FINALLY FREE

I just ended a 1 1/2 year abusive relationship. It was time to get out!

Although you probably wouldn't know it by looking at me, but for the past year and a half I have been working out with a personal trainer. He started out torturing me twice a week and then due to his schedule we cut back to once a week, but last Saturday was my last day of working out with STEVE.
Today was the first day of my freedom. The first Saturday in a long time that I have not had to wake up early to be tortured at the gym.
Steve and I have had a love/hate relationship. There is something about feeling good having gotten in a great workout, but then the next day or two when I wake up and can not move, I begin rethinking why I decided it was a good idea to pay someone to torture me.
We would rotate different workouts......legs, back/biceps, chest/triceps sometimes throwing in random full or upper body w/abs in there. Leg days were always my least favorite. Some of you probably even witnessed me displaying what I call the "pregnant cowboy" walk that resulted from a bunch of swats, walking lunges and other leg torturing exercises. I looked pretty funny trying to negotiate stairs, especially coming down them.

While I plan on continuing to frequent the gym, I will no longer have anyone waiting there to torture me. YAY!!

ENLISTING YOUR HELP

I have a dilema that I need your help with.
If you don't already know, in September I will be touring Europe and the Greek Isles/Turkey via a luxury cruise ship. I have wanted to find a very comfortable pair of walking shoes for the trip but don't want to be wearing socks & shoes. Therefore my search for a nice, comfortable sandal began. Without really knowing where to begin, I visited the local REI establishment. In talking with the friendly shoe sales associate, the Chacos came highly recommended from his personal exerience as well as being one of only 2 shoes that REI carries that has the Seal of Approval from the "Feet People of America" (American Podiatric Medical Association if you want to get technical). They have a really nice arch, and also, if you don't know about Chacos, the strap is one continuous piece and so it tightens down to custom fit your foot.
After trying on a couple of styles, I narrowed it down to the ZX/2 (double strap) or the Z/2 (single strap). I like the toe strap. I don't know that I am completely convinced that the Chaco is "my shoe," but I don't know if there is a better option out there for me??
Here are pictures of the two styles & colors that I narrowed it down to.
I am such a girl and don't know which ones would match better with the majority of clothing options. These kind of have brown tones and with the black sole they should match with blacks and browns. Does this matter?
If you know me at all, you know that I REALLY struggle in making most decisions, so here is where I need your help.
No pressure, but if you have an opinion and so choose to share it, post a comment answering these 2 questions:

1. Shoe/Style
A. CHACOS - Z/2 (Single Strap - left)
B. CHACOS - ZX/2 (Double strap - right)
C. Other shoe/brand, etc. (feel free to elaborate)
D. Who cares.....You are WAY overthinking this

2. Color (You can click on the links on question #1 for other color options.)
The 2 styles don't come in the same colors. If a color is liked better than another, that might be sufficient reason to pick a certain style.
A. Jupiter is the Z/2 shown on the left (mauve & brown stripes)
B. Biscotti is the ZX/2 shown on the right
C. Basic Black
D. Who cares......You are WAY overthinking this

I need to decide here in the next week so that I can get them broken in before the big trip. Thanks for your help.

MY BIG PROMOTION

Monday night I received a call from the Stake Presidency. They wanted to meet with me Wednesday night at 8:00. The suspense in waiting 2 whole days to find out my fate was killing me!
I thought maybe they were calling me in to tell me I was a "menace to society" and that I needed to get married. Ü
When I showed up last night they triple-teamed me. There were 2 counselors from the stake presidency and a high council member in the interview. They called me to be the Stake Primary Secretary. I consider this a promotion since I had been serving as the ward primary secretary. Same pay though....no raise.
I am a big fan of change. I get bored after a while of the same calling. And while it has been fun to be in primary for two hours with the cute kids, it will be nice to get back to gospel doctrine and RS. Also, it is hard to know anyone in the ward when you are in primary.

MY AMAZING DAD!

My dad is AMAZING in sooooo many ways, but today I am focusing on my dad, the dedicated runner.
For as long as I can remember, my dad has been running marathons. He runs at home and on vacation. He runs in the scorching heat and the dead of winter. He runs on weekdays and Saturdays. "Rainy days and Mondays never get [him] down."

My parents came and stayed at my house last night so that my dad could wake up this morning at 2:30 and celebrate Pioneer Day by running 26.2 miles. I think that the only reason I have ever woken up that early (on purpose) is to make it to the airport for a nice vacation, and I only run if someone is chasing me or there is a cute boy up ahead.

If you have ever observed runners in a marathon (or any race), it is interesting to see how at the finish line some people look like they are about to die. Some even collapse the minute they cross the finish line. Then there are some people that look like they just started running. My dad is one of those. He always has a smile on his face and smiles and waves at the cameras.

How cute is he!

He might not be as fast as he once was, but his marathon pace now is faster than the time it takes me to just run one mile.
*Debra is the only one in our family that inherited the marathon gene. She is amazing too, but i'll save that for another post.

MY FUTURE ACCORDING TO FORTUNE COOKIES

Anyone who knows me well knows that if I am asked to choose somewhere to go eat, we would most likely end up at a Chinese Restaurant (especially one with cream cheese wontons. YUMMY!)
Anyone who knows me well might also know how seriously I take fortune cookies. I won't pick a fortune cookie, but everyone else has to choose their's first and then the one "meant" for me is always the last one remaining.
If you have been to a Chinese Restaurant with me you might also know that that one of my biggest pet peeves is a fortune cookie that that is not a fortune at all, but just a statement.
I hate when I open my fortune cookie and it says, "You have a nice smile," "People enjoy spending time with you," etc.

Okay, tell me something I don't already know!!

Isn't that what a "FORTUNE" is all about?

I have posted the last 4 fortunes that I have received from cookies.

After serious contemplation and thorough scientific analysis, I think that the only conclusion that can be drawn from these 4 fortunes is this --Santa really is going to bring me a boyfriend for Christmas this year! A boyfriend has been on my Christmas list for MANY years, but I have yet to wake up to find Prince Charming under the tree.

Between my belief in Santa Claus, my faith in fortune cookies and the stars being aligned just so, I think 2008 is going to be the year! I might even have someone to kiss at midnight on New Year's Eve. If Santa does pull through with "Prince Charming" or even "Prince Nice LDS Boy" , I will actually stay up to ring in the New Year of 2009.

**I apologize for the weird formatting. I decided to stop fighting with it after I edited and re-posted about 7 times.