Charlottesville Ten Miler

"It was painful but we did it." Accurate summary of the Charlottesville Ten Miler.

Laura, Katie L, April and Katie P.

Before the race.

Serious swag from this race.  This medal is huge and heavy! 

Excellent color choice though, I actually real like it and wish I had somewhere to wear it. 

Shortly after we moved here, just under 4 years ago now I started hearing people talk about the Charlottesville Ten Miler.  At the time I had been running pretty regularly in Colorado and had done one or two Thanksgiving 5Ks.  When I heard about the race I could not imagine anyone being excited about running it.  Even living here only a few months I could see that this was not a "flat" area and 10 miles is a long time to be running.  Since we were new here people often asked me what I liked to do and running is something I enjoy so when people heard that they assumed I was a serious runner.  I quickly assured them I was not a real runner and had no intention of ever running 10 miles.

While I didn't want to run the Charlottesville Ten Miler I did want to try some longer distance races and picked a 10K up in Winchester.  It was part of Winchester's Apple Blossom Festival and was scheduled for early May.  Some friends in Colorado actually grew up in Winchester and told us how much fun the Apple Blossom Festival was so it seemed like a good one to try. I quickly learned that even early May was too hot for me for running.  I did the race and it went well but I knew if I were to do another 10K it would have to be much earlier in the year.

A friend here in Charlottesville told me about the Sugar Hollow 10K that takes place in early March which sounded like a perfect time of year for a 10K.  So I ran that for the first time last year and loved it. I loved it so much that I knew I would sign up again the next year.  I felt amazing after running it, so amazing that I thought maybe I can run even farther distances!  Which leads me to why I signed up to run the race I said I would never run.

With a course description including phrases like: A long uphill at the start, series of climbs, legendary climb up Lexington and Maple, tough climb, unending uphill (mile 8!), climbing the steep hill, roller coaster of hills I often doubted whether or not I should sign up.  I probably should have reread those course descriptions more frequently to save myself the pain that was the Charlottesville Ten Miler.  When I crossed that finish line and met up with Laura the first thing I said was "What a horrible course!" I said the same thing to Mark when I saw him.  The hills were unrelenting. I would finish one hill and couldn't even celebrate finishing it because I knew another one was coming. In most cases I could already see the next one beginning.  So many hills!!

Laura and I rode to the race together.  That may have been my favorite part of the race! She picked me up at 6:15 and we made our way down to UVA.  I will say that the weather for the race was perfect. It was partly cloudy and 32 degrees.  Pretty much my favorite.  The forecast originally said freezing rain and I Wasn't sure how to prepare for that. Unfortunately I had one of my worst nights of sleep the night before which definitely didn't help my run.  I went to bed around 9:45 but could not fall asleep.  To get ready for the race I had worked hard to make sure I drank a lot of water during the day so I of course had to pee all night long.  For whatever reason Mark snored so much and so loudly that night which constantly woke me up.  Around 2:00 in the morning I noticed my pokes to get him to stop were getting pretty rough so I left our bedroom and went to sleep on the couch.

We got to the stadium with time to spare and met up with Katie and Katie.  We took a quick picture and then we were off. I started with Katie P and Laura but their beginning pace felt too quick for me to sustain so I hung back a little.  Races are also always so crowded when starting that trying to run with others sort of throws off my game. Especially since I am so used to running by myself. Everything I read about the race talked about how the biggest mistake people make in the race was to start off too fast and I was not going to make that mistake.  I was probably a little more conservative than I needed to be but it worked for me. My goal was to run 10 minute miles like I had when training. When I was running on Saturday I didn't even feel like I hit a good stride until mile 4. People always talk about how pretty the course is and I honestly can't say if it was or wasn't. I was too focused on just running, not letting myself walk (my other big goal) and those never ending hills.  There were a few songs that I felt really helped me on my training runs and I wish I would have been paying more attention to what I was listening to Saturday because when I finished I realized I didn't even listen to a majority of them.  Maybe it would have helped me maybe not.  When I got to mile 8 I started to feel really sick.  Like I was afraid I was going to pass out and throw up.  I have felt it before and it is pretty scary.  Luckily I had a few bite sized PB crackers in my pocket and ate those which helped even me out some.  I didn't feel great but I was pretty sure I wasn't going to pass out. I'm happy and proud to say that I did it.  I finished the course in 1 hour 41 minutes which put my split at 50:46, or 10:09 per mile.  Not an even 10 but close enough.  I pretty much watched Laura and Katie throughout the race. They were always about 15 seconds ahead of me.  At one point I attempted to catch up with them but then I saw the next hill and was too scared to use any extra energy.

So would I run the race again?  Probably not.  There is this weird part of me that wants to do it again just to see if I could have a better experience but reflecting back I just really didn't enjoy running it. Maybe if I took the time to train on the actual course more and run those hills but its just nowhere near our house and I need my training to be as quick and convenient as possible.  I absolutely want to try another 10 mile course though.  One without those words in the course description. I was chatting with someone about the race (she ran it too) at a baptism that we went to after and she mentioned that the Richmond Half Marathon is a flat, fast course. Maybe I will look into. Only problem is it is in mid November which means I would have to start training in September when it is way too hot and humid here still but I could handle some short runs then. Maybe.  The 10 miler is pretty well known race among real runners.  Quite a few people use it for a training race for the Boston Marathon. Those were probably the people I saw heading back to the downtown Mall as I left it.  So it is cool to say that I have run it. I wasn't sure if Mark would bring Jared and Lydia down to cheer for me at the finish line so it was fun to see them as I ran by.  Jared ran the last little section with me.  They also had fresh Duck Donuts waiting in the car which was awesome.  I was starving all Saturday!

10 Miles!
This was Laura's 4th time running the race. She loves it.  

It does a have nice hometown feel and lots of people cheering you on.  But still...

Easter time

We had all of our Easter Celebrations this weekend as we hope to be in France for Easter Sunday this year.  "Hope to be" because we will be flying stand by and I just can't quite admit that it will be happening until my name is cleared on the screen. Our celebrations were pretty low key this year.  Since we are going out of town I am not making some treats I normally make.  Its also conference weekend so I'm not making conference cinnamon rolls either. I actually made them in late February to make up for that.  It's sort of an unfortunate conference to miss as far as "history" goes. Its the first one with our new prophet and 2 new members of the Quorum of the 12 will likely be called. Its always a weird feeling to not watch Conference but especially one where you know uncommon announcements will be made.

To add to our Easter celebrations we watched Buttercup this weekend. We watched her one weekend last year but the teacher who normally keeps Buttercup could not have her in her classroom this year because a student has allergies.  Jared's teacher volunteered to watch her for the rest of the year.  Jared was really excited about this arrangement.  Buttercup is a sweet bunny.

Saturday was a really busy day but in between events we managed to dye Easter Eggs and have Jared and Lydia enjoy their Easter baskets.  We hid one money egg for each of them inside the house which is a fun tradition from my maternal grandparents.  That evening we met up with friends for a very informal Easter Egg hunt.  We met at Baker Butler with the instructions for each family to bring dinner if they wanted and 10 eggs to hide for each participating child.  It was not amazing weather to be out playing in but compared to the snow earlier in the week and the forecasted freezing rain earlier in the week it was pretty nice.

Lydia's money egg

Jared's money egg

Jared was kind of a goober on this hunt. Before he would put an egg in his basket he opened it to make sure it was either 2 pieces of candy or candy he knew he liked.  I am not sure it really helped him in the long run because he took much longer to find his 10 eggs but whatever.

We did a cute little art project and some Peeps Science experiments.  Its been a few years since we did them and Jared and Lydia really enjoyed them.

 Will they change colors?

The pink and blue changed right away but the green and yellow did not make the water blue as we thought it would, just a sort of neon green.

What happens if you put them in the microwave?

In which liquid will they dissolve the fastest?

Water, Apple juice, Sprite, Vinegar

We invited the Flakes over for our traditional Easter dinner tonight.  His wife and 4 of their 5 kids are in Ireland for the next few weeks.  We were happy to give them some home cooked food. They mentioned having eaten a lot of TV dinners so we sent some ham home with them.  For FHE we opened our Resurrection eggs and had some success of a good discussion about the real reason why we celebrate Easter.  Jared and Lydia know "the answers" but I don't know that we were very successful in having them feel the spirit of Easter.  Once they were in bed I played a few Easter songs on the piano and it helped me feel the spirit more.  When I first started playing the piano I worried that it would be too loud and would keep them up if I played as they were falling asleep but I think they kind of like falling asleep to me playing.  I actually know they do because they have told me. Not because I'm good, I'm not but I do try. I can't seem to find a great time to play during the day so evenings are my go to time. The primary has been learning the song "Gethsemane" and Lydia has fallen in love with it.  Its a little serious for me but I do like parts of it. There is a simplified version of the song in the Friend this month so I have been learning it. I also found a new to me song called "He Came For Us" and fell in love with it. It especially has helped me appreciate what Easter is about.  Now to plan that itinerary for the trip to France we might take this next week.

Spring Snow

We had a really fun snow storm come into Charlottesville early Wednesday.  It was so beautiful and we ended up getting a good 6 inches of snow. It snowed around 4:00 and kept snowing until noon or so. Everyone in our family was thrilled that we finally got a real snow day.  Lydia and Jared were out playing in the snow by 8:00 am.  They came in for hot chocolate and coffee cake and then were back out in it.  Around 10:30 we headed over to Chris Greene Lake to go sledding. We originally planned to stay until 12:30 because we thought Mark might have to go to the airport for a training meeting but the meeting was canceled so we stayed at the lake until 1:30 or so.  Around 12:00 Jared's friend Marcus and his Mom showed up and Jared was over the moon. It's a bummer that we don't get to see Marcus more. Our schedules don't line up well as both his parents work long hours.  We are really happy when they do get to meet up though.

I originally got out our snowflake mugs but then Lydia requested a rainbow one as it was the 2nd day of Spring. She also got her haircut the day before.  I really like it short like this. 

For awhile we were the only ones there.  About 3 other families came and went while we played.  At first the sledding was really hard because the snow was so deep.  Jared was getting frustrated because he loves crashing into the cattails at the bottom of the hill and the snow s too this for him to make it all the way down but eventually it got packed down enough that he started crashing.  Marcus's Mom was a really good sport and had a fun snowball fight with Jared and Marcus which he loved.  Lydia and I went over to the less steep section of hills for a bit and enjoyed a more leisurely race down the hill.  I liked this section because I am a terrible sled driver and often end up backwards on the step hill where we normally are.  The ride felt longer and more controllable which was nice.  Lydia was feeling pretty brave in that section, even sliding on her tummy, knees and then attempting to stand which didn't go as well.  It was also less tiring having to walk back up the hill over there.  The reservoir side is so steep you are really out of breath by the time you get back to the top.  It was a great afternoon sledding.

Mark and I shoveled the driveway when we got back. While we did that Jared worked on his snow fort.  This snow was really wet and heavy, it was a good, hard arm work out.  Lydia kindly came and helped us shovel for a bit and then went back to spraying the snow with the water I had dyed for them.  They mostly concentrated on "painting" the snow fort.  Jared is not one for pitching in and helping with "chores." While I very much dislike the fuss he puts up when he is asked to contribute I am really over his playing while the rest of us work. So new lines will be drawn, he won't like them but its time.  I hate writing negative things about Jared or Lydia but the truth is he needs some attitude adjusting.  Once the weeds come back (which will be only too soon for me) he really won't like the new lines.  It will be painful for us all but that is life. I thought the school district would have a 2 hour delay the next day but they ended up getting the whole day off. Since we had driven on our road the day before (it was plowed really well) and cleared our driveway I planned on having preschool even if there was no school.

A friend gave us this "snow brick" maker and Jared was happy to ry it out. 

I can see the individual bricks but you have to look pretty close. 

Dance dance dance!

Lydia has been waiting to take a dance class for the last 9 months or so easily, maybe even longer. I looked into classes at dance schools in town and was sad to see how much money they were. The monthly fee itself seems like a lot and then most have a recital fee and costume fee.  Enter Charlottesville Parks and Rec. They have an 8 week session, one class a week.  Albemarle County sadly does not offer ballet classes which means we would have to drive forever and pay the non resident (crazy city/county differences) fee but for how happy it made her today it was worth it. I was talking to my brother Davin, (whose daughter Kaylee takes a class) when I was out in California and for 1 class a week for a month it is 20$.   In California!  I was shocked.  Lydia's 8 week session here was 78 dollars.  Oh well, it is what it is.  We were actually on the wait list but there was enough demand that they opened up another class. So we will make the 28+ minute drive (both ways) to downtown-ish Charlottesville on a Friday in traffic (her class is at like the worst time 5:00 - 5:45) for this sweet ballerina.

Back in February she and I went on a date to a Dance celebration performance at the same recreation center as her class.  It was really awesome and well done.  There were various dance styles presented, (Swing, Ballet, lyrical and tap that I remember) it was just about an hour long and it was free. I really love and look hard for community events like this.  We had a fun time and stopped for Duck Donuts after. Last week I found out that the BYU Ballroom Dance Company are coming out here May 05th and I could not be more excited.  My family hosting them and attending their performances when I was growing up is one of my favorite memories. I can't wait to go!  I have had a hard time finding performances like this here in Charlottesville and am so glad they are coming.

Lydia and I were happy to see these costumes. We both had our favorite colors represented.

1650 Green Valley Road

Awhile back I made plans with my Mom to fly out to California to help her go through her house for her move (across town) and to set up a garage sale.  My parents moved to this house in the summer of 1986 when I was 4 years old.  I vaguely remember the first house we lived in in Yuba City (on Bridge Street) but this house was my childhood home. It is a large house with two attics, more closets than I care to count and 30 years of memories and things. Most people who know me know that I love to organize spaces and and am pretty good at throwing things away.  As my Mom and I talked about me coming out my biggest request was that she have a dumpster ready.  The house she is buying is 1840 square feet.  The Green Valley Road house is over 3000.  I did my best to remember that these are important memories to my Mom and was impressed by what a good sport she was.  I have three siblings who live in or within an hour of Yuba City so I knew I would see them and my sister Susanna drove out from Idaho to help out too. It was really nice to have time with them at this house.  When we went out to YC for my Dad's funeral last summer I knew that the next time I came would be the last time it was to this house/neighborhood.  It will be really strange to go to Yuba City and not stay there.

I arrived in California late Thursday night and the next morning I got up and went on a walk around the "neighborhood."  I first walked down to Smith Road which is about a half mile away.  Davin, Susanna and I used to ride our bikes down there a lot in the summer and play in the ditch. We would catch tadpoles and straddle the tunnels to walk through them.  We were totally trespassing but didn't think anything of it.  Right now they have a lot more water in them but in the summer the water level went down and we loved being there.

Then I walked through the subdivision next to their house where I liked to go jogging in high school and stopped by Davin and Tara's house to say hi.  The weather was so cool and fresh and it was a lovely reflective time. That walk was one of my top three things of this trip. I had a really lovely childhood.  I clearly remember unhappy times but over all it was such a great place to grow up.  My parents loved me, I was always safe and all my needs were taken care of. When I finished my walk I sat down on the front porch and just looked out over the yard. So many memories.

After that my Mom and I cleaned out some closets. While we were cleaning out one closet out I came across some yellow and lavender silverware.  I looked at them and then looked at my Mom and said, "are these what I think they are?" They were, it was the cute silverware bundles she made for my wedding reception, almost 14 years ago!  It was so funny. We finished up and then headed into town. We first stopped at the Cookie Tree for treats for the week and then headed to In-N-Out Burger. This In-N-Out was actually built a few years after I left Yuba City so it was not a childhood memory but since they don't have them out East I'm really glad there is one there now.  What was there from my childhood were the chickens. For as long as I can remember there have been chickens wandering around the major highway and commercial zone in Yuba City.  We used to drive down 99 and see them on the West side of the Highway.  They didn't really cross over it but were always there by restaurants, grocery stores and business.  Its so random. I was happy to see them still pecking around.  After lunch we  went to Raleys for groceries. I loved going grocery shopping with my Mom growing up. Then I could make specific requests and was more likely to get them!  The same thing happened that day.

Once we got home my sister Katie and I started getting things organized for the garage sale.  After we worked for awhile I went to the spare room and brought out my wedding dress.  My Mom has been keeping it and 3 other wedding dresses at her house for the last 15+ years.  Hers, mine and both my sisters dresses have been in one of the closets in her house over the years.  I knew it was there and had decided that I would bring it back with me.  Since I found the silverware I decided a photo shoot was in order.  Mark and I had our reception in their backyard so it was prefect.  I sadly could not get my dress to zip up all the way but I'm good with it. It was such a pretty dress. I need to get it dry cleaned but don't think I want to get it in a special box, I want Lydia to play in it and maybe occasionally try it on myself!  My bouquet was lovely.

Susanna arrived early Saturday morning. It was awesome that she was willing to rearrange her schedule and come see us and help out.  My Dad hated the idea of a garage sale and they never had one at their house in all the years they lived there.  Susanna said she did not want to miss the one sale there and wanted to go shopping at it too. As soon as it was over we started filling up the dumpster with things that didn't sell and we didn't plan to donate.  Once the garage sale was cleaned up Susanna, Derek, Davin and I went up into the attic in the garage and started cleaning it out.  None of us had been in there for years and didn't know what would find.  The best find was my Dad's sombrero from his mission in Mexico circa 1971. I wish I could have brought it home with me.  My sister Susanna is super creative and one thing she wanted to take home was the piano.  She is very musical and spent countless hours teaching herself how to play the piano with it.  So she looked up videos online on how to take apart pianos and then did it!  This was after I left Sunday but she did it and loaded it up in her truck and drove it to Idaho!  She is going to reassemble it and make it a planter!

I never learned how to play the piano growing up and was jealous of how much time my sister spent with it and how much satisfaction it brought her.  I was really happy when I went home last summer and could finally play this piano.  I made sure to play it some before she took it apart.  The silly thing is if I expressed any interest to play my Mom would have made it happen but I was too afraid I would be bad at it.  I'm so glad I am learning now.

My brother Derek went home to Sacramento after we finished the garage attic and Susanna, Davin and I cleaned out the inside attic. I loved playing in this attic growing up. I would take books, coloring sheets, stuffed animals and toys up there and play in it frequently. My favorite was when it was raining outside. I loved hearing the rain on the roof and feeling so close to it. My Dad didn't love this for various reasons so I mostly did it when he was gone for the day.  I was surprised when I climbed up there and saw how much stuff was up there.  It was well over 50 boxes!  I thought I only had 3 boxes up there that I put up after my first years of college but apparently my Dad went through our rooms when we were gone for good and boxed and bagged everything and put it up there.  So I had some fun surprises to go through. Like my whole (awful) high school wardrobe was in a bag up there!  There were books and a few toys that I was really happy to find and had wondered what had happened to them. Most stuff ended up in the dumpster or in the donation pile but I did bring back a suitcase full and my Mom is mailing box to me.

These pictures aren't even all the boxes! I definitely got my love of holidays and decorating for them from my Mom.  She had over 15 boxes of just Christmas decorations! 

I found my old Sunshine Generation costume and Susanna donated lots of her old dance costumes to Lydia.  Her girls are in dance and already have closets full of costumes.  I brought home a few kitchen things of my Mom's and my Grammie's (Maternal Grandma) and a series of Star War books I loved growing up.  I am sure Jared will love them and am excited for him to read them. I'm not sure if Lydia will like them but she is already pretty happy with what she got!

After Davin went home Susanna and I made a second run to GoodWill. I had gone after the garage sale and then we went together. I was so happy to get to spend time with them all.  That night Susanna and I brought box after box to my Mom to have her go though.  She was such a good sport!

The next day was Sunday.  My mom and I had planned to go to church but instead went on a picnic with Tara and her sweet girls.  Susanna and I wanted to get a run in together while we were in Yuba City and Sunday ended up being the day.  We ran to the park, 4.8 miles away from my Mom's house and it was a great run.  I had never run through Yuba City like that and loved doing it with Susanna. We stopped by my favorite yogurt place on the way back.  My friends and I used to go here for lunch in high school.  Super healthy right? When we got to California Yogurt I noticed it had a for sale sign on the window.  I sent a picture to Mark seeing if he was interested in buying it but no dice.

After yogurt we went home and packed up as much of the kitchen as we could.  We went through some more bookshelves and regular shelves in her home, packing up as much as we could.  Both Susanna and I will not be there to help our other siblings pack up and move my Mom so we really wanted to get as much done as we could. I do love organizing and cleaning out things and am really grateful I could go out.  We actually all went with my Mom to check out her new house (It was really nice of the agents to let us) and I know she will really love being there.

The last thing I wanted to do on this trip was see my Dad's headstone.  I hadn't seen it yet and drove out to the cemetery by myself.  Its a beautiful drive especially at this time of year. My Mom talked about coming with me but I really wanted to go by myself.  I miss him.  It makes me sad and a little mad that we didn't get more time, that Jared and Lydia didn't get to spend much time with him at all. I'm so grateful they at least got some time with him and am so thankful for the love and support he always gave me.  One other item I found in the attic was the Book Of Mormon my parents gave me when I got baptized.  In it he had written a note to me and I loved seeing his handwriting and feeing his love for me.

It was a beautiful California Spring day.  Some of the trees had already changed from flowers to leaves but I was grateful to see some orchards full of flowering trees. I felt a lot of emotions seeing his headstone and seeing my Mom's name on it too! I'm grateful for my parents and their love and support.  I'm glad that my Mom is staying in Yuba City even though I would love to have her come live in Virginia. It was really great to be able to go out and help and spend some one last weekend at Green Valley Road.