a new career chapter for me

It may seem too early to tell, but I am already super glad I left my old job for my new one at OrangeSoda. Sounds like an obvious statement, but I did have my doubts in the interim. I was unemployed for several weeks before getting a job offer, after all. And this was after going back to at least 3 companies for a 2nd interview! Job searching blows!!!

But I finally feel like I may be at a place where work doesn't have to suck. Where it can actually be fun. Trust me, I know how rare it is for someone to be able to make a claim like that. Since starting my working life back in high school at the bottom of the food chain with first a newspaper route and then as a server, I have never thought that work was fun. And that's just life. 

I don't expect that I'll think work is fun every day. I'm not that naive. But the facts that these people are almost as enthusiastic about Halloween as I am and that they encourage employees to take breaks in the community ping pong table room are enough to give me high hopes.

Talking about work is boring, I know. But this has been occupying my mind for, like, a really long time now. So here are some things I've learned to appreciate during my quest for career nirvana. At my new company:

• They value people and employees. That's a good sign. I used to take that for granted.
• They're excited to brag about their benefits & compensation rather being secretive about it.
• The interviewing and hiring process is organized.
• They recognized that it was also in their best interest to make me feel comfortable during interviews and etc.
• I've already been introduced to a gazillion people.
• They have a "work hard, play hard" mentality that makes its employees happy! Imagine.
• They are flexible with scheduling and time off.
• People are just nice. Everyone I've talked to has been friendly and happy. No negative vibes.
• They are expanding and expecting to move to a larger building within the next year.
• It's my first week and they've already made me feel like they want me to stick around.

Here's to hoping I'll be here for a long time. I don't want to job hunt again any time soon. Actually, when it comes to job hunting and I, "we-ee are never, ever, ever, ever getting back together."

2 sisters married

It is sooooo..... FUNNNNN.... to have 2 other sisters besides myself married. Seriously, it's been a blast.

What a blessing it is that they each found a great guy who jives well with the fam. They are fun, adventurous, kind, and a bit goofy. Which you have to be if you're gonna jive well with these wackies.

I've loved it. And Clint too. Since my brother left on the mish, Clint has been the only dude at family gatherings besides my pops. And now he's had 2 other dudes to be buddy bud with.

Needless to say, family four-square and badminton and basketball will never be the same again. It's at a whole new level, I'm telling you!!! But so fun. And I am happy to say that I did actually win a round of Lightning (Tornado, Tsunami, Spit, etc) against even all of the guys. So ha. Take that.

And I got to have some special sister moments too.

Don't have any of the pics ready right now due to the recent hard drive crash (GRRRRRR!!!! I won't be over THAT until I get my files BACK already), but here are some of my favorite moments:

1. Posing with the cardboard cut-out of my missionary brother (in Paraguay) at the weddings
2. Doing my sisters' hair and make-up (both sisters) for their bridals and their actual wedding day (both events)
3. Posing in "all-sister" shots at the temple in cute, matchy outfits. Seriously, some of those pics of all of us (posted on facebook) are time. less.
4. Hugging my sisters and their brand new husbands in the temple right after the marriage ceremony. Giving those guys a huge old hug and saying "Congratulations, I'm so happy for you" have been some of the sincerest moments of my life
5. Noticing that my parents are a bit more... willing? aggressive? assertive?... about getting the family together now that there's more than just 1 daughter (ahem) not living at home
6. Allie's husband Cameron taking to Clint like a puppy-dog to a frisbee thrower. Clint loves having a disciple of his same mind. Clint and Cameron are so similar -sports-loving, practical-minded, conservative with money, chick-flick-eschewing, etc - and any time my parents invite us to do something, they always say that Cameron asked whether Clint was coming. The side bonus for me is that I get to hang with my sister Allie more :)

As for least favorite moments... the 2nd sister to get married, Liz, moved to Nevada with her husband Mark right after the honeymoon and I miss my Bizzer (there's a long story behind that nickname somewhere but I don't remember it.) I miss both of them obviously, but Bizzer was always my willing toe-nail-painting-chick-flick-watching-girls-night-in buddy. Still happy for them to be starting their own cute little family in Nevada while Mark starts school. Of course.

It's so special to see my family change like this. It's just really... really.... REALLY...

FUN.

A recent letter to my missionary brother

Hey Elder!

Thanks for your email last week. It's always great to hear from you. I'll keep this email short since I know you don't have a lot of time.

Cam and Allie's wedding was really fun. It was a great day. Cam's family was really nice and his dad and brothers offered to help clean up after the reception, which was nice. Mom's cake bites were awesome! Me and Liz and Mark all helped gather presents from the guests and put them in one place. We also took care of decorating Cam and Allie's car. :) Mwah ha ha. Mark and Clint sprayed Cam's car with silly string and me and Liz wrote all over it and tied streamers to it everywhere. Dad wrote on the windshield "Cam loves Kobe" and "Kobe stinks" or something like that. We took a bunch of pictures by your cardboard cut-out, too. Haha.

Anyway, phew! They're married now. We all had dinner at Mom and Dad's last night and played badminton and it was fun to see how the family's growing. It'll be really fun when you get home Kenny. You'll love Cam and Mark - they're great and the family has gotten even funner with them in it. Cam and Allie actually left Mom and Dad's house before me and Clint, which was weird but kinda nice. Clint and I are used to being the only ones who have to drive there and then leave so it was kinda nice to feel like we're not the only ones who leave at the end of the night.

Now we're all getting excited for Liz and Mark. I'll probably do Liz's hair and makeup this Saturday for her bridals.

Clint and I babysat for Clint's brother Brian and wife Annie this last week. They went to Denver to get away for a couple days and we babysat their 3 kids from Friday night at about 6 pm until Saturday at 4 pm when their parents got back. We had Avie, 7, Eliza, 4, and Maxwell, 1. So it was kinda a handful to keep them happy and fed and get their nap times and diaper changes and what not. But I think the kids had fun. They love to play with Clint. And I think we handled them ok. :) I had fun coloring with Avie and holding Maxwell in the pool (we went swimming for a little bit).

Anyway, we're still working hard at our jobs and our callings and running and what not. Clint surprised me this morning by waking up early, almost at the same time as me. I still get up at 5 am on most days. We went for a 4-mile run together and I just tried to keep up with Clint even though I was tired. It was nice to have a running buddy. I've actually discovered that I really like being outside in the mornings and hearing the birds chirp and seeing the sun rise. I never thought I'd EVER be such an early morning person, but there ya go. I guess I am now!

Oh, by the way, I added another movie to your "must-see" list: Men In Black 3. Me and Clint really liked it. It had some good action and it was funny. I bet you'll like it. :)

Well, I WAS trying to keep the email short but I had one more thing to tell you about. On Sunday I helped teach a lesson to all the combined young women about keeping personal records. Mom gave me a bunch of records and stories, including Great Grandma Spencer, Claron Spencer, and a few more all the way back to Daniel Spencer, our ancestor who knew the prophet Joseph and trekked across the plains to good old SLC. I'm going to Trek in memory of him next week. NEXT WEEK! Gah, oh my gosh, Trek is NEXT WEEK ALREADY! We still have so much to do. But anyway, I shared some stories of my ancestors with the YW and encouraged them to find some inspirational stories and keep good personal records of themselves. I think it went pretty good. I found some cool stories of our ancestors so I was pretty thrilled that the lesson started me looking into it.

Phew! Sorry this email got so long! I hope you can print it out and read it.

We just really love you Kenny and keep you in our prayers. Take care. :)

Love,

Sam (and Clint)

Happy new 2012!

January? What's that? Looks like March outside to me.

I'm fine with the sunshine as long we don't get any stinky inversions. As far as I'm concerned, Snow missed its chance in December. Once Christmas and New Year's are over, I don't much care for snow on the ground anymore.

But anyway. I haven't blogged for a while so why don't I start off January 2012 with a couple of my New Year's resolutions that I'm willing to share? :) (Because you don't necessarily need to know how many pounds I would like to drop.)

Sam's (and Clint's) Goals for 2012 

• Run another half marathon, set new personal best
• do Trek with our stake (Clint and I have been called to be a Ma and Pa)
• finish at least the first draft of my story (Sam)
• keep up Sam's Magical Book Club, reading and reviewing at least one book a month (Sam)
• personal reading goal to read about one book a week, or for really long books, one a month (Sam)
• be more patient and kind and happy (Sam)
• take some painting classes, finish reading book on painting, and complete an original piece of Sam Paintasticness for house decoration (Sam)
• do better at budgeting and spending money
• paint at least one or two more areas in the house (I've slacked on that one for at least a year now)
• help Clint work on our backyard, at least to finally get some grass
• finally hike either Lone or Twin together (also for Sam's first time ever)

How's that for a busy year?

We had plenty of splendid adventures in 2011 and I'm excited for 2012. We also plan to visit Seattle some time during the year so I can see where my cousin and dear friend Emilie is now living with her husband, Todd. Plus I think Seattle sounds beautiful.

I'll try to keep y'all updated on our new 2012 adventures! Happy New Year. :)

our Christmas

was awesome! We had a fun party-filled week leading up to it, a magical Christmas day, and even a lovely day-after party.

Clint and I are sort of clinging onto our newly-wed tradition of moving out mattress into the family room and sleeping by our tree. We love it so we figured we will keep it up as long as possible! :)

We woke up early Christmas morning to go to church early (about 8:15) where I sang in three choir numbers and Clint sat by himself in the congregation. It was a great meeting and we sang some of my favorite songs including "O Come O Come Emmanual" and "The First Noel." I felt like ending with "Joy to the World" but I was fine with the classic closing song choice "Silent Night."

Then we came home and promptly changed into pajamas again for our gift ravaging session. Clint and I have come up with a way to make the gifting session last as long as possible while enjoying every minute. We take turns picking out a gift for the other one to open, and watch each other open it.

Among other things, I received some nice cold weather gear, jewelry, a laminator, a nice weight set, and these ultra cozy slippers which I am wearing right now.

Clint thought this was a funny picture of me trying to remember what things were in each of Clint's gifts as I tried to decide what he should open next.

Clint received some nice, dressy casual shoes, running shoes, a new gym bag and lock, ties, jeans, and lots of chocolate. :)

Santa also brought us a few new movies and.... (drum roll) dum dum de dum! A new laptop! I was super surprised and excited to open up that little nugget. Of course we will both have convenient uses for a laptop, but I especially am salivating at the prospect of taking my work en plein air. That is, having freedom to work from wherever and also testing out my creative writing powers under various natural settings.

And so in conclusion I must say: Clint is a fabulous gift giver. As are my parents, his parents, and our siblings. We have been inundated with blessings.

We also refuse to follow in the steps of the local radio stations and pretend that Christmas is just a day that comes and then goes. So we still happily play Christmas music at our house in the evenings while sitting next to our tree and admiring our stacks of opened presents.

Hope your holiday season continues to be magical as well. :)

Happy New Year!

downtown days of christmas

Clint and I traveled downtown 3 days in a row last week.

And we feel like we don't need to do it again for a very, very long time.

Each time it took us at least twice as long as it normally would because of extra Christmas traffic, including accidents on the freeway each night. We were travelling in the evenings on days that I can only assume the rest of the valley was heading downtown for the same events that we were. I also decided that some people who were heading toward these Christmas-related activities are people who do not normally drive on the freeway, and during busy conditions.

How else can I possibly account for all of the accidents on the freeway between the south end of the valley and downtown? It wasn't as busy as rush hour, nor have we had any snow to serve as people's excuse for driving poorly.

Anyway. Once we made it downtown, we had a great time going to one performance of Pioneer Theater's "Annie", the Utah Symphony's surprising spectacular of "Cirque de la Symphonie", and Clint's office party.

Just in case you've been wondering what we're up to.

I guess I'm fighting the "Christmas war"

The Salt Lake Trib had this provocative cartoon in Sunday's paper yesterday:

It's right on the money.

I've been thinking about Christmas topics a lot lately. And yes, I will speak of my faith for just a moment.

This is a busy week for me. I have a Young Women activity on Wednesday, the theater on Thursday, the symphony on Friday, an office party on Saturday, an extended family dinner on Sunday which I have to preparer something edible for, and I am also giving the Christmas lesson this Sunday to the combined Young Women classes. Oh yeah, and somewhere in there I have to send out greeting cards, neighbor gifts, and squeeze in more Christmas shopping.

I'm booked solid, even though it's mostly with fun Christmas stuff. It's easy to see why we get caught up in the stress of Christmas and forget what it REALLY is about.

And, surprisingly enough, Christmas is not actually about what the media is telling us that it is about: that Christmas is about "giving." While generosity and consideration for your fellow men are worthy  principles that we should be following all year round, they are NOT all Christmas is about. Not really. Actually, they're by-products of the true meaning.

The media will do anything to take Christ out of Christmas and appeal to a larger shopping and money-spending demographic.

Christmas... really... is about Christ. The Savior and Light of the world. Christmas is a Christian holiday, whatever the media says.

I've been making a point of wishing strangers "Merry Christmas" instead of just "Happy Holidays." The best gift we Christians can give  is the simple reminder of what this life is all about, and we can share Christ's love with others. I think I'll challenge my Young Women on Sunday to be eager to wish people a "Merry Christmas" this season.

I love Christmas, I love Santa, I love the songs, the trees, the lights, the gifts... and the giving, of course! I really don't think any of these celebrations are bad. But most of all, I love the way that all of these secular symbols are really just that - symbols to turn our hearts toward the birth of Christ and what that really means to us.

So on that note... Merry Christmas! May it be magical. :)

My personal Thanksgiving

This is just a simple but very meaningful tribute to the many things I have to be grateful for.

Here goes.

• My family. Unbeatable parents, wonderful in-laws, enjoyable siblings, delightful nieces and nephews, beautiful times.
• My job. The fact that I have one, and... the miracle of being able to do something that I truly like.
• My husband. Separate category from family because this man is simpy his own category. Clint is the greatest wonder of my life. Best friend, adventure buddy, my source of romance, my number one fan, my defender, partner in all things, my daily dose of joy, my morning hug, my everything.
• Myself. Who I am. I forget to be grateful for myself, but really, someone thought that I was worth making.
• Sunsets. A new and unexpected picture of eternity every night.
• Mountains. Painted in such spectacular grandeur from a distance, and a liberating source of perspective when climbed.
• My faith, my church, my beliefs, my spiritual leaders, my opportunities to serve, my knowledge of what this life is exactly. And where I want to be.
• Utah. I swear, can any place claim to offer such a smorgisbord of adventure as a state that offers everything from snowy mountain tops to dusty red desert formations?
• Art. In all its forms. Music, museums, history, literature, poetry, sculpture, emotions captured with paint or pencil. Nothing quite tugs my heart in the same way.
• My health. And Clint's. I almost published this post without adding this to the list! Just goes to show how valuable being healthy is, and yet we take for granted everything we can do until we suddenly... aren't.
• I could enumerate many more, but those are some of the biggies.

Love to all reading this! :) Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

Happy Halloween, Hello November

I am sad Halloween is over.  It was a beautiful day yesterday, on Halloween, and then today storm clouds dumped their grumpy selves all over the place. 

Last night we even got about quadruple the amount of Trick-or-treaters that we got last year.

I made all of the kids say "Trick or treat" if they didn't already say it by themselves.  Is it just me, or do some kids ring your doorball and then shove their candy bags toward you like they are bored of the whole gig?  I am more than happy to hand out free candy to all you kids, but you gotta at least SAY IT.  I mean, come on.

Here is a brief sum-up of the fun Halloween activities we did this past week:

Caramel-apple making with Clint's mom, Kathy

Halloween Party Part 2 with my side of the famdamily

Another pair of amazingly legit jack-o-lanterns carved by myself and Clint

Can you guess who did which?

I have mixed reactions to November today.  Did it have to come with snow, honestly???  I'm just saying, if November was trying to gain my approval, it sure started out on the wrong foot.

But on the other hand, it is still technically Autumn, and I love this time of year. Turkey, stuffing, and Christmas music are all right around the corner, and I have some projects I am getting into this month.

November 1st means I have all of my Halloween decorations to take down, laundry to fold, and my November writing goal of 30 minutes a day.  Which I am actually excited about, given that I can solidify a story outline during the time I will spend. Check out my writing blog if you want to keep updated on my writing endeavors!

Halloween Partay Part 1

Here are the photos from our recent family Halloween party on Friday!  We missed Brian and Shelly.  And Ty, I'm sorry I somehow didn't have any pictures of you.

It was a lot of fun!  Thanks everyone!

Hellboy and Cruella DeVil

Batgirl, an adorable Lion, Red Riding Hood, and a Nice Witch

Cowboys and Indians

Cowboys and... a Cow Boy. :)

I think it took the nieces and nephews a few minutes to warm up to their crazy aunt who didn't look like herself! But they did, and we had a great old time.

Reading Halloween books

Introducing a new Halloween party tradition:

Home-made Bingo cards

BINGO with Halloween M&M's

The after-party included a showing of Megamind and the ditching of the wigs.

Tate made my night by loving my Halloween decorations.

Cute, cuddling nephews

Thanks again to everyone for coming and dressing up and bringing food!

Special thanks to my dear man for being so agreeable to wear make-up for his costume.  I'm still kind of surprised I got him to do it.  But it looked freaking awesome.

Wednesday, Sorceress Day

I had a magical Wednesday this week. I think I'm going to make it an annual October event. 

My sister Allison teaches a darling 3rd-grade class and every week she tries to have a volunteer come read to them for 30 minutes before recess.  She asked me if I wanted to read to them on a day in October that hadn't been filled with a parent volunteer.  Uh, heck yeah?!?

So I dressed up as Samantha the Sorceress and brought Halloween candy in a pumpkin cauldron and read Halloween books to the class.  I'm telling you, it was grand. 

Those cute little kids sat wide-eyed on the floor in front of me while I gestured my spell-casting eyeball as a warning to behave.  Never have I ever had such a rapturous audience to reading some of my Mom's favorite Halloween books, including "The Runaway Pupmkin" and the "Ghost-Eye Tree".

At the end, though, they did come to the conclusion that I could not be a real witch because I did not wear gloves to conceal my claws (They had been reading Roald Dahl's The Witches.)

I felt just like a real witch, though.  It was so magic.

Walking through the halls afterward, I got stares and claps and exclamations of "Wow, cool costume!" from other classes. Some kids on their way to recess would ask me, "Are you a real witch?" or "Are you Miss Milne?" (my sister.)  I guess even with my witchy make-up on we look alike!

my grandpa's final fight

It came to an end on Wednesday morning at 6 am.  It was only the morning after I learned from my Mom that he was even close to leaving us.  It was a bit more sudden than anyone expected.

During the past decade he struggled with health problems, including a stroke, heart health, and fluid in his lungs.  He also fought with the frustrations of dementia, and would frequently forget the names and situations of his children and extended family.

But after the funeral today, I learned a few more things about my Grandpa and who he really was.  His kids spoke about him as well as one of his dearest friends. It was extremely precious to hear about his life well-lived.

First Day of Fall!!!

I adore Autumn.

Simply...

Adore.



The first day of Fall was last Saturday, September 24th.  And I was loving it. 

Our Top 5 Summer Adventures

Clint and I decided that we've done some very adventurous things this summer (and spring.)  We decided to list the top 5, and here they are:

5.  Cruise along Mexican Riviera

This one takes 5th place because, well, we both just felt like some of the other things were more cool.  But it still made the list!  It was a first for both of us. Cruising, that is.  One of our excursion stops was a revisit to honeymoon site: Nuevo Vallarta.

And I even got Clint to dance with me to some live music.  So you know, not an everyday miracle.

4. Sun Tunnels

On the eve of Summer Solstice, we watched the sun set through the west-facing tunnel, slept under brilliant constellations, then watched the sun rise through the east-facing tunnel.  As a spiritual bonus we also: pondered our existence in this mysterious and incomprehensible universe.

And as an unexpected bonus: we were quoted in the SL Trib regarding our trip.

Who wouldn't want to experience that?

3. Ragnar Relay - Wasatch Back Race

Pretty dang fun and adventurous and a lot a bit crazy.   Picked up some new buddies, too.

#3 alternate: Sam's SLC Half Marathon.

2.  Zions Narrows

This one is 2nd, beating out Ragnar, because of the extra physical endurance as well as the extraordinary scenery. 

Can also use the same 2 adjectives, adventurous and crazy, with some near brushes with death.  Ok, so, not really.  But Clint did get dehydrated and I did river walk at least 8 miles with excruciating blisters. 

We decided it was worth it.

1. U2 Concert

You may know that I am a U2 fanatic, but did you know that Clint also voted this event for the position of #1?  That's right, even with high expectations for the concert, Clint was blown away.  As was I. 

U2 dazzles.

People aren't kidding when they call U2's music a spiritual experience. 

What a spectacle!!!

There you have it!  We do enjoy our summers, don't we Clint?

Before and After Pics of BYU-Utah Game

This is me before the BYU game.  Taking pictures and posting to facebook: "I am on my way to the game!  Woohoo, go cougs!"

This is me delighted to be revisiting my college campus:

This is us before halftime:

Classic, right?

And then after the game...

Oh, nevermind.

We will never speak of this again.

BYUte Marriages: How to Deal

 Clint supported my gradution from BYU, and I supported his from the U.  I think I can speak for Clint in saying we both agree that both schools are good, quality schools and we respect each other's education.  Every fall when the football season brings high rivalry tensions, I find the best way to keep my cool and not strain our relationship is by:

>being a Utah fan because I am a Clint fan
>cheering for teams, not against
>trying not to take offence at BYU digs
>keeping a playful attitude and making our school rivalry a running joke
>not categorizing either school into a stereotype, but remembering the high profile individuals as well as people in my life who represent each school.

It does help immensely that Clint is equally considerate of my allegiance as I am of his.

However, ahem... I do have to say that I had to beg for several years to get him to take me to Lavell Edwards stadium! :)

The BYU vs. Utah rival game is happening earlier than usual this year, and I will finally be going to watch the football game in my school's stadium. I saw the BYU-Utah game last year in Rice Eccles, thankfully surrounded by a healthy mix of fans.  This 2011 season, Clint and I were able to buy tickets from someone selling them through ksl.com, and we are starting to get excited.  We are even able to maintain cordial feelings toward each other, which may be surprising to someone enmeshed in the rivalry. 

Clint even sent me this link today: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=17079550&nid=1010.

This season I am feeling a little more connected to my BYU team than usual; I think this is partially because we finally invested in cable TV with DVR so I have been able to watch the cougs much more than usual. Usually I am a little starved for BYU talk because my husband and his family AND my own family mostly only talk Utes. That's right, I am a little blue fish in a sea of red. It's okay, though. I have never been confrontational in nature and I shun the ugly side of rivalry. It takes some effort to not get too emotionally involved or offended -- because there are plenty of opportunities.

I will, of course, be wearing the home colors on Saturday. Hehehe.

However, I will be holding Clint's hand even though our outfits will clash.:)

about today

Today is kind of a big day for me.

I've been very quiet about it and barely even a handful of people in my family know what's going on.  And no, I am not Debbie Reynolds, I do not jump out of cakes to sing and dance, and I am not using blogger to announce to the world that I am finally in the baby-making business (I'm not).  (Although, jumping out of a cake may be something to go on the bucket list.)

Today is my last day at Myriad.  The place where I have worked and eaten (and slept, incidentally) for the past nearly 4 years.  I put in my notice last week, and now, here I am, blogging about my last day.

I took another job as a SEO Article Writer for Secrist Marketing Strategies.  I have already started working part-time as an independent contractor.  What does that mean?  Well, my friends, that means I get to work from home.  That's right.  2 dreams coming true at once.  After my phone interview with Greg Secrist, the day I found out that they truly wanted me, I couldn't stop saying it out loud:

"I'm going to GET PAID TO WRITE!!!"

"Clint!" I kept saying to my husband, trying to infuse him with the same rush of adrenal disbelief that I was having. "Clint, can you believe it?!?  I'm going to GET PAID TO WRITE!"

He's thrilled for me, too.

I'ts not that big of a deal, just something I've always wanted since I started writing 50-page stories about fairy worlds when I was in the 3RD grade and gave them to my classmates to read for fun.  Does that sound like a calling to anybody else out there?

Magic is in the air.

And of course, one thing that always brings magic with it is a full moon.

Tonight is the full sturgeon Moon!!  Did you know that the full moon each month actually has a NAME?  The Sturgeon Moon is August's full moon, also called the Grain Moon or the Green Corn Moon.  Supposedly it was named by Native Americans who tought that fishing was especially rewarding during this phase of the moon.  Interesting.  Because I have also made a fantasic catch. 

my brother gets a new name

Earlier this week, my family crammed everyone into the family van, pulled up to a curb, grabbed luggage out of the trunk, and frantically exchanged hugs before we pulled away from the curb minus 1 just a few short minutes later.  Can you guess where we were? 

run. eat. sleep? repeat...

This year me and Clint had the opportunity to run the Ragnar Relay race, fondly known as the Wasatch Back.  We had such a fun time - I love hanging out with him and even doing crazy things every now and then.

Our team of 12 was called "ASA...P?"  We were invited by our Bishop, whose company was sort of sponsoring our team.  I like the yellow shirts.

I already know that runners are a strange people. The Wasatch Back relay race just confirms this.  I'm just telling it straight here, okay?  You HAVE to be a little bit insane to voluntarily put yourself through the experience of running 3 different relay legs in the space of about 20 hours, with little to no sleep, living out of a van shared by 5 other sweaty runners, and living for the sight of a Honey Bucket on the horizon. (Not to mention that you are actually paying for this experience, as if you thought that the Ragnar Relay logo represented an entirely different sort of R and R.)

I guess that puts me on the far end of the strangeness spectrum since I whole-heartedly admit that I thoroughly enjoyed myself during the Wasatch Back.

I also loved watching Clint run and taking pictures of him in action. This was the very first leg of the race - Clint was Runner 1.

I was Runner 2.  This is my 2nd leg, and the one that hurt the most.  I still got about 14 kills though!

We had so much fun.

The fun factor is majorly affected by the people you share a van with.  My van was awesome. I have 5 new Ragnar BFF's!!!  It was me, Clint, Creed and his daughter Emily, her friend Laura (speedy little thing), and Creed's co-worker Pam.  We tallied our van's road kills for a grand total of 439!!!  (About 84 of which were contributed by Yours Truly).  We had a great time tallying our kills and goofing off.   Ha ha.

I also like to run out to support other runners.  Obviously.

Maybe there is a running formula to prove that the crazier your running experience is, the more thrilling your runner's high will be.  Because when I was running my 3rd leg at about 3 a.m., in near blackness and with the occasionally twinkling back-light from another runner up ahead, I thought to myself, "WOW, this is COOL!!!!"  Sure enough, I was dosed up on exedrin and protein bars, but I couldn't help but notice what a unique and electrifying adventure I was having.  When else in my life was I ever going to run an 8:30 average pace at 3 a.m. under a full moon at a chilling 40 degrees while counting the "kills" I passed along the shoulder?  The answer is: next time I sign up for Ragnar!!!

You better believe we will do this again! :)

Here is Clint getting ready for his night run, his 3rd leg.  It was chilly!!

Don't be surprised that I am actually smiling in this pic.  I was really having a great time.

We did not get to hang out with Van #2 a lot during the race, but the accomplishment would not have been complete without them!  We all crossed the finish line together triumphantly!

Of course, the accomplishment of completing the 192 miles from Logan to Park City would not be so great if it did not come with struggles along the way.  Nothing about Ragnar was comfortable.  Everyone in the van experienced an ailment at one point or other... or continuously.  Stomach pain, knee pain, calf pain, blisters, severe tiredness, wooziness, sun burns, thirst, the emergent need for a honey bucket... Oh yes, we were not exempt from runner's ailments. But... when will you ever get the opportunity to experience all of them in the space of the same day?  If that's not an enticing enough selling point, I don't know what is.

At the finish line, we laughed about our misadventures...

,,, and captured one final memory of being a proud runner of Van #1!