Happy Birthday Coley!

Wow, is Cole really 13?

Geez... I still remember him like this.

Little tiny Coley. Now he's going to be a teenager, albeit a much better mannered one than I was.

Cole is such a great example of a little brother... he's the only one of us who didn't have to be forced to practice piano, or help Mom with cooking dinner, or with obeying Mom in general. (Sorry Mom). Not to mention he's hilarious! And he actually talks to me... yes that's a jab at Bethany.
Well, happy birthday Cole. Hope year of the 13 is even better than the last!

My poor, tender, breaking heart.

Today we are dealing with something very difficult. My sweet Young Women's leader, Sister Bollard, is preparing to go into the next life after a long battle with cancer. I'm still struggling with this. I told my mom that I think everyone should live a healthy life until at LEAST they have great-grandchildren. So the fact that I have a friend who is only as old as my parents about to be taken away has made me have to catch myself many times over the last few days to avoid public displays of emotion.

When my friend told me that people were starting to write letters to her, I wrote one too. How do you write a letter to a friend, knowing it's the last mortal contact you'll have with her? It took me a LONG time to get through it, and I figured the best thing to tell her was my testimony. As one of the leaders when I was a Laurel, it was through her example that I helped make the decisions that have brought me to this point.

I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have of the Plan of Salvation. I wish SO much that I didn't have to learn about it through these hard times. I went to the temple on Saturday, and found that peace will come from staying close to the Lord. I also know for a fact that the Bollards will be together again. They have lived their ways the right way, and what could be a bigger comfort than that. Sometimes the Lord just has a different plan for us that is not for us to know, but to trust in Him.

So I will keep praying. Praying for Sister Bollard, that she will be able to be released from her pain. We've prayed for a miracle, and now it's time for her to receive her reward. I'm praying for her husband, who was my seminary teacher for my senior year and Austin's seminary teacher for two years in high school. He helped Austin get so motivated for a mission, and how can you repay that? I'm also praying for their family, especially Charlie. Charlie is the sweetest, and he has really grown up as a result of this trial. How is it fair to call it a "trial"? People call hard classes trials! This is so much more. Charlie is going to be such a great man as a result of enduring this, especially as he is in France away from the family during this awful time.

So, my heart has been very tender lately and I've caught myself trying to clear the lump in my throat. Many prayers going to lots of people I love.

Team Wes

So, as I mentioned before, my uncle Wes has been through some highly stressful and traumatic medical issues lately. We are so grateful for the fact that his medical prognosis went from "Might not make it through the night" to "He wil live, but might be disabled and will stay in the hospital for at LEAST 3 months" to "Oh, he's surpassed all our expectations at 3 weeks, he can go to rehab now!" Our already tight knit family has really come together to rally for Wes, and we have prayed and fasted and gone to the temple in hopes that he will recover to the best of his abilities. Wes is a champ, I tell you.

But anyway, all of my mom's sisters went out to help, and Alyse even got to go for a few days. I wanted to, but I couldn't find a time around then that I could take time off work. I told Brandon that if Wes was still in the hospital by President's Day weekend (back when that was lightly) that I was going to go out there. I'd much rather he be home though. But I wanted to know something I could do for them! Something for the aunt and uncle who have let me stay with them for weeks on end multiple times, have taken me to 3 countries (US, Canada, and Nicaragua), who took me to a reggae fest in a country that spoke a different language, who pushed me to sled down a volcano, and didn't even mind that the cough syrup I got in Nicaragua had something that made me hallucinate... How do I help someone who really gave me all these life experiences? (The cough syrup one was a trip... Literally. Never take over the counter medicine there.) 

So I did what I could... I crocheted!

Since Wes has undergone at least 5 brain surgeries, he has no hair and about 65 stitches where his prosthetic skull went. He also has another surgery coming up in March so I made him a skull cap. Cornell red of course! I also made Annie a braided scarf because they're just so cute.

I feel better now, like I helped in some way. Team Wes forever!

Fort Lauderdale temple dedication

So, they just announced the Fort Lauderdale temple's dedication. I AM SO EXCITED! That means that we will have a temple near us... otherwise the nearest temple would have been in Orlando 4 hours away. And look at those pictures, how beautiful is that?

One more step towards Miami/Dade County being a great home for us.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/fort-lauderdale-florida-temple-open-house-and-dedication-dates-announced

2013 at a glance.

2013 was a good year for us. In a nutshell, here's our year.

- We visited 5 new temples:

1) Redlands, CA

2) Jordan River, UT

3) Billings, MT

4) Draper, UT

and 5) Los Angeles, CA

- Oh wait, we graduated college.

- Brandon traveled to Miami for PA school interviews, and got in! (No pictures, sadly.)

- We started running together, and I ran in 5 races.

1) Color Fun Run

2) Dirty Dash

3) Temple to Temple Relay

4) Tater Trot

5) Santa Run

- We got to send Dallin off on a mission, and all the fun that came with it (aka Dane time).

- Got to see one of my best friends get married!

- I started my first teaching job.

- Celebrated our second anniversary by camping out in Yellowstone.

-Traveled to Mendocino with Brandon's family for their 30th wedding anniversary (which I need to blog about... whoops).

I'm sure there's a ton that I'm missing, but I'm so grateful for the blessings 2013 brought me. I'm also SO grateful that it's over, because it was a challenging year for sure. I love Brandon, and am so glad he is with me every step of the way.

2014 has a lot of life experiences in store for us- a move, a new job (gulp), a missionary coming home (yay!), PA School, lots of more running for me, and basically a new start for us. Bittersweetness.

Christmas Card pictures 2013

So, one of the best things about living in Rexburg is the fact that there are many girls (and guys) who have photography businesses and want to build their clientele. I'm glad to have some talented friends behind the lens, and was able to catch a mini-session with this girl before she moved to Dallas in 2 weeks.

We took some Christmas card pictures because I realized we haven't gotten pictures taken of us since Maine! That was almost 2 1/2 years ago.. don't even get me started. So yes it is Christmas themed. It was also 30 degrees outside so we were bundled.

(We did dodge a bullet with the weather though. This was taken the day before our first snowstorm, and 2 days before it started going below 0.)

I intentionally left out the ones on our Christmas card... yes we have a collage going. There are too many classic pictures from this year.

And now we can wait another 2 1/2 years to take more pictures! Just kidding.

Santa Run 2013

Today I ran my fifth race... The Santa Run in Ogden. Yes it was a little bit crazy to drive 3 hours just for a race and drive back 2 hours later, but SO worth it.

Everyone who ran got a Santa suit to run in, and a shirt. So off I went, solo I might add. Brandon had to work.

When I got there, they told me there was no drop for keys or phones... So I held both during the race. We also started right next to the under-construction Ogden temple... It's so pretty!

So like I said, I was given my suit and went back to change. Luckily I had the foresight to wear running clothes under my suit, because when I put it on I accidentally stepped on the seams and it split. Like, halfway to the knees split. Whoops. So I ran like that, because what do you expect from cheap felt?

I got someone to take my picture to send to everyone, and this is the full getup:

I was smiling under the beard... You just can't tell.

Here's about a fourth of the people running in the race, just to give you an idea of how many Santas were running with me:

Seriously. It was awesome. And there were baby Santas and elves, and dogs dressed up, and Christmas music playing, and milk and cookies at the water stations... Christmas heaven. Even if I didn't have any of the milk or cookies, because I didn't feel like throwing up on the track if we had to double back on it 3 times.

I am so grateful that my body is used enough to running that a 5k is not a big deal anymore. Because otherwise I would have died... I have not been able to get out much and train. 

One more race down! The next one is probably going to be the Famous Idaho Potato half... Bring it!

Thankful list and Thanksgiving 2013

So I've been a little quiet on the blog front... sorry.

But I have officially finished my first trimester of teaching! Hardest thing of my life. But I expect the next 2 semesters will be just as busy, but easier and won't make me go as gray.

But I am so thankful for a lot of things with this holiday season.

1) I'm thankful for Dane. This little tiny human has made my life so much better. I mean seriously, how cute is he?

2) I'm thankful for the chance we have to go to PA school next year. I am so grateful for this chance for so many reasons. I am excited for this chance we have to further our education, and to go live somewhere that will really put us on our own. On top of that, we have family there, and it will be so fun to hang out with Tanner and Alyse.

On top of that, our road trip out there this year will be so fun. We are starting by heading to Denver for a family reunion, then going to Miami from there. It's about 40 hours of driving, and I planned it so we'll visit a couple new temples on our way... not the least of which Vernal Utah, OK City, and possibly Denver if we have time. We will also get to see AT&D in Dallas, and our road trip takes us a mile from where "Duck Dynasty" is filmed... success!

Am I scared of living out there? Heck yeah. It's expensive, and I'm going to need to work the whole time Brandon's in his program so that we can afford to live. Visiting home will be a lot harder, if we get to at all. (We probably will at least once.) But we said we wanted to live somewhere outside our normal comfort zone, and Florida fits that bill.

3) I'm SO thankful for Brandon. He's such a good thing for me... he knows what makes me happy and sometimes knows me better than I know myself. For example, we went shopping this morning to take advantage of some of the deals out there (because we refuse to line up to shop on Thanksgiving), and he saw me deciding on what I should get. We're trying to save money to drive to California for Christmas, but he didn't remind me of that. He didn't say anything, in fact. And, instead of buying probably $50 worth of clothes, I ended up talking myself out of it and buying only $20, $5 of which were a new wallet I needed. It was sneaky, but smart.

I hear girls complain that their husband doesn't put away the dishes, or clean up, or cook, and I think, "Ew. Why would you marry someone who doesn't do that?" Now, I know that's judgmental, but I am seriously spoiled by Brandon. Not only does he do all those things, but he LIKES to do all those things. I don't think it's his favorite, but he likes having a clean apartment enough that he will do those for me without guilting me.

4) I'm thankful for the temple. We've made a goal to go once a week until the end of the year, and then I'm sure I will continue that through the end of the school year. It has been so nice. It was interesting, because life got harder as soon as I decided that. I knew it was the world conspiring against my plan, so I decided to keep it up. So take that, Satan! Also, we just figured out that I had a family name from Russia... who knew?

So this year for Thanksgiving, we stayed in Rexburg. It was SO low key. We had dinner with other friends, and just enjoyed ourselves. There was a table for couples without kids, so we got to sit there and talk when everyone else was running around chasing their kids. Win win... because we'll go through that in a few years I'm sure.

In keeping up with our tradition, we wore Christmas/"ugly" apparel for Thanksgiving.

In case you were wondering, we have worn this for the last 2 Thanksgivings as well... Check it out.

2011(This one always cracks me up.):

2012:

Note the lack of a mustache this year. I'm also very thankful for this. I've told him he can grow out his scruff however he wants, if he doesn't do a mustache again.

Tater Trot.

I ran my first 10K race today. I signed up for it after the Temple to Temple Relay. It was something I wanted to do on my way to my half marathon, and it would keep me motivated to keep running. It also takes place of a Turkey Trot run that I wanted to do. It was in Blackfoot, about an hour away. So luckily it didn't start at 7 AM like I thought earlier this week.

I was surprised at how small of a venue it was. We were at the park right off the freeway, and to give you an idea  of how small it was, the announcer didn't even use a megaphone. He told us we had from 8:30 until they stopped timing at 10:00 if we wanted our times to be tracked. So I had a goal to beat.

This shirt is sweet though! It's a long sleeved shirt and says on the back, "I'm not a couch potato, I'm a Tater Trotter!" Amen.

After we got started, Brandon ran around to the other side of the parking lot and caught me as I came around. I make super cute faces.

I was surprised at how well my legs did in my run. I wasn't even the last person to come in... so that was a success. I did stop for a minute at the drink table, but that's ok.

I came in running my race in 1:13:06, which is much faster than my pace in the relay. Brandon wanted me to do this for my victory pose. My idea was for me to have my head between my knees, but I'll probably save that for my half marathon.

So, you may have been asking yourself, "Why was this called the 'Tater Trot'? Besides the fact that it is in Idaho..." Well, they had a meal for all the runners.

A baked potato. And I may have been just starving from the run, but it was SO good.

I successfully ran 6.2 miles in a race, and I didn't even die. Next stop, Santa Run!

Thankful list '13- Days 4-7

Day 4- Today, I'm thankful for our cars. It's starting to get colder here (ahhhhh, Rexburg winter. You will NOT be missed ever.), but we don't even feel it when driving. I love our little Jeep and Pathfinder, and I'm going to be sad when we sell/return them. Selling Brandon's Jeep will be especially hard, because it belonged to his grandpa Putnam and I know that puts an additional emotional attachment on it. And it has been SO good to us in the snow. If it only got about 3 times the gas mileage, I'd keep it in a second.

Day 5- I'm thankful for Daylight Savings ending. I got to go to work when it was light, and come home when it was light. It was a nice surprise.

Day 6- I'm thankful for the temple. I went tonight to do some work for a couple of family names. While I was there, I ran into one of my old friends from freshman year, who I haven't seen in years! It was so wonderful to see her, and to feel thankful that we both turned out OK from our crazy days of 2008. Going to the temple is so great, especially when I go after a day of school.

Day 7-I'm grateful for a husband (really, I could do 30 day of why I'm thankful for Brandon) who got up, no questions asked, to check the apartment when I heard our door rattle. It really did I swear! But he got up at o' dark 30 to check it for me... Nothing to report. (Note: that was yesterday. Today he almost got punched in the throat because he accidentally woke me up and scared the living daylights out of me at 4 am. Still thankful for him though!)