Hood To Coast 2008

After many months of planning and training the Hood to Coast Relay came and went. It was a blast! Thanks to everyone on the team that helped make it such a fun, memorable experience!

I could not have picked better people to run 197 miles with!!

Van 1-Pre-Race photo, sorry about the black and white my camera was in the wrong setting.

Left to right: Marcae, me, Kristin, Jeremy, Mike, and Thomas

Our team name was Almost There, there were definitely times that it did not feel that way!

Van 2 left to right: Mallory, Nathan, Joanna, Alex, Megan, WillJeremy and Thomas showing their "guns", happy to be finished with their 1st leg.Half asleep getting ready to start our 2nd legs which would all be in the middle of the night. This was by far my favorite and my fastest leg. Thank you to my awesome and talented sis-in-law Ellen for all of her hard work on the decals for our van!After our 2nd legs we drove to the place where we would meet up with Van 2 to begin our 3rd legs. When we got there the guys and Marcae slept out in their sleeping bags. Kristin and I preferred the warm van. We were all a little envious of Marcae who could sleep just about anywhere.

We used a lot of these which were amazingly clean and not smelly. Atleast that was my experience!!Kristin during her 3rd and final leg!! Yeah!

Once we got to the beach we got to have a shower, that was an experience! Just think junior high locker room. Anyway we were happy to not be covered in dried sweat anymore. This is us post shower waiting for Van 2 to finish and meet us at the finish line.Boy do we need sleep! We look pretty tough, don't we????The finish line was great, chaotic but great. 12,000 runners, lots of spectators, food, music, the ocean, a beautiful sunny day, you can't ask for much more!
Enjoying the moment while waiting for Megan to finish our last leg and meet us at the finish line! So proud of her!!! Megan is my neice who flew up from Utah to run with us! Thank you to Marcae also for flying up from Utah! It would not have been the same without these ladies!! Shout out to Brian, Marcae's husband who kept their 4 month old while she ran! Running toward the finish line, what an awesome feeling of accomplishment and team spirit!

29 hours, 11 minutes, and 45 seconds later we are still smiling and have made many memories in the process! Thanks to an awesome team and to all those who put up with all of the stress that I went through planning it! It was all worth it! Love you guys!

Happy 10 year Anniversary

It is so hard to believe that Mike and I have been married 10 years now. Time goes by so fast!! I still feel like I am in my early 20's and many people tell me I still look like it also. There are so many memories to list but I will list some of my favs.

• Not everything can go perfectly on the wedding day right? I forgot Mike's ring in the brides room and so luckily my Dad's ring worked. I remember mouthing to my Mom that I forgot ther ring and then watching as my Dad took his off and passed it around the room to me.



• Putting faith in Mike and moving to Ohio for Med school where he has interviewed and I had never been in my life. I was scared and nervous but it was where we needed to be and I am so grateful that he listens to the spirit!



• Being with Mike as we stood by his Mom's bedside as she passed into the next life. I will forever be grateful for the man that she raised and for the family that I married into.



• I am grateful that Mike works so hard even during the first year of residency when he was not home a lot and he had to put up with a cranky, homesick wife. Lets just say that leaving all of our friends in Ohio was a very hard thing for me.



• I am grateful for the Father that he is to our 3 kids!!!! He is the fun one and even when he has worked a very long day he always has energy for them.



• I am grateful for his comapassion, loyalty, honesty, integrity, intelligence, and patience.

I could not have made a better decision than the one I made 10 years ago!!!

I love you Mike, Happy Anniversary.

ALASKAN Cruise

Back to life, back to reality! Mike and I got back yesterday from our cruise to Alaska. We had a blast. We went for his Dad's 80th b-day, no kids. It was weird to be able to have conversations with family and not be interrupted. 5 of Mike's 6 siblings were able to be there with there spouses, it was great fun!!!! We were told to be prepared for wet weather, we had sun the whole time! It was awesome! It still was not really warm but I will take 65 and sunny over rain anyday!

Mike and I on the 1st formal night.

They made a table especially for our crew! Table for 14Deep Sea fishing with the boysOn deck at the Hubbard Glacier. This was stunning! There were huge chunks of ice in the water, reminded me of TitanicMike and I after sea kayaking, the Mendenhall Glacier is in the distance. It was awesome, in Juneau there are more bald eagles than people! We saw several of them!Sea kayaking

Having lunch on deck in JuneauBeautiful SunsetKetchikan, Alaska before our ziplining adventureZiplining- I discovered that I have a fear of some heights, but I conquered it, I had no choice I had to do the course to get down. It was fun after the initial step off the platform.2nd formal night

Our waiter Ketut from Bali with the yummy Baked Alaska dessertOur Stretch limo awaiting to take us to Buschart Gardens in Victoria, BC. It helped to have our own personal cruise director! (Thanks Paul!)

Now I am trying to recover and get back into life. It was fun to see my kids again, I missed them! They had a great time with my Mom! Thanks to Aunt Katie and Pa who helped for a couple of days also!!!

On my list in the next 6 weeks:

Watch the Olympics ( I love them!!!)

Finish Breaking Dawn ( I do not have enough time in my day to read right now, I am on pg. 200)

Finishing planning for and running Hood to Coast relay Aug 22-23rd-pray that Mike will be able to run! He sprained his ankle plaing b-ball on the cruise!

Get ready for and start school and preschool

Get ready for and start soccer and dance

Endless back to school, preschool, soccer, and dance meetings

Finish training for the Top of Utah marathon Sept. 20th

Run the marathon

Give Mike time to study for his Oral boards in Chicago October 5th

Maybe plan a trip to Minnesota in October

And the most important of all try to be a good Mom and find some time to sleep!

Wish me luck! Updates to come soon.