A yearly tradition at our house is to visit the Pumpkin Walk in North Logan. Sam and I started going the year I moved here and we were dating/hanging out. He took me and I loved it. Coming from NYC, I had never been to anything similar and I fell in love with the cozy, suburban feel of the little show. We go back every year and our kids love seeing the creations.
The theme this year was Commercials of Yesteryear. There were lots of great exhibits but our top two favorites were the Keebler commercial and the Green Giant. These two exhibits looked fantastic. The Keebler exhibit had two trees, made out of fabric, each leaf was sewn separately then they were attached to the tree somehow. The characters themselves looked amazing and just like their cartoon on the TV commercials.
Our next favorite, the Green Giant exhibit. The exhibit was imaginative and definitely in our opinion, the 1st prize winner.
At the very end of the show, they have the nicer carved pumpkins. This year, they had some really spectacular ones, including one of President Monson.
We ended with a couple of pictures of our little family. The kids are sure difficult to photograph...they insist on making faces, they take after their daddy!
Life has been a bit hectic lately. I have changed a few things around in my life that have thrown everyone's lives in our house up in chaos. It is not a bad change just changes that we are not used to. I finally got a "real" job. It is part time, but even part time means a lot of changes for us. Since the beginning of September, I have been working at Mt. Crest High School. I am one of their new ESL (English as a Second Language) aides in the ESL department.
Although I have a Bachelor's degree in business administration, I decided that I would love to pursue a teaching degree with an emphasis in mathematics and physical education. I know, shocker! I have heard from many that I shouldn't pursue Physical Education, but, my heart is in it and I would love to do this for a living. The math part, well, I have always enjoyed math and although I am average at it, I understand it and I love to "teach" it to the students.
When I saw the ad for the ESL position, I couldn't help but remember back to when I first came to the US and all the teachers and ESL aides who helped me. I applied knowing that the chances of me obtaining the job were slim. However, I was pleasantly surprised when they offered me the position. I was going to be one of two aides who will help all the second language speakers in the high school. The majority of the students I help are Hispanics like myself and most of them are from Mexico also! It makes me happy to be helping them.
My work days are a lot of fun. I attend classes with the students where I have the chance to take notes and then help them with their classwork and homework. Usually, I am in algebra classes for most of the day. 2(3x+18)=14-4(2x-10) are some of the usual things I see along with x^2+10x+25. Crazy stuff like this I get to see all day and then sometimes I get to come home and re-learn about it so I can go the next day and teach it to the kids. I love what I do. I really do. I love seeing the light in the student's eyes when they finally "get it". It is a rewarding job...very much so!
I am stirring and stirring my witches brew! Dead leaves, seaweed, rotten eggs, too. Stir them in my witches' brew. I got magic, Alakazamakazoo. Red Heart Super Saver, a green loom and a red one too. Stir them in my witches' brew.
I got magic, Alakazamakazoo!
Sometimes I feel like I am cruising down life at whirling speeds. I see others around and I see that they have time to just "chill" and read a book or go to the park and see their kids just play. The last time I had time to just sit and read a book, I was sick with a cold and I didn't even want to open a book. I read, but not really read, I listen to books. I listen to books while I knit, while I cook, while I run, while I pick up kids from one place to the other. Need to hit the brakes on this life train...before I crash and burn!
As I reach my 32nd birthday, Saturday, I have been thinking what I would like for my birthday. It is going to sound selfish but all I really want is a day just to myself. A day where I do all I want to do without feeling obligated to go out with family or friends. I want to get up when my eyes just open willingly by themselves, then I want to go out for a 2 hour run. After, I want to go and have lunch and work with beads. Then, I want to go to the gym and lift weights and swim. At night, I want to go out to dinner and then to a movie. Then Sunday, I want to stay home. I don't want to get up early and go anywhere. I just want to relax. I don't want to run around like a headless chicken anymore.
Sigh...how are you all doing? Hope you are not getting overrun by the life train too.
In general Loom Knitting News...the latest issue of Loom Knitters Circle magazine is out. Go get a copy and get looming!
In other news, my bloggy has a new banner to celebrate the special holiday of Halloween! It is one of my favorite holidays as I get to dress up and be silly with my kiddos. They are both still little enough that they do not care that I dress up and go with them Trick or Treating.
Hope you are all doing great and getting some knitting and exercising into your day!
The colors of this one make me happy! The combo of purples and orange with greens are just so perfect for this time of year. Add a little bit of black and some criss cross connectors and we have the perfect spider legs to go with the theme. But let's not forget about the black cat to complete the Halloween ensemble! This watch bracelet is so puurrrfect!
Every time I finish a big "race" event, I get a little sad and depressed as the enthusiasm of the race wears off and I am left with nothing to train for or to look forward to. I have to admit that I love training. Working towards something makes my day and it gives meaning to my otherwise meaningless life. I heard this from a movie recently--"I did it to feel alive!". It is not that I don't feel alive but in truth running, cycling, swimming and participating in these events gives my Type A personality something to work on.
With that in mind, I have started looking for my next big race. At first, I thought it was going to be the St. George Marathon as my neighbor told me that she had a great connection and could get me in this late in the game (it is in about a week). Unfortunately, after she made her phone calls, the answer was no. I am feeling a bit devastated and sorry for myself at the moment. I know, I should feel happy that I am given the extra time to just chill and get my feet back from my first marathon, but I am on fire! I feel on fire and I feel that I have already done the training so I might as well just get it done, but I can't. I have to suck it up and look for another event to participate in.
Consequently, I went online and that is usually a bad sign. I get looking at stuff and next thing I know I am registering and putting things down on my planner. So, what do you think I found? You know me, it has to be something crazy and completely loony toon.
No, it is not the Grand Slam from the Dennis menu nor the Wimbledon one. It is the Utah marathon running
one. Yes, I am going to sign up for the Grand Slam, 4 marathons in 2010. I never thought I would sign up for 4 marathons all in one year, but I figured since I will be already training for one, I might as well register for others and get them all in. There are 5 to choose from and I think I have narrowed them down to these four: Ogden Marathon (May), Park City Marathon (August), Top of Utah Marathon(Sept), and St. George Marathon (Oct).
To prepare me for these marathons: I want to do the Canyonlands Half Marathon on March 20th and the TOU 1/2 Marathon on August 2010.
Also, let's not forget about my other great goal: Ironman 70.3 (shooting for the Boise Ironman in June).
Everything seems to fit perfectly with the dates. What do you think of the goals?
As you know, I completed my very first marathon and I loved every minute of it. I really kept waiting for the moment when I hit the wall, but it never came. The first 10 miles flew by and all I kept thinking was that it was a perfect day for a long run! The air was nice and crisp and the wind kept pushing us down the canyon. When I got to mile 10, I looked around and I just got a huge sense of happiness and thrill that I just wanted to go faster. However, my mind kept telling me, pace yourself, pace yourself, you have still 16 more miles to go.
When I got to the half point mark, 13 miles, I looked down at my watch and I was at 1:45minutes. I knew that I would meet my goal and that I was definitely on track to reach it. As I kept running, I kept reading the t-shirts from the other runners and the signs that loved ones had left for their runners. Each one of those signs, I imagined that they were left for me. My hubby was at school on this day and he couldn't miss it unless he wanted to fail, so I was running solo, but all through out the run, I kept imagining telling him all about it.
Close to mile 17, I started feeling a little bit light headed and realized that I had missed my scheduled GU. Quickly, as I reached mile 17, I got my GU out and got it down and got some drink down to go with it. Overall, I took 5 GUs, 1-15minutes the run, 1-45 minutes into the race, 1-1:30minutes into it, 1-2:20minutes, and the last one at 3:15minutes.
Miles 1-17 are all down the canyon and then we start hitting the neighborhoods, after mile 19 we go into my neighborhood, to the streets where I run all the time. As I reached mile 19, my feet were getting tired and I looked down at my watch and realized that I had plenty of time left so I could afford to walk through the aid stations and even walk for a minute after too if I needed. I started thinking why I wanted to finish in 3:40minutes and the obvious came to mind--you can qualify for Boston. But the answer came right away--I don't care about qualifying for Boston. I have no desire to go there so at that very moment said, a finish of 4:00 is what I want, if it is less, it is even better but 4 is all I want. So I decided to definitely enjoy the last 6 miles of my race. As I saw other runners, I greeted them and smiled at them. I was happy. I was living my dream and I kept saying that to myself over and over, making me happier and happier.
At mile 20, I knew that my family and friends were receiving a text message letting them know that I had just crossed 20 miles and that brought me an intense sense of happiness. I knew that at mile 21, my friends and my children would be there for me so I ran as fast as my tired little legs could go and was not disappointed when I got to 21 mile marker and saw my cheering section. My children and cycling friends were there waiting for me. Cheering me on! I was so happy and thrilled to see them. I waved at them and smiled at them and even stopped to pick up my little girl and give her a kiss. I couldn't find my little boy--he was playing with the dirt behind one of the cars. I saw him when I had already gone around the corner and I just waved and told him I loved him.
As promised to myself, I walked through the remaining aid stations and drank my water/gatorade in peace. I walked a minute or two to let my legs refresh themselves. My neighbor Louise followed me around from mile 21 to the end and she caught me at mile 22 to take pictures as well as at mile 23 and 24, then she went to the Finish Line to wait for me. After crossing mile 24, I knew that I had it in me to run to the end. No need to walk anymore. I had rested and I could continue running to the end. At mile 25, I met my sweet friends the Bytheways and seeing them gave me the extra enthusiasm I needed to go to the end. Sarah was there and her face was exuberant with joy and I knew that she was feeling the same excitement I was feeling for accomplishing this one goal. I saw her again around mile 25 1/2 and I was again so happy, especially when she said "next year, I will be there running along with you". I wanted to cry at that moment because I knew that she was being truthful. Then I saw Spencer starting to run on the sidewalk to keep me motivated and that was all I needed. I ran to the end. As I got to the 26 mile marker, I left any doubts of finishing behind and I sprinted to the end. Yes, in my heart I still had one last effort and I gave it all to the end. As I crossed the finish line, only joy filled my heart. In my head, I kept hearing cheers and a strong voice kept saying "you did it! Chubby you did it!" As I waked to the Finishers Corral, I smiled and was so happy to be part of the club, not only any club but the sub-4 Marathoner Club. I finished in 3:51:22. I was 26th in my age group. Yes, 26th!!! I am in the top 10 percentile for this marathon.
As I bent down to stretch, my feelings took over and tears started spilling down my cheeks. I had done it. I had just brought to life a huge dream. A dream that just 2 years ago seemed an impossibility was a reality. Not only had I completed my dream, but I had completed it in less than 4 hrs.
My first marathon left me happy and looking forward to many, many more!
PS: Flickr Slideshow below of all the pictures that my friend Louise took of my great adventure :)
This is a Flickr badge showing public photos and videos from purlingsprite. Make your own badge here.
Loom Swag
Mini Button (1 inch circumference)
Add fun accents to jackets, backpacks, or mix 'n match them. The I *heart* Looming button is the perfect size for trading and collecting. Pin 'em on!
