Aloha!

Aloha! I've heard that aloha can be used to say both hello and goodbye. Today both work. Goodbye to Utah and the never ending rain. Hello to Maui, white sand, surf, waterfalls, etc. We just landed and I can feel the island love already. Pics to follow soon if I keep finding wifi. Aloha!

Where the Streets Have No Name

When I was in college, U2 was the band to see. They did not ever come to Utah so lots of friends went to Denver, LA, or other places. I was never that die hard, but always wanted to see them play. We've actually bought the tickets for this show a hear and a a half ago but the concert was postponed due to Bono's back surgery. So basically it feels like I have been waiting to see them forever. They did not disappoint. The production, set, sound, etc. was absolutely amazing, but nowhere near as amazing as the band. They sounded just as good as they do on any studio album and seriously rocked. Bono was gracious and funny and I can see why he needed back surgery with all his moves. The show was fantastic! The only non fantastic part was getting home at 2:00 a.m. I am way past the days when I can stay out late and play and still function the next day. In fact, I am still tired. 100% worth it.

No More Riding Solo

At least not last weekend.

It was so great to have this guy along, so much more fun.

This is early in the ride where he was still feeling good.

He agreed to go all the way around the mountain, 70 miles total.

He understands getting shots for the blog.

Back side of West Mountain
So beautiful.

Towards the end of the ride,

Tim was hating life.

His longest ride before this was 35 miles

It didn't help that I had two flat tire

Which seriously slowed us down.

Go Tim Go!

Namaste

I used to do yoga 1-2 times a week but over the last year have mostly slacked and practiced only sporadically. I have decided it is something that I need to make a priority. All of my gym time puts a lot of physical stress on my body, and life in general adds a healthy dose of emotional stress. Yoga seems to be the best way to counteract the damage. I went to a really great class this week, the teacher was a good mix of mind/body and really emphasized deep, calming breaths. It must be the mind clearing aspect, but I find a lot of life paralells while in strange positions. The teacher challenged everyone to try an arm balance (which I cannot do but tried) and several people fell. He commented"It's ok if you fall as long as you are breathing peacefully when you do". I just keep thinking about that. Bumps along the road are inevitable, but finding a place of peace is what helps us survive. Not sure if this makes as much sense to anyone else as it did to me, but if not, think about it a little longer.

I respect the place in you that is of love, of truth, of light. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are one. Namaste

Moustaches Should Be Illegal

Unless you are Tom Selleck.

He was on Regis and Kelly this morning. I haven't ever watched his current TV show, but apparently he is a police captain and the show is about him and his kids who are also all cops. I've always liked Tom Selleck (Magnum PI anyone?), but his comments made me like him even more. To paraphrase, he said: Homer Simpson is an idot. It is a real pleasure to play a guy who is a patriarch and a good father. There aren't enough portrayals of good dads out there. Kudos to you Tom.

Dear Guy In the Hot Tub...

...I really was trying to relax and mind my own business, but since you were speaking so loudly I had no choice but to listen. I tried to keep my comments to myself, but since I'm not very good at that, here's what I was thinking...
a. Yes it is pretty shocking that you have not seen noticeable results in your body, I mean you have been working out for a whole week and a half. There is definitely something wrong with the gym.
b. That's cool how you can speak spanish to your buddies so no one will know what you are talking about, oh wait, yo hablo tambien.
c. Talking about "partying" when you are 30 years old does not make you cool, it makes you pathetic.
d. Talking about how high the limits are on your 10 credit cards also does not make you cool, just stupid and responsible. Ditto for the fact that you have added up how much money you can spend and max them all.
Really, I would have loved to stay and continued to listen to you but the two or three minutes were more than enough.

Oh The Places You'll Go

When I left for my ride Saturday morning, I made sure I had snacks, drinks, money for emergencies, and of course, part one of my book. Last week I went east, this week I headed west and around Utah Lake. The sunshine and hot weather I was expecting somehow never showed up, but it was perfect weather for biking. I was having such a great time I had to finally make myself turn around, 60 miles round trip. Once again, I thought I would bring you all along for the ride. Considering they were all taken with my phone, I really like the way these shots turned out.

The turnaround spot, 29.9 miles from my front door.

Because there was a storm brewing,

The lake looked really cool.
You can't see him, but there was a guy out there wakeboarding.

I always get passed by bikers,

They generally look at me like I'm crazy,

If I'm going to ride, I want the benefits of the workout.

Do you notice the Y, as in BYU on the back of the jacket?

Maybe it was an alumni ride???

Saturday night we took Ada and B to see this at BYU

(Have you picked up on all the themes)

The play was super fun
And the kids loved it.

I'd tell you to run out and take the kids,

But I think it was only there for the weekend.

Dear Kohls...

Thank you for being next door to the gym to aid in times of clothing emergencies. This time it was a forgotten slip. Could have been, and has been worse.
By the way, I love the new purse I found as I raced through the store. Turqoise. Just what I was looking for.
I hope to not need you in the future, but am sure that I will. Just one teeny request, would you consider opening a little earlier?
xoxo
Monica

Hair Club For Men

I was looking through my phone and found these pictures.

This first one actually looks pretty natural.

Sooo Funny!
He's such a good sport.

Mother's Day

I've been reading lots of blogs with tributes to mothers. It makes me feel a little guilty that I didn't think to do anything like this. The truth is that my mom is pretty much amazing., I was just having a pity party so probably best to save a tribute to another day. The short version though is that my mom is great.

This year mother's day was really hard for me, I mostly wanted to stay in bed all day and just let it pass without notice. That seemed a little self indulgent though, so I got out of bed and joined the celebrations. Tim was super sweet with a card and the glider/bench for our front yard that I had been wanting. Later in the afternoon we went to my brother's house for dinner with his family and my parents. Cue the waterworks. Do you remember this little cutie, I call her my baby girl, my heart, Ada Potata, etc., and she is all of that and more. As soon as I walked in her house she gave me a hug and said she they had a present for me. When I asked why she said "of course for Mother's Day". Jami then told me that Ada had told her they needed to find a gift for me because I was the best aunt ever and practically like her mom.

Here is a picture of the gifts. They were all wrapped up in a gift bag with my name.

And here is the card. I cried then, and I'm crying again just remembering the moment. It's hard to believe she is only six. The only help she had from her mom was how to spell perfume. The note was all her idea - she said she wanted to give me some clues about the surprises. Her thoughtfulness was exactly what I needed and I ended the day smiling.

BTW, don't you love how she gives the rest of the family credit. Priceless.

Ride With Me

The weather today makes it hard to believe,

But Saturday was perfect for riding.

All of my peeps were otherwise committed so I rode alone,,

Mostly,

I decided to bring you all along for the ride,

In case you've never had the chance to see this beauty in person,

Here is my bike which I pretty much love.

I could impress you with all of the technical stats,

But let's be honest, do you really care when it is so cute.

I had a new book on my I-pod and was ready to roll.

It started off kind of abruptly, but

I figured it would all make sense eventually.

After a full chapter I was still lost,

No big surprise considering it was chapter 22.

I finally figured out I had only downloaded part 2. Oops.

Not to worry, I had another book and lots of music

So I pulled over, switched the I-pod,

And was back in business.

Between Provo and Springville there is a development

That was never finished.

It's perfect for riding, smooth roads and no cars.

I am not sure if this was discarded, or meant as art...

Either way, I usually laugh when I ride by.

Ahhh, this is what makes the hill climbing worthwhile,

Hobble Creek Canyon

I knew the Provo Marathon/Half Marathon was Saturday.

What I didn't know was that it would be right on my route.

It was super fun to see several people I knew.

And, lets be honest here, whether I know you or not,

Seeing runners at the end of a race makes me cry.

Congrats to all the runners.

You inspire me.

Before and After

We have spent the past three weekends working on our front yard. It has gotten gradually easier each week. I didn't take any shots the first week - I should have to show the piles of rock, concrete, metal, and weeds that came out of our flower beds. It was seriously tough work and Tim and I both felt it for days. So much for all that gym time huh, I must have missed the machine that replicates yard work.

Last week we started with piles of bark and a truck full of plants and trees. Luckily this time we had help. T was a huge help at digging and hauling things around and B was my helper with the bark and raking.

I didn't realize he was in the shot, but apparently Everest got in on the action. He mostly just watched and supervised.

By the time we finished last week, we were done with the plants and the bark.

This week was the flowers. We were going for low maintenance, so we decided to keep the color on the porch and hope that we won't have to weed.

Tim surprised me with the glider this morning. It was a great finishing touch. We've been in the house almost a year and it finally looks like home.

I love how they look now, but give the flowers a few weeks and they will be amazing.

I'm Not a Paid Spokesmodel...

But I should be.

Can I just tell you how much I love Chobani

I really don't get why "greek yogurt" is so much better for you

But if it tastes this great, who cares

Can you see all the great nutrition facts?

Note the 14 grams of protien.

Not bad for 140 calories and no fat.

I am always on the lookout for easy protien.

Just a FYI if you live in Utah County.

I have heard you can buy select flavors at Costco.

The only other place it is to be found is Target,

One more reason to love Target.

Hey Guy...

Ya you...
The one in the van next to me changing his clothes...
PS...
The tint on the windows is NOT as dark as you think.
Next time you should maybe consider the locker room at the gym..
A much better alternative to the parking lot.

Isn't She Lovely

This is my niece Jessica.

All Glammed up for prom

Isn't she beautiful?

Do you think she looks more like Sean (my brother) or me?

Kind of a loaded question with the beautiful comment...

But when I'm with her, people generally think she is my daughter.

She is such a fun personality.

Since she was little people have been drawn to her,

I'm sure you can see why.

I love this shot.

She may be all dolled up now,

But you should see the girl play soccer.
Fierce!

Now if she didn't live so far away (Dallas).

UNBROKEN

If you have spent any time with me lately, you have probably heard me talk about the book Unbroken. Let's just cut right to the chase here and say that I would give it an A, maybe even a little higher if possible. Run to your nearest bookstore to buy the book, or even better, purchase the audio version on I-tunes and start listening to it ASAP.

Louie Zamperini is the hero of the book. By the time it was over, I felt like he was my friend, and I was a better person for having known him.


I like to think that the lessons he learned through running helped get him through his ordeals. Knowing that pain is part of the pathway to strength - physical and emotional.
Instead of me telling you about the book, I thought I would let the author. In the words of Laura Hilenbrand:

Eight years ago, an old man told me a story that took my breath away. His name was Louie Zamperini, and from the day I first spoke to him, his almost incomprehensibly dramatic life was my obsession.

It was a horse--the subject of my first book, Seabiscuit: An American Legend--who led me to Louie. As I researched the Depression-era racehorse, I kept coming across stories about Louie, a 1930s track star who endured an amazing odyssey in World War II. I knew only a little about him then, but I couldn’t shake him from my mind. After I finished Seabiscuit, I tracked Louie down, called him and asked about his life. For the next hour, he had me transfixed.

Growing up in California in the 1920s, Louie was a hellraiser, stealing everything edible that he could carry, staging elaborate pranks, getting in fistfights, and bedeviling the local police. But as a teenager, he emerged as one of the greatest runners America had ever seen, competing at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he put on a sensational performance, crossed paths with Hitler, and stole a German flag right off the Reich Chancellery. He was preparing for the 1940 Olympics, and closing in on the fabled four-minute mile, when World War II began. Louie joined the Army Air Corps, becoming a bombardier. Stationed on Oahu, he survived harrowing combat, including an epic air battle that ended when his plane crash-landed, some six hundred holes in its fuselage and half the crew seriously wounded.

On a May afternoon in 1943, Louie took off on a search mission for a lost plane. Somewhere over the Pacific, the engines on his bomber failed. The plane plummeted into the sea, leaving Louie and two other men stranded on a tiny raft. Drifting for weeks and thousands of miles, they endured starvation and desperate thirst, sharks that leapt aboard the raft, trying to drag them off, a machine-gun attack from a Japanese bomber, and a typhoon with waves some forty feet high. At last, they spotted an island. As they rowed toward it, unbeknownst to them, a Japanese military boat was lurking nearby. Louie’s journey had only just begun.

That first conversation with Louie was a pivot point in my life. Fascinated by his experiences, and the mystery of how a man could overcome so much, I began a seven-year journey through his story. I found it in diaries, letters and unpublished memoirs; in the memories of his family and friends, fellow Olympians, former American airmen and Japanese veterans; in forgotten papers in archives as far-flung as Oslo and Canberra. Along the way, there were staggering surprises, and Louie’s unlikely, inspiring story came alive for me. It is a tale of daring, defiance, persistence, ingenuity, and the ferocious will of a man who refused to be broken.

The culmination of my journey is my new book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. I hope you are as spellbound by Louie’s life as I am.