Remember I am Athlete!

I have recently found myself getting to use a new title. The title of athlete. Anyone who has ever spend time with me should know how foreign this word is in my vocabulary. However, last August (2009) two of my good friends from grad school decided it would be a good idea to start running. After laughing in their faces, I decided to try this new endeavor. Having recently finished graduate school I was looking for a new challenge in life. Charisse and I would run first thing in the morning at the slowest pace possible. We had a very slow running schedule that had us running for a minute and then walking for 2 minutes. Slowly but surely the time for running was increased. My first race was a 5K run in October 2009. Here is proof:



In December 2009 my BBF, Bekah, asked if I would be willing to train for a triathlon with her. After laughing in her face I tested the training waters. Starting in January I found myself in a bathing suit re-learning how to swim a long distance at the university pool, biking at the gym and running when I could. Unfortunately, the training also coincided with this:



I almost stopped training because I love the Winter Olympics so much. But my love of the Winter Olympics could be an entire other post. However, I persevered. In March 2010 I swam 300 meters, biked 12 miles and ran 3 miles. My final time was 1 hour 24 minutes. Here we are at the beginning of the race:




After that little endeavor my stake Relief Society President heard about how I and a few other sisters in the stake were participating in various triathlons. She decided that our stake would participate in one as well. Here is a photo of me swimming. I thought I had other pictures as proof, but alas no one has shared them with me.



Which leads me to my final thoughts on my new found athleticism . Bekah decided last summer that we should run a half marathon together. Can you see how easily I am persuaded by others. I really think Bekah is just trying to show me the wonderfulness of Utah and convince me to move there. Really, who continues to travel to Utah to put themselves through physical torture. After the half marathon.... I am not so sure.... Let's just say the very beginning and the very end of the day were awful.

The first five miles of the race is strictly downhill. You start at an elevation of about 7,000 feet and end just under 5,000 feet. Since the race was on October 30th, costumes were encouraged. Bekah and I chose AWESOME costumes. I was a "spelling" bee and she was a "thesaurus" rex. I taped winning words from past spelling bees on my shirt and we used different synonyms on Bekah's sweatshirt. After being in the freezing cold the race finally started. We started at a nice easy pace and started a wonderful conversation. Then tragedy struck at mile 1.5. Bekah stumbled and sprained her ankle and was unable to finish the race. We waited until some cars from the race came down the mountain and a very nice woman took Bekah to the finish line.

So I was on my own. I ran in Bekah's honour. The run was beautiful. I had lots of good thoughts and saw many cool costumes. I had to make one stop for a bathroom (and wait forever while a group of Goofy's went first) and then I was on my way again. The last 3 miles were pretty hard, but I made it!!!!!!!! Final time 2 hours 25 minutes. I'll take it.



I had to wait around for awhile to try and find Bekah and Linnley. Then we had to wait forever to get the bus back to our car. We chatted with people in line and I felt great. But then, tragedy struck again. As we were standing there (after about 40 minutes) I started to feel a bit lightheaded. Which for me, really isn't anything unusual. It happens sometimes. Typically if I stand still for a second I can recover. However, this time my typical plan was not working. So I put my hand on Bekah's shoulder for balance. Then I remembered that I probably shouldn't expect the girl with sprained ankle to be my support. So I switched to Linnley. As I was standing there my vision started to go a little darker. Then I heard Bekah ask if I was feeling okay, because I was looking a bit flushed. I said my vision was going darker, and Linnley started to say I should sit down. The people next to us said the same thing, so I started to sit down...and then I passed out.



Woops. Guess I didn't put enough sugar in me, even though I ate about 1400 orange slices after the races. I heard people asking me the last time I ate, and a bunch of faces hovering over me. Luckily, Linnley is a runner and had a spare goo in her pocket. She lifted my head up and put goo and some water in me, and I started to feel better. A nice man behind us put my feet up for a few minutes to get my blood re-circulating. Another guy walked by, saw how pale I was and said "you look like you need real food. Here is a granola bar. And some fruit snacks." And then he walked away. As my mother would say, guardian angels were looking out for me. Needless to say, if I ever run another half marathon again I shall now to forget my pride and eat at least 15oo orange slices :)

A very "special" education

I love education. I know that in the past I have complained much of actually having to do things like go to class and do homework, but in all honesty, my heart lies in higher education. Throughout history you can start to see what education can do to bring people out of poverty and empower them to make changes in their lives and in the communities they live in.

Staying away from the classroom is also something I have yet been able to do. When I graduated from Western Washington University in 2004 I swore I would never step back into a classroom.


Humble pie is what I ate when I graduated from Portland State University with a graduate degree in 2009. Friends can attest to the fact that all schooling really cuts into my socializing and television watching time. Living in Bellingham I used to complain that everyone was having fun without me while I toiled away writing papers and other such nonsense. I felt the same way when going back to grad school. Yet I feel compelled to go back. I get excited when learning new ideas and theories. My mind starts to race with possibilities and I feel gratification when I can put into practice book-learning in the real world. Every time I have graduated it is with a sense of euphoria and gladness that I no longer have to spend long hours pouring over research articles and drafting long soliloquies and reflections.

Yet despite all that I made a decision about a week ago to back again. No, not to get a doctorate (that's crazy talk.... but let's shelve that thought and I'm sure it will come back again). When I told one friend about this decision her exact words were "Are you crazy?????? You hate school remember?" Thanks for that vote of confidence. But it's just one class. It can't be that bad...


But I do find myself back in school again. This time to get a graduate certificate in Service-learning and Community-based learning. Quite a mouthful, right? My friend Charisse and I are doing this together. Charisse and I will see much of each other for the term. We are also co-teaching a freshman year experience course together, commuting once a week to Portland and getting into other mischief along the way. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Just remind me of that when I have to stay in and read articles and actually do my homework.

Creation, Dawning, Initiation, Introduction, Origin, Source or Blog One

Greetings friends, strangers and acquaintances. If you are reading this you are officially lurking through the internet to read these thoughts. Congratulations. I commend your fortitude.

For months (years?) I have thought about starting a blog. The reasons for not starting a blog are many...I have lived in several different cities and have good friends in each city and I like to keep track of them via the wonderful invention of the internet. I can see photo's of a good friend from college new baby or read recipes from complete strangers. By comparison, I am a single lady (waiting for someone to put a ring on it) and fear that no one would want to hear the thoughts and adventures of my simple life. However, through the urging of friends I have bit the proverbial bullet and begun. The blog is still under construction, but here we all are, for blog post number one. The pressure for the first post is incredible. Its like reading the first 5 pages of a new book. I have only this moment to hook you, and leave you wanting to know more about me and the crazy, wonderful life I lead. Well, friends, strangers and mere acquaintances I want to share something VERY important with you.



I found this little gem of a vending machine near my parents house in Boise, Idaho (don't worry, we'll devote entire postings to the randomness of Boise). There are so many questions involved with a "Live Bait" vending machine. Who puts in the bait? How frequently is the bait switched? What happens if you put in your dollar for a night crawler and its dead? Who replaces the bait? What is the optimal refrigeration for live bait? Who puts the bait in and what is the supply and demand of the field? When you saw this picture did you also envision young children selling worms dug up from the backyard just like me. The possibilities really are endless. Don't stay up too late thinking of new questions, my brain is still tired of thinking about this vending machine.