Pray for Boston

My heart is absolutely heavy right now. As a runner, I feel like someone has attacked my friends and my family. As a human being, I am just horrified.  Words cannot even put together how heavy my heart is and how I feel for the running community. I cannot watch the coverage without getting chills and fighting back tears. I am devastated for the runners and the volunteers and the supporters that I do not know and the lives that were lost and the lives that are forever changed.

When I was running A LOT and running marathons, Boston was a goal. A goal that in all reality was probably not reachable. Boston is a runner’s dream, it is the holy grail of marathons for many – runners work SO hard and train SO hard to be part of this race. They voice their opinions when the race sells out insanely fast and when they change the qualifications and make it harder to get in.  But all that is just so small and inconsequential right now. I HATE that finishes were overshadowed by tragedy. I HATE that many runners who trained long and hard had today stolen from them.  Today was supposed to be a day full of joy and pride and personal victories. Not this. As a past marathoner I can say with my whole heart: A marathon is a place for unity and perseverance. Not this. But I can tell you that it will unify us & we will persevere.

Just watching the running community checking in on each other makes me remember that though we may not know each other personally and we refer to each other by our blog names & twitter names until we meet in person at expos and pasta parties we are one big running family. It has been inspiring today amidst the heartbreak and shock and sadness to watch and read the compassion and thoughtfulness just pour our out. We are a family. We care about each other. We just want to know that we are all okay.

We run marathons to test the strength of the human body. What happens after today will show the strength of human will.

three things thursday

i enjoyed doing this last week, so i thought i would bring it back. :) i am absolutely exhausted.

1) this week i was in hazleton, pennsylvania on a sales call with a prospect. it was a great experience. i was with a vp and a svp and got to impress. but, i also realized that i need to read the wall street journal or something! our company’s svp is full of all sorts of fun trivia and facts. on monday he mentioned margaret thatcher dying. and i nodded my head saying that i had heard and almost followed it up with saying, “yeah and lily pulitzer died as well” ... um. hi. margaret and lily ... you cannot even compare the two. and i almost commented that Bethenny’s {from Bethenny Ever After} soon to be ex-husband is from Hazleton and that one of the Teen Mom’s is from the Lehigh Valley area. thank goodness i actually filtered myself.

::: random tangent ::: when on our way to hazleton from philly we totally drove by an amish house and i saw an amish lady in her farm picking veggies or something. now i just need to see a gypsy! =D

2) someone commented on my “happy homeownership” post about how they hope i am paying my mortgage since my standards are so high because of pinterest. or something along those lines – but there was for sure a comment about paying my mortgage. i wanted to respond, but i just deleted it. but for real: how is that any of their business?! and for the record, we are paying our mortgage thank you very much.

3) and this house will be the death of me. #moneypit hash tag, hash tag. we just got a new roof – thanks USAA. And now our AC went out and we’re faced with having to replace our HVAC units. We can officially kiss all our savings accounts and CDs and Bonds goodbye. I keep having to remind myself WHY we bought this house and that we love this house and it is a house we can raise our family in. But it is so hard to not be frustrated.  I never imagined that we would be draining all my savings accounts in 4 short months.

needless to say – tomorrow is Friday and I am looking forward to the weekend. Even though it will be full of HVAC people coming out and giving us quotes {since the one we got today was $12,000} on our repairs. But hey, it will be the weekend.

three things thursday {+1}

I have not done this fun little thing in awhile so why the heck not. plus, i don’t have a lot to say... but i feel like there are things going on in my {our} world. This is nothing exciting, but we got a new roof {whoop whoop, thanks USAA} and it is a beauty. However, the shutters don’t 100% match and Kyle now wants to get the shutters painted, but that has been tabled.  Our bank accounts need a breather.

{one}
I HAVE STARTED RUNNING AGAIN . THIS IS HUGE . SERIOUSLY
and it is getting easier and easier by the day. :) It was on my “new years goals” to become a runner again and it has taken a few months, but i am getting back into it. I even signed up for a 10k {that is far enough out that I can prep for it}. Now I just gotta find a handful of 5k races to run as prep.  I had forgotten how therapeutic it is to just run. ....if only I could figure out why my feet are falling asleep & if I could get over the calf pains.

current favorite running jams to add to your playlist:
1. Run This Town/Posthumus Mix – Jay-Z, Rihanna, & ES Posthumus
2. I Need Your Love – Ellie Goulding + Calvin Harris
3. I’m All Yours – Jay Sean + Pitbull

{two}
One of my “things to do before I am 30” is to spend a full month and not buy myself anything. Well. This month is the month. Is is partially because I have over indulged on ME and I need to get my checking out back to a comfortable level and another partially because I want to see if I can do it. And let me tell you.... it is HARD when you’re constantly getting emails from stores about free shipping & 50% off everything till 2:00 PM and so on and so forth. This is going to be a true test of willpower. I said no lunches either – but I broke down and had lunch with the girls from the office today. I just won’t make it a weekly habit. :)

{three}
Mulligan and Kennesaw’s food has been recalled {gasp} so when I went to get dog food from PetsMart today I had no idea what to do. I guess I assumed the bad food had been pulled & new good food would be stocked. Yeah. That is NOT how a recall works. Evidently, it will be months before Innova is on the  shelves again. So, I had no idea what to do – I couldn’t just buy anything and I couldn’t trust the PetsMart employees.  Kyle and I are crazy – WE have to research their food and make the decision what we’re going to feed them. Therefore, the only logical thing to do was to come back home with dog toys and treats.

{four}
work for me is starting to slow down and go back to a normal pace. I am off to Hazleton, PA next week for a sales meeting {and I am a little nervous} to hopefully gain the 2nd location of the onsite that I implemented in Birmingham.  I am having a little bit of turnover on the team that I manage, but when in the past I would be panicking this time i feel like it is a good thing {more on this later} and am excited for the changes that I am about to make. I have a new boss. Which I am good with & excited about. I am reporting into someone who I admire and respect and know that I can and will learn a lot from. Not that I didn’t admire, respect, or learn from my past boss – he was awesome too – i just think that me reporting into this other person is just better for my career development. And. I am also now the new and first ever corporate recruiter for my company. Which also is okay. And fingers crossed, I may have my 1st official placement as a corporate recruiter. {the headhunter bonuses are an added plus}

.our 1st anniversary weekend.

{i meant to post this at some point last week... but i never actually hit publish...}

i know that all 1st anniversary posts are about to be how wonderful the 1st year of marriage was and how I married my other half and the person who makes me want to be a better person and how we are just so so happy – but that isn’t me. Kyle and I aren’t the mushy gushy couple. Yes. We had a wonderful last year of marriage and it was easy. i attribute the ease of it all not to the fact that we lived together for 4 years before marriage but because we talk – we hash things out, we tell each how it is, we’re open and honest and don’t hold anything back. Plus it doesn’t have to be perfect, nothing ever is – the people who think marriage has to be perfect are the ones who are doomed. In my world, it is the foundation that needs to be good.

I am excited for another year and then another year after that. and after that. and after that.

But we really did have a great anniversary weekend. It was simple and low key. We didn’t make a big deal over it.  We just spent time together – something that we agreed, we don’t do enough of. 

Friday I took a mental health day and Kyle told me to scratch the agenda – he had some stuff planned for the weekend, but that I had to be showered and ready to go by 3:00. Which immediately made my mind wonder what he was up to since we both agreed nothing big and no presents because we wanted to put the money we would spend on a gift towards our trip to the Dominican Republic {whenever that trip may happen}. 

I woke up Saturday morning and went to my 1st ever Zumba class {on my list of 30 things to do before I am 30} and learned that I was a REALLY white girl with zero moves and legit almost sprained my ankle. Not quite sure if I will go back or not.  I spent the rest of the morning & early afternoon bumming around and asked Kyle how I should dress for my surprise. He said, “wear what you would wear to Outback and something you would want your picture taken in.” ..... WHAT?! .....

Well. after getting ready and then driving all over creation, Kyle asked me to open his glove compartment and take out the pieces of paper and to look at them. Kyle was taking me to Medieval Times for dinner. A place we both love {me more than Kyle} and where we got engaged. {you can read the engagement story HERE}.  Kyle splurged and upgraded us to the “Royalty Package” and we got front row action.  We spent a lot of time making up life stories of the people who work there {the man who plays the king, his wife is a corporate lawyer. The green knight, he is the president of the drama club} since that is what was always do. And the best part ... our knight FINALLY won!! I was cheering so hard that I broke the banner that we got as part of the Royalty Package. And Kyle even bought the picture of us with the King, because “it was a special occasion”. Kyle really did well for the surprise dinner {mushy alert}, he never ceases to amaze me. It is the little things that make me realize how great he really is.

Sunday we got up and went to see Oz and then just hung around the house. And then went out to dinner. And again, Kyle’s romantic side that never ceases to amaze me. But he had dinner reservations at the same time our wedding reception started – when we were really truly married. The real 365 days later.  We had a GREAT dinner and stuffed ourselves on desert and then went home to try and find room for cake and champagne. Needless to say – our wedding cake wasn’t bad. but it also was not good. but you have to eat the top {or part of it} out of tradition.

All together the weekend was simple and low key – just the way we like things!! =D

How are you spending your Friday?!

...I am taking a much needed metal health day. =D  So far, I have slept in till a whopping 8:30 AM and then went to spin class at LA Fitness ... which by.the.way I am a spoiled spinner thanks to FlyWheel Atlanta. I suffered through a lackluster instructor and boring music. Thanks FlyWheel – now I think I am spoiled rotten when it comes to spin classes.

Now, I am hanging out on the couch catching up on my DVR – mainly Duck Dynasty – with the little {errrr big} dogs running around.

Next on the agenda: a massage.  I wanted to do FULL spa day.... 2 hour long massage/facial/body scrub combo, but we procrastinated and evidently you can’t book all that much like 24 hours before hand.

Yeah. I am totally spoiling myself, but work has been a little overwhelming lately and I may have had stress overload breakdown on Monday.  So our VP of Payroll {and my Office Mom} demanded that I take today off and so far it has been grand.  I did sit on a conference call that was an update on the site i implemented in Birmingham. But other than that I am 100% ignoring my emails.

And. on another random note. if you attended my wedding last year, be grateful it was last year. This weekend is going to be COLD and MISERABLE and we all know that all I wanted was an outdoor wedding!!

throwback thursday

....this weekend Kyle and I are going to be celebrating our 1 year wedding anniversary. And, I wanted to hop on board with this throwback thursday trend and share this picture:

I posted this picture on FaceBook the summer of 2006 – before i even graduated college. When Kyle and I were just friends.  And the caption on the picture “check out ernie cheesin... and of course my future husband and i look so fabulous”

Yup. the summer of 2006 kyle was calling me his “future wife” and I was calling him my “future husband” ... and we were just summer friends back then, waiting tables at Logan’s Roadhouse.

Crazy Huh?!

...

You all are no fun! No one even tried to guess who took that lovely picture of my husband and me.

Well. I shall tell you. A ROOFER! weeeeee,  And do you want to know why, because our home inspector was HORRENDUS and we have to get a new roof. {he said 3-5 years till it needed to be replaced, try 3-5 months mister} And fix wood rot. And a drip pan. And the siding where the previous owner’s past patch job was shoddy.

Granted. We will fix the roof + the wood rot 1st and then go from there. But seriously, can we catch a break!

...And this is the moment where I thank my parents for taking money from me when living at home since we will be cashing out savings accounts should USAA not cover the replacement.