Memorial Day 5K's... yes, that is plural...

I signed up to do two different Memorial Day 5K's this past weekend. One race was Saturday morning and the other was Monday. I thought I was a little crazy at first, but both races turned out to be so much fun. In 5k #1, I was able to place second in my age category with a time of 24:19. I was a little disappointed at this because my goal was to break 24 minutes. Plus, I was on the tail of the girl who beat me the entire race... I should have tried harder to catch her...

I ran the first race with my friends Michael and Amanda.



Race #2 was my favorite. I ran with a number of my colleagues as well as some friends from my ward; Amanda again, Ryan and Justin. The race course had one pretty good hill, but the remainder was a lot of downhill, making for a pretty fast course. Lo and behold, the same girl who beat me on Saturday was there again. I was determined to beat her this time. I did not succeed however. She still beat me by about the same amount of time, but my overall time improved by about 40 seconds! This time around, I ran in 23:38. I broke 24 minutes and placed third in my age group. This time there were trophies. Ryan and Justin also received trophies for placing in their age category.

I also won a gift certificate for a free pair of running shoes up to $100! It was just a great race...

Here we are before it all began...


Some of my colleagues and their kids after the race...


Justin, Ryan and I with our winnings. It don't think it matters how old you are... there is something fun about winning a trophy!

Light at the End of the Tunnel...

I started my Master's program at BYU the summer of 2006. Yes, three years ago. Well, this week I turned all five chapters of my thesis in for my data review next week. At the data review I will get some feedback and we will schedule the date for my actual defense. I sometimes have to pinch myself to believe that I have really made it to this point. It has been a really long three years. I have had many extremely late night and even more early mornings. However, the light at the end of the tunnel is starting to get a little brighter. I am scheduled to graduate August 13 and 14th! It is going to feel awfully weird to "just" teach next year. I am not going to know what to do myself... ha ha, who am I kidding. I'm sure I'll fill it up with something else pretty quick...

Last week some of the girls in my masters cohort and I had a little get together lunch. We haven't seen much of each other since we finished formal class. You make close bonds when you experience such a program together. It was fun to see everyone...

Things you see in Provo on Sunday Afternoon... Part 3

I met at Kim's house for our usual Sunday hot coco loco this evening and I saw another thing you would only see in Provo...

Instead of just sitting outside her apartment to talk, we decided to go on a walk since it was such a beautiful day. As we were walking around her neighborhood, we saw a advertisement written with chalk on the sidewalk... see below...





I started laughing so hard! At first, I thought... are you kidding? Are you really advertising a visiting teaching orientation on the sidewalk with chalk? How odd is that... Then as we kept walking and we passed 2 or 3 ward prayers congregating on lawns and I saw everyone out on blankets in front of their apartments and I thought... why not? Everyone walks to class everyday. They will probably have much better attendance strictly due to that bit of side walk chalk. Some things you will see only in Provo...

Many mock Provo, but it is a special place. A place with a bubble, but maybe a bubble isn't always half bad... I wonder what I will see next week... stay tuned...

Two things that make me happy...

So I have been planning on getting a new backpacking pack for some time now. I have a lot of trips this summer that necessitate such a piece of equipment and I have been very excited about getting one...

Thus, Thing #1 that makes me happy: Getting any kind of new gear (whether it be biking, running, camping... it doesn't matter. I love getting new gear for my adventures...)

I was trying out different packs at the store the other day trying to decide what I wanted. I found a 44 liter Osprey pack that I liked, but I wasn't sold on it quite yet. I had a black and gray one on my back and the clerk helping me said they also had it in yellow and blue. I asked if I could see the blue one. He went in the back to find it and he came back not with a blue one, but with an orange one. If there was any part of me that was unsure about this pack before, it was squashed out quick. As soon as I saw the orange I knew I had found the pack I wanted.

I chuckled to myself as I realized what a difference the color made in my being able to make my decision. I know this may sound silly, but there are some simple things in life that make us happy... thus

Thing #2 that makes me happy: the color orange

Most of you who know me well at all, know that I love the color orange. It just makes me happy. As I started thinking about it, I realized that most of my gear is orange... (see a few examples in the pictures below)

My mountain bike...


My school backpack...


My chacos for river rafting...


My snowshoes and running shoes are also orange.

I had a friend back in the days of campus plaza that loved the color yellow. He even had a pair of yellow jeans... Pictures that! When I asked him why he liked yellow so much, he said because yellow made him happy. I thought that was kind of silly at the time, but I now understand. Orange is the color that makes me happy. I hope you all have a color that makes you happy. Remember, sometimes it's just the simple things...

I can't wait to use my new orange pack! It will take it's maiden voyage to Havasupi Falls in two weeks!

Ode to Kim

I have a friend named Kim who is the most amazing person I have ever known. She is one of the most self-less, supporting, kind people I have ever met. We both spent a semester at BYU Hawaii Fall 2000. However, we didn't meet in Hawaii. We returned from Hawaii at the same time and happened to both choose to sign a contract at a little place known as Campus Plaza.

Our first semester back in Provo, I broke my collar bone. One evening we had a ward activity that I was unable to go to due to my injury and Kim decided to stop by on her way to the activity to see how I was doing. At this point I was still just a random girl in the ward. Well, her little stop by turned into an evening in which we both missed the activity and a life time friendship was started. We became friends instantly and have been friends ever since.

Kim has been a tender mercy in my life in so many ways. She is a "rocking-chair" friend. Meaning that when I am old and, in my 80's and spending a lot of time sitting in a rocking chair, I will still know where Kim is and what she is doing and we will still be in contact with each other.

Back at our days in Campus Plaza, we instituted a tradition of having a "Hot-Coco-Loco" every Sunday. This was our way of guaranteeing we had Jessie/Kim time every week. We would meet on the swing outside our apartments and wrap up in blankets with hot cocoa and just talk. We still have hot-coco-loco's almost every Sunday and it is one of my favorite times of the week. She helps me in my rough times, she celebrates with me in my good times and she knows me inside and out. I am so thankful for her and the many amazing times we have had. Here are a few photos from over the years...

Our excited faces as we were waiting to board our plane to Israel last year...


Climbing trees...


Attending a fireside at the Marriott Center...


Eating one of our favorite treats...


Eating yummy breakfast and having a "pajama" morning...


At Campus Plaza...


At the temple...


I love you Kim!

Tigers in your lifeboat...

My roommate Annie and I started a book club back at the beginning of fall. The book that we read for the month of March was entitled "Life of Pi". It is about a young boy who gets stranded on a life boat in the middle of the ocean with a hyena, gorilla, tiger and zebra for his companions. It is a fascinating book and one that takes quite a twist at the end when you least expect it. I loved the book and it facilitated some of the best discussion we have ever had. Everyone was anxious to add their opinion and thoughts into the conversation.

I am also a part of another book club through my work. My colleagues and I meet during our lunch break for our book discussions. I enjoyed reading "Life of Pi" so much that I suggested this be the book of choice for my work book club as well. As we have discussed the book at work, my friend Barb pointed out some interesting life parallels.

In the story, Pi has to figure out how he can co-exist with a large bengal tiger without becoming the tigers dinner. He goes through a list of possibilities, such as poisoning it, strangling it, dumping it over board... etc... before realizing that for one reason or another, none of these are actual possibilities. He then realized that his only option of surviving was to "tame" the tiger.

While my friend was not a big fan of the book ending (don't worry, I won't divulge what happens) she said the book has helped her tremendously. She realized that in life, we all have a few "tigers" in our lifeboat... so to speak. However, to get rid of those tigers, we can't drown them, poison them, or dispose of them in any other way. We have to "tame" them and by "tame", I mean learn to co-exist an deal with them as they are. We have to "become the tiger" and put ourselves in the tiger's shoes... ha ha... tigers don't wear shoes...

I guess the point is that we all have things (tigers)in our lives (our lifeboat) that can sometime make life unpleasant, disappointing or downright hard... However, whether they are unpleasant, disappointing or hard is not the point... they aren't going to go away. It is up to us to figure out how we are going to "tame" the tiger and enjoy life along the way. As my motto goes... Life is meant to be enjoyed! If you have a tiger in your life preventing you from enjoying life, my advice is to take the time to "tame" the tiger!

Man I love to read... a few other books on my list to read right now include...
The Alchemist
Leadership and Self Deception
Eat, Pray, Love

Any other good book recommendations are always welcome...