30 Miles

As many of you know, I started to dabble in running about 5 months ago. Sometime at the end of June I decided to set a goal thru my Nikeplus account to run 30 miles in 4 weeks. Now I know that for most runners this is not a very challenging goal, but I thought I should start out with something I could actually complete. Turns out I didn't do it the first time. Mostly because I took a whole week off when Steve was in Italy! So At the beginning of August I decided to try again. I am excited to say that I just finished today, a day early. Yippee. Now if I could just figure out how to make each mile equal a pound of weight loss... if wishes were fishes. Here is my little goal meter that I finally filled up today.  

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It's official Almost

So this post begins in February when Steven found out that BYU was going to be hiring someone for this fall. As you can guess, since it started that long ago the story is long and involved. Some of you have heard every detail and are probably sick of the on going saga, and others have been lucky enough to have escaped it. I will recap shortly as I have an extra child today and still need to figure out a game plan to keep everyone entertained. Steve applied for the job, we waited. We got a call that was hopeful but only led to more waiting. We waited some more then we got the final call on the 14th of August. Since we have had so much time to think about this decision and all the different ups and downs of everything, one might think that we had our answer ready once they actually offered us the job. But is life ever that clear and simple? No. So we did make a decision that on the surface seemed like a no brainer, but as we pealed everything back and looked at it, wasn't so simple. We love Nashville. We love the people, city, co-workers, even the climate (I know, I never thought humidity would be a good thing for me but apparently it's not so bad after all). Lest this become the long explanation that I was trying to avoid I will spit it out. We are officially moving to Utah and Steve begins work on the 13th of October. We are very excited and very sad at the same time. Of course since this has gone the way it has, when Steve tried to fax in the official acceptance letter yesterday, their fax machine wasn't working. So as I say, "It's official, almost!"

Natchez Trace

Well this week has been interesting. The girls and I all have HFMD. You can read up on it by going here. It is ironic. First off, adults don't usually suffer from it, and we have already had it about 3 years ago. Anyway, it's not horrible, but it is very contagious. So we have tried to stay away from others. Yesterday we decided to go on a picnic though, because we couldn't really stand to stay inside anymore. We went out to the Natchez Trace Parkway. It goes 444 miles and is a very beautiful scenic highway. We went to Songbird Hollow and that's where we enjoyed a gourmet lunch of sandwiches, crackers, grapes, granola bars, and cookies. Then we went out onto the bridge to see how far we could see. I was amazed. It's the farthest I have been able to see in one direction since we moved here, maybe even since we left the west. There are so many hills here and they are all covered with trees, so you never get to really see very far. So it was a lot of fun and well worth it. Here are some pics.

Oh My

This is who I feel like right now. Up until about two seconds ago, there were terrible cries, and howling from the girls room about wanting daddy and not liking mommy. In my defense, if I have any, I spent half of the day yesterday in bed with a fever of 101.6! Today I am feeling better, but not all the way. I have a sore throat, and I am still quite tired. I put a movie on for the kids, (Ironically it happened to be 101 Dalmatians. Which is why I have her on the brain.) then took a shower. I told them I was going to lay down and rest while they finished watching. I gave them a snack and left them happily enjoying their new cinema experience. Toward the end, of my in and out nap I could hear them jumping on the couch. I asked them to stop it at least 3 times from my room. We have a futon and they love to climb on the back of the mattress and jump onto the part where you actually sit. This makes the couch slouchy, and ruins it even more than it already is. We have told them repeatedly not to do it. They were even banned from the couch for a week once. Well I got up and was very calm. I asked them to go and make their beds. They did. Juliana was done first and I asked her to start picking up the dress up things in her room. She immediately started complaining in a rather large voice that she hadn't made the mess. Keep in mind that she is wearing a dress from the dress up box, and earlier had been decked out with crown, jewels and gloves. I didn't point all this out I just asked her to do it again. She recommenced the yelling. Meanwhile, Kathryn had found the last 3 toys that were still in the right place and was playing with them in the dining room. I admit that I lost it and lost it good. Whenever this happens they always cry for their father. I now it's normal, it still bugs me. I'm human, what can I say? So what do you do when your fuse is short, and your buttons are being pushed? Besides counting, because while that does work most of the time, in a situation like this it just doesn't come to mind. Now I can't get the Cruella Deville song out of my head, "If she doesn't scare you no other thing will." 

Simple Things

I was reminded on Sunday that it is often the simple things that brings pleasure and amusement in life. Last week we got a big box of stuff from a Pampered Chef party that I hosted. After distributing everything we were left with a large empty box. Now, when the girls were about 1-2 years old, they loved boxes. I believed that the magic of a box was long gone, but I was wrong. On sunday morning we woke up to the sounds of them taking turns getting in the box, shutting it, and then the other one "decorating" the top. Then after Breakfast they resumed their activities, but just sitting in the box. I realized I hadn't heard a peep for several minutes only to find them happily and silently sitting in the box. So I gave them some books and they lasted quite a while. I think it was a least 30 minutes if not longer. Proof once again that it's usually the simplest of things that amuse.