4th of July and Holidays

The past couple of weeks have been busy. I started a new training plan with hopes to set a half marathon PR in October at the Salt Lake Halloween half., Katelyn and I continue to get things ready for the baby, and we celebrating 4th of July.

I decided after Ragnar that I wanted to continue to see what I can do fitness wise, however I did not want to rush into anything and try to squeeze in a race before the baby is born. As such I decided to start a training plan and shoot for a late October half marathon, and I have already started the training program on MyAsics. I have been watching the Olympic trials and continue to be inspired, needless to say I am also very excited for the Olympics.

As far as baby stuff is going, its getting real, we have the crib set-up, bought a car seat and stroller, and Katelyn is having me paint a dresser for the baby's room. I cannot believe we will have little baby Vidmar within 2 months! We start a birthing class tomorrow, I have a feeling it will start wo feel even more real after that.

This last weekend we had some friends over and Emma and Blaine came up from Provo. We grilled up some sausages and had a blast. We went to the park and watched everyone in the neighborhoods set of fireworks. Its amazing how many large fireworks are legal in Utah for personal use, It was quite the show. The scripture I chose to ponder this week was appropriately themed around our responsibilities toward government. "We believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man; and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them, both in making laws and administering them, for the good and safety of society." (Doctrine and Covenants 134:1). As we gear up for another election season I am reminded that we as a society are accountable towards God as we make and administer laws. Currently my voice is heard through the voting process, and it is important that I note only vote in local and national elections, but that I consider the issues and vote according to my conscience and my god.

Ragnar 2016

Wow what a couple of weeks!! Last week was my birthday and in keeping up with tradition I participated in the Utah Valley Marathon race series. This year I decided to run the 10k and trained to try and set a new personal best. When I was a freshman at BYU I ran a 10k in 46:57, that was over 10 years ago. My training went alright and i felt like I was in good shape, however the race didn't go accordingly to plan and I finished about 4 minutes off in 50:43. I was pretty disappointed however I knew I pushed myself hard and did my best. We met up for lunch with Linda, Jamie, and Jadzia Kreyling who all ran the half marathon, and always try and invite us to do more races with them.

I used my birthday money to get a Fitbit and Katelyn and I are enjoying having daily step challenges, and are finding its helping us move around and stay active throughout the day.

Now for the main event....RAGNAR WASATCH BACK 2016!!! About a month ago my cousin Sean Popa asked me if I would like to join his Ragnar team as they had a last minute spot open up. Well joined team "Not Fast Just Furious" and had a blast. I was in Van 2 with a two couples and a crazy man (Ben and Chelise, Rena and Jared, and Paul).  Ben, Chelise and Paul are all from the Logan area where Sean lives. Rena (Julie Popa's niece) and Jared came up from Vegas. I would elaborate on the fun times we had, however in the spirit of Ragnar - what happens in the Van stays in the Van.

LEG 1 (3.0 mi)
My first leg in the middle of the afternoon heat. I ran a nice conservative pace (9:00 / mi), it was hot and I almost threw up at the start. While Rena (who was the runner before me on each leg) was out on her 6 miler I though i had a little bit of time, Paul said "Hey you should have a banana", I though that was a good idea as I had about a 1/2 hour left before my run, as soon as I finished the banana, Jared came over and informed me that he got a text and Rena was going to be finishing in 10 minutes. OOPS.

LEG 2 (6.1 mi + a little extra to make it a personal 10k)
Prior to our second set of runs, Van 1 informed us that they were upset that we were running to fast and not allowing them enough rest. (Each set of runs our Van took an hour of the estimated finish time). At exchange 18 Sean told us to run slow and turned to me and said "Don't to anything stupid like try and set a 10k PR". Well that got the wheels turning and when it came time for my run just past midnight I had a lot of energy (I don't know why as I hadn't slept all day) and I decided it let fly. I took off with a lot of adrenaline, about a half mile in I settled down and just tried to keep a solid pace, I tried not to look at my watch and focused on kills (Ragnar term for passing other teams). As I neared the last exchange I picked up the pace considerably, which made things quite interesting as they had my make a U turn, then I missed Chelise's arm with the slap bracelet, and kept on running, I turned around got the slap bracelet transferred, turned around the other way ran to get out of the way and at that moment the sprinklers at the exchange site turned on. (all of this happened in less than a minute). Final time for the personal ragnar 10k, 46:30!!!. I think its time to start running races with no sleep in the middle of the night, or at least look for races that have cooler race day temperatures.

LEG 3 (4.4 Miles)
I was determined to get prove to myself (and to my team) that the pace in Leg 2 was no fluke. I decided to push the pace for the first 3.1 miles and then use the last mile to cool down and get ready to sit in the van. (There is not a lot of time at Ragnar to cool down as you are constantly driving to get runners to the next exchange point). It didn't start out all the great as we were rushed to get to the exchange point after Ben conquered Ragnar Hill (2700 elevation gain up Guardsman pass) and Rena took off at a very fast pace. My fuel belt wasn't tight, my shoes were still tied really loose, and I still had my phone in my pocket, after I ran back to the van and got everything situated, I restarted the leg and ran the first 3 miles at a good 7:40 clip. It was the middle of the afternoon and the road was very hot, my feet were on fire it felt like i was walking on the beach on hot day. I cooled down into the exchange and was glad to be done with all my runs.

Overall I had a blast and enjoyed making new friends, and pushing my body to the limits. We had a lot of fun supporting each other and having a good time (especially as we got more and more sleep deprived). Total stats for the weekend... 1 PR, 2 times "killed", 3 hours of sleep, 5 new friends, 13 miles, 48 "kills", 2 really sore legs, and 1 heck of a time.

Resting up at Park city between legs

Right after Paul ran up to Snowbasin resort, I don't know what I was laughing at.

Van 2 photo while we wait for Ben to run up Guardsman Pass.

Taking it all in 

Hanging out at the Canyons with Sean and Paul

Team photo at the finish line

Relaxing at the finish line.

I'm Back

Its been a while since i have blogged or written in my journal. Over the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about the importance of sharing my feelings and providing a record for my posterity. Today with the young men we asked them what they would do if they only had 8 months to live. Natural with a baby on the way my thoughts turned to how i would want to be remembered and what I would want my family and son to know. I then thought, why wait. I have brought back the blog and plan on blogging at a minimum one a week.

These last couple of months have been a whirlwind of emotions Grandpa Vidmar and Grandma Burton passed away within 3 weeks of each other. Both peacefully surrounded by family. Emma got married in the new Provo City Center (Tabernacle) Temple, and in the midst of all that we got to go up to Oregon and visit with Katelyn's family and be there for Spencer's baptism. One of the biggest blessings from this crazy time was the time I got to spend with my family. I especially cherished walking around El Segundo with my brothers and sister 20 years after we moved up to Washington.

This last week I finished my last hard week prior to my taper for the Utah Valley 10k / Ragnar Wasatch Back. That's right I am super excited to be joining my cousin Sean Popa's Ragnar team the week after the Utah Valley.

Here are a couple of tributes to the major events of the last couple of months.

April 10th, 2016: Today Grandpa was reunited with his sweetheart and two of his beloved children. He was a great man who taught me how to love, live righteously, work hard and of course the importance of compound interest. I had the privilege of living with him during the summer of 2013. I will always cherish the time we spent watching Dodger games, playing Mexican trains, listening to life stories and taking his advice. I look forward to seeing him again on the other side RIP John Redd Vidmar.

May 3rd, 2016: Grandma Burton was one of the best, today she was reunited with two of her daughters. She was the kindest woman I have ever known. She lived a life of service and humility. I remember she always had the freezer stocked with Popsicle's and ice cream when ever we came to visit. I also remember playing golf with her and grandpa as a teenager where she would brag that she once got a "birdie" after hitting a bird with her ball. Love you Grandma, you will be missed.

May 26th, 2016: Congrats Emma and Blaine. I am blessed to have such a great sister and new brother. I am so happy for you guys and glad to see you so happy Emma. 

Salzburg to Hallstatt to Dorfgastein

pictures at kateskraftykorner.blogspot.com

This week has been full of travel. We had the week off of classes and were able to travel around Austria as a group. Thus we went from Studying Abroad to Vacationing Abroad. On Friday we took the train to Salzburg where we stayed at the Gastof Turnerwirt. This hotel was situated just outside the main city with easy public transport in and out. Once we checked in we took a 3 hour guided tour of the city as a group where we saw many of the sites from the Sound of Music. We also saw a restraint that opened 1200 years ago in the year 803. St. Peters Restaurant is right next to the church and opened to serve meals to travelers in that time, our tour guide made sure we knew that over time the menu has of course changed and so have the cooks. After the tour and some dinner we headed down to the river and did another river cruise. The countryside is so green out here. Every hill is covered with long green grass. On the river we got to see the city and place to visit on our stay. A few of us headed to Mozart’s Birth-House after the tour. It is crazy how much the worship Mozart in this country. They have chocolate in the shape of his head, he is on the back of the Austrian Euro and everywhere you look there is some sort of Mozart item.

On Saturday we went up to the fortress that overlooks the city. Because the city was built in the Medieval Period there are only three roads between the river and the fortress. Everything else is built for walking pedestrians. The buildings are super rectangular because owners were only taxed on the side that touched the street. At the top of the hill is the Festung Hohensalzburg (which literally means high Salzburg fortress). Once we got to the top of one of the towers we were able to see a 360 degree view of the city and countryside. It was amazing; I would not mine living here forever. After the fortress we went to the Schloss Hellbrunn (Hellbrunn Palace) which was built for the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg as a day residence in the summer. The main attractions here are the trick fountain conceived by Markus Sittikus. Hidden around the grounds are fountains that can be turned on at any time. For example the Prince had a table in which all of his friends sit around and drink on a hot summer day. Little known to them is the fact that a fountain shouts up out of the middle of every seat except for the Prince’s. Unfortunately I volunteered to sit at the table before I knew what was happening I got a lot of water up the backside of my pants.

Sunday morning we attended Mass in the Salzburg cathedral. It was the start of the Salzburg Festival so all of the music was a tribute to Mozart. Only one of the five organs in the Cathedral was used for the mass. That’s right there are five organs that are still in use today in the cathedral. Although mass was in German it was very entertaining to look around at all the art work and sculpture work all over the walls. I am amazed and the talent and skill the people have in those days to produce such grand pieces. Later that evening we went to dinner with the group to a typical Austrian Restaurant. Katelyn and I ordered the family meal (which we now believe was meant for a family of 5). Needless to say we ate all of the traditional Austrian dishes in one sitting—Schnitzel, Pork, Goulash, Mashed Potatoes, Bread Dumplings, Apple Strudel and Chocolate Cake. And yes we finished it all.

Monday morning we packed up and took a bus to a small lake town in the Alps called Hallstatt. This is a small village nested between a Glacier Lake and the side of a mountain. Inside the mountain is the oldest salt mine in the world. All the economy here is based on tourism and the salt mine. Monday was full of souvenir shopping at all of the little shops along the only street in town. Tuesday we were able to take a tour of the Salt Mine. We wore these special red suits that were reinforced on the back side with leather. This reinforcement came in handy when we went down the wooden slides within the mine. In order to get from one level to the next we slide down. One of the slides was 209 feet long and Katelyn and I reached a speed of 27.4 kilometers per hour. We were told that mining in this area has going on at the same time the Egyptians were building the pyramids. After the salt mine we went and saw the “Bone-House”. There was not enough space in the cemetery to continue to bury people so the church would pull the bodies out ten years after the burial and clean the bones and paint the skulls. The bones were then stacked in a room with the skulls displayed above. The day ended with the traditional Polar Bear Plunge. Around 10 pm we ran from our hotel to a park along the lake and jumped off the diving board into the freezing glacier water. Even our program director participated.

After all that fun in Hallstatt it was time to hit the road again and head the Ski Resort town of Dorfgastein. The town has a population of a couple hundred and is very popular in the Ski Season. Being summer and all there are not very many tourists or travelers around, just the locals. Here we have had a lot of down time. It is really nice. We can just chill and enjoy the beauty of the green mountains surrounding us. Thursday morning we hiked up to the Strohlehen Alm where they make cheese. They started from scratch and showed us how they go from start to finish with a block of cheese. On Friday we walked up to another Alm where they make bread. We were able to make our own sourdough loaf of bread. I shaped mine like a “Y” to rival Daniels, the lone Utah student with the group, “U” shaped dough. Both alms provided exquisite views of the Alps and the green Austrian country side. Later today we are going to take the train “home” to Vienna where we have only a week and a half left in this wonderful adventure.

Strudels, Schnitzels and Sausages

This week was filled with lots of German Study and free time to visit sites on our own. On Monday we started off our week with a trip to the Belvedere. This is a former palace turned into an art museum. Amongst all the art there was a marble hall with elaborate decorations. The best thing however was that the seats were velvet covered yoga balls. Who knew you could do yoga while looking at art. Later in the evening we had dinner at FHE and played games with the group.

Tuesday we had a regular Humanities class, studied German, and had a Peppered Potato Pancake Panda Party. We went to the Isaak’s apartment and had dinner, which included a mix of potatoes and peppers with a side of pancakes. After taking care of Study Abroad housekeeping stuff we watched Kung Fu Panda in German. It was really nice to have a relaxing yet fulfilling day here in Vienna. So far we have been leaving the apartment around 8:30 and not coming home till 10:30 or 11 so we can explore all this wonderful city has to offer. Before the Party something we went to the Stadtpark (City Park) and walked around. They had a beautiful decorated fountain with bronze sculptures on top. Then I realized that it was actually a drinking fountain. Needless to say things are a little classier over here.

Wednesday morning we spent our time studying for our big German test on Thursday. In the afternoon we relieved some stress and checked out the natural history museum. The dinosaurs we out traveling until October, but everything else was really cool. They had an exhibit of the Venus of Willendorf. That wood carving was soo old and tiny. They had an entire dimly lit room set apart just for it. Its amazing to thing about how old civilization really is and how far we have come technology wise. After the museum we decided to go to the Volgsgarden before eating a late dinner at the LDS institute. This was built as a public garden during the Hofburg Empire. It is very elaborate with flower gardens and sculptures. It has a replica of the Temple to Athena in the middle. On our way we passed the Hofburg Palace and stuch our head into St. Michaels church. Once again it was amazing. I loved this one because it had some original work and walls from the 1200’s as well as paintings from the same time period. I was in awe that I was touching something that was around 900 years old.

Yesterday, Thursday, we headed to the Schöbrunn Palace were we attended a cooking class and sampled their royal Apple Strudel. We will see if I can replicate it when we get back to the statesw. The dough was spread really thin and thrown about like a pizza. I guess if it doesn’t turn out I will have fun throwing dough around the kitchen. We then headed over to the royal carriage museum which had carriages used by Franz Joseph and Maria Teresa. My favorite was the “hunting” carriage used by one of the princes. It had a revolving seat and his servants would round up game and herd it towards him. It seems a little lazy even to an American like me. Afterwards we headed to a local Café where Katelyn was able to get warm soup (it was cold and rainy). I had Schnitzel Sandwich. It closely resembles a decked out thin breaded chicken breast sandwich. The portions were very large and the bill for both of us including the tip was six and a half euros. Sometime this we I also had a bratwurst hotdog which was juicy and fantastic. The food here is amazing and there is so much variety that we can try new things every day. Now I am on a train heading to more fun in SALZBURG.

Vienna Week Four and CASTLE

This week was full of a lot of German study and field trips for Humanities. On Tuesday we went on a tour of the Austrian Parliament. The building itself has a heavy Greek and Roman influence. It is interesting that they still do not use technology when they take a vote, if one vote’s yea they stand up and if they wish to note nay, they stay seated. Then they simply count the number of people standing and sitting. One of the assembly halls is insanely decorated with Greek statues and large murals. After the tour and German class we got some rest before seeing a Harry Potter double feature as a group. The English theatre showed Part 1 of the seventh movie at 9pm and then the Midnight showing of Part 2. That’s right we saw it 2 days before it came out in the states. It was really fun to go as a group and even though I didn’t get into the books, I really enjoyed the both movies.

On Wednesday we went to one of the former apartments of Beethoven. There was not very much original stuff; however they had a time period piano and such. It was a really hot day so we went to get Ice Cream, Viennese style. We went to a café and had what they call Spaghetti Ice Cream. They take vanilla ice cream and run it through a grater so is looks like spaghetti, then they topped it with a strawberry sauce and shredded coconut chips on top. On Thursday we had a big German test so we studied all morning. In the afternoon we went as a group to Café Central. It was one of the oldest ones in Vienna until destroyed in the war. It was rebuilt and opened again in the 1980’s. I was like a five star restaurant specializing in Hot Coco, Coffee and Cake. The building was supper fancy much like most of the royal building we have been going to.

On Thursday we also ate at a random Mexican place that we found. Four of us started talking to the waiter who didn’t know English so I talked in Spanish and made conversation. After a while we found out that he was actually from Brazil. I found it really funny that we were eating at Mexican place in Europe with a Brazilian waiter (Note the representation of 3 different Continents). Needless to say we had some really good chicken tacos. On Friday we ate dinner with our Host Mom. She feeds us dinner once a week, and it is always a three course meal. This week we had soup, gulasch, and cake. The closest thing to gulasch in the states would be a thin stew. We are starting to understand her better now that we know some German. (She doesn’t speek English very well and mixes words between English and German).

This weekend we went on a Bike Trip to a town about an hour outside Vienna called Melk. We took a bus to Melk Abbey, which is a school / monastery / museum. It was so amazing. In the Museum part they had a different room for each era of history as it related to the history of the Abbey. There were around 400 rooms and 1365 windows in the connecting buildings that make up the building. It was massive. The highlight was the Cathedral. The only way to describe it would be Baroque architecture on steroids. There was gold everywhere and on top of that they had just had a celebration so there were massive rose circles hanging from the ceiling.

After the tour of the Abbey we went to a local hotel and rented bikes. We rode on a 23 mile bike trail (similar to the Centennial Trail in Spokane or the Provo River Trail). It was really cool because we rode through some really small towns and villages. The houses were really small and the streets were very compact and skinny. Some of the way was paved with cobble stone. Let’s just say that I have a new appreciated for the difficulty on stages in the Tour de France that have cobblestone. The best part about the bike ride was the Castle we found. We parked our bikes at the bottom of a hill along the trail and hiked to the top where there were remnants of an old castle. I thought it was sooo cool. One of the towers still had the original stairs and we also walked down into the dungeon. I found is amazing that a structure built so long ago without today’s technology and on such a grand scale would still be standing.

When we got back to Vienna we headed to a pasta place that makes the sauce right in front of you. They have all the fresh ingredients in front of them (I mean really fresh as the herbs were growing in pots and they just picked them off). They mix the ingredients into the sauce you want and mix in the pasta, then you take it to your table and enjoy. It was delicious.

And as always, because internet is very slow here and we do not have access to it very much all the pictures are posted on Katelyn’s Facebook as soon as possible.

Prague Trip Part 2

I found it easier to just type up my blog at home and paste upload it when I have internet. Lots ( and i mean lots) of pictures are on Katelyn's Facebook if you want to check them out.

Trip to Prague Part 2

This weekend we had Friday off of school so we headed off to Prague in the Czech Republic. It was such an amazing city. Early Friday morning we boarded a train in Vienna. The seats were separated into compartments of six people. Katelyn and I had 2 others from our group with us (Alyssa and Rachel). The rest of our group (8 people) sat in the adjoining compartments. It was so cool to ride a train. The countryside we passed was so green and there were random sunflower meadows. A guy from New York, who had been living in Europe was sitting in our compartment and told us that Prague was going to blow our minds. We arrived and were astonished that he was right.

Once we got to the train station we purchased 3 day metro passes and headed straight to the hotel. We did not know exactly where the hotel was, all we knew was that it was closed to Krizikova subway station. Being professionals at public transportation we arrived without problem at the Hotel Brno. The hotel turned out to be exactly was we expected. We got the room for really cheap and read that is was a great location but nothing great as far as the hotel itself goes. The room barely fit two twin beds pushed together and the shower had no walls so the bathroom got wet every time we used it. The only thing above average for this hotel was the great continental breakfast. This was great because we left early in the morning and came back late at night each day and only used the hotel to shower and sleep.

Friday night after we checked into the hotel we wandered around the city a little bit and found the Spanish Synagogue. We were not allowed to take pictures, so I spent my time cherishing the magnificent nature of the building. There was gold everywhere and elaborate and vibrant colored stained glass. I still cannot explain how much I love the stained glass in all of the places we have been going. The colors are nothing close to today and the detail cannot be matched. After the synagogue we decided to take a walk to find somewhere to eat. We found the perfect restaurant, an Italian restaurant on a boat anchored on the side of the Vltava River. From our table we could see the water, Charles Bridge, and Prague Castle which overlooks the city. The food was once again amazing. And our favorite part was paying in the Czech currency. Our bill was 500 k. I paid with 200 k. bills and felt like I was throwing down some serious money, that is until I did the conversion and realized that I had only spent 22 Euros on a scenic dinner for two. After dinner we went on a one hour 9 euro river cruise. The tour took us around the main city along the river and we were able to see where a lot of the main attractions were.

Saturday we got up early and guided ourselves around the city looking at local monuments and churches. We went to St. Nicolas’s Cathedral where I joked that Santa must have been catholic and Czech. We walked around the Old Town square and did dome shopping. In the afternoon we joined a walking tour that walked through the city and up to Prague castle. The cathedral that is part of the castle complex was the most stunning building there, our guide told us that it took over 600 years to construct. There was a lot of original Stained Glass which I loved. (A lot of the stained glass in the cathedrals we have been going to was destroyed in World War 2). Saturday night after the tour we at a typical Czech restaurant where I had pork with bacon wrapped green beans. Around 8 we walked down to the rived and rented pedal boats to cool off and have some fun. We ended the night with a almost daily ritual…an ice cream run. The ice cream in Prague was really good, just one problem. When they say one scoop, what they really mean is that they are going to take a small ice cream scooper and fill it with ice cream then flatted off the top so it’s just a hemisphere. To put this into perspective my waffle cone fit 2 scoops without getting to the top of the cone. I am grateful to be back in Vienna where the ice cream is just as good and way bigger.

Sunday morning we headed to church. Church was in the first floor of the mission home. It was really nice because they have headsets to translate into English. There are a lot of international people in the branch and the most common language other than Czech is English. After church we rode the metro up to the observation tower on the other side of the river and spent the afternoon enjoying the large rose gardens up overlooking the city until it was time to take the train back home. On the ride home there were 3 of us with seats in our compartment and the others were empty. We folded them all down which created a large flat bed and had a very comfortable ride home.