And The Winner Is....

KATIE! So we just got back from our short little vacation to Washington D.C. Over-all it was a pretty nice little vacation. I am glad to report that Katie is officially freaking awesome! She had her mind set that she was going to finish the half-marathon in under 2 hours and 15 minutes. She did just that, finishing at an un-official time of 2 hours and 6 minutes! I couldn't believe it. And what is even more amazing is that when we met her at the finish line she didn't even seem tired. She was hardly sweating, wasn't breathing hard, and seemed like she could've gone another 13 miles. Wonder Woman...


We were also able to see the White House, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial & Arlington Cemetery. I had already seen the first three, but Arlington I hadn't seen. I was very impressed. There was a sign that mentioned how it was our nation's most sacred memorial. It was very neat to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier. What wonderful men we have had, and do have, protecting our country.


I'm also glad to report that our GPS is working just fine. We were wondering if it was broken, because as of late it seems to send us in weird directions. On the way to D.C. it kept taking us off the main highway and sending us through little towns and back roads. I think it took us a half hour more than it should've to get down there. On the way back Katie was looking at the settings on it, and found that it was programmed to avoid tolls. Somewhat angry I asked her to change the setting to the fastest route home. It did just that, and it made me feel very dumb in the process. While we got home a few minutes faster, we also incurred about $30 in tolls along the way... You gotta love the East Coast!


According to my mom's "pedometer" (little thing that counts your steps - you know, the kind of toy you get in a cereal box), we walked 11 miles yesterday around D.C.. That means that I pretty much did a half-marathon as well. Not as tough as Katie makes it out to be...

Living Life with Love

After a tragedy that struck some of our best friends with their sweet angel nephew, I've started thinking about what's truly important in life. When someone leaves this life, we cling to them, not wanting to let them go. We think about all the things we were going to do with them, all the things we wish we'd have told them, and the things we wish we would have let slide. It makes money, cute clothes, big houses, and popularity seem so non-important. Anyway, I've decided I need to "cling" more now to the things that are most important--the gospel, my family, and my friends. I need to follow former Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley's example and focus on the good and wonderful in life and trust in my Savior when the bad comes. I hope you all know we care about you and that we appreciate you in our lives. What a gift a life is to those whom it touches.

Josh had prime seating in the "Allen Theater" before we installed his new car seat.

Josh is notorious for twisting his binky until the string is as shown in the picture above. He doesn't feel "just right" until the string is between the binky and his lips.

Josh has come to the stage where he gets into everything. Luckily this cupboard only holds cans of food, nothing too dangerous. I'll open it to try and keep him entertained while I do dishes, but usually he'll end up holding onto the back of my pants nervously waiting for me to pick him up.

Nerd Alert

Tonight during dinner, Katie asked me an interesting question. I would like to pose it to all of you as well. Feel free to comment, we're all dorks here. The question was: "If you were a character in Harry Potter, who would you be?" Not the normal topic of conversation around our household, which makes it all the more interesting.

Well, my initial impression was to say I would be Harry Potter. After all, my friends in high school were always kind enough to remind me that I had a huge ego, and they didn't think there was any way my head could get any bigger. (Which is ironic, as I actually do have a large head - literally.) Who else would I be but the hero in all the books? The guy who gets all the glory, while his friends stand back in awe of his majesty.

While I think my head has shrunk quite a bit over the years (figuratively), I would have to stick with my initial impression. Not just for the reasons mentioned above, but also because we both have scars on our foreheads. Albeit mine is in the form of a bump, due to repeated trauma - first when my forehead met the sidewalk, and second when my forehead met the hood of a car.

Which leads me to my next question: who would you all be, and why? Katie and I got a good laugh thinking about who would be who. Rustin would be Neville (not because he is chunky, but because he can dance...), Blake would be Ron (loyal to the end - man's best friend), Norm would be Malfoy (this according to Katie - it may have something to do with government assistance and an X-Box...), Jeff would be Hermione (intelligent in his fields of interest, usually needs to be right, etc.). While it's funny to compare Jeff to a girl, you gotta admit it is right on target!

We considered others, but they aren't coming to mind right now. Feel free to leave a comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts about yourself, and others. I would also love to know that we're not the only dorks who think about these kinds of things...

Leader or Follower???

Today I had an epiphany. It's amazing how you can be inspired by the people you pass on the streets. I saw a homeless man lying in the middle of the sidewalk, talking to somebody only he could see. It made me grateful for the home and family that I've been blessed with. I saw a guy driving around in the freezing cold with his window down, because he was smoking. It made me grateful for the home in which I was raised, and the values that were instilled in me. Finally, I saw something that affected me more than the other two, and which has taken over my thoughts. I can't even focus on studying for my test in a couple hours until I get some things off my chest.

As I was walking to school, I saw a well dressed man... with a purse. That's right, he was wearing a purse. Do these things have names? Male purses? Murses? It made me realize that I am SO not with the times.

For the rest of my walk to school, and sitting here before class, I can't help but realize how un-stylish I really am. I decided that I am always a couple years behind the trends. Case in point: right now I am listening to James Taylor - a man who hit his stride in the early 70's.
Let me share with you a few other examples that come to mind all to quickly to support my early morning insight:

The year was 1990. I had no influence over the clothes I wore. Heck, I didn't know what was in style, I was in 3rd grade for heaven's sake. I blame my lack of style on my parents. This video says it all. You can, however, see my mad hops and crazy speed. By the way, my lamb's name was Rocky (due to Rocky I).



There was one thing in which my parents were spot-on: my hair-do. I believe that I was totally hip when it came to hairstyles. To tell you the truth, though, I think I held on to it just a little too long. And that I blame on a scoutmaster I had. He told me that my hair was the kind that drove the girls crazy. That was when I was 10. I should've ditched the 'do' by the early to mid-90's, instead of 1998...
My hair-do was like Pierce's here, but the "wave" was SO much bigger! Maybe it IS still cool...

Truth be told, my wardrobe in the early 90's consisted ENTIRELY of fluorescent colored clothes that my mom made. Greens, blues, oranges, pinks - that's right, I said pinks. I am the original man's man. Don't get me wrong, my mother is wonderful, and bless her heart for the time and effort she put in to making my clothes! Thanks mom!

There was a time in the early 90's where it was cool to roll your socks down. Not fold, ROLL! Anyone remember this? For me it was in like 5th and 6th grade. By the time I got the courage to jump on the bandwagon I was in 8th grade. Why did nobody tell me how lame I looked?

I still wear clothes that I had in 9th grade. Count 'em, that's 11 years ago. Don't ask me how this is possible.... I have a hard time believing it myself. Now I've just admitted that my present fashion sense is tied back to 1997.

Apparently I need some help. Feel free to post comments, all of you who watch "What Not To Wear," "10 Years Younger," "Queer Eye," or "Ambush Makeover."

P.S. Fluorescent clothes are still WAY cool. This is an EXACT replica of 80% of my clothes back in the day. My mom made this for me last Christmas. I AM on the cutting edge on this. Feel free to follow my lead.

Also, James Taylor still rocks!

Update

Just thought I'd let you know how we are all doing. Life is going well for us. Ryan is still hanging in there with school (I hope) after he took some time off for the flu. We all had it, so Ry was the mom for a couple days and then sick for a few days. He's doing well with school, especially with the lab where they drill teeth and the like. Personally, I think that's the most important part for a future dentist, so I'm grateful he does well with that; especially since he'll be my dentist.

As for me, I'm running a half marathon in Washington DC on the 29th. I'm pretty excited to be going to DC. Isn't that a great upper to living back east? How many people get to run in the nation's capitol? Well, besides the thousands running the race with me....Anyway, I've run 10+ miles twice, which normally would be exciting for a girl like me, but I've been having a rough time keeping my blood sugar regulated while I run. (For those that don't know, I'm diabetic.) I think I have a psychological issue :) with running long distances. On the day of a long run, my blood sugar stays really low, regardless of how much I eat. (I go low when I get stressed, and it's hard to trick my mind by pretending I'm not apprehensive.) So here I am running on a full stomach, and I have to eat 3-4 packages of fruit snacks to keep my blood sugar up while on the run. Needless to say, near the end I really want to throw up. At least I know I can go the distance (break into song, anyone?); now I just need to figure out how to avoid blood sugar lows....interesting, I know. :) I'm really looking forward to the half-marathon though. Before my "training" I was wanting to run a full marathon, but now I think this will suffice. I'll let you know how it goes.

Josh is just as fun as ever. He's falling over all the time now, so that part is a bit rough, but he's getting so big and old. He's at the point where he can take himself wherever his curiousity wants to go, so I have to watch him pretty close. He's almost walking (we'll probably be saying that for a few months) and he understands a lot more of what is going on. He's become a momma's boy for the most part, but there always that time when he only wants his dad. Usually that's after he's spent all day with me and dad finally comes home.

As I said before, life is good. We have so many blessings, and so many good friends and family members. We love you all and hope you have a great week.

P.S. If anyone needs a little buddy, just pay for postage and we'll take care of the rest!