Practicing

So Brandon and I have been lucky enough to be able to babysit for a couple in our ward every Thursday for a couple of hours.

At first she didn't like Brandon at all and would scream and cry whenever he came near her.
This is how he got her to be quite...

Recently she has started blowing kisses to me... so cute!

Just for Fun

So one of our really good friends loves photography and got a hold of an underwater camera and asked us if she could take pictures of us. Unfortunately the water was too murky for any of the underwater pictures, but here are some of the one's she took above water that did turn out. We took these at the sandbars near Kaneohe, Hi.

Laie to Waimea and Back

Well I ran in the Second Annual Laie Marathon and beat my time last year by 13 mins!! I even ran it all by myself!! it took me 3 hours and 24 mins. I'm sad that I won't be in Laie next December to run it for a third time :( I wonder where I'll run my next marathon. Any Ideas??

Here is a picture of me and my friend Katie finishing last year's marathon.

Oh by the way- the saturday after thanksgiving I ran a 5k race at Gunstock Ranch and came in first for the girls and the prize was a free night a Turtle Bay!!! That is by far the best part about loosing my amateur status---collecting prize money!

Graduated...practically

Well. I am done with school!! WOOHOO!! I gave my last presentation today and it feels so good to be done!!

Last week I had my Graduation Banquet and it was awesome. Turns out I'm really smart or something and I got a bunch of awards!!

I got:

A Business Management Graduation Certificate and a cool kokui nut lei.

A certificate for graduating Summa Cum Laude

The Dean's Award of Excellence in General Business Knowledge for getting the highest score in my graduating Business Management class on a standardized national general business knowledge test.

And a plaque for being the Outstanding Graduate in Business Management Marketing Track.

But that's it...

Thanksgiving

This was the best part of Thanksgiving. Homemade (Lacey made) Key Lim Pie. Brandon's all time fav.

Thanksgiving Day was actually a pretty packed day!!

I got up early and went for a long run while Brandon played in a turkey bowl.

After that we went to our ward Thanksgiving at TVA at noon. that was a ton of fun, but they didn't have any potatoes! they did have TONS and TONS of rice though. can't tell white people are the minority, can you? haha.

 After that we had our own Krout family Thanksgiving around 3pm, which was amazing. We got a turkey and put it in an emu(cooked underground with hot rocks) the night before and it came out so moist.

After that we played some basketball at the church with a couple of our friends.

After that we went to our friends birthday party/Thanksgiving Dinner at 6pm, and completed the day with three entire Thanksgiving meals.

it. was. awesome.

BYUHXC2011

Hey!! Here is a quick overview of this past season...

Kualoa Ranch. September 3. 18:40. 5k. 4th place. Results

UH BigWave. September 10. 18:57. 5k. 5th Place. Results

BYUH Invitational. September 24. 5k. 18:45. 1st Place. Results

UH-Hilo. October 8. 5k. 18:21. 1st place. Results

Chaminade Invitational. October 22. 3 mile. 17:40. 1st place. Results
PacWest Conference Championships. October 29. 5k. 18:18. 2nd place. Results
West Regional Championships. November 5. 6k. 22:46. Results

For some reason I can't find any pictures for these last races, but when I do I'll be sure to post them.

I had a blast this season and I am so sad that it is over!

Quick Update...

A few things that have been going on lately...

I ran a race on Memorial Day that was put on by the Covenant of Grace Presbyterian Church. 

I came in 5th overall and 1st for the women! it was a really fun race. the course was there and back, so basically we ran about a mile and a half out and a mile and a half back. it was really fun and I got this...

Pretty cool, huh?

I also went strawberry picking! 

It reminded me of summers in Preston, when it seemed like strawberry picking never ended...haha!

I made some delicious strawberry tarts with all of the strawberries I made. 

I found the recipe at the joyofbaking.com. I absolutely love this website!!

Other than that I have just been reading books, hanging by the pool, chillin with the other wives here, playing hanging with friends, and throughly enjoying my summer here in Baltimore.

and Brandon of course, has been selling like crazy!

My first...ROAST

Well Brandon and I have been married for two years now and I had never made a roast before. Can you believe it? What kind of domestic goddess am I? They were have a great sale of roast at the grocery store so I grabbed one that I thought looked pretty good, found a super easy recipe online, and tried it out! Domestic goddess status officially achieved!!

Right out of the oven

Super easy to cut--very tender

All put together

Ingredients:
Rump Roast
Onion Soup Mix
Potatoes
Carrots
Onions
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take a 9X12 cake pan or larger if need be. Line the pan with aluminum foil leaving enough to cover the roast after preparation (this can be two pieces). Apply salt and black pepper to the roast surface (generously). Next, open a packet of onion soup mix and rub the powdered mixture into the roast. Put about 1/2 inch deep water in the pan. Cut up potatoes, carrots, and onion to accompany the roast in the pan (these need to be salted as well). When you have all of the components in the pan, cover the contents with aluminum foil and seal. Place in a preheated oven and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours depending on the size of the roast. When the time has expired, turn the oven off and allow to sit for about 30 minutes before removing the foil. Then slice and serve!!

Best Two Years of My Life

That pretty much sums it up :)

Happy Mothers Day!

First I want to do a shout out to all of the amazing women in my life!

Especially my beautiful and amazing mother. 

She has always been there for me. I am forever grateful to her.

I also have an fantastic mother-in-law. I couldn't ask for a better one.

She has made me feel like one of her daughters and has adopted my into the family. 

I also want to mention all of my sisters and sister-in-laws. I look up to them so much!

I am super excited to be a mom one day. If I turn out half as good as any of these women-my kids will be dang lucky. They will anyway because they will have the best grandmas and aunties in the world!

My Mothers Day went great! Brandon made me breakfast in bed, 

got me this adorable apron, 

and pumped me full of chocolate. 

It was awesome.

Did you just say the Sheep and Wool Festival?!?

Yes, yes I did and it was Awesome!! My new friend Pam King from the Relief Society here called me up early Saturday morning and asked if I wanted to go to the Sheep and Wool Festival. She talked it up quite a bit so I decided to go. It was Crazy!! there were Thousands of people there! 

This isn't even 1/4 of the cars that were there. needless to say it took us...a while...to find our car.

there was all different kinds of sheep.

 I love the look on the ladies face! ha!

 he was going to the bathroom while i took this picture. just an interesting side note.

There were a million different colors and textures and types of wool and million and one things made out of or from wool. 

I am sure that you could have filled an entire stadium to the brim with just the yarn that was there. 

These are a pair of bright pink and orange knitted shorts. Brave man.

and naturally if you wanted anything to eat-it was lamb. 

 First time I had a Gyro and the first time I had ever had Lamb. Not too bad.

It really way a super fun experience and I am glad I got to have this once in a lifetime experience!