Tulsa Mud Run!!

BEFORE

AFTER

Saturday afternoon Grant and I and our new friends Stephanie and Jason ran in the Tulsa Mud Run. It was a two mile run through a muddy obstacle course. It ended with a giant slip n slide into a mud pit. The Tulsa fire squad was there to hose everyone off after the run. It was so fun!

After the run we went home and changed and then ate at my new favorite restaurant JoMamma's! Delicious! Best pizza ever!

Mt. Kilimanjaro

{all photos via flickr}

Well, since Grant and I don't have any big vacations or travel plans in the near future (besides Utah in June woooo!) for now I have to settle with just planning our dream trips.

While I was studying at BYU I had several classes from Dr. Durrant. Although his tests are killer, he is so awesome and is passionate about what he teaches. Two of the classes I took from him were Global Adventure Travel, and Studies of Sub-Saharan Africa. They were two of the best classes I had at BYU. Dr. Durrant was a great teacher because he has spent an extensive amount of time living in Africa and studying the people of both Tanzania and Chad. He was the one who first sparked my interest in climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Mt. Kilimanjaro is the tallest peak you can climb that doesn't require any technical climbing experience, which is good because I don't have any! :) Dr. Durrant once told me that you'll never forget the first time you see Kilimanjaro. At 19,341 ft. it is one of the tallest free-standing mountains in the world. It takes between 5 and 8 days to reach the Uhuru summit depending on how much time you want to take to acclimatize.

It's a unique climb because although you at the base of the mountain where you begin your trek it is a jungle, the top of the mountain is covered in glaciers and snow. You experience such a variety of climates!

So, who wants to come???

I did it!

Last Saturday I did something I've been wanting to do for a long time: I ran a half marathon! My dear sister-in-law Carin ran it with me up in Olathe, KS.
My goal was to run it in under two hours, and I made it! My time was 1 hour and 58 minutes (including TWO bathroom stops! whoops!)
We had such a great time running and Grant and Barry brought the kids to see us at mile 9 and then again at the finish line. I felt so good when we finished!! As we ran through the finish line the announcer said, "and here come Carin and Maren! Hey, you guys must be friends" and then we hugged. It was sweet.

Anyway, it was great experience, and I'm definitely open to the idea of one day running a full one!
Carin and I have such a good time together. I just wished they lived closer!!

I would like to thank...

Oklahoma for the 58 degree weather, Vampire Weekend, Bishop Allen, Empire of the Sun, La Roux and of course my girl Brit for the musical boost while I took advantage of this amazing day and went running outside. I would also like to thank my body for being able to dance and run at the same time. It's a life skill, many hours of practice were involved. :)

Ah! Life is good!

We also got the news that our visas are done and waiting for us in Dallas. hip hip hoooray! We'll be in Sao Paulo by Friday!!

{click the links above to listen to the actual song that was on my playlist}

I really wished this post was going to go a lot differently...

Well folks, last night didn't quite go the way that I would have liked..
Fuego lost.

I could talk all about the game and how sad it was and how I may have cried at the end, but I won't. I really just want to say how wonderful it was to be on this team with so many great girls. Maybe it's that I'm married now and don't hangout with girls as often as before, but I have loved loved loved seeing these girls so frequently. Some of us have been together for three years now! They all saw me meet, date and get engaged to Grant, and now I have had the privilege to see many of them go through the same things. When I cried at the end of the game it wasn't because we didn't get our precious t-shirts, it was because this is my last year playing with them and I know I won't get to see many of them again.

I just wanted to take a second to say something about each one of my dear friends.

Julie: Where do I even start??? I love this girl to the moooon. We became good friends when we both lived at King Henry and she dated my cute bro-in-law Mark for a quick sec while I was dating Grant (remember when we all went ice skating together and you and I held hands, Julie???). She is one of the funniest girls I know and I still wish Mark and Julie would make things work for my sake:) She is FAST, and she is the best rusher I know. love you julie.

Cami: Oh gosh. Cami is so great. I love that Cami was serious about this team. I knew on game day I would get a text from Cami (and usually one from Kristen too) that got me pumped for the game. When I gave Cami a hug after the game and saw the tears in her eyes I knew she felt the same way I did. Cami loooves High School Musical and I think it's great! I was so happy when Cami decided to marry Ethan! They are so great together and I know they'll be happy forever!

Jentri: Oh Jentri, you are so funny! I'm really going to miss our pre-game dancing and you making fun of the length of my limbs. I wish we had more time together because I guarantee we would be best friends. in fact, it's not too late. let's have a sleepover!!

Kristen: the bus driver!! ha, this girl took EVERYONE to the games. I loved getting texts from K on game days. She is like the team mom (in a very very good way!) When I need to know when our game is K is the person to call. I can't wait to see what Kristen does in life. I know she'll be so successful. I'll never forget that you were once my awesome Relief Society President, and you were such a good one!

Krista: RMYL buddies! Krista is so tough. When the rest of the girls and I show up to games in full on snow gear she shows up in shorts and maybe a light jacket. crazy. Another girl that I'm so glad I met through this team. Krista, you are the best.

Melissa: She's getting married in a month!! yay! I'm so glad I got to know Melissa better this year. She is so great and I know that her and Ryan are going to be so happy!

Anna: Best. Quarterback. Ever. Seriously, Anna is amazing, and Dante is so lucky! They are the best and most athletic couple ever. Only Anna could rock basketball shoes on her wedding day and look AMAZING. Oh anna, I'm so glad you didn't go play basketball at BYU-Hawaii. We would have missed you too much!

Rachel: This girl is so cute I can't believe it. I can't believe someone so skinny and adorable could be so good at football! Rach is so beautiful and always has a smile on her face. She cheers everyone up when we're down on ourselves. I'm going to miss you Rach!

Hey, I love you guys. Seriously. alot. I'm glad I met you all, and I'm expecting a big reunion party after Thanksgiving because I'm already having Fuego withdrawls!

Fuego!

This post sadly will have ZERO pictures because I always forget to take my camera to our games, buuuuut..

It is official, our flag football team- Fuego- will be going to the semi-finals on Tuesday!!

Anyway, our team consists of Anna, Cami, Julie, Jentri, Melissa, Krista, Rachel, and Kristen. I'm not trying to sounds conceited, but our team is goood. really good. I'm not great, but maaaan the team is good. We've played together now for three years, and this is the last year we will all be together to play. This year we're going to do it. Come hell or high water, WE'RE GETTING SHIRTS.

Our last game was Saturday at 12:15 and we had quite the fan base. My parents and my sweet sister Emily came down to watch us play, and of course Grant was there. In my whole flag football career (three years running) he has only missed one game, and it was because he was deathly sick and I MADE him stay home. Also it seems like everyone else on the team either had their husband, fiance, boyfriend, or some kind of significant other there too. I felt bad for them because during the second half it started snowing so hard! poor fans...

Next game: Tuesday 8:15