Big Cottonwood Half Marathon

I did it...another half marathon! After running the Salt Lake Half back in April, I decided that I wanted to find another race to help keep me motivated with running. After some research, I found the Big Cottonwood Half. This was the first year of the race, and it really appealed to me because it was down the canyon in the fall. What a better backdrop to run than the beautiful canyon? I talked my friend, Camille, into running with me, and I am so glad we did it!

The race was so much fun. I loved the route...seriously so beautiful. It was really different to start running in the dark and then have the sunrise during the run, but I really did like it. I loved the crisp air, the smell of pine, and of course the changing leaves. Plus, I was able to improve my personal best time by about 12 minutes. This really was the best run I have had in a long time, and I am already looking forward to signing up next year.

This race was really runner-friendly. All of the race pictures were FREE, so it was nice to have some pictures from the route. 

Crossing the finish line! Until next year...and maybe even a FULL marathon???

Stay Beautiful

Lately I have been staying busy with more than just the kiddos...my sister, mom, and I have launched a little business! The idea came in October when Mike commented that since we enjoy crafting/sewing so much, we might as well try and get a little income from it. We tried posting a few things on Etsy and even had booth space at a Christmas Boutique, but have decided on selling our items at the Cannery Center.

So, what do we sell? We sell handcrafted headbands and hair clips for all ages, plus baby accessories, such as bibs and burp cloths. I started making some of my own accessories because I was tired of looking for cute items for myself and kids without spending a fortune...pretty much everything we sell is $10 or less!

Right now we have a Facebook page and a blog. We are still working on posting pictures of everything online, but of course you can see everything in person at the Cannery. I would love your support, even if it is just a "like" on our Facebook page or for you to become a follower on our blog. This has definitely been such a learning experience and we have a lot of fun ideas planned for the future, so please join me for this exciting ride!



Blog Challenge, Day 4

Today's topic is your favorite book. I absolutely LOVE to read, and although there are a lot of authors that I really enjoy, it was easy for me to choose my favorite book. I love reading "Gone with the Wind"! I realize that it may not be the type of book that everyone enjoys, but it is just such a great classic. I love the historical aspect, the romance, suspense... I love cheering for Scarlett, who has so many flaws, but yet you still want her to succeed. I also loved reading the other books that were written by other authors, but are tangents to this one (i.e. Scarlett and Rhett Butler's People). If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend giving it a try!

Night of the Running Dead 5K

Yesterday, I ran in a 5K race called 'Night of the Running Dead'. You could either register as a zombie (infected) or a survivor. If you registered as a zombie, you were encouraged to dress up, and if you were a survivor, you a got a one minute head start. So basically, it appeared that the 'survivors' were running for their lives and trying to escape the 'zombies'.


My brother, David, also decided to run the race. This was his first 5k and he did awesome! I think that my dad said that he came in 11th overall. He definitely inherited the running gene from our dad!

My friend Alisha also ran the race. We had to pose for a picture together before the race got started.

Although I didn't do quite as well as I was hoping to, I am still glad that I participated. It was fun to run with my brother and my friend, plus all of the proceeds were donated to the Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Skyline Drive

Last night, Mike and I took the 4-wheelers up to ride the Skyline Drive Trail and watch the sunset. Skyline Drive is located right by the Bountiful 'B', so it is nice to have a trail that is so close to home.

The weather was beautiful! By the time we got to the top of the mountain, the air felt crisp. It was so beautiful - the birds were chirping, the flowers were blooming...

There is one part of the trail where you can look to the west and see the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch Front:

If you look towards the east, all you see is mountains. You can also see a little bit of Echo Reservoir.

This is our view of when we were watching the sunset. It was so beautiful and peaceful!

It was so nice to go up and enjoy the mountains. I told Mike that it is sad that we live so close to them, but don't take advantage of them being so close. Hopefully we can keep planning some more trips and enjoy them this summer.

Ready to Run

On Saturday I ran the Salt Lake City 5K. I decided to sign up for this race a few months ago because I figured that it would give me some good motivation to get out and exercise/run. I was planning on running the race alone, but then I got an e-mail from my dad on Thursday asking me when/where we were going to meet up to run together. My dad is an excellent runner, and apparently he had told me that he would run with me, but I had spaced it. It totally made my day!

Before we began the race, I reminded my dad that I am not as good of a runner as he is and that it wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if he did not want to keep pace with me. He was so nice and said that "he wasn't there to win anything" and he stayed with me the entire time.

Mike took this picture of my dad and me just after we had crossed the finish line. Mike was so sweet to get up so early on his Saturday morning and be my cheerleader! My original goal was to complete the race in 35 minutes (I know, not super fast), and I am pleased to say that I ran it in 35 minutes, 31 seconds. I think that is close enough...goal met! I also finished 19th (out of 80) in my division, and right about in the middle of all the participants.

While we were cooling down after the race, we ran into Jen and Grant Bay. I had no idea that they were running, so it was fun to see them unexpectedly.

I am really glad that I stuck with it and ran this race. It was good to have something to focus and something healthy to keep me motivated. Maybe I will start training for a 10K next...

Happy Anniversary...Six Months Later!

Last August, I started making a quilt for Mike as an anniversary gift since it was our two year anniversary. I chose to make him a quilt since the traditional gift for a two year anniversary is cotton. I had every intention of having the quilt finished before our anniverary arrived, but that didn't happen. Then, I thought that I would definately be able to finish it within a few weeks after our anniversary passed. That didn't happen either. I finally decided that I needed to make myself spend a couple of nights working on this quilt so that I could get it finished. I had this past week off of school, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. I am pleased to annouce that the quilt is finally finished!

I chose a Wall-E theme since Mike really likes that movie and we saw it a few weeks before I started the quilt. This was the first time that I had "quilted" on a machine rather than using yarn to tie it. I made some mistakes, but I learned a lot in the process. Hopefully it won't take me six months to finish my next sewing project, although I guess this allowed Mike to celebrate our two year anniversary twice!