New Blooming Goals

Summer Time, Summer Time

Due to the warmth in the air and the joy in my soul, I need to focus on a new set of goals to achieve this summer.  Since I just ran a marathon and I have about 15 weeks to get really fit, I should start new workout goals.  In 15 weeks, I will see Josh and get to go with him on a month long vacation!  After planning and planning and more planning, we have finally decided on a great vacation package.  We decided to go on a cruise to the Bahamas.

Then to spend time with his family in North Carolina.

And then do go to Sandals resort!

I am so excited!  So I am committing to working out 6 times a week:

3-4 of the days I am determined to run and the rest of the time I will do insanity.  I may double up on some of the days.  

I am going to adjust my diet as well since I cannot get more toned if I am eating crap.  So I am cutting out bread and dairy (minus greek yogurt).  I am also cutting out coffee since I depend on it tremendously.  I will give an update next week and hopefully I see a change :)

Filling in the Gap

Wow my last post was in August?  I guess not much happened over the last 8 months....Just Kidding!  Actually a lot has happened.  I am going to briefly go over the highlights otherwise, I would be writing all day.

August 7th, 2012 - Josh left for training (He is the handsom fellow on the right)

September 17th, 2012 - Josh and I celebrated our first year of marriage today.  He surprised me with a weekend at the Craddock Terry Hotel, which is where we spent the first night together as husband and wife.  I made him an online scrapbook that i never printed :(  But maybe I'll be able to print it before our second anniversary :)  The theme for the first year of marriage is Paper, so I kept the receipt and card from him.  Once i print the scrap crapbook, then that will be my paper gift to him.  Josh also made reservations to the delicious Shoe Makers.

September 20th, 2012 - I saw my idol in concert.  Florence and the Machine serenaded my mom, sister, and me on this chilly night.  The weather was freezing but it was sooooo worth it!  And the Maccabees opened for her too!!! One of my top moments in my life.  

November 28th, 2012 - Josh left to go over seas.  This was one of the hardest things that I have ever had to go through.  It is difficult to describe the feeling.  I had so many emotions.  Hopeless in having to battle this next year alone.  Helpless because I couldn't really care for Josh this next year.  Excitement to start the year and get it over with.  Determination to stay strong.  I think that was the main thing.  I felt like I had to stay strong.  Of course there has been plenty of times where I have broken down, but I am amazed at the strength that the Lord has given me.  I know a lot of that comes from the outpour of prayers from my family, friends, and church members.  Anyways, these photos capture the beginning of this journey.

December 20th, 2012 - My birthday.  Of course, missing Josh tremendously!  I got a call from him and he stayed on the phone while I went out to grab lunch with my parents.  When I walked out to their car,  they gave me a birthday "day at the spa" gift basket from Josh.  I got to enjoy an 1 1/2 long massage, facial, manicure, and pedicure!  PUUUUURRRREEEE RELAXATION!!!! 

Since Josh left, I got into a series of "hobbies"...(if you will).  I went through a phase of cooking, but that only lasted a month or two because that is expensive and time consuming.  But i have became a better cook :)

I then started having girl parties all the time.  Its important to have girl time and they are great encouragers!  It was also a great time filler.  

I wouldn't count this as a hobby, but I went through a phase (and am currently stuck in it until December) where my life is papers and hw.  Literally, i have been writing for long periods of time where my butt falls asleep!

And my newest hobby started in January.  RUNNING!  I love it I love it I love it!  I have become a running addict!  

April 20th, 2013 - I ran my first marathon!  It was a beautiful moment.  I had been training for 4 months.  I was so nervous the morning of the race and the whole two weeks before.  I couldn't believe it was already here.  It was so exhilarating when the race started.  By mile 16, I was kind of over it, but I got my second wind at mile 19.  I am certain that I could have finished under 5 hours, but I was too busy taking pictures of God's beautiful creation!  It was so incredible!  I looooved it!  I ended up finishing in 5 hours and 22 minutes.  I was happy with it for my first marathon.  

My dad did a great job capturing my first marathon in this link

Even though Josh couldn't make it to my marathon (since he is overseas), he was still there in spirit.  I have the most supportive husband.  When I got back home from my marathon, I had a package waiting for me.  

A Google Nexus Tablet!

I am registered for two half marathons, and another marathon before the end of the year.  I am debating on doing an ultra in October too.  The next marathon I'm doing is in October.  Its the Marine Corps Marathon.  Its going to be amazing!  I will be raising money for the race soon.  Once the website is up, i'll post it if you would like to donate to support our military!

The biggest highlight of this year is I got an incredible surprise in March!  

Josh came to surprise me at my office.  As you can see in the video, I still thought he was overseas.  Excuse my jibber jabber...i was in shock haha.

My big surprise!

Hope everyone is having an incredible week :)

The life of a Bachelorette

Well it has been a week exactly that I have been in the house alone without Josh.  And yes, I do have more time for me and I only have to feed and clean after only me and yada yada yada....but to be honest, it is miserable.  I miss my honey bunny (one of the many names I like to call him).  

Josh took a job, that in the long run is financially wise for us, but it is a huge sacrifice.  Josh is going overseas to work for a year.  I know this is equally hard for him and I wish so bad we could be  together during this job, but unfortunately we can't.

So this week I have filled my time with many pointless and purposeful things....Let's start with the pointless (but still very important):

• I have listened to Justin Bieber's song "As Long As You Love Me" fifteen times each day followed up with "Give Your Heart a Break" by Demi Lavoto.

• I have watched three episodes of Breaking Bad each night....it makes me feel strong :)

• I watched my guilty pleasure, The Bachelor Pad

• To be semi-productive during my shows, I went and bought arts and crafts to make a Fall Wreath :)  (the one below is not the one I made....but it is close to it)

• Played rock band with Chad (my brother), Tanner, Nigel, Patrick, and Adam.  It was epic!

The purposeful things I have done is:

• Hung out with my friends: Alexis, Britney, Shalie, Michele, and MaryBeth.  So glad they kept me preoccupied.  
• Finish up a class for MBA (wrote a paper and finished a test)
• Tried to stay focused at work and finish up a project
• Ran three miles
• Cleaned the house

So all in all I have stayed pretty busy.  I hear that is the key so I guess I'll just have to keep at it and stay away from chick flicks for a year.  Before I know it a year will fly on by!  People also told me that I will have a new appreciation for Josh after this year is over.  Well I can already say that that is true!  I already hate doing the bills, trying to fix "gadgets", monitoring my own car, guarding the house (yes i have a gun near my bed for safety), checking the mail....how did I manage before I met Josh lol.  And how do guys know so much about gadgets.  Josh has been gone for one week and seriously 20 things have broken this week...this man job is hard for a tiny woman.  But on the plus side, I have learned to change a lightbulb :)  Josh would be so proud!

Blog deprived

Oh man...i am terrible at this blogging thing.  I mean seriously.... 3 months with no blogging?  Well this just goes to show how hectic my life has been.  Let me update you:

I took and passed 3 of the hardest classes in the MBA program.  I would like to take a moment to congratulate myself.  Thank you...thank you.  Anyways, I would say school work took the majority of my time.

I also spent a week at the beach with my family

I went was in one of my best friend's wedding

Went shooting for the first time at a gun range

And slept a lot

See....busy busy!

But I am back and it feels great!  I will make time to blog regularly.  I have missed you way too much!

"I love listenin' to the Gee-Tar"

Well I had a great weekend!  Josh is training my dad to fly and they had their first flight together last Saturday.  It is great to see my dad chasing after a dream :)  - An item on the bucket list is in the process of being checked off!

On Saturday, my dad and I went to see Alison Krauss and Union Station in concert!

The concert was in Richmond, VA.  I planned the entire trip there, so of course we ended up having plenty of time to grab a bite to eat before the concert.  However, I did not take into consideration the fifty .70 cent tolls stationed all over Richmond.  Regardless it was a great time!  We went to The Cheesecake Factory to eat dinner with a slice of Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake (Please do not tell me the calorie factor of this).

Tell me this does not look amazing!

Anyways, we made it back to the concert and had great balcony seats.  Poor Alison had a broken foot so she had to sit the whole time, but she sounded just as amazing and on pitch as she does in a recording.  Here are pictures from the amazing concert: 

Beginning of the trip: Dad filling up my car - he is the best!

We loooove The Cheesecake Factory

Landmark Theater

The top dome of the theater...I thought it was beautiful

Daddy/Daughter Date!

 Alison Krauss and Union Station!

Jerry Douglas

 Goodbyes are always hard!

Slimy little critters

So sorry it has been a long time since my last post.  Things have been so hectic.  Let me recap my last few weeks:

First, Josh was assigned to go to Fort Pickett for a week to learn how to fly UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles).  I was going to stay at my house alone but decided to spend the night at my parents house....who would want to stay at there house by themselves??? Not Me!...its too scary.  Since I had so much extra time after work, I decided to dedicate all my extra time to cleaning out our laundry/storage room (it is the size of a master bedroom).    The laundry room was completely full to the point where you could barely walk in there.  I went with my mom to Lowes and invested in ten 30 gallon tubs.  After hours and hours of cleaning and repacking: all the winter clothes are in tubs, all my wedding things are in tubs, all of Josh's gun stuff are in tubs, all our sentimental high school, college, and dating memories are tucked away into sealed tight tubs.

Also while Josh was gone, I had another run in with a toilet creature.  We fixed the septic tank to where no more critters could come out of our bathroom, but had not pumped the tank yet, which means that any reptiles/amphibians still in the tank were not dead yet....

So one night, while I was packing, I thought I saw something in the toilet swim away when I walked into the bathroom.  I looked in the toilet and there he was....an ugly, fat frog

GROSS!

So I screamed and flushed it.  Well the next morning, I was getting ready for my day at work.  I opened the bathroom door to see if the ugly thing was still in the toilet....he wasn't in there.  So I thought Oh he must be hiding in the septic tank...  Just as I thought that I looked down and he was crouched in the corner ...right by my foot!!!!!  He had hopped out of the toilet during the night and was waiting for someone to find him....or maybe he was waiting to attack me...

Well naturally, I screamed and slammed the door and called my mom.  HAHA!  These are times I need my husband to be at home to rescue me.  Well since Josh was at Fort Pickett, I called my dad, "the mighty frog slayer" so come help me.  Dad came over and picked him up and threw him across the road into the woods, where it happily hopped away.  Now I can sleep once again at night, but I'll admit I still scout out all bathrooms before use.

On a happier note

I bought a Nike+ chip!

Josh and I went to Best Buy and I got the nike chip to keep track of my running mileage and pace.  It  lets you know when you have met goals and ran your fastest speed.  When this happens, people like Lance Armstrong come through your ear buds to congratulate you...its a great feeling :)  I will be running a lot more!

Wife Fail

I need to back track a week and address all that I have missed.  First there is huge news I must tell you about!  I have been so busy, but have been meaning to write about my husband's latest achievement!  Josh has his privates license, CFI in helos (meaning he can instruct students to fly helicopters, and he is Instrument rated (which means that he can fly at night).  This past week he prepared to take his test for his commercial license (so he can fly multi-engines or fly for the airlines) and CFI for airplane.  These test are extremely exhausting and difficult and Josh was taking two on the same day.  Well just to keep the suspense to a minimum, He Passed Both Tests!!! :)  He was testing from 9AM to 6PM...crazy!  I am extremely happy for him and proud of him.

Well here is my fail...try not to judge me, I am already slightly upset that I will not be getting "wife of the year".  So Josh's test was on Thursday, March the 22nd.  Well my good friend Shalie's birthday was on that Friday but we decided to celebrate on the same Thursday as Josh's test.  So instead of trying to reschedule the birthday celebration, I reasoned that I could squeeze both in.  I tend to do this a lot, where I fit too much on my plate and someone ends up getting pushed off.  Normally the person who is pushed off is not happy with me.  I am still trying to learn from my mistakes...its a gradual process.


Anyways, I had planned that I would be back in time to celebrate with Josh right when he returned.  Well Josh got back an hour earlier than I expected and the birthday dinner lasted 2 hours longer than I expected.  I failed.  I made it up to him, but I still felt like a terrible wife.

Although I had a great time celebrating the day that Shalie was birthed into this world

So fail number two:  Then two days later on Saturday, I went to Starbucks and met up with a friend.  I was on the phone with my mom talking about our day at the time.  I know!  I should not be talking on the phone and driving.  Well when I was driving into the parking spot, I went to far and drove over the parking block......

Ok it wasn't that bad.  haha.  But when I backed up from the parking block it ripped out my protective undercarriage plastic.  It was dragging on the ground.  So I had to call the hubs.  He was not happy...which is reasonable.  He came out to Starbucks with his tools and towel and fixed my car with zip-ties...what in the world!  He can fix anything!  


After he fixed my car, he was still upset that I was on the phone so I said "Hey I can make it up to you!  Cook out just opened!!!!"  And the world was good again.  :) I know how to cheer up my man.  haha So we had to eat there for lunch AND dinner that day.

The sacrifices I make..

...but he deserved it :)

So what have I learned?

Cook Out Food                          

Equals                                  

A happy man :)