Burton Family Reunion

Last week Zac, John and I drove up to Logan for the Burton family reunion. John was only a week old but I was in need of a reason to get out of the house. John did great is a pretty good little traveler. It was great to see Zac's parents and Rachel and her boys were there too! So John got to meet his cousins. Another reason we went was so Zac's grandpa could meet his newest great grandson. It was pretty special. 

Ready for game day! 

Grandma and Grandpa with all of their grandchildren 

Four generations! Grandpa Burton, Margaret, Zac and John

I guess if you are dressed like a football it is only fair that you are treated as a football :) 

The Haunted Half & Halloween

I ran my fifth half marathon in five years on Halloween morning! It was the same half marathon that I ran for my first. I would have loved to write a post about how I did really well and it was fun...but sadly, that is not the case. This is probably the last long race I will get to do for quite awhile so naturally, I wanted to do my best. I was aiming to beat my best time of 1:54:51.
I was doing really well for the majority of the race. I was on track to beat my time. With less than a half a mile left, I came to the last major intersection and was stopped, along with the other runners, by a police office directing traffic. I couldn't believe it. Were they really stopping me in the middle of a race?! I knew as soon as they stopped me that there was no way I was going to be able to make up the lost time let alone run very fast after they just iced my legs! Have you ever tried to start running again after running 12.7 miles as fast as possible? It is pretty much impossible. I was stopped at that light for over a minute. I broke down in tears at that light and cried all the way to the finish line.
I have never pushed myself that hard physically as I did during that race. Then to have my goal trampled on like that was a pretty hard pill to swallow.
I tend to tie my ability to complete physically challenging things to my ability to overcome hard things in life. And this race was very much tied to infertility and my ability to go through IVF. I was running this race not only to beat my best time but to prove to myself that I can do hard things and to get one last race in before running is taken away from me. I can't adequately describe the crushed feeling I felt after that race.
I am feeling slightly better about the race now, but when I think about it I still get worked up. Haha. Anyways, on to better topics......

Halloween was pretty fun this year! Zac and I were Jack and Jill after they fell down the hill....again. Haha. I think this is the fourth year in a row that we have used this costume. Elise threw an awesome Halloween party. So we went to their beautiful new home and had fun with them and the Enghs.

Our amazing BYU Pumpkin! This is definitely the most advanced we have ever gotten with our pumpkin craving.....

We had a really fun Halloween party at work. They had all kinds of competitions. This is my entry into the Styrofoam tombstone competition. I won a $50 gift card for 2nd place. I kinda have an awesome job. :)

Halloween has never been my favorite holiday, but I think it is growing on me. I have always loved holidays, mainly because I like parties and an excuse to do something out of the ordinary. So I definitely can't wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Graduated!

Guess What?! I am finished with school!!! Zac and I graduated last week from BYU. It is the best and weirdest feeling at the same time. I have been going to school for a long time and it always felt like this day would never come. But it did! It is a very bittersweet time in my life. I am so excited to move and to experience new things but at the same time I have made some really great friends and memories at BYU. It is sad to think that we are all going our different ways. For the most part I have loved being at BYU. So many things have changed in my life since coming here four short years ago. I learned so much and can't wait to actually use my knowledge. (pending me getting a job).  And my life continues to change. Next week Zac and I will be moving to Seattle for an internship for the summer. Then in September we will move again to San Diego where Zac will be attending UCSD for graduate school in Structural Engineering. That is going to be great! Andy (Zac's little brother) is getting married this weekend to Rachel, who is awesome. I am so excited to get another great sister-in-law. In the mean time Andy has been living on our couch. He has been  such a good sport. Our apartment is a total mess with us trying to pack. I have discovered that about 85% of the stuff in our apartment is mine, Yikes! And I don't entirely trust Zac to pack my things for me. :) So it has been a little crazy trying to pack and still working full time. But it will all get done eventually. Anyways, I think I will let my pictures do the rest of the talking....

Emma (Zac's little sister) was so kind and took some graduation pictures for Zac and I. Thanks Emma! 

 A week or two before graduation, BYU threw a graduation party. It involved free food so of course Zac and I went. :) Vocal Point preformed and no BYU experience is complete without seeing Vocal Point.

 The week before finals Zac flew out to Tennessee for a Civil Engineering competition and conference. He was on a team that built a 5 foot tower out of wood, then the tower was tested for structural stability and other engineering things like that. They competed against schools from all over the nation.  They took 5th place! Woohoo! That was also the first time Zac and I had been apart and it was awful! I never want to do that again.

 Zac and I were very spoiled during graduation. Elise, Eric and Porter came down and Mom, Dad, Marc, and Michelle came up! 
Zac's Mom, Paul, Andy, and Emma were all in town as well. It was so great to have so many people there to support us. We also, got to go out to eat a lot ;) 

The Saturday after graduation, Zac ran the Salt Lake City Half Marathon. It was a lot more fun cheering Zac on and not running! Thanks to Elise and Eric for letting us stay at their house before the race  so we were closer. 

This is my apartment right now. ....a total mess.  It is killing me! I hate messes so this has been an adjustment for me. Only one more week of this! Woohoo! 

Life sure doesn't give you a break. This past week I got in a little fender bender.  Luckily it doesn't look too bad.  A few scrapes, a broke light and a bent hood. I'm just crossing my fingers we can get it fixed before we leave. My poor little car... Lesson learned: be a more cautious driver. :)


That is the past two months of my life in a nutshell. Now that I am graduated and no job yet in Seattle, I should have plenty of time to keep my blog current. Adios, Provo!  

 P.S. In other news.... I am now a certified ACSM Health Fitness Specialist! This means I can prescribe exercise and give nutrition advice to almost anyone! Hopefully it will help me land a job soon... :)

Tonight I played my last intramural soccer game ever. Depressing. I have been on an intramural team every semester that there was soccer with the exception of one ever since I came to BYU. I love soccer. I remember how hard it was when soccer was over in High School but at least I had the intramurals to look forward too. Hopefully, wherever Zac and I end up they have a women's city league. I hope you enjoy some of the  pictures of my past teams. I wish I had taken a picture of this last team I was on. It was made up mostly of people from St. Johns. Intramurals....you treated me well, you will be greatly missed. Here is to all the great times I had playing soccer. :)

L is for Love

L is for Love and I have experienced a lot of love this last month. :) Let me show you....

1.A lot of love from my family! My wonderful family came up to Utah this past weekend. It was great to spend so much time with them. I got to spend some quality time with my parents. And I have to say, that I have the best parents in the world. My parents are the Jimmer of the parenting world. Just kidding, but they really are awesome.  It was also Lindsey's 21st birthday! Woohoo! For one month out of the year we are the same age. It is like we are almost twins (for a month). Lindsey will be leaving on a mission here shortly and I don't know what I am going to do without her. All our lives, I have always been the one to try things  first then I would come home and tell Lindsey all about it. Now the tables have turned. I am so excited for her! I wish she could just pack me up in her suitcase and take me with her. 

2. A lot of love from the husband! Zac and I had a great valentine's day. I surprised Zac with a little gift basket with a list of 101 things that I loved about him. :) (Thank you pinterest) It turned out great and he loved it. Zac surprised me with some beautiful roses and chocolates. 

3. A lot of love from soccer! I figured that when my cleats started to rip in the middle of a game I needed some new ones. Aren't the news ones so beautiful?! (sorry old cleats). I have had the ones on the right since half way through my Junior year of high school. They served me so well I couldn't bare the thought of throwing them away. They are stashed safely in my closest until I figure out what to do with them or until I work up the nerve to throw them out. They just hold so many great memories. They carried me through two years of high school soccer and countless BYU intramural soccer games. What can I say, I just love soccer!  I just hope wherever Zac and I move, that they have a women's soccer league. 

BYU vs. Gonzaga

This past Thursday has been a long awaited day in the Vidmar household. This past Thursday was the BYU / Gonzaga basketball game at the Marriott Center. Because Zac grew up in Spokane, he is a sworn Gonzaga fan until death, even if they are playing the school that is giving him is education and the school that his wife is a fan of. Zac went all out for this game. He bought real tickets (you can't wear the other team's stuff if you sit in the student section). We showed up an hour and half early (to watch Gonzaga warm up). And even when BYU was whooping the Zags, he stayed faithful. I wore my BYU gear and Zac his GU gear. After BYU defeated the Zags, I for one was extremely happy, but it still felt as if we had lost because Zac was so sad. All I know is that I hope Zac and I don't have to cheer for two opposing teams for anything else. Go BYU! 

Dunk! 

Hey look it's Cecil! Woosh, Cecil! 

Oh the life of a college student

I know, it has been a looonnng time since I last posted. But I have good reasons for not posting....school. I probably say this every semester but this is my busiest semester ever. It's a great semester I love my classes, but I am ready for it to be over. So like any good college student, I am not working on my final projects and instead I am blogging. Anyways, here is an update of the Vidmars....

Utah had some beautiful leaves this year. Zac is such a great husband and always takes me on drives in the fall to look at the leaves.

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Kanab this year. It was great to get out of Provo and enjoy some great weather, food and family. We also got to see Kanab's light parade, with a whole four floats! :) My favorite part of Thanksgiving was going through the Temple with Lindsey. I am so excited for her! She is going to be the best missionary. I just don't know how I am going to live without her for a year and a half.  Until I came to BYU Lindsey and I had never been apart longer than a week. But the people in England need her more than I do.

As you can see I put our little 3ft Christmas tree up! I love the Christmas season!

Other happenings in the Vidmar house:

• I am officially ready for Graduation in April!!!!
• Zac has submitted all his grad school applications! Now we just have to wait until February or March to hear back. He has applied to: UCSD (University of California of San Diego), Berkley, University of Washington, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, and BYU. (His favorites are the ones in California and Washington, I don't really have a favorite, just hopefully not BYU) 
• I am in love with my Internship!!! 
• My Intramural soccer team made it to the elite 8
• And Zac got another TA job for next semester so we can buy food. 

The Lessons You Learn

Well folks I am still here. :) Life has been a tad bit on the crazy side lately. Most of the time I feel like this.....

But Zac and I have had some time to still have some fun...

We went to the Utah /BYU game. It was pretty sad to watch but we still had a good time. 

Last weekend we ran the Dirty Dash! It was super fun. It was a 10K through obstacles and mud pits. As you can see by the pictures below, Zac and I had a great time in the mud. :) 

Then this past week was great! Except for the fact that I got a cold. I love general conference. I always feel that they are speaking right to me. This conference was especially good. There were so many talks that answered prayers and concerns. I was chastised and comforted. My favorite talk was by Elder Anderson. He talked about the importance of having a family. I am almost finished with school so this subject has been on my mind a lot lately. I know I made the right decision by waiting so I could finish my degree. But soon I will be finished. And that thought scares me. Elder Anderson knew exactly what to say to take away all those fears. I know that I am supposed to mother, and I know that I will have my heavenly Father right there with me every step of the way when that time comes. I am so grateful to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I would be lost without it. 

The past couple of week have taught Zac and me some valuable lessons.

1. Never leave your bag unattended at a race. 

2. Remember to pack a lunch or else you are going to be very hungry.

3. Doing your homework on Fridays is a good idea.

4. Trying to pick Zac up from school on a football game day is always a bad idea. 

5. No matter how busy you are always make time for the people you love the most. :) 

Oh School You Came Too Soon

I am slightly sad writing this post because this means that my wonderful summer adventures are officially over. I am now completely immersed in school. ugh. But on the bright side.....I only have one more year until I GRADUATE!!! Yay! Of course, it is going to be pretty crazy getting there. This semester I am taking 15.5 credits, working 8 hours a week at my new internship and trying to get 20 hours a week at Imaging. I don't think the last one is going to happen very often. My internship is my favorite part about this semester. I love it! I am- interning at Y-Be-Fit on campus. It is so awesome getting to use everything I have learned the past three years to help people improve their quality of life! These first couple weeks will be hard just because it is always hard doing something new. I love feeling like I am doing something important, something of worth. Well, that's all for now. I have to go do my reading. blah.

Count Down

Today is Zac's birthday!! He is the big 2-4. We celebrated yesterday by going to Tucanos. So good! I didn't even feel guilty, because we had both just ran the Utah Valley Half Marathon. Today, we kept it pretty low key. Going to Vienna was both his and mine birthday present, so he didn't get very many presents. But that never bothers Zac. He is good like that, he really doesn't mind. Paul and Katherine came over for cake and ice cream. That was great! Then Zac got to Skype the rest of his family. I think he had a good birthday. :)

 Yesterday Zac and I ran the Utah Valley Half Marathon. It was actually really fun looking back on it.  Yesterday at 3 in the morning though, it was not fun. Zac did really well, but is really feeling it today. I did ok. I  ran it in 1:55:44. So just about a minute slower than our last one. But that's ok, by mile 12 I was just glad that it was almost over. :) It was really fun because Aunt Linda and Uncle Jamie did the full so I got to see them. I also got to see almost all of Uncle Steve's family. Wendy and Karen did the half, and Cassie, Jake, Cliff, and Melanie did the 5k. It is always fun to be around family.  Zac really wants to do a full marathon in the future. I'm still not sure if I want to do that. Half marathons feel like a good distance for me.

In other good news this week. I got an internship!!! YAY!!!! I have to have an internship in order to graduate so I had been looking and applying to a lot recently. I will be interning at Y-Be-Fit at BYU. There I will council faculty on how to be healthy. I will make diet plans, exercise plans, take body composition and things like that. I am so excited!! It will be great! I also get to work there for Fall and Winter semester. It is just perfect. This relieves a lot of stress. Getting an internship was the only thing in the way of me graduating next April.

Less than one week now til Zac and I leave for Vienna! I am getting really excited as well as really nervous as I realize there is still a lot I need to do before we leave. We fly out of the Salt Lake airport at 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Fly to Dallas then to London then to Vienna. We arrive in Vienna 1:00p.m. Vienna time on Monday. That is one long flight. We also found out who our host family is, The Drapals. I hope they are nice. haha. From what I can tell from Google maps, they live on the edge of Vienna, by what looks like a large forest. We don't know really anything about them except their name and their address. I will be blogging at least once a week about our study abroad. So probably my next blog post will be from Vienna!

Summer

It is officially summer according to me. Even though the weather looks like this....

And not like this....

But hopefully that won't last too much longer. I love summer because when I come home from work I don't have to do anything. No homework, no nothing. And I love that. I get to lounge around, play soccer, go running, make crafts, whatever I want. This past week was great. On Wednesday Zac and I met up with a bunch of the people going to Vienna. It was great getting to know them better. I also found out that amoung that group I have a 2nd cousin going! Small world huh?!  On Friday we played soccer, watched our friends win their intramural game and  then got ice cream cones at Macey's. (the cheapest ice cream cones in town). On Saturday I slept in. Love sleeping in. Went running, had a picnic and went to National College Rugby Championship game at the Rio Tinto Stadium. BYU was playing! We had front row seats and had a blast. That was the first rugby game I have ever been too. And boy it is a brutal game. I have never seen such a physical sport. It was funny though, they were throwing punches and beating up on each other pretty bad, but as soon as the play was over, they were like best friends. I don't know if I could do that :).  Anyways, BYU lost, which was really sad. But it was still a lot of fun. I am excited to see what this coming week will hold for Zac and I. I love always having my best friend handy to do fun things with.