update on the triathlon

Sorry that last one was so long, but it was quite the experience!

This past weekend Jason and I held a bake sale at a nearby Sam's to help raise money for my race. We did really well and I met a lot of people with some amazing stories about how they had been affected by cancer. The two most powerful was the lady who was preparing to go to the funeral of her dad that coming Monday. He lost his fight with cancer. Then there was a sweet, sweet family who had their daughter with them. They told me that they lost their older daughter to leukemia when she was the age of the daughter they had with them. You hear stories like that and you don't even know what to say. It just made me really proud to be a part of such a great cause.

The funniest story of the day came from a cute little boy. Jason had made a poster that read 'Cookies for Cancer' and so that was one of the things we would say when people would approach our table. This family approached and they had a little boy that was about five years old. When they said they were interested in donating I walked them over to the table and asked the little boy if he would like to pick out a cookie. He looked at me with his big brown eyes like I was crazy! He said, 'you said those cookies were for cancer.' He would have nothing to do with the cookies even after I explained to him that the cookies didn't give him cancer. We were using the money to help people who were sick to be able to go to the doctor. He wasn't buying it! So cute!

I will end with this list after having three hours to watch the body language of people who knew you were asking for money:

Top 5 ways you know people are avoiding you:

-when the speed of their shopping cart accelerates dramatically as they go through the exit

-when they are suddenly in the midst of a very serious conversation on their cell phone

-when you hear them mumble to the person they are with 'just don't make eye contact'

-when you watch them head out the door in one direction and then see them cut back across the parking lot in the direction of where your booth is to where they REALLY parked their car

-when they suddenly can't get their sunglasses off the top of their head fast enough so they don't have to look at you!

After this experience I know that I will be a lot more respectful and appreciative of the effort of those organizations who choose to make money that way. It is hard work and definately puts you out of your comfort zone!

next...goose egg defeated!

The next big event of our summer was the camping trip with the whole family at Roaring River. I had so much fun catching up with people I hadn't seen in a long time! The only bad thing was how hot it was. It was not the chilly mornings where you need long sleeves that I remember from years past.
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture to represent the highlight of the trip, but I do have quite the story. Here goes...
We arrived on Thursday afternoon and Jason and I both bought tags and a fishing liscence to fish for the next two days. Well, on Friday the score ended Kristyn zero, fish six. Yes, that's right, I had six fish on my line at any given time and they ALL got off! Not a good day, but at least there was some action.
On Saturday, we all went out after breakfast and it was BORING! And for me, if I don't catch something within the first 30 minutes, I am bored! So I forced myself to last for two hours and then that was it for me. I went back to the camp ground and sat in the water with all the smart people.
Well, after two hours of freezing cold water, I decide I will ride my bike to the restroom and then over to the river to check and see how Jason and his dad are doing. I find them right when they are in the process of stringing up a fish. So, while they are working on that, I take the available fishing pole and just start fishing for the fun of it. Come to find out, they have caught all they are allowed to catch and are ready to go clean the fish and then head back to the camp site. I decide I will stay and fish for about 15 minutes while they clean their fish and then I will meet them at the fish cleaning site and we will all go back.
Well, don't you know that after they left me all by myself with only a fishing pole, I catch a fish. It was a little one and as soon as I hooked him my heart started pounding. This was it! My last chance to defeat the goose egg of no fish! My heart was pounding and I was talking to myself (although I don't think it was out loud). "Keep the rod tip up, be patient, nice and easy, don't rush it, let them play and get tired out". I get the fish to the land and I was so excited...and then I realized I had no way of getting this fish off the hook and home. Hmmm....quite the situation I've gotten myself into. "Oh! Don't panic! Just look up and down the bank for a nice looking man with a fishing vest on, he will know what to do." So I look up and down the bank and don't you know that there was not one fishing vest in sight! So, I start walking a bit and I finally find a man and ask him if he has any needlenose pliers. He does not. A lady overhears me and offers me her pliers that were not needlenose. The tip of these pliers were bigger than the fish's mouth. So...I did the only thing I could think to do. Stick my fingers down the fishes throat and try to get the hook out. No luck. Eventually after trying for quite a while the line breaks and the hook is lost in the fish. Well, that is over, but I still have a fish that is now dead because its been out of the water for too long and no way to get it home (most people have a stringer they put their fish on). Well, the cleaning area is not too far from where I am so I decide I will ride my bike to the cleaning area and ask another nice looking man if he will clean my fish for me (while all this is happening I have seen Jason's dad drive away in the truck, so I am thinking they left me and have gone back to the camp site). So I lip the fish in one hand, hold the pole in the other and climb on my bike. Since both of my hands are full I lean way forward and drive with my forearms....a bit wobbly to say the least. That was not a good plan because every time I hit a bump the fish's teeth really hurt my thumb. So while still moving on the bike I do a quick switch with the fish over to the hand holding the pole and am now holding the fish around his belly. And yes, in case you are wondering people are definately staring! I ride up to the cleaning area and just catch Jason and his dad as they are climbing in the truck ready to leave. I yell "Jason, wait! I caught a fish!" He looks at me on my bike holding a fishing pole and a fish and says 'so you did.' Then he laughs and cleans my fish for me while telling me how much he loves having a wife that will go through what I just did to catch a fish. Good times!

Catching up-4th of July

Hi everyone,

Wow! I am really behind! I need to go all the way back to the 4th of July. We spent the holiday in Alpine, TX with our good friends Katie and Philip. Alpine is Philip's hometown so we went back for some small town fun for the 4th. While there we ate a lot of good home town, hole-in-the-wall-type foods including the best lemonade I've ever had! We shot guns, yes even me. I shot a double barrel shot gun and almost hit the clay target flying through the air. I only tried once because it really hurts when it kicks against your shoulder. We also went on a really long hike and it actually took us longer to get down than it did to go up!

The area is beautiful! There are a lot of hills/mountains and the terrain is very dessert-like. We drove around Philip's ranch and got chased by some cows that were real mad that we didn't bring them any food!

We also of course watched fireworks and enjoyed a parade! On the way home we bought some peaches in a town called Fredricksburg and they were delicious!
We had a great time and are so blessed to have such wonderful friends!

One view from the house we stayed in

The houe we stayed in

The four of us at the top of the mountain we climbed (yes, it was tall enough to not be a hill)