Best Investment Ever, Right Christian?

This trampoline is saving the summer!

The Random Daily Events

Cali had an unfortunate run in with a box doing box jumps in a school PE class.

Carter tries on some Frontier Day outfit ideas.

Caleb too tired to go on.

Cali creates a fancy braid for my hair.

First Ride of the Year

So thankful to be out on the road this early in the year!

Never Too Cold to Run Outside

This is How We Work

First day of school information table. Now, if only there were some students to give information to...

I Love This Bike

I am really so thankful for this bike. I love it so much!

You Don't See That Everyday...

Waiting for Carter's baseball practice to get over, and what do I see, the real Ringling Bros. Circus train rolled right through the middle of Rock Springs.

Taking Down Christmas

And just like that, it was all over. All the Christmas programs and the Christmas shopping, all the Christmas parties and Christmas decorating. It comes and goes so quickly. Did I take time to enjoy it? Or, did I spend all my time and energy running around like a crazy? Maybe some of both?

 

As I took the decorations down I thought a lot about how I want to remember the holidays and things that I can do better in the future to reduce stress and make the time enjoyable for everyone, even me.

 

Here are a few pictures of the decorations as they were being put away.

 

Our tree of 9 years finally bit the big one, and whole sections refused to stay lit. We'll be buying a new tree next Christmas.

 

We received a lot of cards from family and friends and displayed them on a little tree in the entry way.

 

We made a Christmas count down with pictures of Jesus and a scripture to go with each day in December leading up to Christmas.

These Things Happened

Caleb fell asleep in a pile of warm laundry.

I was terrified by a spider I found crawling up my door at work.

Caleb captured his view from the back seat.

Caleb showed up in my bathroom with Spiderman's suction cup webs hooked to his nipples.

I captured a picture of Carter striding across the field with his soccer shin guards on, carrying a football, and the rest of his gear in his baseball bag.

Just Me

A Lion on the Loose

 

Every summer our neighbor has her dog groomed to resemble an African lion, every summer my kids love it!

The Worst Baseball Game of the Year

It's weird, the kids didn't seem that cold, but parents were freezing. Baseball season started off on the wrong foot. It's not right to watch "America's Favorite Pass Time" in full winter gear while shivering. Freezing temps makes baseball the worst!

CrossFit Open

I participated in the Crossfit open. Every week for five weeks a workout is announced on Thursday night, and then each competitor completes the workout by Monday morning. I completed my workouts on Saturday mornings along with most of the other competitors.

It was a good experience, and one that I would probably do again. During the completion I got my first toes to bar (50 of them to be exact), and was able to complete five chest to bar pull ups.

There was a huge amount of support from all the participants and gym members. My parents and Christian were able to come to two of the Saturday competitions and I'm not sure if they were impressed or horrified.

There were several friends and family in attendance who took pictures. Said pictures ended up on Facebook with me being tagged in the most unflattering of poses and angles. Here are a few of the priceless gems I pulled from Facebook.

Winter Blues

I can only handle the wind for so long before I feel like I am going to cry or freak out. This winter was particularly trying in this department. On two occasions, that I can recall, I broke into complete tears while walking through the howling wind. I can't express how maddening the constant wind is.

Also, although me and my kids avoided the worst of the winter sicknesses. Bethany and Brock seemed to catch several different bouts with tummy bugs. Luckily they had Caleb to take care of them.

Back in Action

There is no one I would rather work with than my tiny sissy. Over the years we've had several work adventures together, so I was more than happy to be reunited once again. Although, this time we aren't working in the same exact office, it's a small enough campus that we can frequently see one another. Just for history's sake, and to recap the good times:

 

 

May 2003-August 2003:

Cammie, University of Utah Registrar's Office

Bethany, University of Utah Athletics Office

 

 August 2003-August 2004:

Cammie, University of Utah Registrar's Office

Bethany, University or Utah Registrar's Office

 

April 2008-October 2008: (picture on the left taken)

Cammie, University of Utah Healthcare Training Dept.

Bethany, University of Utah Healthcare Training Dept.

 

December 2013- (picture on the right taken)

Cammie, Western Wyoming Community College, TAACCCT grant

Bethany, Western Wyoming Community College, GEARUP grant

First Day of Work/New Weird Life

As Dory would say, "Life is lifey." Sometimes life doesn't exactly work out the way you had hoped or planned. In fact, sometimes despite your very best efforts, the agency of others directly affects your future and your potential decisions. Bethany's story of love and trust and trial, isn't really mine to tell. However, parts of her journey have indeed impacted my life and the life of our family.

After her arrival in late November it became apparent that her life may be going in a much different direction, and that she would most likely need to get a job while she was staying with us in Rock Springs.

Throughout this adventurous ordeal we started calling her new reality, "Weird Life". I guess, as opposed to a non-weird life. I took this picture of her and Brock on the first day of her new job in Rock Springs, and Brock's first day at his babysitter.

Little did we know that weird life would turn into a great life, and the weirdness would slowly slip away.

...and Just Like That, Summer and Fall Were Over

 

This is what the first weekend of October looked like for us this year. Luckily it was still warm enough and the snow was wet enough to make some serious snow men and snow balls.

13.1

After six weeks of training, and a lot of anticipation, I finally ran my first half marathon.

We drove to Castle Dale the evening before the race and I picked up my race packet in Price. We stayed the night in Castle Dale and then got up bright and early to meet at the park in Huntington to catch a ride to the starting line.

My brother Brandt, always good for emotion support, ran the 10K and I was so glad to have someone to make me laugh and calm my nerves on the way to the starting line.

After a short bathroom break and a warm-up time it was time to the hit the road. I came out pretty fast with a decent pace and then first five miles blew by.  By mile six I was on pace to run my fastest 10K time ever at 51:00. Mile seven, eight, nine, ten, and ten and a half all came and went a steady pace. Then, to my dismay, somewhere right before mile 12 something happened. I approached the aid station at the mile marker right at 2:00:00, a little disappointed, I pressed on. I actually wanted to finish the entire race in 2:00:00, but figured I'd be within 2:09:00. What I didn't anticipate was that the last mile was uphill, in the heat, and I wasn't prepared for the fatigue.

With about a half mile left, I could see the finish line. I told my legs to move, but they didn't respond as quickly or as effciently as they had earlier in the race. In addition to the finish line, I also saw Cali and Brandt coming toward me. Cali was with my dad waiting at the finish line, and Brandt was done with the 10K and waited around too. They both ran about a quarter of a mile with me. Brandt kept saying, "you can do it, keep going, go faster". I really wanted to kill him and thank him all at once.

About 2:15:00 after I began this journey, it was over, I crossed the finish line. Thanks to my sister in law, Alexis for capturing these precious moments for me!
 

 

 

I also have to mention that Brandt's friend Jared came from Provo with Brandt to run the marathon and hang out in Castle Dale. Jared is one of the top NCAA 10K runners in the nation. I'm sure you can tell spot the elite athlete among the regular people. Anyway, Jared received permission from his coach to use the marathon as his work out for that day. Since he was already scheduled for a 26 mile workout, it seemed like a natural fit. He had instructions from his coach not to race, but just workout. Well, Jared finished the full marathon in 2:42:00. The next closest finisher was a full hour behind him.

 

 

It was a great experience. I will probably do it again, now that I know what to expect.