Running the Ragnar

Well.... I survived the Ragnar. With 11 other runners, we ran 196 miles from Chattanooga TN to Nashville.  It was the best and the worst thing I've ever done. I had a great time and I'm super proud that I survived. Six of the runners were from my ward in Louisville, and the other six are from Nashville. Thanks to my good friend Lydia who lives in Nashville, we were able to form a complete team! 

This is after I finished my last leg. These are the gals from Louisville hugging me because it meant we were finished running. 

Lydia and I in front of a cotton field along the route. The weather ended up being perfect. No rain, no snow, and 40 degrees during the day.

Here are some pictures from the finish line. Our team was running ahead of schedule, but a few of our runners got lost on their last legs and we ended up finishing a lot later than anticipated. But the important thing is that we finished!

So happy to be done. Don't mind me being awkward front and center

 Louisville van with our medals!

Here is the entire team! We had a 13 year old boy- who kicked butt, and are whole team ended up being LDS!

Here we all are! 

 More photos to come

I Quit

Today was my last day as a coach at Louisville Gymnastics! Although I was sad to say goodbye, I'm definitely ready for a break. 

Goodbye LG, hello life!

Go Cougs!

Two weeks ago Taurean and I headed south to Mississippi for the BYU vs Ole Miss football game. We had a great time and it wasn't too bad of a drive, only 7 hours. 

Apparently Ole Miss is in a tiny town in Mississippi. I thought it would have been a bigger town, seeing as it's a pretty famous college. It's in the middle of nowhere and the nearest Target is more than 100 miles away. If that doesn't show how isolated it is, I don't know what will. 

The weather was great and the natives were super nice! We got high fives and congratulations all the way to the car. 

We would definitely do it again! Go Cougs! 

DuPont Mansion

For our anniversary Taurean took me to a bed and breakfast in downtown Historic Louisville. I was really impressed with Taurean's choice. We had a great time. We were the only people staying in the house so we had it all to ourselves. We LOVED learning about the history of Louisville and seeing all the old houses. In the early 1900's downtown Louisville was super ritzy, and lot's of the houses still stand today. Here are some pictures of the great house. 

I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a nice place to stay. 

Here are some photos I found online from the time when Old Louisville was something special. 

In this one they're posing in front of the confederate monument which is still there. 

 Why did I not live in this time period? 

Happy Anniversary

I can't believe it but it's been 3 years! Happy Anniversary Taurean, it's been the best three years of my 

life!

Trip Home

 Taurean and I were able to travel home for two weeks this summer! We definitely didn't take enough pictures, but here are some highlights from the trip. It was great to be home and see family and friends. We went to Lagoon with my parents and the older grandkids. Taurean and our nephew Josh just happened to both be wearing their new BYU football shirts! 

Ice cream at Lagoon 

Group shot

 While in Boise we went to the farmer's market. Taurean bought me a large sunflower and a limeade that was delicious!

And what would a trip home be without a little costume party? I'm one of the pervy looking men in a blue track suit. 

Once we got back to Kentucky we headed to a Louisville Bat's game for LDS night. It was pretty fun! It's good to be back

Did it rain?

On Saturday Taurean and I thought it would be fun to drive the 2 hour drive to Ikea and spend the day in Cincinnati. On our way back to Louisville we noticed a few odd things....
Heading back into town, the freeway was completely shut down in the other direction...we figured it was just an accident. Traffic lights were out, but that happens all the time. Then we started noticing that trees and debris were all over in the road. I asked Taurean, "did it rain?" It wasn't until we got back from the grocery store and I opened our fridge when I realized that the power was off.
Apparently Taurean and I completely missed one heck of a storm. No tornados, just high winds. Our power finally came back on last night. I'm actually really sad I missed out on such a storm. The family I nanny for had a tree crew at their house this morning removing their tree that was destroyed.

Red River Gorge

For Taurean's birthday I planned a surprise weekend getaway for us and some friends to Red River Gorge. Taurean had no idea and was really surprised! We found a nice cabin to stay in and had a good time hiking, hot tubbing, eating, killing bugs and relaxing.

Did I mention the bugs? Here is a giant spider that greeted us upon arrival. Needless to say, we stayed out of the basement the entire weekend.

Here is our group about to ride a sky lift up to Natural Bridge. It was so green and beautiful

Me waving like an idiot

Here is the actual bridge. You can walk on top of it! It's a natural bridge

Here is a picture of our cabin

Playing Mario Kart.

This sign speaks for itself...haha

That's my hand touching the crocodile

We went out to lunch for Taurean's birthday before heading home. It was a great trip

We have visitors!

Last week my parents came to Louisville to visit! We had a great time showing them around Louisville and then drove up to Chicago for a few nights.

Our first stop was the Louisville Slugger Bat Museum. It was really fun and I was surprised how much we all liked it.

Friday night we went to the Hubbards Lane Kroger to see the rose garland being made for the derby race the next day. It was super crowded but lots of fun. I definitely recommend this to anyone living in KY

We kicked off derby morning with some home made mock mint juleps. They were delicious.

Then we braved the crowds and warnings about "infield tickets" at the Derby. This is the paddock and things are a lot quieter here than in the infield. We stood in this crowd for four hours and watched the Derby race on the TV screen in the background. It was definitely worth it and the weather was perfect!

We worked our way through the crowd and got a great spot right up against the fence. This lady checks the inside of the horses' mouths where there is a tattoo identifying the horse. This ensures that no horse switching occurs, and that the right horse runs the right race.

Derby Jockeys!

More Jockeys

Martha Stewart showed up, but I guess she wore her pajamas.

Kate Gosselin was also there

Later that night we were driving around to get ice cream and saw the Good Year Blimp landing on the ground. It was really fun to see it up close

Sunday morning we went to church and then drove 4+ hours to Chicago!

We took a boat tour of the city.

Taurean with a giant pizza at Giordiano's. It was delicious. I'll dream about it for the rest of my life!

It's the tulip festival in Chicago right now, and the streets are lined with beautiful tulips!

Shopping on the Magnificent Mile! Taurean and my dad were great sports. I guess they didn't enjoy it as much as I did.

Tuesday night we went to a Cubs game at Wrigley field. We had great seats, and enjoyed some authentic Chicago Dogs.

People put bleachers on top of their houses! It was nuts.

I'm sad that my parents are gone but we had a great time and have some great memories. I'm working on getting them to come back next year!