One more week

In one week and two days I will be done with the semester. The problem is in the next 36 hours I have four assignments, one final project, one portfolio, two papers and a quiz to get through. The first three mentioned are due in just five hours...and I haven't started. Windmagedon really messed up my study time last weekend, between the power outage and the Cochran cleanup I didn't get much done. Why is it I can always find time to blog when I shouldn't, but when I have ample time I choose not to?? Well, I decided to forgo lunch today to work on my assignments before class. I'm starving as I sit in a quiet room alone in the LNCO building. In walks a girl with a pizza, which smells slightly old but delicious none the less. She ate her pizza and left. Seriously? Go eat in a normal area, it's just cruel.

Brick Wall

I have hit a wall. It's tall, strong, unmoving and impenetrable. I feel like this semester should be over now, yet I still have a month left. Losing focus and having no motivation to study are understatements. The worst part is that on the other side of the wall is a land of no studying, no papers, sleeping in, Christmas fun, baking, tea-ring, family and actual time with Shawn. It seems like I'll never get to that land. This is my last year of college (yes I will finally finish next semester), I'm so close but every day seems like forever till the end. So, in an effort to kick my butt into gear (I should be studying now during my 2 hour break of the long 12 hours of school Tuesday), I ask you to help me. What did you do in school when you hit a wall with the end of the semester so far away? Any tips would be helpful. No motivational speeches necessary.

Happy Halloween Birthday!

Happy birthday to this handsome guy! We had a fun time celebrating Shawn's birthday this weekend. I put together a 'surprise' party on Friday. But, Shawn got off early and ruined the surprise part. It was still fun to have friends over for a BBQ and fire pit. We watched the Cardinals win (which Shawn loved since he served in St. Louis), roasted marshmallows and enjoyed delicious food. Saturday we woke up to visitors from Daybreak, Jessica and Bridger. Followed by Elliot's football game and lunch at Cheesecake Factory with Shawn's parents. After that we got to enjoy watching the Utes win from the rowdy and fun North end zone. The evening was finished with Geoff dominating us at Settlers of Catan: Cities & Knights. On Sunday I let Shawn relax while I made garlic bread for dinner at the Cochran's, which was also yummy! Today, Shawn's actual birthday, we went to school and I made beef ragu (recipe found here) for dinner and we finished off our leftover cheesecake! It's been a very fun weekend. Happy birthday Shawn, hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as I did. Love you!

"Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?"

10 years ago I was settling into the first few weeks of 9th grade. That morning I got ready for school as usual, said goodbye to my mom and ran out to my carpool. As I opened the car door Landon said "The World Trade Centers have been hit by planes!" Halfway in the car and halfway out, my confusion and fear were instant. I pulled the car door shut. Looking back now I was shutting the door on the innocent naive world I knew. The short drive to MPJ seemed long that day as we listened to the radio. News came of another hijacked plane and possible bomb threat on the White House....wait did they say the White House?! Now it was personal, my sister Jessica was an intern there. What was happening, was she OK, how was I going to find out? Surely my mom would let me know ASAP. Wrong. I made my way to my first class in a daze. The hallways were buzzing with chaos as trickles of conversations hit my ears....New York....planes...terrorists...bombs....DC....crashed....falling....Trying to break through my haze Brett said "Don't worry Mar, everything will be fine." I looked over at him and remember saying very clearly "You don't know that Brett, Jessica is in the White House." Brett's face fell, but he quickly said he was sure she was fine. I turned and walked into Geography alone as Brett and what seemed like all my other friends went across the hall to Foods.

I don't remember those first few classes very well, all the teachers were trying to calm down younger students and feeding us older kids with the latest news. We spent Seminary watching the burning towers and more speculation from newscasters. All day I waited for news about my sister but none ever came. Still worried I headed to my soccer game at WX. I couldn't even tell you who we played that day or even if we won. As we were warming up I spotted my mom across the field and yelled "Is Jessica OK?" She smiled and said "Yes she's fine." She couldn't call the school and tell me that?!

A few weeks later Alan Jackson's song "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning" came on as my dad and I drove home from a soccer game. My dad said he liked the song and turned it up. One line says "In a crowded room did you feel alone?" That's exactly how I felt.

I got these plates at Target last month. How different the skyline is today.

My International Communication class focuses on memory and how people remember major events in our past. Shawn and I woke up today to watch the memorial. Unfortunately, Shawn didn't account for time zones and we missed most of the broadcast. It still got me thinking about ten years ago and what each of us went through. I asked Shawn how he found out and what he remembered about that day. My sister Morgan blogged about her experience here. Jessica and her family came over and we each shared our memories of September 11, 2001: Jessica being evacuated from the White House as the plane that hit the Pentagon flew overhead, Nick in Russia on a mission and Shawn's mom calling him down to the TV room to watch the news. Today I learned a little more about myself and a little more about my family. I think that's one of the lessons we still have, is learning about ourselves, family, friends and country. Jessica wasn't thrilled to re-live the day, but I think it's important to reflect and talk about things. After all that's how we learn and change, right? Where were you when you found out, what was your day like?

Summer happenings

Whew! Last time I posted I was dragging through finals week of Spring semester, now it's finals for Summer semester. What happened? Where did all the time go? Well where ever it went it took my summer with it. Shawn and I have been busy doing the following:

- enjoying the hot summer days
- eating outside
- fire pit evenings
- laying outside on our hammocks
- swimming with family
- Ogden 5k (yes I did it!)
- boating

Most of the Cochran clan headed down to Zion for a family reunion. 'Most' of the family includes grandpa, 2 of his siblings, their kids, grandkids and great grandkids! I'd never met half the family but it was fun to get to know everyone. We went swimming, hiking, had a basketball tournament, large dinners and even a service project. Shawn and I finally broke in our tent we got for our wedding and loved sleeping outside.

We also celebrated our 3 year anniversary! We both had the weekend off and spent it relaxing together. For dinner we went to our favorite Indian place down the street, got Cold Stone for desert and watched a movie at home. Pretty chill weekend, but it was just what we needed.

Last weekend we went to Bear Lake with my family. Strange going without my parents, but we figured it out. We spent our time boating, at the beach, golfing, mini golfing, playing games, getting shakes, getting drinks and chasing nephews and nieces. The kids had a blast on the boat, they loved the tube, knee board and wake board. Shawn is getting the hang of the wake board and has started trying to jump and get air.

Crazy busy but fun summer! 2 weeks left and then Fall semester starts. We'll enjoy it while we can!

Sorry about the picture overload but Nana and Grandpa in NYC need to stay connected with pics of the grandkids, including the annual grandchildren pic by "the tree" in Bear Lake. Enjoy! JD took his kids out and rode the knee board with them. Some of these pics include Joey and Sam's first ride, and Joey's amazement and goodbye wave when his dad let go.

We told the tube riders to raise their hands for a picture, unfortunately captain JD didn't get the memo. The boat went and jerked the tube while Joey wasn't holding on and he fell off the back. Look closely and you can see Morgan's shocked face and the top of Joey's head behind Charlie's arm as he tumbles off the back!

finalssss..........

Lack of blogging due to the following: 3 final exams, 1 final paper, 1 final portfolio, 1 photo project all within the next 48 hours. Followed by 1 final exam next week. Will blog after Wednesday.....or maybe I'll just sleep.

I did it....

My friend recently started a blog for her healthy part of life. She tracks what she eats, her workout etc. every day. My family for many years has talked to each other about their work outs. While in NYC I got a daily recount of my parents run or workout. Growing up it got to be so much that I banned certain people from talking to me about healthy stuff, what I ate or didn't eat and working out. Daily exercise talk is too much for me, so here's what I've decided to do. I won't do this every day, but I need an outlet about exercising. This will be my forum for the ups and downs of working out, attempting to run and eating better. No, this is not my own "Biggest Loser" (although I love that show), you will not know my weight, maybe a comment about loss/gain, this is not my pity party for sympathy or praise, JUST AN OUTLET. SO, here goes.... - I was dreading going to the gym on Monday since I hadn't been for over a week, and haven't had some of my asthma medicine. But, after class Shawn and I headed over to the rec center. I started out up on the track. Now, you must know my exercise has been hit and miss (mostly misses) for a while. Last time I ran this track I could only do 2 laps (9 laps = 1 mile) which is quite pathetic. So Monday my goal was to run 3. Well, I ran 6! Walked another, ran 2 more, and finished walking 3. It felt good, considering I could barely run at all before. I continued with some weight lifting, abductors, adductors and stretching. Still feeling pretty good Shawn and I went back up and ran another 5 laps with a sprint at the end! 2 miles later, I was starting to think I will be able to run 3 miles in a month. Good start!

5k Update

Training is not going so well... I woke up Sunday congested, sore throat, my ears hurt along with an achy body. That was the high point of the week, it's been down hill ever since. So to say the least I have not been training or exercising all week. Not looking forward to Monday, but I have to do it.

5k.....hopefully

My sister-in-law, Katie, and I have been saying we should do a 5K since I got engaged. That was 3 years ago and we have yet to do one. Well that all changes for me this year....hopefully. The Ogden marathon ends right outside the doors of my work. So my work, The Imaging Depot, has offered to pay it's employees entrance fee for whichever part of the race we want to do. A couple of us decided to do the 5k. I don't believe Katie will be joining me, but Katie, start training with me and we'll do one this summer! Training was supposed to start today...........better luck tomorrow?! I've never been a runner, but 3.1 miles can't be that bad right? Here's to getting in shape and running in my first official event ever, and hoping it won't be my last. Katie, and all the other 3 of you that read this blog will be the ones holding me to it. Updates on my progress to follow. UPDATE: Shawn saw me typing this up and asked if he gets to do it with me, of course! So I signed him up as well. We'll keep each other on track.

Fruit Bowl

Summer is coming, can you feel it?! I spent 90% of this glorious day inside working. The few moments I spent walking to my car this evening got me excited for summer, the sunsets, the heat, boating, family trips, being outside and fresh fruits and veggies. This is what our fruit bowl looks like right now after a trip to Costco and Smith's. Our fridge also holds strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and apples. Now, how do just two people eat all this before it goes bad? Some of the fruit will be for Conference Sunday breakfast, but the rest we will enjoy. Here's to hoping Summer comes a little faster, I'll be thinking about it with every bite!

Visit to NYC

Dear Mom and Dad, It was great to be able to visit you in NYC. Shawn and I had so much fun traveling around and exploring the city with you. I'm glad we were the first to come which meant we got to experience some things you hadn't seen yet. Some of the highlights were NY tourists spots including the Statute of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Brooklyn Bridge, shopping on 5th Avenue, the Museum of Modern Art, China Town & Little Italy, Top of Rockafeller Center, the Empire State Building, the Museum of Natural History, Central Park and ground zero. We also loved exploring the upper west side where you live, seeing the temple and your office, and going to your ward in Harlem. Of course we found amazing food in NY including some great finds featured on the Food Network, Grimaldi's: best pizza ever, Brooklyn Icecream Factory, Levain's: great cookies the size of your fist, the Shake Shack, and great Italian in Little Italy. Getting to see Wicked for the first time was also incredible! Thanks again for letting us come see and stay with you! Love, one appreciative daughter + one appreciative son-in-law

President's Day

Shawn & Elliot Pretty sure Shawn was trying to turn the camera off... This is a little late, but for President's Day we went up to Brighton. We spent the day with my sister, 2 brothers-in-law & 2 nephews. It was fun and exhausting. I'm not a great skier, but somehow ended up trying to find my way through powder. I tried following Shawn and my sister but usually ended up on my back, at one point I took a nice rest with my skies straight up in the air :)

Spicy Chili

Made this last night. It was spicy and delicious! Didn't taste like normal old chili, plus Shawn made homemade corn bread. We were quite the cooks, and our house smelled amazing all night. An old friend of mine went to culinary school and is now doing an internship at the LA Times. He did this recipe for something for that. The link for the recipe is below.