My first triathlon

With Jeff busy training for the Seattle-to-Portland Ride in July, I decided to do something especially crazy and - along with my good friend, Quinn - joined a local triathlon club. On June 28, I completed my first race: the Lake Padden Triathlon right here in Bellingham. The race included a 1/4-mile swim, 10-mile bike ride, and 2.8 mile run. When I started training, my initial goal was simply to finish the race without dying. As I improved throughout the spring, my goal then became to finish the race without dying AND not to come in last. I'm please to announce I accomplished both! My goal for next year is to complete the longer version of the Padden Tri, which is a 1/2-mile swim, 20-mile bike, and 5.2-mile run.

Jennifer's 40th birthday

Jeff took the day off of work and we drove up to Vancouver to celebrate my 40th birthday. It is so amazing living this close to a great city like Vancouver, with its incredible diversity and absolutely phenomenal selection of restaurants. Today we found a great sushi place for lunch and had dinner at our favorite Chinese place, a dive over on E. Hastings called Penny Restaurant. Even though I'm still in shock at hitting the big four-zero, it was a fun day!

Father's Day Camping Trip

We've made it an annual tradition to go camping every year to celebrate Father's Day and my birthday. It's also become the yearly "shakedown" trip for our little 22-foot travel trailer, which we've nicknamed Ethel (the Suburban we bought to tow her is named Fred). Ethel, also known as a 1984 Kit Companion model, joined our family about 4 years ago after we rescued her and gave her a complete overhaul and remodeling. She's cute, she's cozy, and best of all she beats sleeping on the ground! This year we did our trip to one of our favorite (and nearby) campgrounds: Bayview State Park in Skagit County. This is also the trip where Emma learned to ride on 2 wheels on her bike!

We really enjoy taking the kids camping because it's a fun way to spend time together as a family, without the TV, video games, computer, and all the interruptions of daily life.

I've been published...sorta.

My "famous" Thai Green Curry Chicken Soup recipe was published in the Bellingham Herald! They even sent a photographer to our house to take a picture. Only the recipe appears on the website - not the picture - but that shouldn't stop you from trying the soup. It's VERY good, and best of all...VERY easy to make! Let me know if you try it.

Jeff's 50th Birthday

For Jeff's 50th birthday I surprised him with a weekend at the world-famous Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver Island. Famous for its award-winning restaurant and beautiful inn, Sooke Harbour House is a place Jeff has wanted to visit for a long time. It was fun to surprise him - he didn't figure out where we were going until we were on the ferry over to the island! What a great weekend it was - I hope we can go back again soon.

On the radio

Jeff and I (and our wonderful surgeon, Dr. Rabkin) were featured on a local talk radio show, and had a whole hour to talk about our weight loss surgery. The hour absolutely flew by! I thought we would run out of stuff to talk about; instead, I didn't get a chance to say a lot of the things I had planned. You can listen to the show here.

Welcome to our blog!

Welcome to our new family blog! We thought this would be a fun way to keep in touch with our friends and family around the country. Comments are welcome. Thanks for visiting!