Buble, Birthday, Boston, Beach

The past couple of months have been busy but fun. We went to the Michael Buble concert at the end of March. The concert was our Valentine's gift to each other and it was a great show. The opening act was an a'cappella group called Naturally 7. The only accompaniment to their music is their own voices making the sound of the instruments. They are pretty amazing so look them up on youtube sometime.



We celebrated the second annual Birthday Week for Joanna. We ate yummy food at Francks that evening. It was really great when all the waiters and waitresses including Franck himself came and wished Joanna a Happy Birthday. Franck even made Joanna her own chocolate dessert. And to top things off...a birthday isn't a birthday without ice cream cake.

A little over a week later we were on a plane to Boston with Joanna's sister Alison and her husband Darren. My brother Al and his wife Myndi also came out. Alison, Al and I all ran the Boston marathon on April 19th. The race was amazing, the best race that I have ever done. I posted a 2:56 which I was happy about. We all had a very fun time together in Boston.

The three nervous racers the morning of the race.


Joanna nearly missed seeing me at mile 21 at the top of heart break hill but she saw me just in time to cheer me on.


The post race feast started off with pastries and root beer. Later we had pizza and more desserts. Sometimes eating to your hearts content is worth running 26.2 miles. Ask Al...he could tell you all about it.

The crew at the pizza place. We had a great time spending the race with all the Vegas friends.

All the runners: Jen, Al, Chris, Mike, Brenda, and Alison. They all did great in the race.

The weekend after Boston we went to Southern California to participate in the SoCal Ragnar Relay. Joanna ran so good, she's inspired to do a half marathon now (she signed up for the Provo River Trail Half in August). We had a great team and made a lot of new friends. After finishing our portions of the race, we headed off to the finish line (after a shower, Golden Spoon, and big gulps) at the beach which made all the running and little sleep worth it.


We enjoyed the seafood and relaxation during our time in California. It's good to be home. Despite the fun places we have traveled to, we still love it here in Utah. Utah has a great community and beautiful scenery we enjoy so much.

Waiting for Spring

I decided that I haven't blogged in awhile because I really don't like winter, especially January and February. I enjoy the cold up until Christmas, but after that, not so much. Plus, we don't really have any recent pictures, despite the awesome camera we got for Christmas. Chris and I spent Thanksgiving in Vegas and New Years in Park City with his family and Christmas in Price with my family. We sure enjoyed the holidays with family again this year and wish we could go back to Price and eat yummy food and play fun games. Until next year...


My sweet Grandma passed away last week. I dare say I have one of the best Grandmas in the entire universe and am so grateful for her example and all the time I was able to spend with her. It is times like these that I am so grateful to be a member of the church and to know that I will be with all my family again someday. Love you Grandma!

The Washington Times

Chris and I recently took a trip back to Washington D.C. because Chris has always wanted to show me his old stomping grounds in Alexandria, VA where he grew up. We spent 5 days out in Alexandria and D.C. We enjoyed beautiful fall weather while touring the sites, especially since there are so many trees.

First of all, no trip would be complete without visiting two of Chris' favorite food places from his childhood: Brenner's Bakery for the infamous elephant ears and Bugsy's Pizza for some delicous pizza pie. Let's not forget the multiple trips to his neighborhood 7-11 for big gulps- a favorite past time (and current practice) of Chris'.


Our most favorite part of the trip was visiting Mt. Vernon where George Washington lived. We toured the mansion and the grounds of the estate. It was so beautiful. I can see why Washington chose to live here.



Wouldn't this be the most awesome view to have from your window everyday?!? Chris grew up about 1 mile north of here along the Potomac River.


We also visited the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum out near Dulles Airport. They had tons of different air craft from a Wright Brothers model plane to the Enterprise space shuttle.


They also had the actual Enola Gay on display.


A trip to Washington D.C. is also not complete without visiting the monuments and Smithsonian museums. We spent a day at the Holocaust museum, the American History Museum, and the Air and Space Museum (different than the one at Dulles Airport). The next day, we put on our running gear and ran from monument to monument starting at the Lincoln Memorial, down to the Capital, over to the White House and back making sure to catch all the other monuments in between. It was a fun way to see the monuments.


We made a stop at the Lincoln Memorial at night because we knew we wouldn't have our camera the next day while running. The Mall really looks beautiful at night with all the monuments lit up.


We both loved our time in Virginia together. Chris would move back anytime without question. He truly grew up in a beautiful, idyllic neighborhood. We hope to make it back soon!

A One Year Marathon

Chris ran the St. George Marathon on October 3rd. Chris, Chris' brother, and my sister all qualified for the Boston Marathon in April. Boston here we come!


Alison, here is that after picture you were looking for....


Speaking of marathons, we celebrated our one year anniversary. Yay! We spent the weekend up at Stein Eriksen Lodge and oh was it marvelous. We had a great meal at the Glitretind restaurant at Stein. It was one of the best meals we have ever had. We had the most amazing pumpkin apple soup for an appetizer. The best part...it was free. Oh and let's not forget the banana foster and creme brule at brunch :)


We went to Park City Mountain Resort and rode the alpine coaster. It went a lot faster than it has in the past and I admit I was a more scared than I was excited. I bet Chris would say the same thing. We also went on a drive up the Mirror Lake Highway. This looks like a Christmas picture even though its the middle of October. We made sure to stop at the Samak Smokehouse to buy some jerky for the trip.


The concierge sent up a complementary box of chocolates for our anniversary. They were a bit fancy but yummy. Chris also had the concierge bring me a dozen roses. How sweet!

One year down...forever to go. Love ya Christopher!

Happy Fall!

I love where we live, especially in the Fall. I love everything about Fall...the colors, the cool and crisp air, pumpkins, apple cider, etc. Fall is Chris' favorite time also which is why a Fall wedding was so perfect for us. Chris and I went on a scenic drive over the Alpine Loop into Sundance to see the fall colors today. It was awesome. The pictures do not even do the colors justice. They were vibrant and beautiful.


This is last year's picture on the Alpine Loop in the exact same spot! As you can tell, we like the Alpine Loop. Chris proposed here too.






(We don't know these people).


This picture is funny because Chris attempted to set the timer on the camera and run about 30-ft to where I was standing. He barely made it.


Speaking of Fall and harvest...Chris and I planted tomato bushes earlier this past summer and to our surprise, they actually produced tomatoes. Growing vegetables is like having a child...you can't forget to give it water and we had to find babysitters while we were away. They were not the greatest tasting tomatoes but it was fun to grow them anyways.

Happy Harvest!

Happy Trails

Last weekend Christopher and I hiked up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Red Pine Lake. The weather report said it would be snowing. It didn't snow but it sure was chilly. It was cold enough that we could see our breath. Not typical weather for the middle of August, even in the mountains. It was about a 9 mile trek round trip. It was a fun trip and the wild flowers were in full bloom.



There is another lake on the other side of the ridge at Red Pine Lake. We attempted to traverse some boulders to get to it since the trail had disappeared but I got tired of climbing and so we decided not to attempt it. This is how far we got up the mountainside before we went back down.



On the way back down the trail, we came across this cute little bunny rabbit in the middle of the trail. It let me get pretty close to it but ran back into the bushes after Chris tried to feed it a granola bar.



A true hiker at heart... Chris wants to hike Timp so this was supposedly a prep hike.

The Washington Post

Chris has been off to Washington state to help put on a relay race. As always, I was able to spend a weekend up there with him. Chris needed help with work things but we were still able to find time to see some of the sites. The company rented this awesome house right next to a lake. There was even a private dock in the backyard. This was our view from our bedroom.



The house was just outside of Mt. Vernon. One night, we drove through the Deception Pass State Park to see Deception Pass. Deception Pass is a huge bridge that connects Whidbey Island to Fidalgo Island. We walked across the bridge and as Chris would say, "I'm not gonna lie...I'm a little tripped out right now." The bridge was pretty high.



This is the beach at Deception Pass State Park



Chris insisted that we go the Boeing factory and take the tour. The things we do for our husbands... The building in the background of the first picture is the largest building by volume in the world. It has six hangers where they build planes, one of which is where they are building the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It was interesting to see how planes are built. Very very intricate pieces of machinery.



If you were ever wondering how big plane tires are... You would think they would be bigger.



Plane engine. Bigger than I thought.



After the Boeing tour, we spent the afternoon in Seattle. We went to Pike's Market which is a marketplace where a bunch of different vendors set up shop. If you get there early enough, you can watch the fish vendors throwing fish. They also have awesome produce. We bought some of the best peaches I have ever tasted (except for my Dad's home grown peaches of course). The market place also had several vendors that were making fresh flower bouquets right on the spot. The best part: they only cost $5 for a small bouquet (which was about the size of a wedding bouquet) and $15 dollars for a large. I would have gotten one if I wasn't headed home on a plane the next day. Sadly, the only thing we bought besides peaches was an oatmeal cookie. Next time, I'll get a bouquet. After Pike's Market, we went to a nice seafood restaurant and had some tasty fish.



Unfortunately there was a chaotic carnival at the base of the Space Needle which brought all sorts of people out of the wood works. After a long afternoon of walking and because of the crazy crowd, we decided to take a picture in front of the Space Needle rather than wait in line and pay to go to the top. I've been on top of the Stratosphere. Practically the same thing, right?!?



The Sunday before I left, Chris took me out on a row boat ride on the lake by the house. It was pretty fun. I tried for about 5 minutes to row. Apparantely my left arm is stronger than my right because all we did was go in circles.



Chris and I definitely enjoyed Washington. It would be nice if we could go back again. In case you were wondering, we did not go to Forks.