Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Krispy Kreme Dash for Doughnuts



This weekend we got to run in the "Krispy Kreme Dash for Doughnuts for the Glazed and Confused" We got our buddies Rios and Jake to come with us. It was a 5k in the middle of town, they had to block of the streets for the race. It was so hot! It made me want to run faster just so that I could get to the end and cool off! It really was so much fun. Fuzz finished in about 22 min--- so fast! He got a drink and then came back to find me on the last stretch -- I had about .1 mile to go, so he ran it with me and cheered me on to the finish line where I finished in about 27 min. We were just about to leave and then we decided to go back and get a doughnut and then we saw them posting our times-- Fuzzy was so fast, but there were a lot more men in his age group-- he still placed 5th which was awesome! I got lucky and placed third in the girl division for my age group, which was exciting and totally unexpected, and so we stayed for the awards ceremony because they gave out medals to those who placed in the top 3 for each category.



The doughnuts were so yummy! We live near a Krispy Kreme, and did you know that you can go there almost whenever and get a free doughnut?! Cool huh?!



Here we're super drenched we'd just finished our race ;) El paso has lots of fundraiser races-- it's really awesome. This run for doughnuts was to help support one of the high school's in our area's cross country team. Here's our last race that we did here right before we got married:




We did this one with our buddy Webb, who also just got married.

We got to go to a chili cook-off the other day with our ward. There ended up being so many different kinds of chili, we just put numbers on these little cups and then voted on which one was our favorite. There were so many that were so different, but soooo good! Though I must say, it's a good thing my mom wasn't there competing with her chili because it would have blown em all outta the water!





So we've been doin a little car shoppin lately. . . takin our time, doing our homework, and finally we found it!!! Come to find out, the guy we were goin to buy this car from lives right behind us, like half a mile or less away! Crazy!





I had to sneak in these pics of the gorgeous plants found all over here in El Paso-- I can't believe I've never seen anything like these, especially because St. George's climate is so similar to El Paso's.



I don't know the name of these-- but I love them, and they're everywhere! One of my favorite kind of flower is Birds of Paradise. These to me kinda resemble them. . . they're like a "desert" bird of paradise ;)







These are so pretty! These are all over the place here-- they're so bright and fun!




Thursday, August 12, 2010

Summer in El Paso

We've been keeping busy, having fun here in El Paso, just enjoying our summer. Here's some of what we've been up to:



We've been doing a lot of "making-our-house-a-home" projects-- here's a table we found for cheap that we refinished -






First we had to clean it, and get it all sanded up -





Then we put our finish on. . . a few coats of stain, and then a clear top coat. . . and voila!






Fuzz is playing on a team for the main post softball league. It's been so much fun going to all of his games! He's so good and has so much fun playing with his friends. It's been fun getting to know the other army wives, my fellow spectators;) We all cheer loud for our men! The other night this little boy was watching his dad play; he was just up to bat, and chose not to swing because he wasn't feelin' the pitches, and his cute little boy was just clinging onto the fence behind him yellin, "C'mon dad, just swing at the ball, why aren't you even trying?!" It was so so cute!









One of Fuzz's favorite things to do in the whole world is to play golf. His mom was so nice and gave me some clubs before we came out here, and Fuzz has been patiently teaching me how to use them ;) I've grown up my entire life with a golf course just yards behind my home, however my attitude towards the actual game of golf was lacking interest. The extent of my activity on the golf course could be summed up as walks across it to my bus stop, and my infamous lemonade & rock stand. (Yea, we started with the lemonade, but then got bored and just started picking up big rocks around us and people would actually pay for us to just stop yelling, "Rocks and lemonade for sale!!!") But now that I kinda have an idea about what's going on. . . I actually really like it! I'm not going pretend it hasn't been a humbling experience for me. . . It's hard being a newby at anything, but even harder when your a newby hangin out with a pro! Fuzz really is so good-- he's been so patient with me. Some golf days are better than others. . . but I'm hangin' in there, just gotta keep on goin ;)




It's all about concentration. . . keep your eye on the ball.



Okay, here it looks like I'm concentrating a little much--





This is how we golf with Coleen-- on the phone;)




Hey!








We've made it a goal to go to the temple every single month, and it just so happens that the closest temple that we can go to is about 4 hours away in Albuquerque. We were so excited to drive up there! We had everything all planned out; we had our rental car, our room reservations, our temple recommends, our overnight luggage-- we thought we were set. So we had checked the weather, and knew that there was going to be a little bit of rain, but we were sure it wasn't going to be a problem. We were about a half hour out of the city driving right towards what looked to be like a huge black hole. Then the rain began to fall. As far, and as wide as we could see, there was only darkness, except for the lightning. This was one of the most amazing shows I'd ever seen! Fuzz and I love the lightning, so we were just enjoying watching it, as it was directly in front of us. Then Fuzz started getting tired, which was something I wasn't expecting, but I was so glad he told me, so that we could switch places. He said that he just needed a little nap and then he should be fine for the rest of the drive, so we pulled over and switched places. I had been driving just minutes when all of the sudden the rain began to pour, like I have never felt so afraid for my life, that's how bad. I became so stiff at the wheel, so frightened because I couldn't even see in front of me enough to know where to pull over, I couldn't see anything! I just hoped that the road would keep going straight and prayed and prayed and prayed that it would. Finally we came to the border patrol checkpoint. It was like a huge covering with like 3 or so different lanes that you could pull up to where they inspect your car and make sure that you're all legal citizens. So I pulled up, never having done this before, and rolled down my window. A young kid comes up to the window and asks if we're legal citizens, and then asks where we're going, and where we came from. I'm getting nervous as his questions are getting faster like, "How long have you lived there?" I had to think about it for a second, and count it up, but he was already spewing out more questions, "Where are you going? For how many days?" I couldn't keep up, I felt like I was guilty, and I totally wasn't! This interrogation was getting ridiculous, and some how I accidently slipped out a little, just a tiny little giggle as I was trying to keep up with his questions. I giggle when I get nervous, I don't know why, I just do-- and he was totally making me nervous. K, this is totally a time where giggling is super inappropriate, and if I could have at all kept it in, I so would have. He asked me if I thought this was funny, with a tone of voice that Fuzz says, "Is not an appropriate tone of voice to talk to my wife with." And then told me that now he wanted to look in my trunk. I was happy to pop it open for him, as I had nothing to hide-- He of course found nothing, and told us to go. Not a happy camper was he-- but I know he was just doing his job, and I had to just tell myself that I really was grateful for that.
So we continued on our way, and suddenly the rain stopped. Fuzz and I had switched places back at the checkpoint, but now that the weather had calmed down a bit, we were switchin back so he could get a his quick nap. Just about as soon as I enter back onto the freeway. . . the rain begins to fall again-- I'm freakin out! I can't see anything, and the windshield wipers are going as fast as they can, but it's not fast enough. There is lightning, and rain, and all these little white things all over the road-- I can't figure out what they are--it looks like they're moving-- I'm trying not to even think about them and just focus on staying on the road. I would have pulled over but I didn't know how-- I didn't know how high the road was and if I pulled off I didn't know where I'd go! Fuzz was watching the road and the rain, trying to help me drive through it and then said that those little white things all over the road were frogs-- like hundreds or maybe even thousands of frogs; some dead, some jumpin--all freaking out, and freaking me out even more! Finally, finally we got somewhere that we could see an exit. . . I felt like I was driving through a river, so I slowed way way down afraid of hydroplaning. Fuzz and I switched places, again. We continued to drive as it continued to pour, but finally after about 3 hours of it, we arrived in Albuquerque. It was really late, and we were both totally exhausted, but we made it!
We woke up early, snuck in a yummy breakfast, and made it to our session just in time. This temple was so beautiful! We took a couple of pictures before we went in, but later as we were leaving, there was evidence of more stormy weather. We had just missed the storm, but took advantage of all the beautiful flowers still lush and moist from the shower; perfect time for some pictures. . .




































These flowers were gorgeous! And Huge-- like this one, about the size of my head!





Here's Fuzz with our new car! Just kidding, again. This was our rental car, but I'd take it in a heartbeat! Take my shout-out to Kia's for what it's worth-- Kia's are actually really nice cars, well this is the only one I've ever actually been in-- but wow! We were both super impressed;)





We were going to go climbing while we were up there, but we were both so tired, and still had a long drive ahead of us. With that, we opted to just get an early start home and enjoy the evening in El Paso when we got there.
Super fun weekend, super grateful to be alive, super good times with the Iverson's here in El Paso.