Parent's weekend

My parents came down to Tucson for Easter break, and it was a great opportunity for us to show them the version of the city we have grown to love over the last few years. The first few times they came down I was in school, moving around, and trying to find my own hobbies and interests in a new place. Now that we are married, settled into our careers and have a house we love, it made their visit much more rich.

My mom and dad flew into Phoenix Thursday morning, and drove down to Tucson. We went out to lunch, and then Cody got home and we ate dinner at home. Friday morning, my dad came to my class at Barre3, which turned out to be a parents class with both Amanda's mom, and both Kate's parents also present. After I was done teaching, we wandered around the mall and came back home to pack up a bit as we left to go up to Sedona for the evening when Cody got home. On the way up, we stopped at Four Peaks Brewery and had some Arizona beer and burgers, which was a hit with my dad.

Up in Sedona, we hiked at Cathedral Rock and then had brunch at Mesa Grill, which is a restaurant my dad had found when he had been in town a few weeks before. We showed my mom around downtown Sedona and then drove back to Tucson to sleep at our house for Easter.

Sunday we had a relaxing day at home. We went walking, did some stuff around the house, and enjoyed each other's company. My mom and I made Easter dinner while the boys went mountain biking in the afternoon. It was a really beautiful day, and we had a lot of fun!

The rest of the week was full of barre3 classes, walks, time with Fitz and sleep! We really enjoyed being together and I think it made us all sleep better than usual.

I really love having them down here, and I am glad they are starting to like Arizona the way we do.

LB

Celebrating M-gags!

My beautiful friend Maggie, aka M-gags is getting married! And we couldn't be happier! A few of her girlfriends went out last Saturday night to celebrate the last of her days as a bachelorette. We had dinner at Agustin Kitchen, a yummy restaurant at the Mercado downtown. Our friend Ashley read a blessing and we were all able to enjoy each other's company. A few of the girls continued on to a bar downtown for drinks, but I headed home as Fitz had cut his paw a little before I had left. 

Congrats Maggie and Aaron! We can't wait to celebrate your wedding day!

LB

Fitz-date!

Fitzy babe is 15 months old (yes I realize that most people stop counting dog ages in months after they turn one but we have no life), and his personality is amazing (yes I know I'm partial). He is playful without being over energetic, funny while being (mostly) obedient, and is tolerant of all of the photo ops and shenanigans I put him through. He lets me love on him, pinch his cheeks and hold him like a baby. Lately, he has been really aware of my mood, and he knows exactly when to give me the right amount of love. I've had a rough go of it this week with stress related to my diabetes, and every time I start to let it consume me, he gives me a kiss on the cheek, and climbs into my lap and just sits there. 

His current favorites:

- playing tag and scaring Cody (he loves to hide from him and then jump out to startle him!)

- avocado 

- strawberry tops

- burying himself in the pillows

- tucking into the blankets

Grateful for this cute babe!

LB

A weekend of b's

For having to work Saturday night, Cody and squeezed a lot of activities and together time in. Friday, we took care of some appointments during the day, and then went to dinner at Proper downtown, and the Banff Mountain Film Festival with our friends. Even though I thought Cody had just tricked me into watching nature movies, I ended up really enjoying the films that were selected for the festival. The people and their stories were neat, and serve a purpose.

Saturday was Barre3 in the Park! We gathered at Brandi Fenton Memorial Park and set up on our yoga mats to work out to the sweet beats of DJ Herm. A bunch of the local Tucson staples came out to participate too, including Savaya (coffee and tea), Red Door Spa (massages), Pure Love Juice (juice..duh), and Prep & Pastry brought granola. The Barre3 Tucson staff went to brunch at Commoner & Co afterwards, and I stuffed my face with french toast and laughed with friends. It was a really awesome experience, and reaffirmed my love for Barre3 and our studio.

After brunch, Cody went to pick up his brand new BIKE! He bought a new, full suspension mountain bike from Pivot Bicycles, and I think he may be in love again. He got to go for a ride while I napped for work, and then he drove me in so I could get coffee and not be late. Marriage.. #amiright?

LB

Grouchy gardening

Preface on this post: I spent 24 hours fighting against my natural inclination to be mad at everything, and I failed miserably. Luckily for me, I have a few things working in my favor, including but not limited to: a cute puppy, a tolerant husband, and a pretty sweet life.

I don't know what was up my butt this weekend, but I was grouchy up until Sunday AM. The more that I was irritated, the more plans I messed up, and the madder I got. It was a great cycle. Fortunately, Cody and I had some fun activities planned, and they were super fun, despite my poor attitude in between. 

Saturday morning, I taught at Barre3 for Chelsea, and Cody joined for the 830 am class. We ate breakfast burritos and walked around the mall for a while before heading home. After pulling me out of a grouch slump, Cody and I went to Home Depot to get some supplies to plant our first herb/vegetable garden in the planter box in our backyard. We took Fitz and spent some time buying seedlings and picking out which veggies we wanted to grow. After heading back to the house, we got to work. Neither of us had any real idea what to do, so we half researched, half went with our guts. It looks great, so hopefully, the plants grow and produce some yummy stuff we can cook up in the kitchen! 

Before

After!

After gardening, we cleaned up to head downtown to have dinner and see Matisyahu play at the Rialto Theater downtown. It was a really good show, and we kept laughing at the eclectic crowd and the funny dancing. We crashed when we got home and slept in with no alarm clocks (this is huge in our house)!

We decided to bike to brunch at our friend Nate's restaurant, Prep & Pastry, so we got up, got the bikes and Fitz ready, and hit the road. There is a great bike path that runs from our house down to the restaurant which makes the trip much more enjoyable. We split french toast and each got our own egg dishes. After biking back, I napped to prepare to teach at Barre3 and work at the hospital, and Cody worked on his bike before he went riding with one of the kids he coaches. 

We had dinner together before I left, which I THINK redeemed the grouchiness of the previous day. I'm going to chalk it up to just being out of sorts and going too long without together time. I'll keep you posted on the garden. 

LB

24 HOP

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo. 24 hours of continuous mountain biking. Cody's dream, my hell. Cody participated in a 4 man team with his friends Jake, and Ryan, and as a last minute substitution for his fallen compadre, Jeffrey, one of his students, Chad filled in. You may even call this, a #BikeGang. Cody had asked me a LONG time ago to attend this race with Fitz (like before the new year), and I made sure to be available. I had a lot of training at work this week, so I picked Chad up early Saturday morning and drove up to 24 Hour Town to meet up with the team. Cody, along with Jake and his wife Heather, Ryan and some of the other Oro Valley Mountain Bike coaches had already been up for a few nights.

I was super skeptical. I'll be the first to admit I'm a bad camper. Mostly in that I am a creature of comfort. I like getting into my big cozy bed, I like being clean (my hair doesn't count), and I hate walking more than 3 feet to the bathroom. That being said, 24HOP was incredible. People were camped EVERYWHERE. I mean, literally, any space you could park a car was occupied. People were biking, walking, running all over. The energy was so high, and so fun! Everyone was pumped to be there! And I totally got sucked into all of it!

My friend Leah! Her husband was racing too!

Fitz and Leah's son Lars

Watching Cody in his element was a experience all in its own. He is such a dedicated cyclist, but he really wants everyone to enjoy themselves too. He was prepared, and helped me get ready to be there, and totally packed Fitz up too. We had a lot of fun together!

The team did amazing! There are some really tricky parts of this course, including a Rock Drop whic is a steep downhill section, and then navigating the logistics of handing off the baton in the exchange tent and running out to get to their bikes as they switch riders. They ended up completing 18 laps (each lap is 17 miles) total and came in 14/99 teams in their category and 50/515 teams total. Totally rocked it out! All four of them surprised themselves in how strong they rode and how much they achieved, and it was fun to watch! I'm looking forward to attending more races with Fitz, although I think 1 night of camping is just perfect for me!

Nina!

Way to go, Code! We are SO incredibly proud of you!!

LB (Fitz too)