The Running Bug

Every time I volunteer at a race of any sort whether it be a 5K, half marathon or marathon, I leave with the running bug. It might not seem like a lot of fun to stand around and hand out bagels or water for 6 hours (man standing in place for 6 hours makes me sore :)), but it so is!

The energy at any race is infectious. It's so funny to see the many different runners come through. There are the I'm high on running and life this is the best day ever people. There are the I'm so freaking happy this is over people. The why in the hell did I think I could do this people. The barely crawled across the finish line people. And a slew of them in between.

I think my favorite people are actually the ones who kind of hate life at the moment. Because, when you tell them Congratulaions, you're awesome here's a cookie they get the biggest smile on their face. (I actually got to change from bagels to cookies half way through today. Let me tell you people love the cookie lady!) Even if they had to drag themselves across the finish line having multiple people tell them they're awesome definitely increases their self esteem. And I love seeing that.

Watching the people who ran the race today I kind of wondered what that would be like as a living. I haven't done any research in to it, but the thought crossed my mind today. How much fun it would be to help run the race. Be one of the people who gets a 'staff' tshirt and tell the cookie hander outers what to do. I'm sure like any job it would have it's annoyances. But, I can imagine some days it would be the best thing ever.

I also left today wanting to run more. I started C25K again this week. I got fitted for shoes this week and I'm just ready to be one of those people crossing the finish line!

I know I can do it, and now I just need to find a great race. I'm worried it's getting to hot for me. Today I sweated my brains out and I wasn't even running. So, I might have to wait for either an evening or fall run. But, until then I'm going to really recommit myself to running!

My Life Through Instagram

If you used instagram to decide what my life revolved around, you would think it was food and my dogs, haha! :)

Which isn't too far from the truth!

Last night I made some tasty pasta with a side of eggplant and mushrooms! The pasta was a Fresh Market find. Wild garlic! Super tasty, nothing as strong as regular garlic. At least in this pasta form :)

He wanted Matt's breakfast!

Hard to be sad about waking up when this face greets you!

I discovered the combo of kale and poppyseed dressing. AMAZING. 

I love this mug my sister gave me for Christmas. I drink about 4 cups of green tea in it a day!

Cajun has decided he likes to take rides. As long as he can be the co-pilot!

He really loves when I make him take photos. Haha not so much really!

Truth. 

Food

I've always had a weird relationship with food. I love food. I love to smell it, cook it, eat it, read about it, talk about it, watch it being cooked and so forth. I love tasting fresh strawberries, ice cream, the perfect burger, creamy brie. I love planning what I'm going to eat for special occasions. I love thinking about where we're going to go out and what I want to try on the menu. What I'm not good at with food is stopping. I've never been able to stop eating. It's like my brain doesn't know when my stomach is full, until often times I feel sick. 

I've gotten better lately though. I've changed what I eat, how I eat, and when I eat. I'm not promising this is going to last forever, but for now I feel like I'm doing pretty good. 

I'm not the best meal planner ever, but I've been working on it. Rather than plan exactly what I'm eating each night for sure, I plan 5 meals for the week and then cook them based on how I feel that night. Probably more work in the end, but I like being able to say I don't feel like fish tonight. Today I want pork roast, etc. Breakfast and lunch have definitely been a big change though! I do plan those because I tend to not be especially hungry at breakfast but I do know I need to eat. So, I make myself eat something! I try to have fruit, vegetables, healthy grains and proteins. Some days they are all in one in a smoothie :) Others I do a veggie omelet with turkey bacon and fruit. Lunch has been mainly salad, with other days having leftovers. My stomach can't handle salads every day so leftovers are king for me!

I've also given up diet soda. Which at first was SO hard. I missed it. But, the other day after a particularly bad stomach day I bought a tiny ginger ale because some days that's the only thing that can settle it. And it burned so bad going down that I ended up not drinking it! Finding something new to calm my stomach those days is going to be interesting :) I'm thinking maybe ginger candies. I used to find them at Trader Joe's but since we don't have one I'm not sure where to go! Maybe Fresh Market will have them.....

Anyway, a little off topic. But, the point is in the last few months a lot has changed! I still go out with friends occasionally. I still eat things that aren't the best. But, I'm trying really hard to live by the 80/20 rule. And not having the 80 be bad food and 20 be good for you food :) Which is so much easier, right? 

I've also really re-dedicated myself to my workout routine. I do pretty much the same thing every week. Boring to some I'm sure but I crave stability and schedules so it makes me happy! My week looks like this:

Monday - rest day

Tuesday - morning class

Wednesday - morning class

Thursday - morning class

Friday - gym usually 30 min cardio and then 30 min weights

Saturday - zumba

Sunday - gym usually 30 min cardio and then 30 min weights

This is seriously the most active I've EVER been. I've never been a 6 day a week gym person. But, now I get twitchy if I don't go and sweat some. Which is weird. Some days it's like I'm a new person. Which I like, but others it's just weird. I don't know how to explain it otherwise!

Basically, I'm feeling good. Both about what I eat and how active I am. It's nice seeing the scale go down (slower than I would like!) as well :) Hopefully this is something I can keep up for the long haul! 

Let's Play Catch Up!

Whew life has been BUSY lately. Busy in a good way :) I haven't had time to or felt like blogging in the down time I do have.  I love reading and commenting on other blogs but I just can't seem to connect with this space right now!

If you follow me on twitter or instagram you know that I'm much more active there! Not this past week though! Let me tell you this week was cuh-razy!

So you might have heard that they predicted a snow and ice storm for the East Coast. Well they predicted that those of us on the immediate coast would be fine. Well I guess fine meant that if the storm tracked just miles to the left or right, or the temperature was 2 degrees colder the weather Wednesday would be awful. We ended up getting half an inch of ice through the day Wednesday. It was just ridiculous.

We had 45 people from across the United States fly in for a work shop this week. Most made it in ok, but some were flying out of our airport and connecting in Charlotte or Atlanta Thursday and today. Any guesses on how many of those flights were cancelled? Yeah, A LOT would be the right answer. In addition to that we lost power about 5 times Wednesday, I lost count. And we were broadcasting our workshop via the web. It was awesome. Except it wasn't.

The food was also kind of crappy this week. I don't know if it's the fact that we've been eating healthier or what, but I was sick most nights. It sucked!

Another fun thing, apparently they decided to start using cinnamon air spray in half of the building we were in. So, I couldn't use the bathroom or walk through the hallway to get lunch. I had to go outside and walk through the courtyard to another building to go potty. Which only happened about 8 times a day. Super fun times!

I am so glad that this week is over! I went to pilates earlier and now I'm going to do nosthing for the rest of the day except sit right here.

Oh I did get this super adorable belated Christmas gift this week (long story but we were supposed to meet up in January and then I ended up with the month long plague!) I love it so much. I laugh every time I see it!

Sorry if this post was super whiny. It felt really good to vent though!

Also Matt and I decided this year for Valentine's we didn't need any chocolates or flowers. Since we usually give each other our trip to Virginia and dinner out for Christmas we decided to splurge. We got each other a Fitbit! So far I love mine! I walk SO much further than I realized in one day. And it's nice to have a good idea of how many calories I'm burning. And it has an online log to track food as well and water consumption. I need to start tracking my sleep soon. Basically I love it, so far definitely worth the investment :)

SNOW!

It might snow here this week! I'm so excited! Neither of my dogs have ever seen snow and I haven't seen snow since we moved here to South Carolina, which is almost three years! They're saying it's going to be 'significant'. Please if you live anywhere where it snows on a regular basis don't laugh at the totals I post later in the week. But, I'm thinking we might even get 2 to 3 inches! That's a lot for our beach town!

I'm preparing today for the impending snow and clueless drivers. On my to do list are:

Bring work to do at home

Stock up the fridge and pantry

Buy firewood!

Get an ice scraper for the car (I gave mine away when I moved here!)

Find my mittens

Get my winter coat out of storage

Find my wool socks

Charge my camera battery

Find some good movies to watch

Find a few good recipes for the crock pot and to bake

I'm also debating on whether or not the dogs need booties. I might check out Pet Smart and see what they have!

I think that should be good for my snow day. I'm probably getting way more excited than other people about this. But, seriously we only get snow like every 5 years or so, so it's a BIG deal!

My New Year Starts February 1st!

Since I've been sick for basically the entire New Year so far I've decided 2014 isn't really starting for me until February 1st :) Matt and I are going to celebrate Friday the 31st and pretend like its our New Year's Eve! 

2013 was an interesting year for sure. It brought extreme happiness in most areas of my life. However, losing Grandaddy in April definitely changed me in a lot of ways. Before that point I couldn't imagine life without him. And yet somehow we've all managed to keep going on. It was hard at first to do things without him. To celebrate birthdays and milestones without him there. But, eventually I had to remind myself that there is no world where Grandaddy would want us to be unhappy because he wasn't here anymore. He'd want us to keep celebrating while keeping his memory alive. Which is what we've done since then :) He played such an important part in my life and even now he still is. The things he taught me and the love he showed me will stay with me forever. 

Overall though 2013 was good. I started an exercise routine I enjoy. We moved in to a new apartment that I love. At this point I seriously have little to no desire to move in to my own house. I do not miss mowing the lawn, worrying about the water heater or the plumbing or the air conditioning. Even though there are a few annoyances to renting, I prefer them to the annoyances of owning a home. I do have some wishes for our apartment in 2014. I'd like to get new furniture this year. And I'd like to actually finish the project in our dining room. I have an old dresser that I really want to refinish and make in to a bar. I started the project but like most things kind of stopped in the middle :) I'd also like to reorganize things and just sort of tighten up the existing decorations. I finally have the mantle the way I want it!

Rather than make resolutions I have a few goals that I know I can make myself keep! 

I want to stick with exercising. I will run (or run/jog/walk) a 5K this year! I will go to class at least 2X a week every week. It's hard to get up at 5:30 to get to class but I feel SO much better when I do!

I want to read more for fun. I didn't add up how many books I read in 2013 and I want to start keeping a list in 2014! I think I probably read close to 60 books last year. Don't get too excited though a fair number of those were young adult books haha ;) I love Pixel of Ink and getting free books delivered to my iPhone! :)

I want to be better about keeping in touch with people. It's so easy to say you're going to call your friends or send them notes. But, it's easier not to. This year I will make a point of calling them, texting them, something to let them know I'm thinking of them!

And really that's it. Nothing too fancy or unattainable. I just want to keep being happy and enjoying life! :)

I hope 2014 brings good things to you as well!

How Random can I get?

I realized lately that aside from fixable things like my sinus infection, my gallbladder and needing to kick my butt in the exercise realm I'm really content with my life lately. 

Let me tell you it took me a while to get here. I felt like my 20s were full of unhappiness. Unhappiness with my job, living situation, relationship status, etc etc. Don't take my wrong. I was 'happy' during my 20s. I just wasn't content. I wanted more from everything. But, don't we always usually want more? 

In some ways I wish I could go back. To the days where I only had to worry about myself. I only had to pay for my bills, my food, make sure I got to work. I could do what I wanted with my time and see who I wanted when I wanted and not worry about anything else but myself. I definitely couldn't appreciate what I did have while I had it. Life changes so much quicker than we expect. 

I'm sure people are tired of me saying it (I know I've written about it a few times), but I could never imagine life being like it is now. It's more than I imagined while being completely different than what I imagined life at 32 would look like. 

I never would have picked South Carolina. I never would have picked the job I have. But, life is good. It's so fun getting to see Matt be so happy at his job. The people he works with are great and he enjoys his work. It's nice to see him want to go to work and get things done. I know no one loves working, but if you have to work it's nice to get to at least not hate being there! 

I'm lucky as well. After my last work environment I needed this job. It's so relaxed. And so easy. It's nice not having work be a stressful place!

I do wish that my family was closer. And that it was easier to visit friends. Thank goodness for cell phones and social media! It definitely makes not getting to see people easier. But, honestly, I love living here so much the missing those closest to me isn't as awful as it could be. I know that if I was still 'not content' with life the missing them and not getting to see them would be so much worse. 

Matt and I celebrated 5 years together (the anniversary of our first date) in mid-December. It's so funny some days to think I've only known him 5 years. It seems like it should be so much longer, like I've known him forever. Meeting him completely changed my life. I made different decisions, let some doors close and others open. All because he was in my life. And that life is pretty great right now. 

I don't have the itch to move or change things up. I'm just happy to stay here and make new memories and enjoy life. I do feel myself itching for spring. I want to open all the windows, clean things, get rid of things we don't use. Take the dogs to the dog park, spend evenings walking at the beach. Wear flip flops! (although not too often my 32 year old feet need more stability than they used to)

This post is kind of random and all over the place at this point. I don't even know what I wanted to write when I first sat down. Other than to say how appreciative I am of the life I have. 

I will leave you with a few lessons I've learned from my short life so far :)

What you have now is more magical and special than you realize. Appreciate it. Show up every day and really enjoy the stage of life you're in. It can and will change in an instant and you'll miss what you have. 

Show people you love them. Be there for them. Because one day you're doing to need them. 

Document your life! Take pictures, write down your experiences, start that scrap book! One thing I have never regretted is taking a picture. I love getting to look at my life in photo form. I recently redid my mantle with photos. It means so much to me to have my most favorite people looking down at me from my fire place :)

It's cliche but create a healthy relationship with food, your body and exercise. One day soon you'll appreciate it. I wish I had started and kept up exercising so long ago. Also don't be afraid to go to that class alone. I love the women I've met in my exercise classes. They are such an inspiration and a good motivator as well. It's nice to have people kicking your butt and telling you to show up!

Alright, this post is truly random enough now! Time to enjoy the last little bit of my weekend :)