of weddings, pioneers, and young women

So let's see, this was a pretty busy week. Tuesday, in the wee hours of the morning I finished reading the epic tale of Harry Potter. What a great book! I found it to be a very satisfying end. On Thursday, Rich's sister got married in the Oklahoma City Temple. Talk about a long day! The sealing was really nice and the reception went off (almost) without a hitch. Once the power went on again everything was great. Those beautiful lilies above were my bridesmaid bouquet.

On Saturday we had a ward Pioneer Day party. For some reason people here think that pioneer day is a Utah holiday... or at least a "west coast thing". I grew up with superb Pioneer Day fun. Thankfully we have a ward activity leader who loves pioneer day like I do. This is the best one we've had so far here in Oklahoma. They had lots of games set up (ie: stick pulling, stilts, ring toss, etc), a room outlining the events which led the pioneers to Salt Lake, and lots of good food and conversation. William loves going to parties. Good times were had by all.

Today I was sustained as the 2nd counselor in the Young Women's Presidency. I am SUPER excited and a little nervous as well. (I'm just a glad that I missed girl's camp this year!) We have about 9 Beehives in our ward. I can't wait to get to know them and the women that I'll be working with. I have been in Relief Society callings since we moved to Piedmont and have been about the only younger women in there. It'll be nice to be with some more people my age. So many of my friends around the country have worked with the Young Women and I've always been a little jealous. So here's my chance! I would GREATLY appreciate any advice from those of you who are or who have worked with the Young Women! I'll need all the help I can get.

Harry Potter

I just have to say that I love, love, love the Piedmont Public Library and its librarian, Miss Rhonda. You see, Saturday morning I raced on over and checked out my very own, never been read, brand new copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows which was sitting under the desk just for ME! It was such a nice surprise because I thought for sure my name would be half-way down the reserved list! When I arrived home with my prize Rich kissed me and said "I'll see you in a few days." Which, in all honesty, is probably true. I don't think much in the way of house work will be getting done anytime soon. It's a good thing all the laundry is done (for the time being). I'm about 200 pages into it... I can't wait to discuss with everyone once we're all done!!!

a trip to the jungle

Now if you've never taken a two-year-old to the zoo (or "jungle" according to William) you are missing out on one of the funnest experiences life has to offer! No joke. After picking up Rich from the airport we made our way over to the Oklahoma City Zoo for the free entrance "tax payer appreciation day." William was in heaven! He loved the animals (partly because they were behind fences) and would run 100 yards ahead of us shouting "I see animals!" He was so excited about everything. Watching the kangaroos boxing, "kong kong" (the gorillas), the chimps swinging around, and the bats flying around the barn were just some of the highlights. We were also able to check out the new Oklahoma Trails exhibit which featured the animals native to Oklahoma. It was really cool. Walking around so much in the scorching heat wore us out though! We'll have to go back on 75 cent Wednesday when it's not so hot and see if we can catch a glimpse of the lions and tigers. And seriously take a kid to the zoo... it's so much more exciting!

I'm so glad when daddy comes home!

Rich went out of town for a quick business trip and will be home today. Sunday, on the way to the airport, I told William that we were going to the airport and then going to Grandma's house. Well, William thought we were getting on the plane to go to Grandma Fisher's house. Needless to say he was a little upset when we didn't get out of the car. We were doing alright with Rich gone until late yesterday afternoon. After waking William from an unauthorized nap, he was so sad and kept repeating, in between sobs, "I need Dad! I miss Daddy!" It was a horribly sad sight. We grabbed the phone and left a message on Rich's cell phone (William was happy just to hear Daddy's voice on the message). At bedtime, William was sorely disappointed that I (and not Dad) would be reading the bedtime stories. I'm so grateful to be married to a wonderful man who is a SUPER dad! We are so excited for our Daddy to come home! We miss him!

oh what a beautiful day!

Don't you just love those Saturday's where it seems to be LOTS of fun and just a little bit of housework? Maybe that's what every Saturday is to you but for us it's usually the opposite. However, yesterday we had LOTS and LOTS of FUN! William (finally) agreed to getting his hair cut so afterward he and I played in the water outside. He would get cups of water to throw at me which he thought was hilarious. Eventually I got the hose out to spray him with. So much fun. Later in the afternoon we went to a park to play--and we had the park all to ourselves! William told me that his favorite part was playing the "Don't get me!" game. This game consisted of Rich sitting at the bottom of the slide, William going down the slide and then Rich screaming "Oh no! Don't get me!" This, to William, was the epitome of fun. All that, a little work and a little movie. By the end of the day I don't know who was more exhausted... William or Rich and I... but this I do know: we all had a wonderfully FUN time on this beautiful day!

close ties

I love it when family and friends come to visit. I never end up planning enough cool stuff to do while they are here which may leave them bored out of their minds but I have fun just hanging out and talking. My sister and her family were just here for a few days last week. I loved every minute that they were here. For a few years now they've been living in Missouri so it's been fun to have them close enough for road trips. In a month and a half they'll be gone to Michigan and I'll be left alone in the midwest once again. It's very sad. For the Fourth of July we headed on over to the Crane's house for barbeque, chatting, and games--a few intense games of basketball for the guys, a little bit of Bocce ball, and some rousing rounds of boxing on the Wii (in which I proceeded to kick everyone's trash). Later that night we watched some fireworks as well. We didn't do anything spectacular while they were here but I think that the cousins had a good time. Of course, there were no stairs for William to push Olivia down so that helped. (She got him back by pulling his hair a few times.) They had fun in the pool together, "cooking", and giving hugs. Olivia loved to "babysit" James and give him lots of kisses. She's such a cutie.

Since they've left I've become little homesick for friends and family nearby. I'm finally really comfortable in our ward but I just don't have a deep connection with anyone. It's probably mostly my fault but I blame it on the fact that, until very recently, all of the young people (except for me), have been in Primary or Young Women's so I am alone in Relief Society... and none of the young people live in Piedmont. I know that I should just invite people over and be more sociable but--let's face it--I'm a homebody. Most of the time it doesn't even bother me but having Amy here or hearing from my friends scattered around the U.S. makes me miss everyone. I AM very blessed to live near my in-laws... so I'm not completely alone out here. I guess the point is that I love and miss you all... and know that I am thinking of you. (And not-so-secretly-wishing that someone--anyone--would move a little closer!)

brotherly love

I just had to show off the cutest boys in the world! Can you tell--William and James love each other so much!

run, forrest, run!

So after about a year hiatus from running I started up once again. I went a whole 2 miles tonight after family night and putting William to bed… and I ran the whole thing! I don’t know if I would have gone except for my supportive husband reminding me that I had mentioned wanting to take up running again. He told me several times before I left how excited he was for me. I was dying when I got back and I’m sure that my legs will be crazy sore tomorrow but I am sure glad that I did it! I feel pretty good about myself.

I’ve never been the distance runner of the family. I remember Amy, my sister, running with my dad when she was in 2nd or 3rd grade—and thinking she was crazy. I could barely finish the mile in fourth grade! I ran track all four years of high school but specialized in the hurdles. Just short distances for me. In fact, I was chastised once by a P.E. teacher, who knew I ran track, for not running the mile in less than 8 minutes. The summer before my junior year Amy (getting ready to be a freshman) convinced me to join cross country with her. I ran with them a few times during summer practice but my fondest memory of cross country is the time we happened to be running through our neighborhood. Amy and I had fallen behind in the pack and it was already getting too hot for our liking. As we approached our street we looked at each other, slowed down, and slyly made a run around the corner to our cool, air conditioned house, while everyone else continued going straight. Aaahhh…. nothing like a short cut.
Fast forward to college. This is when I really started to run longer distances. Not really because I liked running or because I thought I needed exercise (I got enough of that walking around campus) but mostly to escape a dorm of 5 roommates and the issues that often go along with that. This was my time to think and sort out my problems with no other distractions. Occasionally I had a male friend that wanted to go running with me. I can tell you for certain that I didn’t impress them with my super running skills… in fact, I probably just slowed them down. One time in particular comes to mind when I was just doggin’ it and really going to die and then this friend says “Just sprint to the temple!” He then began to sprint. It was uphill and needless to say I fell way behind.
My favorite running partner is by far my marathon running husband, Rich. Not only does he just love running but he tells me that I’m good too… even though I hold him back. And there is always plenty of good conversation.
So as I venture to make this a new habit I will try to remember that runners high that I get at the end of each run and just take it a run at a time.