The 5K!!!

Well I completed my 1st goal of the new year! I ran my 5K race on Saturday!!!! It was QUITE the event let me tell you! Me, Joelyn, Chalise & our friend Barbara had been planning to run in this race for weeks & the night before we were all sorts of nervous. I just really wanted to do well & not feel like a flabby loser. The night before the race I went to bed early to get a proper night’s sleep. I felt way loser-ish going to bed at 9:00 on a Friday night but whatever! I woke up really early Saturday morning so I could eat breakfast & start hydrating. I was still nervous & as Joelyn drove us over to the race she kept saying she was just gonna drop me off & leave! I am so sure! So we got to the race & got our packets which had some pretty random stuff in them. A can of pineapple juice, a pen, a packet of rapid energy jell (gross!), and a t-shirt that I’m sure won’t fit me! The only useful thing in there was a coupon for a free loaf of bread from Great Harvest!

After that we had a little photo session with ourselves per usual.



Then we were ready to run!! There were a lot of people racing including my girl arch nemesis from the gym. Oh gosh really?! So we get ready at the starting line & my parents are no where to be found. Are you kidding me? I only reminded them about this 43 times & they know what a big day & event this is for me & they can’t be bothered to show up? Whatever I’ve got a race to run! So me & Joelyn decided to run together & help eachother keep pace & both decide that we’ll walk for a minute to get warmed up. But when the race started & everybody took off running I took off running too! Sorry Joelyn! I saw Sherri & Martin about ½ mile into the run standing on the road cheering me on. It was so great! Now the thing about running is that it’s WAY different running on a treadmill than it is outside. It is WAY harder running outside & since the weather had been so rude lately I had had very little outside running time. I was crapping out really fast. I must have gotten a jolt of runner’s adrenaline cuz I just kept running & running. Not gonna front I had to walk here & there a little bit but overall I think I did really good. Don’t worry that all the incline & little hills were at the end of the course. Why?! I still can’t believe my parents weren’t there! So I’m rounding the last ¼ mile of the race…I can see the finish line….Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There” is blaring on my ipod….I look up….and there are my parents!!! They came!! It was quite a moment & all the events of the last year plus the thrill of seeing them there plus MJ singing just swirled around in my head & I about lost it! I started running faster to the finish line & by the time I got the end I wanted to die. I DID IT!! I ran my race!!

Joelyn & Barbara crossed the finish line a few minutes after I did & then we went back to where my parents were standing to cheer Chalise on to the finish. She was walking the course instead of running but when she got about 20 feet from the finish line she just took off running til the end. It was so great!



At the finish line!



Afterwards Great Harvest fed us sandwiches & handed out loaves of bread…mmmmm cinnamon burst my fave! What a great morning! Shortly after my race started Sherri & Martin were participating in a walk for MS at another spot along the river so I headed over to see them & got my picture taken with Darth Vader! Delightful!



So I ran my race & I am quite pleased with myself! This time last year I was a fat, flabby mess & now I’m running in a race. Well done Melissa! I plan on doing another one august 7th & this time I will run the entire thing without stopping!

525,600 Minutes

A year ago I made a decision that changed the course of my life. It was the best & hardest thing I've ever done in life. And now that I'm on the flip side of a year I am beginning to see & understand all the reasons why. As I look back over the last year I can't believe how much I have changed & the direction that my life has taken. There are times that I miss the life I once had & long for the people & places I once knew. I miss my old apartment the most!! But when I look back & think about where I was this time last year I would never want to be there again. In the end I know that I would not be the person I am right now & I would not have been able to experience all the good things I have this last year if I had stayed. Every day is different. Some days I'm angry over the things I went through. Some days I'm just sad that things had to end up like this. But some days I am thrilled to not have to deal with the things I left behind & am so happy with the new life I'm living now. Today is a good day!

I wanted to mark this milestone by doing something fun so me & some of my gals pals drove down to Salt Lake to eat at the Cheesecake Factory mmmmmmmm crabcake sand which.....mmmmmm cheesecake!! Kristy, Todd & OP joined us for the event as well! On our way back to Idaho Falls I decided that I had earned myself a pepsi! It was delicious! It was a great little outing & I am so grateful for friends who knew how momentous this occasion was & drove all the way down & back with me! Bless your hearts!!



How cute is OP?! Don't worry that Chalise's sister Allison was seated next to him & he kept taking food off of her plate & either eating part of it & putting it back on her plate or just playing with it & putting it back on her plate or just throwing it on the floor! bless him!


me & Kritty! We're cute!


I MADE IT!!!

Busiest Saturday Ever!!!

So last Saturday was absolute craziness! There was SO much going on that I need a nap just to recover from it! My day started early…way early for a Saturday when normally I prefer to just lay around in my big girl bed until I’m good & ready to get up. I was up, dressed, and out the door a little before 9:00. That’s pure insanity!! I drove down to Pocatello (which is liek an hour away) to see my dear Joni graduate from ISU. I went & picked up Strudel & we headed over to graduation which basically was 2 & ½ hours of listening to names being read & of course Joni was near the end! But it was so exciting when her name was read & she was up on the stage! It was a long road for Joni to get here & I am just so proud of her. Dear Joni you are amazing!!



Afterwards we had a little photo session




After the graduation festivities I headed back to Idaho Falls & met up with Joni & Co. for a celebratory lunch. Good times! Then I went straight from there out to the parents where we were having a Birthday celebration/farewell for Strudel as she was leaving for her South African safari in a couple days. For part of the celebration we got to go shooting! I LOVE SHOOTING!! You wouldn’t think so to look at me but man I LOVE it!!

Pictures of course! P.S. don’t you love the prissy little outfit I’m wearing?! Cardigan & flip flops…the only way to shoot!







Check this action out!!





Just call me Jackie Bauer!



After our shooting outing we had a BBQ at the parents & stuffed our fat faces. It seems like all I did Saturday was eat! I feel fine about it tho! After the festivities I headed back into Idaho Falls to see Iron Man 2 with my dear friends Sherri & Martin. I can’t decide if I was too tired to enjoy the movie or if it was just not that great but it’s definitely not as good as the 1st one. I finally got back home around 11:00 & I was exhausted! Got right into my big girl bed & went to sleep. What a crazy day!

Monday morning I dropped Strudel off at the shuttle to leave on her safari. I think she's so awesome for going on this little trek & she's been saving & planning for it since I can remember! I love you Strudel!

Beauty & The Beast

So my friend Chalise is a high school drama teacher & this year for their spring musical they did Beauty & The Beast. Magical right?! I know! well it was quite an undertaking & I thought by the end we’d find Chalise sitting in the corner rocking back & forth & chewing on her hair or something! That girl was STRESSED! So Joelyn & I got recruited/volunteered to do some painting on the set. Truth be told I rather enjoy painting so it was no big deal to paint the sets. 1st of all I don’t own any grubby, scrubby painting clothes-why am I so prissy & how did I get this way?!

Here’s me & Joelyn at the top of set. Prolly Chalise wished we would get to work instead of having a photo session with ourselves!




Also dear Ken made this AMAZING book for the opening scene of the show. It was massive! And even when you opened it & turned the page it totally looked like a page in a real book was being turned. I was mesmerized by it! So we had to paint that too & it was so big that I had to get up on a ladder to get the top of it.







The set was so fantastic when it was all done






And Ken's book turned out even more fantastic!











And Chalise in all her glory on stage!



Well done Rigby High School!!

What I've Been Up To!!

So you're prolly thinking "What's that crazy Melissa been up to these days?" well here's your answer: A LOT!! So as you may know my New Year's resolutions consisted of becoming a runner, reading 5 books with my own eyes & working on my family history. I'm happy to report that none of those resolutions have been broken yet! Go me!!

I have been running my fat face off these last few months. Sometimes I love it & sometimes I loathe it! But I'm doing it! And with these running efforts I have managed to shed all the emotion weight I put on last year which to me is a great accomplishment! Next Saturday I am running in a 5K race with some of my pals. Don't worry I'll have pics & a full write up of said race. I'm hoping that my desire to not look like a flabby wimp will outweigh my body's desire to stop running. Wish me luck!

Did you know that there's this building downtown where they let you borrow books & then return them when you're done and get other books?! For free! It's this crazy place called the Library (or Libary as some would call it!) and I have been a frequent visitor of said building. Me & Savanna go pretty much every week. So far I've read (with my own eyes) this book called "Silent In The Grave" that I got from my friend Chalise. It took me awhile to read it cuz I've got a pretty short attention span but I made it through & it was an enjoyable book. Murder, mystery, corsets & sexual tension-delicious! Right now I'm reading this book called The Glass Lake. So far I'm having a hard time getting into it but I wanna finish it. I'll report back when I've done so. I'm also really into listening to books on CD which, truth be told, is my preferred way of "reading" books. So far I've "read" "The Boleyn Inheritance" (those Tudors were crazy!!), "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (some Sherlock Holmes nonsense), "The Virgin's Lover" (again with the Tudors & their nonsense! this one got a little racy which I'll have none of. Tone it down you guys!) & my favorite so far "A Thousand Splendid Suns" which is by the same author as the Kite Runner. I LOVE this book! It's seriously haunting me cuz it's so tragic! You need to read it. More book reports to come.

And finally my family history: I have been saving souls all over the place! I have gotten so much done and not to be all whatever but I have single handedly gotten the city of Idaho Falls back to the Temple! I'll hand these Temple cards to anyone who's breathing. People we've got souls to save! I love that their all my own family. It's such a great experience taking all their names to the Temple & getting their work done. I'm now grateful for all those boring family reunions Grandmother & Grandfather made us go to & the countless headstones they made us take pictures by cuz as I go through all my cards I totally recognize their names. There's still a lot to do but I've made a huge dent in it.

So there's a quick update. Stay tuned for a lot of events to be happening in the month of May!!