My Number Is Up

My brother-in-law taunts me relentlessly about never receiving a speeding ticket. He’s right to do so. Many, many times I should have gotten a ticket. Only once did the highway patrolman actually give me a written warning. Every other time, luck, fate, grace, the tender mercy of the Lord, whatever you want to call it, stepped in and I drove off with only a verbal warning.

Also, commuting doesn’t bother me. I seem to turn on autopilot and cruise along the freeway, always making sure I’m not the fastest car on the road. As you read above, my number is up! I have to be careful. All of this background leads me to two Fridays ago after a very long week at work. That day I just wanted to get home. Cars sped past me so I just zoomed along with them not really watching the speedometer. One exit from mine, I realized I was leading the pack. I slowed down because I knew I would be an easy target.

Then the unthinkable happened. A highway patrolman zipped along in beside of me. He slowed for a second in FRONT of me, turned on his lights (remember he is in front of me!), then continued on his way. I took that as a “Slow Down!” sign and immediately decreased my speed. How grateful I was that I was only given a warning. My hard week didn’t seem so bad after the kindness of the highway patrolman.

When I got home, I realized how generous the patrolman had been to me. First, I was going 70 in a 55mph construction zone. Unbelievable! I should have been slammed! But it gets better. I was driving my sister’s car with California license plates! Easy target! At least the car was still insured even though the registration was probably in my parents’ names by that time. Such an utter nightmare it would have been trying to explain my sister’s insurance card, my parents’ name on the title, and me speeding in a construction zone. What have I learned from all of this? Even when you have a bad week, the Lord still provides blessings. Also…slow down!!!

Sweet Moment of the Day

When I left my sister's house today, my two-year-old niece climbed into my lap, looked at my sweetly, and said, "You come with me?" She wanted to come home with me. Made my heart melt seeing those beautiful blue eyes asking me not to leave without her.

Other sweet moment of the day was when we called my sister in Chicago and on command, my niece repeated "Da Bears!" Such an impressionable youth. Hopefully I haven't corrupted her too much.

Fun All Around

My nieces and nephews bring such joy to my life. Gratefully two of my sisters live nearby so I get many opportunities to spend time with them. Here are a few things I love about my nieces and nephews:

* My niece grabs a spoonful of peanut butter, places chocolate chips in the mass, and begins eating it. A girl after my own heart.
* The twins who joyfully scream my name whenever I enter the room.
* My nephew who jumps out of bed, even though he is supposed to be asleep, and runs to say hi because he hears my voice.
* Stretching out their muscles with me after I have worked out on my sister’s treadmill. The four year old could easily touch her nose to her knees. Me…not quite there.
* Making and eating a batch of Scotcharoos. For those who don’t know this divine treat, it is a mixture of corn syrup, peanut butter, and sugar mixed with Rice Krispies, then topped with a melted butterscotch and chocolate chips. Like eating a bit of heaven.
* Being invited over to “babysit” even though the oldest is twelve.
* The two-year-old twins jabbering away telling me about their day. I know that is what they are doing because I hear things like bath, book, train, toys, etc.
* Getting text messages from my niece who is using my sister’s phone.
* The twins fighting to sit on my lap and reading stories.
* My nephew who makes pictures for me.
* Being called their second mom by many of them.
* Snuggling up to me when watching a movie together.
* Being silly together.
* Big group hugs.


At a party last summer, all the girls wanted to sit with me.

The boys wanted in on the action too.

Friday Pick Me Up

January Day of Gratitude

Today I am grateful for the computer savvy-ness of my brother. A year ago in November, I upgraded my OS from Vista to Windows 7. I didn’t have time to do a clean install because I was in the middle of grad school so opted for the quick upgrade instead. This past weekend I took the leap and did a clean install. Unfortunately, generic drivers were installed instead of the upgraded ones that originally came with my laptop. Long story short, through the help of my brother, I was able to get everything in working order and almost have my computer back to top-notch conditions. Glad to have my computer back and finally functioning normally!

Do You Ever Have Days Like This?

"We're adults. When did that happen? And how do we make it stop?" --Meredith Grey

Family Calendar

One year for Christmas, I made my parents a calendar highlighting the different events from our family from the previous year and placing face shots for each birthday and anniversary. The next year I got ambitious. My parents and all my married siblings each got a calendar that included all their in-laws' anniversaries and birthdays too. Well those two years started a trend. Since that time I have continued creating a family calendar every year.

Things have evolved from the first calendars. Eventually, I had to stop doing in-laws' events for my siblings because families, including ours, were expanding rapidly. I still do two in-law calendars for my sisters that they in turn give as presents to their in-laws. My parents decided they liked the calendar so much they bought a color laser printer to save on printing costs. I've become good at Photoshop and splicing different pictures and experimenting with different backgrounds and designs. My goal this year is to learn InDesign to incorporate more unique elements than the old program I have continually used in the past. This year I felt limited in what I could do and realized it was time to graduate to better software.

Nieces and nephews have called me on the phone asking when the calendar would be completed. Now they just realize that it will come after the New Year. In spite of my best laid plans, something always happens to delay it being done before December 31st. And, no matter how hard I try, I always seem to make a mistake! Gratefully my family doesn't get offended and take it as a Where's Waldo challenge to find the errors. Last year was the worst when I swapped two of my sisters' birthdays and forgot my newly married brother's anniversary. Oops!

Because I think my blog is lacking pictures, I thought I would share with you the results of this year's calendar. If you click on the slideshow, it will open to a different window and the pictures are easier to see. Each family member gets a different month and my remaining grandparent (Grams) passed away this year, so January became a tribute to all my grandparents. Hope you enjoy the photos of my family who I love dearly.

Jimmered

I really like basketball!

Taking One Day at a Time

Recapping the wins and losses of the morning.

Win: I learned that setting an alarm does not fully wake me up in the morning. Turning on my lamp when I hit snooze is more effective at getting me moving than an alarm alone. Of course this makes sense now! Light wakes me up!

Loss/Win: Forgot my lunch that I had prepared last night. Had a package of instant oatmeal in my cubicle at work which took care of breakfast.

Win: Reading scriptures before I go to bed is an epic fail. I enjoy the time to ponder the scriptures after closing them and I miss that in the evenings. Waking up on time helped me have a more effective scripture study. Much better morning.

Loss: Forgot my key card that gives me cheap parking and access to the backdoor of my building. I had taken it out of my car because I was supposed to take my sister’s old car for the week while maintence was completed on mine. That didn’t happen and I forgot to grab the card. Now I am paying for all day parking in down town. Good thing I don’t live in San Francisco or Chicago.

Win: All the family calendars are now finished! I have to mail one more today and drop off the other on my way home from work. Good to have that project completed!

Win: Remembering the counsel and advice of Elder Christofferson: Take it one day at a time and it is day-by-day that we achieve our goals.

Quote of the Day

“What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.”

--Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

Certifiably Crazy

Last April my sister suggested I sign up for a race. I had just graduated with my MBA but hadn’t lined up a full time job yet and my social life was pretty stagnant with no real dating possibilities at the time. Though I had never run a race before or even run at all, I signed up for a half marathon. I figured why start small. :)

Looking back, starting big like that was a good move for me. I set up a training schedule which helped me pace myself as I tackled a huge project. Being able to break my running into small parts helped me believe I could actually accomplish this goal. Also, I needed a distraction and running provided that emotional outlet.

My journey encountered many hurdles. Four weeks in to my training and one month before the half, I got sick. Both times felt like a huge setback but each time I found a way to keep going. At one point I was ready to give up. My sister, who convinced me to run the half in the first place, inspired me with these words: "It isn’t a race. It’s a run." I expected myself to accomplish a competitive runner’s pace and time. But the goal was not to take first place. The goal was to finish the run. Do something I had never done before.

With that new mindset, I approached my workouts with a renewed mental determination. I still remember the first time I ran three miles without stopping. Such a feeling of triumph surged through my body. After that run, I finally felt like I could achieve this goal. Before then, I only felt failure. Three miles became four then five and so on and so on. The week before the race I was able to run ten miles!

The night before and the morning of the race were horrible! I drove home from Park City later than I had planned and was so worked up about the race, I didn’t sleep well. All night long I kept waking up and checking the clock because I was afraid of missing the race. Gratefully I did make it on time. I started the half with my sister and my niece, but those two were in much better shape than I was and quickly surged ahead. The first half of the race I enjoyed the scenery, kept my pace, and remembered scriptures about enduring to the end.

All was well until I hit mile eight. I felt my body shutting down. I pushed forward hitting mile nine and somehow making it to mile ten. Then came the breaking point. A long hill stood in front of me, my muscles cramped up, and I couldn’t make my legs move any faster. As I walked hoping the cramping would subside, I said a prayer. I expressed gratitude for the help I had received to that point and shared my desire to finish the half running. I needed help and knew the Lord could help me. I don’t know what possessed me, but I remember asking, “Will you help me finish running this race?” I ended my prayer and began running.

The next two miles weren’t easy but I made it! However, somehow seeing that last long mile stretch in front of me, I began to doubt and became disheartened. Even though I had run twelve miles, I didn’t know how I was going to finish that last one. But I had asked the Lord for help and help came. A lady ran up next to me, grabbed my arm, and started running with me. I didn’t know this woman and with half a mile left she let go and I lost sight of her, but she helped me find the determination to keep going. Sometimes we all need someone to help us and “run” with us during the difficult times of life. (Btw, this whole experience has metaphors for life laden throughout it.) She was my tender mercy during that last mile.

Finally, I saw the finish line. A surge of adrenaline rushed through my body and I felt energized! Seeing my family and the time clock renewed my strength and I rushed forward. I thought I was at the three hour mark. Instead I finished around two hours and seven minutes! Somehow I had kept a 9:45 mile average pace. In all my training, I had never quite hit that mark. I was thrilled! My body ached and my mind was thrashed, but I finished!

Since that time, I haven’t been that consistent with exercising. However, something stirred within me and I wanted to feel that sense of accomplishment and drive once again. I liked the idea of tackling another half marathon and am officially signed up for the Salt Lake Half-Marathon in April. I’ve planned out my workout routine and am geared up to improve my time. So though I feel a bit crazy at times for signing up for another half marathon, I am mostly excited and determined.

Snowpocalypse

Last week a snow storm hit the state and created complete havoc. Two hours before the first snow fall, the roads were clear and dry. I knew a storm was coming but figured it wouldn’t be that much of a hassle. Turns out, this storm generated quite the adventure for all those stuck in its path. My usual forty-five minute drive turned into a two hour battle with the elements. To keep myself calm instead of white-knuckled, I distracted myself by devising a list of DOs and DON’Ts for driving in snowy weather.


DON'T...
* Slam on your breaks! You will only spin out. Tap them repeatedly. First, you are more likely to stay in control. Second, the car behind you will notice the flashing lights and be prepared to slow down too.
* Try to change lanes just because you are slower than the car to your right, particularly when said car is only a few feet behind you. One of the few times I have honked at someone.
* Ever cut in front of a diesel especially when the roads are icy. They will jack-knife and shut down the freeway. Gratefully the backup was far enough I could get off the freeway at a different exist; however, the icy roads in town were much more treacherous than the interstate.
* Stay behind a diesel. The spray makes it difficult to see. Gather your courage and pass him. Better to increase your speed for a few seconds than travel between a concrete barrier and a slush, spraying semi.

DO...
* Make sure you can see out your windshield which means have plenty of washer fluid and good wiper blades. Time to change the wiper blades.
* Go slower than you normally would, even if you have snow tires or 4WD. Traveling 35mph sure seemed too fast at times that night.
* Recognize how snowplows work. They work left to right so the “fast” lane is usually clearer than the “slow” lanes. Thankfully most people haven’t figured that out which makes a nice, safe driving radius for me.
* Leave later in the morning so the snow plows have time to clear the roads. It also makes for a nicer commute.
* Plan to stay at your aunt’s home next time. Check!