I Like Feta

I ran my first 10K of the season this morning. The Rex Lee run in Provo is a great race--good course and proceeds going to a good cause. As a runner, I felt really great. Sometimes you just find your rhythm and running is pure Joy! I finished the 6.2 mile course in 57:39--a new personal best. AWESOME!

Yesterday was a beautiful day. It was the kind of Spring day that reminds you that Winter will in fact end and Summer will arrive. And I finished breakfast five minutes early so...I walked to work. Before anyone gets too impressed, you should know that I can drive to work in about 2 minutes. Walking to work takes about 10 minutes, so I really should be doing it more often. Yesterday's walk TO work was beautiful and the walk HOME from work was even better. I love sunshine!!

Based on my shout-out in the last post to Mr. Sydney Carton, Andrea and I discussed the idea of naming hypothetical children (neither of us have any) after literary figures. I think I'm all for it, though likely as middle names. After all, Sydney is generally seen as a feminine name today and introducing oneself as Samwise Such-and-Such might garner strange looks. Still, I like the general idea.

I made Banana bread today. I replaced half the butter with applesauce and added some chopped pecans. It is DELICIOUS...

I haven't given anything up for Lent in a few years. (No, I am not Catholic, but I really respect the idea of Lent. I think it can be viewed as a Christian practice--and I'm definitely a Christian!) And truthfully I wasn't really planning on it this year. Then on Wednesday morning I saw that a friend was giving up Facebook for Lent, and I really liked the idea. So after giving it some fairly detailed thought, I'm going for it. I signed off Facebook for forty days. And so far I'm doing okay! My hope is that I'll learn I don't NEED to spend time every day online doing my Social Networking. I'd really prefer to network in the real world, after all. That kind of 'social' seems a lot healthier, anyway.

Tangled comes out on DVD/Blue-ray in 17 days. WOOHOO!!

Skyler gave me this balloon on Valentine's Day and it is STILL afloat in my living room nearly a month later. Impressed? You should be. That thing has staying power!

Happenings

Last Friday night I went to the U of U women's gymnastics meet with the fam. We've had front row season tickets for my entire life and I have many a childhood memory of heading WAAAY down the steep stairs of the Huntsman Center to our seats. The seats are still way down there--the stairs just aren't as steep or long anymore. Weird. Anyway, the U pulled off a win against three other teams and one chick did her floor routine to the song from August Rush and it made me happy. As did hanging with my cute parents and lil' sis.


Spring has sprung in Utah--with beautiful warm days interspersed with freezing snow days. Gotta love our weird weather. I scraped frost and ice off my car one morning this week whilst wearing my cute brown flip flops. That's how you know Spring has come to our fair state.

I've started into my training regimen for an upcoming Half Marathon. Last week's long run was 6-miles which was doable on a treadmill. This morning I ran from Riverton to West Jordan to check off the week's 8-miler. Sense of accomplishment? HIGH. Pretty awesome.

Last night I had a Girl's Night with Charisse and Julie. We ate yummy snacks, chatted the night away, and watched Bandslam. Let me take a second to promote this little film? Genius. That's what it is. Hilarious--one of THE BEST awkward kiss scenes ever--and touching, and really just GOOD. Why don't movies like this get more notice when they're in theaters? Watch it. You'll love it. If you don't? Well, I'll try not to hold a grudge.

And in other news, my student's have been "publishing" picture book biographies of famous Americans. Yesterday, an 8th period student read the class her biography of Taylor Lautner. Page 6 featured a shirtless illustration of the man--replete with a carefully drawn in 6-pack. Made. My. Day. Also making my day was the two students who laughed their heads off after they caught me taking the picture...

Speaking of Zac Efron...

Once again, its the start of a new school year. This year is going to be crazy busy with a myriad of responsibilities beyond the classroom teaching itself. I am still serving as Relief Society president in my ward. I am working on my National Board certification. I have a student teacher first semester. I am rehearsing for our stake musical revue. I am co-facilitating our district's Social Studies book club. And in the midst of all that I am trying to maintain some semblance of sanity...and a life, if possible. Good Luck to me.

This past weekend I ran the Top of Utah half marathon with my little sister. Abby is THE BOMB.com and we ran without any major stops for 2 hours, 12 minutes, and (in my case) 40 seconds to finish with a fabulous time...if I do say so myself. The racecourse is quite delightful and the scenery through Logan Canyon--splendid. I had a great time and look forward to another half marathon in the near future. Plus, I finally got to try Angie's tots. Kayla was right--they're delish.

I think one of the things I'll miss most about my summer break is spending so much time with my nephew. He is...fabulous. He's adorable and incredibly entertaining, and always in the mood to eat. Seriously. He is such a mooch its hilarious. But you know--I love that about him too.

As of August 26th, I have officially gone off treats for the school year. That means no cookies, brownies, ice cream, pie, candy...and the list goes on and on. Almost everyone who has heard of my daring diet plan has declared that I have to give myself a cheat day or I'll never survive. First, no I don't. I'm definitely an "All or Nothing" kind of person. If I give myself a cheat day once a week I'll just give up altogether and very quickly at that. Secondly, I'm not entirely insane. I have given leave for treats on specific days of the year. For example, I will be indulging in rootbeer floats and chocolate chip cookies with the family during General Conference weekend. And I refuse to let Thanksgiving go by without pie. I'm pretty sure I'll be okay. The whole purpose of this experiment is to improve my self-discipline, and to see some true SHRINKAGE around my middle.

Yesterday my Visiting Teacher, Lisa, came to see me at school. Isn't she great?! She brought along Caryn--her other visiting teachee--and lunch. Hero O' The Day! I'm so grateful for delightful friends who can surprise you on a Monday afternoon and make the rest of the day bearable.

Last week I had the great pleasure of taking in a free premiere showing of the film, "Adam." Hands down--one of my favorite movies EVER. Really. Its a delightfully tender, off-beat romantic comedy and I would recommend it to anyone. Hugh Dancy is fantastic and I spent most of the movie trying to decide if I wanted to laugh, cry, or...well, cry; the debate over sad tears vs. happy tears was insane. The movie is awesome and if you want to go see it soon, give me a call and I'll do my best to make it. I can't wait to see it again!



I am excited for autumn to really start. I want to wear sweaters and not get nasty sweaty when I get into my car in the afternoon. I'd like the fall TV season to start (GLEE!), and I'd like to crave a drive up the canyon and apple cider. Of course, winter follows shortly after the autumn but we have to know the bitter to appreciate the sweet, right?

On a final random note, I saw two ducks crossing the road this morning. The only thing better than that sight, was seeing the giant grin on every driver's face who was stopped in their respective lanes as we waited for the ducks to move along. Fabulous.

Good call

I was driving home from the gym this morning and noticed a woman running down the road wearing a racing bib. Her number was 283. There was a man running about 25 feet behind her with no bib. I realized she was the only one on the road wearing a racing bib which begs the question, "What race is she in?" I suspect there isn't a race. I suspect she's just wearing the racing bib for her own sake to which I say, "Brilliant." I have lots of old racing bibs filed away somewhere waiting for me to scrapbook them at some future date (i.e. Probably Never). The thing is, wearing a racing bib ups your cool points by like 200%. Not only do you run, you RACE. Expect to see me racing through your neighborhood sometime soon.

The Great Half Marathon Adventure or "Houston, we have a problem."

13.1 miles is longer than you think it is. And that's scary considering how long it already sounds. But I learned how long it actually is on Saturday morning when I tackled my first ever half marathon. The adventure was not without a few missteps and unexpected twists and turns...but I survived and it was totally worth it.

The first unexpected twist came Friday night when my poor, sick running partner finally admitted defeat--she would not be running. This came after a few weeks of me announcing to a number of people, "I don't know how anyone could run such a distance by themselves!" Ha ha...life is funny that way. So on the eve of this crazy long run, I had to face the reality that I was doing it solo. As "solo" as one can be in the midst of thousands of other runners, but still!

Anyway, my awesome little brother kindly agreed to get up before dawn to go with me to the starting line and then meet me at the finish line. He's a trooper...and that's what I call love, ladies and gentlemen. He is The Best.

The first 6 miles were easy. I passed some weird looking people, stayed hydrated at the water stations along the way, and enjoyed the tunes on my iPod. Mile 7's only highlights were the gawking construction workers, replaying Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You" over and over, and the bathroom I finally sighted at the end of it. With a bathroom break behind me, and Gatorade in my blood I continued on.

When I hit Mile 10 I said to myself, "Wow! This is the farthest I have ever run! And there are only 3 miles left which is like a quick morning jog!" With a sense of optimism I ran past the mile marker and immediately felt my diaphragm seize up, making any deep breathing almost impossible. And thus passed the next two miles of voluntary Hell on Earth. I had to stop and walk until I could breathe again and then I'd pick up the pace to a run until I had to walk...again.

As the last mile approached I vowed to run all of it. It was one mile. One. I could do that as long as I just kept the bottom part of me moving! And I did. I made it to the Gateway with enough energy to "kick it up a notch" at the end. I made it across the finish line with an official time of 2 hours, 18 minutes, 51 seconds. And that, my friends, is pretty much awesome. I feel no shame at all in declaring to one and all that I...am a Rockstar.

And I am totally going to do it again.