Update on Marathon Training . . .

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!! We had a great time, and I am off one more week for vacation. I thought I would update everyone on how the training is coming for the Moab half in March. Three weeks ago I went to the High School near my house to run 1/4 mile sprints (which I have to do every Wednesday) and the snow was up past my ankles and I believe it was only 9 degrees outside. On my fourth lap my fingers started hurting so bad that I began to cry, and decided I probably would not be able to finish my sprints. The next day I broke down and got a gym membership. I am not a fan of running on a treadmill!! I am now on my 5th week of training, and I ran my first 8-miles ever this past friday. I was pretty proud of myself. I know many of you have probably ran way more than this, but it was quite an accomplishment for me. So, I hope that by the time the marathon comes, 13 miles will seem easy. I have been amazed at how quickly my endurance has increased. I did twist my ankle running outside on the ice 2 weekends ago, and am trying to get that injury to heal so I can move forward. Overall, I have enjoyed finally setting a goal again and challenging myself. I was at a point in my life that I felt like I hadn't been challenged or set a personal goal for awhile. I hope you all enjoy celebrating the coming of a new year.

Picture Tag

Well, I just got a picture tag from my friend Andrea, so I opened up the folder and picture number, and this is it. What a great picture! We had so much fun in Jackson Hole. We took Berkley and Richard's family to Jackson Hole to take a sleigh ride through the Elk Refuge. I had never in my life seen such an amazing animal. They have the hugest racks! Berkley was really good on the sleigh ride, but her poor nose was bright red. We hope to do that again this year. So, now I am going to tag the following people:

Wendy, Emily, and Jamie. Open up picture file number 44 and photo number 6, and tell something about it.

It is nice to have some time to get back on our blog and make some changes. Richard is elk hunting this weekend, and the next 4 weekends after that. I do not get much sleep when he is gone, so I will have a lot of spare time to get things done. Of course, playing with my blog means that I am not getting the important things completed, but it is a fun distracter. We have both been really busy. I have been overloaded at work with my school clients and private clients I see after school hours. I still find a lot of time to be with my kids and we try to do fun things as a family. Berkley will turn three in January and Kaden one in February, and I cannot believe how much fun they are! They play so well together, and Kaden wishes he could keep up with Berkley. He will be there too soon for his mama. Berkley loves ponies, barbie, and anything girl, and Kaden is already such a boy. He has to figure out how everything works and then exactly how to tear it all apart. Christmas is going to be a blast! I have all of my family shopping done, which is a relief, but of course I will be out there at 3:00AM the day after Thanksgiving looking for all the deals. I am going to post a link that every person that reads this has to watch. The message is really important.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0r_FbARIn8

chatterton

Visit www.moblyng.com to make your own!

I think I might be crazy . . .

Well, I have finally done it! I signed up for my first half-marathon. This has been one of my lifelong goals, and now I am going to try my best. I have a lot of work ahead of me. My older sister Kelsi and I are going to do it together. She is amazing! She has lost over 120 pounds in the past 3-years, and she is probably going to have to carry me the last 6-miles. We are doing the Moab marathon in March, and I have heard great things about this marathon. Maybe someday I will be crazy enough to do a full marathon, but we will see how well I do in a couple half's first. I just thought I would share that I might be losing my mind :)

5 Years!

Richard and I were able to go to Jackson Hole this past weekend and celebrate our 5-year wedding anniversary. While we were there it snowed 5 inches, which Jackson is just not the same without snow. We love Jackson because of it's beauty and wildlife. We ate some really good food, relaxed, and looked at all the expensive stuff we couldn't afford in the gift shops. We were happy to get back home to see the kids.

Oh The PAIN!!!

This weekend was an exciting one for Richard and I. We had finally decided to get a babysitter and go on a date for the first time since Kaden was born. Well, on my way to pick up the babysitter I got the most horrible pain I have ever felt on the left side of my body. I forgot my cell phone so I could not call and cancel the babysitter or have Richard come and get me. So, I pulled the car over to the side of the road and got out and laid down for a little while. I made it to the babysitters house, and as I started back into our subdivision I had to pull the car over to the side of the road again and began throwing up all over the road (yes, I know that is gross, and think of the poor babysitter in my car)! The pain was so bad that my body couldn't handle it anymore. When I got home Richard took the babysitter home and we went to the Emergency Room. After everything from Morphine to simply knocking me out cold, the pain was finally gone. They completed a CT scan and found that I had a large kidney stone. I went into surgery the next morning to have it removed and since then I pretty much sleep all day long. I still have a stint in my kidney to help decrease swelling and help any smaller pieces of the kidney stone to pass. I can now say that kidney stones do hurt worse than child labor. For any of you who have had to suffer through it, I apologize. For those of you who have never experienced it I hope you never have to. My nieghbors have been amazing and such a great help. I thought I would keep you updated. The stint will be removed on Wednesday and then hopefully my life will return to normal again. I could not believe how much I missed seeing my children through all of this, and am so greatful that we have family close that were able to help. It has been hard because I cannot lift either Berkley or KAden so I only get to hold them for short periods of time. I do feel blessed that it was just a kidney stone (I can say that now) and not something more serious!

Chatterton

Chatterton