Rupert, Emma, Dan!

This past week I went on a media fast for three whole days. No phone. No computer. No TV (nothing new) No radio (didn't miss it). Nothing. Here are some things I learned:

1) Being on a media fast made me feel like I was on a regular fast and sometimes I wouldn't eat until I remembered it was just media. haha
2) It's kind of nice not having a phone to worry about because then you don't lose it.
3) It's kind of rough not having a phone because it's amazing how out of touch you are with the world. And when I say amazing, I really mean pathetic.
4) Facebook is overrated. I didn't miss it at all.
5) I had WAY more time. You wouldn't believe how much of my time is frittered away just surfing the internet. And when I say you wouldn't believe, I mean pathetic.
6) I got so in the habit of refusing what was habitual that I would sometimes hesitate to use other things like my car or my curling iron or my oven. Hahah.

Overall, pretty good experience. Now I'm back to losing my phone and wasting my time and eating, and best of all, I broke the fast Thursday night at midnight with the

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART ONE PREMIERE!

We all dressed up and watched it at Thanksgiving Point, where seats are assigned, which meant we didn't have to wait in line all night!


Can you tell who we are?
Hermione, of course. hahaha.
Well, Lise and I were Winky and Dobby, respectively. Which we thought was awesome until we reviewed the pictures after we were off our Harry Adrenaline High and realized we just looked like a bunch of ragamuffin orphans haha.


It was still pretty great, this is us in character. can't you tell? I've got my tennis ball eyes and Lise is crying hahaha. House elves, ragamuffin orphans, same difference. This picture is for LaDon. Hahahah, yes, I was reading before the movie because I just had so much homework I had to take some of it to the movie. But i got it done, and I felt like LaDon haha!

(I don't know what the Carter's status is on whether they want any reviews of the movie or if they have already seen it or what, but I'm about to give my take, so if you don't want to hear it, quit reading now!)

The movie was AWESOME! (any avoiding you may have just tried was spoiled by the caps lock. Sorry) I was very impressed with how well they did and very glad they split it into two, even though i was so into it I forgot they were doing that and was really sad when it suddenly ended. The actors did really well, Ron looked a little rough, Hermione was as Kara as ever, I was curled up in fear and anticipation several times, heard sniffling tears all around just as frequently, and laughed a lot. There was one part which was very gratuitous, but other than that, I give it an A+! Good job, Potter people!

That's all. Just as my ever constant proclamation, I love my roommates. We are so bonded that we all had pimples on the same spot (even Brenda, but she didn't want to be in the picture) (and even lise, who NEVER gets pimples, this was probably her second all 20 years!) And i just wanted to post this joy somewhere but of course the facebook option was quickly botched. hahaha So here you go!

See many of you in a very short time!!!!

byu IS diverse!

Last time it was Asians, this time it's....

ALEX BOYE!!

So I was just walking through the bookstore on my way home and I could hear this gospel singing around the corner and I thought it was odd and then I turned said corner and was like, "What the black gospel singer at BYU!?"
Turns out it was Alex Boye, one of three black members of the Motab. He was so funny and amiable and put on a good show.

Which of course meant I had to get a picture with the purse. Goes without saying--simply black and white!
Anyway, just a little moment for you. Life is good!

FOUR TO A BED!!!

All I can say is, yes, I Am Ebullient.But, of course, that's not all I can say and I can obviously say tons, and since this is my blog and you must be reading to gain some sort of insight about the things I can say, here they are in both the word and picture form:

HALLOWEEN! Advantage of Halloween Sunday; two extra days of holiday celebrations.

For our vball game on Friday, we dressed up like exotic somethings. And whoa, those twins can get EXOTIC. (and they kind of look like Taryn, eh?)


We lost, but afterwards went galavanting with our cheerleaders, and CJ, this is a shout out to you for your very own son from R Hall, Tristram. yes, that is him with the blond hair. Yes, we are on the tree of life or whatever this structure is.

The next morning we ran the Halloween Half!! It was GORGEOUS and Rach and Chels ROCKED IT! They ran a 1:47 and 1:45 respectively. I ran a 1:34, barfed as I crossed the finish line for the first time in my life (sick) then ran 5 more miles to my home. Talk about fatigue but ultimate joy. I was so proud of the twins. :)

Saturday Halloween night we had a ward party which we attended as an 80's rock band. Polygamists was a little better, but this was just as fun.

Classic Rach picture. hahaha probably one of my favorite hahahaa.

The guy on the right was not part of our band. botched. But pretty sweet, eh?
This was our whole band. Elise, unfortunately, had surgery this day so she could not be there, but we picked up one of the twins' friends. The boys are spazzes (Tristram ((CJ's son)) and his cousin Dan and our friend Dave; welcome, family, to my main adventuring friends these days) and it was fun.

Just check out Chels's spandex!!! Hahaha it was awesome. Good Halloween times. Nice to not have to share my spouse with 4 other girls.

GREATEST ADVENTURE: ST. GEORGE ROAD TRIP!

I was going for the Snow Canyon half, and I just was so lucky to have my wonderful roommates (and some other joyous souls) come along for the ride!
We stayed the night at the house of the grandparents of a girl in our ward. You think it was good that these two boys were sharing a bed,
but the highlight of this post, the trip, and perhaps my existence was of course this:

FOUR TO A BED!!!
And when I say four to a bed, I of course mean that there were many other beds available to us, but we were too endeared to part from one other and so we all slept in one bed and it was in this oddly decorated room full of stuffed lambs? hahhaha it was so great, I woke up in the middle of our admittedly short slumber and thought.... oh man, i had the funniest dream that i was sleeping in the same bed as all my roommates and we were in a room full of lambs!!! Then I gained sense of my surroundings and realized... hahahahah it was real!!!

Woke up early in the morning to a beautiful land of St. Georgeness and was shuttled to the start line. It looked so much like my marathon, I was filled with memories! (Which, funny that I even have memories becuase I have only run in St. George once before, but it was for such a long time, I was able to form many good memories.)
While I ran, those who did not took a hike to Angel's Landing. Pride and joy for Lise who is not a huge hiker but thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience.

The race was AWESOME! Remember how for such events I usually just go run them just for the pure appreciation of having an adventure? Well, this time I decided I wanted to run competitively and it was so great, I was breathing like a hot air balloon by mile 11, but I felt so great!
- 1:29:25. PR.
- One girl I came with, Bekka from Austria, and I got first and second in our age group! We were excited about that!
- I would have won the older age group.
-And the age group older than that.
-Becuase i got 9th of all the women and the next youngest was the 5th place 27 year old. All the other top 10 were 30+. What?
-It was awesome.
-And way way way gorgeous course!!!

(So thanks to Dad who I could just hear saying at the start; "YOU CAN WIN IT!")

We took a sojourn to the St. George temple, planning to do baptisms, but we all had things we had to get back to Provo for and there was a ginormous wait, so we just enjoyed the grounds instead.


The whole adventurous group. Regency 108, the Jones cousins, their friends Jodie and Bekka, me and Purse, and adrenaline junkie Dave.

But the purest joy of all were these wonderful wonderful girls!!! Oh how I do love them!
When we got home, CJ and the Carter clan came to visit me!!!! It was a wonderful surprise!!!

And

THANKSGIVING REUNION LESS THAN THREE WEEKS! V-state, here we come!

Thanks for reading this long blog about which you could probably care less!

Hahahaha

Today I walked out of a class that had already filled me with a great amount of joy to be graced with this WONDERFUL MOMENT! I could not stop laughing for the rest of the day!

First, I noticed there was an ever increasing influx of Asian people flocking around the lawn in between the SWKT and the Brimhall. HILarious in and of itself.

Then, I noticed they were all gathered in various groups playing Asian games (my Grounds in allowed me to know they were having an Asian conference and playing Asian games or else I would have had no idea what the heck they were doing because one group was hitting each other with swimming noodles...)

Side note: A great majority of them were wearing plaid shirts. Who knew that was an Asian trend?

Anyway, this particular sight made me laugh OUT LOUD for several minutes. I hope you experience a similar effect.



I lingered to laugh as long as I could before I had to walk across campus and every Orient I saw after that just made me want to yell, "HEY! You're missing the fun! It's that way! Run while you can!"

Also, as I further contemplated the situation and concluded that if that had been a circle of all types of random kids, there would have been a line out the wazoo to get chucked in the air, but solidarity of plaid asianness dictated that everyone around could only be a thoroughly entertained but jealous onlooker.

Needless to say, joy.More like plaid-clad gladness-ese.

Really Really!

Dear Krista J. Roy,

This is to notify you that your entry into the 115th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 18, 2011 has been accepted, provided that the information you submitted is accurate.

We look forward to seeing you in April! Best of luck in your training!

Sincerely,

Boston Athletic Association

SorrySorrySorrySorry

Remember that one time I ran a marathon!!!!?

I know that was a long time ago and I know I haven't blogged since before then and I AM SORRY! I would do anything to be exactly like Charina, but I wasn't bargaining on catching her blogging habits too! (just kidding, Char!)

In my defense, you can take comfort in the fact that since there hasn't been a blog for awhile, it simply means I've been so busy galavanting off having blogworthy adventures that I haven't had time to blog them. So, in a quick, run-down version, here's a few:

First, for those not present for the marathon, here's some pirated pictures (hence their miniature size):
Before the start there were 3 main things of interest: 1) billions of runners wrapped up in space blankets on a deserted mountaintop/foreign planet. We all looked like aliens 2) 9 trillion port-potties, and lines still 3) photographers going around taking pictures of people with their friends just in case anyone needed a recent photograph for the obituaries the next day. Since I had no friends, I asked the lady to take my picture, so there you go.

A joyous moment. There really has been no more enjoyable challenge than running a marathon.
A very bittersweet moment. See that blue line behind me? That's the finish line. See that rubber, uncontrolled, limp tube of flesh hanging off my shoulder? That's what I get for crossing said finish line.
I don't think I've ever looked rougher, but when they shuffled us through the finish photo shoot, i realized that i looked dazed and was holding a beverage as well as a slender snack, so this is my best Shirts imitation. hahaha
Thank you thank you thank you thank you to everyone who came and waited for 3 and a half hours for me to get down from that mountain. You are all the best!

So Marathon. Great.

The Saturday following was the first one for three months where I have not had to get up at 6:30 to run for three hours. It was a rather blissful feeling. We did, however, enjoy some homecoming parade, which went right by our house and left us drowning in candy!
I am also still enjoying the utmost gloriousness of roommatehood. Such gems.

One definite highlight: I MET SHAWN BRADLEY. Ladies and gentlemen, this picture is in no way photoshopped. He really is just the most gigantic man you or I have ever seen. I had to throw my purse up into his arms for him to hold it.
Weird how my whole life used to be lived in those proportions. hahaha
ANYway (said like Auntie) Next adventure: TRUE COUGAR TRI!

The night before, sleeping in our living room, ready to go with helmet and goggles.
Getting transition area ready. For being just a little campus race, it was pretty legit.

It was reverse order, 3k run, 10k bike, 200m swim. I came in as the first girl for the run but the bike was way way harder than i anticipated but the swimming was good and Rach, Chels, and I ended up 1st, 2nd, 3rd, respectively! Two other kids from our ward got 1st and 3rd for the boys, so we were feeling good about that. IT WAS AWESOME!

In other news, I am loving my calling! We just had a ward Moctober Fest where everyone wore leiderhausen, drank root beer, ate hot dogs, and learned a german folk dance.

Here is a link to a movie my wonderful co-chair Sariah and I made to advertise if you want to watch it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NtDwXNmtIU

It was good and fun



Also:
Classes are good, midterms are over!
Work is great! (blog to come)
Next week Sis. Dibbs is coming. You better believe I'm bringing my purse!
I went to Monroe this weekend. Everyone in the world should drive for 2 hours by themselves to clear their souls and enjoy a day with the most joyous Carters!
Then drive home feeling good cus there ain't nothin like cruising on the highway in an oldsmobile with a 26.2 sticker on the back.

I think I'll run another marathon in 5 weeks. You're all welcome to come to Mesquite to watch! (which yes, means there probably won't be another blog for eons. Sorry in advance) But thanks for reading this one!

Introducing.....Regency 108!!!!

Because a great percentage of us are going to be IN EACH OTHER'S PRESENCE in a short amount of time (AA! Excitement beyond mortal description), you will also have the greatest pleasure to make the acquaintance (and shortly thereafter, hopefully the dear friendship) of my precious, most wonderful roommates. And because Dad always needs a run down of who is going to be at a event and how we know them and what their gig is and the rest of you just might want to know, I now give you a brief introduction so that, if you didn't already, you can know what to expect.

First, we have CHELSEA ELIZABETH JACKSON!!!
Chelsea is FUNNY! I would say she probably has the most socially apt sense of humor out of all of us. She's witty and feisty, even though you may not know that right off the bat.

She loves to have fun and she loves to exaggerate her words when she talks. She is polite and she is very much a very hard worker. If I worked as hard as Chels, I wouldn't have so much homework building up all the time.
She currently has blondish brown hair, her eyebrows are more wavy and her face more roundish than Rach and she is beautiful!

Next, there's RACHEL ALEXANDRA JACKSON!!!
Rachel is one of the most service-oriented souls I know! She always wants to help and does so humbly and kindly, which helps our home have a happy spirit within it. I know she is going to make a wonderful wife and mother because she is mature and wise.

Rachel loves to tell stories about everything! She has some pretty weird experiences, so they are always good, and they help us bond.
I've known few others who can have the biggest smiles and the smallest eyes when they smile, but one of those few is Karalee, thus, endearment. Rach sincerely has just great natural beauty and is gorgeous.

And of course, ELISE PANTS MCALLISTER!
A blog will never do justice to Elise. And even Dad has met her, so I'm not too worried about introducing much more than the fact I have already iterated 1200 times, which is that she is great. You know how Dad always says we have to marry someone like Beau Hunsaker? I bet Beau Hunsaker's dad is out there somewhere saying Beau needs to marry someone like Elise McAllister.
I didn't think there could be much greater joy in life than just waking up in the morning, but imagine waking up with Elise as your roommate. Now that, my blog readers, is joyous.
Lise has beautiful golden red hair and the most pristine skin in the world. One time I tried to have a conversation with her about pimples and she had no idea what i was talking about.

And one none of you have yet met: BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRENDA (thefirstnameissogreatwhocareswhathermiddlenameisbutincaseyoureallywanttoknowit'sAnn) COPLEY!
Oh, Brenda. Brenda loves: a) Cats b) Lord of the Rings c) Her missionary d) Sonic the hedgehog e) cereal and EL Fudge cookies
For these reasons, we all love a) Brenda b) Brenda c) Brenda
Brenda won't say much, but you can engage her in a conversation if you keep faithful to your efforts. Two responses you can always count on (much better when heard with the accompanying marvelous facial expressions) "Okaaaaaaayyyy...." "Thaaaaaanks....."
Bababarenda has orange hair and like I said, the most excellent facial expressions. She, too, as the rest of my wonderful roommates, is a beautiful girl!

Also, KATRINA XXXX LUSCHER!!!
This is a picture of a picture of her with the reason why all I can show and all I can know of her is a picture of a picture, taken from the room she's never in. All five of our interactions over the last month have been pleasant, so I'm convinced she's a wonderful girl.

Oh. And simply because she's waited YEARS to meet Dad and also because I think she truly is one of the greatest people i've ever met, and because next to Mom (who she is very excited to see) she is probably my most faithful reader (who knew), and since you (meaning Dad) will get to meet her this weekend, I now introduce

CLARISSA ANNE PLIMPTON!!!!
Smart. Funny. Witty. Feisty. Blunt. Wild. Once bald. Conversational. Serious. Social. Runnerofamarathonandthereforeahero. Squished against some surface in this picture, I'll let your eventual interaction do the rest of the speaking for her. I, for one, cannot wait.

As is my attitude for this week!!! I hope this blog pumped you up, if you weren't already as over the top excited as I am!!!

See you all in just a couple of day/days depending on which person you are! (AND THEN I WILL RUN 26.2 MILES!!!!)