Thinking Out Loud

Linking up today with Running with Spoons today for Thinking Out Loud Thursday! :)

1. Being a grown up is hard. Like, really hard. Making big decisions suck. P & I went and started the process of looking for/buying a house and I can already tell it's going to be a struggle. Luckily, we both have a house in mind that we like (which is an accomplishment in itself, trust me). Granted, it's a long shot that we'll actually get it but either way, it's a start. Does anyone have any home buying advice? We could seriously use some.

One of my favorite parts of the house... so cozy!

2. Speaking of living situations, a new couple moved above us in our apartment complex and they have a kid. Now, before I get yelled at, I love kids and cannot WAIT to have one of my own one day. But let me tell you--this girl must have some energy because from 9am-10pm all we hear is her running back and forth across their apartment. (Maybe I just need to start thinking about this whenever I get frustrated with point #1 of this post) All I can think about is June. And we'll be OUT (hopefully!).

3. Tuesday I decided to be adventurous and meet up with a running group (which happened to be all men?) the next town over and... it was awesome in the "I'm a crazy runner" kind of way. I'll put it this way--I'm glad I didn't know what I was getting myself into before we started. I knew we were going for 6-8 miles but what was failed to mention is that half of those miles were up a mountain. Seriously. But I have to be honest, when we got to the top and I had beat a majority of the other guys, I felt like a certified badass. And when we were done? The runner's high was incredible. There's nothing quite like being a runner.

8:27 pace--I'll take it! 

4. Figuring out life plans sucks almost as bad as buying a house. I know WHAT I want to do but figuring out how to get there is becoming a struggle. More than anything I want to become a dietitian. I've never wanted anything more in my life. The problem? I can't move. P & I are pretty much stuck where we are for a few years (which is the middle of nowhere more or less). I found a few online programs that could POTENTIALLY work out but I'm still in the research process. I can't even begin to explain how ready I am to LEARN again. I'm ready to get back in school! I'm trying to be patient and I know that whatever is meant to be, will be, but..... it's definitely hard.

5. IT'S ALMOST GIRLS WEEKEND! Hello, much needed break from the real world! I'm so excited to meet up with my best friends in Richmond tomorrow! It's been a stressful semester and I'm so looking forward to getting out of town and just being.. young again. Sometimes growing up I get so caught up in making decisions and working and getting into a routine that I forget I'm only 27! Although there's no way I could keep up with "college Sarah", I'm allowed to kick up my heels and have fun every now and then, ya know?! So here's to being youthful and *gasp* crazy this weekend (but not too crazy :)).

Have a wonderful Thursday!

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.

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!

---

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

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?!

5 on Friday

Ahh! Okay, I SWEAR I'm trying to be a good blogger. But man, balancing work, working out, and blogging is tough! 

Linking up with the blog Carolina Charm today! 

1. The last few weekends have been CRAZY! But in the absolute BEST way imaginable. I went ziplining 3 weekends ago (second time ever!) in the mountains of North Carolina and it was so. much. fun. Did I mention that it was part of my job? ;)

Two weekends ago I did my second Color-Me-Rad race... LOVED it, again. If you've never done a color race, DO ONE! Even if you're not a "runner", it's so much fun and there's absolutely no way you could regret it. 

Throwing up my L's for Louisville :)

Once the race was over, I rushed home to watch my Cards give UK a good beating and then it was time for a fancy work-school related dinner. I remember in college having to dress up ALL THE TIME and hating it and now I LOVE it because I never get to! We went with my parents who were also invited and my co-worker/best friend and had a blast. 

And then there was last weekend. I'm a workout JUNKIE and LOVE to run so when my boss asked if I wanted to do a 5k followed by a 5k obstacle course, I was totally down. It was pouring rain and I have to be honest, I felt like a total bad ass. I finished second overall in the 5k and my boss and I tied for first in the obstacle course. I was super tired afterward but it was awesome. 

2. THIS WEEKEND! I feel like I'm a broken record but as crazy/stressful as my week's have been, the weekend's have been my saving grace. This weekend is homecoming weekend and I'm stoked. The farther and farther you get away from your college graduation (I'm 3 years out now), you start realizing just how special homecoming really is. Although I work at my alma mater, it's still one of my absolute favorite weekends. I'm looking forward to seeing all of my sorority sisters, old friends, and having FUN. GO CAVS!

3. I'm finally getting a new iPhone! Okay, total first world problem here but I've had my iPhone 4 for over two years now and although I love it, I gotta be honest. She's slower than Christmas nowadays. So last Saturday I headed to AT&T and ordered my gold iPhone 5s. :) 

4. Next weekend I'm getting certified to teach Insanity classes! Okay, not the mental illness but actual "Shaun T-this ain't no coffee break" classes. I'm beyond excited and ready to get my first fitness certification! And okay, I'm starting to look at personal training / group fitness certs. It's been a long time coming but... I'm ready. Fitness/Nutrition is where my passion lies and I'm ready to start positioning myself to get into that area. :) Exciting stuff, especially for a mid-twenty something who has spent a few years not really knowing WHAT to do with her life. 

5. My boyfriend. As stressful as life has been, he's always there for me, no matter what. He's my best friend, my partner in crime, and my "dawg" and I can't wait to start planning our future together. :) 2014 is our year! 

Sarah

This is Me.

Hello, blogging world.

After way too many years of reading blogs, I figured it was finally time I started one. My life is fairly boring and quite predictable but what can I say--there's a blog for everything nowadays, right? With a crazy, hectic job and a little more "me" time on my hands than usual, I feel like now is probably primetime to start a blog.

So, who am I?

First and foremost, I'm a runner. I take a lot of pride in this simply because a few years ago, I would have laughed in your face had you told me I would one day learn to love to run. I'm by no means a "great" runner but I have such a passion for the sport that it doesn't matter. I've won a couple of local races and have been #1 in my age group several times (once in a race with over 400 people!). Since I started running I've dropped my 5k time by almost 6 minutes--a feat I'm pretty proud of. I'm currently sitting at a 22:56 PR time for my 5k and working on getting a sub 2-hour half marathon in November. I'm a runner nerd and I'm proud of it. :)

Along with running, I'm a huge fitness fanatic. I'm lucky to have a boss who is just as crazy as I am about fitness and our daily bouts with Insanity have become my favorite part of the day. So much so that in October I'll be getting my first "real" certification and will become certified to teach an Insanity-style class. :)

BUT enough about the fitness nerd.

I've got an awesome job (I get paid to go skydiving!), an absolutely wonderful family, two of the best friends a girl could ask for and a loving boyfriend who makes me a better person each and everyday. I have no idea what I want to do with my life (nutrition? sports med?), I'm a die hard Louisville Cardinals fan, and I don't think I've ever really felt "grown up" (is that normal?!).

I don't know what kind of blog this will turn into (fitness? life? quarter life crisis?!) but I hope you'll stick around and see what it's like to be... Simply Sarah.