Please join us....

... We are having a benefit for Building Winter Athletes (BWA), a nonprofit that helps put kids on the snow and keep them there! It'll be Thursday Sept. 15, 2011 at The Grove. Event starts at 5:30PM and will feature great food, Libations, live music and a silent auction with GREAT prizes. 100% of the proceeds go to BWA. Tickets are $35/advance and $40/ at the door! Tickets available online at www.buildingwinterathletes.com or call 775-762-7990. We will also have Follow Your Heart Photography there to give complimentary entrance photos so you can remember this fantastic event! Please help us spread the word... Hope to see you there!

Summer!!!!

Geez where does the time go! We will be sure to update this blog ASAP but wanted to share just a few adventures with you! Summer started with Brian's 1/2 Ironman in Konakis. He did GREAT! One hour over his time last year at the Boise 70.3! I completed my first Olympic Distance Triathlon. In between our adventures we've been busy with work. Brian sat for the California Bar as he started with a new firm, Downey Brand! I went up to Victoria BC for a Colliers Camp- amazing experience. We are in Colorado for Brian's possibly last race of the season.... He's geared up to be quick. Then I'm starting to train hard for the 1/2 marathon in SF in late August and my FULL marathon in SF in October. yes, I got in the Nike Women's Marathon.

A Week In L.A.

We are back in Reno!  Brian joined me for a trip to Los Angeles for my first SIOR Class which doubled as my Birthday trip.  SIOR is the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors and it is comprised of the best office and industrial brokers.  The class was four days and covered ethics, finance, sales skills, understanding the lease and the business process. In addition to learning a lot we ate some great meals.  The best was Waters Grill--- it was a recommendation and now I know why---- their raw seafood bar was AMAZING.  We had the best oysters.  It was also a nice birthday dinner.  So what was Brian doing while I was in class?! Brian enjoyed a week of training since he is on his sabbatical :)  Actually Brian is in transition to his new job and somehow he managed to get 2 months off!  Brian will be joining Downey Brand in May.  He is so excited and I am really proud of him.  We will post pictures later.  HUGS!

Goals 2011

This weekend I did one of my favorite things.  I got together with some of my closest girlfriends or as Wendy calls them my "soul sisters" and planned out 2011 over brunch.  In addition to goal setting we create a visual story of our goals on a vision board.  The experts say if you want to achieve your goal you need to 1) write it down and 2) tell someone (I guess telling the world in my blog definitely counts) and 3) think about them often.  The vision board takes care all three of those! 

I would like to think 2011 is going to be the best year yet (this is what I think every year) and that was the basis for my goal setting.    To ensure I achieve them all I am going to share them with you! 

1- Work: to acheive 90/10 status & to hire a full time employee so I can focus on sales rather than administrative work.  I also want to get back to the basics and conquer the fundamental skills of my career.

2- Spiritual: To attend Bikram Yoga at least 3 x's per week to serve as my meditation time (an get a great workout and detox). Namaste

3- Health:  To finish the Donner Olympic Distance Triathlon and Finish the Lake Tahoe Marathon (Brian and his dad are doing it too)! 

4- Wild card: To be better organized at work and at home. 

5- Relationships: To create a home with Brian and invite our friends over often :)  We are also planning to decorate the house this year... painting, flooring, etc. 

6- Intellectual: To attend classes on things that interest me!  After the last five years of taking classes all about Real Estate I am going to take this year to expand my education.  I actually took my first Feng Shui Class today :)

7- Charitable: I want to help grow Building Winter Athletes (BWA) to help even more kids!

In the process of creating my vision board I found some of the best quotes:

"Learn to find contentment and refreshment in the simple joys of life."

"If you keep calm, with intense concentration, you will perform all duties with the correct speed."

"With unflinching steadiness march on your path, believing that the infinite creative Power is behind you."

Follow Your Heart Photography Photo Shoot for FUN - Hidden Beach - Lake Tahoe CA- Jan. 29, 2011

Brian and I were so fortunate to meet Tiffany and Dean Deming at Swoon's Wear It Again Party last September.  Tiffany and Dean are the owners of Follow Your Heart Photography and were so kind to donate their time and talent to take photos at Swoon!  Tiffany contacted me to do a photo shoot for fun in our favorite place......... Lake Tahoe!  We selected Hidden Beach and even brought Whitney and Tenaya.  Below is one of the photos.  It was at the end of the day and it started to get cold.  Fortunately the sun was shining for the majority of the shoot.  I cannot wait to see all of the photos and we will be sure to share :)

XOXO Melissa & Brian

P.S. Check out Follow Your Heart Photography on their Website and Blog:  http://followyourheartphoto.com/

Time for training again- Winter 2011

Brian in Boise ID for the Ironman 70.3

Brian and I have been spending most of the month (January 2011) getting ready for the 2011 Race Season!!  We both have big plans for the year.  Brian will be doing 4 half Ironman races and a handful of smaller triathlons.  I will be stepping it up this year and doing the Olympic distance at Donner in July and trying to beat last year's time at Irongirl.  Brian and I have convinced his dad to come to Lake Tahoe for all of our first marathons (except this will be Brian's first marathon not as part of an Ironman... overachiever!)  We are super excited to embark on the second season and we both feel really good about beating our times from last year.   Here are a few photos from our 2010 races.  We would love to train with you or race with you so don't hesitate to let us know!!!  Happy training, Melissa & Brian

 Brian's finisher photo from the Cozumel Full Ironman 11-28-10

 Brian ALMOST done with the Cozumel Ironman.... it only took 13 hours and 40 minutes

 Brian on the bike in Cozumel--- absolutely beautiful views--- very helpful on the 112 mile course

 Nice position Brian

 Melissa & Collin getting ready to jump in the water at Irongirl South Lake Tahoe---this was our 1st triathlon

 Having fun on the bike after killing the 24K bike ride from downtown South Lake to Cave Rock

 Amber and Melissa crossing the Irongirl finish line!!!  9-16-10

I cannot wait to start racing again............ finishing is the best feeling ever!!!

Lots of love,
Melissa & Brian

Bishop, CA Bouldering Trip - MLK Jr Weekend

After over a year of waiting to go Bishop I made it!  Brian, Kevin and I took the dogs for a quick day trip Bishop which is east of Reno on the California side (close to Mammoth).  We woke up at 5a.m. and packed the car.  We drove from 7a.m to about 10a.m. until finally arriving in Bishop.  It was gorgeous.  The weather in the low 60's, blue sky and no wind. 

We hiked about 45 minutes to find the Druid Stones.  To our surprise there was still a quite of bit of snow at the top of our hike.  We spent the entire day on various boulders... well Kevin and Brian did...

I mostly enjoyed the surrounding, read my book, and watched Whitney and Tenaya enjoy their natural instinct to play, run, jump and explore. 

I tried bouldering for about 5 minutes... it is MUCH harder than it looks.  Imagine pulling yourself up with your fingers on a tiny edge of sharp rocks... I think I will go back to reading my book. :)  Brian hasn't been climbing in quite some time but he is still a great climber.  Kevin has been training quite a bit and has really improved. 

We ended the long day with a climb back down the hill.  The top had turned into slippery snow and ice.  We laughed waiting for the first person to fall.  Thankfully, we all had crash pads on our backs to soften the fall. 

Unfortunately the over under for falling came short... only Kevin once.  When we got back in to town we visited Wilson's Climbing and Outdoor Store and ate pizza, calazones and salad at Think Pizza... it tasted great after the long day.  After spending over 5 hours at the Druids I can see why Brian loves Bishop so much. 

12.25.10 Tenaya's First Day in the Back Country

On Christmas Day, Brian, Whitney and I guided (at least for a minute) Tenaya for his first back country experience.  We went to Sky Tavern... of course the resort was closed... and had a blast about 15 minutes from our home.  We had great powder.  It was my first time out this year which felt great! 

Tenaya was born to be in the snow and quickly took the lead!  Whitney is grateful for her new friend.

Tenaya's long legs can tread the snow and make a nice path for Whitney's less lanky body.

The entire day was great... but the best part of the day was watching Brian chase Tenaya to get in the back of the truck.  Apparently, Tenaya did not realize how much fun he was about to have :)