Versatile Blogger Award

I was nominated by both Erika from This Spartan Will and Big Daddy Diesel (sorry for the late mention) for the Versatile Blogger Award.  Thanks guys!  I did one similar a while back, and hopefully I am not repeating what I did before.

1.  I had two weddings, and both to Ryan :)  Ryan and I were married for "time", which means until death in the Livonia Chapel our the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  One of the things I love about my church is that one of the beliefs is that families are forever.  In order for a family to be forever, though, you must be "sealed" in an LDS temple.  In order to enter a temple, you need to have passed an interview as well as be a member for at least 1 year.  When Ryan and I got married in the chapel, I had not been baptized a year.  About 6 months later, I was able to enter the temple, and Ryan and I were married in the Toronto, Ontario temple for time AND ETERNITY!  Also, since we have been sealed together before our children were born, they are already sealed to us.  Had we been sealed after their births, we would have needed to bring them to the temple and have them sealed to us.  I wore the same dress in both, however I needed some alterations done before it met the standards.  I ordered extra fabric when I ordered the dress to do this.  We have both pictures displayed in our living room. photo from www.lds.org

2.  I have almost always owned hatchbacks.  There was a short period of time when I drove a borrowed Toyota (the horror, I know!), but I drove a GEO Storm, the bought the Mercury Cougar, and now drive the blue Mazda 5 door.  That 5th door was super important, because I NEEDED the rear windshield wiper.  Looking back, while that was a dumb reason for spending another 1K on a car, I am glad we did because the opening is way bigger and I could fit my stroller easily, and I was able to put my bikes in there a lot easier.

3.  I was afraid of swimming for a long time.  I still freak out in the pool sometimes if I have to swim over drains or too close to the edges.  I have always been afraid of the drains in the pool, and oddly enough, there have been some really bad accidents concerning pool drains that I have learned about AFTER developing this fear.  See, it was justified!  I do not like the idea of swimming laps in a pool with a "deep end" (diving well).  I have not had to do it, but I went to my dad's pool to look at it one day and told him I don't ever plan to swim there.  I like not knowing where the bottom is in OWS.
This pool looks terrifying to me (from google images), Coe College.  I actually found a picture scarier when seaching, but it wasn't a lap lane photo, just a super scary looking diving well, and a pool with 1 lane in a diving well, and that was super scary, but this is what I meant:

4.  I don't really like cooking, but I do like baking.  I follow a recipe pretty much exactly when I do either, although I am now at the point when I can improvise with baking and make substitutions to make things lower fat (sometimes).  I will reduce the salt in most things I cook, but other than that, I am fairly incapable of cooking any meal except lasagna without a recipe.  I tried replicated some seasoned rice on my own a few times, and both times have been disasterous.  I am about to go back to the mixes.

5.  I don't leave the house without eyeliner, unless I am going on a run from my house (first thing in the morning) or to the gym, and it is packed in my bag to go on as soon as I am done.  Even if I don't have time for a shower, I still put on eyeliner (and usually mascara).  I do put on makeup before a race.  What else am I supposed to do while digesting when I wake to eat up 3 hours before race start?

6.  I really like stars.  I am really happy that I have found some great deals on some star home decor items, and our new tin tile in the kitchen has them in the corners.

7.  I used to own a dog, but now that I have a family, I am really glad I don't anymore.  I guess kids make enough messes, damage things around the house, and are so much harder to take care of, that having something else in the house that pees/poops, and gets hair everywhere is something I am totally over.

Those are my 7 things.  I am supposed to tag a bunch of people, but I think I will just do a few.  Lots of people I know have already been tagged by others.

Richelle from Running Towards A Higher Calling
Meredith from A Runner's World (sorry to keep picking on you!)
Colleen from Irondiva
Cupcake from Bigger Girls Can Run Too
Anita from Running Against the Odds

If you are reading this and want to do it too, consider yourself tagged as well!

Also, on the racing prep front, I have a cold.  Seriously???  Soren woke up several times on both Sat and Sun nights, and last night, I had it.  I slept in the basement where I knew he wouldn't find me.  I also gave him specific instructions that he was not to leave his room for any reason last night until morning time or until we got him out, or his halloween candy would be eated by me and Ryan.  I got the most awesome sleep too.  Ryan didn't want the humidifier in the room (not sure why?) so he wasn't terribly offended when I made a camp in our basement.  I will probably sleep there again tonight.  It is better than the playroom (where I slept on Sunday night from about 4 on because I couldn't get to sleep and I knew Ryan would be getting up at 5, and I didn't want to risk being woken up again).  However, the playroom is right over the garage, so I woke up at 5:30 when the garage door opened for him to leave.  I did manage to fall back asleep quickly, though, since I wasn't forced to get up, get water, take a child to the bathroom,ect.  I have also decided that I am going out to the race on Friday.  I am either getting a hotel or camping out with a team Aquaphor teammate who is going to kick my butt on an easy day for her.  Wow, is all I can say. 

Thats all for now!