BYE-BYE HOLIDAY FOOD...HELLO PAVEMENT!

ITS OFFICIAL!!!

BECKY-SDAY-JULES

JANUARY 22, 2011

13.1 MILES

THRILLER

Halloween is my MOST favorite time of the year! I just love the smells, colors, decorations and the fun activities. Weston and I go see "Thriller" at Kingsbury every year and it truly is the best. We have yet to miss it, and it looks like this tradition will continue on. I just love watching the scary and absolutely hilarious and wonderfully choreographed dances.

Normally we go to "Thriller" on Halloween and dress up, but this year Westons' parents were kind enough to let us use their 6 tickets Monday night. Our dear friends Mark and Sian met up with us for dinner at Rumbi's (love their sweet potato fries) and then we all headed to the performance. Sadly, Ryan and Erin were running late so I didn't get to snap a pic of them. We caught up with them at Kingsbury and all enjoyed the wonderful THRILL of Halloween together!

Thanks Kirk and Linda!!

GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN...

My sweet mom took all (but one) of us girls in my family to Arizona over the weekend for a little R and R Girls Trip! We had a great time getting pampered at the Golden Door spa at the Boulders, shopping till we dropped at Kierland/Fashion Center/Biltmore/The Container Store/Last Chance/and Trader Joes, eating amazing food at the Herb Box, PF Changs and Mastro's, catching sunny UV rays by the pool and hot tub and staying up late every night talking girl talk and watching girlie movies. It was a fabulous weekend and it truly was definitely what we all needed! It felt great for all of us to get away from the stresses of life for a few days! Thanks mom...you simply are the most kind, generous and loving person!!!

Not only did we do some damage to our bank accounts from all the shopping, but we also did damage at the shoe department in Nordstrom!

Susan and I performing our 'Go team' pyramid in the hot tub!

Angie, Marie and Amy soaking up vitamin D poolside

There is nothing better than the foods that come from here! I am so excited to make all the meals from the items that I bought!

We couldn't be any cuter in the "Mother/Daughters Cardigan Club"!

I am convinced that i could live on this for the rest of my life...

Me, mom and Susan snapping a photo at the Rocks after a fun day wearing some of our new clothes...

The family girls!

(susan, carolyn, amy, jules, marie and angie minus kimberly)

Thank you all so much for making Arizona such a great trip!

WELCOME VISIT!

Our dear friends Catherine and Richard came into town from the U.E. to visit and to show off their sweet little babe girl Elizabeth! We rarely get to see them since they live SO far away, but we love when they come!

A few of us (Adri/Matt, W/J, Rich/Cat, Christine/Ben) met up last night together for yummy dinner, the bomb dig dessert sundae bar, funny good times chit-chatting, the awesome texas baseball win and fun filled laughter. Adrianne and Matt are the best for letting us use their house! It was great to see everyone and talk about life in America and in the U.E.. Until next time Richard...but thank you for letting your wifey stay longer to keep playing with us! We love you both, especially "short stack".

WASATCH CREST

Weston and his friends mountain biked the Wasatch Crest on Saturday morning. It was an early start and a long drive to get up to the top of Brighton, but well worth the chilly drive to see the beautiful leaves changing! Forgotten shoes, flat tires, biker traffic, flying off trail and altitude were not enough to stop these manly men from conquering the ride and "puke hill".

WHY WOMEN ACCUMULATE WEIGHT...

With time, women gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren’t heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.

Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think,

“Good grief, look how smart I am!”

YARD WORK ANYONE?

I don't know about all of you, but I definitely need to do some yard evaluation and work!

I came across this quote the other day and said to myself "WHOA". I read it over and over and every time I felt like my heart was pounding out of my chest. My marriage, my testimony and spirituality, my health and fitness goals and my everyday living goals all came flooding into my head.

The grass isn't greener on the other side;

the grass is greener where you water it.

There are many things that I can improve in my life and they will only get better and easier if I spend the time and put forth the effort. Once I commit to improvement and spend the adequate time changing, I gain the "everything is great" attitude. I get stuck in that rut and become comfortable which then leads to slacking off and working less. But let's face it...life is work. My grass will only get greener if I stay consistent, have patience and remain positive!

HILLS...THE UPHILL BATTLE

I think that most people are aware that here in Utah, we are not hurting for hills to run up or down. This can be a benefit to you, or your worst nightmare...which in my case is HELL! Not only do I dislike hills for obvious reason of having to lug up all my extra lbs against forces of nature and gravity, but it is SO uncomfortable for me. With my A.S., I have nerve spasms in both legs through my sciatic which pulls my hamstrings. It is the most uncomfortable pain ever. I only notice the sharp sensations after running or biking hills where my hamstrings are actively engaged. For this reason, I have been training on flat ground with slight steady upgrades (because again, this is Utah and nothing is flat here). But on figuring out ways to improve my running and help me get ready for a 1/2 marathon in 3 months, the only words I keep coming across are HILLS! Apparently hills play a vital role in training, especially if you don’t spend much time in the gym pumping iron! Well, I don't have a gym pass and I like to think that I am busier than that to sit in a sweaty, stinky, germ-infested weight room with burly testosterone men for 1 hour! ( i am not referring to a gym with fun classes of spinning, pilates, yoga or zumba! I love gyms for that reasons) Unfortunately, this predicament leaves me no choice...I'll take it to the hills!

In my attempt to do so, I am going to go ever so slowly and ease into short hill sprints and long gradual hill runs. Cross your fingers that I am able to do this and that it doesn't kill me! If anyone has "hill training logs" or ideas to help, please let me know!!!

(ps-i'll start tomorrow)

I made this Saturday night for a friends get together and it was such a great hit! Everyone loved it and asked for more! It was real simple to make and it tasted great. I hope you all give it a try...

SWEET POTATO SALAD

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced in 1/2 inch cubes

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)

Kosher salt & freshly grated black pepper

2 tablespoons finely diced sweet onion

2 tablespoons chopped, toasted pecans

2 tablespoons dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Dressing:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons sugar free or regular honey

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place diced sweet potatoes in a shallow baking dish. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil, sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper. Stir to coat. Roast for 25-30 minutes or just until fork tender. (Over cooking will cause them to be mushy when you stir them into the remaining ingredients.) Allow to cool slightly.

To make the dressing, in a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, honey, salt, black pepper, and chipotle pepper. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl. Stir in onions, pecans, cranberries, and parsley. Drizzle with dressing and gently stir until coated. Serve either warm, room temp or cold. Makes 5 side-dish servings.

LOVE YOUR BODY (plus extra miles)

Becky, Sday and I ran, chatted, laughed, counseled and ran some more for the Wasatch Woman's 10k on Saturday. They, meaning whoever was supposed to be in charge of the runners on the course, detoured the 10kers in the wrong direction, onto a major road with heavy car traffic and a slim shoulder, thus adding 1.2 miles to our race. All in all, we ran 7.2 miles instead of 6 miles. It was the most beautiful race that I have ran in a long time, running through the Halloween pumpkin patch and festival and of course the gardens at Thanksgiving point. The beautiful leaves changing, the flowers, the perfect weather and the company made for a race to remember.

After an Italian Chef named...

did this scrumptious wafer-chocolate bar emerge!

Happy 75th Birthday Kit Kat!

I enjoy your existence!

SO SAD...

It truly is so sad, but my camera died!

I can't find the battery charger anywhere so I can't post pictures yet, but stick with me for a few days and i'll get y'all caught up on the amazing saturDAY we had yesterday. It was full of fun, friends, food and fitness!

SURPRISE!

i surprised my sweets a few days ago with a cyclocross bike

that he has been eyeing for weeks!

enjoy hunny...

YOU READY?

I am ready!

Sday is ready!

B is ready!

I hope you are ready!

GOOD, BETTER, BEST

First off, let me just say that I LOVE my husband! Ok, with that being said, I will continue on...

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the words from Dallin H. Oaks in the 2007 Liahona article entitled "Good, Better, Best". I have also had the words "Good = Mediocre" in my head. I am not sure why this is but it must mean that I need to work on and fix a few things in my life.

I was tossing and turning in bed last night thinking about how I am not any "better", or at least the "best" at the things that I have been doing or training for. I know that I am not going to win any medals with my athletic races, school projects, interior design work, spiritual growth or office work, but I can at least push myself harder to be a "better" or "best" person in those fields.

I had set my alarm to go off at 6:03 am for my early morning run. As I rolled out of bed, I gave my sleeping sweets a smile and whispered "thank you" to him. Running down the dark streets of our neighborhood with Tahoe, I kept thinking that my pace is just "Mediocre". Tahoe was pulling on the leash to go faster and instead of resisting and telling him to heal, I let the leash drag on the ground speeding up my pace to catch him. He of course ran faster, and faster, thinking this was a fun game! By the time I caught him, exhausted and out of breath, I picked up the leash and walked. I made it about 10 steps before the word "Good" popped in my head. I dropped the leash and started picking up my pace again. I was not about to let my hard efforts of waking up at the butt-crack of dawn get thrown away all for a "good" run. I returned home 1 hour later sweaty, tired, thirsty, and yet satisfied that I pushed myself to be a "better" or "best" runner.

Weston doesn't know it, but he is the one that pushes me to be a "better" or "best" version of myself. He pushes me to run faster and become healthier, to set higher goals and aspirations, and to get "A's" on my projects in school. Sometimes I fail, and sometimes I give up, putting in only a "good" effort. But knowing that I have Weston right by my side, whipsering in my ear to be "better than mediocre" gives me that extra push to be the "best". I can't always be the leader, although I try, and I am so thankful that I have my best friend to pull, push, carry, inspire, teach, etc. me when I need that extra help. Whether or not he realizes it, he is my motivation!

So "Thank You" sweets...