Decorations-one step at a time

You guessed it! Adrian and I went shopping over the weekend (favorite activity of ours). I had a $50 Target gift card (thanks to Qqest Payroll's company party) so we spent it. I love winning free stuff! Anyway, I saw a couple of decorations at Target so I took Adrian to see them and he fell in love (okay not literally) with the fun decor. What do you think? I think it looks fabulous!

Autumn Giveaway

Be sure to check out my Free Autumn Giveaway on Sweetly Made (Just for you) blog found HERE. Tell your friends, neighbors or anyone that would love to win a fabulous gift from me. Thanks and have a wonderful Fall season.

Lunch with mission companion

Last week, I had the opportunity of eating with one of my mission companions-Sister Cluff. We met at Spaghetti Mama's and had a great time catching up. We were companions twice and got along very well (good thing). Michelle is doing great! It was so nice to see her again. Thanks Michelle for dining with me.

What else???

Adrian and I also were invited to a BBQ to celebrate the return of Keith Smith. Keith and Keri live down the street and we have known them since we moved in. They have been great friends of ours. Keith has been going to Columbia University in New York to get his Masters degree while Keri has been working here to support him. Anyway, they invited us to Jason and Annette's home. They are a cute Polish couple in our neighborhood. They had tons of food. It was awesome! They had a few appetizers-chips, fruit, vegetables and yummy mango salsa. The dinner consisted of mashed potatoes, salad, vegetables and shrimp, rolls, steak, chicken, and sausage. Everything was amazing! To top off the meal, we had a delicious cheese cake. Wow! We ended up staying at their home till about midnight. There was a nice breeze in their small backyard so we ended up talking all night. It has been nice to have Keith back. He will only be back for a couple of weeks and then he will return to New York. Poor Keri! She has been so strong. That is one of the main reasons she wanted to run the 1/2 marathon so she could work towards a goal. Well, thanks for inviting us to a fun BBQ. We will have to do it again soon.

Twilight Concert Series-Iron and Wine

Adrian and I had date night on Thursday evening. I took Trax and met him at his office building. The Twilight concert series was right outside his building at the Gallivan Plaza. Iron and Wine-Samuel Beam as well as Okkervil River played that night. It was a free concert and the place was packed. I'm sure you are familiar with the movie Twilight. Well, Iron and wine's hit song Flightless Bird, American Mouth is pretty famous and is on the soundtrack. Unfortunately, we left early so we ended up missing that song. However, the other songs were awesome. Very mellow and relaxing. No wonder so many hippies loved him. Even though the concert was outside, the place was extremely hot that I almost fainted. I was able to enjoy a refreshing Sprite and get back to our small group. That was scary! It was probably due to all of the smoke and people. Chelsea, Clint, Clint's brother, a few of Chelsea's friends and a new recruit and his girlfriend were in our small group. We all had a blast. Great evening and awesome company. It was a great date night even with a few other people. Thanks Adrian for inviting me to the concert. Love you.

Reynolds update

We have been up to a lot lately. First, we went to the Salt Lake Bee's game with my Qqest Payroll co-workers. Then we went to a PWC BBQ at one of the partners homes. We played volleyball, ate food, and laughed a lot especially when the partner's children knocked over the blow up castle. Hilarious! It sure was fun to see Chelsea and Clint again. Adrian and I also celebrated our fifth year anniversary on August 17th. We went out to Market Street Grill. Fabulous food and great company. I'm so grateful for Adrian. I love him very much and it has been a wonderful five years. So, that is the Reynolds update. Sorry, no pictures of these wonderful events but I'll tell you about another event we went to.

New calling

I received a new calling on August 13th to be the Mia Maid adviser. My previous calling was teaching the eight year old girls. I loved being in Primary. I know it will be a new adventure to teach the Mia Maids and I'm up for the challenge. I will definitely miss Mackenzie and Maggie.

On August 19th, I went to my first Mia Maid activity. The girls surprised me with balloons, cake and brownies. It was so sweet of them to think of me and to welcome me with open arms. I'm looking forward to the fun activities that we will be doing together as well as camp next year.

Provo River 1/2 Marathon-August 8th

Yesterday I ran the Provo River 1/2 Marathon with Emily Fuller and Keri Smith. Wow! It was one tough run. The 1/2 Marathon is 13.1 miles long. It started at 7am so we left our home at about 4am. It was freezing in the morning but we had the perfect weather. We also finished together. It was awesome! I can officially say that I ran a 1/2 Marathon and I'm alive to tell the story. I had a side stitch for about 8 miles and finally got rid of it and felt great. I was a little behind Emily and Keri but could still see them about 100 yards away. There was a part of the race that we had to backtrack so it was a little discouraging to see other runners on the opposite side running back. I thought to myself a lot, "When am I going to turn around?" Finally I caught up to Emily and Keri at one of the water spots. Running with water is quite awkward so you have to walk, drink, throw the cup and continue on your way. I can say that I ran the whole thing besides the water spots and about 10 seconds towards the end. The last couple of miles were a killer. I would have rather had the stitch than feel the aches and pains in my feet and calves. Ouch! Emily and Keri were nice enough to hook my arms with theirs to get me to continue. Soon a guy yelled, "Only about 200 yards left." I was determined to finish strong. I saw the end at last and we all sprinted to the finish. It was such a great feeling to finally be done with the race.

My sister n' law Emily Roberts also ran the 1/2 Marathon. She ended up finishing in First place. She was the first girl to cross the finish line in about 1.24 hours. She is amazing! I finished in about 2.23 hours (an hour later than Emily-ha) which was about seven minutes faster than our projected time. My favorite part was the yummy watermelon and cantaloupe at the end. Pancakes are NOT good after a long run. They were disgusting. I couldn't even swallow a whole pancake without gagging.

Well, it was quite the goal to finish a 1/2 Marathon and I'm so glad I did it. I'm not sure if I'll do it again or not but we shall see. There are always surprises up my sleeves. Thanks to all those who came out and supported us especially my mom and hubby, Adrian. Thank you so much! I love you.

Funny Girls

Arn't these girls funny? Emma and Rachel wanted to give Malissa a new hairdo. They are so creative! They make me laugh out loud. Also, Claire was waiting patiently for dinner to be served. She was making funny faces but I didn't capture a photo of her. Too bad!

Another Girls Day Out

On August 7th, my mom and I had another girls day out. First, we took Rachel to Quiznos to eat a yummy lunch. Then we picked up Emma in Pleasant Grove. We then took Emma and Rachel to Mandalyn Academy to get a Pedicure/Manicure. Emma and Rachel had their nails done and Mom and I had a pedicure. It was so relaxing. This was the perfect outing before my big race. The Academy was much better than a normal nail salon. It was perfect!

Gardner Village Girls Day Out

On July 31st I had the day off so I could spend the day with my mom and sister Tiffany. We decided to head to Gardner Village to shop and feed the ducks. First, we had a quick lunch at Iceberg since it was Jesse's (Tiffany's son) last day on the job. I guess they are closing the location so Jesse will be out of a job for a little while. He isn't even sixteen yet so I'm sure he will find something once he turns sixteen in a few weeks. Anyway, we finally were on our way to Gardner Village. It was a warm day but it didn't stop us from having a ton of fun. My favorite part was feeding the ducks and sharing our bread with some other children. I also was able to go into my favorite store-Kamille's. It is a knitting store and is full of beautiful, soft yarn. Overall, we had a lovely time visiting. Thanks for an awesome day!