Farewell and Halloween: The blog that literally took all day!

I never thought the day of my farewell would come! And now, it's gone. I feel like it went pretty well and am just glad it's over. I was more nervous the night before my talk than the night before my marathon!

After sacrament meeting, some of us took a stop to see how the old house was doing. It needs a bit of work but we had fun walking around outside, peeking inside, and I had fun posing on the porch like all the other missionaries did before me!

Milo had fun eating cheeto's with Maura.

Cameron had fun looking at bugs!

Then we ran down to Proctors and waited there until the open house.

Tom took some pictures of the famous M.a.u.d Squad, my best buds.

I didn't take pictures at the open house. But it was a great day!
Thanks, everyone, for coming!!!

HALLOWEEN PARTY

Monday night we all got together at Rod and Jo's for the first annual Boynton FHE Halloween party. We weren't allowed to attend unless we dressed up.

Ell, Paul, and Cash showed up as cowboy, pajama girl, and monkey. Cute!

Rod and Jourdan were superhero/power ranger people. Milo was a humble chicken and Elliot a hatchet!

Steve and Shirley were punk rock stars. Cute little Porter was Tigger and tiny Jade, an Indian!

Tom showed up as a hospital dude!

I was a lion! And had fun doing many cat poses!
I promise that's me and my real hair!


Dinner was great! Squash and spinach soup in an edible sqaush cauldron! YUM.


Games and carving pumpkins were fun as well.


Liars dice came down to Jourdan and Ell but Ell ended up the winner!


What a fun party! Thanks Rod and Jo!

(Seriously though, it took FOR-EV-ER to download all the pictures. I had to do it one by one. Don't ask me why!!! I started at 10 this morning and now it's midnight! So ENJOY!)

All Aboard!

Things are looking up. I'll always be sad that I was the one to do the zippy car in but I've finally come to terms with it. It was a great car and took us all many places! It always had a smile on! Thanks, Ell, for helping me out with that mess.

My computer was able to be fixed and just about everything was salv...I mean saved. hehe. Or NOT!! haha. : )

Work is over and now I can finish up the last bit of shopping before I leave in about a week (gulp!)

Mom sent me this quote once and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites.

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. Most putts don't drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. And most marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Life is like an old-time rail journey--delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

(Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p. 254, quoting Jenkins, Lloyd Jones.)

I can't wait for my next train ride!!

I've Had It! Part 2

It's been a hard week. And of course this all has to happen 2 weeks before I go into the MTC.

The zippy car crisis makes me sick. It's either pay $1000 to have it fixed or salvage the title and kiss it goodbye.

My laptop crashed the other day. Now I have to go through the trouble of trying to get that fixed.

I don't know what I've done to deserve this. Maybe it's just in preparation for the hard times that lie ahead in the MTC. But bottom line, it's crappy. I remember Marg telling Rod one day that, "Crap happens." It can testify that it does and I don't like it one bit.

Tom, if you don't get your car fixed soon we can drive....I mean, you can call me and you can join me in my cry fest if you want.

By the way things are going...stay tuned for I've Had It! Parts 3, 4, and 5!

I've Had It!

The past couple days I've been seriously debating whether or not to keep working in the "L" hole that is the Thanksgiving Point Deli. It started out as an okay job but has quickly become a bad dream...and that's the nightmare of it all, it's not a dream, it's reality.

I wish I was more bold. That's something I would change about myself if I had the chance. But instead it's in my nature to please others, even if it means having people walk all over me. If I were more bold I wouldn't show up to work on Monday, like my fellow worker Jaylee did this past week.
My first day working I met Jaylee, who'd only been working for a couple days herself. She was a cute, hard working girl, not much different than myself. Starting last Saturday and throughout this whole week, even though she was scheduled, she didn't show up to work. My boss called her and she never called back. Yesterday, as I was getting yelled at for the third or fourth time by my boss in front of customers for making mistakes I did and DID NOT make that could have easily been handled in a more professional manor, I thought about Jaylee and how she'd had it, and haven't stopped thinking about what a SMART, BOLD move she made by quitting.

I've had it with my boss.
I can no longer handle the way she looks at me as if I'm retarded when I ask her a question. It makes me want to shrivel into a corner...or just stare back and say, "What are you gonna do about it, huh?" Her loud voice that yells across the deli so that all can here makes me cringe. Leaving the team during the busiest part of the day to take a smoke break and coming back smelling like smoke is a let down. As one of my fellow normal employees said, "She makes it, like, 10 times more stressful than it already is."
And she wonders why she's had so many people not show up to work never to come back or quit after a month of working.

I've had it with a fellow employee.
I really think there's a medical problem in this one. I'm always nice to her but because she's been there for 3 years (gasp) she watches my every move and things have to be done her way. Not to mention her maturity level of a 5 year old (swatting ferociously at my hands when I was about to do something wrong).

There's only a few things that have kept me happy there.
1. The mexican workers downstairs that cook the hot food. They are nice and the hardest working people in the whole place.
2. The time when I turned around to get 3 bottled waters for a customer and I dropped one on the tile only to have it bounce all the way back up and land in between my thighs. I was laughing to myself about that for the rest of the day.
3. Visits from family members.

I started today thinking that this could be my last day of work. I thought it was a sign when a black guy with the coolest British accent (he's a 'regular' to the deli, so I'd talked to him before) came in and told us that he'd been thinking about something for a long time and he'd finally figured it out. He explained that when you're young you live by instinct because you have your whole life ahead of you and when you're older you live by wisdom because you've learned from the past and that makes one wise. I could see what he was saying and almost convinced myself right there to go with my gut instinct and not show up to work on Monday. I thought and thought throughout the day and remembered back to my American Heritage class and how we learned about opportunity cost. And that's what swayed my decision to stick with it. I might as well work one more week and earn some money to fix the zippy. Who knows, maybe that's why I got the job in the first place...to pay for the broken zippy. MAN O MAN.

Since I have decided to endure my last week of work, all I can say is boss, you are LUCKY to have had me...

And if I had decided not to show up on Monday, it sure would have been fun to say,"Sure, I got one question for you. It's CAN YOU DEAL WITH THAT(with karate chop hand motions, of course!)

Consider myself vented...

Here's to Running

I started training for my first marathon, the St. George Marathon, at the beginning of June. By training I mean running 3 times a week, cross-training (usually swimming) 2 times and week, and resting 2 days a week. That's what I did from June until last week. It's a strange feeling to have trained for something for so long, complete it, and have it be over so quickly. I woke up this morning, the first Monday all summer where I didn't feel obligated to go running. It was nice, especially because my muscles are still recovering. But when it comes down to it, I'd wake up for an early run over sleeping in any day. It's one of the most refreshing things in the world.

Some people think running 26.2 miles straight is crazy... and so do I. As I was half-way through the marathon, I looked ahead of me and just watched everyone running. Running, running, running, some walking, but most just running. I thought, "What is it that makes people want to run for such a long time?" "Why do I like doing this?" In my opinion, the benefits of running far outweigh the craziness and that's why I run.

The marathon was hard. We woke up at 4:30am and were bussed up to the freezing starting line. Before I knew it we were running. I've always loved running in the morning. The sun slowly came up and the full moon slowly went down. The first big hill came at mile 7 and my friend Jessie had to take a pit stop so I continued running and from there on out I ran alone. I guess that's not totally true. I did have The Killers, The Arcade Fire, The Fray, Interpol, and a couple other bands to keep me company. I can remember mile 13 being tough. I was tired but was only half way there. My left knee had been hurting pretty bad earlier on but was feeling better. I had already eaten a gu and I think that's what got me through for a while. The next wall I hit was at mile 20. It's hard because at that point you know you only have 6.2 miles left but the problem is you've already been running 20! A number of times during the marathon I thought of Dad and his Ironman. I might be able to run 26.2 miles, but add a 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile bike? Now that's borderline insane! Props Dad! Anyways, all I could do was keep running. Walking was not an option because I knew if I did my legs wouldn't allow me to start running again. The finish line was finally in sight and it took every last ounce of energy to get there! I saw Rod, Jo, Milo, Pam, and Dean there cheering me on. I crossed the finish line with a time of 4:00:55. Sweet. I ate a couple popsicles and watched my other friends come in. It felt so good to be done! Especially because I had cut my goal time by 30 minutes. We all hobbled around the rest of the day but had a nice swim and later, dinner at Bajios. It's an experience I'll never forget and hopefully one I'll be able to experience a few more times.

Running in races is rewarding in many ways and leaves you with a great sense of accomplishment. I love the feeling AFTER a good race. I also love running when I'm not training for a race. It just plain makes me feel good. So here's three cheers to running for helping me relieve stress, for helping me get to know my way around new places, for keeping me healthy, and for bringing me closer to friends and family. Hip Hip HOORAY! Hip HIP HOORAY! HIP HIP HOORAY!

So whose going to run the 2008 St. George Marathon with me?

Diggin

Watch Out Ladies!!!

Last Wednesday, after much debating, many hours of searching, and a couple explanations to the sellers that I was his sister and not his wife, Tom bought a Jeep Cherokee! I've had some requests from the Vegans and Italians to post some pictures so here they are...

Driving down state street after the purchase. Look at that big smile!!! If you look at the door, you can see my reflection snapping the picture from the zippy! Probably not the safest thing to do while crusin at 50mph but hey, had to catch it in action!

It looks nice outside and the inside is in mint condition!

A great car, a great guy, now all he has to do is find a great girl and take her for a spin! Woot woot! And if he buys a bass he'll be able to whip that out of the back and seduce her with it's soothing, low bass notes...look out ladies...there's a new man on the road!!!

Update...We just got back from a Sunday diggin' (driving in the dirt up steep, rocky passes, etc etc.) trip so I had to add a few videos (above) and pictures. They look pretty pixely but what can you do? We drove up Provo Canyon and then from Cascade Springs up and over into Heber! Bumpy ride but fun in the Jeep! Mom, Dad, and Marg will appreciate seeing the Alpine Loop in it's fall splendor, if it doesn't give you motion sickness that is!

After the bumpy ride with a tiny Mt. Timp in the background.