Memorial Day weekend

Jeff came to Chicago last weekend and we had a great time. We did the Soldier Field 10 miler which it was so hot that they ended up canceling the race! We went over to Beth’s house for a barbeque in the evening and that was a blast. We did a lot of wedding planning. We went swimming and read on the beach. We went to Church. We biked to an original create your own burger place for dinner one night. That was cool. The restaurant gives you a clip board to check off your toppings (from a huge list) , a sauce, and what type of burger you want. It was a fun Memorial Day weekend.

Hi All- Just a note- I am way behind of posts because of my great trip to Utah and now an extremely busy week. I will try to catch up soon.

Drew and Sarah's wedding

Fun weekend in Michigan meeting up with Calvin friends!

busy busy busy

This is how my life goes...great things happen at the same time which ends up in a lot of work at the same time
Great thing number 1:
I am getting married!
Equivalent work:
Find date and place asap
Great thing number 2:
I started volunteering at RIC in the prosthetics department and loved it (work there everyday all day).
Equivalent work:
Finding out I loved it meant. I want to get into the program- finding and applying for a Psychology class (a pre-requisite for the program), asking people for recommendations, and finding other people in the field to volunteer with so I can get the required recommendations from Prosthetists)
Great thing number 3:
My friend Camille comes to visit me. I get to show her the city.
equivalent work: umm..delaying on the work that I should be doing for wedding and school.
Great thing number 4:
I have my Choir concert today (sunday)
equivalent work: 4 additional choir rehearsals this week.
Great thing number 5:
Free entry into the Soldier Field 10 miler next Saturday
equivalent work:
I should be training for this race...but no time : (

Well! Life is moving to fast but I have alot of good things going on...just wish God would have made the days longer : )

boldering..Colorado

Our last morning in Utah (sad!) we spent bouldering.
Then we drove to Colorado. We stopped at my Grandma and Grandpa’s. We went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa V, Uncle Darrell, Aunt Laurel, and Aunt Lynn. It was very fun telling our engagement story and catching up with family I don’t get to see much! AND it was Jeff’s first time meeting my Aunts on that side of the family! After dinner we went back to Grandma and Grandpa’s for dessert. Curt and Layette came over for dessert.

mountain biking

Today we went mountain biking. It was really fun. The trail was 70% slick rock. Here are some pictures:

On our way back we stopped at Wendy’s and got frosty’s and sat outside eating our sack lunch’s. It was really relaxing and fun.

Jeff wanted to do this “expert” rated mountain bike ride so Jeff and Jordan headed out to do that. Meanwhile, Laura and I went on a really neat trail run.

I little while later Jordan showed up without Jeff. He had had some bike issues. We waited and waited for Jeff to get back and we decided we would just go pick him up because we were going to Delicate Arch to watch the sunset and we were going to miss it if we didn’t leave. We ran into Jeff and he looked so beat! He said he was praying that we would pick him up. Apparently the route was really tough and he didn’t have any food with him so he had been biking for 4 hours straight without any food.

We then went to Arch’s national park and hiked 1.5 miles to Delicate Arch. We had brought our dinner so we cooked it under the arch while we watched the sun set. It was really cool! There were a lot of photographers taking pictures of the arch.

We went back and had one last fire.

Canyon Land HIke

The next morning Laura, Jordan, Jeff and I drove to Canyonlands and did a 10 mile hike. The views were incredible. There were a lot of formations that looked like giant mushrooms to me. There were also a lot of really tall rocks that we hiked between which was really neat.
That night Jeff and I went into town. We went to a screen print store where you can choose a t-shirt and a design and then they will print it for you. Jeff found 2 t-shirts and 2 designs that he wanted in about 15 minutes. I still hadn’t decided what color t-shirt I wanted…after a very long time of looking at various combinations I decided I didn’t really like any of them….needless to say Jeff had to practice patience : )
We then went to the store to pick up some Smore’s stuff. We had a nice fire back at the campsite.

Angels Landing...Moab

I used my camping French press this morning! Aww..nothing like a nice cup of coffee in the morning. We even got out our camping chairs to drink coffee in. After breakfast we hiked Angel’s Landing….this was AWESOME! However, it is not for those afraid of heights. I am just going to let the pictures say the rest : )

After Angel’s landing we headed to Moab to meet our friends Laura and Jordan. We had heard that we should take HWY 12 (a scenic route). It was sure scenic! It took us through Escalante, Red Canyon, Boulder (where we were literally driving on a ledge)..I will post some pictures (the scenery was changing all the time- you would think rock is rock but that is not true : ).

We arrived in Moab in time to make some dinner and hang out with Laura and Jordan and then go to sleep.

Day with Zeni's and Granny

Today we packed up and finished our hike to Kalob Arch. At the arch we made breakfast (oatmeal). We then hiked back to the car.
When we got to the car we called Aunt Cindy and she said she had made us sandwiches ..yummm! we were both really excited about lunch meat (aka- stuff that you can't have back packing)
We met the Zeni's and Granny at the entrance to Zion national park and had a picnic there. Afterwards we hopped on the Tram and did three short hikes:
River Walk (this followed the narrows (which Jeff and I had thought we were going to hike- ummm- rapids! we could not have walked through the narrows)
**insert picture**
Lower Emerald Pool
**insert picture**
Canyon Overlook (my favorite of the hikes)
**insert picture**
Afterwards we went to dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant. Jeff and I were so hungry we ate about 5 baskets of chips between the two of us : )

After the Zeni's left it was kind of late and we still didn't have a place to stay. I called one campground who said the rate was 30 dollars a night! This was out of our price range : )
So we stopped and talked to a park ranger. We asked where the cheapest camp place was and she looked at us kind of funny and said...well what about the free land? She told us how to get to the free land (which was only a couple miles away) It was perfectly fine just no running water. We quick set up tent and feel asleep instantly.

morning in Sundance...backpacking in Zion

Run on Provo Canyon Trail
Make Pancakes in our place

drive to Zion National Park
decide to do a backpacking trip to Kalob Arch in Zion back country

This was alot of fun but our campsite ended up being on the other side of a stream which was about knee deep! It was sooooo cold!

I'm Engaged!

I woke up bright and early (4:30 AM) and caught my 7:30 flight to Salt Lake. My flight went smoothly and when Jeff was waiting for me. He asked me what I wanted to do. It seemed like he didn't have much of a plan so I figured he must be going to propose at the end of the trip. He asked if I wanted to get something to eat or go for a run. He said he wanted to go for a run. I wasn't to excited about the idea because I had just run a half marathon the day before..then I really didn't like the idea when he took me to the base of a mountain and said we were going to run to the top. I said "why don't we just walk around and explore a bit." I saw this Buffalo statue by the state capital and said "let's get our picture taken with the buffalo. We walked over and Jeff said "Hey look behind the Buffalo's ear!" and there was clue ten. I opened up the envelope and there wasn't anything in it. "Jeff it's empty" and Jeff said "That's because the last clue comes in the form of a question. Then he got on his knee and asked if I would marry him and gave me the most beautiful ring. I said Yes (obviously).

We then went to One World Cafe for lunch and he caught me up on all the secrets that he had been keeping from me. We had a lot of laughs.

After lunch we went to my friend Laura's and she gave us a tour of Salt Lake

That night Jeff had surprised me with dinner and a reservation at the Sun Dance. On our way there we stopped at this pretty location to tell call our parents. And we took our first picture as an engaged couple:




When we arrived at Sun Dance (which was absolutely gorgeous) I was so excited that I told the receptionist that we had just gotten engaged and she said "well we are going to upgrade you to a Mountain Suite! This was our own log cabin built into the hill with a full kitchen and fire place. It was amazing! We went on some short hikes right outside our cabin and then went to dinner. It was great!

scavenger hunt of love!!!

I got home from the race and hurried up to my apartment expecting Jeff to be anxiously waiting for me to get home in order to start our road trip to Utah. When I opened the door there was a bouquet of flowers with a red envelope. My heart started to race…where is Jeff? I dropped my stuff and hurried over to the envelope I opened it up and it said “Scavenger Hunt of Love on the front” When I opened it up it said:

“Love Clue #1: The very first time I laid eyes on you in beautiful Montana, you were wearing these on your feet…” (we met on a run!)- I hurried to my closet to find a rose and another clue sticking out of my running shoes.

Love Clue #2: “Good Job! What a great run that day eh? Ok, your next clue is to find an ice cold treat that I love to eat with you (especially on the Seattle porch marble top style)”
(ice cream!) I hurried to the freezer to find a carton of my favorite ice cream- Breyers Vanilla Bean with a rose sticking out the top and the next clue.

Love Clue #3: Yum. I hope you enjoyed a bowl with a smile. Next Clue: You are A TROPHY wife : ) Look closely at your Trophy rack : )
( I went to my running trophies and found another flower and clue)

Love Clue #4: …this one was a little dirty so I will not type it out : )…

Love Clue #5:….don’t really want to share again (sorry!) At this spot there was a big scrapbook that Jeff had made for me starting from when I was born up until the present in which he said “I love you because…” under each picture (very very thoughtful and cute)

Love Clue #6: Like I said in the book- You are Gorby! Especially with this on your back… (I hurried over to my back pack)

Love Clue #7: You are an Amazing Cook, but you do have the tendency to burn things in this… (haha- I hurried to the oven and opened it up to find a flower inside a hot pad with another clue)

Love Clue #8: Inspired by Grandpa Overbeck. It’s 5’ O’clock Happy Hour somewhere! Pour yourself a drink for your next clue….( I hurried over to my mini bar)


Love Clue #9: Ok Girly, You have done well thus far. This is your Last Chicago Clue. This Asian- Dutchman Holds your last clue at : 260 E. Chestnut “call for pick-up-###-####” (the whole time during this scavenger hunt I had assumed Jeff was hiding in my apartment so I had been talking to myself saying…awww so cute! And stuff like that…kind of funny retrospectively : )

I called right away and got our friend Matt but unfortunately he was still at work…”Oh no we have to get going- we still have to drive all the way to Salt Lake!” I finally decide to just run over to Matt’s. I literally RUN the mile to Matt’s and arrive sweaty (oops!). Thinking Jeff is waiting to propose to me inside I try to cool myself down before I take the elevator up. Matt and Shannon answer and say “Hey! Want to sit down and have a drink?” I say “No- Can I just get my last clue : )” (I am sure that Jeff is hiding somewhere and going to jump out and surprise me and we need to get on the road) They give me an envelope and I open it and there is a BOARDING PASS to Salt Lake! I am sooo confused. “Wait! Where is Jeff??” They tell Jeff will pick me up from the airport tomorrow morning in Salt Lake and there the scavenger hunt will continue!....what!!!....story to be continued…….

Illinois half

Quick writing this because I have a few minutes before we leave. The race was really weird. I realized within the first 5 miles that it wasn't going to be a PR day-- very very humid, hot, and windy. I was leading this big pelaton of runners- I realized that it was silly because it was windy but on the other hand I really liked being in control....so that's what I did. And people kept dropping off of the pelaton (I don't know how to spell it). Anyway- coming into the finish was really neat because you inter the big stadium and finish on the 50 yard line. However, Heather and I were right together and we didn't realize that the girl right in front of us was a women (short hair muscular African American- from the back looks like a man). It is bothering me that we were so close to first. I ended up third and I could have been first very very easily. Oh well. I will get more details later but I gotta head out. Writing this really quick.