A day on the Island (Antelope Island that is)

Yesterday Mike ran the Antelope Island 50k. A 50K is a whopping 31 Miles. Although this race was actually 32 miles according to Mikes GPS. Anyways.... I always knew Mike was a little on the crazy side but I fear it has gotten worse. He is now officially an Ultra Marathoner. An Ultra Marathon is anything over 26.2 miles. This was his first Ultra and I was a little worried.... but he came across feeling like he could have run the 50 Miler! I quickly convinced him otherwise.

Mike Just about to the finish line

This is what an Ultra Marathon can do to shoes.
It's hard to tell but a piece of tread is dangling.

Mike's friend Stephan nearing the Finish Line

One of the runners didn't fare so well. This is life flight landing. It was almost directly over me.

This was how close we were parked to where Life Flight landed.

All-in-all, it was a pretty eventful day. I had lots of time to sit and read and just relax. It was rather enjoyable. This race Marks the beginning of Marathon season though, which means most of my weekends will be spent waiting at a finish line. It is worth it though to be able to see my Mikey beat his PR and improve his game.

Have You seen me?

I always buy Lifesavers Pastels at Easter time because that seems to be the only time they sell them. Well this year I cannot find them for the life of me! I have checked Walmart, Big Lots, Albertsons, and a few gas stations but they are nowhere to be found. I need them, I am craving them, and I am really frustrated.

So here is a picture of the wonderfully delectable treats...

What I need now, is for everyone to keep their eyes peeled at every store they enter. Please please please let me know if you find them anywhere! They are an Easter item so time is running out to find them. Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me!

Eight (I love talking about myself)

EIGHT
8 Things I'm Passionate About:
1. My sweet caring husband
2. Ghost towns and Wild West History
3. Blogging and keeping up on everyone else's lives
4. my family
5. my pets
6. My Name is Earl (Love that show!)
7. Animals
8. People taking responsibility for their hospital bills!

8 Words/Phrases I Use Often:
1. Crumb Cake
2. Rrrr
3. What's Up?
4. Ummmm...
5. Awesome!
6. hmmm...
7. Patient Accounts, this is Melissa. (at work)
8. You turd! (I call Mike that)

8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
1. Catch a frog (Never got to do that as a kid)
2. Go to Alaska
3. Have kids
4. Get my car restored
5. Go Ghost Hunting
6. go to Switzerland, Ireland, and East Germany/Poland
7. Be Skinny!
8. Buy property in the forests of Montana

8 Things I Want/Need:
1. A baby
2. To be Skinny
3. My car restored
4. A Piano
5. A fish pond in my back yard
6. I job I actually like
7. to live in a smaller city or..
8. All the crazy drivers and traffic in Salt Lake to Disappear

8 Things I Have Learned From the Past:
1. Never let anyone hold you back from your dreams
2. Be careful about who you give 2nd chances to.
3. live life to the fullest.
4. If you want to do something or go somewhere... do it. dont let yourself think you cant.
5. Relationships dont always have to be hard.
6. Too many pizza benders are indeed a bad thing.
7. Dont trust everyone
8. Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

8 Restaurants I Love:
1. The Cracker Barrel
2. Texas Roadhouse
3. Applebees
4. Dennys
5. Subway
6. Italian Village
7. Morellas
8. Buffets in Mesquite

8 Shows I Love to Watch:
1. My Name is Earl
2. The Amazing race
3. The Biggest Loser
4. Ghost Whisperer
5. John and Kate Plus Eight
6. Are You Being Served?
7. Ghost Hunters
8. Are You being served again?!

8 People I Tag:
1. Jenny
2. Patty
3. Shannon
4. Cassie
5. Sandy
6. Anyone else on my blog list

Moab.. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

We are currently in Moab, UT. Mike, his sister Heather, Julia, and his Nephew Aaron all decided to run the Canyonlands Half Marathon. I am fine with that because it means I get a nice vacation.

We got here yesterday around noon. We had a nice pasta dinner last night and did some shopping. I realized a little too late that I had only packed long sleeved shirts (I am still in the Winter Mentality). So I ended up buying a shirt from a gift shop so I had something to wear today.

This morning everyone was up and out of here by 7:30 AM. They all had to catch the bus to take them to the start line. The actual race didn't start until 10:00 AM so they had some time to kill. I also had some time to kill. I sat and watched some TV for a few hours and took a shower. I then headed down to the park where the finish line was.

Mike came in 1:30:50 which put him 10th in his age group, and 99th overall.

Aaron came in next. He was 5th in his age group so he got a medal.

Then came Julia followed by Heather. They all did very well. That was the first Half Marathon that Heather, Julia, and Aaron have ever run.

Mike and his Nephew Aaron

I have blogged about the good (being in beautiful Moab), the bad (forgetting to pack any short sleeved shirts), and now for the ugly. Warning: This next picture is not for those with a weak stomach.

Mikal got a nasty little blister on his toe from this race. He had to get a picture of his battle wound. Pretty nasty!

Ouch!

So I paid $100 for my running shoes so now I have to use them. I am not athletic in the least and probably the most out of shape I have been in my whole life. Somehow I have still managed to get some miles in. The past few weeks Mike and I have gone and walked the Jordan River Parkway at least once on the weekend. We have been doing three miles. The first few times we just walked... but now I am starting to work on jogging. I am probably the slowest jogger in the world... but I am a beginner. So far on these shoes, I have done 9 miles. Go me! I will walk for awhile and then jog a short distance, then walk, then jog and so on. My goal is to try to be able to jog for longer stretches of time without having to stop and walk. I think I made a little progress today but not much.

My legs are not happy with me. Today they were at their worst. They fought me the whole way. I feel like I didn't push as hard as I may have wanted to, but my legs wouldn't let me. They were just hurting. Plus I think I am still breaking in the shoes.

Mike is going to be my personal trainer and he is going to make me run every other day. So that means two days a week we'll end up running after work like we did today. It actually worked out pretty well doing that. I drove directly to the parkway after work and met Mike there. I thought for sure we would be running while in the dark... but we made it back to the cars just in time.

On a different note... I finally finished my craft project I started a few months ago. I have this little problem with wal-mart grocery sacks. THEY ARE TAKING OVER!!! I have so many sacks its pathetic. I had heard before of people using them to make things so I went online and learned how to crochet them. So I have been cutting the bags into strips and crocheting them into a toilet paper role cover. I finally got it done. I made it into a little hat. The bags make it look and feel like wicker.

I originally planned on putting this in the main bathroom but the only ribbons and flowers I had were left over from my wedding, which were blues. So now it has to go in the small bathroom to match the decor. Maybe someday I will feel like making one for the other bathroom... but probably not any day soon.

A little this, a little that...

Today was a pretty fun day. I had a Microsoft Access class I went to this morning... then had the rest of the day off. I like days off... but they are even better when Its my day off and payday. Sadly... my paycheck doesn't last very long. Oh well....

Today we went down to Wasatch Running and I bought shoes. They did a whole fitting and testing thing. It was interesting. They had me walk and then jog in different shoes. I guess I over pronate (which means my foot rolls in as I step down). So that means I need shoes with a little more support to keep from rolling like that. Anyways I tried a few different shoes and they kept having me jog down a little track so they could make sure I was getting the right support. It got down to two pairs of shoes that both felt very comfortable. I was having a hard time deciding which was more comfortable... so the deciding factor ended up being looks. One pair was blue, the other pair was pink. If anyone knows me.... they know I hate pink. So I went with the blue ones.

This was a big thing to buy these shows. I am starting to take little walks and my feet have been killing me... So I invested in some hard core running shoes. I am hoping to start doing little runs on the weekends. Anyways these were $100 shoes. I have never spent so much on shoes. I have always gotten the $20 walmart shoes (due to my upbringing). I could never understand paying much money for shoes. I figure these should last awhile. If Mike's shoes can last thru ten marathons (over 262 miles), and numerous training runs.... then my shoes should last years! I am also hoping to be able to walk without constant pain. I guess we will see how they are once they are broken in.

I took some random pictures while taking pictures of my door panel I got for my mustang (you can view that on my mustang blog), and taking pictures of the shoes... so here are my random pictures.

These are my flowers from Valentines Day. Mike said they would last longer if we kept them in the fridge and I didn't believe him. What do you know... he was actually right! The best part is I can sit and admire them every time I get in the fridge to get some food!

Mike does the sale pricing at his work and these bears were reduced to a dollar. So being as he was the first one to know about it since he tagged it... he bought one. It is made out of the tempur-pedic material. I think he is cute!

Poor Mikey isn't feeling so good so he was just chilling on the couch. He wasn't so happy that I snapped his picture.
Molly was kicking it on her couch. She has claimed the love seat as her own so we keep a blanket on there for her. She loves that couch!

I love having company!

So my parents came and stayed with us for a few days. They came up because Kristy had her baby on Wednesday. He is a cutie! That puts the total to 16 Nieces and Nephews on my side... but number 19 if you count Mikes side as well. Anyways, they stayed Wednesday thru Friday. It was lots of fun. I really enjoy having them here.

Jenny is going to come and stay next weekend. I am excited. It is really fun having company over. I just don't always feel like I am very good at entertaining guests... but oh well.

Today was a very relaxing day. I painted another rock. I am not so pleased with how this one turned out though... but oh well. It is fun watching movies while painting all day. Anyways here is a picture of the owl that I did.

This is the owl in its new home

The camera always seems to focus on the white so it is hard to give a good representation of it. So this is the best you are going to get. I also got my parents to send me a picture of the wolf I did that resides at their house. I did this like 5 years ago.

Emotional one day... Productive the next...

Yesterday was a very emotional day. I took a pregnancy test and of course it was negative. I knew it would be... but it still hurts getting the results. So obviously I started the day out on the wrong foot.

Mike went and ran a race at Saltaire that Heather (his sister), Julia, and Aaron(his nephew) were running. They are training for the Moab Half Marathon at the end of this month. That went well. Mike got 3rd in his age group and Aaron got 2nd in his age group. That all went smoothly, but the drive home didn't. I ended up in tears by the time we go home. I was feeling very hopeless about the whole baby thing. I felt bad for Mike being trapped in the car with me bawling... but I couldn't help it. I got it all out of my system though. We then spent the rest of the day together.

We went walking on the Jordan River Parkway. I have never been on that and rather liked it. We ended up walking 3.1 Miles. We got a ton of talking done. I like when we do things where we can chat. It seems like we don't chat as much as we use to. I think the walk helped though. I really needed a way to release some of my frustrations.

To top off yesterday... we went out to Dinner at Marie Calenders. I LOVE their Spinach and Artichoke dip. It was soo good! It was nice going out to eat and spending so much time together. I think I really needed that. I am lucky to have a husband that doesn't mind spending time with me.

Today was a rather productive day. Mike headed out the garage and worked on my Mustang (which you can read more about on my Mustang Blog). I finally took down the Christmas Lights outside (except the ones on the edge of the roof. That is Mike's Job). I also took down the Wreath we had hanging by our door. Never Mind the fact that we are 2 months past Christmas. I also called and canceled our reservations for the hotels we would have stayed at if we were still doing Mustangs Across America. Sadly we will not be making it this year. With getting strep a few weeks ago, it made it so I no longer have enough leave time to do a long vacation. Plus money is a bit tight.

I have been feeling like painting a rock lately. I went thru a phase about 4 years ago where I painted lots of rocks. I am back in that phase. I went and bought some paints and luckily we have some good river rock around our shrubs out front so I have lots of options for painting. I painted a Raccoon tonight. I am still not sure what I think of it. I usually don't like how they turn out until a couple days later when I have had time to step away from it. Then all of a sudden I like it.

Here is how the Raccoon turned out. This is before I sprayed the sealant on it... and the camera seemed to focus a lot on the white... but at least you can get an idea of what it looks like.

This is a bear that I did a few years ago. I also did wolf that my parents have. I don't have a picture of that one, but it is my favorite.