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We're back from our vacation. Insert sad face here.

We made it back in last night after a rough couple of days on the road. But, we made it all in one piece.

Pictures are uploading as I type, but it may be a few days before a dedicated post.

two

I will...

Two years ago, on the most perfect day that ever was and in front of our family and friends, Matt and I joined our lives in marriage.

We exchanged promises. Vows of love on that day and for every day. Hopes for building a home full of love and peace together.

I gave everything to my best friend. And received the same in return. It truly was the most perfect day. The party we threw after it all wasn't too shabby either. Under a blue moon, we danced the night away. Even the local wildlife couldn't stay away!

It's been two years. And yet, it seems like it was almost yesterday. I am just as happy today as I was that day. Through these two years, we've seen ups and downs. Relished in the highs and supported each other through the lows. We've laughed, we've cried. We've been made all the better.

To my Matt: I love you. Then, today, always.

[ Photos by Melissa Plantz Photography ]

I am on Vacation!

Or, not quite, but soon enough.

I am sitting here today, counting down the minutes until 5:30 rolls around and I can run outside and throw myself into the car as Matt rolls down the street and we can set our GPS to take us west. We are leaving tonight and I imagine Matt is frantically packing the car while I am at work. Yes, we're driving. All the way to Colorado. Gasp! Get over it. We do it every year. We haven't died and/or filed for divorce yet, so we must be doing something right!

You guys, I am so freaking excited. This is my first day off (aside from normal holidays like Easter (oh wait, that's on a Sunday) and Memorial Day) in 2009. This is practically a sin in my world. And, the fact that it's not just A day off but 10 glorious days of vacation makes me a little bit giddy. We're taking the dog. And the motorcycle. And our mountain bikes. It's our TWO YEAR anniversary. It's my dad's birthday. AND our friend Jayme who relocated to Denver last fall will be making an appearance for a few days! It's going to rock. Kick some serious bootay, if you will. Yes, I am excited.

So, this is Sierra, out.

See you on the flip side.

Overslept

This morning, I overslept. The usual hour and a half that I spend getting ready in the morning turned into about a half an hour. UGH! I hate that. I hate scrambling in the morning and I hate being late. I have a very set schedule in the morning and I know exactly where I need to be and what I should be doing at each time. For instance, the time I woke up was the time I should already be starting to dry my hair.

Anyway, Matt was a saint and totally helped me out by making my coffee, breakfast and lunch. He doesn't drink coffee and doesn't know how to make it. But, he did. He also tried to make me PB&J for lunch. Which, REALLY? I hate PB&J. But, I intervened just in time and I ended up with Peanut Butter and Honey instead (which I love).

But the best part was that he even cut my sandwich in half for me. Too cute! I had a silly grin on my face during all of lunch because of it.

Oh, and I wasn't even late to work today. Magically (and through much prodding and help from my husband) I walked out of the door earlier this morning than I did yesterday.

on swimming

Re: the swim. It's been tough so far, I won't lie. I won't say I hate it, because I don't. But, it's certainly the most difficult part of this triathlon that I'm up against.

I have good news and I have bad news.

The good news about my horrid swimming is that I've finally figured out what I am doing wrong. Which, in my opinion, is pretty huge. I can't improve if I don't know what to fix, right?

The bad news is that I cannot for the life of me fix it. I KNOW what I'm doing. I know what I need to do. I go over it in my mind. I practice standing in the pool, bent over in the water. I feel like I can do it. And then I start moving and I can't do it.

Actually, that's not entirely true. I can fix it, it's just much, much harder than I thought it would be.

I've been in the pool at 5:30 a few mornings a week. Each stroke, I am making a conscious effort and thinking about everything I have to do. I curse the swimmers that make it look so easy! This morning, however, I felt like I had improved since Tuesday when I last jumped in the water. I was really focused and there were a few moments in which swimming was actually kind of easy and fun. Of course there were many more of the typical Sierra Swimming Moments (SSM's if you will). The ones that I can only imagine cause the rest of the swimmers to stop in their lanes to gawk and possibly wonder if I'm drowning.

I take comfort in the fact that I know I can swim the distance needed. It may not be pretty and I may use a variety of different strokes, including backstroke, to get the job done. But I can get there. What I am worried about is getting through it with enough energy to still complete my bike and run. I absolutely cannot burn it all up on the swim and I refuse to let it happen. So, I will continue to work at it and eventually, I think I can get there.

Anyway, any sort of improvement in the swim at this point is a positive and while I still have a long way to go, I will take these baby steps and try not to run with them.

time to move the beast down the page

Okay, it looks like the bat has been at the top of the page for long enough. Time to send him down. Unfortunately, it's going to be a few random thoughts flying through my head.

First of all, Matt and I spent last Friday night with our favorite couple, Larry and Renee. They are moving back to Kansas City at the end of the month. Actually, he already left Sunday and will come back at the end of the month to move everything with her when she is done working. While we knew that they would be moving at some point in the next few years, we were really surprised to hear that it was happening NOW. It was all so sudden. We could not be happier for them, as they have a great opportunity awaiting them, but I think I speak for both Matt and myself when I say that the selfish sides of us are really, REALLY sad. We are going to miss them so much!

That's about the extent of the sad stuff that I can post. I don't handle that well.

What in the bleep is up with the weather? It's JUNE, Wisconsin! Or didn't you get the memo? It's supposed to be warm and sunny. Not 50 degrees and cold. Let's get with the program, eh? I've got a farmer's tan that still needs evening out and my sanity depends on spending time at the lake.

Speaking of the weather, someone at work today told me that she heard from her sister who heard from her neighbor across the street who heard from his maid that saw on the news that we're not even going to get summer. Something about too many cold fronts coming through and it will never really warm up this year. I am too terrified it could be true to try to go and confirm this ridiculousness.

At least it looks like it will be nice on Saturday.

I'm about a week and a half into my official triathlon training. To be honest, it's really all that I have going on. There are days in which I'm all "YEAH! This is great. I can TOTALLY do this! I am sooooo going to own this!" and then there are other days in which I'm like "dude, this is going to kill me. For serious. Or, if it doesn't kill me, the next event will. WHAT was I thinking?!?!". I realize that I'm going to have good days and bad days. And, some of the events (ahem, running, biking) are much easier than others (swimming, I'm looking at you). It truly doesn't matter if I'm good at running, because I have to get through the swim and bike before that. This has all confirmed what I've read over and over that 1+1+1=1 when it comes to triathlon. It's so true and I find myself having those "AHA!" lightbulb moments during my training.

I have an appointment tomorrow with a personal trainer at the gym. My membership came with a few free sessions and I decided to take them up on it. I'm not really sure what I'm hoping to get out of it, but I did tell them that I'd like to begin some sort of weight routine. I really think that lifting regularly will help me overall, not just with my training. I just hope she doesn't kill me. My appointment is after work, but I will have already gotten a swim in before work, so we'll see how I feel. I've also requested The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess from the library. It's received rave reviews on a few of the forums I lurk on, so I figured I'd at least thumb through it.

We're going on vacation in a little over two weeks! I'm pretty freaking excited if I may be so bold. We're loading up the car and trailer with our dog, our mountain bikes and the motorcycle and heading west to Telluride. We will be gone for 10 glorious days. Who knows, maybe I won't come back. No, I'm kidding. Of course I'll come back. Or am I?

a visitor

Today, Matt and I went out to the lake house, much like any other weekend. We rolled up, unlocked the door and went inside. Indy was running around outside, I went to put my things in our room and Matt started opening up the blinds.

My husband is a brave guy. Bugs and creepy crawlies do not make him squeamish. This is one of the reasons I like him, I'll be honest. So, when I heard him scream from across the house, I immediately knew that something was not right. And, while bugs and creepy crawlies don't make me terribly squeamish either, I was not about to run right over to see what the cause of his outcry. It didn't matter much as he began calling for me while coming over to me.

"I need your help."

"After hearing that scream? No thanks, I'll pass." [laughing]

"No, really. I need your help. We have a visitor. It's small and furry."

"Augh! In that case, no, I REALLY don't want to help!" But, my curiosity is totally getting the best of me. "Wait, no, what is it? Where is it? Can I see it? No, just kidding! I will NOT help you. Okay, fine, I will. Let's see what it is."

Matt pointed me in the right direction and I crept over to the corner.

"What is it, Matt?"

"It's a bat."

"A WHAT?!?!"

[Totally freaked out]

So, what happened was this: The bat was on top of the blinds, somewhere. When Matt opened them, it fell ON HIM and then landed on the ground. He thought it was dead because it didn't move. Nope, not dead, just sleeping. And then suddenly very, very awake.

Wait. Wow, this would be a good topic for a blog post. I wonder if Matt will think I'm really weird for thinking that, of all things, right now. "Can I take pictures of it???"

"Uh, sure. But be quick."

We took the bag off of him and he bared his teeth at us, ready to pounce and eat us. It sent me screaming into the back hallway like a little girl. I am not making this up.

Here, let me show you a close up of this beast. Please note the spider in the background as well.

I'm pretty sure he was actually really scared and did not, in fact, care much about eating us. Matt grabbed some grilling tongs from the kitchen. What he planned to do with those, I haven't the fainest clue. But, it didn't seem like it would work. We trapped him with a plastic container, which he really did not care much for.

I was alternating between wanting to get good pictures and freaking out and running away screaming. It was quite the sight, I'm sure. Oh, and did I mention that Indy was outside going nuts?

I got this last final video of the thing only because my pictures did not capture the truly creepy sound Mr. Bat made while trapped. Seriously, he was freaked the heck out! Yeah, I'm a jerk. But, really, listen to that noise and tell me it's not creepy!

At this point, I actually really started to worry about the bat and how scared he was. I didn't want to hurt him and I wanted to make sure he would be okay. Bats don't come out in the day. Will he be able to see? Will he be blinded by the sun and die? Has it been starving and stuck in the house for weeks? The animal lover in me came out in overdrive and I was really, really worried for him.

I am happy to report that we got the bat outside just fine. We set him on the table where he sat for a moment before flying off. In my head, he said "thanks you guys for saving me and not killing me!" as he flew off. But, in reality, he probably totally has us marked for certain death the next time we come near that house.

seriously, blogger?

I've got an awesome post that just wouldn't be complete without the accompanying video. Why should it have to take me over an hour to upload said freaking video??? Ugh! Is it really too much to ask?

Update: Ah, FINALLY! Please see above.

eleven weeks

The triathlon that I want to do is in 11 short weeks. The training plan I've been loosely following with the promise that I will start to follow it religiously once it is the appropriate time away from the race is an 11-week plan. That means that if I want to do this, I need to start Monday. Um, what?

A part of me is regretting this crazy decision right now.

It's crunch time. Do or die. Or whatever other silly expression you want to insert here.

Long Weekend, Short Week

The good thing about long weekends is that, well, they're long. The other good thing is that the following week is short. The bad thing is that it seems to fly by and before I could blink or take a breath, it's already Thursday evening. You win some, you lose some. Really, I don't mind and kind of would like to work 4-day weeks every week.

So, let's see, what did we do on our awesome long weekend? For starters, I ate. A lot. My entire weekend seemed to have revolved around eating.

My parents rolled into town sometime in the early morning hours on Friday. I was lucky enough to get out of work early on Friday afternoon and that, combined with the long weekend ahead, just about saved my life. We met up with my parents, my grandmother and Matt's parents for dinner at the Bavarian Inn. Have you ever been? It's like a walk back in time and Matt and I always joke that we're the youngest people there. Is it really a joke if it's true though? We happen to really like their Friday Fish Fry and German beers. The polka band is only an added bonus.

Saturday, I woke up and went for a run, which was the only physical activity I've had in the past six days now. We took my mom and dad to the Maharaja for their kick ass lunch buffet at which I managed to put myself into a food coma with very little effort. It's just all so good! The weather on Saturday wasn't the greatest around these parts, so we spent the afternoon driving my parents past our dream houses and introducing my dad to some of our favorite neighborhoods. We ended up at Matt's parents' house and stayed there for several hours. Matt had made pulled pork shoulder for dinner Saturday night. You may find it interesting to hear that even I had some. I can eat some pretty strange things, but you put barbecue sauce on just about anything and I'll eat it. Including meat!

On Sunday, we were determined to get out to the lake. The weather seemed iffy, but we decided to go for it regardless. I am SO glad we did. It was FREAKING GORGEOUS out in Oconomowoc! It was easily 15 degrees warmer out there than it was at our house--it really is cooler by the lake! We didn't have any of the boats in the water yet, but we enjoyed just sitting out in the sun, eating and drinking. I scored myself a rockin' farmer's tan on my arms. Indy had a ball and jumped off the pier into the water approximately 1,842 times. To say she was exhausted at the end of the day is an extreme understatement. My dad had never been out to see the lake house, so I was pretty excited that he finally got to see it, even though it wasn't quite all ready yet. We grilled brats that night (not brats for me!). Delicious!

On Monday, I could not have been happier when my alarm went off bright and early as usual and I got to turn it off and then go back to sleep. It was pure heaven! The weather looked pretty nice again, so we decided to go to the lake again. Matt's sister met us out there and we were a little more productive than the day before and we got both wave runners and the ski boat in the water. We went out on a cruise around the lake to really show my dad where we spend our summer weekends. The weather really was in our favor and we totally lucked out. It started to sprinkle just as we were closing up the house to go home. I scored myself a rockin' spider bite on the back of my leg.

We definitely ate a lot, but I was quite surprised to step on the scale Tuesday morning and only see it up 3 pounds. For me, that's nothing considering my weight fluctuates about 5 pounds each day. It just completely killed my get up and go and I've been a lazy blob all week.

And, back to that spider bite. I noticed a bump on the back of my leg on Monday afternoon and, out of habit, immediately started poking at it. Monday night, I looked at it and saw that it was red with bruising in a ring around it. Not really thinking, I figured it was bruised because I was poking at it and/or I bumped it. I mean, let's be serious, I'm always covered in bruises that I don't remember getting so the fact that I had a bruise was hardly earth shattering. Tuesday at work, I happened to be using the restroom and noticed it again (had totally forgotten about it) and thought hmmm, it's really bruised, I bet it's a spider bite. I did what any logical person would do and WebMD'd it. Have you ever punched your symptoms into WebMD? It will tell you you're dying, every time. The pictures of the spider bites that came up were NOT something I wanted nor needed to see during lunch and only convinced me I had been bitten by a black widow and I was sure to die or, at the very least, lose my leg in a matter of moments. Since it is now Thursday and I've neither died nor lost my leg, I am happy to report that, while the bite is still there, it has not gotten worse. Success! Unfortunately, the farmer's tan has not seen such improvement. I guess it's a good thing that our dress code at work doesn't allow us to wear sleeveless shirts.

Unfortunately, as I'm sure you've noticed, this post contains approximately no pictures to prove my weekend was as awesome as I claim. You'll just have to take my word for it. The camera works, I had it with me, but I didn't use it.

It was tough going back to work after such a great weekend. I had so much fun seeing my parents again--I just wish they'd come visit more often! And, this weekend really got me itching for summer and I can't wait to spend as much time as I can out at the lake.