Birthday Weekend!!!

                             

It was Spencer's birthday on Sunday and so we made it a Birthday Weekend so we could celebrate it more than one day! I love reasons to celebrate almost anything so I was so excited to celebrate my best friends birthday! I wrapped a present for Spencer to open each day the week before his birthday! In each of the balloons I put a piece of paper with reasons of why I loved him!

His last present were tickets to see one of his favorite bands, Counting Crows!

Spencer probably wouldn't like me putting this on our blog, but I wanted to post some of the reasons why I love my husband so much!
- He is such a hard worker
- He is so fun to be around and always SO happy!
- He has a plan for us and our family (literally like a 50 yr plan!)
- He is very easy going and is very chill which I love!
- He loves his family and me so much and shows it in his actions!
- He is always so willing to help out around the house and is constantly making me dinner, vaccuuming the house, doing the dishes and cleaning up.
- He is so sweet and sensitive to my feelings.
- He likes to be active and fit and has a sexy body!:)
- He is spiritually minded and loves the gospel.
- He is super funny and loves to fart and then blow air right by my nose so I won't smell them:)
- He is self-motivated and likes to work hard at work, in the yard, and in whatever else he is doing.
- He is adventurous and likes to do fun things outdoors.
- Every night that we have been married, he has cuddled with me before bedtime. He knows that I love to cuddle and so even if he gets home late and I am already in bed, he will cuddle with me for a few mintues before he turns over to his side of the bed to go to sleep.

We wanted to go camping for his birthday, so we took a trip up in the Unitah Mountains and camped out at Lily Lake. It was super fun!

 It was beautiful in the mountains! I loved all the lakes up there!

 Before we left, I made tin-foil dinners to cook on the fire at our campground. they were soo good. They actually got a little too done (like charcoal ashes done).. but they were yummy!

We also had to have dessert.. a little apples and cinnamon and sugar!

 Spencer opening one of his present in the mountains!

 Reading the note inside the ballon

The next monring, it was a little raining, but we still managed to cook some breakfast on his propane stove.

 Yummy pancakes and eggs!

On Spencer's actual birthday, I made him coconut pancakes with coconut syrup. Spencer LOVES coconut, so I found a fun recipe on pinterest and made them!

Opening his Counting Crows Tickets! Yay! We are so excited!

 For dinner we made homemade pizzas! YUM!

 Lastly, we finally celebrated his birthday with cake and ice cream and family!

 Happy Birthday Spence!

 The little boys wanted to help Spence blow out his candles!

 Bailey and Justin made him the BEST dessert ever! This is what was left after I remembered to take a picture of their beautiful design! Notice the black car in the background on top of the rock!:) haha thanks guys!

not sure why Max wanted to show his belly button!:)

Baby Jane's cute fat rolls on her arm! love them!

...running...

I don't usually post about running, but I have to say that it has been going sooo well lately! I am training for my 6th marathon right now. It is the St. George in October. It is amazing how fast your body can fall "out" of exercise. It has taken me a while to get back into the habit of running every day and telling my body and brain that this is what it's doing.

Before I got married, I would run after school, but I don't know what happened but I CANNOT do that anymore. I am so burnt out by the end of the day, all I want to do is eat and sleep. Luckily I have a superstar friend, Chandi, (see her here!) that I started running with in the wee early mornings and I LOVE it! It is amazing how much of a difference it makes running with someone your same speed and someone who has the same goals and aspirations as you! We have been busting out 7:40- 7:45 mile paces for our runs. She definitely pushes me! I love it becasue we are both strong in different areas so we really are able to push each other! Anyway.. I also just bought these...

and these...

And I love them! They are so much lighter than my last pair of shoes and who couldn't resist a little color? For my training I have been running my "long runs" on Saturday and then doing a speed track workout Tuesday and hill workout Thursday. So here is a rough schedule if you are planning on training for one anytime soon.

Monday: 5-8 mile run

Tuesday: Track workout (800m repeats)

Wednesday: 6-8 mile run

Thursday: Hill repeat workout

Friday: 4-6 mile run

Saturday: 15-20 mile run

Sunday: walk around the neighborhood

I have also been dialing in my energy and hydration with lots of GU, gaterade, electrolite packets and water! I also have a smoothie almost every morning. It differs what I put in it.. but I make sure to always have spinich (iron) and protein (Greek Yogurt). This is what it was today.

 I know it looks gross.. but it's so good! Ingredients: Greek Yogurt, peaches, spinich, frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries), orange juice, water, lime (yes it's so good with a lime!) and a banana!

Happy Running!:)

the life of a school teacher!:)

So I have been loving summer so far! I have finally finished a few crafts that I have been meaning to do for a while now. This summer has been great! I have been tutoring about 19 kids and crafting! :) It is a much needed break from 9 months of school! Teachers really do need a break or they would get so burnt out.

Here are the curtains in our bedroom that I made

                                        I also made this cute picture frame to go in our kitchen!

                           And I made these curtains last week to go in our kitchen! I LOVE them!

I also had to take a few pictures of our fun garden! We planted it around Mother's Day and it is growing so much! I LOVE it! Garden food is the best and it's so fun to see it grow each day!

 Here is a veggie meal I made a few night ago! It is "steak" cauliflower with couscous and veggies! So good! I love summer food!

 And lastly I have been busy making some holiday blocks. You first go to Home Depot and buy 2X4's and get them cut into 4-5 inch pieces. You are only supposed to get 10 cuts with the machine at Home Depot and then you have to start paying for the cuts, but everytime I have gone, I just bat my eyes and flirt a little and they are more than happy to cut the whole 2X4 for you!:)

                                                               Then you paint the blocks

                       Then you lay out your scrap book paper and dye cut letters the way you want it

                                                         Then you Modge Podge the block

        Lay the scrap book paper ontop of the Modge Podge and then put Modge Podge on top of that

And then put the dye-cut letter on top of the Modge Podge and then Modge Podge over that (a lot of Modge Podge going on here)

And WHALA~! The Modge Podge dries clear! I love how the blocks turned out! The last thing I do it put ribbon over a few of the blocks to give it a final touch!

My mom helped me finish this Christmas one!:) Thanks mama!

 I also wanted to post these cute pics of my niece Jane. She was blessed this last sunday and my parents came down for it. My mom and my sister Sarah made her cute dress! She is just precious!