Backpacking

We assembled our packs and headed up to the mountains to enjoy a beautiful Memorial Day. The best part was that we bought our little 80 lb. 7 month old doggie his own backpack (saddle bags). He carried his own food and water - and frisbee just in case things got dull. He loved every minute of it and was so well behaved. When we were hiking he'd look back at either Matt or I (whoever was in the back) to make sure we weren't falling too far behind. The weather was perfect, and our hamstrings were a burnin'.

Matt and his big guns make an appearance.

Enjoying the magestic scenery

What's a camping trip without a fire?

What's not to love?

Lake Powell

Last week we went to Lake Powell. I love lake Powell. I learned how to wakeboard and filet fish. We slept on the roof of our house boat every night and pondered the heavens-I miss that. We also read, watched movies and ate ourselves fat on homemade ice cream. As we were watching "The Ring," a real bat flew into our room and freaked the crap out of us for several minutes. When does that happen? Exactly. Later that night my Dad tried to wake me up to help him with our drifting houseboat. I don't really remember much but as I awoke I realized I was chambering an upkick targeted at my dad's head. He said I had been yelling, punching and kicking the air for about 20 seconds previously. I can't prove it but I'm sure the bat had something to do with my violent sleepwalk.

NightShine Gala!

So... I've been planning for Saturday April 24, 2010 for at least a year - and fortunately it came and went with much success! Garth Brook's Teammates for Kids Foundation & The Aikman Foundation built a Child Life Zone inside of Denver Health. These are areas for kids being treated in the hospital to just be kids - play, create, make music, cook, etc... We are the 7th Zone in the nation, and the only one in the Rocky Mountain region. Because of this connection Garth Brooks agreed to perform live at our Gala. Additionally, Denver Health is celebrating 150 years of existence, so our event had to be over the top! I found myself in the fortunate events manager position and put all the details together.

Before the actual black-tie evening we had a press conference & ribbon cutting ceremony at Denver Health. We had at least 1500 people there - The school of rock performed (age 11-17) as did a Jr. High mariachi band. I also had girl scouts post the colors, and they were mostly kindergartners - so cute. While all of this was happening there were also two VIP parties happening inside - it was basically insanity, but went off without a hitch.

Garth Brooks, Sharon Magness Blake (event chair), Dr. Gabow (CEO), Troy Aikman cutting the ribbon.

Troy Aikman addressing the crowd while many professional athletes and Garth Brooks watch on.

Meeting Troy & Rhonda Aikman

okay, not my best picture... go easy on me. But I am standing with Garth Brooks who was totally impressive, talked to everyone in the room and felt like the guy next door.

Note Troy, Garth, Trisha Yearwood, and our cute niece Avery exploring the Zone.

We converted the stock show arena into a black-tie affair. As you entered on the concourse looking down onto the floor it was a breathtaking site!

It was just Garth on stage with his guitar - he was AWESOME! He basically talked about his musical influences - played all kinds of covers and was down to earth and kind all day! He covered everyone from Doobie Brothers, to Elton John, to James Taylor, to Billy Joel, to George Strait, to Simon & Garfunkel, and some old school country that I didn't know.

The room from one of the tables.

The sweet part about being in charge was that Matt and I watched the show from the stairs on the right - yes...the ones leading up to the stage.

We had a great turnout, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Garth & Trisha, Kyle Orton, Brian Griese, Shjon Podein, Jeremy Bloom, Haven Moses, Billy Thompson, Karl Mecklenberg are all athletes that were there. We also had a lot of great corporate presidents, media, etc... it was great for our hospital & the Denver Health Foundation!!

Trisha joined him on stage for two songs.

Jonny & Kaylene came out to help - and volunteered basically the whole day (they rule!). Jon was hit on by some cougars - work it, and they were both extremely helpful!!! Thanks guys. We raised around $2.2 million dollars that night - woot woot!!

Trap-easy!

Saturday we met up with the Imperial Flyers, the longest running trapeze group in the US. There was a 70 year old dude rockin' the aerial apparatus like no one's business. We didn't own it but did manage to pull off some knee hangs and a catch or two. We were a little surprised what a great core/back workout it turned out to be. For so many reasons I wish I had joined the circus as a youngster. No, I'm not joking. We had so much fun with the flyers. A stellar experience to be sure and one which we hope to do often.

Easter; belated

Easter weekend was full of festivities, delicious eats, egg fights, keeping Rocco from eating all of the food or pummeling any of the little kids, and general conference. All in all, a wonderful time.

The two blue Matt Jones' show off their bee eggs before the fight.

The face off.

Many winners had eggs that made it to the fifth round.

The ultimate head banging champion who won the egg fight and proceeded to parade around the room on Uncle Matt's shoulders to Chariots of Fire.

Uncle Jimmy's soda - the best and most uplifting soda around.

My winning egg - took me to the fourth round.

Our handsome doggie is up to about 53 pounds, and still all cuddles.

Random

How many of the World's Top 100 Wonders have you been to?

1 Pyramids of Egypt 26 Chichen Itza 51 Pompeii 76 Mont St Michel 2 Great Wall of China 27 Petra 52 Kashmir Valley 77 Topkapi Palace 3 Taj Mahal 28 Nile River Cruise 53 Prague Old Town 78 Carnival in Rio 4 Serengeti Migration 29 Easter Island 54 Golden Temple 79 Stonehenge 5 Galapagos Islands 30 Cappadocia 55 Amalfi Drive 80 Angel Falls 6 Grand Canyon 31 Colosseum of Rome 56 Meenakshi 81 Yellowstone NP 7 Machu Picchu 32 Fjords of Norway 57 Chartres Cathedral 82 Santorini 8 Antarctica Cruise 33 St Peter's Basilica 58 Mezquita Cordoba 83 Matterhorn 9 Iguazu Falls 34 Egyptian Museum 59 Damascus Old City 84 New York Skyline 10 Bali 35 Borobudur 60 Dubrovnik 85 Marrakesh 11 Amazon Rain Forest 36 Valley of the Kings 61 Uffizi Gallery 86 Eiffel Tower 12 Ngorongoro Crater 37 Hong Kong 62 Rio Panoramic View 87 Ladakh 13 Great Barrier Reef 38 Sistine Chapel 63 Golden Pavilion 88 Niagara Falls 14 Angkor Wat 39 Burj Khalifa 64 Delphi 89 British Museum 15 Victoria Falls 40 Alhambra 65 St. Basils Cathedral 90 Burj al Arab 16 Forbidden City 41 Louvre Museum 66 Abu Simbel 91 Yangtze Riv. Cruise 17 Bagan 42 Canals of Venice 67 St Mark's Basilica 92 Yosemite NP 18 Karnak 43 Versailles 68 Florence Cityscape 93 Ayers Rock 19 Teotihuacan 44 Carlsbad Caverns 69 Kremlin 94 Hermitage Museum 20 Banaue Rice Terr. 45 Mecca 70 Varanasi/Ganges 95 Chambord Chateau 21 Bora Bora 46 Kathmandu Valley 71 Li River Cruise 96 Lijiang/Shangri La 22 Acropolis 47 Metropolitan Mus 72 Shwedagon Stupa 97 Neuschwanstein 23 Potala Palace 48 Mt Everest 73 Sahara Desert 98 Banff NP 24 Jerusalem Old City 49 Temple Em. Buddha 74 Leaning Tower Pisa 99 San Francisco 25 TerraCotta Warriors 50 Hagia Sofia 75 Baalbek 100 Portofino

I consider myself fairly well traveled but I haven't even seen half of the list. Good to know there's a lot more 'splorin' to do.

No, Rocco is not a pitbull or a shar pei but as of last night, he is a graduate.

I decided not to run the marathon in Athens mostly because I don't want to dedicate a lot of time to something I hate doing. Cardio is a necessary evil but not an activity I want to do for more than a few hours a week. Instead, I'll continue to bulk for the next couple of months. Right now, I'm 213lbs. I hope to get up to 235-240 before I start cutting.

I'd like to learn more about meditation. The older I am, the more I love animals. It's been hard not being able to get pregnant. Living a boring life is one of my biggest fears. I generally hate pop music. I'm grateful for digital photography. Life is more gray than black and white.