Provo Triathlon

The triathlon was a blast!! Here are some pictures before the race:

Our numbers on our arms the day before.

Trying on swim caps and goggles, do we look like aliens?

Pictures before the race:
Nathan getting ready at the transition area

Nikki Perkins and I before the race began, we've been friends since freshmen year, and we found out we were both doing the race!

So Nathan ran the Olympic distance, and I ran the Sprint distance. That equates to the race being .5 miles of swimming, 13 miles biking, and a 5k run, in that order for the sprint distance. Double that distance for the Olympic distance and that is what we did. So for the swim part I opted not to rent a wet suit, and Nathan already had one, and the lesson learned was: get a wet suit! It wasn't for the water temp, which was pretty nice on Utah lake, but the buoyancy factor. First the water had zero visibility, and I hated that, so I didn't put my head face down for the proper technique which kept making my feet sink, and I freaked out. That is apparently pretty common in the swim. Luckily I wasn't the only one though, so I didn't feel too bad, but the swim took me forever. Nathan though did absolutely awesome in the swim, and finished 2nd in his age group for that portion. Next came the bike ride, where we both did well, and I made up some time there. Our transition times between both were excellent. Finally there was the run. Now this was my weakest part, or so I thought until that day. Apparently, I've just had a mental block, because I ran the best I've ever run, and after swimming and biking! So I made up more time, and ended in the top twenty in my age division. The run is usually one of Nathan's strong points, and he is always a lot faster than I am, but this race didn't turn out so well. He didn't run as well as he'd liked, but finished 6th in his age group. The best part was that my Mom and little sister Kirstin were able to be there, cheering us on all parts! It was so neat having them there, and we loved it! Another neat thing was my friend from freshmen year, Nikki Perkins, was also in the race, and we found out about two weeks before, so we were able to do a little training together before the big day. Overall, a huge success, and I can't wait for the next one!

Nathan running

After finishing our first triathlon!

Visit from the Grazuli'

My little sister, Kirstin, is going to BYU this summer, and she needed a place to live, so we offered to have her live with us, and she's just moved in! We are so excited to do lots of fun things, and she gets two built in tutors for her classes, pretty sweet deal. Mom helped her move out from our home in Englewood, CO, and is was so fun having her stay with us. I unfortunately had finals for my very last class, but that was okay since it worked out nicely. I even was able to sneek them both into the cadaver lab for functional anatomy, and showed them a cadaver. A new experience for both, though I will admit that cadaver's don't always look real. I did get to go on a hike with just my mom, and it was really fun.

Mom and me on a hike up Indian Trail Head just before Provo Canyon.

Lady of course found some more dead animals that she had to show us, but that was okay. At dusk though we found out all the big spiders come out, and were running across the trail, so we ran back to the car, looking like chickens with out heads cut off to try to keep the spiders off our feet!

We also got to have a fun Brick Oven dinner at a park too with Kirstin's friend Trevor.

Trevor and Kirstin at a beautiful park in Orem.

Fun at the Farm

This weekend we went back up to the farm, and had a grand ol' time! We got up there earlier than usual, which was great, and got to see the new shop that Mike and Misty are building. We also watched a movie with them, and had a good nights sleep. The next morning we went on a bike ride with our awesome road bikes all the way up to Deer Cliff Inn. It is so beautiful up there, that is definitely where we want to end up someday. Overall it was a 14mile ride, not too shabby eh?

Riding up in Idaho

Then we went for a horse ride to take two of the horses from Grandpa's to our uncle and aunt Doug and Debbie Porter's house. It was one of the most difficult horse rides ever! My horse Dolly was spooked at everything, probably from Grandpa's dog Katie jumping up and biting her in the nose while I was on her I might add. A little bit of bucking went on, but nothing I couldn't handle, though I was throughly mad at the dog. Nathan's horse Leo wouldn't go after a while, as neither would mine. So we got off and led the horses for awhile. I then got back on Leo, and Nathan led Dolly. He didn't want to be chaffed and sore, and I wanted to ride, so we both were happy, and we got to be together.

Our unconventional way of horse riding, me riding while Nathan leads

After taking the horses to the Porters, we had a great visit with Aunt Debbie, she is such a sweetie. Then we did an activity that I have turned out to be okay at. We went skeet shooting! For those who don't know what that is, it is using a shotgun to shot clay disks out of the air. Once I figured out how to aim, I hit four! Pretty good for never having shot a gun before! Nathan was great too, and hit lots of the skeet. We love visiting the farm and all the neat outdoor things there are to do up there. P.S. just so everyone knows, you cannot return artillery if you buy the wrong gage (trust us, we did it, and we tried, luckily Doug had a 20gage so the shells didn't go to waste).

Shooting at skeet, fun, but make sure you hold the gun right, it has a bit of a kick, and can leave a bruise if you don't hold it right (or even if you do:) ) Mike and Tate are in the background.

Misty Porter, shooting a 12gage and look at her cute baby bump! They are due in October! Being pregnant hasn't stopped her much:)

Anatomy can be intense!

Functional Anatomy is the last class that I have to take before I get my diploma from BYU. It has turned out to be one of my favorite classes ever, though the time and brainpower needed for the class is intense. I am glad that this is my only class (besides tennis) for Spring Term. Below are just a few things we are learning about. Today though was the most interesting day yet....

The muscles of the anterior forearm

The brachial plexus.

Yes, yes, everyone is thinking that those pictures are cool, but why was today the most interesting day yet? Today was the day that the girl I was standing next to in the cadaver lab looked at me, said "I don't feel so good", and then completely fainted!! No joke! I saw that she was going down, so I caught her, but hey, pretty much everyone is bigger than I am so I couldn't hold her up so I slumped to the floor and caught her head and body so she didn't smack her head against the floor, or worse, fall face first into the cadaver's abdominal cavity that we were all intensely studying. That would have been THE grossest thing I've ever witnessed if that had happened, but luckily it didn't!!! She was out for 30 seconds, which is actually a long time. I grabbed my friends coat to put under her head, got out from under her, and took off my disgusting cadaver gloves that I had caught her with. When she came to, we took her back to the regular classroom, got her some fruit snacks, and found that she hadn't had breakfast this morning, had locked her knees, and the smell of formaldehyde just gets to people under those circumstances. Anyway, it was pretty exciting, and I was so glad that I was paying attention, or she really could have gotten hurt. We'll see what happens tomorrow when I go back to lab, hopefully this is as exciting as it gets for the rest of the semester!

Hot Springs and Camping

So this year Nathan and I have decided that we really need to take advantage of the beautiful state that we live in, and go out and do as many outdoor things as possible. Last Thursday and Friday we went to the hot springs and camping with our awesome cousins, Tom and Kristie McConnon. This time of year is so gorgeous, and we love being outdoors more and more. These hot springs up Diamond Fork road by Spanish Fork are wonderful, and we can't believe that we've lived so close but have never been before this year!

Nathan and I at the springs, it is so beautiful this time of year,
and that is one good looking couple!

Look, they found sunglasses on the hike up to the hot springs!

Good thing we didn't see any of these at the spring:) Ganga(aka awkward in Chinese)! However, we did have a "ganga" moment. Besides us there were about six Koreans in the hottest of the hot springs (Nathan is pretty good about telling the difference between the different Asian nationalities as he ran into all of them on his mission, taught the Chinese people, and can distinguish the differences between what seem to us Americans as just Asian people). Anyway, as they were getting out, the girl that was with them said something in Korean to her friends, and it sounded exactly like she had said "hot pockets", in the same tone and sort of melody as the commercial does. Well, Nathan just repeats what we are all thinking, and that is the words "hot pockets" from the jingle. She turned around and looked like she thought Nathan was making fun of her, when really he just started singing along to the jingle that she had "started". Anyway, it was pretty funny, you might have had to have been there, but "hot pockets" will now forever remind the four of us of our trip to the hot springs:)

The next day, Friday the 6th, we went camping up Provo Canyon at Big Springs National Park, where you can go into the national forest, camp anywhere you want, and make a fire(within reason of course). It was so beautiful, so green, and we had tons of fun with Tom and Kristie. Thanks guys a ton for some great times!!!

So this was the camp site we chose. It was beautiful, and we sort of scared some other people away from it, too. Here is the story, and another "ganga" moment in two days! Kristie and I saw the area, between a grove of trees, next to the babbling brook, with a fire pit, and lots of soft grass to set the tents up in. It was perfect. This couple was sitting on a fallen log, and when we came up we asked if they were going to stay for the night. They said no, but they looked as if they had been in deep conversation. I then said "You're not proposing are you?" No response, but she sort of tickled his thigh, and he looked embarrassed, and then they left. Maybe he was, maybe it was their first date, we'll never know, either way we got the great spot for camping. Oh well, I put my foot in my mouth again. The picture shows me putting up the tent all by myself! I did a pretty dang good job too as it rained all night(from about 3am to 8am) and we never got wet!

Tom gets a gold star for firemaking! First of all, he made this awesome one at night, and then the next morning, after it had rained literally all night, he had a fire going so that we could make breakfast and of course more s'mores. So here is a gold star for Tom, way to be the coolest!

Just enjoying the fire. Lady came and just sat right down, and warmed herself, too.
It was sooo cute.

We laid out looking at the stars for a while, and though it was cold, they were beautiful. We took a few pictures of us, and when it is that dark with a bright flash going off, I guess it just seems pretty funny:) This was a picture that Tom took and below is a picture that I took. Tom and Kristie weren't even posing really, and I couldn't tell what I'd get in the dark by just lying on my back and putting the camera up, but it turned out pretty good I think.
Tom and Kristie, bundled up lookin' at the stars.

Kristie eating charred marshmallows? We learned that when you put marshmallows in the fire, they end up looking like volcanic rock! It looks like a lava flow too when they are burning. Don't worry, she didn't really eat that yucky one:)

So this was the view of the meadow from our camping spot in Big Springs National Park. It was so green, probably from all the rain that had started at 3am and didn't end until about 8am! Luckily our tents didn't leak at all!

Nursing School!!!!

So, by the title of the post can you guess what this is about....
I can breathe a little easier now the thing I've been working for(bunches of pre-requirements, moving lots of times, and applying but then moving from a few schools, and applying other places but not being accepted) has actually come to pass. This last week on Tuesday I got an acceptance letter to nursing school!!!!!!!!! Thats right folks, by next May I will be a LPN. The RN we'll do later, just getting in(and especially for this August) is really a prayer answered and a huge blessing. The program is through UVU, so we don't have to move yet:) It is great that it is starting so quickly, that we'll still be able to go to the Bahama's like planned, and it isn't costing an arm and two legs either, but it's less than BYU's tuition which is very reasonable. This post is a little late on the news, but it took time to sink in that it is actually happening. Now I'll be able to use all the awesome things she's been learning about the human body in a real life application! Thanks to my parents especially for never giving up that I'd get in, love you guys bunches:)

Tandem Bikes and Hot Pots

On Saturday, May 30th, we ended up not going up to Idaho as planned, but knowing us, that didn't keep us from having a full day. Besides going to our ward picnic, which was fun with the volleyball game and great food, we also did two really fun activities with our friends the Rouche's. Josiah was one of Nathan's mission companions, and he's been married to his wife, Meghan for just over a year. They are lots of fun, so yesterday we rented tandem bikes and rode up to Bridal Veil falls in the Provo Canyon. Unfortunately when we were almost there, the chain on their bike broke, so they had to coast most the way back down, while we quickly rode back to Outdoors Unlimited to return our bike, pick up our car, and meet them in our Santa Fe to bring them the rest of the way back.

Meghan, Josiah, Nathan, and Kendra with Bridal Veil Falls behind us.

Us on the tandem bike, so much fun!

Later that night we hiked up Spanish Fork canyon to these really neat hot pots. All of us though forgot a flashlight, so we had to hike the 2.2 miles back in the dark, and boy was it getting dark. We did get to see some neat stars. Lady came too and had some mad skills as she was running up and down the trail that bordered a river, and at times the drop off was pretty intense. Once she ran and leaped about 7' across a drop off part. It was insane, but I guess she knew what she was doing. When we got to the hot pots she even got in once, but enjoyed the cold waterfalls more. We all found out that hot water+slight sunburn from biking=sapped energy! Everyone was beat by the time we made it back to the car(but that took over an hour in the dark. We aren't sure how long, but it took an hour to hike there, so going slower back it must have taken longer:) )

Josiah, Kendra, and Meghan in the hot pots. Nathan and Lady were behind the camera:)