Does it Get Better?

So Chelsey has been gone for about 10 days now. It really wasn't a huge deal at first, but now I cry little tears every time I read her blog or talk about her being away. What will I ever do when my boys go on missions?!? At least now I can call her and take a trip to see her. I love that she is blogging and doing so great at it. Whitley is getting to ride up with our old Bishop and his family over Labor Day weekend to spend time with her. What a blessing for Whitley. I'll have to get a hold of a paper she wrote for an English assignment. It's titled "She's Not Dead". She asked me to edit it, but I couldn't through the tears. Crazy girl.

In the meantime, I have been keeping busy with trying to do better with my laundry and running when I can and playing taxi. All the kids got parts in Alice in Wonderland, which practices for that start soon. Stephen is in baseball and Rhett is trying out for the basketball team. Brooklyn is running for secretary of the 6th grade and Nick is possibly starting with a training team for cycling. It's not even spring yet! (that's when it's supposed to be crazy)

Last Saturday we went running at Ussery. It's 3.5 miles very uphill and then you turn around and go back down, 7 miles total. I hadn't run 7 miles since the Ragnar in Feb. The uphill killed me. The downhill was fun, but I couldn't keep my pace without cramping. When it was all said and done, I averaged 11 minute miles. Not terrible for that long of a distance and the hard uphill. I am plenty sore though. My thighs are killer. I think we may run it again this Saturday since our Red Rock Relay is the weekend after that. I'm a little nervous about it, training has been difficult due to the heat. It will be fun to hang with everyone anyway.

It's canning season! Peaches, pears, tomatoes (salsa), apples....all coming in to season. It's very exciting, but a little stressful at times as well. I love to can when it's leisurely, but doing this much in such a short time can get overwhelming. It's totally worth it though. I think I'm done with pears, have done a few peaches, made a little jam and will do salsa this weekend. Then after the race, I will do more peaches and then it should be time for apples. We just planted tomatoes, cucumbers and pumpkins in the garden for winter. All that is can-able as well. Should keep me plenty busy!

I was called to be the Ward Activity Specialist (not sure what the exact title is) but I get to plan all the church activities. Right up my alley! It's a tough start though because Trunk or Treat and Christmas are right around the corner and it's the end of the year so the budget is pretty well drained. I have lots of ideas but am still trying to sort out which ones will be best. Any good ideas are welcome!