"There is a Pirate over there suckin some Goo."

There is nothing like waking up at the crack of dawn, putting on a run-able costume, waiting in line next to a hearse to get bused up to the snow topped mountains with a bunch of freaks dressed up like astronauts, cops, Hillary Clinton, a human out-house, and strawberry shortcake only to be dropped off and expected to 13.1 miles.

I swore I would never run another race after both 10K's at Bear Lake but somehow Janelle talked me into a Half Marathon. We had everything working against us with this race- shin splints, the early stages of bronchitis, stomach issues, cold weather and severe lack of training. But somehow we pushed all that aside and ran our a's off. The first five miles were bliss. Running from Aspen Grove to Provo Canyon was the prettiest thing I have ever done. The sun was just starting to rise on Timp and everyone was so pumped. I loved being able to smell the gun powder as I crossed over the line. Those wings lasted 6 miles and then I threw them in a ditch. Worst thing ever to run with! Actually, I bet the worst thing was a cardboard car that "Peach" was driving/running in.

This family picture is pretty lame but I had to document Takashi. He is the Japanese exchange student staying with my parents. He probably thinks us Americans are CRAZY!! Especially after watching this race. We have really been wearing him out. He is always falling asleep all over the place. Look at the picture, he can hardly keep his eyes open. Poor guy.

The medals were pretty cool too. If you are going to sign up for a half marathon, sign up for this one. It is so pretty and so entertaining. I was literally laughing 3/4 of the way down.

Things I learned from this:

-Never exceed the maximum allowable dosage of Ibuprofen. It messes you up! Janelle and I thought it would help us fight through the pain to load up before hand. Janelle started taking loose pills laying of the counter just for fun. Not a good idea. I think I took 1800 mg within 12 hours by accident. My stomach paid for it dearly.

-I need to train more.

Well... It's official

You can stop looking! I found the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. Janelle and I have been looking for it ever since we learned how to crack an egg. I've come close a couple times but I always had a complaint or two about it. It's hard to get the fat right. Some recipes use butter, some margarine and some shortening. This one struck a perfect balance with half butter flavored crisco and half butter. Margarine is not welcome in any of my cookies, EVER! I bake cookies every Wednesday and have learned a lot about making them perfect. Some of you may already know this but if you don't... well... it may change your cookie baking life.

• In my experience, cookies mixed in an electric mixer never turn out as good as when you mix it by hand with a wooden spoon. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with over mixing. It will work your muscles but for some reason they are always better.

• I always set the timer for 8 minutes no matter how long the recipe says. Check them and if they need more time set the timer for one minute intervals until you find the perfect "done-ness" and then set every batch for that same time. I always take them out when the edges are a little golden and the tops are just starting to turn golden. This recipe is perfect in my oven at 9 minutes 45 seconds.

• If you take them out when the edges are just starting to turn brown, the middles will be pretty soft. I take them out and drop the pan on the stove, kinda hard. Then let them continue to bake on the pan for 2 minutes. Take them right off and let them cool on a rack.

• Use good vanilla, it makes such a difference. Go to mexico and buy the good stuff. I thought my mom was crazy when she filled her suitcase with Mexican vanilla on our cruise but now that I've been spoiled with it, imitation crap vanilla is no bueno.

• When I refrigerate unused dough, it never bakes as well. It is still pretty good but not quite the same. I always try and bake them all fresh.

Okay, I think that is all. Here is the recipe. I hope you guys make them, and I hope you like them.

Chrissy's Chocolate Chip Cookies

350 Degress

10 minutes

3-4 dozen

2/3 cup Butter

2/3 cup Butter Flavored Crisco

2 eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla

1 cup Brown Sugar (packed)

1 cup White Sugar

3 cups Flour

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Baking Soda

8-12 oz. Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the margarine, shortening, eggs, vanilla and sugars.

Add dry ingredients and stir. Add chocolate chips.

Sundance 2010

First snow of the season.

It's lovely up there right now. Those lifts are just aching to stretch their legs. I love living 20 minutes away from this.

Spooky...

So my photography class got a new assignment last week. The theme was "spooky". I really strained my brain trying to think of creative ideas and nothing came. Luckily while I was running on Friday up Provo canyon I noticed a car wrecked in the river. It seemed a little odd to me so I stopped and noticed that there were two cars. One of the cars had a fake bloody hand on the steering wheel. The photo assignment popped into my head and I decided to head back up today with my camera and see if I could make it work. It was even creepier than I thought it would be. It was like a car graveyard down there. There were probably 8 vintage cars buried in the bank. I'm so curious how they all got there. I always take my Digital with me when I go shoot my 35mm film camera so that I can see what I like instantly. Anyways, I thought these turned out kind of cool.

(See that hand?)

Things I like about this time of year:

-Running up the canyon. Those leaves are off the hook!

-Chai tea. Even though it makes me a "jack mormon", according to Jo.

-Being able to wear my Mont Bell again. I've missed it dearly.

-Yards that don't have giant inflatable decorations in them.

-Writing letters. For some reason I always write more letters in the fall.

-Pumpkin pancakes at Village Inn. They are the bomb!

-Liking apples. I can't get myself to like them the rest of the year. Probably because they aren't covered in caramel.

-Getting bundled up and hanging out with these freaks.

Here are a couple pics of the last day or two with Adam.

"Always remember, there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name."

-oh, that's another thing, I love The Avett Brothers.

Family

So this is Adam. He is one of those guys that everyone secretly hates because he is incredible at everything he does. He took state in tennis and was in the paper every other day for rockin Mountain Views basketball team. He is kind and respectful and plays the piano and guitar. He makes a mean bowl of ramen noodles and acts like everything I cook is the best thing he's ever eaten.

He is the first Laemmlen cousin to go on a mission and he is going to rock at that too. I have become pretty good buds with him the past month and a half and I am going to miss him so bad!! How do people send missionaries off? Agh...

This is Adams younger sister Claire. There is a reason Janelle and I call these guys "the beautiful cousins". She is just as talented as Adam. Sometimes it makes me sick but I love her guts. Tuesday we realized that she loves getting her picture taken and I love taking pictures so we make a pretty good pair.

See that old guy on the tractor? That is my Grandpa Art. He is 80!! Can you believe it? Look at that head of hair! He is quite a handsome man.

This picture is super random but it is crazy! This storm blew my mind. That cloud dumped on me a couple minutes after this was taken. I love the contrast against those clouds and blue sky behind it.

(Dear Ortons- If you are reading this, tell your Dad that the pictures I took of him turned out pretty sweet. I'll have to make him a copy.)

Aloha!

Janelle and I went to Hawaii a couple weeks ago. We learned the hula, ate way too much pork and basked in the sun.

Okay, maybe it wasn't really Hawaii but it was pretty dang close. Patricks mom turned 50 so they planned a crazy huge surprise luau for her. I had never been to a legit surprise party either, it was so great. She had been in Las Vegas all day with her husband and she came home to a yard full of crazy Utleys and a full on Luau. The dancers came all the way down from Salt Lake and were so wonderful. They even dragged Janelle and Pat and I up to do some weirdo rope dance. It was hilarious.

One of my favorite parts of the night was having their 4 Japanese exchange students roaming around confused. They definitely had never seen a luau before and kept getting lost in the house. That one over my shoulder has such a perfect expression on his face. All they wanted to do was go to bed and sleep off their jet lag but there was no sleeping in that house. We found them crashed all over the place. It was great.

Fall'in

Today was so lovely. Janelle and I did the Alpine Loop and could not get enough of our mountains! I have to do portraits for my Photo class so we stopped and got some cheezy model shots in the leaves. I cannot believe how lucky we are to live 20 minutes from this little piece of heaven. Happy Fall and Happy Conference!