Nana's February Visit

Nana came down to visit, and we were very happy to see her!  We did lots of fun things together - we went to the zoo and rode the train and camels (I am not usually so nice to let them do the extras!), we hiked a small mountain and played at the park, we colored pictures, did yard work, and watched the movie, "Up!", etc.  It also worked out nicely that she was there and could babysit while I drove to San Diego for the race and Brandon didn't have to take a day off.  Thanks, mom!!

Morning hair!

2015 Goals

2015 Goals & Priorities

After writing this out and thinking about it more, I am very slowly learning that if I set vague "goals" that are not measurable, then they aren't really a goal, but more like a "priority" for this year.  Ok, now I feel a little better.

Goal:  Go to the temple more regularly - once per month

Family Goal:  Read scriptures together as a family on a more regular basis

Priorities (in no particular order):
- Mental:  Keep up to date on blogging and journaling
- Physical:  Maintain a healthy lifestyle - go to the gym as regularly as possible and try to make "healthy" meals for our family and try new recipes that the whole family will want to eat
- Financial:  Track expenses and budget bi-weekly (since I have been working, I have been more lax about our personal finances)
- Spiritual:  Callings ~ Sunbeam Teacher & Girls Camp (June) Stake Staff
- Emotional:  Wife & Mom ~ I'm going to think about what specifically I need to put here

2014 Goals REVIEW:
1.  Read more & watch less TV (for me personally and also me with the kids) YES!  I can say that I read more than the previous year, which is good, BUT my intention for this goal was to keep me more on task and steer clear of distracting activities, particularly during the evening hours.  However, I found that reading a book was much more distracting & tempting to me during the day!  Ironic how that works.  
2.  Format & print one blog book and edit 1 year of videos.  Guys,  I'm going to let myself off the hook on this one and save the formatting for when my kids are all in school - my main focus right now is just to keep up on the blog, and then I will figure out what to do with it later.  
3.  Emergency Preparedness (water storage & make 72 hour kits).  FAIL!  
4.  Focus on the positive (tricky to measure this goal, but I want to work on this).  Yikes!  Hard to say - this was not a good goal considering that I never really thought about it and is too hard to measure.  Lesson learned.  

Our 2014 family goal is to establish regular chores for the whole family. AWESOME!  Saturday is my new favorite day of the week when it starts off with chores!  The kids don't complain as much anymore and dad pitches in a lot! 

Can't Stop, Won't Stop

Brandon is still loving wood working and it is pretty much the greatest husband hobby of all time!  I am super lucky!!  And he really can't stop, won't stop.  All the projects you see in the pictures below were done in the last six months (except the shed, which was done last spring, but I hadn't posted a picture yet).

The farmhouse table turned out amazingly and I love all the details!  We are still decorating and adding finishing touches to the piano/dining room.  But be sure to notice the plantation shutters in there that he finished last year (he ended up doing them in the main living area downstairs and in the master bedroom and he admitted that those were way too time consuming and probably wouldn't do them again).  He just recently finished a bed frame for our room (something we have never had), and he did such a great job painting it too.  He has just started using his scroll saw to cut small details, like the cubs sign and "love" in the heart sign.  I am continually impressed by his ability to create all these things, and I am so happy that he found something that he genuinely loves and is passionate about.  

- Farmhouse dining table

- Master bed frame

- Plantation Shutters

- Shed

- Signs

- Molding on staircase

- Board and batten behind front door for the backpacks

- Pergola 

- Storage cabinets for holiday items and storage

- Storage area in attic (not pictured)

- Custom cabinets in garage over work bench

- Corner work bench

- Small furniture piece (in progress)

 

 

Girls' Weekend & HM#8

Nancy, Rachel, Kacie and I met up in San Diego last weekend for a girls' weekend!  We wanted somewhere that was warm and where we could do a race together.  Nancy & Kacie did the 10k (they both could have totally done the half, but were being nice to their bodies), and Rachel and I did the half marathon.  We had a great weekend shopping, talking, eating, running & sleeping!!

I never know how a race is going to go for me - so much is determined by how I feel that morning and during the race.  What I did know is that I felt prepared.  I trained by pushing the kids in the stroller for 2.5-3 miles runs during the week, and ran my longer Saturday runs with my college roommate, Sarah Tolman.  We ran 10 miles twice (but right after one of those long runs, I hiked Camelback Mnt with Brandon, so I counted that as my 11.5 mile).  During my training runs (while pushing kids and talking), I was pacing around 10 minute miles.  Then the week before the race, I ran 5 miles everyday by myself and realized that I might be able to pace somewhere around 9:15 to 9:30 miles, but didn't want to psych myself out or get too excited.

The morning came and I always pace a little too fast the first 3 miles (9:00 miles), but I felt good and met a lady named, Julie, who seemed to be running right at my same pace, and my body felt good.  She had already ran 7 miles before the race - it was a training run for her as she is preparing for the Phoenix Marathon at the end of February.  Around mile 8, we hit a few small hills and I felt like I wanted to slow down my pace to about 9:30, but then I realized that my little runner angel, Julie, was not going to leave me, so I pushed through and we kept up a steady pace around 9:05.  Around mile 10 or 11, I started to feel lousy - I had eaten a banana and a baby orange before the race, and that orange was too acidy for my stomach (lesson learned) and I felt like I was going to throw up.  I told Julie to go ahead without me and she said she wouldn't leave me and so I pushed through again.  I was saying continuous prayers and reminding myself that this was much better than child birth - good motivation!  We crossed the finish line and I went right to the side and threw up that dang orange.  Then I felt great!

My final time was 2 hours, 32 seconds (2:00:32)!!  It was a personal record for me, and I don't think I would have done it that fast without my new friend, Julie.  I know it seems silly, but it was very kind of her to take me under her wing on her training run and encourage me to reach my potential.

Half Marathons & Time Completed:
1)  March 2003 Moab, UT  2:03
2)  March 2004 Moab, UT  2:07
3)  March 2005 Moab, UT  2:02 (w/ Brandon 2:02)
4)  May 2007 Racine, WI  2:09 (w/ Brandon 1:55)
5)  May 2009 Kenosha, WI  2:16
6)  June 2011 Wasatch Back Ragnar UT 14.5 miles (Brandon 18.5 miles)
7)  July 2013 Salt Lake City, UT  2:38
8)  February 2015 San Diego, CA  2:00:32 *PR*
9)  February 2015 Phoenix, AZ Time TBD

My new friend, Julie, from San Diego

I love how Kacie is on her tip toes and I am slouching - we are funny and shouldn't care about short/tall, but we do!