Provo Half Marathon

I ran the half-marathon this morning. It was ok. I can't say it was fun. I had fun for 11 miles and then I was like I want to be done right now not in another 2 miles. Maybe I only trained to run 11 miles not 13.

My cousin Melissa ran it with me and that was good. We talked a lot of the way and just enjoyed the scenery. She kept me going.

If I ever ran another one here is what I would do differently:

Eat more for breakfast
Not play soccer the night before, my hamstring was sore before I started running
Don't drink caffeine a half hour before trying to go to bed
Sleep in my own bed
Bring food to eat while running, goo or something
Wear matching clothes there were camera men everywhere

Afterwards we went to Red Robin. It was delicious. Dan would not get out of bed to cheer me on and take pictures but he came to the post run feast.

My least favorite day

Today is the worst day of the school year, except for picture day. Here is how it has all gone down:

Do we have to do PE today?

Can we wear our costumes in PE?

What we are going outside, I forgot my sweats?

Do you think I can run in my high heels?

Do you have tissue to fix my face paint?

What my costume does not count as PE clothes?

My costume takes a half hour to take on and off can I just not change?

Ms. Brown what are you dressed up as? Really is that a real question. I answer PE teacher and everyone laughs. I think are they serious. How did I miss the joke.

Our principal is great he does not want costumes to interfere with normal class and so he wants us to still do PE. But other than picture day this is the one day I wish I could stay home. EVERY YEAR.

On a happier note I became on aunt this morning around nine. I don't know the details but obviously I am totally pumped.

A Busy Weekend

Friday I just felt sick all day. Lakeridge had 20% of our student body gone everyday last week. The flu season has come. I felt fine until I didn't sleep on Wednesday. So that brings me back to Friday. I was achy all day and just wanted to sleep. But it was Michelle's birthday and so I wanted to hang out with her as well.

I must say I was hesitant because I swore I would never eat at Treasure Island and of course that was where she wanted to go. I however did not dress up as a pirate. But some of the party did. Obviously Michelle did. Here is the birthday girl.

I have not seen Michelle in a long time so it was fun to see her. She made a good pirate. It was fun to see all my friends from my old ward. It has been way to long.


Dan came along as well. He was his usual entertaining self. You know making jokes. Calling our waitress a wench, you know always a pleasure to have in public. Although she did look like one, her costume was sketchy, and he didn't let her hear him say it.

After the party I went home and read and slept. Today I felt ok and so I ran 9 miles, my half-marathon is next week. And then I did not feel so great and so I slept. Didn't really feel good again until I went to dinner at Cafe Rio with some family. Once I ate their nachos, as suggested by Erica, I felt great.

Lucky for me my Aunt and Uncle were out of town this week and they let me have one of their tickets to the BYU game. It was fun to be back in cougar stadium. Gotta love those mountains in the background.

Unfortunately the only good thing about the game was the fans. The refs were bad, the cougars were bad, and the weather was bad (not horrible but not great). You know it has been a long game when the fans are cheering for the back-up quarterback to come in. Oh well, what do you do. I stayed until the bitter end just like in the old'n' days.

Too Much Reading, Too Little Sleep

I have been on a reading kick. I have just been reading two or three books a week on top of teaching, playing sports, coaching. I just finished this book last night (recommended by my uncle Lou):

It was so good. I stayed up until 2am finishing. Retarded. I have to watch myself very carefully today so that I am not grouchy with my students because I am tired. I should have still gotten 5 hours of sleep but I don't think I slept at all. The problem was that I couldn't stop thinking about this book. As well as my life.

Thinking about how blessed I am to live in America. How blessed I am that I almost always feel safe. That I know my family is safe. That I am a women and have endless opportunities. That I have a job. An education. I can worship as I please. That I have never felt like violence is a cure or an answer. I have never witnessed with my own eyes any real violence or acts of hatred.

The book is fiction but it is based on things that really are happening. This book was another reminder to me of REAL problems happening all over the world. And of course how blessed I am.

My Book

I am an author. It is a very boring book. I don't recommend it. However, it represents a lot of time, effort, stress, frustration, anger, and possibly tears. My Mom is probably the only person that will read it. We will see if she can even get through it. I hope to never read it again.

It came in the mail yesterday. Yea for me. It is my last official business with BYU. It is official everything to do with grad school has been completed.

tired of pictures yet?

Luncheon and reception

The Luncheon was on Friday after the wedding. I am only mentioning the luncheon because I was in charge of the center pieces. I was a little nervous about this. After going to every craft store in Utah (which is why I have not been blogging) I had an idea of what I wanted to do. My Mom and Aunt put them all together.

On Saturday morning we headed up to Nampa for the reception. Amanda's family was great. They are so nice. They had the cultural hall beautifully set-up and it was a really fun night.

My family may have been late to the reception and it may have been my fault. But the first person I saw was Carrie. She stopped in it was really fun to know one person there.

Amanda is very talented. In fact that is one reason Sam fell in love with her. But she made her own cake. No classes. Practiced three times and then did it. I thought it turned out great.

The padres. Amanda's family really is great. Her parents are really nice. Sam really lucked out in this department.

My Dad HATES being late. Despite that we were late he smiled the entire night. I was very proud of Him.

Bride and groom. They made it! They were late as well.

Sam's reaction to Aaron's girlfriend Alicia catching the bouquet. Pretty priceless.

Aaron pretending he is giving the flowers to Alicia.

And last of all what Dan wanted to do to himself after two whole days all about Sam.

The Temple

On Friday October 9th Sam and Amanda got married. The sealing was nice, the weather was tolerable, and it was a great day.

Amanda and Sam were so happy. And CUTE!

The past few weeks have been really stressful for Sam and thankfully Friday was not he just enjoyed himself and his new bride.

Ben and Katie as well as Anthony were all missed.

I always think it feels weird to do a sibling shot and family shot when everyone can't be there. But that is life.

I love the brown skirt I bought for the occasion. I splurged a little on it but it was totally worth it. I love it. You can kind of see it in this shot with the siblings.

Sam's parents. Thankfully my Dad's body cooperated and he felt decent the whole trip. I mean he was his usual grumpy/joking self so we consider that good. He got sleep every night which is really important for Him. We will see how he is as he recovers from the long but quick trip.

The brothers.

Me and my parents waiting while the photographer is working his magic.

And some people felt left out and so they wanted a picture knowing it would most likely end up here.

Sam and Joel came to the wedding as well. Caleb was real excited to see them.