I can't decide which one is my favorite. David likes the argyle (which took forever since I had to free-hand the pattern). There are definitely mistakes, so try not to look too closely..... :)
Friday, May 11, 2012
Onesies
I made these for Ann's baby shower before they moved down to Vegas for the summer.
I can't decide which one is my favorite. David likes the argyle (which took forever since I had to free-hand the pattern). There are definitely mistakes, so try not to look too closely..... :)
I can't decide which one is my favorite. David likes the argyle (which took forever since I had to free-hand the pattern). There are definitely mistakes, so try not to look too closely..... :)
Thursday, May 10, 2012
So long, Provo!
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| The temple just down the street from our house |
We'll be back, but I don't know that we will ever live here again.
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| Meeting baby Charlee |
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| Our new chapter! |
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| Beloved stadium |
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| graduation! |
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Eyebrows
Along with running a half-marathon, I also did something else this past weekend that was new to me.
Got my eyebrows threaded. And HOLY SMOKES the first time (with all of the little baby hairs) is killer. There may or may not have been tearing up for a minute....
Overall (after the pain is forgotten), I'd do it again. Fast, easy, no hot wax, inexpensive, and I like how it turned out. Also, kind of fun to experience....in a weird kind of way.
Got my eyebrows threaded. And HOLY SMOKES the first time (with all of the little baby hairs) is killer. There may or may not have been tearing up for a minute....
Overall (after the pain is forgotten), I'd do it again. Fast, easy, no hot wax, inexpensive, and I like how it turned out. Also, kind of fun to experience....in a weird kind of way.
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| via Wikipedia |
Monday, May 7, 2012
What I've Learned (v3) - Half.Marathon!
read parts one and two here.
4. Downhill courses in the mountains are probably the prettiest ones.
5. Don't try to keep up with everyone running really fast at the start. Save that for when it gets really hard - like miles 10, 11, and 12.
6. You really can run the entire way without stopping at all. It's hard and you'll try to talk yourself out of it multiple times, but just ignore that little voice and keep going. Just tell yourself that slowing down is acceptable. Stopping is not.
7. Drink more water the days before. Also, chocolate gu tastes like frosting, which is okay. The strawberry banana one tastes like banana bread dough. Clif shot bloks are like huge square fruit snacks.
8. Get the free massage at the finish line. You will need it. Your joints will be super, super sore the next day.
9. Family and friends cheering you on are the BEST. Seriously. If Andrew and Laura weren't standing by mile 10, my time would have been a lot worse. And at the finish line, those familiar faces make you realize how great you are and that you really can finish the race.
10. For the next 48 hours you won't want to run again. Then the idea starts trickling into your thoughts and suddenly you find yourself on your lunch break searching for another (maybe shorter, this time... the marathon is still just a thought) race to run in the next few months.
1. You really can do it! And it actually was really fun.*except maybe miles 10, 11, and 12. But those are worth it.
2. No one knows why they make you go so early just to wait around. The 3:40 am wake up call is not so fun and don't plan on getting extra sleep when you get up to the start.
3. Bring extra clothes for the wait at the beginning - especially if they have a bag drop. If not, bring old clothes you're okay with ditching along the way.
2. No one knows why they make you go so early just to wait around. The 3:40 am wake up call is not so fun and don't plan on getting extra sleep when you get up to the start.
3. Bring extra clothes for the wait at the beginning - especially if they have a bag drop. If not, bring old clothes you're okay with ditching along the way.
4. Downhill courses in the mountains are probably the prettiest ones.
5. Don't try to keep up with everyone running really fast at the start. Save that for when it gets really hard - like miles 10, 11, and 12.
6. You really can run the entire way without stopping at all. It's hard and you'll try to talk yourself out of it multiple times, but just ignore that little voice and keep going. Just tell yourself that slowing down is acceptable. Stopping is not.
7. Drink more water the days before. Also, chocolate gu tastes like frosting, which is okay. The strawberry banana one tastes like banana bread dough. Clif shot bloks are like huge square fruit snacks.
8. Get the free massage at the finish line. You will need it. Your joints will be super, super sore the next day.
9. Family and friends cheering you on are the BEST. Seriously. If Andrew and Laura weren't standing by mile 10, my time would have been a lot worse. And at the finish line, those familiar faces make you realize how great you are and that you really can finish the race.
10. For the next 48 hours you won't want to run again. Then the idea starts trickling into your thoughts and suddenly you find yourself on your lunch break searching for another (maybe shorter, this time... the marathon is still just a thought) race to run in the next few months.
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| At the finish! |
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The little pedometer that is no more.
This is kind of a ridiculous story and I feel really silly writing about it.
But I want to remember it, so here goes.
At the end of last year, I got an email from my insurance about a wellness program where you can sign up for a pedometer and get entered into drawings for giftcards for Amazon (I thought it would just be like $30 or something. Nope, they are like $500 and $750 giftcards. Much more enticing.) and also for a trip to Hawaii. Sounds awesome, right?
Of course, I signed up, got my pedometer in January and I've been wearing it every day since then. You get a "goal" of how many steps you need to take each week and if you meet it, they give you a higher number the next week. I started out around 12,500 steps and now I think I'm at 34,000. You get a bonus if you are in the top 5 number of steps each week. I've been in the top 5, but never been the top person for the week.
Fast forward to yesterday. I went on a short run because I'm doing my half-marathon Saturday (woot-woot!) and LOST MY PEDOMETER ALONG THE WAY. I was so mad. And then I was mad that it made me mad. It's just a dumb pedometer, right?
So what do I do, being as irrational as I can be? Go out and walk my route again looking for it. Really irrational and silly because it was getting dark and there was a .0001% chance of me finding it. I might have kicked it as it came off my shoe and it ended up in the grass somewhere. Or someone might have picked it up out of curiosity and then thrown it away later. Or a car ran over it and it is smashed in the road somewhere.
It was ridiculous of me to even try. But I could help but hope I would find it. And every time I saw a big leaf, a rock, a hole in the concrete, and gum spot that looked like my pedometer, I got hopeful. And I'm sure I looked like an idiot staring at every spot for the whole 3 miles. It was a long walk home.
It is driving me crazy that I lost it.
A) It took them forever to send me the first one and I really don't want to wait another month for my next one. Especially when we are moving twice in the next month.
B) I really legitimately thought I had a smidgen of a chance to win big bucks. (Ridiculous of me, I know.) There aren't that many people in the program and they were giving out quite a few giftcards.
C) I was finally going to win this week. With my half-marathon, pre-race runs, and golfing plans, I was bound to have the most steps this week. Silly, competitive me.
Such a silly thing to be mad over, but that little pedometer drove (is still driving!) me crazy. I know I can still run my half-marathon and that I probably wasn't going to win anyways and I'll eventually get my new pedometer, but the irrational part of me is still super frustrated that I lost it and that I couldn't find it after looking for it. I'll chalk this one up to the vortex too. (Ask me about it sometime - and where all the socks, hair cutting scissors, David's old electric razor, and other missing things are.)
It is weird to wear my boots and not have my rubber band on them anymore.
Also, I can be so irrational sometimes.
But, hey, now it doesn't look like I've stolen every pair of shoes I wear.
But I want to remember it, so here goes.
At the end of last year, I got an email from my insurance about a wellness program where you can sign up for a pedometer and get entered into drawings for giftcards for Amazon (I thought it would just be like $30 or something. Nope, they are like $500 and $750 giftcards. Much more enticing.) and also for a trip to Hawaii. Sounds awesome, right?
Of course, I signed up, got my pedometer in January and I've been wearing it every day since then. You get a "goal" of how many steps you need to take each week and if you meet it, they give you a higher number the next week. I started out around 12,500 steps and now I think I'm at 34,000. You get a bonus if you are in the top 5 number of steps each week. I've been in the top 5, but never been the top person for the week.
Fast forward to yesterday. I went on a short run because I'm doing my half-marathon Saturday (woot-woot!) and LOST MY PEDOMETER ALONG THE WAY. I was so mad. And then I was mad that it made me mad. It's just a dumb pedometer, right?
So what do I do, being as irrational as I can be? Go out and walk my route again looking for it. Really irrational and silly because it was getting dark and there was a .0001% chance of me finding it. I might have kicked it as it came off my shoe and it ended up in the grass somewhere. Or someone might have picked it up out of curiosity and then thrown it away later. Or a car ran over it and it is smashed in the road somewhere.
It was ridiculous of me to even try. But I could help but hope I would find it. And every time I saw a big leaf, a rock, a hole in the concrete, and gum spot that looked like my pedometer, I got hopeful. And I'm sure I looked like an idiot staring at every spot for the whole 3 miles. It was a long walk home.
It is driving me crazy that I lost it.
A) It took them forever to send me the first one and I really don't want to wait another month for my next one. Especially when we are moving twice in the next month.
B) I really legitimately thought I had a smidgen of a chance to win big bucks. (Ridiculous of me, I know.) There aren't that many people in the program and they were giving out quite a few giftcards.
C) I was finally going to win this week. With my half-marathon, pre-race runs, and golfing plans, I was bound to have the most steps this week. Silly, competitive me.
Such a silly thing to be mad over, but that little pedometer drove (is still driving!) me crazy. I know I can still run my half-marathon and that I probably wasn't going to win anyways and I'll eventually get my new pedometer, but the irrational part of me is still super frustrated that I lost it and that I couldn't find it after looking for it. I'll chalk this one up to the vortex too. (Ask me about it sometime - and where all the socks, hair cutting scissors, David's old electric razor, and other missing things are.)
It is weird to wear my boots and not have my rubber band on them anymore.
Also, I can be so irrational sometimes.
But, hey, now it doesn't look like I've stolen every pair of shoes I wear.
Monday, April 30, 2012
San Francisco - Sunday/Monday
Sunday
We woke up early bus out to Fisherman's Wharf/ Alcatraz. It's a fairly quick ride to Alcatraz where you will be told hundreds of times that it is a National Park and to leave the birds alone.
Alcatraz is a touristy thing to do, but it is seriously awesome. The audio tour they have there totally makes it worth it. You walk around the prison listening to stories/the history from guards who worked there and prisoners who were inmates and people that lived on the island. It's like walking through a movie.
We got off the ferry back at the wharf and found out that we could see some of the people David taught on his mission (we tried to meet up with them on Saturday but lots of different things complicated it.) We ran to meet Sasa and Eric downtown.
We actually beat them to the meeting place by a few minutes, so we got to walk around this farmer's market with all these crazy stalls. There was a hummus one that looked good, lots of fruit and even a raw meat stall. When Sasa and Eric got here, we walked over to Japanese cherry blossom festival (which had a surprising lack of cherry blossoms!). There was a small parade with a few floats, and groups of people. One group was just lots of people dressed up as cartoon/anime/videogame characters.
After the parade, we walked back to the downtown area and got some amazing Thai food. I think it was called King of Thai Noodle and it was right near Union Square. I got the lemongrass soup and it came in this HUGE bowl. It was so, so yummy. We had so much fun with Sasa and Eric - despite me knowing about 8 words in Chinese (except all the words to this song - go watch it; it has subtitles), we had a great time. I'm pretty sure we laughed all through lunch.
We met back with Laura and Andrew and their family at fisherman's wharf. We walked around the shops, saw the sea lions, and were the definition of tourists. Then we caught the F train back down to the financial district, and the mall where we bought our pre-dinner snack. (We take our food vacations seriously around here.) It was this HUGE piece of deep-dish pizza. One piece filled the 4 of us up.
Then we tried to walk to Chinatown to get another Quickly. We missed it again - we got there like 2 minutes after they closed. So sad. Then we saw the missionaries at the bus stop and David got to talk to them for awhile, which turned out to be better than getting a Quickly.
We walked to the bottom of Lombard St.
We went to dinner at Drabar Indian (polk and pierce). We got so much food. Lots of roti and naan and rice. It was really good food and it was really cheap. We were impressed. Everything was so good.
Monday
We got up early to check out. When we went to return our hotel keys, we woke up the desk worker. He looked so out of it haha. On our way back to Provo, we took a detour to Lake Tahoe.
SO incredibly gorgeous and so much bigger than I imagined. It was completely worth the hour detour.
We hopped back in the car to Reno for lunch. We ate at Grimaldi's. (In case you didn't know, it's my favorite.) Their pizzas are big. And we ate 3 of them. Every worker in the restaurant made a comment to us about how much pizza we ate. (We ordered regular, pepperoni, oven roasted red peppers. All were wonderful.)
On our way back to the freeway, we realized we were at outlet malls. So, of course we pulled back in and went to the adidas/nike stores.
Then back in the car, dinner at Mcdonalds, and home at 11:30 pm. It was a LONG day in the car.
I have a pedometer I wear with "goals" to meet each week. This past week it was 31,500 steps. After we got back from SF, I had 66,400. That's a LOT of walking.
We woke up early bus out to Fisherman's Wharf/ Alcatraz. It's a fairly quick ride to Alcatraz where you will be told hundreds of times that it is a National Park and to leave the birds alone.
View on the way back to SF:
The dock on Alcatraz:
We met back with Laura and Andrew and their family at fisherman's wharf. We walked around the shops, saw the sea lions, and were the definition of tourists. Then we caught the F train back down to the financial district, and the mall where we bought our pre-dinner snack. (We take our food vacations seriously around here.) It was this HUGE piece of deep-dish pizza. One piece filled the 4 of us up.
Then we tried to walk to Chinatown to get another Quickly. We missed it again - we got there like 2 minutes after they closed. So sad. Then we saw the missionaries at the bus stop and David got to talk to them for awhile, which turned out to be better than getting a Quickly.
We walked to the bottom of Lombard St.
We went to dinner at Drabar Indian (polk and pierce). We got so much food. Lots of roti and naan and rice. It was really good food and it was really cheap. We were impressed. Everything was so good.
Monday
We got up early to check out. When we went to return our hotel keys, we woke up the desk worker. He looked so out of it haha. On our way back to Provo, we took a detour to Lake Tahoe.
SO incredibly gorgeous and so much bigger than I imagined. It was completely worth the hour detour.
On our way back to the freeway, we realized we were at outlet malls. So, of course we pulled back in and went to the adidas/nike stores.
Then back in the car, dinner at Mcdonalds, and home at 11:30 pm. It was a LONG day in the car.
I have a pedometer I wear with "goals" to meet each week. This past week it was 31,500 steps. After we got back from SF, I had 66,400. That's a LOT of walking.
San Francisco - Friday/Saturday
San Francisco was so much fun that it requires 2 blog posts to adequately let me stuff as many pictures in as I can.
Friday
We like to start our road trips by stopping at Winco and filling bags with bulk candy - our favorites? gummi bears/sour gummy worms, yogurt pretzels, and peachies (I've been informed that they are called peach rings.). We also got strawberry and pineapple licorice this time. Definitely a good idea.
We planned to stop in Reno for dinner so that was our mental stopping point. We actually stopped over the border of California in Truckee for dinner in the Donner Pass (ironic, eh?). We went to this awesome place called Burger Me. -- I don't know if it was that we had spent 5 hours building up dinner in our minds or the long car trip, but their burgers are some of the best we've ever had. (The onion rings, too!)
The Palace of Fine Arts. I want a house right next to this park.
At the Marina.
I'm not sure what Andrew is doing, but I thought these were funny pictures.
Our Golden Gate pictures.
Laura and Andrew had to ditch us to go a wedding, so we headed off to downtown SF.
We took the bus down to Chinatown and went in and out of tons of shops. It was cleaner than NY's Chinatown. also, they don't sell handbags the same way. NY has a lot of people coming up to you and asking "handbag, handbag, you want a handbag?" There was no one on the streets saying stuff like that in SF. Instead, when you are in the stores looking at bags, someone will come up to you and ask you if you want to see more. SAY YES. They will take you to the back of the store and pull back a magic curtain and show you the secret hideout of shelves covered in bags.
We tried to go to a Quickly to get our fix of boba drinks but we were 15 minutes too early before it opened. So we decided to keep going and we would get one later.
We went down to the shopping area downtown - with the BIG mall. It is pretty fancy schmancy. David told me about this little chocolate place he and his companion went to on his mission, so we set off to find it. I've never spent $10 on 5 chocolates before in my life. But it was worth it. These were so delicious.
We got some pizza from Blondie's and ate in Union Square.
Then we got this brilliant idea to walk over to Nob Hill and get ice cream from Swenson's and eat it while watching people drive down Lombard. The ice cream was delicious. The walk was not. But I'm glad we did it. It was fun to see the city that way.
At this point we were so tired, we walked the 10 blocks down the street to take a nap.
After we woke up, we caught the bus out to the west side of the city. We stopped by the church David spent lots of time at.
Then we hiked up this hill on Maraga. It is officially called Grand View Park. It had so. many. stairs.
You get half way up and you can see this bench:
The view was pretty amazing and worth it though.
We went to dinner at this little hole in the wall place called The Lime Tree. It had really good Indonesian food - nothing like we've eaten before. They had this roti bread with a little curry to dip into. So good.
We caught the bus out to Ocean Beach to watch the sunset. It was the perfect day - there was no fog anywhere - and there were tons of people at the beach.
Then we went to Trader Joe's and back to the hotel. Where I pretty much fell asleep right away. After Andrew and Laura came back, the boys went and got us some late night pizza. I'll never say no to pizza. But I'm pretty sure I was only half-awake eating it because we'd walked so much.
Friday
We like to start our road trips by stopping at Winco and filling bags with bulk candy - our favorites? gummi bears/sour gummy worms, yogurt pretzels, and peachies (I've been informed that they are called peach rings.). We also got strawberry and pineapple licorice this time. Definitely a good idea.
We planned to stop in Reno for dinner so that was our mental stopping point. We actually stopped over the border of California in Truckee for dinner in the Donner Pass (ironic, eh?). We went to this awesome place called Burger Me. -- I don't know if it was that we had spent 5 hours building up dinner in our minds or the long car trip, but their burgers are some of the best we've ever had. (The onion rings, too!)
Can you see Guy Fieri in the picture behind Andrew?
We got to San Francisco late and David gave us a little driving tour of the city. We got to our dumpy-looking hotel on Lombard St. wondering if it was a bad idea to stay here. We were pleasantly surprised. Everything in the rooms themselves was actually pretty nice.
Saturday
We woke up the next morning and ate at a little cafe/diner called Home Plate. Everything we had was delicious - they had really good scones and carrot-potato pancakes. Then we went for a walk down to the Marina.
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| The trees they have in the streets. |
I'm not sure what Andrew is doing, but I thought these were funny pictures.
We took the bus down to Chinatown and went in and out of tons of shops. It was cleaner than NY's Chinatown. also, they don't sell handbags the same way. NY has a lot of people coming up to you and asking "handbag, handbag, you want a handbag?" There was no one on the streets saying stuff like that in SF. Instead, when you are in the stores looking at bags, someone will come up to you and ask you if you want to see more. SAY YES. They will take you to the back of the store and pull back a magic curtain and show you the secret hideout of shelves covered in bags.
We went down to the shopping area downtown - with the BIG mall. It is pretty fancy schmancy. David told me about this little chocolate place he and his companion went to on his mission, so we set off to find it. I've never spent $10 on 5 chocolates before in my life. But it was worth it. These were so delicious.
 |
| So I don't forget what we had: Anise truffle (black licorice), Caramel cup, Branchli (hazelnut), Lavendal (lavender) |
We got some pizza from Blondie's and ate in Union Square.
Then we got this brilliant idea to walk over to Nob Hill and get ice cream from Swenson's and eat it while watching people drive down Lombard. The ice cream was delicious. The walk was not. But I'm glad we did it. It was fun to see the city that way.
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| Lombard from the top. |
At this point we were so tired, we walked the 10 blocks down the street to take a nap.
After we woke up, we caught the bus out to the west side of the city. We stopped by the church David spent lots of time at.
Then we hiked up this hill on Maraga. It is officially called Grand View Park. It had so. many. stairs.
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| The first half of the stairs. |
The view was pretty amazing and worth it though.
We went to dinner at this little hole in the wall place called The Lime Tree. It had really good Indonesian food - nothing like we've eaten before. They had this roti bread with a little curry to dip into. So good.
We caught the bus out to Ocean Beach to watch the sunset. It was the perfect day - there was no fog anywhere - and there were tons of people at the beach.
Then we went to Trader Joe's and back to the hotel. Where I pretty much fell asleep right away. After Andrew and Laura came back, the boys went and got us some late night pizza. I'll never say no to pizza. But I'm pretty sure I was only half-awake eating it because we'd walked so much.
Friday, April 27, 2012
The Right Reasons
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| (image from the post by Meg In Progress) |
I went to a baby shower for a friend yesterday, and thought of this post I read earlier that day the whole time. I'm not a mother yet, so I don't quite fit the bill (yet). But I nodded my head the whole way through, agreeing with the reasons she wrote and loving the picture painted in my head by the imagery of sailors.A tiny breath of fresh air to remind you of the blessings you already have is always good. Really. Go read it already.
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