Well, my semester break is over and I am back in school. I had such an awesome break. Two weeks with lots of great times. My mom and my little brother, Shayne, flew out to visit me. My mom has never been out here to visit me, so I talked her into coming during this break. I picked up Trisha in Boston and the Road trip/Crazy weekend began. Picked my mom and Shayne up in Providence, Rhode Island and we were off to "The Big Apple"! It only takes 3 hours to get there, so we had some time to go to Times Square that night and walk around. That place is my favorite. It is so bright all during the night with so many lights. It's almost overwhelming to look at all of it, but its so cool. One of my favorite parts was eating yummy food from a street vendor at like 11:30 at night. Where does that happen? This city never sleeps. Hotels are expensive and still I had to sleep on the floor, so I didn't get much sleep.
At 5:30 in the morning, Shayne and I went running in Central Park, which was one block from our hotel. That thing really is massive. I only wanted to go for a 2-3 mile run but we kept getting lost and that resulted in like a 5+ mile run. It was so nice to run around amoungst many other runners and feel pretty cool. Next we tried to go to the "Today" show and display our posters of our Utah pride and wish my sister, Lisel, a Happy Birthday. That attempt failed, but it is one of my favorite memories of NYC just cause it was funny. We saw lots of buildings, walked a lot and ate a lot it seems. I was hungry and thirsty like every second. Some guy on the subway told us about a cool place in Brooklyn called the promenade, which we went to. It's across the river and it is a great place to admire the city and yet sit in peace, away from the hectic city. We wanted to try to see "Wicked," but that didn't turn out, so we saw "Grease" instead and it was fantastic. We left NYC around midnight and I drove us home until nearly 3:00 in the morning. Don't worry, I went through 2 Mtn. Dews and 1 Coke to stay awake and I jammed to myself as everyone else eased in and out of consciousness.
Friday was a more relaxing day, we drove into Boston and had Clam Chowder in a bread bowl in Harvard Square. Nothing better than Clam Chowder in a bread bowl on a cool/rainy day in MA. The rest of the day was chill in preparation for the big race day.
New York City from across the river in Brooklyn
My mom, Shayne and Trish relaxing on a bench in Brooklyn after a lot of walking
Eating a snack from a street vendor in Times Square around midnight
Trying to be on the "Today" show was unsuccessful but a great memory
Time Square at night
What would New York be without taxis??
MetLife tower and Grand Central Station
Empire State Building
Race Day- May 10, 2008. Big Lake Half Marathon in Alton, New Hampshire.
It was another early morning and it was nerve racking as well. For months, myself and many others had been preparing for this day. The thought of running 13.1 miles was really scary to me, since I had only done 10.5 in my training and I had about 10 hours of sleep in the previous 3 days. The race started out bad, with my aunt trying to jet in front of me and get ground on me before I even knew what she was doing. Then my shins started to hurt really bad and I had to make a pit stop to use the restroom. That's when things get interesting. I take care of business and I am on my way back from the woods to the road to continue the race. I trip, I fall to the ground in the dirt and my ego is severely hurt. I kept running and washed myself off at the next water stand. It was so embarassing and I lost time because of it. Luckily, as I was running up the hill at about the half way mark, I saw my aunt in front of me and I got a slight boost of energy. I was so excited to catch up with her. I don't think she was quite as excited to see me as I was to see her. The rest of the race was really good and I managed to get under my goal time of 2 hours, so I am really proud of myself. Next goal in my life, train for a full-blown marathon...
Shayne at the begining of the race--He did really well finishing at 1:49:45! Kicked my butt...
They had entertainment along the route that was pretty sweet
Trisha running with tons of energy. She did so well and finished under her goal!
Aunt Jana, Shayne and I eating at the most healthy place ever, McDonald's, after running 13.1 miles
Mother's Day Sunday, I flew home to Utah to visit for a week. Looking back on it, it seems that I didn't do much. That means it was a successful vacation for me. I love to be lazy when I can. I did however, hang out with my family a lot. I went to Logan to spend time with CJ and Tania and Shayne. I spent time at Lisels, playing with the kids. I think I played every game imagineable with Caleb, he's funny. I watched Zach and Landon play in their soccer games, I watched 2 stupid Utah Jazz games, I watched 2 nearly full seasons of "Lost" so that I am completely caught up now. I went out with friends and enjoyed myself. I'm not one that tends to get home sick, but the longer I am in MA, the more I love and miss Utah. Maybe I want to move back there when I am done with school.
Zach at his soccer game blocking the goal
Landon (in the front) playing soccer
Sorry this post is so long, but I did so many great things in the last two weeks that I had to post them. Thanks to everyone who spent time with me over the last two weeks. I had such a great time all over the country!! I realize how fortunate I am to have such a wonderful family and amazing friends. I love you all!
3 comments:
I like all the pics. We enjoyed your visit and all the fun times! You know you loved those Jazz games! I need a copy of that pic of Zach blocking the goal. Plus, you best move back here when you're done with school!
It was awesome to have you home. Glad you had a break. Now, good luck with your next semester. We miss you already.
What a fun 2 weeks! It was great to see you!
Post a Comment