It doesn't matter if it is the small and simple things of daily life, the seemingly minor things we will remember most. What makes a great shirt AMAZING, or all the many reasons I love being a MOTHER and a WIFE. It is in the DETAILS.
We have had fun as a family following the candidates a little better
this go round.
It made all the difference.....duhhhh!!
It was awesome to have discussions with the kids about who we
were supporting and why.
Discussing the talk we heard around town,
at the Club, school, and work.
Watching a few debates together...
(thanks mom and dad for starting that while we were out in Utah.)
Thanks Tina for alerting me to when they were on.
I am starting to get a little taste as to why T gets so excited
around voting time.
I am starting to realize that when I (WE) are more informed,
we are a PART of something big.
If you don't care, or don't understand, or know anything
about the different reps, what is there to be excited or,
scared or,
PROUD to stand behind?
It is just another day.
I tell you what,
our early morning work out group certainly
have strong opinions on the debates and different
republican choices.
If you aren't following the debates....
you were a clueless idiot,
found that out rather quickly.
It was good to get on board and have a voice and an opinion
to share.
To make this day even sweeter, it is a gorgeous day out!
It isn't cold....it's not hot.
It is PERFECT!
Breezy, Balmy....
makes me love our state even more!
After riding bikes with the kids to school,
I decided to get out and rock the vote early and ride over to the
nearby church....or the
114 Precinct where we cast our vote to be counted.
There is no way to get lost or turned around once you
actually make it to the location.
I love how the volunteers are always decked out in
their american apparel....
I tried to get a good shot of this american's tall Abe Washington hat,
but she looked up too soon and pretty much caught me.
I appreciate how clear cut this vote is.
It doesn't have page after page of other stuff and amendments,
and garbled mumbo jumbo that you (I) am
not even sure what the question is asking me to vote on.
(I know, I know....research, study, learn).
9 names.
pick your man.
fill in the oval.
follow the foot steps to the exit.
insert your vote into the hightech counting machine.
apply your sticker.
walk away.
60 seconds to be heard.
Have you voted yet???
How soon will we hear the results???
6pmish?
HB.....when is Utah's vote?? If I got to sing the National Anthem out loud, I would sing it like Carrie Underwood.... freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEE! That is how I do sing it around the house for fun.
You?
I have been in a bit dry spell for the past few days.
Not much to write about.
Our guests have come and gone....booohooo! It was a thrill having my brother Jason and his wife Mel here in between their romantic cruise. As well as Amy, Lance, and their family here for a few days after our marathon.
Some favorite photos of J and Elle.
We loved having them with us.
School has been back in for a few weeks now.
Oh....here is something,
Ethan made the high school baseball team!
If I thought he was busy before.... that was nothing, I am not sure how the coaches tacked on more practice time, but they did. They had a "mandatory" family work day at the field yesterday. It is weird, it seems like the head coach says "mandatory" A LOT. Tonight we were at the "mandatory" banquet.
The rest of us are great. Here is a new skill Lawson found out he has recently -
I am finally starting to feel caught up and normal again. I forgot to give an honorable mention to the CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL!!! That took up a full Saturday and Monday. Tina put a LOT of planning, money, time and effort into making our Choffy presentation a good one to over 4000 testers. Wow! It was a very busy few days. Here are some delicious photos from the event.
I wanted to sink my teeth into one of those candied apples.... I resisted only because the thought of not having a tooth pick or floss was terrifying. Can you believe that cake girl?!
The beloved Utah "CAKE POPS"....looks like we have them here as well!! There is T hard at work.
The wind chamber experience.
I got excited to write today (yesterday now) because I got
my FIRST real compliment from Maria....
the head of all the fitness classes at Our Club.
I taught my regular Thursday Body Sculpt class,
and then filled in for the 8:15 Pilates, and 9:00 a.m. cycling class
this morning (Saturday).
I have been attending different cycling classes all week,
trying to get a better handle on what the expectations will be.
Have been tweaking and fine tuning my Pilates routine to
shake it up a bit.
I couldn't help but wake up extra early this morning
partly from anticipation....but also a little bit of trepidation as well.
Wanting to get these classes over with,
but excited to do an excellent job with both.
I nailed my last pilates subbing opportunity,
but kinda blew my first cycling gig.
So....I had some making up to do.
I arrived plenty early,
Our Club is known to have music and mic difficulties.
I wanted none of that.
I set up both rooms and was ready to go for it.
I am happy to report Sweet Success!
I had two well received classes.
I enjoyed teaching them so much.
Earlier in the week while I was participating in another cycling class,
I guess one of the ladies attending could tell I was digging
around and asking questions for a reason.
She said, you know, some of my favorite classes are when the
instructor goes around the room and lets the class pick their favorite
cycling moves.
That really eats up the time and guarantees a great class.
THANK YOU!!
This tip made a huge difference in my class today.
About 30 minutes into the 50 minute class I did just that.
Instead of just asking them to throw out a suggestion,
(I knew I probably would have been clueless as to what they
were wanting to do)
I went around the room and turned the time over to each individual for a few minutes.
It even helped me lock in on their names!!
Michelle, taught us jumps! (killer!)
Kathy climbing intervals.
Mary - timed sprint work.
Don - two 90 second steep climbs.
Heidi - a mega jump series (so AWESOME!)
Annette - Isolation work, where you pedal w/ only one leg at a time. I continue to be surprised at the variety of moves you can do on a stationary bike. What a great workout! (Thighs are burning today!! Good sign!) Anyway, later in the day when I was back home Maria had emailed saying that she was looking for a sub for the Saturday Cycling class again, as well as a Thursday Yoga. I took a pass on the Yoga, not prepared enough for that, (yet) but thought heck yes, I will volunteer again for the spinning. She wrote back, thank you..I got really nice feedback on you for today's classes!!! Yes, Thanks for subbing the 28th too!!!
Can you do the 10:30 Yoga class on Thursday morning the 26th??
I will make it a Pilates for that week?
Yeah! It felt good. In the past she would not budge that Yoga class. She would not even consider changing it for Pilates. So that is a real compliment indeed. (or maybe she is just in that much of a bind)
Lastly....Kevin has been working his brains out on our van. Thank you my darling!!
It has had numerous problems lately, the biggest was the tailgate.
The door would not stay open anymore.
I can't tell you how many times I hit my head, or got
embarrassed about it coming down unexpectedly on an innocent
store clerk, etc.
But now.....It is as good as new!
Not to mention several other fairly large issues that made
the van feel like it was being held together by a piece of string.
When things are bad for a while and then they are fixed,
it almost feels just as good as brand new!! (I am guessing on this one).
I used to wish we had gotten the automatic back door opener....
Who cares about that!!!!
I am just so thrilled now that my tailgate stays open I could not
be happier!
My cup runneth over!
to compile my thoughts and all of our fun pictures from our
Marathon this weekend.
I still don't have exactly what I need....but I really want to
get moving on this and share my experience with you.
I am going to try and piece meal it together in little batches.
........................
It is 1:30 am = perfect time.
Here goes:
On Saturday morning our Team Neck & Neck girls,
met for a celebration brunch for those that had just run the half
marathon, and a "get pumped" carb loading session for those of us running
the full the next morning at 5:30 am.
Yum! Not sure if mickey mouse waffles, giant links of sausage,
bacon, eggs, fried potatoe wedges, and biscuits and gravy have many carbs,
but it definitely worked for me.
There was also anitem of businessthat Tina addressed at this little feast.
That was the naming of the winner of the IPOD she had donated for
a little team motivation (competition).
It was so exciting!!
I was so nervous....I was not nervous for myself, because my sister Amy
had already earned way more than me.
I witnessed first hand how she earned it.
By sweat, toil, tears, and a huge slab of creativity.
She sold her craft wears at work, to family, friends, and any one
who was "buying for the cause"....
if you forgot, Thyroid Cancer.
She had a large group of happy takers,
which kept her extremely busy sewing and creating for several days
in a row the last few days before Christmas.
On one of these busy days my sister Keri and I were there sewing seams
along side Amy when
she got the call that her little daughter's dance recital was going on now!
Were they going to join the show!?
Whoa!
I am just saying, there was some heavy brain overloading going on.
Our team raised just under $3500!!!
Pretty dang good considering the number of dropouts we ended up having.
Tina was the bulk with a $1000, in second place.......
drum roll.....
was AMY!!!
with $465....She won the IPOD!!
I need to mention my good buddy Aubrey, whose efforts
brought her within twenty bucks of Amy!
It was "NECK & NECK"!!!
Way to go ladies!
Here is our Awesome team, we are missing a few girls, Barb and Holly.
As you can see, some people really get into their posing.
I won't name names.
After the brunch we got our packets at the Expo.
Then went to check out our sleeping arrangements for the night.
Amy's husband Lance was able to hook our families up with
his employee discout at the World Marriott, a gorgeous hotel a few miles
away from our hotel, The Port Orleans Riverside.
Amy, Tina and I stayed here so we could have some quiet time
the night before the race and so we wouldn't wake everyone else up at
3:10 a.m.
It was a smart move on our part.
We got upgraded,
(don't you love hearing those words in any circumstance??)
to the newly refurbished section.
I will tell you they ain't lying.
When we opened the door we were greeting with the best new room
smell you could ever imagine!
It was so wonderful.
And talk about adorable....every detail was so much fun.
It was themed after the Disney Frog Princess movie.
Very woodsie and rustic.
We picked Tina up when Amy and I were finally able to break away
from our families around 8:30 pm.
Kev still had not made it in from Bogata, Columbia.
He had gone through the usual numerous flight delays and would not
get in until after 10.
But I am so happy to report he did indeed make it.
It is GO TIME!
We had no trouble getting up at our designated time.
I wasted no time getting straight on my job as team historian.
(I was eating the BEST peanut butter power bar for breakfast!)
I took time to get my inspirational running list in place on my legs.
Tina chose to imprint her 26 miles on her upper arms.
I was like, pst, naaaaa, I think my thighs would make way more sense.
WRONGO.
Try running and trying to read your thighs at the same time.
Found out that was a NO GO.
Literally impossible to do.
Believe me, I tried many times.
We were off to catch our Disney transportation to Epcot.
Before we picked Tina up to come stay with us Saturday night,
she took a bath,
during which
this little note was slid under the door to her.
We made it to the race starting point.
This part is always the worst part of any Disney race.
This being my 4th run here, the other 3 were half marathons.
I find myself always questioning what makes people want to come here?
It is freezing in the morning at 5:00 a.m.
There are thousands of complete strangers massed together,
and corralled like cattle in lettered gates.
You are herded along, again like animals.
I know I am not making this sound good.
That's because it's not.
It is a long wait, and a long walk and it seems to drag on
FOREVER.
But then....
when your time comes.
When your letter is called,
and the fire works are going off just for you.
You forget about your misery,
(just like child birth),
and you begin your run.
Couldn't pass up this shot.
Or this one...
heck, three of them, three of us!
It was a no brainer...plus there was no line.
Now there was NO WAY I was going to miss my chance to get a photo
with the cast of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang....
On our way to Orlando
while I had Ethan searching for a cord I needed in the car,
he came across an old cassette tape I had recorded when the kids were small.
We used to listen to it all the time.
It has Chitty Chitty on one side, and Grammy winners
from some year on the other.
We have been listening to it ever since.....ask Amy if you don't believe me.
There were times when were were excited about getting our
picture taken with certain characters,
but we did not want to "damage" our PR
(what does that even mean? Personal record?)
to stand in line.
We found a way to get our pictures in a timelier fashion...
we would just stand off to the side.
I love the one of Amy and Tina up above with one of the ugly
stepsisters from Cinderella.
Way to out smart the system guys!
We nailed that shot!
Here I am on the outskirts of the Scary Villains scene.
Not bad.
One of the craziest things during a run....
when. you. stop.
Is the fenomenon of passing, and then being surprised again,
each time,
when you end up behind that person time and again.
This kept happening with this girl in the orange skirt.
We finally had to "get a shot with her".
OK....this 5:30 pace group was the bain of our existence.
This is the last pace group of the marathon.
In other words....the slowest group they would bother pacing.
There was NO WAY we were hanging with this crew.
Laters dudes.
See you on the flip side folks.
Good luck slow pokes....nothing against slow peeps.
Just saying.
That ain't our thang.
The only trouble was that we kept,
somehow
ending up behind them!
It is that same fenomenon I just mentioned.
Only this one was real trouble.
It was not in any one of our goals to be included in the slowest
pacer group.
Amy had told everyone that her goal was to run a 5 hour marathon.
I had verbalized a 4.5 hour run.
Not sure about Tina...
oh yeah, she just wanted to finish so she could
earn her medal.
Anyway, if you can't beat em....join em.
We finally just had to face facts.
This group was really pretty cool.
Hey, Hey....look it's the NASCAR Guys....
my boys LOVE NASCAR....Aim and I got this shot for them...
and only them.
The time came....surprising deeper into the race than the three of us
could have ever hoped for, when one of us broke away.
Sometime after mile 16 Amy pulled away.
I was happy she did.
Not because I wanted her to leave...but because I wanted her
race out come to be exactly what she wanted it to be.
We each get to choose how to run our race.
I loved the way we choose to count our miles.
We decided to count backwards for each mile.
So at mile one, we only had 25 miles to go,
at mile 10, we were already down to only 16 miles left to run....
and that is awesome....because we had all already run
16 miles at least once in our training.
So, Been there - Done that,
if you know what I mean.
I don't remember a trace of negativity.....well, except one time
when T and I were running up an overpass,
somewhere in the 20 mile proximity,
and she said out loud,
"will this ever end"?,
this helpful gentleman next to us pipes up,
"Oh yeah, all you have to to is get to Hollywood Studios, go around back,
then we come to a bend in the road, which doesn't last long,
go another mile or two and you will see Epcot, soon you will
come to the choir and then you just have to run it out to the finish."
(maybe not his exact words)
Oh, OKay.....thanks.
But that was it....and that was nothing.
I am really not much of a Disney fan.
But I will say they do it up right.
The race is a feast for the senses....every time....I mean it,
every single time I finally went through the effort of getting my phone out,
putting in my pass code,
getting to my music and getting it going and them back in my little waist sack,
I could hear something up in the distance....
wait, is that another band?
Hey, what song is that?
What I had on my personal head phones was never as intriguing as
what was just up ahead.
I did manage to completely run out the battery to my phone before the
race was over though....between the pictures, texting, using MyRunning Mate,
etc. It was dead....pretty lame battery life.
Two of my favorite highlights of the race involve food....
wait, three of them do.
The first time they gave out bananas...it must have been before mile
16 cuz Amy and I split one.
I will say I have never eaten a more delicious specimen.
Then later when they gave out chocolate goo....several times.
Again, the first time was the best.
Usually I am not a goo fan,
but the chocolate I have decided I am in love with.
It is exactly like brownie batter.
That is the sole reason I love to make brownies.... for the batter!
Lick the bowl, lick the spoon, smooth out the top with the spatula
several times to get it just right
(only when I am making them just for my family),
then sometimes after the pan has been in the oven for a few minutes,
I will take it out again and smooth it a few more times.
Especially good with melted chocolate chips in the mix.
That is how good the chocolate goo was.
I have wondered a few times if it would be as good eating it not
during the marathon.
I doubt it.
The other exciting food time was when they gave out
miniature Hershey candy bars.
Don't mind if I do.
We had all heard they give away candy at some point in the race....
the anticipation and curiosity drove us mile after mile.
It was worth it.
Up until mile 23 I stayed with my training partner Tina.
Going into the race I was so worried that she was
even running it.
Several times I suggested that maybe for her body's sake she should
not run.
She had not been able to properly train for the previous two months
prior to our race.
She had been from doctor to doctor, from therapist, from shoe to shoe,
and so on and so forth.
The list seemed endless to me.
The pain in her hips and feet seemed constant from my perspective.
I could not understand why she would not just step down,
give in and say ok I tried, but now my body is telling me this is
not the time.
She never once entertained the idea of not running her marathon.
SHE was the one who survived thyroid cancer.
SHE was the one who got us into this race to begin with.
SHE organized and got our team going.
SHE wanted her Mickey Mouse medal....even though she hates
Mickey Mouse....I don't get it!
The evening before our race she got a priesthood blessing from her
husband. He taped her foot and leg for her,
(p.s. the tape is still on....it may be on forever),
and sent her off to us with a little bit of a concerned look on his face.
Before the race began I honest and truly thought she would have to
walk the entire 26.2 miles.
I was so afraid for her.
We started at a slow comfortable pace.
We just kept at it.
Kept plugging away.
Excited and happy with every mile we pulled down.
I was flabbergasted that she continued to run.
I was thrilled, amazed, and surprised.
As long as she was able to continue to run I had no intention of
leaving my running mate.
We stopped a ton.
We sought every character sighting we could find....
suddenly every Disney character became our favorite.
We drank (at least I did) at every refreshment point and stretched every
mile towards the end.
I have no idea how our pain factor compared to one another,
I only know that when I run a slower pace it
is a lot harder on my joints, especially my knees.
I was needing every single stop we made,
to regroup, stretch it out and start again.
At mile 23 I knew we had both made it.
I told Tina....you got this.
IT IS GO TIME.....
I am going to power it up and try and catch Amy.
I was off.
I ran like there was no tomorrow.
Every trace of discomfort left.
I was weaving and bobbing looking for Amy's yellow visor,
and black tank.
It was a thrill.
I was certain I would catch her, I knew I could do it.
At mile 26, when you go around the bend....
there is the choir singing hallelujahs,
you are on a running high.
Next, I somehow heard a yell, I looked and saw Ethan pop out of some trees,
then Ryker, then in the hoard of hundreds and hundreds of
people I saw Kevin, Jason, Mel... then farther
down I saw Tina's family, Derek, Braden... and
Barb's family cheering me on.
It was so fantastic.
I did not catch Amy.....
I found her just beyond the medal
area wrapped in her tinfoil blanket waiting for Tina and I.
Wow.
What a day.
What an adventure.
I would change not a single scrap of it.
I will own my time 5:28.
Yep,
Amy whooped on me, I know I will hear about it forever
more from my siblings and brother in laws,
she came in under the dreaded 5:30 pacer with 5:25.
T was just behind us at 5:42.
After getting away from the Disney madness....
T went her way with her family,
and we headed for some R&R at the Marriot pools.
Talk about a perfect ending.
It was warm, slightly breezy.
Calm and happy.
Satisfied and content.
Back to real life now.
No running pressures.
Mementoes of the day are in their rightful places of honor.
Post Race:
Tina miraculously feels amazing.
Her feet do not hurt....she has whobbly knees (her words),
but can't believe her feet are pain free.
Amy probably has the worst of it.
The limping about is getting less and less....she just blood let
the blisters below her big toenail last night to let off some of the
painful pressure. She will loose a few nails, not uncommon.
I was expecting much worse.
Kev kept asking me when it was really going to hit me....
when would I be super sore?
I guess I will not be.
I could tell I had had a great work out, a little rickety and sore the first day,
but by day two....already felt exceptionally well like Tina.
I have saved this little "Day After the Marathon" video for a
solid year. I think Tina may have shared it originally....not sure where
I got it from.
I had anticipated a little more of this.....
Enjoy.
Thanks for the wonderful marathon experience ladies!
Coupon Queen. I LOVE to save a lot. I still sweat and get excited at check out when I am about to save really BIG! I am a runner! I love to run and body sculpt my ASSets with friends.
