Bear Lake

Damon and I went to the best place in the world, at least for me.  It's the one place where I can go and all my troubles go away.  We were up there with my dad, my grandma, my brother and his wife, and my cute little niece.  She is seriously so adorable.  It will probably be the last time that my entire family will be together like that.  It wasn't easy taking care of my grandma, but it was worth it. She means the world to me and my family. We had so much fun.  We played wiffle ball on the beach, and I kicked Damon and Brady's butt...Calli kicked all of our butts... We would talk by the campfire every night and roast smores.  It was so strange talking with my dad.  He is so normal now, and to think I might have lost him 6 months ago.   I love my family and I have been so blessed to witness so many miracles.

Worst Day of Our LIVES!

June 1st, 2008 is officially gone down in the books as the worst day of mine and Damon's lives. I have never done anything has hard as running a marathon.  All I can say is WE FINISHED!

We'll start from the beginning.  Damon, Debby, and I began running at 6:55 am... Everything was going great. My knee wasn't hurting and all of us felt great.  It was so CROWDED so it slowed our pace a little, but we kept going.  Mile 8 hits and my knee starts acting up so I decide to stop and walk not knowing if I can go on.  I tell Damon and Debby to go on (To save themselves!:)) So now I am all alone in this marathon world.  I walked for about a mile, stretched my IT band, and decided to try again.  I ran to mile 13, and as I was approaching the half marathon mark, I wondered if I should just do the half or continue on. I was in so much pain already...but I decided to continue. I didn't want to be the only one who didn't do the whole thing, and I didn't know how to get back to Damon and Debby.  So I decided to walk another mile and then I would run 4 more.  Well...that didn't happen. I would speed walk and then run as much as I could...speed walk, then run as much as I could. I pretty much ran half of each mile and walked the other half.  I made myself stick with people the entire way so that I didn't get too far behind.   

The whole way there were bands playing, cheerleaders from colleges and highschools, water, accelerade, and even at times oranges. Good thing, or I would have died.  

So now I'm on mile 20. My legs were in pure agony.  I would stop about every 3-5 miles to stretch and that would help a little. My knee was burning...but it hadn't snapped. I stopped once to get a rock out of my shoe realizing it was not a rock, but a blister.  I found myself getting very emotional and becoming mentally weak.  I missed Damon and I would see couples running together with the guy helping the girl along, and all I could picture was Damon hugging me.  Mile 22, I had tears streaming down my face involuntarily. I was in so much pain, and I felt so defeated. I thought that Damon and Debby were probably finished and would have to wait an hour for me to finish...but I just kept going. I wanted to be done so badly! I never thought 4 miles could be SO LONG! I continued my game plan...speed walk and then run.  

Its mile 24 now, and as I am running I couldn't believe who I saw in front of me...Damon and Debby were there walking. I touched them on their shoulders and as they turned around, I just lost it. I just started crying.  Damon starts crying, Debby starts crying. I have never been so happy to see someone. They couldn't believe it was me. Damon had been so worried. We were all in so much pain.  Damon and Debby ran to mile 19 (which is SO AWESOME), but then could go no further. They also started doing the walk and run method, and did a bathroom break.  Thank heavens because it allowed me to catch up. I was so happy.  So we all walked mile 24 and then when we got to mile 25 we ran...it was the hardest mile in my life.  Lets talk about mental toughness. Damon wouldn't let us stop. We just kept running together and we crossed the finish line together.  It was one of the best accomplishments ever.  I WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN! ...but so glad I did it once.