A Tale of Two 10Ks

I had planned to blog last week all about Halloween weekend, and the glorious (and not so glorious) events that transpired surrounding that holiday, but then The Wife blogged about it, and in such a complete and stylish fashion, it seemed like it would be kind of redundant for those of you who read both of our blogs.  So, instead I just decided to link to her post for some of the details.  Look here for information on Julie's lovely sister visiting and our fast-food experience that brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "In-N-Out Burger," and in general, look here for more delightful posts featuring the Most Amazing Cake Ever and sundry amusing things.  I will say briefly: on Halloween night, we went to a party thrown by a mission friend and his wife, and it was fun and we brought leftover Most Amazing Cake Ever and watched Sleepy Hollow and of course came dressed, surprise surprise, like this (we didn't have much time to follow through on The Wife's exciting new costume ideas...  next year!):

So, now, for the real substance of this post.

While Marci was here visiting, we ran the Highway to Hale race, sponsored by the Hale Center Theater in Orem.  We did the 5K at this race last year, and it was pretty fun, but this year we decided to do the 10K.  We just thought it would be nice to see the other course they offer (and thereby avoid the horrid hill that is the last mile of the 5K course).  So on Friday, after our day-long nightmarish bout with food poisoning, we went to bed, hoping that we would feel better by morning.  And we did!  So we had as much breakfast and water as seemed wise and made it through the race.  It wasn't our best race ever, having eaten very little the day before, and as we were still more or less recovering.  I even walked a handful of times, which is something I never do in a race (my pride wanted to shout "I had food poisoning yesterday!" as people ran past me).  I probably pushed myself a little too hard when it came to running, which caused me to have more walking periods, but I go into this race mode where it's hard for me to run slower than I would like/can, especially when my little GPS watch is telling me my pace.  So I felt a little breathless and low on energy at times, but we had a good time, and we prevailed!  We reclaimed our stomachs and finished the race.  I still placed third in my age group, 17th overall, and had a pretty decent time (44:38, 7:29/mile, though it was just under an actual 10K at about 6 miles even), so I wasn't too disappointed.  (Julie, meanwhile, had a great run at a nice, steady pace.)  We decided to forego the suggestion to run in costumes since it was a longer race, though I decided to wear all black and be a running ninja.  We were SO happy to be feeling better, seriously, we were just glad to finish and be well and hungry again.

They just gave medals to the first place in each age group.  I was actually third but the top 2 were overall winners, so I won first by default.  I'll take it!

 

The next week, after we said a sad goodbye Marci and had Halloween, we had another race, this time the annual First Dam Run in Logan.  We decided to do the 10K again, which we have done previously on this race.  (I think I at least also wanted to redeem myself from the previous week's race...  I mean, I know we were on the other side of a pretty bad illness, but still.)  It's a nice, scenic course, and it's usually nice weather for a long, later-morning run.  On Friday night, we picked up Mom, Amber and Cami and headed up to Grandma's house.  There was a huge rain/snowstorm the whole way up, but we made it all right (though in a longer time than it would normally have taken).  We had a little visit with Grandma and then had a good rest before the 10:00 am start time, which I love.  It was a beautiful, snowy morning, cold but not frigid, and clear and crisp, which I thought was great running weather.  All the ladies decided to do the 10K too, so after gathering everything up (including my iPod, which I forgot at the house, and HAD to rush back to get, only to make it back with moments to spare before the race started), off we went.  It was a much nicer experience than the week before, though I'm a little perplexed that my times for both were pretty similar...  (44:11, 14th overall, 1st in age group, 7:07/mile, though this one was closer to a full 6.2 miles, maybe even a little over, so that could account for the similarities in time)  But Julie cut five minutes off her time from the week before!  Nice work, lovah!

Go me!

Go Cami!

Go Mom!

Go Wife!  You look so tiny in the distance!  You're almost there!

(I ran back to find Julie but by the time I doubled around and cut some corners she was far ahead of me and I couldn't catch up with her by the finish.)

Go Amber!  And random stranger!

Go Grandma!

Waiting for the awards.  It was pretty cold after all.

Woot!  I wasn't expecting that.

Go Team!

 

So there you go.  Two weeks, two 10Ks.  We are just hardcore that way.  I'm so glad I have a wife who likes to run!  It's a fun hobby that we can do together.  We've been joking lately that if ever anyone were to write a musical about my life, there would be a big belty showstopping ballad entitled "Not Without My Morning Run."  I can already hear it!  Now THAT'S something I want on my running playlist.  And now we can sleep in tomorrow and maybe just take a relaxing regular Saturday morning run.  It's so nice to have cooler running weather.  At least for now.  *cold*  We'll be saying hello again to the treadmills before long.



And just like that, three blogposts in one week.  We shall see what other blog-worthy wonders November will bring!

A Twenty-Something No More II

So yes, thanks to all for standing by, as I requested in my last post.  I don't know why it takes me so long to follow through with blogposts I want to write, but anyway, here it is.

The Saturday after my birthday we had a bigger sort of birthday celebration.  I was a little anxious about hosting an event because (not to have a pity party here or anything) most times when we've recently tried to throw a party of some kind, the turnout is pretty embarrassing, if any show up at all.  Still, Julie wanted me to have a party for my 30th, and I knew my family would be able to come at least, so we decided to try it anyway.  It started early in the week when we invited dozens, maybe even a hundred friends and family to join in the fun.  We planned to meet at the dollar theater for a matinee showing of Tangled in 3D (we wouldn't have chosen to see it in 3D, but it was the only option available there for some reason), and then would head to our place for cake and ice cream.  It's true that Julie had made a cake on my actual birthday, which we enjoyed very much, but why not make another one for company?  Your birthday comes but once a year, right?  I bought some tickets early in the day, worried that they would sell out by the time the showing started, and on the way finally ran across some of those elusive Girl Scouts selling their cookies.  Score!  I've been carrying cash for weeks waiting for just such a chance meeting, since we missed out last year, never having cash when we saw them.

We met a great group of family and a few friends at the theater and the movie was wonderful as usual.  (The 3D was an unnecessary addition, but it was still pretty fun to see it that way, and for much cheaper than it would have been in the first-run theater.)  We went to our apartment and Julie's cake was quite delicious!  The mayonnaise chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting was a huge hit, and the strawberries added the perfect touch.  What a success.  I was glad not to have to blow out 30 candles, and the kids were glad for the miniature cupcakes we bought in case the cake ran out.  I was a little bummed that a small fraction of the invited people attended, and most of the people who actually said they would be there didn't show (which didn't help with my party-hosting anxiety), but we still had a great time, and Julie is an excellent hostess.

Is it perhaps the most beautiful birthday cake ever?  I submit it for your consideration.

To commemorate such a delightful cake, we bought these number candles and even a little kitchen lighter (you can just see it on the right, behind the cake), which seems like such a handy gadget to have in one's kitchen.

Um yeah, the cake didn't stand much of a chance.  We kept it for a while in case other guests showed up, but eventually the two of us had no problem finishing it off.

Julia has been liking me a lot lately.

 

Kids hiding out in the corner with their toys.  Whatever happened to running around and playing and such?  I guess if it had been nicer outside they might have done.

Gabe!

Jared and Gabe became pretty fast friends.  You can see Julia awaiting her turn.

Kwvtij (I am secretly sad because he and his wife are moving to St. Louis in just a few weeks).

There were delightful birthday surprises here and there throughout the next few days, including a hair cutting set from Julie's mom, which we wasted no time using.  The following Saturday we met with Lacie and Leland at Tucanos to use my birthday coupon there (and we didn't eat TOO much there this time, hurrah), and Julie and I both had smashing new haircuts.  For hers, we went to a salon, for mine, we went to our kitchen, where Julie used the new clippers expertly.  She was nervous to give her first haircut, but I had all confidence in her skills, and she did a great job.  It was my first haircut since my New Year's Day chop, but it was mostly a trim of the back and sides--I want to let it grow long again.  Some have said it looks professional.  How delightful that I have a wife willing and clearly able to cut my hair!

Here I am enjoying a delicious Sundae of the Month at the Creamery on Ninth.  Not their best sundae ever, but the point is that this is a pretty good shot of my clever wife's haircutting job.

So, there we go, the birthday festivities were multi-faceted and delightful.  Survivor gave me a birthday present a week early with the voting out of a certain despised player, and even Sunday morning, a surprise birthday present appeared to me covering the ground outside in the form of sparkling snow, a sort of delicate, fleeting parting gift from winter before it gets so wretchedly hot outside.  A few days ago we bought Tangled on DVD (and, apparently, of necessity, on Blu-ray), so I say that's a birthday present too.  I always loved how Disney movies seemed to be released around my birthday month.

For the record, some people found this very hard to find in stores, but we found it at the first place we looked.  We shopped around and eventually bought it elsewhere, but it was good to know it was at least there.  Also, I hope they don't start releasing every movie in the world in 3D.  Just let it die!  The movies are delightful on their own without a gimmick!  I might have bought the 3D edition had I found it at a decent price, but as I didn't, I didn't.

I only hope I can make The Wife's birthday as lovely as she made mine!  I guess I have a couple months to prepare for it, and so I shall!

HP7.1, take 2

Yes, we saw it again last night.  Some friends who hadn't seen it yet really wanted to see it with us.  We didn't get to sit with them (assigned seating when ordering movie tickets online has its drawbacks), but they were pretty close, and it was still SO good.  And we didn't die on the freeway due to the blizzard on the way there or back.

Did I already say "ACCIO PART 2"?...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

I have seen it.  It was amazing.  I looked like this the entire time:  O.O

As much as I complained about them splitting it into two movies, this gave them a lot more time to really show more of the events of the book and develop these kids into the grown-ups they're being forced to become.  Gone are the days of Potions finals and Quidditch matches.  Harry and Co. are have much bigger fish to fry.  In past movies they were able to cut a lot of extra things that didn't really have to do with Harry directly, but in this book, just about everything centers around Undesirable No. 1, so it seems like the right decision to split it up into two (not to mention the obvious financial benefits to breaking your big finale into two huge cinematic events).

Yesterday to get into the spirit of things, I did this during some downtime at work.  It's not anything super special, but it's fun to try new things with layers and shading and gradients, and angsty Harry is always an interesting subject.

We had fun at my first-ever HP midnight showing.  The crowd was energetic but under control, and we had a fun time with the Lius, the Barbers and cousin Britney (we missed Elise and Jeff desperately).  I didn't even feel any overwhelming effects of sleepiness throughout the day.  I kind of thought it might hit me when the 3 pm wall came around, but it wasn't too bad.  Now, at about 11 pm, however...

Today I celebrated Harry Potter Day 2010 by basking in the memories of HP7.1 and by holding a personal iPod HP soundtrack marathon. 175 tracks, 8.5 hours of songs, 7 full (and/or enhanced) chronological scores, 4 different composers, 1 incredible musical journey

ACCIO PART 2.

No Snow!

Even though the title of this blogpost certainly does not apply to recent weather, I wanted to report briefly on our latest race.

On 27 February, Julie and I met up with Rolla friend Allison and her friend to run the UVU/Habitat for Humanity No Snow Indoor 5K.  There were two completely indoor routes, one with stairs and one without, and the course ran a few loops around UVU campus.  I've never done an indoor race, so we all decided to go with the stairs route for a new challenge.  We all had fun, but I suspect foul play as far as the logistics...  The organization was a little lax (they didn't distribute numbers or have an official timer at the finish line, not to mention I think I ran one of the last laps an extra time, leading to a much longer time than usual), but it was only ten dollars and they still gave us t-shirts and a pancake breakfast!  In the end, I think my adjusted time was about 24:20something, which is not as good as my regular rate, but I think I expected a little longer due to the stairs, which did make the course quite a lot more challenging, and I did finish in the top 10 overall.  I also think it might be better for your pace to run in the out of doors.

For some ridiculous reason, they decided to draw the raffle winners while everyone was still running the race (???) but they announced the winners again, you know, after everyone actually finished and stuff.  Imagine our amazement when we BOTH won something!  Sure, they were just a UVU t-shirt and hoodie, but our names are never called!  It was very exciting.

Anyway, next up:  Shamrock Shuffle in Logan!  Who's with us??

Missus and Mister

My oldest BYU friend Spencer and his wife have written and produced a song together, and he asked me to post it on my blog. Click here to listen to their new song, "No One Knows."

Zoo Siab Lub Tsib Hli Ntuj tim Tsib!

Yes, just like the title of this post said, Happy Cinco de Mayo! (Slightly belated though it may be.) I hope everyone else had as much fun celebrating a completely non-American holiday as I did! I spent the evening watching the unintentionally semi-related masterpiece West Side Story with Mom, Dad, Jared, and Amber & Co., and then came home for a sadly pinata-less party (I know you tried, Lacie!) and played Family Feud and watched Ocean's Thirteen with kith and kin. It was a glorious celebration, though I know few if any who even know the real point as to why our southern neighbors celebrate the fifth of May. No matter, welcome to America! Next up, Independence Day!!!

Some Thoughts on Tolerance….

I guess part of the problem with communication of my blog here lately has been one of misunderstanding of my motives. I guess those who don't know me and my background may have thought my post was a total hate-rant against people who are struggling with a particular issue. This is not the case. As I stated, and have stated many times, I truly believe in the doctrine of loving all of God's children, regardless of the mistakes they make or the opinions they hold. I seriously believe (and I think a lot of people simply cannot grasp this concept) that it's possible to love (read: 'tolerate') someone and not approve of or accept (or tolerate) their behavior or beliefs. Behavior is entirely independent of worth. Nothing can change our innate divine identity and worth, nor God's love for us, though He definitely can disapprove of some of the choices we make, and hopes that we do what it takes to fix it. "Love the sinner and hate the sin" is a very true principle, luckily, or who would love me? This principle is not only true, but necessary to adopt. We are all sinners, and to imagine that our love and respect must be reserved for perfect people only limits our circle of friends significantly.

While I completely disapprove of the homosexual lifestyle and behavior, I have many friends and acquaintances who are currently living it. We don't agree on many things. That doesn't mean I don't love them. And that doesn't mean they're not children of God. And that doesn't mean I'll sit by and say nothing about how I feel on the subject. And that doesn't mean it won't be passionate.

There you go. Believe it or don't.