Am I the Only One?

Good Wednesday to you all!  I hope your day is treating you well so far.  Mine was off to a good start and continuing nicely along that trajectory.  Just a few random thoughts today… as if my random thoughts yesterday weren’t enough!  A lot of “anyone else?” questions below!

So this morning I woke up at 7:30.  Not bad except I’d prefer to wake up at 7:15. My dream time is 7.  But no matter what I do, no matter how much I prepare and set myself up for success the night before, I wake up at 7:30.  I think it’s because I know I can still be on time if I wake up at 7:30, even if I wake up at 7:45… or 7:50 as has happened before.  I’m on time, but I’m rushed, and I don’t get to do everything I want to do… like a little eye makeup and play with bling.  Any tips on how to actually wake up?  Let me say that my alarm goes off at 6:40 and I’ve tried a variety of noises.  I do wake up, I just hit snooze-a-looze and go back to sleep.  Who else has this problem?

So far so good on the healthy train.  Yesterday I DID NOT want to run.  It was on my schedule to do a 2 mile run after work and I just wasn’t feeling it.  My head was allergy foggy all day, I had a twinge in my back, I was feeling like I had a little bit of cramps, and most importantly, I just didn’t want to.  As always, I turned to the friend for guidance and butt kicking.  Here is a quick summary of the texts following this one…

Me: my plan today was to run 2 miles.  I’m still so foggy.  Run or no?
Friend: brisk walk if that’ll feel better?
Me: I don’t like to walk lol.  I prefer to run.

Insert lots of complaining here…

Me: [coworker] just told me it’s spitting out.  That means I shouldn’t
Friend: It’s not raining here.  Go home and run.

I did not appreciate that suggestion.

Does anyone else have a friend like that? (Mags is her dog btw)  Mine is the best.  I didn’t want to do it, was pretty convinced I wasn’t going to run, and I was so, so, so happy I did.  I surprised myself with how much I was able to do and felt so good even though I hurt so bad.  I used my free interval app on my phone and set it for 60 seconds run 10 seconds walk.  Every 5 intervals or so I walked for 10:60:10.  I was able to do it and banged out 2 miles pretty quickly, but I think next time I’ll give myself a 15 second walk and hopefully I won’t have to take the extra long walk.  Do you like running through the woods?  I feel like part wood nymph, part Katniss, and part latin dancer due to my Pitbull songs.

Pretty sure I look like that.

After running my stomach kind of hurt.  Am I the only one who gets stomach aches after running?  Maybe I ate my banana too soon after.  When I got home the Mumsie had prepared a yummy chicken and veggie meal and I inhaled that.  An hour later I was still hungry so I satisfied my incredibly weird, always present post-run craving: an egg and avocado sammy.

Maybe I’m really just craving protein and fat?  In any case, I fried up two more eggs for lunch today.  I.Can.Not.Wait.  Do you have weird post-run cravings?

Please tell me I’m not the only one!

P.S. I just placed an order with The Honest Company and I CAN NOT WAIT for it to get here!  If you’d like to place an order, click here.  I’ll be honest– I get a $20 credit for each order placed so please use that link if you’re interested 🙂  Once you join and place an order, you’ll get your own link to share with friends and family.  All the more reason to click here and order!

Amazing April

I’m not the best at keeping up with monthly themed posts like some other bloggers are, but I knew I had to do April.

Why?

It’s my birth month! 🙂

Which really just makes April amazing without a list.  But lists are fun.

(please note that this list might seem vain and all about me, and that’s because it is.  this is a list for me and I hope it encourages you to make your own personal list.  feel free to use this as inspiration or to just go right ahead and use my list!)

1. Get yo fitness back on, yo!
Blah, isn’t this on every month’s goal list?  Grr.  I’m really, really bad at this one but I want to feel good for my birthday so I have to get this going.  (btw, as I am writing this I am enjoying some penguin gummies from TJ’s so I’m obviously doing really good at this already).  I’ve discovered that I really like workout DVD’s.  It could have something to do with new personal gym (aka the parent’s furnished basement) and I recently ordered two Jillian Michael’s DVD’s from Amazon and I’m super excited to try them out.  I’m hoping these two new DVD’s will help me with this goal.  Any DVD recommendations?

2. Clean eats.
My Mom has been wanting to do an elimination diet to find what she’s sensitive too and I gave her my copy of Clean and told her I’d join her.  She’s a teacher so following a cleansing diet is difficult for her (she can’t exactly go to the restroom whenever she wants when she is in charge of a roomful of third graders) so we’re going to follow it loosely.  I’m hoping this will help with goal 1 too.  (gummie penguins def not on the clean diet).

3. Free dates.
I’ve already written enough on my budget woes (I have a budget post coming up soon too), but suffice it to say I’m doing well with it and actually enjoying the challenge.  I know it’s weird, and seems like I’m contradicting myself since I wrote about things I might have purchased from Loft recently, but it’s true.  The budget is going well and I want to continue it.  So, in light of that, I’m pushing for free dates.  It’s so easy to just meet up with a friend for dinner at a restaurant, but how about meeting up for a walk? or a self-mani/pedi night? or cooking dinner (not totally free but def cheaper)?  The list is endless.

4. More outfit posts.
I enjoy the outfit posts because they challenge me to be creative and help me to be satisfied with not spending a lot of money on clothes.  But they are hard to do so this goal has mini goals.  First, I need to find a tripod for my camera.  I am currently using one my parents had and I just rest the camera on top, but it could fall off at any second.  Second, I need to find a better place to take photos. Photos look best outside so I need  that more secure tripod.  Third, I need a remote for my camera.  It’s a pain to walk up and set it on timer every single time.  Once I get those three done hopefully I’ll be posting more outfit posts!  I have some fun ideas rolling around my head so I’m looking forward to this one.

5. Get readership up.
You can help me with this 🙂 Become a loyal reader and commenter!  I’d love you so much for it.  You can follow me at bloglovin, facebook, and twitter.  It’s fun, I promise.

6. Sew a skirt.
Yup.  I know it’s a little out there, but I’ve been wanting to do this for a while.  I did one a while back and wasn’t too happy with it so I’d like to alter it and also make a new one.  I know I can do it so I just need to.

7. Participate in more bloggy things.
This is related to goal #5 but it’s also just because it is fun!  Link ups, giveaways, box swaps– all fun.

8. Get back on meal prep.
This is related to goal #1 and kind of 3.  Prepping your meals helps with healthy eats and saving money.  My biggest need is breakfast.  I don’t wake up with enough time to make breakfast and if I don’t have one prepped, I eat crap and spend my money to eat that crap.  Gotta get back on this.

9. Clean and organize my room.
I recently moved back in with my parents and all of my stuff from my apartment came with me.  I need to organize my room and make room for the rest of my furniture that is still in the apartment.  Currently my underwear is in my desk drawers 🙂

10. Write more.
I’ve gotten better at writing frequently and writing ahead of time for those days when I don’t want to look at technology, but I’m talking about personal writing here.  I write stories a lot and I want to get more serious about it.  Not to necessarily publish, but because I want to.

How are you going to  make April Amazing?

Marching Through March

Bonjour Mon Amies!

It’s time to announce the goals for March… well actually I’m more like a week late on this, but it’s all good!  Since March comes in like a lion I figured this is the month to really get to work!  I slacked a lot little on my running last month, so I really need to step up my game and work harder.  With that said…

1. MUST COMPLETE WEEKS 4 THROUGH 6.  I have weeks 4-8 left of the program and the 5k is in about 8 weeks.  I want to leave a week or two before the race to run the entire 5k and not still be training.

2. Start running hills.  The 5k I’m running isn’t completely flat so I need to start training on hills.  I live in a pretty darn hilly town so I don’t think it will be too hard to find hills to train on.  And when I’m running in the hotel gyms I’ll just increase the incline.

3. Incorporate weight training.  One of my main 2012 goals is to lose weight and I know the best way to do this is to weight train.  I think I will follow Jamie Eason’s LifeFit 12-week trainer.

I read about this on Janetha’s blog (if you haven’t started reading Meals & Moves you definitely need to).  Jamie’s program is a full program with diet and exercise programs but with my busy work travel schedule it is extremely difficult for me to stick to strict eating plans.  All I can do is make smarter, better decisions.  Enough on that… check out Jamie’s program… it’s free!!

4. See Hunger Games!  Goals 1, 2, and 3 are intense and not exactly “fun” so goal number 4 has to be fun and for me!  Hunger Games comes out soon and I am soooo excited!!!!

5. Write More.  This applies to the blog and to my personal stories.  I am always jotting down little quotes or thoughts potential characters might have and I really need to start earnestly writing.  I have always loved to write stories and it’s such a good creative outlet… since I can’t draw I have to rely on this!  I frequently post stories I’m working on to get feedback and ideas.  Check out Carrington Cole.

6. Embroider.  Another creative outlet of mine… this one is a little senior citizenish.  I have a coworker who is having a baby in the Spring so I’m thinking maybe a bib.

 

And I also want to create more pillows and I have a Milo inspired pillow from The Phantom Tollbooth in mind for my cousin’s son named after the main character.

What are your March goals?  When you don’t complete a previous month’s goals do you roll them over to the next month or start fresh?

To see the previous months…
January
February