Having beautiful red or auburn hair was something I wanted, but was told I could never have. As a natural toe head, a true platinum blonde, people were typically appalled by my claims that I wanted my hair to be something other than what it was. The rest of the world wants blonde hair-- or so I am told-- so what could I possibly be thinking by wanting hair of any other color when I had been blessed with the best of the best. According to my family and just about every one I know, such thoughts simply made me crazy.
I wasn't crazy. I am not crazy.
It only took my 24 years to get up the guts to tell them they were wrong.
I firmly believe that Fall is the best time for change. So, like the leaves on the trees, I decided to change my color. I went auburn, and I have to say, it has been pretty awesome so far.
(1 hour after the hair dye magic took place)
I am no Anne of Green Gables, but I sure do like joining the ranks of wonderful red headed women in this world, even if only for a short period of time. I have even been recently nick-named "Red" at work, which although it isn't always fitting, makes me feel excited about my choice to make a fun change. Everyone else may want to be blonde, but I guess people always want what they don't have.
Among the fun and excitement of changing my hair, I also had the excitement of going to a Train concert with my best friend from college, and attending my closest cousin's wedding.
Becca and I bought tickets to see Train on a whim. It was only after we purchased the tickets that we realized the date of the concert conflicted with other things we had going on. It took a bit of finagling, and a lot of stress, but we finally worked it out so that we could both go to the concert, and it was definitely worth it. Train is great live; and I have high expectations, so that is saying something!
Concert time!
The night after the concert is when I got to go to my beautiful cousin Charity's wedding reception. As one of the youngest children of parents who are both the younger siblings in their own families, I don't have any cousins really close to my age. I have one cousin a couple older than me on my mom's side, and then two cousins who are quite a few years older than me on my dad's side. All my other cousins are significantly older. I have great relationships with all of them of course, but there is a special bond with those closest to me in age. Charity has always been such a good friend and example to me. I grew up getting all of her hand-me-down clothes, attending all of her dance recitals, hanging out with her at family parties, and even had my very first memorable car crash with her. She is a wonderfully, beautiful, talented, and smart woman and I feel so lucky to be related to her. Her wedding was amazing of course because she found a stellar man to spend her eternity with and together, they are sure to make an impact on the world.
Fun fact: I wore my current favorite dress from Anthropologie to the wedding, and ended up matching two of the bridesmaids. Charity and I both thought it was pretty funny. I guess we think alike!
Serenity and I were in charge of the Polaroid photos of guests.
Aside from all the fun I have been having this fall in the city and hanging out with family and friends, a great deal of fun has been found in the beautiful Wasatch Mountains. It's no surprise that the mountains here feel like home in its most basic sense. I love the mountains, and in the fall, they call to me. I'll let the beauty they have to offer speak for itself.
When the air is crisp and chill and colors are everywhere, I tend to get really excited about going outside. The idea of running down the beautiful canyons, or through the mountainside neighborhoods is simply my idea of a good time. This fall however, I was more dedicated than normal to my running adventures. My mom and I signed up to run the Provo Canyon Halloween Haunted Half-Marathon, and as my fourth half-marathon, I intended to make it my best on yet. Although I still didn't train as most people would (I just don't like following training schedules), I made sure to run and get my mileage up pretty high before the race.
After some long runs with my mom, including a lovely run down Emigration Canyon followed by breakfast at Ruth's Diner, I was feeling pretty optimistic about the race. But, as luck would have it, I hurt my foot a week before the race. I am still unsure how exactly I hurt it, but there is a pretty good chance that a pair of bad high heels was involved. Whatever the cause, a week before the race, I was struck with the fear that I might be out of commission for a while.
Defeat is not something that I cope well with.
I gave myself a week of rest before the race, and then on race day, I woke up at 5:00am, drove to the parking lot where the buses load, and with my mom, headed to the starting line with fierce determination to finish this race no matter what.
As if by some miracle, my foot handled the run quite well. I hardly felt the need to walk during the race, and though my foot hurt and I was exhausted by the end, I finished with my best time ever and had an absolute blast along the way. Maybe my Batman costume gave me a bit of extra strength, or maybe my determination really is that powerful; but whatever it was, I am glad I had the strength to conquer my aching anatomy and finish better than strong.
True to my superhero form, I conquered one battle, and now I look forward to my next. With my auburn hair, and aching foot, and all the optimism I require, I have begun the preparation for my next challenge: the GRE.
I have started studying and I even bit the financial bullet and signed up by paying for the test. Hopefully, if I work hard enough, I will take it once and do my very best, thus ensuring my acceptance into all the graduate programs I desire.
Here's to looking at a winter full of studying!
Happy Halloween!
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