New Years Resolutions

I have about 7 billion New Years resolutions this year. I'm not quite sure how that happened. However, none of them involve removing these babies from my life...

That would just be extreme. 

Hope your new year is off to as good of a start as ours is!

The Answer to Your Winter Blues

Lets face it. Winter in Utah sucks. 

Last weekend, Troy and I were lounging around our apartment in complete boredom due to the fact that we can't enjoy being outside any longer. We decided to go to Target just to wander.

Thats when we stumbled upon the wonder that is Nerf. Naturally, we bought 2 guns and a larger than necessary bag of darts. 

We set up our playing field and gave each other a base to reload. We have strict rules on how many shots it takes to kill someone. One shot to the chest and you're done. Same with a head shot.  However, if you get an appendage shot, it takes another appendage and a belly shot before you're out. Let me just say... Best. Saturday. Ever.

Be warned though. Your house WILL look like this afterwards and you WILL continue to find random darts throughout the house for the next week or so. 

The Pink Series Half Marathon 2011

Time travel back to October 8th with me. That will make this post seem like its not completely outdated.

Back in July I was talking to some girls in my ward. A couple of them said they had completed a marathon and I was very impresed. They also all agreed that it's mostly a mental challenge. So then I got to thinking that maybe it was possible for me to do it. I decided to start with a half marathon though in order to decrease my odds of dying. And that is the story of how I signed myself up for a half marathon.

I created a training schedule for myself and stuck with it pretty well...even though it involved waking up at 5 am everyday for a 12 weeks. Naturally, the day before my race was the first day of snow this season. Troy and I had to take a last minute trip to the store to get warm running clothes. I was planning on wearing my tank top and shorts but clearly Mother Nature had other ideas.

The race was in Park City so it was even colder than I thought it would be. When I got on the bus to drive to the starting line, I probably had 20 layers. I regreted this decision once I was on the sweltering bus for 30 seconds. Our bus driver got us lost on the way too which was exciting. We almost crashed into a mountain. Seriously. Who would have thought it was even possible to crash into a mountian? We finally got to the start line and froze a little while longer until they would finally let us run.

The first 4 miles went SUPER quick. I was shocked. The snow wasn't as bothersome as I anticipated either. I actually didn't get tired until mile 9 or so. But by then you're so close to finishing that you want to just keep going. Pretty soon I was finished. Weird. It actually wasn't that bad! I wanted to finish in 2 hours and 10 minutes. My time ended up being 2 hours and 15 minutes but I was still happy with it. Considering the weather, altitude, wind, and it being my first one I think I did ok.

And now for the pictures...

Troy was my awesome photographer. This is the finish line area before being invaded by runners. 

Apparently I run with my thumbs up. I'm such a cheerful runner. 

Getting my "charm". It was an all women race so we got charms instead of medals. 

Best part of running 13.1 miles is eating all the free food after. Totally worth it.

All in all it was a great experience. I'm totally converted. Right when I finished I thought that I'd like to stick with half marathons rather than doing a full marathon...but now I've changed my mind. Who would have thought I'd ever like to run.

Utah Marathon Relay 2011

In an effort to build "office culture" our office has started doing all kinds of random actvities. So far we've had the boat trip, the horse riding excursion, and the Utah Marathon Relay. Troy and I have been pretty busy so the only one I've been able to attend was the relay...go figure. Luckily, I'm currently training for a half marathon so I was actually a tiny bit excited about this one. 

We got there bright and early. Don't even ask what time Troy and I had to get up that day. It was definitely not a Saturday appropriate wake up time. They said they were starting at 7 sharp...that was a lie so we stood around for a while before the race. 

Once things got going it was really fun though. Basically they take a full marathon and divide it into five sections. Each runner does a leg and then you can say you did a marathon without actually having to do it. 

Photo credits go to Troy Boy. 

 I was the third runner on my team. So grateful that I wasn't the last person to go. It got quite warm once things got going. 

You're right, this is a great picture of me.

I had set a goal for myself to finish in 50 minutes. But, because I'm awesome, I did it in 48. Speed demon right? 

Overall our teams were pretty great. We didn't win. In fact they were already giving out the awards before our last people were even back yet but it was still a fun experience. Troy did catch that hilarious looking monkey for me while they were throwing out prizes though...thus we were the real winners. 

Welcome Back Boys!

The change in the weather lets you know its that time of year again. You know where I'll be tonight. Fingers are crossed for more Civil War reenactments!

Our New Adventure

Guess who is the newest member of the YSA 67th ward bishopric?

THIS GUY

Yes, Troy and I are back in a Singles Ward. I'm convinced that we got sent back since we weren't very good at it the first time. The last two weeks have been filled with ward prayers, FHE activities, and opening socials. No signs of things slowing down any time soon either. Next week our FHE/social is going to be catered by Malawi Pizza (one of the benefits in being in the Belmont Condos singles ward I guess).  We're pretty excited to get to know everyone and participate in all the activities. Especially since we don't have to worry about the awkward aspects of a singles ward. It is pretty funny to be back though. I thought singles wards were funny when I was in one...well, its MUCH funnier the second time around. 

Also, this week I found out I'm getting a promotion(?) at work.  We're not really sure if its a promotion or not actually. I was told to hire someone to take my place. Then they told me I'm going to be the new accountant for the law firm. Considering I have zero knowledge of accounting, prayers are much appreciated. 

Summer Cleaning

Last week in preparation for all the visitors that we would be having in the coming days we decided to do an extremely thorough cleaning of our apartment. That's when we stumbled upon this gem...

Yes those are all mine...not to mention the two other pairs that are in the trunk of the car.

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