Gradiashun

BYU Grads!!!

We did it! After Andrea came to Provo as a baby Freshman in 2010 and I came shortly after as an RM in 2011 we finished up our bachelor's degrees at BYU.

After a grueling semester of student teaching and a coaching internship Andrea graduated with a degree in Teaching Social Science. Andrea was loved by all of her students and athletes. Doug, Edie and I were able to go to Andrea's athletic banquet where she was honored as a graduating athlete.

I graduated in Neuroscience - a subject I have come to love over the past few years. I loved my last semester and had a blast really digging into my major.

This is pretty random but this is a 3D image of my brain. I volunteered to be an MRI subject in my Advanced Neuro lab and it was sweet! If anyone is nerdy enough to care the MRI machine at BYU is 3x's more powerful than the Earth's magnetic field. After showing me a video of an MRI machine tearing a metal chair to shreds they then said, "As long as you have no metal you're fine!" then they stuck my head in the middle for 40 minutes... awesome.

The graduation ceremonies were a bit long but I'm glad we went. We almost skipped out on commencement but we decided the day of to go (Doug and Edie were there also). Elder Steven Snow spoke and did a great job. It was also neat to honor President Samuelson one last time as he received an honorary doctorate degree presented by our new President Worthin.

Friday, April 24th, Andrea and I walked and received our "diplomas". Both Andrea's and my parents were able to be there. We are very grateful for their support throughout both of our educations. We couldn't have done it without them.

Ethan also graduation with his MBA. Here we are rockin our new alumni t-shirts

Jazz and Cougars: First and Last

Andrea and I have always loved watching sports. Whether it's cheering for the US in the Olympics, making picks for March Madness, or supporting BYU's various athletic teams we are big fans. With graduation approaching quickly we wanted to get in a few more local athletic events. Two that really stand out are our 1st Jazz game together and our last BYU game ever as students.

We had been wanting to watch a live Jazz game for a while and when I saw some discounted tickets for the last home game of the season (April 13) I knew we had to make it. They were most definitely nosebleed seats but it was still a great experience.

Caleb and Hannah met up with us at Crown Burger (a tradition my dad started when taking us to Jazz games) and after having a delicious meal we worked our way over to the stadium. (It was entertaining watching Shawn Bradley duck as low as he could to pass through the metal detectors just in front of us.) Although most of the starters didn't play for either team (the playoffs already being determined) it was still a fun game and we were glad we were able to make at least one game while in Utah.



Soon afterward we went to a BYU Baseball game which even though it was our first time to a BYU baseball game it happened to be our last ever sporting event as students. To top it off it was against Utah so it was a full crowd and high tension throughout. The Wings joined us for most of the game and it was fun to be there with them. The game was very entertaining and we were able to see three homers including a grand slam. When BYU won in the 9th with an RBI single and the crowd rose to sing "Rise and Shout" Andrea and I began choking up as we realized it was our last time singing that song as students. We have loved our time at BYU and are sad to move on but we have really enjoyed it all.

Watching the game with new baby Madison

Student Teaching

My last semester at BYU was spent away from the track and campus. I was student teaching at Maple Mountain High School in Mapleton Utah. It was such an incredible experience and I feel so blessed to be able to have worked with the staff and kids there. I worked with Darrell Wyatt teaching his Introduction Psychology classes. Because of a rule change at BYU I also had to teach in my minor which is teaching psychical education and coaching. At first I was really upset but then I grew to love working with my mentor Haley Peck and teaching Zumba class. It was a blast!!!

Student teaching was not nearly as hard as everyone said it was going to be. The hardest time was when I had food poisoning and wanted nothing to do with anything. But I never stayed up late into the night/morning working on lesson plans or grading like my other classmates. I think it is because I was teaching psychology. It is an elective class so the students want to be there. The school itself is also unique. It just runs smoothly because parents and teachers care. Sometimes the parents cared a little too much but it was still very supportive.

My psychology classes were great and very rewarding. When I did activities that the students liked it was really fun to see them get into it. I definitely had my off days both with the kids and with teaching but I think that just comes with the job. My worst day ended up being a really fun day when the projector exploded and all my activities were with a projector. But it ended up working out just fine.

Zumba was so much fun to teach. I also taught an all guys PE class and they were a hoot. PE gave me my most interesting stories. One time on the same day, two girls got in a full on hair pulling (like literally clumps of hair on the ground) slapping fight. I had to break that up. I was scared to death when I went to break it up and so mad at them that all I could say was "what the heck are you doing?" the girls just stopped and looked at me and said "what does it look like?" The next class period a kid stopped dead in his track and stated he had a lizard in his pants. Being a prankster I was like, "ok whatever," but then he started really freaking out. I told him to go to the locker room and check (why he had a lizard in his pants was beyond me). Sure enough there was a lot of screaming and then he came out with a lizard. Apparently at lunch, him and his buddy found a lizard and were playing with it. They lost it and he thought it went up his sweatshirt but they couldn't find it. Well it did go up his sweatshirt and then down his pants.

Along with student teaching, I also helped coach the track team there. That was what made my time at Maple Mountain the best. I found out that I really like being on the other side of track and field. It was rewarding to see the slowest girl on the team run a new PR and be the happiest person in the world. It was incredible. I would run with them and help them with workouts and weight lifting. I worked with Brett Andrus, who happened to coach some of my teammates in high school and ran with Rich at BYU. Brett was incredible and really made me a part of the team and helped me be a leader. He listened to my input and we talked back and forth about what we should do. Brett always made me feel like an equal and just and intern. The girls did so well this year and it was fun to watch. Maddie Ball and Brittany Lund were some of my favorite girls. I ran a lot of miles with them and felt like I could give the a new perspective to running great. They ended up getting in the top 3 in the 32, 16, and 8 and won the 4x4. The Maple Mountain girls ended up winning state which was so much fun.

Track Athlete of the Year

I had the honor of receiving the Female Track Athlete of the Year for the 2014 season. It was an incredible honor. I will forever have my name in front of the track office along with some other incredible past athletes. It was a fun ceremony where many of my family members attended. Christine an the girls came, Karolyn an Skyler came, my Mom, and the Wings came. And of course Jed was there. The MC was an idiot, but it was still a huge honor and I appreciated the support from my family and teammates. This was an incredible honor that really capped my time here at BYU.

Winter Holidays, fun, and babies

Valentines day was so fantastic and Jed treated me so well. Our valentine day tradition is for Jed to make me Kneaders French toast with strawberries and whipped cream. It is always so good. We tried to go to a restaurant that we have always wanted to try called "Four Season Hot Pots" but it was closed. We went to Wild Ginger instead for a delicious Chinese dish and Japanese Sushi. We loved it.

At Wild Ginger

Jed's family always does a fun groundhog day celebration. Their tradition is to make groundhog sugar cookies and they eat them with ice cream. If the groundhog see's its shadow than you get to put hot fudge on your ice cream (although it usually happens regardless). We finally started the tradition this year and invited the Wings over to help us celebrate.

Winter was also a fun time with family. We got to babysit Norah and finally won her approval!!! Hide and seek was a hit. Cami also had baby Madison and it was so fun having them just down the street. I went and visited them so I could hold her almost every day.

Jed and I got really into rock climbing this winter. Now that I am done with running, we had a lot more time to pick up other hobbies and actually use our weekends. We had passes to the Quarry which is a rock climbing gym, and passes to Momentum, a bouldering gym. We loved it so much even though we were showed up by ten year olds. 

Maple Canyon: Where Ice and Lava meet

It was not a normal February in Utah this year. The snow had melted on everything but the highest peaks on the ranges we could see and it was starting to feel like April weather. Andrea and I were getting spring fever and wanted to go off on a weekend adventure. We also had been wanting to have Caleb and Hannah come to visit us in Provo and we thought it would be fun to go on a hike together. My friend Kyle Hill who is a big rock climber told me about Maple Canyon near Fountain Green, Utah. It was only an hour drive from Provo and he said that though it was a popular spot for climbers it also had some great hikes. Andrea and I would have gladly done both (we were both really getting into climbing at this point) but we decided it would be fun to find some hikes to do. Caleb and Hannah stayed the night on Feb 15th and the next day (President's Day) we took off for Maple Canyon. We planned to drive up the canyon to the campground then hike from there. The weather was beautiful and we were confident that we would be able to reach our destination with no problem. However, it was too little too late that we were reminded of two facts: 1. Central Utah is surprisingly high in elevation with Maple Canyon being close to 7,000 feet. Not super high but high enough that it was still cool 2. Canyon floors are hidden from the sun... duh, it's a canyon. We discovered there not only to be a bit of snow but also a thick sheet of ice covering the road. We got up to a point where the car wouldn't go any further and we somehow had to turn the car around on an icy canyon road to get it back down safely. After accomplishing that we had a decision to make. The first hike we wanted to do, Box Canyon, was a mile up the icy road. The second hike, Right Fork, was past the campground about another mile and a half past that. We decided to park the car at the sunny bottom and hike up the icy road to where we actually wanted to hike. This proved difficult but also hilarious and entertaining as each of us had our full out slips on the ice throughout the day, including Hannah who had managed to stay on her feet more than the rest of us and while in the act of saying something like. "I am the only one who hasn't slipped yet" went down as both feet suddenly decided to jump out from under her.

We finally found the entrance to Box Canyon which was pretty amazing. It is a slot canyon made up of rough conglomerate rock rather than the smooth sandstone of southern Utah. It was an incredible hike, simple and short but very fun. It should be known that all of us are easily entertained and Caleb came up with a game while hiking where we would take turns yelling out at unknown times "The ground is lava!" From that moment the person who yelled it out counts down from 5 and on zero, everyone has to somehow get themselves off of the canyon floor and stay there for another 5 seconds. Yes, we know that three year olds play this game in their living rooms but it was EXTREMELY entertaining and hilarious watching everyone scramble onto the canyon wall and try to hang on. At one point while trying to find a place to grab onto I may have started a small landslide taking me with it which led to about a minute of everyone in uncontrollable laughter.

Entrance to Box Canyon

The ground is Lava!

Right Fork Canyon

Despite the unexpected ice it was a perfect day of hiking and everyone enjoyed our adventure at maple canyon.

Christmas 2014

In continuing with our catch-up blogs, we wanted to write a bit about our Christmas break in Spokane. Andrea and I thought it would only be the two of us in Spokane with her parents but we were very happy to learn that both Scott and Christine and their families were coming up as well.

We enjoyed walking around downtown and Riverfront park one of the first nights we were there. It was a chilly evening but Spokane does a good job getting dressed up for the holidays so it was fun to see the lights and displays all over town. One of the best holiday memories came when we were walking toward the Davenport hotel and heard Christmas music and bells in the distance coming closer. We looked down a street and saw Santa's sleigh coming down the street with a jolly voice wishing all a merry christmas over the loud speaker. As the sleigh-truck came closer the voice was not only wishing us a merry christmas but also letting us know how much "Santa loves all the Children!" and telling the nieces and nephews to "Come see my dogs!" and "Santa's got candy for the children!" We were thinking what anyone with any sense has when hearing those words - stranger danger. While still warily holding the little kids back from any impending abduction we soon realized that it was the Spokane Fire Department driving up and down the streets handing out candy canes. (Someone may need to let them know that they may want to change up their tactics for any future holiday service to the children of Spokane.) Anyway, it was a hilarious encounter that everyone will remember.

Creeper Santa Clause

Everyone in the back seat was loving the drive to Subway!

The Davenport Hotel is always one of my favorite places to visit during Christmas. The gingerbread house and tree display is pretty cool not to mention the already elegant setting of the fancy hotel. The family spent some time looking at displays, warming up from the cold weather, and sharing our dance moves in the ballroom on the second level.

 (I hate this picture so much because I was trying to hide the candycane in my mouth-Andrea)

Doug and Edie also kept everyone entertained with their new addition of an xbox kinect in their home. We quickly found lots of entertainment not only playing but also watching family members contort their bodies in ridiculous ways while playing. As always we enjoyed several games of hand and foot, euchre, bonanza, settlers, beanboozled (we learned that jelly belly is pretty accurate with their barf, skunk and moldy cheese flavors) and other games. It was a great break and we enjoyed our time with the family.

Winter Misc. 14-15

With Andrea being done with running we suddenly had a lot more time to spend together on the weekends.

We had a fun Christmas party with the gang

We also were able to ski together, something that we both were cautious to do earlier not wanting to put Andrea's running at risk. We found some great night ski passes to Sundance which had recently had a heavy snowfall near the end of December (probably the only good snowfall that winter). Of course Andrea picked it up like a pro and we had a blast! We would also like to thank BYU Athletics for keeping us warm with winter gear!

We went skiing a second time at Powder Mountain (one of my favorites since I learned how to ski there) with my Dad, Caleb and Hannah. Sadly we didn't get any pictures but it was a beautiful ski day with plenty of hilarious moments: Both Dad and Andrea falling off of the butt-lift, Dad accidently following me and Caleb through the trees and crashing into powder with skiis and poles flying in all directions, Andrea somehow jumping the creek that Caleb and I both crashed on.... it was a good day!

Cross Country 2014

My cross country season of 2014 was not only my final cross country season ever, but it also was my final season and eligibility as a BYU cougar. I was determined to make it the best season yet and accomplish my last goal at BYU, which was to become and All-American. To be an All-American you need to be in the top 40 at nationals. Unfortunately I placed 46th at nationals which was both very exciting, as 46th is still pretty good out of field of 300 of the best collegiate runners, but also disappointing. The season on a whole was very exciting and I had a fantastic time with my teammates, Jed, my coach , and my family. In preparation for the season I was able to put in 70 miles a week in order to be in the best shape of my life. This was also the first summer that I consistently was weight lifting three times a week.

Cross country camp was another success. So after three terrible camps, I finally had two successful camps and it made the experience so much better. Last cross country season was great, but I knew that I was stronger and faster this year. This was confirmed when me and my teammate Carrie ran the time trials almost a minute faster than we did last year. We very excited and so was my coach.

My first race of the season was the BYU Autumn classic. Minnesota and UCLA came to race which was very exciting. Weber, Utah State and Idaho State were also there. My parents were able to come and watch. I was determined to win this race in order to show myself, and my team, that I was ready to lead our team this season. By midway through the race I was well in the lead and finished my first cross country race in first place.

The next race we had was in Minnesota. This was the first time I have ever raced there. The course was beautiful but the race was terrible. I was not prepared properly for the heat and was mentally not there. I started the race perfectly but ended up falling back placing 30th overall and third for our team.

Notre Dame was our third race and I was so pumped to race right. I put myself near the front of the group and just picked people off the entire race. With about 1000 meters left of the race I knew I could get in the top ten with steep competition. I out kicked several girls and was able to place 10th place. It was so exciting and I got a backpack.

Our fourth race in Wisconsin and it was a disaster for our entire team. My coach had us wear pink calf sleeves for breast cancer awareness but they cut all our circulation off and couldn't feel our legs 200 meters into the race. I still placed 60th overall, which was better than the year previous, but I was hoping this would be a preview for nationals so I was really disappointed. Our team did really bad and it made it pretty obvious that we were not going to make it to nationals as a team. I still love the Wisconsin cross country course. One of the best in the nation!

Conference was a very exciting race for the team and made up for the fact that I did not do all that I wanted. I was really hoping to win the race but I just didn't have a finishing kick like normal. It was disappointing, but our team won conference for the first time in about ten years. I took fourth place and Carrie Jube had an outstanding race placing second! I told here after the race that me and her has to work together to get to nationals as individuals.

Regionals was a very bitter sweet race. I was determined to make it to nationals but wanted my team to go as well. As it turned out we were the first team to not make it to nationals. It was so heartbreaking. I was able to take fourth place at regionals and Carrie took 5th so we were both headed to Nationals. I as so happy she was going with me. It was one of my best races of the season. For awhile I was a little too far back but I ran a very patient race and made the right moves when I needed to. Carrie also really helped me because there was one time I felt like I was done but she kept moving forward and was able to go with her. My parents also came to the race which was really great. 

Nationals was so much fun. Of course Jed came with my which made it so fantastic. He has been my number one fan and supporter during my running career. As my collegiate running has come to an end I think of how none of this would have happened if I didn't have the support and love from Jed. He pushed me to be the best runner I knew I could be. He was the best and I love him so much!

At nationals the weather was perfect, unlike last year. My parents came and supported as well. I started the race off very smart and was in the top fifty. I pretty much stayed between 40-50 the whole time. I felt like I gave every ounce of strength that I could give but it wasn't enough to be in the top 40. Sometimes I wish I would have started faster to see if I could have held the top 40 but maybe I would have died hard and not even be in the top 50. I'm happy with my 46th place but most of all I am so happy for my experience to run at BYU for the last five years. It was so fantastic and I couldn't have asked for better teammates/friends and memories.