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.