Temple to Temple Relay

Yesterday we ran the Temple to Temple Relay. MAN it was tiring!

We were in the earliest wave, meaning we were the slowest. Butttttt that was pretty typical. I loved the team spirit that was everywhere. People pulled off the side of the road to cheer people on, and not just for their teams.

Brandon ran the leg right before mine, which was 5.2 miles. Of course he did great, he ran it in less than 50 minutes. He is such a good athlete, even if he gets nervous before his runs and doesn't think he'll do well.

I ran the 5th leg, which was 6.8 miles. Umm, up until that point the furthest I had run EVER was 4.5 miles. I was so nervous beforehand, and I just kept praying that I wouldn't succumb to the cold. It was really cold and windy. I would be lying if I said I didn't walk, but when the wind is against you for so long it takes it out of you. They had mile markers, but I'm pretty sure they weren't in the right spot. For example, it said I ran my first mile in 6:30. Now I KNOW that can't be true, but it was great motivation.

When I hit mile 5, I said, "Ok, I have officially run further than I have ever run before. Now let's finish this sucker." And I tried my very hardest to run my bunnies off.

When I crossed the finish line and passed off the baton (a snap bracelet), I sat down and my legs immediately went to sleep. I rested for a minute, then we were off to the next leg. Something scary happened on the way there. We were driving, and saw a huge combine with the sign "oversize load" driving behind some runners. One girl in neon yellow did not seem to notice it. I commented to the people in our car, "Man, that guy's going to hit her if he's not careful." But we kept driving, with our friends behind us. When we got to the drop off zone for the next leg, our friends weren't behind us. Rachel called her sister, who was in the car. They said the combine actually did hit that girl about 10 seconds after we passed her. We didn't even see it, but they said she had a huge gash over her eye, a broken arm, and a pretty bad concussion. She was talking about her laundry when they pulled over. Of course, that freaked me out! The last full song that was playing during my run pushed me to run has hard as I can for those couple of minutes, and I think if I had walked there she would have passed me. Who knows, that could have been me. But I think that I had a guardian angel watching over me, and he or she helped me get to that finish line when I did.

Brandon snapped some pictures of me running up to the finish line... embarrassing.

I have my tongue stuck out... because I'm just pretending to be tired.

Phew.

Pain. As soon as I sat down my legs went numb.

Yes, I'm smiling!

Rachel and I... between the 2 of us we ran 14 miles. I'm glad I have a friend to challenge me!

Oh, and PS, Brandon had to go straight to work instead of to the finish line. What a champ.

(At the finish line, Idaho Falls temple)

This made me think a couple things. One, I need to work on my pace. Two, if I ran 7 miles without too much strain (after the fact), then I can definitely do my half in May. I just need to keep running, and both of these things will come to pass.

Oh yeah. One guy ran it by himself... and he ran it faster than our team. He ran the entire 39.5 miles by himself. It was insane to watch.

Also.

Remember how when I started running, I had a goal to run a half marathon?

I SIGNED UP FOR ONE.

Ohhhhh geez what did I do to myself.

I did it because I need motivation to keep running this year, and because I can feel good about traveling for a half marathon. Anything less would make me feel bad going out of the way... and pretty much everything is out of the way here.

So, I signed up for the Idaho Famous Potato Half Marathon on May 17. I figure if we are in Idaho, why not do something totally stereotypical?

I need the motivation to run during the winter... we're probably going to get a gym pass since BYU-Idaho has the ridiculous rule that once you graduate, you can't go back to the gym. Unless you want to pay $6 a day. I'm bitter about that.

So, I'm about a third of the way there with my running! That's not bad, right?

Happy Birthday Dane!

This time last year, I was on pins and needles. I knew that Alyse had gone into the hospital to have the baby (!!!) And I was DYING to know how everything went.

Finally, the text came. He was here! All 7 pounds of him. And I've loved him ever since.

The hardest thing is that we don't get to see him very much!! But they can move closer to us... or we can move closer to them... right?

(The first time we met Dane... everyone was dying to see Dan the Leiningers.)

My day is always made better by pictures of Dane... when I get them I do 2 things- drop everything and show them to Brandon. And he had BETTER always appreciate them, or else... (he does)

He has the personality for about 10 kids, but nobody was surprised by that. He loves his mom, and LOVES his dad. And he appreciates us, I think. He even liked Austin when he met him!

I made this (thanks Instagram)... it caught the few times we've made the same faces. Except the sleeping picture, I just like that one. Ahh, he's my favorite. And I can say that right now, because he's the only one!

 

And now this sweet boy is a year old.. happy birthday Dane we love you! 

Faith.

I've had cause to think about the Plan of Salvation lately. I am so grateful for my knowledge of it, and knowing that no matter what happens we can be together. I just need to do what's right in this life, and have faith in Heavenly Father. To watch some people go through their own personal Gethsemane is terrible, and I just pray that they can rely on the Lord.

As per usual, I found solace in Les Miserables. I mean this in the most sincere way... Les Miserables is a great story for anyone who wants to know how to react to trials. If you listen to the last song, it has a very spiritual tone to it. Just listen. "To love another person is to see the face of God."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtbcZmCc7rg&noredirect=1

Interview #1

Brandon got his first P.A. school interview!

It's at Barry University in Miami... which IS the same school that Tanner Coleman is going to.

He's interviewing October 11... which means we need to buy him a ticket soon!

We are praying that he gets more interviews, but I feel so blessed that we got one. That's what we said we wanted.

We decided that we would love to live in Miami for a few years. It is just so different from everything either of us have lived in, so it would be an adventure. Plus, cheap flights to the Caribbean- who wouldn't love that??

23

In high school, a band I really liked to listen to was Jimmy Eat World. They have a song titled "23", and it's one of my favorites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsgtHf9Bewo&noredirect=1

One of the lines says, "Amazing still it seems, I'll be 23". And that's what I've been singing in my head for about 2 weeks now. 23 to me seems so big... and I know in a few years I'll be wishing I was 23 again. But for right  now I feel big.

So, poor Brandon married a woman who takes her birthday seriously. And by my birthday, I mean the actual day. I always got to celebrate my birthday on the DAY, so it's hard for me to change that. How grown up of me, right?

Anyways, Saturday was a low-key day. I got my Lucky Charms for breakfast (of course), and Brandon wrote me a very sweet letter telling me what he loves about me. Other than that, we just had a nice Saturday. We went on a walk and went out to lunch, then Brandon had to go to work. They called him in early... of course. Brandon said he had some big things planned, so all day I waited. Of course, I didn't JUST wait. I got to talk to a lot of family and Skype with my favorite boy:

(someone was moving too much for a still picture)

I think it was also being emotionally wrung out from this week at work, but I was a little miffed that my husband who said he had surprises hadn't showed anything yet. LITTLE DID I KNOW he had a lot of things planned. But my birthday was uneventful.

So the day after we went to church, and Brandon gave me a blessing for the upcoming school year. I'm so grateful for a husband who is worthy to help me with my anxiety and stress.

But Brandon was being sneaky, and had a big dinner planned. It smelled super good, but that's all I knew about it. At about 6, someone knocked and some of our friends came in the door. Which explained why there were like 3 gallons of mashed potatoes. The dinner was to DIE for- it was a pork roast with apricot preserves (which normally I don't like, but this time it was really good), mashed potatoes, and asparagus. After dinner, it was time for dessert.

Now, before you look at the cake and think we're really weird, let me explain. I was telling Brandon that all these stores are having crazy Labor Day sales, including DownEast. They had this super cute swimsuit for $15, and I asked if I could get that. Brandon said, "Sure, what kind of cake do you want besides a swimsuit?" and I said, "Umm, a chocolate swimsuit cake". So...

Brandon made a chocolate swimsuit cake. Hahahaha I laughed so hard. And it helped that the cake was amazing. I don't think a bakery could have made a cake this good.

Brandon also made me a birthday hat... here's the collage picture I made of the party to explain.

After that we just played games and enjoyed ourselves.

So now I'm really embarrassed that I was a diva about my birthday, and I know that Brandon will always do what he can to make my birthday great.

Young/Eternal Love

When I told people that at the age of 20 I was getting married, I got a lot of mixed responses. Most people were excited and positive about this, but there were definitely a few largely negative people. I just cut out some of those people, because if you can't support me in the biggest step of my life thennnn I don't really need you as a friend.

On the other side of this is the concept that people in society need to "find themselves" before they can give up their lives and get married. Because getting married means you lose your identity and heaven forbid you shouldn't feel like you've already lived your life before you spend it with someone else. Obviously I'm biased, but I think that's a load of hokum. We are married, we are dirt poor (for the next month at least), and we are loving building our life together. I don't need some crazy international expeditions or jobs that pay $90,000 or go out to explore to find myself to know I'm where I'm supposed to be. When it comes to marriage, I'm really just going to be 5+ years ahead of my friends.

There's this website put up by young Mormon adults called "Normons", where they explain the "weird" things in our religion in pretty plain language. This post was on young and eternal marriage, and it was just nice to see that I have support from this. Getting married young was my favorite decision, and I know we are only 2 years in but I think these next few years will be ones with lots of growth.

http://www.normons.com/young-eternal-love/

Teaching starts... now.

I start my first day of school tomorrow. I have been in denial of this fact for weeks now.

Right now, I am having a mix of very strong emotions. On the one hand, I feel like, as I explained to Brandon, like "I'm being asked to solve a Rubik's cube blindfolded". I have literally no idea what is going on with this whole teaching thing. What am I doing tomorrow? No clue. Mainly, watching the kids and getting ready to test kids on Thursday.

I am also feeling so grateful for my aides. Today was the first time I was able to really get to talk to them, and they are going to be so helpful with my cluelessness. I told them that I want to make decisions WITH them, and not for them. I hope this is going to be a positive interaction for me.

But, surprisingly, I have an overwhelming feeling of peace. I have no idea where it's coming from, but I have a very strong suspicion... I think this year is going to be one of major learning and one of major growth, but as I looked back at Brandon sleeping as I left for work, I was reminded of why I'm doing it. I love my husband, and he needs me to work so we can save money for a rainy day. Or life.

Ready or not, here I come!

2 Years Ago.

WARNING: It's mushy. But I can do that once a year, right?

So, it's our anniversary. I can't believe it's already been 2 years. I know that in the long run that isn't a long time, but it's surprising because it doesn't feel like it! It's a good time, being married to this guy.

Over our second year of marriage, we have:

-Visited 5 temples (Brigham City, Provo, Redlands, Jordan River, and Billings)

- GRADUATED COLLEGE BABY! Even though apparently that doesn't mean too much with my degree...

-Run 2 5K Fun Runs:

-I got my first post-college job as a Special Ed teacher in Rexburg.

-We became an aunt and uncle to the world's cutest boy, Dane (who is so big and almost 1!)

Seriously though, our lives have been so blessed. I'm grateful for the job I have, and for the chance we have to save money and hopefully pay off Brandon's BYU-Idaho debts before he starts his P.A. school debts. (Hopefully.)

Today was not supposed to be a big deal. We already went to Billings and Yellowstone to celebrate, and Brandon had to go back to work. He's going to be working full time, which means I won't see him for much of the week. So I was a little sad, but we tried to make the morning out of it. We went to the temple and did sealings (see here for more info) for family names, and then went and made breakfast. Brandon then got ready for work and left, and I was going to go to my classroom to work on organizing things. About 10 minutes later, I got a knock on the door. I opened it and Brandon came in with flowers and said, "I don't have work today." I squealed... a little embarrassing for me but it was totally warranted there.

As you can see, I was thrilled. Brandon had just gotten home from being gone for a week and a half, and I was glad to get another afternoon with him.

I wouldn't say marriage is bliss- bliss seems to imply that you are ignorant of what is happening and just la-di-da. It's like the best class ever. It's a time to learn and work on your people skills big time. You learn compromise, faith, communication, patience, love, charity... hmm. That sounds familiar.

I love going to the temple on our anniversary and doing sealings because it reminds me of the wonderful things I felt on our wedding day. We are reminded of how blessed we are, and how every problem we have with the world right now can just melt away, even just for half an hour at the temple. (Note: we couldn't get a good picture of me in front of the temple so I'm not going to post it. Too sunny and windy.)

But here's to another happy anniversary to the biggest weirdo I know, my best friend, the person I married up to, the man who inspires me every day to be better.

Happy Birthday Mom!

(This is a little late, but oh well.)

Happy Birthday to my mom! As my birthday present to her (in addition to a card that will be there later), I thought I'd put up the ways I've noticed I'm turning into her. I know she'll laugh, because these are ironic.

1) When I get really excited about something, I'll hit or grab the person's arm next to me.

2) When I see something inappropriate on T.V., I'll tell Brandon "Well, we're definitely NOT going to watch that!"

3) I've described things as "yucky" or "silly".

4) I'm now more concerned with if my siblings meet people who are "nice", rather than popular.

5) I can't stay up late anymore... it's just too much.

My mom's been one of the best examples of not settling her standards in media. Whenever Brandon asks me about 90's shows, my answer usually is "We weren't allowed to watch it". Now when I think about how I want to be as a parent, and watching Alyse and Tommy with Dane, I see the wisdom behind it. I know that my standards have slipped.... from when I was 5... and even in the last few years. But thinking about it has renewed my conviction that we need to be vigilant about this.

I also talk to my mom ALL the time. We've really developed a friendship over the last few years, and I love it. She's the second person I want to call when anything happens, besides Brandon.

Happy Birthday Mom!