My First Launch!

Last week we launched the newest release of Body Jam...


I'm not gonna lie, I was so nervous about this launch because it was my first official launch as the Jam Coach. Our downtown club TOTALLY pulled it out and we had over 80 participants! The dance floor was so crowded it was almost hard for people to even move! We had such a blast!


This is just part of the amazing group we had! There was so much energy in that room... it was the most amazing feeling in the WORLD!

Layton was definitely not as full, but we still had a fantastic time. We had a couple Jam sistas that I was so excited to have there!


These girls are so fantastic!

I seriously could not have asked for a better launch or a better team... Sherry and Dev, I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Why I run

I've gotten out of habit, and that's a terrible thing. I loved how I felt when I was training for the marathon and running 5 days a week. I have a race in just a few more weeks, so I've been a little better this week with getting up and going, but I know I could be better. I just need to remember the reasons WHY I run, so here goes nothin' :)

First and foremost, I love the way I feel when I'm running consistently. It seems a little strange, but I have more energy and I feel great about myself. When I'm running, I can walk up the 4 flights of stairs at work and not get too winded, which I think is a very good thing. Really, I just feel fantastic physically and I'm looking for that feeling again... cuz, you know, I've lost that lovin' feelin'.

Second, it gives me a sense of accomplishment. When I complete a full week of training without missing a single day, I truly feel like I've done something to push myself in the right direction. It's almost like if I can do that, I can do so many other things that seem a little impossible.

Third, and maybe my favorite reason of why I run, is this...


and this...


and so many others that I haven't even tried yet! I'm still working on cupcake recipes, and the only time I let myself eat them is after a big race. With that said...

Let me grab my running shoes... I want a CUPCAKE!

The music made me do it...

It's been a slow and kinda boring past couple of weeks, but I promised I'd post this week and I try really, really hard to keep my promises. Let's just ignore the fact that I wanted to post every week and start fresh, shall we?

Since coming home from California, it's been back to business. I finally got to meet the cutest little baby in the entire world (who was born my first day in Cali) and it was the highlight of my week! He is just the sweetest little boy and I wish I could see him more often than I get to. But, thanks to the new season of Biggest Loser starting tonight (WOO HOO!!!) I will get to see him every Tuesday night!


Probably not the greatest picture, but you can still see how handsome this little guy is!

The week after getting home from California was actually a full work week, which, after working 3 or 4 day weeks and then being on vacation for a week, was pretty brutal. Good thing it only lasted a week, right? The next week was my birthday, so I took a day off to celebrate! It started with good run at the gym then to the SL temple (my first trip down there) with my good friend, Rino. It was such an awesome experience! When we got back, I got a much needed pedicure from another awesome friend... thanks, Mary! After the pedicure, I needed to get some shopping done for the par-tay! Rino met me at the Latin market and about $50 later we had enough carne asada to feed an army. Actually, I still have a ton left in the freezer, so if anyone has a hankering for delicious beef or pork, you know who to call. After the market, I headed to my parents' house and made red velvet cupcakes... for someone who loves baking as much as I do, why wouldn't I make my own cupcakes on my birthday?!

People came to party around 7:30 and we ate, talked, danced, smacked around a pinata, roasted pineapple, and watched a movie for the rest of the night. It was actually pretty fantastic! I'll post pictures when I can get to them...

The birthday weekend continued with a foto frenzy day (pictures to follow SOON) and a baseball game with few good friends. Another fantastic day of celebrating.

Sunday, I had a second birthday dinner with my parents, Amber, and my cute grandpa with delicious food and chocolate covered cinnamon bears :) I decided for some reason that my birthday was lasting all weekend long, so I fell off the wagon a little bit, but it's a time for celebrating, right?

Monday I gathered some friends, my parents, and my sister with her girls and went to the river! I had only gotten to raft once this season (so sad) and I requested that, if the river was high enough, we make a Labor Day trip. It was a little chilly, but overall a fantastic river trip. I especially enjoyed the part where I hit a wall of water on Big Kahuna... OH YEAH!

Since the celebrating has come to a close, I've just been working and working. I guess things have been a little more exciting than I thought. A friend of mine from the gym who works for the Job Corps. in Clearfield asked me to help her group of kids participate in the Let's Move, America campaign. Every night this week I get to go hang with these kids and teach them the Beyonce "Move Your Body" dance. Last night was kind of fantastic, so here's hoping the rest of the week goes just as well!

Oh, and I get to Jam in O-town with the Jamily tonight... can't get any better than that! I guess that must explain the title of this post :)

A little get-away... to DISNEYLAND!!!

The last couple weeks have been sort of fabulous. The 12th and 13th of this month I was lucky enough to run the Epic Cache-Teton relay with my oldest brother and sister. I ran last year with my bro and it was so much fun and I'm so happy I could do it again this year.
Because I had run the Ogden Marathon in May, our team captain decided to give me the second hardest leg in the whole race. I was seriously intimidated, especially when I saw the first hill I had to climb. This picture is right after I finished my first leg.


I can't decide if I'm sucking in air or water. Either way, it was so HARD! I got sick on my second leg with about 2 miles left, but I made up for it by helping out other people on our team. This is one of my favorite pictures from the relay, even if I am in my shorty shorts...


Our team finished in just over 31 hours. A little slower than last year, but it was still EPIC! Go Vilage Idiots!


The day after the relay, I decided to celebrate with a little trip to DISNEYLAND! I went with a few friends from the ward and ended up with more friends than when we left! There were a few (ok, a lot more than a few) issues along the way, but the whole week was pretty much a blast. This pretty much sums up every moment of the trip.


Oh, how I heart this picture! I was lucky enough to see a good friend who lives in California as well and spend time with her cute little family.


The best part...? Spending time with them at the BEACH! Every time I go to the beach, it reminds me of how much I would love to live in California.
The only bad part for me really was having to spend time with someone I wasn't really ready to spend time with just yet. Still, I wouldn't trade that week for anything in the world. It was so, so nice to get away from everything for a while and just have some FUN!
Here are a few more photos... just to make you a little jealous :)


Just the girls!


At the Chinese Theater in Hollywood... my hand fit with Marilyn Monroe!


Such a fun group!


Oh, I was so excited to see Woody and Jessie... Toy Story is one of my FAVS!


We got to stop at the Shelby Museum in North Vegas and I was oh so happy... never mind the fact that we were stuck there for about 5 hours... that's a whole other story.
Needless to say, I did not like coming back to work yesterday. DISNEYLAND!!!

Tears

I wanted to post once a week... really I did. I had every intention of writing at least once a week about everything that was going on. Honestly, I don't know what happened to that, but I'll try to catch up quickly.

I don't remember ever posting about the Gold's Gym Employee Challenge, but I won. All that torture of no sugar totally paid off and I am now the proud owner of an iPad 2! Since the challenge ended and the marathon came and went, I've fallen off the wagon a bit (or a lot). I decided today that it ends and I get back on track. I get tired of hearing people complain about their weight, so I'm going to end that right there.

I've gotten quite a few photo sessions lately, and I absolutely love it! Honestly, if I could quit my day job and do photos full-time, I would in a heart beat. Maybe someday...

Last weekend, I actually started a Photo Frenzy - something I'll do once a month where I spend an entire afternoon doing session after session for anyone who wants to come. I only had two appointments last weekend, but it turned out perfectly. Here is one of my favorites from the second session.


The end of June I had the opportunity to go to an IT conference in Philadelphia with a couple of co-workers. We had a pretty good time... even though we didn't get to go to a Phillies game. We visited a good portion of the tourist sights, went on a ghost tour of the city, and ate AMAZING Philly Cheesesteaks from the original cheesesteak restaurant. YUM!

Since I started going to the ward that I actually live in, I've met some pretty awesome people. Honestly, it's a little hard for me to make friends. I'm really kind of shy, believe it or not. Anyway, I was lucky enough to meet amazing people, including one amazing guy... long story short, my first official heart break commenced. I'll say this much, I can now say I actually know what it feels like. I'd never cared so much for someone before and it hurts. And so begins the process of mending...

I still have amazing friends and incredible parents who are there to help me get back on track. I seriously don't know what I'd do if I didn't have them :)

On a happier note... exciting news! Our Body Jam coach is moving to Chicago. Ok, that's not so exciting for us, but Nikki is stoked. I've been asked to take her place as the new coach. WHOA BABY!!! Really, I'm a little terrified. She has some big, flashy shoes to fill. But I'm so, so excited for this opportunity! Last night, we had a final Jam-fest with her and the O-town Jamily before she leaves and it was so incredible! Music was played, tears were shed, and sweat was dripped on the dance floor... and I loved every minute of it. I'm so lucky to have one thing where it doesn't matter how hurt or sad I feel, how awful my day or week has been, I can go for just one hour and be free and let everything go.

love

Oops... I did it again!

Typing that, the Brittney Spears song started running through my head. Some things just happen!

I will be posting results of the Gold's Gym Employee Challenge soon, but I wanted to at least try to get caught up with posting! I feel like it's been so long and my blog has been neglected... poor baby!

A couple weeks ago, it was Amber's birthday. I just have to say, it is so great to finally have best friends (ahem) that actually care about me and don't ALWAYS think of just themselves. Anyway, Amber is one of these friends and so I wanted to try and make her birthday as awesome as possible.

During the cupcake experiment, her absolute favorite was the cherry turnover cupcake, so making a GIANT cherry turnover cupcake for her birthday was a no-brainer. I made it the night before, hoping it would be completely awesome... but it turned out like this


Ugh... oh well. She still ate it and loved it and that's all that matters, right? Anyway, her birthday started off with a hair appointment, so naturally she wanted new pictures to show off her new do. We snatched Tiffany, grabbed some Jamba Juice (yes, I finally had a Jamba Juice this year) and went to a park for a quick photo shoot. I think this is my favorite from the afternoon!


Aren't we so adorable? Just kidding... but it's kinda true :) That night a bunch of people got together for a Bee's game just for her birthday and aside from it being a really, REALLY long game it was so much fun! We went to the Pie for dinner after at Amber's request.


What a great night :) it was just so much fun to be with a bunch of friends. I definitely think it is necessary to do this again very, very soon!

Aw, DANG!

So... I missed last week! I was focused completely on my trip to Arizona and totally forgot to blog! Oops. I'll make up for it, I promise.

The week before last week I pretty much just took as a recovery from the marathon. I did a few classes (even a couple extra) and barely ran at all. I really, really need to get back into training for the half marathon in July! I have to finish in under two hours! We'll see what happens.

I need to get something out. It turns out, adding sugar back into my diet has NOT been a good thing! My "free" days I go absolutely crazy and, honestly, the sugar makes me so cranky. Last Wednesday, I gave myself a free day and did pretty well while I was at work. When I got home, however, I found the mini eggs, frosting, cupcake and Reese's in the freezer as well as the cinnamon bears in the cupboard... and a shared Blondie at Applebee's. Ugh. I was so, so cranky from the sugar! It doesn't make me happy. It makes me upset. The same thing happened Sunday at my brother's house in Arizona when I overloaded on delicious cake, peach cobbler, ice cream and cookies. They were fantastic, don't get me wrong. But I just got so mad at myself for not having will power to slow down.

So, my new goal is to leave the "free day" for only special occasions and no more than once a week. Hopefully I'll be able to control my sugar eating! On the way to Arizona I read Bob Harper's book Are You Ready! and it was fantastic. It was all about loving yourself and respecting your body enough to carefully consider everything that goes in it. I'm already to the point where I need to review the first section of the book, but, I highly recommend it!

That's it for now... I will, very soon, post about the trip AND the amazing new toy I recently acquired :)

Ogden Marathon 2011

So, here it is FOUR FULL DAYS after one of the biggest events of my LIFE and I haven't even blogged about it yet! Well, that changes now...

Last Saturday, May 21st, I had the amazing opportunity to run the Ogden Marathon. I had trained for this race for so long I could hardly believe the time had come! Serious preparation (other than training) began Friday morning.

I woke up seriously early after a short yet wonderful night sleep to run a quick two miles and get to work by 6:30. I only worked three relaxed hours and headed for an awesome temple trip with one of my best friends. As soon as our work was done there, we headed to Salt Lake so I could get a photo printed for my parents. Next, I stopped at my apartment to pack (this is when the nerves started) for the next 24 hours. Tiffany headed home and I visited Amber at work because she said she had something for me... a card with cute little kittens and a long note. I won't go into details, but it was very sweet and very motivating. Because I was able to eat white bread last week, I went to Texas Roadhouse to get a dozen rolls because I had been craving them for weeks! Um... delicious! Next stop was my parents' house to bake amazing hot chocolate cupcakes that I would be able to enjoy the next day. I went to my niece and nephews' singing group program and to dinner with my parents, then back to their house for serious sleep.

Four a.m. came SO quickly and I was feeling really jittery. I grabbed two more TR rolls with a little peanut butter and a banana and headed out the door with my dad, who was kind enough to wake up before the sun to take me to the bus. I got very lucky and ran into a group of girls from the gym as soon as I got there, so I rode on the bus with them and sat next to a really cute girl who was also running the marathon for the first time. We rode for what felt like an eternity to the starting point of the race and waited in the mud for the run to begin. A long, long time after (ok, so it was only about an hour and 45 min) we started lining up. At this point I was just ready for the race to begin! The gun went off (I think, I didn't actually hear it) and off we went.

I ran into a few people I knew on the course, but for the most part ran alone. It was so nice! I would pass a mile and notice how quickly the time was moving. I felt pretty good the most of the time, pulling out the Tylenol at mile 13, again at mile 21, and Clif Shot Bloks at mile 22. As I pulled out of the canyon and approached the beginning of mile 24, my friend Sherry who I teach Body Jam with was there cheering me on... and I lost it. I cried for a minute and then got a major burst of energy that carried me through til I saw the finish line. It was insane! It seemed like hundreds of people - including some of my friends and family - were there screaming for all the runners. After 26 miles, I still had enough energy left to sprint for the finish line. The end was amazing. My clock time was just a few seconds after four hours and my chip time was 3:57:06. I was pretty stoked about that!

My biggest supporters through this whole process were my parents... and you can bet I almost lost it again when I saw them right before I finished. Any time I freaked or thought about quitting, they would kindly remind me that I was totally capable of pulling this off!

I was also lucky enough to have a fantastic group of great friends waiting for me. I know a couple of them were only there for the cupcakes (ahem, Trent, ahem) but, still, it was awesome they were there! I admit, a few tears were shed when I met Amber after crossing, but we had previously warned each other that would happen, so it wasn't a big surprise.

Let's not forget one of the main perks that drove me through the last 7 miles or so...



SUGAR!!! And it was oh so good! My cupcakes were delicious, both the hot chocolate and key lime pie flavors I sampled. The cinnamon bears (which was the FIRST treat I ate) were divine. And the Cadbury Mini Eggs... YUM O! And the real reason I ran and finished, and why I will probably run this race again next year...



The AMAZING feeling I had when this medal was placed around my neck...

Love...

Apparently I was tired!

Since I moved into my own apartment, my mom texts me every night to make sure I'm home and safe. It's really kind of awesome that she cares enough to make sure someone didn't get me. I'm usually pretty good at texting back to let her know I'm ok. If I'm not home yet for some reason, I just let her know when I am, although sometimes I forget. Last Saturday night was just such an occasion.

I had a few different parties I was going to, and I didn't get home until later. She had sent me a message while I was at my last stop, and I told her I would let her know when I was home and all locked up. Unfortunately, I was completely exhausted when I finally made it home that I went right to bed without even thinking about it. I got a text around one in the morning asking if I was home yet. Apparently I was super exhausted and texting in my sleep because my reply was this:

Home locked sleeping and HOPPING

Yes, I actually spelled out HOPPING in all capital letters. I honestly don't know what I was thinking. It may have had something to do with my dream, although I honestly can't remember. The closest thing I can come up with is that I was sleeping with both windows open because my air conditioner is broken and it got really cold that night. I may have meant to say I was FREEZING, but I can't be sure. I'm surprised I made the effort to put all caps in the text. It was seriously weird. She replied asking what I meant, but I didn't respond. I was sleeping. The next morning she asked if I was hopping on one foot or two... that completely made my morning.

I guess I'll never know! Here's to happy HOPPING!

Holy cow!

So... anyone remember when this chain was over 100 links long?? It is now EIGHT LINKS LONG!!! I can't believe the marathon is next week. The last few months have flown by. I still freak out for a few minutes here and there, but I definitely feel like I can do this. I'm so excited for this race... so excited to accomplish something that I've been training so long for! And mostly, excited to have a little sugar back in my life!

I feel so blessed to have come this far. I've heard of so many people that who have been training and have recently gotten injured and can't run. I've had no major problems (knock on wood) and I will be able to run. Now, just watch, with it being Friday the 13th something terrible is going to happen and I won't be able to race!

While teaching RPM last night, I realized it was my last RPM class before the race. I seriously can't believe it's here! I'm excited, just in case you haven't gotten that message just yet :)

Here's to running, feeling nervous excitement, and SUGAR COOKIES!!!

P.S. If anyone has marathon tips, any pointers are welcome.

Almost TWO WEEKS!!

If there's one food I love most over all other foods, it's cinnamon bears. I love the texture, the size, the hot deliciousness of each little bear! I love to grab a handful of them, eat the bodies (to determine which one is the HOTTEST) and save the heads for last... That may be a little morbid - although not as morbid as biting off their cute little heads first - but that's how I eat them. These little treats are the reason for my post today. As I searched online for a picture (courtesy of designmom.com) I kept getting more and more excited for May 21st.

Last weekend, I tried my third 20 mile run with a running group from the gym. We actually went to the marathon course and were going to run the first 20 miles of it. However, eating foods I'm not used to the night before, starting the run at 4:45 in the morning, trying to keep up with their 7:40 min/mile pace, and not stopping as often as I'm used to for water and "going" made me severely sick. After 10 miles, I got paralyzing pains in my stomach and I had to stop. This psyched me out completely. I started disregarding all the training I've done, the 20 mile runs I HAVE made, everything. I started telling myself I couldn't do this. I know it's all in my head, but I am the kind of person that can convince myself of something very easily, good or bad.

Thinking and thinking today, I have come to one conclusion. I HAVE to run this marathon... for more reasons than just accomplishing what I have been training for. Last week, my mom posted on my Facebook wall that she and my dad will have a surprise (non-food related) waiting for me at the finish line. As much as I hate that she told me THREE WEEKS EARLY because I can't stand anticipation, I like that I have another motivation. I also told myself that I cannot have sugary treats - cinnamon bears included - until the race (very food related). I have been thinking and probably dreaming about cinnamon bears for the last week. The closer the race gets, the harder it is to resist sugar. But, I honestly can't WAIT until I can have my cinnamon bears back!

Two weeks from Saturday...

Sunshine, please?!

I just have to say, I typed in three different titles to this post, only to find that one after the other I had already used on my blog. I decided on this because, well, I'm in desperate need of sun. The rain and snow (yes, snow at the end of April) are making me even more depressed since it should be closer to summer weather than winter!

Anyway, it's been a very interesting weekend. Friday night was, of course, cupcake night. I was super excited for this particular flavor... RED HOTS! The recipe looked easy enough, except for the fact that there is no way possible to crush Red Hots. The cupcakes themselves came out ok, a little dry (and a few a little burned), and the Red Hot syrup smelled absolutely amazing! My close friends and family know how much I love cinnamon flavored ANYTHING and smelling the syrup made me a little crazy. Anyway, the frosting called for some of the syrup and crushed Red Hots. I couldn't for the life of my figure out how to crush them, so ended up using extra syrup to try and make it more cinnamon-esque, leaving no syrup to spread on the top of the cupcakes before frosting. My niece helped me, and she said they were ok in the end, so I guess it was worth it. Other critics were pleased as well. I'll admit, I was so excited about this flavor that I sneaked one for myself and put it in the freezer amongst all the other treats I'm saving.

Saturday was pretty great. I finally got a pump class in after a week of launches and then Jammed out at a club in Bountiful to help with their launch. Later that afternoon I had a wicked awesome photo shoot (of me this time) with a really great friend who helped me with my diet during the competition at the gym. She's pretty much a photo rock star, and we both think we should go into business together :) After that, delicious Cadbury Mini Egg cookies at my parents' house (pictured here courtesy of OurBestBites.com) and bed...

Sunday we heard all from our bishopric because there will be major changes coming this week. I'll be going to the ward I'm actually assigned to, which is kinda of bitter sweet.

Last night, we had our final ward activity. It was really fun and I had a blast hanging out with the ward peeps. I hadn't been to an activity for a long time, I've been missing out! Last week a bunch of them helped me move apartments and I love them so much for that!

Anyway, that's pretty much it. Except for the rain... and snow... I'm just done! One more 20 mile run this weekend, which it had better be sunny for, and then the training starts winding down. Just over three weeks left! I can SO do this... maybe :) the cookies next to me smell pretty amazing!

Oh baby!!!

Just a quick post for this week only because I can't think of what else to write about right now... I'll put up more exciting news as soon as I receive some things :) not that it's more exciting than this, just an addition!

I received a text last night that my sister-in-law was dilated to a 6 and in the hospital. This morning, we got a message that the baby girl was born at 12:05 this morning and weighed 9 lbs 13 oz! I only got a quick picture, but she looks perfect! I'm so excited she's finally here, I just wish I were in Arizona to meet her!

Another exciting tid bit, I finally got to move to a new apartment. The people above me were so noisy every night and wouldn't respond to letters and calls from the front office. I was told the eviction process is just getting started, but it can take up to 12 weeks, so they offered to move me to a third floor apartment with no moving charges. AWESOME! It was kind of crappy timing with launch and everything and I didn't know how I was going to get everything moved. The complex called Monday and told me I needed to get everything finished or they would have to start charging me for two apartments. That night, so many people from my ward showed up and helped me move everything and even cleaned my old apartment! I almost started crying, I was so overwhelmed by their kindness. They are AMAZING!

So now, when I go to sleep at 9 or 9:30 I can actually GO to sleep and get some rest! Love it :)

Ummmm...

Bought a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Mini Eggs last night... just sayin'!

They're in my freezer until... :) LOVE EASTER!

Losing it...

Ok, if anyone is actually reading this (I'm hoping!) I really, really could use some help...

I am now officially less than six weeks away from the Ogden Marathon (aka Sugar Day) and I'm very quickly losing motivation. I've come to really loathe training. I hate waking up early just to go run and I just feel tired all the time. I'm starting to think that it's totally not worth the stress. Do I really need to run a marathon? I'm completely questioning it now.

Along the same lines, was it really smart to voluntarily give up sugar until the marathon is over? Every week gets harder and harder... sometimes I just want a cookie! It's weird, but baking cupcakes every week (which is actually really fun usually) doesn't make me want sugar so much, but seeing cookies and other treats everywhere really makes me want to break. Sunday, I brought home some cookies from my mom to give to a girl in my ward, and I seriously thought about eating one.

I know that I've been working hard and I've come so far (101 days and 20 miles to be exact) that if I quit now I would just be angry with myself for not seeing it through.

If anyone out there can lend some support, I would really appreciate it! There could even be some cupcakes in it for you ;)

Side note (as there usually is with every post): The Gold's Gym Employee Challenge ended last week. I weighed in on Friday to find out that I'm neck and neck with the girl who was in the lead. Haven't found out who won yet, but the anticipation is KILLING me! After I weighed in, I lost all motivation for sticking to a diet, so I need to get back on track to not gain it all back. That's part of the help I need, I guess.

Comments are welcome and appreciated!

10 years ago...

Ten years ago today, my granpa Arrington died. He was such an amazing grandpa and one of the best examples of a man I have ever known. He always treated my grandma with the most respect and taught his son and grandsons how to treat women as well.

I learned so much from him. I remember how patriotic he was. He was in the Army for I don't know how long. He was stationed in California when he married my grandma and I'm pretty sure he was away when my dad was born. I can remember him teaching my older brothers and cousins how to properly retire an American flag.

Growing up, he and my grandma would take us out for our birthdays to go shopping and go to lunch. I looked forward to this every year! I loved spending time with them, even when he would get caught up talking to someone he knew (which happened everywhere we went) for 20 minutes or so.

Most of all, I loved how he loved his family and especially my grandma. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. It seems there are NO decent guys left in this world that are up to his standard. I've met a few guys recently that don't have the greatest intentions when it comes to girls and, remembering my grandpa, I know I (and all the cute girls I know) deserve so much better than that.

I've been lucky enough in my life to be blessed with amazing examples of wonderful relationships. Both sets of grandparents were (or are) incredible, and they taught my parents well, too. I have the most exemplary family in the whole world and I can only hope that I end up as happy as they are...

Miss you, grandpa...

Finally... a GREAT March Moab Trip!

After last year's March Moab trip disaster (and yes, it was probably the worst Moab trip EVER), I was determined to make this year's trip a good one. The hard part was I waited so long to book my hotel that we ended up having to stay in Price and drive to Moab the day of the race. Usually, we just camp in town, but I originally thought I was going alone and didn't think it'd be safe to camp by myself. So I chose Price and booked it.

Anyway, those of you who know me well know I LOVE going to Moab! Especially for the Half Marathon every March. I was super excited this year because I've been training for the race for so long. I invited my old roommate and good friend Amber (funny, huh) to come along because she'd never seen me race and she's training for the Legacy Midnight Half Marathon in July. She was excited to get away for the weekend and I was DEFINITELY ready to go after my trip to Indiana.

We left as soon as Amber was off work on Friday and headed to Price. We had our awesome Moab jams playing the whole way down. We got to Price, checked into the hotel and went to Subway for dinner. Not exactly my first choice for a pre-race dinner, but nothing else sounded good to either of us. We hit up the Price Walmart for a few things we had forgotten and a couple movies and went back to go to bed.

We both woke up about 4:45 Saturday morning so we could leave by 5 and get to Moab by 7 for my packet pickup. Despite the fact that no human being should be up that early, it was a pretty good drive. We got to Moab, picked up my packet, and went to the finish line area. Amber waited in the bus line with me and got pictures like a proud mom. We met a cute girl named Jennie who I sat by on the bus and ran the first few miles with. She was really talkative and friendly and made the first bit of the race fun. After a while, though, I lost her and didn't even see her at the end.

The race itself was kinda tough. There was a strong head wind the entire time that made me have tears streaming down my face the first 5 miles. It was still a great race though! I had a goal to get in under 1:50 and my official chip time was 1:47:01. YAYAH! I was mucho excited!

After the race, we hung around the expo for, oh, 5 minutes because there wasn't much that was interesting there. We headed to main street for a little shopping where a guy complained about how close I parked to him, then up to Arches National Park for a little (and I mean very little) hiking. We spent most of the time in the car looking around which was fine. I don't know that my legs could have handled a hike to Delicate Arch this year. Then, we went back to the park and took a nap in the car because we were both so exhausted. After dinner at Zax (apparently my restaurant of choice for Moab, although next time I think I'll go elsewhere) we headed back to Price for the night. Being so tired, we went to bed pretty quickly.

We woke up a little later Sunday morning and started home. It was a really short, but really fun trip with a great run! I'm planning on going back sometime this year and hopefully staying a little longer. Thanks to Amber for being a good sport and coming along!

That said... bring on the Ogden Marathon!

Please help!

I've been wracking my brain to come up with cupcake flavors to bake for friends and family to find the best flavor to make for myself when I can have sugar again...

Side note: It's been 80 days without sugar. I go crazy sometimes, and other days I'm totally fine. Only a little over 60 days to go.

Anyway, I actually came up with SIXTEEN different cupcake flavors, but I only have NINE baking weeks left! I can't double up cupcake flavors, I really don't have time for that. So, if you would, PLEASE, vote for which cupcake flavors most intrigue you! The top five I'm making regardless, so there's really no need to vote for them. I just want to post them because they sound delicious and I smile every time I say (or write) them :)

Give me your top three, and (if I end up making those flavors) I will bring you one! But I really, really could use your help...

...if you're reading.

Cherry Turnover
Cheesecake
Raspberry Truffle
Cinnamon Fire
Hot Chocolate
Orange Creamsicle
Pumpkin Pie
Lemon Cream
Mint Chocolate Chip
Banana Chocolate
Peaches & Cream
Key Lime Pie
Golden Oreo
Strawberries & Cream
Coconut Cream
Chocolate Cover Cinnamon Bear (no idea how this would work, just curious)

Thanks!

GOOOOOOOAAAALLL!!!!!!!!

Last weekend was absolutely terrible... well, at least Sunday was. My sister and her husband went to Las Vegas to watch some college ball and had to miss their oldest daughter going to her first prom. I told my sister I would help out, fix Lex's hair, get her ready, be there when her date picked her up, etc. It was actually really fun! I made cupcakes with the other kids (chocolate peanut butter, YUM!) while she was on her day date and then went to work as soon as she got home. She looked beautiful! I'll post pictures as soon as I get them done.

That night, my parents decided to take the other kids out to dinner since Lex got to go out and have fun. We all went to Golden Corral... I think this is where the problem started. I had a huge salad, lots of chicken, a couple wheat rolls, and veggies. I was super full, not hungry at all for the rest of the night. I waited til Lex got home from her date and went to sleep. Sunday morning I woke up and had egg beaters for breakfast (another contributor), dropped the kids off at church, and went home. As soon as I got home, I started feeling a little... ok... a LOT yucky. I tried to take a nap before I had to get up for church, but I was very, VERY nauseated and spent a good portion of the morning in the bathroom. Needless to say, I wasn't going to church. I was sick all day Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday morning.

I was worried I had food poisoning, so I worked four hours Monday morning, taught an RPM class at noon (which was probably a really bad idea) and went to the doctor. They did blood tests, gave me a liter of fluid with an IV because I was dehydrated, and sent me home. I stayed at my parents house for a few hours then went back to my apartment. I was so sick that night that it took a couple hours to get to sleep. I went to work yesterday until we got our paychecks, then went home to get packed for my trip.

Last night, I was feeling a lot better and had no trouble getting to sleep. I was able to wake up this morning and get a nice six mile run in before I left for Indiana.

Anyway, all this sickness and loss of appetite got me down to my goal weight! It was a very unhealthy way to get there (not recommended at all), and I'll probably gain a few pounds back now that I'm eating fairly regularly, but it was exciting to get there at least! I still have 26 days before the challenge ends, so now my goal is to keep up with my weight and build more muscle. That'll start as soon as I get back from the race this weekend. I'm totally ready to KICK SOME TRASH!!!

Meet Me Halfway

This week has gone by very quickly! Even though it's already Thursday, it's still been long, if that makes any sense at all. I had no idea what to post about this week and then I realized a very important event is coming up...

Saturday, March 12th, marks the HALF WAY POINT of my sugar fast! I know I obsess about it a bit (obsess being a kind way to put it) but I can't believe I've actually made it half way through! I still have bad days, days when I really, really want to break and eat just a cookie or something, but I've made it this far there's NO WAY I'm breaking now!

Next week should be pretty exciting. I get to go to a partner conference out of state and give a presentation on our product for work. My very first presentation session EVER and I'm going all by myself. (insert Pull-Ups theme song "I'm a big girl now" here)

The day I get back from Indiana, I leave to go to Moab for my 5th Canyonlands Half Marathon. I'm so anxious for this race, I can't even describe it! I'm racing against the same coworker I beat last year and I really hope I can beat him again. I've been training really well because of the marathon in May, so I think I can do it. Really, I just want to get in under an hour and 50 minutes. We'll see what happens. Aside from that, my old roommate is coming with me. I didn't want to go alone, so I thought I'd bring her along since she's never seen me race and wanted to go on a road trip. It should be a pretty fun weekend IF I don't die.

Last side note: IT'S SUNNY OUTSIDE!!!

Quick one!

This will be a relatively quick post because, well, I'm only at work another hour and a half or so. This week has been VERY busy at work, making what feels like hundreds of phone calls and preparing for my presentation in a couple of weeks.

I had an "oh, crap!" moment earlier this week when I found a marathon training schedule to follow online and found out that I was FOUR MILES behind where I should be. I needed to do 17 miles on my long run this week, not just 13. So, this morning I went to the gym and ran 17 miles on a treadmill. Needless to say, everything on my inside wants to be on my outside and I walk like I'm 80 years old... I've never run that far before in my life and I can definitely tell. We'll see how next week's run goes!

Other than that, pretty mellow week. Cupcakes this afternoon after work!

Mmmmm....

Totally just realized I hadn't posted this week and I definitely want to keep up with this! This post is all about CUPCAKES!!!

So last week whilest I was running on the treadmill at the gym (ugh) I was watching the Food Network. I know what you're thinking, that's TORTURE! Usually I watch a game on ESPN because that is something I can watch without having to listen to it. That way, I'm entertained and keeping my mind off the actual running and I can listen to my own music. Well, there weren't any games on and I got into watching an Ultimate Cake Challenge. I freely admit I LOVE watching cake challenges! Anyway, the challenge ended and I was still runnin'. The next show to come on was Throw Down with Bobby Flay. He had searched the country for the best mini cupcakes which he found at BigManBakes in L.A. I was totally hooked! I had to keep running until I saw how the challenge ended which was probably good. Anyway, I decided I wanted to try my hand at baking cupcakes! I created s'mores cupcakes for my nephew's baptism last week and the family seemed to like them.

So here's what's going down. I still have 85 sugar free days left. However, when this challenge is over, I would like to indulge in a little cupcake action. To ensure I don't go overboard by trying a bunch of different flavors of cupcakes, I'm going to be baking one new flavor each week for my family and friends. When the time comes, I will make the favorite, share most of them, and enjoy ONE for myself.

Last week: S'mores cupcakes
This week: Red Velvet

At work, we came up with some flavors that sound absolutely delicious like Lemon Vanilla, Raspberry Truffle, Chocolate Peanut Butter, etc. If ANYONE has any cupcake flavor suggestions, LET ME KNOW! I'd love to try to make them!

Why I'm Crazy

Ok, I might be going overboard with posting so much lately, but something was brought to my attention Wednesday night...

I have been acting so CRAZY lately! I've been crying almost every day about things that shouldn't really matter (like the fact that I didn't get anything for the dumbest holiday of the year) and I snap at the most insignificant comments and actions. It's been totally insane. Wednesday night, Mike came and taught Body Jam with me because Nikki had a birthday dinner. We had a blast and talked a little bit after. He started explaining to me about hormone levels, chemical imbalances, etc. that happen when you put your body on a strict diet... DING! DING! DING!

I've been going nuts and now I finally have an answer about WHY I've been so crazy! Now I just have to figure out how to deal with it. Any suggestions are welcome!

Only Wednesday...

This week has been super rough. Besides the fact that Monday was the only holiday I actually loathe and I spent it pretty much alone with very little contact from anyone else, it's been a tough time for my family, too.

Saturday I was making heart cookies with my mom. This has been a tradition for years, but this year was especially difficult considering the challenge I gave myself. Anyway, while we were baking and decorating away, my mom got a phone call from someone at the funeral my grandpa had gone to. He had backed up against an unlatched door thinking it was a wall and fell down 8 or 10 stairs. My mom left me to keep frosting cookies and was headed up with my brother to go get my grandpa, but my uncle called and said that he was already in the area. He and his wife took grandpa back to his house, but my parents thought it would be a good idea if they went to the doctor. The x-rays weren't clear enough because he had arthritis in his neck, so they took him in an ambulance to the hospital. There they found out that he had a clean break through his neck.

I went and visited him Sunday after Sacrament Meeting and he seemed to be doing pretty well. He was in some pain and was really hungry because they hadn't yet brought the food he'd ordered 45 minutes before I got there. It finally came, so I left and let him eat. I have to admit, it was really hard to see my cute grandpa like that. Just before my other grandpa died, I visited him in the hospital and only lasted about five minutes before I lost it and had to leave the room.

Because the fracture was unstable and unable to heal on its own, grandpa had surgery this morning. I haven't heard anything yet, but I'm very anxious. I know he's in good health and we have no reason to be nervous, but it's still a little scary.

This is makes me further realize how awesome the plan of happiness is. No matter how this turns out, we will all be taken care of, and I find a great deal of comfort in this. Not to say I haven't been bawling my eyes out the last few days (for more reasons than just this) but I know my Heavenly Father cares for me and my family.

Inspirational

Wednesday night was a tough night for me. I was asked to sub a cycling class right before Body Jam. I was very hesitant, but I figured since a had a team teacher for Jam I would be ok, so I took it. Right before cycling, the other girl called and told me she was sick and wouldn't be able to help me for the second class. I was physically exhausted already, and hearing that I had to teach two classes back to back on my own almost put me in tears.

I made it through RPM pretty well, grabbed a low-cal FRS drink, a banana, and started Jam. Wasn't sure if I was going to make it, but I had a couple people who were brand new that had talked to me before class and were both excited, so I kept the energy up as much as I could. Other people in the class helped out a lot, too!

Anyway, after the class, one of the girls that was brand new asked me to show her one of the moves she hadn't gotten the hang of. We ended up talking for about half an hour about her "weight loss journey," where she started, what her goals are, how she's doing it. She has an amazing story, and she's done it all on her own. She figured out her nutrition, what works for her. She's found workouts online that she can do in the gym. She just recently started going to group fitness classes which is where I met her the first time, and the second when she came to Jam. She mentioned how much fun she had in class and it totally made my night. Just talking with her has pushed me and helped continue my own progress. She's promised she'll be back every week, and I hope she is! Seeing and talking with her is going to help me immensely with my own goal! I can't wait until we have both reached what we are hoping for!

Office F-U-N

That's right, sometimes I CAN have fun in the office! People at work (for the most part) have been very supportive of my "sugar fast". They all know and understand what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. They even humor me when I ask them to eat cinnamon lips in front of me so I can live vicariously through them... torture, I know, but it makes me feel a little better.

The other day, one of the other girls at work brought in some festive (for yucky Valentine's Day) paper and a paper cutter so we could make a chain for the number of days I have left to go without sugar. The chain will last until the day of the Ogden Marathon. On this day, I have decided that I will have three things waiting at the finish line: a bag of cinnamon bears, a bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs, and my Valentine's cookie from my mom. I can hardly WAIT until that day... which is still 102 days away!

Anyway, for our paper chain ritual, every morning we loudly play a "sugar" or "reducing chain links" song, cut off a link of the chain, and have a party for the 4 or 5 minutes. It's actually hilarious. The first song we chose for the month of February was requested by one of the guys in our office... "Take It Off" by Ke$ha. Other songs for future months include:

"Sugar" by Flo Rida
"Sugar" by The JaneDear Girls
"Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard
"The Final Countdown" by Europe (for the last few weeks, woot woot!)

We started this morning (even though Shea isn't here to sing his song) and jammed out while I cut the first link. Even though the chain is SUPER long, it was kind of fun! Still, I'm looking forward to the day that chain as just a few links left!

P.S. 102 days with just a few songs... suggestions are welcome!

Fun End!

This week has been a little crazy, trying to keep up with the changes at work. This post will be fairly short because of lack of time. Not having a specific manager, I've been getting tasks from three different people which has kept me busy and made the week go by fast, but a little stressful at the same time.

Tuesday this week I was able to teach Jam up in O-town again which is always a blast. Nikki was going to help me in Layton again this week, but she tried out for "So You Think You Can Dance" that morning and didn't make it back in time because.... she got a call back! Hence the reason today is going to be fun! I'm only working a partial day because I get to go down and watch her dance for the judges and hopefully make it to Vegas!

Not a ton of details, but I'll let everyone know how this thing turns out! Watching people dance all day... my kind of start to the weekend!

What a week...

I've been unintentionally avoiding blogging this week, but needed to get it done this morning seeing how it is my last opportunity with a computer that has the internet. It's been such a long, rough week that I can hardly believe I made it through.

Last Friday, my manager (the only good manager I've ever had) informed me and my coworkers that he is leaving the company. Today is actually his last day. I was completely shocked and kind of devastated. Working for him the last year or so has been a great experience. He was so willing to help me learn, pushed me to do things that would help me grow, was always praising and thankful when I did something well. When I found out he was leaving, I was freaked out. I didn't (and really, I still don't) know who my new manager will be. It could turn out fairly good, or really, really bad. All weekend I couldn't help but just burst out into tears at random moments. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for my old manager. He has a fantastic opportunity and I'm glad he took it. But not knowing where my job sits is very unsettling. Being in the dark has always been hard for me.

Monday night, I had to sub in O-town so I drove up to my parents' house after so I wouldn't be alone that night. I honestly don't remember the drive from the gym to their house because I was so upset. I talked with my parents for a while, got a blessing from my dad, and seemed to feel a little better. I was still on edge, but I didn't feel like crying. After I got home that night, my old roommate came over and we talked for a while. I'm so lucky to have support for times like this!

The rest of the week has just been kind of a blur. I'm hoping that by Monday, I'll know where I stand with my job and I'll be able to make the right decisions concerning the situation. For now, I'm glad this week is over and I can take some stress relief time this weekend... hopefully!

You've Got to Show Me JAM!!!

I know I've already posted this week, but something so fantastic happened I just had to write about it. It's even a kind of fix to my earlier post...

I've been teaching Body Jam for almost exactly two years now. I was completely in love at first. It was so awesome to get up there week after week and dance with some of the most awesome and inspiring people I've ever met. Over the last couple of months, between getting my RPM certification, my own RPM class and losing my Jam partner to a very, very sweet cause, I was getting less passionate about Jam. My class moved to a new time which seems to pick up for a while but then started slowing down again. Numbers kept dropping and I was getting extremely frustrated and tired. This week totally reopened my eyes to why I actually do what I do and why I love it so much.

Every three months we release new music and new moves to every program. RPM was a blast last week and is still a lot of fun. But Tuesday night this week was almost a brand new experience. We launched Jam in O-town and, with over 50 people in the class, totally rocked it! I honestly don't think I've personally taught better than I did that night. It felt so amazing and to see that many people just letting go and having a fantastic time made me realize why I push myself so much. Teaching with Mike and Nikki (and missing Sherry, who was in the class with her baby bump) was completely incredible. I had so much fun, but it made me very nervous for Wednesday night, my class. Our numbers don't even come close to competing with Ogden, and I was worried our launch there was going to be a bust with maybe 10 or 12 people.

As the starting time got closer, more people I had never seen before kept showing up. We only had about 4 or 5 regulars, but we had 29 PEOPLE show up for our launch. Compared to over 50, it doesn't seem like much, but it's a smaller club and that is more than I've ever seen in my class! The energy from everyone participating was absolutely perfect. The three of us had a blast teaching, again, and it was the best time I've had in a very, very long time.

I got home and had a quick text chat with Nik about how we can pull out it in Layton every week and I seriously broke down crying. It felt so good to be back in my zone and love every second of it! I seriously never want this feeling to end! So here's the JAM message...



love...

Cabin Fever!

I decided I moved into my own place at the wrong time of year. Don't get me wrong, I love my apartment. However, with the weather turning bitter (and I mean bitter) cold outside I'm forced to stay in a lot. For a while I was catching up on photo editing and enjoying the time alone. Now I'm all caught up (pictures from Europe coming soon) and I really have nothing to occupy my time.

Last night was pretty great. I got to spend some time with an old roommate who I hadn't really seen or talked to much since I moved out. I love that I'm getting to be with my friends again... hoping to keep up the trend this weekend!

I guess all I'm pretty much saying is I can't WAIT for winter to be over so I can spend more time outside. I'm excited to go running, hang out on my little deck, just be outside without being super cold! BRING ON THE WARM WEATHER! Please :)

Challenge!

Well, the work week is almost over which means my opportunity to keep up my "resolution" would be greatly reduced. I thought I'd write about the freaky dream I had last night that woke me up around 1:30 this morning, but even I've had enough of my dreams! So I want to let you know about my challenge. Telling people will make it easier to keep up with since I'll be accountable!

This last Monday marked the beginning of the Gold's Gym Challenge in our area. A 90 day competition to see who can lose the highest percentage body weight. The competition is usually just for members, but this year they are offering a separate competition for employees. The prizes aren't as huge, but it should still be a good opportunity. I'm not really even expecting to win anything, just in it for the hopeful self-improvement.

As of Jan. 1st, I was not allowing myself to eat processed sugar. My desserts consisted of a piece of fruit. I'm keeping that up at least until the contest is ended (more than likely until my marathon in May) and hopefully that will add to the progress. It's SO HARD when I visit my parents' house on Sundays and smell the homemade goodness that comes from the oven, but I've resisted so far! We'll see how that goes :)

I'm also changing my routine at the gym. I had gotten too used to my classes and I wasn't seeing any changes. The only classes that will remain the same are the ones I teach. Otherwise, I'll be switching it up! And I'll be adding running in, too, since I need to be training! As soon as I get my new running shoes I'll be on the treadmill.

That's pretty much it. I feel like if people know what I need to be doing, I'll be more likely to keep up with it. If anyone reading this wants to ask me questions during this challenge, please do! Ask me about progress, good days, bad days, slip ups, anything! The more I have to answer, the better I'll do.

Thanks for reading!

Orange Fizziness

I know a lot of people make "New Year's Resolutions" around this time... I for one hate that phrase. I would rather make short term goals and hit them. HOWEVER, one goal I do have for this WHOLE YEAR is to make at least one blog post per week. This being the first full week of the year, I'm starting now!

I previously blogged about the weird dreams I have when I take Emergen-C before bed. I have now determined that it is not only this health related product, but Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold (orange flavor) that produces this outcome as well. I have had a sinus infection since Saturday (not long enough for antibiotics, sadly) so I've been taking all kinds of decongestants and whatnot. My favorite discovery so far has been the new orange fizz. The dosage states that a person can take this product every 4 hours. If I followed that, I would never be conscious. It knocks me out for a full 8 hours, meaning I sleep through my alarm if I don't take it early enough in the evening (late for work TWICE this week).

Last night, I had one of the strangest dreams and I'm convinced it's a result of my medication. I dreamed that I was in a field with praying mantises all around me. Not really a big deal, right? Except, in my dream, these little insects had two spiked forelegs (which they actually do) that were used to dig into people, transfer poison into our blood, and kill us (which they DO NOT do - to my knowledge). One mantis got its spikes into me, but I got them out in just enough time to not be killed. I finally escaped the field and went to my sister's house where her kids were OBSESSED with lizards. I found it strange, but figured "kids, they have weird obsessions". By the end of my dream, after I had unconsciously turned off my alarm, my sister and her husband were starting to turn INTO lizards. This finally freaked me out enough to wake me up...

On a side note, I do have other goals, one of which I have enlisted the help of a friend for. Here's hoping success is in the near future! Let me know if you see any changes :)

Another side note... I changed the name of my business AND my business blog. If you'd like to see it (I'm trying to not make it easily accessible to a few certain people) let me know and I'll give you the address!