Rough week for my phone

My phone has seen better days. I should have known it was gonna be a rough week, when my phone decided to dive into the toilet. I know, people reading this will think I’m joking about it ‘diving.’ Seriously though, I was getting ready for bed, brushing my teeth, in the bathroom. My phone was next to the sink (granted, not the best place for it) I hear a splash, and bam look in the toilet, there is my phone. Somehow it fell off the edge. I choose to believe it was somehow pushed by ghosts, or just has a death wish. Anyway, it was dead. It spent the next 1.5 days in a baggie filled with rice. What do you know, that stuff actually works. My phone was revived.

Just chillin' in some rice

Fast forward two days. I was getting out of the car and my phone slipped from my fingers, landing face first on the pavement. Keep in mind, I’ve dropped my phone probably 50 or 60 times, never done anything but scratched it or chipped. This must have been the perfect storm of height, angle, pressure, face area hit, etc. Because the below image is what I am left with.

It will works, so I’m plowing through with the phone. Besides it looking a little white-trash, it works. I can hold off awhile.

Just wanted to point out, it’s been a rough week for my phone.

‘I Choose Us’

I was in the cardio cinema the other day at Gold's Gym. The Family Man with Nicholas Cage was playing. This is a movie I have seen many times and even though i'm not a Cage fan, I think the movie is great and has a really good storyline and message.

In one of the final scenes the two main characters, Jack and Kate (Tea' Leoni and Nicholas Cage are having a discussion. I won't go into all the details, but at the end Kate just tell's Jack, 'I choose us... i'm willing to move our kids to the city, uproot them from a home we became a family in, and do whatever it is you need to do, because I love you and I choose us Jack.'

Let's be honest, i'm a single person. I've never been married, so i'm not going to wax philosophical about being married, or pretend to know how hard it is to make a marriage work. I will say this though, I love this line. For some reason even though i have seen the show many times, it really struck me hard as I was running on the treadmill in that darkened cinema, and really made me think. What a great sentiment--'I choose us.'

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I think that is what needs to happen. In a marriage all other selfishness needs to fall to the wayside. You need to care about your spouse enough to 'choose us' fight for what it is you fell in love with in the first place. Don't choose yourself, choose them.

That's it... hope all you married people out there 'choose us.'

The Death of My Youth

It's always been easy to convince myself that i'm still young. I mean, i'm only as old as I feel right? and to be honest, I still feel like i'm 18 or 19... most days. (not the days where i wake up and my back hurts, and i stretch out my leg and it pops in 15 places) But most other days.

Yes, it's easy to convince myself of this, but when other age revealing clues start making themselves known, you kind of realize you might have to face the facts. Unfortunately that time has come and i've had a rude awakening as of late.

(Obviously this is not me, but I feel like it accurately portrays my feelings of finding gray hairs)

Two times, yes, two times, in the last two months, i've looked in the mirror, and had that scary/annoying looking wiry hair poking out of the side of my head--you know the one i'm talking about... it's that thick piece of gray hair. Sadly it sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the otherwise very dark expanse of hair i have coating the rest of my head, there's no way for it to hide. Each time i've quickly plucked it out, and tried to forget about it--those two times don't even include the time my roommate so kindly pointed out another one on my head, while sitting in church one Sunday. I believe her exact comment was

"wow, when you go gray, you won't be able to straighten your hair anymore, cause this little guy poking out is curly." I of course scowled at her, then immediately told her to pluck it out.

Basically what i'm saying is, the mirror doesn't lie. I'm getting old. Old age is coming... I can feel it, just like I can feel the colder weather of winter already approaching even though it's only September. I can try to avoid it, but inevitably it will happen.

Next thing you know i'll be complaining about the loudness of the radio, yelling at those darn kids to stop running past my house, or eating dinner at 4:30 in the afternoon. Yikes.

My youth is gone. It was fun while it lasted...

Thoughts

I know, it's been forever, i'm not great at this blogging thing.

Things on my mind right now:

1. Going to the park on a Sunday afternoon to read, write in my journal, take a nap, or just lay on my back staring up through the trees is my favorite way to spend the afternoon.

2. The more you love someone, the more disappointed you are when they make bad decisions.

3. Sometimes it’s okay to take a small break from being social, to have a few hours of quality Adrienne time—time with just myself. Take a breath and sort out my life.

4. If you play with fire, you will most inevitably get burned. Yes, at times it’s fun and exciting, but eventually the burn hurts.

5. I’m excited that Fall is well on its way. I love this time of year, and I love football. I’m not so excited that it will start to get cold. I’m not ready for cold temps, and I’m not even remotely ready for snow.

6. Good-byes are the worst. It's been like 4 weeks since my little brother went into the MTC. I'm doing okay, i miss him, but luckily i'm very happy he's on a mission and know he's doing the right thing. I don't like good-byes though. I'm not a cryer, but hugging him good-bye left me choked up, with tears falling down my face. I really don't like good-byes in general, I know it's horrible, but sometimes I would rather just slip out, without having to say good-bye, and then be gone long before anyone knows--then i don't have to say good-bye. Is that so wrong? Kind of a cop-out, i know. Just a thought.

7. Did I mention I love football? :) so excited for it.

that's all.

A Time Machine?

From a few of my other posts, you know that I love music, I listen to it all the time, and love discovering new songs.

Another reason I like music? It can almost act as a time machine for me. I hear a song and it takes me back to the first time I heard it, to a happier time, or to any number of experiences or memories attached to hearing that distinct song.

Yesterday as my iPod was shuffling through music on my way to work, a song with particularly painful memories attached to it slipped on. I was about to change it, but something held me back, and I listened. I was immediately transported back to a time months ago--I was sitting in the car with a guy I was dating at the time, we were in a parking garage, and he was playing me this song for the first time. He was explaining how it was his all time favorite, and had me listen to all of the words, laying out to me the importance of the words to him.

I was amazed at how extraordinarily detailed this memory was I could actually smell his car air freshener, I could see the earnestness in his eyes as he tried to portray the meaning of this song, and I could feel the ache in my own heart realizing it was just a memory.

This was the first time I’d allowed myself to listen to this song since things ended with this guy, things had not ended well between us, and it was just too painful to listen to. All the other times before I had skipped right over it. D@#n that iPod shuffle for pulling it up as much as it did. :)

I’m really glad I stopped it this time to listen--as it played, I not only remembered the painful memories, but I started to remember good one’s as well. I pulled myself out of that parking garage, and back to my car. I found myself smiling while listening to the words, and realizing that it wasn’t really painful. Things change and happen for a reason, they get better and you move on. By the end of the song I was singing along to it.

As the last two lines of the song played, and then faded out, I couldn’t help smiling at the appropriateness of them.

‘And so it goes…. And so it goes…’

This time my ‘Music Time Machine’ helped to heal my heart a little.

Slump...

I’m in a slump. Yeah, the kind of slump you just can’t pull out of…. I’m talking 10 feet under, deep in a sand-pit each step I take out of it falling two more steps backward, want to sit around in sweatpants laying on the couch too numb to even watch TV kind of a slump.

That’s how I feel.

Sorry. I’ve slacked off in my posting, but if I’m too ‘slumpish’ to watch TV, I’m definitely too ‘slumpish’ to post.

I think the cold winter is getting to me--Maybe I just need a hug.

I’ll pull out of it. Hopefully next week I will post on all the latest happenings in my life the last few months.

If not, no worries. It just means I’m still sitting in my sweats on the couch not watching TV. :)

Adrenaline Junkie

From my last post, you saw that I went Para Gliding. I went skydiving on Saturday (don’t worry, pictures soon to come) I think sky-diving finally pushed me over the edge. I used to just enjoy the sporadic adrenaline rush… that burst of excitement mixed with fear that really gets your heart racing and comes through doing fun/crazy things. Well, launching myself out of a plane at 50,000 feet was the ultimate rush. Now I crave it--that’s right, its official, I’m an adrenaline junkie.

Driving home from my parent’s house this past Sunday night, I sought after that rush. The drive usually takes me a solid 55-56 minutes. I made it home faster than I ever have dun dun dun—47 minutes. For those of you who can’t compute the numbers fast enough, I shaved 8-9 minutes off the drive. Mario Andretti would have been proud. I was going so fast, whipping in and out of cars, flying past everyone. (Granted, it might not have been the safest drive home, but it sure was speedy) the fact that I set a personal record, a PR if you will for my drive home, only heightened my rush.

I can’t help it, now I crave it. I found myself at Boondocks last night on the go-carts, pushing that little car to its limit, zipping around corners, I kept pressing down on the gas pedal, hoping against hope that the little guy could go faster, sadly it could not.
Split into teams later in the night for laser tag, running around in the dark--each person I ‘Lasered’ gave me a little burst of energy… I was running around like crazy trying to acquire as many points as possible.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is: It’s happened, I crave the rush--and now I can’t look back.

During conference one talk spoke on being addicted to things. My brother turned to me, and said I was addicted to adrenaline. I daresay, Dane, you may be right.

Flying

Sometimes I’m a slacker on the Blog writing, and the last couple weeks have been that way. I did go para-gliding a few days ago, and that was a lot of fun.

The experience was pretty great, you have a large parachute attached to the back of your pilot. He hooks onto your harness, and you pretty much have a backpack that turns into a seat up in the air. You run off of a cliff and kind of jump off as the air catches you.

Suddenly you are hundreds and hundreds of feet off of the ground sitting in a little chair while the pilot is behind you using two handles to steer the chute up and down and to the right or left--Using air-currents to keep you up in the air.

I’m not going to lie, it was pretty awesome. So beautiful up there, and you just feel like you are floating around.

I had a friend who was able to get us the hook-up for half off so it was totally worth it. Not quite as good as being able to fly, but almost.

Any of you want to sponsor me for about $7,500? I'm thinking of buying my own parachute and taking up the sport. :) come on, i've got to have a rich friend out there dying for an opportunity to support a young (or not so young) entrepreneur. Let me know.

Ouch!

This is what happens on a Sunday night when you and your roommates get bored...

Okay, okay, it's not real. This was a month or so ago. My roommate Chelsea, is quite the make-up artist. One night we really were a little bored, so she got out her costume paint.

20 minutes later, this is what my face looked like. How cool is that? a little make-up painted on with a brush, and suddenly i've got a shiner that would make any boxer proud.

The goal for this black-eye was for it to look a few days old. Hence the brown and yellowish tint to the surrounding areas.

It's good to know that if I ever need to fake a facial injury, I have my roommate around to help me out.

Do Yourself a Favor

The Song 'Run' by Leona Lewis. She remade it, it was initially done by Snow Patrol. Don't get me wrong, I happen to be a huge Snow Patrol fan (I saw them in concert at Saltair, and it was awesome) I really like their version as well, but Leona's has so much more passion in it.

I'm just saying, do yourself a favor, buy the version by Leona Lewis, go into your room, shut the door, turn on the song, lay down on the floor, listen to it, and just let it envelope you. Trust me, you won't regret it.

Other songs getting me through my month: Mat Kearney--All I Need, Nelly--Just a Dream, Eminen and Rihanna--Love the Way You Lie.

7:20... The Blur

Okay, not to brag or anything… who am I kidding I’m totally going to brag. :) This past weekend I ran the Deseret News 10K. I’ve run it the past 3 or 4 years, it’s a good route, has a lot of down-hill. I had a goal going into it that I wanted to run it averaging less than 8 minute miles. I’ve been doing lots of hill training lately, which I’ve found really helps with increasing your speed in distance runs.

Anyway, I started out the race with my friend Kathleen. After a few minutes of casual running, trying to dart in and out away from the mad crush of people. This race is especially bad because it has so many people. The first half mile is always slow going and just trying to pull yourself away from the crowds. I ran at what I felt was a good pace just running hard when I could, laying off a little when I started to get tired.

I got to the end, and ran past the large timing clock they have above the finish line. The clock read 48 minutes. I knew my time would be faster than that though. They base it off of your chip time, as your foot crosses the start and finish lines, not the gun time. When the gun went off, I was still using the little ladies room (if a gross port-a-potty can be considered the ‘ladies’ room) so I got off to a delayed start.

I got online later to check my official time:

45 minutes!!! Wahoo, my average pace was 7:20. I was 17th place in my age group out of 228 people, and 107th overall in females out of 1233. Needless to say I was pretty happy with my run.

The goal for next year: an average pace of 6:58 :)

Then and Now

I can bravely admit, that I am a die-hard rollerblading lover. I have to say “bravely” because sadly, I get teased a lot for rollerblading. For some reason a lot of people seem to think that Blading (that’s what the cool kids call it) was a fad that came and went in the early 90’s. I can’t even tell you the time’s people have given me ‘the look’ when I tell them I’m going. The look that says ‘seriously? You still rollerblade? Are you kidding me?” They always laugh, and make fun. I merely shake it off, and go on my way. It’s their loss after all.

For those of you who owned a pair of blades similar to the Variflex I have pictured above (don’t be ashamed, I also proudly owned a pair of the flouresent green beauties) you think rollerblading has come and gone, and isn't popular or cool anymore. I’m here to tell you though, that rollerblading is not dead. Not dead at all.

As fate would have it, I had a friend in college who had rollerblades, and got me going again based on her love for it. I invested in a pair of blades, and haven’t looked back since. Since then I’ve gone through 3 sets of blades, and about 32 wheels. What can I say, I really like it.

When I lived in Provo, I would go just about anywhere. The streets were a lot more 'Blade Friendly' then they are here in Salt Lake. My favorite places to go now are along the parkway trails. Provo, West Jordan, and my new favorite, the Draper parkway trail. The Draper Parkway is a lot less busy and has really long stretches of hilly emptiness, no dogs or kids to make get out of your way.

I probably can’t do it justice by writing about it, but there’s this moment as I’m rollerblading along the trail. A moment where I’m going down this hill, followed by a straightaway--I’ve managed to pick up so much speed, it feels like I’m flying. In fact, I’m going so fast, that I’m flirting with being out of control. Like if I hit a rock or a bump at that speed, I would crash horrifically, eating asphalt, or landing in shrubbery and gravel--but that’s all part of the fun and thrill. There’s sunshine and blue skies, wind in my hair, empty trail in front of me, music playing on my iPod, and life is good. Those moments are small little spurts of happiness that help get me through rough days.

This other Rollerblade picture is the pair I currently own. A little different than the above Veraflex. :)

Basically what i'm saying to anyone who doesn't own a pair of rollerblades: Maybe it's time to invest in some. The pro's far outweigh the cons.

Pros: Great alternative exercise, fun, speed, allows you to be outside, better on your knees than running.

Cons: hmm... look at that, I can't think of any cons. :)

Well besides the fact that i've totally fallen and eaten it a few times, and one time I thought I broke my wrist after falling. :) other than that, best hobby ever.

'Real athletes run others just play games...'

Here is my entire team. Thanks guys for another awesome year.

Ragnar-- “In mythology and legend, a man (or woman), often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for their bold exploits, and favored by the Gods.”

I once again did the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay this year. It was my third year in a row doing it. It's over, but i'm already excited for next year. It's always a ton of fun. I hopefully plan on doing it at least 12 times, so that I can experience every single leg. For those of you who aren't aware, this is a relay that goes from Logan to Park City. 188 miles of running. Each team is made of of 12 people, two vans of six. Everyone on the team has 3 different legs that they run, and each leg can be anywhere from 3.5-9.6 miles long. It averages out so that you are running about once every 8 hours. Each leg is ranked by difficulty--Easy, Moderate, Hard and Very Hard depending on length, and steepness. The race lasts about 30 hours. This year I did leg 10, which is the hardest leg referred to as the 'Ragnar' leg. Hence the reason for starting my post with that Ragnar quote.

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My team started at 7:30 on Friday morning, but van 2 which I was in, didn’t have to meet up with them until 12:30. Van 2 was obviously the best. (yes, I’m biased because I was a part of it, but it rocked.) Me, Ruth Binns, Bryce Cravin, Andrew Dawes, My bro. Dane, and Shanna Bird. Just a side note, Dawes and Shanna joined our team 2 days before we were suppose to race. We had two dropouts at the last minute. These two were awesome for stepping in. Andrew is a friend of ours, but Shanna was just a friend of a friend who didn’t know anybody.

This is a picture of the first exchange, I took the wrist band from Bryce, and started running. I look so clean and non-sweaty. That would soon change.


Our first runs took place in the heat of the day 1:30-4:30. It was so HOT, at that point though, you are so ready to run, you just want to get out there. My turn came up, and I hopped out of the van and just took off. Granted my first run was only 3.7 and ranked as easy, so it was a nice little sprint. Our van raced through our legs. 3 hours later we were able to relax, and go get some food.


My favorite part of the whole event is always the night run. Being in Van 2, we get to run in the dead of the night. We start at about 11:00, and by the time my turn rolls around it’s 2 or 3 in the morning--this may not sound fun to those of you who haven’t done it--But there is something so great, some might even say magical, about running at night. It’s just you the road, and your thoughts. (and in my case a little Justin Bieber playing on my iPod Shuffle) You just run, and there’s this energy pushing you a long at night that isn’t there during the day. I guess as a girl it’s even more fun for me because I can’t normally run at night. I had a hard 7.8 mile run, but it flew by. I pounded it out wearing my ridiculous looking reflective vest, which was huge, and flopping all around me as I ran. I also had a headlamp on and blinking light on my back. You can never be too safe right? Those things were actually required as part of the race, I wasn’t wearing them for sheer enjoyment or because they were fashionable.

We luckily were able to meet up with the rest of our team after that and get some cabin keys from them. The cabin was really close, and we had the ‘luxury’ of sleeping for 2 whole hours before we had to race again. I’m not gonna lie, I wasn’t feeling so great after the night run, it shook up my stomach pretty bad. It was nice to sleep for an hour or two, but waking up in the morning I felt like I had been hit by a bus, and was not looking forward to running.

Our team dragged ourselves out of bed, and headed off to meet up with the other van, and to complete the final leg of our journey.

After 2 hours of sleep, driving around in a van, already having run two legs, being sweaty and gross, and feeling a little sick to my stomach, the last thing I wanted to do was hop out of the van and start running again. Luckily the excitement of the day returned when we met up with the rest of our team for the final exchange. Our first runner took off, and we started driving.

The final leg was the Ragnar leg. It’s up the mountain, a dirt road in the canyon, pretty much straight up hill the entire time. I was pretty nervous. The past two years I had watched guys on our team run it, and now I was going to do it. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty hard. I ran as much of it as I could. When I couldn’t run anyThis is me right before Ragnar. Look how happy I look… I didn’t quite know what was about to hit me. That smile wouldn’t last for too long.

more, I would walk the extremely steep parts, but then I would force myself to start running for as long as I could. At one point I passed two people as I was running and under their breaths I heard them mutter “she must not be human…” that comment spurred me on, and made me feel fantastic. Right after that I passed two more people and couldn’t help but grin when my teammate Ruth drove past shouting out the window “Dang, you just ran past those B#%@$es!!”

This is my awesome team. They got out of the van, made this tunnel, and shouted out encouragement as I ran through. They also gave me ‘good games’ as I passed. That totally gave me the boost I needed. Look how happy I am? That’s because of my team.

Just as I felt like I couldn’t run anymore I got to the top of the mountain, and finished my run. It was hard, but I’m so glad I did it. It was totally worth it. All of my canyon training had paid off. I was happy with my run.

I really liked this picture Ruth took of me as I was running up the mountain. The blue sky in the background, and the angle it’s taken at.

We finished up the last of our racers, then met up at the Canyons resort in Park City, to cross the finish line. The ending scene was crazy. There were so many people there (over 1200 teams). We had to ride a gondola up to the top. We caught up with our team, and then all of us ran the last 50 yards together to cross the the finish line at the same time. We finished faster than last year, in 29 hours, so that was pretty cool.

I definitely love this relay. It was another great year, and I can’t wait to do it again!

29 year olds don’t always have to act like grown-ups…

Sometimes you just want to do something totally fun and crazy. You don’t want to act adult, you just want to have fun without worrying about anything else. This weekend that fun and crazy thing happened to be a monstrous mud/food fight out at Utah Lake.

A friend of mine initially came up with the idea “Day-o-Messiness” we took the idea and ran with it.

Location: Utah Lake

Our Goal: Get as messy as possible, and have fun doing it.

The day couldn’t have turned out any better. A few nights before the event, we went shopping to purchase the perfect food items. Obviously the items purchased had a few stipulations. They had to be throw-able, biodegradable, and MESSY!!!

We bought oatmeal, spaghetti, eggs, flour, pudding, whip cream, and mashed potatoes. (The comment was made while we were walking through Walmart to the effect of; there are children starving in third world countries, and we are purchasing food for the sole purpose of flinging it at eachother.) Sometimes you just have to make a sacrifice for fun though, so we did.

Making all of that food took a little while, cooking the spaghetti, the oatmeal, making the pudding and mashed potatoes etc, but we knew it would be worth it, and it was.

The day of the event, we all gathered at a central location. People coming were instructed to bring buckets and various food items to throw.

The most important instruction of the day though-- don’t wear anything that can’t be ruined—you will most likely be throwing out your clothes afterwards.

After a brief (brief actually being an hour) pit-stop in the Walmart parking lot to wait for the rest of the people, we were then off to the lake. Sidenote: in that time at Walmart, I managed to get yelled at by a man parked in his truck and trailer at the back of the parking lot. We were playing catch with a football, and I may or may not have missed a few that bounced off his truck. Sue me.
A. How was I suppose to know he was in there?
B. What is he doing, living at Walmart? Hasn’t that movie already been done?

Anyway, we found a great spot at the lake, right before we got there it started pouring rain. It was like we were meant to have a mud fight, mother nature cooperated with us fully.

We got out of the cars and just went to town. Spaghetti was thrown, eggs were smashed, flower was flying all over the place. The food was gone quickly, and after that tackling, sliding flinging, and shoving into the mud took place.

Every part of us was covered in mud. It was so much fun. The puddles were huge from the rain and the spot we picked was just one large patch of mud. Pretty sure the fishermen fishing next to us thought we were crazy, but I’m also sure a small part of their hearts were jealous that they couldn’t join us.

I had food, mud, water, and egg in my eye, but I didn’t care, it just meant it was time to fling more mud, or wrestle someone to the ground. I’ve never been so messy in my life. As people were getting up, others were being tackled to the ground, if you happened to have a clean spot on your clothes, no mercy, you were thrown into a puddle.

After a long time of playing we started to get a little cold and figured it was time to ‘wash’ off in the lake. For those of you who know Utah lake, you realize it’s so dirty that’s not really possible. We were able to get in and clean off as best we could though. (thanks again to the fishermen for letting us scare away their fish by getting into the water.)

We covered the car seats in plastic bags, and made our way home. We were all really cold at this point. The only downside of the day was the fact that it was chilly. The next time we do it—and yes, there will obviously be a next time—it will be on a warmer day.

All in all, Day-o-Messiness= Huge Success!!

You probably can't tell because everyone's a mess, but in the picture above, i'm in the second row, third person from the left.

My New Hobby

Rock Climbing--Yeah, I’m a climber. Okay, maybe not good enough to be called a ‘Climber’… yet. Though, I’ve only been snowboarding twice in my life, and I still jokingly refer to myself as a ‘Boarder.’

I’ve been rock climbing a lot more than that, so why not call myself a climber?

I have recently gotten into rock climbing, and it’s so so fun. Yeah in the past, I’ve done the occasional rock climb. You know the one, you go with some guy that takes you on a date, and have no idea what you are doing the whole time. As you desperately cling to the rock, almost paralyzed with the fear that you will fall, you are still bravely pasting a smile on your face because you want the guy to like you, and think you are ‘cool.’

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I’ve had those experiences, I’ve also done the yearly single’s ward stake activity where about 5 million people meet at the REI indoor rock wall to climb. True, it’s fun, but they never have enough harnesses, and the rock wall looks like an ant hill on feeding day-- millions of people all trying to climb the same rock. Just not enough to go around.

As of late though, I’ve been going climbing on a somewhat regular basis. I’ve been able to go with a friend that has really taught me a lot. He’s been patient, and explained everything out. Plus, I’ve discovered that I’m actually pretty good at it, and am no longer terrified. Last night was my first time being the Belayer (sp?) so I was actually the one at the bottom holding the rope while the other person climbed. In my head I just kept saying ‘don’t let him drop, don’t let him drop!’ It worked, he did not drop. Plus, after that, I was able to conquer my hardest climb yet. (It’s still nothing to brag about, but I’m getting there. :)

Which brings me to my actual point. I bought rock climbing shoes last night! They make such a huge huge difference. You are able to grip the rock so much better, and climb easier. I’m thinking of making up a nick-name for myself, Spidey? Or maybe Clings? Hmm… clings doesn’t sound very flattering… Guess i'll keep working on the name.

Yes, I put pictures of my shoes on here. I think they are so pretty… they made me happy, so they made the blog. I also now have my very own harness, and chalk bag. I told you I was a climber.

It's a bird? It's a plane? No... it's a Spider!

I'm terrified of spiders. Not just a little squeamish, or shy. Literally terrified. In fact, I think it's definitely reached ‘phobia.' status.

I had to use a picture of a cartoon spider in this post, because the pictures of the real spiders were freaking me out. Even now as I write this, after looking at the spider pictures, I feel like I have them crawling on me. Yeeach.

I don’t know what it is, show me a snake, a bug, other insects, creepy flying things, and I’m fine. Those creepy hairy eight legged beasts though cause me to involuntarily shudder, and leap away in fear.

I have spider dreams. A couple times a month. I’ll wake up in a cold sweat from one of these dreams usually in the dream, a spider has bitten me, or crawled on top of me. When I awake from one of those dreams I have to get out of bed, walk over, turn on my bedroom light, then check beneath my covers to make sure there are no ‘actual’ spiders in my bed. It has to be done, or I’ll lay there wondering about it all night.

In the past, I’ve had good roommates who have been there to kill spiders for me. Seriously, I’ve called out to them in panic and they’ve come to the rescue to kill those pesky little buggers.

The purpose of this blog post though is to prove how ‘brave’ I am. A week or so ago, I was sitting at my desk, totally minding my own business, working hard like a dedicated employee. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move a little bit, it was really close to my head. I slowly turned and there with one of it’s eight beady little eyes practically staring me in the eye was a hairy spider. My first inclination was to scream and run out of my office. I’m not really one for dramatics though, so I settled for jumping out of my chair quickly, and making an “aah!” noise.

I’m at work, no roommates are around, also no good-deeding gentleman. I was left up to my own devices. I grabbed my shoe, and a tissue--two weapons which I felt would help me kill my prey. (I would have preferred a blowtorch, baseball bat and a full face-masked enclosed helmet but those weren’t immediately at my disposal.) I grabbed the web the spider was dangling from from high up above it, gently laid it on the floor and in one fluid motion, before the little beast could scurry away, smashed down on it hard with my shoe. (One fear I always have when trying to kill a spider is I’ll miss it and it will get away.) I nailed it though, hitting down on it so hard the walls shook a little.

Needless to say, it was success on my part. My heart was beating rapidly, I was still a little shaken, but I had conquered it. Can’t really say I conquered my fear, but it was a step in the right direction. Sorry to Charlotte and all of her little friends, but I’m now a woman on a mission, no spider will get past me unscathed.

Okay, that’s pushing it a little. Preferably I would still like others to kill and get rid of the spiders for me. But if I have to kill one…. I’m up to the task.

Things that make me go Aargh

I’m a little frustrated this morning… or a lot frustrated I guess. They say talking things out is one of the best ways to help yourself feel better, so I’d imagine ‘writing’ things out would carry at least partially, the same therapeutic results.

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Mother Nature: It’s been raining all week, before that it was snow, with just a few days of sunshine sprinkled in-between months of bad weather. Usually I can handle it, but it’s really starting to wear on me. This morning it’s affecting my mood. I feel gloomy. I need the rain clouds to go away and sunshine to peak through. I’m that girl who loves being tan and uses being tan as a boost for my self esteem. White Adrienne doesn’t make me as confident nor nearly as happy. Sunshine, please come, I really, really need and miss you.

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Visiting Teaching: Maybe it makes me a bad person complaining about this in an open forum, but I’m very frustrated at VT numbers. Granted, before they put me in as the RS Pres, I didn’t focus a lot of attention thinking about VT. The whole time I’ve been in my calling so far, VT numbers have been plummeting. You can’t blame me for taking it to heart, and desperately trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong. The girls just really don’t seem to care if they visit eachother or not. I just finalized numbers for the month of April, and they are abysmal. It makes me feel blue.

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Dating: Dating is hard. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. I have now been dating for 13 years. 13 YEARS!!! That’s a long time. You’d think I’d have a handle on things at this point, but I don’t. I’m still as clueless about it as I was when I was a 16 year old tiny little tot. Guys I’m not interested in fall in love with me. I could do anything to them, and they would still be in love. I could not call them back for weeks, ignore phone calls, texts, notes, emails etc., and they would still keep coming back. Then there’s the other guys, the guys I actually let myself start to fall for. The second, and I mean the second I get interested in them, it’s like they can sense it, and they run, nay, they sprint in the opposite direction. Seriously, this is the curse I have. I don’t know if I have weird quirks, or habits, or things that I do on a 4th or 5th date, but whatever it is, I’m doing something that totally scares them off, causing them to disappear faster than I can say “thanks, I had a really good time.” This is my biggest frustration this morning. I just want to succeed. I really need a win right now. A notch in the success column.

Rock it

Haven't put any songs on here in awhile, but these are a couple i'm liking today. (honestly I could probably put about 10 on here, but here's 3.)


It is what it is, Lifehouse--
Buy it. Listen to it. Love it. You won’t regret it. (Mellow and awesome)

Little House—Amanda Seyfriend
This girls not messing around, she can really sing. (A little sad, almost haunting)

Baby--Justin Beiber
Yes, I realize he’s 14. I held out for as long as I could without jumping on this band-wagon, but let’s be honest, this little guy sings like an angel. I got sucked in… “baby, baby, baby no… baby, baby, baby no…” (Good clean, bubble-gum-pop fun)

Anne Says it Best...

I’m a huge Anne of Green Gables fan. Kind of funny considering I’m not your typical girly-girl, who usually likes those types of movies. I’ve never read Jane Eyre, I haven’t seen the 7 hour version of Pride and Prejudice, and growing up, I never dressed up and threw ‘tea parties’ for my stuffed animals.

I got hooked on Anne when I was little, and borrowed the VHS (yes, VHS) tapes from my grand-parents just about once a month to watch them. Recently as a gift, I was given all of them (Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea and Anne the continuing story) on DVD, best gift ever.

I sat down to watch them, and was immediately sucked in. It was so comforting, almost like a breath of fresh air. Oh how I had missed Anne and her gang--Anne with her flowerly superfluous language, Marilla, gruff yet loving, Matthew in all his kind-hearted shyness, and dear sweet Gil plucky and as handsome as he always was.

Through-out the 6 hours of blissful enjoyment on my part --yes it was about 6 hours worth of DVD’s, and no I didn’t watch them all in one sitting. I watched over the course of about a week and a half, and I still haven’t watched Anne the Continuing Story—Anyway, while watching, I took the time to write down a few of my favorite lines. (There were about 15) Luckily I’m only giving you 5 of them below. :) Here they are:

‘Oh Anne, does life never frighten you with its bleakness?...’ –Katherine Brook

Let’s be honest, life can be bleak sometimes, but the way Katherine say’s it, makes you really feel her pain. I particularly like to throw this line out in conversation with siblings or friends, when they have had a bad day. (obviously I insert their name in the line instead of saying ‘Anne.’)

‘I’d like a man who could be wicked, but woudn’t…’ –Anne

This is the exactly the man I’m looking for. I want a guy that has that glint in his eye, a little bit of edge, but chooses to be good instead. Is that possible? I blame my single-hood on Anne. She has me looking for something that might not exist.

‘Wrap your arms around me Marilla, the tears don’t hurt, but the ache does…’—Anne

I happened to watch this part of the series when I had had a bad day. It just struck home. Let’s be honest, when you are crying it’s not the tears that hurt. It’s that empty ache that the tears bring with them, and leave behind after they are gone.

‘I hope he breaks your heart. Whoever he is, I hope he breaks your heart. Maybe then you will come to your senses.’—Gilbert Blythe

This one stings a little, or a lot. Anne just turned down Gil’s wedding proposal—she claimed she would never get married. You have to feel for Gil at this point though because he has stuck around forever, hoping that she would someday love him. Maybe I like it so much because there have been times in my life when I would love to say this to a guy I’ve dated, that’s moved on to someone else… ‘I hope she breaks your heart, whoever she is, I hope she breaks your heart...’

‘I don’t need sunbursts or marble halls Gil, I just need you…’ --Anne

This line is actually really cheesy, but I put it in here because it’s at the very end of the movie when Anne and Gil FINALLY get together. It’s about time. Anne finally realizes what everyone has known all along. She loves Gilbert.

Anyway, there you go. There’s my Anne of Green Gables epistle. Probably not that enjoyable for anyone that’s not a fan of the movie, but oh well. It’s my Blog, sheesh. :)

Should Have Been a Cowboy...

This past weekend I had to chance to head up to Inkum Idaho and Brand cattle. (yes, you did read that sentence correctly—Adrienne DeHart branded cattle.) The entire weekend a song by Toby Keith was running through my head; ‘Should have been a cowboy’--I thought it only appropriate to make it the title of this post.

Let me just explain, my friend Lacey’s family has a farm up in Idaho, each year she takes a couple of friends up with her for the ‘branding’ extravaganza, and then a rodeo that night. (apparently the best rodeo in the state.)

I’ve included pictures. I was afraid no one would believe what I had done, unless there were pictures to document.

What happens--all of the cattle get hustled down into this valley area shaped like a bowl. There are rock walls on one side, and then men and women on horses with ropes riding around keep them contained on the other sides. (I really wanted to be a horse rider, but apparently you have to know how to use a rope--go figure.)

The riders with the ropes go into the herd, and rope a small calf, dragging it out from the group. This is where I stepped in, my job was a holder, along with most of my friends. The holder intercepts the cow grabs it, wrestles it down onto it’s right side, and takes the rope off it's hooves. Then, someone would take the top, and someone would take the bottom (I preferred the bottom) you would hold one leg and pull it straight, then use your left leg to hold down the other leg. (As i'm demonstrating in the pictures up above.) The person at the top would have to hold down it’s upper legs, and head.

At this point all of the gross stuff happened. While being held down by us, the cow would be branded. I’ve got to be honest, there are few things in my life I have smelled that were worse than the smell of burning hair and flesh on the cow as it was getting branded. Yeeuch! Sometimes now, days later, I still get whiffs of it. It makes me wonder if the smell got imbedded in my nose somehow.

After the brand, the calf got immunized with two shots given with a large needle, it’s ear would have to get clipped or tagged, and the best part… You would have to look at the cow and shout out ‘Heiffer’ or ‘Bull!’ If it was a male cow--a bull if you will, someone with a knife would come around and castrate the cow cutting its… er, um... you know what's off. :)(Apparently they save those and cook them up later to eat, frying them into a delicacy called ‘Rocky Mountain Oysters’)

"Adrienne, care for an 'oyster?' Um, no thanks, I’ll stick with my chicken fingers, or hamburgers please."

Needless to say, this was quite the experience. By the end of the day I was covered in mud, blood and a greenish-grassy substance I would prefer to call mud. It came out of the cows though, and sure didn’t smell like mud. We were all exhausted, bruised and ready for a shower, but we had survived. (One friend even got kicked in the upper thigh by a mother cow not too pleased with the situation…ouch)

The rodeo that night was a lot of fun as well, it was a little hard to get too excited about it though, all of us were so tired we could barely stay awake. Probably one of the more subdued crowds that rodeo had seen.

Throughout the day of branding, I had implemented a few phrases into my dialog; ‘Well I’ll be…’ and ‘There’s a snake in my boots.’ I felt these phrases were only fitting considering the nature of what we were doing, and where we were.

Here are a few other phrases I think I will be slipping into casual conversation over the next few weeks:

• -Don’t squat on your Spurs
• -Dang, Young Whippersnapper
  
• -Never drink downstream from your horse
  
• -Well Butter my Butt and call me Biscuit
  
• -He's All Hat and No Cattle

I feel like I’ve earned this right to say them. Heck, I’ve branded cattle, I feel like I could do anything after this. I’m well on my way to moving to Panguitch Utah, buying me a horse, and settling down with my rancher husband to raise our chitlins' :)