4 July 2004, Sunday

Happy Birthday to the
United Staes of America!!

Oh say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thru the night that our flag was still there.
Oh say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen thru the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream;
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

19 July 2004, Monday

I'm home. That was quite the trip. Mom and I got back into Utah this past Wednesday. We stopped and saw Mount Rushmore on the way. This time I didn't miss the stop for Independence Rock as well. The pictures are all up on my site now, you can see them here. There aren't a whole lot of them because I spent most of the time using my camcorder (I had to get all the use out of it I could considering how much I spent on it). But there are a few. I also read four books while I was gone, and the reviews are here.

My dad got into town Thursday evening, and Friday night they went to pick up my brother and sister at the airport. All five of us stayed in my one bedroom apartment till yesterday morning. It's big enough for me, but it was tight with all of us. I'm glad though. Ryan leaves Friday night for his year abroad with the Zeff fellowship. We won't see him again till next summer. He better be safe, have lots of fun, and take lots of pictures.

Everyone was here because Friday and Saturday we had a huge Giles reunion. All of grandpa's kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids (with the exception of one grandkid and her 3.5 children) got together to renew relationships and make new ones. The last time we were all together was in 1988 or 1989. It was wonderful. We even got matching shirts, with the exception of colors. Each of Grandpa's kids was assigned a different color, we were yellow. I enjoyed seeing the great-grandkids with different colored shirts playing together. A few of the pictures are here.

The whole month I was gone, I'd gone to church at 9am. So yesterday I got up for church and was rushing around trying to get to church on time. I was almost to the building when I noticed I didn't recognize anyone else going in. So I got out my calendar and looked, and realized I had two more hours till I had to be at church. It was nice to have a quiet morning before church.

I'd taught Sunday School three of the four Sunday's I was gone. My parent's ward is one lesson ahead of mine in both Sunday School and Relief Society. And that was good because it meant I was prepared when I found out after Sacrament meeting that I was going to be teaching Sunday School yesterday as well. I enjoyed seeing how the exact same lessons took different directions with the different groups of people. You could see how each ward needed something different from the lessons, and that's what they got.

23 July 2004, Friday

It's my birthday today. I'm 26.

I've had a great birthday. I slept in. I went out to lunch with friends. I opened presents from my family. I went and saw The Notebook with Brian and then he gave me some presents. And now I'm getting ready to go to bed so I can leave for Salt Lake at 4:30 in the morning inorder to run a 10K tomorrow. It hasn't been an unusual or extrodinary day. But it has been a very good day and one I'll be adding to my running count of memorable birthdays. The twenties are being very good to me.

I highly recommend seeing The Notebook to everyone. This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. I want a love like that.

24 July 2004, Saturday - Pioneer Day

I love running. This morning's race (Deseret Morning News Marathon and 10K) gave me such a high. Of course waking up just before 4am so I could be at the race on time wasn't a whole lot of fun, and it was dark and cold at the beginning, but I just can't get over how much fun running is. I felt great today too. I had shin splints last Saturday from hiking to Timp caves, so I really wasn't expecting a whole lot, I just wanted to finish and enjoy running down the parade route. But by the time I saw a mile marker, I was a little surprised that I'd already gone three miles. I knew it had been more than a mile, but I didn't think it'd been that far already. I walked through each of the three aid stations, but other than that I ran the whole way, even having enough to kick it up a bit the last few blocks and have a real strong finish at 59:45 unofficially. I smiled the whole way. It was so much fun.

Of course I kept trying to fall over if I stopped moving afterwards and have four great blisters on my toes and it's going to be real funny watching me try to navigate the stairs into and out of my apartment building tomorrow, but I had the best time this morning.

Two little kids I heard cheering on the sides made me smile. One, at the beginning, kept yelling, "Go, Mom, Go," over and over. Then about half way through the parade route, another little boy kept repeating, "Keep going runners, you're doing good." Bless the little children, and everyone else who clapped for all the runners.

Follow that with a real fun parade, an amazingly fun time at the Salt Lake cemetary, and fireworks tonight, I'm having a great weekend.

More Race and Birthday Pictures

27 July 2004, Tuesday

On my way back from my travels, my mom and I stopped at my Uncle Karl's house in Salt Lake. He has two apricot trees in his backyard, and let us pick three bags worth. Now, these aren't ordinary apricot trees, these are the ones that inspired the Primary song, "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree." The woman who wrote it lives behind him. So I got all homemakey last week, and Brian helped me make four batches of apricot freezer jam. So now I can eat toast and "popcorn" jam!

I have entered a few photos in the Utah County Fair and am trying to decide which three I'm going to enter in the Utah State Fair in September. I've picked a few (24), and am looking for help at narrowing them down. You can look at them here and tell me what you think.