Donated my hair

Well I did it. I was tempted to wait until next summer because then I wouldn't have to go so short. However my hair was getting so heavy and sometimes caused me headaches when running because of the heavy ponytail waving back and forth. My hair would also wrap around my neck when sleeping and scare me because it felt like someone was choking me at night. So I just decided it all had to go.

 Because I had a goal to donate my hair for the third time (since my stylist says it takes 3-5 heads of hair to make a wig), I just went for it. Closed my eyes and let her cut.

BEFORE

15 ponytails later to donate.  A few were 10 inches, some 11 inches and some 12 inches.

A picture the next day after I slept on it.  Hadn't
styled it yet.

How my hair looked at work.  Not a great picture,
since I found it hard to take a picture of myself with
this new phone.  Either way I really like the hair.
Shorter than I've ever gone before, but cute.  At least
hair grows back and it's for a great cause.  Locks of Love
I hope you use my hair because it was hard for me to
donate all that.

Halfway there

Caleb has been out on his mission for 1 year and I wanted to do a cool package.  I got this idea from Linda Lee.  She said to send half of things.  So that's what I did.  Most of the pictures are blurry, sorry about that.  Getting used to a new camera phone that I have no clue how to use.  There was also a pen cap in there, half of a Twix bar, half of a Kit Kat candy bar, half of a package of apple cinnamon oatmeal, half of a box of q-tips and a few more items.  This was fun.

Half of a pudding pack.

Half of a package of socks.

Half of a pack of gum.

1 toothbursh out of 2.

1 toothpaste out of the 2 pack.

Half a box of fruit treats.

1 shoe lace.

Here is the best part.  The Half of roll of toliet paper.  Note to the world.  Do not try cutting toliet paper with a
chop saw.  It shreds the paper and it was everywhere.

The sign we made him.

LONG bike ride

Saturday afternoon Jason and I were going to go on a long bike ride. I wanted to go on somewhere between 20-25. He mentioned he had a great 30 mile route picked out. So I prepared for the ride and decided to go along. The weather was windy and at times really windy, but the temperature was seriously perfect for riding.

Since we had a while to ride and all of our children were busy with either school, working or with their friends, we had extra time to spend on this ride and I would stop and take pictures because of things I thought were funny or picture worthy.

About 27 miles into the ride we were NO WHERE near home. This worried me greatly and Jason realized he really didn't know how far our loop was. We had taken Dubuque street North, then turned on Linder Drive East, then Prairie Du Chein North until we came to Newport Rd. East until we came to Hwy 1 and turned South. We should have headed home from here, but instead we turned on Morse Rd. East towards West Branch. It was a very LONG hilly Rd.  which I hated.  Then we turned on Baker Rd. which I then hoped would bring us home, but instead it brought us to West Branch and we had hit almost 28 miles by this point and I knew we were in trouble and were going to ride a whole lot further than I had planned on.  Thank goodness there was a gas station in West Branch and I filled my two water bottles up with ice.  We then proceeded on Herbert Hoover Rd. towards home, but that ended up being the hilliest road of them all.  I really thought I'd die by mile 33 and my tailbone was hurting.

When we finally saw civilization again it was 36 miles and I was grateful that my pain was almost over.  This was going to be the longest ride I had ever been on.  Which would have been GREAT had I worked up to it better.  The last long ride was 36 miles and that was almost a couple months ago, since then I've done a lot of 6-10 milers, but nothing of significance since.  I was in pain.

When my odometer on my bike turned 40 miles I was on our street and grateful to be home.  Everything hurt.  Here are some pictures from the day.

A brown cow.  I did witness this, although he wasn't entirely brown.  I knew
they existed.

This sign is hilarious and I had to have a picture of it.  I have seen
it many times before so this time I grabbed a picture.

Someone's awesome mailbox.

This is what 30 miles looks like to Jason.

After the ride, glad to be home.

Jason and his hot bike legs!

Me so grateful to be done riding for a couple days.

West High Choir Concert 10-8-13

Jared and Alyssa had a choir concert tonight.  This will be the first of many concerts this year.  I thought they both
looked great in their choir outfits, so I had to post this picture.  They are both looking so grown up.

West High Homecoming--2013

Here are some pictures from before Homecoming.

This one cracks me up because the boys asked the two Dads to put their feet in.

We are doing a marathon together!

Well he finally said YES!   He let me register him for a marathon and I couldn't be any more excited for him.
Jason and I will be running here:  http://grandmasmarathon.com/site/

It's not until the 3rd Saturday in June of 2014 so we still have quite a bit of time until then to get ready.

We are so excited, ok well at least I am.   We are already half way there since we have both run two half marathons recently so we just have to keep up the high mileage and stay injury free.  Let the training begin.

I will update with our progress on this blog   Weight Loss Blog

Letter from Caleb 9-30-13

The following letter is in response to a letter I wrote Caleb a couple weeks ago.  I have taken some parts out that were private to only me or the family.  Most of it is here for you to enjoy if wanted.

Caleb is on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Anaheim, California Mission.  He has been serving for 11 months and still has 13 months to go.  To find out more about our church just go to HERE

Dear Mom,

Thanks for your letter. I'm going to reply to that now.

First off, I had Mrs Sunderhouse for Second grade. I had Mrs Brown for 3rd, Mrs Jones for 4th, Mr Moore for 5th, and Mrs Dostal for 6th. I know Mrs Murphy, and I know that she turned 50 when I was in 4th grade, but I never had her. Dan had her.

PRIVATE STUFF HERE

You made Cinnamon Vanilla French Toast. Isn't that exactly the same as normal French Toast? As far as I know, you always put cinnamon and vanilla in it. I have been making it lately where I actually don't use milk at all. I use twice the eggs that I would, and I let it soak into the bread until the bread feels soggy. Then I fry it in a small amount of olive oil at a low temperature. Because of all the egg, it gets really light and fluffy and they taste amazing.

Well Mom, if you want a phone with the internet, you better find a good deal and move quickly. Elder Perry, of the quorum of the 12, makes fun of people for carrying notepads and manuals. He says that technology is a gift for us to spread the gospel, and that we need to embrace it. I expect you to have a tablet by the time I get home.

My back is fine. My neck is fine. I'm taking care of myself.

Next I asked him what he wanted me to send him.  I'm always looking for ideas on what to put in his packages.  Most of what he wrote next is a joke.  Caleb LOVES lights and always has and his business before he left on his mission was lighting and technical work, so as you will see from some of his links, he is messing with me.

I do love dove chocolates. Hmm, well I love the ETC Selador, and if you want to send a couple of those... http://www.prolightingsupply.com/ded60ledlu.html 

You know, or a car. Essentially they cost the same. Life is expensive. I just want to do cool things, and I want to do them now. Is that too much to ask? I'm honestly not sure what you could send me. I guess if you want... You could send a 700x 38 C innertube with a presta valve. And a tire patch kit. And two black, 90 degree, brake noodles. And two black brake cables with barrel ends. And a GrandMA2 OnPC Manual. I can't believe it is already almost October. That means I've been out a year. In 10 days I won't have done a show in a year. I'm officially out of practice! GRAH. I'm going a little bit nuts today. If you really wanted to do something nice, find a used "Zoom H4N" on eBay or something, and buy it and send it out. I'd like to make audio recordings to send home, but I can't justify spending 50-100 bucks on something that has very limited use when I could spend $200 and use it for years after I return home too. You don't actually have to do that though. I really have most of my needs taken care of, so now I'm just on wants.

I still have tape for my typewritter, I have plenty of shirts and pants. I guess I need a belt, but that's really it. I'm a 38, but a 36 on a good day. I'm in a car right now so I'm mostly a 38. If you find Croft and Barrow ties, I really like those. Of all the ties I have, the two I have that are croft and barrow have looked the best and held up the best. I like this tie in all the colors, especially green and pink: 
http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-1430023/croft-barrow-philadelphia-plaid-tie.jsp?color=Red

Gold, Green, and blue look the best on this one:
http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-1429133/croft-barrow-austin-striped-tie.jsp?color=Silver

red, blue, and green look the best on this one:
http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-1268259/croft-barrow-allendale-plaid-tie.jsp?color=Silver%20Purple

That is kind of the style I'm going for I guess.

Ok, now you know some things you could get me. I have too many ties now, so I'm going to start sending the ones I don't like home, or trading them. I'd really like to have 12 good solid ties, and 4 really nice ones for Church and things like that, so I'm going to start getting to that level. 

I don't know when the iPads arrive. I'm actually hoping that they don't arrive until January for purposes of the audit, but if they do then oh darn. I guess I'll have to suffer through it :)

I had to take a typing test for the office. I got an average of 57 WPM, but a peak of 92 WPM. Haha! I had no idea I could type fast! I was always a slow typer in High School.

PRIVATE STUFF HERE JUST FOR MOM

Thanks for the letter Mom.

Things have been going really well. Our weeks have been slow, but I can't believe it is already a transfer week. We get leadership calls Thursday, which I believe I will be released as a trainer, and possibly a district leader too, and then transfer calls on Saturday Night. We have a busy week planned out, including two exchanges, a service project, getting our car detailed (I love the fusion so much, I want it forever. I want a Taurus when I get back though. Someday. It's a flipping nice car.), and dinner with awesome people. 

Well, I just saw boobs at the library. Boobs are a surprisingly common sight here. I don't know why certain people think it's appropriate to wear tank tops and then run through the library, but that was super gross. 

Now back to your regularly scheduled interruption. I have 5 letters to respond to but I haven't had the time.

 I can't believe how busy I have managed to be in an area with no missionary work happening. I have seen amazing things happen so far though, like last week. We were making dinner down at the community grills, and a woman was down there too. I started talking to her (I can talk to anyone now. Literally anyone.) and I asked her about her family. Her daughter is going to CalState Fullerton (which is just across the 57 freeway) and majoring in business. She was in show choir throughout high school, which gave me a point to talk about. After a few minutes she said that she was really worried for her daughter, who was really sick right now. I asked her about her relationship with God, and she said that it was suffering. I asked her if she prayed lately. She said she stopped praying years ago because she was sick of praying to a saint. She said "The Bible teaches us to pray to God, yet they want me to pray to specific saints. Why would a church teach contrary to what the bible teaches?" I told her that she was right. We are commanded to pray to God and to pray often. In fact, it is one of the oldest and most repeated commandments in the Bible. I shared one of the many experiences I have had with prayer and with finding answers to my prayers. I asked her if she had ever had a prayer answered. She said yes, and I asked her how it felt. She said "It was this overwhelming feeling... of comfort, and peace. I knew things would work out." I asked her if she knew the proper order of prayer, and she said no. I taught about how prayers are a communication with our Father in heaven. I taught her that a prayer can be as simple or as complex as she wanted. I told her that the proper way to pray was to address our Father in heaven, perhaps saying something like "dear Heavenly Father," thanking Him for the blessings that she had seen in her life. Then ask for something that you may need, such as help with your daughter, and then to close her prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. I asked her if she would pray with us on behalf of her daughter. She said she didn't know if she was ready to pray, but asked if we would. So, in the middle of a busy community grill and pool area, we bowed our heads and prayed to God for Jeanette, and for her daughter. She was crying when we finished and said "I didn't even have a reason to come down here today. I came because I knew I needed to be here." We asked her to pray and include her daughter when she did. She promised she would. We got her information and passed it to the appropriate Elders for that area. They have begun teaching the family, and Jeanette and her daughter are getting baptized in 3 weeks! 

There have been amazing things happening. That is just one such experience. What was cool is that I was on exchanges with Elder Spencer, and Elder in my district who has been struggling a bit. He didn't say a single thing with Jeanette, but after she left and we were heading back up to the apartment, he asked how I knew what to say to her. I had the opportunity to teach Elder Spencer through experience that when you open your mouth it will be filled. I didn't know her daughter was sick. I had never met this woman before and didn't know anything about her. I didn't need to though. Heavenly Father knows his children incredibly well, and when we are worthy to speak and share the gospel, He will fill our mouths with the things that He knows His children need to hear. 

So that was pretty cool. 

I'm going to head off, but I love you! Thank you for being so supportive of my mission and for keeping me on the right track when I was younger. Thank you for not always saving me from trials and for letting me struggle. I am so thankful for the trials I have had and for them shaping me into the person I am today.

Love,

Elder Caleb Clark