Rodeo Roundup

So this is my niece and I at the Lehi Rodeo, she was getting a little bored of the horse bucking sooo we pulled out the camera. It was a fun rodeo even though a few of the cowboys got trampled by the bulls.

During "half time," we'll call it- the motor cross guys came with their motorcycles and did some crazy flips off these ramps. It was really cool but as they are in the air you are thinking, " don't die- don't die, don't die, don't die."

With snow cones dripping down our hands and on our feet we managed to get a group picture. My nephew punctured a hole in the bottom of his. Good times:)

One of a kind

So unlike most of America, I was still a Michael Jackson fan. I was kind of sad on Thursday when I found out that he died. I remember dancing to his music, watching Moonwalker, and his music videos when I was little. It's amazing that every song was had a different sound to it and an amazing music video. In my opinion regardless of how he acted as he grew older, he was just a guy who tried to show the world love- a love he never got growing up. He lived a very lonely life and I'm glad he's in a place where he is accepted and people love him. There will never be another singer who will have as much success as he did.

His dancing ability was remarkable as well as some of his legendary moves such as the moon walk. I will confess that I did watch all his music videos on Friday and I have been listening to his music this past weekend. I remain a big fan:)

No Bed, No Bath and Beyond

On Friday morning we woke up at 5:00 am to get in the car and drive up to Logan for the start of the Ragnar race. If you recall from a past blog, this was a two day relay race from Logan to Park City which covered 175 miles. We had a 12 person team, and Reuben and I averaged about 16 miles each.  At this point Reuben had already run 5.6 miles and I was getting ready to run 7.4 miles that would climb 1210 feet. 

It looks all nice and green here. What I was about to run was 7.4 miles of dusty hills. It was switch backs all the way up!  Little did Kira know that she was about to run up the hill of death!  I am still amazed that she ran the 7 miles all up hill.

This is Sara giving me the slap bracelet allowing me to start my journey of doom. I have done hills before but those hills were killer. After I was done with my leg of the race I began what they call the runner's runs. TMI ... well sorry about it.  ... and might I add that the "runner's runs" must 'run' in the family, because I ran across the same thing myself.

Even though the Ragnar was really hard- there was some good comic relief:)  That looks real in the picture. Wow.

This is Reuben after running 8.6 miles. He ran it so fast- he came in under his time. If you see Laura Lee and her cute night gear, that would be what I ran in in the pitch black later that night. Running with a head lamp and glow stick- I did think I had lost my mind at that point. I ran for 4 miles and then we waited for one more of our runners to finish. We made it to a high school where we slept for 3 hours before the rest of our team finished. We left the high school at 6 am and I ran another 5 miles at 8 am.  What she didn't mention was the shower situation. I paid $2 for a shower--expecting some sort of sponge bath in a relaxing hot tub.  What I got was a high school locker room, with urine-capped tile and the tree of life shower head arrangement.  At one point, it was just understood that we would leave that high school with a disease--either from the unsanitary locker rooms, or from the wrestling mats nesting ring worm, which we used as mattresses during the night.  No joke though, we seriously felt like Will Smith and his son on The Pursuit of Happiness when they were racing to get into the homeless shelter.  It was a race to get the good spot in the smelly gym. Luckily we were fast ones.

 

This is me after running 5 miles. I was done at that point and gave the camera the, "I'm a moron" look.  I think she looks great after running about 16 miles!

Here is Reuben finishing his last leg of the race. I swear he sprinted the whole thing. It started to rain super hard during his race so he looked all pro when he came through the finish line sprinting and soaking wet.  Little did Kira know that I had stopped by a hotel pool, had taken a swim, and had hitched a ride a block away from the finish line. ... hence, the wet look and the energy to sprint.  Once I figured this race out, it was cake.

Overall, I need to give props to Kira.  She was my Mrs. Miaggi and taught me everything I know.  She outran our target times and gave me candy when I was weary.  I couldn't have done it with out her. (applause here)

I was tagged by my friend Brook

 

8 things I did yesterday:

1. Finished running the RAGNAR, that’s right a total of 16 miles for me

2. Went to CPK for dinner

3. Fell into a coma at 4pm

4. Went to have cake and ice cream over at Danny and Rebekah’s

5. Took my last handful of sourpatch kids- we are going to lay off the candy for a little

6. Read my scriptures

7. Took a much needed shower after running for two days straight

8. Watched another episode of LOST

8 Favorite TV Shows:

1. I Love Lucy- probably a favorite

2. Friends

3. Lost

4. Discovery Health channel, preferably surgery

5. Seinfeld

6. Ellen

7. Extreme makeover home edition

8. Here come the newlyweds

8 Favorite Eats:

1. Guru’s

2. El Torrito Grill

3. CPK

4. Cheese Cake Factory

5. Panera

6. Café Rio

7. La Serrena Grill

8. Macaroni Grill

8 Things I am looking forward to:

1. Having kids

2. Moving in to our new house

3. Graduating from BYU

4. Starting Nursing School

5. Going to Jenna’s farewell

6. Going home for Christmas

7. My new calling in Laurels

8. Running a marathon

8 Things on my Wish List:

1. Have warm weather year round

2. Actually getting A’s in my classes

3. Going back to Cancun

4. Visit my mission again and Reuben’s in Brazil

5. Continue to travel the world with Reuben

6. Going to Africa and picking up a few kids there

7. Eventually getting a new car

8. Going on a mission with Reuben

8 Things I am Thankful For:

1. My husband- he’s amazing

2. Being  raised in a family that is strong in the church

3. Meeting the people that I did on my mission, life changing

4. Good friends that make me laugh

5. A strong family

6. To be able to go to BYU even though it kicks my trash

7. The gospel and my testimony

8. Health

What have we done?

Tomorrow Reuben and I will be running in the Ragnar relay from Logan to Park City. This is a two day race that might kill us both. Due to my minor run in with the swine flu, we've only trained for about four days for this. Reuben's grand total comes to around 18.5 miles while mine comes to about 15. I can't do down hill because my knee will pop off, that's why Reuben had to take one for the team and do the longer runs. Well stay tune for what actually happens to us- we'll have pictures on Sunday:) It's just a small 175 mile race... if you don't hear from us for a while we are somewhere on the wasatch back.

http://www.ragnarrelay.com/index.php?option=com_dynamicpages&Itemid=49&page=video&videoID=5

A LITTLE PREVIEW OF THE RACE

Major beach time

We stayed at the Hilton in Cancun for our honeymoon. Check this view out. No wonder we didn't feel bad about not leaving the hotel. 

After doing the peanut butter and jam sandwiches during the day, we went out for caloric shock at some of the mexican restaurants around. 

Had to make sure the tree knew I appreciated it.

Dang he's good looking

It was seriously amazing!

Evidence that we did get out of our bathing suits at least a few times. 

The sand was white which makes the water look beautiful. We are totally going back, maybe we can make it a yearly thing:)