It Is Official!

For those of you not well versed in the profession of athletic training, let me give you just a little insight. As medical professionals, we are required to take a board examination before we are permitted to practice. This test is called the BOC and it is talked about from day one in most athletic training programs. I had the opportunity to take the BOC on November 18, just days before I went home for Thanksgiving. Taking the test was not that bad. Waiting for my results for more than two weeks was a little excruciating. This Tuesday, there was an email in my inbox telling me that the pass/fail results had been posted. This statement could not have been more true. Upon logging in to the BOC website I saw my name, status- passed. That was all, no confetti, no fireworks like when you win solitaire, just PASSED. This was all I needed to know. Although fireworks would have been nice, passing was all I needed to do! I am a certified athletic trainer, pretty cool feeling if you ask me!

Now I can help kids like Trevor for a living instead of just clinical experience. If you are wondering, Trevor is on his knees in this picture so I can better stretch his injured shoulder- something that would be extremely difficult for me to do if he were standing at his normal height of 6 foot something!

In Other News...

One of my very best friends, Christina, married a boy we all knew from freshman year in the beginning of September. It was a wonderful day complete with me driving my manual transition car while holding Christina's million pound bouquet in one other hand and trying to keep the other two bouquets standing up straight with my other hand... adventure, I think so! I recognize that this was a long time ago but the pictures were just posted and I wanted to share this one with everyone because I think it is a great picture! Congrats, Christina and Jackson! I love you both!

Pleasant Grove and Pink

I have spent a good chunk of my time this semester at Pleasant Grove High School participating in the last internship of my undergraduate education. Working out at PG has been so great! I love my Clinical Instructor there- her name is Kristin and she is pretty much the bomb. I love what we do there. I love seeing kids- like the boy in this picture- come back from injuries and get to be able to play again. This boy broke his collarbone the second game of the season and was able to come back and play the last four games, something not a lot of people thought he would be able to do. There is nothing better than seeing these kids return to full play and love it. I also really grew to love my kids out there at PG. High school kids are so fun and I am so grateful to have gotten to work with them and know them and pretty much love them!

Our last game was this last Wednesday and it was definitely bitter sweet. So sad that it is over but so rewarding to get all the hugs and teary thank-yous from my boys.

For our Senior night we let the guys spat. Spatting is what it is called when you tape over your shoe. Not only did we spat but we did it with pink tape. For those of you who follow the NFL you would know that October is breast cancer awareness month and that the cool thing to do is to wear pink. We have a couple of guys on our team who's moms have battled breast cancer so, this one time, we let them spat, in support of breast cancer awareness. It was a ton of work but, I have to say, it looked pretty sweet.

I am so thankful for all the awesome experiences that my education here at BYU has afforded me and I look forward to taking the next steps in my career and my education!

A Few of My Favorite Things

This post is a little bit late but, a couple of weekends ago I had an incredibly fun weekend and I feel like it needs to be blogged about so, here it is! For those of you who read Annie's blog, you know that in the Ditto family when you turn 8 you get to come to Utah for General Conference. Addison turned 8 in August which qualified him for a Conference trip! Kelly and Addy got to Utah on Friday just in time for a sweet tour of the BYU football team's athletic training facilities. This brings me to my first couple of favorite things. Kelly and Addison are some of my favorite boys in the whole wide world and, Kevin and Jeff and the rest of the football athletic training staff are some of my favorite people... Ever. I showed Addy and Kelly the training room and everything that goes along with it (the cool under water treadmill and the storage room with all the tape and Powerade and everything else there was to see.) One of the hosts that I got to know last fall took us up to the offices and showed us around, that was pretty sweet too! We ran into a couple of players which made the tour a little more exciting. We talked to Jamison Frazier for a while (#48) and, on our way out, we ran into Cody Hoffman (#2). Pretty sure Kelly started drooling, that was a little bit embarrassing but pretty cool!

This is the door to the training room. I spent such an incredible amount of hours there last fall that it still feels a little like home to me and I find myself missing it sometimes- especially the people that reside there (or practically reside there).

Saturday was Kelly's birthday. To celebrate we decided to go to one of Kelly's favorite places, nature. We went out for a yummy breakfast at Magleby's and then hiked up to Stewart Falls up above Sundance ski resort. This leads me to yet another favorite thing, FALL! I love fall! I love the weather and the colors and fall. We had such a blast hiking and looking at the colors. It was seriously breathtaking. There were a couple of times when I made everyone stop hiking so we could simply look at the colors and admire just how blessed we are to experience fall! We might have missed the morning session of General Conference but Becca and I both decided that communing with nature was a wonderful way to feel the spirit. It might sound like I am joking but I really am not. Taking time to really appreciate the world and notice the beauty is an excellent way to feel the Spirit and the love the our Heavenly Father has for us as His children.

Another favorite thing- Sisters!

I lucked out this year and got to go to two sessions of Conference in the Conference Center. I loved it! I love being there in person to hear the prophets and apostles and to feel the spirit there. I hope that one day I can have a kind of spirit around me that could fill up a building like the Conference Center. I saw Saturday Afternoon's Session and Sunday Morning. This has got to be another favorite. I love hearing Conference and knowing that the messages that are shared are what my Father in Heaven would have me hear. On Sunday Morning we (Addison, Kelly and I) we walking around the Conference Center trying to get wiggles out and we ran into a man with a camera and a press pass that asked if he could take a picture of our family. We told him that he could definitely take a picture of us so, keep your eyes open when the Ensign comes out... you might just see us somewhere in its pages.

Such a great weekend! So many great things, people, places, and experiences! I am so blessed and I know that and I hope that with every passing day I can become a little better at showing my gratitude for the blessings I receive.

Down and Dirty... Literally

I did something today that I have never done before. I ran a race where the goal wasn't so much winning as it was getting as dirty as possible. That's right. It was a 5k course laced with all kinds of obstacles- the obstacles all involved mud. The race started up a hill that had been sprayed down with water all day long. We had to run through puddles that were up to my thighs. We had to crawl through tunnels that were buried in mud. We had to jump walls into mud and crawl under walls in mud- there was a lot of mud! It was crazy but so fun! I was with good, my amazing little sister came to be our official photographer, it was a beautiful day and I ended up with a free shirt after getting punched in the face by the race coordinator. The mark from his hit matches the cut on my eye I got during my intramural Frisbee game this week (don't worry, we won the game). Just to clear up any kind of confusion about my injury... we were lining up to take a picture in front of the Dirty Dash truck (the race was called the Dirty Dash) and, as we were grouping ourselves, the race coordinator came and jumped in our picture. I was completely ok with this because I find him very attractive and he runs ultra marathons- talk about really attractive- anyway, he jumps in our picture and goes to stick his arm in the air to strike a pose but, instead, his hand met my face, hard. He felt really badly about the whole thing so he gave us a free entry to next year's race and, after I told him that a free shirt would probably help my face feel better, he got me a shirt! The worst part about the race was having to go to work when I got home. I had a great time getting in touch with my 'pig' side today! Here are some pictures for all to enjoy!

We really were clean before we started... Here is proof.

We were not quite as clean when we ended... These are our pig faces...

This was the final obstacle before the finish line, a GIANT mud puddle!

Classic jumping picture. Unfortunately, Kelsey's old man knee was not letting her jump at this juncture.

This would be right after I got punched in the face- note the scared/hurt face.

This would be the devolution of running- Kelsey represents a human and I would be the pig.

We were clean and then we were the opposite of clean- really, really dirty! It was a blast running through the mud and wading through puddles up to my waist (they weren't up to anyone else's waist but they were there on me). Thanks for inviting me to be on your team Kels! Fun day girls, fun day!

Remembering...

Once upon a time, ten whole years ago, I was sitting in my middle school art class and our principal came on the PA system and announced to all of us that we were being sent home early due to a national emergency. There had been rumors flying around school all morning that airplanes had crashed into buildings in New York but I did not want to believe they were true because my Mom, older sister Becca and my Dad were all flying that day. I didn't know what to think in my 12 year old mind- I was terrified. I eventually got in contact with my Dad who's plane never took off and he had simply gone back to work. That made me feel a little better and then we heard that Mom and Becca were safely on the ground in Omaha, NE.- not where they wanted to be since they were headed to Provo to take Becca to the MTC but they were safe.

Today, ten years later, I think back on this same day when I was twelve years old and I am so grateful that day went the way it did. I am also mindful of the families who did not receive good news like I did. So many lives were changed that day and I am sorry for those who's lives were changed for the worst. There is a scripture that comes to mind every time I think back on September 11, 2001 and it is Jacob 3:1. I read this scripture that day and it says that, ' He (God) will ^bconsole you in your ^cafflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down ^djustice upon those who seek your destruction.' This scripture comforted me then and continues to comfort me today. I am so thankful for the gospel. I know there is a plan and a reason for things that happen to us in our lives. I also know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and wants what is best for me in my life. It is this knowledge that inspires me to continue on even after tragedies like that of September 11, 2001.

Running Southern Utah

I have been looking forward to this weekend with anticipation and a little bit of dread since my friend Kris asked me to run on his Red Rock Relay team in early May. The Red Rock Relay is a running relay that goes from Cedar City to Zion National Park. We started at the top of Brian Head ski resort and ended at the gates of Zion. The race is 175 miles (or something like that) in all and we ran with a team of twelve people. The picture above is a shot of the "Snow" van. Teams were divided into two vans with the first being called the Snow van since it started at the ski resort. Not long after this picture was taken, our first runner jumped on the lift and rode to the top where the race began with a nice jaunt down the ski hill at 11,000 feet- talk about thin air!

Since it was a relay race and we all took turns running there was a good amount of time when each individual was not running. Our van was the first van so, the six of us in the van ran our legs and then we got a break while the six in the other van ran their legs. While the runners in our van were running we acted as their support car. We would stop ever mile or so to give them water and cheer them on. One of my favorite things about this race is that all the teams cheered for each other. This picture is our team and a couple of other teams making a tunnel for a runner to run through- it was so fun getting to know the other teams and cheering for them!

One definite perk of being in the support vehicle most of the time was the scenery. Southern Utah is definitely beautiful country! This was a view along on of my friend Hilary's routes- Lauren and I could not pass it up so we put on our best Asian tourist faces and took a picture!

If I told you this picture was taken at 3:30 am would you believe me? You better, because it was! After getting about 2 hours of sleep in a church parking lot it was our van's turn to run again. The worst part about this was that I was having a wonderful dream about being asleep in a nice soft bed when the other team called to say they were coming in and the realization that I was not in a nice soft bed was pretty harsh!! While I was trying to fall asleep in our van in the parking lot I thought to myself, 'why in the world would anyone sign up to do this?' The thing was, it was not just crazy college kids running around southern Utah and sleeping in the grass outside of churches, it was grown ups, moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas- intelligent people who probably don't usually do crazy things. There is just something about running, and I think about this race in particular, that calls to normally sane people like myself and makes us do borderline insane things, and then tell all our friends we had a blast doing them.

Here is a quick summary of my three legs...

Leg One: I ran my first leg in a hail storm. I currently had a large number of tiny bruises on my legs from where my legs and the hail met. I do not recommend running in hail. My first leg was also almost entirely uphill. Running uphill for 5.8 miles in hail at 8,000 feet is not my idea of fun and I love running so... that is saying something! I managed to finish and pass seven people on the way. How did I do this, I have no idea.

Leg Two: My second leg was about as different from my first leg as it could have been. It was not hailing, it was all down hill and my shoes were completely dry the entire time! I ran my second leg at about 10:30 pm in a reflective vest and a head lamp, two things I have never before worn while running. During this leg I passed ten people and managed to run 5.6 miles in about 35 minutes but, like I said, it was all down hill so don't be too impressed.

Leg Three: My last leg was a breeze. It was only two miles and it was mostly flat. At this point (6 am, running on 2 hours of sleep) I was feeling incredibly grateful to only be running two miles! Before running my last leg I was tied for the most kills in

our van with one of my teammates. (Kills are what we called it when we passed someone while we were running) For those of you who don't know, I am a little on the competitive side. This competitiveness is what made me have the desire to get at least one more kill during my last run so I could be the kills leader in our van. During my last leg I got two kills and ran my two miles right around 14 minutes which was a pretty satisfying way to finish off my Red Rock experience.

The picture above this section is Hilary 'marking' me. We got to put a mark on our leg for each leg of the race we ran. That particular mark was put on my leg after my 5.6 miles that I ran down hill the whole way. The picture directly below this section is me and our van's kill count. Since I was the leader in kills, our van affectionately christened me 'The Slayer'.

The girl in the blue shorts is Kelli, she ran our last leg and just happens to be my dad's cousin's daughter so that makes her my second cousin (or something like that)- we found this out one day at work, really randomly, but we have ran with it and now call each other' cuz' and are pretty much planning the next family reunion! Kelli is a beast of a runner and ran our last leg into Zion. A couple of us started to run with her and we were all able to cross the finish line together- it was a pretty sweet experience. I really think that finishing the Red Rock is definitely on my list of times that I have felt most legit, in my entire life.

Incredibly enough, by the end of the experience, this is what our van looked like, all smiles. Ok, there was definitely some soreness and body aching situations but, other than that, everyone was pretty happy at the end! It took us just about 26 hours to finish the 175 miles and we finished somewhere in the first 40 teams. Most importantly, as cheesy as it sounds, we all had a ton of fun! Even through the hail and the rain and the hills and the lack of sleep and everything else that came our way, it really was a blast! If you are ever wondering if you should run the Red Rock, do it! It will change your life... ok, maybe not quite change your life but it will definitely be worth it!

Hello Seattle

Directly after the fake graduation festivities we jumped in the car and headed to Spokane. It was a big weekend in Spokane! Addison got baptized and Maren got blessed- like I said, big weekend! It was definitely fun to be there with everyone and to celebrate those two great events.

The group was pretty large and consisted mostly of Dittos but we tried our best to represent and the Dittos aren't so bad :)

After the baptism and blessing festivities were complete, we jumped back in the car (there was a lot of time in the car) and drove over to the west side of the great state of Washington. So many good things happened on the opposite side of the state, maybe not quite as good as baptisms and blessings but I went to Panera (twice), I got to see my parents new house, I got to see grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins, and I got to lounge around at the lakehouse for a solid three days doing only things I wanted to do- best vacation ever!! I also got to spend my whole time at the lake with my amazing older sisters and their adorable children and one of my very best friends, Katelin, who I dragged along! The highlights include, reading an entire book, laying in the sun (yes, it was sunny), running around the lake, playing with the kiddos, helping Laynie jump off the highdock for the first time and being the designated jumping in the water-catcher. It was a wonderful week that ended with a date with my parents and Katelin to see The Help in the cute Edmonds Theater, get frozen yogurt and walk along the beach. I think, with this vacation under my belt, I will be able to successfully survive my very last semester at BYU.

I wanted to provide photographic evidence that Laynie and I both did some serious highdock jumping!

Ungraduation

Just as the title suggests, I did some fake graduating a couple of weeks ago. BYU does not have Commencement Ceremonies in December when I am officially graduating so, I decided to walk in August with some really good friends of mine. It was a little bit of a crazy time between trying to get finals done and working, starting my internship for the fall and having my family here but it was fun! Thanks to my Dad and his awesome photography skills we have great pictures to document the fact that all of us, minus Sam who actually graduated for real, fake graduated!

He Got Her

To quote my best friend Jill, who was quoting Colbie Calliat, while singing to her new husband, Mike, at their wedding reception, "He Got Her". Last weekend was full of fun and love and happiness as my best friend Jill married her Mike. They are a great couple and this event was a great excuse for all of the original Fugal girls to reunite. We were all there minus Sarah who is in Colorado on her mission. She was certainly thought about and missed! Especially at our girlie sleep over the night before the wedding- I am so thankful to have to have the friends that I do!!! It was so so fun to see everyone and to be there at the temple to see Jill and Mike emerge as a married couple!! After the temple there was a dinner at a stake center near by- catered by Cafe Rio- yum! The next day (Saturday) was the road trip to Lyman, WY for the reception. It was a great party and, with a lot of praying, we even managed to hold off the rain that wanted, so badly, to fall on us. Thanks Mike and Jill and the Hansens and the Jaggis for a wonderful weekend! Can't wait to do it all again in September for Jackson and Christina!!!

Here it is, the girlie sleep-over. We painted our finger nails and toe nails, we watched a girlie movie and talked until too late- perfect night!

This was the next day, at the temple. It was real hot outside- just to throw that out there! Just to show how small the world is, or how many people get married in Utah County, especially over the summer... While waiting for Jill and Mike's sealing to end I walked outside the temple and ran into one of my football players. He had just gotten sealed that day in the very same temple as Jill. It was fun to be able to congratulate him and even to receive a proposal from one of the coaches- He said to me, "When are you getting married?" I replied that I didn't know, upon my reply he grabbed my hand and said, "Let's go" as he walked toward the temple- pretty funny.

Here we all are, minus Sarah. I know that I have already said this but, I LOVE these girls! I am so blessed to have them in my life and I am so glad that we are all going to be friends from break-ups to babies and beyond! Just to make a public apology- Katelin, I am really sorry for stomping on your foot in my spikey heels right before this picture- I love you.

Lyman, Wyoming! A little piece of heaven! The party was beautiful with lights and paper laterns- it really was gorgeous!

Me and Kathe being good bride's maids, helping to tear down the party. I really am so thankful that I got to have such a wonderful weekend with so many wonderful people that I just love!!!

Happy Birthday America!

My Fourth of July was very low key but, that was just the way I would have had it this year! Between taking a full load of classes and working, low key is definitely appreciated! I had to work a double on Saturday and the Monday morning shift but, this weekend proved to be very profitable at work. In two days at work I made right around 200 dollars- not bad if you ask me. My weekend also provided me some time to spend with Becca and her family. The Youngs had me over for dinner on Sunday and let me hang out with them for the entire evening! I love having family around and other people's family who treat me like family. Thankfully I also had a little bit of time to squeeze some fireworks into my weekend. We watched the Stadium of Fire fireworks from the grass in front of the Hinckley Center on campus and they were pretty incredible. So, my low key Fourth weekend was pretty great! Happy birthday America!

My Spokane Family

I have been a pro vacationer lately. St. George last weekend and this weekend was spend in Spokane with the Dittos! I am so glad to have such wonderful family members and friends who fill my life with happiness and love and make it all worth while! To hit some highlights of this weekend- we made sweet tye-dye shirts, now that I am a pro from my St. George trip, I shared my knowledge and skills and every one's shirts turned out pretty awesome! On Saturday, I got to go out to lunch with a good friend from PA and her husband. Brandi and Ashley were out here because Ashley did the Couer De'Alene Ironman- he was pretty awesome, I know, I went and saw him race (well about 30 seconds of his race) on Sunday morning, before church. To top it all off, my dad and little sister came over on Saturday night so I got to spend some time with them which is great because Emily is running away to Ecuador to change the lives of all kinds of Ecuadorian orphans and my parents are so busy with their remodeling that I won't see them again until August when I walk at graduation. This was another great weekend, filled with family and friends and some pretty sweet memories! Thanks Dittos!! I am so glad I was able to come stay and especially glad I was able to meet new baby Maren!!

Disclaimer

Reading through my last posts, I found some typos... I posted my last post with a concussion, that is what we will blame it on!

Fun in the Sun

This was the weekend! I spent this weekend in sunny St. George, Utah. It was a great trip, incredibly fun! I am so thankful to have friends like Sam and Jason and I am so thankful for their families' hospitality! The trip went from Friday to Tuesday, morning, very early! There was mountain sight seeing, mountain biking, fun on the lake and a hike through Zion National Park! Amazing weekend!

So, after a sleepy drive (at least for me) we arrived in St. George. Hannah, Sam's little sister, was wearing an awesome tye-dye t-shirt so, we decided to make our own. Mine and Sam's shirts turned out pretty awesome, they will be featured later!!

This was activity number two. This train, the Poppy Trail, is practically in Jason's backyard. It was a really fun trail to ride. I was even able to manage it and I have not ridden a bike in years! As you can see, the sun was setting as we ended our ride. It was sure beautiful! St. George is beautiful and so entertaining!

This was Saturday morning's activity! We headed out, pretty early, to Sand Hollow, a reservoir not too far from St. George. The blue water looked pretty incredible next to the red rocks. I did some wakeboarding, cliff jumping and learned how to wake surf- good day if you ask me! The last picture is to illustrate exactly where I spent my time when I was not behind the boat, sprawled out in the bow, soaking up the Sand Hollow sun!

Saturday evening, after our naps, we did some sightseeing! St. George is really beautiful! I love the red rocks!! I especially love the temple against the red rocks- such a beautiful contrast! We walked around the temple and then hiked around the Sugar Loaf- that is where the view is from. I had a really great time getting to know St. George a little bit better!

Monday was the big hoorah!! We did a hike in Zion National Park. The most legitimate hike I have ever been on! It involved wet suits and harnesses and ropes, very equipment intensive! The scenery was incredible!! We hiked, rappelled, swam (through freezing cold water) and I saw some of the most amazing nature I have ever seen! I also felt more extremes, temperature wise, than I have ever felt in such a short period of time! One minute we were freezing, then then next we were sweating- quite the adventure if you ask me! Highlights- I learned how to safely tie myself in before rappelling, I now have great memories of Jason's 'toga', Sarah and I (Jason's little sister) sang Disney songs while we hiked out, I free rappelled 100 feet, and I had a brush with death (literally) but that is another story entirely!

In conclusion, this weekend way A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! Thank you so much to Sam and Jason, the Burton's and Stacey!! It was the best!

Sorry for this one, Jason. I needed to show off my completely awesome tye-dye shirt! Thanks, Hannah, for showing me how!!!