My motto

I have had a ton of trials in my life. I could get all down about the things I've gone through, but I choose a happy outlook and a bright disposition (or it chooses me) for the most part. It takes a lot to get me in a bad mood usually and I love life. I found a cartoon short from the lovely people at Pixar Studios who have made a film with my motto.

Link William

William came running out of his bedroom today all dressed up as Link from Zelda. He made the costume out of clothes and things he had in his room already. Pretty creative!








Now he is saying that he wants to be Link for Halloween. I think I should let him. What do you think?

Cute is What We Aim For

There is this great band called Cute is What We Aim For that we discovered about 2 1/2 years ago. Lizzie saw them at her first concert and then a year later Katie saw them at her first concert. Last week all 3 of us went and saw them. After the concert we were able to get to meet the band. The girls had a great time!

This is the lead singer, Shaant, with my darling daughters. I wish it wasn't so dark or that Mark wasn't in PA so that he could show me how to fix it.


This was taken before the sweating started.

And for your viewing pleasure, the first Cute is What We Aim For song that our little family ever heard

Lizzie is 16!

Lizzie turned 16 yesterday. For her party on Saturday, she wanted what every other 16 year old girl on the planet wants- A My Little Pony Cake. The cake could have been better but I had been awake about 36 hours when I made it. I still think it turned out pretty cute.



Liz had some of her best friends over on Saturday, but the batteries in my camera died so I didn't get many photos of them.


Yesterday we took her to Tucanos for her birthday lunch. The waiter made her dance while they sang to her or they threatened to give her ice cream to Katie.


This is the man that Katie made out of a roll, two beans, a cherry, and some brisket for the hair. The waiters said that they had never seen anything like that before and everyone was laughing. It was pretty creative.


For some reason I can't get this photo to turn the right way. If Christian were awake right now I would have him help me. Oh well! Here are my lovely children mugging it up at Tucanos.

I support Barack

I am announcing my support of Barack Obama for president. I think that he can help our country head back in the right direction. Our economy is in the toilet, we have troops in a country where they don't belong. I am paying $4.15 a gallon for gasoline and I think that Barack is just the change that we need right now. Who's with me?

Running

When I got divorced I started running. I completed only one 5K race, the Salt Lake City 5K that is at the same time as the SLC marathon. It was so much fun! After that I started nursing school and let that be my excuse to not run so much. In January I started training for the SLC half marathon in April but a knee injury kept me from that. I have been going to a sports medicine chiropractor and doing some work on my knees, feet, hips and back to get me to the point where I'll be able to run again. Well that time has come. I am starting to run and would like to start running 5K races again. I have decided to not run anything longer for now and focus on getting faster. My goal is to run 6 5K races by next April. I figure if I make my goal public I will be more bound to do it.


Before my first 5 K.


After.


Finishing the race was such a great feeling and I can't wait to start doing it again. I bet that if I do all the running that I plan I may be able to run the half marathon next April in SLC.

San Diego Zoo

We went to the San Diego Zoo the second day that we were there. It was awesome! We saw so many cool animals. We also realized that we are completely gypped in the zoo department back here in Utah. The displays were incredible. We got to ride the sky tram and the double decker bus around too. We all had a blast.


The kids petting a goat in the children's zoo.


Yes, I made them pose for this picture. They all complained loudly but I know that they secretly loved it.


My monkey boys.


This polar bear was just lounging in the sun the whole time.


William and I in front of an Asian elephant.


The coolest snake picture I took. They had so many types of snakes and lizards. We were all fascinated.


William was not too keen on petting the lizard.


A beautiful macaw. There were lots of exotic birds and we got to see a group of macaws free fly through the zoo.

Ridin' the lizard.

The lighter colored goat had an attitude problem the whole time we were there. He didn't like all of the little kids around trying to touch him. The darker goat got too close and so the lighter one started head butting him. They had it out for a few minutes.

La Jolla Shores

We went to La Jolla shores the first and second day that we were in Southern California. We drove straight there before we went to the hotel. I needed ocean!

Okay, I know that I should post pictures of myself in a swimsuit, but I'm gonna anyway.



William got so cold the first day that we were there. I had to wrap him in two towels and cuddle up with him so that his lips would turn back to pink. They were blue for quite some time.




Katie, Christian, and Liz leaving the beach the first day.

My hairy beach beast.



Christian, Liz, and Katie out wave jumping. William and I had come back in at this point because he was freezing!


This was a group of people who were training for a triathlon. The swam to the point that you can see in the distance. It was a mile in each direction.