Jeff & Kristina Oliverson

finally updated!

2010-12-09T15:50:00.000-07:00

To see pictures of my fabulous kitchen redo go here: http://www.jeffkristinaoliverson.blogspot.com

I've updated!

2010-09-09T10:05:00.000-06:00

Check out http://jeffkristinaoliverson.blogspot.com/!`

2010-06-06T13:46:00.002-06:00

Where to begin . . .

2010-06-05T13:10:00.000-06:00

So after taking a 7 month hiatus- I'm optimistically recommiting to blogging. At least more often. Some updates:

Jeff got hired to teach P.E. at SCMS in St. George! YAY! It seriously is an answer to a year or more worth of prayers. It was pretty awesome how it all happened. Let me rewind a little bit:

In January, Jeff was told that a teacher at Cedar Middle School was retiring, so a P.E. position was going to be opening up, finally. So we waited.  And waited. And then waited some more. And then found out that they filled the position within the district and did some juggling so there wasn't going to be an opening after all.

Then, a couple of months ago, Angie & Derek applied for Derek to be a City Magistrate in Page, AZ. While they were looking into Page, Derek noticed a teaching position open at the High School.   It was a "Reconnecting Youth" position- which required a teaching license, but it didn't have to be a specific one. So Jeff applied and got an interview. Then a few days after that interview, he got called back for a 2nd interview, scheduled for the next week. The interviews were serious intense, hours long. By the end of the 2nd interview, he was told that he had the job. We were super excited. Then the next week he went back to shadow the current R.Y. teachers for a couple of days. On the 2nd day, he found out that the teaching position was only for 1 year. WHAT?!   We knew that it wasn't a normal teachinig job, and that it was grant funded, but Jeff had gotten the impression that it was good to go for awhile. So finding out that it was only for a year and that the health benefits were going to cost $500 a month, it started seeming less and less appealing.

At first I was feeling like it didn't matter that it was only for a year, that at least 1 year was better than 0 years of teaching experience. (And let's be honest, I was really really excited to be potentially living 3 blocks from my sister!) Jeff wasn't feeling good about the job because the administration hadn't been totally honest with him, and he had heard bad things about them from the coaching staff of the football & baseall teams. By the time Jeff got home that night, we had both come to the same conclusion: the job in Page was worth the move when we thought that it was A) a start to a teaching career & B) had good health benefits. But now that we knew it WASN'T a start to a career in a district & the health benefits weren't all that great- we were better off staying in Cedar so that Jeff could go back to school to get his Special Ed endorsement while working @YHA w/a promotion that had a health benefits option. Once we'd decided that, I felt at peace. I had been feeling restless, for lack of a better word, since the whole Page interview process had began.

So he got the promotion, and that was the plan. Then, on the 22nd, a couple in our ward, the Kroffs, randomly invited us over for dinner after church. We had never hung out with them one on one before. So that night while we were talking, they asked about Jeff's job situation and Steve mentioned that he had seen a P.E. teaching job on the Washington County School District website. A few days went by and Wednesday afternoon I asked Jeff if he had checked the website, he hadn't, but got up right then and checked it out. We found the job description and the bottom of the website and then saw that the deadline was 4 pm the next day! Luckily, Jeff had everything ready to go, it was just a matter of filling out the application and printing it out. I turned the application in the next day in St. George a few hours before the deadline. The next morning Jeff got the call for an interview, scheduled for June 1 at 9 a.m.

Jeff went to his interview, it was only 20 minutes, and walked away feeling good about it. He got a call from the principal a few hours later saying that he had a really good interview, etc. but that she wasn't allowed to tell him if he got the job or not. She said something about him waiting for a call from Human Resources, so we were thinking that meant he got the job, but didn't want to just assume it without hearing FOR SURE. So after the longest couple hours of Jeff's life, he got the call from Human Resources telling him that he got the job. We then proceeded to make the requisite family phone calls,sharing the good news, while roaming aimlessly through Costco doing the happy dance.

But the goodness doesn't end there.

The next day I woke up at 5:45 a.m. and couldn't fall back asleep. I just kept thinking about needing to get back down to St. George to find a house to rent. Jeff had been scheduled to work that afternoon but someone had asked him to switch shifts, so he had the day off. He agreed to go down that day to look for a place, probably realizing I would be worthless around the house that day if we didn't because I'd be so distracted! Shanna watched Elea for us while we looked and looked. All the houses we liked when we looked online the night before were already taken, one that was really nice only wanted to rent the top floor, and the ones that were left were crappy. Then we just started driving around areas we liked, but neither of those felt right either- one didn't have a backyard and the other's yard was way too small. So we were heading back to return a key to the property management company and I decided to check craigslist one last time. I saw a listing that had just popped up in the last couple hours, called, and then we headed straight there.

I loved the location right away, then we walked through the house, and it was PERFECT for us. PERFECT. The family that owns it is in the process of moving to Texas, had just found out that week, and needed to be there in a month. They were only planning on leaving the ad up that afternoon and were planning on deciding that night. So as we were checking out the house, there were boxes everywhere, toys, etc. and it didn't even matter. Jeff and I didn't even talk about it by ourselves before we asked them for a rental application, we both just knew. It was pretty funny actually because they didn't even have an application, I just wrote out our info on a half sheet of printer paper. We sat and chatted with them about the house, our history, etc. for almost a half hour. When we left, I immediately called my friend Amanda whose husband works with the owner of the house and BEGGED her to call them and tell them we are good people. (And they did). I was more nervous about whether we were going to get the house than I was about Jeff getting the job. I felt confident about Jeff getting the job because I trusted in his qualifications, etc. But I had no idea what the owner's of the house were going to use to make their decision. But luckily, they called that evening and told us they'd rent it to us!

We went to sign the lease yesterday and are so excited to move down to St. George and into the house. They are leaving the playhouse in the back for Elea. We're allowed to paint it if we want to, they don't really care WHAT we do to the house cosmetically because they never plan on living in it again. We won't have bi-yearly inspections or anything like that. And, if anything goes wrong, we'll just call someone to come fix it, and send them the bill. Fabulous!

So anyway, this week has been pretty much perfect. (knock on wood and all that). So many prayers have been answered in such a short time for us, it's pretty amazing.   Now we're about to go through our storage unit-- like I said, knock on wood.

Cousins

2010-04-21T21:24:00.002-06:00

While Angie & Derek were in the process of packing their stuff to move from Kingman to Page, I took their 2 youngest, Lexi & Sam for a few days. Elea adores them both- with Sam she has a little idol worship going on and with Lexi she acts like a twin sister would. They fight. Over everything. But, they do have fun together in between the swinging fists.

(I normally do allow toddlers to sit on the actual couch cushions-- Sam was sick earlier that morning so the cushions were in the process of being cleaned and aired out!)

"Wee."

2010-03-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

Snow White, the Evil Queen, & the Woodsman

2009-11-01T21:36:00.001-07:00

We just went to our ward's trunk-or-treat. Elea was still too young to really get what was going on- but at least she looked cute! I was happy that Jeff was willing to dress-up with us.

My New Scrapbooking Blog

2009-10-28T11:40:00.003-06:00

I've decided to start a scrapbooking blog instead of posting my pages on this one. Separation of church and state or something like that.

http://kristinasdigicreations.blogspot.com

I'll be posting sales, freebie links, challenges, new kits, etc. on it so come check it out!

I Love Cord-Uh-Roy

2009-10-25T16:39:00.006-06:00

Kit: 'I love Cord-uh-Roy" by Sara Ellis & Connie Prince. Font: Angelina

!!! NEW Monday!!!! I Love Cord-Uh-Roy kit by Sara Ellis & Connie Prince @ Gotta Pixel.

What've I been up to lately?

2009-10-24T17:04:00.002-06:00

Sherri Piegdon- "Urban Edge" kit, Shabby Princess- "promise" staple, & Loved by the King Font

Sherrie Piegdon- "This Girl" kit, joeshand2 font

Amie Collofello- "I Love Cupcakes", Font: Loved by the King

What was Elea up to the month of August?

2009-09-07T10:00:00.004-06:00

Elea Laughing

2009-08-12T14:08:00.004-06:00

I think this is the hardest I have ever heard Elea laugh.

It's sort of unfortunate that her giggling stems from thinking she is kicking me in the face.

Provo River Trail- 1st Half Marathon

2009-08-09T21:54:00.003-06:00

Angie and I ran in a half marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday morning. I didn't get as nervous for it as I have for the triathlons, at least until I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and couldn't fall back asleep before my alarm clock went off at 4:30 a.m. We had to be at the Shops at Riverwoods at 5 in the morning to take a bus up to the starting point up the Provo River Trail. Too early in the morning. WAY to early in the morning. We were both sort of slap happy (I will post pictures tomorrow proving as much). The race started at 7 a.m. and by that time my toes and other appendages were pretty numb. There were a lot of people-- it was a different atmosphere from the triathlons since people weren't busy messing with their gear-- everyone just stood around talking.

Anyway, the race started and I ran. And then ate some GU. Then ran some more. Then ate another GU. Then finished running. My time was 1:59:??. I think. Our (mine and Ang's) goal was 2 hours and 20 minutes. But then at about 9.5 miles I realized that if I kept my pace I could finish in 2 hours so for the last 35 minutes of the race that was my new goal. :) I "sprinted" the last half mile or so to make it. Hopefully they will post our official finish times soon.

Angie made it a couple of minutes under our goal too! Yay!

Elea's 1 year Dr. visit

2009-08-02T19:37:00.003-06:00

She's getting taller!! Elea weighed in at 19 lbs 1 oz so she is in the 14th percentile for weight but she is 29.75 inches tall so now she's up to the 64th percentile for height. Her head circumference measured 18.5 inches but the girl measuring her didn't take off her cloth headband so I think it's actually less than that. Regardless, her percentile at that measurement is 91%!! That is so funny to me. Our little midget.

Everything else was good- I didn't realize that she should be able to point to her eyes, nose, etc. by now. I haven't ever even pointed those out to her. BUT, we did have a break through with the sign language. She was drinking from her sippy cup and her doctor said something to her about her drink and elea took one hand off the cup and did the open fist/close fist sign for milk. Now ask me if she's done it since then. NOPE. But, she is atleast recognizing the signs when we do them. If I sign "eat" she says "yaaass" and walks over to her high chair. Also, today in church she had a little zip lock bag with crackers and such in it. I would open the bag, she'd grab one, then I would zip up the bag and hand it to her. She would play with the bag until I did the sign for "more" then she would automatically hand me the bag to open up for her to get "more." Pretty fabulous-- it made me feel telepathic not having to talk out loud to her during church! ha.

Back to her doc appt., she had the 2nd to last round of immunizations for awhile. They also pricked her finger to draw blood for an anemia test. She wasn't too appreciative of either of those things but at least they are over with for now and the immunizations didn't seem to affect her the way they have in the past.

OH WAIT!!! GOOD NEWS!!!!

I almost forgot! Anyone who has been around Elea for longer than 5 minutes since she was born has probably noticed her nose running. All. the. time. So I finally took her to the N.A.E.T. (allergy doctor) in St. George last week. He tested her for a milk allergy since the runny nose is a common side effect and she was allergic so he treated her for that and sent us home with the vial to wear for 24 hours. So her nose was still running that night but not as bad. Then the next day it was still running but not near as much. But by Friday it wasn't running at all!!!! And she isn't snoring anymore either! Which kind of freaks me out because I'm used to being able to hear her in her room when she is asleep-- but I'm getting used to it because I can tell she is sleeping better even though I can't hear her sleeping. If that makes any sense at all. So yeah. It's pretty amazing. Sitting in church today I realized it was the first time I'd left the house without grabbing kleenex or some other nose wiping utility for I do not even know how long.

Scofield Triathlon Adventures

2009-07-18T22:00:00.004-06:00

My friend Lisa & I drove up to Scofield, UT yesterday for the triathlon today. We spent the night in Price and then drove the half hour to the reservoir this morning.

I had never swam in the reservoir, or rode the bike course or anything so it was all new. We drove the course last night but it turned out that what felt like uphill in the car was actually downhill and vice versa. Last month when I did the Utah Summer Games I was planning on that being my last triathlon until the half marathon in August was over and then I would do the Kokapelli Triathlon at Sand Hollow at the end of September. But then I got the flat tire so I decided to do a tri this month to redeem myself on the bike portion of the race (and because I stick to my training better when I have a closer race goal!). Luckily, my friend Lisa was a peach and registered for the Scofield race and made the trip with me since I didn't want to drag Jeff and Elea up to the middle of nowhere to stand in the hot sun for hours.

So last night I was actually able to sleep. It was strange being away from Elea and not worrying about if she was going to wake up in the night or whatever. So I actually slept better than I normally do the night before a race. And it actually started at a reasonable hour- 9 am instead of 7:30 or 8 am. We actually were a lot more relaxed about getting there early to set up our transition area but then once we got there I was worried because there didn't seem to be any space on the racks to fit our bikes and gear. But luckily we found some spots so that turned out okay because I got to sleep in a little, eat breakfast, set up my gear, and get in the water without a ton of down time to get more nauseaus and nervous than I already was!

The water was pretty cold but thank goodness for wetsuits because it makes it manageable (and it makes me float!!) It wasn't a huge group of women so they had us all start in the same wave. I have learned to head out to the front of the group to begin with so that I don't get stuck in a school of fish- there was just a short time after the start buzzer went off that I was swimming over other girl's legs and stuff. But luckily I managed not to get kicked or anything traumatic. It was probably about 50-100 yds out that I was pretty much alone on my way. I could see a couple other yellow swim caps in the water on my right as I headed to the first buoy. I made it around the first buoy and and about 25-50 yds later I started seeing blue swim caps. At first I got confused and then I realized it was the men who had started 5 minutes before me. As I was making my way down the longer stretch to the second buoy (it was a triangle shaped course) I kept coming across more and more men in their blue caps. Some were side-stroking, some were doing breaststroke, I even saw one guy who was either incredibly double-jointed in his shoulders or he was doing backstroke! I was definitely jealous at that point. It would be nice to know that the 2nd and 3rd legs of the race were my strengths so that I could take it easier on the swim!

Anyway, I made it around the 2nd buoy and headed back toward the boat dock area. I kept dodging the guys in blue swim caps doing breaststroke and such and luckily made it throught the 700 yards and out of the water unscathed. As I was running up the boat dock some lady said, "really good swim," to me and then I looked up and realized I hadn't seen a green swim cap in awhile and as I ran up the transition aisle I only saw 1 girl. So that was pretty exciting for me- but I wasn't sure that more women had already made it out of the water and out of transition too. The very first part of the bike course is a very steep hill. They warned us to put our bikes in the lowest gear possible and even then when I clipped in my right foot I couldn't get the momentum to get my balance while clipping in my left foot. So I just got off the bike and ran it up the hill. Once I did mount the bike I started moving, went over a speed bump I hadn't noticed, passed the state trooper car parked on the main road, barely swerving in time to miss a parked car and race mile marker sign on the opposite side of the road. It was awesome. I can just imagine what the state trooper was thinking as I came barreling through. ay ay ay.

After getting myself back over to the appropriate side of the road I said a quick prayer of gratefulness that I didn't completely smash myself and my bike in the first half mile of the race. The first almost half of the race was fabulous. Rolling-ish hills, no crazy steep hills or cattleguards, the weather was beautiful, the road was right alongside the lake, it was pretty perfect for me. I wasn't even feeling the 7600 foot elevation like I thought I was going to either and only 2 girls had passed me on the bike thus far so it was a great improvement. I only still saw the one in front after the swim too so I was feeling good about things. Then I look up as I get past the lake and ahead of me and to the right I see a train. And this isn't a short train. And I am too far away to evil-kenevil my way across the tracks and beat it. So I start to coast hoping that maybe it will pass before I have to stop and completely lose my momentum like the few people I see stopped at the tracks in front of me. But alas, twas not meant to be. I get up there, unclip one foot, and stop. And wait. And wait some more. And then I look back and there are now 10 people waiting. And then some of those 10 people start to walk their bikes past those of us who had been there first. So I started moving forward as well moving over to the inside of the road to have some space. The last time I looked back there were probably 30+ people smashed together- like a stand-still-less-impressive tour de france pack. 30+ people that I had been beating and now my lead from the swim was completely obliterated by the stinkin' train. Awesome.

Wait. Was I or wasn't I doing this race to vindicate myself after the flat tire on my last race? Well I guess that just wasn't meant to be. So finally the train was coming to an end so we start to move forward as it passes the right side of the road, just in time to look up and see all the olympic-distance men racers coming at us on the left side of the road! In case you don't remember, I was practically on the left side of the road, at the front. So all of a sudden it felt like I was a little bug swerving to miss the rocketeers coming at me the opposite direction. Did I mention they were mad rocketeers? How none of us had predicted that if there was 30+ people on one side of the train, there would probably be 30+ people on the OTHER side of the train waiting as well, I do not know. So anyway, I then preceeded to get passed by more and more cyclists as we came to the turn around point and back around. Although, I was surprised at the number- it was smaller than I expected it to be. I had talked to Lisa on the ride there about how hard she pushes herself-- whether it's an "I can do this all day" pace or a "okay this is painful but I can hold it for the next x number of miles" pace. She said she aims more for the latter so that's what I worked for this time around because she always kicks my trash. She caught up to me with about 3 miles left of the bike course instead in the first 3 miles so I knew that I was doing better than in the past.

So after making it to the end of the bike course and slowing down enough to dismount on the downslope of the steep hill into transition without completing biffing it- I tried to walk my bike more than run through the transition aisle to my spot but it was a steep enough grade that I couldn't stop the momentum well in my slick cycling shoes so I just went with it. I managed to get through the transition pretty quick and then headed down the transition aisle and then back up a hill to the main road again. I was tempted to walk up that hill but I just kept thinking, grandpa shuffle, grandpa shuffle, and made it up the hill. The run was on the same course as the bike, except instead of 6.2 miles before the turn around it was just 1.5 ish miles to the turn around point. I completely missed the 1st mile marker sign so when I looked at my watch and it said 11 min 30 sec I was thinking that my run was really sucking. But then I looked up and saw the turn around point not very far ahead and realized I had missed the mile marker somewhere back there. At the 2 mile mark I was at 17 minutes and 30 some odd seconds. So I was excited because that was definitely faster than any of my previous times. I figured that if I pushed it I could make it to the finish in about 10-11 minutes and beat my last 5k time by a 2 minutes or more.

I pushed harder at the end then I ever have in the past. I caught up to some random guy about 100 yards from the finish line and we raced in. At that point I couldn't really feel my legs and so there was a moment where I felt like I was gonna completely trip onto my face but managed to make it across without any drama. So I honestly was more relieved about that than anything else the first 30 seconds or so after finishing. I made it through the run in the 28 minute range but they haven't posted the splits on-line so I am unsure.

Supposedly the race organizers had signed a deal with the train-people so that there wouldn't be any trains during the race time. Somehow that got messed up and so there was the train. But so there wouldn't be any more drama, the race organizers decided to just go with finish times for the placings. I heard some people say that they took 5 minutes off of everyones finish times but I am unsure if they did or not. I don't really see the why they would, but my point is that my posted finish time was 1 hour 32 minutes and I don't remember the seconds. But if that was after they took 5 minutes off because of the train then including the train my time was 1 hour 37 minutes, etc. Either way, that means that I finished today's race about 15-20 minutes faster than my previous races. Yay!

It's amazing what some consistent training and a bike course without a giant hill can do for a girl. I found out when they posted the results that I really was the 2nd girl out of the water and I placed 3rd in my age group. Granted, there wasn't near as many people competing as there have been in the other triathlons, but my goal was to be in the top 50% and I beat that so I'm happy.

Okay, let's be honest, Scofield is my new favorite course.

Train or no Train.

1st Birthday Party Pics

2009-07-15T19:12:00.004-06:00

Jordyn & Sam on the slide.

Katie Kate.

Annie.

Elea couldn't quite figure out why everyone was singing at her.

Grandpa O got her this cute little hat with her name monogrammed on the back.

Me & her. Obviously. (Notice the empty capri sun in her hand!)

After she got all messy in her cake I rinsed her off in the splashpad and ended up using her swim top as a washcloth so she was half nakey the rest of the party. The wind died down a little later and she actually wanted to walk around on her own.

Elea's 1st Birthday

2009-07-14T16:05:00.003-06:00

Yesterday went really well. If the wind would have stopped for her party I would call it a perfect day. But it didn't, and in the end it just saved us money on some tablecloths and crepe paper we couldn't use.

For her birthday we rented a bouncehouse-slide combo and had it at a park in St. George that has a splashpad and sweet playground with rubber under it instead of sand or woodchips or whatever. Anyway, Jeff and I were able to run around and get all the food and decorations, etc. while she took a nap so that worked out perfect. It was fun to get to spend that much one on one time with Jeff too, just running errands or whatever.

The party started around 4-ish and the slide was in constant use except for a break long enough to eat. The kids all loved it and the adults with swimsuits (and even some with regular clothes) had fun on it too. We had checked to make sure there was a water faucet at the park but were dumb and didn't check to make sure that we could actually turn it on. So we weren't able to connect the slide to the water, so instead the guys would go fill up a 5 gallon bucket of water at the splashpad and then throw the water at all the kids waiting at the top of the slide. So it worked okay and I think the kids got a thrill out of getting blasted in the face with the freezing cold water.

We took Elea down the slide a couple of times-- she didn't hate it but she didn't love it either-- we hung out in the bounce house a little bit but I think she preferred sitting in her highchair getting to squeeze a capri sun out all over her rolls and sandwich meat more than anything else. For dinner we just did some meat & cheese trays, veggie trays, fruit bowls, and some chips. Nothing too extravagent and none of it involved cooking!

I made her a little 4 in. square cake to devour. Or touch. She's not a fan of sweets so I didn't think she was really gonna dig into it. AND . . . she didn't. She got her hands into it and then was annoyed that they were all covered in frosting. We tried to get her to at least taste the frosting--- yeah, she wasn't a fan of that either. In the end she ended up with frosting all over her face and in her hair, but I don't think she ate any of it. We got the obligatory "1st birthday cake" video and photos though. :) Angie was a champ and took a lot of the pictures during the party for us. So this time I am actually documented as present in my daughters life but her closest aunt isn't, once again. Almost everyone stayed and played hard until after 8 pm and the kids probably would have lasted longer but all the adults were tired.

Elea opened her presents after we got home, way past her normal bedtime. I was sort of embarrassed that people brought her presents in the first place-- I should have made the disclaimer ahead of time not to bring gifts. It was fun to watch her pull the tissue out and try to rip the paper off. (It made me really excited for this year's christmas 'cause I can tell she's gonna have so much fun opening presents).

So it turned out to be a great day-- I am determined to make a big deal out of my kids' birthdays. Not that we're going to throw a big shindig every year or anything, but I want them to feel special on their birthday somehow, in someway. This year, let's be honest, this was more for me and Jeff- she won't remember it and wouldn't have noticed if we never sang her happy birthday-- but it is going to be a good memory for the rest of us. Thanks to all the friends and family that were able to come celebrate with us- it made the day better to have all of you there with us.

Now the senimental. I'm not usually big on birthdays or anniversaries- I don't usually get all excited about them. But yesterday I was more excited about Elea's birthday than I think I was about our wedding reception (not our wedding, just the reception). I am so grateful to have her in our family. She's a smart, beautiful, good-natured little girl. I am always getting comments about how there is just something different about her, that she's special in some undefinable way. It's been awesome getting to be her mom and having the joy that comes with knowing her little personality and quirks better than anyone else in the world (except maybe Jeff). It took so long to get pregnant and when I found out that I was pregnant I was sure that I would never be able to be in a bad mood ever again, that's how thrilled I was. (But we all know that by the end of the 1st trimester that wasn't the case!) Anyway, while we were trying, I spent a lot of time and energy obsessing over it and being upset-- but now I am grateful that Jeff and I had those years of being married and our relationship improving and I was able to experience working full-time, etc. so that now that I am home with her I am happy with it and not resenting it or wondering if I would be happier going to work somewhere all the time.

Yesterday throughout the day I was remembering where I was a year ago-- at what stage of labor, etc. I'd always heard that you don't know how much love you are capable of until you have a kid. It's possibly one of the truest statements I have ever heard. I am so grateful that she is healthy and developing well. I know that she knows she is loved and is growing up in a good environment and hopefully we'll be able to keep it that way her whole life.

But in the meantime, yay for 1st birthdays.

**pictures will come later-- oh, & if you were at the party & took pictures will you let me know? thanks!**

2 MONTHS???!!!! OUCH!

2009-07-11T14:27:00.002-06:00

I hadn't realized that it had been 2 months since my last post . . . I knew it had been awhile, but 2 months?!

UPDATES- sorry for the quick and dirty, but it's either this or nothin' because I doubt I'll ever have the fortitude to fill it all in in detail. :)

May 7th- moved into new place. LOVE IT. :) Actually have decorations up on some of the walls. woot woot.

May 9th- St. George Triathlon. I competed in the sprint distance again. Except that morning was windy and that kayaks couldn't hold their position in the lake so the swim was cancelled. SO- we did a Duathlon instead. Which was about a billion times harder for me. Run 5k, Bike 20k, Run 5k AGAIN. So basically I wanted to die. I was ready to leave when they announced the change-- if Jeff hadn't been there I probably would have! So needless to say, my time wasn't fabulous, but at least I finished it.

May 13th- 23rd- flew to Omaha for Derek's graduation from Law School. Then from there we flew to Kentucky to visit my parents for a week. The whole trip was fun- things were a little more interesting at my parents house since Elea could walk and get into (every)things!

Sometime in here my back got messed up. I had started upping my run mileage because I've agreed to do a half-marathon with Angie in August. Anyway, so it was making me incredibly ornery and the picking up and putting down of Elea and everything in between got to the point that I could hardly stand it anymore. I went to the chiropractor and it didn't help at all. Then Jeff had been shadowing at the Physical Therapist office so they told him to have me just come in. So I went in and did all the different movement tests, and he meaured this and that, etc. The determination was a) he had no idea what exactly was wrong and b) my hips/back/legs are all so squeewampous that he said that he was surprised I could even run at all, physically. AWESOME thing to hear when you've become addicted to Triathlons, etc. So did the hot zapper then the cold zapper and took a few days off of running. Then I went back in and the 2nd physical therapist came and took a look- same thing, neither could figure out exactly what was going on. So they gave me a heel lift for one shoe and an SI belt to wear around my hips when I run. So then on my runs for the next 2 or 3 weeks I wore them. My back stopped hurting but then my hips/legs started to ache really bad. Angie and I did our first "long" run one saturday and by the end I was aching bad- frustrating as heck. So I rebelled a week or 2 ago and didn't wear the SI belt. PRESTO! My back doesn't hurt, and my hips don't hurt- so I'm a happy girl.

MOTHER'S DAY- I don't remember the exact date of mother's day . . . but it was a good day. Jeff is always good about remembering "gift" days and making them special for me.

June 13th- Utah Summer Games Triathlon. This is almost identical to the St George Tri, except the run portion is on the pavement instead of dirt. Jeff had to work so my sister was a sweetheart and came to cheer me on. The weather was a little sketchy again but we made it in and out of the water before the rain so it was all good. It was my first race swim in the lake. I actually handled it a lot better than I expected too. I was 3rd coming out of the water in my age group so I am happy about that. Then the bike portion came-- As I was headed up the big hill it started to rain, at about that same time my front tire started to make this obnoxious squealing noise. I thought it had something to do with the water on the tires or something but I am an idiot and I actually had a VERY FLAT tire. However, I didn't even know this until I was headed DOWN the big hill at 30+ miles per hour and one of the refs off to the side at the bottom of the hill yells out- "YOU'VE GOT A FLAT TIRE!!" So I get over the cattle guard safely, pull over, and then begin to take the wheel off, etc. LUCKILY, that same guy came down and took care of the tire for me. I had stopped to by a tire pump for my bike the night before, but kind of like the 10 virgins, I was too late and so I didn't even have a tire pump. If he hadn't came along, I would have been stuck walking my bike until some kind hearted competitor pulled over to let me use their air pump. Anyway, after finally getting that tire taken care of I finished the bike course- the flat tire added a ton of time- so I'm not even paying attention to my time on that leg of the race. Then the run- I actually managed to run the entire 5k without walking AND I kept 10 minute per mile pace so I was happy with that. At the end when Angie gave me a hug I had an emotional breakdown for about 10 seconds. This was the first race that I actually felt like I ACCOMPLISHED something, so that combined with the realization that a million things could have gone horribly wrong with that flat tire (i.e. completely crashing into the wet pavement)- I had to cry for a sec. So in the end I finished 16th-- which is has about zero bragging rights attached to it, BUT all things considered- I'm okay with it. I wasn't planning on doing another tri until september, but I wanted a redo, so I'm doing the scofield tri next weekend. :)

June 19th- 2 of my nieces got baptized so my parents came to visit for a few days. It was fun to have them here. We went to the splashpad in downtown st. george and elea LOVED it.

June 21st- Father's Day. I got jeff the standard father's day ties-- I was inspired the friday before because he had me bring his church clothes for the baptisms and I couldn't a) find a tie without a stain on it, and b) figure out what were his real ties and what ones were his ugly tie contest ties from his mission. So my mom helped me find some sweet ties that I am going to confiscate if I ever see them within 10 feet of food or liquid.

During that time there was a bunch of birthdays so it felt like we were driving down to St. George about every other day! Angie & her fam are in St. George for the summer so that is pretty fabulous. It's gonna suck when she moves to AZ, not thinking about it, not thinking about it, not thinking about it.

Elea is walking like a pro now. She is such a fun kid- I spend half my time at home calling out "where's elea?? Whhheeerrrreeee'ssss EEELLLLEEEAAA??" and then she comes hurrying out from wherever she is in the house with a giant grin on her face. She's started eating more and more big people food. I love it. It's great to be able to put her in her highchair with a piece of bread and then unload and load the dishwasher in one attempt while she's eating. She turns 1 on the 13th and I'm so excited for her birthday. Jeff gets sentimental every time he thinks about her growing up-- I get excited because I love her little, I mean big, personality developing a little more everyday- it's fun for me. Oh, one other thing, I've taken her swimming a few times and the first couple of times she wasn't thrilled, but now she loves the water, and not just at bathtime!

Jeff is going to go to Occupational Therapy school instead of Physical Therapy school. What this means: Less pre-reqs, less school because it's a masters not a doctorate, less competition to get in to a good school, AND more stability job wise because face it, there are gonna be a lot of old people the next 30 years. (Occupational therapists work in a lot of different settings, with kids, babies, adults, disabled, etc.- so there are a lot of potential paths career wise). He did a semesters worth of Trigonometry during the first 5 week session of summer school. Let's just say we are ALL glad that is over. He got an A- which really isn't a surprise because he is a perfectionist so he studied like crazy the entire 5 weeks. And he is smarter than he gives himself credit for. :)

My sister-in-law Shanna taught me how to use coupons effectively. So if "couponing" is a skill then that's been my latest project. At first I started because it made grocery shopping more exciting for me, now I think I have become a snob-- I look down my nose at a box of cereal that's going to cost me more than 75 cents. This week was my first real trip to the grocery store that I only had to get produce and milk. It was almost a let-down in some twisted way because there wasn't the thrill of buying 5 things and having the total be $1.06--but I guess that's the whole idea.

We're moving!

2009-05-06T20:06:00.002-06:00

But only around the block. The new place will be a little big and a lot cheaper rent so that's good. I'm not looking forward to the move, but since this is the most notice we've ever had that we were going to move I have actually been able to pack quite a bit in a somewhat organized manner.

Tomorrow we will get the keys to the place, but it's a day earlier than we expected so we won't have the moving truck until late in the afternoon or Friday morning.

Wish us luck. Especially Jeff's back since he's going to be doing all the heavy lifting!

She's starting to walk.

2009-05-06T19:42:00.004-06:00

And it is freaking me out.

Elea has started to prefer getting around 2 legs over 2 legs and 2 hands as much as possible. She still needs to use one of the couches, or the baby gate, or the dresser, or her toy stroller to balance, but she's getting quicker everyday. When she started walking with the stroller she stiff-legged it like Frankenstein, but not anymore. It really hit me how big she is getting when she stood up using the wall for balance, and then walked along the wall until she got to a doorway earlier today.

It looks pretty funny because she is still so little and short. But she'll be 10 months old in a week so I guess that isn't super early to be walking.

1st Triathlon!

2009-04-18T12:58:00.006-06:00

Today I completed my first triathlon. So now I've officially progressed from someone "training for a triathlon" to a "triathlete." Maybe not a fabulous triathlete but a triathlete just the same.

So they had us line up around the pool and then as one swimmer finished the 400 yds, the next person would run down to that lane and start. The good thing about that is I was able to run to the bathroom 4 maybe 5 times without having to worry about missing my heat or turn or whatever. The downside is that you don't really have anyone to compete against since you don't start at the same time as anyone else. I was really glad to have a couple of friends from Cedar there who were competing as well. It was good for me to have a distraction of talking to them for the 45+ minutes we waited in line for our turn. I hadn't been that nervous since my last high school swim meet. So anyway, it's my turn and so I start the swim, totally paranoid because Jeff said that he was going to record it. So I get down to the end of the lane, completely misjudge, flipturn too soon and instead of pushing off the wall, totally miss it and basically stop still in the water. Awesome. The rest of the swim went okay, I atleast remembered what lap I was on- which may have been a first. After the swim I got out of the pool and headed outside. I'd like to say that I hopped out but there definitely wasn't any hopping going on. My legs were a lot shakier than I expected.

I made my way to the the bike racks and was lucky enough to have my bike on the end of one of the racks so I was able to find it easily. I think my transition was pretty slow-- I don't know that I have ever, in my life, put socks on wet feet. Ever. Didn't realize it would complicate things. So then I got on the bike. I've seen video of tiathletes who run and then throw their leg over the bike mid stride and off they go, clipping their shoes in as they go. Today I had more of a standing-still . . . lift-right-leg-over . . . attempt-to-clip-shoe-in . . . miss . . . hop-on-left-leg . . . attempt-to-clip-in-again . . . and then push off approach. And my legs were dead. I never realized how much warming up helps things. For me, not warming up before any of the legs of the race will probably be one of my greatest challenges to overcome. I've been spoiled- always able to go at a leisurely pace before really pushing it. As I was saying, the first while on the bike was pretty rough, but after 2 miles or so it started to feel a lot better and I was able to go a lot faster. The course was 2, 5 miles laps, with a couple hills. My favorite part of the bike leg was watching the other bikers coming in the opposite direction-- some would have huge grins on their faces because they were having so much fun they couldn't help themselves, while others were gritting their teeth and just FOCUSED. Anyway, after the 10 miles were over I got off my bike and took it back to the bike racks. Some people were running with their bikes-- yeah not me.

Then the run. My time was okay for me. Definitely going to have to suck it up and start working a lot more on my run speed and endurance. It was 2 laps on a path-- a total of 3 miles. If I said I ran the whole thing straight through I'd be lying. The first lap I could HEAR the water sloshing around in my stomach and my side was killing me- next time no water on the bike. And next time I am definitely wearing earphones because A) I can listen to music and B) I won't hear the panting and footsteps (footshtomps footshtomps) of the runner who is quickly approaching from behind and about to pass me. Again.

I finally crossed the finish line 1 hour, 27 minutes and some odd seconds later.*

Jeff has been awesome. First, last night he slept on the couch at his parent's house because I never get much sleep when we try to sleep in a queen bed together. (The triathlon was in St. George so we spent the night). Second, he woke up at 6:30 a.m. to drive me down to the pool. Third, as soon as I realized that I had forgotten my goggles he rushed to get ready and bring them to me . . and there are about a hundred other reasons. It still feels awkward for me to have him watching and me participating. But at the same time he is a great "cheerer." However, I'll be really glad when he starts doing triathlons with me even if it means that I lose my fan base of one. Unless on his first try he totally beats me by like 10 minutes. Then maybe I won't be so thrilled about us choosing a life sport to do together! Just kidding. Kind of.

Anyway, Jeff took quite a few pictures-- but I have yet to go through and censor them on behalf of my progeny. So I may or may not post them later.

*Ang, if you're wondering, yes, I did beat Spencer, by 2 minutes. Woot Woot.

Elea Dancin' Video

2009-04-14T18:20:00.004-06:00

Elea has been crawling pretty well for awhile now. Now she likes to crawl everywhere. She's getting pretty quick too. We bought her a few "big kid" toys that she can stand up to and push. Don't ask me why we're encouraging her to walk!

She turned 9 months old on April 13th. She weighed 17 lbs 11 ounces (35th percentile) and is 26 inches long (25th percentile).

She still isn't a fan of anything dry or with a grainy texture. I got my hopes up today when all 4 of the yogurt melts I put on her high chair tray were gone and I couldn't see them on the floor. I even searched her lap and so I thought that she ate them. But nope- when I picked her up they were sitting on the high chair seat cushion- not even a nibble.

Elea just started "dancing" this week. It's hilarious. I love it. She gets her moves from her dad, I'm sure.

. . . and another plan bites the dust.

2009-03-23T10:44:00.003-06:00

Jeff isn't going to be a teacher anymore.

Surprised? Anyone?

He started assistant coaching baseball a few weeks ago and I sort of lost my mind about the schedule. Whether it was miscommunication or pure denial or something in-between, I do not know. But what I thought was going to be just games on friday early afternoons and maybe one occasional game during the week is actually games every tuesday, friday, and saturday with a thursday game thrown in here and there. Awesome.

That led to a discussion about coaching as a career in general and time spent away from our family and our kid's activities in the future because he'd be busy with other people's kids. At the same time, Jeff had started looking at the state requirements to get a biology or chemistry endorsement because P.E. teaching positions are few and far between.

So after working a graveyard shift about 2 weeks ago, Jeff came home having decided to go to Physical Therapy School. I am thrilled. He realized that the pre-requisites to get into a Physical Therapy program are very similar to a science endorsement so that's not a big deal. And the more he thought about coaching/teaching the less appealing it became as a career because of the sacrifices he'd have to make on the family level.

He'll apply to physical therapy programs in August and then will start somewhere Summer/Fall 2010. It's a 3 year doctorate program. We're going to cast the application net far and wide and see what happens. I'm excited for him. I know he will be a great physical therapist someday- he already helped my brother when other physical therapists couldn't- and that was just with what he learned in his exercise physiology courses. I also think that day to day he will be more challenged and get to work with people one on one. It was at a physical therapists office that I learned to walk again and regained use of my right arm after our car accident in 94 so I have a lot of respect for the work that they do.

So yay for more school. And yay for moving at least 2 more times in the next 4 years!

Home again.

2009-03-23T10:26:00.002-06:00

Elea and I flew home from Omaha yesterday. A nice lady who was returning home after visiting her 10 month old grandson sat next to me in the terminal and then on the plane. That turned out to be a great help because she offered to fill up her bottle, and didn't mind it when Elea started to grab at her buttons, etc. I think people who are willing to risk sitting next to a baby on a plane should get double the good karma points. The flight was okay even though Elea only slept about a half hour. She seemed to enjoy the turbulence almost as much as she enjoyed tearing up the skymall magazine.

I was totally exhausted by the time the plane landed. And it felt like the bones on the front of my face were about to explode. How I have managed to catch 3 colds in 3 months I can't quite figure out. SO annoying. Jeff came to pick me up from the airport since his dad drove me down when we left. Before I could get to him by the baggage claim Elea threw up all over. I managed to catch most of it in my hand- again, thank goodness for the seasoned grandma who was willing to get the wet wipes out of my bag so that I could clean us up. Otherwise, I don't know how I would have held Elea in one arm, a handful of puke in the other, and gotten to the wet wipes in the backpack on my back. Probably I would have just sat down and cried for a few minutes. But I would be lying if I said that I wasn't proud of my increased tolerance for all things disgusting and mucus/vomit related-- 8 months ago, Elea wouldn't have been the only one throwing up. Needless to say when I finally made it to baggage claim I was very happy to see Jeff (and very relieved that I wasn't going to have to manuever getting my bag off the luggage carousel while holding Elea)!

Anyway, Elea was zonked by the time we got home and this morning when she woke up she was looking around sort of confused. But I pulled out her toys and she's managed to hurt herself twice on the drawers in the family room already so I think she's figured out that she is home. She's pulling herself up on anything she can get her hands on now- which she wasn't doing 10 days ago, so I am going to be baby proofing starting immediately. Whooppeee!

Visiting Omaha.

2009-03-20T15:22:00.007-06:00

Jeff had baseball tournaments last weekend and this weekend so he sent me and Elea to Omaha to visit my sister. Smart move on his part because otherwise he'd have to deal with me complaining about him being gone so much coaching!

A week or so ago Elea cut her first tooth. And then the next day the one right next to it. They are the two bottom center teeth. They're coming in pretty fast- very cute. Too bad that she can't handle anything with any sort of texture or substance to it without throwing up all over otherwise she could actually use them.

Today was her first trip to the zoo. Unfortunately it wasn't my best "mommy" day because when we were leaving I realized that my camera battery was dead. Whoops.

I have discovered that she sleeps magnificently in a really dark room. Tricia, I don't know how many times you suggested that and I didn't think it would make a big difference, so I never tried to black it out completely. The first thing I am going to do when I get home is cover her window (as classily as possible) with tin foil! I am a big fan of one 2-3 hour nap a day. Big fan.

Here are some pictures of Elea and her untwin Lexi (Angie's little girl who is about 6 weeks younger than Elea).