5 years ago today, something wonderful happened...

Chris & I got married on Martha's Vineyard! Best day of our lives!
We've had some great adventures & I'm looking forward to many many many more!!

Long Island weekend

We found a sailboat that we were interested in checking out, so we made a last minute decision to head to Long Island for the weekend - where the sailboat was currently docked.

We left Friday at 5:00 & headed south!

On the ferry from New London, CT to Orient Point, NY

We didn't make our lodging easy or convenient - but it was pet friendly & I loved the location - it was in the hamptons!
Our room - simple, but nice

Toules loved the big picture window -he was up early & just stared outside

Out for our morning run - just a short one on Saturday b/c we had to run 14 miles on Sunday. Toules would be sitting that one out - but he loved the 3 mile cruise.

Family portrait :) Saturday was a beautiful day!

Stopping in the super quaint villages to get a morning coffee (we had amazing scones at the guest house)
I love towns like these!

And a little further down the road - we saw a small gathering of vintage race cars. So we had to stop & check them out!

And a little bit further down the road - some vineyards. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to stop & get some wine. Unusual for us - but we did make every effort on Saturday & Sunday. A good reason to head back!

And finally our reason for the weekend: First 10R. It wasn't in the water, which was a downer, but we were still able to climb all around it.

We spent a few hours viewing the boat & asking questions. The jury is still out. We really like the boat, but it's a serious racer & we aren't sure if we're ready. And it's a little expensive for a toy, especially when retirement is only a few years away. We're thinking about it...

On our way home, we headed to the beach. Just what I thought we would see in the hamptons: trees, bushes, and rooftops... They pay a lot for the view & keep it to themselves.

Since it was later in the day & off season, we found this place & parked. I couldn't believe we would actually get to see the ocean & beaches!
You could barely hear the surf & then you walked over a dune & there she blew - the Atlantic in all her glory! Big surf (for this area) & big sounds - loved it!

Toules was allowed too - yeah!

Sunday wasn't as pretty - cloudy & windy - but no rain. We got up & did our long run, then headed to town to get some food.

We took the long way back to the Orient Point ferry - cruising some other small towns.
Our route caused us to take 2 ferrys, as well.

South Ferry - from the South Fork to Shelter Island:

Then the North Ferry from Shelter Island to the North Fork:

We hung out in Greenport for a while - another quaint town, with lots of sailboats :)

Then we headed back to Orient Point & our ferry to the mainland. Our weekend was over far too quickly!

Last ride with Beauty???

My riding instructor decided to change horse barns. She had been teaching on Tuesday nights at a barn closer to her home, and decided to do all of her teaching from there. Being closer to home can make a huge difference, especially when you are at the horse barn every night!

She is a very popular instructor with a lot of awards under her belt. So, quite a few boarders decided to move their horses over to the new barn, so they could continue taking lessons from Cheryl. I think there was more to the boarders' story - but since I don't have a horse, I'm not privvy to all their information.

So once the owners found out that a lot of horses were leaving the farm, they asked Cheryl to leave immediately too :( My last lesson at the old farm was on Monday night. I'm also going to follow Cheryl & take lessons with her at the new barn/farm.

Fortunately I had taken my camera to my lesson, because I knew I would only have a few more lessons with Beauty. I just didn't know it was going to be my last lesson! boo hoo. I'm really going to miss her. She's so purty & sweet. Beauty is a lesson horse & is owned by the farm.

Getting her tacked up

The inside riding arena isn't the best place to take pictures - but a few came out pretty good:

After our ride - I usually put carrots in her food bucket, so she heads right over!

I'm really going to miss her!

A day at the beach

Last Sunday was so beautiful, we decided to head to the beaches!

Round Hill Beach

Our ride! (top up b/c I'm supposed to stay out of the sun, while I'm on the Lyme medication)
Steph & Toules at Round Hill

Chris & Toules

Heading over the causeway to Gooseberry Island - off Horseneck beach

Great paths

And beautiful vegetation

and even better views!!

I just love New England!!!

Lyme Disease - yuk!!

Monday morning, I get a call from our vet "Toules Lyme test came back negative. Please send us $105 for doing the test"

Monday afternoon, I get a call from my doctor "You tested positive for Lyme. We need you to take some pills for 30 days, then we'll test you again."

What were my symptoms? Well this rash apparently, although I just thought it was funky. It didn't hurt. I took this photo in mid August & sent it to Chris who was still on the west coast.

I was glad that I was diagnosed with something because I really had been feeling crappy. And I was hoping it wasn't just because I was getting older & shouldn't be exercising as much as we do.

I'm not sure when I got the tick bite because I never found a tick on me. But I am outside all the time, so it could have been any day. I started feeling poorly on our trip across country. I thought it was from sitting in the car all day, but now I know better.

My other symptoms: neck pain (I bought a new pillow & tried sleeping in our guest bedroom). I also had the neck pain during our Bonneville trip, but I thought it was from the hotel pillows. My neck pain was so bad at the end that I was having a hard time going to sleep, I could barely turn over; could not raise my arms over my head; and had a very difficult time getting out of bed. Chris had to help me dress quite a few mornings. And I still didn't go to the doctor...hmmmm

(I like my doctor - it's just a pain to get in to see her. And doctor's usually take one look at you, see that you're a triathlete & don't smoke, pat you on the knee, and tell you that you're the healthiest person they've seen all week.)

I also was very easily fatigued. Again, I thought it was from our cross country trip - too much time in the sun. I was starting to get irritated though, when I could barely get through a 4 mile run (and then felt like I had run 20...) I was telling myself "you're kidding: 4 weeks ago, you were doing an Ironman, now you can barely run 4 miles!!!" Oh the frustration, and still I didn't go to the doctor...

Then my hands and feet started cramping every once in a while. Not really painful, just really inconvenient. Then a couple nights with calf cramping - OUCH! Now those hurt! And I would wake the whole house up with my wimpering (ok, it was more like yelling/screaming/crying). Still no doctor's visit....

Finally a sore throat & jaw - with the pain moving up to my ear. Oh, I have a sinus infection! I better go to the doctor's and get the drugs because this won't go away on it's own. I did tell the doctor that I had been feeling poorly for the past month, so she took some blood samples. She said it was a big possibility that I had either Mono or Lyme. So it wasn't a sinus infection...

A week later, the results were in: Lyme. Yuk. Fortunately, I caught it early & should have no problem getting it cured. I've been taking the pills for over a week now & feel much much better! My neck pain went away after only a couple days on the pills (thank goodness - that was the worst!). I've been cramp free for 2 days now -yippee!!! I am still more tired than I normally would be - but I would say that I'm 90% back to normal! 7 mile run this morning with hill bounding - check!

Company relay

Chris' company does a relay event every year at the local park. It's a Bike; Boat/Kayak; Run. Chris was the team's runner for this year.

Hanging around at the start:


The cyclists getting ready to go!
Go Joe Go!

The lake where the kayak leg occurs:

Don bringing it home!

Waiting for Chris to start off on the run, after he gets the relay band from Don:

He took off fast - I barely got him!

Chris running to the finish - fast! 7:15 minute miles!

The tired & happy relay team! Congratulations!!

Sept half ironman: uncheck; car show: check; boat show: check

We decided to boycott the September half ironman. I hadn't been feeling well & Chris had such a hectic travel schedule, so our workouts had been sub par. We knew it wasn't going to be a pretty day. So, we went to another cool car show - put on by the Alter Boys.

We need one of these - antiquer!!!

It was in a great area with good food

and great scenery (besides the cars)

Still a lot of BSing going on. One reason we only go to a handful of shows each year. Too much standing & sitting around

Chris' dad's car that Dallas owns & drives now.

Chris & Dallas checking out the cars

What the?? a pickup with semi truck tires & can also tow???

Our pickup parked next to our friend Charlies car.

Next day we went to the Newport Boat show!!

Busy Newport Harbor!

Lots of great sailboats to see. We avoided the power boats - ack!

Fun size sailboats!

And there is plenty of gear to check out as well...

I think we're getting ready - we really miss our sailboat this fall. It's usually when we sail to the Vineyard; Nantucket; and Block Island. Our triathlon training is done, and we just enjoy being on the sailboat. Isn't happening this year though - thanks to a dumb powerboater.

After we got our hopes up at the boat show, we went to our favorite restaurant. We love the bar! And lucky for us - it was the last night for their summer sushi menu. The sushi guys were headed to the Bahamas for the winter. Sounds like a nice operation - maybe I need to check into that line of work...

Our view into Newport Harbor - from our bar stools.

Time to head home