The book - The Shack

Have you read this book? It was very interesting and not what I thought it was going to be. If you were to ask me what it was about I would have to say ... it was an attempt to describe God? or our relationship with God? It isn't the gospel and probably shouldn't be confused with the Bible as a source of truth but it did make me think about how big God really is and how hard it really is for us to understand who He is. I know this all sounds kind of vague but there are some interesting word pictures in this book that made me really think and search out a few scriptures. It also made me think about relationships and how they affect our spiritual life. Any way read anything interesting lately?

Burnet Tri Hard Triathlon

My Burnet Tri Hard Tiathlon is now behind me. I wanted to complete the race in under two hours. I decided if I finished in 2 hours 5 minutes, that would be ok. I finished the race in 1 hour and 47 minutes!! Unlike the Temple Tri, instead of me passing a lot people, I was passed by a lot of people. Although I did pass some, they were few and far between. The swim went very well, although I was nervous at how far it was. I started swimming at a moderate pace keeping in mind I had a long way to go. Once I was at the turn around buoy, I realized I wasn't tired. The swim back to the shore was much faster. I got out of the water and ran to my transition spot where I found my wet feet had a lot grass on them. I just wiped them off real fast and put my socks and cycling shoes on. The bike had a lot of hills at the biginning then it was pretty flat, the bad part was that it was a loop, so you had to do the hills at the END of the bike also. Getting back to the bike to run transition felt good, I was that tired. I racked my bike and chaged shoes and began my run. As I started the run I had some muscle spasms in my lower back but they went away quickly. My side started to hurt I thought "I know I'm in better shape than this, what's wrong?" At that point I started to breathe through my nose more and the cramping in my side stopped. I picked up my pace all the way to the finish line. The breakdown of my race is, Swim 21 minutes, bike 1 hour, and the run was 24 minutes. If you add the minutes up it will be short, that is b\c my transition times are taken out. Next year will be the year I complete an Olympic distance tri. That is a one mile swim, 24 mile bike ride and 6.2 mile run. I'll let everyone know when and where it is.

Jeff

new pictures

Just showing off our cowgirl (doesn't she look all grown up!) and our Little guys new teeth.

adventures in bread making..

 

This is what happens when you forget to add yeast to the ingredients in the bread maker! Just another example of why I shouldn't try to do anything before about 8:30 in the morning.

Sugar, sugar, sugar!

Okay so I've seen the commercials put out by the corn growers about how high fructose Corn syrup is not really that bad for you and I think its a little like tobacco company advertisements. "here try this popsicle , really its harmless, what could be so bad about a popsicle?" Well let me tell you! You can read for your self the articles and studies that are on the web I will just give you the cliff notes: Fructose consumption may contribute to heart disease, high cholesterol and interferes with your ability to feel full (which leads to over eating.) It is a highly processed product derived from corn starch and is cheaper then sugar and has a longer shelf life which is why companies use it. You could argue that it comes from corn its safe and some of the studies may not prove a direct link to those above mentioned health problems. For me the bottom line is sugar consumption. Did you know that Americans on average consume 150 pounds OR MORE or sugar in a year! Isn't that ALARMING! About 60 pounds is from HFCS because its in everything! jelly, ketchup, salad dressing, breads, cereal. If its convenient it is probablly in it. I know we are addicted to sugar and the more we eat the more we want it so that is why I'm trying to cut back and eliminate the HFCS and along with it the other sugary foods that sneak into our house. We still have desserts and we still drink sodas OCCASIONALLY (They have loads of HFCS) but were getting use to it and in the process we have been eating more "real foods" like fruits, vegtables and making our own muffins and waffles instead of the frozen kind. (I just freeze extras for those mornings when I can't get it all together.) So here is my rant mostly for my brothers sake!

I'm back!

I've been gone to my mom's house helping her while she recovered from surgery this week. ONe of the nice benefits to staying home is that I can do that for her. Jeff and Sweet girl managed pretty well while I was gone but I think Jeff was starting to get a little panicky! Hopefully Mom will continue to take it easy and I won't have to go back and bully her into taking naps. I am glad to be home and very thankful for all the friends and family who helped pick up Sweet girl from school and kept her occupied until Jeff could pick her up. So when I get the house cleaned up and groceries bought and bills paid I will tell you what I think about the new commercials about high fructose corn syrup!

Have you ever...

run seven miles? I did - this morning before breakfast! I was chased by some nasty little dogs who actually bit me while the owner walked casually toward me and said "they will bite you if your running!" Bunnies hopped away through the grass, horses looked then kept eating and I kept running hills and everything. Mom's neighborhood has some very steep hills but I just kept going.
Little boy is practicing for his race too. He's not crawling yet but now when he gets on his knees he rocks back and forth so we have hope that one day he might get mobile.

funny bread

So I have been making my own bread... in a bread maker. This morning I was asking Sweet girl if she wanted another pb&j sandwhich in her lunch like yesterday and she was said well I do but not the bread. When we finally sorted out what she was trying to say it turns out that the kids at school were making fun of her "big bread". ( I should have prefaced this by saying when you make bread in the bread maker it does come out to be a larger more square kind of loaf with slices that are bigger than the normal store bought bread.) Poor thing! She said she tried to tell them her mom made it but they wouldn't listen. So now I feel bad that my funky bread caused her problems. Instead of reacting how I wanted to and acting mad I started giggling and told her maybe the bread did look a little funny and it was big so how about half a sandwhich instead of the whole thing. Then I told her I guess it might look funny with a "GIANT" sandwhich and I told her about the picture in my head of her trying to eat a "giant" sandwhich. She thought that was pretty funny and readily agreed to half a sandwhich instead. So I think I'll keep making the bread but work on slicing it a little smaller. A little sense of humor goes a long way with sweet girl (she gets that from her dad). Today was a victorious moment for me as a mom- victory over snotty little kids at school who make fun of my bread and the sweet girl who gets caught in the middle. Now I'm just waiting for them to make fun of my little reusable bags I made out of vinal (sp?) placemats and velcro.

Sarah ...

I am so excited about the new v.P. nominee! She sounds like a REAL conservative and a real person who isn't a career politician. I'm actually looking forward to voting in November now (wasn't as enthusiastic before).