Warp 9 Woman- first 5k of many!

I have been hibernating from my blog because I have been so busy working on my 90 day goal that I started on Dec. 15. So for the past 90 days I've been working toward my goal of running a 5k and on Saturday I finally ran that 5k! This is my official race number on a slimmer me :) I've actually lost 30 lbs in the process of preparing for my race. It was verrrry cold, so I wore my sweatshirt the entire time I ran. I really thought I'd be taking it off so I had my number pinned to my shirt. Oh well, next time I'll know- before April 1 you will be wearing the sweatshirt the entire time!My 90 day goal was part of a great program Craig and I have participated in the last 90 days called Outlook. As part of the program I had 2 buddies who I talked to daily and those great ladies were there to cheer me on the day of the race. Love ya Jules and Sally you rock! Doug who is one of the facilitators is in the back left corner and he and my running mentor Ashli Roberts actually ran the race with me. About a week before my race I got my first official runner's injury and so I ran my race with a knee brace. But even with the brace on I still improved my time by 4 minutes!Of course Craig and the kids were there to cheer me on. I love that my little girls race around the house now until they are breathing hard saying they are 'exercising'. And Emmalee's favorite game on the Wii fit is the running- she runs around the couch and kitchen breathing hard- it is so cute. Guess its rubbed off a bit on them also! Mom and Dad were in town for my race and made it just in time to see me cross the finish line. Dad was behind the camera and somehow I didn't get a single picture with them in it. Thanks for the support and love mom and dad!

Jules gave me a trophy with my super hero name on it- Warp 9 Woman.

It has been a wonderful 90 day adventure and I'm already planning my next 90 days with monthly 5ks and the Wasatch Back Ragnar June 19-20, not to mention more 'incredible shrinking woman'. More to come!

Holiday Blues!

The holidays are over and I didn't take a single picture! I'm going to have to kidnap Marilyn's camera because she took tons! Does anyone else get the blues when the holidays are over? I love all the decorations and the pretty lights, I hate having to put it all away in Jan. Last year the Christmas village was out until March... He he he. One advantage of having lots and lots of snow, the yard lights won't be coming down very soon, they look so pretty in the snow and under the snow. The extra lights on the houses help to light our very dark cul de sac also. I'm definately going to petition for a street light to be put in, it is a little worrisome. Sorry this is a boring, pictureless post. I'll make that my new years resolution to take more pictures!

The Living Planet Aquarium

Friday, the kids and I went to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. The building is a supermaket or something of that size that has been converted for the aquarium. I was extremely impressed that they repurposed the building so ingeniously. Anyway, its about the price of a movie and your ticket is good the entire day $6 kids, $8 adultsThey have a hands on area that the kids can touch a manta ray (sp?), They also have starfish, and other various creatures that the kids can touch and experience different textures.Emily calls these the"freaking jellyfish" (because she was freaking out watching them! and her brothers thought it was hilarious) I personally thought they were kind of creepy myself, you watch them too long and anyone would get a little squeamish!Notice the 12 year old controlling the computer game, the 6 and 3 year old's rapt attention and the teenager making faces!This display made it seem like the kids were actually piloting a boat out onto the Great Salt Lake.This was part of the man made coral reef that the kids could climb on and under. The kids had fun, we laughed alot at the funny antics of the tropical fish etc. They all said they'd like to go back, that usually means they had a good time.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful day, Craig and Birdie came to our house for the Thanksgiving feast and we sat down at the table by 2:10 (I had everything scheduled to be done by 2:00) I was excited that my schedule worked- Birdie has a finite amount of time that her strength/endurance to be up and about lasts so it worked out perfectly. The turkey came out perfect, it was so tender the leg bones came out as we were moving it to the platter. Creighton made a quick run to the grocery store and brought me back some Thanksgiving flowers (he knows I live for flowers). We had 3 different kinds of pie for dessert, but the lemon cream cheese was the hitWe still don't have any diningroom chairs, so we used the kitchen chairs again this year

Creighton put some Big Band music on as we were sitting together after dinner-Birdie and Erie used to dance with us at their house to many of the songs that he had on his MP3 player. Birdie was doing a little quick step as she and Craig were leaving and so the kids got the idea to dance . Anyway, we have this funny tradition as a family to dance after movies (the closing credit music) so the kids started dancing together in the livingroom, it was darling. Creighton grabbed me and was dancing in the entryway, until I had to get pictures of the kids because they were so cute.Paris read her "Thanksgiving books" to me after dinner, that she had made at school for just such an occasion. After the girls were in bed, Creighton, Connor, Zachary and I all watched Hancock on the diningroom wall (you can see the huge blank wall behind Creighton in the first picture) with the projector. I love it that I have my own personal big screen for movies! Who care if we have to wait for full dark to watch. (too much light in the livingroom). That's the projector above my head -you can just barely see it. The dresser has taken up permanent residence behind this couch until we get the tv room downstairs finished, so we can have movie nights!