Leaving on a jet plane......

So tomorrow I will be heading to New Hampshire with  the boyfriend and boyfriend's dad for a wedding!! I'm so excited I can't stand myself right now.  My boyfriend is pretty much awesome and his dad is just as awesome, so it is going to be so much FUN!! 

So I finally found the right shoes and the perfect jewelry for my dress:

The dress

Disregard Brian's Loud mouth golf pants in the background, he actually asked if he can wear loud mouth pants and jackets in our "wedding"

The Shoes:

Now disregard my messy desk, yes I wore them to work today. I had to give them a test run before Sat. Just to let you know, they are too big and I keep walking out of them! Epic fail!!

The bracelet:

Disregard the post-it notes, again at work! I completely love this bracelet and I'm not a pearl wearing kinda girl!!

The earrings:

I'm super excited about my outfit, I'm going to tower over Brian though. I wasn't looking forward to that big of a heel, but let's face it, they are going to look great with the dress!

 

Some things I'm looking forward to about this trip:

 

~ A NO kid weekend, Mama needs a break

~ Hanging out with Brian and his family, they pretty much ROCK!!

~ Lots and LOTS of seafood! And good fresh seafood. Bring on the crab legs

~ Getting all dressed up

~ Flying on the plane, even though Brian is scared to death. He hates to fly, but I told him I would protect him. By protect him, I mean give him lots of alcohol.

~ Staying in a hotel room, I get room service and a maid there!!

~ The amazing Fall weather

 

Hopefully I remember to pack the camera and don't forget anything!!! I'm new to the blogging world and have to remember to start taking pictures.  

 

HAPPY THURSDAY!!!

So What Wednesday

Today I'm linking up with "Life After I Dew" for some So What Wednesday!!

This week I'm saying So What if.....

• I ate Chipotle on Mon with double meat, extra sour cream, a whole bag of chips and guac for lunch and then turned around and ate 1/2 a frozen pizza and cookies n' cream ice cream for dinner.

• If I lie on my MyFitnessPal to make me feel bettter.  If that burrito isn't on there, I didn't eat it...RIGHT?

• If I drank a 24 oz Miller Lite on Sun before my 3 mile run...At least I still ran!!

• If I waited so long to do laundry that I did 8 loads in one night...Hello Friday night fun.

• If some nights I would rather drink my dinner then eat it...Sometimes this mama needs to unwind a little.

• If I canceled Kadyns follow-up apt this week b/c I just don't have the time to take her, plus I don't want to pay a $20 co-pay just for them to tell me she is perfectly fine.  She can go next week.

• If I'm already trying to figure out a way to watch the Buckeyes play Saturday during the wedding/reception. Everybody knows you have to plan your wedding around Buckeye football. After all that's why they have bi-weeks!!

• If I still do not have shoes or jewelry to wear Saturday. 

What are you saying So What to this week?

Makes You Think

So every Tuesday I go to my 91 year old Great-Grandma's for lunch, you know to check in on her and make sure she is doing good and staying out of trouble.  Grandma is a firecracker at 91 years old. You will probably see more posts about her, she is so much fun!!

A little background

****

For the past few weeks I have been doing some serious "spring cleaning" and going through my entire house and getting rid of everything that I have packed away because I'm a pack rat. Well my boyfriend is just the opposite and since there is discussion about moving in here really soon, we have two full houses to combine in one.  So I have been doing some serious down sizing and getting rid of a lot. Now, I donate what can be donated and I throw away all the broken, not so good stuff.  So since my Grandma has a huge dumpster and I go down for lunch every Tuesday anyways, I load up my trunk with the stuff I'm throwing away and take down to her house on Tuesday's. 

So today at lunch, I arrive at Grandma's, I unload my trunk in the dumpster and I go in and have lunch with Grandma.  Usually BLT's and a Pepsi, she knows I love bacon and always cooks a pound of bacon on Tuesday's for me. The funny thing about that is, I don't drink pop ever and I really don't like Pepsi.  For some reason she thinks I love Pepsi and always buys it just for me.  I don't have the heart to tell her I would rather drink water, so I drink one pop a week.  Bless her heart! 

As I'm leaving, I hear somebody talking out by the dumpster, where my car is at.  Now Grandma lives in a terrible neighborhood, so I immediately go into defense mode and I'm walking quickly to my car, hit the unlock button once so it only unlocks my door, and hop in and lock the door quickly.  As I'm backing out, I see this old man looking through the trash and he says something to me.  I roll my window down, and he goes I promise I won't make a mess I'm just looking through the stuff.  My heart broke, I immediately felt terrible, and started to cry.  I wish I had cash right then and there to give him some money. I wanted to drive straight to the nearest ATM and grab cash out. He was so sweet and the look on his face really got to me.  I looked at him and told him don't you worry and you can have anything you want out of there. Part of me wanted to tell him I will be bringing stuff again next week.  If I knew I would see him again I would pack a trash bag full of some food and blankets and towels or anything else I think he could use.

So I teared up the whole way back to work and started to think. I complain, and I complain a lot about not having money. Not being able to buy the things I want or give Kadyn everything she wants. I complain that I have a college degree and I make less then people with no degrees. I complain about the bills I have and living paycheck to paycheck and some months not having an extra $3.00 to buy an ice cream cone for Kadyn until I get paid again. But the bottom line is, I have a car, a house, a bed to sleep in, clothes on my back, food to eat, blankets to cover up with, Kadyn has everything she needs and then some.  I may not be able to take a vacation every year like I would like to, or go out and buy a new outfit just because, or go out to dinner more then one night every few months. But I have a lot and today I have never been more grateful for what I do have. 

I just couldn't imagine being so desperate that I would have to dig through a dumpster in an alley. It really broke my heart seeing him and the fact that he was worried about making a mess. I felt bad for throwing stuff away. Be thankful for what you have!!

Favorite Time of Year!!

So last night I pulled out my Autumn Harvest candle and I was in heaven. I absolutely LOVE this time of year and the smells that come along with it.  The leaves are starting to change, the cooler weather. It's a jeans, hoody, flip flops kind of weather.  It's football season!! And great running weather, if it would stop raining!! I just realized that this weekend is October already, not sure where the Summer went or August and September for that matter.  BUT October is the best month out of the year, after all I was born then :)

But what's not to love about this time of year, just look at that face and the beautiful leaves:

Or how about this one:

I know, cute right!! Don't let those looks fool you, she isn't that innocent.  Besides the weather how about the Fall foods! This weekend Brian made a big pot of chili, I ate it for lunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday! Brian even ate it for breakfast, GROSS! There's nothing better then some chili, Sam Adam's Octoberfest, and football.  Got to see my Buckeyes and Steelers both pull out wins this weekend!! To top it off, Brian and I started a fire out back and got to just chill and talk. Those are my favorite nights!

But let's not forget about HALLOWEEN!! Just look at the cutest puppy ever:

And the pumpkin pickin:

I'm ready for Fall!!  Hair is dark, might be a little too dark but it will fade.

Packed my UGGS for this weekend in New Hampshire! What's not to love. I'm feeling very blessed this Fall and I have a feeling it might be the best Fall ever!!

HAPPY FALL!!!

Why I Run?!?!?!

So people always ask me, why I run? If you would have asked me to run from my couch to my mail box about a year ago I would've complained every second. I use to HATE running. Come on I was a volleyball player for a reason, the most I had to run was 60 feet and that's only when somebody had a terrible pass. Well I'm getting older, I'm a single mom, I work full time which means I do not have the time to put into a good workout.  Let's face it, I'm terrible at diets. I use MyFitnessPal and find myself lying on it so I don't have to count for that 2000 calorie lunch I just ate from Chipotle. If it isn't added to MyFitnessPal, then I didn't eat it, RIGHT? So that defeats even trying to keep track of what I'm eating.

My number one reason for running is the way it makes me feel. It pretty much sucks when I start and usually sucks all the way through, but as soon as I'm done and I sit down to stretch, AMAZING!! Every once in awhile you have those runs that you don't need the iPod or you have no idea what songs even played on your iPod, your in the zone and it's a great run. Those are always worth it!! I also realized, I like food, I like it a lot, I LOVE beer and I LOVE it a lot so if I'm going to be able to eat and drink what I love I better be doing some exercising. What I have realized is you get so much out of running.  It doesn't take long and you and you get quick results.

Now let's move on to the mental aspect of it. Let's face it, if I didn't get to run somebody would probably have to commit me into a mental institute. Like I said, SINGLE MOM!! The way I see it, when I'm out for a run I have ME time.  That's time where I don't hear; Mommy can you get me this, Mommy can you wipe my butt, Mommy can you turn the TV on, Mommy can I have a snack, Mommy can we go outside, Mommy can you be my slave and do everything for me. I come back from a run and I'm no longer stressed, I'm no longer worried about work, money, the argument I just had with a 4 year old or how I stooped to her level and argued back like I was 4 again. I'm a brand new ME, I'm a better mom for it.

My 2 main reasons for running: staying in shape and my SANITY!! I'm lucky to have such an amazing boyfriend who supports my desire to run and is willing to watch Kadyn so I can get my runs in as much as possible.  I think he does it because he knows I would go insane if I didn't.  Happy me = Happy boyfriend :) :)

Another added bonus, is the sense of accomplishment you have. Finish line here I come!!

~Oh Monday Morning~

So yesterday I debated no running or drinking a beer, I mean after all I did watch three kids all day while the boyfriend golfed.  The kids decided yesterday that every little thing out of their little mouths was going to be an argument, that is until I threatened to make them sit on the couch and hold hands all day until they could learn to be nice to each other.  So to your surprise, I decided to opt for the beer.  After drinking that beer I started feeling guilty because I really needed to get in another run after Saturday's sorry excuse for a run. The boyfriend gets home from golfing and I said peace out, I'm going for a run.

Not such a good idea after drinking a beer.  I began to think I was a pro runner and looked down at my Garmin and I was running a 7.30. Now to some of you that's nothing, but to me I'm use to running somewhere around a 10 depending on the day. Needless to say I only ran 3 miles and had to stop and walk half way through. SLACKER!! But I did finish out strong, and I'm feeling it today!

NOTE TO SELF: Do not run after drinking a 24 oz beer!!

I did feel better after my run, and glad I went for one.  I'm thinking today will be Yoga day.  I can't afford to take a day off from working out, I have a tight black dress to fit into on Saturday!!

Brian and I have a weekend away from the kids. BOSTON HERE WE COME!!!!

Back at it!!

So I ran my first 1/2 Marathon in May.  I only trained for 12 weeks prior to the race, no big deal right! It's easy to train for a 1/2 in 12 weeks, the problem was I didn't run any further then 7 miles and I didn't run at all 3 weeks prior to the race, the whole single mom and life got in the way of my training.  So needless to say I set out to finish in under 2 hours, well that did not happen.  So half way through the race my goal was to just finish! Well goal accomplished!! Some things I learned from the race; I'm not good at drinking out of cups while running, I had to stop and go to the bathroom 3 times, and finally I was not prepared for it at all.  So I used that race as a learning experience and I couldn't wait to start training for my second 1/2 in Oct.  Well I decided to play volleyball this summer and the first game I injured my knee and was done running all summer.  So this past week I decided to start running again.  I set out to do 1-3 miles, after all I have been a lazy slob all summer long.  To my surprise, I banged out 4 miles and it felt great!!!  Anybody who is a runner knows, you have your good runs that feel amazing and then have those runs that you rather poke your eyes out with a pencil! So I set out yesterday for another run, I barely made 2.5 miles.  It was cold and my chest was burning. I'm hoping to get out there today and run again and hopefully push more then 2.5 miles. Wish me luck!!!