He came back and I left!

So, Ian did make it home, but my excuse is that I have not been to a computer that I could finish this post on. So now here's the run down of what we've been up to these past few weeks.

Ian made it home on a Thursday after a LONG day of driving and working, at about 2:30 a.m. (if I remember right). We saw each other for a little that night (30 mins or so). I woke up, went to work, came home from work and saw Ian as I packed to head to Vegas for a work meeting. So yeah, as soon as Ian got back, I left!

After an interesting plane ride (by myself for the first time), I arrived to Vegas, took a shuttle to our hotel (The Palazzo) and quickly got my stuff up to our room just in time to meet one of my boss' and a few co-workers for a show, the Blue Man group. It was pretty entertaining, that's for sure, and very random.

The next day we went to a very informative and productive meeting for the majority of the day. Afterwards, we headed out to the pool and practically melted in the 115 degree weather for a few hours. It was REALLY relaxing! After getting ready for the night, I attended what Biomet called a "product fair" at the Tao, and learned a lot from some of the sales reps I work with---I finally got to see ALL of the components of each joint, or at least the hips and knees. It was interesting to see how everything I deal with and bill for works together and what each part does.

Anyway, that night we went to Sushisamba for dinner. That was my first time at a "real" sushi place, and I am not going to lie, I am not as big of a fan as most seem to be. Some of the food was REALLY good, especially after I got past the raw fish part. It had good flavor and tasted good but boy was it pricy! Not to mention---I am WAY too uncoordinated to use chopsticks! After dinner, we walked around for awhile. I could hardly stay awake, and decided it was time for bed.

The next day, I woke up and barely made it to a wrap up meeting, did a little shopping, then went to catch my shuttle.

Ian came to pick me up from the airport and had brought me flowers and a huge bag of one of my favorite treats....peanut butter M&M's! I think he missed me a little....

After I unpacked my stuff, I went in our room to find the cat thinking he had a new bed. What a wierdo.

Oh yeah, and I need to mention that I did miss out on our tradition--- running in the Draper Days 5K and watching the parade. I was sad about that, but luckily Adam (my little bro) wasa willing to run the 5K for me to get my money's worth. He did it in like 22 mins, which is the best time I will ever have in my name!

I did make it home in time to see the fireworks. Our friends found the most perfect spot to watch them, right up close where they launch them. It was very enjoyable. Here are some pictures!

Less than 1 week to go!

I am not counting down the time until Ian gets home or anything! :)

This week I was REALLY tired ALL week, but I got through it and was pretty productive! I had fun getting a Mary Kay facial, watching the Bachelorette and eating dinner with some friends, tried a new place for dinner at a REALLY YUMMY and HEALTHY place (called U Food Grill) as well as got a pedicure with my friend Jess, went running with Janae, watched a movie and mowed the lawn and washed my car (all in one day!), went running with Jana, took my niece Marissa, nephew Jordan, and brother Jacob on a little hike, hung out with my dad (who was really nice and made me dinner), went with my sister to her enlightening enrichment activity, helped clean the toilets at the Draper temple, went for a longer run Saturday, picked my mom up from the aiport (she just got back from Hawaii... I wish I could've gone to see my new nephew too!) went shopping, went to the Draper Days Rodeo, taught primary, and took two really nice (and needed) naps!

This week was a good week!

The only thing I had to deal with this week---as it almost came in my house!


Jacob helped me a lot with the kids---I was happy he came!

Jordan and Marissa did a really good job on their FIRST hike!

We were all THRILLED and looking forward to go down the mountain -can't you tell?

Dad doing his thing at the rodeo

Grammy explaining one of the events to Jordan

The cute kitty and not so cute me! At least this kitty likes me---our cat is currently mad at me for some reason. I think he just misses Ian.

Week 2

My second week with Ian gone was very busy---and good! I did some cleaning, shopping, crafting with my friend Kalli, went to dinner and a movie with my Russia friends Meredith and Heather, and then Thursday night flew out to Colorado for the weekend to do something fun and to see and be with Ian!

There were a couple of minor things again that I got to deal with---but thankfully Monday night when I found this in my lawn, Neil (Ian's cousin who came up to help me with firework stuff) was still there and took care of it for me. Thank You Neil!

My Colorado Trip

When I was debating whether or not to go out to see Ian this year, my cousin Janae made my day when she said she'd go out with me. So, Monday we bought our tickets and Thursday we found ourselves on the plane, flying to Denver. When we arrived, my cousin Lisa picked us up and we went back to their house and fell asleep.

Friday we spent the day at WaterWorld- a really big water park in CO. The weather was SOOO nice, and we had a lot of fun going on all the different slides. That night we went to dinner, and were entertained watching and listening to 3 year olds (my cousin's daughter Kaylen and her friend Daniel)

Saturday morning (the 4th) we woke up nice and early and decided to run in a 5K. Ian met us there. I was excited to see him!

Later that day, Janae and I drove to Ian's hotel, hung out, went shopping (while Ian worked) and then went to dinner. Then we went back up to watch fireworks with Lisa, Sam and their kids. It was cold but WAY fun to watch SOOOO many fireworks everywhere. We sat in a perfect spot to watch fireworks. Everywhere you looked they were going off. It was really cool!

It rained REALLY hard on Saturday afternoon. Janae put a bag on her head to keep from getting wet....it was pretty funny!

Saturday night I stayed with Ian and Sunday I rode around with him while he worked. We did a few returns in Colorado, and I also had the chance to go to NEBRASKA for my first time!

We had an exciting time doing stuff in the truck!

After spending 12ish hours with Ian in the car, he dropped me off at my cousin's house. After 3 1/2 hours of sleep, it was time to wake up and head to the airport. We flew home Monday morning, and I made a BAD DECISION and went to work from there.That day was NOT a fun one! The lesson I learned was that I will ALWAYS give myself a day or so in between coming home from somewhere and going back to work!

One week down...

And hopefully only 3 (or so) more to go.

I made it through my first week with Ian gone to CO! It was a good week, and I only had a few mildly disastrous events take place. (I only say that because it seems like last year, a bunch of unusual and bizzaare things happened and I did NOT like the fact that I had to handle them by myself---I don't deal with that kind of stuff very well:)--like my exploding watermelon incident!)

Monday I came home to find ants all over our dresser in our bedroom. Apparently in the white box, which was thought to be a headlamp that wasn't opened, there was garbage from the race with food crumbs that attracted the ants!

But, on the positive side--I NEEDED to clean off our dresser badly, so it forced me to do it!

Sunday, I somehow threw my phone away. I couldn't find it anywhere and was stressing out about it because I KNEW it was somewhere in our apartment. Anyway, I went to throw a box away, and noticed the garbage was much heavier then just the eggshells that I'd thrown away earlier, and there it was....all gooey and everything! It worked for a little while, and then blew up. I think I need a new phone! Any ideas?

I am hoping to be productive this week, as I was last. I was able to help our friends paint, help my Grandmother clean, hung out with my family and Ian's, got a bunch of cleaning done around our apartment, mowed the lawn, ran three times, went shopping, and made rice crispy treats, brownies, and banana bread(for the first time and it was a success!)

The Rust-ee Joints running in the Wasatch Back 2009

|This past weekend (Friday and Saturday) Ian and I were able to run again in the Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back. This race goes from Logan to Park City through the beautiful Wasatch Mountains, covering 188 miles total. The miles are split between 12 runners, in 2 vans. Each runner has 3 legs of the race ranging from 3ish-10ish miles.

For more info. you can visit this site: http://www.ragnarrelay.com/wasatchback/index.php

We ran on Biomet West's team(where I work), the Rust-ee Joints, with our slogan very fitting-"Go ahead and wear them out, we have replacements."

Ian did a great job decorating our "Van" while we waited for Van 1 to finish their first legs. We decorated with skeletons who had joint replacements.

Here I am getting ready for the hand off from Lori (my teammate) to do my first run-
an easy 3.4 miles. But, it was a hot one! Each exchange looks similar to this one.

This race attracts ALL kinds of people. I was fortunate enough to have some entertainment ahead of me---until I passed him! :)


Ian saw this little creek in front of someones house and decided it'd be a nice place to soak his feet--the water was nice and cool.


Ian is always a good supportive teammate who will do anything for anybody. Everybody loved it when they saw him on the side of the road! Especially me! :) This is Lisa-one of our teammates.

Ian and Lori hanging out.

Ian ran straight up a hill near Pineview reservoir and into this beautiful valley. He did such a great job---3.8 miles considered "very hard" in like 35 mins, or something crazy and fast like that!

Ian decided to get a little warm-up running Brad in to the exchange before he started his run up a mountain. Like I said--he is very supportive of his team.

Ian running up a mountain-the pictures don't do it justice. This hill was STEEP! See image below for an idea:




Lori and I had a great time squirting people down. It was hot and some of them looked like they REALLY needed it!


Our van's second runs were when "NORMAL" people are sleeping---between 1:00 & 5:00 a.m.
I loved my run, even though it was around 3:00 a.m.. It was mostly downhill and I was able to do it pretty fast! Ian did AWESOME on his second run. He was running so fast, we could hardly keep up with him driving---and he sped by soooo fast that by the time we realized it was him (to give him water) he was already gone and we had to drive up a mile to meet him. He pased a total of 54 people---that is HUGE!

After my run I was feeling really good--until I drank too much Gatorade, heard a lady puking right outside our car, and got car sick. That night/morning, I got pretty sick and became famous for my puking! :( (A guy who was on our team last year said he saw me leaning out the car doing my business---how embarassing!) After a few malfunctions, and Ian running an extra leg because our other van was at the wrong exchange, we made it to the house in Heber where we got a little bit of sleep, took some showers and ate(except for me) some food. We are a VERY SPOILED team! Most teams spent their time in a high school gym.

We met up with our team to finish our last runs. I am SO thankful for Ian, Lori, Brett, and Steve who all even though they were exhausted, were willing to run for me. I appreciated SO much!
The last runs went well, and everybody did a great job. The day was a little cooler and rainy, but it seemed to be enjoyable for most of the runners.

Ian did the "ragnar" (hardest) leg of the race and this is why it is the hardest:



He basically ran straight up this!


This sign seemed VERY encouraging...NOT!


Ian had to keep tradition and run in his flamingo suit. Many people enjoyed seeing him run with it. He got many compliments---and he was also a target that people wanted to pass!

Ian did a FANTASTIC job! I am very proud of him!

We were all quite happy when Brad handed off to Sam at the last exchange! I think we were all ready for some sleep!

We made it to the finish line-and we got a metal!

This race is totally different from any other race I have ever done, not only because of the extreme lack of sleep, but because it is unique. I always enjoy it. It never ceases to amaze me as I look around and see the thousands of people who all have something in common-everyone comes together for one CRAZY event, to run their best, to make lasting memories, to do something hard and challenging(maybe not so much for Ian :)) and to have fun all at the same time. This experience is one I will never forget!

Ian's BIG race

So, for all of you who may not know, Ian has gotten into a "sick habit" (as one of his running buddies described it---I thought that was a very fitting way to describe it) with trail running. Now, this is not your typical running. This is running up and down mountains--literally. He joined a few guys in our ward in this trail running stuff awhile ago and decided he really ENJOYS it.

So...guess what Ian did this weekend?!?!

Ian ran and FINISHED his first 50 mile race up Squaw Peak! (Yes, that is a 50, you aren't seeing things!) His goal was to do it in 13 hours, and he finished with a time of 12 hours and about 13 mins!

I am VERY proud of Ian and this HUGE accomplishment! As crazy as it sounds, it is very inspiring to see my husband run like this. He makes it seem so easy, but wow....I can't even begin to imagine what it may be like to run like that! Good Job Bay!

I was also SO happy (and relieved) to see that he was doing really well when he got to the finish line! I guess I was just a little paranoid that things would go terrible--but thankfully they didn't.

Here are a few pictures of him at the finish line.

Ian crossing the finish line with some of his running friends.

Enjoying some chicken after the race.

Feeling "real nice" at home---he is going to kill me :)

Air Force Show

We also went to the Air Show up at Hill Air Force Base. Despite the stormy weather, we really enjoyed ourselves and the Thunderbirds! They do some CRAZY stuff. It was WAY fun!

And as for my life lately...this is what you will find me doing when I am not at work...sitting on our couch at home with our fat cat. It's fun!