Brrrrr.........Chad is awesome!

Early this morning, Chad ran his first 1/2 marathon. I say first because I have a feeling he is going to keep this running thing going. He has been a real natural! The race started at Aspen Grove above Sundance and made it's way down the Provo River Trail ending in the River Bottoms of Provo. Chad ran with two of his Brother-in-laws; Cameron and Shawn. Let me just say it was COLD and they are AWESOME! While Amy, Megan and I waited to cheer them on at Nunn's park, my thermometer read a balmy 30 degrees. It felt colder. It was so cold that as the runners ran by, you could see that their sweat had turned to frost on their clothing. Chad said he actually felt a bit hot (Yes, he is!). The first 5 miles was a steep downhill...easy on the heart, killer on the legs. It began cold and foggy and it ended beautifully...sun and warmth! I was so impressed with the guys, they all did a great job and ended within 10min of each other. Oh, and they got really cool skull shirts and medals to boot! Chad was amazing and the long run didn't even seem to phase his body too much. Really great news given his I.T. band problems earlier in the summer. Way to go, Chad!!! (truth be told, I'm jealous...I wish I could run with as much ease and enjoyment as he does!)

Happy Halloween!!

Ominture/Adobe Halloween party last night....check (photos to come...maybe)
Halloween Half-marathon....check (awesome job, Chad...more to come!)
Candy ready (I think I bought way too much this year)....check
Messy house....check
Pumpkin-shaped pizza....check
Witches brew (dry ice!)....check
Make-up....check
Obligatory photos (I love that group shot)....check
Trick or Treat.....GO!

Blog post....check
I figured getting my blog post done would make the night go more quickly. I think I'm anxious for the holiday to be done...we've packed in a lot of Halloween stuff this year. Yes, it's been a slow start for trick or treaters tonight and I'm on door duty.  Maybe I'm a little bored. Chad's out with the kids and Josh is at a party with friends (talking to a certain girl I'm sure!) Which do you prefer; door duty or walking the neighborhood? Neither?

Bittersweet

"Through tears and trials, through fears and sorrows,
through the heartache and loneliness of losing loved ones,
there is assurance that life is everlasting. Our Lord and
Savior is the living witness that such is so."

-Thomas S. Monson

 And in the words of Herodotus...

"Death is a delightful hiding place for weary men." Grandpa, enjoy hiding from your weary body and we look forward seeing you again. We will miss the teasing.  We will miss the stories. We will miss the honor of having one who lived such an amazing life in our presence. We love you.

More Hallow-een fun...

It's always fun to enjoy the Halloween traditions we've started with the grandparents.  G'ma and G'pa Jensen hold a big party/FHE each year complete with spooky food and games. This year, the kids loved playing the "head on a platter" and eye ball relays. They also loved popping the balloons to find the treats inside. (I love the photo of Sarah sitting on her balloon...an instant before it popped!) This years backyard spook alley attracted even more friends and neighbors than last year. Ron is always a huge help with that. With Grammy PJ, the kids love creating a graveyard cake.Or you could say, a cake with every bit of Halloween available sprinkled on top! Thank you to the grandparents for all your efforts to make the holidays so fun and memorable...we love you!

I did it.

Yesterday, I ran my first 10k. I have been running 5 miles at a time fairly consistently now, but wow, that 6.2 miles felt so much further. Why do I have a smile on my face? Why am I flashing the love sign (although I meant to do the rocker sign) like I just had the time of my life? I'm really not sure because truth be told, it was kind of hard and I kind of didn't have fun. I guess 1 hour and 12 min (I know...not a great time) of misery was worth a free (yes, the race was free!) Nike dry fit t-shirt! I don't know how race courses are ranked, but I'd say this one was not an easy course. We started out going up hill to Sugar House park. As soon as we reached the park, we ran on grass. For about a mile. Dodging pine cones. Once we circled around and finally hit some pavement, the hills started. Cardio wise, I felt fine. It was my legs that felt so fatigued. I guess I could blame it on week of climbing up and down a 20 foot ladder (painting my dining room), but the bottom line is, I just need to train more. Knowing that I've been sucked into a half marathon in January weighed heavily on my mind yesterday. I kept thinking, "...and this isn't half of what I will have to do then."  Yes, it looks like my winter days will filled with running. Ugh.

Last weekend, I went to "Witches Night Out" at Gardner Village with some of my girlfriends. Have you ever been? Wow...craziness. As you can tell by the photos, we were pretty decked out...as were about 8,000 other women from the Salt Lake Valley. No joke! We literally parked almost a mile away. I'm not lying. Look at the photos. And I was wearing high heeled boots. Ouch. Once our trek ended, we joined the throng of other women starving for a night out in full costume. Speaking of starving, many of us did. The line for the food was so long, it was hopeless. Good thing for Chili's at 9:30 on a Friday night! There are so many people you can barely work your way through the crowd. I say people because while nearly everyone in the crowd is of the female species, there were a few strange characters from the other side. Take Mr. Super-Creepy-Clown-in-a-White-Suit. Weird. Guess he didn't get the memo that the costume request was for witches. lol  Even the animal species was represented with a lady toting around an owl. See, I told you...it was craziness! With Witches Night, G'ma and G'pa's Halloween party, the neighborhood party and the Omniture party, I just might be done with Halloween before it even gets here! So much fun (with an itchy wig and make-up) is exhausting!

Am I that gullible?

As we were climbing in the car after one of our Sunday dinners in Kaysville, there was some sort of commotion between the kids. No surprise. Chad turns to Andrew and says, "You're the wizard of getting people in trouble." Andrew blurts out, "No I'm not!" And then with a little mischeiveous smile growing across his angelic face, "Well.......kind of."   Ahhhhh-ha! The tricks of a middle child. The master of deflecting to the older sibling. I can't believe I was so gullible all this time. Or was I? For the record, Andrew does have a record...very good record. He's not perfect, but we don't call him "Angel Andrew" for nothing!

Hi, my name is Julie and I'm addicted to projects.

I think I have a problem. It's called "projects." I've decided that since I never nurtured and developed my artistic talents, this is the next best thing to satisfy that need. Why is it a problem you ask? I've got several reasons and I will tell you a few. 1) I can't shut my brain off. Once I start thinking of something it kind of takes over. (do I need medication?) 2) I think I unconsciously use these projects to ignore all other responsibilities is life.Painting a room is so much better than doing laundry. 3) They create bigger messes that I ever think they will. and 4) While I am extremely frugal, I still end up spending money that maybe I don't need to. However, I must say, the end result almost always trumps these problems. I love dreaming and scheming in my head (dreaming=big budget, scheming=almost no budget).
I've been joking lately that even if I had the money, I'd still like to do things myself and hunt around for great finds. Am I just telling myself that because I don't have the money? Maybe. But, I'd still like to think that even if I had unlimited funds, I'd still be frugal and hands on with making my home my own. (Gee, I'd like to test  out the unlimited budget someday!)
So, currently, I am working on the dining room. It has been a blank and very boring slate for 5yrs now. For sure, the first thing I do with a project is to look at what I already have and to figure out what I can do myself. I've had a black table for several years and I had some natural chairs leftover from the kitchen project (they will be painted black). They are very casual chairs, but with a nice upholstered parsons chair on each end, I think they will do! I found these great chairs at Ikea. Very reasonable, sturdy (much better than the chair I loved at Pier One...and half the price) and the slip covers are removable (ie. washable!). My most exciting find was the chandelier. $60 on the KSL classifieds. Yes, this would be $400 chandelier at Lowes and I got it for almost pennies!! I little black spray paint and I think it will go perfectly (and nicely compliment my entry light to boot). In case you haven't talked to me recently, I am a huge fan of the KSL classifieds (think Craigs List). lol I have gone with an extremely bold paint choice. A Ralph Lauren gold (yes, GOLD) metallic paint. If it plays out like it does in my head, I think the black furniture and creams in the upholstery and dish display will work together wonderfully. I'm picturing a bit of a "Frenchy" feel. And....if things work out, I may have one splurge to finish the room....

Preschool field trip....check!

If you've read my past entries, you'll know that I had a terrible record for attending preschool field trips last year. This year, is Jenna's last year in preschool and she is my baby. I am bound and determined to mantain a better record this year. So far I'm 2 for 2!

A couple weeks ago, we headed to Thanksgiving Point to see the farm animals. Jenna loved the baby horse and having a tractor ride and a horseback ride.

Yesterday, the kids headed to a local pumpkin patch. She had so much fun pushing her own wheel barrow, picking her own pumpkin...and most of all the corn maze. I think she and her friends ran through that thing a half a dozen times!
I am really trying to enjoy and live in the now because wow....it is flying by was too fast.

Happy Birthday Josh...14 years old!!!!

Yea, yea...I know! How in the world can Josh be 14....FOURTEEN???? He can go to church dances now. And dance. With girls. I think there just might be a few girls already lined up hoping he'll ask them for a dance.

It seems with each year, it gets harder to celebrate and gift give. Gone are the days of the dinosaur theme party and a pile of gifts to be opened. The fifty bucks or so that bought several toys now buys ummm, say 3/4 of a cool gift suitable for a teenager. Fortunately,  Josh was just as thrilled with his new cell phone (Celtic green, of course...and no, it's not an expensive phone...we stayed within budget!) and Skull Candy headphones. So glad he "gets it."

However, I am Julie and I worry that I haven't done enough or his day won't be memorable enough. So what do you do?? Well, apparently you spend $20 in doughnuts and candy at the gas station the night before his birthday. (so much for practical gifts and budgets) I thought it wholly appropriate that Josh start his day off right....with a chocolate Dunford doughnut. The candy? I attached a "happy birthday" tag to 14 (get it??lol) packs of Josh's favorite gum and candy. I then asked his friend to distribute the candy to friends who would then in turn give them to Josh. About 8 packs in, it dawned on Josh that it was me that did it. He said it was the font and the tag that gave it away. I wonder what that says about me and Josh that A) he knows what a font is and B) he associates "fonts" with his mom. I digress.

Later that day, G'ma Chris joined us for dinner at the Training Table. (mmmm....thanks g'ma!)We ended the day with chocolate cake, ice cream and a few gifts. Sarah put together some  items she thought Josh would like (ie. very random things gathered from around the house). They were carefully placed in a white box tied with yarn. I love that she did that...Josh loved it, too.  I know Josh had a good day....he hasn't looked up from his new phone. We love you, Josh!!

How can this not make you smile?

Temple Riders

One of the things I love about watching conference in Utah are the little news/movie/biography vignettes that KSL plays between sessions. Stories about members, temples and events from around the world are featured. Today, "Footprints of Faith" featured the Temple Riders motorcycle group. Now really, how can you not smile when you see this? Our bishop in Colorado, Bishop Chuck Barton loved going on motorcycle trips with his wife Bea (I loved having Bea as my visiting teacher). I always loved that they had such a unique hobby together. There was a running joke that you could hear the hum of their motorcycles in the parking lot on the day he was released. Hmm...I wonder, are they part of the Temple Riders today?

"The Princess and the Frog 2"

It's always been clear that Sarah is very creative. Even knowing this, I am always tickled with delight and surprise when I see something she does. A couple weeks ago, she created an entire play. Complete with backdrops and people. Her stage set up was the best; it was flanked by pillows and a blanket draped over her head to hide the behind the scenes mechanics (i.e. her!). She was thrilled to have the family's undivided attention. It was so cute seeing her little hands peeking out from behind the blanket to manipulate that characters...then her little head poking out to change the backdrop. Her story line was a sequel to the fairytale of  "The Princess and the Frog." In this continuation of the original, the Princess decides she likes the Prince better as a frog. He travels to a witch, a wizard and a mad scientist to gain his frog-hood back. Ahh...but, there is a surprise ending. The mad scientist added an extra spell to the potion; turning whoever he kisses into a frog. The princess not only gets her wish of the Prince being turned back into a frog, BUT she gets to join him as an amphibian, too! It was priceless! Well done, Sarah...keep up the creativity. We can't wait to see what you do next!