Please, help yourself.

For most people, the best part of earning a raise is something superficial, like the extra money. But for me, the real reward is the special attention I get from the government. I like that they came specifically to my bank account just to take advantage of an opportunity to take 19% of my paycheck instead of 12%. It really makes me feel included in American society. And hey, mi paycheck es su paycheck.

I love when the rain matches my mood.

I'm not one to post my drama on the internet for all the world to use for entertainment. But this song pretty much sums up how I'm feeling after recent events. Seriously, I cannot wait until I don't have to date anymore.

But really, I love the rain.

The Big Day

As I mentioned in a post roughly 4 weeks ago, I volunteered myself to run my very first half marathon, the Legacy Midnight Run.
Friday was the big day. Or should I say night?
My mom picked me up from Provo right after I got off work and we got back to Farmington just in time to pick up my t-shirt and my bib from home and head to the pickup location for the race.

Look how excited I am for a 2-hour run.

 I rode a bus with 83 other passengers to the starting location and waited there for an hour and a half before we even lined up to start running. Everyone received a flashing glow wand and a bunch of glow bracelets, most of which ended up on the ground by the end of the race.

 I had been a little anxious and intimidated by the 13.1 mile distance when the most I had ever run prior to this event was about 10.6. I knew I could do it, but I wasn't even sure if I could finish in 2 hours and 30 minutes, let alone by midnight (the race began at 10:00 pm), for which a reward of a special medal that lights up was promised. I ended up surprising myself with a time of 1:57:44, so I got my flashing medal :) I'm SO proud!

The experience was rewarding and so much fun, and a big reminder not to take my body for granted. It's easy to be self-conscious and compare yourself to others, but it's hard not to be thankful for what you've got when you realize that your legs can carry you thirteen miles. My body isn't perfect, but it's strong and it's capable, and I am so fortunate to have it.

Anyway, I had a really good time and you better believe there will be many more half marathons to come. :) And.. full marathons? Eventually..

My Colorado Adventure: Vol III (Written 7/5/11)

Currently I am on a plane with an entire aisle to myself. My favorite part of flying is that brief dropping sensation you get the moment the plane becomes airborne. That part’s over now. I can’t even see Denver’s city lights anymore.

As you’ve probably figured, right now, I’m flying back to Utah from Colorado, ending my trip a week earlier than originally planned. Well technically, the original plan was to stay for the entire two months of my summer break. However, after considering that I would have neither a job nor my own car there and realizing that all of my friends were going to have jobs and noticing that in the time I would be in Colorado, I could make over $2000 pruning shrubs in Provo, I promptly modified my plane ticket, reducing my 10-week vacation to 2.

The time I’ve spent in Colorado has been amazing, and seeing my friends has been so much fun, so I understand why it might be surprising that I should choose to go back to Utah sooner than expected. No specific event made me want to leave early. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that Colorado isn’t where I’m supposed to be right now. It’s funny because I used to loathe Utah, and I was always willing to sacrifice whatever was necessary in order to spend as much time as possible in Colorado with my beloved friends, who are all such hilarious, genuine, truly special people.

In the last half a year, though, I’ve finally established relationships in Utah after living here for the most unfavorable 3 ½ years of my life. I have a job and a place of my own. And being in Colorado made me feel like all of that might not be there when I got back. That combined with other complex and more than likely irrational emotions resulted in my ultimate decision not to complete my trip. And I don’t know if that was really necessary, and I feel guilty for robbing my Colorado friends of the time they thought they were going to have with me. Hopefully I’ll be able to make up for it.

That is absolutely not to say that I haven’t had fun. I loved staying with Ashley in Evergreen. It was the most scenic place, and my runs, though challenging, were incredible. It was very peaceful. My last night up there was really nice. Ashley’s parents took us to Beau Jo’s Pizza where we enjoyed a delicious meal beside the stream followed by Baskin Robins for dessert. Then Ashley and I went to see Monte Carlo. The next day she took me back to Aurora and I got to hang out with Charly, whom I haven’t heard from much since she deleted her Facebook. We made some sort of pudding dessert and experimented with toasting coconut (success!), then caught up on life. Yesterday, I spent 4^th of July with Josh at a BBQ with his family. Lunch was delicious and was succeeded by about 5 hours of lighting off fireworks. The night literally ended with a bang when a set of fireworks that was supposed to go into the air malfunctioned and exploded all over the spectators. Josh seemed pretty antsy to leave after that. Driving through Denver on 4^th of July was honestly the mostly beautiful thing. There were fireworks in the sky everywhere. To conclude my evening, I joined Shmam, Amela, Jessica R., Jessica M., Asya, Casey, Minji, and her.. Sam.

Today, my last day here, we had scheduled a water fight, so Shmam and I went to the Dollar Store for water balloons and spent an hour and a half filling them up. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to be able to make it except Amela, so instead Shmam taped an X on her fence and we threw balloons at it for practice. We noticed a substantial improvement in our aim when we imagined certain boys’ faces as the target. After that, we met Minji for dinner at Casa Vallarte before returning to Shmam’s house to watch So You Think You Can Dance until it was time to take me to the airport. When I checked my bags, the lady told me to enjoy my flight and I almost said “you too.”

So here I am now, alone in my aisle using the unoccupied desk next to me to hold my complimentary ice water and peanuts while I type, experiencing some turbulence with only a few minutes until my plane begins its descent. I’m almost home. It’s funny, because a year ago I would have felt like I was leaving home. I guess that’s part of growing up.