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I learned two things today.  I am closer to 30 than I am to 20, and I now need three hands to show my age (possible with Mike's help!).

Oh, and taking a final on your birthday blows.

Here's to another year.  Hopefully it can be as good as the last few! 

xoxo

Foot is better!

You heard it here first folks!  I've been staying off of my foot (not running on it) for a while, and it no longer hurts!  Today will be my first long run on it, so we'll see how it goes.

In other fitness news, Mike and I started insanity this week.  It is insane, but not impossible.  It's probably a good thing that I'm doing it with him.  It is an every day thing.  It's good to have a work out partner with programs like this one.  We'll see how long I last once I start running more again.  Insanity is cardio, so I'm either going to be super buff with super endurance, or super tired....or both!

Finals are coming up and start next week.  We've only got about two weeks left of school, and I cannot wait to be done with this semester.  After this, I will never have school in the summer again!  WOOOOOOO!

Hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend.

xoxo

Foot problems

You all know I run, like..... a lot.  Luckily, in my long running career, I've never really gotten injured.  I mean, I've had knee pains every now and again, but they don't keep me off the roads.  I've fallen, eh hem..reminder, but it doesn't stop me from going out every day.  I've never had anything occur that actually keeps me from running when I want to be running.  I think today might change that...

I went on a pretty standard run for me today, and nothing outstanding happened (besides the scorching heat radiating through my soul).  I get home, relax, and watch an episode of "Keeping up with the Kardashians" (...yes, I know I have terrible taste in television, Mike reminds me everyday).  I get up to get lunch, and BAM! Something is hurting on my right foot.  The ball of my right foot to be exact.  I limp to the kitchen, and the tile makes it hurt worse.  I grab a granola bar because no way am I standing at the stove to make a batch of pasta when my foot hurts like this.  I go back to sit down.

I've been trying to figure out what this is since.  The news is not promising.  It sounds like I'm going to have to take some time off from running to get this to heal up.  Super sad news for me, but lets just hope I can stay out of the hospital.

Lets not forget my knees are still sore from falling three weeks ago, and now my foot hurts.  Is this what it feels like to get old?  I sure hope not.

We'll see how it feels tomorrow.  Until then, I'll be sitting right here, either studying, reading, or sleeping. 

xoxo

July mid-month wrap-up

July has been a great month so far, well....minus having summer school.  However, I did get some students to switch clinic shifts with me during the 4th of July week so that I could make it to Ohio to spend some much needed vacay time with my boy and his family.  We went to a amusement park, rode go carts, climbed rock walls, went in bumper cars, played laser tag, and much more!  It was a ton of fun, and I never thought I would like all of those things so much!

His family also has three birthdays that they celebrate around the 4th, and now our anniversary.  They got us a cute little cake with our wedding colors on it!  It was sooooo good.  I'm still craving it.

Mike also took me on a mini-second honeymoon to Bar Harbor...............
Road.  Haha!  He found a Bar Harbor Road near us, and took me there to celebrate our "second honeymoon".  That boy is so sweet I can hardly stand it. 

In prep for the Color Run, we needed to get Mike out and running during our little vacay.  The easiest 3 miles in my life turned into the most painful because I tripped over something and scraped up my knees pretty bad.  They were bandaged for a while due to bleeding, but now they have bruised over.  It's almost three weeks later and they are still sore.  Just my luck!

Ever since that little vacation we've been back here at home relaxing.  I've been studying late for exams (hence the gigantic coffee that I was drinking at 9pm), we went to a Coldplay concert (my dream come true, it was AMAZING!!!!!!), and I got a haircut!  First one in a very long time. 

 Hope all is well with you!

xoxo

Color Runniversary

July 8th, 2012.  One year wedding anniversary.  Color Run.

YAY!  We made it one year!  I'm so happy to be married to this guy, it's insane.  To celebrate our insanity, we decided to do a 5k, but not just any 5k.  The COLOR RUN.  Every kilometer you get slammed with color powder to create a very colorful body/runner.

We started off all white, and ended up rainbows!  It was so much fun.  AND, it was Mike's first 5k ever!  He finished like a pro too. 

The color was some cornstarchy substance that murdered your lungs as you were running through it, but it was worth it.  It was centered around the Art Museum *cue very confused tourists*, and afterwards there was a huge party with music and color.  Everyone threw color at the same time and it turned into a huge color cloud.  It was an awesome experience.  And it was especially awesome because Mike and I did it together!

I was really excited for Mike because it was the world's largest color run ever, and the third largest 5k ever.  I think that's a pretty cool way to start your running career. 

I hope there is always a color run around us on our anniversary because this would be an amazing and fun tradition to do every year!

Here's some pictures and a video of the "color cloud" experience!

xoxo

Yeah, imagine being right in the middle of that.  Crazy, and super fun!  I wanna do it again right now!

Optometry's Meeting 2012

I went to Chicago June 28th-July 1st to attend Optometry's Meeting 2012.  It's where all of the AOA and AOSA get together to learn (CE courses), attend the product expo, and have lots of fun.  I love Chicago, so I was pretty excited about this trip.

Four of my close friends came with along with about 50 other students from my school.  We had to leave at 4am to make the flight in NYC that was at 7am.  The plan was to wake up at 3:15am, get ready, and go.  I was already packed, so all I really had to do was shower and go.  Thankfully something wakes me up at 4:15am, and I realize I have five text messages and two missed calls telling me that my friends were at my complex waiting for me.  *GULP* You know in cartoons when the character's eyes bug in and out really fast because they can't believe what they are seeing?  Well, I'm pretty sure mine did that to my alarm clock.  I'm never late.  Ever.  I text them really fast that I'll be down in 5 minutes.  Throw my hair into a ponytail, throw on a shirt, jeans, and shoes, grab my bag, and I'm out the door.  I was having heart palpitations from the stress of knowing that I might not make my flight, and I might cause us all to miss it.  Thankfully my friend that was driving has a lead foot.  We made it with time to spare. 

Now that that's out of the way, we get to Chicago, and all of us are dragging.  First order of business: Caffeine.  There was this cute little Cuban restaurant that had cuban coffee that you get in little shot glasses because it's so strong.  Let it be known that it kept me going until 3am the next night.  It's strong, no joke. Good thing too because every single night there was a party for students, so I had to stay awake!

Oh, side note, when we left the east, we were at the end of a "heat wave".  I say it that way because it's been more like a heat tsunami, not a short wave, but I digress. Anyways, we leave the east and it's 100 degrees.  We are all excited because we all think we are flying over this so-called wave, and that we would miss the rest of it.  Lo and behold, when we get to Chicago, our pilot proceeds to tell us, "It's going to be a hot one folks, heat advisories are just entering the Chicago area until Sunday."  Mind you, we were going to be leaving Sunday.  So not only did we just experience that last of the heat wave in the east, but we flew right into the beginning of one in the Midwest.  Awesome.

We decided to do the traditional touristy stuff the first day we were there.  We went to the Bean........and then decided we were all going to melt so we went back to the hotel.  I chased a bird to get it's picture on the way back to the hotel.  It didn't do much to help me cool off, but the bird smiled!  That was also when my friends realized they were hanging out with an infant.

We hung out at the hotel until it was time to go to the Student Quiz Bowl, which is where each school sends one participant to compete against the other schools.  We didn't win, but it was a blast, and I loved the t-shirt we got!  I even made it work with the skirt I was wearing.

The next day we decided to chill out at the expo.  We tried massage chairs, food, wine, and of course optometry related things as well.  They even had the FIFA 2014 World Cup there.  I got my picture taken with it, but only after I spent about three minutes moving all around the glass case it was in to please the guard.  First I was too close, then I wasn't close enough for the picture, then my hand got too close, then my shoe was too close, then my purse was too close...it went on and on.  Apparently my hand couldn't be in front, behind, within two inches, or on top of the case.  I made all of those mistakes before the picture you see now was taken.  The security guard who was guarding it seemed like she hated me.  The people in the line were making snarky comments about  how I was holding up the line, but I just told them to pay attention because I just helped them from making the same mistakes!  They didn't think I was very funny. 

The next day we finally got to the Sear's Tower, where we went up to the sky deck.  The glass floor that extended out from the building was pretty popular.  It was creepy, but it made for some pretty cool pictures from 103 stories up.  While I was in the box, I noticed a spider just chilling on the outside of the box.  I decided to make him attack Chicago.  I started a trend too.  Three days after I get home from Chicago, I noticed a friend from facebook went to Chicago, and he took the exact same photo I did.  I can't help but think that my facebook posting of the photo a week before his didn't "inspire" him...maybe...a little bit...? Thanks for the credit, "friend". 

We also went on a sail boat cruise which gave me some amazing photo opportunities, and we went to the Field Museum for the presidential inaugural ball.  That was awesome.  Sipping cocktails next to Sue (The T-Rex), eating cheesecake bites next to mammoths.  It was quite the experience.

We left the next day after a loooonnnnngggg night out.  I think we only got about 1.5 hours of sleep before our flight.  Let's just say we all completely crashed when we got home. 

It was a great trip all around!

xoxo

June

June, oh June.  

It was probably the hottest month I've ever experienced here on the east coast.  It consisted of me running a lot, mixed with sweating even more, mixed with rehydrating less than necessary.  I was basically dehydrated the entire month.  Hah, it's funny now, but it wasn't then.  I woke up thirsty, spent the day thirsty, and went to sleep thirsty.  No matter how much water I drank, I could just never catch up!  I lost 3-4 lbs each run on average, and that's just because even if I woke up at the crack of dawn to run, it was still 92 degrees with 100% humidity.  I learned to go on a run, and immediately jump into the pool when I got home.  That was fun.  Cooled me off quick, and sometimes I would even get some swimming in for extra exercise.

It's still hot, but I'm learning to drink eight glasses of water a day.  Dehydration headaches are not fun!  

One good thing about all of the running is that the runs have gotten longer and smoother.  My speed is increasing tremendously, and it's just because of the mileage I'm getting in each week.  So far it's between 30-40 miles per week. The scenery around here is pretty breathtaking as well.  I've taken a couple pictures of my running path that I've included in the wrap-up collage. 

Chia, remember that? Well, I've been eating it and/or drinking it consistently since I started using it.  I really notice a difference in my energy level, and it is suuuuppppeerrr good in my oatmeal. 

Between studying and studying I realized I needed some kind of artistic outlet, so I decided my nails would be it.  I did an ombre glitter polish.  Turned out pretty fancy, but was a super pain to remove.  Anything for beauty, am I right? *cue cheesy smile now*

Summer school is rough.  It's even rougher because it's mandatory and you have to actively participate.  I've been stabbed in the eye, poked with a metal thing, and had a needle stuck into my tear duct while releasing saline through my nose into my mouth.  It tasted wonderful....not.  I'm pretty much over summer school right now, but I'm still truckin' along.  The only good thing about going to school in the summer is 1.) the drive (yes I know I shouldn't be taking pictures while driving), and 2.) seeing the little baby ducklings in our pond!  I love them soooo much.

A new fro-yo place opened up nearby.  Anyone who knows me knows that when I moved out here, I fell in love with frozen yogurt.  The fact is, I love fro-yo, but I hate the pricing.  You think $0.25 per oz is cheap, until you end up spending $11.00 on a bowl once you weigh it.  Whoops...haven't been back since.  It's probably a good thing.

I got Mike tickets for the Childish Gambino concert, and of course it basically tornadoed on our walk to the outdoor concert.  We were huddled under a flimsy umbrella for about 10 minutes in hurricane force winds, rain, and lightning.  It was just like in the movies, except way less glamorous.  I bet you can't guess what we did when we found out the concert was cancelled!!!  Obviously got fro-yo. *it wasn't from the same $11 place*

I tend to really get some great pictures of the surrounding area on my phone while I run.
The baby geese are one of the most amazing things I've seen on my runs.  I've been running past them for months now, and they are not babies anymore!  It was so cool to see them grow, and they are now ready to fly away.
I also live by a castle, so one day the clouds were aligned, and I got this perfect shot.
Oh, and obligatory Tip Tip when I get home.  See!  It's so hot even she has to cool off on the tile!

Slackin'

Well hello there blog family!  I have been seriously slacking lately on keeping you all updated with the going's on of my life!  A lot has happened since Memorial Day, so get ready for the massive blog post party that is about to happen!

xoxo