A Hood-to-Coaster for Life

197 Miles

12,000 Runners
3,500 Volunteers
28th Annual Year
Largest Relay in the World

Our entire Team
"Inlaws and Outlaws"

I'm obsessed! This past weekend Ben and I, along with a team of ten other people ran the Hood to Coast relay in Portland, aka "The Mother of all Relays" (no really, that's what it's called).
I'm convinced I will run this race many, many more times in the future. I'm also convinced we will live in Portland some day. I love everything about that city!

Our team started the race at 10:30am on Friday morning and finished at 4:00pm on Saturday. There was someone running from our team during that entire time. We each ran three legs, spaced anywhere between 8-12 hours apart, and covering anywhere between 15-20 miles total. We ran in the sun, in the rain, during the day, at night, in the cold, in the hot, through trees, down mountains, and finally ended at the beach. It was an unforgettable weekend.

We were lucky enough to run on our friend Chris' family team. His dad has run the Hood to Coast 20 consecutive years. He says this year was his last...but we'll see! I wouldn't put it past Romney to run again next year!

I love this video because it captures so much of the spirit of the race.

Thanks Burke family for letting us be a part of such an awesome event. And Katie...watch out...you are SO running with us next year!

What a week!

I may hate camping. A lot. But I sure do love these girls! It's a huge relief to have Girls Camp over with, but the reality that I won't be going to camp with them next summer is actually a little sad. Okay, maybe it's not the fact I won't be CAMPING with the YW, but the fact I won't BE with these crazy kids! They are just too fun. (In case you're wondering, I'm the one on the right who looks the exact same age as the 14 year olds!)

Let me clarify my dislike of camping. I have no problem with bugs or dirt of things of that nature. And I quite like a good camp fire now and again. It's the fact that I see no real reason to sleep in a tent and forgo a warm shower if I have a perfectly functioning shower and bed at home. Hence the reason I slept in the cabin while they YW slept in tents. Or why I only stayed one night out of four. I lucked out this year, big time!

Also, it was our anniversary in the middle of the week and camp just didn't seem like the best way to celebrate! Ben surprised me with a trip to Lake George, and let me tell you....it was such a beautiful place. I highly recommend it to anyone. We biked and tennised and beached and ate and lounged and loved just hanging out! Unfortunately we didn't document much...

(The ever predictable self portrait!)

Finally, I almost forgot...the COLDPLAY CONCERT! Words can't do it justice. You just have to go to one of their concerts. They are incredible live. What a great night.

We also got introduced to the band "Elbow" that night. Yes, they may have the weirdest name ever, but they actually played some pretty great stuff.

The concert was at the Saratoga Springs Performing Arts center which turned out to be a great venue. We had awesome lawn seats and were able to bring in all our own snacks, chairs and blankets. The weather was beautiful and the show was incredible. I would see them again in a heartbeat!

Congrats!

Congratulations to Ben who finished a grueling 8 hour Step 2 Board Exam yesterday. It was a long month of intense studying and we're so happy it's over. Thanks to so many who remembered Ben during the big day!

Now it's time to play! Ben is officially on vacation until sometime in September, and I finish summer lessons this week....so we've go at month to just have fun! We're kicking off vacay with Harry Potter today...and a Coldplay Concert in Saratoga Springs on Monday....followed by a week of Girls Camp and our anniversary!

Celebratory dinner after Step 2!

Oh Canada!

Question:

What's the best way to celebrate Canada Day, if you can't actually BE in Canada??

Answer:
Movie night with the YW and a Canada Day Cake!

Question:
What the best way to spend the 4th of July, if you can't be with family at Bear Lake??

Answer:
Fireworks in the rain, a cute small town parade, and a 4th of July cake!

I feel so lucky to love not one, but two wonderful countries!

All good things must come to an end!

The second week in Tucson was equally as fun as the first! Between Ben's busy work schedule, and my busy pool schedule, we did manage to fit in quite a few fun, local activities and events.

Enjoying Tucson's famous Eegee's Slushes

Reid Park Zoo- it was surprisingly big and beautiful

Lots of sun/pool time

Our favorite little breakfast diner- breakfast cooked by Bobo himself! What's not to love about a greasy chocolate chip pancake the size of a large dinner plate!

Riding the Old Pueblo Trolley downtown and browsing through all sorts of cute little shops

Visiting with our friends from Vermont who just moved to Tucson for residency. Hopefully we'll join you guys someday soon!!

So obviously I loved Tucson. The weather was gorgeous the entire time we were there. I'm a little biased though, I love 100+ degree weather! It was great to be together and we had a fun time exploring a new city.

Ben is finally done with traveling for a while...nothing big until interviews! He's studying the month of July for the boards, and then he has the entire month of August off for vacation! We're already making plans!

As for me...it's back to work. I'm teaching five weeks of summer lessons, and looking for another job. It was nice to have a few months off from working a second job, but I'm ready to be busy again. It's more fun that way!

Tucson...

Here's what we've been up to the past week or so...
(In no particular order!)

Hanging out in Phoenix with my sister

Lots of gelato consumption



An attempt to attend the Mesa temple that ended up being a walk around the grounds




Seeing "Up" in 3D




Hiking the Catalina Mountains

Touring the local botanical gardens/zoo/natural history museum

And finally (possibly most importantly) being reminded how much we love In-N-Out!

It's official...

My second year of teaching is OVER! I I had my last official day today. It's hard to believe another year has come and gone. I loved this year even more than last year. My students made such great progress, I became much closer friends with so many families, and I really felt like I developed some of my own approaches and ideas. I can hardly wait for next year! As far as I know, all but two of my students will be returning, and I've added a couple of new younger sibling to my schedule. Today was also (hopefully) my last Friday of teaching...ever (or last for the next year!) I'm hoping to cram all 35-40 lessons into four days next year....it's all about the perma-three day weekend! I figure with Ben being around a little more it would be nice to have one day a week off...so here's to hoping I can fit all my lesson in Monday-Thursday!

The last recitals went great as well. I seriously felt like a proud mom as I watched all my students perform!

(This is my cute student Griffin who no joke, is quite literally obsessed with playing the piano. He will play anywhere between 3-5 hours a day. His parents finally had to buy an electric keyboard in addition to their regular piano so that he didn't keep his little sister up at night!)

I leave for Tucson early tomorrow morning...and let me just state for the record...I am so glad these past four month have come and gone, and that Ben and I will finally get back to normal life. It's been a great spring full of travel and fun, but I am very happy to get back to a normal routine.

Ben has been enjoying life in Tucson...I think the highlight for him was taking the bus to the movies last Friday night!