Christmas 2009

This Christmas was our last one as an unmarried couple!! :) Next Christmas we will be married for 8 months already. How exciting is that?!? And we've already got a few Christmas decorations- our two reindeer and our snowman army (okay, so there are 4 of them) and some big pretty silver and white snowflakes I got before Mervyn's closed. I'm so excited to decorate our own place and our own tree and start our own Christmas traditions. It's so exciting!!

And, for more excitingness... Friday is our 3 year anniversary! I just love him so much and I am so blessed to have been able to call him mine for three years (almost).

I spent a long time sorting my iPhoto library today and finding a lot of old photos that I hadn't looked at in a long time. A ton of fun memories and good times. A lot has changed over the years but it's great to be able to look back and see where I've been (both in terms of places and mentally/emotionally/physically/etc). I still need to go through and delete some photos that made sense at the time but no longer do, but it is much more organized now. I look forward to filling it with wedding photos and photos of our first place and eventually some day our kids... :)

Green at last, green at last, thank God Almighty, I am green at last :)

In case the title didn't give it away, I finally reached Nike Level Green!! The last 15 miles seemed to drag out forever (and having to take 3-day breaks because of the rain didn't help) but I have finally reached 155 miles on my NikePlus shoes/sensor. I was so excited and love the new Mini background!

Only 462 miles until I reach Nike Level Blue! Crazy to think about but I'm running so often now that I'm sure it will come sooner than I'd have thought a long time back. I'm trying to do two days on and one day off, but sometimes life gets in the way (mainly because of my work schedule and the sun going down not being compatible right now). I've run Monday-Thursday this week to make sure I got in those last few miles to green and to allow for a night off with friends tomorrow night. Stephen, Sandi, Chris and BWW? Heck yes!

Totals:
Since October 20: 64.91 miles
Since April 10: 159.32 miles (not bad for taking July 24- October 20 off...)

Christmas is a week from tomorrow, which is crazy! December has just flown by and I feel like I haven't had a moment to take it all in. My birthday (which was only a week ago as of yesterday) feels like it was a month ago. Work has been busy with the 3rd graders choosing their instruments this week and Christmas programs in Early Education. Looking forward to 3 day work weeks the next two weeks :)

I've been reading "The Year of Living Biblically" by A.J. Jacobs. It's pretty funny. I really like the outsider looking in perspective. I really enjoyed "The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at Liberty" by Kevin Roose so I am excited to see how this one ends and how the experience and immersion in the Bible changes Mr. Jacobs.

Stephen and I will celebrate three wonderful years together two weeks from tomorrow. He's so incredible and I am so lucky to have him. He gives me more reasons every single day to love him and be thankful for him. We've been counting down the days to our wedding by reading the Psalms backwards from 150. It's so awesome having that time together as he tucks me in for the night and he reads them to me. We read those and the daily Proverb. It's so wonderful to have a man like Stephen as my future husband :)

Speaking of which, I've been trying on the new last name a bit lately. As in (to Sandi) "Is it just the Adys and Rabons going to BWW or are the Glasses coming too?" I rather like it :) Plus it's like a million times easier than "Is it just the Adys and Padilla/Rabon faction going to BWW..." I can't wait until it's official. (Then I can change my blog title to "Quote the Rabon" officially too!)

It's December already...

New totals:

Since October 20: 50.31 miles
Since April 10: 144.72

I'm currently 10 miles away from Nike Level Green, which I'm pretty excited about. Today's run was a comedy of errors. First, it's only like 40 degrees outside. It was really, really cold. Stephen loves me and bought me a beanie and mittens (not gloves so I can wear my engagement ring comfortably) so that helped out a lot! Then I'm running and my keys fall out of my pocket. Problem is that I didn't notice until a while down the trail so then I had to go back looking for it. This really slowed me down because I didn't want to run past it. So I find them and get going. It's really starting to get dark and I'm thinking that my current lap would be my last. I get to where I have about half a lap to go and the iPod dies. Just turns off. I stop, check it, and sure enough, no battery power. So I finish the run (roughly .25 miles) without music and without it being recorded. I was rather frustrated by then, mainly because I wasn't sure any of it would save since I didn't get to close out the workout. Luckily, when I got home, everything before my iPod died was stored. Funny thing is, my iPod had almost full battery when I started. Better luck tomorrow, I hope.

Yesterday we had almost the entire fantasy football league over to celebrate week 13- the end of the regular season. It was lots of fun and lots of food. Between my family birthday party on Saturday and the Fantasy Football party on Sunday, I feel like I put on like 10 pounds. But it was soooo good. I love being able to have my closest friends and family all together in one spot having fun and enjoying each other's company. It just feels right.

Stephen and I went to our first premarital counseling meeting with Pastor Ben on Wednesday. It was nice- sort of a get to know you type meeting. He was pleased with how well-read we are on marriage and relationships as well as where we are financially and future-planning wise. I look forward to meeting with him again come February.

Two days until I turn 25- crazy how different life has become in the last year- but definitely in a good way!

I love my fiancé

I can't wait to marry this man.

Thanksgiving

Despite the fact that Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I am going to go ahead and list things I'm thankful for tonight.

I'm thankful for:

*God's love, forgiveness, and provision. He has blessed me in ways I could have never imagined (most of which will be listed below). We have really felt His hand in our engagement and wedding planning as we've been able to get everything together so quickly and perfectly.

* My amazing and perfect-for-me fiance. Stephen is truly a gift from God and I am so excited to see how our lives will continue to be woven together when we become husband and wife. I can't wait to start our own family traditions for the holidays and to see where God takes our lives. The next year or so is going to be full of changes and adventures and I'm looking forward to taking them on together!

* My family- they're the best. Yeah, we don't all live close by and we don't see each other as often as we'd all like, but they are a blessing. All of them. We've expanded in the past year and will continue to do so as we get older and get married and start new branches of the family tree. I can't wait to see them all at our wedding!

*My new family- The Rabons. So we're not legally family yet, but I'm marrying into a family full of wonderful people who have raised Stephen to be the man he is and the man I love. I don't get to see them often, but I look forward to spending lots of time together in the future as our families join together to be one big family.

*My friends (aka the family by bonds instead of blood)- I have incredible friends. And the amazing thing about my friends is that I know I can count on all of them no matter what the situation whether I have known them for a year or 10 years. I can't wait to get us all together for the fantasy football party and the wedding... it's going to be so much fun. I'm so glad everyone gets along because I love having everyone in one place!

*My job- during a time when a lot of people are losing or have lost their jobs, I don't take for granted the fact that I am still gainfully employed. And I enjoy my job- I work in a ministry that "trains up children in the way they should go..." and I have some really great co-workers.

*That I live in the land of the free because of the brave-- I am so thankful that there are men and women in uniform who are out there serving the rest of us with such dedication and sacrificing time with their own families.

And now for the little things/ superficial things (in no particular order):

Running at a beautiful park, puppies (Paco might be a daddy again soon!) , Mom's home cooking for a few more months, Facebook- it keeps me in contact with friends and family who live far away, Chipotle- without which Stephen might never eat, laughing until I cry, our incredible engagement pictures (see below), cool toys like my iPhone and Nike+, Book Club, random balloon/Lego rescue missions at the Nugget, my car for having the soul of a monster truck in the body of a Corolla, Stephen's blanket- it's so warm and cozy, Glee, The Big Bang Theory, Chuck, and Lost, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Okay, so maybe not that last one, but the list could go on.

Here are a few of our amazing engagement pictures, taken by Charlotte Geary.






New Totals:
Since October 20: 37.7 miles
Since April 10: 132.08 miles

I've got a Turkey Day running date with Sandi tomorrow while the boys play basketball and Jack cheers them on. Should be a great start to a day filled with family and food! :)

Exciting Stuff

Exciting things have been happening on both of the major fronts that I write about:

Wedding:

-We got our amazing engagement pictures in! Oh, they are so great and I love them so much! They can be seen here: Charlotte Geary Online Gallery
-I tried on my dress with my slip and shoes and it was great. It had been so long since I'd had it on that it was like having that "oh wow" moment all over again. Plus, I remembered the earrings that I borrowed from Gram for prom and tried them on with the dress, so assuming that I don't find anything else that I simply must have, I have earrings.
-We've picked out some Save the Dates, so once we get the high-res files from Charlotte of the two pictures to go on them, we'll be able to order them and send them out.
-We have an officiant!! Mitch Ady called last night and said that he would marry us! We're both very excited about this and now we just need to set up our premarital counseling and we'll be set to go on that front.
-Sandi and Jen Mumaw both ordered their dresses in the last week, so I'm very excited about that. I can't wait to see Jen's in person and Sandi's is awesome. We had a lot of fun in Roseville picking it out and getting Mom and I some shoes :) I'm beginning to think that the "getaway" dress will be a honeymoon dress. We're literally going to be driving down the street to our hotel, is it really worth changing for a 5 minute drive? Plus, I can always send my dress back down to Vacaville with Mom or someone the next day. No big deal.
- We booked our flights to and from Hawaii for our honeymoon! We also rented a convertible Mustang to cruise the island in! It's going to be so much fun. We'll be living large for a week and I couldn't be more excited.


Running:
Since the last update, I hit a new low for average pace: 11:38/mi. I hit it yesterday. The crazy thing was that I didn't feel like I was doing that well (I think the cold weather and wind makes me feel like I'm going slower) but when I ran up to Stephen and looked at my iPod, there it was.

-I'm about 31 miles away from reaching Nike Level Green, which means that I will soon have passed through the first two levels (yellow and orange).
- I finished my goal of 5 runs under 12:20 in a month. It only took me 11 days. I really thought that I wouldn't be able to do it, or would cut it very close, but I continue to do better than I think I can. That's refreshing.
- On the Run Across America challenge, I have just entered Mount Pleasant, Washington. :)

New Totals:
Since October 20: 29.27 miles
Since April 10: 123.62 miles

I recently finished the second novel that my friend Nikki wrote and now have in my possession her first. I'm quite excited to read it!

I'm so excited about the Holidays this year... and I think that's mainly because I know that next year will be the first set that Stephen and I are married!!

The way you walk, way you talk, way you say my name It's beautiful, wonderful, don't you ever change

After taking off Thursday-Monday from running (in part because I was in Colorado Fri-Sun), I wasn't sure how today's run was going to go. It was pretty chilly when I left work and rather overcast, so I wasn't really feeling like it was going to go that well. However, once I started going, it actually felt like it was coming naturally to me. For the first time. I had some good runs in the past, but it never felt like this before. It was really amazing to feel like I actually knew what I was doing! I'm sure that it may not always feel that way and that I'll have some runs that aren't as great, but tonight, I felt like a runner. Running for Mortals really stresses the point that no matter what your body is shaped like (thin, muscular, and sleek like the runners in the Olympics or slow with more to love like us mortals) or what your time/distance is- if you're out there doing it, you're a runner. And today I really felt like it. I felt like little old me with my love handles and all was actually an athlete. I'm telling you, that book is a great read! I've read it twice and both times I felt like I gained a lot. So, without further ado, a picture of my iPod that I took while at a stop light showing the fruit of my labor:


I finally broke the 12 minute average mile time mark!!
I'm really proud and I was so pumped afterward. :)

My new totals are:
Since Oct 20: 22.94 miles
Since April 10: 117.29 miles

Our trip to Colorado was really great. Super quick turn around so it was slightly exhausting, but Brandon was an excellent host, I got to meet some of Stephen's fantasy football friends, and, of course, we took our engagement pictures! Charlotte is just awesome. We had such a great time and minus my brief fall down the mountain (haha), everything was really fun! Plus Charlotte said that we should be able to view our portraits tomorrow, so I'm pretty much dying to see them! Having worked with Charlotte for this affirmed our decision that she is definitely the photographer for us. She's super sweet, fun, easy going, not afraid to get dirty and very very talented! I'm looking forward to having her take our wedding pictures in April even more now.

Once I get a link to our online gallery, I'll be sure to post it here and on Facebook so that all parties involved can see them!!

Quick Update

Writing this on my phone so I am going to keep it brief.

My shoes for the wedding came today and they are even better than I thought they would be. I love them so much! Pictures will be forthcoming when I have a bit more time.

New running totals:
Since Restart: 20.85 miles
Since April: 115.20 miles

Taking the next four days off for the trip to Colorado. When I return, I will probably have to join a gym so that I can continue to run over the winter months when darkness and bad weather get in the way of my plans. I'd much rather run outside than on a treadmill, but considering there is only 30 minutes on either side of work that is light out, I'll probably have to cave.

The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.

The above title is a quote from John "The Penguin" Bingham. He's a columnist for Runner's World Magazine and co-authored the book I'm currently reading, "Running for Mortals." I actually read it once already the first time I was attempting the running thing, but felt that it would be just as valuable a read as before. And it has been. The book is encouraging and inspiring to a novice runner who isn't full of confidence. It's great. It's got some humor and some real down to earth writing that doesn't come from a position of expertise in a sense that he is better than you. Instead it comes from someone who has been where you are. It's a good read.

I'm taking on a new challenge- running two days on, one day off. I ran yesterday with Stephen (playing basketball) and today with Sandi. My legs are sore and I'm very much looking forward to a day off tomorrow. But both runs were decent and they both ended with a feeling of accomplishment. I had some right calf pain both days- I think I just need to stretch it out better/more and I'll be fine. Morning runs are nice (Saturday was around 11 and today at 8am) because you get to start your day off with some activity and increased energy. Evening runs are also nice because you get to work off the day and have the time to think and clear your head from the work day. Due to the daylight savings time change, I'm not sure when I'll have light to run. I'm going to have to pay close attention tomorrow as to when the sun comes up/goes down to plan my course of action.

Our trip to Colorado this weekend is also going to throw off the running schedule. I'll run Tuesday and Wednesday, with a break on Thursday. I would be running Friday and Saturday but we leave for Colorado Friday and don't return until Sunday so I'll have to adjust for the week and return to steady running next week. After this week, however, I don't have any trips planned to complicate the schedule. I'll still have put in three runs this week before we leave.

Here are the new totals:
Since Restart: 16.65 miles
Since April: 110.99 miles

According to the Across America challenge forums, today I crossed a bridge over the Columbia River. Just 11 more miles until I hit Mount Pleasant, Washington. :)

Other than that, there isn't much other news to report. My sample invitation should arrive any day now and my shoes are supposed to be in on Wednesday. Stephen and I went and visited/ made a payment on our wedding bands and I totally fell in love with mine all over again. It's SO pretty. Debating whether or not to get them soldered together. I don't want to be without my rings for any length of time... but according to online sources they can wear each other down spinning separately. Sigh. I probably will get them soldered, I just need to find out from Shane Co. how long that will take. And decide whether to do it pre-wedding or post-wedding.

Book Club meeting tomorrow night with Sandi and Nikki to discuss "Eat Pray Love." Should be a good time.

It's a love story, baby just say yes...

So I have gone out walking/running 6 of the last 10 days and am feeling really good about it. I am making some progress in being able to run more. Between Sunday's run and Tuesday's run I shaved a whole minute off my mile time by running just a little bit more on each lap. It was really amazing and uplifting. Today's run wasn't quite so good but better than Sunday's. It's the little progressions that help make this more fun to do. Tuesday was also the first time that I let Stephen come with me. He didn't run with me, but he was there. I had been too embarrassed and self-concious to let him see me out there doing something that I'm not particularly good at. Plus, considering he has run competitively in the past, trying to run in front of or with him was daunting for me. But, it's a start, right? It meant a lot to have him there and to work on getting over some of my insecurities. He's been supportive the entire time and I am so lucky to have a fiance who cares so much. He's awesome. And it was so nice to run up to him on the basketball court and have that warm hug to collapse into.

So, my new totals are:
Since Restart: 12.48 miles
Since April: 106.80


Wedding Notes:

-Engagement pictures are a week from Saturday. I'm praying that global warming will hit Colorado so I don't die of hypothermia.
-I neglected to mention in my last wedding post that I have made an alterations appointment for January 9th. Yay more progress.
- My shoes are scheduled to arrive next week!!

I purchased an iPhone on Tuesday night with the help of Stephen and Mike. It's pretty much the coolest toy ever!! It also gives me the ability to track my fantasy football team on the go (like I need that...) and I love that. Sundays are saved!! I can do other things and still obsess about my team!!

On Running...

Nike was nice enough to give me the above certificate for (finally) going over 100 miles since I started using my Nike+ Sensor. It took 43 runs to get there, but I made it. Today was a 2.03 mile run (my 44th total). The park I run at is just beautiful right now. The trees (and there are many of them) are starting to change colors so it's this beautiful symphony of green, red, orange, and yellow. Plus, running there around 5pm means the light comes beautifully through the trees when I run the back stretch and I wish I had my camera at the ready. Running and taking pictures at the same time could prove to be impossible. I really enjoy running there more than anywhere else.

I realized that I didn't really set my running parameters at the start of this blog. I do not intend to run every day (at least not yet, maybe one day!). I plan to go every other day, if possible. My poor legs need that day of rest. I am still alternating walking and running, though I hope that as my endurance increases, I can run the whole time.

The most important thing though, is that I am not running for the purpose of losing weight. If I do, that's a great side effect, but obsessively tracking minor weight fluctuations has been part of the reason this didn't work before. The last time that I did this, I was also counting calories ( eating 1300 or less each day, per the recommendation of Livestrong.com for losing 1.5 lbs. a week) every day. When you are tracking your eating and exercising and not losing ANYTHING, it is very discouraging. Stephen told me that I needed to give it more time, but those who know me know I'm not a patient person at times. So, despite the fact that my Wii Fit so lovingly tells me that I'm overweight (Stephen and I did Wii Fit yesterday and my abs hate me today...jackknives are my friend and enemy in one), I'm going to do this to feel better. To feel healthier. To look healthier maybe, but not to get to a goal weight. Or a goal pant size. I think this is a much better way for me to do this.

Nike Running has challenges that you can take part in to make the process more fun and have some friendly competition. I'm not too competitive, so I joined one today called Across America. It tracks your total distance and plots where you are based on the cross country run done by Paul Staso in 2006. It goes from Oregon to Delaware. 3,260 miles in all. So, at my point I have just crossed over from Oregon to Washington. It started at Elsie, Oregon and I crossed over just past Portland. Here's the route: Run Across America. It took him only 18 weeks. It will most likely take me a few years, but it would be amazing to finish!

If anyone has song suggestions for running, let me know!

New Totals:
Since Restart: 8.32 miles
Since April: 102.63 miles

Wedding Party

As an addendum to the last post, here's our wedding party:

Sandi Ady, maid of honor

Dan Rabon, best man

Jen Mumaw, bridesmaid

Brandon Atherton, groomsman

Nikki Glass, bridesmaid

Josh Hayes, groomsman

Jen Matlock, bridesmaid

Chris Ady, groomsman

Ashleigh McCabe, bridesmaid

Chris Padilla, groomsman

Rebekah Rabon, bridesmaid

Matthew Rabon, groomsman

Despite the fact that 4 out of 6 of my bridesmaids are married (and one of the others will be very soon), I really really don't like the term matron. It makes people sound like they are old, lonely, and own 30 cats. So, no offense to their husbands, but they are maids for the day :) I like my girls too much to make them sound old.

And of course, the cutest unofficial bridal party member ever: SLADE!

My Big Fat Mexican Wedding Post

Okay, okay, so this post has very little to do with my being Mexican but I'm not Greek, so I had to improvise. I have created a timeline with pictures to show the progression of the wedding planning process. In making my timeline, I realized that we have been very industrious. Without further ado, here it is:

August 22: Engagement!! Best day ever! The picture to the left is the ring and the Facebook mobile upload that started it all! How my phone didn't explode that night, I have yet to discover. It went off almost non-stop for 4 hours. I was so ridiculously happy that day and have amazing friends and family who dropped everything to celebrate with us.

August 23: My dad, brother, Ash, and Slade came up to have an engagement lunch with us. Dad brought my mom's wedding dress up from Victorville with him. We unpacked it and saw that it was amazingly preserved 28 (almost) years later. I decided if possible, I'd like to use my mom's veil. Well, once it's updated a bit.

September 4: Engagement party with Gram and Grandpa Tom

September 5: Bought my wedding dress!! Amazing day with amazing friends. Sorry, no pictures. Stephen sees this :)

September 13: Stephen, Mom, and I toured the Historic Hotel Woodland as a possible venue. Very pretty, food looked great.

September 19: Mom, Dad, and I toured the Chateau. It was GORGEOUS. I fell in love with the place. Stephen wasn't able to go because of work, but he told me that he'd know by my reaction that it was the place. Mom and I cried in the car when we went to leave because we both knew this was it. I knew I am going to walk down that aisle and marry Stephen. It's SO gorgeous there. And the people were friendly and very helpful and the lake is less than 5 minutes away and the whole atmosphere is just lovely.

September 22: Bridesmaid dress shopping with 5 out of 6 bridesmaids (Rebekah is in Colorado, so it's a little harder for her to come). Two of the girls ordered their dresses and the others have good ideas of what they want to get. Very successful trip.

September 24: Dad signed the contract and paid the deposit for the Chateau. It's officially ours on our wedding date: April 18, 2010. I also made us a wedding website this day. Our Wedding Website

September 25: Stephen and his mom went to meet with my dream photographer Charlotte Geary. I am so lucky to have a fiance who loves me so much that he works hard to see that I get what I really want, even if I've kind of given up on it. She's AMAZING. I've been following her work online longer than I've known Stephen and have always wanted her to take my wedding pictures. I figured between the cost of photos and travel expenses it'd be impossible, but Stephen always takes care of me and we're going to make it happen.

September 30: Due to the amazing generosity of my Aunt Lori and Uncle Bill, Stephen and I booked the lodging for our honeymoon. They gave us a week for a wedding present at the condo of our choice through their timeshare company. We'll be honeymooning in Kauai :) We're both very excited to go somewhere beautiful and tropical and relaxing. And for a whole week!! How lucky are we?

October 1: Signed the contract with Charlotte Geary and paid the retainer fee. Our wedding pictures are officially going to be the most amazing ever.

October 2: Stephen and I take a trip to Incline Village. He finally gets to see the Chateau in person and he loves it too. We also got our marriage license while we were there (!!!!!), researched some beachfront picture places, checked out where we plan to stay our wedding night, and met a florist. On the way home, we stopped in Roseville at Shane Co. and selected our wedding bands. They're on layaway :)

October 5: Mom and I went on the hunt for our cake topper. Operation Cake Topper was a success. Stephen got off work and we quickly got down to business building it :)

October 9: Stephen and I registered at Target. It was lots of fun. Mom was at Women's Retreat with church and bought me a hair comb to attach my (her) veil to. I gave it to Carol (who works with me and is awesome and crafty) the following Monday to take it off the Juliet cap Mom used and attach it to the comb Mom bought.

October 17: Stephen and I went to Men's Wearhouse and picked out the tuxes for the guys and set up our group account. The tux style is two button notch lapel. They'll be wearing black of course. The vests will be different, though and they will all have normal ties, not bowties. The groomsmen will have apple vests and ties. Stephen will have a white vest and black tie. The fathers will have a dark shade of silver vests and ties. We'll see what we can find for Slade, the unofficial member of the wedding party. He'll no doubt be up there, he just doesn't have an official job besides being ridiculously cute. Baby tuxes are pretty much adorable no matter what colors they are.

We also had a very busy ordering day that day! We ordered our toasting flutes and cake servers, my shoes, my slip, favor tags, and a sample of the invitation we're thinking of getting. We have since received the flutes, servers, and favor tags.

The toasting flutes say "Mr." on one and "Mrs." on the other in between the bands. The cake cutter and server say "Mr. and Mrs." down the handles. The shoes say MrsRabon on the red stripe :) I love them.

October 18: Mom, Ash, and I went shopping for her mother of the bride dress. She ordered it. She looks amazing in it and is sooooo cute. I love it!! And she loves it. Which is really important.

Other than that, we asked all of the members of our bridal party during this time. We also have an appointment with Charlotte for engagement portraits on November 7th at Garden of the Gods. I'm really excited for that.

There is breakfast calling my name (thanks Mom!) so I'll make a wedding party post sometime in the near future. This took me a very long time. Getting the html right was somewhat annoying.

As a side note, I did a 2.03 mile run yesterday. This makes my totals:
Since Restart: 6.29 miles
Since April 10: 100.58 miles

First Post

So I decided yesterday to create a blog to track a few things in my life:

the wedding planning process and my attempt to be in shape.

I suspect it will slowly become more than that as I have a tendency toward endless rambling, but it's a starting point.

I feel that we've made great strides in wedding planning in the two months (as of today) that we've been engaged. The next post will be a timeline and picture post of what we have accomplished/decided/received. I hope that by blogging I will be able to keep all of our loved ones in the know as well as get some ideas or input from people. Plus it will be fun to look back on later :)

The getting in shape thing... well that's a little trickier. I'm lazy by nature. I'm not one of those people who just loves to work out and has no motivation problems. I have LOTS of motivation problems. I get easily distracted and easily discouraged. If I have a better offer (such as spending time with Stephen or my family or friends), the work out is cancelled. I started running earlier this year. It was the end of March and then on April 10 (I believe, it was Good Friday) I tried out my cool Nike+ Ipod sensor. It was love... well puppy love. The fleeting kind. I like a good toy. I ran fairly diligently through July 24. And then I stopped. I can't recall why exactly (I took a week off once because my knees hurt, but that was earlier) but it just ended. The first week I no doubt made excuses (my knees hurt, I'm tired, allergies, it's too hot, etc.), but it quickly turned into quitting. And it was easy for me to do. They say it takes 21 days to make a habit (or something like that) but that sure didn't work for me.

I'm disappointed in myself to know how I might have actually been somewhat good at this thing if I hadn't taken a 3 month hiatus. I might actually be able to run the whole distance (I trade off walking and running). I might have been ready for a 5k. But alas, I did take the hiatus and now, I'm trying to bring running back into my life.

I ran for the first time since July 24 yesterday. I tried to the day before but was having a wardrobe malfunction so I walked instead. Note to self: make sure pants have a drawstring before purchasing. It wasn't my best time and I certainly couldn't go as far as I once could, but it's a start...right? Stephen is amazing and encourages me so much- he even puts stars on my calendar the days that I run. I'm so lucky to have him. And lucky he loves me even though I'm lazy and whine about my sore legs the next day.

Here's to a new start!

This will appear on the bottom of most posts...or at least the running ones- I have yet to decide.

Total distance run/walked since I restarted: 4.25 miles

Total since April 10: 98.54 miles