Lake Havasu...

I spent the weekend in Arizona for the collegiate triathlon championships. I didn't compete because of a shoulder injury, but I went down to support my team... and maybe to enjoy this....

and this....

...while everyone back at home in Utah had snow. Ha. We went on a bike ride the day before the race to get a feel for the course - it kicked my butt (as you can see I'm the only one sitting down).

Glad I didn't have to race the next day. This is just one of the many hills they had to face as part of their 24 mile ride...

Yikes!

Watching everyone set up on race day made me wish I was competing, but then as the wind picked up I was pretty glad I didn't have to. 20 mph winds with 35 mph gusts! They were swimming their 1.2 miles in whitecaps and almost getting blown off their bikes! And the last 1/8 mile of their 6 mile run? Oh my! Not only did they have a brutal sand run, but they were running against a headwind that was so strong it was sandblasting everyone (it did not feel very good and I wasn't even racing).

Poor things! My teammates did well though. We didn't qualify for nationals, but everyone survived, and that's a pretty big accomplishment. 

My biggest accomplishment on the trip? Being the only one that knew how to back up a trailer :-) Thanks mom - for not letting me be a helpless girl!

The boys...

Every Saturday night, the boys go bowling. And by every Saturday night, I mean EVERY Saturday. And by boys I mean all the boys that live at my parent's house on the weekend - my two brothers and my two cousins from Texas. They're inseparable it seems. Guess they're just making up for all the years we wished everyone lived close together when we were younger so we could play. 

Jake and I joined them this time and had a blast...

We had three lanes (these guys are serious about their bowling) and hung out for over 2 hours. Turns out Jake isn't half bad at the bowling thing with 6 spares and 2 strikes in one game that led him to beating everyone. Which of course made me loose our bet and I had to make dessert for everyone.

On Sunday, Jake and I couldn't get enough of the beautiful weather! 45 degrees may sound cold but it was sooo perfect for our first hike of the year. We didn't even need jackets. I'm quite proud of myself for thinking to take a picture - even though it's just one and makes Jake's shoulders look oddly large. You can't even see the view, but it's better than my usual no-pictures-to-document-anything side... I'm getting there.

Can't wait for more of this spring stuff!

Just Hanging Out...

I started my spring break with a nice relaxing weekend with Jake. We had plans to be productive but then we decided to just relax and have a date night. We enjoyed dinner at the Sonora Grill, a fancy Mexican restaurant in Ogden. We ate swordfish. Who knew that was a Mexican dish. Then we went to a movie.

This is the newest zombie movie. Don't worry, it's not like all the others out there with the blood and gore. It's a comedy and it is definitely funny. Lots of laugh out loud moments. I would definitely see it again. And you can't watch that movie without thinking... waiting a second. Is that the twilight girl? It can't be.

Feast your eyes on Kristen Steward (the twilight girl) and Teresa Palmer. No way they are not twins - I mean look at them!

We ended the weekend with a delicious plate of angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. If the weather is nice, we may find ourselves in Moab next weekend... but Jake doesn't know that yet ;-) We'll see...

Undergraduate Research...

Back in November, I submitted the abstract for my senior project, with the encouragement of a professor, to the Utah Conference for Undergraduate Research. The title is pretty self explanatory... undergraduate students submit the abstracts from their research to be reviewed and, if their work is accepted, they get to present at the research conference.

Well...

My project got accepted! As did my sweet friend Kelsey's. Pretty cool! We spent our entire Friday up at Utah State presenting our research to students and professors. We also enjoyed wandering around the beautiful campus, eating Aggie blue mint, and studying.

I will be having a portfolio review in April to present my project again, as well as my portfolio of work, with my graduating class. Stay tuned ;-)

I don't know about you...

Wouldn't it be fun if we had themes songs that went along with our life much like characters in a movie? Well I found one! At least for this year... go ahead, enjoy it ;-)



I don't know about you... but I'm feeling 22 ;-)

New Year's Resolutions...

As I was typing up my New Year's Resolutions for this new year, I quickly read through my resolutions for last year. I did okay on most, but completely failed on some of them. I guess this is to be expected - especially since I didn't look at my list of goals again until last night. I still think it is a good idea for me to express my resolutions publicly so that I'm more likely to keep up with them, but I think another thing I need to do is read through them more often. Anyways, here are some goals for the 2013 year...

PHYSICAL:
- Compete in four triathlons. I've already planned out which ones I'd like to do, I just have to be patient with the recovery of a shoulder injury... I'm most excited for the collegiate championships in March and the Olympic length triathlon in St. George in September!

WORK:
- Have a design job when I graduate college this year. Not just any job, but a job in the field that I have been studying for the last three years. I really don't want to graduate college and be stuck at my current job living at home... blah. This goal might be a tough one, but I've got my sights set high!

SCHOOL:
- Place top of my design class and first on my senior project
- Graduate with honors

MENTAL:
- Read four additional books not related to homework

FINANCIAL:
- Get car repair paid off by the end of the year
- Get my student loans paid off by the end of the year. (originally my goal, since I started college, was to graduate without student loans, but with the unexpected car payment, it looks like I am going to have to modify the original goal and shoot for the end of the year)

TRAVEL:
- Travel somewhere for a triathlon
- Go on a longer vacation (not just a weekend getaway)

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 :-)