Back in 1999

I was just looking for something in a drawer in my office at work and came upon a frame with this picture in it. The frame said "My Boy" and I remember when we got it. We were at Target doing our registry and Todd was crazy scanning in everything he saw that he thought was remotely cool or funny (we ended up getting a bathroom scale as a wedding present because of this). He saw the "My Boy" frame and registered for it and then we laughed because it was obviously for a baby not a hubby. But I bought it anyway for my desk and put this picture in it.

Is is bad that my hair is almost the same as it was in this picture? I swear I've had lots of different lengths and styles since then...I just always seem to go back to this length. Man we look so young - and I'm wrinkle free in that picture.

Since I'm thinking about Todd anyways....I sure do miss him. Sometimes I can't believe how happy I am and how lucky I am to have someone as amazing, hot, funny, smart, righteous, and so on and so on as my hubby. I couldn't be happier. Falling for that guy back in 1999 was a pretty good move on my part. I'm pretty sure we were made for each other. Only 1 more day until he comes home again. Yippee!!! I sure do love you Todd.

New Haircut

I was trying to grow my hair out so that I could have a ponytail by Wasatch Back this June but I was just not loving my hair so I got it cut today. I just wanted it to look good and I can always grow it out later.

Brussels

Tonight after work I quickly checked into my hotel, changed out of my work clothes and we headed for downtown Brussels. We walked around the cobblestone streets and window shopped. Went to the center of the city to walk around. I saw the opera a very old beautiful church (pictured below), the statue of the boy peeing (pictured below), the statue of the girl peeing (rather disturbing actually), the museums and main buildings in the square, walked down the main shopping street (one of the first high end malls), and went to dinner. I ate traditional Belgian food - beef stew with frites and topped it off with ice cream with the most amazing chocolate sauce ever. It was fun to hang out with the office staff outside of work and they took very good care of me. I have part of the day here again tomorrow so we might get to see a little more. The city is absolutely beautiful and the food was absolutely amazing. Too bad I don't get to spend more time here.

Russia

Yesterday I left my house at 6:20 am to start a VERY long trip. I headed to New York first. I kept myself awake on this leg of the flight to help me sleep better on my way to Moscow. Which means that I finished my book before I got to Moscow.....oops! Knowing that I would be spending less than 24 hours in my first 2 cities on the tour I opted to do carry on which always makes for fun flights (fighting for overhead space and no foot room along with dragging my bag around the terminals to make it to my connections). I had a quick dinner at Chilis in the airport before getting on my flight to Moscow. The flight to Moscow was 11 hours and it was packed. My luggage barely fit and the Russian man next to me had 5 whiskey's within the first hour of the flight. So when I tried to sleep he kept leaning over to my very small seat accidentally when he was sleeping and at one point his legs were completely stretched out under the seat in front of me! Even with him I managed to get a few good hours of sleep.

Then I got to the airport and my cellphone didn't work, there was no wifi in the airport, and I had no idea how to get to the office or my hotel. I'm sure I looked confused because a taxi driver kept following me around asking if I needed help. I finally changed some money and paid to use a computer for 15 minutes (what in the????) Then I took a cab to my hotel to find out I couldn't check in until 3:00 pm. So I asked if they knew where Nu Skin was and gave them the address and they had no idea. I still had no cell phone and the hotel doesn't have wifi either. UGH! So I took a taxi and the man drove in circles (I actually saw the hotel twice on our drive) just to end up about 2 blocks away from the hotel. Oh well I made it to the office with 30 minutes to spare. I changed in the lobby bathroom out of my tennis shoes and jeans and presented with very flat hair and day old makeup on.

One of the staff took me around to see all the sites tonight and it was amazing. He took lots of pictures (so those will be coming soon). We rode the subway everywhere and I was amazed at how far down it is (the escalator was liking riding a rollercoaster it was so steep). I went to Red Square, bought some cool Russian dolls for Claire from a street vendor, saw churches and the Kremlin, and Lenin's Tomb, went inside a catholic church (and had to cover my head), saw the Moscow version of Times Square and walked down the street where free market began after the fall of Communism. My host was very knowlegable and spoke great English and was a wealth of random facts. It was funny to me how much he hated propiganda. I forget easily swayed American's are by our media. He went off about Swine Flu for an entire metro trip.

Here are some of my observations from a day in Moscow. Everyone wears fur, short skirts, high boots, tight pants, they all smoke, have crazy teeth, no-one smiles, there is a starbucks on every corner, and the subways were exteremly clean.

After a rough start this morning things were great. I'm going to bed because I've been awake for about 27 hours.

Long Live Michael Jackson

Last night we had a sweet girls night out and went to the 10pm movie This Is It. I can't believe I went to a movie that late...I am so not a night owl. It was so much fun and just what I needed to escape my life right now.

Nothing like a fun group of girls, a large diet coke and
Michael Jackson's music to make a girl happy.

Flashback Friday - 1st grade

Today I got a call from the office that Luke didn't get off the bus (2nd time this week and he's only ridden it 3 times). Apparently unless Meggan is there waving him down he doesn't know where to get off.

This reminded me of my very first time riding the school bus. In California we didn't ride the bus because we lived a few blocks away and had to walk. So when we moved to Missouri I was SO EXCITED to ride the bus. I was in 2nd grade when we moved and George, Steve, Sherry, Danny and I all went to the same school that year. My mom told us that she would pick us up from school the first day until we learned where we lived. I was so excited about my new school and friends and riding the bus that I totally forgot and got on the bus after school. I had no idea where I lived and there were a few other houses that looked like ours (plus the bus didn't actually go past our house it dropped us off at the top of the hill) so I just stayed on the bus. My mom said she could see my little pig tails bouncing in the front seat of the bus and kept honking trying to get my attention but I of course didn't notice. Finally she got the bus drivers attention (knowing my mom she passed him and flagged him down in some crazy move with the other kids playing shake-n-bake in the back of the car) and he pulled over and let me out. Then I got to ride the bus WITH the older kids after that.

Another funny bus riding story happened my Senior year in high school. Normally we carpooled to school after seminary but on this particular day my car and my friend Tammy's car were both unavailable so we had to ride the bus. We were not excited to ride the bus - it just wasn't cool enough. So we get off the bus in front of the school and we hear our friend's mom from church who is one of the school bus drivers honking the bus horn and yelling our names waving at us. Now, I don't know why it was a big deal, but when you're in high school everything is a big deal. It was so dang funny.

And here is a picture I found of myself in 1st grade in a school parade.

I'm the one in the front wearing a VERY short red dress with socks and tennis shoes. I'm not sure if that dress is supposed to be 3/4 length sleeves...I have a feeling it was just way too small.

New Haircuts

Tuesday night Luke and I got haircuts...aren't they so cute?

There are a few stories associated with my haircut. First, I've been going to the same person for like 16 years (I've been with him longer than with Todd...ha ha) but recently one of my old roommates from BYU moved back to Provo and when I lived her she was in beauty school and is absolutely fabulous with hair and knows me and my style so I trust her completely. It's funny though because I really do feel like I broke up with him. But I'm very happy with my choice :)

Second, last weekend in Park City we were sitting in the restaurant and this girl walked in and I just loved her haircut. I thought to myself....wow, she is sassy. So the next time she walked in I showed her to the girls and asked if they liked her haircut. Every time I saw her I liked her hair more and more then I didn't see her again and I had wished I took a picture of her haircut. Well luckily when we walked outside she was sitting there so Traci took my phone and took a picture of her. I was totally giggling because there was nothing anywhere near the girl that you would want a picture of but Traci was pretending to take a picture of this crazy pole. (I thought about posting the picture...but that's too much to post a picture of someone I don't know she might find out then I would feel really silly)

So when I got to my hair appointment I showed Morinda the haircut and told her I was thinking about cutting my hair like that after the marathon and did she think it would look good on me and work with my hair. She loved it and the more we looked at the picture and talked about it the more I wanted to do it so we did and I am very happy with how it turned out.

Also, this is the first time that I have LOVED a haircut Luke has gotten. He always ends up with bad haircuts because his curls are a little hard to trim without going to short but not this time. And yesterday on my run my hair was fantastic and I think it will be great marathon hair....plus I feel sassy :)

Park City Half Marathon

A few months ago my group of running girls decided to run the Park City Half Marathon. It sounded like a good idea at the time because we would already be in shape since we would be right in the middle of training for our marathon. Then as we got closer I kept wondering what I got myself into since it was during a recovery week in the training and I really like my recovery weeks. The race was sandwiched between two 20 mile runs so I really didn't want to get too sore on the race.

My awesome friend Jill was the instigator of this particular race then got a bad hip injury and can barely walk yet she finished the half marathon like a champ. Watching her come across the finish line brought tears to my eyes since I knew how much she was hurting and just how awesome she was for doing it. The course was an out-n-back route so you got to see everyone on the race and while I was running I kept thinking about how every person out there had their story. It could have been their 100th race or their 1st. Maybe they were feeling great, maybe they just had a baby or surgery or an injury. I had a totally different view of every person out there running with me.

My main goal with this run was to feel good. I hurt so bad at the Moab half. I ran it just like our training runs and I felt good the whole run. I didn't cramp up and I managed to pick it up at the end.

Jill, Traci, Leigh and I
After the race

The best part of the entire race was the girls weekend we made of it. We left Friday afternoon and we had a great dinner, shopped and shopped and shopped had an amazing room at the Canyons resort thanks to Leigh Anne. Ran our race, shopped some more, ate some more then finished the day watching one of the running girls play some awesome tennis in her regionals tournament. I have some pretty freaking awesome running partners and friends.

Another funny side note: I had told Todd I would be home around 5:00 on Saturday but the tennis match didn't go as long as we thought so I got home around 3:30 instead. The house was in complete disarray because he was planning on starting to clean at 4:00 so it would be perfect when I got home. It was so funny to me. Of course I was so thankful that he had watched the kids and let me go out with the girls I hurried and cleaned up so he wouldn't have to. He is so supportive of me and is seriously so good to me. I am one lucky girl!

20 Miles

Saturday was a long run for the marathon training. I've put the details on my fitness blog but I want to document it here with some pictures of the fun run. We did a one-way run from Wallsberg to the mouth of Provo Canyon.

Before the run - looking happy (or anxious)
Me, Traci, Gretchen and Leigh Anne

Coming down one of the many hills
Traci, Me, Gretchen and Leigh Anne

Going up a hill single file since the shoulder was so small

This was about half way

Off we go down the trail for the last few miles

Oh how I love the girls I run with. There is no way I could have done it on my own. Leigh Anne's hubby James came as our support team. He drove us up to the top, met us several times to refill our water and took pictures. Looking at the pictures my outfit needs more color to hang with such stylin' girlies on the road. I also want to document that a couple of guys fishing yelled "hey ladies" at us - totally classic. But hey, I'll take what I can get at this point :)

Fav Five

So a few weeks ago on one of our runs Traci was talking about a fun game she played where you put in 5 things you enjoy more than the average person and then people had to guess who it belonged to. So I started trying of think of my 5 and I even had a lengthy (ok about 5 minutes) conversation on the drive to Vegas with Todd about what mine would be and what his would be.

So here is what I have come up with for me.

1. Exercise
2. Sleep
3. Being with family (especially extended)
4. Keeping a Journal (my blog is included here)
5. Reading
   

Here is what I came up with for Todd:

1. Computers
2. Games (computer and board)
3. Movies
4. Technology
5. In-n-Out
   

Can you think of anything better? What would yours be?

Riverwoods 10 Miler

This race was to officially kick off marathon training with our first long run. I haven't run more than 8 miles since the Moab Half-Marathon in March so I was actually a little nervous when it got here and I hadn't trained more. But the race went great. We were bused up Southfork canyon to Camp Big Springs and ran down the canyon then over to Riverwoods. We started out pretty fast and maintained a fast pace (thanks to Jill who was the ultimate pace bunny...and a VERY cute one at that). We averaged just under 8:30 min/miles and finished in 1:25. It was fun to push myself and still feel ok at the end. I am so dang lucky to have such a great group of girls to run with.

Leigh Anne, Traci, Jill and I before the race

Laurie, Stephanie, Leigh Anne, Jill, Me and Traci
After the race.

I didn't get the best picture of it...but I've been on the hunt for a great race outfit and I wore my latest purchase to this race. If you can see it...what do you think? Does it make me look fast? Skinny? Cute when I'm sweaty? Does it match my Garmin?

Flashback Friday - 1st grade

That's me on the far right in the awesome red shorty short dress with black shoes leaning into the cute boy.

Happy Valentines Day

Oh how I love this man!

Thank you for making

me a better person and

for loving me

in spite of all my flaws.

This was the only smooching picture I could find

My Life in Mosaic

I got this from Kori's blog and thought it looked like fun.

Here are my answers:
1. What is your first name? Katharine
2. What is your favorite food? Mexican Food
3. What school did you go to? BYU
4. What is your favorite color? Red
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Michael Jordan
6. Favorite drink? Coke
7. Dream vacation? Bora Bora
8. Favorite dessert? Ice Cream
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Happy
10. What do you love most in life? Family
11. One word to describe you? Meticulous (from Todd)
12. Your nickname. Gil

Flashback Friday

Merry Christmas!

Is that the same haircut I have now?

(you've gotta love a good old fashion Charlie Brown tree)

Grandpa Giboney and I
(nice hair!)

These were taken sometime in the late 70's. I have no idea where we are - maybe that's our house in California? Mom or Dad do you know?

I'm Feelin' Sassy

I have been growing my hair out for 2 1/2 years and I just chopped it all off. It feels great to have a new do.


Not a great picture...but I hate taking pictures of myself and don't want to ask a coworker to take one of me at work.
Can you tell I LOVE this shirt? I wear it way too much.

Out on the Lake

I finally made it out on the lake this summer and it's a good thing we went Friday afternoon because it got very cold and rainy.


Sophie with her grandma


Tayson tubing. He won't let my dad drive fast so he gets bored easy but if we speed up the boat he won't go. He's so silly.


Claire


It felt good to ski. Although my muscles are pretty sore even from the short time I skied. I am out of shape!

Flashback Friday

Last week when Sherry and I went to Thanksgiving Point the kids got to go on two pony rides and it reminded me of this old school picture. I have no idea if there was a special occasion associated with this pony ride all I know is that the outfit and the bandanna are too fun!

Random Thoughts

I saw this post on Jen's blog and it made me think about what I'm thinking about in my life right now. So I thought I would do a post on my random thoughts.

• Why can't I be patient? It took me 9 months to gain all this weight I can't expect it to fall off in 2 weeks. But I'm frustrated!


• Why has Luke had 4 accidents in the last 2 days????


• Could Sophie be a better baby. Thank goodness she is or I'd be going insane with 4 kids


• I really wish I were in good enough shape to do the Spudman this weekend. It is so hard for me to sit on the sidelines and cheer when I really want to be out there.


• I can't wait for Breaking Dawn to come out next week. I signed up for the midnight party today....am I crazy?


• I'm really nervous about Claire getting tubes in a few weeks. But I am ready for her to not have so many ear infections and be on meds non-stops


• I miss Todd. He has a big deadline at work and has been working non-stop this week. I'm excited for a whole weekend away with him.


• I miss running. I ran a mile a couple of days ago and it felt good but it will take me a while to really be able to run again


• I really miss riding my bike.


• I love having so much of my family live close by. And I really miss the ones who are far away.


• I wish I had more patience with my kids. They don't mean to be so crazy, it's just their ages. Do they know just how much I love them?


• I hate filling our cars up with gas...honestly $100 at the gas station?


• I really need a tan - even though I know it's not good for my skin


• Should I really have to use wrinkle cream and acne cream at the same time...there is something wrong with this picture.


• How did I get so lucky to marry the perfect guy?


• Will Claire ever grow out of this stage?


• Why is Luke so darn clingy? Was it something I did?


• Am I a push over? There are currently 2 kids asleep in my bed (1 is Sophie so she shouldn't really count) and I can hear Claire still playing in her room when I put her to bed 2 hours ago.


• I should be sleeping instead of blogging....but where's the fun in that?

Flashback Friday

Obviously the theme for the week has been all about babies. So I thought for this weeks flashback I would document some baby pictures of Todd and I.


Kathy - born September 20, 1972 in Tucson, AZ.
6 lbs 12 oz 20 inches long



Todd - born May 10, 1976 in California
8 lbs 3 oz. 19.5 inches long