Monday, August 11, 2014

*Monday Memos*

*Monday Memos*
 
                          
 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge -if print is too small, you need glasses! ☺)


dear running, well today I decided to take Ed Eyestone's advice and do some intervals.  Who is to argue with a two time Olympic athlete? Not me!  So I headed to the track and did several of them.  McKay and the football team were on the other field and I decided I would do some stairs (bleacher) repeats as long as I was there to help the miles go faster.  Yeah, I still think I'm 25!  BAD MISTAKE!  I was okay while doing them, but the next day.... OH MY!  

dear injury, ouch!  My calves were so stinkin' sore that I could not even touch them lightly the next day!  They really hurt!  It was hard to walk, but I could run without pain.  Go figure.  I was grateful though because I had an 8 miler I needed to get in on Tuesday.  I have to walk with a limp!  It's mostly my right one.  I rarely get sore calves and this was not fun!

dear lunch with dawn for our birthdays, rather than rewrite this post AGAIN, I will just direct you HERE if you missed it.  

dear family party for my birthday, I'm going to do the same with this one.  Since I went to my class reunion on my real birthday, we celebrated on Monday of this week, but I already wrote about it on my birthday post HERE.

dear run in the country, I had to get in and 8 miler even though my calves were so stinkin' sore and so I went west where no one would see me in case I had to limp or walk too much.  Luckily the run went great and I was able to do it without any problems.  I even found two heart rocks!

dear dentist, YAY no cavities!  I do need to have a couple old fillings repaired though.  Boo!  Best part was talking to Robin after (she works there) and we decided to run together on Thursday because I need to go 10 and she needs 12.  Those long distances are always so much better with a partner. I'm excited!

dear football parent's meeting, this was bitter sweet!  Mostly bitter.  This will be my final football parent meeting I will ever attend.  How sad is that?  Waaaa.....  I am not liking all these "lasts".  Next year at this time my baby McKay will be on a mission in a galaxy far, far away!  It was fun talking to Coach Gunter after though about how Taylor and his boys were doing on their missions.  He said football camp this year was like deja vu seeing McKay there.

dear lunch with scare and linda, yet ANOTHER birthday lunch!  I also posted about this one on my birthday post HERE.  This is what happens when you celebrate for a week or two!  ha

dear crazy busy thursday, wow I'm not sure I could squeeze in another thing if I had to.  Up at 5:30 to run a long one with Robin, then make a cake for a funeral, then attend said funeral, then off to lunch with the missionary mom group, then off to the school to help with registration, then off to Pioneer Park for a hospital party and dinner.  More details below.

dear run down canyon with robin, I was worried about my calves, but they felt totally fine as long as I was running, when we made a bathroom stop in Mantua, they were killing me while we walked.  I had to run even up a killer hill to relieve the pain.  I really hope I didn't injure something and they are just sore.  The run was great.  I had a lot of fun running with Robin. She is training for the St. George Martahon.  I ended up getting in 11.5 miles.  The calves were doing okay, but the back and hip started to scream.

dear funeral, I went to mainly support Dave since he had to conduct and give remarks.  It was for a sweet sister in our ward who was in her late 80's that passed away.  I didn't know her really well, but what I learned about her at the funeral made me feel really bad I hadn't been able to get to know her better.  She was a spit fire and a lot of the stories about her reminded me of my grandma and even me.  lol  She became part of our ward when it was divided and I really regret I didn't take more time to get to know her.  I think we would have been really good friends.  Dave did an excellent job (as usual).  He has a way with speaking and knows just what to say. 

dear lunch with mish moms, I had to leave the funeral before the closing song since it went over a bit.  I met some of the moms at Idle Isle so we could catch each other up on our boys.  Our boys all played basketball together for many years and we all feel like they are all our boys.  It was a lot of fun. I love hearing about their adventures and just can NOT believe they will all be coming home soon!  Three of them within weeks!  I also learned Taylor's official release date from Stephen's mom.  Apparently Taylor told Stephen it was Oct. 21st (he just expected us to do the math when he said it would be 12 weeks a few weeks ago) and his mom snooped in his email and read a letter Taylor sent Stephen.  Made me laugh. That will be a good story for years to come.


dear help with high school registration, what a fun group of women I got to work with for a while.  Most of them were all good friends of mine.  Jen, Susan, Natasha, and Allie's mom Stephanie.  I had things to catch up with all of them and so it was a lot of fun.  I mainly talked to Stephanie about Allie and Taylor.  I was sad to hear that Allie has a new guy in her life.  I am still going to have hope though because Taylor will be home in 10 weeks and she isn't engaged yet.  It actually made me feel like I lost a daughter!  They have liked each other since they were 15!  I just love her to pieces.  She is such an amazing girl and they were so cute together.  But, it is her decision and I will love her just as much no matter what.  Dave and I both love her so much that all we want is for her to be happy.  I have faith that she will make the right decision for her.  All will work out.  It will be okay.  But it really is tough to think of not having her as part of our family.  *sad sigh* 

dear hospital party, I rushed over to Pioneer Park to meet Dave for dinner at the annual hospital pool party.  They served the most delicious chicken and steak!  It was really good even if we were late.  I took no photos. Oh well....

dear hurricane in hawaii, I have been following the news pretty closely because my son Skyler is living on the Big Island and there are TWO hurricanes headed that way.  It's the first hurricane in 22 years!  I found this amazing photo that was taken during the storm!  WOW! I want to frame it!  Luckily the storm was not as bad as they were predicting and all is well.  At least for now.  The second one is scheduled for next week.

dear pain, the calves have been pretty intense all week.  Mainly the right one.  I haven't been able to run though because now the pain had gone into my left hip and lower back.  Crap!  I hate back pain!  I think what happened was my limping and poor gait made my back and hip overcompensate and now they are hurting and my calf is feeling fine!  GAH!  It hurts to sit or to walk and especially to run.  GREAT!  Just in time for our big 20 miler down Big Cottonwood on Saturday.  I am really DISCOURAGED and FRUSTRATED! 


dear mona, so glad you were able to make it home after a month.  When I took in dinner for you on Friday I really felt bad I wasn't able to do more. My back wasn't letting me sit or stand without serious pain.  Hoping this is temporary so I can help you out a little more.

dear 20 miler down big cottonwood that didn't happen, now I am not just discouraged and frustrated, but depressed!  I am seeing my Boston Qualifying time slowly slip away!  I have missed two 20 milers now! There is just no way I can expect to be able to cut 14 minutes off my time without getting in my miles - especially my long runs!  I am really sad about it because I have worked SO hard since December and then I go and do something so stupid as running stairs and I can lose it all that fast!  I rarely get injured from running.  It's always from something really stupid I try and do like jumping hurdles, or racing while ice skating, or doing stair repeats!  Oh well, I know I am doing the right thing by not running it. I am sure I would be sidelined for longer if I had when my back is hurting like it is.  It was a hard decision for me whether I should just do it or not, but I made the right one.  I actually went out this morning just to see how it felt.  I could only run about 1/32 of a mile!  Not good!  

dear bike testing, jen called me to see if I had time to go for a drink with her to catch up on a funny story about RS.  I said sure and asked if she would go with me to the bike shop to test a couple bikes. She picked me up and we both laughed at the RS story and then headed to test out some bikes.  I really liked the one I tried out.  The salesman said he could get me last year's model and it would cost less.  It's just an entry level hybrid....perfect for cross training for me.  I got the info on it and came home to make sure I was getting a good deal and couldn't find it cheaper on line.  I couldn't and so I called him back and had him order it in for me.  I am SO excited to get it!!!  Hopefully by Wednesday of next week!


dear emily, I am so glad I am your visiting teacher and was able to take in dinner to you because I got to see your adorable new baby!  He is seriously one of the cutest little guys ever!  He was almost a 10 pounder and so he looks like he's two months old.  So cute!  I can't wait to visit again when I can just hold the ball of sweetness!  I am grand-baby hungry!  SERIOUSLY!

dear saturday, wow!  I had so much more time without doing a long run today!  When training for a marathon your weekends are usually suffocated out with running - then resting and making sure you get to bed at a decent time so you can get up early.  It was refreshing to not have that hanging over me today.  However, having said that, I still would have rather ran and had my day gone instead of being injured!
That didn't even really happen either because it hurt too much!  lol

dear shark week!  I wait for you all year!  I just LOVE to watch you!  I did watch a really scary one Sunday night called Shark of Darkness about a 35 foot great white shark named Submarine.  I was sucked into it so deep that  I stayed up until after midnight watching it.  It was so scary!  Scarier than jaws!  Then McKay told me the next day that it was all fake and made up. I was so let down!  I didn't believe him and still not sure if I do, but that seems to be the consensus on the research I found.  Oh well, either way, it was fun to watch!  I love to watch scary movies and programs.


dear manic manican, here are your fashion statements for this week.  At least the ones I saw.  

dear mr. cat, you were walking and laying on top of a bush!  Huh?  Okay, I guess whatever works!  

Friday, August 8, 2014

SISTER'S FLING!

SISTER'S FLING!
~2014~
The invitation I made for the BIG ROCKIN' event! ↑
I am waiting on getting pictures from my SIL's before I can finish this post.  There are so many more fun pix that I want to add and so until then...  take a little rock around the clock...

First stop, Boondocks for some stylish bowling!

Next, good times at The Burger Stop...



We just could NOT get the jump on together!  We kept trying and trying.... but we had some good laughs trying!

The little ones had NO problem getting it down the first try.... 
Us...not so much.


Trying and trying some more...


FINALLY!  SUCCESS!

And even TWICE!


My mini-mini hamburgers.  So cute and so easy!

Goofing off before the talent show...

Performing our talent (or lack thereof)
We represent the Lollipop Guild...

We also ROCKED AROUND THE CLOCK (we are mulit-talented)

Talent Show...

Sweet eats....

Just some Soda Pop for some Rockin' Chicks!

Great memories!

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

It's My Birthday and I'll {run-lunch-party-reunion-cry} if I Want To

 Happy Birthday to ME!  
I have always loved my birthday. I have waited for you for a whole year!  I really do love my birthday!  I am not one of those women who dread it when it arrives.  I actually look forward to it.  I mean after all how many days can you get away with this:
Not many!  So I take full advantage!  hah  It's always better to become another year older than to spend another year under the ground right?  RIGHT!   Birthday's should be a celebration of life!  The fact that I am alive and healthy is more than a reason to celebrate!  I used to take for granted the years as they would go by, but not anymore.  One thing losing my son Tyson has taught me is that LIFE IS SHORT and so we must live it to the fullest!  We must CHERISH the MOMENTS and the DAYS - especially birthdays!  Don't let one day (or one birthday) be mundane!  There is so much to celebrate, the least of which is that I was blessed enough to be able to spend another year on this planet enjoying my life! 
(And the chocolate I inevitably get, is always a bonus too!)
 
This year, since it was on a Saturday, it was pretty low key.  I had to get in a 12 mile run early on and then I had lots of other things that had to be done - birthday or not- and so there was really no party on my actual birthday.  The party was planned for Monday.  The main reason for no party this year on my real day is because I had my Class Reunion that night as well.

Best present by far ALL day was this ↓!!!!  

Yes... all the way from Brazil!  Now, that totally made my day!
It was on Facebook!


I got some really nice things from some really nice people.  I am always amazed at how my family and friends always pick out the most perfect gifts for me!  I wish I was that good at giving gifts to others.  I try, but I am always seriously amazed how they all choose the perfect gift for me.  And very grateful!
  
Dave gave me a Willow Tree that had a mom cuddling a little boy in a quilt.  He said it reminded him of me and Tyson.  I cried when I opened it.  It will always mean a lot to me.  My Mom gave me the most gorgeous purple earrings and scarf, as well as a cardigan (I picked out!).  She always finds the greatest things for me.  Bonnie searched and found me a Lenox Bowl that we both fell in love with at a bridal shower.  She is just so amazing!  And such a wonderful friend and example to me.  I love that woman!

I got some awesome stuff, like a purple super cool spatula and awesome running book, purple candy from Oregon, dishcloths, a book I have always wanted, Halloween stuff, purple blanket, candles, etc.  I felt like I got super spoiled...
 I really loved all my gifts, but what I love most about birthdays are the cards I get from my friends and family because of the heart felt messages inside.  My love language has always been words of affirmation.  I usually save my cards and love to re-read them when I need a boost.

My Mom brought over a chocolate (and purple!) cake for the party and I invited Linda to join in on the fun and she brought an apple pie.
My Mom has always got me a cake on my birthday ever since I can remember.  I am sure Dave and the boys appreciate that!  If it was left up to them, not sure if cake would happen!  My sweet Mom always comes through and I appreciate her so much!
I got to see my cute little grand-niece Kylah!  Love her!

This is me with my sister in law Linda. ↓ We both share the same birthday, though I won't let her forget she is one year older than me.  It has been something that has bonded us and we usually are able to get together at some point during our birthday.

 On my actual "day of" birthday, I began it with a 12.5 mile run with Jen.  We started at Sherwood Hills and then had a bit of a detour via Dave.  It was a great day for a run and I was happy to have it over with.  More of that HERE.
She gave me a birthday present after we finished and I ran home carrying it.  Bet that looked funny!  hah  She gave me some cool stuff!  Including a running book that I have loved reading.  It's called Mile Markers and has already inspired me!  It was a great way to start the day!
Jen has been such a great friend to me in so many ways.  We have shared pretty much everything about each others lives over the years and now that we are running mates, we share even more than we should! haha  It's amazing what comes out on those long runs!  lol  It's so nice to have a friend that you can share all your secrets with.  Good and bad.  We have a lot of fun together too and we never tire of each others company.  At least I never do of hers.  She is a great example to me in so many ways.  I feel blessed to have her as a friend.


That night, it was the second night of my 35th High School Class Reunion.  
It was tough to decide what to do as far as if I was going or not since it was my birthday, but in the end I decided these things come so rarely and you never know how long it will be until you see some of these people again, so I decided to go.  Dave could have gone with me on this one, but we decided to save the money (since he would be bored out of his gourd anyway) and celebrate together later. 
I am really glad that I went even if they embarrassed me and made me go up to the front to be sang Happy Birthday too.  That was NOT something I wanted to do!  They gave me birthday crowns and candles (a 5 and a 3) but I turned them around to make 35 instead of 53.  Yes, I turned 35 on my 35th class reunion!  Not sure how to explain that, but...  
I have a full post on the reunion HERE.


And...I had lots of fun doing my favorite thing with some of my favorite people.
Going out to lunch!

At Idle Isle with Julie....
I got the open faced hot turkey sandwich. Mmmm....
Julie and I have been friends for over 20 years and have really been through the ups and downs in each others lives.  She is a true friend and has a heart of gold.  If I could be half as good as her, then I would consider myself pretty awesome.  She is one of those friends that you know that no matter what storm is happening in your life she will be there to throw you a life preserver.  I am very blessed to have her as a friend.


Me and my cute friend Dawn celebrated our birthdays together and she was sweet enough to come to my city!  We exchanged gifts and I loved what she gave me!  Chocolate of course, and a darling Willow Tree plaque of two friends (twins).  We always say we are twins separated at birth because we really have so much in common.  And we just keep discovering more every time we are together.  It will always remind me of our bond and friendship whenever I see it.

   This little card that came with the Willow Tree really sums it up.  
We went to the same high school together but since she is one grade ahead of me, we never really hung out much.  We became fast friends on Facebook though.  She came to some of the crafting events our mutual friend Kathy had and we hit it off immediately.  It really is amazing how much alike we are.  There are many ways that I really wish I was more like her though.  She is always thinking of others....ALWAYS!  She will come up with ideas to lift other people's day in simple ways that really make an impact on them.  She started doing Sunshine Bags and giving them to random strangers she felt needed a boost.  She always has something up her sleeve to help life another person.

Her birthday happens to fall on National Milk Chocolate Day (lucky!) and mine falls on National Ice Cream Sandwich Day and so she made up this cute little card that we can pass out to random strangers to brighten their days along with some chocolate and ice cream sandwiches.  We want to start doing this every year around our birthdays since they are only five days apart.  What a great idea!  That is just one of the many things she does to lift others.  She is amazing!  I am so grateful our paths crossed again, even if it was later in life, because she really inspires me and enriches my life.
My favorite picture of us.  Taken a few months ago, but I love it!

 I just feel so blessed to have so many great friends!  And I've only touched the surface with the few I talked about.  I have been abundantly blessed with so many others that I love so much and who also inspire me daily! 


I've also been greatly blessed with family.  I love my in law family as much as I love my own. Dave's sister Karen took me and his sister Linda out for our birthdays together since we share a birthday.
We hit Rovolli's on 25th Street and it was yummy!  Linda's daughter Kimber and grandaughter Kylah also joined us.

It doesn't take us long to find a photo opp!  And THIS one was perfect!!!
We had a lot of fun together even if the time was short.

I had a wonderful birthday and stretched it out over a week or so.  I think I should keep stretching it out over the month!  Like I said above, as long as I'm here and kicking I'll be celebrating LIFE!
The numbers don't matter only the feelings! And I feel great!
I have been so blessed!
It was a great birthday!

SIDE NOTE:
 I have asked for a bike for several years for my birthday, but I don't think Dave wants me riding one because he has had too many friends get really hurt (or die!) on them.  I just want one to cross train on when I can't run (like now) and so Jen and I went looking for a good entry level bike for me and found this one.  Since I am injured right now, I really needed it while I can't run.  So I told Dave I was going to order it for my birthday.  He wasn't super thrilled but was okay with it.  I can't wait until it arrives!









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