bikin' solo

I was tired of being a bum all day so I decided to go on a bike ride. it was such a beautiful day and since it's been raining, the sunshine was extra welcome. the not-so-little-anymore little brother had to work so I went by myself {which was only about this much less pathetic than watching a third movie by myself}. 

every street seemed to be memory lane but it felt good to bike around. my visit home has been pretty low key so far. sleeping in, not making dinner, catching up with old friends, and lots of movies. but we're having a little family getaway this weekend so that will be exciting :)

happy friday! hope everyone has a great weekend!

home is

 

 

 

--where I go on a run and come back soaking wet but the only thing I'm worried about is my ipod
--my mom picking strawberries and telling me I can eat as many as I want...so I do
--my cat sleeping at the foot of my bed, on my face, and on my arm all in one night
--seeing green everywhere
--remembering that patience with a little brother is different than patience with roommates
--when my little cousin sees me, shouts my name, and jumps into my arms
--seeing the girls I used to dance with perform and wishing I was on the stage with them
--looking through old photo albums and laughing at how chubby we used to be
--eating meals I didn't cook
--spending my friday night watching a movie with my parents and not wanting it any other way
--driving
--remembering how to pick up a phone without saying byu travel, this is liz
--talking to my high school best friend for hours like nothing has changed
--watching cat videos with my dad
--everyone asking if I've found my husband yet

nature adventure

we decided we were due for an adventure on saturday. it was supposed to be over 90 degrees so we wanted to play in water. we drove to alpine {while rocking out to eminem and daft punk of course} and hiked to the natural rock water slide. we were a little hesitant at first, it looked a bit bumpy, but the only bad part was the cold water. after going down the slide and laughing at others go down with their dogs, we went exploring. the trees and rocks were a nice break from downtown provo life. one of the guys even went all bear grylls on us and climbed over every rock, log, and into cave he could fit into.

after playing for a couple hours, we went to betos and stuffed ourselves with greasy, delicious, oversized burritos. it was the perfect way to end a great adventure.



did anyone else have any weekend adventures? did everyone enjoy father's day? I'll do a little father's day post once I'm home and we celebrate it together. maybe I'll throw in some old embarrassing photos too ;) 

happy birthday dad!

お誕生日おめでとう!

my dad is the one who sang us to sleep when we were little

he's the one who taught me how to tie my shoelaces

he's the one who yelled at encouraged us to eat our vegetables

he's the one who would tickle us almost to the point of peeing our pants when we were little

he's the one who makes delicious curry and clam chowder

he's the one who goes fishing for the family

he's the one who encourages us to not compare ourselves to others

he's the one who is frugal beyond belief

he's the one who can pull off a mustache

he's the one who was against getting cats but was totally suckered into getting them and now loves them more than his own children

he's the one who will pick me up from the airport next week with sushi

he's the one with a serious look on his face but goes completely silly when he sees a cute baby

he's the one who makes the ridiculous jokes mixing english and japanese

he's the one who shops at goodwill, d.i., and pawnshops

he's the one I call お父さん.

anyone can be a runner

remember those days in middle school when whispers of "it's mile day in pe" was the worst news possible? I hated those days because I was usually the one wheezing in the back, struggling to finish.

I've come a long way since then. things started to change when I decided to run the seattle kids marathon. we ran a mile a day for a month and then ran the last mile in downtown seattle. I still hated running and I mostly did it just to say that I did. the free t-shirt was a definite bonus though ;)

from 7th grade to sophomore year, I had nothing to do with running. dancing was my gig and running...wasn't. but when my new group of friends in high school kept talking about how great cross country was...I wanted in. it still took some persuading on their part to convince me that running every day was "fun."

they were completely right.

I didn't discover a natural hidden talent {I was actually one of the slowest on the team} nor did I care too much about winning. but I made so many friends and discovered a new favorite way to exercise. I loved the way I felt after running- the sense of accomplishment and the rush of endorphins.

Running has brought back a lot of memories from high school, some I miss, some I don't, but memories nonetheless.

so here I am today. I registered for my first half marathon in august and I've been training for about 6 weeks now. Jess signed up too so we keep each other accountable ;) {every girl in my apartment runs as well so that also helps}.  here's to making new memories and living a healthy lifestyle!

"I often hear someone say I'm not a real runner. We are all runners, some just run faster than others. I never met a fake runner." -Bart Yasso

borings//funnies

this week was somewhat uneventful. the couch and tv were my best friend for the couple days I didn't feel super great. quick side note: I have this new shameful love for trash tv. not bad trash, good trash. ever heard of gypsy wedding or duck dynasty? so great. I didn't run for two days {woops!}. during the rest of the week, I made a huuuge batch of pasta, went on a scavenger hunt, played a you'll-only-see-this-in-provo kind of rugby, went to chipotles with Jess, went on a spontaneous wendy's run with some old friends, and all the while getting excited for something big. it's 95% a for sure thing but next week it'll be a 100% just you wait.

humor always livens up a dull week. now, I think I'm a funny person but it's really who I'm around. these are some of the funnies floating around lately:
--I really don't want you to be an old maid with lots of cats // jessica
--so the other day when I was sitting on the toilet... // it's a seeecret
--curses. I mean, I'm happy for you and all, but where was I?! // carly
--that was the lady who brought over a dead deer as a token of affection // coworker
--the sky looks like it smoked weed // kylee
--girl, if this were high school, I'd be jumping her. but I left that behind at graduation // kylee
--I need a fart machine // taylor. you need a pharmacy? // luke
--every time I see those lips...I just want to bite them! // sarah
--megablocks are clearly lower class than legos. everyone knows that. // liz

here's to boring weeks, funny people, and exciting weekends! hope everyone has a fun weekend :)

change

the summer before college

last night, this girl's hubby was gone so we had ourselves a good ol' girls night. another old roommate joined and we watched a movie and had some much needed girl talk. if you remember, I had a hard time letting her get married. we both knew that our friendship would change and we were right, it has. even though we text each other, go on lunch dates, and still send each other silly pictures, it's not the same.

our conversations don't consist of every single detail of daily life, we're at different places in life, and when something exciting happens, we aren't on each other's first-person-who-has-to-know! list.

but you know, I'm okay with that. change is good for people, especially me. and last night was a perfect reminder that despite the different paths that change has brought, man we've had some serious good times the past couple of years. but most importantly, we're going to keep having a good time.