RAGNAR 2010

Since I lost my camera, these are the only pics I have of Ragnar so far. My good friend Kristina shared her camera with me but I haven't gotten the copies of her pics yet, but this is the before picture of the start line......we all look so fresh and cute!!! From left...Rob and Kristina, my friend growing up, Sarah who is a neighbor of Kristina, Jamie and Bryan who is Kristina's brother and sis-in-law.And this is us 32 hours and 12 minutes later at the finish line. We were so exhausted, but on a high from the running and good times we had. The 6 people on the left are the other van, so we didn't see much of them except for at the exchanges. It was so cool to be in this event especially to see people push themselves to their limits and still have fun doing it. I am amazed by others and the things that can be accomplished when you prepare yourself for them. Makes me want to become better!! I was runner #4 and my legs were 5.1 miles, 4.2 miles and 3.8. I ended up running at around 3 pm, midnight, and then about 9 am. I felt really good on my first run. My second run started out awesome, but then about a mile into it my IT band started hurting to the point where I had to walk. My team checked on me and offered a knee brace so I put it on and it was amazing. I was able to continue running and it started to feel pretty good. They said they would check on me in about a mile. It was dark obviously so when I caught up to them they couldnt see me and I wasn't sure where they were either so I kept going. Two miles turned into three and then I was getting closer to the exchange point and I still hadn't seen them. I realized that they didn't see me pass and they were probably driving back to find me thinking that I was hurt and couldn't run. I got to the exchange and our next runner wasn't there. By this time I had so much adrenaline built up and I felt so good that I asked the RAGNAR people if I could keep going. They told me no!! I was literally jumping up and down pleading with them to let me keep going. The other people who were at the exchange started begging too and finally after about 7 minutes they said that I could keep going. After about 0.5 miles of continuing on, my team found me.

Our team finished the second leg around 2 am and we had to drive about 50 miles to where the motorhome was parked so we could rest and shower. We only had an address and some vague directions as to where it was parked. We ended up driving around til about 5 am trying to find the stupid motorhome!!! We had been given the wrong address. We were so exhausted and going through so many different emotions...Kristina was pissed, Jamie and I were laughing hysterically....it was quite an experience. We were able to shower and get about 1 1/2 hours of sleep before our 3rd and final leg.

I had a blast and I am already wanting to sign up for next year. Next week Kristi, Bradley and my cousin Kara are running the Deseret News 10k on the 24th of July.....my first 10k!!!!

Lost....Camera!!!!! And other stuff

This summer I told the kids we would go on 1 hike per week during the time they were home. We started out with Middle Taylor Creek in Kolob Canyon which was really fun. Then we decided about 2 weeks ago that we were going to go to Red Cliffs Reserve in Leeds where they have a little pool at the top with a natural water slide. We drove up there which is about 20 mins from our house and the whole site was closed due to road construction. We were really bummed but I had another place in mind. It was closer to Cedar City and we had already driven halfway there so I thought what the heck...so we kept going north. The only thing was that I didn't know exactly where it was so we got off on one exit and drove around for about 30 mins looking for it, only to find out that we needed to get off on the next exit and next thing you know we have been looking for about an hour. We finally found it and started the hike. You have to cross the creek several times during the ascent and the water was quite cold so our feet were getting frozen and numb. As we went further, we got to this beautiful slot canyon.......And then we reached this........There is a little ladder off to the right where you can climb up and then there is another fall above it also. It was incredible and so worth it. I was taking pictures while we were in the area between the two falls. Morgan started to cry because her feet were so numb that they were starting to hurt. So I put my camera down on top of the back pack and sat down in an area that was dry to help her feet get warm. About 2-3 mins later I asked Bennett to take a picture of Morgs and I. He said, "Where's the camera?" I said, "right on top of the back pack." He said, "no its not" And I knew immediately that the camera had gotten bumped somehow into the creek and on down the waterfall it went, because it was nowhere to be found.

AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Cameras and I don't get along.....at all!!!!!

So, you think I would have learned the last time when I hadn't downloaded my pictures off my SD card and I lost out on a bunch of pictures.....nooooooo. I did it again. It has been since Xmas that I have saved any of the pics from my card. I am sooooo bummed.

That was a roller coaster day....so to speak. On the way home I was so upset, and then I got an exciting phone call......I got accepted into BYU Idaho's online RN to BSN program!!! So, as disappointing as it was to lose the camera, the day wasn't all bad!! So, I don't have any pics to post except these that I googled....but we do have the memories ;)

Catching Up

Wow...time flies. Its been a while since I have blogged. I kinda got sick of it and took a break, but I have realized that blogging is a meaningful way to keep up with family and friends and also a good way to journal the things that go on with your family. I got sucked in to Facebook and I started to realize that I was spending way too much time looking at other people's pictures and families and I needed to re-prioritize (is that a word?)

What's happening?????

Well for starters, Adam is still working on his prereq's for Nursing School. in March of last year, the company he was working for gave him the option to again go out of town for work, or to take a lay off. He was sick of working out of town and being away from his family, so he decided it was time to make a change in his career. When we met and I told him that I was a nurse, he told me that he had been wanting to go back to school to become a nurse too. So he took the lay off and started school last summer. He should be able to apply for nursing school in the Spring. Right now he is working as a CNA at a nursing home and he is also taking his Intermediate EMT. He is hoping to get on at the hospital as a tech in the ER or on the transport team. I really have to hand it to him and give him a lot of credit. There are a lot of men out there who are out of work and would not even think of taking a job wiping bums and feeding old people, especially for the amount of money CNA's make. Adam really enjoys taking care of the patients at the nursing home and they love him too!! He is a really hard worker and I am proud of him!!

As for me....I am trying to get into a Bachelors of Nursing program so that I can continue in my current position as a House Supervisor at the hospital. I am supposed to have it done by May of 2012, and of course I have procrastinated in getting started. I really didn't intend on going on with school when I graduated, but this opportunity has made me realize that it is important. I am still loving cycling, but have taken a little break from it so that I can train for the Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back. It is a team relay that goes from Logan to Park City (175 miles....I know!!) There are 12 team members that do 3 different legs of between 3-8 miles each. I am runner 4 and my legs are 5.1 miles, 4.2 miles and 3.8 for a total of 13.1 (don't check my math.) I am doing it with my old friend Kristina from the old Holladay 'hood and some of her family and friends. I am excited but nervous because I haven't really been training for that long. We are just doing it for fun, so I guess I shouldn't be nervous. Its in 1 week!!!

Creighton just turned 11 (crrrraaazzzy!!!!) I guess I am that old huh? He just finished 5th grade and next year will be going to the Intermediate school Fossil Ridge. Down in these parts they have Elementary school which is K-5, and Intermediate 6th and 7th, then Middle school which is 8th and 9th, and High school 10-12. He is so smart and he really cares about his family, especially his brother and sister. He is getting really good at the violin, and karate, but is taking a break from karate to try tackle football (glad I work in the ER!!!) That starts in August.

Bennett is 9 and is soooo excited it is summer time. He has been looking forward to summer for about 2 months. He is also going to start football in August. He just finished 3rd grade and is a smart kid and does really well in school. His favorite things right now are under armour shirts and ankle socks. He WILL NOT!!! wear tube socks. One rainy day, Bennett called me from school to ask if I could bring him a pair of socks because he "accidentally fell" into a puddle and his socks were all wet. So I went to the sock basket, grabbed a pair of socks and took them to him. When he got home from school the tube socks were folded down and tucked into his shoes because heaven forbid....I grabbed the wrong kind of socks. LOL too funny.

Morgan.....poor Morgan dislocated and fractured her elbow just a week before school got out. She was doing a back hand spring in Gymnastics and her coach wasn't quite ready to spot her and she landed wrong. She didn't have to be in a hard cast, but she has been in a splint since May 19th and has only been able to take it off a few times a day for the past week. She is also nine and just finished 3rd grade. She started a team in gymnastics a few months ago and is getting really good. Instead of walking, she does cartwheels to get from place to place.

Sarge is still around...I haven't figured a way to get rid of him yet...J/K (not really)

Sorry to say the Hamster "escaped" and is no longer a member of the Phillips family.

So there's an update on the fam. I am going to try to bloog more often so K.I.T.

All I want for Xmas....

Morgan's xmas list.......Ipod, camera and guitar
Bennett's xmas list.......Nintendo DSI
Creighton's xmas list.....Legos, legos, legos, legos and legos.

I needed some more ideas for Bennett so that I could "tell Santa", and when I asked him what else he wanted, he said......"thats probably all, because they are pretty expensive." LOL.