Heather & Kris' blog

Mountain Do Challenge

May 21, 2009 9:47 PM

Almost a month ago I did the Mountain Do Challenge. It is a triathlon but this year the canoe/kayak portion of the race was cancelled because the lake is being redrudged. So, they just doubled up the bike portion of the race. Since we live in a mountainous area, the bike race was a mountain bike race and the course was well, you guessed it, hilly. The run was a 10K and the Bike was a 20K. I was pretty happy with the run (46:03) especially with the hilly terrain and the temperature spike (that day hit mid 80's), but I did learn a few things when it came to the bike portion of the race. I'll summarize: A.) Have a good bike B.) Have a Camelbak (especially when the race doesn't really provide fluids unless you count bottles of hot water in the back of a truck) C.) It would also be helpful to actually bike some prior to the race Overall, it was fun and has got me looking at mountain bikes. At least something better than my 1993 bike I rode all over Iowa City. The technology in bikes is a just a bit better now.

Video Test

March 21, 2009 7:50 PM

I was sent this videop from youtube this week. It is pretty cool.

Recent artwork by my students

February 19, 2009 8:24 PM

6th Grade Watercolor paintings based off Paul Klee using a variety of watercolor techniques 8th Graders making plaster casts of their hands. Using George Segal as inspiration, later students will be replicating their favorite painting onto the casts. 8th graders working on clay sculptures. Looked at pre-columbian zoomorphic pottery for inspiration. 6th graders constructing their windchimes. Created pinch pots for the top and slab pieces for the chimes. 7th Grade coil pottery. Students viewed pottery from the Oaxaca region of Mexico for motivation.

300 and counting

January 19, 2009 11:16 PM

Gym Update: We just hit 300 people on Saturday and now pressing on. Lots of inquiries and foot traffic this month. If we can turn even half of those into members - it will be a great month. Hopefully the upcoming Administration will help put wellness (preventative measures) towards the forefront of health care reform in helping with the overall health of the American public.

Art Show/ House

October 19, 2008 2:34 PM

Ok, so here are some picks of our house and a pic of me with bad acnee. I am a little stressed but it is all good, no one can hear me screaming in the woods. The art show will open on Dec 5th, 7-9pm. It will be up through the end of Jan. The 5th I will be giving a short talk and painting in front of people. (Wierd)

Yes, we are alive

September 24, 2008 9:19 PM

Lots going on here. The gym officially opened Sept. 9th! Things are going well, the place looks great, now Kris is trying to build his membership numbers. We move to the farm this weekend, so I have taken next week Mon.-Wed. off of work to help get us settled. We are very excited about moving in, although I think the dogs may be more excited then us. Emme has started refusing to get back into the truck when we leave the farm and last sunday she convinced Issac to also stage a "sit- in". My artwork is up in three different locations in town and I have a show in a gallery in a nearby town, in December. The gallery owner wants me to show 20 new paintings, so I have set a goal of 5 paintings a month starting last month. So far so good, although I think I will only be able to produce 4 paintings this month. The paintings are my microscopic landscapes; they are 1 foot square images so I can produce more and sell them for less. I am looking forward to October when our life will hopefully get back to being more relaxed. Sorry for not posting or commenting lately. I hope to do better in October.

Demolition

July 24, 2008 1:10 AM

Here is a quick view of the Anytime Fitness space and the demolition. The front of the building. The cardio and selectorized machine area. The selectorized machine area and looking into the free weight area. The free weight area. The free weight area. Looking outside from my office through the free weight area.

Scottish Highland Festival, NC

July 14, 2008 12:20 AM

I don't think any of us got these genes from our Scottish Ancestors. Although I do think a few of you could rock the kilt.

NY Trip

July 10, 2008 3:15 PM

We had a great trip to NY! Great food and great company. Looking forward to a return trip.

Anytime Fitness Update

July 7, 2008 2:12 PM

There has been requests for an update on the Anytime Fitness. We (the real estate developers, architechts, and me) have been working through some curve balls the City has thrown at us with the floorplan but it looks like we have worked those details out and the latest floorplan has been given sort of a "pre" blessing by the City and is now in the formal approval process. There are many things that I have ready to go or will put the finishing touches on once the formal approval occurs - things "should" happen very quickly then. Still hoping to open sometime in August and the tentative plan is to start selling Pre-Sale memberships in a couple weeks. If you would like to look at the company where the bulk of my equipment will be coming from, go to www.startrac.com. Once building starts, I will post pictures.

South Carolina Trip

June 11, 2008 3:14 PM

SC is a fantastic state and I would highly recommend that you all vacation there sometime. There is obviolsy the shore line that has cute turristy towns and beutiful oceqan scenes, But I would recommend looking at the northwest corner of the state for fantastic, and frequent waterfalls, hiking trails, nature perserves, and athentic roadside stands. There is also a natioanl park called Congoree in the middle of the state that is less traveled by tourists but is a 22,200 acre park that protects the largest contiguous area of old growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the United States. There are amazing bald cypress trees as well as turtels, owls, lizards, and wild pigs the roam the park. Anyway, overall a fantastic trip, hiked a lot and kayaked in swamps, and intercoastal waterways (with dolphins!). Here are some pics.

Anytime Fitness Update

June 2, 2008 5:07 PM

The business action is now fast and furious. Many things are going on at once - I feel like one of those performers balancing many plates while standing on a ball too. The balance comes in getting everything as synchronized and staged as well as you can (within your control) with the construction of the space, getting equipment in on time (not too early, but not too late), getting other key players (security installation) in at the right time dependent on the general construction that is completed, figuring out all of the many different business forms and requirements of the city and state, and the list does go on. Overall, in maybe a sadistic way, it is fun. I'll keep you updated and with pictures when there is something to photograph. The final floorplan: Anytime Floorplan (click on the image to zoom in)

hikes

May 28, 2008 5:25 PM

School is out so Kris and I have been hiking more. I leave tomorrow for South Carolina. Traveling around the state for 10 days. Hopefully seeing great waterfalls, trees, etc.

I'm Back

May 20, 2008 12:17 PM

Here are some picks from some recent hikes. Also Some pics of Kris talking to my 7th graders about bonsai.

New Adventure!

February 22, 2008 7:08 PM

Just wanted to let everyone know about my new adventure jumping into the entrepreneurial world. I am starting up an "Anytime Fitness" franchise here in Bristol. I'm still very early in the process and there are many things to do but I will keep everyone updated as I work through the process of opening the gym. You can take a look at their website: www.anytimefitness.com. I don't know when it will be open but right now I would say sometime this summer.