Look what I found!

This song got stuck in my head a few days ago, so I decided to hunt for it. I love You Tube! Oh how this brings back memories! I hope it does for you too.



Why, oh why don't they make cartoons like this anymore?

Tuesday Tell-All: Why I Run

Today's topic is exercise. This word used to put an instant lump of guilt in my gut every time I heard it spoken. It's like reading scripture or eating veggies or doing genealogy work: all those wonderful things in life we know we SHOULD be doing, but often have a hard time...well, finding the time. I've (mostly) enjoyed being active. But since I married Vince, I've learned to appreciate it much more. And even just in the last couple of years I've learned to CRAVE it. I can always tell when it's been a while since I've exercised. I start to get crabby and feel all bleh inside, and I just start itching to get out and pound the pavement. And as I'm sure you all know by now, my exercise of choice is running.

I love what running does for me emotionally. I'm not a morning person, but there's just something magical that happens outside in the early hours when the world is just starting to wake up. I love being a part of that and seeing it first hand. I love watching the sun come up over the Eastern mountains, and almost instantly feeling it warm my body. I love listening to the chatter of the early birds who have so very much to say to each other. I love the solitude of being left to my own thoughts--I can think about anything and everything I want. No one is pulling on my arm, needing me to tie a shoe or fix a toy. No one is competing for this time--it's just me. I love that. I need that.

I love what running does for me physically! For most of you that know me, you know I've always been a...well, chubby kid. "Pretty & plump" I think is how my Mom described me! ;0) She used to tell me I was like that female bunny on "Bambi"--definitely a girly-girl, pretty & plump. Weight has always been a struggle for me. But running has been the very best way I've found to get in a really good workout and finally get control of my weight. I eat better when I run. I look better when I run! And I feel much better when I run.

I also love what running does for me socially. Even though it's such an individual sport, it creates an instant bond between people. I get so excited when I find out someone else is a runner, because they understand all that it means to me. They understand what an accomplishment it is to run a 5k in 26 minutes, or to finish a marathon, or just to brag about a really good training run. I love that running can bring together total strangers and make them friends.

And I don't have to be fast to be a runner, or come in 1st place in a race. I just have to lace up my shoes and shut the door behind me, and I really feel I can conquer the world.

Happy Anniversary!!

Just a shout-out to my Love to say, "Happy Anniversary, Darling!" Eight short long years! It's been a rough road, but I'm so glad we've come so far. I'll save all the mushy stuff for another time & place, but I thought it'd be fun to see us then and now:

This was our engagement picture. (And as my nephew Hyrum always says, "Awww, cute!")

And here we are now:

And I have to say, I still think we're cute! And I really can't believe how much my love has grown in the past 8 years. We were so young when we got married. I think our love now isn't the same silly, giddy, exciting love like it was then, but a deep-rooted love that I feel in my whole body now. You're a wonderful man, Vince! And I'm a much better woman because I have you to be my man. I love you. Happy Anniversary!

And.. We're Off!

Well, I really hoped my life would get less crazy. So far, not much. But at least it's FUN! I wanted to say a fond farewell to everyone. We're heading up to The Lake with Vince's family. I can't wait! I love skiing and swimming at The Lake! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post them. I'll try to pop back in soon. But for now, I'm off to have a much-needed VACATION!!

She's Ridin' a Two-Wheeler!

We were up visiting Vince's brother who lives a few hours from our house. His wife left for an author's conference and my Mother-in-law stayed to watch 6 grandkids. So she asked me to come along to help her out! So I took Brooke & Evan and we went up and stayed for several days. We had so much fun. While we were there, Brooke kept asking me to take off her training wheels on her bike. I told her we'd wait till we got home so Dad could do it. Then it dawned on me--"I'm perfectly capable of working these tools! I may have no idea what this one is called, but I can turn it like a pro--remember, 'Righty Tight, Lefty Loosey', okay I'm good!" And before we knew it, the wheels were off, and so was she!

She wiggled and wobbled for about 45 minutes. Then we decided she needed more space, more than the narrow sidewalk she was working on. So we all took our bikes down to the church parking lot a few blocks away, and by the time we got there, she had mastered it! It happened so fast! I thought it would take several days of working on it, but she was so good. She had a few really good crashes and scrapes, but she jumped up every time and rode away.

So now my little girl is all grown up! Yes, I know she's already seven years old, but it's amazing how time flies. They start out so little, and you turn around and they're riding off on their own, reveling in their new-found independence!

The Craziest of Crazies!!

Oh, man! I'm glad this is the end of the week, and beginning of a new one. Last week was CRAZY! I felt like I was running non-stop the entire week. Which is also why I love Sundays. I can finally relax, and take a nap, and catch up on my blog. Sorry if you've felt neglected. And I wouldn't be surprised if I lost all my readers this week. Hopefully life will be less crazy now (hopefully) and I'll have more time to stay up to date (hopefully). So if you're up for a long post, good! Here's a portion of everything I did last week:

Brooke finished 1st Grade. Next time she goes to school, she'll be a 2nd Grader! Yikes! And she'll finally have her little brother going with her. *Sniff Sniff!* Can't believe both my babies will leave me. But every time I say that Evan laughs at me and assures me that he will come back home every day. Even my sadness at being left home all alone doesn't keep him from wanting to go to Kindergarten!

Brooke with her 1st Grade teacher, Mrs Roberts. We loved her so much.

This was a special week for Brooke too because Thursday was her Birthday! That has been hard for me, to realize she's now SEVEN! I'm the mother of a seven-year old! I still can't get over how big she is.

She really wanted a fancy cake, but I just didn't have time to make a fancy cake. We comprimised on a rainbow cake, though. We got the kind with the colored sprinkles in the cake, and I bought M&Ms, Skittles, and marshmallows. And Brooke & her girly cousins had a wonderful time decorating the rainbow cake. It turned out really cute. She was happy because it was fancier than a plain old cake. And I was happy because it didn't take me all day to make it!

Brooke, Bekah, & Bethany putting on M&Ms. I wondered how much was put on and how much was snacked on!

Very cute rainbow, Brookie!



Typical Brookie pose & smile. I love the look Bethany is giving her too! So cute!

My Mom & Dad, and several of my siblings and Mary's kids all came over for presents & cake and ice cream. Vince's Mom drove down (she was flying out on Friday for a funeral) and she came a day early to be with Brooke on her Birthday. The funniest thing was that both she and my Mom got Brooke the EXACT same present! Obviously they both knew what she likes! She loved them both even if it was the same toy! She thought it was great that now her ponies can each have a twin. We all thought it was hilariously funny!

As I mentioned, my sister Mary is here with her family from Colorado. And my sister Beth flew in from Boston! So we have spent as much time playing together as we can. We also had a big photo shoot yesterday since we were ALL together--my entire family. That hasn't happened in a long time. So it was so nice to all be together again. I'll post pictures of our family once Mary gets them to me.

This week was also the last week of music classes. I finished teaching. We had Festival for the older kids, and recital prep for everyone. And then I had the programs to type and print. Recitals were yesterday. I wish I could say they went over without a hitch. They rarely do. There were numerous problems: the doors were all locked when I got there 1/2 hour before my first recital, the recital hall then wasn't set up, they didn't have the right disk drive to read our disks, then the drive we finally got plugged in didn't work, then we got it working but one of the disks was corrupt, etc. This is why I have nightmares before EVERY recital! There always seems to be something! But the kids all did awesome! I'm very proud of them and their progress this semester. And I have to say I have a WONDERFUL HUSBAND!!!! He was the one running around behind the scenes, driving to the studio 3 times to get what we needed so the show could go on! I don't know what I would've done without him. Probably cried! I'm also glad I decided to come extra early. And even at that, if the people had unlocked the recital early, we probably could've started on time. Oh well! It's done with now and I won't have to worry about that for 6 more months!

My own kids also performed in their recitals, and they both did great. Evan was the funniest. I swear he's going to be the class clown--I can see it all now. *Sigh* We've practiced and practiced this for weeks. He got up and played his first song fine (although he didn't even sit on the bench--he STOOD UP to play while I'm sitting in the audience shakin' my head)! Then he stopped before his next song, finally decides to sit down, and flings his right leg up onto the bench and faces the audience. Then he just stares with a completely blank look on his face. After about 20 seconds, and several chuckles from the audience, I step up and remind him he has one more song to play. He did a great job, and bowed very flamboyantly. My mom says she thinks he's must be of the mindset of a Victor Borge!

Brooke also did very nicely. Not quite as comical as her little brother, thank heavens! I'm impressed now that she can add in those extra finishing touches like dynamics and articulation that make it sound much more musical. It was harder to hear them in her actual performance, but at least I know in practicing she can really bring that all out! :0)

I also had a wonderful opportunity on Friday to meet some of my online running pals. We got together and had a yummy lunch at Heidi's house and let the kids play and just visited for about 3 hours! I was amazed at how fast the time flew by. It was great to finally be able to meet these ladies. I'd already met Leslie. She's the one that came to the SLC Marathon and jogged with me a bit. Did I mention she was days from giving birth at the time?! I loved getting to hold her sweet little baby girl. Heidi's friend Stacey came too. She was the one I rode the bus with up to the Ogden Marathon. And Meagan was there with her almost 6 month old baby too. These ladies have been a huge support for me while I've been training for my marathons. Hopefully we can get together again soon. Here are the pictures ladies:

That's Stacey, Leslie, Meagan, Heidi, and me.

And here are the kids having a great time eating hot dogs on the porch:

So that was mostly my week in a very large nutshell. In between all these fun activities I was scrambling around trying to get things finished up for my summer students, cleaning house for my Mother-in-law's stay here, taking her to the airport, and just trying to stay on top of my other normal duties. So now my family knows why I was so cranky last week (sorry, fam) but I think things will be much less stressful now. And the nice thing is these were all WONDERFUL activities! I was just grateful that I wasn't stressed out because I was doing awful unpleasant tasks. They were good and fun and I enjoyed doing them. There were just a lot of them this week!

And to finish off, here's a picture of Evan coming home from the recital all tired out. The kids fell asleep in the car coming home. I mostly thought it funny that he fell asleep with his hand in his sock:

And now I think I deserve a nap myself!

Graduation

So today's TTA is about Graduation. I've actually been thinking about Graduation a lot lately, since I'm now so old that it has been 10 years since I graduated from High School! My parents have all the old pictures from before I was married. So I stole this one from my friend, Sheri. Here I was 10 years ago this month:



From left to right: Michelle, Sheri, me, & Melissa

I will admit, I was very happy to move on after High School. And I loved High School, especially my Senior year. But I was really ready to go out and start the rest of my life.

And so I went to BYU and worked hard at getting a degree in Early Childhood Education. I was accepted into the program. And then I met Vince. And then I fell in love. And then I got married. And then I got PREGNANT. And then I knew I needed to graduate! So I switched to Marriage, Family, & Human Development (which still makes me chuckle at the degree I got). I was proud that I had worked it out just perfect. Brooke was due on July 10th, and I would finish Spring Term with my last classes 3 weeks prior to her due date. The only problem was that Brooke decided to show up 5 weeks EARLY! So she was born about 2 weeks before the end of the term. I had great professors that were very understanding (I'm sure at BYU this sort of thing happens a lot) and helped me finish what I needed to when I was recovered.

I had 2 more classes I did Indepent Study. And I walked across the stage in April of 2002.



Me & my friend Kristi. We were roommates until she got married, and we both graduated in MFHD.
Brooke was about 10 months old then. And we got her a cute little cap & gown outfit so we could match! I still love the pictures:

The Hogges are wonderful supporters! Shalon, me & Brooke, Vince, my Mother-in-law Marjorie, & Alisa

My family were big fans as well: My Dad, Mom, us, sisters Jo & Beth (and Bethy-Loo, why in the world are you hiding behind Jo?)

Here are the siblings--mine & Vince's

And the parents! Love you guys!

And I just threw in this picture because it was in the same file on my computer, and I'm a little baby-hungry and remembered how adorable Brookie was at this age. I love the tongue sticking out! *Sigh!* Isn't she a cutie?
And as fun as High School and college were, I will admit I am SO glad I'm not in school anymore!