*MONDAY MEMOS*
(If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge)
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!
I
had no idea Dave took these photos, (he's always got my back -
literally this time - for pictures for the blog). Rob sent me home with some stretches to do and the hope that it will be good to go for Saturday. He did tell me that if it does start to get bad during the race to just tell myself, "Jodi, just live to fight another day.", and call it good. Yeah, that's not gonna happen unless I have one foot in the grave! I am really hoping everything he did will help! It started to ease up right after and so I am hopeful!
dear manic manikin, tis the season!
dear st. george, Dave somehow got off on time and we were pulling out of town by 1:00 pm. It was about a five hour drive. We didn't stop once. Amazing how when it's just two of you (without kids) how that becomes possible. lol We checked in our hotel (the same one we stayed at last year) and met Robin and Grant and their kids Sam and Carlos and cute Kalaya for dinner at the Ahi Asian Grill. We went there last year and it was good. They took off to their condo and Dave and I headed to Nielson's Frozen Custard to share an almond bumbleberry concrete and then came back and watched some National Geographic show on lions. It was nice to just kick back.
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!
dear running is a pain in the butt! Literally! If you read last week's post, you know that I have an injury just in time for the St. George Marathon this week. It's called Piriformas Syndrome and it's basically a pain in my rear! It's a deep set glute muscle called the piriformas that has been irritated and since it's close to the sciatic nerve, it tends to shoot pain down my leg and into my hammy. It's been coming on for a couple months, but last week it got pretty nasty. I amazingly saw an article on it that I happened to notice in Women's Running magazine and it described it to the tee. Dave made me an appointment at my request to go see a Physical Therapist to see if there is anything they can do to give me some relief and not insure that the past four and half months of training is down the drain. I tired to run Monday morning, but it was pretty painful. I was so discouraged!!! Four and half months is a LONG time to train and then to suddenly have an injury that sidelines you! I ran out west, but only got in a mile because of the pain.
Dave and I headed to the Physical Therapist on Dave's lunch break. My friend Robin told me to got see Rob because he is a runner and he "gets" our craziness. Luckily, they were able to get me in on Monday! The first thing I told him was, "No matter what you tell me I am still going to run this race." He laughed knowing how us runners are. He was very thorough and made sure it was Piriformas Syndrome and not another related injury with the hamstring because they are treated totally different. He was pretty sure it was PS. He did a lot of testing to determine that was it. Once he was fairly certain, they did some ultrasound heat, a massage on the spot, tens machine, ice, stretches, more heat, and a few other things. He also taped it with KT tape. We were there for almost two hours. I was so impressed with him and how great he and his staff treated us. Allie's mom Stephanie is his assistant. That was the best part because she is so genuinely nice and it was fun to catch up a bit with our families. I guess it could have been the worse part, at least for her because she had to work on my hiney with the ultrasound. haha Oh my gosh, the poor woman!
dear to die for ice cream,
Look what I found at Kents! OH MY! Cinnamon Chocolate Chip ice cream! I LOVE cinnamon anything, but especially ice cream! It is heavenly! I treated myself to it because I thought I deserved it! Whether I did or not remains to be seen!
dear bq shirt, it came! My BQ shirt arrived on Monday! Love it!
dear pumpkin cake roll.... Mmmm......Mmmm......Mmmm. I was behind on my treats for Dave's dad and so I made this for him. It turned out delish! I love pumpkin season! I love all the heavenly pumpkin treats out right now. It seems you can find pumpkin flavored anything right now! But homemade is always the best!
dear tuesday, I went on a run to see if the PT helped yesterday. I was feeling really optimistic at first until I tried to get up to race pace. I managed to get there for part of the time but it felt like I had a brick in my hiney! Not good. It was painful, but overall it felt much better than Saturday's run. That gave me hope. I called Rob and told him how I was doing and he wants to get me in one more time before the race. I am going Thursday morning. I am a bit discouraged but I'm going to pray hard and be vigilant with my exercises and stretches and the heat/ice as well as my anti-inflammatory and see if I can kick this butt injury in the butt!
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| Gotta love this! I had to take a photo! I'm taking it as a sign! lol |
The rest of the day I just did boring stuff. I cleaned and did laundry and even ironing as well as packing. I went visiting teaching in the evening. I also practiced the harp for quite awhile today and I am so excited about my song The First Noel. It's my first song that I think sounds harpish. Haha Love it.
dear taylor and company, Taylor texted me Tuesday night and informed me he and Brad were coming over for a bonfire with their dates after doing Flow Rider. I asked him if they wanted any food for it and he said no they were fine. I suggested banana boats anyway and he said that sounded cool. Dave was at meetings and so I ran to Kent's and got stuff to make banana boats. I got to meet his date. I think her name is Catelyn. He has taken her out a couple times and I really liked her. She was bubbly and cute and very talkative. Dave lined them up a while ago. She is a drug rep. Brad and his date arrived too and we all talked running. His date's mom ran Boston a couple times and so we had a lot to talk about. haha
I demonstrated how to make the banana boats and they made them except Taylor's date wasn't making one. She told me would pass because she hates bananas. Great! haha I offered her a Smore instead but she declined. Hah! What are the odds I plan banana boats and his date hates them? LOL Oh well... she was totally fine with it. They must have had fun because they were out there for hours.
dear harp, on my way to harp, just before my exit, I saw a car in front of me that looked just like my moms. I figured there is no way she would be out that early in Kaysville and so I didn't think it could be her, but the closer I got I could see her hair in the side mirror and so I pulled up to the side and it was her. I honked and honked and she looked as did her friend LaDene. I waved and then had to immediately take my exit. She called me right after and asked what I was doing there and I told her I had my lesson. She said they were heading to Farmington's Station Park and invited me meet them after my lesson for lunch. I was on board for that! My lesson went great! One of my best I think because I practiced a LOT this week! I felt good about it. I do need to work on my finger form as far as bending them in a cup shape...sounds easy but it's so hard.
TRUE STORY:
The other day while I was practicing Silent Night, Mr. Cat came in to listen. He likes the religious songs for some reason. He was just sitting there watching me play. I decided to sing along while I played. No one else was around of course, (or I wouldn't have) but Mr. Cat took it as long as he could and then he let out this loud loud annoyed meow and went tearing up the stairs! It was hilarious. At least he has good taste and can tell what's good and bad. I have been known to make babies cry when I sing.
dear harp, on my way to harp, just before my exit, I saw a car in front of me that looked just like my moms. I figured there is no way she would be out that early in Kaysville and so I didn't think it could be her, but the closer I got I could see her hair in the side mirror and so I pulled up to the side and it was her. I honked and honked and she looked as did her friend LaDene. I waved and then had to immediately take my exit. She called me right after and asked what I was doing there and I told her I had my lesson. She said they were heading to Farmington's Station Park and invited me meet them after my lesson for lunch. I was on board for that! My lesson went great! One of my best I think because I practiced a LOT this week! I felt good about it. I do need to work on my finger form as far as bending them in a cup shape...sounds easy but it's so hard.
TRUE STORY:
The other day while I was practicing Silent Night, Mr. Cat came in to listen. He likes the religious songs for some reason. He was just sitting there watching me play. I decided to sing along while I played. No one else was around of course, (or I wouldn't have) but Mr. Cat took it as long as he could and then he let out this loud loud annoyed meow and went tearing up the stairs! It was hilarious. At least he has good taste and can tell what's good and bad. I have been known to make babies cry when I sing.
dear lunch with mom, I found her and LaDene at Charming Charlies in Station Park and it was fun shopping with them. We went to MadBrooks donuts and got some blueberry donut holes (I accidentally left mine in her shopping bag - waaaaaaa!) and then headed to Twigs for lunch. We sat outside because it was a gorgeous day! It even got a bit too hot! I had the Kahlua Pork Tacos. They were good! The water fountain did a few performances to Thriller and Happy and it was so nice being outside enjoying the beautiful fall day. This weather is not going to last much longer and so I soaked it in!
When I got home, I ran the medals I made for volleyball to Ayako since I won't be there this week. I ran over to Robin's to see if we wanted to trade socks for the marathon because I am wearing pink and she is wearing purple. Grant said we were like high school girls trading our outfits. haha We both ended up sticking with what we originally planned. Dave had meetings and so I practiced the harp and packed for St. G.
dear pt, I headed back on Thursday morning to squeeze in one more PT session before the big race. I have been faithfully doing my stretches three times a day and I've been sleeping on the heating pad as well as taking Celebrex and it seems to be helping because the pain has eased up quite a bit this week. Today he did some other stretches but also did the heat, ice, deep ultrasound, massage, and tens. He is a bit worried it might be underlying back issue and wants me to possibly look into that depending on how things go Saturday. I don't have good genes when it comes to the back and so I am hoping it's not that. He was hopeful though that I am going to have a good race. I think he is more hopeful than I am! I'm just grateful he was able to get me in again. I am very impressed with his office and staff. Poor Stephanie had to work on my hiney again! haha She is the sweetest thing and it's so fun to talk to her. I hurried home and finished getting ready to roll.
Some KT tape for the road!
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| Carb loading this week! |
dear manic manikin, tis the season!
dear st. george, Dave somehow got off on time and we were pulling out of town by 1:00 pm. It was about a five hour drive. We didn't stop once. Amazing how when it's just two of you (without kids) how that becomes possible. lol We checked in our hotel (the same one we stayed at last year) and met Robin and Grant and their kids Sam and Carlos and cute Kalaya for dinner at the Ahi Asian Grill. We went there last year and it was good. They took off to their condo and Dave and I headed to Nielson's Frozen Custard to share an almond bumbleberry concrete and then came back and watched some National Geographic show on lions. It was nice to just kick back.
We had to get a photo with the Marlin in it! The one we caught was even bigger than this one!
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| At Nielsons! I shared Dave's. Those things are so good! |
On Friday morning, we met Robin and Grant and headed to a nearby asphalted trail to get in our two mile shake out run. Dave joined us and explored while we ran.
I was a bit concerned because I could feel the piriformas pain as I ran. I am getting really nervous for tomorrow's race. Hope it doesn't sideline me! When we got back to our hotel, we ate breakfast and I was eavesdropping to the table next to me because they were talking about the Boston marathon. It was an older man with a Boston shirt on and he was talking to a couple on the next table that had a Boston shirt on. As we were leaving, I asked him about his Boston experience and he said he has ran it 39 times! He is 67 years old. He also used to be involved in Congress. He and his wife gave me the lowdown on hotels and where to stay and she told me I better get a room fast because they can go for $800 a night! Whhhhhaaaaaaattt!??? Yikes! We will be sleeping in the car instead! We went back and got ready and then headed to the Expo. I love the St. George expo! They have so many fun things to see and buy! It's a runner's shopper's paradise! I even won a door prize! It was just some perfume, but kind of cool! I found out later I also won a FREE HALF MARATHON! Yes! I have several I can choose from. I also got some old St. G Marathon shirts for $1. Nice PJ's for a buck! Or throw away warm ups for races. I bought a real cute shirt and two visors. Dave and I tried out these new boot things that compress your legs and are supposed to help with recovery. They were awesome. I was hoping they wouldn't mess with my injury and make it worse.
It's go time!
We did the photo thing and then was going to go eat with the Singleton's but we weren't hungry yet because we had a late breakfast. We decided to go to the visitor's center next to the temple. We watched several movies and a bunch of missionary stories. It was a lot of fun.
We called the Jezaks to see if we could stop in and see their new house, but Loraine wasn't feeling well. She also broke her elbow bike riding and so we decided to go another time. It was time for carb loading! We decided to eat at the Pasta Factory. I had lasagna! Mmm..... The breadsticks were SO delish! I then begged for a Swigs sugar cookie! Triple mmmm...... My fave! I only had a few bites and saved the rest for after the race. I will have earned it! Best part of a marathon is the carb loading!
We almost went to a movie, but it got out too late and so we were going to meet Robin and Grant but they were at their grandkids race so we headed back to the visitor's center and watched the rest of the movies. We then went to the finish line to meet them but they had already left. We got free ice cream and cotton candy though! Mmmm...
When I saw the finish line, I almost got nauseous. Just thinking that the next time I see it, I will not be feeling too great. Or I will! Could either be really good, or really bad.
We stopped by the Singleton's condo for a bit. We chatted about the race and had fun with Kalaya. We didn't stay long because they had all their kids and grandkids there and I wanted to be in bed early. Didn't happen, but I wanted it to!
Sky called to wish me luck. He told me to not push it tomorrow and to not make my injury worse so I can't run Boston. He was very adamant about it. He was cute and being a protective boy. I love how he worries about me but won't let me worry about him. Taylor called and wished me luck too. As did my Mom.
We got to our hotel and I set out all my running gear. Man, there is a LOT to think about before a marathon! Exactly what to wear, take, eat, how much, how little, which shoes and socks. The list goes on and on. As I was standing there setting it all out, my piriformas pain got really bad. Great! Just standing and it hurts. I can't even imagine what it is going to feel like after 26 miles! NERVES!!! I got to bed about 11.
dear st. george marathon 26.2!
Marathons are hard. This one was brutal. I have never felt more joy or relief to see anything as I did when I saw that finish line! A boatload of chocolate wouldn't have even compared! I didn't get a PR but I did get a BQ!!! (for Boston 2018!) I went into this race not even sure I would finish due to my injury but thanks to a great doc ;) and PT as well as a blessing from Dave that morning, I survived!
For the few, the brave, the curious.... the marathon (literally) story is below. ;) For the rest of you, just ignore the novel! It's long...marathon long!!
It was go time! Ready or not! I set my alarm for 3:50 a.m. but I was awake way before that and so I just got up. I'm glad I had the extra time because I needed it to process it all. Unless you have ran a marathon, it makes no sense, but trust me, it is more mental than anything. Especially with the anxiety I was feeling due to my injury and having NO idea what to expect. I had a rough week and I was a nervous wreck with anticipation. I knew it was going to hurt. I wasn't sure if I was mentally prepared for that or not.
Gorgeous purple bush!
It's go time!
With my #1 athletic supporter! :)
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| This is a map of the course. WOW, that looks far! |
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| Testing out the reboot leg compressors. They were amazing. I wanted to go to sleep! I wanted that purple jacket, but it was a bit pricey! |
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| The coolest backdrop! It has EVERY runner's name on it! They also had a wall where you could sign your name and leave a message. It was fun to see where everyone was from. People come from everywhere to run St. George because it's rated in the Top 10 marathons in the country in Runner's World. |
Some more fun pix!
We did the photo thing and then was going to go eat with the Singleton's but we weren't hungry yet because we had a late breakfast. We decided to go to the visitor's center next to the temple. We watched several movies and a bunch of missionary stories. It was a lot of fun.
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| In the missionary video room, they flashed up all the locations where missionaries are currently serving. I took photos of each of the places my boys and Dave have served. |
It was a gorgeous day!
We went to check out the pickleball courts so Dave could play, but there wasn't a soul there! Pretty shocking for a 24 court place! So we chilled for a bit.
And we took advantage of a photo booth!
When I saw the finish line, I almost got nauseous. Just thinking that the next time I see it, I will not be feeling too great. Or I will! Could either be really good, or really bad.
We stopped by the Singleton's condo for a bit. We chatted about the race and had fun with Kalaya. We didn't stay long because they had all their kids and grandkids there and I wanted to be in bed early. Didn't happen, but I wanted it to!
We got to our hotel and I set out all my running gear. Man, there is a LOT to think about before a marathon! Exactly what to wear, take, eat, how much, how little, which shoes and socks. The list goes on and on. As I was standing there setting it all out, my piriformas pain got really bad. Great! Just standing and it hurts. I can't even imagine what it is going to feel like after 26 miles! NERVES!!! I got to bed about 11.
dear st. george marathon 26.2!
Marathons are hard. This one was brutal. I have never felt more joy or relief to see anything as I did when I saw that finish line! A boatload of chocolate wouldn't have even compared! I didn't get a PR but I did get a BQ!!! (for Boston 2018!) I went into this race not even sure I would finish due to my injury but thanks to a great doc ;) and PT as well as a blessing from Dave that morning, I survived!
For the few, the brave, the curious.... the marathon (literally) story is below. ;) For the rest of you, just ignore the novel! It's long...marathon long!!
It was go time! Ready or not! I set my alarm for 3:50 a.m. but I was awake way before that and so I just got up. I'm glad I had the extra time because I needed it to process it all. Unless you have ran a marathon, it makes no sense, but trust me, it is more mental than anything. Especially with the anxiety I was feeling due to my injury and having NO idea what to expect. I had a rough week and I was a nervous wreck with anticipation. I knew it was going to hurt. I wasn't sure if I was mentally prepared for that or not.
After I got ready, I asked Dave for a priesthood blessing and I'm so grateful I did! He blessed me that I would be calm and at peace and that my body would function normally. He also said this race would be good preparation for Boston. That actually scared me a bit. But I was calm and felt at peace. I was hoping for something in there about no pain, but that is probably a stretch. :) But, I felt much better after! Dave walked me down to breakfast. At that hour in the morning I have to force myself to eat. Fueling is SO important in running a marathon that you must have food before the race even if you have to gag it down. I ate a slice of wheat toast with some peanut butter on it and a yogurt. I took a banana to eat on the bus. That might not sound like much, but it's all I can handle. I threw in a granola bar in case I actually got hungry while waiting at the start since we still had over two hours.
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| This is the professional photo that they send and if you buy them then you can have a real nice photo without the watermarks across your body, but who wants to spend $25 for a photo? Not me! |
We did the porta potty thing. And again. And again.
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| I love the start of this race! The bonfires are lined up forever and there is just an excitement in the air! |
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| Here's another one of Andrew. Cracks me up! Then Robin taped my IT band "just in case". Last year it got to me at mile 18 out of the blue. |
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| I wrote this on my hand because I wanted to remember why I run when it got hard. This is why I run. I run for those who can't. I run in the memory of my loved ones, especially this guy! I feel him with me at every marathon. When it gets hard, I think how much he would have loved to run if he could have. |
The heat was brutal! My hamstrings were miserable. Between mile 19 and the finish, I stopped four times at the aid stations for volunteers to give me an Icy Hot rub down on my hams to get some relief. The volunteers are amazing on this course! I kept telling myself if I can just get to mile 20 then it is downhill the rest of the way. That was a great mental relief until at mile 20, there was another hill, and another at mile 21, and 22. I don't remember them last year, but there they were! I am not a fan of hills....downhill, yes! Uphill, no! About mile 20, I started getting nauseous and just feeling crappy from mile 21 on. I knew I needed some nutrition and there was NO way I could do a gel so I forced three blocks down. I thought I was going to hurl. I had to dig deeper than ever to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I have never wanted to just sit down and cry and be done like I did from mile 21 to the finish (except at my very first marathon). I saw a runner wearing the shirt that says, "Everything hurts and I'm dying!", which made me grin because that's how I felt!
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| Really starting to feel it here in the last few miles. My form is shot and I just wanted to puke. |
At mile 25, I heard my niece Tanae and her husband Denver and his mom and dad yelling out my name and cheering for me. The next thing I know Terry, who is an experienced marathoner (she has run it 27 times!) was running next to me. She ran me in the last mile. Her son Riley won the entire race! She appeared at the perfect time! I couldn't talk much, because I was in survival mode at that point, but she helped me more than she will ever know! I needed her encouraging words and just the relief of her holding my water bottle, felt like a huge weight lifted from me. LOL I credit her for getting me through that last mile. I looked at my watch and knew I was off a bit for a 4:05, and so Plan C came into play. FINISH! But I also knew if I got in with a sub 4:10, I would BQ! When I turned that last corner and saw the finish line ahead, I had no idea how I was ever going to get there. It was so far away (only like 3/10th of a mile haha) but I wasn't sure I could get there.
Walking out of the runner's coral to go collapse in Dave's arms.
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| Early results |
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| This lady came over and just started to cry really hard. Dave asked her if she was okay and she cried even more. She said she couldn't get her shoes off. He was so kind and took her shoes off for her. Emotions are pretty high at the end of a marathon. You see a lot of tears. |
These pictures crack me up now. Both of us were having a hard time standing up straight. LOL I love our twinner socks and KT tape! :)
The car was parked far away and so while Dave went and got it, I had to lay down. I just wanted to go to sleep and sleep for a year. It felt so good to just rest. Even on the cement and grass. He was gone at least 30 minutes. He took this photo when he got back. Good thing he wasn't a predator! hah
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| I LOVE this sandwich! Turkey, avocado, cucumber, tomato! Mmm.. |
It still hasn't sunk in that I qualified again to run the Boston Marathon for 2018! The first marathon I ran (Top of Utah) was not a good experience and this one compares to it in a lot of ways. All marathons are hard, but some are definitely harder. I am still feeling a few of the effects of dehydration today, but I am also feeling so blessed and grateful for all of the earthly and heavenly angels that helped me survive this race! After the race, I told Dave I was done with running! I was serious. But running is a lot like having a baby and I have a feeling by next week I will be ready to roll again (other than I have been ordered to take off a few weeks to get my injury healed). My Boston training starts in December. I have a hunch that I will be more than ready by then! #bostonorbust #onlyoneblister #toenailsallintact
Wow, if you're still reading and survived that long marathon post, YOU deserve a medal!
"The experience of the race is unchanged: each race a drama, each race a challenge, each race stretching me in one way or another, and each race telling me more about myself and others." ~ George Sheehan
"The marathon’s about being in contention over the last 10K. That’s when it’s about what you have in your core. You have run all the strength, all the superficial fitness out of yourself, and it really comes down to what’s left inside you. To be able to draw deep and pull something out of yourself is one of the most tremendous things about the marathon." ~ Rob de Castell
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| LOVE the shirts this year! It was the 40th anniversary of the St. G marathon! |
Results from this year:
My results from last year:
Some fun things on the result website:
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*There was another thing that happened during the race that I wanted to remember because of the lesson it taught me. Around mile six into the marathon, I thought I saw a friend of mine that was running off to the side. She was on the edge of the road and so I maneuvered over towards her and when I got close I lightly touched her elbow and said, "Hi!". Before I could even realize it wasn't my friend, the woman yelled, "Ow!!!!" I have no idea how I hurt her because I barely tapped her. By her reaction, you would have thought I stabbed her with a knife! I then immediately apologized and told her that I thought she was somebody else. She responded with a very rude and loud, "I don't even know you!". Now, I would have "got it" if we had been at mile 20 or so when things are getting really hard, but at mile six? I was stunned! It also really affected my morale! I tried to not let it get to me, and I told myself she was probably suffering early on and was in a lot of pain, kind of like a woman in labor acts- haha. However, I noticed that her response affected me more negatively than when in the next mile we ran through a crowd of people cheering us on (one even called me by name) positively affected me. Those 50 people cheering me on wasn't enough to wipe away that one negative encounter. It goes to show you that our words have such an impact on others and so we need to choose them so carefully!
dear general conference, when we got home from St. George, I took a much needed shower that felt so good other than I found more spots that were chafed. The shower has a way of alerting you to that! LOL I then just curled up in my chair in my room and turned on the TV to veg. I was starting to feel a little bit better but not much. I went to bed about 9:00 pm. I was beat!
On Sunday, I got up and dressed before conference started. I made banana muffins because I was starving and feeling much better. Taylor was here and we all watched it together. Dave massaged my legs a bit while we watched. That felt so good! Then we had our traditional german pancakes that Dave made. So good! Conference was wonderful. It started to just pour outside! It sounded so awesome! I love the rain! I loved it more feeling all cozy and warm inside just chilling watching conference.
Then Taylor's friend Kendra came over to watch the afternoon session with him. It was the first time I met her. She is a darling girl and so sweet. I felt bad because it was a little awkward having her come in and not being able to really talk because conference was on and Dave wanted us to listen. They stayed upstairs for a couple talks and then went down to the man cave. I really do need to get that basement finished and made into something I'm not embarrassed of! Kendra took off and we had hamburgers for dinner. Taylor left to go back to school. I love having him so close so that he can stop by!
Here are some quotes from this conference. Some are from the women's meeting.
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