I'm breaking all the rules!

You know how they say that you shouldn't discuss matters involving events that take place in the bedroom? Well, today I'm breaking that rule...you know what? I'm going to break that rule REALLY bad and discuss something that takes place in our BED!

Gary and I have a tradition...EVERY NIGHT (or almost, if I don't fall asleep on him) there is an event that occurs in our wonderful King Size Bed. We've kept it a secret long enough, I think it's time to let you all in on our nightly ritual! This event has taken place for almost as long as Gary and I have been married!


One night Gary and I were over at my Parent's house (Or at least this is how my Memory recalls it) and Gary, in his sweet attempt to get me to want to go home (earlier than usual) asked me if I wanted to go home and play "Pigs in a Blanket." My Sister, overhearing this quiet (PRIVATE) conversation let's out a LOUD "GROSS!" to which my Mom asks "What?!?"... and Chandra proceeds to fill her in on the converstaion she just overheard between Gary and I. After the explanation, both of them turn to us and say "You have a nick name for it? You call it PIGS IN A BLANKET?" with a look of disgust on one and a smirk on the other!


"NO, it's not what you think!" I try to explan while my Husband can hardly maintain his standing position because he's laughing so hard (along with my Mom and Sister, I might add). I, a little embarrased, feel the need to properly explain that what Gary incorrectly referred to "Pigs in a blanket" should actually be called "Pass the Pigs!" - a game introduced to me MANY years ago by my best friend Amy who lived down the street all the years of my childhood. This game was later re-introduced to me while on my Mission in Toronto. My mission companion, Sister Vlam...or Vlamy as I still call her, one night pulled out the travel game of "Pass the Pigs" and we played on the nightstand between our beds when we SHOULD have been sleeping...and played everynight after that. It brought back so many GOOD memories when I saw the very same travel game sitting on the shelf in the games section at a local Wal-Mart one day that I bought it. Shortly after Gary and I were married, I introduced him to the same game and we play it every night. First one to 100 wins! Man, I love my Husband!

How many grains of rice are in a serving?

Can anyone answer me that before I give up and go cook some rice for dinner?

So, I quickly followed Vanessa's urge and visited a site called Free Rice. I'm OBSESSED! It serves many important purposes #1) And probably most important, it feeds hungry stomachs 20 grains of rice at a time! #2) It helps me to improve my vocabulary. And #3) It's a great thing to do (at work) when you're bored and your boss is out of town.

How many empty bellies did YOU feed today?

Tragedy

Have any of you heard of the Garmin Forerunner 305 Watch? It's a GPS watch made specifially for running. This thing is FABULOUS! It will tell you everything from your heart rate, your pace, your distance, your elevation, to what you are craving for lunch! You name it...it can do it! I have been wanting this watch for over three years now and even took another SMALL VERY PART TIME job (in addition to the THREE other 'careers' I have) just to earn money to buy one of these watches! Well, what did my Husband get me for Christmas? A GARMIN FORERUNNER 305! You can imagine how excited I was to open THAT gift! The more I used it, the more I loved it, I'm pretty much attached to it!

So, we got home from Kentucky and went out for a run the next day (Friday) with the watch and it was still great! Saturday morning was extra cold and I couldn't talk Gary into running outside with me, so we decided to go to the gym. BUT, on the way to the gym, we stopped at Target for a quick errand. Well, being the nice husband that he is and the fact that we were really trying to hurry, he dropped me off outside the front doors and then went to park the car.

After out little quick Target trip, we both came out to the car and as I got in the car, I went to grab my watch out of my bag (because I love to just watch the GPS do it's thing, even if we're driving) and it wasn't there! We were in such a quick hurry that morning that I don't quite remember WHAT I did with my watch. You know, we all have those days right? Where the last hour or two of our life is sort of a blur, and somehow we got things done, but we're not quite sure WHAT or HOW?

So, a little worried, I dumped my bag out and it still wasn't there. I got out of the car and looked under all the seats and it still wasn't there. We drove all the way back home, HOPING that for some random reason, I left the watch sitting on the counter, Nope. I called Target to see if by some miraculous occurance, it was turned into the Lost and Found...nope. All this time a thought in the back of my mind is telling me that it's VERY possible I had that watch on my lap the whole time we drove to Target (under my bag that was ALSO sitting on my lap)...and if that WAS indeed the case, then when I went to get out of the car...(I'll let you finish the sentance because this is too difficult to even write!). Did I mention that there was snow on the gound? It was WET and SNOWY!

Well, we get back to Target and right where Gary dropped me off...are pieces of what used to be the coolest watch EVER...and JUST as we spot it, a man steps on it as he walks into the store! (DAGGER IN THE HEART). Yes, it had landed softly in the slushy snow...and been run over many times by the time I rescued it. The problem is that the rescue came WAY WAY WAY too late. I can't even sell this for parts! I didn't even OWN this watch for TWO WEEKS! Needless to say, I cried...and cried. That was a SAD SAD day! Would you call that irresponsible? Yeah, I would too.

Garm, our beloved GPS watch passed away on January 5, 2008. He was born December 25, 2007. He is survived by his parents, Gary and Tara Fears. Garm was loved by ALL who used him and was a reliable friend. Memorial Services will be held January 16th at the Fears Residence in Orem, UT. A memorial fund has been formed at the America First Credit Union. Condolences may be sent to tarafears@gmail.com (or posted on this blog).

Delayed Christmas Recap

The thought of filling you in on our entire Christmas holiday is a bit overwhelming, so I'll post pictures and give you the bathroom book version...

This year Gary and I flew to Kentucky to celebrate Christmas with his family. Something I have been VERY excited about for a long time!!! Of ten kids, eight and their families were able to be there so there was never a dull moment!

We flew into Vegas on Saturday December 22nd. The very day of the BYU vs. UCLA Bowl Game. We had booked our tickets long before we ever knew there would even be a bowl game and as soon as the news came out Gary, the dedicated BYU fan that he is, begged me to change our flights so we could go down to Vegas before. When this plan was kaboshed by yours truly, he went to plan "B." This kid was never going to give up. Since our flight had a 3 hour lay over in Las Vegas, as soon as we got off the plain he went up to the desk of our next departing flight to put his name down on the 'you can bump us if you need to' list. Unfortunately for him, there was no need for this! I'm pretty sure his mother was quite glad about this because she had told him that if he delayed and came in on Sunday, he'd have to take a taxi to Hopkinsville! Needless to say, we got to Nashville on a crazy hectic day. It took a VERY long time to get our luggage because they were so backed up unloading planes. Of course Gary was a little extra aggitated due to the fact that the BYU bowl game was starting in a matter of hours and he didn't want to miss one minute of it!

Little did he know, we had other plans! Since the whole family was in Nashville when we flew in, we all decided to take the opportunity to visit the Opryland Hotel. This place is a beauty!!! I wish I would have taken more pictures! It's enormous and would put any hotel in Las Vegas to shame! A must see for any of you Nashville visitors! Below is a picture of Alyssa and I in front of this beautiful tree made completely out of poinsettias.

Christmas Eve consisted of the Fears Family Dinner which was devine! Followed by the annual Nativity Program. I'm told that usually the Grandkids play the parts but considering the fact that this was Gary's FIRST Christmas with his family as a married man, the parts of Joseph and Mary apparently suited us well. There were plenty of good looking angels, wise men, and shepheards though!

Here is a good portion of the family...just waiting around ANXIOUSLY for the 'go ahead' - This was SO exciting!

A cute one of Gary and his Momma!

After all the unwrapping was complete, it was time to burn the trash. Huh? Yeah, I said BURN THE TRASH! I know, it was a new experience for me too! We did this up right too!! Gary dumped the fuel and I started it all up with the blow torch!

Here are some of the cutest little girls ever! And they are MY neices! I'm such a lucky aunt...

Next...Horseback Riding. We did this a couple times while we were there. It was, as expected, so much fun!

Meet Goldie...

This is Traveler...my favorite horse that I rode while we were there.


Then we took off and went to Louisville for a few days. While we were there, we went and toured Churchill Downs. It's the COOLEST place ever and Gary and I can't wait for May 3rd to come around! We're totally having a Kentucky Derby Party, and you're ALL invited!

Did you know that each horse that competes in the Kentucky Derby is THREE years old. No older no younger...and of course, only runs one time in his life! One chance to win the race. No pressure though!

Meet Phantom. He ran in the 1997 Kentucky Derby and took 6th place. He's HUGE and beautiful! He comes through the line of Secretariat...a horse that DID win the Kentucky Derby. In fact Secretariat still holds the record and is one of only two horses to ever have broken the 2 minute finishing time. Secretariat also had a heart that weighed 21 pounds and the everage weight of a horse heart is 7 pounds...I hope I got my numbers right. I didn't take notes on the tour.

This little statue stands about 3-4 feet tall. And after EVERY Kentucky Derby, they paint it the color of the jersey the winning jockey was wearing. Street Sense won last year, as you can see.

Gary's Dad has this HUGE garage/shed/2nd home that they call The Palace. He's got every tool and toy known to man in that place! We decided to have a little archery practice one day. I think Gary is trying to help me hit the bulls eye through telepathy or something though.

Happy New Years (at 11:00pm, or was it 10:00?) This party was actually more rockin than the REAL one at midnight. Probably because 75% of the people in the house had to go to bed early...and would you believe it if I told you that Gary was in the shower at 12:00am? Yeah, he missed the whole (real) thing! It's a good thing he got to party with the younger kids.

On New Years Eve, Gary's Dad took some of the grandkids and came home with two puppies. They are called Catahoola Leapord Dogs and are SO cute! Google it up, they'll be beautiful dogs. I really wanted to play with these puppies but couldn't bring myself to do it until they'd been bathed. So one day Gary and I bathed them, played with them, and then took them to get their shots. By the end of the day, we were pretty attached...hoping we'd find a way to stuff them in our suitcases. No option seemed to work for us very well. So, we're dog-less and missing them.

This is the home that was built for them. Back there is a dog-gloo house with wood chips in there and then the whole thing is surrounded by hay to keep the cold wind off them and help with warmth. I just wanted to snuggle down in there WITH them!

Christmas was so much fun! Thanks to Gary's parents to hosting everyone! We had a great time and are so grateful to have such wonderful family! We look forward to seeing everyone again at the Family Reunion this summer!!!

Introducing...

The newest Citizen to the United States of America! Yes, you heard it right folks. As of yesterday at 2:15pm. I am now a full fledged American! I can hardly believe it myself. I don't know what I'm going to do when I hit the border and don't get harassed like I have been EVERY SINGLE TIME I'VE tried to enter the US from Canada! :::sigh::: You better believe I'll be voting for the first time in my life come November! Gary's very excited, for some reason, he was really stressing out about what nationality our children would actually be and this event has eased his fears. (I won't tell him that Canada will STILL consider them Canadian!)

FOUR DAYS TO GO!

I'm supposed to be training for a half marathon that I will be running with Liz & Todd (a sister and brother in-law) down in St. George this Saturday. I have to admit, I haven't been following my training program too well. Thanksgiving and Christmas threw me for a wild loop (and a bit of weight gain too)...but I think I've got that under control now and I'm still very excited about this race!!!
I thought I'd share with you the run I did yesterday! I worked it up on the computer and then ran it (making a few minor changes to the course while I ran due to SNOW packed side walks or NO side walks and snow packed roads...a possible dangerous situation) but managed to keep my distance the same. When I came home and re-worked the actual route, I was quite proud of myself...it looks like I just ran across the whole country or something!!! It felt GREAT! I'll fill you in next week on the race!



And, I DO have a Christmas post that is in the works, I just haven't finished it and posted it...stay tuned!