ffw>> 08.01.10

Ummm...  yeah...

It turns out blogging is slightly more difficult than I had imagined- it makes me really in awe of the folks that post three times a day.  Or even once a day for that matter...

What have I been up to since April?  If anyone is reading or I can just use this as my high-tech diary of sorts- a lot I guess!

Most exciting news is that I got a new job!  And I didn't find it myself, I was recruited for it!!!  That's right- they found me!  Very exciting.

Now that I don't work at my old job I feel much more comfortable saying that I was working for the state of Texas as an inspection surveyor for nursing homes.  Not so much fun.  Very high stress, kinda sad at times.  Good benefits though...

New job is awesome!!!  I'm actually working as a dietitian now!!!!  (Could I use any more exclamation points in this post?  *cue Chandler Bing voice*

I'm travelling a ton, ie 500 miles a week more or less, but I really love what I am doing and the pros of this job far outweigh the cons.  I do really miss my old coworkers though.  We were (are) family.  I've gone to happy hour with them once since leaving and a few phone calls here and there- I know I'll be keeping in touch.  They are the best!

The saddest news is that my grandma passed away.  I feel ok writing that on here 'cause I know only a few folks are reading and not that I want everyone to know but I feel like I should acknowledge it just so I have a written record if that makes sense.

I was insanely lucky to have one of the best grandmas ever.  I grew up a few blocks from her and we were really close.  She was a wonderful, amazing woman.  I will miss her immensely and always wonder if I caught on to everything she had to teach me...

Onward-

The house is slooowwwly coming together.  As in we have 5 things hanging on the walls...  It's hard to commit once you own it and will have to deal with filling and repainting holes!  But the kitchen, dining room and my workout room are pretty much done and that's all I need for the most part!

Scott just finished up his tv show that he was working on- FNL if anyone watches.  It's finally done- whew!  We can have our life back!  We went to the wrap party last weekend and it was bittersweet.  Scott had been working on the show since the beginning (5 years!) and I guess working 12-16 hour days makes you kind of attached to your coworkers...  It was a good time but the emotions were pumpin'!

A few days before the end of the show Scott got a call to work as assistant locations manager on a 5-week indie film.  It's a great opportunity for him since it's 2 steps up from where he was on FNL.  I'm not too sure about the story but it's a true story about golf or something.  He says "the only thing more boring than watching golf is watching a movie being made about golf"!  I told him my grandma was frowning at him...

So far this post has nothing to do with health or fitness or food... hmmm...

One of the benefits of my new job is that I will actually have a set schedule!  Which means I can plan things!  I think Tiffany (my only reader) said today "failing to plan is planning to fail"- so true!

I've been at my new job for a month and it has been great for the planning side of my brain.  Sundays I make my meal plan and head to the grocery store.  I should devote an entire post to meal planning because it has changed my life and I will never go back.  I love not throwing away food.

I've been packing my lunch to take to work everyday so I don't have to take a lunch break.  Normally I would poo-poo on this but considering that most of my job sites are 1.5 hours away from my house means I want to get on the road faster!

Interesting fact- since I started my new job I have not been working out.  At all.  seriously.  Unless you count mowing the lawn.  Then I've worked out once.  seriously.  But I've lost 3 pounds.  I contribute this to the fact that I am packing my own healthy lunch, eating a good dinner when I get home and I'm not eating chips and salsa everyday with my coworkers.  (My old job was right next door to a tex-mex place).  Wow!  Kinda scary!

But the workouts re-commence this week people!  My girlfriend Rachel has been motivating me from the Eastern coast and I know she expects me to send her an update so I gotta get this booty movin'!  I see ellipticaling in my future!

Thanks, that felt good to get out!

Tagged Tuesday

Whew!  Finally sitting down and catching my breath!  Where is April going?  And while we're at it- where did March go???

I have not been doing a very good job of getting exercise in at all!  But today I managed to fit in a 20 minute walk around the parking lot at work and I walked CutCut for 30 minutes when I got home.  Granted I let CutCut set the pace (slow!) so he could sniff everything he's been missing while Scott and I have been busy being bad parents.  But it was nice for sure!  I also ran to the store for a real groccery shopping experience besides just picking up random items here and there.  It was a major produce run! 

Today I had a low-sodium V8 and a pb & j larabar for breakfast.  Meh.  Tomorrow?  I'm thinking a blackberry mango green monster!  Yum!

Tonight for dinner I attempted to make a white wine sauce I saw on bites + bowls and add clams to it.  I am fairly certain I did something not right because my sauce did not turn out quite as nice as Kelsey's.  Boo.  However, it was still tasty and I ate it anyways.  Thank goodness I used canned clams and not the real thing!

So while getting reaquainted with my google reader I finally got caught up on my SimplyShaka and had the very pleasant surprise of discovering I was tagged!  Pop!  (that's the sound of my tag cherry popping in case you didn't know)...  It totally made my day (week, month?) and I've been looking forward to posting my answers for forever so without futher adieu...

1. Who is your style icon?
Hmmm.... starting out with a tough one, are we?  Austin is pretty casual so I wear alot of jeans and tops.  When I'm in the office I try to wear clothes that most closely mimic pajamas without actually being pajamas.  Even though I'm short I hardly ever wear heels because I like to be comfortable.  If I could steal any famous person's style I'd pick Jennifer Aniston.  If I could steal a real person's style I'd pick my gal pal Abby because she always puts together something cute.

2. What is your favorite book?
On the Beach by Nevil Shute.  I read this when I was in 6th grade because it was a "big" book and I wanted to look smart.  It's set in Australia and is about the end of the world as nuclear fallout spreads to the southern hemisphere in the late 1950's.  I re-read it a few years ago and still loved it.  It was made into a movie in 1959 with Fred Astair, Gregory Peck, and Ava Gardner.  It was only ok.  I'm currently reading a book called The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein on the reccomendation of a coworker.  It's written from the perspective of a dog and makes me cry on almost every chapter.  It is good though.

3. Favorite party theme?
I think I have to go with Tiffany on this one and say Ugly Christmas Sweater Party.  I won two years ago with my polyester puff-sleve blouse and Christmas ball ornament vest.  If I can find a picture I will post.  It was rad.  Also at the same party a gal was sporting a 12-days of Christmas sweater which sparked a lovely round of the carol.  Nothing beats an impromptu sing-along!

4. Favorite outdoor activity?
Camping and/or hiking.  I'm very excited to go camping in a few weeks!  Note: very tempted to put "happy hour" in this category.

5. Something you cannot live without?
My Kavu Rope Bag.  This bag is so awesome that when I lost it with all my stuff in it I was most sad about losing my bag, not my wallet.  I immediately purchased a replacement so now I have two, my old one in green (my fav) and the other in tan as a backup.

6. Living person you admire? 

My good friend Mary.  She is always a good sounding board when I need advice and will tell it like it is.  She also has a very strong work ethic, put herself through school to become a nurse, and can do awesome things with a hula hoop.  Everyone should know her- she is the best.

7. Greatest fear? 

Being caught in a car while it is on fire.  Very specific and irrational.  I hope it never happens to me.  

8. Go to favorite meal?

At home: Black bean tostadas.  Tostada, veggie refried black beans, cheese, avocado, tomato, lettuce, fresh and pickled jalapenos with chipotle tobasco sauce.  Hells yeah.  In a restaurant: Verde Chicken Enchiladas.  

9. Which talent would you most like to have?

Hmmm...  I would love to be awesome at hula hooping.  It is so much fun!  I can only do one trick though.  But it's coming along... 

10. Greatest achievement?

I have to go with getting into UT and the coordinated program in dietetics.  I had a pretty pathetic GPA and I brought it up and got in.  The coordinated program only accepted 20 students so I felt really honored to get in.  I decided to go back to school when most people my age were graduating from college on a five-year plan and I pretty much had to start at the beginning.  It was really intimidating and scary but I did it!  

Tommy: You know, alot of people go to college for seven  a million years.  

Richard: I know, they're called doctors. 

Now who to tag... 

lisa eirene from 110 pounds and counting so inspirational- she makes me want a bike!

diana from my marble rye a fellow Texan dweller and keeps me up to date on celebrity gossip

stephanie from cookingfanatic such a positive vibe on there!

allison from eat clean live green she sparks some really good discussions!

Hopefully one of those lovely ladies will stop by and pick up the torch!

Have a good night!  Oh my- sooo past my bedtime!

Well my to-do list is taking a hint from Alice in Wonderland and is shrinking and growing like crazy!  Let's see...

179  225 google reader posts to weed through!

Get house in order for college roommate + baby for Friday visit!  Check!

Get mom a gift for her birthday!  Check!

Make pie for Easter!  Sort of check if by "make pie" I meant purchase cake...

Give dog a bath!  Fail

Work!  Grrr...  check

Buy groceries so I can stop eating out/eating random meals!  (ie deviled eggs, hummus and pita chips- hello?  veggies?  are you there?  no...  I think this is a fail.  I've been trying to eat up stuff since I'm out of town this coming week

Write post about awesome bachelorette party in the Texas Hillcountry Wine territory!  Fail- but still coming!

Buy new computer!  Fail but bought an awesome new phone instead that will help me with my blog addiction.  It's kind of a computer so I'll say check!

Remain calm!!!  Check!

additions:
Pack for out of town trip.

Research food options for out of town/pack cooler.

Not too bad...

 Thanks for reading my boring to-do list.  Do you make lists- I'm a list fanatic for sure... 

Rollin' with the homies!

 I just had another awesome weekend!  I am on a roll!  My old college roommate came into town with her new baby (well 7 months old) and it was so fun!  Alina is one of those people who is not a constant figure in my life but whenever we are connected it's just like old times and we can pick up right where we were.  I think it's been at least 3 or 4 years since we last saw each other but it's so comfortable and... well it just feels nice.  We had a really good time hanging out on Friday- I stayed up sooooo late I thought I might see the sun rise!  I love my peeps!

Meatless Update:

All last week my coworker kept asking me if I was excited to eat meat again.  The answer: not really.  Not excited.  I was excited to eat fish again though!  Thursday was Scott's last day from the show he was working on and he was off early so we went and got sushi!!!  So good!  We had such a fun date night- sushi, hit up our new local bar with a pal, then the two of us headed back to the casa and jammed out to the radio and had a dance party on our porch with CutCut.  Oh yeah, meatless update...  So I will be eating meat again.  I really enjoyed eating vegetarian but right now there's just something that doesn't feel right about cutting out food groups.  I think I will be more selective about the kind of meat I eat, etc.  For instance, our friends were grilling steaks last night but I know my folks are having red meat for Easter dinner tonight so I passed on the steaks.   We'll see...  I have been reading The Case for Vegetarianism and it does bring up some good points.

The things I didn't enjoy while eating vegetarian were:

*Having to explain what I was doing to everyone.

*Eating out was boring at times.

*I really wanted fish!

*Going to my parent's for dinner was the worst.  I felt excluded in some ways, I think mainly because my mom forgot what I was doing so I had to make my own food and it felt a little awkward.  Something similar happened at Scott's folk's but they rolled with it better than mine did.

What I did enjoy:

*I really felt good.  I don't really know how to explain it but I didn't feel as heavy after I ate my meals.

*I liked coming up with good meals on my own.

*It felt nice to do something for 31 days.  I accomplished what I set out to do!

*It is helping me evaluate my food philosophy.

Happy Weekend!

!!!

Aaahhh!!

179 google reader posts to weed through!

Get house in order for college roommate + baby for Friday visit!

Get mom a gift for her birthday!

Make pie for Easter!

Give dog a bath!

Work!

Buy groceries so I can stop eating out/eating random meals!  (ie deviled eggs, hummus and pita chips- hello?  veggies?  are you there?  no...

Write post about awesome bachelorette party in the Texas Hillcountry Wine territory!

Buy new computer!

Remain calm!!!

heh- I like how google reader is first...  but I will probably not catch up until next week...

in other quick updates:
I fell while running with CutCut and hurt myself decently but I'm ok.

Meatless month update to come at some point.

Thanks Diana for the vegoutaustin.com site!

Negative v. Positive

I don't consider myself a negative person or necessarily a positive person.  Of course, I try to be a positive person but sometimes negative stuff gets me down.  Particularly when those negative things keep happening and seem to pile up and up. 

This post isn't all about all the negative stuff in my life but bear with me for a moment...  I think I said in an earlier post that the last couple of months have been pretty stressful with the move and all that but then all this little negative stuff kept happening.  CutCut got out of his crate not once, but twice!  The first time he got out he ruined a bunch of blinds and we came home to a house that from the outside looked like a bomb went off.  When I raced inside I forgot to lock my car and the next morning I discovered the face to my stereo had been stolen.  Bummer.  But strange that they only took my face...  The second time he got out it was at Scott's folk's place and again, he went for the blinds.  And he got hurt!  He rubbed the skin around his nose raw trying to get out of his crate and cut one of his dew claws.  Needless to say we have postponed further crate training... 

Anyways, so all this piddly negative stuff was going on all around me and I was really getting down.  A few weeks ago on a Monday, I was driving to work (not listening to the radio) and listing all the negative things.  Then I told myself "Stop!  If you keep up all this negativity it's going to keep happening and never go away.  Think positive, change your attitude and good things will start to happen." 

Forward to work.  I'm printing a ton of reports and go pick them up off the copier.  When I get back to my desk, I see a message on my phone from an unknown number.  I check it and it's some one named Neil who has something of mine I lost and to call him if I want it back.  I couldn't understand the message he left but I immediately start thinking about what I could have possibly lost.  I called him back and he says he has my bag and he works at a coffee shop in a town about 25 miles away. 

I could not believe this guy had my bag!  About 9 months ago I lost my bag in the smaller town because I put it on the trunk of my car and drove away.  Yeah, I know...  I looked and looked for it but didn't find it and figured someone else did.  I canceled my bank account on recommendation from my bank, had to go back to my old phone I'd just replaced, etc.  And this guy calls me and has my bag with everything in it just the way I lost it?!?  The craziest part of it is that the very next day I was going to be working in the same small town!  Weird...

But that Sunday before the guy called me, I had dinner with my parents and my mom told this parable about how we have two wolves inside, a negative and a positive and the one that wins is the one that we feed the most.  Later that day I read this post from Tracey at Tropical Happiness.

Same parable!  So weird. 

So I'm on a positive upswing- I feel good about how things are going and where I'm at.  I'd been considering getting a new stereo for my car anyways...

For more on positivity check out this post over at Andrea's Wellness Notes.

Hope you all had/are still enjoying a great weekend!

Impromptu Thursday

Man, I am so glad it's the weekend!!!  I've been trapped in a training class all week that has dragggged!  Yesterday I got home from work to find CutCut had been up to some serious mischief and was now in need of a bath...  So I headed over to my friend's (and now neighbor!) to chill in the yard while CutCut waited in stinky shame at our place. 

We basked in the sun and sipped on some Ska Red Stripe Ale.  So good!  This beer hails from Durango, CO and is delish.  I used to go to school up there so that's how I heard of it and they recently started carrying it down here- very glad! 

After I got home, wrestled the pup into the tub, and gave him a good scrub down, I was ready to eat!  It was a farmer's market/local feast!  I popped some cauliflower (from the farmer's mkt) into the oven to roast up while I put some sliced tofu I basted in local spicy mustard (farmer's mkt) and pepper sauce from the Silver K Cafe (in Johnson City, TX!)  This pepper sauce is seriously awesome- I eat it on almost everything and one bottle has not lasted me long.  I am dreading running out of it...  I also sauteed some farmer's market mixed greens (kale, brussle sprout leaves, chard and brocolini) in some garlic.  This meal was freakin' awesome!  I really need to start posting some pictures- I think this meal really motivated me to locate the necessary hardware!

Despite my delicious veggie-meal I had a really weird dream last night...  I was eating a huge, juicy rib that was the size of a person's leg.  For real.  I kept saying how good it was and I ate the whole thing.  It was like some sort of Flinstone's rib...  Thoughts?  I should look it up in my dream dictionary.

Happy Weekend!

Overnight oats: success! Planning well for workout: fail!

Last night I made overnight oats for the first time.  I'd been reading about them for forever and never had the nerve to try them but last night I decided I was bored of granola, yogurt and frozen blueberries.  I wanted to keep it simple my first time but I took the plunge and now see speedy breakfasts in my future!

My Plain Jane Overnight Oats had:
1/2 cup of rolled oats
1/2 cup of plain Horizon yogurt (just can't seem to join the Greek fan club!)
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 of a super ripe banana
4 or 5 strawberries

I have to admit when first looking at this mixture I thought I should add more oats and maybe a squirt of agave but resisted.  So glad!  These turned out so good!  The texture was perfect and the fruit was just sweet enough.  I used regular milk cause that's the only thing I had but I think I should try some almond milk next time.  And I want to try it with pumpkin!  Possibilities...

Last night my friend that I'm doing the training group with and I made a plan to meet up before the group.  I'm in a training all week that keeps me later than normal so I told him I would bring my stuff with me to work and go straight there.  Well...  I got all my stuff together last night, looped the bag on my front door knob, and left it there!  I mean, I touched it as I was leaving!  So now I'll be having a nice workout at home sans friend.  It's ok, I'm sure CutCut will appreciate the company...

Meatless and Workouts Update

This past Sunday was the two week mark for no meat for me and Scott.  I haven't had many cravings for meat or felt like I was missing out or anything like that.  I've only craved meat twice and both times were for fish.  The first time was when I was out in the field and forgot my lunch at home.  I went to a sandwich place and the only veggie option was cheese.  Begin immediate craving for tuna sandwich!  The second time I had a craving I was on my way home and passed one of my favorite sushi places and thought "Yum!  Sushi for dinner tonight!...  oh wait...  that has fish...  bummer..." 

But other than that it's been fine as far as cravings go.  My energy level is normal (well, except for the hit from springing forward!) and my stomach is on par. 

I have had some challenges with eating out though.  I went out for Chinese for lunch one day and there was no veggie option on the lunch menu and the waitress wouldn't let me sub tofu.  Lame!  I ended up having to order off the dinner menu which was a huge portion of course.  Other than that I'm just kind of bored of the veggie burger or roasted vegetable sandwich options.  Granted, I don't need to be eating out that much anyway but still! 

I have been making really good stuff at home- eggplant parm, tofu yellow curry, fritatta, broccoli cheese soup.  I actually kind of messed up the soup but it's pretty tasty anyway.  It's a tad watery...

Training is coming along but slowly.  I can't seem to get over the 5 minute mark.  Maybe this will be the week...  I've been working on putting together my home gym and it's finally usable so the other day I did a quick elliptical workout.  It's slightly squeakier than it used to be and CutCut came in and barked at it while I worked out- which I thought was funny.  We have been having pretty gorgeous weather around here so I think I might make my next workout a walk/jog around Town Lake.


Do you think it's difficult to find good vegetarian options when dining out?  I always thought of Austin as being a pretty veggie-friendly city but now I'm starting to think maybe not so much.  Maybe I just need to try some new places...

The week of poof!

Well I think it's safe to say that blogging while I'm working out in the field is difficult!   This week it was back to work for me and with a vengance!  I don't know if it was just work though.  We have been instructed to not go over 40 hours a week (I usually work 50-60 hours when out in the field) so it's not that I was working really late but I was seriously tired!  And busy with other stuff.

I've been working on planning a friend's couples wedding shower and spent all week doing stuff for it.  Shopping, shopping, making decorations, prepping food, forgetting to order beer, etc.  I guess that's why I'm tired!  Usually my schedule is work, come home, workout, relax for a bit, make dinner and continue relaxing.  This week it was all about work, errands, tasks, dinner, tasks, sleep!

No workouts for the whole week!  At least I did a good job of packing my lunch and making dinner at home.  Last night Scott made homemade pizza and it was delish!  I love it when he makes pizza.

Things are getting ready to change drastically around here though.  Scott goes back to work on Monday.  Boo.  He usually works for about 4-5 months then takes a few months off.  We've really gotten into a good groove with chores, making dinner and hanging out together.  I know he has to work but I'll miss him!  He works 14-16 hours a day so we don't see each other much during the week and he is fed 3 meals a day so...  I'll be cooking for 1 again!  The good thing is that we have really good friends that live right down the street so they can adopt me while Scott is working!

The good news is I'm in the office for the next 3 weeks!  It's almost like being on vacation again!  It'll be a good time to organize and get back on track!

Time to go hang a million tissue paper poof balls!

Meatless March Madness

When my boyfriend and I first got together he didn't eat meat.  He wasn't always a vegetarian and slowly through the course of our relationship he started to eat meat.  I think this is partially due to the fact that my dad cooks one hell of a steak...

I've never been a vegetarian.  I get asked if I'm a vegetarian quite a bit, but the reality is that I just enjoy veggie-themed meals.  And I don't like preparing meat at home that much.  You have to be careful what touches what, the trash gets smelly, etc.  Plus steak is like salad to me- much better when someone else makes it!  Scott (the boyfriend) isn't a huge fan of chicken and we don't really eat pork a whole lot either.  When I use meat at home it's usually ground turkey, chicken breasts, or fish.

A few weeks ago Scott said something about how he really got away from his veggie-eating days.  I think we were talking about how he introduced me to mushrooms and bell peppers (via pizza!) and thus began my love affair...  I mentioned we should go veggie for a month.  He accepted.

Now I have no idea if he will really do this with me.  He probably will.  But when I started thinking about how I have never not eaten meat I started to feel it was something I should do at least for a short pocket of time.  And then I thought about when we went to go see Food, Inc and I was eating a salad with chicken on it and I couldn't eat the chicken...

I'm not sure where vegetarianism lies in my brain.  I do feel the animal-rights argument as well as the environmental implications of a meat-based diet.  But I was raised in a household of meat, starch, veggie and side salad plates and that's kind of hard to break away from sometimes.  So I'm going to try it out for a month.  Maybe I'll even re-read The Case for Vegetarianism: Philosophy for a Small Planet.

So Meatless March Madness begins Monday!  All about alliteration around here!

2010 goal assessment

I've been enjoying blogging again- granted this is week 2 in my 2-week vacation from work so I've had a ton more free time but I think blogging with more frequency should be a new goal! 

Speaking of goals...

With February coming to a quick close I thought I'd take a look at what I want to achieve in 2010:


Fitness 
Workout at least 3 times a week in January; move up to 4 times a week in February

        I'm wavering between 3 and 4 times a week.  I definitely dropped the ball in this department at the end of January and the beginning of February due to the move.  I say needs improvement!

Run 1 mile without stopping by March 1st
        Not yet.  I think this goal may have been too ambitious.  I'm going to amend this goal to April 1st.  We'll see what happens...
      
Move up to Level 2 of 30 day Shred by March 1st
        Fail.  I have not done even level 1 of the 30 day Shred since December.  I should get back on track- the 30 day shred is fun but brutal!

Healthy Eating
Bring lunch to work at least 3 times a week
        Success!  When I am in the office I designate Monday as "eat out day" and bring my lunch the rest of the days.  When I'm working out in the field it's a little more difficult to bring my lunch but I tried it last time I was out and it was fine.  It just depends on who's on my team I think.  I give myself an A+ on this one!
 
Plan menus for the week on Sunday
        I've been doing pretty good with planning out our meals.  Sometimes they change but it's definitely helped us cut down on the amount of food we waste.

Cook 1 new meal a month

        Considering I ate out almost the entire month on January I'd say I'm not off on the best foot with this goal but pledge to do better next month!

Financial
Stick to budget for 3 months (January-March)
        So far so good!

Save 20% of paychecks
        Check!
Build up 3 month emergency fund 
        Fail.  But I should start on this soon.  As in ASAP.

Eat out no more than 15 times per month
        I know 15 times sounds like a lot but considering that in December I ate out 25 times, 15 was cutting back!  In January I ate out 19 times and so far for February I've eaten out 15 times.  We are getting ready to go on a trip where we will be visiting our fav restaurants so...  Needs improving but have definitely cut down!

Personal Growth
Read 1 book every 6 weeks
        I just finished a historical novel by Phillipa Gregory that was pretty good (I got it some time in January) and am starting to read Shutter Island.  I got the book for free when we went to a sneak peak for the movie!  I'm only 12 pages in but I liked the movie so much I'm sure I'll like the book!

Join some sort of social group

        Does my 12 week 5K training group count?  

Overall I'd say I'm doing pretty good with my goals.  My fitness goals definitely need some attention but since I added the 12 week training program I'd say I'm almost on track.  I do want to start up the 30 day shred again!  I'm doing well on my healthy eating goals as well as my financial goals.  I plan on opening a new ING account for my emergency fund this week and it's still not too late for that new meal for February!  

How are you doing on your goals/resolutions? 

You gotta be starting something

I ran for 5 (five) (FIVE!!) minutes!!!  Straight!  Twice!  WooHoo!  Go me!

I mentioned in my last post that I'm doing a 12 week prep program with a friend to run a 5K at the end of April.  So far the program has called for me to run 2 minutes walk 2 minutes.  I've definitely been a walk/jog person throughout my quest to become a real runner and the other day when I saw "walk 2 run 5 for 30 minutes" on the training schedule I have to say I was so scared!  Seriously.  Terrified.

I tried to have positive thoughts about it.  Afterall, I read a ton of blogs written by people alot like me and they started somewhere similar, right?  But my negative thoughts kept creeping in and I talked myself out of my workout for Thursday.  Yep, that's the day I was supposed to run for 5 minutes.  So I talked myself out of the Thursday workout.  And yesterday I magically found myself with "too much stuff to do" ie going to lunch and furniture shopping. 

This morning I knew I had to do it.  So I got up, put on my clothes, laced up my shoes, and headed out the door.  I warmed up for those two oh-so-short minutes and then I ran for 5 minutes and I didn't stop once.  And then I did it again!  Channeling Caitlin and chanting "pain is temporary, quitting is forever!"

And then I tried to do it a third time and felt like I was going to die so I walked a little more and ran when I felt I could and walked when I got tired.  But that doesn't matter!  What does matter is that I ran for 5 minutes twice without stopping and I never did that before.

To the edge and back...

So I think it's been about a million days since my last post!  Things have been pretty hectic around here the last few months!  We got a dog and bought a house.  Add all the other life stuff (grandma, mom and dad health issues, planning friend's wedding shower, work drama, turning 30 (30!) etc...) and you have one crazy me!  The good news (aside from the aforementioned dog and house) is that I found my camera cord in the move!  The bad news?  I lost it again in the unpacking!  No worries!  I'm sure it will turn up by next week...

Dog story:

Four days after I ran the Race for the Cure my boyfriend called and told me to come down to where he was working to look at a dog.  It was 4:45 PM and my reaction?  "Umm, I'm not going to drive in 5 o'clock traffic to look at a dog." 

boyfriend: "We could keep him..."

me: "I'll be right there..."

I have wanted a dog for just about forever but always felt that my job was not conducive to owning a dog (I travel part of the time and work long hours) and my boyfriend's job requires him to work looooong hours as well.  But then I saw this dog and I knew there was no way I was leaving without him. 

He had been hanging around where they were shooting (my BF works in film) for the last 2 weeks, scavenging for trash.  He was so scrawny and had a horrible make-shift collar tied too tight around his neck.  I seriously got teary when I saw him.  He was so sweet albiet slightly skittish.  I got him home, fed and bathed him and we made fast friends.  My BF named him CutCut because he perked up his ear when they said "Cut!" through the walkie-talkie.

When I took him later that week to the vet, she said he was pretty healthy and about 1 year old. 
* I just want to say here that at first I thought "sweet- free dog!"  Yeah- most expensive free dog ever with all the shots, lab work, etc!  But soooo worth it!

We speculate on CutCut's back story alot- he is so sweet but took awhile to get comfortable.  He would cower if you walked up to him to fast or made any sudden movement.  He also had no concept of playing.  I think that was the saddest.  We had to teach him how to play with toys!  He's a fast learner- so far he sits, sometimes stays, comes to his name, lays down and shakes hands.  He's slowly putting weight on too.

Oh, and he's the cutest dog in the world! 
Now where's that camera cord...

House story: (not as long!)

My boyfriend and I started looking at houses in August and closed at the end of January.  My brother helped us and it was his first home sale.  There was craziness with our lender the whole time of the house buying process!  Some of this was due to our first loan officer being a wannabe Jersey Shore star and the other part was them not understanding that my BF is freelance, not self-employed.  There was other craziness mixed in with all that stuff but I really don't want to think about it, nor write about it!

We packed up all our stuff and moved in a weekend (Super Bowl Weekend!) and I had to leave town for work that same Sunday.  I was bummed to not spend the first week in the new house but in the end it was all ok.  We have a functioning kitchen and CutCut loves his new yard.  It's slowly coming together!  I was able to take the last 2 weeks in February off which has been great so far.  Lots of organizing!

Fitness update:

A few weeks ago I started a 12 week training program with a friend.  The goal is to jog a 5K at the end of April.  I've been doing pretty good with sticking with the workouts (slacked during the move!) and yesterday was our first time trial.  I did half a mile in 6:20.  Always room for improvement!  I had to walk a few times but I tried to keep it short and pace myself while running so I wouldn't get so out of breath.  We also did drills which include side-to-sides, hi-knees, butt kicks, skipping, etc.  Really fun!  I'm definitely feeling it today!

Ok- marathon post over!

Race for the Cure Recap

* In my neglect of this blog I found that I never actually published this post!  The Race for the Cure was November 1st.  Wow... 3 and 1/2 months ago!  Here you go!

A few weeks ago I participated in my first 5K, Race for the Cure.  My goal was not to run the whole thing- so not there yet!  But I wanted to see how long it would take and how I felt.  I planned on doing the 5K solo but the night before the race, my boyfriend said he wanted to run/walk with me instead of waiting at the finish line.  Awesome! 

Despite leaving early for the race, traffic was terrible and I knew we would be late if we didn't do something quick!  We ended up parking in a neighborhood near the race and figured we could just walk to the starting line.  Turns out we parked near the middle of the race!  Normally this is where I would start freaking out (I have weird timeliness issues) instead I took things in stride and said "why don't we just start here and do it backwards?"  Boyfriend was game so we hopped in the race with the non-timed runners.  We started running, well I started running and boyfriend walked briskly (he has long legs!).  It felt great!  I've been doing my run/walks solo so I can focus on myself and not compare myself to others which I thought was a good thing but now I'm rethinking that stance.  Running with my boyfriend next to me really encouraged me and pushed me to run longer and faster than I ever have before.

We "finished" the race, got some free swag (finally peanut butter and jelly Larabar!  Yum!), registered boyfriend for the race and headed to the starting line.  We ended up with all the walkers which was kind of nice.  We would jog where there was space between the groups and either walk when we came to a group we couldn't pass or gently weasel our way through them.  When we came to the part of the race where we jumped in, we jumped on out.  On the way home, boyfriend pointed out that one group of people thought we were cheaters for joining in the middle and another group thought we were lame and couldn't handle the 5K.  Haha!

It was a totally bass-akwards way of doing the race but it's one I'll never forget for so many reasons.  Yeah, I may not know what my exact time was and I definitely walked more than I planned the last half of the race but in the end I had a fun time and got to experience another "first" with my boyfriend!