Running - you either love it or hate it

So I have officially signed up for my first marathon. I signed up for the Top of Utah which will take place on September 22, 2008 in Logan Utah. Now some of you might say this is no big deal and why are you posting about it, but I am scared out of my mind. I didn't want to tell any body I was doing it just in case I wanted to drop out. But now everybody knows and I have to do it. Training so far has been going well. I ran 7 miles on Saturday and survived. That is 1/4 of the marathon right there. I know I can at least run 13 miles because I have run a couple half marathons, so 13 + 13 equals 26 right? I can do it. (Or at least I tell myself I can. :)) I have tried to sign up for the St. George Marathon a couple times but it is a lottery and I never get the winning ticket. So I figure this year I am determined to run a marathon so I signed up for the Top of Utah where there is no lottery and I am running it.

On August 11, 2006 I met Brighton's family for the first time. I remember this because on August 12, 2006 I ran my first half marathon. I was so nervous to meet Brighton's family but once I got over my nerves about meeting his family I was nervous the rest of the night because I had to run a half marathon the next monring! I ran my second half marathon August of 2007. I don't remember that exact date but I do know it was in August. I hadn't trained very well for it because I didn't want to so unfortunatly it was painful. I had only run six miles previously and it was on July 24th. At about mile 8 I wanted to stop and my body hurt from head to toe. But I made it through and only threw up three times after. Here is a video of the end of my race and the picture at the beggining of this post was a picture taken after the race. If in the video I look like I am running slow and dieing, it is because I am, and thirty minutes after the picture was taken I throwing up. I don't post these pictures because I look good (because trust me I know I look like death just warmed over), but I post them because I accomplished something good in my life. I hope to always be physically active and pushing myself to reach new goals. It is a fun challenge.

I do have to mention though that my husband is always to great to take me to my races. The first race that he took me to was a half marathon. My very first one (and we were only dating.) He has even run in a couple races with me, but that is another story for another day. But for the half marathons he always gets up at 4:00am and drives me to the course, waits the entire time I am running, and he is always there to cheer me on at the end! Thanks Brighton! I couldn't do it without you.

Summer Cont.

So I mentioned that I would post a picture of my flowers. I have both real flowers and fake flowers. I however, love them both the same. The two pictures on the left "ish" are pictures of my real flowers. I really like these flowers and I am proud of them because it is the first time that I have planted flowers in a pot! Who knew someone could be so happy about something like that. I think they are fun and they make me smile. The picture on the top right is a picture of my fake flowers. They didn't quite end up looking like I had imagined but you live and learn and don't do it again. :) However, I still like them because they add brightness to my apartment and I made them myself. I put a lot of effort into making the arrangement so even if the pot doesn't match I still love them. I thought about putting a picture of my orchid in with this post but I realized that I don't have a picture of my orchid and right now it isn't blooming. Oh well, next time. I was also going to post a picture of out brand new dishwasher but I am having issues posting pictures so that will have to wait until next time.

Next week we are leaving on out annual trip to Moon Lake. If you look at my first posts on my blog you will see pictures of when we went to Moon Lake last year. Ah, good times. I am awfully excited to have time off of work and school. It will be a good time to be with family and to enjoy the out doors.

Hopefully I will post at least one more time before next week. Here's for hoping. :)

Summer

I can't believe it has been over a month since I have last posted. Life is, well, CRAZY. I feel like if I can make it through this semester of school then I can make it through anything. I pretty much say that every time life gets hard but when I say it I mean it. I am working full time, taking 11 credit hours, and trying to not go crazy. If everything goes smoothly with school I should be done in a year. Can you believe that? One year! Wow! I can see the end in sight. It does exist. Before I used to just dream about the end but it is now within sight. For one of my classes this semester I am teaching exercise classes. I am teaching spinning (which is a cycling class) and I am teaching circuit training (which is a weight lifting/cardio) class. Can you beleive that, I am actually doing my dream of teaching exercise classes. I love it. That is one thing that makes me really happy. Both of my classes are really fun but they are a lot of work! But I will admit, I have never been in such great shape. I do enjoy that. I like the people in my classes and I love the inspiration they give me. They come to class over and over and they continue to workout even when I don't want to. I have learned a lot from them. (Brighton has even come to a couple of my spinning classes.) :)
Brighton got a new job and he will be starting that Monday. I am really excited for him even though he is a little nervous. He is going to be working in a chemical engineering lab and making more money then he did at his other job. That job is huge blessing for us. He is also taking classes this summer and well, need we say more. Summer and school should never be in the same sentence.
I planted flowers in pots outside my apartment door. I love them. My neighbor Lisa was so great to help me. She loves planting flowers and offered to help me do mine since it was my first time. They look great and I will post pictures of them next time I post. I also got new flowers for the inside of my apartment. I will also post pictures of those flowers next time I post. I love flowers because they add so much joy and life to anything. Oh that reminds me. I better water my flowers outside of my apartment. I haven't done that for a couple of days.
Things are going well for us overall. We both have changed jobs, we both taking summer classes, and we are both trying to be the best we can. Next time that I posts I will put pictures up!

Dreams

I didn't sleep very well last night. I must admit I really do not like when that happens. As I was sitting on the couch this morning contemplating why I did not sleep well last night, I realized it was because of my dreams! I always have about 3 dreams that I can remember every night but last night I had at least full 6 ones that I can remember! And some of those dreams were......well crazy. They range from dreaming I am pregnant to dreaming I am in a video game. (And no I am not pregnant.) Now, I know people out there try to interpret their dreams but I, I just try to forget them. My dreams are so real to me that it takes me at least a half of a day to convince myself that they aren't true.
For example I dreamt last night that I was drowning. However, while I was drowning I taught myself or gave myself the magical power to breathe under water. I could take the molecules of oxygen out of the molecules of H20 and use them to breathe!! And trust me it works. I have had this dream at least five times before, and every time I can always extract the oxygen from the water molecules. The thing is, I was walking to the bus stop today after work and I realized that I still feel like if I was put under water I would be able to breath. And as I am writing this post I still have a feeling deep down that I can breath under water.
Another dream I always have is about my teeth. When I was in junior high I had really really ugly teeth. So of course I got braces. Every now and then (which means at least once a month) I have dreams where my teeth have moved back into their ugly positions or that they have chipped or fallen out. I always wake up in a sweat because my teeth, the ones I have tried so hard to take care of, are ruined!! And in my dreams my teeth are always twice as ugly as they were before. I wake up feeling my teeth and running to the bathroom to look in the mirror to convince myself that my teeth are normal. And then through out the day I have to keep checking on my teeth because the dream I had was so real to me!
So last night I didn't sleep well because of my weird dreams. Some of them are still bothering me at this moment, but to try and explain what they were would create an insane post. I don't mind dreams but when they are crazy and very real to me (which most of them are), I don't sleep. Sigh, what am I to do.

Phew!

Well I finally got a new job!! I am way excited!!! I am going to start the new job on May 5, 2008. I am working at the Moran Eye Center Optical Shop. I think hope I will like it there. I know I already like the employees. I have met them and they are all great. I would tell you more details about everything but the stress of finding a new job and the stress of my old job has worn me out!! I don't want to think about it anymore. I am just so grateful that I am leaving my old job. I will miss some of the people there but all I can say is Hallelujah!!!!

Today was full of a lot of first. Well, not technically firsts ever, but firsts for this year. We went to my parent's house and had grilled hamburgers and chicken. (The grilled hamburgers and chicken were firsts.) And they were delicious! It was so warm outside that we also jumped on my parent's tramp. I think it has been a couple of years since I have done that. After spending some sweet time outside on the tramp we played a couple of games of clue. That is a fun game. When I was little I don't think I ever really understood that game. But now that I am older :) I think I understand it better. A lot better!! I love Sundays.

Saturday

So Last night I was downloading pictures from my camera to my computer and while I was doing that I was looking at all of the fun things that Brighton and I had done. Since I was laughing at a lot of pictures I thought that I would post some of the pictures for you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

1-The first picture is our before picture. These pictures were taken at a place called Moon Lake. It is a place that my family has gone to every year for vacations and I love it. This particular year we made a big mud hole and guess what happens when you make a mud hole...

2-Ya jump in it. We decided to cover ourselves in mud and have my other sister (the smarter none muddy one) take a picture of us. As you can see we are swimming in the mud hole trying to cover ourselves in the mud. It was actually really fun, but mud kind of has a staining affect. But that is a different story for another day.

3-This is our "after" picture. In the picture it goes my sister Steph, my brother David, myself, and then Brighton. The hardest part was cleaning off. We had to go swim in the lake which is REALLY cold and then run up to our cabin, while freezing, and try to shower off. We had mud on us for days (especially in our ears). Every time I see these pictures I can't help but laugh.