10 Things Friday

I have been thinking that a lot of my posts (whether they are read by followers or not) is basically just me catching everyone up on what is going on in life.  I thought I would make this blog a little bit more fun by adding a "summer series"....think of it as me making a theme to my blog, somewhat similar to those I see on all my other fine blogs that I read.

{Enter...10 things friday}


Every Friday, I will post 10 things that make me happy..and simply just for a reminder to myself that even though life is crazy and moving fast it is ok to take a step back and recognize those things that bring me joy.

1. nick
2. my little fur babies; killian and lucy
3. my brand new shoes that i found on sale {suede coral slingbacks, closed toe from urban}
4. this is my last friday at my commuter job
5. our new home...which we move into tonight!
6. for some reason the new slipcover that we bought to put over the couch my parents gave us...yay almost new couch!
7. coffee....lots of coffee
8. bright colors! totally wearing coral and aqua marine today at work.
9. running!  Lots and lots of running
10. giraffes

Holiday Fun. 4th of July Style

4th of July is one of my all-time favorite holidays....it's a close second to Christmas (176 days away FYI).  This 4th will be a little different than the past holidays as we will be celebrating in our new city!  In the past, we have always been in Mammoth but due to circumstances (i.e. we bought a house) we had to stay away this year so we will do what we do best.....relax and have fun!  This weekend is supposed to be hot and we will be painting all weekend so we can finally move in!  So close!!!  Since we will be slaving away on the walls, we decided to grill in our backyard with Nick's parents and keep it low key.  I have put together the menu for Monday's dinner which includes:

my "world famous" guacamole as an appetizer

Watermelon Margaritas :)

Red, White, & Blue Potata Salad

BBQ Chicken of course!

And my grilled corn on the cob that I make :) I don't have a picture of it and all the sample pics online were ugly so here is the recipe, it's very simple:

• white corn husks
• Extra virgin olive oil
• green tabasco sauce
• chile powder
• seasoning salt
• regular black pepper

Take the husks off the corn, after soaking them in water.  Once they are de-husked, grab some foil and cut appropriate sizes for individual corn.  Now, I don't like using butter for my corn so I take a very small amount of extra virgin olive oil and rub it onto the corn.  Remember, a little bit goes a long way!  Then, take the last 3 ingredients and sprinkle onto the corn...you can use any amount you would like, it's totally up to you...but I like my corn to have a kick so I put a lot on :) Once that's done, throw tabasco on and wrap them up!  Place it on the grill until they are done!

After dinner, we are going to be riding our bikes on down to the University in town to watch the fireworks!  It's going to be a fun-filled weekend and hopefully we will be able to make a lot of progress on the house!

Have fun everyone and be safe!

 

new beginnings.

4 weeks and counting. that's how long it's been since we bought our home and have been slightly re-doing.  Yes, I know renivating or remodeling would sound classier, but when I say that, I feel like I am lying as we are not tearing down any walls or changing up the bathrooms.  Whatever the case though, it's been 4 weeks now and we are almost done. {enter smiley face here}

And now for the biggest of news that I have been keeping in for        m . o . n . t . h . s .

....i was offered a new job.....

:)

and get this......it's 2 miles away from our new house!  No more commute!!!  It is a marketing position, which is what I have wanted, I am finally back to doing what I went to school for. double yay!

I have been interviewing with the company for 3 months now and it's been a very long process but all worth the wait.  I am very blessed and have been overwhelmed by God's planning.  In just a quick two weeks I will be saying so long to the long commute and constant feeling that I am not good enough and back into the first day of work feeling....It's all very exciting and scary at the same time.

a little sweat equity if you will...

So this weekend was Memorial Day Weekend which meant a longer weekend for most....I say most, because Nick had to go into work Sunday morning and just got off today.  boooo.  I left off last time saying that we were almost packed up and getting out of the rental and moving in {somewhat} to our new home! 

Friday evening we officially moved all our stuff into our garage and spent our first night {on the floor} in our new home and in a much larger bedroom!  Since we only have the weekends to work on the house, we started head first and got a good handle on all the DIY projects.  I also ran a couple times in my new city and LOVED it!!  I am pooped though!!!  For a girl that is used to running 8 miles a day, I barely finished my 6 mile runs!!  But the neighborhoods are so pretty and I am excited to be able to run hills everyday.  Sounds weird that I am saying that but it will only strengthen my muscles and my lungs :)

Our List?

1. Scrape the ceilings
2. Install new toilets
3. Install the kitchen sink faucet
4. Install canned lighting
5. Put up crown molding
6. Paint!
7. Make the yards look pretty
8. Move in!

That doesn't seem too much does it?  Since Nick was at work this weekend, he was only able to help out on Saturday....he and his dad started on the ceilings while I went to the rental and did our final walkthrough and picked up last minute things....umm hello, why did I forget the crock pot?!  So saturday it was ceilings, vacuum, throw old plants away, and clean up.  Sunday and Monday, his parents and I did a lot of yard work.  Pruned the trees, took the plants out, de-weeded as much as we could, and pretty much anything else that you can think of.  As I type this, I feel like it's not a lot but while I was doing it I felt that I had been working for months on the yard.  I will be posting pics throughout this process but below are the first of many to come!

PS: I'm totally bummed out that I didn't get a picture of Nick and his dad doing the ceilings.  They were covered in popcorn ceiling/dust and looked like ghosts!!

This room became this:

Hello, bare ceilings!

Bye Bye ugly dead plants!



Holy moly!  A lot of clothes!

I had asked Nick to find a toilet where my feet won't dangle on the ground....They came home with this! Ha!!  His dad totally covered the toilet!



Who says girls can't mow the yards!  Please disregard my ugly outfit.



Yard work at it's best!



Yay! for a pretty sink faucet that doesn't leak!

PPS: I mentioned before that it would probably take some time to find my favorite coffee shop, greek food place, nail salon, etc....well I found my new coffee shop and my greek joint already!  The even greater part?  It's a mile down the road from our house.  ahhhh the little things in life that keeps me happy.

Running

**This post may be long winded so bare with me here as I jump from subject to subject....I apologize.**

{Our first family portrait in front of our new home}



As this week goes on I am beginning to feel slight anxiety about the move.  Not the house, not the city, not the fact that everything will change once we settle in....but the very fact that I will be leaving the city that I call home: Claremont. 

Friends have been asking me how I am feeling about it and up until today I have been able to be 100% excited about it.  Well I guess I should back up....It hit me Sunday morning.  Nick, Lucy, and I were just finishing up the loop and heading back to the car.  It was right then when it occured to me that, that day was the very last Sunday morning that I had to run in Claremont.  Then it hit me even more.  That Sunday was the last day that I had and I didn't take advantage of it!  Sad and somewhat amazed with myself because I always run my long runs on my Sundays...in fact, those are my favorite runs!  My favorite day to run....and I didn't run. 

Oh well....it's the way of life I thought...move on.

Then today came.  I am fighting back tears...which makes me feel dumb because in all honesty...my runs will be better in our new city because of all of the rolling hills (yay!  Claremont running is either straight uphill at first then downhill, or vice versa) but still....I have been running for over 15 years now and 13 of those have been spent in Claremont. 

I don't think I am sad because of my runs will be different so please don't think it's that...I think it's more just the fact that in life comes change...and with that change come good things...but before you can get to those good things you have to go through the rough transition, otherwise known as, change and this girl wasn't blessed with that gift to embrace change...

So today, I plan to run 7 miles.  Tomorrow and Thursday I plan to run shorter runs in the morning and come Friday morning...the last run will be spent with my best friend (who has experienced this whole change thing far more than I ever could, and also will be down for the weekend) and we will run 7 miles.  I may or may not cry afterwards, but at least I will have her shoulder to cry on.

Then it will be exploring a new city, finding new runs that I fall in love with, runs that I get bored with, and runs that make me who I am.  As I become aquainted with a new neighborhood, new favorite eateries that will hopefully include, mexican, bagels, yogurt, greek, and whatever else I am forgetting, new routes to get me to and from point A to point B, I will not forget my Claremont...my comfort and my routine :)

Now, to a better topic that is not so emotional (umm, hi watery eyes...)

I wanted to post some pictures from my latest race.  As I said before I finished in 1:48....2 minutes faster than my goal and because of this I am now wanting to run another one to see how I can improve even more.  I have spent my days reading Born to Run and now that I am finished with it I can't stop talking about...there is just so much information in that book that I have applied to my runs and already have seen a difference.  I encourage anyone who is somewhat skeptical about running or thinks that you are not a runner to go pick this book up (or purchase on Amazon for an amazing deal) and talk to me once you are done.

I am looking for my next half....not sure which one I will do yet but I want to sign up for one soon...and then it's the full marathon for me.  I am getting closer and closer to wanting to run one that I think my time is coming.

Ok! Picture time!!

 Had to make this one B&W...girl w/no makeup on looks better in B&W...

But Nick just finished and I am so proud of him!!

 The BF

The girls and I after the race and some good wine :)

Vacation...

What's that?

I need a vacation.  Life has been so incredibly busy with the move, medic school, and many many other things that I can't share just yet, that I look back and ask where did the months go?

Updates as of today:

1. Half Marathon went great!  My time was 1:48 minutes....2 minutes below my goal time of 1:50.  I managed to shave 4 minutes of my time from my last half...me=so happy.
2. Nick ran amazingly well!!!! I was so proud of him.  He did it in 2:14 minutes and didn't even train for the damn thing.  Wish I had his determination!
3. Nick just finished week 4 of medic school and is still doing very well.  Seriously, I don't know how he does it, but somehow he does. 
4. We close escrow May 18th!!  and get the keys on May 21st.  Wow....it's gone by so quickly.  We are both so very excited to own our own home...our first home..and most importantly to have something to call our home. 
5. We are both going at about  250 mph a second and this past week in particular has been extremely draining.  Although, I say that knowing in the back of my mind that it's all worth. every. second. 
6. Nick will be done with the class portion of medic school by the end of June, which at that point, it will be smooth sailing.

I do realize how blessed we are to be able to own a home at such a young age and I thank God daily...I honestly have been so humbled by everything that has happened in our life.  With that said, I am being completely vulnerable and honest by saying, there are days where I literally find myself pulling my hair....(it is kinda funny).  But when I have those moments I hear deep down inside of me a little quiet voice saying it's all right. 

I am looking foward to the decorating most of all....I have so many plans that I just can't wait to start on and that is really what is keeping me sane.  Since Nick is using up the majority of his time with studying, I have been doing most of the packing...so far our house still looks like we aren't going anywhere, other than the walls are bare....and this scares me a bit.  I feel like we have a lot to do still.  With that being said, this girl will be spending her Friday night alone with her fur babies packing.

I hope by the time the end of October rolls around we will be able to get away for a night for a little vacation. 

Until then....this picture will do the trick (kinda)

Wine Country + Half Marathon = A very happy girl

This weekend, the husband and I, alongside some of our closest friends will be running the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half in Solvang.  If you are anything like me, I had you at wine.  I love wine.....even more, I love to run, and even more than that, I love to run then drink wine with my friends.  I cannot wait.

Nick and I went to Solvang almost 2 years ago...we had a blast....our favorite winery was Fess Parker which is where this picture below was taken. 

Since Nick has started medic school, our originally plan to go up early and enjoy the day on Friday has gone out the window.  It now has been replaced with me still taking the day off but running around with my head cut off trying to get last minute things taken care of.  Some of the plans consist of going to Traders to buy running snacks, dropping our fur babies off to the grandparents, cleaning and painting (yes, painting) the floors, and last but not least...packing.  We hope to be on the road by 4 pm....which will put us smack dab in the middle of Friday traffic.  lovely. 

Once we are there, I think I will relax a bit.  I suffer from pre-race anxiety....you know how most people suffer from the pre-race jitters?  Not this girl.  I am a full on pre-race anxious little ball of anxiety.  I want to make sure all the plans work out, we have a race packet, I get to lay my race clothes out the night before, and then of course, sleep. 

My goal?  1:50.?? minutes.  I can complete the race in that time.  I know I can. 

Then it's wine time!!!  Nick and I will be reunited with Fess Parker, and the others will be able to soke up the Solvang sun and drink some yummy-in-my-tummy wine. :)

Until then my friends, have a lovely day!

PS: moving day is now 2 weeks away.  That will be saved for a later post :)