Paris!

Oh boy! I got back from Paris on Sunday. What a trip. Here is a brief recap:

Monday: Arrived in Paris. Hotel was doing construction/remodel work on the bathrooms and wouldn't you know, we were in a room right next to one being remodeled. It was a joy trying to take a nap in that. Afterwards, we went out to explore and saw the Eiffel tower.

Tuesday: Don't wear green on St. Patrick's Day in Paris! We stuck out like a sore thumb! None of the Parisians were wearing green that day. Besides for that, we walked to the Notre Dame cathedral. Simply stunning. 

We then went to the Conciergie. This is where they used to hold people before being sent to the guillotine. Marie Antoinette was held here before she was sent to her death during the French Revolution. Following that, we went to see St. Chappell cathedral. If possible, that was more amazing than the Notre Dame!

That night, after a brief nap, we went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. We managed to be there to see the twinkling lights show on the Eiffel tower. 

Wednesday: We slept in - and it was very nice. Then, we went to the Louvre. We did see the Mona Lisa and Venus di Milo. How could you not?

That was really all we did on Wednesday as we were so wiped from the day before!

Thursday: We hung out around the Champs Elysees and looked  at the shops. The avenue is like Paris' version of Rodeo Drive. Later we walked to go see the Statue of Liberty. We also wanted to go to the top floor of the Eiffel tower, but the top floor was closed until Saturday, so we did not do that this night. But, a stunning view of the tower at sunset never the less. 

Friday:  We woke up pretty early and took the train to see the Palace of Versailles. We did not actually go in, we decided to see the gardens instead. They are so big! However, we were probably 3 weeks too early as not everything was open and the leaves and flowers were just starting to get their buds. But, I can only imagine what they look like in full bloom.

We also went to the opera house that the stories of the phantom of the opera came from and the outside of the Moulin Rouge.

Saturday was shopping and the visit to the top of the tower.

And, sadly, Sunday we left!

Week in review

Friday was good. We went to dinner with some friends then came back to our place and played some Super Smash Brothers Brawl and Pictureka. We've been hanging out with them a lot now and I have really been enjoying it. We used to go months at a time seeing each other, so it's a nice change.

Saturday was the NBA All Star Events. We went down on the light rail around 2:00 to check everything out, the atmosphere and such. We went in to the arena around 4:30 to see it all and find our seats (they were different for this event) and grab dinner before everything started at 6:00. We were seated right behind the hoop where the Slam Dunk contest was to take place. We were all given Slam Dunk score cards to rate the dunks and for those in my section, we got free Sprite Slam Dunk shirts. We had a great time. We took close to 300 pictures of the whole thing.

Sunday I went to the gym for my mini tri of the week. I swam the distance I need to swim during the race, then biked 5 miles, then ran/walked 1 mile. I was exhausted after that.  But, we were asked to go to a free event at the Desert Botanical Gardens to see Chihuly, the glass stuff that is in the lobby of the Bilagio hotel in Vegas. At this event it was all like cactus and such mixed in with the desert landscape. It was really very pretty.

This week is the return of the Suns. We have a new coach after firing our new one today after 51 games. Hopefully the team starts to turn things around, but only time will tell I guess.

In preparation for Paris, I'm getting my hair cut and colored. It needs it, I haven't had it done since October, but I've been putting it off until shortly before the trip. I'm thinking of something like this (my hair is shorter than this right now, but not by a whole lot): 

What do you think?

No joke:

Jason and I hung out with some friends last night. We had dinner at one guy's place then went to the Phoenix Symphony.

Anyway, this guy has a roommate named Ross. Ross has a sister. Her name is Monica. Ross also has a girlfriend. Her name? Yup. Rachel. Now, where are Joey, Chandler and Phoebe?

Great week

Last weekend my parents came out. It was the first time my mom got to see our house since our first full week in it and it was my dad's first time seeing the house at all. It was nice for them to get out here, especially at a time when its not 90+ degrees outside.

Saturday I took them to see some homes as they may sell their house soon and move out here. Saturday night we all went to Majerles for dinner before the Suns Bulls game. Our highlight was the Suns Locker Room tour during the 3rd quarter of the game. We go down to the court side club to start the tour and find out that our tour guide, for just the 2 of us, is former Sun, Mark West.  If you have ever been to the www.sunslockerroom.com website, the locker room really does look like that. I just didn't think that the ceiling would be as high as it was (besides for the fact that they have players that are 7 feet tall). We got to see the way they do  their game boards and leader boards and weight training boards. And, if you think Shaq's feet are huge, you have no idea until you actually see his shoes. A size 23 is HUGE!

Sunday we all just hung around the house until it was time to go to our friend's super bowl party. Sadly, the Cardinals lost, but they played really well. My birthday was Monday and really, it was just an additional day off. Though of course we did go to Oreganos for lunch. It was good as always.

My triathlon training is finally starting to really move. I re did my weight loss blog and turned it into a training blog and I hope that will really help.

Let's try something different

I'm going to try to make it a point to update this once a week. We'll see how that goes.

Last weekend we had some friends over for some Wii games. They also brought over the card game Munchkin. It was actually quite enjoyable. It was a lot of fun. We don't have friends over too often so we went out and bought more beer and made sure to make it a night.

This weekend my parents are coming out to visit. My mom came out in September the week after we moved but my dad hasn't been out yet. I'm excited for him to finally see our house. It was with (mainly) his generous gift to us for our wedding that enabled us to be able to buy the house. And, they are actually going to stay here. The other times my family has come out to visit they have stayed at hotels, so we'll see how it goes with them sleeping on the Ikea bed in the guest bedroom. Saturday morning they want to go look at the Del Webb community Fireside. Once again, my mom has already seen it, but my dad has not. With the economy, they are really thinking of selling their home now (or putting it on the market now) to move here and invest the rest of the money from their sale to their retirement. Then, Saturday night, we are off to the Suns and Bulls game.

The Suns have a virtual locker room. I think the website is www.sunslockerroom.com. A few weeks ago they had a contest (Jason goes there all the time) to find a hidden APS shirt in the locker room and if you did, you could enter a contest to win a tour of the actual locker room. Well, Jason found it, and after reading the rules, I also entered it. The day of the US flight into the Hudson, I got a call from the Suns. I won the tour. So, with the tour comes 2 lower level seats to the game. The game is this Saturday game against the Bulls, so my parents will take the lower level seats, we take our seats, then the tour is during the 3rd quarter of the game. I'm pretty excited about it!

And of course, Sunday is the Super Bowl. My parents can't stay the whole game, but they can stay through part of it. 

The triathlon training is coming along. I've got to get my work schedule straightened out so I can really begin training every day. I am going to do it, I just can't only train Saturday and Sunday.

Well, hopefully I'll check in next week, I'll be 28 then! I'm taking Monday off (post Cardinal victory perhaps, but really for my birthday) and then I'm off on Friday, so I should get on to recap everything.

Brief update

Christmas was good. Jason and I went to spend Christmas with my family in San Jose on Christmas Eve. The 26th we left and headed for Disneyland. After coming back for a quick 3 days, it was back to Disneyland for New Years Eve. Only, I had a fever of 102.5 the night of the 30th and the fever was still there on New Years Eve and into New Years Day. At least it wasn't my first New Years Eve at Disneyland.

We now have the Wii Fit and Guitar Hero, World Tour. Those have been fun. 

Otherwise, I finally got a bike! I'm so relieved. This past Monday we bought ourselves road bikes. Jason wanted one so he could ride with me and keep me motivated. So, now I have no excuse! The triathlon is on! May 9th, here we come!

Sunday we watched a good friend of ours run the half marathon at the PF Changs Rock N Roll marathon. Then afterward we went to her parents house to celebrate and watch the Cardinals punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. So, with that, I am taking my birthday, February 2, off of work. Because its my birthday, and because its the day after the Super Bowl.

I'm sure there's more, but I'm not sure at the moment. There's a brief update for you though!

Inspirations

Jason and I are on the SixthMan advisory board for the Phoenix Suns and their season ticket holders. Our first meeting was last Saturday before the Utah Jazz game. We are 2 of about 45 people, some of whom have had tickets for all 41 years, some of whom are in their second year, some full season, some half season. We met in one of the Suns War Rooms that sits right over the Casino Arizona Pavilion. The first meeting was mainly introductory, we all introduced ourselves and gave one suggestion or gripe that we had. Many ticket holders complained about the lack of leg room and when people need to get by them to get to their seats and the fact that their season tickets no longer come with perks when its time to renew their tickets. Sure, those are complaints, but they are not going to tear down the arena! And, they haven't needed any perks for renewing because there has been a wait for a few years for tickets thanks to the D'Antoni era. Silly people. I hope they wise up and learn to suggest something else.

In other news, a friend of mine decided recently to participate in a women's only sprint distance triathlon this coming May. I was listening to her talk about it and I thought, that I would not do a marathon, (no way I would want to run 26 miles!) but that a triathlon (especially since I did swim for so many years) sounds doable. This triathlon has a 1/2 mile swim, 14 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run. Not too bad. So, after some thought and talking with Jason and my mom, I am going to aim to do it as well. I hope she doesn't think I'm stealing her thunder, because that is not how I intended it. She just inspired me to jump in and do it too. The only thing standing in my way is getting a bike for the race. The bikes can be pretty expensive... I don't want to spend a whole lot of money on a bike if this is only going to be a one time thing. I figure if I do like it and enjoy it, I can always upgrade later. Anyone know where I can get a bike from? Nah, that's ok. I'll keep checking out craigslist and ebay for one. Hopefully that will do the trick.

Well, I'm off to a Wrapping party, time to hang out with friends and wrap presents and drink cider!