"RUN Forest, Run"....

Running has never been "my thing"...so I was a little shocked at myself when I put "Run a 5K" on my bucket list a few years ago. I have always WISHED I could run because it looks fun, but I have always found running very hard and painful. I've never found it exhilarating like other people have...so I choose to power walk because I CAN DO THAT without much pain and I actually enjoy it.

THAT BEING SAID.....back in May my daughter, Kim, gave me a very sweet and thoughtful gift for Mother's Day. She gave me a certificate that said that she would run the "Highway to Hale 5K Race" (The "Hale Center Theater" puts on the race to earn money for their theater improvements) with me, since she knew that running a 5K was something that I had put on my bucket list. I was THRILLED to say the least!! Finally I had the motivation I needed to run the race. Dayna and Jack had decided that they would like to participate in the race as well, so all that was left to do was "Train" for it. I power walk about 3.5-4 miles every day...but this was a race, I was going to have to improve my time and prove to myself that I could do something hard....I have a bad hip and running isn't something that I do because it causes a lot of pain and most often than not, pops my hip right out. So I decided that I would mostly power walk...that was until my sweet son-in-law gave me a little pep talk. There was something that he said that just gave me the encouragement that I needed to RUN (yes, really...to RUN... I KNOW crazy, right?!) the race and finish it strong and without regrets. I spent the night before the race at Dayna's house, as we had to be at the Hale Center Theater bright and early in the morning. I had a hard time falling to sleep that night because I was actually EXCITED for the race, but mostly I was excited to RUN (I still can't believe that). Jack said I could do it...and so I believed it!

We woke up, ate a good breakfast of OATMEAL, drank some water (not the brightest thing I chose to do that morning...as I went to the bathroom frequently right up until the race was about to start), dressed in our WARM running gear (as the temp was a brisk 40 degrees) and headed down to pick up our numbers and line up.

Everyone (don't know who they all are) signing up for the 5K

Pinning our numbers to our shirts/jackets and YES...at this point

we ARE STILL SMILING!

All warmed up and ready to take off...

All of us girls decided to wear YELLOW Bandanna's

(Which was a super idea because we could see each

other wherever we were in the crowd)

Jack and Dayna gearing up for the big race~

Dayna and I getting ready for the run...

had to snap some pics first~

Kim and I wearing our "consecutive" numbers (174 &175)

and ready to get on with the race~

Jack planned on running the entire race, so as we lined up...all the "RUNNERS" were asked to come to the front of the line...I wasn't quite sure if I would REALLY be able to RUN so I didn't go to the "front"...BUT Dayna, Kim and I all agreed that we didn't have to stay together, if someone wanted to run, we were okay with that and they could go on ahead without feeling guilty about leaving the pack. I figured that Dayna and Kim would go on ahead, they are both competitive and I am not so much (or so I thought)...and I was okay with that. I figured I would take off when my body had warmed up enough and I would do my very best to run as far as I could.

AND THEN THE RACE STARTED....

and my little legs just took off running. I think I was as shocked as they were (my legs)...there is something about being in a large crowd where everyone is running that made me want to run too...I felt a little competitive and started picking out people in the crowd that I wanted to pass up. I started looking ahead and watching others as they ran and I wanted to catch up to them... I started to feel an ADRENALIN rush and away I went....and it felt GOOD!!!

I ended up running close to 95% of the race, cutting 20 minutes off from my normal time.

With sweat dripping from every part of me, I finished the race at 32:22 minutes...

I was THRILLED!

And to top it off... I placed

2nd in my age division

and placed 51st and ended up in the top 1/3 OVERALL!!!

(Not too shabby for my first race)

(pictures taken of people after races are just NOT flattering at all...sorry)

Jack finished the race in

24:00 (AMAZING GUY!!!)

He placed 4th in his age group

and finished 24th place overall (there was 150+ people in the race)!

Dayna finished in 41:47 (So stinkin Proud of her)

She placed 15th in her age division and

108th overall!

Kim finished in 40:17

and 16th in her age group.

She was 104th overall! (So stinkin Proud of her too)

Jack and Dayna...after the 5K...tired and worn out, but still cheering!

After showering and cleaning up, we proudly put on our "HIGHWAY TO HALE" RUNNING SHIRTS and headed for a celebratory lunch where we ate and enjoyed a few laughs, some relaxing and just being with each other!

Finishing the race was something I was determined to do...no matter how hard it got (AND YES, IT WAS HARD). Many times I had to give myself a little pep talk and remind myself that I WAS NOT a quitter and that it was okay to do things that WERE DIFFICULT and CHALLENGING! I walked away from my day having learned A LOT about myself and feeling as though I had truly done the very best that I could have!

With my clothes dripping wet, my body sore (more than I had ever dreamed it might be) and feeling as though I really wanted to throw up...I came away from my day feeling like I was

on top of the world because I had done something I never thought was possible nor ever dreamed I would really ever do....

Yes, I know now how

"Forest" must have felt as he ran and Ran and RAN (in the movie FOREST GUMP).....

It feels good to run (not so much the day after...but during the race it felt great)...it feels good to set a goal and accomplish it...it feels good to laugh and smile...it feels good to be alive!

I plan on running the "Highway to Hale 5K"again next year...my goal is to beat my own time!

I'm AlwAyS up to SOMETHING~

Its time once again....for the Holly Fair. Which means a lack of me doing much else (during my free time) other than getting ready for the big craft fair...that means very little cooking, minimal cleaning...and only the HAVE TOO'S getting done around here. This year I have been painting old cupboard doors and turning them into wall art/home decor. I started a bit earlier than normal this year, hoping to avoid the "cramming" at the end...it didn't work. I don't think it really matters when I start, I will always feel that "last minute rush" because there are always the last few things that I forgot to do or still need to do...I guess feeling stressed and pressed for time is just part of participating at the Holly Fair. I am excited about how my "old cabinet doors" turned out though....who would have thought?....

I've painted birds on a few of them.....

Different words on others....

and attached hooks and knobs and signs on them as well...

RESULTING in a dining room that now looks like a "Little Boutique".....

As you can see, there is home decor everywhere you look....

...there is a lot of this and a little of that in every nook and cranny~

Needless to say, I am excited for my dining room to look like a DINING ROOM ONCE AGAIN and hopefully to sell all of my inventory!....only ONE more week~

Let it SNOW?????

With the snow in the mountains, the wild animals are moving down.

I captured this picture of a cow elk as she scurried through the shrubs, trying

to get off of the road.

As I drove home from the city the other day I saw this patch of white...YES, it IS SNOW~

NEED I SAY MORE?? UHG!

And so....there's the proof, the snow is officially up in the mountains,

as little as it is now, I am sure we'll be getting more in the months to come!

Guess its time to eat up and find a cave to hibernate in!

Leaves are falling all around...on the housetops on the ground~

We're still enjoying the FALL colors here in UTAH...I love the many different colors that light up the mountainside's for autumn and I can't help but take picture after picture...I just can't get enough of them!

...although now, the leaves are falling from the trees and covering the ground. Its sad to see...but we all knew it was coming.

I adore the bright colors with the green, green grass...it brings a huge smile to my face and makes me happy because I LOVE COLOR!

Halle wanted me to take some pictures of us as we stopped for a "walking break" to stretch our legs and walk around a bit on our little "girl trip" to the city

Halle is growing up so fast! It won't be that many more years and she will be off on her own, making decisions for herself and moving on with her life...I'm holding on to the special moments and hoping they last a little longer!....just like I'm hoping Fall last a little longer too, as winter brings little to be desired!

27 Dresses~

Halle needed a NICE dress for Choir..she has several "church dresses" but she needed something a little more fancy for the concerts and competitions that they have. So on Monday, she and I headed to the city to search for the "perfect dress". I came to the conclusion that the clothing designers think that if you choose to wear a dress (for any occasion) you must have a money tree growing in your back yard. MOST of the dresses that we saw were over $100, some even $150+ (yes, for JUST a simple dress...NOT a formal or elegant dress either) which just made me want to hurl! If I would have had more time, I would have taken the route of sewing Halle a dress...but time is something that I just don't seem to have these days...so purchasing one was our only option. I was having sticker shock as we continued to pull each tag and check the price, dress after dress, after dress. I couldn't help thinking "I could sew that for so much cheaper"!...oh well~

We finally found several that were within our price range, as well as ones that Halle liked...so the "try on" process started~

After trying on which seemed like "27 Dresses" (it wasn't, but it felt like it)

she finally came up with a few favorites.

Dress #1: a Lacy Grey Dress~

Dress #2: Purple frilly dress

Dress #3: Lacy Grey and Pink Dress

Dress #4: Tan lace "20's" looking dress

Dress #5: Blue ruffly dress

And the WINNER IS.............

(drum roll)

THE Lacy Grey and Pink Dress!

Halle loved her "semi-formal" dress and was excited to wear it to her first concert (a few nights ago). It looked really nice on her. I'm so glad that we found one that pleased her as well as ME!

doe ray me fa so la tee~

Halle joined the choir this year...a choice she debated but now really enjoys! She has never liked to sing in front of people, but for no other reason other than she didn't have the confidence to get up and do it....SO I feel its been really good for her. The choir sang the NATIONAL ANTHEM at the opening ceremonies of the Homecoming game last week. They all did an awesome job!!!

She's is really having fun and considers choir one of her favorite classes now. She still gets nervous and doesn't love getting up in front of people, but I think its the first step in helping build her confidence and help her get over that fear. She loves her teacher, as well as the new friends that she has made along the way...all in all I think she will come away from this class with a new found love and confidence in herself.

Life isn't about "easy", its about growing and learning

and making "EASY" out of the stuff we have to do!

Da KING!

It was "HOMECOMING Week" at the high school this week which meant "BUSY" (Cameron said that "busy" was and understatement) for our 2 teenagers. Being Cameron's senior year, he decided to participate in the Homecoming KING Pageant....which meant many nights of practice, cake making, talent finding, coming up with a costume to model and everything else that goes along with this crazy, fun, busy week.

Cameron was determined to make his cake from scratch. I frowned on the idea, but only because the cake recipe that he wanted to use, often falls in the middle if you don't make it perfectly...BUT he was determined...and HE DID THE ENTIRE THING by himself, from mixing, to measuring, to baking and decorating...he did it all....I didn't touch a thing AND IT DIDN'T fall in the middle!!! He even went out to our raspberry patch to pick fresh raspberries for it! I was thrilled with the way it turned out. It was a masterpiece and he can forever say that it was "HIS"(and HIS ALONE) masterpiece! Someday his wife will be grateful that he is such a master chef (he really is an awesome cook)!!!

the finished cake~

my little man hard at work~

his "Buttermilk Chocolate Raspberry" cake....

The opening number started with the boys performing a hilarious dance number. It was the first hysterical moment of the night...not because the boys didn't do well, BUT because they did...funny~ because BOYS are just funny when they do things like that. It was a fun filled, great evening of entertainment kind of night!

For Cameron's talent he performed a "Commercial Spoof" where he sucked helium from a balloon and sang the "Oscar Mayer Bologna" song....I still laugh every time I rewatch it on the camcorder
For his modeling they were asked to "wear their favorite first Halloween costume"...Cameron thought it would be fun to wear the first one ANYONE gets to wear...and so he showed "Where babies come from"....THE STORK! It was adorable and we laughed pretty hard as we saw this GIANT sized baby on a stork come out from behind the curtain.

Cameron did a fantastic job.....had a wonderful time and we all laughed for a long time. We were thrilled and excited as they announced the winner as " CAMERON WILKERSON, THE 2011 DHS HOMECOMING KING". What a great way to end the last Homecoming of his highschool years!!!

Congrats to my little Man!