Currently....

One of the major perks of working for a college? SNOW DAYS! Second Wednesday in a row I've been off of work. Do I have a BILLION things to accomplish before Friday? Of course. Does this put a wrench in plans for the sorority recruitment we've been planning? You better believe it. But you know what, for the next couple of hours, I'm going to sit under my heated blanket, watch the Today show, and enjoy it. 

Oh and put this survey on here. That too.

Currently reading…

Do blogs count? I've got a stack of health/fitness magazine a mile high that I haven't touched in months. And a real book? I haven't read one of those since... summer? (whoops!) Work has been so crazy this year that any free time I have I either go to the gym or run to help with stress... or come home and sit under my heated blanket and pin everything I see. (like now)

Currently watching…

The Today Show. Every morning since I was 10. (Am I the only one who thinks Willie Geist is HOT?)

Currently dreading…

Being out of town so much this semester! I was in DC last weekend for a conference, I'm heading to Indianapolis this weekend for an NBA game (for work!), next weekend I'm off to Pigeon Forge for my birthday (!), the following weekend I'm traveling to West Virginia for a ski weekend (also for work), I get the next weekend off and then I'm off to Colorado for a health & wellness conference for half a week. That's not even counting March where I'll be going to a Spartan Race in Charlotte (for WORK! I can't WAIT!!) & going to Atlanta for a week for another conference. Hello, spring semester. 

Currently wishing…

I had more done for my wedding! I'm so behind. :( 

Currently needing…

My fiancé to get out of bed. :) He's on night shift for a 6 weeks so I never get to see him! 

Currently wanting…

To magically get the motivation to go workout this morning instead of waiting until this afternoon. I'm totally not a morning workout person. Maybe when I have kids? It would make life much less complicated. 

Currently eating…

Nothing yet but I see some chocolate PB2 in my future. :)

Currently drinking…

Diet mountain dew. Don't judge. :)

Currently wearing…

long socks, running shorts, an old college shirt and I'm reppin' a Louisville Cardinals quarter zip on top. Who cares that it's -103832098 outside. 

Currently loving…

Running. I go through stages with running but lately it's been nothing but love. I'm so completely ready for racing season to get here! I was hoping to get my first one in during February but it's looking like the second weekend in March will be my first race of the year. :) Oh and my fiancé, of course. He was passing by our apartment last night on his way back to the office and stopped in to tuck me in. Swoon. :)

Wedding Wednesday

I don't have much on the way of an update this week on my actual wedding but... I thought I'd post some of my inspiration! I'm hoping to attend my first wedding show (!!) in the next few weeks and nail down some more details (like uh, cake, photographer, invites.......) but until then, here are my favorite pins off of Pinterest (seriously, how did people plan a wedding before Pinterest?!).

I love everything about this photo and it's served as inspiration for the little planning I have done so far! I'm obsessed with the color combo!

I LOVE LIGHTS! I have some up in my living room all year long and absolutely love the rustic look it gives off (my "theme"). This is perfect. 

I love the idea of not having a "traditional" guest book. Don't get me wrong--there's nothing wrong with a traditional one but I love the idea of doing a photo book.. or a painting... or polaroids. I haven't decided what I want yet but this is great. 

This is probably my favorite tablescape, ever. Although I won't be using long tables like this one during my reception, I love the chevron table runner, the gold, the glitter... it's PERFECT!

I'm obsessed with ruffle cakes! I don't know if that's their technical term but that's what I've been calling them! They're so different! 

I'm constantly on Instagram and will definitely be doing this!

As a true Virginia girl, this is probably my favorite invite that I've seen so far. I'm not sure if I'll go this route or not, but it's amazing! So perfect. 

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Of course like every other girl in the world, I have like, 10 billion wedding pins on my Pinterest board(s) (I have multiple... whoops!) but these are some of my favorites! :) If you want to see more, follow me! 

Have a great Wednesday! I scored the day off because of snow (I love working at a college!) so I plan on taking a much deserved "rest" day. 

It's a Monday.

Sometimes, it's just a Monday. And as much as you'd like to tell everyone about how awesome your weekend was (if by awesome you mean finding a baby mole running around your apartment), a survey just sounds much easier. Maybe tomorrow I'll update and tell you how I'll be out of town every weekend for the next month and a half. It's going to be a heck of a semester.

Favorite Color:

Aqua, turqouise, teal, mint.... you get the picture. Plus gold. And peach. Pretty much this picture x 1098123908. 

Favorite Animal:

I kind of really love cats to be honest. I'm one of "those" people. 

Favorite Non-alcoholic Drink:

Diet Mountain Dew. Color me addicted.

Facebook or Twitter:

Neither?! I'm all about some instagram. Follow me! 

Favorite Pattern:

Obsessed with chevron. Sue me. 

FYI, totally making this when I have free time. 

Favorite Number:

18 & 33. Both of my sports numbers. :)

Favorite Flower:

Every. Single. Flower. In. This. Bouquet. 

Passion:

Running. Fitness. Healthy Living. All of the above?

Real update soon, promise!

Five Things Friday

Gotta be honest--I'm pretty stinkin' glad it's Friday. Students came back this week so it's back to constantly being busy for me… which isn't such a bad thing but I gotta admit, I enjoyed the peace and quiet. ;)

Five Favorites:

1. Second round of Insanity! It's been a while since my boss and I have had time to do the max workouts but man.. they're so effective! I love insanity because within an hour, you've had a kickass workout! I'm pretty sure I would marry Shaun T if I could… and well, if he wasn't gay. He's totally my celeb crush!

2. Grilled cheeses. I have no shame in admitting that grilled cheeses are my very favorite food on the face of this earth. For real. And I make one heck of a good one. Speaking of which, does anyone else put mayo on theirs? P thinks it's so weird. I think it's delicious. 

3. House of Cards!!!! AHHH. I'm obsessed! P & I finally broke down and started watching it and I'm so into it! We're on episode 9 I think?! I can't wait to see what happens. Kevin Spacey is fantastic. And can we just talk about how fabulous Robin Wright is?! 

4. The next 3 months of my life. Uhh, it's about to get crazy! Next weekend I'm in DC for a sorority conference, the following weekend I'm in Indianapolis for an NBA/work trip, the weekend after I'm celebrating my birthday, the week after that I'm going skiing for work, the week after that I'm potentially going to Colorado for a fitness conference (!!!), 2 weeks later I'm doing a Spartan Race in North Carolina (SO STOKED!) and then the week after that I'm in Atlanta for another conference. Umm……. dear life, slow down, please?!

5. Double dates. We went on a double date last Saturday night with one of P's coworkers and it was so much fun! I felt like a "real" grownup! We had dinner and saw "Lone Survivor"--totally recommend by the way. But seriously… when did I start living with a boy, get engaged, and start going on double dates?! Wasn't it just yesterday I was in college?!?! Oy.

Five Workouts

Saturday: Crossfit!
We did some skill work… it was much needed. I love Saturday mornings! AND….. I'm totally doing kipping pull-ups now. So stoked.

Monday: Max cardio insanity + this cross fit workout.. it looks easy but it was so intense! One of my favorites!

Tuesday: 6 mile run interval + some arms. Nothing special here.

Wednesday: Insanity max cardio circuit (or something like that… I always forget the real name). Definitely the hardest DVD out of all of them. And my favorite. :) + 2 mile run.

Thursday: Insanity Pure Cardio + Cardio Abs + random jump rope & sit-up workout I found on Pinterest.

Good workout week! I've got more cross fit and insanity in store for the weekend.

Five Favorite Pins:

1. These look soooo good! Going to add these to my repertoire after my birthday (chocolate free until 2/7!).

2. Kind of love this. 

3. MUST keep this in mind. 

4. Guilty. 

5. I love everything about this.

Kind of a boring week on my end--hopefully next week will be more interesting. :) Have a great weekend! 

Random Things About Me.

Well, since my blog is relatively new, I thought what better way to get to know the "real" me then provide you all with some (slightly embarrassing) facts about the girl behind the blog.

Being super awkward.

1. From the ages 10-12, I was OBSESSED with tornados. Like… we're talking I use to sleep every night with the weather channel on just in case there was a tornado watch or warning. Mind you, I live in the mountains of VA and although there have been tornados here, it's SUPER rare. I vividly remember one night when we happened to have a tornado watch and my stomach was in knots all night long. I wouldn't eat dinner because I was too busy watching the weather channel. Around 8:30pm, a street cleaner drove down our road, I thought it was a tornado, and went and locked myself in the bathroom for a good hour. Needless to say, my older brother & sister still make fun of me for that one.

2. I went skydiving…… for my JOB! I'm over student activities & recreation at the college I work for and one of our most popular trips is skydiving. My first time taking the trip, one of the students dropped out at the last second so I replaced her. I didn't tell ANYONE--not even P--until after it was over. It was one of the absolute COOLEST things I've ever done.

3. I have MASSIVE feet. I'm only 5'7 1/2" but have size 12 feet!!!! WTF. It's just as terrible as you can imagine. Shoe shopping in a store is pretty much nonexistent. Although it's getting better (power to all the women with big feet!).

4. I've run two half marathons and plan on running two more this year. My first half was awful--I quit training for it mid-way through because work was absolutely crazy and I kind of did it half-heartedly. I finished somewhere around 2:28:00 and wasn't very happy with it. The second one.. I CRUSHED! Funnily enough, the longest run I got in prior to the race was an 8 miler. My goal going in was a sub-2 hour half and I came in at 1:49!!!! It was literally the run of my life. I attribute a lot of that run to the many hours of Insanity my boss and I did prior.

Not from my half. But close enough, right? 

5. Speaking of running, before every race I take the same picture.

You get the idea.

6. At age 26, I think I FINALLY know what I want to do with my life. They always say turn your passion into your job and you'll never work a day in your life. Well, my passion is health, wellness, & fitness…so after much debate, I've decided to go back to school to become a dietitian. I have been accepted to the online dietitian program through the University of Alabama and will hopefully be starting classes this summer. A BIG step but I'm so ready to start learning again it's not even funny!

7. My favorite food is probably a grilled cheese. I suck at cooking but I can make one heck of a grilled cheese. Just saying.

8. My favorite show is/was Breaking Bad, bitch. (and for the record, I thought the ending was PERFECT)

Yeah Mr. White!

9. I love watching crazy documentaries on Netflix. P hates it but I'm obsessed. My favorite so far? How to Die in Oregon. Slightly morbid but worth a watch! It definitely sparks debate and makes you think. 

10. My parents own two Dairy Queen's and up until about a year ago, I had never had a milkshake. I've also never had a moon pie, strawberry, cherry, frosty…. the list goes on and on and on.

Wedding Wednesday

Another Wedding Wednesday!

First of all, as of yesterday, I've been engaged exactly one month! It's hard to believe it's been that "long".. it still seems like it just happened yesterday. The first couple of days after we got engaged, I'd get so annoyed when people would ask me when the "big day" was and now when they ask, I realize how incredibly far behind I am on wedding planning. Oy.

BUT…. the good news is, I do officially HAVE a day! I may have a million, billion, TRILLION other things to do but as of last Thursday afternoon, I set in stone the date that will forever be my wedding anniversary. And that my friends, is a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders.

On Saturday, October 4th, 2014, I will officially marry my best friend. :)

I have my sister-in-law to thank for this one. As most of my friends know, I'm the world's worst about procrastinating. And I'm way too laid back for my own good. These two traits put together = I tend to live by the belief that if somethings meant to be, it will happen on it's own time. Which, don't get me wrong, isn't such a bad philosophy to  live by.. but when you're trying to plan a wedding and you live in place where there aren't too many fabulous wedding venues in the first place… well, it quickly becomes an issue.

So, about a week and a half ago, we were texting back and forth and she was scouring the web for wedding locations and found one that was basically perfect. It has the rustic feel of a barn… but isn't. It's got a lot of space. An awesome dance floor. A BAR (thank god!), a patio overlooking the mountains. And basically has my name written all over it. We'll have both the wedding and the reception there and there are plenty of hotels near by where guests can party the night away… and if it's anything like my brothers wedding, there will be LOTS of that going on.

We made an appointment to go look on Wednesday of last week, Facetimed my parents to show them (they're in Hawaii… lucky), discussed details with the event coordinator and Thursday I signed my life away on the dotted line. Pretty straightforward, right?

All of that being said, I'm so incredibly excited! It was actually the only place I went and looked at but… I pretty much knew right away that it was it. I can't wait to celebrate with all of my family and friends and have the BEST wedding/party ever!

Now I just need to find a photographer, get a dress, talk catering, get the guest list finalized………….

Oy.

Five Things Friday

Heyyyyyyy two weeks in a row!

It was back to work this week after 3 weeks off…. blah! Good thing I love my job! :)


Five Favorites

1. FINDING A WEDDING VENUE & DATE! This has been a MAJOR stress in my life. I think I vastly underestimated this whole "planning a wedding" thing. BUT at least now I know I'll be getting married SOMEWHERE. Better than nothing, right?

sneak peak :)

2. Eating HEALTHY! Newsflash--I ate terribly over the holidays. But hey, that's what the holidays are for, right? I pretty much survived off of chocolate and fried food (I miss it already!). This week however, I've been super good! I haven't had ANY chocolate (WHAT) and I've made a conscious effort to portion control and log everything going into my body. It really makes a difference, you know? I'm definitely a mindless snacker so to combat that, I portioned out all of the packaged foods in my apartment. P & I also made an awesome low-fat turkey chili and low fat cornbread (using yogurt and splenda… it's actually pretty good!). So far, so good!

3. New (old) football coach at Louisville! I was sad to see Charlie go but Bobby Petrino is a pretty good replacement. He coached at Louisville when we won the Orange Bowl so we know he's a winner. I hope he's still got it. GO CARDS! 

I don't know who made this but… it's awesome.

4. Carrots. I'm almost positive I'm going to turn orange this week. I may or may not have gone through two rather large bags already……

5. Going back to work! I was dreading it on Monday (especially since it was like, -5 outside) but once I got in (and warm), I was glad to be back. I loved having time off but I definitely do better with a routine. No question about it. And plus, like I said, I love my job. It's stressful at times and there's certainly never a dull moment but it fits me pretty perfectly for the moment. 

Five Workouts

1. Crossfit and a 7 mile run on Saturday… Friday was my rest day and apparently my body recovered well. I was only going to do 3 or 4 miles but felt good and kept going. I love when that happens!

2. 6 mile run OUTSIDE on Sunday. After being on a treadmill for the last month, that one felt GOOD. I probably could have ran 13 or 14 if it hadn't have started getting dark. Time wise, it was no where near my best. But mentally, it was perfect.

plus one undocumented mile

3. Insanity plyometric cardio circuit/3.5 mile run/Crossfit on Monday. Okay, okay. Even I'l admit, I overdid it on Monday. But… somedays you just have it. And this was one of those days.

4. Insanity cardio power & resistance/3.5 mile run. Nothing special here. Took it pretty easy on both of these workouts.

5. I caught a cold on Wednesday so had a much needed rest day. Today I did a quick round of Pure Cardio insanity and then jumped on the treadmill for a quick 1.5 mile cool down run.

Five Favorite Pins

1.

LOVE THIS!

2.

This made me LOL. Love it. I'm obsessed with House Hunters (and all things HGTV, obvi). 

3. 

ALWAYS.

4. 

I. Freaking. LOVE. This. Totally inspiration for my wedding… just saying. 

5. 

I will be ATTEMPTING to recreate this sometime in the near future. I'm getting pretty good at burlap wreaths!

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So, there you have it. I hope everyone has an awesome weekend! My plans consist of cross fit tomorrow and lots of lounging and relaxation with my fiancé. :) 

Sarah

Wedding Wednesday!

I LOVE reading everyone's Wedding Wednesday posts and now I can finally participate! :)

Obviously I don't have much done at this point in the form of "plans" (although I'm going to see a venue today! Eek!) but I thought I'd go through the story of how P and I got engaged (hint--he did GOOD!).

So, a little under a month ago, it was a big weekend for P & I. He was graduating from the police academy on a Thursday (yay!), all of his family was coming in (plus some of mine!), I had my end of the year work party on Friday at noon, he had this end of the year work party Friday night, my best friend graduated from her master's degree on Saturday, one of my sorority sisters got married Saturday night, I had Christmas with my best friends planned for Sunday night (one of which drove 8 hours!), and P & I were leaving for a whirlwind 2 week road trip on Monday. See what I mean?! Little did I know that all of these would take backseat to what happened on Friday morning (the 13th I might add)! 

Thursday night after P graduated, we had a party for him all of our families. That night he asked if I wanted to go hiking in the morning to a mountain overlook so he could check out his friend's scope to see if he wanted to buy it. I thought it was a LITTLE strange we were going hiking at 8am in the morning on a Friday but I also knew we both had things to do that day (my party, he had to go to a funeral) so it didn't really phase me too much. And plus, he said it wouldn't take very long and we'd go back to my mom and dad's and have breakfast with everyone as soon as we were done.

So, flash forward to Friday morning. I get up and am taking my time to get ready (as always) and P is asking me every 5 minutes if I'm ready yet. NO! I first put on a pair of running tights, a warm running jacket, and my winter coat..... but as soon as we got in the car, I quickly realized I was going to need sweatpants. So I ran back inside and delayed us even more. As we were driving to the overlook (about 15-20 minutes), everything seemed completely normal. I always hear stories about the guy seeming nervous/acting weird beforehand but other than rushing me to get ready, P was completely cool. 

We finally get to the parking lot at the entrance of the overlook and of course, it's locked. So we had to hoof it about a mile and a half on foot (let's note that it's a cool 19 degrees outside). I don't remember ever being cold but I do remember thinking how QUIET and peaceful it was. It was... perfect. 

Once we got to the overlook, I, of course, still have no idea what's going on. P tells me I can walk around and take pictures if I want (I'm ALWAYS instagramming!) while he sets up the scope. He tells me he's going to see if he can see the "shack"... which is a small apartment in my parents backyard that he lived in for a few months last year. It takes about 5 minutes but he finally finds it. At this point, he calls me over asking if I want to take a look and well, duh, of course I do. I just walked a mile and a half in below freezing weather for this. :) I bend down to look in and immediately go to touch it... at which point, P's like "NO! Don't move it!" so I try one more time. And there it was. As soon as I looked through the scope, on the deck of the "Shack" P had his mother and sister make a sign that said, "Marry Me?". 

At this point, it's all a blur. I remember turning around so quickly that P hadn't even had a chance to get down on one knee. Once he did though, all I remember was saying "oh my gosh" and "are you serious?" a billion times over. And crying. Like a maniac. It was so completely perfect and so totally us that I smile every time I think about that morning. That overlook was where we had one of our very first (and most memorable dates). And every fall I make P take me up there and drive around looking at leaves. So to have it all come "full circle" was pretty special. 

Unfortunately the ring didn't fit right away (the jeweler sized it wrong... boo!) but it was the diamond his grandfather bought his grandmother back in the 40's and absolutely perfect. I love everything about it and although I'm still getting use to having a rock on my hand, I can't help but stare. :)

Please disregard my wrinkly "grandmother" hands as my sister refers to them

Once I was done crying (it took a while), we trekked back to the car and headed down the mountain to see everyone. I LOVED that both his family and my family were there to celebrate. It was so surreal and perfect. We took lots of pictures, he told me about how he had started planning all of this back in June, and all of the girls immediately started asking me wedding questions (go figure ;)). 

The "sign" :)

We're Engaged!!!!!! 

So, there you have it. My first wedding Wednesday. It's been almost a month since we've been engaged and I'm still glowing. 

Now let's hope next Wednesday we're talking dates/venues! :)

Five Things Friday

So, I'm linking up with Clare today for this one!

Five Workouts

So. Much. Running!

Monday: 6.5 mile treadmill workout + arm/abs workout

Tuesday: I ended 2013 with a 7 miler & this WOD:
17 min AMRAP
15 burpees
30 squats
30 HRPU
30 dubs
30 sit-ups

Wednesday: 5 miler + 117 burpees (WOD)

Thursday: 4 mile interval workout + arms/abs

Friday: Maybe rest? Maybe a few circuit workouts? Legs are pretty tired!

This weekend I plan on hitting up cross fit Saturday AM + getting a run or two in.

And I had to share this picture from over Christmas--I went to my cousin's gym while I was in Louisville and they have a cardio THEATER. How cool is that? It's a legit theater and instead of seats, they have a ton of cardio equipment (treadmills, stair steppers, bikes, ellipticals) and they show movies all day long.

Awesome, right?!

Five Things I loved this week:

1. Being home!!! Since 12/13, P & I have been EVERYWHERE!! We drove to Texas, New Orleans, Charlottesville, & Louisville within the span of a week and a half. In case you're wondering, that's like, 9 states total and a crap ton of miles.

New Orleans… where it rained….. a LOT.

Autumn leaves & Xmas lights in Houston 

Braving the rain in New Orleans…. we got SOAKED.

2. Being Engaged! I was definitely NEVER one of those girls who had their wedding planned out since the age of 8 and I certainly never pictured myself being married before 30 but I can't imagine my life with anyone else. (Too cheesy?) We went for a morning hike on Friday the 13th because P wanted to check out some kind of hunting scope before buying it (I think that's what it's called??) It was the day after he graduated from the police academy and all of his family was in so I thought it was a LITTLE strange we were going hiking at 8am but I just assumed his friend needed the scope back ASAP. So we go up to the mountain where we had one of our first (and favorite!) dates and go to the overlook where if you look hard enough, you can see my parents house. So while he's getting the scope set up, he tells me to take a few pictures (I'm obsessed!) and once he gets it set up, he asks me to come over. I look through the scope and it's focused on the deck of the workshop outside of my parents house and there's a big sign that says "Marry Me?". He did good.

3. Snow! There's only a couple of inches out there but it's snow! We haven't really had any at all this winter yet.

4. Being lazy. For the first time in I can't even tell you when, I've been lazy. I'm usually on the go all the time but I've really taken time this week to relax. And with the semester I have coming up at work, I need to get in all of the relaxation I can get.

5. This quote. It fits my running story to a T.

Five Things I'm looking forward to

1. Getting back to work and a routine! I'm ready to push through the next few months and end this year with a bang.

2. Cross fit! I had to take a couple of weeks off because of all the traveling we did over the Holidays so I'm really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

3. HEALTHY EATING!!! It feels good eating veggies and fruit after all of the delicious "junk" during the holidays.

4. Wedding planning! I *think* I might have found a venue…….. keep your fingers crossed?!

5. 2014 in general! So many big changes are going to be happening this year! New last name, new house (hopefully)…. and a few other potential exciting changes that are still in the works. :)

What's making you happy this week?!