committed.

That's it. I did it. I tool the plunge.

I signed up for my first half marathon. 

In means of timing, I didn't follow the best timing. 

It's less than 4 weeks away. Even with my current training, fitness level and running log, I might fall behind my goal. Putting my expected finish time was a big realization of how fast my goals are versus the reality of my training. It made me think of my running past and how it has changed. 

A funny thing happened since I graduated college, stop competing at a high level in running and became a road racer, I started to care about running differently. Here I am, a college runner loving every minute of competing. Knowing that every race is an opportunity to beat those other women, proving my hard work is paying off.  I could earn all conference status (a title won but taken away by some coach who said his athlete's do what there expected to do, mind you), a academic all-American status or most valuable runner. Now I race a clock, my previous time or the random runner ahead of me. I don't think I care less, just differently. It's become more selfish, I don't have a team, teammates or a coach. I run because I want to beat myself. There is no college team to race or even all the same people from race to race. I miss that. I miss the consistency of knowing everyone around me was training for the same race, each with our own goals.  I miss being coached full time, now I listen to myself (and Jeff Daniels, sometimes). I miss the long runs spent reminiscing about the glory race or that awful workout. Signing up for a race made me think about all this. I signed up because I wanted to, selfishly trying to reach my own goal without anyone's help. It made me think of all the times that my team trained together, making sure that we could all help each other along the way.  Its hard to make a transition some times. I think it makes it harder when I think about all the things I miss, but it keeps running through my head. I am hoping this race will prove to me that doing it by myself, for myself, is the best reality.

I have been looking for more ways to stay organized lately. With the hassle of moving, putting away things and realizing that I don't have room for 50 pairs of shoes I learned that I need to stay on top of that organization thing. I cam across a great blog about crafty things for your home, and thought I would share the great organizational idea I came across.  I found it on Design Sponge, an all around crafty, inspirational website. They have lots of DIY blogs, products and design ideas. Here is the organizational baskets I am going to try and make! I am excited about the possibilities, you could do so many different colors, change them with the seasons or make any size. I am thinking these would be a great desk organization piece as well.

My sister-in-law is coming for the first time to our new home tonight. I can't wait to show here around Erie, give her the run down on all our activities and then take her to JR's Comedy Club. My husband and I are big fans of comedy, and the comedy club here in Erie is a great local business. Every time we go the comedians are great, the service is fast and friendly and the manager comes out to great everyone as they leave. It is really a well run establishment. We have taken all of our guest that come to visit there so far.
Looking forward to 5 o'clock!

Like most summers, wedding season is in full effect. A recent wedder myself, I can't express how excited I get about weddings. My husband will be a part of another wedding this weekend. He is the best man, and looking forward to sharing the day with his friends. It's such a beautiful day for the couple and their love. If I could have a dream job, I think it would be to plan weddings. The couples are always happy, the industry practically never goes away and there is always some new trend to keep up with. I secretly love looking at wedding sites, even as my perfect wedding is past, the fun of seeing the new colors or designs keeps me interested. I love the creativity that can be expressed through weddings. Perhaps some day, when my job dream comes true I can plan until my heart's desire is met. Until then, I keep the happiest day of my life in my memory.

Until the next post,
EAA

Oh Happy New Couching!

Wasting my time. That is what I must be doing not writing on this blog.
Actually I have been busy. And time flies when you love your life.
Most nights are relaxing, down time with my husband but recently we have been on a
home improvement kick.
You know when you get started thinking about an idea and then just like that you have
to make it come to life? That is how I operate. I get stuck on one home improvement
idea and need to get all the parts for the project, work on it and finish it in one day.
My husband and I started out thinking about what we could do with our unfinished
basement. There was already some wood paneled walls, a la the ‘70s, and concrete floor
but essentially a blank canvas. We ended up in the flooring section of Lowe’s, eying the
perfect floor solution, tiles. These sticky tiles are great for concrete floors and require
little tools or adhesive products. The tiles were boxed with adhesive backings that pulled
off before sticking to the floor. We hurriedly brought the tiles home, scarffed down a
quick dinner and then heading to our workspace. After staying up until 2 am, moving
a couch at 1:30 am and running a broom over the floor we had finished! The basement
looks great and its now a functioning space for my husband to work in. We added an
older couch, a few lamps, a desk and some stereo equipment to complete the space. Such
a small change made a big impact.
Our second big change came in the form of furniture. The first piece of furniture bought
by us a married couple, hopefully not the last piece. We found a bargain of a price on
a leather sectional, only problem now is the space it takes up in our living room.
There is also the problem of what to put on the walls. Oh gosh, this new couch is turning
out to be a pain! I have a rustic looking large clock, which I love, some pictures, which
are small and not really big enough to fill wall space. I am at a designing dead end. Urgh.
I hate when that happens. I usually try to do a little research via the internet but nothing
caught my eye. Any suggestions?

These are issues that matter.  Just kidding. But I glad that these are the problems I face in mu life.

Last weekend I was blessed to have another friend come to visit. One of my best girl friends came all the way from Michigan. We went over to Northeast and explored the vineyards and the wineries, I even found my new favorite wine at a local winery. Delicious! We got to head over to Presque Isle, ride bikes, run and be outside all day on Sunday. It was a great weekend. Luckily the weather was beautiful all weekend. It was great to see someone familiar and show them around our new town. Its fun to discover new places and be able to enjoy all that the outdoors has to offer. 

It was also great to spend some time with a girlfriend. I love my husband, but a girl will talk about celebrity gossip, fashion and girly thing! It was nice to share what is going on with another girl. I also loved hearing all about her life and what is going on.

Work is going well. We stay busy every week with our customers need products yesterday. Its demanding at points but that is what makes the days go by faster. Unfortunately I am a temp worker so my full hire status is still unsure. I am working hard to do everything I can extra, try to improve process and make sure I show how worthwhile I can be. Going in with a positive attitude is key some days, there are always time when people or things get you down. 

Alright more tv watching time!

another one.

Writing has been my foe this week.

Luckily I have an excuse! We had our first houseguest this week. My husband’s college roommate came for a visit, all the way from Traverse City! We were really excited that someone wanted to drive all that way just to visit, or at least I was. Evan, as I will call the roommate, is a wonderful friend. He is the type of person who seems quiet at first but being around him you realize he is just thinking about his words before they come out. That’s a rare ability to find some times. In today’s society the value of shouting your opinion at the top of your lungs, saying whatever you damn well please whenever you  want, is support by loud media headlines and celebrity outrage. I enjoy his company, his slow methodical thinking and funny conversations. He is quite funny, giving us a joke or short story that makes us laugh. When you are around Evan, he makes you feel comfortable with his kindness of words, very rarely have I ever heard him swear at something, make fun of someone or raise his voice for his own opinion. He is the man who draws people in to friendship not because he is loud about his difference, but rather because of his quiet confidence. I admire his ability to think before he speaks, I wish I could emanate it all the time. I tend to mindlessly jibber jabber about the irrelevant things in life, leaving me feeling like I’ve wasted my words. It might be more of a slow down issue though…

I have been thinking a lot about going back to school for my masters degree. I am cautious though, in such an economy, with the job market difficult enough, does it make sense to increase my value? If I go back to school, spending more money and time on my skills, will that really payoff in the long run? Are companies going to be looking for a masters degree holding sales person? I am not even sure what kind of business I want to be in. Working in manufacturing right now certainly suits what I like to do, but will it be challenging enough? Can an additional degree allow me to move into positions where I can be challenged? I really like the idea of going back to school. I like reading and studying, I even miss it some times. I would be taking a lot of time out of my evenings, but I know enjoying what I am learning will overcome any extra time spent buried in books. I am nervous, it's a big step. And could be an ever bigger opportunity.

At the present, my husband is enrolled in a Doctoral program for Osteopathic Doctors. He is really enjoying his first week but there is a lot of work. even the first day he had several chapters of reading to complete. Its hard to leave him alone all night, just letting him read. Some how being a newlywed and then changing your lifestyle seems difficult to me. It must be the change, going from spending every second outside of work with my husband to now getting a good talk in at dinner and then again right before we fall asleep. I am so happy that he is pursuing his career in the medical field but I know its going to have its rough spots. I enjoy spending time with him, but medical school is not shy about letting you know that other things have to come second. I can't imagine trying to date someone and show them you care during this time. How crazy. In fact, right now as I am typing he is buried in on-line quizzes for exams that are weeks away.

Ok, enough time on-line for me. 

Until next time,

Me

Well I made it. blog number two. phew.

Recently a lot of things have changed in my life. Big, life changing things. 1. I got married. yes thats right, tied the knot. Its wonderful. I am married to my best friend and couldn't be happier.  2. Now that I have spouse, my spouse and I moved to Pennsylvania from Michigan. Lots going on.

So in the midst of all these things, here I am writing about the good times and the bad. There will be lots of both I am sure.

For some reason though, with all the changes that are going on, I am remarkably calm. Even our wedding day seem to calm me down. Making me stop and realize how wonderful my life is, how lucky I am and how much confidence I should have that I am making the right decisions. Of course I cried, mainly during the vows. I just couldn't hold it back any longer! But at the end of the day, nothing felt more comfortable thank walking away with my husband. Funny how I feel so stressed, overwhelmed and crazy on typical days, yet on one of the most important days of my life I felt perfectly relaxed. Perhaps that's how I know its right. My decisions about what shoes to wear or what kinds of food I want to eat are hard to make some times (admittedly, I have a lot of shoes so that is a tough decision) don't make or break my lasting happiness. I am more confident in my decisions than ever before too. Its as if I had such a hard time making decisions before meeting my husband. Things were off, and the inability to make decisions that would be positive was affected. There was a missing part of my decision making, and the confidence I have now makes me wish I could go back to make better decisions. I know there is no use wanting to change the past, so forward with my confidence I go.

Its been quite an experience to move to a larger city. Growing up in a small town where most of your friends live withing 10 minutes of you and there is only one grocery store can really change how you see the world. Take for instance the route i decided to run last night. All i needed to do was 5 miles, what i ended up doing was something else. I ran a normal start to a run around the neighborhood where we live now. I was able to recognize most of the buildings for about 3 miles. then i hit my last mile. i was on the wrong side of town, it was getting dark and I had no idea where I was. I had to stop to ask for directions at a mixed martial arts storefront (it was that or the Red Fox Inn bar) only to find out that I was not even close to home. The guy I talked with said that I better call someone for a ride, he told me I was not in a good part of town as it was getting darker by the minute. I had to call my husband to pick me up. Something I have never had to do. I was embarrassed and a little scared. I made it home safely but learned my lesson, out and backs are better ideas when you don't know the area. :)


I love living in Pennsylvania now and exploring a new city is very adventorus. So far we have found the state park which is beautiful to run, bike or swim at and a lot of the stores we need. There have been a lot of trips to the Lowe's around the corner! We now have a two bedroom, 1-1/2 bathroom townhouse with a basement. This is quite the upgrade from our old one bedroom, one giant kitchen-dinning-living room apartment. Its been fun decorating the extra space and figuring out what kinds of new furniature we need. My husband has a "man cave" area in the basement now along with our best addition, a washer and dryer! Really, a simple machine can make all the difference! Its great to have it available whenever we need it. Luxury. We also have an outside porch area where we spend a lot of time at night. We recently bought a table to put outside so we can have more usable space. We have breakfast and dinner out there most nights when the weather is good. I love the new place. I will attempt to post pictures. that might be a stretch but I can try!

Well, I better get back to the grind.

Getting Started. Again.

For some reason I always have the best intentions with blogs. Starting them with the hope it will become an Internet sensation. At best I usually lose my password (I know I wrote it on on that scrap of paper somewhere..), forget to update date it with any sort of frequency or neglect it all together. 
Time to start again I decided. I'll be more regular. I'll write great things. And I will make this blog part of my day.
Writing things done has been therapeutic lately, so my hope is that this blog helps me even more. Knowing that people might read my post, allowing me to share my thoughts with others who might be in the same situation or facing the same challenge.
I am excited about my life, its really grand. I can't wait to share it all.

Ok. Back to work. More later.