A Big Catch-Up!

Oh my, where has the time gone?! I didn't know so much had happened that I actually FORGOT about blogging.  Not even joking.  The past month has gone by so fast, but so much has happened!  (And, I've had several people tell me that I need a new blog post up, so hopefully this will get you through! :)

For those that haven't heard, I actually started a new job a little over a month ago.  I'm still at Varina, just in a new position.  I'm now over in the School Counseling Office and it has been great! Everyone has made the transition very easy!  However, the first couple weeks were nuts because I was out some days for training, out for snow..I think by the third week I was finally there all five days! haha.

Matt was out of town for a few days for work, and Maple was NOT happy about it.  She sure did miss him.  This is when she found her new favorite sleeping spot.  We don't use our comforter, so it's usually folded up in the floor.  Well, Maple has found that to be quite comfortable and would prefer to sleep there. One night when Matt was gone, she wouldn't even stay in the den with me...she would just stay in there!  Then, there was the day I came home and found one of Matt's socks on the floor by his side of the bed, that Maple pulled out of the hamper...it was both sad and cute.

A couple weekends ago, we headed down to Eden, NC, where we usually go for the family reunion on my dad's side, known as just "The Reunion" with no explanation needed.  This time, although we did get to see a lot of family, it was for a funeral.  My Memaw was one of thirteen and one of her brothers, Uncle Troy, passed away earlier this month.  There was no question as to whether or not we'd go, so we headed on down.  Also, Uncle Troy and I have the same birthday, so I always thought that was cool!

Matt and I stopped at Longwood first to pick up Abby...when we stopped for snacks, Abby introduced me to these tall cans of Coke and I couldn't pass it up, haha.  Then Abby and I found it funny (almost too funny) that all of the snacks and drinks she, Matt and I got were all round or cylindrical.  Clearly, we had a lot to think about. haha.

We kept on driving and after lots of confustion, we met up with Mom, Dad and Vickie.

After going to the visitation, we headed out to dinner at the Mexican restaurant right by our hotel.  This Hampton Inn really is our home away from home every August!

I was so amused with the new coffee cups they have!

These were pretty appropriate for Matt and me!

On the way back home, we stopped back at Longwood to drop Abby off.  Matt suggested that we go walk around campus, and we're both glad he did!

As soon as we got out of the car, Matt noticed that something was going on in the Student Union rooms, so we joked that we should post on Facebook and ask if any RAs were having programs and we'd stop by.  As we walked down Brock Commons and got closer to the Student Union, the front doors were open so we could see.  Matt pointed out the huge gaming screens and I said, "Isn't that usually Phi Mu Delta's event...?!" and we slowed down.  Matt kept looking and said, "yep, I see our letters."  We didn't say anything, just walked in, and one of Matt's brothers jumped up to see him immediately!  It was GREAT seeing everyone's reactions to seeing Matt (not many of them know me anymore; it's sad we've been gone so long!)!  

We did run into a few Longwood grads and RAs, too! Jesse (left) and I worked on the same RA staff in The Hams my senior year, and he was also one of Matt's groomsmen. Danny (right) also worked on The Hams staff with Jesse and me.

P.S. Like my Pi Day shirt? It was, indeed, Pi Day :)

Last week, we tried a new recipe, found on Pinterest: Jerk Chicken Tacos!  When we were in Jamaica, the jerk chicken and jerk steak were AMAZING!!  This jerk chicken was quite the same, but it'll definitely do!  Also, if you go to the original link, you'll see that we did ours slightly differently.

Ingredients:

chicken

Jamaican Jerk Seasoning

mayonnaise

tortillas

taco toppings (we only had lettuce, cheese and cilantro, but Matt did add salsa on his, too!)

The recipe was super simple:

1. Cover your chicken in jerk seasoning and grill it.

2. While this is cooking, make the jerk mayo: mix 1/3 cup of mayonnaise and 2 teaspoons of Jerk seasoning.  Top your tacos with this!

3. When your chicken is done, cut into strips or bite sized pieces.

4. Assemble your tacos and ENJOY!!

Saturday, in the windy cold morning, we saw all the fun sights along Monument Ave in the Ukrop's Monument Ave 10K! We do this every year, but this year wasn't like all the others.  We weren't trying to beat a time.....we didn't even RUN.  It was weird and I really did miss running it, but I know we would've been disappointed with our time if we ran anyway.  Matt hasn't been feeling well, and my feet have been hurting a lot lately, so we walked with Mom and some family friends!  Walking definitely made the 6.2 miles feel TWICE as long, and the cold didn't make it that much better, either!  Either way, that's another 10K in the books for us!  And, there's always next year!

Waiting to start:

We passed Ronald McDonald..

and this was one of the most creative costumes we saw! (I was bummed I couldn't get the whole DreamWorks sign...)

Now that I've done a pretty much month-long catch-up, I will TRY to be better about blogging! This month clearly got away from me!

2014 To-Do List: 4th and Final Recap

At the beginning of the year, I made a 2014 To-Do List with four things I really wanted to accomplish in the new year:

#1. Blog more reastically.
#2. Cook more.
#3. Participate in more races.
#4. Read more.

If you missed the first three recaps, they can be found here:
2014 To-Do List: 1st Recap
2014 To-Do List: 2nd Recap
2014 To-Do List: 3rd Recap

So, here we go for the 4th and final recap!

#1. Blog more reastically. 
Um, yeah. I know I didn't. haha. Until December, that is! December and my 25 Days of Christmas are the only reasons I have so many blogs in the last quarter of the year! haha

#2. Cook more.
Well, I've just really decided I enjoy baking a whole lot more than cooking.  Not to say that I haven't cooked, just not nearly as much as I had hoped when I added this to my to-do list at the beginning of the year.  I tried this awesome Monkey Bread recipe on Thanksgiving that's super easy and will definitely be making it again!!  Also, I used Memaw's recipe and made her cheeseball for the first time...so good!!  Oh, and I can't forget Maple's Christmas Cookies I made! ;)

#3. Participate in more races.
The last three months was an exciting time for races!! There was one that Mom and I were supposed to do that unfortunately was cancelled the week prior.  :(  

In October, I signed up for a virtual race to have some extra motivation in my half marathon training.  I signed up for the Halloween 10K and completed that! I came across the US Road Running website somehow, and it's very neat--you can choose from a WIDE variety of races to compete in, all with different themes.  Since it's a virtual race, you can run or walk anywhere or any time, but they do give you a deadline.  After you complete the distance, you log-in to your account on their site and log your finishing time.  Also, you can choose to sign up for either a 5K, 10K or even half marathon for some.  I don't recall seeing any marathon ones, but that doesn't mean there aren't any!
It costs under $20 to sign up, and you're mailed a race bib and finisher's medal for completing it!  You can also choose to spend about $25 dollars, and you get a shirt to go with it! I have so many race shirts, so I just wanted the bib and medal.  While you really don't get the race environment for the virtual races, as you would in a big event you go to, it's still not that bad.  You can run WHERE you want to and WHEN you want to...just sign up for an event!! Plus, it helps when you want to run a race, and there aren't any nearby at the time!

Also, I completed my first half marathon!!!!  Then came the fun Christmas races!!! First on the list was the Christmastown 8K! It was a BLAST!!  The following weekend, we all did the Tacky Light Run, which was at night so we could see all the tacky light houses! Super cool!

#4. Read more.
Yeah, so, I didn't read any books these last three months. Whomp.I started a book yesterday....if that should count! haha


And here's the final look back at the year:

#1. Blog more realistically.
Original Goal: Blog 2-3 times a week.
Accomplished: So, if I wanted to blog, on average, 2-3 times a week for the year, that meant I would've needed 104-156 blog posts.  This year, I had 100 blog posts. So I was close, but only because of December!!

I broke it down by month so I can look back and see which months I really slacked on...haha

January: 7
February: 4
March 7:
April: 8
May: 9
June: 7
July: 10
August: 6
September 6:
October: 4
November: 5
December: 27  (including this one!)


#2. Cook more.
Original Goal: Find some good recipes and cook more often.
Accomplished:  Well, I actually did a little better on this than I thought. The beginning of the year, I started out stronger when making MEALS, but then snacks and baked goods just became my "go-to" haha. I made a grand total of 13 new things (that I documented....who knows, I may have made something that I didn't blog and I've forgotten about it!!)! Hey, that's about an average of one new thing a month! haha.

In January-March, I made: Jep's Best Baked Beans, Jep's Meatloaf Choice, Willie's Famous Chicken Strips, coffee cake, BBQ bacon wrapped chicken tenders, and roasted peppers.
In April-June, I made: guacamole, mango salsa, and mango smoothies for after my runs!
In July-September, I made: Loaded Baked Potato and Chicken Casserole and orzo salad recipe
In October-December, I didn't do much, but tried a couple new recipes (see above), and I definitely remember making chex mix and pretzel rings! :) Mmmmmm.

#3. Participate in more races.
Original Goal: Sign up for more fun races I want to participate in.
Accomplished: This was my favorite thing on my to-do list!!! I had so much fun finding new races to sign up for and complete, and I'm pretty proud of all that we did! I did 8 races this year (because 2 of the races I signed up for were cancelled at the last minute; and other races sold out FAST. Maybe next year :)

In January-March: The only race we did at the beginning of the year was the Monument Avenue 10K...but that's okay...it's an annual event that we all always look forward to!
In April-June: Mom and I walked in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure with some of our family friends. Matt and I also did The Color Vibe!!
In July-September: We only did one race, but this was a BIG ONE. Matt, Dad and I completed the Spartan race!!  HUGE accomplishment.
In October-December: As I just mentioned above, I completed the Halloween 10K, the half marathon, the Christmastown 8K, and we did the Tacky Light Run!

#4. Read more.
Original Goal: Read more books for fun.
Accomplished: The middle of the year is where this to-do list item succeeded!!!!  This year, I read a grand total of 34 books!

Here's the breakdown by quarter of how many books I read:

January-March: 2
April-June: 12
July-September: 20
October-December: 0

And here's a list of all the books I read:

Melissa Explains it All by Melissa Joan Hart
Reshaping it All by Candace Cameron Bure
Growing Up Duggar by Jana Duggar, Jessa Duggar, Jinger Duggar and Jill Duggar
Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
Si-cology 101 by Si Robertson with Mark Schlabach
The Duck Commander Family by Willie & Korie Robertson and Mark Schlaback
Mates, Dates & Cosmic Kisses by Cathy Hopkins
Mates, Dates & Chocolate Cheats by Cathy Hopkins
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Killer Cupcakes by Leighann Dobbs
Innocent in Las Vegas by A. R. Winters
Why 26.2? by Bonnie Jean Schaefer
Happy, Happy, Happy by Phil Robertson with March Schlabach
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Hairspray and Homicide by Cindy Bell
The Women of Duck Commander by Kay, Korie, Missy, Jessica and Lisa Robertson
The St. Valentine's Day Cookie Massacre by Elisabeth Crabtree
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg
Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Side Effects May Very by Julie Murphy
Cruel Summer by Alyson Noël
The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle
No Place Like Oz by Danielle Paige
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
A Sixteenth Summer Novel - Pulled Under by Michelle Dalton
How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles

2014 To-Do List: 1st Recap

At the beginning of the year, I posted some things on my 2014 To-Do List. Instead of waiting until December 31 to look back at the year to see what I accomplished, I decided I'll do a post every three months to check back and see how I'm doing on this To-Do List. Here's the first check-in!

#1. Blog more reastically.
Unfortunately, this is probably the one thing on my 2014 to-do list that I haven't stuck with the most. My goal was to aim to post something on my blog 2-3 times a week.  When I look back at each month so far, in January I only had 7 posts, in February I had 4 posts, and in March I had 7 posts, including this one. I have no clue why February was the worst, and I only posted an average of once a week! Well, maybe it's because we had so much snow this year, and you can only post but so many pictures of snow before it gets old! haha I hope I'll get better at this one throughout the year! I'm thinking I will...because with warmer temperatures, I'll get out and do more, and have more pictures to share!

#2. Cook more.
I definitely have stepped up a little bit more in this area! haha. I really love flipping through Miss. Kay's Duck Commander cookbook that Matt's parents gave me for Christmas! I've made Jep's Best Baked Beans, Jep's Meatloaf Choice, and Willie's Famous Chicken Strips. I've also made coffee cake, BBQ bacon wrapped chicken tenders, and several other things where I've had Matt's assistance in making sure it comes out edible...haha. Sunday evening, I tried a Pinterest recipe and made these delicious roasted peppers! YUM!

Here's Matt's way of "topping the meatloaf with bacon." So worth it though! haha

 

If you'd like me to share any of these recipes, let me know and I can do that in a future post!

#3. Participate in more races.
Actually, just three days ago was the first race of the year to check off the to-do list. We ran in the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K on Saturday, and for the most part, I was pleased with my time. I really wanted to finish in under an hour...even if I finished at 59:59. Matt and I finished in 1 hour and 17 seconds. SEVENTEEN. SECONDS. I can't believe it.
Well, without it sounding like I'm making excuses for myself, I never trained in the rain (which we ran in on Saturday), and I had no intentions of hurting through the whole race. First it was my foot, then my knee.  I never got tired, I was just ANNOYED more than anything that I was hurting. However, my head wasn't hurting (until after lunch) so I definitely won't complain about that!
Regardless, it was fun! After completing it, Matt, Dad and I waited for Abby and Mom, and we got to see a lot of the fun costumes!

Apparently, even in 2014, there are still people who don't know how to take a picture on a phone...Sad.

#4. Read more.
I've definitely gotten a good start on this to-do list! The first book I read this year was the first one I got for Christmas, Melissa Explains it All by Melissa Joan Hart. I'm now just about finished in the second book I got for Christmas, Reshaping it All by Candace Cameron Bure. I only have a few more chapters to go! This book is really neat, because at the end of each chapter are healthy recipes. I've made one so far, fresh salsa, which I lovvvee. It's so simple: just tomatoes, red onion and cilantro. All to taste. I even took it to a small covered dish lunch we had at school on Friday, and everyone loved it!  Next up to read is my third book from Christmas, which Mom had to pre-order for me. It came earlier in the month, and she sent it to me via "The Pony" so I'd get it at school. (The Pony is like a mail delivery system only through the schools, Central Office, etc.) I have a few more books on my shelf to read after that, so I told myself to stop buying more books until I finish reading all of these! haha

Thanks, Matt Part II

Just over two years ago, I wrote a blog post called, "Thanks, Matt."  To this day, it has been one of my favorite blog posts I've ever written.  I wrote about how being around Matt made me like pizza, Pepsi, Reeses and running more.  (I know, that's such a strange combination....haha)

Since then, some new things have happened & Matt deserves a "thanks" for them as well:

• Matt was at Ferrum when I wrote that post.  Now, he's at Longwood.  While I do enjoy the fact that he is at Longwood too, I never made him come, like some people like to argue with us about..  Matt wanted to be a PE teacher (and I did too, at the time), so why wouldn't he want to go to the school with the best Physical & Health Education Teacher Education program? Yeah, I don't get that either [note my sarcasm].
  Thanks, Matt.
• Oh, you know, just that amazing ring I've been wearing on my left hand for over 7 months now :)
  Thanks, Matt.
• Since Matt lives in a Longwood apartment, he can cook. And let me tell you, he can cook. Thank the Lord for that because we all know I can't! (this is coming from the girl who misread the directions on the macaroni box....twice) Anyway, we've --and I say "we" because I've been known to pour a box or two of pasta into boiling water-- made dinner many times at his apartment this year, and I've really enjoyed it.
  Thanks, Matt.
• And finally, most recently, Matt has supported me with, let's just say, my work-out endeavors. haha.  If you know me, you know I HATE to run.  I hate it. No offense to track athletes (Matt), but it's boring. However, I enjoy running in races, such as the 10K. Yeah, don't worry, I don't get it either...
  Thanks, Matt.
  
  This past Saturday was the Monument Avenue 10K in Richmond. Of course, I had been signed up.  As a last minute decision around 6pm Friday night, Matt would be running with me. And thank goodness he did, or I might not have made it.

About half a mile in, I started getting a shooting pain on the inside of my right leg every time I took a step. I thought, "great. There's no possible way I will even make it to the end now." I complained...and complained...and complained some more. I know I must've annoyed Matt, but he kept me going.  We made it to Mile 1, and we slapped each others hands--probably because if we fist bumped I would've ended up punching his arm.  Kept on running to Mile 2--slapped hands again. 

In between Miles 2 and 3, I just knew I was going to have to stop.  Matt said, "no, you'll be fine. Just get to Mile 3 so you'll have run half of it."  My thoughts? "Oh heck no, I might die before we get there!"  Well, I don't know what happened, because we got to Mile 3 and we didn't stop.  Uhh...okay? The pain in my leg got a little bit better so I thought, "ok, why not keep going?"  We didn't go much further until we got to a water stop, so we grabbed a couple cups and walked [quickly] while we drank.

 

We stopped at I think 2 more water stops (at Miles 4 & 5) but in between 5 & 6 I HAD to stop. I jokingly said to Matt, "I think you'll have to carry me across the finish line!" I just knew my leg was going to fall off before we got to the end.

I will NEVER forget when we made it to Mile 6. Oh, my goodness. Matt started speeding up and I kept saying, "NO! I can-NOT go any faster than this!" and I threw out a couple "I am so going to hurt you after this!!"  I'm convinced that for the last .2 miles, my legs were straight jello. I felt like I would fall over any minute now.

Crossing that finish line was basically the happiest moment ever. My leg was still hurting so bad and I was just glad we finally got there.  I didn't do as good as I wanted to with my time, but I suppose I'll be satisfied with the time we did get. 

We crossed the finish line holding hands and our hands thrown up in the air.

While I look really happy in this picture....

....I certainly did not feel as enthusiastic.

So, with our 9:02am start time, we began the first race we've ever run together.

Only the first of all the rest we'll go through together.

And Matt's already said he'll run with me again next year:

Thanks, Matt.

Running

I hate running at the gym. I hate it.
But, I love participating in running events (i.e. Monument Avenue 10K, Blue Devil Dash, etc.).
I know, that makes NO sense whatsoever.
But I love the feeling of accomplishment after completing a race.

I haven't run the 10K since 2010.  I was signed up to run last year but the week before the race, I hurt my knee.  Go figure, right?

So, in the last 10K I ran, I completed it in 62 minutes. SERIOUSLY? THAT close to being under an hour?!  While I was VERY surprised I ran so well, I thought it would've been cool to finish in under an hour, so that's been my goal since: the next time I run the 10K I will complete it in under an hour.

This semester I've made more of a routine for going to the gym (I shouldn't have excuses because my schedule has a lot of open time after class!).  And, every time I go, I run. I RUN. Even though I hate it.  Now, I'm to the point where if I don't get to the gym and run, my day feels incomplete --does this mean I'm starting to love running? I kinda hope not. haha--  But it does!  At first I started running intervals and I was on the treadmill for 40-45 minutes.  Then, I changed up the intervals and was on for a little bit shorter time.  After that, I started at an okay pace and just running for time, not distance.  That went pretty well, but that "okay pace" would not get me to 10K in under an hour.  Finally, last Friday, I ran 10 minutes at 6.0mph. (sidenote: that may sound like a really wimpy speed, and it actually might be, but I've got to stay at a pace that I can keep for the whole race).  Every time I go to the gym now, I run at that same pace and during my actual workout (not warmup or cooldown), I do not run at a slower speed, and each time I had some time on.  Sure, it might be a minute or two for now, but eventually, I'll be able to run the entire hour.  How do I know I can? Because I ran for over an hour without stopping the last time I did a 10k and now I have to do better!

I've also been keeping up with Fab Ab February, but more on that tomorrow! :)