Cas graduated from N.O.V.A.

And I'm not talking about the science TV show.
The mission of N.O.V.A. Principles is: "Nurturing youth to seek out positive Opportunities, internalize good Values, and to accept Accountability for their choices in life. N.O.V.A. assists parents, families, and communities in protecting youth from the potentially devastating effects of illegal drugs, violence, and negative media exposure."

Cas has gone through this program at school with a police officer, and has put a lot of extra work into it.  She designed a rocket, went with out media (TV, computer, phone) for a week, wrote her own personal mission statement, not only for the program, but for her life, as well as different worksheets that she had to bring home and prepare answers for. 
She was extrememly proud of herself when graduation time came along.  She felt she had earned it. And she did.  So much in fact, that she even called her dad and had him drive the 3 hours out to see her graduate.  To his credit, he did.
I'm grateful for Officer Albrand and the efforts that she puts into this program.  Cas has spoken highly of her for months now. 
They made the N.O.V.A mission into a cheer that they stood up and yelled with such energy and volume that a lot of the kids were plugging their ears as they yelled.  I have to admit, I was half tempted to follow suit with it.  It was ear ringing LOUD in that gymnasium, and it left me feeling so proud of all of those kids for being so excited about something so good that it brought literal tears to my eyes.
Getting ready for the cheer:

Officer Albrand:

Graduation:

To close the graduation the kids had prepared their own 12 days of Christmas song.  Here's Cas in her "tutu", as she's one of the 8 ballerinas.  I was taking pics with my phone and wasn't fast enough with it to get a picture of her twirling. 

And lastly, but certainly not least, here's Cas with her certificate and t-shirt:

I'm so proud of you Deeds.  You worked hard for this, and you deserve the recognition.  You'll do amazing things with your life.

Wordless Wednesday: Space Derby

West made it.  The cub scouts played on it.  

Halloween Half Marathon 2011

Confession: I am a quitter.
Or at least I have been in my life. I've never stuck through with anything. If it got hard, or I realized I didn't like it, I didn't finish it. Plain and simple.
Somehow I got "talked" into running a half marathon. Actually, it started when I signed up to run in the Dirty Dash 10k, which just seemed like a whole bunch of fun, not a whole bunch of running. And that's exactly what it turned out to be. But when I said I was going to do the Dirty Dash, my cousin suggested I then run in the Vegas half Marathon with him in December. I said okay. I was looking for something new to get into, running could be it. When my friend Jen heard that I was thinking of the Vegas marathon, she told me I should do the Halloween half with her in October. Okay again. Mostly because we had to wear costumes and it sounded hilarious.
So I started to train. And I found that as I added a mile, or as I pushed for a faster time, my body adapted really well.
But then we went on the cruise in the middle of my training... and I never got my groove back.
So with a lack of finishing my training I knew I wasn't physically ready to run 13.1 miles. I was close, but not ready. My finish goal went from 2:30 to 2:45. I was going to do this.
So I got up at 4 a.m. and put on my pirate costume and met up with Jen and Kim in 36 degrees to wait for a bus to take us up Provo Canyon to the starting line.
I literally lost all feeling in my toes, and even by the time the race started I still had no feeling in them for the first few miles. But the view at the starting line was beautiful,
as was the view for the entire run. And I ran.
Until Mile 8 when we stopped and took a picture in front of Bridal Veil Falls. What? We're running a marathon? I guess we should keep going then.

And by mile 9 it hurt. My hips and calves just hurt with every push forward. But I thought of my kids, and how they had watched me train (in the beginning before the cruise messed it up ha). They had ridden their bikes with me on my runs, and asked me every time I came home from a run how far had I gone? How fast had I done it? And they started talking about joining the track team, just to be like Mom. So with every painful step, I thought of them, and I had so much to teach them right now. How NOT to quit. Even when it's hard. I knew they'd be at the finish line. And I was going to run across it.

And the circus was there for me. They were yelling, jumping, screaming, and I laughed. They joined me for the last few feet to the finish line. It was probably one of the most significant moments in my life. I didn't quit. My circus was there. I did it.

And I have the medal to prove it.

2:48 is realistic. I wasn't 3 hours, and if I do it again, I'm nailing 2:30, maybe less. Today is Halloween, and it's fitting that I'm walking like a Zombie from the soreness in my hips and calves. But I think about it, and it makes me proud of myself. I did it.

Extra Extra, read all about it!

Extra curricular activities. Growing up I bounced around a lot in the things that I was involved in. It may have been that I was fickle or wishy washy. I didn't really know what I wanted to do so I tried a little bit of everything. I think the phrase I'll use to describe it is "well rounded"...

In Jr. High I played on the school basketball team, was a member of the Peer Leadership Team, was anchor person for the school's news program, and was on the yearbook staff. In High School I was on the Spirit Club (being loosely translated to Sophomore cheerleaders, but there were 20 of us and we stood in the stands for football games, though we got to be "regular" cheerleaders for the Sophomore basketball games), again on the Peer Leadership Team, I played on the Water Polo team, was a member of the seminary council, was Jr. Class Vice President, was a member of the National Honor's Society, and I was up to my eyeballs in art projects. I loved every minute of it.

I'm not really being nostalgic here. My oldest is coming up on the end of her 5th grade year. Next year she will rule the school as a 6th grader. Today she tries out for student council. She's already had to gather a petition of peer signatures and write an essay on why she wants to be on council and what she has to offer it, and now, she has to do a skit. I wish I could go and watch her, but it's during 6th grade lunch. She's going to get up in front of the council advisor teachers, and the current council members and show them what she's got. She's doing a magic show... a magic show gone wrong. She will ruin three tricks, "unintentionally" giving secrets away and botching every trick. She's a natural at hamming it up and she's going to nail it.

I think tonight I'll have her do it for us again (she was working it for us and had us busting a gut every time she thought of a new way to spoil a trick) so I can record it and post it on here.

I thought it was fun to be involved as I grew up. Let me tell you, it's strangely even more rewarding to watch my child become involved. Maybe somewhere in all my trial and error mothering, I somehow helped her become a responsible, contributing member of society. Or perhaps she's becoming that even despite me.

Dead Pigeon Pose

My sister, McKell, got me into Yoga 12 years ago. I have since been a believer in it, and Pilates, as a form of exercise (mind, body, and soul). My favorite way to start the weekend is to hit the Yoga class at the gym.
Today we were on our backs with one leg straight in the air, the other leg crossed across it right above the knee, and our hands holding onto the back of the extended leg's thigh. The teacher, trying to explain how to do this says, "it's kind of like pigeon pose, only on your backs with your leg straight. I don't know what to call it, my mind just went blank!" And continues to fumble through a description (as there were some beginners who needed a little extra help). After she said that though, all I could think of was a dead pigeon with it's legs in the air!This is a what pigeon pose actually looks like, and is nothing like what we were doing! What we were doing, evidently, has been dubbed dead pigeon pose in my mind.