Look to Next Year...

So here we are in December already. DECEMBER??? How did that happen? Part of me wants to just take this year and hit the delete button. I lost my dad, I was missing the passion I had for running and thought about quitting, I found out people that I thought were friends weren’t and I end the year single. But I CAN’T hit the delete button because so many great things happened.

 I got to watch an amazing little boy grow up in front of my eyes, I finally got that little sister I always wanted (Johnson that’s you!),  I graduated with my Master’s degree and celebrated with the most amazing people I know, I stood next to my best friend while she married her soul mate, I kept running, I got to go VIP to a World Series game and A Boston Bruins game, and I found out that even though life doesn’t work out the way we want it, we get the opportunity to start new every day and every year.

Next year I see good things, I see more running for sure. I have a renewed spirit for running.I I want to do another ½ marathon next year for sure. I get to run the Run to Home Base in June thanks to my company sponsoring runners and I want to finish faster than I did 2 years ago. I’ll get to meet my newest “nephew” hopefully later rather than sooner. I get to watch my niece at nationals for Cheer, which I am SO very excited about. The kid has passion for cheer and she is awesome!

I keep saying that next year has to be better than this year, but that’s unfair to this year. It wasn’t all bad, it had it’s moments. I got to spend some quality time with my mom and her cats. Oh the cats! They are lucky they are so cute or I probably would have launched one or all of them at one point. I know Milo is looking forward to seeing them go!

So as I look outside past my Christmas tree on this snowy cold night, I’m reminded of how amazing life is, how beautiful the moments are and how there is so much to look forward.

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.”
― Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Happiness

What does it take for someone to be happy? Someone asked me today if I’m happy. Besides the raging case of poison something I picked up this weekend I really am. I measure happiness by the people who surround me. Some people choose to measure happiness in other ways. They look at what is supposed to make them happy and then set out to duplicate it. For instance, my friend Heather and I went to a paint your own picture place on Friday night. There was a girl there who wasn’t going to be happy until her picture looked JUST LIKE THE ARTIST picture up front. I gave up about ½ way in trying to make mine look like anyone else’s, after all it was MY picture. If I would have spent all my time trying to make my picture perfect I wouldn’t have had any fun and therefore would not have been happy. I hope she got the desired result she was looking for.

I don’t need to get married to be happy. Some people look at their life and feel as if it is going to be incomplete unless they get married. Someone should not complete you (not matter what Jerry McGuire says) they should complement you. My best friend and her husband complement each other and you can see genuine happiness in their wedding pictures. I’ve seen pictures where one half of the couple look as happy as can be and the other half is gritting their teeth just to smile though it. But it’s what they THINK they need to be happy and they have convinced themselves of that. Those are usually the people you see with things that show status. They have a huge house (but not a huge family to fill it), go on expensive vacations and basically do things that are “status” quo”. If you need to convince yourself you are happy (and if you have fooled yourself into thinking you are) maybe it’s time to reevaluate your life priorities.

Sometimes we have to sort people out of our lives. You think you need them to be happy (I’m talking separate from love) and then you have the Ah-ha moment than you shouldn’t need to bend over backwards to make a friendship work. There’s a reason why Heather and I have been best friends for 18 (yikes!) years, our friendship is natural and there isn’t someone who is constantly giving or taking in the relationship. There was an episode of How I Met Your Mother where Ted really wanted Robin to come to a party so he threw it on a Friday, well she doesn’t show up and he tells her the party was really on Saturday. He so much wanted to make it work with her, he changed his plans and pretty much threw a 3 day party in the hopes she would come. That’s when you know a relationship isn’t going to work, if you are practically begging someone to hang out maybe you should rethink WHY it is you want to hang out with them.

I had 2 roommates in college. Therefore there were 3 of us in an apartment. I often say 3 is the loneliest number. Someone is going to get left out and it sure sucks to be that one. I hate being lonely so I only hang out in even numbers of friends. I’m kidding but I’ve been on the losing end of that group and I realized that I wasn’t that sad, so were they people that really made me happy? I can’t wait to go see the doctor later, now while that might not make me happy when I get the bill it will make me happy to get some itchy relief! See now that I’m finished with school I can’t help but want to still write during my lunch time. Old habits die hard!

MAN I SUCK AT BLOGGING!!

I haven't blogged in a while! I stopped running for awhile, my heart wasn't in it, grad school was KILLING me and life just seemed to be getting in the way. Please save the lecture, I know people work 16 hour days and still find time to run, well good for them, that wasn't me. I signed up for a running series where I need to complete 6 of 9 races and I get a super cool jacket at the end. Well my whole running crew is signed up for it so that's a motivator. But when you're sporadically running, you're not going to run your best. We've only had 2 races a 1 mile race and a 2 mile race, quick recap.

Millennium Mile- January 1, 2013- I didn't stay out late on NYE so I knew this wouldn't be a tough one to get ready for. It was FREEZING that day though, should have worn gloves and earmuffs! I finished in 9:35:43, I had my turbo boosters on near the end. I was shooting for under 10:00 and feel like I did really well. It is downhill so that helps and you walk (or take a bus) back up so technically it was 2 miles for the day. 

Then I pretty much crapped out on running, it was cold. I occasionally used the boyfriend's treadmill and I kept getting sick, like hacking up a lung sick. I skipped the Snowflake shuffle by order of the dr as I risked collapsing a lung and well I'm all set there. So moving on to the Shamrock Shuffle, went out the night before, couldn't breathe and was coughing, coughing, coughing!

Shamrock Shuffle- March 24, 2013- I felt like hell, I couldn't breathe and was coughing, it was cold again though not as bad as other times. I didn't want to run, but I had a cute tutu and a team of friends I couldn't let down!  24:42:42 with a 12:22 pace which at my peak is what I was running for a 5k. I was struggling the entire time to breathe and in the end I ended up back at the doctor with a respiratory infection which was super fun. 

I was ready to start running when the weather got nice and I was even sponsored to do the Run to Home Base in Boston, I did it last year and had a blast, and then my dad passed away. Now my dad was sick but his organs were working and he got to go home, which is all he wanted. I flew to my parent's and drive back with my mom. We got back Friday and I had zero gas to do the Run to Home Base, I was disappointed but knew I wouldn't make a 9k.

So life slowly got back to normal and I did the Color Vibe with my mom and Heather J Memorial Day weekend. It was raining and 50 degrees, throw in color powder and it was a big old mess, but we finished and I was so proud of mama. That sparked my wanting to run again. Then it got hot, yes these are all excuses but in my world they are valid. Mind you I'm finished with school, YAY! So I ran (like really ran) for the first time in a LONG time this week. It was 90 degrees and I struggled with 2 miles.  Shit, this isn't good. I have a bunch of 5k's coming up and then somehow I decided the Spartan Run would be a good idea, now apparently I'm just interesting in dying! 

We did the Adventure 5k today, it was hot. It was hard. I wanted to quit, I got in my own head. 2 of my teammates pushed and pulled me along and while I missed my goal of under and hour, I FINISHED. I drank my beer (um pumpkin blueberry?) ate 2 hotdogs and watched some other people come in. I took a cold shower when I got home and the burning started. I looked at my knees when I finished and they are all kinds of shredded, then I noticed the huge bruise on my arm. Battle scars! 

So Monday starts a new regiment. I'm doing the Workout of the Day (or WOD in the Spartan world) and I'm going to be ready for this race. Until then, you'll find me on the couch with ice on my knees, shoulder, oh hell I'll be in an ice bath! And I will blog more, I have lots of projects I'm working on and Pinterest and I are having a love/hate relationship!


Daily Mantra:
Pain is nothing compared to quitting ~ Unknown

Ah Pinterest....FAIL!

So I'm one of millions that feverishly pins on Pinterest and always have good intentions to try things. I've baked some cupcakes and made some desserts, but since I'm re-doing my Master bedroom I've been looking for DIY stuff and once I start looking on one board, it leads to another which in turn brings me to my Pinterest fail. I have long, thick hair. I wear it straight or I curl it which hot tools (hee hee hot tools!) so needless to say my hair takes a beating. I only shampoo it every other day to keep it from drying out too much. But then I found a pin that took me to this website...Olive Oil hair treatment. I mean look at her hair, it's fabulous when she's done! I mean now that I look at it, it's not the same girl. Ah crap! Oh well, I grab the EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and warmed it up and proceeded slather it all over my hair, great use for my $10 olive oil, but I digress. Add a bun and a some saran wrap and I was good to go for a while. All this time on my hands now that I'm finished with school and I end up in oil and saran wrap, ahhhhh.

I left it on for an hour and found some other stuff to do, fold some clothes, watch some Undercover Boss and may have pinned some more stuff. Now being that I have a Master's degree now and I'm wicked smart I knew to shampoo my hair BEFORE you get it wet. I meant oil and water don't mix! I shampooed it and it did feel smooth but that could have be the layer of oil on my hands. So I went ahead and conditioned it really well too. So I get out of the shower towel dry my hair and I couldn't really tell a difference when I was combing it. I blow dried it on low heat and it felt softer. I didn't want to ruin the reveal for myself so I did it away from a mirror. Now in my head it was going to look like my friend Carrie Ann's hair, it's ALWAYS shiny and nice and well you can see by the picture that well it pretty much looks the same as it always does. And really it wasn't even THAT shiny. Sigh. So I guess I could say it wasn't a fail since it didn't say MIRACLE HAIR SERUM! But I did click on some others and they all said the word shiny so to me that's a fail. 

In other news, I'm going to blog more! I'm going to blog about my whole bedroom re-do, summer races and graduation!! WOO!! 

A.D.D blog, little of this...little of Oh look a squirrel!

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned,

so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.

Joseph Campbell

Life doesn’t always go as planned. Ask my dad; he didn’t really expect to be wishing for a new liver for Christmas. I keep telling him it’s because he already has everything else he could ever need, so why not go out on a limb! I don’t really talk or post about it a lot because really it is what it is, we can’t change it. But I’ve already been tested and my liver seems to be in good working order.

I set 3 goals at the beginning of this year and I can say I have already accomplished all 3; I’d like to kick ass in Economics as well. If I look at it this way I have 22 weeks of actual school left. Then I guess I’ll be wicked smart! But with being wicked smart should come be wicked happy!

I found this quote recently and I realized we all hold on to pain, why? It’s PAIN, it hurts, makes us sad, bitter and keeps us from living the happy life we’re all entitled.

Let go. Why do you cling to pain? There is nothing
 you can do about the wrongs of yesterday. It is
 not yours to judge. Why hold on to the very thing 
which keeps you from hope and love?

I try to take all my problems and when I run leave them on the pavement. But there have been times when I can’t do that. I was holding on to things, for WAY too long. Or I thought I was letting go and in the end I would let things consume me again. Why? I don’t like to be bitter and grumpy (and when you’re generally happy people notice). So I took that quote and wrote down those things that caused me pain and took them out to my BBQ and with a bottle of wine LET IT GO! I woke up the next day feeling as if a weight had been lifted. I was carrying so much burden of pain that was caused by OTHER people and yet I was the one who was suffering.

So boys and girls what did I learn? 1. Soaking paper in lighter fluid makes a REALLY big flame and pouring wine on it to try and kill it only makes it bigger! 2. There is only one person you truly have to live with your entire life, YOURSELF! 3. Always remember to make that person happy, I shouldn’t have to tell you that, but then again I had to remind myself of that!

In other news, I put in a good 6 mile run today, but AGAIN my Nike+ app crashed when I tried to upload it again. Did 13:30 miles, which for me was a great pace. I didn’t run out of steam before I ran out of water or good music so I call that a WIN! I’m trying to finish my project I’m doing with my race bibs and medals but I can’t find the one from the ½ marathon, seriously the MOST important one and I can’t remember the safe place I put it! I’ll find it and when I do, hopefully I’ll have it done shortly after that. I have no races for September (there is one in 2 weeks, maybe I’ll run it) and I’d like to find a 10k in October. Then November 4^th is the ½ marathon which I’m sure I’ll see everyone I know there!!

Daily Mantra: "There are things that we never want to let go of, people we never want to leave behind. But keep in mind that letting go isn’t the end of the world; it’s the beginning of a new life."

70 Days

70 days until the All Women and One Lucky Guy 1/2 marathon. I banged out 5 miles yesterday with about a 12:50-13 minute pace which is what I'm aiming to try and keep. Though there will be no princesses or prince charming along the way this time. It'll be me and the road and hopefully all my friends at the finish line waiting to pick me up! I'm not nervous like I was last time, but actually following a training schedule is harder than I thought. I didn't last time and I admitted when it was over the most I had run was about 9 miles. So the last 4.1 were all adrenaline, this time I'd like to actually get to the 12 mile mark before the race. I'm doing a lot of short runs in there too and as much as I want to go fast, I'm trying to set pace for the race. I did the Tavern to Tavern 5k last week, all by myself. I got up at 6, drove to Boston, took the T (and didn't get lost) and ran all before 10. Little bummed it was the same medal as last year, but I guess that's to be expected from most races. 

I need to start to work on my bib board and medal rack. Class is officially over this week, so I have 3 whole weeks with no homework and I think after work I shall go to Michael's and start my project. I have to find all my bibs that I still have and print out some pictures to go in there too. 

It's also time for new motivation on the back of my front door. I'll keep the brick wall quote up but I need some new running quotes. I'm past giving up now and no pain no gain. Ok maybe not the whole no pain since my quads hurt today for sure! 

In other painful news, my next class is Economics. Still LOATHE math and will be calling on all my math geek friends, Matt ya hear that? But after that, is one more class! And then I will be done with school FOREVER! And I'll probably still do 5k's but I may be hanging up my running shoes too. Thinking about doing something like kickboxing or one of those fancy fighting classes. Get rid of my pent up anger and tone up. I also started whole food, no sugar again today. Ask me in 3 days if I'm ready to kill someone, hmmm maybe I should start that kickboxing now!


Daily Mantra: You only get one chance at life, do it right and that's all you'll need. 

Color Run!

Dubbed the Happiest 5k on Earth the Trifecta +1 (yay Kathy!) took on this 5k on a beautiful Saturday morning. Thank God for Bill driving as traffic was a nightmare getting there. He was able to drop us off at the start line and we got in the mass crowd. We ran and we walked and in some cases we rolled (in the color of course!) and had a BLAST. The nightmare continued when we were done, it took over an hour for a bus to come get us and had we not got in line when we did it would have been a 3 hour wait from what we read! Deanna, Kathy and I went to Friday's to celebrate and had a few cocktails and food that we had been longing for! I'd do this again if they organize it better but all in all 2 thumbs up!

Daily Mantra: Color makes the world a happier place!