Last Spring, I set some goals for myself. My biggest goals were to complete a triathlon, ride 100 km, and finally ride 100 miles on my bike. I am happy to report that I knocked out goal number three on Saturday! It was long, and hard, but very satisfying. I loved the first 25 miles. I wasn’t quite as enthusiastic during the next 30 or so. By the time I hit mile 65, I was hating life! That continued until about mile 80 where I seemed to catch my second wind and it all became fun again. The un-official beer stop at mile 97 was the highlight of the day. These “good ole boys” from some little garage along the route set up a great spread of hot links, potato salad, beans, and of course, free beer. I have no idea what brand it was but it NEVER tasted better. The last few miles flew by! Here’s a pic:

The Home Place.  It’s a long ways from anywhere.  Twelve miles from Freedom, which in turn is 30 miles from the nearest city.  It’s windy, bare, and strangely beautiful out here.  To get here, you drive down a lonely two-lane highway over rolling hills, past countless dirt roads to God knows where, your only companions are the windmills–both old and new.  Some of the old ones are still in action, pumping out precious water for the livestock that never seems to be around.  The new ones are always active, pumping out electricity for far away cities.

The road out to the home place would be easy to miss if it weren’t for a sign pointing to Chimney Rock Road. Mom tells me that the road goes to a rock formation shaped like a chimney…that fell before I was born.  I’m not sure why they feel the need for the big sign pointing to a rock formation that doesn’t exist any more, but I’m glad it was there.  After leaving the blacktop you drive a couple of miles on gravel until even that gives way to a dirt road.  That’s right.  A real DIRT road.  No gravel or sand, just red dirt.  Even just an inch of rain would turn this road into an impassable quagmire.  Finally, we arrive at an open gate that leads into an ordinary field.

This is the tract of land where my mother grew up.  I had been here once before, when I was still in High school.  Back then, the house was barely standing and it was totally surrounded by wheat.  Today the field lies fallow.  Whoever owns it now has stored some tractors there, but the nondescript pasture was otherwise deserted.  We are more interested in what lay hidden in the tall weeds behind the equipment.  Chris and I tromped through the jungle of 6 foot tall weeds.  The kids stayed with Granny out in the mowed down part of the field.  We came across the foundation and the front porch.  Granny called out directions to us as we explored the remains of the Balk farmhouse.  We saw the old water cooler which is an old-timey air conditioner.  They are big metal boxes that weighed a ton which is probably why it is still here.  In the kitchen we found the pipes that fed the sink and a rusty box that I assume was the refrigerator.  The coolest thing to me was the old stove.  It had definitely seen better days but it was easy to imagine Granny Balk teaching my mom how to cook gravy or some other country-style meal.

We finally pried ourselves away and headed back to the car.  The kids were beyond ready to get back in the air conditioning.  Looking around, I can see why some people are drawn to a life out here.  You had to work hard to earn a living in a place where the summers are hotter and the winters are colder and its ALWAYS windy, but if you like peace and quiet, this is the place for you.  I felt a connection with my past.  It was a great feeling.  I posed for a picture with mom.  She looked satisfied.  I know I was.

Chris has been hard at work setting up camp…in the kids’ rooms! They LOVE these things. Both kids are sleeping in their tents tonight.

Our friend, Kristina has decided to document her journey through her 31st year on God’s green Earth. What better way to do it than to write a blog? Check her out early and often! Good Luck, K! Here’s the URL:

http://kristinayork.blogspot.com/

Introducing a new category: Big Green Foot! Chris and I set a goal of growing something that we could actually eat this summer. We moved too late to plant a garden in the Spring like all the normal people so we are having to settle for a summer/fall garden. We built a raised bed “Lasagna Garden” that is 4×4 feet and 10 inches deep. We got it filled up and ready for plants today and so I thought it would be a good time to introduce you guys to our little patch of heaven. OK, so it’s not real lush and pretty just yet, but just you wait!!

More pics here.

1 cup dry Couscous
1 cup Chicken broth or stock
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen sweet corn kernels, thawed
1 medium red pepper, diced
6 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Lime Juice
1 1/2 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper

In a large saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Stir in couscous. Remove from the heat.  Cover and let stand for 5-10 minutes or until broth is absorbed. Fluff with a fork.

Into the cooked couscous, stir the beans, red pepper, onions and cilantro. In a small bowl, whisk the oil, lime juice, vinegar, cumin, salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad and toss to coat.

Number of Servings: 6

Chris and I have been married more than 10 years now and to celebrate we decided to take a second honeymoon.  We waited for school to let out and then headed to Sandy Tonio (as Noah calls it) for a few days of relaxation.  It was great.  We stayed in a little cabin/duplex thing at a neat little hotel.  We were the only ones there without kids…and we LOVED IT.  We spent some time seeing the Alamo, the Riverwalk, and the Missions of San Antonio.  We did some shopping and ate at a great German restaurant.  Life was good.   We took some pics and posted them here.  I can’t wait to go back and maybe even take the kids.

We just got back from Andrew’s third birthday.  The party was down at the little train by the zoo and it was Thomas the Tank Engine themed.  We had a great time, the weather was amazing, and the scenery was nice, too.  I posted some pics over on Flickr. Here’s my favorite one:

I meant to post this earlier, but I never got around to it.  Last weekend I ran a triathlon for the first time ever!  I finished it alive–which was my number one goal–and in record time.  OK, it was my first tri so of course it had to be a record, but I am really pleased with my finish.  I cut about 2 minutes off my fastest swim ever.  I think I can attribute that to my fancy speedo.  My bike was a little slow, but then again there was some stiff wind and more hills than I expected.  The first 10 minutes I was FREEZING because I was still wet from the pool.  I was exhausted going into the 5k run at the end.  My legs were dead from the bike and running past the finish area was a real downer (because I could see all those people finishing while I still had 3 miles to run!).  Anyway, I finished with a 5k time that was 20 seconds faster than the one I ran at the Cowtown.  This was after swimming 275 yards and riding a bike 12 miles!  Myra and Noah escorted me across the finish line.

My main goal was to finish without walking a step and I met that goal.  I also wanted to swim at least half the swim without stopping.  I ended up swimming the whole thing without stopping, and passing a ton of people in the process.  I’m not sure if I want to do another one of these things.  I signed up for this one because I wanted to get in shape, but also, I wanted to push my body and prove to myself that I still had it in me.  The 4 months of training was a real beating, but the feeling of crossing the finish line was GREAT!

More pics here.