sayonara 2009

and just like that i'm signin' out for the year 2009!

i hope you all have had a wonderful year, full of plenty of sunshine, beautiful snow, good people, lots of laughs and many fantastic memories!

here's to a great 2009 and an even better 2010!

happy new year!

grateful

today i am greateful for my cozy, oh-so-soft Smart Wool socks!
they're the only thing that keep my feet warm in this freezing weather.
thank you Smart Wool!

also, we have less than a month until our little Paris adventure!
read more about our plans here.

Turkey Trottin'

Long before we gorged ourselves on a delicious Thanksgiving feast, the Robins clan decided to work off a few pounds at the annual Turkey Trot. (see before and after photos below)

We also had family pictures (that will have to be a later post) taken and cheered on little brother in his first basketball game of the season!

It was a great Thanksgiving holiday with plenty of ball games, crafts and family time!

Marathon details will also have to come later.

ready or not...

here it comes!
in just about 43 hours we'll be mentally prepping to run this race.
lucky for us, st. george is usually a lot warmer than logan.
please bless we can make it.

hopefully i'll see you after!

oh my heck...

i'm so excited!
(only three more weeks!)

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3225158169/

9.9.09

today may be my most favorite day. ever.

my favorite number is nine and what better day to celebrate it than on 9.9.09?!
bri and i always joke that i wanted to get married on this day, but he wouldn't allow us to wait that long -- and i'm glad we didn't!

maybe i'll celebrate by:
1. eating nine ripe tomatoes (ok, that may be a little much -- maybe just nine slices),
2. walking up and down the AgScience stairs at least nine times,
3. relaxing for nine minutes,
4. going to bed at nine (ha, right!),
5. paying less than nine dollars for lunch,
6. writing appreciation notes to nine people,
7. completing my nine exercises for my shoulder,
8. dusting nine items in my house, and
9. telling my husband nine things i love most about him!

how are you going to celebrate?

one month from today....

i will hopefully be resting, and probably eating, after the BIG run!
i can't believe it's so close.
let's hope we make it there without further injury!

so long, sweet summer

summer is practically over (i can't believe i just said that) and i just bought popcicles last night (i can't believe i just admitted that).
my morning runs now require my head lamp and reflective vest;
i'm now receiving new! fall recipes instead of refreshing summer ones;
i now walk past the grounds crew blowing leaves and other dead debris into sacks;
and, there's a buzz around campus because classes have just begun--
summer is fading into fall, but i'm not too sad about it.
i'm going to soak up what's left, and enjoy it, and effortlessly transition into fall.

what do you do to celebrate number one?

we run 20 miles;
enjoy lunch on the patio at Le Nonne;

stroll around The Gateway; and,
scarf down a hot turkey sandwich and chocolate shake at the Little America Coffee Shop!

here's to many more happy anniversary's - happy number one, bri!

cure-all

i don't know what it is about costa vida's steak burrito smothered in mangoes, but it can help you get through anything -- just ask my husband.
whether he's had a bad day, has a headache, is tired, wants to celebrate, is hungry, isn't hungry,...a costa vida burrito can always fix it.
i don't know how, it just does.
it's kind like giving a little kid a sucker when he falls down and then, miraculously, he doesn't feel his pain any more.

I cannot wait...

to see this, among other things!

(this photo was taken by a creative little gal, Sharon Rowan. love her photography!)

wednesday's checklist: (posted on thursday)

1. take weedwhacker to sarah's and help clean out a spot for eva to play, check
2. wish mom and dad a happy anniversary, check
3. finish scanning and sorting articles at work, check
4. think of something to make for dinner
5. book flight and hotel to Paris, check
6. have lunch with loni, check
7. win softball game, check

What?! Flight to Paris...?
Yes, it's official! Brian and I will be traveling to Paris this coming January. Wasn't really in the plans, but it'll work and we can't wait! We'll be traveling with my cousin, Deidra, and her husband. What a great adventure it will be!

*Notice I didn't think of something to make for dinner -- that's because I was to stinkin' excited about our trip!

wasatch back 2009

Well, I made it!
Thank goodness for great teammates, lots of water and (not so much)sleep!
I have some pictures to post, but they will have to wait.
Until then, you can read and see more about my team here.

Happy July!

so long, farewell

1) what was i thinking?
and
2) how am i supposed to get up that?

another one bites the dust

I'm sure you know (because I've mentioned it about half a dozen times), but I'm running the Wasatch Back this next weekend.
I'm not the captain of my team -- and I'm glad I'm not!
Here's why:
The team consists of 12 girls.
A few drop because other commitments come up. One drops here, another there. We pick up a few more to fill our vacancies. Another drops. We get another. One decides it's not going to work.....
I think we've ended up with about three or four of our original 12!
I'm so glad we know quite a few people who run because now, a week before the race, we need to pick up two new girls.
It will all work out, right?

Despite the frantic collection of running bodies, I am so excited for the race!

running soundtrack

I hit my 100 mile mark today on my Nike+!
I was pretty bummed last night when I loaded my runs onto nikeplus.com. I knew I was right around 100 miles, and I was -- at 99.84 mi.
Are you kidding me?!
So running my scheduled 3 miles today wan't very hard.

today's songs: "Stick Shifts and Safety Belts"

running soundtrack

June 5, 2009

I run.
And, sometimes when I run I listen to my iPod.
I always put it on shuffle, which means I have no idea what I'll be listening to that day. Sometimes it's Kelly Clarkson or Celine Dion, sometimes it's Hilary Duff or Christmas music.
Today was a listening day, and what better way to start off the day than with a great album by none other than The Standards? (I told you - I NEVER know what I'm going to get, not that I don't have control over what I listen to...)
[for those of you unfamiliar with The Standards' great harmonies you can associate yourself here and here]
Song No.1 for Friday, June 5: "Dreamer"
[am I only dreaming I'll run a marathon, or can I actually do it?]
I also got to hear little from Enchanted - "A Happy Working Song" - and I sang it almost all the way home to Brian. [he loves me!]

"It's that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so don't fuss, dear; get on with it."
- Audrey Hepburn

I relate -- that is how I was brought up too.

I adore Audrey Hepburn and I'm happy when I read "Audrey Says."
Thanks, M., for bringing all of her wisdom to light!

Let the Training Begin

Last Name	First Name	City, State
WATTS	BILL	LITTLETON, CO
WATTS	BRIAN	NORTH LOGAN, UT
WATTS	BRIAN L	SALT LAKE CITY, UT
WATTS	JENNETTE	ST GEORGE, UT
WATTS	LORI L	GILBERT, AZ
WATTS	TODD	ST GEORGE, UT
WATTS	WHITNEY	NORTH LOGAN, UT

The results are in folks....

I am one of 7200 runners that have been chosen to participate in the 2009 St. George Marathon!

I'm stoked, to say the least. And, also a little scared.

26.2 miles is a long run.

Any pointers, tips, advice, words of wisdom are welcomed, encouraged and most appreciated!

And, we're back

Today I begin my fifth season of playing softball with the Cracker Jack Kids.
Kind of hard to believe.

Catch the action tonight, Wednesday, May 6 at 9 pm at the Smithfield Ball Fields.
It'll prove to be a great game, even if you get rained on!

So un-talented

I can't even get my hyperlinks to work today.
I should call it a day.

the LET (low-expectation theory)

Sometimes I think myself crafty, or creative.

That is, until I see things like this.
Or this.
Or this.

Or this.

Or this.

Or visit here and realize that I'm not.

Me Want Cookies!

Hey, thanks for the cookies Nik!
They were delicious.

I wanted to let you know Chod did share.
Now he can have another cookie in his life.

Hope you've had a great day!

Happy, Happy Birthday Grandma Dear!

This coming Tuesday will be my grandma's birthday!

I just wanted to give a little shout out to her for her special day.
I hope it's great and you get to enjoy the sunshine!
We love you Grandma!
Love,
Brian & Whit

Jog for Jiggy, 2nd Annual

Tomorrow, April 18, 2009, I and the rest of the A-Team Gang will compete in the 2nd Annual Jog for Jiggy.

In honor of an awesome, spunky girl we will run our hearts out in the Salt Lake City 5K. We will all finish and it will be great!

Last year, only one person threw-up, a couple of us were passed by older men and we enjoyed all the bananas, chocolate milk and taquitos we wanted at 7:53 in the a.m., followed by a scumpcious breakfast at the 2nd oldest restaurant in Utah, Ruth's Diner.

Here's hoping for another great run! Go big or go home.

Fake-out

In the midst of my training for the Wasatch Back my Nike+ decided it would rather die than keep on, keepin' on.

I had just joined a family group on the Nike+ website.

No recorded runs for me.

Last night I finally decided to calibrate my Nike+ -- in hopes of making my runs more accurate -- but to no avail. "Connecting to receiver" was all that would come up as I started my run. Nothing would work. I toook the sensor out of my shoe, pushed the button -- nothing.

I was disgusted with the device.

Brian's battery in his sensor died a few weeks ago and I was not about to buy another Nike+.

"I'll just do without," I thought.

I"m not totally attached to the system. I just wanted to record my fastest 5K.

Anyway, back at home, Bri took a look.

"Yeah, that's exactly what happened to mine."

Gonner. Not exactly the best news.

But wait -- what did I notice this morning?! My receiver sitting on top of our microwave!

That must be Bri's.

Wait a minute -- I took that out to charge my iPod the other night -- and never plugged it back in!

Hallelujah!

Anyway, now that that is solved -- I'm planning on running a marathon in October.

Anyone have good training tips?

Spring Fabric Giveaway

I decided to visit TheFarmChicks today and found they had posted a giveaway yesterday!
Pick your favorite two fabric patterns from Pixie Dust Fabric and leave a comment on TheFarmChicks website for a chance to win.

Hurry -- it only goes until April 17th!

Becoming a Tradition

Here it is -- a little earlier this week! Hurry, it's today!

Free Aggie Ice Cream after Tasting Hamburger
9:30AM to 1:30PM
NFS 209
Free
Taste hamburger and get a coupon for a free scoop of Famous Aggie Ice Cream.
Participants must be 18 years or older and have no food allergies.

Conclusion

I've come to a conclusion, as I was re-reading my blogs of about a year ago -- when I wrote about my memories from college and Utah State -- that I did a pretty dang good job!
I laughed again as I remember those things.
I don't mean to brag, but wow.
I think my blogging/writing ability has slowing deteriorated.
I need to work on that.

Sorry About Our Bad Luck!

The Hamburger Taste Test was today.
I'm sorry about the late information. I thought it was later this week.

I'll try to be more timely next time, but look -- it got me to post on my blog!

Free Hamburger and Ice Cream Anyone?

Here's an idea:

Hamburger Taste Test

9:30AM to 1:30PM

NFS 209

Taste hamburger and get a coupon for a free scoop of Famous Aggie Ice-cream; participants must be 18 years or older and have no food allergies.

Not such a bad deal, right?