Is There Anything Better Than Home?

Oh how I love going home.  Everything seems right in the world when I'm there.  I especially love going home in the Spring.  How beautiful is that view?  It never gets old; I don't think it ever will.  This trip home was wonderful as always, but as always, it was way too short.

I ran the Windermere half-marathon on Saturday.  I opted for the half and was so so so glad I did.  It was hard enough to finish the 13.1; I most definitely think an additional 13.1 may have killed me.  The great news is that I wasn't very sore afterwards so it didn't even ruin the rest of the trip.

 I had a pretty awesome cheering section.  My family was so nice to come and cheer me on.

The race ended in Riverfront park.. It was very nice.  The entire course was beautiful.  

 Evelyn had on the cutest little running outfit and I wanted to get a picture with her...this is the best we got.  Turns out she wasn't ready to leave the playground yet...

We stayed busy with lots of other things like going to Gracie's soccer game, playing with Evelyn and little Josee, tye-dying shirts, a trip to the Spokane discount, visiting friends, (Jason) helping my dad outside, eating a whole lot of delicious food and a lot of front porch sitting.

Oh and dressing Josephine up of course... (please excuse the creepy cat eyes)

And making new bffs

And catching lots of fish (Jason..not me) with my dad and Josh

And wearing flannel shirts and eating lots of fish...

So all in all I'd say it was a very delightful trip.  I love home.  I love my family.  I wish I could go more often and stay for months at a time.  But for now I'll just enjoy the trips when they come, call my mom every day and have a lot of Skype dates.

Bikes

So since Jason started his new job we have completely free evenings.  It's amazing.  This week we've taken our bikes out a couple of times and just explored the neighborhoods in our area.  We found some serious mansions the other day and yesterday we ran across a some little league baseball.  Oh how I love summer.  

 There's nothing better than a nice bike ride followed with Mcdonalds ice cream cones

Race for the Cure 2012

On Saturday, my friend Alicia and I ran the race for the cure 5k.  It is such a fun race.  I just love seeing all the costumes/t-shirts people come up with and the many, many creative words for boobs.  Our favorite outfit this year was the giant 4-person bra.  And there were 2 of them.  

 Here we are pre-race with the sweet bandanas we got from the Ford tent.

We had such a blast.  There were probably close to 15,000 participants this year that raised a whole lot of money to go to breast cancer research/prevention.

The actual running of the race was a little tough at first...well for most of it...I think I might be downgrading this next weekend's marathon to a half-marathon.  I seriously have not trained nearly well enough and I'm a little worried I might die.  We'll see though, I have a few more days to decide.  We are so excited to get to go spend some time with my family though.  And I definitely don't want to make myself sick running a full marathon and then not be able to enjoy the rest of our time at home.  Thursday can't come soon enough!

We've also signed up for the Dirty Dash on June 1.  It's a 5 mile mud run full of obstacles.  All of Jason's brothers plus me and Danielle are doing it as a team so it should be a blast.  I'm not 100% sure how I feel about diving into mud puddles and getting mud all up in my eyes, mouth and pretty much everywhere...but I'm sure it will be fun and if nothing else it will make for some pretty funny pictures.  Here's a video of the madness...

In other news, Jason started his new job/internship last Monday.  He's been really enjoying it and I think he's going to learn a ton.  His building is downtown and they don't offer him a parking spot so we have been carpooling every morning.  It's actually been working out quite nicely because it forces me to actually get up on time and get to work at a decent hour.  It's seriously a struggle getting out of the house on time some mornings though.  Like today for example, I had forgotten my purse at the Christensen's last night so we had to leave early to go pick it up...well I was running a little later per usual so we were flying around trying to get out the door.  The car keys went missing so that's always nice so that set us back a little farther.  Jason drives the car down to his work so I usually bring my breakfast with me and my make up and put it on in the car.  Well, turns out cold cereal is not the best option because I ended up with half of it on my leg and shoe and shortly after I had a mascara mishap...oh how I just love Mondays.  The good news about today is that the bachelorette starts back up.  If I can just make it through this day...obviously I'm very busy at work having time to blog and all...  T-minus 7 hours till 5:00.

Lake Blanche

Last Saturday we decided we wanted to take advantage of the free day and the beautiful weather and go on a hike.  We didn't exactly get a jump start on the day and didn't end up leaving the house until 2...we suck.  Jason wanted to hike the Lake Blanche trail because neither of us had ever done it.  It was kind of longer than I was expecting... I mean I knew that it was going to be 3 miles one way, but I didn't anticipate the 2,700 foot elevation gain or the snow.  It was a beautiful hike though and we had tons of fun even if it did take us a little longer than I expected.  We came prepared too with a camel back full of water, sandwiches and a Snickers for the Manda.  I have learned that I do not function well when I'm thirsty and/or hungry.  Once when Jason and I were dating I went to Moab with him, his dad and his brothers.  While we were there Doug (Jason's dad) wanted to do this one hike that was supposedly only 1 mile out and back.  So the five of us went with only about a liter of water between us and zero food.  Well, the trail didn't end after a mile and so Doug was curious to see where it led.  So we kept going...and going...and going...  After what seemed like forever..probably about 2 hours, I started complaining a little bit about being hungry and thirsty. It wasn't hot or anything so we weren't in danger of dehydration and Doug just really wanted to see what was around the next bend...and the next...and the next.  The boys were all like...uh, we never complain..we just keep going..  Well, I tried to tough it out for a while longer but the whole time I kept thinking that the farther we went the farther we would have to go to walk back out.  Pretty soon I just couldn't take it anymore and I may or may not have sat down on a rock and started crying...just a little... or according to Jason...a lot.  And then I asked, "Doesn't anyone just have a Snickers or something?"  Ok, apparently that was the funniest thing ever because I'm still getting teased about it all the time.  In fact, for my birthday this year, every single person in the fam handed me a Snickers bar as they sang me Happy Birthday.  It was pretty funny.  Whatever, I say.  I was hungry and tired and I just really, really needed a Snickers.  Anyway, we had a very nice time on our hike.  Here is the photographic evidence..

The snow was actually pretty deep and there were lots of times that we were sinking all the way through.  That was my least favorite part.

Lake Blanche...still mostly frozen, but beautiful.

See how happy a little Snickers action makes me?  I highly recommend the peanut butter variety.

On Friday night, my friend Kristen (Nelson) Stoddard released her very own album with all original songs.  She had a show at a venue down in Provo and we had a great time.  You can preview and download her songs here.  The whole album is only $5 and it's seriously really, really good.  I promise you won't regret it.

And the Bachelorette starts up again on Monday.  I pretty much can't wait.  I'll need something new to fill my time pretty soon. We only have 2 episodes left in season 7 of Grey's Anatomy.  Only one more season to go.  I seriously love that show.  I'm pretty sure I'll be in withdrawal when it's all over.  Any other suggestions on shows to keep me happy?

Some Bad News and Some Really Great News

So the other night we were on the way to the temple and we were like a half a mile from our house at the very first intersection and we had a little situation.  Jason sort of accidentally punched the car in front of us...with his car.  It was an SUV and had zero damage, but the poor Mazda sustained what looks like a large a.s.s. print.  Poor Jason.  He was not happy about it.

 Also, the same night I found a freaking long hair coming out one of my face moles!  It was roughly the radius of a penny according to my very accurate calculations.  It was not nearly upsetting as the car incident, but seriously someone has got to keep an eye on those things so I don't have sick, long hairs sprouting from my face.

The good news is that we found out this morning that Jason got a job with the Bureau of Reclamation!  It's a student engineering position that he can work full time at this summer and then cut back to part time when school starts again.  It's seriously such a great opportunity and such a blessing.  He will get to learn a ton and gain lots of great hands on experience in his field.  We are just so excited!

The other good news is I'm going here this weekend...

to visit my bff Audrey and her fam.  Perhaps we'll catch a glimpse of Dr. Shepherd or if we're extra lucky, Alex Karev.  It's gonna be a party!

AND...Jason takes his last final a week from today.  He'll have plenty of time to study this weekend while I'm away even though he told me he was going to do what he wants since I won't be there to bug him meaning he'll eat what he wants, he'll watch what he wants and he'll play the wii when he wants.  Ha

A Lovely, Summery Weekend

We really just had the best weekend last weekend.  The weather was amazing.  Amazing.  It was in the mid-80s and it really just felt like summer.  The awesomeness started on Thursday when I came home to these lovely flowers on our dining room table brought to me by my wonderful husband.  I really love flowers on the table.  They just make the room look so cheerful especially with all the sunshine we've been getting lately.  

 The mailman brought me my photo book of my Europe trip (from 2009) that I've been working on intermittently for over 2 years.  I'm so glad to finally have it done and it turned out really nice. If you want to look at it, you can click here.

So you know all those Groupon, city deals, etc... coupons that are always hitting your inbox?  You know how they always seem like such a good deal?  Well last Spring there was a city deal called the Pass of All Passes for $80.  It let you have unlimited access to the Seven Peaks water parks and the Trafalga fun centers, tickets to the Bees baseball games, hockey games, lift passes for some of the ski resorts (on limited days of course...like just Mondays except for holidays) and lots more.  It seemed like the best deal ever.  We had just gotten engaged and I was 100% sure that we would use that pass ALL the time.  We would get our money's worth in the first month (it's valid for a year).  Well, let's see, we went to o.n.e. baseball game last summer.  We never once went to the water parks or to any of the free ski days or to any of the hockey games or the fun centers.  Not once.


So, on Friday I just happened to remember that we still had the stupid pass and thought we should use it at least one more time before it expired.  So we hit up the Trafalga fun center in Lehi.  We had to drive a little ways to get there, but we had a really good time although maybe not $80 worth of good time.

They had a little go kart track and we waited in line for that with all the parents taking their children.  Jason loved it.  It kind of made me nauseous.  Weird.  I must be getting old because I used to be able to do stuff like that for hours.  Then, we played a little laser tag.  We were in there with tons of 10-yr-old boys and a few parents.  Those kids are seriously intense.  I kept getting sniped from I don't know where.  I ended up taking 26th (out of 30).  Jason got 10th I think.  We took it easy on the kids of course.

We then played some mini golf.  We both actually got pretty good after Jason hit a ball too hard and sent it into the parking lot.  Chubs was right...you just have to tap, tap, tap it in. 

(all they had left were kid-size clubs)

I recently got a new water bottle that has a hook...it comes in handy when you have your hands full...you can just hook it to your belt loop.  Classy, I know.

Then, after all of that fun we hit up the Iceberg for some huge shakes.  I always love me some Iceberg.  I also discovered Instagram on my phone and have been taking all sorts of pictures with cool effects.  I know I'm a little late on the train, but apparently they just released it to the Droid market.  It's awesome.

Yellow cake batter and chocolate raspberry.  Yum.

We ended the night with a few episodes of Grays Anatomy.  We just finished season six.  Holy cow.  We have seriously been staying up way too late almost every night watching just one more episode followed by another.  I think I'll be actually pretty relieved and maybe just a little sad when we're finally caught up.

Then on Saturday we got up early and went and met our friends Kristen and Gavin for breakfast at this little cafe that has the best biscuits ever.  We had to plan ahead a little bit because the Salt Lake Marathon was also that day and we live right in its path so we had to park a car a little ways away to make sure we could get out at all.  As we were walking to our car Saturday morning we were able to see a few of the runners go by.  It inspired me to start training a lot harder for my upcoming marathon.  Obviously the inspiration didn't last long because I didn't go running at all on Saturday.  I'm a loser.  In my defense it did get pretty hot and I really can't run in the heat.  I tried to make up for it yesterday by running 8.5 miles after work.  It was hard.  Anyway, breakfast on Saturday was great.  Kristen and Gavin are moving far away after this semester and we will miss them a lot.  Afterwards, since the cafe is already up the canyon a ways we went on a little drive to see if we could find Jason a fishing spot.  Utah really is beautiful.  I love how close the mountains are and how beautiful the canyons are.

After our drive, I asked Jason if we could just stop at one yard sale.  I love yard sales.  He had homework he had planned on doing, but he conceded and we stopped at an estate sale in our neighborhood.  The house just happened to be the one house that was seriously gross.  It was literally falling apart, but we found a pretty sweet entertainment center for only $20!  It was way heavy and we had a hard time getting it home, but I think it looks pretty great in our apartment. See?

Here's Jason driving around with the windows rolled down, sunglasses on.  I just love it when it feels like summer. I could not stop singing that Summertime song by Kenny Chesney.  I'm sure Jason was getting pretty sick of it... here it is again for him just in case he wanted to learn the words for himself...

And it's two bare feet on the dashboard
Young love in an old Ford
Cheap shades and a tattoo
And a Yoo-hoo bottle on the floorboard

Perfect song on the radio
Sing along 'cause it's one we know
It's a smile, it's a kiss
It's a sip of wine, it's summertime
Sweet summertime

Later on we went to Target and finally found some night stand lamps that I've been wanting forever.  I think I've bought and taken back 3 sets so I'm glad I finally got some I really like.  We also hit up the snack bar while we were there...so delicious.  You can't beat a pretzel with cheese and a diet coke.

Here we are again just driving around with the windows rolled down enjoying the nice weather (don't worry, this picture was taken while we were parked).

On Sunday, our primary  lesson actually went pretty well and we had a good time with our kids.  Then we went over to Mama and Papa C's for a bbq.  We hung out outside forever and enjoyed the weather some more.  Then we got to skype my parents and give them the shout out too.  It was a very lovely, summery weekend.  Jason finishes school next Thursday!  I can't wait until we can spend more time together every night free of worrying over homework and tests.  I heart summer.