Three Things Thursday

1.  My new Jillian videos came in yesterday!  Yay!  I'm planning on running today, so I'll probably get to try them out tomorrow or Saturday.  I also got myself this as an early birthday gift:

 I think I'm going to make some of these for Patrick for Valentine's Day (ssshhhh, don't tell!).  Although, my birthday is only a few days before Valentine's Day, I figure that it will be a nice way to celebrate my birthday too.  I'm not sure that this was the best thing to order while doing Weight Watchers, but it should help me portion control my cake, right?

2.  I had a thesis meeting this morning!  Which really is a miracle.  It went really well and my thesis project is coming along.  This thing is going to be done by May!  And I will graduate on time!  One of my advisers actually said that my project would have made a great Master's project.  I told him I have no problem if he wants to give me a Master's along with my Bachelor's.  That could really save me some time in my academic career.  Hahaha...

3.  I weigh in tonight and obviously, I'm hoping for a loss.  Although I'm not really confident.  I'm feeling like I'm not exercising enough.  I think I'm doing ok with portion control and making healthy choices when it comes to food, but the weather has been making it tough to even just get out and go to the gym.  It's kind of hard to drive in a foot of snow!  I don't know about you, but spring can't come fast enough!  (Or at least warm enough temps to melt some of this snow!

Happy almost weekend!

Three Things Thursday

Have you entered my Sof Sole giveaway yet?  Check it out HERE.

1.  I had my first two exams of the semester yesterday and today I just feel so relieved.  There was so much stress building up that I'm just glad they're over.  The second exam was in my physical chemistry class (it is just as disgusting as it sounds).  It went a lot better than I expected, but I already can't wait for this class to be over!  Have you ever had a similar experience?  How did you get through it?

2.  Fall is here!  I always feel like it sneaks up on me.  The leaves are turning and the scenery gets more and more beautiful by the day.  And in honor of tomorrow being the first day of October, I busted out these dish towels I got at Target last week:

Again, I don't know why this is sideways!  Anyone have any solutions???

Super cute!  Halloween will be here soon!

3.  And the best news of the day is that I went for a 3 mile run this evening.  It was tough because I've been out of the game for a bit, but it felt awesome.  I walked about a half mile total throughout the run, which I thought was alright considering I've only been running once a week.  The weather was warm and overcast, but there was a really nice breeze to keep me cool.  And when I got home, my pizza dough was ready to be stretched, dressed, and put in the oven.  Yum!  And I enjoyed this view while I ate:

Patrick brought them home for me last Sunday.  I'm blessed with such a wonderful husband!

Happy Thursday!  The weekend will soon be upon us!

Yup, Summer's Here

Oh boy is it hot out today!  We're talking over 100 degrees.  Did I mention that I live in New England?  Don't get me wrong, I like some nice warm summer weather.  But this is a bit much, even for me.  It was this hot yesterday too, but we didn't realize it because we were at the beach!

Being by the water was so much cooler.  Although, can you tell that Patrick is really afraid of burning?

I don't know what he's going to do when we go to Mexico in 13 days!  I just love sitting by the water, reading a good book, and evening out my tan lines for my wedding dress.  See how happy I am?

And the water was actually not biting cold like it normally is.  That might have to do with the fact that it was so hot out that it really just felt refreshing.  Today though, we're back at work.  And it's hot again.  And the air conditioner is not working.  Yuck.  I shouldn't complain because at least I don't work outside.  That and by doing all this sweating, I'm probably losing weight. 

Threee Things Thursday

Have you seen my totally awesome giveaway yet?  No?  Check it out!

1.  As of today, there is one month left until my wedding!  Oh my gosh I don't even know where the time went.  I am very excited (obviously), but the perpetual to-do list that keeps running through my had is very distracting.  It does help that most of the stuff I have left to do is the stuff I don't really want to do.  It'll all be worth it in the end, I know, but I'm really starting to look forward to the honeymoon more than anything.  Can't wait for that beach!  I am excited about all the family and friends that will be travelling in because we don't get to see them often.  I'm a little bummed we won't be able to spend more time with them.

2.  Last night was the awards night for juniors and seniors at my high school.  My little brother is a junior and super smart.  I thought I was super smart in high school, but this kid out-does me all the time.  Like the semester he came home with straight A+.  Yeah, you can't compete with that!  Last night he made us proud and got a book award from RIT and a social studies department award.  Way to go little bro!

3.  I think I am cursed in terms of the weather.  It has rained on all four of my last workouts.  First it was the Hollis Fast 5K, then it was my miserable Saturday bike ride, and then the trail race on Monday, and then yesterday I went out for another ride and it started to rain!  What the heck!  Not only that, but they were doing some paving so when I got to that part of the road, the road was hot and little pieces of hot pavement were being thrown up by my bike an hitting me in the legs.  No thanks!  Since I was at about the half way point, I just turned around and booked it home in an attempt to beat the heavy rain.  I'm pretty sure the weather for my triathlon on Sunday is supposed to be sunny, hot, and humid but you never know when I'm around!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Three Things Thursday

1.  The sun is finally back out here in Maine.  Hooray!  Originally I was going to make this week's Three Things Thursday about my pet peeves, but I'm in a much better mood now that the sun has returned.  I find that my mood it completely correlated to the weather.  Do you feel the same way?  I just think I need the vitamin D.

2.  Speaking of sun, Patrick and I booked our honeymoon to Cozumel, Mexico!  We have been going back and forth on this and we finally decided (after much research) to just do it.  We're staying at the Park Royal, which is an all inclusive resort for six nights.  We figured we'd have fun no matter what because we'll be together.  I'm a little nauseous just thinking about it because a) I'm so excited and b) I just dropped a ton of money all at once, which makes me slightly uncomfortable.  But then I look at the pictures and I get excited again.  Here are a few I stole borrowed for the Travelocity website:

3.  How could anything else on this list compare to that last one?  Other than the fact that my morning class was canceled today.  And really, I had the best intentions of getting some homework done, but instead I've sealed all the envelopes to my invitations and read blogs.  Oh well.  I was also going to try my new workout DVD, but both the Xbox and the PlayStation we have in this apartment are not working.  Go figure.  I'm trying to do a yoga DVD to relax and instead these machines won't read my disc which just makes me more aggravated.  I guess I'll have to go for a run later or maybe hit up a spinning class.

Crunch Time

I wish I could say that I mean that I'm working out my abs, but I'm not.  It's the end of the semester and I've just got a lot of stuff to do in a short period of time.  However, I feel that this end of the semester is not as nearly as crazy as some of the other ends to the semester I've experienced.  It's either that I've gotten used to this time of year or this year has been so stressful all along, that the end seems no different.  Either way, things are getting done and in about a week it will be over.

Of course the exercise and eating suffers the most during this time.  It's hard to find time for exercise when I have to start studying for finals.  On top of that, winter is finally here in Maine!  It's cold and kind of icy out now which makes me nervous to run.  I plan on getting out there tomorrow morning and running before we get slammed with a storm tomorrow night.  And of course with eating, it's easy to eat food that can easily be prepared or just be grabbed when your busy.  On top of that, I haven't gone grocery shopping in over a week.  I tend to be a weekly shopper so we're really starting to run low.  Oh well.  The dust will settle soon and I'll be back on track!

Can You Beat This?

I just want to start out by saying that I love coupons!  I got several in the mail from one store and one from Black Friday.  So I hit up the mall this afternoon for some shopping to de-stress.  And the best part is I only spent 45 cents.  That's right people, 45 cents.  So what did I get for 45 cents you ask?  I got 2 pairs of underwear and a new sports bra.  How can you beat it?  It was nice to get out and go to the mall and not feel guilty about spending a lot of money. 

Did I also mention that I love a bargain?  And I'm going to tell everyone about my great bargain.  I'm one of those people that when someone compliments something I'm wearing, like my free Express jeans I own, I am compelled to tell them the story of how I got free jeans.  It's almost like it's a sport of its own.  I swear by the rule of never paying full price for anything.  It's just not worth it.

In other news, the weather around here has been wacky!  On Thursday it was 62 degrees out!  It was supposed to be a rest day, but it was just too nice out to pass up.  So I laced up my sneakers and went for a run.  I'm happy to report that my time was about a minute faster than the day before.  Yay!  Today was in the 50s and it isn't supposed to go below freezing during the day within the next week.  This is horrible to say, but thank you global warming!  I dread winter and the bitter cold, so I'm okay with the current weather situation.

Hope you all had a great Friday! 

Runner's Block

You know, runner's block, it's like writing block.  I've done 3 three mile runs in the last two weeks.  Normally I run at about a 10 minute mile.  But all of a sudden I'm running them with an 11 minute mile.  I'm just not getting it!  It might just be a mental block or something.

I am proud of myself for getting out there this morning.  It was a chilly 33 degrees, but the sun was out and it wasn't windy.  It was really quite pleasant.  I started out with a hat and mittens, but those came off before I hit the first mile.  I also got to try out my cold weather running Drymax socks.  They were nice.  My feet were warm, but they didn't overheat.  And I noticed after my run that they kept my feet nice and dry.  I definitely asked for more of those for Christmas!

Anyway, I think I need to work on my mental running game.  Especially if I want to start running longer distances.

Is It Cheating?

The weather in New England has finally improved. Now it's hot and humid. I love summer and this is perfect beach weather. I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining, but this isn't exactly good weather for running outside. Unless you get up really early and I already have to be up early to go to work so that isn't an option unless I want to get up a 4:30. So needless to say, I went running yesterday afternoon in the humid, 90 degree weather.

I should first reassure you by saying that I wore my sunblock, my breathable hat, and my sunglasses as well as the smallest amount of clothing as absolutely necessary (don't worry, I had shorts and a tank on). I also drank 2 bottles of water during the day to prepare for my run so I wouldn't be dehydrated. Alas, my run was still rather miserable.

The other thing I did to try to beat the heat was take walking breaks. Over the course of my 3 mile run, I walked about 7 minutes for a total time of 35 min (I'm normally around 30 min). Overall, not too shabby. I must say that it was hard to motivate myself to begin running again after walking for a minute. I just wanted to keep walking!

I should mention that there is a famous runner by the name of Jeff Galloway who actually advocates walking during all runs to become a faster runner. I see this as a bit counter intuitive and sort of like cheating. If I'm calling it a run, I should be running. The whole time. I've actually seen people do this technique in races. And beat me! It is just so frustrating. I think the whole point is to run faster in the run part and then walk to recover and prevent fatigue. Maybe I should give it a shot in better weather.

Has anyone else out there have any thoughts about this? Is it cheating to walk during a run? Has anyone tried it? Were you successful?

Rain...Just Stop

It's has been a rather rainy week here in New England and from what I've heard, it isn't going to get any better any time soon. We had one sunny day this week and one sunny afternoon. Someone told me that it isn't supposed to stop for another 10 days! I know you shouldn't believe everything you hear, so I'm so hoping she's wrong. Really, I hate having to do all my workouts at the gym, especially the biking. It is so boring!
I also find that when it's crappy out, I tend to feel more tired and lethargic. I find that I'm just in an overall worse mood as well. This is probably because I'm missing out on my much needed vitamin D that I need from the sun! So now we must all pray to the weather gods to please just stop the rain, get our jet streams back to normal and let the sun come out!

P.S. My giveaway winner has until Monday to contact me or I will pick a new winner on Tuesday.

What a Tease...

The weather has been rather nice. It has been above freezing about the past two weeks, which is amazing for Maine in February. But alas, we are supposed to get dumped on tonight and tomorrow with about a foot of snow. I think I could be okay with this provided we have no school tomorrow. We've gotten tons of snow this semester, but no snow days. This is just disappointing. Although I'm willing to bet we will have school tomorrow because that's all everyone is talking about and hoping for. Oh well...spring, I mean, mud season will be here soon enough!

Yup, the arrival of snow has been confirmed

It has started to come down pretty hard here. Which kind of sucks because I didn't want it to start until it had the potential to cancel some of my classes. But no, it started while I was in lab, so that couldn't be canceled and it'll stop before my first class tomorrow. Darn it!

In other news, the schoolwork is coming along nicely. Although I keep feeling like I have a ton of work to do and then when I actually do it, it doesn't feel like that much at all. Either that or I am forgetting to do massive amounts of work.

Anyway, I will be staying in tonight where it is nice and warm. And I think I'll make some hot cocoa. Yum! Gotta do some laundry (exciting, I know) and get some other work done too. Hope everyone else doesn't have to venture too far either.

More Snow! Oh No!

We are apparently supposed to get yet another large snowstorm tomorrow. And the best part is we are supposed to get another foot or so. Hooray! Ok, so I am really not pleased with this news. I know, it's winter, but I really hate all the mess. The university does such a crappy job of cleaning up after storms that it's really hard to get around. And I walk everywhere, I don't even have my car here. That would make it all the more horrendous. The temperatures have also been sub-zero for the past few weeks even when the sun is out. One morning it was -30 degrees out and I was begging people for a ride to practice that is at the rec center on the other side of campus. The lesson I am quickly learning here is that I should go to grad school somewhere that is warm (as in never goes much below 50 degrees). Like, maybe Hawaii or something! My mom is sad enough that I'm four hours away now, but I think she'd get over it once she came to visit!

Yoga & Snow

Well I had to get up rather early, but a friend from the Crew Club and I checked out a Yoga class this morning. If you've never tried it, you really should. It is such a good de-stresser! I was in this really calm and fantastic mood all day. I felt so much less aggravation towards things that usually get me all riled up. So I think we're going to try to make this a weekly habit...for sanity purposes. Although I wish I had some pictures of this or something because I'm sure I look ridiculous!

In other news, we got pelted with snow over the weekend and the stuff is everywhere! Unfortunately our university does a rather lousy job of snow removal (ironic considering we're in Maine and massive quantities of snow are to be expected). They just "cleaned up" our sidewalks yesterday night. Although it is times like these that I am really thankful I don't have a car up here that needs to be shoveled out and moved when the lots are plowed. At least the days are getting longer and it will be spring (or mud season, here in Maine) before we know it!