Happy Anniversary

August 5, 1997 feels like forever ago.

Feels like we've always been together.

Feels like we were custom made for each other.
Yes, I know how cheesy that sounds.

I'm grateful it feels that way.

Spending forever with your best friend is such a treat!

We rarely get away, because life is crazy, the budget is tight, and let's be completely honest, finding anyone to take care of this many kids-especially overnight-is a huge challenge.  Even if they are split up into smaller groups.

A number of months ago we found out that Joe Satriani was touring again, and that he'd be in Vegas in August.  Aaron has been waiting to see the man perform live since before I met him, which means it's been over 20 years.
Suddenly I feel old...
It was a good excuse to go as an anniversary treat, even if it was a couple of weeks later.

We decided we'd take the leap and book a quick weekend getaway and worry about sitters as the day approached.
Thankfully we were able to get the kids taken care of (in multiple locations with multiple people involved), and off we went.

The road trip selfie:

We scored a killer deal at Mandaly Bay, and ended up in THEhotel there.  It was fabulous.  Two thumbs up for the room and the hotel.  Super extra bonus points for a hotel in Vegas NOT smelling like an ashtray, even while walking through the casino.  I'm ridiculously sensitive to smoke (have you seen America's Sweethearts?  "Kiki?  Is someone smoking within 6 miles of me?!"  Seriously.), so I was floored that I didn't have to hold my breath walking through the hotel like I usually do when we go anywhere down there.  It was great.
The view wasn't too shabby either.

I can't say the same thing about walking through The Pearl to get to the concert hall, where I was holding my breath and trying not to choke, but thankfully the concert hall was smoke free.  I was worried for a minute!
The concert was fun, not as great as Aaron had hoped after waiting so many years, in fact I actually enjoyed it more than he did.  Very interesting crowd, some people who were old enough to be our parents who had obviously never grown out of the rock and roll party hairband stage.  I was embarrassed for them.  A number of other people (also old enough to be our parents), who looked like they were dressed for church more than a concert and who I never would have pegged for fans of this amazing guitarist.  And yes, there were people our age and younger....a wide variety that really kind of surprised me.
Aside from the people watching, the music was fun.  The stage was fun, one of my favorites being this whole underwater thing.

The next day we enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in, and hanging out by the pool for a little bit before we had to get back on the road.
Aaron enjoyed the wave pool (he's the bald head in the middle).

Bonus points for a hotel where I can stick my toes in the sand.

And we had some good laughs.

It was a quick trip, but a lovely getaway if only for one night.

And the winner is....

Kerri!

Congrats, enjoy getting foamy and muddy! :)

Everyone else, you can still get $25 off with code FOAMYFUN, go to the Foam Fest website to register!

Wow (plus, win a race entry!)

A little after midnight I returned home from what can only be described as an Epic event.  So many things to say, but so hard to find the words.
While I'm working on that side of things I have something for you.  I just had an amazing running experience, but while I work on recapping those incredible days of awesome, YOU have the chance to win your own amazing running experience!

There are so many fun options out there for races now!
If you are going to be in (or can get to) the Salt Lake area *this weekend* you have the opportunity to win an entry to one of the most fun races out there; the Salt Lake 5k Foam Fest!

The foam fest is a 5k filled with all sorts of fun.
From mud

to foam

to inflatables and obstacles.

 Seriously-check out the drop on this slide.

Oh my word.  Pure awesome.
Check out the video here on their site to see all the fun in action!

And even better-you can register for specific wave starts.  You don't have to get up at the crack of dawn for this one!  You can start as early as 8am or as late as 12:30.  Grab a group of friends and register for the same start!  What a blast that will be-the perfect way to wrap up the summer.

Want in???
I'm hooking you up!

One of you gets a free entry for Foam Fest!
You know you want to have as much fun as this guy.

A few things to take note of:  this race is *THIS* Saturday, August 31st!  Make sure you are available!  Also, this is being held at This is the Place Heritage Park up in Salt Lake, make sure you can get there! If you're open or wanting to ditch whatever you got roped into this weekend, scroll down and enter via Rafflecopter!

For those who are ready to register now, Foam Fest is hooking everyone up with a $25 discount code!  Register with code FOAMYFUN to get $25 off your registration. Grab a whole bunch of friends and make it a party!

 You know doing this will be more fun than cleaning out the garage or mowing the lawn on Saturday morning.

 Four easy ways to enter, but just three days to enter so do it NOW!

*giveaway closed*

Enter today, Monday Aug 26th, through Wednesday Aug 28th at 11:59pm.  Winner will be announced Thursday and must contact me within 24hrs or a new winner will be chosen!  Entries will be verified, so please be honest.

Disclaimer: I was provided with one free entry-which I am giving away to a reader, and a discount code to share with my readers in exchange for this post about the Salt Lake Foam fest.  I do genuinely think it looks like a blast.  And that it will absolutely be more fun than cleaning the garage or mowing the lawn this weekend.  I will be out of town so sadly I will not be able to participate in the foamy goodness, otherwise you bet your sweet bippy I'd be there!  Next year for sure!  Now go!  Enter!

By the numbers

0 - Days until school starts.  Yep, today was the first day back.  *sigh*  Happened way too fast.
5 - Kids I sent off today
3 - Kids in Jr High this year.  Alaina, Taylor, and Malia are covering all bases; 7th, 8th, and 9th grades.

2 - Kids in Elementary school today.  Dallin in 3rd grade, Lincoln in 1st grade.

1 - Homeschooler!  Jacob is home this year for 5th grade.  I'm hoping he stays as excited and happy about that all year long as he is now.  Off to a good start, I am excited for what this year holds for him, and for me as his teacher.

1 - One more child waiting for school to start.  Kindergarten doesn't start until next week, so Charlotte is home with us for a little longer.  Chomping at the bit to get to school!

753 - Pictures taken by Alaina when she and Malia went to Yellowstone with my parents last weekend.  The girl bought herself an iPod touch.  She is using it as much as humanly possible.  Obviously it makes a good camera.  I'd share some pics but she hasn't uploaded them yet.  Maybe I'll let her guest post about it.  That could be...interesting.

24 - Hours until I am on a plane flying to Seattle for Hood to Coast.  Holy cow!  It is almost here!!  I can't believe it.  I am beyond excited to go and meet these amazing ladies and run my little heart out!

0 - Things packed.  I should probably do some packing today.  Ought to happen around 10 tonight I'm guessing.

3 - ladies that are running on the Nuun teams I have already had the pleasure of meeting.  Thanks to Ragnar Wasatch Back, I got to meet Holly and Lisa,

(stole your pic Holly.  Thanks. :P)

And I happened to run into Megan at the airport-totally unexpectedly-when she flew in for WB and I was there picking up Aaron for a business trip.  

It was awesome timing.
Also, yes those pics were both taken the same day, thus I'm wearing the same thing.  I do wash my clothes.

5 - Days I will be gone.  The longest time I have been away from my family.  EVER.  Wow.  I'm kind of freaking out about that honestly.  Especially with the timing of me leaving as school is starting.  I have no doubt that things will run as smoothly as they possibly could, and odds are they will be so busy with the first week back to school and having fun with Dad that they won't even notice I'm gone.  But wow, five days!  Mom guilt.

4 to 6 - Days that Aaron is on crutches.  Oh yay.  How fantastic.  Which is part of the reason I'm worried about leaving.  Best timing ever.

5 (and change) - miles run barefoot that caused Aaron to be on crutches.  Not barefoot shoes, completely barefoot.  He was 2 1/2 miles into his run last Saturday when he was uncomfortable enough that he just kicked off his shoes and ran without them.  Kudos for keeping on.  But when it's 85 degrees outside and you're running on blacktop and you haven't exactly eased in to the whole barefoot thing, it's really not a good idea.

The good news is that dr's suspicions were wrong and he did not actually crack his heel.  Just some serious bruising.  Imagine ten times worse than the ball of his foot seen here.  And the biggest blisters I've ever seen.  They covered the balls of his feet entirely on Saturday.  Plus the pads of his toes.  Plus his heels.  It was amazing.  The picture above doesn't even do the bruising justice.  It's crazy.  His comments on the whole thing: "I learned a lot on my run last Saturday."

20.56 - Miles I ran last Saturday.  In to real long run territory again.

46 - Days until St George Marathon.  Excited.

6 - weeks into the T25 fitness challenge I'm doing.  I'm going to have to repeat this week since I'm going to be gone for most of it and don't see myself getting the workout in today, but it's been awesome.  I'm reminded again that clean eating makes a world of difference for me.  Dang.  At the halfway point the abs were shaping up nicely though, so it's hard to argue.

I know that's an odd picture.  Trail running, feeling tough, that's when I realized my midsection was looking pretty decent.  Had to capture the moment.
1.75 - the number of inches off my waist, off my hips, and off each thigh.  In 5 wks.
2.5 - the number of inches off my chest.  Ouch.  Oh well.

Moving on.

11 - Little bags of some of my favorite things for my Team Watermelon teammates.

 I figure that way even if people think I'm crazy (not a stretch) and don't like me, at least I gave them fun stuff, right?  I'm kid.  Kind of.

10 - Watermelon toes, ready to run

10 - Sparkly Watermelon green fingernails

9 - Loads of laundry I have done in the past 24 hours.  Sadly that's not too far from normal.  Only 3 more to go for today and then I will feel caught up enough that I won't feel as bad about leaving.

837295 - Number of other things I feel like I need to get done before I leave tomorrow.   Most of them won't happen.  But hey, my bathroom is clean and my laundry is done, so I'm good, right?

If you'd like to follow along on the fun adventures of the Nuun Hood to Coast teams, check out #nuunhtc on twitter and instagram.  My pics will also be tagged with #teamwatermelon.

And now it's time for me to be functional before I take off!

July

I know, it's August.  And it's already almost halfway over.  Geesh-already?!

But since life is flying by at breakneck pace, and one day I'm going to wonder what we did this summer because I stink at keeping an actual journal, let's revisit July!

I've been oaking up every moment of summer with early mornings-typically so I can get my run in before the minions awake.  Makes for some awesome views like this:

And this:

Emily has just been hanging out, staying cool.

Sam wants to be the next Robin Hood.

And I found this in my cupboard.

Apparently it moved to this house with us 8 years ago.  Huh.
On the 4th we headed up to the Uintah's with my parents and hiked in to Ruth Lake.

It was gorgeous.

We had a blast,

And sat back placing bets on which kid would fall in the lake first.  I think 3 of them "slipped" in.
(note the fabulous garbage bag rain ponchos.  A must when in the Uintahs if you ever visit.)

Then that night we had a little neighborhood gathering.

With fireworks, a dj, and dancing in the street while getting sprayed with a hose.
What?  These things don't happen in your neighborhood?

I prepared to embark on a new fitness challenge by enjoying the perfect cookie.

I took before pictures of the cookie and me.  Not together.  Well, except this one.  I'll share mine with the afters in another 5wks.

We've been soaking up the sun,

Had that one race,

and there was some crazy running in circles as well.

Why?  I have no idea.

Time to get in a little bit of painting.

We got to spend a day at Lagoon

And I get to run with this view every morning!

Seriously.  So blessed to live here!

Charlotte turned 5

Sam put his tomato to good use.

I got to sneak in one more half marathon...

What is that look?  Intent?  Race kissy face?  Who knows.
But hey, who can refuse a free race entry?  Especially when the race is on a Wednesday morning?!
I love having a state holiday.  Even if I did leave home at this hour:

Um, yeah.  That says 2:56am.  Wow.

We had our Pioneer Day dinner at my parents' house

(I ate bison.  I didn't love it.  Thankfully a few of my kids did.)

Aaron and I learned that we must consult each other before getting dressed now, otherwise we end up matching.

Is this the sign you've been married for a long time?  Are we leprechauns?  Am I always eating? (yes)

And Charlotte started packing her backpack for school.

Cute, but also so sad, because it means that summer is drawing to a close.  Just one more week before kids go back to school.  Dang.  I am so not ready for summer to be over!  The one upside to that  is that Hood to Coast with Nuun is only about a week away!
Hope your July was fabulous and that you thoroughly enjoy the last days of summer!