Ride Like the Wind...

...the Black Wind, that is. You may or may not have been watching my g-chat tagline over the past two months, but it has basically been taking various forms of "I want a bike." And it turns out that I finally got one. I only crashed twice on my maiden voyage. The first time was kind of embarrassing because we had just made it to a pedestrian-heavy intersection in Old Towne Alexandria, and I kind of forgot that my foot was attached to the pedal. When I went to step down, it just tipped my bike over on top of me. Oops. I almost fell on top of a man walking by on the sidewalk. He was looking at me in shock (no doubt wondering why I all of a sudden tipped over). Anyway, I digress. The bike that I finally chose is called a "Vent Noir". That means black wind in French. So when I say I'm riding the black wind, I mean it.

Justin and I decided that we should bike for a cause, so we joined Booz Allen's Bike MS team (hence the sweet flaming jerseys). What that means is that we ride our bikes in the hopes that our friends and family will donate money to a good cause. I'm only about $200 short of my goal. And just think, if all of my friends were to contribute just a few dollars, I think I'd reach my fundraising goal in no time! If you are interested in being one of those friends who want to fund research to cure MS, please click here. All you have to do is type in Bethany Scott, and make a TAX DEDUCTABLE contribution. (Do you like how I'm using my blog as a fundraising forum? Anything for a cure! (Actually, my grandpa died of MS when I was two, so I actually have a reason for supporting this cause...)

This weekend we did a training ride out in Purcellville, Virginia. I decided not to put sunscreen on my arms. Big mistake. Now my legs are speckled, and my arms are red striped (there's a sweet line in the middle of my bicep where my sleeves were). Oh well. It was really fun. I rode 32.5 miles--my new personal record. And I'm in way less pain than I was last weekend after only 25 miles. Good times!

In other news, the prophet said to plant a garden, so that's what we did. And when I say "we", I mean Justin planted a garden, and I sat there and watched him, and then took some pictures. I was giving him a lot of praise for his good work, so I'm pretty sure I contributed to the successful beginnings of our summer salads. Here are the pictures:

Justin planting tomatoes.

Looking at me and planting tomatoes...

The finished product. We have, tomatoes, peppers, parsley, teragon, sage, thyme, broccoli, green onions, strawberries, romain lettuce, green lettuce, beans, chives, cilantro, oregano, mint, peppermint, basil, rosemary, a maple tree and a pine tree. Not bad for a tiny balcony!!!

Lord of the Flies

This weekend, Justin and I headed to the Shenandoahs for a little adventure in the mountains. It turned out to be a beautiful day, and when I say it was a beautiful day, I mean that I was wearing a t-shirt all day and wasn't cold.


We started the day by hauling up the mountain. Fortunately, Justin was carrying 50 pounds of climbing gear, which made it possible for me to keep up with him. Once we got to the top, instead of chilling with the scout troupe that was up there, we kept right on going in order to bushwack our way down to a hidden climbing area. I took some lovely pictures of the foliage (or lack thereof) and of Justin climbing.


Throughout the time Justin was climbing, there were little gnat-sized flies buzzing around...and they were very pesky, but I didn't think much of it. After Justin finished the route a couple of times, we made our way back up to the trail in order to find some easier stuff for me to climb. The climb we found ended up being a little harder than expected. I made it about three-fourths of the way, and then had to have Justin hoist me up. In my own words, "I had nothing left to give." We packed up our stuff, and hiked our way back to the summit where we tried (unsuccessfully) to capture the beauty of the day. Instead, we got a kind of lame self portrait in the sunset.


Anyway, it turns out that all those pesky little flies were doing more than just buzzing around. I realized when we got home, that I was being eaten alive!!! I've declared myself the Lord of the flies, since apparently, they LOVE my blood. Justin got a few bites here and there, but I got 22 bites on one leg, and 33 on the other. I look like I have leprosy!

The Clothing-Coordination Connection and Conference

I have discovered a simple truth. I am much more athletic when I'm fashionably clad than when I'm not. I was first made aware of this strange clothing-coordination connection two years ago when I started dabbling in tennis. The summer before moving to D.C. I spent a lot of time playing tennis with people in my ward, and I was never very good, until I bought my sweet tennis outfit. You know, a cute little skirt outfit that the pros wear. I'm not exaggerating, but my skills jumped significantly on occasions when I was wearing the outfit, and dropped back down again when I wasn't. I only bring this up because I have recently decided that I need some fashionable climbing/hiking clothing.

A couple of weekends ago, I went with my friends Katie D. and Roz and Justin to hike around Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland. We had a great time--it was briskly cold, and actually snowed for part of the time we were hiking. The only down side to the experience was the number of colors that I was wearing. Note the outfit below: You don't see the full glory of my outfit in the picture, but when it got really cold, I was wearing about 6 different clashing colors. I had on Justin's green pants (I don't own any long pants that aren't jeans, so I had to borrow from my husband, which is clearly sick and wrong, but I will try to refrain from pontificating on the evils of a fashion industry who fails to actually sell clothing that fits a woman over a certain height...), my puffy red coat from the GAP (my sporty coat comes from the GAP because it's the only company that makes tall sized coats with sleeves long enough for my arms...), pink gloves, forest green wool socks, and white and lavender shoes. I'm pretty sure that I would be way better at climbing if I only had an appropriate outfit...And a word about Justin's hat--he couldn't find his beanie when we were leaving, so he just grabbed his biking hat, which is designed to fit under a helmet--in case you were wondering why Justin was wearing a swimming cap. But despite our current fashion-faux pas, we all had a lovely time in the great outdoors. (And, just so you know, I ordered some North Face pants when we got home. I know that I am ridiculous, but I guarantee I am more coordinated when I don't clash...and when I'm not wearing my husband's pants.)

In a totally unrelated note, Justin and I had a great time watching General Conference this weekend. It was a spiritual feast...and an artistic inspiration!


We may need to re-read Elder Child's talk when it comes out in the Ensign...I can't recall exactly what Justin was going for on the pinky-toe (that is Justin's foot, by the way), but we decided it looks like the family beaver. Every knows that every family needs a beaver.