holy cow!

I JUST REMEMBERED HOW MUCH I LOVE SNOWBOARDING!

Edward Cullen reviews Breaking Dawn

Just read this instead of reading the whole book. It's SO much better!
(beware the swears)

Speaking of Glenn Beck and Mormons

I was so excited the other day when I found Glenn Beck's syndicated radio show on the radio (because that's where you find radio shows). It used to not be carried here in Vegas (good english, huh?).

Have I ever told you how much I love Glenn? Love him. And it's not just because he's a Mo.

There are lots of Mormons I like. But, you being a Mormon does not mean I automatically like you. Believe me, there are plenty of Mormons I hate.

OK, let me just be honest here. I didn't write this blog post solely to tell you about how much I love/hate Mormons. I am writing it to tell you how much I loathe Stephanie Meyer and those damn vampire books. Yes, I read them. OK, yes, maybe I got sucked into the first 3 books. They were alright. However, I hated Breaking Dawn with fiery indignation. This honestly was the most poorly written book I have ever read. Horrible. I literally feel dumber for having read it.

I was determined to hate the book before I even started it and I was not disappointed. The story line was fine, whatever. But, the writing was awful! Inconsistent. Repetitive. Annoying. Need I go on? Yes... yes, I do. I was ready to shove pencils in my eyes so I wouldn't have to read anymore about how beautiful Edward is and how much vamp sex they had. Good hell!

And can I just make one more point? If Edward is a vamp with no blood, who doesn't need to breathe and eat and sleep and blah, blah, blah... then how does he have man fluid to MAKE A BABY?!

Number of Gay Men I've Fallen in Love With in the Past 24 Hours : 2

ANDERSON COOPER
Because of this (sorry, the sound is really bad):


NEIL PATRICK HARRIS
Because of this:

Please, please if you have not seen Dr Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog, go HERE now and watch it all. It's 45 mins well spent.

Race Report: Hobble Creek 1/2 Marathon

Do you even know how much I love going home to Utah? I love it. A lot.

This past weekend I trekked up to run the Hobble Creek 1/2 Marathon as well as for some good times with family and friends. It was a gorgeous weekend which did nothing to tame these ridiculous urges I've been having to move back there.

So, the race was really great. Only negative was having to wait at the start line all by my onesy which I really hate. I always feel so awkward standing there alone with no one to talk to. Anyway... after waiting for the bus for 45 minutes (45 mins of lost sleep...) we headed up the canyon as the sun was rising. I barely had time to visit the Honey Bucket before the races started.

The temperature was just perfect for running and the scenery was beautiful. Utah canyons make me so homesick. The course was nice and downhill for the first 9 miles which I really appreciated. The last few miles went through Mapleton and finally into the city park for the finish. I felt really great for the first 10 miles and was a bit ahead of my projected pace. Right at mile 11 I started getting pretty bad leg cramps and had to stop at one point to stretch them out. I had to do a bit of walking in the last few miles but pushed through the pain and kept running as much as I could in order to hit my goal time.

The good news- I did it! Well... pretty close anyway. I wanted to finish in 2:30 and I crossed the finish line at 2:31:19 and thus setting a new PR. Woot! My sis was there to meet me at the finish line so it was awesome having someone there to celebrate with when I finished. Thanks sis!
*race photo coming soon
I beat my Canyonlands time by 18:33 and my SLC time by a ridiculous 28:41. I've said it before and I'll say it again- I'm pretty sure I'm one of the worlds slowest runners and I'm still ok with that and as long as I'm improving (and not the last to finish) I don't care how long it takes me to finish my races.

The interesting thing about this race is that I don't think I was necessarily more prepared physically than I was for Canyonlands. I've changed up a few things about how I run but I think the main difference this time around was that I was much more mentally prepared. I knew my limits, I knew how hard I could push and I knew that reaching my goal was totally possible. I told myself I could do it. I believed I could do it. And I did it.

And while the thought of turning around and doing that entire race again upon finishing it makes me want to puke, this race was a good motivator for St George. I've only got another month of training so I've got to really kick it in gear and more than anything get on my mental game.

The best part of race day? Lanikai! Seriously the best Hawaiian BBQ ever (and I'm not just saying that because the owners are family friends). Once my post race hunger kicked in I was craving the protein. Yum. If you live in UT or are there visiting do yourself a favor and go eat there.

she demanded to have her picture on my blog...

but let's face it... it's not like she doesn't deserve to have a post soley dedicated to her anyway.

have you met prison maren? if you haven't it's your loss and you can be very jealous of me because i'm her friend and you're not. booyah.

did i happen to mention that we take SingStar! VERY seriously at my house?

Neon Boneyard

Friday morning Consumer and I took a tour of the Neon Boneyard. Easily one of THE coolest things I've done in Vegas. Why we chose to go on one of the hottest days of the year is beyond me but at least we went. And we loved it!

The boneyard is a collection of signs that once stood on Las Vegas Blvd and have now passed on to this graveyard of sorts. Behold... where neon signs go to die.

Linkup Breakup

I need to break up with LDSLinkup.

It's gone on too long. As with any good disfunctional relationship I've put off having "the talk" for too long. I won't be delivering the "It's not you. It's me" speech because it's not me. Linkup... it's you.

Frankly, I'm bored and saddened by it. You know how every singles ward in the church pretty much looks and feels the same? Well that's how linkup is. It's the same stereotypical crowd. And even though I love me a good stereotype, logging on has become as depressing as attending a singles ward. Blah.

The real kicker came today as I was reading a young man's profile. It was pretty typical all around, especially the "Who I'd Like to Meet" field- cute, funny, blonde, anorexic, big boobs (OK, so that might not have been exactly what he wrote but I'm pretty sure that's what he meant). His last sentance read "Oh, and a strong testimony wouldn't hurt."

Here it is. I'm not saying that looking for someone with a testimony is wrong. Quite the contrary in fact. When "strong testimony" is listed almost as an afterthought and, more than anything, as the "cherry on top" I seriously weep for our religion. When I see testimony listed as an added bonus and not a "must have" I can see why the adversary's attack on the family is frighteningly as successful as it is.

PS- When I get emails from guys that are signed "hugz" I throw up in my mouth a little bit.

God bless America!! GO USA!

Did you see this?? INCREDIBLE!!

And now I have to wipe the drool off my keyboard.

end of an era

Well folks, it finally happened.

This last sunday I was released from my calling as Relief Society president after 3 years and 2 months of service. Whew. I don't know how the sisters put up with me for so long. I always said that they weren't keeping me in because I was good at the calling but that they were keeping me in until I got it right. I think they finally gave up ;) But, truth be told I feel absolutely privileged and blessed to have had the opportunity to serve in this capacity. I have served with 3 amazing Bishoprics, numerous councilors and secretaries and gotten to know so many amazing sisters.

I'd begun to lose hope that I'd ever get released. But I was ok with that because I really did love my calling and I had an INCREDIBLE presidency that I was blessed to work with since our ward split. They carried me through the last year and we just had so much fun together and tried to carry that fun onto our sisters. And not only did we have fun but we had the Spirit. Big time. Great combination.

When I got the official word of my release from the bishop I had a huge grin on my face that didn't go away for the entire week. It wasn't until Relief Society on sunday where we delivered our "final testimonies" that it really hit me. The mixed emotion of it all. It was time. I was tired. I was so happy to be released. But I was sad to let it all go. When I stood up to speak to the sisters for the last time as RSP my happy, smiley, relieved self turned into a blubbering, sobbing idiot. All the love that I had for every sister that I ever served and served with suddenly hit me like a brick wall and I could not contain my emotions. It was intense joy mixed with a bit of mourning. I realized that I'd no longer carry the mantle, that they were no longer "my girls" and that was both a happy and sad thought. It is a heavy, happy burden that I am now passing on to one of my dear, dear friends.

I am SO excited about the new presidency! They are going to be phenomenal. And even though I'm relieved to be released I'm also a bit envious of them and all the amazing experiences they are going to have.

It'll be an interesting transition to only go to church for 3 hours on sunday, to not run around all crazy-like making sure everything is ready for RS and not having to sit at the front of the room. But after reflecting over the amazing experiences I've had in the last 3 years I am so proud of what we were able to accomplish and there are lessons that I pray I will never forget. I've learned that everyone has something amazing about them. Everyone is precious to our Heavenly Father. Everyone is worthy of being loved. We all need to be loved. We all need to serve. And more than anything, even though we as members of the church are far from perfect, the Church and it's programs are perfect. Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and His Atonement is real!

Amen and amen.