Red Zone

Twice a week I meet with my personal trainer Brady. He is probably one of the nicest guys but man is he tough.

This is pretty much how I look after the 30 min I have with him:

Today he talked to me about the "Red Zone" and how I am there with him twice a week for 30 min pushing beyond my limits and that is why when I race I am going to be able to keep going even if I feel like I can't anymore.

This weekend I have the first of the longest bike ride I have ever done (I have decided I will be riding 50 mile or less this weekend, I am SOOO not ready for 100).

So... cheers to being in the "Red Zone" this weekend and pushing through it!

Yes, I am a beginner...

I finally got a road bike! I have been wanting one for years but these things can be expensive. I got my tax returns and I budgeted $600 for a used bike in hopes that I would find something.

I refuse to EVER delete anyone from Facebook bc you never know how they may be of assistance in years to come. A girl that had deleted me and I reconnected on FB a few weeks ago and then she posted this bike for sale for... 

600 bucks!!!! 

I love it, it fits perfectly and rides great but I am a long ways away from being a true cyclist.

I don't really know what any of the lingo means, don't ask me what speed it is or how many gears it has on it, I have NO idea. 

I know how to shift the gears but I really don't know what is the best gear to be in and when 

I should shift.

I still don't own a helmet or a lock for the bike.

I bought an extra cushion for the ridiculous seat but later learned it creates chaffing problems.

I still want to be able to listen to music as I ride which is a NO NO. I have a friend who runs a business that sells speaker inserts for helmets, may be I can get some of those. 

But I do need a helmet first...

So here is to a new adventure! 

10 days till my 100 miler and I have only gone 10 miles all at once... May be I should sign up for a shorter distance ;). 

To My Mother

Mom,

Almost 26 years ago after 3 boys you were blessed finally with a sweet baby girl, well, with a baby girl; sweet may not have been an adjective you would've use to describe me.

I am sure you weren't prepared for how much joy and how much pain you could feel with one child.

I bet the high's were high and the lows may have been almost unbearable.

I am sure there were times you wanted to slap me across the face (you may have done it once, we can pretend not though ;).

I hate to think about the times that I made you cried and I am sure that there were more times then I'll never know about.

I bet there were times when you would've given everything just to have me listen to you and I wish I would've listen to you more.

There were times when I thought you didn't love me but really you were protecting me.

And As the years have passed I have learned how much you really love me.

I may never fully understand the trials you have been through but I now see how strong you really are.

Now I see that you are much of the reason why we have an eternal family.

I see how much you sacrificed for me an everyone else in our family.

I see now how much more I want to be like you.

Thank you for giving up so much to shape me into the woman I have become.

Thank you for loving me even when I was hard to love.

Thank you for being the BEST Mom.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

Every Member A Missionary

About 8 months ago I met someone who would eventually change a little part of me and who would bring a special spirit into my life.

Veronica is her name.

I was so excited when I met her and found out that we had a girl from Mexico who didn't speak much english in our ward. It meant I could speak a ton of Spanish!

More interesting news came a few weeks later when I found out she wasn't even a member! I couldn't believe it.

She told me that she started coming to church because she was invited by her roommates. Later she informed me she was meeting with the missionaries because one day on campus a young man helped her with her something. When he found out she wasn't a missionary he invited her to listen to them and she agreed. EVERY MEMBER A MISSIONARY.

In about October the missionaries began going to her house. She almost always did her homework and always had questions. I started going to the lessons and loved it. Then she left for mexico for about a month and lessons stopped for a while.

The next semester I was called as her visiting teacher. We started to become close, talking about boys and the gospel (my two favorite things). I really started to love Veronica and who she is. She is thoughtful, focused, kind, intuitive, an amazing listener, patient, etc. She is a chosen daughter of God. And I really want to be more like her.

We would do some activities together and I started asking more questions to figure out where she stood with the gospel. I hadn't been to any lessons lately so I didn't know. But this one day I just felt like she was getting ready to be baptized. I ended up going to church with her on a fast sunday. We talked about what a testimony meant; she thought she didn't have one. I asked her if she believed the Book of Mormon was true, if she believed Joseph Smith was a Prophet, and if she felt the church was true. She said yes to all the things and I explained that she had a testimony of them.

The next day the Elders spoke of baptism. And committed her. We spent the next few weeks talking a lot, hanging out and becoming even closer. She had her doubts but we talked through them together as well with the missionaries and as time when on she felt better and better about getting baptized.

And today she chose to follow the Savior and was baptized. It was wonderful.

Documenting the wonderful day!

This isn't even all the missionaries that took part in teaching her. 

Right before she entered the waters of Baptism.

I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and the importance of having it in our lives. I originally was going to sing but then felt relieved when someone else couldn't do the talk and I was going to do it. But right before the baptism I said something about singing and Veronica really wanted me to do it. Mind you I really don't sing in front of people, I did in my mission but feel so scared to do it now. I ended up singing and everything seem to go okay, except for that one note...

Anyways, I teared up with joy as I shared my love for the Gospel and my friendship with this wonderful girl. I asked her how she felt after and she said she just felt content. I know that she made the right decision and I am so grateful that I was able to be a small part in her conversion. And I am so grateful for our friendship and all she has taught me; she is bound to teach me much more (we just got some tomato plants and she is going to teach me how to take care of them lol). It was such a great day!

But that's not all. I also had a really great friend come to church with me today. Marcus is a coworker of mine who came to Utah to find a better life for himself. In the meantime he has met with the missionaries a few times and gone to church on his own (can you believe he sought out a church all on his own and went all by himself!). After not having a great experience with going to a family ward he spoke with me and I invited him to try the singles ward. And he came with me today!

Ryan (our boss), Marcus, and I

It was interesting to hear his experience and how he observed some things. Like that people are on their cell phones too much and that they don't listen like they should.

Can you believe how observant he was about the lack of focus many of us had in there?! It made me think about how much better I should be about devoting my full attention to my Heavenly Father when I am at church.

The good thing was he said the testimonies were awesome and he was really touched by them. He liked the new things he learned and is excited to meet with the missionaries again and wants to come weekly to my ward. And he come to the baptism!

I am so grateful to be apart of such a wonderful church where we invite everyone for the opportunity to draw closer to our Heavenly Father and our Savior through baptism by the authority of God. I cannot wait to watch Veronica grow even more as a member of the church and to be apart of teaching Marcus more about this wonderful Gospel.