Animal House

I have two little frat boys at my house who love running around with underwear on their heads.
I'll really start to worry when they break out the togas and roll in the kegs. But, seriously, doesn't Greta look wasted in the shot below?

Back to School Schultuete

Bonneville Elementary started classes today...

...and last night I decided to make a schultuete for the each of the kids to open in the morning. I've been wanting to make these (or buy them) for a couple of years, but never planned ahead. This year the lack of planning didn't stop me as I gathered what little scrapbooking supplies I had and scavenged around the house for little stuffers. I came up with colored scripture pencils, a mini stapler, an emery board, mini hand sanitizers, pencils and various candy, some of which is from last Halloween, no kidding.

This morning the kids woke to find the cones hanging from the light fixture in the dining room, and can I tell you how appreciative they were!?! There were a lot of "thank you"s and hugs. Great reward for a little late night effort.

Morning Workout

The last thing I wanted to do this morning when I woke at 5 AM was run 13.1 miles, but I'd already paid the entrance fee and by golly, I was going to get my $35 worth of running. So I hauled my butt to Park City and RAN. It was unusually tough going for me the first five miles and the four potty pit stops I had to make during the first half of the race didn't help anything.

In the end, I didn't run a PR, but I did post a better time than I ran in Moab last March by almost three minutes! And I got to listen to some fun music and a great talk by Elder Eyring ~ ever notice how his talks have a nice rhythm and build momentum as they go? Great to run to, seriously.

Earlier in the week I was complaining that it was an out-n-back course, but I ended up liking the trail a good deal and will definitely sign up next year. And I'll welcome any running mates.

I'd like to thank a few people who made this morning possible:

Matt - For taking the girls on an over-nighter so I could revel in an empty house.
Bretta - For having Isaac spend the night with Ethan so he wouldn't be alone in the morning.
Melissa - For making me register for the race in the first place. So sorry that she injured her foot and had to back out.
Nancy - For the introduction to great ponytail holders and Body Glide.

The Year of Ivory

Today marks the beginning of mine and Matt's Year of Ivory as we are celebrating fourteen years of marriage. I toyed with the idea of getting Matt this lovely ivory phone case ~


~ but after buying new bedroom furniture I think the gift is going to be something more reasonable...








From our humble beginnings... we have exploded into the vast Asay empire we are today (okay, only four kids).

The thing I love about having been married to Matt this long is that each year is better than the one before. Truly.

How well do you know your spouse...this little Spouse Quiz will test your knowledge.

1. What does your spouse do at work? Be specific ("he's an executive" isn't enough, give specifics, duties). This might be easier than me trying to explain: http://www.alfresco.com/about/people/all/

2. What is your spouse really good at? Focusing on the task at hand, among many other things.

3. Has he or she won any awards, commendations, trophies? For what? Yes, but I know I won't remember many of them. Named all-state baseball pitcher in high school, presidential scholar at BYU, and couple of industry awards.

4. What is your spouse's favorite comfort food, when growing up? Many! Maple cream pie, pie crust, hot chocolate from Hatch Family Chocolates, pepperoni pizza with jalapenos from The Pie.

5. What is your mate's dream job? Not sure, but maybe traveling around the world preaching the gospel of Open Source software (the profitable kind : )

6. What did your spouse want to be when he or she was a child? A brain surgeon so that he could make lots of money.

7. What is you mate's top goal in life? Just takes it one day at a time : )

8. What does your spouse see as his or her greatest accomplishment thus far? Personally~having a great family. Professionally~Founding OSBC a few years ago. Physically~Running the Death Valley Marathon.

9. How many cousins does your husband or wife have? Matt doesn't even know this answer, but I think 16 or 17.

10. What is the name of your spouse's high school best friend? Brian Gardiner

11. What is your mate's favorite color? Blue

12. What is your spouse's favorite sport or hobby? Football (aka: soccer

Brandi Carlile's Olympic Debut

I've been loving the music of Brandi Carlile for several months now, thanks to friends Sonya and Matt for the intro.


Brandi has slowly gained notice the past few years for her incredible Patsy Kline-ish voice and strong songwriting. So I found it exciting to see one of her songs, The Story, used in the GM commercial that been playing during the Olympics (this song was also featured on an episode of Grey's Anatomy). This is not my favorite among her songs, but it shows some of the vocal phrasing that I'm so impressed with.

Say what you will about the commercialization of indie music, I'm sure Brandi wasn't crying on the way to the bank.

Here is the GM commercial and the music video from the original song.

Billy Collins always says it best

"The oldest subject in poetry is carpe diem. The reason you’re asked to carpe your diems is that you don’t have many diems left. The more you see your days as numbered, the more grateful you’ll be for those moments you have."
-Billy Collins, former U.S. Poet Laureate 2001-2003, in a lecture given at BYU in March 2008


If you don't know Billy Collins' work you should. It is sensual (meaning he engages the senses : ), funny and comfortable reading. And he reads he own work so well I'd love to just sit in a room and listen to him read. Wish I'd known he was speaking at BYU as I would have loved to have heard him speak.

BTW, I think it is impossible to carpe diem, or live in the moment, and I always feel a bit anxious when people suggest that I should do so.

Olympic Favorites

Matt left for Argentina Friday morning and while he is carving some turns in Las Lenas...
(This is an actual shot of Las Lenas. Cool, huh?!)

...the kids and I are soaking up the Olympic spirit with endless TV time (an unheard of thing in our house, just ask the kids about BOB the TV timer). Saturday, I told the kids they could watch as much TV as they wanted as long as it was the Olympics.

And though they risked turning into Jimmy Jett and His T.V. Set , they loved watching all the fencing (nice sweep, U.S. women), swimming, rowing, and mens gymnastics (the cycling was not such a hit).

There are a few favorites I'm keeping my eye on during these Olympics. I love them because they are not young spring chickens, two of them are mothers, and they are determined, hard-working ladies.

Dara Torres

I want that kind of a Mama body. Hello!!! The woman is 41 years old and going for the gold again. I'm not convinced that she is totally clean, but still, she is one tough cookie who swam the last leg of the relay last night like a torpedo.

Elaine Youngs

I love that she is a johnny come lately to her sport. She was on the womens indoor volleyball team at age 30, switched to beach volleyball to compete in Athens at age 34 and is now, at 38 years old, competing with a partner almost 10 years younger. They are not the favorites to win (go Walsh & May-Treanor!), but I find her jumping ability at thirty-eight even more impressive than Torres' strength.

Melanie Roach

Is she cute or what? Melanie is 33 years old, a business woman (owns a gymnastics gym), a mother of three (one with autism), AND she is a Mo-lympian according to this site. Watch the feature story about her from the Today show last week.

And what an enchanting and amazing Opening Ceremonies. The kids and I kept speculating how long they had been rehearsing each piece. Communist conformity in motion looks pretty cool.

FHE Activity - Isaac Style

This is the way Isaac prefers to spend Monday nights...


And I think Matt liked it, too.

Google Image Quiz

This is a fun internet scavenge my sister, Codi, passed on to me from our friend Kate Benson.
Here is how to play..."For each question, look up the answer in a Google Image search. Then choose your favorite image from the first page of results only. You get some fun and often CRYPTIC answers."

AGE...



A Place I'd Like to Travel To...


My Favorite Place...


My Favorite Object...


My Favorite Food...


My Favorite Color...


My Favorite Animal...


Town Where I was Born...


Town Where I Live Now...


Past Pet...


A Past Love...


My Best Friend's Nickname...


My Screen Name...


My First Name...


My Middle Name...


My Last Name...


One of My Bad Habits...


My First Job...


My Grandmother's Name...


My College Degree...


What I'm Doing Right Now...


I'd love to see what you find for yourselves, so please share.

"I love hiking with you, Mom!"

I had a fun time taking Isaac and his Cub Scout troop to the Summer Twilight camp again last week. Isaac has a lot of fun there, but he tires of having his mom around, obviously.