Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Mine was filled with food, presents, and lots of family time. I had to get back on track with the eating today. :) My Dad got my Mom a Wii Fit Plus for Christmas. At first she had no idea what a Wii was (hilarious) but now she likes playing all of the fitness games (as does the rest of the family). Mom and Dad also got each other a Kindle! Now I'm the only one in my family without one. I'm still holding on to my paperbacks! Anyway, here are a few pictures!

My tree with a few presents. This was before the real buying began. :)

Mom and Dad's tree.

Mom getting her Wii Bowl on!

Dad enjoyed trying to increase his jumps.

Boards games, Snuggie, Debbie Meyer Green Containers, P-Touch label maker (it connects to my PC and you can type in what you want using tons of fonts and add icons and borders), Cuisinart Immersion blender (LOVE!), kitchen scale and spice blender, gift cards, Le Creuset saucier, new watch, science experiment book, and new beret and scarf set. That's a ton of stuff. My family always overdoes it. :)

Dinner!

Running in a Winter Wonderland

My run this morning was AWESOME! I had a ton of fun running 6 miles through the snow covered neighborhood. I was so peaceful and serene. No one was out really, just a few families playing in the snow before it began to melt. It was only 34 F when I headed out at a little before 9 am.

I just had to share a picture of myself in my superman pants and shirt before I headed out! I don't get to wear them very often but I was glad I had them!

This is the front area of our school. It snowed constantly from 9:30 - 4:15! We had over 300 kiddos get picked up from school early. I was only left with 9 students by the end of the day!

Happy Birthday to ME!

So last Saturday was the big 2-5. YAY?! I'm fine with turning 25, I just am not fine with thinking about being 30. Scary.
My birthday weekend consisted of the following: amazing weather for my long run, Law Abiding Citizen (movie), Froberg's, dinner at Patrenalla's, semi-intoxicated trip to HEB to get more wine, dinner and presents at Mom and Dad's. It may seem like a lame weekend to most, but it was just what I needed. I love a relaxing weekend and a wine induced buzz along with fantastic food. A few pictures since I obviously enjoy posting pictures with almost every post. :)

My parents sent me flowers and had them delivered to school on Friday! Blanca is nosey.

Nathan did well this year.

Off for delicious dinner and wine! We ate outside by ourselves and it was fantastic! If you ever want to go there let me know and I'll give you suggestions based on what we got.

We picked up a pumpkin at the store when we went to get wine. He fell off the bar so we carved him, screwed him back together again, and named him Franken-Dumpy.

Books! I can't wait to read them. I have to finish Bright Lights, Big Ass first.

I've been wanting to play for a long time. Nerdy, yes. Does it make me smarter than you, yes. Well, maybe.

Only a runner would want something that helps identify them if they get hit by a car.

Get one here.

I also got gift cards to Academy (running gear), DSW, Target, and Ann Taylor Loft! Chad and Jamie got me a cooking class at Central Market. I took my mom to one in May and it was lots of fun. Jamie and I are going to have a great time cooking Thai! (By the way Jamie, the class is full now. Good thing we singed up when we did!)

No Pain, No Gain?

So at my personal training session tonight I got measured. Woo? I appreciate knowing what I am so I can track my progress but it's still awkward. Getting pinched and poked for body fat and watching the tape measure go around you. As of today, my body fat was 25% which is still in the "acceptable" range but I'm not happy with it. After talking it over with the trainer, my goal is 20%. That should give me that "toned" look that I'm dreaming of. It will take a while and I'll get measured in another month so I'll have to be on my best behavior. I'm going to work SUPER hard because. . .

There is great chance that I'M GOING TO AUSTRALIA! WHOOP! Nathan is working offshore over there and the plan is that I'll meet him when I'm done. I can't go Australia without looking my best. The beaches are amazing! I hope I'll get to go and meet him and that everything will work out. I want to hold a wombat or a wallaby or some kind of foreign animal! Hope for me!

Shut-Up!

I'm going back to NYC this summer! WHOOP! Lauren twisted my arm for a millisecond to get me to go with her and a gal she works with. I'd go tomorrow if I could. I can't wait for a real vacation. I also can't believe I'm making this post at basically 1am. For some reason I can never go to sleep at a normal hour when Nathan's gone and when he comes back I'm out like a light at 10. No exceptions. He called late Saturday night but I wish I could talk to him everyday. I miss that kid.

Broke but happy!

I wanted to share my shopping glory! I planned on shopping during spring break and I hit the jackpot in a few places. I will admit that nothing I got was on sale but they did have some "2 for" and "Buy 1 get 1 50% off" deals that i got to combine with my coupons! I was looking for the clothes that just came out so I was planning on paying full price. I spent a lot but its all things I can wear a million times. I also got new sandals. In total I bought: 4 pairs of sandals, 2 cardigans, 2 t-shirts, 1 blouse, and 3 pairs of shorts. I have pics of a few things below!

From NY&C and I also got them in white.

From NY&C

From Ann Taylor Loft and I also got it in a solid.

From Loft

From DSW

I got these from DWS as well but couldn't find them online. I also got them in gold.

Precipitation Issues

I'm running in the Bayou City Classic 10k tomorrow morning. It'll be my first 10k ever. The weather has decided not to cooperate. The forecast is 44F with a chance of rain, at 86% humidity. The 'feels like' temp. is going to be 39F with wind of 10 mph. No bueno. I went to Academy after school and got what I thought was a water resistant jacket (lightweight). I came home to test is and the water soaked right in. Great. I spent the next few hours fretting since I didn't know what to wear and I couldn't find what I was looking for. I wanted a VERY lightweight waterproof jacket. I remember that I picked up a race packet at this place called Luke's Locker in Rice Village. It was only 20 min. away so I decided to head over there. (I would have gone right down the street to On The Run but they have a more limited selection.) Anyway, when I got there I told the saleslady what I was looking for and she proceeded to ask me if I was running in the 10k tomorrow. People had been coming in all day looking for stuff. She took me to the sale rack where I got a super sweet deal. I got a $70 Asics Rapido jacket for only $25! Running clothes are highly specialized so I understand higher prices but I'm always looking for a deal. They'd put in on the sale rack since winter is coming to an end around here. Sweet. I love getting things at 60% off!

Here are the pics for those few people who care.

Rodeo Run 5k

This morning was the Rodeo Run 5k and 10k. Krissy and I decided to run the 5k since we weren't sure what we could get our mileage up to before the race. It was pretty cold this morning due to the wind but the race didn't start until 9:30 so that was nice. The runners started the Rodeo parade and the floats and hoopla followed. This older runner who was in front of me at the beginning was throwing out candy to little kids. One boy wasn't looking and got smacked in the face with Jolly Ranchers. So funny!
I'm not a fast runner by any means but setting time goals is still important to me. Last summer I wanted to break the 30 minute mark for my 5k but was 25 seconds shy. I've only run one 5k since then and took it easy since I hadn't been keeping up with my speed and mileage over the Christmas holidays. I went for a run on Thursday to see where my 5k time might be. Krissy and I have been focused on mileage and speed has been put on the back burner. I almost died but I made it 3.2 miles running a 9:48 pace. I know that during a race your speed can increase due to adrenaline and the whole 'running with a group' thing. I'd told myself that if I could finally break 30 minutes in a race I'd reward myself. Well, since sweets are out (read previous post Oh, yeah.) I decided that I'd go get a pedicure. I haven't had one since the summer after college graduation and that was almost two years ago. I can't see myself spending the money when it was my own to get my nails done.
So my race time today was (drum roll please) . . . 29:40! It's still slow in the running world but it's a major breakthrough for me. My mile time was 9:34 and I know that the first mile took 10:15ish due to the congestion of a large race. I missed the mile 2 sign so I have no idea how long it took but I know that I really gave it what I had the last mile or so. When I turned that last corner and saw the finish line and what my time was at, I was so excited! I kept thinking, "Pedicure here I come!" It felt great to accomplish a goal not matter what or how small it was.
This post is getting pretty long for me so I'll share my thoughts on large runs another day. I'll also post a race pic if they took one of me later.

Today: 3.1
YTD: 45.4

Thank goodness!

Nathan is getting on the chopper to begin his long journey home! I am so stinking excited I can hardly handle it! I get to pick him on on Friday!