*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 ran 8 miles this morning and it was great because I had an entire part of 9th north to myself because they are STILL doing construction on it.  It's been about four months now.  But the road is smooth and so nice to run on.  The only traffic was a construction truck.  One perk for slow UDOT workers.

When I got home I saw these CUTE CUTE CUTE baby turkeys!  Oh my gosh, they are so adorable!  I counted 19 chicks with three moms.

dear harp lesson, my teacher was very happy with me today. She said my form is coming so well.  In fact, I took a photo of it (left) so I would not forget.  The right photo is of her form in a different song.  The form changes from song to song and sometimes it's hard to remember. 

dear mona visit, I went and saw Mona's new place.  She is now settled in an assisted living place in West Haven.  Her room is so tiny but she said it is the most relaxed she's been in years.  I'm sure part of that is she has practically no possessions and not a lot to worry about.  Plus she doesn't have to cook any meals or do any cleaning or laundry.  Sounds like a nice lifestyle.  I guess there are a few perks to getting older.

dear temple session with friends,

Dawn planned a trip to the Ogden temple with Lisa and Kathy and I but Kathy ended up with a migraine and couldn't make it.  I haven't seen Lisa in several years. She has quit coming to most things for some reason, but it was good to see her.  She looked really good.  I loved it when her and Jani would come.  Both of them have not been to anything in  years.  Just goes to show ya, don't take anyone for granted.  Our group has lost two from death and two or more from just life.  Life has a way of changing things up when we least expect it.

After the session, we had lunch across the street at a place called Even Stevens.  It was so yummy!  I can't wait to go back and try some other things on their menu.  Just real good healthy food!  

dear kathy's birthday lunch, the next day I met Dawn again along with Carla and Kathy for Kathy's birthday.  It's a little late but who cares?  I don't feel bad celebrating my birthday all month and I'm pretty sure no one else does!  They were so nice to come to Maddox so I could make it.  Good food, good friends, and good laughs!

 

I just posted all the pix....  I didn't have time to choose, so here they all are.  I know I should be more selective, but it's much faster to just post them all and not have to think.

dear hill repeats, I took them on and conquered!  15 repeats!  I have no idea how because it was so stinkin' hot, but I was determined to write down 15 and not just 12!  #killthehills

dear funeral,  my good friend Robin's daddy passed away last week and Dave and I attended the viewing this week and the funeral.  He had been very sick for a very long time but even when you know it's better for them to pass and leave this world to be relieved of all the suffering, it's not easy.  I have not lost a parent yet and I am so grateful, but I know one day I will be the one in Robin's shoes.  Death is a part of life and we will all die.  Every single one of us will pass on, but when it's someone you dearly love, it is still hard to live without them in your life. 

dear rs board meeting, had a good time planning some upcoming events.  I really love women and how creative and on top of things they are.  Women are amazing. If I do say so myself.  We have a bunch of amazing ladies in our ward.

dear manic manikin, oh my.

dear women's forum meeting, our meeting was held at the new USU campus here.  We are having the forum there this year and so we met there to check out the facilities.  It is so nice!  I'm excited.  I have thought about going back to get my Master's, but I heard they still don't have a lot of the classes needed for a lot of majors.

We are getting close to being done with the planning.  We have some great speakers and presenters.   After the meeting adjourned, Beth gave me some good ideas for the family reunion.  As we left some of the staff gave us our choice of Aggie Ice Cream!  Not a bad way to end a meeting!

dear zucchini bread,  I made my first batch of the season.  Dave brought home a huge zucchini and I am not a fan of it when they get big unless it's made into bread or brownies or something.  I have a really good recipe and it was delish!

 Here's the recipe in case you find yourself with a boat of the stuff too.  And if you don't, I can help you out with that!

Best Zucchini Bread Ever (yields 2 loaves)

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3½ cups grated zucchini (you can use as few as 2 cups and as much as 4 cups)
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup apple sauce or coconut oil (I used coconut oil)
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2¼ cups granulated sugar
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter and lightly flour two 8”x4” loaf pans.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Stir gently to combine.
3. Shred zucchini, lightly packing it down as you measure it.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat eggs, applesauce or coconut oil, oil, sugar and vanilla extract. Mix very well.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients (about ⅓ at a time) mixing as you go – then beat well to fully combine.
6. With a rubber scraper or wooden spoon, stir in shredded zucchini and nuts into the batter and mix well.
7. Pour half of the batter into each prepared pan.
8. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out cleanly. (The bake time will vary depending on how much shredded zucchini you add to the batter.)
9. Remove from the pans and cool on wire racks.

dear tyson's birthday, my boy would be turning 28 years old this year.  So very hard to believe!  He is just a little 17 year old in my mind.   

This year has been one of the hardest and I'm not really sure why.  Some years are worse than others, but no matter what when these days roll around (birthdays, holidays, angelversaries, etc) my heart hurts.  I miss him so much.  There really is no way to describe the kind of emotions I feel unless you have experienced it yourself and so I won't even try, but suffice it to say, I am glad every day isn't like today.  

When we lost Tyson, I decided his birthday would be a celebration of his life and not a sad day.  I was determined to make it a good and happy day where we celebrate the amazing person he was and the inspiring life he lived.  So each year on his birthday, we have a big party to do that.  Most years, just getting the party ready and prepared is really hard for me.  I feel like I have to force myself to do everything because nothing in me feels like celebrating.  It is really hard emotionally for me to focus on the happy and eliminate the sad feelings that creep in.  Some years I can do it amazingly well, and others it's a huge act of will.  This year took a lot of effort.  But no matter what, once I am at the party and everyone shows up to honor my son, and we DO celebrate his incredible life, I always feel happy and the sadness mostly dissipates.  Being surrounded by others who also loved him is the greatest form of healing I know.  I have no doubt his spirit is there with us and that plays a huge part of it as well.

 We start with the balloon launch.  Everyone writes a note on a card that has a bit of Tyson's story and an email address to respond to if someone finds the balloon.  Over the years, I have received back several emails.  The farthest a balloon was found was in Monte Cristo.  This year the wind took them northeast for the first time.

 Then we have fireworks around his grave.  It is VERY noisy and loud, but we have never had any complaints!  Tyson LOVED fireworks!  They were one of his most favorite things in life.  He loved to blow things up as well.  Such a little pyro!

 Then we sing Happy Birthday to him and eat his favorite dessert CHOCOLATE ECSTASY.

 Two years ago they took out the bowery that we always met at and so now we have to take our own table and chairs, but I think it's better because we just gather around his grave and it makes it a little nicer.

It was really nice to have so many of his friends from high school come this year.  With just these good friends, they now have 7.85 kids.  One more arrives in two weeks. I wish more could have been there, but I am so grateful for those that could make it. My cute mom jumped in just before I took the photo.  I didn't tell her it was a picture of his friends that had kids and so when I look at it, I just laugh.  She is so funny.  Everyone LOVES my mom.  And I mean EVERYONE.  I have SO many people constantly tell me how much they love her. Pretty much anyone that meets her, just loves her. I want to be like her when I grow up!

 Everyone just hung around for quite a while this year just visiting.  It was nice.

Bryce found a Superman action figure laying around and he burned off his feet with the  fireworks lighter (a family genetic thing that began with my dad :)).  Unbeknownst to him it belonged to Sam's little boy Maxx.  When Maxx asked where it was, I said that Bryce had it.  Bryce felt sooooo bad when he realized it was Maxx's!  But the rest of us got a huge laugh watching the interaction between the two of them. I know Tyson was dying laughing as well.  He is also named after Tyson.  His name is Maxx Tyson.

We had a pretty good turnout this year!

Happy Birthday in heaven Tyson!  We love and miss you!

dear i survived another dam race, this race is why I started racing!  It was my very first race ever in 2007! The reason I ran it was so I could get a t-shirt that said I SURVIVED THE DAM RACE!  The rest is history!  This year I think I got a new PR on this course.  The first year I ran it was 4.7 miles, but since then they have made it a complete 5 mile run.  I think I have run this race about 6-7 times at least.  Maybe more. The course is pretty much around the dam.  I think it's really a reservoir, but a t-shirt saying I survived the reservoir race, just doesn't have the same ring to it!  I may not be a runner if that was the name of the race.  :)

And once again, I survived the dam race and I got another dam t-shirt to prove it! 

 It is a BIG race with almost 300 runners! I think it's so popular because of the name of it!  Whatever works!   I met Robin and Grant there because Dave was going to go.  He has always come to cheer me on at this one.

The course isn't too bad other than it gets a little boring at times.  I was behind a gal that I see out running a lot and my goal was to pass her.  I passed her about mile 2.5 and then she kept trying to pass me.  She got right up on my side at about mile 4 and so I put on the gas.  I really pushed it those last couple of miles.  It paid off because I got 41.17 for my time.  I need to go see if that's a PR or not, but I think it is because I felt like I was really running it fast.  I think 5 milers and 10K's are hard because it's tough to pace yourself at that distance.  A half marathon is almost easier because you know how to pace. 

 I got 1st place in my age division!  YAY!  I was so excited!  I got a medal. No money, no honey, just a medal.

Part of the result board.

Being silly with Robin.  She took 3rd in our age division.

With Dave and Marci.  My dam t-shirt and my dam medal.

This lady is 85 and is still running like crazy!  She didn't start running until she was in her 50's and she's now run 140 marathons!  Wow!  She is my hero!  Her fastest marathon was a 3:48.  That is so fast!  My fastest is 3:58 and I started younger than her!

We could smell bacon and so we went over by this Dutch Oven truck and asked them if they were making bacon.  They said they were for the dutch oven dinners, but it was already added to the dutch ovens.  We were starving!  Nothing worse than smelling bacon and not being able to have any.  We had to run another 8 miles to get in our long run of 13 miles today and so we knew breakfast was a long time away!  They were so nice they offered us donuts!  Not just donuts, but PURPLE donuts!  I would have refused until I saw they were purple!  Then I was on board!  I ate a half of one.  Probably not a good idea right before another 8 mile run!  But it tasted so good!

Grant drove us up to the sheds in Sardine canyon and we ran down to our houses.  We actually got in 13.5.  I was sore.  It was SO hot because we had to wait so long after the race for the awards.  My feet were burning and I could tell I was going to get a blister.  We should have gone up and ran half of it before the awards and the other half after. Oh well.  We got it done. 

dear random, oh my gosh!  I love this!  I think the sky should always be purple! 

Our stake at trek.  Dave is in these somewhere.

Isn't this the prettiest dessert ever?  I looked at the recipe  and not sure it's worth the time it takes, but it sure is pretty !

 This is TRUTH!