Mary and Jake: June 2009

So a couple weeks ago Jake finally broke the news to me that he was Salt Lake City's Officer of the Month for May. I couldn't believe he waited a couple weeks to tell me. He is super humble - I would have called him the second I found out (if I were given officer of the month) and cheered to him on the phone. He said it so nonchalant, as if it were no big deal. This is time to celebrate! Jake went out of his way to make sure he solved a case that he had been on the night before. He went out and sought the guy out on his next shift. I won't go into too much detail - he can fill you in :) Anyways - he gets to go to a big staff meeting to "receive the recognition he deserves" (as said in his award letter) and he gets to go to lunch with the chief of police. Talk about AWESOME! I am very proud of him - he's such a hard worker and I'm glad he is being recognized!

Here's the website - I am not sure if it will be up much longer, but you can always hit the "archived officers of the month" if you don't see him....click here

Boy it has been a long time! I know you are all sitting on the edge of your seats waiting to see what is going on in our lives! I wish I had some amazing things to tell you, but normal life just keeps keepin' on.

Some of my family and I have committed to running a 10k in September so the training begins! Today was the first day of training and it was NOT FUN. I only needed to run 2 miles, but my feet felt like lead, and my chicken fajita dinner came back to haunt me in the form of an excruciating side ache (okay not that bad, but it wasn't a good feeling). When I'm running I like to picture myself on the cover of this magazine:

I hope to someday run like this, but I am afraid to admit I look more along the lines of this:

I didn't go too slow, but I know I can improve! I will try to keep updated on the progress and will definitely post pictures when we complete our first ever 10k!

In other news - Jake did get a new truck. He loves it, which is all that matters. I am glad he found a good thing out of a not so fun situation. An image for your viewing pleasure:

We have been doing alot of fun things lately - we went fishing for my first time ever! Jake has gone before so he helped me figure out how to throw the fishing line out and sit there until a fish comes. I didn't catch anything, but I did get some bites on my bait which was equally exciting. I screamed when it bit my line, which probably scared it away. I am excited to go again - and maybe catch something. Of course I will not touch the fish or eat it - i will give Jake that pleasure. Jake wasn't able to catch anything either, but our friends did catch some small fish.

We went camping a couple weekends ago and had fun with some friends. We went up Provo Canyon and stayed at a campsite with a camp host who wore a kilt. We did all the fun camping stuff - sitting in front of the fire for hours and eating nonstop (hot dogs, smores, roasted starbursts, etc), playing games in the tent, and then hiking in the morning. I LOVE living in Utah. You can drive 20 minutes and be in the mountains to hike or camp, whatever you choose. It is great!

This past weekend our nephew was baptized. My parents flew out, and my sister came down with her family and it was wonderful! We also had another nephew have his baby blessing and were able to see Jake's family. It was great to spend time with both of our families! Nothing is better than hanging out with family. We are off to go boating and camping this weekend with some of Jake's family, and we are excited to be out on the lake. I'll be sure to take pictures!

In other news - I planted my very first garden! I planted carrots, green peppers, squash, watermelon, corn, cucumbers, peas, tomatoes, and lots of lettuce. I am hoping we get at least one piece of fruit or vegetable. I will be happy with just one piece! I decided to start some seeds inside first, and after planting them I only have three seedlings left alive outside. I am guessing i wasn't doing things right because we had a neighbor come over and explain to me how i needed to soak the base of the plants with water, rather than shower them with water. We'll see how it goes!