Weeked. Tired. Gravy.

This weekend my little sister turned 23. We celebrated by going out to dinner, tubing, and eating biscuits and gravy. Behold:





Gravy not pictured.

Thank you, stranger!

I was having a moderately bleak morning (mountain of paperwork created paperwork babies). And then I discovered that a random person donated to our Polar Plunge team!

I don't know who you are, but thank you! You brightened my day. :)

A Year Later.

In two days it will be one year since my world was turned upside down in a matter of minutes. In retrospect, I am glad it happened. The events of last January made me a stronger person, and taught me a lot about myself--turns out I'm not as hardcore as I think I am sometimes.

I was reading back on it this evening, and found this:

"As a result, I am scared. Scared to live alone, scared to be at work, scared to do the things in life that I normally do. I never realized before today how completely free I feel most of the time, and how unafraid I am during my daily life. I go running in the dark without a second thought, I leave my door unlocked, and I do things that I probably shouldn't just because I live in a small town and don't think anything can happen."

It seems very recent to have felt that way, and yet I just got back from a run in the dark, and I think I'm feisty as ever.

In the year since I quit my job, I have managed to find another (better) job where I am incredibly happy. I ran a marathon. I met and began dating The Boyfriend. I regained some of the confidence that I lost due to fear. But a tiny chunk of me will always be a little bit affected by a couple minutes in my life from last January.

It's weird looking back on things. And even weirder how they affect us.

Darn you, winter.

There was a brief period of sunshine this weekend, wherein the boyfriend and I went walking through the park by the river to soak up the few rays available to us.



Isn't he cute?

Today a blizzard struck, and interrupted me from going for a run. Hmph. Ah well, at least we had a little sun!

Accidentally vegetarian?

I seem to be lacking in the meat eating department lately. I have no idea what has caused this, but for several days last week I didn't eat meat the entire day. I consumed protein, of course, but it was other varieties and well spread out with many fruits and veggies and grains and goodness.

For instance, take last Friday:
Breakfast: I can't remember. But it was meatless. Most likely oatmeal with peanut butter, berries, bananas, and soy milk.
Lunch: Veggie burger, hummus, spinach salad, mixed together in awesome wonderfulness.
Dinner: Spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and wheat bread on the side, prepared by The Boyfriend who knows of my love of vegetables
Snack: I think I had a latte at some point. It sounds like a day that latte-consumption would have occurred. Also I think I had a handful of chips at work.

Where's the beef, you ask? I do not know.

I keep threatening to become vegan for a week to see if I can do it. I'm thinking I could. I gave up meat without even trying!

Perhaps I should have a steak for dinner?

Slightly bipolar blogging...

I feel better. I arrived home in a heap of despair but have now accomplished the following:

1. Figured out that my tax return being small-ish is not the end of the world. I've always been poor, so that's what I'm good at anyway.
2. Ranted for approximately a million years to my heterosexual life mate about everything that has been bothering me that I've just been keeping to myself. She assured me that I am not, in fact, insane. Just a girl. And maybe a little nutty. And tired.
3. Ran 4.5 glorious miles without a care as to how fast I was running, or really a goal of how far to run. It just kind of ended up as 4.5 cause that felt like a good number today.
4. Many pushups and sit-ups while watching Biggest Loser (that actually has yet to happen, but I'm on my way there right now)
5. Write a slightly less depressing blog, as my run helped cure my "heap of despair" syndrome that comes from working 12 hours (I'm covering for someone whose mother died, and have been covering for about two weeks, so I'm totally okay with it and know it is only temporary so I'll just power through it)

What I have not accomplished is:
1. Eat dinner (and it's almost 9 p.m. Oops?)
2. Regain complete sanity (an ongoing battle)
3. Sleep (ah, but that's in my future)

Just thought I'd give everyone an update.

Why don't I own a snuggie for nights like these?

I just worked a 12-hour day. I arrived home to find my w-2s in the mail, which led me to discover that my tax return is not nearly as impressive as I'd believed it would be.

Suffice it to say, I'm having a heck of a time motivating myself to go for a run, darn it.

This is the scariest thing I have ever seen.

Coast adventures x 2

Both New Year's weekend and this past weekend included glorious adventures on the Oregon/Washington coasts. Said adventures led to photographic gems such as the following:







Please note the crab feed wonders of crab and beer. My grandpa bought me one beer, which led to me being rather tipsy and chatting up a storm with elderly people I don't know. I'm sure The Boyfriend found my lightweight tendencies amusing.

Polar plunge, here we COME!

See that little thingy over to your left? The one that says we've raised $90 out of $100 for the polar plunge? Freak YEAH! Thanks to everyone who donated!

I must cut this short tonight, as I need to go for a run and then pack my bags, as tomorrow I'm headed to the coast for a crab feed with the grandparents and the boyfriend. Woo!

Leslie and Shawna Attack Your Face!!! (Episode One)

We've decided to start making a video blog series! Here is episode one for your viewing delight... It is very well thought out as you can probably tell.

Take THAT, sweatpants!

I wrote a blog last night and had absolutely no intention of running five minutes later. My sweatpants were comfy. The outside world was cold and unfriendly. Motivation, schmotivation.

But then I randomly started talking with a friend, my former running buddy... We hadn't seen each other in months (she started dating a guy and went MIA). It came up in conversation that we both miss running together and don't go nearly as often as we used to.

I said something along the lines of, "Well, we could still go tonight..." And next thing you know, a two mile run turned into a five mile run.

I love when my runs are a surprise.

Blah.

Why is it that sweatpants are so much more awesome than running? It's not even that they are, it's just that it's way easier to put on sweats than to start a run. Encourage me, please, someone, to not put on sweatpants so much. It's so cold outside. I'm so lazy. It's so cozy in my apartment.

In other news, I love finding random grocery lists left in carts. Behold:

Reg. Milk ----> juice
bread
cheese
tortillas
FRUIT
veggies
butter
meat ---> hamburger
cookies
pizzas
soup!
c. cheese

I have to say I really enjoy the enthusiasm regarding both fruit and soup. I felt I should share.

Haha.

10 Reasons it would rule to date a unicorn

Hello, Sunday.

I am currently considering a run, but also considering sitting around in my sweats while watching Buffy. It's a very confusing moment in my life.

To recap my weekend:
1. Worked 10 hours on Friday (holy exhaustion)
2. Made the boyfriend take vitamins cause he's sick, and laughed at him when he complained
3. Ate coconut pineapple ice cream
4. Crocheted and watched football
5. Discovered the boyfriend's baseball jersey from when he was 9 fits me quite well, and is comfy, so promptly stole it
6. Slept
7. Contemplated running

It was a full couple of days.

Sidenote: Not even my own mother has donated to my polar plunge cause... Should I be worried? I have a feeling I'm going to be paying $50 to jump into a river. So far we're debating between costumes such as: cheerleaders, old prom dresses, snow bunnies, super heroes... and I can't remember what else. Thoughts?

Team Otter Pops!

Okay, it is on. Polar Plunge 2010!

On February 26 Shawna and I will jump into icy Central Oregon waters to raise money for the Special Olympics. We have to raise $50 each, which seems very reasonable. As such, she and I are going to race to see who can do it first!

You can go to our page and donate to one of us, or to our team... Here's the link:
http://moourl.com/968w2

Also, any ideas for super cool costumes?

Yeah, that happened.

Holy SHIT I ran 525 miles in 2009. That's a lot. Pardon my swearing but HOLY HECK that's far. I am awesome.

Behold:



I find that very entertaining. I would say that I totally plan to get 525 miles' ass in 2010 by running 526, but I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the marathon thing and I'm not sure 2 years of marathons would be good on the ol' joints. I'm already signed up for a 15k in February though, and who knows what is to come after that. I really want to become faster, so I think that's my goal for 2010. Let's see how much ass I can kick by beating my 11-ish mile average.

On another note, I feel that I have very entertaining events coming up in my life:

1. Tomorrow: story featuring photo/interview with me comes out in local paper. I vomit and possibly perish as a result of humiliation.
2. MLK Jr. weekend: Crab feed with grandparents.
3. February: Awesome bingo adventure in small town Idaho with The Boyfriend and good pals including Chelse, my heterosexual life mate (ironically one of these very same bingo occasions is where I first met The Boyfriend)
4. Also February: Polar plunge involving jumping into icy waters. So far my only confirmed teammate is Shawna. We are Team Otter Pops.
5. March: Week's vacation from work, which is always awesome.
6. April: To be determined. I'm sure Shawna and I will come up with something.

Sidenote: Shawna says hello. She is watching Bruno and eating the chicken-vegetable concoction I made for dinner.

Look at me blog...

Today I did several things:

1. Found out my car is fine, and the fuel gauge just hates me. Still, I'm okay with this.

2. Drank a delicious tea beverage from Whole Foods, as well as ate a sandwich as I was running late due to said oil change.

3. Ran 3 miles.

4. Browsed the dollar store with Shawna and bought a fake Sham-Wow.

5. Ate some potato chips cause a pal left them at my house.

Yep.

Happy 2010!

So here are my goals for 2010:

1. Be happy.
2. Run more (signed up for a 15k in Salem on Feb. 7 as a method of forcing myself to work out)
3. Eat healthier (Shawna's roommate influence will not bring me down! Just say no to frozen burritos!)
4. Spend more time with my family (if a trip to England can be worked into this, that would be ideal)
5. Take control of my financial situation (thus making a trip to England most likely impossible)

I was feeling pretty okay about my financial situation (homelessness/unemployment of 2009 was really a kick in the ass) and then my car decided to freak out on me. The gas gauge quit working, and now the check engine light is on. I'm guessing this will take a chunk of finances and make me say, "Fuck you, bank account" yet again.

Pardon my swearing. Happy 2010!!!!!

For the coming year, a prayer for you and me.

Hello 2010.

I spent the first day of 2010 waking up at noon, playing with babies, watching the Rose Bowl, watching two National Lampoon's Vacation movies and also the Jackass 2 movie.

A very good start to the year, I'd have to say.