here comes the sun, do-n-do-do!

Here comes the sun, do-n-do-do! Here comes the sun ... and I say ... it's alright! Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do. (Plus or minus a couple "do's".)

I LOVE THE SUN!!! (Do-n-do-do!) It is such a beautiful day today! 80 degrees! Hercules came and picked me up for lunch this afternoon. We ran a couple errands, then grabbed a couple sandwiches from Einsteins and sat in the back of the truck to eat. It was so fun! Now I can't get "Here Comes The Sun", the famous Beatles song, out of my head. Oh well! It's a happy thought, right?!!

my first half-marathon

Well, I did it! I FINISHED THE HALF-MARATHON!!!!! Yay!!! It was hard but it was VERY worth it!!! It was a great experience and I am so glad I went through with it. My goal was to finish in under 3 hours and I ran across the finish line in 2 hours and 51 minutes!! I was feeling GREAT the first 9 or 10 miles but then it got a little bit harder for me. I kept going even though it was hard and I felt like I was getting slower and slower. But that's okay because I FINISHED and I felt great!!! The day before the run I was talking to my brother Chris who came from Nampa, Idaho to run the half. He said he was going to run the "Top of Utah" marathon in September. I got all excited and gung-ho about it and decided I would do it too. But, while I was running the half I was thinking there was NO WAY I was going to run the FULL marathon in September. Now my plan is to master the half-marathon! I want to increase my time and feel better during the whole run. For now I am baby-ing (is that a word?) my left foot that still hurts a little bit. I'm going through withdrawal and can't wait to get my next run in. Hercules is going to train for the West Fest 5K so I will do that with him while I keep up on my long runs. I would like to run at least one more half-marathon this summer. Here are some pics! This first one is of me and my friend, Ariel, at mile 6 (by Sugar House Park). We were feeling AMAZING at this point in the run! We were loving it and feeling so good. We absolutely LOVED seeing our husbands half way through the run!!

This is my brother, Chris (also at mile 6). This is one of my favorite pictures of him! He was totally posing for the camera!!!! (Hercules didn't see my sis-in-law, Marcelle, run past this point. I guess she was running way too fast!)

This is Hercules and me at the FINISH line!!! He came and ran the last 1/2 mile with me. I loved it!!

Here are the FINISHERS of the half-marathon! (Ariel, me, Marcelle, and Chris)

Here are the most important people: OUR CHEERLEADERS!!!! They were there to cheer us along the way and at the end. We LOVED seeing them there!!!! From L to R: Annette (Hailie is in the stroller below), Teresa, Steve, my Mom, my Dad, Mandy, Noah, Jacob, (Lilly and Eden are in the stroller below). Jed and Cyndi aren't in the picture but they cheered for us around mile 2!

a long over-due celebration

WOO HOO!!!!! Good-bye, Sanjaya! I was cheering all night last night after Sanjaya FINALLY got voted off American Idol. It's about time, baby!!! What was up with the bottom 3? Sanjaya earned his position in the bottom 3 long ago. LaKisha shouldn't have been there but I wasn't TOO surprised. But BLAKE???? Come on!! What is up, America???? Blake should never be in the bottom 3. I haven't been very diligent at voting this year because it seems like I always have something else going on so that I have to record A.I. and watch it later. Not anymore! A.I. comes first!!! Hahaha!! Okay, not really, BUT on those rare nights that I do get to watch it with the rest of America, I will definitely cast my votes. Lots of them! As of today, this is how I want it all to go down, with #1 being my favorite and #6 being the next to go home ... hopefully:

1. Blake
2. Jordin
3. Chris
4. LaKisha
5. Melinda
6. Phil

Most everyone at my work has caught the "A.I. Bug" too so we have our A.I. chats every Tuesday (talking about what is going to happen and who will sing well), Wednesday (who did well and who should go home), and Thursday (who went home and who should have gone home). Ever since the first week of the top 12 we have been hoping for Sanjaya to go home. We always said we would celebrate when he finally got kicked off. So, today is our long over-due celebration! Barb brought donuts and I brought rice-krispie treats! What a great reason to celebrate, right?!

long time no post

Wow, it has been a while since my last post. Life has just been really busy lately. I spent 6 days with Beth Rees Jensen's family in Kauai! I missed Hercules LIKE CRAZY! It was SO sad to not have him there to enjoy every little thing with me. He would have loved it there too. We got to talk on the phone a lot but it was so good to come home to him. I had a lot of fun in Kauai with Beth, Jess, and their 4 adorable kids: Braeden, Tessa, Meah, and Addi. They are so cute and so smart. I just love them!! It was so fun to get to know them better! And of course, spending time with my life-long friend, Beth, was wonderful! We talked non-stop the whole time! As my Mom would say: "Some things never change." (Note to Beth: call me!) Kauai is BEAUTIFUL! I was amazed by it's beauty. It was so peaceful there. I miss Beth and Jess and their kids and want them closer but I don't know how they could ever move from there. If Hercules had been there I never would have wanted to leave. I can't wait to go back there with Hercules some day! I will post pics of Kauai in the next couple days.

My running has been going well. I ran 11.5 miles last weekend and it was pretty hard. I think the "power gel" makes me sick because I also got sick after my 10-mile run when I had 2 power gels. Hopefully the half-marathon will be better. No more power gels for me!! I am going to run 5 miles this weekend because it is supposed to be my "rest week" before the big race next weekend. I'm so excited! It will be awesome!!

Now onto another one of my favorite topics ... American Idol!! I admit it. I am totally addicted. What the heck is Sanjaya still doing on there? I was glad Haley got voted off last week but it should have been Sanjaya long ago. I can't believe he got more votes than Chris Richardson. WHAAAT??? Who is voting for him anyway??? Hercules and I want BLAKE to win. He's so cool.