Tires, Tithing, and Gratitude

Okay, so the other night my little brother drove my car to Delta to watch his friends graduation, and on the way home he ended up getting two flat tires. Total bummer. What really sucks was it was the front tires that went flat. That sucks because they were the two good tires on the car and I already had to buy two new ones for the back, so I ended up buying four new tires this week. Which unfortunately I really could not afford. I was really starting to stress about it, because I don't have a job yet (grr!) and I therefore have very little money right now, and I didn't think there was going to be any way I could pay for those and not have to take any money out of savings, which I hate doing more than almost anything else. But then after figuring out my finances tonight, I actually ended up being able to pay for the tires and still have money to spare. Granted, not much money, but enough that I can at least put gas in my car. I'm pretty excited about that fact, but I really don't understand it. There is absolutely no way that I should have enough money. But all I can say, is that tithing really is important. I have always paid my tithing and I have never once not had enough money for something that I needed, and I'm very grateful for that. I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to pay tithing and receive those blessings. A lot of people think they wouldn't be able to afford to pay tithing, but I know without a doubt that I can't afford not to pay mine. There is absolutely no way that I should have had so few problems with money when I basically haven't had a job since I moved to Salt Lake. Which I really really miss by the way. I miss having a pay check every week and seeing my savings account getting fuller and fuller. I miss feeling like I can afford to buy little things without breaking the bank. But it's okay, at least I'm being looked out for, and hopefully my neighbor will be able to pull some strings for the Pharmacy stuff and I can get trained this summer. If I was trained then I would probably be able to get a job in Salt Lake for this next school year, because I kinda doubt that I will be able to get work study. I guess we'll have to wait and see though.

Running, Ridiculousness, and Hope

Well, we are now starting on week 3 of my running. And it's going pretty well I have to say. I haven't gone every day that I should have, but most of them. My sister started running with me, and that makes it so much easier. I'm so grateful for that. I really enjoy running with her too. Which kind of surprises me, I remember once when I was younger she went running with me and it made me miserable, I think that is probably because I was in terrible shape and she was probably running cross country at that point, I can't really remember for sure though. Anyway, so we actually took Maggie Mae running today, I just couldn't leave her behind when I was loading up the truck and she started crying...I think that she actually did really good, I guess we'll see if she can walk still tomorrow... I'm finally getting to where I am starting to enjoy running again, I am starting to get to the point where I want to push harder, I want to keep going farther, I love that feeling! There really isn't anything like it in the whole world. I'm excited to get back to having that feeling of accomplishment after running farther than you have ever ran in the past, because there is absolutely nothing in this entire world that compares to that feeling of pride in yourself. It's pretty fantastic.

Anyway, so I still don't have a job, the guy at Arby's is being non-committal, and a little bit of a butt....but hopefully he will decided that he wants to give me a job because I really could use the money, my textbooks next semester are going to be killer!!! I saw my neighbor the other night and he said he'd see what he could do about getting me into a pharmacy over the summer down here so that I can get Pharmacy Technician certified. That would be amazing! I would love to get some experience and I would be very excited to see if pharmacy is for sure the path that I want to take. I think it is, but I don't know for sure. I've never been a pharmacist, but keep your fingers crossed for me that he can find something for me. Here are the rest of the running quotes I have that I was going to post before but forgot. I really like the third one.

A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world.

It's not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.

Running is a big question mark that’s there each and every day. It asks you, "Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?"

You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy.

"Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body."
-Lynn Jennings

"I run because it's so symbolic of life. You have to drive yourself to overcome the obstacles. You might feel that you can't. But then you find your inner strength, and realize you're capable of so much more than you thought."

"I have met my hero, and she is me."

"Man imposes his own limitations, don't set any"

The greatest pleasure in life, is doing the things people say we cannot do

Run like hell and get the agony over with

Other people may not have high expectations of me, but I have high expectations for myself.

Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can

Running is real and relatively simple…but it ain't easy.

"Running is a mental sport...and we're all insane!"

Learn to run when feeling the pain: then push harder

"In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."

“I was pushed by myself because I have my own rule, and that is that every day I run faster, and try harder.”

Journals, Jogging, and Summer

Well it's been a little while since I posted, not really but we can pretend...So anyway. Not a whole lot has been going on, but I thought I'd update anyway. I have been reading through all my old journals this week, and it has been pretty interesting. I started writing when I was ten years old and have filled 13 journals since then. It's so fascinating to see how much, yet how little I have changed in the last 10 years of my life. I was kind of a ridiculous teenager, and I guess I am a little bit of a ridiculous adult. Oh well, it's fun anyway. I didn't know though that Jack is four years old. That's crazy! I didn't know we have had him for that long.

Which brings me to my next point, running with Jack. It's pretty fun, week 1 of my schedule is almost over and it has gone pretty well. Jack only almost kills me a few times each run now, but neither of us is very happy about having to leave maggie home while we go. Jack is surprisingly good though. I bought a harness for him so that it would be easier to run with him, and I bought the extra large one, thinking it might be too big, yeah it wasn't. It barely fits him. That dog has one heck of a rib cage. I love him so much though. He's a good baby.

Anyway, summer has been good so far. It's already going by too fast though. The amount of projects my family have going on are fun, we are going to be painting my room as soon as I take the wall paper down. I should get busy I guess. And sarah is coming home from london next week sometime so that I will finally get to see her!! YEA!! I'm pretty excited about that.

Weight, Waiting, and Excitement

Well so my families biggest loser competition is up, and I'm really surprised that I actually pulled it off because I didn't think I would, but I won! It's exciting but really it should have been Sarah that did, it was purely luck that I was able to pull it off. So I'm really excited about that. I'm finally back down to where I was last summer, so at least I have a better place to start from then I did for last summer. I am pretty excited about that. I now have three people that have said they are going to try to run the half with me in Nov. so that will hopefully give me some good incentive to not slack off this summer. Oh! and my sister said that when she didn't have to work then she would run with me as well! I'm really excited about that! I would love to run with her.

Anywho, so Sarah is in London, that's really fun, and I'm super excited for her, I bet she's having a blast. and I am nearing the end of finals week! I'm pretty excited. Then it's homeward bound for me. I can't wait!

Marathon, Motivation, and Quotes

So I decided that I am for real going to run a 1/2 marathon this time. I decided to run the Snow Canyon Half in November, and so here is my training schedule for the next 26 weeks, I decided to break it down so that it is slow building up and easier to do. I also plan to go to the gym in the mornings as well as this running schedule, so I will probably spend my whole summer sore but loving it. I'm including some inspirational running quotes as well. I love quotes!! I think I'll start putting one at the end of every blog post for a little while at least.

Week	Day 1 (Mon)	Day 2 (Wed)	Day 3 (Fri)	Long Run (Sat or Sun)	Total Miles
1	0.5	0.5	0.75	1	2.75
2	0.75	1	0.75	1.5	4
3	1.25	1.75	1	2	6
4	1.5	2	1	3	7.5
5	1	1.5	1	4	7.5
6	1	2	1	4.5	8.5
7	2	1.5	3	5	11.5
8	1.5	2	1	3	7.5
9	1	1.5	1	5	8.5
10	2	1.5	1.5	6	11
11	3	2	1	6.5	12.5
12	1	2	1	4	8
13	2	1.5	3	5	11.5
14	2	1.5	1.5	6	11
15	2	2	1.5	7	12.5
16	3	2	2	7.5	14
17	2	2	1.5	7	12.5
18	4	5	3	8	21
19	3	3	2	6	14
20	3	4	2	7	16
21	4	2	3	9	18
22	4	5	3	10	23
23	3	4	2	8	17
24	5	3	2	9	19
25	5	4	2	11	23
26	7	6	3	13	29

½ Marathon Training Schedule

Goal 2:40

“In general, any form of exercise, if pursued continuously, will help train us in perseverance. Long-distance running is particularly good training in perseverance.”

“There is no failure in running, or in life, as long as you keep moving. It is not about speed or gold medals. It is about refusing to be stopped.” -Ambry Burfoot

“If you want your life to be a magnificent story, then begin by realizing that you are the author and everyday you have the opportunity to write a new page” – Mark Houlahan