2:22:12

I was quite nervous about my knee before I left for Utah with only days before my race. I felt I had done everything I could and that it was time for the Lord's help. I asked Andy to give me a blessing Wednesday morning before he left for work and put my faith in Him. I know that Heavenly Father was watching over me without a doubt in my mind. I was able to run the whole race with Cindy and stay side by side. My knee did not cause me any pain during the race and we finished in 2 hours, 22 minutes, and 12 seconds! I am so proud of Cindy for this huge accomplishment! She did such a great job and has amazing determination. The girl is so focused during her race she hardly talks or even smiles. ;)

We bought matching shirts the day before and I had to show it off! (Yes, I realize I look like I'm flashing my brother.) After coming home from Kohl's we noticed the security tag was still attached and we had to pry it off with pliers. The green had to show in at least one of the pictures. Great security they have there, right?

Last year I ran this race in 30 degree weather while it was snowing... This year wasn't any better even though it was a month later. It was slightly warmer, but it snowed... rained... and hailed! That's right, it hailed!!! We were absolutely drenched by the time we were done. Cindy didn't have any gloves so I let her borrow mine every now and then. They were wet, but at least they added some warmth. We didn't even stick around for any of the after party (and they were serving HOT breakfast) because we wanted to get out of our wet clothes. Adam was worried we were going to get hypothermia if we stayed in them much longer. By the time we got back home and started shedding clothes we realized how wet we were. All three of my layers were soaked except a tiny part of my shirt where my arms covered it. Wow it was cold!

I'm so proud of Cindy and it was so fun to run this race with her despite the yucky weather! I love you tons, Cindy! I can't wait till I can run another race with you... whenever that will be.

A side note: I thought my knee was back to normal since I felt great and I even wore heels to church today. Later this evening it hurt so bad Andy was carrying me around. We all laughed, but really I'm looking at my stairs now wondering how I'm going to get up them without Andy's help. Yikes!!!

This is how I know that the Lord was watching over me during my race.

Couple funnies!

As I've mentioned before I love to sleep so often I might be considered a "lazy mom." Well, I was mentioned on The Lazy Mom blog! I submitted a tip for being able to sleep just a little longer than your kids. Why is it that the days you have to get up earlier than usual your kids sleep in? I just have to say that drives me CRAZY! Anyway, it's confirmed, I'm a lazy mom!

The other funny thing occurred this morning. While doing the girls' hair I had to get after Katie. I told her that if I ask her to do something she needs to do it immediately. Sammy said, "That sounds like something a queen would say." I replied, "Yeah, and who is the queen of this house?" Sammy said, "You are, and daddy is the king of this house." Ashley had to chime in, "Yeah, and me, Katie, and Sammy are the princesses of this house." I had a hard time controlling my laughter when Sammy said, "Mm, no... I'm the servant!" Such a hard life to be a six year old and only have to unload the dishwasher every other day to earn your keep! It was pretty funny!

Shot through the knee...

... and plica's to blame! You give running a bad name! (Sorry, that was lame.)

After going in for physical therapy yesterday I was told it's time for the cortisone shot (too much "crunchy" scar tissue). Yikes!!! I am such a pansy when it comes to needles. It really is one of my biggest fears and I was not looking forward to the shot, even knowing it will help. So this morning I covered my eyes, tried to control my shaking nerves, and got the shot in my knee!

The shot wasn't that bad. There was a big pinch and some burning and then it was gone. Right now it just feels swollen and full of fluid. Hopefully things will be better in a couple days and I'm back to normal. We'll see... wish me luck!

Running Yet?

I saw the physical therapist this morning and she gave me the "okay" to start running tonight. She said, "Just a jog! Short... only 2 miles... 3 if you are feeling really good." I was also given instruction to run with a patella band for support. I went right out and bought what I needed and called Angela. I was so excited to get back to running and I thought I might have to be forced to stop after 3 miles.




Wrong! I only made it half a mile and said, "Okay, I have to walk!" We walked for about a mile and then I was able to run the last mile. My knee is feeling pretty tight and sore so we'll have to see what tomorrow brings. Wish me luck that I can continue to run! I really, really want to do my races coming up!

The Verdict

After protest-- but too much pain in my knee-- I saw an orthopedic doctor Tuesday. I'll have you know I was up with all 4 of us girls cleaned up, ready to go, and out the door by 7:45! (New comers to this blog that almost never happens!) And the verdict is knee plica syndrome! (If you want to find out more information click here. If you're a runner this would be a great thing to read.) So much better than I was expecting. I was afraid they would have to do an MRI to rule out damage to my ACL or meniscus. The doctor prescribed a strong anti-inflammatory that I take twice a day and if it's not feeling better in a week I have to go back in and get a shot of cortisone. Yuck! The thought of a needle going into my knee makes me cringe so I'm keeping my fingers crossed I don't have to do that. In addition I have to go to physical therapy twice a week for six weeks. I went to my first session this morning. The therapist agreed that I had plica but she also thought I had a bit of tendinitis and scar tissue built up. She scraped my knee and the area around it and then the fun part, ultrasound. (This is not the fun ultrasound that you get to see what's inside... it kind of burns. If you want to know more about it click here.) Not only does my knee look like there's a balloon inside it, it feels like it too. There are a few bruises and where the patch was placed for the ultrasound I have a white circle, and where the stabilizer was placed it's still a bit red and tender. It's not fun, but if it's what I have to do to get back out on the road then I can handle it.

Shut the front door, that hurt!

Today as Angela and I were heading out for our 17 mile run my knee started to give me problems before we even went half a mile. In Ashley's words, "What the?!" I was so frustrated but thought I would work through the pain. Well, we only made it about 2 and a half miles before my knee popped... hard... and I almost fell over. I tried to walk it off and said, "Let's make it to the mail box and I'll try running again." Angela said, "Are you sure?" I was determined. The mail box came and I only made it a few feet running before I couldn't even walk. Ouch! So Angela tried calling Bryce to come get us... no answer! I tried calling Andy... no answer! Luckily I was able to walk the rest of the way home, but it still hurts enough that I nearly fall putting any weight on it while it's straight. Going up the stairs is the worst! I know I should get it checked out by a doctor but I am also hoping the pain will go away with ice, a brace, and rest. Wish me luck with my half marathon only weeks away! I want to at least make it to that point and then think about the full marathon.

I need to learn to relax...

... my shoulder that is. Lately the muscle in my right shoulder has been sore. I find that I tend to tuck it up a little in several activities but mostly running. It seems to be fine for about the first 13 miles. However, when I run more than that it feels really tight when I'm done running. I know that I just need to relax but I'm not sure what to do in order to relax it. My left one doesn't give me any problems and I don't know what I do differently.

So my question to you fellow runners, what can I do? Are there any stretches I can try before, during, or after to help? Are there any techniques I can try to loosen or relax my shoulder? Any advice would be great! After 16 miles I'll try anything!

Happy Easter!

This year for Easter we started a new tradition that my SIL, Maria, mentioned here. We egged some houses! Our egging job didn't look nearly as cute so we didn't take pictures. We were afraid we were going to get caught in action so we literally threw the eggs on the lawn, put the sign on the door, and ran! Sammy loved it and said we should do it again. So we did! We were able to get two families that we absolutely love! And we can't wait to do it again next year.

I talked to Angela this morning since her hubby brought us "conference rolls" and she said that her daughter loved it so much they went and did it to someone else this morning. So fun!!!

I recommend doing it next year! Your kids will have a great time. It's simple, easy, so cheap, and it brightens their day! We love you tons Thueson and Arnold families!!!

New Calling

After being in the Primary Presidency for a year and a half I grew to love that calling. The other girls in the presidency were in for 2 years longer... I think. Two weeks ago we were all released and a new presidency was called. We new for nearly a month before we were released and it seemed to be a bitter-sweet last few weeks. We all had not been in RS for 3 years or longer and were excited to be able to go back. However, we will miss our calling and the sweet spirit those children bring. They truly are blessings from Heavenly Father. I'm confident the new presidency will do a fantastic job. I laughed because even though I knew who the new president was going to be I actually had a dream the night before the change and dreamt of which girl would get what calling. When I went to church that afternoon my dream became reality! My dream was exactly right!!!

Andy and I joked around that it won't be long before I get a new calling because Bishop Bledsoe is determined to put me to work. Well, we had stake conference last week and then yesterday I was called to be the new Mia Maid Advisor. I didn't even have one Sunday to go to RS! I am so excited, though!!! I haven't been in YW for nearly 5 years and I was so disappointed when I had to be released due to a move. No plans of a move in the near future so I hope I stay in YW for a long time! The funniest thing about the change in callings... my running buddy, Angela, that I so often talk about took my place in Primary and I took her place in YW! It has been a pretty easy switch I think.

Just a funny side note... The Sunday I was released my phone rang and I didn't answer because I didn't recognize the number. I thought it might be someone calling to ask if I would say a prayer in sacrament meeting. While at church Jason Hammer asked if I got his message. I told him I did and that I don't answer my phone Sunday morning to avoid being asked to say a prayer. He laughed and said, "No! You didn't! Well, it's Brother Ashcraft who makes all those phone calls. He's in charge of prayers and talks. So he's the one you need to avoid." So when I got the call from Brother Ashcraft I told Andy, "He asked if we would speak on Sunday." Andy said, "Are you kidding me?! I swear we just spoke a couple months ago!" I really had him going before I laughed and said, "I'm just kidding. He wants to come over tonight to talk to me about a calling." Brother Ashcraft got a good laugh about it, too.

Anniversary Lunch-Date!

Okay, I know these are not the best pictures ever, but our camera has failed and we are still looking for an inexpensive one to replace it. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Tucanos, and had lunch with a bunch of friends. It's not lame to celebrate your anniversary with other people! We had such a great time! Thanks to our friends who joined us!

(Right to left) Shawn & Roslyn, Devin & Christina, Andy & I, Brandon & Sarah, Bryce & Angela, and Maria & Paulo (Angela's sister and brother-in-law who were here visiting). The more the merrier!

Stuffing our faces with yummy, yummy food!!!

And of course we did spend the rest of the day together. We later went to the Bullock's house so we could visit while Dana was here. Afterward we did a little window shopping, went to the movies and saw "Bounty Hunter"... so funny! And of course we finished our date by going to Walmart. No date is complete till you visit a grocery store! My mom was so kind to take the girls for us so we could have a night off. They loved it!!! My step dad cleared his schedule to spend the day with the girls. When we dropped them off he said, "There's really not much to do today with it being so windy except... FLY A KITE!!!" They were so excited! My mom said they got the kite up and it did a nose dive and broke on the first flight. So they ventured out to buy two more. Sammy offered to trade Ashley for the kite... and Ashley agreed! They got to keep the kite without trading. They ended up going to church with my mom and she said they were wonderful for her. It sure makes it easier knowing they were on their best behavior. Thanks so much, Mom (and Dale), for taking the kids for us!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Just a little shout out to say Happy St. Patrick's Day! I love to celebrate SPD mostly because it's close to our anniversary, but for other reasons, too. It's fun to watch the girls get excited about it now that they're getting older.

Yesterday I started a new tradition of the "Legends of the Leprechauns" with the girls. Check it out here. (My SIL posted it on her website) Anyway, you decorate a box and leave it in the moonlight for the leprechauns to fill with treasure and hide in an unusual place. I also was telling the girls to make sure to wear green so you don't get pinched. I pointed out that I was not wearing green so if it were SPD already they could pinch me. Katie turned and punched me! I laughed and said, "I said pinch, not punch!" She laughed and punched me again. What a nice little girl. So we decorated an old shoe box and left it on the table in the moonlight.

This morning the girls found their first clue and went on a scavenger hunt. It was really fun to watch them run from place to place and discover the box on the shelf of a closet. Even Katie got excited! The box was filled with candy, green headbands, green cups, sidewalk chalk, and a small activity toy for each of them. Sammy said, "When I get home from school I'm going to unload the dishwasher and then show my friends my stuff." (It's been a fight to get her to do her chores, so I was happy with her response.)

I hope you all have a fun and lucky St. Patrick's Day!!!

7 Years Ago From Today...

Andy and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. It was one of the best days of our lives and I'm so glad that I get to spend forever with my wonderful husband. He is such an amazing daddy to my girls and I couldn't ask for anyone better. I am so glad that he holds the priesthood and is the protector of our family. He works so hard to provide for our family and it has been such a blessing for the opportunity to stay home with our girls. I love you forever!

As for you who are wondering what we did to celebrate... nothing yet. We are planning on shipping the girls to grandma's house Saturday and going out with some friends to Tucanos! Yummy!!! For our actual anniversary Andy got off work early so the two of us could have a meeting with Sammy's teacher, principal, and school guidance counselor. Afterward, since it was such a nice day Andy and Bryce spent the rest of the afternoon playing tennis. And then of course I still have my routine of running. It seemed like a rather normal day... I know we're boring. Bryce is still teasing me about running on my anniversary. Why not? It makes me happy.

(Andy and I both stink from our exercising and when I mentioned that we both need a shower his response was, with an upturned lip, "Do you really care?" Happy Anniversary!!!)

Sorry I don't have pictures up and running. Our camera will not take pictures, we can only view what's on our memory card... and I can't figure out how to download those. However, if you would like to see a slide show click here. I laugh because we basically did the same thing last year. One of these days I'll upload some of our recent pictures, but really nothing has changed. Till then, I'm sorry.

How do you answer the door?

Last Sunday we pulled into the church parking lot and the Wadsworth family parked right next to us. Jeff immediately started calling my name impatiently. He told me a story that I just had to share! With it being fast Sunday Jeff was going around with the deacon boys collecting fast offerings. One of the boys, Jared (who is also the bishop's son), had only been a couple of times and always went to the door with Jeff. Last Sunday was his first time going to the door by himself and he was so nervous. He told Jeff, "I don't know who the Wyne's are." And of course Jeff being the good leader that he is reassured Jared that he would know who we were as soon as he saw us. So he timidly rang the door bell and waited. (Ashley, Ashley, Ashley... I love you, but sometimes you embarrass the heck out of me.) Ashley answered the door stark naked!!! Poor Jared after a few minutes of waiting inside for someone to come downstairs, with no luck, he returned to the car and asked, "Brother Wadsworth, what do I do?!" Jeff was laughing and said, "Hey, at least her pony tails were done. Go back and ring the door bell and maybe someone will come to the door dressed." Ashley didn't even come and tell us someone was waiting in our living room! When I asked her later why she answered the door naked she told me, "My dress was downstairs." Well then... I guess that makes it okay, right?

What did I do?

One of my faithful commenting friends asked, "Now that it's been a couple days, how's it going?" since the room switch-a-roo. Well, I was so upset with Andy that night I couldn't even look at him so I slept in the other room. When Andy was leaving for work he came in to kiss me goodbye... the nerve! :) He asked why I slept in there and I told him to take a wild guess. His response you ask? "I didn't do it on purpose." What? The bed didn't dissemble and reassemble itself! "Well, I didn't mean to make you mad. I just thought we would try it out. I didn't think it was that big of a deal." Oh? Then why did you deliberately wait till I was out of the house for a couple hours? Hm. What did I do? I would show you if I could get my pictures to download on my computer, but I can't. So I did something I thought would tick Andy off just enough to show him how I felt... I took Ashley to get her ears pierced!!! The worst part was that Katie looked up at me with her big, beautiful, brown eyes and said, "Mommy, I pwease get my eaws piewsed?" I didn't for the fact that I thought Andy would divorce me. We got home the same time Andy did and he at first said, "What the heck?" My response? "I didn't do it on purpose." Andy said, "You can take down the bed in 5 minutes." I said, "You can take out the earrings and the holes will be closed in five days. I just didn't think it was that big of a deal." Apparently it wasn't because that was about the end of his argument. I told him I almost got Katie's done and he said, "Why didn't you?" What?!! He told Katie she could get her ears pierced when she is all potty trained. She is now more motivated and excited about the learning process.

The girls are all in the same room still, but that doesn't mean Andy has won the argument completely. I'll admit the girls have gone to bed much better for the past couple days, but the mess issue has not been resolved. I'll keep you posted on the updates.

We needed the marriage ref... and Nate refused!

To answer the previous post... with the votes people were correct on the color personalities with Andy, Sammy, and we think Ashley. We are still trying to figure out what color she is but we tend to think she's a white. I was voted a red or blue personality. Both wrong! However, they were both tied for second highest. I happen to be a yellow personality... but I'm not feeling like one right now. I usually (not always) don't hold a grudge. If someone offends me I tend to get over it quickly. I guess it depends on how strongly I feel on the subject of the argument. Tonight I really wish I had a forgiving nature in me...

Andy and I have been having a discussion about putting all the girls in one room and turning the other two rooms into a guest room and a toy room. Both of us had a difference in opinion and we kept saying we'll talk about it later. Emily said Nate should be our "Marriage Ref" while he was here. (Have you seen that show? So funny!) Anyway, Nate refused to get into our argument. Curse you Nate!!!

Andy thinks that if we put all the girls in one room and move their toys out that only one room will be messy. That's really the end of his argument. I feel like we don't have a great routine for the girls going to bed unless they are seperated. And even that doesn't work all the time. When all three are in the same room they fight, play, talk, and get out of bed a million times. It seems to take hours to get them to actually go to sleep. Beside that I don't think moving the toys out will help much. Half the mess is their clothes! And the killer for me is that the "toy room" will always be messy! In my whole life I've only known one person to have a clean toy room!

The kicker for me not feeling so forgiving you ask? I went to a party tonight to watch my friend, Jill, on the Dr. Oz Show. We had a great time and when I came home the house was dark and quiet. Great! I was feeling very grateful toward Andy and then that changed the moment I walked upstairs... He moved all three girls into one room!!! He took down the twin bed from one room and set it up in the same room as the bunk! I can't believe he did it without finishing our discussion! It might be awhile before I get over this one!