If you looked up 'genius' in the dictionary you'd see a pic of C'era

8 of us gathered around a small table, about the size of a foot rest. The cards were put in front of me and I was to choose one. The game was called 'bang' which I had never heard of  before. (http://www.gateplay.com/bang-the-bullet-card-game-set.aspx) I am not so much a fan of learning how to play new games, especially when I am tired and things aren't exactly explained very clearly.

I only knew one person in the room full of people, Stephen, he was to my left. The guy to my right started some small talk with me and asked if I were in school and what I did for work. We will call him Matt. I started to explain what I did when Stephen piped in with: 'she's a genius.' We all chuckled a little and continued to play. Matt was 'killed' off pretty quickly in the game and so I took the opportunity to ask him about some of the cards I had in my hand since I knew he wouldn't be bias in me living or dying in the game. 

After a couple of questions Matt realized I hadn't played this game before and was shocked. He said he had never met anyone who could pick up on this game so quickly. Stephen said 'I told you she is a genius.' Matt asked if I really were a genius so I asked him what his definition of genius was. Stephen interrupted with 'She is a genius. If you looked up 'genius'  in the dictionary you'd see a picture of C'era. She's going to be my sugar mama.' (this didn't go over so well with his girlfriend who was sitting to his left)

This quickly changed Matt's perception of me and he became intrigued in me and my life. I propose that perception is everything. It affects the way you live and view your life. If we labored to change our perception to a positive one, I believe our life can be how we perceive it to be. Try it out this week and tell me how it goes. View your life the way you want it to be and live this next week that way.

 Amusing as all this might be, it is nice to know someone thinks I am a genius, well 2 people now haha.

Such a pain in the knee

“I’m super-girl & I’m here to save the world, but I wanna know, who’s gonna save me..”

The shadows danced throughout the school bus as the moonlight poured into the windows. The anticipation was leaking from everyone's pores. The occupants on the bus were surprisingly quiet, most listening to their music getting pumped for the race. I sat next to a 29 year old girl who has run this marathon a few times and has qualified for Boston. She wasn't too chatty but humored my questions about the course.

I was on one of the last buses to reach the top of the canyon. I joined the throngs of people lining up at the Port-a-Potties. It was a bit chilly up there but the excitement of the runners warmed up the scene.

That's when the race started!!!!! I couldn't believe it really started. The lines to the bathroom quickly became smaller. This race is chip timed. Meaning we have a chip on our shoe which is unique to our start and stop time when we cross the start and finish line. So I wasn’t worried that it had started. That’s when the announcer said: “WE ARE CLOSING THE ROAD!” What?! I hurried and used the potty, ripped off my warmer clothes revealing my super-girl outfit and took off running.

I was told by the professionals to take the first half of the course easy; that you will make up for it the second half -Dumb idea. I took my time and was still passing hundreds of people. I wish they would just move out of the way, like passing in a car. Instead the quicker ones would have to run off the pavement through the weeds to pass the slower folks.

I saw many people I had grown up with on the sides of the road cheering us on. And many who I didn’t know shouted and cheered for SUPER-GIRL! This was very helpful since the second half of the race I was in a lot of pain. My knee was killing me and so were my shins. I didn’t warm-up nor stretch and I was really feeling it! But hey, i beat my old time by 10 min. :]

My 1st nephew

I am an Aunt!!!

Westin Skyler Francis
new born (below)
3 months (right)

Relay4Life

WOW! So much fun, if you like running in a relay team for 24 hrs :)
Our Team: Dr. Dave's Team took first place!! This was my first year participating and the seventh straight year this team has taken 1st! We won by half a mile. I ran a little over 24 miles for the team, and at a fast pace! Most my miles were under 7.25, which for me is pretty good :)

We each took turns running for 15 min. At the St. George Hansen Stadium Track. I was third in rotation and often after my run was able to rest for an hour and a half before I would throw out another 15 min. Then at night we took turn running for 70min straight. My turn was at 4:50am - my usual running time - so I did fairly well - running 37 laps during that time. After my 70 min I had a 30 min rest - then did another 15 and continued in our rotation until noon.

It was a great experience and I met a lot of awesome people!

Holi Festival

I had heard about it a few years ago - but somehow I forget about it each year. This year I was reminded about it two days before. So we decided to jump in the car and go up Saturday after we went rock climbing in St. George.

The Holi AKA Color Festival is a Hindu tradition from India. It has relevance between good verses evil, and good winning. It also has to do with ushering in spring and luck through throwing colored chalk powder on each other.

We definitely did NOT get as covered as others. Maybe next year!! We had a great time and plan on going back to Spanish Fork many more springs to come to help everyone celebrate at the Hira Krishna temple there.

Only when HALE freezes Over

I went to support my friend who was running in a race in St. George, while there I ran into Bobby Swenson. He an LDS actor. He played Zak in the movie Singles Ward. He is the one that tries to bungee jump a car in the movie. I went up to him and chatted with him for a good 30 min. He told me about a race up in Orem UT, which will help fund the Hale Theatre where most of the actors started.

The race's name is called "When Hale Freezes Over" - b/c it is for all people, even those who would never run unless Hell freezes over; for those people they had a one mile walk. I signed up a week before the race and was pretty excited, and thought I would be able to do well in the race. Well I ended up getting a cold the day after I sign up and there are no refunds. I was bummed cuz I really wanted to run it and do well. I had a cough all week and haven't been running two weeks before due to foot pain, and I was counting on this week to get back into running endurance.

I decided to run the 10k race anyway and visit a few friends while up there. The night before the race I didn't sleep much because I kept coughing - even though I took extra meds to knock me out. My friend Lisa decided to run in the 5k race, so in the morning her dad came with us.

Right before the race I ran into Bobby again and he was glad I actually came up to run it. I was signed up for the 10k, but thought I should probably just walk the one mile.

I ran the 10k anyway. And I was proud of myself that I didn't stop at all. There were a few hills - and normally I enjoy them - but not feeling well - I hated them. AND it was really COLD! At least the mountains looked really pretty. I sucked on cough drops while running. When I got near the end of my race Lisa joined me encouraging me to run faster.

I finished 3rd in my division and 7th overall. My time wasn't the best, but I had fun. And my coughing was SOOO much worse after the race. Bad idea to run in it I know :)

Snow Shoeing By the Light of the Moon

So I decided that I need to get out and meet new people. I guess apart of this is I am sick of being set up on blind dates which seems to be one sided. By this I mean that the mutual friend who sets us up usually is looking out for the guy rather than what I would be interested in. My guess is they tell the guy: "she is in good shape, runs a lot, has long hair, oh and she has a house, you want to date her right?" Or they know that I go to church all the time and think that me dating that guy will bring him religion.

But no one tells me about the guy, just that he has a job. Well it turns out that most of these blind dates the guy has a job, but may still be living at home, and had never moved out, or they can't save their money cuz they spend it on toys, and they sit and watch TV/Movies all the time and has no idea what running is. AND I don't want to be someones mom nor babysitter. If they know what they are supposed to be doing - DO IT!

SO since I am an out-doorsy type of person and athletic, I decided to try hanging out with the Outdoor Rec people at the college. I went out of my comfort zone and signed up for night snow shoeing. I was nervous b/c I was the first to sign up, and was worried no one wanted to go. Turns out it was filled with 12 spots and even a waiting list for more pple to come.

I met some really fun/cool pple! People who shared my same love for the outdoors, and could almost keep up with me doing it. I am not a fan of the snow, but I found a new sport that I could really enjoy - it is like hiking/running - but in the snow. We went up a canyon and hiked through some woods. The moon was full and it was beautiful! I recommend anyone to try it at least once!

My Great Journey to the North West

So my dad is the only one who reads this - and tells me I need to update it. I told him I didn't have stories to write - so he told me to make one up and tell about my travel to the North West. So Here goes:

So I currently live in Cedar City, UT where the snow in the winter is a normal thing. The last time I had been home for Christmas was about three years ago in southern WA where it usually just rains. Not this year my friend. This year it snowed - a lot; causing many delays at the airport. I had planned my itinerary a few months ago - so luckily I still had reservations for the first flight out of Vegas to Seattle and some people were on it who had been waiting for a couple of days in the airport. It even snowed in Las Vegas!

The journey started with a text message from my friend Erin, she told me I should leave Monday instead of Tuesday morning b/c a storms was coming and I wouldn't be able to get to St. George on time with the roads being icy. So I hurried and packed and drove to St. G. as it started to snow. So this made it so I drove a lot slower. When I got to St. G. I went shopping, then I called my Adoptive fam and asked if I could crash at their pad - which was a given.

I got there and we talked for awhile, and ate french toast yum. In the morning they drove me to the shuttle. Surprisingly the shuttle was packed. There I met some pretty strange but friendly people. We all talked for most the ride. Arriving in Vegas I made it thru security just fine. They never did find my prison shank I was hiding in my shoe :)

On the plane I sat next to two nice gals from Germany. When I arrived in Seattle I secured my bags and found the bus stop. There, I sat on the bench for 40 min or so. I talked to a few pple and even took a small nap. ;)

The bus was pretty interesting. Usually it is a 55min trip - but it took us 2 1/2 hours. I was surprised at how close pple got to each other on the bus, and they didn't mind. I had one guy standing above me licking his chomps. And the gal next to me was canoodleing with me and sleeping - I think she drooled on me. The other gal next to me sneezed on me and the guy next to her often fell asleep - on her shoulder, and would wake when his single loud snore would stir him. Then was the lady across from me. She often would talk to herself and carry out full convos. Turns out she had a bluetooth headset on. And when this one guy got a phone call, everyotherword from his mouth was the F bomb. He apparently didn't like whomever he was on the phone with. I made sure to take many pictures of my adventure with my phone - so I will have to add them later.

When I got to Lakewood, my sis came and piked me up. The roads were covered in slushy/hard snow - and many pple were getting stuck. WE made it outta there and she dropped me off at the ferry. On the ferry the dude in charge got after me for having my feet on the bench - so I utilized my luggage as a foot rest. On the ferry I met two nice guys. One being my sister's friend - and the other his older brother. He was pretty cute and went to school to become a minister.

Now here I am on the island, and my dog doesn't remember me. He is pretty old and deaf and can't see well either. sad. At least it isn't snowing right now :)

Lets hope I make it back home - since there are more storms to come!

Logan-A-thon

I DID IT!!!

My goal this year was to run a marathon. I made the goal sometime in February for my 'new years resolution.' Tho guess I didn't take it serious and decided that I should, But also realized that time was running out and I wouldn't be able to get into a marathon before the year was over. Another problem is I developed some pain in my left leg that started far before I ran my half marathon.

It began hurting again more intense a few weeks before the marathon - which is about the time I started training for it. I planned on running 22 miles on labor day - but was hesitant b/c my leg hurt. I ran anyway - but got lost and only ran 16 miles, but it was great! On my run I saw snakes, prairie dogs and pretty flowers. Then on Thursday I ran ten miles. And my goal on Saturday was to run 2o miles. But I spoke to Brother Gudmenson - who has run many many marathons and told me I should take it easy for the next two weeks or I may not be able to run it at all.

I went swimming instead but it was not as good of a workout as running - and it was boring. I ran a few more days the week of the race and wrapped my leg. I constantly iced it too. Turns out I had a stress fracture in my leg. Many people told me to not run the marathon and tried to discourage me from my goal - saying things like: I wouldn't be able to ever run again, and I would end up in a cast blaw blaw blaw. I didn't care. I was going to run it - and I was going to reach my goal.

The race is in Logan. I drove up alone and stayed at my friend Tim Belmont's house. After sleeping a few hours I woke at 4am. Outside it was pouring rain! I was worried the race would be ruined with lightning and rain. I remember hoping it would be canceled earlier that week, scared my leg would hurt too badly to finish the race.

I got on the bus, made a few friends, and huddled with others at the top of the cold canyon. The furthest I had run at once was 16 miles. I was surprised at my 1st mile's time of 7:11 - b/c I was taking it easy - nervous about my leg.

I used the porta-potty at mile 13. Mile 26 was THE HARDEST MILE EVER! I was using hard candy the whole time to keep my blood sugar steady and give me some energy. Sadly I ran out of candy at mile 22 so by mile 25 I was going to faint.

Then an Angel in disguise came running next to me and told me I could keep going and to push it - so I did and I ended up leaving her behind for a bit - then ran outta energy again she caught up to me and encouraged me once more to keep going. SO we ran together for a bit and I remember and old lady with a cane telling us that we only had three blocks left to go. I remember wanting to take her cane and hit her with it - I'll show you three blocks!!

When I saw the end I took off in a sprint - once again leaving that angel behind and finishing in 4:02:58 I didn't reach my goal of 3:40 nor my goal of under 4 - but i reached my goal of running a marathon this year!!

Afterwards I fell down on my back in the mud and the Sky opened and poured even more rain! I just layed there clutching my cookie and ice cream bar - laying in the rain.

Later on that Angel came to me and thanked me for running with her - I gave her a hug and told her she was the one who helped me!

Keep Runin' Runin'

August 9th 2008

My race was scheduled for Saturday at 6:30 am. Sarah Challis drove up with me, and will be running the race with her sister Lauren. I dropped her off at the motel where her family would be staying; they came down from Wyoming. My friend Dustin found me a place to stay a few doors down from him in some girls apartment. I was lucky enough to stay in their empty bedroom for the night. My goal was to get some good sleep so that I could do well in the morning. (I had been up in Orem earlier this week for a work conference and haven't gotten much sleep)

I got plenty of sleep that night and was pretty excited to go running. After taking the bus up the canyon and meeting some new friends on the bus, I used the port-a-potty and got warmed up. I was dressed up in 80's gear. I had a headband, and wrist bands. I had shorty-shorts and I wore a shirt that hung off my shoulder a bit. I wore "old-skool" head phones and tube socks that reached my knees with the two black stripes up top.

To stay warm and to get my muscles warmed up I danced around in a ska kind of way - kicking my feet and swinging my arms - all while pretending to listen to music. There were many who found it amusing and probably a few more who thought i was odd. However, dressing up was the best thing i could have done because it helped me be excited rather than nervous and brought smiles to a few faces.

I was nervous that I wouldn't be hydrated enough for the race so I made sure to drink more than enough the night before and the morning of. This was very problematic because when the race was about to start I had to use the port-a-potty again - but not too badly - so I just ignored it.

The race started when the gun was fired- and I was no where near the start of the race. There were 2500 people running in the race and we were all packed pretty tightly and actual running was a joke. So I turned on my music and starting singing and dancing next to people who were trying to run. I then starting skipping and walking faster than some were running. I decided that I should try to run so I followed after some people who were running off the side of the road in the weeds. There were times you had to make sure to not fall off the cliff though.

I made pretty good time on my race - however the WHOLE TIME I had to use the port-a-potty so that when I was finished with the race - that was the only thing on my mind - and we ran next to a river the whole time.

AND there was not one port-a-potty to use when the race was over. I was SO full of liquid it was about to leak out of my eyes! - for real - I had tears in my eyes I had to go so badly. So I found a restaurant and went straight to their restroom. After that I was a happy camper again.

My brother and sis-in-law joined me and took some rad pictures - it was awesome to have some support there!! My time was unofficially around 1:42:ish.

The things we think we see.

Two friends of mine asked me if I was interested in running a half marathon with them. At that time I had lost my motivation to run - so I figured it would be good for me to work toward something, eventually I signed up last min to run the Provo Half Marathon.

To "train" for it I was running 5 miles in the mornings and 3.5 miles as fast as I could up and back through a canyon in the evenings then 10-11 miles once a week - for only 2 weeks. The canyon runs I did with a gal on the SUU cross country team named Lisa Tubb. We would run it in around 6.5-7.24 min miles - which was super high effort for me and medium effort for her.

For our 11 mile run we decided to do it at night. We began our run around 9 pm on a Friday. We started running in town near Wal-Mart and ended in a very rural part of town where with every step we took small farms started to surface. It was very dark and it became rare that a car would pass by us.

While running Lisa and I were startled by a fast-moving iridescent object which ran from the street into the field to our right. To me it didn't look like an animal because it looked as though it had two legs - but also didn't look human.

I started to freak out a little - letting my imagination get the best o me. I thought of the movie Signs were the Alien runs into the field of corn, and the most you see of it is its skinny, creepy legs. Did I mention my biggest fear is Aliens? My next thought was that of Skin Walkers. Lisa thought it was a ghost - but we both decided to pretend it was a deer so that we could turn the corner near where it turned and continue running. We ran it in under 8 min miles :)

Oh we still don't know what we saw - it was too dark.

Plastic Surgery's for the dogs

Currently I work at the best place in town: SWATC. My favorite thing about working there are my coworkers. We can have fun and still get our "work" finished. (inside joke)

Speaking of jokes, often at work we play practical jokes on each other & tell funny stories, I don't think a day goes by where I haven't laughed at someone's story or silly quirk. There was a story told to us the other day that I think is Blog-worthy.

Jayne and her husband are dog people - along with their neighbor; we will call him Tom because I cannot remember his name :)

Anyway Tom has two dogs both chocolate labs. He left town and meant to take both dogs with him, but left the one behind when it took off for an adventure - and he needed to be on time to Oregon. So he called Jayne and asked her if she could find the dog and dog sit for a few days until he could return.

Tom's dog is male - and as is customary around these parts when you don't want your male dog to impregnate all the other dogs, you get them neutered. Well my friend, Tom didn't want his dog to have a complex from being w/o his manhood. So he paid for his dog get plastic surgery. That is correct, the dog has some fake nuggets implanted now. Oh and it gets even better. Tom feels that he didn't give his dog big enough ones, so he is going to upgrade.

I was in shock when I heard and couldn't stop laughing for a while... a dog with a complex ha!

Don't Cross the Red Tape... without chocolate

April 30, 2008

It all started with a few requests as my friend and I announced we would be going to the store to pick up some things....

I found myself alone at the store when my friend saw that the basketball game was on. It was fine - it might be faster this way. One item of business was buying feminine products for people who shall remain nameless. I select needed items and carefully balance them in my arms just in time to answer my cell phone to another request. This request is for a phone charger.
On my way to electronics I hit up the frozen isle and snag some mixed veggies and continue on. With a smirk on my face I asked the two gentlemen where I could find the charger and chuckle as they awkwardly glanced at my hands.

I found the correct charger and headed in the direction of checkout when I realize my wallet is still in the car so I decided to stash the items in the clothing section. As I start to bend over to set down the balanced items - the top box of tampons falls to the floor bursting open - tampons fly like little miniature torpedoes all over the floor. I laughed as I scurried to pick them up - just in time for two guys to come around the corner and almost trip over me and my now-rebalanced feminine products.

I obtained my wallet, grabbed aforementioned items, and jumped into line. . . and guess who gets in line behind me? A young, cute, guy friend of mine who probably doesn't have any bit of an understanding of how funny the whole situation REALLY is. He was uncomfortable when he saw my handful of goodies. Naturally I had to explain - and a few people in line had a good laugh too :)

The smell of black oil on the rain-covered pavement

(changing my friend's oil 5/29/2008)

Memorial Day May 26, 2008

SOMEONE IN HEAVEN: "so how did you die?"
ME: "well there we were looking up at the undercarriage of my car changing my oil..."

On Friday my friend Levi was changing my other friend's oil. I was about to pull out of the parking lot to go get my oil changed when I spotted him and told him of the coincidence of it all. He offered to change mine for me another day and teach me. Heck yes!

That day was today my friend.
After cruisin' to Wal-Mart and snagging an oil filter and some oil we jacked up my car. It was sprinkling out and the sky was a dingey gray. It reminded me of Washington - and reminded Levi of Alaska. But here we are in Utah - our legs protruding from beneath the car - the rain picking up now and water running off the car and onto our legs. It was cold and my hands lost their ability to work well.

With the right tools we painstakingly unscrewed the too-tight bolt on the oil pan. Scraped knuckles and a bruised funny bone later - the old oil was spilling from the car and into a plastic pan. There were a few times where the thought crossed our minds: "what if the jack was to fail"
I also imagined it falling while I was on my side - think of all those broken bones! That would sucketh.

In the end everything worked how it should and I was left with a well-oiled machine and a hand/arm that smells of old oil. Oh and neither one of us died on this Memorial day :)