Longhorn Lucy

The running Saga

2010-01-16T15:26:00.002-06:00

I think that is what I'll start calling my attempt to run a marathon.

The update from the confirmed bursitis which is actually a good thing because it means no permanent damage is being done. Just inflammation. He suggested an ice/heat regime for a few days and told me I didn't have to stop, but had to cut back on the running.

It was really good to talk to a doctor because I just couldn't tell what information I was reading in books or on the internet was true/helpful. Plus, the doctor took a lot of time to answer my questions. I had read that ice was really only good until about 48 hours after then injury, and I wasn't catching things in time, so I hadn't been icing at all. Plus it was cold, and who wants to put ice on when it's cold. SUCH. A. MISTAKE. The ice/heat routine has made a huge difference. I can still feel a little soreness, but it is nothing like it was Tuesday. The doc suggested I not run for the rest of the week, and I could try on Saturday.

I went for a small run this morning. A little over 2.5 miles. It was really great, I took advil before I went and did the ice/heat combo when I got home.

I'm giving up on the dream of running a full marathon for now, but I'm not giving up on the half just yet. I'll keep you updated as the saga continues.

Doctor Doctor can you please provide me something

2010-01-13T11:49:00.001-06:00

I'm heading to the doctor today. My hamstring pull seems to be pretty well cleared up, but the hip thing, that I thought was "manageable" has really been hurting lately. When I ran on Monday with Josie, it bothered me the whole time. I still think it's bursitis, but I guess I need to figure out how to recover from it, or manage it so I don't feel it hurting when I walk.

Haven't run since Monday, hoping the doc will give me the Ok so I can get out tonight. I still want to try and acomplish the half.

Wish me luck.

Thanks!

2010-01-11T08:47:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to say Thank You to everyone who commented on my blog last week. I really needed to hear all of your advice. I think at this point I am completely healed but am still going to run the half marathon instead of the full.

I am excited to get back out and get a little running in without overdoing it. Lucy my trusty running companion will be glad because the distance are more in the range that she can manage so she'll get to come along more often and I am taking Josie up on her offer to run with me.

I am not sure what the future will hold, if I'll make another marathon attempt or not, I guess we'll just have to see.

Input please

2010-01-08T10:17:00.002-06:00

I've been thinking and thinking all week, and would like some input if people feel liking giving it. I was training for a marathon, but got a little injury this week. Now I'm scared to hurt myself again. So I've been trying to decide if I want to jump back in and try to complete my full marathon training, or if I should cut back and just try to complete a half.

I am really torn. I know come marathon day, I'll be a little disappointed that I'm not doing the full, only the half. Also, I think part of the marathon experience is to push through when your feeling pain, tired, and soreness.

I'm sure I'm just totally scared and should just get over myself, but I do have a friend who would train with my for the half which is a bit compelling. Am I just looking for someone to tell me it's ok to give up?

I don't know, I just can't make up my mind. Please help.

This and That

2009-12-18T14:18:00.002-06:00

Life has calmed down drastically for me over the last week or so. The end of last week was pretty crazy. I finished up my classes, got a call from my lady who rents my house... yet another thing is broken, had two holiday parties to attend in one night and ran 10 miles. It took until the beginning of this really to really slow down.

Jake has been out of town so I've been enjoying a little me time which was probably really good after this crazy semester.

I got to exercise with the old folks and have lunch with a nice church nurse lady. I really feel like I've grown in my faith this semester. I will probably never be a regular church attender, but I really have come to see the benefits of belonging somewhere. That's probably for another post though.

Tuesday night I had dinner with Jen and Daniel. Jen and I made a turkey pot pie that turned out really good. It was really enjoyable to cook with someone and just sort of visit while we worked. It might be worth trying to coordinate a meal sharing event of some sort.

I made a second attempt to take both dogs for a run. It was actually went really well. It was actually so great I did it twice this week. I will take responsibility that part of the problem with the first time was my mood, part of the problem was that it was dark, and part of the problem is Bentley's fear of storm sewers and anything metal (he goes around man hole covers, water meter covers etc). However, if I go when it's light so I can see the obstacles Bent will avoid, and keep aware of the fact that if we are on the grass, he will attempt to pee it goes much better.

Speaking of the little monkey, he has been such a snuggle monster this week.

Jake is coming home tonight and while I have enjoyed my time away, I am ready for him to come home.

We have a nice weekend here in the Fort and then we had to MN on Dec 23rd for some family time.

Running recap week three

2009-12-01T22:19:00.003-06:00

The damn family got in the way.... or at least that is the excuse I'm using for not completing my long run this week.

Lucy and I got out and logged 4 miles on Thanksgiving day, and I was feeling so good about the training. Then Friday we went to the zoo and walk around for hours, then we went to the parade of lights and walked and stood some more. Saturday morning I was tired and just not feeling up to the 7 miles I was supposed to run. I'm sure had it been just a normal Saturday, I would have sucked it up at some point during the day and gotten out and done it, but alas the in laws were around and I decided to forgo the run for that day.

I am back on track this week and plan to do 8 miles I think on Saturday. I met up with a girl today and we are going to try to motivate each other. We train pretty differently so I don't think we'll be able to run much together, but we think just being able to set up times to meet up and then go our separate ways will at least help get us there.

Also, to avoid the family holiday skip, I have tentatively set up a 12 mile run with a girl from high school when I'm in Minnesota for the christmas break. Let me tell you how much I'm looking forward to THAT run.

I love this crazy tragic, sometimes almost magic, aweful beautiful life

2009-11-25T08:40:00.002-06:00

This was my facebook status yesterday, and it was just so fitting. What a week it has been, and will continue to be.

My mom got out of the hospital yesterday. She is going to have to have chemo, but I think it's more of a precaution that anything else. It sounds like it won't have to start until after Christmas which I know she is very happy about.

I did find out that a friend of mine from Minnesota's mother lost her battle with cancer this weekend and passed away. The friend is younger than me and her mother was probably about the same age as mine. I feel terrible for my friend, but it's hitting just a little to close to home for me this week.

I have been having these feels all at the same time that I have been feeling super excited for the Good family to come visit. I know they have a long travel day ahead of them, but it will be really great to spend some good time with them.

I am cooking the turkey for only the second time in my life. I am sure it will be fine and I have momma Good there to guide me. From what I understand she made Thanksgiving dinners for 20 for a lot of years. We're cheating and using Stove Top Stuffing. I feel like that is one of those things that you need to practice ahead of time if you're going to make it from scratch. I am going to try and make a pumpkin pie from a whole pumpkin, not in a can.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. This year, I am thankful for my mother's health, my new husband, getting to spend time with family, my two doggies, not yet being affected by the economic downturn, and the love of the people around me.

The inlaws are coming, the inlaws are coming

2009-11-23T09:57:00.000-06:00

I am hosting Thanksgiving for my mother, sister, and brother in law. One would think a girl might be a bit nervous.

I am actually not nervous about everyone coming, I am really excited. Thankfully I have cooked Thanksgiving dinner once before so I think I should be able to do it. Jake and I have been reading up on the best ways to cook a turkey all week.

All of this was of course until my mother in law post this comment on facebook the other night.

"(Mother in law) is watching food network and getting hungry for Thanksgiving dinner. I know Jake and Becca will be serving us an awesome meal."

Umm the food network.... you are hoping for food as good as the food network...... yeah no pressure there!

Training Recap Week 2

2009-11-22T09:38:00.003-06:00

I made it through my second week of training. This week the weather and the companions were a factor. We dealt with humidity, winds, and rain this week. But the story of the week comes on Wednesday when I decided to take BOTH dogs with me.

You see we are a little nervous to leave Bentley home by himself. He has a little anxiety when we're gone as it is and I think it would be 10 times worse if he was without sister. Well Lucy was excited as all get out to go on this run, and Bent was just excited to go... Oh did I mention it was already dark... So off we go, and Bent is running around like a crazy person, and Lucy is pulling as hard as she can, and the next thing I know, Bentley is under my feet, and I'm falling. Yep BAM hit the street. WE. WEREN"T. EVEN. OFF. OUR. BLOCK. This is not going to be good.

So much happened on this run. I could make this post two days long, but I'll just give you the highlights.. We saw a cat, Lucy wanted to chase the cat, attempting to pull me and Bentley along. Bentley is afraid of storm drains and stopped dead in his tracks several times to avoid them, almost yanking my arm out of it's socket, and choking Lucy. Our neighbors dog had gotten out and was following us, we get Charlie back into his yard, and finish the run.

I think I was more tired from all the commotion and not from the run. I will not be taking both dogs with me on a run again.

Bring on week three!

Tough Day

2009-11-20T11:21:00.002-06:00

To blog or not to blog about family ills. My mom is having surgery today. She has a one inch spot of cancer on her liver that needs to be removed. Anytime you throw the word cancer around it begins to sound very morbid and probably worse than it is. It should be an easy surgery, and at this point is so very much not life threatening, but at the same time. Dude my mom is having cancer surgery today and I'm a little nervous for her.

Keep us all in your thoughts today.

No Love

2009-11-17T19:05:00.002-06:00

Seriously people. I wrote like 4 posts in a row and no comments??? My feelings are seriously hurt!

Delectable Delights

2009-11-15T18:41:00.003-06:00

I was pretty successful in my veg-up challenge. I did find that if you aren't having eggs for breakfast it is a bit difficult to get a veggie in, I found myself switch to V-Fusion juice drink. I know I'm not getting a veggie in with every meal these days, but I am still working really hard to at least think about it add more veggies to my diet.

Tonight we had steak, and potato's so I added some sugar snap peas for a green veggie. I got the recipe from the veggie website I posted before. They were delicious!

Here is the recipe

SUGAR SNAP PEAS with LEMON BUTTER
Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 20 minutes
Serves 4

Salted water to cover
1 pound sugar snap peas (tonight's were fresh but I've seen them frozen too which would be even quicker)
1 teaspoon butter (reduced from 5 teaspoons but more than plenty)
Zest from a lemon
Good salt (aka sea salt or kosher salt)

Bring the water to boil. Wash the peas and snip off the stem ends. (Instructions usually say to pull off the strings, too but what I had tonight weren't in the least stringy.) Cook for 3 minutes, drain and return to the hot pan. Add the butter and lemon and stir well to coat with the butter. Transfer to a serving dish, salt well, serve and enjoy!

I do declare

2009-11-14T22:16:00.002-06:00

I have been reluctant to post this for fear that I'll back out and then you will all laugh at me! But I think it's time to announce that I am going to run the Cowtown marathon on February 27th 2010 here in Fort Worth.

One of my professors gave me this great book called "The Non-Runners Marathon Trainer" It is written by a couple of professors from the University of Northern Iowa who for a while taught something dubbed the marathon class at UNI. My understanding of the class is that it is a cross between a physical education credit, and a psychology class. The book follows those same lines. Anyway, it had a great training schedule to get you in shape to start training for a marathon. I have been running/walking since about Sept.

This week I completed my first week of marathon training. Per the vets orders to get her some more exercise, I have been taking my trusty dog, and blog namesake Lucy with me.

I think I'll attempt to post each week to update how the training is going. This week, we had some really great runs with the longest being 5 miles for a total of 15 miles. One of my hips is a little sore after I run, but I'm not sure if it is my actual hip or just the muscles. I'll be keeping an eye on it.

Until this marathon goal, the longest run I have completed was the Twin Cities 10 mile. I feel committed, I have good support from Jake, and my girl Lucy to keep me company.... at least for a while.

Wish me luck!

Doggies having fun

2009-11-12T10:54:00.002-06:00

This morning I was able to capture the doggies playing in the backyard. It is really cute.

Signs

2009-11-11T09:39:00.004-06:00

I was going through some photo's and thought I would share a few from post wedding/honeymoon that I meant to share but never got out.

We took this picture the day after we got married. We stayed an extra night in our wedding suite because we had to be at the airport so stinkin early on Monday morning to fly out for honeymoon, so we had some time to wonder around downtown St. Paul and came across this sign. I had good intentions to crop it and send it with our thank you notes, but it honestly slipped my mind.

This was on our honeymoon. We were walking down Duval St and came across this sign and I just thought it was hilarious. We went to the Florida Key's where we found Jake Key with a sign that says Life is Good. Get it??? Jake Key, Good? Jake Good?? Alas, I thought it was clever and when your on your honeymoon, you better believe Life is Good.

This and that

2009-11-08T21:32:00.004-06:00

In an attempt to blog more, I'm just gonna post a few things I've come across tonight.

My laffy taffy jokes.....

Why was the police officer in bed?

Where do cows go for fun?

Answers at the end.

A couple of really cool websites Family Circle shared with me in their latest issue.

http://www.greenraising.com/

This website sells fair trade and recyclable goods that give back to the community. If anyone wants to give me this necklace for Christmas that would be fantastic.

http://www.localharvest.org/

It's a website that helps you find locally produced fruit, veggies, and meats.

And finally a couple of really cool websites from my friends.

http://kindboutique.com/

My friend Erin just started this website. She is selling Vintage and eco-friendly items. Jake got me this for my birthday. LOVE IT! You can feel free to get my pretty much anything from here for Christmas.

And finally, I've mentioned my friend Andie a couple of times, it finally dawned on me that I should like to her artwork. She is very talented, I am having her make something for me as a keepsake from my wedding and I recently purchased something for a birthday gift for a friend.

http://artsieandie.blogspot.com/

All of the proceeds from her artwork go to support her families upcoming adoption.

Finally the answers to the jokes.

why was the police officer in bed? Because he was undercover!

where do cows go for fun? The MOO-vies!

Not to be such a Nancy

2009-11-06T10:31:00.005-06:00

I wanted to post something that makes me happy.

There is this space in our living room that I have been trying to fill since we moved here two years ago. First I filled it with a bookshelf, but the bookshelf didn't fit and was re purposed in another room. Then I put a table thingy but it was something my mom got at a garage sale and I never really like it that much and have since sold it at another garage sale.

I have finally pulled this together. I love the space because it looks cool and because everything in it has a lot of meaning.

The table is something that was originally made by a relative, it was either my grandpa rollins or Kelm or even maybe a great grandpa. I forget, my mom could tell me. My parents had it in their house for a while, and then my sister did. When my sister was moving to CO she didn't want it anymore so I took it. I love that it was made by a family member, and has been used by serveral of my immediate family.

The sewing machine was my grandma Rollin's and I think when my mom gave it to my she was hoping I would use it. Alas I tried once but it has one of the footpeddle things and it kinda went crazy even when I didn't have my foot on the peddle so I decided it would make a better decoration. The photo above the desk was given to us by my dear friends Andie and Andrew as a wedding present. I love it for that reason AND because they bought it from someone who is trying to raise money for an adoption.

I'm not sure if the glass on the desk will stay or not, it's their for now, but it too has a story. I am a theif. I stole that glass from TGI Fridays after I had consumed the contents of the glass. It was just so cool and in my tipsy state I couldn't resist. It goes well with our red rug!

Here is a little better picture of the space so it doesn't look quite so isolated.

Oh I almost forgot, the red cloth that the sewing machine is sitting on was given to me by my friend Mary. It was something she got when she traveled to Spain while we were roommates! It's actually got a really cool pattern on it that you can't see from the pics.

I'm sure I have a lot to say

2009-11-06T07:29:00.002-06:00

but for some reason lately I feel like I have nothing. I don't want to post all kinds of negative crap, but I also don't want to be all Mary sunshine when I'm not feeling Mary Sunshine. That's not to say I'm feeling negative all the time. I sometimes want to curse on my blog, but my dear uncle the mister reads my blog, and while I know he is a terrific guy and not a judgy pants at all, I can't get over the feeling that my uncle would be none too please to read his dear niece curse on the interwebs.

But to be honest this semester has been really hard. I don't like either of my classes, my boss at my "student assistant" job is asking way to much of me and I feel like I'm being taken advantage of by her and the entire department. She needs a full time assistant, so I don't think she is purposely taking advantage of me she's just really busy fuckin busy, I do however think maybe the office is taking advantage of me and using me instead of getting her the real assistant that she wants. Being super busy at my paid job, makes it a little difficult to get hours in at my not paid internship, (especially when the boss at my paid job keeps asking me to skip the internship and come work for her). Each week I start out thinking this week will be better and each week something comes up. For example I was thrilled to end daylight savings. I was having a lot of trouble getting out of bed in the morning because it was so dark and because I don't have much to look forward to during the day, and I thought ohh daylights savings will end, and it will not be so dark in the mornings, and my body will be used to getting up earlier, and going to bed earlier and form good habits and the rest of the semester will be good.... well monday started out that way, but by monday night I'd picked up a cold from my husband and I was feeling pretty crummy so tuesday I slept in a little more and then Tuesday was just a cluster fuck and the rest of the week was sort of weird.

I did have a really great day on Thursday and I have the day off today so it's not like everything is crappy.

My new husband and I seem to be fighting a lot lately and I'm not sure if I should even share that, but how does one have a blog when they feel like they can't share stuff. I feel like the fighting is all my fault because I know I'm just not that happy of a person right now and I'm taking it out on him, but then I get kinda pissy because I don't think it's all my fault.... it's a vicious circle.

I feel guilty because I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but when I really site down and think about it, I'm not actually that busy, and Jake gets up every day and goes to work, and works and he's probably busier than I am.

I'm just not sure what the deal is, I just can't seem to get it together. For a while I thought it was the weather, it just didn't seem like it would ever stop raining, but then it did stop raining and I'm still cranky.

Again don't get me wrong it's not like I'm always craky, I've had some really great days. Last weekend for example was great. Jake and I went out and threw the football around for a while on Friday, we took the dogs for a great walk on the Trinity Trails and then Sunday I got to watch the Vikes give it to the Packers, and make some really yummy food.

But overall, it just seems like I can't get my shit together, and without my shit together, I feel like I don't have anything to blog about except another instance of not having my shit together, and how I almost missed my appointment with my trainer last night because I didn't leave where I was supposed to be until 5:35 and because I didn't know exactly where I was I turned the wrong way and had to wait at two stupid lights.... blah blah blah.

So here is what I've decided. I'm going to blog more, or at least attempt to. It might be because I'm crabby and I might curse. This blog was intended to be an outlet for me so my friends and family could feel like they were still a part of my life even though I'm thousands of miles away from most of them. My life like most peoples is not always happy and this semester just seems to be a struggle. Of course I will try to post some of the nice things too.

So if you are still following my blog, or this post for that matter, I hope you stick around, I'll try to write more.

Delectable Delights

2009-10-07T18:15:00.002-05:00

It's been a while, but this was really good tonight. Perfect for a chilly evening. We added some bread we got from central market and heated in the oven.... yuuuuuummmy

Vegetable Beef Barley Soup.

2 cups chopped onion
1 pound chuck steak, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I bought precut stew meat)
1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup uncooked pearl barley
5 cups fat-free, less sodium beef broth
2 cups cups water
1/2 cup tomato puree
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 bay leaves

1 Heat large dutch oven over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chopped onion and beef to pan; cook 10 minutes or until onion is tender and beef is browned, stirring occasionally. Add chopped carrot and chopped celery to pan; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in garlic; cook 30 seconds. Stir in barley and remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 40 minutes or untiol the barley is done and vegetables are tender.

We made the soup a day ahead so the flavors could all blend overnight. It was delicious. I'll be adding this to my regular fall/winter repertoire.

Dang

2009-10-06T09:43:00.002-05:00

I forget my veggie for breakfast this morning. I was going to cut on some cucumber, but I just plum forgot. Now I'm trying to decide if I should just claim the loss or make up for it by having two veggies for lunch or dinner tonight. Other than that the veg up challenge has been going well. I made cooked carrots for the first time in my life on Sunday night. Still not my fav, but I think I overcooked them, maybe need to try again. Tonight we're going out to dinner, so I am a bit stuck at the mercy of what's available on the menu!

Veg Up Challenge

2009-10-02T12:24:00.003-05:00

I want to eat more veggies. The problem is, they just aren't something I feel like I cook well, or enjoy enough to make the effort to learn to cook them. You can easily get full with just a main course, so I often forget to add the side.

So I created something for myself called the Veg Up Challenge. I am challenging myself to eat a veggie for all three meals a day, for 10 days straight. I found a pretty cool new blog that I hope will help me. A Veggie Venture appears to have a lot of good ideas. I also welcome anyone's favorite recipes. I am trying to do this to feel better about what I eat. I don't think I'm overweight, but I also think that as I get older my metabolism continues to slow down I am not eating the right things to maintain.

Lastly I could use everyone's support. I have never been happy with my eating habits and have always wanted to make a change, but have never been successful. I'm hoping that if I put it out there the universe will support me and I'll be able to make this change for good.

I'll post any recipes that I find that are particularly tasty, and give credit where credit is due. So I'm off. For starters, a spinach salad for lunch!

Organic Food

2009-09-29T09:38:00.002-05:00

I have been trying to decide for awhile now if I'm going to make the complete switch to organic food. I go back and forth. Is it more important to make sure the food is locally produced, or organic. It's not that I necessarily have a problem with the way that cows are raised, I just trust organic food more. Funny enough it's mostly when it comes to prepackaged products. I just feel like the organic food companies are not trying to "pass off" their food as good for you, but that it actually IS good for you.

I feel like the people who have decided to produce their food in an organic way really care about what goes into it. This is another reason I really don't like that traditional food companies are coming out with organic products. I lose that trust level when I find out my organic yogurt was produced by Kraft**...

This rambling actually has a question attached. As I continue to weigh the pros and cons of buying organic, I want to know if I'm being too naive in assuming that organic food companies actually care about their product as much as they care about their bottom line?

** not really I'm just using them as an example.

On health care

2009-09-03T09:15:00.004-05:00

I have been talking quite a bit about universal health care lately. I've been emailing with my dad, and posting comments on other peoples blogs. But I try not to start this super long diatribes about it... but this is my blog, and I have a lot to say, so here goes.

When I was in college, I worked for a daycare that was privately owned, ( good job, realizing the american dream and starting your own business) unlike corporation daycare's like Kindercare. I know for a fact that the full time employees didn't get health insurance because Amy* the owner wanted to keep prices competitive. She had a tough choice to make, keep costs down in areas where parents could see, and might complain ( I mean honestly who wants their kid to go to daycare with no playground equipment), OR keep costs down in an area where parents can't see, and hope you get loyal employees who enjoy their job so much they are willing to go without healthcare.

Now Amy could have made a different choice and raised the prices of the day care to make sure that her employees could have access to health insurance, but again at what cost.

We're american's we're fickle, we have no problem going down the street to find a better deal even if it's just by a dollar or two. Are parents willing to take their kids out of one daycare in order to pay $5 less per week? I think they are, and in a capitalist society more power to them.

Now let's talk about Sue, who worked for Amy. Sue could have gone to work for a large corporation and probably had health insurance. She might not have liked her job as much as she did at Amy's, but who care's about liking your job as long as you have health insurance ( Oh wait that is one of those American dreams we are supposed to care about) She could have taken a job just to get health insurance and been a cog in the wheel and made the corporation richer. (making the corporations richer, YES that is what the american dream is about! Oh wait it's not)

Sidebar: My mom worked for a large corporation for a part of my 20's, but the company decided to downsize, and my mom was layed off. As to be expected my parents were upset, and my dad whom I trust tells me to be careful at my current job which was at another large company because those companies don't care about me, and I'm just a number, a sentiment I think a lot of other american's share.

Back to Sue. She has decided to go work for some big company to get benefits, but she doesn't like her job, and she is always worried that she's just a number to them, and some day her number will be up and she'll be layed off (unlike back at Amy's where she liked her job, had input in the curriculum and Amy valued her opinion and she felt like she made a difference, and she knew Amy personally and felt that Amy would do everything in her power to keep from laying Sue off)

So what is the point of this long diatribe??

1. I believe health care shouldn't have to be something you make a choice about.

2. It's not just people who are lazy and don't want to get jobs or who are undocumented who have trouble with health care.

3. Sue had kids, her kids come to school sick because she can't afford to take them to the doctor, and then Jen's* kids get sick. Jen has to miss a couple of days of work to take care of her sick kids, using her vacation time for something other than vacation or maybe just to be dramatic, let's just say Jen doesn't get paid if she isn't at work. (yet another sentiment that pisses off the american public)

4. We all impact each other, let's do some things that take care of one another.

5. I'm not a socialist, I think each person has the right to make thier own decisions about what they buy, whom they buy it from, and what price they pay for it.

6. People like me who have had a pretty easy life so far, good health insurance, parents who loved me and could afford to take care of me, a husband who is successful enough to afford me to go back to school, have a social and moral responsibility to help those who haven't had the same advantages as we have.

7. Did I already say we're all connected? Oh I did? Well here it is again.

8. If we're being good christians who follow god's rules, don't those rules involve helping those are less fortunately then ourselves?

9. Most of us don't like big corporations... they make it hard to get your cell phone fixed, or your cable turned on, they can charge whatever they want because they've run the other companies out of business, why make it so we all have to work for them, because they are the only one's who can afford private health insurance.

10. I didn't get into how much it would have cost Sue to get private health insurance, or that she would have had to qualify and god forbid she have a pre-existing condition like diabetes that she got becuase she loves her some cheap hot McDonalds. (don't judge her, you know you all have your weaknesses, we're bread to by Ronald McDonald, and Joe Camel) So now now can't get her diabetes medication, so she goes into a diabetic coma on her way home from work and rams into the back of your car.

Did I already say we are all connected?

That's all I've got to say.

* The people are real, I knew them, worked with them, and have thought about them on and off for the past 10 years, but the names have been changed. Chances are they won't find out, but why risk it.

So Proud

2009-08-26T09:39:00.002-05:00

I'm a few days late on this post, but on Monday, Jake's company drop.io was listed as one Times Magazines 50 Best Websites for 2009. The site has gotten a ton of press on tech websites, and whatnot, but I would say this is their first or biggest mainstream press event.

We used drop.io to have our friends and family post pictures from our wedding which has been great because we've been able to see so many more pictures than we would have.

You can check out the pictures here

When you are the wife of a big computer geek, and a touch of a geek yourself this is a pretty big accomplishment. I swooned! Jake was part of drop.io from the very beginning and I see how hard he works, and how strongly he believes in Sam and his ideas.

Congrats to him and the whole drop.io team!

Kiva

2009-08-22T18:55:00.001-05:00

Our friends and family where so kind to us at our wedding that we wanted to pay it forward and do some good work for others. We have decided to donate some of the money we received to different charities/giving organizations.

One of those organizations is called Kiva. Here is the explanation from their website as I think they'll explain it better than I.

Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.

Jake has done his homework and researched this organization. Basically the borrower typically pays the loan back in 6-12 months, the payback rate is about 98%, at which point we can decided to lend to another person, donate to Kiva for administrative expenses, or withdraw our funds. We plan to continue to lend for as long as we can.

We are just starting the process, but I am excited to participate.