13 Miles Later...

Provo city's annual Half-Marathon, 5k and Walk for Autism took place on a rainy Saturday morning, right before Conference. I dragged my little sisters, husband, and brother-in-law out of bed at five-thirty in the morning to participate int the grand event. With the promise of free t-shirts, Sarah and Will were somewhat willing. Megan and Sterling had high aspirations to pr in the 5k, or just help out for a good cause.
The proceeds from the run went to help my school, Clear Horizons Academy, and the students I work with. I begged for donations from strangers the week before, roped family and friends into the event, and enlisted the help of teenagers from my other part-time job. I was grateful to the Provo girls' group home for arriving at six in the morning to help with set-up. They did a fantastic job cheering on the runners and providing much-needed beverages.
Now, for the part you all care about--the race. Megan and Sterling put forth a magnificent effort in the 5k. Sterling ended up getting third place in his age category, running the race in a little over twenty minutes. Hooray for Sterling!
Christine, Tanis, Nate, and I all ran the half-marathon. I made a new friend while running. Crystelle and I kept pace for the first nine miles and encouraged each other on. I finished in one hour, fifty minutes, averaging an 8:30 min mile. Hopefully I can keep the same pace for the upcoming marathon.

Here I am dragging myself across the finish line.

Tif, Nate, and Tanis at the finish. (We couldn't find Christine.)
The family: Sterling (he's wearing his cool medal), Megan, Sarah, me, Will--all sporting our shirts from the run.
Thanks for all the help and support family and friends!

Badger Bash

Over Conference Weekend, we had a little Badger Reunion to commemorate our tw0-and-three-quarters year mark from when we started out at Badger Creek. Unfortunately, I was too excited to see everyone and I completely forgot to take pictures. (Hopefully Jill will post some on her blog soon.) Hopefully, these older photos will bring back some good times. Part of the gang during a hike to the wind caves. I'm the odd one out since everyone else is wearing some form of Badger apparel.

2006 Staff PictureKissing Christine (T-Bird and I are not shy about showing affection)
The Anderson family performing their famous "Big-Rig" song

At the Spud Drive-In to see Pirates of the Carribean II

The Badger Reunion was a big hit with Bradford and Mike making their first appearances since the mission. Brad is planning on installing alarm systems for the summer and is currently the CFO of Clearlake Bed and Breakfast. (He even has a business card.) After he makes his millions, he is returning to BYU-Idaho to study mechanical engineering. He brought along his friend, Cameron, who makes a living climbing. They were both determined to hit up some routes in the Cottonwood canyons. We hope they didn't freeze to death.

Mike has been home from Argentina for four weeks and hasn't changed a bit. He sported his riding boots and a Badger t-shirt to the reunion. Brother A talked him into returning to Badger for the summer to work as their head rangler. Way to hold onto the legacy, Mike!

Ryan Taylor just graduated from BYU-Idaho and is going to pursue a doctorate degree from BYU in Bio-Chemistry? He's still on the look-out for his mate, but recently set a two-and-a-half month record of a relationship.

Raechy is working at Michaels craft store and going to USU. She's majoring in Elementary Education and thinking about Special Education. She brought a man-friend to the reunion, Brandon, who made a great impression. Brandon is in the Master's program at USU studying mechanical engineering? and is a rugged, outdoorsy sort of fellow, perfect for Raechy. We're eager to hear the outcome of that relationship.

Jill and Tevya put out a delicious spread of snacks and welcomed us into their beautiful four-plex for the evening. Tev is working at Wells Fargo and is in the process of starting up a wholesale online meat business with Jill's brother. Jill is enjoying her job with the city Parks and Rec department. She is caught in a web of doggie training, lesbian love-life, and soccer schedules. She said her job is a combination of The Office and Desperate Housewives.

Christine showed up very tardy to the party, but we accepted her nonetheless. She brought along her man-friend, John, who graduated with a degree in English but is currently working at a bike shop. Christine is working at Tahitian Noni and training for a marathon. Unfortunately, I must give the approval on John at a later date because we only had about two minutes of interaction.

As for everyone else, we are sorry you couldn't make it to the bash. It wasn't as wild as in times past, but very enjoyable regardless. Here's a one-sentence update on our no-shows.

Chillie Willy- is still in NY on his mission--another reunion will happen when he returns

Brittany- is bringing souls to Christ in Tokyo.

Elise- putting phonebooks together in Seattle and currently cannot decide what to do with her life (turned down several nanny jobs, but wants to return to Maine for a couple weeks in the summer).

Josh- going to school at the U, nothing else is known

Aaron- working at Aspiro, a wilderness therapy camp for troubled teens

Andrea- taking care of her baby and husband in Rexburg. (Berrett just graduated!)

J-mamma- returned to Rexburg with baby, Scott is going to school.

Billie Jo- finished student teaching and is graduating in May. Caleb is still going to school in Rexburg

Ryan Middlemiss- in California, happenings unknown

T-Bird- working exceptionally hard to bring people to the gospel in Tennessee, returning in August.

Whew! It takes a while to update eighteen people's lives. Words to live by: You must be wealthy! Mosquito!

The Big Leagues

The Lehmitz Lovers finished their winter round of sports this past week. The Utah Jazz of South Jordan suffered a defeat in overtime. With two minutes left to go in the game, one of the opposing team's key players committed a double foul with Andrew Jenkins. The ref was persuaded by the opposing team that their was no foul. If a foul would have been called, the outcome of the game would have been drastically different. The opposing team would have had to play with a man down, giving the Utah Jazz the advantage. Alas, games are not won on "would have's" we were sorry to see the season end on a bad call.

As for Tiffani's Relief Society basketball team, they made it to the championship region game. Although Tiffani felt like a star strutting onto the court when the announcer called her name, her legs were a bit jiggly from the nine mile run that morning. Earlier exercise must have influenced her performance. The Cherry Hill stake was ahead of Park for the first half of the game, but after they started taking outside shots, the other team quickly caught up. The Relief Society basketball team walked away with a second-place title, losing by five points. The Park stake was so proud of their victory, they cut down the nets. I guess church ball is the big leagues now-a-days.

Religious Outings

Saturday night was the Young Women General Broadcast. Since I am an advisor in Beehives, I figured it was my duty, nay obligation, to go. Our ward was fortunate enough to receive tickets to go to the Conference Center. So I headed down to Salt Lake with my little sisters and my mom to be spiritually fed while Will set out with our friends, Jack and Sausha, to the Festival of Colors at the Hindu temple in Spanish Fork. I can really only tell you about my end of the story, and hopefully the pictures will tell you about Will's adventures.


This is a small portion of the crowd that came out to celebrate the arrival of Spring.
Jack was a little appalled that Will chose to desecrate his Utah Jazz t-shirt by wearing it to the festival.

The colored chalk dissipates in a cloudy haze after the crowd exhuberantly throws it in the air.
Colored Will (this is not a racial term, it's quite literal.)
A couple of rainbow children.
I could have taken a picture with Will like this if I was there.

Although I missed the festivities, the Young Women General Broadcast did not let me down. I loved seeing all the sisters pour into the Conference Center to hear the words of the President Monson and the Young Women General Presidency. I came away with a resolve to be a better person by living more virtuously. President Monson encouraged the young women to have courage in three areas: courage to refrain from judging others, courage to live a chaste and virtuous life, and courage to stand for righteousness and truth. The General Presidency challenged all young women to do three things every day: say their prayers morning and night, read the Book of Mormon for at least five minutes, and to smile. I really loved President Monson's challenge to refrain from judging others. Sometimes passing judgment is just a simple as not saying something to change the conversation when others are gossipping. I'm grateful for those little reminders to be more Christlike. Hooray for the gospel!