It's beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

This...
This...


And this... all combined = I had to be driven to work today by my neighbor. My tiny car made it 10 feet out of my driveway and could go no further. It doesn't help when there is a foot of snow on the ground and my car is only about 11 inches off the ground. Now I just have to figure out how to get home...

Ideas

I need ideas of what kinds of things I can do with some teenage girls for Youth activities. This is in a church setting so they need to be appropriate but lots of fun. They need to be low budget but involved and now and again it needs to be something that can be done in combination with teenage boys as well. Any thoughts?

I survived my first 6k...and had fun

So I posted a few weeks ago that I was running a 6k on October 9th. My first official race. Now, the real question. How did I do? Of 1067 total participants in the 6k I got 56th place overall and 7th place in my age division. According to the race stats I averaged a 9:31 mile. I was very excited to run my first race ever and it was a 6k, 1 k further than I thought my first race would be but I reached my goal of running a 5k. I LOVED IT! I had a blast. Which surprised me since I don't really enjoy running on my own. I tend to need a dog or a husband to accompany me.

The day started out nervously. I rolled out of bed at 6:15, showered and ate a granola bar for breakfast. Ben and I drove to Thanksgiving point and then walk around and looked at the vendors for half a hour or so. They had all the runners in the 10k and 6k warm up together and then had the 10k runners line up and start their race. The 6k was suppose to start 10 minutes or so later. I found Brooke who I worked with and we planned to run together. We lined up and the 6k didn't end up starting for another 35 minutes or so. The gun went off and we started out. Ben had to be to work at 9:30 so he left right after the start of the race. About half a mile in I realized Brooke was going to pace herself at a pace that was quite a bit slower than I was planning to run so we split and I took off on my own. It was absolutely exhilarating to be running with that many people but not only that, I was passing quite a few. I expected to be shown up but once I got out there I was passing people. I usually tire quickly when I run on my own or with my dogs but I was so excited my legs just kept going. I ran a good 2.5 miles or so before I ever had to slow down and eventually take a breather. At that point I paced myself with two teenage girls who talked to each other the entire race. I would pass them and then when I got tired walk a little and watch the people who passed me. I listened and as soon as I heard the two teenagers jogging up behind me I'd start running again. It worked great and I finished the race in good time for me and awesome for my first race. The end was lined with the families and everybody cheered for everyone running. It got my spirits up and I was able to sprint the last leg. Which resulted in me almost puking all over the girl who had to cut the electric timing chip off my shoe. The timing chip was attached with two zip ties at the beginning and had to be cut off at the end. I survived and after some time Brooke finished the race and her family gave me a ride to Kohls to see Ben. I survived and I think I'd like to do it again in the future.

It's My Ben's Birthday

Today is Ben's Birthday. He is old. Well not really, but older. I thought I would take this opportunity to post pictures I've taken of him. Well at least most of the pictures were taken by me or at least our camera. Since I'm in some of the pictures I probably did not take those, although we do have a timer on the camera...not important. On to the pictures. In no particular order here is my sexy husband.

My Ben is so handsome

Technically this was before I met him and while he was on his mission in Australia which means Christmas is in the middle of summer so no snow. He had to improvise with Mash Potatoes.

At this point we were dating and on our way to a black and white ball young single adults activity in Massachusetts.
Aw, so cute.
What's better than reading a book while floating down the swannee river on a house boat in florida?
This was a birthday hike for my friend's birthday last year. The boys had fun.

This was on a double date with an elder who served with Ben in his mission and who's last name was blanch. We were inside nuttyputty caves. Someone died in there recently so you can't go in anymore.
I love cowboys. Salt Lake in 2007 probably at the gateway mall.
...and dates with my husband. This one was in New Hampshire in the summer of 2008.
This was the night we got engaged. Ben put so much planning in it wore him out.
This was on our first date. This portion of the date took place at Jared's house. Look how young Ben looks. No wonder people asked if we were with our parents when we took a cruise for our honeymoon.
Florida family vacation '08. No, he is not actually a lifeguard nor would he be prepared to rescue from the water.
Awesome Hike, May 15th of this year. The dogs loved it.
Y Mountain hike in 2007. Too Late the Hero came through on tour. Yea for goat bones! (sick).
Who can say no to a musician?
Halloween 2005. We were dating and it was the first time my home teachers met me and Ben. Sweet.
While I was at school and after Ben visited me and then was 2000 miles away he sent me this picture.
For our anniversary in 2009 we went to Ireland. You're jealous I know.

Another town in Ireland, called Kinsale. Same trip.
Also in Ireland. We went to Foto (a petting zoo) Ben had to find the Kangaroos. The little guy is my cousin Eoin.

This is when we were dating so I'm thinking sometime in Fall 2005. That's all I've got.
This was summer of 2005. In New Hampshire. By a waterfall.
This one was after we were married. Summer of 2006 in New Hampshire before we went back to school.
February 2005. This was went Ben drove 2000 miles to be my date for Valentine's Day. He's awesome like that. I on the other hand was dressed like a slob. That's what early classes and snow did to me.
This was on our Hike May of this year. The circle of Life and it moves us all...

this is Early 2006 while in engaged before we were married. We decided ward prayer was in fact the perfect time for mac and cheese. Yum.
This was Fall of 2009. We were so excited to go to the Manti temple with some friends. We got there only to discover it was closed for renovations. So we took pictures instead.

We got married. It was epic.

This is while we were dating. I met his mission president at his mission reunion.

This was New Hampshire in 2008, Sam and Nikki got married in New York but had a reception in the shire, well actually it may have been Maine... those tricky state borders. Muscles!

Our apartment in Orem. Sometime between May of 2007 and May of 2008. Doesn't he look studly?My peter pan. SLC 2007.
It is in fact the plan of Salvation pumpkin. Ben's cool like that. Fall 2005.Ben got asked if he was half Obama, half McCain. He was in fact a politician and since they're usually tw0-faced that what he was. Halloween 2008.

We hiked the Y. Ben is awesome. The end.Ben took this picture at his school. He looks so serious. I love him.
New Hampshire! Look at that sweet background.
Orem 2007. He's so handsome.

The crew. This was our wedding day. Ben and his boys.August 2005. Ben's styling with his blond hair that I dyed.
Ben worked at a toy store once.


Happy Birthday babe! I love you.

Yikes. I'm running a 6k

I just signed up to run a 6k on October 9th at Thanksgiving Point. A few of the girls from the office are running it too. It's the Wasatch Woman Love Your Body 6K/10K 2010

Changed again

My family is coming to visit me this weekend and I felt like I needed a little bit of change. So here it is.
I Love it!

Operation New Front Door

Ben and I have been continuing our home improvements. Recently Ben and I were talking to our neighbor about how we wanted to get a new front door because the one we had left space for air to get in and it was just ugly (see above picture). She told us that the people who were renting our home before we moved in had gotten drunk one night and punched a hole through the door. Since they were renting they called the landlord to come fix it. Their landlord said they broke it and they were responsible to fix it. The renters did not have money to go buy a new door so they simply took an interior door, cut it themselves, glued the hinges on, and viola, that was our front door. Sweet right? Not so much.

That's when we decided to go look at new front doors. We found one we loved at Lowe's and recruited one of the young men in our church ward who had a truck to help us go pick it up. We got all the supplies needed to take the old door and frame out, and put in the new door and seal it etc. Ben recruited another young man in the ward who said he'd help Ben install it on his day off. Everything was set and then Ben called the Bishop of our Ward to ask if we could borrow a crowbar. He said sure and asked what size we needed. Ben explained it was for the door and the Bishop told Ben a story about installing his own door and how it has never been right ever since. He gave Ben the number of a great handyman Nick and told him to call him.

We called and Nick was willing to come do it for $200 cheaper than Lowe's or Home Depot would have charged to install the door.

This is Nick taking out our old door. Nick IS AWESOME. and it only took him a few hours take out the old and put in the new.

No Door! Even no door was an improvement over the old door.

This pretty item is our new door. It is on two totes because while Ben and I found the door to be a thing of beauty just as it was, we (I) really wanted a red front door. My house is white with black shutters and I just thought that a red door would be just the thing to make it shine.And shine it does. I LOVE IT! Ben likes it too.

Doesn't it look so pretty? Now we just say we're the house in the cul-de-sac with the red front door.