Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving began at 5am when I met up with friends to run a 10k in Dana Point. It had been sprinkling at the beginning and around mile 2 it just down poured and did for the next 2 miles. At mile 5 my knee was in so much pain I wasn't sure I would even make it to the finish line. I was a little sore the next morning but hope to be back running again soon. My goal was to finish in just over an hour. Not too bad for running in the rain. When we got back to the car I was super fast to get out of as much wet clothes as possible. I will post the group photo later. The day was spent laying around the house and eating lots of food. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Overall:	1980 out of 3169
Women:	865 out of 1677
F 25-29:	161 out of 294
Age/Grade:	48.33% Place: 1977
Finish:	1:02:47 Pace: 10:07
Tag Time:	1:02:47

Happy Thanksgiving

The things I LOVE, LIKE, and ENJOY and wish I had time to do some of things are listening to rain, snowfall, sitting by the fireplace, eating yummy goodies, my mother’s cooking, my family, the holidays, my niece and nephew Lily and Jack, long conversations, the gospel, running, cycling, skiing, long boarding, cuddling, kisses, music, dancing, blogging, reading, golfing, hiking, camping, shopping, parties, photography, movies, games, my grandparents homes, the smell of flowers, sunsets, and traveling just to name a few. With just 5 weeks left till 2009 I have thought a lot about what my goals were for 2008. Some of them were accomplished and some are still a work in progress.

New things that I want to start doing in 2009 would be attending a dance class, playing new sports such as tennis, basketball, soccer, football, surfing and whatever else I can do with friends. Back in September I took my TV out my room and changed my homepage on the computer to lds.org. It is nice to see and stop there before I jump in my gmail, yahoo, blog and facebook. I still watch TV but not while going to bed. Those 30 minutes before bed have allowed me new appreciated time for cleaning, dreaming, planning, reading or just getting to bed at a decent time. With THANKGIVING tomorrow I am grateful for all the wonderful blessings in my life. May your home be filled with love and laughter this holiday season!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Quote 11-24-08

As I sat last night with my dear friends Kim and Blair we talked about some of life's challenges of being single and married. It seems that both are difficult but when you can rely on the Lord you realize the blessing of the trial. With Thanksgiving this week I am even more aware of how blessed my life has been over the last year.



"The most clear and personal way for us to learn (and be reminded) that God really does know and love us is through the Holy Ghost. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. In various personal ways, He can reassure us by the still small voice."

My weekend in Provo

I landed Friday night and grabbed my rental and headed to Cafe Rio. I only managed a photo with one friend but had a group show up to hang out.

Saturday was skiing at Snowbird where is was a beautiful warm day with icy runs.

On Sunday I attended Becca's ward.

This was my FIRST rental car. I took this photo at 6am while filling the car up before returning.

I am looking forward to the trip back up for Christmas and skiing again with my family.

San Fransisco Weekend!

The trip began at this restaurant near the red light district.

Josh was in town on business and came and played for a few hours

Friday after breakfast I was dropped off alone in the city and found my way down to Pier 33 to spend about 5 hours alone doing Alcatraz

San Fransisco behind me

Leaving Alcatraz

Walking around China town after I got back from Alcatraz

Pier 39 Dinner

Saturday morning we met up with Kambria's friends and did a bike ride over golden gate bridge

Golden Gate

Brunch at Winship after crossing the bridge

Saturday night we walked around the city and just played. Below are a few photos from the evening. This is some of the city from an elevator.

Passed out USC fan

On top of the Marriott

Sunday night ended with another drive around Golden Gate Park and to the top of this hill. The view was amazing and I tried to capture as much as possible with my little camera. It was the end of a perfect weekend with great friends and perfect weather.

Monday Quote 11-17-08

“The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.” ~Helen Keller


I made it back from my super jam packed weekend in San Francisco. I saw, heard and felt so many wonderful things this weekend. I will be blogging about it as soon as I find time again.

San Fran Weekend

I can't believe that I am in my late twenties and never been to Northern California. I will be off enjoying all the wonderful things the city has to offer. Have a wonderful weekend!

Unique and Useful Tips

Reheat Pizza

Heat up leftover pizza in a non-stick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.



Easy Deviled Eggs

Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the corner tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.



Expanding Frosting

When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar/calories per serving.



Reheating refrigerated bread

To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.



Newspaper weeds away

Start putting in your plants; work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.



Broken Glass

Use a dry cotton ball to pick up little broken glass pieces of glass- the fibers catch ones you can't see!





No More Mosquitoes

Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.





Squirrel Away!

To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.



Flexible vacuum

To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gif wrap roll to your vacuum hose. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.



Reducing Static Cling

Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks a n d - voila - static is gone.





Measuring Cups

Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill it with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry the cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield?

Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!



Reopening envelope

If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Voila! It unseals easily.



Conditioner

Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair...



Goodbye Fruit Flies

To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2"

with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dishwashing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants

Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it "home," & can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, esp. if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!



Take baby powder to the beach

Keep a small bottle of baby powder in your beach bag. When you’re ready to leave the beach sprinkle yourself and kids with the powder and the sand will slide right off your skin.

Monday Quote 11-10-08

"Women are like cell phones. They like to be held and talked to, but push the wrong button, and you'll be disconnected."
---Unknown

Happy Birthday Cameron

One lucky guy!

On Thursday night we gathered at one of my favorite places to eat California Pizza Kitchen in celebration of Cameron turning one year older. He has been a great friend to me over the last few years. I appreciate and value his friendship!

Tagged! Unspectacular Quirks

Okay so Elise tagged me and it was just my luck that I decided to check out her blog. Sure enough as I was reading down on the post I see my name. I guess its 6 "unspectacular quirks" of mine.


1. I am a stickler for promptness. I am always on time. Although I have started to be a lot more relaxed about this especially when there is traffic and I wasn't able to get out the door soon enough.

2. I like to have things clean. This means that I carry baby wipes in my bag so I can keep my hands clean. I may be teased and called the MOM of my friends but when someone has dirty hands they are very thankful I was with them. Also I like to wash my hands with warm water.

3. I am with Elise on this one that I need to have my bedroom door shut at night before I can fall asleep.

4. I have to rise my tooth brush off with water before I apply toothpaste.

5. I can’t go to bed with dirty feet.

6. I can't stand to see dirty figure nails and will never let dirt stay undermine.

So time to TAG 6 others. Kim S, Morgan., Ali B, Aubrey, Lacey, Amy

Quote 11-03-08 Happy Birthday

"You see? Never be late for a plane with a girl. 'Cuz a girl runs like a girl-- with the little steps and the arms flailing out... You wanna make this plane, you've gotta run like a man! Get your knees up!" -Jerry, to Elaine, in "The Airport"

"I can not express to you the feeling I get from a perfect airport pickup."

- George

"I like to stop at the duty free shop!"

- George and Kramer, singing, in "The Airport"

"Look at you! You run like a girl! Run like a man! Lift your knees!"

- Kramer to George

"You *cannot* abandon people in the middle of an airport pickup! It's a binding social contract. We must go forward, not back."

- George

"I never met a man who knew so much about nothing."

- Tia the model to Jerry

"More anything?"

"More everything!"

- Airline attendant and Jerry, who is enjoying his first class meal

"Oh, you got *cookies*!"

- Elaine, sneaking into first class

Today's quotes goes out to my older brother John. Today is his birthday and one of his favorite shows is Seinfeld. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Jack and his toys

This is a short video of Jack picking up all his toys from one couch and moving them over to the other couch. He picked up about 8 farm animals and the big truck by placing the toys under his neck. I was not able to capture him picking up each toy and putting them under his neck. You can hear me in the background trying not to laugh. I love this little boy!!