Advice

I would just like to say that when making jelly, it is wise to be VERY careful while transferring the boiling hot liquid into jars. In fact, I highly recommend a food grade funnel. Hopefully it will save all of you from foolish burns like the one on my left hand. It has been a week and a half since the incident and after applying Silvadene cream twice daily, the first layer of charred skin has happily come off. I am well on my way to a full recovery. :)

Leavenworth Marathon 2009

Well... my pictures posted in the opposite order I wanted them. In the future I will take the time to figure out how to get them how I want them, but this post is long overdue. So here it is!
On our way up to Leavenworth we spent the day in Mt. Rainier National Park. There's a picture of me inside a fallen 1000-year old tree. Pretty neat. Then the race day was great in cute little Leavenworth. It was a chilly 32 degrees when we started, but it warmed up to a comfortable 60 degrees. I took 5 hours and 13 minutes to jog 26.2 miles with minimal walking. There is a picture of me and my running partner Juliette after about 17 miles. We each finished 5th in our categories. :) Then you can see my excitement when I am finished with the race--two thumbs up! The day after the race Eric and I hung out in Seattle and took pictures at the Seattle Temple. It was a beautiful day in Seattle. Who knew it was ever sunny in Seattle?! What a great trip! Wish I had time to write more, but I gotta go make dinner!

Happy Tomatoes

Here is a lovely picture of my first "medium-sized" tomato from my plant. It was ripe about two weeks ago and since then I have had a couple more tomatoes this size. I made my first salsa. Yum! It's been fun to try out some container gardening. :)

Announcement

I don't think I have previously announced that I am officially registered for the Leavenworth Oktoberfest Marathon. It's this Saturday!!! I am so ready for it! Washington here we come!

Something of Real Worth

I have to start out by saying that this post was inspired by my friend Katie's writing blog. Anyway, she wrote a poem sort of about nothing and it made me think of the rather meaningless things I blog about. There are lots of blogs out there that are really meaningful and have a lot of purpose. Mine has not been one of those. Now I'm not really sure who all views my blog, but I would hope that whoever views my blog--be it a stranger or a good, long-time friend--would be able to see the type of person I am. So for the record, I'd like to post something of real worth.

I believe in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. I am a child of God, here on the earth to learn the lessons of mortality and strive to return to live with my Heavenly Father. I can be with my family forever because of the priesthood power that was restored to the earth through Joseph Smith. I believe in the Book of Mormon and the Bible. Jesus Christ came to the earth, lived a sinless life, and atoned for all the sins of mankind. I can repent and be forgiven of my short-comings as I turn to Jesus Christ. As I strive every day to do my best with an honest heart, it is sufficient for His grace. My Heavenly Father promises me guidance and blessings beyond measure as I keep His commandments and seek to do His will. This testimony I treasure in my heart and share with you in the name of Jesus Christ.

I LOVE KOHL'S

So here is my exciting and happy news:
I harvested about 12 cherry tomatoes from my plant. That was a few weeks ago and I'm about to harvest more in the next couple days. There are 3 tomatoes on my other plant that are starting to ripen as well. Their variety is medium-sized, but they look huge! I'm very excited and proud of my plants. Here is a picture of the cherry tomatoes. Sorry it's a little blurry. Now for even MORE happy and exciting news!!!

I am excited to display my super finds from Kohl's and JC Penney. I had basically $110 to spend on new running stuff for my birthday as gifts from parents. Now this is about what it would cost to buy new running shoes from a specialty running store. I saw a pair on clearance for $55, but I wasn't willing to spend that much. So I found some great Asics at JC Penney for only $40 (marked down from $70). Then I took the remainder of the money to Kohl's and shopped the clearance racks. I fell in LOVE with the clothes I found. As you can see in the picture, I got capris, long-shorts, a tank top, a t-shirt, a jacket, and 2 sports bras--all specially for running. AND three of those items were Nike brand! So... here's the real shocker: I spent the $70 I had left, SAVED $180 from the retail prices, and they still gave me a Kohl's cash card for $10! I averaged $10/item on the clothing, so I should be able to get one last item and only spent about 50 cents. An added bonus is that I feel great in my new running clothes and I am running faster! Hooray!

I promise a very happy and exciting post is on its way... I just need the pictures off the camera.