*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

      

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 

dear tear jerker commercial, this is the most touching commercial I have seen in forever!  I have watched it over and over and it gets me right in the heart every time!  I had to share!

It really is just the sweetest!

dear mckay, YAY!  More pictures from Russia!  I am so happy you are doing so well!  It has already snowed and you say it's getting cold!  You have the best attitude.  I am sooooo proud of you!

Castle, view from his apartment, breakfast of this comps 20th birthday (I DIG those purple plates!), the moon.

 Here is a photo of your mission president and wife.  Brother and Sister Perkinson.  They look so sweet and kind.  I know you love them so much.

 

dear run, yes I said RUN!  I actually went on Monday but just walked a bit, but on Tuesday I did a little running....probably only a total of a little more than a mile.  But look at this amazing foliage!  It's been touched by Fall's magic too!  Just like the leaves!

dear taylor, since I knew you were coming home on Monday night for a haircut (forgot to get a photo!), we killed the fatted calf.  Well, okay I made your favorite Tator Tot Casserole.  But I didn't stop there.  I also made killer lemon bars and Rice Krispy Treats.  I made extra so you could take some to your roomies. I LOVE LOVE LOVE lemon bars and I seriously could eat the whole pan.  And they aren't even chocolate!  But of course, I made them for you!  :)

dear surprise, I found this on my doorstep!  How cute! I later found out it was from my cute friend Julie.  She loves purple like I do and so she got me one of these because she said she couldn't resist! 

dear serious manual labor, Bryce cut down a ton of trees a few months ago at the clinic and had to wait awhile to split them.  This week he went to town splitting the logs.  It is hard manual labor and I can't believe how hard he worked.  Dave was able to help a little on his day off, but Bryce worked non stop for almost two days.  I'm glad he's so young, but I fear he is wearing out his back because it already bothers him and has for years. I need to go get a photo of the finished product because there is so much wood!  That kid is the hardest worker!  I am not kidding!  He never stops!  He is always doing things around the house that need to be done and just is such a great kid and helper.  I am really proud of the man he is becoming.

dear ortho, I had an ortho appt on Wednesday and now I get to wear rubber bands on my aligners.  Oh joy!  I feel like a teenager again!  Only not in a good way!  lol  It was fun to talk to Clark about the marathon though. He ran it for the 21st time!  His son Sam ran it for the first time.  Clark is always willing to chat even when he has a million patients waiting.  He is just a good guy.  He asked me what I thought of the rubber bands and I told him I won't like it but I can do it.  He said that was a no brainer because anyone that can run a sub four marathon can do anything.  Coming from him, I was very flattered.  He is an amazing runner.  I asked him if the altitude made a huge difference because I just couldn't figure out why I did so well with all those hills and he said that the altitude is not really a big deal because it starts 5000 feet up.  He said it was my hard training.  These rubber bands are for the birds!  

  

dear mr. cat, I can NOT believe how much you love Dave!  What about me?  Aren't I the one that gives you treats and combs your fur and keeps you fed and warm?  Hmm.....  It drives me crazy!  That should be ME in those pictures not Dave!  LOL

dear bryce catch of the week!  This kid is becoming quite the fisherman!  I wish Dave could find the time to go with him more often!  He caught these at Pineview.

dear taylor college life, I got these off of your snapchat.  Thank heavens for that or I would be clueless as to what you are up to!  

HAHA!  Oh well, at least you're eating!

Some chick from Brazil posted this on her Facebook.  I thought it was weird. I think she's in love with you or something.  Hmm.....  This was a photo you took and so she must have swiped it off your wall.

 

dear manic manikan, YIKES! 

dear halloween decors!  I finally got you up!  Mr. Cat is enjoying the warm October sunshine and loves to roll around on the porch.

Those little purple lights are new this year and I LOVE them!

How I LOVE Halloween!!! It's my favorite!

dear lunch and shopping with mona, Mona needed me to take her grocery shopping and so I asked if she wanted to go to lunch first.  She was game!  We went to Costa Vida and it was so yummy but it was too loud in there to even talk.  I forgot to take a picture of us!  

Then we headed to Kent's to grocery shop. She got in the electric Jazzy chair thing and I got a cart and we both did our own thing.  It took a looooong time. I was done in about half the time she was.  After that we went back to her place and it was hilarious trying to get all her groceries up to her apartment!  I didn't have my phone with me and I wish I had because the picture would have been hysterical!  We had toilet paper and paper towels flying off her walker and it was quite the scene....but we finally made it!  I put away her groceries and cleaned her kitchen and took out the garbage.  I feel so bad for her because she hates being alone like she is.  I would to!  I would go nuts! She is pretty house bound because she can't drive since she has no car and still has to wear the neck brace for two more months.  She says how bad she hates it and how she is struggling with loneliness.  I wish knew what to do to help her more.  It's really sad.  Living alone and struggling to make ends meet should not be the reward for living a good long life.  

dear friend surprise, Jen brought me over this treat and this amazing book.  She said she had both before I left but didn't know we were leaving on Thursday. She said she knew I would qualify and she heard that book is the best to prepare for Boston. I told her she had more faith than I did!  lol   I was so excited!  Can't wait to read it. Oh, and the truffles.  Run, don't walk and go buy some!  Heaven in a chocolate ball!

dear dinner with dave's parents, for my birthday this year Dave's parents wanted to take us out to dinner.  We did that on Thursday night.  They choose the place and we went to Ruby River.  It was good. I loved the baked sweet yam!  So good!  I had steak. We got to ride in their brand new Lexus.  It is a sweet ride!

I like the top photo better but Dave's mom looks better in this one...

We got this because we were celebrating my birthday. It's bread pudding with a heavenly sauce!  Not quite as good as Union Grill's though, but yummy!  

dear blog, I spent a lot of time catching you up this week.  I get frustrated that it takes so long to do.  But when I have a big event like qualifying for the Boston Marathon, I know it's worth my time because it is history that I will want someday.  I just pray my blog doesn't get erased off the internet somehow because I still haven't got it in a blog book yet.  That is so time consuming too!  Some day....  

I went back and looked at all my past marathons.  I have run six total but I never did a post on my second one.  I feel bad because that was quite the experience.  It was the Ogden Marathon and I ran in my first downpour ever.  The. Entire. Race.  I was taking a blogging sabbatical at that time and so it got skipped.  I guess I could go find my journal post (let's hope I wrote about it in my journal!) and try and do a post on it from that, but not sure WHEN that will happen.  I have always had this internal drive, feeling, desire, whatever you call it....to record my life's happenings.  I doubt anyone else will ever care about it all, but for some reason I feel I am supposed to record it.  So...I am not going to feel frustrated about the time it takes to do that.  If I just wrote, it would be much faster, but adding pictures takes more time. But it wouldn't be the same without photos.  Someday I pray it will be worth the time it takes.  Writing has always been therapeutic for me and so I know it has many benefits, but sometimes I feel guilty when I am doing it and feel like I should be doing something else instead, like cleaning!  Then that little voice pops into my head and whispers, "Cleaning won't last, but recording your life will."   Now to just get it in book form! 

dear date night, we invited Robin and Grant to go with us to dinner and a movie.  I have been really wanting to see Everest!  They were able to go and since we didn't have to do a long run in the morning (YAY!) we decided to do Mexican!  We went to our fave El Toro Viejo.  I love to get their Enchilada's Mole (chocolate sauce!).  We sat down and were eating our chips and salsa when I saw my sister in law Allie walk by.  I yelled at her and then I saw that my brother Jerry was in front of her!  They heard me and came back and talked to us for a bit.  My bro said they always go to that restaurant because he loves it. I teased him about not stopping by to see me when he comes!  He is hilarious.  After they finished he came back over and we chatted some more.  Seriously, I can't believe I saw my brother (who lives 45 miles away) in MY city! 

 We then headed to the show.  It was good, but INTENSE!!!  VERY intense!

As I was watching (it was a true story of the 1996 expedition) I remembered that a classmate of mine named William also climbed Everest a few years ago and they did a write up on him in the paper.  He almost died!  He got severe frostbite as well and his story was amazing.  Possibly better than the one in the movie!

Photos of William.  He hasn't changed a bit since high school.

You can read about his incredible story by going to these three links.  It's truly amazing!
HERE
HERE
HERE

dear randomness, I LOVE this!  If I ever build again, this is my kitchen! 

How GORGEOUS IS THIS????

I. Am. Dying!  Oh my gosh!  I am seriously dying laughing!  Oh my!  LOL  If you need a laugh, go take a Facebook quiz!

 dear quotes,
"We must not drift away from the humble works, because these are the works nobody will do. It is never too small. We are so small, we look at things in a small way, but God, being Almighty, sees everything great; therefore, even if you write a letter for a blind man, or you just go and sit and listen, or you take the mail for him, or you visit somebody, or bring a flower to somebody, small things, or wash clothes for somebody, or clean the house, very humble work, that is where you and I must be. For there are many people who can do big things, but there are very few people who will do the small things. our loaves and fishes can feed thousands; give Jesus not only your hands to serve, but your heart to love. Pray with absolute trust in God's loving care for you. Let him use you without consulting you. Let Jesus fill you with joy that you may preach without preaching." ~Mother Teresa