Pumpkinlina Xue Bai Monkey Face

It's kind of sad, but I still feel like our cat doesn't have an official name. At the vet she is on the books as Pumpkin (mostly because it was too hard to explain and spell Xue Bai over the phone) and so that's what I tell people when they ask. But on any given day she's called by dozens of names - including but not limited to: Whiskerlina, Pumpkin, Pumpkinlina, Monkey, Monkey Face, Bebe, Bebekins, Stupidlina, Fatty, Charlie, Monkeylina, Xue Bai, Kitty, Crazy, Cheese Monger, Dirty, Dusty, Blackie etc, etc.

Poor thing. I think we make up for her lack of name by how spoiled she is and how much we love her. Fair trade, right?

The Second Half

Last weekend Spencer and I headed down to Green River and Moab for the Canyonlands Half Marathon. We had signed up for the race together, but a back injury made it difficult for Spencer to train for, and run the race. Instead he got me psyched for the race, made sure I was hydrating and fueling properly (great excuse to eat multiple candy bars), and was there to take photos and cheer me on as I crossed the finish line.
This is right before I crossed the finish line. Those first few minutes after finishing are so incredibly painful, it's difficult even to stand up and walk. It's amazing that within 48 hours my body felt completely back to normal and free of pain.The course was beautiful. We ran right along the Colorado river and sheer red rock cliffs and on into town. It was a sunny but chilly day. As we made our way into Moab, we tuned into a local forecast that informed us of the current temperature on race day morning - 27 degrees. Yikes! The hardest part of the race was waiting at the top of a cold and shady canyon for over two hours after being bussed up. I stayed in my warm clothes for as long as I could before stripping down to my race attire and tossing my sweat bag into one of the trucks. No worries though, by the third mile I could feel all of my toes again.