First 5k

I know that I am not a skinny chick (well yet anyway.) I have struggled with my fluffy volume of a body for the last half of my life. When I was in high school I was in the school beauty pagent "Jr.Miss." At the time I didn't think I was FAT, I had self doubts about myself but overall I thought I was ok. Well, the gal that was doing the costumes told me that I was to fat for the outfits that they had selected for one of the numbers. That they were going to have to take two costumes and sew them together to make the one costume for me. I'm sure she meant well when she told me these things, but it didn't help my self talk. It obviously made an impact on me since I still remember it so vividly. I even remember were we were when we had the conversation. However, I didn't really start gaining a lot of weight until I opened up about the assault a few years later. Food then became (and still is) a drug to me.

This is me at the Jr.Miss pageant thing. My mom made that dress! I loved it!

So it may be a little random that I decided to run my first 5k for my 35th birthday. I wanted to do something memorable that I had never done before and this is what I thought would be fun...lol..I have so much to learn....

Ok granted I did not run the entire thing, I think I ran about half of it and quickly walked the rest. The race was sponsored by the Biggest Loser show .I love Biggest Loser! I tend to watch it with a big bag of chocolate as I lay on my bed. I know I know...not the inspiration that the show really intended. I did not prepare as much as I wanted to. I have a bazillion excuses for why I didn't run as much as I should have, but they are all excuses. I let other things become a priority for the hard work necessary to run the complete 5k. I hope to try again in November.


When the race started there was a lot of energy! It felt like electricity was pulsing through the crowd. It was wet, cold, windy, and not very pleasant conditions for running a 5k, but that didn't stop the crowd from getting really excited.

If you look closely you can see all of the former contestants. The one in pink is Sarah Nitta and she still in the competition. I met her briefly after the race and she was so sweet and nice. She looked great!

Note to self: I naively assumed that since we were all going to be running a race, exercising, and getting all sweaty (in the rain no less!)that people would be dressed comfortably and most likely what one would exercise in. Nope. WRONG! Please remember that I have never participated in a race nor have I ever watched a race so I had no idea what I was getting into. The people were completely decked out! Some had tutus on, some had crazy hair, I ran behind a gal for a while that had this bright pink jacket with tons of sequins on it that said "Think Pink!" It was insane!! I showed up very low key, very little make-up, no costume, and ready to go!...I did not realize that the 5k was an excuse to party with your exercising buddies. Too fun!

The most profound moment during the race was when I saw my family waiting for me at the top of the hill. They jumped up and down, cheered, and gave me a boost of happy energy. As soon as I saw them I immediately started running again even though I thought I had ran the last little bit out of me. My family got me through the most difficult part of the race, when I wanted to walk-really-really-slow-to-the-car-in-the-parking-lot-that-we-were-running-in, they were there to remind me what my goal was.

Cory joined me for the last lap of the race. He had Mark in his arms and was walking...while I was running. I guess I'm not that fast of a runner..lol..but I loved having him with me while I bobbed along. Maybe I can get him to run with me in November (or maybe I can get that old man from the race who was pushing his wife in a wheelchair and sailed past me.....no really that happened.)

There were some of the Biggest Loser previous cast there running with us. They gave us all high 5's and yelled "you can do it!" whenever they would run past us. I was able to get Ada's and Adam's autograph on my wet shirt (very awkward moment....please sign my wet sweaty shirt!!).


Anyway, I had a blast and I hope to do something like this again. My journey with my weight continues. I know my family will be there for me when I feel like I can't reach my goals or want to quit, just like they were there for me at the race.
Thanks everyone!
Have a happy day!

THIS AND THAT

Yes you guessed it!! It is time to play blog-catch-up-with-a-modge-podge-of-pictures!!!! Hooray!!

Silly Ben on a car ride with his dad and Grandpa Sutton. He loves being silly!!

This past weekend Cory, Luke and myself went to the TJED forum. I LOVE going to it each year. As one who teaches at home, I love attending and being around people who do the same thing. It is very empowering for me. I loved catching up with friends that I hadn't seen in a while and I loved soaking in the knowledge that was given. My favorite classes were about how to teach history and then another one about physics and science. Very cool stuff!!

The opening speaker was the CEO of the Arbinger institute. If you haven't ever read their books, I HIGHLY recommend all of them. (Their website has many articles that are available for free to download and read.) We arrived nice and early so we could sit in the front. It was so worth it! I had heard the principles taught before, but after a while, I started receiving some nice personal insights.


These are the kids that we were able to hang out with! Nate, Luke and Emma were a blast! Emma drove up with us and Nate joined us there.

Cory, Luke and myself gave a presentation to the love of learner's center. We did all sorts of fun science things with a balloon. Luke did his famous display of putting a balloon in fire without having it pop, and stabbing a skewer inside a balloon without it popping. I did some static electricity experiments with a soda can and made all of their hair (and mine) stand on end. Then Cory stood on top of a bunch of balloons without them popping. The kids were SO attentive! Most kids start losing their interest after about 10-15 minutes, but these kids were focused and engaged for the full hour we were there. I was so impressed!!



This is before we started, they were a little excited. There was a lot of energy in that room!

This is the day after we got home. I love this picture! Mark LOVES his Dad and runs up to him whenever Dad comes home.


Spring is here!!! I love spring!! I don't like the allergies that my kids and that Cory gets. It almost wipes them out!


This is in Toquerville. We were driving down the road with I snapped the picture. I really like how it turned out.

This is my plum tree. Thankfully when it snowed the other day I didn't loose my blossoms! I was SO worried!

This concludes this edition of blog-whatever-you-want!!!
Have a great day everyone!

Birthday happenings

My birthday was a few weeks ago but I had so much fun with my family that I wanted to show off their awesomeness. Besides that...how often do you get to go to Chuckie Cheese as an adult for your pre-birthday!

My OLDER sister.

Anna is a fierce competitor! I had no idea! And she won everything without making us feel like the losers we are! Woo Anna!


Mark on the Barney train..he liked it way to much.


Ray and Anna...can you tell we are all related???

With my Dad..Love you Dad!

On the way to Vegas, where the family was gathering, it was snowing here and as we passed through the gorge, the snow clouds were low and very lovely. Needless to say when we arrived at Vegas, it was sunny and warm!!

That night we enjoyed cake for me and my dad, and we had fun with the plethora of sparklers that my brother had collected. My brother is a conductor for a symphony and had them perform my FAVORITE song at their concert that night. How lucky am I?!?!?!

On my actual birthday, we went hiking up and Zion. We even saw some wild turkeys.

Then Cory made me my FAVORITE treat-jalapeno poppers! Ohhhh they are so good!!!
Thanks hun! It was a great way to celebrate becoming middle aged. :)

Something fun in the mail!

In December Cory took his last final at Dixie State College. He turned in his last paper in, had one last argument with his professors, and drove away. It doesn't seem that long ago that he finished his associates degree, but at the same time it has seemed like FOREVER ago when he started. I have loved watching Cory learn and grow at school. He would question his professors and write papers about unconventional topics. When he questioned the righteousness public school system in a debate class my heart soared with pride!! Of course he had to defend the public schools and that was eye opening as well..lol.. When he did an observation in our local commonwealth (not a public school by the way...) it became obvious that his professor did not have the same point of view with Cory. I loved being there as Cory discovered what he believed from his professors and what he did not. How he would study in depth on a topic that would come up even though there was no paper due or assignment about the specific topic. I love how he would analyze the different points of views taught and loved a great discussion in class and with fellow classmates. I loved it that, even when he was a senior, he would still ask me to check over his papers. I only have an associates and he was studying things way out of my league.

Cory received his bachelor's degree in the mail and I drove it up to him at work. He worked so hard for it!! He earned about an overall 3.87 GPA (might be a little higher..I don't remember...) and was the student of the semester.

Way to go hun!!! I am so thrilled for your success in school!! To think, 5 years ago you were overwhelmed in math class and nervous to turn in your first paper. Now you have aced statistics, algebra, and turned in who knows how many hundreds of pages of papers.

What a great adventure this has been!! I am so excited for the next one!! Love you!