The Utah Valley Half Marathon

A strange thing happens after you run a race. Usually you are running and miserable and in pain and just want to finish. Then you finish the race, see your time, catch your breath and think "I can do better then that." and you find yourself signing up for more races.
It's a vicious cycle.
After the Phoenix Half Marathon I knew I could do better. I wanted to do better. So John and I signed up to do the Utah Valley Half Marathon. Misery loves company!
The good news is Provo just happens to be where Jimmy, Mallory, Andrew and Janiece live!
The bad news is I didn't end up training for this half marathon at all. Like AT ALL.
I gained some weight back, had some health problems, my laziness was reborn and I had a house to paint and wedding to plan. Life gets in the way of running sometimes. Plus I really like to read and not run. Needless to say I was NOT looking forward to the run at all. And I made sure everyone knew it.
I think the bottom line is I just didn't want to be embarrassed.
So I told myself that I would just have fun. I wouldn't try to run the whole thing or beat my old time or have any expectations. I just wanted to finish and then enjoy my time with my siblings. Cause I like them.
Turns out that race is probably the best one I've ever done. Not time wise, but mentality wise. 

Friday morning John and I flew out to Provo.
We got to spend the day with everyone and went to J-Dawgs for an amazing hotdog, and what I hear is the best Dr. Pepper (I don't drink soda for a few weeks before a run. Sacrifices.)
We went and saw Jurassic World. Loved it. And we played a lot of Pirates Dice and carb loaded. We went to bed early because the next morning we had to be up at 3:10am. Buses left between 3-4:30am and the race started at 6.
John and I were excited/nervous/anxious/stressed. 

The worst part of a race is waiting at the beginning. The bus drops you off at the starting point and then you have nothing to do but wait. In the dark. In the cold.
It was seriously freezing. And they had fire pits set up but the wood was wet and wouldn't start on fire and when it did it was mostly a smoke fire. John and I tried to get it going by burning toilet paper and cardboard we found but it still wasn't too successful. Next time we are wearing the emergency blankets that will make us look like baked potatoes. Warm baked potatoes. 

I took a few pictures before the race started because once the sun came up you could see just how pretty it was in the canyon. Too bad my camera didn't take great pictures. Take my word for it though, it was great. 

I don't remember taking this picture during the race, but apparently I did. 

The course went right past Bridal Falls in the canyon. SO SO SO PRETTY!! I didn't take this picture, just borrowed it from the internet to show just how pretty it is. 

 And before I knew it 13.1 miles had passed and I was almost done. I started out the race running, then ran for 10 minutes, walked for 5. Then that lead to run for 8 minutes walk for 4. Then run for 5 minutes walk for 3 then eventually it was run 2 walk 2. But it was just fine for me! It was strange to me that there weren't as many spectators/crowds cheering on the side of the road during the whole thing. The PHX Marathon had people all over. But the Utah marathon had really strange things at the aid stations. Like apple cobbler. And mashed potatoes and pulled pork. Seriously. I didn't partake of those things but did help myself to an otter pop around mile 11! Brilliant idea to hand those out. 

Since we had seen Jurassic World the day before I decided to cross the finish line as a dinosaur. Bad move. Looked good in my head, didn't look good on the big screen. 

John finished the race way before me but came back for like the last 1/2 mile with me which I thought was really nice. 

Done and not dead.
DO IT! 

I'm guessing because I didn't run the whole thing that I didn't feel like dying after I was done. Or maybe it was the 800mg of ibuprofen I took before I started running. Either way I felt really good. Tired and swollen but good! 

The race ended by the new Provo temple which I thought was really cool. Typical Utah ending a race by a temple/church! 

Oh and while I was away this is what my family was doing...

The boys spent Friday all day with LaLa. They went to a park, a pizza place and Patrick said they were worn out Friday night. 

Saturday they played with their new water toy.
No clue where Preston got the peace symbol from.

And Patrick had some fun with Eliott and the magical "miracle berries".

The rest of our Utah trip included JCW & delicious burgers/fries, the movie McFarland (which we should have watched the day before the race!) hanging out visiting, john spending Sunday morning in the bathroom, and soreness.
It was a really great trip. No kids to distract any of us, no having to go and visit a hundred people or have a time table to do things, just fun. I keep trying to figure out in my mind how I can make it happen again. There's always the Utah Valley Marathon on June 11, 2016!

Andrew and Janiece's Arizona Open House

A month after they were married Andrew and Janiece came down for an open house.
We did lots to the house to get it ready for this including redoing the front yard and painting the downstairs. Both really hard. Both worth it. Both something I won't be doing again for a LOOOOOONG time. Hopefully. 

Walking up to the house we had tea light candles and I made the "I Do" hanging sign.

When you walked into the house this is what you saw. We moved the TV table and played their wedding picture video on that. Then we set up the card suitcase (which i made) and sign in book by the front door. 

Next to the TV table was a smaller table where we had pictures of my mom, dad and grandma along with a "wish you were here" sign. Because we do wish they were there! Always do. And we wanted to incorporate them into the celebration somehow. 

 Along the wall across the stairs and computer we hung this wall decoration. I made it from a lot of toilet paper rolls/paper towel rolls and then a lot of spray paint. But I love how it turned out! It helped with the flow of things. I was real sad to throw it out after since it took a long time to make. But I'll make another one someday! 

In the family room we removed all the boys toys- no small task- and Jimmy and Andrew set up the tulle to make the room look a little more elegant. On that tv we had all of their wedding pictures on a slideshow and then more pictures and decorations on the mantle. 

 Working on setting up the food. We had cake balls, oreo truffles, nutella pie pops (didn't turn out so good but were fun to make with Mallory and Janiece!) cherry cheesecake bites, brownie bites, bite sized cookies, and banana pudding bites. Drinks were Hawaiian punch and water. We are still working on drinking the last container of Hawaiian punch around here.... 

John was in charge of the lighting, and he strung Christmas lights around the porch pillars, across the berm and around the cement border. We had to keep the tables and chairs on the porch as long as possible because the sun was boiling them! But that's ok because earlier in the day it was sprinkling and we choose sun over rain.
Also ignore the pile of outside toys on the side of the house.... they may still be there. 

Each of the tables had a different unplanned theme. One seemed country/cabin ish, one was gold accents and one was vintage type stuff. They all looked good! 

The porch all lighted up...
And Lucas trying to ring the doorbell. 

A better picture of the food/drinks all set up. It looked really good! 

It was a big project that took a lot of work but was worth it I think. We had a great turn out and got to see people we don't get to see all that often. There wasn't anything about it that I would have done different if I had to do it all over again. Everyone really pitched in to help the days leading up to it all and it ran very smoothly albeit very late into the night! And now their wedding radius is over.