Congrats Mama Moore!

I can't wait to see the WHOLE family this July...especially that sweet, new little Princess!!!

My First Tri

On Memorial Day, last year, I volunteered for "body marking" at the CapTexTri in Austin.

I was told there'd be a lot of good looking guys! (Eh, there were some.)

Once I had finished my volunteer duties, I ran into some friends out watching the event. All of us spent some time together watching the cyclists come through one of the turns. From our vantage point on the bridge, we could see all three events. It was really exciting!

I made a pact with these friends...that we would all do it next year.

True to my word, although I rarely spoke to these friends about it, I have registered and will compete in my first triathlon on Monday. I'm not in great physical shape, but I think I'll be able to finish.

At least I won't be on the sidelines this year...and that's something!

An Anniversary Tribute

My parents celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary last Saturday!

My dad can often be heard saying that the day that he married my mom was the best day of his life. It is always in the same breath that he tells us how certain he is that it was the worst day of my mom's life. "You should really feel sorry for her, having to put up with me for all these years," he says. This is his way of extending a compliment to her.

(My dad has an odd sense of humor!)

Below is a tribute to both of them...

A Beautiful Mom

I was thinking a lot about my mom this weekend, what with it being Mother's Day and all...

I was thinking about how much my mom loves me and about how lucky I have been to have such a wonderful mother!

These are some of the many reasons I know she loves me... She will cheer for me even when it's not my best day. It makes her happy when I am happy. She is proud of me; I know she is proud of me because all of her co-workers know about anything remotely good that I have ever done. On my birthday, every year, I know that she wakes up thinking about me. She wants to stay on the phone with me for as long as she can, even if we've both run out of things to say.

I do not have a daughter, and I don't know what it is like to love a child of your own. I do see how my mom loves me though, expecting nothing in return. Both her and my dad have told me before, the best thing that I could do to repay them is to love my own children and help them when they need help.

When I have my own children some day, I hope to love them even half as well as my mom has loved me. Happy Mother's Day (again), Mom!

Your love is beautiful and so are you.

Quote of the Weekend

Lindsey (to me): Todd just informed us that if his team makes the playoffs, he has signed up to pee his pants

I couldn't stop lauging...

How'd the Ride Go?

I met up with Camp Punishment for the Armadillo Classic this past Saturday morning. We all were up and moving before the sun...and put in a hard workout before lunchtime. Here's a group of us at the start line (thanks Erin), waiting for the...um...the "you can go ahead and go"!


I rode 42 miles, and tried to do a 10 min run afterwards (I only made 5 minutes before I started seeing stars and decided it was best to stop...I'm still counting it though!).

I still by myself because I'm too slow to keep up with the rest of the group, but I think that riding my myself is making each ride harder. I'm about to start working hard to get up to speed. Hopefully I'll be there soon.

Here's how the day went for some of the others:

Erin
Lulu
Panther

My MS 150

I need to thank everyone who supported me in this ride. Together, we went above and beyond the required donation ($400) and even beat the fundraising goal that I had set for myself ($750)! THANK YOU!

In the end, we raised $900 for the National MS Society! Pretty amazing, I think.

Several of you shared with me that a friend or family member suffers from this disease. Thank you for sharing their names and stories. In the moments when I wanted to stop (and there were many). I thought of them and continued on.

I had support far above the financial kind and I want to thank those people too...the ones who thought of me, who wished me luck, who cheered for me as I rode beside them, who met me at the finish line...THANK YOU!

It was an amazing experience.

Day One

Day one covered 100 miles between Houston and La Grange.
(Photos above catch the highlights.)

The day started overcast and rainy, but by lunch time had turned to sunshine. It was gorgeous! Scenery enveloped us as we rode through Saturday with green fields and wild flowers. It smelled like Spring.

After the first 40 miles or so, it got REALLY hard. This was kind of scary because I was not even half-way to the finish for the day. I stopped at every single break point and made it through.

Thanks to my friends from the David Weekly Team that caught me between the last two break points. I was about to give up when you rode up beside me and struck up a conversation. I wouldn't have made it without you.

I crossed the finish line 100 miles and 10 hours later, and I immediately started crying...then tried to hold back the tears to maintain my dignity (it didn't work). I had run a marathon the year before, and as far as I was concerned, what I had just accomplished on this Saturday was just as hard!

I only found enough time to shower and eat before my body needed to turn in for the night. Accommodations are shown in the photos: a sleeping bag...on the ground :-)


Day Two

The second day started at 5:00 AM. That's how early I needed to wake up to make it through the pancake line! It was worth it...yummy pancakes (but not as good as Gareth's)! We started for Austin a few hours later, about 7:30 AM.

It was a much easier day. We rode 65 miles instead of 100. Not quite as scenic, but definitely not as hard. I made some new friends, tried to ride in a pace line or two (which I found out is much easier than riding alone), and made it to Austin by 2:30 PM!

I don't know what it is about me with finish lines, but I cried...again.

Gareth found me at the finish...


...and we drank a celebratory beer with a couple of his friends.



This may have been the most physically challenging weekend of my life.
Cheers! To meeting challenges! To good causes! To good friends!

A Girls' Night With the Bachelor

I finished the requirements for my degree last Friday!

I presented my work to the faculty, collected signatures, and rushed to the Graduate Office by the 5pm deadline. It is tradition in my family to get stuff in right under the wire (I know the fam is proud that this tradition continues!).

What finishing my work means in my life tonight is this...The Bachelor!

A group of my girlfriends has been getting together every Monday since the start of the season to watch this show. I have seen the emails go around, I've heard about the plans and the food, I've heard stories of past "viewings", and...

Tonight I won't miss it!

It's not really about the show, although I am certain that I will be entertained! I just can't wait to see my friends again!! I can't wait to drink a margarita and talk about life. Tell our stories, listen to good music, make plans for future FUN to be had!

It feels like I've been missing out on life.

With the degree behind me, I'm hoping for more nights like tonight. A night with my girlfriends. A night just for us...

A Graduate? A Graduate. A Graduate!

I first decided that I would apply to the Sport Management graduate program in Kinesiology at The University of Texas in the Spring of 2003.

I was going through a very difficult transition at the time and found myself asking, for the first time in a very long time...

"What is it that I want to do with my life?". I didn't know the answer...

I decided to consider what I loved. Since the time I was a young child, it was my experience with sport that inspired me. I did not know what I would do, but I decided to head in the direction of sport...Sport Management.

I did not take the typical 2-year route. I started out as a part-time student for two semesters. After those two, I enrolled full-time for two semesters. After one year as a full-time student, I was offered a full-time job with the Athletics Department. It was an offer I could not refuse. I had 2 more courses to complete and a thesis left to write. I took one semester and a summer to finish the courses...and then I stalled out.

The thought of writing a thesis paralyzed me. I could not get myself to think about it without breaking into a cold sweat. I changed advisors two times before finding the right fit and the right topic. I took one semester off, then postponed again mid-way through the following semester.

I started wondering if I would ever get this done?!

With the support of my friends and family. With the encouragement of my advisor, I have attempted to tackle this project this semester!

Where do I stand?...

Four years later...after a lot of procrastination, after a lot of resistance (from myself), after a lot of prodding and work...I am doing it! I have a few final touches to make today. Then, I have a presentation on Friday.


This entire semester I have wanted to believe that I could do this...all the time being terrified that I couldn't. This week, I'm starting to believe. I'm starting to see the sun through the clouds and feel for the first time that I might actually do this.

Believe it or not -- I am about to graduate!!