Lazy Man Challenge

BYU-Idaho is offering a lazy man challenge for the month of February. Participants have to bike 112 miles, swim 2.4 miles and run 26 miles. The first 100 people to finish the challenge win a free t-shirt. I decided that I would take up this challenge and see how quickly I can finish it, and for some reason free t-shirt is really motivational for me! I am not much of a runner, but I am pretty comfortable with the biking/spinning and swimming. So far I have swam 2.4 miles, ran 20 miles and biked 55 miles. My goal is to have the challenge completed by next week. I am trying really hard to force myself to like running, especially since I have the Color Run coming up in May. Elizabeth and I will be running the 5k Color Run in downtown Seattle and I cannot wait!!! Luckily the lazy man challenge is helping to get me into shape for the run and I should be ready to go in May if I keep up the running that I've been forcing myself to do.

I can't believe how fast this semester is going and that it is already February! It has always seemed like January, February and March are the longest months of the year, but so far it seems as though time is going by faster than ever. We are almost to mid-term week, which means that the second half of the semester is probably going to go faster than the first and I'll be back in Bellevue, getting ready for swim team before I know it! When I get home in April, I am going to apply to work at certain Elementary Schools around Bellevue as a IA (Instructor's Assistant) and start getting my foot in the door with some in classroom experience. I cannot wait!

I have been swimming on the swim team for about 3 weeks now and am really loving it! We had our first meet last week and WE WON!! I swam all freestyle in the meet and dropped 8 seconds from my 100 freestyle time trials time. I've forgotten how much I have missed swimming and competing. I am still getting back into the groove of water, but am proud of the progress I have made so far! I've met some really fun people and am excited to get to know the rest of the team better. Our suits, caps and shirts came in yesterday...I guess once a totem, always a totem....go red and black! We have a meet tomorrow...hopefully it goes well. Here's to hoping the rest of the season goes well!

Your Potential, Your Privileges

Happy Sunday! I figured that since it's Sunday, it would be pretty appropriate to share a Mormon Message clip that I came across earlier this week. The clip is called "Your Potential, Your Privileges." I love that all of the Mormon Messages contain such a sweet and powerful message in just a matter of minutes.

I love this message because it really reminds me to enjoy what I have right now and soak up every experience that comes my way. I am so blessed to have many wonderful blessings in my life and I, unfortunately, take a lot of those blessings for granted. When I do this, I am not taking advantage of what I have around me to help me live my life to its fullest potential. Life can get so crazy and hectic, but I'll never get this time of my life, or even today, back again. One of my goals for this year is to enjoy every experience I have to the fullest and to remember the things that I have already been blessed with. I know that as I am consciously doing this, I will be happier and be more ready for the experiences that will come my way in the future.

Recap 2012

I'm not sure if anyone looks at my blog anymore (I've been really bad about keeping this thing updated...I forgot that I had this, actually!). But I've decided I'm going to be better about using it this year!

Happy 2013!! I can't believe how fast 2012 came and went. It's crazy to think of everything that has happened in the last year. I'm so grateful for all of the experiences, fun times, bumps in the road and adventures that I've had in the last 12 months. I can say pretty confidently that I've learned a lot and wouldn't have had it any other way.

Here is a super quick recap of my last semester (Fall 2012 semester #3): I moved apartments with my previous roommate, Annie, and was lucky enough to also get to live two new roommates, Katie and Jessica. I was called to be the secretary in the Relief Society and met some pretty fun people in the ward! I took 15 credits, which normally is a pretty do-able work load, but with some really challenging classes (with lots and lots of tests), I ended up spending a lot more time focusing on my school work than I did last year...which payed off because I ended the semester with 4 A's and 2 B's!! To avoid stressing myself out and take a break from studying, I decided I would take up spinning. BYUI offers a gym and fitness classes free of charge to all of the students and faculty. My friend told me that by not taking advantage of this opportunity is like someone offering you $50 in return for nothing and you declining their offer...who wouldn't take the $50?! I went to the spinning classes in the gym 5 days a week for an hour each time. I LOVED every minute of it!!! I ended up biking a grand total of 1000 miles by the end of the semester :) I spent Thanksgiving with my Aunt Donna and Uncle Dean in Rupert, Idaho...which was so much fun!! The food was delicious and I loved getting to know them better! Plus, I got to shoot my first gun...thanks Uncle Dean!!

Semester #4 started 2 weeks ago and so far I'm really enjoying it. I'm taking mostly classes for my major (Elementary Education), which I love because I find myself looking forward to going to class and doing the homework. My teachers are all really nice...it seems like it should be a great semester of classes! My friend Josh has been trying to get me to swim on the school's swim team with him...I finally cracked and am all signed up ready to go! I'm excited because I love swimming and honestly miss it, but am nervous because it has been 2 years since I've swam competitively. We had time trials this past week and I AM SLOW!! Haha I'm hoping that with time I will get a little bit of my speed back...I'm a pretty swimmer, not a fast swimmer :) I'm excited to see what happens! My sister, Cadison, just started up her first semester and I think she is really liking it so far. It's been fun showing her the ropes! My calling for this semester is Activities Chair...which kind of makes me nervous because I'm not the most creative person so this should be interesting!! I seriously cannot believe how fast my sophomore year has gone by! It's crazy to think that in April I will be a JUNIOR in college and that I will be student teaching before I know it!!

That's pretty much it for right now...just taking life day by day and loving what comes!