Am I Crazy?!...

Just the other day I talked to my physical therapist about running. It's coming so soon I just can't believe it! 11 days and counting :) 

I was sitting at work yesterday pondering this wonderful idea... actually, it was more like daydreaming, but you get the picture. A thought came to my mind that, "Hey! The Turkey Trot that I ran with Dad on Thanksgiving Day was so much fun! I wasn't even really tired afterwards. I should train for another 5k!" Then my thoughts turned to, "I've done numerous 5k's. I should try a 10k." You think I stopped there? Nope! I have officially decided to run a half marathon!! Now my question comes into play- Am I crazy? Maybe, but I am motivated, and more excited than ever. I text one of my best friends, Kaitlin, who has been my running buddy for a few years now- even though we don't go as much as we use to, or at all... I asked her if she wanted to run a half marathon with me. I think it was literally 10 seconds later that I got her call. The first words out of her mouth were, "Are you crazy? Um, what are you thinking, and why all of a sudden would you want to do such a thing? You know how long that is right?" (Not her exact words, but pretty much right on track.) We talked for a while and decided it would be something really fun and intrinsically rewarding. How cool would it be to say, "I ran and finished a half marathon!"

Some of the half marathons I have looked at are Park City half marathon on August 21, Provo Canyon half marathon in August, and The Top of Utah half marathon in Logan on September 18. I personally want to do the Park City one b/c the scenery is more appealing to me than Logan. But I've heard that the Logan trail is all downhill and it's a very gradual downhill. Wouldn't that be ideal? So I have some goals leading up to my half marathon:

1. Start speed walking/light jogging on February 10

2. Make a Training plan with Kaitlin on February 13

3. Be running at full strength by March 3

4. Run a 5K

5. Sign up for half marathon

6. Run a 10K

7. Run the Park City half marathon on August 21

I have a lot of work to do, and I have to be smart while training b/c of my special conditions, but I know I can do it, and I can't wait to get started! If anyone knows of good training techniques or tips, please let me know. Wish me luck, and make sure that I'm alive in August, cause Heaven knows I'll be exhausted ha ha. 

It's Been Too Long...

Holy cow! Where has all of the time gone? I am such a slacker in the blogging world. Please forgive me... all of you who actually read my posts and desire to keep up with my "eventful" life. The life of a poor, single, college student. The best years of my life also.

Well, on December 15th I finished 5 finals and dashed off to prepare for my ACL surgery. Wednesday morning, the 16th of December was a very nerve wracking time of day. I never knew I could be so nervous. Cute lil' ol' brother Carlisle from across the street was kind enough to make his way over to our house to help Dad give me a blessing before we headed over to the hospital. Though my nerves did not cease, I slowly felt relief a little at a time. I am so grateful to have a father who lives worthily to hold the priesthood and exercise this authority in our home. 

At the hospital there were a lot of procedures to go through, all of you who have had any kind of surgery know that you see about 5-10 different people before you actually go into surgery. You know my opinion? The one thing I would put in their little suggestion box is to inform the patients when they call the day before surgery that they will need to give a urine sample! No one told us, and they probably didn't think it made that much of a difference, but when your surgery is scheduled for 8:45am, most likely you have already gone to the bathroom. I have also been told that I have a "shy bladder" by the urinalysis people who do drug tests. It took a lot longer than I had hoped to get even the slightest sample. 

The surgery went really well. I was told after the surgery that they repaired my ACL, and they stitched up a small tear in my meniscus. Because of the meniscus tear I would be required to use crutches for 4 weeks. Christmas break started early for me in the fact that I literally layed around and watched movies for a few weeks. 

Compared to my left ACL surgery, this recovery was so much better. I don't know if physically is was better, or if it was simply because I'd been through it before and knew what I needed to do early on to benefit me later, but I am so grateful for the quick recovery I have been having. In my follow-up visit with Dr. Holmstrom ( I recommend him to anyone), he told me that I was ahead of the game in my recovery timeline. WAHOO! That'll bring you happiness. 

This past Wednesday was the 4 weeks mark of my surgery, and do you know what that meant? Get rid of those ol' crutches! What a relief. Granted I was a little slower and my muscles are still weak, but it's nice to have the freedom, and less baggage to carry around. Wednesday also marked the first day in 4 weeks that I have worn jeans :) What a great feeling. As of today I hardly walk without a limp and I can almost go down the stairs normally! I have about 3 weeks of physical therapy left, and I feel so blessed with how everything is going. Though I may not see what the blessings have resulted specifically from this injury and experience, I know there are many and I am grateful for all I have learned, and all I will continue to learn. 

 

Love to All of You

I am surrounded with absolutely amazing people! I have been so blessed to be associated with all of you and to have you in my life. My love for you is so great that I wanted to publicly say thanks for being a part of my life! I've been thinking about the good ol' times and thought I'd share either something I admire about you/love about you, or a memory. Hope I get everyone!

Audge- Where to start? Too many! Simply... sister from another mister. Love you chica!
Kaitlin- You are always there to listen. Scaring you multiple times! I always laugh. Clogging. Dancing around in the apartment. Being CRAZY!
Kat- Late night runs to pretty much everywhere! Playing in the rain! You are one of my very best friends. "You have to love me!"
Heather- Good morning boys and girls... welcome to primary! All the good talks. Love you!
Siri- You have the brightest happiest smile and always make me so happy! You give the best hugs :)
Mandy- You are one of a kind! The kindest person I know. Too many great memories... staring at each other through our mirrors. Charly! Oh how I miss you.
Amber- Need I say more? You got your own post :) GIMP forever.
Alex- We will always be the best of friends! "Oh dear..." haha! Glad I can be a part of your most embarrassing moment.
Stevie- So happy! You always have a smile on your face and you give great hugs.
Bryce- You genuinely care about people. And you are always smiling :) Free lasic surgery for you! "Smile!... I can't!" haha. I feel like I've known you much longer, and I can't wait for the good times to keep a rollin'. Thanks for EVERYTHING.
Darin- I never know what to expect from you and I love it! So spontaneous and you make me laugh all the time! Thanks for all the advice and talks. Love all your soccer whiffs haha!
Josh- You are seriously another family member. Trips to Ogden, laughing under our breath about the same thing without having to explain, favorite memory is when we talked outside my apt. after frisbee for about 2 hours about everything. Time flies when you're having fun!
Jordan- You were a great friend before you decided to marry my best friend. Love ya! "What? Who? Where? Why? How? Como?!" Trips to the Health Center. Welcome to my life! And thanks!
Jeff- You probably won't read this, but you have been amazing. Thanks for EVERYTHING. Too many inside jokes and laughs over the years. See you in May!
Spencer- Only one more month! My favorite story is Girls Pref with our bouncy balls "Who sat on my head?!" and the quarter incident. Knocked you to the floor haha... glad you were laughing. See you in December!
Erin- I LOVE YOU! Grocery sack dance. Laughing without end. Piano duets! Especially the last time you came. Laughed forever. Brandon gave us dirty looks... haha.

I have so many more people that I love and adore, but I have run out of room and am getting arthritis in my hands. Not really, but know that I love you! Once again, thank you for being a part of my life. You have made an impact on me in one way or another and you probably haven't even noticed.

Ode to Amber

If I were a classical musician, this is what I would name my piece that I would write about Amber. I feel like I have so much to thank her for and I am indebted to her for ever. This summer was one of the best summers I've ever had even though I was injured for most of the time. A lot of this is because of a sweet, smiley, and happy go lucky girl named Amber. Where have you been all my life? I feel like we are sisters separated at birth, partners in crime, and fellow gimps.

I admire you so much for the person that you are. You are one of the greatest examples to me and I have learned so much from you. You are one of the most positive and uplifting people out there. You make everyone feel like one of a kind and your smile is contagious. Thanks for always laughing with me and lets face it- we're dorks, but we have fun! Some of the greatest memories I have made this summer I owe to you! What would I have done without you? I hope you know how much I love you and I look forward to seeing your bright shining face every chance I get. I feel genuinely happy when I'm with you, and you always know when I need a little uplifting. You're always there and I appreciate you so so much!

I get the blessing of having Amber sleep over this weekend, and I can only imagine the bundles of fun that await us! Can it come soon enough? I don't think so! I sure do love you!

Can I end with a song? ehem ehem... mi mi mi! mi ma mo, mi ma mo... ok, we're ready!

You are my sunshine! My only sunshine,

You make me happy when skies are grey.

You'll never know dear, how much I love you.

Please don't take my sunshine away :)

Homemade Oreos!

For the past couple of months I have had a craving for homemade oreo cookies. With all the time at work that I have I researched some recipes and picked one out to try. However, after I bought the stuff to make them I never got the motivation to actually bake the cookies b/c our kitchen is always so dirty! Last night all of my roommates went out of town except for one, and she was gone for the night so I took the opportunity to clean the kitchen thoroughly and make my cookies!

I also got a pleasant surprise... Bryce is home! He has become one of my best friends and I have missed him a lot. He had surgery on his jaw almost 2 weeks ago and has been at home since. He got back last night and so I invited him to help. He claims to be a great cookie maker. Time to show me your stuff! Though he couldn't talk it was SO much fun. And it's a good thing he helped. I didn't know the difference between confectioner's sugar and sugar, and some of the cooking terms kept me puzzled. He knew the answer to everything. The cookies were a success thanks to his knowledge... I have a lot to learn. But that's why I'm baking so that I can learn before it's too late! Here is the finished product. I took this picture at work. Preview of what I'm going to eat for my snack :) They are soooo yummy! And they were really easy to make. I think I've eaten 5 already today. I really should stop since I can't exercise them off til the end of the summer haha. If you're interested, here is the recipe. I think they would be fun to make with kids too... maybe that'll be my mom specialty haha... maybe.

Homemade Oreos by Smitten Kitchen:

For the chocolate wafers:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar [see recipe note]

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter1 large egg

For the filling:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk.

Happy Pioneer Day! AKA 24th of July

The other day while I was at work my supervisor, Lindsey, asked if I knew any fun activities that we could do at our weekly staff meeting for Pioneer day. I didn't have many suggestions but we ended up making gingerbread wagons! haha, has anyone ever heard of such a thing? Surprisingly it was a success, and so much fun! I think I enjoyed it more than Gingerbread houses at Christmas time... all you people with kids should try it! I would have to say that my wagon turned out the best... we were in groups of 2 and this was our final product: We used donuts for the wheels, licorice for the wagon top, covered in a napkin, gummy bears as the pioneers (a little out of proportion to the wagon), and marshmallow and black licorice oxen. Creative eh? The oxen were my contribution...
I was quite pleased with the outcome... so... HAPPY PIONEER DAY!

Burrup Family Reunion

Here we go! I'm almost done updating my blog. I'm really surprised with how well I have been doing at blogging lately. It's fun! So anyway, during the weekend of July 4th our family got together for our annual, soon to be biannual, family reunion. We reserved a campsite at the Heber Valley Camp which is owned by the church and mostly used for Girls' Camps. The camp was so big that we decided to invite the Collier family to share it with us. What a great idea that was. Lots of people, but lots of fun! Of course blogging isn't as fun without pictures, so here is the story of our family reunion told in pictures. Audrey, Emily, and I. We sure do love pictures. I am once again so glad that they were able to come! This is the first summer Audge and I have lived more than a quarter mile away from each other! We sure have been spoiled to be so lucky.

Erin and I had our own photo shoot. No, this isn't the cutest picture we got of the 2 of us, but it IS my favorite picture! I still laugh like I just saw it for the first time. No words can describe this picture. I sure do love Erin a whole lot. She is one of my best friends and I'm so glad we got to spend time together before the reunion. She makes me laugh like no one else does. Multiple times I have been talking to her on the phone and my roommates will come in to the room wondering what is so funny b/c I am laughing so hard and consistently. I just smile and say, "I'm talking to Erin." That's all they need to know haha. Love her!

Me and Audge. We have been best friends for so long that I consider her my sister. Mitchell loved playing baby with Analise. He would beg to be put in the play pen and then roll around and "goo" and "ga" at everyone. It was the funniest, and cutest thing. He is such a pleasant 2 year old, most of the time ;) And Analise was a joy the whole time. She is full of smiles.

I wish I had more pictures over the years with my sisters. Look what they've been hiding all this time! Haha, we had our own photo op and when I suggested we do a silly picture Laurel and Kristen had a surprised look on their face as if they've never heard of such a thing! Erin and I had to coach them through it. Lets just say that out of all the attempts, this is the best one. But the series of pictures leading up is hilarious! I love my sisters so so much. It was so fun to have everyone together again. I wish we all lived closer so we could have sister outing more often!

After our campfire dinner the Colliers prepared a skit for everyone to enjoy. Brandon and I got to participate. This is the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Little Bears. Brandon was Goldie Locks and I got to be his hands. It was quite the production with David as Papa Bear, Dad as Mama Bear, and Mark as Baby Bear. Their wives sat in as their hands. They did things like brush their teeth, eat, drink, and sleep. It was a success, and everyone rolled with laughter. Great idea Colliers!

Brandon and me after the skit. We did a pretty good job of staing clean!

Me and my little stud muffin, Mitchell. He loved the s'mores we made after dinner. Quite the sticky mess, but that's what camping's all about. The next day we had the opportunity to go down to the Camp Lake and use canoes and paddle boats for an hour. Jenna had the great opportunity of coming with Audge and me. It was so fun to have her with us. Much like Erin and Jared's experience with Cannon, we feared that our canoe was going to tip over. Jenna wanted to help out and paddle, but everytime she moved from side to side Audge and I got a little scare and had to keep from tipping. Poor girl, she just wanted to help. We kindly reminded her that tipping was not an option and she had to sit in the middle. It ended up being fun, and she was so cute and had a great attitude. Happy disposition! Here we are in our canoe! What a great looking crew :) It was a gorgeous day, and the water was great. After we played in the canoes for a little bit we decided to take a turn in one of the paddle boats. This picture shows that I sat in the middle, but it didn't start that way... the missionaries put me and Erin as the paddlers, Audge in the middle, and Jenna and Cannon in the back. After my knee injury I was a little nervous that I wasn't going to be much help in paddling. My analysis was correct. I think I peddled twice before I couldn't do it anymore. Poor Erin thought she was going to die. We decided maybe it would be nice for Audge and I to switch spots. Once we did this it was a smooth sailing trip. Cannon was a little annoyed we wouldn't let him paddle, but we wanted to be able to reach it back to shore in a timely manner. It ended up being very relaxing, for me at least, and we had a lot of fun.

The family reunion ended up being a great success! We also did a ropes course but I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of that. My favorite was Kristen on the high ropes event. It was quite the show, but I'm so glad she did it! And with her eyes closed... she's a pro. I sure do love my family and I can't wait for our reunion next year which Trent and Kristen's families are planning. The rumor is that we are going to try and do a beach house in California! Partay!