The Mucky Mucks

I am not sure what I was thinking when I thought it would be a good idea to be a team captain and make a team for the Man vs Mud 5k run, but I am glad that I did. It was so much fun and I have never laughed like that while doing any 5K. It was the first mud run for Cache Valley and The Mucky Mucks (our team) had a great time. I think a lot can be said for pushing yourself to do things you would never normally do, trying new things, and acting like a kid sometimes. This was one of those days when it was okay to scream on a slip n slide, to get dirty, and to let the firemen hose you off. I made some new friends who I think are totally awesome and inspire me and now continue to inspire me as I do a boot camp with them. I like to push myself and have found that more things are about the journey rather than the destination or what place you might finish. It's about digging deep within yourself to do your best and to enjoy yourself and the experiences. So running is not my thing. I don't love it, mostly because of my asthma, but it pushes me so I continue to do it every now and then. I enjoy feeling like I accomplished something and I don't care what place I finish in a race so long as I finish. That is what is important in any race of our lives. We just need to finish and do our best. I am proud of myself and my team and look forward to doing it with them again next year! I now ask the questions to you what pushes you and what is your race you need to finish?

Some of the few pictures we took from the race.

 The Mucky Mucks pre mud

 The crazy starting line slip n slide.

 Just hitting the mud.

 I like to call this the stinky pit. Not sure it was just mud and as you can tell from my reaction in the picture, I wasn't a fan of this one :).

 This is the diagram that Cali did of the last slip n slide into the mud pit.

 The close up version of me taking out the side barrier.

 This was just before Cade totally drenched me with his huge splash :)

The Muck Mucks post mud. We are dirty :). I think I look the cleanest, but that is because when Cade drenched me with his splash he was able to wash most the mud off my face.

How many of you are now going to join our team for next year?

AUSTRALIA!!!

Just typing the title of this post makes me happy and I hear Oprah yelling WE ARE GOING TO AUSTRALIA! to her audience. Well Oprah didn't take me with her, but as I mentioned in my last post, I just got back from an amazing trip there. Australia has always been a place I have wanted to visit and is definitely on my bucket list. I wasn't sure if I would ever make it there. But I did! I subscribe to travelzoo.com. For those of you who don't know what it is, it is just a website that every Wednesday sends you an email of the top 20 travel deals of the week to various places through various companies. One Wednesday on my lunchbreak, I was looking at that day's email and there was such a good deal to Australia. I started thinking more and more about it. And it became a reality! I am so glad that I did. Today, while visiting one of my hospice patients, I was talking with him and his wife and we talked about bucket lists and things we always say, "someday I will go there", or "one day I would like to do this". Why don't we just stop thinking about it and dreaming about it and actually do it! So that is what I did. I went to Sydney to see the opera house, got to hold a koala bear, and snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. All things on my bucket list. I truly feel so lucky and what an amazing reminder to me that we don't have to wait until we are about to actually "kick the bucket" to start doing things on our bucket lists. I know there are a lot of photos here, but believe me there are so many more. This really is just the cliff notes version of our trip. I hope to post more detail on my private blog sometime. So here are some of the highlights of the trip. Enjoy! And thanks to Carrie and Emily for going with me! Such fun girls and I love them both!

Excited for our 14 hour and 50 minute flight. This is us at LAX pre flight and awake :)

Sydney!

This is Darling Harbor one of my favorite places in Sydney

The Blue Mountains

Sydney's version of the Grand Canyon

The Opera House at night and how we first saw it. Also there was a full moon!

 Yes, we were this tired! Totally fell asleep on the train back to the hotel and Emily did drool all over my shoulder. Good thing I had several layers on :)

Sydney Harbor!

The Opera House!

 Outside the main hall

 Inside the main hall.

The ferry to Manly Beach

Our bike ride on the beach. Those two rocked the tandem bike and I fell in love with my little beach cruiser. Want to get one now :)

Manly Beach

Sydney at night

Wildlife Park: Snuggled Koalas and hand fed kangaroos

Chinese Garden of Friendship at Darling Harbor. They let us dress up like Chinese Royalty while we walked around the garden. So fun!

Sydney Aquarium at Darling Harbor. That fish was my little friend that followed me around the tank. 

Bondi Beach: Surfer's Paradise (It was a rainy day)

This is my Aussie surfer friend.

Whale watching on our way to the Great Barrier Reef!

The Reef!

 Carrie and Emily- the snorkel Queens

Rock on! I was there!

The sky rail that went from the city of Cairns through the rainforest to the city of Kuranda.

Rainforest

 My new best friend Chippy!

Could they be any cuter when they sleep :)

The Butterfly Sanctuary at Kuranda. Amazing hundreds and hundreds of butterflies flying all around us and landing on us. Just beautiful!

This little guy landed right on my hand and he didn't want to fly off so we hung out for a bit.

Last night in Sydney. Somehow they knew we were leaving and sent us off with a bang with a fireworks show over the harbor!

Such an amazing trip and one I will never forget!

The Reacher and The Settler

Well hello blog world! I am sorry that it has taken me so long to update my blog. I will try to do better. I feel like I have a good excuse though since I just got back last Sunday from the most amazing trip to Australia! Seriously a dream come true and one of the best vacations I have ever had! I will have to post some pictures and give you the highlights some time soon!

While on my trip with my friends, Carrie and Emily, we had some interesting conversations to say the least. Some of them with drunk people on the train (Emily and Carrie, insert drunk lady's dirty quote here), Aussies on the street, and some just with each other. There is one conversation that sticks out to me and has left me thinking about it more and more. Carrie and Emily told me about their theory of the The Reacher and The Settler. They explained it me that there is always someone in a relationship that reaches to snag someone way better than anyone would expect them to or better than they deserve and then there is the settler who settles for someone beneath their potential. Now I am not sure if I agree completely with it since I have so many amazing friends that married the most amazing people, but it does have some merit I think in certain situations.. I know there are some people I see and I think how on earth did they end up together? What does he see in her? Or why would she put up with that? Well, one reached and one settled. I tend to think that some of the men and women that settle do it on purpose. They like the control and want to have someone who reached (and knows they did) so that person feels lucky enough to be with the person that they will just bend to the settlers will and like what they like and do what they want. Then it got me thinking do more men or women settle? Interesting thought. Not sure on the answer. I personally prefer to reach and find someone who when I am with them, I want to be a better person and it makes me want to reach higher for both of us. But I do see so many people settling. Maybe it's easier than being alone, I don't know. There are worse things than being alone though. So let me pose this question to all of you, are you a reacher or a settler? Do you believe this theory even has merit? Please let me know what your thoughts are and don't worry you can be honest. Which are you or are you one of those amazing friends I just talked about that married someone just as amazing as you? :)

35 Lessons Learned

I am sorry that it has taken me a few weeks to post again. I have had a nasty sinus infection and my head felt so full that I really didn't have any thoughts in my head for a bit :). There are a few things I do want to talk about, but am just trying to formulate my thoughts to post them. Look for them soon.

Today is my birthday and I won't lie to you. It is kind of a hard one for me. I thought turning 30 was tough, but that had more to do with things going on in my personal life at that time. This one is tough in a different way. 35... aren't you half way to dead at that age??? Just kidding. I have joked with many people about officially hitting cougar status this year. But really isn't age a state of mind anyway? In my mind, I am still twenty something and I think I will stay there for awhile :). As I have reflected the last few days on getting older, I have thought about what I have learned in those 35 years of my life and I thought I might share them.

Here are 35 things that I have learned in the last 35 years:

 1. Growing up in a small town can be a great thing.

 2. Not everyone has parents as amazing as mine.

 3. You can hate your siblings and yet love them at the same time

 4. Good friends are the ones you can trust with your darkest secrets.

 5. Laughter is a necessary part of every single day.

 6. Children know just how to make you feel loved.

 7. Life isn't always fair.

 8. Bad things do happen to Good people.

 9. Life isn't a fairytale no matter how much you wish it was.

10. Sometimes people promise forever and they really don't mean it or they change their mind.

11. When you are heartbroken, your heart really does feel like it's in pieces and that does change you.

12. Life will throw you curve balls.That's a guarantee.

13. You are stronger than you know you are.

14. The greatest strength needed to overcome things does not require physical strength.

15. Spandex is never a good wardrobe choice no matter what people say.

16. Dogs really can be your best friend.

17. Competition isn't always about winning, but about doing your best. (Took me a long time to learn this one).

18. It is the little things that matter.

19. People are more important than possessions.

20. Music is healing.

21. The World is amazing and beautiful.

22. We are all Children of God.

23. Forgiveness is as necessary in life as breathing.

24. Who you were in high school is not who you will be years later.

25. Each day of life is precious.

26. Death is as beautiful as life.

27. Sometimes it is more fun to be an adult when you act like a child.

28. Love is Eternal.

29. Karma really is a bitch. (Sorry for the language).

30. Hard work will take you further than intelligence will.

31. Kindness does begat kindness.

32. Your actions do affect others.

33. It is important to challenge yourself.

34. Who you think you are now is not who you will be in another 35 years.

35. Faith and family are the most important things in this life.

Now I am curious which ones you agree with and what life lessons you have learned. I would love to hear your thoughts and hope you share yours with me. What have you learned?