A Few of My Favorite Things

So I'm back in Provo. I'm not super excited about this, because being at school means I can't hang out with my family, wear sweats all day, and I have to start studying again. To counteract this depressing thought, here are 25 things that make me very happy. :)


1. The sound of kids laughing. :)
2. Snow that sparkles! 
3. When you're shuffling, and execute a flawless bridge. Pure bliss.
4. Being outside! Particularly sleeping outside.
5. Reading a really good book for the first time. 
6. Or, watching a really good movie for the first time. Like Les Mis. 
10. My quote calendar.LOVED IT. 
7. My roommates.
8. Big, huge icicles!
9. Laying on the beach.    
11. When a little kid says they love me. :)
12. When a cute boy I don't know smiles at me.
13. When your favorite song comes on the radio.
14. Holiday Butterfingers-the hearts at Valentine's day and the bells at Christmas. So. Good.
15. A boy that smells absolutely divine. 
16. Soaking up some sun.
17. My family!
18. Inside jokes. Kohls anyone? :)
19. Sunsets.
20. Really, really old trucks.
21. When you start using a new shampoo and it makes your hair smell SO good.
22. Getting a letter in the mail.
23. When my little brother calls me just to talk. Or my mom. Or my dad!
24. Christmas, and everything about it.
25. Holding a happy baby. :)

Come up with your own list of some things that make you happy! I worked on this list for a couple days, and it helped me realize that little things like this can make all the difference. Smile, it's the second best thing you can do with your lips! :)

2012!

So, I decided to make a post about 2012 and add some of my favorite pictures. It was hard to decide what any of my favorite pictures were, and it was an incredibly sentimental moment as I went through all my pictures from the past year. 2012 has been wonderful, and I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store! :)

PS-I'm not gonna add descriptions to any of these pictures. Or guarantee that they are in order. These are just the pictures that made me smile the most as I went through them all. :)

I'm so grateful for my amazing friends and family that made 2012 so much fun! Love you all! :)

Finals!

Dear Finals Week,

I don't actually hate you as much as you might think. In fact, you often bring a lot of happy memories. I guess you could say we have a love/hate relationship. For example:

Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the semester. It was a great break in between our reading days and the start of test taking. My awesome friends Jena and Mackenzie gave wonderful talks in church. They are both going to be amazing missionaries. Watch out, New Hampshire and Argentina!! :)

I chilled with my roommates after church, and I love them! We laughed so much yesterday. :) We were all in denial about finals, but we didn't have any homework to do. Hence, we got to hang a lot more than normal.

We had a little jam session last night. I played my flute and Brooke and Liesl both sang lots and lots of Christmas songs. I totally loved it! They both have gooor-geous voices that covered up my squeaky fluting. :)

Johanna and I made the best brownies we have made all semester. Chocolate chips, freaking rich choclate frosting, and peppermints on the top. Boom baby. Pretty sure we could have eaten the entire pan.

Photo cred: Johanna. :)

During finals week, I feel like it is more socially acceptable to rock the bun and the sweats. Which is great, because I do that anyways. I just feel better about myself when I see other people working the same bum look as me.

People are extra nice during finals week. Last year, some people were walking around the library handing out cookies and wishing everyone good luck on their tests. :) So kind.

And after finals week comes the best part of the entire semester. I get to go home and see my family!! I can't wait to hang out with my brothers-I love them!

So here's to making happy memories during our last week of this semester. Best of luck to everyone else that is in the middle of finals too! You got this!! :)

Awkward Interview

My parents went on a cruise to Alaska last summer, and they totally loved it. When they docked, a bus guide would take them to see the sights of that city. One of their bus guides was a BYU student, and told my parents how great his job was. I saw an ad for this job on campus the other day, and decided to apply for it! I like adventures, and a summer job in Alaska definitely sounded like an adventure. So I filled out the application and submitted it. I didn't have my heart set on actually working in Alaska, but decided to apply and see what happened. I thought it would take awhile for anyone to get back to me about it, but they sent up an interview for the next day!

Ketchikan Alaska-where I applied to work this summer!

So I dressed up a little bit this morning in preparation for my interview. Nothing too drastic, but nicer than my classic jeans and t-shirt look. I got out of class early, and set off for my interview listening to inspirational songs. I walked into my interview feeling confident and so ready to prove what an epic tour guide I would be. She started the interview off with a couple really easy questions. "Have you ever been charged with a DUI?" Nope, definitely not. "Have you ever been found in possession of drugs?" Nope! I was rocking the interview so far.

Then she asked if I was going to be 21 be the middle of February.

Uh... no. I just turned 19 in July, so I will only be 20 by the end of this summer.

"Well", says my interviewer, "that means you actually aren't old enough for this job. Thanks for your interest though."

And that was the end of my very awkward and embarrassing job interview. We walked past the secretary of the office about 30 seconds after asking her for the key to the room. Wonder what she thinks happened? Haha.

But on the bright side, that's one less option I have to consider as I decide what epic job I want to do this summer! :)

Sock Puppet

Ok, super random post. I'm an elementary ed major, and I'm in an awesome class-drama for elementary education. It is the most fun class ever! For example, we are currently learning how to incorporate puppets in the classroom, and all the fun classroom management ways to use puppets. So, I've been practicing. Totally love it. Here's a video of my sock puppet, Sarah, jamming out to Over by Blake Shelton. Makes me laugh every time. Haha. Yes, I do indeed go to college to learn how to do this. I love my life. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9bXyHqn1yo&list=HL1351148195&feature=mh_lolz

Classic Hannah Moment.

Last night, I started writing a post about how much running I was doing and how good it was feeling. I ran a 9:08 mile! And ran a whole 13 minutes a few nights before that. Woot! I got new running shoes from my

Cool new shoes!

dad, and awesome new running socks from my grandma. My family spoils me for sure! :) I was right on track for my challenge, and my legs weren't even hurting me all that much. I was feeling great!

Then I woke up this morning and got out of bed. I sleep on the top bunk, and if you know me at all you already know where this is going. I usually just hop out of bed, but I tried to climb down a little this morning. And then ended up in a heap of moaning Hannah. Somehow, in the process of getting out of bed, I jacked up my ankle. SO. BAD. By getting out of bed! I'm such a klutz. :)

My lovely roommate woke up because of my cry of pain and then went into doctor mode. She got me onto the couch, and I started throwing up because walking had hurt so bad. I was kinda panicking at this point. I called my mom, and she told me to go to the doctor just in case it was broken. My parents are both athletic trainers and physical therapists who could have figured this out without going to the ER. But, they live kinda far away. Love them both!

Artsy picture of my crutches :)

So I went to the ER! My fabulous brother borrowed his roommates care and took me. The doctors all made fun of me because I was a 19 year old that was in the ER because I fell out of bed. Haha. Quite embarrassing, yet super funny. I didn't actually break my ankle, (Phew!!) but I twisted it way way bad. They gave me a super fancy brace and crutches, for which I'm grateful. The crutches help me not look so retarded when I walk. :)

Happy things from this special moment of mine:

1. Spending the morning with my brother! At the ER. :) We got to go out to lunch afterwards too. I love my big brother, and I'm so glad he was willing to help me out today!

2. Two fine looking men helped me as I struggled to get home. Thanks to my new friends Mark and Spencer! Mark helped me get down the huge sophomore staircase, and Spencer gave me a ride in his sweet truck the last few blocks. People at BYU are so nice!

3. This sure made my day more exciting! Wednesdays are my least favorite day of the week, but instead of having boring classes all day, I got to hang out with my brother and roommate, talk to my mom and my friend Kerri! Miss and love her to pieces. :)

I'm sure I will be back and running in a couple weeks, so have no fear! I shall {hopefully} still conquer my 5K next month. :) I just get to take some time off now!

Also, anyone have suggestions for a better story? Falling out of bed... Kinda embarrassing. :)

Challenge Accepted

Warning: This is a really long post. But, no one is making you read it! :)

So, I ran in high school. Kinda. I ran cross country my freshman year, and I was pretty good. I started off really slow, but I kept beating my best time until I got fast enough that I would sometimes run in varsity races. I totally loved cross country.

I ran track my freshman year as well, but started to have intense pain whenever I would run. I remember on particularly miserable race from that season. I was running the two mile, and my legs hurt so bad that I started crying before the race was over. Yuck. My pain started out similar to shin splints, but got increasingly more severe and started encompassing more of my lower legs. It was quite miserable, actually.

So I started going to the doctor so I could get all better! I went through a lot of tests, some more painful than others. I had a lot of bone scans and MRIs, and we weren't learning anything. Then I was tested for chronic compartment syndrome. The test for that was terrible, not gonna lie. They poked my legs with so many different needles to test for the pressure in my legs before and then after I went for a run.
But, that ended up being the issue!

Post-operation :(

I think I was diagnosed with chronic compartment syndrome right around track season of my sophomore year. So it took about a year to figure out what my issue was. We scheduled surgery for the second day of my junior year, which is a story for another day.

 One of the great things about this trial was that I joined the swim team! Because I was unable to run, I joined the swim team. On my first day of practice, I couldn't swim to the other side of the pool. I was a terrible swimmer. Haha. I got a lot better though, and now I know how to swim and not just doggy paddle! I made a bunch of awesome friends on the swim team too. Swimming was a great experience, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to join the swim team. I swam my sophomore and junior year, which I never would have done if it weren't for my leggies.

Recovery from surgery was a slow process, but I was able to race at the very end of my track season junior year. It was so rewarding when I was able to run again.  I raced cross country my senior year which was SO much fun! I absolutely loved cross country that season.  We went to Tempe and raced at Nike Cross Regionals, which was an absolute blast. Not being able to run with the team for so long made me so grateful when I was finally able to run.

My team at Tempe! :)

But then my pain started up again. I couldn't stand running anymore because it hurt so bad! That was so incredibly frustrating, since I was loving running again.

There are four compartments in your lower legs, and I had only had two of the compartments released. After a lot more tests, it was decided that it was those last two deep compartments that were the issue now. I had surgery again a few days after I graduated. Because they were the deep compartments, the surgery was more intense and it took even longer to recover. I have still not really gotten back into running. Running is still not pain free for me, and I'm not sure if it ever will be. But I love running! 

So here is where the challenge comes in.

I have signed up for a 5K next month! Lame, I know. Haha. Especially since my beast of a roommate Johanna ran a marathon yesterday! And totally dominated it, might I add. But a 5K is a big deal for me. I haven't run a 5K in over two years, I think. 

I have already gone for a few runs since I have signed up for it! So the challenge here is that I won't give up on running, even if it hurts sometimes. Because as I build up my muscles again, I am hoping it will become less painful. And then I will finish the 5K! I won't worry about my time, I will just race again. Then I will keep running. :) My brother and Johanna have signed up for the 5K with me-what great friends I have! 

So here's to late night runs, sore muscles, and conquering a mental block against running! I will finish the 5K that is in 5 weeks and I will love every moment I spend running. :)