The Famous Butt Massage

So if you know my sister Katie, you probably know she is a HUGE practical joker. She LOVES tricking people. Fortunately for me, I am usually her partner in crime. 

Unfortunately for me, that was not the case on Saturday night. 

So after my race, we decided to get massages that night. We go to the massage place and get in the waiting room and begin to fill out the basic paperwork. As we are doing this, Katie dares me to write my butt in the "what area do you want focused on?" section of the paper. We joked about it for a little bit, and she thought it was hilarious how disgusted I was by it. She said if she ever died, her only wish would be for me to get a butt massage in honor of her, because she knew how uncomfortable the thought of a butt massage made me. I laughed it off, and then handed her my paper and ran to the bathroom real quick before the massage.

When I came out, Katie had already given our forms to the therapists and we headed to our separate rooms. 

When I got in the room, the therapist told me to get completely naked, which I thought was somewhat strange because I never have been completely naked in a massage before, but I followed her instructions and stripped completely down. 

The massage was 60 minutes long. I will spare most of the details, but a good 30 minutes was spent solely on massaging my bare naked exposed butt. Like an INTENSE focus on rubbing out my butt. She would focus on my back, then do my butt, then my legs, then back to my butt, then my neck...and right on back to the butt. I seriously felt SO AWKWARD and waaaay overexposed! I had never had a massage like that before, usually the focus is more on the back and legs and the butt doesn't even get one bit of attention. I felt completely exposed and violated, but just figured that was part of the massage protocol, because I had never been there before. 

After the massage, we get in the car and Katie says, "So, did they massage your butt at all??" To which I replied "YES! LIKE OVER THE TOP BUTT MASSAGE!! DID YOU GET THAT TOO??!!" At that point she began DYING laughing and told me she put on my sheet for them to focus on my butt when I handed her my sheet and went to the bathroom before the massage. We were DYING! While I was completely embarrassed, I couldn't help but laugh. She got me good. 

The funniest part is...while I am super sore from the race, the only part of my body that isn't sore is, in fact, my gluteus maximus. 

Halloween Half = Fail

Well folks, I finished up the year of 2012 with five Half Marathons. I was hoping to end on a high note, but unfortunately this was my worst race of all!

The thing I love about running is you are always having to prove yourself. You can run 10 miles and feel great, and the next day you can run 3 miles and it is the worst 3 miles of all time. You appreciate the good runs so much, because you know that there is a good chance you could have a bad run any given day. 

So here's why I hated the race: 

My Mistakes: 

• Two weeks ago, I was running some serious training miles. Once I started my new job, things got pretty hectic and I didn't have time to run any more. Along with all the craziness, I actually forgot I was even racing this weekend, until 2 days before the race when I got an email saying where to pick up my bib. So obviously I wasn't very prepared.
• Since I wasn't prepared, I didn't do the normal week of carb loading to increase my glycogen storage to give me more fuel for the race. 
• I forgot to bring food to eat for fuel right before the race, which resulted in the worst stomach cramps I have ever ran with. The stomach cramps were so bad, I started getting extreme pains shooting in my heart. It got to the point where it was super unbearable. I actually decided to quit. I stopped at mile 8, took a break to check all my texts and emails, and then called my mom to come get me cause I wasn't going to finish....5 minutes later, I convinced myself I couldn't allow myself to quit and did my very best for the last 5 miles even though I didn't feel good at all. 

The Race's Mistakes: 

• The race started at 9 am. For some reason, they made you get on the bus to go up there three hours before it started. So for three hours, I was freezing my butt off up at Sundance, until my whole body was totally frozen. Not a good way to start a race. That also meant that I ate breakfast 5 hours before I started the race...starting the race on an empty stomach and no water for five hours before- hence major stomach cramps. 
• The race was marked completely wrong. Mile 4 was labeled Mile 5. If that's not frustrating, I don't know what is!
• There was no gels or food for fuel during the race. So not only was I running on empty with major stomach pains, I couldn't even attempt to fuel at the aid stations. My only saving grace was downing as much gatorade as possible every chance I got to use for fuel to help me. 

So overall, I was just very frustrated with how the race was run. For the money you pay to run that race, it should be ran much better in my opinion. I have decided I most likely won't be running that one again. 

Pictures:

The race was the day of Byron's birthday. I have worn this wristband ever since he died. Yesterday in particular, he was on my mind the majority of the race. 

Waiting in the "refugee tent" for 3 hours was SOOO crowded and long. 

Freezing at Sundace. Another awesome thing was the bus drivers dropped us off at the resort, and then we had to walk up a huge hill to the second parking lot to the start. I love hiking up a hill right before I run 13 miles!

I hate freezing. It takes me back to the days of living in Logan. Woof. 

On a positive note, the medals and shirts were cool. 

So in spite of stomach cramps and stopping quite a bit (that five minutes I stopped to call my mom + like every mile), I ended up getting 21 in my division out of 377. Not a bad placement, but not the time I wanted, especially on such a downhill course. 

The good news is, failure is a relative term. Even though I consider my time and my performance a failure, in the grand scheme of things, I really didn't do too bad!

My quads are SO sore from the major downhill running. Luckily, I got a massage that night to help a little bit. More to come on the massage- let's just say there was a lot of butt rubbing involved! Stay tuned- you won't wanna miss that story!

My Crew

My Life = Working 45 hour weeks, commuting 10 hours a week, running, and kickin it with my crew. 

My life rocks. 

Here's some recent iphone pics of my "crew". I have the greatest friends!

Coloring with Mr. Jack: 

Taking Kali, Jack, Rylie, and Charlee to Chuck E. Cheese. They broke records by using 110 tokens in 30 minutes!

This is what my desk looks like every day. Gotta stay hydrated!!

I am HATING running outside in the cold!! Time for a gym pass!

Playing "Just Dance" with the girls. Kali said I only won cause I am taller, not because I am better. 

Morning Monster = Mormon Coffee

I am running my last Half Marathon of 2012 tomorrow!! This will be my 5th for the year!

Movie Night with the girls!! They were only a little bit scared of Alvin & The Chipmunks Halloween...who can blame them? Those chipmunks have always kinda freaked me out!

A Purpose

First, I would like to have a little disclaimer. I don't want this blog to be some "debbie downer" blog. I am not the type to write about how my life sucks on my blog or facebook. That is not the time, nor the place. 

I have just been thinking a lot about purpose lately. Surprisingly, when I share my feelings with people, they confess to me that they feel the same way. 

That makes me sad. I think there are a lot more people who feel like their lives have no purpose than we realize. 

What I am talking about is trying to figure out what my purpose in life is. Currently, my purpose is to wake up everyday and go to work to make money to spend on myself. What kind of life is that? That's not fulfilling at all. There isn't anybody in my world who I feel couldn't carry on without me. If that is the case, what is my purpose? What is the point of me even existing if I honestly don't really matter or make a difference? Sure, I try to contribute to society by being hard working, healthy, attending church, etc, etc...but when it all comes down to it...it doesn't make any sense to me that I am alive when others who died before me had people they needed to live for. People who depended on them, and can't live without them.

I always thought that my purpose was to love others with all my heart. Let people know how much they matter and how much I care about them. I thought my purpose was to be the person who made others glad that they were who they were.

 Until every time I opened up and loved people unconditionally, for some reason, I get cut out of those people's lives with no explanation. That is honestly what keeps me awake at night, making my mind race. What did I do? Why should I openly love if it actually doesn't really matter or make a difference? I am not talking about just one instance or person. I can name like 5 people off the top of my head who just decided to cut me out of their lives once I decided to hand my entire heart over to them and love them unconditionally. Which brings me back to my initial thought: what's the point? What's my purpose if my love doesn't make a difference? If my love isn't what anybody needs to enhance their happiness? 

I know, I know...just because people hurt you, you shouldn't cut yourself off and stop loving. But do you tell someone who was the only survivor of a fatal airplane crash to get back on an airplane and fly across the Atlantic Ocean the next day? Absolutely not. I hope to be able to openly love others again. I hope one day my love is appreciated and matters. I hope one day I will look back and understand why those people decided to cut me out of their lives for no reason at all. 

For now, I will just continue to be a crazy insomniac and hide behind work and running :)

On the bright side, work and running are actually going really well! 

I Hate October 21

Seven years ago today on October 21, 2005, the world lost an amazing person. Byron was loved by all who knew him. We will always miss him everyday, especially days like today. Love ya and miss you By, hope all is well in heaven!

A NEW CAR!!

Remember how I am a finance nerd? Well sometimes it pays off. I may or may not have spent all night last night calculating loan terms, interest rates, and payments for a new car I have been thinking about getting. It also means car dealers know they can't rip you off, because you understand what the crap they are talking about! I have been drooling over the new Hyundai Elantra body style since they switched them in 2011. Since my old Elantra was almost paid off, I was lucky enough to get a great trade-in from the dealership (it pays to be OCD about maintaining and cleaning your cars), and get a great discount on a new 2013 Elantra. I am SOO stoked! 

 If you feel prompted to go to Murdock Hyundai in Lindon, go see Doug cause we are pretty much best friends and he takes pictures of you and your new car so you can show your friends!

I was actually really sad to say goodbye to Ariel. She was literally my child! I hope she makes someone else very very happy and they take really good care of her!

Jack literally thinks I bought the BatMobile from Batman. But...I need a cool name for my black beauty, so any suggestions would be great!

New Job Thoughts

I have now made it through 2 days of the new job.

 Few thoughts:

I seriously think that all of the people who live in Utah that aren't Mormon work at my company. I work at a pretty large company (400 employees) and I have yet to find another Mormon. It blows my mind. I have never felt like the most "Molly" person in the room the entire time I have been in Utah (my whole life) until I started working at my new job. So weird/awkward when everyone is talking about last night at the bar...and I am talking about last night on my run...

I am forever grateful to my housing finance professor at Utah State- Dr. Delgadillo, who prepared me perfectly for a job in the mortgage industry. I am LOVING the industry, just as much as I loved my year of housing finance classes at USU. Nerd alert. Yep. 

I found a way to dodge the terrible commute. It's called working 8-4. I mean, who needs lunch? I would much rather get on the roads earlier than the normal rush hour. I no longer want to drop kick kittens every afternoon whilst stuck in rush hour. 

Unlimited diet coke. Need I say more? I am in HEAVEN. I think every company should do this for their employees. It is the best idea any CEO ever had. 

I always thought I would be a working mom until the past two days. As you should know by now, I spent the last month spending every minute of every day with my 2 year old niece Rylie. I keep finding myself missing her, wondering what she is doing, and sad I don't get to spend more time with her. After work yesterday, I was missing her so much that I took her a treat on my way home. I am pretty sure I am going to have a bigger meltdown than my sister when that kid goes to kindergarten! I can't imagine being a working mom. I have a whole new respect for those guys (shout out to Shannon and Elizabeth-you guys are amazing!)

She always gets so excited when I come to visit. How could you not miss this face??

Two days down...years to go. I am absolutely terrified I am not good enough and I am going to fail...mostly because I am the youngest by A LOT. This big kid stuff is rough!

Ronan

So I am probably way behind the times, but I had to share this song! This is a song Taylor Swift wrote about a little boy who died from cancer named Ronan. His mom wrote a blog about his journey, as well as her grieving experience. Taylor stumbled upon it and wrote a song that was based off of what was written on the blog. All the proceeds from the song are going towards raising awareness for children's cancer. Well done T-Swift. I finally like one of your songs, and you may or may not have made me get a little choked up. 

Last Days as a Stay At Home Mom

Well folks, I passed my background and drug test. That means my days as a stay at home mom are coming to an end. While I am going to miss my little pals, I am MORE than ready to get back to work. I don't do well not being constantly busy all day long. For someone who has been on the go their entire life, this past month has been nearing unbearable! Sure, it was nice to sleep in and catch up on wasting time watching Netflix, but there is something inside me that GOES INSANE when I am not constantly productive.

One thing I am dreading: The Great Commute. 

Ugh. 

On the bright side, I am not stuffed in a metro car with people all up in my business in D.C. Actually...for some reason I actually miss having no personal space and pushing my way through aggressive crowds. Weird right?

Here's some pictures as my last days with some of my favorite kids: Rylie and Kali

One of the highlights of my week was taking Rylie to Ridleys. She went straight for her little cart and went to work. This kid was on a mission and not stoppin for ANYONE! There was no such thing as casually shopping, she was literally speed walking and putting everything Katie gave her strategically into her cart!

Proudest moment of my entire "Aunt Life"?? When Rylie got a soccer ball and said "Kelli, soccer?" We then passed the ball through each other's legs for the next 30 minutes. I have high hopes for this future soccer star!

Another milestone: Mastering the "Cheers" with her sippy and my Monster. We have been workin on this for quite some time!

Practicing...

Perfect!

Not only did she learn a great party trick, but she also throws away my can whenever she notices that it's empty. True friend. 

Today, we took the kids to Hee Haws. It was awesome! The kids loved it! I also couldn't believe  how hot it was in the middle of October! 

Not only did I have a blast with the kids this week, I also got back on track with running. I was pretty relaxed about running the past 3 weeks of my unemployment, but this week I have hit the pavement HARD and it has been great! In five days, I have ran 32 miles! Halloween Half here I come!!