Blast This Wretched, Wretched Foot!

(did you catch the reference?)

So... I haven't been on a regular training program. Most the time I haven't done the M-F running, and for a month or so I wasn't even doing the Saturday running. Last week I went 8 miles on Monday with Jen, then on Saturday pushed myself to go 12 miles in order to try to catch-up with my training program. I kind of twisted my ankle in the snow potholes, and hurt my foot from the run itself. Sadly, it felt a lot like it felt when the doctor told me I had a "stress reaction" which could lead to a stress fracture if I didn't take it really, really easy. Well, I did, and as a result of that (and a locked hip - btw, I think my other hip is locked now...) I had to back out of the St. George Marathon. That's not going to happen this time!

I took it really easy this past week, not walking very much and wearing sturdy shoes to give my foot support and by Thursday I couldn't feel a thing, and Friday it was even better. So, I figured I was healed.

This morning I went out to do my 4-mile run, hoping to use the shorter run to really work on speed and get my average mile faster than it's been recently. I wasn't two blocks into the run when my foot started to hurt. I ignored it for a few more blocks then decided I needed to be "grown-up" and "smart" about this, so I stopped running and walked the rest of the way home. With an aching foot.

This is driving me crazy.

Starving!

I didn't plan very well today (meal-wise, that is). I grabbed a bag of carrots as I was walking out the door rushing to get to work on time. (I clocked in at exactly 8 o'clock. It helped that I forewent the annoying necessity of scraping ice off my car windows. The front and sides weren't solidly covered so I figured it would be okay. Probably not the best idea, but I made it in alive!) Anyway. All I've had to eat today are those carrots. I've been ignoring the super-sweet, sugary concoctions on the table just a small 15 feet away from me.

Anyway, I ran downstairs to grab a vegetable croissant sandwich. All gone! I frantically started looking around to check out my other options. I knew I was hungry when a peanut butter, strawberry jam, and marshmallow sandwich started looking like a really good option. I was this (imagine my fingers very, very close together) close to buying it when I realized that there is refined sugar in marshmallows. And probably the jam as well, no?

So, today's saving grace:

Orange Honey Passion - probably my favorite of the odwalla juices (at least of the kinds I've tried), and a spinach parmesan bagel.

*update: sad, sad news... I was thinking honey wasn't as bad for you as refined sugar, but apparently... check out this website. But then, here's a website talking about how great honey is. And it showed up at the top of my google search with the other one coming in second. Who should I believe???

My Life for the Next Few Months...

Yup. I'm really doing it. I'm glad I've laid it all out. From the training schedule online (which was just labeled week 1, week 2, etc) I kept getting confused as to what I needed to be running when. I was sure I needed to attempt 17 miles tomorrow. Thankfully I was wrong and that won't happen for another three weeks. I've never gone farther than 14 in my life and that was almost a year ago...

ps - the schedule is set out to run the marathon on Saturday, but with it being on Monday, I'm trying to decide how to best spend that Saturday. Maybe a two hour walk isn't the best idea... we'll see...

Am I the Only One...

... who's ever wondered what it would be like to have what I call an "It's a Wonderful Life" moment?

It's the kind of moment where you become completely aware of your value to people on earth.


Unfortunately I think most of us never experience that. I don't know that it's really possible for anyone to experience. I think what becomes important is recognizing your worth to God and realizing that that is enough.

That's all you need.

The Sak

For the first time in ??? (many) months I have a bag that doesn't cost $4 - (the price was great but the quality was very indicative of the cost). I finally decided to get something nicer that would last much, much longer. And here it is!
I'm really liking it so far. Kind of missing the outside pockets of my other bags, but it's not too hard to get past that.

Don't worry, I didn't pay full price. Sheesh! Not even close.

Why Not?

Yesterday I decided that while I'm being a vegetarian I may as well cut out all refined sugar while I'm at it.

Who's with me?

A Most Delightful Surprise!

I went home on my lunch break today. I checked the mail hoping to see my GRE scores had arrived (I have no idea what my writing score is, and my application is due on Saturday...). They hadn't ) : But a small manila envelope with my name on it was there. For the life of me I couldn't think of what I had ordered or what was being sent to me. I opened up the envelope and saw:

as a DVD! I thought I had ordered it as a VHS (points go to me for observing every email exchange I had with the owner that was in regard to "invoice #**** Pirates of Penzance DVD" Of course it wasn't bolded and huge, but still, it showed up in my inbox at least 5x.

Anyway, the point of the story is - I have looked for this movie (not the taped play - that's not nearly as good) on DVD for a very, very long time and accidentally found it! I mean, really, how great is that?!?!

Day 3

On Tuesday, 27th January 2009, I signed a "pledge to be veg." It's not that I'm a huge animal rights activist, I just think it's a healthier way to eat in a lot of ways. I'm also not saying that I will never eat meat again, but for the next 30 days... no thank you.

Just yesterday I walked past a hamburger place in the cafeteria. I smelled... and I wanted... I've walked past that same place multiple times before and have never craved a hamburger like I did yesterday. (Even now, as I write this, I really want to eat one.) I'm sure it's just because I can't have one anymore. Whereas before it was always an option, now I can't.

Blast.

For the past... years, I've ordered meals at restaurants asking them to leave out the meat. I've long enjoyed meals with no meat so I figured this wouldn't be that hard. But it's much harder when you completely restrict yourself from something. It's some kind of mind thing...

So, wish me luck, and come 26th February 2009... steak, anyone?

Survey For Mothers and Fathers

A friend of mine is needing people to take a survey. It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes. If you have a bit of time, go to this site - https://byu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_dmPhiMNs0Z2KJQU&SVID=Prod

Thanks!

Nice Things

Big Fat Snowmen

Beautiful Sunsets

Icicles in Neat and Pretty Places



And More Sunsets
(well, more of the same sunset, but still pretty, right?)

This Drink...

... tastes really gross.

In my opinion.

Block Tax-Funded Abortions

Please take a minute to look at this site.

If you want to sign the petition just click on the "Sign Our Petition to Help Block Tax-Funded Abortions" at the top.

An Educational Saturday

If you run in snow that looks like this:

You get a foot that looks like this:

If you listen to California Dreamin' with only one earphone in you miss half the song.

Wrestling helium balloons to get them underneath a blanket is hard but totally worth it - visibility: 100%!

The view from the highest point on my run is beautiful.

I think it's low clouds, not smog... I hope so anyway.

Every Time I See This... I Laugh

I Was Forced to go to a Meeting -

- and came out with this:pretty, isn't it?

Today in the Mirror...

I feel like I have a mullet.

Seriously, tomorrow's haircut couldn't have come at a better time.

When I Look in the Mirror...

I don't see the lion's face, but the mane surrounding it. (I could have gotten a better picture to show the mane but I thought this was a cool picture.)

It's probably a good thing I'm getting my hair trimmed on Saturday...

The Lists Have Started!

All three lists are now officially open.

Suggest at will.

Thanks for the great start Katie! I've never heard of any of those before.

Calling All World Travelers

- or at least nationwide travelers!

I've just added a new list on the right that I'll need a lot of help filling in. This is the first of three (at least it's three right now...). I'm wondering, if I were to go to every state in the country, what is the one thing that I should definitely see in that state? I realize it's going to be a hard decision in for some states, and may be very easy for others. But try to keep it to one.

This first list is for tourist attractions. The next two lists will also be for all the states but referring to nature things (e.g. Zion's National Park, Grand Canyon, etc.) and for weird/interesting/intriguing festivals (e.g. Garlic Festival - Gilroy, CA, Llama Festival [I've never been, but I assume it's weird-ish], etc.)

So, here's where you (all of you, any of you, friends, strangers, acquaintances, whoever...) come in. I don't know what I should try to see in most of these states. I started out by putting Temple Square down for Utah because I couldn't really think of any other touristy spot that was man-made. For New York I would think Times Square, but maybe there's something else that's really cool. I'm looking for specific places/things, not just cities.

Does this make sense? Let me know if it's confusing.

Leave a comment if you have any suggestions. If I get more than one for a state I'll have to make an executive decision with the help of google. ( :

Follow-Up

So... I guess I'm also supposed to tag three people...

Umm...

Kathy

Deja

and Faith.

And anyone else who wants to do it.

I'm Really Embarrassed...

But I am finally responding to a tag that was made in September. Wow, I'm such a slacker.

3 Joys:
- my family - all my adorable nieces and nephews especially!
- beautiful sunsets and sunrises (unfortunately I see far too few of the latter)
- a "perfect" day - when things happen that you weren't counting on, and everything just seems to come together
(since there are far too few "perfect" days, I thought I'd add on that I love all things nature. I love taking walks outside, hiking, running outside (track running just about kills me), and reading outside when weather is even slightly warm - that's what blankets are for, right? I also love walking and smelling blossoms before you can see them, the smell of fresh-cut grass, etc.)

3 Fears:
- that I won't be able to get out of debt quickly (still looking for that second job...)
- that I'll never get married and have a family (wow, I'm being amazingly honest)
- that I won't be perfected enough when the Second Coming happens

3 Goals:
- to lose weight - and just get in overall better shape ... I do have a half and full marathon approaching!
- to be more patient with people (especially people calling in who ask the same question I've answered a million times)
- to become more disciplined in all aspects of my life

3 Current Obsessions:
- trying to keep the front part of the apartment clean (I have new roommates...)
- finding a second job
- trying to get myself motivated enough to seriously train for the upcoming races

3 Random/Surprising Facts:
- I went skydiving and loved it! (see my very first blog entry)
- I learned a (very) little Ndebele on my mission (I learned some of a few other languages, but Ndebele is one of the fun "clicking" languages)
- when I'm alone, I often read books out loud as if I'm the character. I just pick one. Sometimes I rotate.

The Token Mexican?

I was just talking to some people down in the Health Science Department about my application to the Public Health program. When my ethnicity was mentioned (I'm one quarter Hispanic - which makes me "legally" Hispanic) someone said, "Without going into too much detail, that could really help you get in." My guess - and this is pure speculation on my part - the program may be getting some flack for not being diverse enough. I could end up being the token Mexican. (I should probably try to get a really good tan this summer...)

I don't look Mexican, I don't speak Spanish, and I've never been discriminated against (except for a few times on my mission and that's because I was white instead of black). But I told them that I was willing to use anything that would be useful in helping me get in. So... !Aqui voy! (I don't know if I said that right.)

I'm Doing It!

On Christmas Eve, I spent $150 in no more than 10 minutes. No, it wasn't on last minute Christmas gifts, it was on this:And this:


That's right, I'm back into marathon training. Although that hasn't been going so well... I'm hoping by telling more people about it I'll be more motivated to train.

I'll keep you posted.

Oh, and a week and a half later, I paid for this:
It's the Camp Pendleton Mud Run again. This time in June. I'm so excited! It was awesome last year!

Green Rectangles

I have a wonderful Relief Society President. She's helpful, friendly, funny, and so, so happy. She's great.

About a week and a half ago I was talking to her and telling her some random stuff that was going on in my life. It had been snowing heavily all day and I mentioned that I needed to go to the credit union to withdraw money for rent (I ran out of checks... oops.) and was trying to decide who to call up to plead, beg, coerce, or bribe into coming with me so they could stay in the car while I ran up to the ATM (on campus) so I didn't have to worry about finding a parking spot.

She said that she would be open to a bribe.

I asked her what kind.

She said something rectangular and green.

My response?

............

"Jello?"

And I was serious.

I think that's very telling of what my bank account is looking like these days.

She was kind enough to go with me despite my being a terrible guesser.

The next day, as a thank you -

The end.

Right Now...

... my favorite numbers are

590

and

650

!!!

More to come later.

The Time is Near...

... So near, it's stirring the blood in [my] veins!

13 points* to you if you got the reference. for a hint, see the post labels.

So, tomorrow is the day. It's feeling almost like a judgment day. There's no turning back, the time has come.

Okay, that may sound slightly dramatic for it just being about the GRE, but I must confess, I'm nervous. I haven't taken a test in over three years. Tomorrow I'm going to take one that could easily dictate how the next couple of years of my life are going to go.

No pressure.

Tomorrow, hopefully by 1, I will have completed the unfavorable task that I've placed before myself and hopefully the results will be highly favorable. Either way - by tomorrow at 1, it will be done!

Prayers, well-wishes, and good thoughts will be very well-received! Thanks in advance!

*why 13 points? because tomorrow's the 13th and that's the day i'm taking the gre.
i've also declared 13 as my lucky number (freshman year in high school)
which is pretty much the reason i chose that day in the first place.

not highly scientific reasoning, i'll grant you that.

I Did It!

I finally did it! I went to Verizon today and I exchanged my phone! I actually went there last night but talked myself back into keeping my good old Samsung Sway. The guy (while not pushing at all) had explained that because it's a much thinner phone the battery has to be smaller and just doesn't have the power of bigger phone batteries. Made sense. I decided I could maybe live with it.

Not so much.

When I went to sleep last night I had a full battery. When I woke up, it was down to two bars. Three hours into work it had one bar left. By the time I got to the store (around 2:30), it was flashing at me, about to run out completely.

Booooo...

After reading multiple reviews for different phones... I decided on this baby:The LG Dare. So far, so good. Let's hope it stays that way.

I Respect Your Ideals...

...is just another way of saying "Take your ideals and hang." Or something even less nice than that.

I found this out after I went in to an interview at Kmart. That's right. Kmart. I figure if I'm going to be on the Dave Ramsey diet that I can't turn up my nose at any possible income opportunities.

Anyway. I submitted a resume and set up an interview time yesterday. I went in today and left about 2 minutes later. The conversation went something like this:

"So, you still work at BYU?"

"Yes, I'm trying to find a second job right now, during the evenings and Saturday."

"Are you available on Sundays?"

"No. I'm not."

"I realize that, being Utah, most people don't want to work on Sundays, but I have to insist that you at least work every other Sunday. Is that possible?"

"It's really not. So if that's not going to work..."

"Well, I respect your ideals, but I really have to insist on Sunday work."

(both of us standing)

"Well, thank you for your time."

The End.

Shortest interview I've ever had in my life.

So... What's His Name?

Another question I got from a friend yesterday after running into him and responding that my holidays were great when he asked. I think I had a big smile on my face at the time too.

Once again, I had to explain that there was no "his name" but that I was just happy and enjoying life.

Funny. Funny, funny.

It's Just One of Those Days...

... when I feel like I have a poodle on top of my head (or maybe I feel like I am the poodle...), my shirt's not falling right and my skirt is uncomfortable.

And I have a job interview this afternoon.

Blast.

Is She In Love?

That's a question one of my co-workers asked another of my co-workers after I clicked at him (similar to the sound you make when clicking at a horse) while waiting for a phone call to go through.

The response?

If she is, she hasn't told me.

It made me start thinking about how I had been acting all day.

Happy.

Almost giddy.

I have a feeling 2009 is going to be a great year.

to answer any inquiries on the matter before they occur - no. i am not, at this time, in love.

i'll keep you posted.

Just Me and My Shadow

As soon as I came home for the Christmas break I got from work Dingo has been behind me almost 24/7. He'll follow me from one side of the house to the other. If he's not in the room with me, he's normally waiting for me in a room that he knows I have to walk past in order to get to any other part of the house. He's slept in my room every night. On the floor most nights but decided he wanted to climb up on the bed (which he hasn't done forever) twice. Once was last night after I had been away for four days (more on that later). Right now he's lying down next to my feet.

I'll admit - I like it. It's nice to have some"one" who finds me as soon as I walk in the door and wants to stay with me.

Here are a couple of pictures. It took a little while to get him to look up at me for the first one. I think he's pretty camera shy.


In this one he was looking up at me, but then before I could get the picture he put his head down and refused to look up at me again. (this was after hiding his face at my knees while I was crouched down trying to get a picture of him.

Cute, isn't he?

Four.

As of 3:42 yesterday afternoon. I saw it after opening a fortune cookie that said something about a secret admirer soon showing me a sign of affection.

That can't be it, can it?

I mean, he's hardly "secret."

.............................................

Oh, and Happy New Year.