Christmas Joy

I (Rich) decided to save my blogging debut for a very special event. An event that would change my life, perhaps forever. I never thought it would come, but finally it has arrived bringing new purpose and joy, even Christmas Joy. I was finally able to spend some time with my second love this weekend and after many hours with her, I couldn't wait to see what she could really do in the back of my car. Some may call her boxy, but I think she's the perfect shape. Don't let her cheap, fake leather fool you, because she goes low and hits hard. Her 3 cubic feet, ten inch Kicker, and two 3 inch ports produce an amazing 22 Hz. You see, I took a speaker building class this fall semester and built a new box for the sub woofer in my car. I'm so happy! Anyway here are some pics to add to your Christmas Joy and possibly to your wish list!

Dinner

This past week and a half has been a whirlwind. I've been running around, it seems, everywhere! However, this weekend, in all my running around, I was able to run toward some wonderful things. And that makes the craziness of the Christmas season all worthwhile.

I've mentioned how Toni and AnnDee were my roommates in college. I am so blessed to have them! They've seen me at my worst, and understand how you should not talk to me when I've just woken up from a nap, and that I will kill the spiders for them if they will kill the moths for me. Such a wonderful friendship. This weekend we got together for a dinner party, and it really made my month. No, it made my month and a half. I ate too much, stayed too late, but laughed exactly the right amount.

Through this, I was reminded how much recipes, cooking, and food are a part of my life. I may not be the best cook (documented in this blog all too well), but I enjoy the act of being in the kitchen. Being in the kitchen with friends makes the cooking experience even better. So, though my mother may not approve, I'm going to share one of my favorite winter recipes. It's perfect for those days when you're missing the fruits of summer and need something different than plain apples and oranges. I get excited when the pomegranates start appearing the grocery store. It reminds me of my grandma. She could never peel a pomegranate on her own, her hands were too gnarled from arthritis, and her own share of time in the kitchen, but Dixie Salad will forever remind me of her and take me back to that condo in St. George. I hope you enjoy!

(Really, I hope you enjoy the recipe itself, it's pure Susie. She cannot follow a recipe to exactness because she knows how to make it better all on her own. I didn't take out my mother's interjections because they are just too adorable.)


Dixie Salad
Now remember this is the recipe, adapt to what you have and want to put together:)

1 qt pomegranate seeds
3 apples, chopped (usually Granny Smith)
1 can pineapple tidbits (optional????) I can't remember if we added this or not
1/2 cup raisins (very optional as far as Dad is concerned)
1 cup bananas, chunked (totally optional or not at all also per Dad)!!!

Add chopped pecans and mix in whipped cream just before serving.

Just to be clear, my family only puts in pomegranates, apples, and pecans with the whipped cream. The other things make the salad all squishy and have a weird texture, which is never good.

So Many Superlatives!

I haven't nerded out for awhile and posted about books. What was I thinking? Well, I'm here to remedy this deficiency by tell you about the GREATEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN. Srsly. I can't believe it took me three weeks to remember to post about my new favorite book. Now, I feel like I've frequently been labeling books my new favorites, and I don't believe my standards are slipping, rather that I've just gloriously stumbled upon some great reads as of late. But, this book beats them all. This book makes it into MY TOP 5 FAVORITE BOOKS. That's right. It's made the list. It has successfully knocked The Poisonwood Bible to number 6 (don't cry lovers of Kingsolver's wonderful read, it's still in the top 10).

I was reminded that I needed to blog about this AMAZING BOOK when I had the following conversation with my friend Kate:

K: we were besties for like A DAY. it obv. cannot compare to my lifelong love for YOU. WHAT ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW? I am reading Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell. it is amazing.

B: I’m in between books actually. I just finished Trinity by Leon Uris though. AND IT CHANGED MY LIFE. I also just read some book about being more optimistic. Cuz’ I am so grumpy all the time.

K: is trinity about being mormon CUZ IT SOUNDS RELIGIOUSLIKE. i am also STILL trying to get through catch-22. i've pretty much been reading it for six months.

B: Trinity is about Ireland and the Catholic/Protestant struggle there. It totally makes sense to me now why there is a Northern Ireland. It’s more about Ireland’s struggle for independence from England. So good! I cried in it. I couldn’t even get started in Catch-22. Hated the first chapter. Really I just want to go home, get in bed, and watch Elf.

K: i'm a little more than halfway through, i think. i feel obligated now but it's hard. i keep STRAYING. pretty much i want to go home get in bed and read my book while spooning my many animals.

You should have learned many things from this conversation: 1) how Kate's love for me is still strong after not working together for 2.5 years (the feeling is mutual); 2) how my new favorite book is Trinity by Leon Uris; 3) how much I love the movie Elf (it makes me smile and "smiling's my favorite"); 4) how Catch-22 will never make it to my favorites list; 5) how cute Kate is about her animals; 6) how we have really important e-mail convos; and 7) how Trinity MADE ME CRY (this is a big deal, and while it may seem like I am a very emotional person, which I think is a curse from my mother, very few books actually bring me to tears. I was INVOLVED in the character’s lives, people).

I think an Amazon review of Trinity said it best: “Though I have to admit my first instinct upon reaching the last page was to try at all costs to join the IRA (as irrational and impossible as that is), when the tears finally stopped I reluctantly admitted to myself that that was an entirely inappropriate way of directing my anger and adopted pain.”

How great is that?! Sometimes Amazon reviews are helpful, sometimes not, but really, this gal hit it on the head. (Also, I think she may be a little crazy.)

And now that I’m done rambling. GO READ Trinity.

Ringing in the Season

It's December 1st! That means the Christmas season has officially begun! We rang in the season tonight by putting the first piece in the advent calendar. Notice how the first piece is a bell? That's because when I was little my mom would always pull the bell out of the box and ring it enthusiastically telling us we were ringing in the season. And if you know my mom, you can picture her doing this all cute and excited. Because she is cute and excited. So, now, I, too, pull out the bell and ring in the season in hopes of one day becoming as cute and as enthusiastic as Susie.

Normally I would have the advent box a little more decorated. But if we waited for me to decorate it, this post may never happen. It's like I keep telling my grandma, "I'm full of good intentions, but don't have a lot of follow through." I have all sorts of plans for December. But, as with all of my plans, I'm sure to leave something unfinished or even unstarted (that's not really a word). I think I'll be okay with that though. As long as I get to enjoy some time with family and friends, my cold goes away, and the family party Bingo game turns out as amazing as I'm imagining it in my head. Oh, and some snow. I really want some snow.

In the meantime, behold our tree and us in our cuteness.

7 Crazy Quirks About Me

Selina tagged me. I'm pretty sure if I didn't have tags, I would forget to post most of the time. I've been trying to think of things that are "quirky" about me. I've come to the conclusion that I'm pretty normal.

Here we go.

1. I can take my socks off and roll them into a ball using only my toes. I'm also very good at pinching with my toes. Rich hates this. I still do it.

2. It grosses me out and makes me gag to drink milk out of a paper cup. (Especially at large gatherings where the milk has been out and is slightly warm, ew ew ew!)

3. I am terrified of moths.

4. When playing cards, I have to have the largest number on the left, but I put the largest number on the bottom and go down in numerical order from there. (This drives Rich nuts. Try playing Phase 10 with him. He freaks that we're not "living in an Asian country" and that "my numbers are backwards.")

5. I like eating saltine crackers with butter and a slice of cheese. I push the cheese slice down so the butter comes out of the cracker holes. This makes me smile.

6. I don't like carbonated drinks because they make my nose fizzy.

7. It makes my heart hurt when I see family-owned businesses empty. Like I want to go and be a customer just so they don't look so lonely in there and so they don't fail. When I was in NY and a new dry cleaner opened up on 14th, I walked past and there were no customers and the man was just standing there staring out into the street. There were no clothes on the racks. You could practically see his thoughts and they were sad. It was heart breaking. I wanted to rush home and bring some dry cleaning, but I couldn't cuz' I was too poor to dry clean my clothes. Also, every time I pass Lanikai Grill in South Jordan I have to look inside to see if there are customers. And if there aren't, I cry a little inside. And then I remind myself to eat there soon. I just have these little stories in my head about how they are just trying to provide for their families and it's not working and it's so sad. (I'm literally tearing up while writing this. I also cry at grocery stores when I see elderly people bagging my food.)

So, I'm not sure if that last one is a quirk or just an indication of how emotional I have become. But at least it's proof that my black heart is not completely black, perhaps there's a gray tint in there still.

I am positive that my lack of imagination made me forget some of the quirks I have, so feel free to comment and remind me of how weird I truly am.

And I hate tagging people. So just do it if you feel bored.

Prancing is Underrated

Nobody really prances anymore. Though, while writing that the thought came to me "Did people ever really prance from place to place?" I mean, did the ancient Egyptians prance to and fro?

I've been meaning to discuss this topic for the past week--ever since I saw the most adorable grandpa prancing down the street. There he was in all his elderly glory. He had a yellow bow tie--which, of course, was covered in polka dots. He had a tweed sport coat with elbow patches. And his erect, cocked wrists proudly displayed the apple he was carrying and the OLD SCHOOL MEDICAL BAG. That's right. That deserved capitals. I mean, as if the prancing didn't make him adorable, the fact that he still carries his medical bag around for house calls makes him precious. (I'm absolutely convinced that had I been allowed a peek inside his bag I would have found wonderfully old and wonderfully useful medical tools. Don't ruin this for me.)

I'm not belittling. Really. This man really made me smile on a Monday morning. So I'll be forever grateful. He was just so full life. I've been composing posts in my head for the past week trying to give this man the literary justice he so clearly deserves. I'm pretty sure I wrote an entire short story based solely on this man that included embellishments from my apparently very bored imagination.

I'm not sure you can fully grasp the wonder that was the sight of the prancing country doctor on a Salt Lake City street. But I wish you could. He definitely seems like a man who would pull from his pocket a lemon drop covered with bits of coat lint to make a child's day. He is definitely that man who has been doing his Army calisthenics every day since Korea. I know this because there is no other way a man that age could get his knees up that high. He is definitely the man who strictly adheres to the adage "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Why else would he be grandly holding his red delicious for the world to see? Perhaps he was taking it to someone who had not been following this advice in exactness. In short, this man was everything I would have imagined him to be. The only thing missing was his hat.

Cooking Woes

I take some pride in being able to cook. Not that I'm a great chef, nor are my meals magical (though I hope someday to have someone critique my food as "whimsical"), but I think it's fun to cook, and I enjoy making good things to eat.

Anyway, this has been a rough week in the kitchen. I decided to make some tomato soup with all of those tomatoes I have going bad and eating away at my conscience. Rich made it clear that the last tomato soup I made (which was amazing) wasn't great because it wasn't creamy tomato soup. When I found this crock pot creamy tomato soup recipe (from one of my favorite blogs btw) I was pretty excited. The reviews said this was a winner. However, I ruined the recipe beyond repair and had to end up throwing it all away--after Rich kindly made comments like "Just burns a little on the way down."

The disaster began with the recipe calling for cooking sherry. I do not own this. The Internet people (Google, you let me down) said that substituting apple cider vinegar straight across would work. Fast forward to Monday night. I walked through the door and immediately my nostrils began to twitch from the acrid smell coming from the crock pot. I promptly added A LOT of Splenda to try to offset the vinegar taste. I should have realized this wasn't working when the Splenda made the soup start to fizz--almost as if I'd created my own 4th-grade volcano science project. In desperation I decided to add the cream. Apparently vinegar makes cream curdle. So instead of "creamy" tomato soup, we have tomato soup that looks as if white sprinkles are floating in it. Undeterred and determined to make this work, I added some mozzarella (because cheese makes everything better). This did nothing. And it's still super vinegary. Then I decide to add some honey--and a lot more spices. This does not work. In the end, I put it on the table knowing it was disgusting. I lost a little respect for myself by doing this.

However, I did toast some bread up nicely. We ate that for dinner. With some apple slices. I rock at slicing up apples.

BYU vs. UNLV

Rich and I got to go to the BYU/UNLV football game on Saturday. It was so much fun! A big thanks to AnnDee and Devon for letting us have their tickets! (ps. Devon, we really did try to find you so we could see you in your uniform and say "hi!" but we couldn't find you. Instead we pretended another cop sitting by us was you. We thanked him silently.) Another big thanks goes to Toni and Cody for dropping us off near the stadium so we didn't have to worry about all the craziness of parking!This game was apparently a lesson in being prepared. As I was not. Who knew that Saturday was going to be so beautiful!? I dressed with double socks and some long johns under my pants (I get so cold!). The weather, however, was wonderful, and even bordered on hot. So I was dying. Instead of getting frostbite, I have a wonderful sunburn line in the middle of my forearm and a half red face. That's correct, only the right half of my face got sunburned. I'm so pretty right now!

Oh well. We had a great time and were happy to have such great seats at a great game.

(This is NOT a cute picture of me. I look disgusting. We are also very squinty because it was so bright! But notice Rich full of school spirit in his BYU shirt! This picture was also taken before I realized the error of my ways in dressing for subzero temperatures.)

Another Tag. . .

My sister-in-law tagged me, and since I have nothing else exciting to say, I'll take up the challenge!

8’s

8 TV shows I love to watch:

I want to preface this by saying that I really don't watch very much TV. Though Annalisa does her best to keep me posted on the latest trends, so most of these shows are either watched on the Internet or on DVD.

Friends, That '70s Show, The Office, Gossip Girl, Privileged. . . um, Pushing Daisies, CSI, Law and Order.

8 favorite restaurants

Cafe Rio, Skool Lunch, Zupa's, Arby's, The Pizza Factory, Thaifoon, Paradise Bakery, Porcupine Grill.

8 things I did yesterday

Went to church, taught my lesson, took a nap, read a book, made a salad, went to the in-law's for dinner, helped Rich with homework, snuggled with my husband!

8 things I am looking forward to:

Losing weight, finishing sewing projects, starting new projects, Christmas, getting new books, reuniting with friends, buying presents, hanging out with Rich!

8 things I love about THIS fall:

Fresh veggies (that we grew!), bottling, drying fruit, watching the leaves change, watching football, pulling out sweaters I forgot about, wearing my slippers, drinking hot chocolate.

8 things on my wish list:

To lose weight, to have an organized house, to have a dinner "plan" nightly, new clothes!, more time with Rich, a better attitude, better health, to laugh more.

TMI? IDK.

I love tights. Love them. This may be because I have to wear nylons to work every day. (I know, 1986.) And tights make me feel, in a sad way, like I am bucking the system of boring nylons. I have this pair of great brown tights. Which I've apparently worn too much. I have these rather large holes at the toes. The holes are spreading like spider webs. This isn't so much a problem when I'm stationary, but when I walk, the holes spread over my toes and create a tourniquet situation. I literally thought I would have to amputate my big toe by the time I got back from lunch. Thankfully all circulation returned and this catastrophe was avoided.

However, I did consider cutting my ears off so that I didn't have to listen to SOMEONE loudly talk about their urinary tract infection and how they cannot take antibiotics so the only relief they get is from this other medication that sort of numbs the urinary tract. In the meantime, this person is drinking A LOT of cranberry juice. I also learned that this person's daughter had her first UTI when she was only 4 months old. But miraculously this person was able to help her daughter through this trying time because this woman has had over 100 UTIs in her lifetime.

I know it's hard, and that sometimes the line between what is appropriate to share and what is personal information is blurry, and that I may have crossed this line myself by now blogging about this experience, but really, people, I'm ALMOST POSITIVE your UTI is not something that should be common knowledge.

Technical Genius

I got to work today and was looking through some of the job postings that are open right now within the LDS Church. I came across one with the title of "Technical Genius" and decided I must know what this was all about. The following is the real post. Not kidding. I was laughing so hard I was crying. In fact, this post initiated an emergency staff meeting that consisted of 6 of us huddled in an office reading it together. Honestly. This was one of the best days at work ever. (Please notice the typo right after they ask for someone "flat SMART.")

Description

Technical Genius – Passion and Intelligence

If you are just flat SMART – please apply.

If you are don’t have tons of experience, but you know you have the GIFT – please apply.

If you have always been at the top of your class or the top of your career – please apply.

Regardless of your technical background, if you have shown that you can be the best – please apply.

In the interviewing process you will need to demonstrate:

1. Genius – the gift.

2. High Aptitude – able to learn new skills quickly.

3. Passion – love to solve problems.

We are looking for someone who has the aptitude to be a brilliant problem solver. Regardless of your technical background, if you have shown that you can be the best, we want to talk to you.

Now I'm just wondering if I have "the GIFT."

The Magic of Fall/Winter

Winter welcomed me full force on Friday afternoon while I waited at the bus stop. Not even my thick navy blue tights could keep winter from freezing my shins. And the wind laughed at me all the while by whipping hair directly into my eyes. Upon arriving at my semi-warm, not-yet-heated house, I decided the only logical thing to do was brew up some tasty hot chocolate, pull out my trusty slippers, and snuggle down with a big, soft blanket and the last Harry Potter book. Harry Potter? That's right. I've been woefully neglecting life for the past 2 weeks as I've read through the entire series once more. Not sure why I chose to waste my time reading books I've already read scores of times when I have entire shelves full of books needing reading. Perhaps I was looking for some magic. And where better to find magic than at Hogwarts and my own imagination? Now that I've gotten this fun, but time wasting, project out of the way, I'm ready to start on some magic of my own doing. This will mainly involve pumpkin muffins, caramel popcorn, sewing projects--including a wall hanging I started nearly 9 months ago--and making the house warm and cozy. I'm hoping that my lazy streak as of late is at its end and that the rest of fall and the coming winter months will be pleasantly filled with projects much more fulfilling than was reading all 7 Harry Potter books in two weeks. Though to be sure, many more mugs of hot chocolate will be involved and my slippers will be permanently in place.

Looks Like We Made It . . .

Today is our one year anniversary! Yay to us! It's cliche, but I honestly can't believe how fast this year has gone by. It seems just like yesterday that we were getting everything ready for our big day. I love Rich so much and am so grateful to him for putting up with me for an entire year--fingers crossed he keeps it up!
Rich surprised me with a plan to get away from everything for a bit and picked me up from work on Friday for our weekend of fun. He didn't tell me where we were going, so I was really surprised when we pulled into this run-down neighborhood in Ogden. Seriously. I was super nervous. I remember asking Rich if he'd looked at the pictures online. He was nervous too, thinking he'd made a big mistake on the planning. But apparently there's a "Canyon Rd" in Ogden, and a road called "Ogden Canyon." Thankfully we were just in the wrong place! But that was an exciting start to the night! We eventually made our way to The Alaskan Inn, which has these super cute little cabins all decorated fun with different Alaskan themes. It was so nice! And our cabin was super cute. We were in "Old Ketchikan," which was decorated with some fishing stuff. The furniture is all log and it's just a cozy little place. The canyon was beautiful too, and the leaves were changing. It was a perfect destination! Rich got an "A+" for this plan!

On Saturday morning we got breakfast in bed, which made me feel super rich! Room service is fun. Then I made Rich pose for some pics. (I tried to email myself the pics so I could add them, but apparently I am lame and this didn't work. I'll post them later. I promise. This time, I promise.)

After this we made our way to the Ogden Temple. Neither of us had been to this temple before, and I loved that it wasn't super busy so we could just be alone. Rich is so great and planned a wonderful getaway for us. He even bought me a new outfit! Super cute!

To celebrate on our actual day (today) I planned dinner at home. My parents flew in from the Philippines on Friday, so my mom was there to help. Thanks! I was brave and attempted cooking salmon for the first time. Rich did a great job manning the grill, and the fish turned out perfectly--even if I was a bit grossed out by the scales. I also made rosemary potatoes, some wonderful brussels sprouts, and rolls. Then for dessert I made an anniversary carrot cake. (This is my try at making the carrot cake seem fancy.) I was feeling bad because I didn't save the top of our wedding cake. Right after we got married my mom offered to put it in the freezer for us. I told her I would do it. I never did. I ended up having to throw the top away. I'm so lazy! Anyway, I felt really awful for my lack of following what tradition demands, so I decided to make a new cake top that wasn't in danger of having freezer burn. Our original topper was carrot cake. So I searched the Internets for a great recipe that would be worthy for us to eat on our year anniversary, and came across a really fattening recipe. With 3 sticks of butter and 2 cups of sugar, I knew this recipe had to be a winner. I was nervous, since it fell when cooking. And then stuck to the bottom of the pans, but the end result turned out semi-pretty and VERY tasty!

All in all our weekend celebration was wonderful. But not as wonderful as the past year has been. I love Rich and am so glad I found him. And that he chose me! I'm so excited for the future, because I know it can only get better when you have as amazing a husband as I do! Love you Rich! One year down, infinity to go!!

Zucchini Mush

Last night was a zucchini disaster. I thought I could keep my domestic skills going since the night before I'd made raspberry-plum jam all by myself--no help from my mom! Well, I did have to call her with one teensy question, but still, all by myself.

We have SO MUCH zucchini. Remember that baby little plant we started with back in June? Now it's the mama of the whole wee garden. And really, I don't think anything grows faster than a zucchini, well, other than the freak show that is Renesmee. We have tons and tons of zucchini. Large zucchinis (sometimes I forget to check in on the garden). And I don't like when they get all big--when they get to be a big as my arm, they're only good for shredding and the occasional soup addition--so I thought I would freeze some up to use when the winter months take the garden away. I read on the USU Extension Web site that I needed to blanch the zucchini before freezing, and since apparently the extension is THE WORD when it comes to the home arts, I dutifully followed their suggestion to blanch the shredded zucchini for 3 minutes. Wrong. This does not blanch the zucchini so much as cook it into oblivion. I thought this seemed like a long time for blanching, but hey, what do I know? When it came time to blanch the sliced zucchini, I put it in for just about a minute, and it turned out beautifully. But I still have the shredded mush. I was going to just call it a loss and throw it away, I mean, is this really going to be usable in cookies or bread? But that felt wasteful, so I measured it out into the freezer bags, which I may end up throwing away in a few months. But I feel that this is less wasteful:)

Moral of the story, sad night in the domestic games.

**Okay, so I re-checked the extension Web site. And I may not have remembered the instructions quite clearly. Apparently you're not supposed to blanch shredded zucchini for 3 mintues. Rather you're supposed to steam blanch it for 1-2 mintues. It's the sliced zucchini that should be blanched for 3 mintues. So apparently I've messed it all up. I guess the real moral of the story is sad night in Brianne reading the instructions.

The Healing Has Begun

You know those moments in your life where you feel that you sort of got the shaft? I do. One of my deepest scars from childhood comes when everyone else got their very own framed shark's teeth. I did not. I even sacrificed my life to have my picture taken in a tub overhanging a cliff and I still didn't get any teeth! Okay. I was 5 when this all went down. And clearly this was a dramatic event back then. Though I did kind of feel bad for the past 20 years that I didn't have any shark's teeth. This weekend, the healing process began.

How was all that for intense beginnings? Are you confused yet? Remember how I got Friday off for throwing the department party of the year? Well, where else would I go to relax than Tropic! My cousin (ish) got married over the weekend so Rich and I and my sister, Dawn, and her family headed down for the celebration. The weather was perfect, even if I did get a bit sunburned. I just love Tropic at this time of year! Rich and I got down there Friday night and enjoyed the quietness of a small town. We livened things up a bit though by playing some Yahtzee. That's right. We're totally crazy. Rich will probably like me to mention that he rolls Yahtzee every game. Not kidding. He's so freaking lucky.

Saturday we all decided to take a hike, and because I hadn't been to the bathtubs since I was 5, and Dawn wasn't with the family back then, we headed up there. I'll stop here and give some background. The bathtubs are called this because there's a flat area up on a hill in Tropic where the rocks have indents and look like bathtubs. The area used to all be covered by Lake Bonneville, so the hill is sandy and has little shells, fossils, and the all important shark's teeth. You can't really go up there in the summer because it's too hot and the rattlesnakes are out. And since that's the only time we're really in Tropic, we really wanted to take advantage of this trip and head on up. Gwen said that since everyone's been going up there for so long we might not find any shark's teeth, but we decided to give it a try anyway. Gwen directed us to the correct hills--and let me tell you, even with the directions, we still got lost. Not because it was hard to find, but because apparently things seem a lot cooler and bigger when you're 5. We totally walked right past the bathtubs and kept on going up the mountain. For real. I just couldn't believe that the indent we passed on the rock was the bathtub. I remember being placed in this tub that overhung the cliff and thinking I was going to die. I must have been really dramatic back then.

Anyway, after our extra little jaunt up the mountain, we came back down and chilled in the tubs and then went to searching for prehistoric loot. And! I found the first teeth!! I was so excited. I totally should have been an archeologist. How cool would that be? Conner, my nephew, found the biggest tooth! It's probably like an inch long. (Sorry I don't have a pic.) Gwen said it was the biggest tooth she'd ever seen from up there! Rich was a little miffed that Conner found such a treasure and made sure we knew "it was much harder to find the small teeth." We searched around for a bit and found quite a few teeth. Enough to make Conner, Nicholas, and myself little frames of shark's teeth. That's right. My childhood dream is coming true!

The rest of the weekend was pretty chill. We hit up the reception, and Kyler and Stephenie looked super cute together! It was great to see some family and friends, though I'm super sad that I only got to talk to Cody for like 1 minute. And coming home is always depressing for me. I just hate driving away! (Apparently I'm still a little dramatic.)

And we're back!

So, for the past few weeks I've just been blah. Blah. I have been super lazy and just cranky. I'm not sure why. It's not a pleasant side of me, but I have been trying to have a more positive attitude. I didn't feel like blogging my negativity, so with this brief mention on the reason for my hiatus, here we go a-blogging again!

I may have been a teensy bit stressed because I was in charge of this summer party at work. Seriously, who puts a 25 year old in charge! I was really nervous because it was for the whole department and their spouses, plus some General Authorities and their wives. I was under a lot of pressure to make sure the whole thing was up to snuff. We had about 150 attend, and Costa Vida catered. We had a fiesta theme, and the committee members in charge of the decorations did amazing! Seriously, I wish I'd had a camera! It was all bright and fun and had sombreros and maracas and hot tamales. So fun.

Our musical entertainment was Michael McLean. I'll admit, I was nervous; I mean, I haven't seen McLean perform anything but the Forgotten Carols in a long time. But Michael did a great job! A nice blend of funny and inspirational. He did a great job and kept people entertained. He also pulled out his adoption song, which brought tears to some women's eyes. I think everyone felt the emotional journey was well worth it:) Though I was worried since my specific instructions from the department director was to "not have everyone leaving all sad and depressed." It all ended okay though because Michael reminded us that "we are not alone."

After Michael's set, Elder Perry and Elder Holland got up to make some remarks (they are on the Missionary Executive Council, therefore assigned to our department). It was great because things are always funnier when GAs say them. Elder Perry walked past Elder Holland and said "Come up with me. I AM NOT ALONE." Good quip E. Perry! They were both just so sweet and wrapped up the evening well. Elder Holland spoke after Elder Perry and it was great because he's like "I have to follow you? I mean, I WILL follow you. Always. Wherever you go. I just meant I have to follow 'that'?" So great. (I'm sure this is not interesting at all since you weren't there. But I promise, it was hilarity personified.)

Now comes the bragging part. Well, not really, but I feel that it will come across like that. But really, I'm just relieved that everyone had fun. I've only received positive comments, which makes me feel great! I'm glad that it all went smoothly and that the food choice (we've had Famous Dave's BBQ for 4 years straight and I was all about changing things up) went over well, because I was really worried about this. The department director told me I "did a really, really, really good job" and that he "was proud of me." And really, his opinion was the one I was most worried about. So score there! The night also offered a great journal entry anecdote because Steve told me that Elder Perry leaned over while I was up front and asked who I was because I was doing so great. Apparently I was a hit:) Though I'm not sure having a General Authority know my name is a good thing. . . Anyway, the night went well. Everyone is happy. And I'm done. Done! Which is really the most important part of the party. And as a special treat, I got Friday off! But I'll give you those details later. For now, this chica is mucho content with not having to worry any longer if the caterer is going to show up!

My Hands Smell Like Onions. . .

Ah. Canning season is here. Dawn helped me whip up some salsa this weekend; I'll let you know the results when I taste it tonight. Fingers crossed! (I'll add pictures to this post later. But I wanted to make sure I actually wrote something, so check back later for beautiful pics of me and Dawn.)

I'm going to continue my weekend update in list form. I've already displayed my love of the list. So here begins another adventure.

1. Friday night was spent in the BYU Bookstore. That's right! It's time for school and Rich is going to the BYU. He's big time. We wandered through the quiet and deserted textbook section while the rest of the crazy Education Week people overwhelmed the rest of the store. Rich is all grown up now and going to school. He even has a brand new hoodie to prove his newfound school spirit.
2. After the buying of books (which I'll admit made me really happy, and then sad because the books weren't for me), we ate at Carrabba's. We'd never been before, but it was tasty! And our waiter was working really hard for his tip, so we got free frozen lemonades and Rich got free soup. I made myself dizzy trying to watch the Olympics on the flat screen right above our heads. This was the only sad part of dinner.
3. Saturday we visited the Deseret Book discount store in the Deseret First Credit Union in South Jordan. I'd never ventured here before, but my Mom told me this book I wanted was there for only $5. I don't think I'll ever be allowed to return. We left the store with a lot more than the one book we planned on buying.
4. Farmer's Markets make me happy. So much energy and creativity and earthiness. I was searching for Roma tomatoes and Italiam plums. (I just realized how Italian I was being!) They didn't have the plums yet, but I did find out that they'll be in soon, as will the apples I'm searching for, so now I get to make another trip in a few weeks. The tomatoes were too expensive at most of the stalls. Then I found a cute little old man who was willing to sell me tomatoes for a really cheap price. And after we bought them he gave us another half box just to prove that he was really the most adorable farmer in the world.
5. Now that I had the tomatoes, I had to make the salsa! Dawn was my salsa teacher; she also provided the peppers and anaheim peppers. She is amazing. It was a lot of fun to make the salsa and to spend time with Dawn. We bonded. Big time. There was sisterly love all over the kitchen. I'm pretty sure that this will infect the salsa and make it the best salsa ever. You can ask Rich later for the unbiased critique.
6. Sunday night I made tuna casserole. That's right. Tuna! Casserole! It was actually very tasty. Though I will double the sauce next time. I'm going to pull out all the Mormon stops and share the Cheesy Tuna Casserole recipe here:

1 can of cheese soup
10 oz. frozen mixed vegetables
1 can (6 oz.) tuna
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce
1 8 oz. can of ready-to-bake biscuits

Heat all ingredients until warm. Pour into 8x8 baking dish. Roll each biscuit into a thin rope and place over the top of the creamy mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Like I said. I would double the mixture. But this may be because I went overboard with the biscuits and covered the entire casserole top. Don't judge. I had two cans that were expired and needed to use them. Anyway, it was actually a pretty tasty dish. I was suprised, considering the sad reputation tuna casserole has.

The Olympics are Taking Over

I decided I should post about the Olympics, since that is the thing to do right now. And honestly, they have taken over my life. I watch them every night. Until way too late. They are making me tired. I love them, but I'm beginning to see that I may be neglecting other parts of my life. For instance, last night Rich and I came up with ideas for our family home evening night. We talked about going for a walk, getting a sno cone, reading an Ensign article, etc. What we ended up doing was watching the Olympics all night until Rich fell asleep.

The Olympics really are amazing. Such drama. Such athletic prowess. But, the part of the Olympics that has affected me the most? A Visa commercial. Not kidding. I tear up every time the Go World campaign commercial featuring Derek Redmond comes on. I even started crying just TALKING about the commercial. I was trying to explain it to Rich and I started crying. He responded to my emotional breakdown over a commercial with a mixture of disbelief, confusion, and making fun. I think the Olympics are really making our family stronger.

Here's the commercial for your viewing enjoyment and/or your emotional moment for today.



Am I the only one who thinks this is a total tearjerker?

Surprises!

My husband is the sweetest. I don't want to brag, but he's pretty much better than anyone else's husband:)

I have to give him props for sending me a dozen roses out of the blue. Nothing better than feeling extremely loved on a random Monday. The little ladies down at the receiving desk were so cute and so excited for me. One called to tell me I had a package downstairs I needed to pick up. And when I got down there I was shocked to see these beautiful roses! The vase is amazing and the whole presentation is just so fun! I hope you can tell how great these are in real life.

Love you Rich! You are the best!

Apricotness

I feel domestic and accomplished! My mom taught me how to make freezer jam and homemade fruit leather. This was my first time using the fruit dryer Mom and Dad gave me forever ago. I've been wanting to use it because I love homemade dried fruit and leather. This go-round didn't disappoint and I learned new skills! I've helped my mom with all of this type of stuff before, but I guess I wasn't really paying attention, because I needed a lot of direction!

We began by climbing ladders to pick the apricots ourselves over at my sister-in-law's mother's house. Thanks Jo and Colleen! The apricots were so tasty and so pretty! We got sooo many. We made apricot jam, apricot-pineapple jam, and apricot leather. Everything turned out great, and we had just enough fruit left over to eat whole. I love apricots! I want to have a tree in my yard when I'm a grown up.

I just love the start of the harvest season. This is just the tip. I've frozen raspberries so I can make raspberry peach and raspberry plum jams once those fruits come on, and I'm hoping to learn how to bottle peaches too. My first dip into bottling was last year after our wedding and we had some apples left from the centerpieces and I made applesauce. But Dawn had to help me do most of that, so I'm not really comfortable with the canning yet. I'm sure Dawn will be receiving many phone calls from me this year. Really, my goal is to become as amazing as my mom at bottling, drying, and being totally awesome at domestic things. Here's hoping I accomplish half of what she has!

3 Things

Sheena didn't actually tag me. I did this to myself. But I thought it was a fun thing and wanted to try it. So here goes the self-inflicted pain!

How to play the game. Post these rules on your blog: List 3 Joys, 3 Fears, 3 Goals, 3 Current Obsessions/Collections, and 3 Random Surprises about yourself. Tag five people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

3 JOYS-
*Puppies!
*Knowing someone loves me.
*Eating ice cream cones.
3 FEARS-
*Becoming "dumbed down"
*Hurting someone beyond repair.
*The future!
3 GOALS-
*To think more optimistically.
*To increase my faith.
*To be more kind.
3 CURRENT OBSESSIONS-
*Pink lemon sour snow cones.
*Those melt-away mints with the sprinkles on them.
*The Colbert Report
3 RANDOM SURPRISES ABOUT MYSELF-
*My toes are very talented, i.e., I can take my socks off only using my toes, I can pinch with my toes, and I can pick things up with my toes.
*I hate Jell-o salads.
*I don't like swimming in salt water.

I tag. . . Annalisa! And Faith! (Because she needs to update her blog so I can know what's going on in her life!) And anyone else who wants to do this. It was actually fun to think of things!

Happiness List

I worked with the author of the blog Pink of Perfection at Cambridge University Press. I love her blog. I've loved it since she started it and let me read it while I was working with her. I haven't talked to Sarah since I left NY, but I'm glad we got acquainted. Going over for a chat with Sarah always brightened my day and helped me be more optimistic. She just had such a refreshing outlook on life--everything from her attitude, her clothes, her food, and her stories. Her blog continues to be a refreshing part of my day. So you should read her blog too. (Does this sound like I have a crush on her? I don't. But I'll admit that I want a lot of her clothes.)

Each month Sarah does a Pink of Perfection (POP) project in the hopes that everyone will be able to "add some pleasure, beauty, or creativity to [their] lives." I love reading what her simple ideas for making our lives more meaningful will be. I guess I'm sort of a chicken though, because I've never actually told her I was going to participate, nor have I left comments on the site. The people there are all so amazing! July's project was to create a happiness list. It could be anything that brings you joy. I've done this before in a small way, but normally I think we create "gratitude" lists. So, I thank Sarah for making me realize that it's not just being grateful, it's about looking at the positive. And while I didn't actually do this in July, I'm still going to share my list here. It's long!

Brianne's Happiness List
1. Laughing so hard my belly hurts
2. Stars
3. Quiet nights outside
4. Fireworks overhead
5. Secret smiles
6. Rich putting his hand on my face to look me in the eyes
7. Kisses on my cheek and forehead
8. Going on a real date with my husband
9. Being told "I love you" right before I fall asleep
10. Ice cream cones
11. Seeing the setting sun light up the red rock of southern Utah
12. Hearing "Fishin' in the Dark" on the radio at just the right time
13. Feeling that things are "just right"
14. Holding hands on long walks
15. Sleeping outside
16. Puppies!
17. Books that stir my emotions, i.e., make me cry or laugh out loud
18. Reconnecting with friends from long ago
19. Bike rides
20. Hearing a soft breeze rustle the tree leaves
21. Aroma of baking bread
22. Crackling of campfires
23. Cooking something that turns out wonderful
24. Picking and eating fresh fruit
25. Sleeping in
26. Learning something new about history and how it all connects
27. Enough time in the morning to make breakfast
28. Small town celebrations
29. Snow Cones in the summertime (from the SnoShack in Riverton, of course)
30. Hugs from my nieces and nephews

This list is not exhaustive!

Lila Tueller Giveaway!

I found this fun fabric giveaway while blog stalking! :) I think that the fabric designs are amazing, and I want to win! If you want to win too, and thereby diminish my chances of winning, click HERE.I'm pretty sure the Web site will now be listed as one of my favorite sites!

More Books and So Tired

I think the summer has caught up to me. I'm so tired! I just want to stay in bed every morning. The heat must be draining all my energies:)

Anyway, I decided to get up enough gumption to tell you about books. Shocker, right?

Okay, I started typing about books, and, it was boring. I don't want to be boring. So I'm just going to sum it up as succinctly as possible.

Started: Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride. It was a disappointment. Perhaps I'll read it another day, when I'm in the mood to hear about how the air around Denver does wonders for consumption and how PT Barnum and his daughter had a falling out, but in the end she still wound up the richest of his kids.

Finished: The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother. Felt that it was about time to read this, since I've had it forever. It was a nice read. Not earth-shattering, but nice. I hadn't heard some of the stories before, and I liked the perspective of Mother Smith. Writing style wasn't my fave. (This counts as my non-fiction/biography book for the summer. I'm considering counting it as my religious/spiritual/self-help book as well.)

Finished: The Bumblebee Flies Anyway. Cormier didn't disappoint. Best 50 cents I've ever spent. I plan on rereading all the Cormier books I read when I was 11.

Currently reading: The Grapes of Wrath. It makes my teeth hurt. I am finally giving Steinbeck a chance. Love his writing. Hate the topic. The Depression was sad. (Obviously.) I want to hit a lot of the characters in the book. I'm not to the end yet, but if this ends badly, I might actually cry.

Planning on reading The Rising Tide. Love Shaara. Started this book once a year ago and couldn't get into it, which is weird, because I really like all of his books. The second book in this trilogy is already out, so I thought it was about time to pick this up again.

Pioneer Day Joy

Yesterday was such a great day. So nice to have a day off right in the middle of the week. Especially a summer day. So grateful that the pioneers entered the valley during July.

I've been so lazy lately that I decided the only thing to do to celebrate the pioneers was to sew something and to bake some bread. This plan worked out splendidly.

I bought a wallet (and a purse) pattern from a great seller on Etsy named JennaLou. I've had the patterns for weeks but never put together the energy to complete the projects because the matching of fabrics was throwing me for a loop. I finally found some fabric for the wallet 2 weeks ago but am still searching for the perfect purse material. I decided that in honor the pioneers I would finally be creative and sew. So I pulled out the sewing machine and got to work. I really enjoyed this project, though I'm sure the next time around things will go more smoothly and less unpicking will be required. I had some problems with the pattern (one piece was a 1/2 inch too short) but once those were overcome, I felt okay. I'm not the greatest at whip stitching either, so the top where I had to close up the wallet is a little sad. I'll get better at this too. I just felt so accomplished at finishing a project! I'm using it to hold all my important documents right now. Hopefully it doesn't fall apart.



As for the baking of bread, if anyone needs some banana bread, I have PLENTY. I had tons of bananas from our camping trip that were going bad. And it was making me sick to think about throwing away all that money, so I decided to whip up some culinary treats. I planned on giving away some of the loaves. This plan failed when I realized I cannot make banana bread that does not sink in the middle. There was no way I was going to hand out sunken banana bread. This banana bread disaster happened Tuesday night, by the way. The bread tastes good, but it's just not pretty. Rich will be eating on this bread for many weeks to come.

To redeem the pioneer's opinion of my baking skills, I decided to make this banana blueberry bread recipe from SouleMama for breakfast. This bread was worth it! I love it so much. And so does my tummy! The best part? No sinking in the middle!

I changed the recipe a tiny bit by not adding the whole wheat pastry flour (I didn't have any and was not about to go to the store on my day off). I simply added more all-purpose flour, and this seemed to work out fine. I love the cornmeal addition to the bread because it gives the texture a tiny crackling feeling. Something I'm sure the pioneers would have relished. So, make the pioneers proud, and your tummy happy, by making some of this bread. :)

Rich and I continued to make the pioneers proud by going to the Spanish Fork Fiesta Days Rodeo! Rodeos=Summer. This was a great evening and a great rodeo. We went with my roommates from college. Such a fun triple date! Plus, Toni's little girl, Aurie, is adorable, so that makes the getting together even more fun! Toni and AnnDee remind me how wonderful friends are. I was so blessed to have them as roommates in college. I am even more blessed that they still talk to me after living with me for 3 years!

Loving Rich

There was once upon a time in my life where I didn't even have to look at the diesel truck passing by to tell you whether it was a Cummins, a Power Stroke, or a Duramax. I thought that this was one of the most important talents to possess. This was back in the day when I believed cowboys and Wranglers were all I'd ever need. Clearly I didn't marry the cowboy my 17-year-old self envisioned. And this is fine. But it still makes me sad sometimes. Is this wrong? I don't believe I'm thinking of these things because I'm not happy with my life, because I am. I love Rich, and he is an amazing husband: so patient, kind, funny, and sweet. But I've realized that I'm sad about letting my cowboy dream go because it's just that, time to let a dream go. Obviously I let this dream go when I got married, but it didn't really hit me until summer rolled around. Until I listened to Chris LeDoux. It's just one of those moments when you realize that you're not a child anymore. And it makes me trend toward the melancholic because it's always sad when a childhood dream fades away. Growing up is sometimes sad. Even if you're surrounded by all good things. And moving toward even better things.

I don't want anyone to worry about me; my LeDoux love still burns strong. But as I listened to LeDoux on the bus ride home this week, I realized that sometimes I forget that the world my 17-year-old self created is not the world that I live in. Not the world that Heavenly Father has planned for me. And if I insist on viewing the world through my 17-year-old lens, I'll be living in the past and not recognizing today for what it is: A WONDERFUL LIFE! (Not the movie.) It's not important that my husband doesn't wear Wranglers; it's important that he cares about me more than anything else. It's not important that he doesn't drive a big truck; it's important that he tells me he loves me many times a day. It's not important that he doesn't love Chris LeDoux (I'll just listen to him on my iPod); it's important that we have a marriage that is based on reality and love and hard work and centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I think that sometimes I place too much importance on things that don't actually matter, and this skews my perspective on the things that really count. So, I'm going to focus on the life I do have, not on the life I thought I wanted almost 10 years ago. How lame am I that it took me this long to figure this out?

I don't know why I needed to blog about this. But it's been on my mind. I'm so excited for the future with Rich, and honestly, I know we are meant to be together. And this makes me happy.

The Great Outdoors

So, now that you have the marathon update, here are the rest of the glorious details from our week vacation!
The first night in Pine Lake was eventful. I was staying in a tent all by myself because Rich wasn't coming until the next day. Can you believe that this was the first night Rich and I have spent apart since getting married? We are so cute! It took me a bit to fall asleep, you know how it goes, getting used to the hard ground, the sleeping bag, the spotlight that is the full moon shining in your tent, but I did eventually get to sleep. However, at about 4 o'clock in the morning I was awake. I thought perhaps this was the outhouse trying to lure me from my warm bed, or perhaps the moon shining directly into my eyes, but no, what had awoken me was noises coming from the food tent. Bears! No, not really. After waiting for a few minutes, just to make sure no one else was going to get up and be responsible, I got up to investigate. I could see a little hole where some genius animal had unzipped the tent. I hit the sides of the tent to make the creature think I was large and ferocious, then I unzipped the bottom of the tent and shined my flashlight in. And . . . I saw a paw. Dramatic right? I thought I would find some chipmunks, but oh no, it was a large, big-man-handed, scary skunk! So, I immediately ran away to find my mom. While my mom got up to help me, Dad rolled over to say "Just be careful," and went back to sleep, leaving us tiny little women to take care of the animal! Apparently skunks don't scare easily. The skunk just kept on feasting on our bread for what seemed like hours. No matter how much we hit the tent or made noises, the skunk kept on keeping on. And then, another skunk came! Scared me to death, too, because I was walking around the tent and all of a sudden there it was right in front of me! I backed up so fast I fell over a tree root; thankfully this skunk decided not to join the other in the tent and ran away instead. At this point, Mom and I decided the only thing to do was to watch the tent to make sure no more animals got in and to wait until the skunk had his fill. We may sound like babies, but we did not want to be taking tomato juice showers any time soon! So we set up some chairs and fixed our flashlights on the tent door. Eventually the skunk's beady little eyes reflected in the light, and he scampered out of the tent. At about 5:30, we climbed back in to bed. For the remaining nights we put a twist-tie on the tent zippers--this will probably work until another genius skunk discovers how to use his or her little paws to undo such advanced security measures.

This is going to be a long post. I can sense it now. Perhaps I'll just give you some highlights.

The next day was spent 4-wheeling and lounging around reading. Does this not sound ideal? Cuz' it was. Until about the time we were ready to prepare dinner. Then the heavens opened. And doesn't rain always seem much worse when you're camping? This was hail and rain combined, and it was cold! Plus the ground couldn't drink up the water as fast as it was coming down, so rivers started forming down the middle of the campground. The best part of the rain? My tent was not waterproof. So when Rich got there that night, we had to make our bed in the back of my dad's Tahoe. This was not a comfortable night. One might think that the Tahoe would be more desirable than a tent, but I am here to attest that this is not the case. Always choose the tent. Always.

I'm complaining. Or at least it sounds like it. I'm not really completely ornery about all of this . It's all in the adventure of camping!

We did some hiking to Powell Point on Thursday. I love going up there. You feel like you're on top of the world. It's so humbling to understand that my place in the world takes up such small space. Especially since I normally live as if the world revolves around me. That night we had dutch oven mutton. My favorite! I love dutch oven cooking; it's just so much fun. Plus dutch ovening reminds me of college and all the good times we had up on Cedar Mountain. It also makes me feel like I'm living on the plains or experiencing something equally dramatic/romantic. Kind of like the way I feel every time I listen to Garth Brooks' "Lonesome Dove." Perhaps I have too vivid an imagination. Perhaps I'm rambling.

On Friday morning we cleaned up camp and went down to Tropic. Where it was super hot! I immediately wanted to be back up at Pine Lake where it was cool. No, not really. Tropic was great. It was a nice weekend to hang out with the family. The marathon was Saturday morning (see below for those details), which was a lot of fun. The rest of the day after the marathon was spent relaxing, as everyone's muscles were sore. Then we returned to northern Utah on Sunday.

It was such a great week and so nice to be away from everything. I didn't want to come back! But alas, I decided to grace work and real life with my presence.

Bryce Canyon Half Marathon

Camping was a success! But before I get into other details, we'll start from the end and say CONGRATULATIONS to Rich for finishing the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon! I decided to break the week into two posts since the marathon can be a post all by itself, so you'll get camping details later.

Back to Rich and his amazing running skills.

(This is the only picture of Rich before the race. I rolled over and grabbed the camera then went back to sleep!)

Rich started to train for the marathon months ago, but then school and the Philippines got in the way, so he hadn't been running as much as he wanted (or should have), but he finished the 13 miles in good time, averaging 9 and 1/2 minute miles 9 minute and 17 second miles (I stand corrected). I'm so proud of him! He knew he wasn't going to do as well as he wanted to, but he met his goal of not walking at all. Way to go sweetie!

Brad, Erik, Phil, Jo, and Wendi also finished the race, and Dawn and Troy worked through injury to walk 8 miles to Tropic. Yay for my family! I'm so proud of them all. I had no desire at all to run/walk 13 miles, so I was there to take pictures--here are some from the finish line. (So many pictures!)

Rich is running so fast!

Aw, they gave my baby a medal.

We are the cutest.
(I wouldn't let him touch me until all his sweatiness had dried.)

Phil in his John Stockton shorts at the end of his journey.

Jo is so happy to be done!

Erik approaches the finish line!

Brad and Jo at the finish.

Everyone at the finish line (Jo, Brad, Rich, Phil, Wendi, and Erik).

Brad was the first in the family to come in (averaging 7 and 1/2 minutes miles--woot!), then Phil, Erik, Rich, Jo, and Wendi (who had started training for the race then stopped when she injured herself, but she decided to be Wonder Woman and do the race anyway). While the others were running I was sleeping and then patiently waiting to take pictures. I bonded with Sheena's parents at the finish line while we waited for the runners to come through.

As I was driving to Cannonville to the finish line, I had to stop on the side of the road to wait for the pilot car to lead me. I took this picture of the fields in Tropic. I just thought this was a fun picture.

And while I was snapping up rays of sunshine, runners were sprinting past me. Literally. I've never been to a marathon before, but some of these guys were in a full-on sprint at mile 9! I do not understand this. But good for them for clocking in at less than 5-minute miles!