A few weeks ago (March 12), the commuter train I was on hit a truck. I was on the train a half hour later than the one I usually catch, but I was running late. Five minutes into the trip (between North Temple and Woods Cross) there was a jerk of the brakes (nothing crazy, definitely not the hardest I've felt the brakes on the train) and a distant thump, then we came to a stop and the brakes started stinking. The guy across from me said he saw the remains of a truck as we went by. Long story short, the guy who was driving the truck got stuck on the tracks or something and he ended up with minor injuries. Nobody on the train was injured. Instead of getting home at 5:55 I got home at 9:00, making a commute of 4 hours 15 minutes. I thought the workers on the train did a fine job, and the EMTs who checked on everyone were great. But whoever at UTA is in charge of figuring out what to do in an emergency is completely inept. At first they said they’d bring buses. We sat for over two...

I did it! On November third I ran my first half marathon! I loved it. I'd put it on my list of top ten life experiences, in fact. The night before, we met up at the Olive Garden with the four other ladies from my ward that were running it, to load up on pasta. I was super nervous and excited and it was nice to talk to the veterans who have run long races before. Even just the "what are you wearing?" and "what are you eating for breakfast?" questions went a long way to calm my nerves. Later Nate and I went to pick up my race bag from the Dixie Center. I was fine until we walked in and I saw tons of super-fit-looking people who all seemed very fancy and hard core. I was feeling pretty nervous and intimidated, so we made it quick. I hardly slept a wink that night, between the kids, a sore throat, and my stomach being in a knot. The next morning I was something of a wreck. Poor Nate. I don't know how he manages to keep a straight face sometimes whe...

The time has come to announce to the world that I'm running a half marathon! That's 13.1 miles for those of you keeping score at home. While I was still expecting Leah, one of my best friends in the ward asked me to run one with her and I was pretty stoked. In the painfully long last weeks of pregnancy the thought of starting my training for this race was about the only exciting thing my miserable, mopey, gargantuan self could think of. Getting started running again was rough, but I grabbed another friend and we forced ourselves to get out and walk/run three times a week until we built up some stamina. I've been good about running three times a week for several months now, and I'm at the point in my training where I'm doing two short runs during the week and a long one on Saturday morning. The race is in a month and I'm right where I want to be. I told myself toward the beginning, when running for ninety seconds straight seemed impossible, that if I could wo...

Nate here. Michelle had the great idea of recording a couple thoughts about the last three years of my master's program at the University of Utah. So I'll start with one low and one high. The worst part of the whole experience was trying to squeeze classes and homework into a schedule already full to overflowing with a full-time job (and sometimes overtime), family responsibilities, commuting from home two counties away, church obligations, a yard that will never be under control, etc. Because I ride the train into Salt Lake I don't have a car at work, so I was stuck on the bus or light rail to get to the university and back downtown to work. I always, always, ALWAYS tried every scheme imaginable to cut down on commuting time. The worst was when I had a late-night class and had to catch the 9:00 train or have to wait until 10:00 for the next one. It stressed me out to no end. I tried biking, I tried bus-hopping to save time, and I sometimes asked classmates I barely knew to...

Hate to shatter everyone’s hopes and dreams, but the competition for best graduation gift ever given is finished. Game over. You can go home now. Michelle won. Friday night after my folks took us out to eat, we got home and Michelle told me that Gerald, an elderly man in our neighborhood, wanted to congratulate me on finishing my master’s. So we headed over there, and we talked for awhile about the latest news, and I was thinking, “Wait, you invited us over to chat about Osama bin Laden?” When we got up to leave he handed me an envelope. I opened it and was confused because I thought it was empty, but then I saw that there was a slip of paper inside with four lines of poetry on it. And now I was thinking, “An 80-year-old is writing me poetry?” FINALLY I caught on that Michelle had master-minded an elaborate treasure hunt with clues slipped into envelopes. So we proceeded to traipse around the neighborhood, walking into people’s backyards, poking around their shrubs, and generally putt...

Michelle is a stellar mom, and being a mom is about the most important thing she can be. It takes an awful lot of her time and sanity. But let's not get any ideas out there that there's nothing more to her life. (I'm looking at you, Michelle...) I'll let the blog itself serve as proof of her stunning accomplishments as a mother in Zion. Instead, I'd like to record in this post the other pies she has her fingers in. (I first wrote "the other fingers she has her pie in," but fortunately corrected myself.) About a month ago, Michelle was put in as the president of the young women's organization in our ward. If you ask me, she had it coming, since the week before the call came, she bore a beautiful and emotional testimony in church about going to the temple with the young women and feeling how special they were. Guess the bishop was listening, eh? Anyway, I'm really proud of her for stepping right in and getting to the heart of it - not programs or me...