Swelling belly

Hi, girls! I feel all happy inside having just read all of your postings! You all sound so grown-up and accomplished! I would love to go out for a long Saturday morning run and get more details, then come back to my place to make waffles for everybody.

The real news for Nate and me is that we're expecting our first baby in April! I've been feeling great, and I'm appreciating running more than ever. We heard the baby's heartbeat for the second time yesterday which I absolutely love.

Other than reading "What to Expect When You're Expecting", I'm keeping busy as a pharmaceutical rep for Allergan. I call on ophthalmologists, and for the most part, they're really cool. Nate also works in pharmaceutical sales, except he works for Pfizer.

Kristen (and any other readers out there), I just read "Swimming to Antarctica" by Lynne Cox. I highly recommend it. It's an autobiography about a swimmer who broke the men's and women's world record for swimming the English channel when she was 14 and goes on about other swims she did. It's very inspirational.

I'm going to try to run St. George '05. A few other of you will be there, right? I figure it will be a great way to push myself back into shape and there won't be any pressure to run super-fast.

I will be in Utah for Thanksgiving. I would love to see any of you that will be there!

Miss you,
Amy (Bair) Cooper

Wow!!

Well girls, I have to admit this blog thing is a great way to keep in touch. It is fun to see how this site has spread to so many of the past runners, and it's great to get updates on everyone. I have to admit that I didn't even know Nan had a son, so it was good to hear from her...and it sounds like she'll be joining us at the marathon next October.

I am so excited about JoLee getting married...although that leaves very few of us in the "singles" department, it will be exciting to see another one of us "fall". Hopefully as many of us as possible will be able to reunite in Colorado in March, have a nice long run, and then eat lots of wedding cake.

As for myself, life is still going great. I just returned from a deer hunt in southern Utah, and had a blast. Although the weather truly got the best of us, it was fun to see all the snow that Utah is getting. We have been getting tons of rain lately, and coming from someone who is use to a 75 degree winter, it has been a little startling, but nevertheless, very fun.

I hope everyone continues to do well. Make sure to enjoy the candy corn pumpkins this time of year.

Love,
sarah

Late from Washington DC

Hi all! Thanks Kristen for letting me know about the site. I've been sitting here for an hour reading all the news instead of fixing supper while one-year old Benson is wreaking havoc on our tiny apartment. It's so great to hear from y'all (as we'd say in North Carolina). We are in Washington DC for an internship, and we are returning to NC for one more semester of law school. We'll be in Utah all next summer, then James has accepted a job to work in DC starting next fall at a law firm. It's exciting and scary and a little wierd to think we'll be starting our permanent life. In the meantime, we live in a basement apartment in a beautiful neighborhood in the District. Everyone is very excited about the elections; I admit it is fun to be here during an election year. Our ward is fun, but very different from a BYU ward. I have been painting portraits and other stuff. Check out my website if you want to see. (Or if you have any rich friends who want a portrait painted! He he.) It's www.elizabeththayer.com.

So what is it about Boston that makes BYU runners gravitate there? Is it the Democrats, or do they have exceptional steaks? JoLee, congratulations! I am thrilled. The only thing that would make me happier is to meet him. Benson is pulling my arm off, I've got to go. It's so good to hear from you all and know you're out there. I'll be in Utah at christmas, mel. Let's get together.

Liz Thayer

Nan

This is Nan's post as a comment, but I was afraid that people would not see it, so I Kristen put it as a real post. Anyway, if you want to post on this site and don't have the username/password, just email me and I will get it to you - kristen.edwards@gmail.com. Good to hear from you Nan!

Hi All!
I was just chatting with Anika on the phone this morning and she told me about this site. Great idea! Its SO great to hear what everyone is up to. I hope you dont mind me joining in...after all, I HAVE gulped liquid iron consistently for a good part of my life!
But as for recent news, Aaron, our 3-month-old, Abe, and I are still living in Lehi. Aaron is the general manager for Trizon, the sales company for Comcast here in Utah. I am pretty much a stay at home with a fun little coaching opportunity at Lone Peak High School. We just had State on Wednesday and our top girl got 2nd! I'm also trying to get back into shape myself and am hoping to run the Ogden marathon in May. My first race since Abe was the BYU Homecoming 5k last week. It was good to see Lindsay, Devra, Jill, and Melissa Teemont! Melissa and I actually run together sometimes since she lives just a few miles away from me. I totally agree that we need to have a reunion! And hey, if its on the starting line of the St. George Marathon, so be it!
Keep in Touch!
-Nan

JoLee owes us steak!!!

Hi Meat Eaters...

I've intended to post on here for weeks, sorry for the delay. First off I think Congrats are in order for JoLee, and steaks are in order for us! Hmmm...this will be difficult logistically; okay, I guess you're off the hook for now JoLee.

Wow! It's great to hear from all of you, and know a little about what you do in your lives now. I miss having running buddies, but am glad you're having great adventures where you're at. I've started running with a group in South Jordan--today we did 400's and 800's on the track--I've even been cracking out my spikes for the track workouts and my calf muscles are finally starting to adapt.

My little Halle is a year old now! If I'm smart enough to figure it out I'll post some pictures. She's a lot of fun, except she's been working on more teeth this week which leads to strange behavior--for example: the other day at lunchtime, she loaded her mouth completely full of cut-up grapes, refused to put anything else in or chew the grapes up, and proceeded to play with her toys for an hour and a half with her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk. Keep in mind that it's quite difficult to talk, laugh, or cry when one's mouth is stuffed with grapes--so occasionally she let out a small squeaking noise to communicate. Finally, she sneezed and lost her entire stash of grapes onto the floor!

When I'm not cleaning up grapes, I'm working 3 days a week as a dietitian doing diabetes education for Intermountain Health Care. It's a job I enjoy for the most part, although I find myself growing more and more cynical towards the food industry. I attended the American Association of Diabetes Educator's Conference in Indianapolis, IN in August--it was at the RCA Dome Convention Center where we raced a few times for indoor. So I ran the Novo-Nordisk 5k along that canal/zoo walk where we ran to warm-up/cool-down...it brought back memories.

Well I'll look forward to hearing more blog stories...will anyone be in Utah for the holidays this year so we can get together?

Halle Steere 

Much More than Cookies

Hello. Yes, I have big news. And in the tradition of Red Meat Night I want to tell a very good story along with the news. Now, for all of you who think that you have to pull news out of me I will do my best to prove otherwise.

Last weekend I had Fall Break (a big deal for someone who has never even experienced Spring Break). Nathan and I met in Colorado Springs. On Thursday morning we planned to go up to Denver, but Nathan kept insisting that we go to Pike's Peak first. (This is an interesting mountain because you can drive to the top of it even though it's 14,111 ft. On top they have a gift shop and a really nice view of the city.) Nathan had told me a few days earlier that he thought that would be a nice thing to do, but I didn't really want to go. Pike's Peak is in the opposite direction of Denver, and I was pretty certain it would be cold, foggy, and windy on the top of the mountain. Because he wanted to go I went along with the idea. He was pretty insistent that I would like the trip. However, when we got to the Pike's Peak Highway we learned that the road was closed at around 12,ooo ft. So instead of driving to that point we turned around and went to Garden of the Gods. Some of you may have been to the Garden of the Gods during our many trips to indoor Conference. It's a pretty amazing park at the base of the mountains with large red rock formations. It was a really lovely stroll and when we found ourselves alone Nathan asked me to marry him. It was simple, beautiful and also somewhat of a surprise. I admit that the insistence on seeing Pike's Peak right then was a bit suspicious. And so, I am now engaged to be married, and we are both very happy.

Well, it looks like I won't be in Kansas for too much longer. I can't say that I'm sorry. We will hopefully find someplace where I can finish the Ph.D. and Nathan can start working. Right now Nathan has a job offer in Portland so it's likely we'll be going there. Nathan will finish school in December, and it looks like we'll be getting married in March. I will be sure to let all of you know.

I've also posted a picture of me and Nathan Stephens. This was taken on Saturday. We were at a party with my family and some of my mom's friends were hugely excited about my news. It was rather amusing.

Keep posting.

JoLee

Here we are just engaged!  

Emails

Hello all. Happy birthday Katy Ricecakes Kunkel! What is your email address? Mine is byuccstar@yahoo.com (yeah I'm cocky) or eraymond@digitalcamerainfo.com.

Screaming Children

I just wanted to say that it makes me very excited that people are actually doing this and that we have the youngins involved. I got to talk to Nicole on Saturday and it was great - I just miss you guys, especially in the morning when I am running by myself on busy streets. I did write this massive post for my Edwards family blog and I can't get it to copy and paste in here, so if you would like to read about my attempt at Super Saturday, go to the edwards fam site.

Blake and Rachel both got shots today at the doctor - it was awful. Blake was OK about his shot until he saw Rachel screaming in pain, then he started screaming, "hold you" (he hasn't quite mastered pronouns yet) for a good fifteen minutes while I tried to calm Rachel down with Blake on my lap. I was hoping they would both sleep the day away, but they have both been awake and grumpy. Now that they are asleep I can tell you that yes I do love my children and think they are cute.

I am reading this book by a pulitzer prize winning journalist, it's called All Over But the Shoutin' and so far I really enjoy it. Let me know if anyone else has good book suggestions because yes I am now old enough to be in a book club. Also, I am always looking for good red meat night recipes and if enough of you send them I will make the recipe book I keep pretending to make.

Sarah- I am going to be at a friend's wedding the 20th of November down south and hope to see you.

-Kristen

Emily Raymond a.k.a. "MARS" from Boston

That's right, my BYU days are over. I graduated in April with my degree in print journalism. Scott and I moved to Boston, where he is going to Harvard in biophysics. I'm probably the youngest to post on this site, but hey, Sherida made me do it. Sherida is in my ward, where she is the nursery leader. Scott and I are team Sunbeam teachers. I think both Sherida and I are incredibly baby-hungry! Unfortunately, I live in a leaded apartment. So no babies until the lease runs out.

I don't know if any of you met Scott, my hot husband. He was in my ward during my junior year at BYU, when I was living with Tia Babbel (now Hejny), Katie Moon and Anika Smith (now Busby). Scott was a double nerd in applied physics and neuroscience at BYU. Tia set us up and we enjoyed many a date after that. Scott served his mission in Russia Moscow South, where Hyrum served his mission. Scott says Hyrum is an awesome awesome guy and totally approves. Perhaps I can get him to post some old mission stories or something. Anyway, Scott is from Montana and enjoys everything outdoorsy: camping, climbing, hiking, etc. Right now, he is more indoorsy in the lab, experimenting with all kinds of imaging systems like ultrasound and CAT scans and whatnot. When he's had enough fun with that (and gets a Ph.D. and possibly an M.D.), he hopes to do research in the pharmaceutical industry and/ or become a professor to teach all the cool stuff he's learned. Look out for him; I think he will be up for a Nobel pretty soon.

I had an internship at a magazine publishing company during the summer. If you fly Continental Airlines through November, check out their in-flight magazine (my stuff is in there). Now I'm working at an internet company writing reviews and news about digital cameras and camcorders: digitalcamerainfo.com and camcorderinfo.com. I also do a bunch of the product photography for the websites, so all the photos posted after mid-August or so are mine. The best perk about the job is that I can do it pretty much whenever I want. I love flexible hours. I just started freelance writing and photographing for New England Runner Magazine. I write short blurbs about road races, take photos and someday when I have a moment, I'll write a feature or two.

Speaking of running, Sherida and I joined the Greater Boston Track Club, a post-collegiate running club for crazies like us. I just can't get enough of the team atmosphere. Last week, I ran the Akron Marathon in my hometown of Akron, Ohio. It was my first marathon and it showed. Went out fast. Biffed it on the hills. But ended up running a 3:07:59 anyway. I'm hoping to improve on that time in the Boston Marathon. Until then, I will be enjoying much shorter distances like the 5K and the 10K.

That's about it for now. I love this whole idea of blogging. Keep it up.

More from Boston

Zac and I only have eight more months in Boston. -Better hurry on out to see us before we make the big move to Washington and start so called real life. We love New England/the East Coast and all it has to offer, but long for warmer winters and cheaper cost of living. After graduating from BU, yes sadly not BYU, (yet) I started working as a nanny for a rich catholic family with two beautiful girls Jane and Claire- and at a Victorian House Museum downtown so I could have a pretty free schedule. It has been nice as I have been able to travel to South America, the Caribbean, England and visit family over the past year as well as start a book club. I joined the Greater Boston Track team with Emily (Mars) Raymond, but also get to run with Nicole Magelson and Jessica Heiner who are out here as well. Fun fun.
Well, I would like to run St. George Marathon with you all in '05, but I may have a big swollen belly by then, unless I opt to go to culinary school. We shall see...
Thank you Kristen for starting this little blog. I have loved reading all that is going on in your lives!
hasta luego amigos,
Sherida Bird
sherida@thebirds.net

katy kunkel

Hey there girlies, so good to get the down low on all of you. Sounds like everyone is up to exciting stuff. Greg and I are out here in the San Francisco area about 25 min west of Kristen and Cory. The four of us hang out rather frequently, which is a lot fun! Greg even works with Cory in SF, and says Cory is one of the best 'supervisors' he has ever had. I am still working for PwC auditing computer systems, which can be fun. eBay has been nice to audit with free fruit, sodas, and cereal. My minicooper is getting a workout with the all my commuting to various clients. I may come out to Provo for work recruiting from time to time. Well, peace out!!!

kt arroz