This is my summer.

Summer school is the bane of my existence right now. I try not to resist it, I try and go to school without kicking and screaming every morning. But it's proving to be difficult! Every morning as I drive to school I see people out running and I get so jealous! I get to save my running for the night time but I have a feeling as the summer goes on that it will be hot even at 8 o'clock at night.

My schedule goes as such- Monday and Thursday I have school from 8 to 5. So much fun...? Tuesday is my new "Friday" as in it's the day I feel happiest:) I only have school from 8 to noon, with the whole afternoon to myself. Let's get real, I usually spend it catching up on shows and sleeping:) Wednesday is from 8 to 2:30, not bad at all.

I guess the reason I'm complaining is because I don't get to sleep in anymore!! *gasp!* if anyone knows me at all they know that I love, adore, even worship sleep, and anything that interrupts that is not my best friend. Bless my heart when I eventually get married and have little kiddos.

Moving on... This summer is proving to still be a total blast, even with the full time summer school. Last weekend I was able to go with a group from my ward down to Arches National Park (near Moab). It was such a fun, albeit WILD trip. Wild, because I swear the winds that we suffered through were hurricane force. No lie. All of us were exhausted from the constant sand-blasting and digging sand out of our eyes (and mouth, and nose, and ears). But, even with all of that craziness, we still managed to have the time of our lives. I felt like I grew so much closer to all the people that were there. Probably has something to do with suffering together. Ha ha.

We did a couple of shorter hikes and one longer hike to see Delicate arch (the one of the Utah license plate). I loved seeing all of the arches, and we didn't even begin to scratch the surface of that park, because there are hundreds of arches that we never even saw. Double Arch was my favorite because it's so unique and so huge!

When we got home Saturday night, I can honestly say that was the dirtiest I have ever been. I had red sand embedded in my hair (looked like I had red roots coming in), my clothes were covered in red, my sports bra was filled with sand (tmi?) and I basically felt like I had a new layer of skin. Yay, exfoliation!! Over all it was a very fun trip, and Bishop was kind enough to feed us three meals and reserve a camping spot for us. Speaking of, I think I was the only one to get a good nights rest because my sleeping bag is so big:) I didn't hear or feel the wind all night because I was burrowed inside.

Anywho, I'm looking forward to a couple more things in the coming month or so. I have the Utah Valley Half next weekend, along with two of my roommate's weddings. Then I have the Top of Zion Red Rock Relay at the end of June (SO excited for that one!). Still trying to find another race for July, even if it's just a 10K or something. One race a month is my goal! Summer is busy but also a super exciting time!!

Finals week is over!

So one of the bad things about living in Provo, and especially about living near BYU is that everyone else finished their finals about two weeks ago, before I was even getting started!

This past week is what I like to call "Hell Week" because I had five final exams (there was only one of them that wasn't comprehensive), two papers, a presentation, and a project. Oh joy!! And of course, me being myself, I don't study until the night before for each test. It may seem crazy but the whole cramming session TOTALLY works for me. I have all the info in my head, and as soon as I take the test, I swear I can feel it disappear through my ears, making room for the info for the next days tests. It all paid off in the end because I ended up getting all A's by the end of finals week (except for one measly B, an 88%). Needless to say I am VERY happy!!

On Saturday I took a little time off studying and went for a fantastic hike up behind Mt Timp, which is quickly becoming my favorite mountain. The hike we went on was called Stewart Falls, and I am a huge fan! It was short yet just long enough for us to enjoy being outside.

Well, since I can now blog on my phone (although adding pictures on here makes no sense to me) I can see myself doing it more often, so hopefully I can keep track of all my adventures this summer! I do believe it will be a great one. :) tomorrow I drive down to my beloved Arizona for some much-needed family time and down time. So excited!!

Salt Lake City Half Marathon recap

This had to be one of the funnest race weekends I've ever had! On Friday afternoon I headed up to SLC to meet up with Annie, Shantelle (my roommate) and Brooke (friend from AZ). Me and Annie picked up our race stuff (shirts, number) at the expo then headed over to the brand spanking new City Creek Mall, which is right across the street from Temple Square. Beautiful mall, with awesome stores. It's an outdoor mall that has a roof that can close when it rains or snows. How cool is that? Anyway, we met Shantelle at Cheesecake Factory to carb load it up, and my was it the most delicious carbo-loading I have ever done! Haha. I even splurged and bought a slice of their famous cheesecake. It was heaven. Then we walked around the mall, we kept marveling at how nice it is!

Me and Brooke outside good old H&M

We stopped by temple square for a little bit, it is absolutely gorgeous in the spring time!! Love!

Love all these girls!

Annie (roommate from freshman year) and Shantelle (roommate from this year!)

 Well, onto the race recap:) I stayed with Annie and her husband and baby Jack at her grandparents house, just a couple minutes south of downtown SLC. We got a bit of a late start in the morning and made it to the starting line with barely ten minutes to spare! Needless to say, we jumped in the porter potty line, and I was actually still in the porter potty when they did te countdown. Haha! No biggie, there was so many people that it took me a couple minutes to even get to the starting line!

And then we were off! The first couple miles were downhill, which was so nice because it got me used to running so early in the morning. At first I was planning on shooting for a 2:15 race at least, since it was my first race in about 6 months and I didn't really think I was in that great of shape. But to my surprise, I fell into a pretty fast pace fairly easily, and so I decided to see what I was really capable of.

My first splits were pretty good, and in the middle of the race I was throwing out 9:45 and even 9:30 miles, which is UNHEARD of for me! There weren't any real hills until between miles 4 and 5, but they were pretty gradual and I kept pace. The course was so great, all through residential neighborhoods and even through Sugar House, where I threw out my fastest miles around miles 8 and 9. Mile 10 we ran a lap around one side of a huge park, and there were some people holding some hilarious signs (including a great "That's what she said" joke) that got my energy back up. Those last three miles were mine! By that time I was on pace for just under a 2:10, which meant a new personal record was within reach!

And then at mile 11.5, it appeared. The hill that went on for what felt like an entire mile. I'm sure the race directors were cracking up when they decided to take us up State Street, because that hill was AWFUL. I had to walk, I was so mad!! It was so long that I couldn't see where we were to turn off of State Street onto South Temple, not until I was getting closer did I see people veering towards Temple Square. Then I finally turned the corner, and there it was, only half a mile away! The finish line! Looking at my Garmin watch, I realized I would have to sprint for it if I wanted a new PR, so sprint for it I did.

 I crossed the finish line in 2:10:23, a measly FOUR SECONDS from beating my time at the Halloween Half, which was a big deal for me since the Halloween Half is a much faster course. But I was so happy with it!! Best race yet!

Picture time--- it says "proof" in big letters because these are screen shots from off of my phone...yes, I did steal the pictures. Whatever. They charge too much anyway.

This was at mile 10 in the park, the camera guys were trying to get us to look happy and celebrate, so I did:)

Sights set on the finish line.

Brooke's mom caught a picture of me sprinting by!

Annie freaking rocked this race, got a 1:49, and she gave birth in November!! Super woman!!

Shantelle came out to watch us, she's basically the best roommate ever!

Oh hey there, Elder D. Todd Christoffersen. Just chilling at the finish line in his Apostle attire!  (Yes, we are those people who take pictures with Apostles. Don't judge.)

Anyway, this race taught me a lot about myself, namely, that I can push myself more than I thought. it made me so excited for the Utah Valley Half on June 9th, that race will be rocked, mark my words!! Now, it is finals week and then home for almost two weeks!! CANNOT WAIT.

100th Post!

The fact that it's taken me this long to get to 100 posts is a little pathetic, I mean I've had this blog since I started running back in 2009, three long years ago! My life has changed plenty since then. Most of my friends are married (no surprise there), I am now living in Provo (NEVER in my life did I think that would happen!), I'm studying physical therapy (a far cry from my original plan of animal science), and I've ran two full and two half marathons, with a smattering of 10K's, 5K's, and a Ragnar Relay.

I'm pretty happy with how my life has turned out so far. I absolutely love school and all the things that I am learning just makes me super excited to be working as a physical therapist assistant in just a year from now (hopefully!!). For now, I'm just running my little heart out, flirting with every man I can, and learning to love Utah as best i can. But let's get real, Arizona is the greatest place in the world and I count down the days every time I get to go back.

In other news, I have a theory about the Hunger Games movie. If you haven't seen it yet, please get off the computer and go see it NOW because it was freaking amazing. It was one of the best book-to-movie that I have ever seen. I got tickets last minute to the midnight showing and I was so glad I did! Anyway, my theory: so, by making the Hunger Games into a movie, the makers of the movie basically turn us into the citizens of the Capitol. Which means that the way we react the the violence in the movie, the way we react to seeing children kill children, shows what kind of people we are. Are we really like the citizens of the Capitol, who relish in seeing the violence unfold, or are we purely disgusted and quite a bit disturbed by what we see on the screen? I was definitely part of the latter group, I was flinching and gasping every time a tribute was killed, even if it was a tribute who you wanted to hate because they loved to kill, such as Clove or Cato. And yes, a tear was shed when Rue was killed, even though I knew it was coming. She was just the cutest thing ever. Now, there were people in my theater who were cheering at every death and who were acting just as I would imagine the Capitol citizens would act while they watched the Hunger Games on television. It was very interesting to see.

There was someone on facebook who posted that they weren't going to see the Hunger Games because they didn't condone violence. Okay, first of all, they obviously didn't read the book, because in the book you are so disgusted at what is happening to these kids, and the violence isn't at all glorified. In the movie, it wasn't like a normal action movie where the violence is totally glorified and there's blood and gore everywhere. Yes, the violence was there, but it was pretty muted and I thought the other themes of the movie stood out more. So basically what I'm getting at is if you didn't see the movie because you don't "condone violence" then I feel that's pretty self-righteous. Because obviously the only reason I saw the movie was I just couldn't wait to see kids kill each other. Riiiiight......

Anyway, rant over and the next two weeks are going to be crazy so let's hope I make it out alive! Then I have a weekend in Moab and then a short week in Arizona before I start 12 weeks of a crazy, insane school schedule! Wish me luck!!

Is my life boring?

I'm sitting here, listening to Messiah in America, debating what to write about. And I'm starting to wonder whether my life is just so boring that I have nothing to write about, or it's just that point in the semester where nothing seems interesting anymore? Haha. 

I suppose a little update will do... this past week was midterms and not only did I have 4 exams, but I aced every single one! Lowest score out of my tests was a 92%! This week was exhausting, from being stressed one hour to being relieved the next to being ecstatic the next as I got my score. Good grief, school is turning me into some psycho version of myself. I am definitely the most proud of my kinesiology practical exam, I only missed 4 points out of a possible 100, and that's because I missed a landmark on a goniometry measurement. It was a huge confidence boost to me because it really showed me that physical therapy is definitely what I want to do, and not only that but I am a natural at it. Also, I love it!! It feels so good to do great in school :) I'm even starting to be known in class for my test scores. In fact, I'm usually the first one done taking a test (I know, I'm one of those people) so when I was second the other day my teacher actually commented on it, haha! He was like, what's wrong with you? You finished second, not first! Anyway, school is going great, if you couldn't tell :)

My running life is going pretty swell, too. I have yet to do a great 8-mile run (I feel like the treadmill one last week still doesn't count) but yesterday me and Heather ran a pretty good 6 mile run. The first three miles we ran super fast, as in like 5K pace fast. We ran our second mile in 9:23....yikes!! That is a minute faster than usual! Which begs the question, have I just been lollygagging when it comes to my pace? Can I really hold a faster pace for longer OR am I just getting faster naturally with all these hill and speed workouts? Let's hope I am improving, I feel like I've been the exact same pace for my entire running "career". I would absolutely love to get to the point where a 9 minute mile is the norm, but I still feel like my body is not made for that! Who knows, maybe if I put as much dedication into running as I do my naps (HA, not likely) I could actually become really good? Something to think about. 

What else, what else? Oh, I'm dating someone. But, let's not say any more than that so I don't jinx it :)

Anywho, all that has kept me going the last two or three weeks is the thought of SPRING BREAK, or more importantly, MEXICO. And ARIZONA. And my FAMILY. I am flying home this Thursday and I really really wish that this week will go by fast!!! Gah!! I am so sick of being cold all the time and so all I can think about is laying on the beach in Rocky Point and eating tacos til I can't eat no more! And getting tan!! YES. My poor body has been so sun-deprived. Who would've thought that the sun could shine but not produce ANY WARMTH?! Freakin Utah.... 

My life motto

I have this saying that I say quite frequently, and my roommate actually brought it up to me the other day. She was telling me how I am one of the most cheerful people she knows, because I hardly ever get upset over anything. The only time she has ever seen me upset was when I lost a job (I was more upset over appearing as  a failure to everyone than actually losing the job) but other than that, I haven't been visibly upset over anything else. 

This is mostly due to my life motto: "I'm over it." Most of the time I say it jokingly, but at the same time it is a huge release for me to just simply say, "I'm over it." 

Some guy I have been crushing on for several weeks never asks me out and I see him flirting with some other girl? Whatever, I get over it and I move on. Most of my crushes only last for a a couple weeks because of this reason. It makes me sad when I see other girls hung up on a guy for MONTHS because they can't move on, even when there's no hope for a relationship! As soon as I get the hint that a guy isn't interested, I just say "I'm over it" and move on! It saves me lots of heartache, stress, and wondering. 

 

Bomb a test? I'm over it! Luckily at my school I can study hard and a do retake :)

Have a bad date? I'm over it! There will be another date with another guy that will go better.

This motto of mine is probably the reason why stress isn't a huge part of my life. Okay, let's be honest, I haven't had a stressful life anyway. School has been easy (until now, anyway), work has never been hard on me (luckily I had an amazing job in AZ), and in fact, the only thing that stresses me out anymore is money (stupid student loans are taking FOREVER) but that will soon be better.

I guess the whole point of this post is that you can choose to be stressed out or not! Just like you can choose to be offended about certain things (thank you, Elder Bednar!). I make the choice whether to be stressed out about daily life or not. When I have a big test to study for, instead of complaining about it I hunker down and I study for the dang thing! If I am stressing out because I don't feel ready, who's fault is that? 

Another thing that kind of goes with this: you can certainly decide whether to make a situation dramatic or not! It just goes with being offended, you can choose to be or not. It takes a lot to offend me, in fact the only thing that does offend me is if someone trash talks my family or good friends. I'm gonna get defensive, tell you why you're wrong, and then forgive you :). Haha! The point is, people that say "I hate drama" and yet have a hard time forgiving those who offend them and continue that drama are just fooling themselves. Doesn't it feel so much better to be the bigger person in the situation and just say, hey, I don't want things to be awkward between us and I don't want any more drama, let's just drop it? Of course, it feels great! And who wants to lose a friendship over something silly, like being offended? 

Anyway, I hope whoever reads this takes it to heart and makes an effort to make life less stressful for yourself :) I love living life the way I do! People always comment on how laid back and chill I am, and it is a great way to be!

  

I can do hard things...

Counting calories is hard.

Especially when you're living in Provo, your roommates like to bake cookies, produce is expensive, your teacher brings einsteins bagels to morning class, and on and on.

Why am I counting calories? Because I want to lose 10 pounds. Don't judge. I want to look so good for spring break in Mexico that people will be like "who the heck is this foxy lady walking down the beach?" Okay I doubt that will happen BUT it wouldn't hurt to have a summer where I'm not worried about the cellulite on my thighs or the bulge of my stomach when I sit down. I just want to have a free-feeling, easy-going summer where I won't have to worry if I look good in my swimsuit, because I KNOW I'll look good.

ALSO pounds that I lose directly correlate with how fast I can run. And since I have two races coming up in the next six months (SLC half in April and Utah Valley half in June) I want to be at my top racing form. This will be the year that I run a sub 2-hour half marathon. I know that with the weight loss will come more speed and stamina.

I guess I'm only writing about this because today was one of those days where I had irresistible cravings for just about everything. I gave in to one of those cravings, which was Rubios. Not too bad in and of itself. But 600 calories for a single lunch is a bit much. Then later in the day it just became easier to give in to more cravings. Vicious cycle. I ended up making some homemade wheat waffles for dinner with  organic peanut butter and bananas on top. Yum! But then I went to a Relief Society party where there was delicious little smokies that were to die for, and since my roommate made them and there were leftovers...yeah, I ate some at the party and then more when I got home.

I then proceeded to watch Biggest Loser, which gave me enough motivation to go to the gym :) and even though it was a late night gym workout I feel like I still had a good sweat and I immediately felt better.

Moral of the story--- There's nothing like a good workout to fight a bad case of the fatty day.

Anyway, this was mostly rambling, mostly because I'm frustrated after today but tomorrow will be better :) Cannot WAIT for spring break, Rocky Point is my favorite!