an Arizona Thanksgiving

 Spencer and I drove down to Tuscon Arizona for Thanksgiving this year. His brother and cute family live down there. I am so bummed I didn't take any pictures! :( But we still had fun! We hiked around, played lots of games with the boys and had a yummy Thanksgiving feast! It was fun to be with the Ellingson family and see what it's like to have 80 degree Thanksgiving weather!
  On our way back home, we stopped in the lovely Sedona, AZ and went on a hike. I absolutely LOVE Sedona! My sister Danielle and I happened upon it one road trip summer and our lives have never been the same! There are about 7 differe vortex's in Sedona that give off natural energy and are supposed to be very calming, soothing and healing!

 When we got back, a few days later, we had a Ward Prom. Spencer asked me in a pretty cute way.. he bought a Naked smoothie drink and left a note saying "I will get "Naked" with you if you go to the ward prom with me. We got dressed up and danced the night away! It was super fun and we joked that afterward we were able to do things we weren't allowed to do after our HighSchool proms!:)

Halloween fun!

 I am not much of a Halloween dresser-upper.. I don't like the masks and face paint type costumes at all! I can fun costumes/happy costumes that require nothing going over your head or on your face! This year was super fun to dress as Waldo and Waldina for Halloween!

 At school, we had a Halloween party and this is our First Grade team. I love these girls!

 We also did a little pumpkin carving with Maddie and Matt!

 And went to a Halloween party at Kory and Marianne's house! We played some pretty interesting and fun games. I wish I would have taken a picture, but one is where you put a potatoe in some nylons and then you put another potatoe on the ground. You have to tie the nylon around your waist and swing your hips forward to try to hit the potatoe on the ground with your nylon potatoe.. that was kind of confusing but it was a fun game!

Chicago!!

 Spencer and I had so much fun in Chicago. We were able to travel around the Windy City for 2 days and then we went to the BYU vs. Notre Dame game the last day we were there. It was a perfect little get-away. We saw one of our favorite families while we were there! Tyler and Clancee and little Hugh! It was fun watching the game with them and going to dinner after-wards! Here are some pics of the city and the game! Such a cool city with so much going on ALL the time!

 We went to the aquarium and it was sweet! I think Jelly-fish are the coolest fish alive!

 Walking back from the aquarium back into the city was 1.5 mile walk.. it was right along the lake! Beautiful.. and alittle cold!

 This is the famous Buckingham Fountain, but they were cleaning it, so we didn't get to see it going off! :(

 The "bean" at Millenium park is this cool sculpture that shows your refleciton and is in the shape of a bean.

 We also went to the art museum. I think i was alittle more excited about than Spencer but it was pretty cool. Ever since Highschool and having the most amazing art teacher, I have really developed an appreciation for art and aesthetics. We saw some paintings that my art teacher would talk about all the time and that are pretty famous!

 "The girl with the ponytail" is a famous painting by Picasso and it's also a children's book. I had read this book to my students a few weeks before and so I was so excited to get a picture with it and show the kids!

 We went up to the TALLEST building on earth, the Sears tower! There is a glass opening where you can walk out and look beneath you!

 A little Chicago style deep dish pizza!!

 

Saturday we got up early and went to South Bend with Tyler and Clancee. We stopped at the Football Hall of Fame.

 

 At the Notre Dame campus. Standing in front of "touch down Jesus".

Even though we lost, it was a good game and just fun to be there. After the game, we walked over to wehre the players go in and saw the players from both teams walk back to the locker room. Here is Bronco being escorted back! 

my St. George Marathon

   I ran the St. George Marathon this last weekend and had a blast! I PR'd (personal best time) which is always fun! I ran the marathon in a 3:09. Marathon training and the marathon itself definitely takes a toll on your body. You lose weight, you get up at crazy hours of the morning to run, you eat LOTS of carbs, and you crave the endorphins to run! You sacrifice sleep, late Friday night fun, sleeping in on Saturdays and eating whatever you want for 5 months while in training. I love when I am on my "running high". People ask me why I like running and why I do it and I have to remind them that it doesn't come easy. I have to work hard at it, just like everyone else. The best way for me to get out and run is to train for something. I have to sign up for a race and start training. I can't just get out of my warm bed and go for a run for the fun of it. I LOVE training for something! I LOVE racing against myself and pushing myself to do better each time.
   I decided to sign up and train for the St. George marathon. Spencer and I talked about doing this before we started to have a family :) The St. George Marathon was my first marathon ever back in 2007. I ran it with my wonderful sister Danielle and we rocked it! We got a 3:20. After that marathon and running 4 more including Logan, Seattle, Logan (again), and Boston... I have never been able to beat that time again. Well I was determined to beat that time and started training with my friend, Chandi, from my neighborhood. I have never been able to train with someone my same pace so it was such a blessing to be able to run and train with someone! We pushed each other through and through.

Chandi and I got up consistently morning after monring around 5:50am to run. We would go to the track every tuesday and do a speed workout and then do a hill workout run on thursday. Every Saturday we would run our long runs up the canyon. Chandi met and knew a few girls from the gym that were also training for the St. George marathon and training to get a 3 hr. marathon. This was blessing #2. We ran every Saturday with them and learned from them and trained with them. They were kind enough to let us tag along and I loved running with those girls and training with them.

  They definitely made me a faster runner! After running with them, I was determined to run a 3 hour marathon with these girls!

We started out the marathon at 6:45 am up Snow Canyon in St. George. I felt great, had had a good dinner the night before (Vietnamese PHO soup) and was well rested with sleep. The girls I was training with snuck me into the "elite" coral with them, so we were able to start with the best of the best right in front! The St. Gorege has a few good hills, the first being Veyo at mile 7. I was able to run up Veyo fairly well and at the top I was still on track for a 3 hour marathon. I was running at around a 6:30 min mile. At mile 13, I was right on with a time of 1 hr 30 min. so I was feeling good and right on track. I was still averaging around a 6:30 min mile and feeling good!

  With that said, running this marathon was VERY hard. I don't know why but the whole time I was SOOO thirsty. I felt like I couldn't get enough to drink. A 6:30 pace is hard to keep up mile after mile. You really have to focus on your goal and your watch and make sure you are right at that time. At around mile 15 I started to feel it in my legs and body. My legs were getting tired and I felt myself starting to slow down. The miles were still flying by and before I knew it I saw my sister Bailey and Justin and mile 17. They were cheering so loud and Justin ran with me for a while! It was such a boost to see them but my legs were getting tired and after I left them I started thinking "why do people even do this?" "this isn't fun!" Mentally I was letting go of my goal. At mile 21 my amazing sister Danielle was there and started running with me. By that time, I was so tired and didn't think I could do it. Danielle pushed me through, holding a water bottle in one hand and my GU in another hand. Every once in a while I would make a noise and Dani would hand me my water. I physically couldn't talk... I felt like I was in a weird daze not able to do anything but run. We saw my wonderful parents at mile 23 who cheered me on and gave me another extra boost until the end. We ran a 7:30 min mile till the finish.

Dani was so encouraging while we ran letting me know how amazing my tile and pace was. She really helped me get through the end of the race, when physically and mentally you are just done. Spencer and his grandma were at the end to cheer me on while I crossed the finish line! I sprinted the last 100 yards to the finish line and right when I crossed (with another guy) he started barfing right next to me. I was really close to joining him.. but nothing would come up! I just started to cry... not really sure why but everything was just emotional, my body ached and I hurt all over. I was so proud and happy with my time and knew that I had tried my hardest, but yet wishing and wanted that 3 hour marathon!

After the race.. so tired feeling like I am going to throw up!

love her!

The medal they give you at the end. Bailey let me wear her sweatshirt becasue my tanktop was soaked from my sweat and I was freezing! 

specer and his cute grandma! 

my cheer squad! My parents flew in from WA! They are the BEST!!! 

Bailey and J-dawg were so great to come down from provo! 

love this man! 

7th place in my age group!!

When we got home from St. George spencer and I were laying in bed and I just got really emotional and started crying. I really wanted a 3 hr marathon and was so close! I don't think people understand how hard a marathon really is! My friend Amy made me laugh when she said she tried to run a 6:30 min mile on her tred mill one day and did .07 miles and had to stop.. her text to me was "holy hell madison you are crazy! I just ran not even 100 yards and had to stop!" When you are training and running everyday, you put your heart and soul into the race. You have to be ready and prepared physically and mentally. Once the day comes and you give it all you have, you have to know you tried your hardest and can't change the outcome of what happened.

I know one day I will get a 3 hour marathon and will have to train just as hard, if not harder than this one!