4 Things I've Learned About Utah

4 things I've learned about Utah in the last two and a half months of living here:

1) Utah is surely the burger joint & ice cream shop capital of the universe. And I have a theory as to why this is.  Utah has Mormons, and Mormons have very few vices. There aren't really any bars or casinos around here, so where do the Mormons go for a good time? Fat and sugar joints.  (Not that I'm complaining.  I like my fat and sugar to be sure.)

2) At least in our town, everyone and their dog is into running or cycling. (I guess it's to burn off all that fat and sugar.)  In fact, almost every single woman on my block is taking part together in a running relay coming up in 2 weeks called RAGNAR. 24 hours in van, taking turns running.  Call me crazy, but this sounds like just about the worst way to spend 24 hours of precious life.  Lose sleep to run?  In my mind, there are only two good reasons to run: I'm in a hurry, or someone is chasing me. That's it.  Now cycling is another story.  Even though I think Spinning should be renamed Boring Pain, I have fallen deeply and madly in love with cruising around on my bike in the evenings, wind rushing through my hair, with Rachael on the front in her ibert. There's no jarring of my joints, no pounding the pavement - and you actually make some distance and see something when you bike.  I'm not exactly cycling like the people you see around here in their serious get-ups on their high tech road bikes (I'll go out on my bike wearing anything--whatever I have on already), but I think maybe once Rachael is in school I could consider it.  I love the speed, the ground you can quickly cover, and sitting on my behind. I'm kind of lazy that way.

3) Utah has no flouride in their water since some do-goody figured out it could cause cancer (what's new?) and had it successfully eradicated from the water system. So now all of Utah's little children get to have their responsible parents purchase flouride tablets and remember to administer them every night after brushing their teeth.

4) Utah has breathtaking sunrises:

Daily Glimpses:

Brandon: Playing "class" (school) with Rachael/making me peppermint tea before bed every night

Kate: bringing home a big blue chair for her room after playing, "Bigger and Better" at church

Will: declaring his braces have made him more popular/7am orchestra (this will be the death of me)

Elizabeth: insisting on doing the dishes and sorting laundry with me/asking if she could do "chores" with me every day

Rachael: stepping back and running to me every time it's time to change a diaper or her clothes/asking me to change her "peeps" - pee pee diaper.  (Yes, potty training is in the near future.  I bought her Minnie Mouse underwear which she picked out herself, I have offered her candy, stickers and toys, but she has NO interest in sitting on that toilet!  She may be the first to give me a run for my money.) 

Tip of the day: If you have a life (i.e. little people that demand you fill their every need all day every day) and don't want to spend too much tim exercising (unless it's cruising around at sunset on a bike), check out Jackie Warner's workout video.  I actually have about four different videos like this that I'm rotating right now, none of the workouts are more than 30 minutes.