It's Official...

I've signed up for the Atlanta Half Marathon!

And I also will not consider myself a dedicated runner.  I'm sure you've all heard about a certain aliment that runners suffer from time to time during their runs.  Last Monday I was 1 mile into my 10 mile run when it hit me.  I decided that I would just turn around because there was a porta potty at the beginning of the trial I was on.  Well I get about 10 ft when I realize that I wouldn't make it 1 mile and starting looking around for a plan b.  Thankfully this particular run I was doing in the middle of the woods, and there just happened to be an opening.  Yeah, not my proudest moment-but I those remaining 9 miles was the best run I've had in a long time!

I was supposed to do a 15k yesterday, but woke up with horrible hip pain and ended up only doing a 10k.  My hip has been popping a lot lately, so I don't know if I've tweaked something or if it was from sleeping on an air mattress all weekend.  It's still hurting, so I'm going to take tonight off and rest a little more.  The last thing I want to do is hurt myself and not be able to do this 1/2.   

Earning my Turkey

I decided that I'm going to run another half marathon!  (Ok, I really decided at the end of August, just haven't shared it.)  The Atlanta Track Club has a 1/2 marathon on Thanksgiving morning.  Since Robert and I will be in Atlanta this year for Thanksgiving, and the Iron Bowl isn't until Saturday, I thought this would be the perfect race to run in.  I'm already in week 6 of training, with 6 more weeks to go!

Up until about February of this year I never kept track of my times.  I knew in general how long it was taking me to run, but that was going off the time I walked out the door and the time I walked back in-meaning it didn't take into consideration the 5-10 minutes I would spend stretching and getting downstairs.  It didn't really bother me too much because I also wasn't running for time, I was just running because I like how I feel after running and getting some sort of physical activity in 5 days a week.  But lately I've been wanting to know my time, and try to improve. 

After my first half I joined Daily Mile.  I really like this website because I have a log of all my runs, times, and paces since March.  It gives you a report of your week's progress and lets you know how many miles you've run (I've logged 411.23 miles since March 21).  I've always known that in the summer more time was added on to my mile- Jeff Galloway says 20% increase when the temperature is above 80.  But I wanted to know how much (to put it in perspective, in March/April I had between a 8:50-9:20 pace...in late May-August I had between a 9:45-10:30 pace).  So, if you are a runner-just starting out or at it for awhile- I highly recommend this site! (and add me)

I'll keep you posted on my progress and any goal times I set for myself.  I would love to set another PR with this half-I ran my first half in 2:09:09.  But I want to evaluate it all when the time gets closer, though I am eyeing a 2:05 time- that's a pace of 9:34...

Closet Drama

Football season is in full swing, which means Robert and I are out of town for almost everyone home game during the season.  We weren't planning on going to the Florida Atlantic game, but then I found out the Velcro Pygmies is going to be playing at the Supper Club that night!  The icing on the cake is that it is a 6:00 kickoff-which may be bad because that means a full day of tailgating followed by a late night out! 

But when we aren't at Auburn, we've been dealing with our closet.  Oh our closet!  Let me give you some history first.  Back in July, while Robert was in California, I spent all weekend cleaning our closet and bedroom.  It's been a wreck for the last few months as we have been fixing issues so I got it looking nice and organized, as seen here:

 
Well, a few weeks ago, the morning of one of Robert's interviews, he walks into our closet looking like this:

He sends it to me, with a text message "my suit is under there"  Miraculously nothing of importance broke, just some of the plastic containers.  And his suit was ok after he was able to dig it out.  But it was a pain for a good week while we tried to decide what to do in there.

So on Labor Day, we decided that it would be a day of labor-and the closet would be tackled and complete.  So off to Home Depot we went for the supplies we would need.  We came home and had 3/4 of Robert's clothes hanging back up (and even finally getting rid of some in the process), when we hear a thud in the closet and walk into this...

Well darn... (ok, other words were used.  by me).  Ok, I sugar coated the process of getting it back up- it may or may not have involved a throwing fit by me after another shelf collapsed on me (just into the closet of course).  Yes, I over reacted, but I couldn't help it.  I had spent so much time on this closet that I just wanted it to go away. 

So now, after making sure studs even existed in the wall-which I've marked but we're still not 100% sold on how "studly" they are- Robert is attempting #2 of closet redo.  Who knew this would be so difficult? 

I'll be sure to post pictures when we have it done...hopefully by the weekend...

Worth the extra money

There are a lot of items I will opt for the store brand item- bread, cheese, condiments, Excedrin (I found out the maker of Excedrin make most store brands).  But I have learned the hard way there are 2 things I won't go store brand route.  Trash bags and dishwasher detergent.   

Trash bags are easy to figure out- they are thinner and the ties always seem to break on me when I'm either carrying it or even tying it.  When you have to bring a trash bag 8 floors down, then a good 25 years behind the building-you don't want your bag breaking.  It took that happening once for me to learn. 

Dishwasher detergent took me longer to figure out, and yet I still fall in the trap of buying cheap.  I've used the Kroger, Publix and a Trader Joe's brand and all have left dried food on all the dishes.  I thought it was just that the JetDry was out-but when I went to refill that, it was almost completely full.  Then I decided that I would just rinse the dishes really well before they go in the dishwasher-maybe the actual dishwasher was getting old and worn.  When there was still stuff on the dishes, that's when I finally realized that it must be the soap I'm using.  I called my Mom and she confirmed that it was most certainly the cheapness of the detergent.

Are there any items that you refuse to go the cheapo route?   

The Help

While in Seattle at the beginning of the month, I picked up The Help.  I had been asking people about it, since the movie was coming out, and decided that a 5 hour flight back to Atlanta would be the best time to start.  I enjoyed the book-even laughed out loud at some points (like when Mae Mobley uses the bathroom on Hilly's front lawn).

Then last weekend the Auburn girls and I went to see the movie.  In case anyone hasn't seen it yet, I won't give anything away, but I wasn't 100% in love with it.  My biggest qualm, they didn't develop a lot of the characters and changed quite a few things.

So, if you're thinking about seeing the movie- I highly suggest you read the book first or at least at some point.  That's been the case a lot lately with books I really enjoy and then they are made into a movie (PS I Love You book is fabulous, the movie is absolutely terrible).  I really want to see Something Borrowed, but I loved those books so much I'm just a tad nervous to see all the changes they made.

Have you guys read any good books lately?  Any books you really loved and ended up hating the movie, or vice versa?

East Coast, West Coast and back again

I feel like I'm becoming quite the traveler these days.  Typically for my job I don't have to travel much.  Since starting with the company I've traveled to Lexington KY for a conference, MN for a conference, AZ for a conference, DC for a 4 hour meeting, and AL and TN for NASCAR races.  I've been with the company for 3.5 years now-so that really isn't a lot of travel.  However, since June I've been to Englishtown NJ, Bristol TN, San Francisco CA and I'm currently on a plane to Seattle WA.

Last weekend (oh yes, these are weekend travels) I was in San Fran.  I attempted to do some research on the city-but I really didn't know what my schedule would be like.  My hotel was near Fisherman's Wharf which was an interesting area- a lot of tourists.  So I guess the real highlight of the trip was walking across the Golden Gate Bridge (yes the whole 1.9 miles each way).  It was pretty windy-but it was so amazing and scary at the same time (I'll try to post pictures later when I'm not on a plane).  The city is absolutely beautiful and I already told Robert I want us to go back and play.  *Side note, if you look up information on wikipedia.com about the Golden Gate Bridge there is an entire section on suicides-apparently more people die by suicide at the GGB than any other place in the world.

This weekend Seattle is my destination.  I wasn't supposed to go, but my boss knows my brother lives out there so she asked if I wanted dibs on the trip if someone had to go.  Only bummer part, my brother has to play Army again so I'll miss out on seeing him but I do get to explore the city with my sister in law.  I am going to try to make it a point to find some of the scene locations from Sleepless in Seattle.  I know, I'm weird, but it is one of my favorite movies (and I plan to do the same thing whenever I get to go to NYC (You've Got Mail) and I really want to go to the Festival of Lights (Steel Magnolias).

Retirement

After teaching Kindergarten for 21 years, my Mom decided to retire from teaching.  It was something she was thinking about during the last school year, but every time I would ask her about it she said she would like 1 more year.  Well, I guess Demetri was enough for her this year, and in May she told her principal she wouldn't be renewing her contract (Demetri is one of her students that for the first few weeks of school every time he went #2 my mom would hear "Mrs. Doooouggghhhhertttttyy, I'm all done! I need you to come wipe!" TMI, yes. and hilarious).

Since there are 2 elementary teachers in the family, Michelle and Karen (and Jamie) all helped to go through all of my mom's crap.  Yes, I say crap.  There is a room in their current house that all of the nonteachers lovingly refer to as "the Teacher Crap Room."  It rivals a teacher store with all of the crap that is in there (and the room is at the most 12x12).  It took them 4 full days to go through everything.  And they were nice enough to give all of the nonteachers some items as well.  The highlights of my pile: Sharpie markers (b/c there was enough to go around, and then some) and every alligator book that my Mom owned (since I have a fear of alligators, they thought it was fitting).

But what better way to celebrate 21 years of teaching 5 year olds, other than go through 21 years of crap?  A surprise party in my Mom's honor.   We held it on Friday July 15th.  My Dad convinced her that she was going to the church for a Knight of Columbus gathering.  But instead she walked into this (except with people).  

We definitely surprised her and there were a number of people from her current school there to honor her.  She also got a call from her principal from Daphne as well as many sweet letters from partner teachers, parents, and friends. 

We were also able to give my Dad a surprise in the process.  My brother had to "play Army" in Atlanta on Saturday July 16th, so after landing in Atlanta at 4pm Friday he hopped in a rental car and made the 3 hour drive to Knoxville.  Even though it was only a few hours that we spent with him, it was such a great time.  It's been since May '10 that I've gotten to see him.

Marybeth and Shane had just made the trip to Knoxville (a 7 hour drive for them from the MS coast) for July 4th so they weren't able to join us.  Tina was on a plane from Philly to Seattle (they had been in Philly to see U2 in concert and visit family) and Robert was in California for his grandmother funeral. 

Oh yes, and remember how in one of my last posts I said that my Mom had lost a lot of weight? Well she's still going strong.  Doesn't she look fabulous?  

Peachtree Road Race

Yes, it's been awhile.  I'll do my best over the next few days to give you a recap of the last month and a half.  I'll start off with the Peachtree Road Race and our trip to the beach.

Robert and I both didn't have our best run for the Peachtree...it was extremely humid the morning of the race.  Even though we started at 7:55, it was a rough run from the beginning.  We were both in Group F, which was the best group starting time I've had in the last 3 years of running (I've been in the last groups the 2 previous years).  Since we live a mile from the starting line, we parked Robert's car near Piedmont Park (the finish area) the night before.

Since Robert and I were both in the same group, I knew I needed to be on my toes and aware of where he was if I wanted to beat him again.  For the first mile he and I were going back and forth on who was in front (we don't run together-he tends to be faster than me in shorter distances).  Around mile 1 I passed Robert for the last time and kept running.  I was hoping to break the 1hour mark this year, but that didn't happen.  I ran it in 1:02:03 and Robert ran it in 1:05:21.  I know that I can't always have a PR for my races, but I thought I was doing better with my times.

Yes, those are horrible pictures.  And I'm not sharing the others.  I showed them to my family and they got a good kick out of a few of the pictures and my face.  Apparently though I was looking for Robert a lot while running, but there are 3 pictures that I am looking over my shoulder. 

After finishing the race, we quickly left to go home, pack up the car, shower and hit the road to St. Simon's Island.  Robert's family has been going down there fairly frequently for the last 25 years so his parents decided to rent a house for the week.  It was an enjoyable week spent at the beach and eating and drinking entirely too much.

Skinny Minny

I want to brag on my Mom for a moment.  Since December 20, 2010 she has lost 68 pounds.  She still wants to lose another 32 or so, but she looks amazing!

I had to attend the NHRA race in Bristol this past weekend for work.  Since my parents live 2 hours from there, we used it as an excuse to spend a long weekend with them.  It has honestly been since Thanksgiving that I've seen them-Christmas was spent with Robert's family this year and a planned trip to Atlanta for them got canceled when my sister's appendix ruptured in May (which she is recovering well from).
 

Friday I had to work, so Robert hung out with my parents and my Dad immediately put him to work as they rehung the porch screen.  Friday night Robert joined my parents and sister at the Smokies baseball game (a AA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs).  The plan was for me to join them there, but after 2 rounds of the top fuel qualifier one decided to catch caught on fire which delayed my departure time.  Robert texted me that the game was over as I was pulling in the parking lot-no lie.  But I did make it to my seat just in time to see the fireworks show.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a sucker for a fireworks show (or anything bright and shiny). 

Saturday we headed to Oak Ridge to go to a Lavender Festival that my Mom has missed every year for the last 7 years that they have lived in the area.  Yeah, she hasn't been missing much.  But the people watching was quite nice. 

Robert assisted me in making Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup on the Food Network for my dad for Father's Day.  It was delicious and very easy to make.  I really liked that we were able to make it the night before and then pop it in the oven when we got home from church.  I would recommend letting the praline topping to sit before spreading it.  Since the main ingredient is butter, it gets hard after sitting in the fridge all night.  I pulled it out before we left for church and it was perfect for spreading by the time we got home.  *Note-definitely not for anyone who is watching calories



Overall the weekend was great!  We're looking forward to running the Peachtree Road Race 10K on July 4th and then we're hopping in a car shortly after we complete to head to St. Simon's Island for the rest of the week.  We're still debating on if a shower will be involved after running, or if we are literally going to get in the car and go (my vote is for a shower, we are smelly people after running and 5 hours in a car is a long time to be trapped with the smell!)

Army Wives

Whoopsie, not really sure where April or May went.  A few trips, Braves games, and fun would probably sum it up.  Oh yes, and work-lots and lots of work.  Since our current programs run on a school schedule the last month or so it usually hectic and then the summer months we have time to breath.  I'm not sure how the breathing is going to go this summer, we picked up a few new programs.  I will get to go to a few more NHRA races-I know you are all jealous. 

Ok, so now for the real part of this post.  I know I am behind the time, but can I say that I am addicted to Army Wives?  I'm not very far into the series though, so don't spoil it.  Robert isn't a fan of the show, so I have to watch when he's not home or doing something else (he's currently playing in a basketball league on Wednesday nights...so Wednesday nights= Army Wives and formerly dirt).  But, I'm addicted to this show!  I'm only on the episode where Michael is named the poster commander.  I'm sure one of these main characters' husbands is going to die soon, but I don't care...I'm willing to take the risk.  (Awh, Pamela's husband just came back!! yes, I giving you live commentary as I watch). 

And because I feel like the blog is naked without pictures...this past weekend I got a tease of the beach.  One of my friends from college, and roommate during CWE got married in Orange Beach.  It was absolutely fabulous to spend the week with a few girls who I haven't gotten to see in quite awhile!

  

27ized

This past weekend Robert and I entertained my sister Michelle on Friday night and then on Saturday I headed down to the Georgia World Congress Center to watch her team play volleyball.  She has a 13-2 team and ended up finishing 29^th out of 96 teams in their division.  The entire tournament was for 12-18’s, and there were 160+ courts.  It was actually really fun to watch volleyball again, and I got to see a girl I used to babysit play a little.  She was 6 ½ months old when I started babysitting her…she’s now playing on the 14’s team.  Ugh, I’m getting old.  I also got to visit with a friend from high school that played volleyball with me.   She left HS and played volleyball in Kentucky so I haven’t seen her in almost 10 years now.  Saturday night we had a shower to go to, and then we hit up Dunwoody Tavern.  Very interesting place…

Sunday I ran 6 miles and then Robert made a birthday brunch-pancakes, pepper crusted bacon, eggs, and a mimosa for me and beer for him.  And then after that we just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Monday was my actual birthday and after work we headed down to the Virginia Highlands to eat dinner at George’s.  We hadn’t been there in a few months nor had we made hamburgers for a while so it was certainly a treat!  For dessert we walked around the corner to get gelato.  (I was very excited about this because the last time we tried to go to this place we get up to order and then realize that it is cash only and between the two of us we maybe had $1)  It was all that I had hoped for! As we were eating our gelato on the bench outside we got to witness a lovers quarrel with 2 woman.  From what I could gather they were with a group of friends of one lady and apparently no one knew they were dating and the other lady made some comment in front of them about not being invited to go somewhere.  That is just how it started, but I’m fairly certain they were both drunk.  Didn’t know we were getting gelato and a show though!

I’m super excited for this weekend.  Robert and I got tickets to the Braves home opener and I’m taking a half day on Friday so we can head down there early.  Saturday my brother is going to be in town “playing Army” (what we call it when he goes off a few times a month to fulfill his Army obligations-we also like to think that’s all he was doing while in Iraq), we’re going to meet him for dinner.  It’s a shame that he and Tina live so far away because I really think he and Robert would get along very well.

 

And on a random note…look what I’m drinking my water out of these days…

One of my bosses (the CEO who also went to Auburn), was in Auburn this past weekend and came across this cup and brought it back for me.  Pretty AUsome if you ask me.

Dinner Anyone?

Someone apparently forgot about their dinner.  I got on the elevator one day after work to find this...

When I left shortly after getting home to run, it was gone.  I guess someone remember they were hungry.

Now what...

Over the last few years of running (yes, years...I've been running consistently since February '08) I've come to realize that I am a better runner when I have something to work towards.

I first started running in September '07 doing the "Couch to 5K" program while living in Dothan.  It was a fairly easy program and there was a great park that I would go to immediately after work to run.  It's amazing to think back to then.  Not only was I living in a town where I knew NO ONE and at this point was really not enjoying my job, I struggled with running 2 miles.  In high school when I would run, it was timed miles or stadiums or hills (and it was all H-E-double hockey sticks).  

Since then I’ve run:

August ‘08  South DeKalb Striders 5K 33:48 (10:54 pace) *and I got 2^nd place for my age division, HAHAHAHA
July ‘09 Peachtree Road Race 10K 1:07:23 (10:52 pace)
July ’10 Peachtree Road Race 10K 1:00:08 (9:41 pace)
November ’10 Thanksgiving Trot 8K 46:29 (9:23 pace)
March ’11 Georgia ½ Marathon 2:09:09 (9:51 pace)

I’m happy to see my times improving.  Which makes me excited to run in another Peachtree Road Race.  I’m hoping to shed more time off and run closer to a 9:00 pace.  My only problem, the race is 16 weeks away and my “training” is an 8 week program.  So now I’m trying to find something to keep me motivated for the next 8 weeks before I officially start training for the Peachtree.  I'm eyeing a 5K the first weekend in May-I like the idea of updating my "official" 5K run since it's been so long.   

Side note: Robert got some exciting news today!  He has an interview with the City of Atlanta Friday AM!!  Now we’re not counting our eggs before they hatch or anything, but this is his first real interview since beginning his unemployment 10 ½ months ago (he’s had a few phone interviews here and there). 

13.1

Well I did it!  My knees are currently hating the hills in downtown Atlanta right now, but during the race I felt great!  If you remember from this post, I said that I really just wanted to run the entire time and wasn't going to set a time goal.  Well, as the time got closer and I got a better feel for my pace on the longer runs (10, 11 and 12 miles), I decided that I would be happy for a time between 2:10 and 2:20. 

Robert ended up having a basketball playoff game this morning, so he didn't get to be there for the finish.  But he was a trooper and woke up at 6 to drop me off.  At first I was bummed he wouldn't be there, but I knew if it weren't for the basketball game he would have been there to cheer me on.  The race began at 6:55 for the wheelchair division and 7:00 for the runners.  I was in corral K, so not in the front by not in the last group (like I have been for the Peachtree for the last 2 years).  It actually worked out really well because I started exactly 10 minutes into the race-which made figuring out my time easy since I forgot to grab my watch.

We got to run through some pretty cool parts of Atlanta...downtown, 4th Ward, Little Five Points, Va-Highlands, Piedmont Park, GA Tech, and then back downtown.  The weather was perfect, a tad warm at 60 but there was a nice cloud cover so we weren't being scorched.  The last 4 miles of the race were hard-not because I had run 9 miles but because it was basically up hill the entire time (note to self, next half marathon pick a FLAT location).  But I guess it was all worth it because I ended up running the entire time (goal 1, check) and did it in 2:09:09-a 9:51 pace (goal 2,check)! 

When it was all over, I met a friend of ours and her husband for a few minutes and then got in the car and drove to play in a basketball game.  I'm not really sure how I managed to get suckered into playing EVERY game (when I was supposed to be a sub/only play if they were going to forfeit).  But it was the playoffs and the other girl was running the half marathon with her aunt so she was going to be later.  We ended up winning the first game and had to play in the championship game an hour later, which we won as well.   


I'll post pictures from the race when they post them...since it was just me, I didn't have anyone to take pictures pre or post race.  I must say though, I'm looking forward to the Peachtree 10K.  It's going to seem so easy only being 6.2 and only 2 hills!

Repaired & Repainted

So for the last month Robert and I have been hard at work-hence the lack of blogs.  We've had a few areas in the condo that previously had leaks and had essentially ruined the plaster and paint around them.  We'd been putting it off for far too long to actually fix the plaster and since we own our unit it was our problem to fix.

Robert picking off the large pieces of plaster and paint, area 1 hallway

So after a weekend of just chiseling the areas to get the bad plaster down, we started to see some process...

Side note-this was the worst spot, and the area that took the longest to repair

After a few more weeks (yes weeks) of plaster, dry, and repeat it started to look like we had walls again...

God bless the person who thought to make white stuff go on pink and dry white

Then began the sanding process.  That was a good thing and a bad thing.  Good that we were getting closer to no longer living in a disaster area, but bad because dust. was. EVERYWHERE.  And I mean everywhere.  I tried to tidy up in between sanding and pastering, but it didn't work.  The floors were covered, the sofa,  the TV, the china cabinet, the counters...you get the picture.  On top of it all (literally) Robert accidentally spilled some liquid on the dust, so that was a task cleaning the floor (plaster dust+liquid=plaster).

In the middle of this we decided that since we were going to have repaint the repaired areas we would paint our kitchen dark blue...

pardon the mess-

 

Thankfully we had made a lot of food and just lived off of leftovers while the kitchen was disheveled for the better part of a week.  But we like the refresher of the kitchen and hallway a lot!  I'll take more pictures once we are done with everything.  We still have 2 areas in the bedroom that we're working on...

Sunset

This picture makes me want to go back to Jamaica...

One Year Later

(So I'm a tad late on this post, but I promise to post again soon as to why)


It's hard to believe that just barely over a year ago...

I was loading a trolley with some of my favorite people...

Robert was sticking a $20 bill in my dress after saying my name incorrectly (after the ceremony)...

And we were walking in together to all the people we care about most...

We had an absolutely fabulous night, and when we got in the limo at the end of the night I look at Robert and said "That was so much fun, can we do it again?"  Some great memories were made that day, but even more in the past year.

To celebrate our one year anniversary, we decided to visit 2 of our favorite restaurants that are a tad more pricey than our current budget.  Friday night we headed over to Decatur to The Brick Store Pub.  They have a unique variety of beers on draft, amazing pub food, and spectacular people watching.  We thoroughly enjoy spending time here, and it often is a few hours at a time.  We started off with a few beers and a raclette (seen below) and then I got the fingers and chips and Robert had the fish and chips.  I must say, they have the best chicken fingers ever, hands down.  I'm a fan, I couldn't even let Robert take a picture before I had to chow down.  Here is a photo recap of that visit...

Saturday afternoon we headed over to West Atlanta to go to our favorite Mexican Restaurant (yes, there is one that tops Taxco-I know some of your are shocked right now), Nuevo Laredo.  We started off with chips and salsa and a pitcher of margarita's and then I had the chicken mole and Robert had the chicken diablo. The food is so good there, but of course we were stuffed after we left.  We drove around to look at houses for little bit after dinner, and then headed home.

Sunday morning Robert had a basketball game-I guess I did too since I "played" in it.  And for dinner we decided to make a fancy dinner at home.  Robert made steaks, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes, and then I made the croissants and whipped horseradish.  Clearly I am not the cook in our family. 

And then we dove into the year old wedding cake that has been sitting in our freezer.  Robert thought it is a strange tradition, but I convinced him that we were doing it.  We were actually pleasantly surprised on how good it was.  The icing was tad freezer burnt, but the cake and filling was almost as good as a year ago.  It most certainly didn't look as nice as it did a year ago. 

Although it wasn't the weekend full of the most healthy eating, we did have a great time (and I managed to slip running 9.3 miles in on Saturday around Chastain Park).

This isn't the best looking picture, but our camera died shortly after this was taken

Marathon

It's official!  I signed up for my first 1/2 marathon today!! Be thinking of me the morning of March 20th!

I've been training for this since December 26th but have put off signing up just in case I hurt myself somewhere along the way.  I did a 9 mile run this past weekend and felt great doing it-and could have easily done 4 more miles.  I'm not going to set a time goal for myself for this one, I just want to run the entire time.  Maybe my next one I'll set a time...or as it comes closer I set a time.  We'll see!!

Kroger-ed

I recently discovered a great secret that Kroger is hiding.  You can register your Kroger card and load coupons onto your card.  No cutting, no remembering to grab them they are there an hour after you load them on.  They do have an iphone app that you can also do this from too, as well as view them to see what you actually loaded and when they are expiring.  Now, I haven't actually tried it out at the store yet, but I did register my card today and will test it out the next time I go. 


Yes, I've been MIA again.  If I knew where the month of January went, I would report in on all the fun we've been having.  But I'm really not sure where it went.  I did finish this month on an impromptu road trip to DC for work.  A 20 hour trip in 48 hours-fun times. 

Rearrange

My sister Marybeth and I shared a room a majority of the time while growing up.  I knew at an early age Marybeth would be an engineer-she created a floor plan (to scale) of our room and all the furniture we had.  The reason she did this?  We had a habit of rearranging our room on a monthly basis.  We didn't have a large room, but we did have bunk beds which left the possibilities of the layouts endless.  I don't think my parents really cared that we did it because we had a tendency of "surprising" them (not asking for their help) and it meant that our room was cleaned pretty frequently.  You're probably wondering where I'm going with this...

It's been a little over a year that I moved in with Robert.  In that time, we've rearranged 1 time and I'm getting antsy.  I wish I would have taken before and after pictures, but I didn't.  So the next best thing is me doing a floor plan of our main room (NOT drawn to scale).    

Robert's original TV stand was actually a coffee table from IKEA.  It was probably 6ft long, white, low to the ground and on 4in wheels.  Shortly before the wedding we noticed it was starting to bow in the middle due to all of the entertainment items on the thing!  (I swear I didn't sabotage it).  We decided to use some of our wedding money to get something new.  We found this great piece from IKEA; dark wood, lots of storage space, and the option to add cabinet doors if we so choose. 

Because of the height of this piece, we decided to rearrange the floor plan (yes!!).  We have a 6ft window with a great view of midtown, and the new shelves with the tv on top were blocking a majority of the window.  So, we decided to float the sofa in the middle of the room.  I must tell say I'm a big fan of doing this.  It's amazing how much more livable space the new arrangement added to the room.  

We also needed something to store all of our liquor and some stemware (limited counter space also means limited cabinets...really just limited space in general in the kitchen).  So we headed to a few junk stores.  Robert was thinking something short, probably small.  I was thinking a china cabinet-which he thought I was crazy because it would never fit.  We found this beauty, for a great deal.  The best part is that the original paperwork was still in one of the drawers and the price tag.  Let's just say the original purchaser paid $1,000 more than we paid.

We did all of this in April.  I'm still very pleased with it and I don't want to rearrange the main room just yet (other than minor adjustments I did last weekend).  However, the bedroom and bathroom, that is another story.

I've recently been introduced to this blog.  We're a tad limited on space right now, but when we have a house this couple is my inspiration.  They feature one project that I've been considering for awhile, raising your shower curtain.  It's a small adjustment to make to the bathroom, but it really helps to give the small space a new look.  Now I just have to find a shower curtain, and then convenience the hubby that we need to paint the bathroom.