Nothin Better

There really is nothing better than walking into a house, and having two kids so excited to see you that they hug your legs and demand a ride! How did I get so lucky?

I love these kids more than any dessert I have ever had! 

Committed to Qualifying

For the next six months, I have committed myself to becoming obsessed with three important numbers: 8:12. Why are those so important? Because that is the mile pace that I need to run for 26.2 miles to qualify for the Boston Marathon on June 8th at the Utah Valley Marathon. Since I am one with MAJOR commitment issues, this is HUGE. I mostly have commitment issues, because I never am one to "half-ass" anything. Once I am committed, I am fully invested. Last night, I finally made the commitment after 18 months of going back and forth deciding if I will ever run another marathon after failing to qualify my last marathon. 

I have committed for many reasons. The biggest motivation is this quote that I have lived by for the past year:

 "The fear of failure is ultimately selfish; it reflects a preoccupation with self and overlooks the fact that one's strength and abilities come from the divine mind". -Hank Paulson. 

Besides realizing how important it is for me to reach for my dreams, despite the fear of failure, I feel like I have learned A LOT by running 6 half marathons this summer. 

I learned how to race. I learned how to be mentally tough for an extended period of difficulty. I learned that sometimes things are completely beyond my control, and I can't focus on them as much. I learned the importance of training- it keeps you very very honest come race day. I have learned that I can't just rely on my natural talents, I have to actually commit myself to a real training program. 

Initially when I made the commitment, I decided "Okay, but this is my last try. If I fail, I am done". After thinking about it for the last day, I realized if I fail this time, there's not a chance I am just going to quit and give up. That's not who I am, nor ever will be. 

I am excited for the future. I am excited for marathon number three. Hopefully training goes well. Hopefully I qualify. Hopefully I don't get injured. BUT, I can only control what I can and do my best!

This is the 30 week training program I have committed to: http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51150/Marathon-Personal-Best-Training-Program

I haven't ever followed a training program, so this is a whole new territory for me. 

A look back on the last two: 

2011- My sights were set high. This was one year after a major ankle surgery, and I was more motivated than ever. I trained some, but planned on relying mostly on my natural talents like I had my previous marathon. I was really disappointed that not only did I not qualify, but that race made me very honest. I left with a lot of "what if's". I should've trained more, focused on the mental side, ran more hills, put in more miles, etc. I didn't qualify, because I was too confident in my pure, natural talent. I didn't deserve to qualify, because I didn't put in the hard work required. While this was a HUGE disappointment, I learned more from this race than any other race I have ever ran. It has seriously taken me 18 months to move on from this race!

Time: 3 hours 57 minutes

2009- This was my first marathon. I was working at a gym as a personal trainer at the time. I was in very good shape, and really strong. I was a lot more committed to a healthier diet. The funny thing- I didn't decide to run this marathon until a week before when I found out I didn't have work. This marathon made me love the distance. It made me realize that I can do hard things. While I relied purely on my natural talent, if I would have had a bad experience in this race, I probably wouldn't be running today. This was the perfect first marathon...even though I got a stress fracture at mile 20. Once again, my lack of mileage and training kept me honest. 

Time: 3 hours 47 minutes. 

In case you were wondering, to qualify for Boston, I have to run in under 3 hours, 35 minutes. 

Here's to the next 30 weeks!

Car Crashes Put Me in a Bad Mood

Lebron got hurt. Yes, I am very depressed about it. 

I was already having a crappy day, when I was minding my own business driving on State Street. I was on 800 North driving through a green light, when a car that was waiting in the left hand turn lane decided to turn right and didn't bother to yield to me coming through the green light. Luckily I swerved enough that they only snagged the back of my car and nobody was hurt. 

When it happened, I was pretty calm. I was bummed about my car, but glad it wasn't as bad as it could've been. As I get out of the car expecting the other car to be apologetic and take fault, I was greeted by two people getting up in my face and in broken english yelling at me that it was my fault. My mind was literally BLOWN. How in the world was it my fault? I was driving through a green light! At that point, my blood was BOILING. I seriously don't remember the last time I was that angry. Luckily, the cops had my back and said I wasn't at fault (well, duh) and hopefully Lebron can be as good as new soon.

Kind of annoying to have to deal with this since I am literally gone every day from 7-7 and don't really have time to mess with it. It's not like I just work down the street and can survive without a car and have time to take my car in and get everything dealt with. Crap happens right?

Luckily two very cute girls helped put me in a better mood. More crappy iphone pics:

The kids were LOVING decorating for Christmas. I was lucky enough for Kali to give me the angel for the tree and say, "Kelli, will you do the honors?" That was HUGE for her!

This is what happens when you don't let Rylie press the button to take a picture. 

My poor Lebron. It's hard to tell cause the car is black, but basically I will need to replace the quarter panel and the bumper. The other car barely got a scratch. Awesome luck. 

Somehow she talked me into giving her a sucker just before bed time. Such a good aunt.

Aunt of The Year

First off, Black Friday was once again successful. We shopped waaay late into the night/morning, and then went back to our hotel room and crashed until check out. We drove home around 1, and we all crashed. I didn't get too many things, but I did get some cheap oakleys I am pretty stoked about. In case you didn't know, I take my sunglasses seriously...considering I wear them 80% of the time, and 100% of the time I am outside. 

Katie and I are very attractive in the middle of the night. 

After our naps, it was time to watch BYU vs. UNC play in the Elite 8. I have been looking forward to this game all week...so I may or may not have done whatever it takes to get the children to be quiet during the game...

Aunt of the Year Award 2012 goes to Kelli. 

Waiting for Midnight Madness

I am sitting in a hotel room in Park City waiting to hit the outlets for Midnight Madness! I am blogging from my phone, cool huh?? Here's some pictures from Thanksgiving on my phone, it was a pretty low key day since most the married kids were with their inlaws!

I don't know how to use the blogger app so it's a little different than my normal layout. I don't know how to write captions under the pictures, so I will explain: Jack being silly shopping with me, after my 6.2 mile pre-dinner run, my new Thanksgiving sweater from the Loft, and Dave focusing on getting online deals on Amazon all day long!! Happy Thanksgiving!

Eat Like A Pilgrim

So apparently every Thanksgiving season, Thanksgiving Point puts on a dinner/show called "Eat Like A Pilgrim" where you go re-enact the first Thanksgiving. 

I am so glad I live in the year 2012. 

They couldn't eat with forks back then, because they were a sign of the devil (pitchforks). Also, the food was...interesting...but I'm sure probably tastier than what was actually served the first Thanksgiving. 

It was so fun to have the old gang back together: Me, Aust, Cath, and Dave. The fierce-some foursome!

They made us use our napkins to cover our entire chests because they didn't know when we would get new clothes again....but I am pretty sure there is a major sale going on this friday called Black Friday!

Austin felt awkward. This is his awkward face. 

Notice the draped over napkin. 

 The cute couple back together again!!

A Pilgrim and an Indian

It was PACKED!

Dave wanted to give me a little education about the Pilgrims...

My attention span didn't last very long. 

I realized today that it is the little things throughout the day that make my days so fun. Like today, when my cubicle-mate who is a middle aged man said my boots were "cute". Then he told me his favorite TV show was Project Runway. Oh the joys of cubicleland!

PEOPLE

Today I am thankful for all my people.

For full effect, listen to Soldier by Gavin DeGraw. Best song ever. 

I am grateful for all my people, the people in the pics are just because I only have a year's worth of pics on this computer (yes, I graduated A YEAR ago and got a new computer, I can't believe it has already been a year!)

Enough words. Here's my people. Thank you for being my people.