Changing Seasons

Carley and I took a drive up to squaw peak last week. The leaves were amazing. This was the first time that she had been up there and she was a little nervous at first. We had a great talk on the way up and I got to explain why the leaves change to her. She is growing up so fast and it amazes me how much she knows. Ive started to realize that as the seasons change I tend to look inward and see what I need to change. I have a few things that want to change and am starting to work on. I am thankful for the seasons and how they help me!!

Carley posing in front of the leaves
Me and my sweet baby!! Not bad for a self portrait!


Us being crazy like always!

Cheering and fun

Carley has been on a cheer squad since September. Their games started in October. They cheer for flag football. It has been a lot of fun watching her learn to cheer. I guess deep down inside I will always be a Viking cheerleader and im glad that Carley is now having the chance. Funny part I remember a lot of the cheers and a lot of them are the same!! I am the cheer mom and its been fun to watch the girls and have fun with them.

Carley cheering for the Vikings!


More Viking Cheer!

Carley kept taking pics of me on the way to St George to the marathon. I needed some sleep!

The Start of the marathon!

St George been there done that

Last weekend was the St George Marathon. I am not a runner nor do I claim to be a runner! I try and that's the best I can do. I was still unsure if I was going to run and be able to finish a week before the race. I haven't been training the way I should. Its crazy how much time I don't have. Trying to be a Mom, work, go to school, be a cheer mom, taxi, PTA, sister, aunt, and try to have a little social life leaves hardly anytime for training for a marathon. But I made the decision that I would do it. My farthest training run was only 9 miles. Those of you who know anything about running should cringe now!! We left for St George on Thursday and the weather was amazing! The morning of the run turned out great. It was chilly at the start, but by the time we got started it was beautiful. I am amazed at the scenery surrounding the St George area. I made the first 7 miles the fastest I've ever run!! Then came Veyo! Veyo is a little town that is from mile 7 to about 9 its all up hill and its very deceiving. Just when you think you've gotten to the top theres more hill!! I made it luckily! I got an amazing runners high at about mile 14-16 where my ipod was rockin and the terrain was a little down hill! There is really no explaining how the high feels. I guess that's really why I run.
All in all it was a great weekend. I am still sore and the blisters on my feet are just starting to feel better! I will post pics as soon as I find them!!

Mi vida loca

Well I promised to put something every week- I'm trying hard to do it. I am feeling very melancholy this evening and I'm not sure why. Well i guess there are a few reasons. I was in class today and there is nothing like sitting and studying around 18 year olds to make you feel really old!! I have a study group that met this afternoon and of course there were 3, 18 yr olds, 2, 21 yr olds, and then me! I don't know why it hit me so hard, but it did. I'm not a fan of getting older! I went to dinner last night with my awesome friend Jeff. He has been in Afghanistan on his 3rd deploy and got home last month. We were talking about some of his experiences. He is truly my hero. I cant believe some of the things he told me. Jeffrey, thank you for all that you have done for me and this country. You are an incredible person!
When I got home I watched the biggest loser. They were talking about second chances. It really had me thinking about what I would change if I could do it all over again. There are a few times in my life I wish I had a mulligan/do over! One actually is tonight- you know who you are and I said I'm sorry and I really meant it and I hope we can still be friends! Cuz your are one of the most amazing men I have ever met. I look up to you and the way you are with your daughter and how you handle life-You truly are remarkable.
Well this turned into a sappy post. I guess that's what happens when you are running on zero sleep in the last few days. I hope all of you that read this know that I love ya'll and I am thankful for you! Big Kisses to ya'll MUUUUAAHHH!

I heart NY

So here is the rest of the story.... After the Today show Carley really wanted to go to the American Girl Doll store. So I fugured out where it was and we were on our way. We bought some umbrellas from guys on the street and Carley was in awe that the guys just stand there all day and sell umbrellas!! We found the American Girl Doll store and went in. We decided to have lunch at the store. If you dont know about these dolls-they are kind of spendy. Carley has wanted one, but I have a hard time spending over a hundred dollars on one doll. They are very cute, but still spendy. While we were in line for lunch I noticed that Carley was the only girl who didnt have a doll to eat with her. I know what parent guilt feels like, and I also know what it feels like to be left out of things. At that moment I wanted to run and buy her a doll, buy money didnt permit it. Carley also noticed that everyone else had a doll. I asked her if she wanted to go somewhere else for lunch-she thought about it and said "Its ok if I dont have a doll. I dont care. It doesnt bother me." She is such an inspiration to me. She is amazing. We got to the matrie'd and he asked us how many dolls would be dining with us. Carley said, "I dont have a doll." The Matrie'd said, "well daring come with me-id like you to dine with our of our dolls." They had loaner dolls. Carley go so excited. She picked a doll and it turned out to be a great lunch. They had little notes on the table that had questions for us to ask each other. I think that my daughter taught me a lesson at that lunch for sure. What a special girl I have. I am so blessed to have her with me. God for sure knows what he is doing! After lunch we went to some other stores and walked passed the CBS studios and Journey was playing a concert. We listened to a few song and then went into Fao Schwarts. We then walked by Central Park and were so tired and cold and wet that we decided to call it a day. All in all it was a great 24 hours!

The Salon at American Girl you make an appointment for your doll to get her hair done!
Lunch at American Girl!We went into Tiffanys I am teaching her young!! She now knows that the little blue box is a good thing!

The guard at FAO

The famous BIG piano. Carley had a blast dancing just like Tom Hanks



Journey playing dont stop believing..My theme song

One more pic of my amazing daughter American Girl. I hope Santa brings her a doll!

New York, New York or how much can you shove into 24 hours

When I heard that Miley Cyrus was playing on the Today show- I thought Carley would love that. I soo need a break I wanna take her. I got online and started researching how the whole today show concert series works. With not much luck I decided that in order to see Miley up close we would need to be at Rockefeller Plaza by 4am. Doable, crazy, but for sure doable. I checked flights and red eye didn't get in until 520 am so if we did that we probably wouldn't be able to see Miley. I also was scheduled to work both Friday and Saturday. I would need help. I couldn't find anyone to cover my shifts-so I went into pleading mode. I had an angel (thanks Amber) take my Saturday shift. Only 6 hours needed to be covered and we could have a great trip to NY. I called the Today show to see if perchance if we did end up flying on Thursday night what would be the chances of us getting anywhere close to the stage. Long story short girl at Today show was no help. Thursday came and no one could take my shift. I was starting to feel bummed. Sometimes if my work is slow they will offer time off. So I sat by the computer praying all day to have time off. finally at 5:15 pm they offered time off and I got it. So I started frantically getting ready. Order car service, get hotel, pack and be at airport by 10pm. easy right? Not really- I could find a hotel under $350 a night in the Manhattan area, so I decided that it was gonna be a short trip. get into NY at 520am leave NY same day at 830pm. why not right? Well Carley is such a good sport and was really excited, I was too!! Game on! Flight was as good as can be expected-love the even more leg room especially when you are trying to sleep! Carley was way too excited to sleep. Finally I told her to close her eyes and she laid on my shoulder. About half and hour left of the flight and multiple times of stopping her from snuggling into the nice man sitting next to her she woke up. The flight finally landed-Carley walked off the jet way and said, "Hello New York" ala Hannah Montana style. We rushed to the baggage and found the car service waiting outside. We were on the road and out of JFK within 15 mins of landing. It was raining outside and the Car service guys said it would stop soon. (Yeah right big freaking liar!) we pulled up to 47th and 5 Ave. there were hoards of girls ages 5-25 with their parents in tow! Tons of poster-crap I forgot our poster-o well. If Miley doesn't know we heart her by now she never will. We could barley see the stage. We were standing next to a man and his daughter. He thought we could get closer-so we finagled our way up closer. Not as close as we wanted, but close enough to make me happy! It started raining harder (read dramatic pouring rain). We couldn't leave our spot to get an umbrella or we would lose our closer spot. We had fun. Natalie Morales even came over and talked/laughed at Carley. Carley got to shake her hand. Miley put on a good 1/2 hour concert. All in all we had a great morning. Wet, freezing, and super tired fun. Stay tuned for the rest of the New York story!

We were soaked but we were having so much fun!

Moving closer to the stage!

Carley and Natalie Morales

Singing with the foam mic they gave her

Summer does fly by

Its been forever since I have posted. Sorry everyone! I am making a goal to blog once a week-ok once a month!! Since summer flew by I will post pics from our summer and the last of school!

Carleys class on field day. Miss Westenskow's 2nd grade class. Carley running in a rely. She is a strong runner, but needs more stamina!

Taylor Swift concert. She had a blast and I have to say, I did too!

More Taylor Swift fun

Carley's 2nd grade dance festival.

I have more pics. I post them later

Disneyland here we come!!

I originally tried to post this before we left, but im an idiot!! I love technology!!

We are going to the Big D land on Tuesday morning!! Carley is so excited. I am excited too. We are meeting Kevin and Alex there. They are flying from Pittsburg and will fly in on Monday night!! Its not Carley's spring break, but its Alex's so Kev gets her for that, so we thought we would get the girls together for some fun. I hope it turns out great and itsnt too crowded!!

Proud Mom

So I have to brag!! Went to Parent teacher conferences this last week and my Daughter is the smartest girl alive!! She is reading at 1 1/2 years ahead of her grade and almost a year ahead in math. She is amazing. I have to stay on my toes with this one the force is strong with her!!!

Crazy life

Its been a while since I last updated, and we have done a ton of stuff so here are some random pics of the last few weeks!! Carley and Kevin playing American Idol on the Wii
Kevin and I having a lunch break while skiing at Alta. It was a beautiful day for skiing!

We went coat shopping and Kevin found this awsome pink Spyder coat. It was only $450.00 You just cant pass that deal up!!

Especially with the wicked spyder on back!

We went to Sushi and Carley hated it. I told her if she ate a california roll she could have Jamba juice, we couldnt find a Jamba, so she opted for ice cream!!

Happy VD!!!

My Valentines Day was great!! I had the best Valentine!! Carley and I got up early and spent the morning at the spa. Then we went to breakfast. After that we went shopping. What a great day!!! Carley made hats for us to wear. They were the exact same, except mine said Mother on the back and Carley's said Daughter!! We had a great day!! Me and my Valentine!
Carley getting her nails done

Chillin' suckin on our light up love suckers!

Our beautiful designer crowns!!

I loved my V-Day! It was amazing spending it with a perfect Valentine!

Fighting! Amazing!

So those of you who know me well might not really know me well. One of the things on my bucket list is to be ringside at a boxing match in Vegas. Well it wasnt quite Vegas, but Price turned out to be pretty cool. I went with a friend to the Ultimate Fighting Championship in beautiful Price, Utah!! Let me tell you the locals were out that night!!! It was a great night. I have watched a little of the MMA (Mixed Marshal Art) and think its pretty cool. But its nothing like being there. I wanna be a fighter when I grow up!!! Too cool to even explain!

This guy had an awsome home made cape!! It had sparkles but not quite enough bling for me!!

Shekhinah

I had the chance to go snowshoeing with some of my friends. It was amazing. We went up to donut falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was spectacular. The word shekhinah is a hebrew word for God's glory or knowing Gods presence is around. All I could think about while hiking through was Shekhinah. I was totally in awe of the scenery. It was so peaceful, but also an amazing workout!!! Julie and I kept saying why be in a stinky gym on a treadmill when you can be out doors like this. I have caught the snowshoeing bug and cant wait to buy my own snowshoes!!

Me next on a cute little bridge!

Julie and me doing what we do best, posing!


More fun posing!

And who couldn't go up a mountian without gloss?

Once we got to the falls (The falls were covered with snow so we couldnt see them) We had lunch. It was a great day! I

I think that life would just plain old SUCK without friends to be with . Julie, Tiffany, and Mindy thanks for letting my tag along!!

Random pics of the last few months

Carley Learning to ski

This is me pointing my name out at the St George Marathon. Yes I did run and yes I did finish!

Me sporting my new do! Its been a long time since Ive had short hair


Carley just after a great meal at In and Out Burger in Las Vegas!



Carley at Park City after learning how to ski! She is great!

Life Changes

Wow its been forever since I last updated and so much has changed. Justin and I have seperated and are getting divorced. It was supposed to be final at the first of the year, but our lawyer/mediator has been taking a long time reviewing docs, so we are still technically married. But it should be soon! Carely and I moved to Lindon in October. We moved into my Grandma's old house. I still work for JetBlue and also the government. Last weekend we went to San Antonio with my friend and had a great time. Carley had a blast. We ate amazing texmex and shopped till we dropped!! I want to go back soon without kids!! My new years resolution is to keep this blog updated, So stay tuned!!!














Carley and Kevin falling asleep while I shopped!