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A Day with RAGBRAI

8/4/2017

Can you find us in this picture? :)

For years we have talked about doing RAGBRAI--Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. It is the largest bike touring event in the world. The ride takes a week, but day passes are available. So, this time, RAGBRAI XLV, we decided to ride for a day, "day 4", from Clear Lake to Charles City. It was 57 miles. The most I'd ever ridden before was 20 miles. And that was two years ago with RAGBRAI. So this was going to be fun. My papa and sister drove mama, Daniel, and I up to Clear Lake, and we got started about 6:30 in the morning. The first 25 or so miles were great. We stopped in one town for something to eat. All of my family bought burritos. I opted for a piece of delicious peach pie. Then we got back on the road. We looked behind us to see huge storm clouds. Now we were in a race with the rain! We rode harder and harder, but soon found ourselves losing the battle. We were surrounded by storm clouds.
So, we got really wet. We were soaked, and our breaks didn't work. But we rode on. Eventually the rain passed. Now we were just wet and tired.

You've got to love that lady's shirt.

By the end of the ride I had great admiration for all the RAGBRAI riders. I suffered so much from just 57 miles. These other riders (a lot of them old enough to be my grandparents) were doing 400 miles across the whole state!
I was so happy to reach Charles City and finish. I felt like I couldn't ride any longer, and I felt like I could barely walk too. It was a neat experience.

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"Q&A" Post

7/28/2017

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Here is my plate at an all-you-can-eat restaurant last month! :)

My friend and most faithful blog commenter, Olivia, tagged me to do a Q&A post! So here it is, Livy!

1 – What is a nickname only your family calls you? Baby

2 – What’s a weird habit of yours? I don't have any...

3 – Do you have any strange phobias? FDR said that the "only thing we have to fear is fear itself." And better yet God said, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

4 – What is a song you secretly like to blast and belt out when you’re alone? As you can probably figure out, I do like music! But, I don't like to blast out music. :) I like it soft.

5 – What’s one of your biggest pet peeves? Being late.

6 – What’s one of your nervous habits? I'm not nervous enough to know.

7 –What’s a YouTuber that almost always makes you laugh? Studio C

8 – What was your first stuffed animal and what was it’s name? I started getting stuffed animals before I can remember. Maybe my first was Fuzzy or Blue Bunny or... I could name them all right here, but that might take up too much space.

9 – What’s the drink you always order at Starbucks? I've never been there. But my favorite beverage is usually water--simply cool, clear water.

10 – Do you have any weird body skills? No

11 – What’s your favorite comfort food that’s bad but you eat it anyways? I like all desserts, but I refuse to believe that they are bad for me. Hey, life is short. You might as well eat what you like. I stay away from stuff like potato chips, soda pop, meat, etc..., just because I don't like them. But I love dark chocolate--it tastes good and it is good for you. I set my 5K PR of 21:45 after eating pecan pie and ice cream the night before. :)

12 – What’s a phrase or exclamation you always say? To my siblings, parents, and friends: "Will you play something with me?"

13 – What did you use to wear that you would never wear now? I'll skip this one. :)

14 – What did you want to be when you were young? I have wanted to be so many things--everything from a mail deliverer to a Himalayan mountain guide. My strangest dream of all was to be a football player. That was when I was very young. Haha...

15 – How tall are you? 5' 8"

The optional bonus question is, what are 5 ways to win your heart/become a great friend? HaHa...
1. It shouldn't be hard.
2. Really, if you just smile at me...
3. Or talk with me...
4. And be friendly.
5. I love people and love friends, and know I would love being your friend too. :)

Here are some nice quotes.
“There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.” ― Linda Grayson
"Sometimes me think, ‘What is friend?’ Then me say, ‘Friend is someone to share the last cookie with.’" -Cookie Monster
“In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends.” ― John Churton Collins
"We must hang together, or surely we shall hang separately."-Benjamin Franklin
"I believe in angels, the kind that heaven sends. I’m surrounded by angels, and I call them my best friends."-Pamela Daranjo
"It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like ‘What about lunch?’" -A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

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16 Dreams Come True: #4

7/16/2017

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For years I have wanted to do a triathlon. So, this year on July 1st, my mama and I finally did one! I figured it might be our first and last one, but we were going to have fun.

Starting the 5K!

With the triathlon there was a duathlon and a 5K run. My papa was doing the 5K. We all started out together running. I knew running would be my strong point, so my strategy was to do my best in it and just try to survive the rest of the race.

That went as planned. I set a PR in the 5K. And then I was totally out of breath. I was tired and ready to stop. But, no, now I had to bike 13 miles. The first 10 miles seemed all up-hill with the wind in my face. I was passed by a lot of people. But finally I made a turn and the wind was at my back. Hooray! I finished. Now all that was left was the 300 meter pool swim.

I took it easy and just went for a nice, slow swim. I'm not a great swimmer. It was a challenge to swim straight across the pool without swerving into the other lanes. And since I was so tired, it was hard to pay attention. I almost collided a couple times with other swimmers who weren't paying attention either. But I had fun and didn't drink too much water. After awhile I was done.

We enjoyed watching mama finish her swim. Then it was time for granola bars and medals!

I won my age group. I know it sounds great, but actually I was the only one in it. Papa got a medal in the 5K too!

We all had fun. Thank you to the Reinbeck Running Makes Cents Organizers! And thanks Charity for taking the pictures!

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16 Dreams Come True: #3

7/9/2017

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This next "dream come true" is literally a dream come true--a nightmare come true. We go to a lot of races, and one thing I've noticed about them is they all start precisely on time. So what happens when you show up late? That is what I found out at this year's Sturgis Falls Half Marathon!

The race started at 7:00. I thought it was to start at 7:30. So, I was walking a few blocks away with my sister when we heard a gun go off.
"That must have been the start of the race," my sister said casually.
"No, it couldn't be," I replied. As we drew closer, I realized it was. By the time I was ready, the last walkers were disappearing beyond the horizon. A sinking feeling came into my stomach. I adjusted my race number and set my watch. Then I started. I had 194 runners in front of me. A little before the first mile, I started catching some runners. That made me feel better. Soon I found this was actually fun! I was especially happy when I caught up with my parents. Only one runner passed me (after I passed him) the whole race.
All the runners in front of me were a real inspiration. I set a PR on my first 10K: 46:28. The race went by quickly. I finished with my watch reading 1:39:39, and with the official time of 1:44:20. I was in about 33rd place, and 3rd in my age group. So the nightmare had about the best ending possible. I hope I never, ever do this again, but it was an interesting experience. It is a bad idea to be late in any case, but it is an especially bad idea to be late to a race. :)

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16 Dreams Come True: #2

6/30/2017

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My whole life I've loved pancakes. And my whole life I've wondered what the International House of Pancakes is like. Whether I'm at home, McDonalds, or a Mexican restaurant, you can usually find me with a stack of pancakes.
One day, coming home, my parents asked my sister to pick out a restaurant she wanted to stop at. There was Culvers, McDonalds, a tenderloin place, or an IHOP among the choices. When I saw the IHOP I grinned with excitement. Without giving my sister (who doesn't especially like pancakes) a chance to say a word, I announced I wanted to go to IHOP!

So IHOP it was. After studying the menus for about 10 minutes, we all came to our conclusions of what to order. There was far much more than pancakes to choose from. One could even get a cheese burger with fries and onion rings. My family all found something they liked.

I ordered this stack of double blueberry pancakes (600 calories). There were four flavors of syrup to choose from: old fashioned, butter pecan, blueberry, and strawberry. I think old fashioned was my favorite.

The pancakes were wonderful. The waiters and waitresses gave very helpful service with a smile. I enjoyed my visit, and I hope my family did too...so we can go again sometime!

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16 Dreams Come True: #1

6/27/2017

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I have now reached the grand old age of 16. To celebrate I am starting a series here on the blog of 16 dreams that come true for me this year!
Number one has to be what I did for my birthday: run 16 miles.

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Snapshots from a Day on the Road with Bethany

6/10/2017

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Friday, the ninth, I had the privilege of spending the day with Bethany, the editor of the Clarksville Star and the Butler Country Tribune Journal. Yes, Bethany--my sister! I got to sort through photos and type out the traffic violations report. It was so fun to see who had been speeding and who had "forgotten" to wear their seat belts in the previous week! In addition to this, we put on a lot of miles on the road.

Here we are at the tiniest church in Iowa! It is located in the charming town of Bristow.

The church's caretaker, Sally, was very hospitable. After giving us some history on the church, she invited us inside her home to see "a few" of her teddy bears. She has a collection of almost 2,000! Everything was literally covered with teddy bears! They were so cute!

In the afternoon it was time for a spelling bee! My last spelling bee I came in last place. So I figured I couldn't go wrong today. Things couldn't turn out any worse from last time!

The words for us in the high school division ranged from cornucopia to memorabilia. None of us were good spellers. We just took turns getting word after word wrong. It was kind of funny! Finally, though, I somehow won. The adults had it just as hard, and Bethany ended up taking first in that division!

Below are the first and second place adults along with the retired teacher who gave out the spelling bee words.

We later covered a kiddie parade and took pictures of the carnival and the musicians. Here we snapped a photo of me with the Lone Ranger, Silver, and Tonto. Wait...I didn't know the Lone Ranger had a beard...or that Tonto wore flip flops?! But, oh well.

It was an interesting day!

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Drake 1/2 Marathon

5/2/2017

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April 29th was the day of the Drake Road Races in Des Moines! My mama and I were doing the 1/2 marathon and Bethany was doing the 5K. We arrived about an hour before race time, and began to warm up. It was a cool morning, and it was cloudy. I was very glad it wasn't raining. At 7:30, we 857 half-marathoners crowded around the starting line. We listened to a man sing the National Anthem. Then a shot rang through the air. The race had started. I was far enough back that it took a few moments for the crowd around me to begin flowing along.

This was the largest race I'd ever ran in. I was wearing my new Garmin watch, and my goal was to have around an 8-minute pace, at least for the first few miles. With so many runners, the first 3 miles went by quickly. The regular road traffic was controlled by police officers, and every other mile, helpful volunteers had water stations set up. At first, there was a lot of downhill. But what goes down must come up again. Around mile five, that began to happen. In all the excitement I guess I had taken off too fast, and now I was enervated. I was about ready to start walking, but I figured I'd try to hang in there awhile longer. The good point of a race with so many participants, there's always someone you're passing, or in my case, always someone who is passing me. I enjoyed the live music along the route. One man was out with his guitar; there was a whole group of musicians, and also there was a little girl with her cello. It made me smile to see all the friendly faces out watching the race. Slowly, but surely I made it to mile 10, and then had an extra burst of energy. There was only a 5K left. At last I found myself taking the final turn, where on the horizon lay the finish line. Oh, what a pleasant sight! The runners behind me were encouraged too, and I soon was passed five or six more times. With the last block, I decided I could manage a sprint after all, and I finished with a time of 1:45:03. I greeted my siblings who were there just to watch today. And we watched our mom finish. She met her goal of beating two hours. Bethany had enjoyed the 5K too. I learned the winning time for it was 15:12. And the winner of the 1/2 marathon was 1:08:56. All I can say is, wow!
Then we went and enjoyed delicious chocolate chip cookies and fruit too. There was more music from two musicians and then the award ceremony. There were very neat prizes. Overall, I thought it was an excellent race. There were nice t-shirts, plus all finishers received a medal! It was fun, and I hope we can go again next year. Here is the video my siblings filmed!

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Streusel Rhubarb Dessert

4/26/2017

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Last week I decided I'd like to do a food post here on the blog. I found a recipe for some chocolate cookies, and got started. They were fun to make, and looked so yummy! But the moment I tried to remove them from the cookie sheet, I knew I had a problem. The pretty- looking cookies completely fell apart. And they turned out to be so hard that my family had second thoughts on attempting to eat them. They might have to pay a visit to our dear dentist afterward.
"Why is it that everything turns out great, until I bring my camera out?" I thought. But not one to easily give up, the food blog-post-idea still lingered in my mind. When my mom suggested we make a streusel rhubarb dessert, I grabbed the camera. This recipe was tried and true, and I didn't see how we could go wrong. And...it turned out spectacularly. So here is the recipe!

First of all, prepare the CRUST:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup cold butter
Mix the flour and confectioners' sugar. Then cut in butter until crumbly. Press into a greased 9-inch baking dish. Bake at 350 F. for 15-18 minutes or until light brown around the edges.

Meanwhile, prepare the FILLING:
1-1/4 cups sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb

Combine the sugar, flour, and salt. Add the eggs. Mix well. Fold in the chopped rhubarb. Pour over baked crust.

Time to make the TOPPING:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup cold butter
Toss together the flour, sugar, and cinnamon, and cut in butter until crumbly. Now sprinkle over the filling.

Bake at 350 F. for 45-50 minutes, or until rhubarb is bubbly. Servings: 12 Total prep and bake time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Time to enjoy!

The dessert is excellent served simply plain...or with a glass of milk...or with ice cream...or whipped cream! For a family like us with a huge rhubarb patch, this is the perfect dessert to enjoy all year long, especially in the spring. It's easy to make and I definitely would recommend giving it a try!

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Sweet Spring

4/20/2017

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I am enjoying spring immensely this year. With the trees coming to life, the flowers blooming, and warmth in the air, I can't help but find myself in an ebullient mood. I can be outside running in a t-shirt again. And I can be out in the dirt again, helping my parents plant broccoli, spinach, celery, lettuce, radishes, beets, bok choy, and all that great stuff. It is such a beautiful time of year. And really we have so much to be happy about.
God is good to us. Even in the bad times, we should be able to find something to be thankful for. Think of Job. Everything went wrong for him. But in the end, God blessed him with twice as much as before. If we never have problems, we never grow. But every difficult situation we survive, we will know how to handle it better the next time. In school, I would be happy if my teacher gave me all the easy math problems that I know how to do. But, no, I would never learn anything then. Instead, she gives me hard ones that I have no clue how to figure out, so that I can learn by them. Remember, our God has everything in control. He will work out everything for our good. We should rejoice on the sunny days, and on the rainy days too. Remember, April showers bring May flowers.
The Bible commands us to Rejoice evermore. According to Answers.com the word rejoice is found in the Bible 184 times. Just think about it. God wants us to be happy. Think of the beautiful world He put us in. Think of all He does for us. And besides, smiling is good for a person. Smiles use from 5 to 53 facial muscles. Studies show that facial exercises can improve and maintain skin and muscle tone. Smiling is a good exercise. Smiling can boost your immune system too--it relieves stress, and helps you to relax.
So, smile away friends, and enjoy your spring.

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Forward>>

A Day with RAGBRAI

"Q&A" Post

16 Dreams Come True: #4

16 Dreams Come True: #3

16 Dreams Come True: #2

16 Dreams Come True: #1

Snapshots from a Day on the Road with Bethany

Drake 1/2 Marathon

Streusel Rhubarb Dessert

Sweet Spring

Howdy! This page is filled with writings from the youngest one of the Carson family!

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