New blog... Go there instead.

I don't know why I forgot to do this earlier.  I have a new blog, I will not be posting here anymore.

Http://www.stringcheeserunner.com

Thank you!!

Why are you so obsessed with me?

^^ *Sang in a Mariah Carey voice

I have become obsessed with gifs.  I've used some in the past and I think I'm going to bring them back.  You will be enjoying gifs every now and then in my upcoming revampage. <--- not a word, I don't care.

I haven't had time to devote to making my new blog, which I don't know what makes me think I'll have the time to write once I do make it.  Either way, I think it'll fit, making more people relate to me and be actually interested.

However, I have an analytics/statistics counter on this website and despite my rare updates, I get about 20 hits a day.  I think that's actually pretty good considering.  It has pretty extensive details on the statistics of my blog, but most people look at my tattoos page which I think is neat.  I will have to switch that page to my new blog once it's up.

I leave you with a few gifs I enjoy:

from here





You are welcome.

Revamping.

Obviously I've been really good at blogging the past 4 months.
I'm contemplating either revamping this blog or making a new blog entirely, and just posting the link on here.

I have some ideas for a new blog, so I've just got to get it together.  Maybe some day I can be a professional blogger and quit my job.  That would probably require me to blog more than every four months huh?

I've been busy... ummm... working out?

*from here




Edited to add this video. I can't get enough of it.  If you are in a bad mood, please watch it because you will immediately snap out of it.  This video is from KFOR in Oklahoma to boot...

New Year? Yes. please.

I have really been sucking it up at my blogging.  So much for keeping you people that actually want to hear about my life up to date.

This year actually wasn't so bad.  I am very blessed, this I know.

To name a few events of the year:
My baby niece Cora was born, my family has become closer through hardships, new friends were made, and I ran my first half marathon.

I have dreams and aspirations for my life, and to be honest my life isn't where I thought it would be at this age.  It's been good though, and I know I shouldn't want more but that's my human heart I guess.
I know I am so blessed with my health, a healthy family and love.  I see people in my line of work that are just broken.  People are dying every day, some with no family by their side, and some with an abundance of family members filling the halls.  That's a part of the job, heck, it's part of life.

I had a hope of running a full marathon in the year 2012.  After my half marathon experience, I thought it would be possible.  However due to my hip issue, I don't think it's going to be possible.  I've researched and researched, and have diagnosed myself with piriformis syndrome.  Not a lot can be done with it, you just have to do a lot of strengthening, stretching, massage and sometimes chiropractic adjustments.  I hope to one day be able to do a full marathon, but this piriformis syndrome takes a loooong time to restore itself.  Taking it slow, shortening my runs, and doing tons of strengthening is in the cards for me for now.  As long as I can keep running some, it's better than not at all.  I never thought I would say that about running.

Running has saved me from myself.  Running isn't for some people, but I truly love it.  Some days it's hard to get up and do it, I will admit.  Most days it's a needed relief.  Popping on my headphones, listening to music, letting the endorphins flow, and thinking about nothing... it's the best.

I am ready for 2012.

I'm not planning on doing any New Year's Resolutions.  I just want to be happy and I want everyone that I love to be happy.  I want the world to be at peace, and I want people to be kind to one another.  I want lies to stop, and truths to be told.  I want people to stop hurting and using one another for selfish gain.

Only in a perfect world.  A girl can dream, can't she?

Route 66 Half Marathon

Once again I'm slacking when it comes to blogging.  I just wanted to give a summary of my very first half marathon.

Let me rewind back to January 2011.  I had decided that I was going to train for a 5k in March 2011.  I was not a runner, I could not run more than 5 minutes without almost dying.  I didn't follow a couch to 5k plan, I just built up my level of comfortability when it came to running until I could run 20 minutes straight, then 30 minutes... you get the point. I would have conversations with my friend Stacy about how I didn't think I could do it, that there was NO way I could run a 5k race.  I'm naturally athletic, but I'm not naturally a runner.  I'm not a fast runner, and I probably will never get below a 10 minute mile in a race but I'm okay with that.

I ran a few 5k races over the course of 5 months or so, then I ran a couple of 10k races here and there.  In June 2011, I decided I wanted to train and run my first half marathon in November.  13.1 miles.  This girl who started out almost passing out after running 2 minutes, is going to try to run a half marathon?  I must have gone insane.

The summer months were hard to train, in which I rarely ran since I DESPISE the treadmill.  I did some long runs, my highest being 11 miles.  It's funny that I now see 3 -6 miles as "short and easy runs".

The Route 66 Half Marathon in Tulsa started out as a cold and windy morning, and it ended that way.
My friend Stacy and I stayed at a hotel in Tulsa the night before, and maybe slept for 2 good hours, if that.  Stacy is a natural runner, and she is faster than I am and probably ever will be.

There were so many people there racing, and a lot of supporters along the road.  Total strangers cheering on other strangers as they ran.  Some of my favorite signs I saw were, "Be a honey badger, Don't give a S&*#"  "Run complete stranger that I don't know, Run"  and at the end "You're almost there" with a sign beside it that said, "That's what she said"

The first 6 miles were pretty hilly, and I have to say that I am never prepared for hills.  Mainly because I rarely train on them.  I've learned my lesson though, I have to get over my hill phobia.  The last 7 miles were pretty much a straight, flat way. After mile 9 or so, you had a straight, VERY cold wind coming at you.  In my experience, between mile 10 and mile 11 was the longest mile of my life.  My legs could not go any faster, my hips were getting incredibly tight, and my energy was depleting.

I took some Clif Shotbloks along the way and drank Gatorade every now and then.

I ended up finishing in 2 hours 32 minutes and 40 seconds.  It was a 13.3 mile course, which ends up being an 11:29 pace.  I am pleased with that considering I didn't train for 2 weeks prior due to life.  My goal was to finish and now I have a PR to build off of.

Right before we faced the cold weather.

All the people behind us that were racing.

Me and Stacy at the end. 13.1 finishers!

I have a marathon relay coming up in December at White Rock Marathon in Dallas.
I plan on running the half marathon in Ardmore and the half marathon for the OKC Memorial.

I have a goal to run a marathon in 2012.  I never thought I'd want to, and I never thought I'd say those words.   I may be crazy, but why not I say, why not?!

Warrior Dash Tulsa 2011

I had a request to blog about my experience at the Warrior Dash in Tulsa, and I thought that was a great idea.  Especially in a year when I look back and try to remember exactly what I thought.

This was the first year that Oklahoma had a Warrior Dash, so I was pretty pumped to participate in it.

Let me start off by saying that I WAAAAY underestimated how hard it was going to be and that I am NOT in as good of shape as I thought.

They donate your shoes at the end if you want so they encourage you to wear your older shoes.  (Big mistake on my part, and I'll show you why later.)

I ran the Warrior Dash with two of my best friends Stacy & David.  They are in way better shape, so they left me and had a much better time.  I ended up finishing around 55 minutes.
I'm okay with that because I didn't do it for time, I did it just to finish.  Also, next year I will be able to go under that time.

I went into this thinking, "Oh, I'm a runner, I don't really need to train for this too hard."  Yeah. Right.

It started off pretty good until about the 3/4 of a mile into it when it basically went into a straight up hill trail run with tons of little ditches, holes, rocks and what not.

The obstacles included:
-jumping over walls then going under bars x 4
 -stepping in tires and jumping over cars X 3
-running through tires
-climbing up a straight wall with tiny bars to step on that were very far apart and a  little wall (they had those a couple of times through the course.)
-climbing on nets flat
-climbing over a net wall which was SOOOO high that I had a miniature panic attack about plunging to my death.
-leaping into an ice cold river and having to roll over logs X 3 (apparently a lot of people peed in it..I found this out later),
- Climbing up multiple taaalll talll walls and worrying about falling and dying. (Yes, I'm a bit dramatic)
- Running down a straight downward trail hill, trying not to go too fast so that you run in a ditch and fall and roll to your death.
- Jumping over more walls.
-Crawling under barbed wire and nets
- Jumping and crawling in a mud pit
- Jumping over fire.

I'm sure there are more but that's all I can remember.

It was probably the hardest thing I've done physically, yet it was sooo much fun.
I wanted to die while doing it, but I felt so accomplished afterward.
If you know me well, you know I have basically no upper body strength.
That I was able to do those obstacles and climb up straight hills made me really proud and pumped up!

So obviously this is going to be a yearly thing!

Here are some photos from our little adventure:

Stacy, David, and I after

Me & Stacy

David & I

Me and my mud boogers

Next day. My bruised & cut legs (If you can see them)

...ANNNND this is why you do not wear old, too small running shoes in a race like this.

Notice the blisters on the left (sorry my feet are disgusting)

I encourage everyone to do this race at least once in your life!  You won't regret it!  (Well you might at the time you are running it, but afterward it's great!)  :)

My friend Sherrie found a video somebody had posted using their camera helmet.  It's long but you can fast forward through parts if you are interested to see what kind of obstacles there were.  Obviously this guy did it way faster than I did, and it doesn't truly capture how hard it really was.)

Love.

what happened?

What happened to me blogging more often?

I'll tell you what happened... I became a failure at living successfully these past couple of months.

What do I mean by that?

I have failed at doing anything really productive, being spiritually lazy, and even running consistently.

I'd like to blame the heat for all of these things, and I can sort of blame the running part on that.
However, it's not the case with the other parts of my being.
I know people go through seasons of things and what not, but this is getting old and tiresome.
I'm in a state of indifference and I'm not sure how to get out of it.

So I apologize if I've been less than my normal self... I'm sure things will get better.
That's a good thing and a bad thing about life.
The only guarantee is that everything changes, nothing stays the same.

busy business.

I have become a slacker again.  That's okay.

I have a week and 4 days off from work, but I have so much to catch up on I feel like it's going to go by fast.  I originally planned to go on a vacation but that didn't pan out.  I'm bitter happy that it worked out this way.

I'm in the process of finding a house to rent so my little Dexter boy will have a yard to play in and I can hopefully get another dog for him to keep him company.

My running has not been as good as I would like.  With the weather being 100+ degrees everyday, the only time I can effectively run is early in the morning.  There are two problems with that; one being that I'm NOT a morning person, and the second is that when I am up that early it's because I just finished a 12 hour shift and I'm pretty exhausted.  I'm hoping to still do the half marathon in September, but if not then the Route 66 Half is definitely on!

I have started rowing with my hospital's corporate rowing team.  My friend has done it for a few years now and she loves it.  It's a really good workout and you use your legs and back more than I thought.  I'm excited to really get into it... although there is a tiny part of me that fears I may be like this lady:

thighs.

I really don't like my thighs.  I'm sure I'm not the only woman who doesn't like their thighs, but they are really annoying.

As a runner, and I guess I can consider myself a runner, they are inconvenient.
In the summertime in Oklahoma it is hot. 105 degrees hot.
Mind you, I don't run in that heat, but in the morning and late evening it doesn't usually get really cool.

I would enjoy running in shorts, however no matter how much I work out and how much I try to eat well, I cannot get rid of the tops of my thighs touching.

Maybe this is TMI?

It's very uncomfortable running for a long distance in the heat and the tops of my thighs are rubbing together.  No matter how much body glide I put on (the exercise stuff, not the sexual stuff), it only helps for a mile then it wears off.

I've actually considered liposuction.  I know it's extreme, but for now I've decided against it.
Mainly because I'm too scared I'm going to develop some kind of blood clot or never wake up from anesthesia.
Also because you have to wear compression hoses for about a month and a half and I'm not about to wear those in this heat.

They say you can't spot reduce, but if anyone has any ideas... let me know.
Ahhhh the curse of being a lady.  ;-)

fine line.

I found there is a fine line between being a worry-wart people pleaser and a don't give a crap b-word.

I haven't really found the balance.

I lean more toward the worry-wart people pleaser and I wish I wasn't that way.

I feel as though I'm constantly trying to read people's faces and body language.  All the while I am trying to figure out if I've done something to them, or if this or that blah blah blah.
It's really tiring and I'm so exhausted from it.

I want to just be.

I know a few people who are on the other side of the spectrum.  Totally rude, b-words, and plainly awful to be around.  Although I feel like that's a mask as well and they are just trying not to be hurt.

Can't I just stay in the middle of those two?

If anyone knows how to get there, please let me know.  I'm worn out.

hobby lobby*

*this post has nothing to do with the store or being crafty


I have had 2 dreams that I post a blog with the title "hobby lobby"  I thought I'd better do it, so maybe I'd stop having this dream.

Dreams are strange, at least mine are...  As long as I can remember I've had vivid dreams.  It seems as if I dream all night long.  Sometimes I can even control them.

I dream a lot because I sleep a lot.

Last night/today I slept for 15 hours.
Last week there was a night/day that I slept for 15 hours.
There were potty breaks for me and my dog... you can't sleep that long without using the bathroom.
It seems as if I sleep a lot more these days, and I'm not sure if it's because night shift is starting to take a toll on my body?

I really love sleep though.  Some days when I don't get enough sleep, like when I watch Cora after a 12 hour night shift, and then she doesn't sleep... it wears me out.
After those days, my body is usually like, "Hey woman, what happened to the beautiful 15 hour sleep days we've been having?  They've been great, let's go back to that."

I'm not really complaining... I won't go to day shift for a reeeeeeaaaallly long time if I can help it.
I love my night shift crew.  We are a different kind of breed and you wouldn't understand unless you worked night shift, but we are really cool.

all the single ladies

People ask me on a daily basis, it seems like anyway, are you married or have a boyfriend?

The answer is no.

There are many reasons why I am still single and I am honestly okay with that.

Some people find it hard to believe that I am okay with being single.

I am.  

Every now and then I'll get a pity look when I answer no, and then a reply of, "Oh that's okay, it'll happen."

Yeah, I know it's okay, but thanks for validating that.

annnnnd

No, you don't know that it will happen.

A few reasons I'm single:

- I'm very independent, I don't handle the "where are you going? when will you be back?" sort of thing very well.

- Commitment scares me.

- 80% of single men are douche bags. (Not all... I did give 20% leeway)

- I've had some bad dating experiences.  (I know I can't let one ruin it all, and believe me, after some of the dates I've had it's amazing I haven't become a nun or something.)

It's very tiring explaining to people why you are single and I seriously get asked it all of the time.

I just smile and say, "Nope, it's just me and my dog."

I know I probably come off as a crazy dog lady, but it usually makes people stop asking questions.

I'll try to remember to share some bad dating stories every now and then on here... 

Hey. I can't give up all my tricks at once.

new.

I decided to jump back on the blogging wagon because a few people have inspired me to do it.

I wanted a change to my blog name.

I figured "sort of a woman" would be perfect for these reasons:

- I'm 25, so to a lot of people I'm still young... although I'm halfway to 50.
- I do not feel like a woman.
- I do not feel like a girl.
- This reminds me of the Britney Spears song, "I'm not a girl, not yet a woman"

Anyway, I'm embracing the new and not just in this blog.
Life is ever changing, that is something we can count on.
Nothing stays the same, which is good in some cases.

New things in my life that I have not updated on.

- Baby Cora is here! 

- I ran three 5k races, and one 10k race.

-I got a root canal that failed. (I'm not really sure why I'm sharing that, but it's new..)

- I changed to Float Pool at work, so that's a nice change of scenery at times.

Super exciting, right?  Yeah... this is why I don't blog much.  

Oh well, I'm going to continue to bore you with my single half-girl half-woman life.

I suck...

As I was posting a link to my blog for a friend, I realized that I haven't updated in a loooooong time.

I'm thinking about revamping this whole thing anyway.

I used to think my life was boring, but it's really not... it's just different.  I'd like to share the differences.  Maybe it's the same as everyone's, I just think I'm boring and different, when we're actually all just boring and different.  <---rambling.

I wanted to just let you know (whoever still reads this), that I'm not finished, just slow at blogging apparently.


Toodles.

Grace

I heard this song on Grey's Anatomy and I love it.

It makes me grieve and incredibly sad, but it's a good song.

I'm on my knees
only memories
are left for me to hold

Dont know how
but Ill get by
Slowly pull myself together

Theres no escape
So keep me safe
This feels so unreal

Nothing comes easily
Fill this empty space
Nothing is like it seems
Turn my grief to grace

I feel the cold
Loneliness unfold
Like from another world

Come what may
I wont fade away
But I know I might change

Nothing comes easily
Fill this empty space
Nothing is like it was
Turn my grief to grace

Nothing comes easily
Where do I begin?
Nothing can bring me peace
Ive lost everything
I just want to feel your embrace

Running and Thunder Games

So who has two thumbs and is a complete blogging slacker?  This girl.


I ran my first 5k in Ardmore.  There were a ton of hills, which threw me off because I always run on very little incline at the Lake.
However, I finished in 32:01!  
My next 5k is the Red Bud Classic on April 10, then I am running the YWCA 5k on April 16.
I am running the Memorial Marathon Relay on May 1st with a team from the hospital, and I am the 10k leg.  Eek!

          Me & Jodi after our race.

I also went to the OKC Thunder v. Jazz game and had pretty good seats.

I have a NBA crush on Kevin Durant.  haha.

                                                                   Harden & Durant

                                                                  Half-Time

                                                                  KD shooting a free throw

                                                          WUSSSEELLL  WESTBWOOK!

Showers & Birthdays

I know 8 pregnant girls right now, that are close to me.

A couple of weeks ago my friend Melissa had a baby shower and my friend Mandy had 

a birthday party for her baby boy all on the same day.

It happened to be on the same day as my Dad's birthday, so you can imagine it

was a tough day to begin with.

I'm blessed to have been able to spend time with my friends from nursing school.

I consider these girls to be some of my best friends.

Mandy & her prince Brock

He wasn't too sure about the cake.

Unfortunately, Mandy wasn't able to come to the shower so we didn't get a picture of all 4 of us.

Melissa had a great shower with a ton of wonderful gifts for Baby Brody.

Two of my cute & pregnant friends (Ashley & Melissa) and me.

In a couple of weeks, we will be having a shower for Baby Cora which I am so excited about.

She is going to be so spoiled... I cannot wait until she gets here.

Now I leave you with pictures of Dexter and his cousin Cosby.

Update

I just realized it's been about 3 weeks since I've updated.

Quick update:

- I've been running and I've become quite addicted to it.  I live near Lake Hefner, so it's convenient and I love going there to run.  I am doing two 5ks so far this year, and I'm sure I'll be doing many more.

- I got a new camera finally.  It takes much better pictures than my other one.  It's a Panasonic Lumix 12.1 Megapixel.  I don't really know what all the features it has, I just care that it takes good pictures.  It also doesn't make everyone look like ghosts.

- I haven't been home in about a month, which is mostly because of the snow.  I miss everyone.

- Dexter is still silly.

Saving Money

One of my goals is to be more mindful of where my money goes.

I have been really watching my diet and focusing on eating healthy this past month.
I don't really want to bother with extra calories going out to eat, so I haven't been going out to eat as much.

I know it gets expensive going out, and I could really save money.
I decided to tally up the month before this past month to see how much I've spent and saved.

This is brutal honesty and kind of embarrassing considering I'm only buying for one person. (This does not include groceries, just strictly going out to eat.)

From November to December I spent:  $313.32 (I know... I know.)
The first of December to January I spent: $213.39 going out to eat.  (This is even a month where I was being a little mindful of spending money.)
From January to February I spent only:  $166.10  (Which is still a lot, but it's a $47.29 savings from last month and a whopping $147.22 savings from the month before that.)

Maybe this month I can get it down to $100.00?

The thing is, I'm not going to stop going out to eat with my friends.  I just have to quit doing an easy fix by stopping by Interurban or Starbucks and just make something at home.

I also tallied my grocery bills and there isn't a significant difference that I'm spending on them... just around $10 more a month.

It's amazing when you make a plan and actually stick to it, you can reap the benefits.

Perhaps with all the savings, I can finally buy a better camera?

We shall see.


Oh.... in other news:  I've lost 9.8 lbs in 3 weeks.

Seeeeecrets.

It's a blizzard in Oklahoma.  I am supposed to work tonight, but since I can't drive in or out of my apartment complex and nobody is able to pick me up... I'm calling in for the night.

I figured today would be a perfect day to share some of my favorite Post Secrets.  I don't know if this is illegal and if for some reason it is, then I'll take them down.
For now, these are some I saved throughout the years because I either found them funny or I related to them one way or another.

Please enjoy.