Unexpected visitors...!!!

Matt came to see me in Phoenix!!
I was so overjoyed! I don't think I have ever been happier to see my husband. I had no idea and it took me completely by surprise. He called me and asked me what room I was staying in, at the hotel. I knew he was up to something so I didn't want to tell him and I kept probing and asking why he wanted to know. Was he going to call me as a surprise? Send flowers to my room? Send me a milk shake? I told him I was on the 3rd floor some where but I couldn't remember the room number. As I open the door to step out to check, who is there smiling at me with his sun glasses? MATT! I screamed I was so shocked. My heart was full. I had so many emotions flowing into me all at once the only thing that really makes sense is, I was happy.

Matt came and told me he brought his trunks so we went swimming for a little while, laid in the sun, and then he told me he had looked up some Thai and Indian restaurants, as well as the best place to get a chocolate milk shake. :)

The night before I told Matt that I wanted some Indian food and a chocolate milk shake (as a reward for surviving my first week of training in Phoenix). I decided not to get Indian food, after all, and when I went down to the hotel restaurant to ask for a chocolate shake, the very thing I had been dreaming about all day, I was denied because they didn't have milkshakes! I had to settle for a chocolate molten, lava cake with vanilla ice cream... okay maybe using the word "settle" is a little inappropriate when describing this particular lava chocolate cake. So, to be honest, it was delicious. :)

I was touched that Matt had taken the time to look up chocolate shakes in Phoenix because he knew I was a little disappointed from the night before. I felt so loved by my husband, it's the little things that count. Anyways we actually went to a Thai food place and went to this artisan ice cream joint where they make their own ice cream. They had bizarre flavors like bacon, the mint chocolate chip tasted like real mint(It was ever so tasty!), and they had this basil flavored ice cream that tasted like basil. Somehow Matt and I felt like it was wrong to turn basil into ice cream, it just didn't feel right. Matt said, "this tastes like my dinner". I put pictures up of our little adventures. I was on cloud 9. I wanted to document everything so I could remember it forever. If only you could capture happiness in photos. I know it sounds all cheesy, but it was pretty much the greatest weekend I've had in a long time. (The weekend we got married I think was pretty good too.)

My getting lost buddy....

Im in Phoenix for a training, about words and I am learning so much and I love it, and Matt's at home with our ever so comfortable king size bed.

Can I just say that it's a lot better to be lost with someone than lost by yourself? When you're with someone else it's funny. When you're alone, it's stupid & more notable, embarrassing. I miss Matt. He's my "let's get lost and laugh" buddy. :(

Summary of the Months

So Aline borrowed my camera and then she broke it. So once she bought us a new one I haven't had any desire to post because I wanted a proof of our adventures. Anyways, I realized I haven't posted since Easter and we've done a lot! Some highlights are:

-Going to Arizona: Grand Canyon and camping!

-Going to Moab-We went down for Memorial Day

-Dying Easter Eggs with our cuter than a polar bear niece Ainsley

-Starting our garden and testing the soil (we discovered why Sandy is called "Sandy".)

-Celebrating my birthday- (Cirque du Solei & the Melting Pot)

-All of the interesting foods we've made. I tried to make a "Mormon" Tiramisu. Believe me, it looked a lot tastier than it was. It wasn't gross, it's just you expected more when you saw it. Matt also made this awesome stuff bread thing with peppers, egg plant, tomatoes.... so good! It looked so good!

Weather in Utah. Spring?

My Dad always says that if you don't like the weather in Utah, wait 10 mins and it will change.

Well... for the past 24 hours, I've been waiting for ten mins. Here are scenes from the kitchen windows.

Canyon Lands 1/2 Marathon!

Last Saturday we went down to Moab where Muriel and I ran the half marathon in Moab. It was so beautiful! It was also, so hard!

Our goal was to run without stopping and we made it! Muriel was really optimistic about the whole thing. Every time we stopped at a water station Muriel always said, "Thank you so much for your support!" Also periodically in the race Muriel and I would give each other high 5 and say, "Go us! We're doing it! Only 6 more miles to go!" Heh. Every now and again we would yell out, "Wahoo!" to give our own selves some support. It was great running it with Muriel. Her optimism provided me with more energy.

Along the run we ran into a man that had a 5o in 50 by 50 t-shirt. I asked him about it. He told me that he and his son's friends had a goal to run 50 half marathons in 50 states by the time they were 50. So hardcore! I wonder where they would run in Alaska? We also ran into a man wearing a disco suit. It wasn't polyester! It looked somewhat made out of breathable cotton but... it was interesting. I asked him if he felt any heat and he said no, I also asked if he trained in it, he also said no. He did tell me he was going to wear it out to dinner. I thought that was pretty hardcore. I dont know if I would run in something that wasn't your typical "exercising" outfit. Hm.

Also, near the end of the race---mile 11--- you come out of the canyon and run on the high way. That is usually where you start having more supporters on the road waving you on. Every time we saw a little kid sticking out his hand in the street for a high five Muriel would say, "Let's go give them high 5!" It's sweet, but after running 11 miles it seems the only thing you're thinking about is, "I must finish.... I must finish... keep running.... keep running...." Thinking about going out of your way, even if it is 3 or 4 inches to the side, just seems too much. However, Muriel was ever the optimist and I can also proudly say we did give high 5 to every little kid who had his hand sticking out. :)

It was a good run. Matt didn't run it with us but he met up with us at mile 12 and shouted, "Don't stop now!" I was thinking, "Oh... geez, easy for you to say!" It was nice however to have the support. :)

It was really, really, hard and I almost wanted to cry at the end because I was so tired---I think I'll do it again next year. If you want to do it.... let me know! We should run it together! It's triumphant!

This and That

Sometimes I get these moments where I think, "Ta dah! This is a moment that should be blogged." I'm not quite sure what the rules and regulations to blogging is and what would be considered worth reading but I've now found myself at my computer typing something up...

Today in primary a women told us that while she was living in New Orleans the LDS church their shared their chapel with Jews. Jews worship on Saturday so it was convenient for them to use it on Sunday. In any case a jewish couple walked in one Sunday morning because they missed their meeting on Saturday. They sat through the meetings and came into primary where they were singing, "Follow the Prophet". The jewish women loved the song and taught them a dance to go a long with it and today in primary we learned the simple version of the song. We danced jewish style in primary. We raised our hands, stepped from side to side, twisted, and shouted "HEY!". It was awesome.

Two weekends ago Matt and I went tubbing near Park City. EVERYONE MUST DO IT! Take Jeremy Ranch exit and turn left at the stop sign. Follow the road and you'll see it. It is so awesome! Tubbing was a fantastic experience. You choose a tube and they hook the tube up to this machine that takes you up the mountain. So it's more or less a free ride up. Look at the pictures... When they weren't taking you up and you had to walk to load the escalator like technique, Matt was sweet enough to pull me. :) We went with Salina and her friend Scott. We ran into this little kid who was probably 5 or 6. We were just playing around bumping out tubes into each other in a "mature" like way. Well this little kid that none of know ran and jumped on his tube purposely running into Salina. He laughed and smiled and ran ahead of us in line. He was super cute.

I also went to Moab a couple of weeks ago. Aline rubbed mud all over her face. I thought this video was so funny of Aline's explanation as to why she did it. I like to watch it when I'm not happy. It makes me laugh. Maybe because we're sisters and I get the inside joke? I dont know if anyone will think this is as funny as I do....

Kid Quotes

Sometimes I think I should have some type of quote book where I record all interesting things my students say. I think the quote of the week, this week, was when one boy turned to one girl and said:

"If you were the devil you would kill us."

I'm not sure where the conversation was coming from. It was just something I happened to pick up randomly.

My all time favorite quote was one teacher overheard one of my students say:

"Ms. Longstaff doesn't know it.... but we are going to lock her out of the room and have a party! We are going to listen to music with swear words in it!"