three things thursday.

it has been a while since i have done a three things thursday - but since i am trying my very very best to keep this running and working out related, i have not had too much to report on. 

1. i have been going to blast900 once a week, every week for 3 weeks now and it does not get easier, but i have found that it has made me stronger and my endurance is getting better. i thought it would get easier as the weeks went on, but it has not been getting easier since all the instructors make each class different and you never know what you're walking into. i won't get to do it this week since my 6pm monday class was cancelled for the 4th and because i was not even in atlanta...  but i really like it (even though 30 minutes in i say i hate it) and want kyle j to come with me -- the 1st class is free! :o)  they're supposedly looking for locations in northern va, so if they do open locations here i can go when i am home for holidays and when we move back....

2. i really really really want the new garmin forerunner 610. my 405 is like 2 or 3 years old and has been acting REAL glitchy and is not holding a charge very well once it gets turned on and is in training mode, so i want to upgrade. plus i want the HR monitor and I like that is has stronger satellite signals so i won't lose it like i did during the Nashville Half and Atlanta 13.1 last year.  but, i won't let myself buy it because (a) I'm not running enough to warrant buying a new one (b) my 405 works well enough, i just need to remember to put it on the charger after use (c) it is way way way too expensive and (d) because i am in total saving money mode.  but i am allowed to dream of it right? plus in a years time the price should *hopefully* drop.

3. i went home for the 4th of july and did not even get to run at my most favorite running spot ever - burke lake. i totally planned on running it at least once, but my mom's check engine light went out when i was driving it one day and cars with check engine lights on freak me out. whenever we decide to move back to NoVa (kyle needs to stop making excuses especially since he "hates georgia so much") I will run there as often as humanly possible.  i didn't even run the neighborhood - i just laid in bed like a bum and slept till almost 12:00 most days. 

for my 100th post i will not talk about running.

I have decided to do my 100^th blog entry on something OTHER than running. Over the past 99 entries I really have not given you any insight on my life and who I am besides my running woes, plans, goals, setbacks, upcoming races, race reviews, and victories. So, I have seen a lot of people do this so I am going to copy them. I have stolen my format from Runner’s Rambles and here I go.

10 things about my past
1. i grew up right outside of washington dc in fairfax county – a town called burke to be exact. heard of it? didn’t think so. I could not wait to get out of that place. …now we’re talking about going back. odd.
2. i once had a guy buy me a fish and write swedish on it because he was my “secret valentine” for a church thing. he knew i liked swedish fish, but didn’t know they were a candy. he knocked on my door and left the dead fish on my front porch. it was awkward but funny at the same time.
3. i used to be a blonde. i sometimes think about going back to a dirty blond but i always chicken out. plus it takes way too much upkeep and i am too lazy
4. my first ever job was at starbucks (before it was cool) and i hated coffee. 4 or so years later i quit because i was tired of making frappachinos and people complaining about too much foam on their latte or their latte not being hot enough. i left with a love for coffee.
5. my freshman year of college was spent at a super small college in north carolina called wingate. it was less than awesome so i transferred to alabama. best.decision.ever. that place is more than awesome.
6. summer 2006 was by far the best summer of my life. if i could relive that summer in tuscaloosa every year, i would. i was surrounded by an awesome group of people and we just had FUN!
7. growing up i did just about every sport imaginable – soccer, softball, swim, dance, gymnastics but i never really stuck with any of them longer than 2 or 3 years. why? i do not know.
8. when i was graduating college, my mom took me suit shopping for the big bad interviews – i cried in the middle of banana republic because i thought a suit made me look fat – now, i am super comfortable in a suit, think i look sharp, and love banana republic suits
9. i used to have a pepto bismol pink bedroom. it was so pink you could see it glow down the hall.
10. when my parents were wallpapering our house they hired the “wallpaper man” and he would always eat breakfast with my brother and me and watch “gummie bears” on disney with us. i do not know why i remember this, but i do…

10 things about my personality
1. i am ocd
2. i am sassy and i love it!
3. friends are such an important part of my life & i will stand up for my friends in a heart beat.  
4. i am a girly
5. i try to look at the glass half full
6. i love with my whole heart
7. i am way to judgmental
8. i am impatient
9. i am a hard worker
10. i am blunt and to the point

10 random facts about me
1. i hate wire coat hangers – they make me so ansy and jumpy. i just hate them. i also like to put blue shirts on blue hangers and yellow clothes on yellow hanger and so on and so forth. OCD maybe? yikes.
2. i bleed crimson & white. i will (and do) talk trash to everyone when it is football season
3. i cannot go to petsmart on the weekends because i always end up crying over the dogs who need a home … one of these days i am going to be putting in an application for another rescued pup
4. i am absurdly obsessed with music and discovering new artists that would be great for window down driving and running … i spend way too much money on iTunes
5. i feel the most comfortable in kyle’s flannel pj pants (size xl) and a tee shirt
6. i have the weirdest obsession with wrapping paper and wrapping presents  … hallmark has the best wrapping paper and ribbons.
7. when i know it is going to rain, i like to coordinate my outfit to my umbrella
8. i am 26 years old and still have not parted with my baby blanket … i probably never will. on the weekends, i walk around the apartment with it. just call me linus.
9. i love cookbooks, reading them, looking at the pictures, collecting them, salivating over meals that look great, but i have never cooked from them. i only cook from the recipes my dad gives me, the ones he types up and punches holes in for my recipe binder.
10. sometimes when i am out running i have a sudden urge to do cartwheels.

10 dreams/goals
1. to retire on a lake somewhere – i want the lake to have a big porch and a fire pit and be on a hill that looks down at the dock and water.
2. get married (eek… it’s gonna happen!!)
3. to make a difference in just one persons life
4. to be an alabama season ticket holder
5. to watch alabama win a national championship … in person.like me in the stands, shaker in hand.lose my voice.in person.
6. build a house with habitat for humanity
7. travel europe (london. italy. ireland. scotland. germany. switzerland.) i have no desire to go to france though
8. get my boyfriend to run a 5k with me
9. to zip wire over a rainforest
10. i want to own a house, with a big porch and great patio furniture with lots of land so i can have lots of puppies and they can have lots of land to roam and play.

10 things i love
1. kyle j
2. my dog - mulligan
3. music
4. classic designers like burberry and tory burch
5. netflix – when they aren’t sending me crappy dvds.
6. wrapping paper
7. patios
8. clean sheets
9. sundresses
10. massages

10 things i love to do
1. play guess who and connect four by candlelight with my kyle j
2. outdoor concerts with good friends
3. sunday afternoons … doing nothing but laying on the couch watching tv (lifetime mainly) 
4. sit on patios
5. naps
6. make to-do lists … back to my ocd tendencies
7. shop and find great sales
8. spend the day at the spa
9. bubble baths with a good book
10. a good run after a bad day

10 things i hate
1. red wine
2. mud
3. two faced people
4. dirty dishes
5. inconsistency
6. bugs
7. timid drivers
8. the fact that spin class is so popular
9. the color orange
10. comcast and their crappy internet

10 places i have been
1. nova scotia
2. baton rouge louisiana
3. orlando florida
4. sanibel island florida
5. Knoxville tennessee
6. quebec canada
7. Boston massachusetts
8. kennebunkport maine
9. new orleans louisiana
10. san francisco california

10 things i am proud of/thankful for
1. i am a marathoner
2. graduating college in under 5 years (barely but i did it)
3. my awesome and supportive family and boyfriend
4. i ran my first half marathon with the leukemia & lymphoma society and raised $5000 doing it
5. my career
6. my teeth (weird, i know)
7. i have had a spotless driving record for over 3 years now
8. my great great friends
9. my awesomely supportive blog followers
10. my new found ability of balancing a checkbook & saving money

and there you go. now you know a little bit more about me! :o)