First

A Day for First

Steve and his little biking team just rode 500 plus miles from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas in the Saints to Sinners Relay and they placed first as a mixed relay team AND set a course record! (27:40)  I'm so proud of him and his team!

On another note, I rode my first 50 mile bike ride, and it was great!  We even had a group of inline skaters drafting behind us for at 15 miles, and Am bought a baby swing from a garage sale at the park that was our half way point.  She joked with me that I could have it when I have my first grandchild...haha, still a while to wait.  Later that day, Markelle, Madi, and I had a very nice lunch at The Blue Lemon in Salt Lake, I got to talk to Kelsey for about in hour on the phone, and Ashley/Giselle put "coon" tails in their hair.

All in all a good day.

Follow the Prophets

They've got  your back!

Sing with me now:

"Lat-ter-Day Proph-ets are:  num-ber one, Jo-seph Smith; then Brig-ham Young; 

John Tay-lor came third, we know, 

Then Wil-ford Wood-ruff, Lo-ren-zo Snow;

Jo-seph F. Smith (remember the F);

He-ber J. Grant and George Al-bert Smith;

Da-vid Ohhhhh Mc-Kay was followed by

Jo-seph Field-ing Smith.

Then Har-old B. Lee, Spen-cer W. Kimball, 

Ezr-a Taft Ben-son, 

HowardW.Hunter (really fast)

Gor-don B. Hinck-ley shows the way.

We hear and fol-low his words to-day!"

Woo Hoo!

After ruining my last few batches of cookies, brownies and cupcakes with baaaaad Costco vanilla, I tracked down the Good Stuff.

Blue Cattle Truck MEXICAN Vanilla!

I love it, I love it, I love it.  

MWAH!

A Conversation with Eve

I met up with four friends early this morning to go for a 30 mile bike ride.  The weather was wonderful (with just a little wind) and the five of us took turns in front of the "Estrogen" train, as I fondly dubbed our group.  We rode well and made good time, averaging 18-22 mph.  As we headed into the final stretch, I felt my wheel hit something and the tire immediately deflated.  The rest of the group was far enough ahead that they didn't see what had happened, so I told Cathy to ride up ahead and tell my Am (my ride home) to meet me at the nearby park and I would walk/run my bike the last mile.  As Cathy rode away, I took off my bike shoes and began running back towards the park.  Unfortunately, I thought we had already passed the park so I was running in the wrong direction.  I had just turned around and began to retrace my steps when a kind women stopped on her bike and asked if I needed help.  After telling her my plan to meet up with my friend at the park, she asked again if I would like help fixing my flat since the park was still about a mile away.  Yikes, was it that far?  I told her that I didn't have a patch kit, and had no idea how to even get my wheel off.  She calmly took my bike in hand, removed the wheel, grabbed her patch kit from the back of her bike and went to work, explaining as she went how to fix a flat.  She told me that her husband had taught her how right before he unexpectedly passed away.  As we worked together on patching up my tire, I asked her about her husband and she began to share her story with me. He was the love of her life.  Now she has remarried--to a man who also lost the love of his life.  I asked her how things were going and she started to tell me about how emotional it can be when two people remarry after having a previous wonderful marriage.  I was so intrigued and wanted to talk with her more about her new circumstances.  Alas, just then a group of riders stopped to lend a helping hand and to let me know that my friend was at the park looking for me.  Unfortunately, Eve's valiant efforts to fix my flat didn't work (the tire still would not hold air), so I asked if she would mind riding up ahead to let my friend know I was coming, and I once again began running with my bike down the path.  I made it to the park, and to my friend, and  as we loaded up the bikes we were already making plans for a 50 miler on Saturday. All's well that ends well, but I've been thinking about Eve all day:   her kindness to stop and spend the time to help me and to share some very personal things about her life.  I really wish I could have heard the rest of her story.  I felt that what she had to say was very important for me to hear.  No, Eve wasn't able to fix my flat tire, but she did much more for me:  she taught me that I can easily learn how to do things for myself (such as fix my own flat tire) and that I should not be afraid of big life changes.  Life is good, go out and enjoy it!

Post It Note:  Steve coached me through a tire change tonight, and I felt very empowered.  He set me up with a great little kit, which contains two tubes, two CO2 cartidges and two tire levers.  I'm good to go!

A Pioneering Spirit

In celebration of Utah's Independence Day (as KSL Radio calls it), I spent the morning running in honor of my pioneer heritage.  As I ran on South Temple towards the parade route, I recalled running along this  same stretch of road back in '08--it was the 24th mile of the Deseret News Marathon.  The last 2.2 miles of this marathon were probably the longest--and most painful--of all the marathons I have run.  What kept me going?  Thinking about what the first and subsequent pioneers endured on their journey to freedom and Zion.  My little moment of discomfort and pain was nothing to what they pushed through, and so with renewed effort and energy I pushed myself through to the finish line.

This year, however, I only had to pound out 6.2 miles, and it was glorious and fun to let loose and just run.  After getting home from the race, I joined my friend Jody for a good 6+ mile hike up Mueller Park Canyon from her home.  I'm basically counting the two events as a half marathon.

As a reward, Steve and I went on one of our beloved movie marathon dates.  Now THAT is a marathon I can do anytime with out a complaint!

Yo-Yo

Is it a bad thing that we use Jessie as a Doggie Yo-Yo?

We call this trick "Rock the Dog."

A Sunday Meal with the Family

Sunday at our house means family dinner.  That is the one guaranteed meal you will get out of me during the week.  I usually make it a meat/potatoes kind of an affair, and the kids know that we gather together to break bread and visit as a family.

We have some pretty interesting discussions, including topics that I have to shut down if it's sounding like it's spinning out of control.  I had a dream as a young mother of having intellectual and philosophical discussions, as well as deep doctrinal debates as we revisited topics from church lessons of the day.  Alas, our conversations--while stimulating-- rarely go in that direction.

Case in point:  Today during our afternoon Sunday meal, someone brought up the recently released Winnie the Pooh Movie, which spun off into past Winnie the Pooh movies and the observation that most--if not all--of the characters of this beloved children's story suffer from one form of mental psychosis or other.

Think about it.

Winnie the Pooh?

Binge eating

Piglet?

Anxiety.  And possibly the added bonus of incontenance.

Eyeore?

Ah, Eeyore...what a depressed mess.

Owl?

Delusions of Grandeur and Narcissism.

Rabbit?

Maybe a touch of OCD?

Tigger?

Definitely ADHD.

And good ol' Christopher Robbins?

The boy talks to his stuffed animals and has created an imaginary world in which they all live.  A touch of the schizophrenia?

We're still trying to work out Kanga and little Roo.  They seem pretty normal, aside from the fact that Roo is still hanging out in his mom's pocket.

I don't even want to get into the hufflelumps and woozies.  Even my kids at a young age recognized that segment as very messed up.

And the most compelling question of the day:  what IS a Pooh Bear anyway?

And a Diet Coke, Please...

No, this is not for our frequent movie marathons (we just had another one this past week...we saw Super 8 and Green Lantern), but it almost could be.

This is how much popcorn it takes to feed 300+ girls at Girls Camp for our Movie Night.  My storage room has the lingering "dirty-sock" popcorn smell.  Mmmmmmm!


Side note:  don't you just love how Jessie blends in with the couch?  Good thing she came color coordinated with my living room color palette!

Sugar Buzz

Plates and Palates

$4.95/slice

Oh My Heavenly Goodness!

We had these guys cater Kelsey's wedding, and I was never so happy for leftovers!  It is one of our favorite restaurants in town, and after hearing Soni and Treion and Kim gush over the coconut cake, I had to stop in for a take home slice.  The piece is big enought to share with four people, but I may have to hide it and have a bite here and there over the next few days...it is THAT good!

A New Tradition is Born

It was a long day of unloading the houseboat down at Lake Powell, and loading up the speedboat and jet ski's and then making the 7 hour drive back to Bountiful.  But the promise of a barbecue feast, organized by Steve, at the end made it all worth it.  Gathering together for burgers, dawgs, homemade ice cream, watermelon, potato salad and FIREWORKS was a fabulous end to our annual Mordue Lake Powell trip. Thanks, Steve for the BBQ, and thanks Bam and Dandad for the fun memories of Powell over the past 22 years!

We had the best seats in the house, without the frustration of finding a good parking space, for the annual 4th of July show put on by North Salt Lake.  Everyone agreed that this would have to be our new 4th of July Tradition.

Doga (pronounced "Doe Guh)

Doga:  n. Noun: A Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures, is widely practiced for health and relaxation by a dog.

Salutation to the Sun

Down-ward facing dog

Namaste!