30 Before 30 List

Sorry for being MIA

2012-05-29T18:30:00.000-04:00

Hi remember me? I feel like it has been so long! I have been so busy. What have I been up to?

I read some books (full reviews coming soon on the Bookshelf blog):

Fishbowl- 3.5 out of 5 stars

Love Lies- 2 out of 5 stars

Fifty Shades of Grey- 4 out of 5 stars

I have been busy trying to figure out what to do with all the veggies I have been getting in my CSA box each week. It's only been two weeks but so far all the veggies have been things I would never buy at the grocery store.

Week one was kale, lettuce, turnips, and mizuna. I made kale chips (will post about that tomorrow) and ate the turnips raw with some hummus or on a salad with the lettuce. They were both yummy. I ended up throwing away the mizuna. It was supposed to be like arugula but it looked very wilted after about a week.

Week 2 I got beets, red leaf lettuce, scallions, and swiss chard. I already threw away the red leaf lettuce because it wilted after just 3 days. I have a recipe for the beets and scallions. Look for that on an upcoming Pinterest Wednesday post.

So far I am not loving the CSA. The way it works is you pay for the whole year (mid May-Oct). It comes out to be about $11.75/week and you get a grocery bag full of random fruits/veggies delivered to my work each week. It has forced me to eat more veggies and try things I would never buy, but can I get some regular old green beans or peas or something? And a girl can only eat (and store) a certain amount of lettuce each week. Enough with the greens!

I took a fitness test at work. It was for National Employee Fitness week. We had to run 1.5 miles, bike 1 mile, do as many sit-ups as you could in 1 minute, as many push-ups as you could do in 1 min, and a wall-sit for as long as you could stand it. We were supposed to try to beat the president of our North America Group's times/numbers, but considering he is a super in-shape guy who did the 1.5 mile run in like 9 minutes and I still can't even run a mile in 9 minutes I didn't come close. I did the 1.5 miles in about 15:20, the 1 mile bike in less than 4 min., the wall sit for 90 seconds, and about 25-30 of the sit-ups and push ups.

I have made progress on The List. It looks like I will hopefully be going on a kayak trip June 9, I only have 77 chapters left to read it the Bible, and I am on my way to the healthy weight range and beginning treadmill training to run a 9 minute mile so I can declare myself in the best shape of my life. Now I just need to find a cute boy to take me fishing and kiss me in the rain.

I finished my sewing class and made a pair of PJ pants.

I still need to hem them because we ran out of time. But due to a mix up and them only having 1 sewing machine for the whole class, we get to take another month long class in September for free!

I also went to see this for the second time and it was great even though they didn't do justice to my favorite song "I'm not the girl".

I've also been super busy at work. I just got to create a Pinterest account for Lenovo US! I love Pinterest and don't think twice about pinning things or setting up new boards on my personal account but for some reason I was so nervous setting one up for Lenovo! Would people follow us? What should I pin? Please do me a HUGE favor and FOLLOW US! I promise I will try to pin good stuff and not be annoying or overwhelming. PLUS we will be having an awesome contest on there in a few weeks for Back to School and you could win a new computer with accessories or an Android tablet!!

I'm going to try to get back to a regular posting schedule. Thanks so much for still following despite my silence lately.

Oh and I have a new crush. That's all I am going to say about it but I need advice! What do you guys do when you have a crush?? I hate this feeling of liking someone and not sure how they feel about you!

Need a good cry?

2012-05-10T10:26:00.000-04:00

I watched this video earlier this week. It made me cry. You've been warned...have your tissues handy.

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- PB Apple dip

2012-05-09T16:05:00.000-04:00

I wanted to try another full out recipe this week for Pinterest Wednesday, but I had an unexpectedly busy weekend and didn't make it to the grocery store until last night.

So I chose something quick I could make from my "snack time" board:

Source: au.lifestyle.yahoo.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

I don't like yogurt unless it is of the frozen variety or in a smoothie. Something about the consistency maybe bothers me. But I know it is good for you! I know greek yogurt is a huge trend right now and a lot of my friends love greek yogurt. I hadn't had the courage to give it a try yet so I was kind of excited to try this recipe:

One small tub of nonfat Greek vanilla yogurt
Two tbsp. peanut butter
1/2 tbsp. honey
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Just mix them all together in a bowl or plastic container. It makes enough for a lot of snacking sessions.

Here is how mine turned out:

It was yummy! It wasn't mind blowing, but definitely something I will make again. Protein packed! I tried it with carrots too but it wasn't as good so I would recommend pairing it with apples.

NC Marriage Amendment

2012-05-07T08:30:00.000-04:00

In NC we are getting ready to vote on an amendment to our constitution:

The long title of Senate Bill 514 is: "An Act to Amend the Constitution to Provide That Marriage Between One Man and One Woman is the Only Domestic Legal Union That Shall Be Valid or Recognized in This State."

This issue has been all over my Facebook the last few months. People have strong opinions about it.

As I understand it, if this amendment passes it could have huge implications for not only gay couples, but ANY unmarried couple. And if it doesn't pass, everything will stay the same because we already have a law banning same-sex unions.

Saturday night at church they played a video our pastor had recorded encouraging us to vote for Amendment One. I had already cast my vote early on Friday against Amendment One, but even if I hadn't the video would not have changed my mind.

I was upset that our pastor would say that as a church we should vote for it. He did mention that the leadership team believes there is room for disagreement on the issue, but they presented nothing of the other side. I've been angry that other Christians make it seem like the "Christian" thing to do would be to vote for the amendment, thus implying if you vote against it maybe you aren't Christian enough?

I'm embarrassed how some Christians are acting and what they are saying in the face of this issue. I've been thankful for Christians who are brave enough to speak out against Amendment One. I don't think where you stand on this issue makes you any more or less of a Christian. This is a political issue and there can be Christians on both sides. I just pray that no matter which side you stand on, we would be able to treat each other with respect.

Along with the implications in the graphic above, I also voted against the amendment because even though the Bible does say homosexual behavior is a sin, it doesn't mean that it should be illegal. There are lots of things that are sinful but still legal. Should we make divorce illegal? Should we make gossiping or dishonoring your parents illegal? How about pre-marital sex? Maybe we should make that unconstitutional.

Also, I don't think gay marriage would threaten Christian marriage. There are tons of straight people who are already "married" but not reflecting what Christian marriage should be (a reflection of God's relationship with the church).

I also don't think the laws of our country should be dictated by the majority's religion. What if Christianity was not the majority? I sure wouldn't want to live under Sharia Law.

And ultimately, in my view, denying love, family, and legal rights to people who are not straight does not align with God's command to love my neighbor.

I will not tear down the other side because they have their reasons for supporting the amendment, and just because I disagree doesn't mean I should disrespect that view.

No matter what your view is, I hope if you live in NC you go vote on this important issue. Voting day is Tuesday May 8th, 2012. Don't miss it!

Sunday Snippets- Forgiveness

2012-05-06T22:40:00.001-04:00

The last 10 days have been hard for me. First I was hurt by some people really close to me and then over the last week I've been hurt by someone new but significant in my life (no it's not a boy). In both circumstances I don't think the hurt was intentional, but that doesn't lessen the effect.

I realized it had been a long time since I had been really hurt. And I had forgotten how hard forgiveness can be!

I've learned when I am hurt my most natural response is to run. To end the relationship, get out of the situation, avoid ever letting it happen again. I hold a grudge. I want them to feel hurt too. But mainly I just want to run away from it.

But you know what happens when you run? YOU LOSE. You lose the relationship. You have to carry that hurt even when the relationship is gone and you have the additional hurt of losing the relationship (if it was a good one).

You know what happens when you hold a grudge? YOU LOSE. Even if the relationship stays in tact, it will never be the same. You will carry around the hurt and you will be quick to bring it back up. You will add every hurt together until eventually you won't be able to maintain the relationship.

You know what happens when you hurt them back? YOU LOSE. Even though you may feel an initial satisfaction from your revenge, in the end it doesn't feel good to hurt someone (or at least it shouldn't). I wonder how this dentist who pulled out all her ex boyfriend's teeth will feel when she's sitting in a jail cell? Although I did have to chuckle at the story because boy did she get him back for dumping her!

Forgiveness is freaking hard, but it is the only way you win.

I have been thankful for these experiences to remind me how hard forgiveness is. It reminds me that one of the blessings of singleness is that you aren't in a position to have to forgive as often. And more importantly it makes me even more aware of the weight of the forgiveness God shows me everyday. Now when I pray "Please forgive me for..." I will be much more aware of what that means. And how can I expect God to forgive me if I can't forgive others?

"But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too." - Mark 11:25

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- Contests

2012-05-02T18:30:00.000-04:00

This Pinterest Inspired Wednesday is a little different. This time Pinterest has inspired me at work. One of the projects on my list at work is integrating eCommerce with the social media team. I know...dream job right? It is only a small part of my job right now but very exciting. At first I thought there was not much we could do on Pinterest. And honestly I really don't want companies to ruin social media like they have every other communication channel, so I am very conservative when it comes to these things. And since I love Pinterest so much I really don't want to ruin it with marketing!

But then I got an email from Victoria Secret about a contest they were doing and I was inspired. I decided to give it a try. I followed their instructions, made my board and starting pinning. And I kind of got in to it! You had to create a board dedicated to summer and pin at least 5 VS Pink items. I already like that brand and I love summer so it was pretty easy.

Source: pink.victoriassecret.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Then I saw another one from Sephora. This one was much more complicated. I did not have fun with it and they made you follow their boards which I hate.

Source: sephora.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

I know it probably annoys your followers when you are pinning stuff for a contest and I certainly don't want my feed to be nothing but spam, but both of these were brands I liked and I only pinned things I liked. I just don't know how I feel about it.

What do you guys think? Have you entered any contests on Pinterest? What are your thoughts on marketing on social channels in general?

Anyway...the reason why I really started this Pinterest Inspired Wednesday series was because I want to see what you guys have made, bought, baked, or have been inspired to DO based on a pin you pinned on pinterest! I'm going to continue to post this link up through the end of May so join in and link up to your Pinterest Inspired posts!

And as always so I can get more ideas of things to DO!

I want to travel

2012-04-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

Would you not LOVE to do something like this?? I wish I had unlimited time and money and could just travel. Anywhere and everywhere. Of course having a great travel buddy would be a must too!

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- Cake in a mug FAIL!

2012-04-25T11:23:00.001-04:00

Time for another Pinterest Inspired Wednesday. I pinned this a long time ago. I am always looking for easy, simple recipes for the single girl and this seemed like a dream come true. A single serving of cake!? And no eggs, butter, oil or other fat making ingredients!? Sounds good to me!

Here is the pin that inspired me:

Source: thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

For some reason I picked Butter Pecan cake mix. I thought it would taste good without frosting.

Basically you mix together the cake mix and angel food cake mix. You then put 3 tablespoons of the mix in a mug with 2 tablespoons of water. And here is how mine turned out:

Yeah it looked really gross. So I decided to top it with some fat free cool whip.

It was edible but not very good. The sides were burnt and it was really dry and chewy. I think I am going to stick to my original single gal dessert:

With this you just mix 2 tablespoons of the mix with 1 tablespoon of fat-free vanilla yogurt. And it is moist and yummy! And it is even better with a spoonful of frozen fat free cool whip!

Anyway...the reason why I really started this Pinterest Inspired Wednesday series was because I want to see what you guys have made, bought, baked, or have been inspired to DO based on a pin you pinned on pinterest! Sometimes they turn out good and sometimes not so good. Was it all you ever hoped for or did it let you down? Was it as easy as they say or incredibly hard? I want to give you guys a place to link up to and see what other people have tried from Pinterest. I am going to keep doing these every Wednesday through the end of May and have the link up available here, so share your experiences too!

And as always so I can get more ideas of things to DO!

Weekend of shopping

2012-04-24T18:00:00.000-04:00

I have been so busy! At work, at home. I'm so busy I can't focus. I need to focus.

Luckily I only have one more work day this week. Thursday I am leaving for a mini-beach vacation for a wedding of two of my good friends at the beach. They have been dating for like over 10 years so this is a long time in the making. I am excited to finally get to see them tie the knot!

This weekend I had to find shoes, a dress, and accessories. It was a full shopping weekend and I was exhausted. I discovered I love a lot of Jessica Simpson dresses. Who knew!? I couldn't find a picture of the one I ended up getting, but here are two of the runner-ups:

And guess what? I found the Khol's shoes I love! I will be wearing one of these. I haven't decided which yet:

Source: kohls.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

I still don't know what I am going to do for a purse yet. I have some options but haven't decided yet.

I also bought some new nail polish and a new comforter for my bed (random I know! but it was an awesome deal- only $60 for the whole set!)

I need your help though web sleuths! So many of you were able to find some of the items I couldn't find on Pinterest, so I figured I'd ask for your help with this one.

A few years ago I got this Furla wallet in Dubai. I LOVE it because it has these cool accordion style credit card slots that make finding and getting my cards in and out so easy.

But I can not find one like this anywhere! I really want a new one because I got nail polish on this one this weekend, freaked out, and wiped it with a nail polish remover pad. Yeah, not good on leather. Plus as you can see the one I have is white and is getting very dirty anyway. I was wondering if any of you super sleuths would have better luck than me. If you find it, please send me the link! I'll owe you BIG time!

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- Crock Pot BBQ

2012-04-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

Guess what?? Time for another crock pot recipe! I love making these because I will make something in the crock pot on Sunday and then have left overs for dinner for the entire week! Yes, it sucks eating the same thing over and over sometimes, but it is so easy and takes the guess work out of dinner!

Last weekend I made pulled pork BBQ in the crock pot. I LOVE BBQ! North Carolina is known for our BBQ. We basically have two styles- Eastern and Western (eastern is served more in the eastern part of the state and western more towards the mountains). The Eastern style BBQ is more of a vinegar based BBQ and it is more "chopped" rather that "pulled". The Western style BBQ is more saucy and sweet and it is not so chopped and more of a pulled or shredded style. I like both! This was more of a western style I would say.

I actually had two inspiration pins for this one and kind of combined ideas from the two:

Source: puttinonthegrits.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Source: sweetandsavoryfood.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Crock Pot BBQ

3-4 lb "Boston Butt" pork piece of meat (I am not good with meat shopping so I don't know the exact terminology. But I do know it was pork and "boston butt" was in the description)
1 1/2 cans of diet root beer
Lawry's Seasoning Salt
1/2 bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's sweet n tangy BBQ sauce
salt and pepper

1. Cover the meat with seasoning salt, salt and pepper.
2. Put it in the crock pot and fill crock pot about 1/2 full of diet root beer
3. Squeeze about 1/2 a bottle of BBQ sauce over meat.
4. Cover, turn cock pot on high, and cook for about 8 hours turning the meat over once after about 4 hours.
5. At the end of 8 hours take the meat out of the pot and shred (there was left over crap in my pot and I also threw away a lot of the really fatty parts.)

I also made slaw...

Simple Slaw

1 big bag of shredded cabbage and carrots
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup cider vinegar
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a big container. Let sit for a little while in the fridge before serving.

The original recipe called for 1/4 cup of each but I must have had much more cabbage because that barely did anything, so I doubled it. There was some left over "juice" in the bottom, but I really liked it!

I bought small dinner potato rolls and made sliders:

I LOVED them! The slaw and the BBQ was really good! I will definitely be making these again!

So...the reason why I really started this Pinterest Inspired Wednesday series was because I want to see what you guys have made, bought, baked, or have been inspired to DO based on a pin you pinned on pinterest! Sometimes they turn out good and sometimes not so good. Was it all you ever hoped for or did it let you down? Was it as easy as they say or incredibly hard? I want to give you guys a place to link up to and see what other people have tried from Pinterest. I am going to keep doing these every Wednesday through the end of May and have the link up available here, so share your experiences too!

And as always so I can get more ideas of things to DO!

My first half marathon

2012-04-16T13:37:00.001-04:00

Oh my goodness I was dreading this race! I had been sick for the past 2 weeks. I had missed 2 of my long training runs. I was barely able to run at all last week. I felt so unprepared. I had hated every run I had ever done over 8 miles. And the furthest I had run/walked was 10 miles. I was scared and hating myself for signing up for this race.

Saturday I ran a lot of errands (one of which was picking up the t-shirt and bib for the race). After church I was planning on going to sleep immediately. But time got away from me and I ended up going to the grocery store to get some pasta around 8:30 pm because I felt like I needed some carbs in my system for the next day. I had pasta with some spray butter, shredded cheese, sliced red pepper and some baby spinach around 9:30 and got in bed around 11.

I set my alarm for 4:45, but ended up waking up around 4:30 am and ate two eggo waffles with peanut butter and had some G2 to wash it down with. My nerves ALWAYS get to me and I have to use the bathroom before the race, plus I run best on an empty stomach, so I wanted to have plenty of time for my food to digest. I took a shower and was ready to go at 6 am so we could be in line for the 7 am start.

My friend Steph was running the race too and our friend Kristin came with us to cheer us on. We stopped at a grocery store near the race to use the bathroom one last time. There was a line. We were told we could not park there for the race and had to move our car across the street to a bank parking lot. We made it down to the race start line and I was hating life. I did not want to do this at all. We didn't have to wait too long and then we were off.

(I took no pictures, but saw this picture on a blog post I read. I'm in the blue closest to the camera. This was right at the beginning and I can not believe it looks like I am actually smiling.)

I will spare you all the details because most of the time I was just trying not to think too much. Running is just as much (if not more) of a mental challenge for me as it is physical. I kept a steady pace that felt comfortable for me. My friend Steph was going to run the first half with me until I turned into the devil around mile 7 or 8 (as evidenced from our previous runs), but she was going a little too fast for me and I did not want to push myself when I had 11-12 more miles to go, so I just let her go around mile 2.

The course was flat for the most part until we got to the first hill around mile 4. I hate stopping to walk because it messes with my head, but I walked up that hill. And then I told myself it was ok to walk up hills. Well there were about 2-3 hills after that so I did way more walking than I probably should have. Around mile 7 I finally decided to walk through a water station. I was carrying a small water bottle but I had been coughing and hacking up stuff (which I'm sure was disgusting for the people around me) so I felt like I needed a little break.

Then I did a walking/jogging combination for the next 3 miles. At about mile 10 I was walking a lot. I would tell myself just jog to that no parking sign 100 ft. away or to the next intersection. And sometimes I would make it and sometimes not.

I was really struggling the last 2 miles and could barely bring myself to jog at all. But when I started seeing people with medals walking back to their cars as I got closer to the finish line I started jogging because I knew I was close. As soon as I saw the time on the finish line clock was 2:44, I kicked it in to high gear just to try to get in under 2 hours and 45 min. And I did! My official time was 2:44:59. That put my pace at about 12:35 minute miles, which wasn't horrible for me.

At the end of the race I could barely walk and I can still barely walk today. Yesterday I said that this race was the stupidest decision I have ever made and I would never do another one again. Today I am thinking "what could I do if I wouldn't have gotten sick and gotten all my training in?" I kind of want to do another one at some point, but not anytime soon.

Despite the torture it was really cool to get a medal and I do feel somewhat accomplished having made it to the finish line! When I first made my 30 Before 30 list I just wanted to run one 5K so it is pretty amazing that I have actually completed a half marathon!!

Bronchitis- Ain't nobody got time for that!

2012-04-11T22:16:00.000-04:00

I just got back from a run...er...slow jog/walk. It was terrible. It's cold out and I'm still coughing and hacking up stuff. Well about a 1.5 miles away from my house this huge golden retriever comes out of no where. Cam and I stop and I see a lady in her pajamas on her phone coming out of the garage across the street to get the dog. We wait because both dogs are kind of amped up like "what's going on...should I attack you??" I think the lady has the dog so Cam and I start running again. Well the dog gets lose and chases us. I keep jogging as calmly as I can to keep Cam calm but do a u-turn to go back up the street to the lady so she can get her dog who is anxiously all over my dog. We stop and wait until she has him secure on the leash. I jogged out of that loop, made it about a block further and then gave up. I just walked most of the way back to my house while hacking up my lungs and spitting up all kinds of nastiness.

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook tonight and I've watched it about 10 times. Cracks. me. up. Preach girlfriend! I got bronchitis too and ain't nobody got time for that! Especially when you are supposed to be running a half marathon in 3 days!

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- crock pot mac n cheese

2012-04-11T16:14:00.000-04:00

I love crock pot recipes on Pinterest. I think this is the 4th or 5th one I've tried. I was so excited about it, but it wasn't as good as I thought it would be.

Here is the pin that inspired me:

Source: whiskandaprayer.blogspot.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Crock-pot Mac n Cheese

1 1/2 cups milk

One 12 oz can evaporated milk (I used skim, evaporated milk keeps the egg and milk from curdling)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled to room temp

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups (12 oz) shredded cheese (I used an Italian blend, recipe calls for Italian fontina cheese)

1/2 pound elbow macaroni or mini penne tubes, par cooked and drained (this means cook them for about five minutes until tender but not completely cooked)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Spray the inside of your slow-cooker with cooking spray or grease it with olive oil. Combine milk, evaporated milk, eggs, butter, and salt in slow-cooker and whisk until until smooth.

Add the shredded cheese (not the Parmesan) and macaroni, sprinkle with black pepper). Stir gently with a spatula to coat evenly.

Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top. Cover and cook on HIGH for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, reduce the temperature to LOW and cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until custard is set in the center and the pasta is tender. The macaroni and cheese may sit in the cooker on the KEEP WARM setting for 30 minutes before serving

Here is how mine turned out:

Even though I sprayed my crock-pot with cooking spray, I burned the crap out of mine. But no worries, I just threw out the burnt parts:

And then it was perfect:

When I was little one of my friend's mom's would make us the mac and cheese from the blue box and put baked beans on top. Sounds weird but I love it! So I added some baked beans too:

Overall I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. It was easy and pretty good, but I had way too high expectations for this and they were not met. I might make it again, but not something I see myself craving.

So...the reason why I really started this Pinterest Inspired Wednesday series was because I want to see what you guys have made, bought, baked, or have been inspired to DO based on a pin you pinned on pinterest! Sometimes they turn out good and sometimes not so good. Was it all you ever hoped for or did it let you down? Was it as easy as they say or incredibly hard? I want to give you guys a place to link up to and see what other people have tried from Pinterest. I am going to keep doing these every Wednesday through the end of May and have the link up available here, so share your experiences too!

And as always so I can get more ideas of things to DO!

Sick

2012-04-09T19:56:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been sick. I started feeling off last Sunday. Then woke up with a sore throat on Monday. Progressively got worse during the week. I worked from home Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. I thought it was just a cold and so I didn't go to the doctor.

Over the weekend I got worse. So I went to the doctor this morning. The doctor didn't say exactly what I had. She said my tonsils were swollen but I didn't have strep. She said my body was definitely fighting something though so she gave me some drugs to hopefully knock this bad boy out! Almost $50 at Walgreens, I came home with all this...

The worst part about this sickness is my throat. I sound like crap. I can barely talk and have these horrible coughing fits. The doctor gave me these prescription cough suppressant pills. I've never seen anything like them...

They look like little marbles. And so far they work pretty well.

I HAVE to get better! My first half marathon is on Sunday!! I haven't ran since last Monday. I was planning on doing 11 miles on Sunday but I just couldn't because I could barely breathe from this cold! I am going to try to do 4 miles tonight and then 8 on Wednesday and maybe 3-4 on Thursday. This freaking sucks! I feel so unprepared and this dang cold better get better ASAP or else I definitely won't make it to the finish line!

Ok rant over :(

I hope you guys had a great Easter weekend! I was at church Friday for a choir concert, Saturday to help out in Kid's Life (probably should NOT have done that) and attend service, and then back on Sunday to help with First Impressions and baptisms. It was such a good weekend reflecting on the blood that was shed for me and the victory and power of the resurrection! And the weather over the last few days has been just beautiful and I got to enjoy some time outside just relaxing. Despite the sickness it really was a great weekend. Hallelujah He has risen indeed!

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- Pinterest Frustrations

2012-04-04T18:22:00.000-04:00

You guys know I love Pinterest. I use it daily. I pin items I am inspired by, quotes I like, ideas for if I ever get married (ladies there is NOTHING wrong with having a wedding board on pinterest- you are just saving ideas, not planning your wedding and I think you will be MUCH more prepared and less stressed when you actually do have to plan your wedding)...ok rant over...I use it for recipes I want to try, ideas for if I'm ever a parent (again, I see nothing wrong with this), ideas for the holidays, ideas for planning parties, and many other things.

If you haven't already...

I have 23 boards right now. Is that excessive? One of my boards is called "i want" I pin things here that I am considering buying in the near future (not "oh someday ideas"). Over the last two weeks I have had two items I've pinned sell out before I could go back and buy them!

Source: oldnavy.gap.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Would have been sooo cute!

Source: kohls.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Why did everyone else have to love these as much as me?

I was so sad. I guess I will have to remember if I see a lot of people re-pinning something that is a sign to not delay and buy it now or else it will be gone!

I also have a problem pinning things and then never being able to find them for sale. Like these:

Source: pictureperfectbodywerkit.tumblr.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Source: loftinsoho.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Or things that end up being WAYYYY out of my price range. I have learned to pin all clothing and home ideas onto separate "inspiration" boards because most of the stuff I like is sooo expensive and I need to just find similar items to pull off the "look". Like these:

Source: polyvore.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Yeah...That yellow "top" is actually a dress and the bag is over $700. Also I pinned this twice! I hate when I do that!

And finally I hate people that just pin images...not a link to a page with more info. Like this:

Source: i1121.photobucket.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

And if it is something I want to buy, I also hate "uploaded by user" pins.

Do you guys have any similar experiences? What are your Pinterest frustrations?

My First 10K

2012-03-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

I was feeling a little better about running this week. Last Monday I ran 8 miles in 1 hour 38 minutes. That's about a 12 min/mi pace but the best part was I ran almost all of it. I walked for about 30 seconds at the beginning of the last mile on a killer hill in my neighborhood. But other than that it was a pretty good run.

I took the rest of the week off to save up energy of the race on Saturday. I was going to do a short run on Wednesday, but was so exhausted from work I decided against it. I did ride my bike to the grocery store twice during the week, so I did get a little bit of physical activity in.

Thursday night I stayed up until 3 am watching The Hunger Games and Friday I spent most of the day exhausted while working. But on Friday night I could not fall asleep! I had to be up by 6:30 am so we could leave for the race at 7 but for some reason I couldn't fall asleep until after 1 am!

I got up shortly after my alarm went off at 6:30 and got dressed, ate a granola bar and chugged a full glass of water. I also drank a Diet Mountain Dew on the way to the race but amazingly I wasn't as tired as I thought I'd be despite the lack of sleep.

I rode with my friend Mary Beth to the race. I think it was still dark out when we left. I am NOT a morning person! AND it was RAINING! I knew they wouldn't cancel because so much goes in to one of these races. So it looked like we would be running in the rain.

I just wore my regular running capris and a short-sleeve dri-fit Nike shirt. The only thing I would have done different was to maybe wear a hat. The rain does get in your face while you are running and that might have helped.

We didn't pick up our packets early and only had about 30 minutes until the race started at 8am. So we hurried to pick up our stuff. For some reason I always get really nervous and have to use the bathroom before a race. So while I stood in line for the port-a-potty MB took our stuff back to the car. There was a long line for the bathroom so I was kind of freaking out. They kept making announcements for runners to make their way to the starting line. I finally got to use the bathroom and we made it to the start line with 5 minutes to spare. Which was nice because we didn't have to spend a lot of time waiting around for the start. I always get claustrophobic at the start or races

This race was a 5K and 10K and everyone lined up and started together. The 5K runners were instructed to turn around at the water station. I had been expecting a small race because one of the girls in my bible study organized this race and said we had a good chance of winning something because there were only 85 people signed up for the 10K. But there were a lot of people! It was not a small race.

The start was crowded but I just tried to keep a steady pace until things thinned out. About a mile in there was a big hill. We were going down it, but I knew that meant we'd have to come back up it at the end. Great. Wonderful Gotta love hills.

When we got to the water station I so wished I was turning around with everyone else. There were so few people that kept on going! I felt really alone. I could see about four or five people ahead of me. At one point when we turned a corner I tried to see if there was anyone behind me. I couldn't see anyone so from that point on I told myself I was not allowed to look back. One rule for the 10K was that you had to run at least a 16 min/mile pace. Seeing no one behind me for that brief second made me think I was the last person and in danger of not keeping that pace!

But then I managed to pass two GUYS! So I knew there were at least some people behind me. I also got passed by a grandpa at one point, so yeah, not that impressive. I kept having to remind myself that this is my race and to stop comparing myself to others because that would just ruin it.

I didn't stop at the water station because at this point I knew if I stopped or walked it would just mess with me mentally. Then I saw THE HILL. We had done about 4-5 other hills during this race, but for some reason this one was the worst. I told myself not to walk. Just get up that hill. And I did. But then I had to walk. I walked for about a minute ("just to that road sign") and started running again. I ran until I could see the turn for the last stretch. I was kind of dying so I decided to walk for just 30 seconds or so in order to really push myself to the finish. (See I told you I shouldn't have walked because it only led to me walking again! Keep in mind all this happened in the last 3/4 of a mile.)

When I rounded the last corner and saw that the clock was not to 1:10 yet I was happy. I ran as hard as I could and made it across the finish line in just over 1 hour 9 minutes! It was an 11 min/mi. pace which I was happy with! It was the first race that I actually felt happy and satisfied with!

This race was part of the Chic-fil-a Race Series so they had free Chic-fil-a at the end of the race! That was a bonus! And we got a nice tech shirt. I definitely will do another one of these if they have one in Raleigh again.

My high from the race was short lived though when I thought about the fact that what I ran on Saturday isn't even half of a half marathon. Oh goodness. What did I get myself in to? I loved the 10K, but I am still not feeling good about this half marathon. Just 3 weeks to go! AHHHHH!

Sunday Snippets- God can use ANYTHING for HIS Glory!

2012-03-25T18:38:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to finish up #27 on my list- read the Bible all the way through. Today I started on Matthew. It starts out with what I once thought of as the boring "so and so begat so and so and they begat this person..." It is basically used to show linage because the messiah was to come through King David. I was reading through this list but when I got to this verse (Matthew 1:6) I stopped:

"Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah.)"

It goes on to list the rest of the linage up to Jesus. But the names David, Bathsheba, and the word widow brought that story rushing back to me.

It's one of the most shocking stories to me in the Bible- the story of David and Bathsheba. David was a powerful king and saw a beautiful neighbor, Bathsheba, taking a bath. He sends some people to get her and bring her back to the palace and he slept with her. Bathsheba got pregnant. David tried to cover it up by having her husband brought back from war and getting him drunk and trying to get him to go sleep with his wife so no one would ever know it was his child. But all his plotting and planning didn't work. So David had Bathsheba's husband sent to the front lines of battle so he would be killed. Then he made Bathsheba one of his wives once she finished mourning the loss of her husband.

The story was just so shocking because David loved the Lord. He had been blessed by him and was a good man. How could he make such a mistake?! Why would he do this??

God sends a prophet to tell David a story of a rich man taking one poor man's beloved lamb to slaughter for a party he was having even though the rich man had plenty of his own lambs. This outrages David in it's unfairness and the prophet tells David "you are that rich man" because of what he did to Bathsheba's husband. David realizes his sin and confesses his guilt.

But when I read that verse in Matthew I realized if David would have never had that affair and killed Bathsheba's husband then would Jesus have ever been born?! He came from the line of Bathsheba and David!! It just made me so thankful. God can use anything for His glory!

It's just so comforting because I felt like around me there's been a lot of discussion "is this a sin? is that a sin? should I being doing this or that?" And I do think it is important to think about those things, but if you stress out about it too much it can become paralyzing! If you are sinning, God is going to let you know. The Holy Spirit will let you know when you are doing something wrong and when you should change bad habits. But if you mess up, it is not the end of the world. Jesus has paid the price for our sins. We don't have to die for them! We just need to confess and repent when we mess up! AND God can even use those mistakes to bring glory to His name! How awesome is that?!?

Hunger Games Movie Review

2012-03-23T16:03:00.001-04:00

Last night I went to the 12:01 am viewing of The Hunger Games. I had been anticipating this for months. I bought my ticket weeks ago. I was so excited I could barely concentrate all day!

First shocking thing was it wasn't that packed. Yes, we got there an hour early and by the time the movie started the theater was full, but I think I was expecting more craziness. There were a few people that dressed up like people from the Capitol- crazy clothes, bright pink hair, etc. but for the most part people were in their comfy clothes because it was midnight.

They showed a preview for Breaking Dawn Part 2 which I thought was way disappointing. It didn't really show anything except that Bella is a vampire now (shocker).

Finally, the main event! Overall I loved the movie. It was hard not to be critical because I loved the books so much, but for the most part they stuck really close to the book. The casting was excellent I thought. Katniss was perfect. She was not warm and loveable, but you love her anyway and are rooting for her the whole way. I was a little worried about Peeta because he didn't look so cute in some of the pics I saw, but he ended up having some hot moments and he is just so charming and says such swoon-worthy things, and the way he looks at Katniss...ahhh I love Peeta! But dang Gale is really hot in the movie and I actually felt bad for Gale in the movie having to see Katniss and Peeta like that and I didn't feel that when reading the books.

Prim does an excellent job. Rue was cute, but we just didn't get to know her enough in the movie I think. In fact all of the tributes were not well known at all. Haymitch was not what I was expecting and not quite as drunk as I imagined him, but he was good. Cinna was good, but again I didn't get to know him as well in the movie and same for Effie and all the other secondary characters.

My only complaint was the shaky camera. I get why they did that, but I had a major headache when I left from all the movement on the screen.

I already want to read the books and see the movie again. And I cannot wait to see the rest of the movies!

The movie did make me question some things I thought the first time I read the books...mainly the ending of the last book. So I think I am going to go back and read them all again.

I don't want to ruin anything for ya'll so I will stop here. Please tell me your thoughts! I went with two of my friends who had both read the books too and they were a little disappointed. I would love to hear from someone who hasn't read the books too because I think some little things in the movie would be lost on people who hadn't read the books.

Oh and when Catching Fire comes out I will not be going to the midnight showing. It is just not worth it to be this tired! I think I would have enjoyed it more if I went to see it today. Happy Hunger Games Ya'll!

Pinterest Inspired- Hunger Games

2012-03-21T17:56:00.000-04:00

OMG y'all! It's tomorrow! I get to see the Hunger Games tomorrow night! I'm so excited!

In case you didn't know the Hunger Games was filmed in North Carolina. In fact a lot of it was filmed just right up the road from where I grew up. The Visit NC site has an article with a list of 12 Places to Experience the Hunger Games. They also have a Pinterest Board with pictures of some of the places.

Here are some of my favorite Hunger Games related pins:

Source: ponytaillove.tumblr.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

So excited just reading that!!!

Source: google.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

I bawled my eyes out after I read that!

Source: weheartit.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

I LOVE Peeta but DANG Gale is HOT!

Source: etsy.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Again, probably my favorite quote of the whole series!

Source: Uploaded by user via ncsuz on Pinterest

I wish I would have re-read the whole series because it's been a while since I read the books, but maybe that will make the movie even better?? Sorry for all the Hunger Games obsession. It will die down next week, i promise!

9 miler and Franklin 5K

2012-03-19T18:55:00.000-04:00

Soooo...on Friday I made my attempt at 9 miles. I did 9 miles, but I most certainly did not run 9 miles and the only reason I didn't do less than 9 miles was because it was an out and back run, so I had to get back to my car somehow.

It was soooo freaking hot. We ran at a little after 4 pm and the sun was blazing. And I was not in a good place mentally as you guys know. I was complaining by mile 3. I had to walk for a bit before we even hit mile 4 (which is not normal). And I walked the last mile and a half almost entirely. It was the worst run of my life.

I was freaking out because I had a 5K the next day and my legs were so sore I could barely walk before I even finished the run. So I took an ice bath when I got home. Yes, I actually dumped ice in my tub and sat in freezing cold water for 20 minutes. It sucked. But it worked! I was a tad sore the next day, but I was expecting to not even be able to walk!

I ran the 5K Saturday morning. I was slower than I'd like to be, but only a few seconds off my fastest 5K time. I finished in 34:30. I'm slow ya'll. I don't think I will ever be a fast runner. I've decided after this half, the only thing I want to train for is getting in under 30 minutes for a 5K.

The race was the ZTA Franklin 5K. I was a ZTA in college at ECU and I was seriously impressed with the event the UNC Zeta's pulled off. It was really organized, well attended, and the philanthropy (Susan G Komen breast cancer) was evident everywhere.

I even got to see one of my ECU Zeta sisters finish her very first 5K at this race! I haven't seen her in years, but follow her blog so I feel like I know her better than some people I see on a daily basis. She rocked it! She was just ahead of me for the whole last half of the race and I was so proud of her! She is seriously superwoman. She has 3 young kids and a career and managed to train for this 5K and finish strong! It was great to see her and meet her adorable kids at the race and see her accomplish a goal I know she's been working towards for a while. She'll be rocking out a half marathon in no time I just know it!

One of my best friends and fellow Zeta Kristin ran the race with me too. Being on a college campus and around all those Zeta's made us want to go back to our Zeta days. We had never seen the ZTA house at UNC so we drove around to find it. It was huge, but no where near as cute as our house at ECU. We did love the Pi Beta Phi houses. That's right we saw two super cute houses that said Pi Beta Phi! As a former house manager and treasurer, I can't imagine having two houses! They were both adorable though! And the Tri-Sigma house had a sailboat etched on their front door which we thought was awesome. Oh college days, how I miss you.

It was a fun race and cheaper than other 5Ks I've done. And I didn't know this before we got there, but you can bring your dog! I so want Cam to run a race with me! I think I might do this one again next year.

I still can not let go of missing my 8 mile run. I was going to try to do it on Sunday but I was too dang tired so I am going to try to do it tonight. Plus, mentally I need a good long distance run after that disaster on Friday. I was seriously going to try to get a refund on the half. I was almost in tears at a couple points. It was sooo discouraging. But they don't do re-funds, so I have 4 weeks to get there. I HAVE to do this.

This weekend I have my very first 10K. I think the main motivating factor for this race is that there will be Chic-fil-a food at the end of it! I really don't want to think about time because I know I will just disappoint myself. So maybe my goal will just be to do my best and feel good at the end of the race.

I was going to then try to fit in our 10 mile run next Sunday, but we shall see how I'm feeling after the race on Saturday. I don't want to over-do it!

Oh why oh why did I get myself into this??

Book Reviews and Hunger Games OMG!

2012-03-18T20:45:00.001-04:00

I finally finished The Host! It took forever. I also posted another book review so go check these out:

The Host- 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Choice- 3.5 out of 5 stars

Also I am so freaking excited! I have my ticket to the midnight premiere of the Hunger Games on Thursday night!! This is the first time I have ever gone to a midnight opening. How early are you supposed to get there? I feel like a giddy little teenager over this!

Clearly Fresh Bags really do work!

2012-03-16T18:47:00.000-04:00

A month or so ago someone from Clearly Fresh Bags emailed me and asked if I would be willing to write a review of their product. I get these kind of emails from time to time and I only say yes if it is something I think you guys will be truly interested in. Since I have a problem with buying fruits and veggies and have them go bad before I ever get around to eating them, I thought some of you might too.

I am VERY skeptical and when I got these bags I was thinking they wouldn't make a noticeable difference. I was impressed with them though. The packaging was nice. I got a good amount of bags to try out and the bags were large enough to store a lot.

I've tried them out with a variety of things: apples, bananas, cucumbers, peppers, and lettuce.

My favorite was the lettuce. I am a sucker for the salad bags at the grocery store. But I decided just to get a head of lettuce and tear it into salad size pieces and keep it in the Clearly Fresh Bag. It lasted sooo long! And it was easier to use because of the zip lock top! I did notice a difference in everything I used it for though. It was great!

My only question is if the bags are reusable. If I wash them out can I re-use them? There website reccommended not washing them because the Breatheway patch won't work if it is submerged in water. But what if I just rinse the inside out and try not to get that part wet? Maybe I will just try it.

Either way I highly recommend these and will probably be buying more myself in the future!

Disclaimer~I received a package of Clearly Fresh Bags in order to provide this review. The opinions are my own.

My first half marathon training

2012-03-16T11:50:00.001-04:00

I'm trying not to let myself get stressed out about this. I have to just not think about it too much. I started off strong and had a plan, but now that it is down to crunch time I realize I am a little behind in my half marathon training and these next three weeks are basically going to be hell.

Here is what I have done so far and my plan for the remaining time left before the race:

I didn't stick to the plan I had and things got kind of all over the place. And please note that when I say "run" it's more like slow jog. Like 12-11 min/mile pace. And there might be some walking in some of those "runs".

Now I am kind of freaking out. Today I am going to try to run 9 miles with a friend. I say "try" because I have never ran more than 7 miles. The week after we did that 7 mile run is when it all started falling apart. The next week we did 6 instead of 8 and then the next weekend we just skipped it all together and when I tried to go out to do 8 by myself I could only force myself to do a little over 4 miles.

Tomorrow I am running a 5K in Chapel Hill and next Saturday I am running my first ever 10K in Raleigh. I've already signed up for the half so no matter what I will be attempting to run 13.1 miles on April 15th.

I'm trying not to freak out about it.

And as a bonus, here is a really cool marathon infographic I came across a few weeks ago (click to go to the original source where it is much easier to read):

Have you ever done a half marathon? Were you freaking out your first time?

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- long hair don't care

2012-03-14T13:01:00.000-04:00

If it wasn't for Wednesday and Pinterest, y'all might never hear from me! Things have been busy and I have SOOO much I've wanted to blog about but just haven't had time. Maybe I can catch up later this week.

For now, let's talk hair. My hair has gotten LONG! At first I was trying to grow it out. Then I got to the point where I said I wouldn't cut it until I got married (if that ever happens) because then I would have a physical representation of how long I've waited for my husband to find me. Then it got annoying. Now I'm to the point where I just don't care. (but I still do...kinda)

Don't believe me? Look at this!

That is from this morning. And it feels longer than it looks I think. I have to go to a wedding at the end of April so I called to make an appointment with my hair stylist at the end of this month. Because I've learned I ALWAYS need some time to get used to a new look. I have an almost daily reminder of this from the time I thought it would be a good idea to get my hair done on the day I was getting my new driver's license. And I decided to get bangs. REALLY regret that. A bad hair cut makes a HUGE difference! Here's the proof:

I can't believe I just shared that because it embarrasses me every time I have to show it. Sorry for some reason I couldn't get the image to rotate, but you can see my old ID with my normal hair and the new one with bangs. Ugh. Hate it! And for those of you real life friends that tell me I look good with bangs? LIARS. It makes me have a pointy head! And my face looks 5Xs more round! Point being...I need to make sure I can work with anything that I may do to my hair.

I have a hair inspiration board on Pinterest. And while I haven't decided what I want to do as far as cut and color (right now I am thinking still long but darker) here are some of my inspirations:

Source: Uploaded by user via ncsuz on Pinterest

Source: blog.freepeople.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Source: extraordinaryhair.blogspot.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Source: google.co.uk via ncsuz on Pinterest

What do you guys think? Should I keep it long or is it not worth it and too messy? And should I go darker or lighten it up for summer?

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- Shopping

2012-03-07T13:12:00.000-05:00

I have been in a shopping mood lately. On Friday I went to Target just to pick up some things like trash bags and diet coke. But then I wandered into the shoe section and I bought 2 pairs of shoes and then as I was walking to the check out I saw a bag I really liked and I ended up getting it too!

Right now my tiny ultraportable work laptop fits in this bag, but tomorrow I have to upgrade to a new computer. Yes, I want a bigger hard drive (mine is completely full) and a faster processor, but this new computer is not one of our ultraportable ones. Now only VP level and above can request those. So I am getting the standard business computer- the ThinkPad T420. It is a 14" and not as thin as my 13" X301 that I currently have so today is the last day I will be able to use this bag as my work laptop bag. Oh well, I'm sure I will find another use for it.

I've also bought 3 pairs of ski pants! We went to the outlet malls Saturday morning and the Columbia store was having an awesome sale! I got a pair of ski boots (learned my lesson that rain boots will keep your feet dry but not warm) and two pairs of ski pants for $25 each! The boots and one pair of pants were both originally over $120! How could I pass up a deal like that. And then Monday I went to Dick's Sporting Goods to see if the pink pair of ski pants I was coveting for this year's ski trip was on sale. They didn't have a sale tag on them, but I took them up to the front to check and I am so glad I did! I got the $140 pants for less than $40!! Now I just have to wait until next year's trip to use all this stuff!

Speaking of ski trip, my friend Heather just posted an awesome summary of our trip with lots of pics on her blog. Check it out here!

I am going to leave you today with a collection of things I am coveting from Pinterest. Hopefully some of these will be in my possession soon!

Source: pshiiit.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Must have this and other neon nail colors for summer! I can't wait to have a tan too!

Source: shop.nordstrom.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

My Rainbows are crappy now. I need new ones and now that I've seen these, I MUST have them!

Source: pictureperfectbodywerkit.tumblr.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

If someone can find this shirt I will send you a reward. I cannot find it anywhere but REALLY want it!