Ladies night

Two years ago, I made myself a commitment.

2 hours a week was dedicated 100% to me. 

I have honored this commitment and chose to spend that time at the gym with these cute ladies. 

It has been a game changer to put myself first.  

I'm amazed how much of my time is filled by others and if I let people ALL my time would be filled.

This has been a game changer for me both mentally and physically.

Bonus part of all this, I got to meet and make friends with these fun ladies. 

Three of them are having babies so we did a big shower celebration for them. 

Poor Heidi. 

She had a whole lot of boobs in here face. 

Side note:  I'm only 5'5" and tower over most of these gals. 

5'5" people.... that is average..  and I'm a freakin giant.   

I am a teacher

It still is strange for me to think about being a college instructor. 

Many times, I still feel like I should be in college myself. 

For the last 6 years, I have spent one night a week teaching at LDSBC. 

It is rewarding to see your students later on and see what incredible things they are doing. 

This happened to be one of my favorite group of students. 

They worked hard. 

They came prepared. 

And pushed themselves. 

I am going to miss them. 

Let's hope the next round of students is as good as them. 

A new decade

Confession: I have lied about my age for at least three years.

I have not wanted this specific birthday to come.  

I have had major anxiety getting older and not being at a certain point in my life. 

What point that is, I'm not exactly sure. 

Of course there are the easily measurable pieces with marriage and kids. 

But ultimately I am a happy person. 

I have a great life. 

I have built a home, a life, a career and get to do things I love with people I love even more. 

So I have decided to have a better attitude. 

It's just a number and I am doing great things in my life.  

Some of my favorite highlights omy last decade.

Becoming an 8 more times... I'm tapping out at 9 kiddos to spoil and bug.

COUNTLESS family dinners, both parents retired and moving Grams to Utah to join in the everyday excitement. 

How do you count the boys in 10 years?

Lots of boys in college, after college and the time in between.
Lots of fun, tears, awkward first dates and going our different ways.  

 Trips, trips and more trips. 

I have been very lucky to get to travel as much as I do. 

I have been to Hawaii three times.

A cruise with my family and a cruise with my ladies. 

Europe. 

Washington DC.

Orlando, Florida at least three times.

New York City. 

California more times than I can count. 

Portland, Oregon.

The list goes on and on... and I hope it continues.  

I love to see new things.
On the list to see: England, New Zealand and Greece

 Graduating with my Bachelors and my Masters degree. 

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to complete both degrees early on in life. 

Graduated with my Bachelors at 22 years old. 

and my MBA at 23 years old. 

 Gracie is still so missed. 

I had her for many years. 

Such a good dog.

 For someone who was not athletic when I was younger, I caught the bug later in life. 

It is such an outlet for me. 

I love it.... and hate it all at the same time. 

I have done several 5ks in the last decade 

and the last three years I biked in Little Red Riding Race, Rode 50 miles with Julie and then did 65 miles with Jilly and Shaun and lots of fun little rides.
2013 I completed my very first Ragnar and then had so much fun I did Las Vegas Ragnar to get my double medal.
2014 I ran my very first half marathon (despite being sick, I really loved it) and returned and did Wasatch Back again.

I have built a career and worked at University of Phoenix for 7.5 years. 

That is 156,000 hours worked.

2737 lunches had. 

And a group of people that our like family. 

Some of my best friends have been met through University of Phoenix. 

You spend more time at work than any other place. 

I'm grateful for these people in my life. 

This decade I have also spent a good portion of it teaching at LDSBC.

It is still wild to me that I am a college instructor. 

My students teach me far more than I teach them. 

I love my time in the classroom. 

It keeps me young and on my toes. 

What would my 20's be without inappropriate bum grabs, meeting my favorite country hunk and lots of concerts?

For my birthday this year, I was lucky enough to work.... both jobs. 

I didn't feel like I could take off either place with being gone so much lately. 

So to work I went. 

But shortly after I arrived I had the cutest visitors bring me birthday treats.

It really started my day off right. 

My day was full of lots of birthday calls and messages. 

Everyone sure knew how to make a girl feel loved. 

If this isn't the best birthday text ever.  

She likes to pretend like I was the worst thing that happened to her.

We both know her life was never the same after 10/01/84.

You're welcome, Natalie.

My babies facetimed me a couple of times too. 

This little guy was sad to say goodbye!  

Lukie I was sad too! 

"Happy Birthday!!!  Traveling Partner!!  Live it up in America and drink that fountain coke that I only dream about over here!!!"

"Happy Birthday Morgan!  Love you so much and so grateful my cousin brought you into my life... from that moment I have had a life time friend.... you are such a giving beautiful person... Hope you have a wonderful day!"

"Everyone needs a friend like this girl!  Even though she lives exactly 687 miles away.  I know that she is always there for me!  So grateful a Lake Powell trip bought us together over two years ago!!  Happy Birthday my friend, you deserve it!!!  #friendsforlife  #keithurbanbootygrabbers  #noshame  #theworldisourcanvas"

Another year and decade has started.  

I have a lot to live up to with my 20's. 

I did it right. 

One for the books...

My heart is so full now for all the love and support I have in my life. 

No matter what I am doing, they are beside me.

I was asked to speak at the LDSBC devotional. 

Seems crazy to me.  

When did I become old enough to be a speaker for college students?

The whole experience was terrifying. 

But what an experience. 

I have now stood where prophets and leaders have stood giving guidance and direction. 

That. is. crazy. 

Although it was stressful. 

It was an experience of a life time. 

I had many people that I love there in the audience.

I am so glad they were there.  

Meant the world to me.
I had to threaten my sisters not to cry, because they cry, I cry and the cycle just continues.
(Wish I could say I left with dry eyes... that didn't happen)

Preparing for this, was eye opening for me.
It was so rewarding being able to get up there confidently (at least on the outside) and speaking to the students and faculty just as I had prepared.
Everything went flawlessly.

I chose the topic, When Life doesn't go accordingly to your plan.
Because let's be real.
It never does.
My life course has changed a ton, some by personal choice, some by others choices.
Lessons have and continue to be learned.

My last 5.5 years teaching at LDSBC have been very fulfilling.
The students teach me far more about life than I teach them.
I have made some great friends there and each semester is a new adventure.
I will start my 15 semester here next month.
How is this possible?

The worst part: training

For the most part I really enjoy working out. 

But working out and training are two different things in my book.

When I have to train, it makes me really wish I wouldn't set running goals. 

Especially, when I haven't run in 3 weeks. 

Last nights run was rough. 

And so will today's and the next day.

I'm determined to be ready for my half. 

Then remind me to never make running a goal. 

63 days.....

Another semester.....

Finished.

How have I been an instructor for 14 semesters?  

Am I really that old?

Apparently.  

Wednesday, I finished the last day of class and am currently working on finalizing grades and submitting to be able to enjoy 3 weeks before summer semester starts. 

I never knew I would enjoy teaching as much as I do. 

Granted, each class is different. 

Out of my three classes I taught this semester. 

All three classes had such a different dynamic. 

I would keep my first two classes forever and trade a few students of my last class. 

I don't teach for the money. 

I don't teach for the experience. 

I teach to learn. 

I teach to help the students. 

They are sponges. 

Many of them will graduate and go on to do great things. 

Big things. 

I am lucky to be a very small part in their journey. 

Most days, I can say that I love my time in the classroom. 

I learn far more than any of the students do. 

2013: Recap

The reason I started this blog was to keep up with some dear friends that moved across the country.  

Now, it is for me.  

I like to be able to look back at things that I have done or places of my life. 

I have always done a recap of the year. (2010, 2011, 2012)

Last year, I did a video. 

It's even more fun to watch and remember certain moments of the year. 

Here is 2013's Recap, video style. 

2013 has been a year of growth for me.  

I'm proud to say I have learned a lot and ready to put the lessons into actions. 

Here is to 2014.

Pushing my limits

This year I made it a goal to run Ragnar relay.  

I don't enjoy running.

I am not good at it. 

And I wanted to accomplish something big for me. 

Turns out, I not only did Wasatch Back but Vegas as well. 

Even though Vegas was not nearly as well run and it was A LOT of time in the van.

I'm so glad I did it. 

I was able to run without a torn ligament and pushed myself. 

Next year, half marathon and Ragnar. 

Pushing my limits. 

Ragnar: Saints to Sinners

Sometimes you make dumb decisions and commit to another Ragnar. 

I blame the double medal. 

If you run Ragnar: Wasatch Back and Ragnar: Vegas in the same year, you get the Saints to Sinner medal. 

Stupid medal. 

Because seeing this sign 3 different times... doesn't make anyone happy. 

I convinced my dear friend, Keri to run with me. 

She had never done a Ragnar or actually heard much about it. 

She was a champ. 

She was a saint. 

I would have poked my eyes out without this darling gal. 

We all rode in one van, so that left limited room. 

We will told to pack light. 

Keri and I did just that. 

Which left us wandering the streets of Vegas in our sweats. 

Classy. 

We had a 3:00am wake up call and were at the starting line at 4:30am. 

Talk about early. 

Because Keri and I were runner 11&12. 

Which meant, we had a good 12 hours until our first run. 

That left us to entertain ourselves. 

Tats were obviously a good choice. 

Shows we are tough. 

Hardcore. 

And lots and lots of pictures.

And SnapChats. (Sorry, if you were the receiver of all the pictures and videos)

And Bubble Gum Blowing contests. 

Keri is hands down the winner. 

Every time. 

We had so much fun that during a dance party, right before my first run, this happened. 

Makes for a fun story. 

And it is just my luck. 

When someone gets up at 3:00am and doesn't sleep much the night before, you get a little crazy. 

This was at 8:00pm. It easily felt like 3:00am. 

Keri and I took our turn driving and entertained ourselves and the entire van. 

We survived by always having a coke after every run. 

As Keri says, "It's a life style."

Our 2nd run, was in the middle of the night.  

I started my run at 3:15am.

It was a quick 3 miler, but I was exhausted and so excited to be able to sleep some without having to worry about a run in a couple of hours. 

We passed out and woke up refreshed and ready to go! 

This picture makes me laugh, so hard. 

Keri was snapping and so was I.  

I turned to show her in my video and this was the face I got. 

Love this picture. 

It's a framer. 

This was right before my final run.

My last run was scheduled to be 7.3 miles of intense hills. 

But Ragnar lied and it was almost 8.5 miles. 

It tested me mentally and physically. 

I had never been so happy to see a finish line and my team there to run in with me. 

We finished!

This one was a little more fulfilling because I was able to run better because I wasn't dealing with a torn ligament. 

Thankfully my knee didn't bother me at all this time. 

It has pushed me to do things that I normally don't enjoy. 

I don't enjoy running, but I do feel accomplished after. 

I am thankful everyday for Keri. 

She is a gift from my Zach and is my rock.

I'm so glad we did this together and were able to be nut jobs in the back of the van together. 

Ragnar Vegas: See you... NEVER!

M-I-C-K-E-Y

It is not secret that I love to travel and it's always a good time when my partner in crime is with me. 

Jason and I planned to meet up with some of his dear Phoenix friends for a weekend of fun in California.

But I couldn't go to California without stopping and seeing this handsome fella. 

We had brunch with Matt and it was so much fun being able to see him and catch up for a bit.

I sure miss him a lot and having that voice of reason with me every day. 

Thursday night we made it to our hotel and with our friends and they had a special birthday celebration planned for me.  

It was so sweet of them.  

Friday we spent the day in Laguna Beach where Jason's "soul sister" was married. 

It was a beautiful ceremony. 

And how can you not love spending the day on the beach.  

Especially when Utah received it's first snow storm of the year. 

Jason's Phoenix bestie, Brannigan had a surprise visit and came and spent a portion of our trip with us.  

Her boyfriend surprised her and it was fun to finally meet her.

Jason is with all of his ladies here in this picture.  

We are all so lucky to have such a great guy. 

Saturday, Sunday and Monday were Disney days! 

We sure had a great time with Mickey Mouse! 

Matt even came and joined in the Disney fun. 

Sure wish every weekend consisted of eating Churros with this kid. 

It was SUPER crowded at Disney the entire weekend while we were there.  

Needless to say, we were very creative entertaining ourselves while in line. 

A Disney visit would not be complete without eating with all of our favorite Princesses.  

Who cares if we didn't have any children with us?

Here is our final picture before boarding the plane.  

Little did we know, the boarding process would be such an ordeal. 

Delta had a crazy gate agent, that yelled at us, charged Jason for his carry on and then didn't even put his bag on the plane.  

Made for good times and lots of time on the phone with Delta. 

It was such a fun weekend.

Hopefully, next time Disney will be a little less crowded! 

Thanks, California.