You'll Always Have My Heart

A Half Marathon, and Sister Wives House

2012-02-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

Bright and early Saturday morning, February 11th at the Utah Olympic Oval, in Kearns, Utah.

I signed up for another race to stay on target with my 2012 New Year's Goal of participating in at least one race every month. I ran at the Utah Olympic Oval and ran 47 1/2 laps to complete a half marathon. This race was a lot like the race I participated in on New Year's Eve called the Revolution Run in which you just run as long as you can for four hours.

Going into this race I really wanted to try for a PR but wasn't sure what my body would say to that. I started out at a nice steady slow pace, as usual. Then every so often I would try to kick it into a little higher gear. Because I was indoors my garmin wouldn't pick up the satellite and so I didn't know my pace. I tried to keep track of my laps but totally forgot after awhile. The race people were supposed to be doing that anyway. (They failed at that come to find out at the end) So, I ended up just taking off the watch and putting it away in my bag. I do enjoy running at the oval for the fact that it is indoors and there are restrooms very accessible and also water and snacks every lap if so desired. At the half way mark of supposedly 23 3/4 laps I could tell I wasn't going to be breaking any records so I just settled in to a nice easy pace, which really ISN'T EASY for me yet. I'm hoping someday this whole running journey will feel a bit easier. As some of the fastest runners were completing their laps we could hear over the loudspeaker names being called out and the amount of laps that were completed. That was a little bit exciting to keep my ears perked up for my name to be called. A little disheartening though to discover I had a LOT more laps still to do. I definitely wasn't going to be breaking any land records today.

I'm guessing there were maybe a little over a hundred runners who participated in this race. I probably finished in the bottom third. I was just happy to get to be there and participate and get a good run in for the day. As I finished my final lap and ran in one of the men helping the Oval with their computer system said there were problems with the counting of the laps and that I did AT LEAST a half marathon, possibly more. I'm just glad I'm not a super serious runner who has to know the exact logistics. My final time was 2:32:40. Definitely not a proud number for me considering I ran St. George Half Marathon last month in the rain in 2:22:37. But with the Oval still working the bugs out of the system I'm alright with that.
I called my husband and said I was on my way home. He said he would get an ice bath ready for me. I firmly believe now that these are very helpful in the recovery of sore muscles. After having done it twice now after long runs I can definitely tell a difference.

I then had an engagement shower to go to of my niece out in Lehi. My son Cooper decided he would go with me and said he knew exactly where the Sister Wives house was located and wondered if I wanted to go see it. Of course I did, especially since I am such a fan of the show! I'm definitely not a fan of polygamy but will admit I have some practicing family members that live out in Colorado City. When we drove down the street it felt a little awkward and I totally felt like a stalker. It's a one-way street and so we had to go down to the end of the lane and turn around to drive by it again. Awkward once again! I'm sure we weren't the only people in town to ever take a picture of their house. So here's my photo for your viewing pleasure. We think it's possible that Cody and possibly some others were actually there at the time because his little fast car he drives on the show was parked out in the driveway. Sorry I have no more photos. I was actually feeling a bit brave just to get this one photo.

A Singing Valentine from my Love

2012-02-14T14:31:00.006-07:00

Oh what an interesting and fun Valentine's Day it has been so far. I got up super early to make clam chowder for a funeral. A dear sweet 92 year old man whose wife I visit teach passed away. I decided to double batch the soup so we would have plenty to eat here at home too. Well, my double batch sort of turned into about a 2 1/2 batch. I tend to go a little overboard in my cooking sometimes. I'll be handing out clam chowder tonight and tomorrow if anybody wants some.

After finishing that up I headed out for a 5 mile run and enjoyed the beautiful 33 degree weather in only this long-sleeved shirt I'm wearing in this photo. There was absolutely no coat necessary while wearing this. My good friend Annaleesa just gave me this underarmor shirt that is for colder climates and I'm here to confirm that this shirt does the job it says it will.

As I was completing my run and heading towards home I saw these men a couple houses down the road from my house but only saw the back of them and wondered why 4 police officers were heading into the neighbors home? I came on home and only a couple minutes later they were knocking on my door. I opened it to discover not policemen but a barbershop quartet doing a singing valentine delivery from my sweet husband. What a delightful surprise!! They came on in with the wife of one of these men, Alayne Schlappi. We talked for a few minutes before they sang to me and I discovered that I personally knew each one of these men. The one on the left, Roger Schlappi, is in my ward. The next one, Richard Loosli, is the husband of my very first piano teacher when I was 11 years old. I also babysat for them. The next one, Jim Keller, was a man that was in charge of a house Mark and I rented when we were a young married couple with two little kids. The last one, Lee Gillman, was my bus driver when I was in junior high and high school. What a small world, and an amazing connection.

They proceeded to sing two songs to me. The first one was "Let Me Call You Sweetheart". I wished I would have been a little more on my toes and gotten the camera out for that familiar song but then this second song here in the video was very sweet as well. I was touched that they would pick that particular song for me. It talks about having a guardian angel on high with nothing to do but give me true love. Brother Schlappi knows about the loss of our son Porter and picked that out special for me. Thank you Roger Schlappi.

But most of all thanks to my dear husband for sending this delightful Singing Valentine to me this morning to help make me smile all morning long. I love you Mark!♥

Cooper's 24th Birthday

2012-02-05T18:33:00.001-07:00

Today was a special day for two people in the family. Mark was called into the Bishopric today and I will post later about that. February 5th is Cooper's special day as well. This will be the last year I can buy only one box of candles to adorn his cake. They come 24 to a box. I think Jordan put the candles on the cake. A little skee-wampus if you ask me. Oh well, at least he wanted to help. Daddy made the cake. He has been wanting to find his mom's carrot cake for years and make it. He finally did and was so happy with the outcome. I will admit I was very impressed with the flavor and texture of this thing, especially the part about refrigerating it. Mmmmm....cold carrot cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream just hit the spot nicely after a dinner of baked potato bar.

My mother is moving up in the world and has purchased herself a laptop and printer. We are talking this is a major milestone for her!! She has never owned a computer and my dad is very skeptical that she will be able to operate this. We are talking about someone who has to write instructions down on how to operate her VCR. This should be very interesting to see how she does. Wade is helping her learn a few things here. He set her up a facebook account and added all of her children and grandchildren. Too funny!! He also set her up a gmail. She's not going to know how to use it for awhile though. She doesn't have internet connection at her house but will be arranging for that to happen in the near future. I'm sure there will be many, many, many phone calls and visits in the future with helping her learn how to be tech savy.

Of course there is always time for some romping with the little Mr. Miles. He knows how to entertain a room full of people. What a nice way to end a beautiful day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY COOPER MALONE FISHER!

A Broken Alarm Clock

2012-02-02T13:45:00.001-07:00

I've posted before how much I like President Hinckley's saying that states: "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without". And so many times in my life I have felt like if I have something old and it works just fine then why buy something new to replace it? Well, that has been the case of this handy, dandy little alarm clock I have owned since about 9th grade. We're talking over 30 years people! I have awoken to this thing for many more years than I've known my own husband. Now how many things can you say that about? I think this definitely falls into the category of using it up or wearing it out.

Well, the sad day has finally come that this handy little alarm clock has bit the dust. One day a couple weeks ago it showed this strange code on the face and wouldn't budge another minute. I tried changing the time, changing the alarm, turning it off, unplugging it, all for nothing. It still would read the same strange code on the face. I really can't complain though. It has served me well. Promptly it went into the trash and I headed into Porter's closet and found one of his old ones he had used. It has taken some definite getting used to with all the different buttons and options. And waking up to a radio??? That is a whole new concept to me. But I am here to announce what a joyful way to wake up in the mornings this has been!! Why wasn't I doing this ages ago? No more of that annoying, blaring, alarm clock sound that makes your heart panic and thump a few extra beats in the morning as you reach for the snooze button. I wake up each morning now with some happy little song playing or the DJ's talking and laughing with each other. No more extra thumps of my heart. Just a peaceful rising.

Good-bye little Spartus alarm clock. Thanks for the memories-though not fond ones. Who seriously likes to get woke up to such an ugly noise that you have produced for over 30 years?

On another note, my poor little Ford Taurus that I'm driving is falling under the category of "wear it out". Mark is really pushing me to get another car but I'm staying firm with driving it until its life is over. I really hate spending money. The heater core is going out and I drive around with a lukewarm heater blowing inside. Its days really are numbered, so I may be getting a car sooner than later. Mark also accidentally backed into it with his car (didn't do any damage to his) and knocked the side mirror off (which he glued back on) and put a nice big dent in the passenger side door. He says he's not putting any more money into this car, and I agree. But I'm still happy to just keep driving it till it dies.

Mondays with Mr. Miles #11

2012-01-30T08:00:00.018-07:00

I got a nifty new camera for Christmas and so I have been "playing" with it somewhat. Kali, my talented little photographer, has been trying to teach me a little bit of stuff here and there. You really should go check out her cute new website. So anyway, I went over to play with little Miles one day not too long after Christmas and was so surprised that he would actually sit still on my lap long enough to get a photo. Trust me though, it didn't last long. This was the only photo of a bunch that actually turned out.

"A grandchild is a gift from above ... one to cherish and to love."

"A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty."

"Grandparents and grandchildren are God's gift to each other."

"You Put the Grand in Grandma."

"Whenever I see you I have an uncontrollable urge to fling open my arms, excitedly shout your name and scoop you up."

My Blog Book is Here!!

2012-01-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

It came! It came! And I'm so pleased! A couple weeks ago I got online and started researching a few different websites to create a book from my blog. After a couple recommendations I went with the Blurb company and created this. It ended up being 89 pages in length. Silly me if I would have paid more attention to the pricing I could have gotten 120 pages printed in my book for the same price. You better believe when I make my book for 2009 I will pay closer attention.

Why Someone Said "Go to Hale"

2012-01-28T20:58:00.001-07:00

Hale Freezes Over-10K. Initially when I found out about this race I was all eager to sign up and do it. Then I just sort of fizzled. I bought 3 season tickets to the Hale Theater at Christmastime and part of the sign up price for this race included 4 tickets to see a play. Well, I didn't need more tickets and I was also a little nervous about our unpredictable Utah weather and the possibility of it snowing and not wanting to face that. I thought I would just see how the morning looked and then decide. Well, I sort of overslept and then I dilly-dallied around the house and didn't get out of here until about 9:40 am. By the time I finally got out the door and ran to the Hale Theater the race had already started and all of the runners were gone. I was too late to sign up even if I wanted to. I decided to just go ahead and keep running anyway. I had already clocked almost 2 and 1/2 miles so I just continued running. Further on down the road I heard one of the volunteers who was directing people in which way to go shouted out "Go to Hale". I thought that was kind of funny and it actually made me laugh out loud. I then headed off into another direction and finished my own course (10K), heading to the local grocery store for a bathroom break and water. I headed on up to my neighborhood and was feeling pretty good. I continued to run up and down different streets in my part of town and then eventually headed for home. My total mileage ended up being 11 miles running and 1/2 mile walking. It was truly a gorgeous winter morning for an exhilarating run.

I've had my nose in a running book of some sort ever since I started this running journey a little over a year ago. Well, one thing that I've read multiple times is the importance of an ice bath for quick muscle recovery after a long run. Well, today I decided to try it. I nearly froze my patootie off sitting in that bathtub for 20 minutes in ice cold water and ice cubes!!! Aye, yi, yi!!! Now I will just have to wait and see if it actually helped. I know it took me a good hour to finally warm up and that was even after a hot shower!

(not my bathtub but you get the idea)

I'm looking forward to my next race in two weeks. I will be running a half marathon at the Utah Olympic Oval. It's the same place I ran the New Year's Revolution Run in December. I would be so happy if anybody wants to join me. Sometimes this running life can be a bit lonely.

My Rainy St. George Half Marathon and Weekend

2012-01-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Friday evening I had to teach piano until 5:00 pm and then when Mark and Cooper walked in the door at 5:05 pm, home from work, we headed out of town. I had them pack their luggage the night before and I had all the food and luggage and other goods loaded in the car and ready to go earlier in the day. I put a Costco pizza in the oven at 4:30 pm and we threw it back in the box and headed out the door. We munched on that as we traveled down the freeway. Our first stop was at the cute, little, red barn in Santaquin for some super delicious ice cream. That's pretty much been a tradition of ours for a few years now. Mark drove the whole way and Cooper sat up front and kept him company. I sat in the back with my headlamp, since it was rapidly getting dark and read one of Dean Karnazes books. I'm totally loving this one right now.

I'm thinking someday I want to run a marathon and so I'm reading books about them to hopefully work up the courage to maybe go forward with this thinking and actually do it.

We got to St. George pretty late and got to our Hotel, which my daughter Kali, her hubby Wade and little Miles had already checked into earlier. We shared the family suite at the Coral Hills, Best Western. I just got to say right now how awesome of a place that is to stay. Totally love that Hotel and will stay here every time we come to St. George. We hung out and played with my cute grandson, watched t.v. and then headed to bed.

Saturday Morning I got up at 6:45 a.m. and looked out the window to find RAIN.....Nooooo!!! I was so looking forward to a beautiful run in the lovely countryside of St. George. Well, I just decided to make the best of it, tried to keep a positive attitude, and got ready. I had a light breakfast of banana, peanut butter and toast and headed off to the race.

Wade and Kali

Me and Kali ready for racing!

Getting onto the street where the starting line was located was an absolute nightmare so Mark dropped Me and Kali off at a stoplight and we started bookin' it down the road so we could get there in time. Good thing too because right as we got there Kali's 5K was getting lined up and ready to go. I wouldn't get to see her until I finished my race. Mark waited in the rain and got to see her coming in. I'm so proud of her and the training she's doing in preparation for her first half marathon this Summer. This was her first 5K and she ran the whole way in 30 minutes. Way to go Kali!!

Ten minutes after the 5K race left it was time for the half marathoners to get lined up. It was a very chilly morning and I'm so glad I packed a jacket. I decided to wear it as I ran because I figured I could just tie it around my waist later if I needed to. I was also grateful for the long sleeve tech shirt that the race organizers gave us. I'm really digging this long sleeved shirt.

The race started out with a pretty light sprinkle but continued on raining for the whole time. It really wasn't too bad and I actually had to take my jacket off because I was getting a little warm. About the last half hour of my run though it really started coming down and I was getting drenched. At this point I was really wishing for a rain poncho or big trash bag like I saw many people wearing.

This St. George Half Marathon course was very beautiful despite the rain. I loved how it wound us through beautiful neighborhoods, along the Virgin River, and down a paved biking and running path. I will say though that it was a little more challenging than I had anticipated. The race organizers said there were a couple of hills in the beginning but the rest of the course was relatively flat. Ummmm......I really question their definition of relatively flat. This course had so many hills, but of course going up means eventually coming back down so that part was fun to me. The rain also made for some wet feet. With about 4 or 5 miles left to run I could feel some tender spots forming on my feet and tried to ignore them. I'm thinking it's time for new shoes again.

I had no expectations for myself with this race. I hadn't followed any specific training plan for this half but I had just run the New Year's Revolution run of 18 miles three weeks ago and I had continued putting in about 15 miles a week up to this point, so I wasn't sure what this body would do. My first half marathon last June was 2:38:02. My second half marathon was in August and was a nice downhill course and that was accomplished in 2:16:02. So this third half marathon I was pretty pleased to finish in 2:22:37, especially since it was so hilly.

Crossing the finish line and happy to be done! 2:22:37

I do love me some after race treats, and were they ever good ones too! Oranges, bananas, little mini macaroon sugar cookies, golden spoon ice cream, and chocolate milk. At least my hubby could have told me to smile while I was shoveling in the goods!

Since we were getting soaked to the bone and we were seriously freezing we didn't hang around to watch the awards ceremony. I also somehow missed getting my finisher's medal. Lame-O. I never saw anybody handing them out. We headed back to the hotel and rested and napped. Later that night we went on the town to play. Kali found a place that has indoor mini golf with black lights. Pretty awesome!

Yes that's me with the bleached blond looking hairdo. I was the official score keeper.

Don't you love it when your grown kids can still rough house and have a good time together?

I'm not sure who has the upper hand but Cooper usually comes away undefeated in these tangos.

Yeah, pretty sure Cooper won this battle!!

Wade and Miles stayed out of the rough housing and played train games on the computer. That is Miles new favorite thing. And puzzles. He's a whiz at them.

Then it was time for dinner and we headed to a Mexican restaurant and enjoyed a delicious meal. We came back to the hotel and relaxed and went to bed. Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast and checked out of the hotel, after I chased Miles around the pool. He was having a blast sticking his hands in the hot tub and playing with the foamy bubbles. He also would scream and squeal every time someone would jump in the pool and splash all over. Then before heading home we headed over to visit some friends in Santa Clara before they had to go to church. On our way out of town we grabbed lunch at Subway's and Wendy's. The ride home was pretty uneventful. The roads were clear and dry even though it had snowed up North while we were down South. Once again my dear hubby drove all the way and I enjoyed some more reading in the back seat, and some lovely, much needed zzzzzzz's. This was a fun trip but much too short and not warm enough.

27th Anniversary, St, George Half Marathon and A Blog Book

2012-01-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday me and my hubby celebrated our 27th anniversary. We had a swell day. He took the day off of work and went to the dentist to get a cavity filled while I went on a run/walk with my buddy Laurie. Then we headed off to the temple to fill our spiritual souls. Later that night we had a couple errands to run and then Mark said he wanted to take a little trip down memory lane and it wouldn't cost much. As soon as he said that I figured out what we were doing. You see, back in the 80's when Ms. Pac Man was the rage and him and I would go on dates together, somehow we always ended up playing that silly game at some point during the date. We would put 2 quarters in the machine and play for EVER. So he had called around town and found a place that actually had a Ms. Pac Man machine and we went and played that silly machine again 27 years later. I have to say I still got the moves and can put up a pretty mean high score on that game. After an hour or so at the arcade we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and enjoyed the food, as always. That restaurant sure knows how to do ribs! I have a cute husband and really enjoyed our day together.

This Saturday I'm running the St. George Half Marathon and looking forward to heading South for hopefully some warmer weather. Kali and Wade are going with us as well and she will be running the 5K. She just started running and signed up for the Utah Valley Half Marathon in June and she thought it would be fun to run the 5K in St George. I'm not sure if we will get to run together or not but I'm just super thrilled she has started her own training and will be running. Someday, somehow I will get me a running companion.

I have been working around the clock on a super cool project! Lately I've been just a teensy bit worried about my blog getting lost in blogosphere and I would be so devastated if it got erased or deleted. Especially all of my thoughts and posts about when Porter passed away. So I decided it's time to do something about that. A couple of friends have actually had their blogs put into a book and I've seen and held one of them and was so amazed at the outcome. I researched a few different websites and decided to use blurb. I liked the option of making a book that's 12 x12 and having the option of upgrading to a premium paper. The blurb people actually sent me a code so I could get 25% off my final project if completed by the end of January. Well, I'm happy to say after a few nights of heading to bed at 1:30 and 2:00 a.m. my book is done!! It's ordered and should arrive in about 10 days. I'm so excited to see it in print. Now the only problem is that I have 3 more years of blog books to do. I only created the blog book for 2008. So I guess you could say I'm not really done yet. But I will do it a little at a time and get er done.

Iron Man Challenge-DONE! and The Olympic Marathon Trials

2012-01-14T16:58:00.000-07:00

I headed out the door this morning for a 2 mile run to finish up with a final 26 1/2 miles for the running portion of the challenge and then came home and got my swimming suit and shorts on and headed to the local rec. center. I hopped on the bike and finished up 15 miles to complete the 112 miles of the biking portion and then headed to the pool. There was a big swim meet going on and so the lanes were changed. Instead of getting to swim 50 meter laps I could only swim in the lanes they had set up for 20 meter laps. My brain couldn't do the math right away so I just got in and swam my little heart out for almost an hour. I ended up doing 80 laps which equals 1600 meters. I figured I would do the math when I got home. I made sure to do extra laps so that I wouldn't fall short of meeting my goal. I ended up actually going a little further than the required 2.4 miles. This challenge given to me by a fellow blogger friend what set up to be done in a 2 week span and I am happy to report I've completed it in 9 days. I just may have to try this challenge again someday.

I zoomed home quickly so I could watch the Olympic marathon trials being held in Houston today. What an inspiration to watch top notch athletes running their little legs and hearts out. These men ran a marathon today in 2 hours 9 minutes and some seconds and the women ran it in 2 hours 25 minutes and some seconds. Holy cow! I'm happy with a half marathon at that pace. I sat glued to the t.v. in awe, totally amazed at what these people can push their bodies to do. The top 3 men and 3 women will go on this Summer to compete in the Olympics in London. In the past I've been a very casual Olympic watcher, but since taking up running last year you can definitely bet I will be having myself some Olympic watching enjoyment time.

Iron Man Progress

2012-01-12T00:14:00.000-07:00

With the first week of the iron man challenge completed I have a few thoughts about it...

*SWIMMING IS HARD! Out of the three events, this one is kicking my trash. I'm still trying to get my breathing worked out so that I don't have to stop half way through every single lap. There's a couple girls in my young women's group at church that swim every single day before school and they know their stuff. So I had to pick their brains and have them teach me how to not look like a flailing lunatic in the water. I have only been able to swim 38 of the required 80 (ish) laps. I'll get it done though. I still have one more week.

*I LOVE BIKING-I have actually grown quite fond of biking-more than I thought I would. I love being able to get caught up on my newspaper reading and have been enjoying reading a few more running books and even started reading "The Help" I got from a friend for Christmas. I've completed 71 miles of 112 so far.

*I have no new thoughts about running. I still pound the pavement and try to get in a few miles each day. 'Slow and steady wins the race' is kind of my mantra right now. I've already determined long ago that I was not a fast runner, nor will I ever be. I won't be winning any races, only just finishing them, which is just perfect for me right now. I have read a lot about speed work, and tempo runs, and I just can't make myself do it. I feel grateful to just be able to run at my age with just starting a year ago. Maybe down the road my thinking might change, but for now I'm content with where I'm at. I've completed 18.5 miles of 26.2.

This challenge for me officially ends in one week on Thursday January 19th. I'm hoping to be able to complete everything by Saturday. We'll see how much I can get done in the next three days.

IronMan Challenge-2 weeks

2012-01-06T20:09:00.002-07:00

My blogging/facebook friend Loralee did an iron man challenge before Christmas and enjoyed it enough that she's doing it again right now. She invited any of her blogging friends to join her, and who am I to turn down a challenge? The challenge is to bike for 112 miles, swim for 2.4 miles and run for 26.2. But not in one day. That would be pure insanity. I know there are people out there that do that and I highly applaud them. Honestly I don't know how it would even be possible for me since it would take me over 5 hours to do just one of these events. So anyway, she's giving us 2 weeks to complete the challenge and so here I go. I started yesterday and will keep a running tally on my side bar of my progress.

*yesterdays workout-biked 15 miles and swam 6 laps in the 50 meter pool

*today's workout-biked 16 miles, swam 14 laps, ran 1 mile. I also walked 4 miles with my good friend Laurie.

I will say that getting in a swimsuit and doing the swimming part of this challenge really intimidated me but I just covered myself really well and thought "who cares"? I forgot goggles the first day which was definitely challenging so today's swim was better with goggles. It's so cool to be able to open my eyes under water and see the long, blue tiled stripes on the pool floor and the depth of the pool and the lights on the side walls. I really haven't been in a pool for many years and so this felt like a brand new adventure.

Target date to complete this challenge is January 19th, 2012
Any other blogging friends want to take on the challenge? Let me know if you do and I'll cheer you on.

My New Year's Revolution Run-Dec 31st, 2011

2012-01-03T10:49:00.001-07:00

Who would have even thought that running round and round a track for 4 hours could be a fun adventure? I'm here to tell you I had a blast! I didn't even have any running buddies with me but I still was able to have a great time. I can't even pinpoint the reason for the great pleasure either, which is still strange to me, but I'll give a rundown of how my day played out and see if I can figure out why the extreme euphoric feelings I was having.

*Arose at 6:00 am and drove to Kearns where the Utah Olympic Oval is located

*Got checked in by 7:30 am and got my t-shirt, bib, goody bag and ankle band to count the laps.

*Race started only 4 minutes late at 8:04 am.

*At the starting line hearing final instructions which mainly consisted of enjoying the oval by walking, running, meandering around, resting, watching the speed skaters, using the restrooms, enjoying the snack table, but most important instruction was to just HAVE FUN!

*About half way through my run a kindly, elderly gentleman was sitting at some tables where my stuff was at. He was resting and also taking pictures of his wife as she went around the track and so I asked him if he would take a few photos for me. Obviously these two are posed or I would have crashed into the little cute man. He wanted the olympic flags in the background of my photos so I said "great!"

*I thought he was done taking photos and I thanked him. As I continued on and made another lap around there he was standing up with my camera still in his hands taking an action shot-so I smiled and made a cheering sign.

*Um......next lap around......cute little old man still taking photos.....and I was starting to feel awkward.......but still smiled.

*Ok.....cute little man, enough is enough of the photo taking......much appreciation!

Items consumed during the 4 hour race:

*2 peppermint lifesavers

*3 pretzels

*4 orange slices

*2 banana chunks

*dixie cup size trail mix

*1 mini milky way dark bite size

*1 mini butterfinger bite size

*Zip Fizz electrolyte drink-43 oz.

*water

*Gatorade

*1 GU packet

*4 pieces peppermint Extra gum-1 new piece every hour (I have to chew gum while I run)

Music listened to while running:

John Mayer the whole way!!-Thanks John for a beautiful run.

Items used:

*3 ibuprofin

*9+ kleenex- many boxes used up by the runners-not just me. Supposedly it's 65 degrees in the oval but it felt way colder than that to me. My nose felt like a dripping faucet.

*A change of shoes in the third hour-felt refreshing for my feet.

*A convenient bathroom located on every lap if so desired. I only had to use it 4 times.

People I passed:

*34 on one lap

*32 on another lap

*Didn't have the courage to count how many people passed me-it was oodles though, trust me.

Laps Accomplished:

*1 lap to warm up-not counted by race people

*1 lap to cool down-not counted by race people

*68 laps

*Total-70 laps for a grand total of over 18 miles-total time 4:01:35

*17th place out of 160 females for laps accomplished

*49th place of 264 runners

*The top female winner accomplished 99 laps-Amazing!

*The top male winner accomplished 119 laps-Incredible!

Prizes won:

*Awesome pair of running sunglasses-have been wanting some since last Summer so this was worth the whole day right there alone to win those.

*Muscle Milk

*Finisher's Medal-Dog Tag

*Chia Seed Powder drink mix gunk-not sure what to think of this stuff till I try it.

*After the race was over and most people cleared out I checked the photos that the little cute man had taken and noticed they were mostly blurry. I attempted a couple photos of my own-still a tiny blurry. Oh well!

*Happy it's over and can't wait to do this race again next year. I would love to take some buddies with me though, which would only add to the extreme fun.

Feeling very achy on the car ride home and enjoying my cool new running sunglasses.

Brand New Year- Running Goals for 2012

2012-01-01T20:17:00.000-07:00

With 2011 gone and having learned and experienced a few things with my new found interest (not love yet) with running, it's time to make some goals for 2012. Last year I didn't have any goals other than to see if I could run at all and then to try a half marathon that my daughter challenged me to do. So I want to set some challenging yet reachable goals for me to stretch and grow this year thus hopefully leading me to participate in a full marathon some day.

(maybe a goal for 2013)

Goal #1-Log more mileage in 2012 than last years 551 miles. I'm shooting for 720 miles, which calculates to 60 miles a month, 15 miles a week. (yikes) I will post my monthly totals on the sidebar.

Goal #2-Enter and participate in at least 1 race every month from January to December. This can be anything from a 5K to a half marathon. I already have a few in mind for the first three months.

That's it for now, which is plenty for this heart and body to work on.

Here we go 2012!!

Picture from New Year's Revolution Run which I'll be posting about soon.

Utah Olympic Oval Race-Call Me Crazy

2011-12-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

I just signed up to go around and around and around a track at the Utah Olympic Oval on Saturday December 31st for 4 hours from 8:00 am-12:00 noon.(www.newyearsrevolutionrun.com) It should be entertaining to some degree. The whole idea is to finish off your year strong with trying to accomplish a race you haven't done yet or by trying to better your time in a certain distance. You can walk, run, meander, whatever you'd like for 4 hours. You get points for each lap around the track and get your name entered into an hourly drawing. This race is supporting the Utah Food Bank and the Autism Council of Utah and so bringing canned food gives bonus points. So far I haven't been able to get any friends to join me so I may be going solo on this. I really need to find me some running buddies.

Christmas Morning

2011-12-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

Christmas morning we had church at 9:00 am for an hour. It was a neat opportunity to participate in choir this year. I'm not usually the singing type but do enjoy some lovely Christmas songs so I joined for a couple months. We have an awesome choir director that did some cool stuff with bells and a violinist who was amazing! The primary sang, the young men and young women had a number, and even a sweet little piano duet by some talented kids. Music has a way of moving me emotionally and I end up crying more than I'd like to, which in turn makes it hard to sing. I got through it though and also love watching the faces of members out in the congregation as they watch and feel the spirit of the day. We then came home and changed our clothes and opened gifts.

I gave these three boys of mine Brian Reagan tickets to go have a man's night out together. They were all completely shocked and excited. Isn't it so fun to give a gift that is a total surprise? It's getting harder the older they get.

Cute little Mr. Miles opening one of his presents from grandma and grandpa.

Then we head over to my parents home where we enjoy the traditional feast of bacon wrapped chestnuts and other delicious breakfast goodies.

I received a new camera from my dear hubby and just as soon as I learn to use it I will hopefully get some cool things on here. Good thing I have a daughter who can help me. Thanks ahead dear Kali.

Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

An evening at home with my family=happiness and a warm heart

So grateful for a husband who knows how to cook a last minute necessity.

Oops, this sad little cherry pie had an accident on the car ride to our house. It still tasted delicious!

Minute to win it games that kept us laughing through the evening

Thank you Kali for planning a fun night for the family.

A Christmas Eve Virtual 5K

2011-12-24T17:00:00.001-07:00

Amy over at Run Mom Run and Amylee over at Run My Guts Out put a challenge out there in the running blogger world to run a 5K anytime on Christmas Eve day and then post our times and photos. I thought it sounded like a fun thing to do on a bright, chilly December morning so off I went.

A new PR for me! But of course going downhill a lot of the distance helped.

They also told us to submit crazy photos and I thought cartwheels sounded like a fun and crazy thing for a 45 year old woman to do.

See, I can take a normal picture too, although a little bit sweaty.

My official Participating and Finishing Virtual Medal-Thanks ladies for hosting this. It was a fun challenge.

Nativity Scenes at the Homestead

2011-12-24T07:01:00.000-07:00

Near the beginning of December I saw an article about an exhibit in the paper and so we gathered the family together and headed North to Midway to check out the large display of creches. Cooper drove his truck and so we all piled in. I was sitting in the middle front seat and just held my camera up over my head and took a picture backwards to see what funny picture I might get and instead this is what I got. I thought it was awesome that the picture turned out so cute without even giving them warning in the back seat that I was going to take a picture. They sure fooled me and were ready. Don't you love Wade's new hat?


Kali's photo-she's got amazing photography skills-Thanks dear for letting me steal another photo.

I loved this huge ornate fireplace, plus the cozy warmth of it wasn't bad either.

Me, Mark and Cooper

I thought of my daddy when I saw this nativity set. He is a mechanic and a welder. It was all made out of auto parts.

Banana Bark Nativity

This is a nativity scene carved onto an ostrich egg. So pretty!

Olive Wood from Israel

a glass nativity

Bottle caps from Africa-Kali could totally relate because she spent a couple weeks there when she was in high school and would purchase soda from a bottle.

A wood carving

Beaded Nativity

It was so fascinating to see the wide variety of colors and shapes and interpretations of different cultures.

Banana Fibers? So cool!

This one takes the cake for most creative! Mud and Dung! Whoa!!

Festival of Lights-Thanksgiving Point

2011-12-23T22:40:00.002-07:00

Kali's photo-thanks dear

Kali texted me a couple nights ago and said her and Wade were taking Miles to see the lights and of course I wanted to go too so I invited myself to go along.

Besides, who else would have been able to take a cute photo of them all together by the cozy fire?

After seeing the lights we parked the car and got out to take a stroll in the very frigid night air and saw the reindeer chowing down on the hay getting lots of nourishment for their big night coming soon.

There was a little bit of contankerousness going on and watching them get their antlers stuck together for a few minutes reminded me of my kids in their younger days when they would wrestle and carry on.

I was actually a bit fascinated and yet worried at the same time as I was watching, hoping they would be able to unlock themselves, which they eventually did.

The ice sculptures were absolutely beautiful.

I wasn't quite sure how anyone could have stayed outside long enough to create these works of art it was that cold!!

I love being with my family. It brings me joy and warms my heart. (even though we were seriously freezing) Thank you Wade, Kali and little Mr. Miles for letting grandma come along.

Oops I Did it Again!

2011-12-23T15:07:00.003-07:00

I am a fairly new runner with one year under my belt. It was exactly a year ago that my daughter challenged me to run the Utah Valley Half Marathon and so I decided to take that challenge on and signed up. I started running on a treadmill at the gym and then slowly worked my way to outside as the weather warmed up.

2011 consisted of me running a 5K, Utah Valley Half Marathon, Top of Utah Half Marathon, and a 10K and I thoroughly enjoyed every race. As I now think about 2012 I'm trying to figure out what goals to make and which races to run. I'm even contemplating a full marathon but not sure if my body is ready for that kind of commitment yet. My heart is saying "go, go, go for it" but I'm afraid of challenging myself too much right now.

Me running my first half-Utah Valley My second half-Top of Utah

Well, with that being said I went ahead and signed up for the Utah Valley Half Marathon on June 9th, 2012. Anybody want to join me?

Festival of Trees

2011-12-23T00:46:00.000-07:00

These two photos were taken in 2010 when me, Kali and little Mr. Miles went to the Festival of Trees. Miles didn't want anything to do with the jolly guy in the red suit. This cute little Santa was patient and as you can see tried to be friendly but Miles wanted out of there fast.

Well....it's obvious a year later he still wants nothing to do with Santa.

So we walked around and saw the pretty trees, the gingerbread creations and shopped in the craft boutique, and watched the singers.

We're taking a break and enjoying our lunch as we watch a cute little group of 5th and 6th graders singing.

yummy peanut butter sandwich

Miles started feeling the beat and enjoying the tunes. He was bouncing his arms up and down and trying to help lead the music.

The Festival of Trees is one of my most favorite Christmas events to attend each year and officially kicks off the Christmas season for me at the beginning of the month. It was also nice this year to have Mark take a day off work to join in the fun with us.

Laurie's Birthday-December 13th

2011-12-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

This is my good friend Laurie. I talk about her from time to time on my blog. She recently celebrated her 45th birthday and of course we had to go have some fun. We started our partying by going out to dinner at Kneaders for some delicious soup and sandwiches and then headed down to Menchies for some do it yourself frozen yogurt. I'm like a kid in a candy shop at that place with 16 different flavors of ice cream and yogurts for sampling and then when a decision is finally made you fill up your cup and add toppings-yummy!

After eating we came back to Laurie's for her to open gifts. Here she is opening a card from our other good friend, Annaleesa.

Annaleesa was so generous and gave Laurie tickets to see Wicked in Salt Lake this Summer! What a lucky girl!

Laurie was ecstatic and so surprised! My present there unopened on the table is a little crock pot which I know Laurie has been wanting for a long time, yet was not nearly as exciting as Wicked tickets.

There is such a goofy story behind this chicken. Annaleesa got it ages ago when she worked for Chick-fil-et and every birthday it rotates around to Laurie in December, then me in March, and then back to Annaleesa in September when it's each of our birthdays. Our responsibility is to dress it up and put it on the porch the night before the next person's birthday. This funny little chicken has been a lot of different characters, some pretty crazy to even mention! I begged and pleaded to be taken out of the rotation because my little uncreative brain just cannot figure out how to dress him up anymore. I hope the girls listen and obey!! If not maybe a match or two might take care of that problem. HA!

Laurie loves to sing to piano music and had me play Christmas songs while her and her daughters sang. Me and the girls also played a few Christmas duets together. I think Annaleesa may have been singing or maybe only moving her lips to make us think she was. (she would do something like that) I think we all had a great time. Laurie's home is so warm and inviting and having music to finish the party was the icing on the cake. (Oh no!! Laurie, we forgot to have cake!!)

Christmas Recital

2011-12-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

Every year I hold an annual Christmas recital for my piano students. This year went well and I'm happy about the preparation of the students and their desire to learn and progress throughout the year. Teaching music is such a rewarding experience. I love to start students out brand new around age 8 and see them develop their talents in to their high school years. They don't all last that long but those who do really have mastered a great skill and I love to see that growth.

I don't post any pictures of my students on my blog but I can promise you I have some mighty cute students that make me smile every week!

Merry Christmas

My Grandson's 2nd Birthday

2011-12-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

Another birthday post to catch up on from November.

Kali invited the family and Grandma (grandpa wasn't feeling well) over for a little birthday party with dinner and cake and ice cream. Little Miles was so much fun to hang out with.

Here he's being so patient as we sing Happy Birthday to him and loving the fire on the candles.

Then he starts blowing and is able to get one flame out and then quickly claps and says "YAY!" It makes us all laugh. My cute mother in the background really got a kick out of that.

Then on to candle number two with more huffing and puffing.

Which he eventually extinguished.

I guess it was just too tempting to dive right in for a taste! Why not? It is his birthday after all.

Then on to present opening and boy did he ever enjoy that. He doesn't say a whole lot of distinguishable words yet but he certainly knows the word 'toy' and said it multiple times.

My mom and dad gave him this old car. Miles favorite toys when he goes to great grandma and grandpa's house is the old trucks and cars my dad has in his room. He runs in there first thing whenever we go over to visit and gets those right away to play with. My dad thought it would be so fun to get Miles one of his own.

He got puzzles, which he's very smart at doing.

and a Mr. potato head which is another toy he loves at great grandma's house.

This little guy has an amazing attention span and loves to watch Disney movies. Toy Story is one of his favorites.

This present was from me and Mark and he's been having a fun time playing with it as well.

I couldn't get a normal face from all three at the same time so I just posted both for you to enjoy.

Happy Birthday cute Mr. Miles!!

Jordan's Birthday

2011-12-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

My youngest boy at home is Jordan. He turned 22 in November and we celebrated in a pretty low-key manner this year. We always take the family out to dinner to the restaurant of the birthday child's choice as part of their special day. Jordan chose Brick Oven.

Jordan and Cooper

I thought Monday night at the Brick Oven restaurant was going to be super packed but surprisingly it was pretty quiet tonight. Possibly many people out holiday shopping.

We came home and had cake. Jordan was cold and was enjoying the heat of the candles before he blew them out.

Anything look weird about the candles?

There's 22 candles on that cake but I only had 19 cute stripey ones. A friend of Jordan's had brought him a cupcake from one of those local cupcake shops and it had a really long gold candle wrapped up in a bow on the outside of the box so we snapped that candle into three pieces and poked those into the cake to make 22 candles. Pretty clever huh?

Jordan's friend Rob came to say hi and helped us sing Happy Birthday to the birthday boy.

Grandpa and Grandma Hardy are always so cute to come visit and see their grand-kids on birthdays. We are so lucky to have them close by.

Can I just say how difficult it is to buy my boys presents? Jordan couldn't figure out either what he wanted and so his presents were late. He eventually got a lantern for his falcon shed and a drill and a cool contraption Mark spent a few hours building down at the shop to wind up his string when flying his falcon. Jordan loves it which is all that matters.

The Year of Three Thanksgivings

2011-12-02T00:10:00.000-07:00

Round One

My mom and dad-I love them ♥

For Thanksgiving this year my mother's side of the family planned a very large gathering, thanks to my cousin Cherri, for planning and organizing it. This is the side of the family I grew up with, going to family reunions with and hanging out at grandma and grandpa's house with. The challenge for me was trying to juggle my time between two families. Last year we celebrated Thanksgiving with my family on a much smaller scale and so of course it was to be Mark's turn for us to celebrate with his family. Well, with so much family coming and me not wanting to miss the opportunity to see them and visit with them I made it work to attend two dinners. I hung out with my family for about 1 1/2 hours and then headed over to Mark's family which gratefully was only about a ten minute car ride away.

My cousin Cherri-the mastermind planner and organizer.

My sister Kareena and her two daughters, Kari and Tiffany

My dad and my cousin, Roman.

My cousins darling wives.

My cousin Derrick and his mom, my Aunt Pam.


He's a special boy. Seriously though he is one lucky guy to be alive after a very serious car accident about a year ago which broke his neck. His mom says it's a miracle he's not a quadriplegic.

More cousins-Krystal (with her new husband) and Kindra and her baby.

A cousin's wife, Rachel and her son.

My sister Marie, my bro-in law Bill, my cousin Pepper (with her mouth open), and Aunt Bonita

What a cute son! I love you Cooper.

Puzzle games to wrack our brains

My cousin Prenten and my cousin Josh's son. (Does that mean he's my cousin once removed?)

I have a cousin who is in basic training right now for the Army and this is a huge letter that will go out to him.

We miss you Christopher!

Then on to Round Two of the Thanksgiving feasts,

which was held at Mark's sister's house and was a lot smaller and quieter. I enjoy being around both sides of the family very much though and especially enjoyed eating two meals!!

I had to be sure and wear a baggy shirt to allow for plenty of room for all the deliciousness.

Brother in-Law, Blaine.

Blaine's son and his daughter Oaklee and Wife, Tina.

Mark's mother, Marva and Mark's sister, Roberta.

Mark's sister, Monica and Roberta's husband, Dave.

Mark's sister, Jenny

Two of the cutest guys at the feast, Mark and Cooper.

Jordan's just as cute but he somehow managed to dodge the camera at the Fisher family party.

Juan, Stacey, (Jenny's daughter) and Sierra

J.T. and Kristi

We stayed and visited for about 2 1/2 hours with Mark's side of the family and then decided to head back over to my family function since they had scheduled the church building till 9:00 pm that night.

Round Three
meant enjoying a little bit of pie and other goodies still lingering on the tables. We also were just in time to watch the talent show, put on mostly by the young kids.

Tiffany's fiance and my son Jordan

My cousin Roman and his wife Tiffany

Prenten and Alea, Jordan's Falcon. After we returned from our Fisher family dinner Jordan treated the group with a showing of his falcon and shared stories of her and the things he's doing to train her and raise her.

Rachel and Alea

Jordan's been working out and thinks he has big muscles. What do you think?

Treasure Every Moment That You Have!

2011-11-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

We had a great lesson a couple weeks ago in our young women's combined meeting and the instructor talked about using our time wisely. It helped me ponder my life and what I'm doing each day. I thought I would pass on some of the info she shared.

You can never tell what type of impact you may have on another persons life by your actions or lack of actions. Consider this fact in your venture through life. Imagine there is a bank that carries your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening it deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!

Each of us has a bank. It is called TIME. Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. You cannot draw against "tomorrow's deposit." You must live in the present of today's deposit.

The clock is running. Make the most of today. To realize the value of:
      ONE YEAR-ask a student who failed a grade
      ONE MONTH-ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
      ONE WEEK-ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
      ONE DAY-ask a daily wage laborer with kids to feed.
      ONE MINUTE-ask a person who missed the train.
ONE SECOND-ask a person who just avoided an accident.
      ONE MILLIONTH OF A SECOND-ask the person who won the silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have! Treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time. And remember that time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow a mystery. Today is a gift....that is why it is called the PRESENT!

Halloween Weekend 2011

2011-11-13T16:04:00.000-07:00

My Halloween weekend started with a Halloween piano recital for my students. It's honestly my favorite recital in that the kids get to play a spooky, mysterious, or ghostish kind of song for the audience as well as dress up in a costume. I always dress up and this year went as a sailor. Thanks Laurie for getting me this great costume for my birthday. She knows the challenge of finding a good costume that fits and is comfortable.

Later that evening, Mark and I were invited to a neighborhood, couples only, Halloween party with dinner and visiting. Mark is not a fan of playing dress up and so we came up with a simple solution of taping "Smarties" on his pants. He went as a Smarty Pants. It worked and people thought it was funny.

On Sunday we invited my mom and dad over to have dinner and carve pumpkins. They couldn't remember the last time they carved a pumpkin and were really glad to get to do it again. My mom had no clue about all the pattern options and little tools available to create such cool pumpkin faces. She said all they had when they were little was huge awkward knives and all they did was a typical Jack-O-Lantern face. She said no wonder we didn't enjoy it that much. She definitely wants to do this again, and I agree it was a great evening to just be together and enjoy each other.

My mom made those cute rice-krispy-treat pumpkin faces in the corner. I thought it was pretty creative and cute of her.

Dinner was my traditional pumpkin dinner cooked right inside the pumpkin with hamburger, cream of chicken soup, rice, and other seasonings. It's one of my favorites! We also had salad with a myriad of toppings.

After we all got our pumpkins carved we put candles in them and lit them and put them outside. Miles of course had to inspect everything and even tried to blow the candles out. What a nut!

Happy Halloween 2011

Mondays with Mr. Miles #10

2011-11-07T08:03:00.004-07:00

"A grandchild is a gift from above ... one to cherish and to love."

"A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty."

"Grandparents and grandchildren are God's gift to each other."

"You Put the Grand in Grandpa."

"Whenever I see you I have an uncontrollable urge to fling open my arms, excitedly shout your name and scoop you up."

Recent Running Reads

2011-11-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

With the onset of colder weather I have become somewhat of a wimp in getting outside to run. For some reason reading stories of other people's challenges in running with their triumphs and victories makes me WANT to get out there and run, but so far it hasn't happened. I think I need to sign up for another race to motivate me again. I'm thinking a marathon may be in the thought process for next year?? We'll see. I still get out there and hit the gym and also walk with my good buddy Laurie three times a week, but running has taken a back seat. I know it's only temporary but for now I'm enjoying the break.

Speaking of Laurie, she's amazing. She's a friend to the end! She knows everything about me yet still accepts me and all my flaws. We have been walking partners for so many years I can't count them. She also keeps a great pace which is challenging to keep up with yet good for me at the same time. I think I have slowed down my walking pace since taking on running this year. I'm not quite understanding that myself but I appreciate her patience in having to slow up a little bit for me. Thanks Laurie, love you!

Timpanogos Hike #3-Conference Weekend

2011-10-18T09:46:00.000-06:00

I finally got me a garmin forerunner 305! It's been a lot of fun tracking my running speeds and distances even though I'm still pretty slow. I know I'll never be fast but it's been fun seeing what this old body can do.

So, I pretty much love Mount Timpanogos. I always have, even from the moment our family moved to this valley back in 1977 when I was but a young girl at the age of 11. (oops I just told how old I am) My first adventure hiking this mountain was with a youth conference group when I was 14. I have been fascinated with hiking this mountain ever since.

Porter has hiked this mountain a few times with me and was always so fast. I could never keep up with him and usually got left behind with the group. He would dash ahead with his friends and see us at the top. Him and a friend, Brian Farnworth hiked this mountain one evening by themselves a few years ago and said they wanted to watch the sunrise. So they took off around 10 pm one night. It was a little after midnight and I got a phone call from him that they were at the top. I was stunned!! He had made it in less than two hours. I was literally blown away at how fast he could ascend that mountain. So, since they didn't want to wait on the top of a mountain all night long waiting for the sun, they turned around and came home.

Now......the reason for this hike and post. Since hike #2 this year to the bomber was super challenging and didn't allow us to climb to the valley overlook, I decided I wanted to hike again and go to the top. I also decided I wanted to be like Porter and see how fast I could hike this mountain. I knew I would need to do this alone so as to be able to go at a pace that worked for me. I also felt like sitting on top of a mountain would be a wonderful place to listen to General Conference.

Here I am just about 20 minutes before the sun rose.

Here I am at the fork in the trail where you can go right and head to the saddle or turn left and go to Emerald Lake.

I made it to the top!

My fun, fancy watch! So, the exciting thing for me was reaching the top in 2 hours and 28 minutes, with a distance of 6.09 miles. I know it wasn't as fast as Porter could do it but I was sure trying!

Listening to conference and enjoying the surrounding views!

At lunch time I had a little companion wanting to join me, ever so cautiously though.

The colors this time of year were so brilliant and beautiful.

I made it back to the bottom with only a slight glitch by kicking a rock near the bottom, which has turned into a lovely bruise and making me walk more like a little old lady for real now. Oh, such is life.

Round trip was 4 hours 17 minutes with a total of 12.43 miles.

Since this hike at the beginning of October the mountain has received some hefty snowfall. I am anxious to get up there one more time before Winter hits and have been gratefully enjoying the last few warms days as I watch the snow slowly melting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Mondays with Mr. Miles #9

2011-10-17T12:18:00.000-06:00

Miles found a willow statue on one of my tables in the living room and was holding it and studying it. It is a representation of Mark and Porter and was a tender gift given to Mark last Father's Day. Miles seemed to sense the importance of this piece of art and was ever so careful and gentle with it. Someday, Miles, you will know all about your uncle Porter. I can't wait for you to learn and understand who he is.

"A grandchild is a gift from above ... one to cherish and to love."

"A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty."

"Grandparents and grandchildren are God's gift to each other."

"You Put the Grand in Grandma."

"Whenever I see you I have an uncontrollable urge to fling open my arms, excitedly shout your name and scoop you up."

Kali's Birthday

2011-10-15T22:36:00.000-06:00

October is a month in which we celebrate my oldest child's birthday as well as my husbands. Here are just a few (or many) photos showing the two occasions.

Miles and Kali-We went to lunch on Friday at Rubio's. Seriously the best fish tacos in town! Then afterwards we went shopping to one of Kali's favorite stores, Target for her to pick out her birthday presents.

Then the next evening Kali and Wade went on a date while we got to babysit the cute little Mr. Miles. When they got back Wade brought a cake he baked all by himself for Kali to blow the candles out.

It was a team effort to get these candles eventually blown out before the wax melted all over the cake. Oops, there was only a little bit to pick off.

I would much rather take somebody shopping and have them pick out what they want than for me to make a guess. I'm so glad Kali found a couple of items she really liked. Although she did admit whenever she's out shopping she finds so many things she wants and then when she got to pick whatever she wanted she couldn't find anything. It didn't take too long for her to come up with something though. Good job Kali, I like what you picked!

After present opening we headed over to Menchies to get frozen yogurt. It was a lot of fun picking out our flavors and toppings and doing a LOT of sampling of the 14 or more flavors. I felt like a kid in a candy store for sure.

Jordan got a free toy at the check out counter and had fun playing with the sticky hand. So fun to see my grown-up kids 'playing'.

Me and Mark

Cooper and Miles

Happy Birthday Kali!

Mark's Birthday

2011-10-15T22:18:00.000-06:00

I think the older we get the more we wish our birthdays would just not come around so often. Does anyone else feel that way? One of Mark's very favorite things to eat is a steak and everything sandwich at The Italian Place. When my son Cooper asked me where we were going for dad's birthday I told him we were letting daddy choose since it was his special day. I told Cooper I bet he picks Italian Place and sure enough that's exactly what he did.

Cooper and Miles were having a great time 'playing'. It's a good thing we had the whole restaurant to ourselves because little Mr. Miles is not a quiet little dude. That boy has a set of lungs that enjoys laughing and squealing. It probably doesn't help either that his uncle is almost as rambunctious!

Happy Birthday Mark!

Mark got some new workout clothes and shoes for his birthday so we can continue to enjoy some racquetball time together. He keeps telling me now he's really going to stomp me with his new gear. We'll just have to see about that.

Hiking to the Timp Bomber-Timpanogos Hike #2

2011-10-09T22:30:00.001-06:00

If you have followed my blog for awhile you know that our son Porter loved to hike. He was good at it and did it often. This hike to the bomber on the back side of Mount Timpanogos is one of the hikes he enjoyed doing and did it multiple times when he was alive. I had never been to this particular destination on this mountain yet, and I wanted to go see for myself what Porter enjoyed. My son Cooper wanted to go as well. So, Mark, myself, and Cooper decided to spend a Saturday in memory of Porter and take this hike.

Here we are bright and early around 6:15 am ready to start the long trip up the mountain.

This is a view about a couple hours into the hike looking up to where we are headed. Just below where the clouds and the mountains meet is the point we are trying to get to.


Here is a photo zoomed in a little bit. As you can see it's rough terrain and there really is a trail, even though you can't see it. At a certain point the trail ends and then it's just hiking through rocks and foliage to get to the bomber engine.

This hike was so incredibly hard and I'm one that usually enjoys this mountain and looks forward to hiking it. This time it was full of challenges, scares, and moments I don't want to remember. I do feel very lucky to be back down off the mountain and safe. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer, and think Porter was watching over us as well.

The first thing we did when we finally made it to the bomber was to sit down and rest and get some strength into our bodies. As you can see I love food and brought just about every color under the rainbow to chow down on.

I did save some of this for later although I can put away a good sized meal!

After some rest and refueling we checked out the engine and took lots of photos and talked about Porter and his crazy love of this hike. Porter liked engines and was always tinkering around with something engine-related as he was growing up.

This is just one of the many pieces of engine scattered all over this mountain. Porter had taken a photo of himself with a half circle of this same part when he was here.

After all this engine inspection and engine talk it was time to head to another part of the engine which was a bit further down the hill. That's where the hike got really scary for me which involved falling down a few times and rocks rolling down the mountain and my dear husband trying to help me and then falling himself. After stopping and having a prayer and then continuing ever so slowly we made it to the other part of the engine which is shown here.

The hike from these engines over to where we meet up with the trail again was less than a mile but took us over an hour to get to. Once down on safe terrain I was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the hike down the mountain. I will say I am glad I made this journey but it is definitely a trail I will not visit again. ONCE was enough for me. This was actually the second time my dear husband had hiked this route and I was just in complete awe that he was willing to go again and take us here. He's my hero!

Mondays with Mr. Miles #8

2011-10-03T08:19:00.001-06:00

Oh how he loves this cat. He squeals every time he sees her in the garage or outside. I think Pebbles has finally comes to terms with a little person being around. She used to be afraid of him and now she just tolerates him and actually will linger a little longer when she realizes he's not out to hurt her.

"A grandchild is a gift from above ... one to cherish and to love."

"A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty."

"Grandparents and grandchildren are God's gift to each other."

"You Put the Grand in Grandma."

"Whenever I see you I have an uncontrollable urge to fling open my arms, excitedly shout your name and scoop you up."

My Dad Hiked Porter's Mountain

2011-10-01T07:51:00.002-06:00

I'm so proud of my daddy!
Here he is at age 73 after a hike up Porter's mountain in July 2011

One Sunday afternoon he was home alone. My mom was out of town at a wedding and I called him up to see if he wanted to take a little walk/hike up to Porter's rock. I told him we could go as slow as he needed and we could stop as often as he wanted. He had always wanted to take this hike but has had failing health for the past year. He has been working hard to try and get better and I must have asked him at just the right time because he said yes he would like to hike. It practically shocked me. I was excited though and hung up the phone and me and mark got our shoes on and water bottles and rushed over to pick him up. We drove just the short distance away from his house up Dry Canyon and parked in the parking lot and headed off on the trail. When I hike this trail alone I can usually get to Porter's rock in about 10-12 minutes, so it's not a long hike by any means, though there are definitely a few steep places. I didn't time our hike but I gotta say dad did amazing! He just kept trudging along and really didn't need to stop too many times to rest. In fact I thought he did pretty awesome! I just felt so blessed to get to have my dad experience this. Porter's death was certainly a tragedy and his grandpa should get to be in the place where it happened on what I will forever call "Porter's Mountain."

Thank you daddy for letting us have this special time with you. It's certainly a precious moment I will always treasure.

Porter's 20th Birthday-September 13th

2011-09-30T14:03:00.000-06:00

HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY PORTER!
Dearest Porter, Even though you aren't with us today we still honor you and will every year until we see you again.

We celebrated your birthday this year on a lot more quiet scale compared to last year when we had that big concert and party in the back yard. We went to Subway and everyone got a nice huge sandwich for dinner. We took it up to Dry Canyon with the intent to eat it at the really nice resting place where all the rocks are on the trail. Well, some of us were just too hungry while waiting for everyone to arrive and so we ate in the parking lot. Little Miles just loves to run around and laugh and play and so that's exactly what he did instead of eat.

Once everybody arrived we hiked up the trail, taking turns carrying little Miles and trying to hurry to beat the daylight, and then the others who didn't eat yet did so as we rested.

Grandma and Miles loves you Porter

Cooper and Miles loves you Porter

Mama and Miles (who is watching Jordan like a hawk playing with a grasshopper) loves you Porter

Jordan, Mark, Susette, Miles, Kali, Cooper all love you the whole world Porter.

And then a nice lone hiker was coming down the trail and offered to take our picture with everyone in it.

After the food was consumed we headed over to the base of the cliff where your special rock has been in the ground now exactly one year, the spot daddy put it on your 19th birthday.

I'm so glad it's still there and it's nice to see greenery growing around it.

At this point it is getting darker by the minute and we decide to head back down the trail to the parking lot. This photo shows the valley, the lake, and the sunset. A beautiful combination on a birthday hike in your memory.

Kali gathered some wild sunflowers and wrapped a stem and leaves around them to hold them together. We drove over to your grave and visited you there for a little bit. I like to think that you were just with us the entire evening everywhere we went as we talked about you and shared fond memories of you.

Miles once again doesn't like to hold still and toddled on over to a grave with this cool dragonfly that kept changing colors. Maybe we should get one for your grave as well.

After hiking, eating, and visiting your grave we still wanted to be together and what birthday is complete without ice cream?

We went to Farr's and enjoyed some free samples and nice big heapings of deliciousness. Of course, little Mr. Miles is now ready to eat. This happy little guy never passes up the goodies.


We still think about you every single day and miss you more than words can express. I hope you got to celebrate your birthday in heaven too. We love you Porter♥♥♥♥

Annaleesa's Birthday

2011-09-23T12:41:00.000-06:00

Meet one of my very good friends Annaleesa. I met this spunky little lady a number of years ago when her family moved into our ward. She taught primary and then was later called into the young women's presidency I was serving in. One of my early memories was her teaching a relief society class on cooking. I don't even remember what she was demonstrating but I just remember feeling some sort of connection and being fascinated with her quiet and gentle demeanor. So, when she was called to serve in the young women's program we started getting to know each other and finding out things we had in common. Some of the things we enjoy doing together are playing racquetball, going to plays, hiking, seeing movies, and running, when her knees cooperate. Well, Annaleesa had a birthday a couple weeks ago and I took her out to dinner and then up to the Hale Center Theater in West Valley to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Dinner kind of bombed out because we waited over an hour to get in to Tucano's, when they told us the wait was only an hour, only then to find out there were still three more parties ahead of us. We just didn't have time to wait and still get up to see the play in time. So we headed a few doors over to Bajio and had dinner there. It wasn't as tasty as Tucano's would have been but at this point I was so hungry I didn't care. We enjoyed our food and chatted and then went to our 10:00 pm showing of Joseph. What a dynamite presentation!! The show was so full of energy, music, and dance.

We took these photos while we were wandering around the Riverwoods Shopping area waiting for our reservation at Tucano's. (which never happened)

I've never been on a real live surfboard before in the ocean. Have any of you?

Happy Birthday Annaleesa! Some day we will get back to Tucano's for some of their delicious goodness.

HIking the Majestic Mount Timpanogos

2011-09-21T11:54:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh............My favorite mountain and my favorite hike of all time! It's been sort of a tradition of mine to try to hike this beautiful mountain at least once a year. The last few years have been pretty intense with moving, sickness of parents, bad weather and the death of Porter. I just haven't been able to get my body up on that mountain. Well, this year I figured with the Summer winding down it was probably a good time to just invite some friends and go for it. With the extremely wet and snowy year we've experienced this Winter and Spring I had heard that there was still a lot of snow up there so it was best to wait till later. I'm glad we didn't try to go earlier because there were a few snowy fields we had to cross which made for a little bit of excitement and eh hum....snowball fights.

Laurie, Kirsten, me, Ellie, Annaleesa, Sydney

So we started our morning out by meeting at Laurie's house super early-5:00 am. I wanted to beat the morning crowd up there. After all, this was Labor Day weekend and the mountain would be packed with people, and there's only a limited amount of parking spaces at the trail head. Well, after a nice ride up American Fork Canyon and hardly any cars in sight we arrived to find out that not only was the parking lot full but that we would have to drive another 1/2 mile up the road to find parking on the side of the road wherever we could. Uggghhh.....so much for trying to be the early bird. We found parking and had a good 15 minute walk down the road just to get to the trail head. But really what's 15 more minutes when we are already hiking for almost the entire day right? We got our headlamps on, our backpacks and camelbacks and jackets and headed off. Yes, it was still dark outside and very chilly. We started at precisely 6:00 am and had to use our lights for about a half hour or more and then the sky started to lighten. The hike was beautiful with lots of little water falls to cross. We saw a moose off in a field munching on foliage. We chatted, took turns being in front of the pack and snacked on goodies. Somewhere near the top our group thinned out a little bit. Two of the fast people hustled to the top. I was in the middle and reached the saddle at 10:10 am. The rear followed up only a little bit later.

Laurie and her two cute daughters
You can see the little tiny hut just to the left of Laurie's neckline, which is the tallest peak on Mount Timpanogos.

One of the best parts of this whole adventure for me is reaching the saddle and finding a cozy little spot to nestle in and eat my lunch. If I'm lucky I'll also put my sweatshirt under my head and catch a few zzzzz's. After we all ate our lunch half of the group decided to head up to the very top peak where the tin hut is located. I've been up there a few times and feel perfectly content hanging back at the saddle. It's still just as beautiful to enjoy the valley and the sunshine, without the extra push, so I said good-bye to the three who headed off. That round trip should take about an hour. Well.....oops, the girls got a little lost and had to backtrack. We didn't see them for a little over 2 hours and so I was able to get a nice long nap. Annaleesa told me I was actually snoring.....hahahaha. I love it. I must have really been enjoying myself.

Ellie, Annaleesa, me

After Ellie, Sydney, and Laurie got back we got one more photo of all of us with the valley view behind us. We loaded up our gear and head back down the mountain at 12:25 pm. The descent definitely is not as hard physically unless you love your toes. They do take a beating and I had wished I would have worn a slightly larger pair of shoes.

We arrived back to the trail head around 4:00 pm and figured we had been at this little adventure for 10 hours!! Then we had to hike another 1/2 mile or more UP a hill to get to the car. In talking to people on the trail and throughout the day it was interesting to find how many of them actually start this hike in the middle of the night and way early hours in the morning. Maybe that's the key to getting a good parking spot?

Actually, I had a fabulous day and enjoyed being with all these fun friends of mine. Who's ready to go again?

Peach Days 10K-Brigham City

2011-09-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago my friend Jody invited me to come up to their city's Peach Days celebration and to run in the annual 10K. Mark was out of town at a trade show and I decided that this may be a fun little getaway that I was in need of. I got done teaching piano on Friday evening and made myself a huge club sandwich on ciabatta bread to eat in the car on my drive. Another friend had given me a baggie full of cherry tomatoes so I took those as well. Eating a sandwich with fresh garden tomato slices is way too messy so I loved that I could take a bite of my sandwich and then pop in a few cherry tomatoes instead to mush around in my mouth with the sandwich. Such deliciousness! I loaded up a cooler with a few other necessary food items and headed North for the 1 1/2 hour drive. (That actually turned into 2 hours because traffic on 1-15 was a nightmare.) I got there and enjoyed a relaxing evening visiting my friends and their daughter cortney and her friend. We went to bed kind of late and then got up early and ate breakfast. On race days my morning food consists of toast with peanut butter and banana on top. More deliciousness! We headed down to the hub of the city and got our bibs and took pictures. My friend Annaleesa gave me this way cool bright yellow shirt and I couldn't get the safety pins to go through the fabric, plus I didn't want to ruin my new shirt so I just put my bib on my shorts. Jody is a picture-taking nut like me so, of course, we had to have a little mini photo shoot before and after the race.

We got our bibs put on and put our jackets and stuff back in the car and just lingered around waiting to start. This race was a lot of fun for the fact that there weren't 2500-3000 participants like the 1/2 marathons I ran. We figured there were maybe about 400-500 people total. The race started right on the main street and we were off at 8:00 am sharp. Doran owns a Garmin forerunner 305, something I desperately want! He loaned that to me because he didn't want to run with it in this race. For those who don't know what this is, it's a handy little satellite watch you wear while running that will tell you your speed, time and distance. About 15 years ago I ran a 10K in Provo and that took me 1:06:06. So for this race I was hoping to beat that by just a little. The race course was very hilly which was a bit challenging. Every hill we climbed just meant a nice big downhill afterwards though which was nice. I kept looking at that watch trying to stay ahead of that hour and 6 minute mark. At one point we ran right by the new Brigham City Temple which is so pretty and still under construction. After running down the main street for a little ways the rest of the course was all around neighborhoods in the city and made a big loop back to the main street where we ended at the starting point.
Doran is Jody's husband and he had finished in about 53 minutes so he came back and ran me in. He told me to put it into high gear and run hard to the end. So I did and was pretty excited to see that clock read 59:46. I went over to the drink table and got myself some water and gatorade and two giant peaches. I sat on the lawn and devoured them. Such a delicious treat after a morning run. Here we are all together after the race. Doran went back and got his wife and daughter as well. He's such a good guy. I keep telling him he should run a full marathon with all the extra running he does for everybody else.

We stuck around for the award ceremonies after they had posted everybody's time. I was super surprised to find I had come in 3rd place in my age category out of 18 women. I earned myself this cute little medallion for what I like to call the old lady division. This was a fun but challenging race and I may just have to run it again next year.

Miles and the Bubbles

2011-09-19T09:00:00.000-06:00

An expression of pure excitement!! Could this child be any happier? I think not.

This activity actually was my mother's 71st birthday party celebration and she loves going to the canyon for dinner. Each of us brought a different food item to share and enjoyed the cool evening together. The boys set up the blongo ball and played that while the youngsters enjoyed the bubbles.

Born To Run

2011-09-18T20:38:00.000-06:00

Just picked up this book from the library yesterday after being on a waiting list for about a month or so now. I've heard from a number of people what a great read it is. I've read a few pages and am hooked already. I'm anxious to see what I can learn from it, hoping it helps in my own endeavors. I enjoy reading a lot but am doing good to get my scriptures, Ensign, and Prevention magazine read each month, so this will be nice to add additional reading material. I'm off to read, good-night!

Fourth of July Parade-Provo

2011-09-18T11:09:00.001-06:00

(YES THIS GOES TO SHOW HOW FAR BEHIND I AM)

Someday I'm going to do a blog book. My friend Annaleesa had one made and it's the absolute COOLEST thing I've seen, so I need to get my photos and experiences put in here pronto!

This was Miles first real Fourth of July Parade and to be honest I had more fun watching him watch the parade than watching the parade myself.
We started the morning pretty early, getting up to go watch the hot-air balloons inflate but got down there and the weather wasn't cooperating so it didn't happen. So we hustled over to the parade route to watch the runners go by. That is always my most favorite part of the Freedom Days experience. I should probably just sign up and run with them next year, but then I wouldn't get to stand on the sidelines cheering and hollering like a crazy woman telling them all what a good job they are doing. I've been on the running side and I know how fun it is to have people cheer you on. It really gives you a little extra boost to keep going.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and napping. Kali had to work and so Wade and Miles went with me and Mark to the fireworks display later that night that Pleasant Grove puts on each year. I love the fact that you get to be on the lawn at the Jr. High school so close to where they let them off. Miles was very scared of them and hid under a blanket the whole time. It made us all laugh. The scary part for me is when shrapnel started landing all around us. We had nice big chunks of cardboard hit us in the head and face. Maybe we were just a little too close?

My Number One Fan

2011-09-17T18:09:00.001-06:00

Mark has always been my biggest support with this new-found love of running. He has been to my races and cheered me on. He will hop on his bike and go with me on Saturday mornings when I have to do a long run. He carries the powerade, water, and oranges for me so I can be re-engergized with fuel at any given moment. He doesn't mind that signing up for races means spending money, and sometimes it means going out of town as well thus having to pay for a motel.
Well, he has run a little bit here and there on the treadmill but never going over about 3 miles. Today he surprised me and said he wanted to go running with me. My original plan was about 7 miles but I opted to shorten it so we could go together. I'm so proud of him. He kept going like the energizer bunny and we made it 5 miles together, going around the loop that I like to call the cemetery loop. We get to pass right by Porter's grave. It's the hardest part of the run, not just because Porter is buried there but because it's a pretty steep hill we have to climb. I just think about my boy and sometimes look over and wave as I'm climbing that hill and that carries me to the top everytime. Then it's all down hill from there to home.
Way to go hubby!!! I hope to do this again :)

Running, Career, Church Service, Family, Life!

2011-09-15T13:56:00.000-06:00

I have been trying to decide what direction to turn with my blog. I have been pretty consumed with this new found love of running since December of 2010 and find a lot of inspiration and motivation reading other runner's blogs. One thought was that I should just start a different blog about running alone but then I realized I don't really post enough about that, nor do I want one more separate thing to keep up. After mulling the ideas around for awhile my thoughts just kept going back to what this blog is really about: Life! I want to be able to document what's happening in me and my family's life. I'm not very good at keeping a journal and my scrap-booking hobby has almost completely died off. I'm hoping someday to start that up again but for now this blog is the next best thing. So, some days I may blog about running and health and fitness, some days about my family or friends, some days about my grandson (because he is just so blasted cute!) As of right now I am feeling really behind on my blog posts but they are in the works and will be coming soon.

It's all about balance and trying to find it. Is it possible?

Top Of Utah Half Marathon-August 27th

2011-09-03T21:29:00.002-06:00

This was a completely different race than the Utah Valley 1/2 marathon I ran a couple months ago in June. I felt like I had trained a little harder and went into this race with a different attitude. I also felt like I knew a little more of what to expect with the whole experience and was ready now to not only finish this race but challenged myself to beat my old time.

I need to back up though and start at the beginning. Since I don't live in the Logan area and couldn't just wake up Saturday morning and head to the starting line, our family-Mark, Cooper, and myself headed up on Friday night after everyone was done working. (Jordan couldn't go with us) Kali, Wade and Miles left a little earlier than us and headed up to Wade's parents house. We stopped off at Subway and each got a footlong sandwich-so delicious! We ate them in the car on our ride up. We went straight to the park where the finish line was to be to pick up the race packet and then checked into our motel. I realized I had forgotten a jacket for in the morning when it's cool in the canyon so we met up with my good friends, Jody and Doran, and headed over to Walmart. I found a cute, blue lightweight jacket and Cooper and mark bought some snacks. Jody and Doran bought some race gu and energy bars, and then we headed back to the motel to hit the sack.

Saturday morning 5:00 am dawned bright and early, well, not bright yet. It was still pretty dark. I got up and got my gear on and ate peanut butter and banana, my very favorite morning food before a run. Mark took me to the bus loading area and I wandered around in the dark hoping to find Doran which I did pretty quickly. My friend Jody is still nursing an injury and so couldn't run. Someday we will run a half together. Doran and I got on the buses and rode the long drive to the starting point.

Blacksmith Fork Canyon is beautiful and surprisingly wasn't freezing cold like Provo Canyon was in June. I was still glad for my new jacket though. We got off the buses and walked around and I wanted to find another friend whom I heard would be running. I only looked about 10 minutes and I found her, which is pretty amazing since there were about 2500 runners up there waiting to start. Kristine Freeze is also from my neck of the woods and was going to be running her first half marathon. She is one funny girl and kept me laughing while we waited to start. I wasn't expecting to see her after we started since she already does triathlons and was hoping to finish this race in under 2 hours.

The morning sky gradually lightened up and the magic moment came when the gun went off! My whole mind- set was to just push a little harder than I did in my first race but not too much to wear myself out early. I had my headphones on and just ran and ran and ran enjoying the canyon breeze and the beautiful nature all around me.

After about 4 miles into the race I saw an older man ahead of me and decided I was in the mood for chatting. I caught up to him and he wasn't listening to any music so I took my earbuds out and just started talking to him. I didn't know if that was alright or not. I haven't been running long enough to know the do's and dont's or any certain protocol to these races. But what I did come to discover was that runners are super friendly and do like to visit. It's a great way to help pass the time for these long miles.

This older man told me he was 70 years old and used to run a marathon every decade but then decided they are too hard to heal from and that he would rather run half marathons. He said they are just too much fun and that's what I should consider doing myself as well. He talked me into that pretty easily. I have no desire right now for any full marathons. After running with him for a couple of miles I had pressed hard enough and let him go on so I could slow down.

The next person I saw had some writing on the back of his shirt that said he was running in memory of someone. That COMPLETELY piqued my interest since I've lost my own son, Porter, l7 months ago and think about him a lot during my runs. I caught up to him and we shared stories of our passed away loved ones. He lost his little brother a few years ago at the tender age of 15. I knew his sorrow and aches and it felt nice to be able to talk about our beliefs in family, the hereafter, the Lord's plan, and running of course. He is the one looking at the camera and smiling, just two people over to the right of me.

At this point we had just finished coming out of the canyon and this is where supporters can line the streets and cheer. I was completely blown away by seeing all my family! There was Mark, Cooper, Kali, Wade, and Miles cheering for me and taking photos. I had not expected them to be anywhere along the race route and didn't plan on seeing any familiar faces. I was so happy, I almost cried. After I let out some of my own excitement in squeals and yelling "hi" back to them I told all the people around me "There's my family and my grandson!!!" One girl looked back at me and said "You look too young to be a grandma!" That was very sweet of her. You can see my arm in the air as I was pointing back at them.

After running a few miles with this person I needed to slow down again and let him go on without me. About mile 10 we are now definitely into the city and once again I look up to find my family on the side of the road cheering for me. Kali is right there in black holding Miles and I am once again so happy to see them and started hollering in excitement. Miles wanted me to hold him but I couldn't stop yet. I was still working toward my goal!

Here's good old Wade holding a sign for me :)

Having family support is a huge mental boost when you are so tired and ready to start walking. I love them so much and appreciate what they did in being there to cheer me on.
I actually talked to a couple more people along the way to help pass the time but don't have any great stories to share.

Around mile 11 and 12 came the infamous hill I was warned about. It was mentally as well as physically draining and I was a bit disappointed in myself for having to do a walk/run combo for a lot at the end. I was just completely spent of my energy but tried to keep fighting for my goal. When I later saw this photo that the race people took I just laughed so hard. What a goofy face I'm pulling as I'm trying to trudge up this hill. About a half mile left I see my good friend Jody and her husband Doran coming to get me to help me finish.

Isn't she just so cute? I needed her at that moment more than I can say! She just kept talking to me and kept me focused in finishing strong.

As I came to the finish line and looked up at the race clock my jaw dropped. I had finished with a final time of 2:16:02. My goal was 2:30 and I would have even been happy with 2:20 so to see that made me overjoyed! This medal and a cool Top of Utah shirt was our prizes for completing the race and one I'm happy to have earned however.....

BELOW WAS THE BEST PRIZE OF ALL!!

LOVES FROM MY GRANDSON!!!

Kristine did awesome and finished in 2:07 and Doran is amazing and finished in 1:53.

These are the cute signs Kali made

Now, you might think my day is over. Oh no! It has just begun. Since we are in Logan and having a little mini vacation we decided to make the most of it. After showering and checking out of the motel we headed over to enjoy some yummy lunch at Costa Vida. Their pork salads are the best! Then, Kali knows a cute place in Logan canyon that has a huge pond filled with geese and ducks. We had brought a huge bag of old, stale costco rolls with us and went up to the pond and fed the animals. As soon as they saw us start to throw bread to them they came swimming from every corner of the pond. It was so fun. They were quacking and honking and Miles was mimicking them. I was having so much fun that I forgot to take pictures. Then we headed over to the cheese factory and ate cheese curds and some other yummy samples of cheese spread and crackers. We bought a bunch of little flavored milk cartons. Have you ever heard of orange milk, rootbeer milk, cookies and cream milk, banana milk? There were a few other flavors as well but those were the ones I purchased. Sounds pretty tasty to me. I can't wait to try them. After the cheese factory we headed over to the little town of Hyrum where Mark's dad is buried. We visited his graveside and wandered around the cemetery letting Miles enjoy some running around. Then we said good-bye to Kali, Wade and Miles. They were going to stay another day with his parents. We got in the car and headed for home. We made a stop in Brigham City and checked out a huge fruit stand and then drove further into town to check out the new Brigham City temple currently being built.

What a great weekend filled with many memories!

Mondays with Mr. Miles #7

2011-08-08T07:58:00.002-06:00

Miles was definitely not a happy camper when his mama was trying life jackets on him. I sure love this little guy, more and more with each passing day.

"A grandchild is a gift from above ... one to cherish and to love."

"A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty."

"Grandparents and grandchildren are God's gift to each other."

"You Put the Grand in Grandma."

"Whenever I see you I have an uncontrollable urge to fling open my arms, excitedly shout your name and scoop you up."

Nathan's Art Work

2011-07-24T15:57:00.000-06:00

I can't remember if I've ever posted this photo of Porter but it cracks me up every time I see it. It was so typical of Porter and his goofy humor to do something like this.

Well, we received a pretty nice gift from Porter's best friend Nathan Buhler. He showed up with some awesome artwork to give to us. He has been going to college down in Southern Utah at Dixie College and this large painting of Porter was his final project. He came by to present it to us which we quickly and gratefully accepted.

I know I've said before how much Porter loved the band Keane. Nathan also knew of Porter's love for this band and so he also did this painting of the lead singer to give to us as well.

Last weekend was a tender time for me. I started gathering things from all over the house that reminded us of Porter and put them in his room to fill it up and make it more cozy to go in there. Up to this point his room has stood pretty empty with bare walls and just a bed and a rocking chair. His clothes and other items had been safely put away in his closet. Occasionally I like to go in his room and lay on his bed and read my scriptures and just think about him. But it always feels so cold and empty. I know it will always feel that way to some degree but this past weekend I, along with the help of the family turned that feeling around a little bit.
Cooper had Porter's bass and amp in his room and brought it back up. We hung Nathan's beautiful art work on the walls. I put a bookcase in the room and filled it up with everything 'Porter' related. Now I love to go in there and sit in the rocking chair and admire so many things that Porter loved. It has such a relaxing feeling in there. I someday want to have a blanket made out of Porter's clothes, yet in talking with all the family about it they aren't sure they want to have his clothes cut into pieces. For now we still find comfort in opening his closet and looking at the items hanging there and remembering how he looked dressed in them.

Postum Pals

2011-07-17T09:28:00.001-06:00

Porter and Brian

I love this photo
I love the boys' smiles
I love that Porter has no clue how much sugar is going into his glass while smiling for the camera
I love all the tomatoes on the counter
I don't love all the dishes in the sink
I don't love that Postum can't be purchased anymore
(unless you want to spend 125.00 on Amazon)

Observation of Waving

2011-07-15T20:23:00.000-06:00

There seems to be a feeling of camaraderie in the world amongst people doing activities of the same kind. Have you ever noticed when you're driving down the road and you see motorcyclists pass each other? They usually give each other a little wave or a nod, yet they probably don't know each other. And people out riding their bikes? They seem happy to share a wave and a smile. The same thing happens on my morning runs. As I pass a fellow runner sure enough we give a little wave or a nod, as if to acknowledge that we understand that what they are doing is challenging. Yet, I don't notice motorcyclists waving at runners, or bikers waving at motorcyclists, or runners waving at bikers etc. It seems to be people doing the same activity.

Now....how come people in cars can't do the same thing? Wouldn't that eliminate road rage if everyone just smiled and waved at each other? Oh, what a happy world this would be :)

Have a lovely weekend and wave at somebody new. It might just brighten their day.

Utah Valley Half Marathon

2011-07-08T16:29:00.000-06:00

It came. (The Half Marathon)

I conquered! (13.1 Miles)

That's all that matters.

I am content with just the three above sentences posted about this race. However, I feel I must expound for my own memory sake since I will want to remember this day for years to come and writing it all down will help me accomplish just that. So, this will be a long post because I do have many thoughts about it all.

June 10, 2011

I went to bed rather early so as to get as much sleep as possible. I laid out my clothes, ipod, chapstick, gum, energy bar, etc so as to feel completely ready in the morning. I remember tossing and turning most of the night waiting for the alarm to go off at 3:00 am. I actually had a dream about Porter sometime during the night. He was alive again and was home and I was so comforted with him being with me. We were in a room with a lot of other people and he was standing by my side with his head resting on my shoulder. I was trying to introduce him to people but he never spoke, yet I felt so much warmth with him just being there with me. I felt like Porter was there to give me strength and encouragement to get me through what lie ahead.

June 11, 2011

3:00 am came all too quickly. I awoke feeling excited, yet rather calm about the whole event. I had trained to the best of my abilities and followed through with all the prescribed runs. In looking through my records, out of the 40 training runs in preparation for the half marathon, I only had a bad experience with 2 of them. So I felt as ready as I could be.

A young college friend of mine, JaNae, was running also and her mother offered to drive us to the bus. I was picked up promptly at 3:30 am and we drove to the Provo Town Centre Mall where we met up with Doran and Jody, some dear friends of mine. Jody had some major owies going on and wasn't able to run this race. (Next one Jody :) So she kissed her hubby good-bye and he hopped on the bus with me and JaNae. We drove for what seemed like an eternity in the dark, on an old yellow school bus, up Provo Canyon to the starting line. All along the way I kept thinking, am I really going to be able to run all this way back?? Yet, I still didn't feel nervous. I kept wondering if this was normal that I was feeling so calm?

Doran, Jody, me

We arrived at the starting line somewhere before 5:00 am and had to wait in the cold for over an hour. There were little fire pits with fires all around and we were able to squeeze in by one of them and enjoy the conversations and warmth going on around us. I enjoyed watching the night sky starting to lighten and just enjoyed the beautiful surroundings of being in the canyon. I did see two familiar faces in the crowds of people. One was Susan, whose daughters take piano from me, and the other was Clint Friel who is a trainer at Gold's Gym and used to be in our ward. I never saw either one of them again after the race started. Someday, if I keep this running up I just might get faster. I can only hope.

With about 15 minutes left until the race was to start I made one last stop in the port-a-potty and got my ipod turned on and headed further down the road closer to where the starting line was. I didn't see JaNae or Doran after this point and knew I wouldn't since I'm a much slower runner than either of them. That's o.k. though because I had my tunes and the morning air was beautiful and cool.

Then it happened! The race began and the throngs of people began moving down that canyon road. I got a little emotional at that point and cried a little. I think it was just for the fact that I now felt completely overwhelmed and couldn't believe I was here at this point in my life running in a race I never imagined I would be. The tears dried quickly and I got into a nice comfortable running groove and ran and ran and ran.

The first 6 miles of the race were all in the canyon and were absolutely beautiful. When I passed Bridal Veil Falls I couldn't keep my eyes off of it. I kept thinking of Porter and how he had climbed that mountain not just once, but twice, all the way to the top where the old burned down restaurant and dance hall were. I think he would have said that was one of his most adventurous hikes! Certainly one of his scariest!

There were many water and gatorade stops along the way and of course I took drink from each of them but never stopped running. Around mile 6 we got a packet of GU. I had never tasted one of these so I was kind of excited about trying it. I was handed a chocolate one and WOW! It was so delicious!! I felt like I was sucking on a piece of fudge. I savored it and ate it sloooowly as I continued running. I Probably enjoyed it for the next mile or longer. I remember wishing I had a whole pocketful of those things. Around mile 8 I pulled out a piece of gum and that kept my mouth busy till the end of the race.

Around mile 9 some very dear friends of mine, Annaleesa and Laurie, showed up on the road and started trotting along with me. I say trotting because I really am a slow runner. They made me laugh and chatted for a bit and totally buoyed my spirits up for what I had left to do. They left me a few minutes later and I felt renewed and energized by their visit!

Laurie, me, Annaleesa

Around mile 10 I had to do some self-talk. I knew that 3 miles wasn't a hard distance to run and that I just had to persevere. There were lots of spectators along University Avenue and that gave me a boost as well, even though they weren't necessarily cheering for me. I saw a poster that kept me going strong to the finish. It read "TOUGH TIMES DON'T LAST, TOUGH PEOPLE DO!" Those words rang through my mind throughout the rest of the race. I thought how true they were. This race wasn't going to last forever. I was almost done and I could finish proud!

Around mile 12 I was running past the Provo High School and I saw a car to my left driving by very slowly. The girl inside had her window down and was waving at me and cheering me on. It was one of Porter's friends, Katie Andrew, and I immediately felt rejuvenated again. I started crying as I thought of Porter and how much I love him and how much I longed to be with him. Crying while running is a bit challenging because it messes up your breathing. I tried to dry up quickly and the next thing I knew I saw Doran, my friend who rode the bus with me. He's not running to the finish line but running BACK to get me after he had finished his race and to help me finish my very last mile. That made me cry again, but I was able to quickly get it under control.

In training for a half marathon the longest run you ever do is 12 miles and so this last mile to the finish line was a whole new experience. I could definitely feel new aches and pains starting and I was so grateful that Doran was encouraging me and keeping me going. I could see the huge big blue finish line down the road but it felt like 100 miles away. I stayed focused though and ran proud and strong. The first recognizable face I saw in the crowd was JaNae's mom, Heidi. Then I saw my family, Mark, Cooper, Jordan, and Kali. I wanted to cry again when I saw them. I love them all so much. This is my reaction when I FINALLY saw my family.

Jordan, Kali, Mark, me, Cooper

Then I saw Jody, my great friend who has the great, supportive husband. My daughter didn't get her picture in the crowd. I think she got lost.

Then my 2 dear friends, Annaleesa and Laurie standing by the black sign wearing blue.

I couldn't help raising my arms in triumph! I was so relieved it was over!

My mother was out there in the crowd somewhere but she never found me until after I ran through the finish line. She was disappointed but that's alright with me. She was there and that's all that mattered.

me and my mama

After I ran through that finish line I felt complete joy! It was over and I felt satisfied. My final time on my chip was 2:38:02 of which I ran every single step of the way!

I drank a chocolate milk and ate a creamie and visited those wonderful people who came to support me.

A little while later we waited in a long line and got a massage, (so totally worth it) and then I hobbled to the car and spent a lot of my day resting.

Now it's time to start thinking about the next race at the end of August. (Top of Utah-Half Marathon) My mind is motivated but now I just need to get my body to agree with my mind.

Packing for Girl's Camp

2011-06-27T21:31:00.001-06:00

I'm heading off to girl's camp. It's always a lot of work preparing to be with the young women for 5 days but so much fun when you get there! Here's what packing looks like in my neck of the woods :)

I'll be nice and smelly and ready for hot showers by Saturday!

The Running Bug

2011-06-23T16:26:00.001-06:00

I have been accused of having the running bug a couple times in the the past couple weeks. Is this a good thing? Does it mean I have become obsessed or that I just am merely enjoying it? I haven't quite figured it out myself. I know I have enjoyed the whole half-marathon training process and with one race under my belt and a week off of running I am now starting up again with the 10-week plan to get ready for the next half-marathon, Top of Utah, which happens at the end of August.

My daughter, Kali, took some fun photos at my Utah Valley Half Marathon that happened on June 11 and as soon as I get those I will post some and share all about that whole experience.

A Gift from a Cute Student

2011-06-22T17:48:00.000-06:00

Little things can make me happy and bring a smile to my face. This little note from one of my students did just that and brightened my day. Thank you Alison! You are a "grand" student!!

Father's Day

2011-06-21T08:00:00.000-06:00

Father's Day was a little bit late this year because church was out at 12:00 noon and then we dashed home for a little quick bite to hold us over and then headed to a missionary homecoming of a good friend of the family. Then we went to their house for some nice visiting and some delicious food. Then we were able to come home and relax for a little bit. We invited Kali and Wade and my parents over for dinner (way later) and decided to wait until then to open Father's Day gifts. Everybody is holding the gift they gave to daddy. Mark is holding a gift that I bought for him that reminded me of him and Porter together and so I told him that was from Porter.

There are 2 reasons I love this first photo. Little Miles is usually the one we have to encourage to look at the camera, yet he is the only one ready and looking. Good job Miles! Next reason I love this photo is after loading them I discovered that Porter's pastel is in the background as though he is back there watching all the interactions going on and loving us. I was so warmed by a comment Mark made later that night. He said he felt Porter here with him for a brief moment when he opened the daddy and son statue. I like to think Porter comes often to visit.

Oh how I love this family!

Oh how I love this man!

Happy Father's Day

Mondays with Mr. Miles #6

2011-06-20T20:54:00.001-06:00

We celebrated Miles daddy's birthday a few nights ago and we had some leftover balloons floating around the house. Miles likes balloons, and of course when he saw them he started attacking them.

I love how Miles little face is all smooshed into the balloon. Such a funny boy :)

"A grandchild is a gift from above ... one to cherish and to love."

"A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty."

"Grandparents and grandchildren are God's gift to each other."

"You Put the Grand in Grandma."

"Whenever I see you I have an uncontrollable urge to fling open my arms, excitedly shout your name and scoop you up."

Mondays with Mr. Miles #5

2011-06-13T08:10:00.001-06:00

Miles loves a Fisher Price pre-school game on the computer and knows when he pushes the buttons he gets to see different animals and hear the sounds they make. It captures his attention for oh.....maybe a couple minutes and then he's off to another adventure.

"A grandchild is a gift from above ... one to cherish and to love."

"A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty."

"Grandparents and grandchildren are God's gift to each other."

"You Put the Grand in Grandma."

"Whenever I see you I have an uncontrollable urge to fling open my arms, excitedly shout your name and scoop you up."

Nathan and Sarah's Wedding

2011-06-07T20:58:00.000-06:00

This is Porter's best friend, Nathan. They've played together since they were little toddlers running around in diapers together. Nathan moved 20 miles away when he was about 15 and yet they still tried to get together and hang out occasionally. Nathan went on his mission and Porter was looking so forward to the day of his return. Just 2 months before Nathan arrived home is when Porter's accident and death happened. When Nathan started dating this sweet girl and then announced his engagement we were thrilled. Nathan is like one of my own boys. He spent many days and nights in my home since he grew up and lived right next door to us for 15 years. I was so thrilled we were invited to go to the temple sealing in the Manti temple, especially since I had never been to that temple. I also knew I didn't want to miss this opportunity because I KNEW Porter would be there in spirit too. There was no way Porter would miss his best friend's wedding.

It was a beautiful ceremony and the young couple were so radiant. Nathan just beamed from ear to ear. You could just see the love he has for his new little bride as they knelt together over that sacred altar. Tears could not be restrained on my part, more for the fact that I could feel Porter there and smiling as he observed this special ordinance taking place. Congratulations Nathan and Sarah. I am so happy for you two and wish you an eternal life of happiness together!

How My Brilliant Daughter Has Helped Simplify My Life

2011-06-03T01:18:00.000-06:00

1) I have a genius daughter! She has made my world a little easier by keeping me "in the know". Every time we are out shopping and I pull out my checkbook to write a check she tells me I should just get a debit card. Then, I just laugh it off and I say I don't want one. Really, truly in my mind I was thinking of how scared I was to own one. I didn't know how they worked and I thought my checkbook was going to get all messed up, so I just kept refusing to even entertain the thought. Well, I don't know how my thoughts got turned around but I marched right into the bank and did the paperwork and got my very own debit card. Can I just say how much I love it? I don't know why I fought it for so long? My check writing has gone down substantially and it's pretty fun to swipe that little card in the machine.

2) Another reason Kali is a genius is a few months ago she introduced me to a website called mapmyrun.com. I have been in training for my half marathon for a few months now. Well, a lot of my beginning runs were done on a treadmill during the cold winter months, but when it warmed up I would hop in the car and drive around different neighborhoods and figure out how many miles point A to point B was so I could then run outside. I would come home and get out a piece of paper and write the street names down and have a reference for the next day. One day she saw my piece of paper on the counter and asked if I was driving around to figure out my mileage and I told her I was. She told me I didn't need to do that and to just get on the website and it would figure it all out for me. Oh my goodness!!! I owe Kali big time. She has saved me so much time and more importantly so much gas money!

3) One more cool recent discovery is my ipod has a stopwatch on it. This has been so helpful on my runs because I don't like carrying my phone while running and trying to time myself with the clock on the wall in the house just wasn't working too well either. I love new technology, or at least my awareness of it now. I wonder what else is out there I'm missing out on?

Mondays with Mr. Miles #4

2011-05-23T08:57:00.001-06:00

After my sister's graduation we went to a big celebration at a cousin's home and Miles went with us because we got to babysit him that evening. There were so many toys and little cousins all over the place. Miles joined right in on the tea party and the little princess girls didn't even seem to mind that a little boy was in their midst.

"A grandchild is a gift from above ... one to cherish and to love."

"A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty."

"Grandparents and grandchildren are God's gift to each other."

"You Put the Grand in Grandma."

"Whenever I see you I have an uncontrollable urge to fling open my arms, excitedly shout your name and scoop you up."

Kareena's Graduation

2011-05-17T06:45:00.002-06:00

This is my sister and she has worked a long time for this dream of hers of graduating from college. You see about 10 years ago she decided she wanted to go back to school and earn a degree to become a kindergarten teacher. She has known she has wanted to be a teacher for a very long time but didn't know how she could raise her family and work and go to school.

Through a lot of sweat and tears and many challenges in her life this dream has become a reality and I am so proud of her. She has sacrificed so much and she deserves this now so much.

She loves little children and has collected a whole room full of stuff over the years to use when she gets to teach. She is so ready for this new part of her journey and now just needs to get hired somewhere. She is going to be the best kindergarten teacher in the whole world!

I love you sister! ♥

Mondays with Mr. Miles #3

2011-05-16T08:44:00.001-06:00

A little dirt never hurts. Miles loves to scoop it out of the flower beds and then smear it back and forth on the cement. When he's in a puddle of water he will bend over and smear it back and forth and then stand up and stomp stomp. I love watching this little guy play and have adventures.

"A grandchild is a gift from above ... one to cherish and to love."

"A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty."

"Grandparents and grandchildren are God's gift to each other."

"You Put the Grand in Grandma."

"Whenever I see you I have an uncontrollable urge to fling open my arms, excitedly shout your name and scoop you up."

Mondays with Mr. Miles #2

2011-05-09T07:37:00.008-06:00

Miles enjoys standing in the open doorway looking outside. I can just imagine in his little mind some of the things he's contemplating going after:

A-Pebbles the cat lurking in the bushes

B-The slides and swings just around the fence and down the path to the park (which he knows how to get to all by himself)

C-Rocks to throw into the lawn

D-Dirt to grab by the handfuls and throw onto the sidewalk

Trust me, he can and will, go after all these things each time he has access out of this door. He's such a busy boy and keeps me hopping every time he comes to visit.

"A grandchild is a gift from above ... one to cherish and to love."

"A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty."

"Grandparents and grandchildren are God's gift to each other."

"You Put the Grand in Grandma."

"Whenever I see you I have an uncontrollable urge to fling open my arms, excitedly shout your name and scoop you up."

Easter 2011

2011-05-08T07:34:00.001-06:00

I know today is Mother's Day and I'll probably post about that a couple weeks late. That's okay because that's how I'm rolling lately. I did find it extremely interesting that not a single word was said about Easter at church. It was a mission farewell and the two youth speakers were adult speakers and I honestly forgot what they talked about. (oops) The choir did sing an Easter number so that was nice. The Sunday School lesson I taught the 13-14 year olds was on Wilford Woodruff and then in Relief Society the lesson was on honesty.

So during our dinner at home I had one of the boys read a few scriptures about the Savior and the Resurrection.

After church we came home and started working on the Easter feast. I was so grateful to Cooper, Brittany, and Jordan for jumping right in and helping me. I thought the actual food prep time was more fun than the eating time. It's so fun to watch adult children interact together while working in the kitchen. Cooper was not wanting his picture taken with an apron on here so that's why he is scolding me out. Funny Cooper!

Cooper and Brittany

I bought so much candy this year because I wanted all the big kids to Easter egg hunt along with little Miles. I'm so glad the big kids were willing to fill the eggs then I could continue cooking.

Ok, this is a funny story about Jordan. I had him set the table and somewhere along the road of life I have missed teaching him table-setting etiquette. He didn't think it mattered where the silverware goes or the glasses or which way the knife pointed. I had a little teaching moment with him but he wanted nothing to do with it. He raised his hands in the air and said "I'm done. I can't do this." He just didn't think anybody should or would care where their silverware was. I tried to compare it to the way he installs car audio and where all the wires and parts go but then he thought I was really being a nut.

Little Miles was more interested in eating the candy than finding it.

Look really close at the hand around Wade's neck. It looks like Miles has grown a really large hand :)

Even big kids still know how to Easter egg hunt. They admitted it was a little too easy though. Mark and I hid the eggs and really must try harder next year then to make it a little more difficult.

Mondays with Mr. Miles #1

2011-05-01T08:00:00.039-06:00

I definitely have a most inquisitive grandson. He brings so much joy to my life in ways I didn't think were possible. I thought it would be fun to add a weekly photo of just Mr. Miles to my blog. Who knows what adventures are around the corner? Mr. Miles will surely be creating many, you can bet on that!

"A grandchild is a gift from above ... one to cherish and to love."

"A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty."

"Grandparents and grandchildren are God's gift to each other."

"You Put the Grand in Grandma."

"Whenever I see you I have an uncontrollable urge to fling open my arms, excitedly shout your name and scoop you up."

Angels Landing in Zion's National Park

2011-04-28T00:37:00.001-06:00

While exploring Zion in 1916, Frederick Fisher exclaimed, "only an angel could land on it," and thus the monolith was named Angels Landing.

Mark and I decided to take a little Spring Break vacation this year even though we don't have any children in school. It was a nice break from our busy schedules to get away together. We headed South to St. George, Snow Canyon and Zion's. We hiked all the typical trails in both canyons and had a great 3 days together just enjoying nature and the awesome weather.

I don't know exactly whose idea it was to hike Angels Landing but we went and survived . Mark has hiked this trail before with the scouts a couple summers ago and knew exactly what he was in for. I, on the other hand didn't have the same concept and thought it was just supposed to be a great hike with a little short challenging part at the end. WRONG-O! After hiking with him I told him I was amazed he would ever, even want to hike it again. I know one time to the top of this mountain fulfilled any future desires for me.

After hiking for 2 miles on what I thought was extremely steep terrain we got to the top of an open and fairly flat area called Scout Falls and I thought we had made it at last. We were accomplished! I was ready to sit down and eat lunch and relax. Mark just laughed at me and pointed yonder and said, "No dear, that's where we gotta get to" What???? I wanted to sit down and cry. The last 1/2 mile of our journey was the true challenge. This mountain may not seem that intimidating but if you look really close at the photo below you just might find some really small people scaling up it.

Can't find them? Try enlarging the photo and having a closer look :) Be sure to look all the way from the bottom of the photo to the very top of it. You'll see little folks all along the way.

Once we arrived I sat down and breathed a sigh of relief for having made it. I was still shaking in my boots already thinking ahead about the descent. I just didn't know how on earth we would make it back down.

1200 foot drop-off

So after enjoying our lunch, the gorgeous weather, spectacular views and texting a few friends and family members, we headed back down this treacherous mountain.

Mark was so brave and I think felt no fear at all. What a man!

Sheer drop-offs on both sides!!

I'm holding tight to this iron rod, not letting go or looking down!! ("hurry dear and take the photo")

Here we are about 1/2 way down the mountain and in a much safer place. Can you see a little more relaxed smile on my face? You can also see the trail way below us but it was definitely a more relaxing part of the journey.

I enjoyed the hike. It felt great to do something exciting and inspiring yet I feel very fulfilled in doing this hike only one time in this life.

On a side note....It was funny to me as we were making our way up the trail I would often look at people's faces as they passed us coming down. One face in particular looked familiar. It took me about 10 more steps of moving forward before I realized we had just passed our local mail carrier. I stopped and made a quick turn around and hollered down to him "Hey, you're our post man!" His family all stopped and turned around and looked at us. They chuckled at me and then the post man smiled and immediately rattled off our street address and last name. It's kind of funny to me that he knew us as an address first and then a last name. We made small talk and then continued on our separate ways. Who knew we would see a familiar face in the middle of a National Park!

Baby Steps to a Half Marathon

2011-03-27T15:27:00.001-06:00

My friend Jody talked me in to running a 5K this weekend. I have never run an official 5K race. (unless you want to count a 10K I did about 17 years ago) She said I needed to do this to prepare for the half marathon in June so that I would know what a race feels like. It was called the Running of the Leopards and it was a race to benefit East High School education programs. The course was fun and all downhill, except for one teensy part. Here we are in the bitter cold before the race at about 8:00 am looking perky and happy.

Cortney, Doran, Jody, Me

Then we hopped onto a school bus and got driven 3 miles up the road to a big parking lot across the street from Hogle Zoo. We nearly froze our buns off!! We had to find shelter fast from the canyon winds and this shovel was parked a little ways off from the starting line, so we made cover there. It didn't make us warmer but at least we weren't getting winded on.

Mark is such a trooper. He got up early to take me to Salt Lake and take photos for us. He waited patiently at the finish line for me to come through. I'm not sure of my official time but I think it's about 30:38. I was very pleased with that because at the gym a few days ago it took me 34:10 on a treadmill. I realize that going downhill does make a person faster, but I'll admit running on the road was a lot harder. I think the most important thing I learned on this race was it's time for me to start getting some outside running.

Here I come....with a big ole wave to the hubby.

See those tables behind me? They filled them up with orange, bananas, and bagels. Such a great refreshment!

Here we all are looking oh so completely opposite of the first photo taken, except Cortney forgot to look tired.

Oh this one is better :)

The whole experience was a fun one (minus the cold) and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Thanks Jody for ~~forcing~~ encouraging me to do this with you guys. It was pretty sweet.

Uh Oh....What Am I In For?

2011-03-23T13:57:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I signed up for the Utah Valley Half Marathon which will be happening in June and have been training somewhat. The intense part of my training starts on April 4th, in which I will follow a very rigid schedule that tells me how far to run and on which days. Up to this point I have just been working on being able to run straight for 30 minutes. I'm not going to lie. It's been no walk in the park. It's been challenging. I have enjoyed it for the most part. I do love a good work-out. So I'm a little nervous about how I will hold up once my schedule begins. I'm taking my vitamins and getting good rest and drinking lots of water. My knees are holding up super. So I think things are going alright. Well....along comes me and my big ideas. How come I can't just be content with running one half marathon? I have never run one and I don't even know if I'm going to hate it or love it?? I went right ahead and signed up for a second one at the end of the Summer with my good friend Jody. This one is called the Top of Utah Half Marathon and looks very inviting. I hope I didn't just make a huge mistake.