I'll miss my Grandma's beatin's...

I am so lucky to have some of the best grandparents EVER!  And I am especially lucky to be close to all of them. This past Thanksgiving, my Grandma Nielsen passed away. She had been without her sweet husband for almost 16 years and am happy they are together again. I love her so much. I have many memories of my grandma...quilting for personal progress, new recipes, rhubarb in the garden, Pero in the kitchen, music boxes everywhere, childhood stories, squishy hugs and lots of beatin's. This was what my grandma did every time I saw her...of course a beatin' was a kiss on the forehead and I was always happy to receive it. She always had cookies for the little ones and good advice or (in my case) books for the older ones. She was a wonderful example of love and I can see that reflected in my mother. I hope there is a little of that in me. I hope she knows how much I loved her. It's too bad that we sometimes realize the significance of someones life even more so when they are gone. Miss you Grandma...

 Thanksgiving 2012

Cousins together again at Grandma's funeral

Ragnar Vegas

Everyone who knows me knows I love to run. I have loved it for a long time. But as I have gotten older  the competitive side of me has slowed a little. I now do most of my running for the "me" time and it also ends up being the time I do my best thinking. So when I had some good friends call and ask me to do Vegas Ragnar with them, my first thought was, "Are u kidding me? I'm old and out of shape. I don't train like I used to." And then I thought about how I don't want any regrets, and about how I need to take advantage of those opportunities that challenge me. So I agreed...

Glad I said yes.

I hung out with some amazing people and made some new friends. I proved to myself that I can do those things that I may originally find impossible. And I can finish, even when it's hard. This will be one of those experiences that helped to make me a better person and a grateful person.

 Dinner the night before the race...fueling up.

After breakfast, getting ready to hit the first exchange.

 The girls...Joy, Marcy, Me, Jen, Holly and Shantel

 Me and Jen  right before my first run.

And I'm off...

All lit up for the second leg...it was here I was trying to think positive thoughts. My youngest had gotten the flu a few days before I left and I was praying it wouldn't show it's face while I was gone. Unfortunately after my first run, I started getting the chills and feeling nauseous. I held it off as long as I could, but in between the first two runs I tossed my cookies, or yogurt and pretzels in this case. I was able to rest up enough to do my second run, which actually went really well. But after a long night with no sleep or keeping food down, I had to have another member of my team finish my last leg. I was really disappointed. But I didn't have the energy and the last leg was my hardest of all three. I'm hoping I may have another chance to do Ragnar and finish all 3.

On the last leg 

Waiting for Jen

Finish Line...and we finished 48th out of 428 teams!!