Ran It, Didn't Run It

Last week, I ran the Top of Zion Relay! But I didn't run it. I just ran it. It was so fun and so exhausting. 

The adventure started with a stop at CJ's house on their 10th anniversary! (crazy!) And in case you didn't get a good look at Brooke's summer list and its preciousness, here it is again: 

My favorite is the last one, which, believe it or not, means "Orion marriage." 

I had a niece of the race director whose name was Sarah with me and the next morning we left Monroe and drove to the start line at Capitol Reef to start putting up mile markers and directional signs along the 195 mile long course.

We only did the first 15 legs, about half of the course, and it was so fun and so beautiful. And I had some good bonding with Sarah, who was a stranger two days before. I would just drive along for a half mile or mile, depending on which sign was next, pull off to the side of the road and she'd get out and zip tie the signs to the reflector posts on the side of the road. Some of it was really sketchy, but we did our best to be safe and had so much fun. I felt like such a free bird, especially since I was skipping work and just driving around southern Utah!

We stayed up late that night (Thursday) welcoming the runners and setting up the start line for the next morning and planning the day. We didn't go to bed until like 1130 and then got up again at 5 to send off the first group of runners. And then everyone was running! 

We spent the next 24 hours monitoring the course, which meant just driving back and forth to various exchanges, making sure everyone was healthy and safe, checking in volunteers, dropping off and picking up volunteers, guiding runners, answering questions with answers I didn't really know and honking my horn a thousand times as we drove by the runners! Bliss!

It was fun to occasionally run into my good friends who were running the race, including Sarahho! 

And Kim! What a sweet handoff!

This is part of the team I would've run with if I were running it and not running it. But I was running it, so they ran it without me. 

We worked through the night, driving around and monitoring everything, finally catching two hours of sleep sometime around 3 on Friday morning. We were up again around 5 to get in front of the runners again and finish setting up exchanges. It was such an adventure. 

The last several legs are run on a dirt road and by then Ellen, the race director, was totally out. So I drove her van and one of our adopted volunteers drove the car I had been driving and we got a flat! But we changed it and finished off the course sometime around 8. It was so pretty and peaceful in the morning. 

Picked up some other sidekicks along the way (daughters of the race director and her sister) 

The finish line was most triumphant! I was in charge of all the food and I totally did it, all the while thanking all those years of treks and girls camps and youth conferences and who knows what other crazy parties that mom and dad imagined up and hosted and I loved every single second! I was truly in my element and so glad to not be sitting in my cubicle, despite the total 7 hours of sleep over I'd gotten the last two nights. 

We finally had some time to just sit and hang out and see the fruits of our labors all day Saturday as the teams came in. There was still a lot of running around and getting stuff done, but I got a golden hour or two of conversation in with Kim while she waited for her other van, and it was wonderful because she is going to Japan for the next 3 months! Sad! The weather was beautiful and every team loved it. 

So many people said such awesome things about the race and said they would definitely come back next year, but even better, that it was way better than Ragnar and that they would never do another Ragnar again! No offense to Ragnar. I just was pretty pumped about that. 

Cleaning up the finish line was another great adventure during which I was again in my element, and we finished up around 9:30 or so. I took Sarah (the cousin helper, not Sarahho) and her brother Spencer to drive them north since everyone else who was helping was a sibling or associated offspring of the race director's family and were staying in Orderville since that's where they're from. I was pretty nervous cus I hadn't slept and had to drive 5 hours home, but Spencer was 16 and could drive so he and I switched off through the night and made it home at 2 in the morning. Holy cow I was tired ( and I totally had a deer come onto I-15 while I was driving and screamed but seriously luckily, he was in the left lane and I was in the right. That would've been so so so bad.) 

When I woke up the next morning, it was to the joyous news that Summer had her baby and Eliana Renee Perez was born! Hooray! We went to visit them at the hospital and she is a precious Andy baby! Good job, Bum, you are a champ! 

Needless to say, I was very tired, but it was so fun. I would do it again in a heart beat. 

And this week was CRAZY busy, mostly for Billy, but also a little for me.

He built this wall! What a champ.

And I ran from Provo to Springville through the mountains (a run more affectionately called Hope to Hobble in the running community around these parts) some 22 miles. So pretty and so fun. I am a free bird! I will run 50 miles! 

And cleaned our closet, which probably doesn't seem like that big of a deal. But it was fun. 

And thus, we were very tired. Billy was so glad to sneak even a 15 minute nap between his meetings and church yesterday. This week was so long and crazy for him!

And I got released from my favorite calling ever to be a counselor in the Primary presidency, which I know nothing about but am very excited for! So we just keep running!

Running, garden, reunions and more running!

Here are some of the places I go as of late: 

I used to be anti-taking-pictures-while-i'm-running, but mostly because I didn't have any way to take pictures so I would tell myself it was ok that no one would ever see what I was seeing because a picture wouldn't do it justice anyway. Well, that's still true, but now that I have a phone that has a good camera, it is kind of cool to see the beautiful places to which I run. Up canyons! Across mountains! Through valleys! It is joyous and definitely one of the highlights of my day.

Another highlight is our garden!

We planted last week and stuff is already sprouting up! Especially the corn! Watering it every day hearkens me back to my younger days and I am happy.  

But, I am sad because Lise is leaving Provo for good! She and Matt are venturing off into the real world and so the original roommates had a reunion/goodbye party. It was so fun and so good for my soul. We went to dinner and laughed and cried and talked our heads off until Zupa's kicked us out. 

Crazy that we just didn't even know each other a handful of years ago and we were just little freshmen with no idea of the adventures in our near future

And not much has changed in that regard, we still are all wandering around with no idea of the things that await us, but it is good to know that we can still be such dear friends. I must admit that I was kind of nervous meeting up with them--we haven't seen each other for so long, and definitely not for the sole purpose of just talking about our lives, but it was so great! Like not a day had passed since we were all living in Wyview sleeping on mattresses in the front room for months. 

You'll all be thrilled to know that Chels is engaged! Hooray! (And you'll also probably be thrilled to know that me and Lise did not plan that twin outfit business but were simply tickled that we could be twins since the twins were twins in real life.) 

Next thrilling adventure was the marathon! A year ago this weekend Billy and I went camping in the mountains and on our way down saw all these runners doing a marathon on these sweet trails. And we thus committed to run it the next year (this year) and so we signed up and trained a teeny bit and then the day arrived! Marathon day! My favorite kind of day!

The race was strictly trails and SO pretty. Billy and I started late so I felt an instant rush to catch everybody in front of me, but we got to run for maybe a half mile together haha. And then I ran and he ran and I called him a couple times during the race (another thing I usually am anti about, but I was so worried) But the worry was in vain! Billy did so good and loved every second!

The top of the marathon, which we reached by climbing such a gnarly hill

Billy came in just under 6, I came in just over 5. It was perfect! And Billy's mom came to greet us at the finish line! 

I did win my age 20-29 group, but it was not that big of a deal because I'm pretty sure I did not see a single lady under 30. The good women runners of this world are in their 30s. My winning days will end when I reach that decade, I believe. 

Anyway, marathon! I was so proud of Billy. I think since we talk so much about the 50 miler these days we forget to realize what a big deal 26 miles is, but Billy has run TWO marathons! That's huge! Most people don't even run one in their whole lives and he's probably not even done yet!

This weekend is Top of Zion! I will drive all over southern Utah and hopefully sleep a sufficient amount and I am excited!

I Cut My Hair

Actually, I didn't. But I had a similar experience to Char's where I went to upload a blog about just one experience and then discovered a wealth of pictures I had forgotten about that maybe you want to see. So here they are, sans haircut. 

Mom and Dad came! 

Here are the boys talking about the strange world of MLMs. (as if I didn't get enough of this topic all day every day)

Doug--presh!

And Sydney--....!

Billy got a new big 'ol mower! It is like a chariot and he can zip around his lawns like a crazy guy, except that he isn't even zipping around any lawns cus he hired some guys to do it for him! Yep, we have employees and equipment and a real live business. 

I don't know if that video worked, but I hope it did because it is joyous. So yeah, the business is booming and Billy is busier than ever. We love it!

In a strange twist of fate, there was a fire at Morinda. We all had to be evacuated and made jokes about Vivint just starting fires everywhere they go and doing it for job security because everyone needs a home automation system, even noni buildings. Nice try, Vivint. The fire trucks came and put it out in two seconds and we all went back to work. 

Me and Billy went bowling all by ourselves, which was fun but bowling is just more fun with a lot of people. Haha and neither of us bowled over 100. 

More of Billy mowing. On Saturdays I usually just go for a nice long run then drive around with Billy while he finishes off some work.

Here is a beautiful picture of a place I ran to! 

Then (this is the whole point of this blog) this weekend we went camping! It was so fun and so wonderful and so not even cold or rainy or snowy at all! We discovered a new camping spot and even found a place where we didn't have to pay. Woot! 

Sweet picture, eh?

Cool camping spot, complete with coursing river, wild trees, private fire ring, open meadow and beautiful mountain views.

I couldn't get Billy to hold still long enough to get a good picture except when he was taking a picture of me. 

Beavers are so crazy! They do this with their TEETH! 

Every time we go camping Billy practices starting a fire with nothing but his flint 'n' steel. He would have had great success this time, but everything was so wet from a week's worth of rain that it just wouldn't work and we eventually had to get some dry newspaper from the car. 

It was such a joyous camping trip! 

And now we know it is really spring/summer because the snails are coming back. This poor little guy hung out on our screen all weekend until there was a monstrous wind storm on Sunday and blew him right off! Now his butt is just still the screen and heaven knows where the rest of him is....ew...

But notice the sweet shed in the background that Billy built! It is chock full of all your wildest landscaping dream tools/equipment!

Two weeks and Billy and I will attempt to run a marathon through the mountains of Utah and then two months after that and LaDon and I (and maybe Billy!) will run 50k/50m through the mountains of Oregon! 

And that's pretty much it! Nothing too exciting here, but we are happy as can be and busier than you might think. Also, so few days until the family reunion!