Date Night

Last night Matt and I accompanied his Priests on date night. Most of them have barely turned 16 and this was their first date. They were so funny! I loved observing the awkwardness of those teenage years. After we dropped off all the boys dates, Matt asked the boys how they thought it went. They all gave an enthusiastic positive response. He then asked if any of them would be asking any of these girls out again. One kid pipes up and says no but I might ask your date out. I just about fell out of the car laughing. Matt then threatened the kid with his life if he ever tried... jokingly of course.

Sunny San Diego

Our surfing trip to San Diego was a blast. Bryce brought two of his friends, Trevor and Zane who are great kids and between the four boys there was never a dull moment. We took surfing lessons on Friday afternoon in Encinitas and then went to Pacific Beach on Saturday and rented our own equipment. I stuck with body boarding the second day ( a little easier for the balance challenged). The boys all did a little surfing in the morning and then decided to trade in the surf boards for body boards.

We also played wiffle ball, football and spoons at night. Spoons was definitely the most dangerous activity we had all weekend.

We were all exhausted by the end of the day. It is amazing how much energy you expend swimming against the waves. It was a great workout.

The crew will all be leaving tomorrow morning and I will be sad to see them go. We have had so much fun together. These boys are a riot. Three pre-teens and a 9 year old going on 21! It is total and utter CHAOS! Just the way I like it! :)

Long time no Blog

It seems like it has been a long time since I have blogged or even looked at anyone Else's blog. Life has been a little hectic the past couple of weeks. I will just hit the highlights.

We officially started boot camps this week and I am teach ALL the classes this month since I will be backpacking most of September. I tell you these two a days are tough but I am definitely excited to get in great shape before I leave for the JMT.

Matt got back from Alaska on Monday and then promptly came over with his lawn mower and cut my lawn. Have I mentioned how wonderful he is?! You will notice from the picture that my lawn was more like a jungle, so I felt really bad that he had to work so hard in the heat but he was determined he would get it done right then.

Amber and the boys and two of their friends will be here tomorrow afternoon and we are going to go to San Diego early Friday morning. I am really excited about it! It will be the last weekend we have to do anything before they all go back to school.

It seems like time is just racing. I have less that a month before I leave for the JMT. I cannot believe after nine months of training it is finally here! It is a bit surreal. I am anxious for it to get here and be finished. It will be great to get over the nerves of not knowing if my body can handle such extremes.

Nothing much else is too exciting in my life. Work has been really really busy and church responsibilities are going to be really hectic this next couple of weeks but of course all of those things are positive and for the most part enjoyable.

Weekend on the West Side

I left work early on Friday and went to Surprise to spend the night with my friend Toni and her two sweet little girls. Toni's husband Shawn was out of town so it is was an all girl's slumber party and boy did we have a good time! We ate Chinese food, swam, watched the Bee Movie (don't tell me the ending I fell asleep) and we made rice crispy treats. It was so much fun to spend some quality time with Shawn and Toni's girls. Lexi is 5 and a smart little thing! She is quite the conversationalist and always makes a strong and methodical argument for whatever she thinks we should do. Delaney is 2 and she is just happy running around the house and playing with the new baby kitty. I had a great time being with them! Thanks for a fun weekend girls!

Happy Birthday Jen

Last night a group of girlfriends and I got together to celebrate our dear friend Jennifer's Nielson's birthday. Jen is one of my favorite people in the whole world. I have never been with Jen that we did not end up laughing hysterically and drawing attention because we are so loud together. Jen is one of those people that is always smiling and cheerful and a blast to be around. She makes everything more fun!

We began our evening at PF Chang's where our generous friend Susan had a table reserved for us and comped our dinner as a big shot with the PF Chang's organization. Then we went to see the independent film "Up The Yangtze" about the three gorges project and how it is affecting the lives of so many poverty stricken Chinese. It was thought provoking and really made me appreciate the life I have.

What a great night spent with some wonderful friends! We really missed having Maribeth and Hillary there to complete the posses though. I love you girls!

I have attached pictures of the birthday girl and the whole gang (Marci, Janis, Susan, Jennifer and me)

Great Quote

Don't aim at success - the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue... as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.
Viktor Frankl, Man's Search For Meaning

Man's Search for Meaning is quite possibly my favorite book of all time. I have read it three times and have gained more each time. I saw this quote this morning an wanted to share it with all of you.

The Ranch

This past weekend I went to the Barney 13 Ranch with five other friends and we had a blast. We left early Saturday morning and after I missed the turn off and took a 45 minute detour we got to the ranch at about 10. Louis graciously had the horses saddled and ready to go for us. We rode all day and helped gather cattle and move them from one pasture to the next. At the end of the day it poured rain! They were the biggest rain drops I have ever seen. We got soaked and then headed back to the Ranch House. After putting the horses away we headed to the house to changes clothes and get some long over due lunch. It was wonderful to sit out on the back of the huge wrap around porch and eat our lunch while enjoying the view of a green meadow and fishing pond. It was hard to leave after such a fun and relaxing day, but we finally had to head home about 5. It was a wonderful day of great scenery, great weather and great company.

Highline Trail

Two weekends ago Brittney and our new friend Kyle and I hiked the Highline trail, well most of it anyway. The highline is a 51 mile hike that runs from Pine/Strawberry to the 260 Trail head by Christopher Creek. Our intent was to hike the 51 miles in two days and we did great the first day as we hiked about 30 miles. It was beautiful and during the hottest part of the day we got a great rainstorm that cooled everything off and made it much more pleasant. About a mile from when we camped that first night we saw a bear as she ran into the trees and then we heard her growling at us. I wonder if she had some cubs she was trying to protect. The next morning we got up at about 4:30 and packed up and headed out for another long day of hiking. It was so beautiful and we saw tons of Elk. About 4 hours into the trip we ran into a black timber rattler on the trail. After all this time of fearing such, I have finally run into a rattle snake. I was actually very calm and it did not unnerve me nearly as much as I thought it would. As you can see from the picture I was actually pretty close to it and I did not die of a heart attack.

A couple of hours after that experience, we started hiking in this really tall grass that was extremely annoying. Kyle started feeling really itchy and by the time we crossed the creek he started having some serious allergic reactions to the grass. He broke out in hives and his face swelled like a balloon and he was complaining of his throat closing and not being able to breathe well. We decided we had better get him out of there as fast as possible. We found a road off the trail and started walking down toward the highway. We came across a ranch and stopped to ask where we were in relation to town. They offered to give us a ride to our car (about 20 miles away) and we took them up on it. Kyle was especially thankful as he was not feeling well at all.

We decided we will have to go back and do the other side of the trail so we can complete the whole thing but it was still a really fun trip and we decided Kyle would be a great backpacking companion on the JMT in September.

Biker Chick

About a month or so ago Matt and I went on a double date with his friend Curtis and another girl. We took Motorcycles out and went to Tempe to Spanoto for Pizza and then to Tempe town lake. It was really fun buzzing around on the motorcycle. This is a picture we took at the house before I got helmet head thank goodness. Matt told me to look tough and I think I pulled it off really well. :)

Get ready for the Ultimate Challenge

Beginning August 1st, my friend Edie and I will be producing women's fitness boot camps. Our business is called Ultimate Challenge and it will be the ultimate challenge. The boot camps will be great for any fitness level, age and desired goal. Work outs are developed to be performed at the level of the participant. We focus on synergistic core work which means we incorporate cardio with strength and flexibility training to provide a total body total fitness work out. The reason I am shamelessly advertising to my dear friends reading this blog is that we will be doing a pilot program the last week of July for FREE. So anyone interested in attending the full week of class and then providing us with feedback please let me know, by emailing me at neddieaz@gmail.com. We will only take 20 people for this pilot program so contact me as soon as you can and I will get you more details!

I hope everyone has a fabulous fourth of July!!! I am off to an ultimate challenge of my own. We are doing a two day fifty mile backpacking trip Friday and Saturday. Wish me luck...