Not Going Anywhere

Okay Elizabeth, you win. I would MUCH rather keep the blog going than be stuck doing all of the scanning and filing at Paragon!

But seriously guys, I apologize. This week has absolutely SUCKED. I really don't know the last time I had a worse week. Few reasons this week has sucked:

1. My boss is related to the little girl in West Jordan who got kidnapped and murdered. It has made me sick all week watching her mourn and talking with her. I was really really affected by that this week. It still really hurts my heart to think about all of the evil in this world. 

2. I have had a CRAPPY headache all week including throwing up which would put anyone in a bad mood. 

3. With the air quality being so crappy, I have ran in DAYS. 

4. I have been dealing with a few family and personal dramas that have been really tough to deal with. 

5. Ever since moving back from D.C. I just haven't had the motivation to blog. I feel like my life is so boring now and everyone is bored of my blog posts compared to my magical life in D.C.

Basically, I have just felt super super bummed out this week and wanted to disappear. That is TOTALLY not who I am. I am someone who goes through challenges, and learns and grows from them. I am someone who is strong and happy, not sad. So...the blog isn't going anywhere. I am sorry for being all sad and dramatic, onward and upward!

In spite of everything, I have SOO much to be grateful for: 

1. The Gospel

2. My family, including my incredible guardian angels watching me from heaven. 

3. My AMAZING friends

4. A healthy body (that will hopefully be running in next weekend's half marathon)

5. Two jobs that I love

6. A free country that allows me to have more freedoms than the majority of the world. 

7. The cutest nieces and nephew in all the land. 

8. Diet Coke and chocolate of course!

9. So many talents and abilities

10. I am surrounded by love and support that I often take for granted

So, Life in the Sexy Lane will remain. While it may not be as exciting as seeing the Washington Monument and the weekend trips to other magical cities.... this is my life now, and I truly do LOVE my life!

The Death of Life in the Sexy Lane

So...I'm kinda thinking of indefinitely suspending posting on Life in the Sexy Lane. 

I just don't really have anything exciting going on in my life/I'm not funny anymore. 

Let me know if you have any strong opinions about this and want me to keep posting (I just think my blog posts are getting more and more lame these days!)

I hope your week is going better than mine is!

Today Sucked

Today was absolutely "One of those days". Live, Learn, and Hope for a better tomorrow. 

Here's an awesome Bob Marley quote I just stumbled upon that is AWESOME: 

“Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful. There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for who you are. The things that seem insignificant to most people such as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures kept safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colours seem brighter and more brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or two during the day helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your face. In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby. Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon. You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life.”

Well said Bob, Well said.  

It was FATE

Soooo here's my little story of the day. In May, I bought myself a pair of running shoes for my birthday. THE DAY AFTER I got those shoes in the mail, Brooks came out with an all new summer shoe line that had suuuper fun summer colors. They even had my favorite model (purecadence) in BRIGHT PINK! Can anyone think of shoes that say KELLI more than BRIGHT PINK ones? So naturally they have been on my mind ever since. I kept telling myself I really didn't NEED them, but oh how I wanted them soooo bad. After a week of obsessing over them at Lake Powell, the only thing I could do was go ahead and get em! Why not? As some recent trend-setters say: YOLO (you only live once). So yesterday, my favorite pal Rosie and I went shopping for our birthdays. Rosie was on a hunt for stuff for her study abroad in Jerusalem, and I was on a hunt for the bright pink shoes. I went to THREE shoe stores and nobody had them. I figured it probably wasn't meant to be since I got a new pair less than a month ago anyways. I dropped Rosie off and decided to stop buy Runner's Corner just to see if MAYBE they had them, but I was expecting they didn't. Well guess what? They had them. AND, they only had one pair of bright pink size sevens left. It was pure fate. I love love loooove them!

How could I say no to these beauties?? They had my name written ALL over them!

LP2012

I made it back to the real world. Eight days in Powell is faaaaar too short. I could've stayed there all summer long!! Real life isn't all it's hyped up to be. Here are some pictures from our awesome trip!!

Kali and her new pals. These girls were so cute!

Girl Talk + Diet Coke + Floating = Happy Kel

Face Masks on the last night is a long standing tradish!

The whole crew!

This big girl turned THIRTY! 

Kal and Dev

Kal and Grandma

My two favorites!

Alex proved he was a big boy by tubing!

Not sick of this face at all

Amazing scenery!

Alejandro!

What a good looking couple we are

My most favorite thing EVER

Painting the boy's toes is another tradition

Cute toes Dave

I got to share a bed with this kid all week and I must say, it felt SO good to have my queen bed all to myself at home!

TRIPLE TANGENT TUESDAY!!

Remember when I was such a faithful blogger and would post three random tangents EVERY Tuesday? Those were the days. Here's some random tangents floating around in my head: 

1. LAKE POWELL TOMORROW!! I will be ditching the "Adult Life" for a week and living it up in Powell. I am REALLY going to miss waking up at 6:00 in the morning and dealing with rush hour twice a day. I just don't know what I am going to do when I have my sanity again!

2. Speaking of getting things back...I will also get my super super cute boyfriend back! I have been such a selfless girlfriend and let him cheat on me with BYU Spring Semester Finals. I seriously don't know how I made it in DC, these last few days have been KILLER!

3. I am forever converted to putting Shellac on my nails over regular polish. I am suuuuch a freakin perfectionist that I HATE having any chips in my nail polish. This Shellac stuff is supposed to stay on for a few weeks. I have only had it on for a day, but I looooove it!

4. I have a really really hard time sitting through movies and I NEVER go to midnight showings of movies, but I decided to surprise Alex and get midnight tickets to the new Batman coming out in July. He has seriously been anticipating this release since the last Batman came out. He looooves it! I am really really excited, mostly cause I know how excited he is!

5. I have had two good runs so far this week and I am waaaay hopped up on endorphins. I really don't know how non-runners live. If I don't get my daily dose of endorphins, I am one scary scary creature!!

One day folks, ONE DAY!!

Also, check out these girls! Only 8 and 12 years old!!

Deciding the Negative Voice is Wrong

Yesterday was the first Half Marathon of the summer and boy was it crazy!! This was my first year running the half, but I have ran the full marathon twice before. I love Half Marathon distances, because I feel like it is still a challenge, but NOTHING as damaging to the body as a Full Marathon is. 

I just have one small problem. I am SO DANG COMPETITIVE. Not with other people (well yeah..sorta)...but mostly with myself. I know my potential and I know what I am capable of, but like every other normal human being I can create a negative mindset and completely give up on myself. That's what happened yesterday. 

Leading up to the race, I had the stomach flu all week, so I didn't really have high expectations for myself. Once I got to the starting line, I began having HUGE expectations for myself and remembering how good it felt to run my fastest race last October. I wanted that time or faster. 

The race started and I began BOOKIN it. My first mile was a 7:00 minute mile and that's when my mind broke down. I literally did not believe I was capable of running one more step. I felt completely inadequate and stopped believing in myself and my ability to finish. Even though I knew I could run it physically no problem...mentally there was no way. At mile three I was ready to drop out. That's when I stopped...took a few deep breaths...told myself why I loved running...and blasted as much happy music through my ipod as I could. The entire rest of the race consisted of me "in the zone" telling myself how amazing I was and that I could do this thing. Positively talking to yourself through a race is one of the best things a runner can learn. It's amazing how much influence your mind has over your body. Needless to say, I didn't get my fastest time. I did, however, get the time I decided at mile three that I was going to get. I conquered my own negative mind, and made it through the next 90 minutes happy and glad I decided to change my outlook and expectations. 

The thing I love the most about running is how metaphorical it is to life. I learned a lot this race and now I am mentally stronger than I have ever been. Bring on the Hobbler Half in July!

Here's some recent pictures (by the way, sorry I suck at blogging...my life has been insane)

The Starting Line- Right near Sundance in Provo Canyon

The Race Shirt and my bib number. The shirts were actually pretty cool!

This is what time I left my house to go to the race. I was EXHAUSTED the whole day after the race!

I thought the medals were pretty sweet this year too!

My official Garmin time. I did a sprint finish to make it in 1:45

I placed in the top ten in my division! 9th place out of 274 in my division. Not too bad!

That night was wings and the NBA playoffs! Loved it!!

It was also my niece Allie's third birthday. She had a "Princess Party" and Cinderella even came!

Jack wasn't feelin all the princess stuff, so he sat on my lap and played Angry Birds the whole time. 

Isn't life awesome?? Lake Powell this week!!

Under Our Skin Showings TOMORROW!!

I haven't really discussed my new jobs with people. One of my jobs is being a "Lyme Disease Warrior", which means I help promote awareness and education on the fastest growing infectious disease in the U.S.

One of my very best friends/brother Justin recently got diagnosed with Lyme disease (he was undiagnosed for years and years) that he contracted on his mission. He went from being a healthy and strong guy to being completely sick. It has destroyed his life for the past three years and really hits home for me. 

Tomorrow, there will be 3 showings of "Under Our Skin". This movie explains Lyme disease and all of the crazy politics behind it. If you get a chance, come learn more about this disease and how you can help millions who are suffering from it. There will be showings at 2, 5, and 7:15 at the BYU Varsity Theater. 

Here is the extended trailer, it will give you a little taste of what the movie is all about!

Hope to see everyone there! It is so important to become educated on this disease so that you don't suffer like Justin is. Please pass this on to friends and family!