Merry Christmas!!

Merry CHRISTmas

• Take the mass out of Christmas and you find Christ.
  


• How can I have the Spirit of Christmas? = Have the Spirit of Christ
  


• What can I give for Christmas? = What can I give for Christ?

It may be a play on words – but the meanings are profound.

Let us not get caught up with the busyness and commercialism of the season. Let us remember the reason we celebrate.

May we have the spirit of CHRISTmas in our hearts all year long.

Happy Holidays!

Tis that season again where time rushes by and all the holidays come and go. Halloween was pretty low key this year but still fun. I went to a Halloween party Saturday and yesterday a friend and I carved pumpkins. Mine is the confusing one on the right (it is supposed to be a turkey. "Ah..." you say, now you see it!) Carving pumpkins with templates are more fun but definitely more tedious.

I love this time of year. I always get excited around the holidays. There is just something magical about the winter holidays. I guess it just reminds me of all the good times spent with family throughout the years. And this year will be no exception. I'm especially excited to be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas in sunny St. George. Can't beat that! My favorite holidays and warmer weather (at least no snow).

On a different note - I will be moving next month. All of 0.75 miles from where I currently reside. My roommate who owns the townhouse I live in is getting married. Hence, the reason for my move. This will definitely be a busy season: Thanksgiving, move, attend two friends weddings, and Christmas. I think I've got my weekends planned for awhile!

A Clock, a Lock and a Box

Getting up in the mornings has been a struggle for me. I've really been wanting to wake up early and exercise before work but I just couldn't pass the hurdle of snoozing. A few months ago my brother Spencer told me how he wakes up. He locks his alarm in a box and has the key in a separate room. I used to think that that was just too impossible. But now it's gotten to the point that I've embraced the idea.

So I bought a box and a padlock with a key. I have an old cell phone with an alarm that vibrates while ringing very loudly. In the evenings I set the alarm, lock it in the box and put the key downstairs in the kitchen. Thus, in the mornings I am forced to get up, walk downstairs and get the key to unlock the box to turn the alarm off. Ingenious. I am awake. Not that I'm not tempted to go back to sleep - but I'm awake and conscious of my decisions. It's only been 3 days - but so far I've had great success and have accomplished so much in the mornings. Thank you dear brother for a great - if not unusual - idea!

Summer Days

I know – it’s been far too long since I’ve posted anything. I have been keeping pretty busy and life has a way of flying. I remember a story my dad once told about his granddad. Every 4th of July they would all be gathered together for the holiday and every year his granddad would say something to the effect of “Well…here we are again on the 4th of July and…the summer is all shot to hell.” That pretty much sums it up – just before you know it time has come and gone.

I just got back from a short but fun trip to San Diego. My friend Jessica and I drove there on a Friday and got back the following Monday evening. We went to the San Diego temple and did a session. Sadly they were remodeling the exterior, so it was covered in scaffolding and the windows were covered with paper. So I did not get to experience the temple’s full beauty. But I still enjoyed it. We then barely made it to the Mormon Battallion Visitor’s Center before closing time to get the “quick tour” (about 20 minutes). If you ever go to San Diego make sure you make plenty of time to go – it’s well worth it. Even your kids (if you have kids) will love it! And if you want authentic Mexican food be sure to stop at Old Town Mexican Café afterwards – delicious!

On Saturday, Jessica’s uncle took us kayaking at La Jolla Cove where we saw about 30 seals napping on the rocks. One seal even swam right by us and surfaced to say hello (it was more a snorty sound –but I interpreted it as “hello”). It was a little overcast though, so no sun at the beach. Afterwards we went to Balboa Park to check out some of the gardens and museums. Very pretty area – wish I had more time to spend exploring. Wish I also had time to drive across the bridge to Coronado – but not enough time. Instead we stopped at the Little Italy district and ate at Fillipi’s and had gelato at another café. The rest of the trip was spent at Jessica’s aunt & uncle’s home in San Marcos attending church, taking naps etc. It was a fun weekend in California – but surprisingly cold. I don’t think it ever got warmer than 67 degrees – and the night’s reminded me of Idaho summer evenings- but cooler. Haha.

And now it’s August. What happened to June and July? Great granddad was right about summer. Too fast. I’m enjoying life though. I have some great roommates – I’m so blessed to have them in my life. I still go running – but sadly not as often as I used to. Summers get too warm and I get too busy and need to control my schedule a bit more. But last Wednesday evening my roommate and I went running in the canyons and it was pretty fun and not too hot – especially by the waterfalls.

New Shoes!

My running shoes were old and worn out and I've been having some arch problems while running long runs (my left foot even fell asleep for 2 miles! That was weird). So I went to this shoe store in AF and the owner is a retired financial planner and opened this store because it's been a dream of his. He was friendly and very knowledgeable. He checked my feet and watched my gait as I walked. We then went through a few shoes - I'd run on the treadmill to get a feel - and after picking the perfect one (see above) we then looked at arch support inserts.

Basically what was happening on my left foot is that as my foot was coming down, some nerves were getting pinched because my foot was collapsing (see the circled area in the picture below) on itself just a little bit. Well, after plunking down some $$$ I got my new shoes and arch supports- and so far so good. This store has a great return policy - so I can even run outside and not worry. And I was just lucky enough to time that purchase because it was their anniversary and they did prize drawings for all purchases made. I just got an email informing me I won an Asics VeloStretch Shirt! Yeah me!! I'm going to go pick it up this week. This was the best shoe purchase experience I've ever had!

Running and loving it

About one month ago my roommate & I decided to do an intermediate training for a 5k - we set a goal to run a 5k in less than 30 minutes by April. We've been running 4-5x's week since and it's been great. In the past I've gone running maybe once a week. It's been really good running more regularly - I've noticed a lot of improvement in my endurance and speed in the short time since we started our training. (We're already running 3 miles in 31 minutes - so I think it's almost time to up the goal). This Saturday we decided to run a 5k to help raise money for a cancer patient. Our training schedule is to run 5 miles that day - so as soon as we complete the race we will continue to run 2 more miles. I'm excited to have these goals to work towards. And I have finally found my love for running. I think in the past it was just for the sense of accomplishment - but now I really am enjoying it.