Bicycles & Paper Shredders

This morning we headed out for a close to home ride. Today was the first day that it's actually been pretty warm when we started out. I ended up doing 10.46 miles with a total of 760 feet of climbing. It's no Death Ride, but it wasn't a bad workout. I think the heat got to me a little bit because I didn't make it as far as Mike did (he added another 9 or so mile loop on). It was a little disappointing, but I'm trying to remember that I haven't ridden in the heat, that this was only my third ride and that I need to build up. That said, I'm getting way more comfortable both physically and mentally on the bike. I'm hoping that in our next few rides we can start building up the distance and the hills that we're riding.

On a completely different note, today I bought a paper shredder. I know, I'm a total office supply nerd. This thing is cool though. Seriously cool. Almost as cool as my label maker. I decided it was time after I heard about identity theft again in our marriage class yesterday. I actually know someone who's laptop was stolen and the thieves got his social security number from it. They then proceeded to file his taxes and take the money he got back. Does that blow you away? I guess I would be a bad thief... I would never think of that! I've spent half the evening running around the house finding things to shred. The downside is that poor Shadow seems to think it's a vacuum cleaner without wheels. For those of you who don't know, the vacuum is the bane of Shadow's existence. To him, it apparently represents all that is evil and scary. When it even makes an appearance (on or off), it must be attacked. I'm assuming that it's the two noises that he's associating, but it's funny either way. Note to self: don't shred unless the dog is outside.

I Want To Ride My Bicycle

Yup - that's a Queen reference!

Since I was a lazy bum this morning, I decided that tonight I would do some sort of workout. Now that it's completely hot out, I was not entirely inspired to leave the coolness of my house. Then I remembered that I have a snazzy new bike and we have a trainer I can put it on. So I set everything up, popped in a movie and got pedaling.

Getting Ready To Ride

No helmet (seriously, if I manage to fall off my bike in the trainer, I'm pretty sure Mike is going to take it away) and no snazzy jersey - today was all about just getting the exercise done! At first, Shadow was very intrigued and patiently waited to figure out what I was doing:

Shadow Watching Me Ride

However, once he realized that there was nothing fun for him to do, he promptly did what every good dog would do:

Flat As A Pancake

I rode for about 45 minutes before I started to get hungry (the danger of riding before dinnertime!). I did notice when I got off my bike that there was a new addition:

My CAL Fire Sticker

Hopefully that gets me out of any cycling tickets I might get! :)

CERT & Bridesmaid Dresses

This morning I headed down to a CERT class... the first hour was a terrorism class (how CERT can help in those situations, not how to be one...) followed by a class on deployment procedures (for when we go somewhere to help. Both were really interesting, but to the point. I love a good, informative class that keeps it short!

After that Mom, Nicki, Skyler and I headed over to David's Bridal to try on Nicki's bridesmaid dress and Skyler's flower girl dress. I'm not going to post pictures so that I don't give away too much of the wedding but I do have to say that I have the two cutest flower girls on the planet and completely hot bridesmaids.

After that, Mom and I headed over to pick up Mike's wedding ring... it's ready! It's a really classy ring and totally says Mike... I think it's perfect! I can't believe how quickly everything is coming together!

When I finally got home this afternoon, I worked on some macaroni salad for one of our BBQs tomorrow. I also made some homemade macaroni and cheese - it was so delicious!

Home Made Macaroni & Cheese

Now I'm finally settled in on the sofa for a little bit of relaxing before I head to bed - not a bad day!

Catching Up

Well, I've been pretty bad at blogging lately. Life has been super busy!

The bike ride on Sunday went really well... we did just over 19 miles and had a fantastic time! I didn't fall over in the clips, but did have a near miss. I had unclipped my left foot, put my weight down and got a cramp in my hip. In trying to stretch it, I started to lean to the right, forgetting that my right foot was still clipped in. It was almost like slow motion - suddenly the horizon just started to tilt. Fortunately, Mike was on my right side and caught me. But I had the best time - it was so nice to be out in the sun and riding with my boy!

On Tuesday I finished my last biofeedack class. For those of you who don't remember, back in April I started a biofeedback class at Kaiser. Over the last couple months I've had several sessions, where I've learned that I carry a lot of my stress in my neck and shoulders, which contributes to my migraines. Part of the idea behind the biofeedback is to be able to recognize what that stress feels like and then be able to relax it. When I started, my shoulders were at a 20 (don't ask me what the levels are). By my last session on Tuesday, I had it down to an 8! Big progress - in fact, I haven't had any truly bad migraines in about a month. Ironically, I ended up with one on Tuesday, but I'm 99% sure that was caused by my horrible allergies. Can it please just be hot for like a week so that all of this grass dies off? I'm trying a new allergy medicine - hopefully it helps!

Finally, I got a new purse! Those of you that follow me on Facebook probably saw my post office rant earlier this week. Here's the deal. I ordered this purse on Amazon.com and paid to have it shipped overnight. The mail carrier didn't even bother to come up to my house to try to deliver it - he just put the little "sign me and I'll bring your package later" slip in my mailbox. Apparently, it's the price I pay for having moved to a smallish town. The slip said to head to the post office between 7:30am and 4:30pm, so I dropped by before work. The posted hours on the post office were 9am to 4:30pm - not exactly helpful for those of us who work between those hours. Finally, a woman from the post office called me and agreed to stay late so that I could come pick my purse up. Without further ado:

My New Purse!

Yup, it's Coach. Apparently I've developed an obsession. It's very summery (I love the light blue leather handles and ties on the side!) and fits all of my stuff. Yay!

My New Pony!

Today was a crazy busy day for us. Mike and I got up and headed down to the orchard to finish the fencing. Basically, Mike built Shadow a pen about a year ago and today he finished the pen for me. :) This one is 6 feet tall and hopefully keeps the deer away from my apple, apricot, orange trees and my artichoke. He made it big enough that I could expand the orchard, which I just might do! We spent some time uncaging the trees in there (they each had fencing wrapped around them, but it made it hard to do any pruning).

After that we showered and headed down to Mike's Bikes in Sacramento to look at a road bike for me. This store was absolutely fantastic! The customer service was excellent and they had really great prices. I came home with a Specialized Dolce Elite Apex Compact. It's a size 44 - apparently the smallest women's bike that Specialized makes!

My New Pony On The Trainer

The pictures don't do it justice - this is a beautiful machine! I bought the clip in pedals and all of the goodies that go with it (including the nifty biking shoes!) and my personal mechanic helped get the whole thing set up:

The Blankenheim Household Bike Mechanic

The other big purchase I made today was a new little cycling outfit. They make all sorts of nifty pants and while I balked at the idea of paying $100 for spandex shorts, Mike assured me that I would be super satisfied with my well padded posterior. He said that while I was at it, I should get a jersey, so I chose one that not only makes me very visible, but also reminds me of the beach! I think Shadow likes it...

My New Bike Outfit

Finally, once I was all dressed up, it was time to get on the trainer and test it out!

First Ride On The Trainer

For those of you who don't know, "clipping in" basically makes your feet stuck to the bike pedals, which then allows you to pedal more efficiently. The one downfall is that it takes getting used to when it comes to clipping and unclipping. Every experienced rider tells me that you will fall over with your bike at least twice because you can't get your feet off your pedals and that this almost always happens at a busy intersection where lots of people can see. I can't wait... I also took it for a little spin out on the driveway - and managed to clip and unclip on the hill. Tomorrow morning we're going to take it out for a real ride - I can't wait!

Our other big adventure for today was taking a trip over to Shane Co. to look for wedding bands. I have to say, I've been nothing but impressed with their service. The sales people are not paid on commission and there is absolutely zero pressure to buy. The guy that helped us today was funny and very patient. I'm so happy with the bands we both picked out, but you'll have to wait for the wedding to see them!

Album Review: Zac Brown Band "You Get What You Give"

My new favorite song is "Knee Deep", featuring Jimmy Buffett. They worked on this song after doing CMT's Crossroads together and I think this is a really great pairing! I recently purchased the Zac Brown Band's newest album "You Get What You Give" after hearing a couple of the songs on the radio. As always, with Zac Brown, I was definitely pleased. The harmonies of this band are absolutely amazing. I love their witty little songs and I love that they collaborate with so many cool people (on this album it's Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett.

I definitely recommend purchasing this album - to me The Zac Brown Band is like the Dave Matthews Band of country music.

Favorite songs: "Knee Deep", "Colder Weather" and "As She's Walking Away"

Kati & Nate Got Hitched!

They did it! Kati and Nate are now officially Mr. & Mrs. Barcklay!

The rehearsal and rehearsal dinner were a lot of fun, despite the awful wedding coordinator they had. I think she meant well, but she very much stepped on Kati's toes and pushed her own opinion over Kati and Nate's. To make matters worse, they double  booked the church, so the one chance we had to rehearse in the building had to be in complete silence. However, we survived and moved on to Sienna for a fantastic rehearsal dinner. Nate's family had the outside patio reserved, which was a little nerve wracking considering the fact that it's December June and still raining. The weather held up, and thanks to some heating lamps and the outdoor fireplace, we stayed nice and warm. Cyndy (Nate's mom) even brought stuff to make smores!

Kati & I At The Rehearsal Dinner

The food was absolutely fantastic - I had the flat ironed steak with mashed potatoes and dessert was their world famous donut holes. They come with all of these fantastic dipping sauces - yum!

Nate & Kati At The Rehearsal Dinner

On Friday, I spent the day with Kati, Mom, Cyndy, Elizabeth and Emily. We did lunch and then headed over to the nail salon to get pedicures. If you know me, you know this is complete torture since I'm so ticklish. Thankfully, Cyndy had the foresight to pour cold water on me to take my mind off of being tickled! Friday night we had dinner with the Barcklay's and the Denny's, who were up from San Diego for the wedding. Then Kati and I went back to the hotel for the delivery of the dress:

Mom & Dad Delivering Kati's Dress To The Hotel

We thought we would just hang out, watch a movie and fall asleep. Well, the next thing we knew, it was 12:30am and neither of us could sleep - I guess we were just too excited! We headed over to Hoshall's to have our hair and makeup done around 8am. The ladies there did a fantastic job on everyone, but I think my hair stylist did a particularly good job! I had seen a hair style at a wedding a couple weeks back - I gave her the idea and then she asked if she could "do her thing". I said, of course and she added some cute braids and flair to it!

My Mom & I - Also A Good Hair Shot!

Kati's hair looked spectacular as well... and she had both her veil and her tiara:

The Crowning Of A Princess

We headed back to the hotel after our hair and makeup was done to have some lunch (Togos, in case you were wondering) and then to get dressed. Kate Middleton didn't hold a candle to my beautiful sister! Nate doesn't look so bad himself! :)

Mr. & Mrs. Barcklay

The wedding ceremony went off without a hitch and was over before we knew it! Kati and Nate had rented a Hummer limo to take the bridal party and my parents to the Serrano Country Club, where they were holding the reception. The limo ride was a blast, complete with singing, dancing and a little bit of partaking. :) Needless to say, we were in good spirits when we arrived at the reception. Such good spirits that I attempted to try shrimp:

Me Trying Shrimp

Looks like I enjoyed it? Oh, that's right... I downed an entire apple martini after this...

Random party pictures:

Mom, Kati & I

Dad & I

Eva & I

Erin, Keegan & I

Brig, Injured Amber & I

The reception was seriously fun. Their DJ was absolutely amazing and did a fantastic job at keeping the party going. He took requests and then actually played them! The cake cutting was a lot of fun too - they used their nice cake cutting set, but also used a fire ax. They bought the ax as a gift for my parents (it has Barcklay and their wedding date engraved on it), but displayed it at the reception.

Kati & Nate Axing The Cake!

Mike & I Goofing Around

Sunday morning a large group of us headed to Mimi's Cafe to have brunch with the newlyweds. Then it was time to get them off on their honeymoon! I seriously can't believe that my little sister is married! I am so happy for both Kati and Nate... they're going to have an amazing life together! I know they say weddings go fast, but Kati and Nate's seemed to go by especially fast! I wish we could rewind and celebrate some more!

For more pictures, visit my Facebook page!

June? Is That You?

Welcome to the December 2, 2011 post, I mean June 2nd. Holy cow, the weather has been so crazy lately! Yesterday (June 1st, mind you) we had 3/4 inch hail, rain and even funnel clouds! I seriously can't believe how weird the weather has been... it seems like winter lasts longer and longer every year! I can't believe Northern California is actually getting funnel clouds... I honestly don't ever remember that happening before this year!

I am super stoked... only a few more hours of work and then I'm off for the weekend. Why, you ask? Well, my sister is getting married!!! After a year of planning, it's finally here! I'm so excited to go hang out and have fun with them! Tonight is the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner... it's bound to be fun! Tomorrow we're going to have a day of pampering and hanging out (the boys are playing golf). I seriously can't wait!