Ice Fishing

Of all the fishing trips we take, whether high up in the beautiful Utah mountains, or at the local fishing pond, we never catch a fish.
I think it's the curse of us all going fishing together, us and Mike's family.
But it won't stop us from going.

This time was particularly awesome because it was my first time ice fishing.
Which is truly, much better than regular fishing, assuming fantastic weather, in which we had.

And now pictures. Of people. Not fish. Because remember, we don't catch fish.

Post 13.1

We finished! 2:21:46. And I can honestly say that I never really thought I was going to run it. But I did. We did. Mike was by my side the whole time. Love him. Have I suddenly become a race junkie? Ask me on a day that my hips aren't screaming at me.

 

And we had an awesome support team that cheered us on throughout the course. Thank you guys, you rock!

13.1

This is the mix I will be listening to tomorrow while I run my first ever half marathon. I guess I'm hoping the inspirational words are going to will my knees to keep going? (Mix downloaded from rockmyrun.com) Anyway, I'm super pumped. So pumped I barely slept last night, which means tonight is going to be completely restless. I'll be lucky to have Mike right by my side, because why would he need to run fast when he could run with me and enjoy the journey. Thank you, President Uchtdorf. Mike's sister will be running with us too, which makes this full on family fun! If you call running fun.

A New Set of Knees If You Please

Yesterday I ran 10.19 miles {every inch counts} with my best friend. Which is Mike if you were confused. That is the farthest I have ever run. And it was wonderful. Oh so mentally proud. And oh so physically drained. And sore. So if you feel like you want to donate a new set of hips and knees and the arch from your right foot, me and my half marathon will be more than willing to accept.
But just look at that sunrise shining off the temple. Quite the run.


Yesterday, they changed the missionary age for missionaries in my church. Young men can now leave when they are 18. What a piece of history this is! Yesterday I asked my 15 year old brother what he thought of the announcement. He is so excited! My poor parents on the other hand. When boys leave on their missions, they come home as grown men. All mature and stuff. Which means my parents just lost an entire year of my baby brothers childhood. My dad was putting up baseboards yesterday and was so upset about the announcement, he cut them wrong. Had to replace every last one of them. Grateful he's making good choices, just hard to see the baby grow up.

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies taste like fall. I would know. I think I've had like 12 today.

Mike got his diploma.
 
Happiness.

How I Exercise: {Run}

Today I went for a run. Many would say this is insignificant. I work out regularly. How is this any different?
It is different. This was my first real run in four months. Yes, you read that correctly. I have done several short 15 minute runs. Several long walkruns with the emphasis on the walk portion.
But today. I ran. In Washington D.C. All by myself. Over the brick laid sidewalks. Through the brownstone neighborhoods. I ran to Mike's work. And I waved to him through his fourth floor window and blew him a kiss. And then I kept running, through the tourist congested sidewalks. Past the man that sits outside on his bench and everyday says as you pass "have a great day" without making eye contact making you wonder if he was talking to you or the person in his head. Because talking to yourself is just that common here. I ran past the cafe that Mike and I are convinced you must be member of the hipster club to enter. Sitting outside sipping their cappuccino's reading the latest and greatest novel or looking busy on their Apple device. Come on, who wears scarves when its 100 degrees outside?
Speaking of hipsters.

No I did not take this picture. Saw it on Pinterest. Super funny borderline inappropriate. I accept that.

But after all my mockery, I still love that little cafe on the corner. I would never go inside. But I enjoy walking past it. Or in today's case, running. 

Running.

I wish I could say I banked a six or seven miler the way I could four months ago. 

But that is the unfortunate thing about running. Taking a hiatus only means losing everything that you have worked for. All that endurance and strength. I had my reasons for taking those four months off. And I'm glad I did. 

Who would have ever thought that I would be a runner? In high school I was on the lacrosse team. I joined because my best friend joined. And then she ended up getting injured for two straight seasons. So I spent much of the time making new friends. But what lacrosse actually brought me was the mental strength and power that I needed to be fit. And I will be the first to tell you that I spent most of my time on the sidelines, cheering on the starters. The girls who played lacrosse as a side sport to running track and cross country. And at the time, it was frustrating. But I look back and think, who really cares? They were better and faster. They should be the ones on the field. I didn't need to be a starter to still be a part of the team. The value came from the exercise. And it transformed me. 30 pounds melted away and I've been a runner {on and off} ever since. One day my knees and low-arched feet are going to throw in the towel and tell me no more. But I'm going to keep going until I reach that point. Because even though running is hard, it makes me feel oh so good. 

What I Won: {March Madness}

So after all the March Madness hooha, guess who took home the gold?
I'm not talking about the teams, I'm talking about our brackets.
Well lets just show you...

This may be the first year that I feel that I have literally crushed the man.
So I said last night, what do I win for beating you?
Guess what that bugger said, 200 extra calories.
I don't know if he's mocking the fact that I'm on quite the calorie counting kick, or if by some stretch of the imagination he thinks that is a good award.
Excuse me sir, but if I wanted an extra 200 calories, I would EAT an extra 200 calories. I don't need you to gift it to me.
And I don't want an extra 200 calories.

So apparently winning the gold in our house means you get to eat more food that you end up regretting later. Yaaaaaayyyyy.

That's when I promptly took myself to Target and bought this little beauty...

$8.98

And I had a $5 Target Gift Card from my work.

Now that is what I call an award.

Thank you Target clearance.

And thank you Jason Wu.