Muddy Buddies!

Dan is the fundraising officer for a free medical clinic here in Omaha called the Magis Clinic. Dan has meetings every week on Monday night, which obviously conflicts with Family Home Evenings. It's been quite the challenge to get a really good FHE in on Monday nights due to his meetings, but this week we resolved to make it work. Dan and I have also been in work out mode these past few weeks, so we thought we should combine the two. We started the night out at Creighton's medical school gym. We did a really good circuit workout. Dan's circuit was a lot more intense than mine, but I tired to stay up with him and it was so much fun. We tried to keep each station to a minute and really do our best at doing the exercise correctly in order to get the most benefit from it. We did wall sits, planks, crunches, lunges with weights, and so on. Then we topped it off with a good run until Dan's meeting started. I continued to run until the meeting was over which allowed me to run as much as I wanted!! When Dan's meeting was over we drove home and made a yummy FHE treat, muddy buddies aka puppy chow!
After all the puppy chow we ate, it's a pretty good thing we worked out..ooooops!...the two definitely canceled each other out in the "calories in vs. calories out" category. Next, I cut Dan's hair, which I got a little carried away with, but hair grows back, right??! Thank goodness Dan's a good sport :)

Lastly we studied the scriptures together and had a wonderful discussion about our loving Savior. It was a beautiful night!

Farmers Market

This weekend Dan and I went to the farmers market in Old Town Omaha. It was so much fun! It actually started raining while we were down there, but it felt great! Last year when Dan and I went to the farmers market, we were really impressed at the great produce and prices, but this year we haven't been so impressed. Their prices just weren't very good and the produce seemed to be A LOT smaller than last year. We contribute it to them now taking food stamps, which is great for those with the stamps, but not so good for us who don't. We're hoping that towards the end of summer, more particularly harvest time, our little farmers market will prove it's self again! Nonetheless, we got some pretty alright deals!I got this great homemade salsa recipe from my friends blog and just had to try it! Dan and I LOVE chips and salsa, so this was perfect!

It has tomatoes, cilantro, onion, jalapeno, salt, garlic, and lime!!! Honestly there is no sense in putting down the amounts of every ingredient because really you can make it anyway you like. It's just the combination of ingredients that makes this salsa so yummy! I used too much cilantro in my first batch and decided I didn't like how "over powering" the cilantro was. It seemed like that was all I could taste. So in my next batch I threw out the recipe I was following and went to town making it how we like it! Dan was the official taster-YUM!

I love this machine!!!
'Tis the season for zucchini! It was all over the market! We made a stir fry with them and they were delicious! I was actually really surprised at how much Dan loved them!

Dan and I pretty much think we've figured out the farmers market. We've figured out that the more pricey vendors tend to sit along the outer edged of the market, but as you make your way to the center of the market, you reach the cheaper venders!!

Dan is all business when it comes to these types of things. He likes to get in there and get out. I, on the other hand, love to take my time and putts around at all the booths, even if I don't intend to purchase anything. But mostly I like to sample nearly everything people are handing out! It's all part of the experience for me. Someday though, with a few more of "market outings," I know I'll convert Dan into a market lover too!

Paint it up.

Dan and I have nearly repainted our entire town home, except for just a few rooms and closets. A few days ago I decided I wanted to finish the job and paint the rest of the house. After finding some great free paint I liked, I decided to delve into the project! I thought I'd better start with the linen closet.

BEFORE

The shelves were covered with yellow and cream plaid wall paper.
Thankfully it wasn't too difficult to take the wall paper off, which is partially why I've kept putting this project off for 2 years.
AFTER!
So much better than the yellow plaid wall paper!

Red, White, & Blue

The days of summer keep going by so fast! I'm afraid to blink for fear that when I open my eyes it will be August 22nd and my last summer, before "real life" begins, will be over. I've enjoyed slumbering whenever I please and doing whatever I feel like, within reason of course, way too much!

One precious memory I have growing up is of a Fourth of July celebration when my dad stood at attention and sung the army battle song. I remember tears trickled down my mom's face while we all looked at the American flag. It was a beautiful sight. Just thinking about it makes my heart beat faster and my eyes water up. I'll never forget the love my dad has for his country and that makes July 4th, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day really special to me.

The Fourth of July always reminds me of home. Growing up in a military family meant that a large part of the home be decorated in honor to America and all that entails. My home growing up was no exception. Decorations of red, white, and blue weren't hung up during just one month out of the year, but rather they were displayed every-single-day of the year. The reminder of the sacrifices it takes to live a life free from oppression were constant growing up--particularly when seeing my dad in his uniform...

Here are a few decorations I put around the house to make it feel a little more festive. I love this little wall hanging my mom made for me.
May I just add, my mom is the most talented women I know! She can do everything from cooking and sewing to jewelry making and basket weaving...did I mention she mats and frames her own pictures, too???? The list just goes on and on and on... But really, isn't this a great door decoration!!
On the left are the Polish Pottery Americana homes my mom gave me. Quite ironic, Polish Pottery and America mixed into one...haha! In the middle is an American flag my dad had flown for Dan and I last year during his deployment to Iraq. And on the right is the cute homemade calendar I got from my grandma Kropushek this past Christmas--so so cute!

I just LOVE this display!
Since the 4th of July was on a Monday this year, we were able to celebrate the holiday the entire weekend. Friday night after I got home from work, we went and watched fireworks at Elmwood Park by UNO. The fireworks were after a concert by .38 Special. Dan and I skipped out on the concert because we'd already heard them play while visiting my parents in Cuba in 2009. Saturday night we also watched fireworks held at the new College World Series ball park in down town Omaha. They were beautiful!!!!
Taking pictures of fireworks is really quite tough--as evident from these!
Better luck next firework show!
On the Fourth, we started the day early with a neighborhood breakfast of waffles topped with all sorts of fresh fruits, and Dan's favorite--whipped topping! After breakfast the guys chatted about school stuff while the girls chatted and painted nails! Dahlia, our friend who hosted the breakfast, and I painted ours toe nails Fourth of July style--Red and White stripes on one foot and blue sparkles on the other! so so fun!
Next, we went slip-and-sliddin' across the street from our house on a huge hill! It was a homemade slip-and-slide a guy from our ward set up with painter plastic and a few sprinklers. What an fun idea! Dan and I raced to the bottom every time, and he always won--lucky him! After a while the people who owned the property we were slip-and-slidding on kicked us off due to liability reasons. BUMMER!

After that, Dan and I went for a nice long run and got kicked off the levy that runs along the Missouri River by the National Guard. ---ooops! Didn't know you couldn't run on a levy when there was a pending flood...
Next we had smoked ribs and rib-lets with the Jacobson's (dental students in our ward) and the Wright's (medical students in Dan's class). The ribs and rib-lets were delicious!!! Matt always does a great job with his smoker. YUM!!
After dinner we played the game, Clue, which Dan slaughtered everyone in. I keep telling Dan that he better start letting some other people win or our friends won't want to play with us anymore..LOL!

When the sun was setting Dan and I passed the football around until the firework show which was held at Harrah's Casino on the river. We were able to see the show across the street from our house! How convenient!


I hope everyone had a fabulous time celebrating yet another year of independence with family, friends, and good food!!!

And what's fireworks without a kiss?

Run. Walk. Crawl.

Around the middle of May sometime, I realized I had forgotten to wish my dad a happy birthday on his birthday, May 6th. The funniest thing was, I actually called my mom on May 6th to talk to her. It just so happens my dad answered the phone when I called that day, probably because he thought I was calling to wish him a happy birthday. Well, when he answered, we talked a bit and then I asked to talk with mom. UGH! Can you say DUMMY?!?

So about a week later I was driving home from work. I was just singing along to the radio and all the sudden it came to me--I had forgotten to wish my dad a happy birthday on HIS birthday even though I had indeed talked to him that very day. UGH! Boy was I frustrated. It was like a light popped on and BOOM! my brain put it all together without me even thinking about it.

Immediately, I called my dad to apologize for not wishing him a happy birthday on his special day. Of course my dad laughed at my hotheadedness and we chatted for a while. He told me of a run he was preparing for that was to be held around the middle of June, when Dan and I would be in the area. Initially, I was a little bummed that I hadn't signed up for the run and all the spots were already filled up. But then my dad told me how he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to run all three of his legs since he was just starting to get over pneumonia, which had cost him A LOT of precious training time. Without hesitation, I volunteered to run for him if need be. After all, Dan and I had been running a few miles every night to get back in shape after neglecting our bodies during the past few months.

Dan and I picked up a few more miles each night so I could be prepared to run--possibly 9 miles for my dad. Little did I know that my uncle Dean, who was to run in the race, had not yet found anyone to work for him at his Pharmacy...

...5 days before the race, I called my mom. We chatted for our usual hour visit and right before hanging up she mentioned that Dean could not find a Pharmacist to work for him at his Pharmacy. Panic swam through my body. I knew before she even started her next sentence that I was going to have to run Dean's legs.

So that is how I got to run this year's Wasatch Back Ragnar.

---Our Van consisted of (L to R) Liz (dad's sister), Moana (dad's brother, David's wife), Kayla (Liz's daughter), Katrina (Moana's daughter), Dad, me, David (our driver/dad's brother)---

Ragnar was to start on Friday (in Logan, UT) and dad couldn't get off work (in Ft. Carson, CO) until Thursday around 2pm. That meant driving the night before our race--not a good pre-race warm up...ooooops. On our way through Colorado, we ran into major traffic in Denver which cost us precious drive time (about 2 hours). Dan and dad traded off driving while I played with the XM radio (so cool by the way). We didn't arrive at my aunt Stephanie's house until 2:30am Mountain time--3:30 Omaha time......with a race the next day--ooooops, again!

If there is one place I've learned not to sleep the night before a race, it's the floor. AND that's exactly where we slept...a living room floor. --Now I know why we always slept in hotel suits the night before a race rather than the universities' gym floor while running for ISU.--Morning came awfully early at 7:30am when dad's phone blazed to life. Shortly after that we headed to Einstein's Bagels. YUM! Perfect pre-race breakfast if you ask me!

Next we did some much needed snack shopping for all the goods: fruit snacks, cliff bars, PB&J, energy gel & LOTS of water!!! Finally, we were headed for our start line.

Our team had actually already started running earlier that morning. You see the race goes kinda like this:

-Every team is made up of 12 people, split into 2 vans. (we were van 2)
-Every person who runs, has to run 3 legs of the race.
-Everyone averages about 15 miles between their 3 legs which culminates into 192 miles.
-Van 1 starts. Van 2 goes next. Van 1 goes again. Van 2 gets another turn. Van 1 runs their last time. Van 2 finishes up the race.
---Easy as pie, right?!

Stephanie (Dad's sister) passed off to Moana, Friday around noon and we were off...
Here's Dad and my cousin, Kayla. Kayla and Katrina (my other cousin who ran) recently graduated from HS. Kayla's going to ISU for pharmacy, just like her dad and Katrina's going to BYU Hawaii, just like her mom. Katrina's going to run cross country for BYU-H and work towards a degree in dental hygiene.
Our van runners went in a sequence that started with Moana. Then Liz ran, who passed off to me. After I was done running, dad would run and pass off to Kayla. Katrina would then finish off.
Here I am at the first hand off between Liz and I. Liz is in the pink coming in strong.
Instead of carrying around a baton, we wore a snap bracelet. You know, the kind that were popular years ago when I was a kid. lol
Our hand offs were pretty awesome!
My first leg was a very flat 3.2 miles (5k) through a residential area. Time of day: 3pm
I thought the elevation difference between Omaha and Utah (~5,000 feet/1mile) was going to kill me. BUT instead I loved the nice dry heat with a light breeze as opposed to the humidity of Omaha. I felt great!!! Dan said he thought it took me around 18 minutes to complete. I passed (aka "killed" in runner lingo) 14 people and no one killed me!
Here's dad after his first leg. He was the oldest on our team by a land slide at 47. GO DAD! After coming off pneumonia, he started training a little hard and hurt his left calf muscle/Achilles tendon just days before the race. His first leg was 4 miles. He did awesome!
After everyone in our van ran their first leg, and Katrina handed off to Jesse, we went to our next hand off point and TRIED to sleep. People kept driving, walking, talking, and playing music all around us that I couldn't fall asleep. I think I drifted off for maybe 2 minutes before someone honked their horn and I was bolt awake. UGH!
The girls braided each others hair, and Katrina massaged our calves. She said I was the only one without knots in my calves...yay..I was surprised after being cramped in the suburban for hours after running my 5k with very minimal stretching. The down side to the Ragnar being such a popular race (1,300 teams), is the traffic. There is no time to stretch after a hand off because there is barely enough time to get to the next exchange due to all the other vans trying to get there too. Once Kayla was running up a HUGE mountain (to snow basin) and we didn't have Katrina to the exchange before Kayla beat us there. Katrina had to get out of the suburban and run up part of the mountain to make the hand off. It was sad.

Dad broughts cots for us to sleep on. A-mazing!! We only brought 1 sleeping bag though so we had to share. I got the insert and dad got the outer cover. We were warm due to the military-ness of the material...lol

My second run started at midnight. I had to run 9.3 miles up a gradual incline around Ucon lake. It was an unaccompanied run which meant I was running without anyone to cheer me on or give me water if needed. I also had to wear a reflector vest, a head lamp, and a red blinking light on my back. I ran on the road for about 3 miles and then on a really rocky trail around the lake for pretty much the rest of the run. I felt great despite my lack of sleep and stretching. My game plan was to kill as many people as I could by focusing on their red blinking light and picking them off one-by-one.

A mile into the run, I think I'd killed 4 people, and I got killed hard and fast by what appeared to be a white hippie guy with long hair on a very tall, anorexic looking body--No doubt a BYU male runner.

About mile 3 I slightly strained my ankle on a big rock turning onto the trail around the lake. Thank heavens I have strong ankles! I think about the first half mile of the trail should have been cleaned up a bit for runners. It was THAT rocky, especially in the dark.

At about mile 5 I thought I saw an animal running ahead of me. I wasn't sure what it was. Sure enough it was a skunk. Yup. A skunk! I about peed my pants as I passed it. At that very moment I remembered smelling skunk not too far back about the time when I passed a guy walking. Poor guy must have been sprayed! lol. I'm just glad it wasn't me!

While approaching the "1 Mile to go" sign, I passed a blonde haired guy about my age. The turd picked up his pace and passed me back. All I could think of was: How far I'd ran, How much elevation change I just made, and How much I SO badly wanted to kick this kids trash! So I tucked in right behind him and since I run lightly on my feet, he had no idea I was on his tail. Once we turned a corner and I saw a HUGE hill, I knew the top would be the finish. Half way up the hill I kicked it in. The kid about peed his pants seeing me pass him without him being aware until just then. With everyone watching at the finish, he kicked it into 4th gear and passed me. I passed him right back. And with 10 feet left, he killed me to the finish the moment I saw my dad wasn't there at the hand off.

Tears welled up in my eyes . I stopped dead in my tracks and shouted for him, but he wasn't there. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to leave the exchange zone to go look for him. SO I waited for what seemed like 10 minutes as all the people I'd killed during my run now passed me standing there. What an experience.

Finally, I saw him and David round the bathrooms. Oh, I was so frustrated. I'd given all I had in that run. Come to find out, they banked on me running about 10 minute miles, so that would be 90 minutes, right? But they thought they'd be at the hand off a tad early in case I ran it faster. So an hour and fifteen minutes after I started they showed up. But I had already finished. It took me (estimate) an hour and 10 minutes to finish! YAY! Just under 8 minute miles! Total kills: 19 (2 guys killed me): BYU hippie & turd at the end

After my second leg, we immediately went to the next hand off and were prepared for the unexpected! Dad ran great. He ran with another policeman and chatted with him about politics/military/police stuff. I'm glad he had a good time! He even had to run through a creek and so his feet got all wet. I was a little worried he would get sick, but thankfully he didn't. Unfortunately though after his run his right Achilles tendon swelled up HUGE. So he obviously wouldn't be able to run his last leg. We all knew he wanted to finish, but if he did, he might snap his Achilles--bad, bad idea. He's such a great example of perseverance.

The picture above is on Ragnar hill (MOUNTAIN in my opinion!) It's the mountain up the back of Park city. I ran a 5K up the base of the mountain (with only 2 hours of sleep). The elevation change was 1400 feet (310 feet higher than Omaha's elevation..lol!

I think I ran the first mile and a half without stopping to walk.

I lost count of my kills once I mentally broke and walked. I only got killed twice that I remember.

I wasn't prepared to have to stop and walk. I NEVER walk. I have never walked since...
...well I don't remember.

If I'm hurting, I'll slow down to a VERY, VERY slow jog, but mentally IF I stop and walk, in my mind that's giving up. The way I see it, I can't let myself walk, not even once. I fear if I do, I'll become sensitive to the pain. Walking is an easy out. I just can't. I just don't.

I also had never ran up a mountain without virtually any breaks. I run Omaha's hills. Pretty tough grades actually. But I know even though it's going to hurt, in a few short minutes I'll get a break. Not with Ragnar though. After fooling myself that I'd get a break after the next switch back and after passing tons of people walking and drinking water, I broke. Once I started walking, I didn't know when to start running again. I'd never stopped to walk before. It was something I wasn't prepared for.

Dan said I walked 3 times during my leg. Once I reached the "1 mile to go" sign, I was back in the game. I picked it up and raced a girl to the finish.

After the hand off, my dad hugged me. I cried.

Thankfully a few other teams complemented me on how well I ran the mountain, which definitely helped me piece my mind back together.

Liz finished Ragnar mountain. Her part was 4 miles. I was surprised to see her break mentally and walk a few times too. It's just so strange to see die hard runners break.

Only one guy ran the mountain without stopping to walk. I wonder if he practiced on that mountain. ????
Here is our support crew! Celina and Dan helped check in teams at Logan. They were awesome! They slept in the car in the freezing cold and were such awesome volunteers!

Katrina finished us off! We ran in together as a 12 man team. It was awesome! We finished just under 30 hours.
All the kroPUSHeks who ran (dad came up with our team name for our next run "PUSH" from our last name!)
Our entire team! Maybe next time we'll have a whole team of kroPUSHeks!
Dad and I at the finish! We got free food! Ice cream, pizza, fruit, and drinks!!! YUM! I had such a great time with my dad. After all, it was him to perked my interest in running. He was the one who would tickle my feet Saturday mornings until I'd get out of bed and go running with him. He taught me where to hold my arms and how to relax my hands. He's taught me so much about running! I love you dad!

Now that we've ran Utah's Ragnar, everyone wants to run Nevada's Ragnar in Las Vegas this October. "From Saints to Sinners"--Dad might fly me out if my nursing schedule allows! Oh please, oh please!

Rock Climbing in Colorado!

After Dan's big test this summer, we decided we needed a vacation from not only school, but Omaha in general. So right after I got off work one evening, we headed over to Colorado to visit family for a few weeks. The drive was fun! Dan and I traded off when we got tired and 8 or so hours later (about 4am), we were in beautiful Colorado! Dan's sister, Jenn and her cute family were visiting Colorado at the same time, so we met up and went rock climbing at the "Big Red Open Space." I had to laugh when Dan told me where we were going! It just sounded so...so...so...bland! But it sure was true to it's name.

Here's Dan and our nephew, Brek. Dan's such a great uncle to Jenn's little boys! Every time I see Dan play with his nephews it brings me such joy knowing that someday when we have kids of our own, he'll be a wonderful dad! Dan really is awesome with kids, especially those in our ward. He treats them as if they were his own nephews and nieces! Dan keeps teasing me that we better have kids before he gets too old to play with them. And that is no joke. It would l.i.t.e.r.a.l.l.y. break Dan's heart if he couldn't throw a football around with his kids every day after work or spin them around in the air like an airplane.

The little kids, even Brielle, Jeff's little girl, kept climbing on the lower rocks because they wanted to rock climb too. After watching Brielle climb a little bit, I really think she's going to grow up to be just like her daddy, a true rock climber! She really seems to love it!
Here Dan is, sporting off his harness! He really was in heaven being with his family and everyone climbing together!
Talon has gotten so big since we last saw him last summer! He's now done with Kindergarten! When he grows up, he wants to be an astronaut! But I have a feeling that might change. Last summer he wanted to be an oceanographer and the summer before that he wanted to be a "helicopter driver." He's such a smart kid. He can literally be anything this he wants to be!
Here he is climbing to the top all by himself! He did such an awesome job! I think I whined a little more than he did when I got to the middle part of the climb where there weren't many hand and feet holds and kinda panicked! He did great!
He made it!!!!! I was so proud of him! Coming down might have been little scarier for him then going up, but he made it! Lori told of a time when they spend a few hours having to retrieve a little kid who was to scared to repel down the rocks. So Talon really did do an awesome job!
I climbed on real rocks for the first time! Well, I do remember a time when I was younger that I went climbing with my parents and a few of my uncles, but that probably doesn't count. Speaking of firsts, Dan took me rock climbing at ISU's rock wall for our third date, so it was so awesome to climb together 3 years later! Anyhow, I borrowed Lori's little tiny climbing shoes which put my feet to sleep because they were to tight, but they sure helped me grip onto the rocks.
Dan really did a great job climbing the "tough" side of the rock wall!
Here he is with Jeff's climbing shoes which really helped him climb well!

A little smile for the camera!
How exciting!!!!! I think Dan would love to move to Colorado some day so he can climb more! We love how Colorado has so many fun outdoor activities to offer!!
During our climb, we had a little picnic and Dan and I took the little boys and Brielle on a miniature hike! After an afternoon climbing with the kids, we headed back to our cars and this is what we found Brielle like when we reached the cars--her face covered in strawberries! haha Trace was sitting in the seat next to her and his face was equally smeared in strawberries! Funny kids!
Next we went to Mr. Biggs. It's like a big kid chucky cheese. There are all sorts of fun things to do there! We decided bowling sounded fun, so we got one lane for the kids and one lane for the adults. It was so fun to watch them bowl! By the way, Dan won!!!! He really is a pretty good bowler!
Bumpers work wonders with kids and so does the metal ball roller!
Awe, Trace has grown so much in the past year! He's walking and talking and can just about do everything his two older brothers can. Not to mention he's super adorable!
After bowling we ate some pizza which was so yummy after a busy day! To top dinner off Dan rolled the kids around in their high chairs which made them all fall in love with their Uncle Dan all over again before he had to say goodbye!
For the rest of the night, we played around in the kid's area filled with lots of fun toys. The kids got to dress up like firefighters and pretend to drive a fire truck. They also got to play in a huge sand box with "hidden treasure." Best of all they got to sail on a huge boat and shoot cannons at each other (which Dan probably loved more than the kids!) I wish my camera hadn't died :( so I could have snapped some of those pictures. It was so nice to visit with Lori and Jenn! They're such good examples of...pretty much everything! Hopefully we'll get to see these munchkins again sooner than later!