Bear Creek Half Marathon!

Now that Kim has started school, she's not really going to have any time to do anything fun. So she's been training for the last 6 weeks for the Bear Creek Half Marathon at Briones Regional Park near Walnut Creek, CA.

It was a warm day for a race, especially one where the trail climbs over 3,000 feet. It got up to about 100 degrees half-way through the race, but Kim kept it going and finished with a great time!

She is so amazing to have done so well on her first half marathon; all while starting medical school. I know this will be the first of many, now let's see if she can get me out for one! Great job sweetheart!

All smiles! (this is before it got up to 100 degrees)

Kim and her friend Joy from school.
Ready to go, about 50 people in the race.

On your mark, get set....
Go! Notice Kim in the back pushing people early on for some spacing....

Crossing the finish line!

The price paid!

My First Day of PA School

So many of you know I had my first day of Physician Assistant School on Monday (yesterday) Aug. 24, 2009.

I can't describe how nervous, scared, complete and excited I feel all at the same time. This is a huge undertaking and I have been working toward this day for the last 5 years +. So much time, effort, sweat, tears, self-examination, self-actualization has happened to get me to this point. I know I have a long road ahead. I feel like I am accomplishing one of my life's greatest missions (I feel there will be many different ones).

I want to challenge all my awesome friends out there to really look inside yourself and think of something, a goal maybe, of which you want to accomplish AND DO IT. I never thought I would feel so sure of my path in life as I do right now and it is a great feeling. My favorite quote is
"Anything in life worth having is never easy" and I like to add "or convenient."

Enough of this sappy stuff, I just wanted to thank everybody for helping me get here, being supportive and kind and at the end of 32 months I will graduate.

Our 4 year anniversary!

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So Jake and I celebrate 4 years together on August 19, 2009. I start school on August 19, so we did something this past weekend to celebrate. Jake suprised me and took me to a bed & breakfast victorian inn at half moon bay. We ate at an organic eclectic eatery (AMAZING), which I loved. The next day we walked around downtown and bought a bunch of produce from local produce stands.

I can't believe it has almost been four years. Time flies by so quickly, but I am still so in love with Jake. I have believed from the beginning that he was made for me and I for him. I used to not believe in the idea of a soul-mate but, every year that goes by only further solidifies my belief in one and that Jake is mine. We have been through so much together over the last four years, to name a few (just for reminiscing purposes):

• Lived in 5 different apartments, ranging from 400 sq ft to 1100 sq ft.
• We have lived in four different states (Utah, Arizona, Missouri, California)
• Jake graduated from USU Cum Laude with a BA in Spanish
• I graduated from USU with a BS Biology
  
• Jake graduated from Thunderbird School of Global Management with his MBA
  
• I was accepted and will be starting PA school - MSPAS/MPH program
• We have owned a motorcycle and eight different cars and sold six of them (4-runner, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Rodeo, Civic, Matrix, Saturn Vue & one right now we are trying to find)
• When we were first married we lived off of $1000/month
• We owned a cat for two weeks (I was allergic)
• We have been on many vacations (Cancun, Yellowstone, Snake River, Disneyland twice, Ensenada, Nauvoo (church sites), Moab, Bear Lake, Sonoma, Camping of sorts, Panama and who knows how many Utah trips)
• Together we have tried: Mountain Biking, Running, Yoga, Tennis (Jake taught me), Four-wheeling and Motorcycling.
• Jake converted me to Seinfeld, I converted Jake to Keeping up Appearances, and together we are AVID Arrested Development, The Office, Flight of the Conchords, LOST, SYTYCD, and yes Jake too- The Bachelorette viewers! (although he'd never admit it, JK)
• As much as I've tried I just can't get Jake to appreciate one of my favorite movies "White Chicks" but he does appreciate my other favorites "Get Smart," and both "Pink Panther 1 & 2". Jake has succeeded in getting me to love Indiana Jones and most superhero movies!
  
• Jake bought both our mountain bikes with money he earned from donating plasma (his was stolen in AZ).
• We both tried Thai and Sushi together and they are now our FAVORITE cuisines.
• Jake loves the fact that I scrapbook and thinks it's good for our family (I did not expect that)
• We have become healthy food fanatics. Jake lets me take away butter at the table, reduce the sugar in his food, remove oil from his pizza, tell him to eat slower and make him eat tonz of vegetables, all with a smile on his face!
• Our extended families have grown via one nephew, one niece, one sister-in-law, and two brother-in-laws.
• Together we have held 14 different jobs. I have held 7 different jobs (Group Home Leader, Assisted Living CNA, Dillards sales associate, Lancome make-up artist, substitute teacher, Science/Math Tutor at anorexia/bulemia clinic, med/surg CNA, med/surg Secretary), Jake has held 7 different jobs (Herald Journal classifieds, Wells Fargo- Tellar, Loan officer, Spanish tutor at anorexia/bulemia clinic, Thunderbird- Financial Aid Assistant, Carreer Center Advisor, Hilti Sales Manager)
• When we first got married we owned two chairs and purchased a bed. Now it's a bit more every year!
  

I do not intend for this to sound braggy, I am just so grateful for what we have been able to accomplish together. The best part of all of this is that after four years and all of the above, WE STILL LIKE EACHOTHER!!!(hahahha) All in all I think we are working well together and I can't wait to see what our future holds. I feel like Jake and I together can accomplish anything we set our minds to. Lucky for me it is usually what I set my mind to!

Here's to you, JAKE and US. I love you! We were meant to be forever, and I am sure looking forward to a forever with you!

I know we are slackers! Our Apartment finally!

So I know that we have completely forgotten about our blog, but I will be updating it a little bit at a time. I have to go all the way back to March when my sister SAra got married. I think Jake and I have just been running around with our heads chopped off the last few months. But, we are starting to come back to reality bit by bit. Just in time for me to start school in two days! Ahhhh! I am so excited. Hopefully I can keep you updated with my school process. But for now, I am posting some pictures of our apartment that I have taken forever to post. You can look at the previous posts for the before pictures, and here are the "after" Pictures. I am especially proud of my kitchen that I painted the walls and laid the flooring. I decided not to paint anything else after that, though.

Battle of the Bay

I have been an Oakland A's fan since I knew what baseball was. I'll never forget my first Little League team's tight green and yellow jerseys and that everyone was upset that we weren't the White Sox or some other 'cool' team. Well, I thought it was cool and have followed the A's ever since. I even caught a home-run at Oakland's stadium a few years back.

So moving to the Bay area gave me the chance to get in some awesome baseball, and Kim and I jumped at the first chance we had. The MLB is in inter-league play right now, so we went to one of the "Battle of the Bay" series, the Oakland A's vs. the San Francisco Giants. I won't comment on the outcome of the game or the series, but we took a few pictures.

Evening picnic by the Bay..

Not to make everyone else jealous, but Kim and I walked about a half-mile from our front door to have a little Sunday evening picnic. The weather has been beautiful, albeit a little chilly here lately and we wanted to enjoy being so close to some amazing views.

We stopped along the trail for some photo-ops
More pictures at Kim's request (more like command ;)



So we hiked down the hill to the edge of a cliff (smart, I know)


But we got a great view and enjoyed a nice Sunday dinner
Yep, contented. Like the Rizzuto

Our Place in SF

After we got back from Panama, we packed up most of our apartment in Glendale and drove our car north to San Francisco to look for an apartment. Lucky for us, rents are lower (but still ridiculous) than they have been in years, so we looked at a lot of places all over the city. We need to live in the city for my job, but wanted to be close to the freeways for Kim's commute.

We ended up finding a great little flat a few blocks between two great parks and only 4 blocks from the beach! It is a 2 bedroom, 1180 sq. ft. with a fireplace on the second floor and great city views. The best part is a single car garage all to ourselves! Parking in the city is impossible! We love it and are excited to have people come visit!


View from the kitchen of the Golden Gate


Living room and boxes
Park down the block
Messy bedroom since Kim's in Utah
Hallway

Good News While In Panama..

The week before I left for Panama, I flew to San Francisco to interview for a job with Hilti (http://www.us.hilti.com/). I had a really good interview, but couldn't worry too much about it since I would be out of the country. Fortunate for us, soon after I arrived in Panama, Hilti contacted me and I had a final phone interview with the Division Manager, a great guy who is also a T-bird AND Utah State grad. Shortly after that, I was emailed a job offer to start in their Management Development Program in the San Francisco Bay area.

So here we are! I started last week and have really enjoyed the job so far. We are very blessed for me to have a job nearby where Kim can go to PA school, especially in such difficult times.

PANAMANIUM 2009!!!!!!!!!!!

So I know it is a long time coming, but I graduated May 1st and left the country for Panama on the morning of May 2nd. After Kim came down on May 16th, we traveled around and came home on May 27th. I haven't had a lot of time to post between now and then, but here's an update.....

I'm sure a lot of people have already seen these amazing pictures on my Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=107955&id=613502802&l=fd76ab08ed and http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=112000&id=613502802&l=7be9c1c058 if you haven't).


On the way to the island with the Matsons
With Kim at the Canal

Oh and I got some bug bites


Our cabin on the island in San Blas
Some Panamanin ruins
That's how we got around


Chiquita Banana Plant
Our hotel in Bo
Fort ran by Christopher Columbus

Rural Panama

Looking out on the Panama city scape; this is where part of the last 007 movie was filmed
Lots of crocs in the Panama Canal

Jake Graduates!

So Jake did it. He graduated with his MBA in International Management on May 1, 2009 from Thunderbird School of Global Management. The ceremony was amazing and I loved every second of it. I am so grateful to Jake for his hard work and dedication to school. He has put in a lot of hours over the last couple years to this degree. The last month in particular was particularily brutal. I probably saw him an hour each day as he was up until 2:00 AM almost every night doing homework and preparing presentations and applying for jobs. I wanted to pay a small tribute to him by publically telling him how grateful I am for his drive and sense of responsibility for our family. I have never once heard him complain about the long hours and personal sacrifice that was required to complete such an achievement. He always did his duty, always knowing what it was he needed to accomplish and did it without ever looking back. I love him so much and couldn't be more proud and happy that he has accomplished this. Congraulations to my sweetheart!!! I also want to thank his parents for their life-long support of him and instilling him at a young age with a sense of responsibility and an ability to work hard without complaint. I am so grateful to Barbara and Larry for raising a son who has a true testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and is honest in everything that he does. He is a true model of integrity and I know he learned that from his parents. Thank you to everyone else (i.e. my parents and others) who have supported us on this long and difficult path. We love all the friends we have made and will treasure our friendships with them forever. Thank you to everyone. Last of all, I want to thank God for providing and upholding us every step of the way, giving us strength beyond our own.

Jake I love you so much, congratulations!!!! This is Amazing!!!

(a special thanks to Jen Westenskow for giving me these fabulous pictures)
for some reason I can't get them to download so I will add them soon

Do you ever wish you were a kid again?

I guess since I've lived away from home for the past few years, I've become a little more nostalgic and think of the awesome life I had growing up. I did a lot of amazing things as a kid and really enjoyed life in Utah growing up on the farm. Even though I'm not in that stage of my life anymore, and I really am content with where I'm at (even if that means in the library most of the time, at least for the next 25 days), I like to look back and remember....

My older sister Emily has 4 kids, the youngest of which is Scott, her only boy. Suffice it to say that Scott is all the mystery and mischief that her other 3 girls never outwardly expressed, all rolled into one little child. He reminds me of one of my favorite cartoon characters from when I was little - Calvin from the comic book, Calvin & Hobbes. I like to try and capture what Scott is thinking or conniving in all the descriptive pictures my sister has taken of him and maybe live a little bit of life through his tiny little eyes....

I love the Jazz...

So I decided to surprise Kim (although it was mostly for me) and take her to the Jazz/Suns game Wednesday night here in Phoenix. We had decent tickets, first row on the upper bowl, which in the Suns arena, isn't too bad. We had a great time, although we had to sit next to some stupid Lakers fans. Oh well. The Jazz played decent, but ended up losing. They made up for it by beating the Suns three days later in Utah.

This is me at our seats with the Lakers fan in the background.


We went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner before the game and it really was pretty good. Thanks Kim for letting me surprise you with something for me!