Pat's Run

On April 19th I accomplished one of my fitness goals to run in the Pat's Run (and without stopping, except for water). For those of you who don't know much about it, it's a 4.2 mile run in Tempe and ends on the 42 yard line to commemorate the life of Pat Tillman (his ASU football number is 42). The proceeds from the race go to scholarships for ASU students. It was absolutely one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had! There's just something about running with a huge crowd (at least over a thousand) and for a great cause. On top of that, the weather was absolutely perfect, a little overcasted and cool.The best part was when I entered into the stadium. I had chills throughout my body, maybe this was from the cold sweat but either way it was still amazing! So right when you enter in there's this huge picture of Pat Tillman and maroon and gold balloons all over. And then of course, there's the Finish Line with the ASU football players along the sides rooting you on as you come in. One of them held his hand out to high five me and as soon as I did the rest of them were quick to join in. The camera man at the Finish Line snapped a picture of me as I was slapping all their hands, so now I'm just waiting for it to get posted with all the other million pictures they took that day. So my friend and I are now looking forward to running a 10K in California in June. And I just heard there's a 5K/half marathon in August at Disneyland. Don't think I'll be ready for a half but we'll see!

It's been a long, long time....

So I've been called to blogger repentance! It's a been almost two months since I last posted, which is a big No No in blogger world. And so I am truly sorry for not being better at this. So please forgive me and here's a brief update of what I'm been busy doing:

Havasupai - Some of you know that I go with a group each summer to Havasupai. This will be my fifth year going and I absolutely love it! I've helped plan a couple of the trips and so I've taken it on myself to do it again since last year was a huge success. This year, I only made reservations for 35, but I have over 70 people who are on my list of wanting to go. Crazy! So for a while I was pretty busy working at trying to get that together. You can check out my blog that I've been working on: http://ysahavasupai2008.blogspot.com/

Work - I've had a new position as Special Ed. Dept. Head this past year. As a result, it has taken me out of the classroom and put me into an office. I spend most of my days in meetings, working on IEP paperwork, on the phone, writing emails,dealing with problems, and testing students. I have really missed being in the classroom. So I spent part of my Spring Break making an important decision. And so as a result, I will be stepping down as dept. head and getting my classroom back! This was such a relief for me and I'm really looking forward to next year and putting my Master's degree to work.

Wii - This is a new past time for me and some of my friends. One of my buddies had gotten one for Christmas and so we've enjoyed getting together and battling it out to a good game of Dodge Ball or Mario Cart. But sometimes I can get a little carried away and overextend myself, which I then pay for the next day with a little Wii tenderness in the arm and back. So please, if you play, be a little Wii careful!!!

Pat's Run - I'm trying to train for the Tempe Pat's Run Saturday April 19th. There is a group in my ward going and I thought it would be a good goal to work towards. It's 4.2 miles, which I'm a little nervous about because I'm so not ready!

My Pretty Cheep Toes

As some of you know, one of the few talents I have is painting flowers on my toes. I used to do them a lot, but lately I just haven't taken the time to pamper myself with silly things like that. So after a very long time of having naked toes (no kidding, it's been over a year) I finally decided it was time to pamper my poor feet and give myself a pedicure. A friend had taught me this trick, and it's very simple to do. After you paint your toes, take a toothpick (I clip the end with a fingernail clipper to make the end blunt) and dip it in some craft paint. Be sure to dot it on some paper first so you don't get a globby mess on your toes, I like to practice making the flowers first. Then pick where you want to put your flower (middle, top, bottom). I start the flower by dotting the middle first (usually in yellow). Then I take another color and dot the petals (5 dots, usually white). Now this is optional but it adds a nice touch: Take another toothpick, not trimmed, and make tiny speckles off to the sides of the flower. Now once you've made your pretty flower, be super careful not to smudge it and let it dry! The wood paint takes longer to dry, so you'll need to be patient. Once they're dry, take a clear coat nail polish and paint over them. This will prevent them from peeling off. And that's it! You'll impress without spending the big bucks! Good luck!!! :)