I got back yesterday from my annual girls trip to Las Vegas. This year it was just Vicky and I, but we had a great time. I had a much better trip this year–although last years trip was not hard to beat. Last year I ended up in a clinic with and I.V. and 3 liters of fluid. Then I flew home a day early. Not too hard to beat, huh?

We arrived on Sunday and stayed at the Bellagio again. We checked in and then decided to have lunch and do some shopping. The last time I was in Las Vegas I had seen an ad for a place called Stripburger and I wanted to try it. It was a cute little outdoor burger joint. I really enjoyed their signature burger–the blue cheese burger–and sweet potato fries. After we were both stuffed, we did a little shopping. Both Vicky and I found a few cute things. We walked like crazy and we were both ready to head back to the hotel after a few hours.

We both wanted to do some typical Vegas activities, so we got tickets to see Cher and then we scored opening night tickets to see The Lion King.

We saw Cher the first night and it was a lot of fun. She was very entertaining. She was hilarious and looked amazing for a woman in her sixties. She had some amazing costumes and I really enjoyed the music. I thought the show was thoroughly entertaining.

The next two days we parked ourselves at the pool and hardly moved. I read 2 books and totally enjoyed just relaxing all day.

The last night we went to see The Lion King. I love musicals and this one did not disappoint. It was amazing! The costumes were incredible and I loved the music.

Our whole trip was just perfect for me. I enjoyed Vicky’s company. We were perfect together because we both wanted to do the same thing the whole time. I can’t wait to do it again next year!

Here are some photos that I took last Sunday before we left North Carolina to head home. I love the softness of the colors and the cute expressions on the kids faces.

This week at I ♡ Faces the theme was self portrait–no tripods and no timers. I had to be holding the camera. I know some people are really good at self portraits (Like Lotus ) but it was a real challenge for me. I thought I’d post some of my out-takes. I can’t believe I am posting these

Please visit Lotus at Sarcastic Mom to view all the Weekly Winners participants.

Our weather has been great and I have been fully taking advantage of it. I went out for a rode bike ride the last two days. Then today I actually went for a mountain bike ride.

I saw Vicky at school at morning drop off. She was all dressed in her bike clothes and was going to go for a ride. Nora and I had music class, so I couldn’t go with Vicky. But all morning I kept looking at how beautiful it was outside and wishing I could go for a quick ride in the mountains too.

I had coffee with Yori and I convinced her to go on a ride with me. We dropped Nora off at the Ark and off we went.

It was great!

I am so glad that we went out. We just did a short little ride on the Stealth trail at Glenwild. It was still muddy and there were a few puddles in some spots, but the trail was surprisingly dry. It just felt so good to be out on my bike. My legs were a little tired and I felt winded a few times, but for my first ride I was pretty happy with my conditioning. But I was really proud of how brave I was

I have always been a timid mountain biker. I just hate falling. I wimp out and don’t try to ride things that I could because I don’t want to fall. I have had a mental block on switch backs ever since I started. My very first mountain bike ride I fell on a switch back. I don’t think I ever forgot about it. But this year I have been giving myself some pep talks and thinking positively. I keep telling myself that I am great at switch backs

Today I stopped to wait for Yori just before a mildly steep rocky and muddy section. I wasn’t going to even attempt to ride it. Yori encouraged me and we both tried it. She went first, but didn’t quite make it. I tried and I totally could have made it, but I just got scared and stopped pedaling at the top. I decided to get off my bike and walk down and try it again. That was a huge step for me! The second time I rode up it perfectly.

Later in the trail there is a really steep section with a bunch of big rocks. We practiced on that section last year when I did the Dirt Series mountain bike camp. I remember standing in line last year and I was TERRIFIED. I nearly cried before it was my turn. I didn’t even want to attempt it. I was so scared and I did make an effort to try to ride it, but I gave up pretty quickly and walked up. This year I had a whole new attitude. I tried and almost made it up. I got hung up on the last big rock. I attempted it again, and got hung up in the same spot. I didn’t try again, but next time I definitely will. Last summer I didn’t think I would ever see the day when I would ride that section, but now I know that sometime soon I will do it!

This week the weather has been so beautiful. The weather was so great in North Carolina, I was kind of dreading coming back to lousy weather at home. But I was pleasantly surprised. As we drove home from the airport I noticed that almost all of the snow was melted. I noticed that the grass was starting to turn green and some of the spring bulbs were starting to flower.

Last night the weather was so nice, I couldn’t resist getting out on my bike. Scott was out of town, but I got Garrett to come over to babysit for about an hour. The kids had a great time playing on the playground while I went for a bike ride. It was so nice to be out on my bike again. I rode for about an hour and I really tried to push myself. I haven’t been riding much, so my legs (and lungs ) were not quite up to my normal capabilities. But it was great to be out there again. I have about a month to train for the Cycle Salt Lake Century that Scott and I are planning to do on May 16th.

Tonight I spent some time outside cleaning up the yard. It felt like a summer night. I love summer nights. One of my favorite things to do is just putter around in the yard after the kids go to bed. I did that tonight and I really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to spending many more summer evenings working in our yard!

I am enjoying the weather while I can. I just looked at the weather report and it looks like it is going to rain for the next week or so. I guess it isn’t summer quite yet.

This week’s theme at I Love Faces was self-portraits. For this shot I had to take the photo and I had to be holding the camera when I took it. No tripods or anything else allowed. This week was a HUGE challenge for me.

I took a ton of photos to get a couple that I thought were decent. I really don’t like getting in front of the camera. I am much more of a behind the camera kind of girl. I am extremely critical of photos of myself. I just notice all my flaws.

I haven’t had much practice at this self portrait thing, so I wasn’t very creative either. I think I self portrait should show who you are. Mine really doesn’t show much about me at all. I’d love to take a shot that shows me playing golf or riding my bike. I’ll have to think about how to get a shot like that…..

Taking these photos was fun, though. It got me thinking more about taking photos of myself. I think I might want to practice taking more self portraits. I really want my kids to have photos of me with them. Right now I take tons of photos of them, but I am not in any of them. Looking through some of the other photos this week was really an inspiration. Some of the photos were awesome. Maybe with practice I can get some photos of myself with the kids that I actually like.

Here are my entries for this week:

Be sure to check out I ♡ Faces to see all the amazing photos that were entered in this week’s contest.

I was just looking back at the entries I have posted to my blog over the last few weeks. I noticed that I have hardly written anything about my life. I haven’t told any cute stories about the kids. I’m going to make an effort to post more stories. That was the reason I started this blog in the first place.

The last couple of months have been tough. My brother went through rehab and then my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Luckily the cancer was very small and was caught extremely early. I went and met one of my dad’s doctors and Scott went to another one with him. We wanted to learn everything we could about the treatment options so we could help him make the best decision. I felt really confident in the treatment that he ultimately decided to go with. He had his surgery last Tuesday, and everything seems to have gone perfectly. The surgeon said it went as well as it could have, and they expect a full recovery. True to his nature, my dad wasn’t down long. He went skiing 2 days after the surgery. I’m just glad that he had the surgery. I know that it will help put his mind at ease and help him to get some closure on the whole situation.

The rehab and the family counseling sessions were really hard on the whole family. For a few weeks, it was all consuming. I spent 2 nights a week and almost all day Saturday at Journey’s. When I wasn’t there I was thinking about Bryan and all the things we were learning. Scott and I spent countless hours discussing Bryan and our family and all the changes we needed to make to help give Bryan the best chance at a sober and happy life. The last few days of the treatment were the hardest. We had a tough family session. Bryan told me that he didn’t want my love and he didn’t want me to be part of his life. I tried to be strong and realize that he didn’t really mean it, but it was probably the most hurtful thing he could have said to me. He told Scott that he used to feel like he was one of his best friends, but now doesn’t even know if he wants a relationship with him. It was really hard on both of us.

It has been a couple of weeks since that meeting. As time goes by, things get easier. I don’t think about it nearly as much as I used to. I’m starting to feel like I am getting back to my normal self. For a while, I didn’t even want to do the things I normally love to do. I was sad and stressed and I didn’t have very much patience with the kids. I snapped at them for no good reason. I overreacted to little things they did. But I am getting better. I started seeing a therapist to help me learn to deal with some of the hurts. I feel like it is really helping. It is nice to have someone working for me that can help me to make the decisions that are best for me and my life.

The best advice she gave me was that I needed to step back and just focus on my kids and my husband. I realized how much this has been affecting them. They have been listening in the background as Scott and I talk. They have seen me break down crying more times that they should have. When my therapist started talking about it, I realized just how much they have been affected. I felt guilty that I had put them through all of this too. I made a conscious choice to stop talking about things in front of them, and to focus on enjoying the company of my kids. That is my responsibility–to give my kids the best life I can. I have given them more attention and played with them more. It has really helped to get my life feeling normal again.

I don’t know what the future will hold for my relationship with Bryan. I hope that as time goes by he will see that everything we did was done with his best intentions at heart. But for now, I know that I can’t change him or the things that he does. I can only take care of me and try to give my kids and my husband the best life possible.

Earlier this week Scott and I signed up for another century bike ride–that’s 100 miles!

Yesterday I finally decided to get back on my bike. I rode the trainer in my basement while I watched one of our Spinervals DVDs. Once I got going I started to wonder if signing up for the century was such a good idea. The DVD totally kicked my butt! I couldn’t believe how out of shape I felt. The last time I did that workout, it was so much easier.

I guess the good news is that I still have almost 2 months until the bike ride. Now I should have some motivation to start exercising on a regular basis!

Tonight was my moms group’s annual cookie party.

I really had a fun time! I made a recipe that I have never made before. I got it from one of my favorite blogs, The Pioneer Woman

I made the Apricot Bars. I really loved them! I would definitely make them again, but I think that I would use a different brand of apricot preserves. When I went to the store for some reason everything apricot flavored was gone. But, they were really easy and really delicious.

Here is the recipe:

Apricot Bars

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 3/4 sticks (regular, salted) butter, cut into pieces
1 10-12 ounce jar Apricot Preserves

Mix all ingredients except Apricot Preserves. Press one half of the mixture into a buttered 8? square (or small rectangular) pan. Spread with a 10-12 ounce jar of apricot preserves. Sprinkle second half of mixture over the top and pat lightly. Bake at 350 for 30 – 40 minutes or until light brown. Let cool completely, then cut into squares.

It was a fun night of good food, great company, and nice wine. I had fun seeing some of my friends that I haven’t seen in a while.

My new Canon 50D is on it’s way and I will be obsessively stalking the UPS guy tomorrow

I have been thinking about ordering a new camera for a while. I feel like I am ready for the next step up. I’d like to be able to take more frames per second and take higher ISO shots with less noise. I almost chose a new camera body instead of the lens for my birthday, but decided I really wanted the better glass right now, and could always upgrade my camera body later.

I had talked to my parents about buying the lens for me for my birthday, but I didn’t think they were going to do it. Scott surprised me with it on my birthday. I got another nice surprise from my parents–the check to buy the lens! So I had the lens and enough money to buy the camera body too.

I was going to wait, but I just couldn’t. There was a fantastic live.com 25% off discount on ebay. I found the camera for a screaming deal on ebay from a USA authorized Canon dealer with 100% ebay feedback. I decided it was too good of a deal to pass up. I decided that would be my Christmas present this year. How lucky am I?

I ordered it last week before Thanksgiving. I got free shipping, but didn’t realize that it would take so much longer because of the holiday. I am really looking forward to getting my hands on it tomorrow. I can’t wait to play around with it and see what my new toy can do!

I went to another spinning class this morning.

I haven’t been feeling well the last few days. I think the cold I have been fighting finally caught up with me. Yesterday I was thinking I wasn’t going to make it to spinning. But, Vicky called me in the afternoon and told me that she had signed up both up. So I was stuck

I got up this morning and dragged myself there. The Saturday class is an hour and a half. I haven’t done the Saturday class so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It ended up being 75 minutes of spinning and 15 minutes of ab work.

I was really glad that I went. I felt pretty good in the class. Today I felt like I was able to push the tension a little bit higher and still kept my cadence up. My heart rate didn’t get quite as high today, either. I felt like I pushed myself hard. At one point we were supposed to simulate climbing a hill. I always have a hard time with that. Today I imagined myself climbing up Brown’s Canyon like I did in the Summit Challenge. I figure the harder I can push in class the easier it will be when I get out there and ride it again.

I think I’ll be glad I pushed myself when I am out riding the hills of Maui in a few weeks. Thanks, Vicky, for helping me get to class today