10k Adventures

I'm not much of a runner, but I signed up for the 2011 Wasatch Back and thought it would be wise to run a few races between to keep in shape. Well, Darcy and I decided to run the Layton 10k on Saturday - it was a good race to start with because it's so flat. Anyway, we met at 6:30 on Saturday morning, so we could get to the course by 7:00 and have time to warm up because OUR race didn't start until 7:30. When we arrived, we took a quick potty stop - didn't want nature slowing us down... and when we got done with our break, tons of people were lined up at the starting line, so we figured it was our time to start as well and didn't bother checking a clock. We started the race and ran for awhile and noticed that our numbers were way off from any of the other racers, but didn't think too much about. I guess we figured we just registered way earlier than the people we had seen. We kept running and running and running. After about 4 miles Darcy asks "How are we supposed to get back? Is there some sort of short cut?" and I answer "I don't know, lets just keep running." So, we continue. After another mile, we realize that we can't possibly get back to the finish in another mile. We asked a few runners and find out that we started with the 1/2 marathon group and are on the WRONG course - or rather we started at the wrong time and didn't make the turn-around. By this time, I'm thinking we may have to run another 8 miles. We kept running until the 1/2 marathon turn- around where an extremely nice person let us use his phone. Craig and my mom ended up picking us up and driving us near the finish line where we "finished" the race. Craig dropped us off on a corner where we were accused of cheating by multiple people. Very funny.

Other side of the story: 4 minutes after Darcy and I start the race, the 10k race is announced. Jill, who drove us that morning, hears the announcement and realizes that we started at the wrong time! She made several phone calls, so our families knew we were running with the 1/2 marathoners before we did. We had tons of fun, and now have a good story to tell! Maybe we'll run the entire 1/2 marathon next year!

At the 1/2 marathon turn-around, just after Craig and my mom came to pick us up :)

At the real finish line and me being a dork.

Another post-run shot!

The Stink Hole

AKA Yellowstone. Okay it wasn't really THAT stinky, but the day we walked by the geysers, it happened to be windy, so the smell caused by the Hydrogen Sulfide was quite apparent (yes, I looked that up). Kate thought it smelled like noodles... I was surprised my pregnant, nauseated sister didn't lose her breakfast.

My parents rented this beautiful cabin for the entire family.


We visited Firehole Falls.

We were in a traffic jam because of one bison - he just couldn't figure out how to get off of the road! Luckily a ranger came to help him - poor bison is probably traumatized now.

We skipped rocks. Craig tried to get his to skip all the way across - look at that determination!

We saw pretty blue geysers - I wanted to jump in this one.

We (meaning Craig) gave lots of piggy backs. Claire is on a picture strike and was trying to cover her face in most pictures. We did manage to get a few pictures out of her - probably with some sort of bribery...

We watched Old Faithful. A few minutes before Old Faithful erupted, an old man approached us in a panic and asked what time the "event" was starting. We must have looked confused because he quickly ran off and we looked at each other and said "what event?" Come to find out, he was asking about Old Faithful - since when was that considered an "event"? We thought there may be some sort of race going on that day. Nope.

We sipped hot chocolate on the porch of Old Faithful Inn.

We went to Mammoth Hot Springs...

...where there were tons of these signs, warning about the dangerous elk. We didn't see any elk, but my brother and his family have pictures of elk lounging around the buildings and in the parks. Glad we had these signs, so we wouldn't be tempted to approach the elk...

On our way back home, we stopped at the Mesa Falls - so pretty!

This one's for the Davis'

Here's a recent picture, Jill - literally taken less than 5 minutes ago (with the self-timer)! Sorry to disappoint with the last post :)


And here's another picture for kicks and giggles...Bosley, probably the most frequently bathed puppy in the area.

Minor Change

I made a change to the "About Us" section of our blog and wanted to make sure the definition of "Boost" was clear:

Boost (noun): a nutritional supplement that RDs (Registered Dietitians) offer to all patients who may have poor intake during LOS (length of stay) at the hospital. It comes in a variety of flavors, but the most common are chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla - and yes, it has saved some patients.

More Than Just a Big Hole in the Ground...

Our trip to the Grand Canyon

Craig and I were able to get away for a long weekend and headed to the Grand Canyon. We're not really into camping, but figured we could make it a couple of days sleeping in a tent and cooking on a gas stove - the best part about this camping experience was that we had flushing toilets AND showers. Is that still considered camping?

We stopped at Zion National Park on the way and went on a very short and hot hike - we even have a few pictures of us together. Thank goodness for self-timers!

This is our beautiful camp. We got the very last campsite, which happened to be handicap accessible - it was flat and close to the flushing toilets.

Another self-timed shot. I was the designated runner - you can totally see the stump that the camera was on! Just behind the trees is the rim to the canyon. We saw so many people drinking alcohol and walking close to the edge, thinking they would fall off - I was surprised not to witness any fatalities.

On Saturday, we went on hike called Widforss Trail. It followed the rim and had the most beautiful view at the end - it was amazing! Craig was disappointed that we didn't see any Mountain Lions... I was grateful NOT to see any.

We also drove to another lookout area - we used the self-timer on one of the pictures, but a guy saw me running to pose and insisted that he take a picture of us. I thought I could make it home without anyone taking a picture of us together.

We had so much fun on this mini-vacation and realized that there are tons of fun things to do that are close to us! It's not even that hard to cook on a camp stove. In fact, I think we ate better on this trip than we do at home. Next stop: Yellowstone!

I learned how to do a picture collage!.

Boise

This past weekend my family (minus 1 brother and family) headed up to Boise to my cousin's wedding. We had so much fun spending time with each other, my siblings, and cousins! We figured out that between aunt, uncles, cousins, and a great aunt, the Stagg family had 9 rooms at the same hotel. Good thing it didn't burn down or we would be missing a huge hunk of the family...

On Friday my sister, my parents and Craig and I went to Toy Story 3 - loved it! Saturday was Cody and Brad's big day. Here are a few pictures:

With Tucker, Michelle, and their family

Most of the girl cousins on the Stagg side

What's better than having a pony-drawn carriage at a wedding reception? I would have to say nothing! This pony was a hit and could run - fast!

I had to post this picture - Kate is so funny!

Me trying to feed Craig a strawberry - he wouldn't take it. Oh well, so much for me being romantic...

Wasatch Back 2010

Craig ran in the Ragnar relay with Chris, Jill and some of their friends and had a blast. I volunteered at Snow Basin on Friday night and had tons of fun, but wished I could have seen the team - they passed the Snow Basin exchange a few hours before I got there. Here are a few pictures from the race.

Pre-race. The team got together the night before the race started and decorated the vans. Go Team Swassnar!


Craig and Caleb at the Canyons on the lift - Caleb loved this fun ride!

After the race. Craig finished his legs at about 9 am on Saturday and I met him in Park City. He sure looks good after 3 hours of sleep and 15 miles!

Team Swassnar after finishing - they ended up running the 188 miles in about 32 hours. I'm hoping that I can run next year. Seeing all of the runners gave me some motivation! Maybe next time, I'll take some pictures during the race too!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day weekend with lots of food and family. On Saturday, lucky Craig was taking a practice LSAT while I went to the Cemetery with my parents. I guess the youngest still gets dragged along :).

Sunday, we had a barbeque with Craig's family with great food! I made an Asian pasta salad filled with tons of vegetables. It is from The Pioneer Woman's Blog - if you haven't been to her blog check it out http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/. You'll become addicted to her recipes, stories, and pictures. I promise. Craig, his brothers, and our nephew played soccer.

We love this little man!

The "men" playing socceer.

On Monday, I headed to my parent's house. Poor Craig was at school all day, getting the newspaper ready to publish (yes...he is the sport's editor for the school newspaper. Kind of nerdy - I guess I rubbed off on him a little.) More yummy food and fun with nieces and nephew. We are so lucky to live close to our families and love spending time with them. We will sure miss them if we go away to Law School!

Why do I...

Love cutting up fabric just to sew it back together again??

I have no clue, but the outcome is sure cute this time! Now the question is what should I do with it?

Cooking Experiments

I have been seeing quite a few patients lately with gluten intolerances because of Celiac Disease and they ask if I have any tips for cooking gluten-free. The fact is that I don't ever cook gluten-free because I don't have to! I decided to purchase (well, my mom paid for it...) some gluten-free flour and try some easy recipes and replace wheat flour with the gluten-free stuff.



First experiment: Gluten-free pancakes! They look just like regular pancakes. I thought they would be really flat, so I added a little extra baking powder and they were nice and fluffy!

Perfectly brown...

Success! Craig liked them. They had a slightly gritty texture and different taste (from the rice flour), but I would eat them again. Maybe I'll try a more risky recipe next time!

We've Joined the Ranks

After 4 years of marriage, we finally decided to join the blogging crowd... and we would probably jump off a cliff if everyone we knew jumped too.

I can't guarantee that we will be posting very frequently. We don't have cute children to post about - we only have a cute dog, but surely nobody wants to hear about the life of our dog, though he has had a quite traumatic life thus far - eating chicken bones, eating spiders, eating an entire bag of trail mix, contracting pneumonia, and being bitten by another dog all of which required emergency trips to the vet. Who knew a dog could cause so many problems?

Craig and I sometimes have fun and exciting adventures. A couple of weekends ago, we headed to Las Vegas with some friends. The boys (and Ashley) went to the 311 concert while Alysha and I watched about 5 episodes of "The Nanny".

The 311 Crew


We also spent time at the pool, on the strip and just hanging out. It was such a fun trip and we were glad to get away from work and studying for a weekend!

The Girls


The Boys


In front of the Belagio