Sunday, January 22, 2012

Arizona Tough Mudder!!!

Last Saturday, January 14th,  I did my second Tough Mudder in Mesa, AZ. After doing the Colorado one last June, I have to say that through the blood, sweat, and bruises, I am now addicted and have made it a goal to do a TM at least once a year! I love it and am hooked!! Douglas unfortunately couldn't make it to this one due to work, so I went myself and met up with my In Laws, Aunt Josie, Uncle Lon, and Tylor to take on another one! Douglas' cousin Josh lives there and joined us as well!!

The course we did was very different compared to the mountains in Colorado. It was a flat terrain, but with a lot of loose gravel, dirt, ect. It was a longer course too, 12.5 miles, and consisted of about 30 obstacles, plus a lot more running verses the hiking.

 So what happened with the race was that we split up into 2 groups of about 5-6 people each group. My father in law, Uncle, and cousin, with some of his friends went 20 minutes earlier, and then my bro in law, his buddies, and I went after. Me thinking I'd be fine with them and us all working as a team, I figured I'd be good to go with them. BAD DECISION!! Right when we started, they all took off, me behind them keeping up for the 1st, 2nd obstacle, and then was left all by myself!! They didn't wait for me or anything too :( Pretty bummed about it at first, I mean I wasn't going slow or anything, but I guess not as fast as them!! I just didn't want to be left alone! That wasn't the point of the race. It all worked out though because for the first bit of the race, I kept at a steady pace with 4 fire fighters that were a team. At about the 5th obstacle and talking with them about being alone and all, they had me join their group! You have no idea how happy that made me feel! This race, you definitely need support from others!! So, the whole rest of the way, I had a blast with my new team! They were the coolest guys too! We all worked real well together. One of the guys Frank kept cramping up though towards the end which held us back a bit, but we all stayed together and helped him out where needed.

Some of the obstacles were the same as what I did before like jumping in a ice jacuzzi (SO COLD), army crawling under barbed wire in mud, A LOT of berlin walls, monkey bars, half pipe, ect, but some of the new ones that were fun was this HUGE mud mountain that was ridiculous to climb, climbing over junk cars and tires, leaping over these big dirt trenches that went forever, and a way fun plank that was about 20 ft high that we jumped off into water. There are still tons I haven't even covered! The one that was the most fun, NOT, was the electric shock therapy at the end. Colorado's voltage on this puppy was nothing compared to Arizona! Bill was nice and waited for me to go through, so as we were about to go in, I had a hold of his arm and when he touched the first wire, we were both shot back and taken to the ground!! It hurt like no other!! It took me a few seconds to decide if I wanted to go through or not. What a lot of people did though was wade at the bottom, under the wires in the muddy water to not hit any of them, and that is exactly what I did!! There was no way I was going to hit another one! My poor father in law though hit one a second time, but on his eye, so he was hating it after :( The voltage blacked out a lot of people too!! Just pure craziness I tell ya!!

People think I'm crazy for enjoying the torture I get by doing these and heck, I even question myself while doing them, but seriously, it is the most rewarding thing to accomplish these monsters!! Even though I was left by myself, covered with bruises from head to toe after, and am still a little sore from it, I want to keep doing them!! My next one will be in Vegas this October and I am super excited! My brother Jaren and a few of my friends will be trying it for the first time, so it'll be awesome to get to do it with them!! As for now, I am going to take it easy and focus on my dancing and triathlons this summer :)

Here are some pics of the fun day!!

















Tuesday, January 10, 2012

A Light on a Hill - Jenny Phillips.lds



I just love this song! We sing it in Jenny Phillip's fireside this year. What an amazing message it brings! No matter how insignificant we feel compared to the world, each of us beautiful children of our Heavenly Father are unique, and stand out with our spiritual light for the those that are in darkness. I am so blessed to be a part of this wonderful choir to share the gospel through music and to see the the ways it has influenced those around me. It has truly strengthened my testimony!! I love Jenny's music and through that music, it brings such a overcoming feeling of love from our Father in Heaven. If you ever want to come or know of anyone that would like to, let me know, and I will give you dates on the firesides. It really is a wonderful program!

Friday, January 6, 2012

Rockin' in 2012!!

Happy New Year!! It is so crazy to me that 2011 is all over with!! I swear we just had started it! Anyways, I am just so pumped for this new year!! There is so much that will be happening to keep my family and I busy busy as always!!

Next weekend, I have another Tough Mudder that I will be competing in. Unfortunately Douglas can't come due to work, but I'll be having another adventure with his family! I just got a gym membership at Golds, which I am thrilled about! You can read my workout journey on my Training Blog if you'd like :) This week has been so intense so I can get myself ready for next weekend!! It's going to be awesome!! I just love Tough Mudder!!

I also just got back in my dancing after 2 weeks off. We are preparing for our Las Vegas themed show. I am very excited for it and can't wait to perform in the Summer! Plus, us ladies with significant others are getting a burlesque show ready for Valentines with a dinner for our honeys, but shhh, don't mention anything to Douglas cause it's a surprise! I'm risking just posting it here, but he hardly checks this and I am way excited for it :) Better get my booty in shape by then!!

Work is going to be busy with my new shift I'm starting on Sunday with jet blue. It'll be good though because I'll work 3 days and have 4 off and the hours I work are perfect for me too! I just pray we don't get any bad snow storms like we did last year! It was madness!! Then of course Paparazzi is keeping us busy for January and I'm sure with the coming months! We have 4 shows booked which is great after the holidays. Love it!!

This Sunday, I start back up singing in Jenny Phillips choir. We take a break from August to the new year and then perform till July each year, just to give Jenny a break with her family and time to focus on her music. I miss those months because I absolutely love the choir and the amazing spirit I feel from performing! Can't wait to share my testimony through music again!

Haiden started preschool again and will be turning 5 in a few weeks! I just cannot believe how big he is getting!! It is so crazy to me! Him and Mekenzie are both in Primary together too. No more nursery! My kids are growing up so fast! They both love Primary and Kenzers was so proud to be a sunbeam :) Its sad that they are not babies anymore, but it is such a fun time right now at their ages of seeing them go from stage to stage and them growing into these cute, independent kids! I just love them so much!!

Wow, I could keep going, but It is getting late! Oh yes, and I have our fun Disneyland trip to talk about once I get all the pictures for it!

So yes, this month so far is going to be a busy busy one! People ask me how on earth I do everything I do and still keep sane, but thinking about it, with the person i am and the things I've experienced, I just have to! Sometimes it's crazy and I feel like I can't do it all, but it truly keeps me happy and on my toes! So, here's to the new year :)