monsoon season...

oh my two weeks...where have you gone to?

we have had some truly spectacular weather lately! i'm completely in love with the rain {epic amounts} and big billowing black clouds, and hail? yes, we had hail the other day. and lightening! it's magical.

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last night as i walked out of the grocery store with bags in hand i felt it. fall. 

i think it's just about here. the air was crisp and cool and the clouds were pink and wispy and it was one of the moments where you feel perfectly happy and content with everything.

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my busy fall is almost in full swing. i feel as the first of October approaches, so does a very busy schedule. lots of thing coming up just around the corner and i can't believe it. my half that used to be almost 100 days away is now only in 37, and SE Asia is in 53. 53 days! to add to the mix my bestie lindsay coming to visit, my birthday, increased training, thanksgiving, christmas, my parents coming and staying with me for christmas {pretty dang excited for that} and then new years. so basically this year is already over. yep.

i love this though. i love the busy-ness and chaos that the holiday season typically is. i love that i'll get to see so much of my family and so many friends.

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invasion 5k! that was two weeks ago. it was comical to say the least. and i ran it faster than i thought i would! i'd like to pat myself on the back {yes i know it was only 3 miles, but who cares}. we also too some pretty great pictures. behold...

 {pre-race w/ my bff court}

 {kara, me, sabrina, and courtney}

 {family pose}

{yikes...post race}

 {feelin sweaty}

 {one of the 2,583 photos court and i took when we got home}

the following morning we ran down the canyon. down a very steep hill...and then i got shin splints and didn't run for a week. oy.

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court and i went to the lumineers concert last tuesday night...i don't want to talk about it right now though. ugh.

autumn...

i know it's still been in the 90s everyday, but it's september now so i'm calling it fair game. i love me some fall-time. i'm so looking forward to the cooler weather, orange leaves, hot chocolate, sweaters and scarves, and pumpkins. pumpkins guys...i love them! autumn is the best!

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only 50 days until my half marathon! i'm still so excited! especially because i ran 5 miles the other day, TWELVE minutes faster than ever before. that may not be a big deal to other people, but it most definitely is a big deal to me! i have now successfully cut a good 22 minutes off my 5-mile time {proof of just how incredibly slow i was to start!}. i'm deeming my training a total success so far. and i'm about 15lbs down. woo. go me. 

who knew i had so much self discipline and will power? i sure didn't. sticking to me "diet" and going to the gym 6 days a week isn't hard anymore. right? crazy, i know. and since i've been training so hard and for this long, it's all the more motivation to stick with it.

i'm running the invasion 5k tonight. it should be pretty comical. we're running through a corn maze, crop circles, and area 51. haha. it's alien themed of course. i picked up our packets last night with our bib numbers and "swag" as they called it. not too swaggy and my t-shirt is about a bazillion times too big, but the race was only $10. no complaints. 

i'm sure there will be many pictures to come of people dressed up like aliens and the like.

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guess who got a new car?! that's right. this girl. and by new, i mean new to me. though it's in WAY better condition than my old car. i bought my brother's old honda accord. guys...it's so nice. so smooth, and clean, and quiet! and the get up and go on it is awesome. though it takes some getting used to with new breaks and gas pedals. it has a sunroof too! {i've always dreamed of having a sunroof-no joke}. and it has heated seats. curse this 90* weather...i haven't been able to test them out yet. soon, soon.

i got to go to CA for the labor day weekend to pick it up and spend some much needed time with my adorable nieces and my favorite sister in law! i just love them! 

{we spent all day saturday at the pool and it was glorious}

 

 {abigayle is the cutest} 

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ps. our visas for vietnam arrived in the mail on tuesday! holy fast! and maybe i watched hocus pocus the other night. so what...i love that movie. 

week three...

i think all 5 of you know that i signed up for a half marathon come this october. {only 108 days left!} but anywho...i want to keep track of my training progress, and i'm going to do it here. soooo enjoy it haha.

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so far training is going well. granted i'm only  on week three doing 3.5/2/3.5 miles during the week and this saturday will be 5 miles. slow and steady right? right.

but at the end of each run i feel good and invigorated and feel as though i could go a bit farther. that makes me optimistic for the upcoming weeks and the actual race. starting tomorrow my friend michelle will be doing strength training with me, and every thursday after work. i'm excited...and terrified. she did a leg workout with me a while back and i could not walk for a week. she is going to kick my trash!

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so now that i've got the whole going to the gym thing six times a week down, i need to re-evaluate my meals. what can i say? i have a serious sweet tooth. like really. so my friend kara informed me she would do the whole "no" sugar thing i was doing at the beginning of the year. and i'm going to try and eat better in general. more fruits and veggies and lean meats. 

I CAN DO THIS! 

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so if any of you guys see me about to eat a piece of pizza/brownie/cookie/other junk that is not classified as fruit/veggie/healthy snack, knock that thing out'o my hands yo! 

also, any words of encouragement are more than welcome! ;)

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ps - is anyone else SUPER excited for fall? it's a magical time of year. {don't get me wrong, i'm loving summer and the sun and heat and swimming. but i'm still excited for fall}

l.o.a...

holy toledo...it seems like forever and a DAY since i was on here last. in reality, it's been a month and 3 days. nbd.

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well in that month and 3 days i found a new apartment, signed a contract, packed, moved, unpacked, decorated, had 1 good friend move far away, another moved a little ways away, 2 others across the hall, another a few blocks away, changed buildings i worked in, bought a new gym membership and cancelled the old one - and gone to the gym daily, had an ear infection, signed up for the dirty dash, bought tickets to the opera, bought a plane ticket to CA and my first rental car, cut 9 heads of hair, filled my gas tank 8 times, joined a dinner group, gone repelling, saw a play, worked 210 hours, made 2 birthday cakes and approximately 5 batches of zucchini bread {lemon, chocolate x 2, regular, and banana/zucchini}. 

a little busy...hence why i am SHOCKED that it is already almost half way through september. not cool...and yet i'm totes ready for it to be fall. 

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summer is over...that's weird since it feels like it just started. but thus is life. summer was good to me, as was the avenues pool {i'll miss you pool}. time for cooler weather and sweaters and hot chocolate. i'm ok with this. we're kicking off fall the right way tomorrow with a "fall themed" potluck - you can all be jealous. there will be a plethora of delicious fall goodies and it will be wonderful. 

really there isn't too much new going on in my life, other than the fact that i'm making the adjustment of moving into a new ward, a very different ward {i think i'm on the younger side of the average} and trying to get to know people so i have friends again :)

provo friends, if you ever want to drive south 3 miles, i can usually be found in my apartment baking delish...baked things, or painting furniture. i promise, 3 miles isn't that far.

just for now...

let's be honest.

i love the summer and the sun and swimming and playing outside when it's so nice. but i have to admit i love the fall.

a lot.

i can already feel it early in the morning and i love it. i can't wait for these things:

{weheartit}

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ps-i may have found my inspiration for this years pumpkin to carve. it's amazing!

sitting, waiting, wishing...

i'm sitting here in the basement of the museum waiting for one of the other interns to get off the computer so i can work on a file, wishing that i was at home in my pjs, wrapped up in a blanket, eating a bowl of soup. ah...that sounds nice.

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in the meantime, today i made outmeal with cinnamon and raisins for breakfast, went to the gym ran on the treadmill for 20 mins and did hte elliptical for 35, written new extended labels for eight paintings, replied to 2 or 3 emails from courtney, corresponded with my family on our family website about my new gym membership, intensions of getting a smaller bum, and excitement about it finally acting like fall outside, and looked at coats online. {confession: i purposely left my old coat at home so i would have to buy a new one, it was far too big} i firmly intend on going home soon and getting back in my pjs, painting my nails and reading pride & prejudice until i fall asleep.

happy fall...

it is officially autumn and i'm so happy. i love the fall. and that means it will be halloween soon. which i also love, and not just because it's my birtday. they start selling candy corn and usually egg nog {which makes me excited for christmas} and there are corn mazes and fun things to do. and pumpkins...i love carving pumpkins. i think i've carved a pumpkin almost every year of my life, the smell the goo! what's not to love. i get really excited when stores start piling them up outside.

fall i love you...

today is the last day of august, so i figured i'd squeeze one more in before it's officially september. it's going to be fall soon! i love fall. coats, sweaters, scarves, hot chocolate, my birthday! what more could you ask for? needless to say, i am ready for dead leaves and unstopable layering of clothes.

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last night i went to my ward's fhe. it's different than i'm used to, mainly because i've been at byui for the past 3 years and it consists of a smaller group. but it wasn't too bad. i was a little...eh...about going because i really don't know a soul, but i met a few people which was good. we got into teams and played "minute to win it" {i don't know where people get this stuff} and let me tell you, i can butt at stacking chapstick with chopsticks. who knew? there were about 10 different "games" that we all had a minute to do and you kept the best time out of your team. not too bad. plus my team got money sign necklaces.

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big plans for tonight ie. watch a movie, eat some dinner, in bed by 11...probably. my life is too exciting for words.

summer: a photo essay...

so it's already almost the end of august. where has the time gone? soon it will be sept and everyone will be going back to college and i will not. this will be the first sept. since i started going to school when i was five, that i will not be going. {exciting/weird}

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this summer has been a pretty good one. i worked a lot and was living with stephanie and her girls to try and help out and it was a blast. here's a few photos of some of the stuff i did. {not in order}

{saw my very first moose-in person- at northwest trek}

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{all of us at northwest trek and erin and daniel came to visit}

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{feeding the budgees at point defiance zoo}

. {inside a shark's mouth--well a wood version anyways} .

{dragged my mom hiking up on tiger summit--i love you wa}

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{utah over the 4th for 3 baby blessings--here with anna}

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{trav came home for his leave for 2 weeks in may-here we are meeting him at the airport}

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{demonstrating his strength at the science center in seattle}

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{whole fam at the science center}

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so even though i'm kind of sad summer is almost over i'm excited for fall...i love the fall. i can't wait to put on sweaters and coats and scarves...and it'll be my b-day soon!