Sunday, April 26, 2009

balanced man triathlon

team A.C.E. (ashley, cade and emo)


against all odds, team A.C.E. managed to pull off a second place win this past weekend at the balanced man triathlon. that's right, this really happened.
due to a lack of training, we decided to enter the competition in the co-ed team division. we competed against eight other teams in the freezing cold snow.

i completed the 750 meter swim...


cade killed the competition on the 20k bike ride (he pulled in the fastest time of our division and was the only participant in the whole triathlon crazy enough to ride a single speed)...

and emo, the marathon queen, took care of our 5k...


who knew that the end of april would bring such cold weather. it was snowing like crazy throughout the race and a few people were taken to the hospital for hypothermia related issues. i love logan with all my heart, but sometimes it is just too cold.

here are cade and emo at our last transition point. i wish we had a better close up of cade's outfit. he has dance pants tucked into his socks under his biking bib. whatever keeps you warm, right?

this is the little nook we hid in to keep warm and somewhat dry...


team A.C.E. after the race...

we walked away with enough swag to choke a camel. we really weren't planning on winning anything, but to our surprise the second place win pulled in about 150 bucks worth of gift cards and coupons. if you know cade, you realize how big of a deal all this free stuff was. it was a fabulous yet unexpected investment.

i have never been into any sort of racing before... i have always played sports but i am just not very fast. ever since my high school softball coach yelled for me to 'drop the piano and run' after i hit the ball, i have accepted my speedlessness. the triathlon, however, is an event that i think i could really get into. it has variety and is challenging. i always said that i wanted to run a marathon but whenever i try to run long distances, i get bored easily. maybe that will change someday- but for now i just may give the triathlon the old college try. plus, cade really is such a great biker that he should be required to race in events like this. we are already looking forward to the various triathlons in the summer. maybe with a little more training, we will be able to compete against one another next time.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

out of order


cade and i are temporarily out of order. this is because we are: studying, taking finals, graduating, searching for jobs, setting up interviews, driving back and forth, and watching late night movies.

don't give up on us.

we'll be back.

Friday, April 10, 2009

the so called life of a part time model

there have been a few situations as of late that i think deserve a little attention...

i swear i turned the lock...



the facts you need to know:
* the girls bathroom on the first floor of the library is apparently one of the coolest places to be during a class change
* i refuse to sit on a toilet seat. i have perfected a hover position worth coveting.

the situation:
as i work in the library, sometimes it becomes necessary to use the restroom from time to time. i have some small reservations when it comes to using public bathrooms which include not sitting directly on the seat, never using the 2nd stall (it is the most used... seriously i read a study on it), never using a stall that looks like it has been recently used and never using a porta-potty unless i am camping. sometimes, however, these rules must be abandoned in order to help things run smoothly- and so it was earlier this week...
the entire library bathroom on the first floor was packed but i knew i had to get back to work so i simply took the only open stall right in the middle of the row. this, of course, breaks my rules already as i know someone just finished up in there. persevering, i assumed the hover position and entered my own little world where i think about what i have to do that day, where i wish i was instead of work, etc. i am sure you are all familiar with this alone time thinking. as i was finishing up, i raised my head and abruptly re-entered the real world as i found the stall door had somehow creaked its way wide open. yes- this means:
a: i didn't hear/feel/notice the door open so i have no idea how long it was open or how many people just witnessed the hover,
b: i immediately sat down so i could slam the door which broke another one of my rules,
c: made eye contact with at least 2 awkward girls in the process,
and d: laughed out loud for a few minutes before quietly walking out.
i swear i turned that lock...

the lingering swim burp...



the facts you need to know:
* my swim class is right after lunch
* there are 3 girls and 15 boys in the class
* we just upped the intensity in our workouts and it is kicking everyone's butts

the situation:
as the workouts heighten and the class comes back to the wall for a short rest after a few sprint exercises- something strange always happens. maybe it is all the water filling various facial cavities or the fact that the class is mostly boys and they feel as though they are amongst kin, but for some reason the amount of burps in class has multiplied exponentially. these burps aren't the loud, obnoxious ones... but rather the gassy, stench-filled silent killers full of the potent odor of whatever the boy happened to eat for lunch that day. they spread like cholera and linger around all thick in the air. my new favorite game, which has been forced upon me, is 'guess what that kid had for lunch today.' my usual guesses are: totino's pizza, some sort of chimichanga, or cool ranch doritos. why can't one of them have strawberries or a nice mint brownie for a change. i would much rather smell those burps. despite wearing goggles and a swim cap- i have perfected the 'something stinks and it is probably you' face. i am hoping they start to realize i am on to them. turns out though... a case of the burps is normal?

part-time models



the facts you need to know:
* my aunt lynette manages the christopher and banks store at gateway mall.
* they are now required to do fashion shows at her store once a quarter
* we love helping out family

the situation:
cade and i went home last weekend for conference, reunions, baby births and so on. i wasn't really planning on having a life changing experience but then i get a call from my agent/mom who says that due to an unforeseen kidney stone in one of the other models, i had been selected to model at the c&b fashion show with her! hot dog!
after explaining to cade that my aunt needed my help, he couldn't stop singing that part-time model song and he made it sound all important and cool while explaining it to his parents. admittedly, after a really awkward young women's fashion show i participated in when i was 12, i had sworn events like this off. but realizing my grammy, mom and aunt were all going to be there, i just couldn't pass up the opportunity to take part in something so potentially entertaining.
we showed up at the store, picked out our outfits, ate a plate of lemon bars, took a few pictures and then it was show time. lynette was on the karaoke machine with some cool tunes bumping in the background while the rest of us walked up and down the store- strutting our stuff. yes, this actually happened. there was a fair amount of people in the store shopping and most of them stopped and watched the fashion show- but some people didn't get it. my mom did a great job on the runway but while strutting her stuff some clueless lady approach her and ask to get into a fitting room. hello?! don't you know she is a part-time model? you can't carry around keys to a fitting room in an outfit like this, sweetie!! and then she gave the over-the-shoulder pose.

despite feeling awkward and such, we still had a great time. i don't think my career as a part-time model is taking off any time soon... but grammy's potential is sky high!

truly there have been some awkward situations as of late- but just wait until i get the pictures of cade's most recent scotsman dog eating contest uploaded. you are all in for a treat.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

festival of colors



a couple weekends ago (yes i am behind) we were able to go to the holi festival of colors at the sri sri radha krishna temple in spanish fork. according to facebook photo uploads, just about everyone and their dog was there but i still think an event like this deserves a post. we had a great time...so of course cade made a little video for you to enjoy. for some reason this blogger upload always pixelates our photos in the slide show... but you get the point.



the temple is so cool looking- straight out of an aladdin movie or something... and that's a good thing. while cade and i were living in europe, we were always stumbling upon some cool festival or celebration and we would happily join in. the holi festival of colors was a great way to get that feeling back again.

the tradition, as far as i understand it, is a celebration of spring. there is dancing and singing all around a huge bonfire on the grass. at the temple, you are able to buy bags of colored chalk and as soon as the priest says- everyone throws their chalk in celebration of the colors of spring. honestly- one of the coolest things i have ever seen is all the colors thrown together. it was pretty sweet. one of our friends got a pretty good picture of the madness from afar...

after you throw chalk for a while, you just dance and dodge all the flying objects the crowd is throwing- all the while singing the hare krishna song at the top of your lungs. cade and i decided that secretly everyone at the festival wants chalk to be thrown at them so we would surely help out with that by pelting everybody in the face. as you can tell from the video, that sent me into some deam-like giggle state. i couldn't get enough of it.

the chalk comes out easily enough- it stayed in my hair for a litle longer than i liked and all our underwear is dyed a pinking color but still... it was just too fun to pass up on. thanks for doing our laundry, leslie!