Twenty somthing! Are you kidding me?

For Mothers Day, Todd asked what I wanted....the answer usually never changes.  "A day to myself".  That day to myself usually involves running or cycling.  This year a few girlfriends from my ward and I signed up at midnight on October 31st to be one of 900 participants in the ever popular all women's Hippie Chic Half Marathon.  It filled in 6 hours!  It's good to have a goal through the rainy and gray winter/spring months.   Most my events I do alone so this was much more fun to drive down and start the race together with friends and to see one another along the course.

I had a goal in mind, and if it wasn't for three young twenty year olds in front of me, I may have gotten it!  I'm not making excuses, but have they had 4 babies and have to get up at the crack of dawn to train? I was hoping to come in 3rd all around and got 5th.  I got 2nd in my age group which is something I never would have imagined when I first began running long distance 13 years ago.  Anything is possible!  Before Griffin was born I'd never gone more than 8 miles. All the miles logged are not always fun.....but the sanity and feeling of accomplishment are always worth it.

After the Ogden Marathon my parents gave me a wooden sign that reads

"I DO NOT RUN TO ADD DAYS TO MY LIFE,

I RUN TO ADD LIFE TO MY DAYS"

Tiffany, Nicole and I basking in the sunshine right before the start.

Befores and Afters

  While it's been raining I've had a few inside projects, such as texturing and painting walls and more walls.  My favorite is the downstairs bath which I didn't happen to post.  The kitchen BEFORE and AFTER.

Brody's room BEFORE and AFTER

Todd has been hard at work outside.  My girlfriends who drive by a few times a day say they see him outside all the time.  Anyone who knows him knows that working a riding lawn mower he's like a kid at Christmas!

Front walkway BEFORE and AFTER

These bushes were very hard to remove, only once the chain came in did they come right up out of the ground.  He also transplanted all the hydrangeas along the front and replaced those with a large hedge and boxwood hedge along the walkway.

The purple blooms on the wisteria in the backyard are gorgeous! And what front porch is complete without furniture to get comfy and watch the sunset from?  We already enjoy sitting out here and visiting at night or as we wait for the school bus.

My current project is the girls room.  I wanted to texture and paint it....and I do believe it may be the last painting project for a long while!!!  Let's just say this is one time consuming project!

In order to get everything out of the way we moved it into the hall and our bedroom.  I just wanted to show proof to those who think my house is always clean....that it's looked like this for 4 days and now I'm going to repaint again since I wasn't happy with the end result I am going for!

Brace Face

Griffin came to me and month ago and said "mom can I just get my braces on and get it over with?"  Too funny!  At his track meet, the day we put them on, I was noticing ALL the middle school kids that had them on, and there were tons!  He was an easy patient and Dr. Moses let me do most all the work on him.  He wears headgear only at night and is a great sport about that as well.  I took him easy mac and hot cocoa to school on Friday since I had nothing soft AND filling to send in his lunch.  Need to buy a thermos for the poor boy.