I usually hate when people call their posts "update" because when I blog I try to come up with some cute or clever title. However, tonight my post is "update" because I'm tired, and I really don't know what else to call it.
I am currently in Indiana visiting my family. I've been having lots of fun here getting to see family and friends. I got to attend my sisters (very hot) graduation. I'm not sure if she even noticed if I was there, but I was! There are pictures to prove it!
Saturday was her open house party. I guess these open houses aren't a nation-wide thing. It's just basically a party where people come, eat, and give you a card full of money for graduating. I helped my mom make food and I saw lots of people! It was a nice way to get in a lot of visiting in one spot. I made Andrea a quilt for graduation and gave it to her on Saturday. She seemed to like it alright, but for all the work I put into it I was expecting a window-shattering shriek of delight when she opened it. I guess I can't compete with a 50 dollar bill :).
Tony left today to go back to Utah. He has work and didn't want to take a whole week off in his first month of employment. Something about making good impressions.... I was pretty depressed all day today and the hours seemed to drag on forever as I waited for him to return to Utah and call me to tell me he was okay. Luckily, I have some pretty cool sisters who invited me into their room to watch funny YouTube videos. It was really fun to just pile on the bed and giggle at all of the funny videos of babies on YouTube. We also played with Andrea's cool, new iTouch. I was grateful to have them help me pass the time away and cheer me up a little bit.
Now I am just waiting for Tony to get back to the apartment. I'm sure he is visiting with his family, but I don't know how long I can last!
5/31/09
5/21/09
To the City of Pleasant Grove (and its drivers):
First of all, let me express how much I enjoy living in PG. There are things close by, lots of friendly people, and it's nice and quiet compared to the Provo scene Tony and I are used to.
But...
Why are there no sidewalks in this stinking town?! No matter where we seem to go there are no sidewalks! And if there are sidewalks, they last only for about 100 feet or so, then drop off into a ditch or sewage drain.
I suppose most people don't mind the lack of sidewalks because of these wonderful things called automobiles....but I DO. Who doesn't like to take a nice Sunday stroll when the weather is beautiful outside? But, I mostly mind because Tony and I love to go running at night. Running without sidewalks is a pretty tricky deal here in PG, especially when you factor in the lovely drivers that cruise 700 South from 9 to 10pm each night.
No sidewalks I can learn to deal with. I've learned to run in gravel and dirt and on the shoulders of some tricky, dark roads. But I think that no one else in the "Grove" realizes that there aren't sidewalks for runners to run on (or walkers to walk on). Each night Tony and I venture out to get in our daily exercise and to no surprise we get brights flashed at us, multiple honks, and other gestures that seem to say "Hey, don't you know that you're RUNNING?!" Of course we do.
I am not, what Tony calls, "sure-footed". I get panicked when it's dark and I can't see where my feet are going. So, lovely drivers of Pleasant Grove, when you honk at me or flash your brights at me to inform me that I am running without sidewalks, it throws me off. Literally. The other night I nearly jumped in front of a car because they honked and it scared me so badly that I jumped. Unfortunatley I jumped the wrong direction, causing for quite a scary moment. Don't worry, I'm alive.
I guess my point is this: yes, I realize I'm running. Yes, I realize I'm running on the shoulder of the road. But I am following all of the pedestrian rules (running against traffic, etc.) and we move as far to the side as we can as a car passes us. If you have a problem with me exercising on the shoulders of the small-town looking roads of PG, take it up with the city, 'cause thar ain't no sidewalks!!
*rant complete*
But...
Why are there no sidewalks in this stinking town?! No matter where we seem to go there are no sidewalks! And if there are sidewalks, they last only for about 100 feet or so, then drop off into a ditch or sewage drain.
I suppose most people don't mind the lack of sidewalks because of these wonderful things called automobiles....but I DO. Who doesn't like to take a nice Sunday stroll when the weather is beautiful outside? But, I mostly mind because Tony and I love to go running at night. Running without sidewalks is a pretty tricky deal here in PG, especially when you factor in the lovely drivers that cruise 700 South from 9 to 10pm each night.
No sidewalks I can learn to deal with. I've learned to run in gravel and dirt and on the shoulders of some tricky, dark roads. But I think that no one else in the "Grove" realizes that there aren't sidewalks for runners to run on (or walkers to walk on). Each night Tony and I venture out to get in our daily exercise and to no surprise we get brights flashed at us, multiple honks, and other gestures that seem to say "Hey, don't you know that you're RUNNING?!" Of course we do.
I am not, what Tony calls, "sure-footed". I get panicked when it's dark and I can't see where my feet are going. So, lovely drivers of Pleasant Grove, when you honk at me or flash your brights at me to inform me that I am running without sidewalks, it throws me off. Literally. The other night I nearly jumped in front of a car because they honked and it scared me so badly that I jumped. Unfortunatley I jumped the wrong direction, causing for quite a scary moment. Don't worry, I'm alive.
I guess my point is this: yes, I realize I'm running. Yes, I realize I'm running on the shoulder of the road. But I am following all of the pedestrian rules (running against traffic, etc.) and we move as far to the side as we can as a car passes us. If you have a problem with me exercising on the shoulders of the small-town looking roads of PG, take it up with the city, 'cause thar ain't no sidewalks!!
*rant complete*
5/12/09
Dweeb Alert!
First of all, who says dweeb anymore? I do. And it makes me laugh every time I say it.
Second of all, the reason I called this post "Dweeb Alert" is because it's a post on how excited I am for The Biggest Loser finale tonight! (and I know that's kind of dweeb-ish to be so excited about a television show)
I have never been into this show until this season, and (I'll be careful how I say this, my mother might kill me) it's even taken over American Idol on my list of reality TV priorities. AI is still a close second, though.
The reasons I love this show are because I, too am on a weight loss "journey". I want to be healthy and to see these people who started off at nearly 400 pounds learn how to eat better and learn that they CAN be healthy just touches my little heart. I know that they way they do things is a bit extreme, maybe even unsafe, but at 400 pounds there isn't much that ISN'T unsafe. Eight hours of working out seems to be pretty safe to me when I look at the big picture.
Another reason I love this show, especially this season is that they have completely conquered two huge races! Being someone who hopes to call herself a "runner" one day I loved watching this. Halfway through the show they went home to visit their families and had a challenge to run a half marathon. All but one of them finished! Their times couldn't even touch some of these competitive racers, but it was so awesome to see them finish! 13 miles! Then last week they went home for 30 days before the last weigh in and while at home were challenged to run a MARATHON. Holy cow. The thought of running a marathon is very exciting to me, but terrifying as I know I could never do it. Two of the final four ran the entire race, one walked because of injury, and the other, a 50-something year-old man who has bad knees walked the entire thing. He had never finished any challenge before and it was really touching when he finished. (Even though he is the back-stabbing "Godfather" in the contest)
Call me a dork, a dweeb, or even tell me I'm wasting my time on pointless TV shows--but I LOVE The Biggest Loser and I am so pumped for the finale. I even bought myself some Ben & Jerry's Frozen yogurt to munch on while I throw a little party while watching. I'll be alone for half of the finale because Tony is working with a client.
Watch it tonight! I know American Idol is on too, but flip back and forth during commercials--you won't regret it :)
Second of all, the reason I called this post "Dweeb Alert" is because it's a post on how excited I am for The Biggest Loser finale tonight! (and I know that's kind of dweeb-ish to be so excited about a television show)
I have never been into this show until this season, and (I'll be careful how I say this, my mother might kill me) it's even taken over American Idol on my list of reality TV priorities. AI is still a close second, though.
The reasons I love this show are because I, too am on a weight loss "journey". I want to be healthy and to see these people who started off at nearly 400 pounds learn how to eat better and learn that they CAN be healthy just touches my little heart. I know that they way they do things is a bit extreme, maybe even unsafe, but at 400 pounds there isn't much that ISN'T unsafe. Eight hours of working out seems to be pretty safe to me when I look at the big picture.
Another reason I love this show, especially this season is that they have completely conquered two huge races! Being someone who hopes to call herself a "runner" one day I loved watching this. Halfway through the show they went home to visit their families and had a challenge to run a half marathon. All but one of them finished! Their times couldn't even touch some of these competitive racers, but it was so awesome to see them finish! 13 miles! Then last week they went home for 30 days before the last weigh in and while at home were challenged to run a MARATHON. Holy cow. The thought of running a marathon is very exciting to me, but terrifying as I know I could never do it. Two of the final four ran the entire race, one walked because of injury, and the other, a 50-something year-old man who has bad knees walked the entire thing. He had never finished any challenge before and it was really touching when he finished. (Even though he is the back-stabbing "Godfather" in the contest)
Call me a dork, a dweeb, or even tell me I'm wasting my time on pointless TV shows--but I LOVE The Biggest Loser and I am so pumped for the finale. I even bought myself some Ben & Jerry's Frozen yogurt to munch on while I throw a little party while watching. I'll be alone for half of the finale because Tony is working with a client.
Watch it tonight! I know American Idol is on too, but flip back and forth during commercials--you won't regret it :)
5/6/09
Field Trip!
Today I took the kids I nanny to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. It was a really cool place! I was sad that Tony couldn't join us because it was totally up his alley. Here are some pictures and videos from our prehistoric adventure.
This picture was a pretty funny experience. This is the head of one of those long-necked dinosaurs (I couldn't LEARN a whole lot while at the museum with kids, so I don't know the actual name). We were at an activity station probably making fossil pictures when Gracie looked up and screamed. She looked up and saw this dinosaur looking over our shoulders with his mouth wide open and he scared her. How rude!
These T-Rex's were having some sort of family dispute.
Riding some strange looking dinosaur
Exploring the caves!
Digging in the quarry
I'm not going to lie, this scared me a little. I couldn't get too close because it gave me the heebie-jeebies!
This was such a fun day! I learned a lot about myself, the kids, and how tiring it is to run after kids running in two different directions at a huge museum. I'm gaining much appreciation for all you moms out there. It's such a fun job to be able to play with kids all day but boy, does it wear me out!
This was cracking me up all day. Gracie was so excited to go, but she can't say "museum" correctly. Everytime she would say "yay! We're going to the Dinosaur Museum!" I would just crack up. Cute kid.
Getting ourselves geared up for the Dino madness! Raawr!
This picture was a pretty funny experience. This is the head of one of those long-necked dinosaurs (I couldn't LEARN a whole lot while at the museum with kids, so I don't know the actual name). We were at an activity station probably making fossil pictures when Gracie looked up and screamed. She looked up and saw this dinosaur looking over our shoulders with his mouth wide open and he scared her. How rude!
These T-Rex's were having some sort of family dispute.
Riding some strange looking dinosaur
Exploring the caves!Digging in the quarry
I'm not going to lie, this scared me a little. I couldn't get too close because it gave me the heebie-jeebies!This was such a fun day! I learned a lot about myself, the kids, and how tiring it is to run after kids running in two different directions at a huge museum. I'm gaining much appreciation for all you moms out there. It's such a fun job to be able to play with kids all day but boy, does it wear me out!
4/27/09
Wahoo!
About a month ago, we were saddened and terrified to find out that Tony had lost his job at Healthy Living magazine. We weren't sure what to do or how we were going to survive, but Tony being Tony, went at it and put some ads for himself on KSL classifieds and on Craigslist. He had been getting little "side gigs" for people here and there helping them build websites, but the only permanent prospect was the interview he got with a company called QuickCutz, a place full of engineers that make die cuts for scrapbookers out there. We knew that the chances of Tony getting this job were slim because of his inexperience compared to others with web development but he went in and gave it his all, and felt pretty good after the fact.
After his fist interview at QuickCutz we waited a week with no response. I encouraged Tony to email the Senior Web Developer and ask when they thought they would make a decision because Tony was getting lots of freelancing offers. Promptly after that email, the web developer emailed him back, asking for a second interview which would include the head hancho of sales at QuikCutz.
We considered this pure luck. Tony thought the only reason he got the second interview was because of the email he sent telling them that their company was his first choice. In the second interview they expressed their concern with Tony's lack of experience, but were very impressed with his "well-roundedness." It seems as if companies looking for these computer geeks are trying to steer away from the typical geek that can't communicate outside the worlds of Java and PHP. Tony having an English major was appealing to them because he could help edit content as well as actually develop the site. The second interview on Thursday went really well, and Tony felt great about it, but we wouldn't hear anything until Monday (today) or Tuesday.
Today at around 4:30 Tony got a call from QuickCutz on his cell phone. He quickly went into the bedroom (because I had the TV on) and I had no clue who he was talking to, but my ears perked when I heard him say, "really? Thank you so much!"
He got it. They offered Tony the job.
We proceeded to scream and jump and yell things like "WE'RE GOING ON A CRUISE!" We called family and everyone celebrated the success with us. What a relief!
Tony will be getting a salary and this job includes benefits and 401K plans. Tony deserved this job. He is such a hard worker and I can tell that he is so relieved. Today after celebrating he plopped on the couch and said "I'm so relieved I feel like I'm losing weight." :) I am so happy for him, for us, and for the future! He was telling me that the web guys at QuickCutz make pretty darn good money and he's confident he can move up in their world (as am I).
Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, concerns, and efforts to help us during our jobless situation. I wouldn't have said this a week ago, but maybe this period was good for us and helped us grow. It sure was humbling to not have money, haha!
Yay!
After his fist interview at QuickCutz we waited a week with no response. I encouraged Tony to email the Senior Web Developer and ask when they thought they would make a decision because Tony was getting lots of freelancing offers. Promptly after that email, the web developer emailed him back, asking for a second interview which would include the head hancho of sales at QuikCutz.
We considered this pure luck. Tony thought the only reason he got the second interview was because of the email he sent telling them that their company was his first choice. In the second interview they expressed their concern with Tony's lack of experience, but were very impressed with his "well-roundedness." It seems as if companies looking for these computer geeks are trying to steer away from the typical geek that can't communicate outside the worlds of Java and PHP. Tony having an English major was appealing to them because he could help edit content as well as actually develop the site. The second interview on Thursday went really well, and Tony felt great about it, but we wouldn't hear anything until Monday (today) or Tuesday.
Today at around 4:30 Tony got a call from QuickCutz on his cell phone. He quickly went into the bedroom (because I had the TV on) and I had no clue who he was talking to, but my ears perked when I heard him say, "really? Thank you so much!"
He got it. They offered Tony the job.
We proceeded to scream and jump and yell things like "WE'RE GOING ON A CRUISE!" We called family and everyone celebrated the success with us. What a relief!
Tony will be getting a salary and this job includes benefits and 401K plans. Tony deserved this job. He is such a hard worker and I can tell that he is so relieved. Today after celebrating he plopped on the couch and said "I'm so relieved I feel like I'm losing weight." :) I am so happy for him, for us, and for the future! He was telling me that the web guys at QuickCutz make pretty darn good money and he's confident he can move up in their world (as am I).
Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, concerns, and efforts to help us during our jobless situation. I wouldn't have said this a week ago, but maybe this period was good for us and helped us grow. It sure was humbling to not have money, haha!
Yay!
4/20/09
The Dinky Little Race ROCKS!
As you all know, I ran the Salt Lake City 5K this past weekend. It was a morning full of fun and excitement. Let me recap.
We (yes we, Tony was such a good husband and woke up with me to come watch) woke up at 5:30am and got ready for the race. I made some muffins the night before so I munched on those as I whipped my hair up in a ponytail and headed out the door. I, luckily, wasn't too tired because I had been practicing going to bed at a decent hour the whole week.
We arrived at the Gateway Mall at about 6:30 and my race started an hour later. Tony came and dropped me off at the trax train that took me to the starting point. It was a little chilly for my taste, but I somehow survived. I was so not looking forward to taking off my comfy sweatpants and giving my "gear bag" to the nice people who were taking it to the finish line for me.
The starting of the race was exciting...for a couple seconds. I had been telling myself all morning that I was going to run just a little harder than I usually do, so I could push myself and get a decent time. The gun went off, and I did just that. I set my pace a little quicker than normal and off I went. I was smiling from ear-to-ear thinking about running in my first official race. Then, one by one, everyone started passing me. I was passed by Spiderman, and other folks who I thought weren't a threat to pass me. I got really discouraged thinking that I was going to be finishing with the walkers at the back of the chute. But I kept my little pace steady and kept my chin up.
Success was mine as we hit State Street. The majority of the 5K was on this street and it was quite uphill. Not horribly uphill, but enough to cause a lot of people to struggle. When I turned the corner and saw the big stretch in front of me I said (out loud) "Thank you, Tony." He made me train on this horrible hill by us and even though I was able to run it easily before the race, I hated running it every time. I was so lucky I had trained on that hill! Sorry, I kind of got off topic there...success was mine was we hit state street....my steady non-sprinting at the start line pace made it so that I, as others stopped and grabbed their aching sides, was able to chug my little way up State Street, easy peasy. No matter that I stopped for a couple seconds after the climb because I wanted to puke...I DID IT.
The rest of the race was downhill from there and there was only about half a mile left, so it was smooth sailing. I picked up the pace quite a bit and made my way to the Gateway Mall and crossed the finish line. What a cool feeling. I was so proud of myself! My goal was to finish in 35 minutes (don't laugh, it was my first time), and I did it in 34:11!
Here are some "pictures" of my finish line cross. They're actually screen shots from the video Tony shot. The video is like 10 minutes long because Tony wasn't sure when I would cross, so I saved you the time and just took screen grabs of my finish :). I've outlined my head with a nice little square so you can see me.
Yeah, I totally beat that girl in the pink. We were battling it out the whole last stretch.
Wooo hoo!
#21883, that's me!
We (yes we, Tony was such a good husband and woke up with me to come watch) woke up at 5:30am and got ready for the race. I made some muffins the night before so I munched on those as I whipped my hair up in a ponytail and headed out the door. I, luckily, wasn't too tired because I had been practicing going to bed at a decent hour the whole week.
We arrived at the Gateway Mall at about 6:30 and my race started an hour later. Tony came and dropped me off at the trax train that took me to the starting point. It was a little chilly for my taste, but I somehow survived. I was so not looking forward to taking off my comfy sweatpants and giving my "gear bag" to the nice people who were taking it to the finish line for me.
The starting of the race was exciting...for a couple seconds. I had been telling myself all morning that I was going to run just a little harder than I usually do, so I could push myself and get a decent time. The gun went off, and I did just that. I set my pace a little quicker than normal and off I went. I was smiling from ear-to-ear thinking about running in my first official race. Then, one by one, everyone started passing me. I was passed by Spiderman, and other folks who I thought weren't a threat to pass me. I got really discouraged thinking that I was going to be finishing with the walkers at the back of the chute. But I kept my little pace steady and kept my chin up.
Success was mine as we hit State Street. The majority of the 5K was on this street and it was quite uphill. Not horribly uphill, but enough to cause a lot of people to struggle. When I turned the corner and saw the big stretch in front of me I said (out loud) "Thank you, Tony." He made me train on this horrible hill by us and even though I was able to run it easily before the race, I hated running it every time. I was so lucky I had trained on that hill! Sorry, I kind of got off topic there...success was mine was we hit state street....my steady non-sprinting at the start line pace made it so that I, as others stopped and grabbed their aching sides, was able to chug my little way up State Street, easy peasy. No matter that I stopped for a couple seconds after the climb because I wanted to puke...I DID IT.
The rest of the race was downhill from there and there was only about half a mile left, so it was smooth sailing. I picked up the pace quite a bit and made my way to the Gateway Mall and crossed the finish line. What a cool feeling. I was so proud of myself! My goal was to finish in 35 minutes (don't laugh, it was my first time), and I did it in 34:11!
Here are some "pictures" of my finish line cross. They're actually screen shots from the video Tony shot. The video is like 10 minutes long because Tony wasn't sure when I would cross, so I saved you the time and just took screen grabs of my finish :). I've outlined my head with a nice little square so you can see me.
Yeah, I totally beat that girl in the pink. We were battling it out the whole last stretch.See? Beat her!
Wooo hoo!#21883, that's me!I can't tell you how proud I was of myself. Running that race made my weekend. I'm STILL on a high from it! I'm about to go on a run now, and I'm excited about it. I would encourage everyone to do this! It really makes you feel great.
I'm planning on continuing to train and I want to run my next 5K in 30 minutes. I am going to do a couple more 5k's to improve my speed, then I'm moving on to a 10K!
4/18/09
A Spoonful of Sugar!
I don't have time to post tons of details right now, but I just wanted everyone to know that I got a new job! I start this week! I'm nannying two kids (boy-5, girl-3) for an LDS lady who recently had brain surgery and can't move around very well right now. I'm so exctied because it's more money and a better fit for me! YAY!
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