Sunday, May 22, 2011
Your Perfect Run
Friday, May 20, 2011
Let's Hear it For the Boy!
(This is actually the ice cream cake Sel and I made for Kit's birthday. Kit has recently decided to join the Jewish religion and we felt it appropriate to make her a multi-purpose celebration cake...actually theses are her initials. Of course the letter candy package I got didn't have enough to spell her full name)
Sel also gave me a birthday present of pure joy: colorful socks and something to help me take all the credits I want to before I graduate. You may be asking yourself right now, "Oh. My. Goodness. Is that the HP time turner?" Are you understanding a bit more now why I have contracted Spoilitosis? You know what the crazy thing is? My Spoilitosis has progressed rapidly in the past two weeks. The doctors think this Saturday was the last thing my body could take before it was completely overwhelmed. As mentioned, I have been training for a marathon. This last Saturday was my day to do 20 big, fat miles. D-Wise started the spoiling process by buying me a runner's survival pack. I got Gu galore, two pairs of anti-blister socks (so I could mismatch them), a muscle roller, Energy Gushers and Jelly Beans. She also called a couple of her marathoner friends to ask for advice on good running routes. Some of her sweet friends decided to run/bike (my new friend Lisa has a stress fracture in her foot) with me for the last ten miles. My other new running buddies, Nate and Emily had to leave for SLC at 9:15AM which meant I had to get in ten miles before meeting up with them and Royal Whiz at 7:30AM. Guess who decided to wake up at 5:45AM with me and bike the entire course? Yup, it was Sel. Sel got up before the sun with me and was cheerful, enthusiastic, and SO helpful. He gathered all the Gu and water into the little bike basket and spent the whole 3 hours and 18 minutes cheering me on, throwing me water, helping me choke down the nasty energy packets, and spoiling me rotten. My body and will power began to decline at mile 18, but Sel kept me going. He rode faithfully alongside of me telling me encouraging things and he even played "Eye of the Tiger" on Royale Whiz's iphone for the last half mile. You would think sacrificing an opportunity to sleep in, riding around on an uncomforable bike, and spending three hours doing everything possible to make sure I didn't die would be where Sel's selflessness ended. Guess what? It didn't. The second we were done, D-Wise, Royale Whiz, Sel and I ran to the gas station to get some Powerade for my muscles. When we got back, Sel filled the bath with cold water and carried a bunch of ice up the stairs to pour in there. He held my shoulders while I shivered away and put ice on my quads for me. Sel then rubbed down my muscles with the roller D-Wise got for us and icy hot for just over an hour. Sel didn't think about himself for a straight seven hours. Sel usually doesn't think about himself. He is always trying to spoil me in some way. The doctors are pretty sure my Spoilitosis is going to be a chronic condition due to Sel being such a powerful source of Spoilitosis. Turns out all of the doctors, nurses and patients have been trying to contract Sel Spoilitosis without success and were plotting up grandeur schemes to catch some strand of it before I left the hospital. Poor things. Knowing Sel's tendancy to overwhelm vast numbers of people with Spoilitosis, I am not too worried for everyone else. I am sure Sel Spoilitosis will just increase in epidemic nature in the years to come.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Party of the Century Updates
For all you non-male readers out there (as I know this will bore everyone but the female population), I will now give a detailed update on all Madre, Sel, Kit and I have completed for August 12.
Homemade Oreos and Chocolate Chip Cookies with Milk Shots (isn't that SO cool. You get your own shot glass of milk to dip your cookie in. Genius.)
Work It Out Now-Funk So Brotha
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Afternoon Tea with Barack & Michelle
Over the past three weeks, I have taken a lil tour of the home country. Throughout my travels and in pursuit of getting a new driver’s license (as I have now turned the ripe old age of 21), I have realized I am a homeless person. Since the King Klan has moved to Ohio, I am not exactly sure where to say I am from. I can’t technically say Michigan cause no one in my family lives there and I only lived there for 3.5 years. I can’t say Ohio cause I have spent a grand total of three weeks and three days there in my short life. I am currently trying to claim Utah residency, though I don’t exactly have that one going for me either. I am attempting to use the B-mont address to prove I have lived here for a year, but I am no longer living there. Sigh. I am thinking of moving into a van down by the river. I have always had a fondness for muskrats…
I also had the opportunity to visit a few other states (besides the previously mentioned Oregon): Idaho (for Easter), Illinois (I love Chicago), Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania (Sel’s birth place), Washington D.C., West Virginia, and Virginia. I visited ten states in ten days if you count staying a night in Utah. It was kind of an exhausted blur, but I absolutely loved it. I loved everything D.C. had to offer. I had let a few of my AP U.S. History facts trickle out of my brain over the past couple years and adored being reminded of them again and remembering how much I love history. Especially U.S. history. America has had and continues to have its issues like every other country, but I doubt many could easily disregard its magnificence. The brilliant and inspired people who have poured sacrifice after sacrifice into this country are endless and have made America what it is today. I was particularly touched by the war memorials. The Vietnam wall left me speechless. At first I wasn’t sure how to feel looking at the thousands of names I didn’t recognize etched along the far too long marble wall. I then imagined how I would feel to see the names of boys from my ward, friends, my cousins, and even Sel’s name on that wall.
I cannot imagine the pain their loved ones must have felt. I found this quote in Gettysburg that sadly rings true for every war
My family and I also got to visit the WWII memorial and see this picture of my Grandpa King.
He fought in the U.S. Navy and happens to be one of the greatest men to ever live. My grandpa acted a bit like a grumpy old man when he was alive, but he was actually uncommonly kind and giving. I remember one moment from my childhood where he secretly gave me a pretty unicorn necklace and told me the church was true. I have never forgotten that moment nor the other moments where he and my grandma came to ever single sad soccer and basketball game of mine. As I looked at his picture at the memorial, I wondered about how different my life would have been had Reed Kent not come back from the war. My dad, uncle and three beautiful aunts wouldn’t exist. My fun and wonderful first and second cousins wouldn’t exist. My sister wouldn’t exist (see below as she tries to steal a penny from the Lincoln memorial). I wouldn’t exist. My grandma would have married one of the seven other men begging for her beautiful hand and the sixty plus relatives of mine wouldn’t be who they are today. He and my grandma created ripple after ripple of beauty for so many people. After having this run through my head, I thought about the thousands of good men who didn’t return to marry the perfect woman and create a crazy, loud, sometimes obnoxious, yet loving family.
I don’t think the living will never be able to properly honor the names of those who died for this country. Arlington, however, gets really close to showing the gratitude our country has for our soldiers. Especially in regard to the tomb of the unknown soldier. Those who guard the tomb essentially serve something similar to an LDS mission. They abstain from all forms of drugs and alcohol and spend three years fully dedicated to guarding the tomb which is guarded 24/7 rain or shine. It is one of the highest honors a soldier can receive to guard the tomb and it is truly a humbling experience to see and understand all that they do.
We also visited the Holocaust museum. I would go into detail, but I really feel every person should go there at one point in his or her life. I unashamedly cried through the majority of the exhibits. In regard to the Holocaust, I sometimes learn things I never want to think on again. I know human cruelty is deeper and more horrific than I will probably ever comprehend. Why dwell on this fact instead of rejoicing for the billions of examples of humanity’s altruistic ways?When leaving the museum, however, there was a message that altered my mindset. It said to the effect “Next time you see injustice or cruelty, remember what you’ve seen here. Keep this from ever happening again with your remembrance.” This is another powerful quote from the museum.
Before we left D.C., we also visited a couple of the Smithsonian museums. The Aircraft and Spacecraft museum was fascinating! I love everything about astronomy and this museum certainly catered to my love. My favorite Smithsonian was easily the Natural Museum of History. All of that science coupled with history compacted in one area was a dream come true.
We also got to see a beautiful art museum, the museum of printing and engraving (where they make all the money. I was really hoping they would give out a couple Benjamins for souvenirs….), and, of course, we checked out the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and other important U.S. documents. I would have to say the perfect ending to our D.C. adventure was having tea (herbal of course) with Michelle and Barack. The Obamas are such a charming couple and extremely generous to those they like (aka me…). We invited them to spend a family weekend with us in the Hamptons and we are all looking forward to being reunited. They are especially anxious to meet Sel after hearing so much about him.
The final thing we did on our trip was visit Gettysburg. Instead of relaying my many reflections, I will encourage you to go. The best way I think to start your Gettysburg experience is to watch the movie (narrated by none other than Morgan Freeman) about all of the historical details, do the cyclorama (a giant panoramic mural was created four years after the civil war and you move to different areas of the room as another narration with sound effects walks you through the battle), and walk through the museum. After we really soaked in the details, we just went and stood on the actual sites. The feelings I had are really hard to place. I will let you try and sort them out for yourself when you go there.
I know this post was abnormally long, but I feel like D.C. not only deserves it, but demands it. Hope you get to go there someday!
The B-Mont Horror Film
The first of my travels over the past few weeks started the last day of finals. I got the chance to go on a road trip with my honorary sisters to Oregon for Sars wedding to Bri Guy. Oregon is absolutely stunning as was Sars. The forever long thirteen hour drive was actually a blast because B-Rose, D, Lys, and I were having some fun adventures along the way. One of the adventures of note was getting lost in the perfect town for a horror film. “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, “The Wiggles Movie”, or “House of Wax” might have been more appropriately filmed here (I never actually saw these, but my sister tells me they were pretty creepy especially the Wiggles one). Everything was run down and not a soul was around (sound the trumpets now for my brief moment of rhyming skills…those are wrong trumpets) on the only road the town of fifteen creepy individuals was proudly displaying. We all kept waiting for a bloody body to fling itself onto the hood of the car as the four helpless college girls clung desperately to their last few moments of life. Of course all of our hair and make-up would be flawless and we would do exactly what everyone watching us would acknowledge as the dumbest thing any human being could ever possibly imagine to do in that situation. Maybe I can still follow in my father’s footsteps and write horror novels/films… Anyway, the wedding day was beautiful, but absolutely exhausting. The girls and I got to the hotel around 3:00AM. Of course we had to stay up a bit longer to hear all about Sars last minute wedding plans and have the shots of cider we missed out on doing for her birthday. Poor Sars and Lys got about an hour of sleep and D, B-Rose and I got about an hour and a half. Waking up was reminiscent of the time a lunatic tied me to the train tracks and I not only got run over by the train, but it malfunctioned over my mangled body and the five ton hunk of metal continued to crush my bones for an hour before a crane came to my rescue. I had never felt so tired in my life. Can you even imagine how Sars made it through not just any old day, but her Wedding day on that little of sleep. Instead of channeling “The Haunting” or “Insomnia” in suit with the theme of horror films, Sars was stunning and not driven mad by the abusive ghost of her great-grandfather. The LDS Portland temple was also stunning. If you are ever in the Portland area and want to see something breathtakingly beautiful, I would encourage you to check it out. After Sars and Bri made their grand entrance onto the grounds as Mr. & Mrs., they took a whole bunch of pictures. We tried to look pretty enough to stand close to her and then we rushed away to help set up for the reception and luncheon. The luncheon was delicious and the reception went perfectly. We started to fall asleep though if we sat longer than ten minutes so it was lucky we didn’t do much sitting that day. We must have looked insane to the other guests as these four random girls cried while our beloved Sars danced with her Dad and Bri at the end of the night. We had spent the first part of the reception decking out Sars and Bri’s car with scrawled inside jokes on their windows and randomly dancing to songs of the playlist. We all stood in the parking lot as they drove away and felt lonely without the girl who has been with us for three years. The horror film “Abandoned” came to mind except our father didn’t abandon our little girls selves fueling our future reaction to kill off our boyfriends when they realized we were psychopaths. We had planned to spend the rest of our night ordering a pizza and watching “Tangled”, but we were barely awake enough to drive to the hotel. The weekend of April 22nd was magnificent. It marked an ending and beginning to so many things. I am very happy it didn’t mark an ending to our lives as it seemed it might at points J
Here is a sample of how lovely and non-horror film worthy the wedding was.
My Parents. They wanted one of those crying rubber babies to practice parenthood on, but the shipment magically got sent to Russia and they had to settle on taking care of me instead.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Foot Racing
I didn't think my athleticism could be disgraced anymore after that moment. I was very sadly incorrect. My dear father hoped to help me to discover some semblance of athletic ability after basketball, volleyball, dance, quidditch, and soccer so miserably failed. He took me to a running trail close to our home and told me to run along side of him for a short mile. After a mere 400 meters of huffing and puffing, I stopped cold and expressed my disdain for our activity. My dad didn't stop for a second. He just motioned his hands forward and kept yelling back to my Olympic worthy self to catch up with him. I only made it another 400 meters before I sat down in the middle of the trail and refused to move. Looking back on that moment, I am amazed I ever became a runner. I guess I must have realized at some point running was my last ditch effort at being involved in something other than athletes.
After boring you with two lengthy paragraphs of my past, I will now arrive at the emphasis of this post. I am currently training for the Utah Valley Marathon. It has been an adventure to say the least. I keep having reoccurring nightmares about the looming race day (June 11th) which are actually pretty entertaining. My most recent one involved me showing up to the starting line in a ten year old's buzz light-year pajamas and giant pink slippers. I also was carrying a 2 gallon packet of Gu (energy gel) on my back. I also happened to witness a murder during the race and was running too slow to get to anyone in time to get help. Essentially, my dreams have tapped into my overwhelming feeling of not being ready. I luckily had the experience this week that I need to boost my confidence. I got fitted for a new pair of Saucony's at the local running shop by an extremely pregnant woman. We got to talking about her due date which she revealed was this upcoming Sunday. She also began telling me her plans to run the Columbus half-marathon on Saturday. As I stared at her bulging belly, I began to remember something I learned a long time ago. Runners are absolutely insane. Have you ever watched a cross-country race? Not a single person is smiling. Even the most talented runners look as if they might be suffering from a mild femur fracture.

Runners are always wanting to go a bit faster and a bit further. One marathon turns into a desire to do fifty. So here is my public thank you to the crazy preggars chick who thinks it is okay to run 13.1 miles hours before her child pops out of her. Thank you for helping me realizing it doesn't matter if I show up to that line in buzz-light year pajamas. Everyone on that line will be just as crazy as I am. :)