Anthem Triathlon!

This Saturday I am competing in the Anthem Holiday Classic Triathlon! It's a Sprint level, which means it won't be quite as long as the Bear Lake tri. It's a 400m swim, 12 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run through Anthem.


The best part is that I convinced my dad to run it with me, so he'll be out there too! We'll take lots of pictures (hopefully they'll turn out this time), and I'll try to keep track of my goggles!

It starts at 9:00 at the Anthem Community Center (41130 N. Freedom Way), hope to see you there!

Anna Jo Christensen

Christy had her baby last thurday, November 12!! She was 7lbs 3oz, 20inches long!















I told my mom I would post these pictures of Anna on my blog!!

Isn't she so adorable!!

Natalie started another rotation up in Show Low, which means I have to figure out what to do with myself for a month until she gets back. This rotation is going to be a lot tougher than the last; over the summer I could go up to Show Low and hang out all week, so we got to see each other a lot. I have classes I can't miss this time around, so we might get to see each other on weekends, but Natalie is supposed to be studying for her mid-year exams, and I'm going on a few more trips for work, so we're not really sure how much time we'll get to spend together.

A lot of people have been asking me how my classes are going, and the only thing I can think of to tell them is that they're "ok..." There's really not a whole lot to report: chances are you wouldn't understand it if I tried to explain it (not only because it usually involves scary-complicated math, but because a lot of the time I'm not sure I understand it myself). So suffice it to say school is going ok.

I work as a TA for one of the undergraduate bioengineering courses, and the lab instructor might take me on as a grad student in his research lab. He works on MRI, specifically making different contrast agents to highlight specific structures in the body. I am seriously toying with the idea of getting a doctorate, but I'm still a ways off in actually making that decision. I have to find a project I can get excited about, and since my lab instructor has been out with the swine flu, things have been on hold until I'm confident he's not contagious (in a slightly unrelated note, one of the things we're doing in my math class is calculating the conditions necessary for a contagion to become an epidemic. Stay tuned for details).

Other than that life has been pretty mellow.

Thank You!!

Sorry this won't be very long...it's really hard to type with one hand!!

I thought breaking my right wrist would be about the same as breaking my left wrist. I was wrong. I'm right handed. It takes me longer to do everything and I just plain can't do other things.

For instance, I cannot open a water bottle :(
The funniest thing is watching people figure out how to shake my hand. I put my left hand out and people grab it like they are going to hold my hand and then they kinda shake it. It's really funny!


Thankfully I have the most wonderful husband(sorry, but it's true), and he helps me do everything. Wednesday morning Dallas got called into work and I had to get ready on my own.
I ended up having to go to my rotation late, without breakfast or lunch, my favorite glasses broke, and my hair was awful. It was not a good morning:(
Every other morning I've been clean, dressed, hair done, make-up on, well fed with lunch, and with sunglasses:)

He's so wonderful, I couldn't do it without him!

I get my new (removable) splint next tuesday!! I cannot wait, I'm so tempted to take this one off so I can clean my arm! Maybe I'll "accidentally" get it wet....jk


This is what it looked like on Wednesday (2 days after the break and before the surgery).

Quick update

Natalie's surgery on Friday went really well. It actually took a lot less time than either of us thought it would. We checked in at about noon, and we were on our way home by a little after 4:00. The doctor said the prognosis is good, he fixed everything he wanted to fix, and so now we get to go through recovery. Yeay.

It was an open reduction; they had to make an incision to put in a plate and screws. Natalie's hurting, but getting through it.

Thanks to every one who called or stopped by. We really appreciate the support.

Life has been rather interesting of late. On Labor Day, Natalie decided it would be fun to go on a bike ride. We went cruising around Anthem the night before looking for small roads with big bike lanes, and to see, just for fun, if there was a way we could get to Anthem without taking the freeway. Turns out Anthem is much too far away to ride a bike, but that's ok, we figured we'd go part way on some side roads and turn around and come back.

We were on out way back from 15 miles of uneventful (but really really hot) riding. We were literally less than a block away from our house. Natalie went up onto the sidewalk, and was looking back to make sure I wasn't going to run into her, when her bike went off the sidewalk. Her bike fell over, and I practically landed on top of her. She fell pretty hard on her right hand onto the concrete sidewalk, and after a visit to the ER and some x-rays, turns out she broke her wrist. After a consult with an Ortho doctor, turns out she needs surgery to put everything back into place.

So to make her feel better, we went out and bought a new (to us) car! It's a 2000 Lexus RX300, and the lady selling it literally cried when Natalie drove off in it. We've actually been looking for quite a while, and this just happened to work out really well, because it turns out that driving a car with a manual transmission with only your left hand is pretty tough. We'll post pictures soon.

Natalie's surgery is on Friday afternoon, and she's hoping to be able to go back to her rotation on Monday.

Dallas's Olympic Triathlon (Bear Lake Classic)

HE DID IT!!!
Dallas finished his first triathlon and did awesome.



The coolest part is that he did really well!
He was 6th in his age/gender division!
And 43rd out of 70 overall!

Dallas's sister Cherise convinced him to do a triathlon with her a couple of months ago. Well she also convinced him to do the Olympic level rather than a Sprint.
-Sprint triathlon consists of an 1/2 mile swim, 12mile bike ride, and 3mile run.
-Olympic triathlon consists of a mile swim, 25mile bike ride, and 6mile run.

They both finished and did an awesome job!!

It started off a little shaky, with Dallas forgetting his cap and losing his goggles right before the swim started. In fact we were still looking for goggles when the gun went off and the swimmers took off. He borrowed Cherise's second pair and then forgot to take off his gym shorts as he was running into the lake.

In all the commotion my camera got on this really weird setting...so I don't have very many good pictures:(

If you look closely you can see everyone (but Dallas) with wetsuits on, due to the fact that the water was freezing cold. This is Dallas taking off his gym shorts as everyone is running through the water.



This is Dallas's finishing his mile swim (33.5min) and running to go start his bike ride.
(Again he is the one with only legs..because he isn't wearing a wetsuit)

This is him finishing the 25mile bike ride (1hr18min)...he has a smile on his face!!

And this is us after his 6mile run (54min46sec).. Finish!!!

Total time 2hr 50min 37sec!!