Aunt Heidi & Uncle Ryan

Yep, we are officially an Aunt and Uncle! Monday, Lacey gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Mom and baby Audrey are doing great and Pops Aaron is there taking plenty of pictures. Way to go guys!

We're still Tri - ing!

We keep on trucking along and September 14 keeps on getting closer. This past Saturday was a big moment for Team McDow. We had our first combined training session. This means that we made the unwise decision to do train for two events on Saturday morning. We did both the ride and swim distances for the triathlon!

Here was our morning:
9 Mile ride to the pool
500 meter swim
9 Mile ride back home

The whole thing took us about 2.5 hours which was not bad since we to combine the ride and swim together and had some down time transiting from the bike to the gym and dripping dry before we headed back to the bikes to see if we could find a different way back home. There was a big hill on Royal Ln that we were not very excited about climbing again. So after a lap around the parking lot we settled in for the big hill (that we walked up and rode down)

We walked around the lake on Friday night & Sunday night and will stat to add more running this week in order to prepare for the race. We will do a repeat performance this Saturday and hopefully our bodies will hold up.

Just to clarify if you were wondering…this is what we do for fun!

Triathlon Training

As most of you know Heidi and I are competing in the Texas Man Triathlon this September and we have been a little slow to start training but now we are fully dedicated to getting to the finish line. This is the same triathlon that I did last year and Heidi agreed to do it with me if I did it again so guess what…we are doing it.

The race consists of a 500m swim, then a 17 mile bike ride, followed by a 5k. This weekend to celebrate our independence we did the 500m swim and on Saturday we did a 16 mile ride. The swimming is tough just because we are not used to swimming but it is the one event that we are getting better at the fastest. Our goal for this week will be to swim another 500m but with a 300m nonstop swim. Within 2 weeks we should be able to knock out a 500m swim no problem. We did the bike ride 8 out and 8 back with only one break. We are getting stronger on the bike but just need to get used to riding (My body is no longer allowing me to take my bike on any sweet jumps anymore.) The run will be my nemesis much like it was last year but I think that Heidi will do really well; she knocked out a 3 mile run last night. I am still pushing out my first run for another day.

We will keep you posted on our training…both the good and bad. Hope everyone is well.

Pocket Sandwich Theater

Last week Heidi took me out for a surprise. It just so happened to be on the anniversary of our first date so I thought that we were going to go eat pho or bowling or something but she definitely surprised me by taking me to the Pocket Sandwich Theater. We had never been there to the theater so it was a fun experiment. We always talked about getting out and doing different things so this was right up our alley. What is the Sandwich Pocket Theater you might ask???? Well it is this little place tucked away off of Mockingbird and 75 where they have live theater performances and dinner…and since I am a former Thespian Heidi knew that this would be something that I would enjoy. We saw a show called Tom, Dick, and Harry which is a about a couple is trying to adopt a child and Tom’s brother are trying to help make a good impression send the show off on a whirl wind of antics and odd situations. I enjoy the witty, intelligent, pseudo British comedy so this was greatness. Here is the website for the theater so if you want to go just give us a call and we are there.

http://www.pocketsandwich.com/

The Farm

We just got back from the Farm which as you guys all know if my sanctum sanctorum. Such a great weekend; Heidi loves going down there and as you can tell be the photo is not afraid to do a little work. There is something about working with your hands that really make you feel sore but some how really good. We had a fun weekend clearing fence line, fishing (Heidi caught a little bass) and spending time with the family. I love this place and look forward to coming back down there soon.

Well, we finally did it!!!May 3, I became Mrs. McDow.
I can't tell you how excited I was that day. I'm sure my wonderful husband will wax eloquent on the day, but it was more wonderful then I could have imagined.

The day started with me sleeping in, eating a rather non-bridal breakfast of cheezy, eggy, sausagey yummy goodness that my Aunt made. I figured that I had done all the work I could do to be skinny, so why not enjoy the happiest day of my life!!!

I met my girls, Jeca, Cheyenne and Lacey at the church and we ran around that morning, when and had a fantastic, girly lunch and then back to the church to get ready. I had a wonderful time with them prepping to walk down the isle!!!

My friend and makeup artist, Martha Beresford, came and did my hair and makeup and then touched up the rest of my gals.When it came time to walk down the isle I was definatly picture perfect!!!
The ceremony went by so quickly, but what I remember most is when those doors were opened, I saw my best friend and husband to be, up on that stage, looking as handsome as ever and of course goofing off. I will never forget how excited I was to just be there with him.
Even though we were blessed to have a couple hundred friends and family there, it was somehow for a moment, just us, being showered in the Love, peace and presence of the Lord.

I am so blessed beyond measure to have found my best friend, my example of how Christ loved the Church, my husband. He has shown me such an amazing defintion of what love is and I am truly humbled every time I think about this gift that the Lord has put in my life.

I have long followed the story of Ruth in scripture. I learned several things from her..patience, grace, obedience andmost of all faith. Faith that the Lord would provide exactly what she needed. I absoltuely feel I think what she felt when she met her Boaz. I am home..

I Love you Ryan, more then you will ever know. I will try my best every day to honor you, cherish you and laugh with you..Thank you for being a David..a man among men. I see every day, even more and more that you are a man after God's own heart.

"I am my beloved's and he is mine." Song of Soloman

The Honeymoon

We got back from out honeymoon and had an amazing time. We went down to Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan Peninsula where we spend 5 days in paradise. The weather was amazing and we got a chance to really experience in the short time we were there. We don’t have many pictures since we forgot to charge the cameral before we left the states so we went “old school” and had to rely on our memories instead of digital shots. We spent on day lying around on the beach just trying to catch up on the whirl wind of the past couple of days. We wondered into the swim up pool and found two of my favorite things: new friends and tequila! Marcel and his wife Veronica were on vacation from Holland I enjoyed speaking to them in my very basic German that I learned in high school. We forgot to reapply our sunscreen and got fried but I think that is what you are supposed to do when you go to the beach. The next day we went to Chichen Itza and had a good time avoiding the sun and learning about the olden Mayan civilization. I highly recommend the tour but once you do it there is no reason to go back. Our last full day we spent on a snorkeling trip and got to go to the Mayan cenote and then out to a inland bay where the fresh water mixes with salt water and that is a nursery area so we got a chance to see a lot of baby fish before they got growns up enough to get out in the ocean. Minus the sunburn we had a great time are looking forward to going back sometime soon.