Saying Goodbye

I had to say goodbye to one of my best friends this week. Liz was one of the first friends I made when I moved to UT for school. We met how I meet most of my friends, over food. The ward provided pumpkin pie and I was all about the pumpkin filling but didn't like the whip cream on top or the crust. Well, lucky for me, Liz liked that part and wasn't too excited about the filling. . matched made in best friend heaven.

At the ward activity where we first met=)

From that day on we hung out I moved in everyday. We always have a good time whether we're dancing, eating, or laughing till we cry. We made lots of friends, but there was 5 of us that seemed to be connected at the hip.

dancing

Amanda, Liz, Courtney, me about to go dancing

Going to conference together

The 5 of us at a game night freshman year

I'm really going to miss her, luckily her in-laws live in UT so she will come to visit.

Me, Liz, Shaylin, Amanda bridesmaids at Courtney's wedding

She's moving to TX so her husband can continue going to medical school, and she's originally from there so she's more than thrilled to return. Miss you Liz!!

This picture was taken our Sophomore year when I was going home for a couple of weeks. But this is how I feel now, and you're gonna be gone a lot longer=(

Tulip Festival

Utah is so beautiful in the Sprint time. A couple of weekends ago, Josh suggested we go to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. We invited his cousins, dad, and his aunt and uncle. We had a really great time in the sun.
They have a fun children's park/museum, they had vendors with delicious popcorn(thanks Barb!) and performers.

Did you know Thanksgiving Point has one of the largest man-made waterfalls? It's gorgeous!

On a random note: what has this world come to? Seriously? Use your legs people!

Anyway back to the tulips

J fell asleep, when we finally got to the actual tulips. Which was good, I don't think he was disappointed;)

Spring time cookies and the cheesecake factory

Spring is such a beautiful time of year. I love seeing all the flowers blossom and feeling a sense of renewal. And what's a better way to celebrate Spring than decorating 'spring cookies?'
I know 'spring cookies' are usually flowers or even egg-shaped, but hearts are the only cookie cutters I have. (wedding gift that I've really enjoyed)

Shannon and Lydia

Brittany, Elsie, and Andi

I didn't want Jackson to feel left out, so I gave him a glob of frosting thinking he'd finger paint with it. I was wrong, he ate it. He didn't feel left out, mission accomplished.

Later that night, Josh planned a double date. We went with his cousin Erik and wife Jillian. Always a good time with them and always a good night when it ends with chocolate.

Hobbies as of late

I mentioned in a previous post that I've been working on some new hobbies. This week during Utah's beautiful Spring weather Jackson and I set out to weed the yard.

While we were out there, the school bus, garbage man, and some dogs were all out. It was fun to tell Jackson what all the noises were knowing someday he'll know for himself what they are.
before

after

I'll take some more pictures of the bigger flower bed we have, but I forgot earlier when I was weeding. And now it's raining, so it may not be for a couple of days, o well. Josh was grateful for this 'new' hobby of mine, let's hope I can keep up with it. Josh's aunt Christy got us some flower seeds for Easter so when it clears up I'll try planting them.

Questions

Do you enjoy doing yard work? 

What are your favorite flowers?

I really wish we had tulips. I think I'm going to plant some for next year.

Guess who came to visit?

My friend Emmalee came to visit family me in UT. We met up at Kneaders because all things Kneaders is delicious. They have 'all you can eat' french toast I've heard is A MAZ ING, unfortunately they stop selling breakfast items at 11? We were pretty disappointed and got smoothies instead. Very tasty, but I'll have to go back and try their famous french toast one of these days.

It was so great catching up, Emmalee and I had the same major in college and signed up for most of our classes together. It's always nice to be study buddies with the valedictorian=)

We were both pregnant with our boys here

Our boys have fun together too

Colton (9 months) and Jackson (8 months)

What makes for a good run?

Saturday's  run was so awesome. I just felt good the whole run and enjoyed being outside with my thoughts. I took a challenge from a running blog I follow and didn't even have to turn my ipod on. I was so caught up in my surroundings and how good I felt. I didn't do much different from some of my previous runs, so I wonder, what makes for a good run?
Obviously getting enough sleep, eating healthy, and listening to your body helps. But I think the main thing that helps me is my routine before a run.
My routine:
eat something light (cereal, toast, or a granola bar)
brush my teeth and blow my nose (you have no idea how bad this would drive me crazy if I didn't do it)
get all my gear ready to go (Nike band, ipod, mace, and WATER)
During my run, for the first time ever, I ran with water. Josh bought me a Nathan Hydration belt and it made all the difference. I like the pouch to hold my phone, car key, chap stick, and gum.
After my run I always drink low fat chocolate milk, stretch, and then eat lots of greens, lean proteins, ice cream=) and of course drink a lot of water. I wonder if Josh would mind if I wore the hydration belt on our Saturday errands??

Questions

What's your running routine?

What makes a good run for you?

Week 3 of Running

This week was my third week of training for my first half marathon. Can I say I've loved it? It's really hard work, but I love that feeling after you've done something hard. I feel so accomplished and that feeling carries over into other aspects of my life.

hitting the treadmill with my favorite Nike shoes(please forgive my pasty white, hairy legs;)

I found myself trying new things and wanting to do more with my day. I'm working on some new hobbies(more on that later), and I can't help but want to help others find a love for running. Did I mention my sister in-law Whitney is training with me? She's a rock star! She runs with her baby Cal, runs in the evenings, and even when it's cold outside. I love being able to talk to her about running and I hope she finds herself loving it more than hating it ;)

Questions:

What was your workout today?

What have you done lately that has made you want try harder?

Easter with the Cheslers

Easter Sunday started with church at 9am, of course Jackson wore his Easter outfit.

After church we headed to Josh's aunt Lezlie's house for Easter dinner and egg hunt. Jackson had a great time with dad finding sucking on eggs.

His cousin Grace helped him too, but she definitely dominated and won the 'best egg hunter' award.

Josh's Grandma and Grandpa Chesler have a tradition of giving babies their first Red Vine. This Easter, Jackson and Calvin received their very first Red Vine packages.

We stripped the babes down

They REALLY enjoyed it!

Calvin nicely chomped on his (he has teeth)

Jackson had it everywhere!

Grandma and Grandpa Chesler

We all enjoyed the beautiful Spring day in Lezlie's beautiful backyard.

She is so kind and thoughtful. She got Calvin and Jackson their own play pen, blankets, toys, high chairs, and fun treats to keep them entertained throughout the night.

They both loved it and did great the whole time. Thanks again Lezlie and Pat!

Girls Night Out

Thursday night my sisters, mom, and I had a girls night out. We wish Bree, Jessica, Sarah, and Celeste could've joined us, unfortunately they're in TX and WA.
We checked out the new City Creek Mall in Salt Lake City. City Creek is one of the coolest malls I've ever been too. We walked through a lot of the stores looking at all the fun shoes, jewelry, and clothes. We had some fun at some stores. . .

Then we walked around some more, I was so amazed at how beautiful the center was. Not to mention it had a nice view of where Josh and I were married.

My sisters and mom

This place is huge, we didn't even get to half of it and we were there for a good 3-4 hours?? Of course not all 3 hours was spent shopping, we stopped by the Cheesecake Factory and got ourselves some delicious massive amounts of food. Seriously, I had a ton of leftovers and I ate till I was overly stuffed!

 Love spending time with my family, I'm sad to see my mom leave to go back to WA=(

Early Easter and already fighting?

Monday night we headed over to the Scott's for an early Easter dinner. Why, you ask? Josh's parents and siblings are headed to China! Lucky ducks. It was a spontaneous decision, but I'm so happy for them to have the opportunity to experience China together.
Lee Ann made a delicious dinner and since we were all together, we planned to take an updated family picture. Whitney took the professional pictures, but we had fun with the lil' guys and the Easter bunny.

Here's the boys chillin, maybe even holding hands? So how did that end in this?

Let's back up. It started with a kiss bite

Which lead to a love tap pulling of hair

Looks like a beautiful relationship is forming =)

Castle Park

My sister Leah brought us to Disney Land I mean Castle park the other day. The word huge is an understatement. This park has rock climbing walls, hide outs, swings, a tire swing, slides, tunnels, everything a park should have. This week being Spring break, there was about 200+ people all enjoying the beautiful weather.

I forgot Jackson's hat, so he borrowed his cousin Tyler's.  I was worried about him getting burned (it's hard to be a child of albino parents) so he wore sweats, long sleeve shirt, and I dipped him in sunblock before heading out the door.

We will definitely be heading back to Castle park, but we'll probably wait until Spring break is over so I don't have to fight the other moms for a baby swing.