Lovey Dovey

February is a busy month for us. We've got Ry's birthday on the 13th, Valentine's Day on the 14th, and our wedding anniversary on the 16th.

With all these lovey dovey events within a week of each other, we usually have one big celebration to honor Birthdavalenersary. This year, however, we opted out of doing anything since, ya know, the whole Euro trip has kinda sucked our funds dry. We figure we'll party enough on that vacay to honor the next 3 Birthdavalenersaries to come.

So in lieu of any fancy dinners, boxes of chocolates, and romantic couples massages, I've simply compiled a rather hackneyed list of some of the reasons why I love, appreciate, am attracted to, and generally like my husband.

In no particular order:

-He knew I was high maintenance and still willingly married me

-He rocks a mohawk

-He buys me anything I want at Victoria's Secret (Though I'm pretty sure this is a selfish gesture on his part)

-He buys me makeup

-He buys me anything I want

-He is an amazing father

-He took me to the temple

-He puts up with my loud and obnoxious family

-He hates cats

-He appreciates fashion and looks amazing in a pinstripe suit

-He lets me wear his hoodies

-He thinks I'm beautiful

-He tells me he loves me every day

-He has supported me through 2 marathons and many more to come

-He ran Redrock with me and looks forward to doing another relay

-He sacrifices snowboarding on Saturdays so that I can attend my team runs

-He's still an awesome snowboarder

-He played rugby in college

-He's educated and motivated

-He has a strong work ethic and continuously strives to provide for his family

-He's a worthy priesthood holder

-He's mine

As unromantic as the two of us are, I think this list has just enough sap in it to appease even the corniest of cheese balls.

So to my husband, thanks for all you do. I love you, and stuff.

When Hale Freezes Over

This past Saturday I skipped out on my team run to attend my very first race. Put on by the Hale Center Theater in Orem, the 5k began at the theater and dipped down to Geneva Road, looping back up to the Hale. And because it was just a 5k, I had so much fun running it.

Training with my team, we've made it up to about 8 miles now. So, the 5k was pretty easy for me to run. Though, I wasn't anticipating the huge, long hill that brought us from Geneva back up to the theater. I was hoping for a PR but I didn't take that hill into account. It slowed me down quite a bit. Still, I ended up finishing right smack dab in the middle for my age group and about the same overall. I placed 14th out of 28 for my age division and then 47th out of 86 overall.

I really wasn't looking to be competitive. I just wanted to have fun. And since it was super chill and super stress free, I had a great time. And it was fun to have my family there at the finish line, holding signs and cheering me on. It warmed my heart :)

To celebrate my first run, we went up to Sundance with some friends to go boarding. HOLY CRAP! Running the race was SOOOOOO much easier than snowboarding! While riding, I'd have to sit every few minutes or so because my quads were burning! And poor Ryan and the rest of my friends, they had to keep stopping and waiting up for me because I was so slow! Never mind the fact that I almost pummeled a couple of them trying to get off the ski lift!

For the record, I used to be pretty dang good at boarding. My Freshman year at BYU, I actually took snowboarding classes as part of my wellness requirements. My teachers were great and I actually learned how to 180. In fact, I loved snowboarding so much and got so good at it, that I ended up doing nothing but riding my entire Sophomore year...aaaaaaaaaand that's when I failed my classes and lost my scholarships for the semester. (Don't worry. That very next semester, I worked crazy hard and got my scholarships back. Phew!)

But, a few years later, I tore my ACL and had surgery that kept me off my knee for one whole season. The following season, I was pregnato. Finally, last year, I got myself back on the mountain, but only about twice. So this season, I thought it was finally time to jump back into it. Well, my bank account and quads disagree.

Sorry to my husband and friends for complaining. I don't know what happened to me. I used to be good! I promise! Now after having a baby and almost killing myself in rugby and while longboarding, I'm a big fat baby. Though, I'm sure my family would disagree and say that I've ALWAYS been a big fat baby. They're right. I'm drama.

Regardless, I did have fun on the mountain. Though I complained a lot and my legs felt like they were on fire, I was happy to get back on a board. I bet if I went a couple more times I'd get back into the swing of things. Maybe I just won't try snowboading again after I've just run a race. I probably need to let my body recover in between physically demanding activities.

Keychainge

In the spirit of Obama, it's time for a change.

I need a new keychain. The one I currently have is actually a tube of pepper spray. While I feel ultra protected from being perp'ed, I think it's too bulky. Most of all, I'm worried that I'm gonna accidentally spray it one of these days. Even worse, Baby plays with my keys a lot and I can just imagine what would happen if she figured out how to give it a little spritz...

But the problem is, I don't know what type of keychain to choose. With the pepper spray, I was going for a sense of security. Prior to this, I went for fashion. I sported my over-priced Coach leather valet key fob. Do I fall back into diva mode again and buy the $65 Juicy Couture Nardels Heart keychain? Before you yell at me, saying I'm crazy for wanting to spend $65 on a keychain...this fob is not only fashion friendly, it's technologically acute. In fact, this item is only disguising itself as a keychain. In reality, it's a flash drive! The heart opens to reveal a fully functional USB port key, making the outrageous price completely justifiable.

The second choice is to appeal to my sentiments. For only $39.88, I can be the proud owner of a Gear Head 1.4" digital photo keychain from Poomart. And of course, I would fill it with a billion obnoxiously tender pictures of Baby cuddling with Daddy on the couch, fast asleep. The best part about this keychain, it comes in faux croc! It'll match perfectly with my faux croc heels!!!

I could go for the super trendy. (Side note: sushi will never be just a trend to me. It is the nectar of the gods, as far as I'm concerned. All these other stupid people who think they're cool and cultured cuz they go to the sushi bar...try eating some of the raw stuff once in a while...posers.)

Perhaps I'll pay homage to my Hawaiian heritage.

Maybe I'll flaunt my favorite sports.


Or do I just stay classic?



What's your vote??

Redneck Weekend

Due to ACL reconstruction surgery followed by pregnancy, I haven't been able to go snowboarding for the past two season. As this is my first season ailment free, I've been DYING to get back on my board. And since Ry and I are broke, we've been keeping our eyes out for discount lift passes. It turns out that Brighton offers 2-for-1 night boarding passes every Friday with x96 freeloader cards. With the discount, it works out to be $16 a ticket. I could definitely afford that. But, the problem was, I had to get a freeloader card and didn't wanna truck it all the way up to SLC to do so.

As luck would have it, X96 just so happened to be doing a remote from the Cricket store in Provo last Thursday. My bro and I headed over to pick up our cards. While there, we scored 2 pairs of tickets to the monster truck rally at the E Center.

Me, Roy, and Smokestack headed up to West Valley to partake in the redneck madness...and redneck it was. I'm pretty sure we were the only people there without a denim jacket or mullets. But man, it was FUN!!! And it totally reminded me of when my dad used to take us to see the trucks at Arco Arena. Very nostalgic!
Does this truck look like a dinosaur to you? That's cuz it was!







Along with the monster truck crushing action, there was also some motocross. At first, the six riders came out and were just driving round and round the little arena. It was super lame! Little did I know, they were only warming up for their freestyle tricks. They flew off a HUGE ramp and did crazy tricks, like a million feet up in the air. While it was really cool, I had total anxiety. I was just waiting for one of those riders to miss the landing ramp, or not pull their bike around fast enough and fall on their heads. I was so scared that I was gonna witness someone's death. I can't see that! That'd scar me for life!! Luckily, these guys were pros and everyone rode away scott-free...well, except for the one rider who was actually riding the entire time on a broken ankle that he sustained from an earlier show. That's pretty hardcore! By the way, the picture in the middle is of a guy doing a backflip. He was insane!
But my favorite part of the whole evening was the little pickup truck rally they did. These were guys who worked on old Ford Rangers and Chevy S10's in their backyards all winter just to beat them up. And believe me, there was definitely enough carnage to leave even the most sadistic creatures smiling.

One guy's drive line completely fell out the bottom of his truck after breaking a U-joint. He had to be rescued.Another guy went off one of the jumps and landed right on a cement barrier, only yards away from spectators. Needless to say, he ended his run by being towed.
But not all the trucks were crappy. There was actually a really nice trophy truck out there, sponsored by Toyo Tires and everything. He looked like he should have been down in Baja. However, looks weren't everything. While he could take the jumps and bumps like a champ, his engine must not have had enough kick to it cuz he was a slow poke! I hope he was embarrassed.
But the most embarrassing moment of the night goes to Wikki. She couldn't come to monster trucks because she and Keizya baby were at home sick. And I won't go into details about why Wikki should be ashamed...but those of us who were fortunate enough to revel in the experience will never let her live it down!! ;)

Oh, and for those of you who were wondering about how I faired on the slopes after a 2 year hiatus...it was just like riding a bike. At first I was a bit weary. I was scared that I would totally bite it. Luckily, I only fell when getting off the lift...but that's nothing new. I ALWAYS fall getting off the lift, even on my good days!! Seriously though, after one warm up run, I was back at it! It was like I hadn't missed a beat!!! Well, I take that back. I wasn't pulling any 180s like I used to be able to do. Though, I did go off a few little jumps, no huge kickers or anything. But I got like 3 feet of air, for sure!!! Still, I was feeling the strain on my body of 2 years of inactivity! Man, am I outta shape!! Going down the mountain, I was definitely feeling the burn in my calves and thighs! Even worse, my bad knee was KILLING! I know that as I get back into shape, the calves/thigh burning will reduce. But, I just hope that my knee won't hold me back. Is there any way to work out your knee???? I've never seen, like, muscley knees. Is that even a one? I know my sister has this third knee thing, maybe she'll let me borrow one since she's got some to spare!