Happy 9th Birthday Marshall!

Dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, of course. Marshall's favorite place (probably because we only go there once a year....for his birthday.)

Halloween, a month late!

Congratulations to Simon and Marshall who both won "Most Creative Costume" for their grade!

BE THERE, THIS THURSDAY, 6-9 PM

Hello everyone out there in blogger land.  I have kind of been roped in (happily) to host this fall shopping extravaganza.  It is this Thursday, November 12 from 6:00-9:00 pm.  There are going to be about a dozen or so vendors of all kinds.  One thing I can promise you is that the food will be YUMMY!  Not dinner, but enough to satisfy, I promise.  Even if you aren't looking to buy, please stop by just to say hi and have a bite to eat.  If you are looking to buy, you are in luck with lots of great options!  Pass this along or link your blog to  fallshopping.blogspot.com!!

Hope to see you Thursday!

Jeff turned 35

For Jeff's Birthday, his sister brought him some fat steaks and 2 live lobsters! It was a new experience figuring out how to cook them. In the end I think he (and Marshall) fully enjoyed them (I don't eat lobster.) Thanks Zelma! It really was a great treat for Jeff.

pictures of jo....

Our First Cooking Class!

Please see my other blog for info on our first cooking class and to sign up. 

Because I'm not busy enough...

Check out the link below for info on a Fall Shopping Extravaganza!  Please pass this link along to all your local friends and family.  

http://fallshopping.blogspot.com/

Junk in your Trunk Tomorrow!

(copied from Kate's blog)

Just a reminder with a few updates....

Junk In Your Trunk is TOMORROW!!! It starts at 9:30, so feel free to SHOW UP EARLY and start setting your stuff out. My driveway and nearby sidewalks will have tables up to show off some of your FAVORITE old items! Feel free to bring your own table to display items as well.

Are you getting nervous... is this getting TOO BIG? No way! The more the merrier!
And EVERYTHING IS FREE! (Did I mention that already?)

If we get a HUGE amount of people, I will have people line up their cars on WESTCHESTER HILL AVE and on both sides of CAMPBELL (take Westchester Hill Ave as far west as possible, and the last available street you hit is Campbell, where you have to turn RIGHT). There are NO houses on that street, therefore BOTH SIDES can be lined with cars if needed.

Make sure that items you bring are in "working" condition and are not Republic Services quality.

If you have questions call me 997-4587.

Kate

Family Time

Here we together, together, together, oh here we are together in our family......

Kim, Tom, Emily and Sam all came into town for the weekend. Sunday night we got together for dinner and decided to take a picture for mom and dad. Not the perfect portrait, bad lighting, horrible spacing, but that's the way we do things. We love and miss you mom and dad!

26.2 (encore)

It is still a little hard to wrap my mind around doing what I did. 26.2 is a big deal, and I did it. Every step of it.  At mile 3 I thought I noticed my right knee bothering me. Not hurting, but I was aware of it. I dismissed it thinking my knee strap was too tight. Not so. By mile 6 I was hurtin' bad. I.T.band was on fire. Worse than I ever remember.  Never in my longer runs or the 1/2 marathon I did in July, was it that bad.  20 miles left...how the heck am I supposed to finish this? When I ran a 10 mile trail race back in NY I had the same problem at mile 6 and I was barely able to finish, but 20? I started to do some serious praying with every step I took. Pleading with Heavenly Father to give me the strength to finish, to take away the pain so I could finish. I had to finish this.  The pain wasn't going away so I started to doubt the faith I had.  It obviously wasn't enough if I was still in so much pain.  My mind was taken back to my "list."  {Sara had told me of a book she read about marathoners.  One woman made a list of 26 people and dedicated each mile to that person.  I loved that idea so I did it.  I actually finished the list the night before I ran.}  I took out my list, which I had forgotten about, and looked over the first 6 names.  Instantly I forgot about my knee and became overwhelmed with emotion over the memories and feeling I had for those people.  I started to become anxious for every mile marker.  Not just because it was one mile closer to the end, or more icy-hot for my legs, but so that I could get to the next name on my list.  Every name I read, I cried.  Appreciation and love was all I could feel out there.  I was running alone and most all other "loners" were running with ipods.  It was just me and my thoughts for 4:31:37.   At mile 16 I randomly got a text from a friend who happen to by my #16.  I started to cry.  Heavenly Father was obviously aware of me and what I needed.  Thank you for the text!  Mile 18 was Sara.  I texted her, knowing I was in her thoughts and wanting her to know she was in mine. The next 7 miles were nothing short of brutal! Painful! Everything started to hurt.  Quads were burning.  Calves were starting to cramp.  Back and arms were tired.  My knee, well, it hurt so bad it was numb.  Aid stations were at every odd mile.  I would stop and take a sip of gatorade, sip of water, take a slice of orange, and have them smear icy-hot over both legs.  The problem with stopping...it was becoming increasingly more difficult to get my legs going again.  My knee would stiffen up instantly.  I seriously felt like the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz.  The last 4 miles coming into town were almost entirely downhill, and thank goodness.  I just leaned forward and let gravity do the work.  For as much pain as I was in, I was still pushing out 9-9 1/2 minute miles.  Not too bad! Once I got to mile 21 it was my family.  Simon, Marshall, Max, Jeff and Josephine.  The last 2 were the longest miles of my life.  We were in town and running on the roads.  People lined the sidewalks, cheering for everyone who ran by.  What a difference it made running amid civilization.  I had to soak up all that energy to get my legs to keep moving.  Sara had reminded me the night before, to make sure I ran a mile for myself, so I put me at 26.  At first I thought it to be selfish, but at that moment that I hit 26, it was anything but.  I recognized all the other people that helped me get there...but it was me who did it.  Running in and seeing my family there was the best!  Cheering me on, shouting my name, gave me what I needed to finish.  Then I hear another friend from the sidelines yelling "Go, Rachelle!  You did it!"  Now I can see the finish line.  And just before I cross, there is Sara in the bleachers cheering me on. Standing on her feet with both arms in the air, jumping up and down!  She was with me at the beginning when I signed up, and there she was at the finish line with me.  Thanks Sara.  I crossed the big red line, walked under some misters, passed through a line where they gave me my "medal" and headed for recovery.  There I ate 2 bomb-pop popcicles and waited for Jeff to pull the car around.  A friend told me to be prepared to cry when you finish, that it is the only emotion you can show.  Surprisingly, I didn't cry, probably because I did all my crying out on the course.  Now that it is over and I sit here in a quiet room recounting what happened, I am crying like a baby.  Like I said at the beginning, it is still a little hard to wrap my mind around doing what I did. 26.2 is a big deal, and I did it.  And I owe it to so many of you who loved and ran and supported me along the way.  Will I do it again, I don't want to think about it.  I just want to enjoy that I did it and that it's over!

26.2

So here are some pics of the St. George Marathon, Saturday October 3rd. This is my friend Suni and I at the expo the day before.  We picked up our bibs and bought some goods (I got the cute top and shorts I was wearing). I became friends with Suni when I was living back in NY while Jeff was in law school.  Just a month after we moved away, they relocated to St. George. Suni is the reason I ran the race.  She called me back in March, I think, and asked if I would run it with her. I agreed. (I have always wanted to run a marathon, and being post-partum and needing to take my mind off getting my body back, I figured this would be the answer.) Right after I got off the phone, I called my friend, Sara, to see if she wanted to do it as well. We both signed up and waited for the lottery results(St. George residents are automatically in.) Needless to say we both got in. About 2 months ago, however, Sara had some injuries that she just didn't have enough time to recover from. What a sport she was! She drove me up on Friday, stayed with me, and came to the finish line to cheer me on. 

Here we are at the start of the race. I was up at 2:35am (Utah time) and Suni picked me up at 4:00am. We picked up 2 more girls and headed for the shuttle pick up. When we got the starting point it was 39 degrees!!!! They had about 50 or more bon fires there for people to stay warm, and we needed it! 6:45 the gun went off!

Britney Smith emailed this picture to me. She was there cheering on her husband, Abell, who was also running his first marathon. Thanks for the picture Brit!

Here is a picture of me and Simon just after the race, when we got back to the house. Just before the real pain set in.

As soon as we got back to the house Jeff got me some Bajio to eat. I told him if I ever wanted to do something stupid like that again, remind me how bad it was and how much it hurts! Now that I've had more time to think about it, I might do it again, but no time soon, that is for sure.

A huge shout out to my cheering squad:
Jeff
Max
Marshall
Simon
Jo
Ben
Sara G.
Stacey U.
Britney S.
Anna D.
Kristin S. (et al)
Just knowing you were all there at the end meant so much!
Then I come home and what do I see.....

What incredible friends I have!  Thank you so much.  I hope you know how wonderful you are!

"Toof" for one special!

Last Sunday I was finally able to convince Marshall that his teeth were loose enough for me to try and pull them out.  With a small amount of hesitation, he agreed.  I worked on the first one for about 10 minutes, moving it forward, backward, left and then right until it popped out.  The other one was almost as loose and told him he would probably get more money if he left 2 teeth at one time.  After a 15 minute break I started in on the other one.  10 minutes later was tooth number 2.  Looks pretty goofy but I was sick of him complaining how much it hurt when he would bite down on anything.  Now there are different challenges, not having teeth to bite, biting hard things that hurt his gums, or being looked at weird because he looks a little funny.  Anyone else need a "toof" pulled?

Just a few pics of my baby.

New Floors!!!!!

This is the loft after I ripped out the carpet and just before I put in the laminate. This and all the base molding had to be done before the carpet could go in.

Here are a few before and afters, or after and befores, not sure how they uploaded.






Me trying to get the molding painted while the carpet was out and just minutes before the new carpet was put in.

It is soooooo nice to have new carpet. I couldn't even fathom just how HORRIBLE the carpet was until it was up and I could see the back of it. Dog urine EVERYWHERE. Note to self: If you ever rent your house, NEVER agree to let the tenants have a dog, because that will turn in to 2 and they will likey have 5 puppies (and in your bathtub!!!!!) On second thought, don't rent your house. Just for a kicker, here is what I pulled out of my shower drain. I'm sure it is the first time since the house was built (six years ago) that it was ever cleaned. YUCK!

Why no time to blog

This is part of the reason. 5 hours later my van was almost back to factory condition. I even scrubbed the oil junk off the wheels and hub caps. Deep cleaned every nook and cranny. Cleaned the windows. Cleaned and conditioned the leahter. Vacuumed the interior and then cleaned the carpets and rugs. I was crazy sore for 2 days. Then, while I was scubbing the floor mats in my back yard, I realized how filthy my windows were. So I quickly washed the windows and sliding glass door before I had to pick up the kids from school. It doesn't end here. Stay tuned for more projects.