Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Suffering from PED (Post-Election Depression)


So I know that it has been a week and I should just accept the tragic out come of the presidantail  election, but I think that I still may be suffering from PED Post Election Depression. This election was the first election that Eric and I felt really was going to mean something for us. We are adults going in to the working world in a bad economy we really though that this election could get America back on track if the right man was elected. Billions of dollars and hours of time and resources spent -- and here we are in the same boat as we were in 11 days ago. EPIC FAIL!

Eric showed a great deal of passion and had lots of political enthusiasm I even made an "election exception" to my strict no bumper sticker policy and allowed him to put stickers on the cars.


We were watching the election results as they came in with some friends, when Obama was announced the winner I was done watching the TV. I could not bring my self to stay up and watch his "acceptance speech". I could not watch the confetti fall on people celebrating in their ignorance and Oprah crying on camera. I still have that image burned into my mind from 4 years ago and did not need a repeat memory.

 I am so thankful for my faith and understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is comforting to know that the gospel is a constant, the scriptures will guide us through it all, and the prophet will never lead us astray.   I will continue to pray for the leaders of this country that they will make correct choices for the people in this country.






Friday, October 5, 2012

It's not just a game it's... Cardinals Baseball!!



As most of you know St. Louis is CRAZY about baseball. It is the definition of a "baseball town".  Although we have a NFL team the Rams,  the NHL team the Blues, the Cardinals are by far the most popular. When you move in to town they practically give you a cardinals t-shirt and bumper sticker. If you say you are new in town, people say "Welcome to St Louis... We love the Cardinals!!" It dose not take very long to find out that they are really not kidding. We have been very lucky to attend LOTS of games while we have lived here. We have sat way up in the top levels of the stadium and in the second row. They say there is not a bad seat in the  stadium and it is kinda true. Up high you can see the arch that is cut in the grass and the field seems so big and people so small. Down low you can hear the players talk and the field seems so small and the player so big.  I would have to argue that although the higher seats still provide a good time you really can't beat the experience of the second row! The stadium is very beautiful, red brick pillars, great view of the arch and dowtown, and everything always looks new. 



We have been there in 100* weather, rain and even 2:00 in the morning. 

We have made some really great memories there with great fiends!!!

{With the Anthons in the green seats 2nd row}

{Smile we are on TV!!}


{Fireworks always followed every home run!}


The Cardinals won the World Series last year and it was CRAZY around here. EVERYONE young and old sported their cardinal gear and colors for weeks and even months after. It was an exciting world series we were definitely on the edge of our seats for a few of the games.  

One thing that has been a lot of fun is going to a Sports Bar/Grill ordering appetizers and watching the game. Everyone there gets way into it and will cheer and clap when good plays are made, and with a win you will get hi-fives and hugs from random people. Its been really fun to be a part of it all and we will forever be cardinal fans. 




Monday, October 1, 2012

Operation: Half Marathon!

So I did it on Saturday September 22nd 2012 I ran my first Half Marathon! It was the Roots n Blues n BBQ Half Marathon in Colombia, MO on the MIZZOU campus.


{After the Race with my metal}

The actual race was amazing and I will give you all the juicy details, but that is not where the journey started. It all started 10 weeks before the race when Tawny called me and said some ladies in the ward have been running together and training for a half marathon and she thought that I may be interested it training with them. I was interested,  maybe even a little intimated some of them had been training for months and I had never run anything close to 13.1 miles.  She said they run together on saturdays for  the "long runs" at 6:00am and she would send me a running schedule, so I told her I would think about it. Well a whole week went by and I though about it a lot, but did not run a single mile. Friday night rolled around and it was decision time was I going to get up at 5:30am to go running? They were only running 5 miles that morning so I decided to just give it a try. I thought I was going to DIE! I keep up with them (barely) for the 5 miles and felt dead tired after. That night I sat on the couch with an ice pack on each knee looking at the running schedule with the miles I needed to run each week to be prepared and decided I was going to do it no matter how hard it would be!! So there I was 9 weeks from race day it was time to get moving and that is exactly what I did. I ran 4 days a week M, TU, TH and SAT. During the week it was impossible for me to get up before work to go running, I already get up at 5:30am so all my runs had to be after work, meetings, church, and errands. Some times I didn't get home until 11:00 or 12:00 at night from running.  Every saturday morning we would meet at a park at 6:00am to do our "long runs" we increased a mile every saturday until 12 miles a week before the race. It was nice on the weekends to run with friends and know that we were all working hard for the same thing.  That helped get me through some of the weekdays. Although I HATED getting out of bed on a saturday morning (because most of the time I was up WAY to late on friday night) it was so beautiful to see the sun rise and feel the cool morning air. I ran in all conditions 105* heat, rain, the air conditioned gym on the treadmill, and toward the end, even 50* mornings. I saw lots of people come and go at the gym, trails, sidewalks, sun rises and sun sets.  Eric would often call me Forest Gump and in a way I actually did start to feel like him. Ice packs, stretching, biofreeze, and my miracle worker chiropractor (Eric) were my best friends.  About 4 weeks into my training I got a cold and it was miserable it turned into a horrible cough that I still have! Then about 7 weeks in I pulled a muscle in my hip and that did not feel so good either.  I toughed  it out and ran through it all. Overall I ran over 200 miles in 9 weeks!!

 The day before the race I was so nervous and anxious thinking about all the possible scenarios (good and bad) that may arise in the race. I started to calm down when I met up with the ladies to drive down to Colombia.  It was then I started to get excited. We met everyone (some went down earlier that day) at Olive Garden for a great dinner. There were 13 of us all together (including 2 husbands). When we got there they had out packets (they had picked up for us earlier that day) laid out and ready for us. I almost got emotional holding the racing bib in my hands thinking of all the hard work that I had put in. I was able to hold it together though, so don't worry. After eating, visiting, lots of laughing, and talking about race day, 2 hours had past and we left the restaurant only to continue at the hotel room. We had some GREAT girl time, everyone painted their nails pink and we got our cloths laid out for the next day. It was then time to go to sleep, the room was silent but no one could fall asleep. Our minds "raced" in anticipation for the "race day".
The morning came and we got our things together and headed out for the corse. It was cold and in the forties. We got some pictures and started warming up the best we could. At 7:00am, it was time to start. We muscled our way through the crowd of people to get where we wanted to start.


The first 3 miles were awesome! Although we had to start the race running up a hill that was  brick/cobblestone and all the people running up at the same time some how made it easier to run. We watched as the sun came over the horizon  and although you could still see your breath you could start to feel the warm rays of sun hitting your face. There were some that were long gone but at this distance it seemed that the runners were still somewhat packed together,  you could see lots of people in front and back of you that is an exciting feeling. I started to feel my body working, my muscles flexing with every stride, my heart beating and my lungs taking larger breaths of air. I often started to feel this phenomenon a few miles into a run and it made me so thankful for my body and its ability to have things that work together.

I kept up with some of the ladies for the first 5.5 miles running 2 miles/min faster than my normal pace until my knee started to feel it and I knew I had to back off a little. So I slowed up some, still running a min over normal speed.

At mile 6 I smiled and laughed to myself.  Before training 6.2 miles or a 10K was the furthest I had EVER run and that was back in high school. I was half way and felling great!!

Mile 7 there was a sweet surprise, Eric was there cheering me on! He had a Gatorade drink to give me a boost.  I was in a good running groove and didn't want to stop so he ran with me for a second while I took a drink I gave him a quick kiss and said "see you at the finish line!".

 Miles 8 and 9 were great!  It was mostly trails that were somewhat flat which was nice.

Mile 10 my cold/cough cought up with me and I started coughing like crazy! I am pretty sure that I hacked up part of my lungs and left them there.

Miles 11-12 it started into the neighborhood and the hills. There was a sign that someone put up that said "someday you will not be able to do this, but today is not that day" that made me smile knowing that it was true and I was able to rise to the challenge today.  So I gave my self a little pep talk ya know, "you can do it"! I thought of all the family and friends who supported me all along and pushed for the finish line.

I hit mile 13 and rounded the corner and heard all my friends and Eric cheering, clapping and waving for me! I then sprinted across the finish line!!!! It was emotional knowing that I accomplished the goal that I made for myself and had so much support. My official chip time was 2:47. It was faster than I thought I would do, so I was happy with that.
                                                 

   {This is my "Rocky" pose}                                                     {Sprint to the end}

After I meet up with my friends and Eric, and we ate some BBQ. I though that I would not eat anything after for a while, but my southern blood was still pumping and I could not turn down BBQ. It was an amazing experience!


{Yumm}


   
 {The whole gang from L to R 9 (top) Natile, April, Jessica C., Davina, Rachel, Leia, ME, Charity
 ( bottom) Meghan, Tawny and Karissa}


So you ask if I would do it again? I would answer.... Absolutely! I now have a time that I need to beat.

{My biggest  fan!!}

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Welcome to Las Vegas

   
  This month we meet Eric's family in Las Vegas for Nana's (his grandmother) 75th Birthday. She wanted to see Donnie and Marie Osmond (they have a show at the Flamingo) so the whole family went.  Most of us were not too excited for the pick, but tried not to make it to obvious.  Sitting in our seats before the show started most of us had to pull out our phones and ask google to bring us up to speed on who Donnie and Marie are. The show was actually really good and we all enjoyed it, but we also tried not to make that too obvious either.

    We spent a lot of time in the lazy river and pool just soaking up some sun and it was so wonderful!! I can't remember the last time I just relaxed at the pool.  I got to visit with my college roommate Jana for a while. She lives in Vegas so it was nice to get together and catch up. We went to the outlets and I got some KILLER deals as usual. We also went to the Pawn Stars pawn shop they have the show on TLC. They had some really awesome things in there. Eric's favorite was the Patriots Super Bowl ring. 

  


We had an awesome time and loved spending time with family. Hope we can do it again soon.


Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Hearts were breaking all over the world!

August 17, 2012


My youngest brother Ethan got married!! Hearts were breaking all over the world. Kaytlin is such a sweet girl and she fits in the family great! They got married in the Salt Late Temple there were over 80 sealing that day!!! Being a Temple worker in St Louis where we may have 2-3 sealings on a busy day, I thought it was a beautiful nightmare to see how they made it all work so smoothly.   They had a very nice lunch reception at the Joseph Smith building next door after the sealing. It was beautiful.  It was fun to visit with family I had not seen in a while and watch my little nephews. 




While in Salt Lake I was able to visit my good friend and old college roommate Kadie. We had a great time visiting and catching up. We also got to visit Eric's cousins Jo and Mandy for while and it was so good to see them. We went to Thanksgiving point gardens with Aung Debbie, Uncle Jim, Aunt Jean, Tamara, and gram. It was really beautiful and a great way to end the trip.



Sunday, August 5, 2012

The Big 30


       July 23rd was Eric's 30th Birthday.  Time is just flying buy.  On Saturday the 21st  I had a  surprise party for Eric and he was actually really surprised.  We were "invited" over to our friends for dinner so he didn't think much about it. When we walked in the house it was full of great friends. There were 25 adults and 18 kids there.  We had pizza and lots of cake :) It was really nice to get all of our friends together and celebrate. 





Sunday, July 15, 2012

Life as we know it!

So I am finally going to really try and do this blog thing! So many of you out there have such CUTE blogs and are such good writers that I know I will never compare, but here goes my best effort. 


                        So life as we know it.......is crazy busy, but we love living in Saint Louis!!

Eric is in his last year of Chiropractic school at Logan and is working so hard in school and the clinic. We LOVE it here in Sait Louis. Logan is such a beautiful school. The campus is on a nice piece of land and is filled with fountins, lakes, deer, and very nice buildings. The campus was an old seminary and was convered to a school. They still have the original bell tower and my favorite the stained glass windows in the libary (which used to be the chapel). Eric is gearing up to take more National Boards in August so there will be lots of late nights of studying ahead. I attached some picture of the campus it is so beautiful.






      I have been working at a dermatologist office for the past 2 years and have really enjoyed it there. I work 42 hours plus some each week (plus the worst part of my day the 8 mile 45min commute home every day, I feel like I live in Los Angeles). In my "free time"  I have been working at the Saint Louis Temple every Thursday and some Saturdays as an ordinance worker. It has been so wonderful! I have learned so much and my testomony of the gosple grows a little more each week. I am also serving the the Relief Society presidancy and LOVE being with the sisters in the ward.  I have also started up my own emboridery bussiness Twinkle. I am mostly personalizing baby gifts right now, but it is growing and love being creative and making cute things! Check out my blog at makeittwinkle.blogspot.com






We have such a wonderful life and feel so blessed everyday. I am glad that we get to share it with you!!