Summit Avenue, St. Paul

After church and pictures I decided to head to the Science Museum on Minnesota. I got to the corner and there was a wreck. After taking a picture of the firemen/truck, I flipped a u and tried to find a better way there. This opened up a great opportunity. I am so glad I went there. The houses are absolutely beautiful! The houses were built in the 1800's (I think) by the river merchants. I think I could live there (of course, not in winter).

4th of July

After I dried off from my morning run, I headed back to St. Paul. I decided to stop at the Cathedral of St. Paul. It was too beautiful to pass up. Then after a few pictures I couldn't pass up the mass inside. I ended up being a good girl and going to church. The service was nice and the priests were quite friendly. Such a beautiful, peaceful place. I could be a really good Catholic if I lived here.

Finish of week one

Been busy. I've been able to run or walk every day. Today I ran a 4 mile race along the Mississippi River. It rained, misted, and poured for the whole thing. My clothes are still wet! I just got race results. I placed 41st overall (105 runners), 11th for women, and 1st in my age group! I may have to move here. There's no Jill to beat me!

I hear this is what they call humidity! Hah!

Yesterday I went to the Twins game. They have a new outdoor field and it is beautiful. They lost but it was a good game.

Now I am headed back to St. Paul to check out The Taste of Minnesota and also to check out the archdiocese of St. Paul. Absolutely beautiful grounds.

Day 2

Well work was fine today. I have lots to learn about this new portfolio, but the people I work with are nice. I found out I don't have to work next Monday. Bummer, now what do I do? I went for a run right after work since it was only 75 degrees outside. The course is 3.9 miles long. Not bad at all. On my critter count, in that direction, I saw one little bunny, a red bird (cardinal?), and two butterflies. Animals here come out during the day. Who would have thought it? Here are some pictures from my evening walk to the south. There is a park with baseball fields and little gardens.

That bridge up there goes across I94. Lets' just say I had a hard time breathing by the time I got across it. I don't like how high it was over the freeway. The worst part was I had to go back across it. This shot made me think "where's the ballgame?" Summer at home would find all the fields filled with men playing softball.

OK, that's all for today. Tonight I think I'll close the shades all the way so the sun doesn't wake me at 5:00 a.m. Yuck!

Minnesota day 1

Got up at 4:45 this morning. Brad drove me to Vegas. Walked the airport waiting for my flight. Smooth flight, right on time. Got rental car. Followed directions of gate man at car rental place (thanks for letting me know about construction). Checked in at hotel. Unpacked. Went out familiarizing myself with the area. Found Kohls, Target, Cub Foods, IHOP, Applebees, Subway, A & W (I know where I'm eating this week). Had eggs and pancakes for dinner. Came back to room and decided to go for a walk. Took my camera and here is what I saw:

Tomorrow I will run the same trail that I walked tonight. It shouldn't take near as long. It will be about a 4 mile run. There were tons of people out walking, bike riding, and roller blading on the trail. Can't imagine that many people out in our desert heat doing the same thing.

I'm off to shower and iron tomorrow's outfit. Then I'm turning in early. Have to be at work at 7:45.

Creative Juices are flowing

I have had some creative time lately, especially this weekend. Here are two of my recent creations.

I have been busy with summer school. I am enjoying my class. They are a good group of kids. There are only four more days of summer school left. I will be glad when it is done. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm done with work. I have another 3 weeks of that, but this time I get to travel to Minnesota. I will be scoring National Board portfolios in Brooklyn Center, MN. It is a suburb of Minneapolis. That means I will soon be visiting the Mall of America. Can you hear the angel chorus singing in the background? I will also be running a 4 mile race on July 4th in St. Paul. I plan to keep busy on weekends and explore the area. This should be a nice little break, even if I am working from 8 - 5 each day.

I might even try to post while I am in Minnesota. I plan on taking lots of pictures, even during my race.

Hmm, it's been a while

It's been quite a while since I have updated the blog. Baseball season was trying. The team won only two games during the regular season. The good news about that was that Brian pitched both of those games. He pitched just about every other game during the season. When he didn't pitch, he was in the outfield, usually center field. He did pretty good on the whole. By the end of the season, he earned honorable mention for our conference. Someone noticed how hard he was working. He was able to go to a tryout for juniors and seniors at Yavapai. According the dad/critic he did well. His fastball speed increased 9 miles an hour in less than a year. He was also able to throw all of his pitches for strikes. Let's hope that he can keep getting better and pay for school with his skills.

We have had a busy spring. Sayre made it through the semester at NAU. She ended up liking it quite a bit. She made a few friends and has made plans to room with Abby next semester. We became Godparents to Josh Bonivert (and unofficially to Marissa too). Sayre and I walked in the Relay for Life again. I made it past last year's total with 90 laps. That's 22.5 miles in just 7 hours and 45 minutes. Not bad. I was very tired and quite sore, but I made it. I don't know how many more years I will be able to increase my mileage though. It gets harder and harder.

More baseball

Look at this. Posting again in less than a month! Woo hoo me! More baseball this week for us. Brian played in Bullhead on Wednesday and did a great job. Even his dad (his harshest critic) had good things to say. He went in in relief and did very well. He kept it in control allowing no runs, one hit, seven strikeouts, and two walks. He got a mention in the paper for "an inspiring performance". See it here: http://kingmandailyminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=839&ArticleID=36684&TM=52967.4 In the paper was a close up of his face and the grand slam hitter's face.

Love that happy grin on his face. Normally he doesn't show happiness when he's on the mound. He is all business, but this game was a very happy occasion.

They played again on Friday against Boulder Creek. This game wasn't quite as nice. We kept ourselves together until the last inning and then lost it. It was not a great game. Brian did get one of two hits for his team, so all was not dismal. He was mentioned in the paper again this morning for that game. Check it out at this link: http://kingmandailyminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=839&ArticleID=36742&TM=53714.64

I've also had time to sit in the scrapcave and do some creating. Here are the pages I was able to create so far:

They are all baby Sayre pages. Four generations, meeting Aunt Dawnie, footprints on my heart, and family faces. I feel a creative surge and need to make more pages. Must go now.