pics from my phone

at kimmys birthday party...her and chunky(claymore) ate the WHOLE time(:

theses are a few heather had sent me of hannah over the first few months after she brought her home...she looks way different now...

fun at the fair

for some reason whenever tori is in town we ALWAYS forget to take pictures of our fun times...
but not this time!(: yay!heres a few shots of me and my longest standing friend/sister...weve known each other for 21 years now!(: she's one of the best friends ive ever had.she's a GREAT testimony and an inspiration!i wish i had more friends like her!

Ashley joined us at the end...i cant believe how much she's grown up!she has become such a fun,sweet,and lovely young lady!(:

Running girl 909

So,here i am heading off to run my first half marathon...jenn shot this picture for me at 7:45am on saturday...she was watching the baby for me.Thanx Jenn!Check out the hideous shirts they gave us...wow.ya i know,,,not exactly my color,lime yellow...im pretty sure its not ANYBODY'S color.So ya,its not the best picture,early morning bags under my eyes,lime yellow shirt,shot from a low vantage point by a midget,but its the best i could do(:

ANYWAYS!!!i totally did it!(: i ran 13.1 miles,my time was pretty average,it took me exactly 2hrs and 34 mins,and i placed 97th out of 141 women.I definetly ran slower than usual to keep my endurance up till the end,but now i have an official goal to beat for my next race!(: Im hoping to run it again next year and beat my time by ALOT...but who know what will be going on next year.Id like to run throughout the winter and participate in ALL the races next year...maybe even a full marathon(: can you imagine running 26 miles???oooooohhhhh....i want that(:

Anyways,just thought id let yall know how it went,even though most of my readers PROBABLY already know by now(: Thanx for all the support!!!

Santa Claus half-marathon...

Is what im running on Saturday!(:

It's not the race i originally started training for,at the beginning of the summer.First i was training for the midnight sun run.By the time Jenn and i completed that goal,it was only halfway through summer,and i had the running bug.bad.

So i searched for a far enough out but end of summer goal and decided the Santa Claus north pole half marathon was the one for me...i had no idea if i could ever run 13.1 miles,but was determined to try.so i read up on marathon training,and bought some new shoes,and added a mile to my long distance runs every week.i discevered a whole new world of energy chews gels, and carbo-loading,and hydration.

The challenges that running long distance brought were nothing compared to the amazing feeling i had after completing my goal each week...for most the summer,my knees ached...but thankfully with a little care and alot of pain,they have become strong enough that when i run now,i barely notice them...there were good days and bad days in my training,,,i think the worst day i had was when i had to run 7 miles in the 90 degree heat,while i was sick,and i almost quit about 4 or 5 different times that day.but something inside of me refused to quit.i had to make my goal,no matter what.the fear of failure is much stronger than any bodily pain or discomfort i have ever had.

Ive grown to crave and love the pain and the challenge.Ive discovered an inner strength through running that i never knew i had.A self discipline that God has given me that wont let me give up.Ive gone through things in my life that have caused me to discover this same thing,and cause me to realize that what doesnt kill us only makes us stronger.My time running has been i time for me to think and pray,and thank God for the ability to do things i never imagined possible.It has given me peace with my thoughts,and that was something i was struggling with.

Its been a surprisingly emotional and personal experience,and i dont think anyone but another runner understands what im talking about.I needed a vice this summer and i found it.

I ran 10 miles this past Sunday, and today i ran my last training session until my race on Saturday.I never could have done it without the support of my best friend,my husband.

He's supported me through this the whole summer,has watched the baby,and kept telling me i could do it.I wish so bad he could be there with me when i cross the finish line on Saturday,but unfortunetly he has to work.I never couldve done it without God giving me the ability and health to do it.I know all my strength comes from Him.After recovering from a back injury that dictated my life for three years straight,i certainly do not take anything for granted when it comes to my health.There was a day i thought id nvr be able to run again.Now im looking forward to running my first half marathon and im soooooooo excited!!!Thankyou Lord!(:

Foxes have holes...

when we were leaving the bensons after berry picking the other night,we came upon this little fellow...he let us get pretty close as you can see...pretty cool huh?

My Little Lady

taking care of her baby

dont let this picture fool you...she bulldozes this stroller around like a wild maniac

i LOVE this one(:

bugging the daddy while he was trying to nap(:

IF GUYS WERE LIKE GIRLS

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DoJ6WpVSutrM&h=72915

Adventures with the Lamberts

On thursday this past week,our family spent the day with Cutter and Larae and Araena,we went out the thier property and Josh helped Cutter and Mr. Degerland and Ross with some concrete work (Cutter is building his house this summer).They bought property close to the Benson family,and we just had a nice day of work and fellowship,food and fun.after the work was all done,the Bensons shared thier awesome blueberry patch with us,and we all hiked down the power line and picked blueberries for a few hours.Mac LOVED eating the blueberries,as you can see from her little purple face,and we had a really fun time(:

Alaskan girls(:

the bounty(: 15 bags!!!im so exited to have alaskan blueberries in my freezer!!!

Mr. Benson let us ride his 4 wheeler back because we were super tired by the time we were done for the day!!!Carl and Florene Benson are some of the sweetest people i have ever met.they are those kind of people that are a "behind the scenes blessing" THE BEST KIND!(:

HERES A FEW FUNNY SHOTS OF MY KID...SHE LIKES TO PLAY WITH HATS AND SAYS SHE'S PRETTY WHEN SHE PUTS THEM ON(: WHAT A HAM(:

Daddy's little helper

hanging the curtainrod for mommy...(:

my so called life

im an insomniac lately.i hate it.but im having issues sleeping tonight so i figured id write an update rather than toss and turn and keep Josh up.so here i am.

So the big news is that got all our debts paid off this month.Weve been snowballing them for about ten months now.Our debt snowball is pretty much over.Whoo-hoo!!!We do have Josh's student loan that we are working on,but we arent gonna snowball that until after we take our vacation in october.So now we are actively working on our vacation snowball and heading towards an all expenses paid Hawaiian vacation!(: yay!we are very very excited and should have our tickets by the end of the month!:P We finally get our long awaited honeymoon,after three and a half years!

So me and Jenn ran the midnight sun run in June and finished our first 10k in about an hour and ten minutes...it was an awesome experience,and a ton of fun.I couldn't bare to stop my training though,so i figured hey!i need something else to push for,the summer is only half over...
so im going to attempt to run the north pole half-marathon in august.Im loving the challenge of the training...i ran 8 miles for my long run yesterday,and my short runs are averaging 3-6 miles several times a week...next week i will attempt a 9 miler for my long run...my legs are killing me today,but i love it!a half marathon is 13 miles,so i have a ways to go yet.

Ive been experimenting with mixing my own grains and making multigrain gluten free breads,and thats been pretty awesome.im playing with spelt,(my fav.)barley,millet,quinoa,
amaranth,oats,flax,wheat,buckwheat,...and xanthan gum is my new best freind...im sure your all convince that im a hippie now,but i still wear deoderant,and you might think different if you tasted my bread :P

Im reading a great book right now too,its called A Woman after God's own heart.Its been very helpful to me in my spiritual walk lately,and if you need something to read its pretty basic but pretty awesome!Bek recommended it to me and im so glad she did.

Mac is changing every day.her favorite words are..."poop","no,no,no","tori","roo"(rueben),and "cracker"...she says alot of other stuff too we just cant decipher it quite yet...but it wont be long.
shes very much into climbing and extremely independent.she likes to sing and starts dancing every time she hears music.she cracks herself up by walking around with both her fingers up her nose and laughing like a maniac.she will sit in the back of the van and have a full-on un-decipherable conversation with herself and cackle between avery word like she thinks she is just sooooooooooo hilarious...i just wonder what she's talking about that so funny(:

Josh is doing great...just working like a madman as usual and getting super excited about our vacation...he started working out again to get his bikini body for hawaii,and has even taken up running some...(: he hates running,so i think its funny(: but he's doing awesome at it(:
He bought a nice mt. bike this summer and weve done quite a but of riding as well.Not as much as we'd like,but he's been working lots of overtime to accomplish our goals,and im super proud of him for working so hard.i love my man(:

Well i think im finally getting tired,so im out.

mac n cheese

IT had a rough morning...

"hey,did you seriously just take a picture and laugh at my pain?"

we got her these cool little golf clubs,but she rarely uses them to hit the golf balls...

they are her ninja stick...shes always popping around the corner and shell just go crazy and beat me or josh with one whilst cackling like a maniac....

let the beating commence...

and while she beats us with her ninja sticks...her face usually resembles this...

this was the position she assumed to take her morning poo today...im not even joking...i was sitting at the table and looked up and saw her squatting on the stool and said"hey shmeigle!what on earth are you doing....?"

...so i take a picture and she gives me this look,and then turns back around and starts grunting...im like"are you serious?"

this is the favorite place to be while im cooking these days...shes discovered she can reach whatever food might happen to be on the counter with the use of this handy contraption...A STOOL...yesterday she drug it all over the house with her...im in trouble now

smoothie time with mommy...our favorite breakfast...

you pretty much cant pry her lips off of this straw until its gone....