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 ragnar las vegas race report part 1.

man oh man am i behind! its been a crazy few weeks with no sign of slowing down anytime soon, but its kind of fun to be so busy:) so lets back up so i can finally tell you all about ragnar! in case you forgot heres the deal: you and 11 friends split up into 2 vans of 6 runners each to cover a distance of 200 miles in a relay sense starting in mt charleston and ending in lake las vegas! each person runs 3 legs and as soon as your leg is finished you hop back in the van while the next runner takes off, almost like a leap frog thing. theres not much sleep (we'll get to that), a constant funky smell, and you are closer to your vanmates in 30 hours than you are with most friends in months!

source

i have been wanting to do one for a few years but was a little chicken to sign up. when this year rolled around i was determined to find a team, luckily my friend sandy had an extra spot on her team which i quickly took. we met a few times as a team to determine a name and coordinate vans, etc. they seemed like a great group of girls and we were all in it for the fun, thank goodness!

november rolled around quickly and it was thursday night before fast. somehow i have had quite a few friends run one of these lately so i had lots of tips and tricks to keep in mind. (take a look at megans awesome list if you need!!) the best one out there for packing...put each outfit in an individual ziploc bag. #1 its easy to grab in a duffle bag. #2 it keeps from stinking up everything else in the bag and van. #3 things get hectic in the van and when your trying to sort out what belongs to who, baggies make iteasier. so i packed everything up and headed to bed way too late thursday night for an incredibly early alarm friday of 415a to get to the meeting spot.

i was in van 1 and runner #1 so we met at a major exchange in town so we could all carpool up the mountain to the start line. the weather had been absolutely beautiful all week until thrusday night when the wind started and the temperature dropped 20* overnight. this was going to be interesting. we quickly set to packing in food and decorating the suburban one of our girls had borrowed from a friend. it was already chilly and we knew the trek up the mountain would be interesting

the start line was at the las vegas ski and snowboard resort about an hour away. we left a little later then we probably should have which meant we got up there a little late. as we were climbing up the clouds seemed to get lower and lower and rain at the bottom. that meant at the top it was probably snowing, great. finally reaching the resort we checked in, got our safety brief, and made lots of new friends as we huddled together in the 27* weather, with 40 mph winds, snow, and a little bit of hail! finally it was time to start so we headed out to the start line after getting a little warm in the car.

the bananas! told you we made friends haha.

really?! 27*.

my 1st leg was just over 7 miles straight down the hill getting down about 2000 feet total before passing off to fanny. it was friggin cold, i was literally wearing 4 shirts, a scarf, a wrap around my ears, and gloves before finally getting warm. the downhill was great for time and i seemed to get out of the snow pretty quickly but that wind, dang. it was gusting so hard you had to really be paying attention or it would literally blow you over.

the 7 miles went really quickly, i think most of it was because i was so excited about finally participating. i found my team a few times and they cheered like crazy every time i ran by. soon i passed by the 1 mile to go sign and was ready to pass off to the next person. i saw fanny just up ahead jumping around with michele and slapped the bracelet on to send her on her way! i was feeling really good and finished the 6.95 miles (apparently it was just short of the 7) in 56:49 making it an 8:10 pace! after passing on i wasnt exactly sure what to do. stretch? am i hungry? can i just hop back in the van? i decided on the last one and we were off to meet fanny a ways down. the hunger didnt come till later and man it came hard core!

yay, 1st one complete!

we continued on down the mountain. picking up fanny, dropping off yumi. picked up yumi, dropped off cindy. it was about this time the hunger hit! finally back to the valley we picked up cindy, dropped off sandy. soon enough it was time to drop off our last runner-michele and meet our teammates in van 2 at the major exchange. up to this point we were just meeting our runners on the side of the road with a few porta potties and people there. the major exchanges are the fun ones where all the teams meet and they have more things going on. i should have taken my money so i could buy my ragnar sweatshirt there but wasnt thinking that fast.

some people come up with the coolest names!

once we finally grabbed michele we were all starving and decided on a local pizza/pasta place to refuel. it was about 1230p/1p at this time. the sucky part about being runner 1 is that you have to wait a really long time to eat, like 4-5 hours. i snacked along the way on bananas, trail mix, etc but its different then waiting a little bit after a run and then eating soon. we stuffed our faces and were glad to be out of the van for a bit. everyone was getting along really well and i was so glad our team was so easy going.

we headed out to our next stop at the jw marriot where we would pick up for the next set of legs. this was also a major exchange and we thought there would be a place we could dip our feet in, but it was more of just hang out on the grass and wait for the runners instead. we spent sometime in the casino wandering around mostly because it was warm and we could use real bathrooms haha. i mean, im all about a porta potties in need but a real bathroom is a better idea to change in! outside i ran into a few girls from my runner group i hadnt seen in awhile and soon it was about time for us to keep a look out for layna. we had heard quite a bit from the other team, thank goodness for cell phones, that she should be there right about 530p. now with the night legs you had to wear a headlamp, vest, and some sort of light on the back to be safe. all runners also had to have on a vest anytime they were outside the vechicle whether running or not. nighttime hours for us were 345p-630a since it was dark so early in november.

the actually runner exchange was kinda a total mess. there were just too many teams in a very small area. right on time layna came in and i was off again. this leg was a little shorter at 6.18 miles but it was straight uphill snaking through summerlin into the 30mph wind. not. fun. this one was by far my least favorite leg. luckily when i was startin to lose it a little bit my teammates found me to cheer me on! im not sure how they did since it was so dark, but thank goodness. and as i got to the end (or what i thought was the end at least) a girl from another team came up behind me and told me i was keeping a great pace and was good to follow! i was so excited:)

wow its dark!

 i crossed the exchange and gladly passed off the bracelet to fanny! the girls had stopped at the dunkin donuts in the parking lot and i gladly accepted the munchkins they had. it was cold and i was super over the wind. the next parts took us up through red rock and it was getting darker and darker plus colder and colder the later it got. i was sooo super glad to be finished haha. my 2nd leg time equaled out to 1:01:39 with a 9:58 pace. not the greatest one, but i was so happy to be done. the hunger started up again and so did the tiredness. finally we dropped off michele to take care of the last leg and end at the m where the next van could pick up. they had an out and back for their overnight leg to jean and back. i was super relieved to not have that leg, its straight out in the desert, yikes.

my cute teammates with donuts!

gotta huddle to stay warm:)

michele came back in right on timeand we gladly peaced out to somewhere warm and hopefully to sleep soon! it was just about 11p and wished the other girls luck as they took off. we had already established that after handing off to the other van we could just grab food to go somewhere and then head to micheles house to sleep since it was so close to the exchange. all of us were wearing fast and starting to probably get a little cranky. plus not everyone was heading out of the van everytime to cheer each other on, it was definitely time for some sleep. check back for all about the final leg and the finish line stuff!!

good luck ladies!
its time for van 1 to sleep:)

the havasupai hiking/camping adventure part 1.

since i have known richard he has always talked about this camping trip his best friend mike takes every year to the grand canyon. and how bad he has always wanted to go. then i met mike, and he started talking about the same think trying to convince me to go. he showed me beautiful pictures and talked about all the fun they have. last year mike tried to recruit us, but it didnt work out with our florida vacation. as soon as we got back though mike went to work on us again. richard was totally on board but i wasnt. i love the outdoors, im a runner for goodness sake. however i am not a hiker. lets go play in the park or at the beach? i am there. lets go hike a mountain for fun? see you at the bottom with lunch. then there was the camping aspect. i grew up camping as a kid, and always had a good time. but my version of camping is driving to the campsite, taking your cooler full of alcohol and hamburgers/hotdogs, and having flush bathrooms somewhere close. but richard really wanted to go and wasnt going to leave me behind. so i finally gave in and said i would go. i had noooo idea what i was getting myself into.

we started planning in about february for our trip in the middle of june. i started hearing more details about this "adventure." like how you need to take all your food with you, that means freeze dried. there is a 10 MILE hike to the campsite. there is no fire. you need a headlamp to see at night. i will admit, it was starting to freak me out. what was i doing? then came this list, and i wondered even more.

after we got back from nashville, lora volunteered to take me shopping so we could start putting things together. i thought this was a little early, but figured it was good info. we started at rei to get an idea of the right size things for me. how big of a pack do i need, what size shoes do i wear in hiking boots, how much are camelbaks there? it started out easy enough, then i started to get more and more overwhelmed. the pack was $250, but apparently i can get one online for about $30. how does that make sense?! the hiking shoes were at least $120. the five finger sandal shoes that i needed were over $100. i had to start buying all these things like the next day and in all the same brands she suggested.

im supposed to carry that for 10 miles??

i always wanted to try these!

 then we stopped at walmart to look at their camping things. this was equally as overwhelming! she wanted me to buy everything that night. there were 2 problems with that plan. 1 richard was going to question every single thing i bought because he wasnt there to get the story. not something i was willing to go through so early. and most importantly 2 i wasnt willing to turn my dining room into camping central for the next month and a half.

i went home that night completely freaked out about what i was getting myself into. i never thought about getting out of it, i just wasnt sure i was going to be able to handle it. plus there were other outside voices telling me there was no way i was going to be able to handle this trip. once richard got home he calmed me down a little bit and i started to feel better. i did just keep thinking to myself though, i really dont want to go. and really hoped that feeling would go away as the trip got closer.

richard and i went shopping a few weeks later at sports authority. instantly i started feeling soo much better! we found good hiking shoes for only $60 and sandals for $30. we talked to one of the associates there and he gave us really good insight to the trip. he had done one similar a few years back and had some great advice. i finally admitted to richard that night over dinner why i had been a little crazy about the things to buy. i was getting so much "advice" from other people about the exact thing to buy that i was afraid if he bought anything different they would blame me. he told me that we were gonna take the "advice" and use as much as we could, but also make some of our decisions and stand by them. this trip was really startin to put me on edge! thank goodness i had richard who was just so excited that he wasnt going to let anything get him down about it.

not sure these are up to my fashion code...

the trip started drawing closer and closer and our dining room had started to transform. also friends were starting to drop like flies. mike had built in a buffer for this to happen, as it did every year. it all sounds like a good idea 6 months ago when we they didnt have to buy things or the reality hadnt actually set in that they really had to do it. if i was going to back out, now was the time. i decided i was in for the long haul. i had actually scored a pack from a friend's family that had done this trip multiple times! richard had also scored a pack from someone not able to go on the trip. we had also been able to borrow someones tent and 1 sleeping bag. that meant we only had to buy one. we had both bought our shoes and sandals. things were finally starting to fall into place.

the week we were going to leave was upon us and there were changes left, right, and center. our original plan was to drive together with matt since he was driving solo. no point in taking more cars than necessary. then 5 days before we leave matt completely pulls out because there is no camp fire at the site. now the 2 of us were left scrambling a bit to tune up richards car so we could take his. we then went over to get richards pack from mike and loras house and to start making final plans. when we got there lora was not lookin so good. turns out she had tweaked the hell out of her back earlier in the week walking her 2 60 pound dogs when another one had gotten out. she could barely drive to work across town she was in so much pain. with that injury we werent sure she was going to be able to go at all! we made plans to have mike and lora come by thursday night to help us pack since we had no idea what we were doing. richard wouldnt be there, but we could put his together no problem.

thank goodness they came over to help! our packs would have been all kinds of honked up without their help. lora also told me she wasnt going to be able to go:( we were finally going and she wasnt able too. the only plus was that we were able to borrow some of her things. this way richard and i could return a few things we bought and save some extra cash. we finished up and decided to meet the next day at their house about 545p so the 3 of us were going to drive together.

things for my pack.

things for richards pack. i think he needs some more things??

having our packs put together the night before was genius! when i got home friday from work we basically put our last things together and ate something fast before we were out the door to grab mike. he added a few things to richards pack that he was missing, like a sleeping pad, and we were ready to go. that morning was the first time i had woken up and was actaully excited about going. its like we had done soooo much talking and planning and wondering what if, that it had taken away from the fun. it was too late to make tons of changes or wonder what we missed. there were plenty of people going so if we did forget something, we could borrow from the group. it was finally time to go!

ready or not i was going!