time to see the most beautiful sunrise.

Soon, the participants started to get ready for the race to begin and Ryan darted off for a warm up run.

Thankfully I had a buddy to keep me entertained during the down-time before the race began.  We were in charge of marking numbers on participants.  

And dancing.  We were instructed to dance a lot.
That's a lie.
But we couldn't help ourselves, anything to stay warm.  It was quite chilly Saturday morning.

After everyone had their number Sharpeed on their arm, and their age on their leg, I then was graced with the job of keeping time at the transition area.  Holy pressure!  Everyone had a chip on their ankle, but just in case the chip malfunctioned, there was Yours Truly keeping time.  Sort of.

See that wetsuit?  It's impossible to see the number I just wrote on her arm.  She did not get her time out of the water tracked by me.  Sorry participant, I really hope your chip worked.  I really really do. 

I tried to not stress about it too much.

And before I knew it, Ryan was flying by!  (tiny photo stolen from Facebook) 

GO RYAN!
He rocked that race in 1:24.

I'll be back in 2 weeks with a recap of his 2nd triathlon, it's coming up so very soon.  And I'm not keeping track of time, hooray.  There will be lots more photos. 

Indoor Rockclimbing

It's been about 6 years since I've climbed indoors.  

And I forgot just how much fun it is! 

In the Kitchen: kale chips

I loved having a whole extra day this weekend to go to the market and prepare thoughtful meals and homemade lemonade and snack foods.  It felt good to try new recipes and actually have time to devout in the kitchen. 
     
After the 48, er 12 hour cleanse I tried ::shudder:: I had a bunch of kale leftover that I needed to get rid of, so I took to the internet in search of a recipe for kale chips. Besides the cleanse, I had never bought kale, but remember eating it in chip form at a restaurant in OKC called 180 degrees.

So, I went for it.. why not?

Ingredients

• 1 head kale, washed and thoroughly dried
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
Remove the ribs from the kale and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Lay on a baking sheet and toss with the olive oil and salt. Bake until crisp, turning the leaves halfway through, about 20 minutes. Serve as finger food.

 

I posted about Kale Chips on Instagram over the weekend.  And they started quite the (positive) discussion so I thought I would post about them here too!  

Tour de Fat 2012

Saturday marked the third anniversary of Tour de Fat for Ryan and I!

This year we went to Fort Collins and experienced Tour de Fat in a whole new way.  The last 2 years in Denver were great, but Fort Collins folk are pretty wild (New Belgium brewery lives in Fort Collins, so it just  makes sense) and made the experience even more fun.  If possible? 

New Belgium + biking + costumes = a pretty good Saturday