the new space, the new place.

what a difference a year makes! i look back to what i was doing this time last year and i barely even recognize it. so many amazing things have happened and i am so grateful for each and every one of them:)

with all of these changes and new fantastic things going on it is time to find this new home on a clean slate. i realize i should have made this move quite some time ago, hindsight is 20/20 you know, but now is just as good a time as any. last weekend i crossed a finish line that changed my life (yes it will be detailed to no end in a post soon:)) and i have been floating on cloud nine ever since! this time just 1 week ago i became a marathoner. i joined an elite club of only 1% of the world that i hold incredibly dear to my heart:) its still a little hard to believe i actually did it. that i went four years ago from the girl who hadnt run a mile to the girl who had just completed her 1st 1/2 marathon and said she would never, ever run a full marathon to the girl who crossed the finish line of her very 1st full marathon. its moments like these that makes 1 year ago almost unrecognizable. 


in a new site also comes some new things! i have added a few pages to the top.
   *hi y'all! is a little bit more about me and my story. 
check it out when you have time:)
   *runner girl is the tale of how i became a runner if 
you havent heard it already!
   *coaching is my newest endeavor! 
let me be part of your running story:)

enjoy the new site and share with your friends. and get ready for new posts! sooo as the title above says...
see where my running and life adventures take me next!! 

the big, big news!!

hey y'all!!! i swear i am still alive, just writing to from a very different part of the country now...statesboro, ga to be exact!! now let me do some explaining.

after finishing my masters in january i started job searching all over the us. and after quite a few rejection letters i finally got the email i was waiting for, an offer for an interview in georgia! so while in boise i was making plans to return home sunday of memorial day weekend, shop monday for a new suit, and then hop on another plane down south for what i was hoping would be the start of an amazing new adventure. after a whirlwind of interviewing i was back home waiting/crossing every limb i have for the good news phone call. on wednesday, june 5th while on lunch at whole foods i got that fantastic phone call witht the job offer!!! i accepted the job friday morning and started a whole nother whirlwind of my own. there is A LOT more to the craziness of the story but i dont want to bore you with all the details:)

literally the moment after my new boss
offered me the job:)

so i turned in my notice the following wednesday, the 12th, making june 21st my last day of work, and then planning to leave monday the 24th for georgia for a start on july 1st!! told ya it was a whirlwind:) i was lucky to have a great boss that opted to let me make that monday, the 17th my actual last day so i could get ready for the big cross-country move. it was amazing to have a few more days at home to get things figured out, uhaul trucks rented, goodbye parties planned, running in there, and time with the family.

my fantastic parents!

a quick change of plans happened and we actually ended up leaving sunday the 23rd to go stay the night in flagstaff on our way! my bff jessica lives in phoenix, she and my mom came up with a plan to stay that sunday night there so i could see her before leaving! theyre the best:) so my mom and i bid farewell to my dad sunday afternoon and piled into the uhaul for a very slow trek up to 7000 feet flagstaff. it was during the 1st day that we realized a 30 hour gps drive time was going to be a little unrealistic haha. we didnt really take into account a uhaul truck pulling a dolly with my car on it!

my dad giving last minute instructions:)

our route!

of course a stop for late for the train!

after a great night of visiting mom and i headed out to the 40 for the next few days of our adventure. we decided on the way to collect state signs to help pass the time! plus ive never driven cross-country and i needed something to remember it all by:) instead of capturing the arizona sign we opted for a famous one instead...

and so began a crazy 3 day long trek across the us, literally from one coast to the other. i still cant believe my mom put up with that long in a truck! it was incredibly bumpy but the landscape getting greener and greener on our drive across was kind of awesome. we were super lucky to not hit any substantially bad weather. it was however windy from the moment we left vegas consistently until we got to oklahoma city! that was kind of awful i wont lie.

we were only in tennessee for about 2.5 seconds
there wasnt even a good sign for us to stop at!

finally, finally, finally wednesday afternoon we crossed into georgia!! made our way through atlanta to statesboro pulling in around 1030p. 1st thing we did after checking into our hotel was get my poor car off that damn dolly! plus we were so happy to be in something that didnt feel ever rock/crack/pebble/bump when we went over it to go find dinner that night, which unfortunately meant another night of fast food:/ thursday though we actually got to sleep in and spent the day house hunting! i had a few leads on things it was just a matter of physically seeing them and then making a decision. after seeing a few great ones, and a few not so great things, i decided on a 3 bedroom house with a roommate! she amazingly let me move in the next day-well to the living room at least. she had just started roommate hunting and didnt know they would find someone so quick so they still needed to paint etc. which was ok because we had plans to spend the weekend in savannah with my great aunt and uncle anyway before my mom went home.

my new digs:)

my fantastic mama!

that sunday i had to put her on a plane back to vegas and it was very sad to be honest:( we are super close and she was so amazing to drive all that way with me and help me move in. it was nice that she was on summer vacation! last monday the 1st i began my job. let me tell you, working a full week after being off for 2 was rough lol. and i am no longer living in the living room! i spent just about all last week moving in and getting settled. my new comforter arrived monday, the last big piece to my new room.

oh, i forgot to tell you what im doing! i am working in admissions, running the campus visit program, advising the volunteer tour group, and coordinating different recruiting events on and off campus! it is so seriously right up my alley and has already been a great adventure! i am almost done with week 2 already. i have met some amazing people and everyone here is sooo super nice, welcoming, and just darn excited im here:) i have been waiting for an opportunity like this for a really long time and am so excited its finally here!! its the start of a grand new adventure in life both professionally and professionally:) did i mention i was really, really excited about it all??!! i cant thank everyone enough for their love and support these last few months in helping me get here:) so follow me along this new adventure of working, running, and living in the south. i cant wait to experience and share it all!!

welcome to the south.
we have margaritas in mason jars here:)

the 4 year runniversary.

in my general nerdiness, i know exactly the day i began running. that would be today! its a day that changed so much in my life and who knows where i would be without it. heres the recaps of the last 2 years in case you havent read them. so in honor i put in some double digit miles this flat, downhill miles that ended at my favorite breakfast place in vegas! it let me think about the last year and the races/places i got to do/see and some of the outside things that changed too. i was also rewarded with this...

helll-o red velvet coffee cake!

#8 the et 1/2 marathon

rachel, nv

august 4th, 2012

2:18:41!

holy omg this one was tough! it started at midnight just outside area 51, and ps i am totally afraid of the dark. a headlight was required and the course was no joke. the 1st 6.5 miles were straight up a 800 foot elevation gain. luckily the last 6.5 were a straight shot down to the little ale-inn. 

#9 the nike womens 1/2 marathon

san francisco, ca

october 14th, 2012

2:08:34!

i finally made it through the lottery and into the race! it was as amazing as i was hoping it would be and a vacay with some of my favorite people to boot. the super hilly course was nothin to laugh at. but the bling, was 1000% worth it:)

#10 saints and sinners 1/2 marathon

boulder city, nv

october 20th, 2012

1:57:15!!!

so i got a little crazy and decided to sign up for back to back halves, just to see if i could do it. for the record...i totally can. and can totally rock it!

#11 the kaiser permanete southern california 1/2 marathon

irvine, ca

january 12th, 2013

1:56:03

this wasnt in the original plan. it actually came right in the middle of training for surf city the next month. while in town for my grandpas 80th birthday i needed a 12 mile training run and found a 1/2 only 3 miles from the hotel. some quick convincing to my friend jen and i had a buddy that paced me all the way to a shiny new pr!

#12 surf city 1/2 marathon

huntington beach, ca

february 5th, 2013 

1:58:03!

a long time in the making, this was a half run half cheer on friends from college to their 1st full marathon event! the weekend turned into a big reunion and i had a blast:) 

i did of course also have a lot of fun this year...

 midnight 5k

st george, ut

may 26th, 2012

27:08!

tarmisha decided she wanted to run a 5k and it doesnt take very much to convince sandy and i to run:) so we headed up north 1 friday after work to st george and ran at midnight! it was so fun.

roadrunner 4th of july 5k blast

las vegas, nv 

july 4th, 2012

27:30!

instead of the traditional morning 5k on 4th of july, sandy found a night one instead. a few light up tiaras later we had ourselves 1 very festive group!

 police and fire 10k

las vegas, nv

august 11th, 2012

57:34!

ive never done 2 races on back to back weekends before, but came home with a win in my age group for a fun experiment! ran into lots of runner group friends and even saw sno-cones at the finish line. only in vegas haha!

ragnar relay series

las vegas, nv

november 9th-10th

 

i had been dying to this 200 mile overnight relay for quite some time. 2012 was finally the year to do it! i joined a team with sandy and had an amazing time being stuck in a van for 30 hours with 5 other girls chasing another van plus getting out a running a total of 21 miles as well. it was a total blast! 

10k turkey trot

dana point, ca

november 22nd, 2012

52:59!!!!

with how much fun my mom and i had at the 4th of july race the turkey trot it didnt take much convincing to get in a few miles before all the turkey family fun! i think this is for sure going to be a new tradition:) plus a shiny new 10k pr is always good.

the ugly sweater run

las vegas, nv

decemeber 15th, 2012

 

who doesnt want to hunt for an ugly sweater then run it? joined by some new ragnar friends (seriously, those girls are lifers) we headed to fremont street dressed up and on the hunt for beer and hot chocolate. soo fun!

the color run 

las vegas, nv

february 16th, 2013

we had such a blast year, there was no way we were missin it this year! next time though, we will not line up in the way way back haha.

the hot chocolate 15k

san diego, ca

march 24th, 2013

1:23:07!

chocolate at the finish line plus a sparkle skirt and wings? wow my mom will let me talk her into just about anything;) but omg was it worth it!

wow i spent a lot of the year running! i had a blast and cant wait to see what this new year brings:) now off to enjoy this...

clearly my mom and i think alike;)

the surf city half marathon weekend.

so planning started for this little baby many, many months ago when megan decided she was going to run her 1st full marathon! now megan and i went to nau together a million years ago and hadnt seen each other in equally that long. we lost touch a bit after college, but when she started breaking into running awhile back we reconnected through blogs/twitter/facebook. when she asked me to be there for her 1st full i knew there was nowhere else i would rather be!

source

after lots of waiting and training it was finally time to hop in the car and go. megan was flying in from atlanta, her sorority sister heather was flying in from san francisco and another sister kasey from phoenix. we would all eventually make our way to megans house in chino in time for dinner friday night! i worked a 1/2 day that friday and was sooooo ready to get in my own car and have some time to myself that afternoon. the drive went super quick, even with a stop at the banana republic outelt in barstow. i got to her house super easy and the #surfcityantics began quickly.

we were taking megans parents to dinner and chose carbo-licious pf changs to be the perfect place. saturday was her moms birthday and we wanted to thank them big time for letting us crash! somehow we completely forgot to take pictures, total fail, as we chowed down while everyone got to each other. the conversation flowed no problem and we easily laughed the night away:) saturday morning the other girls were up early for a 4 mile walk/hike with megans mom, i elected to stay snuggled in bed for a little bit more sleep hehehe.

after returning from their walk/hike we tried to slow down the getting ready and heading to the expo process as much as possible. see megans bff tina (who also went to nau), was going to meet us at the expo as a huge surprise to megan. the rest of us knew she would be driving in from phoenix with her husband jon that morning but wouldnt be to the expo till about 1p. that meant dragging our heels as much as possible. so we decided to head to breakfast on the way since we were all starving. thanks to yelp we found an absolutely delicious place called the avocado house that was darn right amazing. super small and there was a line to place an order the entire time we ate breakfast. finally full we headed over to dicks to grab a few race day essentials.

while all of this was going on i was still trying to figure out my race day outfit! sooo not like me. i ordered my latest sparkle skirt a day or 2 late which meant it didnt get to my house till after i had left for california. unfortunately they were not going to be at the expo for me to pick up a replacement. fortunately though they were local to southern california and thanks to facebook i was able to place a last minute order and pick up saturday morning! this is important to the story because it added more time on to our journey to the expo. plus i just really wanted to sparkle:)

literally on our way out the door of dicks, as i was starting to get really antsy in getting to the expo (just ask megan), i got an email with directions to pick up my skirt! somehow it was actually on the way to where we needed to go so it was super easy to get. as we are literally pulling up to the house, meagn asks, are we sure this isnt a bomb? i looked at her and said god i hope not. heather in the meantime pops up from the backseat to let us know that all is ok, they have a ragnar sticker on the back of their car. apparently that means they are serial killers that are disguising bombs with sparkly things!! luckily for all of us it was not a bomb but the perfect colored skirt to match my super cute blue tank top the next day:)

mission accomplished!

we arrived to a very overcast beach in huntington abuzz with runners everywhere. it was quite late, almost 3p when we got there. tina was definitely there, we just needed to find her. so we headed to the big expo tent stopping to take a few pictures at the entrance when this happened.......

it was awesome! finally all together we headed to pick up our packets. megan and kasey were both doing the full while heather, tina, and i were signed up for the 1/2. for 3p it was still pretty packed as we wandered around ooogling all the running goodies. all weekend megan kept talking about wanting to get a jumping picture of all of us on the beach after the expo to make her facebook cover photo. i love that, that was the sole reason for the photo:) luckily jon is awesome photographer and has a great camera to help us out. he was so sweet taking as many as we all wanted until it was perfect.

at this point we really needed to head back up to chino so megan and her dad could strategize race day plans. we also needed to make a stop at dicks on the way to grab a new handle for heathers waterbottle. since her parents had dinner plans we dropped megan off while the other girls and i headed to pick up the waterbottle. once home we made a huge pasta dinner with great plans to watch spirit of the marathon for inspiration. well once the pasta tooke for-EVER to boil and the garlic bread burned we were all way too full to try and stay awake for it all. especially with a 4am wake up call the next morning, it was time for bed.

race morning came all too early sunday! it was an absolutely beautiful morning to run, couldnt have asked for a better day. but my full report you are going to have to wait till tomorrow:) it deserves a post all on its own!

i will however tell you about getting to watch these 2 amazing girls cross the finish line for their 1st full marathons. while they started out together we knew they would break apart quickly and had estimated finish times for them both, thank you megan. after each of our 1/2 finishes we were to meet up with megans family so we could see them cross in all their glory and that plan worked perfectly. i found megans boyfriend doug, who took me to where her parents were, in a great spot right near the finish line. almost right on time to the minute we say megan and her friend from grad school michael come down the finish chute!!!! she looked fantastic and i started crying for her as soon as i saw her:) all of the runners actually looked strong with huge smiles on their faces toward the finish line.

we made our way down to the finish line to collect megan before kasey came across. she was in the medical tent getting stretched out and somehow tina and heather had crossed the 1/2 almost at the same time! so glad she had friends in there:) they said she was doing great and had both set a pr with their finish times! finally megan came hobbling out with a huge smile plastered across her face. after a quick bathroom break she laid on the ground for some more stretching when we found out her official finish time, 4:58:42!! her goal was under 5 and standing, both accomplished! (check out her full recap here!)

all now hobbling we headed back to just before the finish line to see kasey. heather had gotten a text saying she was getting very close and we were sure every runner that got close to us was here haha. there was a small group of other spectators there waiting for their runner as well so everyone cheered for everyone. it was soo cool to see the sense of accomplishments on their faces as they got to that finish. then, right on time we saw her face with her sister running right next to her come down the finisher chute!!! it was amazing and i think we all cried watching her cross that line:) 

we bombared her and very stinky, very excited hugs all the way around. after a few pictures we all decided it was time to get the heck out of there to eat. i was straving and was having serious ragnar flashbacks, it had been about 4 hours since i finished and i was in definite need of real food asap. luckily we decided to eat near the beach and doug was able to drive so none of had too lol. he even went across the parking lot to get the car as we waited where the shuttle dropped us off and the dropped us at the door of bjs while he parked only a few spots away, sooo sweet.

finishers!!!

there was a lot of eating, and again not a lot of pictures taken, serious blogger fail. we headed back to megans house with full bellies to shower and throw our things in the car to head to a superbowl party! i was drivin back to vegas after and heather had a plane to catch that night back up to oakland. the party was a blast with megan and dougs friends, they invited us in and fed us no problem! everyone we met all weeekend was so incredibly nice:) i headed back up the hill after the game was over and made it safely about midnight. thankfully i was off monday so i fully took advantage of a recovery day on the couch!

as i hung out during the day at home i couldnt help think what an awesome weekend it was. being surrounded by nau friends always makes everything better:) plus to see megan and doug so cute together, it takes serious dedication to spectate a marathon and he never complained once. and i got to meet tina and jon, he even biked around the entire course to get action running shots of her, so sweetness. and i got to meet heather and kasey who adopted me into their jokes and inside fun without any questions. it was one of those weekends you really feel like you belong somewhere:) thank you all so much for making 1/2 marathon #12 soo awesome!! with a musical treat to forever remember the weekend...