so, i never told my sister until the day before...

for the past 2.5 months i have been upping my running to prepare for the 10K that i ran last weekend! my sister, Cristi, wanted to run it and i told her, i'd see her at the finish line cheering her on.
Little did she know, until the day before the race that I'd be running it with her.
On our vacation in Fallon, we ran together and worked out and such, just as i would normally do but a little more running of course. She obviously smoked me, though! Her stride was about 1.8 mins faster, per mile, than mine.

Anyways, my goal was just to not Stop! KEEP RUNNING! so, that's what i did. On July 24th, i awoke at 4am, ate a small breakfast, cleaned out my car in the dark, stretched and at 5:24 Cristi picked me up and we went to Chipeta Way( Research Park) where we started at 6:10am the 6.25 mile race!

I was not in it to WIN, obviously, just to do it! See if i cold push this body more than i have been lately. The shot was fired and off the 2,700+ people went.
Now, i won't go into full details but I'll give you some tips:

Avoid the Honey Buckets before a Race, if you can!

Drink LOTS of Water the day before you race

Don't buy new running shoes until you finish your race!

Be Optomistic and Realistic in your Goals!

Have FUN and don't look back!

So, here's the stats of how i finished:

I was in a special division for those women over 140 lbs. ( shh don't tell) Called the ATHENA division. Out of the 81 women in that division i was #20. Out of my age group i was 151 out of 272.

If you put me in the regular division i would have beat another 813 people as well!

My official chip time was 59.26 mins- an average of a 9.34 min mile.

My sister's was a 8.33 min mile which put her 7+ mins ahead of me in the finish time.


All that is great and fun but i was most excited that i didn't STOP or walk. I grabbed water at the second aid station and continued to run on. It was a great 1st race and awesome experience and i can't wait to do another one soon, and also to be in the regular divisions soon as well.( I'm getting close)

ps( i hate that photo but until wade and cristi get back home that's the one you get. I look like a cow:(:)

I want to sleep in my very own bed...

says B on our trip home today!!! Our vacation was soo fun( i will elaborate later) bu it's nice to be home. I can't wait to share all the fun stuff we did and the great people we got to spend time with.
I must say that when i leave there's always a bit of sadness for me, b/c i wish that i could have spent a little more time with each one of you that i saw- just one-on-one time talking about the MEAT of our lives.

I enjoyed having that time with my sisters( Cristi and Nancy) and I'm so happy to have them in my life. When Mary( Nancy's Mom) married my dad, we sure got lucky to have Nancy as a part of our lives! She and Cristi became instant friends and I got to know her through Cristi at first. She saved me in UT and I'll get to that later. I am so happy i got to spend some time with Cristi and her boys and to have time with Tirza and Brad and Owen and Chase! I'm a lucky auntie to have such cute boys and nephews! More later!
~C

Going up NORTH!

YAY! Tomorrow Hayley and girls come for the night and then Monday we are off to Fallon!
I'm so excited to see my sister and her boys and my family and friends and so forth!
We plan on having a girls night on Tuesday night, I'm shooting pics Weds. morning of Erin's girlies, then heading to either reno or Tahoe. One of the days we will go to Wet n Wild, Lake Tahoe and maybe even Virginia City. I love that my kids are older now and we can do some fun stuff together.
During the nights and nap times, i plan on sewing up a storm finish projects for my girls and maybe a few things for my mom's shop too! we will be there from Monday to Monday! I'll close my Etsy store while I'm out and I'm not bringing my computer( though ,i will have access through my mom's comp) So, if you need to reach me just call me!

Brielle kept asking all day if we could take our LONG LONG trip now! She wants to see Gma Leslie, Gpa Carl, the cousins, horses( feed them carrots), Madison and other things.
It should be a great journey there as well, in our new ride, hopefully. Hays and i will caravan up.
Fingers crossed there's no barf from Aria or Brielle on this trip. It would be great to be car sickness free:)

Oh, and Tirza 's going to have her baby while I'm There. I'll get to see Baby Gibbs, Kyle and Laila too( hopefully) I'm so excited for Lori and Hanna and there adoptions! Children are such a blessing!

See you there( maybe)

Our Freecation and anniversary getaway!

So, Gma Betty watched B & A while we went to Primm for a freecation weekend. We took advantage of the offer that we found on Fox 5 News. We stayed there for 2 nights, for free:) we also got 2 for 1 buffet dinner and Breakfast and a 55.00 free slot play card. Now, you know, I'm not a gambler( never have gambled before) so first, we checked in( after a 1.4 hr. car ride b/c of CA peeps making there way back home and 1.5 hours of line waiting-uggh) rested then went to grab a bite at the mall and on the way there we stopped by the Bonnie and Clyde Death Car exhibit and then we went to do some window shopping to see what we wanted to get the next day. We got rushed out of William Sonoma as they were closing in 1 minute. The lady was ready to go home, i guess.



So, we went back to our room and drifted off to sleep and woke up to silence!!!! WOW! I woke up at 8:30. i must have been dreaming. I loved it.

we went for a run right off the bat before it got any hotter. we finished our run with 13 flights of stairs! We changed and went down to the wonderful breakfast buffet and the headed to the mall. We got some amazing deals like guess jeans for 22.00 and some cute tops, t's , some pink Havi flip flops, a cute hat for me. I guess it's called a true religion hat. It must be a big deal b/c this chick stopped me. I just thought it was a cute hat. I'm adding some bling to it soon. Then we got some nice sunglasses and a case that holds my big sunnies! We headed back to the hotel for some roller coaster time and were disappointed by the Vault ride but loved the Desperado Roller coaster. it has a 225 ft drop that goes into a tunnel and has a 95 mile an hour plummet! It is crazy! We did it 3 or four times! So, fun but, wow, open your mouth and your saliva can't help but come out!


After that we rested for a moment then had an early dinner since we skipped Lunch. oops. after the dinner buffet we went back to the mall, did a bit more shopping and ended it with a reflexology foot and leg massage by a nice chinese old man. It was wonderful!!!


We went back and chilled, i watched the BACHELORETTE and was so glad to see Wes, the SCUM bag, go home. He's such a sleaze. I hope that other chick dumps him! What an arrogant, crappy singer too!Okay, venting aside...

So, we went to sleep early and awoke and proceeded to pack. As we were walking out we decided we should spend the 55. they gave us for free- why not, it's not our money.




Well, we had to spend at least 1.00 on each machine to begin the play. The first one we won. 8 or 11. or something. The second one, we won 6 or seven. The third one we won 314.00!!! We won another 14-20 after that so we cashed out only having spent 11.00 of our own money and walked away with 347.00 ish. It was nuts! I see why we are instructed NOT to gamble. It's addicting for sure. It was neat to have that experience but i don't want to gamble again. People lose lots of there hard earned $$$ all the time. It's really a sad thing. It's a mind game, an ego game and a quick fix game. Well, at least i know what it is like and that i don't need that kind of entertainment in my life.

We had a fun trip and are happy to be home and getting ready for our next big trip up to Fallon/reno/ Tahoe and then to SLC after that! I won't see LV for awhile. we will be going up on the 13th morning. We can't wait!!!
~C
Oh, by the way, i didn't take any pics so, these are courtesy of those who put them on the web to share. Thanks!

7 years of love

Today we were married- 7 years ago!

I am the luckiest woman ever!
Man, We look sooo young! I still chase him and he chases me.
Sometimes when we are play-fighing, Aria starts to cry and gets scared and we just look at eachother and giggle b/c we are having fun that she can't understand yet. We can joke and laugh and be serious when it's needed. Mostly, we just love who we married!

He still sweeps me off my feet and i always feel like I picked a GREAT MAN! I love you , Babe. And i know you love me b/c you tell me and show me by the way to take care of me, our girls, our home and your attitude of service towards us. You pick up the slack for me and you still flirt with me all the time. I couldn't ask for more. You are the best husband and there's no 7 yr. slump here! Thanks for all you do for me! Happy Anniversary!

Gains and losses!

So i have good and bads news...

Sad news... We lost a wonderful friend this past Friday. He died from HAIRY Cell Leukemia, in conjunction with Swine flue and double pneumonia. He didn't know he had it until about 8 days before his death. Brantley Gubler was a huge part of Brandon's life. He was a scout master, a mentor and a friend. He was closer to him than any of his uncles. So, really he was an uncle/ friend to him and to Brian.
He did anything for anybody. He was the sweetest man and had such a wonderful, giving heart. It was hard to see him go at the age of 51. He left behind his sweet wife, Angel, and 3 daughters and 1 son who will miss him.
The day i met him, we were engaged( me and Brandon) and at a ward function of theirs. Brantley talked to me not as a stranger but, as an extension of his family. He always left a warm feeling in my heart as though he deeply cared for me, Brandon and for our family. I am so grateful for his loving kind heart and will never for get this amazing man and father!
This is a picture of Him singing at Brian's Eagle Court of Honor. I believe the song was entitled "Soar like Eagles" or something like that. It was a tradition that he sang this song at many of the scouts courts! His wife learned the sign language and would sign as He sang.
I can only think that Brantley is singing in Heaven and hoping that we all can soar as Eagles, Back to our Father in Heaven, and be reunited as one big happy Family.
Thanks for blessing our lives, Brantley!

Gains...
We got a SUV and are now a 2 car family again! It's a Navigator and in great shape!
~C