A.S.S. Rears It's Ugly Head

(Disclaimer- this is not an actual picture of me biking. They clearly look way to professional)

That's right, Arnett Self-Assured Syndrome. Turns out I have plenty of it. When we went on our hike up at Sundance over the 4th of July I saw some mountain bikers out and about on the mountain. I thought it looked fun and thanks to A.S.S. I was sure I would have no problems mastering it. I mean I've ridden a bike before, how hard could it be?

Pretty difficult as it turns out. mtn. biking, is not quite the same as riding around on a bike with a banana seat.....who knew?!?!

I rented a bike last week from Outdoors Unlimited at BYU. I had it for the week and took it for it's first spin last Friday. I went just off 8th north in Orem, on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. I had 3 problems really.

1. I didn't understand how my gears worked and so it was WAY more ridiculously hard than it needed to be.

2. The sheer cliff on one side intimidated me a bit, therefore I was more cautious going downhill and so didn't have enough speed to get up the uphill.

3. I'm not as coordinated as one would think to look at me. I hear biking is a bit better when you stay on the bike the whole time. Although the view from the scrub oak wasn't so bad, I chose to look at my falls as "rest breaks".

I went out again yesterday, this time I was smarter and recruited a mtn. biking expert who couldn't have been more helpful and encouraging. I was shown how the gears actually worked, given many helpful tips and tricks that made it so much more enjoyable.

My biking friend is some sort of professional biking machine and since riding uphill on a bike made my heart feel like it would beat out of my chest. I had my friend bike on for a bit whilst I went at my significantly slower pace.

Maybe it makes me weird, but I think all those people taking the lifts up at Sundance were cheating a bit. For me the best part is the sense of accomplishment when after all that hard work of getting up the mountain you finally turn around and get to fly back down the hill (and obviously I use the term "fly" loosely as a description of what I did yesterday). I can't think that the downhill would be as much fun without the work of getting yourself uphill.

Verdict: I really liked it and think I could like it more and more as I got better at it. So here's hoping I have plenty of opportunities to get good. Up for a bike ride anyone?

Happy Birthday Dad

(Penee and H-London 2007)

Today is H.B.'s actual birthday. This is my birthday shout out to the big man on his big day.

I spoke with him this morning and his birthday plans involved a golf game with his Uncle Floyd, a nap and some dinner with the fam tonight. I love you Dad and hope you have a very Happy Birthday indeed .

H.B.'s 60th Birthday Bash

H.B.'s weekend o' fun started when Syd, Lacy and Peeps surprised him by arriving Friday night. I for one am so glad that they did because there was so much to do to get ready that I never could have made it without their two sets of extra hands. Thanks ladies!

Here's Lacy and Grandma helping with the set up

These are our fun golf themed centerpieces

The amazing cake Aunt Candy made. Notice the golf ball to the right. That's cake too!

H.B.'s limited edition trading card. Courtesy of Ryan Brijs productions. Thanks again Ry!

A view from the back. All of H.B.'s "stats"

The decorations-theme.........H.B. through the years

Lance taking a trip down H.B.'s memory lane.

The people enjoying the party

Candy and H.B.-cutting the cake

Me, My Dad and of course the Dr.

Most of the Fam-Me, Sydnee, Dad, Mom, Canyon, Lexi, Lacy and Penelope (we missed you Austin and Miley!!)

This is all Canyon had left in her by the end of the day

Luckily Peeps still felt the love

I hope you had a fun party Dad. I love you, Happy Birthday (early)

American Idols-In Concert

A group of friends and I went to the "E" center last night to partake in a little Idol worship. It was such a fun show and one of the loudest that I have ever been to. The loudness factor wasn't for the usual reason however. The crowd was on fire for David Archuleta.

Anytime his name was mentioned, face was flashed or "Risky Business" commercial was shown, the noise from the cheering crowd was deafening. It was actually really cool and I was glad for David A.

Recap of the show:

Chikize opened the show. He was incredible, what a fantastic performer with a fantastic voice. This show is all covers really so they were all able to perform songs from their styles and he picked some Usher-"Caught Up" which was terrific and a little John Legend which I also enjoyed.
Great way to start off the night!

Ramiele- I won't even bother to tell you about this performance. She's a cute girl but her voice is just not strong, bless her heart. And she had to follow the Chik, not good for her let me tell you.

Michael Johns-is it just me or has he always been that attractive. He did mostly Queen covers and I thought it was great! He seemed really comfortable on stage and the crowd had a good time as well.

Kristy Lee Cook- Alecia and I had are fingers ready for eye poking when it was her turn, but she actually did a pretty good job. She knows how to use what she's got to work with and I'd say her "moves" were the best of the night. Actually this was probably a tie between her and Syesha, but I digress. She sang "God Bless America" and closed with a nice rockin' country song which I thought suited her very well. I never needed to poke an eye once. So thumbs up!

Carly- I really like her, and we decided that a Michael Johns/Carly concert would be such fun. She opened with Evanessence and close with "Crazy on You" be Heart. As I heart, Heart I enjoyed. Thought she was a great performer.

Brooke-Got some of the biggest cheers of the night. She used the double reference of saying "This is the place" and proceeded to have an amazing performance two of the three songs sung were "Yellow" by Coldplay and a great cover of "1, 2, 3, 4" by Feist.

I waited until almost the end of intermission for my bathroom break as Jason Castro was first after and I didn't care to see him perform. However the bathroom gods combined against me as I have never in my life experienced a shorter line for the Women's restroom at any sort of public event. So I caught all 3 of his songs......

Jason Castro-Still looked stoned but all in all I thought he did well. His voice sounded better than I remembered. He opened with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" The Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole version. He played the Uke and did pretty well. Then he sang "Daydream" by Lovin' Spoonful. He commented that he was only introduced to this song through the show. I was a bit surprised by this. Finally he ended with "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. Which I thought was a pretty interesting rendition.

Syesha-I will preface by saying she bugs. She opened with a Rhianna number "Umbrella". Followed by and Alicia Keys number. At this point I have to be honest I thought she was singing songs way out of her league. However her last version was "Listen" from DreamGirls. This song blew me away! I had chills, I thought it was one of the best performances of the night.

David Archuleta- He came up on the piano singing "Angels" which was classic. You couldn't hear most of the song over the crowd roaring their support for the home town hero. Same thing throughout his entire performance. It was so loud that I was surprised the roof didn't blow right off. He was very emotional and adorable through all 4 of his songs. He did such a fantastic job and his version of "Stand By Me" was completely to die for.

David Cook-Bless him, had to follow the Arch in Utah. He did a great job, I really enjoyed his version of "Hello" which we are all familiar with, he obviously sang the Idol song, and he sang his cover of "Billie Jean" which I thought was amazing live.

So there you have it. My recap of how I thought all the Idols did. What a great night and thanks to Brian helping me to open my mind to the joy of David Cook, I felt like I especially saw him through new eyes and could even see myself perhaps purchasing his album. Stranger things have happened.

A Tale of Two Ipods

I lost my Ipod. Friday after the race is the last time I remember seeing it. I've called everywhere that I was this last weekend. Ryan and Dana kindly looked in their vehicles. Devry checked in the Pacifica from our Saturday adventures. I called Magleby's Fresh to see if any Ipods had been located. I even called my friend Carol on the long shot that it was in her car from Cul-de-sac of fire. No luck.

I've taken this week mostly off of running and I was a bit scared about how running would go without my Ipod to get me through the first 10-15 minutes until I get in "the zone".

I have long wanted the Nike + system. But my Ipod was a full size and the Plus system only works with the Nano. Since I had the other Pod I couldn't justify buying the Nano. So I thought perhaps the Universe was telling me that it was my time to get this system.

Last night I went to my company party. As part of the festivities they had a raffle for all employees. Clearly the Universe is on my side as I won a brand new Ipod Nano in the raffle.

I love it when the Universe works for you and not against you. Thanks Universe!!

Cul-de-sac of fire

Carol invited me out to a super fun neighborhood party yesterday. Affectionately known as Cul-de-sac of fire. I really did live up to it's name.

Here we are anticipating the good times to come

The yummy food

The Rock Band set up

Elvis, the entertainment performing "Evolution of Dance"

And Illegal Fireworks. Thank goodness the cops only showed up after we were all done.

What a perfectly, perfect and fun night! Thanks for the invite Carol!

More Fun

The fun continued today as a bunch of the Larry Arnett fam and I headed up to Sundance. We thought we'd go for a light hike and eat some lunch up there. It was beautiful and so much fun!

Stacey, Jax, Joe, Cam (Joe and Jax had a death grip on the safety bar) The ride up clearly made them a little bit nervous.

Devry, Kath, Dana & Sadie Rose. Sadie who was not one bit nervous said of the death grip Dana had around her waist, "Momma your choking me!" Classic.

It was also at this point that she requested to sit by her "Big" best friend Devry. Not to be confused with her "little" best friend Gracie.

Here we are hiking up a storm. Dana was in flip flops, so the hike turned out to be a bit of a challenge for her.

Totally worth it though when we got to enjoy the view. Sammy's have never tasted so good :)

Cam taught Jax some guy tricks to surviving in the wild

It clearly involved some bare bum action, which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

Here are the ladies in all of our post hike deliciousness
Kathleen, Stacey, Dana, Me, Devry

Finally, Camsies and I......So glad you could come to visit!

10K

Here are Dana and I at Magelby's in all our after run sweaty glory

Got up this morning about 5:15. Dana picked me up and we made our way over to Kiwanis Park on 9th and 9th in Provo. We started the run uphill with about 1000 other runners. It wasn't too hot which was a blessing. Another great thing about this route is that it takes you down University Ave and up Center Street in Provo. This is hugely motivating as there are a bajillion people camped out along this route waiting for the parade to start.

Not only do they cheer you on which is kind of cool, but they ramp up the shame factor you would feel if you were walking. So good times!

Dana came in under her goal time as did I. Mine was 1 hour and 30 minutes and I crossed the line at 1:28:08. I felt like it was a good effort for my first 6 + mile race. I can't wait to keep training and see what happens next year!

We then met the Larry Arnett and extended fam at Magelby's Fresh. We had a delish breakfast of omelettes and pancakes. Dana and I decided that we are making this a family tradition from now on. So everyone dust off your running shoes and train for a 5k, 10k or 1 mile fun run in '09.

A Red Hot 4th

I adore the 4th. Who doesn't really? This holiday's festivities will include Dana and I running the Freedom Festival 10k. Race starts at 7:00 a.m. I'm planning on eating Dana's dust as she takes of like a shot. As long as I make it in under an hour and a half I will consider my 6.2 mile run a huge success.

Our run will be followed up by some tasty breakfast, hopefully eaten at Magelby's Fresh. All are welcome to join us. We should be ready to start eating breakfast no later than 9-9:30. Come on......you know you want to get up early and eat something delicious!

Since my Fam has ditched me for a hot, like the surface of the sun, 4th in AZ, The Taufers have graciously allowed me to tag along to their fun BBQ later that afternoon. The day will of course be capped of with some fab fireworks.

Hope everyone else is planning on having a ridiculously good 4th!