*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear monday, I went on my run and was determined to get in at least nine miles. I made it 10. It wasn't easy.  I have lost so much fitness.  So sad. I am really nervous about he half on Saturday. I hope I survive!  I found a ton of coins in Autoliv's parking lot because it was a holiday and there were no cars.  Kinda cool.  I came home and CJ was here and funny thing... he asked me if I found any coins today. I said, "Funny you should ask that!"  And I whipped out my bounty.  Hah  

I ate breakfast Dave had made for everyone while I was gone. Waffles and an omelet. So good.  I felt like I was back on the cruise. Haha  I showered and then played with Carson.  

We then played with play-dough and he kept bugging CJ even though he was trying to study, but he was so cute with Carson.  He is such a great guy.  He's like one of our boys.  Him and Taylor took dates wave running. I made zucchini bread and then I took Carson to the new Splash Pad.  

When we got back Dave was starting to can tomatoes. I joined in.  Sky had been taking a pre-test all day.  He was frustrated that he didn't do well and his big test is on Saturday and so the pressure is on.  He asked Dave for a blessing. I was so glad. Made my day. I helped do the tomatoes and then got in some harp practice. I have a lesson tomorrow and I haven't practiced all summer. Seriously, I haven't!

This was posted on Facebook today on the Boston Marathon Training page.  It is an excerpt from what I turned in for the book he is putting together of everyone's experience from this year's Boston: (You'll have to click it to read it)

dear tuesday,  I got up and got in about an hour of practice this morning.  I am surprised how quickly it all came back.  I had my lesson at 9 a.m. and the traffic caused me to be a bit late.  It was an okay lesson. I didn't do horrible but not that great either.  I made a quick stop to Farmington Station to Home Goods and got a cute fabric chest to put some of my junk in my room.  I looked around my house yesterday and got so depressed. It seems everything is falling apart and needs to be re-done or updated or ripped out and replaces.  Sigh....  It might be easier to move, but I don't want to leave our lot.  We have a sweet lot.  I stopped in and visited my parents for quite a while.  We had a good chat.  I know one of these days I am going to miss doing that because they won't be around.  I am so grateful they still are.  I came home and Dave was here because he was off half a day. I did some cleaning and then he had meetings.  I tried to get my Alaska pix posted but my scanner is broke and so I couldn't. I couldn't find Mr. Cat and I heard a terrible raccoon fight outside and I am hoping he wasn't in the middle of it.  I tried and tried to get him in. 

Luckily, he didn't come in when I tried because I decided to wait and so I went and got on my planner and realized I have to work at the temple in the a.m.! I would have totally spaced it had I not got up to get him in!  

My friend Jen dropped these cute lighthouse measuring spoons by for me. I am in love with them!  She is so kind.

dear wednesday, I woke up to my alarm at 4:00 a.m.  I amazingly jumped right out of bed.  I did my shift at the temple and it was actually hard to remember everything after being gone for a month!  But, I enjoyed it.  I then headed home and worked on some things I am behind on.  Seems like I am behind on EVERYTHING!  It's hard to take a 10 day vacay and then return and hit the floor still running.  I would love a day and night where I had no where to be.  But, I don't see that happening in the near future.  Mr. Cat was in a serious fight yesterday and he is really torn up.  I tried to wash some of the scabbing off but he is pretty bad. He may be taking a visit to the vet if he starts abscessing. 

Today I had a Sista lunch at Maddox for Peach Pie.  It was fun.  There were only five of us but we celebrated Robin and Lori's birthdays.  

We were there for three hours and I felt bad because I am sure the waitress wanted her table.  I told McKay and he kinda was not happy I did that.  He had to work tonight.  I hit Shopko on the way home.  We had BLT's for dinner and I wish we had made them more since tomato season is almost over.  Dave had meetings and Bryce went to Hayley's.  I worked on photos and the blog for a bit tonight.  I can't get enough of these things:

dear thursday, went on a five mile run.  It is still so hot.  I saw this while out.  I have always loved that thought.

The city is poppin' with Peach Days preps.  Dave was home for a bit before he had to run to a funeral and we got the peppers going for his parent's dinner tonight.  Taylor and McKay were home which was fun and I had a good chat with them.  I made zucchini bread and then headed to relieve Linda on Main Street where she was saving parade spots.  Peeps get there at 7 a.m. and sit there all day until the city allows them put our blankets.  Kinda crazy.  

I then went to physical therapy.  I have been such a slacker on doing my home exercises this past week.  After being gone for 10 days, I hit the ground running when I got home and haven't stopped since.  So, I have pretty much neglected my PT.  I was glad Stephanie was there today. She is so cute.  We chatted about Taylor and Allie. I'm glad Allie is happy.  I still adore her.  I ran and got the Peach Queen tickets on my way home and it's good I did since it was almost sold out.  I then headed home and finished the dinner prep and then grabbed Julie and headed to the pageant.  Robin had to work this year.  We were in the back, but that was okay.

There were only seven contestants again this year.  I was excited to go this year because one of the contestants takes harp from my teacher and I have played with her in the recital before.  She did a great job and won the talent part of it. I was very excited about that.  

She ended up winning second attendant even though her on stage question wasn't exactly the best.  

I talked to her after and chatted with her mom and her mom told me that she has four daughters that all play the harp.  

The one in the pageant (Jane) has taken for 11 years but her mom said she is only in Book Two because she doesn't love it even though she has a natural gift.  That surprised me. Her song was from  Book Two as well.  I am in Book Two and almost on that song.  But, she still did a fabulous job and her dress was amazing.  

We both had on jumpsuits and so we HAD to have a photo.  Hah

I always love going to the pageant.  When I first got married I went with Dave's mom and sisters every year.  That was back when they had 25-30 contestants and they had to do it over two nights and narrow it down to the top 10.  It's always fun to go watch.  My favorite part is always the talent, but the whole night is pure entertainment.  Beats watching TV that's for sure. 

dear friday, I got out on a short walk today because I didn't want to run so my legs will be fresh for tomorrow's race.  I picked Robin up and we headed to the booths at Peach Days as we traditionally do each year.  We hit our favorite clothing booth first and mostly shopped for clothes.  We got matching boots.  I got a blouse, two shorts, and a jumpsuit.  We then ate and ran into a bunch of peeps.  We got rice bowls so we could carb load for tomorrow.  They were pretty good. We hit the booths west of Main and got some cool fingernail polish stick-ons.  I came home and ran a few errands and packed. Robin picked me up about 5 pm and we headed to SLC.  We stopped at the Big Cottonwood Expo first in Sandy.  We had some fun and took some photos:

I wish I was racing in THIS tomorrow!

Silly guy.  He is over the Revel races and is a total hoot.

I got a special bib this year because I have run this race five times!  It was gold and very pretty!  I also got a mug!  How cool is that?  Revel Races always treat you top notch!  I love their swag bags, their shirts, their policies, pretty much everything!

We then ate at Noodles and Co. and then headed to Robin's daughter Sam's house.  Carlo's is pretty cool and they were so nice to let us stay there. We chatted for a while and then hit the hay about 11:00 pm.  I was in the basement and Robin was upstairs.  I had a hard time going to sleep, but I always do the first night I'm not in my own bed. Getting a bit nervous for the race tomorrow. Hope I don't die!

dear saturday, my alarm went off at 3:45 a.m.  I was able to get right up because I hadn't slept worth a darn.  I got ready and then met Robin upstairs.  We drove to Smith's to get a banana. We then parked and got in line for the bus.  We met a cute girl named Laurie who was with her husband. He wasn't running but just there while she got on the bus.  She asked if she could sit by us and hang out with us at the start and we were happy to agree.  She was darling. She has a 12 year old Autistic son and a five year old little girl they adopted (a niece).  

We immediately got in line at the Porta's and then got right back in line again.  But, there wasn't time because they called for everyone to line up.  There are perks for getting on nearly the last bus though it really wasn't cold up there this year unlike other years. I got in between the 1:45 and 1:50 pacers.  My goal was of course 1:45 but with my lack of training and injury, I would be happy with a sub two. At least that is what I said, but once I got running, I was determined to do a 1:50.  As I ran, I decided a 1:49 would sound better especially since I was wearing the Utah Racing Team shirt.  You are expected to be fast if you are a member of the team and since I couldn't put a sign on my shirt saying I have been injured and am untrained, I felt some pressure to do well.  This probably wasn't the best race to wear it at, but I haven't worn it once and today I was "required" to run the Classic Race but since I had signed up for this earlier, I couldn't.  I have to say I was pretty concerned how things would go with pretty much zero training for this. I did get in a 10 miler, but I took several walk breaks and I didn't run it at a fast pace and I did ZERO downhill.  And this is a major downhill course. I was hoping that would be my salvation, but it turned out to be my downfall.  

It is a fast course.  I was pretty surprised I was keeping my pace between an 8 minute and 8:20 minute mile for the first 10 miles.  Really surprised actually.  But, I was still getting passed much more so than in most races.  However, I didn't see the 1:50 pacers until about a mile to the finish.  The first 9 miles were tough and I was so grateful it was downhill!  I was really pushing myself.  I was on pace to end with a 1:47 or a 1:48.  That is until mile 10 when we were out of the canyon and that slight uphill felt like I was climbing Everest.  The transition is tough even if you are trained but if you're not, HOLY COW!  My legs felt like I had lead in them and I was in submerged in molasses.  There was about a mile or so of uphill and then we got some more down and I was so happy, but I was still really struggling.  I prayed for any available angels that had leg power to help me out.  Haha  I do believe I received it because otherwise I have no idea how I got to that finish line. It felt like the last few miles of a full marathon, not a half.  It was really tough.  I was getting nauseated and was so grateful I wasn't doing the full.  I would have never made it if I had been.  There is something to say for training.  With heaven's help, I somehow made it to the finish line. Wow, was I happy to cross that!  I got some photos while I waited for Robin to finish.  

That smile is pretty forced, but I'm still wearing one because I was so happy that I didn't die!  :)

 Go BIG or Go HOME!  I was ready to go home!

 No PR this year, but I was grateful I was a sub two!  Dave pointed out that I was in the top 90% for my age and the top 84% for the overall women. He was very impressed with my time. I guess I wasn't because of how sore and beat up I felt.  But, I have to say I was surprised I did as well as I did. I was only seven minutes slower than my PR.  But I will be paying for it big time the next few days.  

I got a donut (yes they had donuts!) and some pizza even though I didn't feel like it but my body needed some nourishment.  Robin text me and so we met up and her son Nick came on his bike so we chatted with him and his friend a bit. I wanted a massage in the worst way but the line was much too long.  I was pretty sore.  

We headed to her car and holy cow, the ride home was so painful.  My piraformis was on fire and leg was shooting down both legs. I had to keep changing positions and tried to stretch but I was getting no relief. That was one long ride!  

I found this on the website!  A Taylor Wilding ran it but this one is a girl.  I told Taylor and he told me to get her number!  haha

Some of these are a bit silly.  The bottom right is the how I felt most of the time. 

HERE ↑ IS MY CUSTOM VIDEO THEY MADE!!!  

Pretty cool!  

But, I was surprised to see my running form in this.  It has really transformed since all the back issues.  You can tell I was trying to not pound with each step...following doctor's orders!  

When we got in town, we stopped to watch the last of the Peach Days parade and she sat with her fam and I went and found Linda and fam.  Karen and Mickey were there and so I sat by them and it was fun.  We had to fight for the candy though because the kids next to us hogged it all.  LOL  

Once it was over, I found Robin and she took me home.  I was pretty dead. I was walking like I ran a full or like I was 90 years old.  That is not normal for me after a half.  I definitely learned my lesson that I must train before doing a half marathon even if it is downhill. Especially, if it's downhill!  I showered and got ready but I was so slow. I also was dead tired.  All I wanted was a nap but Dave was doing peaches and so I felt obligated to help him. I had to sit most of the time, but I tried to help.  Karen sent me this photo of McKay. They went to Maddox and requested he be their server.

We took a break to head to Peach Days to check out the concert and to get a funnel cake. We probably should have just stayed home.  Neither was that great.  Another Peach Days in the books.

 

I was sad I didn't get to run the Peach Day's 10K this year.  I went back to see what my times have been in the past and I found this cool little thing that I had missed last year:

dear sunday, even though I didn't have to teach today, I still woke up right after Dave left about 6:30 a.m.  I really wanted to go back to sleep but to no avail. I had to walk down the stairs backwards.   I got ready and after visiting with the boys for a bit (McKay and Bryce), Dave and I went to the Ashdown's farewell.  They are going to serve in Japan.  They sold their house and both retired.  I guess they are building a home in Pleasant View.  Some things you would have never guessed.  It amazes me how much change happens in our lives every single day.  It was a good meeting other than it went over by almost 20 minutes.  We chatted with them for a bit and then headed to our own ward.  I was there alone for the first time in a long time. Even the Herzog's were gone.  It wasn't the same in Primary without Carson.  Cheryl taught. Sam was very well behaved, for the most part anyway.  The home teachers (teacher) came and then we ate stuffed peppers. Bryce and Hayley were in the basement watching a game but they didn't want to join us.  I was absolutely beat.  And sore. I had to do the stairs backwards all day. I went in my room and rested and just chilled. I ended up going to bed about 9:30.  That race drained me big time.

Julie's sharing time

dear random, I received this message from Cru's mom and it totally made my entire day, week, month, year.  I loved that little guy so much and I am seriously so honored when I got this. 

I found a lot of pix that I saved but forgot about and so I am adding them on here to document.  I may have already posted some of them, but better twice than never.

My Pa posted this on FB awhile ago and it made me cry 

This popped up as a memory and wanted to document:

 Anyone else play HQ?

 I watched each of these weddings.  Queen Elizabeth's I watched online on YouTube from when it was recorded eons ago. I'm not THAT old!

Not sure this ↑ is actually in Utah, but I saw it on FB.

This was when they destroyed the bleachers:

dear quotes,

Sad, but true right now!