Five for Friday

I'm going to steal Me and My Guys great idea. In the spirit of November, every Friday I will post 5 things that I am grateful for:

1. I am grateful for the nice weather we've been having. Today was such a beautiful day. We spent almost 3 hours at the park, and didn't even need coats.

2. I am grateful for my kids. My kids are amazing. I am so blessed to be a mommy to two (almost) perfect little sweeties. I do need to be nicer to them though. Today Gracelin told me that when she grows up, she's going to be a nice mommy. That made me feel badly.

3. I am grateful for my job. I am blessed to have a good job with good benefits, so that I can support my family.

4. I am grateful for my health. This week, my coworker's husband had emergency surgery because they found out he had cancer. They removed 15 tumors from his abdomen. I am so blessed to be healthy, and able to keep up with my kids.

5. I am grateful to be American. Sometimes I get so sad when I think of the conditions that most of the world is living in. I am so grateful to have my freedoms.

I cooked dinner!

Something noteworthy happened today: I made dinner! I know for most people, that is nothing extraordinary. But for me it is. I actually like to cook, and I think I'm pretty good at it. There just never seems to be time. During the week, I don't get home until after 6pm, so dinner is whatever we can warm up quickly. On the weekends, we typically eat out or at family's.

But today, we had no where to go for Sunday dinner, so I got the chance to actually cook. I made enchiladas with extra chilis and green sauce, black beans, and homemade tortilla chips dipped in fresh chipotle salsa with extra cilantro. It was delicious. Bryn with her love of spice was in heaven, and out-ate me. Even G ate quite a bit.

He got a job!

I'm too excited to think of a more creative title. Here's the story:

On Friday, I was dutifully doing my visiting teaching (when Mormon women pair up and visit other women, bringing treats and an uplifting/inspirational message). We were at the home of one of my neighbors (a luxury of living in Utah - you go to church with your neighbors because 90% of them are LDS). I was asking her about the company she works for because Ben had applied there for a position and I wanted to know more about it. She told me a bit, and it sounded like a pretty crappy job. I was unimpressed. But then the girl that I VT with asked what Ben does. She said that her husband works for a company that is hiring several positions, and that Ben should give them a call.

That night when Ben got home from work, I told him about the prospect, and he called the husband about the job. They set up an interview for Monday morning at 9am.

Ben showed up to the interview this morning. He was there for about 2 hours, but they offered him the job on the spot as a credit analyst/underwriter. He starts in 2 weeks. His pay will be significantly less than what he was making before the lay-off - but its lots more than unemployment. Besides, the benefits are good and the company seems to have lots of potential for future growth. Its such a relief to actually have him with a job too.

So, I got a new car

I've managed to avoid blogging about my car situation for awhile. Up until this weekend, I'd been driving a Chevy Trailblazer. They came out in 2004, and we bought one the first year they came out. I loved that car. It was a good sized SUV - big enough to make me feel safe on the road, but not as big as a boat either. It had some great features too and I really did love driving it.

But, a couple of months ago, things changed. I'd gone to meet some friends and their kids downtown for lunch. On the way back, I noticed that my car was acting funny. Being a long way from home, and having 2 kids who were ready for their nap, I was very annoyed. Still, I was worried about what was wrong, so I called the car dealer to see if I could swing by and get my car checked out. They were all booked up for the day, so I made an appointment for the next morning, and started home. Just in case though, I decided to stay off of the freeway, which made my drive even longer, but I figured it would be best to avoid breaking down on the freeway.

I made the right choice. I stopped at a stoplight about 5 miles from home, and my car wouldn't go when the light changed. I called Hubby from work to come and help, and then I called OnStar.

I suppose I should post an aside now about OnStar. GM offers it on all their vehicles, and I suppose the 24-hour roadside assistance is nice (I used it twice in 3 years). But I do think it is funny now, in retrospect, that some car manufacturers offer 100,000 mile warranties, etc, but GM just promises that if you have car trouble, they'll be there to help you (with a small monthly fee). Its almost as if they're saying "hey, are cars are crap. But if (er, when) you do break down, we're just a push of a button away".

Anyway, back to my story. My car got towed to the dealer. It turned out that my transmission was shot (did I mention there was only 47,000 miles on the car?). So, 10 days and almost $4,000 later, I got my car back. The first time I drove it, I knew something wasn't right. I called the repairman, and he towed my car in for free. He checked it out, and said nothing was wrong - although he cleaned the pistons for free, because they were misfiring (or something like that). I had my car back the next day.

I drove it for about 2 months, and the transmission still never felt right to me. Finally, hubby drove the car, and he too admitted that the transmission wasn't right. So, back to the repair shop we went. This time, at least the transmission was under warranty. After 10 more days and our 3rd transmission, we got the vehicle back.

Hubby wanted to drive over to the Acura dealer that night and trade in the Trailblazer. I told him that I felt we should keep the car for awhile and just "wait and see". The thought of a car payment made me sick. So, after a heated discussion (big fat fight) we decided to keep the car. Until the next day when I tried to go to the store and my car wouldn't start. AGAIN.

I had to call hubby at work, tell him the car was broken again, and wait for an "I told ya so".

{{SIGH}}

We actually got the car going by jump-starting it. It sat and idled for an hour in the driveway (we were afraid to turn it off) and then hubby drove the car to trade it in. I didn't even go, and I told him that I trusted him to pick out my car - I just wanted something reliable.

Which I got!

He came home with a sweet, fully-loaded, Acura MDX. It has more features than I can figure out - navigation system, DVD player, heated seats. It even has a back-up camera (mounted on the back fender so I don't hit anything when I back up). Its way more car than I have ever needed or wanted, but I LOVE it.

I think I'm back

Friday night, after we got the girls bathed and in PJs, I had DH drive me 5 miles away from home. He dropped me off, and I had to run back. I had him take me straight west from our house, to the foothills of the Oquirrh (pronounced Oak-er) Mountains.

It was a gorgeous run. The temperature was in the 60s, and the setting sun was at my back. My shadow cast out long in front of me. The first mile was uphill, but after that the run was downhill. I passed about 20 deer, and had the most amazing view of the mountains around the valley. The best part of the run was how I felt - strong and alive. It was the feeling that I was born to run. I didn't try to push myself - I just ran at a steady pace (except for the big downhills, which always cause me to run faster). I stepped on my porch at 59:58, just 2 seconds shy of a full hour. For me, that's a descent training pace.

Saturday night, DH and I had a night to ourselves. His mom took our kids, so we decided to go for a hike. It was an impromptu hike, so we were both in flip-flops. But, we chose Donut Falls. Its a perfect short hike - only 1.5 round-trip. There is a slight incline, but its a fairly flat hike that goes in and out of dense lodgepole pine and quaking aspen forests. The falls themselves are incredible. The water falls into a hole in the rock, and comes out on the other side. It is incredibly beautiful, and was a wonderful evening. And I didn't even get out of breath on the hike. I wanted to run!

I feel reconnected and rejuvenated. I think my boredom is coming from treadmill (aka dreadmill) running. I need to spend more time outside.

Conquering my fears

I'm very afraid of heights. We're not talking a little bit - I get serious anxiety leaning over a balcony railing. So, when my husband suggested we take our 2-year-old rock climbing (she's been asking to go) I thought he was insane. But, he assured me that its perfectly safe. So, on Friday afternoon, we met some friends, my brother and his gf in the mountains. They strapped me up and made me go first. The climbing part was ok - until I looked down. I only made it up about 15 feet before I was begging to come down. And coming down was tricky too - I had to let go of the rock, push my feet into the side of the cliff, and hold my legs out straight. Then, I just "walked" right down the mountain. Ha. Easier said than done. It took me quite a while to get that courage up. But once I actually did it, I'll admit that it was very fun.
After me was Gracelin's turn. She excitedly strapped on the harness, and started right up. She caught on quite quickly, and had a blast climbing up. Of course, we "helped" her along a bit, by pulling the rope up, but she was climbing in a sense - and loving every minute of it. She made it much higher than I did, and made it a point of telling me so.

Not wanting to be shown up by my 2-year-old little girl, I tried again after everyone else got a turn. This time, I made it much higher before I looked down. Of course I was again paralyzed with fear. But coming down was much less scary.

Funny thing is: ever since, I've been dying to go back. I even got a new pair of climbing shoes from my favorite obsession, steepandcheap.com. I think though that we may try the climbing gym next for some work on the basics, but we do plan on conquering the cliffs again soon. G and I are hooked.