This weekend I ran another half marathon. It was the Provo Canyon Halloween Half, a very entertaining race where a large majority of the racers dress up in ridiculous costumes. Apparently I am the Halloween Grinch and had no motivation to dress up. LAME. I ran it with two of my favorite people -- LG and Natalie (my sister in law), who dressed up as the anime character Pikachu. Awesome, right?

The race started at Aspen Grove and took us down the scenic Provo canyon complete with fall leaves, the Provo river, a waterfall, and parks galore. It's always been one of my favorite routes.

My goal for this race was to get under 2 hours. The first 6 miles flew by and I felt great. I got a little tired around mile 7 or 8, but after popping a starbust in my mouth I was able to keep going strong. And then mile 11 came, and I wasn't sure what I felt anymore, but it wasn't great. I soon found out what it was at about half a mile from the finish line. The next thing I know I have throw up in my mouth. Uh, what?!? I swallow it back down (I know, gross) and keep running. Nope, it wasn't staying down. It came back up and this time I just bent over and threw up right in front of all those unassuming spectators cheering on their family and friends. In my head I'm thinking "Alright, this race isn't ending as planned, but I think I can still make my goal if I keep going." The last quarter mile I swallowed down vomit 2 more times as the finish line was in sight. Right as I crossed the line it all came out and I collapsed on the ground. I know, that sounds dramatic, but it just happened.

Russ was able to snap the photo below right before I crossed the line. I still have no clue why that happened, but I'm assuming it was me ignoring my body's screaming signals that were telling me to "STOP." I thought it was absolutely disgusting, uber-weak, and embarrassing (who wants to finish a race that way??), but everyone I tell the story to just exclaims "HARDCORE!" Ha! I guess I'll take that over uber-weaksauce.

So to sum up this crazy race, I am so happy that I made my goal with only seconds to spare. I crossed the line at 1:59:25. Achieving another PR is such a great feeling, throw up and all.

Recently

Hello again friends! It's been a while. Honestly, life has finally seemed to slow down a bit, but that doesn't mean I've been any better with blogging and taking pictures. My apologies, here's a few things we have been up to recently:

// Bringing some of my pins to life. We've all seen the overpriced metal letters at Anthropologie. I liked the look, but didn't want to fork out the money. I saw this tutorial on Pinterest and made these letters for just a few bucks. I'm still not positive where I will hang them (as is the case with the majority of my house right now), so for now they are just resting on the counter. It never hurts to have another reminder to EAT, right? :)

// Finishing the sprinklers and spreading our hydroseed! This means a few things -- first off, our grass is growing, and second, we are done working outside for the year! We now literally just sit back and pray the grass comes in. Russ stands on our porch multiple times a day to watch the fruits of his labors grow.

// Enjoying our new patio! We decided to put this patio in last minute, and we are so glad we did. Now all we need is a sweet outdoor table set. Sigh. One thing at a time.

// Rockin' out to new tunes, and in particular Coldplay's new album Mylo Xyloto. You better believe that Best Buy was the first place I went after work yesterday. I was smiling ear to ear the whole drive home. You guys, this album is amazing. Every Coldplay album is a new experience, and this one is full of energetic beats and catchy melodies. I foresee many of these songs being new favorites on the ol' running mix.

// Which brings me to my next point. I've been having lots of quality time with just me and the road as I've been training and preparing for yet another 1/2 marathon. The big day is this Saturday, and I'm just hoping for the best. My training started out great, but as the race has been getting closer my runs have been getting worse and worse. One word: FRUSTRATING. I did a 12 miler last week and just about died. Sigh. I sincerely believe running is just as much mental as it is physical, so I'm still feeling optimistic and am hoping for the best. :)

Holy Cow

One thing we love about living in our little town of Lehi is that we are 5 minutes from the freeway, there is an abundance of stores and restaurants, and it is quite a central location. On the other hand, I can hop on the trail that backs up to our yard and run past horses and cows. I even ran into a fox once! Yay for wildlife. Usually I can see these cows out in the field while on the trail, but on my run last night they just wanted to cheer me on. 

And that they did. These guys were cracking me up. All of their heads would follow me as I ran past, so I did it a few times just for fun. Luckily I had my phone so I could snap a quick picture. After I spent a few minutes hanging out with these guys, I figured I better get on with my run. I turned the corner and saw this.

It took my breath away for a second. The sun setting behind Eagle Mountain, the clouds' reflection on the Jordan River, and the fading blue sky ready to retire for the night. It was like God smiling down on me telling me He loved me. I love nature and seeing God's creations, even if they are smelly and "mooo" as you pass on by. I am grateful I have a body healthy enough to get out and see nature. It's taking these breaks from the craziness of life that keep me sane.

Distraction.

I have a feeling I'm not the only one who gets distracted with modern-day "things." You know... phones, internet, TV, etc. Maybe I'll try this next time I really need to "get down to business" and be productive. I'm sure it is quite effective. 

Chipboard Canvas "Tutorial"

Last night Russ was out in the yard doing last minute adjustments to our sprinkler system. Before you jump the gun and call me lazy, I tried helping but at this point it was all electrical work (meaning I was no help at all). So I sat down on the couch and turned on some good ol' weeknight television. One word: Parenthood. {I'm obsessed}. Anyway, I then worked on the most perfect lazy night craft. I barely had to get off the couch to finish it. It was great. Here's a quick "tutorial," or more like here's how I did it, and perhaps some ideas to do it better next time.

I was inspired while I was browsing Pinterest one night (surprise!) and found this chipboard canvas. I wanted to make one with a phrase that meant something to us. Once one of my favorite Beatles songs popped in my head I couldn't think of anything else. I found the canvas and chipboard letters from Hobby Lobby for a whopping total of $10. I bought two different sizes of chipboard letters to give variety, but you could make all the words the same size if you wanted.

I arranged the letters and as you can see, I didn't have enough cork letters since duplicates were needed. There was no way I was going to run to the store so I had to improvise. (hint: "more" looks a bit funny, doesn't it?)


If you are in the middle of the project and are also too lazy to go to the store for more letters, just clip pieces of leftover chipboard to make your letter of choice look like it should (i.e. your "c" can become an "e", the "b" can become a "o").

I probably should have used more appropriate glue than jewelry glue, but again, I was being lazy and that's all I could find in the short span of a commercial break. :) I'm assuming a hot glue gun, super glue, or some other strong adhesive would work great.

I wanted to make sure the letters were straight but didn't have a ruler handy, so I used the nearest Martha Stewart magazine on the coffee table. Call it pathetic, but I call it resourceful. :)

And voila! You're just about done. I was tempted to leave it as is because I kind of liked the "natural" looking letters, but decided to stick with the original vision I had in mind. I found some white spray paint in the garage and sprayed the canvas in the middle of the street under the street lamp. Can we say ghett-ooo?

I probably should have sanded some of the rougher chipboard letters before I spray-painted, but I just sanded them down and applied one more coat of spray paint as well as a top-coat to add a bit of shine. This is a matter of preference -- I think next time I might hold off on the top coat for a more "matte" look. It's totally up to you. Chose your phrase, sit down in front of your favorite show, and go to canvas town!