Staying up until one in the morning
Not training more then eight miles
Eating dozens of cookies
Halloween party
Dehydration...
Not the best day before running conditions.
But the show must go on, and indeed it did.
The show went on, my legs held up, and I did it. Woohoo. It was slow, it was painful, but now it is done. And for that I am stoked on life. I am amazed that people run double that, triple that, almost NINE TIMES THAT. Those crazy people.
I've heard it said, it is just a HALF marathon, it's not like its a marathon or anything. And to that I say...
You're observant. It is in fact NOT a marathon. But to that I also say... you get up and run thirteen miles!
So it may be just a half marathon. But I can't help but feel some bit of accomplishment. And I can't help but feel extreme gratitude for the girls that single handedly got me through mile 10. You all da best!! Nothing more motivating then girls you love waiting for hours in the freezing cold just to scream your name for the few seconds you run by. Gotta love em, and boy do I!
So training or no, cold weather or warm, the show goes on. And conveniently this was the song that played on repeat for miles 11 and 12 when I thought I was going to DIE! Hey thanks Lupe!
Timeline
Oct. 26: Interview
Two weeks laterish: Find out if I am accepted (cross your fingers!)
January-April: Pick my organization and put together an evaluation plan. When I pick my organization, that in turn picks the country I go to
May: Head out for another summer abroad. Like Thailand, but not really. I have a feeling this adventure would make Thailand look like an easy peasy vacation...
It is an incredible opportunity. It lets me put my new skills in sociology, nonprofit management, and international development to work in the most literal and perfect sense. I would live, eat, and breathe the organization I choose for an entire three months to assess their productivity and make them better. What better cause could I ask for?
So I find out in two or so weeks if I am chosen to go. It is a lot harder process because they have great funding options, they have to put a lot into the evaluators that they send out so they are a little more picky. It is a new program but it is quickly getting competitive. Like I said, cross your fingers for me will ya?
Second to "will I get accepted?" my mind can't stop thinking, "where in the world will I go??" Literally WHERE IN THE WORLD. The ENTIRE WORLD. The options are pretty endless. Here are just a few. What would your pick be??
Belize
Fiji
India
Tanzania
Uganda
Ukraine
Jordan
Peru
Luckily I just pick the organization I'll fit best with because I don't think I could EVER make a decision between countries. We live in one beautiful world don't we?!
When you happen to get everywhere you needed to go but have almost NO recollection of actually getting there?
I know today happened, cause well duh, it had to of happened. Unless i'm dreaming? Also likely.
But seriously, I don't know where the day has gone and what has happened.
Like my days memories are under water or something? Weird? Yeah this all sounds weird as I write it out, but I mean it! Like I walked around campus in a daze or something.
All sounds a bit creepy to me.
Guess it's just going to be one of those weeks... Happy Halloween?
In one of my sociology classes this week my professor was talking about a new job opportunity arising in the field of sociology. I guess geneticists are getting caught up in the whole nature vs. nurture thing too. They realize that genes are spread but now they are turning to sociologists to determine if social factors influence what genes appear and what ones stay suppressed.
Talk about interesting right?? I'm game. I think I could study that for my whole life.
Anyway, that is not the reason for this post, it is just slightly relevant.
Genes are cool. I ended up with some good ones...and some not so good ones.
Sweating gene? Yeah got that one. If I was wondering whether I got that one, that question got answered in Thailand
Curly hair? I can once again thank my Dad for that one. And I can also thank my siblings for NOT taking their fair share of the curly hair gene and somehow making me end up with ALL of it.
Love of board games? Is that a gene? Probably not, but just in case...I got that one too.
Creativity? Umm not so much.
When people ask me if I got the creative gene like my mom my usual response is, "No, my sister took it all." It's a fact. People come in our apartment at school and ask who the creative master mind is behind it. My mom and sister. They see the store and don't even have to ask who put everything together. My mom and sister. I'm just lucky I get to benefit from all their creativity.
But this week I was nominated to rewrite the lyrics to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song. Because my teacher works for the Boy Scouts and we know what Boy Scouts like...skits.
My creative genes had to be pulled from the depths of the darkest pit they seem to reside in.
because :
a) that rap is dang fast at parts. Fast speaking is definitely not one of my genes (my roommate Meg took all of that one...)
b) the Fresh Prince has NOTHING to do with Cash
c) I can't rhyme. Unless it is not on purpose. And even then... I just can't rhyme
d) I am simply put, not creative. Not one bit. For FHE this week we did some psychoanalysis thing where you imagine various things you are told then you find out what that describes about you. We were told to imagine some vegetation in a desert. My vegetation included ONE TREE in the entire desert. I later found out that the vegetation represented our creativity.
I rest my case. My creativity is one tree in a vast, limitless desert. Yep. Fact. Psychoanalysis says so.
Anyway. long story short, 40 times Fresh Prince intro rap on repeat, and one hour later. VOILA! I did it.
I managed to fit my cash theme into the lyrics. And honestly, I'm mighty proud. It is a stretch, it is lame, but it is done. And I did it. One tree in a vast desert aint got nothin on my lyrics!!
Now I can let my creative genes rest in their deep dark caves until they need to be called out again. That'll be the day!
On another note....2nd blind date of the semester tomorrow. We all remember how I feel about blind dates right? Don't remember? Well here's the post for you...
And another note...I've got to dress like this on Wednesday. Um what?
Sometimes I wonder if my life is ruled by money. In fact, i'm past that now. Now I just wonder how much my life is ruled by money.
It's not like I really think about it all that much. In fact I probably don't think about it near enough.
The only reason I have concluded such a thing is that, well, everyone's lives are ruled by money.
Okay okay, I kid.
Peoples lives can be ruled by greater things such as love, the gospel, truth yada yada yada right?
Back to money.
The real reason I conclude this is because of one thing, running.
As stated in a previous post, I have run 2 half marathons before. (run should probably be replaced by quickly sauntered, or briskly trotted, or any combination of those words). And then I wrote about how I'm training for my third.
That was 5 weeks ago. So in theory I was implying that I would start training then. Ha! nope. Maybe one week after? Nope. Two? Nope. I started training, well never. NEVER?! What am I doing to myself.
I know the second I line up at the starting line I should just prepare for my jog/saunter/run/crawl trade off. Or maybe I should just jump on the slow people golf cart and save myself the misery. Let's see, usually at this point i've got at least 10 miles under my belt. Now I could probably run 4 without stopping... over half the time...
So what does this all mean? Well I don't really know. But what I think it means is that I am motivated by money? Or something?
Round one half marathon I paid for and trained, round two same story. Round three? nope, didn't pay for it. Therefore did not train? So is that where my whole motivation came from for the first ones? Due to my research background these days I can conclude that paying for the race is the only variation to account for the change in my training time spent.
Or in pure Engligh no dinero=no traino
Shoot.
That means i've got less then 2 weeks to either kick it into gear, and I mean SERIOUS gear. Or don't and see what happens on race day. I sadly (due to the last 5 weeks habits) think that the latter will happen.
Sorry Lisa, that just means i'm going to disgrace your name as I jog/saunter/run/crawl as you. I apologize ahead of time.
As for now I better go check if they have a sign up for the slow people golf cart... or go running ha! yeah right...
We can't exactly control what other people think about us when they first see us, well we sorta can I guess. My sociology classes tell me so.
We are in a never ending performance full of sets, scripts, costumes, and acts. We don't know when the curtain will close, or when the climax will hit. We just keep acting as the play is written right below our feet.
It makes ya think though, what are people's first impressions of me? There are some impressions I remember of other people, some that have made an impact. But on average, they were just that- average.
It would be pretty cool to be remembered the first time I met someone. But if i've learned anything in my 21 years of life it's that that usually doesn't happen with me. I'm the kind of person you have to get to know to realize that i'm worth getting to know. Sound complicated? Yeah, it kinda is. Especially in a college full of come and go friendships.
But so far it has worked out pretty well for me. It has given me relationships that I had to work for. It may be frustrating at first, but it all seems to work out in the end.
I'm trying to think about all the first impressions I had of other people today. Mighty impossible if ya ask me
There was definitely a flirt, always a flirt
A quiet one
A loud one
A sweet one
A perfect one, always seems to be a perfect one too
But the thing is, that first impression truly means nothing in the whole scheme of things. Maybe I passed by the future President (that is, if the the world would ever vote for a Mormon...), or a future Prophet, or maybe a person having the best or worst day of their life.
First impressions are important I guess, but they are just a speck into someones life, the life they choose to show to the world at that very second.
Winning a flag football game is great
Finishing 4 midterms in two days is killer...but great
Waking up at 6 in the morning to run is...umm well i'm still trying to convince myself that it is great
Weekends are so, so great
Being surrounded by people that are awesome, probably greatest of all
Oh, Awful Waffle is pretty dang great too
My family, you know the drill, great
School, sometimes I beg to differ, but still has its days of greatness
The feeling of FINALLY doing my front handspring on the vault, oh baby so great
Service? Probably what makes everything so great
Yep, life is great sometimes.
Also great?
This song.
Listen to it, because it really is worth it.
Great right? Have you hit repeat yet? Cause you should.
I feel like my emotions have been all over the place these days. One day I love life, the next I want to board the next plane to anywhere other then here. But all in all, I've got it easy. I have all these great things to look forward to every day Yep, and It's pretty amazing that I have the capacity to serve and be served. Softly then Boldly. How about softly and boldly, both are great, necessary, and so important.
I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love. ~Mother Teresa
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~Anne Frank
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. ~William James
There aren't many times in life that I wish I were a boy.
In fact, I don't really ever remember wishing that.
Maybe except for the .2 seconds it takes them to get ready, if even. And the endless amounts of food they can eat that doesn't go straight to their hips. Ya know... the usual.
Boys are great and all, but I just don't wanna be one. Conveniently that isn't possible, so we're all winners here I feel.
Anyway. This semester, in one class I have found myself all Beyonce-ing and wishing I were a boy.
One word for ya. Gymnastics.
Something came over me last February when we were picking classes and somehow I ended up in gymnastics. If you laughed that means you know me well. I am not flexible or strong, which are pretty much the only important things when you try gymnastics for the first time in your 21st year of life. I wish I had a video of everyone's face when I say I'm taking gymnastics. Confusion, shock, fear, hilarity, becomes the whole array of emotions they go through. Much the same as mine.
But I tell you, I just wanna be a boy. They are strong. And I am jealous.
I come in for my class and mentally prep for the new things I will learn but WON'T be able to do. Then I look over and see the boys practicing who had the class before me. Back flips, cool tricks, like it's nothin! Then there is me who can't even lift herself up.
Lame I tell you
If I were a boy I would be good at gymnastics. I just know it.
