Must be nice....

This is the bowl of pasta Luis gets to eat every night... I put it next to a regular dinner plate to compare the size... And, he's having a tough time gaining weight! Must be nice...

Lets see how long this lasts

Time to add a Mid-years resolution... I've noticed that I've become a little attached to my blackberry.  I bbm and check Facebook when watching a movie or tv with Luis, when out to dinner with him and a lot of other times when I probably should be appreciating the very limited time I get to spend with my amazing man.  He's so amazing that he never even says anything about my constant blackberry distraction but I'm starting to feel a little guilty.  So from this day forward I am going to try to keep my phone in my purse when we are out to dinner and put it on silent when we are spending time together.  So if I don't answer you message back in as timely a matter as you are used to from me, you know now why =)

I may have found it...

Now I may be jumping the gun a little but I think I may have found something I really love to do... possibly a passion!  A few months ago I decided to enter into my first triathlon and since then have been training for it.  My running is coming along very well and my swimming has always been my strong point but I hadn't ridden outside in a very long time.  I take spin class about 2-3 times a week but it is not the same as riding outside.  After my first bike ride on Wednesday, I felt good but to be honest, a little discouraged.  I only did 5 miles and I felt like that took me forever.  Granted, I rode on a busy street with tons of stoplights that I had to stop at but still, I felt I should have gotten more mileage in the time I rode.  

So Thursday at cardio bag class, my new friend Jackie, knowing I was training for the tri, asked me if I wanted to go riding with her.  Of course I said yes and was super excited to ride with someone way more experienced than myself.  Having already done 4 triathlons, I knew Jackie would really be able to push me like I needed to be pushed.  And push me she did!  Before leaving cardio bag class, she told me to meet her at her house at 7:45AM on Saturday (EEK!) and that we would ride about 12 miles and then run 2-3 miles (DOUBLE EEK!!!) 12 MILES?!  I had only done 5!  And then a run on top of it??? I was definitely worried.  I even thought about canceling on her, but my great friends Cassie,  Mo and Lish and my incredibly supportive fiance all said they knew I could do it and their faith in my abilities kinda rubbed off on me.  

So Saturday morning, with butterflies in my tummy I woke up and headed out to meet Jackie.  We got on the road by about 8 and headed up 2 huge hills!  I had to stop twice, once because my gear was so hard that I couldn't even pedal and felt like I was gonna fall over and another time because my thighs were just on fire (cardio bag class 2 days before was probably not the best idea but hindsight I guess...) Anyways, we road up to the Santa Rosa Plateau which was just beautiful!  It was a little cloudy and cool but great biking weather.  

When we got to the top we stopped at a trail head, locked up our bikes and ran about 1-2 miles.  My legs actually felt great and the run was fairly easy!  After our run, we got back on our bikes and headed back down the hill and back to Jackie's.  The whole trip took us 2 hours.  I felt so accomplished, even thought I know I probably held Jackie back a little, I was so grateful for her and her pushing me.  II would never have ridden that far on my own. 

The first thing I did when I got back home was enter my workout onto dailymile.com (think of it as Facebook for your workouts).  It's linked up with street maps so you can track your runs/rides and see exactly how many miles you have done.  To my surprise, our ride today was 17.19 miles!!! I was shocked!!! If I can do 17 miles up 2 huge hills, my tri (which is also a 17 mile bike ride) should be great! I am so motivated now and I can't wait to get out there and ride again.  The best part was, even though I was tired and sweaty and a little scared actually, I had a blast!  I loved mixing up the ride with the run and I have never had so much fun working out before!  I think this triathlon thing could be something that I am really passionate about!  I even mapped out a new riding course near my house (with minimal hills lol) and I plan on getting on the road on Monday.  Its only 8 miles but I figure I could mix in short rides during the week and do one long ride on Saturday.  I'm thinking about conquering Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet which is a 23 mile loop with little to no hills.  

Is someone a little cocky? I think so =)

My Badge of Honor

Wednesday I embarked on my first outside bike riding experience and it was pretty awesome.  I did a short ride near my house and ended up doing about 5 miles.  Right when my ride was starting, I was standing at a stop light and couldn't get my shoes un-clicked from my pedals and I literally just tipped right over! I laughed, dusted myself off and kept on riding... so embarrassing! But I ended up with a nice little badge of honor.. my first road rash!

Honeymoon ADD

Ever since I have been engaged I have been day dreaming about the big day. But often times I find myself day dreaming more about the day AFTER the big day! Waking up with my husband and being wisked away on some romantic adventure where there are no alarm clocks or lists of things to do are thoughts that consume my mind. The only problem is... I have honeymoon ADD. Everyday I change my mind about where I want to go. Spain, Italy, Mexico, Costa Rica, and a million other places are always in my brain!
Sometimes I think how romantic it would be to sightsee the streets of Spain, other times I think about us enjoying the best wine in Italy and then I'll think about laying on a white sand beach in a tropical location. I know our honeymoon is a long time away (almost exactly 18 months to the day)but I really wish I could pin point where to go! Luis of course just says "whatever you want my love" which is sweet but of absolute NO help to me at all. The frugal side of me says to go to the beautiful beaches of Mexico and enjoy an all inclusive resort while the frivilous side of me says "go to Europe! Spend a ton of money and don't think twice about it!" But the problem is, I will think twice about it. I'll think about how I could have put that money towards my home, or let it sit in savings for an emergency. I have a feeling Luis would rather go to Mexico and relax and with that in mind I think I am envisioning little umbrellas in my drinks... But we'll see how I feel next week :)

Some of my favorite pics

Here are some of my favorite pics from Luis' fight, courtesy of Rebecca Lee who has taken pics of the last few fights Luis has had... She's awesome!  She took a ton of pics but these are a handful of my favorite ones:

I love the emotion in his face

Luis Fights!

On Sunday, February 21, 2010 Luis had his 4th fight and his first representing Team Quest.  This fight was very important to him because he really had to win and he had been training so hard for this.  The few days  before the fight are usually the most stressful.  We spent a whole day driving around selling tickets to people and getting all the necessary things for Luis' weigh in and fight night.  Saturday, we woke up early and headed to the gym so Luis could cut the last 8 lbs that he was over for his weigh in.  Thank goodness it only took him a little over an hour because it was hard to watch.  Wearing a sauna suit and sweats and running on a treadmill looks horribly painful, especially when you can't even drink any water.  By the end of it, Luis kinda looked like Gollum from Lord of the Rings.

Cutting Weight 

After the weigh in we spent a little time with the Team Quest family where the boys signed autographs for people who came by the gym.  It was nice because Luis was able to take his mind off of the fight and just relax.  We headed home early and went to bed.  The crappy thing was we both were sick and we woke up even more sick than the night before.  Not a good way to start of fight day =( But the show must go on right?  We ran a few more errands, met up with Luis' teammates and corner men and headed out to Soboba Casino.  The closer we got to the venue the more worried I got.  It was super cold and cloudy and looked like it would start pouring rain at any moment.  Not good for an outdoor venue!  So I prayed every chance I got that it would not rain.

About a mile from the casino

Like I said, I was super sick and spent most of my night in the locker room with Luis.  We didn't speak at all or even really look at each other other than a few stolen glances here and there and the occasional air kiss, but it was nice to spend that time with him.  I was kind of worried that he wouldn't like that but I was not feeling like mingling and talking with everyone, especially because I was VERY nervous on top of being sick.  The great part was, after the fight, Luis told me that he loved me being back there with him =)

I love this picture 

I stayed back there with him until he got his hands wrapped and then left as soon as it was time for him to warm up.  Thank goodness one of Luis' corner men Corey brought his girlfriend Wendy!  I had someone to stress with who actually understood what its like!  I don't think I would have made it through the night without her!  We ended up waiting a long time for Luis' fight (he was the 18th on the card) which he loved because 1. He had more time to get ready and didn't feel rushed and 2. He was on the main card =).  So finally it was his turn to fight.  His opponent was a Japanese Muay Thai fighter who had had 33 amateur and pro fights and he was tough.  I didn't get any pictures of the actual fight but I will have some in a few days to post.

After the fight, waiting for the judges decision

The fight lasted 3 rounds and Luis won by unanimous decision!  Luis used wrestling and ground and pound to dominate his opponent.  I was SOOOO proud of him! He has worked so hard for this win and he earned it!

Luis after his win with Aaron, Corey and Isaias

We are so lucky that Luis had so many friends and family there to support him!  He couldn't do it without them!

Just some of Luis' friends and family

Some of Luis' teammates 

♥I couldn't be more proud of him ♥

It was a great night! Luis was beaming from ear to ear and as if it couldn't get any better, Luis' fight was put on the Team Quest website!