ARIZONA TRIP #2

Clayton had to take another trip to Tempe, Arizona for work so needless to say the "I always need a vacation" wife tagged along. Once again Clayton spent his days in a office wearing a suit and I also spent my time in an office (pool) wearing a suit (swimsuit that is). Oh such is life.


Here are my highlights from the week.


1. getting up at the butt crack of dawn (4am) and running with Clayton. some might question this as a highlight, but taking into consideration the little time we had together to me it was a highlight.


2. Conquering the VALLEY METRO (bus). Last trip this was a struggle.


3. Shopping at Urban Outfitters and getting awesome deals. ($68 dollar skirt for $20, $70 shirt for $10 and another $50 shirt for $10). Happy deals = happy heidi.
4. Reading this book. highly recommend it.
5. Going to Sprinkles to get Clayton cupcakes. tried to get a picture of myself and the Sprinkles sign, but I'm not quite that talented or tall.

6. Having a "I just met with my parol officer" punk kid try to steal my cupcakes. Don't mess with me when I have sugar in my possession. You. Will. Lose. Every time.

7. Watching husband enjoy cupcakes.

8. Going to another favorite place...YogurtLand with friends. Tami (friend from Hawaii), Jason (former roommate in Hawaii), Clayton, me, and Jason (also former Hawaii roommate). ok so YogurtLand has some new flavors...S'mores (awesome), NutterButter, and Vanilla Wafers. If I could eat at YogurtLand everyday I would die a happy woman.

9. Hanging out at the pool EVERY DAY! Read 3 books, listened to music, talked with mi familia, swam laps and just relaxed.

10. Working from hotel and getting 22 viruses on my brother's laptop because he forgot to reinstall his anti-virus software. woops. ya I felt bad.

11. Turning off the AC in the morning as soon as Clayton left the hotel. Oh how I love the heat. Not joking either.

12. Walking to Whole Foods Market everyday for dinner. I was seriously starting to feel granola because of all my time there. Scored some good meals and some awesome oatmeal cooking smelling lotion. However, I'm pretty sure I was the only one who didn't bring in my "green, eco-friendly" shopping bag. Paper, please.

RISE AND SHOUT...well kinda

So I had this big long (so unusual for me I know) post ready on my love for football season/BYU after the BYU win over Oklahoma...but now...I'm not feeling so in the mood. Don't get me wrong I still love football and I still love BYU, I'm getting frustrated with BYU's play or lack there of. Sometimes defenses forget how to tackle, quarterbacks forget what team they are supposed to be throwing the ball too, and running backs forget that they need to run UP the field instead of side-to-side. These are only a few of the things I will mention. I am leaving out fumbles and kickers because I'm starting to think that if I start mentioning everything this post will turn out to be very, very long.

Let's start at the beginning....

Kami and I were very excited for football season to start. Notice our BYU shirts and the BYU milk silo in the background. Yes that was planned. BYU vs. OKLAHOMA

This game will go down in the memory books next to the win over Miami, multiple wins over Utah, win over the Air Force Academy back in the 90s (the officials called a penalty on the crowd for being too loud...I know, right!?!), and various others.

Yes, I was so excited that I took a picture of the tv. strange.

14-13 final score.Even poor Tydon was tuckered out after the win.
I would gloat a lot more on this win if the "don't want to talk about it" FSU game didn't happen or had a different ending.

BYU vs. TULANE

Another impressive win (against a less impressive team). Defense and offense played awesome. 54-3 final score.

BYU vs. FLORIDA STATE

prefer not to mention this game.
but did get some pictures of happier times prior to the game

See Clayton's shirt? It is his lucky BYU shirt. Last year he wore his shirt like the one I have on to the TCU game in Texas. If you remember correctly BYU got annihilated. slaughtered. embarrassed. He won't wear that shirt again, claims it is bad luck. The shirt he is wearing in this picture he wore during the Oklahoma game and the Tulane game...like I said before BYU won both games. He wore this shirt before the FSU game with the intent to buy a $5 BYU shirt before the game started. Well he did. And we lost. Bad. Now he won't be wearing that shirt again either. Pretty sure he will be sporting the gray and pink shirt for the rest of the season.

ps I'm not quite sure what he is doing with his arm in this picture. Speaking of arms doing strange things...

Before the game we hit the tailgate party where I attempted to throw the football through the hole in order to win a t-shirt. I missed. twice. Maybe it has something to do with my arm sticking straight out to the side.

BYU vs. COLORADO STATE

A win (42-23) but not a pretty game. Game was a lot closer than what the game actually was.

Seriously Max...Do you think you can make it ONE game without throwing an interception.

BEHOLD...THE 2 FOOT BURRITO

There really aren't any reasons to venture to Pocatello, Idaho except to partake in the 2 foot burrito challenge. Clayton had a meeting there (which I guess is another reason to venture there) so I came along for the ride. After the meeting we decided that it was a good time to cross Senor Iguana's 2 foot burrito off of the food bucket list. Clayton originally wanted to try and eat the whole 2 feet of smothered goodness by himself, but later common sense kicked in and he decided that maybe we should try and eat it together. Don't worry we didn't even come close to finishing it.

Senor Iguana's with the Pocatello skyline in the background. Isn't she (Pocatello) lovely!?! (Please tell me you picked up on the sarcasm).

Ah yes...there she be...our two foot burrito wrapped in tinfoil partaken of Lady and the Tramp style.
Clayton thinks that I go to Charlie's (ice cream place) too much and I don't give other ice cream places much of a shot. Not wanting to be called prejudice I decided to give Aggie Ice Cream a chance. I went there once when I was a freshman at USU...10 WHOLE YEARS AGO. Man I feel old. Back in that day I got an ice cream cone. Because of that I wasn't under the impression that they made milkshakes, which was one of the reasons that I haven't been back. Boy was I wrong. They DO make milkshakes out of HARD ICE CREAM! Twice the fat as soft serve ice cream, but oh so worth it. Clayton and I were both feeling like "old man" flavors that day. He got the carmel cashew and I got pecan praline.
Another item on the food bucket list is a peach from a roadside stand in Brigham City. We made the stop and indulged ourselves. Oh how I love peach season. We make peach smoothies pretty much everyday. However, I must admit that this year I was a little disappointed by the peach selection. Brigham City is supposed to be famous for peaches, but I thought that the peaches we got from my sister's trees were better this year. More flavor.

Don't worry I have about 7 more posts to do...

HIKES, WALKS, STROLLS

The last couple of Saturday's we have been trying to get as much "outdoor time" as we can.

Here are some of the places we have gone.

TONY'S GROVE NATURE HIKE

Let's be honest. This wasn't much of a hike as it was a stroll/walk. Even though we didn't work up much of a sweat it was totally worth it. Tony's Grove is one of my favorite places up Logan Canyon. So beautiful.

BRIDAL VEIL FALLS

I wasn't quite sure what to expect at Bridal Veil Falls up Provo Canyon. After all I do live in a desert and it is really dry this time of year. Let's just say I was surprised...pleasantly surprised. It was amazingly beautiful.

MT. NAOMI

Clayton and I have attempted to do this hike 4 times now. First time we took veered right at the fork instead of left (Clayton's theory was CTR Choose The Right. Did not work.) and ended up at White Pine Lake. Which wouldn't have been bad but we did that hike the year before. Second time there was still snow at the trail head. Common sense told us that the further up the trail you go the more snow there would be...and we didn't bring our snowshoes. Third time it was pouring rain and we realized that we wouldn't have enough time to hike. The hike is 6.6 miles round-trip. Fourth time was a success. The view at the top was beautiful...if we could have seen anything through the smog. The air in Cache Valley right now (and most of the time lately) is awful. The colors of the leaves made up for the fact that the view was dirty. Bright, bold colors. Highly recommend driving up a canyon or hiking.

THE GREAT 8

8 has always been my favorite number.

I can only recall 3 reasons why I like the number 8.

1-I was baptized at 8

2-My first BYU football crush, Matt Bellini sported the number 8 on his uniform (by the way I was only 9 at the time). I'm sure now he is old, fat and bald (and I have another more eternal crush) but I will never forget his touchdown catch in the south endzone at Lavell Edwards Stadium (formally known as Cougar Stadium) in 1990 against then ranked #1 Miami. awesome.

3- I was once at a birthday party for my cousin, Amber and I won a prize for picking the correct number...which was 8. The prize was a rose bookmark. I believe that day was the day I realized that the number 8 and I were meant to be.

Now that I have fed your brilliant minds with useless information let us get to the real reason for this post our niece, Hadlee's Baptism. Hadlee is such a sweet girl. She always gives me the best hugs and smiles. Did I mention that we have the same middle name of Jo? That alone makes her pretty great if you ask me.

Here are some pics from her big day...

Clayton baptized her and Poppy did the confirmation. I have loved watching Clayton baptize both Aubri and Hadlee. I'm so proud of him for the man he is and way he honors his priesthood. I can't wait to watch him take our own children into the waters of baptism.

The proud family Us and Hadlee

Congrats on your baptism Hadlee.

We are so proud of your decision to get baptized.

Love you!

TOP OF UTAH 1/2 MARATHON

TOP OF UTAH 1/2 MARATHON

after my last long race I didn't know if I would do another one.

That was then...

...before it was added to the adventure bucket list (all items on that list must be done as a married couple. Since I had already ran and Clayton hadn't it couldn't be crossed off...running that far on a treadmill doesn't count. Had to be an actual race we we scored a t-shirt)

August 6th...6am in the morning.

CLAYTON: Do you want to run the TOU 1/2 marathon?

HEIDI: No. (voice in my head says, "it's official my husband is insane")

CLAYTON: silence

HEIDI: (realizing that it is the perfect opportunity to cross something off of the adventure bucket list and to work off some of the food that we have eaten on the food bucket list)oooohhhh ok. You do realize that it is 3 weeks away.

My main goal in running this race was to train on the treadmill without stepping foot on the road. If you are a runner you know that running on the treadmill and running on the road are very different. However, I don't get paid to run on the road. I get paid to run on a treadmill at 5am.

RACE DAY

Alarm goes off at 5am. ah crap what did we get ourselves into!?! Throw on some clothes. Go the bathroom. Go the bathroom again just in case. Walk out the door and ask Clayton if the fact that I shaved my legs the day before will help me run faster. He says "yes". awesome. Drive through the insanely busy streets and pull a few illegals (traffic illegals not to be confused with human illegals) to find a parking spot. Find a spot a marathon's distance from the bus stop that takes us up to the starting line. Walk and walk and walk and walk and feel like the pioneers, but in our sweet Asics of course. Finally reach the bus line which is ironically enough also the distance of a marathon. Finally get on the bus and drive up Blacksmith Fork Canyon to the start line. If you ask me the bus ride is the worst part of the race because it seems never ending while you are thinking the whole time, "I have to run this far!?!". Load off of the bus and hit the port-a-potty (again just in case). Stretched in the cold mountain air hoping that my leg hair wouldn't grow too much to slow me down. Finally we start lining up and it is go time. Get music ready, few last minute stretches in and off we go...

MILE 1: feelin' good. if only we didn't have to weave in and out of everyone. That is totally going to kill our time.

MILE 2: stomach cramps. not good. say about 3 prayers in a row and start feeling better.

MILE 3: see friend Nicole and slap her butt and wish her luck as we pass by.

MILE 5: cross mile 5 line and slap (yes I was into butt slapping that day) Clayton's butt. Tell him I'm going to do that with each mile we pass (and I did!). Older gentleman next to me hears me tell Clayton that and asks if I would do that for him too. Apparently he needed some motivation.

MILE 6: see a girl running on her toes. seriously I don't think her heels ever touched the ground. vowed to beat toe girl.

MILE 8: wonder why there are so many "runners" wearing skorts (half shorts-half skirts). I put runners in " " because cheerleaders wear skirts, runners wear shorts. Seriously!

MILE 9: water station. one of the volunteers decided to run to the other side of the road and almost knocked me to the ground while doing so. gave her dirty look and a mean scowl. bless her heart.

MILE 11: incident is all I will say. Clayton forbids me to post anything that happened on this mile until we go private. So far nothing about going private is in the works. Let's just say this is the result of mile 11...

Don't worry no injuries or anything like that despite Clayton's appearance. And the incident actually happened to me not him...again despite his appearance. The story is hilarious (and embarrassing) if you ask either one of us. Oh how I wish I could make this post 10x's better by telling the story. But I am a wife of my word and will not...but I wish I could...oh how I wish...

ps If you know the story please do not leave a comment about it so I can keep my word with the husband.

MILE 12: almost there

MILE 13.1: crossed the finish line feeling really good (physically, emotionally, etc).

This chica is our friend Candace. She is lovely. We like her. Wanted my brother to date her, but now she is in a relationship with someone else. geez.

You might be wondering to yourself "what did Clayton and Heidi listen to for 13.1 miles?" Well this is your lucky day because I was just about to tell you...

HEIDI'S PLAYLIST: Jack Johnson, Daughtry, Cold Play, Millencolin, The Fray, Pepper, Keith Urban, Zebrahead, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Guns 'n Roses, Leona Lewis, The Refreshments, Metallica, The Used, Midtown, Kelly Clarkson, Coheed & Cambria, AFI, Red Hot Chili Peppers

CLAYTON'S PLAYLIST: I would have thought that all he listened to on the run was Coheed & Cambria and Senses Fail, but it turns out he didn't listen to Coheed & Cambria at all. That really surprised me because he loves...no LOOOOOVES Coheed & Cambria. Now I can't remember the rest of the things he listened to, but he did tell me he crossed the finish line listening to Upstanding Youth's "Detonate". They are awesome. Check them out on our blog roll or on "crap we like or things we love" on our side bar.

To end (you never thought the end would come did you!?!) I just wanted to tell Clayton thanks for encouraging me to do this. I get really nervous before races (no matter how big or small) even though I have done a ton of them. I'm glad that we could do this together and cross it off of our bucket list not to mention cross the finish line together holding hands....hahaha...just kidding we didn't do that. I make fun of the couples that do that (no offense if you are one of those people). Seriously the miles honestly flew by this race because we were running side by side. He is my motivation.

PS our time was 1:47 (would have been faster without the "mile 11 incident") and yes mom we did beat toe girl.

Up Next (whenever I find the time...): Hadlee's baptism, Tony's Grove and the FREAKING AWESOME BYU win over Oklahoma.

HAPPENINGS...and I don't mean the coupon book

It's been awhile. 12 days to be exact. That's like 12 years in the blogging world. Instead of offering some lame-o excuse like being busy why don't I fill you in on the happenings of the last 2 weeks.

1. Paid off subie. This deserves a "woot, woot" no matter how lame "woot, woot's" are. Subie has been with us since July 2007. I just decide that monthly payments are overrated.

Not a cut pic from '07. Please do not judge us.

2. A couple of weeks ago Clayton was passing the Sacrament. He was assigned to pass to my row. Either I stunk or our ward is really small because I was all alone on my row...and it wasn't one of the small side rows (sorry I can't call them pews that just sounds weird...anybody else with me on that one?) it was the LARGE middle row. Anyway Clayton passed me the bread. Next came the water. I watched him pass to the people in front and when they were done he walked RIGHT BY ME! I know, right!?! My own husband skipped his me...his wife...the one who does his dirty dishes and washes his stinky running shorts. The person he should want to take the sacrament so that I am worthy to spend eternity with him. I kept looking around trying to get his attention, but he was too focused on everyone else's salvation to catch my eye. Finally as they were about finished passing the water I was able to catch the eye of someone else passing and got them to come back up to FRONT (don't panic our backrow seats were taken) to pass me the water. Clayton "claims" that he was pretty embarrassed when he realized that he skipped me. We had a good laugh about it though and I was sure to bring it up for the rest of the day.


3. At Macey's the other day and we saw this B-E-A-U-T-Y. Oh yes, a Honda Civic limousine. Or it might be a Acura limousine.... Whatever it is it is classy.
4. Clayton asked me out on a date the other night. Since it is only the two of us I guess you could consider any of the time we spend together a date, but this was special cuz he verbally asked me out. We decided to try one of the Logan places on our food bucket list - Le Nonne.
Clayton got the steak Robespierre...the salad looking thing below and I got the...

Ravioli Di Granchio (ravioli stuffed with crab meat and ricotta cheese and other things that I can't remember). Both were good, but a little pricey. Taking price into consideration we gave Le Nonne a 6.5 rating.

5. My new camera came! Oh happy day. This item deserves a action pose to show my happiness. Take that you stupid Chipirrel! 6. As of September 3rd I have been at Icon Health and Fitness for 10 years. That's a long time people! Since my humble beginnings of a human tester to administrative assistant. I'm pretty sure the reason I'm still here is because I have a great boss. Anyway I scored a $90 gift card to Wal*Mart/Sam's Club and some medallion thingy.

7. I have added "ride an elephant" to our adventure bucket list. Pretty stoked about this one.

8. Clayton and I ran the Top of Utah 1/2 Marathon this last weekend. This item deserves a post on its own...I will deliver.

9. After the 1/2 marathon we hit the lake and then the Box Elder County fair in Tremonton where we partook of the glorious (or totally average) fair burger. Normally the fair would deserve a post on it's own as well, but sadly we only stayed for the burger and then left. Our fair time was cut short and I am saddened by all the missed redneck and white trash sightings that I could have partook in...cus let's be honest the best thing about the fair is the people watching. Unless you are between the ages of 14-18 and like to hang out by the Zipper in your new school clothes. I'm just sayin'...

10. BYU football season starts in 1 day. I. Am. Pumped!

11. Drove to the lake a couple of weeks ago and got halfway there (45 minute drive) and realized that I forgot my swimsuit. Awesome (that is sarcasm to the max). Then when we got home I put it on the table while I grabbed some food and almost forgot it again. I'm brilliant what else can I say.

12. I'm in love with Amish Friendship Bread. It takes 10 days to make and we have been making it every 10 days for the last 30 days. Totally worth the effort. Those Amish...they know how to make bread.

13. Been watching America's Got Talent at night lately as I fold clothes and do my other womanly/wifey duties. Don't know why I watch it because I am constantly annoyed by David Hasselhoff. I won't even post a pic of him on this here blog because what kinda person would I be to subject all of you to that. Pretty sure he paints on his chest hair and has the hair stylist from the 80's show Miami Vice do his hair each week. Don't even get me started on the arrogant mumble-jumble that comes out of his mouth.

14. I continue to love my husband more and more with each day.

Up next....TOP OF UTAH 1/2 MARATHON post...