Monday, June 28, 2010
Swamp Monster
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Girls Camp 2010
Girls Camp was this past week. It was Julianne's first time. First time not only with girls camp but also camping in general. And even though she'd never been camping before, she'd always assumed she was not a camper. Bugs, dirt, boredom...who needed it? This has been her attitude. Well, luckily for Julianne, her first experience with camping was rather mild. They stayed in a fancy lodge in Grover, Utah. And her dad even sent her off with a cot to sleep on. Both girls, this being Rebekah's 3rd year, came back exhausted (because for some reason tradition holds that the last night of girls camp must be an all-nighter....) but with smiles on their faces, loads of dirty laundry and lots of stories to tell. One story consisted of how the heat was so intense on their hike that numerous girls ended up with heat exhaustion...Julianne being the first to succumb. One of the leaders commented to me today that she could tell when Julianne started to feel better because her spit fire attitude returned as she began to complain mightily about eating the banana they were practically force feeding her. (Julianne hates bananas.) I'm glad they are back and glad that they both had fun. I'm kind of excited to show them what REAL camping is like when we go on our big camp out next month with Bryan's family. Tents, bugs, dirt and all. But only kind of. Because did I mention that I'm not really much of a camper myself? :) 
Friday, June 25, 2010
Favorite Photo Friday: Baby train
Bryan was fortunate to grow up with a lot of cousins close to his age. Which meant of course, that they were all going through those milestones of missions, weddings and babies around the same time. This pregnancy train of 1996 is made up of Carolyn (Bryan's sister), me (Bryan's wife), Kimberly and Jennifer (married to Bryan's twin cousins), Jana (married to another cousin) and Melanie (a cousin). All of us due throughout that year.
March... Jordan's blessing day.
March... Jordan's blessing day.
4th of July. Little Rebekah is just 7 weeks old.
August at a wedding open house. Rachel and McKenzie have arrived.
January at a missionary farewell. Alyssa and Kierra have joined the baby club. And Carolyn makes her way to the back of the line having announced pregnancy #2.Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat.
This past weekend I ran the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay. A 188 mile running relay from Logan to Park City.
A description of the race straight from the Ragnar Relay website:
That, my friends, is what I spent this past weekend doing. And it was some serious crazy, exhausting, insane, awesomeness! By the time we made it to the finish line around 6:00 on Saturday evening, our team had been on the course since 8:15 Friday morning. I was functioning on 1.5 hours of sleep, a healthy dose of adrenaline and a fair share of caffeine. Here's how it all came about....
Back in January or so, Greg, a friend of mine from college mentioned that he was planning to run the Ragnar Relay again this year. When I expressed interest in the race he immediately invited me to join his team, as did a few other of his teammates. Oh. Umm. Could I really do this? I'm more of a biker than a runner. But I said yes and hoped and prayed that I could build up my running endurance before June....and get an easy-ish route.
Our team, the Stonecreek Stoners, had a BBQ a few weeks ago to make plans and to get to know each other. I learned that I would be runner 7 in van 2 along with Heather, Jason, Marci, Megan and Greg.
Fast forward to race day.... Even though our team started running from Logan at 8:15, van 2 got a more leisurely start seeing as we didn't need to meet up with van 1 until noon in Liberty/Eden. We arrived, attended our mandatory safety meeting, got all psyched up and excited....and then waited and waited and waited. Being runner 7 meant that I was the first up from our van and with all the waiting I was getting more and more nervous and anxious. We finally got the call from van 1 that runner 6 was about a mile away and to get ready. I made my way into the exchange chute... and after a few minutes, there came Kristen...hot, sweaty and tired as she ran up to me and slapped the orange bracelet on my wrist. Off I went with my team yelling and screaming for me. I was so relieved to be actually running!
But that relief was pretty quickly replaced with a kind of dread as I realized that this was so much harder than I thought it would be! A 4 mile run through mostly flat neighborhoods I had thought would be rather easy. Especially since it was my first run and I'd still be fresh. But the temps had climbed up into the mid 80's by 2:45 when I was running and I literally felt like I was melting. My teammates stopped every mile to give me encouragement and water. But I wondered to myself if I had seriously misjudged my abilities to do this race! About 45 minutes after I started, I ran into the exchange chute and slapped that bracelet on Heather's arm, hugely relieved to be done with my first leg, and hugely worried about my next. I was red-faced and panting. I poured cold water over my head, drank another full bottle of water and then climbed into the air-conditioned van. After resting, cooling and refueling I felt so much better and could look back honestly at my first leg and admit that yes, it'd been hard but I had been okay. I hadn't passed anyone but I had done it and done it pretty darn well considering the conditions.
We leapfrogged and supported our runners for the next few hours and finally passed the slap bracelet off to van 1 at Snow Basin resort. Ahhh. Time for a few hours of rest. We headed up to the lodge for dinner, bought matching Ragnar jackets at the vendor booth anticipating a rather cold night ahead, and then hopped back in the van to drive to East Canyon State Park, the next place I would start running again. It was 10:00 when we arrived. We were all getting a little tired at this point, and knowing that we would be up literally ALL night, decided to pull out our sleeping bags and try to get some sleep. We set up camp on the lawn hoping for an hour or so of shut eye. Car alarms, slamming doors, flashlights, talking, the stench of the "honey bucket" portables being cleaned out, etc. My cell phone alarm went off at 11:30 with none of us having benefited from any actual sleep. But up we jumped, cleaning up our little camp and getting ready for the next round of running. Like before, I was up first. And once again I was nervous...maybe even more so than I had been before. This run was a little shorter, 3.8 miles, but it was in the dark and uphill!
At 12:20 AM I once again had that bracelet slapped onto my wrist and away I ran. Because I was running in the middle of the night I was wearing a reflective vest, a red flashing light on my backside, and a head lamp. It was so dark that my teammates had a hard time seeing me as they tried to give me water. It was kind of funny to see Greg peer into the darkness and call out "Sarah? Is that you?" All he could see, really, was a bobbing light running towards him. It was a little freaky running in the pitch dark....but in a cool way. And amazingly enough, this ended up being my best leg. It was so much cooler (45 degrees), I had some great tunes playing in my ears and I was running well, despite the hill. At the steepest part of the hill I realized that I was running so slowly that I might fare better walking. I power walked for the next few minutes, laughing as I realized that I was moving so much faster...enough that I even passed a few people who were running! I ran into the exchange as I heard the volunteer announce my team number and passed the bracelet on to Heather all smiles. It had been an awesome, exhilarating run!
Once again we leapfrogged and supported our runners. All throughout the night. We watched the sun come up. And tried mightily to stay awake in-between switching runners. We alternated between exhausted silence and slap happy giddiness. We passed off to van 1 around 8:30 or so and headed off to Marci and Megan's family cabin in Heber. Ahhh! Soft couches! Silence! Solid sleep! Well, for an hour and a half at least. And even though I slept hard, I woke up before my phone alarm went off. We all did. So we packed up and started back down the mountain to Rocky Mountain Middle School where we were to start running again. And thankfully we did leave earlier than we had planned! Because luckily for them but unfortunately for us, their last legs were their easiest ones which means they had blasted through them with speed and ease. We actually were at a stop light when Kristen, runner 6, ran past us! Yikes!!! I made it into the exchange with seconds to spare and headed off running still trying to get my hair pulled up and my earbuds untangled.
My last leg was around noon. It was hot, certainly, but a breeze was blowing which helped keep things cooler. That, and the cute kids out with hoses who politely asked if I wanted to be sprayed as I ran by. As always, my answer was "Yes, PLEASE!" Regardless of the fact that I'd had next to no sleep, I ran cheerfully and well...all nerves long gone by now. The last mile of my 4.2 route was the longest but soon I was passing that well traveled bracelet off to Heather and making my way back to the van to cool off and rehydrate.
Heather, by this point, was struggling with an injured knee and half a mile into her 6 mile run she was in tears. Even though the others still had some mighty big legs still to come and even though I was still recovering from my leg, between us all we ran Heather's leg for her. I took the last mile which ended up being uphill. Heather thanked us all over and over again for helping her out. But it didn't seem like a big deal to me. We were a team. And even though, other than Greg, I didn't know any of these people before, after spending 2 solid days supporting each other, encouraging each other, cheering for each other I felt like I had known these people for years. We had bonded well. And so of course none of us thought twice about picking up Heather's leg despite the fact that we all had our own to worry about.
Those last legs were long and tough for van 2. Hours and hours passed as we chipped away at those miles knowing that van 1 was already at the finish line waiting for us. Finally, finally we dropped Jason off for his last leg and we jumped ahead to the Canyons Resort to the final finish. The parking lot was jam packed with vans, all decorated with team names and decor. (My favorite? "Damn Soles In Distress". Maybe it was lack of sleep but I laughed so hard I had tears rolling down my cheeks.) We took the tram up the hill and somehow, through the hordes of people, found our other teammates from van 1. Together we made our way to where we could watch for Jason and when he came running around that last bend, we all hollered and cheered and joined him for the final run through the official finish line. Our team was announced and welcomed back as we were given our medals and shepherded over for a team picture.
There was a serious party atmosphere there and I would've liked to look around a little bit and revel in our accomplishment. But just as much as I wanted to party, I wanted to go home. I was exhausted, stinky, sore and just plain overwhelmed. I hadn't seen Bryan in a week, he having come home from a business trip after I had already left. And so we hugged and high-fived and then headed back down the hill to the van to go home.
It's only been a couple of days and despite the fact that I'm still recovering from sore muscles and exhaustion I'm already planning to do it again next year. It was HARD....one of the hardest things I have ever done. But it was a huge accomplishment for me and awesome fun! I asked Bryan if he was proud of me or if he just thought I was crazy. It was okay, I told him, if he thought I was just plain crazy. I was proud enough of myself for the both of us. After thinking for a minute he said, "Well, I must be proud of you because I keep telling people about it!" Honestly though, I'm pretty sure that along with the pride there exists a fairly large sense of incredulity that I would put myself through something like that! "Did you have fun?" he asked. When I answered in the affirmative he said, "Well, that's good. Because it doesn't sound at all fun to me!" And that's okay. :)
Picture this: You and 11 of your closest friends running day and night, relay-style, through some of the most scenic terrain North America could muster. Add in live bands, inside jokes and a mild case of sleep deprivation. The result? Some call it a slumber party without sleep, pillows or deodorant. We call it a Ragnar Relay.
It's really quite simple. Get a bunch of friends together and start running. Okay, there's a little more to it. Your relay team will consist of 12 members. During the relay, each team member runs three legs, each leg ranging between 3 - 8 miles and varying in difficulty. So, from the elite runner down to the novice jogger, it's the perfect relay race for anyone.
Each team is responsible for providing two support vehicles, with six runners in each vehicle. The first vehicle will drop off the first runner, drive ahead a few miles, cheer the runner on, and provide them with water, snacks, and plenty of love. That vehicle will then drive ahead to the first exchange point to drop off the second runner, and pick up the first runner when that leg is complete. They will repeat this pattern for six legs until they hand off to their second vehicle. This leapfrogging pattern will continue all the way to the finish line.
That, my friends, is what I spent this past weekend doing. And it was some serious crazy, exhausting, insane, awesomeness! By the time we made it to the finish line around 6:00 on Saturday evening, our team had been on the course since 8:15 Friday morning. I was functioning on 1.5 hours of sleep, a healthy dose of adrenaline and a fair share of caffeine. Here's how it all came about....Back in January or so, Greg, a friend of mine from college mentioned that he was planning to run the Ragnar Relay again this year. When I expressed interest in the race he immediately invited me to join his team, as did a few other of his teammates. Oh. Umm. Could I really do this? I'm more of a biker than a runner. But I said yes and hoped and prayed that I could build up my running endurance before June....and get an easy-ish route.
Our team, the Stonecreek Stoners, had a BBQ a few weeks ago to make plans and to get to know each other. I learned that I would be runner 7 in van 2 along with Heather, Jason, Marci, Megan and Greg.
Fast forward to race day.... Even though our team started running from Logan at 8:15, van 2 got a more leisurely start seeing as we didn't need to meet up with van 1 until noon in Liberty/Eden. We arrived, attended our mandatory safety meeting, got all psyched up and excited....and then waited and waited and waited. Being runner 7 meant that I was the first up from our van and with all the waiting I was getting more and more nervous and anxious. We finally got the call from van 1 that runner 6 was about a mile away and to get ready. I made my way into the exchange chute... and after a few minutes, there came Kristen...hot, sweaty and tired as she ran up to me and slapped the orange bracelet on my wrist. Off I went with my team yelling and screaming for me. I was so relieved to be actually running! 
But that relief was pretty quickly replaced with a kind of dread as I realized that this was so much harder than I thought it would be! A 4 mile run through mostly flat neighborhoods I had thought would be rather easy. Especially since it was my first run and I'd still be fresh. But the temps had climbed up into the mid 80's by 2:45 when I was running and I literally felt like I was melting. My teammates stopped every mile to give me encouragement and water. But I wondered to myself if I had seriously misjudged my abilities to do this race! About 45 minutes after I started, I ran into the exchange chute and slapped that bracelet on Heather's arm, hugely relieved to be done with my first leg, and hugely worried about my next. I was red-faced and panting. I poured cold water over my head, drank another full bottle of water and then climbed into the air-conditioned van. After resting, cooling and refueling I felt so much better and could look back honestly at my first leg and admit that yes, it'd been hard but I had been okay. I hadn't passed anyone but I had done it and done it pretty darn well considering the conditions.
We leapfrogged and supported our runners for the next few hours and finally passed the slap bracelet off to van 1 at Snow Basin resort. Ahhh. Time for a few hours of rest. We headed up to the lodge for dinner, bought matching Ragnar jackets at the vendor booth anticipating a rather cold night ahead, and then hopped back in the van to drive to East Canyon State Park, the next place I would start running again. It was 10:00 when we arrived. We were all getting a little tired at this point, and knowing that we would be up literally ALL night, decided to pull out our sleeping bags and try to get some sleep. We set up camp on the lawn hoping for an hour or so of shut eye. Car alarms, slamming doors, flashlights, talking, the stench of the "honey bucket" portables being cleaned out, etc. My cell phone alarm went off at 11:30 with none of us having benefited from any actual sleep. But up we jumped, cleaning up our little camp and getting ready for the next round of running. Like before, I was up first. And once again I was nervous...maybe even more so than I had been before. This run was a little shorter, 3.8 miles, but it was in the dark and uphill!
At 12:20 AM I once again had that bracelet slapped onto my wrist and away I ran. Because I was running in the middle of the night I was wearing a reflective vest, a red flashing light on my backside, and a head lamp. It was so dark that my teammates had a hard time seeing me as they tried to give me water. It was kind of funny to see Greg peer into the darkness and call out "Sarah? Is that you?" All he could see, really, was a bobbing light running towards him. It was a little freaky running in the pitch dark....but in a cool way. And amazingly enough, this ended up being my best leg. It was so much cooler (45 degrees), I had some great tunes playing in my ears and I was running well, despite the hill. At the steepest part of the hill I realized that I was running so slowly that I might fare better walking. I power walked for the next few minutes, laughing as I realized that I was moving so much faster...enough that I even passed a few people who were running! I ran into the exchange as I heard the volunteer announce my team number and passed the bracelet on to Heather all smiles. It had been an awesome, exhilarating run!
Once again we leapfrogged and supported our runners. All throughout the night. We watched the sun come up. And tried mightily to stay awake in-between switching runners. We alternated between exhausted silence and slap happy giddiness. We passed off to van 1 around 8:30 or so and headed off to Marci and Megan's family cabin in Heber. Ahhh! Soft couches! Silence! Solid sleep! Well, for an hour and a half at least. And even though I slept hard, I woke up before my phone alarm went off. We all did. So we packed up and started back down the mountain to Rocky Mountain Middle School where we were to start running again. And thankfully we did leave earlier than we had planned! Because luckily for them but unfortunately for us, their last legs were their easiest ones which means they had blasted through them with speed and ease. We actually were at a stop light when Kristen, runner 6, ran past us! Yikes!!! I made it into the exchange with seconds to spare and headed off running still trying to get my hair pulled up and my earbuds untangled. 
My last leg was around noon. It was hot, certainly, but a breeze was blowing which helped keep things cooler. That, and the cute kids out with hoses who politely asked if I wanted to be sprayed as I ran by. As always, my answer was "Yes, PLEASE!" Regardless of the fact that I'd had next to no sleep, I ran cheerfully and well...all nerves long gone by now. The last mile of my 4.2 route was the longest but soon I was passing that well traveled bracelet off to Heather and making my way back to the van to cool off and rehydrate.
Heather, by this point, was struggling with an injured knee and half a mile into her 6 mile run she was in tears. Even though the others still had some mighty big legs still to come and even though I was still recovering from my leg, between us all we ran Heather's leg for her. I took the last mile which ended up being uphill. Heather thanked us all over and over again for helping her out. But it didn't seem like a big deal to me. We were a team. And even though, other than Greg, I didn't know any of these people before, after spending 2 solid days supporting each other, encouraging each other, cheering for each other I felt like I had known these people for years. We had bonded well. And so of course none of us thought twice about picking up Heather's leg despite the fact that we all had our own to worry about.
Those last legs were long and tough for van 2. Hours and hours passed as we chipped away at those miles knowing that van 1 was already at the finish line waiting for us. Finally, finally we dropped Jason off for his last leg and we jumped ahead to the Canyons Resort to the final finish. The parking lot was jam packed with vans, all decorated with team names and decor. (My favorite? "Damn Soles In Distress". Maybe it was lack of sleep but I laughed so hard I had tears rolling down my cheeks.) We took the tram up the hill and somehow, through the hordes of people, found our other teammates from van 1. Together we made our way to where we could watch for Jason and when he came running around that last bend, we all hollered and cheered and joined him for the final run through the official finish line. Our team was announced and welcomed back as we were given our medals and shepherded over for a team picture.
There was a serious party atmosphere there and I would've liked to look around a little bit and revel in our accomplishment. But just as much as I wanted to party, I wanted to go home. I was exhausted, stinky, sore and just plain overwhelmed. I hadn't seen Bryan in a week, he having come home from a business trip after I had already left. And so we hugged and high-fived and then headed back down the hill to the van to go home. It's only been a couple of days and despite the fact that I'm still recovering from sore muscles and exhaustion I'm already planning to do it again next year. It was HARD....one of the hardest things I have ever done. But it was a huge accomplishment for me and awesome fun! I asked Bryan if he was proud of me or if he just thought I was crazy. It was okay, I told him, if he thought I was just plain crazy. I was proud enough of myself for the both of us. After thinking for a minute he said, "Well, I must be proud of you because I keep telling people about it!" Honestly though, I'm pretty sure that along with the pride there exists a fairly large sense of incredulity that I would put myself through something like that! "Did you have fun?" he asked. When I answered in the affirmative he said, "Well, that's good. Because it doesn't sound at all fun to me!" And that's okay. :)
Monday, June 21, 2010
Coming soon...
I missed doing my Favorite Photo Friday post last week. But I was a little busy.... I ran the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay Friday and Saturday. Yes, I said Friday AND Saturday. 188 miles from Logan to Park City. And no, I didn't run that all myself. I was on a 12 person team, each of us running 3 legs of this race. I came home sore, hungry and exhausted... only 1.5 hours of sleep during that time. But I also came home hugely proud and exhilarated. Pictures and stories to come soon...but I'm still trying to recover.... my sore muscles, my tired body....and my house that kind of went to pot while I was gone.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Squished
Julianne is spending a few days with her grandparents and cousin, Megan. Yesterday they went 4-wheeling. I've been told that Julianne rolled over and squished a good sized rattlesnake. One less rattlesnake in this world... I'm so proud of my girl!!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Getting ready for Ragnar
The Wasatch Back is this weekend. I am, in turns, super excited and absolutely terrified. I ran 4.8 miles last night and felt really good about it. I probably could've even gone further except for the fact that it was getting pretty dark.
To be completely truthful, 4.8 is the farthest I've ever gone. And yes, I know that some people (Katie) run 4-5 miles every single day. And other people (my neighbors) have all recently run a half marathon. But for me, 4.8 is something to be dang proud about! Especially considering my longest route this weekend will be 4.2. Granted, I have to run an average of 4 miles 3 times. In a day and a half. In the heat. With sleep deprivation.
Adrenaline, right? That's what's going to kick in and save me? Adrenaline and my special caffeine filled jelly beans.
Another admission...it took me a full hour to run that 4.8 last night. Yep, I run ridiculously slow. Luckily I am on a very non-competitive team that is more interested in fun than in making good time. Sounds like a perfect match.
I am fine tuning my running play list tonight. Just for kicks, and for future giggles, I thought I'd list a sampling of my playlist. I can still remember some of the old songs on the aerobics tape my mom used to exersize to when I was a kid. My list is very random. The songs don't necessarily have to be overly upbeat. They just have to grab and hold my attention and keep my mind off of how much my lungs and legs are burning.
"Aready Gone" Kelly Clarkson
"February Song" Josh Groban
"Congratulations" Blue October
"Uprising" Muse
"Hometown Glory" Adele
"Fireflies" Sam Tsui (a cover of the Owl City song)
"Don't Stop Believing" Glee
"Forever Young" Alphaville
"Halo" Beyonce
"Stradavarius" Kurt Bestor
"We Belong" Pat Benatar
"Bad Romance" Lady Gaga
"All the Right Moves" OneRepublic
"Goodbye" Second Hand Serenade
"Peace" Depeche Mode
"Soaked" Adam Lambert
"When All is Said and Done" ABBA
"Hold Onto the Night" Richard Marx
"Cry Me a River" Michael Buble
"Falling In Love at a Coffee Shop" Landon Pigg
There are a few more Glee songs, another ABBA, a few more Kelly Clarkson and Blue October. Enough to keep me plenty interested throughout my runs. At least, that's what I'm hoping.
To be completely truthful, 4.8 is the farthest I've ever gone. And yes, I know that some people (Katie) run 4-5 miles every single day. And other people (my neighbors) have all recently run a half marathon. But for me, 4.8 is something to be dang proud about! Especially considering my longest route this weekend will be 4.2. Granted, I have to run an average of 4 miles 3 times. In a day and a half. In the heat. With sleep deprivation.
Adrenaline, right? That's what's going to kick in and save me? Adrenaline and my special caffeine filled jelly beans.
Another admission...it took me a full hour to run that 4.8 last night. Yep, I run ridiculously slow. Luckily I am on a very non-competitive team that is more interested in fun than in making good time. Sounds like a perfect match.
I am fine tuning my running play list tonight. Just for kicks, and for future giggles, I thought I'd list a sampling of my playlist. I can still remember some of the old songs on the aerobics tape my mom used to exersize to when I was a kid. My list is very random. The songs don't necessarily have to be overly upbeat. They just have to grab and hold my attention and keep my mind off of how much my lungs and legs are burning.
"Aready Gone" Kelly Clarkson
"February Song" Josh Groban
"Congratulations" Blue October
"Uprising" Muse
"Hometown Glory" Adele
"Fireflies" Sam Tsui (a cover of the Owl City song)
"Don't Stop Believing" Glee
"Forever Young" Alphaville
"Halo" Beyonce
"Stradavarius" Kurt Bestor
"We Belong" Pat Benatar
"Bad Romance" Lady Gaga
"All the Right Moves" OneRepublic
"Goodbye" Second Hand Serenade
"Peace" Depeche Mode
"Soaked" Adam Lambert
"When All is Said and Done" ABBA
"Hold Onto the Night" Richard Marx
"Cry Me a River" Michael Buble
"Falling In Love at a Coffee Shop" Landon Pigg
There are a few more Glee songs, another ABBA, a few more Kelly Clarkson and Blue October. Enough to keep me plenty interested throughout my runs. At least, that's what I'm hoping.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
June 13th remembering...
Thirteen years ago today I graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelors degree in history. It took 5 years and 4 different colleges, a marriage, a pregnancy and a baby, 4 quarters of french and 5 quarters of spanish, just about every history course you can imagine and enough pages worth of research papers to kill numerous trees. But I did it. And it's one of the accomplishments in my life that I am most proud of.
Officially, I finished my last class in March of 1997. I still remember the overwhelming and conflicting feelings as I drove home that day after turning in my final 20 page research paper on women in the French Revolution. I didn't know whether to laugh in triumph or cry from sheer relief. One thing I did know, I was determined to "walk" in June. Graduation announcements, cap and gown, pomp and circumstance...I was going to do the whole nine yards. I was that proud of myself, that determined to have picture proof of my accomplishment.
June 13th dawned beautifully. My parents, my in-laws, my grandparents, Bryan and Rebekah were all there. (I suppose you could say even Julianne was there...I had just found out I was pregnant a couple of weeks before.) I don't remember much about the ceremony. Just little details here and there. But what I do remember with near perfect clarity is what happened afterwards as we were walking back to the car. Bryan and his parents were pushing me to name a restaurant for a celebration lunch. I was confused...they knew that I was planning to have a late lunch with my parents, grandparents and sister Mary who was graduating from high school that same day. I tried to remind them of this but they kept pushing. I couldn't figure out why. Finally, with a sigh, my father in law told me that my grandparents wouldn't be taking me to lunch after all. This led to even more confusion on my part. I could not fathom why they were telling me this or what led them to this conclusion. Finally Bryan stopped walking and turned to me. He took me into his arms and gently told me that they had received a call on the cell phone while I had been doing my graduation walk. My 3 year old cousin Amy had been hit by a car. My gasp of disbelief and horror led to my question of, "But is she going to be okay??" Bryan squeezed me even tighter as he said, "No. She died." I put my face into his shoulder and we stood there for I don't know how long while happy, reveling graduates streamed past us and sad, grieving tears streamed down my face.
Our celebration that day was different than planned or expected. Bryan, Rebekah, his parents and I did go to lunch. Bryan went back to work. And while his parents, concerned about my emotional state, pleaded for me to accompany them back to their home, I insisted I needed to go home and then, most likely, to my parents home to find out more details of what had happened and what I could do. Eventually, my parents, sisters and I made our way to my cousin's home where we all shared in grief and support together.
And so June 13th is a bittersweet day for me every year. A day to remember an amazingly good and happy thing. But also to reminisce about sweet little Amy.
Officially, I finished my last class in March of 1997. I still remember the overwhelming and conflicting feelings as I drove home that day after turning in my final 20 page research paper on women in the French Revolution. I didn't know whether to laugh in triumph or cry from sheer relief. One thing I did know, I was determined to "walk" in June. Graduation announcements, cap and gown, pomp and circumstance...I was going to do the whole nine yards. I was that proud of myself, that determined to have picture proof of my accomplishment.
June 13th dawned beautifully. My parents, my in-laws, my grandparents, Bryan and Rebekah were all there. (I suppose you could say even Julianne was there...I had just found out I was pregnant a couple of weeks before.) I don't remember much about the ceremony. Just little details here and there. But what I do remember with near perfect clarity is what happened afterwards as we were walking back to the car. Bryan and his parents were pushing me to name a restaurant for a celebration lunch. I was confused...they knew that I was planning to have a late lunch with my parents, grandparents and sister Mary who was graduating from high school that same day. I tried to remind them of this but they kept pushing. I couldn't figure out why. Finally, with a sigh, my father in law told me that my grandparents wouldn't be taking me to lunch after all. This led to even more confusion on my part. I could not fathom why they were telling me this or what led them to this conclusion. Finally Bryan stopped walking and turned to me. He took me into his arms and gently told me that they had received a call on the cell phone while I had been doing my graduation walk. My 3 year old cousin Amy had been hit by a car. My gasp of disbelief and horror led to my question of, "But is she going to be okay??" Bryan squeezed me even tighter as he said, "No. She died." I put my face into his shoulder and we stood there for I don't know how long while happy, reveling graduates streamed past us and sad, grieving tears streamed down my face.Our celebration that day was different than planned or expected. Bryan, Rebekah, his parents and I did go to lunch. Bryan went back to work. And while his parents, concerned about my emotional state, pleaded for me to accompany them back to their home, I insisted I needed to go home and then, most likely, to my parents home to find out more details of what had happened and what I could do. Eventually, my parents, sisters and I made our way to my cousin's home where we all shared in grief and support together.
And so June 13th is a bittersweet day for me every year. A day to remember an amazingly good and happy thing. But also to reminisce about sweet little Amy.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Favorite Photo Friday: Cherry Hill
This week started our 9th summer season with Cherry Hill passes. And despite their continually increasing ages, the kids were still just as anxious as ever to get over there this past Tuesday. Lilian discovered, to her delight, that she feels very comfortable floating around the lazy river in a little tube...and then made me walk around and around and around that lazy river while she kicked and splashed and spun circles...for 2 and 1/2 hours!And so as we look forward to another year of wet summer fun, I thought I'd collage some pictures from past years for my Favorite Photo Friday post today.
Little Red Riding Hood 2010
(Mylissa and Sarah: "The Doublemint Twins"...as we got nicknamed by one fellow biker.)Little Red Riding Hood is a all women's bike ride held in Cache Valley. It's been around for over 20 years and, besides providing a well organized, FUN bike ride for 3000 women...also raises money for women's cancer research. With routes of 18, 35, 58, 80 and 100 miles, this ride appeals to women of all different types, sizes, ages, and fitness levels. I met one woman who was riding the 35 mile route with only one lung! She had survived a bout of cancer 8 months earlier and was here to celebrate. She was riding slowly, but she was riding!
My friend and biking buddy, Mylissa, and I had come up to Cache Valley the night before. The ride started early on Saturday so we decided instead of waking insanely early that morning, to make a fun girlie weekend out of it all. A sort of pre-ride party was going on Friday night...a Women's Expo, I think they called it. We headed over and, after signing in and getting our official race packets with our racing number, free t-shirt and other such swag, we wandered through the various vendor tents. It was cold and rainy so after scoring a couple of good deals on biking jerseys and jackets, we headed out to dinner in a warm restaurant. The Iron Gate Cafe, I believe it was called. And there we met up with Mylissa's sister Rachel with 3 of her friends. We ate some fabulous food, laughed a lot and shared a gargantuan piece of the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted before deciding to call it a night and head to bed. Mylissa, Rachel and one of Rachel's friend's all stayed at the home of Aunt Kay who was visiting family in Texas and offered us the use of her beds for the night. I've never met her but bless Aunt Kay! It was so nice to wake the next morning knowing we didn't have an hour and a half drive in front of us!Now as you probably know because I've mentioned it before, Mylissa and I had signed up for the 100 mile route. We had considered our 60 miles in Goldilocks, the ride we'd done last month, to be a kind of training ride for Little Red. But a week and a half earlier Mylissa hurt her back. How, she has no idea but at one point she didn't think she'd be able to ride Little Red at all. And that made us both sad. As she slowly started recovering she'd call me and up the miles that she thought she could handle. Over and over she told me to go ahead and shoot for the 100 miles. We had other friends from our neighborhood that we were planning to meet up with who also planned to ride 100 and Mylissa assured me that she would not feel bad if I continued on with them. Honestly though, I didn't want to. Mylissa and I had trained together and planned this ride for months. I wanted to ride Little Red with her, no matter what mileage we ended up with. At that point I was just excited to have a beautiful ride in a unique atmosphere and have fun with my sweet friend.
And have fun we did! There was no evidence of the rain from the night before. The sun was shining and it was warm enough to wear the new matching tank top jerseys we had bought at the expo. By the morning of Little Red, Mylissa had decided that her back could handle the 35 mile route. But at the mile 18 turn off where the 35 mile route started circling back, she decided that she was feeling fine and nowhere near ready to be done. We decided to shoot for the 58 miles and hope that her back continued to feel as happy as her biking spirit. Luckily for us, it did! Funny enough, remember that Goldilocks ride that we considered to be a training ride...with all of it's ginormous hills? It was much tougher of a course, overall. The hills in Little Red were, what the organizers called "rolling hills." I remember last year riding those "rolling hills" in Little Red and thinking to myself, "Rolling hills, my &*#$ !!!" To an inexperienced biker...yes, hard. But this year...yep, they were right. Happy, rolling hills. Which gently and slowly put us up to the top of the best downhill I have ever, ever biked down! As I was racing down that hill, with a HUGE grin on my face, exhilarated by my speed...morbidly, I did have the thought that if I hit something and flipped, I would probably die. As quickly as that thought entered, I dismissed it once again...but also made sure to be equally focused as I was exhilarated.
We did the 58 miles easily. We were nowhere near as achy and tired as we had been at Goldilocks. Luckily, because that meant we were able to take advantage of the finish line party. Each year the Little Red organizers come up with a theme. Last year was a Hawaiian theme. This year it was a superhero theme. So when we rolled over that finish line we were handed a Wonder Woman crown to wear and a strawberry lemonade with a fun firecracker looking decoration coming out the top. A huge spread of party food greeted us a little bit further into the park. We especially enjoyed the chocolate fountain. 
But after hanging out and enjoying the atmosphere for a little while, we decided that what we REALLY wanted was more of that fabulous chocolate cake from the night before.
We made our way back to the car, strapped our bikes back into the bike rack on top of the car, (Thank you Rob for wisely adding a stepping stool to the list of things we would need so that we short ones could actually reach the top of the car!) and made a bee-line for The Iron Gate Cafe. The employees seemed to get a kick out of our biking attire, our sunburned arms and shoulders, and the story of why we felt like we really, really deserved to eat such a big piece of chocolate cake. And oh! Can I just say...as good as that cake was on Friday night, it had nothing...I repeat, NOTHING...on how truly amazing that cake was Saturday afternoon after 58 miles of biking!! My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
So, with happy hearts and bellies we headed for home...passing numerous cars, trucks and SUV's that had similarly racked bikes. We found ourselves spending the great majority of the way home discussing all the various bikes we had seen. Everything from colors to componentry and frame. And after awhile it occurred to me that the way Mylissa and I were discussing bikes was the way Bryan discusses guns with his brothers! It made me smile.
(Seriously, isn't Sardine Canyon gorgeous??)
(Seriously, isn't Sardine Canyon gorgeous??)It was an amazing weekend. I'm so glad that I made the decision to buy a bike. Thank you, my sweet, wonderful Bryan...for supporting me in this and being willing to hold down the fort while I do these big rides even though you have absolutely no desire to ride yourself and sometimes think I'm a bit crazy. :) I love you!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
My early morning shade of red
No, I'm not suburned in this picture. I've just returned from a 3.6 mile run. At 8:00 in the morning, no less.The Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay is in just a week and a half. Which means I've been running a lot lately, to make sure I'm ready. I try to go early in the morning before the heat of the day sets in. But this red-faced nonsense still happens.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Tuckered out...
While my sister, Katie, and I spent the day making these...
...Lilian played good and hard with her cousins. Which then resulted in this...
...when we got home. Ahhh. The joys of being 3 years old.
...Lilian played good and hard with her cousins. Which then resulted in this...
...when we got home. Ahhh. The joys of being 3 years old.
The faces of a birthday girl...
These are the faces of a birthday girl. Her name is Lilian and she is turning 3 today. A big girl, not a baby...as she frequently reminds us. We celebrated by driving to the Gateway (we were all set to take the train...until a big sign at the station informed us the trains were not running due to Memorial Day....) to have lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen and play in the fountain.
This is the birthday girl and her older siblings...who, even though they are older, had no problem braving the horrors of a ruined hairdo to run giggling through the water with her. Especially the brother. Can you say drenched??
These are the parents of the birthday girl...happily watching the scene from outside the range of the spraying water.
Here is that same birthday girl, checking out her birthday cake. Most likely making sure that it has been baked according to her specifications....white cake, pink frosting, her name spelled out, and "candles with fire."
This is the birthday girl and her older siblings...who, even though they are older, had no problem braving the horrors of a ruined hairdo to run giggling through the water with her. Especially the brother. Can you say drenched??
These are the parents of the birthday girl...happily watching the scene from outside the range of the spraying water.
Here is that same birthday girl, checking out her birthday cake. Most likely making sure that it has been baked according to her specifications....white cake, pink frosting, her name spelled out, and "candles with fire."
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Random sighting...
I walked into Hale Theatre a few days ago and came across this display advertising their impressive costume closet and rental possibilities. Immediately a wave of memories came over me. This dress? It's my "Mabel" dress! Last summer I came down to search through Hale's costume closet looking for the perfect Mabel dress. My director and the costume designer came with me. Also Dayne, my "Frederic", who too wanted input on what I would be wearing. (Heaven forbid I wear something hideous! At one rehearsal the costume designer had me try on a dress that she and the director thought was perfect. I wasn't overly thrilled about it myself but what nixed it was Dayne's reaction when I walked out. "No!" he said. "I can't fall in love with that dress!" Which led to our trip to Hale. But I digress.)Needless to say, I tried on numerous dresses and finally came across this one which ended up being THE DRESS. The rest of the cast oohed and aahed the first time I came on stage in it. The sleeves were awesome and the dress twirled beautifully...important because twirling was something I did a lot of! Countless rehearsals, performances and memories later the dress went back to Hale. Never did I think I'd see it again. So what random fun to run into it again while at Hale to see "The Three Musketeers." I wonder if I'll ever see it on stage. Hale is doing "The Pirates of Penzance" this summer. I wonder if they'll deem it the perfect Mabel dress like we did.
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