hoot

i just finished (well, almost- he still needs his bum sewn up) this little stuffed owl for River's birthday coming up. i really like how it turned out! it's the first stuffed anything i've ever made. i'm not gonna lie, though....he wasn't easy! that being said, i may not actually let River play with him. he would probably be destroyed within the first few minutes. he may just sit prettily on a shelf as decoration in Riv's room.


the eyes, nose, and feet are felt, and the green body part is Minkee that i texturized. i'm not really sure how to get his face un-wrinkly!


bum- not sewn up.


profile shot.


Hi, Hoot!

i'm a mom!

it's my very first official mother's day! woohoo!

thanks for letting me be your mama, Rivs, even if i do get a little annoying, sometimes.....

lizard friend

st. george has a TON of fun wildlife, and it's all right in our backyard! i have yet to get a good picture of the cute little road runner that frequents our neighborhood. but this guy totally smiled for me when i quickly snapped a shot of him. he likes to hang out on my window on warm days. which means he's there pretty much every day. i like him.

half-marathon

this post is a little overdue. but who cares. logan and i actually set a goal for ourselves and followed through with it! i know. whoa!! crazy! this never happens! training for and running a half-marathon was really great. i recommend it. and honestly, if i can do it, anyone can. anyone. we went from being pretty much non-runners to running 13.1 miles (actually, the Hurricane city people didn't calculate correctly. my Garmin said 13.2 when i crossed the finish line. i want my .1 mile back, jerks!!) in a little less than 4 months. it certainly takes some motivation, though. and by motivation i mean a shiny new pair of running shoes to help me out the door every day. anyway, my point is this: do it. it's fun!

one of our last runs before the race. River was not so fond of the hour-and-a-half training sessions we forced him into toward the end. but he put on his happy little angel face for us anyway.


my dad, laura, mom, and River camped out at mile 10 and took a few pics as we went by. it was great! but i kind of wanted a ride as they zoomed away to get a spot at the finish line. please pretend like you don't notice how scary and gross i look in these pics, k?

the older gentleman in the yellow hat happily passed right by us and said something like, "I'm, like, 70 and i'm faster than you punks. SUCKAAAAS." he was a really nice guy.


the last three miles were like death. i felt several very large blisters forming on the bottoms of my toes and my granny knees were about ready give out. but we never stopped to walk. that's an accomplishment in itself.

ugh. yellow hat man, again. just rubbing it in.


during the last stretch, aNOTHER dude who literally looked about 90 strolled right past us. again! what is with these guys?! i wish i had gotten a picture of him. or a video. he barely moved his upper body as he shuffled along. it was funny. but my self-esteem took quite a beating as he passed by.

aaaaand here we come, rounding the corner! i like this pic. i think you can really see how exhausted yet determined we are. we stayed together for the whole race, which made it much more fun. except it was even more fun when Logan decided he just HAD to use a port-a-potty at around mile 6 and said he'd catch up with me. too bad he didn't realize that i'm pretty much like lightening and couldn't catch me for several miles. he finally yelled out "eeeeemmilyyyy!! just walk for a sec! i'm cominnng!" haha! awesome.



crossing the finish line. we were trying to sprint at the end, hence the blurriness. cool action shot.



we finished in about 2:04, just over our goal. next time.

ah, the perfect post-race picture: me looking sweaty and scary, and logan blowing his nose. nice.


our cute supporters. River is like, "um, can we go now, please?"


we're done!!


i have realized that i never could run a full marathon. i think i could do it mentally. but i don't think my knees could handle it. i would probably OD on glucosamine before being able to do it. i do, however, feel that a triathlon is in my future. perhaps a half-ironman? we'll see....