Growing UP!!

The other day TJ and I went to help his friend Ben and Laura move. After like a hundred trips up and down stairs I sat in a chair and watched TJ and his friends load up the moving truck. They had all known each other since Kindergarten and 3/5 are married. I could see the little boy in all of them and pondered on how these boys had the courage basically what besieged them and made them decide they were old enough and ready to get married. Like what does it take for a guy to decide well I think I'll get married. I know all of these guys love families and come from really great families and were probably excited their whole lives to get married. It's fun to contrast them next to their fathers who were once young men doing the same thing, now much older and wiser. I wonder for a moment do they think they are crazy? Maybe they do but I think they mostly understand because that's where they started too, and the only way to gain wisdom and grow in this area is by jumping right in!

Life

I seem to write about life a lot, my old blog was actually entitled life. Life is such a unique experience and the only measure I have is did I do my best? I look at so many people I love and think they have the most wonderful and perfect lives, it's easy for me to forget that there is so much I do not see. A few months back I was a bit bitter as I looked at my kindergarten's best friend's little sisters face book profile I thought, wow could her life be anymore perfect, she is one of the most beautiful people I know inside and outside, she came from an amazing family, a very well off family, she was able to graduate with a great degree right after she got married and moved immediately into a really nice house and has already started her family. I'm so happy for her, but at the time I looked at her life at least what I could see of it and was bitter, did I not deserve those things, I tried my best! Does she realize that most of the world doesn't live that standard. After further reading her sister's blog I read some grievous news about her little sister the one I admired with the perfect life. Turns her life isn't so perfect we just have different trials. I admire her even more for what she's gone through and her faith through it all. Now when I find myself looking at others and thinking those things I realize there is so much more than we see. When others look at me I'm sure there are people who think the same thing. Things like wow that Liz has the best husband in the world not to mention he's pretty handsome as well and I hear he always does the dishes for her too, wow Liz is such a great runner, wow Liz has traveled so much, only the hot sisters get sent to Temple Square, etc. They don't see the weaknesses I see like, I wish I had a better career, I wish I was a mom, I wish I lived above ground level, I wish my husband was done with school, all things that these other people probably already have that I admire. I love my life truly and I feel ridiculous for even writing about the things I wish I had. Besides kids they are all pretty nominal and I have so much more to make up for it all.

Ragnar

My favorite race in the whole world so far is the Wasatch Back, it's a relay consisting of well this year 190 miles. Two years ago my roommate Megan volunteered me for this race as a group of pharmacists she works with asked her to cover a drop out's spot. She hating running and me loving running gratefully accepted. The last two years I've tried to put together team Connolly as TJ's family is born fast with ridiculously long gazelle like legs. No luck! So one morning as I was loving life and lamenting on my run that I just wish I could run the Wasatch Back this year, I arrived home to a text saying the same team more or less, well mostly less got back together and was making another go and they needed me. Last race I ended up running 30 yes 30 miles! One of the random other replacements they had found didn't show up that morning, come to find out this year, he was a security guard for the IHC who got put in prison for stealing checks and writing them. No offense Mr but I'm glad you didn't make it, 30 hours in a van with you probably would have left me with some bad checks forged by you! There were also several injuries as pharmacists tend to think I'm a Dr I can do anything no need to train. For TJ and his family that works but not so much for the Dr's. Anywho so this year I'm signed up for van 2, last year I slept 4 hours in a nice warm pool room of a high school. This year we slept a total of one hour not counting the times my head drooped and bobbed, usually right before something exciting happened. Our entire car was struck with running nausea, not fun!
Highlights of the run include, one of our teammates, John almost getting abducted by another team as they arranged to meat a John at the exact same time and place and he thinking well it must be a sub, hopped right in their car! Luckily we got him back. After our hour 1 hour "nap" that we paid $2 for in Morgan HS where I laid down and played Pacman on my phone we drove in the dark looking for the other half of our team along the way. I had barely seen the other half of the team and the whole way everyone said "is that Brennan?" , "no that's Brennan", "no that's Brennan", "that's Brennan because that's Jacob holding out water" I agreed with that one to stop the madness, then everyone realized I had no idea who either of them were and the madness continued even though I tried to explain it was a feeling I just knew!
When our teammate Melissa went for her night run at like 12:30 we started to look for her, she had on these really wide leg gray sweats, the madness of "is that Melissa" started and I said "no she had droopy gray sweats!" to which the team answered that her pants were not droopy unless maybe she had pooped her pants.... moving along to my next leg TJ tries to meet me at Echo Reservoir to run 10 miles, I start before he gets there and I am tearing it up. I averaged 7 min miles on my first run and about 8:30 on this one passing hippies and witches really! I see my team's SUV pull up and yell you better be ready early 'cause I am flying, TJ hops out and comes running with me! Come to find out later they had dropped him by another lady they thought was me and really wasn't. It was amazing the stars were out and the reservoir was glistening. I made a pit stop behind a tractor and when I arrived at my exchange KC wasn't there. He wasn't there the first time bc his nose was bleeding this time it being 4ish in the morning started yelling KC!!! Everyone else yells too for KC and turns out this time he's in the honey pot, I yell tell him to go behing a tractor like me, I used a year old goo pack to wipe! I realized later that I even recognized some faces in that crowd but man was I loopy. I'm hoping right now no one reads my blog. Anyway I fall asleep in a steamy sweaty sleep and wake up freezing!!!!!!! I buy a ragnar jacket as all my clother are sweated right through. We stop by a high school to shower in the community showers, well they were locker room showers but they might as well have been community showers, they put the women in the men's locker room, the one that the men had used the year before, luckily we headed all men off at the doors but I almost had a heart attack when a 7 foot woman walked in. We finally get to our teams last stretch, my last run is up Guardesman pass or the Ragnar

Ragnar was a 9th century Norse King. He was a pirate, a raider, a conqueror, an explorer, and a wild man. The tough, fearless, rugged attributes of this Norse King are shared by all who participate in a Ragnar Relay. In much the same way, a Ragnar Relay provides runners the freedom to roam, to explore - a free-spirited curiosity to get out there and experience outdoor adventure. And maybe even to conquer. And though tough or rugged may not perfectly describe you, these attributes become a goal - something to strive for.

In a Ragnar Relay the wild nature of this Norse King is embraced by many participants. Participants who aren't afraid to paint their van plaid, to bring along their own hair band, to join together in yelling as they cross the finish line. You may think that you are not one of them, but you are. Everyone has a wild side and nothing brings it out of you like a Ragnar Relay.

Long live the Ragnar in us all!!!!

I start up my run and run right pass a moose, which happens to be the Ragnar mascot, luckily I'm so fast ;-) I miss the charging he supposedly was doing as my van drove by. I'm beat so the story must continue some other time, but our race ended with a Gondola ride up to some Village in Park City, and some Cafe Rio salad that put me into a deep slumber!

I stay up late!

I have this disease of being wide-awake at night!!! I'll be tired at like 7pm but as soon as 11pm hits I get wired, exactly the time that TJ conks out cold, so my blog and facebook get extra attention at these hours. Things that have made me sooooo happy in the last week, the new Jack Johnson CD To the Sea, I left work early on Thursday and went straight to Best Buy where it was only $9.99 that is about $5 in saving and I knew I was going to buy it eventually so I went for the kill. I LOOOVE Jack, I love his idealistic nature I feel like we see eye to eye on that and we both seek after truth, that's what gets me plus his sound is one of a kind.

The next thing that has made me super happy is 3 trips to Midway/Park City. I have been practicing 3.6 mile run up Guardsman Pass, it's a 1463 foot elevation gain, the first time we went we actually ran the wrong road. The second time I stopped like 4 times, and this morning I rocked it! Anyways running makes me super happy and then running in the mountains makes me even happier and helps me bond to Utah. TJ and I also found this trail in Park City last Saturday that I love, I picked out our future home a couple blocks away from one of the trail heads, I can't wait, not that I can imagine ever needing a house that big but location is key come on!

Oh and on Sunday we saw a triple rainbow, I know double means good luck, but triple WOW! Here's a couple pics right before a lightning storm blogger botches the rainbows but they are all there.

Soo Much Fun

Man the past couple weeks have been some of the best in my life!!! With the weather finally at a temperature that makes you want to go outside life is good! TJ and I purchased a new car about a month age well new to us it's an 07 Corolla, I named her Betty I sill love Olga, the Jetta though! We've already tried to show Betty all the pretty sights around here.

TJ and I ran a relay called Running with Ed, with 3 others of his family members, it was 42 miles and we took 4th. It is a fundraiser for Park City School District. We woke up about 6 am and I checked the weather forecast for PC and told Teej, "it's winter up there!" it had actually snowed 6", but stopped at 9 our start time was 10. It felt warm while I was running but then when we stopped we would freeze! I was really excited to do this because I ran the Wasatch Back 2 years ago a 188 mile relay and it was my favorite race ever! A couple weeks later I was running in the am thinking how much I wished I had signed up for the Wasatch Back when I arrived home to a text from the same team I ran with 2 years ago. Their work sponsors it and a man had dropped out and they thought of me, so I will be running with some of the same team mates!!!! I'm in better shape this year and I am running one of the hardest legs!! I am so happy about this I actually was jumping up and down!

After the relay we went to the U19 national rugby tournament down at Rio Tinto, it will probably be a long time before it's here again. TJ was captain of the rugby team in high school it was really fun to watch him and to cheer for Highland although they barely lost to United. They tied it from 0-13 at the half then United scored and then Highland was about to score when United booted it out of bounds:-(

My dad came into town for a few days it was hard to juggle work and dad but we managed to eat some good food, talk a lot, hike Ensign peak, trailblaze through City Creek canyon, and do some family history work. My dad is always blazing trails when we go hiking and you just got to follow him or else you may not have a ride home! It was really fun to have my dad here because he is my dad and there is no one else like him, he really brought a good feeling to our home.

One of the other things that makes me so happy is that on Saturday Lily got married!!!! Lily was a good friend of mine on my mission and we were roommates after here in SLC, she is one of the smartest and sweetest people I know. She really deserves the best and the way her hubby looked at her really made me happy, he's a Salt Lake local as well and all of his background screening came back with rave reviews as all of Lily's old roommates and I stalked him to check him out when they started talking marriage! Lily deserves the best and it looks like she found him or he found her, either way I hope they move to SLC! It's just not the same without Lily here!

There is a new display at Temple Square of the Temple it shows a scaled version of it with the side cut out so you can see inside, people often get confused as to whether the Temple is a cathedral or what.

After the wedding we went up to Midway to run one of my legs we got lost a lot but it was so much fun, and so pretty! TJ's friend Scott called who happened to be at his families condo in midway and we went and shot some holes I wasn't to shabby at golf and it was my first time playing. On the way home we ran over some deer guts, which will come into play soon.

TJ has a friend Jesse who is a river guide down in Moab we went down the Colorado with him in duckies they are like a 2 man raft. I was way more fun than rafting!!!! We even hopped out at a spot to redo some rapids and ended up flipping. I have been rafting twice before and really had no fears but recently had friends tell me some horror storries so my goal was not to tip over. Well we did and my first thought was this is not so bad, my next thought this isn't so cold, my next thought ROCKS!!!!! but there weren't any phew, then BUSHES!!!! Jesse told us to stay away from those. TJ hopped back in and I tried but our life jackets plus being a woman made it so hard my life jacket kept getting in my way and soon we were headed straight into the bushes. Luckily it got really shallow and I jumped in, thank you bushes!!! It was one of the most fun things I've ever done I highly reccomend it. We brought our friends Ted and Marissa but I neglected to take any pictures of them darn it! It was 93 degrees and perfect, plus we got a little camping in, and I had a nice morning run up Kane canyon. We heard a man snore like a bear and a neighboring camps dog bypassed the bacon we were cooking to lick the deer guts off our car, don't worry we washed it today! This morning either we slept through our alarms thanks to the man bear or neither went off, tonight we will set 3 alarms. Oh and today I ran 4 miles up hill, my buns feel like steel! With that happy thought good night!