paRADe

Our awesome Relief Society from my singles ward participated in the parade for the Highland Fling on Sautrday....needless to say we were pretty awesome!

We had a SINGLE float....

"Single Ladies" was our main song

and THANKS to Brother Beal, we had a driver who wasn't ashamed to be support us in our great cause.

Eat your heart out...

I know I did...

Plans For a Wednesday Night....

First I plan on watching this girl...

and this boy....

fall madly in love.
THEN....

amuse myself with this activity....

THEN...

eat a whole box of these...
(note the no sugar added, these are the little loopholes I love!)

THEN...

play a little speed on the b-ball court with my peeps...
come on over!

Dalai THE llama

ONCE UPON A TIME I met a llama....and I liked it!
You can see this was no ordinary llama, this was a special llama.
It all started when my family took a Sunday stroll to collect eggs from a vacationing neighbors' house. After a struggle with some obstinate mother chickens and an escapee from the coop, my mother thought it would be a fine idea for everyone to meet the "llama with personality".
I said (quite naively) "llama with personality? right!"
she said (quite boldly) "yes, a llama with a personality".
and that is exactly what it was.
His name is Dalai.
He is my friend.
I think about him every day.
I love him.

But....this love could not be hidden, it needed to be shared with anyone that would listen to me. So I brought a couple friends...

Animal lovers....

and haters alike revere and appreciate this Dalai, who is a llama, very very much.

Stacy is "head over heels" for this little guy

and so is everyone else that has met him....
come stop by for a visit and the best first impression from an animal you've ever had.
I'll see you soon?

Modest?

I just did a google search of "modest swimwear" and THIS came up....
I have no words to describe my feelings about this...

PRANK

A practical joke or prank is a stunt or trick to purposely make someone feel foolish or victimized, usually for humor. Since pranks are made to make people feel foolish or victimized, there is an inherent strain of cruelty in most practical jokes. OKAY there is nowhere in that definition of consequences or results or pranking. And WHY don't they provide a disclaimer to pranking so the pranker is full aware that what they are doing might come flying viciously back at them???? Maybe if I was taught as a small child the foolish ways a pranker can fall into, I would have reconsidered my recent actions. I blame my parents.

Right now would be a good time to say, I'm nervous and wary for what my near future holds for me.

And for all those out there I, (because no one else feels the need) will provide a disclaimer.

Disclaimer: Although pranking is a thrill of adventure and sets your rebellious side to satisfaction, it can be short-lived and regretted in the end. All those pranking may want to inwardly consider the following : Who am I pranking? What is the prankee capable of? Does the prankee often seek revenge? Is the prankee more clever than I? Do I have several more pranks to put into action if needs be?

So....wish me luck as I continue to shoot wary glances behind me, edge around every corner I encounter and test my young, age defying skin as I wrinkle it with worry.

love equation

THIS

+ THIS

= THISwho's with me?

Love love love love = love times 4

mhmm....this needs no words, just listen and feel it.

Sittin, Waiting, Wishing....

I am currently waiting for this little miss thang's plane to come in so I can leave to pick her up

because she decided to leave us this summer for this pretty little state,But is coming in town for this couple and a weekend celebration in their honor!
Reasons why this is going to be (and has been already) a good week:
1. I finally cleaned my room since the disastrous move IN from moving OUT of my apartment in....APRIL
2. REAGY POO is coming until Sunday :)
3. Whitlie is getting married and is one of the most beautiful brides I've ever seen
4. I foresee a lot of Yahtzee games, and what week isn't better with heaps of Yahtzee?
5. Thursday is officially the set day when the big race happens...and no I'm not talking about the Wasatch Back (that happened last week). This is the BIG race with Michael Keller. Killer post coming after the race on Thursday.
6. Family time....WOOT!
7. Sleepovers on the tramp with R-face
8. I'm giving a talk on Sunday so I'm getting to read mucho good conference talks and such. I'm learning sooo much.

Current status: signing off to go get the sista. Come visit while she is in town!

Wasatch Back....at cha!

I completed my first race on Saturday and needless to say I am quite proud of myself. It was such a wonderful opportunity and the fact that I got to run it with my mom and Leigh escalated the experience to heights unheard of in the running world.
The race is called the Wasatch Back and is in a series of similar Ragnar relay races across the country. This race goes from Logan Utah to Park City, a total of 188 miles split between 12 runners in two different vans in 24 hours.

This is the whole team. I was the youngest on the team probably by an average of 27 years.
What Fred said about that little statistic made me laugh so I'll share it "I'm glad you are able to bring the average age down for the team to make them a little more youthy."
-Fred Nelson
"youthy" is now officially a word


Our team name was "Scrambled Legs and Achin' ".

this is Leigh (sister), Leslie (mom) and Me at the beginning. I'm delicately holding the fake legs hanging from our van, made of panty-hose stuffed with cotton and topped with socks.

although you might not be able to see the "so", it says "I run SO I can eat"...such a good motto

We saw a lot of different funny names people came up with for their teams. Here are a few I remember....
Real men have six legs (a team that only had 6 people and ran six "legs" each...crazy crazy crazy!)
Swine flu...you can catch it but you can't catch us!
The dirty dozen Two Fats-Ten Furious
Zena Warriors- Our soles are hot and our boobs are real
Run like the winded
The Wagnar Welay Wace Wunners
The flying Buffalos-Eat our chips
Be gentle; it's our first time
Who the Hills Idea was this?
Dirty Underwear Gang
J.A.R.E.D (Joggers against running, exercise and diet)
We've got the Runs
Running out of Cache(valley)
Viva Las Vegas- What happens on the trail stays on the trail
Our wives think we're at work
Dude, where's my van?
Mom jeans
Ignorance is Bliss-ters

After we completed our first legs.

This is all of my van (van #2) minus me (taking the picture) and Leigh who is currently running. Kristin (the one in front) unfortunately at the last minute couldn't run with us because of injury but we were so happy and blessed to have her still come with as the official designated driver. Thanks!

I FINISHED!!!! Ya, I actually did it.

My mom and Leigh had the hardest legs of the whole race. They were called "What were they thinking" and "Ragnar". No matter how many pictures we took of mom (which totaled to be about 10) on this leg, we could not get one pleasant looking face from her.

Leigh has always been SO intense.

but rain...

...or shine, this run was beautiful!

and of course I couldn't neglect the triumphant pose when all was finished.

Lately...

Lately I've adopted a daily routine. Around 3:00 pm every day Ashley Guymon and Amber Jones will meet me at my house and we'll go out for our leisurely bike ride. Sometimes we feel very old because most the people we meet along our route or doing the same activities are small children. But most of the time we feel just right at home, like little children ourselves, and seriously what is better than that?

A bit of ridiculousness....

I'ts a book...combining Pride and Prejudice with ZOMBIES?
The story follows the plot of Pride and Prejudice, but places the novel in an alternative universe version of 19th century England where zombies roam the countryside.

WHAT!!!!!!

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single zombie in possession of a good appetite for human flesh, must be in want of a tasty brain or two."

NO, NO, NO, NO

it's actually supposed to go like this...

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single MAN in possession of a good FORTUNE, must be in want of a WIFE" (emphasis added)

Okay but seriously listen to part of the summary of this book from wikipedia, I don't know whether to laugh or cry...


"Mr. Bennet trains his daughters in martial arts and weapons, molding them into a fearsome zombie-fighting army...Mrs. Bennet spies an opportunity and sends the girls to the first ball where Bingley is expected to appear. The girls defend the party from a zombie attack,"

"Although Elizabeth and Darcy strongly dislike each other at first, their common interest of zombie-killing draws them closer together."

"Elizabeth's dislike of Darcy turns into full-blown hatred when she learns that Darcy plotted to separate Bingley from her sister Jane. As demanded by her warrior's code of honor, she vows to avenge the slight to her family by killing Darcy. Later that evening, she is afforded that opportunity when he appears unannounced at the cottage where she is staying, but before she can fetch her katana and behead him, he surprises her again by proposing marriage."

"Elizabeth embarks on a trip around the country, fighting zombies along the way. At Pemberley she runs into Darcy, who helps her to defeat a rampaging horde of zombies."


OKAY AND THIS IS WHERE IT REALLY GOT ME....

"Jane and Bingley resume their relationship. Elizabeth hopes to do the same with Darcy, but his aunt (the Lady Catherine) interferes, insisting that her daughter Anne is a better match for her nephew. Lady Catherine challenges Elizabeth to a fight to the death, intent on eliminating the competition, but Elizabeth defeats Catherine and her cadre of ninjas. She spares Catherine's life. Darcy is touched by this gesture, and he returns to Elizabeth's side. The two cheerfully wipe out a field of zombies (their first battle as a couple) and begin a long and happy future together."

I believe I have seen hell and it's white, it's snow white.

as I am leaving town

on the road again

For the second time in less than 3 weeks I will be back on the road to Oregon. I have to say, I am really kickin it up on the spontaneous meter. I just hope I don't overkill it.

no jokes

WAHOO! Watermelon season is wonderful. But who ever knew about square watermelons made into old men. What is our world coming to, I would wager to say a whole bunch of weirdness.

Mandy, I love this poem

*Mandy showed me this poem a year or so ago and I'll never forget about it. I love it. Thank you Mandy Madson.

INSTRUMENT OF CHOICE

She was a girl
no one ever chose
for teams or clubs,
dances or dates,

so she chose the instrument
no one else wanted:
the tuba. Big as herself,
heavy as her heart,

its golden tubes
and coils encircled her
like a lovers embrace.
Its body pressed on hers.

Into its mouthpiece she blew
life, its deep-throated
oompahs, oompahs sounding,
almost, like mating cries.

---Robert Phillips

thank you Charlie Brown

Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love.

Charlie Brown

and now, just like Rory Gilmore, I'm ready to wallow.

Grandiose Canyon

I didn't know it was possible either until the day came when, well, when I was tricked into it. Not really that someone fed me false information, or even that the trick was contemplated and played out with great accuracy. I actually like to think that nature dealt me this trick as a little shove into the outer boundaries of hard core I didn't know I had.
It actually came as a plan B. Originally me and a group of friends had intended on going to Havasupai for a few days but in the last mile of the 10 hour drive we were stopped by two Indians who told us it was closed because of swine flu. Not that THEY had swine flu, but that they thought WE had swine flu. So, we needed another plan and the grand canyon passed as the place to go.

Before this little rendezvous, I didn't even know a decent to the VERY bottom of the grand canyon was possible unless you were a Buffalo Bill or a Jim Bridger type of character, but alas you can do it as a not so notable figure like Bryan Brown. And we did it in 9 hours. It was a 6,000 foot decent, 16 1/2 miles and in the middle of the day. It was hard, but so worth it. I'm not doing it again though.

Disclaimer on the picture....this was BEFORE we did the hike. I guarantee we did not look that pleased afterwords.

oh but isn't it breathtaking!