Serenade of Support

Sometime in January, our family sat down to set some goals for the year just like we always do. I didn't have to think very hard of what I wanted to work on and I only had two goals in mind. First, to do better with my personal scripture study and prayers (this is #1 every year *sigh*), and second, to run Ogden's Half Marathon beating my time from last year.

As hard as number one seems to be for me to perfect, getting ready for number two  has seemed like the most insurmountable of tasks this year. Thanks to schedules, weather, sickness, some right hip pain and a great big heaping dose of self doubt, training for Ogden has just seemed too big for me. But I've done it. I've put in my time.  But over the last few weeks, as I have completed my longer runs, I have come to an awful realization- I won't reach my goal of beating last year's time. It hasn't been enough. I just can't get my pace where it needs to be.

I know...I hear you, "Oh WAH!" And yes, I know that I am lucky to be able to at least run it even if I'm not as fast as I would like to be. But I think that the human spirit has this innate desire to improve, after all isn't that why we feel compelled to set goals and make resolutions in the first place? So not improving is somewhat of a blow to me. This doesn't mean I'm not going to try my darnedest and hope that the downhill nature of the course and the adrenaline rush that race day brings won't provide some sort of miracle, but I'm not counting on it.

I love to run and I love that I get to run this particular race with my brother and his wife, even though, they leave me eating their dust. I also love getting to the home stretch, physically and mentally exhausted, and hear someone yell my name followed by some sentiment of support. It is an incredibly amazing feeling and makes the finish line come that much faster. This brings me to blow #2-

This little band, my little band, of cheerleaders won't be there at the finish line to cheer me on this year. There are other things going on at home Saturday that are more important for them to attend, which means I will also lose my biggest cheerleader (he will hate that I'm calling him that). So I was wondering if you would do me a favor. Would YOU come cheer me on?








Ha! I almost had you there, didn't I? I mean, I wouldn't discourage you from coming, but it is in Ogden about an hour and a half away, it starts at 7:00 am which is really early for a Saturday morning, and I realize that all of that is a lot to ask. Plus, I'm sure most of you are involved with some of the things that are keeping my own personal cheerleaders from coming.

So can I ask you to do me another favor instead? Would you support me by choosing a song to put in my play list that I will run to? It can be whatever you want it to be- just leave the title and artist in the comments section. It can be that song that really inspires you, the one with the really great beat that helps you clean the house when you really don't want to, or just whatever you would run to if you were running a half marathon. You've never run a half marathon? Well here's your chance. For 3 to 5 minutes, or however long your song lasts, you will be my sole running buddy and supporter.

Please, don't worry; I like pretty much any music, unless it is twangy-wangy-tear-in-my-beer country. Last year, I had Frank Mills playing The Music Box Dancer in honor of my parents and AC/DC's Thunderstruck, for my three older brothers with a little bit of everything else sprinkled in between. Believe me you can't go wrong because I believe that most of the magic that music holds is in the memories and the people it is associated with.  So give me some awesome music to serenade me with support and let's go make us an incredible memory this weekend.

This Interruption Was Brought to You By....

This 2+ week interruption Of a View from the Parke Bench was brought to you courtesy of the last week of school and the first week of summer vacation.

Events worthy of being too busy to post included;

-Benjamin's Pre-School graduation. He was beyond ready to move on from pre-school and is excited to start kindergarten in the fall. I, his mother, am really excited too. I think his pre-school teacher was ecstatic.



Dallin's acting debut in his class play/musical titled the "Three Piggy Opera". He played the part of one of the very nervous and shy straw peddlers.

As you can see he was a complete natural.



-Ashton's class award presentation where he received an award for making it into the "Foot Hall of Fame". To make it into the "Foot Hall of Fame," one must read as many books that are at least 120 pages as your foot is tall. And for a 5th grader whose feet are bigger than his mothers that is quite a feat. No pun intended.


The first week of summer;

-Memorial Day found us up north visiting with family, barbecuing, and sitting around the campfire. We made S'mores and a mess with these gigantic marshmallows that were about 4 times the size of a normal one.
They were awesome. Can you tell?

-Pedicures in the backyard. I did Emma's and she did mine. She gives a new definition to 'Glitter Toes'.

-A new chore system. Like anything new this is taking some getting used to and called for the resurrection of the "Nazi Mom".

(Sorry, no pictures are available because she ain't pretty.)

-Lessons in getting dressed by ourselves. These lesson include, but are not exclusive to the correct appendages in which underwear are applied.

(Note- If you are ever in need of a straight jacket try inserting the offending child's arms into the underwear and wrapping them around the shoulders. It works pretty well. I am considering this trick for all 4 children on our upcoming vacation.)

-Simply enjoying summer with my friends. Four of the best you'll ever meet.

Thank you for your patience. Regular posting, which is usually irregular at its best, will now resume into your regular blog reading which obviously, is already in progress. 

*Sorry about all the camera phone pictures, but I figured bad pictures were better than no pictures at all.

My camera is having issues with its shutter and is currently awaiting surgery at the camera hospital. No need to fret, if by some unfortunate circumstance he does not return, a replacement is already on its way.  

My Little Strummer Boy

Last night Ashton performed in his first guitar recital. He started lessons this past summer and I feel like he did a fantastic job especially since we were in a mad rush to get there. Apparently, his brain-dead mother had it in her mind the recital started at 7:00, when it really started at 6:00. I realized this little fact at 5:51.

So despite the nerves and anxiety that his dad wouldn't make it in time, he pulled off both of his songs without much problem. Thankfully, Richard arrived just as Ashton's turn to play came up. Whew! We really lucked out on that one!

We are really proud of Ashton and all that he has learned so far. We also love to see the enjoyment he gets from playing Ol' Blue, thanks to a great teacher who works so well with our 10 year old boy.


Ashton and his teacher, Mari Farr, playing "Can Can".


Ashton and Mari, playing "Frosty the Snowman".

The one that started it all

Last Saturday, I ran in the race that started it all, my Ward's Annual 5K. If you don't know the back story, you can read it here. http://buzznbugsblog.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html

Now, I know that a ward 5K doesn't sound like a lot, but to me it was everything. And I'm sorry I don't even have an accurate time to report. Due to some confusion about the course, by the time we finished we had run 3.5 miles instead of the 3.1 we were supposed too. I think I was somewhere around 27:55. But really it doesn't matter anyway. What mattered that morning was that I was out there fulfilling a goal that I had set 6 months earlier. And I did it! I ran the entire course and came in 4th overall and 1st place out of the women! My other big accomplishment that day was that my leg didn't hurt at all during the race and was just briefly sore afterwards! Hallelujah!

When the 5K finished the kids ran a 1 mile Fun Run. I have been very impressed with how well my boys have done in past years and they didn't disappoint again this year. Dallin came in 1st place! Even beating out big brother, Ashton. He came in 2nd and did not take losing to his little brother very well. He and Richard had stayed up too late the night before and he was not at his peak performance level. He still reminds us of this fact. Benjamin came in somewhere near the end with his faithful running partner, Daddy. They were all rewarded with big boxes of candy and left with content smiles on their faces.

We all did.

The Reason Why

So, if you have been a reader of my blog in the past, you probably noticed a decrease in the frequency of my blog posts since March. I figured I would let you in on the reason why.

It's because I have been doing a lot of this...

....No, not looking like a pregnant squirrel. It was cold, so I had 2 shirts on. Plus, it was 7am, & I was still puffy. At least that's my excuse. I've been RUNNING!!! YES, FOR FUN!!! WHY you say??? Let me explain.

After the holidays, I was the heaviest I have ever been. My "muffin top" was not appetizing or attractive. I was very down about myself and my appearance and decided I needed to take control and do something. Our ward has an annual 5K every year in September, that I have never participated in. I decided to change that this year. I decided I was gonna run that 3.1 miles if it killed me! So I had my goal & something to work towards.

But where to start. I couldn't run to save my life! I hated to run in high school. Honestly, I think it took me 16 minutes to do a mile in gym class and I haven't attempted to run since then. But in my neighborhood I am surrounded by runners and 2 of my sister-in-laws run, so I figured if they can do it, so can I.

Luckily, I ran across a schedule in my Family Circle magazine that was tailored to someone just starting by alternating walking and running. It worked well. I wasn't overwhelmed, and little by little, built up my minutes and miles, until I could run without having to walk.

My great neighbor and friend, Carrilyne, in all her wisdom, suggested that maybe I should run a race before September. I'm sure she knew I would need motivation to keep going and September was still a long ways away. She told me about the Utah Valley 5K and since it goes right past our neighborhood and it wasn't until June, so I still had plenty of time to get ready, I thought that maybe I could do it. I checked it out, talked to Richard, and my sister in-law Shaleece said she would come from Pocatello to run it with me.

I signed up. I was committed.

My sis-in-law,Shaleece, my heroine, stretching.

So I ran. On the treadmill when the weather was bad, which it was a lot of the time. Then finally outside on real pavement. Then the call came. Shaleece was going to run the Ogden 5K on May 16th and wondered if I wanted to give it a try. I still had not ran the whole 3.1 miles and the Ogden race was only 2 weeks away, but I figured what the heck and did it anyway!

I loved it! It was a great feeling! It was a wonderful running day!

We figured that if we could do it within 31-32 minutes that would be good. We did it in 30:21! And if we hadn't been stuck in the middle of the pack, I'm sure we would've shaved of those 21 seconds and then some.


Yeah! We did it!

I didn't think I really liked running until I ran that race. It was just something I endured to reach a goal. But that adrenaline rush of beating a time and running it the whole way, just spurred this little competitive part of me. Now I looked forward to getting the kids to school so I could go run. And I'm sure Ben's pre-school teacher got tired of seeing, & probably smelling, me in my running clothes, but I didn't care. I had a mission, and that mission was to run.


Now, I wish I could report a ton of weight loss, but I can't. I've only lost about 7-8 lbs since Christmas. But I can tell the difference in how things fit and how I feel. I can also run 4 miles (if I push it), where in the beginning I had trouble running for 1 minute. Plus, and maybe this is the best part, my "muffin top" has gone from "jumbo size" to just "regular" and that is good enough for me!