A Time of Thanksgiving

With November comes the colors of Fall. I loved driving around the small, narrow roads near my house seeing the arrays or orange, red, and yellow.

On November 11th, HBO sponsored the Concert for Valor on the Washington Mall. I met up with a friend after work and we were so far back that we had to watch on one of these screens. Not a big deal because the concert was fantastic! I later showed my 14-year-old niece the picture of Carrie Underwood and asked my niece if she knew who was in the picture. She responded she didn't know but that the woman looked familiar. I then showed her the picture of the guy in the second picture. My niece replied simply "That's Metallica." You can see how my brother has influenced his kids' taste in music.

After the concert, we walked around the monuments. The lighting was perfect!

The warm weather quickly cooled right in time for the half marathon. Start time was 25 degrees and it was only 30 degrees at the finish. I've never run a more frigid race, but I finished in 2:01. I had mixed feelings because I really wanted to see 1:59. Oh well. I'm going to keep pushing myself and try again next year.

Thanksgiving involved a 4K turkey trot with friends. We ran from Gravelly point to the Jefferson Monument. Though we are bundled up, the weather cooperated with minimal wind and tepid temperatures.

The day after Thanksgiving I met up with friends at the botanical gardens to see the train and monument displays that were created all in natural materials (bark, leaves, stems, plants, etc.) I wish my nieces and nephews were around because they would love the displays. And if I'm honest, my dad would have loved the trains too.

Running, Running, Running

October was mostly spent training for the Richmond Half-Marathon. The weeks were filled with five to six mile runs with the weekends being double that. Unfortunately I put my weekend adventures on hold until I finished training for this race. I felt good about my time and how strong I was getting. For my 12-mile run, my visiting teacher drove me to Herndon and I ran back to my car in Falls Church. Great motivation for not stopping!

The beginning of a 12-mile run

One weekend was a mid-singles conference and one event was held at the French Embassy. I'd been there before and didn't the venue was worth the hype being placed on it. Oh well. Still had fun with friends.

Friends at the French Embassy

Friend at the French Embassy

Facetime for the twins' birthday

The last week of October my good friend Mel came to visit. Mel, Cheryl (good friend who lives close-by), and I were able to enjoy some time together and endure the ritual we call Halloween. I love when my friends are in town!

Trunk-or-treat? Kids have it too easy

Avengers

Roommates together again

Happy Halloween!

The Longest Month

I avoided Canada in January. Too much cold. Too much snow. Unfortunately I didn't escape traveling there in February. First, Canada knows how to clear roads fast. Second, when four blocks stand between your office and your hotel, you survive the cold by stopping at strategic points along the way: caramel hot chocolate, macarons, and Tim Hortons.

 

The snow kept coming and coming Virginia. This was my car after a day of constant snowing. I did what any self-respecting Utah girl would do: I suited up and dug out my car.

The morning after...

Surprisingly, a week later, it warmed up enough for me to get out and tackle my first run in four months. My legs ached in a good way.

Endure to the End

You know those moments where you finally sit down to finish a project, push save, refresh and realize nothing saved. Welcome to September. This post has already been written so the second go-around will probably not be as detailed, which is good for you as the previous one tended to push the TMI limits.

Source of my strength through all of this craziness!

First, the job: I finally (Whew!) received a phone call from the recruiter telling me he could officially extend the offer. So began actually applying for the job so he could move through the process, negotiating salary (thanks to my HR friend who helped me with my skills), background check, and three weeks later (seriously?!) I had an email letting me know I was moving to Virginia!

Offer letter

Second, how my boss took it: her jaw dropped as she slunk into her chair. She tried to the "whatever they offered you, we'll match it". No they couldn't. I had a really, really good offer. I gave her two weeks and she asked for three. Considering I didn't like the idea of going without a paycheck and I wanted to leave on good terms regardless of all that happened, I agreed to three weeks.

Third, family time: I took some time to check on things at my parents' house and my two nieces agreed to the quick 3-hour round trip drive. We ended the day at a pool party which is how all summers should end: by the pool. Later my aunt and I attended the James Taylor with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert. Honestly, I didn't know most of his singles and neither did my aunt. Still a good time.

G-town with a Planes character

James Taylor concert

Fourth, football: I needed one more weekend in California and a friend had offered one of his tickets to the ASU v. Stanford game. In reality, this date didn't go that well. We had met once and hit it off, but for some reason this date really shut off any potential. Probably didn't help that I was moving across the country. Oh well. At least I got to see a football game. Another friend of mine offered me a ticket to the Texas v. BYU football game. That started about as bad as the Stanford date but ended on a much better note. I had never seen rain like this in Utah and only a few times here in Virginia. Wow!

Stanford stadium

BYU game right before the storm moved in

Storm coming 

The crowd cheering as the clouds moved in 

Winning the game

Fifth, running: I decided I wasn't working out and started training for a half-marathon in October. That's what I do. When I need to get healthy, I sign up for half-marathons. Not 5Ks. Half-marathons.

Sixth, being blinded: My eyesight started weakening from my LASIK surgery seven years ago. I wasn't surprised. I knew it could happen. I went from wearing coke-bottle glasses to seeing. Modern-day miracle in my opinion. But I had all this money saved up in my HSA account and I figured I should use it and touch up the LASIK. Long (very, very, very) story short. The day I went in for surgery, we discovered I had an eye infection. Many bottles of antibiotics and doctor's appointments, my eyes were primed for PRK surgery as I wasn't a candidate for LASIK after this long. FYI, PRK is harder to recover from, especially when you try and run 8 miles the next day and a different infection decides to attack your eyes rendering you blind (or at least an out of focus camera lens). Thus began a three month long journey.

Just the beginning

Virginia Visit

The day I flew to Virginia I had my second interview with Eloqua (technically Oracle since they bought Eloqua six months ago). I prepped myself for all types of questions and found I spoke probably 10% of the time. It was more about letting me know what I was getting in for. I felt good about things and flew out to DC. My friend Jon was great and helped arrange a place for me to stay and a few Fourth of July activities.

4th of July BBQ

Crowds gathered to watch the fireworks at the Jefferson Memorial

Jon also let me borrow his car to explore some Civil War Battlefields. That morning as I was driving, I got a call from the recruiter expecting to hear whether or not he was going to set up more interviews. He offered me the job instead! I was ecstatic!! Here I was in Virginia trying to figure out if I should move there and all these answers came pointing to a resounding yes! It was only 10am by this point and I called my sister in Utah hoping she was awake since it was a holiday. My favorite phone call was to my aunt who knew the depth of the trials and heartache I was feeling. I had such a great time at the battlefields and ended up just skimming through four because I knew I'd be back. I loved knowing I was going to be back.

Maybe a bit of overload

Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg (Union soldiers charged up this hill)

Chancellorsville

That night Jon and I explored the monuments and we basically had the place to ourselves. Apparently the day after the 4th of July is when you want to visit the monuments. No one wants to venture back downtown.

My favorite monument at night

I flew home on cloud nine. However, my life being what it was, I hit a roadblock. The recruiter called me back the next week with troubling news. Kinks were still being worked out due to the acquisition and apparently the product team had a hiring freeze and the team couldn't officially offer me the job until September. The recruiter and I talked things over with an understanding that I wanted the job and he wanted to offer it. Thus began two agonizing months of trying to wait patiently. This scenario surfaced many hidden feelings I'd kept bottled up and I felt myself losing it and experiencing past disappointments. My mom asked me if I was running and when I told her no, she responded, "I think you need to start running again. That seems to work for you." And she was right. Running has become the perfect therapy for me. So I ran my first official 5K race with my sister and niece at the end of July.

Temple to temple 5K

Let Me Explain. No Let Me Summarize

Tonight I was looking at the last time I wrote on a consistent nature. June 2012. Interestingly, that's right when life got turned upside down. I decided that the next few posts will be recapping what I've been up to the past 1.5 years. Because as much as I love to make everyone think I've only been working that entire time, I did find a way to sneak in some fun.

June 2012

• Ran the Utah Valley Half Marathon with my brother (he actually ran the marathon) and sister-in-law. Finished under 2 hours! I actually hated the course. The asphalt was killer on my knees and I had a neuroma flair up in my foot so it was 13.1 miles of fighting through pain.

  

  Rich, Kaylene, Me, Lesa, Brent

• Spent the week in St. George with my family. Well, I spent most of the week. Half of it was working while everyone played. That didn't make for a happy me.

  

  Okay. I had some fun. :)

• Traveled to San Francisco for work and spent one day at LinkedIn. Now that's a cool company.
  
• Hiked Timp. Started at 5pm. Hiked fast. Got down at 1:30am. I would not recommend leaving that late or hike in June. I now understand why people wait until August. Walking on a frozen snow next to a cliff created quite the slippery situation. Grateful we all made it back safely. I was incredibly sore the next few days. More so than when I ran the half marathon the week before.

  

  Only 2 hours into the hike

Sunday Reflections

To my renewed love of reading: Thank you. I've missed you. Sitting and reading a book, even one as dense as John Adams, for hours has been refreshing. It's also sparked some interesting dreams again.

To my dreams: If you are going to make a complicated love triangle, can you make sure to finish it the next night? I'm interested to see how this one plays out. Also, the science experiment the hot guy and I were working on last night was awesome. Keep it up.

To my dear friend: The 2 1/2 hour conversation made my day. Definitely need to do that more often. Glad to hear you are doing well.

To you who didn't call: You missed out.

To my former student: Thanks for the kind words. It's good to hear I'm still making a difference.

To my roommate: I love that you texted me from London. Live it up.

To the the crabby guy who emailed me at work: I don't know you. You don't know me. Was I really worth your time to make such a disparaging comment? I didn't think so.

To ABC Family: Thanks for making cheesy movies to watch on a Sunday night. Great contrast to the heavy reading (see above) I'm trying to finish before Wednesday.

To the chocolate chip cookies: Sorry I didn't have any eggs. But it was Sunday. Not going to the store. I'll have to make you tomorrow.

To my morning run: Only two more of you I have to do. Then I get to run because I want to.

To the half marathon on Saturday: Be kind.

To my lazy weekend: I don't remember the last time I had one. Felt nice not to be rushing from one thing to the next. Also, thank you clouds for making it overcast so I could finish my long run in spite of the 80 degree weather.

To my family and friends: You truly are amazing!

What Did You Have For Dinner?

This past month I have eaten out wayyyyyyy too much! Seriously! One week I had four dinner dates with friends. Though I loved the convenience, my credit card and waistline did not!

The first drastic measure to alter this trend came two weeks ago. I signed up for another half marathon, then got out my calendar and planned out my running schedule for the next four months. (My brother is actually crazier than I am. He decided to join me for the race but signed up for the full marathon. My sister-in-law is much saner and will run the half with me.) I have enjoyed my morning runs and have found satisfaction in the challenge of beating my goal. This is going to be fun! :)

The second lifestyle change happened tonight. I cooked! I actually love to cook and bake but have let all the traveling and moving and friendly dinner outings get in the way. Now, I have food for lunches for the rest of the week! Healthy lunches too!

Life is good.

12 People, 2 Vehicles, 180 Miles of Running

Last summer my friend Ben asked me to be part of his Red Rock Relay team. Being the crazy fool I was, I excitedly said, "Sure!" I had no idea what I was getting into especially since I traveled to San Francisco the week before and had little time to train in August. Also, after running two half-marathons, I was kind of tired. For those not familiar with the Ragnar or other relay races, here is a quick recap: A team of 12 runners tackles one set of 3 legs that equals to 180+ miles. Our team started at 7:00am at Brian Head Ski Resort in near Cedar City, UT and ended at the entrance of Zions National Park the next day at 1:20pm.

In spite of my lack of desire to run at the time of the relay, I packed up my parents' Honda Pilot and traveled to Southern Utah with a few friends. Since I was part of the second vehicle, we decided to spend the night in Provo and head down that morning. We met up with our teammates around 10am and quickly joined the party. I didn't realize how much fun we would have cheering one another on and supporting one another as a team. We survived blistering heat, rain and hail, frigid temperatures, and a few miscues between the two teams. My first run was right when the storm subsided. It was a bit chilly at 10,000+ feet but it made for an easier uphill run. I felt energized and excited for the next run.


Finishing my first run
We made it into Cedar City, passed off the baton to the other team, and grabbed a bite to eat. I tried to grab a bit of sleep but it was too light and a former student saw my Facebook check-in and wanted to see me. These two girls met me at the SUU campus and we caught up on life. It really was fun to see these girls grownup and doing well. An hour later we were off again. My next run was another uphill route but I had trained for hills so nothing I couldn't handle. It was weird running through the mountains with no one around me. We were close to the Mountain Meadows Massacre site and it was a bit spooky knowing the background of that story. After I was finished, I continued driving while everyone else slept except the runner who was out at the time. I did miss our runner once because I fell asleep but we we found him at the next check point.


Still smiling and happy after my second run.
Finally we were off to Washington to the last checkpoint, which happened to be at the local rec center. I found a lounge chair by the pool and grabbed an hour or two of sleep. Around 6:30am, we were off again ready to finish the last 38 miles. My last leg was extremely hard for me. I had a couple of large, rolling hills and the heat was setting in. I was getting discouraged but was able to push through by remembering an email from my boss: Just take it one step at a time. (I really do have a great boss!) After one last push, I handed the baton off to my teammate. I was finished!


Yes. I ran up that hill. And another just like it around the bend. Not fun but I kept going.
The last few hours of running just got hotter. I felt bad for my teammates. We stopped more frequently and offered water to all the runners who passed us not just our own. We finally met up with the first vehicle and ran the last 50 yards together. Such an accomplishment! It required a very different mental endurance than any of my half-marathons. I enjoyed my night run and the beautiful scenery during the day. Simply breathtaking!


One of the beautiful vistas we ran by. You can see Zions in the background.

On Monday when my boss asked me about the relay I replied, "It was fun, in a sadistic sort of way." I still believe that. It required a physical and mental toughness that I thrive on. Even though I hadn't had a good training schedule between my July half-marathon and the Red Rock, I felt such a sense of accomplishment. I'm up for another one if any of you ever need a teammate.

I brought my camera hoping to snap a shot or two. My teammates went camera crazy and took over 500 pictures! I've posted a few of them here but if you want to see a a lot more of them, then visit my Facebook page. For those who are looking for cheap therapy, I recommend running. It's been a lifesaver for me.


We made it!

Three marks for each "leg" we ran.