Sick of triathlons yet?

I have not yet given you the proper run through with pictures of the ITU Triathlon that Lowell and I did last weekend. Lowell already posted our TV appearance, but let me now fill you in with a leetle more detail.
Without further ado:

Lowell's cousins Stephen (pictured with ultra prego wife Tricia) and Jordan, as well as Lowell's brother's brother-in-law Lance joined us for this to do. Things started off a little shaky as the day before race day, Lance's bike, which was like 2 days old and unridden, had 2 flat tires. He got new tires, and those went flat, and then his gears started jumping. Then Jordan's tires (also new bike) went flat etc etc. Finally, they took their bikes to the kind people at the United Cycle booth (bless their hearts), and they fixed them right up nice.


Here Lance is none too impressed with the bike situation...

Little interlude... isn't Lowell handsome?!


Now fast forward to race day. Setting up transition in the morning:

Waiting for the swim to start in the frigid cold Hawrelak Lake. Notice how we are butt freezing cold huddled in the distance. We were 5 of 7 people not wearing full on wet suits. Brrrr.....


Starting the swim (again, brrr....) :

Finished the swim (*giant sigh of relief*) :

We were too fast for Mommio to get pictures of us on the bikes, but let me give you a brief synopsis: I used the same vintage bike that I used last year. I hadn't ridden it since then and it was sitting in my sister's garage all year. Lowell and I did the race together; he had his brakes on while going down the hills, and I was pedaling with all I had within me and I still couldn't keep up. Perhaps I need a new bike.
So anyhoo, here we are in transition after the bike (heading off on the run). I'm just taking my sweet time stuffing my shorts with kleenex (as any serious triathlete would do of course...)


Can you see us? We're starting our second loop of the run!


Aaaaaand, we're done:


Here are the boys and I (and we didn't even plan the coordinating outfits!) :

L to R: Stephen, Jordan, moi, Loweller, Lance

Here are the 'rents and us (minus my Papa) :


My Mama and I:


And the classic shot showing off our numbers (which still, a week later, haven't worn off) :


All in all it was a fun day, even though I was ill-prepared for this year's affair and added 5 minutes onto my time. WHOOPS. And poor Lowell was dragged down with me as his only goal for this particular race was to finish with me (aw, how sweet). Otherwise he woulda placed for sure! Next year, Lowell. Next year...

PS- The only part of my body that was really sore following the race was the ginormous charlie horse that LOWELL gave my thigh with his bike during transition (right before the run). We have proof on video. Really!

Happy Birthday Marcy!

Today is my brother's 29th birthday. TWENTY-NINE. This is his last hurrah before THIRTY!


Him and his lovely wife Kylie are currently in Kenya doing medical work (among other things).

Here he is. My brother the Doctor:

(Pardon the quality of this photo it's a scanned picture taken of a picture)

The athletic dude (I can't believe I don't have a picture of him on his mountain bike) :


The man who loves his dog Niko (i.e. the only grandchild in this family) :



The master of piling as much candy as humanly possible on gingerbread houses (this here is a work in progress) :


The hairdresser (for both himself and Kylie) :


The dude that kids loooove and flock around:


A preacher (in Kenya, anyway) :


A fun-lovin goofball in general:


And our big brother!

(Marc is kissing me in this picture and Shareen is holding Carlynne)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCY!!

... every Stroke, Pedal, and Step of the way.

Blind Ambition

This weekend I'm headed to Edmonton to join Lowell where we will do another triathlon.

Lowell has been little Mr. Newsmaker lately. First singing like a woman on the radio, then getting an article in the Edmonton journal, and now this. He was on 2 Edmonton news stations. He's my own little celebrity!

The following is a copy of Global Edmonton's newscast. If you didn't know about Lowell's eye condition before, here's your chance to learn a little bit about it...



PS- We're hoping to meet Simon Whitfield IN THE FLESH (or at least see him). Here's to chalkin up another celebrity connection!

Lowell - The first quarter century.

Sit back and enjoy as you watch me age through my first 25 years of life. Where have those glasses gone? I should get myself another pair! *wink*

Oh, and don't feel bad about laughing!



This is another video that was included on our DVD invitation.

So close... yet so far away!

So, I just spoke with Lowell on the phone, and our conversation went a little something like this:

Lowell: So I have good news and bad news for you, and the bad news takes over the good news.

Julie: *heart rate increasing due to anxiety* Yeah? What's that?

Lowell: The good news is I won you tickets to see Kelly Clarkson.

Julie: REALLY?! AWESOME! What's the bad news?

Lowell: Kelly canceled her entire tour. Booooo.

The best friend that never was. *sniff sniff*

Well crappity-doo! Of ALL the artists who could've canceled their tours, it was the ONE that we had tickets for.

How did Lowell win them? He sang like a woman on EZ Rock 104.9 (popular Edmonton radio station). His pick was Celine Dion's "Near, Far, Wherever You are...". He didn't know all the words (even after frantically googling them), so he just made words up about marrying me..... on the AIR! For ALL OF EDMONTON to hear. What a cool dude. I wish I could've heard it. I'm sure I would've fallen in love all over again.

(PS- if we're all lucky, he'll do another little rendition of Celine at the wedding).

Happy Father's Day Dad!!

My Dad isn’t just any ol’ ordinary man…he’s super fantabulesso!

He has so many great qualities, and the best one is that he’s our Dad!...


...and a Grandpa to his one and only grandchild...Niko!



He’s also the recipient of a Alberta Centennial Award for his contribution to the betterment of our community.


He helps out wherever and whenever he can. Whether it be slicing the turkey, doing the dishes, any kind of yard work, or trucking to Edmonton to clean out our eaves troughs and clear our yard of water… he’s there!


He's also the master of power naps, sunscreen application, helmet wearing, and anything to do with health and safety!


He’s fit as a fiddle; an athletic man this one is.


He’s a funny dude! Peace man.


Happy Father’s Day Daddio. I love you kpishi!!

(I am apparently very excited to be alive in this picture…or maybe I’m just so excited to have such a great Dad!)

Engagement Pictures are all the Rage

I've said it once and I'll say it again: these dudes (Kevan & Duane) are amazing. I had the hardest time choosing my favourite shots because I have like 17 different categories of "favourites" (silly, classy, scenery, facial expressions, random, props, colours etc etc...).

Prepare to be dazzled.













To view a slideshow of these and more, see my previous post, or go here.

Kevan and Duane: We are truly impressed.

The Incredibles

On Saturday, Lowell and I had an engagement photo shoot with Kevan and Duane. These boys are pretty much amazing and we had oodles and kadoodles o' fun.

I've included the slideshow that they made with some of the pictures. However, trust you me, as soon as I get home from work, I'm going to sift through the scads of pictures that they took and post my favourites.

So exciting!



PS- check out their blogs (which have links to their amazing photography):
Kevan and Duane.

Rockin awesome weekend

This weekend Lowell and I met in Carstairs and had a jam packed, smokin awesome weekend. Included in this smoking awesomeness was an engagement photo shoot with Kevan and Duane (K&D from here on in) and a mixed engagement shower at Lowell’s church in Carstairs.

I’ll keep you posted on the results of that there photo shoot, but here’s a little ditty about the shower:

First things first: the rents came for the shower from Lethy, and Clynie joined us from E-town:

And JACQUI came up with my parents. She's a great friend of Carlynne and I's. We were born 12 days apart, and she spent most of her life exactly where she is in this picture....right smack dab in the middle of a twin sandwich!:

Ici est la head table (well, random bits of it). L to R: Stephen (cousin/groomsman), Travis (cousin/groomsman), LOWELL, me, and Carlynne (maid of honour):

Marti (Lowell's sis-in-law) and her brother Lance were the MCs and man were they a barrel o' laughs!:

Grandpa Danielson is reciting jokes/stories. He has been blind for several years, but at big Taylor gatherings, he is always eager and willing to contribute something he has memorized. I think it's so great (and the cutest thing on earth) :

Grandma Taylor presented us with a quilt that her and other church ladies made for us. Wicked awesome. :

Monika with a 'K' sang us a Shania song. Me likey Shania (and Monika!)!!:

Lowell and I watching Monika with a 'K' belting out the Shania tunes oh so beautifully:

Lowell and I told brief versions of our dating/engagement stories.:

The classic shoe game led by Marti & Lance:

Our shoes (flip flops) looked too similar, so I got this special addition:

And now for the best part...the PRESENTS! Kidding kidding, but it sure was a great bonus!:

Speaking of completely unflattering expressions....do I look like this when I talk?!:

A very pregnant Tricia , me, Clyn and Jacqui having an apparently very intense conversation!:

This is all the immediate family that was there (we're having a deelish meal at the farm which kind of doubled as a bday meal for my MOMMY). A special thank you to my Taylor Mama (to-be) for heading the shower extravaganza up!!: