Ragnar So Cal

First off I have to say... it would take far too long to explain to you all of the craziness that is the past two months and the next two months. So here I am playing catch up on the blog. Hope you enjoy. Hope I don't go another month without updating. We shall see.

Let's start with the weekend of April 15th.

First we did the Ragnar Relay. I will say that I figured this relay would be no big deal. I was wrong. Let me explain. Each team has 12 members, each member has 3 legs and all 36 legs add up to 200 miles. We ran from Huntington Beach to Coronado Island in a matter of roughly 36 hours. I was runner 1. I got to finish each of my legs first. It was grand. Tyler was runner 12. He got to be the one running into the finish line. We had two vans that had to meet every runner at the exchanges where the runner would finish and the next runner would start. We figured we would have down time. We brought movies, books & music. We didn't use any of it. Friday wasn't bad. We all ran well and that night we slept for a couple hours, girls in the van, guys out on the grass. We ran again. We ate a little. I finished my last leg early Saturday morning and then waited for the rest of our team to finish. We slept in a park for a few hours. Ate McDonalds for breakfast. I still feel guilty. Had a bums shower in the bathroom of a gas station. Medicated ourselves before each of our legs. Tyler almost got in a fight with some idiot in an RV ... "You wanna Go?". We all realized it was a lot more intense than we had planned.

I Ran 15.7 miles with a major toe injury and I nearly started to cry on my last leg. The beginning was all uphill, my toe was seriously killing me and I got maybe two hours of sleep. But the amazing thing about the whole experience is that I realized how strong I am. I realized that I can really do anything I set my mind to. I can run without a good nights sleep. I really ran out of any excuse I would typically use when I feel lazy and don't feel like working out. I am a strong person and I need to use that strength more often. I hope I can remember that feeling for the rest of my life.

Our van was awesome. We had so much fun. I will seriously never forget what an amazing crazy experience that was. I might even sign up next year!

Then we spent Saturday night on Coronado. We chilled with some other friends from our ward. Heather and Steve are moving out of state for Steve's residency so we had to party one last time. We stayed at the Marriott right on the Harbor. Ate at little italy. Rode our bikes. Hot tubbed it up. Got fake tatoos. Ate at Phils. Revealed a lot of truths about ourselves on the way home. Our crew is like no other. We seriously all mesh so well. We will miss the Brandon's dearly!

The District

We went to Washington, D.C. We stayed with Shelley & she let us borrow her car... we love her. Nicki got us an amazing deal on tickets... we love her too. We visited A LOT of people and places. We ate A LOT of yummy food. We saw the cherry blossoms. We walked where some of our most inspiring leaders walked. We remembered how much God has had a hand in the establishment of this amazing (yes, currently lost/struggling) country that we live in. We are grateful to have gone, seen, ate and visited. And also grateful to have ended up in the "Even More Legroom" seats there and back.

Here is a collection of our favorite photos. There were over 500 to start with so this is just a piece of the puzzle, but I hope you enjoy it.

Untitled from Amy Rex on Vimeo.

Farewell

The hubster and I are off to Washington, D.C. to see where he served his mission. We have great family who hooked us up big time. With cheapo Jet Blue tickets (Nicki you are the bomb-digity), a free place to stay and a car to use while we're there (Shelly, we love you). Thanks granny for raising such kind ladies. Thanks to the Darrow sisters we are taking our dream trip (I've never been) for a steal of a price. And thanks be to Uncle Rob for marrying a great lady, Aunt Steph...you are our favorite.

So, off we go to see the Cherry Blossoms, hang out with Aunt Shelly, see our nation's capitol and probably gain a few pounds eating yummy food. We leave tonight on a red eye...my first one...wish me luck!

Happy Spring Break to the rest of you!!!

Pure Insanity

When we got home from Vegas on Saturday night Tyler left with his buddies to stay with our cousin Christina down in LA. She lives just down the hill from Dodger stadium where the starting line was. The beginning of the race wasn't bad. Supposedly it was actually enjoyable for the first 15 miles or so, even with some rain. But after that, when it got colder, windier and the rain got heavier, it wasn't quite as exciting. Joints locked up, shivering ensued and goal times got farther and farther away. BUT, they all finished. Tyler and his 3 friends all took a little longer than they had hoped, but they all stuck it out. Me and two of the other faithful wives stuck it out at mile marker 15 and then headed to the chaos that was the finish line. Basically the finish line area looked like the location of a natural disaster. Shivering, crying, limping bodies looking desperately for familiar faces as they walk 5 blocks to the family reunion area. The set up was unbelievably stupid. We stood at the finish line for a couple hours in the worst part of the storm. We were SO happy that we eventually found our husbands. The rest of the day was spent in traffic trying to get back to Christina's to get Tyler's stuff & then back home where I could finally change into clean, dry clothes.

It was not a very fun day. I wish Tyler had chosen to do a different marathon. LA was just terribly set up at the finish. He says he will never do one again, but I don't know if that will change in the years to come. He did it and I am proud of him. He is a strong man and I am lucky to have a man that never gives up. Even when the rain and wind crash down he just keeps on pushing through life. I'm grateful for that, but I am also grateful for the sunny days.

Welcome to Fabulous

Last weekend we went to Vegas to see our best man Regan and Kate get sealed in the Temple. Friday night we went to eat at D.O.C.G. in the Cosmopolitan Hotel. Tyler's friend from high school is one of the cooks and totally hooked us up. Now, if you know anything about Tyler and I you know that we LOVE to eat. We both have decided that our food at D.O.C.G. was the best meal we have EVER had. That is huge people. If you are ever in Vegas and you want to eat the best meal you'll ever have go there. It was insane. Seriously. Oh and after dinner we went up to the 4th floor to check out the pool area... It was also mind blowing. I seriously cannot wait until Tyler gets a real job and we can afford to stay there. We will never have to leave the hotel. It was gorgeous. Afterwards we walked around on the strip, saw a drunken brawl and saw the water show at the Bellagio.

On Saturday we saw our friends get married. It was beautiful + her Grandpa was the sealer. The reception was awesome. Both Regan and Kate are graphic designers so the reception was beyond creative. Definitely unique. I loved it.

Congrats Regan + Kate. We were so happy that we were able to be there for your amazing wedding day.

My Hero

I don't mean to brag, but my husband is pretty fantastic. Not only is he the best friend I have ever had, but he is also pretty strong. Just a couple weeks ago he had emergency surgery. He had his appendix removed.

Now, please keep in mind that he has been training for a marathon for the past few months, of course the first thing he asked every doctor or nurse that entered his room was "so... I'm running the LA Marathon in 18 days... you think I can still do it?"... to which they all replied... "Well I don't think you'll be up to it" with inquisitive/confused facial expressions.

Here he is pre-surgery...

After surgery it was pretty bad. I think because so many people said that it was a "routine" surgery it made him think that the recovery would be super easy and that he wouldn't be in much pain. I have to confess, that was one of the worst days of my entire life. I have NEVER seen Tyler so distraught, so much in pain, so scared, so uncomfortable and so emotional. It was very difficult to watch someone I love more than anyone else hurt so badly. I was sleep deprived, sore from sitting in horribly uncomfortable chairs all day long and sad to see my sweetheart hurting. I drove home from the hospital and wept. It took me all but 3 minutes to fall asleep once I finally sat down on the couch.

When I left him on wednesday he couldn't keep anything down and he was pretty miserable.

But when I returned early Thursday morning he was chipper and all smiles as he demonstrated to me how he could now eat the orange flavored sorbet that they brought him... he was smiling as he plopped a spoonful into his mouth as if he was saying "Look what I can do!". I was SO happy!

Thank you to all of the many visitors and for all of the kind words of encouragement and prayers uttered in our behalf. We both really felt the love of so many of you. It was also special to see the power of prayer and the power of the priesthood. Our nephews even brought their uncle Tyler a very cute sign...

For those of you who are wondering, Tyler is healing very well. They were able to remove it lapriscopically so the surgery was not very invasive which meant a shorter recovery... Tyler was happy. He went for a check up last friday and the doctor gave him the green light to run the marathon. Tonight he is staying with family in LA and tomorrow I will be there anxiously awaiting his arrival at the finish line. It was a little scary there for a while, but faith and the power of modern medicine pulled us through. Oh and maybe my super hero husband did a little bit too.

ex. cite. ment.

tonight my older sister finds out if she's giving me a nephew or a niece.

its warm and sunny here in So Cal.

did some sewing last night and didn't screw up too badly.

lost 3 lbs when I weighed in this week. Hopefully the trend continues and I can stick to my goals. I get a "prize" for every 5 lbs I lose. Let's just say I can't buy ANY more clothing until I lose 20. It can't come soon enough.

tyler is back to his normal self and is healing at a superhuman pace. The Doctor gave him the go ahead to run the marathon.

planning on riding bikes to the park for a picnic tomorrow. SO excited to dust Ruby off and get her outside again.

i'm getting a lot out of my photography class and I'm finally learning stuff that I have always wanted to learn. HUGE smile on my face and butterflies about getting into photography again. Let me know if you want a shoot for a steal of a price. I want to get back to business!

sitting in my office listening to birds chirping and iron & wine pandora radio

having a baby niece/nephew that lives within 8 minutes. it's seriously heartbreaking to watch my niece in Hawaii sing twinkle twinkle little star on skype and know that she barely knows who I am.

Homeward Bound

The Physicians assistant came to see us. She said Tyler can go home today! Yesterday was the most exhausting day of my life. Words can't really describe how terrible it is to watch someone you love hurt so badly. This morning Tyler is much more chipper and he is keeping clear liquids down-HUGE progress. I am grateful for the power of prayer & the love felt from all of our loved ones.

Waiting

Right now I'm sitting next to Tyler as he attempts to sleep in his hospital bed. Thank goodness for the St. Judes wifi network. Yesterday he complained about abdominal pain all day. After dinner I made him google the symptoms for apensicitis ( I had a hunch that's what it was ). He dealt with the pain until midnigt. He knew he couldn't sleep through the pain... That's when he went to the e.r. So now we wait for surgery... Probably until 12:30. So here's to a day spent in the hospital waiting around for someone to remove his appendix. Mostly just waiting until my sweetheart isn't in pain anymore.

Please keep Tyler in your prayers. We appreciate all the love thus far. We are lucky to have such a great support system.