life in general

I'm running again. And that's about as exciting as my life gets right now.

Boys are dumb. I realized this a long time ago, but it just gets reiterated every single day.

I love my institute class. The Basha's are the best teachers in the whole world. Fer reals. They teach us how to prepare for eternal marriage, and seriously the things they teach can apply to pretty much anything.

Work is still awesome, every day I laugh harder. Or want to kill my coworkers because they tease me constantly!

I've gone camping the last couple of weekends, and it makes me happy every time!

We went to conference at the beginning of October, it was a thuper de duperdy awesome trip. Except for only getting into 1 out of 4 sessions! Bummer :( but it was still fun to see the bro and sister-in-law!

Next couple weeks:

       Les Miserables performances, me and Hannah and my mom are in the choir! So freaking excited!

       Shun from the Sun 10K on the 13th, hopefully I can run the whole thing! Haha

       Deer hunt on the 19th, words cannot express how excited I am!!!!!!!

       Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day. Nothing better than burning 600 calories on the day of eating!

       Christmas music after (but most likely before) Thanksgiving. Better start making my playlist now!

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR.

School, schmool.....

So school started again this past week. I was actually way excited for it, because I had signed up for 4 classes and I was looking forward to having a full semester again. Well, I had to drop one class because I found out I couldn't leave work early because someone already was, and then on the second day of school my world religions class was cancelled for the semester. So now I'm down to two classes, and my perfect schedule was ruined! But oh well. Now I have time between work and school on Tuesdasy and Thursdays to take a nap in my car :) of course I would think of that! Speaking of work, still as awesome as ever! I pity people who don't have as fun of a job as me :) haha.

I'm finding it hard to get back into running, but I think as soon as I sign up for another race I'll get incentive to train again. Also I think once I get into the routine of this whole work plus school thing I'll get a good workout schedule going. I just need a boyfriend who actually wants to workout with me, hehe :)

Other than that, I've really been thinking about moving out. But then I think about how much that costs, and I just go back to wanting to stay at home. All I can think about is the 300 bucks a month that would pretty much be going down the drain. And the food money. And the lack of seeing my family every day. I think I'd spend more time here at home than at the place I'd move out to. Haha. So pretty much a waste of money.

Welp, life is getting into a routine, and I tell you what, I HATE routine!  I love being spontaneous, so I hate having so much responsibility. haha. After about 6 months of doing the same thing I get really sick of it and want a change (hence the wanting to move out). Some people are afraid of change, but I embrace it! I love trying out new things, meeting new people, going to a new school, and going to new places. I swear, spontaneous should be my middle name. I figure, why have life be boring by doing the same thing day after day, year after year? Sometimes you just gotta take a chance and do something completely new. I don't think life should ever be boring. As my seminary teacher used to say, "if you're bored, it means you're a boring person!" Haha, I've never forgotten that. Anyway, thats my rant for the day :) have a wonderful week!

Running update....

So in June I was all signed up to do the Utah Valley Marathon. Well, I didn't train so well and ended up getting injured. Bummer, right?? So then I found out I also got into the St George Marathon, which was even worse because it's hard to get in to and I knew I wouldn't be able to train for it. So I can't do that one either, which makes me sad! I loved the St G race, it was so fun! But anyway, I've taken the summer off for running, but this week I'm coming back with a vengeance! I'm gonna build up a base again, which means I'm basically starting over. I'm gonna take it easy for the first couple weeks, but I'm also gonna sign up for some 10K's this fall, including the turkey trot, which was way fun last year. That should prepare me for a half marathon in January, London's Run out at Schnepf Farms. I've done the 10K two years in a row now, but haven't done the half yet. I'm excited for that one, and I'm gonna go for a time goal, which means a lot of speed training. It's gonna be awesome! So yeah, that's my running plan :) also I found a gym buddy which means it will be harder to skip a workout!

Sometime this week I'll write about my lake trip yesterday, it was EPIC.

Where have I been, you ask?

Well, Hawaii for one. Like over a month ago. Haha! Best trip ever, if you can believe that! We hiked, snorkeled, ate shaved ice, tanned (a lot!), swam, pina colada'd it up, jumped off waterfalls, laughed, burned, and flew for many hours! All in all, a wonderful trip with us Clouse's (minus Dustin) and the Lambrights. Then we came home much darker than when we left, and I went back to work for several weeks before we headed to California for Dustin's WEDDING! I know, right? Whoda thunk Dustin would get married? Haha just kidding, Dust, we love you! Speaking of work...I don't think I've written about my job? I work at Rehab Arizona, which is basically the funnest job in the world! We do physical therapy, mostly back injuries and pain and also shoulder injuries, hand, ect. It is so much fun, the people I work with are hilarious and keep things fun. We watch tv all day, talk to our patients, throw things at each other, laugh our heads off at things. I love it. I kinda wanna stay there forever! At least for a couple more years, at which time I will try to get into a sports/athlete therapy kind of deal. Which would be sick!!!

We went to California last weekend for my big brother's wedding. Heather, his wife, is from Stockton, which is just over an hour from Oakland. They got married at the Oakland Temple, which was beautiful, and very cold and foggy! It was so wierd to be cold in the middle of July! The reception was way fun, the house we had it at had a zipline in the backyard, so everybody rode on it, including the new Mr. and Mrs. Clouse! Heather rode down it in her wedding dress, I think I like her! Haha, what a trooper, the poor girl was sick the whole reception, but she stuck it out! Oakland is not very far from the fabulous (as in, FaBuLoUs! , think, gay lisp. haha) San Fransisco, so after the newlyweds were off for their honeymoon, we hung out in San Fran the day after the wedding. And let me explain something here. I hate California. As in, I would rather go anywhere else for vacation. Me and my dad share the same opinion :) The traffic sucks, there's too many people, it's extremely crowded, the highways SUCK and are very confusing, the beaches in hawaii are better ( I know, spoiled!) and I'd much rather be in the mountains than the city, any day! But wait, there's a clarification. I may hate California with the fire of a thousand suns, BUT I LOVE San Fransisco!!! I know, I'm wierd. But San Fran was so fun! The redwood forest, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay, downtown San Fran, the cable cars (Not trolleys! haha, the conductor got upset that we called them the "t-word"), Ghiradelli's chocolate factory, Chinatown (LOVE!), and being with my cousin Kimri and her parents Uncle Russ and Aunt Shelle. So freaking fun!! We laughed way too much, so many stories that I can't even begin to tell, it would take too long, haha. Anyway, that was the best part of the trip was that one Saturday we spent just fartin around in San Fran and the surrounding areas. So, if I ever go back to California it will be either 1: Disneyland or 2: San Fransisco. Nowhere else. Haha, I'm so picky!

On a parting note, since Dustin's wedding took place in the week that we would normally go on our annual camping trip and his 'Zona reception takes place as the same weekend when I could have gone to Havasupai, I am seriously lacking in the camping department and very much suffering for it. I need my camping fix now before I go completely insane! Working is fun and all, but I really, really to get up in those mountains and clear my head before school starts! It's looking as if that won't happen, so.....sucks. That's really the only bad thing I can say about my life right now, so life is overall good!

Whew, some catch up! Props to you if you just read all that. :) Have a good weekend! Tomorrow's Friday! Rejoice!!! 

two weeks til hawaii.....

....and I wish we were leaving NOW!

I've lived in Arizona my whole life, so I know how brutal the summers are. So why am I always surprised when it starts to get unbelievably hot? I should know better by now :)

This is why I am so excited for Hawaii! Even though it will still be warm there, at least it won't be suffocatingly hot. It's like you walk outside here and you feel like you can't breathe, it's so hot. Although I'm not gonna lie, because my work is always really cold, I kinda look forward to walking outside after work into the heat. I enjoy it for like a second. Haha.

Running update- my leg is still being stupid. I run like five steps and it throbs and I limp for an hour. Stupid!! I can barely jump on the diving board, it feels like my leg will collapse under me. The good news now is that I don't have an excuse to not work out with the people at work during lunch. The trainer at work is totally brutal, and he worked us so hard on Thursday that my arms are still sore four days later. I love being sore, so I'm not complaining! And I love working out. I figure four more weeks off of running and I should be back to normal. Hopefully! I should try barefoot running, except it's so hot that the soles of my feet would burn right off! Ugh! Maybe if I find a grassy field... and run circles. Ha ha.

Well, seeing how my marathon would have been in a week, I was supposed to go to Utah this coming weekend. Not anymore! I'm kinda sad, but I figure I shouldn't take off work because I'm already taking off so much for Hawaii. Everyone's gotta make sacrifices once in a while!

Have a good week!

Crappity crap

So, for the last 14 weeks I have been training for my second marathon. And I'll admit I didn't work nearly as hard at training as I did for the last one. As a result, I am now crippled by injuries (just in my right leg, annoying!). The reason for this is because I would barely run during the week but I would never miss a long run on Saturdays. So, one Saturday I would run 8 miles, then the next I would run like 12 or 14. You can see how this would screw up my legs, it's like a shock to my muscles! So, naturally, my muscles rebelled and now I can barely go 5 miles with my entire right leg seizing up. Talk about crappy. Here I spend every Saturday for the last few months waking up at the butt crack of dawn and suffering through miles and miles of pavement, only to have to drop out with two weeks before the marathon. GAY! Luckily for me, I can defer the registration for the Utah Valley Marathon to next year, that way I don't lose any money (but it means I still have to do it, just next year. Gah!). And also luckily for me, I have the St George Marathon to look forward to in October. Here's my game plan:

Next four or five weeks. Work out like crazy, but little to no running whatsoever. I will swim, bike, do strength work, elliptical, stair stepper, ect. After or during Hawaii (YAY!) I will jump right back into running. Hopefully by then my legs will be strengthened and more well-rounded, and I will be able to hold up better against injury. Then I will continue to work out in addition to running. And then I will destroy the St George Marathon. Sweet!

So, I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about it. Actually, it's like a huge stress relief! I was getting pretty nervous about the race in two weeks because I knew my leg was not up to it. Although, I should have dropped out weeks ago! Oh well, hindsight is 20/20, as they say.  

Now I will just look forward to Hawaii (so effing excited!) and it being summer and stuff. Also I am waiting for my new phone to come in the mail, and the wait is killing me! I bought the new Droid Incredible, and I'm thinking it will live up to it's name! Hopefully it will come before we leave for Hawaii so I can play with it on the beach and take pictures with its 8 megapixel camera. Yeah. 8. Most phones have 2. Oh man. This wait will be the death of me!

Hawaii in 3 WEEKS!!!!!

16 miles....yeesh!

You read that right...yesterday I ran 16 miles! I actually had fun, until the last two or three miles, when it really started to hurt. However, I didn't walk any of it, of which I am very proud of! The funny part is, I totally broke down and cried when I was done. Number one, I was hurting bad! My legs felt like someone filled them with lead. And number two, I was so glad I had finished! The day before I was feeling all down about myself and thinking I couldn't do the 16 miler, so when I actually finished, I couldn't help but cry tears of joy! Haha...imagine if someone had stopped and tried to talk to me, they would have thought I was psycho! And number three....it was that horrid time of the month, so I'm sure the tears were also partly hormonal. Hahaha! I would....

Anyway, only 7 weeks until the big day. I'm way stoked because I know this time around I'm gonna rock it. I plan on shaving off an hour from my St George time, doing it in 5 hours instead of 6. If I do it, awesome. If I don't, not the end of the world because I'm doing St George again this year! Yay for marathons!

Me and my sister and momma did Pat's Run last week in Tempe. Let me just say it was CRAZY, over 21,000 people, so I was very surprised when I managed to shave off four minutes from last year. It was so crowded I swear I almost tripped like 10 times. It was so fun though, I had a blast. My mom and Savanna both did it in under an hour, which was way good for both of them! My mom loved it, she wants to pick up running now! Yay! I am definitely an advocate of that.

Welp, this coming weekend me and some friends are heading to California for some Six Flags, I am so so so excited because I definitely need a vacation! It seems like Mexico was so long ago...when it was only just over a month ago. Haha! Time flies, I guess! This week should be exciting, a friend comes home from his mission! Woo hoo! Also, my brother is engaged. Another woo hoo! Now I'll have another sister, and hopefully some nieces and nephews before long!! Haha that's what I'm most excited about :)

Have a good week!