7 minutes faster?!?!

So on Saturday Traci, Ingrid and I ran the Ogden Half Marathon. It was so much fun! The course is through Ogden canyon to the Ogden Parkway and ends in Washington Sq. It is so pretty, such a nice course, and the weather was beautiful! We did this run last year too and next to the Moab runs, this is one of my favorites! Not to mention that they have the worlds best volunteers. They were very attentive and so helpful. Even when I crossed the finish line, I bent over to breathe really and one was right over there asking if I was ok. So nice! And they were handing out bags of ice - which I have never seen. Volunteers at all these races are usually great, but these people were exceptionally sweet. Bryce was also very sweet to drive to Ogden that morning to watch all of us finish. I can't imagine that's a very fun thing to watch, but he did it with a smile. The best part of the whole day though was my finish time... 7 minutes faster than I have ever been!! That might not sound like a lot, but that averages about 32 seconds faster each mile and in running time, 30 seconds off a mile is a lot! I usually don't get crazy about my finish time, frankly I figure finishing period is an accomplishment enough, but taking this much time off without strict training makes me wonder what I could do if I seriously trained! Last year when I did this exact same race I was 11 minutes slower. Every race that I have done I have gradually gotten faster, usually it is by 2 - 4 minutes, but never such a jump. It makes me wonder what I did this time that was so different... maybe it's because I knew the course better, or I have been cycling more, or because I have made a conscious effort to drink a lot of water, or the sugar that I took out of my diet the week before (that was crappy)... I really don't know why, but I am happy all the same! Best race ever... Next Race... Wasatch Back June 20 and 21!

I vote for David Cook

It's not very often that I get into American Idol. I think the last one that I cared about was when Carrie Underwood won - who I adore by the way. For some reason these last couple weeks I have really been into American Idol. (It could be all this extra time I am finding on my hands since graduation - yeah - I know, I should be reading by book club book.) Anyway, I think David Cook is great! I know, I know David Archuleta is from Utah and I should support him, not to mention that he is very talented and has an amazing voice... But David Cook really brings out the rocker side of me, when he performs I want to get out my pretend guitar and rock out along with him! Two amazing guys, who will win? I would be happy for either one and we all know they both will have music careers, but rock on D.Cook! I vote for you.

GRADUATION!

It happened! It's over and it was just as wonderful as I could have imagined.... although I was exhausted when it was over. On Thursday before graduation Bryce took me to Flemming's. We had the best steak ever, the restaurant gave me chocolate covered strawberries as a gift, and to top it off we sat right next to Yao Ming, Dikembe Mutombo, and Carl Landry from the Houston Rockets. They are so tall! Yao couldn't even fit his legs under the table. Anyway, I tried to get a picture but it didn't turn out. Bummer!

The day of graduation, the commencement was at 9 and the college ceremonies were almost immediately afterward at 11:15. There were over 7,000 graduates from the U this year, but probably only about 2 or 3,000 at the commencement exercises. We had to walk down the tunnel and out into the stadium. Below is a picture of us walking down the tunnel. Look at all the graduates!

Mario R. Capecchi, 2007 Nobel Laureate in physiology, spole at the commencement. He is very smart and had some nice things to say. He said one thing that I just had to write down. He said, "After you have worked hard, you can always work harder." I liked that statement and completely agree.

After the commencement I met up with some friends before we went to our college ceremony. Man! I will miss these guys everyday, and wish them all the luck in the world!

We had a nice ceremony, a little long and a tad boring... so I truly do appreciate all those who came! The best part of the ceremony was when I walked onto the floor and they handed me the fake diploma! YAY, what an amazing feeling! Afterward, I was able to see everyone who came to see me. Thank you, thank you to my parents, grandparents, sister Bobbi, Uncle Jerry, Bryce, Ashley, and Ryan for taking the time to come and support me. You rock! When the day was over and we got food in our starving stomachs and I took a long nap, I was exhausted! But the festivities didn't end there... Thanks to my fam, Erica, Ryan, Britt, Jessica, Bryce, Chris, Sus, Greg, Ashley, Ashley, Ashley (yes, there are 3) for helping me celebrate the big day! I am so lucky to have such amazing friends. Here are some pictures from the rest of the day. Including of course, the dress! I am so glad this day has come and gone, thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way.

And the winner is...

I found it! I found the dress for graduation... It took a little longer than expected, too close for comfort actually. I bought a few dresses that didn't work and they will be returned shortly, but 3 days shy of graduation I have made a decision. And of course, it's polka dots! I have to tell you, it was hard to make a decision. I mean, I will be looking at this dress in pictures for the rest of my life! So without further ado... the winner is...

Let me tell you the reasons why this dress is perfect -
a) It's cap sleeved so I don't have to feel weird about wearing spaghetti straps nor do I have to search for the perfect sweater to go over.
b) It's a wrap with a great tie - as Stacy and Clinton say, it's best to accentuate the smallest part of your body, which on most of us is our waist.
c) I love polka dots.
d) It was on sale!
e) It comes with a slip that is not attached, therefore I can use it for other things in which I may need a slip.

Next, I needed shoes for the ensemble. The dress is Navy (although it may look black in the photo), and the graduation gown is black - therefore I could not wear blue shoes. So I decided my options were red or green.

While searching for shoes Ashley (Pike) said to me, "Amber on Friday you will be walking into a new chapter of your life!" To which I said, "And I want to walk into that chapter in the perfect shoes!" We laughed, but I was serious so here are the shoes I will be wearing...

So I am thinking red accessories and the outfit is complete. Man! If I knew I would be able to do this much shopping just looking for a graduation dress, I would graduate everyday!

Has anyone ever told you that you look like Jennifer Love Hewitt?

Yes, the answer is yes, and when did you see my backside in a bikini? (If you have kept up J-love 'fat' scandal then you got that joke. If not, the answer is just yes.) I have been asked this every once and a while for the last couple years, since I have consistently kept my hair dark. But, no kidding this last couple weeks I have been asked this 6 times! To be honest, I don't see the resemblance. Yes, we both have dark hair and eyes and we have bangs, but other than that? I mean, I do wish I had her gorgeous hair...



OK, so here is the situation... you are having a conversation with a friend, a complete stranger who you have watching stare at you for the last 10 minutes walks up to you, interrupts your conversation and says, has anyone ever told you that you look like Jennifer Love Hewitt? What is the proper response?? Typically I follow that question up with, yes, thank you. And leave it at that... I mean, I am not sure why a stranger would feel inclined to tell me this in the first place after they have obviously concluded that I am not her, do they want an autograph? Not to mention that I don't know this stranger so I am not sure what their stance on J-Love is. For all I know they think she is the ugliest person alive and has just paid me the highest insult in the book and I said thank you!

So, even though I don't see the resemblance, I think she is very pretty and I will take it as a compliment, whether or not a compliment is intended. I mean, if that is the worst thing I have to complain about I am not doing so bad.

And as for the J-Love getting fat situation, (this is a complete side note, but it's my blog and I can side note if I want), I think she looks great. Yes, she may have gained a couple pounds since she was a teenager, but who hasn't?!? Plus, the last thing I would ever want is someone showing up at the beach, taking pictures of me in a bikini and then selling them to People magazine. For heaven sakes, what has this world come to when we make judgements of someone else's beach body while we sit on our butts and read People magazine. Anyway, rock on J-Love, I think you look great! And thanks to all you strange little strangers for the completely awkward moment and the compliment.

Reflection...

It's the last few weeks of the last semester of my college career (as long as I don't decide to go to graduate school, for now we'll just say last). This semester has been, by far, the most time consuming to the point where a lot of other things were pushed out of my life... like shopping! As I finish my final everything I can't help but think back on all the time that I have spent as a student. I started my education at SUU where I finished my first 2 years as a biology student. When I made the choice to move to Salt Lake it wasn't long until I was offered a great job that in tandem slowed down my education. I have always been grateful for my job and the opportunities that it has given me. They have paid for my education, offered me travel opportunities, taught me professional etiquette, opened up worlds of experience and expertise. Oftentimes I found myself working 50 - 60 hours a week and since I began it seemed that I allowed my job to come before school and although I never stopped going to school I took classes at night or during a lunch hour when it would fit in my schedule. This last semester I couldn't take my classes at night, as they weren't offered, and I had to do a morning internship. After some pursuasion I was allowed to work part time (30 hours a week) so I could take classes during the day and do an internship in the morning. For the first couple months of the semester I was still working 40+ hours a week as people settled into the new schedule. However, as things started falling into their places, school for the first time became my first priority. That was very exciting! Now, that I look back, I loved every second of it. Even the moments when I wanted to pull my hair out cause I didn't have enough time to finish something or when I wanted to cry when my hard drive crashed. I have learned from so many people and have loved them for taking time to teach me. Now it is time to take in the goodness and sit back and relax. At least for a weekend!

Yay for graduation! Yay for taking time to relax and reflect! And a special YAYAYAYAY for the search for the PERFECT graduation dress!

Stuff White People Like...

This blog is so hilariously true, that I will dedicate a whole post on my blog about it. Often, we wonder, why am I the way I am.... is everyone like this? Well this blog may be able to answer some of those questions. http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/ I will note a couple of my favorites because there are a ton of posts, you can search for these if you would like.

#27 Marathons - In my opinion, this entire post is true. My guess is 80% of marathon finshers have that exact picture! My favorite line... "Not to win, just to run."
#63 Expensive Sandwiches
#42 Sushi - I love this one because it seems Sushi is a big thing this days. My favorite line... "To them, it’s everything they want: foreign culture, expensive, healthy, and hated by the ‘uneducated.’"
#81 Graduate School
#76 Bottles of Water - You have to read this one, it's hilarious!
#29 80s Night - my favorite line.... "Also, less respected artists like Wham, Rick Astley and Cameo are still easy for white people to dance to."
#15 Yoga - My favorite... "Yoga is also an expensive activity. It gives white people the chance to showcase their $80 pants. "

I find it so hilarious because I fall into some of these "white people" traps. Although, I am sure it is not all about race this guys certainly has some funny things to say!