Happy Mail Day!

I don’t get a lot of mail or packages, so when I do get something fun in the mail it kinda makes my day. So imagine how happy I was when I came home to not one but TWO packages sitting by my front door. Woo hoo!

The big box included two AMAZING glasses from a crafty friend of mine. I’d seen another friend post a picture of them on Instagram and commented that I needed one. The friend who sent them to me responded with “I might know where you could get one…” and then two showed up on my doorstep today. I have some awesome friends

The second box was from Klout. A friend had me sign up awhile back (cause you can “get free stuff”) but it wasn’t until recently that I linked things to it (my blog/twitter/instagram/FB/etc). And it didn’t take more than a month or so for my Klout to go up and to get offered a perk. My first perk was a box of fair trade organic products.

The box was filled with all sorts of goodies… tea, coffee, two chocolate bars, cake mix, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and lip balm. I was QUITE impressed with how much came in the box. And I was even more impressed with how well it was packed. Believe me when I tell  you that there was no way in heck I was going to get all those goodies back in the box the way they came.

I can’t wait to try out all these fun products. I promise to post about it when I do. I think I now have an excuse (like I really need one) to make cupcakes this week

This one time, I went on a date

Yes, it is true, I went on a date 2 weeks ago.

I met him on an online dating site, we emailed and texted for 2 weeks straight, then had an AMAZING 6 hour first date. It was awesome! He went to college, had a good job, owned a home, had no ex-wife and no kids. He seemed like a dream come true. Until the night before what should have been our second date. When a close friend of mine, who had joined the same dating site earlier that week, told me that he had messaged her on the site. She told him that we were friends and she had no interest in pursuing anything with him… he told her he was still interested in pursuing her. She told him again that we were friends and she had no interest, but he wouldn’t let it go. She finally blocked him. Um, what?!

I know we had been on only one date but it went really well and I’d heard from him EVERY DAY since that date. I was so confused. I really thought we had hit it off. Maybe it is just because I wouldn’t be trying to get multiple guys to go out with me at the same time. I just don’t function that way. I finally called him on it later that night and his response? “Ok, no worries. I wasn’t really into it anyway… obviously.” If I could have thrown something at him I would have. Wasn’t really into it anyway? Geesh.

I was just SO confused. Everything seemed to have gone so well. Everything seemed to be GOING so well. I guess that is what I get for thinking I’d finally found a great guy. All of my friends said it wasn’t be that he was just a douchebag. I believe that now, but it was still hard to talk. My brain automatically goes to thoughts of “What is wrong with me?”  and “What did I miss?” I was glad to hear that they were all just as confused as I was. That he was doing and saying all the things that WOULD lead me to believe that things were on the right track. Douchebag.

So here we go again right? I thought about just saying F it and deleting my profile, but I didn’t. I’ve sent some messages – some I have gotten responses to, but most I haven’t. I’ve gotten some messages too – but they are all kinda hit or miss. It is AMAZING the crap that people can pull on these dating sites. It is a very weird adventure, that is for sure.

But I am NOT going to give up. I am going to a get together this afternoon and I even said to my friend that is hosting “Can you please invite some cute, employed, non-douchebag single guys?” She told her husband and I guess he may have had someone in mind. I am not going to hold my breath, that’s for sure… but I will wear this super cute dress I bought last weekend just in case. You never know

OH, I almost forgot. Yesterday my bestie was out selling her cupcakes at an event at a comic book store (it was National Free Comicbook day or something). She had texted me about this really cute guy in some generals costume. Um, ok. Then she calls me a little later. I knew she had plans RIGHT after the event, so I was worried that something was wrong. She started the conversation with “So don’t be mad at me but…” Oh goodness. I guess she got to talking with said boy in the general costume and he was really nice and “even cuter in normal clothes.” So she gave him my email address! She gave my contact information to a gentleman that lives 2 hours away from me and dresses up as comic book characters for fun. Head. Desk. Smack. She really is lucky that I love her so much. I know she would only do that if she thought he really had potential, so I’ll let it slide this time. I haven’t gotten an email from him and I’m fairly certain I won’t. But it was nice that she was looking out for me. Even if she was trying to hook me up with a comic book nerd. I mean, I have never dated a comic book nerd before… so maybe that is the problem. Tee hee. We shall see.

So far, but so close

Mondays are usually pretty busy here at work, but yesterday was exceptionally busy. I was sitting in a meeting yesterday morning when I heard my phone keep buzzing because I was getting text messages. Then my office phone rang and it was a call from my dad. What in the world was going on?? When I was finally able to look at my phone I saw the first text from my mom “U there? Bomb at Boston marathon.” WHAT?!

I spent the next few minutes trying to close up my facility and get to another meeting, all while talking to my mom on the phone. I hadn’t been near my computer since before the bombs went off so she started filling me in. 2 bombs. At least 2 people dead. No one knows what is going on. I couldn’t believe it. As a runner my heart just couldn’t believe what had happened. Why would someone do this?

After my meeting I had dinner plans with a friend, a fellow runner. When I got to her house I asked her if she had heard what happened. When I told her so couldn’t believe it. We went right to the tv and turned it on. We sat there for another the next 45 minutes just staring at the tv. Watching the same few images over and over. Why would someone do this?

When I finally got home around 8 pm I immediately sat down and fired up my laptop. I cried, actually I bawled, as I looked at the images from the minutes and hours that followed the explosions. I smiled and cried as I read stories of emergency workers and strangers that helped in any way they could. I started sending messages to friends who knew people running the race to make sure everyone was accounted for. There wasn’t much I could do, but I was doing what I could.

This morning I got up and put on my Brooks Run Happy shirt. It wasn’t exactly appropriate work attire, but I just didn’t care. I also packed up my running clothes and shoes so that I could go for a run after work. I was going to run regardless because today they are people who can no longer run. There wasn’t much I could do, but I was doing what I could.

I’ve spent the morning ready articles and blog posts about the race and the bombings. So many accounts are positive stories about runners banding together, spectators and neighbors offering support, and emergency personnel doing an amazing job. The running community is amazing on a regular day and yesterday they showed just how amazing they can be.

I know that this won’t keep races from happening, but I know it will prompt a lot of changes in the racing world. I personally won’t stop signing up for races and I won’t skip any of the ones that I’ve all ready signed up for. I’m going to keep lacing up my running shoes and keep moving forward. It is what I should do and what I will do.

So I needed some pillows

I’ve been needing some orange pillows for the black and white futon that I have in my craft room (aka The Craft Cave). Well last weekend when I went to see my bestie she gave me these two orange flowered pillowcases that she picked up at the thrift store. She bought them for me to make aprons from, but I thought that they would also make GREAT pillows for the futon. The pillowcases were that big king sized ones so I knew I would be able to get a couple of projects out of them. I also had some orange jersey fabric at home and decided these would work together perfect, so I when I got home I got to work.

With the pillowcase I just cut the case to fit to the size I wanted and had to only sew up one side. For the insides I took apart two accent pillows that I saved from my old bedroom set. Unfortunately there were not pillow forms inside the pillows, just loose stuffing. It wasn’t really a big deal it just wasn’t what I was expecting to find. I refluffed all the stuffing, stuffed my new pillow, and sewed the opening shut. I was quite happy with the final product and excited to start on the second pillow.

I had SO many problems with the orange fabric I had because it was stretchy. After about 30 minutes of fighting with my sewing machine I gave up for the evening. I decided that I would stop at the fabric store and just pick up a “fat quarter” of an orange fabric that would match and go with that. I found something I loved within a few minutes of walking into the store and left with a big smile on my face.

It took me until Saturday night, but I finally sat down and made the second pillow. It took no time at all before I had two beautiful pillows for the futon. I was quite happy with how they both turned out and looked on the futon.

One of the things I loved most about this project is that it was almost entirely recycled materials. I reused pillowcases from a thrift store and the stuffing from two pillows that I didn’t use anymore. Also, the only thing I had to buy for this project was the fabric for the second pillow (which only cost me $2.65). Hooray for cheap, easy, and eco-friendly pillows!

FitFluential March DietBet

Thanks to Meghan (yup, ANOTHER Meghan blogger) over at Little Girl in the Big World, my friends and I have decided to participate in the FitFluential March DietBet. What is a DietBet you ask? Well, as Meghan so nicely put it:

“The whole concept is that you buy into the bet with a certain amount of money, you take a weigh in picture with a code word that is verified on the first day of the bet to prove that it’s you, and then your money goes into the pot. When the game is over, you take another picture of you and the scale, and if you’ve lost 4% of your body weight, then you win part of the pool. Only the people who actually hit their 4% split the pool, so you end up earning money!”

 

 

 

Sounds like good motivation to me! I’ve been holding steady at around 6 pounds above my goal/lowest weight for about 2 months now. I REALLY want to get rid of those last 6 pounds. And wouldn’t ya know, 4% for me is 6 pounds! Score!

I’ve always been one of those people that is better at sticking to something when I have someone, or something, to hold me accountable. Now I have the Diet Bet AND my friends to do so. With the 1/2 Marathon coming up in July I’ve started my training probably with Team Challenge so I will be getting back into my running. And if I get back to watching what I eat a little bit better I think I can totally pull this off.

Once I do my weigh in pictures on Sunday or Monday I will post them here as well. I’m not going to hide behind my computer screen on this one. It is going to be all out there. I will probably post pictures and such on Instagram as well. Nothing like pics of your jiggly booty on the internet to keep yourself motivated!

Anyone want to play along? You can join our game at http://bit.ly/YYaDBm

Zoo Zoom 5k

A couple of weeks ago the bestie and I were talking about how we wanted to hit up the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. They had a few baby animals that we wanted to check out. While I was looking around the zoo website I found out that there was a fun run 5k coming up and admission to the zoo was included in your registration. I mentioned it to Laura and by that afternoon I signed up for the race. The plan was for me to do the race in the morning, shower & change, grab some lunch, and then head back to the zoo. When I talked to the special events person at the zoo I found out that if I kept my wristband on after the race that would get me back into the zoo later, but that there would also be another free ticket in my goodie bag – SCORE! So three of us went to the zoo, but we only had to pay to get one person in.

This was the first real “fun run” that I had done. There were no timing chips (in fact the only “clock” was at the finish line, you just picked your race bib out of a stack at the check in table, and there were less than 500 participants.

I was honestly worried about being one of the last people to finish with such a smaller group of runners, but since it was a fun run there were plenty of people behind me. The first mile was around some areas surrounding the zoo, and then for the second mile we headed into the zoo. It was pretty neat running through the zoo before it was open. Some of the pathways were a little smaller and had some crazy turns, but it really made the mile fly by. I didn’t get to see a lot of animals but I enjoyed the ones I did get to see.

The last mile took us down by the river and then we back tracked a portion of the first mile to take us back to the entrance of the zoo and the finish line. I knew that I had maintained around a 10:30 min mile for the first two miles, but I knew that I had slowed down for the last mile. I hadn’t checked my time and just focused on keeping up the pace and finishing the race. Since the race wasn’t chipped, I had to go with what my Nike+ Running app told me when I crossed the finish line. I hit stop on the app and was shocked when it told me I finished in 33:19 – a full 2 minutes and 3 seconds faster than my previous 5k PR! I couldn’t believe it! Of course it happens during a race that wasn’t officially timed, but I didn’t care. I improved my 5k time by 2+ minutes in the last 5 weeks. It was awesome! I really enjoyed the race and would totally do it again!

The rest of my day included hitting up a couple of thrift shops, lunch at my favorite sub shop (Subport), and then heading back to the zoo with the bestie & husband for the afternoon. We even stopped and got HUGE strawberry shortcake sundaes on the way home. I was so full that I just skipped dinner all together. Now that I’m back home I’m enjoying some time on the couch with the pup. It is a little cold here tonight so we are keeping each other warm. Now if only I didn’t have to go upstairs to go to sleep… oh well.

Team Challenge

Last summer while I was working I was introduced to Team Challenge.

Team Challenge is the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America’s endurance training and fundraising program. With Team Challenge, you’ll find new strength inside yourself, and help find cures for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, two painful, seldom-discussed and debilitating digestive diseases. With our Half Marathon and Triathlon Training Programs, you’ll train for a rewarding and exciting endurance event at one of our great destination races while raising vital funds for research into these diseases. These dollars will help make new treatments possible and fuel the search for cures. 

I was very interested in their program, but it just wouldn’t work out for me that season. I added myself to their mailing list and moved on. In retrospect it is a REALLY good thing I didn’t join the team because right after that I hurt my back and wouldn’t have been able to run the race they were doing in December.

At the beginning of this year I started getting emails and mail about this year’s upcoming season. I RSVP’d for an information meeting in January and forgot about it until a couple days before. I wasn’t going to go and my bestie talked me into it. “Worst case you can have a glass of wine and go home” she told me. Okay, fine. One of the races they were participating in this year was the Napa to Sonoma Wine Country 1/2 Marathon. As soon as I checked out the event website I was in love. And I knew that they only way I was ever going to be able to do this race was with Team Challenge.

I went into the meeting fairly hopeful about the whole thing. I knew I would need to raise a lot of money, but I also knew someone with Crohn’s and someone that works for a Gastroenterologist… so I had that extra motivation. As soon as I sat down I met a couple other “potential teammates,” both of the coaches, a mentor, and this season’s honoree.

One by one the coaches and mentors got up and spoke about the program and their experiences. As the night went on it was just reaffirming the decision that I had made on my way to the meeting – I was going to do this. Then Denise, this season’s honoree, got up and spoke. She was the final straw. Here was this amazing, strong woman with Crohn’s that had been through so much and given up so much all ready in her short life (she is around my age). Even with all this going on, she joined Team Challenge 2 years ago and participated in a half marathon in Las Vegas. By the time she was done she was in tears and so were the rest of us.

Before they were even done with the presentation I was filling out my paperwork and getting ready to hand it in. I was GOING to do this. I was going to raise this money, support this cause, and run through the amazing Napa Valley.

Over the next 4.5 months I need to raise a total of $4,500 for Team Challenge. Over 80% of this money will go to the foundation to help find a cure for Crohn’s and Colitis. I know that raising this money isn’t going to be an easy task, but I’m up for it. I just have to convince 45 people to donate $100. Or 90 people to donate $50. That is nothing right?

So if you want to be one of those people to donate $50 or $100 (or even $2, I’m not picky) please visit my fundraising webpage: http://www.active.com/donate/napaCFL13/CFLMRoth

Anyone who donates because of this blog post, I will do a special blog post at the end of the season with links to their blogs. We can all use a little extra bloggy love right? So please consider supporting me and Team Challenge this year.