Paragliding!

This weekend I took a FUN course introducing myself to the sport of paragliding. The focus was on ground handling and learning to take off. The first day had constant wind for about 2 hours and we go some good practice in, but then the wind shifted and was heading the wrong direction. We called it quits at 1030am.
Day 2 brought us to a steeper, longer hill and the wind was much better. It actually picked up towards the end, and the instructors called it quits because of the chance of catching a thermal, and the potential for us to freak out, and crash to the ground........My theory is that they stop the lesson right when you're feeling confident and wanting more. It's a good way to hook you for the intermediate course.
Normally you wouldn't attempt 20 take offs in a 2 hour span. As a result, my biceps and groin are bruised from the unpadded equipment. max height was maybe 10 ft off the ground and flew for 15 seconds :)

The cost of the course was $100 and well worth it! I'll have to sit and think about the $750 intermediate course....it's tempting.

There was a really good sermon at Centre Street today. I was challenged in many ways including being a good family member and also leading a good family (in the future). Being a member of God's family also means helping out other families in need (single parents etc).

Hobby Updates

Cooking - I made Pho last week and invited a friend over for lunch. I found the recipe online, but the broth included beef/chicken bones, staranise, fish sauce, onion, ginger and some other stuff. It called for Daikon which i couldn't find at T&T. It started off too watery, so I had to boil it down but ended up tasting great! I left it in the thermos overnight instead of boiling on low heat all night.

Photography - We shot a wedding this weekend (Janna and Andrew Wing). Lovely couple who pretty much started dating long distance. It's amazing to see how God has led them through the past 3 years. No they're both going to be doctors and are moving to Halifax, NS. I wish them all the best.

Adventure sports - My paragliding course is this weekend. I looked at the details last night and now I'm a little worried. After 1.5 hours in the classroom, they'll take us out for 4 hours of flying. I hope I learn enough emergency maneuvers in the 1.5 hours! I kinda like my legs and don't want them to be crushed from a fall.

Triathlon - I took time off for the wedding this weekend and I'm taking a Vibrations course in town at the start of next shift. I have a solid 2 week period to get in some quality training for GWN, which is July 4th. This is my 1 and only triathlon this year. Signing up for IMC 2011 was dependent on my results and feelings with GWN, but I've jumped the gun and already plan on signing up for IMC. I finally bought mtn bike shoes and pedals and headed to COP last week with the crew. We did a few warm up loops before hitting the Canada Cup Trail. FUN FUN FUN!!! I'm tempted to try Xterra now, but mtn biking in itself is fun enough.

Travel - I booked tickets to Honolulu in October. I'll spend the night there before heading to KONA for 5 days. I plan on watching and taking photos of the kona IM. After that I'll do some coffee tours, scuba dive with manta rays, mtn bike through volcano national park.
Then it's off to Maui for some more scubadiving and site seeing. Xterra world champs are also that weekend so I will take photos....(and perhaps race since i'll have my bike....yes..I know i just said i wouldn't race xterra..but we all know that it'll happen eventually). Racing xterra depends on A) someone dropping out due to injury or cuz they're BEAT tired from racing Kona B) Coach Cal pulling some strings and getting the organizers to let me race. If i can't get a spot i'll run the 10km trail run the day before.

I believe that's it for hobbies!

I paper cut my face today

I paper cut my face while licking an envelope.

The envelope was to send a deposit cheque to book a 12-14 person house in penticton for Ironman 2011! It's a little bit early, but the owner allowed me to book early and I was able to meet him and see the place when I was in penticton last weekend.

We rode 120km, ran 16miles, and rode 160km over the 3 day camp. A few of us skipped the swim in skaha lake (cold at this time of year), in order to wine taste! I came home with 28 bottles of wine. Surprisingly, over half the bottles were whites. I've learned that whites 'cellar' for shorter periods of time before they're ready to drink...so perhaps I actually knew what I was doing. haha. I need a wine fridge now to keep the wine at 7C. The red which I'll cellar for a few years is 2007 'superego' from Therapy Vineyards. Cab Sauv- 63%, Merlot- 23%, Cab Franc- 10%, Shiraz-2%, Petite Verdot- 2%