SeRUNity NOW!

So, if you haven't noticed, I haven't really been blogging over here lately.  School has been keeping me busy...AND I decided to start a running blog.  I am still trying to decide if I am going to make the move permanently, but for now, most of my energy is going over there. That leaves this blog a little neglected. It is still in it's early stages and hopefully there will be some upgrades over there soon, but I would REALLY love it if you would follow my new bloggy blog at SeRUNity NOW! 

Over the past few months running has become incredibly important to me. While I may not have become a world-class runner *yet*, I have certainly become a better person as I have worked to prove myself wrong in thinking that I would never be an athletic person and that there were somethings that I would just never be able to do.  Running is proving to me that I can do just about anything I put my mind to - and no past experience, negative voices, or silly stereotypes can keep me down! I have made new friends, learned lots of new things, and have even been able to help out some other beginning runners!

Running rules! Come check out my little blog!

Thanks Steve Jobs!

Really,  all I knew about Steve Jobs was that he wore black turtlenecks and made it possible for me to fit my entire music collection in the back pocket of my jeans. 

Since the announcement of his death I have appreciated seeing all of the quotes that have been posted in memory of him.  This one touched me the most:

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs

He also said that he wanted to make a ding in the universe. I would say that he more than succeeded in that endeavor. 

Thanks Steve Jobs. Well done. 

NO PANTS!

So, Mondays and Wednesdays are pretty exciting for me. I get up at 6:00am alarm snooze alarm 6:25am to throw all of my stuff together and head over to campus for my 7:00am spin class. On these days my morning is usually a frantic rush of throwing on my spin clothes, packing my gym bag with clothes for my school day AND all of my swimming gear for my swim class, packing up my backpack, packing my breakfast and my lunch, and running out the door with my water bottle and keys in hand. Usually this is a very successful process. This morning seemed no different.

I got to spin class just in time, spun my little heart out, and then moseyed on over to the Tanner building. Ethics was canceled today, so I had all the time in the world to get ready (as opposed to my usual 12.5 minutes). Anyway, I pulled all of my school clothes out of my gym bag; shirt, hoodie, socks, pants...wait, pants?! I looked everywhere, pulled everything out of the bag, and soon there was nothing else left in the bag! NO PANTS! What was a girl to do? There is no way I could show up for my next class (or, in fact, show my face in public in my cycling shorts). I was stuck.

Luckily I remembered that I had been a Girl Scout (a Brownie and a Junior, thank you very much), and it was a good thing that I had been taught to be prepared - there was a spare pair of pants in my car! They were sweat pants, but they would certainly do in a pinch!  The short of the long of it, is that I spent the day walking around the Marriott School of Business looking like a house mom who just got home from the gym, but you know what? I had pants on!

Grown Up Girl Grad School

Today during one of my classes we may have gotten a little antsy on the back row.  I think that is all I am going to say about this one. 

General Conference!

Every six months I eagerly anticipate hearing from the general leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Church leaders speak to the over 13 million members of the church world-wide, and to anyone else who desires to tune in. Over 2 days there are 5 sessions of the conference. I participated in 4 of them. That is 8 hours of church in 2 days. There are very few weekends in my year that can compete with conference weekends. Church leaders are not given topics to speak on, they pray and prepare what they think the Lord would have them say. It is incredible to see how patterns develop in what they present. I find every conference that there are several talks that I am sure were written just for me. This year they were; Elder Cook's talk on "looking up" and having hope in the face of adversity, Elder Uchtdorf's talk on enjoying the blessings we have now and remembering that we are not forgotten of the Lord, and Elder Cornish who spoke about how the Lord is wants to be involved in the tiniest details of our lives and is ready and willing to bless us in those details if we will be true and are willing to ask.

Each conference I learn something that makes me want to be a better person, a better disciple of Christ. I am grateful for him and for the sacrifices he made for me. I am thankful for his atonement, knowing that through Christ, I have the ability to grow, to improve, and to leave behind everything that holds me back. I am thankful for this wonderful weekend and for my renewed resolution to do a little better. I am already anticipating April conference...

Running Dirty

 Last Saturday I finally got to run in the Dirty Dash! I don't know why running through the mud is so blasted appealing, but we were pretty stoked to participate. Kate, Steve, and I were all 100% committed to getting as dirty as we could, and if I do say so myself (and I do), we got good and filthy. We ran the 10k and finished in a more than respectable time, considering we demolished the obstacles and took several little breaks to push each other into the muddiest mud we could find.

The week of the race the Dirty Dash sent an email out to all of the participants with the pre-race details. This email informed me that the mud gods thought I was too clean, and that they were out to get me. I won't lie, I got a little nervous-excited when I read that. The mud gods? This was gonna be a good race. Honestly, the best thing about the Dirty Dash is that everyone is just out there to have a good time. There is pretty much no hope for a PR when your shoes are caked in 5lbs of mud, so there is nothing to do but just dive in and have a good time. I am sure that I have said it here before, but one of my very favorite things about running is the camaraderie of the runners. Everyone is so upbeat and supportive. I guess that is what you get when you get several hundred, or even thousand, people who are high on endorphins together.

My trusted roommate Jessica came as out photographer and support team. She shared with us the most coveted bit of advice a dirty dasher can receive - the warm showers are more than worth the $4. We all opted to avoid the icy mountain run-off showers and opted for the pressure wash and hot water instead. It was a dream come true.

After the race we hit up The Hub for a late breakfast. It is a great little place in Heber that seemed to be the most delicious place I had ever eaten.  I felt that way about the place that we ate at the end of our relay. I have a feeling that may just be true for any place I eat after a long run.  It was delicious though, we had a great time. Good food, good friends, good mud. Who could ask for more? I am already looking forward to next year!

It's Friday, Friday, Friday...

Hooray for Friday! Another week bites the dust! This week has been pretty blasted great. I discovered Pink Lemonade Ice at Baskin Robbins with Heather, hit up the Costco and stocked up our house with Emily, got fresh peaches from my spin teacher, took top lane in my swim class, and hit up institute! We are back in our old building and I couldn't be happier.  Things are so much more cozy over there. When you have 400 people attending, it gets a little impersonal when we are all crowded into a huge auditorium, so being split into smaller classes is a welcome change.

 With all this goodness, you would never think that my week could have been cooler, but it was. The highlight was going to see The Drowsy Chaperone at the Hale Center Theater with the MPA's Professors Unplugged. This year the MPA program is hosting events that highlight a particular professor and something that they love to do. This week was going to the theater with Dr. Thompson. Next week will be tennis with Dr. A. It is a cool way to enjoy something new while getting to know the professors outside of class.  Who knew that they were real people too?

Anyway, the show was fun. I laughed out loud. A lot. It was a riot, but not exactly a show I would rush to see again. Overall, I would give it a B. Super fun for one night. Solid dollar theater fare. The talent was great, it was the actual show that was just so-so. Although, the musical was based on both fondly remembering and jovially poking fun at the cotton candy musicals of days gone by, so I guess I couldn't have expected any real depth.  This being the case, they get an A for hitting their mark.

After the show we all caravaned over to the Thompson's home. They had made us dessert and we stood around and chatted about the show and got to know one another a little bit better. It was lovely. Sometimes it is just so nice to get a breath of fresh air and not have to focus on school for a minute. The Thompsons were absolutely delightful. It was also nice to be able to reconnect with my theater roots and not be thought of as crazy for want to talk musicals all night long. For that, I am very grateful.

Well, now that this update is done, I must be off to finish my week.  A little more organizing, a lot more homework, and one very epic ward campout are still yet to come.

Have a great weekend!