back home

i have officially moved back to the parents house.

i really was pretty sad to leave the house i've been living at for the past year and a half but it is good to be home. there is actually food in the fridge i can eat and my mom cooks dinner! its amazing.
not to mention its been real good on my sleep schedule.
even though having a bunch of girls around me all the time was a blast - i was sleep deprived all the time and late for work a lot too because i had the hardest time waking up.

and my room got a makeover! i got a brand new comforter for my bed which definitely makes it look better.

who knows how long i will be here for but for now it is treating me well :)

my sad blog

blogging has definitely not been at the top of my list this last month or so..
i have SO many things i need to blog about and with it being finals week now i dont plan on doing those any time soon..
a week from tomorrow i will officially be finished with fall 2011 and might have some spare time to do things i really like to do - like relax, read, blog.
we will see i guess
for now!
hope everyone is enjoying this month of december and isn't too busy and stressed :)

winter winterrr

winter always sneaks up on me way too fast.
this year i thought i would write what i like about winter, to try and trick myself into enjoying it a little better. but to be honest, i just hate the cold. and thats why winter is just not my season of choice!

things i like about winter

*its my birthdayyy
*peppermint flavored everything
*christmas celebrations
*new years celebrations
*having a break from school for a few weeks
*getting to see family
*snowboarding
*having wishful thoughts about snow days (even though they usually never happen)
*hot chocolate all the time
*and that's pretty much it..

things that i do not like about winter

-scraping my car windows every morning
-i get cold faster then you can count to 1
-i hate being cold
-getting out of bed is impossible because i get cold the second i get out
-people's driving skills decrease ALOT during the snowy seasons
-you have to wear a million layers and i still am never warm enough
-not being able to be outside for too long
-you get super pasty
-even when it snows 2 feet, school keeps on going. only in utah...
-people judge me for eating ice cream
-as a person afraid of the dark, i really dislike when it gets dark at 5..
-slipping all over campus every single day..
-winter just NEVER ends!

help?

so i am not really sure how i'm supposed to focus when i will be here (see picture) in a week and a half?? i have 2 online quizzes, and 2 assignments due by sunday, and the week i am gone i have a huge project and an online exam that i MUST finish before i leave on the cruise in one week..
i seriously need help getting motivated because thinking about doing homework when i have a cruise on my mind is VERY difficult.
well.. i'm sure once i have barely any time left to finish all this school work crap i will find the motivation to do it!
procrastination at its finest :)

halloween half marathon

WOW!!
i am actually not dead.. which is surprising after running 3 races in 2 weeks. but i definitely am sore and my body is just drained. i guess i had to expect that though..
well the halloween half was in provo and we decided to get a real nice suite at super 8 in provo so we didn't have to make the long drive to cougar-town the morning of the race. (great idea on my mom's part!)
kayla and i woke up about 4:30 to start doing our ZOMBIE make up! good thing we did too, cause it took a while to get ready. there were buses that were driving runners to the start line and we got to the mall just as the last bus of a group was leaving. So we sat and waited in line for over an hour just for the buses to come and get us. And let me tell you, it was freaking freezing! kayla and i didn't really prepare for anything but the run.. haha figures. once we finally got up to the top of the canyon we only had another hour wait til the race started and luckily there was a giant heated tent for the runners to wait in so we didn't all freeze to death. some people had some pretty creative costumes i was very impressed!
well finally 9:00 came around and so we got ready to start and off we ran. for 13.1 miles. ugh!!
i was frozen for probably the first half of it but i warmed up and was very grateful i didn't have a million layers on while i was running because i got pretty hot.
for the moab half marathon my goal was to finish the race in under 2 hours.. which didn't happen.
at this race, they had pacers that were holding up signs the whole run that said approximately when they were going to finish. I tried to stay ahead of the 2:00 pace man the whole time just so i could ensure to finish this race by my goal time! there was one point at mile 11 where i just had to walk for a minute or two and i told myself i will walk til i get to that pole up ahead, well right when i started walking the 2:00 pacer guy ran past me and i just had to start right back up!
i crossed the finish line probably 5 seconds after him but i didn't look at the timer so i had no idea what my time was!
once they posted the results i stumbled over and saw my time was 1:59:24!! I FINISHED IN UNDER 2 HOURS!! i was so happy that i beat my goal time and on my third race in two weeks!
it was such a great feeling to accomplish something like that.
i am super glad to be done with races for a little while ha my body needs to recoop and maybe in a few months i will be ready for a few more!
here's a picture of kayla and i before the race :)

RAGNAR LAS VEGAS

my second race of this month is over and done. but it sure was a lot of fun.
ha what if i rhymed the whole blog post??
dont worry i will try my best not to turn into a ghost
okay just kidding.
but really i finished ragnar!!
it was a lot of fun :) the team name was sweaty wedgies and i was on a team with 11 boys. fun for me right? wrong. i got picked on the entire time. i dont know why people think i'm such an easy target?!
we drove down to mesquite on thursday night and woke up extra early so we could hit the grocery store and make our way to the start line. i was runner 5 in van one - so i had a few hours of waiting before i actually got to run. but by the time i did get to run my first leg WOW it was sure hot outside. it was close to 90 degrees and my run was basically a ton of steep uphill. i finished though and passed the baton to the next contestant in our van and at our first exchange we actually were at a pool and hot tub so that was amazing.
my second and third legs were during the dark hours of the night which makes it a lot easier to run - and you cant tell where you are going so that makes it great!
after all my runs i seriously felt fine, i had no pains in my ankles or hips and i was super stoked about that. maybe the moab race was just not a good day for me..
my van got about 2.5 hours of sleep during the night and tried to get more while waiting at the finish line but there was a dang car alarm going off and i swear it never stopped.
sweaty wedgies crossed the finish line in about 27 hours - we placed tenth in men's division and 50th overall out of 477 teams! we did so well and i am way excited about it .
because i ran the ragnar in utah i got a saints and sinners medal, and because i ran the ragnar in arizona and vegas i got a deuces wild medal. plus the medal for finishing the vegas one! so i left vegas with 3 stinking cool medals to come show off at home.
for registering for the race early we got 2 free rooms to new york new york hotel and casino on the strip in vegas! we were all super sleepy though so we passed out about 10:00!
overall i had a way fun time at ragnar las vegas. i am not sure when the next ragnar is that i am going to do but i sure hope it's soon because these races are such a great time!
here are some shots from the race :)











now only one more race to go and i am done with my death two weeks! my goal is still under two hours so WISH ME LUCK!!

one down

i successfully finished one of my half marathons of the month.

the other half in moab was ran and now i ONLY have one ragnar and one more half marathon to go.
seriously... what was i thinking?!?

but anyways the other half is a tough race. its 7 miles of pure flat (which isn't so bad) and then the second you hit mile 7 it is straight up hill and very little downhill for 5 in a half miles. talk about a pace killer. i felt like i was doing SOO well through mile 6, but then my ankle started hurting and once i got to the hills i wasn't doing so great. i had to walk more then i have had to walk in a race before and it got me a little discouraged.
once i got to mile ten, my hip also started hurting. i haven't had any injuries or problems while running before so i dont understand what happened with this race i just pray that it gets fixed in 4 days before my ragnar in vegas!
the last mile is half downhill and half flat (which is the worst part) and by the time i hit the finish line i was definitely done. there was no way i could have taken much more running and i finished at a whopping 2 hours and 12 minutes. which honestly is nothing to be ashamed of at all - but i trained very hard for this race (harder then any other races) and its my worst time. but i am just happy i finished, all my family members finished and we all got to experience this together and spend time with each other. it was a great little trip and i am grateful for the experience - i just hope my next two races will show that i trained a little better haha.
here are the stats from the family
brad - came through at 1:46
me - 2:12
mom - 2:38 (her best time)
kayla - 2:50
kevin 3:07

my mom was the only one happy with her time ha - but it just shows that this race is not an easy one. if you are looking to do a half marathon, this one is absolutely beautiful but very very hard. not for someone who hasn't trained.

well i will post more about the next two races coming up and here are some pictures from the race :)


the whole crew after we crossed the finish line!

















my sister and i matched our outfits again! just like last year :)





















at the finish line waiting for the others to cross!




















the first two finished now waiting for everyone else to come through!

nice knowing you

october will be my death month, i am sure of it.
on october 16 i have a half marathon in moab - a lot of my family is going to do it as well so that should be a lot of fun. but then 5 days later i am heading down to vegas to do a ragnar. yes i always have a great time doing ragnars but less then a week after i run a half marathon?? am i insane?? probably.
i wish i was finished.
after the ragnar exactly a week after i run another half marathon! luckily this halloween half is mostly down hill but still its going to be rough and most likely will just kill me dead.
AHH what am i thinking??

a long ramble about technology

so this semester in school i have a class called "technology in classrooms"
we have been learning a lot about how to incorporate the use of technology in your classroom (fancy that!) because using the correct form of technology can be awesome for helping your students be motivated and actually want to do their homework. and also because it is teaching kids at a young age to use something that they will most likely be using for the rest of their lives with school and even their jobs after they get a degree.
but then it also gets me thinking - is technology taking over our lives so much that it is becoming a bad thing??
honestly.. who doesn't have a facebook page that they check regularly? or a twitter, or a blog, or skype or ANY other kind of social networking site.
personally i am a huge fan of social networking - it keeps me updated on friends that i might not be able to see all the time and lets me tell people who want to know exactly how i am doing. and to be honest, i check it a few times a day just because i'm bored or have nothing better to do. or have everything better to do i just am checking facebook to procrastinate what i DONT want to do.
lets think about this a minute though, people can spend hours and hours in one day just on a social networking site. i am positive they have plenty of other things they could possibly be doing that would probably have much more significance but they spend their time facing a computer. is this ruining the way people talk to other people?? are we losing our real social skills because we spend all our time looking at other people's profiles? some people i definitely think overuse these sites and it can cause them to fail in class, and also socially.
in class we learned about how technology can be a big downfall to learning and how it can make students exceed.
i'll give you those examples just because i feel like it
so at MIT all the students there are very technology smart. they sit on their computers/phones all day long and do many different things at once using technology. some of the professors were starting to get the feeling that they were not learning as well as they could and so they did a study and researched a few of the students from MIT. they timed them while multitasking, and found out how long it took them to finish one or more of the things they needed to finished and then how they comprehended it. then they timed them doing one task at a time and checked the comprehension on that. it was proven that even though they are doing multiple tasks at the same time, it overall took them longer to finish it because they would lose their train of thought and they didn't comprehend it as well as they did when they just did one task at a time. is technology being overused at that school?? do the students need to tone it down a little?
the other example was about an elementary school in new york where the average of the students was doing horribly in everything. grades, participation, fights, and even showing up to class. someone decided to provide each student with a laptop and since then there has been a significant change in all of it. the average of the schools grades have gone way up and fighting has gone down, showing up to class has gone way way up and everything about that school has just turned around. the students love using their laptops to learn and it has helped them in every way. is this something we should do for every elementary or is teaching all together going to change because of this?
as a student in college, you would not be able to pass a class without the use of a computer and the internet. most of the assignments are due online (which is great for going green) and i even have a textbook for one of my classes that i have to access through the internet. luckily the school library provides us with many great computers to use for the people who do not have one at their home.
there are also tons of classes that are offered online only. meaning all of your learning is done from your computer, you do not ever attend a classroom or even meet your teacher. is this a better way to learn then going to a classroom and hearing the information? i have been enrolled in two online classes so far and only because i have no room in my schedule to take the actual class during the day. i definitely feel that online classes are a less-effective way of learning. i can read things and they can go into my brain and try and process, but it is always much easier for me if i have a teacher there explaining everything to me.
anyone who has a smart phone has access to the internet at all times. how many times have you been out to dinner with your friends and each one of you is on your phone texting or browsing or playing a game on your phones?? it has happend to me numerous times and usually someone says something we all laugh and continue on with our phone business. it is also crazy to me to think that little kids have nicer phones then i do and are spending a good portion of their day on their phone.
i didn't get my own cell phone til after i was in high school and then i didn't get texting for a year after that. when i see little kids with smart phones, all i want to do is throw it in a lake and say go play outside or do something else!! if you spend this much time now using technology what does your future look like?
technology can really be an awesome awesome thing but there are parts of me that believe it is taking over too much of our lives. we need to go outside and enjoy the fresh air a little more. spend less time in front of a computer screen and live our life better!

autumn

well now that my favorite season is over i'm starting to have withdrawals from the pools and the snow cones. every year i dread when school starts because it just means that the weather is going to get COLD and i truly hate the cold more then anything. scraping my windows in the morning, having to wear a thousand layers and still not being warm enough while walking around campus - its just not really my thing.
however, today i was thinking about all the marvelous things that i can do during this lovely fall season and now its making this season seem a little better then i thought!
with fall comes a new semester - something that we most of the time don't look forward to but this year i really was excited to start school. i'm getting close to graduating and all my classes this semester are ones that i am finding to be very interesting and so its made it a lot easier.
with fall comes school shopping - does this really need any explanation other then getting new clothes always always makes you feel better??
with fall comes the fair - i absolutely love going to the fair. everything about it too. the animals, the rides, the games, the funnel cakes, the shops. the fair can be fun at any age and i want to make sure and at least go a few times this year.
with fall comes the changing of the leaves - even though i am totally a summer girl, i can't deny that the fall time is sure beautiful with all the different color leaves and being able to look into the mountains to see all the trees changing colors is a very wonderful site.
with fall comes football games - i am a big fan of utah football and i have season tickets as a muss member! i love dressing up in red, going to the games and cheering my team on. win or lose i still have a blast
with fall comes my races - i run a half marathon on october 16 and then a ragnar on october 21. i am currently taking a marathon training class to help me get ready to run my little heart out!
with fall comes haunted houses and halloween - with halloween being one of my favorite holidays, i get very excited for all the festivities that come with it! corn mazes, haunted houses and dressing up are all some of the most fun you can have! still trying to decide what i should be this year! any fun ideas?? throw them this way :)
with fall comes making new friends - because of all my new classes with all different people, you are always bound to creating some new friendships with the people you work with in class.
with fall comes pumpkins - pumpkins to carve, pumpkins to decorate, pumpkin seeds to eat and pumpkin flavored everything! i always enjoy a yummy pumpkin chocolate chip cookie.

i'm going to try very hard this year to enjoy all the other seasons a little more because its no fun dreaming of summer for 9 months out of the year when i could appreciate the whole entire year just as much! :)