25 before 25

Guys.  I turn 25 years old this year.  And I am freaking out about it a little bit.  And I know people will tell me that 25 isn't even old, blah blah blah blah.  But it feels old.  I have a whole list of things that I want to do before I turn a quarter of a century old.  That gives me less than 4 months to get these all checked off.  Yes, I know some of them will not be possible, so those ones will just transfer over to my 30 before 30 list.

So...who wants to help make this the BEST. SUMMER. EVER?  :)

1. Sleep until noon
2. Run in a race
        FINISHED!  And have two more coming up.  Bahhhh I still hate running.
3. Pay off my car
4. Jump off the high dive
5. Kiss a total stranger
6. Give up Diet Coke
7. Teach myself to like avocados
8. Go skinny dipping (technically I have already done this, but it was more skinny run-into-the-water-and-run-back-out, so it needs to be on there again)
9. Save $500 dollars (apart from my regular savings) and go on a shopping spree
10. Participate in "Ellen's Dance Dare" and submit it to her show
11. See Garth Brooks in concert
12. Go to a professional baseball game
         GO BRAVES!
13. Make a dress that I will love to wear
14. Go to a formal event that requires me to get really dressed up
15. Lose 20 more pounds
16. Visit a state I haven't been to before
         Colorado?  Check!  But I do want to visit more.
17. Eat funnel cake at a fair
18. Go an entire day without eating one single piece of candy/sweets
19. Learn to waterski
20. Make 5 of the recipes I have pinned on Pinterest
21. Go paragliding
         Coolest thing of my life.  So glad I did it.
22. Go on one date during every month of the summer (doesn't seem like a lot but I NEVER date)
23. Make 10 blankets to donate to a children's hospital
24. Learn to play a song on the guitar
25. Be happy with my body and who I am - don't let other's opinion of me bring me down

*Honorary goal: make a scene in a public place

Ok.  Now be a dear and help me cross of these things in my life.  :)

#ihaterunning

Notice the title of the post?  I think #hashtagging is cool.  I don't do it often because I don't want to be one of those people who hashtags everything.  Because that is not cool.  Ok.  Moving on.

See the other part of the title?  The "I hate running" part?  That's because I do.  My race was on Saturday.  I for real almost died.  It was fun to be able to run with my girls, but I hated every second of it.  The race was a relay, with each person running two legs ranging from 5.84 miles to 7.1 miles.  Thank goodness for Janae who was willing to run my other leg for me.  That means I was left with only a 6 mile leg to run.  She is champ and totally my hero.

I think I kinda psyched myself out for this run, because I felt like I was going to die 2 miles into the leg.  2 miles is nothing for me.  I do almost 3 on my easy days.  I think part of the problem is that I had no reference points.  I had no idea how far I had gone or how much further I had to go.  In my training, I know exactly how far I had gone, and I think that helped.  But during the race, I was going and I was thinking that I had run for like 45 minutes, but really I had only gone like 4 blocks - which is nothing.  It was frustrating.  And I was sloooow.  I was almost the slowest person to run the leg.  But I actually ended up being faster than I had originally thought I had done it in.  And you know what?  It's ok.  It is ok that I had to walk a significant distance.  It is ok that I almost cried when I thought it was never going to end.  You know why?  Because I did it.  If you could see how far I have come from a year ago, you would think it is ok too.  :)

Alright.  Here are some pictures.  So glad that I got to run this with Rose, Brit, Nat, and Janae.  You girls are the besssst!

These are our super sweet car decorations.  Yes.  I decorated a window specifically for myself.  Because I am that awesome.

All of us girlies before the race.

 My pre-race picture.

Coming in.  Don't let this picture fool you...I walked a significant amount and then ran the last little bit.  :)

With my sissy pants right after I got done running.

 About to cross the finish line! 

52 miles in 9 hours.  I would say that is a success.

 My medal!

Now I just gotta start preparing for the Dirty Dash....  AAAAAAAAH.

Adventures

This past weekend was quite the little adventure for me.  There were parts that were AMAZING.  And then there were parts that make me cringe when I think of them.  But it was definitely an adventure.

My bestie, Koby, and I headed to Denver to see the Atlanta Braves take on the Colorado Rockies.  Koby is a huuuuuuuge Braves fan, which makes me a fan by association (but I am now a real fan and have done my research to back it up).  I had to get up at 4:15 AM on Saturday morning (should be illegal).  We left at 5:30 to pick up a cat that we were dropping off at a friend's parents' house in Colorado.  The cat was supposed to be drugged and sleep the whole way - it did not.  In fact, there was one time she got out of her carrier and almost jumped on my head while I was driving.  Scared the shiz out of me.  But I'm sure it gave the other drivers on the road a nice little show to watch.
*Side note: the cat's name is Astrid.  Every time I hear that name, I think of the episode of The Office when Jan has her baby and names it Astrid.  But Michael thinks she names her Ass-turd.  That is what I called the cat the whole way to it's home.
After the longest drive ever, we finally made it to Denver and got ready for the game.  We left significantly early to make sure we could watch warm ups.  We did.  Parking cost me 20 effing dollars. Not so cool.  At the game, I found my looooooovely friend, Nate (he is the coolest and I miss him).  The couple sitting next to me were from Blackfoot, Idaho so we had a nice little chat about that.  The two guys sitting next to Koby were friendly but I couldn't stand to look at them because they had chew all up in their teeth and kept spitting all over the ground.  I almost threw up.

The game was way fun.  The Braves came back from being down by 5 and won 13-9.  We had a rain/hail delay for like an hour and half.  And it was FREEZING.  The rain wasn't supposed to move in until Sunday morning or something, so we were both in shorts and flip flops.  I thought I might die from hypothermia.  But I didn't.

Besties at the Braves game!

 Found Nate!  Love him.  So glad I got to see him.

 3 of the coolest people at the game!

Chipper Jones!  Love some baseball booty!

After the game, we went on a little adventure to find something to eat.  We FINALLY found an Applebees.  I was surprised to see how many restaurants were closed at 11:30...we weren't even in Utah!

Sunday morning, we woke up after sleeping in (much needed and deserved).  Koby and I went and picked up Nate and Kenny to take them to the airport, then we headed on our way.  This is where the trouble started.  We stopped to fill up my car and I noticed that my battery light came on.  So I called my dad and he sent me to an auto store to have the battery checked out.  Welp, it wasn't the battery...it was the alternator.  Definitely not what I wanted to hear.  It was a Sunday afternoon and I couldn't find a mechanic to fix it for me.  I talked to one mechanic who was sooooooo nice.  He said that the alternator wasn't all the way out and there was a chance I could make it home or a chance I could make it 5 miles down the road.  After talking to my dad, we decided to risk it and get a little closer to home...BAD IDEA.

We had been driving for almost an hour when all of my gages went off.  I was afraid I would lose my steering, so I pulled off on the nearest exit.  We were about 30 miles outside of Cheyenne and had to call a wrecker to come tow us into town.  He took us to a hotel then dropped off my car at the Ford dealership...another bad idea.  We stayed at this crazy ghetto Motel 6 with some creeper neighbors and ordered some awful Chinese food.  I made sure my boss at work knew I wouldn't be in the next day.

Koby was trying to keep me positive...it wasn't working so well.  Poor Walter.  :)

The next morning, at 7:21, I get a phone call from the dealership asking me what was wrong.  I wasn't upset because I thought they would be done in a couple of hours.  WRONG.  At 11:45, I called and they hadn't even started on anything.  Checkout for our hotel was noon.  So we had to go sit at the dealership.  They told me it was going to be 800 effing dollars to fix and that they couldn't fix it until the next morning.  I almost crapped my pants.  My dad was pissed that they hadn't done anything and were going to charge so much, so he had us towed to another mechanic.  Then freaking Ford charged me over a hundred dollars to "diagnose" the problem - the problem that had already been diagnosed and I had told them what to do to fix it.  I was a mess.  Fortunately, the other mechanic place was so nice and worked really hard to make sure we could leave that day.  But after all of the towing, having Ford rape me of all of my money, the hotel, and getting the other mechanic paid, it still cost me about $900.  I sure don't have that kind of extra money.  I was way upset about it because the mechanic outside of Denver was only charging me about $350.  I'm trying not to think about it... :)

We finally left the awful town of Cheyenne at 3:30 that afternoon.  And got home at 10 pm that night.  It was sooooooo nice to sleep in my own bed again and not have to pay to stay somewhere.  And know that if anything goes wrong with my car, I have someone here who can fix it without stripping me of my life savings and my credit score.

All in all, it was quite the adventure.  I could have used an extra day of relaxation...one that didn't cost me almost a thousand dollars plus my pay from work.  But that's life.  I'm suuuuuuper glad I was there with Koby.  She helped me keep sane.

Moral of the story - always make sure you have $900 just laying around in case of car problems.  :)

random ramblings.

You guys.  I am a WILD WOMAN.  Today, I went...paragliding.  Anyone who knows me knows what a HUGE accomplishment this is.  Seriously.  This is a big deal.  I have a massive fear of falling.  And dying.  And flying through the air without being tethered to the ground.  And even sometimes flying through the air when I am connected somehow.  But I DID IT!  And it was so awesome.  Seriously.  One of the funnest things I have ever done.  I went with my executive team from work and it rocked.  I can't think of a more fun or crazy and eclectic group that I would rather go with...there is a lot of crazy behind those ties!  :)

Ok.  Here's a picture.  Sorry you get to see it twice.  Actually...I'm not sorry.  I for real can't stop looking at this picture.  It makes me happy.  And I want it to make you happy too.

Now I am going to ramble a bit.  It's my blog...I can do what I want.

Is anyone else just going stir crazy waiting for summer to be here?  Just me?  I am dyyyyyyying for warm and shorts and tank tops and sandals and being outside and tanning and swimming and doing all things summer.  Last weekend was AMAZING.  It was soooooooo beautiful outside.  We went to City Creek.  I wore shorts and sandals.  I took the most gorgeous picture of the Temple...don't worry, I'll post it for you.  :)

 See this fantastic picture?  I took it.  

Me and the sissy pants.

I still love my job.  It is so much fun.  I can't express how grateful I am that I found this job.  The people are so fantastic...I love them all!  Don't you all wish that you could go to work everyday and have it be like you are just hanging out with your super awesome friends all day long?  The other day I laughed so hard, I thought I might pee.  TMI?  Oh well.

Running will be the death of me.  And somehow I got suckered into running another race.  Ever heard of the Dirty Dash?  It could possibly be the hardest thing I will ever encounter.  Frick.

I got an iPhone.  It has completed my life.  I don't know how I ever survived without it.  Every time I look at, I get all warm inside.  That's true love.

Next week I am off to Denver with Miss Koby to see the Braves play.  She's OBSESSED.  And I think I will be too.  I've never been to an MLB game before.  I can't wait!  Baseball players are HOTTTTTTT.  I'm excited to stare at some cute baseball butts for 3-4 hours.  Sounds pretty much like heaven to me!

I bought the Muppets Movie.  I'm excited to watch.  I freaking loved that movie.  It's ok to judge me.

Guess that's all.  Hope you enjoyed my random ramblings.

Peace and love.

Tired.

Lately I have been getting the feeling that I am never again going to feel fully rested.  I just feel tired all the time.  I get a decent amount of sleep every night, usually between 7-8 hours, but I still wake up feeling tired.  I usually wake up at least once during the night.  On the weekends, I can't sleep in anymore, no matter how late I go to sleep or how tired I am.

I thought after I started working out consistently that it would help, but it really hasn't.  I don't drink that much caffeine - maybe one can in the morning and that is it, if I even finish it.  By the time I go to bed, it should be wayyyyyyy out of my system.

Sometimes I think there may be something wrong with me - iron deficiency, possibly?  Other times I wonder if I just have too much on my mind to ever feel at rest.  I am notorious for over thinking things and stressing myself out...it's a family trait.  There is always something on my mind.  ALWAYS.  I even think about things that don't concern me.  I am trying to work on it, but it's genetic.

One problem with over thinking things is that I create a problem that wasn't even there in the first place.  I become paranoid that any time a friend, especially someone I'm close to and see/talk to a lot, is having a hard time it's because I have done something or that they are mad at me for some reason.  I guess that makes me super self centered...guess I should work on that.  I think that one reason I am so sensitive to that is because I would hate it if I had done anything - unintentional or not - to hurt one of my friends.  I try really hard to be that friend that I want them to be for me, so if I failed at that, it would really upset me.

I don't know how this went from a post about being tired to a post about over thinking things.  But that's just the way my mind works sometimes.  Oh well.

That's all.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Does anybody else want to break out into song when they read the title of this post?  No?  Just me?  Well anyway.  I'm pretty lucky and have made some awesome friends over my life.  For real.  If you are friends with any of my friends, then you are lucky too!  So I'm just going to do a little shout-out to those people who have been there for me and who make my life better.

*My Sisters:
I didn't always get along with them, now I loooooove spending time with them.  We all have the same warped sense of humor, so we laugh at the same stupid jokes.

*Manda Jo:
Amanda and I are cousins.  And we didn't really become REAL friends until I was like 16 or 17.  Now there is no one who knows me better than she does.  She is the person I call when I am having a bad day and the person who knows what to say to make me feel better.  She is the one who I stay up until 3 in the morning with doing stupid things like making music videos to *NSYNC and Eminem...don't judge us.

*My High School Girlies - Britt, Rosey, Nat, Kylee, Shanna, Rachel, Jamie:
The only people in the history of the world who can get me to start running...a feat not to be attempted by any other person.  These girls are in some of my happiest memories.  And even though every single one of them are married and 3 of them have babies, when the girls get together, it is just like it always has been.

(Only missing Nat and Rach...where were youuuuu???)

*Melissa and Kendall:
2 of my best friends from college.  Kendall and I were roommates, and Melissa lived upstairs.  I think I am still trying to catch up on sleep from Freshman year.  Our personalities just go super well together, we just kinda mesh.  We've been through college, single life, marriage, divorce, moving, deployments, and babies and still get along swimmingly.  I still see them at least once a month (until now since Kendall has moved to Reno).

*The crazy soccer playing girls:
I loooooooved living with my soccer-playing roommates.  They were so much fun...fun enough that I decided to subject myself to living with them a second year.  I have more inside jokes with these girls than with almost any of my other friends.

*Jared:
I met Jared about a week before my very first year of college.  We were in the same "Connections" class...the best college class I ever had.  There was a group of us that were the cool kids in school.  Jared and I instantly became friends.  Since there were 3 girls of the same name in that class, I was dubbed "Loud Chelsee", since I was the most outgoing.  After Connections ended, we went on all sorts of crazy adventures.  Freshman year rocked.  When he left on his mission, I wrote him every week and was the best friend a missionary could have.  Now he is all married and stuff, but every once in awhile, we still get to have our little heart to hearts.  I love Jared dearly and I am so glad that he found someone who appreciates how awesome he is.

*The Lovely Sarah:
Who knew you could become such good friends with a person who randomly sat by you in class one day?  Our friendship developed over us both liking the same guy (at different times, and for about a day each).  Then we spent one glorious summer together filled with burning things given to us by stupid boys, the Bachelor, camp fires, Chili's chips and queso, and the zoo before she went and got herself hitched.  I don't get to see her that much, but I still think of her as one of my best friends.

*Koby Leian:
My newest bestie.  This girl rocks.  There are times my stomach hurts from laughing so much.  She helps me break out of my shell and do things that I normally wouldn't do.  She is such a sweet person and would do anything for anyone (unless you talk about her family), and she helps me want to be a better person too.  Plus she has the coolest southern accent that makes it so much to listen to her.

*My favorite Facebook friend: Kasie
Not many people understand my love for FRIENDS like Kasie does.  We can quote the show like it's nobody's business.  My favorite is when I got onto the FB and have a notification from her because I know it is going to be a line from one of my favorite episodes.  She rocks.

*My blogging buddies - Kateka, Katie, Emily, Carly, Annika, Chelsea, Heather, Sarah, Caroline (wassup DC!), Erin, Lindsey, Amy, Mega, Natalie and all of you others who read my pitiful blog (some of you already got a shout out...you don't get another):
I probably wouldn't write this thing if it wasn't for the validation all of you give me.  Haha I love all of your crazy comments and appreciate your bloghood.  And I loooooooove reading your blogs.  Blog stalking was the whole reason I got a blog in the first place!

If you are not mentioned, don't get mad...just hang out with me more!  :)

Peace and love.  The end.

trying a little harder to be a little better...

I love to make new friends.  Seriously, it is one of my favorite things.  And I am pretty good at it, too (sometimes too good at it).  I think it is because I try not to be judgmental of the way people live their lives.

Recently, I have been feeling...off, maybe?  Just kinda feeling like I am not being the best person I can be.  And as I got looking into my life, I could see the things that were bringing me down.  A lot of things hindering me are things that I need to fix for myself.  But some of it comes from some people I have in my life.  And that makes me really sad because it is people that I spend a lot of time with, people who I am really good friends with.  And it's not like the negative things they do are HUGE things, it's all the small stuff...the swearing, the inappropriateness, the leniency with some of the standards that the Church encourages.  But all of the little things add up, and it is causing me some stress and bringing me down.

It makes me sad, but I think that I need to start purging/phasing out some of these people from my life. I am trying to make myself be the best Chelsee there is, and to do that I can't have things bringing me down.  I'm not saying I will cut them out of my life completely, because they are people that I love dearly.  But I think it is time to move on.  In the movie "This Means War" (hilarious.  I highly recommend it), Chelsea Handler encourages Reese Witherspoon to not choose the better guy, but to choose that guy that makes her a better person.  And I think it is the same with friends, too.  They should uplift and inspire, not bring us down and make us feel negative.

One reason I want to make myself better is because I 100% have no idea how to be the kind of person that guys want to date.  Like I said up there, I am REALLY good at making friends, but it never translates to something more.  Ever.  For real.  But I figure I better just make myself all the way awesome so if/when/if it does happen, I am ready for it.  This whole not dating thing has taken a huge toll on me and has hit my self-esteem hard.  So I am trying to not focus on it, and just focus on me.  I kinda suck at it, but I'm trying.

So, all of you who have already caught yourself a man, give me some man-catching advice.  K thanks. :)

The end.