Hiking the Y with Nate R.

Our friend Nate and his dear wifey Maddie are moving to Arkansas soon. Nate and Mason were roommates their freshman year at BYU and then again after their missions. They've gotten to be real good pals, and I like him a lot too. :)

One of the things on Nate's Provo Bucket List was to hike to the top of Y mountain. Seeing as he is leaving soon, and Mason and I are experts at hiking the Y (because of the one time we did it together last summer), we decided to make his dream come true, and one late April morning we did it!

Nate and I were both kind of dying a little on the hike to get to the actual Y on the side of the mountain. It is an indisputable fact that the trail leading up to the Y is a very terrible hike. It is SO steep, there's about a million switchbacks, and it's not even pretty. It's just dusty and rocky and steep. Did I mention how steep it was? I mean, really.

Eventually we made it to the Y, and then the real fun began! We went off on the little trail that leads to the top! We were on our way!

Soon we made it to Mouse Rock, which is cool because from a distance it actually looks just like a mouse. Close up, Nate was convinced it looked a lot more like a rabbit. Also like a lizard. Haha I'm not sure how a rock that is supposed to look like a mouse can possibly look like a rabbit AND a lizard simultaneously. It was funny!

It was a fun, pretty hike and the weather felt perfect. Lots of cloud cover, and cool but not too cold. We stopped for some Clif bars, saw our old dead nasty goat friend's skeleton laying on the side of the trail right where it was last year, and then... it happened.

Snow. Everywhere. We had gotten up so high on the east side of the mountain where the sun barely ever shines, and the snow was everywhere! It was beautiful, but SO slippery and actually really deep in some places. We struggled through it, Mason decided his new name was Captain Crampon because of his very grippy trail running shoes he was wearing, and Nate was starting to get grumpy. I'm sure we were quite a sight.

We actually ran into two guys who were looking for the summit who had given up and were on their way back down. I felt bad for them and we all wondered for a moment if we should keep going. Of course, we did! The terrain was steep and slippery and it was getting a little cold, but we WOULD find the summit! With Captain Crampon as our fearless leader, we could not fail.

Eventually, we made it. It was beautiful. Nate had mentioned on our way up the mountain that he wanted to scream, "WHO AM I????" from the top of the mountain, but we all forgot, so he didn't. We all took some pictures and drank in the beauty, and then realized that it looked like a big storm was rolling in so we had better skidattle. Also, someone who shall remain unnamed used our emergency toilet paper. Hopefully that proves to someone else who shall remain unnamed that bringing TP on adventures where there's no potty is not a laughable idea. ;)

The way down was even more slippery than the way up, and we all fell on our bums at least once. I was the record holder, with 5. Even Captain Crampon went down! Oh, and later Nate found a stick to help him get down the mountain, and Mason started calling him Admiral Ice Pick. They are goobers!

Finally we made it out of the snow and started down on the easiest part of the trail. Then it started to hail! HAIL! It was insane. We hustled along and eventually it stopped, but it was about 10 minutes of being hailed on I think.

Finally we made it down the super steep Y trail. Nate had holes in the toes of his shoes, so his entire big toe stuck out of one of them on the way down and we all laughed about it.

It was a blast. I'm sad to see the Robisons moving away, but I hope Arkansas holds happiness and many fun adventures for them.

Revel Mt. Charleston Half Marathon (forever ago)

We ran another half marathon! It was a blast and we both loved it so so much. It was Mason's fourth half, and my second. It was a really emotional run for me and I was SO glad that Mason was waiting for me at the finish line, because I just started sobbing in his arms haha. It was kind of embarrassing, he was like, "Bri! Get your medal!" And the 15 year old girl walked up to me and put it on me while I was sobbing uncontrollably. Ha. Good thing we'll never see each other again.

Anyway, starting from the beginning, we left Mason's parents' house at around 4:30 the morning of the race. Mason's dad, Lane, ran it with us. We were all really tired, but excited. (I was so nervous I was going to have a terrible case of the trots again, so I took lots of Imodium. ;) ) And then we were off to the race! After a nice warm bus ride they kicked us off the buses and we stood around in the cold and watched the sun rise. Finally it was 6:30 and we started running!

I tried running with a pacer this time, and it was a really good decision. I ran with the 2:10 guy, so our mile times weren's super fast, plus we were running down a mountain for about the first six miles, I think. It was fun listening to him babble on and on about running and stay distracted. Around mile seven I was feeling awesome and fresh so I decided to kick it up a notch, and I increased my pace just a little so eventually I was far ahead of the group.

I was doing great until about mile 11.5 when my left hip and knee started to really really hurt. I kept going, and pretty soon the muscle on the front of my shin (also on the left leg) started to get super tight and hurt like the dickens. Around mile 12 I couldn't take it anymore and had to start walking. The 2:10 guy passed me, and I said, "Oh no!" He looked back at me and said, "Yeah..." apologetically as he zipped up the seemingly enormous hill we were on. As he ran away from me I started to see my dreams of a PR going with him. Add on to that the intense pain in my entire left leg and I just cracked. I started to walk, hoping a little break would help my leg to feel better. I felt terrible that I was walking, and started to cry.

I think people noticed that I was struggling because spectators started saying things to me like, "You got this girl!", "You're almost there!", and, "It's okay! You're doing great!" Which only made me cry more haha. I kept trying to run, but always had to stop again, mostly because of my hip. Anyway, once I got to where I could see the finish line I decided I was going to run all the way there even if my legs fell off. Luckily they remained hooked to my body and I got a huge shot of adrenaline when I got really close which allowed me to sprint past about 6 people. And then Mason was there, looking so happy to see me, and making me feel so proud, and I just lost it and started bawling.

So it was kind of a weird experience. Lots of emotions. No trots, which is definitely abnormal for me, if you must know. I actually did end up with a PR. Somehow I was able to finish in 2:10 and some seconds. It made me feel strong and powerful and I loved it!

Bri's Birthday, the big 2-3

I had a birthday recently, and it was so fun! It was my first time having a birthday as a married woman, and I absolutely loved it!

We started it by sleeping in a teeny bit, and then Mason put my presents on top of me while I was laying in bed to wake me up! It was quite a way to be awoken! (Well, I guess he woke me up for the second time. I woke up the first time because he had to wrap them using packing tape. HA.) He got me some new fancy sandals and a pill counter. Just what I always wanted! He picked the sandalias out all by himself with no help from me and they are just perfect! He also told me there was a surprise at the end of the day that I could look forward to. I thought about it all day!

So then we went on a nice walk to try out my new sandals. They  were wonderful. It was nice to walk around and see all the flowers that are in bloom! We went on other walks too and they were all fun.

 New Sandals!!!

 "Goiter Tree"

Then we came home from our work and were debating going on a run, but we ended up just playing on Google Earth for about an hour and a half. It was fun! We looked at things like Mt. Everest, places in New Zealand Mason has been to, the Great Wall of China ... You get the idea.

We also went on a beautiful drive through Provo Canyon. We went all the way to Heber, and then turned around. Mason and I usually have wonderful conversations when we go on car rides, and this one did not disappoint. (Also, that's the canyon we drove through the night of our very first kiss! Romance!) Then Mason surprised me by pulling in to DAIRY QUEEN! I love Dairy Queen, and the one in Provo is disgusting. It was a total surprise and I loved it! Mason is such a sweet heart! So we ate supper there and got medium blizzards. I ended up throwing my blizzard cup away with a little bit of melted blizzard still left in it, into our trash can before remembering there was no bag in there. And then Mason cleaned the trash can. What a guy!

Perhaps the most special present I got was that Mason took the day off from homework/studying. It did help that it was Saturday, too. Finals were coming up and he had tons to do, but he worked really hard all the other days so he could spend lots of time with me on my birthday and not be stressing about school. He is the greatest and I like him lots and lots.

Top it off with presents from my fantastic parents in law (THANK YOU!), and it seriously could not have been a better birthday. All in all, it was fabulous. I felt so loved and special. I look forward to enjoying many more with my sweetheart! Here's hoping 23 is the best year yet!

The Semester of Discontinuance

Well, about a trillion things have happened since I last blogged, so this is my effort to start getting caught up!

So winters out at BYU have always been really hard for me. I think it's the darkness, the way it just seems endless when it's been snowing for 2 months straight and there's no end in sight, the stress of school, and probably a bunch of other stuff. For whatever reason(s), it's just always kind of ridiculous and it makes school darn near impossible sometimes.

That's why this semester, I decided to discontinue. I loved a lot of my classes but decided that discontinuing would be the best thing for me to do right now so I didn't get terrible grades on my transcript. (It's kind of hard to do well in school when you just stay home all the time.) I'll be going back in the fall and everything will be just fine with my transcripts, I'm just taking a little break right now.

Since discontinuing in the middle of March, I have been busy! I switched my major back to psychology, because that means that I can graduate in just THREE SEMESTERS. This is the first time I've really been able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it is really exciting!!!!! If I can stomach any more school after BYU, I'd like to go somewhere and get my masters in Social Work.

I've also been painting! You'll remember that on our 6 month anniversary Mason got me some paints and an easel. I actually did a little craft with stencils before that that was super easy, and I wanted to keep painting and get better.
Here's the first craft I did with stencils:

I remember I was SO stressed out with picking out the colors for this project. I like the way it turned out! My favorite one is the cream background with the blue flowers, and Mason's favorite is the purple background.
Anyway, fast forward a month or 2 from that project, and I completed my first painting with no stencils! With paint brushes! Here it is:

I know, I know, try to hold your applause, please. ;) Haha totally kidding. It actually looks a lot better in this picture than it does in real life. If you see it up close, you can see the paint is really uneven, there are several places where the shapes are kind of weird, and the blending in the background is choppy at best. But it was SO MUCH FUN painting this! I followed a step by step tutorial on youtube and picked out my own colors. I loved it. I started working on my next painting a few days ago and I'm not using a step by step video for this one, so hopefully it doesn't turn out totally gross looking.

I've also started learning to play the guitar. Mason and I both have an app called Yousician that has cool lessons so you can practice and learn. It can be really frustrating but it's also really fun and when you finally get something that you've been messing up it feels really good.

I also had to find a new job when I discontinued, so I've been working doing transcriptions at a company called Rev. It's all online so I just do it from home. It's getting less terrible the more I do it, and if I really put my mind to it I can make some decent money. I'm thinking I'm going to get a "real" part time job in the summer so I can actually get some social interaction every once in a while.

And I've also been running. Mason, his dad and I are all running a half marathon in about a week and a half. I would love to PR, but I think my only real goal is to get done and then not have to be stuck on the potty for the next 5 hours, like after my last half marathon. Haha. I know you were all dying to know that.

I've visited Michelle and Nate and their fam a couple of times too, and they always help me to feel happy . I LOVE going up there!

(Asa spent a really long time sticking pins through this fabric strip. Then he showed it to me and said he made it for Uncle Mason, who couldn't be up to visit with me. We sent Mason this picture.)

It is inspiring to me to see Mason working so hard to get through this semester. He is so diligent in his school and has some really long days sometimes, but he always gets everything done that he needs to. I'm glad I have him with me as I go through my hard times, and I hope I can be his rock when he goes through his.

Anyway, that's a little of what I've been up to this semester. Here's to the summer when neither of us have class and it's warm outside!

Six Months Sealed! (Getting caught up)

On February 20 Mason and I celebrated out 6 month anniversary! We didn't have school because it was presidents day, so we had an entire day to relax and celebrate! It was so fabulous. We stayed up really late the night before watching The Office, just because we could, and then we slept in a little the next day. I really wanted to go for a 6 mile run, and we did it by the Provo River. It was really nice to have that time to reflect on these past 6 months with Mason. At times it's been a little hard and stressful but it is oh so worth it. There is no one else I would rather spend a day with than him. He is the best thing that ever happened to me and I love him so much!

After our run we headed over to Michael's so that I could get some painting supplies. Painting is something that I have wanted to learn to do for as long as I can remember. Mason is so supportive. In fact, its kind of funny but when we first started dating Mason asked me if I was an artist. When I said I could barely draw a stick figure, he was slightly shocked because he had just assumed that I was an artist because certain aspects of my personality. I thought it was highly flattering!
Anyway, we went to Michaels and I got a few brushes and colors of paint, and Mason surprised me at the last second by sticking a real life easel in our buggy! He is so great and I felt so fancy. I'm currently working on my first painting now!

Following our fun trip to Michael's, we went home and it was only 4:30 but we were both starving so we decided to go out to dinner. Mason put on his cute green button-up shirt and told me that where we were going for dinner was going to be a surprise. I love surprises, and I love it when Mason does sweet things like get dressed up for dates and open my car door. I know he doesn't do those things because society expects him to, he does it because he really loves me. It's so sweet and so flattering.
We went to Olive Garden! It was my first time going there and it did NOT disappoint. Our waiter was a little weird, but it was SO NICE to go out to a nice restaurant and just be together and eat delicious food with unlimited bread sticks ;)

After that we came home and watched Netflix to our hearts content. It was lovely.

It was a perfect day. We did so many wonderful things and most of all it was just fun to get to spend so much quality time together. Mason is my favorite person ever and I am so happy we get to build our lives together. 6 months may only be a short time in the grand scheme of things, but it is a big deal for us. I look forward to celebrating years and years of marriage with him in the future.

Here's a few great memories from our first 6 months I've loved having with my sweetheart:

Getting hitched, obviously!

Running my first half marathon!

That one time he DYED MY HAIR for me! He is so brave. This was also the day I cut his hair for the first time and it actually turned out ok. I'm glad he was there for me when he dyed my hair because I may or may not have bawled my eyes out in the shower afterward and been in dire need of emotional support ;)

Making this little gem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emBY-u0qvGw

 Seeing him play with my nieces and nephews, especially Asa. He's going to be a great daddy one day!

 waking up SO EARLY on Christmas morning at the Waites and being so tired but also so excited!

 Our drives down to Las Vegas to visit the Parkes fam. We never fail to have great conversations on those trips, and I love them.

 Going to the aquarium with Maddie and Tony in Las Vegas!

Cooking with Mason is so fun. He has a gift.

The trip to Death Valley with the fam.

And of course, our 6 miler we did on our 6 month mark.

Winter Semester 2017

First day of school! It was cold!

These are just my ramblings about things pertaining to this semester thus far, in no particular order:


Mason and I are both enjoying our classes this semester. My favorites are my chemistry and animal diversity classes, and Mason is liking his computer science class (he's minoring in computer science! He's so cool!) and math. We are both working really hard in school and at our jobs. Mason is a TA again this semester, but he got promoted to be one of the HEAD TAs and now he is making the big bucks. And by that I mean like $11.45 an hour. Wowee! I'm back working custodial in the Life Sciences building, which is kind of a drag sometimes but it works with my schedule so I'll take it.

One thing that's been really good this semester is that all of Mason's classes start after mine. That means he can help me get out the door to go to school every single morning, which is a good thing because sometimes I just have no desire to go. Especially since going entails walking a mile in the cold before I'm even there. He's been really nice and kind and supportive and has helped me out a lot.

Mason is also taking a class this semester about grad schools, and the application process and stuff like that. Crazy thing is, his professor is the therapist I sometimes meet with in the Wilk! Mason is starting to really like that class too, and I think it's cool that he got to meet Dr. Rice. Sometimes we think about where we want to live while he's in grad school, and the other day we were daydreaming about moving to Australia. Why not? We're young and crazy and our lives are OURS and we can do whatever we want with them!
...that was just a daydream though. We haven't really researched any schools down there and it would be crazy because it's literally the opposite side of the planet. But we're not ruling anything out just yet. :)

In addition to school and work and homework and all that jazz, Mason has also been good about getting up early and exercising. (I planned to do that too this year, but it hasn't really happened yet. And my food baby can prove it.) He goes down to the little "gym" area we have in our building and runs on the treadmill or rides the stationary bike. And he's very good at keeping track of everything he's done. He created a spreadsheet--his favorite thing! I think it's really cool and admirable that he is so organized about things he cares about.

A cool thing happened to me the other day. So usually after I take a test in the testing center I immediately take out my phone and check my score and then I base my feelings off of that number. However, on saturday I took my first chemistry test and, because it is all going to be hand graded by my TA, I am not going to know my score for probably about a week. And I feel good about it. I don't feel good about it because I think I got 100%, in fact I'm not even sure I got an A. But I feel good about it because I worked really hard and I studied and paid attention in class and did my homework and then I worked my fanny off in that testing center for 3 hours straight, and when I was behind and the testing center was closing in 20 minutes and I still had 5 problems to do I DIDN'T GIVE UP. And I feel proud of myself and I know that I did my best and so no matter what grade I get, I feel proud to have worked so hard.
That's cool because I never feel like that! I always just check my grade and I am NEVER satisfied. So it was a new thing and I really liked it.

We are excited to see what the rest of the semester brings!

Celebrating the Holidays!

Well, Christmas break is over and we've made it through our first week of school. Go us! Christmas break was fun--we spent some time at Shell and Nate's house for the beginning of the break (we were there on Christmas day and got to sleep with a surprise kitten in our room for a few nights! The kitty, named Timothy, only pooed a couple times, but MAN did it STINK.). It was so fun to be with the kids and see the wonder and excitement in their eyes on Christmas morning. It was also fun on Christmas Eve night to see them all exchange their gifts and to give them the gifts from the dollar store that we got for all of them. I think Asa liked his present the most. We got him a little flashlight with a button on it and he walked around shining it everywhere for a long time. :)

 We went to see the lights they do at the Roy fire station, and witnessed Nate accidentally plowing over Bryn while playing tag. It was cold and Mason let me wear his jacket, because he's SUCH a sweet heart!

 We spent some time outside playing in the snow (this was before it really snowed). We also got to go sledding with some of the Waite's friends later, and it was a blast!

It was so pretty! I love looking at the coniferous trees with snow on them, they're gorgeous!

 Sweet little Timmy, who was named Africa by Mason and I while he was living in our room. He's precious!

Also, I got to squeeze my Latin hips between 2 car seats and Mason sat on the floor of the minivan for some of our car rides. :) I don't even mind doing that! These kids are fab!

It was also really fun to give/receive presents with Mason for our first Christmas being married. I'm glad we'll have lots more Christmas's together! :)

A few days after Christmas, we had a beautiful trip down to Las Vegas to spend time with the Parkes family. It was so fun to go down there and see everyone!And there was no snow! We actually got to go running outside for several days because the weather was in the 40s a lot. It was great!

For a few days we watched some distant relative's kids, and it was quite an adventure (7 kids, only 2 could talk!) but there was one named Axel who was a favorite and just ADORABLE.

AND THEN WE GOT TO GO TO IKEA FOR THE FIRST TIME AND IT WAS LIFE CHANGING. Unfortunately, this was the only picture I took the entire time. I think it looks like the space ball Christmas lights we used to have in front of my house.

For New Years we had discada, a new tradition that has emerged at the Parkes home. :)

We also went on a day trip to Death Valley, which was my first time being in California that wasn't for marching band! It was fascinating and fun and so cool to look around and explore, and we LOVED being with Mason's family! The road home was really bumpy and windy (that's like, a winding road. Not like, wind blowing) and dark, but we stopped for a minute or two to look up and see the stars. It's been a long time since I've seen so many, and it was truly awe-inspiring.

Pictures of Death Valley coming soon!



The next day Maddie and her boyfriend Tony came to town, and we partied it up with them! We were able to go to a really interesting aquarium called the Shark Reef and Mandalay Bay. There was an octopus there! (I'm going through an octopus phase... I just love them!) And we got to touch some kind of sting ray thing and look at piranhas and LOTS of sharks!

Then, we walked all the way across the strip and saw some street dancers, which I thought was awesome. It was cool to look at all the casinos and stuff, even though I for one was a grump for a little while. I blame it on dehydration. We stopped and I chugged an entire Arizona in about 7 seconds flat and felt like a new woman.

Then, we made it to THIS!

It was sooooooooooo much fun to go up so high and see Las Vegas from 550 ft up! Mason liked it too, he started to get his groove on in there. ;) It was excellent because we got the entire car to ourselves, just the 4 of us! I absolutely loved it. Thanks to mom and dad Parkes for making it possible.

All in all, it was a fabulous and much needed Christmas break. We are excited for school to start again!