Impulsive

I've been very impulsive lately. Usually I'm a heavy-duty planner, going all out with maps and schedules and budgeting, etc. Not so much recently. And I really, really love it. The last month has been completely full and it's been completely spontaneous and completely incredible. I've also signed more waivers in the last few weeks than I have in a while. Totally worth it all.



Lady Luck has been following me around as well. I have a feeling it has something to do with the company I've been keeping.

And my most recent impulse:

Turning Limes into Pie.

I don't want to really say anything too soon, but I think I've been able to turn my poor June luck around. The summer of 2010 has gotten off to an incredible start. Between meeting new people, having fun adventures in the mountains, getting a promotion at work and possibly checking off one of the big bucket list items this upcoming weekend... I've stayed busy. And it's been the best kind of busy. :)

I need to get back on a real schedule for my marathon training though. I did well last week with early morning workouts, but this week was not so good. Must. Change. This.

And I do believe I have perfected my key lime pie recipe. With an addition of macadamia nuts in the crust and coconut in the whipped cream, it's the perfect summer dish.

Last weekend was Father's Day. It fell on June 20. Six years ago, my paternal grandmother passed away on June 20, on Father's Day. Two years after that, my 13 year old cat died on the 20th. This is one of the bad June days. Luckily, I was able to successfully wish my father a happy day and tell him I love him. I guess I can't wish for much more than that.

Once I complete my bucket list item, I'll post it. I don't want to jump the gun in case the plans fall through. I get excited just thinking about it. :)

June Sucks.

It's officially June. I have a poor history with this month, so I'm hoping it flies by. Luckily, I have some good things planned. I'm officially on vacation this week which was celebrated this afternoon by the pool. I'm driving back home to Tennessee in the morning where I'll get to spend some quality time with family and friends there. And our garage sale. (Not looking forward to that one.) I'm hoping to spend a good day on the lake and a good day hiking on the AT. I miss the mountains.

I'm traveling tomorrow - which is why I'm still awake. I always get a little anxious or something the night before I go somewhere. I'm incredibly OCD when it comes to getting things ready the night before and making sure I'm ready to go.

I have also decided that I need new music. Not just stuff to download - Glee gives me plenty opportunities to get new stuff on a weekly basis. What I really need is something to hook me for a while, much like how the Avett Brothers got me through last summer.

If I was the type of person who...

I heard an inspiring story the other day. I was listening to (watch out: nerd alert) NPR's 'This American Life' and the final story in the series was, in a roundabout way, a story about faith. In a nutshell, this man had strayed from the Catholic faith in which he was raised because they taught him that he was a sinner by being gay, that who he was is wrong. However, in a time of crisis when his mother was dying, he found his way back into a church. He wasn't the kind of person who could really have faith in something that scorned who he was. But somehow, he decided that if he was the kind of person who could believe, he would go through the motions. Much like if his mother was the type of person who would curse, she'd say "Fuck" when she found out that she wouldn't survive the night.

I know that probably doesn't make sense, but oh well. Just download the podcast on iTunes, the episode is titled 'Return to the Scene of the Crime.' You'll understand.

Anyhow, the whole reason for me writing about this is that I've decided that I think if I was the type of person who could believe, I would. My rational thoughts all tell me that there is too much hypocrisy and human error to make it logical. Or real. However, the familiarity and the rhythm could be good for me. And for my faith. I have a feeling that I'll need something in my life in the next couple years that will help hold my foundations and give me something to trust when things get rough. Because they will. I can count on my family but there's only so far they can take it.

So I return again tomorrow. I'll walk over to the neighborhood Anglican church and see how it goes. Maybe I'll become the type of person who can believe.

Things I Get to Eat Because I'm Training for a Marathon.

Sort of. This is what Shannon and I came up with as a theme for this blog baby of mine. (I'm obviously a terrible mother). Because I love to cook and I'm crazy enough to want to run a marathon, we thought I should marry the two ideas together into one. It might turn out that way since I have a feeling my life is going to be governed by training schedules, logging miles, and eating. I might as well have a good time while I'm at it.

Tonight was the perfect example of this. I spent a good 90 minutes at the gym, and 60 of those were in a truly ass-kicking spin class. Great music, great (and very muscular, very cute) instructor, and lots of sweat. What more could I ask for? I come back so Shannon and I could then prepare a glorious meal, primarily based on fats. Pure love.

At Last...

Oh my. I'm embarrassed. This is just sad- over two months later, and I'm finally back on the wagon. So much has happened in the last few months.. I don't even think I'll do a recap, except for some highlights.

For one, I will officially be taking an additional year off school to work and save dollars. This is mostly by choice, but I know that by next fall, I'll be ready to be back in school. So this upcoming fall will focus on scouting out law schools and applications. Very exciting, I know.

Another thing is that I successfully completed the Lexington Half Marathon back at the end of March. Finished in 2:19:33, which was a little slower than I'd hoped but I'll happily blame the weather. Sideways wind and rain along with a chilly day did not make for a fun run. Luckily I had a great friend who ran it with me (although I know he could have smoked me) and helped me along. Dad was waiting at the finish line and it was a great weekend. For some reason, after all this, Dad and I thought it would be a good idea to sign up for the Columbus Marathon in October. So we did. Dad actually has a good shot of qualifying for Boston, which is HUGE. Columbus is a fast race and October is the perfect time to run. Our race is a week after my sister will run the Chicago Marathon so I'll get to travel up there to watch her. I think that if I'm able to keep this up, I'll start planning my travel destinations around races. There are some great places to go and I'd love to travel the world running half marathons here and there. And there's plenty of celebrating afterwards!

Enough of running. I could probably go on for hours about that.

New thing three: I have officially been hired on part-time at J.Crew. I know, it seems strange for me to get a retail job when I have a perfectly good, well-paying office job with benefits. I'm definitely holding on to that one. The J.Crew thing is just something on the side to make a little extra cash here and there. And the discount is serious. Like, dangerous. Deadly. I've already used it, and I was barely there for four hours. But I guess that's why it'll be "extra" money. :)

I suppose that's it for now. There's lots more (like how I've finally redone the disgusting bathroom in the new place, got a brand spanking new car, the wonderful world of first dates, etc.) but those will come later.

I think I need to come up with a more unified theme for this little blog of mine, I have no clue what to focus on, and my life only seems to get interesting when I'm not writing about it that often. However, I think it would be good for me to jump back on and really pay attention to it, even though no one is actually reading. Ah, the glories of the internet.

So long for now. Hopefully it won't be another two months before I get back on here.

Dear Josh Blair

suck it.

No but really, thanks for calling me out on not posting anything for an entire freaking month. Things have been completely nuts, and since I didn't think anyone was actually paying any attention to my little ol' bloggy-poo here, a month off didn't seem so wrong or offensive. Apparently I was wrong.

On that note, I don't think Josh should have ditched me around my birthday weekend. I mean, I'm glad you got into the Mexico program and all, but Alice in Wonderland was fabulous, especially with pitchers of beer. You must come visit me in Lex very soon, young man.

As I mentioned, I've been quite the busy bee lately. Since my last post, I've changed addresses. Across town. My once $30 cab ride to my favorite bar is now less than $10. My once 25-35 minute morning commute is now 10 minutes, 15 on a terrible day. I'm pleased, to say the least.

Half marathon training is going... ok. Successfully completed a wonderful 10-miler last weekend only to get the flu for 3 days this week. But I'm finally feeling like a normal human being again and I'm going to attempt a short morning run tomorrow and another long run for Saturday. I'll try not to kill myself. But after this long run, I'll be in taper mode until race day so I can take it easy and just focus on tempo.

I guess that's about it for now. I haven't been writing between the busy-ness (I never really like the spelling of that as "business") and the sicky-ness. And frankly, I haven't thought that anything has been that exciting. I turned 23 but that isn't such a big deal anymore. I might just start celebrating every other year and make it absolutely ridiculous. We'll see how I feel about that next year around this time.

Until next time.. hopefully it won't be April by then and I'll have something thoughtful to say. And spring will be here.