Las Pulgas to Dana Point - Take 2

Friday we repeated one of my favorite rides.  Looking back, I'm not sure why it was one of my favorites LOL.  Here are a few things we remembered from the first time we rode it.

• I rode the first half of the ride with a flat tire.
• My chain came off on the rolly polly hills that seemed like they'd never end (I'm sure it was because I wasn't shifting properly)
• We rode up "Mt. Everest" (Joshua's nickname for the never ending hill on a crazy busy street)
• Tony thought we were going 20 miles round trip.  Surprise, surpise.. it was 20 miles one way!
• I was at the back, working my butt off to just try and keep sight of everyone else.

I guess I loved it because I pushed myself farther than I thought I could go AND it was breathtakingly beautiful. (I didn't take enough pictures to do it justice)

Well, my memories of the ride this time are quite different; even though there was a mix-up about the route and we ended up on the crazy, busy street on the first half of the ride.  At least it was downhill this time.  Joshua quickly gave us a new route home.  No way were we climbing "Mt. Everest" in traffic again. LOL.

This time....

• It was easy peasy!!
• Most of the time I was relaxing and hanging out with our newbie riders.
• Instead of pedaling like a mad woman to keep up, I was spinning easily and reminding myself to slow down!
• Those rolly polly hills that worked me over last time?  They were so much fun!  My favorite part of the ride!
• Instead of being thrilled to be done... I was kind of sad it was over.

Next week we're planning a 14 mile ride along Highway 56.  14 miles?  I'm thinking I might have to do it twice.

Time will pass,no matter what....

Ok, I'm going to try not to start every post with "I'm sorry I haven't been blogging...." but I'm going to do it one more time and hopefully get my act together from here on out.

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging but... I haven't been creating.  Oh the shock and horror of it all.  Every day I start the day out with high hopes of hanging out in my stamp room when I get home from work, but somehow I never quite make it.  I'm blaming my summer work schedule and a little bit of stamping burn-out.  I created a bunch of fun stuff for future workshops that I can't share quite yet..... 

For the most part, working 4/10's has been wonderful.  I'm kind of liking it and I'm starting to wonder if it will actually be a tougher transition when I go back to my Monday-Friday gig.  I made a promise to myself that Friday's would be my fun days.  I am not grocery shopping or cleaning house or sitting around the house or running errands... I'm bike riding and hanging out at the pool and socializing and it is oh so fun!!!  It reminds me of the summer vacations of my youth. 

I'm also totally loving my new fitness level!!!!  I know I'm always talking about the many bike rides I do and everyone is probably sick to death of it, but here's the thing... At first I really had to work hard on those bike rides.  Even my little mini-midweek rides would kick my butt.  My legs were sore.  My back was sore.  I was exhausted.  I would come home from the ride and want to go right to bed.  I was done for the rest of the day.  Now?  Now I come home pumped up and excited.  I walk the dog.  I do the dishes.  I clean up the house.  I actually have a hard time sitting still; which is yet one more explanation about the lack of artwork around here. ;-P

On Friday we rode 21.5 miles, did a little workout in Candace's pool and relaxed in the jacuzzi and then bright and early Saturday morning we hit Mission Trails and did a little two hour hike.  It was absolutely amazing.  I am generally not the happiest hiker.  I'm usually miserable.  I like the idea of it and I like it when I'm done, but I used to struggle through it so it wasn't all that much fine WHILE I was doing it... but guess what... I totally loved every minute of it!  I wasn't huffing and puffing and trying to catch my breath.  I actually enjoyed it.  Hallelujah!!  I can hardly wait to go on another hike.

And so...my faithful readers... you may have to be a little patient with me.  I'm probably going to be mixing in some fitness stuff and some cycling stuff and some artwork stuff... while I try to find balance again, but hey... if you stick with me I know good things are in store!!

I have some fun artwork that I will be posting starting July 9th!!

I am leaving for Washington DC in two short weeks!  I'll have fun pics to share from conference and of course... A bike ride in DC. hahaha!

And I hope, hope, hope... that I can inspire a few of you to make a little fitness time for yourself.  Try something new.  Do a little bit every day.  Time will pass whether you do it or not.  The difference is that in two years you could be the one LOVING what you can do.... or you can still be wishing you had the energy to do something different.

Jackpot June - Goodie Box Day!

Today is a Goodie Box day! Today you get a box filled with popular products at 60% off of retail value. Plus, you get a slammin' deal on shipping and handling. Purchase today's Goodie Box for only $100 (retail value over $250)!


To purchase, head to my website, then click on "Shop Online" then "Jackpot June". Have fun goodie boxing!

Catch Up Post

Ok, Ok... I'm back... I think... Whew... It's been a whirlwhind the last few weeks.  I had planned to keep up on the blog, but it just didn't happen.  Here's a little catch-up post to get back on track.

1) I'm now working 4/10's, which I love way more than I thought I would.  It's a bit of an adjustment.  Mostly I don't feel like getting on the computer when I get home.  Sorry about that!

2) I've officially lost 20 pounds!  Woo Hoo!!  And that means I got to open my 20 pound gift I bought for myself...ahead of time.  Remind me not to do that again.  It was pure torture.  I thought I'd never get to open it.  I bought the Wii Walk it Out game, which I am loving!  There was a point during my little plateau that I thought... "maybe if I opened my game and played it, I'd magically drop that last pound."  But I'm a little rule follower so I waited. 

Here's a minus 20 pound picture.

3) Since I have Fridays off this summer, my buddies and I have planned some bike rides!  Last Friday we rode 35 miles.  It was a little chilly in the beginning and extremely windy...which made a generally easy ride, a little bit tougher.  But hey, it busted my plateau so it made me happy, happy, happy!

This is when the wind was at our backs and we were flying down the strand...oh so fun...

Candace at the beginning of the strand

4) I'm working on my Zippidee samples so hopefully I'll have some artwork to post soon!

June SOTM blog hop!!

If you came here from Judy's Blog, you're on the right track.

Ooops, I had a big project due yesterday and I totally forgot to post my SOTM creation!!

I hope my fellow blog hoppers will forgive me!!!

In the meantime, here are the links to keep the hop going until I get my act together.

Next up on the hop is Lori Leng

Man... I better come up with something good to make up for this!!!!!

CTMH Splendor WOTG

Woo Hoo... Look who's been scrapbooking...with pictures even!!  I've been creating the samples for the Splendor Workshop on the Go and I am loving this paper pack and stamp set!!!!!!  I even pulled out some old pictures of my "baby boy" and scrapbooked them.  How about that!!  Kind of impressive if you ask me. LOL.

Here's a sample of the additional layout that is featured in the Workshop on the Go flyer.  You can see Close To My Heart's version on my website here. Shh... I like mine better. I swapped the flower paper with the green paper and used the adorable striped paper that comes in the kit instead of stamping the flower border.  Lovin it!!  It's so easy to personalize and adapt the layouts to suit your own creative eye!

And check out this great picture I took on our bike ride Monday... I'm trying to learn how to ride and take pictures at the same time.  I love this picture of Su and Candace!!

It was my first day back on my bike after my brutal cold!  I felt surprisingly good and cranked out two laps.  I seriously thought about doing a third one but there wasn't enough time...maybe I can do three today!

Road Bike Sedona - aka The Birthday Tour

Road Trip!!  Candace and I were itching to take another road trip to Arizona and this time we were

1. Going to spend more time in Sedona
2. Taking our Bikes

Because I'm a nerd and a planner... I didn't want to just show up with bikes and then try to figure out where to ride... so I started googling....  I found a couple of bike groups in Prescott and got some great information about local rides for my Mom and then I thought....

What about riding in Sedona?  Hmmm.... And that's how I found Road Bike Sedona.  As soon as I saw the website I decided "this is what I want to do for my birthday."  What a great way to really see a town!! 

And so...here's my review of Road Bike Sedona!

The website is easy to navigate and has a variety of tours to choose from.  I filled out the reservation form and sent it off.  Susan replyed the next day, confirmed that we were bringing our own bikes and boom...we were done.

The tour started at Absolute Bikes in Sedona.  We arrived a little early and checked out the shop and I am so glad we did.  They had THE best customer service.  We brought our own bikes, so we weren't renting from them, yet they still rolled out the carpet for us.  They offered us drinks and fruit that was leftover from another event at the shop, offered to install the water cage I purchased and let us change clothes in their bathroom.  And if you rent a bike from them... the bikes have names!!  (I am the queen of naming inanimate objects, so these are definately my people!)

As soon as we met our tour guide, Susan, I knew we were in for a treat.  She took a few moments to chat with us while we were unloading bikes and she listened to those of us who were a little nervous about the ride (Let it be known.. it was not me!! For the first time I was simply excited.  I knew we were going to have a great time... others...well... they thought they might die, or were nervous about traffic...or.....)  After chatting with us and checking out our bikes (hybrids) she thought we'd enjoy a different route that included a dirt trail...hmm....

Susan and Candace and Snow??

About one block into the ride...it started snowing!!  Look closely at the picture above and you might see a couple of snowflakes.  It only snowed for a couple of minutes, but it got things off to a fun and interesting start!

(Susan, Lisa, Candace, Diana (my Mom!)

Along the way Susan shared a ton of information about the area.  She talked about the geology, plant life, history and the lore of the land.  I'm sure the fact that we are so slow...oh wait I mean we enjoyed a nice leisurely ride...hahaha... made it easier for her to share more info.

 The beginning of our ride had a bit of a slow incine and then it seemed like we kept going down, down, down.  Finally someone asked, "Are we coming back out the same way we're going in?"  I think they were asking what we all were thinking.  You never get on a bike and just enjoy a long down hill run without wondering when you have to climb back out!  And then we came to the dirt.....  It had to be pretty comical to watch us trying to figure out how to ride on the dirt.  Susan gave us tips, it's not her fault! LOL.  I think we all hit the same patch of sand on the same hill and had to get off the bikes.  And we kept thinking "we have to go back out this way?"

Dawn and Diana - walking our bikes down to a spot to rest them while we enjoyed the scenery. 

Them bikes were tired, you know. LOL

We tried to forget about the ride back out while we enjoyed the scenery at the midpoint of the ride.  Supposedly you could get a better picture if you ventured into the stream.  We let Susan demonstrate that for us...and then being the good sport that she is, she also pretended to fall so we could take a picture!

Finally there was no more stalling and we had to climb back out.  My Mom told me she was sure I was going to have to ride ahead and get the car.  I tried to act like that wasn't a problem, but really... I wondered how I was going to get to the car!!  Susan assured us we were going to do great. We got on our bikes and started on the crazy dirt road and a few minutes later we were back on pavement.  Wait, was that really the road we came in on?  How did it get so easy?  

We had a couple of little climbs on the way back to the store, but we took it slow and easy and I am happy to say...nobody had to go fetch the car!  We all rode in together.  And truthfully...I like the hills... you need to work a little bit to feel like you earned the downhill. (I know, I'm sick!)

Susan was a great guide!  She knows what she's doing and while we may have doubted our abilities, I could tell she was paying attention to us and knew we were fine.  She knew when to be encouraging and when to let us work through it ourselves.  She offered cycling tips along the way and made the whole experience absolutely wonderful!!!!  In fact my Mom thanked Susan for her patience at the end of the ride and now Susan's bike has a name!! (It was nameless and looking for a name)  The shop is going to stencil "Patience" on her bike.  I can't think of a better name because if you know us... you know that we can be a crazy handful. LOL!  You need a lot of patience to deal with our humor.

I am looking forward to the next time we can plan a trip to Sedona because there are a few more tours I'd like to try! (And for the record.  I am not nervous, nor am I afraid of traffic.  I'm from California, you know...)

Lisa, Candace, Dawn and Diana

 

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