On the Move

Yesterday we ventured up to Ogden to look for a place to live. All day Monday I was on the computer looking for places to check out and trying to figure out the price range we had. After looking at what was available I printed out 6 to look at and 3 to call on. Well...after searching all day we found a place, we actually ended up at the first place we looked at. It's great! 2 Bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 family rooms, and a great backyard for Kaily to play in that is fenced in and away from any roads. Our neighbors will be our landlords and they are a great young LDS couple with an 18 mon little boy. Allison, the girl next door, is SO cute and I can't wait to get to know her better. Her husband seems to be great too, he and Clint really hit it off. The ward we will be in is either really young or REALLY old. They said that it's mostly young couples who are going to school though, so we will fit right in. Their nursery is quite large also, Kaily will be in heaven. We are moving out the end of May and hopefully one of us will have a job by then. Kaily loves the house and I love the fact that we will have more room. The duplex is about 1300 sq ft. We were so blessed to find this place. It needs a little work, but it's a cute old little place. It has a basement and that's where we will probably be with the kids since the laundry room is down there and I don't want to cart clothes up and down the stairs. Oh, and another great thing, Clint passed Microbiology! We were a little nervous about it and now it looks like he wont have to take it again at Weber State. WAHOOO!

Conner is getting so big and he loves to eat! His favorite thing right now is blowing bubbles with he spit, this causes a lot of drool and seriously after I put a shirt on him he can soak it in about 2 min. He is learning to kick and roll over as well as giggle, SO CUTE! Kaily is out little Drama Queen. She will go on and on, if you let her, on just about any subject. She loves to play pretend, watch movies, boss us around, play dress-up, and smother her brother. She is trying to be a big helper, bless her heart, I just wish I had more patience for it.

Old friends R great

*Some of you may be wondering if I am ever going to write about the race, it's below The 10 things I learned.*

My best friend, Julie, came to visit us this week from Ohio. She is here for her sisters graduation from BYU. I was so excited to see her that I didn't get many pics of us, but the one I did get was at 3 am the morning b4 she left for SLC. We had so much fun shopping and talking and we even got to spend time with some of our other friends from HS, Daniel and Crystal Zank. It was so good to have her here; I had forgotten how much I love doing things with her and just being silly again. Clint was a good sport to have his wife around all the time while she was here.

Since the race Clint has finished his last finals at UVSC and we are starting to pack. In the next couple of weeks he will be moving lots of people out of the apts and we can't wait to be one of them. Hopefully we will find a place to live soon. I hate looking for new places to move to. I can't wait for a move to be more permanent than this one will be. I think we will be at the next place as long as we have been here. OH WELL...*SIGH* Just be happy it's happening at all, I know.

I have decided to do a Blog for my goals in weight loss. Thanx for the inspiration Sarah and Laurie. I need to kick my butt in gear! So if you are interested the link is http://karenschanges.blogspot.com/ Leave me notes telling me you have gone there so I know who's looking. I can use all the support I can get.

what I learned

10 Things I learned from running this 5k:

1. make sure breasts are empty before running
2. train longer than a week before the race
3. I have an amazing husband
4. 3 miles isn't as far as I thought
5. make sure you have your keys b4 locking the car door
6. I can nurse anywhere
7. stretch b4 and after the race
8. don't eat b4 the run
9. my husband is my personal cheerleader
10. running with my husband is WaY more fun than running by myself

*More information to follow*

I DID IT!

Sorry it has taken me so long to report on the race. There has been so much going on since then that I haven't had time to sit down and write anything in here. So I will start with last Friday, April 18th. Friday was the Fitness Expo that we had to go to so that we could get our packets and shirts for the race. I kinda knew what to expect from the 1/2 marathon that Clint ran in Florida. It was cool, we saw some people we knew there and I had some comments from some women when they saw how little Conner was. They asked me how old he was and when I said 2 months they congratulated me on wanting to get out there and do this and good luck. I felt really nervous and excited about the whole thing. Saturday morning came and we had to be in SLC no later than 6:30am. I was so excited to get there and get started that I locked the keys in the car, I know so smart. Ok, so the race began at 7:30 and started a Liberty Park and then went to Gateway we had until 9:00 to finish. I really thought it would take me at least an hr if not longer, I was hoping for under an hr though. Clint was so GREAT! He stayed with me the whole time even though it was painful for him to stay behind and not go as fast as he would like, he did it for me and kept telling me this was my gig and he would stay by my side until the end. I love that he would cheer me on as we ran! I finished in 44min and ran a 14:25 min mile. SO much better than I thought. I know it's not great, but it was better than I thought it would be. Now I know what to expect next time I run one, which I hope will be in June. Conner was great in the stroller and I had to feed him as soon as we finished. The sad part was that b/c I locked the keys in the car I couldn't get any pics of me running. I guess that will have to wait for next time. I loved this! It felt so great to finish and do better than I thought I was going to do. I can see how this can become an addiction. I am excited to do this again and believe that you should do it at least once in your life.

I must be crazy!

So the other night I was listening to the radio and an ad came on that announced the Salt Lake City Marathon.  I started to see ads for it all over the place.  One night I was taking a shower and the ad popped into my head, I know weird place to be thinking about a marathon.  I tried to stop thinking about it, but I am singed up to run a 1/2 marathon in January at Disney World so running has been on the brain.  Well, after a couple of days of thinking about it I signed up to run a 5k at the Salt Lake City Marathon.  Now, this wouldn't seem so daunting if I hadn't signed up last week and I am running this tomorrow.  I also signed Clint up so I wouldn't have to do it by myself.  We went to the Expo for it today and I am really excited, but really nervous.  I don't plan on doing well, I really just want to finish it within the time I am allowed.  So I'll let you know how it turns out.  The other reason I think I'm crazy is, as you all know, I just had a baby.  Guess we'll find out in the morning how this will turn out.

What have I done?

A friend from my mission taged me to do this.

(X ) Gone on a blind date

( X ) Skipped school

( X) Watched someone die

( ) Been to Canada

( ) Been to Mexico

( X) Been to Florida

( X ) Been lost

(X ) Been on the opposite side of the country

(X ) Gone to Washington , DC

( X ) Swam in the ocean

( X ) Cried yourself to sleep

( x ) Played cops and robber

( X ) Recently colored with crayons

( ) Sang Karaoke

( X ) Paid for a meal with coins only?

( X ) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't

( X ) Made prank phone calls

(X ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose

( X ) Caught a snowflake on your tongue

( X ) Danced in the rain

( X ) Written a letter to Santa Claus

( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe

( X ) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about

( X ) Blown bubbles

( X ) Gone ice-skating

( ) Been skinny dipping outdoors

( X ) Gone to the movies

1. Any nickname? Carebear

2. Mother's name? Valerie

3. Favorite drink? Orange Juice

4. Tattoo? nope

5. Body Piercings? My ears

6. Birthplace? Murray, UT

7. Favorite vacation spot? Anywhere in Southern Utah

8. Ever been to Africa? NO, but I'd love to

9. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? Yep

10. Ever been on TV? no

11. Ever steal any traffic sign? Nope

12. Ever been in a car accident? Yes

13. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4 DOOR

14. Favorite salad dressing? Ranch or honey mustard

15. Favorite pie? Apple Pie

16. Favorite number? don't have one

17. Favorite movie? Don't have one

18. Favorite holiday? Christmas

19. Favorite dessert? Vanilla Ice cream

20. Favorite Food? Well, if it's fruit it's peaches, if it's vegies it's red bell pepper, if it's anything else I don't really have one

21. Favorite day of the week? Monday, Clint doesn't wk on Monday nights

22. Favorite brand of body wash? Bath and Body Works Creamy Coconut

23. Favorite smell? Bath and Body Works Moonlit Path

25. What do you do to relax? Watch TV, read, talk on the phone, surf the net

26. How do you see yourself in 10 years? Happy & healthy

27. Furthest place away this will be read? New Hampshire

I tag Sarah and Theresa

Nothing new

I haven't blogged anything lately because there is really nothing new going on. Clint has a week left at UVSC before finals and then we are officially done there. I can't tell you how excited I am to be moving on and to know that in 2 years we will be in a better situation than we are now. I know that there is more school to come, but it makes it easier for me to know that there is a light at the end and to be able to see it.

Kaily is getting smarter and sassier all the time. Clint and I need to be careful what we talk about when she is in the room because we are sure to hear our words repeated in some story or back to us later on. Her stories and make believe are getting more elaborate and she can come up with some great plots. She wishes Clint and I would play more with her, as in all day, but she does a great job playing on her own. I hope the next place we live has lots of kids her age to play with and more room to play in.

Conner's' personality is coming out more each day. He is quite the mama's boy these days, and not just for the feedings. I don't mind though, I actually enjoy it. It's nice to see his whole face light up when he hears my voice or sees me. The only problem with this is it's hard on everyone else who wants to hold and cuddle him. He tolerates Clint putting him to sleep, but he would rather that I did it. Thankfully Clint is a patient man and most of the time will just handle it.

A Weekend

This weekend was WONDERFUL! Clint did a great job on Conner's blessing and we were so happy to have people from both sides of the family here. It was great to spend time with Clint's parents and let Kaily play with them. After the blessing everyone was invited to come over to our apartment to have chicken salad sandwiches, jell-o salad and my dad's cookies. It was a busy day, but so much fun. Thank you to everyone who came.

Other news this weekend...Clint got a letter in the mail on Monday morning. It was something we had been waiting for since January. I know I told you all in a previous blog that Clint had decided not to go the nursing rout anymore, well...The letter he got was from Weber State University, the ONLY school Clint applied to for Nursing. He said to me while he was opening it, "Karen, this is it, it's going to tell me that I didn't get in and we can make plans to move to Cedar City for school." Then his eyes got REALLY big as his reading gets quiet. All of the sudden he yells, "I GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!" It's true, not April Fools, he got in. Out of hundreds that applied he is one of 35 people who got in. Now you may be asking, "Does he really want to do this?" The correct answer would be NO. However, after much fasting and blessing and prayer he feels like this is what he needs to do. It seems, sometimes that when you think you have made the right choice all you have to do is REALLY make it and then the Lord directs you the way he wants you to go. A friend and co-worker of his told him yesterday that, "A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not what it was built for." I would be lying if I said that he was supper excited about this whole thing. You may be wondering how I feel about it, well...I'm just happy that he's made a decision and that it's only two years and then we can see where he wants to go from there. It looks like we are moving some place in Ogden. We are going up there this weekend to figure things out. We should be out of here in the next couple of months. I'll keep you all posted.