to Jamie- who still doesnt believe i ever studied abroad

This is the Cartier on Champs Elysee. I didnt really care that much but both of my roomates thought it was pretty cool
the twinkling Eiffel Tower.....we would gather here at night with friends and sit and talk
My personal favorite, Sacre Coure....this was a few blocks from my house
The stained gladd at Sante Chapel...the entire room was just stained glass windows....supposedly it housed the crown of thorns...but no one really knows because only the king was allowed inside (funny how that works out!)

This is my little bedroom window in our teeny apartment. I had the coolest window though...even though we were in the dirtiest part of the city, the wrought iron windows could not be beat!
This is the outside of the louvre. I would come here after class and wander. STudents in France get into the Louvre for free so it was always a good place to stop on the way home
My school was right next to this intersection. The Seine and Notre dame were right there. I would sit in that cafe and laugh at my rude waitor.
At Christmas they put together a ferris wheel at the intersection of the Louvre Gardens and the Champs Elysee. I wanted to ride it pretty badly but i didnt get the chance before i went home. That pointy thing in the distance is the Eiffel Tower.

Jamie, i decided to include some iconic french spots, and one with me in them....so you didnt think i just downloaded them off the internet :) i promise i studied abroad...it was the greatest time ever too! Once i get my computer up and running again i will post some more.

disgusted

It seems like everyday i get more and more upset about the things going on in this world that we all seem to ignore. I know most of us have busy lives, but we all have food to eat and roofs over our heads. Even just wandering around the city i am moved to tears by the amount of people on the streets. These aren't just bums who are lazy and waste their money on booze. Just the other day I was at temple square and there was a man there whose arms had swollen to twice the normal size due to infection. it was obvious he was sick and thing that got me the most is that people not only did not feel it necessary to give him any money(that is fine if you can't afford it), but some flat out ignored him...He's a human too, others complained about there "religious experience" being ruined by beggars....take a lesson from Jesus people! Can you get more hypocritical...turn your religious experience into sincerely being Christ-like!!! I know I could give up a diet coke a day and easily pay that man five dollars...or at least take the time to hear him out and wish him luck as he is trying to overcome his trials.

mike and i walked past and i had to stop twice.....i have so much and this poor man had nothing. I asked mike what he thought might happen to that man. He told me what i already knew. "robyn, with that serious of an infection, he will probably die". I hope that his last thoughts aren't of people coming out of temple square complaining about how hard it is for them to see him there. I hope he thinks about the sister missionaries who gave him an apple and the elderly man who defied his wife and gave him change. I think most of all i hope people stop thinking about what a bother other people's suffering is, and think more about what Christ taught....we are all seriously blessed, and we all seem to think we deserve it more than others.....I dont think i want to stand up at the last day and have no excuse for not being charitable. Worse yet, I dont want to meet people like this man in the afterlife and have to apologize for being so close minded and self centered that i didn't have the time to even give him a friendly word of encouragement.

www.amnestyusa.org

www.savedarfur.org

www.thevolunteerfamily.org

More of life

most of these are just silly random photos of me and my friends up in slc

me acting like bybee-baby.....my climbing buddy

the lacrosse boys at 458....gotta love em

my bestest friend nicholas, and two hot chicks

Tom and I, acting weird.

its funny to see all your children and families, kind of makes my life seem really silly, but i love it anyway

Since a lot of you haven't seen me in years, i found some photos online (my pc is broken). they are a few years old of the camp I volunteer at each summer and of my study abroad. I also threw my cute neices and nephews (minus a few) in there as well.

This is a tiny little village where my friend Dionne and I had the best bread and chevre i have ever had. I call this my french love affair....because the food there was unbelievable!

Just goofing off in Barcelona

My lacrosse club at Diabetic camp...nothing scarier than a bunch of kids swinging sticks at each other


My little sister and I last christmas, destroying a gingerbread house....



My niece, outrageous personalities run in the family

My nephews...looking cool

I will try to get more current photos up there soon....

Nobel

After YEARS of waiting, congrats to Mario Capecchi for winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. for those of you who are interested, he discovered how to knock out genes in mice in order to study diseases. So essentially, he has found a way to target all disease to specific genes making studying and curing those diseases a hell of a lot easier. he works in my building and I was lucky enough to have dinner with him a few years ago. the man is pretty impressive, especially considering his mother was taken by the gustapo when he was 4 and he lived on the streets until he was 7. can you imagine being homeless and alone at the age of seven?? anyway, he has a fascinating life story.

My heros

Sos this weekend, my brother dan ran a race. This wouldnt seem like such a big deal to anyone i know, but he ran a 50 MILE race. Even still, weirder things have happened, but get this: As of three years ago, my bro was pushing 300 lbs.....he was a good 75-100 lbs overweight. One day, he just signed up for a marathon, started training and now he is running 50 mile races. I have got to say he is an inspiration to me. I am always complaining about the ten extra pounds i want to get rid of, and he went and dropped 75. WOW. He did this with two kids and a full time job, my ten ought to be cake. way to go Dan!

Next i have to give tribute to my aunt Chris. My aunt chris was the youngest woman ever to be appointed to a state supreme court. She is also the FIRST woman justice in Utah. She is now the Chief supreme court justice in Utah and she is a democrat. Not that this should matter, but as we all know, this state tends to bleed red through and through, so needless to say she must do her job pretty well to keep her position, which she does. She does her job so well in fact, that earlier this month she recieved the Rehnquist award: a national award appointed to one state justice a year based on fairness and outstanding work ethics. She goes to D.C. where she will recieve her award. I am so proud. Way to go aunt Chris!

Gettin my butt into gear

So last night my good friend and running buddy katharine called to inform me she had signed us up for a 10K trail run. Our last adventure was a half marathon in Moab, so this definitely seemed tamer.

So now i am determined. Ever since I started racing I have this nasty habit of training REALLY POORLY. Ex: my first race ever: SLC marathon (aren't I a go getter!) I trained for the SLC marathon kind of consistently...and very stupidly skipped a lot of long runs. I felt terrific the day of the race until I hit mile 22. There is a term in running called hitting a wall, and once you have done it you know EXACTLY why it is called that....i felt like I had been hit by a truck. thankfully I had a friend run the end with me otherwise i would still be asleep on the side of the road at mile 22.

Ex number 2: the SLC winter 30K....this is a series of of three races: a 5K, 10K, 15K spaced two weeks apart from each other. I wasn't really training for any of these, and ran them all rather poorly. Although i must say, by the time i ran the 15K i probably could have a run a pretty good 5K.

Ex number 3: Moab half marathon. around mile 6 my knees started hurting....very badly. I am pretty dumb when it comes to listening to my body when I am in pain so i just kept running......7.5 more miles. i didnt really walk for the next week.

So, my fellow bloggers and blog stalkers, you are my witnesses. The SLC marathon is in April and if i want to run it seriously, i need to become a serious trainer. So the 10K is in a month. I have run three-four milers this week and will end with a 5 miler.....i hope to run a consistent 8 by race time. So hold me to it! in a month if i dont post a happy race pic...you all have free range to make fun of my procrastinating ways.