Attitude of Gratitude

And in no particular order, I am thankful for:

• My health
• H1N1 vaccine
• A supportive husband
• A beautiful and happy daughter
• Pain killers
• The farmer's market
• All-wheel drive
• Bedtime singing sessions with Lolli
• Photography & Photoshop
• Opportunities to share my talents
• Supportive friends
• Sports
• Music class
• Social networking sites
• Asian pears
• iPhone apps
• Novocaine
• Low-brow literature
• The Pink Lady
• TJ Maxx
• Cuddling
• Caramel cookie bars
• Down comforters
• Plumerias
• Memories of my father
• Layaway
• Team in Training
• Thai food
• WIC
• Nerts
• Good gas mileage
• The Camelot community
• A living prophet
• Late night bike rides with Tara ;)
• Family prayer
• Vacations spent on Coronado

Of course, this is not a comprehensive list and I tried not to repeat things from last year. But as always, I'm thankful for my family, the Gospel, and the love of my Heavenly Father.

THAT'S how you get pink eye!

PINK EYE!!! Are you serious?!?!?

After being around my baby niece who had conjuctivitis a few months ago, and growing up with my best friend's family who always seemed to have at least one person incapacitated by it, it was a miracle I haven't gotten it before now.

Regardless, I'm over it. This is absolutely disgusting. I have boogers for eyeballs.

PINK EYE!!!

Training Day 1

This past Saturday was my first official training day with TNT. After getting only about 4 hours of sleep, I rolled myself out of bed at the butt crack of dawn, drove all the way up to SLC, and proceeded to run through the streets of downtown Salt Lake in the freezing cold.

Up until this point, I have been running about 4 times a week on the treadmills in our clubhouse. I thought I would be all right to run during this first training session in SLC since we'd only be running 2 miles and I had been used to running about 4 a day at the clubhouse. Well, running outside and running on a treadmill is COMPLETELY different. IT. WAS. SO. HARD.

First of all, the chillingly cold weather about gave me frost bite. Second, I could feel my asthma start kicking in. Third, it's way harder to keep pace on your own. I didn't know how fast or slow I was going.

I have a feeling I was going at a faster pace than I usually run at the clubhouse, because by the time I had finished my whimpy 2 miles, I was about to pass out and die right there on the sidewalk. Good thing we met at the fire station. I could have conveniently been recusitated.

Not to mention, I kept having to look over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't being persued by some crazy U of U fanatic. Without thinking, I wore my BYU Math sweatband to run in. What the hell was I thinking, wearing any type of BYU apparel right in the heart of Ute land?!? I was sure someone was gonna do a drive by and clip me at every intersection.

In the end, it was an awesome experience and it really set the precedent for future training sessions. I've already met a couple of awesome people. Chantel, who happens to live in Spanish Fork, was a great running partner. We seemed to have about the same pace, but yet continued to push and challenge each other. Not only do I look forward to carpooling with Chantel in the future, I also look forward to becoming closer friends and team mates.

I'm stoked to continue training and to meet more wonderful and supportive participants.

We've got 2 miles down. Only 24.2 more to go!!

GO TEAM!!!!

Up and Running

Literally...

I've officially joined the LLS's Team in Training. I start my training this Thursday but in the meantime, I've already launched my fundraising website:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ut/ogden10/cschoenroc

Please be generous with your donations. I have a pretty modest goal of raising $2000 by the end of April. With your donation, you're not only supporting my training and fitness goals, your actually saving lives.

And if you just can't afford a large donation, anything helps...even thoughts, prayers, and words of encouragement.

But do something good for yourself and others this holiday season. Help me and others fight the battle against leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma, and all other blood cancers.


We're all survivors in one way or another. Pass along the hope.

TNT

If you may recall, one of my 2009 New Year's resolutions was to run a 5k. Well, though I have yet to run any official races, I have managed to run 5k numerous amounts of time as part of my daily workouts. Better yet, I've even been able to cut my time down by 13 minutes from the time I first completed 5k to now. So, I consider this goal completed. (Not to mention I've lost 12 pounds in the process. Woohoo!!!)

Well, I've decided to get serious about running. I know I've said that in the past, but this time I have super motivation.

This brave little boy is Toby Wilson, one of my primary students and son of my close friend Tara. After some tough and tiring months of testing, chemo, and various treatments, Toby has made a wonderful recovery.

I know there are thousands of others out there, suffering just as Toby and his family did. By joining the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team in Training, I aspire to help these families find hope, support, and recovery.

My goal is to run the Ogden marathon/half marathon in May 2010. Between now and then, I'll be training, gearing up mentally, and hopefully collecting donations from generous supporters.

Join the cause.

Do something good for yourself and for others.

California Weekend

After 12 hours in the car, we finally made it. We followed the trusted GPS to get us here, and boy was that an adventure.

We've learned in the past to never question Ms. GyPSie, since we've gotten ourselves lost by straying from her very calculated route. So this time, we made sure to follow her exact directions. Well, GyPSie got us here, but only after taking us off the most obvious freeway choices and right through about 4 different townships.

Ever hear of a city called Adelante? Yeah, neither had I until GyPSie took us straight through the armpit of it. Forty seven miles of desert and trailer parks. You think Barstow is bad? No no no. Adelante has beat out every other city as being the butt hole of California. I've checked Adelante off my list of places where I would NEVER live.

However, Santa Clarita wasn't half bad. It reminded me a lot of Carmichael and Fair Oaks. Though it's still a bit far from the ocean for my liking, I could see myself settling down there.

Nah, I'm still holding out for San Diego or Santa Barbara proper.