Recent projects

So, starting about a month ago, I started working at a sewing store. And I think in the last month, I have sewn more than I have in my entire life combined!! Seriously, my friends probably think I hate them because I'm always home, but I'm always working on some new project that I have to have done that day or the next. But, here are some pics of my recent makings. Enjoy! :)

Onto the next chapter

I know I'm long overdue in this post since I promised it to you guys last weekend, but it has been one crazy week!

But hey! The triathlon is over, which I am pretty sad about. I was so excited to be able to do whatever I wanted, but I miss having something to look forward to, to work towards. Which is why I'm making new plans, although I'm not going to reveal them to you until they are set. I know, I can be cruel.

Anyway, the triathlon went so so so well!!!! I had a fun trip with my mom, and two of my best friends. I didn't sleep hardly any the night before the race, which was kind of expected, but I wasn't tired thankfully, probably because I was so full of anticipation!

My mom was freaking out while I was in the water, but that actually ended up being the easiest part for me! Maybe it was because I was fresh and ready to go, or it was the smallest distance, but it was surprisingly easy.
The biking was the hardest, which is totally opposite of what I would have thought!!! There was this HUGE hill though, so that's a big explanation for it. But I didn't stop, even when the 65-70 year old ladies passed me up. haha.

Running was a lot easier than I thought it would be. It was relaxing. I set a pace and I just went for it. I even met a new friend on the run- and she even goes to BYU! I thought that was pretty cool. I finished off strong and accomplished this goal that seemed so impossible! Hooray!!!! My time was 3 hours, 10 minutes and 21.1 seconds...not too shabby if you ask me! ;)

The great part was I wasn't even sore the next day! Everyone says it's because I trained so well and was prepared, so it wasn't really pushing my body to do anything new. I would have to say though, that WHEN (not if) I do my next triathlon, I want to be faster. I want to beat 3 hours!!!!...or even take of 5 or 7 minutes, getting closer to 3 hours. haha

But thank you everyone for all of your support! I had so much fun doing this and am sure I will be doing other ones in the future! :)

Almost there

Well friends....week 20 is here; actually it's almost halfway over! That means that in 4....well, almost 3 days I will be down in St George (and everyone please pray for good weather!), standing on the edge of Sand Hollow, dressed in a wetsuit, my mother closing her eyes, praying I won't drown, in the background as I dive into the 60 degree water and start swimming with all of my might.

It's crazy to think of how far I've come in these twenty weeks. For all who have been following me and been hearing about it, it hasn't been an easy journey, but I can say that I have grown so much! Who would have thought 5 months ago that I would be able to run 10 miles...and not only run 10 miles, but run those miles keeping up with my best friend (who just happens to be one intense, fast runner). I keep telling her that I need her to run the 10K with me at the end so that I'll have to keep up with her and run faster. haha.

So it all leads up to this: all of those early mornings waking up to go swimming, all of the running through the rain, falling off my bike, meeting small goals, slowly getting better: all lead to those few hours on Saturday. Not gonna lie, I'm scared out of my mind! I feel like I'm walking into this thing blind. I've talked to anyone and everyone who has done a triathlon to see what it's like, and thankfully I've gotten a lot of good tips. But now I just have to go out and do it! I keep calming myself when I have little panic attacks (like tonight when I was at the store buying my CLIF bars for the race) and remind myself that I have trained for this, I have prepared for this, I CAN DO IT!!!! :)

I have heard so many people say over the past five months, "Good job, I could never do that." But guess what?! You totally can!!!! You would be amazed at what you can do! Yes, there will be hard times and days where you don't want to go, and there might even be injuries or vitamin deficiencies (haha) that will make you think you can't do it. But our Heavenly Father has blessed us with these amazing bodies that can do such incredible things if we will allow our minds to dream and set goals. For years, I looked at friend's parents who did triathlons and said, "someday I want to do one of those." Well, someday starts today. Stop putting off your dreams, and start believing that you can make them come true. Start believing that through hard work and determination, you can achieve those things that you want to. And if you think you can't, please think of me. I don't mean to put myself on a pedestal or say "look at me!" but really, two years ago, I was a very unhappy girl; overweight and unhealthy, not sure what I wanted out of life, just going through the motions. Today, 24 months down the road, I am the healthiest I have ever been, 75 pounds lighter, I know what I want to do with my life, and I'm pursuing all of those dreams that I was once putting off. You can do it!!!!

Okay, so I'll get off my little...or large I guess, soapbox. Here I go- 3 days left! I'll let you all know my time sometime Saturday or Sunday hopefully. It's here!!!!! Finally! haha. Wish me luck!

FINALLY finished!!!

So, I have been working on this quilt for....quite a while. It's not a hard quilt, but I have only worked on it a little here and there, but otherwise has just has been put off put off. But this weekend I finally finished it!!!! Hooray!!! I love finishing projects; it definitely gives a real sense of accomplishment. :) Ah, love it. It will make a good picnic blanket, don't you think?

It's BIG!!! haha

Up and up....or down and down

Well, the number of how much weight I have lost keeps going up and up, and my weight itself keeps going down and down. I'm now at 70 pounds lost!!!! These little milestones are so great for me, because they show me that I am still making progress. It has indeed been one long, tough, but amazing journey. And it's still not over!!!! But I just wanted to post this and say how excited I am that I have made it this far! :)
P.S. My triathlon is in like 26 days!!! AHHHH!!!!!!!

Keeping Perspective

It's so interesting to me how it is so easy to get caught up in the little everyday dramas and tasks and how if things seem to be going wrong, the world feels like it is going to end. Unfortunately, I allow myself to get into this thought process quite often, something I really need to work on. However, in this beautiful season of Easter, pondering on the Savior's atonement and the reason we are on this earth to begin with, none of those little things matter. Yes, they do matter in this life, but they won't in the next life, and that's what we're sent here to earth to work towards. A calming reminder is that God is in control, and everything is as it should be. He knows us, our circumstances, our goals, dreams, hopes, sorrows. He knows them all; and he knows what we need to grow to be the best we can be.

Here's a few things that I know I want in life, keeping perspective on the eternal scheme of things.

I want to be married here, in the beautiful Manti Temple, for time and all eternity.

I want one of these: my own family.

I want to help change the world (or even one person's life) for the better.

I want to be happy.

Really, when it gets down to it, that's all I want out of life. I know it might be an odd way of connecting it, but all of that is possible thanks to our Brother, who gave Himself for us. He suffered the ultimate pain, because He wanted us to be able to have all of these things. He wants us to be happy, to be loved, to have families. He wants us to come to Him, because through Him, anything can happen. I know that to be true. Happy Easter everyone! :)

Update

I know it's been a long time since my last training post. It's been kind of a roller coaster ride with it all. But I am so happy to say that I just finished my first week of the highest point of my training!!! I don't have to increase my times anymore! I maintain next week and then drop of for the 4th week, then it's back up to the peak, and then I begin tapering for my race. It's still over a month away, but it's finally coming up!!!!!! I cannot wait! :)

I've been trying to shake up my training a little bit because I've been getting bored (wouldn't you, after doing the same thing over and over for 3 months?), so I changed up the days, changed my locations as best that I could and went at different times. With swimming, there's only so much I can change since the BYU pool is only open to the public in the early mornings and late nights. But I was able to go running with Mak this week....and let me tell you, she runs a tough trail! Keeping up with her speed (and she was going slower because she's sick) was hard, but then she surprised me by leading me up a mile long hill! When I saw the hill I was sure I wouldn't be able to do it, but I guess the fact that I did run up the whole thing without stopping just shows how far I have come. :) My long bike ride this week was THE LONGEST 2 1/2 hours I've ever spent in my life. The weather has been pretty stupid all week, so I had to ride inside and there is nothing more boring than sitting on one of those bikes for 155 minutes. haha. I ran my 77 minutes today in the snow. When I went out it was only softly floating down, but by the time I reached my parent's neighborhood, it was like pouring snow. I think I must have had like 4 inches of ice on top of my head when I walked in the door. haha. But it was a good run. :)

Anyway, I'm just super excited that I've finally made it to this point. I'm on the countdown for the race!!! :)