Let Freedom Ring in the 15k

We ran in the Freedom 15k in Logan, UT on the 4th of July with some of my family. We learned a few things about freedom throughout the course of this race.

Nate learned that you are free to avoid running for over a year and wait until the last 2 weeks before the race to start your training, but this also entitles you to a week of pain in the aftermath! The finish line volunteers were sure he was about to pass out, but he pulled through! He actually got a pretty decent time as well.

Here is Nate, going strong and looking over at Ollie

 Laurel learned that you are free to train all you want at 1296 feet, but it will feel like you haven't done a darn thing to prepare when you run a race that starts at 5610 feet! Fortunately, the race was mostly downhill and I was proud that I didn't walk any of it.

Kyle (Laurel's brother) learned you are free to attempt to relive your glory days from high school, but you may discover you are not quite as glorious as you used to be! He was actually the first one done of our whole group, so I guess he's pretty glorious amongst the Feuz clan.

Brianne (Laurel's sister) learned that she is free to humble her sister and leave her in the dust after the first 3 miles. Oh how the mighty have fallen! She was the first of the girls to finish.

Paige (Laurel's aunt) learned that you are free to use the porta-potty as many times as you like before the race just to make sure you are prepared. The best strategy is as soon as you come out of the porta-potty, cut in line with someone else you know to make sure you get all four times in before the gun sounds.

Jeff (Brianne's husband) learned that you are free to read a book in the car as you wait for the runners to go by to cheer for them, but you will probably become engrossed in said book and miss half the people you were there to watch.

Kaley (Nate's sister) learned that you are free to set the leash down to take a picture, but Ollie will run through the throng of runners to try to reach Nate if you do so.

Mom and Emily (Laurel's sister) learned you are free to spectate on the middle of the big, fat hill but the runners may begrudge you for it. I know I wasn't the only one who's plans to walk up the hill were spoiled by the sight of our fans. That would be shameful to be caught walking! 

As you can see, many around me were walking, but I persevered for the sake of the fans.

Shara and Susan (Laurel's sister-in-law and niece) learned you are free to wait around after the race all day because Kyle is sure he will win the treadmill in the post race raffle, but the odds will never be in your favor. I don't know how Kyle planned on getting a treadmill home to Washington anyway.....

Mike (uncle), Colin (cousin), Rachel (cousin's wife), and Connor (cousin) also ran the race but I'm not sure what lessons of freedom they were taught along the way other than they are free to be a part of the crazy runner's club and pay money to go run 9.3 miles on a holiday. 

What a wonderful country we live in that allows us these freedoms and many more! We were grateful to celebrate the holiday with our family and take time to remember how very blessed we are indeed.

We had a much needed week-long vacation with my family. In addition to the race, we had a cookout in the canyon, went to the Bountiful temple, swam at Willard Bay with Kaley, spent time with extended family at the Anderson reunion, went waterskiing at Flaming Gorge in the rain, played horseshoes and ladderball, played in the pool, and just enjoyed not thinking about work for an entire week! We took Ollie with us for his first road trip and he had a grand time! He loved being in the car, looking out the window, and sleeping on my lap. Apparently, he was too lonely in the backseat. 

Lessons Learned While Hosting a Baby Shower

Attending baby showers is an interesting rite of passage that all women must go through. There are many customs and norms that one must adhere to at such an event. I am in that season in my life when many of my friends and family members are having babies and starting families, so I am slowly being immersed into the world of baby showers. Last week, I helped host Alyssa's shower. I am like a baby myself when it comes to baby showers due to my inexperience with such celebrations, so this was a learning experience for me. 

Lesson number one: Food should not be put on sticks. No matter how cute the theme may be (She's Ready to Pop), don't give in to the temptation to turn every treat into a pop. It is time consuming and may result in the treat falling off onto the table before your guests can even see how creative you were. 

Lesson number two: Expect guests to arrive 20 minutes early and plan accordingly to ensure you are finished decorating before their (over)prompt arrival. 

Lesson number three: When playing the Guess How Many _______ Are In This Jar game, do not pick something as small as a "pop"corn kernel because it will take you an hour to count out over 2,000 of them! This was a second hand lesson as Melissa, the other host, was the one to learn it. However, I too learned a lesson from this game. It doesn't matter if you forgot how many lolli"pops" were actually in the container, or for that matter you never actually counted them but went by the serving size on the bag, because no one is going to double count them. Its okay to pick a winner based on an estimate. 

Lesson number four: Don't bother preparing food for an army because when women get together in large social settings, they feel the need to eat daintily, and you will have a lot of leftovers.

Lesson number five: Baby showers create a forum for women to tell their worst birthing and child rearing stories. It is almost like a form of hazing as a way of inducting the mother to be into the society of women who have endured the pains and joys of childbirth.

I'm sure I will have many more lessons to learn as I continue to attend baby showers. Overall, I think the shower was a success and now I'm ready for my little niece to get here!

I successfully completed another rag quilt!

Marching to Our Own Beat

Sometimes, we do things that others may consider a little strange.....

Example one: a few months ago we bought this crib from our neighbor. Since it was already put together, we saw no reason to take it apart. So.....we wheeled it down the middle of the road and waved our hands just like a parade. I'm sure anyone looking out their window thought we were making a proclamation to the neighborhood that we are expecting a baby. However, didn't your mother ever tell you not to judge a book by its cover? It's called an investment, people. Not an announcement. The funny thing is, once we got it home, we realized it wouldn't fit through the bedroom door, so we ended up taking it apart anyway.

Example Two: We, and by we I mean Nate, have trouble asking for help sometimes, so we make do. Nate had been practically salivating every time we walked past the wheelbarrows at Lowe's, so for his birthday, I told him he could pick whatever one he wanted. I saw two options: buy a wheelbarrow that hadn't been put together yet and take it home in our car, or buy one that was pre-assembled and ask someone with an SUV, van, or truck to help us get it home. However, Nate saw a third option: buy a wheelbarrow that is fully assembled and spend thirty minutes in the Lowe's parking lot maneuvering it to fit in the back seat of our car. Good thing they make windows that roll down.... On second thought, this may not be a strange thing at all. I have a feeling many a wife has experienced a similar situation.

Example three: Last week we went on an 8 mile hike with some of our friends. We decided to take Ollie with us. Let's just say Nate was able to get a nice upper body workout. I never understood how people spoiled their dogs until we got Ollie. Now we have crossed over to the dog lover's world. I brush his teeth, give him ice water, talk to him like a baby, and even let him sleep in bed with me occasionally. I do draw the line at a doggy carriage. I see this couple walk through our neighborhood all the time with a FAT dog riding in a carriage. Hello, don't you know puppyhood obesity is an epidemic and your dog needs some exercise? At least Ollie made it 6 miles before collapsing in the shade and refusing to take another step.

That's How You Know He's Your Love

Disclaimer: The following post reaches new levels of cheesiness for this blog. So cheesy that Nate is embarrassed that I'm even posting it.

It's that special season of the year! You know, the one that everyone looks forward to and young girls dream of at night. No, its not Christmas.....it's PROM SEASON! Its that time of the year when you can spend a ridiculous amount of money on an outfit you're never going to wear again, you wear a flower around your wrist even though it annoys you the whole night, you take a million pictures of "the best night of your life", and dance to a cliche love song under the stars, the moonlight, the sea, or whatever overused theme it may be.

Since Nate and I obviously didn't know each other in high school, we had never been to prom together. We certainly couldn't miss out on a once in lifetime experience such as this night. We tossed around the idea of crashing the local high school prom, but upon further contemplation, realized it would be lame to be the "old chaperons" of the party. The only logical solution was to go on a prom at home date!

You could say Nate was less than enthusiastic about attending the prom and perhaps wished it really was a ONCE in a lifetime experience, but my sweet husband couldn't say no when I went to all the effort to ask him to go with me.

 

He answered Yes by making me a cd of love songs and leaving me a love note in the car. I know we're cheesy and some of you are throwing up in your mouth, but I'm in love and I don't care who knows it. Prom was lovely! We had a fancy dinner, got dressed up, and danced the night away. Well, it would be more accurately stated to say I danced the night away while Nate stood there looking awkwardly toward the window wondering if anyone could see us. I quickly realized that I was a bit ambitious when I created a playlist that was 1.8 hours long when after 1.8 minutes, Nate asked "Where are the punch and cookies?" Apparently, that's the only reason he ever went to dances.  A poor oversight on my part.

Here's Nate hand-making my corsage

I already owned this dress and just had to have my mom ship it to me. Nate bought a new studly purple shirt because it's my favorite color. However, he returned it the day after the prom.

We had a fun night (or at least I did and my wonderful husband indulged me). Thanks Baby!

Nate's Brush with the Law x 2

Scene: Dark road in a small town 4:00 AM

Characters: Me, Nate, local law enforcement

Background: Nate and I were flying out of Tulsa at 6:45 AM. We'd gotten a later start than planned (as per usual, cough, cough, Nate) and we were rushing to make sure we would make our flight.

Lights, Camera, Action: Nate, “Oh crap! That was a cop I just passed, and he whipped around and is following me now.” Me, “Don't speed!” Nate carefully obeyed all traffic laws but the cop kept following us. Next thing we know, we see the flashing lights in the rear view mirror. Officer, “You sure were hugging that yellow line...Where you coming from tonight?” Nate, “Bentonville.” I wanted to nudge Nate at this point and say, “He doesn't care what city you're coming from. That's code for are you coming from a bar tonight and driving drunk?” Officer, “Have you ever been arrested?” Just as I suspected, he's hoping for a DUI tonight. After Nate explained that no, he'd never been arrested and that we were on our way to the airport for a flight he was making us miss, the officer put a little skip in his step and hurried to check the license and registration and send us on our way. Fortunately, he didn't send us with a souvenir. We can't afford another ticket! I think this was just a case of a small town cop on the midnight shift who hadn't seen another car for hours and got a bit overeager for some excitement.

Several Days Later....

Scene: Dallas Airport 2:00 AM

Characters: Me, Nate, TSA security guard

Background: Due to a 4 hour delay in Newark, we missed our connection home. We ended up being rerouted to Dallas where we arrived well after midnight. Our flight home was set to leave at 6:00 AM, so we determined it would be best to make use of the lovely airport accommodations. We found a quiet corner and settled into that oh-so-comfy row of chairs for a much needed slumber after a long day of traveling.

Lights, Camera, Action: I'm dreaming of being home in my own bed when I hear a gruff voice. I must be dreaming. Who in there right mind would possibly be trying to talk to me at 2:00 AM in a nearly empty airport when I am clearly sleeping? I ignore the voice, but alas, I hear it again. Are you kidding me? Stop talking to me! I open my eyes to give the voice a piece of my mind but have to swallow my words when I realize there is a security guard standing menacingly over me. His mouth is moving, but in my sleepy haze, I don't have a clue what he is saying. Finally, I realize he is telling me we have to leave. I think ok, we'll just go find another bench to sleep on but then it becomes clear that we are being kicked out of the terminal completely! Nate is still ignoring the guard, so Mr. Let Me Ruin Your Night Even More For You goes over and gives him a shake. Uh-oh. I know from experience that waking Nate up at such an hour is like poking the sleeping dragon. Nate gets up with fire in his eyes, glaring at the security guard, and I realize I'm going to have to intervene to make sure he doesn't get arrested for assault charges! I take him by the hand and pull him away before it is too late. We are forced to spend the rest of the night in baggage claim waiting until they open the terminal again at 5:00 AM to go BACK through security. So ridiculous! Needless to say, when we finally arrived home, we were exhausted and grumpy but still had to go to work! I feel sorry for our coworkers.

You may be asking, what was all this for anyway? A getaway to New York City! While the journey was shall we say, eventful, both there and back, it was worth it for the great trip we had!

Nate's parents met us there and we spent several days seeing all there is to see in NYC. (Well, at least all we had time to see.) We did the bus tour and a harbor tour, saw the Statue of Liberty, went to the 9.11 Memorial Site, walked through Central Park, went across the Brooklyn Bridge, saw a musical, watched the street performers, went to the Original Soup Man from the soup nazi episode of Seinfield, ate some delicious food in Little Italy, and just walked the streets and explored.

Yummy food in Little Italy!

 My top three highlights were: 

3. Eating at a little taqueria owned by Aaron Sanchez (one of the judges on our favorite Food Network show, Chopped.) 

Loved that they cooked the tacos in an old VW van!

 2. Strolling through the beautiful Central Park (yes, we got a hot dog there from a stand. We also bought some delicious Gelato!)

1. Newsies! This was such a fun musical to watch. The dancing and singing were amazing. Also, Jess, from last season of So You Think You Can Dance, was in the play so that was cool to feel like we “knew” somebody on stage.

By the way, this is NOT Jess.

Nate's favorite part was Chinatown. He was fascinated by the two roasted ducks hanging by their feet in the store window at room temperature awaiting purchase. Apparently the FDA doesn't exist in Chinatown. It was a fun getaway that we were glad to share with Stan and Lisa. Where will our travels take us to next?

Deciphering my first professional massage

So I had an experience this week and I need help processing how I feel about it. Not sure if it was a good experience, a bad experience, or just a bizarre experience. I had my first professional massage. I've said for years that I wanted to get one but could never talk myself into forking out the money to have a stranger lather my body in essential oils. Fortunately, Alyssa gave me a gift certificate for a one hour massage at a local spa, so at long last, I could try out this whole massage business. Well I tried, and as I mentioned I'm not sure what I think about it, so let me just walk you through the appointment. When I got to the spa, they offered me a glass, no a goblet, of water with lemon and lime slices. Very refreshing! One point to the good experience. They also called me "Miss Laurel" which I'm sure was intentional to make me feel pampered and special or something. I guess I did kinda like that so another point to the good. Next, I'm walked back to the "Quiet Zone" where suddenly everyone is only talking in whispers. I assume this was to promote a peaceful, serene feeling, but it was more of an eerie feeling to me. I think I have too loud a personality for tranquility. Minus one point. Next, I'm shown to the restroom and asked if I need to go. Weird. I've only had 2 sips of the fancy water. It didn't go through me that quickly. Maybe they were being thoughtful in asking me since I was to spend the next hour lying on a table. But come on, I'm 24 years old. I think I can take care of my own bodily functions. Minus one point. The next room, is the robe room. I walked into this room a little hesistant. Am I supposed to be naked under this robe? Why are the only instructions on the wall "Use your spa voice" and "Turn off your cell phone"? Those of us who are new to the spa world are left with the dilemna to wear or not to wear? Minus one. Next, was my consultation. This involved soaking my feet and getting them rubbed while small talking. Plus one for the lovely foot massage, minus one for the small talk. I'm not very comfortable small talking with a stranger while naked. Then, I'm asked if I have a favorite oil I would like to use. Ummmm….. olive? Apparently, that wasn't a choice, so I was brought three options to smell and pick from. The first one smelled like a wilted dandelion. (Pass) The second smelled like moldy berries. (I don't think so.) The third one had a delightfully subtle, citrus smell. (I'll take that one) Minus one for the odorous oils but positive one for the frangrantly acceptable oil I chose. Next, it was time to disrobe and crawl into the sheets. Thankfully, I was left alone for this part. Plus one. And then the main event: the massage! It was great for about a minute and then I realized it was a full body massage! I thought is was just for my back. Immediately, I'm embarrassed to realize I haven't shaved since…..well, since I don't know when! I tried to console myself by rationalizing that the room was dark so she couldn't see how bad it was, but honestly, who needs to see it when they have to feel it? So I spend the first fifteen minutes of the massage ashamed of my bushy legs. Minus one. Thankfully, we moved on to other body parts and I was able to relax more. The mood music being played made me think there were probably people doing Tai Chi right outside the door. This was neither good or bad, merely an observation. The back, neck, and shoulder massage was excellent! Just the right amount of pressure in just the right places. I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect. Plus 2 points! While that portion was fantastic, the face massage was a little strange to me. I generally don't have aches and pains in my ears and eybrows. I would have prefered the time spent on my face to be used to continue that blissful shoulder massage. Minus one.  At the conclusion of the massage, I am AGAIN shown to the restroom and asked if I need to go. Still weird, and still the answer is no. Minus one. However, all day today, my muscles have felt so good. Plus one. As I look back through my musings and tally the points, it appears to be a tie. Eight points for each. (That is, if I did my math correctly!) And so it is up to you, the reader, to help me decipher was this a good experience or a bad experience?

A Secret Society

There is something so exciting about being a part of a clandestine organization. I love the adrenaline rush that comes from being sneaky and feeling like I know something you don't know. However, what's the point of a secret if no one knows you know? So I've decided to let you all in on the secret. Geocaching!

For those who have never heard of this we'll go straight to horses mouth (aka geocaching.com) for the definition. "Geocaching is a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game. Players try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS-enabled devices." My family came to visit back in January and we decided the best way to show them around town was through geocaching. My uncle Clint is an experienced geocacher (is that a word?) so he inducted us into the secret world of geocaching. He explained how to play and gave us strict orders not to let "muggles" see us. With GPS unit in hand and a list of coordinates around town we were off on our treasure hunt. I was amazed at how many caches I had walked right by in the past and had no idea were hidden there. We found all of the treasures except one. We searched and searched to no avail. That part was frustrating but 7 for 8 isn't bad for novice treasure hunters. Despite our efforts to be discreet, a few geomuggles did stumble upon us. We tried to appear very casual, like it was natural for us to be hanging out in the brush, bushwhacking. I am sure they did not suspect a thing especially in situations such as the one depicted in this picture....

Some muggles were walking by and Nate decided freezing in this pose would draw the least amount of attention