Cold.

Things that happen when it is -3 degrees outside during the day-

Ice forms on the windows, inside your house.

Your car won't start without a little complaining.

You stand by the door before you step outside, gathering the courage and remembering that the pioneers had it worse.

Your eyes hurt instantly as soon as they hit the frigid air.

Your water bottle that you accidentally left in the car is frozen solid, as is your ipod and occasionally your iphone.

Fun fact- negative temperatures cause your phone to die within 20 minutes if left in the car.

Going to gym is so much harder, especially when you refuse to wear long pants.

The sun can be shining all day but the temperature does not go up at all. As a woman who grew up in Arizona, I do not understand this at all.

Dreading church because it means exposing your stark white legs to the elements. I have yet to build my Sunday winter wardrobe.

Basically, this cold snap better be over soon because I want my low 30's weather back, please. Low 30's = paradise. Seriously.

Let's be clear- I am not complaining. I don't mind this cold at all, because I am inside all day anyway! And even though this state is trying its hardest to make me hate it, I still love you, Montana. Your mountains are everything to me.

It's a deadly beauty, but I fall more in love every day.

Life is so fantastic.

So many news things, guys! First, I can't remember if I mentioned that my license came through, but it did finally! So i've been working full time now for 3 weeks and I absolutely love it. I'm not sure what I was doing before I had this job, because it is my life now and it's everything I have ever wanted in a job. I work Mon-Thurs and I am totally loving my 3 day weekends :) I get to sleep in past 6 am, and I can go to the gym for as long as I like, and I can watch Netflix to my hearts desire. 

Speaking of, I moved to a new place in another town that's about 12 miles from work. Not bad, by Montana standards! Haha. And I am now living with a roommate in a small two bedroom house. It is a HUGE upgrade from where I was at in Hamilton, and my roommate Meghan is very chill and easy to get along with. But we finally got internet yesterday and I hooked up the Wii to netflix so now my life is complete again. And today I bought a brand new MacBook Pro (which I am typing on right now). I wouldn't have bought it so soon but I received $500 from a contest I entered at Runner's World that I totally forgot about until they notified me that I won! So that went towards my new computer.

Anyway, Thanksgiving was amazing! I didn't go to AZ, rather I made the 4 hour drive to the Great Falls area to spend the holiday weekend with Sydnee and her family (the same family me and Chic visited in July). It was awesome! The weather was perfect the whole time, Thanksgiving dinner was fantastic, and me and Sydnee totally rocked at Black Friday shopping. I got basically a whole new wardrobe at Old Navy because everything was 50% off and it made me go a little crazy. Haha! So worth it. All in all, it was a successful and joy-filled weekend. 

Now I have two weeks until I fly home for Christmas, and then after Christmas I have a ski class that start in January that I am so so so excited for. I've only gone skiing once when I was 16 and I think I remember picking it up pretty fast. I'm in better shape now than I was when I was 16 so I think this will be a really fun experience for me and it will hopefully be the start of a new passion for me. I'm still working on getting back into running, but my feet are still a little reluctant. I'll be doing to bulk of my running on treadmills this winter (I just got a gym membership!) and I am hoping to train for a marathon this summer. I'm shooting for the Big Cottonwood Marathon in September in Utah! I did the half over a year ago and it has been my favorite race.

Well, for the next four or five months I just have to focus on staying warm and enjoying what an actual winter has to offer! I'm so happy to be in Montana and I am not sure what I did to deserve such an awesome life! :)

I hate coming up with titles

Good evening from chilly (okay, freezing) Hamilton, Montana! I am writing this from the library because somehow I have lived without Internet for one month now. One month. Every day I thank my lucky stars that I have an iphone because without it I would be a mess, sad to say.

But, things are about to change! I found a girl on craigslist who needs a roommate for her house (we will each have our own bedroom) and I am moving in this Friday! And joyous news, we will be getting internet in the next couple weeks! I think I might cry from joy. I have been without Netflix for FAR too long. And you can make fun of me all you want, but I love the internet and I love the convenience of it.

My State of Montana PTA license FINALLY came through on Monday. Guess how many times I had to take the stupid jurisprudence exam before I passed? FOUR TIMES. I know. When I got the email saying I didn't pass the third time, I think that was the most mad I have ever been in my life! The test is 25 T/F questions and so they didn't tell me which ones I miss. Okay honestly I'm sick of talking about this...basically, I'm just glad I finally passed. Ugh. So now I have been a practicing PTA for two whole days now, and I am exhausted already. Haha! But I love being busy and I love how tired I am at the end of the day because it means that I have done something worthwhile. It has been over two years since I've worked at any job, and this is my first post-college, big girl job!! And I LOVE IT. The people I work with are amazing and everyone is always looking out for each other. Oh and did I mention how nice the paychecks are? Woof. I am not used to making money at all so this feels reeeaaallly good.

What else...oh, I had to stop running because my left foot hurts so bad, and it doesn't even hurt near any surgery site so that is way confusing. Jocelyn (one of the PTs at work) thought maybe it was just added stress from working plus running, and my foot is not quite used to bearing the weight in that area of my foot yet. All I know is that I am highly frustrated but I guess it came at a good time because it is getting too cold to run outside. Once I get a gym membership next week (FINALLY) then I'll really focus on weight training and using the elliptical and stationary bikes. I have some elaborate plans for racing next summer so I better be able to run soon!

Thanksgiving is next week! Can you believe it!? I am driving over to Great Falls for the holiday to celebrate with Sydnee's family and I am beyond excited. Sure, it'll be my first Thanksgiving away from home but I'm going home for Christmas so I'll be fine. Here's to hoping the weather is good for the drive! This will also be the first year in a long, long time that I can go Black Friday shopping!!! And it'll be the first year I can buy presents for my family! Mostly I need to build up my winter wardrobe, as I have next to no winter clothes. That, and work clothes. I need to basically start from the ground up with work clothes because I don't really have any. How cool would it be if I could wear yoga pants every day like I did when I was in school? Alas, it is slacks and a nice shirt every day. No jeans :( which I fully expected but it still hard! Oh well, it's an excuse to buy new clothes which I haven't done in years anyway.

Well that's about the extent of new things that have happened in the last month. Here's to hoping the next month will be just as great! Who am I kidding, it's ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!

My First Week

So, it's officially been one week since I moved here to Hamilton, Montana. And so far it has ranged from fun to boring to beautiful to frigid and everything in between. I am mostly bored though, because my state license has yet to come through. However, there is an end in sight because all of the paperwork is in the mail as I type this, so I'm hoping by the end of this week my license will become active. Good thing, because I NEED to start working before I go completely mad! Haha. I'll just give you a day to day rundown of my first week...

Wednesday: Arrived in Hamilton around 2:30 pm. Got my keys, made about 20 trips up and down the stairs and attempted to put my stuff away in the limited space that I have. Here's the deal with my apartment- I picked it because it was available immediately. For what I'm getting, the rent is way too high. There is no closet, kitchen sink, microwave (which I realize is rarely included anyway) and zero storage. It's a studio, so I expected it to be a little cramped, but no closet?! Come on! How can someone live?? Haha. So, my clothes are basically still sitting in the garbage bags that I packed them in. Luckily, I recently was able to find another studio down the street with an actual kitchen, a bed, a dresser, and a CLOSET! Not only that, but it is much, much cheaper and totally worth the rent. But, since I had to give 30 days notice (and pay rent for those 30 days) in my current place, I won't move until Thanksgiving weekend. I'm not worried because I can totally handle living without a closet and microwave for another month, as long as I start working next week! haha.

Thursday: Went to visit my work and meet everybody. best experience ever and everyone there is so incredibly nice. I know I made the right choice in coming here, just so I can meet and work with all these awesome people. My boss, Jeff, is LDS and a big time hunter and horseback rider and basically I couldn't be working for anyone better. The rest of the employees are women and I know I will get along with them just fine. I just want to be working RIGHT NOW instead of spending my days at the library or watching movies! haha. After I visited work, I drove the 40ish miles to Missoula. I went to Target and bought some drawers for my clothes and an ice scraper for my car (which I had already needed that morning, haha). I then drove around downtown for a bit, and I had intended to eat at a popular diner but parking wasn't free so I skipped that and came across a Great Harvest and their sandwiches were just what I needed. So good! After that, I drove back home and took a 3 hour nap which I then regretted later. Haha.

Friday: I ran a bunch of errands in the morning, then in the afternoon I went hiking with Lindsay from work. I was kind of worried about not being acclimated yet, and turns out it was just as hard as I knew it would be. haha. It was only an hour long hike, but dang it was steep! It was on the east side of Corvallis and the top rewarded us with fantastic views of the whole valley. I loved it! And it felt good to get out and sweat. Friday night I relaxed and watched movies on my laptop, since I don't have internet. What?! I know. It's new for me. haha.

Saturday: More errands, and I drove up the west side of the valley to find some good views. I didn't really know where I was going exactly but I just followed the map and came across some gorgeous views. The mountains are so bright and vivid this time of year, and I was able to fully experience the fall colors. After that I went running around the downtown area, and I am happy that each run gets easier and easier. Also, no pain from my feet which is a huge blessing!

Sunday: I had looked forward to this day all week! After not being around Mormons (that I knew of) for 3 days I was feeling so deprived, haha. Spoiled! I went to church at 10 am (glorious) and it was the best church I've had in a long time. Everyone came up and introduced themselves to me, and I got offers for Sunday dinner. Everyone also wanted to find me a better place to live after I told them my situation, haha! The Bishop of Hamilton ward is Bishop Rogers, and he is actually the Institute teacher in Missoula! Lucky me! Then, and this was awful, we figured out I was in the wrong ward :( I was supposed to go to Blodgett Canyon ward at noon, but for some reason when I looked up my address on the church website it told me to go at 10 am. I am kind of sad about that because I met SO many cool people in Hamilton ward, especially the Hawkes family who gave invited me over for family dinner and who are taking me to the trunk or treat tomorrow night! Bryan and April both remind me of our family friends the Tonioil's, so basically they are as cool as they come. I think I will end up splitting my time between the singles ward in Missoula and Blodgett Canyon ward (since that is where I'm supposed to be) and I know both wards will be a great experience for me. The Church up here is strong and full of the most amazing people.

Monday: Ran some errands, went running, and didn't do much else. I spent some time at the library (free internet!) and caught up on tv shows. it doesn't help that I'm addicted to a show on Netflix (Pretty Little Liars, don't judge) and I don't have internet at my place. As soon as I move in to my new place, that'll be the first thing I get! Haha.

Tuesday: much of the same, running and library. Haha. Tuesday night I went to an institute class that a married couple does in their home. There was only 3 of us but we had great discussion about the organization and restoration of the Church. Sometimes small settings are the best! I look forward to this every week now.

Today: ran some errands, made some phone calls, and as I type I am sitting in the library. I wonder if the employees here will ever get sick of me? Haha. I may go running later but for now I'm just feeling lazy, the usual.

So basically, everybody pray that I can start work ASAP because I can feel myself slowly starting to lose it. Haha! Being lazy and unproductive isn't so bad when you have people to hang out with, but when it's just me by myself it is straight up unbearable and mostly I just want to start working so I can pay my parents back for all the money they spent to get me up here. That's the only thing keeping me going! So once again, prayers are appreciated.

I know I sound all negative and stuff, but I am so insanely grateful that I have the chance to come up here. I needed to do something totally crazy and different, and I would say this fits the bill. I look forward to all the good times that are to come, and I only hope I am up to the task. Here's to hoping that I find what I'm looking for!

In case you wanted to feel jealous today...

This is where I'm moving to on Monday :)

The Decision...

Y'all remember that one time when (the biggest douchebag in the world) LeBron James had that hours-long ESPN special where he eventually announced his decision about where he was going to play basketball and get paid millions of dollars? Well this is more important, okay?

A couple weeks ago, I had a huge decision to make. Stay in Arizona and make lots of money, or move to Montana, fulfill my dream, save a little less money, but have the time of my life? I'm not entirely sure why it was such a hard decision for me. Probably because there were SO many variables. Eventually, all of the Arizona opportunities fell through and I was left with one choice: move to Montana.

I can't adequately put into words how excited I am. I signed for an apartment yesterday in Hamilton, which is only 10 minutes away from Corvallis (where the physical therapy office is). Now I just have to get up there and get my license active as soon as possible. I am nearly done with the application, and hopefully I can convince them to get my PTA license up and running quickly. I am planning on leaving on Monday the 21st. As in, less than 6 days from now. Womp.

I need to furnish an entire apartment in the first couple weeks that I am up there. I plan on sleeping on an air mattress until I can find a bed. Hopefully I can find a hot Montana boy to do all the hauling for me :)

Okay but in all seriousness, I am putting dating and getting married a little lower on the totem pole of priorities for a while. Basically I am not expecting much for now because I just have no idea what to expect. If I am meant to meet somebody, then I will. This I do know, there are not a lot of single, LDS women my age in that area, and this puts my odds very high :) My friend Amber (who is awesome enough to give me a ton of kitchen stuff for free!) said she wouldn't be surprised if I was the hottest girl up there. Haha I'm not setting the bar too high, but we'll see! I'm excited to make friends in the ward and hopefully some families will take me in as their own! Montanans are the most humble, nicest, and down to earth people I have ever met. I am so excited to get to know them.

Anyway, these last few days in Arizona will consist of packing, making sure my car is in top shape (we don't want a repeat of this summer's Montana trip) and making sure I see everyone before I go. I am so excited to start this new chapter of my life and I am definitely looking forward to bringing everyone along on my journey through this blog! Here's to the city girl in a small town...

new shoes and my first RUN!!

So, Monday was a great day. I got cleared by my doctor to start running again! Only problem is my old running shoes were so run down that I knew I need new ones. After a lot of sad puppy dog faces to my mom and promises of paying her back once I get a job, I was allowed to go buy a brand new pair of my beloved Mizuno Wave Riders. My mom couldn't quite understand the need for new shoes though, which led to some hilarious (to me) conversations.

Mom: "But you already have a pair of perfectly good shoes."

Me: "The cushioning is worn out and that can cause injuries."

Mom: "Who even replaces shoes every 5 or 6 months, anyway?"

Me' "Any runner with a brain. Shoes don't last more than 500 miles at most."

Mom: "A lot of people run in old shoes all the time."

Me: "A lot of people are also idiots."

Chic: (after I had already bought the new shoes) "Um, those are exactly the same as your old shoes."

Me: (face palm) No duh. Because they are a great shoe and I want to run in them again."

Honestly if I was talking to other runners they would totally get it, but even after watching me train for and run 2 marathons, 5 half marathons, and several relays you'd think my family would get it! Haha.

So yesterday, I headed out for my first real run, post-surgery. I have two new feet, might as well break them in like I break in new shoes.

I'm not gonna lie, it sucked.

I haven't ran a single mile since early March, and now that my feet are completely different than they were back then, my body is not only not used to running at all, it isn't used to my new body mechanics. My right foot (the one they fixed in May) felt great, only little tinges of discomfort here and there but not any pain. My left foot (2 months out from surgery and the one that has caused me a lot of grief) didn't know what was happening. The pain wasn't too awful but it was enough to where I think it showed on my face. If my foot could talk, it would probably say "stop, idiot."

BUT, I was able to get through about a mile of walking a little and running a bit more. I came home and had to head off to a choir practice and wouldn't you know it, my left foot was throbbing for most of the night. I honestly think my foot just needs to get used to being pounded over and over again. Haha.

Today I ran again. Two miles, this time. And it went much, much, MUCH better. I think I ran more than I walked and there was A LOT less pain than yesterday. I figure that the more I run, but still keep the intensity low, the better I will feel. I won't be doing any speed work soon, nor will I be doing any sort of high mileage for a while. But I think that high frequency, low intensity is the key here. My feet just simply need to get used to pounding and pushing off harder than if I were walking.

The way things have improved even between yesterday and today, I see no problem with running the turkey trot on Thanksgiving, which is a little less than two months from now. By that time, my right foot will be over 6 months out, and my left will be 4 months out. With the way my right foot feels NOW at 4 months out, I'm really excited to see how they will react to racing again.

This is just the beginning of the greatest time of my life!! So many great things happening soon :)