Wasatch Back 2009

Okay, so I'm a little behind in my posts. But I had to share some pictures from our 31-hour, 187.5 mile relay from Logan to Park City. Our start time was 12:45 pm, Friday, June 19th. We ran through heat, rain, dark, animal sightings, hail, and cold. We had 12 people on our team, with 3 drivers. We lived out of our 2 vans, and catnapped when we could. It was a great experience and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Our Fearless Driver, Matt

Mark after our 2 hour nap at Marcie's parents house.

Bill running like a mad man.

Cannon snoozing in the van. Believe me, he EARNED this nap!

Brent and me doing our chip commercial right after my second run. You gotta entertain yourself any way you can, right?

Stretching and waiting for the handoff before my 2nd run.

Mark handing the baton (slap bracelet) off to Cannon at 5:30 in the morning. We had to wear reflective vests and carry a flashlight or wear a headlamp during the dark hours. They were stylin'!

Brent and Cannon ran the "Ragnar Hill" which was in Wasatch Mountain State Park. It was a dirt road with about an 8% uphill grade if I remember right. Pictures just don't show how hard these two runs were. And it started raining during Brent's run. This picture was obviously before Brent started.

The handoff. These two definitely earned my respect!

Just before Brent handed off to me for my last run, it started hailing! And I must say that hail hurts bare legs! I passed this little snowman someone had made from the hail and made Matt go back and take a picture of it. It rained pretty hard for all of my 7.3 mile run. I was a popsicle by the time I finished. Then I handed off to Bill, who was our last runner, and we headed to the finish line to wait for him.

This is most of our team huddled at the finish line. It was still raining and cold, but at least we were finished running, right? Except that they have your entire team run the last few hundred yards to the finish line. So you wait for your runner and then join them so that they can take official pictures, etc.

Our team sporting our Wasatch Back 2009 medals. Don't we look tough?

Normal is Relative

Occassionally, I post pictures of me and/or Matt that are a little...well...creative. You may wonder why we take pictures like that. Here's your answer. All of the following were taken at a recent family barbeque at our house. None were posed. This is just what my family does when faced with a camera.

My brother Rodney.

My sister Valerie.

My niece Sydney.

My brother Brent.

Either Jackson or Jordan. I can't tell.

My nephew Tanner. ( I might add that this is pretty normal for him, but I had to add the popsicle shot because he's a MOOCHER. Whenever there's food around, he mooches from anyone who'll share. It's kind of like grazing.)

My nephew Eli. Yep, we start 'em young.

Matt, the King of odd camera shots. (Also notice Eli in the background.)

Family Photo

It's really sad when you go to take a family photo and this is the best one...

Aren't Cars Just Moving Billboards?

I got this idea from someone else who recently adopted and thought that I would put my time stuck in traffic to good use! So my friend Kiirstin made this for me on her Cricut. (Thanks, Kiirstin!)

I hope we get the word out there a little more with this. We're so excited to welcome a little one to our family and its REALLY hard to be patient. I'm lucky to have nieces and nephews and neighbors to play with, but it's just not the same. I'm ready to change diapers and stay up all night!

Tagged!

I was tagged by Xazmin at This is the Year. I'm supposed to list 6 unimportant things that make me happy. Only 6? This list could go on and on. But I'll try to contain myself.

1. Turtle Brownies. Anything with chocolate, caramel, AND nuts has to be delicious, right?

2. Watching my garden grow. Except that the birds keep eating my zucchini plants. But I recently purchased a slingshot that has definitely been put to good use!

3. Wind in my face. I've always been a fan of wind. That's one reason I love my little pink scooter.

4. A capella music. I love listening to a capella music. Especially men. My current favorites are The King's Singers and Voice Male. Good stuff.

5. Clean bathrooms. Especially if I didn't have to clean them. (Now to get started on that clean laundry pile that keeps growing in my bedroom.)

6. Running. I love the feeling just after finishing a run (and realizing I'm still alive).

Now I'm tagging:
Dadra
Cassie
Valerie
Kiirstin
Jennifer
Heather

Snapshots of My Crazy Life

Wow. I've started this post half a dozen times, but I never know where to start. So I'm going to start rambling...

First off, I'm going back to teaching in the fall. I wasn't planning on it. I wasn't even looking for a job. I have connections to a charter school near my house and they needed a math teacher for their 7th and 8th grades. So I got a phone call. Not completely ecstatic about working full-time again, but I'm excited about the school. It's all about hands-on learning, and that makes it more fun to teach. Plus I'll only have about 100 students. Can't beat that. But...

In order to teach, you need a little thing called a valid teaching license. Mine expires at the end of the month. Blast! So now I'm taking two college math classes to renew my license. I'm trying to finish them ASAP, but we'll see how that goes! If anyone wants to brush up on their math, come on over! I'll let you do a few problems! I begged the teachers to let me join the online classes about 3 weeks late, so I have a lot of catching up to do before...

Youth Conference is this week also. It being a stake YC, I don't have as much that I'm in charge of, but I still get to go. Maybe they'll have wireless out there in the wilderness so that I can do my math homework. Then...

I have to leave YC early Saturday morning to head out to the Holgate reunion out in the Uintah Basin. I love these reunions, but it's too bad it's at the same time as YC. I'm excited to see all of Matt's family and see the amazing quilts they've made for the annual raffle. I'm pretty jealous. Maybe I'll sew one while I'm in the car for...

Next weekend is the Wasatch Back. I've posted about it before. But it's almost here!! I'm starting to get nervous because they changed the course and my legs got longer. Bummer. And they got more difficult. Bummer again. Well, if nothing else, I can walk, right? Our group secured a 15-passenger van, so we should have plenty of room to spread out, and I'm grateful for that!Last year was a little cramped. We start the race at 12:45 pm and are expected to finish at around 5ish the next day. After the race...

Girl's Camp is looming. It's a ward camp and I've never done one before. Neither have either of my counselors, my secretary, or my camp director. This oughta be a good learning experience! I'm just waiting to get up there only to discover we forgot something essential, like TP or forks or a tent! Only time will tell. But we'll definitely be prepared with lots of good snacks! And s'mores! Then back to life...

I've started teaching piano again and I have lots of math tutoring (including math camps that go for a couple of hours for a week--anyone need an Algebra review or preview?) lined up for the summer. Plus, Matt's as whiny as ever. Just kidding. Matt has been absolutely amazing. He's been helping more around the house, running errands, listening to my incoherent babbling about sine and cosine and which one equals 1 where, AND he's been rubbing my legs after the hard runs! I have a fantabulous husband!

Overall, life is crazy right now (did I mention that my 17 year old niece might move in with us this week?) but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have a wonderful husband, very supportive and highly entertaining family, amazing friends and neighbors, and a Heavenly Father that wants me to learn all that I can. Crazy? Definitely. But it's all mine.

A Post Stolen From My Sister--Thanks, Val!

I read this on my sister's blog and had to share. It made me laugh.
Another good one from
www.SixWise.com
A teacher of first-graders gave her students the first half of a well-known proverb, then asked them to compete the saying. What they came up with will make you smile, laugh and likely wonder at the wisdom that comes from the mouths of babes.
Don't change horses … until they stop running
Strike while the … bug is close.
It’s always darkest before … Daylight Savings Time.
Never underestimate the power of … termites.
You can lead a horse to water but … How?
Don’t bite the hand that … looks dirty.
No news is … impossible.
A miss is as good as a … Mr.
You can’t teach an old dog new … Math.
If you lie down with dogs, you’ll … stink in the morning.
Love all, trust … Me.
The pen is mightier than the … pigs.
And idle mind is … the best way to relax.
Where there’s smoke there’s … pollution.
Happy the bride who … gets all the presents.
A penny saved is … not much.
Two’s company, three’s … the Musketeers.
Don’t put off until tomorrow what … you put on to go to bed.
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and … you have to blow your nose.
There are none so blind as … Stevie Wonder.
Children should be seen and not … spanked or grounded.
If at first you don’t succeed … get new batteries.
You get out of something only what you … See in the picture on the box.
When the blind lead the blind … get out of the way.
A bird in the hand … is going to poop on you.
Better late than … Pregnant.