"Running Thin"

As the semester presses on I am starting to feel the pressure of getting married in less than two months. It is an exciting time for me but also a time where my “to do” list continues to grow daily. Aside from the planning part (music, decorations, dresses, favors, pictures, tuxedos, accessories, out of town guests, addresses, flowers…the list goes on and on), I also have to worry about selling my contract for my apartment, fulfilling my church callings, training for my new job, oh and not to leave out the tiny detail of graduating form college and keeping my 3.9 GPA. IT’S A LOT OF WORK!

But for some reason I didn’t think that I had enough on my plate….so….I decided to compete in a triathlon in March. I know, I am crazy. I’ve been trying to stay in shape, and a triathlon has been my goal for years. I know perfectly well that after I get married, the chances of me completing one go down a lot…so it’s now or never. Do or die (or maybe do and die…not sure).




The other day, as I was stressing out over my full plate I decided to look at the course I will be running (well swimming, biking and running technically). This did not help my anxiety AT ALL. I found out that the entire course is up hill…gaining nearly 2500 feet in elevation. To add to that, the water temperature is ridiculously cold (my brother warned me that that cold of water can make you disoriented when you swim in it). It was at this point that I broke down, called my mom and got a good cry out.

So what do I do? Well I could make it easier on myself and back out of the race….but that’s not me. I’m notorious for doing more than I should and I'm not stopping now. So here I come, 2 a day workouts starting at 6 am. Spin class, swimming, sprint intervals, hill climbs, lifting, trainer, long bike rides (all up hill of course). I’m gonna do this baby and I'm gonna do her well. Its crunch time.



I guess I'm really “running thin” right now time wise, but hopefully come April I will have given that a more literal meaning and see the pay off. Wish me luck!

-Nikki

Seasons of Love

Valentines day…you either LOVE it or you HATE it….

For me, I have mixed memories and feelings towards this holiday, some have been good, and others have been really hard for me. This year however changed my feelings towards this holiday. It had been a few years since I had someone to share this holiday with….my past valentines have consisted of my mom and grandmother….(which don’t get me wrong they were amazing valentines!) But this year I had Brody, and together we were able to rediscover the excitement and enjoyment of this unique holiday.

Being in a relationship after so long has been an interesting adventure for me. It, in a weird way, has helped me to rediscover the person that I really am deep down inside. It has not only helped me to let the guard down that I have had up for so long, but has also helped me to find joy in serving someone else….feeling like it is a worthwhile effort. This relationship in general has been a HUGE growing process for me but a lot of my progress was brought to my attention on Valentines Day.

So to start off…I just want to say that this was the first valentines day in which I have had a guy willingly do so much for me. In the past, unfortunately, my experiences with valentines day have been me being way too eager to do things for someone in my life…and well…lets just say it seemed like it was like pulling teeth for them to do the same for me. But this time was way different. In fact I felt like I didn’t do enough.



For Brody, I got up early and made him a Valentines Day breakfast: cinnamon roles (which I was quite proud of myself for), grilled ham steaks, and his favorite (scrambled eggs). For a gift I got him a super soft bathrobe, which he has been wanting for a while.








After that Brody booted me off to class (which btw…why do we have school on valentines day…we need to do something about this) while he did his thing. On a side note I just need to mention that while I was in my religion class, the girl saying the opening prayer preceded to thank God for “singles awareness day”….and she was dead serious. Don’t worry, my professor started busting up laughing in the middle of the prayer….BYU is strange.



Once I was done with class Brody surprised me with a TON of flowers and chocolate covered strawberries that looked like they were on steroids….AND chocolate covered cinnamon bears….which are THE BEST things in the whole world…(and one of my biggest weaknesses). Funny…the day before Valentines Day I told Brody “don’t get me anything fattening or unhealthy for valentines day”….but its ok I love him anyway!

After that we drove up to sandy to wish our mom’s a happy v-day and then we went out to eat at the Country Club with my parents. Food was delicious…company was even better. Mom’s and Grandmas sent us home with more treats and gifts….I still think I have a sugar induced coma and its three days later….







mmm best things in the WHOLE WORLD...

For my favorite part of the night Brody took me up to Deer Creek which was obviously completely frozen over. We walked out on the lake…which was a little creepy because the weather had been so abnormally warm that the lake was starting to crack. On top of that it was making this weird/creepy noise with every step we took….




It was while we were up there that Brody pulled out yet another surprise for me. More flowers…gosh it was my lucky day. These flowers were three roses, two red and a pink (that was supposed to be white but long story short: the white was dying so pink it was). Around the vase was a card Brody had made describing the symbolism behind these flowers as well as several reasons why he loves me. And as embarrassed as I am to admit this…it made me cry it was so cute….IM NOT A CRIER…ok maybe sometimes but that’s aside the point.






The card explained that the three roses were symbolic of our relationship. The two red ones symbolized us and the romantic portion of the trio. The other “white” rose represented the pure and holy part of the trio, the Lord. The white rose was placed above the two red ones because He is above us and watches over us. He is the reason why we have each other and so that is why He needed to be included on our Valentines Day.






I am so grateful for Brody….he surprises me everyday and my love for him grows each and every second I am with him. This Valentines Day was so amazing and im looking forward to the many many in the future that we will have together. And some people might not be able to believe it…but it was kind of easy to have my mindset of this holiday change from feeling the urge to vomit when I saw couples around me celebrating it…to now feelings of excitement and anticipation for the future.

23 Reasons Why I Love Him....

Brody turned 23 on January 25th and I have officially lost my privileged to tease him about being older than him…at least until I turn 24 in September.

For his birthday we started the day off by making yummy French toast (Brody’s favorite) and then unfortunately we had to spend the rest of the day at school.

But I was sneaky and while Brody was in class I came and decorated his room (which was no easy task all by myself) and it took me a lot longer than I expected.



In adition I bought him some new Oakley ski goggles, took him to Tacanos for dinner (and watched him eat way more than I thought physically possible) then bought him a massage. So even though it was a long day of school it was still a fun day!

Also, since he was turning 23 I made him a card telling him 23 reasons why I love him…here they are (a lot of them are inside jokes so don’t feel bad if you don’t get it).

1. Because every little spoon needs her big spoon

2. Because he is the "pancake man…"

3. Because he went against his better judgment and made the first move on me

4. Because he makes me walk faster

5. Because he will put up with Tony Horton with me

6. Because he will sit through a brad paisley concert with me…even though he didnt know a single song

7. Because he taught me how to rock out to TSO with him

8. Because he loves the Eagles almost as much as I do

9. Because he doesn't care when I have bad breath or when I’m sporting my “bald spot” look

10. Because he loves me just the same when I am in basketball shorts and not wearing any makeup

11. Because he will let me wrap him in spider web and take him in public

12. Because even though it may appear that I very well may be his “unlucky charm,” especially when it comes to gambling…he will never admit it…

13. Because he not only takes me fishing, but he let me take credit for catching the fish, even when it’s on his pole

14. Because he will dress up like Lady Gaga for me

15. Because even though he hates being on campus, and has way to many of his own classes to go to, he will still go sit through my classes with me

16. Because he always know when something is wrong, and he is always able to cheer me up

17. Because he propose to me in the middle of the ocean!

18. Because he will always drive just because he knows I don’t want to

19. Because he loves me even though I spill everything I try to eat

20. Because he makes me take better care of my stuff

21. Because he treats me like a princess

22. Because when I look at him I can tell he really cares about me

23. Because every day I have more confirmations that we are supposed to spend forever together



Then the next day we went to the Jazz Spurs Game... It seemed like a good choice a few months ago when the Jazz were actually good...

Before the game, we went to dinner at Flemmings (don't worry they have stuff for vegetarians) and it was delicious. After we headed over to the game (which surprisingly was quite close). The Jazz couldnt get over the hump the whole game and sadly lost it, but it was a good game. My favorite part was teasing the spurs fans sitting next to us...we made some jazz fan friends and ganged up on them.