Quirks

Alright Tami, I'm in.

♥ Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
♥ Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them.

1. I love sleep, and will pretty much anything to get it when I want it. I know I have a tendency to be a frantic person who is always on the go. When I'm tired, nothing matters to me more than being able to shut my eyes for a few minutes. It does not have to be long, even ten minutes will do.

2. When I do go to bed at night, I have to have some kind of noise. Its usually an episode of Friends in the DVD player, but it can also be music or a movie. Otherwise I just lay in bed and think of things over and over again till I'm ready to shoot myself.

3. Despite my great love for sleep, I can honestly not remember the last time I slept all the way through the night without waking up at least once. It does not matter where I am, I always do it. I think the only time I have not was because of a pain pill, but then again, I never remember much when I have one of those.

4. I have houseplants, and I loved to take care of them. Right now I have probably ten or so. I would have more, but my little house is kind of restricting, and my roommate has a bunch of her own too. Between the two of us, there is probably at least twenty in the house, and I can honestly say I have not killed one yet!

5. I conduct any music that I'm listening too. Its easy for me to find a beat, and then I just count out the time. I think I get that from my dad, who claims to have no musical talent. But, all growing up I can remember him conducting Yanni in his truck. It drives Carson nuts when I do it, but it just gives me more motivation. :)

6. I am extremely conscious of the food that I eat every day. Some people call me a health freak, which is entirely possible. But, given the stomach issues that I have, its made my life a lot easier to do so. I track what grains, protein, fruits, vegs, and dairy I eat on a daily basis and plan my meals so that I have a balance of each every day. Yeah, I know, its weird. But, I don't have to throw up every day like I used to, so can you blame me?

So, the people I tag...Mom, Goober, Amber, Kim, Mindy, and Yvonne.
For those of you without a blog, email will suffice. :)

Thanksgiving

Ah yes, the blessed time of year- everyone gets to see family and eat themselves silly. This year was no exception. My parents had our Thanksgiving on Wednesday night, which worked out really well. Carson even made it, a bit late, but at least he was there. Thursday we spent the day with his family, and I even managed to snap a picture of him playing soccer with his niece London.

But, unfortunately, with Thanksgiving comes the dreaded "Black Friday". I'm not going to lie, I absolutely hate this day. There is nothing good about it. I don't care who you are, what you need, or what the good deal is, but society has allowed this day to become one dreaded by those who work in retail. Consumers are allowed, even encouraged to act like savages all in the pursuit of saving a few dollars. Our society is bad enough on a daily basis for a lack of compassion and common courtesy, and because of commercialization for the Christmas season- a time when people should be full of good nature and peace- its a battle to the death for a flippin mixer!!! If you need to get a good deal, look online. I'm the queen of bargain shopping, and I do it sitting on my couch. I cant remember the last time I paid full retail for something I really wanted or needed. Be decent, be considerate, and be thrifty without sacrificing your humanity!!

Ok, I'm done with my soapbox.

Have a happy week!!

Brynn and Lisa Time

Still working, schooling, and trying to figure out what to do with my life. But, luckily, I still have my Lisa and we can still do random stuff together. One of my favorite adventures was the overnighter up Right Hand Fork in Logan Canyon. We made a fire, ate some food, and slept in the car. And it was cold!!!! But, luckily we had plenty of blankets and a laptop to watch a movie, so we kept ourselves entertained.

We did this a month or so ago, but now we are getting geared up for our next trip....VEGAS!!!

In Class...

So, I have been a teacher, but I'm also still a student working with other teachers who are students, and I realize that we are some of the worst students when we get together. In my class right now, there are four different students with computers, and not a one of us is lookng at our "notes" for class. What can I say? Its either that we know how to multitask, or we just dont care enough on a friday afternoon. For me, I'm going to say its a combination of both.

Snow Run

So its a typical saturday morning, laying in bed trying to figure out the best way to start my morning.
1. Lay around and be lazy till Carson and I meet up later.
2. Go ride my horse before the storm hits.
3. Go to the gym
4. Run a 5k race on a whim in the worst weather of the month.

And the winner is.... the race!! (Like any of you are suprised).
It started out as choice 1, I was laying in bed. I grabbed my laptop and was checking my mail, still under the covers mind you, and saw a headline that there was a 5k race on campus at 10 am. I had about a half hour to get there and get registered, so I booked it into town. The closer to campus I got, the worse the snow was. By the time I got there, it was snowing and blowing so hard I thought they were going to cancel. But, leave it to crazy runners to run a race!!
Needless to say, when I crossed the finish line my entire front was a sheet of ice and snow and my eyes were half frozen. But, I did take first in the womens with a time of 21:29, which is about a 6:50 mile. I think my motivation was to get out of the snow!!

Sky Diving Adventure

For all of you who never thought I would do it, and to all those who knew that I would, here are the pictures of this summers sky diving trip. This was probably one of the best things I have ever done! I did it back in June, so I know its been awhile but the pictures are still great. I went with friends Sydnee Housley, Matty Cavilla, Alan Day, Adam Young, and Wacey Cornia. I only have a few pictures from mine and Wacey's cameras, we were the only ones who had the video and pictures taken. But, here they are for all to enjoy.

This is my instructor, they called him the mad midget, but I think his name was Tommy. He was plenty short, but plenty of fun. Turns out, he was a farm boy from back in Ohio, and the whole plane ride we ended up talking ag. Leave it to the ag teacher to talk about the attributes of cattle while skydiving.

This is our group, Adam, Wacey, and the poor guy in the orange jump suit who looked liked he was ready to cry the whole time. We opted not to put on the goofy suits for our first jump since they were not required. The only reason they suggested them is so that our pants would not get dirty when we landed, and when your talking to people like Wacey and myself, thats the last thing on our minds.

Here is good ol Wacey, gotta love this kid. He is one of the last people you would think would dive, but he had a blast and wants to go again.

Zions Vacate

It was the first "chick trip" with mom, and I have a sneaky feeling that it will not be the last. With both of our respected men out of town for work, we decided to take off. So, we headed for southern Utah and hiked Zions Canyon. To say the least, the scenery was spectacular! The first picture was about a half hour into the first hike, known as "Angels Landing".

This is just after I had to leave Mom behind to scale the last section to the top. Carlos (the wonderfully nice man that I joined for the last bit) was nice enough to take this one for me.

If you follow the ridge from the right towards the left, you will see the point that we managed to crawl to, holding on the chains drilled into the side of the mountain.

This is what the view was hanging over the side at the top. Notice the big pointy rock in the middle? Well, that point is at the very bottom of the next picture, just to give a point of reference. :)

All in all, it was an amazing weekend. The hiking was amazing, the company was great (the would be you mom :) ), the play was fantastic, and the beds were wonderful- and thats a really good thing considering how tired we were. I definately want to go again, I just might turn into a hiker yet!!

Reflections

This past week has led to many reflections on life, priorities, and everything in between. Two of Carson's friends were involved in a work accident, one died on the pole. To say the least, it makes me feel a little sick to my stomach. But, I can always find comfort in knowing that when it is our time to go, we will go. My heart goes out to these two families, and to all who have lost loved ones in some form or another. The only thing we can hope for is that we try to do our very best until that time comes, and when it comes we will not fear it.

Race Day Looming

Tomorrow I once again join the ranks of what most people consider "crazy runners" and hope to achieve another PR in a half marathon. You know, its a strange thing, race day. Runners are the only people I know that get up before the sun, try to find a parking spot, and jump on a bus with dozens of others to hitch a ride to a starting point 13 miles away from thier cars, and willingly run back! I dont know many people that would walk a mile to thier cars, and here we are racing each other thirteen.
Yes, it sounds crazy, but at the same time, we keep coming back. I know I do, and I know that this being my last race of the season (at least until I find another one to register for) that I will probably push myself to the puking stage, and I hope to at least finish before said puking. Last year when I ran my first half marathon, I was averaging a 9:45 mile. This year, my top speed has been 8:11, and if I can maintain an 8:30 I'll be a happy girl.
One of the best things about running tomorrow morning? I get to carb load tonight!!

Alright already, I'll update!

Ok, so I know that I'm not the most diligent to this whole blog thing, but give it time. I just need to get into a routine with this and I will get a lot better. So, to give somewhat of an update on whats going on in my crazy life...
Carson has been moved to Granby, CO. Not going to lie, it pretty much rips my heart out, throws it in a blender, whips into mush, and then is handed back to me in a cup with a straw, not to be negative at all or anything. :) Its really hard, and whats harder for me is to admit to myself that I hurt this much because I care this much. Ah, the good old days when I did not give a care in the world....I don't think I'll ever go back. As much as I know it hurts, its ten times better once he is home, and that makes everything worth it.
Classes resume in just over a week, and I honestly cant believe the summer is over already. It really feels like I just ended, but at the same time that feels like a whole different life to me. Graduate school is going to be a completely different animal, and I'm not sure what kind of tool I'm going to have to use to tame this one.
With Carson being gone for weeks on end, I have been worried that I will get bored. But, leave it to me to completely overbook myself in order to avoid this. I ride horses for Helen Grahm in Idaho at least two nights a week till at least ten or eleven at night. This has been a blessing in more ways than one. First, I get to have something to do at night. Second, I'm learning a whole new discipline in riding, which is fun to cross over to what I already know. Third, its not really work when I'm asked to leg-up (means get into shape) champion horses. Seriously, its like riding a rocking chair. If I'm not riding her horses, I'm riding my own. LaMont (Carsons dad) has been kind enough to board my horse for me over here, so I'm there every night I'm not in Idaho. He even loaded up both our horses and took me over to Leathems Hollow for a ride one night. I have been really lucky to have all these things fall into place for me these past few months. And of course, cant forget the crazy obsession with running. I have another half marathon in a week, and I'm hoping for a 1:50:00 time this go-round.
I sit here at my desk, thinking about all the crazy things I have done this week, and I know this is the only chance in my life I'm going to have the time, energy, and passion to do it all. At some point, things are going to change and I will have to start giving up one thing at a time. But, until that happens, all I know how to do is go till I drop, go again, and again, and eventually be forced to stop. But until then, I will do only what I know best....turn your toes out, keep your hat down, and pray like hell you dont get bucked off.

A short intro

I have finally decided to break down and start one of these famous blogs, considering all the crazy things in my life and the distance that is now between me, family, and friends. I just have to laugh at some of the things that have happened in the past few weeks, and the things that are still yet to come. It seems now that I have at least one adventure or big event happening at least weekly, and if I know myself well enough, I am just going to keep it up till I crash.
This being the 4th of July weekend, I decided to join the ranks of dedicated (and also called crazy) runners and ran a quick 15k race in Hyrum. I managed to come in at 1:16:27, averaging a 8:11 mile which is a lot faster than the last half marathon I ran a few weeks ago. Carson's sister Annie and her husband and family all ran, and it was actually kinda nice to have someone cheering at the finish line. Yvonne and Lamont were there with Annies' girls, and I did briefly hear them as I pushed for the finish line. Like a horse headed for the barn, all I could see was the finish, so I did not see them but at least I heard them.
Carson is home for the weekend, so our big plans include rodeos, trail riding, and a roping tonight. Its not my favorite thing that he is gone so much, but its weekends like this that make it all worth it. He is still out in Grand Junction CO, and will be for a couple more months until he is moved yet again.