*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 got up early and practiced the harp for a good 90 minutes this morning. I didn't have anywhere I had to be today.  I got out on my run later than normal. :/  I parked by the high school so I could run on the track.  I was still sore from Saturday's long run so I didn't get in a very good run.  I studied for quite a while (scriptures) and wrote in my journal.  It was one of those days  that was nice to be able to not feel rushed doing that.  Nice to have time to do that once in a while. I was going to work on Boston lodging today, but it didn't happen.  I was feeling a little wiped out.  Dave and I had dinner and then rented a movie for FHE.  We watched Geostorm. It was okay.  Can you say tired?  

dear tuesday, I didn't sleep pretty much at all last night. I had huge dark circles under my eyes.  Some nights are like that.  I had too much going on in my head all night.  I hate when I can't turn off my brain!  But I got in 7 miles and 15 hill repeats this morning!  Yippee!  The best part was they seemed much easier then when I did my last ones and I thought it would be so much harder from being sick. I think the rest really helped me.  There is something to be said about NOT over training and allowing your body to rest from it once in a while even it's because you are sick.  Dave was off today.  We went to lunch at the Maddox Drive In and got mini burgers.  I love those things!  And their fries!  It's one of our fave places to go.  

I practiced the harp for about an hour and a half.  I had a huge list of things to do today, but unfortunately I didn't get to all of them.  I really wanted to start on next year's calendars but didn't happen.  Kind of a weird day.  Dave had meetings and I worked on this. I am determined to catch this thing up!  I did watch This Is Us though.  Mr. Cat likes it too because he always comes and lays on my soft blanket (on my lap) when I watch it. 

dear wednesday, I got up early and practiced and then headed to my lesson.  When I arrived she had just started the lesson before me.  They had been talking.  She hurried and did her lesson while I waited and then as I began mine she told me why they had been talking.  She is expecting twins!  Exciting! She will have her hands full but she said she is going to keep teaching.  Whew!  I would feel bad if I had to find another teacher.  My lesson went well but I really need to work on opening my hand more and relaxing it.  And as always to get my thumb higher.  I am so excited though because I am now moving onto the rest of Canon in D!  Loving it! 

My dream house is for sale!  I am so in love with this house in Kaysville!  I should call on it just for fun. 

I didn't have a lot to do errand wise today, but I went to Station Park and shopped and then grabbed a pizza at Mod Pizza for dinner tonight.  I stopped by my parent's house and we had a long visit.  I always enjoy those.  I am so grateful I still have both of my parents.  Most of my friends don't.  I came home and Bryce was home!  Yay!  I made some Valentine's for my visiting teaching ladies and then picked up Megan (my VT partner) and we got our visits in.  We went to Alyssa's (still not home) and then Kim's and then Brenda's.  We stayed way too long at Brenda's.  She is fun to talk to and I've talked her into putting her home on the Homemaker's Home Tour for April.  She said it will motivate her to get it done.

dear thursday, I left on my run around 6:30 when it was still dark.  I absolutely loved running in the early morning dark hours.  It was truly peaceful and so calm out there.  I think I will start doing that more often.  I didn't even get barked at by a single dog until it got light. 

Any idea WHY I would take this photo?  Or what it is?  It's the asphalt next to the curbing.  Guess what I thought of when I saw it?  Pretty sure you will never guess this one. 
Feet on macarons.  Yep!  That is what I saw!
I believe this is proof I have macarons on the brain.  As in eat, sleep, and dream macarons.  

When I got home I hurried and got ready and then headed to the temple.  I have not been doing too great on my goal of attending weekly.  Yet...  I plan on getting better.  I am going to apply this to it:

I made it to the 9 a.m. session.  I hung out in the Celestial Room longer than usual. I had a few things to discuss with HF.  It is such a blessing to have a temple five minutes away. I need to be better and take advantage of it more often.  But you know how Satan loves to thwart those kind of plans.  I'm going to thwart him!  I knew Sky and his crew were coming and so I hurried and finished the chicken pot pies for Dave's parent's dinner.  Bryce was home and Carson wanted to play with him the WHOLE time. I felt like I had been bumped from my spot!  haha  

I did get two adorable Valentine's Cards from him though.  He's so cute.  I chatted with Sky and Sarah and we had fun watching a huge herd of deer (including two huge bucks) hang out in our backyard.  I made banana nut bread and finished the dinner.  When they  left to go home, Carson wasn't even sad.  It was kind of odd!  They had to get Sarah down to have Dave check out a mole. She was not excited and went outside for a bit and Carson went out and I could see his hand and arm gestures and I knew he was talking to her about it and telling her not to be scared and that it would be okay.  Sure enough, when we asked her what he was saying, he was giving her a huge pep talk and telling her she had to be brave and it would be over soon. He is the funniest little guy!  I went to YW basketball.  I talked to Karen quite a bit about her surgery.  It has messed with her emotions and hormones. I truly feel bad for her.  Hoping I never have to go through that.  The games went well.  I still miss Valerie though!  Next week we have no games but are practicing for our half time performance with our bobbleheads.  Hehe  

When I got home Dave was watching the Olympics!  They started tonight!  I feel bad I missed most of the ice skating!  Dang!  That's my favorite part.  Oh well, hopefully there will be more.  

dear friday, welp, I got out pretty early (7:30 a.m.) to get in that dreaded long run. This week was my cutback week so I only had to go 13 miles.  Next week I'm up to 19!  Say it isn't so!  Groan!  But, it must be done!  I headed west to the Bird Refuge visitor center and turned around.  I even found a penny at Love's Truck Stop.

 I survived without water or a bathroom.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (alone), but it did get long!  I even planked when I got home. I need to get serious about this!  I worked on some things around here and then met Heidi Wheatley for lunch.  We checked out the new place in town call BeeBear Bistro. It's attached to the new Independent Learning Center and seriously they have thee best sandwiches in town!  Oh man!  We both had the turkey bacon avocado on a Ciabatta bun and it was SCRUMPTIOUS!  My phone was dead dead dead so I didn't get any photos.  Since I was out I hit Shopko on my way home for a new necklace for tomorrows MOY luncheon.  I am so excited to wear my new dress.  

dear saturday, I got up at the crack of insanity and ran in the dark. I was only able to get in just under four miles because I should have got up at the crack of lunacy instead.  It was a little scary that early in the pitch dark alone.  I heard some noise in some bushes in a very remote place and feared it was either another lunatic or a skunk since I could smell one near.  Was I ever relieved when I saw a cat peek it's head through.  

Today I found a penny (from Tyson), a nickel (from Shelley) and a dime (from my Grandma Mae).  I didn't find a quarter but I am sure they are form my Grandpa Ed.  It's interesting to me the timing of when I find them.  Usually when I need them.  

I hurried and got ready and also hurried to my mom's house.  She was going with me to the Mother of the Year luncheon in SLC.  I hurried a little too fast because as I was driving on 9th north to get to the freeway I passed a cop who immediately flipped a U turn and turned his lights on me.  Lovely.  All he said was, "Why are you in such a hurry?"  Just lovely.  I blabbered (yes, it's a word) something out like, "I'm so sorry, I am on way to SLC and I was just talking to my mom."  What?  I'm sure he was wondering the same thing.  What?????  First of all, DO NOT tell a cop you were just talking to your mom because then he knows you just freely admitted you were driving while on your cell phone.  Guilty.  Second, it's better to stop at, "Sorry."  Period.  Don't go on and on with your blabbering that makes no sense whatsoever because you can't think of a good excuse.  I grabbed my registration, license, and insurance and handed it to him.  Sigh...  I knew I was busted even though I knew I wasn't going that fast.  I was timing how long it took him to come back because the longer it takes the more assured you are of a ticket.  Happily, he came right back and only gave me a warning for going 65 in a 55.  Whew!  WHEW!  I drove much slower to get my mom.  I met her at the exit where her and my Dad were sitting in the car waiting.  My Dad got out and told me to slow down (I told him about the pullover) and I promised I would.  When we got into SLC it was a joke trying to make a turn to the Marriott.  No left turns anywhere.  I was getting frazzled because I wanted to be there about 15 minutes earlier.  I told my mom I was about to run a red light.  I strongly dislike driving in downtown SLC. It's so frustrating.   I could not get to the hotel.  No turn here, no U turn there.  Red lights that lasted FOR. EVER.  I was then about to flip a U-ey.  My luck I would get pulled over again and prob get a ticket since he would know I just got a warning for speeding.  Maybe he would even throw me in the slammer.  I was so frazzled at that point, I would have just offered him my hands to cuff!  We eventually made it but the parking garage said "FULL" and I could not turn back and to park somewhere else meant going through the ENTIRE ordeal again!  NO THANK YOU!  So I pulled in the garage and started praying there was at least one stall left.  There were actually several but you would only fit if you were a VW bug.  I finally found one but it was a very tight squeeze.  They ALL were!  You should have seen all the paint marks on the cement walls.  I managed to get in it, but started praying no one would scratch my car.  This day was going well.  Once I saw all my besties from AMI, things started looking up.  Cecelia and Jenneice came up and gave me a big hug and then I saw Dixie, Deanne, Renee, Shirley and a few others, who I also love to pieces. I have been in this organization for almost 27 years!  I have also served in some capacity for all those 27 years as well.  I was asked today about that and so I tried to remember all the different things I have done over the years.  I can't remember them all but I did remember a few.  I know I started out serving as the Utah Mother of Young Children in 1994 and from there I served on the National Task Force for Young Mothers.  In 1994 I founded the Brigham City Chapter and after being the president of that chapter for 10 years, I was the state president for almost two years. I have been on the state board in several different capacities every year since then. Vice President, MOY Search Chairman a few times, YMOY Search chairman, National Convention planning board, fund raising.....the list goes on and on.  It hurts my brain to go that far back.  The reason why I have stuck around is because first of all I am passionate about motherhood, but also because I adore all these women that I associate with in this organization.   I have always said they are the cream of the crop and it really is true.  There are no better women anywhere.  I have met the most incredible people because of this amazing opportunity to be part of AMI.  

We got started with the speeches from the Mother of the Year candidates.  I am not sure I would have made it this year but my dear friend Michele Law was a nominee for MOY and I wanted to be sure to go and support her.  She would make a wonderful MOY.  Her speech was excellent (she even sang a bit in it) and she is very humble and just a very sweet person.  I had my fingers crossed!  There were seven candidates (actually eight but one couldn't make it).  They all did a fabulous job.  The judges did not interview them which I thought was totally messed up.  I have judged either the MOY or the Young MOY several times and the interview is always the deciding factor outweighing the speeches by far.  But, I wasn't in charge this year.  I felt bad for the judges because they were all wonderful women.  

After the speeches we had a bit of a break before the luncheon. I tried to help set things up but it was pretty much done by the hotel. 

Photo of all the nominees. 

With my cute Mom.

The program. Sadly, Ruby was unable to make it for her award.  She is an incredible person and I was looking forward to seeing her again.  

 It has been 24 years since I served as Mother of Young Children.  Hardly seems possible!   

When I read the names of some of these women, I feel so blessed to have been able to even associate with many of them, let alone be dear friends with them.  This organization has been a blessing in my life since I first attended that first chapter meeting.  I will forever love and treasure it.

Before lunch they had a "procession" of the past MOY's and past Young MOY's.  That was a first.  There were only two of us that were Young MOY's. I was the second oldest Young MOY behind Cecelia.  There were a lot of past MOY's though.  They announced our names and years and we had to walk out in front of the entire crowd as they clapped.  It was a wee bit uncomfortable.  Deanne thought it was good for them to see that so many stay in the organization after so many years.  Well, I definitely fit that bill...as does Cecelia.   I just went with it and smiled and sat down. 

At lunch with my Mommy

They announced the winner after lunch. A gal from Mountain Green won.  Tina Cannon. She will be amazing. Michele was relieved she wasn't chosen.  She said her job is to rock her grandbabies and she prefers that to giving talks.  haha

I got to hold one of her grandbabies (Lily) during the awards.  Isn't she a doll?  I didn't want to give her back! 

With my sweet friend Michele.

It was a good day. 

I think I like this one of us better.

I made it home without incident on the road. ☺ I took my Mom home and visited with my Dad for a bit.  When I got home Taylor was studying.  I am not sure how he does it. He took an eight hour practice MCAT test today and he said it was brutal, but there he was still studying even after that.  My brain would have been fried.  Those tests are so difficutl and draining.  That kid is dedicated and determined.

dear sunday, I got ready early because I had a lot to do.  I watched the Olympics while I got ready.  About 11:30 or so Carson and crew showed up.  I had no idea they were coming. It's always a pleasant surprise when they do!  And look at the "present" Carson made for me!  It was quite the production!  He is THEE sweetest little thing ever! 

He also gave me this super cute purple macaron key chain!  I am not sure how he finds so many cute things for me but he does.  Sarah said he is the one that finds them not her.  

I hurried and threw a crockpot lasagna together for lunch. Good thing cause McKay showed up after church as well.  When I say hurried, I mean hurried.  I only had about 5 minutes by the time I figured out what to make. I was hoping it would turn out.  We went to church and Sky and Sarah came too. I didn't have to teach or play the piano in RS but I did have teacher training.  We came home and had the lasagna and it was surprisingly good!  I had to make some macarons for my Valentine's lunch on Monday with my friends and Carson enthusiastically helped me.

They turned out pretty well.

We watched the Olympics while I made them.  Carson was a good helper.  

I got this thank you note today from a friend.  How cute is that! 

Carson played with Bryce for a long time.  Bryce is so cute with him. All my boys are.  It warms my heart to see how sweet and patient and fun they are with him. 

Right before bed we tried to watch Trolls because our favorite song (Can't Stop the Feeling) is in it.  But we didn't have it On Demand so we watched Malificent instead. I fell asleep.

Mr. Cat's begging for a treat look.

dear random,

 Check out the spikes!  They like to hang out in our backyard.

Check out the spike...er... bun?  Either way, we are all calling her Aunt Jemima now.  hehe  Isn't she the cutest thing?  This is Kailani.

dear quotes, the first two are to help inspire me on my ONE WORD of the Year (FOCUS) and the rest are to keep me motivated to get in those miles!  I am in the peak of marathon training and I need inspiration!

Brene Brown also chose the word FOCUS for her word of the year. I'm in pretty good company!

Oh my gosh!  This one had me in tears I was laughing so hard!  You might not get it if you're not a runner.  (Google Fartlek).  ☺