Brandon and Connie

Reno Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-27T21:39:00.000-08:00

We had a really fun Thanksgiving weekend! It was a much needed break to celebrate the holiday. All my family [minus 2 sisters] met at my aunt's house in Reno, NV. We stayed at a hotel casino in downtown and then went over to my aunt's house to lounge around, eat, and watch football! You know, typical Thanksgiving celebrations!! I did not take a single picture. I copied all these pictures from my lovely family members who actually pulled out their camera.
Yummy feast...
Lounging around with the family...
We went bowling one night...
We played a few Foosball games throughout the weekend...
Black Friday shopping (my brother Craig loaded up on gear for his mission to super cold Japan)...
We all loved gathering around and playing the Deal or No Deal game at the hotel arcade...
and Thanksgiving is not complete without the Wii (I had to include the action shot)...
We didn't want this weekend to end. It was so much fun! We are so grateful for our family and our countless blessings in life!

I love fall!

2011-10-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I love all seasons for different reasons, but there is something extra special about the fall. The leaves, cool crisp air, pumpkins, October, the fall smells, and on and on. I went on a run over the Bonneville Shoreline trail the other day with a good friend of mine. The scenery was superb. It felt so good to be outside and to enjoy the beauty of the Earth during this season. I cannot wait to do this run again and see even more of the changing leaves!

Baja California Cruise

2011-09-30T08:58:00.001-07:00

We went on another cruise as our end of summer trip. This time we went for the cheap cruise to Baja, California. Honestly, I would never recommend this cruise. You definitely get what you pay for. Perhaps we were spoiled and had high expectations from our amazing cruise last summer to the Caribbean, but Baja, Mexico, and Carnival cruise lines do not make great combinations. All in all, we still had some fun. We went with 3 other couples so the company was great.

We really liked Catalina Island! We rented golf carts and drove all over the city enjoying the views and nice weather. We also went snorkeling and saw a lot of fish.
Ensenada, Mexico is home of the famous "blow hole". We spent a couple hours hanging around there on the coast and watching that blow hole. It can get pretty high so that was fun. We also ate some extremely delicious tacos. Yum!
Cruises are known for food and all you can eat 24/7! We ate our little hearts out. Here we are at one of our formal meals. You can see that Brandon ordered Lobster!
The cruise was a nice way to end our summer. Hopefully Brandon can get his thesis finished this semester. It will be nice to completely be done with school before the winter, but we will see!

uPdate

2011-07-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

I suddenly felt like coming back to the blog (it's all for you, Liz :)). We have had a very busy summer. Brandon has been stuck in the Clyde Building working on his thesis. I have never known him to be one of those engineers who spends long hours into the night on campus, but he has turned into one. I guess that is the nature of a thesis. My, or rather his camera, is full of pictures like these...
what the hay even is that, hehe! Stuff for his thesis anyways!

I have been busy with my 2 large callings at church and my new NP job! Earlier this summer, we went on Trek with our stake and then I had a month to scramble for everything for Girls' Camp. In the middle of all my church busy--ness I got an NP job that I LOVE! I now work in Family Practice! I am getting the hang of things there and I can't believe I work as a real NP now. I waited around for the right job to come along and I am so glad I did. It was worth it. So Liz, my advice to you is to be patient with the job scene. Make sure you find the job you really want. By the way, family practice is a great place to be!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T19:31:00.000-08:00

Brandon beats me BIG time in the creativity department. I decided to make my own creation [a variation from 'Hello Cupcake'] of Valentine cupcakes. They turned out somewhat cute...
I worked hard all morning to get these done so I could surprise him for when he got home from work. He was surprised and of course he liked them!

Then, I went to work. By the way, I have a job at a local urgent care working part-time in the afternoon/evenings. I still work part-time at my RN hospital job too. When I got home I found my trifle bowl filled with this lovely piece of edible art...
I was most definitely surprised! It looks so much cuter than anything I could ever even imagine to make. I married a truly gifted and wonderful mister! I love you Brandon!!!

Sunny St. George

2011-01-24T08:53:00.000-08:00

What better way to start off the year than with a half marathon! It was nice to get some good, warm sun too. The weather was beautiful and the course through St. George was gorgeous. Running in 30-40 degree weather is SO much better than running in single digits with ice all over your head!

1:47

Christmas in Cali

2010-12-31T21:09:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas break in Southern California. We had so much fun being with family, eating, playing, relaxing, and all that other good stuff you do around the holidays! Here is some of what we did...

Disneyland [in the pouring rain]...
We drove up to Northern California to visit all our extended family and spent Christmas weekend with them...

Cousins [and the spouses] picture...

San Francisco...

Walking along the beach in Santa Barbara...
And, loading up on sushi...
Great times! Happy New Year!!

Family Photos

2010-12-27T20:23:00.000-08:00

This was our attempt at a Galeria Family photo. Southern California got SO much rain during the Christmas break so the nice beach family pictures that I wanted did not work out. We ended up taking one in our backyard at night [during the 2 seconds the rain had stopped].

Under the Sea

2010-11-08T17:51:00.001-08:00

I am far from being a crafty person, but when food is in the equation then I can make exceptions. My friend Angel makes a lot of awesome cupcakes and I decided that in order to get in touch with my crafty side I would enlist her help. Here is my first go around with Shark Attack...
The idea came from a book called 'Hello Cupcake'. I found the book for fairly cheap online and ordered it.
The sharks are made out of twinkies. The floats are made out of donuts. The channel markers are ice cream cones upside down with a lollipop on top. Everything else is pretty self-explanatory. They were super fun to make!

Officially Done!

2010-11-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

I took boards just over a month ago. I have officially passed! It feels so good to be done. It's also kind of nice to have credentials behind my name:)!

I don't know for sure what the NP job scene will be because I am still waiting on my licensure {it's a l.o.n.g process}, but I will continue working at my RN job part-time.

I have truly loved my RN job and I am just not ready to leave it yet. I still learn new things there everyday.

Overall, blessings have come into our lives left and right. We are happy and doing well!

Graduation Day

2010-08-15T17:03:00.000-07:00

Lots of pictures...

Master's Degree in Nursing

August 13, 2010

Updates

2010-08-04T09:39:00.001-07:00

Graduation is around the corner! 1.5 weeks to be exact. Then [after boards of course] I will be a Family Nurse Practitioner!!! I can't believe we made it through this...

I just returned from Girls' Camp again! What a spiritual high that was. Gotta love these girls...

Brandon has taken up a new hobby with one of his good friends. It's spearfishing. He loves it! Don't they look like goofs in their outfits? He has caught some fish though...

(Brandon on left. Jake in middle. Brandon's little brother Tanner on right.)

I watched 100% of the Tour de France. It is my favorite thing to watch in the summer. I look forward to it every year. This year I put my bike trainer in front of the TV and rode while watching...

I can't believe this busy summer is ending. Although, it feels like it's just beginning for me because I am finally done with school!

Wasatch Back 2010

2010-07-05T06:45:00.000-07:00

I absolutely LOVE this race! I was so glad I was able to join a great team! My friend, Lindsey, let me be on her team with her neighborhood peeps. They were awesome to run with. I was runner 1 this year so still in van 1. It's crazy how you can do this race over and over again and have it be different every time. Here are some of my pictures. I should be getting more soon.

28:11:24

Cruise 2010: Cozumel, Mexico

2010-05-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

Do I look Mexican [don't mind my goof smile]? I don't see it, but the locals thought I was a local. I think it would be to my benefit that I learn Spanish...
Cozumel was the best! We had so much fun! In the morning we went on a snorkeling adventure. We decided to pay for a tour this time because we could take a boat and go out further to see everything. We had some incredible encounters [videos too]...

This next one is awesome. These fish have no fear. They'd come right up to you and nibble on your finger if you put it out. Fish attacks and a video...

Brando got to see his barracuda. That was something he really wanted to see and I held myself together so we could see it. It was actually really cool. The barracuda must have been surrounded by a school of 10,000 fish. I have a video of it as well [at first you will just see a really dark cloud...look in the center clearing of the dark cloud for the skinny dark line...that will be the barracuda]...

After snorkeling, I decided that we really needed to eat an authentic taco in a taco shop on the beach [we considered the possibility of getting sick and decided we'd be ultra careful, but I just really wanted to have done this in my life]. We found a cute place right on the beach and ate the best tacos we have ever eaten in our lives...
I know you are wondering-- we didn't get sick so it turned out great! Lastly, we walked around the streets and enjoyed the incredible views...

Cruise 2010: George Town, Grand Cayman

2010-05-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

We absolutely loved the Cayman Islands! The water was gorgeous...you know the clear bright blue kind. We basically fell in love with this place and decided we could possibly make it a permanent residence! They do have a medical school there; we saw it:)! Anyways, our visit in Cayman consisted of a lot of walking along the beaches to various snorkeling areas and looking at fish all day long!
We started by snorkeling at the Wreck of the Gamma. It is an old wrecked ship site right off the coast. You know fish love things like this; it's their hangout. You can see the wreck close to shore in between the 2 cruise ships in the distance (Freedom of the Seas is on the right)...
We swam out to the shipwreck and saw tons...

Can you see it below?... It's not the crab. Look for a peacock flounder...

Here is a video at the Wreck of the Gamma...

Our next snorkeling area was called Eden's Rock. This place had tons including creatures on land. We ran into this guy...
Here is what we saw underwater at Eden's Rock...
Our last snorkeling spot was called Hammerheads. When we first got into the water I saw some scary looking huge Hammerhead sharks, or so I thought. I was getting so mad at Brando because he wouldn't listen to me to turn back. [Heck no was I going into water with sharks.] Well, it turns out that they were not sharks, but the hugest fish called Tarpon. I seriously think some of them were as big as me. I guess those fish can get up to 7ft long...
Here is a video of me freaking out with these huge fish. It does sound horrible with a bunch of yelling and me acting like a baby, but Brando thinks it's funny and he really wanted me to put it on here...

The port into Cayman was not big enough for our ship so we had to take a tender back and forth. Here we are on the tender heading back to the ship for the day...
Next up is Cozumel, Mexico! It was so the best!

Cruise 2010: Ocho Rios, Jamaica

2010-05-15T18:15:00.000-07:00

Jamaica was nice and pretty and all, but it really was not our favorite place. In fact, Brando was a bit mad by the afternoon because he was so annoyed by all the locals' aggressive tactics to get our money. Everywhere you turned someone wanted to sell you something or try and get you a deal!
The first thing we did in Ocho Rios [8 rivers], Jamaica was catch a cab to the Dunn's River Falls. We were able to hike up the falls approximately 600 feet. It was so pretty and fun!
Some parts were really slippery with such a fast current so you needed guard rails...
It was all so fun and very jungle-ish...
After the hike we walked up and down the main streets in downtown. We thought about going snorkeling, but everything required a "small fee". It was just kind of a damper so we ended up doing a lot of looking because we were hearing a ton of "no fee for looking"...
Jamaica may have made us sound like cheapos, but we really had fun on this beautiful island. On another note, Cayman Islands was a blast and it's coming next!

Cruise 2010: Labadee, Haiti

2010-05-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

Our first port day was in Labadee, Haiti. Don't worry all you people thinking "Haiti" "earthquake" "disaster" etc. Labadee is a private peninsula owned by Royal Caribbean. We really did not see Haiti except this beautiful small piece of the island...
We spent the morning at the beach enjoying land mixed with a few episodes of snorkeling...
Snorkeling is awesome. Brandon has become obsessed with it. He kept trying to make me wear the fins and telling me I needed to practice for when we went to Cayman and Cozumel [because we would see the 'big stuff' there]. He is so funny when he gets worried about me. We did see some really cool things...

In the afternoon, we walked around and explored.
Everything was gorgeous and we had so much fun on our first port day. Next up: Jamaica!

Cruise 2010: On Board

2010-05-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

We went on a Western Caribbean Cruise last week and had so much fun. We based out of Port Canaveral, Florida and went to Haiti, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and Mexico. The weather was beautiful so we were able to do so many great things.
We hung out in Cape Canaveral, Florida for a few hours before we could board the ship and came across this...
Our ship's name was Freedom of the Seas. It was so huge. When we got on board we gave ourselves a mini tour. It took a few hours to hit every deck front and back of the ship. Despite our efforts to learn where things were, I felt like we still discovered something new everyday we were on board.

We played on the climbing wall and the mini golf course...

We hung out by the pool and worked on our tan and visited the ice skating rink in the middle of the ship...

We got only a little fat with all the amazing food and really enjoyed our dinner guests (from NYC) and our waiter (from India)...

We saw some amazing shows in the evenings: the ice show, a magic show, comedy, and singing and dancing shows. They were all really good...

We attempted some pictures on the ship deck with the sunset. On the last night you could see Miami, Florida on the horizon.

And of course you cannot forget our surprise animal towels each night when we returned to our room...

More to come so check back!

Inspiring

2010-05-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

I have been following the nienie blog. Everything about this woman is inspiring to me. I had to post this...

Salt Lake City Half Marathon

2010-04-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

On April 17, 2010 my running buddy Jen and I ran in the SLC Half Marathon. We have been training through the dreads of winter and it turned out to be a gorgeous day! The weather was perfect and we ran well. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the course. I saw parts of SLC I had never seen before and realized it is actually quite beautiful in some places:). Here are the pictures...

My friend Lindsey (in orange) joined us at the start. It was both her and Jen's first Half. They did AWESOME!
Brandon found us around mile 8.

1:53:31

As soOn aS sChooL GetS oUt...

2010-04-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

...we will be boarding one of these...
...and spending time in many places that look like this...
...and using Brandon's new toys...
...to do a lot of this...
...we will be taking many pictures with Brandon's new underwater [late] Christmas present...
...so check back!
Don't worry, I didn't understand that this thing was a camera at first either, but Brando loves it!

Avocado Egg Rolls

2010-03-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from a friend. If you love avocados, egg rolls, and cilantro then you will love this recipe. It is a little labor intensive, but well worth it after you eat them.

Avocado Egg Roll Ingredients:
2 large avocados, peeled, pitted, and diced
4 Tbsp sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
2 Tbsp minced red onion
1 tsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
6 egg roll wraps
*I added about 2 fist fulls of shredded chicken to make the egg rolls a bit more hearty.
Gently stir together avocado, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and salt. Distribute filling evenly onto center of each egg roll wrapper. Position a wrapper so that a corner is pointing toward you; fold the bottom corner up over the filling.

Fold side corners in and roll toward the top corner. Wet the edges of the top corner with a little water. Then fold top corner over and press to seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers.

Continue by deep-frying the egg rolls in 375 degree oil for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
Slice egg rolls diagonally across middle and serve with prepared dipping sauce.
Honey Cilantro Dipping Sauce Ingredients:
3-4 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup chopped cashews
2/3 cup fresh cilantro (I put in a bit too much cilantro. That is why it looks so green and scary, but it was still really good.)
2 garlic cloves
2 green onions
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup olive oil

To make dipping sauce, use a blender or food processor to puree all listed ingredients except olive oil. Blend until well pureed. Then stream in olive oil. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Rex Lee Run

2010-03-13T16:36:00.000-08:00

This morning I ran a 10K (6.2 miles) in the Rex Lee Run. I ran with my running buddy Jen, her sister-in-law Jamie, and my friend Lindsey. I haven't run very many races with someone else. I always end up being there with friends, but then running by myself. So this was fun! Jen and I ran together the whole way and met up with everyone else at the end. She did awesome; it was her first race ever and we wanted to do a small race to prepare us for our big half marathon in Salt Lake next month. We were really lucky the snow storm hit just as we finished the run, but we didn't stick around to see our results.

The start. We are in the upper left of the crowd.
Jen and I a bit before half way.
The final kick at the finish.
There were so many people. I love the crowds at races!
Lindsey and I at the end.

Vancouver 2010

2010-02-20T13:59:00.001-08:00

I think my studying had been infected with Olympic fever. Is anyone else suffering from this?

Need a Laugh?

2010-02-03T15:56:00.001-08:00

Where Oh Where has my TiMe gOnE...

2009-12-22T18:25:00.000-08:00

Life has just happened the last month and a half and I have no idea where it went (but, I could take a big guess and tell you that school has consumed most of it- I am almost done with that dang thesis!!!). So it's time for an update and I looked at the pictures in our camera over the last few weeks and this is what I found...

We celebrated our 2 year anniversary!!! Has it really only been 2 years and at the same time already 2 years?
Happy Anniversary to US!!! We went to Universal Studios (we happened to be in CA visiting for Thanksgiving). It had been a long while since I'd been there and Brandon had never been. A lot has changed since I last remembered, but my favorite animal show was still there...
Brandon really liked the tram ride throughout the park and seeing the 'behind the scenes' special effects of movies/TV shows like Jaws, Psycho, War of the Worlds, Heroes, etc.
I think the life size crash picture is from War of the Worlds.

Next, we went home to CaliForNia for Thanksgiving weekend to visit with my FaMiLy!!! On Thanksgiving day, everyone except my Brandon (because for some reason he still hates running), my mom, and my sisters Terri and Dana ran in the Turkey Trot. It was SO much fun to run just a little 5k with my whole family (even the ones who didn't run were still there to watch).

Everyone did so good running! The above photos were some family pictures (minus Brando cuz he was the photographer and Janet cuz she stayed at UC Berkeley to study for finals) and everyone running at the finish line stretch. The below photos are us enjoying Thanksgiving Day dinner (I know I look lame) and some of what we did all week- sit on the couch and watch TV:)!

It was beautiful weather the entire time and we loved being home!

Then on some evening in early December, my bestest friends/old roommates and I all got together one night for dinner.
We are so good about having reunions periodically! I love these girls!

Only 2 more updates...
Since Christmas is around the corner, we have been up to Temple Square in SLC a few times. I didn't get pictures every time, but we have seen the lights on Temple Square and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert (love that!) and a couple of weddings.

Lastly, check this out...
I got an early Christmas present from my sweetest Brandon. I came home from work and he had a candlelit dinner ready. I thought this only existed in movies, but it was real!

Spry Canyon

2009-11-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

On Friday we drove down to Zion National Park with some friends for a fun filled outdoors weekend. We arrived late afternoon on Friday so we decided to hurry and hike Angel's Landing before dark. As always, Angel's Landing was gorgeous. I had never seen Zion in the fall until now and it still never fails to impress me. (Notice the colors in the trees along the little river through Zion.) After our quick hike up Angel's Landing we camped under the stars☼.Then we got up early on Saturday and headed to the start of Spry Canyon.Above was our group left to right: Brandon, Mark, Nathan, Lindsey, Dave, Me, and My Brandon

It took us 7 hours to complete. The first couple hours was spent hiking UP to the canyon. The rest actually in Spry Canyon, which has about 13 rappels. There were some pretty technical 100ft rappels, the longest being 165ft. and a few of them land right in water. This time of year is perfect because the water level is the lowest so we actually didn't get very wet at all. Brandon took all the pictures so I didn't get any of him rappeling:(.

I have to admit that some of the rappels were so intense and nerve-racking, but it is so worth the stress when you finally get into the slots (small spots in the canyon) and see the incredible views.

Remembering the Sewing Skills...

2009-10-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening Brandon took a pretty hard spill while mountain biking. He has cuts and bruises everywhere, including a fairly deep gash around his right triceps area.
So, this morning we went to the new Provo InstaCare, which by the way is a very convenient and efficient little clinic. (The thought crossed my mind about working there after graduation. We will see.)We conversed a while with the doctor and he was really nice. I asked him if he would let me put in a stitch or two and I was so surprised when he said: "Put some gloves on!". He let me put in 3 of Brandon's 7 stitches and gave me some pointers along the way. It was much easier than putting stitches in pigs if you remember from this post.
The 3 stitches that I put in are in the middle. It was pretty neat and now I have done it in real life!

Red Rock Relay

2009-09-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

Run.Drive.Sleep?.Repeat...happened again on September 4-5, 2009. I love these races and the Red Rock Relay was no exception. Here are the main details...

We ran from Brian Head, Utah to Tuacahn in St. George (187 miles). We ran through Cedar Breaks National Park, Zions National Park, Sand Hollow Reservoir, St. George, Snow Canyon, and ended near Tuacahn Amphitheater in St. George. It was gorgeous!

2 vans. 12 people.

We hit every weather condition possible, literally:

cold.snow.rain.hail.thunder.lightning.hot.sun.boiling

Here are a bunch of pictures...

Here is some of our team hanging out at Van 1 (Ian's Suburban).

Van 1 in front of the Red Rock Trailer: Julie.Ian.Brianna.Connie.Emily.Mark

My friend Brianna from back home in T.O. came out to run with us!

Leg 1 was to take the ski lift to the top of the mountain and run down.

I just could not get enough of the scenery throughout this race.

My first run was through Cedar Breaks National Park. Incredible views to run through.

I was runner 4 then Brianna was runner 5. They made us wear the reflective vests even though it was day because we were on a highway and it was raining.

Emily, Me, Bri, Julie in Van 1.

Mark was runner 6.

Taking a break at a park after our first set of legs.

Van 2 had to run through marble sized hail. The hail was so intense we couldn't get a good picture while we were in it so I got one of what the sky looked like. They were such troopers.

Our team name was 'Run Forrest Run'. This is entering Zions by the Kolob area.

End of Van 1 second set of legs. This is around 11pm at our exchange in Hurricane, UT.

We slept under the stars at a park before our 3rd set of legs. We watched the craziest lightning storm light up the sky. It was the neatest thing I have ever seen.

Our 3rd set of legs was in the dark as well (our team was fast:)).

Van 1 finished with the 3rd and final set of legs. It was just about dawn.

This is our team photo at the end with our finisher medals!

We finished in an impressive 25:44:54 and placed 12th out of 80 teams.

Hobble Creek Half Marathon

2009-08-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

Hobble Creek canyon is in Springville, Utah and it is gorgeous this time of year. I haven't done many races close to home; It seems like I always choose races that are far away so the Hobble Half was nice.
The course seemed a bit harder than I had anticipated. The last 5 miles had quite a few more hills than I thought and since they were at the end, they were a bit tougher. For sure, the Moab Half Marathon course is easier than this one.
Overall, the race was tons of fun. I saw a lot of people that I knew out on the course and Brandon was at the finish!

1:46:04

Texas Happenings

2009-08-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to Houston, Texas to visit Brandon's family. We had a lot of fun and loved seeing everyone and being with family! Here is some of what we did...

Visited the Houston Natural Science Museum. Pictures to come I think.

Swimming! I have been wanting to go all summer and we finally did. I think I was so happy we were swimming that I forgot to take pictures. This was the only one.
Played with the Sugar Gliders in Anna and Jeff's bathroom (the little guys are nocturnal and the bathroom is where they live). SO much fun!

We redecorated the cultural hall at the church for Bridget's (Brandon's sister) wedding reception.
Then the next day we went to Bridget and Stephen's sealing in the Houston Temple.

We ate some great food at the reception.
We embarrassed the car, or rather, the drivers in the car.
We drove to Austin (about 3 hours away) to see Stephen's house and chase the chickens in the backyard so we could try and hypnotize them. And honestly, we were chickens when it came to picking them up. As shown in the video, we let them go right by us. I think I'm a wuss:). We did eventually catch one and hypnotized it.

Then we got a flat tire on the way home. I have no idea how that huge whole got there. Luckily we had a good spare.
We really enjoyed our time and look forward to another visit!

Friday Fave

2009-08-17T15:48:00.000-07:00

Friday Fave that is NOT on Friday. I know, sorry. I meant to get this up a while ago, but life consumed me so here it is now. The Steam Mop...

No more buckets and wringing out the water mops. Fill the steam mop up with a little water, plug it in, pump out the steam, and wipe! So much nicer.

Payson Canyon

2009-08-17T15:26:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago (or more?), Angel and Trevor took us up Payson Canyon for a bike ride. It was a pretty technical trail and there were times where I was a little scared, but we had SO much fun. We will definitely be returning for some more rides.

Kings' Peak

2009-07-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Brandon went on a scout camp backpacking adventure up to King's Peak, the highest peak in Utah. He did a good job making it the whole 26 miles and carrying all the boys' food. They made the trek in 3 days.

Taking a break along the 8 mile hike to the camping point on Day 1.

Most of the hike was along a river.

Check out the packs. Some of the boys are so little and their packs were nearly bigger than themselves.

Another break!

I love this picture with the summit reflecting in the little lake/pond.

This is the last part to summit on Day 2. Brandon says it looks shorter than it really is.

This is another angle from the trail up to the summit.

The view from the summit.

My cute Brandon at the top on Day 2.

These were the only pictures with him in it.

Instead of taking the trail back down, they just went straight off the side. Looks rocky.

There were 6 boys and 3 leaders and minus the complaining from a few, they all had a blast. The boys raved about it once they got back and as only boys would do, counted up their mosquito bites to see who had the most. The funniest part was when one of the deacons was feeling around by his ear and said out loud: "I can't tell if this is a mosquito bite or a zit! Oh well, I'm counting it anyway." Teenage boys, sigh.

Tour de France

2009-07-19T18:53:00.001-07:00

I know I blogged about this last year, but I have to again. My latest obsession is watching the Tour de France. I have grown to LOVE this sport, especially watching it. It's very inspiring and although I do not understand all the rules entirely, I have been following the stats of the big riders and getting way into it. I am even enjoying the commentators and their British accents and when they say something that I do not understand...well, let's just say good thing for Google:). I give you permission to ask me what 'Peloton' means...

This clip is crazy. It's from the Tour de France back in 2003. It's the awesomest short cut (maybe it's cooler because it's Lance Armstrong) and I was a little worried that there would be some sort of penalty, but apparently it's not entirely against the rules.

Girls' Camp 2009

2009-07-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to Girls' Camp (my calling is the Ward Camp Director) up at Mia Shalom (LDS church owned) in Fairview, UT canyon. It's absolutely gorgeous up there...

Do you remember these fun girls' camp times: screaming.yelling.laughing.crying.singing.

And these: dirt.bugs.smelling like fire.wearing the same sweatshirt for 5 days.staying up way too late.

And don't forget: sun.scriptures.nature.games.crazy chants

Here is the slideshow (sorry, it's a little long:)). I loVe these gIrLS!

Untitled from Connie Taylor on Vimeo.

Ragnarly Photos

2009-06-28T16:02:00.001-07:00

Here are a bunch more pictures and an awesome video...

These were the only night ones we got. I was trying to show the reflector vests in some. The above is van 2 zonked out.

Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back 2009 from Drea Ellis on Vimeo.

Run. Drive. Sleep?? Repeat.

2009-06-24T13:11:00.001-07:00

Call me craZy, but the Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back was the funnest running event I have ever done! My initial intentions were to wait for my team to send me all their pictures and then post them all, but I can't wait any more. I am just dying to tell you all about it. So, I will put more pictures up as I get them.

(We were Team 249, The Pacemakers. There were 650 teams total at the race.)

(This is the team shirt that we designed. Love the EKG and night and day runners.)

For those who do not know what a Ragnar Relay is...
1) 12 runners on a team (I lOveD our team, The Pacemakers)
2) 2 vans
3) 188 miles (Logan, UT to Park City, UT)
4) Run.Drive.Sleep??Repeat.

(This is Van 1 at the start area: Brannick, Emily, Jan, Marian, Drea, and Connie)

(Drea, runner 1, on the starting line. Some people are crazy and get super dressed up. We had a rival team called 'No Pants' that we played leap frog with for a while.)

The Wasatch Back started up in Logan, UT at 11:30AM on Friday, June 19, 2009. I was runner 6 in van 1 so I got to run down Avon Pass. Poor Jan, runner 5, had to run up the long hill in the heat and she RocKeD it. After I ran my 6.7 miles down hill I passed off to Rick (Angel's Dad), runner 7 to start up van 2. While van 2 ran, van 1 went to Subway for a bite before our next run. Uuuugghh is all I have to say about Subway: long line, only 2 workers, food not stocked, and lot's of sick runners, including myself. The come and go nausea was beating us down, but we still went on.

(This is in the beginning and we are all still pretty fresh hanging out in the van.)

(First set of legs: Drea, runner 1, passing off to Brannick, runner 2.)

(Emily, runner 3, getting some water from Brannick. We were our own support. The team was responsible for providing water and such along the course for ourselves.)
(First set of legs: Emily, runner 3, passing off to Marian, runner 4.)
(Marian getting some water support from Jan. Everytime we drove by each other we would scream, honk, blast music, etc. We were the most supportive team there:))
(Someone got this picture on my camera. It's of me at the summit of Avon Pass on my first leg. I like it because it gets a small glimpse of the gorgeous scenery we ran through.)
(Rick, runner 7, passing off to Katie, runner 8.)
(Randy, runner 9, passing off to Curt, runner 10.)
(Curt, runner 10, passing off to Chris, runner 11.)
(This is Chris. I think he is just starting to run his first leg up Snow Basin.)
(Van 2 waiting to cheer on teammates.)
(Van 2 waiting to cheer on teammates.)

Van 2's runners had to run UP Snow Basin. It's a jaw dropping hill, but they did great. So van 1 started our second set of legs at Snow Basin. It was starting to get dark at this point in the race so we put on our reflector vests, butt lights, and flashlights.

(First set of legs for van 2: This is Angel. She made the summit up Snow Basin. Tough hill!)

(Team shot minus 2-Drea and Brannick. Back row: Jan, Rick, Chris, Randy, Emily, Curt. Front row: Connie, Marian, Angel, and Katie.)
(Van 1. We have just started our 2nd round of legs here.)

The second set of legs was by far the most grueling for our team. It was in the middle of the night so that may have been a factor. However, we had some other interesting issues...
1) Drea, runner 1, had shoved the Subway down her throat so she could be ready to run in time. Her 8 miles down Snow Basin didn't like the Subway, so van 1 came to the rescue to scope out a good open spaced bathroom on the side of the road (isn't this what running is all about:), it's not called the 'runs' for nothing:)). We all had a good laugh, including Drea. She is sUch a good sport.
2) Marian hurt her knee in the middle of her 4 mile leg. She toughed it out to get to the exchange and she did awesome, but then couldn't walk on it at all afterwards. So now we are one runner short for the third, and final set of legs.
3) After I finished my 8 miles up East Canyon Reservoir in the pitch black (besides my flashlight), van 1 spent the night at North Summit HS in Coalville, UT while van 2 carried us along the coarse. Van 1 likes to refer to our 2 hour stay in the HS gym as a 'concentration camp': muggy, stinky bodies all over the gym, snoring, people showering in their skins, and only 1.5 hours of much interupted sleep.

Please excuse the complaining. This really was a BLAST and the scenery all along the way was GORGEOUS and we all LOVED it, but we loved it more because of all the hard parts and challenges we overcame.

(Wasatch Back is the MOST GORGEOUS course ever. Especially this time of year, it's all green. So pretty!)
(Check out that sun! Friday was actually really warm and beautiful. Saturday was rainy.)

At 5AM on Saturday, Angel called to tell us van 2 was almost finished with their set of legs and it was time for van 1 to get to the next exchange so we could take over. It was starting to get light outside and it was gorgeous scenery. I couldn't help but smile as I watched our fellow team members running. Someone was always carrying the team the 188 miles. Even at 3 o'clock in the morning.

The last legs were pretty running down into Heber Valley and then up into Park City. I ended up running Marian's 3rd leg since my own 3rd leg was fairly easy. It was funny to pass the baton to Jan, runner 5, and have her go 2.5 miles and then get the baton right back and go my 3 miles.

(This was Marian's last leg that I ran instead. It was 4 miles down hill into Heber.)

Anyways, while van 2 took us the rest of the way into Park City, van 1 went and ate some delicious tri tip at the finish in Quinn's Park City finish area. Then, we all ran the last 300m together in our team shirts. We ended up finishing at 4:06PM on Saturday, June 20, 2009. I haven't found what our official finish time is but it's safe to say that it was 28hours 36minutes.

(Here we are crossing the line. Finishing around 28:36:00.)

(Team shot cheering our successful finish. Back row: Brannick, Emily, Drea, Jan, Marian, Randy. Middle row: Katie, Angel, Connie. Front row: Rick, Chris, and Curt.)

Like I said, this was the funnest running event I have ever done. It was challenging, but great and I look forward to doing future Ragnars!

Latest Obsession

2009-06-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

At first we were really into these...
and these...Then we discovered these...Chocolate covered raspberries are our new candy! Yum!!

Race for Red

2009-05-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

Cardiac rocks!! I love the CPCU, Cardiac Progressive Care Unit, which is the floor I work on. Everything about it is just so great...

Cardiac patients are the best kind to care for. We see everything from EP Studies and Ablations (cardiac rhythm stuff) to open heart surgeries.

All the nursing staff is exceptional at caring for our patients and at being the best co-workers. There is a great unity on CPCU. Sometimes I am at work, but I feel like I am at home and it's not just because I have been there for 12 hours straight.

All the cardiac surgeons and cardiologists blow everyone else out of the water at what they do. We really have an amazing Heart Services line.

As you can see, cardiac rocks! Well today, we all did something amazing. We ran a 5K to raise awareness for women and heart disease. Contrary to what some people may believe about breast cancer and other Women's issues, heart disease is the #1 killer of men AND women in the country.This is everyone from cardiac surgeon to nurse who participated in some way for Race for Red. We all had so much fun running together!
This shot is just the CPCU chicks. You wouldn't believe how many patients ask us if a requirement to work on our floor is to be a young and cute girl:) Anyways, I really do love being a cardiac nurse and never want to leave the greatest floor ever.

Race for Red was such a great cause and motivation for heart healthy living. It really is inspiring!

This is so "NEAT"!

2009-05-26T13:11:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia says: The family Chamaeleonidae are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, and the possession by many of a prehensile tail, crests or horns on their distinctively shaped heads, and the ability of some to change color. Uniquely adapted for climbing and visual hunting, the approximately 160 species of chameleon range from Africa, Madagascar, Spain, and Portugal, across south Asia, to Sri Lanka, have been introduced to Hawaii and California, and are found in warm habitats that vary from rain forest to desert conditions. This species of sauria was first discovered by Harry H. Lethlean.

Adventures in Moab

2009-05-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

We just love Moab. There is so much to do there and we often find ourselves taking mini vacations to Southern Utah ending up in Moab. This time around we invited my brother Robby and his wife to join us. We had a blast! We drove down on Friday morning and dropped our bikes off at the hotel in Green River. (We prefer to stay in Green River because it is so much cheaper and not far from Moab.) Then we headed out west of Moab to the San Rafael Swell. There is a GREAT hike through some slot canyons and we loved it. Here are a bunch of pictures.After the hike we went back to the hotel and soaked in the hot tub.
The next morning we loaded up our bikes and headed into Moab for some Slickrock mountain biking. We were only able to bring 2 bikes so we took turns going out onto the trails. There were some INTENSE parts, but it was the coolest bike ride I have ever done.
Here is a video from Brandon of biking out on Slickrock. There was quite a bit of steep up and down hills. Some parts were very scary and hard.

After biking we went on some unexpected off-roading in our Honda Civic in search of some great rock climbing. Here is what our car crawled through. Just kidding. It was bumpy but not that bad and we did see some real rock crawling jeeps. They looked way fun and maybe we will have to try that next time.
After a couple hours of no luck finding what we wanted and being a bit wiped out we headed home. It was an awesome vacation and a great start to the summer.

BEST HUSBAND EVER!!

2009-05-09T18:07:00.000-07:00

I came home from work this evening to find this on my kitchen table:
My creatively, artistic and talented husband (remember this post) spent the afternoon making this for me. I always talk about the yummy fruit bouquets that my patients get and how I have to hold myself back from digging in because they look so good. Well, he made me one for Mother's Day, even though I am not a mother yet (he says that is okay and I deserve it anyways:)). Here is a close up so you can see the middle:
In case you are wondering what some of the stuff is I will explain... The colored rope thing around the bottom is a Nerd Rope because I love that candy. The blue and white snake thing circling the center is a gummi snake. The gummi snakes are always sitting at the check out counter at Macey's grocery store. Whenever we go past them I always blurt out: "I want to eat that snake." The heart is made out of fruit snacks! A part of me really wants to dig in and eat it and the other part says no because it is just SO great to look at.
Don't I have the best husband ever!/? I also have the BEST MOTHER EVER!!! Here are a few reasons why:

1) She LOVES me.
2) She sacrifices for me.
3) She rescues me.
4) She provides for me.
5) She laughs with me.
6) She raised me.
7) She teaches me everything I need to know.
8) She hugs me.
9) She comforts me.
10) She can do anything.

Happy Mother's Day Mom and BLT Mom!
We love you!!

8 States and A District

2009-04-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

Warning: Long Post. On Friday, April 17, 2009 I flew out to Washington DC to visit my friend Jenni and watch her run the prestigious Boston Marathon. I arrived on Friday evening and we went straight to the capital building for a short jog. Then we went to the famous Kabob Place in Arlington, VA for some dinner. It was really yummy.
The next morning we woke up to the bright sunshine coming through the window. BEAUTIFUL spring weather! So we took advantage and went for a 6 mile run through the district. We ran from Jenni's sky rise condo to the Pentagon.
Then over to the Lincoln Memorial.
And down to the Washington Monument and World War II Memorial.
Then along Pennsylvania Ave to the White House.Lastly, we ran about 2 miles over to the metro station for a ride home. It was an awesome run!Saturday afternoon we started our road trip to Boston, MA for the marathon. It was quite a journey through toll roads galore and traffic. Jenni's parents came with us. The 4 of us had so much FUN. We hit Maryland (I thought of Ginger as we drove by the signs for Annapolis), Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. After traveling approximately 2 blocks in about 45 minutes through Manhattan bumper cars, we finally found a place to park and toured the city. We took the fairy over to Staten Island and saw great views of the city.
The Statue of Liberty with the sunset.
Then we walked over to the financial district and saw this:
Wall Street
New York Stock Exchange
Lastly, we took the metro up to Times Square and joined the SWARMS of people walking around.
After New York we drove to Connecticut and stayed the night in a comfy hotel. At the end of the trip Jenni's parents and I agreed that DoubleTree Hotels had the best beds:). We were all exhausted from the hustle and bustle of NYC. The next morning we woke up early and went to church in the New Canaan, CT ward. It was a great Sacrament Meeting. Guess whose ward we had ended up attending...Glenn Beck. Pretty cool huh! Jenni's dad got to meet him! After church we headed the rest of the way to Boston. We went straight to the marathon expo. It was this part that I became a little sad that I was not running. Jenni and I soaked it all in and decided that I needed to participate at least once before I die.
We purchased our Boston Marathon gear to remind me to train hard. We each got spandex shorts and both wore them for every run the rest of the trip:)
While we were waiting for our dinner plans we decided to go see the Boston Tea Party Ship. We were a little surprised when all we saw was this:
The water with no ship. I guess the ship was getting restored so we decided we would just take a picture of where it was supposed to be. The next morning was Patriot Day (Monday) and that means race day. Patriot Day in Boston is a holiday and the race is HUGE for the city and for the world. Elite athletes compete in the Boston from everywhere, especially the fast countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, USA, etc. Jenni ran an AWESOMELY FAST time of 3:32, which is about 8:07 minutes per mile for the 26.2 miles. She smoked the race and it was a well deserved accomplishment. Here are all the pictures from the race.
Watching Jenni around mile 6.
Mile 15.
The 23,000 plus people that ran the race and the crowds at the finish.
The finish is where I became the saddest that I wasn't running. The cheers and crowds just ran a tingle down my spine and it made me realize how much I regretted not doing the Boston in any of the years between 2003 and 2005 when I was qualified to go. Thankfully, I have a wonderful friend who plans on making sure I re-qualify for Boston and then running it again with me in the near future.After the race we ate dinner at the 'Barking Crab'. Jenni's mom ordered the lobster. She let me try a piece. It was my first LOBSTER experience and I am proud to say it was in Boston and it was good. I love this picture...After dinner we walked around the Harvard campus and then headed home. It's an 8 hour drive between DC and Boston so we stopped to sleep in New Jersey. On Tuesday, we hurried back to DC so we could tour the Supreme Court Building on Capitol Hill. I learned SO much on this tour and thought it was pretty cool. You actually couldn't take any pictures inside the Supreme Court room so the second picture is from the foyer into the room.
We saw the reception rooms.The famous spiral staircase.The Supreme Court Library.And...the Basketball Court that sits right above the Supreme Court room. Did you know that? I didn't until I toured the building. The best part...we played!
The Supreme Court Building is right across from the Capitol Building.On Tuesday evening we went for a run (in our Boston Marathon shorts) along the Mt. Vernon trail. It runs along the Potomac River and you get gorgeous views of the city. The Reagan International Airport is also right across the way so when the planes take off and land they go RIGHT OVER your head.The next day, Wednesday, I was supposed to go home. My flight was canceled so I spent the day with Jenni hard at work with her 7th grade math students. After school, we ventured out to Georgetown and walked around. I LOVED that city.
Cobblestone streets. Brick sidewalks.
Old school.
Georgetown cupcakes-the happening place. And they were good! We got the white chocolate raspberry. SO yummy!
After Georgetown we of course had to go for another run. We drove down to Old Town Alexandria in VA and ran down to the waterfront along King St. and then up to the Masonic Temple. It was about 4-5 miles.
The DC area is filled with great places and great running. There was sooo much more to see that I never got to. That makes an excuse for another trip:). Thanks Jenni for a wonderful tour and vacation!!!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2009-04-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

I finally made it home from Washington DC just in time for my BirThDAy! Brandon gave me this really cute apron. I am pretty impressed with his picking out abilities on this. Here it is...

A Day in the 7th Grade

2009-04-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

Right now I am sitting in my GREAT friend Jenni's classroom of 7th grade math students. My flight out to Utah for this afternoon is canceled due to the dang weather and now I am stuck in the DC area for another day. (I will post about this vacation visiting Jenni in DC when I get home.) I miss you Brandon:(.

Anyways, 7th grade math came back to me in a flash. I now have all the area formulas re-memorized and could most likely pass a Geometry Test with flying colors. Thanks Jenni! You are a great teacher.

Some of the students were hilarious. This post is just to record a funny conversation I had with a fellow Asian during 3rd period.

7th grader: "So, where are you from?" (He sits in the desk closest to the teacher's desk, which is where I was sitting.)
Me: "I am from Utah."
7th grader: "Oh Utah. Huh. I was just wondering because you look Asian."
Me: "Oh yeah. Good job for catching that right on. Most people think I am Hispanic or Polynesian."
7th grader: "Yeah, you look Asian."
Me: "Well, you look Asian too."
7th grader: "I am. I am Filipino."
Me: "Asians are good because they can always pick out a fellow Asian."
7th grader: "Yeah. (While motioning a head nod and giving me some kind of salute.) COM.MUN.ITY!"

The darnedest things that even Junior High kids say. Awesome.

Rainbow Cake

2009-04-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

I saw this on a friend's blog a while back and I finally decided to make it. It was SO easy and FUN to make. The best part is surprising all your cake eaters when you cut into it for the first time and they see the inside. Awesome.

So here is a picture run down of how mine turned out:

If you are thinking of making it, then check out this website for the instructions. I added the strawberries for extra good taste. Overall, this cake was really YUMMY!

A Pet

2009-04-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago was the Relief Society BiRThDay PaRty. We had a pinata to celebrate and there were a ton of little trinkets falling all over. I happened upon this little guy:
Why our RS was giving us things like this and what they expected us to do with them, I don't know. After a little thought, I decided I was going to use my lizard to play a trick on Brandon. So when I got home I shoved him into the covers of our bed to try and scare Brandon into thinking a real lizard was hiding. I got all ready for bed and climbed in anxiously waiting to see the look on Brandon's face when he got in. As he pulled back the covers and saw the little creature, I heard a soft gasp in his voice while he made a double take and then touched it (making sure it was fake of course). I was laughing hysterically. He always falls for my tricks:0!

Hiding in the covers

Well, this little guy has now become our pet. I still hide him in Brandon's belongings trying to scare him every now and then and sometimes IT WORKS!!

Brandon even tried to make a come back once. He shoved him in my bra while I was showering (I will keep that one pictureless), but it never worked. Anyways, just wanted to share some of our good funny times (journal purposes). Sorry if you thought it was stupid.

a NEW kind of sewing...

2009-03-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

...the other day in FNP school we learned how to suture/stitch/sew...whatever you want to call it. We practiced this skill using pig's feet. Basically, we took a scalpel and made an incision on our pig's feet. Then we numbed him up with our fake lidocaine (saline) and completed the suturing. We did this process over and over for a few hours. It was awesome- not poking people with needles, but that I know how to suture someone's major cut!

Sunny Moab

2009-03-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went down to sunny Moab, UT for the half marathon. It was gorgeous! The weather was perfect and it felt so good to get some sun.
Note: Skip this and the next paragraph if you don't want to hear details about running. The race was a success! My love for running has been restored because of this weekend. The conditions were prime. Overall, the race felt super fast. It went by so quick and people were just fast pace. It was like one minute we started then the next it was mile 8 and soon enough we were finishing. I think it partly went by so fast because I felt good for mainly the entire time. I went in planning to run no faster than 10 minute miles for a few reasons 1) I have not run more than 9 miles at once in the last 6 months 2) I only ran those 9 mile runs twice 3) with 2 weeks left until race day I got pretty sick and didn't run for 10 days straight and 4) my total weekly mileage over the last 6 months had not exceeded 20 miles.

Needless to say, my goal for this race was to have fun and finish. So I started out really slow and just enjoyed the scenery. At about mile 5 I really warmed up and started picking up the pace. At mile 8 I realized that I felt pretty good and picked up the pace again. At mile 10 or 11 I knew I was almost done and still felt good so I picked up the pace once again. I ended up finishing in 1:52 (one hour and 52 minutes). That is far from my personal best, but I was still pretty happy with my time considering my lack of training.

Pre-race

At the finish

After the race, we went up the canyon along the Colorado River and did a 4 mile round trip hike out to an arch in Negro Bills Canyon. It was a really nice hike along a stream. We had so much fun being in the outdoors. Here is a bunch of pictures...

Talent

2009-03-04T17:52:00.000-08:00

I took some pictures of the drawings Brandon did when he was in HS. He had to pull them out the other day for the ward talent show display. He is an amazing artist, but sadly he really wants to bury the talent because he just does not enjoy it. He says he is too much of a perfectionist with his drawings and loses the patience to complete his work.
The last two are kinda washed out because of the camera.
This last one was actually auctioned off for $22,000 in the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show. Brandon received a small percentage of the moola and the rest went to scholarships. Cool huh!

Lately...

2009-02-26T11:38:00.001-08:00

So here is what we have been up to lately...

I finished my last cram test at school! Each week we go through a bunch of material on Common Disorders and then we have the weekend to take a test on it. We fit a semester's worth of information into 7 weeks. Here is what my nose has been in for the last month and a half...
Almost all those papers are double sided so you can imagine a double the sized stack. It's just filled with various disorders, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, management, risk factors, and teaching, etc. I should bind those all together and make a big, fat textbook. It feels so good to be done with all that studying. Now, I can go and apply it to real life by spending the hours in clinical actually helping people (or learning how to help people).

I had my first day of clinical on Tuesday and it was great. I am set up in a clinic in Nephi, UT. Wow, hick city:)/?! It's so fun. I love the rural setting. I think I would love to work in a rural community, but would never want to live there. I need civilization. Anyways, I saw a lot of what we talked about in class. I am super comfortable gathering the history and doing a physical exam, but it's still very scary to make a diagnosis and plan for treatment. Good thing I have another year of school!/?

Brandon has been busy with school as well. He started his MS program in Electrical Engineering this January. He studies almost as much as me.

Other items of business:
Brandon's calling is with the Deacons. I laughed when he put his old Scout shirt on for the Court of Honor or whatever it is they do. I wasn't making fun of him. He just looked so cute. He is such a wonderful husband and person;).

I changed brands in running shoes. I have always been an Asics person minus the couple years I tried Addidas and Mizuno. After the Addidas (loved but more expensive than Asics) and Mizuno (did not really like) didn't work out, I went back to Asics and never thought I would stray ever again. Well, Runner's Corner convinced me to try Saucony. So here is my new running shoe for the Moab Half and Wasatch Back.
Please don't ask me about my training. It's barely existent at the moment. The nice weather we have had lately is what is making it barely existent. Please keep the beautiful warmth coming.
Lastly, the occasional mornings we get to sleep in have been wonderful. My favorite is waking up to the birds chirping outside our window. Spring is in the air and life is wonderful!

Second Round!

2009-02-26T10:47:00.000-08:00

I know I just recently did this tag but it is one I like and I have new things to say (thanks Zandra/!). So here it is...

8 Favorite TV Shows:
1) 24- This is our all time favorite! It's been in our lives since the beginning.
2) Leverage
3) House
4) Prison Break- This one should be coming back on soon. We are waiting.
5) Law and Order
6) I think that is pretty much all the TV we watch and sometimes we don't even get to them. So how about movies...
7) The Bourne Identity series!
8) Game Plan

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1) Fed the cat for my visiting teachee who is out of town.
2) Went to school and learned about major eye disorders (from an ophthalmologist). It's an interesting field. If I think I can get really good at looking in eyes then it is possibly in my future.
3) Studied for my LAST binge and purge test of the semester.
4) Went to Charge Nurse meeting at work. Attempted to study during the meeting:)
5) Went to the Cardiac Partiac (big heart services staff meeting).
6) Ate 2 hot dogs for dinner because they are really fast and it was the only thing handy.
7) Went visiting teaching.
8) Took my test!

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:
1) Warmer weather. I know it is right around the corner!
2) Summer break
3) Going to Moab in a few weekends!
4) The Wasatch Back in June
5) Biking
6) A trip to Boston to see Jenni run her marathon
7) Hiking
8) Trying out my new Sun-dried Tomato chicken marinade

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1) Red Lobster- This is my new favorite since before Valentine's Day. They have the best Wood Fire Grilled BBQ Chicken and Shrimp. Yum!
2) Sakura Teppan House
3) Olive Garden
4) China Garden
5) Cafe Rio
6) Zupas
7) Papa John's Pizza
8) Subway

8 Things on my wish list:
1) An apron
2) A swim suit
3) A finished paper (that big Critical Appraisal)
4) That all the nuisance bugs would die (ie. Box Elder Bugs). Do you think the day care next to us would mind if we chopped down there bug infested tree?
5) That Brandon's car would die so we could get a truck. j/k...I don't want to spend the money.
6) A vacation to Hawaii
7) A maid
8) World peace:)

8 people I tag:
1) Sharla (now you can get your blog rolling:))
2) Kristyn
3) Ginger
4) Jenni
5) Lindsey
6) Tori (so you can have another list!)
7) Princess
8) Anyone who wants to!

My new toy...

2009-02-07T13:14:00.001-08:00

...came in the mail yesterday. I am so excited that it is finally here! We have to use a program called Epocrates for clinical in Nurse Practitioner school and now I can put it on my new iPod Touch. The iPod is so stinkin' skinny, crazy great. It's going to be super nice to carry my little iPod around rather than a clunky PDA.

Shrapnel

2009-02-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

Shrapnel is the best salsa of its kind. There are A LOT of good salsa recipes out there and each one is a little different. Well, this one is really different. That is why it is called shrapnel rather than salsa. Here it is:

1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 onion, red or yellow
bunch of cilantro
2 avocado, cut into small pieces
1 or 2 cans of Casera Mexican Salsa (depends on how runny you want it)

Optional trade-outs or add-ins:
green onions
garlic
lime juice

Here is how it may turn out:

Honest Scrap!

2009-01-25T18:20:00.000-08:00

Anna gave me the Honest Scrap Award! The rules of this award include listing 7 random things about yourself and passing it onto 7 honest bloggers. So seven random facts about me:

1) People confuse me for a Latin American. I am truly a mut and if we get into specifics then I am Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch and Irish. Judge me by the color of my skin if you want, but it won't change who I am. Numerous and I mean numerous people ask me if I speak Spanish or they just blurt out the language that I do not know expecting me to respond (lately, I am wishing I had taken Spanish in HS). It's all good. I take it for a nice laugh everytime. Here is a conversation between me and my now husband when we were dating for only about 2 weeks:

Brandon: (He had just met my sister for the first time) "Why does she look Asian?"

Moi: "Because she is!/?"

Brandon: "Oh. Really?" (I can tell by the look on his face that he is ultimately confused. He wants to ask if she is adopted or if I am adopted, but is unsure of how to ask.)

Moi: "I am Asian. We are both Asian. What did you think I was?"

Brandon: "Well, uh I don't really know but I guess hispanic or something. I thought you spoke Spanish."

BTW, I speak more French than I do Spanish. I went the French route in HS.

2) I am all about pushing my body to the limits. I love doing athletic things. Here is some of the big stuff I have done: run 4 marathons, 3 half-marathons and 5 triathlons.

3) I have a very strong intolerance to the cold. My fingers, toes and back just cannot handle cold weather. I look forward to our move to a warmer climate (such as CA) in the near future!

4) I love school, but deep down I have this fear about becoming a Nurse Practitioner. It's HARD! I will be on my own and people's lives will be in my hands. School is going just great, but when a patient comes to you with a complaint and it can be about 50 hundred different things. Oh man. Kinda scary!

5) I am an organized, clean-a-holic. I cannot stand a dirty house! I have to deep-clean-scrub everything in the house once a week. Thanks Brandon for always doing such a good job at scrubbing your half of the house.

6) I am a control freak, but have been working really really hard at humbling myself and just going with the flow. Do you remember the cartoon show Rugrats? It was all about the babies and then there was the mean cousin named Angelica. Well, my family nicknamed me "Angelica" because I was the controlling, bossy one.

7) In my last year of nursing school I went to Ghana in Africa for study abroad. We worked a little bit in an orphanage and at a local hospital. I can honestly say, "I have been to Africa!"
I would now like to honor...
1) Terri
2) Z
3) Princess
4) Michelle
5) Emily
6) Ann
7) Karen
...with the Honest Scrap Award! I look forward to seeing your posts:)!/

SamOaS

2009-01-14T21:08:00.000-08:00

Samoas ice cream has finally come around again. It's the best ever! I wish it would stick around all year instead of only at girl scout cookie time.

A Slopey Mess

2009-01-02T13:02:00.000-08:00

The other day Brandon and I decided to hit the slopes up in Sundance Ski Resort. I have never been down hill anything, but Brandon really likes to snowboard. We had so much FUN snowboarding! I actually really liked it despite its detrimental effects on my body. I spent a lot of time on the ground during the first hour, but eventually got the hang of the snowboard and really enjoyed it.

(The above picture is actually after I have face planted. I am not posing:). Those edges are harsh!)

I had a couple of embarrassing moments involving the ski lift. Brandon really wishes he could have had a camera ready when I had to jump off the lift about 10ft because I missed the turn off thingy. Then another one when the lift worker told me I was lucky because he almost had to stop the lift for me to get on. Although, I don't claim that one as my fault because I got stuck in the middle and I felt like the two on either side of me were making it very difficult for me to keep my balance.

The weather was perfect for us to be out there and the snow was nice and fluffy. All the pictures were taken by Brandon so he wasn't able to be in very many. I didn't have much coordination as I was trying to learn the board, keep my balance, and watch where I was going at the same time so I didn't taken any of Brandon on the slopes. The only one I got was afterwards.
He's so cute with his board and hat hair. Hehe. We had a great time and hopefully we can go again soon.

Just the Two of Us!

2008-12-27T17:41:00.001-08:00

Christmas came and went and it didn't feel very different because I worked the morning and then it was just the two of us, so the day seemed no different than any other. However, it was still a wonderful day and we got used to spending Christmas Day as a little family. We would finish up one activity and then say, "Ok! What should we do next!?" We felt like we should be doing something special and different, but couldn't come up with how you celebrate with only one other person:). Well here is a little of what we did anyways:

Ate yummy Dibs for Christmas Eve dessert and felt like we were French people enjoying their Bonbons!

Took care of sick people:

Opened up presents:

Raced the RC Cars that we got:

Watched the crazy snow and had a mini snowball fight (sorry no pictures of the fight):

and lastly, talked to our families on the phone and ate a delicious Christmas dinner of stuffed chicken and holiday tatoes! (sorry no pictures here either, but it was good!).

The Fiber Optic Christmas Tree

2008-12-14T15:07:00.001-08:00

Last year we were away for Christmas and in the process of moving into our new house, so we didn't get out any decorations for the holidays. This year I have to work Christmas Eve and Day so we are spending the holidays just the two of us at home. As a result, we had to splurge on some Christmas decorations so we could get into the spirit of the holiday! We started out early in December at Wal.Mart searching for the perfect tree. We stumbled upon this fiber optic tree and since Brandon loves anything fiber optic we took it home. Here is a picture...
And this one gives you a better idea of the colors...
Well, this tree was really fun to have around the house and we liked it, but it just wasn't a full on Christmas tree like we were both used to having. It's the small kind that you place on a table and it just might look a little funny if we place ornaments on it. So back to the store we went. To get a tree that fits more into our minds of Christmas. Now our home is decorated for the holidays! Sorry the lighting is bad. It was hard to get a good picture that captures the lights and decorations of our tree.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Brandon's Car

2008-12-03T20:04:00.000-08:00

Every time I walk by Brandon's car I see this...
I laugh out loud each time. It's hilarious because he keeps shoving that light back into place and then while we are driving we hear a loud klunk in the front of the car and it's out again. This poor light is hanging by only a cord, but the car has many years to go. Hopefully the light can hang on!

IT's GoNe!

2008-11-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

For the last 2 weeks or more I had been contemplating chopping off my hair and donating it. I have donated my hair to Locks of Love a few times before, but it's still so nerve racking every time. I searched the internet and looked at other's haircuts trying to decide what I wanted. I was thinking that the shorter the better, but not too short. I've never had a haircut shorter than my shoulders so it was time to try it out.

Before:
On Sunday, I decided this was a go and I was planning for the big chop off on Monday. I went to Platinum Salon (this was recommended to me) and realized they were closed. Such a bummer. I had finally gotten up the nerve to get it done and now it was going to have to be postponed. Well I still went through with it and I am glad I did. Now, it is so so so short. It's crazy that all my hair is gone. Total chop off was 13 inches (over an entire foot). Some cute kid is going to have a nice head of hair now, which I am happy about.

Brandon likes it. He had this enormous smile across his face when he saw my new look for the first time. It was a fun moment.

After:

The Big 8 Tag

2008-11-10T13:08:00.000-08:00

8 Favorite TV Shows (I don't actually watch TV very much, so these are in order of most watched):
1) Man vs. Wild
2) Destroyed in Seconds
3) Anything interesting on the Animal Planet
4) Mythbusters (These first 4 are the ones I have gotten used to watching because Brandon often rules the remote.)
5) Deal or No Deal
6) KSL 5 News
7) 24 (When it comes back on)
8) The Pretender (on DVD)

8 Things I did yesterday:
1) Went to Church
2) Took a nap
3) Returned the Redbox
4) Made a roast in the crockpot
5) Dishes
6) Watched funny YouTube videos with Brandon
7) Watched a little TV
8) Thought a lot about chopping off my hair

8 Things to look forward to:
1) First Anniversary next week!!
2) This Holiday Season (I love the Holidays)
3) Going to CA (home) for Thanksgiving
4) My 1/2 Marathon season coming this spring
5) The Wasatch Back
6) Being a real live NP in 2 years
7) Straight A's this semester (maybe)
8) A new haircut (I think I am looking forward to this one though I am kinda scared)

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1) The Olive Garden
2) China Garden (Best Chinese in Provo!)
3) Tucanos
4) Cafe Rio
5) Papa John's Pizza
6) The Happy Sumo
7) Magleby's
8) Sizzler's Salad Bar

8 Things on my Wish List:
1) A little baby!
2) A maid
3) A Truck
4) That I was done with my Thesis
5) That we move to CA when we are done with school
6) That I could run the Boston Marathon
7) A cute haircut
8) No more cold weather or snow starting New Year's Day

8 People I tag:
1) Lauren Davies Heal
2) Angel
3) Liz
4) Anna Tew
5) Kathy
6) Heather
7) Cory
8) Everyone that wants to. It's a fun one! (Thanks Ali)

Cinnamon Rolls

2008-11-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

The hit around our home this weekend has been the cinnamon rolls. I have found that Shirley's Bakery in Provo, UT makes THE BEST ones. I wish I knew the recipe she used to make her dough soooo fluffy and soft and good. It's a real treat to have these because we get to enjoy the deliciousness without doing all the work.

The closest recipe that I have found to Shirley's Bakery is very good, but it's A TON of work. I would only recommend trying this at home if you love to bake because if you don't, you won't want to enter the kitchen anymore after making these rolls (lots of standing and messing and cleaning). Here is my recipe:

1/2 cup warm water
2 pkg yeast
2 Tbsp sugar
1 pkg vanilla instant pudding
2 cup skim milk (room temp)
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp salt
8 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup butter, melted
2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1/4 cup butter, softened

In a small bowl, combine water, yeast, and sugar. Stir until dissolved; set aside. In large bowl, mix pudding with milk. Add 1/2 cup melted butter, egg, and salt. Mix well, then add yeast mixture and blend well. Gradually add flour and knead until smooth, adding a little more flour if needed (this is a soft dough). Place in a very large greased bowl. Cover and let rise until double in size. Punch down and cover and let rise again.

Roll dough out on a large floured surface to a rectangle about 34x21 inches in size. Brush the 1 cup melted butter over dough. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over butter. Roll dough up and cut into about 24 rolls. Pat each roll as you place it into a large greased pan (this helps keep rolls in shape). Let rolls rise in a warm place about 20 minutes. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until done.

Frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth; beat in vanilla and milk. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Frost rolls while still very warm.

For the freezer: After cutting the rolls, flash freeze on a cookie sheet, then wrap for freezing (Ziploc works well here). Before you go to bed, take out the ones you want, put them in a pan, place in the oven with if OFF and the light on. In the morning, bake as usual.

Tip: After baking 15 minutes, place foil over them and bake for another 10 minutes more. This keeps the rolls from over browning and they stay soft.

Nickelback

2008-10-28T19:27:00.000-07:00

I feel a bit out of character posting this. Who knows why, but I love Nickelback. I have always pretty much enjoyed all their songs, not just the hits. When I found out that my dAd really likes them as well I thought it was kind of funny. Now, I just think we both have pretty good taste!

Fusion of Art and Science

2008-10-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

The Body Worlds exhibit is in Salt Lake City at The Leonardo Museum. Brandon and I decided to go up and see it. It was awesome! I loved it. It brought me back to my anatomy lab days of working on the cadavers. I remember teaching in the anatomy lab and always sharing Elder Russell M. Nelson's (Cardiothoracic Surgeon by Profession) speech entitled The Magnificence of Man (click the title to read or skim the speech). It is such a neat talk about the human body and magnificent creation that it is.

If you haven't seen Body Worlds or know anything about it, here is a little sneak peak at what you would get. If you don't like to look at cadavers in any way, I suggest you stop here.
This is the Archer. The forearm muscles are amazingly dissected on this cadaver. The forearm muscle unit is one of the hardest to learn because of how many muscles are actually in the forearm with long-4-word names.The vessels around this heart are so intricate. I guess they inject a dye into the bloodstream and then dissect all the tissue off, leaving only the vasculature. The entire process is called plastination. The capillary network is so tiny and amazing. Our bodies are the coolest.
This one is the Hurdler.
The soccer player isn't actually at the Salt Lake Exhibition, but I found the picture while searching for others.
The Horse Back Riders. I wonder how many hours it took to dissect this entire piece. Horses have great musculature.

Random Stupid Moment

2008-10-22T17:34:00.000-07:00

There is something about the cold air that can make a person undergo a real large brain tweak or in other words, a stupid moment. I learned this today while eating dinner.

I was very cold this afternoon and decided that I needed a nice warm bowl of Campbell's Vegetable Soup for dinner. I checked the back label for directions in heating up this delightful meal for two. I was confident that I knew what I was doing. Brandon watched over my shoulders while I dumped the contents into the pot and heated it up. He groaned a little at this choice in meal, but decided he didn't have anything better to cook so he would just deal with it.

I was very confident the back DID NOT say to add 1 can of water. In fact, I checked the back label over to make sure I didn't need to add water because I can never remember which canned soups need water added and which ones do not. After 7 minutes or so the soup was boiling and we were good to go.

I made it through half of my bowl when I realized that something didn't taste right. I wondered if we really were supposed to add water because it tasted very thick and concentrated. I pulled the can out of the garbage and searched the back label all over once again. THERE, VERY TOP IN LARGE CAPITAL LETTERS READ: 1 CAN SOUP + 1 CAN WATER.

No wonder it tasted wrong and why didn't I see that before and why did it take me so long to realize it tasted gross. I added a little water to my bowl and nuked it for a minute. I finished it off with a much better taste.

This is what I learned besides coldness making me stupid, I deserved it because just before I had been on a rampage venting about Questar and the stupid and dishonest company they are. I won't go into details, but too bad you can't choose your gas company.

The End.

10.17.08

2008-10-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Brandon's Birthday! I asked him what he wanted and he said nothing. I couldn't think of anything that he had mentioned he wanted so I decided to fill his birthday up with things he loves. Maybe I will get him a good present down the road when I think of something great.

Once Brandon got home from school, we started his birthday cElEbrAtIOn!! We went for a fun bike ride on some trails up Provo Canyon.
Then we headed home to make his favorite dinner. Pasta Alfredo Special. This homemade meal is really the best there is!!
For Brandon's favorite dessert/birthday cake, I made little cheesecakes with raspberries and blueberries for the toppings. Everything was so good!
Lastly, we watched the Discovery Channel and it just happened to be Man vs. Wild. A crazy show of killing an alligator and then eating it. I would only watch it for Brandon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BRANDON!!!

26.2

2008-10-07T10:53:00.000-07:00

This is the 2008 STG Marathon Poster!

It's finally finished!! That is what I was saying the last 10 miles of the race when I was being brutally hit by the non-stop pouring rain and the miserably cold head wind. I felt so good until mile 16 when my goal time (03:40) pacer passed me. I let myself get into this mental rut and started noticing the major cramping coming from my right hip. Everything just plummeted down hill from there. At mile 23 I decided my 12 minute miles were just as slow as walking so I opted for a fast walk. After only about a quarter of a mile into walking I figured I didn't come here to finish like that, so I picked my aching legs up and started a slow jog. Through the tears (which were thankfully unnoticed because of the heavy rain), I finished in under 4 hours. I would have been doubly crushed if I hadn't. My official time was 03:58:24. The worst ever out of my four marathons.

I attribute it to the poor training (or lack thereof) and the cold, wet, torturous rain. Therefore, it's only half my fault. When I finished I told Brandon to never let me do that again. I take that back. It has been only 2 full days and my sore body has quickly recovered. Running is my passion. I will be back.

Before the race. It was raining, but you can't tell.

The only picture Brandon got of me was at the finish. I guess I was too fast for the camera!
(You don't want to see me anyways. I will describe it to you: soaking wet, frowning, hurting, cold, miserable)
The first thing I did when I finished was get my wet clothes off and put on warm clothes. I was shivering (my lower lip was an uncontrolled quiver) really bad and getting muscle spasms in my quads.
Finished and cleaned up!

I didn't notice this until I was finished. I looked down the back of my shoe and it was covered in blood. My sock was covered in smeared (wet) blood. I had 4 big friction burns on my left heel.
I didn't notice this one until I got home. It wasn't just on the back of my shoe. The front mesh is covered in blood from my baby toe (friction burn there as well). This is HARD CORE!

Tradition.Spirit.Honor

2008-09-27T19:50:00.001-07:00

Go Cougars!!!!

SHOULD be STUDYING

2008-09-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

I really should be studying, but instead I want to blog. It has been nearly three years since I set foot in that BYU Testing Center. I was really nervous while walking from one end of campus to the other so I could enter that dreadful testing center. In fact, I was so nervous that I had to call Brandon to make sure I remembered everything I needed to bring with me. How could I forget- a pencil and my BYU ID card. It really has been a while. Well that ended today when I walked in to take my first real test in Graduate School! Oh, it felt weird. Floods of memories came back while I walked up the stairs to the triple doors area and then into the small room where you request your test and lastly into the giant room with rows and rows of desks. I sat in my usual area for tradition's sake and whipped through my test. It wasn't bad, at least I don't think. Maybe I will be saying different when I find out what I get in a week. Anyways, it feels more official now that I have made it through my first test. I guess I am 2 years closer now to being Connie, NP. Oh joy! By the way, the pictures are downloaded from the BYU Testing Center page. They are for all you fellow BYUians and BYU Alumni to reminisce about this building.

LOOK what IKE did...

2008-09-14T16:05:00.000-07:00

...to Brandon's Family's house in Texas. Brandon wanted a post made about this, but refuses to come on here. I haven't been on the blog in so long because school and work have overtaken my life. Oh yeah, and the marathon that is now only 3 weeks away has taken some of my life as well. Since it has been a while, I figured I should just post something. I thought about letting everyone know about the bee who decided to sting me on my neck (directly inferior of my thyroid gland to be exact) and it hurt really bad, but I didn't think it would be very interesting in the end. So, here I am posting about the damage of devastating Hurricane Ike for Brandon.

Brandon's family lives in Spring, TX which is approximately 30 minutes north of Houston. They were not in the evacuation area, but were still going to get some of the high winds and rain. Nobody was hurt in our family, just our house. One of the big pine trees in the back yard fell right on the house and damaged the roof and back wall. Also, the power is out for their entire neighborhood and I think it's even more in the entire Houston area. It is estimated that they will be out of power for 2-4 weeks. Yikamolee!! Hopefully they can get power back a lot sooner than that. I'm so glad we have a prophet who consistently reminds us to put together our emergency kits and food storage and I am especially grateful when we obey that command.

I guess it's going to be a bit tricky to get the tree off the house (especially without power) because we don't want it to fall and break anything else. The plans are in to use another tree and rope to lift it off the house. Here are some pictures of the fallen tree:

Letters

2008-08-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Brandon,

Thank you for waking up at 0445 this morning to go for a 20 mile bike ride while I ran. Half of it was in the dark so thank goodness you were there. I get scared when I am by myself.

Love,
Your WIFE

Dear BODY,

You really need to learn to deal with the long runs. The marathon is fast approaching. Let's put it this way. If you don't hurt then we can be done faster.

Sincerely,
MIND

Dear MIND,

Stop talking yourself out of running. You know you love it because you keep going back to it. Also, just tell yourself you can do it and that you really believe in the old saying: "Mind over Matter".

Sincerely,
BODY

Dear Allyson Felix,

I am so glad you won the silver in the Women's 200M. You are a great person and thanks for being such a good competitor. Veronica Brown-Campbell is really fast, but I think you will beat her next time.

~An old HS Distance Runner

Dear Usain Bolt,

I think your head is really big. Sometimes it is so big that I can't stand to watch you. However, you are really fast. In fact, the fastest man in the world. Kudos to you on your new world record.

~An avid Olympics viewer

Dear Bryan Clay,

Congratulations!! You are the WORLD'S GREATEST ATHLETE. I remember when my dad made us watch that movie years ago. It was really good, if I remember correctly. Have you seen it? My friend Brianna went to Azusa Pacific with you. Fine choice in schools for the decathlon.

~A BYU Cougar who doesn't compete

Dear Ryan Hall,

Good luck in your Olympic marathon. You are a stellar runner and have always been a stellar runner.

~A fan of you and your wife Sara Bei Hall

Dear Synchronized Swimmers,

What an interesting sport you have all taken up. I haven't completely decided what I think of you yet, but your swim suits are very glittery.

~A first time watcher

Dear Budweiser,

How dare you call yourselves proud sponsors of the Olympic games. Have you been around what you sell and do you know what it does to people? Maybe you should think again.

~Someone who wants to get rid of you

Dear Laundry,

You are my most despised household chore. It is because of you that I wish I was born a Genie who could snap their fingers and have you cleaned, folded, and put away properly.

Sincerely,
Someone who is NOT a fan

Dear Air Fresheners,

You make houses smell soooo good. Thanks for giving off such fine scents.

~Hawaiian Breeze

Olympic Moments

2008-08-15T19:09:00.001-07:00

I was so sad that I couldn't stay awake and watch the spectacular duo go 1-2 in the All-around Women's Gymnastics. I really fought to stay awake, but ended up having to hear the news the next morning. I watched the replays of the event highlights. Nastia Liukin was phenomenal. I thought she just flew and then landed so soft and perfect. Shawn Johnson as always is just great. I get so scared for her on the beam and then she sticks it! I think Nastia and Shawn's gold silver finish is my new favorite Olympic moment. These two are great and have excellent sportsmanship. I think it is fun to have the rivalry, but it is so great how they support, congratulate, and encourage each other as friends. I am stoked that these two made Olympic history! It was also really exciting to watch the team finals where USA women took silver and men bronze. I love the Olympics. I keep getting sad because I think they are almost over, but then I remember that we still have all the track and field to watch!! Oh yeah, I almost forgot about one of my other favorite Olympic moments. In women's beach volleyball, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh are the best. How many straight match wins? Nearly 100! And how many straight set wins? I don't know, but a lot! Awesome. My favorite Olympic moment with these "queens of the beach" was during the match against Belgium. Misty and Kerri were down by two points with Belgium having the set point. USA kicked it up a notch because they ended up winning the set! Belgium lost their chance at that set and at the game because then Misty and Kerri rocked out in the second set for a match win. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh are headed straight for the gold!!

Olympic Moments

2008-08-11T13:34:00.001-07:00

The time has finally come! I love watching the Olympics and I am addicted. So far my favorite Olympic moment happened last night at the Water Cube. Most of you were probably watching the amazing come back of Team USA during the Mens 4x100M Freestyle Relay. I will explain what happened just in case any of you missed it.

Michael Phelps started out followed by Gale then Jones. When Lezak entered the pool as the anchor, Team USA was behind France by an entire body length. France had been talking smack about Team USA for a couple of days about this race. They were the favorite and looked as if they were going to get their gold until the last 50 meters. Out of no where, Lezak starts gaining on Bernard (France) and flies to the finish just hundredths of a second in front of France! Lezak won it for USA and helped Phelps keep his goal of 8 Gold Medals this Olympics. It was an amazing and unbelievable finish!/? Lezak actually came in with a split of 46.06, the fastest 100M relay split in history! Plus, Team USA smashed the previous world record (held by themselves) by 4 seconds. The new world record is 3:08:24. For the news report and picture click here.

Here is a link of the video footage from that race on You Tube. I would recommend starting to watch the video around 3:25-3:30 then watch for about 30-40 seconds. The entire race is there if you want though.

I didn't want to put it on my blog just in case people start getting in trouble for not having permission to have this stuff;(.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrsBvw21gUQ

You know you are a runner if...

2008-08-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

Back in my HS days of Cross Country and Track our team had this fun email we would always talk about. You know you are a Cross Country (CC) runner if... The list was great and filled with things only runners could understand because you actually put your body through it. My friends and I would get such a kick out of this list. We could all relate and we all just loved it.Here are some highlights on 'you know you are CC runner if...':

1) ...your toenails are black.
2) ...your shoes have more miles on them than your car does.
3) ...people say, "You run 3 miles...at once?"
4) ...all your socks are either stained (with dirt and blood) or torn.
5) ...you combine phrases like "10 mile run" and "easy run" in the same breath.
6) ...a meal involves more than 3 servings.
7) ...you spend more on training clothes than school clothes.
8) ...you've been to a golf course in every city, but not to play golf.
9) ...the mile in P.E. becomes your warm-up.
10) ...you wake up every morning in pain.
11) ...Red Bull or Gatorade is your drug of choice.
12) ...you asked to be an extra for Schindler's List II.
13) ...you have trouble benching the bar.
14) ...you can sharpen an ax blade on your calves.
15) ..."Chariots of Fire" is actually entertaining to you.
16) ...Steve Prefontaine's Birthday is more important than yours.
17) ...you find yourself saying, "it's not really a hill..."
18) ...your feet are comparable to rawhide.
19) ...you're running and you don't know why.
20) ...you ran a sub 5 on the P.E. mile run. (maybe this would be more like a sub 6)
21) ...you wore spikes on the P.E. mile run.
22) ...you did a 30 minute warm up for the P.E. mile run.
23) ...you haven't had soda in 6 months.
24) ...your calves are bigger than your biceps.
25) ...your toe nails are falling off.
26) ...you can pronounce those Kenyan names.
27) ...you refer to puke as a bodily function.

This morning I dragged Brandon out of bed at 0530 so we could get started on my 14 mile run before the 101 degree forecast could wake up. The St.George Marathon is now only 2 months away (yikees! I have a ton of miles to get done still). Brandon of course rides his bike and is my mobile water stand because he is wonderful! Thanks a million.

For some reason this run brought floods of memories of HS Cross Country to my mind. Hence, the list of reasons to know you are a runner. Here is a short list of why I know I am still a long distance runner:

1) It took me about 5 miles just to get warmed up so my muscles were loose enough to get my pace into sync.
2) Once I got my form into gear I started to notice the small pain in my foot.
3) After I mentally convinced myself there would be a blood stain on my sock (which there was) then I ignored that pain to concentrate on wiping all the sweat out of my eyes. Keep in mind at 6am (well maybe nearly 7am by now) it was probably not quite 80 degrees out yet but pretty dang close.
4) As the morning progressed more and more runners come out to say their cheers to you and everyone greets each other as you pass by because that is the runner's courtesy.
5) I reach 14 miles and when I am able to come to a complete stop I start to notice how tired just about every single muscle in my body is.
6) I take a hot shower and cringe as the hot water stings the multiple chafing areas around my body. I counted out 5 rashes. (I add to the list that IcyHot and Vaseline can become a runner's best friend.)
7) I ate double what Brandon ate for lunch!

Le Tour de France

2008-07-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

I have really gotten into this major event the last few days. Le Tour de France is really interesting to watch and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have found myself following the "yellow jersey" and other race contender stats. For those of you who are not familiar with this historic event, le Tour de France is a cycle race around the entire country of France. It is a 23 day (21 race stages and 2 rest days) tour of over 2,000 miles. The racers are incredible on their bikes. They ride over intense elevations on climb days and gain some crazy speed on sprint days.

I am excited for the final stage when they ride down the Champs-Elysees in Paris. The reason I really admire anyone who competes in the tour is because of how much they have to endure through grueling terrain for 3 weeks. Some days are very rainy and it makes for slippery asphalt. The cyclists have to ride up and down mountains and work through fast turns. Some cyclists even fall off sides of mountains at times and the tour is never complete if you do not see a fall with a domino effect.

In high school, I traveled to France with my french class to prove to ourselves how well we could speak the language:). It was one of my favorite traveling experiences in my life. I remember our bus taking us through some cities in southern France and the roads being blocked off because of the tour. If only I had been as excited about it back then so I could've paid closer attention when I was actually able to see it in person. That would have been when Lance Armstrong was becoming one of the greatest cyclist for the tour and in the world. Oh well, watching it on TV has been fun.

Watching all the athleticism with the Tour de France makes me really look forward to the Olympics...Beijing 8.8.08. The summer Olympics are the best!

Winter is great too...just not as great as summer!