Day 148

Once upon a time, there was a man named Lloyd.

Lloyd grew up working very hard to help support his family.

When he was in his twenties, Lloyd moved to a small town called Williamsburg, Idaho, where he worked on a dairy. It was there that he met a beautiful young woman named Lucy. They had a wonderful courtship, and spent their free time going fishing, dancing and to ball games. Then news came that his mother had fallen ill with the stress of his brother being gone serving overseas in WWI. Lloyd rushed back to Utah to be with his mother, and was heartbroken as she passed away so unexpectedly. While still recovering from the shock of losing his mother, he received his own orders from Uncle Sam. Before showing up for duty, he made one last trip to Williamsburg, to bid his sweetheart farewell. While he was there visiting, he fell gravely ill. He did not recover enough to report for service until the war was over. 

So it was that Lloyd Herbert Hansen asked Lucy May Kunz to be his bride. And on May 23, 1919, that dream became a reality.

Lloyd and Lucy Hansen
One fine looking couple

Together, Lloyd and Lucy raised 9 children to adulthood.

At the age of 58, Lucy became mortally ill. From her death bed she composed a letter to her children that read in part:

"Please get together at least once a year, if you can, and hold those family ties that will bind you through all eternity."

 Their children were touched by their mother's plea, and firmly decided to obey her wishes, even as they became older . . .

Eight of Lloyd and Lucy's children in about 2000, and the ninth photo-shopped in 

and had their own children, who in turn had their own children, who then had even more children.

Less than half of Lloyd and Lucy's posterity, as of 2002

The youngest of the nine children was named Gordon. He had a son named Steve, who then had a gorgeous daughter named Stephanie. That's me, of course. 

Every Memorial Day, for as long as I can remember, we have met in Lewiston, Utah, which is where Lloyd and Lucy (My great grand-parents, in case you've lost track) raised their family. I took this for granted for a very long time. It has only been recently that I have come to appreciate the fact that I know each of my great aunts and uncles by name, and, even more amazingly, they know me by name as well. 

During this annual event, I am also guaranteed to see my cousins. I've always been pretty close to my cousins on that side of my family. As the oldest, I've also felt a great deal of pressure to set an example for the rest of the crew. There is no time that this is more apparent than when a picture is being taken of us. I have consistently striven to have perfect photo etiquette, no matter what chaos ensues around me. As the years have passed, most of them seem to have caught on.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C - Today
(We're short a few cousins, and have some additional significant others)

I love my cousins. They really are some of my favorite people. I'm so glad that they are stuck with me through virtue of blood.

This year I had a shocking realization of my own age. Do you see that girl in the Hello Kitty sweater next to me? Her name is Brooke. I frequently baby-sat her and her two brothers (Ian in the white shirt, and Eric in the black and white pants) when they were very, very small children.

She used to be my mini-me.

Also, in a shoes-off comparison, I am officially the shortest of my blood-related cousins, even though I am the oldest. What up with that?

 I truly do love every member of my family. Each person is strikingly unique. Just about the only thing we share in common are our noses and fantastic sense of humor. These are the people that I want to spend all of eternity with.

After all, they're the only ones in all of creation in whose presence I feel normal.

Day 147

I just watched The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader for the first time. I really liked it. Not to get all cliche on you, though, but there is nothing that can do justice to the books. I knew that, and that is why I haven't seen the movie for this long.

 I resisted reading the Chronicles of Narnia for years. I thought that they were children's books, so I was not interested. Out of pure boredom last summer, I finally caved and listened to the audio version.

I have never been more surprised by a series of books in my entire life. As a Christian, there is so much in those books that speaks to me on a much deeper level. I have to admit that I found myself crying on more than one occasion while listening to them. They are a simpler model of beautiful truths that I love to be reminded of.

I really do like the movies, they just have impossible shoes to fill. One thing that I love about the movies is that they always have songs on their soundtracks that make for stellar Sunday listening material.

Side-note: I totally saw Switchfoot in concert, once upon a time. They were fantastic.




Carrie Underwood co-wrote a song for the latest movie. It's one of my new favorites. You can find the song here, but I really wanted to post the lyrics. Why? Because this is my blog, and I love the words to this song. Also because she's got some fierce copyright holds on this song that prevent me from posting on my site.

There's A Place For Us lyrics

There’s a place out there for us,

More than just a prayer or anything you've ever dreamed of.

So if you feel like giving up cause you don’t fit in 

down here,

Fear is crashing in, close your eyes and take my hand.

We can be the kings and queens of anything if we 

believe.

It’s written in the stars that shine above,

A world where you and I belong, where faith and love 

will keep us strong,

Exactly who we are is just enough, there’s a place for us, there’s a 

place for us.

When the water meets the sky,

Where your heart is free and hope comes back to life,

When these broken hands are whole again,

We will find what we’ve been waiting for,

We were made for so much more

“Please, Aslan,” said Lucy. “Before we go, will you tell us when we can come back to Narnia again? Please. And oh, do, do, do make it soon.”

“Dearest,” said Aslan very gently, “you and your brother will never come back to Narnia.”

“Oh, Aslan!!” said Edmund and Lucy both together in despairing voices.

“You are too old, children,” said Aslan, “and you must begin to come close to your own world now.”

“It isn’t Narnia, you know,” sobbed Lucy. “It’s you. We shan’t meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?”

“But you shall meet me, dear one,” said Aslan.

“Are are you there too, Sir?” said Edmund.

“I am,” said Aslan. “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”

C.S. Lewis - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Day 146

Sometimes I'm a fool.

Sometimes I'm a fool with a new camera.

Sometimes I hand my camera off to a friend's mom to take a picture of our group when it is still set on "video" mode.

So, now you know how much I perk up when I'm told that another picture is about to be taken of me. 

Today was the day that Lauren gave her talk to report home from her mission to Arkansas. Her talk was wonderful and she is a positively beautiful person. She is also single. Any of you single men who would like to get to know her better, just let me know.

Also, Vikki and Kelley are on the left of that "picture". Their genetically blessed girl, Elena, will be entering the world within the next couple of weeks, and they are moving into a new house at the end of this week. I love that crazy couple. I still owe them brownies for the duct tape suggestion that Kelley contributed.

Day 145

Not much to say.

I spent most of today icing and heating my knee. I would rather be running.

I also got in some hoops with my dad and brother, though. So, that was cool.

Day 144

Today did not start off too well.

Kelsey and Natalie came over and we went out on our two miler. Awhile into the run, I noticed a sensation that can only be described as feeling a cold chill, but only inside of my right knee. Then my knee started to ache. Right over halfway, my knee felt as though it were tightening up and it became quite painful. I decided to do something that I have not allowed myself to do since I started my training. I stopped running and I walked for most of the remaining distance. It felt fine when I walked, but as soon as I would attempt to jog, it would begin to hurt again. My first reaction was to stress out about it. The past few months of my life flashed before my eyes. I panicked. As I was walking back home, watching the figures of my friends fading into the distance, I called my mom and tried to fight back tears of frustration as I explained what had happened. As I talked it out with her, I decided that the best decision would be to alternate between ice and a heating pad this weekend, and rest it. This also means that I will be skipping my 4.5 mile training run tomorrow. I can't type that without wincing. That being said, I have determined not to stress out about this or treat it like a big deal. I'm just going to rest for a couple of days, get a knee brace, and be back in the game next week. No big. I have come way too far to call it quits now, so don't you worry. I have no plan of backing down. All the same, I can't push myself to injury, so I'll just play this by ear. I've still got to give my body credit. Endurance training, particularly when you are overweight, is very rough on your body. This is the first serious sign of wear and tear that mine has shown. I still feel confident in my over-all health.

In the near future I will be completing a half-marathon and I will be running the whole way. Ya'll can hold me to it.

In other news, I went blacklight bowling tonight with my old friends, Vikki, Muriel, Mariska, and Sabrina.

Vikki did not bowl because she is currently carrying a serious bowling ball on the front of her, in the form of a baby that is due within the month. Muriel is getting married within the month, and was busy doing some prep for that, so she showed up late. When she did show up, she was some pretty fierce competition. Mariska had never gone bowling before and had no idea how to even hold the ball. I walked her through some bare basics, then stepped back and prepared myself to encourage her relentlessly through a night filled with gutter balls. Instead I watched in amazement as she earned several spares and the only strike of the night. I managed to pick up a few spares, but my over-all game was far from anything to write home about. Then there was Sabrina. She turned my residual bad mojo from the knee incident right around into joy. I have never in my life witnessed someone with a remotely similar bowling technique to Sabrina's. Hers usually included a little hop somewhere, and then a backhanded roll, but it was never exactly the same. I asked her permission to share her technique with the world via my blog, and she graciously agreed.

Take notes, internet, because this method actually served her pretty well in tonight's game.

Day 143

First off, I had a bunch of friends move into a house that is round for the summer. It is called . . . (wait for it) the Round House. Expect it to come up in posts throughout the summer, because it is going to be one happening place. On Tuesday, I ended my birthday by going over there for a toga party.

Unlike most kids our age who have toga parties (Toga! Toga! Toga!) we are members of the LDS faith, so the strongest drink we had was milk. We just hung out and watched Hercules. I also discovered that my camera has a smile detector. Seriously, I can set it so that my camera will automatically take a picture once it senses that someone is smiling. I tested it out with my buddy, Nate. We frowned, and then as soon as we smiled it took the picture.

Not the most flattering picture, but it knew the second I was smiling.
My camera has the capabilities to take over the friggin' world.

I have never been more impressed with a camera before. My camera is a genius. Imagine the possibilities this presents for photographing small children, who are notorious for frowning in pictures.

The biggest news, however, has to do with my new shoes and socks. I decided to be brave today and break in my new shoes on a 4.5 mile run with no tape. It payed off in a big way. My feet weren't nearly as sore as they have been after previous runs, and I had no blisters.

Then I sat down to calculate my time.

Then I checked my answer several times.

Then I texted Kelsey (Who was recovering from a couple previous runs this week), in shock.

Some of you may recall that I was pleased as punch just last week when I finally broke the 12 min/ mile average. I've worked long and hard to get that far, and I fully expected to work another month or so before I made any notable improvement on my speed.

Well, with the help of my new shoes and socks, I broke the 11 min/ mile mark today. I averaged about 10:50/ mile or 5.5 mph for 4.5 miles. I'm fairly certain that I have been given Hermes' shoes.

Dude could fly

To top it off, my iPod serenaded me with the perfect song in the home-stretch.

Day 142

I am now 23 years old.

In single Utah girl years, that's like 38.

Today has been a fantastic day. I started it out by eating some of my cheesecake for breakfast. I then did my 6 mile run solo, since Kelsey is out of town today. It was super humid, but the rain was nice enough to let up for awhile.

Then came the presents.

Folks, I try not to be materialistic, but I was pretty darn stoked. My family gave me some new clothes, a new digital camera, new Nikes, and running socks! Here I am, in a picture taken on my new camera, modeling some of my haul.

All of these gifts are exciting to me, but the shoes and socks are of particular importance. When I run, my toes tend to point out a bit. My faithful Asics were designed for someone with the opposite problem. Thus, they could lead to an injury for me and they could very well be contributing to my feet giving out before the rest of me. My new Nikes have more support on the outer part of the foot. From jogging around the house in them a bit, I can already tell a difference in the way that my feet land. As I've already mentioned, the socks should help to get rid of my blisters. So, hopefully now there will be no stopping me. It may seem odd, but I'm going to miss my Asics. They've gotten me to where I am now, which is a far cry from January. They've been there with me through some of the most challenging mental and physical walls I've ever faced. I've done my best to take care of them. I've tried to keep them clean. I've only used them for running.  

But, my oh my, if these new Nikes aren't just sexy beasts.

I'm putting enough miles on my shoes now that their structure is really important. My Asics accompanied me on my run today, and afterwards, I was left with an aching in my knees. I have the sneaking suspicion that my shoes could be the culprit. So, I now retire my Asics. Like many members of the retirement community, they will likely be spending a lot of time in the garden from now on.

Today is also a day of reflection. I am now leaving behind my 22nd year. It was a year of unspeakable lows, and highs that were once unimaginable. 

When I die, I want to be able to say that my 22nd year was the year that I reached my heaviest and most unhealthy point. 

And when I realized how miserable I was, I changed. 

Go ahead and put that on my tombstone.

22

23 (Well, 2 days shy of it)

Those are the same size shirts, they're just covering a different sized girl. 22's shorts don't fit 23 at all. 22 never stood a chance of zipping up the snazzy black ones that 23 is wearing. The second hike was also more strenuous and yet more easily conquered. The first girl was an emotional wreck. 22 had just gotten out of a relationship that she never should have been in. She thought very little of herself. 23 is much, much happier.

So, here's to 23.

I get the feeling it is going to rock pretty hardcore.