MS Bike Ride 2014

I was pretty stoked this year to participate in the MS Bike Ride with my company. For the past several years, my company has supported this charity and has formed a Dimension Data team to ride in one of the many 150 mile rides held each year in different parts of the country. This year, our team picked the New Jersey ride from Cherry Hill to Atlantic City and back. After finally getting a bike and all the gear earlier this year, I was ready to commit to the training and to the ride weekend.

I really enjoyed the training at first....those 20 mile rides were enjoyable and didn't take too long either. I also enjoyed the few training rides where my brother was able to join me, as it made for some good conversation, advise, and made the time fly by. The 30 mile rides weren't bad either... It was when I started to get into the 40+ mile rides that I started to question my decision to train. Some days were soo hot, that a couple hours in the dead heat of summer was tough. Some days, I would have to go after work and not make it home in time for dinner, as the 40+ mile rides do take up a good amount of time. While we are so fortunate in Raleigh to have such great greenways and trails, finding a 40+ mile route that doesn't include a busy road is rather challenging. I still stuck to the weekly rides outdoors and filled in 1-2 indoor rides when I couldn't be outside. I was proud of myself for sticking with it, but really started to dread those long rides each week and was upset that I felt that way and couldn't ever do more than 50 miles at a time due to other commitments or weather. I started to question if I would be ready for the ride.

Thank you to all my family, friends, and coworkers for all the support and prayers that were the only thing getting me through that long 150+ mile ride. All the encouragement and kind words stuck with me as I prepared for the trip to NJ.

5 of us from Raleigh carpooled up to NJ which made the long drive much more enjoyable. We had a great time together and most of them were seasoned cyclists, so I was fortunate to have their support and advise before the ride since I still wasn't sure what to expect going in to it.

Each morning started off with a 4am wake up call in order to get our bikes to the start line by 5-6am. Starting as a team felt so good since there were close to 100 of us, the 2nd or 3rd biggest team out there! I was fueled by adrenaline and Gatorade... as there wasn't much sleep had all weekend. We were well fed throughout the ride and at night, so I never cramped or got dehydrated.

My first day was the hardest. It look me about 30+ miles to find my pace and a group that I could ride with that fit that pace. Once I found that, it helped slightly. However, my butt was sooo sore after about mile 50.... I thought I was going to have permanent damage from that seat! My muscles were fatigued but didn't give up on me. The hardest part was ending the first ride day with two huge hills going in to Atlantic City. The views were great, but those hills were soooo tough after such a long ride. Not to mention the ride wasn't really 75 miles each day, it ended up being over 80... which finding that out at mile 75 was not well received. Also, I began to appreciate NC roads more and more, as NJ roads are horrible! I had never seen so many potholes and grates... made for some unexpected jarring and extra caution. And you can imagine adding the friendly NJ drivers into the mix..... total sarcasm there!

Day two was so much better surprisingly. Despite getting only a few hours of sleep on top of a fire alarm in the middle of the night, I felt good. My body was ready and came out strong. I had my riding group and we kept a great pace the whole second day, cutting back our stops and increasing our pace.... maybe it was because the end was in site. My legs felt like noodles when I came across the finish line, but it was the coolest experience to think about what had been accomplished and to be able to do that with my work family.... so surreal coming across that finish line in our pace line with other coworkers cheering us on.... truly awesome! As much as I didn't want to look at my bike or think of training, my mind drifted to planning for the 2015 ride..... call me crazy, but I think I'm in!

Here are some of the views from Atlantic City.

Here are some shots taking throughout the ride at either pit stops or at the end.

BIG MOVE! The Journey from Garner to North Raleigh

I laughed as I wrote the title for this post. While a move from Garner to North Raleigh may seem humorous to some, it really does feel like another city! I mean we didn't even change counties, yet this other side of town feels so different from where we were before. We came from a small town feel, close to downtown restaurants and activities, down the street from my sweet McNeill threesome, our Rex Wellness family, 2 Targets, etc etc.... Where we now live in a more hustle bustle area, close to North Hills and Lafayette Village shopping and restaurants, new neighbors that are so friendly, closer to our sweet Kohler foursome, a YMCA in walking distance, no close Targets, but I have a Whole Foods and a handful of Harris Teeters, which equally excites me.

We are so thrilled to be in our new house and are creating so many wonderful memories in it already. We had a very stressful move process, but feel so glad to have it behind us and can finally see the blessings that surround us. (Trust me, it took several weeks to see that due to all the stress and issues associated with our move)!! I am also now thinking that I should have taken a before and after picture of my face.... I swear I have a few more lines and wrinkles after that whole process!! However, I am so thankful for our sweet family and friends that stepped in to help us during that stressful week- we are so appreciate of the long hours, heavy lifting, meals, places to stay, cleaning, etc. We couldn't have knocked out so much without all of that help.

We are settling in quite nicely, though do miss a lot about Garner and the old house... but we are happy with where we ended up and feel like things are finally falling into place. We have met so many new neighbors that are so friendly and welcoming... and good cooks!

We took some pictures of our last days in the old house...

And here is our beautiful new home.....
 (ignore the #s and date.. not sure why that popped up)

We have loved hosting our friends and family already and look forward to many more gatherings!

Cox/Gardner Beach Trip July 2014

The 2nd Annual Cox/Gardner beach trip was in July. This year we opted for Carolina Beach. We did wait a bit longer to book, so our choices were more limited than we had anticipated. Carolina Beach ended up being a great fit for the girls....

We rented a lovely condo a few blocks from the beach, which had the perfect layout for the 6 of us. Here is a picture in front of the condo before heading out to the beach for the day.

We lucked out with beautiful weather the entire trip, so we spent most of our days on the beach. Here are a few action shots of our beach beauties.

The daddies got in a lot of ocean time with the girls. They especially liked taking the boogie boards out to "surf" the waves.

While we cooked in a lot of our meals, we didn't miss out on enjoying the local fare either! A new favorite was the Surf House. We all LOVED our meals and they focus on local, organic foods which was an added bonus. We couldn't leave without a trip to Britt's either. Camille & Mary certainly thought it was worth all the hype!

All in all, it was a GREAT trip and we hated it flew by so quickly!

We had to get in a recreation of a throwback as well.....

2014....

2012....

Our little girls are growing up so fast, but have developed such a special friendship that we are so thankful for!

2nd Annual Zoo Day 2014

How have I missed a whole month of blog posts?

I'm going back to early summer for the 2nd Annual McNeill family trip to the zoo. This year, John, Andrea, and Ellie were with us.... and Allie too :)

It wasn't too hot and Camille and Ellie had lots of hands willing to push their strollers or carry them.

We had a GREAT time and got to see most of the animals. It was too hot for the polar bear, so we hated that we missed him, but had more excitement with the newly born monkeys! Two separate sets of monkey's had given birth within a week of our visit! The mama's kept them at a distance, but we got a few sneak peeks.

My favorite was probably the brown bear. He was a bit old and slow, but we caught him right at feeding time, so we got some great glimpses of his snack time. If only the trainer had put that food in an easier to reach spot. I felt like it took 30 minutes for that bear to get up on the rock to get his meat and veggies. 

And of course Camille made sure to stop at some of the same photo op spots as last year. 

Hard to believe that the summer is coming to an end.... I have a lot of posts to catch up on!