reunions make me happy.

one (of the many) things my mother loves about me is how I can easily get excited about the little things in life.

Usually this excitement is displayed in some of the following:

jumping up and down.

hyperventilating.

sometimes crying.

These emotions were displayed over the past two weekends as I was super excited at the chance to be reunited with just some of my bestest friends from my Lanai days.

I already blogged about my reunion with Bardi at Ragnar, but the night before the race we were able to meet up for dinner with Amy and Chanel!

I literally cried in the streets of San Francisco at the sight of these two beautiful blondes.

At Lanai I always aspired to be friends with THE Amy Wiseman as she was one of the classiest and funniest gals. And so happy that those dreams came true many years ago.

As far as Chanel--I always thought she was crazy and we didnt talk much in our Lanai days (and she may or may not have thought I was not funny and not down for dance parties. both not true). Then we bonded in DC and have best friends ever since.

So happy to be with these two and Nick in SF.

After not seeing Nick in over a year, we were able to hang out two weekends in a row as he took a quick trip to CA last weekend.

This time around we were able to also be reunited with Taylor Hoyt.

Tay and I have been able to hang out often this summer. But I probably havent been around the two of them together in two years since the Lanai Summer of Dreams.

we look so little! Party at Bardi's in Vegas. Feb 2009

I seriously do not have a memory of my BYU days that does not involve these two handsome guys.

these reunions made me so happy! They are some of my closests and favorite friends from college and Im so grateful that our friendships continue post Prove life.
 Keep these reunions coming!!

Baller$ on a Budget

If you would have told me a year ago that I would run in the Ragnar Relay Series...

I would have thought you were crazy. 

If you would have told me that I would run Ragnar and then absolutely love it....

I would think you were out of your mind.
But thats what happened. 

186 miles. 12 runners. 2 vans. 3 legs to run. Hardly any sleep and food. 

And  all this going on for two days straight.

Does not sound fun at all. 

But for some crazy reason it is one of the most fun and exciting things I have ever done!

A few months back my good friend from BYU, Nick asked me if I would be interested in joining his team to run the Napa Valley race. After thinking it over for a few days, I committed although I was super nervous about being able to handle it and then not knowing anyone else on my team. 

I definitely thought about backing out on multiple occasions. But I was almost more excited to just hang out with Nick than actually run. And for that, I stuck it out. 

Our team, Baller$ on a Budget, had a start time on Friday at 9 AM. I was runner 3 in van one. I definitely woke up in the morning and wanted to puke I was so nervous. And said numerous times how nervous I was feeling. Although I didnt know anyone else on my team, it was great to be with Nick and his friends who I instantly loved hanging out with and had such a great time.

John started us off and got to run on the Golden Gate Bridge.
We were too busy snapping photos on the bridge during his run that we were late to pick him up when he finished! woops!

After Lyndsay was off on her short run, I had to hurry and get ready for my first leg.

3.3 miles started around 10 AM. pretty flat and ran right along the bay in Sausalito.

It was so beautiful and scenic and was so busy just observing my surroundings that my run went by so fast.

My team literally had bad luck at exchanges. As I was finishing up and running through the town, I just happened to look over into the parking lot of a grocery store to see three of my teammates--including Nick who was runner 4--emerging from the store. Next thing I know all three of them are running alongside of me finishing up my run with me. Nick got a nice warm up for his 7 miler and John and Trey were just good supporters!

Seriously one of my favorite parts of the race is just the experience of being in the van. Supporting your team members as they run and trying to get to the next exchange.

  It can get pretty hectic trying to find a good spot to see your teammate run by and find the exchange with enough time for the next runner to get all ready. I felt like we were on a scavenger hunt!

While Nick was running we found lots of good spots to cheer him on. He took those hills like a champ!
Oh hey T-Rex!

I like this picture cause I was literally jumping up and down because I was so excited for Nick.

After all our runners finished we got to take a little break for about 5 hours will van 2 was off running their legs!

Next up--our night runs! We started running again around 6:30 PM. I took off around 9 PM and was a little bummed that I didnt get to experience running in the middle of the night. But it was still a great run.

5.1 miles. One hill and running out in the middle of nowhere.

I did love this run! There is something so peaceful about running all by yourself at night. So dark and so quiet. Although I did not appreciate the smell of cows that I had to endure. Definitely ran for a bit only breathing through my mouth to try and avoid the smell. 

My team cheered my on twice! It was such a great little surprise to run into them off to the side of the run. 

After we all finished around midnight, it was time to try and attempt some sleep in the van. I think I got about 3 hours total.

We were up again around 5 AM to get to the next exchange. We cheered van 2 as they came in and as our van was off again to run!

Third and final leg! 3.2 miles. 9 AM. NAPA!! 

This was the most beautiful run as for the majority of the run I was able to run on a small trail in between two vineyards. 

wait, what!? 

like seriously, it was crazy. And I loved it. Who gets to do that? 

I may or may not have listened to Justin Bieber's Never Say Never to help me sprint into my final exchange and hand off the batton to Nick.

As I finished I was immediately sad that all of my running was over. 

I just wanted to keep running! I felt like I could run for days!

Ballers on a Budget finished many hours later--as some of our team members struggled through the heat during their legs--but we finished strong at the finish line. 

VAN ONE!

It was seriously an amazing feeling of accomplishment. Especially since I had no desire to ever run Ragnar. It sounded like an awful experience and I was never sure if I could hack it. But I did! It was great that my legs werent too difficult for my first Ragnar race. And I did better than I had expected. It is a great feeling to be able to run like that and know that you can push your body to do great things.

Ragnar was a success! LOVED running and LOVED my team. I seriously was laughing the whole weekend. Cant wait to run another one!

And like I said..great to see this kid!! I love to party with Bardi. And although we hadnt seen each other in a year, it just seemed like yesterday we were ruling Lanai as King and Queen.

Viva Mexico!!

Earlier this year my friend Lillie and I started talking about summer vacas.

We are both college grads, working full time. So we figured it was about time we took ourselves on our own little summer vacation.

7 nights. 3 days at sea. 2 days in Cabo San Lucas. 1 day in Puerto Vallarta.

A cruise to Mexico sounded just about perfect. 

And we convinced Brittany to join us too. 

I could not have asked for a better vacation, a better place to go, or better girlfriends to go with.

We had an absolute blast. Partied and danced the nights away. Laughed way too much. Ate just the right amount. And got the perfect tans too.

Days at sea were mostly consumed by sleeping in, working out at the gym and laying by the pool and reading. And of course afternoon naps.

Cabo Day One.

Water taxi to Lovers Beach and El Arco. 

Loved that sand and beautiful clear water. 

Snorkled. Soaked up the sun.

Found legit taco trucks as recommended by our new friend Raul.

and actually drank soda for once.

Shopping.

Cabo Day Two.

Parasailing.

wait, what!? it was awesome!

Chilled in the sky with my friends. We sang “I believe I can fly” and my impromptu rap song. it was legit good.

And more swimming.

Puerto Vallarta.

Zip lining!

Best experience ever. The views of the green mountains and the ocean in the distance was absolutely breathtaking. And the boys that were our tour guides were pretty easy on the eyes. 

Explored the amazing and beautiful city.

Happened upon the best Mexican food ever. Best enchiladas and guacamole. 3 meals, chips, salsa, guac and Mexican cokes for 20 bucks. Yes please.

And again, our waiter was goooooood looking. Ohhh Paco….

Walked to la playa.

Walked barefoot as I didn’t want to brush the Mexican sand off my feet.

Lillie was our life saver in Mexico. It was fabulous that she speaks Spanish and was able to finagle good deals and become best friends with all the locals.

Friday and Saturday were spent in post-Mexican depression as we were so sad to have already left. But we soaked up some more sun, had so much fun meeting new people, stalking our secret friends, loathing our hate favorite friends, loving Marlin and laughing at photo bombed photos.

our asian grandparents! we loved dancing with them.

Our trip was amazing. It seriously could not have gone any better. 

I want to go back to Mexico! I want to go back to our cruise!

One of the greatest things we realized about our trip was how extremely blessed we were throughout the whole thing. We thought about how easy it would have been for us to get lost, had something stolen, ripped off or to be dramatic…kidnapped. But everything went off without a hitch. We could not have been more safe, found the best cheap deals and found lots of other LDS Members to hang out with and just have everything work out absolutely perfectly. We were so grateful to have the Lord watch over us in our travels.

Viva Paco!

Viva Mexico!