Weekend Off

Finally a laid back weekend!  This is the first weekend I truly got to kick back, relax, and enjoy my stunning new home. It's about time.
Thursday I didn't have class I just had clinical orientation so I went to that for 2 hours and then did some errands. After that I picked up Lizzie, her friend Lindsey, and Meaghan and we road-tripped to Salt Lake City to drop Meaghan off at the airport - I was bummed to see her go!
Then I got to pick up my new baby, Rex, in Salt Lake, which was like giving a mother her brand new baby. I got the new mom glow written all over my face.
Then I got to explore Salt Lake! It's such a gorgeous city. We went shopping (aka looked stuff), ate lunch, and walked around Temple Square. The Mormons sure know how to do it right- their tabernacles and temples are GORGEOUS! Before I got here I was a wee bit weary of the whole "everyone in Utah is LDS" thing but now that I'm here, it's honestly not a big deal at all - in fact I could care less what religion you are. I had that attitude before I moved here anyway, but there are so many preconceived notion of Mormons that are so far off from reality it's hysterical.  The internet sure can give you some false information. All in all, I haven't met one person here I don't like.  And contrary to popular belief, no one has pushed their religion or beliefs on me and no one has even remotely hinted to me that I don't "fit in" because I'm Catholic. The people in Utah are the nicest, sweetest, most genuine people I've ever met - they're half the reason I love it so much here! And I'm loving learning so much about a different culture. I'm so happy I have this opportunity to learn so much about a way of living that's so different from what I grew up with or what I learned about in Boston.
I got home from Salt Lake late afternoon and pretty much went straight to bed.
Then I woke up at 8 am the next morning like a kid on Christmas - it was mountain biking time! I already blogged about this so I'll spare you the details. But all in all, it was bomb. On my way home I decided that instead of going home, getting in the car and running errands, I would just ride my bike to do them. Such a good idea! I saved some gas and got to enjoy the morning a bit. I think I'll ride my bike around Logan more often for purposes other than just exercise.
After I mountain biked I went to the pool with Lizzie and Brooke and was super lazy all day. I went for an extremely painful 3 mile run to try to loosen up my sore, bruised body. It didn't work. Friday night I went to Lizzie's and we baked wayyyy too much banana bread, listened to music, laid on her couch talking, and wasted away the night. It was great to actually hang out without anything to do. Most times Meaghan, Lizzie and I hang out while sitting in front our computers doing work. Kind of productive, kind of social, mostly obnoxious.
I woke up yesterday and went for a 6 mile run, which was painful in and of itself. I think I've been working out so much lately I'm not giving my body enough time to recover so that's why I feel so slow all the time. But I can't help it. I know this week I'll have a few days off because I'm going to Park City for the 4th of July...I think that'll help.
So I woke up, did 6 miles, and picked up Lizzie to go to Meaghan's pool again. She's such a peach for giving me her pool key for the weekend, I'm not quite sure how I would've occupied my time without it. More training, perhaps?
So Lizzie and I showed up first and got to watch this group of 20-somethings sit around the pool with their music and big sunglasses like it was spring break 2008. Hey Cali-boys, in case you haven't noticed...this is Logan, not Cabo. And sun bleaching your hair with lemon juice wasn't cool in the 90s, and it's definitely not cool now. Also, that button up palm tree shirt needs to go back to Tommy Bahama's where you found it.
Between this group of 10 or so and the screaming little ones who found it hilarious to shriek, do cannon balls in the pool, and shower us with their squirt guns, we weren't short of entertainment. However obnoxious it may be.
But all was better when Brynne and her husband Clark came and the little kids focused all their attention on squirting Clark in the face. Clark travels a lot so we haven't met him yet but I was so impressed! He reminds me a lot Chris so obviously I liked him, and him and Brynne are so cute together. Then Brooke and her boyfriend Derek showed up too so it was one big party! It was awesome we all finally got to hang out outside of class for a change...and having the boys around forced us to talk about something other than class, which is a rare thing. What? There's life outside of school? Who knew!?
So burnt and tired I came home around 4, recharged the batteries, and then went for a mountain bike ride. This time we went to Green Canyon which had more technical trails, so I averaged 9 miles an hour - a bit pathetic I think. Turtles bike ride faster. But I didn't fall this time! But I did notice that while mountain bike riding I tend to repeat the same thing continuously: "Oh sh**, oh sh**, oh sh**, oh sh**." It's pretty much the only thing that comes out of my mouth. Maybe when I get more confident it'll change to "woooooooo!!! WOOOOO!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" But for now? It's just adrenaline induced cussing.
I came home, ate oreos and peanut butter, curled up with the documentary The Grizzly Man and fell asleep - oh the crazy life of a grad student in Utah. At least this weekend I didn't spend Saturday night grocery shopping at Walmart with Lizzie and Meaghan....Yes...that happened. I'm not proud of it but the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, or did something wrong. Never again will I spend a weekend night grocery shopping. That was an all-time low.