29 years of lovin

love according to President Benson:

"One good yardstick as to whether someone is the right one for you. . . in their presence do you think your noblest thoughts? Do you aspire to your finest deeds? Do you wish you were better than you are?"

Happy 29th to the best parents!! last week my parents celebrated their anniversary. I love and admire my parents so much! 

They have set wonderful examples to me and I can tell that they both motivate each other to be the best they can be. Love you Mom and Dad. 

29 years later and still lookin good!

mission preppin

so the countdown begins! exactly four weeks from today I'll be on a plane heading to Sao Paulo, Brazil.

People keep asking me how I feel, and honestly. . . I don't know how I feel! Time seems to be moving so fast, yet so incredibly slow. and sometimes life doesn't even seem real. This is my last week at home before I start EFY on Monday and there is still lots to do!

To do: 

cut my hair 

call the bank to cancel my credit card 

take the music off my ipod and upload church music 

get my HepA and yellow fever shots

pick up my malaria pills 

take my typhoid pills

go to the dentist 

buy toiletries 

pack my suitcase

write my farewell talk

order new contacts

learn some Portuguese words (try at least)

and sewing well, that's mostly my dear mother's job 

and I'm sure there are another million things I'm forgetting. It's coming up so soon! I can't believe it.

In the meantime, I have been. . .

sleepin in 

 watching my favorite movies

 being with/talking to my best friends & family

 eating American junk food & candy 

soakin up the rare sunshine

going to institute/YSA activities

listening to some of my new faves like "wide awake" & "fine by me"

& living it up!
oh. . .and of course reading the scriptures and studying Preach My Gospel :)

Ragnasaurus Rex

Ragnar is done and over and I have mixed feelings about it. I'm happy I did it, relieved nothing went horribly wrong, proud that I ran well, and glad that I woke up this morning and felt no pressure to go running.

On the other hand, I'm sad that it's going to be 2 years before I run it again and I've now lost all motivation to exercise. oh well :)

The race started early at 5am on Friday! I was the first runner, so I got to kick it off for our team. Each team consists of 12 runners, split into two vans. I was in Van 1 with my mom, cousin Jon and his wife Marti, my Uncle David, and my cousin's husband Ben. In the other van was my cousin Ryan and his wife Becca along with some of Becca's family.

Uncle David

                                                                            Ben

                                              

                                                                              me

                                             

                                                                        my mother :)

                                 

                                                                        Marti

                                 

                                                                          Jon

                                 

The race is 197 miles from Logan to Park City, with each runner handing off the "baton" from one person to the next. By the time your team finishes, it takes about two days with lots of driving, miles of running, no sleeping, and some eating here and there. I consumed more bananas, pretzels, and granola bars than a person should ever eat.

This is how it happened: 

Fri 5am: ran my first leg of 8 miles
Fri 3pm: ran my second leg of 8.5 miles


- - slept for two hours at the hotel - -

Sat 2am: ran my third leg of 5 miles
Sat 12pm: our final runner crossed the finish line! :)

We only hit a few rough patches, like extremely long lines for the honey buckets, Uncle David getting squirted in the eye with a spray bottle, and my 8 nosebleeds (sometimes double sided). I ran my third leg with kleenex up my nose, which made breathing a little bit more difficult. . .

But other than that, it was a blast! I loved being with my family and driving through Utah. Such a pretty place and the stars at night are absolutely amazing. I'm so proud of my mom - she is a rockstar!! She totally dominated.

This year Ragnar had 1200 teams, which means 14,400 runners. Of the 800 co-ed teams, our team placed 112th. Not too shabby eh? :)

                              

Can't wait until Ragnar 2014!! 

let the no sleeping, carbo loading, tired legs, 21 miles of running, power bars, stinky clothes, road tripping, & hydrating begin!! 

Ragnar begins early tomorrow at 5am. and I am runner #1. crossing my fingers I make it through without throwing up and without collapsing. yikes! let's go

heart melting

this literally melts my heart. slays me. gives me the chills.

think it counts as a song that "invites the spirit?" because I don't know how I'm going to leave jbiebs behind when I leave for Brazil. guess i've got five weeks to fill my jb canteen.