A Very Rainy Triathlon...

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was very excited to do the Women of Steel Triathlon last May. I really wanted to do well in this triathlon. It was my second year doing this triathlon so I set goals for each leg of the race. I really wanted to do well in the swim since it is my strength. To help me train, I joined a swim team in March. Practice started at 5:30AM which meant I had to get up at 4:50AM!!!!! It was SO hard to get up that early but the work outs were awesome! I loved being in the pool again being pushed to swim harder and faster than I would if I was training myself. I was looking forward to seeing how much I could improve my swim time from last years race. I also put a lot of focus on the run. The run portion of a triathlon is my WEAKNESS!! I did hill intervals, speed intervals and distance runs to prepare. I didn't worry too much about the bike portion of the race because I knew I would do well without much training. For the first time, I felt very prepared to do this triathlon.

The morning of the triathlon I woke up to POURING rain. I was so sad! I was really worried they would cancel the race. I was also worried about the cold. Being wet and on a bike is not fun. Right before the race they cancelled the swim and altered the race to be a run-bike-run...DOUBLE RUN!!! I was not very happy. Remember how the run is my weakness and least favorite part of the triathlon??? All that hard work on my swim for nothing. It also didn't help that it was freezing cold, very wet and rainy.

Even though I was disappointed, I actually had a good race. I improved my run time and my overall time was actually faster than the last year. The double run was hard but I did it! I proved to myself that I really can do hard things and that is why I do triathlons. I am going to try again next year to hit my swim goal. Women of Steel registration will open in a few weeks. Anyone want to join me next May?

Time to Play Catch Up...

I have a lot of catching up to do so here I go! I need to catch up by the end of the year because I have some fun ideas for 2011 but I won't start them until I finish this project. Let the posting begin!!!

Last night I was bored out of my mind (girls camp is over!). I got a text from my cute friend Jamie inviting me to go to the driving range with her. I realized that I had not completed my "learn to golf" goal and I needed out of the house so I quickly responded YES!

It was so fun to get out of the house on a nice summer night. Jamie gave me a quick lesson and then we shared a bucket of balls. I had many horrible shots including some that took off some chunks of grass but I think I had a few good shots too. I'm hoping some day to take a few lessons because I think I could be decent at golf.

Memorial Day 10K

When I decided I wanted to put a 10K on my list, my goal was to train really well for it so it would be a very comfortable 6.2 miles. The training I wanted to do didn't really happen. We had a very rainy Spring and I learned I really hate the treadmill. I decided to do the 10k anyway since my birthday was quickly approaching. I signed up for the Orem City Memorial Day 10k. I really didn't want to do this race by myself but most of my friends were going to be out of town because of the holiday. The day before the race, my roommate Camille agreed to run the race with me. I was so excited!!! Having Camille to run with made doing this race so much easier. The days leading up to the 10k were very rainy and cold. I was a little bit worried about having to run in the cold. The morning turned out to be perfect!!!! There was a little chill in the air but that was all. No rain, no wind, it was wonderful!!

The first 2 miles were actually really hard for me. My legs were really tired from the triathlon I did the week before (I will blog about my tri soon!). It was a mental battle to convince myself to keep going. After 2 miles, I think my muscles warmed up so miles 2-5 were comfortable. I know it was a tender mercy because I was praying a lot during the first two miles. At mile 5 I started to feel tired but figured I couldn't walk with only 1 mile to go. By mile 5.5 though, I was ready to give up. My legs were officially dead at that point. Every step was HARD!!! I could see the finish line but it seemed so very far away. I kept setting mini goals in my head. Every part of my being wanted to stop and walk and give up. I knew that I would be very disappointed though if I stopped that close to the end. Can you imagine finishing just a few blocks away from the finish line?? Finishing was such an accomplishment for me. It gave me confidence to know that I can keep going when things are hard.

It took me a little over an hour to finish (1 hour 9 minutes I think?). Considering how little I trained for this event, I am happy with how I did. When I got home from the race, I bought myself a chocolate milk and took a hot bath. It was a great way to start my Memorial Day weekend!

Don't Give Up On Me...

I have been extremely busy for the past few months. I have so many goals to blog about especially since I just celebrated my birthday. I was recently called to go to girls camp so that is taking over all my free time. Stay tuned for some updates!!!

Making My Bed...31 Days Later!!!

I have the most amazing Mom ever! Growing up she made me breakfast every day, packed me a lunch for school every day, did my laundry and of course she made my bed. Don't start thinking that I had a pampered life. I definitely did my fair share of chores. My Mom loves a clean home. She is awesome!

The only time I was ever required to make my bed was on Christmas morning. We weren't allowed to open presents until all the beds were made. I definitely have developed the habit of making my bed on Christmas morning but the rest of the year is usually hit or miss with my bed getting made.

So somehow 31 days has come and gone. I did it. I made my bed every day. I LOVED it! I loved feeling like I accomplished something first thing each morning. I can now understand why my Mom needs to have all the beds in the house made everyday. It makes the house feel complete and organized even if there are other areas of the house that are messy. I love this new habit!

Day 1: Making my bed

On Saturday I started my 31 days of making my bed....I've made it 4 days in a row....

Reasons to Love Baseball

A couple weeks ago I went with my parents, Kimmy and our family friends the Hemming's to Arizona to watch Spring Training baseball (and go to Sprinkles!). It was such a fun trip and it reminded me of why I love baseball. I have so many happy memories of going to A's baseball games. The Oakland Coliseum was my second home growing up.

Here's why I love baseball...

1.Warm Summer night games, sunny afternoon games, green grass, blue sky, stadium lights....

2. Polish dogs, garlic fries, 7th inning malts, peanuts...

3. Chatting with friends and hanging out with family

4. Dot racing, Cap Caper, Singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame....

5. The game of baseball...

Our trip was so much fun! I can't wait to go to more baseball games this summer.

I'm in LOVE....

I'm in LOVE.....with....

I fell in love with Sprinkles Cupcakes two summers ago while on vacation at Newport Beach. My sister-in-law Ann introduced them to me. The funny thing is I don't really like cupcakes. They usually don't tempt me at all. I would much rather eat ice cream or chocolate chip cookies or peanut M&M's or.... Maybe it was the fact that I was on vacation..at the beach..with my family...whatever it was, it made me obsessed with Sprinkles cupcakes. I LOVE SPRINKLES CUPCAKES!!!!!

Last week I went on a little vacation to Scottsdale, Arizona. Coincidentally, there was a Sprinkles Cupcake store just down the road from our hotel. I'll admit that the cupcakes were part of my motivation for making the trip. The cupcakes were just as wonderful as I remembered them being. The frosting is what I love the most. My overall favorite is the black & white cupcake. Just imagine a Belgian dark chocolate cake with creamy vanilla frosting...YUM! The chocolate marshmallow became a new favorite on this visit. It's possible I had it for breakfast one day...maybe. I miss Sprinkles already. Anybody want to road trip to Newport Beach, Palo Alto or Scottsdale?

Chinese Chefs (Learn to Cook Something New)

When I was in high school, I really wanted to take the foods class as one of my electives. All the popular kids took foods so of course it was the class I wanted to be in. My Mom wouldn't let me take the class because she felt I already knew how to cook and I needed to learn to sew. Those of you who know me well, know that arts and crafts is not my thing. Anything crafty I try to make rarely turns out. I could write an entire post about the amazing clothing I made that semester including a drop waist floral print dress that was at least 4 sizes too big but this post is dedicated to cooking not sewing.

So not only did I not master sewing but I also didn't learn how to cook. I consider myself an average cook. Basically I can follow a recipe fairly well but if a recipe has ingredients that are not "normal" I usually avoid it. I have a few "go to" recipes that I make anytime I want to eat a real meal but I wouldn't call myself an expert. Overall, if I have people to help me eat the food, I enjoy cooking.

Recently I attended a cooking class at Sur La Table in Salt Lake with my friends Michelle and Clayton. The theme of the night was Asian food. Here is what we learned to make:

Gyoza (Japanese Steamed Dumplings)

Tom Kah Gai (Thai Lemongrass and Coconut Soup with Chicken)

Murgh Masala (North Indian Chicken Curry)

Sweet and Sour Pork

Pho (Vietnamese Beef and Noodle Soup)

Vietnamese Crepes

Fresh Spring Rolls

Peanut Sauce

It makes my mouth water just thinking about all the delicious food we made. There was definitely a lot of weird ingredients in these recipes but it was really fun to experiment with them. I think my favorite new ingredient was Lemongrass. It smells and tastes so good! The main thing I took away from the cooking class was the motivation and the confidence to experiment with new recipes and new ingredients. I'm excited to experiment with some more recipes soon. Who's hungry?

A Clean Closet....aahh!

One of my favorite things about my condo is my closet. It's huge! It's an L-shaped walk-in closet. I love it! I promise I organized it when I first moved in, but time went by and life got crazy. My closet got a little unorganized and messy...honestly...it was beyond messy! Here are some pictures of what my closet looked like...please don't judge me...


The week after Christmas I spent a few hours after work each night working on my closet. After 4 D.I bags, at least 5 bags of garbage and multiple items being posted on Craigslist, here is what my closet looks like now....


My favorite part is how I organized my jewelry. My friend Jamie gave me the idea to hang my necklaces and bracelets on my wall. Check it out:

It feels so good to have my closet organized again. I know where everything is and when I put something away I know exactly where it goes. It is amazing to be able to see the floor and walk around in my closet without stepping all over things. I love my new closet!

Why I TRI....

A few weeks ago, I signed up for my favorite triathlon called the Women of Steel. I am very excited to start training for this event. I technically have already done a triathlon to complete my triathlon goal but I didn't want to blog about it until after I did the Women of Steel. This post doesn't really complete my triathlon goal. Check back in May for details on my TRI's.

I recently saw a video clip about Matt Hoover and his experience doing an Iron-man triathlon in Hawaii. He put into words exactly why I do TRI's. Here's what he said:

"It changed me. It made me realize it's not about how much you weigh and it's not what you've done in your past. It's about what you are doing. Our bodies, they are amazing. I shouldn't have been able to do what I did that day but my body kept going. There is something about pushing yourself beyond your limits that people need to do once in their life. They need to take the chance one time to see what they can really do and once you do it you are never the same."

Training and doing triathlons is not easy for me. I don't love running. Getting up early in the morning to go to the gym is a battle every day. getting into a bathing suit in the middle of winter is very unappealing. But I love the challenge of pushing myself. I love having a hard goal to motivate me to work harder. So why do I TRI...I love proving to myself that I can do hard things.

Here is the full clip about Matt. I promise he'll leave you feeling inspired...