Photo Challenge--Day 7

I'm having a lot of fun doing these little posts.

Today's: A PICTURE OF SOMETHING YOU WOULD BUY IF MONEY WASN'T A PROBLEM

I would love to have one of these

And, of course, if money wasn't a problem, I would assume I would have the money for fuel and a pilot ; ) It would make living so far away from family much easier, because then I could take off and go see them WHENEVER. Could have been in Texas yesterday to babysit for Neal and Macy when they went out to celebrate their anniversary or could take off and go to California to celebrate Stephen's birthday tomrorow. It would be fun to go and watch the little ones in their soccer games or baseball games, go on a field trip with one of them, be there when they give a talk at Church, go with them to the Mall, or just hang out. (And I could carry as many bags as I wanted ; )

And I could even have my little jet go pick them up and bring them here for Sunday dinner--WOULDN'T THAT BE FUN ; )

Sidenote #1: Because our temple in Regina is closed, Allan and I went to the temple in St Paul, Minnesota. I picked him up at the airport because he had been gone all week and then we headed off for Minnesota. The drive wasn't bad--we hit rain a couple of times. The temple was lovely. Probably next month we'll go to Bismarck, North Dakota.

BTW, had to laugh as we drove past this exit--not sure I'd want to live there.

Sidenote #2: One of the problems with doing long runs--they can wreak havoc on your toenails. My poor toe is so sore. I'm keeping my eye on it to make sure it doesn't get infected.

ALREADY????

I still can't believe it has been one year already. Yes, I miss this guy, but he is loving his mission and we just love reading about all his experiences. He is loving Idaho and the people where he has served. He has had great companions.

Today a few of his buddies came over, and we celebrated the one year mark. I love these guys. None of them are members of the Church, but they have been such a great support to him. We had Subway sandwiches, pistachio pudding salad, broccoli/cauliflower salad and, of course, DEATH BY CHOCOLATE. I think they were very happy when they realized I made more than JUST THIS ONE.

We shared stories and I shared a bunch of pictures with them. It was fun to hear about the things they are doing--school, jobs, etc. I have known most of them since they were in elementary school and it is so fun to watch them become such fabulous young men. I know they miss Elder Rob.

Allan was not able to be here with them, but they were very happy when I told them that he wants to barbeque steaks for them one night, so now we just have to come up with a date. I will love having them in our home again.

Photo Challenge--Day 6

I probably shouldn't put "Photo Challenge--Day 6" but just "Photo Challenge--Number 6" since I'm not really doing one each day. Oh well.

Today's challenge: A PICTURE OF SOMEONE YOU'D LIKE TO TRADE PLACES WITH FOR A DAY



Now, I'm going to say this would be like in the movie "Freaky Friday"--Brent's running ability would be in my body on June 11, 2011. That would be so fun--I could run a whole lot faster and I bet my old aching body wouldn't ache so much after the race ; ) I did my long run this morning (another 11 1/2 miles and the body is not as sore as it was last week. Now we'll see what happens next week when I am to run 12 1/2 miles. If I can do that, I know I can make it the 13 miles for the half-marathon--at least I HOPE I CAN. But having Brent's ability would make it a whole lot easier.

Photo Challenge--Day 5

Today's Photo Challenge--A PICTURE THAT ALWAYS MAKES YOU SMILE

Now, I have to say I have lots that make me smile--and lots that bring back countless memories. This one does both.



This picture was take in 2003. It was Allan's 60th birthday celebration and I brought all the kids and grandkids to Winnipeg for a surprise celebration. Neal had not gotten a lot of rest and sat in the chair and fell asleep--he was DEAD ASLEEP and we took advantage of the moment to gather Stephen, Wendy and Nancy for a picture. IT IS PRICELESS--the one I would give the Nobel Prize Committee if they ever needed a picture of Neal ; )

SIDENOTE: Today is Victoria Day so Allan and I are going to the movies this afternoon.

Running Update

I don't feel like doing much today because I'M PRETTY SORE. I ran my longest run thus far and my body is feeling the effects. So I have to ask, those of you who run and have little ones at home, HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU COME HOME AFTER A LONG RUN AND RUN AFTER THEM????

Let me say it again I LOVE TO RUN. It makes me feel so good while I'm running. I always laugh when I drive the road that I ran earlier that day and realize OH MY GOODNESS THAT REALLY IS A LONG, LONG WAY.

My run today was 18 km--I decided to run a little further and ended up going 18 1/2 km. It was a long, slow run, and I took it very slow. I tried very hard to keep my heart rate down, but unfortunately a couple of times I went a little too hard. My body is definitely feeling the effects.

I smiled when I passed a lady and she said, "Way to go". I appreciated the encouragement. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I passed a couple of women walking and one of them said to me, "You are our hero."

So much of what I'm learning can be likened to life

• I can do hard things--getting ready for this half marathon is hard but I will not give up. Sometimes life is hard, but IT IS DEFINITELY WORTH IT.

• I am NEVER ALONE and I know on race day, there will be about lots of us "pressing forward". The bottom line is I know that Heavenly Father is always there and that knowledge will help me keep moving. I know I will be praying--not to win, just to finish.

• Perseverance is necessary. There have been many days when I didn't feel like going out and running, but I knew I had to train if I wanted to reach my goal. Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased.” I have seen and felt that happen. When we have a goal in life, we just need to forge ahead.

• Preparation is key. To get ready for this half-marathon, I've been using an 18 week training schedule and I have been very diligent in following it. There is so much we can do every day to help us "prepare" for our days--especially those tough ones. I can't say enough about the value of prayer and scripture study--they are like my training schedule.

Race day is 3 weeks from tomorrow!!!!

By the way, I laugh every time I go to log onto my Garmin connect account to log in my run, and the log-in page says "21,586,706 pounds of candy burned" and I have to ask myself: GEE I WONDER HOW MANY POUNDS DID THE OTHER PEOPLE BURN ; ) Some of the other things on the log-in page are: 605,094 gallons of sweat produced, or 914,483,831 miles logged in which is equivalent to 36,724 times around the earth.

Have a great weekend.

Photo Challenge--Day 4

Well, today's photo could be a little tricky. A PICTURE OF A SCAR AND HOW IT GOT THERE.

It reminds me of that scene in Jaws when Quint, Hooper and Brody were on the boat and talking about their scars and how they got each one of them. I love when Hooper points to a scar on his chest and says, "Mary Ellen Moffatt...She broke my heart."

I have lots of scars, but I thought I'd share this one--next to the one on my left wrist from a huge jug of kool aid, it's probably the easiest to see--and one I care to share ; ) It's my right knee.

I'm certainly grateful that this knee doesn't give me grief--actually, it's the other one that has been causing me all the trouble lately.

The explanation will be a little long. I got it during my senior year in high school. It was related to something that happened during gym. I loved gym and did very well. We took swimming, golf, football, basketball, tennis, you name it we did it. My favorite was field hockey (not ice hockey, I grew up in California). No, it wasn't a fight--although would have been a fun story to tell, eh ; ) One term we had to jump on the trampoline. (For the life of me, I can't remember what we were learning??? Anyway, I was little apprehensive. I had a very young teacher and when I got on and started jumping, something gave out and my knees went inward and hit the mat. It hurt. She didn't want to hear me complain and told me to get up and start jumping again. I tried and was in so much pain, and the same thing happened again. Fortunately, class was over and off I went. Went to the doctor who examined me and moved my knee around and immediately asked, "when would you like to schedule surgery?" I had torn the cartilage in my knee. (I loved walking into that little teacher and handing her the note from my doctor excusing me from gym ; )The surgery they performed back in 1969 was a lot different than what they would do today. I was in the hospital for a while and when I came out was on crutches for about 6 weeks.

It never stopped us from getting a trampoline, or our kids enjoying it


It has brought many hours of enjoyment and laughter, but you won't catch me on it.


It never seemed to matter how cold it was outside--everyone LOVED jumping.

Even the little ones were FEARLESS.



And some have been a whole lot more fearless than others.

SIDENOTE: Our weather has been INCREDIBLE. Most of the time I have to watch the weather channel because I don't want to go out too early because it's TOO COLD--now I have to watch so I can get out there before it gets TOO WARM.

Photo Challenge--Day 3

I have given this one a lot of thought.

A PICTURE OF THE CAST FROM YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW

A year ago, it would have been easy--24.

Now, I'm not sure. I love Modern Family--it makes me laugh. I enjoy The Mentalist. I'm inspired by The Biggest Loser. I enjoy the new show Body of Proof. Allan and I watch NCIS together. I still enjoy CSI and we watch CSI Miami just to make fun of Horatio.

But I have to go with this one.



Because I love Hawaii so much and it holds such great memories for me, I have to choose Hawaii Five-O. Every week when it starts, Allan and I laugh and say, "We could have gone there, you know" And although I love Hawaii, it is much more inviting when it's -30 or -40 here in Winnipeg than when it's a beautiful day like it was today.

BTW, tonight's season finale was superb. Didn't see some of it coming AT ALL.

SIDENOTE: It's Week 4 of my fitness challenge and this week is "One small treat a day week". I'm feeling the effects--VERY GRUMPY ; ( I bet Allan wishes he was traveling this week.

Photo Challenge--Day 2

With all the problems with blogger over the last few days, I'm glad I didn't lose this post.

If you google "30 Day Photo Challenge", you will find a different list than I am using, that's why I referred to this as "MY" photo challenge.

Today I am posting A PICTURE OF SOMEONE I MISS.

Now, I could easily put a picture of Elder Rob--I do miss him. I have to say I was very proud of myself on Mother's Day when I didn't cry as soon as I saw him on Skype. Or, I could post a picture of any of my grandchildren--I sure miss each of them. Or any of my kids--can't wait to see some of them next month when I go to Utah.

But, I have to say I sure miss my folks.











My mom is the one on the right with the flowery dress.












I have talked about my parents many times. They were great parents who worked very hard to provide for 6 daughters. When I was 12 and my dad died, I really don't know how my mom did it. She must have been so lonely. And my life changed so much when she died a year and a half later. I so wish we had been born and raised in the Church--I think losing our parents would have been easier to bear. I am so grateful that Helen and Les were so willing to open up their home to 6 girls they didn't know and give us the love and guidance we needed.

One day there will be a glorious reunion when I see my parents again. I was going to say, I CAN'T WAIT, but really I CAN ; )
I do look forward to introducing them to my wonderful husband and my children, grandchildren, etc.

SIDENOTE: I guess when Blogger had all of it's problems, it deleted some comments--because I know there were some other comments on my last post. Sorry. I don't know how to retrieve them. But I do want to let UtMommy, Lana, Connie, Gigi, Heffalump and Amanda know that I did read your comments. THANK YOU. And Carolyne B, I answered your question, but don't have a clue where the comment went, but let me answer it again: Brent and I are doing the same half-marathon Laurel mentioned in her talk. Macy is also doing it.

My Sort of 30 Day Photo Challenge--Day 1

I've seen this on facebook and in the blogosphere, so I thought WHY NOT.

For the next 30 days, or so, I will post a picture from the list. (I've changed some of the things on the list, so it's MY photo challenge) And, obviously, there will be days I don't blog or blog about something else--after all my half-marathon is a month from today so I have a feeling I'll be blogging about that on June 11th ; ) (And I just can't bring myself to do 2 posts on the same day ; )

So for today...

A PICTURE OF MYSELF WITH TEN THINGS THAT MAKE MY LIFE BETTER

This has required me to do a little thinking because:

*I could do ten of my favorite candy bars, but then I would have to eat all of them (certainly wouldn't want them to go to waste).

*I could post a picture of ten of my grandchildren but since I have twelve I would have to leave two out and HOW COULD I EVER DO THAT ; )

So with that being said, you'll notice in the picture

• A picture of my family--LIFE IS SO MUCH BETTER BECAUSE OF EACH OF THEM. Now a couple of them are not in the picture, but it's funny when I look at the picture I see them there ; )
• My laptop--I'd be lost without it
• My camera--I LOVE my camera and I LOVE taking pictures
• My scriptures--so grateful for them and the teachings that are found in them. Right now, one of my favorite scriptures: "...for all flesh is in my hands; be still and know that I am God" (D&C 101:16)
• A bag of M&M's--I love M&M's, any plain, peanut, peanut butter, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the coconut ones. I do have to say I do not like the pretzel ones
• My running shoes--gives me such a great feeling when I go out for a run
• My iPod--much better than me singing to myself when I'm on the go
• My cell phone--Love it for keeping in touch with my family
• A miniature temple--For me the temple truly is a place where I love to spend time. I always learn so much when I attend
• Toilet paper--enough said ; )

SIDENOTE: My DIL, Daph, sent me this picture the other day. Little Georgia is growing up way too fast.

An Amazing Weekend

FIRST

Early Friday morning my friend Kathy and I boarded a plane and headed for Calgary to attend Time Out for Women. I have never had the opportunity to attend before and it was wonderful. There were wonderful speakers and wonderful messages and I will write about them some other time, but the highlight for me was Friday night getting to spend time with this little one. Her mom had things to do to prepare for that evening, I had a chance to have her ALL TO MYSELF. It was glorious.

We attended the Saturday session as well. Macy and Baby L were there for a couple of hours on Saturday. When I got there she was already sleeping, and I was mad at myself for not getting a picture of her and I together on Friday.

I must say the Time Out people do a fabulous job with everything. It was so fun to walk around and see all kinds of friends who currently live in Winnipeg and some that have moved away. I also ran into a friend who I knew in Brampton many, many years ago.

I know I said I would write about the presenters on another post, but I have to tell you how fun it was to watch Macy do her performance. She really is such a talented woman with a beautiful story to share. I hope that those of you who haven't attended before who have Time Out for Women coming to your area will make plans to attend--it will be well worth your time and money. Go here and check out the schedule.

SECOND

Today was a WONDERFUL Mother's Day. Obviously, every Missionary mom and dad look forward to the phone call on Mother's Day, but last week we got the marvelous news that we would get to SKYPE WITH OUR MISSIONARY. The BEST Mother's Day gift ever. He looked and sounded as cute as ever. Allan tried to capture a picture of the two of us together.


AND FINALLY--

I hope you all had a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.