*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

 (If pictures are too small, click to enlarge) 

dear mckay, we get your emails now late Sunday night.  You are a day ahead of us and so we have to be sure we send ours by 10 pm.  You sounded like you love Russia so far.  YAY!!!! You are in Siberia serving in Angarsk!!!  It is close to Irkutsk.  Your letter gave me some much needed relief to know that you are loving it and you have a great companion (who cooks!) and the people have been pretty nice so far.  I can't believe you already had to travel to Irkutsk while your comp went to South Korea to renew his visa.  Can't wait to hear more.  I wish you had sent pictures!!!  The real worry will start again when it gets to be 40 below like the locals told you it's going to get.
Here are some pictures that I got from one of his comp's mom.  They are all from the MTC.  I am still patiently waiting for him to send some from Russia!

With his companions.  He was in a trio.

This is what they study.  Yikes!  I'd be in trouble!

 They managed to have a lot of fun!  It's a good thing or they might have gone crazy!

MTC selfie.

 

dear mona visit, we decided to take Mona to lunch because Cheryl had never really met her and since she was now my new visiting teacher partner, we thought it would be fun.  Mona forgot the plan was lunch and thought we were just going to visit.  We got her into the car and we headed to Taco Time.  We had a good visit and as we were heading home, she asked if we could take her to pick up her glasses.  We had to wait just a bit inside and so we had fun taking some pictures.  She gets really tired easily, but did okay.

dear running, this week is a hard week for my training.  I need to get in about 50 miles.  20 of that will be my long run on Saturday.  I did a bunch of five milers and I have a 10 on Friday too.

I found three pennies, one right after another and a PURPLE heart shaped rock! I wrote more on that HERE.

dear bryce wipeout, I had just got out of the shower from my run and was getting ready for my orthodontist appointment when I heard, "Mom? Can you help me?" It was Bryce.  I knew it couldn't be good due to tone of his voice, but I was still hoping he just needed me to help him move something.  Nope.  When I got downstairs I saw he was in really bad shape.  He was bleeding and grimacing and covered in really bad road rash.  His shorts were torn to pieces and his cell phone was cracked in a million places. He told me he crashed and burned on his longboard.  He was riding down the Kotter Canyon hills and was on his third time down when he saw a long trailer and fork lift that hadn't been there on the other runs.  He knew he was in trouble because they were taking up the entire road and so he had to make a quick decision (real quick since he said he was going at least 30 mph).  The forklift kept going back and forth and so he didn't dare go through it even though there was street room when it backed up, but he didn't know if it was going to back up or go forward and he would have a 50/50 chance of getting through OR being cut in half!!!  He choose to not take the chance and instead turned knowing he would wipe out in the dirt and rocks.  I am glad he made that choice even though he got really hurt.  The better choice would be to not ride that stupid thing.  However in defense of Bryce, he is the most agile, balanced and coordinated person I have ever met.  He can maneuver through most anything.  We call him Spiderman.  But... I hope he learned that even with his skills, you can't control the other guy. 

I started to try and clean the dirt off the wounds, but there were so many wounds and and tons of dirt and tiny rocks inside each of them.  He was in a great deal of pain too. It was making me very queasy.  I do not like to inflict pain on others even when it's necessary. Holy schnipers, it was turning my stomach!  So...I decided to do what any good mother would do and take him to his dad!  Dave was working at the clinic and I knew it would be better to let Bryce lay down while we cleaned him up and have more people to do it.  Besides, this kind of stuff does not make his Dad queasy.  At least it better not!  He would soon be out of a job if it did!

We got him in a room and he was hurting pretty bad. I thought he was going to need stitches in a couple of them, but luckily he didn't.  Dave gave him a shot for the pain, but it was still a very slow and painful process and so I suggested he take a shower to at least get rid of some of the dirt so we didn't have to scrub it off.  Dave agreed.  We took him across the street to the hospital and he took about a 15-20 minute shower scrubbing each wound with soap.  He looked so much better after. 

This was an oops photo of the doc but I liked it! 

This is Kotter Canyon where he was longboarding.  This picture doesn't show it, but it is really hilly.  It's where I run my hill repeats.  It happened going down that dark part of the asphalt. 

We got him bandaged up and I brought him home.  He is going to be hurting for a long time.  My sweet parents drove up to see him because they were so worried.  He is not able to do anything with his hands because both of them are covered in bandages over the deep wounds.  I told him to just rest.  The next day his hand was swollen and so he went down to get an x-ray but it wasn't broke.  Oh man...these things make you so grateful for the safety and protection you receive.  I try and always pray each day for everyone's safety!  Glad those prayers were heard.

dear turkeys, some of you are missing!  Oh no!  I think that means someone has got out their shotgun and had a nice dinner or two.  I feel bad.  There used to be nine of you and now only six.

dear Jesus the Christ study group, this month we had a potluck lunch at Cheryl's.  We skipped last month and today we studied chapter 17 on the Beatitudes. I still haven't read 15 or 16.  I need to catch up!  It was a great discussion.  We talked about how sometimes we get so caught up in the things that aren't really important like cleaning and all those things instead of what really matters. I commented that when I was first married before my VT's would come over, I would clean my house until it was immaculate - including the inside of my oven!  So dumb because they weren't going to look inside my oven, but I still did anyway.  I said how it took losing a child to wake up and realize that those things were not important. Yes, it's important to have order in your home so you can feel the spirit, but to go overboard is not necessary.  I said that I learned that relationships are much more important than almost anything else we do.  The only things we will take with us will be our knowledge and our relationships.  We ate our lunch after and visited for a bit, but then I had to rush home because I was taking Taylor shopping.

Bad picture due to the sun, but everyone was lounged and chillin' out in Cheryl's chairs.

dear taylor, this kid can pretty much get out of me whatever he wants....haha. I wouldn't normally take my college kids school shopping, but he asked if I would and I can't tell him no. Okay, that isn't true.  I did take Bryce shopping all the time when he was in college too.  Skyler, not so much.  He was the firstborn responsible one and didn't want any help even when I tried.  I was that way too even though I was the baby.  But Taylor isn't afraid to ask.  I have found that when my boys ask me for something or to do something for them, I almost always will do it.  It's that simple act of asking that makes it so I want to do it.  I think Heavenly Father feels the same way.  He may know what we are in need of, but He wants us to take the time to ask Him.  Of course, he is a much wiser parent and also knows when to say no.  But asking really gives you the advantage.  One of my favorite parts in the scriptures is in the Bible dictionary under the word Prayer.  My favorite part of it says: Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.  You can read the whole thing HERE.  

I got a little side tracked...

Okay back on track now...Taylor is very frugal.  That kid has saved every penny he has ever earned I think. He is very smart to get Mama to buy him some new clothes and shoes. The honest truth is I looked at it as some time to spend with him before he heads back to college.   It was fun chatting with him.  He has been reading the book How to Win Friends and Influence People and we talked a little about that. I made my older boys read it when they were younger.  We went to Ross, TJ Maxx, Buckle, Pac Sun, etc., etc.  We didn't find a lot because it was pretty picked over since most kids already have gone back to school.  But it was fun.  We ate in the mall at a place called FUNNEL VISION.  They have funnel cakes!  He got a pulled pork sandwich.  I had a funnel cake and was in heaven!

Mmmm...just like at Peach Days!  My fave! 
We headed back after a couple hours because he was taking his friends out on the wave runners.

dear local peaches!  YUM!  YUM!  And MORE YUM!!!!  I didn't eat fresh peaches for most of my younger life, but now I can't get enough of them!  Our city is famous for it's peaches and there is a reason for that!  They are the best!  We have several trees in our peach orchard and so we can pick them fresh.  There is nothing like a freshly picked peach.  And even better with cream.  Well, half and half at our house.

dear mr. cat, looks like you like peaches too! 

dear miserable 10 miler, okay, I shouldn't say that but 10 miles alone is a really long way when you decide to run it in the country.  For some reason country roads seem to be farther.  haha  But I wanted some solitude and I love the scenery and so I headed out west on Friday.  I haven't been sore at all from my half marathon until today.  Oh man, I was feeling it.  I got out later than I hoped and so it was HOT!  Well, at least for running.  It was only in the 70's by the time I finished but that is hot for running. The last mile was a killer and my back was aching and I wasn't feeling too hot.  Correction, I WAS feeling hot!  Just not "hot".  I was so happy to get in my car!  I was worried because I have a 20 miler tomorrow and I know if I am feeling like this the day before a 20, that's not good.  But my training plan always has me doing  a 10 miler the day before the 20.  Mainly so you get used to running on tired legs like you will be in the marathon.  The legs will be tired tomorrow!

I had to take photos of this famous "landmark" on the highway.  I ran across the bridge over to it today for fun.

dear manic manikan, well, I realized I have been spelling manikan wrong since I started posting pictures of her.  How embarrassing!  I am usually a spelling Nazi, but somehow I got this one wrong. My computer spell check says I spell it wrong as manican AND as manikan, but Google says manikan is correct.  I think manican looks better, but who's to argue with Google! 

dear friday, today Taylor moved up to USU again!  Wow, summer went by fast!  I find myself saying that every single year.  But it is true.  Happily he is coming back tonight to do the chains at the high school football game so we will see him for a bit.  Dave and were invited to a dinner that another ward in our stake was having.  I felt a bit awkward just dropping in, but Dave assured me it was fine.  I am glad I got to see the yard where it was held because I got a great idea for the future grandkiddos.  She had a rock with each child's name and made a rock garden out of them.  It was really beautiful!

After we ate and visited, we headed to the high school football game. I have been wanting to go anyway, but tonight Taylor was asked to help with the chains.  He was across from us the entire time, but we could still see him. 

It was fun to go watch the game, but also sad that we had no one playing for the first time in MANY years!  I will forever miss those days!  They went by way too fast.  We sat by our friend's the Lindsey's and had fun chatting with them.  I had to get home and hit the hay as soon as we got home because my alarm was going off at 5:15 a.m.  In reality though I was up until after 11:00.  One of these days I will get my biscuits to bed early!

dear 20 miler and near death experience!  We started at the crack of insanity (5:45 a.m.) in Sardine canyon and we were a little surprised it was STILL dark at 6:00 a.m. when we arrived.  Dave, bless his heart, took us up there.  He is always more than willing to drive us up even though it means he has to get up at the same time as all of us crazy runners!  He always snaps a photo of us before he leaves and says it's so he can tell the police what we were wearing when they ask.  Hah  We are caught in his headlights in this photo.  Now we know what deer feel like.

This time we basically did the same course we did two weeks ago.  We started at the sheds and then ran down to Sherwood's golf course and then ran back up to the sheds and into Mantua through the campgrounds and then back down Sardine to Main.  Today though, instead of going home, we headed west to the high school soccer fields so Robin would be on time to her grandson's soccer game.  Much better since it is downhill!  

I was a feeling a bit apprehensive this week about running the canyon.  I know it is dangerous and we really do take a risk since cars are going very fast.  I always pray we will be safe, but today I was feeling a little more worried than normal. There is a really nice wide shoulder for us to run on though and we are pretty far away from the cars, but if there was a distracted driver, then we are at their mercy.  My brother in law always tells me I am crazy for doing it and it didn't help that last weekend he told me it's just a matter of time before I get hit.  Most of the local long distance runners I know run down the canyon to train for marathons.  My friend Sherri that ran with us today has been doing it for 20 years.  There really isn't a better place to do it because of the downhill and uphill you can train on.  But with people texting and always on their phones nowadays, the risk is probably greater.  

BUT... today we had a VERY VERY VERY close call!  We were heading to Sherwood and it was still dark, although getting lighter, and we were all chatting away as we ran.  Sherri was in front of me and had her head turned back to talk when suddenly Robin expressed herself with a word I will leave out, but it got our attention.  haha  A car was in our lane (the shoulder) and coming right at us!  We could see his headlights coming fast and we barely had enough time to move out of the way before he went whizzing by!  Oh. My. Heart. Attack!  We have no idea WHY he did that, all we know is our lives flashed before our eyes!  We kept going and talked about how lucky we were that Robin saw him when she did.  We had all prayed for safety either that morning or the night before and I am sure that is why we were so blessed.  But HOLY SHEEZE!  What a scary thing! 

We took this photo at Sherwood after our near death experience.  The point was to get the "20" in it for our 20 miler with the "patrolled by Robin", but our arms weren't long enough to fit it all in. lol

Grant ran up the canyon and met us at the sheds.  He had his car parked in Mantua for our aid station.  We fueled up on Gatorade, cliff bars, blox, ice water, etc.  I gagged down a GU too.  I don't like those things at all, but they are a necessary evil for long runs.  I wasn't feeling well at all and we were only at mile 11.5.  My legs were so tired and I just wasn't running as fast as normal.  That 10 miler yesterday is the main cause.  But, hopefully it will help me push through those 26 miles in five weeks.

Aid station in Mantua (gotta LOVE Robin's face!).  Flowers in front of temple.  Sherri with her bagel butt.  Her bagel was tucked in her back pocket. 

Sherrie and Grant wanted to run around the dam but Robin and I did not, so we separated at that point. I started to feel a little bit better about mile 15 - probably because my gel kicked in.  But those last three miles running up Main were killers.  I was so happy when my watch beeped 20!  I called Bryce to come and get me at the soccer field and I was BEAT!  Glad that's over!  Only one more 20 to go! 

This week....Bryce, me and Mr. Cat* had near death experiences!  So grateful we are being watched over and protected!
*Mr. Cat came home with a huge chunk out of his neck.  We have no idea how it happened or from what. 
 

dear play and lunch at tony's pizza, my Mom invited me to go with her and my Aunt Cathy and cousin Angie (and company) to the play Hairspray at the Ziegfeld Theater. I loved the movie Hairspray and so I was excited.  We ate at Tony's before and of course, that's ALWAYS good!  

We had some time to kill before the play and so we went in the little store next store to it.  

The photo of the Crazy Cat Lady is a toy I found at the little store.  I didn't buy it, but had to take a picture of it because it made me laugh. 

The play was awesome!  Such talent!  It was really cute.  I am glad I went.
After I dragged my Mom to the mall to pick up some shoes for Taylor.  

dear rodeo!  It was the Box Elder County Fair this week and I have been really wanting to go the rodeo this year.  I grew up going to the Ogden Rodeo every year and I have fond memories of it.  We never really took our boys to one except when Skyler was young.  I feel bad about that.

You don't see this everyday ↓ haha

I did however take my niece and nephews to one a few years ago.  This photo is the day we went, but I need to go find the pix of the rodeo.
The only thing I didn't like about it was it got over way too late and I was already a zombie from my run and from getting up so early.  I was so happy to see my bed!  Well, that and the fact that the food court didn't take credit cards and we didn't have enough cash for more than one hamburger and so we shared.  We share all the time but I was starving and that hamburger was SO good, I could have eaten a whole one by myself.  Fun times though.

dear things posted on facebook this week.... 

Yep, I AM doing this next year!  Let's hope no one that reads my blog remembers!

My running friend Adrian posted this on my wall: Go Jodi! Always a smile and a head of the pack. At the Top of Utah Half Marathon.

One of McKay's friends posted this saying that he found this that day.  It is from McKay's missionary birthday party I gave him when he turned 8. This friend just left on his mission this week.

I had many friends post things to my wall that are purple!  This week I had four or five!  Mostly kitchens.

One friend posted a house that was purple inside.

I guess my reputation for the love of purple precedes me  haha

dear facebook quizzes this week,

My friend Jody posted this one on Facebook.  Ahhh....

Almost did!

Oh these make me chuckle!  Especially since they change every time you take them!

What are they going to say, "You are a devil"?  Doubt it!  haha

 TOTALLY RANDOM but, this is what you get when you ask Suri to sing you a song!  LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

dear quotes this week,