Playing Catch Up

Now that it's been over 8 months since my last post, I decided I should try and update this thing. So, be prepared for some pictures and brief summary of what I've been up to over the past 8 months. And by brief, I mean the longest post you've ever seen. Maybe I will break it into a couple.

I left off after the Salem Spring Tri which was in June. What!? I have to try to catch up on over a year of races, trips, family and randomness? Okay, here it goes...

In June we went to Bear Lake to celebrate grandma's 94th birthday! She is still going strong. I love it!

In July Jeff and Holli came out to visit. That was a blast! I love seeing those two. It's always a good time when they are around.

In August I went backpacking with my dad and his friend Scott. My dad was generous enough to, once again, let his daughter tag along on what could have easily been a guys trip. But I enjoy it and as long as he will let me keep coming, I will gladly accept.

 Here we are, entering the wilderness.

 I just thought this was funny. A caryn in the wilderness. I had to take a picture.

And this was on our way out. I survived! I don't even think we got any rain on this trip. My first backpacking experience without a rainstorm. What!?

In September, I had the opportunity to run another Ragnar! This time it was Napa Valley, California. And since we had run the So Cal in April, we got a special medal for running both California races in the same year. It was great! I love those races. We didn't have Jessica's parents excursion for this one and we ended up having to rent a vehicle. I was in charge of that feat. I had reserved a minivan for us, but a few hours before I was supposed to pick it up, I got a phone call from the rental place. They told me that the van I was supposed to pick up had been returned with the check engine light on. They said it was being worked on, but they had another vehicle that I could use. I can't remember the name of it, but they said it seated 7 and would be the same price. I figured I was good to go. I went to pick up said vehicle and they showed me what it was.....Yeah, it wasn't going to work. There was absolutely NO room for baggage. We were going to be in this car for roughly 30 hours straight, not including the drive time to and from Cali. I needed something different. Long story short....I talked them into giving me the 15 passenger van, for the same price! We rode around in luxury for this Ragnar. It was pretty great.

We stayed in a hotel Thursday night in San Francisco, The Rex. We crammed the 6 of us in one hotel room. This was the elevator. It was tiny! We couldn't even take our luggage in the elevator with us because it was so small! Jess was on a king size bed with Krista and David (they are married). I shared a pullout bed with Ryan and Brian was on the floor. It was an experience to say the least. And as we were driving down to California, we found out the our entire second van had bailed!! We contemplated just bagging the whole thing and turning around, but we really wanted that Gold Rush medal that came from running both California races. We decided to just do our legs of the race so that we weren't losing any running time and finishing. It was a more laid back Ragnar than others that we've done, but it was so fun! Brian was kind of the odd man out, he joined our group at the last minute, because we needed another runner and it was his first Ragnar, but I think he enjoyed it. It was definitely something to remember, that's for sure. Plus, we are a fun group to run with, we aren't super competitive and just like to have fun, so it was good.

 On the way there, we had to make a little stop due to people not feeling so hot. We were in the parking lot of a store and these hats were found. What else would we do, but take gangster pictures, of course.

 This is the group before we started. I stole the picture from facebook, so it's a little weird.

 And we're off! Team 361, ready to go! I'm a little disappointed, my friend Krista has most of the pictures of me running. Some of which are really great, but I can't get her to send them to me!! I've asked multiple times. Maybe one day.

This was us after the race, we went to Pier 39 and found a place to eat. Most everyone got some sort of fish, with the exception of me. It was a great time! Me, Ryan, David, Krista, Jessica and Brian. Go Power Ragnars!

We were on our way home and had stopped at Target to get a couple of things for the drive home. We noticed a couple of ladies that were pulling stuff out of their trunk. We thought they might have a flat tire. We drove over to help them while Krista and David were in the store. We got out of the car and before we even got to their car, the ladies handed us the car jack. So....we changed the tire! It was great to be able to help them out.

Later in September I had the awesome opportunity to run the Dirty Dash with both my sisters!! I have done it every year since it started 3 years ago. Leah, Courtney and I did it together the first year, then it was just me and Leah the next year and this year, Courtney was able to do it with us again!! It was SO much fun! I love that race. And they didn't disappoint. So. Much. Mud.

 Ahh...the before pictures. We got white shirts and made them our own for the race.

Dirty Girls Have More Fun! Our team name, once again. I love it.

In the mud pit right before the finish line. I don't know how Leah still had white showing on her shirt. Clearly Courtney and I didn't do our due diligence with the mud.

And we survived! Again, I love this race. Thanks Brad, for being our photographer and waiting for us while we ran.

In October I had the opportunity to run the Provo Halloween Half Marathon with my friend Brian. He and I met on the Napa Valley Ragnar race and we became friends and did a few races together. There was also a group from my ward that ran this race and we ended up seeing them at the race as well. I told Brian that he needed to leave me and try to beat his personal best because this was a race down the canyon and I knew he had a good chance of beating that time. That he did! By about 7 minutes!! I ended up running into my friend Adam around mile 5. It was his first half marathon so he and I stuck together for the remainder of the race. He had an awesome finishing time and I was glad I was able to share that experience with him.

This was the extent of my dressing up. Brian was a domino, but lost all of this dots on the run.

In November I did yet another race. What!? I did the Color Me Rad race in St. George. I did this with Brian again. We were able to get a few races in before the end of the year, which was nice. It's like the dirty dash, but with color instead of mud. It was a fun 5K, but it wasn't as much color as I thought. Still so much fun!

 After the race, pelted with color!

The week of Thanksgiving we had an awesome family vacation to Disneyland!! I love that place and it was even more fun to be there with the whole family (minus Steve and Cathy and their cute little family). It was awesome to see the excitement of the little kids with the rides, characters and the Happiest Place on Earth.

The car ride down....People were a little tired. It's a long drive...

These boys had so much fun!! They had matching shirts with their cousin, Ezra, and they were so excited about Buzz Lightyear! I think that was their favorite ride. If I remember correctly, they went on it a total of 9 times.

I got to hang out with these two and go on Ariel's ride while the adults went on a ride. Who even knew there was a Little Mermaid ride!? I sure didn't, but these two loved it and I thought it was great. Seriously though, the line was like 5 minutes, it was so awesome.

Here's the whole clan together. We made a quick stop on the way to the beach and were able to get a picture with everyone. Such a great trip! Thanks mom and dad for organizing such a wonderful event.

We went to the beach and there were dolphins jumping in the water. This is everyone dolphin watching.

The castle lit up for Christmas! Seriously, I love going to Disneyland around this time. It's so awesome! Absolutely beautiful.

 This was just an awesome picture.

And now we are into December! I got to hang out my awesome nieces and nephews and my amazing family. I love this time of year.

I had toyed with the idea of running the Beat The New Year 5K for New Year's Eve. I posted it on facebook to see if any of my friends wanted to join me. The idea of running at 11:30 at night in the freezing cold wasn't too enticing. I decided around 9:00pm that I wanted to do it. I talked my older sister into doing it with me. An hour later, we headed to Sugar House Park to register and run! It was a balmy 14 degrees. It was so much fun though. Thanks, Courtney, for indulging me and running the race and starting the new year off right.

We made dad come outside and take a picture of us when we got home, with our plaques, showing we made it!

And now we've made it to 2013! In February I made a quick little road trip to Vegas with about 7 other friends from the ward. And by quick, I mean, we left Friday night after work and rolled into Vegas around 1-2:00 am. We got up the next morning and did some shopping and sight seeing. We hit a Cirque de Solei show Saturday night and then drove home early Sunday morning. We had the Relief Society and Elder's Quorum Presidents in the car with us, along with a ward clerk. We needed to be back for church at 1:00. We got up around 4:00 am and started our trek home. It was a good trip, but again, really quick.

I don't even remember which hotel we were walking through, but it was a diamond horse. We had to take a picture. Rob, Brittany, me and Brian.

Just imitating the Chinese dolls. Rachel, me and Rob. And the random Asian girl trying not to be in our picture.

The whole group, cruisin the strip. Brittany, Brian, Jessica, Raymon, Meghan, Rob, Rachel and me.

While the rest of the group rode New York, New York, Jess and I hung out at the arcade. We each won a whistle for our awesome jump roping skills. Really, it was much harder than it looked. "Don't blow it, unless it's actually happening."
The drive home was interesting, because it was so early in the morning and we had gotten to bed late the night before, because of the show. We have a rule, at least one person needs to stay awake with the driver. It's been adopted from our Ragnar rules. Anyway....I drove most of the way home. Brittany was my copilot and she experienced redbull Melinda. She said that's her favorite Melinda. I don't really know how to take that....Oh well. All in all, it was a pretty fun filled weekend.

In March I had the opportunity to go to California for a quick trip with my friend Katy. I had tickets to Wicked and took her for her birthday gift. And I don't even have a picture of the two of us!  I'm pretty much the worst friend ever.

Katy had never been to California. Never been to the beach and never seen Wicked. It was a weekend of firsts for her and it was so much fun!

Wicked was amazing, as always. I love it!!

In April I had the awesome chance to go out and visit both my brothers in the midwest. Jeff and I had signed up for a half marathon in Kansas City and then I decided to just take a week off and make a trip out of it. Courtney and Robert were planning a trip out there as well, so we met up and we all got to spend some time with each other. So great! I love my family.

 Holli joined in on the fun. This was us, getting ready to Rock the Parkway!

Jeff rocked it, of course. They had to wait for me at the finish, because I was super slow. It was a great course though, I just wasn't prepared. But I have to hand it to Kansas City, they have some rocking fans!

Holli did the 5K! I felt bad, it was a little cold that morning and she had to wait until we finished 13.1 miles. Which really meant a long time, because I'm super slow.

 We saw the famous St. Louis Arch.

We went to the St. Louis Zoo. It was pretty great, but we got pounded with rain and had to seek shelter in the nearest building. Which just happened to be the insect building! Ugh!! Spiders, bugs, all kinds of creepy crawlers. I couldn't wait for the rain to stop.

Carter wasn't really having the whole camera thing, so Owen and I got some pictures together.

Once we met up with Brad, Mel and the kids, we went on a tour of the Caterpillar museum. The boys were in heaven! They loved all the big machines, trucks and trailers.

We got to go to Nauvoo for the day as well. The temple was closed, but we got to do some tours around the temple. I absolutely love that temple! It's beautiful inside. My favorite so far.

Love these guys!

Brad and Mel happened to be in town over Mother's Day as Brad was interviewing for a few jobs. We had a celebration for Mother's Day and my and my dad's birthdays. For my birthday, I wanted a picture with all the nieces and nephews. This is what we ended up with. I love these kids with all my heart.

 Chloe, Madeline and Isabelle are the only three smiling. Everyone else is either unhappy or in their own little world. We tried about five different times.

And then we decided to do a funny face picture. This is the perfect description of the family. I love it.

Salem Spring Triathlon

My oldest brother convinced me to sign up for a triathlon, other than the Women of Steel. He had done the Salem Spring Triathlon with our brothers and dad last year and wanted to do it again. This would be my first open water swim. The swim was also nearly 3 times longer than the other triathlon I had done. Open water and 800 meters....What had I gotten myself signed up for? We registered on New Year's Eve, thinking we had 6 months to train. I don't know about Steve, but my training was not what it could have been. This race also requires a wet suit. I had never swam in a wet suit before. Why not try a swim or two in it before the race, is what you might be thinking, right? Well.....that would have been the logical explanation, but I didn't do that. I just borrowed one from my good friend and figured I'd be fine. I knew I was most likely going to be the last one out of the water and I was fine with that realization. What I wasn't aware of was just how freaked out and panicked I would get when I tried to swim in a wet suit. I had heard my dad talk about how he feels constricted when he's in one and can't breathe, but since I had heard that, I figured I'd be fine. I knew (or thought I knew) what to expect and that I could just talk myself out of that fear. I was wrong. I got maybe ten strokes into the swim and totally freaked out. It was open water, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see the bottom of the pond, I couldn't touch. I panicked! I almost had them pull me out, but after treading water for a while and getting my bearings, I flipped over on my back and continued the 800 meter swim with the backstroke. It was slow and I felt really bad for the volunteer in the canoe who kept me on course, but I made it out of the water. I figured if I made it out of the water, I'd be okay. I wasn't nearly as worried about the bike and the run as I was with the swim. Curse the swim!

The photographer at the race had me and Steve pose for a picture so they could put it on facebook. I stole said picture to put on my blog. :) Look how happy we look, pre-race.

 Getting out of the water. If you notice, there's still someone behind me. I wasn't the VERY last person out of the water.

 Getting out on my bike. Look at all those bikes that are already gone...

 And I'm starting the run!

I'm coming in to the finish line!

Steve is coming in for the finish line! We made it! It was a great race. Thanks, Steve for doing it with me. It was nice to have my older brother there with me. And we weren't even the last two people to come in! However, when results were posted, we both had DNF (Did Not Finish) next to our names. We were a little upset because if we were going to quit, it would have been on the swim. But we both made it out of the water, so we were going to finish. My resourceful brother contacted the race director and they caught us on video and we were able to get our finishing times. Apparently the timing mats had gone out for a short time and it wasn't noticed, so when we finished, it didn't register us. But thanks to Steve, we didn't have the dreaded DNF next to our names. :)

 

Women of Steel

In May my sister and I did the Women of Steel Triathlon. This is the third year in a row that I have done it. This time I was able to do it with my sister, Courtney. I don't think she was super excited about me signing her up, but we made it through and she did an amazing job! The first year I did this, it was 40 degrees and raining that morning and the swim ended up being canceled. Leah and I weren't too upset about that because neither of us were super strong swimmers and it was our first triathlon, so we were really nervous. The second year, I did it with my sisters-in-law, Holli and Melanie. We weren't so lucky with the swim. We had to do it. The same was the case for this year. Courtney and I had to endure the pool swim. Courtney's little boys came to cheer us on, it was really cute.

 Here we are, coming up to the finish line and Courtney is going to give Carter a high five.

We finished!! Well done, Courtney.

So Cal Ragnar 2012

In April, I had the opportunity to run the southern California Ragnar Relay. I was able to run it with most of the people I do this race with. It was great fun. We drove to Vegas Wednesday night. Stayed with my friend's family (who are always so willing to let 12 random people stay in their home) and then drove the rest of the way Thursday. We got there early enough on Thursday that we were able to spend a little time at the beach. I wasn't expecting to go to the beach, so I didn't have any of my beach attire, but it was still fun to go and hang out for a bit. I have family in Southern California, so my aunt and uncle came and picked me up for dinner Thursday night and then took my to get Pinkberry (my absolute favorite!).

 Jess and me on the beach. We played a little sand soccer before they had to take me back to the hotel to meet my aunt and uncle for dinner. It was quite the workout!

 Pure joy, right here. I LOVE Pinkberry. It was delightful and my face shows how much I enjoyed it.

Then, Friday morning, we began our 200 mile adventure through Southern California. The starting line!

Here I am, ready to start my first leg! It was really hot that day, like 98 degrees hot, so we were a little behind pace. I think I started around noon and my first leg was about 5 miles. But I passed off to van two, right in the heat of the day. Poor van 2!!

 And I'm off!

Normally I'm not too worried about the legs I have to run during Ragnar, but I've usually looked online so I know what to expect. This race was a little different. I thought I was going to be a certain runner, but it got changed at the last minute. I'm pretty easy going, so I said sure. I got done with my first leg and got back in the van. We were going through what the next van had to run and I decided to look at my next leg. Holy balls! I was runner 6, so I was the last runner in our van. I know the picture is kind of blurry, but exchange 17 on that picture is where my leg began and I had to make it up that giant hill!! I was kind of freaking out about it. A nice elevation change of 1100 feet. What!?!?

Jessica, me and Krista donning our reflective gear for our night runs. The night runs are usually my favorite, but I had to get my legs up a giant hill, remember?

 And I'm ready to begin my trek up the ginormous hill... I'm just glad I didn't have to do that during the heat of the day. I may have died.

 I don't have any pictures of my last leg, but I had more hills to go up. It was through Torrey Pines, if anyone is familiar with that. My legs were already tired from my 8 mile run during the night, which had the massive hill. So, trying to make them go up more hills wasn't so fun. But I started out next to the beach, which was nice. I made it, but it was a little slow.

 We were at the finish line, waiting for van 2 to come through so we could cross the finish line together and there was this sign. So true! Ragnar has been a great experience, each and every time I've done it and I have made some great friends along the way.

 Taking in the beach scene while waiting for van 2 to finish.

 Here's van 1! Julia, Ryan, Rich, Jessica, Krista and me. We had a great time!

 We were driving home and I looked back and the others were really into the movie. I'm pretty sure they were watching the Burbs. That has become a Ragnar classic. Huntington Beach to Coronado Island. We made it!!