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

Songs that Define Me

Participating in my first link-up! That's pretty blogger-ish, right?!

I have three songs on the agenda for today... all vastly different but totally me!

1. "Lose Yourself" by Eminem

This has been my go-to jam when I'm running for like, 5 years now. It's funny because I SWEAR it's like my iPhone knows when I'm struggling because it always comes on at the exact right time when I need it the most. When I ran my first half marathon and was seriously struggling around mile 10, this came on and all I could think about was the line "here I go it's my shot, feet fail me not, this may be the only opportunity that I got" and boom--the finish line was mine. This song will NEVER get old.

2. "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz

This will always, ALWAYS be my favorite song. I've been a huge fan of Jason Mraz since his "Remedy" days and have seen him in concert 3 times now. There's just something about this song. I always tell my friends that when I hear this song it's a sign that life is good and it's God's way of saying "keep smiling". Cheesy but the truth. :) KEEP SMILING PEOPLE!

3. "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith

Okay--if you thought the last song was cheesy then just wait for this one. This song defines a very important moment in my life--the first time I told Peter I loved him.... even if I thought he didn't hear me. ;) A little backstory-- we were at my cousin's wedding and dancing the night away after a few too many whiskey sours. Armageddon has and will always be Peter's favorite movie so my brother thought it would be funny to get the DJ to play this song. It came on and I know this sounds crazy but it was just one of those "moments" that you always see in movies but never think will actually happen to you. It was during this song that I knew Peter was the one for me and whispered "I love you" for the first time but didn't think he heard me. A few days later he told me he heard me loud and clear.. and it was official. :)

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.