Pathetic...

Here's just a sad sad commentary on life at the Nelsons.

It's seriously December 8th.

And this is seriously what is still on the mantle.

'nough said?

40 year old miracles

So.....Jason officially turned old this month. FORTY. That used to seem so ancient to me.

I remember many moons ago being a nanny to a family of five children. The mom was 30. Thirty seemed SO MATURE. So put together. And, I'll admit it - to a 17 year old nanny, it just sounded down right OLD.

But here we are, far surpassing the young age of 30. And sincerely, not feeling much more mature or put together than I was way back then.

Jason had this great idea to run a marathon for his birthday, and so......we TOTALLY did it!

It was awesome! And horrible. And a little bit of everything in between. I hated it, and absolutely loved it - all at the same time. But we finished it. It was somewhat of a miracle I think.

Thanks for great running buddies who somehow made it easier to get up at 4:00 in the morning to do long runs. You guys are awesome!

Thanks for such wonderfully supportive friends - you MADE my day!

Thanks Jason's parents for coming to support us, and for lunch afterwards. Golden Corral never tasted so good!

Thanks Jason for taking a risk and signing up.

Mostly I feel overwhelmingly blessed that, although it's not speed-record-breaking, my body was healthy and able to run 26.2 miles. Our bodies are amazing things, and what a blessing that is! Jason and I figured that as long as we are healthy, we might as well take advantage of the situation. So.....we just signed up for another one!

Can't wait for May 2011!

Golden Birthday Shoes

So it was that time of year again. Birthday time. HOORAH for Birthdays that make you closer to more and more wrinkles and 40 years old.

We've got a couple of big ticket items needing attention from the budget in the next few months (i.e; house taxes, etc.). So we have had sort of an un-spoken rule (of which we thoroughly discussed) which states that hewill NOT buy me a birthday gift this year. The big day was a couple of weeks ago, and I had a fabulous day - even in all it's 'Tuesday-Glory'.

You see, Tuesdays at the Nelson household - once the kids get home from school, are nothing short of organized-ish chaos. Boy #1 gets home, get's snack, 25 minutes to do homework (which, incidentally, is no where NEAR enoughtime to get it done), get's ready for work. Boy #2 gets home, changes into work clothes, grabs something to eat on the way out, and then both boys are headed for their work on the farm. Child # 3 arrives home. Church activity days at 3:45 for child #3. Boy #2 Check in at soccer 4:45. Soccer game at 5:30. Dad home 5:30. Dad scouts 6:00. Child #3 soccer practice 6:30. 2 boys Scouts at 7:00. Pick up child 3 at 7:30. Dad home. 9:00 boys home.

But....um......NO ONE'S EATEN DINNER YET!

Seriously, not sure why it all chooses to be on that one very day, but it definitely makes for an adventure each week. I have to admit here.....I actually really DO enjoy Tuesdays. Everyone is doing the things they love, and although it always proves to be a little bit of mayhem, I love it that everyone is busy doing good things. Does my heart good.

Anyway, I digress....

it was my birthday......

Not expecting any sort of birthday packages this year, I was surprised when one was brought in for my to open. That's JUST like him, I think to myself. Arg. Thinking he apparently wasn't listening to our 'budget' discussion, I was, I have to admit, not thrilled that a box was being brought in.

Slowly I open the package, and then my eyes - I have to admit, are brimming with a few tears. Here's what I found:

Hum.....Are those really actually......Golden shoes, you ask?

Why yes there are. Here's the deal.

Many of you know I like to run. I am NOT a runner by ANY stretch of the word. But I like to run. Someday, when we can ask for wishes to be granted, I will ask to run a 6 minute mile. JUST to know what it feelslike. That would be heaven. But until then, I will have to be satisfied with my slightly slower pace.

A couple of years ago I had a desire to do something I'd never done, nor did I ever think possible for someone like me. Run a half marathon. The first one I ran, I was crying as I crossed the start line (yes, I really did say START line....not 'finish' line - like most people). Just BEING there. BEING at the START of a HALF MARATHON was HUGE to me. Never ever even in my most crazy dreams did I think that would be a possibility for me, but here I was!

The race was tough. It was slow. But we finished. And signed up for another one. And another one.

After a while, that got a little discouraging for me because even after doing 4 of them, they didn't seem to be getting any easier, nor did I seem to be getting any faster.

Fast forward to August of this year. Jason and I signed up for the Provo River Half and started training again. For 2 weeks before the race my feet and legs seemed more sore and achey than normal, but I figured it was just the extra miles.

The night before the race, I was packing up our stuff to head down to In-laws house so the race morning drive wouldn't be quite so long. Grabbed my shoes, looked at them from the back, and gasped! Where the HECK did the SOLE of my SHOE GO???? On one shoe the back sole was missing. Seriously gone. That shoe was 1 INCH shorter than the other shoe. Worn right down to the squishy under-sole part. NO WONDER MY FEET HAVE BEEN DYING. Apparently 2 years running in the same shoes isn't so good for the shoes.

Panic starts to set in as I think that there is no cotton-pickin' way I can run a whole race on those shoes, and no cotton-pickin' way to quickly buy new ones at 8:00 the night before the race. To say thatI was panicking might be an under-statement.

Alright, I think you get the gist....

But, thanks to a very calm and reassuring husband, and a little divine intervention from above, the race turned out fine. It turned out better than fine. My best time ever.

On our way back to the car we joked that those shoes should be bronzed.

A few weeks later Jason and I signed up for a full marathon.

Again.....NEVER EVER EVER thought that would be something I could do.

What a journey this has been for me the past several years. 17 to be exact. I've been running since we got married. It took me YEARS to get beyond one short mile. Then two miles. And now seventeen years later we just completed 26.2 (but I think that will be a whole different blog post)....

As I pulled the shoes out of the box, I noticed that he had written my PBRE (personal best record ever) on them, with the date of our Provo River race. The race HE came back and helped me to finish.

The shoes are tattered and the sole is missing, but now they are spray-painted gold, with my time on it, and on my shelf they will stay as a reminder for me.

They represent my journey. They represent doing hard things. They represent setting goals and working toward them. They represent being a 'finisher'. They represent progress. And they represent a kind husband who pushes me to become something better.

Thanks for the best golden birthday shoes ever!

We (and You) can TOTALLY do HARD things

I love the challenge of a good challenge. Striving to enjoy the challenge whilst in the middle of it, and loving the feeling of making through to the end of a good challenge.

Saturday #1, Provo River half marathon.....truly one of the most beautiful runs ever!

AND.............my very own PERSONAL BEST RECORD EVER PEOPLE!

Not horn tooting. Just sayin.

My PBR is still loads slower than a truck load of people, but the fact that I beat the time that my last 4 races have been, made my whole entire live-long day. Smiles were a plenty that day.

Mucho thanks to fabulous husband who gave up a chance at gaining his own PBRE (Personal Best Record Ever) to runright along side of me and cheer me on. Husbands rock!

Thanks Stef for the invite, and Stef's dad for the pre-running pep talks. Sister-in laws and their fathers rock!

So....last Saturday Jason and I were planning our annual hike to the top of mount Timpanogos. NOT to the cave, people....but to the shed that's on the tip top of the WHOLE ENTIRE MOUNTAIN. 11,700-ish feet or so.

It's a bit of a monster hike - but OH so worth it. You'd think after doing it once or twice the hike would get a little easier, but it's still a tough one to do.

We had a great idea this year, husband and I. Let's invite the teenagery boys to join us. One of them agreed, so long as his cousin would come with. But boy number 2 said no thanks, not interested, and WHY would anyone want to do that anyway?

Preparations were made. More Nelsons decided to come. Some came all the way from St. George to make the hike. Hooray for more people!

Son #2 made a 'night-before' surprise announcement that he'd actually be joining us for the hike. Hooray for son #2.

We went. All 11 of us. From age 13 to 50, and headed to the Timpanooke trail head. 5 of us made it to the summit. Breath taking and spectacular!

3 more made it to the Saddle. and 3 made it to the meadow just below. Absolutely beautiful!

We headed down in the dark, and even had a chance to practice some scouting skills. Ran into 2 girls, one injured, and neither with a light - trying to navigate their way to the bottom (minus a good foot, and minus any sort of light source). All the boys considered their "good turn daily' done for the day. Returned missionary cousin even donated his sweatshirt to be sacrificed in the name of bandages to wrap the girls foot in. Quite an adventure - 13 people hiking in single-file down the trail.

Challenge #2 conquered: Making it to the summit with Husband, and 2 teenagery boys. Completely Awesome.

What a blessing that we CAN do hard things. And that sometimes we even CHOOSE to do hard things. Isn't that what makes us grow? Truly a lesson I hope my children learn (and me too actually), that life isn't meant to be all-easy-all-the-time. It's alright to take a risk, set a goal, and work to accomplish it, and smile while you're in the middle of it. I know that not all 'hard things' are physical things, those just happened to be the things we've done here over the last couple of weeks. But sure has reminded me of 'other' hard things we each deal with in life. Everyone has them. And in a way that's comforting. Everyone has a struggle, or two, or ten. We're all here doing the best we can, and hopefully striving for better each day. Hooray for good people to cheer us on. Hooray for divine intervention that seems to come right when it's needed. Hooray for easier days (cause truly, everyone needs one of those every once in a while too, right?), and mostly.....a BIG WHOPPING hooray for just doing hard things.

GO FIGHT WIN!

Me too.

My Mantra.....

So....it all happened quite by accident, me - finding a new mantra. A few months ago, the night before the last half marathon we did, I looked at my running attire...and realized that quite frankly it was all in a state of blech. So, in true 11th hour fashion, I made a trip to Walmart, hoping to find SOMETHING suitable to wear for the race in the morning. Something suitable, and cheap, that is. We're working on a budget here.

Nothing says cheap like a good clearance rack, so that's where I headed and found this little beauty:

The message on the front was a little cheesy "wonder mom"?...............I think it was a left over Mothers day T-shirt from last year, actually.

But.....it was 5 bucks, it fit, and so there you go - race shopping done.

As it turns out, it's seriously the most comfortable shirt ever, and I love it. (and I loved people cheering for 'wonder mom' during the race!, but that's a complete side note to the story)

So, I actually went BACK to Walmart the next week, and bought the only other one in my size on the clearance rack.

Every morning as I lace up to go running (really it's more of a plodding along....but let's not be technical).....I look down and see "Wonder Mom", and it's sort of rubbing on me, becoming something of a mantra for me.

Not in any prideful way, mind you. Heaven knows (and all you that know me know) that I am quite possibly as far away from Wonder Mom as I can get. But, it's given me a little extra mental oomph or something, knowing that I really CAN do it (whatever that IT happens to be for the day). I CAN run a half marathon. I CAN choose to eat healthy. I CAN learn a new song on the piano, I CAN keep things somewhat organized, I CAN learn to let it go when it happens not to, I CAN do the most important things first, and I CAN keep a better perspective on things.

Thank heavens being a 'wonder mom' doesn't mean doing all those things every day. But every day I CAN strive to be better than the day before.

Maybe the reason this is all so 'on my mind' as of late because in just a couple of weeks is my 20 year high school reunion, and it's made me reflect ALOT on the struggles I had as a youth. And the struggles were a plenty.

Just ask my mother.

And I would dare say that the vast majority.....no, I think I would say every last one of those struggles was a result of my lack of knowing 'who' I am. Oh how I would love to re-live some of those years. But that's not the plan. The plan is learning from those mistakes and experiences, moving on, and striving to be better.

So.....Wonder Mom is moving on. Moving forward. Leaving old insecurities behind, and realizing that while I am certainly not perfect by any stretch of the means.....I am me, and someone Greater than I has a purpose for me.

This new Mantra "Wonder Mom", for me is not about who I am, but more what I can become.

So, I owe Walmart some thanks, for creating a cheesy, yet somehow inspiring Mother's day shirt.

"Record-keeping" randonmness.....

This is more an 'for record keeping' sake post, than anything, so bear with me here.
Just felt a need to document a couple of Nelson goings-on before I forget them....time has a way of doing that you know.

In no particular order either, but we'll start with most recent:

14 year old (almost 15, he'll tell you) WENT TO A DANCE.
For reals.
And danced with girls.
And liked it.

This is all a tad bit new at our house. I know, I know....he's almost a SOPHMORE, you say -
but up to this point, he's had a 'not-very-interested' take on girls. Actually, I don't think 'not-very-interested' is quite accurate.....It's probably more like 'scared-to-death-and-don't-know-what-to-say'. Which I have to admit has been FINE with me. No sense rushing these things, right?

But for what ever reason tonight, he summoned the courage to go to a regional dance with some friends and not only did he have a great time, but he danced 'lots', he said, and was brave enough to ask 'lots' of girls he didn't even know.

Dang. He's growing up.


Thing two I wanted to record are the two effective ways of catching monsters at night found here at the Nelson household. The girl nine year old has always, ALWAYS had a thing for making sure the closet doors are shut. Tight. No gaps allowed. This way the monster will either suffocate, or at least if the monster were to come out, you'd hear the door opening, and have time to make a run for it. Also the hall light should be left on, and the bedroom door wide open. So far as we can tell, she's been successful at keeping any monsters or boogie men at bay.

About 3 weeks ago, we noticed something funny after every time we'd tuck the 3 year old in bed. It's a mothers ritual to go in and check on the kids before I hit the hay. When 3 year old is tucked in - we take great care to make sure the closet doors are shut, and things in the room are tidied up. But for the past 3 weeks, when I go back in, we find (this is a TOTALLY CONSISTANT ritual with her, which cracks me up all the more).....The closet doors WIDE open, as WIDE as they can possibly be, and the rocking chair has found a new home right smack in the middle of the floor.
I guess that's her way of saying "ha ha on you......if the doors are open, you can't hide in there in the first place!"

(honestly, most of this is probably not very interesting, but if I don't jot it down, there will come a day that I don't remember, so - I'm jotting........for posterities sake...)

So......this one I almost HESITATE to share. But, it truly was a funny moment for me. Please please do not take any offense at the following story - no offense is intended. Seriously.

Here it goes............I finally bought my first........um........Coke. Ever.

Didn't drink it, but I bought it.

It was an ingredient for a recipe "Cafe Rio Pork"....and WHO could possibly resist that recipe? Now you have to understand, we were not allowed to drink caffeine growing up, and although I did plenty of things that would not be on the 'good' list, drinking caffeine was not one of them. (Alright, if you want to get technical here, I HAVE had Barg's Rootbeer, many a times - before we realized it had caffeine going on.)

Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Dr. pepper, Coke, diet Coke.........never had them. And at this point in my life I figure why start now?

So, back to the Walmart story. I'm grocery shopping, knowing that I have to buy COKE to go in this recipe, but fretting about it the whole ENTIRE time I'm walking up and down the isles. Panic is setting in, I'm wondering if someone will SEE me pick up a coke. Worried at what they might think. Wondering what they might say. (I realize now how ridiculous this is all sounding. It's a COKE, for heaven sakes - not an R rated movie!)

I proceed to the check out, still coke-less. Looking to the left, looking to the right, making sure know one is watching, quickly open the coolers at the front of the store, pull out a quick coke, pop it in the basket (UNDER a couple of items), and hurry to be checked out. Whew. I think I made it.

Then the checker scans the coke and sets it out for me.

I TOTALLY panicked again, like there were spotlights flashing and someone comes over the loud speaker to say "LOOK AT THE LADY BUYING A COKE ON ISLE 5!...................

"Uh........it's just for a recipe" I say as I quickly toss it into a bag like a hot potato.

She gave me the funniest look, and then I think it really (finally) dawned on me that I was OKAY. It wasn't a horribly horrible and rotten thing to be buying. And, no one thought a thing of it.

Certainly there are far better things I could spend my time worrying about and correcting. But for what ever reason, I had a 'moment' buying Coke the other day.

So there you have it. Randomness from the Nelson household....

And, other than that......32 soccer games, one sisters wedding, a basketball tournament, soccer try outs, half marathons, primary leadership meeting, piano recital, band concert, and Emma's Showstoppers shows.......

that's where our crazy May went.

Hooray for almost Summer!

Microscopic AHA moments....

So.....It was a lucky day for me. 7th grade field trip chaperon. Ah, you laugh - but really and truly, it was a treat to be there.
A treat that my 12 year old son wanted me there. And even let me hang out with him a bit.
Applied Technology Career Days at the fair grounds was the destination. Every which way you turned there were booths about every which company and school in Utah that had anything to do with applied technology. A good share of the booths had some sort of 'hands on' activity for the kids to do to hopefully interest them in that field (however, truth be told, I think the vast majority of those 7th graders came 'for the food' so to speak..... lots of the booths had freebies, light up pens, water bottles, pins, candy........and THOSE were the booths where the masses were gathered. A little reminiscent of sample day at Costco if you ask me.)

One of the displays there was from a company who does work and research of things at a cellular level, so as part of their display, they had this portable, light up, hand held microscope. You could put it on your shirt, and the image you'd see on the screen was each individual fiber that made up your shirt. Same with hair. Super cool. The lady suggested we put the microscope on our hand, which I did - waited for a few seconds for it to focus, and then looked in a little bit of horror at what was on the screen.

Old, cracked, crevicey, wrinkled, nearly-dead-person-looking skin, with several black dots though out.
Blech. And ick.
Tried it again on the other hand.
Same results.
Looking at my hand with just my eye, it looked fine. Yes, a little wrinkled (I AM getting older, you know..) .....but still looked alright, no big black spots at least.

As we moved on from there, I kept thinking about that darn microscope. Then it dawned on me.....THAT is exactly how I have always seen myself. Deep dark crevices, old, wrinkled, and spotted with black dots (trying to be 'figurative' here.....)
Instead of focusing on any 'good' that there might be, more often than not my focus is on the black spots and the wrinkles, and because those things are what I see, it's hard to see anything beyond.

A good friend once said that she is her own biggest fan - not in any prideful sort of way - but she is able to see the good in herself, accept her shortcomings and flaws, and even be grateful for them.
I've always admired that quality in her. Envied it too.

I know in the grander scheme of things there is one who sees beyond the wrinkles and spots. Some days I remember that better than others.
For what ever reason, that image on the microscopes screen has crossed my mind much since that field trip yesterday, and it's sure made me think. A little bit wishing that my 'wrinkles and black spots' weren't quite so many. Wishing perhaps for the ability to 'step away' from the microscope when looking at myself.
Hum.....maybe that's a healthy step in the right direction.

Alright, thanks for bearing with my psychological moment there.....

On some funner notes -
here's some of the fun that was had at Career days:


The rock wall (how cool of the ARMY to bring that for their 'display' - the kids all loved it, and said they would all definitely join the army:)....



....and who WOULDN'T want to be a plumber? They got to unclog the clogged toilet (plastic poop and all....totally NOT kidding!)


Good times with the 7th graders :)

Best cure EVER...

So I've decided that the best cure for the winter blahs (and let's face it, is there REALLY ANYONE who absolutely LOVEs the cold, dark, and gray that drones on????).....is a trip to St. George for a soccer tournament!
The weather couldn't have been more perfect.

Here's some highlights:
Soccer (of course)....so fun to be playing outside again. We were a little ill prepared for the 72 degree weather. Tanner started to feel the 'burning' on his winter white skin, and actually cracked open the mini packet of sunblock from the first aid kit. (he really was so concerned.....and I was trying not to laugh :)


This was a view of the soccer field in mesquite. Makes you totally want to don your flip flops and capris, huh?


The boys and I were able to go to the St. George temple and do baptisms with some good friends down there, and I KNOW we took pictures....but I'm wondering if a certain 3 year old who shall remain nameless accidentally deleted them.
It was awesome.

Swimming.....and more swimming....
Hey wait a second.
Those pictures are gone too????
You will just have to take my WORD on it - everyone was having a great time (even if we don't have the pictures to prove it)!

Cove Fort on the way home. Cool little church history sight built by Pres. Hinckley's grandfather.




When we left Mesquite the temperature gauge in the car said 72 degrees. Not even kidding here people.

For every hour north we drove coming home that day, we lost about 10 degrees.
Lame.



I'm trying to find a love in my heart for the winter. Will have to dig deeper apparently. In the mean time though, I think my flip flops are here to stay.

Ta da!....and other stuff.....

Much been happening.
I'm sure you're lives are the same.
(Wait a second....we interrupt this post to holler ***HELP!....I can't click and drag pictures around in this blog anymore. In fact, when I'm editing a post it doesn't even show up as a real 'picture' anymore, just computer jibberish that I can't even cut and paste to move it. That's why all the pictures are at the top, in random order. Any blog geniuses that have had this problem before?****)

Alright....back to the post.....

Here's a couple of highlights from the past few weeks at the Nelson hut....

Bye Bye Binkies! (I know I know we're probably WAY over due on this one. But I had a sneaky suspicion that as soon as the binkie was gone, so would be the naps. And for an added bonus - not only does she NOT take naps, she also wakes up BEFORE the crack of dawn every day).

See how happy and excited she is to throw them away...all THREE of her favorite binkes ever. She realized she would be getting a little 'gift'. Which made her happy.
However, subsequent nights have proved that Little Mermaid Polly Pocket sets do not make up entirely for missed binkies.
Drat.

(And on a mothers side note - I have to admit, I shed a tear or two while rocking her to sleep that night, realizing that she's growing up.) (Alright, I realize that she's only THREE....but still)


Fun to-do's and ta-dah's number 2:

Remember WAY back....several posts ago......I was working on making the family room a little more 'hip' and 'hang-out' worthy?
Well....it's about 98% finished now, and here's what we came up with:



Woohoo for cheery family rooms :)
Much better than the drab blah that was there before.


And most recent ago was Grandpa Berry's birthday party. I love that man. He's kind, he's gentle, he's endured many hardships, his smile lights up his entire face. And he has the best darn 'veterans' hat ever.



I usually dread the cold, grey, dark of January - but I have to admit - it's been good. Eventful, busy, and good. NOT to say I'm not absolutely looking forward to March. March means the start of some REAL green.
And green is happy news.

Here's to January!

...the Very bad, no good, horrible year...

How could someone so cute have such a rough time, you ask???
It's been a rough couple of weeks for daughter #1. Her ear drum ruptured. She missed New Years eve. Two weeks later she got braces and a mouth expander put in (which....I know isn't such bad news. She was actually pretty excited for it. Until they gave her the letter. The dreaded letter of what NOT to eat. For the next whole entire year. Almost EVERY SINGLE one of her most favorite and prized treats is ON THAT LIST. And who wouldn't be sad about that is what I'd like to know?)

The very next day brought a big ol' GASH on her thumb.

So, this normally very happy girl is sitting in the middle seat of the van, we're driving to the doctor so he can assess the damage done to her thumb, starts crying. Not a weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth sort of a cry - just the quiet sniffley sort. She must have been thinking about the past couple of weeks.....
"Mom....this has been my worst year ever."

Well drat. We're only 20 days into it.

We made it to the doctor, and he said definitely stitches were in order - 6 of them. 6 HUGE stitches. I've never seen such THICK stitching thread. Her cut was so deep that anything thinner just wouldn't have held up, he said. It hurt. Super bad I'm sure. She was brave. Very brave. (much braver than the mom...who nearly passed out herself). She was rewarded with 2 suckers, 3 stickers, and an ice cream cone for courage.


Luckily her horrible no good very bad year only actually lasted about an hour.
Once she realized how fabulous it would actually BE to go back to school, even though she was officially "tardy", and have her turn to be the "Big Cheese" (that's the line-leader for the day..and it really did happen to be HER day to be it). A Big cheese WITH braces. AND STITCHES. Life is good in 3rd grade.

Kids are resilient thank heavens. Many days I wish I was so resilient. The 8 year old is back to her regular old happy self now.
I love that girl!