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 graduate.

so its been just over a month since i finished school and for some reason i havent been able to write about it all yet. i have tried a few times, mostly ending with me staring at a blank page. its almost a little unreal to be done. and to say that i have a masters degree. plus i will have no more homework ever again! it was kind of awesome getiing ready for surf city and not having to worry about what was due or finishing up things before i left. the other free days during the week are friggin sweet as well:)

the crazy thing is it was right about 2 years ago, almost exactly that i made the decision to go back to school. (read all about it here!) there were definitely some naysayers, actually quite a few that told me there would a lot of things i would have to give up. for example, i probably wouldnt run as much. i most likely wouldnt travel very often. i really wouldnt have much of a life at all with working full time. even with all those scary thoughts i embarked anyway!

the life of a runner and a grad student.

it was hard, i cant even lie. and there were many a days i thought it wasnt ever going to end or that i could just stop. but then as the classes started to tick off and the months started flying by i realized how fast this was really going to go. so i bucked up, figured out a schedule that finally worked, and became determined to finish! i pushed out the people that told me it was too much work or that it was a silly thing to even be doing. i focused and relied on the people that were crazy supportive instead, luckily there were a lot more of those than the other:)

as my last class finally came to a close it all started getting real, really real. and after staying up until 2am on a saturday night to finish my nightmareishly long 30 page paper because i just couldnt look at it anymore, i was done. all i had to do was read over it and turn it in. i had really finished! i told my mom that once the paper was done all i wanted was a cupcake from the cupcakery to celebrate. so as i came bouncing downstairs that sunday-at about 2 in the afternoon-i was finally able to tell her it was time for cupcakes! it was the first of many celebrations:)

that monday i turned in my monster paper-that wasnt actually due till wednesday, yay me-and waited for my final grade. i had about 30 points to play with and still keep my a in the class. and i waited. and waited. and waited some more. and waited. then, on friday morning that week when i was off and we were leaving that afternoon for my grandpas birthday i got my official grade on the paper...and 88%!! which added up meant i got a 95% in the class! which really meant i had completed my masters program with a 4.0!!

to continue the celebration i did when any normal runner does, i ran a 1/2 marathon with my favorite running buddy jen:) i know, totally normal! the original plan was to have a graduation party in vegas that weekend but when your grandpa turns 80 and has a party, he pretty much wins haha. so i decided on having the next weekend instead!

after some serious searching for the right place i found bjs cocktail lounge. it had a great atmosphere, friendly, and had a pool table so people had some things to do. the people there were great and let me bring in all kinds of decorations. jessica flew out from denver to join in the festivities, and i had family come from all over! there was cake of course-whats a party without cake-that was delicious. we had a blast and had soo many different people came to have a drink or 2!

jessica stayed for a few extra days and in true style we decided to make the most of our time. which in our case meant a trip to some place special...

it only took 1 quick question from jessica for us to end up here!

i LOVE her:)

i had been saying for months that when i graduated i wanted to go buy something from tiffanys for myself as a reward for finishing. well after some looking i realized that may not be the most feasible thing ever and there wasnt anything that super caught my attention. so instead i set out to buy myself a watch! i havent had one since i worked at old navy almost 3 years ago because i was everyones time keeper for everything. soon it just became associated with work and i took it off the moment i was off. but i began thinking how much i really wanted now. so after some hunting i picked out a perfect one from fossil that i love! it was the perfect gift:)

i couldnt get a good picture, so i had to borrow!source

now that ive been done for that month ive been doing some adjusting. its weird to not have worry about homework on wednesday nights. or wonder when was the last time i logged into post something for attendance. when i went out of town the last 2 times i didnt have to even think about homework. i did think i would have so much more time then i actually do. kind of makes me wonder how i even made it all fit for that long! i did start to think about the naysayers the other day and all the things they told me i couldnt do. when i actually thought about it, i realized how many things i really did do, and there were quite a few!

*trained for and completed 6 1/2 marathons-cut back on running my ass

*traveled to england for one of my best friends weddings

*held my full time job successfully

*trained for and completed an olympic triathlon

*became single and even more independent

*finally got to participate in ragnar

*lost 25 pounds

oh and yes, i will participate in a graduation ceremony in the early summer. where and when is still being worked out with my advisor. who knows where this will take me next. i have some big picture ideas im working on now. i was finally able to sit down and write this when it all became very real upon coming home one night to a package on my front doorstep. my diploma was inside:) its really real now! 

master of arts in education
higher & postsecondary education

the christmas homecoming.

it was the middle of may when my brother came home for a normal weekend and told us that he would be leaving in 45 days for his next deployment. it was one of the first things he said to me when i got to my parents house as he stood there hugging me with his feet on top of mine so i couldnt kick him when he told me. being in the military we always know theres a chance and it can happen rather quickly. last time we got rather lucky since he was stationed on a boat and wasnt in the middle of everything. this time he was headed to afghanistan. 5 days after he got back to base that weekend he headed into a 30 day training in the desert, went back to camp pendleton, then left 2 weeks later.

this whole deployment was different than last time. it almost didnt feel like he was really gone, we hadnt really been talking much before he left for the training so when he left it felt like a continuation of that. it wasnt until just before he got extended (yes that happened!) we really started talking. now for most of the 1st part he was out in the middle of nowhere without power, none of us heard from him. but when he got to camp leatherneck my mom and his gf kelsey heard from him all the time, me not so much, my dad either. once he got extended for another 2 months i really started hearing from him more mostly through text since that was the only way. by the time he was headed home we finally were back to normal. ps my brother and i are super close which is why this was so weird.

 

we had heard the end of november rumors for awhile but it wasnt until the tuesday before thanksgiving that we got the official date and time of december 2nd. he was really coming home, just in time for the holidays! my parents booked a great resort/spa in dana point for the weekend, we would leave from vegas saturday, he came home sunday, then the 4 of us would all drive back up to vegas together so kyle could take care of a few things here. so for the 3rd weekend in a row my parents and i piled into the car to head back to southern california!

after a detour through pasadena to visit stats (the best christmas store ever!) we got a phone call from kelsey that they werent coming home till monday night. now we had heard from kyle they were delayed because of weather but only by parts of the day, not a whole one! so here we were staying till monday with nothing to do on sunday. as we were driving by knotts berry farm i said outloud wouldnt it be fun if we could just go to disneyland tomorrow instead. just to see what happened. next thing i know im looking up ticket prices and trying to find somewhere for my dad to go golf for the day while my mom and i go to the happiest place on earth during christmas time!! i called my friend nate and his wife katie because they had annual passes and told me anytime i wanted to go just to call. they said they would meet us there in the afternoon, we were really going!

the next morning we had an amazing breakfast at the resort and were kicking my dad out of the car at the second golf course we found so we could head up to anaheim. we got to disneyland sometime around 10a and planned to spend the whole day, so we did!

bring it militray!
we are still gonna have a great weekend:)

love.

santa!

she asked if we swam there hehe.

it was misty and dreary but still busy. we got to ride all the rides we always do and had lots of delicious snacks on the way, hello disneyland churros! the christmas parade was so fun then nate and katie joined us for the afternoon. it never really opened up and rained, just misty enough to make you wet. that wasnt going to break our spirit but was enough to cancel the candlelight ceremony mid-way through and prevent it from "snowing" on main street after the fireworks show. we had a blast! i am sooo glad my mom said yes to going:) plus i got to cross something off my bucketlist, visit disneyland at christmas time!

nate and katie:)
oh and my very stylish poncho!

3 of our very favorites!

i love gingerbread men!
especially chocolate-covered mickey ones:)

such a pretty castle!

finally it was monday morning and i was up ready to go for a run when i looked outside to see it pouring outside. so i headed back to bed for another hour before breakfast. we were just finishing up, getting ready to head to base when kelsey called and said we needed to slow down. they hadnt even landed at march air force base yet, let alone start the 2 hour drive south to pendleton. so i headed back upstairs to lounge in my amazingly comfortable king size bed a little longer.

the view from my balcony.

at about 11a we finally couldnt wait any longer and knew that he was at least on the buses headed south to us. so we headed to base and the parade deck already had families there for us to hang out with. pretty soon after we saw the buses go by as they headed to the armory to check their weapons and get room assignments for the barricks. we were pretty good at entertaining ourselves at this point and watching the vehicles rolling in with weapons and bags gave us all stuff to talk about. everyone kept saying the check in process would take 2 hours, but luckily we knew better from the last deployment return. not even an hour later the motorcycle brigade was headed onto deck!

our traditional homecoming pic!

right behind them was our guys marching in for formation. we had to stay behind the flags set up until they were released, we were of course right on that edge. as they marched in we kept trying to find him in the 2nd group but they all look alike! before we knew the commander was calling out platoons and asking all accounted for? with a response as yes sir. then, finally...dismissed. except we still hadnt found my brother yet! luckily he found us and bee-lined right for me. first hug!! he made the rounds to everyone and tears were flowing freely.

 

after pictures it was time to grab the stuff and get the hell out of there. he had too much to just take on his own so we of course volunteered to help. dang his stuff was heavy!! the bag i took was probably a good 60+ pounds. we didnt care he was home.

 

one of the best.

food was a must pretty soon after so we headed to el torito for lunch and then the road home fairly quickly after which of course meant margaritas for kyle and i ;) it was cool to have him come home with us and hear all the stories over time. we also found out the real reason he was delayed! the pilot was making a u-turn on the runway and didnt turn fast enough then running them off the runway and into a massive snowbank!! we plan to blame the pilot for quite awhile. he was only home for the night then back to base tuesday night. the 18th-27th though he will be home for christmas leave! we are so thankful he came home safe, god bless our troops near and far.

the ragnar las vegas race report part 2.

ok im back! so we left off just after our 2nd leg and about 11p, it was time for food and sleep. we decided on buffalo wild wings because it was close and people could get whatever they wanted. we ordered in the bar and it seemed to take forver! we were out of there as fast as possible to scarf it all down at micheles. im pretty sure i was asleep on the floor as soon as my head hit the pillow at about 1a. i was so glad we werent sleeping outside or in the van!

do you think theyll kick me out for falling asleep at the bar??
no really, do you?

2 legs down, 1 to go!

wayyyy too soon at about 315a the alarm was going off again and we were up to head back to the exchange. thank goodness this was our last round cause man was i ready to be done! we were at the exchange by 415a to pick back up. i ran into my friend derrick at the exchange while we were waiting! he used to run with us on monday nights but moved to iowa over the summer. i knew he was coming back to run but i wasnt sure i was actually going to see him.

this last round was my shortest at 5.6 miles and right on time layna came through sending me off down st rose parkway at 430a. the wind had finally subsided and it was actually pretty nice outside. st rose was super flat and i was diggin it until i had to turn up the street into anthem, then we were back to straight uphill, really! the sun started to rise and i was actually feelin good. there were quite a few people walking this leg, you could tell the whole thing was starting to take a toll on everyone.

finally i passed the 1 more mile to go sign and was ready to officially cross of my 3rd leg. the girls were right there ready and i gladly gave fanny the bracelet wishing her off! afterward i felt like a rockstar to be honest! i never thought i would be able to do something like that. in just under 24 hours i ran 19 miles. wow! i finished the 3rd leg in 54:02. we stopped off at a starbucks to get everyone some much needed coffee and i was super excited to have my 1st peppermint mocha of the season:)

the conveted ragnar tattoo.
ended up lasting almost a week and started a few very
good conversations after the race was over...

our van continued on dropping off and picking up for the next few hours. we all had that same super satisfied, exhausted, rockstar look on our faces as we crossed off our final legs. the weather was becoming nicer as we got later in the morning and soon it was time to send michele off on her last leg! we headed out to meet van 2 and gladly let them take over and agreed to meet them at the finish line so we could all cross together. they looked rested and ready to go, more power to you haha.

hey van 2 teammates:)

afterward we headed to the clear other side of town to drop off 1 of our girls then decided we needed to eat stat. again, that being the 1st runner sucks for the food end of things haha. we headed to ihop still all a little in disbelief we were done and STARVING. i think about 4 or 5 bites of food literally fell on the floor while i was eating because i couldnt get them into my mouth fast enough haha. since we were on that side of town we decided to get mine and sandys car then meet everyone at the finish line together. i was going to head home to shower but then made a detour to sandys so we could carpool out to lake las vegas since we heard traffic was going to be terrible.

VAN #1 OFFICIALLY DONE!

when i was sitting on her couch the exhaustion really started to set in. after some confusion about finish time we headed out to the finish line a little early and wandered around only to find them sold out of my sweatshirt. see, i knew i should have bought it earlier friday morning! we found the rest of our van soon and before we knew it layna was running toward us and the finish line. she was like 15 minutes early and the rest of her van hadnt even made it yet. we wanted to wait for everyone so we could cross together! van 2 wasnt far behind and we all hobbled across the line just over 30 hours after crossing the start line the day before.

we grabbed our bling and took lots of team pictures before grabbing some of our free pizza. the original plan was to hang out for awhile in the beer garden really getting to talk. but once we were actually there we were just about all ready to go home. sandy and i hung out for a little bit but headed out soon after. walking back across the bridge to our car i ran into all my runner group friends!! and derrick was right behind us too. it was like a reuninon!!

that night i went to dinner with my parents at bjs and stuffed my belly happy full:) i went home to take a bath in epsom salt and a proceeded to take a shower after before falling into bed at 930p on a saturday night. i slept a total of 14 hours that night and probably could have slept more if i hadnt woken up hungry the next day haha. man i dont know how people do this race all the time! im already signed up for another one next year with friends in cape cod. i think i could do about 1 or 2 of these a year, but thats it haha. i also totally understand now what people mean when they talk about ragnar withdrawl! we were still all talking for the next couple days and it was weird to not all be together. i do have to say that i had an unintentional unplug from just about the world that weekend and it was quite nice. ragnar for sure came at the perfect time:)

team t&a completes in 30:30:54!!