What do Dwight Schrute and Poo Have in Common??

Nothing. Everything. I have two Christmas parties that I look forward to every year. The first is a party with our friends. We get together with our spouses, have dinner and exchange white elephant gifts. The second is a party with my husband's family (just the adults) where we have dinner and exchange white elephant gifts. I always have a blast at both of these parties. This year was no exception. That is where Dwight Schrute comes in. I love The Office. I watch it religiously. I watch the re-runs religiously. I have The Office theme song as the ringtone on my cell. I just can't get enough. You can imagine my extreme joy when I opened my white elephant gift from Casey and Corbin to discover a Dwight Schrute bobblehead! I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I could not believe that I got the Dwight doll. I was so worried someone would steal it from me (and they did). But Dwight was destined to be mine and he did make it home with me.

The second party (with my husband's family - adults only) we exchanged white elephant gifts as well. I got Auntie Les' gift. She is known for her practical jokes, so I knew her gift would be good. I open it up, and it is a book called "What's your Poo Telling You?" It is the most hilarious book I have ever seen. I could not part with it. Luckily, no one stole it and it made it home with me. So now the answer to the question, what do Dwight Schrute and Poo have in common? The answer - they are both the best white elephant gifts I have ever received! They are displayed proudly on my desk in my home office. Watch out for next year - I have already found a great gift. I guess you'll just have to wait to see what it is.

Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas all my friends! I hope the holiday found you all happy and healthy. We are still trying to dig out of our snowstorm. Thank heaven for friends with tractors and four wheelers because our snow blower isn't touching it!

Here are some pics of our annual Robinson Santa Party. Mom and dad have a really fun party with Santa every year. All the cousins come (even our St. George cousins). All the kids exchange cousin gifts. Then santa appears. Here were some of the top santa requests:

A Razor moped
New Shoes (my 12 year old nephew)
A cell phone (my 12 year old daugher)
Wii and Wii games
New Clothes

I am happy to report everyone was happy.

Our own family Christmas was great. Ashlie got the moped she wanted. Cameron got a Wii and games. Taylor (finally) got a cell phone. Mom and dad got Guitar Hero pajamas along with Aerosmith Guitar Hero. Of course, I am the ultimate guitar hero!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. And no, I did not run on Christmas day. I did walk for 45 minutes, though. I am in training, you know!

Getting Ready for the Half - 27 Days and Counting

My annual half marathon is coming up - January 17th, 2009 to be exact. This will be my third year running this race. I am hoping this time it will be easier, but I am not counting on it. I train all through the holidays, and that can be fun and not so fun. This year my husband (Chris) will run it with me for the first time ever! Well, we won't actually run together. We will start at the same time, and I will spend the entire race trying to catch him. He is an awesome runner - much faster than I am. So the countdown begins - 27 days until racetime!

Snow, Snow, Snow!

The snowstorms this week have been fabulous - I love the snow! Just kidding. I hate the snow, the cold, anything that is not related to summer or warm temperatures. I am definitely a palm trees and warm ocean breezes girl. When you are a wimpy runner like I am, snow is not so great. Because of the snow and the freezing temperatures, I have been forced to run inside on the treadmill. So boring! I would love to run outside, but the sidewalks are too icy and I am too klutzy. I can't even walk to my mailbox without falling. So there goes any chance of me running outside! Oh well, treadmills are nice, too.
When I was trying to shovel the walks, I got too tired. I told Cameron to come inside, we would finish it later when his dad got home. But Cameron wasn't done playing in the snow, so he takes the shovel from me and says, "I'll do it, mom!" So here are the pictures of my darling 5-year-old boy shoveling the driveway for the first time. He actually did a pretty good job!

My Running History

I am a runner. I am not a jogger. The difference between a runner and a jogger is that a runner enters and finishes races. I have been told what I do is not running. Of course, it is usually by a non-runner. Do I run fast? Not very. I have finished races. I have not necessarily "won" any races, but to me, by finishing, I have won. Let me tell you a little about my journey to becoming a runner. After my third (and last) child, I was pushing 200 bills. Not good. I woke up one day and said I cannot go on this way. I cannot be this heavy. I cannot be this unhappy with myself. With the support of my AWESOME husband I ended up losing 65 pounds. 15 pounds have managed to find their way back to me, but that's another story. Anyway, after I lost my weight, I said to my husband one day, I want to start running. After he picked himself up off the floor due to his fit of laughter, he went with me to the high school track. I ran one lap (1/4 mile) and collapsed on the ground. My legs were burning. My lungs were burning. My head was throbbing. I had no idea how hard it was! I went back the next day, the next day, and every day after that. Eventually (again, with the support of my AWESOME husband and my BFF Tara) I was able to run 1 mile around the track! Then I started running to the track from my house, running 1 miles, then running home. I kept it up and after 6 weeks I finished my first 5k. I have been running and finishing races since. I so far have finished several 5ks, one 10k, 2 half marathons and 1 XC (extreme challenge). I will be training for my 3rd 1/2 marathon (held in January in St. George.), then my next big training will be for (hopefully) the St. George marathon in October of 2009. I hope the one thing you will get out of reading my blog is this: if I can go from 1/2 mile to running a 1/2 marathon, anyone can! Happy Blogging. Run on my friends, run on.

It's 2:00 and I haven't showered yet!!!

This is my first try at blogging, let's try it out!  How sad is this?  It is 2:00 in the afternoon and I am still in my stinky workout clothes.  I still haven't showered.  I can smell myself.  Don't you wish you were me?  This is a typical day.  It is typical because I want to be a runner.  In order for me to be a runner, I have to run every single day.  And because I have to run every single day, I usually don't get much of anything else done, hence not showered at 2:00 in the afternoon!