I'm back!

Wow.  It's been a long time.  My apologies.  I've been doing a really good job of filling my free time lately and as a result, haven't really taken a lot of time to blog.  And as you know, I don't really see any use in blogging without pictures to show for it.  Which I've also had a lack of lately.  But, I will do my best to fill you in on my life while also sprinkling in some relevant pictures.  Some things I've been doing lately:

1. Climbing.  I've been doing a lot of climbing lately and it's been awesome.  Over the summer and through the first part of fall, my friend Maddie and I would go multiple times each week. Lately, an early setting sun and dropping temperatures have seriously limited our abilities to climb outdoors.  Winter...I have some words for you...

Just, you know...climbin'

Maddie, Megan and I

2.  Running.  This is another habit that unfortunately for my health and my waistline has died down a little bit in recent weeks.  Turns out my body needs some recovery time.  Earlier this fall, Maddie and I ran the dirty dash in Midway.  I really wish they would have given out some kind of prize for being the dirtiest because we would have won--hands down. Check it.

We're really muddy, right?!  

Also, a couple weekends ago a ran yet another Ragnar relay.  The Las Vegas one.  It was really hot, we even had one of our teammates taken to the hospital via ambulance because of heat exhaustion.  Other than that...it was a great time. :)  As far as Ragnars go though...I think I will retire from this one.  There are other Ragnars that need my attention.  Like...the Huntington Beach one in April?? Just sayin'...

The van 2 half of the team.  From the top left: Shayla, Corrinn,
Maddie, me, Megan (our trusty driver), Mike and Bryce. 

We had a little bit of car trouble...but thanks to the genius of
Maddie, Megan and Mike (not pictured), it was nothing
but a temporary setback.

3. Flag Football.  A few months ago, my friend Jamie from work invited me to join her intramural football team.  Other than breaking my finger about a month ago, it's been a blast!  Unfortunately, we got kicked out of the tournament last week.  Lame.

My flag football cheering squad.  My family/friends
are very supportive. :)

5.Racquetball.  A few weeks ago I thought to myself; self, why don't you play in racquetball tournaments anymore? So, I signed up for one.  This weekend was the Utah State Doubles tournament and I played with my good old doubles partner Hilary.  No pictures from this but we had a great time.  I plan on playing in more tournaments soon.  Because...why not?!

Not too terribly exciting but that's what's been happening in my life recently.  Maybe I'll use the cold weather to give my tired body some rest.  But...then again maybe not. :)

R.I.P.

This weekend, the world lost one of its bravest members.

Rest in peace watch. We've had some unforgettable times together.

Generally, the mourning process should go on for at least a couple weeks before even thinking about replacing something of this caliber. However, after going one day at work without a watch on, I realized I have become completely dependent on constantly having the time on my wrist. So, for this reason, exceptions have been made.

Welcome, tri-colored $7 watch from Burlington Coat Factory.

As much as I miss my trusty old watch, this one has thus far made

a fairly worthy substitute.

Thanks for the memories old red.

Summertime

Ok. So I don't even know where to start. I feel like about a million things have happened/are happening that I feel I need to report on. But for brevity's sake, let's go for a bulleted list.

• I spent the 4th of July in Chicago with my entire family. It was amazing. Sorry, no pictures from this. My sister has these and turns out I haven't really seen her in a while.
• I ran a half marathon the week after Ragnar which actually was really enjoyable, and then I ran a 5k mud run. The result of all this running--my body hurts all the time.

• My friend Maddie and I made the best smores I've ever had. Picture this: fudge stripe cookie, mallow, reese's cup, mallow, another fudge stripe cookie. Yes, it's possible. And yes it's delicious.
• She's back!! Megan Robinson, that is, from her year and a half of serving the Lord in Lubbock, TX. Lee and Ben and I just got back from a surprise visit to her home in Seattle. It was fantastic. She is fantastic.

And...for some reason, blogger hates me right now and the pictures are all weirdly organized, and I just don't have the brainpower to fix it right now. So, use your imagination. I think it's fairly obvious which pictures go with what events. The canoeing and the eating on the curb both happened in Seattle.

The Back of the Wasatches

So back in 2009, my friends and I decided to run a little race called the Wasatch Back. This race is a part of the Ragnar Relay series and consists of teams of 12 running 192 miles from Logan to Park City, UT. And it's crazy. After our first race I thought, well that was insane, at least I can say I've done it. So then what happened? The time to sign up for 2010 came around and suddenly all my mind could conjure up was happy memories of those 28.5 hours the year before.

When the time came to sign up for 2011, my future was pretty uncertain so I decided to just leave the race alone. Well my friends, it seems this race and I are just meant to be together because a friend of mine sort of happened upon a team and then invited me and ten of my friends to be on it. And I just couldn't pass it up.

Wasatch Back 2011 happened this past weekend. And I'm here to tell you that I enjoyed it more this year than I ever have. And yes I would do it again in a heartbeat. We all had a great time, got an unprecedented amount of sleep (like we're talking almost 5 hours) and I ran relatively pain free and haven't even been sore since! So great. And since Shayla was there and she actually uses her camera instead of putting it in her bag and meaning to use it, I have some great pictures to share with all of you.

Brad and I at the end of the race. Please ignore my very

large-looking arm. And our tired sunburnt faces.

Maddie, me and Shayla after we'd all completed our first legs.

Leg #1: 7.5 miles on a dirt road, 1200 ft of elevation gain, 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Yes, in fact, it was miserable. But oddly, not as bad as I thought it was going to be. And don't be deceived by Brad's parka. He was just bringing me water and when you weren't running, it was a tiny bit cold.

At one of the exchanges this random guy was spray painting Ragnar symbols on people's calves. So naturally, we got one.

The rest of these pictures are from after the race. I love this picture. We all look about as dead as we feel. We were sitting in the only shade we could find, eating our free grapes, waiting for our second van to show up at the finish line.

This picture is the epitome of laziness. Maddie wanted a grape but neither of us wanted to move. Shayla wanted a picture of us doing this but she didn't want to move so she just ducked off to the side in the middle of the picture. And Ben was too lazy to actually take the picture so he set it up on a chair and put it on self-timer. Love it.

And the whole team after crossing the finish line. Our team name was "There's always money in the banana stand" (something that makes more sense if you're familiar with the show Arrested Development) so that's why I'm holding a banana. Just FYI.

So, moral of the story: Ragnar races are fantastic. If you're any kind of a runner at all, you should definitely consider doing one. Look 'em up! They have them all over the country!

Camels: Up Close and Personal

Remember how we went to that safari park when Jen and I visited Brian in Virginia? Well thanks to Brian's friend Emily, we have these fantastic pictures to behold of Jen and I being attacked by camels. I hope you enjoy them. Because I really do.

So naive. I had no idea what was coming...

They just up and stick their entire faces in the car!

I was literally using all of my strength to keep that

bucket in my hands. Because this is what happens if you don't...

They eat the buckets! Not just steal them--devour them.

But despite the bucket stealing, the smelly breath and the half-chewed, slobbery camel food

all over my lap, we somehow came away friends.

This guy was one friendly camel...

Tehas!

This post is a little late but I got to spend Easter weekend with my parents and my sister and her family in Austin, TX! It was so great! The weekend also happened to coincide with Hailey's first birthday! I know what you guys are thinking, "Man, Ali hasn't talked about that darling niece of hers in ages!" Well never fear faithful readers, your wait is over!

Hailey is just about the cutest one year old this planet has ever seen. I got to ride in the back of the car with her everywhere we went and she would wave and say "hi" to all the trees. She also says "yeah" all the time and it's just awesome. I think she might have even liked me by the time I left. :)

Anyway, here are some pictures from the weekend.

This is my sister and Hailey opening one of Hailey's birthday presents. It's funny the things we do for one year old's on their birthdays. Like wrap presents. I mean, do they even know? But let's be honest, it made it fun. :)

One day we drove the two hours to San Antonio and enjoyed the beautiful river walk there. It was beautiful and a really good time.

This is Hailey in her Easter Sunday outfit. There are just no words for this cuteness.

Here's my mom and I at the Alamo. Remember it.

In San Antonio, we found a souvenir shop with some coon hats, fake rifles and a life size cardboard cutout of John Wayne. Naturally, the following pictures ensued.

And that was my trip to Texas! It was hot and humid and...awesome!

Yes I know, I make genius statements.

Row an Oak

First off let me just say, I apologize for the blog neglect. I'm not going to get into reasons why it was neglected, but just know, you have my sincerest apologies (whoever you are...).

So I have a feeling there are some much better pictures to come that I currently don't have my hands on but I thought I'd give a super brief recap of my trip last weekend to visit my brother Brian for his birthday in Roanoke, VA. (Row an oak? I know, I'm hilariously clever)

We were greeted right outside the Roanoke airport by a pile of poop right outside the door. Yep. Don't think about it too long. It can't be explained. Anyway, I inadvertently rolled right through it. And got it on my shoe. We spent a good fifteen minutes or so (mind you, it was 11:30 at night) warning everyone that walked out of the door. Some we saved and some... well, we were just too late.

The next morning we hiked McAfee's knob which although it was much longer and more taxing than we ever imagined it could be, the views of the Shenandoah Valley were totally worth it.

That afternoon, we went to the Virginia Safari Park where I was almost eaten alive by very hungry giraffes and camels. I only have this picture but I am very confident there are better ones to come.

That night after a delicious dinner at Outback, we went and tried out one of Virginia's finest attractions: the hurricane simulator in the mall. It costs $2 and it blows air at you. So of course we did it! It was ridiculous and hilarious how un-cool it was. So naturally, we loved it and it was totally worth it.

The next morning we took off in the pouring rain to see Appomattox (where the civil war ended) and Thomas Jefferson's estate, Monticello. They were both beautiful but turns out you can't see anything at Monticello without dishing out $25. So of course, we didn't pay. And all we got out of this trip was a postcard, a pencil and this picture.

And in two days, I leave for Austin to see my parents, my sister and my niece! She turns one on Tuesday! Crazy. Stayed tuned for more family/travel updates. :)