My 2015 in Review

This last year was pretty amazing sauce for me!

And, with that being said, I look forward to a wonderful 2016 ahead of me.

Highlights of 2015

• Dad came to San Francisco with me on an overnight.
• Visited Ireland for the first time ever...and started to show off my Honey Bunny a little bit more.
• Saw Paris a second time. 
• Had some dear friends visit Chicago, and let me play tour guide.
• Saw the Cubs play an amazing baseball game, that later sent them to the playoffs.
• Worked some awesome overnights with some awesome crews.
• Euro-tripped it, again, to Amsterdam with Paul and his auntie. Was a first time for him in Amsterdam. Him and I made a great traveling duo.
• Flew to Iceland, with Paul and my brother Flint, and road tripped the entire island on the famous Ring Road.
• Saw the groundbreaking of a new LDS church in downtown Chicago.
• Took a day trip to PDX for Paul's birthday - all in a day, and even got first class coming home!
• Haribo candies sent me a gold mine of free Haribo gummy candies. BEST! DAY! EVER!
• Watched my brother Cash marry his longtime girlfriend Kali. Funnest wedding all year!
• Took an epic family road trip to Durango, Colorado with my whole family, and Paul.
• Watched the airplanes land at SXM airport in St. Maarten. Then balled my eyes out trying to get out of that airport...
• Jetted to Switzerland, for the most life changing event ever. I GOT ENGAGED! AT THE BASE OF THE MATTERHORN!
• Had more visitors to Chicago - Flint, Paul, and my Mom. And had a few more friends that came to visit too.
• Watched the Chicago marathon, and cheered on those runners.
• Spent those major holidays surrounded by family.
• Witnessed the CTA Christmas train - which was a big deal for me.
• Said goodbye to dive of a restaurant, that will always have wonderful childhood memories. Long live the Cow, may you rest in peace Top Spot.
• Saw Star Wars, fell asleep, and ruined it for those who hadn't seen it. Therefore, took a break from social media. (New Years resolution for the new year: shut up!)
• Rang in the New Year surrounded by my family.

Busy Spring Break

MinDee got to see her favorite TV show "Pawn Stars"

Welcome to Vegas Baby!

We got TWO TICKETS TO LION KING!!!

Eating lots - especially desserts, yum!

What Happens in Vegas - stays in Vegas!  Wish I could say that over spring break staying the night in Vegas led to some crazy happenings.  I can't.  But, I had a great time even though I didn't meet a man.  Me, and some of my married friends had been planning for a while to have a little weekend getaway.  At the last minute one of my gals had to cancel since family was coming into town from out of state.  That left me and MinDawg to party it up on our own.  Holy cow, did we party it up!  Friday afternoon, as soon as I was done working, I high tailed it to Ivins to pick MinDee up.  Because if I wasn't there by 4:00pm on the dot she was going to start walking.  Part of me wanted to be a little late so I could see her out on the road rolling her overnight bag.  No such luck, I was, believe it or not, ON TIME!  (She was outside sitting with her luggage though - so funny!)  We got situated and hit the open road for the City that Never Sleeps.  Just after 5:00pm Vegas time we came rolling into town.  First order of business - check into our hotel digs, The Las Vegas Hilton.  Oh yeah, we are serious classy gals and only live it up at the finest in town!  We checked in, and then were off to shopping.  It's Vegas, we're Mormon, I mean come on, what else do we have to do?  We shopped until the stores closed and then saved the best for last, eating.  We made our way to the finest eating establishment I know of in Vegas - Cheesecake Factory.  It's a total must eat when hitting the Vegas turf.  Okay, okay, so it's a must eat for me anytime I see a Cheesecake Factory.  I have to tell you the food was, as always - AMAZING.  (If you haven't, you need to try their banana cream cheesecake and Dulce De leche cheesecake.)  However, the atmosphere was hurtful to my eyes.  Soon after being seated a couple of gals out on the town showed up, and were seated right in my viewing area. (I would have taken a picture but it would've been totally obvious - sorry!)  This gal, was dressed to kill.  Way to big for her dress, she was hanging out in places I did not want to see!  I thought for sure if she made one wrong turn I was going to see her nipples.  Like you want to read that word, nipples.  Seriously though, don't people check the mirror before leaving the house.  This girl had the biggest REAL boobies I have ever seen!  I did enjoy watching the cute waiter try to look past her "lack of clothes" appearance, and the occasional nonchalant head turn from MinDee, she had to get in on this "sight for sore eyes."  After dinner - close to midnight, our tired old bodies couldn't handle the Vegas night life so we headed back to our hotel.  Off to bed, Saturday was going to be a busy day!

That morning after a not very long "sleep in" we were up and getting ready.  We headed out to do more shopping and eating.  I know, we like to live it up in Vegas!  We found a new shopping center south of the strip and decided to check it out.  What we found was the cutest little shops, parks, and restaurants.  First order of business - eating!  We ate at this cozy Italian bistro.  Had a great meal, and ended the meal with a fabulous array of desserts.  After our lunch we looked around some and then it was off to our show, The Lion King.  MinDee had gotten cheap tickets from a mutual friend of ours and was so excited to go see it.  I was okay with seeing it, but I ended up loving it and almost teared up a few times.  It was pretty amazing to watch, and I totally recommend anyone to go see it.  After the show it was off to a little bit more shopping and eating...eating at Ruby Tuesday.  I know, really?  Yes really!  It was a free meal and you know I don't complain about those. ;)

Vegas was a fun little get away just down the road from us here in Utah.  I hope we can make this a tradition of a "girls weekend" once a year!  The fun didn't last long enough because once the weekend was over it was back to reality.  I had a 10k race we had signed up for.  What were we thinking.  Ha!  Jessie, and I have actually been hitting the gym pretty faithfully since January (a New Years resolution).  Jessie has been doing an awesome job.  We decided that if we were going to be going to the gym weekly then we should set another goal that would have us work towards something, so we signed up for the Spectrum 10k.  MinDee and I had done it once before a few years back, so I got MinDee to sign up with us too.  Saturday morning arrived, and we ran the beautiful scenic Snow Canyon Park.  It ended at the church down the street from my parents.  I improved my time this year, and it even inspired me to get back into these little races.  Not sure if I will do the big stuff like a half marathon, but I sure do like these 5 and 10k's.  If you want to read more Jessie has posted on her blog, here. 

Fat Kids Win at Teeter Totter!!!

I just did the most hardest, yet funnest (if that is even a word...) thing ever! I ran the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay in Utah. The relay started in Logan and ended in Park City, Utah. Out of the 188.2 miles I did 16.5 in two days, including one leg at night. There are 12 of these races in the United States, and I did one of them!!! I had got roped into this madness a year ago. Shellie roped me into it, and ran it with me - thank goodness. Even though we were ready to shoot ourselves in the foot by the end of the race, we endured it, ran it, and loved it! The best part about the race was that we got a cool little sticker to put on our vehicles. By the end of the race we had that sticker in mind, and sure enough, it got us to the finish line. Will I ever do this again, HECK NO! But, I will gladly brag about running it, YOU KNOW IT! ;)

Tidbit on the video.

1. I got lazy by the end of the video and left out my little "Lib-Dawg...Woof! Woof!"

2. I laughed so hard at all the video clips I did in slow motion. They're not pretty.

3. Don't mind my spelling mistakes...

4. Jessie (my sister) did take some video/photo's and I forgot to mention her work in the credits. Thanks Jessie.

Running "For Fun???"

My good pal MinDee talked me into some runs the last month, and I said why not, if they're "fun?" The first run was in Ivins, with their very first 10K, and the other race was the St. George Midnight 5K. I have a big run coming up in a week, and so these little races were part of the training. The race I have coming up is the Wasatch Back, got roped into it, but I'll be with good company (Shellie), so that will help me get through it. At least that is what I keep telling myself.Ivins 10K - made me feel like a really good runner because we ran with all these really big people who were staying at the "Biggest Loser" Fitness Ridge. Yes, I saw some "Biggest Loser" people, but did not feel inclined to talk to them because I am SO over that. The other thing that made me feel good was that half the people who were running the 10K turned at the 5K and didn't even end up doing the 10K. Now who's the Biggest Loser....

Midnight 5K - after being up since 5:00am I meet up with my two girlfriends Alisha and MinDee to try to run in the dark, dark, night. This Midnight 5K is fairly new, but the night we ran it felt like the whole town came out! So many people, and couldn't see anything!!!! One cool thing, I saw an Elder from my mission - totally RANDOM! Another cool thing - short story, I'll try to make it short! As we started the race we were running along when all of a sudden a mouse ran out in front of me and for some reason I COULD SEE THE STINKING MOUSE! So, I of course started to scream like a rape victim and had many people (cops included) looking at me trying to figure out what my dealio was...A mouse, seriously???? After the race we went and ate some greasy food at Denny's - how lame is that? We run a race then stuff our face with fried oily food, and PANCAKE BALLS, yes I said pancake balls that were so heavy! Other than grease - good times were had with my two dear friends. Thanks for running the Midnight Race! Let's do it again, and make it a tradition!!!

Kyle Stapley (Elder Stapley) running his first race...yes he's married, I met his wife! Besides, not interested - Super nice guy!

All geared up in our stuff that glows...can't remember what it's called! Me, Alisha, and MinDee

Bringing Up The Back End!

This weekend I had another fun filled, yet much needed girls weekend. Although, this weekend was a little bit of work. I ran my fourth half marathon...and if you saw my Facebook status I am wondering if four half marathons equal two full marathons...Probably not! Doesn't hurt to ask??? Friday night after a day of crying (literally cried in front of the tutor at the tutoring center...) about Organic "created by the DEVIL HIMSELF" Chemistry I met up with two of my dear married friends MinDee and Alisha for a huge helping of PASTA from the Pasta Factory, a total change of attitude, and a much needed attitude uplift - thanks girls!

I say huge helping of pasta because this Saturday morning the three of us ran the fairly new Snow Canyon Half Marathon. It was my girls first ever half marathon, and boy did they rock it! Totally pleased with them, and impressed that MinDee left Alisha and I in the dust (No worries MinDawg, Lish and I had a good time chatting away). I think my lack of drinking water lately caught up to me on the race and my muscles cramp up horribly bad. As a testimony builder I will not go without drinking water! Besides, I KNOW BETTER! To sum it all up the run was beautiful, and the St. George weather was amazing for this time of year!

After the race, and a little bit of rest, the three of us girls rewarded ourselves with a much needed pedicure! How come the pedicure went by so fast...I wanted it to last a whole lot longer! Well girls, let's do it again!!! (Shellie - my friends are trying to get me to sign up for the St. George FULL Marathon...but I just don't know if I have it in me...and they want to run it with having only ran one half marathon...)

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Another Half Marathon

I'm just now getting around to it, I know, I know. Two weekends ago Shellie and I ran our third 1/2 Marathon. I feel like it might be my last, but my thoughts are always changing. It was so fun to go to Salt Lake and hang with the extended family, eat out, and even get set up on a blind date...wouldn't you like to know more about the blind date... Friday we arrived and picked up our packets at the SLC Convention Center. Shellie and I got dropped off and were going to make our "pick up" quick; Cash was hungry, and impatient. On our way out of the Convention Center I saw two really tall men in black shirts. One of them turned sideways and all of a sudden I went, "HEEEEEY?" The two men turned around and were wearing black "Biggest Loser" shirts. It was like, my first celebrity sighting EVER! We visited with them for a moment, and then walked out to find our ride. As we walked outside I wished that I had my camera, (that is BROKEN) Shellie then said she had one, so we ran back in and snapped a photo with them. Turns out they were running the 1/2 Marathon, and Shellie was lucky enough to run, pass, and leave the one "Biggest Loser" in the dust. Me, yeah, I saw them at the finish line.

Here's a little bit of fun tidbit - those two, super nice, "Biggest Losers" are MORMON! Here's a link to the article about them running in the 1/2 Marathon: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705298600/Losing-never-felt-so-good-for-Arizona-Mormons.html

Well, another 1/2 Marathon to put under my belt. I'm sure I'll be doing it again next year!

Running For Fun!!!

Our wonderful Supporters!!!

Today I ran the Spectrum 10K with one of my dear friends, MinDee. This was her first race that she has ever ran. SHE DID AWESOME!!! She never once stopped through the whole race, and I never left her side. Her friend Stephanie ran with us. Stephanie has ran some races, (St. George Marathon) so this was purely just fun for her. The race started in the middle of Snow Canyon State Park and ended at the church in Ivins, just down the street from my parents house. We ended a little over an hour, with tears of joy, and pure accomplishment. I am so proud of MinDee!

Look out runners, MinDee just caught the running bug, and it looks like we are going to run the Snow Canyon Half Marathon that happens the first week of November. I want to thank my cheerleaders - Jessie, Mom, and Dad. Thanks for showing up an hour before we crossed the finish line...a little over anxious??? (Also, I didn't even use my iPod - Shellie, you are rubbing off on me - it was awesome!)