What the #@*! am I doing?

I'm think I'm gonna be sick.

I'm signed up to run in the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay. It's June 17-18. It's a run from Logan to Park City split up between 12 people who run all day and night, each taking turns running 3 different legs. And these legs range from "easy" to "very hard".

This girl is probably smiling because she's running an "easy" leg at a 12 min/mile pace. Lol.

These are my legs (click on the numbers if you are willing to wait for the website to load the maps and elevation charts):

6 (6.9 "very hard" miles), 18 (8.1 "very hard" -OMG all uphill- miles) and 30 (3.1 "easy" miles).

My other legs are lumpy and mushy and weak (not to mention pasty white). I won't post a photo and I don't think you'll mind.

Yes I ran 2 half marathons, but that was 2 years ago. 2010 involved playing soccer here and there, but not a lot of running in between. I'm out of shape. I have a long way to go. Not only do I have to train to make sure I can run a distance of at least 8 miles, but I have to train uphill. And downhill. And on gravel and trails. And I have to make sure I can do a run at night and wake up the next morning and run again.

The good news is, I've already run a few times and so far 4 miles feels just fine, which means I'm not starting completely over like I did training for the first half marathon in '09. When I started training for that I hadn't run in a couple years and 2 miles hurt.

The other good news is Griz goes running with me and needs to lose a few pounds . The bad news is Griz goes running with me and lifts his leg every 5 minutes.

I'm pretty nervous, but I know if I can get into shape (in a hurry) that it will also be a lot of fun. I'm running with an all-girl team (Girls Just Wanna Run) and you ride around in vans when it's not your turn to run and you get to blast music and wear crazy clothes and cheer for your teammates.

If any of my family and friends (you) want to cheer me on, so I'm not just hearing swear words in my head, I'll meet you in the Wasatch Back in June.

Here's some photos from a past race.

It's Friday

I give you, "Jack and Friend Dance Off"

Our new backyard!

I promise, interior photos are coming soon! I don't have everything decorated yet, but it's starting to feel like home. In the meantime, here's a video I took of our backyard. I found my snowboots and went out there with Griz to give you a full 360 degrees tour. The only thing worse than hearing your own voice is hearing your own "doggy" voice. Oh well...put it on mute or something :)



Griz had an adventure. He actually climbed up the playset but couldn't (wouldn't) get down. Not that he would have grown a pair (get it? he doesn't have any!) and ran down the slide, but the slide was taken off the playset so the only way down were these scary wobbly plastic "rock" steps. He sat right there for 30 minutes before I got him to come down.



That dog cracks me up.

Oh, and this is for Ashlee: Ash (AJ's sister) came over yesterday and as she literally walked through the door, we welcomed her by having her help us hold Griz down while AJ pulled a TICK (a TICK!) out of Griz's neck. It was so gross. Who would have thought a dog could get a tick (EW!) when everything is covered in snow? I don't get it. It's been a week of firsts at our new house. Thanks for enjoying that one with us, Ash!

When I was Young...

This is hilarious. It's a great break from work right now! *laughing-so-hard-I'm-crying sniff*

Mormon Mommy Wars: When I Was Young

And for what it's worth:

I thought boogers were poisonous. Thanks Megan. (it worked)

I always got "pedestrian" and "presbyterian" mixed up.

My prayers were basically a wishlist of which toys I wanted. A Santa letter, if you will.

Like another commenter on this blog "I believed for a lot of years that cows that lived in hilly areas had one set of legs shorter than the other (so they could stand on the hill sideways to graze)."

It took me years to realize that fun curly shape was a "D" for "Disney".

I firmly thought my little brother Jeff could speak Japanese as a baby. That's what my parents told me, so it had to be true.

I was in the gifted program too. Haha.

We bought our first home!

If you don't know already, we've bought a house! Yaaaayyy!

It's got a great view of the mountains, a big garage for AJ, a big yard for Griz (and us too), a garden, a playground (come over and play!), and the house definitely has room for our family to grow. And we can't contain our excitement to have a house that stays heated in the winter! YES!

We are SO excited to move in. We've been boxing up what we can and our current place looks like a tornado hit. The house isn't too far away (it's in Nibley) so I'm tempted to fill up laundry baskets, dump them out, and return for the next load, but I'm trying to pack things up the "right way". The right way involves finding lots of boxes and using lots of tape. Griz is in heaven...if you know him you know he loves him some cardboard boxes!

I'm a champion at packing. Just so you know. It's a good thing our boxes aren't very big, because with all the stuff I can (in a somewhat organized fashion) cram into them, they are getting pret-ty heavy. But at least I don't have to help pack anything in the garage. AJ is all over that.

So this weekend I'll be grungy and sweaty and probably get a headache, but it will all be worth it. I'll try to keep you all updated with pictures and fun projects we'll be doing.

Here are some photos AJ took of the outside of the home. He had to build a temporary railing for the deck so we went out there to get some measurements. And we took Griz. He FREAKED out. Right when he got there he ran up the front steps like he owned the place, waiting to be let in the front door. After he peed on everything in the backyard, he ZOOMED around the property, sprinting in all different directions, running in circles and diving into tiny piles of snow. It was pretty darn cute. He approves.

Yummers

Thanks to my friend Shari, I'm sharing this with you all. It is SO good. Very flavorful. I'm craving it. Right. Now. Gotta get home...

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 Packet of Dry Ranch Dressing
1 Packet of Taco Seasoning
1 Can of Corn
1 Can of Black Beans
1 Can of Kidney Beans
3 Cans of Chicken Broth
4 Chicken Breasts
1 Bunch of Cilantro (unless you're named Jenni)
3 Cans of Diced Tomato (preferably Cilantro Lime, but plain will do)

Boil and dice Chicken Breasts. Combine Broth and Seasonings in the Crock Pot and add chicken. Add in canned beans, corn, cilantro, and tomatoes (don't drain tomatoes). Heat and enjoy with Sour Cream, Mozzarella cheese, and corn chips :)

Get seconds and thirds until you have to unbutton your pants. Don't move until it settles or you might topple forward out of your chair. Follow with dessert as soon as possible. Then get romantic.

(okay, I added the last part)

My favorite Super Bowl Sunday Ad

Actually, the best ads were during Puppy Bowl! Puppy Bowl VII on Animal Planet! Check out the other Subaru ads on youtube. So funny. But then I find dogs sitting in a car's driver's seat absolutely hilarious.