Friday, October 29, 2010

We take Halloween very seriously around here!





These are all decorations that can be seen around my office and there are even morearound because we're hosting the Trick or Treat on Mainstreet today! :)

And, remember Mater from earlier in the week?


Well, he's started to deform.... Bummer!


Thursday, October 28, 2010

Blog Word Cloud

From http://www.wordle.net/ 

This is something that my boss showed me at work today (clearly, for work purposes) but I thought it would be really cool to input the blog and see what came up... Obviously, I talk about my husband a lot! :)

You will also see that "Los" and "Alamos" are listed but not together, haha.

Los Alamos is da' bomb!


Look! Los Alamos is featured in Western Group Tour Magazine!


"Los Alamos is a city that wears several hats. First, there’s its history with the Manhattan Project and its enduring role in the sciences. Then there’s its rich heritage and natural resources..."


Folks, this means you should all come visit because Los Alamos is pretty bomb! :)

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Russ' first cyclocross race

Last weekend, Russ had his first cyclocross race.


We were on the road to Albuquerque around 6 a.m.


And it was COLD!


But my honey did awesome!!!


He passed some people and took them down on the straight-aways.


And finished really well.

Yay! Russ had tons of fun and it was really cool to get to see this new type of race.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Jack O'Mater

I love "Cars"!

Remember this pumpkin carving kit? Well, we took it with us to a pumpkin carving get-together yesterday. Russ and I cleaned the guts out of the pumpkin and poked the design of Mater (from a stencil in our book) into the front.


And then Russ went to work carving out the design (I supervised). Unfortunately, it wasn't done when we needed to leave the pumpkin carving party to feed our dogs, so Russ kept working on it at home, and....


Look it's Mater! He looks so good!


And, of course, I roasted the seeds. Yum!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Austin, Part 3


Sunday morning was the BIG day, we got up early and drove through a crazy traffic jam to get to the race. (Traffic was so bad that Russ got out of the car and walked a half mile, put down some of his race stuff and went to the bathroom in the time it took me to drive the half mile and get the car parked, lol.)


Right before the race began, two parachuters jumped out with an American flag as the "Star Spangled Banner" was being sung.




It was so cool!


(Russ wore his LANL shirt about rocket science before the race. :)


I love him.


Especially when he is getting creative and using a tree to help him stretch.


And off he goes!


Here he is after the swim.


And onto the bike!



Pirate and Roxy both thought Austin was a little toasty in comparison to Los Alamos.

And off he goes on the run.

Credit: Action Sports International
 
And here he is coming into the finish!!!! 5 hours, 39 minutes! 

(I'm using the pictures from the pros at the race bc I couldn't get anything like these.)

Credit: Action Sports International

I'm so proud! This was his first official Ironman trademark race.


And then we were back on the road with our sleepy puppies.


It was a fun weekend but we were so ready to head home!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Austin, Part 2

Saturday morning, we drove for 5 hours to get to Austin,




Russ' arm became a gate to keep the doggies out of the front seat for a little while.


As soon as we arrived, we went to Mellow Johnny's, the bike shop owned by Lance Armstrong. (And I made Russ pose with the "Lance" cut-out. :)


All seven of Lance's Tour de France jerseys were displayed on the wall.


His bikes from the Tour of California.


And a whole team's worth of Team Radioshack bikes.


There was even a pace car in the parking lot.


Mellow Johnny's was definitely worth a visit!


After that, we walked over to Walton's Fancy and Staple, a retaurant/gift shop owned by Sandra Bullock. No, we didn't see her, yes, I wanted to. (I love "The Proposal" and "Miss Congeniality"!)


I had a monte cristo and Russ and I shared a HUGE chocolate mousse, yum!


And then, we went to IKEA. It was awesome, HUGE and awesome. I so wish that I lived close to one of these stores because then my life would be so organized and stylish. :)

After that, we went and set up camp so that we get up early the next morning for the race.

More Austin later. :)

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Austin - Part 1

This last weekend, we drove to Austin, TX so that Russ could participate in the Ironman 70.3 Austin.


We put both of the back seats of the Element up on their side and made room for Russ' bike, all of our stuff and the dog bed.


Of course even with the dog bed in the back and plenty of room, both dogs wanted to be crammed into the front seat with us...


The drive was pretty enjoyable with lots of fun views. (It took us passing 3 or 4 trains for me to capture a picture that included the engine; they were moving super fast.)


I love car rides, especially when we listen to audiobooks! They're the best.


We passed several cotton fields as we were driving through Texas and they were just beautiful and not something that this Oklahoma-girl is used to seeing. (I'm totally used to wheat. :)


We drove for 8 hours on Friday and stopped to camp in Colorado City, TX.

Setting up everything was easy since we could anchor the dogs' leashes to the picnic table poles. :)


Roxy seemed to think that our tent was a very fitting location for her bed and porta-crate.


And both dogs enjoyed eating their breakfast the next morning in the car. They clearly had a very good nights' sleep, which is lucky because I woke up at 1 a.m. freezing!

FYI: I hate being cold.


Fortunately, the sunrise on Saturday was gorgeous and totally worth the uncomfortable sleep.


More Austin coming soon.