11 Facets of My Life

1.  Right now I am listening to a CD that is supposed to help me breathe at my Optimal Breathing Level.  My rate is 6.5 breaths per minute and everytime the music goes up the scale I breathe in.  when the music goes down the scale, I exhale. 

2.  #1 isn't just for fun.  It's an assignment.  But it sure is fun. And relaxing.

3.  My current breakfast obsession is a whole-wheat pita filled with sliced banana and peanut butter.  So delicious.  Except I used my last banana today and I just don't think it will taste as good with the oranges I have.

4.  Today in class we did P90X Kenpo.  It was awesome.  the hardest part was the yoga warm-up.  Which I couldn't do. At all.

5.  Have you guys heard the new Train song Drive By?  It's good, neh?  What songs are you listening to these days?

6. I have a soccer game tonight, but I'm dreadfully tired and don't want to go.  I'd much rather stay home and watch Megamind. Or Say Yes to the Dress.  Or even listen to my breathing CD.

7.  This weekend I had a Mario Kart Tournament with some friends.  I still have mad skills from all those early years of training.

8.  This is my apartment on our last Sunday together.  Candace left this week to go home because she is getting married.

9.  Not going to lie though, having my own room makes my sleep/wake schedule much easier. Plus, only having one roommate is way chill.  We didn't see each other for days.

10.  Candace moved most of her stuff when she left, and we were left with no forks.  Sarah graciously lent us two. I hope we don't ever need more. 

11.  I haven't even mentioned school.  That must show how much it's on my mind these days...whoops.

My Very Own Pajama Trousers

Yesterday Sarah and I went to the mall.  She was sort of looking for some maternity jeans and I was sort of looking for normal person jeans.  I wasn't really planning on buying anything, but I ended walking away with these beauties:

Don't mind the crooked hip.  I'm learning how to correct it in personal training class.

Pretty awesome, huh?

They are basically pajama jeans, but instead of being jeans, they are "dress pants".  They actually look like dress pants, but they have no zipper or button and they are stretchy.  These will be perfect for work, because I need to dress nicer for some things and I have no dress pants.  My "pajama trousers" can be worn with blouses and be dressy, or they can be worn with basic shirts and look just like pants.  Either way, they feel like pajamas, but sure don't look like them!  And the best part?  They were 40% off.  Be jealous my friends.

Soccer

The real post is the one below.  This post is simply a picture dump with maybe a few captions.  Over the summer I found a cd with pictures from my freshman year of soccer.  It brought back many memories, some of them not very happy ones.  But I enjoyed them as I hope you will, too.


This picture is simply to remind everyone how much I despised having to play goalie.

I like this one because it's me and Leanne. We didn't get to do that often because one of us was always in goal.

And this one's a classic.

Painful Ponderings

     As most of you know (95% of the people who read this are probably my family), a while ago I developed a stress fracture in my leg.  This came about because my running shoes began to make the bottoms of my feet hurt.  Instead of getting new shoes (dumb) I modified my running style to make it through my runs.  Bad idea.  This led to overuse of an area of my leg I don't use so much normally, and I developed a stress fracture in that spot.  And we all know that the only way to recover from such an injury is to rest. That meant to running for a potentially very long period of time.  I had no idea how bad it was, since it was self-diagnosed, but things I read online said no running for anywhere from four weeks to six months depending on severity.   That would be problematic since I had already registered to run the SLC marathon in April.  This injury has not been good (I'm not sure what injuries are ever considered good...), but there are many things I learned from it, some of which I would like to impart to you now. 

1. Listen to your body--I knew something was wrong way before I was physically unable to run.  Yet I kept going, thinking that my body would fix itself.  If your body is yelling at you to stop, listen.
2. Use the right equipment--I am fairly certain my shoes were the ultimate cause of the problem.  They are great shoes; I had no problems with them until I came out to school.  That was probably because they are performance shoes, meant for short distances.  I started long distance running when I came back to school, which is when my problems began.  Know what type of activity you will be doing, and get the correct equipment for it, even if it costs some money.  You won't regret it.
3. Don't overwork your body--Also in the fall, I started a weightlifting class.  One of my favorite machines was the calf raise machine, because I was good at it (unlike any sort of arm lifting).  But running a lot and lifting in my legs was too much for my legs.  Work them, then rest them. 
4. Cross-training can be fun--this one was a shocker for me.  I run.  I've never done any other cardio of any sort.  But after a little while of no activity, I decided I need to do something to keep my lungs strong.  so I started rollerblading.  It was so incredibly fun.  I think I'll try to keep rollerblading on a semi-regular basis.  I also started biking on a stationary bike.  Biking has always been pretty tough for me, so I thought I would dread it.  But after the first day I loved it.  I sweat way more than I do while running, and I could push myself quite a bit as well.  Especially in the snowier months, I will keep this as a cross-training option. 
5. When you reach a plateau give yourself a break--this goes along with the above tip.  My running became stagnant over the summer and it was super frustrating.  I think it was because I got so used to running at my current level that I didn't push myself enough.  Giving myself a (forced) break was just what I needed to see that.  Pushing myself on the bike has helped me realize ways I can push myself when I get back to running.

     So there you have it.  The moral of the story is don't be an idiot like me.  I am very lucky though, because I think I caught my injury fairly early, so it is pretty mild.  My leg still hurts to the touch, but I can feel the bump of the new bone forming and it doesn't hurt to walk anymore.  That means that I should be back into the swing of running in time for the Scoresby Scamper.  Sorry you guys who thought I'd be out :)  but the good news for you is that I haven't been training for it at all, so you still have a shot.

All I Want For Christmas

This post was inspired by a phone conversation I had with Joseph. 

There aren't very many things I actually need or absolutely want for Christmas, but I did make an Amazon Wish List just for the heck of it.   You should check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/33PBCA9WY15B9.
Unfortunately, I can't put everything I want on the Wish List, so I'm going to add the other things I want here. 

1. First and foremost is this--

The light cycle from Tron: Legacy.  I'd be the coolest cat driving around Provo on it.  And on this website, it's only $55,000.  What a steal!

    2.  I love Harry Potter, so a ticket to this would be awesome--it's the set of Harry Potter in London.  It would be my dream come true of really being a magic folk.  If I got that for Christmas, that would also mean I would need to get #3 for Christmas.

   3.  A plane ticket to England.  I have always wanted to go there.  It's rich history, awesome architechture, and culture have always fascinated me.  Not to mention it's my heritage, and I want to see where my ancestors lived.  This would be a pretty rockin' present.

   4.  My love of ice cream, especially humungous Utah's shakes, lead me to put a gift certificate to Iceberg Drive-Inn on the list.  When I trained for my marathon, shakes were my secret obsession and now that I will be training for another one, it might just happen again.  But a gift card would put less of a dent in my wallet.

   5.  A great chair to curl up and read a book in.  Options include, but are not limited to:

Now that you all know what I want for Christmas, I am expecting a very good haul :)

10 Things I Learned This Thanksgiving

1.  Lauren likes driving buses.

2.  Playing chess with Preston is awesome!

3.  Macey is surprisingly good at taking pictures.  She took this one:

Sorry Lauren--bad picture

4.  I don't think I'll ever get tired of Monopoly Deal.

5.  Lauren isn't good at taking pictures with me.

6.  Ben isn't either.

7.  I miss spending holidays with the Clarks.

8.  Macey is afraid of rocking whales.

9.  Lauren likes being shut in lockers.

10.  I have the best family ever.

November, Not December

Saturday I got in my car to go to work just like any other day.  But then I heard the radio.  It was playing Christmas music!  I changed the station and went on my merry way, but I can't forget that the radio is playing all Christmas music all the time when Christmas is still two months away.  I have two main problems with this.

1. Does Thanksgiving not exist anymore?  Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday, but unfortunately, it is always overlooked by Christmas.  I have great memories from Thanksgivings past, going to the Clarks or having them over and eating SO. MUCH. PIE.  I remember more Thanksgivings than Christmases.
2. We don't start celebrating any other holiday two months in advance.  We don't bust out Easter songs in February or start wearing Halloween costumes in August.  In my opinion, it makes the holiday feel less special when we're immersed in it for months ahead of time.  By the time the actual holiday rolls around, I am sick of it.

I urge you all to not start listening to Christmas music, decorating your homes, or getting Christmas trees*, until at least Thanksgiving is over.

*At least I don't have to worry about mom and dad getting a tree yet.  Last year I think we got one on Christmas Eve...