March Race: Canyonlands Half Marathon

On March 19th, Lisa and I took a short jaunt down to Moab to run the Canyonlands Half Marathon. This Half is so popular that it has become a lottery. So, Lisa begged me to enter the lottery in December so we could run it together.

Well, it just so happens that I got into the race, and Lisa didn't...fail. In February or so, Lisa was able to buy a spot through a charity and we still were able to run it together!

We were both really excited to run this course. We heard it was gorgeous and such a fun race. I think I can speak for both Lisa and myself when I say, this was not my favorite race. We had 25mph headwinds, which caused sand/dust to go everywhere, it was so cold in the beginning (waiting two hours up the canyon for the race to start), and then I got the worst half marathon time I've had. I was kind of upset. However, it gave me a starting point for the year, and so I can only go up from here!

Time: 1:57:27
Age Rank: 28 out of 167 

This is Travis. She works with Lisa and was pretty much the only reason I made it through this race alive :)

Travis, Me, Lisa - Salty and Finished!

The whole gang

Pretty awesome view.

Waiting for the race to start. Chilly!!

More info and pictures about this race...go here

Running Challenge

While Mr. Army is deployed, I've made goals for myself to keep from dwelling on deployment, and to remain active.

Therefore, I decided in February that I would run a race every month from March to the end of deployment. I thought I ran quite a few races, per year, before, but already, I've found that doing one every month is more challenging than I anticipated. I love it! It keeps me going and I get medals. Who doesn't love that?! :)

I have a *tentative* schedule for races, and I hope that I can fit all of them in!

March: Canyonlands Half Marathon
April: Salt Lake 10 Miler and Salt Lake Half Marathon
May: Ogden Half Marathon
June: Ragnar - Wasatch Back
July: Deseret News 10K
August: Top of Utah Half Marathon
September: Top of Utah Marathon (I pray I don't chicken out :)
October: Halloween Half Marathon

The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions...

And we all know that I'm full of good intentions. I planned on writing about the exciting things I was going to do for 400 days, and now I'm 7 months into deployment and have totally fallen off the blog wagon.

Well, I have a few things I've been working on and want to blog about my progress. Between the house, running and cooking, I think I can start to write blogs that exclude Mr. Army (which, was the reason I stopped blogging in the first place).

I promise I will be blogging this week. A few posts I have in the works:

• Running Goal (One race per month until the end of deployment)
• My Favorite Recipes
• De-texturizing the bathroom walls
• First Pole Dancing class (strictly for workout purposes only!)

More to come...

DEAL! Evolve Day Spa & Salon

Is anyone looking for a new hair stylist? and to get a $50 gift card for only $25?

Well, I LOVE that salon AND my stylist, so I bought a $50 gift card on Groupon. Unfortunately, I didn't read the fine print when it mentioned that the Groupon was only for NEW clients.


Does anyone want to buy a $50 gift card for $25 to Evolve Day Spa & Salon?

You can profit from my mistake :)

If you're interested, let me know!!

Photography...

As many of you know, I love photography. I try to take my camera everywhere I go, even though some times it becomes more trouble that it may be worth. But, even if I get one good picture from a day, it's worth dragging around with me.

Because of my love for photography, I finally decided it was time to start taking some classes so I can fully utilize my camera and enhance my picture taking. I think I am on the right track to becoming a good photographer, I just need some tweaking. So...off to school, I go!

I started taking a night class from a local art center to show me all the awesome things I can do with my camera. It will help me to take the "perfect picture" and eliminate most of the post-picture taking editing.

As my skills grow, I hope to make this hobby a little side "job", but I want to keep it fun. For now, I'll keep practicing :)

So...I've been thinking, I need some "subjects" to photograph. Anyone interested?

M&M Wedding

After Mr. Army left, the excitement with the H Family was only gearing up. Miss M and Mr. M took the plunge and here are some fun pictures to document :)

Heather did an amazing job on the cake. Yum!

 J, Little J and Me

Not the best picture of him, but he was my PERFECT helper with the serving.

 Can't get enough of each other :)

 They even had matching shoes...impressive!

3 Weeks of Excitement!

Before Mr. Army had to say goodbye, we tried to pack in a few fun activities...see what we've been up to:

Vegas Briefings:

As soon as Mr. Army came home from trainings, we headed to Vegas for some briefings. We spent most of our time in conference rooms, but we had some spare time to hang out with other couples and just wonder the strip. We are kind of too cheap to go to shows and all that jazz, so we find entertainment in the interesting people that Vegas attracts.

During a meeting break...trying to fit in some college football watching.

 I told him I wanted dinner, and he told me to take this picture first. Pervert.

One of my new favorite pictures of him

Shooting Range:

As if Mr. Army won't get to go to a shooting range in the next year, we thought we'd take the youngin' for a little shootin'.

 Teaching little J on the Shotgun.

Sibling Bonding.

 Little Miss is not afraid to get dirty

 Love this kid.

 She has better accuracy with a handgun than her military brother...and it was her first time. AMAZING 

(and it's probably good that he carries an M-4 and not a 9mm)

I just like this picture because you can see the recoil and shell.

Soccer Game:

Little J had a soccer game, and we didn't want to miss the opportunity to support him, so we loaded up the camera and headed out on a freakishly hot Saturday. 

He is quite the defender

 I love this picture, hehe.

 Go get'um Little J!

Happy Birthday Mr. Army (only a few months early):

Since Mr. Army won't be here for his real birthday, his family decided to celebrate it now. It was a surprise, complete with silly stringing us at the front door as we walked in. Classic.

 Saluting the birthday boy

 For Mr. Army's 25th birthday I made a homemade German Chocolate Cake, and failed miserably. It tasted okay, but looked disgusting. I thought three years was enough time to lament my failure and I tried again. Still needs some work, but looks a lot better. (Little J helped me decorate)

 German Chocolate Cake from 25th Birthday...look at that sad frosting!

 What a goofy smile. Love him anyway :)

Farewell My Love:

We can't really discuss many details of his departure, but he is gone, and I miss him! 

 

Our last sunset together for a while. Aw...how cute? (are you all gagging yet?)