Clownin' Around

Last week I managed to go running once. I'm really not motivated this winter. I sort of hate the frigid temperatures! I run with my dear friend Anna after work. At 5 pm we promptly change out of our tights/nylons into running tights to brave the NYC cold. Well, I forgot to pack my running tights, so I walked out in shorts and my legs were glowing. Anna was worried that I would get frost bite, so she kindly encouraged me to put my pink tights back on. I was reluctant, but didn't want to freeze my petooties off, so I changed again. I was a hot mess. Nate's Houston Rocket's sweater (a couple sizes too large), my blue BYU-I shorts (super unattractive), a lovely shade of magenta tights, and yellow neon running shoes. Phew! I don't know what was worse, my magenta tights or my white legs. I opted for magenta.

We enter the park. I told Anna I felt like a clown! Though, it isn't unusual for people to wear random colors and hideous outfits. (For instance, Mr. Man/speed walker on first Ave. thinks it is okay to wear his thong leo with fish net tights all year long. SO NOT OKAY!) 5 miles. Check.

Then, the commute home from UWS to UES. Should I have changed back into my skirt? Yes. Did I? NO. I proceeded to use public transportation in my clown outfit. I wasn't ashamed. Though, I joked with Anna that I was one of those "What is that person thinking?" people that others discretely take pictures of. We laughed.

Taken July 2010 at the Statue of Liberty
Woman wearing a Skort. Mickey Mouse watch. Wild hair that I never wanted to forget. oh, and a Bow!

Forward to this week. We ran once. I was decked out in Nike from head to toe and even had on my Brooklyn Half shirt. Anna told me I looked official. My inner runner (jogger now a days) was very proud.

Dreamy

Yesterday while running in the park I had my I-pod on shuffle and the NSYNC version of Dreams Come True came on, all the while little sidewalk chalk messages popped up all over Park Drive: "Become Your Dream." I've seen this artist's work all over the UES on random pieces of furniture and trash, but while running in the park it spoke to me.

Day 9

Today as I was running through this...

I kept thinking of this painting by Greg Olsen titled, "Lost and Found."

Needless to say, I constantly think of, worry about, and pray for my my younger brothers Jacob and Joshua, also known as Jaosh and Joake, or Jaker Bake and Bob. Now, whenever I go home I call every name under the sun before I get them right. Nate's name even gets thrown in the mix..."Danny, Jake, Josh, Nate, whoever the heck you are!" I'm very happy to go home next week and give them all big hugs!!

Words of Mormon 1:8 has become a favorite scripture of mine. It reads, "And my prayer to God is concerning my brethren, that they may once again come to the knowledge of God, yea, the redemption of Christ; that they may once again be a delightsome people."

In the same light, 2 Nephi 30:6 reads, "And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and delightsome people."

On day 9 I'm grateful for

Central Park,

(I'm secretly grateful for the hills in Central Park)

the song, "Manhattan from the Sky" by Kate Voegele,

&

surprises.

(Though, I actually dislike surprises because I want to know everything right away, and I want others to know too!)

Heavenly Father is still trying to teach me patience in oh so many ways.

Merry Marathon Eve!

I love the Fall in New York City. It's beautiful, and one of my favorite NYC events takes place every November--the NYC marathon. In fact, I just gave my informative speech for my public speaking class on the NYC ING Marathon. Nate and I were walking through the park tonight and we saw everything prepped for the the marathon. It made me so excited for tomorrow! One day I will run it, for now I just enjoy being one of the 2 million spectators that line the streets of New York City.

Tonight, we had a mini photo session just for fun with a good friend. Then, we had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in the city, Sarabeth's. We have the velvety tomato soup, decadent hot chocolate with whipped cream, and cookies to go. The cloud cookies are my favorite! It was a perfect night out. We returned home to resume our studies; speeches about dragons, oil changes, and foreign languages, while Nate stuffed his brain full of more CPA knowledge for his upcoming test. I'm so proud of him and can't wait until we're all done spending our Saturdays studying.

On day 6 of gratitude month I am grateful for many things: My beautiful mother who surprised me with a new willow tree statue today just because. My upcoming internship with the Church Public and International Affairs Office. I'm pretty stoked to work in such a pretty part of town; Lincoln Center melts my heart. Also, I'm grateful for date night :) Mostly, I'm grateful for the beautiful Autumn season, especially here. It was nice to get out tonight after a full day of studies.

Good Luck marathoners!!

I want one of these...

I just heard about this Disney Princess Half Marathon and I really want to go for my 23rd birthday! I want a tiara shaped medal like this one. The Brooklyn half didn't give us medals. I was bummed. Not to mention, I've wanted to take a trip to Disney World forever because Nate got to go without me the week before we were married. That lucky kid! He worked his butt of on an internship and that's how they repaid him. Well, a girl can dream can't she!

13.1 to Coney Island

I ran my first half marathon last weekend. The Brooklyn Half Marathon starts at Prospect Park in Brooklyn and finishes on Coney Island. All of us ran on our own, but it was fun to all be together to support and encourage one another and to party after. Cara Newman, Amber Dalzen, Sam and Genevieve Brown all ran too! Nate came with Ryan who was watching Xela. She is such a pumpkin! We hungout on the beach for a while and the boys jumped in the freezing ocean (Crazies!). It was an overcast day and the race began at 7 am. This meant we had to leave before 5am to get to Brooklyn. I didn't sleep the night before. Between homework and anticipation, my mind would simply not shut off. The first few miles of the race I kept thinking about how I didn't sleep, but I finally got in the groove after a bit of a chaotic start. Let's just say we had to sprint to the start and the finish! Right before I started I realized that my I-Pod didn't sync my playlist. I ran without music for the last half of the race. I learned a lot of things for the next one. To name a few: A) get rest, B) don't carry anything (jacket, phone, etc.), C) make sure music is ready to go ahead of time. Now I just need to keep running!! Dustin and Melissa have been my running buddies from the beginning. If it weren't for them I probably wouldn't have trained consistently. Thank you D & M!! I was thrilled when Melissa was game to train and run together back in November. They're moving really soon and running in the park won't be the same without them.

The Story

Last weekend was a fun weekend for us, as most weekends prove to be when we are together. Saturday morning we got up and helped clean the church with some friends in the ward. After we went out for brunch at a fun diner called the Mansion (Michael and Shannon eat there every Saturday because it is that delicious!) Nate was due for another hair cut so we took care of that. Then, Nate had a brilliant idea to go stalk NFL players who would be in town for the NFL draft. SIDE NOTE: I think that Nate's secret dream career is that of a Paparazzi or something to do with advertising. He also talks about writing lots of books about random topics. He always says, I'm going to write a book about ... and people at his work all ask him how his books are going?! hehe. That's Nathan for ya. Back to the story, I went along with his idea and we went down to Rockefeller center. Sure enough, knowing Nathan, he found his way into a line and ended up with two tickets into the draft. Can you imagine his excitement?! It was pretty funny! I wasn't very enthusiastic and I wished that someone who could have appreciated it more would have been with him, but none the less it was cool to say we were there. Nate likes to be loud at games and sporting events and likes to get memorabilia, so I wasn't surprised to see him cheering with a crowd of SF49 fans when their pick was up. We both got little bags that say NFL draft 2009 as you can see in the picture and overall it was fun. We only stayed for maybe 5 picks and then we went to YOgurtland with Michael and Shannon. It was way fun to hangout with them, it had been a while. At Yogurtland (which is so yummy, I could eat that everyday!!! too bad its a good trek to get there) I immediately spotted a model from America's Next Top Model. I knew it was her but was to shy to say anything. We were standing right next to her so Nate asked her if she was on that show? She smiled and said yes. She was surprised that Nate watched the show. I piped up and said "I make him!" haha. But we enjoy watching it together. She was really cool and said that she lives in SOHO if we know any stalkers. Just before she paid Nate went back up to her and asked if he could get a picture of her with me. I couldn't believe how nervous I was. I never get nervous for famous people, but I was totally nervous for some reason. So that picture is of me and Ceilia from ANTM. She almost got booted off the show last night. I don't think she'll win the whole thing, but she is great at fashion. The other night when Nate and I were watching our shows...(Biggest Loser, ANTM, and American Idol) there was a commercial for the new season of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!!! I about peed my pants with excitement. I never thought my life would come to this...getting excited about reality tv shows! gah I'm pathetic, but I love love love SYTYCD. Lets be honest, this is the first time in my entire life that I have ever watched a full season of anything. I had never even seen Biggest Loser or American Idol until this season, not to justify my time killers. Nate and I hardly watched tv in college, and the whole reason I got hooked on my shows that I watch now is because I saw marathons of them over the weekends last year. SO now that we have a DVR we get our TV fix in. I have started school again though so I've been staying busy. Nate's work has been going fine and he hasn't had a really late night in quite some time, now that I say that he won't come home until 11 tonight. hope not. We are excited to run a 5k tomorrow morning and then to have the missionaries over in the afternoon. It should be another good weekend!

A View Outside our Bedroom Window... and the NYC Marathon Nov 2nd