Last Days in France

We had a fun end to our time in Paris. We visited the Orsay museum where there are a lot of paintings that are recognizable even to the art history challenged, like Stephen and I. There were dozens of paintings by Monet, those were my favorites. The museum is in an old train station and it makes a nice effect. 

We took a tour of the Paris Opera House that was great. It was a little disappointing to learn that the Phantom of the Opera is mostly just a story that Americans have embellished and run with but it was a beautiful building. 

We spent the evening in the Latin Quarter where we found an adorable restaurant. Stephen ordered escargot and had to figure out the tools to eat them with.

After dinner we were just strolling along and ran into the Pantheon. We didn't have time to visit it so it was fun to at least happen upon the outside and get a picture.

When we were crossing the Champs Elysses to get back to our hotel we got stuck in the middle of the street  (the pedestrian lights will sometimes just let you walk half way at a time) with a great view of the Arc de Triomphe.

The next morning we did a little high end shopping at the Louie Vuitton where I got a great gift for Lyndsay ;) and we got some macaroons at Laduree. They were delicious!

Then we headed to the Louvre for hours of art education, thanks to their Nintendo DS interactive audio guides.

It was a mad house but we managed to see the Mona Lisa along with other favorites.

Stephen took this beautiful picture later while we walked back to the Eiffel Tower for the night time lights.

We got a few good pictures in front of the tower at night but they mostly need editing and since I don't have the capacity here, this is the best one for now.

We laid on the grass for a long time waiting for the sparkling lights. It was great weather and so pretty when the lights went off, it was definitely worth the wait.

Happy Anniversary to Us

Yesterday was our anniversary and here is how we spent it:

We went to Versailles. It was amazing! Stephen snapped a good shot showing the brightness of the gold entryway gates next to the rest of the building. Golden gates were the least of the extravagance in this castle. 

Here we are in the hall of mirrors, a good example of the gaudiness in the rest of the palace.
 After a lot of walking and line standing we took a minute to relax when we got back to Paris. It was finally warm for about 10 minutes so we sat on the banks of the Seine.

This is the Sainte-Chapell cathedral where we were awestruck by this stained glass. They're doing a four year restoration project on it right now and it's just stunning all cleaned up.

Our hotel left us a treat for our anniversary along with some champagne, which we switched out for a deliciously cold bottle of water.

In the evening we went to my favorite area of Paris, Montmartre. It's outside of the city a bit and it's on a hill. At the top of the hill is this beautiful white church, the Sacre Coeur. There are great views, charming streets, artists selling paintings, and cute little restaurants in this area.

We ate at an adorable and historic restaurant called the Moulin de la Galette. It's the site of one of the very famous paintings that we saw today at the Musee d'Orsay. The food was great.

This is the outside of the restaurant with the giant moulin. It was very charming and a wonderful end to our anniversary day.

Paris is Dreamy...Day One

Stephen and I are in Paris right now! We are celebrating mostly that I made it through another year of Stephen traveling for work, since this whole trip was paid for with Marriott points and Delta frequent flier miles, but we are also celebrating that I finished another school year and that we've been married for three years! We are spoiled indeed. I  am going to try and blog as we go to keep a trip diary for myself.

We landed yesterday mid-morning, very tired from so much traveling and jet lag. We saw the Eiffel Tower first thing and then forced ourselves to sightsee until around 7:00 pm when we crashed at the hotel.

Today we were up and going with plenty of energy. We started the day with a Seine River cruise to get a lay of the land.

We ate delicious crepes. It's been pretty cold and rainy and windy since we've been here, hence the jackets and hood.

We toured and climbed the towers of Notre Dame, SO amazing, if you haven't read The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo I highly recommend it, especially before visiting Paris, it made this site especially great for me.

This was one of Stephen's favorite gargoyles and a great view of the Eiffel Tower, which we climbed the stairs of yesterday.

Here is a view of the back of Notre Dame on a "lovers bridge" with marked/engraved locks all along it.

Stephen bought a lock for us to put on the bridge.

We ate dinner at a cute restaurant that had no dinner menu, they only serve steak and frites. It was delicious. Our last site of the day was back near our hotel, the Arc de Triomphe. We climbed to the top and had a great view of the sunset over La Defence. It was a fun and exhausting day. I'm hoping that tomorrow we will save some energy and be able to enjoy the night life.

Newborn Pictures

My sweetest angel of a niece had newborn pictures taken this week by my all too artistic and talented cousin. Here are my favorites:

We love you Lyla! Can't wait to see you again. 

Baby Lyla and State Track

My sister Ashley and her husband Zac had their baby this week! She was born on Monday, May 14th and despite my sister's monstrously large pregnant belly, she was only 7 lbs 12 oz. I love her more than words. Hundreds of more pictures are to come!

This was a busy weekend with all of my family wanting to spend as much time as possible with that little angel baby and also having Lyndsay's last track meet. I love watching the state track meet, mostly when it's good weather though. The first day it was pouring rain and freezing winds, we still had a good time but we were pretty cold and soggy.

 The next day was great weather, hot even.

 
Lyndsay and her 4x100 relay team did a good job. They had a hard season and didn't expect to make it to the finals but they did! They were in last place in the finals and gained to places, finishing in 7th overall. They all admitted that their expectations were low and they were just happy not to take last.

A Stupid, a Funny, and a Century

When I was in Driver's ED in high school, my eloquently spoken instructor told us that car accidents weren't usually accidents. He had decided we shouldn't call them accidents, we should call them stupids because they occurred usually because someone was being stupid. Last month I was in a stupid with a stupid who was texting on the highway. He rear ended me at 70 miles per hour. At first I was mad, and then I got shaken up and scared, and then I was mad again. I wasn't hurt but my pretty new car was.

It took about a week to fix...the right way with the right color paint, but now it looks great, like nothing happened. Moral of the story: texing while driving can be really tempting, but it's a stupid.

This week I heard on the news that Maurice Sendak, who was a children's book author (Where the Wild Things Are), had died. Stephen found this interview with him on the Colbert Report that is just delightfully funny. Enjoy if you care to!

Last thing we've been up to, but not least, is that yesterday I rode my first 100 mile bike ride! It was called the Goldilocks century. It was super long but really fun.

Here is a route map. The most crazy leg was out to Fairfield, that is really far out in Utah Valley. I felt great until about mile 70 and even then, felt like I could still go for a long time until mile 90. From 90 to the end I just wanted to keep moving my legs and get to the end so I wouldn't have to sit on the seat of my bike any longer.









I started out with my friend Morgan (pink) and her friend Gerilynn (white). They were doing shorter distances so we didn't stay together too long in the scheme of things.

Crossing the starting line...

And crossing the finish line! It took me eight and a half hours total but I was actually on my bike riding for six and a half, the extra two hours were lunch and rest stops. I achieved my goal of keeping an average pace of 15 miles per hour...and finishing. 

This is just after the finish when I got to eat a delicious ice cream/shaved ice with one of my drafting buddies. When I didn't have people I knew to ride with it wasn't a problem, anyone who was the same pace as me was pretty much open to some push and pull help so I made a lot of friends.

Stephen was the greatest fan! He was at the start, the first rest stop, lunch, and at the finish. I'm excited for the next century, which will be with him.

75,065 Miles

Yesterday I rode 52 miles in preparation for my 100 mile race in three weeks. Besides being incredibly sunburnt I felt pretty tough. Felt tough that is, until I read about Tommy Godwin. This man is an animal. Check it out on the fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia. My favorite Tommy Godwin fun facts are:

• He holds the world record for the greatest amount of miles cycled in a single year (75,065 miles...that is over 200 miles a day!)
• He rode through World War II blackouts with lights taped to his bike
• He was a vegetarian
• His bike weighed 30 lbs (the lightest bike today weights under 6 lbs)

Inspirational or just plain crazy?

Spring Break

I was definitely needing a break and I full week I got off of work the first week of April was timely. We went to Southern California with the Young's and had a great time. Stephen and I aren't great about taking pictures so thank you to Chris, who took most of these pictures and shared them with us. Also, we did a lot more than go to Disneyland, that was actually only one day, but I really liked these pictures. Here are my favorites:

We went to Club 33 for lunch. It was delicious and fun to go out on the balcony above the crowds in New Orleans Square.

First timers!

Miles was pimping it in his puma track suit, hat, and aviator glasses. So stylish.

Thank you to Mark and Judy for the wonderful trip!

In other news, I played in my first piano recital since I was a little kid. It was a bit silly since I was playing with a bunch of little kids. I did ok but not good enough to post the video Stephen took. I'm glad that I did it because it pushed me to learn a harder piano piece than I would have otherwise and I think it's good for me to be in uncomfortable situations and be nervous because I am learning new things. I'm glad it's over and I hope I can keep taking lessons and that I'll be a proficient piano player someday!