I Know What You Did Last Summer
Posted by Christie Hall on Tuesday, June 7, 2011
If you ask me to recall for you what I did last summer, I might draw a blank. I know a few things are true. I rode horses. I do that all the time and, oh however cool it sounds when I announce it, it stops counting on the "oh, cool" list of things to see when you've watched the horse trot around in circles for a year or two. My sport, dressage, is amazingly difficult, requires endless time and effort, and is famed to be about as fun to watch as watching cement set.
So, yeah, I rode horses.
I also hiked. This is true. I hiked a lot. My dog enjoyed this very much and I took one fabulous trip up Millcreek Canyon that culminated in a marriage proposal. That will ever be indescribably excellent and my retelling of it will never do it justice, but if you want to read that little piece of history, check it out here http://christieandseth.yolasite.com.
Ok, what else did I do? I worked. Yes, friends, I worked long hours. I taught three classes, worked full time at my job in the tutoring center and I slept. I wrote almost nothing. It's a frightening tale of a wasted summer.
This summer is going to be different, I vow. I have one fewer class to teach and I plan to use that extra three hours a week to do something fantastic. It starts with a list of things to do:
Crossfit- I am a Crossfit junkie in training. Crossfit is a fitness craze that sort of resembles a gym and sort of resembles the "Strongest Man" contest I saw the other night on T.V. While we don't throw kegs of beer over 20 foot signs, nor do we pull semi trucks 100 yards down the road, we do some amazingly difficult workouts. It's fun to know that I count my progress measured in bruises and ice packs. It will be the perfect sport when I can get muddy while doing it, like mountain biking or trail running.
Run another relay- In the past I ran the Ragnar Relay in Las Vegas. It's a 180 mile relay race. You run 3 legs of a race over the course of a weekend with 11 people that you'll likely never want to see again afterward. It's insane with adrenaline and a ton of fun. While Ragnar is out this year, I am looking at the Red Rock Relay or another end-of-summer blow out. If nothing else, maybe I'll do the Top of Utah Marathon again.
Ride horses more creatively- I think risking the cost of a show would be a fantastic idea. I just spent a fortune on a one-hour clinic with a former Olympian. It was a lot of fun and made me much more confident to try my hand in one of the low-risk, local shows. I also have the temptation to try my hand at trail riding with my horse. It doesn't seem like a big deal until you know more about my horse. He's a scatterbrained Thoroughbred that used to find everything scary. He's come a long way, which gives me more confidence, but there's no guarantee I'll come back in one piece. I survived the last broken arm, but I don't look forward to another summer like THAT one.
Travel to my family reunion- we'll be driving a car to Nebraska later this month to meet up with more people than I ever knew I was related to. That will give me a story or two since I'll be getting to pick the brains of some people that may be able to shed light on my ancestry connection to the Picards. That being said, I should remind at least a few of you that Star Trek is fiction and that last name has only the fantastic connection to the founders of St. Louis, not the "Next Generation." Jean Luke is fiction, Jean Luke is fiction. Ok, it's a personal mantra.
With these possibilities and the promise to lose weight for the wedding, hopefully there will be SOMEthing to write about. This summer's tales will be a lot less scary.
So, yeah, I rode horses.
I also hiked. This is true. I hiked a lot. My dog enjoyed this very much and I took one fabulous trip up Millcreek Canyon that culminated in a marriage proposal. That will ever be indescribably excellent and my retelling of it will never do it justice, but if you want to read that little piece of history, check it out here http://christieandseth.yolasite.com.
Ok, what else did I do? I worked. Yes, friends, I worked long hours. I taught three classes, worked full time at my job in the tutoring center and I slept. I wrote almost nothing. It's a frightening tale of a wasted summer.
This summer is going to be different, I vow. I have one fewer class to teach and I plan to use that extra three hours a week to do something fantastic. It starts with a list of things to do:
Crossfit- I am a Crossfit junkie in training. Crossfit is a fitness craze that sort of resembles a gym and sort of resembles the "Strongest Man" contest I saw the other night on T.V. While we don't throw kegs of beer over 20 foot signs, nor do we pull semi trucks 100 yards down the road, we do some amazingly difficult workouts. It's fun to know that I count my progress measured in bruises and ice packs. It will be the perfect sport when I can get muddy while doing it, like mountain biking or trail running.
Run another relay- In the past I ran the Ragnar Relay in Las Vegas. It's a 180 mile relay race. You run 3 legs of a race over the course of a weekend with 11 people that you'll likely never want to see again afterward. It's insane with adrenaline and a ton of fun. While Ragnar is out this year, I am looking at the Red Rock Relay or another end-of-summer blow out. If nothing else, maybe I'll do the Top of Utah Marathon again.
Ride horses more creatively- I think risking the cost of a show would be a fantastic idea. I just spent a fortune on a one-hour clinic with a former Olympian. It was a lot of fun and made me much more confident to try my hand in one of the low-risk, local shows. I also have the temptation to try my hand at trail riding with my horse. It doesn't seem like a big deal until you know more about my horse. He's a scatterbrained Thoroughbred that used to find everything scary. He's come a long way, which gives me more confidence, but there's no guarantee I'll come back in one piece. I survived the last broken arm, but I don't look forward to another summer like THAT one.
Travel to my family reunion- we'll be driving a car to Nebraska later this month to meet up with more people than I ever knew I was related to. That will give me a story or two since I'll be getting to pick the brains of some people that may be able to shed light on my ancestry connection to the Picards. That being said, I should remind at least a few of you that Star Trek is fiction and that last name has only the fantastic connection to the founders of St. Louis, not the "Next Generation." Jean Luke is fiction, Jean Luke is fiction. Ok, it's a personal mantra.
With these possibilities and the promise to lose weight for the wedding, hopefully there will be SOMEthing to write about. This summer's tales will be a lot less scary.
