What is going on?!

I kill plants. Not on purpose, but let's just say it's been known to happen...more than once. It's just not in my genes.

Thanksgiving 2010: My mother-in-law got some bulbs for us to plant. I was super excited but my hopes were not very high. The plant grew... and then eventually shriveled. Probably because I gave up and stopped watering once the summer ended. 

Tonight Troy and I happened to notice something crazy going on in our living room though.

I'll be presenting at plant growing seminars in a city near you soon. 

Juice Fast

Troy and I are doing a 10-day juice fast. We don't want to talk about it.  I almost convinced myself that Skittles count as fruit. And Troy almost killed a man over a hot dog. 

Let's talk in 10 days or so.

A Monkey Birthday

Saturday was Troy's birthday. I told Troy to wake me up as soon as he got up (he's is notorious for waking up earlier than any man should ever wake up) but he didn't. Luckily, I woke up around 6:30 and discovered him already awake. Don't even ask what time he actually got up...sheesh.

First things first...presents. Troy is also notorious for is guessing his presents before opening them. I don't know if he's ever opened a gift without already knowing whats inside. It's a pretty impressive talent. So this year I took things into my own hands. I wrapped every gift in the same size box with some extra stuffing so that it didn't make any noise when he tried shaking it. I thought it was genius but he claims that he still guessed some of them.

We had thought about going down to Vegas for his birthday (since he shares a birthday my dad as well...crazy right?) because he's really been itching to play a round of golf. We decided to save some money and stick around here since the weather has been so nice. It been in the mid 50s everyday. However, Saturday morning we woke up to this.

Can you believe that?! The nerve. 

With golfing out of the picture, we brainstormed some other ideas and ended up at a gun show. Yes, a legit gun show...where they show guns. Not one where people walk around pointing at their muscles. 

It was actually pretty fun. Troy got to look at all the guns and I got to play with some search and rescue dogs. Not a bad deal if you ask me. Afterwards we went to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate. Delicious. We did some shopping and made it home in time to catch a movie. 

Our movie didn't get out until 9:30 but we were champs and made some homemade brownies after getting home. Had to prove we are capable of staying up past 10 but we managed. We also got to talk to my dad and wish him a happy birthday. Coincidence that my two favorite men on the planet share a birthday? I think not. 

I forgot to get candles so we had to improvise a bit (thus the lack of pictures...it was kind of sad display). I sung and we ate then fell asleep on the floor while watching a golf movie.

I was so excited to spend the whole day with Monk on his birthday. I'm voting that January 7th should fall on a Saturday ever year. Who's with me?

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.