A new decade.

3 months later and I'm back again.
Lets see since I last wrote there's been lots of turkey, lots of snow, a great Christmas, the beginning of a new year, some skiing, a 30th birthday (yes, mine) and some pretty freaking good days mixed in there.

Christmas brought us to CO with Dick's family and it was a good time as always. We drove up to Breckenridge for the New Year and rented a condo with about eight other people. If you've never been to Breckenridge, it's awesome. The town, the mountains, the food, and spending our time up there with good friends made it even better. We only skied 1 day due to the overly spendy lift tickets but walking around the town, eating too much and spending time in the hot tub filled our time just fine. As we rang in 2010 it was hard to believe we were about to enter into our 4th decade.

A few weeks later, that's exactly what I did. The big 3-0. Only instead of acting my age, a bunch of us went to play laser tag and have a pizza party. It was like I was turning 13 instead of 30 but I wouldn't have had it any other way. For a suprise, Dick brought me up to Grand Haven, MI where I was born. I had never been back for a visit and had been wanting to make the trip. He contacted my parents and found out the first house I lived in, where I was born, where I was baptized. We went to each place and took pictures as I stood outside with a sign reading what each place was. It was incredibly thoughtful and was super cool to go back 30 years and be in the exact place at the exact moment I was born. It made it one of my best birthdays ever and I've entered into my 4th decade with style. Determined that I've yet to hit my prime, I'm ready for whatever comes my way.

My Brother in laws wedding brought us back to CO where I gained a new sister in law. Yuiko from Japan is the lucky lady and she is great. They make a great couple. We realized just how much we miss CO. Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs, Breckenridge...I think we'd be happy just about anywhere in the state and am pretty sure we'll end up back that way eventually.

I've been home an unusual amount over the past few months and have loved it. Since I've been home more, I've been working more and learning more and am finally feeling more comfortable with what I do. I have the best patients and love working with all of them. Jake is with me at work everyday and my patients are getting to know him as well. He even had his first patient on Friday. This adorable little girl whose family requested that Jake be there for her appt. as he takes her mind off of her prosthetic legs that we are fitting her with. I think he enjoys the work almost as much as I do.. I am done with my residency in May but will have to wait until Dec to take my board exams since they are only offered twice a year. I am hoping to be able to work at Scheck and Siress until we move in Spring of 2011 but that is to be determined.

My big half ironman race is coming up in a little over a month and I've been slacking on my training a bit. I've been a bit un- motivated and as much as I like to blame it on the old weather and the snow, I think it's pure laziness. For my birthday, Dick surprised me with a treadmill and having that at home has helped. It's pretty awesome actually, even Jake runs on it a few times a week. I know the triathlon is going to hurt regardless of how much I train. I mean who wouldn't hurt after a 1.2 mile swim, 56 miles on a bike and a 13 mile run. But I'll survive. And the goal is to finish, I'm not really too concerned with my time. I average 8 to 9 hours of working out a week when for a race this big I should be up in the 11 to 12 hours a week. After this half ironman I'm going to stick with the sprint and olympic distance triathlons for the rest of the summer. I just need to cross the line in this one first... Knowing that we leave for a Hawaiian vacation the day after the race should help.
Running has become my favorite activity of the three lately. In my running high I've signed up for two 10 mile running races and am debating a half- marathon. But I'll wait and see how long this running excitement lasts before I get to that one.

The traveling picks up more than I would like in a few weeks but there's some cool things in there. A speaking engagement in TX, a board meeting, the half ironman, the Hawaiian vacation and the excitement of attending the Paralympic opening ceremonies as part of the Presidential delegation. I got a call a few weeks from the White House asking if I'd like to be part of the delegation and attend the opening ceremonies for the paralympics. I was not only honored to be asked, but absolutely ecstatic that I'll get to be there. The delegation includes three other Olympic/ Paralympic athletes, a few heads of state (think Eric Shinseki) and myself. I'm pretty pumped about it. Unfortunately, I won't get to stay to see any of the events but I'm happy to be there at all.

As I sit here right now writing this and watching the Vancouver Olympics I can't beleive it's been a year and a half since I was in Beijing. Seeing the athletes and hearing their stories is motivating me to put down the cookies and get on the treadmill imagining that perhaps I can be the Apolo Ohno of a sport someday.
I hope you can all get that motivation and get out there and enjoy the days ahead. Until next time, Go Team USA!