Happily Ever After!

I don't have words. I want to say something sweet and heartfelt about how blessed I feel to have been able to spend the last two days with some of my very best friends, and about how grateful I am to have been able to see such a gorgeous bride sealed to her one true love for time and all eternity...

but I don't have any words. I am speechless. I simply cannot believe that I got to be here for this and that I have such incredible people in my life.

Here's to happily ever after - and to being incredibly happy right now.

THANK YOU DELTA!

It is a long story, but I just want to say that I had the BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE EVER with Delta Airlines tonight.

I was supposed to fly out to California tomorrow to meet up with my Dad a few days before the Disneyland Half, but due to some incredibly unfortunate events involving Canada and getting back into the US, he will not be able to make his flight tomorrow (and might not be able to come to see me at all for the race - please pray that he makes it).

So, that would have put me in California tomorrow. Without my Dad.

The story gets more complicated when you know that the day after I bought my ticket to Cali, one of my VERY dear friends called and told me that she had moved her wedding day up to THIS Friday. I was stuck.  I see my Dad once every year - maybe and we had coordinated all of our flight plans so we would be leaving and arriving at the same time. Now I was REALLY stuck. I would be in California alone AND I would miss my friend's wedding. Not. Cool.

I called Delta today to see what I could do about changing my ticket. They said that because I had bought my ticket with rewards miles I would have had to make the change with 72 hours notice and that if I didn't fly tomorrow, I would lose my ticket and my miles.

I cried. In fact, I cried like I haven't cried in ages. I sobbed. I had been so sure that I would be able to change my flight and that things would be ok.

After several hours I talked with a friend and with my Mom and they both advised that I call back. So, I did. Same story, but this time I pushed, and this time I gave A LOT more detail about my story (Seriously, if you heard all of the details you would think I was making it up, it was more than a perfect storm of crazy).

To her eternal credit, a WONDERFUL woman named Ann heard me out and worked with me to find a solution.

I am flying out on Saturday. I get to go to my friend's wedding, I will make it just in time for the race, and I pray that my Dad will be there to see me cross the finish line.

Thanks again to Ann and to Delta for making this all happen. I am forever grateful.

Twilight Zone

Today my nephew had his first day of first grade. His first day of school was last week, but that was in kindergarten. After much consideration, his parents decided on Friday that he would skip kindergarten and move onto big kid school.

I was a little worried about my sister sending her last child to school, so last week I went to join her for a group aerobics/circuit training class that some ladies in her neighborhood hold at the local church building.  We got there and the class had been canceled. We went for a run instead. Kindergarten is only half day, so not long after we got back from the run, it was time to pick up my nephew. He was so adorable. I just love seeing all of the little kids whose backpacks are bigger than they are!

Anyway, with today being a bigger day (the first day my nephew would be away ALL day), I headed back out to Eagle Mountain to support my sis. Today the class was Zumba. ZUMBA I tell you! I have been evading invitations to Zumba classes for years. I am no dancer. When I did theater in high school I was always the girl who turned the wrong way in musical numbers. Today was no exception to my long history of mortifying attempts to get me to dance. I think that I shot my sister dirty looks for the first 30 minutes of class. She just laughed, like I knew she would. I kept trying, and by the end, I ALMOST felt like I might live through the experience. Heaven only knows if I will ever have the courage to try again.

I think that one of the strangest things about the class was not actually my inability to find any type of rhythm, but the fact that halfway through class I realized that I had crossed over into the Twilight Zone. I was officially in housewife/stay-at-home-mom territory. It was a magical place where you send your kids to school, go to Zumba, run some errands, go to Costco for samples, paint some bookshelves, go out for froyo, and get back in time to meet your kids at the bus stop. Is this stuff for real?

Did you ever see that 30 Rock episode were Tina Fey hangs out with the housewives in their perfect lives and then discovers that they actually have a fight club? I felt like maybe that was what was happening. Either way, I think unemployment is starting to do strange things to me...

LOGAN!

I just got back from several blissful days in Logan,  UT. One of my very best friends in the entire world lives up there and it is always a wonderful time when I get to see her. We talk for hours, flip through loads of magazines (including the new 900 page September issue of Vogue), watch movies, go out for dinner, and of course I always force Erin to make chocolate chip cookies. They. Are. To. Die. For. So, if you haven't figured it out yet, we always have the perfect Girl's Weekend. This trip was no exception.

As the Disneyland Half Marathon is next week, I wanted to make sure that I got my miles in this weekend.  On Friday, left the house at about 11:00am for and easy four miles around Logan. I love running up here. It is absolutely gorgeous.

 I ran up to the temple and then explored the city a bit. I got back to Erin's, stretched out a bit and then headed inside the house. Only, the door was locked. The front door was locked. The back door was locked. I had completely forgotten to unlock the back door when I had left the house. I checked all of the windows to see if I could break in and I knocked on the door of the downstairs apartment. No luck. 

I didn't have my phone and I don't even know exactly where Erin works, so I decided to take this moment for exactly what it was - a totally guilt-free ticket to waste an afternoon. I had just loaded the first season of New Girl onto my ipod that morning so I let it play. Let me tell you, if I could dress like Zooey Deschanel everyday, I would be a very happy girl. 

After about 4 or 5 episodes I figured it was time to Erin to come back. No such luck. 10 1/2 episodes later, one of the downstairs housemates came home and let me in. Erin pulled in about 30 minutes after that. Honestly, it really was a lovely afternoon, I just relaxed in the back yard and watched TV all afternoon. And now I know that my ipod battery lasts for about an hour of audio and 11 episodes of a sitcom!

Once I made it inside, I finally got a shower and then we went out on the town and had our traditional Weekend in Logan Dinner at Olive Garden. It was, as usual, just fantastic. It also served well for carb loading before my long run this morning.  I had about 9 miles on the schedule. I did 7 last week and that was my first long run in almost 2 months (did I mention I have a half next week?) I know, I am a smart lady. Anyway. I decided that 9 would be long enough to ensure I don't die next week without being too long to kill me this week. Thankfully, I was right. I ran 9.5 miles through Logan, Providence, and Millville. Have I said yet how beautiful this area is? It is all small town and farms. I just love it. As I ran through Providence, I passed the finish line for the Top of Utah Half Marathon. I ended up running along the race route for about 2 miles. I LOVE doing that. I always feel a little silly, but I love the energy of a race. It made me even more excited for next week!

I also ran passed this lovely little place. It is the Old Rock Chapel, now a B&B and reception center. One of my friends had her wedding reception there last year and it was simply gorgeous. I can't believe it has almost been a year! (Happy upcoming Anniversary Cory and Liz!)

(As a sidenote, the hotel is for sale. 1.5 million. Maybe that is what I should do with my life. It could be like We Bought a Zoo, but with a Bed and Breakfast. Yes?)

Anyway, back to real life. It was a great weekend and I feel to blessed to have such incredibly wonderful friends (especially you, Erin)! And now we are looking at one week.

It is 11:30 pm. That means that next week at this time it will be 10:30pm in California. I will be trying to sleep, but probably won't be able to because I will be racing in the morning! ONE WEEK!

10 Days

Guess what folks?! Sunday, September 2nd officially showed up in the weather.com forecast today. 80 degrees and sunny. I can't believe this race is here!

In other magical news, my new running outfit came in the mail yesterday (Well, all but one piece that comes today). I could have kissed that UPS man on the face! I think that my costume is going to turn out really well. I'll post another sneak peak of the outfit soon.

For now, I am in LOGAN! One of my very dearest friends in all the world lives up here and it has been AGES since I have seen her. We stayed up all night chatting last night. How on Earth would I ever make it on the planet without my best friends? Do guys ever feel this way? Or is it just a girl thing?

Anyway, Im just heading out for a 4 miler. The last time I ran in Logan was for the Ragnar in June. Hopefully I don't have any PTSD from Avon Pass :) Out the door I go!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Breathing Underwater

This is what I get to see almost every day now. The water is always perfect. I swam a mile today. Maybe it wasn't very fast, but it was a mile. I had a swimming breakthrough this week. I have been swimming fairly regularly again for almost a year and a half. Before that, I was 10 and swimming with the Santa Teresa Sea Otters. I am not a great swimmer, but I really love being in the water. I took a beginning swim class last year in school and learned a lot, but I have found that my greatest improvements have come as I swim. I swim and I try to pay attention to how my body is responding, engaging in the stroke. It just takes time, and every so often, something clicks; the necessity of keeping your hips up, engaging your core, rotating properly...

This week it was breathing. I usually don't swim much more than 100 yds without stopping to take a couple of extra breaths, and even that far isn't common. But something click last time and I have found that, suddenly, I can go more than 300 yds without stopping, I found my groove. I stopped getting nervous and it just flowed. I am excited to see just how far I can go.

While I was swimming I realized that I had learned to breathe underwater. Not literally of course, but I had mastered a skill that would allow me to stay under the water, continually in motion. I realize that I wax philosophical a little often here, but I am about to do it again...

How often do we think that we are incapable of doing something? How often does life seem too hard or too big to handle? More often than I think that we would like to admit. However, what I am discovering lately is that as long as I keep pushing forward, I pretty much always figure things out. In fact, the more I keep pushing through life and attempting to do difficult things (even if I don't do them well) the more I find that things "click." It seems to be the constant effort that counts. While it really does take all of life to figure things out, there are moments where suddenly, what once seemed impossible, and perhaps even life threatening, becomes manageable -- like breathing under water.

7 miles. You can do this now.

I mentioned yesterday that I got some new shoes this week. I took them out for their inaugural run this morning and broke them in with a slow 7 miles. I made the mistake of leaving around 10 in the morning and got caught out in the heat of the day. There were several moments when I would think of the 3 or 4 miles that I still had left to run and I just wanted to give up. I didn't feel like I had the energy to make it all the way home.

But then I would ask myself, "Do you have the strength to run right now?"

I focused on the moment. It didn't matter if I thought I could run 3 miles or 4 miles or even 4 more minutes, what mattered is that, at that very second, I had the strength to run. And I kept running.

A few minutes later, when I was even more tired, I would ask myself the same question, "Do you have the strength to run right now?"

The answer was yes.

Overall, the run was slow, but I learned a very important lesson. Sometimes life is lived by the mile and sometimes it is lived by the second. If the mile is too daunting, just focus on being able to do whatever you are doing RIGHT NOW. I believe that fear is never lived in the moment. When we are in the moment, we are dealing. When we are in the moment, we are truly living. When we are in the moment, we see that we are so much stronger than we think we are.

Here is to living in the moment.

Oh, and although the run seemed hot and long, here are some adventures that I had along the way:

I met a woman from Shanghai, China who was out walking and trying to get to the temple. She told me that I was young and strong...and she was so impressed that I liked spicy Asian food. BAM!

I saw at least 4 parents and 1 grandparent out on bike rides with their children (or grandchildren).

I saw 3 football teams, one soccer team, and one lacrosse team out practicing.

I ran by the park where I helped bury my friend's pet rabbit when I was in 6th or 7th grade. I wonder if they found it when they renovated?

It was an incredibly gorgeous run overall and I am grateful to be strong and healthy and able to get out and enjoy the world. I am also grateful for big glasses of chocolate milk when I come home from enjoying the world as a hot, sweaty, janky mess. That was also a very good moment.

16 Days!

So, yeah. Maybe I have fallen off of the grid...a little. I ended up moving home because I had to leave my last apartment a month earlier than I had anticipated. Being as that I am still unemployed...it doesn't seem like the time to be signing new housing contracts, so home again, home again jiggity jig! Home is great, but things have been busy. I have been indulging in some DIY projects, most especially repainting my little sister's room to make it big sister ready. I stripped wall paper, washed walls, mudded, and painted the room I am going to be staying in. I also had the good fortune of popping down to Cedar City for a couple of days at the Utah Shakespeare festival with my darling friend Janine. 

One of the best things about living in American Fork is the outdoor pool at the fitness center here. It is AMAZING! There are also some great little running trails close by and we are not too far from what I consider to be one of the most beautiful canyons in Utah. While I hope to be employed sooner than later...I think I could get used to this! 

Speaking of being active, The Disneyland Half Marathon is in 16 days! Oh my goodness! Ready or not, here I come!

In awesome news, I have finally decided on what I am going to wear! Here is a preview:

I bought new shoes last week (Brooks Ghost) and I ordered all of the Nike stuff today. I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve, I can't wait for all of my stuff to come in the mail! I also can't wait to show you how it all comes together!