Ragnar Zions 2014...

Let's talk about Ragnar Zions. 127 miles, 8 runners, in the beautiful Zions National Park. Camping, running, camping, running, etc. I went down with a group from my office and had some quality coworker bonding.

What started like this...

Turned into this...

It rained for 4 straight hours. I kid you not. Utah does not rain like that. But this time it did. And 4 hours of rain brought mud. Sooo much mud. Oh. And after the rain and mud? Snow. Yes. Snow. About a half mile into my 8.2 mile run it started. And how long did it snow for? No short of 2.5 hours. 

Running literally turned into taking a few steps and waiting as I slid around on the mud. Trees became hand holds to pull myself up the hills. I lost count after 20ish total wipe outs. I'm not talking slips in the mud, I'm talking cartoon like banana peel wipe outs.

I wish I could explain better the yards of mud up to my knees, the hills I practically had to crawl up because the mud was so slippery I couldn't even stand, the horizontal wind on the crest of the hill that made it impossible to see the next hill, and the beautiful silence running in the snow, in the middle of the mountains, in the middle of the night. It was surreal - and freakin' crazy!

So after all of that, what did I do last week? I registered for Ragnar Zions 2015...

2013 in Review...

So it may be January 20th, but I am finally getting around to reviewing my last year (it takes a lot of thought to remember everything great that happened in an entire year). So here we go!

SCHOOL:

Placed first in a 48 hour design competition

Presented my senior project in the Utah Conference for Undergraduate Research

Graduated from college!

TRIPS I TOOK:

Jackson Hole Wyoming Ski Trip

Moab Climbing Trip

Havasu, Arizona

Lake Powell

Tuacon Theater with the fam

Midnight Wendover Trip

BOOKS I READ:

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Anne of Green Gables

Pride and Prejudice

Beowulf

War and Peace books 1 and 2

War of Art

The Five Love Languages

EVENTS I WENT TO:

101 Inventions at the Leonardo

Utah's First Annual Comicon

BYU football game

Real Salt Lake game

Tulip Festival

Havasu, Arizona Collegiate Triathlon Championships

Races:

color me rad

Other:

Started a rocking new job as an interior designer at VCBO Architecture!

Moved to Sugarhouse

Went on many trips to 7 Peaks

Had the BEST halloween costume

Celebrated Jake's 30th

Went to my first drinking party (we watched...and then left early)

and learned to longboard.

It has been an incredible year with so many exciting changes! I am loving where I am at and look forward to more adventures :-)

Quick Photo Update...

A few people have pointed out that I haven't blogged in awhile... And although I hate to admit it, it's the truth. I was sooo good all year - I don't know what happened. So here is a quick photo update (with captions) of the most recent adventures...

Relaxed and played some pool.

Ran in the Color Me Rad race with the boy and set a new 5K PR for both of us.

Went to Comicon. What a hoot.

Spent a Sunday afternoon at the park reading.

Tapped into our creative side with some pottery painting.

Got new shelves and a nice sofa for the living room.

Went to Cornbelly's and played in the corn (if you have children and have never taken them here it's one of the best October Carnivals I've been too. So family friendly)

Went to lunch with these cute girls I haven't seen since graduation.

Enjoyed the warmth of southern Utah with the fam.

And finally, enjoyed two glorious half pound cups of Reese's peanut butter.

2012 In Review...

Things I did and learned this year...

TRIPS I TOOK:

- Went to California with Jake, Anna, and Nick

- Family trip to Florida and cruise to Bahamas, St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Maartin

- Road trip to Wyoming

RACES I COMPETED IN:

- Herriman Triathlon (placed 3rd!)

- Cahoots Duo Challenge

BOOKS I READ:

- Ender's Game

- The Princess Bride

- In Praise of Idleness - Bertrand Russell

- The Hunger Games Series

- Started a book club

SCHOOL AND DESIGN THINGS:

- Designed homes for people of Haiti

- Reupholstered a chair for charity
- Volunteered at the boys and girls club
- Attended a Fashion Show

- Designed Tibbitt's Family Pharmacy
- Designed picture wall for my mom and my aunts

NEW SKILLS I LEARNED:
- Long-boarding
- Paddleboarding

- More rock climbing

- Started learning to play the guitar
- Snowboarding

- Took Scuba diving lessons with Jake
- Slacklining
- Indoor surfing

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

- Attended my first Real Salt Lake game

- Voted in my first presidential election

- Kayaked across Utah Lake

- Moved into a new apartment

- Joined the WSU Triathlon Club

- Got a 0.52 cent raise at work!

- Had my own Thanksgiving Dinner with Jake

- Slept in a cave during a thunderstorm

- Went to my first bar and my first club

- Watched a lot of UFC fights with Jake

- Midnight hottubbing

- Completed the P90X Challenge with Jake

- Continued to spend time with this boy - and we celebrated our one-year anniversary of dating :-)

I'd say it has been an excellent year! I learned a lot of new things, had a lot of fun adventures, and loved spending time with Jake. Looking forward to the exciting things to come this next year :-)

Memes...

Memes... the new fad. I haven't really been a big fan. Probably because Jeremy feels the need to share a hundred with me every time he sees me. I finally gave him a quota of five per day because I just go so sick of them. But then Jake made one up that I could relate to, so...

I made my first meme! No insult intended, just the funny truth. It's always January and February that I can't find an open treadmill at the gym. Come March things are usually back to normal, but it's the first little bit that can be quite frustrating. Therefore, all use consistent gym users must "brace ourselves"...

We're In Cahoots...

Jake and I competed in the Cahoots Duo Challenge last week (a 5k mud run with obstacles). It was a blast!

We decided to dress like the Hunger Games characters in training so we ordered these awesome shirts online - the same shirts Katniss and Peeta wore while training for the games. We figured since they won those games, our shirts might give us a little advantage to winning these games ;-)

A few of the obstacles included mud pits, balance beams, a 10 foot wall to climb over, tires to run through with your leg tied to your partner's, a cargo net to climb over, etc. You got more points for teamwork, costumes, and overall spirit.

Our absolute favorite obstacle... the zip-line. We stood in line long enough to watch 99% of people fail...

Most people looked like this...

And most didn't even make it halfway. But Jake and I? We rocked that zip-line! Even got an ovation at the end. 

Although the event wasn't organized super well, we enjoyed the challenge and the adventure together.

And we'll probably come back again next year - check out these stellar medals we got at the end! Ya, they are magnetic and attach to your partners. So sweet.