Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 381

Nothing too exciting this week...

Friday I got dinner and watched the sunset with Rachel and then just watched movies at her house like we usually do.

Saturday I also hung out with Rachel. We went to the farmers market and then went up to Midway to get some fancy cheese at a cheese factory that I never knew about... but boy is it good! Then we got lunch and then decided to go to a movie. Went and saw the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie. I'm not obsessed with those movies like other people... but I like them. Plus, I like looking at Chris Pratt.

Sunday was the usual... Sunday dinner at the families, Dale and Teresa came over to hang out. I always love when they come over. They are so fun to talk to and hang out with.

Monday after work I got my hair done by the fabulous Nicole. She is the best. Except this is the first time I left and she wasn't happy with my hair.. so I am going back in a couple of weeks to have her do it again. She felt a lot more bad about it then I did. I love hang out with her regardless.

Tuesday after work... I got my eyelashes filled by the fabulous Natalie. Just a week of pampering myself I guess. It just worked out that way. Always feels nice. I feel like a new woman.

After getting my lashes filled I headed over to Dave and Heather's to watch the Bachelorette with them. I love watching that show with other people. It is way more fun than watching by myself. I like making fun of it with other people. Plus it is an excuse to see my cousins.

That brings me to today.... after work my visiting teacher came to see me. Lindsay... she is the best. Love when she comes and visits. After she left, I went to the food truck round up with Drew. We love getting our art city donuts.  Kyle was also having his birthday dinner that night and wanted all of his friends to wear white and then he wore black. Kind of strange, but Kyle loves being popular and the center of attention. I didn't want to eat with his HUGE model crew, but I did stop by and talk to the people I knew there and of course gave him and hug and said happy birthday so that he knows I care and was there. Then I went back to hanging out with Drew. We talked until midnight I think. We can just talk and talk and talk ... especially about work and people and what is going on and our opinions about things. It is nice. Drew has become a really good friend and I appreciate that. This is the first year in all the years that I have worked there (7 years) that I have had good friends that I hang out with outside of work and that are around my age. It is great.

Anyway... that was my week.

My Poor Body...

My body has taken a beaten lately...


Camping... attacked by bugs - Half Marathon, lost 2 toenails... one of which got super bruised - AND I accidentally slammed my car door on my fingers. REAL hard. Go me...

Camping at Buffalo Peak

I have been wanting to camp at Buffalo Peak for a while. Kyle wanted to as well. We finally found a time to make it work. Sadly it was super crowded up there... but luckily... we found a spot away from everyone with an AMAZING view.

Kyle invited some friends... all guys.... so it was me camping with  5 guys. It would be more awesome for me if 3 of those guys were not in high school. Yeah... Kyle hangs out with high schoolers. Tucker is awesome though and he decided to share my tent with me. Not mad since he didn't snore.

Before going to bed, we sat around the fire chatting and of course we played with the camera and lights. We had a blast doing that.

In the morning... Kyle woke me up early because there were hot air balloons floating over the valley. We had no idea that the Freedom Festival had started. It was such a beautiful site to wake up to. Man, I love camping. I seriously would do it every weekend if I could find people to go with me. There is something about sleeping under the stars and waking up to fresh crisp air out and beautiful nature. Just focusing on the simple things....  ah... I love it.

Springville Food Truck Round-Up

Candice, Drew and I have been REALLY into going to the food truck round ups. Typically we go to the one in Provo on Thursday... because it is the biggest and best and the one I am used to going to. However... we found out that Springville has one on Friday... and well.... we wanted some sushi and donuts again. Ha ha. So we went and got them. Yum I wish I were eating this right now.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 380

Picking up where I left off...

Friday night after work I headed up to the cabin at Sundance to hang out with my cousins one more time before Lisa and her family left. We had a great time as always. Love spending time with my cousins. So sad that they are leaving and that I don't get to see them more often.

Saturday my good friend and neighbor, Josh, called me up in the morning and asked me if I wanted to lay out at the Provo Rec pool with him. I of course said yes because I love hanging out and talking with Josh and I need to get some color on my super white skin. We were just there for a couple of hours, but I definitely need to keep doing that the rest of the summer. I hope it becomes a regular thing.

Later on... I went over to my parents house and decided to Paint with Bob Ross with Jamie and Dan. It is WAY harder than it looks. Although this was my second time doing it... I felt like this time was harder than the first time. Anyway, I already blogged about that so, no need to say more.

Sunday was fathers day. So at family dinner, we of course celebrated all of the fathers. My dad doesn't like the attention of fathers day or his birthday... or maybe he does but just doesn't know how to take the praise... but he is awesome and I am lucky to have him as my dad.

Monday after work I met up with my family. We went and got Cafe Rio and then went to Mapleton Park for a free concert. I guess Mapleton does a free concert series every Monday night for the month of June. Pretty awesome. It was a good concert too. We all enjoyed it. Plus... I just love summer nights. It is lighter longer and the perfect temperature. Plus I was eating good food and with my family. It was a great Monday night. And my last night with Jamie and her family before they headed back home to Arizona.

Tuesday after work... I went grocery shopping (my least favorite chore. Yuck! Then I went and watching the sunset... which is one of my favorite activities... so I guess they balanced each other out. Ha ha.

I didn't do much Wednesday besides work... so....

That leaves me to today. I of course spent the day at work.. Then Candice, Drew and I went to the food truck round up. I LOVE the round up. I got Sushi and Art City Donuts (which we were all very excited about) and then went to eat while we watched the sunset. Now THAT is a great night. I sure love to eat good food. I wish it didn't make me fat. Guess life can't always go the way you want it to.

Pedicure with Jayna

Always nice to get a pedicure with a friend. Jayna and I have worked together for years, but didn't really get to know each other until I moved teams and since have become good friends. We both needed a pedicure, so we decided to go on our lunch break and get one. Nice break from work if I do say so myself.

Jamie's in Town!

Jamie and her family have been in town this week. It has been nice to spend time with her. I wish it were more often. Love my sisters.

Painting with Bob Ross... and Jamie & Dan

Decided to try and paint with Bob Ross again. Jamie and Dan wanted to give it a try as well. This one was a lot harder than my first painting with Bob Ross... and it REALLY shows in my painting. ha ha.

I think it is funny that a half hour painting show always takes me 2 hours. But it is fun to do with other people... because we always laugh the entire way through. That is what makes it fun. And everyone's painting turns out totally different... and looks not very much like Bob's.

Thanks Jamie and Dan for painting with me. :)

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 379

Since I already blogged about most of my happenings this week... I think this will be pretty short.

Friday was Irelyn's dance performance. Cute... but long. It is just a bummer that you have to sit through 2 hours of dances to watch the 2 minute one that you want to see. Oh well. I probably wouldn't have cared so much had I not had my Half Marathon VERY EARLY the next morning.

So... I didn't get a good dinner and went to bed later than I wanted which is what I am going to blame on me not being able to finish the half marathon sooner. I was hoping to finish in 2 1/2 hours... but I finished in just a little under 3. Or we could blame it on the fact that I didn't train as much as I should have. Either way... maybe next time I do one I will have a better time. I think I improved on my time since the first one. Plus.... the biggest improvement was that I wasn't sore after the race or the next day. I credit that to all the weight lifting. I am stronger than I look.

In fact, after a nap and shower... later that evening I went to Summerfest with Kyle. I didn't want to miss fireworks! I love them. We ran into some friends and walked around and enjoyed a beautiful summer night and some awesome fireworks.

Sunday I was SUPER excited because my cousin Lisa and her family were in town. They invited me over to the cabin along with my cousin Dave and his family to hang out and have a yummy grilled dinner. I LOVE spending time with my cousins. They are the best.

Monday after work I picked up my new bag my friend Sarah made for me. Perfect Travel bag. I am super excited. After picking up the bag... Heather asked me if I would go with her to see a friend perform in a Niel Diamond cover band. I actually was surprised by how many of the songs I knew and guessed before they were performed. I was glad that we sat in the back corner by ourselves... because I we were laughing and singing along... I was cracking jokes and trying to be funny. I don't consider myself to be very funny... but Heather thinks I am hilarious so that makes me feel pretty cool. Ha ha. Anyway... It wasn't the best concert I have ever been to, but we had a good time.

So while my cousin was in town, so was my sister, Jamie. So I took turns on different nights hanging out with both of them. So Tuesday night, I went to my parents house to visit with Jamie and Dan and their kids and of course the rest of my family that was there. We just hung out and chatted as we normally do.

Wednesday night after work, I went to my sister Kristy's house for dinner. I ate and hung out with the family for a while, but then headed to the cabin to hang out with the cousins again. We had snacks and played cards... even though I hate playing games... they made me play this card game that I didn't understand or care about... but I still won. Not sure how that worked out. Anyway... anything is fun with the cousins.

Guess that brings us to today. Work Work Work. Then to my parents house to hang out with Jamie again.

Good week. I love spending time with my family and I am so glad that I have so many of them here this week. Just hate splitting my time between them. I prefer when they come at different times so I can spend as much time as possible with each. Oh well... make the best out of it I can.

Photo of the Week 377

Sunset in one of my favorite spots in Provo... Buffalo Peak up Provo Canyon.

Reminiscing about Frolicking through Lavender Fields

My friend had a memory pop up on her Facebook about us 7 years ago frolicking through lavender fields... I had been meaning to make them into GIF's but never did... so 7 years later, I finally decided to do it.

Enjoy!

Wisharts are in town!

When the Wisharts are in town... I spend lots of time at the cabin eating and playing games and hanging out and piling in to the party van with the entire crew for adventures.... and I LOVE every minute of it. I'm bummed that I didn't get more pictures... but had fun playing.

Also kept the tradition of going to Sodalicious. Love our Sodalicious tradition.

First Fireworks of the Summer

Even though I ran the half marathon in the morning and was pretty tired...  I LOVE fireworks... and didn't want to miss the first fireworks of the summer. I go to Summerfest in Orem every year. I didn't want to miss it this year. Thankfully Kyle wanted to go as well.

So we went and ran into people we knew and socialized and found a place to sit and watch the fireworks. We found a place away from the crowd and were laying right under them. We even had firework pieces falling on us. Ha! I love it. I Love fireworks and I LOVE summer!!!

Utah Valley Half Marathon - Take 2

I'm not sure how I was convinced to run this half marathon again... but my friend, Kristi, that works at the gym at work convinced me to sign up with her. I put back on more weight since I did it last... but I am stronger and in better shape than I was when I did it last... so I had no idea how it was going to go.

I didn't train the way I wanted to this time. I wanted to run outside everyday but it was too cold and then it was too hot. I did however run 9 miles (running most of it) and felt ok the next day... so I felt like I was going to be ok. Last time I did this I had never run more than 3 miles in my life and when I was done with the race... I could barely walk for the next couple of days after. So I was definitely stronger this time.

The night before the race I was up in Salt Lake watching my niece in her dance recital so I didn't get a good dinner and I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted (since you have to get up at 3:30am to be at the mall to take the bus up at 4am. It is crazy. So energy levels were not the best for me... but I did it.

Waiting in the cold for over an hour isn't the most fun. The nerves of doing the race just sit with you while you wait. There are so many people. I'm so tired but everyone around me seems to pumped. I was glad I had a friend to talk to. I don't think I would ever sign up for something like this if someone didn't convince me to. ha ha. Here is Kristi and I waiting to start the race. I am wearing my race jacket that I got. This year they did jackets instead of shirts because it was their 10th anniversary of the race. Kind of cool. They fold up and fit into a tiny pouch... so great for traveling or backpacking light. So it will be nice to have around.

Then the race started. I feel like starting out is the worst. All you can thinking about is that you are already tired and you just started... haven't gotten into the groove yet... and how far you have to go. At least we had a beautiful canyon to look at and that is the first 8 miles of the race. Kristi ran with me for almost half of the race... but I could tell I was slowing her down and she was trying to be nice and supportive and stick with me. I told her she really didn't have to. I ran the last one by myself, I could run this one by myself too. I like to go at my own pace and not feel the pressure of slowing anyone else down. I had my tunes. That is all I needed. Last time I created this entire long playlist. This time I just put on pandora. It worked out great.

I ran most of the first 8 miles going through the canyon. Didn't really stop for water or a snack until the half way mark. Then I could tell that I needed to. While running through the canyon I saw a dead snake on the ground that I almost stepped on, a dead bat on the ground that I ran around, and I was coming out of the canyon... there was a big deer (buck) that came down the mountain from somewhere and you could tell it wanted to cross the road, but saw all of the runners and changed it's mind and pranced off back up the mountain where it came from. It was pretty cool. That was probably the highlight for me. If I were closer to him... I would have gotten my phone out and taken a picture, but it was kind of a pain to get my phone out. It was in a little pack in the curve of my back buckled around my waist which worked out quite nicely. There was also an emergency snack in there in case I needed it... which I didn't and my car key was in there as well. Anyway... when I cam out of the canyon and hit the 9 mile mark, I was making pretty good time and I thought I would be able to finish the race in 2 1/2 hours... but then I started getting really hot and losing energy and when you come out of the canyon the race is so boring and you know exactly where you are and how much longer you have because you count every street and block. You can see the temple in downtown Provo where the race ends from SO far away... but you know how far away you are... so it is a little discouraging.

I knew that Kristi was waiting for me, so that was pushing me a little. I had no idea how far ahead of me she was. I struggled more and more towards the end, especially when my goal time came and passed and I still had a couple of miles to go. However, I did finish it under 3 hours and that will just have to be good enough for me. I'm not a runner. I accepted that fact a long time ago... so just finishing these races is a big deal for me. Kristi had texted me asking me where I was when I had 3 miles left. Thanks to my new apple watch, I saw her text and instead of getting my phone out to text her back, I just replied by talking into my watch. So nice and convenient to do while running. She was there waiting for me in the last block of the race and ran in with me. So nice for her to wait since she finished a half hour before me. She is so positive and encouraging and was so great to do this race with. She has always been such a great cheerleader for me when it comes to my health and fitness. And a good friend.

After the race, I took my shoes off and I was shocked to find my toe like this... my toes weren't hurting so I had no clue. I clipped my toenails so I wouldn't lose another one this race... but it looks like I am going to lose it anyway.  Oh well. But I went out and about that night after the race... so at the end of the day I looked at my fitness app on my watch and I got all kinds of steps in and miles and awards. Go me.

I came home from the race and found this waiting for me on my back porch. Very sweet of my mom. She knew I was a little nervous to do it again and didn't feel quite prepared. So nice to know she and others are proud of me. I need a little encouragement in my life. I am so hard on myself and have a hard time believing in myself... so I will take all the love and encouragement I can get. Thanks mom!

I didn't hurt like I did last time after the race, and I think I even improved on my time a little bit, but I still feel like I could have done better. But I am glad that I did it again. It was an accomplishment. will I sign up for another half marathon? Maybe... but probably not for a while. Maybe this is something I do every 4 years. ha ha. We shall see. It would be nice (if I do it again) if I can be thinner AND be in great shape. That would be ideal and I would probably do a lot better on time. Anyway... Thank you Kristi for being so supportive and running the first half with me and waiting for me at the end to run in with me. So nice to have someone to do the race with and encourage me and feel like I can do it.

Here is a video my friend RJ created of the race. He has gotten so good as a videographer that he is being hired all the time. Way to go RJ. Once he saw me at the end of the finish line... he even made sure to film me and make sure I made it into the video for a hot second.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=170&v=T9EC3SqRCGw