A Detour Worth Taking

My lucky day! Matt and I were running into the mall for a few minutes to get him a new shirt. We parked at Dillard's and had to walk past their beautiful shoe department. Except we didn't walk past it. Dillard's was having one of their big shoe sales. The ones that I never know about ahead of time. The stars alined just right, and I happened to be at the mall just in time to have the first pick of the crop. These are Sofft brand. Normally $89. I got them for $30! Love the color! I had on jeans and a green cardigan. These little yellow beauties looked so cute with the outfit I had on. I wanted to wear them out of the store but I waited until I got in the car on the way home.

We used up our limited mall minutes on my shoe shopping and never made it to the store we were headed for to get Matt's shirt. What a sweet husband. He loves to buy me cute shoes.

You've Got This!

"You've Got This" and "Go Team Kim" were signs that I took personally on Saturday. They might not have been written for me, but I would read those signs along the way, and they boosted me up.

I ran the Ogden Half Marathon on Saturday. It was my second 1/2 marathon and hopefully not my last. Did I really just say that? The theme or slogan for the Ogden Marathon is "Get Out and Live". I LOVE that! I am so thankful for a healthy body that allows me to move and do the things that my mind tells it to do. I thank Heavenly Father frequently for this blessing, and I ask Him to allow it to last for a long time.

Matt and I drove down to Ogden on Friday and went to Union Station to pick up our race bibs, t-shirts, and goodie bags at the expo. The goodie bag was a disappointment, but the shirt is the best race shirt that I have received yet. This doesn't mean that it is a super cool shirt, but it's not so ugly that it will hide in the back of the shelf like my other ones. I may actually wear this out in public! After checking into our hotel, we met Matt's parents at the Brick Oven in Layton. We had a good pasta and garlic bread dinner... followed by a couple of Tums we picked up at WalMart. I certainly didn't want heartburn or a tummy ache that night.

I woke up at 3:30 am and couldn't go back to a good sleep. The alarm went off at 4:30 and our big day began. It's hard to control those nerves before a race. It makes it hard to eat something, and I never want those nerves to cause stomach problems. That is not good for running. But we both coped well with the pre-race jitters. We had to drive downtown, park, and then get to the buses by 5:30.

The race began in Eden, Utah up Ogden Canyon. It was a beautiful morning. It wasn't as cold as we had anticipated. They had fire pits that we could stand by to stay warm. They had fruit and mini Cliff bars for us to eat. So I ate 1/2 a banana and most of the Cliff bar. There were plenty of port-a-potties, so the lines weren't horribly long. Fun music was playing (I think it was a live band). We took a few pictures while we were waiting around. Here are a few...





Finally, 7:00 rolled around, and we were off! I ran with Matt for about a minute, and then I told him to get going. He gave me the "I love you" sign and that was the last I saw of him for the next 2 hours. He was lost in the hoards of runners.

I ran without my music for the first 3 miles or so. I just listened to other people's conversations, to the sounds of shoes hitting the pavement, and to the heavy breathing that some people were already doing. Oh, I felt bad for them if they were already struggling. I felt pretty darn good even going up the big hill. I'm glad that it was at the beginning of the race and not at mile 12 when I was about to fall over. When I did put my music on, I was really happy that my running playlist gave me lots of great songs to keep me going. I'm glad that I took some of the old stuff off that I was getting sick of.

Running by myself for 2 hours wasn't as lonely as I thought it would be. I enjoyed watching other people and looking at the gorgeous scenery of the reservoir and then the canyon walls and river. My pace was good... right where I wanted it. My knees didn't have any pain despite the downhill. I drank plenty of water and Powerade. I ate a few of my "jelly beans" and "honey chews", but I later found out that I didn't eat enough of them. Because by mile 11 and 12 I felt drained and could tell that I had low blood sugar. I knew that eating at that point wouldn't help me much. It was too late for that to kick in and help me with the rest of the race. At mile 12, there was an aid station that had pieces of chocolate chip cookies. I ate one which probably only helped me mentally.

The thought of walking for awhile hadn't even crossed my mind until I came out of the canyon. But when the thought did tempt me around mile 11 and 12, I had to force myself to keep running. I was thinking that I had come this far without walking, so why start now? It would only delay getting to the finish line, and I needed it to be over! Those signs I referred to at the beginning of this post really helped me at this point. Who was this "Team Kim"? I don't know who the real Kim was, but that sign helped me anyway. I kept seeing "You've Got This" along these last two miles, and that boosted me up.

Finally, that last 1/2 mile came. My mantra that I have used for the last two years popped into my mind. I hadn't needed it up until this point in the race, I guess. "I can do hard things!" and my newest one... "I DO hard things!" I said that to myself and I kept moving towards that big banner up ahead... FINISH. Finally, I was close enough to the end to see the clock straight ahead. A big smile came across my face. I saw 2:06 on the clock! I couldn't believe I was beating my goal of 2:10, and I was really beating my unofficial time of my first marathon of 2:23! The clock time last year was something like 2:40 because of a long line at a port-a-potty (it took 15 minutes!) and a couple minutes to cross the starting line.

Because it took me a minute to cross the starting line, my official chip time of my race is 2:05:47. I'm really proud of myself for training better this year. My friend Natalie was a big help to me. I'm really thankful I didn't have to stop to use the bathroom this year:) And I appreciate the love and encouragement I get from my sweet husband everyday. I wouldn't be a runner without him.

After crossing the finish line and receiving my super awesome medal, I saw Matt off to the side waiting for me in the finishers' corral. I threw my arms around him and told him I had nothing left in me to give. I left it all out there. I gave the race all I had. He was proud of me. Thanks, babe! I'm proud of you, too.




Matt met his goal which far exceeded what he did last year at the Salt Lake Half. His finishing time this year was 1:48:34. His goal was to be under 2 hours, but what he really wanted was to be under 1:50. And he did it!

Matt is running the Chicago Marathon (all 26.2 miles!) in October, so that will keep him running this summer. I don't have anything planned right now, but I need to find something to keep me motivated. Anyone up for a little challenge?

From Brazil to Florida

I'm way behind on my Amazing Race wrap-up. It ended last week. Sad for me. Have I mentioned that I LOVE that show? It was a good season. I enjoyed every minute of it. It did not disappoint me. Has it ever?

I'm not in the mood to really write about the last two destinations anymore. But I can't skip it all together. So I will share my favorite part of the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil leg of the race.



You HAVE to watch this. It cracked me up! I wish this clip was longer cause the whole thing was just so hilarious. Maybe if you don't watch the show, it won't be so funny to you cause you don't know these guys. But Zev and Justin were my faves and I wish that they would have won the million dollars. They should have just because of what they had to endure in Brazil. All of the contestants that were left had to go through 15 minutes of a Brazilian waxing session. They didn't get anything waxed "down there", but legs and armpits and chests were done. Zev and Justin were the hairiest contestants by far. Poor guys. Take a minute and watch this short CLIP. They had so much hair to wax that time ran out with only half their chests done!

After the waxing, bar tending, and dancing the samba in carnival clothing, the racers left Brazil and flew to Miami, Florida and made their way to the Florida Keys.



This is a picture of Seven Mile Bridge. The last teams rode bicycles over this bridge to the finish line. The sisters, Kisha and Jen, beat out the Globetrotters, Big Easy and Flight Time. It was a fun finale.

I will miss you Phil Keoghan! Where are "we" going next?

Phase One

In March, Matt and I decided it was about time to get our once dining room transformed into a sitting room. We changed out the light fixture last month, and on Wednesday, the drapes were finished being made and were installed. Love them! They look gorgeous with our existing rug. We are so excited about getting the furniture and seeing it all come together. Everything should be here by mid June... just in time for our six year home anniversary. It's about stinkin' time we fix up the entry to our home. It will finally look lived in and the area will get well used.

This picture it the best I could do with my little camera and the bad lighting.

I Am A Mother

One of my most important "tasks" in my "race" is raising my three beautiful children. It is an absolute joy for me to be their mother. I am truly blessed to have Chelsea, Josh, and Emma in my life. Time is flying by, but I'm so happy that I will have eternity to be with them.

I heard a lady at BYU Women's Conference talk about how she will know her children as adults for eternity, but right now, she is blessed to know them as children. I, too, am grateful for this time in our lives. They will only be children for such a short time. It is almost gone for my Chelsea. Adulthood is just around the corner for her.

Here are some pictures of me with my kiddos.

Landlocked

I'm a week behind on my re-cap of The Amazing Race. I know you really care. But I will still let you in on some of the little factoids that I learned about these places they visited.

The AR peeps traveled from Austria to the country of Liechtenstein. Who's been there? Me either. But I have seen the Rhine River which creates it's western border. Who knows exactly where it is located? Well, I'll tell ya. It is landlocked between Switzerland to its west and Austria to its east. I learned that it is one of only two countries in the world that are landlocked wholly by other landlocked countries. The other country is Uzbekistan. Liechtenstein is the only country that lies entirely within the Alps. It is the 6th smallest independent nation in the world by land area. It has 61.7 square miles and is 15 miles long. For a challenge, the AR peeps had to ride motorized bicycles from the top to bottom and then accurately report what the mileage was. If they were incorrect, they had to do it again. That lead to the elimination of "The Cowboys", who were one of my favorite teams.



The teams had to go to this castle to get a clue. Pretty. Gutenberg Castle is its name.



Next stop... Zermatt, Switzerland. Home of The Matterhorn.



I've been to The Matterhorn at Disneyland... I don't think that counts. I've been to the Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah... that certainly doesn't count either. I need to go to the real deal.

In order to avoid air pollution which may block the visibility of the Matterhorn, all cars in the area are electric. I think that is really cool.



Josh will be happy to know that he can go to Zermatt to ski even in the middle of summer. They are famous for their moguls.

One AR team decided to do the detour of having to eat a huge pot of fondue with heavy bread. I love Justin and Zev (best friends). They crack me up. After watching a "behind the scenes" video clip... yes, I watch some of those. I told you I'm a bit obsessed... I learned that the Swiss music that was being played loudly right next to them actually helped them finish the challenge. I thought that it would make it much harder. The fondue looked so yummy, but Zev said that the cheese wasn't very good because of the alcohol in it.

Look how quaint this town is nestled down in these majestic mountains. I wanna ride this cable car. In the summer.

By Small and Simple Things

"By small and simple things are great things brought to pass" Alma 37:6-7

This was the theme of the 2011 BYU Women's Conference. I was a blessed lady to get to go this year with my mom and sister Heather. I have always wanted to attend the conference, and this year worked out perfectly for me to go. I flew down to SLC on Wednesday. Mom picked me up at the airport, and then we went to pick up my lil sis, Heather. We stayed at a Marriott hotel in Provo.



The conference began Thursday morning. It was a joy being back on BYU campus. I was overwhelmed with the Spirit as I sat in the huge Marriott Center. I got a little choked up as I thought about how lucky my oldest daughter will be next year when she comes here to be a student. I'm a bit jealous.

Elder or President Samuelson presided at the opening session. I joked about how the security ropes and guards were there to keep me from going up to him so that I could demand the half credit that I need in order to be eligible for the on-line bachelor's degree program. I resisted the temptation to beg.



The classes that I attended were all absolutely wonderful. I listened to and was taught by Sister Pearce, Elder Samuelson, Sister Thompson, Sister Beck, and Elder and Sister Bednar. Other presenters I went to are Stephanie Nielson (from NieNie Dialogues) and her three sisters, Janet Rowley, Jana Amundson, Jan Scharman, and Judi VanLeeuwen.

I learned so much. My spiritual bucket was filled.

Here are some pics of my favorite college campus.











On Friday evening, I found myself at my parents' home all by myself. It was so quiet there which is highly unusual. I'm not sure I've even been there alone with my parents since I got married. No siblings, no nieces or nephews, no husband or kids, no dog. It was very peaceful, and I laid in bed watching the Royal Wedding all by myself.

Saturday morning brought a wonderful surprise. My littlest sister decided to drive down from Sugar City, Idaho to show off her new baby. I was able to spend only three hours with her and her kids, but what a gift that was for me. Thanks, LoLo!







Such a sweet little boy. Tate Courtney. Love the name. And I love his soft, little neck!

And another blessing... I got to visit with my older sister, Kristen, who happened to be visiting/helping a friend all the way from good ol' Wyoming! Due to a very late night and also just receiving a long, relaxing, oily massage, she didn't want her picture taken. But when she least expected it, I snapped one anyway!!



Seeing all three of my sisters in one day doesn't happen very often.

The "small and simple things" in my life make my life so great! I'm so grateful for a loving husband who made it possible for me to sneak away from home for a few days so that I could be enriched by the Spirit and also spend time with my family.