Running and My YouTube Habit

Hello!

The summer is finally over and school has arrived! I know it has been forever since my last post. Trust me, though, I haven't had too much to post. Well, that's not true, there has been some fun family stuff. :)

Family News
Accompanying photos forthcoming

My baby sister left last Friday to go to graduate school at the University of Washington! She's getting her masters in some sort of environmental engineering. Last I heard, she was very lonely and adjusting. Luckily, we got a web camera just for this occasion and we are able to talk with her live and see her too! We spoke with her last night. She said that she hasn't met anyone there yet except for a few of the other students. I think it's awesome that she is willing to do move away like this.

What's more exciting, though, is that she has been offered a partnership in the consulting firm where she worked in Boise for after she graduates! That's so cool! Also, all of her co-workers from here are taking off to Seattle this weekend to see the BSU/UW game and to visit her. That's pretty sweet for a bunch of old manly men. They're pretty attached to her. It's cute.

Also my baby cousin, Adam, got married last Friday! The crazy part about it was that he and his girlfriend went and decided to get married but they didn't tell anyone; I heard it from Grandma. I then called my aunt to see how to proceed: Should we come to the wedding? If we shouldn't, would it be all right to at least send a gift? (My cousin is the type to not tell anyone about his wedding but then be sad that nobody came.) My aunt said that we were welcome to come. So, two Fridays ago, all four of us went to the courthouse and witnessed the marriage of Adam and Jillian. Afterwards we had cheesecake and pictures in the park. Their baby, Gracie, was wearing a beautiful little blue dress and she kept giving me kisses. She's so precious!

My cousin, Angie, has moved back to Boise after four years with her husband and children in California. She came to my parents' for dinner last week. I got to meet her new baby, Kenny, and I got to hang out with her two-year-old, Ronnie Joe. He's pretty sweet. It was really nice to see her again.

My parents turned 60 this Summer! For my mom's birthday, we had a small family party. For my dad's birthday, though, my mom and my sister went all out! My mom rented a backhoe with attached frontloader, and my sister arranged it so that my dad would have two free hours at the site where her company is building a mall. My dad got free dirt access for two hours and he got to learn how to use the backhoe. It's been a dream of his for a long time to run one of those! It was tons of fun. My uncle Dennis and my cousin, Jonathon, came along and they had the time of their lives. Afterwards we had a lovely dinner at Outback steak house. Pictures of this will be coming shortly. I know I have access to those.

I'll post pictures of all these folks as soon as I can get some. Unfortunately, I still haven't solved the digital camera problem. (I'm kind of getting fed up with that, actually)

Running

It's going well! I've worked my way up to running between 5 and 6 miles. Mike was right when he told me that distance running is one of the hardest sports because it's you against yourself. Three times a week he has me run two miles fast. I run 5-7 miles on three other days. The two miles fast runs are actually harder than the 5-6 mile runs. Especially now since, when I run, my body wants to go faster and faster but the faster I go, the more my lungs hurt and the more uncomfortable I am! It's a struggle because I have to choose between being really uncomfortable and going really fast, or being more comfortable and running slower (when all my legs want to do is move!) It's really a balancing act and it's very mental. It's actually incredibly frustrating to have two opposing things happening in your body at once, as if my body can't agree with itself about what it wants to do. Tonight I opted to run the last two laps of my two miles more slowly because 1) it's less painful that way, and the juxtaposition between how fast my body wanted to go and how uncomfortable my lungs were was making me angry, and 2) if I associate running with consternation, I'm less likely to do it next time. It really is a struggle to get myself out for the 2-mile runs. I hate having lungs that hurt even if I know it's expanding them and that it's good for me.

More news forthcoming on that.

You-Tubing

Since my parents have recently acquired a high speed internet connection I have been able to catch up on all my favorite actors on You Tube! (Yes, I admit, I have been hanging out here a lot the last couple of weeks!) I have found some gems I want to share with you.

JULIE ANDREWS

I was her biggest fan as a child! I hadn't heard about her at all since I read in the news several years ago that she had lost her voice. So, when the cable guy came and fixed the internet last week, I decided to find out what she was up to. What I discovered from recent interviews is that she is healthier now than ever! She has really come in to her own as an older lady, I think. She's not afraid anymore to be who she is and to let her personality shine. She's an incredibly confident woman now, and I find that very inspiring!

She and her daughter, Emma, have launched a campaign to promote children's literacy. There is a lot on You Tube about that.

Here a couple of my favorite moments with the Dame herself:

Funny and Short! Julie Andrews responding to Steve Martin's joke. This is from the 75th Anniversary of the Oscars.



The Ellen show is great! I thought this was really funny.

And, of course, the history major must speak. This is her singing the British national anthem when she was 11, then it goes into some very early interviews.



There are some other really cute ones. But I think these three are especially nice.

ENRIQUE MURCIANO

I've been a fan of Without A Trace for a while. My favorite character on that show is Danny Taylor (played by Enrique Murciano.) When I looked up these interviews with Enrique Murciano, I was thoroughly amused. No one would be mistaken to call me silly and to call me a dreamer, but I don't think I'm this bad! It's pretty funny! Check these out!

The Ellen Show from whence Enrique Murciano earned the nickname "Ukelele Boy." (Switch to the last two minutes to see the Ukelele part. It's pretty cute.)



And the follow up appearance, which I think is even better



But, look at the last two minutes of this one to see Enrique, the hopeless romantic. I think it's pretty funny and pretty cute, too, in it's way!



I'll get to talking about work later. I've been working too much to talk about work!

Elisabeth