Bicycles & Babies

Last Saturday, on our way up to Carmel for our friends Sarah and Jeff's wedding, Gearry and I got the chance to stop by my cousin Ashley and her husband's house in Indy to see the newest addition to our family, Shayna Stevens. I'm not a baby person -- as you probably know -- but she is honestly one of the cutest babies I have ever seen! This picture of her was taken when she was still in the hospital. I actually worked up the nerve to hold her and it was actually hard to put her down! Uh-oh... maybe I am finally developing that whole maternal instinct thing? Eh, it's possible, but I promise, folks -- unless God has other not-so-funny ideas -- it won't be for several years.

If you have checked out my goals for this summer in the right hand column of this blog, you might have noticed that one of them is complete my first triathlon. After I graduated in May and rowing was through, I thought that I would just run to stay in shape and for fun, since it is something I really enjoy, and maybe swim from time to time. Well, the competitor in me went with that idea for about two whole weeks and then I realized I am the type of person who needs something to train for; needs that element of athletic competition to be happy. I made the decision to start training for triathlons, since I love swimming and running and have always wanted to get into biking. I have the best place ever to train for them here at Eagle Pointe (where our new house is... but more on that in another post!) and a great cardio and endurance fitness base on which to build from my last four years of intense training. Today Gearry and I went bicycle shopping, as I need a good road bike for training and competition. It's incredible how much competitive racing bikes cost, but I think we found "the one" and I just have to wait until Monday to see if I'm going to be able to make it all happen. It's a Giant OCR3, a great entry-level road bike for a good price:



I have *fingers crossed* that I'll be able to get it... for now I have borrowed my friend Carly's road bike for the day so that I can go for a long training ride with Stebby, who is on her way in as I write from Columbus, Ohio! We're meeting friends tonight for some Dave & Rae fun at the Bird and then getting an open-water swimming lesson tomorrow before she heads back. She is also training for a sprint triathlon (we didn't realize we both were until today!) so it is nice to have a periodic training buddy, even if they do live 3.5 hours away.

- Stacey