Dumby

This week has definitely been one of the most stressful weeks of the semester.  I think there is some kind of teacher code that says last week of school-slam on all the projects, presentations, and papers possible.  But it's okay!  Because it is over and I survived.  


To top it all off, this has also been one of the most stressful social life/worst boy experiences weekends of the semester.  It's Murphy's law.  I've accepted it.  


So naturally, I was feeling very low and spending all my time venting to my roommates, sitting around doing nothing to fix it.  Then it hit me--I was being so dumb.  I was miserable because I was only thinking of myself.  As soon as I realized that, I remembered the car air freshener I had bought for my friend Avery. 


Previously in the semester, some boys in our ward had pranked her by putting popcorn in her car.  Now, months later, her car still knocks people out with the awful smell.  So I bought her an air freshener.  The moment I started thinking about making her life better, I stopped thinking about mine, and I felt a 180 degree turn around in my feelings.  


What I've learned: The moment my focus turns to how to make someone else's life better, all of my problems seem to be solved.  I hope I never forget this again.

Hurricane Arizona

This weekend we traveled to Tempe, Arizona.  You should be jealous of the 80 degree sunshine, right?  Wrong.  The sun was there the day we arrived and the day we left, but the day of the race was 30 degrees with pouring race and 100 mile an hour winds--basically.  But it made for a memorable weekend.


The weekend would have been memorable anyway, because I had to run my first full steeple chase.  That is one crazy race!  Twenty girls all trying to jump over barriers with a water pit on the other side and sharp metal things strapped to their feet.  No wonder I love this race.  


The rest of the girls raced really well, too, despite the hurricane Arizona.  I have a very impressive team, one that doesn't stop at any excuse for a bad race.


The trip was great, with a little sunshine, shopping, and Olive Garden--you can't go wrong there.  And no matter where we are, my teammates have a good time.  

Next race is Mt. Sac, one of the most beautiful places on earth.  I will know today if I am racing there or next weekend, here in Provo.  

First Sunburn of the Year

This weekend I ran my first ever Steeple Chase... and I had the time of my life!
For those of you who don't know, the Steeple is a 2 mile hurdle race, with 5 hurdles per lap, and one hurdle you jump into water... Ya and I voluntarily choose to run this.  Bring on the sanity tests.  


But the even crazier thing... I LOVED it.  We flew to USC this weekend, and I was able to run my first, and then my coach made me run the 1500m a half hour after!  Crazy man.  But I was actually really happy he did, because both races went really well and I had so much fun.  Turns out he does know some things after all... 


Coach only had me run the first half of the Steeple, as he does with all first-timers, because it's all about getting the technique down first so we don't hurt ourselves.  I get to run my first full one in two weeks at Mt. Sac.. I'm really excited!


But the even better part of this weekend... GENERAL CONFERENCE.  
I love General Conference.  It was so neat to see my teammates making an effort to listen to conference on their phones, showing how important hearing the prophet is, even when not convenient.  


I got back late Saturday night (not too late to not play some fugitive in the pouring rain..) and woke up early Sunday morning to drive to Salt Lake to get in the standby line for conference tickets.  And we made it in!  Conference was so beautiful.  The messages were truly inspired and the music was breathtaking.  I am so grateful for a living prophet who can see what we need to hear straight from the Lord.


And poor Sarah, a 9 hour date to General Conference with a lovely freshie.  Gotta love 'em.


Needless to say, its been a great weekend.  Finals are coming up, summer is almost upon us... Bring on the sunshine, bring on the good times!

Thermometer Box

This weekend I did not have a race, I had something better.  My brother was accepted into BYU for the fall, so he wanted to make a campus visit and see what college life is really all about.  My dad and brother drove down on Saturday and are spending the weekend with me.  


They got in around 4pm Saturday afternoon, and we went straight to eat because I have a 17 year old brother.  Then we went grocery shopping and my brother got really excited because he decided to make us dinner the next day (tonight). 


Finally we got to the fun part--Provo Beach Resort.  It was couple central since it was 8pm on a Saturday night, but we escaped them and went bowling.  But this wasn't just any bowling.  These lanes were a little less than standard, so pins would fall over after nothing hit them.  It was pretty entertaining.  

Then we went to dinner around 10pm--Pizza Pie Cafe!  But I made the mistake of having my brother tell me funny stories after I had finished a buffet-size dinner.  My stomach hurt so bad I thought I was going to die.  My brother is the best story-teller ever (not unlike Sarah Edwards) and he has done some pretty dumb things... (also not unlike Sarah Edwards).  We loved reminiscing of the good ol' days. 


Today they came to church with me and met all my friends, and tonight we're having a games night with all my best friends.  I'm so excited, and I'm going to make my brother tell all his funny stories, including the time he punched a thermometer box (which I now know is called a thermostat) and the time I scared him while he was holding a vacuum over his head...  


Needless to say its been a great weekend, and tomorrow they are coming to see what college classes are truly like, and then its back home.  I'll be devastated.  But luckily I'll only have to wait until next fall when I'll be able to see my big little brother daily. 

"ELROD! It's ELROD!"

First outdoor race this weekend! In sunny San Diego.

This weekend was crazy.  We were in california for less than 24 hours, and were in three different states twice in two days.  

We left Friday evening at 4pm and our flight was delayed with a layover in Vegas, so we did not get to California till after 11pm Provo time.  Luckily for me, my race was at 9:20 the next morning, so I didn't have time to stress.  It was to bed and up the next morning and onto the track.  

The race was really fun.  I ran with KDA (who won!), Lindsey, Kathryn, and I.  It was Lindsey and my first track 5k, and we ended up running nearly all of it together with a finish of around 17:40.  Our coach was really happy with all of our races, which has to be the best feeling ever.  

Then we just had the rest of the day to play!  Lindsey and I were put in charge of filling the rental cars with gas--so much fun.  We got to drive around San Diego, windows down, music blasting.  

We came back to the meet and cheered on our teammates for a little while after.  Sarah Edwards had an awesome race, basically equivalent to her New York 1000m.. which we all know she is a champ at.  And then it was to the beach!  The sun and sand felt so good, and it was the perfect grand finale.

But back at the airport, one final funny moment happened.  The team has been trying to figure out Coach Shane's middle name for years.  We know it is "E", but no one would tell us any more.  But in the airport, a woman comes over the intercom, and says "Can we please get Shane, Patrick? ... Shane, Elrod Patrick?"  KDA turns around and shouts, "ELROD!  It's ELROD!" and all the girls start cheering.  The whole airport started laughing.  SUCCESS!

Home it was at 1am after almost every wrong thing could have happened, but at least I was with my best friends.  There were delays, problems with the busses, construction, and snow, but we all had a wonderful time and were happy to go to sleep that night!

Next race is the STEEPLE! Ah!

But first, my dad and brother are coming into town next weekend... CAN'T WAIT! 

When Upon Life's Billows

Today was the Holy Sabbath, and our Relief Society lesson was on happiness no matter our circumstances in life.  I felt that tonight, I wanted to do my post on the things I am most grateful for.  This list in literally never-ending, but here are a few that come immediately to mind:

-My knowledge of my relationship with my Savior, that I can follow Him and not fear anything in my life because I know all I go through in my life is so He can make me eternally happy.

-My family that is always present in spirit.  My mother is the most nurturing and caring woman I have ever known, and expresses her love in every act and word.  My dad is the rock in our family, never changing in his devotion.  All my brothers and sisters, especially my little brother Rob, my best friend in all the world.

-My friends who constantly make me laugh till my stomach hurts.  And always seem to know exactly what I am thinking.

-My blessing to be at BYU and the limitless opportunities and doors being opened while I am here.  The ability to learn from great professors and peers.

-Music that helps me in every emotional state.  

-Sarah Edwards.

-Running that has taught me just about everything I need to know about life, and is one of the greatest joys I have.  

I Solemnly Swear I Am Up To No Good

It all started the night my friend got two garbage bags full of popcorn in the front seats of her car.  I knew I had to get involved.  No one messes with my best friend like that.


My friend Avery was in a prank war with an apartment of boys in our ward that all began with a drop of methleyne blue in a pan of brownies.  The boys retaliated with a bag of popcorn tied to Avery's door that would explode upon opening.  Avery cleaned up the popcorn and put it back in their bath tub.  This is where the car came in.  Avery picked up the popcorn and handed it over to me.  She gave me what she thought was the door code to their apartment.  I went to their door while they were home teaching, and the code didn't work.  I tried a couple variations and it still wouldn't open.  Finally, in a last ditch effort, I tried a random code--the door opened.  One of the happiest moments of my life thus far.  I poured all the contents of the garbage bag into their fridge and booked it out of there.

Two days later, I woke up with fruit loops EVERYWHERE.  The best part was the bowl and spoon with milk sitting in the middle of the mess of my living room.  At least it looked pretty.  Now we are planning diligently to get them back.  We stole their mail key today, but because a mailbox is government property, we have to be slightly careful.  We're planning on doing something good to their car... They better watch out because they already know we are up to no good.