Only

Today I ran only 10 miles.

3 things about that:

1) Four months ago, I would not have used the word only as an adverb for 10 miles
2) Even if I went and ran that much again right now, I would still be 6 miles short of 26.2!!!!
3) BRING. IT. ON!!!!!! AAA! So excited!!!!

Right Now

Right now I am sitting in a hidden, downstairs corner of the SWKT on an open access computer on which I only have

3 minutes left to tell you how I used my first

7 minutes looking at a website about how in just

11100 minutes I will start running for about

240 minutes which equates to about

26.2 MILES! for the

ST. GEORGE MARATHON!

I've never hyperventilated in a downstairs, hidden corner of the SWKT over a matter of minutes before!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

It's Been a Month

Here is a brief overview of my most recent adventures! I only wish I could expand all the images into the wonderful stories which accompany them and I also only wish I had a picture for every story I wish I could tell, but here, at least for now, is a simple reassurance that I am alive and thriving!



I LOVE ELISE!

AND ALL THE REST OF MY ROOMMATES!




Hot Springs! A joyous adventure indeed. My muscles are officially soothed and my CTR ring is officially black. THE ALL FAMOUS AND ANXIOUSLY AWAITED BRRRRRRRRRENDA!!!! (And you better believe we always, always, always call her that.)


If ever a story needs to be told, it is this one. I WORE MO ON A DATE! As well as that hat, those gloves, and my purse. Probably one of the most fun dates I've ever been on! A story for another time perhaps. I'm telling you, Brenda is one of the greatest joys that ever entered our house. You wouldn't believe the laughs she brings. hahaha. unintentionally.

I just want you all to know Brenda. This is what she is often doing. and wearing. She is wonderful!
And when she doesn't want her picture taken, she covers her ears....
I LOVE ELISE! I can't remember if I already said that.... how does providence so greatly bless me?

Another story which really would be better off told, but since left pictures rule this blog (just for Bum) another time perhaps. Let's just say this was taken at a society meeting for the Menia Oot Conigotio Society (which means Menace to Society when properly spelled in Latin)

I ran up that hill just because I felt like it. It's a lot bigger than it looks.

The Great Salt Lake.


OK, good pictures, here's also a brief list of things I appreciate about life right now:
-class-good!
-job-LOVE
-Elise-joy. joy. joy
-Rach n Chels- also also also
-ward-wonderful!
-sleep-quite good actually!
-cooking-fine
-R
-U
-N
-N
-I
-N
-G
-A
-M
-A
-R
-A
-T
-H
-O
-N
-I
-N
-1
-3
-D
-A
-Y
-S
-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The excitement is more than i can bear and you are all invited to come (why? I don't know) and watch the 26.2 of my life!!!

Ode to Provo Summertime

I loved summer term so much, one day I found myself composing this poem while walking home from work. I thought about submitting it to the Daily Universe (since another thing about summer at BYU is they never really have anything interesting in there) but then I figured it had too many words and then fall rolled around so i had to alter and add to make it what it is here. For your enjoyment. So enjoy!

Fall semester is back, here at the Y
And though it's quite joyous, one can't deny
That looking back on the summer term just gone
It's something to be missed, now that it's done

Though this place is unique all throughout the year
There's something magical about the summer here
From the pit of periodicals to the tres outside
Consider this an ode to Provo summertime

For what other time will you cross Brigham Square
And be maybe one of two souls there?
And when else at Taco Bell is there no line?
That only happens in the summer time

I think of it now, at the start of the fall
And i experience a little solitude withdrawal
Where the heck did these billions of people come from!?
What do they think they are doing in my kingdom!?

In the summer there's no threat at Harold's tables to share
For only six people ever enter that lair
All the rest simply commend those here for school
As they work or just play then head to the pool

Now it's like every cougar is inside the library
And of their bubbles and yours you have to be wary
Because if you share a table when you get there late
Next thing you know, you've got an awkward date

There's just so many things during summer in Provo
Which bring those present a joy overflow!
Hiking up Timp and boating on Utah Lake
Running, sunning, bumming, and homeworking forsake

For summer is simply so laid back and relaxed
The tests and assignments don't make you heavily taxed
I miss it now, asking of my fall syllabus
"14 weeks from now, I'm supposed to remember all this!?"

Still, surely in the summer there's those who do homework
And even though, with great heart, they all say, "let none shirk"
Sometimes the wheel to which they put their shoulder
Is made of rubber, can float the Provo, and is much colder

And besides such temptations, who can concentrate
With all those EFY kids seeking their eternal mates?
Alas, they represent Provo summer, sure enough
Feelin' the spirit and thinking it's love

And yes, let's talk romance, a summer element so fond
For one only need to pass the whimsical duck pond
To see the couples who started out as spring flings
All now anxiously engaged until August 14th

And what other time is hotter outside than in?
In summer we graven the image of air condition
All people avoid walking outside at midday
Or the honor code standards they might simply betray

These things start to fade as fall semester comes near
Weather cools down, scholars move up, and EFY disappears
There's homework and classes and the meat market's restocked
Plus taunting deadlines and papers by which to be mocked!

In the end, though I claim such undying adoration
For summer, I'll admit that the anticipation
I felt the night before fall semester got here
Reminded me that I'll take Provo any time of the year!

(or maybe at least for awhile until winter and its negative degree misery get here... but for the sake of the poem....)

Also,
I LOVE ELISE!!! I have never spent so much time with an individual who wasn't a Roy, Sarahho, or Karalee and it has been nothing but pure bliss!

One other thought:I took my purse to the opening football game and at half time they had a little presentation with Lavell Edwards and his All-American quarterbacks and they announced all the official people there to greet them and it was like..."Mr. Holmoe, athletic director (some applause), Mr. So and So somebody cool I don't remember (some applause), Pres. Samuelson (Lots of applause and cheers) and Elder Holland (The entire stadium broke into thousands of screaming little girls cheering for Elder Holland! It was the coolest thing ever!) " Anyway, I didn't think to take a picture with Elder Holland till after he was already walking away, but i pretended, for the sake of my adoring facebook lil white purse fans hahaha, like that was him in the red circle. You can too if you want, just thought i'd confess somewhere that that's not actually him.

Anyway, much longer post than I anticipated. Thanks for reading. And all is, as ever, ebullience!

Traditions Honored

Remember how our dad is like this great champion hero olympian man and he even ran with the Olympic torch? And how afterwards, some other families might like.. I don't know, frame it on their wall or something? But how we just took this great torch, symbolic of centuries of tradition and honor and chucked it up top on our bookcase where it really could only be glorified for the astounding amount of dust it gathered?

Well, I was just rummaging through our oh, so organized craft closet, and I stumbled upon our box of ribbons. What do you think I found tossed in with all the cheap 50 cent rolls of ribbon, tangled up with bits and pieces of fabric and safety pins? You guessed it, some sort of honorary red Olympic ribbon from Beijing, inscribed with the Olympic logo beside some (I'm sure) very meaningful and traditional Chinese characters which probably said something like "Thank you for visiting our country, great American, cherish this gift as a symbol of our love and appreciation for your friendship"


Yes. You are also correct in guessing that I just threw it back in the box, scoffed at the torch tossed behind the other odd trinkets on Mom and Dad's bookcase, and remembered that hey, at least when you guys buried Dad's national championship medal in the sandbox, it was all for the good cause of traditional imagination.

(P.S. don't miss the new post just below this one)

Finals to Finish Line

If you asked me on Monday last week what I would be doing on Friday, I would not have answered correctly. Such was the spontaneity of my week.

(This will be a long blog, if you don't feel interested. Just a warning)

Such a week also included:

Finals! Both in one day because a) I wanted them done and b) I had decided the day before the randomly leave town on the the second day of finals. They still turned out ok. And in the end, CJ, you were right- Summer term at BYU is the best!

Also, the odd roommate I thought for sure would at least have to come to get her random stuff never actually came! The boy that was randomly in my room when I came home one night was her brother, sent to gather all her oxymoronic possessions. You better believe I was excited to go through her stuff to help him pack (becuase contrary to popular belief, i never just went through her stuff to find all that oddball stuff before, Jame) and I was not disappointed. Who has an antique sewing machine, an obssession with Slipper and the Rose, goggles and matches and a mace? Only the same girl that would have no less than 40 crocheted hats stuffed away in one of her drawers. hahaha! Here's a little memoir to the girl... I... lived.. with? Not at all?

She has her mace, I have my purse. To each his own.

Also, my wonderful roommate Bryn and I then stayed up ALL NIGHT cleaning out our apartment and finding all sorts of things from past residents, including this miniature tap dance floor which we figured could also double as a cutting board.

I didn't even sleep before Sarah took me to the airport at which point I barely made it from SLC to GEG, which is the Spokane airport, to randomly run a 185 mile team relay race with one of my friends who said she needed an extra person and our faithful friend Stand-By let me be that person! So random, like I said, this was literally a last minute decision, one which I am so grateful worked out in the end.

Because the Spokane to Sandpoint relay race was AWESOME!!! Here's a few images:

Our faithful van. Oh, so many hours spent in that van. It smelt bad.

WHEAT! Who knew Washington had such beautiful fields and fields of wheat!!!? I don't know if they thought I was weird for loving it so much, but it was so beautiful!

Some of the legs of the race were themed. This leg was the Wig leg. The man with the fro was one of the 50ish year old men on our team.

If you pass someone, they call it roadkill. This is Ricole (my spontaneous friend) getting some roadkill after we'd been going about 12 hours.

Here's all the glory of the exchange. Each team has a slap bracelet and you just slap it onto the next runner between these two cones. Nothing glorious, which makes sense, seeing as every team has to do it 36 times!

So each team has 2 vans and each van runs all their legs and then they hand it off to the next van of runners. the van which isn't running has maybe three hours of rest in which you eat but don't sleep and then at midnight, halfwayish through the race, everyone loads onto a rollercoaster in Idaho and rides through the night!!!

Pure Joy. That's all I can say. What could be better than a bunch of crazy runners riding the same rollercoaster in the middle of the night!? We were so delusional haha

And then you run through the wee hours of the morning! Coolest thing ever; it's pitch black so all you can see is the white line in front of you on the road and it feels like you're running into an abyss. Not to mention if you come upon roadkill (the human kind) everyone's wearing reflective vests so it looks like you're approaching Buzz Lightyear.

But it was beautiful! Not to mention the meteor shower going on the whole time! Bliss!

And then we finished!

It was such a random adventure, I found myself saying the whole time, "What the, I'm in Washington!" haha and then at the end it changed to "I'm in Idaho!"

So booya to my life goal, for not only did I get two more states, but I got them in one race so no longer is the end product going to be a race in all 50 states, but 49 races in 50 states. That's kind of cool.

Thanks for reading, I'm putting together a Ragnar team for next summer becuase this was just joyously wonderful if you would like to join.

P.S. Now "I'm in Colorado" and Pikes Peak has never been so beautiful!

Ode to my Homemade Space Suit!

The past two days there was good, hard core, real live, coming down rain in Provo! Good thing I had my
thehemhadtobeshorterbecausethezipperwasshortwhichalsomeantihadtoaddabuttonattheneckto
keepthehoodonandsothesleeves,whicharetoobigcusididn'thaveapattern,arelongerthanthejacket
andiaccidentallycutouttwoofthesamesidesforthehoodsoit'saconeheadthere'sarandomdartonone
sidebutnottheotherandiwishihadmadepockets

ABSOLUTELY PERFECT RAIN JACKET!!

And also, on a more serious note, I found this further contradiction amongst my mace waving roommate's possessions:


Perhaps it's a good thing she never showed up this summer. Or maybe not, but I can't decide if I should call Quilt Making Society for Aspiring Grandmas, the Medieval Club, the nearest Musical Producing Thespians, or the leading Pyrotechnics Assosciation to find out if she's ok.