American Fork Half Marathon

On June 23rd, I ran the American Fork Half Marathon. Between the PCHM and the American Fork one, my training was sketchy at best. I told Josh that I feel like I've been sick since February and I'm not sure why. So between some issues with my knees, and a couple of sicknesses, I didn't train as well as I would have liked. But I still felt like I could cut my time from the PCHM with just a few small tweaks. The first six miles I killed it (for me, not for most people,) but after making a much needed stop at the "waste disposal unit"-if I'm being blunt, I lost my focus. So I ended up doing a combination of walking and running. At six miles, the 1:45 pacer was behind me. After six miles, the 1:50 pacer passed me, and then the 1:55. I promised myself that I wasn't going to let the 2:00 pacer pass me. The clock at the finish line said 1:58 and I was pretty disappointed, but that's what I get for not training, and I always have to tell myself that any day running is better than a day sitting on my couch watching TV. Plus, Meili was there to greet me at the finish line, and that's the first time that's ever happened.

And then, this story goes from bad to worse. (As if mention of the potty wasn't bad enough.) By the time we got to the car, I DID NOT FEEL GOOD. I barely made it to the IHOP to eat with my family, but before I even got to the door I was throwing up in the flower bushes. Well, I'll save you all the gorey details, but I'm pretty sure I was dehydrated, and spent the next hour throwing up in the parking lot. (Sorry to all who decided to eat at the IHOP in American Fork that day.) 


But I do have a funny story to share... I did actually try to do my business in the bathroom, but this is why I didn't get very far. I went in the stall and was feeling AWFUL when I heard a little girl come in. This was our conversation...
Little girl: Hello! Is anyone in here?
(I really wasn't feeling up to chatting.)
Little girl: Hello! Who's in here?
(I knew it was only a matter of time before she would notice my feet.)
Me: Hi. I'm Kaleena. (I was yelling through the stall)
Little girl: Are you part of that big run?
Me: Yep, I ran.
Little girl: Did you see the guy in the pink tutu?
Me: Yes I did.
Little girl: Is he your wife?
Me: No he's not my wife, I just ran by him for a little bit.
Little girl: Well I think my food's going to come out soon.


After that I couldn't quite focus on the task at hand.


Once I started drinking fluids, I was much better.


The other frustrating part of the story, and I know, most people would not even consider this a problem, and would just move on with their lives. But for me it was frustrating. The following week, I checked my time on the website, to see my official time, and the website said that my chip time was 1:51:40. In my head, I know that that is absolutely not possible, because I know how much I walked etc. etc. but I also don't understand why the chip time would be so far off. Josh said I should just go with it because that would be my best time so far, but I just can't accept that, so I'm pretty sure my time was somewhere between 1 hour 51 minutes, and 1 hour 58 minutes-give or take. 


Whatever, it's not the time that really matters right!

A Little Inspiration

This talk was mentioned in our stake conference a couple weeks ago, so I went back and reread this talk. It is amazing, and I think every single one of us needs to read it everyday. If you don't read the whole thing, at least scroll down and read in the last section that I highlighted. I promise, it's worth it.

Forget Me Not
DIETER F. UCHTDORF
It is my prayer and blessing that you will never forget that you are truly precious daughters in God’s kingdom.

My dear sisters, what a joy it is to be with you today. I always look forward to this annual general Relief Society meeting and the excellent messages given here. Thank you, sisters. It is a precious honor for me to be assigned by President Thomas S. Monson to speak today and to add a few thoughts addressing the sisters of the Church.

A while ago I was walking through a beautiful garden with my wife and daughter. I marveled at the glory and beauty of God’s creation. And then I noticed, among all the glorious blooms, the tiniest flower. I knew the name of this flower because since I was a child I have had a tender connection to it. The flower is called forget-me-not.

I’m not exactly sure why this tiny flower has meant so much to me over the years. It does not attract immediate attention; it is easy to overlook among larger and more vibrant flowers; yet it is just as beautiful, with its rich color that mirrors that of the bluest skies—perhaps this is one reason why I like it so much.

And there is the haunting plea of its name. There is a German legend that just as God had finished naming all the plants, one was left unnamed. A tiny voice spoke out, “Forget me not, O Lord!” And God replied that this would be its name.

Tonight I would like to use this little flower as a metaphor. The five petals of the little forget-me-not flower prompt me to consider five things we would be wise never to forget.

First, forget not to be patient with yourself.

I want to tell you something that I hope you will take in the right way: God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect.

Let me add: God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect are not.

And yet we spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others—usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths. This drives us to create expectations for ourselves that are impossible to meet. As a result, we never celebrate our good efforts because they seem to be less than what someone else does.

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses.

It’s wonderful that you have strengths.

And it is part of your mortal experience that you do have weaknesses.

God wants to help us to eventually turn all of our weaknesses into strengths,1 but He knows that this is a long-term goal. He wants us to become perfect,2 and if we stay on the path of discipleship, one day we will. It’s OK that you’re not quite there yet. Keep working on it, but stop punishing yourself.

Dear sisters, many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others. Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself.

In the meantime, be thankful for all the small successes in your home, your family relationships, your education and livelihood, your Church participation and personal improvement. Like the forget-me-nots, these successes may seem tiny to you and they may go unnoticed by others, but God notices them and they are not small to Him. If you consider success to be only the most perfect rose or dazzling orchid, you may miss some of life’s sweetest experiences.

For example, insisting that you have a picture-perfect family home evening each week—even though doing so makes you and everyone around you miserable—may not be the best choice. Instead, ask yourself, “What could we do as a family that would be enjoyable and spiritual and bring us closer together?” That family home evening—though it may be modest in scope and execution—may have far more positive long-term results.

Our journey toward perfection is long, but we can find wonder and delight in even the tiniest steps in that journey.

Second, forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice.

An acceptable sacrifice is when we give up something good for something of far greater worth.

Giving up a little sleep to help a child who is having a nightmare is a good sacrifice. We all know this. Staying up all night, jeopardizing our own health, to make the perfect accessory for a daughter’s Sunday outfit may not be such a good sacrifice.

Dedicating some of our time to studying the scriptures or preparing to teach a lesson is a good sacrifice. Spending many hours stitching the title of the lesson into homemade pot holders for each member of your class perhaps may not be.

Every person and situation is different, and a good sacrifice in one instance might be a foolish sacrifice in another.

How can we tell the difference for our own situation? We can ask ourselves, “Am I committing my time and energies to the things that matter most?” There are so many good things to do, but we can’t do all of them. Our Heavenly Father is most pleased when we sacrifice something good for something far greater with an eternal perspective. Sometimes, that may even mean nurturing small but beautiful forget-me-not flowers instead of a large garden of exotic blooms.

Third, forget not to be happy now.

In the beloved children’s story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the mysterious candy maker Willy Wonka hides a golden ticket in five of his candy bars and announces that whoever finds one of the tickets wins a tour of his factory and a lifetime supply of chocolate.

Written on each golden ticket is this message: “Greetings to you, the lucky finder of this Golden Ticket … ! Tremendous things are in store for you! Many wonderful surprises await you! … Mystic and marvelous surprises … will … delight, … astonish, and perplex you.”3

In this classic children’s story, people all over the world desperately yearn to find a golden ticket. Some feel that their entire future happiness depends on whether or not a golden ticket falls into their hands. In their anxiousness, people begin to forget the simple joy they used to find in a candy bar. The candy bar itself becomes an utter disappointment if it does not contain a golden ticket.

So many people today are waiting for their own golden ticket—the ticket that they believe holds the key to the happiness they have always dreamed about. For some, the golden ticket may be a perfect marriage; for others, a magazine-cover home or perhaps freedom from stress or worry.

There is nothing wrong with righteous yearnings—we hope and seek after things that are “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy.”4 The problem comes when we put our happiness on hold as we wait for some future event—our golden ticket—to appear.

One woman wanted more than anything else to marry a righteous priesthood holder in the temple and be a mother and a wife. She had dreamed about this all her life, and oh, what a wonderful mother and loving wife she would be. Her home would be filled with loving-kindness. Never a bitter word would be spoken. The food would never burn. And her children, instead of hanging out with their friends, would prefer to spend their evenings and weekends with Mom and Dad.

This was her golden ticket. It was the one thing upon which she felt her whole existence depended. It was the one thing in all the world for which she most desperately yearned.

But it never happened. And, as the years went on, she became more and more withdrawn, bitter, and even angry. She could not understand why God would not grant her this righteous desire.

She worked as an elementary school teacher, and being around children all day long simply reminded her that her golden ticket had never appeared. As the years passed she became more disappointed and withdrawn. People didn’t like being around her and avoided her whenever they could. She even took her frustration out on the children at school. She found herself losing her temper, and she swung between fits of anger and desperate loneliness.

The tragedy of this story is that this dear woman, in all her disappointment about her golden ticket, failed to notice the blessings she did have. She did not have children in her home, but she was surrounded by them in her classroom. She was not blessed with a family, but the Lord had given her an opportunity few people have—the chance to influence for good the lives of hundreds of children and families as a teacher.

The lesson here is that if we spend our days waiting for fabulous roses, we could miss the beauty and wonder of the tiny forget-me-nots that are all around us.

This is not to say that we should abandon hope or temper our goals. Never stop striving for the best that is within you. Never stop hoping for all of the righteous desires of your heart. But don’t close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each day’s ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life.

The happiest people I know are not those who find their golden ticket; they are those who, while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments. They are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives. These are they who are truly happy.

Fourth, forget not the “why” of the gospel.

Sometimes, in the routine of our lives, we unintentionally overlook a vital aspect of the gospel of Jesus Christ, much as one might overlook a beautiful, delicate forget-me-not. In our diligent efforts to fulfill all of the duties and obligations we take on as members of the Church, we sometimes see the gospel as a long list of tasks that we must add to our already impossibly long to-do list, as a block of time that we must somehow fit into our busy schedules. We focus on what the Lord wants us to do and how we might do it, but we sometimes forget why.

My dear sisters, the gospel of Jesus Christ is not an obligation; it is a pathway, marked by our loving Father in Heaven, leading to happiness and peace in this life and glory and inexpressible fulfillment in the life to come. The gospel is a light that penetrates mortality and illuminates the way before us.

While understanding the “what” and the “how” of the gospel is necessary, the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the “why.” When we understand why our Heavenly Father has given us this pattern for living, when we remember why we committed to making it a foundational part of our lives, the gospel ceases to become a burden and, instead, becomes a joy and a delight. It becomes precious and sweet.

Let us not walk the path of discipleship with our eyes on the ground, thinking only of the tasks and obligations before us. Let us not walk unaware of the beauty of the glorious earthly and spiritual landscapes that surround us.

My dear sisters, seek out the majesty, the beauty, and the exhilarating joy of the “why” of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The “what” and “how” of obedience mark the way and keep us on the right path. The “why” of obedience sanctifies our actions, transforming the mundane into the majestic. It magnifies our small acts of obedience into holy acts of consecration.

Fifth, forget not that the Lord loves you.

As a child, when I would look at the little forget-me-nots, I sometimes felt a little like that flower—small and insignificant. I wondered if I would be forgotten by my family or by my Heavenly Father.

Years later I can look back on that young boy with tenderness and compassion. And I do know now—I was never forgotten.

And I know something else: as an Apostle of our Master, Jesus Christ, I proclaim with all the certainty and conviction of my heart—neither are you!

You are not forgotten.

Sisters, wherever you are, whatever your circumstances may be, you are not forgotten. No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you with an infinite love.

Just think of it: You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious Being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time!

He who created and knows the stars knows you and your name—you are the daughters of His kingdom. The Psalmist wrote:

“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? …

“For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.”5

God loves you because you are His child. He loves you even though at times you may feel lonely or make mistakes.

The love of God and the power of the restored gospel are redemptive and saving. If you will only allow His divine love into your life, it can dress any wound, heal any hurt, and soften any sorrow.

My dear Relief Society sisters, you are closer to heaven than you suppose. You are destined for more than you can possibly imagine. Continue to increase in faith and personal righteousness. Accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ as your way of life. Cherish the gift of activity in this great and true Church. Treasure the gift of service in the blessed organization of Relief Society. Continue to strengthen homes and families. Continue to seek out and help others who need your and the Lord’s help.

Sisters, there is something inspiring and sublime about the little forget-me-not flower. I hope it will be a symbol of the little things that make your lives joyful and sweet. Please never forget that you must be patient and compassionate with yourselves, that some sacrifices are better than others, that you need not wait for a golden ticket to be happy. Please never forget that the “why” of the gospel of Jesus Christ will inspire and uplift you. And never forget that your Heavenly Father knows, loves, and cherishes you.

Thank you for who you are. Thank you for the countless acts of love and service you offer up to so many. Thank you for all that you will yet do to bring the joy of the gospel of Jesus Christ to families, to the Church, to your communities, and to the nations of the world.

Sisters, we love you. It is my prayer and blessing that you will never forget that you are truly precious daughters in God’s kingdom, in the sacred name of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

I'm Happy Too

Apparently I wrote the blog post about Meili's obsessions a couple months early. We had no idea what was in store for us. This month she was introduced to Winnie the Pooh and ever since our house has turned into 24 hour Pooh-mania. As soon as Meili wakes up in the morning she asks for Pooh, every time she is in the room with the TV, she makes herself at home in the Cuddle Bag, and continually calls "Pooh," until I acknowledge her, if we don't turn on Pooh, she turns the TV on herself (but that's all she knows how to do so far), when we pull the car in the garage, she automatically believes that we will watch Pooh, and the only books she will read anymore are Pooh books-luckily we have about 10. I've been trying to limit her to one Pooh movie a day-and sometimes I do better than other. It's just so hard when she comes to me with her wide eyes, cute circle mouth, and optimistic tone saying "Pooh." It's also hard because this month I learned how much I can get done while she watches Pooh. 

On to other news, Meili got to go swimming a few times this month-once at my parent's house for our Mother's Day celebration, once at Josh's nephews first birthday party, and a couple times in our backyard. She is also obsessed with water. Every time I do the dishes, clean anything or wash my hands, she believes it is necessary for her to play in the water. 

 I'll break up the pictures with my Mother's Day story. For Mother's Day, I told Josh I wanted a shopping spree-which I went on, then he got me flowers and an alarm clock. (There's a story behind that that I won't go into.) 
In church, Josh asked all the Young Men to write a letter to their moms. So he helped Meili with hers...

Mom,

I love you so much.

I love it when you sing to me.

I love it when you read stories to me.

I am so glad Heavenly Father sent me to you.

Thank you for being so patient with me when I won't eat any food.

I am so happy that I get to spend my whole day with you.

Momma, I love you.

Love, Meili Baby

Then, she colored it as only Meili can do and Josh traced her hand for her, because she believes that's necessary on any picture she colors now.

 The only problem with all this water play is that she loves drinking the water-especially bath water-and it will put me in my grave someday. 

 Isn't she so cute in her swimming suit?

Some of the new developments this month are:
Good news-She is so easy to put down for naps now. Before she would cry for at least a couple minutes, now she just lays down, smiles and says, "night night."
Bad news-She's getting better at climbing, and is now on our counter heighth table and chairs the minute I leave the room.


And this is the story behind the title...
I went to Bear Lake with my Bunco girls for the weekend. I, of course, missed Meili and Josh like crazy. Saturday night, Meili was busy as ever and just jabbering. I don't know what she was saying but it sounded like "happy too... hap hap happy too... happy too..." I just decided to go with it so when she came to me and said, "Happy too?" I decided that it meant that she was telling me that she was happy I was home and asking me if I was too.


So yes, Meili, I'm happy too. 

Provo City Half Marathon

Yesterday I ran the Provo City Half Marathon. I was really excited about this race, because up to this point, I've always felt like I trained one way, but then when it came to the race, I wasn't mentally tough enough to push myself as hard as I knew I could go. So finally, this race, I trained at the same pace that I actually ran. There are still, obviously, things that I can do better in the future-but this was a big step in the right direction. I feel reenergized! 

 I enjoyed the course. (It helps when most of it was downhill or flat.) We mostly ran down the Provo River trail, and it was really pretty. The only bugger was that the last 3 or 4 miles was a straightaway down University Avenue staring at the finish line for what seemed like FOREVER! 

 This is about .1 mile from the finish line. It's crazy how you can be so dead and suddenly get a burst of energy that lets you sprint to the finish line. Just shows you how powerful your mind is!

 My mom said that she tried so hard to get me crossing the finish line, but some guy got in the way! It's the thought that counts right? My official time was 1:53:43. So that's an average of 8.41 per mile. I cut 17 minutes off of my previous half marathon! 


Josh is expecting me to cut another 17 minutes off my next one-in a month. Someone please explain to him that it doesn't typically work that way.

 My parents were nice enough to come support me at the finish line. Josh's nephew got baptized the same day, so he wasn't able to come (seeing as how the baptism is a once-in-a-lifetime event.)

Also, thank you to my sister and her family who let me stay at their house. Even staying in Spanish Fork, I had to wake up at 3:45, and I don't even want to think about how much earlier that would have been had I driven from home. I didn't sleep much the night before (no fault of Bethany's). I think optimistically, I may have slept for 15 minutes... total...all night. I don't know if it was nerves, the wind, or just the fact that I kept thinking to myself "Go to sleep...now. Okay...now...for real...now..." But it all worked out in the end.


I'm so grateful to everyone who helps and supports me in my running. Sometimes I feel like it's a full-time job for everyone involved. 

Everyone wish me luck in the next couple months of my training! I'm gonna need it!

18 Month Pictures

Here is our beautiful girl at 18 months! Oh, we love her! (Even though she's gotten too big too fast)

 This is the dress that I got her for Easter. She totally didn't need another dress, but it's tradition, and Josh seemed to really like it, so I couldn't take it back.

 At the photo shoot, I tried to do 2 different outfits. Lesson learned. Meili is only good for one outfit at this stage in her life. So this is the only decent one we got in the yellow. To me, this picture makes her look so old. It looks like this is her kindergarten school picture-maybe it's the blue background.

What a sweetheart!

At 18 months, Meili's obsession for babies is growing daily. She sleeps with 3 babies every night, she is drawn to dolls everywhere she goes, and if there is a book with a baby in it-no matter how insignificant that baby seems to me, she will find the baby, memorize the page, and demand that we read that book everyday.

She is trying to mimic sounds more and more, and seems to learn a new word everyday. My favorite right now is Roo-like Kango and Roo in Winnie the Pooh.

Her teeth have finally started filling in, and they seem to be growing like crazy. I've lost count, but I would say she has about 10 teeth.

I think she's becoming more familiar with family members. I feel like if I say their names she knows, somewhat, who I'm talking about, and likes playing with her cousins. But she definitely likes her grandmas and grandpas best!


At her 18 month appointment Meili weighed 20.81 lbs (finally big enough for a forward facing carseat, but we will probably wait a little longer anyway.)- which is the 6th percentile. And she is 33 inches-the 86th percentile.

18 Months

These pictures are a little random but my Mom worked really hard to crochet these little shoes for Meili and some of the other nieces, so I had to get a picture of them because they are so cute! Since Meili has decided that it's necessary for her to be in shoes from morning to night, these have come in handy, because she can wear them as slippers instead of wearing shoe-shoes all the time. Win Win!

 Only problem is... she can take them off really easily.

 She's to the age where every time I try to take a picture of her, she tries to play with the camera. What a stinker!!!

And the story of the shirt...
Josh came home one day with 3 shirts and said that he got them at Walmart for $2 a piece. He was so proud of his purchase, but I couldn't lie... this shirt is... how do I say it... not my favorite... maybe a little... ugly... maybe I was afraid it would give Meili nightmares. He thought for sure that she would like it because she loves dogs. I said, that I wasn't even sure that she would be able to tell it was a dog-especially from her perspective, which would be upside down. 


I told Josh that I appreciated his purchases, but she probably wouldn't ever wear this particular shirt out of the house. He said that we could cut off the bow, if I wanted. I told him that the bow isn't the problem. 


Well, one day, that I knew I was going to be in sweats all day, I decided that there was no harm in letting her wear the dog shirt. So I got it out, showed her the dog, and put it on her. Meili couldn't get enough of that dog. All day long, out of the blue, she would point to her shirt and say, "dog!" 


What can I say, she is her father's daughter-clothing is not about fashion it is about making a statement. Josh's statements are usually along the lines of "I like the Yankees" or "I feel good in sweats." Meili's statement today is "I like dogs. All dogs. And I don't care who knows it."

Happy Easter!

Meili got the chance to do 3 different Easter egg hunts, and became quite the pro this year. I posted a picture of my parents' Easter egg hunt last month. These pictures are from Josh's family's hunt. They were nice enough to let the really young kids go outside before the older kids. They also hid the eggs really well-sitting right on the lawn in plain sight! Even in plain sight, we had to work with Meili a little bit for her to find them. But by the 3rd hunt-at our house, and with no competition, she got the hang of it.     

Look at her bucket full!

 Like many kids, as soon as she found an egg, she wanted to get the treats out!

 We celebrated Easter at our house after church. In our house, the Easter bunny brings somewhat religious gifts, along with the candy. So Meili got a quiet book for church, that I was really excited about. The words in the book are "I Am a Child of God," and "Families Can Be Together Forever," and includes pictures in it of everyone on both sides of our immediate family. I'm hoping it will help her learn everyone's name. It also has pictures of the temple, prophets, and Jesus. She's still pretty vain and finds all the pictures of herself and says "baby!" or "Mei Me!" 

 Love this picture! (Especially because Josh looks so bored in the background!)

 What would Easter be without blue Robin's eggs lips!

Hope you all had a great Easter too!