Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime?

Yesterday in a phone interview for a job I was asked what I do when I'm not working. I'm pretty sure my future employer is not the only one who would like to know. I am frequently asked that question by friends and family. I'm done with school and have no job. What do I do everyday?!?!

1. Traveling. I have all this free time, so I am taking advantage of it. I have gone on a lot of fun trips in the past couple of months. From last minute trips to Utah and California to long awaited trips to Spain and Hawaii. I love to travel! There's nothing better than packing up and leaving for a few days. As long as I don't have a job, I will keep filling my time with fun (yet cheap) trips!

2. Running. Well at least that's what I used to do apparently. With all the above traveling, it is hard to stay on a steady running schedule. I am supposed to be training for a half marathon coming up in a few weeks. But can't seem to get back into my long-run groove. I wouldn't say that I love running yet, but I do love the escape. Hopefully Portland is done with it's monsoon rains so I can get back onto a good schedule.

3. Reading. School killed my love for reading. Textbook after textbook of boring material from boring GE classes made me never want to pick up a book again. But while in Hawaii, my friends and I had a little book club. We'd thought it would be fun to all read the same book and discuss. I wasn't too thrilled with the book choice so I skipped reading for the first few days. But as soon as I was forced, I was hooked. Now I find myself going to the library once a week to return a handful of books for a new handful of books. I love my new library card! Right now I am really into Jodi Picoult books thanks to Lindsay. I love her style of writing!

4. Baseball. It's baseball season. I have nothing to do. So now I can concentrate on it 24/7. I am able to catch a lot of the rare Cardinals games on TV out here. And I have been able to catch 2 A's games in Oakland already. In a few weeks I'll be going to St. Louis to catch a few Cardinals games at Busch Stadium. I. Can't. Wait.

5. Baking. I'm still making lots and lots of cupcakes. My grandma usually calls me about once a week to make an "order." So that gives me the opportunity to make a new kind or test my new decorating skills. I have been given a few fun decorating books recently so I have lots of ideas to try. I usually try and find something that will go along with my Sunbeam lesson every Sunday. Sometimes it's easy, and sometimes I have to really stretch to justify taking cupcakes to them all the time. I just got a few new accessories for my KitchenAid and can't wait to break them in. When I was in San Francisco last week I found myself spending a long time in Sur La Table. I don't know why, since we have one here. But I wanted to get everything in their baking section!

6. I'd never thought I'd say this but the Singles Ward. I thought I would just stick with the home ward and I would be good. But a few months ago I decided to try out the Canyon Road ward and had success. Love the people there. Lots of fun activities. We had an Amazing Race through Portland last week. Guess who's group won? That's right, mine! I've got the blisters to prove it. (I wore new shoes... and we literally ran from point to point) Yesterday we worked on floats for the Rose Parade. I got to cover a Native American's shoe with Walnuts. Now I must go to the parade to see the fruits of my labor. I am enjoying the singles ward and I'll take back almost every negative thing I've said about it in the past. The saying is true, don't knock it till you try it.

7. If I had a pool, that would cover #1-6. That's all I would do. Brings me back to my days at King Henry. When all we cared about was going to the pool and happy hour at Sonic.

I Want To Rock 'n' Roll All Night

I signed up for my first 1/2 marathon! It was kind of fun to mark that it was my first on the questionnaire. It is the Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon.


Driving up to Vancouver through Seattle on Monday was just stunning. I am so proud to be from the Northwest. We have the most beautiful scenery. On Monday it was a gorgeous 60 degrees and sunny with not a cloud in the sky. I wanted the drive to last forever. On the way back down south on Wednesday I was driving through downtown Seattle right before sunset. The sun reflecting off the water and onto the buildings was picturesque. In fact I searched through my purse for my camera with one hand and one eye while using the other eye and hand to watch where I was driving. There was one specific 30 second stretch of the drive that I wanted to capture. Unfortunately on this particular occasion I was sporting my big yellow purse. Finding one small thing in a big huge bag is difficult at anytime, let alone while driving in rush hour traffic. So I have no beautiful picture to show. But just imagine it with me. As I passed downtown I found myself checking the rear view mirror every few seconds to catch one last look.

After seeing this I have had a new found love for Seattle. I would love to live there someday. a. It's close to home. b. There's a Major League Baseball team. (even if they are in the American League...) c. there's a NFL team. d. There's water. e. It's green. d. It doesn't cost an arm and a leg like San Francisco (my other dream place to live) I could go on and on...

So with this new found love I decided to check out marathons in Seattle to do this year. And immediately I found the Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 marathon and new this is the one. It's June 26. Perfect time of the year. Not too hot, not too cold. Beautiful scenery. Fresh air. What more could you ask for?? Ok, maybe a friend to run with?? Kelli, get on that!

Go here to sign up.

I am excited for this new challenge!

A New Day Has Come

Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy.

Thank you Elle Woods.

No I am not unhappy right now, I just need a little perk in my life at the moment. I am kind of in a slump again (circa summer '09 when I was taking only one class, had no job, and no friends in Provo to hang out with) Well isn't that funny? Looks like I am in that same situation. No job. Taking one class through Independent Study. (which I have yet to start) No friends in Beaverton. Last summer I had the grand plan of getting a pass to Gold's Gym and make working out my job. Well that kind of fell through the cracks. Typical of me.

Right now I am completely out of shape. I can admit that. I can count on one hand the number of times I ran in Provo since August. Not good. Since coming home for Christmas break/to live I have been walking a few times with my mom. On Tuesday I left my car at my Grandma's and decided to walk home instead. In the pouring rain. It's just under 3 miles from her house to mine. Then the next day I had to go retrieve my car. So I walked again. In the pouring rain. You see the trend here?

Today I had no car to retrieve so I didn't know where to walk to. Plus I thought I would do a mix of walking and running to get back into shape enough to run instead of just walking.

I walked out to a makeshift track made from a trail that circles a park close to my house. I estimated it was a little less than a quarter mile around so it would be easy to keep track of my distance. My plan was to start out small. I didn't want to push myself and burn out. So I told myself I was going to really listen to my body and stop to walk when I needed to. I was thinking I wouldn't get farther than a mile.

I ran for 30 minutes straight!! Around mile 2.5 I answered my phone and had to stop only to type an address in my phone for a job interview tomorrow morning (yay!)

With this new enthusiasm I decided that I would set a goal for myself. So I have been researching HALF marathons to sign up for. My sister-in-law ran the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco last fall. I told myself I would never put my body through that much pain, but the course sounded so cool, going along the San Francisco Bay. Plus you get a sweet little Tiffany necklace if you finish. That's way better than a medal you'll never wear. If I'm going to do this, I am going to show it off. Of course they offer a half marathon at that time, so that might be my goal. But that's too far away. I need something to run sooner. Any ideas?

Right now I am going through my music to create a better running mix. I find myself having to change the song too much. So I am being very picky with this one.

I am excited to see what tomorrow will bring.