Five on Friday randomness...

How long has it been since I did a random post? Heck, how long has it been since I posted? I'm a terrible blogger these days, I'll admit. I feel especially bad about not keeping up with the family blog since that one's been going since 2006. However, I don't feel too bad since we get to see a lot of family these days so it's not as necessary to try and keep everyone in the loop. But I have sort of used it as a online baby book for the kids so I guess I need to go post some updates when I'm done here!

Anyway, Five on Friday, random stuff and go!

1.) Holy Christmas shopping Batman! Something about Black Friday always sends me into guilt mode that I haven't done any shopping for anyone! Not only to have I to shop for the kids still, it's Matthew's birthday on the tenth! Fortunately he's already told me what he wants, but I still need to get him something else to go along with it. I'm hoping to start my shopping for the kids this weekend/next week if I can. Though I have no idea what to buy for Elijah. Am I the only one who thinks seven year old boys are hard to buy for? Sophia is easy peasy. She loves everything!

2.) I'm a little bummed that I haven't seen Catching Fire yet. I know, I know, it just came out last night, but I'm already dying!!! I'm pretty sure I saw the Hunger Games on opening weekend and was appalled/annoyed at all the teenybopper fangirls gasping and making obnoxious noises behind me over the Katniss/Peeta bread kissing. And dude, that made me feel OLD. No likey. Anyway, Matthew has consented to take me so I don't have to go solo like last time, but not sure when we will get the chance.

3.) Which brings me to...a week off next week! Well, I don't have the whole week off from school. Some dummy (me) scheduled school already on Monday and Tuesday. Matthew has the whole week off next week, which only means one thing to me: Running outside whenever I want! Right now during the weekdays I'm stuck inside on the treadmill because of the kiddos, and it's better than nothing, but I'm really looking forward to hitting the pavement a bunch next week. The most miles I've ever run in a month is sixty this past September, I'm hoping to beat that this month and I'm already up to forty-three with eight days left in the month. So I should be able to beat it, but just barely.

4.) Also, back to Christmas. CHRISTMAS! I'm a little excited...we're spending it in Florida with my family, something we haven't done since 2007! (What?! I know!) And my dad and I running another race together called the "Make it to the line" Flora-Bama, which I think means we will run to the Florida/Alabama line. It's a four miler, my longest race, but really, not that much longer!

5.) Do we have to talk about it? The book? Okay I guess I will, since that's supposed to be the point of this blog. My budding failing writing career. Final Redemption is still in the works. I haven't given up. I haven't quite writing. It's just getting harder and harder to find time these days. Maybe if I could find a way to write and run it might work out. Every weekend I promise myself I'll sit and bang out a few chapters. Some weekends I do. Most weekends I don't. The good news is: it's all still there in my head. It's not going anywhere. I know how it ends. Well, sorta anyway. It looks like I might be on track for another Spring release. EEK! It's out there now, now I have to finish it  by then. Right?

Bloggy Sunshine Award

My friend Carrie, from Curly Crafty Mom, nominated me today for the Sunshine blogger award. Carrie and I have known each other for what seems like forever! Really just since around 2006 where we met on the May '06 BBC boards. I'm glad she nominated me, since I really needed a reason to post on this dusty old blog besides another race recap or a post about how my newest book isn't going anywhere. (Shhhhh) Anyway, so here are the questions she asked me and a few other bloggers. 

1. What is the #1 item on your Christmas list this year?

I really, really want a black moto jacket. Jackets are so much more practical here in Georgia, since you can pretty much get away with wearing them all winter. I spotted one at Kohl's the other day that I loved. (Not the exact pic, but close enough.) 

2. Favorite Fall nail polish color right now?

Wet 'n Wild Megalast in Disturbia. (Yes I loooove cheap nailpolish!)

3. What kind of car do you drive?

Ha! A 1998 Toyota Rav4 that I bought when I was nineteen. Little did I know I would still be driving it almost ten years later. It's a great car though.

4. Do you wash your jeans after you wear them once?

Noooo. Only because I love my skinnies and we all know how fun it is to put on freshly washed skinny jeans.

5. What jewelry are you wearing right now (or did you wear today)?

Right now, just my wedding rings and teeny diamond studs that I almost never take out. I haven't gotten dressed for the day yet! But tonight we're going to Atlanta for a concert in the Atlanta Symphony hall, so I'm sure I'll find an outfit to wear with this gorgeous honkin' ring my mom gave me!

6. What are you having for dinner tonight (or what did you have)?

Since we'll be on the road around dinnertime tonight, I'm going to guess some kind of fast food. Hopefully Chick Fil A!

7. How old were you when you got your ears pierced (if they are pierced)?

I was twelve when I got the first piercing (I was supposed to wait until thirteen, but they took a year off for good behavior) I got my second piercing when I turned eighteen. Such a rebel  I know!!! Ha ha.

8. What is your favorite meal for lunch when you bring it to work or make it yourself?

A loaded baked potato with butter, cheese and bacon. Great, now I'm drooling...

9. What was the last thing you bought for yourself?

This past Saturday I was shopping for an outfit for the aforementioned concert, I didn't score anything in the wardrobe department, but did come home with a new purse! Modeled here by Fifi. Only three and she's already stealing stuff from mama's closet! Also, she hasn't gotten the memo that it's Fall yet, she's still stuck on her summer wardrobe.



10. What was the last thing you bought for someone else?

Hmmmm...Oh I bought Fifi a new tiara the other day. But this really reminds me I need to start Christmas shopping soon!


So, I'm all out of time and have to run and start school with my kids, but I will try to come back later and post some questions and my nominees...

Girls Inc. Run for the Treasure...and another PR!

This past weekend I ran my third 5K. It was my second since I've really started running, and my second to run with my dad. A few weeks ago when we realized Matthew was going to have Columbus Day off from school, we knew we wanted to go down to Florida to visit my parents. Right away my dad and I looked up some races we could do together. We eventually picked the Girls Inc. Run for the Treasure 5K, 10K and half marathon. One of the reasons why we picked this race was that it was right across the street from my parents house at Pier Park. And it had a pirate theme to go along with the pirate festival that was beginning at Pier Park later that day. No, we didn't dress like pirates, sorry.

Since my dad had picked up our race packets the night before, and we had less than a five minute drive, we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn. But we did get there early enough to cheer for the half-marathoners as they started their race at seven am.

Before the start of the race.

My dad was running the 10K, so we warmed up a little and then he sarted his race at seven thirty. I was all on my own until the 5K started at eight. I was so nervous! At least this time I remembered to get closer to the front of the pack at the start. Last time I was little annoyed with how tight it go at the start. When the horn finally blew everyone took off like they were shot out of a cannon. I try really hard to pace myself slow for the first mile, so a lot of people passed me right off the bat. I tried not to worry about it, and promised myself I would pass them later! I saw my dad on the other side of the road about one mile in as he was heading back in the 10K. Around the halfway point I knew I was doing pretty good, because my Nike app told me my time was thirteen minutes. After the turnaround I was running right into the hot, hot morning Florida sun. Ugh. It was a little brutal. When I turned the corner for the final stretch to run back into the park for the finish line my dad, having aready finsihed his race, came running out to see how far back I was. He said later, he was surprsied to see me so close to the finish line already! He also told me my mom, Matthew and the kids were waiting for me at the finish line and that definitely helped me finsih faster! Also, he told me he had my time at 25 minutes and change. I couldn't believe it! I guess I had stopped paying attention to my GPS on my phone and was just running. I had no idea I was going that fast! When I finally turned around to the home stretch I saw Elijah right away, he was wearing red and I took out my headphones so I could hear them shouting "Go mommy!" 

Matthew was my official race photographer. Also, I look hilarious running...

Sort of smiling.

After I crossed the finish line and met up with my family we waited for my official time. I had the time off my app, but you know you have to get the official one! They had a big screen TV with the leaders for each age group announced and I saw right away that my dad had won grand master, he also came in third overall for the 10K. So we waited and finally I saw the results for the female 25-29...and saw that I had WON my age group with a time of 26:43! Basically the fastest run ever for me. I was so excited and proud of myself it's ridiculous. And it was so much more fun to share the experience with all of my family!

My little fan club.

One more! (Elijah was already dressed for the pirate festival.)

With my lovely medal. It even says "First Place!" 

My dad getting his award from the pirate wench.

So, here's the breakdown. I came in 1st out of 5 for my age group. 18th overall out of 105. And 8th out of all the women.

My next race is November 9th, if the National parks are open again by then! 

Getting a little ahead of myself...

If you know me at all, even just a little bit from this blog, you know how much I love my birthday. As the years pass I always find myself wondering if this will be the year I stop looking forward to and enjoying my big day. And every year that passes leaves  me with the same answer, "nope!" Anyway, as usual I was thinking about my birthday the other day. See, we just passed October 3, meaning my birthday is six months away. I already told Matthew what I want to do to celebrate my 29th birthday. Atlanta. Shopping. Cheesecake Factory. See, I'm easy.

But then it hit me, if I'm turning twenty-nine next year, that means the year after that I will be *gasp* THIRTY! Like any female leaving her twenties, I freaked out a little bit, but then I shrugged it off. (No, really!) Because the older I get, the more I learn, the better person, mom, and wife I become, so why would I be bothered by another year? And I mean, really, I already have grey hair, so how much worse can aging get? Nevermind...don't go there...

Which brings me to my point (yes, I have one!). So it's the trend now to do something BIG for your thirtieth. Skydive. (Um, no thanks.) Get a tattoo. (PASS!) Go on a big vacation. (Too expensive.) And then I realized what I would do to celebrate my thirtieth. It was an easy choice...RUN A HALF MARATHON!

Yes,  I said marathon, but notice I said a HALF! That's ONLY 13.1 miles folks. And yes, at this point the most I've ever run is 6.2, so I definitely have a loooong way to go, but I have a year and a half to get ready. I'm excited already!

In other news, I'm running my third 5K tomorrow down in Florida with my dad. It should be awesome!

Ten minutes...

(I know I'm way overdue for an update on here. Life has been crazy!)

So, three years ago I let my dad talk me into doing a 5K with him. This decision was basically insane, considering I'd never ran before in my life. But I did I it anyway, because I'm insane, apparently. Did I mention at the time I had just had a baby eight weeks before? See? Insane. Or better yet: stupid.

Hi there. 

So yeah, I pretty much thought I would die during those 3.1 miles, but I finished. I walked most of it, but I finished. My time of 39:19 was not impressive, but I FINISHED!

And I never ran again...

Until we came back to Georgia at the beginning of July. I've always been a workout junkie but running was the one hurdle I'd never seem to overcome. Until now, that is. Since we are staying with my in-laws for a while I thought I would start making use of their treadmill.When we went down to visit my parents in mid-July my dad talked me into running outside a few times and gave me quite a few tips to help me out. After we came home from Florida I starting running outdoors early every Saturday morning, so essentially I began training for running a 5K.

In the beginning my goal was simply to complete another 5K. Then it was to PR. Then it was to run the whole thing. Then it became my goal to run a 5K in under thirty minutes... 

The race I signed up for was this past Saturday. I was nervous, I was excited, but more than anything I was ready!

Lucky number 160.

And so I ran and it was all kinds of awesome. After three miles were up I passed six people (yes, I counted!) just before the finish line. 

Oh and the best part...I did PR... By a full ten minutes!

Booyah.  

Now, the worst part was that the race was so badly planned that it was actually 3:6 miles, making my official time something like 33:47. Thankfully  my phone recorded my 5K time so I can compare. And the race results weren't that detailed, but I calculated that I finished 30th put of 91 runners.

Let's do it again!

Road jams...

We're getting close to our final day here in Connecticut. Almost everything is packed, the moving truck is reserved, snacks and car activities are all ready for the kids, overnight bags packed, hotels booked, routes planned ect... It's going to be a long drive,  about seventeen hours, and it will be made even longer by the fact that I will be driving every mile of it. Matthew usually drives on all our trips. It's not that I can't drive for long distances, but I'm usually busy taking care of the kids in the backseat while he drives. Oh and I'm the navigator too, I can read a map like nobody's business! Much like our move up here four years ago (not counting the extra addition to our family this time) Matthew will be driving the big truck while the kids and I follow in our Rav. The only reason I'm slightly nervous this time is that Sophia is not as good of a traveler as Elijah was at this age. She gets a little nuts after just a few hours in the car. But like I said, I'm armed with snacks and other new goodies to occupy her. Not to mention we do have a DVD player and  Kindle Fire for emergencies!

But our favorite thing to do on long car trips is listen to music! Our car is on the older side, so we just have a CD player, so I'll be hauling a stack of CDs on the seat beside me. Sophia is as big of a music lover as I am and often gets cranky if it's not loud enough! Elijah is more inclined to just read for the whole seventeen hours.

So here's what I'm bringing along:



One Republic, Native. I've always liked One Republic's songs, but never owned any of their CDs. When this one kept popping up on my Pandora I realized every single song I heard was amazing. If you love upbeat, pop music this is a must-have. I've already listened to it 100 times and could listen to it 100 more!



Taylor Swift, Red. This is actually Sophia's CD, but even I have to admit, it's not too bad. I'm a little sick to death of "I Knew You Were Trouble" but you all know that's Sophia's jam. I might have to let her borrow my iPod shuffle with headphones just so I don't have to hear it for the millionth time.



Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet. After was pass through New York City on the GWB we'll be cruising through New Jersey for a while. And I while I do I'll be blasting everyone's favorite New Jersey rock band. This was actually a tradition I started four years ago on the move up here. Matthew thinks it's hilarious.



Bon Jovi, Bounce. Just in case I'm in the mood for some newer Bon Jovi. The Bounce tour was the one my dad and I went to, back 2003, so good memories!




Bon Jovi, The Circle. Another new one. Probably listen to "Brokenpromiseland" as I'm watching Connecticut disappear through my rear view mirror. Ha ha.



The Beach Boys, The Very Best Of. I don't think this one needs an explanation. This is actually my CD for our drive down to Florida in a few weeks. But I might bust it out and visualize myself already there if I get stuck in DC traffic!



Led Zepplin, Mothership. Again, no explanation needed. Kashmir just might be my all-time favorite song. Sophia will hate this though. She's not a huge Led Zepplin fan, much to my dismay.



Lifehouse, Smoke and Mirrors. I have every Lifehouse CD that's ever been put out, but if I had to choose just one, this would be it!




 I also packed No Name Face. Just because "Hanging By a Moment" is on there.




Lifehouse, Who We Are. Did I say I was just going to pick one Lifehouse CD, because I'm apparently bringing them all in the car. I just found this one in the stack too.




Lifehouse, Almeria. Last one, I promise. Their latest, but not my favorite. "Between the Raindrops" is good, though!



Linkin Park, Living Things



Linkin Park, A Thousand Suns. Again, the kids will probably protest these too, but maybe I'll keep it down low. OR NOT!



Rod Stewart, The Very Best Of. Now that was quite a musical 180, huh? Come on, "Forever Young"!

That's all, the rest of my CDs are packed. And I just now realized I forgot to leave out my Journey CD! NOOOOOOO!!!

See y'all in Georgia...

A series of successes and failures...

I  feel like this title could describe most trips with small kids. Let me preface this post by saying, in case you didn't already know it, I'm totally a type A personality. Planning is my middle name. So when Matthew suggested last Sunday that we take a last-minute weekend trip to Boston, my first instinct was to say no. But after thinking about it for a few minutes, I realized I would actually regret not seeing the town.

Since we spent the week swamped with moving preparation, it wasn't our best planned trip. For once I didn't pack until the very last minute. Which unfortunately resulted in me forgetting some things. So I give you our Boston trip: Successes and Failures...

• Driving away from the house I realized immediately that I had forgotten to pack the camera. FAIL!
• But we just circled back around the block and I ran inside to get it. Thank goodness I remembered before we had driven too far. SUCCESS!
• Not long after that I realized I had also forgotten to throw my makeup back into the suitcase FAIL!
• I would like to add that I'm not that vain, I can easily go a day without makeup. However, I was more concerned with the fact that I had put my deodorant in my makeup bag. But our hotel had a little store where you could buy essentials, so I was able to replace it. SUCCESS!
• We forgot to put the stroller in the car. MAJOR FAIL! See, we keep it in the mudroom for trips to the beach. We don't go many places these days that require Sophia to be in the stroller, so it never crossed our minds. There is no success here, except for the fact that Matthew and I both got a good workout carrying her all over Boston yesterday after she tired out.
• We got lost multiple times, UGH FAIL!
• I can read a map pretty well and we had our GPS Ehhh, success?
• In fact, we got pretty lost in downtown Boston yesterday trying to find a parking garage. FAIL!
• Our re-route ended up taking us down Boylston Street, the site of the recent Boston bombings. This was a place we hadn't planned on visiting, but I'm glad we got see so we will never forget. So that was a success, I think. There was also a 10K taking place in the area, so it was pretty eerie and sobering to see so many runners up and down the street.
• It was pretty hot and sunny yesterday in Boston, and I woke up with a headache. So it was a EPIC FAIL to leave my sunglasses in the car!
• Fortunately my very sweet little boy offered me his baseball hat to shield my eyes until I started feeling better. SWEET SUCCESS.

So yeah, it was that kind of trip. But all in all, I think I'll call it a success. And I'll keep in mind from now on, being a type A personality isn't always a bad thing!

Hahaha, this is such an out-take! FAIL!

If you want to see the good pictures of the trip, check out my blog post on the family blog!

Currently...

• I am sitting in a perfectly quiet house while everyone else sleeps. I've been going to bed so early (like 9:30) that I wake up around six and can't go back to sleep. This morning I went ahead and got up to do some yoga.
• I have Boston's "More Than a Feeling" stuck in my head.
• I'm still in my pjs. Yoga in pjs is awesome.
• Drinking my coffee and I already ate breakfast! I'm the worst about skipping breakfast, but after my yoga I was hungry so I had some Greek yogurt with honey and granola.
• I'm planning on going to the beach this afternoon with a friend, but stressed because I really need to pack more. Yesterday was too busy to pack and tomorrow will be as well.
• I think I'm still in complete and utter disbelief that in eight days we will be living New England for good to move back to the South!

Why Georgia?

(Isn't that a song? Look at me!)

I've lived in Connecticut for not quite four years now, in fact we arrived here in West Haven July 29th. We're leaving here on June 28th, so we'll miss our four year anniversary by just a month. (Darn!)

Anyway, so I thought I'd take the time to clear up some confusion. No, I'm not from Georgia, but I do consider it "home". For one thing, I'm a military brat, or was, I guess I should say. My childhood consisted of several moves that went like this: Washington State-Missouri-England-Germany-Texas-Georgia. I was seventeen when we moved to Georgia. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't see what all the fuss was about. But it didn't take me long before I grew to love it there. It was in Georgia that my parents bought their first house (yes, when I was seventeen!) we spent the first few months painting every wall in the house just because we could! It was in Georgia that I started cosmetology school and basically had the time of my life. (I know other people go to college blah blah blah, I went to "beauty school" and got my hair colored every Monday.) And it was in Georgia that I met a certain Georgia boy who pretty much swept me off my feet faster than you can blink. In Georgia I said "I do". In Georgia I gave birth to my first baby.

So yeah, Georgia is pretty much home.



We moved around a little our first year of marriage, but eventually settled in Athens for Matthew to attend grad school. The above picture was taken in June of 2006, the day we moved into campus housing. (HI, is it just me or do we look like we were teenage parents or what?)

We left Athens in July of 2009 to come here, but we have always missed it!



It's been a good four years up here. It hasn't been easy, but it's been good. Sophia was born here, of course, and I can honestly say that was the brightest spot in the past four years. And we've kept some traditions alive.



It doesn't hurt either that we'll now be within close driving distance of my family down in Florida! So in a few weeks, say four or five, I hope to be right here...




Only with Matthew for once! (Last summer he'd already taken two weeks off to go to Israel, so he didn't get to come to Florida with me and the kids!)

Oh, yeah, that book thing?

I haven't updated the whole book series situation in a while, have I? Since Finding Sanctuary came out in February I've been on a bit of a forced hiatus. For one, after writing, editing and publishing all on my own (besides the help of my beta readers and cover art designer, that is) I'm exhausted! I did manage to sit down and hammer out a few more chapters for book three (tentatively titled, for now, Final Redemption) but in the past two months I literally have not written a single word.

I'm sorry!

Someone asked my mom recently when my third book was going to come out and she responded by telling them how much we have going on lately with the move and all that. They said, "That's okay, I know she's got it all in her head." Which is so true. It's there. I just need to find the time to type it all out and edit and such. Sometimes I wonder if the reason why it's taking me so long is because I'm not ready for it to be over. I've toyed with the idea of extending the series, or writing another trilogy with Kit, Jason, and Alexa. But right now I'm just not sure. The thought of saying goodbye to them already does make me sad. I mean, I've been writing The Halcyon Legacy since 2010, maybe I'm not ready to be done yet. And therein lies the good part of self-publishing: I can do whatever I want! If I want to write twenty books about Kit Hawthorn, I can. Well, if I can find the time that is.

I promise it will be out as soon as I can manage. For now I'm setting my sights on either late Winter or early Spring of next year. Truth be told, I got the first two out pretty quickly. London Escape came out June 2012,  and Finding Sanctuary came out February 2013.

As far as success, I can't say that they've sold as much as I've hoped, but that's self-publishing for you. But they're out there, and that's more than I can ask for. Total sales for London Escape are at right around 3,600. Finding Sanctuary has a lot of catching up to do at 520. (And yes, a good majority of those were free promos, but you all know how I feel about that.) Reviews still continue to come it. LE is at 22 on amazon (all four and five star.) FS is at 10. So if you've read them and haven't reviewed...what are you waiting for? Just kidding.

 

New Haven Bucket List...

Since we won't be in New Haven much longer, I thought I'd put together a short bucket list of things to do before we  leave.

• Hunt down the Caseus cheese truck for a world famous grilled cheese! Matthew has eaten from it twice, and swears it's as good as everyone says. We'll see!

• Stock up on obnoxious Yale gear. Hey, I'm finally moving to a place where people will be impressed that my husband went to Yale! Here no one is impressed because everyone goes to Yale.

• Eat more Zuppardi's pizza. New Haven is famous for their pizza, they apparently claim the invention of it. Frank Pepe's on Wooster Street is the most popular. But if you're like me and don't feel like waiting in line for an hour for a pizza, go to Zuppardi's in my very own West Haven. Just as good, if not better. And wash it down with a Foxon Park root beer. Made right down the street in East Haven.

• Spend as much time as possible with my babies at Savin Rock Beach. One of the reasons we chose to live outside of New Haven was the proximity to the beach here. Literally a three block walk to this...

• Take the kids to Pirate's Day in Milford! We're going tomorrow and the kids are so excited to dress up and go on a treasure hunt.

30X30 Challenge, final week!

Woo hoo, it's over! Do I sound relieved? Well, I am, mostly. Don't get me wrong, this was loads of fun, and I really learned a lot. However, the past two weeks have been super hard to keep going. With all the moving chaos I forgot to take my pictures a lot, took pictures with horribly messy backgrounds, or just took horrible pictures altogether. I hope you can't tell from the pics, but I've also been completely exhausted for the the past two weeks. Even though I've been going to bed earlier than ever. For some reason I can't seem to sleep past  six am lately, which sucks!

Anywho, like I said, I learned a lot about my own style. I tend to think of my style as classic with a little bit of trendy thrown in. But after this challenge I'm starting to think I'm a little boring. So maybe I need to live it up a little. Which I thoroughly intend to do. So that's my fashion goal for now, have more fun with my wardrobe!

And on to the last round of pictures!


Last Sunday. This must have been a good outfit because I wore it in the grocery store with Elijah and I got asked if he was my little brother! Before this challenge I probably would have worn black or white under the cardigan, and I would have never put a coral tank with a teal belt.



Not not my favorite. Hair is bad (it was so humid all week and I could never find time to straighten it.) I only wore this purple vest once the entire challenge, it wasn't very versatile.


 
Enter my two favorite things to wear, Toms and chambray!


So hot the day I took this picture (we don't have a/c).


Last day!!


And lookie, I actually went to some effort to put together a collage of all my lackluster looks! Go me.


Yeah those last few pics are so crooked! Whoops!

Anyway, I had a chance to already test out my new fashion outlook because the girls of my Bible study gave me a Kohls gift card as thanks for organizing our study this year. Of course you know, and they know, that Kohls is my favorite store!  I went shopping yesterday and picked these up!




CUTE! And satisfies my urge for mint skinnies. For one, I have enough skinnies. Two I'm moving to Georgia and will soon be living in shorts. My instincts were to get something white to go with it, but I got this instead.





And I already thought of about five or six other shirts I could wear with those shorts!


Sadly, I don't think I will be participating in the next challenge in August because of all our moving stuff. But I'll be following those who are!