Some Pictures

I am sitting here on Ian's parent's computer looking at some of our old pictures from the past few years. I thought it would be fun to post some of them. So, here they are-us over the past few years.

Ian's 25th Birthday

Friends-I don't know when!

Ian and Ryan in their Halloween get-ups (I think in 2006)

My sisters and I after the Draper Days 5k-in 2007

Ian (yes, that's Ian), Hannah, and Colin

I will post some more later on.

A few ideas to share

This summer I have been pretty busy getting ready for Girl's camp, which is at the end of July. I have REALLY enjoyed my calling as Camp Director, and have been able to use my creative side a bit (as well as my cricut!)

Anyway, I thought I would share a few ideas with ya'all, in case you are or ever are in need of something fun to give/do for someone.

We decided we'd give our Young Women some "incentives" to go to camp, so one Sunday each month, since February, we went in to Young Women's and gave a little handout. It has worked so far! 14 of 20 girls will be at camp-at least they have committed up to this point!

February's "Incentive"(AKA BRIBE!) was DOVE chocolate hearts...I told them I would "love" for them to come to camp this summer.

March/April we gave them these "Save the Date" magnets-so they'd know and their parent's would know when camp is!

May we gave them some Yellow(which is our ward's color as far as the stake stuff goes) Old Navy flip flops, with a tag that said, "Don't be a flip-flop this summer, come to Camp!"

June for our Camp Kickoff/Sleepover, I made these invitations-our theme is western....inside the S'more bag I included a not that said, "To get s'more information on camp, and to have fun, come to the camp kickoff!"

Also, in June we will be handing out cans of Rootbeer with a tag that says, "We are "Sodalighted" you will be at camp!" or something to that affect.

I will post some more of our fun ideas later on!

"

A watermelon...explosion???

Last Tuesday night, after a long day of work, and after a stressful night at school (I took a REALLY hard quiz-it was more like a test I must say) I came home to something I have NEVER come home to before---a watermelon mess!!!

I still am not quite sure what happened. All I know is that it smelled REALLy wierd in my apartment, I was standing in 2" of watermelon juice, my kitchen table had a puddle on the entire thing (except for the one part I had a baby present on-thank goodness!), and that my carpet was saturated with stuff.

I was very thankful for my lovely neighbor Jess, who came and saved me from having a breakdown. She helped me be able to laugh about the whole disaster, and also helped me clean up the sick mess.

I guess sometimes you just have to learn things the not so fun way-

So, for all of you who never realized you are supposed to refrigerate your watermelon (even though the stores don't keep them cold, nor are they cold when they are growing in the ground!) now you know what could happen!!!

Oh yeah, and my apartment still smells wierd-even though I have scrubbed the carpet and the floors numerous times, so please, if any of you have a special "trick" I would love for you to share! I am sick of smelling stinky sock smell when I am sitting on the couch! Thanks!

My First...and LAST

This past Saturday was Draper Trails Day. Ian and Judy (Ian's mom) were pretty excited for this race and were looking very forward to it-they both LOVE trail running. Me, on the other hand...I wasn't so sure what to think...it was a COLD morning, I have NOT trained very well, and I was REALLY tired from a crazy week! I was excited, but a little nervous as well, because this was my first race of the "season."

We got to the Equestrian center signed in, got our numbers, shirts, and goodie bags, and went to the car to sit, and attempt to get warmer. Before the race, I was debating what mileage I was going to do...you could choose between 4 miles, 6 miles (which ended up being closer to 7 miles) 10 miles, and 15 miles. I hadn't completely decided, but the race started, and I soon found myself running up a mountain-about to DIE!!! One of my old friends, Amelia Daw was there, and we started running together, but she left me in the dust! When I was near the top, I decided that I was going to be a baby and just do the 4 miler. My heart rate was SO high, I was getting a side ache, and was thinking---everyone who thinks running is miserable--they are right! Well, my heart rate came down, things got better, and I finished the race....

I got a pretty decent time-43:27 and felt really good at the end. Well, 20 or so minutes later, they started to announce the winners---and guess who got 1st place in the Women's 4 miler ages 17-30....you guessed it! I won the money! I was SO surprised...I even asked the lady,"Are you sure I WON?"

Sure enough, it was me---I got $25 out of it, and came to the conclusion that SOMETIMES it DOES pay off to be a wimp! (Note: I need to clarify. I am only calling myself a wimp because that is what I was being-I could've done more, but I chose to be a baby. I don't think anyone else is a wimp for any reason-Just so you know!)

Anyway, that was my FIRST time ever winning a race-and I can almost guarantee it will be my LAST! Usually I am a very average runner-but Saturday I had an advantage. Not many people showed up!

Oh yes, Ian and Judy both did VERY well! Judy ran the 6 miles in about 1 hour 10 mins-and SHOULD HAVE won (they didn't break up the ages very well-her category was 31 and older--which isn't very fair for the older ones) That is FAST!

Ian-I am VERY proud of him! He was amazing and did the 15 miler-in an excellent time! He ran it in about 2 hours 30 mins-reducing his time by 30 mins from last year! That is HUGE!!!

He took 2nd place in his category and also won some $$$!!!

It was a good day!

These pictures are actually from last year---I found them online--kind of scary thinking what kind of BLACKMAIL people might have!!! Anyway, I wanted to post pictures because my blogs have been boring-so until I get the pictures off Judy's camera-here are some to look at!

I've been tagged!

A-ATTACHED OR SINGLE? Attached to Ian but kind of single (alone at home)right now while is in Colorado
B-BEST FRIEND? Other than Ian, hmmm....I consider all of my friends and family to be a best friend
C-CAKE OR PIE? All sugar tastes sooooo good, so both!
D-DAY OF CHOICE? Saturdays-I don't have to work and can do whatever I want
E-ESSENTIAL ITEMS? Toilet Paper? (and food and sleep)
F-FAVORITE COLOR? Greens, brown, and teal
G-GUMMY BEARS OR WORMS? definitely worms
H-HOMETOWN? Draper
I-INDULGENCE? basically any kind of dessert
J-JANUARY OR JULY? January cause it is my birthday, but I also really like July
K-KIDS? Someday! (hopefully sooner than later!-hint hint Ian)
L-LIFE ISN'T COMPLETE WITHOUT.....Ian, my family and my friendships with others
M-MARRIAGE DATE? December 29, 2005 (don't ask me why I chose THAT time of year)
N-NUMBER OF SIBLINGS? 4 sisters, 5 brothers (3 are in-laws)
O-ORANGES OR APPLES? Both
P-PHOBIAS OR FEARS? getting in a car accident on the freeway, bullet bikes, and guns
Q-QUOTE? "You can only do so much" (I came up with that by myself and have used it as my motto the past year or so-I appreciate it)
R-REASON TO SMILE? I have a lot to smile about! T00 many to list.
S-SUPERMAN OR WONDER WOMAN? I am not too fond of superheroes, so I don't know
T-TAG 5 PEOPLE? Beeka, Sonia, Katie, Kalli, and Heather
U-UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME? I am missing a tooth!(bottom middle ...it never grew in!)
V-VEGETABLES? cucumbers, tomatoes, zuchinni, carrots, brocoli, cauliflower, peas, and corn
W-WORST HABIT? Oh man, I gossip a lot! -it's a total weakness:(
X-X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND? Well, I have only had an x-ray, so I guess that for now!
Y-YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? EVERYTHING!!! But especially sugar and meat! I am a carnivore!
Z-ZODIAC SIGN? Capricorn

Decisions

Decisions: I feel that there have been so many decisions to make lately(part of getting older I guess). Ian has his "life plan" for the next few months or so figured out and I WISH I could say the same! Life is crazy right now!
Decision #1:School
I was trying to decide whether or not I should go to summer school. I was a little frustrated because I had heard that there was some scholarships and tuition waivers I could apply for, so I went to look at them, and found that I missed the deadline by 1 week....and not just the deadline for Summer and Fall, but also for Spring(because they reward students for the entire year)! I was already debating whether or not to go, and I was hoping that would be a deciding factor-if the school would pay for it, I would certainly go. Anyway, I kept debating back and forth whether or not to go or not to go. It would give me something to do while Ian is in Colorado, would help me get done with my degree sooner, etc., but couldn't decide if I wanted to get ripped off only taking 2 classes, and this summer is going to be a busy one (getting ready for girl's camp) not to mention that finals are the week of Girl's Camp! Well, I think I have made my decision and have enrolled myself in a Managerial Accounting Class and a Computer Information Systems class. Now I just have to hope my teachers are really nice and flexible and will work with me when it comes time to take finals! I have a few more weeks before I can drop the classes and get all of my money back-we'll see what happens!

Decision #2: Work
I will be honest in telling you I have been offered a couple of jobs(I hope I don't jinx myself again!), and am still in the process of deciding whether or not to take them. It would mean quitting where I am at now, which could be a good and/or a bad thing. I am ready to try something new, but I am also scared of taking that risk in ending up somewhere and not liking it. We'll see what happens!

Decision #3: Housing
We're kind of looking for houses, so we'll see what happens with that. It's been interesting trying to decide what we want to do as far as that goes....we like renting and where we are at, but we'd also like to own something, especially since the housing market has become the way it has.

Other Decisions: We've made up our minds that it is time to sell our "extra"cars, but have had a hard time deciding what to ask for them. We want to sell them for a good price and maybe make money if we can, yet are to the point we just want them gone, so that has been an interesting thing. I also get to deal with SO many decisions as far as Girl's Camp goes being the director-when to have meetings, who to assign what, where to have activties beforehand, who I need to call for all sorts of reasons, etc. etc. etc. and it's only going to get more crazy, the closer it gets!

I realize that decisions are so important, and what is even more important is making sure you make the RIGHT one. It's been really hard for me to know what the right or best decisions are, but I think that is where faith comes into play. I keep thinking of the talk from conference last October given by Elder Oaks entitled "Good, Better, Best" (http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-775-38,00.html) and how all of these decisions may be good, or better, but are they the best? All I want to do is what is best!

Happy Cinco De Mayo...yesterday

Last night after work, we went over to our friend's house for some REAL authentic Mexican food to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. I always wonder why we celebrate the Mexican's independence...kind of strange, but none the less, I got to eat some amazing food! I wish I would have brought my camera, so you could've seen the food! It really was amazing! The menu consisted of tacos with all the fixins, 2 types of enchiladas, anaheim peppers that they roasted, jalepenos (for Ian), 7 layer bean dip and chips, and last but not least Horchata! yum! We had an enjoyable time, and stayed up until past midnight. Now I am tired. Hope you all had a good day!