You've had a Birthday, Shout Hooray.

Dan's celebrations began last Sunday, when we went up to his parent's house and his sister, Tori, surprised him with his favorite German Chocolate cupcakes. 

Our favorite niece and nephew were integral in helping blow out his MANY candles.

{i'm really good at taking blurry pictures}

We set forth to celebrate on Thursday, being that he had drill all day Friday (his actual bday), Saturday, and Sunday. I crafted a "Choose Your Own Adventure Birthday", you know, like the awesome 80's books. You're reading along and then all of the sudden you're presented with a set of choices to determine how the really complicated plot pans out...

Well for Dan's adventure, per the options in his "Choose your Own Birthday Adventure" book I made, he elected to go shooting. Dan's dad, Rick, had the day off so he came down and joined in the gunfire and then took us out to lunch.

We went out to barren wasteland, aka Redneck Paradise.

These were all over the ground.

And someone may have made the worst footwear choice ever. Although I do love that color on my toes, essie pink, thanks Leana!

Dan and Rick

Dan in full "Dan mode"

Nothing like guns for a good birthday. The rest of the day was low key with a few presents, more food, more German Chocolate cake, and a Redbox movie. Oh, and lest I forget, a Brazilian Ji Jitsu class. Dan's birthday request that I attend a BJJ class with him at our Crossfit gym was honored.

I spent an hour being choked out by big sweaty girls. Lovely. 

Happy Birthday Dan!

An Accidently Awesome Memorial Day

As of Sunday night, we had no plans for Memorial Day. Then, while perusing my favorite running blogs, as I am wont to do, I came across the "Run For Remembrance" 5k/10k in American Fork.

 I saw the words "Free 10k" (race fees add up fast, yo!) and Dan saw the words "Flag Shirt" and we were in!

(no, we didn't run the dino half. it was a free race - they recycled bibs)

Dan had an awesome 5k and finished in under 23 minutes! Me and the 10k struggled a bit, a mixture of a lot of up hill and a bothersome right hamstring (excuses, excuses) had me finishing slower than I hoped. But it was beautiful day and a pretty course that went right through a flag filled cemetery - win, win, wing.

[me, my short shorts, and Grandma and Grandpa Ash's headstone]

We had no plans after the race, but since we were already in the 7th circle of hell (Utah Valley), I thought it would be a grand idea to go visit the headstones of my great grandparents in the Springville Cemetery. In our running short shorts (we brought nothing to change in to, consistent lack of planning). We stopped off at Wal-Mart and purchased some white trashtastic plastic flowers. Had I planned at all, I would have brought some of the beautiful yellow roses from our yard instead... 

 After a phone call to my Dad, Mom, and Grandpa Howdy we found the right cemetery and graves.  

I was sad that I couldn't see my Granny Harward's grave (turns out its in Ritchfield, oops), but we found my Great Grandma Ash's as well as my Great Grandma Hales'. There was also a military program going on with lots of flags and gunfire! It was nice to take a moment to observe the real meaning behind memorial day, and I really do enjoy cemeteries (that would be the Grandma Peggy in me coming out, the Parowan cemetery is probably her #1 favorite spot to hang out, ever.)

Then I came across this on Pinterest: 

A cheddar filled, bacon wrapped, hot dog covered in J Dawg sauce (J Dawg's = a hot dog stand near BYU that has a cult following.)

 I knew this monstrosity must be mine. Luckily, Dan's family was game for a BBQ and my dreams came true! After eating 4.5 million calories, tomfoolery ensued:

So basically Memorial Day was awesome.

And sometimes, having no plan is actually the best plan.

the end of girls on the run

This Saturday was the Salt Lake Girls on the Run 5k, the concluding event for our season. Each school was to choose a name and costume for the race. My girls, for whatever reason, wanted to be "THE NERDS." So I spent about two days running to every Dollar Tree between here and Provo gathering supplies (had to stay within our meager budget!) to make the girls sufficiently nerdy. 

The girls all were so excited on race day, they kept smiling and giving me hugs - it was so warm and fuzzy that even Cold Hearted Coach Lauren got a little teary eyed. Though my girls weren't the fastest out there (in fact, one of them finished just about dead last!), they all completed a 5k and were so proud of themselves. I was proud of them too.

Over the course of the past few months, I've learned several things about elementary school age girls:

1) They can be motivated to do anything (including run 3 miles) if there are stickers used as a reward

2) They can be motivated to run those 3 miles remarkably fast (one girls even ran an under 8 minute mile!) if there is the offering of a Pizza Party for fast enough times

3) If you bring anything for them, make sure each one is exactly the same. Major fights will break out over the "special cupcake" (aka the one cupcake that was baked in a different muffin paper?!?)

4) They are a lot more sensitive and insightful than they are given credit for.

It was amazing to watch my girls change throughout the season. They all made great strides (pun intended) in becoming better runners, but they also became better people. All of the girls learned to include one another and they were all really sensitive to making sure our one girl in a wheelchair was always able to participate. They had awesome insight into subjects such as "choosing to be positive" and "being happy with our healthy bodies". It definitely increased my self esteem to be part of the program, even though at times I made a complete fool of myself (oh the goofy spirit award cheers)... One last time, our favorite chant:

 GIRLS ON THE RUN IS SO MUCH FUN!!!

catch up

Today I got a text from my friend Jane asking if I was still alive. 
The state of blog would indicate that I have, in fact, died sometime over the last two months. 
So, in order to assure friends and family that I am indeed around, here's a  catch up of things (at least those I have pictures for) that have happened during my hiatus:

Graduation
At long last, the day I've dreamed of for so long finally arrived: graduation. I never, ever, have to set foot on BYU property again!!! Okay, I don't hate my alma mater that much. But I still have mixed feelings about my whole BYU experience... But graduation was great. My family, including my Hales Grandparents came to support as well as Dan's parents. After commencement we all went to Macaroni Grill and toasted my "achievements". Poor Anna came but could barely keep her eyes open during dinner - she was seriously sick with mono. Early Friday morning was my convocation, which was quite enjoyable. Great speaker, spicy latin dancing, and it was short! The only scary part was when I went up to claim my empty degree holder, and the director of my program, Donna Lee Bowen aka THE DLB, gave me a hug! It was so awkward and scary  to embraced by a woman I'd spent the last 6 years fearing...

Zions/babysitting
Two weeks ago my parents went to Navuoo for a cousin's wedding. Being that Anna was still on the verge of death from mono, I volunteered Dan and I to come down and "babysit". Being the super responsible babysitter I am, I figured that hiking in Zion would heal Anna -  so off the three of us went (Katheryn and Kiersten were still in school). Nothing like making the summit of Angel's Landing to help you overcome an auto immune disease. I think it worked, because we had such a good time that we ending up going back to Zions on Saturday with Kiersten and Katheryn.  My parents had a grand time in the midwest (my dad now wants to serve a mission there so he can be the town re-enactment blacksmith!), I had an awesome time in my beloved STG, and my sisters are all still alive. Win, win, win. 

Color Me Rad 5k

No, we did not participate in this debauchery. But my little sister did, and it was her first ever race, so we went to cheer her on. Kat did awesome, both at running and getting herself completely covered in some (hopefully) non-toxic colorful substance. Our friends Bonni & Pete and Rick & Sue also participated - and incidentally also looked liked they'd been involved in a horrible unicorn accident. Bonni and Pete moved in just a few blocks from us, which is awesome because now I can show up unannounced and demand Bonni make cookies with me. 

Return of the McNultys
Dan and I are pretty excited because Dan's sister Tori and her family just moved back to Utah! Not the best picture ever, but its the only one I snapped the other day when we were at Cafe Rio. Expect to see much more of our niece and nephew - we can't seem to get enough of them.

Jill is going on a Mission!
So again, not by best picture taking skills - but this is the only shot I got that wasn't totally blurry (I'm really good with my giant camera, obviously.) Dan's youngest sister Jill opened her mission call and we were lucky enough to be able to go and see the big reveal live. She's headed to Denver, Colorado in July. Go Jill!

ultra marathon

( anna took this sweet video with her iphone)

{note that I am wearing dark pants. note that it is very hot outside}

A couple of months ago I learned of ultra marathons and was instantly intrigued. People who run 100 miles for fun? How twisted. I wanted to know more. I found out that there was a Ultra in Zions and that they were looking for pacers - people to run part of the race with a ultra runner and make sure they stay coherent. After learning more about pacing (our Crossfit coach is ultra marathoner) I totally chickened out. But I still wanted to be involved, so I volunteered Anna and I to work at an aid station. Well, they assigned us the 10pm-5am shift. Sweet. We had the privilege of staying up all night, handing out tums and vegetable broth at mile post 90. Yes, by the time the runners arrived to us, they'd already run 90 miles! Many of them were super out of it, some cried, and some looked like they were on the verge of death. Our shift was supposed to end at 5am, but no one ever came and got us. We had the HAM radio man nearby call for a shuttle pick up twice - but by 8 am, we'd had enough. Anna took of running and I followed her. We ended up running 10 miles to get back to our car in Virgin (we ran through Hurricane and La Verkin and then along Highway 9 toward Zion), after having no sleep/food and wearing improper clothing. But on the upside, now we can say we've run part of an Ultra marathon. Overall it was an interesting experience; ultra-marathoners are a different breed. Largely, they're super friendly and super cool - but still ultra crazy.

Now I can sleep peacefully knowing that such wonderful memories have been preserved. As I often say, 
"If its not on the blog, it didn't happen."

the capstone paper from hell. or chechyna.

{zombie lauren. don't be jealous of how cute i look.}

After watching 4.5 million zombie movies with Dan, I've come to wonder what I'd look like/ be like in Zombie Lauren form. I need to wonder no more, I found out by staying awake (I use that term loosely) for a full 48 hours. You see, I had this Capstone Paper, a lovely 40 page Arabic laced Capstone paper that I've know about since the begining of the semester, yet in true Lauren fashion decided to wait to the last humanely possible second to begin writing. 

{when I asked dan at 1 am to go out an buy me some coke to take to school the next day, I didn't know he'd get a liter. yes, I have no shame, i carried the liter around byu with me.}

{A few times, when I started to freak out, i'd stack my reference books into towers. it helped me chill out. and look like a psychopath}

Enter two days of living in the UofU library, alternately crying, staring at a blank screen, and drinking diet coke. Of course, the night before it was due I got sick (pretty sure food poisoning), so I was alternately vomiting diet coke and writing poorly constructed sentences. It. Was. Awful. 

Both the experience and my paper on the Islamization of Chechens. 

Luckily I had a wonderful weekend of laziness to recuperate. My sister Anna came up to go to "A Day" at Utah State, I accompanied her for moral support. We then spent the rest of the weekend watching The Hunger Games (so good!), going to the new City Creek Mall (so crowded we only stayed for a few minutes), and laying on the couch watching Dexter and drinking Super Big Gulps.

 I'm so glad I've converted another to my sick amount of soda drinking. No, its not paleo friendly, but come on, I have to choose one thing to make life still worth living. And I choose Diet Coke. 

Happy List: 5 things

1) I got to see my parents + Kat last weekend, though the circumstances were less than ideal. My dad came up to have surgery at the U of U. He’d already had surgery down in St. George, but there was so much scar tissue that he was still having problems (he got a bad infection)… Poor man was in a lot of pain. Hopefully things heal up properly after this surgery and he can FINALLY get better (all these problems are still from his accident in Belize, in December!) Bensons show love with balloons, so Kat got these awesome ones to bring to my dad while he was staying in the hospital, but alas was turned away at the front desk. Stupid Latex rules. 

2) My GOTR Season has started

I was pretty nervous going into this coaching gig, but so far, its been awesome. The girls are all really amazing – we have a very diverse team coming from all spectrums of the cultural and socioeconomic scale, but they are all kind to each other and work really well together. One of my favorite things so far was our lesson on positive self talk. After the lesson, we ran our laps and at each lap we would give the girls a positive self message to repeat for the lap, like “I am beautiful!” It was so fun to see the girls beam when we told them something positive, and it was even better when we reversed roles and me and my co-coach had to run as the girls gave us positive messages. I really felt all warm and fuzzy from all the good things the girls had to tell me. Next week were talking about body image – a lesson I think I need more than the girls – and I’m really excited for it. We end our practices with a group cheer, “GIRLS ON THE RUN IS SO MUCH FUN!!!” And really, it is.

3.We joined a cult. 

Its called Crossfit. They take all of our money and then torture us. Really though, its crazy. If you ever want to see something hilarious, you should watch me try to do snatchs with a barbell or do kipping pull ups on the bar… Perhaps the craziest part of our new cult is the diet: Paleo. Crossfit propoganda dictates that you must follow a Paleolithic Diet, only eating what cavemen would eat, sort of ( I totally don’t buy into the “science” and “anthropology” behind this method, I’m doing it out of sheer peer pressure)…. So basically dan and I are constantly sore from the crazy workouts and constantly about to gnaw each other’s arms off from the carb deficiency induced mania. 

{okay, so the finish line was flat. but thats it. i swear!}

{no i don't want any of your dirty bagels. i'm perfectly happy w/ my paleo friendly post-race orange.... not}

4. I ran in a racing club's race.  

My training for the Ogden Marathon has been rather lackluster, so I was excited to find out about the Ogden Racing Circuit – this is what I needed to force me to run. This Saturday they had a 10 miler, I read on their website it was least attended of the circuit because the course was “challenging.” Umm yeah, it was challenging. The whole thing was running up the hills of Ogden above Weber State. The only flat/non killer grade was the first mile. Sick joke. I think the guy who turned to me with a look of death at mile 7 summed it up pretty well: “This b*tch is all up hill!” Dan deserves an awesome husband award as he woke up at 6am today (his only day to sleep in) and drove me up to Ogden, patiently waited for me during my race, then took me back to SLC and went to the Symphony with me! (I needed to go for a class, we're not that cultured to go of our own volition). 

Things next week should be awesome for Dan, all my sisters, and every other student in the state of Utah, as they have Spring Break. Oh, except for my school who doesn't believe in Spring Break/ recreation/ enjoyment of life in any way shape or form...

BYU SHOULD BURN!!!!!

But I've already said that. 

It's not quite Nigeria...

So Dan was supposed to go on a two week training mission to Cameroon in April. However, last Monday he got an email with orders to Nigeria, leaving that Sunday! When he called his command, they told him things were still up in the air. Up in the air indeed. He kept getting told it was cancelled, not cancelled, cancelled, not cancelled... On Wednesday morning he got an email with plane tickets leaving to Nigeria on Thursday. So we rushed around, packing, picking up anti-malaria drugs, getting everything ready, till he gets a call that evening telling him that the mission is indeed CANCELLED. Since Dan's bags were already packed and it was a long weekend, we did the only logical thing: Headed to St. George. It's not quite Nigeria, but its warmer than Salt Lake! Though in some ways I think our trip was rather similar to any army training he would've gotten...

Weapons Course

No trip to STG is complete without a round of shooting things in the desert. This time my Dad upped the ante by purchasing this lovely "Bleeds when you Shoot it" zombie target. 

SURVIVAL SKILLS COURSE

Anna and I ran down from the Ledges and met the family at the Chuckwalla trailhead for a nice afternoon Red Cliffs hike in the sun! We survived this rigorous adventure and were rewarded with ice cream from my dad's latest food obsession:  Marble Slab Creamery.  

BUILDING MISSILES

Well, we were trying to build rockets... But Dan and I's shot in the air about 10 feet and then dove straight down, nose cone in the ground- making it more of a guided missile. ROCKET DAY was still awesome/hilarious - despite my Dad's best efforts and premature victory dance, it was actually my Uncle Matt's rocket that took home the cake this year!

GATHERING INTEL

Admittedly, this army lingo tie in is pretty weak... But I did to get to catch up with my friend Brandalee  for a little bit, while she made this awesome wedding cake. I was totally helpful, I actually broke one of the decorative paisley swirls. Sorry again about that. I also got to see her little guys and kiss the top of Paxon's head - always a plus. 

{I also found a folder of pictures from Africa that I've been looking for a long time for. Yes, I was once blonde and tan.}

I feel bad for Dan not getting to go to Africa, its a pretty cool place and all. But, I still stand by the fact that

St. George, UT is the best place on planet earth.