The Year in Review: The Fall

Besides loving my new rommates and my new ward and my new stake and my new calling (new, new, new...) it was time for some other new things too...

NCFR--the National Council on Family Relations--
This was maybe the most noteworthy thing from this semester. In November, I went to Pittsburgh for three days to attend this coference. While there, I presented some research with my professor, Dr. Duncan:

and stayed with my good friend Vickie:

There were times where we were very tired, and needed a little comic relief. Behold, the Pringle duck bill--

Of course who should be walking by at that moment but head of my department from BYU. He just laughed and walked the other way. Now, the word's out--I can be as silly as they'd always suspected!

This is the view from the top of the Incline. Click on them to see them better!

We had a great time galavanting around Pittsburgh, the city of a thousand bridges.

Public Policy--
I took a Public Policy course this semester, almost on a whim. Even though it was one of the most demanding classes I have ever taken, I loved it! As I was on my way to school to finish my final paper at 6 am one morning, this is what I saw:


Don't you love BYU?
The Bambi on the right kept his little rear facing the camera...

AND--As of 21 minutes ago, my finals are all finished for this semester, and 21 hours from now, I'll be home! Can't wait to see y'all! Merry Christmas!

Cooties

A friend sent me this 3 minute video--

http://youtube.com/watch?v=w6ylxWcwkUM

Favorite line: "All I did is trade lunchables." :)

I think it's poking fun at the HPV vaccine campaign, but it made me smile.

Added 19 Dec 07--I've had the thought that some might not find this very funny...I guess I felt the need to warn you.

The Year in Review: The Summer

EFY--

I had the most sleep-deprived blast of my life at EFY this summer. We danced, we sang, we ate pizza, and took lots of pictures. I was a counselor for only two weeks, but man, it was great!

.

.

I loved my girls, and you can tell that the councilors had great fun together!

Meme and Granddad--

On the Friday of my second week of EFY, Granddad passed away. We knew it was coming, ever since he fell, but we were still sad to have it be final. We soon learned that Meme would be joining him, and we were all getting really tired of coming home for funerals. It was also a time to reflect on what a unique and blessed and happy way we had all grown up.

This was taken and Joseph and Erin's rehearsal dinner in March '07.

Triathlons--

--Provo

In between the funerals, I was registered to compete in the Provo Triathlon. Between EFY and worrying about family, I hadn't trained *at all.* I knew that putting my body through that would not be fun. The night before the race, I really wanted to pull out, but after a long night, I finally decided to use this occassion as a celebration of life. I would simply enjoy the fact that I was alive and could move and breathe. So, I dedicated the race to Meme and Granddad as a celebration of their lives.

I posted this sign for myself at my transition area. I overlooked the fact that lake water would get all over it, but it still meant everything to me.

"Meme & Granddad: In celebration of a great life."

On a lighter note:

(Click on the picture so you can read the sign)

The place where we swam. :)

--Jordanelle

I've already written quite a bit about Jordanelle, but here's the only picture that I actually had taken from that event.

This is Janet. She and I had our transition areas next to each other. We kept each other company during the swim and bike portions (Then, I ate her dust on the run!)

And that was my summer!

Stay tuned for the next installment when I'll catch you up on this fall!

Announcing the return of the Mola Mania!

I'm sorry to have left everyone hanging. Now that school has slowed down and finals are almost over, and I have downloaded my pictures onto my computer--I am happy to say: I'm back!
Stay tuned to see Mola's year-in-review.

I hope you're getting excited!

Back to School

Sometimes, life in the graduate program can be a little crazy. We've learned how to multi-task fairly well. When you can't find your professors, but you really need to talk to them, and you're feeling a little low on sleep, then you take a nap outside their office, like so:

When that doesn't work and you're feeling sufficiently rested, you start to suspect that they've been in there all along, but they are hiding from the students (we can be persistent little critters). So you just jump and have a little looksy:

Ha ha! Gotcha!

Tagged!

So about a month ago I think somebody tagged me. Sorry for the lag, but I am happy to fulfill me tagged duties now! Here goes:

Jobs I’ve Held:
1. File clerk*
2. Copy room assistant*
3. Quality control inspector *
4. Concession and ticket sales for Cinemark
5. Wait Staff, Maitre'd, and Supervisor for BYU Catering
6. Warehouse worker*
7. Nurse's assistant
8. Research assistant
9. MTC teacher--my personal favorite by far.

*These were all for the family company. Dad was kind enough to give me employment (against my will in my younger years, and much to my relief in more recent years.) Thanks, Dad!

Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:
1. Sense and Sensibility
2. While You Were Sleeping (a family favorite)
There are probably others...

My Guilty Pleasures:
1. Working out when I should be doing other things
2. There is this great cereal that is a cross between coco puffs and lucky charms. Mmmm.

Places I Have Lived:
1. Aubrey, TX (born and raised!)
2. Provo, UT
3. Various places near Fresno, CA
4. Washington DC....? I'll let you know about that one.

TV Shows I Enjoy:
I don't watch much anymore, but when I do...
1. The West Wing (it's not really around anymore, but it might qualify as my very favorite)
2. Planet Earth
3. CSI Miami
And I used to be a Star Trek fan (dare I admit it?) back in high school.

What were likely the 1st things you thought when you saw your significant other for the first time?
1. Stay tuned....

Places I’ve Been on Vacation (other than the U.S.):
1. Cancun
2. England/Scotland
3. Russia

Favorite Foods:
Mmm, so many to choose from... and I tend to go through phases, but the classics would be
1. ice cream of just about any flavor
2. chocolate (I'm pretty sure I inherited this one. Chocoholics run in my family!)
3. Italian food
4. Most Eastern cuisine (This may have to do with my Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Korean companions I had on my mission...)

Websites I Visit (almost) Daily:
1. Email--I think I'm a bit compulsive about it
2. Blog (mine and friends)

Body Parts I Have Injured:
I haven't broken any bones but--
1. I've cracked a wrist and foot in a biking and soccer incident respectively during my grade school years.
2. I had a trampoline accident in 7th grade that rearranged my back a bit
Other than that, just a few stitches and scrapes. Nothing too adventurous. I'm happy to say that I have enjoyed great health.

Nicknames I’ve been called:
Yes, hmm. I wrote an entire entry about this, so I will refer you there. It's there very first one in this blog. :-)

People I now tag:
This is difficult, considering that almost everyone I know with a blog has already been tagged. So, Megan and Devin, and Ben Crowder, if you haven't already been tagged--you're up!

Why I TRI

I raced in the Jordanelle TRI on Saturday, August 25th. Here is how the event unfolded...I'll give you some pictures of the event (Thanks, Zazoosh Pictures; I appreciate it) and I'll give you a little commentary on each one, and then some bonus reflections at the end.

My heat was at 10:21 am for all women ages 14-29 and all the relay teams, about 100 racers total. At the sound of the blow horn, we took off. This leg of the race was pleasant--the water was cool, but not too cold, and clearer than most open water swims. 16 minutes and half a mile later, here's me coming out and trying to get the wet suit off (hence the funny look on my face)

Then, it was off to find the old sneakers that each racer had waiting for us at the exit. Our bikes were stationed half a mile away at our transition area, and it was a gravel-ly road to get there. Once there, I geared up for the biking leg: shoes, helmet, sunglasses and Camelback (thanks, Dad!). The transition area for all 1,000 racers was strung out along another half mile of road, and you had to run your bike through the length of the transition area before you could get on--as seen here.As far back as you can see in the picture, that's still the transition. I am almost to the end by the time this was taken.

Then, it's off on the 13 mile bike trek. This was taken just near the beginning: You can't see it in any of the pictures, but the course takes you around the backside of a very steep hill. The ascent is long and less harsh this way. The payoff, though, is that you get to come down that hill. I really looked forward to that part. Before I reached it, I decided that I would try to go faster than I had ever gone before on my bike. Any guesses as to how fast that actually ended up being? Well, the speed limit was 40 mph... I am happy to say that on that day, I was a law-breaker. According to my cycling computer, my bike and I reached (Mom, close your eyes) 49.0 mph. Hee hee! It was great! (Okay Mom, you can open now).

Back in the transition now, I racked my bike, swapped my shoes and was off on the last part--a 5k run. The run has always been my weakest link (goodbye!) and due to my lack of training, that weakness was blown WAY out of proportion this time. You can see a progression in these last two pictures. This one was taken about midway through: The feet are coming off the ground nicely, the air is still moving in and out of the lungs, the face is a healthy color... And then you get this one, just at the finish line: The feet are just barely clearing the ground, and my face is like a little strawberry. Then--whew!--I was finished! One hour, 44 minutes and 43 seconds after beginning, I was finally finished! Thank goodness!

As an aside--for races like this, each participant has their racer number written in permanent marker on their arms. The missionaries had a great time mock-chastizing me later that night at the Referral Center (Sister Martino, your body is a temple...) Ah, bless their little souls.

Reflections: though I would scarcely have called this race fun (due to my lack of training, it was physically not enjoyable) it gave me great opportunity to reflect why I do such things. After much thinking and many reformed conclusions it is this: I love the concept of self mastery. When I did this particular race last year, I felt in such complete control. I knew that I could push my body and my body would obey. I knew that mentally, I had become full of optimism about what my body could do. I had become tolerant to pain and felt more fit than I had ever felt before at any point in my life. That is why I felt so disappointed with this race--I didn't feel any of those things. (Rightfully so, considering that I trained about a third as much as last year.) But that is what also keeps me determined to come back for more. It also helps me understand that new personal best times are not my goal, not anymore. But rather, I want to be fit and gain great self mastery. That is why I TRI.