New Blog

Hi, everyone! I've got a new blog, so I won't be using this one anymore. Please check me out here, and don't forget to add me to your lists!

Pooped but Proud

I did something awesome today, guys -- something I've always wanted to do but wasn't sure I could.

I ran the Provo Riverwoods 10-miler. 10 MILES! I've never run that far before!

I feel like the queen of the world.

Half-marathon, anyone?

Perhaps the best part of this is that I did it with my cute friend Andrea B. I told her about a week ago that I was chickening out and wasn't going to run, but she talked me back into it.....then using my unrivaled powers of persuasion, I convinced her to join me. We were both massively intimidated by the prospect of completing a 10-mile race, but we make good cheerleaders for one another.

This morning I WAAAAYYY overslept and it was pouring rain when Andrea came to get me. That almost did us in.

But we're not sissies. So we went for it.



And look how happy we are.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go ice my knees and sleep for a week.

Progress

I've had a project haunting me for months. I'm not sure what compelled me to take it on in the first place -- I guess I'm not happy without at least a half-dozen things to work on -- but now it's time to get a move on. It's as though I've left four old friends stranded in the kitchen, desperate for attention since October. Today, we played for the entire afternoon.



I can't wait to show you when they're done!

Fabulous Friday

Today I....

....embroidered a whole bunch of bags for tomorrow's primary activity....




....then spent the rest of the day with this girl, who's going on a mission to Brazil!




Together, we went here.....



Where, after an agonizing two-and-a-half-month wait, I finally got this...


Then we watched a movie and ate a whole bunch of these:



Today was a great day.

This is really, really gross...

We discovered recently that we have some (most unwelcome) visitors in our apartment -- termites. Yuck! And, what first seemed to be a minor problem now threatens to be quite the ordeal; we've got at least 3 dozen holes in our bathroom wall, and multiple others in the bedroom, office, and living room (thanks in part to Colby, who spent a little too much time obsessively picking at the paint where it was caving in). Some of the holes are huge and you can see the little track marks through the sheet rock. I am so grossed out. If our rent wasn't so cheap I'd probably want to move. Or torch the place. Or both. The Orkin man's coming back on Tuesday to send those little buggers to their poison-y termite graves. Then my heebie-jeebies will go away, and I won't have to drink so much to keep myself calm.

Looking Up

Despite my best efforts (or so I thought), I've been kind of a downer lately. I don't think I realized it until last night when my sister, via Facebook chat, said, "Rachel, has anything good happened lately?"

Oh, how embarrassing.

Let me apologize, then, to anyone who's seen me in my figurative sackcloth-and-ashes. Life's crazy and complicated, but it's not that bad. Actually, there are lots of good things going on:

• The sun is out again.
• I'm going to Boise this weekend.
• I found two great pairs of pants at the mall on Saturday...and got them for $15 each.
• Someone left a plate of warm cookies on our doorstep last night.
• I got a perfect score on my "secret shop" at work last week, and now I get $100 (hello, new running shoes!).
• I paid off a loan last week.
• Last night I played my piano for over an hour.
• Tonight is Zumba night!

There, that feels better; I'll try not to let my personal raincloud get out of control anymore.

What good things have happened to you lately?

Kids, don't try this at home...

....that is to say, NEVER wash all of your dirty clothes when you have no intentions of folding them right then. Otherwise, they become a massive and daunting pile upon your bed, which haunts you while you are awake and drowns you while you sleep.



Take it from me.

Someday I'll be on top of things.

On a completely different note, THANK YOU to the anonymous benefactor who so kindly paid off our credit card. It was completely unexpected but so appreciated -- you've lifted a huge burden. And since I've no idea who you are, I'm throwing this out to the universe, hoping it gets back to you that we are super-grateful!