Bear Creek Half Marathon!

Now that Kim has started school, she's not really going to have any time to do anything fun. So she's been training for the last 6 weeks for the Bear Creek Half Marathon at Briones Regional Park near Walnut Creek, CA.

It was a warm day for a race, especially one where the trail climbs over 3,000 feet. It got up to about 100 degrees half-way through the race, but Kim kept it going and finished with a great time!

She is so amazing to have done so well on her first half marathon; all while starting medical school. I know this will be the first of many, now let's see if she can get me out for one! Great job sweetheart!

All smiles! (this is before it got up to 100 degrees)

Kim and her friend Joy from school.
Ready to go, about 50 people in the race.

On your mark, get set....
Go! Notice Kim in the back pushing people early on for some spacing....

Crossing the finish line!

The price paid!

My First Day of PA School

So many of you know I had my first day of Physician Assistant School on Monday (yesterday) Aug. 24, 2009.

I can't describe how nervous, scared, complete and excited I feel all at the same time. This is a huge undertaking and I have been working toward this day for the last 5 years +. So much time, effort, sweat, tears, self-examination, self-actualization has happened to get me to this point. I know I have a long road ahead. I feel like I am accomplishing one of my life's greatest missions (I feel there will be many different ones).

I want to challenge all my awesome friends out there to really look inside yourself and think of something, a goal maybe, of which you want to accomplish AND DO IT. I never thought I would feel so sure of my path in life as I do right now and it is a great feeling. My favorite quote is
"Anything in life worth having is never easy" and I like to add "or convenient."

Enough of this sappy stuff, I just wanted to thank everybody for helping me get here, being supportive and kind and at the end of 32 months I will graduate.

Our 4 year anniversary!

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So Jake and I celebrate 4 years together on August 19, 2009. I start school on August 19, so we did something this past weekend to celebrate. Jake suprised me and took me to a bed & breakfast victorian inn at half moon bay. We ate at an organic eclectic eatery (AMAZING), which I loved. The next day we walked around downtown and bought a bunch of produce from local produce stands.

I can't believe it has almost been four years. Time flies by so quickly, but I am still so in love with Jake. I have believed from the beginning that he was made for me and I for him. I used to not believe in the idea of a soul-mate but, every year that goes by only further solidifies my belief in one and that Jake is mine. We have been through so much together over the last four years, to name a few (just for reminiscing purposes):

• Lived in 5 different apartments, ranging from 400 sq ft to 1100 sq ft.
• We have lived in four different states (Utah, Arizona, Missouri, California)
• Jake graduated from USU Cum Laude with a BA in Spanish
• I graduated from USU with a BS Biology
  
• Jake graduated from Thunderbird School of Global Management with his MBA
  
• I was accepted and will be starting PA school - MSPAS/MPH program
• We have owned a motorcycle and eight different cars and sold six of them (4-runner, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Rodeo, Civic, Matrix, Saturn Vue & one right now we are trying to find)
• When we were first married we lived off of $1000/month
• We owned a cat for two weeks (I was allergic)
• We have been on many vacations (Cancun, Yellowstone, Snake River, Disneyland twice, Ensenada, Nauvoo (church sites), Moab, Bear Lake, Sonoma, Camping of sorts, Panama and who knows how many Utah trips)
• Together we have tried: Mountain Biking, Running, Yoga, Tennis (Jake taught me), Four-wheeling and Motorcycling.
• Jake converted me to Seinfeld, I converted Jake to Keeping up Appearances, and together we are AVID Arrested Development, The Office, Flight of the Conchords, LOST, SYTYCD, and yes Jake too- The Bachelorette viewers! (although he'd never admit it, JK)
• As much as I've tried I just can't get Jake to appreciate one of my favorite movies "White Chicks" but he does appreciate my other favorites "Get Smart," and both "Pink Panther 1 & 2". Jake has succeeded in getting me to love Indiana Jones and most superhero movies!
  
• Jake bought both our mountain bikes with money he earned from donating plasma (his was stolen in AZ).
• We both tried Thai and Sushi together and they are now our FAVORITE cuisines.
• Jake loves the fact that I scrapbook and thinks it's good for our family (I did not expect that)
• We have become healthy food fanatics. Jake lets me take away butter at the table, reduce the sugar in his food, remove oil from his pizza, tell him to eat slower and make him eat tonz of vegetables, all with a smile on his face!
• Our extended families have grown via one nephew, one niece, one sister-in-law, and two brother-in-laws.
• Together we have held 14 different jobs. I have held 7 different jobs (Group Home Leader, Assisted Living CNA, Dillards sales associate, Lancome make-up artist, substitute teacher, Science/Math Tutor at anorexia/bulemia clinic, med/surg CNA, med/surg Secretary), Jake has held 7 different jobs (Herald Journal classifieds, Wells Fargo- Tellar, Loan officer, Spanish tutor at anorexia/bulemia clinic, Thunderbird- Financial Aid Assistant, Carreer Center Advisor, Hilti Sales Manager)
• When we first got married we owned two chairs and purchased a bed. Now it's a bit more every year!
  

I do not intend for this to sound braggy, I am just so grateful for what we have been able to accomplish together. The best part of all of this is that after four years and all of the above, WE STILL LIKE EACHOTHER!!!(hahahha) All in all I think we are working well together and I can't wait to see what our future holds. I feel like Jake and I together can accomplish anything we set our minds to. Lucky for me it is usually what I set my mind to!

Here's to you, JAKE and US. I love you! We were meant to be forever, and I am sure looking forward to a forever with you!

I know we are slackers! Our Apartment finally!

So I know that we have completely forgotten about our blog, but I will be updating it a little bit at a time. I have to go all the way back to March when my sister SAra got married. I think Jake and I have just been running around with our heads chopped off the last few months. But, we are starting to come back to reality bit by bit. Just in time for me to start school in two days! Ahhhh! I am so excited. Hopefully I can keep you updated with my school process. But for now, I am posting some pictures of our apartment that I have taken forever to post. You can look at the previous posts for the before pictures, and here are the "after" Pictures. I am especially proud of my kitchen that I painted the walls and laid the flooring. I decided not to paint anything else after that, though.