Wilcox visit!

Here is the link to look at our pictures from our wilcox visit! We had a ton of fun and went to Bridal Veil falls, Antelope Island, Bryce Canyon, the dollar theater, Zions National park and the Coral Sand Dunes. And some other places like church and the park and Eric's parents house. Thanks for coming!
Go here to see the pictures!

Stuff

So a few days ago our neighbors who we shared internet with moved, so no more internet for us. For a while. We'll see when we get new neighbors if they want to share.

We just got called two weeks ago to be the teachers of the 10 year old Valiant primary class. We have a roudy group of about 8, but hopefully we can win them over soon!

We also had a lovely visit from Sage and Troy and family! It was a magical 5 days together. When we get internet or when I remember to bring my computer to work Ill post a few pictures and give a few more details.

Other than that things are good. Today was REALLY hot and I finally remembered that braiding my hair makes it crimpy. I hate blogging without pictures so Ill take one real quick. Here is day two of the crimp, so it doesnt look that spectacular but better than frizz. It also helps that I finally got some Bed Head shampoo (one of the only kinds Im not allergic to and that I can use the conditioner on.) Now my hair is soft and smells like Kiwi! Yum!

MARATHON! UTAH VALLEY! FINISHED!

3 am prepping for the marathon.
Cara and Quincy waiting for me at mile 21 1/2 with Eric. Cara came with Cambria and Quincy. Kathy, Feliz and Indee came also. Thank you so much! It made running easier (slightly) to know that I had support! Eric was there too of course and Elizabeth (my good friend) also showed.
Also thanks everyone who made a motivational track for me. I loved them all!

Here is Cambria.
At this point I might have been smiling but I was in pain.
You can see my head just over this guy in the front here with the hat.
Cambria helped me find the creamies and snacks that they give at the end of the race.
Feliz made this cool shirt for me and had everyone's name on it. It made me happy! Oh and Im showing off my cool metal I got here. It now rests next to Eric's plaque that he got from his marathon. Of course his says 3rd place male for age group 20-24.
Left foot blister.
Elizabeth was a great help. She rode her bike along next to me for the last two miles which helped me to keep going. She was originally flexing in this picture and it looks like I tried to flex too, but she stopped and so I just look like a silly little girl.
These are the two toes that hurt the most. And the right foot blister. The blisters hurt yesterday, but I popped them and so they feel much better now.


Also, I didn't really get that great of time. I did it in 5:35 minutes and got 1,519th place... but I beat 116 other people! Not too bad! I was just happy to have finished and now that its over I believe it was my first and my last.

I felt great for the first 15 miles but the last 11 were killer. So next time I run a long race it will just be a half marathon.

Buildup

So first things first for an update on Debbie's marathon training. Something exciting happened and she got an interview with ESPN. Sadly they decided not to air it, but we had least were able to write down everything that was said.

ESPN: So are you ready for the big race?

Debbie: Well, sort of. I guess I'm really as ready as I'll ever be. I mean, I was probably more ready a month ago.

ESPN:What do you mean you were more ready a month ago?

Debbie: Well, I think as time goes on I get less and less motivation to get ready for it because it is a lot of work, and so luckily the race isn't at the end of the summer!

ESPN: So do you think you can do it?

Debbie: Absolutely!

ESPN: Do you have any tactics that will help you to get through the race?

Debbie: Yeah. From the email I got from the race people and the course map it looks like people aren't allowed to cheer while I am running in the canyon. That's about 2/3 of the race. So I'm having people make motivational cheering tracks for me to listen to on my ipod randomly while I run. I think that will help me to want to keep going.

ESPN: Can anyone make these tracks?

Debbie: Yeah, Just tell them to send it to my email! Anyone cheering me on is great!

ESPN: Anything else?

Debbie: Yeah, the whole course is downhill. It goes from an elevation of 6,000 feet to 4,000 feet. I'm really good at running downhill. That is definitely my strong point, so I think that will be a big help in allowing me to run to the best of my abilities. And I just want to give a shout-out to all my friends and family, especially my husband Eric for supporting me this whole time during training.

ESPN: Thank you Debbie! Good luck to you and if you would like to cheer Debbie on and you are in the area, the race is this next Saturday and you can cheer off of University Ave. And if you aren't in the area you can send her a motivational track to put on her ipod and hear while she is running. Thank you.
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Pretty cool! So Im adding the other blog to this, so it will be long, but that way no one misses this extra stuff.

So we had a little scare the other day.

As you can tell from this picture, this is Eric's new bike. The other day (tuesday to be exact) we went on a bike ride to Utah lake. I was trying to show Eric the free entrance to the lake but I couldn't find the road off of Geneva road (turns out they took out the road. No wonder!). So we decided to head back. It's all uphill on the way back and since now Eric has the fast bike he was way ahead of me and good thing. We were in Lindon and Eric has already gone past the intersection. I was about 50 feet away from it when these two girls weren't paying attention ran their red light and slammed into a truck going through his green light. Luckily no one was hurt and the cars weren't badly damaged. But what if I had been closer and been right in the middle of the intersection? Yeah, I would have been smashed! Or the two pedestrians who were right next to me. We even had the white walking man! There were about 10 of us who saw it who were right there in the intersection.

A couple weeks ago I decided we should start wearing bike helmets as much as it pained me. We do now, but luckily we haven't had to experience their main use.

We also had a few visitor drop by. Robbie, Tiffany and Daxton. It was fun to finally meet baby Daxton (they live in Vegas and were able to adopt Daxton just a few months ago)



Also, I finally caved into getting Eric a real candy jar. And I finally laminated our souveneirs from Romania.



And we went on a hike down Adams Canyon with Hayden and Indee a few weeks ago.


And saw some baby horses on our way to the trail. Sadly though, they were napping on the way back when we got out the camera.

Lots of new things!

So today was the most exciting day of my life! I ran home from work (one of my ways of getting some of my runs in is by riding my bike to work, then running home afterwards, then the next day I run to school and ride the bike home. Somedays I run both ways. It's 3 1/2 one way) and when I got home Eric showed me a flyer from on our door. We got a recycling bin! Actually its a recycling DUMPSTER! I asked our manager for our apartments if it was possible to get one and we got one! I am so happy!

Then we went on a hike a little while ago. Here are some pictures from that. We went to bridal veil falls.


Look how high the water level is for the Provo River! Its really deep and fast right now.

Next, for my inside garden. Here are one of my little plants from last week.

And then from this week. They grew a lot!

And then for my garden that I worked on for about 3 hours on saturday. I planted zucchini, yellow crooked neck squash, green beans and yellow beans, peas, okra, bell peppers and tomato. Only one plant is not from seed (tomato) because already established plants were too expensive. And the onions in the garden were already there so I left them so that I can eat them.

And last but not least, I splurged and got a 0 degree sleeping bag so that I hopefully won't freeze on my camping trips anymore. Also you notice that little thing in my hand? Its my new jacket! Im so excited about it. I have wanted one for a really long time and they finally went on super sale. Im real sad though because they only had one left so I wasnt able to get one for Eric. Hopefully soon though. Its a rain/ wind jacket that only weighs 4 oz and is perfect for backpacking, camping, hiking and traveling. I hope to use it a lot.

And then here is a picture of Eric from our date night to Nickel City. Eric did really well on this game. Of course he did well on all of them actually. At least much better than me.

Our finished puzzle.

And a bonus picture.

Puzzles and a Garden

So here is my garden room as of late. Indee helped me to decorate my tomato plant holders and I hung them up to the ceiling.

I just put some seeds on the soil on wednesday night and they are already sprouting.

Today our neighbor was having a yard sale and I went and talked with her because they were selling the cutest little miniature pincher puppy and I had to just sit and play with it. Anyways, I commented on how its cool that she has a bunch of square foot gardens in her back yard and she said I can use one of them to plant my own garden! Sweet! I think Im going to take her up on it. It looked like it was about 6 x 6 feet. So the big question is... what should I plant in it? any suggestions?


So it looks to me like this picture must have been taken early in the morning. Eric and I (but mostly Eric) worked on this 500 piece puzzle for a little while this week. Took us about 5 days to do it. It was tough because of all the snow. I've had the puzzle for about 5 years, but this was the first time it has ever been put together. We got two new puzzles from our neighbor Julie's sale as well. They look like they will be more fun than this one was. We have some finished product pictures, but they aren't on the computer yet. We'll see if I remember to put those on later.

Summer + fun books that aren't for school = happy

As my way to celebrate the beginning of summer/end of the fall semester, I read a book. Not just any book, mind you: a neverending one. Apparently the term "neverending" really just means about 380 pages. If that's the case, I've read LOTS of neverending books.

I was excited to read this book because the movie was one of my favorites growing up. I cried along with Atreyu each time Artax died in the Swamp of Sadness (which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, because wouldn't Atreyu die too because he's crying?) and ran with him as he bolted past the Sphinxes with the electrifying stares. Boy, was I in for a letdown.

Luckily, life goes on, because "NeverEnding Story" by German-born author Michael Ende (or is it Neverende?) was a waste of my life, which could have been wasted learning Ryu's upside-down kick on "Street Fighter II". The movie follows the book pretty closely, up until where the movie ends. The book doesn't end there, in fact it goes on for an extra 200 boring pages. Overall, the book gets a low "C" grade while the movie stays up on my list with a shining "B+".

And, for anyone who has seen the movie but still has no idea what name Bastian yells out at the end (I always thought it was his mother's name, but I guess not), the name is: Moonchild. Explain that one to me, Atreyu.