On the Run

As I said, a lot has happened while I've been neglecting my blog.  One of the things that has been consuming a lot of my time is running!

Awhile back Julie Jedi mind tricked me by mentioning the marathon relay in Champaign.  Usually she runs the half marathon, but she suggested we do the relay this year.  A team of 4 people complete a marathon (26.2 miles) in a relay fashion.  The legs are 6.7, 6.9, 6.9, and 5.7.  Prior to training the farthest I had ever run was 3.1.  I felt like I needed to set an attainable goal and something to devote my time to, so I decided we would do it.  Julie snagged 2 of her friends and we have a team!

Because I've only run half the distance of any of those, you're probably assuming that I'm hoping for the last leg.  Actually, I'm not.  I've been training for nearly 2 months (running 3 days a week, cross training 1, resting 3) and I'm pushing myself to do be able to do any leg but the last one.  I've even expressed to others that I don't want to "get stuck with" or "settle for" the last leg.  In response I get, "who are you?"  Recently I've been realizing that I set a lot of goals, most of them small and daily.  Some on a bigger scale, like my page goal each year -- which I have yet to meet.  And most of those goals, like the page goal, are never achieved.  So I'm striving for the 6.9, and I guess I'll take the 6.7 if necessary.

I'm confident that this won't be an issue because I've been fairly dedicated.  In my 2 months of training (34 actual workout days), I've missed one.  It was the day before the 8K.  I didn't manage my time adequately and I would have had to bike with only 12 hours to rest my legs.  I'm willing to cut myself that slack...but that's the last time!  Here is the progress I've made so far.

Prior to training here are some official race times.

Fat Ass 5K Springfield, IL May 11 36:30

Gingerbread Run (5K) Belleville, IL Dec 1 37:44

Official race times since beginning training.

Top of the Morning Run (5K) Shiloh, IL March 10 29:50

St. Paddy's Day Run (8K) Chicago, IL March 16 50:13

Ramble into Spring (10K) Lebanon, IL March 23 1:03:00

Although these aren't record speeds, I'm happy with them.  Especially when taking into account all of the elements I've encountered in these various races.  Wind, frigid temps, snow and hills!  I'm much prouder of my treadmill times where I can boast 2 miles in 18:20 or 2.5 in 23:13.  We'll see how this last month of training goes before I set my goal time for the big day!

Back to Blogging

After over a year, I'm finally getting back into blogging.  A lot has happened in the last 13 months since I've posted, so I've got quite a bit to share.  But tonight's not the time for that.  This is just a little teaser and a reminder to stay tuned.

Time to hydrate and sleep well!  I've got 6.2 miles to run in less than 12 hours (clearly no time for a REAL blog post)!

Ciao!

Back Again

Wow, it's been a long time.  I can't believe I haven't posted since June.  I could claim that I've been busy, which at times I have, but to be honest, blogging has been fairly low on my priority list.  Here are some of the bigger things I've been doing in the past 8 months.

• As I stated before, I started working part time at Bath and Body Works(BBW) in June.  I have continued to work there throughout the school year just to have some extra cash.  It's been fun and sometimes stressful.  Sometimes I really love retail because it can be fun, but other times it's boring and people can be less than pleasant.
• Over the summer I bounced around between Fairview, Jacksonville, and Chicago.
• Turned 23.  No big deal really.  Now 24 is less than 6 months away and that for some reason seems a little more scary to me.  I think it's because it's closer to 25 than 21.  Sometimes I still forget that I'm 23 and then I'm 22 or even 21.  Silly me.
• Started my 2nd year of teaching at North Greene.  I expected it to be a lot easier.  Yes, it is in some aspects like classroom management.  Yet I still have a ton of stuff to do, but I've also gotten a lot better at managing that time.
• Went to a wedding in Destin....super fun!  I really enjoy flying, but I'm terrible at it because I'm always worried about being late and missing layovers.  Chris put up with me really well though, probably because our seats weren't next to each other for some of the flights.  I'll have to learn how to book tickets the right way.
• Went to Columbia, MO to visit Chelsea in October.  We ran a 5K together and it was really hot and there were lots of hills.  My time was horrible, but I hadn't trained, so I didn't feel as bad.
• Played in a couple softball games for Julie.  Fell during the first one and my knee is still a little discolored from that bruise.  I got on base twice during the second game though and even scored a run!

That's all the big stuff that happened, don't worry, there will be a few pictures too.

Here's a major one....last February I posted about how I'd probably never own an ereader and how I was so devoted to books.  Well when Borders finally tanked for real, I bought a Kobo ereader with my birthday money from my dad.  I'm a bit ashamed to say that I love it!  I still read all my "real" books, because I have tons and it will probably take me at least another 2 years to get through all of them.  I find myself reading 2 books at once now.  One on my Kobo and a paper one.  These are some reasons I like my Kobo.

• The Reading Life feature tracks how long I've been reading and how many pages I've turned.  It makes it really easy to calculate how quickly I'm reading and how much time it will take me to finish.
• It's really easy to buy books!  You can just hop online and download a book in seconds.  Unfortunately, ebooks are not all that much cheaper than actual books.
• I feel like I read faster since I'm being timed so I concentrate more when I'm reading and can get through more books, or read the ones I want in less time.
• Kobo offers cool little games that come with coupons.  Unfortunately, some publishers don't accept promo codes, so I always have to watch those books if I don't want to pay full price.
• I do feel like I'm being a bit more environmentally friendly.
• It's easy to stock up on books if I'm taking a trip without taking up more space.

Reading has taken up a lot of my time since I've been away.  My goal in 2011 was to read 25,000 pages.  I only got to 18,560 so I'm setting the same goal again this year.  Here were some of my favorites.
The Help (Written by a Phi Mu and wonderful)
The Luxe series (4 books, teen fiction, set in 1899-1900, one of my students told me about it!)
The Book Thief (I heard it would make me cry, but it didn't.  I hate when people say things will make you cry because when it doesn't it makes me feel a little cold.  I think it's because I expected it)
All of Emily Giffin's books.  Something Borrowed and Something Blue are just the beginning.

I've also started getting into shows that I watch every week.  I'm excited for a future that includes DVR so I don't feel like I'm chained to watching a show when it is on.  Normally I don't get all up in arms about following shows, but it's something fun to do while planning and grading.  My evenings also include job searching because Chris got a new job with his company!  He applied and interviewed a few weeks ago for an accounting position and found out on Tuesday that he got the job and he will be making the transition starting Monday.  I've been scrambling to find and apply for teaching jobs up north so that long distance will become no distance, because who really wants to do that?  It's only February and I've got some time, but it's still a little scary. 

That's about all that's been going on since my blogging black out.  I do have some fun events coming up throughout 2012 though!
St. Patrick's Day in downtown Chicago!  Chris and I met on St. Patty's Day so I kind of made a big deal about us seeing each other that weekend and we decided that we'll go downtown for the parade and festivities there.  I've never been to a big city bash like that, so I'm really looking forward to it!
A much anticipated visit from Chelsea!  She has a full week for Spring Break and I've talked her into coming to the lovely Jacksonville for part of it (assuming her schedule allows).
The Color Run...I've posted about this on Facebook, but it's a 5K(untimed), where you wear white and throughout the race they throw paint on you.  At least that's the way it seems.  It's in Chicago and I'll be running with Julie, Chris and Hailey.  We expect that we'll be carrying Hailey for at least part of the run.
Weddings!  Jonas and Erin in June in Rockton -- Phil and Anna in September in Denver -- Andrew and Amanda in October in Detroit.
Chris and I have also talked about taking a beach vacation somewhere.  We really enjoyed our trip to Destin and I'm ready for some sun again!  It's also a great motivation to work out, since I clearly have very poor self-discipline.

On the beach in Destin after the wedding.

Chris' face is covered up, but the kids are clearly very happy to be climbing all over him.

Grandma and Hailey on Christmas Eve.

Christmas break in Northbrook.

Summer Wandering

I've been doing a decent amount of traveling this summer.  The places aren't necessarily ultra fascinating, but the memories and people are!

Over Memorial Day weekend, Chris and I ventured to St. Louis for a weekend with friends.  We had lunch with my mom, Julie and the kids on Sunday and it was super exciting to watch Jacob tackle corn on the cob.  Needless to say, it was a success and possibly a new favorite for him, probably because of the novelty of it.  That's one of the reason I love it!  He'd say things like "this is corn on the cob?"  and "what is this?" to which we'd respond "corn on the cob"...super cute!

School finished off nicely though I had to charge a kid for a moldy textbook that sat in water for I don't know how long and was still damp when he returned it to me, but it's no longer my problem.

Following my 30 minute school day, I promptly returned to Fairview where I spent time with family and went to a pretty awesome retirement party of a lady from my mom's office.

I returned to Jacksonville briefly before making my way to the greater Chicagoland area.  I was in Jacksonville just long enough to pack and go to a 6 hour training day at Bath and Body Works!!!  I actually just finished my first "real" day there today!  So far it is fantastic and I really super love it!  <lots of enthusiasm, I know.

I managed to pull off a fantastic day early arrival surprise for Chris.  He thought I was driving up on Wednesday, but really I got there on Tuesday.  I unloaded all my stuff while he was at work, hid my car and talked to him on his drive home like we sometimes do.  I almost ruined it when his dad said hi to me, which I hardly acknowledged.  It would be weird if I was talking back to the "tv"...duh.  So we finished our conversation, I tried to hang up the phone, (failed), finally acknowledged the greeting from his dad, and then I heard, "what did you say?".  I played it off like it wasn't a big deal and then walked out his front door while he was getting out of his car.  Really awesome and exciting...and overly cheesy.

That weekend, I went with Chris' family to Minneapolis to celebrate his grandma's birthday.  We stayed near the Mall of America and had dinner there on Friday.  I didn't do any shopping, but on the up side, I saved lots of money!  On Saturday we took a ride on the Mississippi and got to go through one of the locks.  While some might think it's boring, I think it's pretty interesting. 

This is a picture from the top of the lock and you can see the rapids.

And here's a picture from the bottom when we're about to leave. (I don't know those people, they were just kind of in the shot)

Later we returned to Northbrook where I ended up staying a week longer than planned because I didn't have to work.  I stayed until Sunday and on Friday we all went out to dinner to celebrate his dad's last day at his job.  He's moving on to another university and will be a dean there.  While pondering what to order at The Yard House, I spotted this is Chris' menu.

Part of me thought, why would $100 be shoved into a menu like that?  But I wrote it off as pure luck.  We were shocked at our good fortune.  At first I thought it was a $10, but then I saw the extra 0.  I asked if we should tell his parents, but he said no, we'd just buy dinner and we'd tell them later.  So we were really excited to have this extra money and be able to live it up and pay for dinner.  I felt like an idiot because I was really excited about it and felt like I couldn't stop smiling.  So about the time our appetizers arrive, Chris decides to take out the bill and revel in our luck.  (Do you know where this is going?) 

Instead when he opened it, he found this... 

He immediately hung his head and I burst into fits of laughter.  I'm not sure why the loss of what we thought was 100 free dollars was so hilarious to me, but I couldn't stop laughing which prompted his parents to ask what was so funny, to which he responded by sullenly throwing the fake hundred on the table.  We all laughed about it, but to be honest, it was disappointing, even though I laughed while writing this.  Looking back now, I realize the naivete of it all, but it happens.  I had to give the guy credit for a fantastic advertising idea...while Chris said he would never buy anything from there.

That's about all I have going on right now.  I'm headed to Moline this weekend with some friends and am excited to go to The Daiquiri Factory when it's warm out...instead of 20ish degrees.  Then it's just a few shifts at BBW and 95% chance of going to Fairview for 4th of July weekend!

Oh also, there's a boil order/water shortage in Jacksonville due to recent flooding.  I just found out today, but it's been in effect since Saturday.  It hasn't mattered much because I don't drink my water, but I feel bad for doing a load of laundry yesterday...oops!  I guess I'll start watching the news now.

78 Days of Summer

My 78 days of summer officially begin on Wednesday.  Finals are over, all of my grading is done and grades are posted with the exception of 1 test that will be taken tomorrow.  1 day of teacher institute and 30 minutes on Wednesday for the students to collect their report cards and I'll be free for my "3 month" vacation, as all my non-teacher friends like to remind me I get.

I watched (500) Days of Summer this weekend and while I had heard it was an awful movie, mainly because there are parts that are incredibly depressing, I actually ended up liking it.  The main character Tom works for a greeting card company and one of his coworkers asks for some help on new ways to say "Congratulations".  Tom responds with this,

"Every day you make me proud.  But today you get a card."

I'm not sure why I find that so incredibly wonderful.  It's possible that I loved it so much because most of the time, the people in our lives do things to make us proud of them on a daily basis, even if they're small achievements.  Yet, it's only on big days like graduations where we take the time to tell them.  It makes me feel like we should tell them more often.

Sheep and Goat

I found this website on a blog I frequent and I was a little disappointed that I had never heard of any of the books/stories.

This is by far my favorite quote right now...possibly because it really hits home.

"What are you doing?" asks Goat. "I'm looking for happiness," answers Sheep. "Don't waste your time, Sheep. Happiness will find you." "Help me look!" shouts Sheep. "No, I'm much too comfortable here," says Goat. "Then I'll look by myself. But if I find happiness, I'm going to keep it," says Sheep. ...
"Well, did you find happiness?" asks Goat. "I thought I had. But I was wrong. I'm sorry." "That's all right, Sheep," says Goat. "Would you like a mouthful of hay? It's a little dry today." "It doesn't matter," says Sheep. She takes a big bite. It is dry, and a little dusty. But it tastes like happiness.

More later.

*Besos*

April Ramblings

Where have I been? 

Just about everywhere.  I went to visit Chris' over President's Day weekend, Evansville to meet up with some school friends and home.

I wish I stayed more on top of blogging.  I always feel like within those first few weeks after a post, I don't have much to say and then before I know it, months have passed.  Recently, even though I have things to talk about, I've been pretty busy.  I signed up to take one of my certification tests, which is a week from today.  It's the teaching test and since I didn't go to school in Illinois, I was really worried that I might not have been exposed to everything I should have.  I bought a study guide and made a study plan.  I've not followed it very well.  I have about 160 pages left and exactly a week.  Completely doable, but I have no motivation for it.  I took a practice test today and did well.  Some of the information I recognized from the study guide, so I guess I'll continue to study. 

I don't read as much because if I read, I feel like that's time that should be spent studying.  So do I study instead?  No, I just waste time watching tv or wandering around facebook.  It reminds me of what I used to do in college when there was a class I didn't enjoy reading for.  Instead of doing something I knew I'd enjoy, I just let the time slip away.

Chris' Borders is closing, while this makes me sad, we've really cleaned up.  We spent about 2 hours (about an hour in line) there when I visited.  Things were only 20% off but you'd think everything was $2 with the amount of people that were there.  I only bought things that were marked down before the 20% off so I continued to be a bargain shopper.  I left Chris with a list of books for both my mom and me.  He goes back now and then to check the markdowns and increase my already oversized collection of books.  I'm getting ever closer to needing a library the size of Belle's in Beauty and the Beast.

Evansville was tons of fun and I got to meet up with some sisters that I don't have as much time to stay in contact with because we all lead busy lives and most of them are still in school.  There were some dinner dates, some shopping and lots and lots of talking!  It was really great to see them again, but it also made me realize that I'm fairly lonely in Jacksonville.  Normally I don't mind, I have a lot of time to myself.  But it's always nice to see some familiar faces.

Home was wonderful as always!  I got to spend a lot of time with Mom, Julie and the kids.  I really miss seeing the kids often, but besides the summers, I guess it's fairly normal.

I've started running again.  It's not going as well as I had anticipated and I guess I'm more out of shape than I thought, but I'm improving a little bit every day.  I didn't run very far today because it was 80 degrees outside, but I'm planning to try again when it starts to cool off in about an hour or so.  I normally run a small lap around part of my neighborhood that is a half mile.  I like it a lot more than running one big lap because I'm always close to home.

Easter is coming up!  That might be one of my favorite holidays because it's normally warm and there's always the egg cracking competition to look forward to on Dad's side.  I came in 2nd last year.  I've never been so close to winning.  Maybe this year is my year!  Also, I'm soooo excited to meet baby Ava!  My cousin Sarah lives in Denver and Ava was born at the end of December, so I have yet to meet her.  Unfortunately, Chris and I will be spending Easter apart because Brandon and Alex will both be home from school, so he doesn't want to miss out on sibling time.  All three of them are currently in Evansville this weekend to celebrate Brandon's 21st birthday tomorrow!  I'm a bit jealous.

The weekend following Easter I have a trip planned to go north and Chris and I plan to go to Chicago and spend a day downtown because I have some train tickets that expire at the end of May.  We haven't figured out what we're going to do yet, but I'm sure we'll find something fun.

There's only about a month and a half left of school.  I'm definitely getting ready for my 3 month vacation.  The kids are becoming less and less attentive and even good kids are starting to slack.  It's discouraging to watch it happening.  I had a student ask the other day if we could have a countdown on the board of how many days are left of the school year.  I said no because I feel like if they're constantly reminded by how many days we have left, the faster they will continue to check out.  I'm doing all I can to slow down the process, but I don't really think it's working.

My Psych kids are excited to watch A Beautiful Mind.  I'm also planning to show clips from Scrubs and The Office that have some connections to what we'll be studying.  I was shocked when I told them this and a student actually complained.  He said he would much rather watch documentaries and see real people and real stories.  Knowing that, I'm going to try to find some more scientific things to show as well.

That's all I've got for now, but I promise to return soon :)

*Besos*