Tour de Cure - Diabetes!

Dear Fellow Friends!!

On June 12th Brighton and I will be joining more the 50,000 fellow riders from across the country in this year's Tour de Cure to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. I, as a Type I diabetic myself (and have been since 7th grade) have decided to challenge myself and some of my family members and join other bikers in training and riding the 25 mile distance.

Brighton and I are asking for all of your help by making a donation on my behalf. You will be helping the American Diabetes Association further their research on diabetes care, and someday to find a cure!

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not properly or produce use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. There are 23.6 million American living with diabetes and I am one of them.

We are hoping that our participation in this year's Tour de Cure will help make a little bit of difference, with your support. With the help of people like all of you our goal is to raise $150.00 each! PLEASE help us reach our goals by supporting us for this year's Tour de Cure. Please either go to mine http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/UtahArea?px=5979817&pg=personal&fr_id=6894 or Brighton's website http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/UtahArea?px=5991988&pg=personal&fr_id=6894, to make a secure donation. If you do not want to donate online, please make your checks payable to American Diabetes Association and include your donation in the same envelope. Please mail your contribution to either Brighton or I! Email me for our address. brookellyn16@hotmail.com

Please help us in stopping diabetes, pedaling one mile at a time!!

Thanksgiving Point

I ran a half marathon on Saturday April 24Th at Thanksgiving Point. I won't lie, I did not train very well for it and I was super nervous. It was the first time Thanksgiving Point was putting on a marathon and you never know how well these things would be run and last time I ran a half untrained, I threw up. Three times. All over Brighton's driveway. So I was nervous.

But the race went amazing!! If all races went like this one I would run a million of them. The weather was perfect. It wasn't too hot and it wasn't raining (like the day before). I wore a long sleeve shirt the whole time and I didn't freeze to death. Also, Thanksgiving Point put on an amazing 1st half marathon. It was organized so well. They had great shirts, medals, and it was organized better then some of the other halves I have run. I recommend it. The course was beautiful (for the most part) and best of all? I felt great after! I felt so good after I even went mountain biking. I felt like I had just run a 5k. I think it was because the course was not downhill like all of the other halves I have done. It was mainly flat. I didn't feel like I had just pounded the crap out of my legs. My knees felt good, my quads felt good, and my calves felt good. It was such a sigh of relief. It felt great!!!

I also think I enjoyed it because I was not in any rush to get a good time. I really didn't care when I finish. I didn't get my worst time but I didn't get my best time. I decided while I was running that I was going to talk to as many people as I could and see what their stories were. I talked to five different people with five different stories and I loved it. It made time pass by fast. The last mile (always the hardest) was taking forever. So I ended up talking to this girl, who I thought was my age but she was a mom of 4 kids with her oldest being a 7 year old. Her story inspired me and before I knew it the end was right there. It was fun! And Brighton was good enough to be there for me and of course be my picture taker.

Here is a picture of my friend Amanda and I before the race. (Cold!!!)

Right before the finish line.

Amanda and I after the race!! Another one bites the dust.

Salt Lake City Marathon

April 17Th was the Salt Lake City Marathon. I was super excited it for several reasons.

1-I was not running in it. I got to watch it.
2-My friend was running in it.
3-Mile 21 runs right by my Grandpa's house so all I had to do was walk to the end of the street and enjoy the fun!


Well I ended up running along part of the course (to help me train for my half marathon) but after I ran, I got to watch the marathon runners!! My neighbors set up an unofficial aid station at mile 21 so I was lucky enough to help them by handing out food and drinks to the runners. I was surprised at how many runners stopped to get something but my friend who ran it was telling me that it was the only aid station that had food. Crazy!! I won't lie, I was super grateful I was not running it myself. At mile 21, people don't look too fabulous and it brought back a lot of memories. :)

Here is my friend Jason and mile 21. He was so hungry that he stopped to talk to us while he ate.

While watching the finishers and all of the different looks on all of the their faces I couldn't help but think of my own marathon. I went back and read my blog post about it and I just have to apologize because I was so negative about my whole marathon. I still have mixed feelings about it but I am grateful I accomplished my goal of running a marathon! I sometimes think about running another one but it will be a long long long time from now. They are a lot of work. :) I do however, LOVE watching marathons. I was grateful I got the chance to watch the SLC marathon. I am so proud of all of those people!!! I couldn't help but cry as I watched the finishers! Yes I am a baby but I just love it!

On another note we got out our BBQ for the first time this year! We pulled out our little portable grill and grilled some steaks! They were fabulous!! I love Spring, even though it is snowing right now.

Dallas and Mindy

On April 9Th Brighton's brother got married! It was such a busy and crazy day that I did not take many pictures but after the whole party I did manage to get a couple. None of course of the couple or of family but of the car we got to decorate. Dallas, Brighton's brother, said we could decorate his car only and only if we were nice. So my sister in-law Christy and I spent all night blowing up balloons and putting up glow in the dark stars all of the car. We were so proud of ourselves until Dallas came out, said it looked great, and started popping all of the balloons! We just laughed and gave all the balloons to the little kids. We had fun.
In this first pictures you can see Dallas in the front seat popping all of the balloons.

I did manage to get one picture with the bride and my sister in-law, whom I decorated the car with, before Dallas popped all of the balloons.

Congratulations Dallas and Mindy!!

Grandpa Yates

My Grandpa Yates, whom we have the privilege of living with right now, turned 94yrs old on March 28Th. Can you believe it?? 94!!!
Every year for his birthday he likes to take everybody to Chuck-a-Rama. I am not sure when this yearly event started but it goes back long before I can remember. My grandpa mentioned this event for months leading up to his birthday because he loves seeing everyone and he loves being around them all. I didn't get very many group pictures this year but my favorite picture from the day is this one. Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

Two of my Grandpa's brothers Don and Norman (turning 90 in June), my Grandpa, and his sister Belva.

Vegas

So for spring break and our anniversary we went to Vegas. It has changed A LOT from when I went there when I was younger but we still enjoyed it anyway. The pictures I have posted are not in sequential order but I don't have the energy to fix them. :)

These next pictures are of us at Hover Dam. That thing is HUGE. I didn't think I was going to be that impressed by it but I was wrong. I am amazed at the structure and even more amazed at how they built it. I could never get a really good picture of the Dam but I did get a great picture of the new bridge they are building for cars.

My sisters, dad, and Brighton.

Hoover Dam. Brighton and I.

We went out to eat at a restaurant for our anniversary and this was the desert they brought us.

Brighton and my dad (okay and me too) love to watch the show Pawn Stars. It is about a pawn shop that is located in Vegas. If you have not seen the show it is on the history channel and it is good. So we had to go visit the pawn shop. Since the shop was so popular there was a line to get into it and a bouncer, but it was well worth the wait. That place had some pretty cool stuff in it. The things I loved seeing the most were two super bowl rings that were on sale for $100,000. I have concluded the only people who would have sold their super bowl rings were crazy gambling people. They were awesome.

Proof we were there. My sister and I.

More proof we were there.

Proof that Brighton was there.

Our picture of the store sign while we were waiting in line.

The first night we were there my sister and I rode the New York New York roller coaster. It was crazy fun and I would recommend it to anybody. We also went to the Coca-Cola store and saw the bear.

And of course we went to the M&M factory.

We also saw Lion King, a Cirque de Soleil, and a fashion show. Unfortunately they would not allow cameras so I have no pictures but I would recommend them. One nice thing about Vegas is if they do something they do it well. The performances (minus the fashion show, that was just a small thing) were amazing. I would go back to Vegas just for those.

We had a fun time and I didn't want to come back but when I got back my daffodils had bloomed. Yay for spring!

Three years!

March 16Th was our 3 year anniversary! Brighton sent me flowers at work (I LOVE flowers) and we enjoyed a take out dinner from Pei Wei. Oh how the three years have flown!