Runner Up

Today I accomplished something I never really aspired to but am glad I did it anyway. I ran in my first 5k race, the 2009 Herriman Step Rock Run 5k, to be exact. My bubbly friend Madison somehow talked me into running 2.5 miles with her on Thursday morning at the ungodly hour of 7:15 and then pushed me further by challenging me to run 4.5 miles with her yesterday morning at that same ungodly hour. She's training for to compete with her mom in a 10k on the 24th of July and they signed up for today's 5k to practice. I was coerced into registering and am so glad that I did because I took 2nd place in my division and 27th overall in my very first 5k! Madison took 3rd place. We are now the proud owners of a silver and bronze generic "Running" medal. I can't wait for the next one.

Having spent the last three days pushing my body harder than I can ever remember, I am hobbling around like an old man. My shins hurt (shin splints!?), my hip-flexors scream at me, and my thighs burn whenever I force them to move from a standing to a sitting position and vice versa. I'm looking forward to getting back out there in a couple of days when I've recovered.

Wimbledon Redeemed

Novak Djokovic

I just saw this tennis hottie on Sports Center and have a newfound interest in Wimbledon. He kind of looks like Justin Bartha, that blue-eyed sweetie from National Treasure and The Hangover, but with a hot Eastern European accent.

He's just been added to my "list"- you know, the list of people, usually famous, that you are allowed to hook up with given the opportunity and not face consequences from your significant other. I wonder how he'd feel about an early 20s married girl from Utah.

Who's on your list?

Believing

Everyday I open a little card that contains a quote about believing and spend the day internalizing what it says. I would like to share them with you because I believe they have the ability to transform our thought patterns from destructive and debilitating to uplifting and productive. 

These will come in handy when I interview in Chicago two weeks from now for a position with the Green Corps! 

"There is more inside you than you dare think." - David Brower

"The difference between what we do, and what we are capable of doing, would solve most of the world's problems." - Mahatma Gandhi

"Expectation is everything. Every day can be your day, if you can expect it to be." - Bob Moawad

"No one really knows enough to be a pessimist." - Norman Cousins

"We do not believe if we do not live and work according to our belief." - Heidi Wills

"Believe it! High expectations are the key to everything." - Sam Walton

"Faith is building on what you know is here so you can reach what you know is there." - Cullen Hightower

"Look at things not just as they are, but as they can be." - David Schwartz 

"There is always one unexpected little moment in life when a door opens to let the future in." - Graham Greene (I carry this in my wallet)

Pick a couple and chew on them for a while. The last two are my favorite. 

WTF!? Someone hacked my blogger account!

Imagine my appal at discovering that not only was my blogger account hacked into by some psycho looking to capitalize on my obviously successful blog, but that they had replaced all of the content with a "Mega site of Bible studies." 

Before I called 911 to report my stolen blogger identity, I checked the URL and discovered that I had transposed two of the letters. Silly me! 

For the sake of humor please look at this website and you will get some insight into the minute and a half a I spent staring dumbfoundedly at my screen.

http://www.thedanishdame.blogpsot.com/

If someone were trying to mess with me, changing my content to a Bible studies search engine would be a pretty effective way to go. 

Catching Up

The (pseudo) Graduate!

I honestly never thought I would actually graduate from college. It just seemed so out of reach but, low and behold, I have done it! Kind of. Although I was eligible to participate in the commencement ceremony I have a couple of classes to finish this summer before they'll give me that expensive piece of paper I've been chasing for the last 4 1/2 years. I have two "legit" classes- Intro to News Writing & Mass Communication Law and two fun classes- mountain biking and rock climbing. It shouldn't be too bad of a summer actually. I'm also still unemployed and have been job hunting for a couple of weeks now. There seem to be a plethora of job opportunities out there especially for receptionists and/or administrative assistants, but this isn't the kind of job I'm looking for. I want to find a job that utilizes the education that I've worked so hard for. If you hear of anything, please let me know!

Climbing some crack

Je-Fu Crew 

Last week I escaped to Moab, Utah with some (bad ass) friends from school. We spent four days rafting, climbing, and repelling. It was my first experience with outdoor rock climbing and I have fallen in love! I bought gear the within days of coming home and have gone a couple of times since then. It is an amazing sport and all I've thought about since then. I can't wait to get better so I can tackle some 5.11's and 5.12's. Oh, sorry, that's climbing lingo. Anyway, my rock climbing class this summer should be really fun. I'm looking forward to learning some more technical skills. Next up: a climbing membership to The Front!

In two short weeks Jason and I are going to visit Jeff and Laura in Philadelphia! We are so excited to spend a weekend exploring Philly with our best friends. And this time the weather will be better. It was so cold there in January that I thought my bones would never thaw. I can't wait to see my best friends! 

Seriously?

It is spring break. My last spring break of college (at least undergrad) and I am at the library. WTF!? The stick figure above represents how I feel emotionally and in the near future physically. Why couldn't I have finished this paper weeks ago when it was assigned? Why haven't I used the last five days of spring break to hammer it out so that I could enjoy the beautiful weather of this weekend? I don't know. Maybe I'm a masochist. I now have two days to finish this 6 page research paper. At least there's a pretty view from my table by the window. 

The One Less Traveled By

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- 

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference. 

-Robert Frost

I have reached that point in every college student's life where decisions about one's future post-graduation must be made. I discovered, rather haphazardly, that I am on the cusp of graduation and eligible to participate in the commencement ceremonies this May. Here I thought I would be stuck in school for another semester (or two) but, because I had some concurrent enrollment credits to transfer from the community college, I don't have to take as many classes as I originally thought. In fact, if I take 12 credit hours this summer (essentially 3, maybe 4 classes), I will be done. Done. Graduated. A diploma-wielding college graduate. But here's the thing... I have to make some decisions and, unfortunately, I'm not the only person in the captain's chair. I applied for an internship with the Park Silly Sunday Market for the summer. My interview was last month and I'm supposed to find out by the end of March if I got it.  Also, I would be able to take my last 3-4 classes while doing the internship.  I think that I am qualified for this position and that it could lead to some pretty great things, but we'll have to see if they agree. So there's option #1.

Option #2: I heard about an amazing opportunity to intern at the White House, as in the place where the president lives in Washington D.C., for the summer and I think it would be foolish not to apply, even if I get rejected. How does that saying go? "Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all." Right? Well I feel the same about this internship. If chosen, I would live and intern in D.C. from May through August and then finish those pesky 3 classes in the fall. Since Jason just started his new job and it's so short term, I would be going it alone. Talk about a test of independence. I think I can, I think I can. 

Option #3: I applied for a scholarship through the Alumni Association and, if I am chosen as a recipient, it would cover the cost of tuition for a full year. So if I get the scholarship I will prolong my stay at the university another year just to avoid paying for those pesky 3 classes. And this wouldn't be so bad because I could take the classes I'm actually interested in, not just the ones required by my major. 

So while I do have many decisions to make in the coming weeks, very few of them will be made by me- more like made for me. I'm rooting for option #2, but would settle for #1 or #3. And if I don't get any of them? I will finish school in the summer and find a job. Someone will want to hire me, right? Right?