Hello 30’s!

Happy Birthday to ME!!

Not only is it my birthday today, but it is a BIG birthday — or so I keep getting told. I have had several friends ask me if I am dreading this birthday as they said that 30 was hard for them. The truth — I am so looking forward to this birthday and this coming decade!! These same friends who dreaded their 30th birthday, have had a fantastic life in the 30 decade, so bring it on.

I think it also helps that as a great a year as last year was, this coming year brings so much more. In less than 6 months, I get to marry my best friend and start my life as a MRS. With getting married comes a new life, a move, a new name, and just the sheer excitement of starting married life!

Along with getting married, I get to experience graduating with my masters! I am so close to graduating, I can start to taste it! Needless to say I am more than looking forward to this coming year!

Off to enjoy a day of celebrating me!!

Goodbye 20s!!

On this last day in my twenties, I thought it would be a great time to take a moment and look back on all that I have accomplished in this last year! If you would have told  me a year ago about what the coming year would bring, I would never have believed you. To recap just a few of the biggest things that occurred this past year:

1. The biggest and best thing that occurred happened on my half birthday — my best friend asked me to spend forever with him!  I was totally surprised, and what a fantastic surprise it was.

2. Just a mere hours before Jason proposed, we both finished our first marathon! October 30, 2011 will definitely go down as one of my favorite days ever full of so much emotion!

3. I completed 18 hours of graduate work for my masters. I have a thesis to finish and defend to achieve my masters! Next step — PhD?

4. I finished two half marathons — Secret City half and the Miami half. I also did a 10k and a 5k. Not too shabby for one year!

5. I got to travel various times throughout the year to some fabulous places and catch up with great friends and family!

I can say without a shadow of a doubt, I had a FANTASTIC last year in my twenties. I lived it to the max and took everything I could out of my twenties. I can also say it has been a great decade full of accomplishments, fun and life! I cannot wait for the next decade and chapter in my life!

Now I am off to celebrate my birthday with my family!

 

30 Days :)

April 1st — that means that I have 30 more days in my twenties and 30 more days to complete my 30 before 30 list!!

Source

11 months ago I set out with a list of 30 before 30 things I wanted to accomplish in the last year in my twenties. Some of my items were fairly simple, and others were a bit ambitious. I have to say I am very pleased with what this list has motivated me to accomplish this year. I have been able to mark off many of the items off the list. Others on the list have not been marked off yet, but have been accomplished (I want to blog about them before I mark them off. 🙂 ).  A few are not completed yet, but I believe can be accomplished before the month ends!

A couple of them I moved to my bucket list and replaced those with other things I wanted to accomplish. The two main ones that I moved off the list were go skydiving, and become more of a minimalist. I still am very interested in going skydiving, but unfortunately with everything else I have piled on my plate, I did not have the time or money in my budget to go skydiving this past year. I will accomplish it though, so off to my bucket list it went. The other one that got moved was to become more of a minimalist — who am I kidding this is much harder than I ever imagined. Being a minimalist is not in my blood, but it is something I want to aim towards. This summer as I start getting ready for the next chapter in my life (getting married and moving into Jason’s house) will be a great time to go through what I own and do some purging!

And so begins the last month of my 29th year! I look forward to all that this month brings with it! I have so enjoyed working off this list, that I may just have lists for each year of things I would like to accomplish — if for no other reason than to keep me motivated and trying new things!

What is the biggest thing you have accomplished this year?

Ready, Aim, Shoot…

Last weekend, three of my favorite guys (my two brothers – Dan and Rob, and my fabulous fiance – Jason) and I attended a clinic on shooting M-1 Garand. The clinic took place at the Oak Ridge sportsman’s Association which is home to both indoor and outdoor ranges. When we arrived, the weather was cloudy and rainy, and we weren’t really sure what all was in store for us.

Once in the clubhouse, I looked around only to notice I was the ONLY girl in the entire clubhouse. I have to admit that was a bit intimidating, but I was willing and wanting to learn. We hung around for a bit before the clinic started to teach not only gun safety, but also the mechanisms of the M-1. Hang around time = time to take pics of course. 🙂

Dan and I

Rob and I — love his resistance with the mustache 🙂

Jason and I

Okay time to get serious. We sat through a two-hour course where we learned safety, the workings of the M-1, and the different shooting positions. Personally, I found the clinic to be very educational (being that I have only shot once before). After we had gone through the safety part of the course, it was time to go to the range and shoot.

I have my eyes and ears ready — let’s go shoot!

Once we got to the range, groups 2 and 3 (which all four of us were in those groups) went down to the pits to set up the targets for group 1. Unfortunately, the rain caught up with us. We sat in the pits for over an hour waiting for the rain to pass desperately trying to stay dry.

Daniel was ready for over an hour — with his ears and eyes! He may have missed the memo, no shots were being fired yet. 🙂

 

 

After a long hour plus wait, group 1 finally got to shoot and we were in charge of marking their shots and sending the targets back up for them. I thoroughly enjoyed working the pits, especially during rapid fire.

Now it was finally our turn to get to shoot. We were going to be shooting from the 200 yards (which in competition is considered a short distance).

Rob and Jason went first. Round 1 is shooting 15 (5 to get used to the gun, and 10 for score) in the prone position.

Round 2 – prone rapid fire — 10 shots in 70 seconds.

Round 3 – Seated position — rapid fire — 10 shots in 60 seconds.

Round 4 – standing position – slow 10 rounds. The guys in the pit, mark after each shot. While Jason and Rob are shooting, Dan and I were in charge of keeping score.

Now it was time for Dan and I to shoot (or attempt to hit the target). The guy in charge, asked me earlier in the day “How bad do you want to get beat up?” Not really sure what he meant, I said not! Graciously he brought his AR-15 to let me shoot. His gun was built for competition and for his tall frame — translating to it was long and heavy for me, but the positive — no kick and no bruising!!

Can I say I had the best shot? NO! I can do honestly say that I at least hit the target a couple of times in each round! For only my second time ever shooting – I would consider that a success.

Have you shot? Do you enjoy shooting? If so, what do you normally shoot?

Aerial Dance

This past Tuesday, Tracy and I attended an intro class to Aerial Dance. Tracy ran across a deal off Groupon for a one hour intro class, so we decided to go for it. So glad we did! The class started with some warm-ups to get our bodies warm and stretched out. After our warm-up we headed to the silks. Our first exercise was to get our arms wrapped up in the silks, then to work on the “turtle” which made us aware of our shoulders.

Getting into position

Tracy working on her “turtle”

After the “turtle”, we learned to get into the silks with a knot. I had a hard time getting at times as I have short legs, but once in it was a blast. It was like sitting in a swing.

Once we learned how to get into the silks, we worked on the “mermaid.” Here we stacked our hips and held on with one arm. Don’t forget to point the toes and make it pretty. 🙂

Time to add on… now you place your leg on the opposite silk of the one your are holding — “the star.” This was a lot harder than it looked — getting that leg up required some work and balance.

Now for the fun… hanging upside down! This required trust in the silks… luckily we were over a mattress, but not falls. 🙂

Now for fun with the camera!

I had a blast with this class. So much fun in fact, that I am debating signing up for a set of 6 classes. Aerial dance requires upper body strength and confidence in yourself! I would highly recommend this type of modern dance.

Have you ever done Aerial Dance? Would you be interested in it?

Belay On

This past Monday, I had the pleasure of taking advantage of ladies night at our local climbing center. Tracy, Ashley and I met at the climbing center and got ready to climb. We had a great instructor who not only gave us the ins and outs of climbing, but also how to belay for each other.

We each had a chance to climb up the wall with our instructor belaying for us — Tracy was the brave woman to go first. She was a rock star climber with those long legs. 🙂

She made it to the top with no problems — she made it look so incredibly easy. I was next, and terrified. I have never actually gone rock climbing. One time in high school, I went with a group rock climbing, but I may have made it up a fraction of the way, so really this was my first time! I can do it, I can do it… this kept running through my head.

Up I go…

While I never did make it totally to the top, I had a fabulous time and learned so much! Biggest tip — use your legs more than your arms!

Last, but not least — it was Ashley’s turn. She was so comfortable climbing that she was having an entire conversation with our instructor as she was climbing. 🙂

Smiling for the camera…

After we had all had a chance to climb, it was time to learn to belay for each other. I was first up to belay with Tracy being my climber. Belay on?

Climb on!

Ashley trusted Tracy to belay her. We were all great students. 🙂

After a good break from climbing and belaying, I was ready to give the wall another go. Ashley was a fantastic belayer for me.

I learned while I loved climbing, repelling was definitely my favorite part! I had a blast coming down.

Thanks Tracy and Ashley for a fantastic “first” time rock climbing. I can’t wait until the next ladies’ night to rock climb (or maybe before).

Do you rock climb? If so what is your favorite thing about rock climbing?

Secret City Half Marathon

This morning I embarked on a new journey. A couple of weeks ago I signed up to run the Secret City half marathon in Oak Ridge. I had intentions of running before hand, but do to various different things, I did not make it out on a run a single time between the Marine Corps marathon and the Secret City half marathon. Not only did I not run since the marathon, but I did nothing to prepare for this half marathon — I did not hydrate adequately yesterday, sleep well, or eat appropriately. This was going to be a moment of truth — how hard was a half marathon going to be for me with no preparation.

This was also the first race that I did all by myself, there was no one I knew with me at the start line. There was also no one there at the finish line. I was in this by myself and had to find my own inner strength for it.

I left my apartment around 7:30 after a breakfast of toast, sunflower butter, a banana, and a cup of coffee. I arrived around 7:50 leaving just enough time to get myself to the start line and not have to stand around for long. The race gun went off at 8:10. The weather was a nice 55 degrees with a slight cloud cover. I actually ran in capris and a short sleeve shirt, only feeling chilly at the start line and when I my body cooled down after the race. A much warmer day then yesterday.

I thought I had looked at the race course, but obviously did not read the description as I did not realize it was a two loop course. I am personally not a fan of having to do the same course twice… it has to do with passing my car which makes me want to be done. I did great for the first half of the marathon. At mile 5 I was running at 58 minutes, which is great in my opinion! I continued to do well as I passed the start line again and through mile 8. Somewhere around mile 8 I lost heart in the race. Honestly my legs felt fine, but I lost the desire to run. I ended up doing a fair bit of walking in the last 5 miles and saw my time getting slower. At that point I was just ready to finish, but seemed to lack the heart to run. I crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 41 minutes. Not a stellar time, but another half marathon in the books.

The race had 800 or so runners, with some being marathon relays (two runners who split the half marathon – each doing a loop). They required a 3 hour finish time, so I think that deterred several runners from running. I was proud that the race winner and the next 4 runners were the only ones that lapped me on this two loop course. I was almost at mile 6 when the race leader came by, he was booking it and the second place guy was several minutes behind him. I guess that was one perk of the two loops, I got to actually see the race leader. 🙂

With the smaller race, that also meant there were a lot fewer spectators, so the energy as great. All in all though, it was not a bad race. I learned that much more about myself and what my body can do.  I now know that if I just keep running smaller distances with an occasional longer run, I can do half marathons when they come up. I also know that I prefer the larger races with more runners and more spectators. While it was not my favorite race, I would consider doing it again — there were very few hills, which is always a good thing in my book. 🙂

Plus I got another medallion to add to the collection. 🙂

What do you do to prepare for a race?

 

 

Mark One More Off…

I am going to go ahead and mark one more of my 30 before 30 off. As the weather has turned colder, we  have brought the plants inside our apartment. They made it through the hot summer, and I didn’t kill them…. WOOHOO!!!

Look our Christmas Cactus even has beautiful red blooms! 🙂

With the weather getting colder, we decided to bring the plants in. I love this Christmas cactus… the blooms are just absolutely beautiful. My two cacti also look great. They grew throughout the summer, and seem happy. We will see how they do through the winter in the apartment.

I am super proud as these plants made it through the summer, and did well! 🙂

Do you have a green, black, or brown thumb? 

Marine Corps Marathon

I AM NOW A MARATHONER!!!! I did it!! 

This is Jason and I right before we took off. I think we ran together for all of a couple hundred yards before he took off. A quick kiss and an I will see you when I finish… then it was me and the road. I got into a rhythm and watched the mile markers go by. I actually took my camera with me, so did take some pics along the way.

One of my favorites:

Miles 1-20 felt great… I was not super fast, but I was feeling great. I did have in my head though from mile 18 on that I kept running my personal distance record as my longest training run was 17.85. I hit that long bridge around mile 20 which really took the energy out of me! My mom and brother Rob were tracking me and said that all of the sudden my time went way down. I started struggling both physically and emotionally. We then went through Crystal City which was also long and hard for me. I did get some renewed energy in the last few miles — I knew that I was going to complete this marathon and that was all that mattered.

.2 more! I can do this. Little did I know though that the .2 was a short steep hill — really?!? Who does this? Oh well… I did it! I got up that hill and made it to the finish line.

My wonderful boyfriend was waiting there for me at the finish line! I remember rushing into his arms and bursting into tears. I had finished — me the non-runner had finished. I was about 13 minutes slower than I my goal, but it didn’t matter. I accomplished my goals — I crossed the finish line standing up; I was nowhere near the last person to finish; and I finished before they started closing down!!

After the race, we met some friends at Ragtime for some food and drinks! Jason and I both completed our first marathon!

Our medals — we were both so proud!!

Stay tuned for what happened after the race! 😉

100th Post!!

Wow… I have now officially written my 100th post. Crazy!! I thought that for my 100th post, I would share some fun facts about me.

1. Some of my favorite things are: the color yellow, daisies, tulips, jewelry, shoes, and the list goes on! 🙂

2. If I could have any talent, I would love to be able to dance. I am always so enthralled with dancers and just love the way dancers move their bodies and feel the music with every being of their body.

3. I thrive from routine. The more I have on my plate, the better. On days when I don’t have a schedule, it seems like nothing gets done.

4. I am not a big fan of commedy, and I tend to watch drama and reality tv when I watch tv.

5. My friends and coworkers call me an accessory queen. Shoes, scarves, and jewelry make all my outfits. 🙂

6. Even though I don’t do it very often, I love to cook and find it as a great stress reliever.

7. I definitely have a silly streak to me, and can get goofy at times. Jason can tell you all about this one. 🙂

8. I am completely addicted to coffee! It is a must to start my mornings. I love everything about it, the feel of a cup in my hand, the smell, the taste… yum yum.

9. I am a firm believer in no regrets in life. I feel that maybe all my choices in life haven’t been the best, but with each choice it has made me who I am today!

10. I am very happy with my life right now. I have great friends and family, a fabulous boyfriend, a great job, and the so so much more!

What is something fun about you?