Day 2 - Monday, July 23

A 2hr jeep trip for the four of us would cost over $300. YIKES!!! We decided to drive to some scenic lookouts and maybe take a short hike before we leave. On our way to our first scenic lookout, we passed a jeep rental shop. Jim pulled in just for fun, and found out that it would only cost $125 for a 4hr jeep rental. We jumped at it!

Here are some of our photos jeeping through Sedona:

Look really closely... can you see who's driving? Cheryl said "I need to try this out. It's my future dream car! I'm definitely getting one of these!"

This time Jim is driving. Can you hear all the yelling going on? Or at least can you imagine it?


Here we are at a nice secluded stream... with about 500 other people. LOL! The water was freezing, but it was nice to wash the dust off before starting on our way back to Flagstaff.

The plan for tomorrow (after an overnight in Flagstaff) is to head through the Petrified Forest National Park, and then on to the Canyon De Chelly National Monument.

We are having a great time!
I'll post more photos then if I can!

Day 1 - Sunday, June 22

Hi All! We got a bright and early start... NOT! We left the house at 10:30am with our two navigators in the back seat. Doesn't this look like trouble? LOL!

We are on our way to Arizona... And there is a whole lot of desert inbetween here and there. It got up to 111F. Gas on the California side of the state line got up to $5.19. As soon as we drove over the border into Arizona, gas dropped to $3.89. It's a good thing we had the Matrix. We were able to wait to Arizona before getting gas!


We decided to drive all the way into Sedona. We got there early evening. It was wonderfully cooler, only about 89F... And beautiful! Here is the view from our hotel balcony. I'll take more photos tomorrow in the daylight.

Tonight we are going to walk around town and checkout some hiking trails or jeep trips for tomorrow.

We are on our way!

We're starting our trip to Colorado. We're not getting a very early start, since we got home so late last night. (Galaxy blew a 2-0 lead, and tied 3-3, grrrrr....) I'm taking the laptop, so I'll try and post photos along the way!

My hubby took the van in for a checkup last week and found out that it was leaking gas. The part that is leaking is a part that was recalled. So, we took the van to the dealer, and they can't even look at the van until next Tuesday! We are taking the Matrix. We won't have as much room, but we'll get better gas mileage!

Scrapping the Music - Cinderella

I haven't done a Scrapping the Music challenge in ages, even though I check their blog weekly. This weeks song is by one of my favorite artists, Steven Curtis Chapman... and I had the perfect photo for it. Since this week was so full with end of school year stuff, and getting ready for vacation, I opted for a quick digital layout. I wish I could remember where I got this free template from. It made up really quick and easy!

Congratulations Cheryl!

High School finals are finished, and for one of my kids, High School is over! Yesterday was Cheryl's graduation. It was almost 100F on the field. With all those kids in black robes, it's a good think that the ceremony was only a little over an hour, or the kids would be dropping from heat stroke. There were over 600 kids in her graduating class (and only one beach ball). Can you see her? LOL!



Here she is!

Presenting the graduating class of 2008!

Cheryl and Chris.

Say Cheese!!!

Happy Father's Day!

We had a nice Father's Day yesterday. My hubby went surfing in the morning, then came home and made us breakfast! LOL! He likes eggs for breakfast, and I don't cook eggs for breakfast. In the afternoon, we had lunch at my folks house. Here is my dad with his Father's Day present. Now when he falls asleep in the chair outside, he won't fall out. We had to cut our visit short, since my son and daughter are still studying for finals. It's the last week of school!

I can't believe that I didn't take any photos of my hubby on Father's day. I'm such a bad scrapper! I'll have to take extra photos of him when we take our vacation next week.

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day!

Half-Marathon Training - Week #5

I made all my goals last week. Yahoo!!! Here are the training goals for this week.
Here is my schedule for this week:
SUN - off
MON - 11 miles
TUE - off
WED - 40-60 min
THU - off
FRI - 40-60 min
SAT - 25 min

Half-Marathon Training - Week #4

It's only the third week, and I missed a day!
Bad me!
Here is my schedule for this week:
SUN - off
MON - 7 x 800m
TUE - off
WED - 40-60 min
THU - off
FRI - 40-60 min
SAT - 25 min

Wildlife...

I didn't take this photo, because I wasn't running with my camera yesterday. But, look at what I found stretched across my path... a >3.5' gopher snake. It was blocking all but a few inches of the path. I tried throwing rocks at it to get it to move, but I kept missing... LOL! They really are harmless. I finally ended up stepping over its tail.

Supposedly, rattlesnakes are on the rise. I haven't seen one yet this year, but I'm keeping my eyes peeled!

Soccer!

The last tournament of the season, found Mission in the bottom on the pool. The first game was a loss against Hacienda Hts, 0-2. The second game was a tie against Diamond Bar 1-1. The third game was Mission Viejo against Mission Viejo. Both teams were tied for last... the winner would go on to play in the finals. Well, the game ended in a 3-3 tie. So, both teams didn't make playoffs.


Oh, well... But here's the big news! We have another left-midfielder in the family!!! The coach decided to try Chris at left-mid (the same position that his sister plays). He did great! With all the running he does, he didn't even get tired. Look at him stretch his legs in the photo! And being in the midfield made him feel more apart of the game.

Chris has decided after this weekend to play soccer again in the fall, as a mid-fielder! So, soccer is not over for the Moore family as we thought. Cheryl is even going to play again this fall in AYSO U19, and her adult coed league.

Prom Night!

Last night was Prom Night, and here's my pretty girl!
Here is how prom went:
1pm - start getting ready
4:15pm - leave for friend's house
4:30pm - meet up with 25 friends
5pm - limo pick up
limo driver gets lost
6:15pm - arrive at downtown disney for dinner (reservations were for 6pm)
8:30pm - dinner is finished (prom started at 8pm)
limo driver gets lost
10pm - arrive at Long Beach Convention Center (prom doors closed at 9:30)
beg teacher to let them into the prom
12:00 - prom over
limo driver gets lost getting back to the freeway
1am - say goodnight to friends
1:30am - Home at Last!

Cheryl said that they didn't have enough money to tip the limo driver. I told her that's just as well... doesn't sound like he deserved one. (Who could possibly get lost going to downtown Disney???)

I asked if she had a good time, she said it was a real adventure. She's not sure if she had fun yet... I told her give it time. It'll be a great story someday. During the telling of the story, Cheryl kept mentioning a boy named Alfonso. Hmmm... I'm waiting to hear more about Alfonso....

Half-Marathon Training - Week #3

I'm still following Galloway's half-marathon training plan. It's been only two weeks, and frankly I'm getting bored... and FAT! Well, okay, not FAT... but I have put on some weight around my middle (you know muffin top area). The mileage on Galloway's plan is less than I have been doing on my own. The good news is that my knee problems have all cleared up. So, maybe Galloway's plan is doing some good after all.
I made all my goals last week.
Here is my schedule for this week:
SUN - off
MON - 9.5 miles
TUE - off
WED - 40-60 min
THU - off
FRI - 40-60 min
SAT - 25 min

I think it's time for another "Run to Woodsfield" map.
Since Galloway cut my mileage down, I'm not making as much progress as I wanted. I'm still out in the New Mexico desert, west of Santa Fe.

Diamond Border Punch

One more crafting share... When I bought the Threading Water Punch two days ago, I also got this punch: the Diamond Border Punch. I have a weakness for gadgets (be they scrapping gadgets, kitchen gadgets, or whatever...) One round border punch and one sharp border punch, perfect! That's all I'll ever need. I tried this punch out, and tried punching both sides like I did for the Threading Water punch. I had to cut the strip just a touch wider (15/16" wide). I love the results! It looks like lace.
Here's a graduation card that I made for my neice.

Threading Water Border Punch

You know how scalloped borders are the height of scrapping style? You can purchase scalloped border sheet paper, scalloped border strips in different colors, cut your own (completely undesirable), or punch it by hand with a corner punch.

BUT what if you could make pretty scalloped borders quickly and easily. This little tool is taking the scrapping world by storm. I got mine from Michael's yesterday. The young man at the counter, stopped and looked at the punch I was buying. He said that he sold 4 within the last 4 hours, and he wanted to see what it was.



This will give you an idea about the size. It's very easy to use... just line up the edge and punch. After you punched it once, slide the paper over and line up the punched pattern to the silhouette on the punch base, and keep punching.



Here's a cute idea that I heard about from an MB. If you cut a paper strip 7/8" wide, punch one side, then punch the other, you get a cute circle border.







I used it right away for the border on this layout. I had some trouble getting the corners to line up nice, so I had to cover the corners with die-cut circles. I'm sure with trial and error, I'll get the corner measurement correct.



And best of all this little tool cost me $8.11 at Micheal's using my 50% off coupon. I just love a deal!

Running Today - 8.35 miles

Here are some pictures from my run today. I went down to Laguna Beach to run along the cliffs, but they had the cliff trail closed at about 0.5 miles outside town. Here are a couple of photos that I took from the top of the cliffs:





So I went back into town to run, and stopped by my favorite store in the world! You know how some husbands will take their wives out to dinner for Mother's Day, Birthday's, or Anniversaries? Well, my husband takes me to.... The Candy Baron!!!





And that's only a picture of half the store! It's probably a good thing I didn't have my wallet with me... Hehehe

Half-Marathon Training - Week #2

I made all my goals last week.
Here is my schedule for this week:
SUN - off
MON - 5 x 800m (interval training)
TUE - off
WED - 40-60min (pace)
THU - off
FRI - 1 mile time trial + 3 miles
SAT - 25 min (easy)

Happy 50th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

My mom and dad celebrated their 50th anniversary last night at Todai. Todai is an all you can eat Japanese buffet, and the food is amazing! My dad heads straight for the crab legs, with my son following close behind. My daugher prefers the hot food, while I head for the sushi. There's something there to please everyone.
Unfortuntely, my hubby came down with a stomach bug just before we left, so he had to stay home. He was bummed... He loves Todai! That's my daughter in the background... what a bug!

After dinner we headed to my brother's and sister-in-law's house for cake and champagne. My brother gave a nice toast.


Everyone was having a great time. You can tell because I got a rare picture of my son and daughter together smiling! LOL! Below is one of the kids all playing together. I left my two at my brother's house to spend the night.

Half-Marathon Training - Week #1

I'm starting half-marathon training today.
The half-marathon is in 15 weeks! My son and I are both running in it. My target time is 2:30. I'm hoping that's realistic for me (August is going to be very hot in Anaheim). My son is trying for under 2 hours.

I need all the encouragement I can get!

Here's the schedule for my first week:
SUN: off
MON: 8 miles
TUE: off
WED: 40-60 minute run (pace)
THU: off
FRI: 40-60 minute run (speed)
SAT: 25 minute run (easy)

I think it's time for a new progress map to Woodsfield, OH.
Not much changed from last time {sigh}. I'm still in New Mexico.

Shopping for the Prom

Cheryl has never been to Prom and she missed Winter Formal this year because of our Mammoth vacation, so I told her we would go all out for Prom this year (her senior year).


We started with the dress. We went to the Jessica McClintock outlet in Montclair. That's about 60 miles away. It was well worth the trip. Cheryl was looking for a short dress, and they had lots of short dresses. BUT the best part is that all short dresses were on sale this weekend for $20! Every single short dress was $20!!! Here were Cheryl's two favorites. She decided on the silver one. She sure has grown up a lot in the last year... last year she would have definitely picked the orange one.


Since we made out so well on the dress, we decided to go crazy on accessories! Well, not too crazy... the hair ornament is Swarovski Crystal, but the place that we bought it from will up-do her hair the day of the Prom for free! The earrings were from Chloe's. We searched and searched for silver shoes. Cheryl couldn't find anything that she loved, so decided to wear the black shoes she already owns.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there! I made a card for my mom. My sister-in-law is picking up her present. She said she got the easy part. I told her I had the easy part, LOL! I haven't made a card in ages and it was fun! Can you believe it took me all day? I am way out of card making mode.

Here is my Mother's Day present from my hubby. He's in the kitchen making breakfast as I type this, AND he sharpened my garden clippers this morning (I asked him to do that about 3 weeks ago). That's so sweet. My son is doing is homework today with no arguement... greatly appreciated! My daugher is still sleeping. She was coming down with the cold that my son brought home to share. For lunch we are picking up Pollo Loco and heading down to my mom and dad's house.

I hope everyone has a great day!

Weekly Sports Report

Chris had two away games this week. Saturday was against San Clemente. There was an accident on the freeway and about 25% of the team was late! Also, their goalie had been red carded last game, so was not allowed to play this game. It was sad for them... they played hard, but lost 0-3.
Sunday they played a team of BIG boys in Foothill Ranch! Look at Chris against the player he was marking. Most of these boys drove themselves to the game, and had serious facial hair. I thought the team was going to get killed! It was a very physical game, but they won 4-1!... and they fought for every single one of those points!

The season is over! Cheryl is sooooo happy! LOL! They were handed two more losses this week. Against Tesoro, they lost 7-9. Against Aliso Viejo, they lost 9-14. She doesn't care... the season is over! Now I just need to finish the video show for the Lacrosse banquet and we are DONE! No more Lacrosse... ever!

Still Running...

Chris and I start training for the Disneyland half-marathon... through the "Happy Mouse Kingdom" (LOL!, that's from the "True Meaning of Smekday," the book I'm reading now.)
The half-marathon is Sunday, August 31. The training program runs 16 weeks, so we start training next weekend!

I'm one fourth of the way to Woodsfield, OH... I just crossed the border into New Mexico, passing through Zuni indian territory. I don't think I'll make it to Ohio by Christmas, as I originally planned {pout}, but I'll keep trying!