Picture Update...

Our latest home improvement project - We painted the front door and window boxes last week and put our address on the door in green... kind of hard to see in these pictures. The tulips are beautiful this year.

MJ's aunt and uncle live on Robie Creek Road. He stopped mid-race to say hello and have a beer.

Pre-race Alisha.

Pre-race Michael & Michelle.

I am still not feeling 100% but definitely much better than I was last week. I left work early on Friday and spent most of the day sleeping. I really appreciate all of your concerned phone calls and emails. I am so lucky to have so many great people in my life.
I thought I would share some of our recent pictures. I hope everyone is enjoying some fabulous spring weather. Wednesday night we are looking forward to watching my brother Scott's band play in Boise before they embark on their nation-wide tour... it should be a departure from his regular type gig, and we are really looking forward to seeing him. Oregon just seems too far away some times. For that matter so do Indianapolis, Norway, India and Australia...

Finished!

For whatever reason my results aren't pulling up in the computer, but I crossed the finish line at 2:59. MJ crossed it a couple of minutes before I did. I am exhausted and sick and very sore, but I feel like I accomplished my goal. It feels good to have finished and to know that my training did pay off. I know that I could have finished stronger under better circumstances, but I am happy with how I did... now I am going to go take a nap. Pictures to follow...

The Day Before...

I hesitate to post today. I am in a foul mood… I feel like my body has betrayed me. Since January I have run more than 140 miles. 140 tough miles in the hills. Sometimes I ran in the snow. Sometimes I ran in the rain. Sometimes I ran in the dark. Sometimes I ran through the mud. Sometimes I ran with stomach issues for an hour or two at a time. I spent over 16 hours trying to register for the race, finally getting in after midnight. I lifted weights, did countless lunges, sacrificed time I could have spent with my family and my fiancé. All of this I did for a goal I set last year… The Race to Robie Creek. And what do I have to show for all of this hard work?

All week long I have been battling an incredibly nasty chest cold. And all night and morning I have been coughing up all kinds of unimaginable stuff (I’ll spare you the details of said “stuff”- just know it isn’t pretty). I keep telling myself that it could be so much worse, that I should be grateful that it isn’t. But I can’t help but feel... well... betrayed. So that’s my pity party for the day. Sorry to unload on anyone that actually reads my blog. I guess the only thing I can do at this point is wait and see what happens tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Scott!

Today my brother turns 28 years young. Happy Birthday, Scott. Hopefully we can celebrate together soon. I love you. -M

Pictures From a Beautiful Sun Valley Wedding

Good Friends

MJ thinks he's pulling a fast one on us....

Our breath-taking Basque bride

I love this one!

Da Girlz.

RSVP For Our Reception On-Line

The invitations should be out next week, but for those of you that are anxious you can RSVP on our website - www.headrickandjohnston.weddings.com.

Also...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PEGGY!
Wish we could be there to help you celebrate. Hope to see you soon!

Life Back at Home

This morning it was 38 degrees and I was shivering by the time I pulled up on my bike at work. I guess I forgot how cold an Idaho spring can be while we were basking in our 80 degree days on Kauai. Crazy things are going on at work, and it looks like I am going to have to become more educated on the technical side of my job whether I like it or not. So far I have been able to stay mostly on the "front lines" helping the people at our locations get the data that they need, but they are changing the way our IT department is structured and a lot of the interaction that I have gotten to have with our location managers is going to be moved to our help desk. While I am not thrilled with this development, I welcome a change of scenery on the career front. Who knows, I may even grow to enjoy the new challenges presented. If not, it will give me the push I need to explore other avenues. I have been with this company since I was eighteen years old. I love the people that I work with, and have great affection for the company itself (and my three weeks of paid vacation and health benefits)- but it has grown so much so rapidly that I hardly recognize it anymore.
Last weekend I went to Geneva's bachelorette party on Friday night. I have missed Geneva an incredible amount since she moved to Australia with her fiancee. We had a much appreciated girl's night out on the town and it gave MJ a chance to catch up on his homework without me as a distraction. Saturday morning my good friend and neighbor Carey invited me for brunch. After working in our yard pulling weeds for a couple hours I couldn't resist joining her and her guests for mimosas out in the beautiful (if fickle) spring weather. That night MJ and I headed out to Anne and Molly's birthday party and had a great time catching up with a lot of friends that have left Boise to move to the mountains of McCall. Sunday we had to pay the piper for all of the travel and fun we have had lately. We spent the entire day doing little projects around the house, spring cleaning, and going back and forth from Home Depot. Even days like that are fun with MJ and his amazing sense of humor around.
Last night we ran from our house up to the hills behind Camel's Back and back again- 7 miles. We are pretty out of shape after our trip and are going to pay for it come race day... but all in all life is good... life is great, really.
We head for Sun Valley this weekend for Geneva's wedding. I hope everyone is living the good life, -M

Two Tickets to Paradise...

This guy is an Albatros... the cutest endangered baby bird I've ever come across. He's about the size of my cat.

MJ and Mark at Queen's Bath with Bali Hai in the back ground.

Another of Mark and MJ at Queen's Bath.

MJ really liked watching the waves. This was at Lydgate Park.

This was taken in front the on the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" - Waimea Canyon. The white line to the left of my shoulder is one of hundreds (maybe thousands) of waterfalls we saw on Kauai.

MJ and Isaac getting their boogie board on. The waves always look so much smaller on film.

So we're walking down the beach at Tunnels and pass a rather large older man. I look over at MJ and say, "Did you see who that was." He laughs, "Yeah, he really looks like him, huh?"
"No, I'm serious - that is totally him. I saw he and his family on the cover of Rolling Stone a few years ago and that is his daughter that he's digging a hole with."
MJ's Reply- "Huh, I guess we should take a picture, but from far away so people don't believe that we really saw him. It will be funny."
So here it is people - David Crosby... the guy standing in the water with the huge belly. Apparently Stephen Stills owns a home on Tunnels. Must be nice.

Mom and Dad bought us a sunset cruise up the NaPali Coast. It was by far the highlight of our trip. We saw a ton of dolphins and whales and even a distant turtle or two. The captain pulled the front of the boat up to a waterfall and MJ got to shower in it. He was very upset I didn't get any pictures of that.

Cheers! Salut! Skol!

Home from Kauai...

We took the red eye and are now, sadly, home from Kauai. I'll post pictures and stories of our adventures soon. I hope everyone had a fabulous sun-filled week where ever you were. -M