You might be seeing more Confessions from me in the future.  As they transpire.  Organically.

Last night was My Gazelle’s last night off from work.  For those of you who aren’t in the know, he’s a police officer, and he works a weird-ish schedule of 3PM-1AM, 4 days on, 3 days off for 5 weeks, then it switches to 5 days on, 3 days off for 5 weeks, rinse, repeat.  Sometimes I don’t like to keep track of his schedule because then it’s like Christmas when I arrive home from work and see his car in the parking lot.

(cue collective “awwwww”)

He basically ends up getting 3 weekends off in a row every 5 weeks.  Needless to say, changes in life situation (i.e…moving), many outside obligations (martial arts, triathlons, 15K’s, volunteer work) inevitably creep into these 3 weekends that he has off every 5 weeks, and make it nearly impossible for us to have a weekend together without interruption.  We both lead very active lifestyles.  I try to plan my races on weekends when he’s working, but that doesn’t always happen.

Last night was his final night off until next week, and I made tacos.  That was no surprise.  As I’ve mentioned in the past, he would basically barter his first-born son in favor of a well made taco.

OK, maybe not his first born son.  A daughter maybe.  He’s afraid of having daughters.  But that’s another story.

Although our new condo is riddled with unpacked boxes (which surely spells “T-U-R-M-O-I-L” for my neurotic, organized mind), I have insisted that we at least have a proper dinner table to sit at.  Last night, we ate PACOS from paper plates at our clean dinner table, and it was enjoyable.  Although the room where the table currently resides has no lighting whatsoever.

It was dark.  And cozy.  And calm.  It almost felt like home.

Almost.

I’ve instituted a new “no TV during dinner” rule.  My Mama always made us abide by this rule, and I always thought it was so stooopid.

“BUT MOOOOOMMMMM!”

Now, I’m older and wiser, and I know that TV during dinner is distracting, and the background noise sometimes honestly makes me kirk out a little.  Anyone else?

After dinner, My Gazelle sat a little closer to me on the sofa than he had the previous 2 days.  He made a little extra effort to talk and converse and inquire.  He smiled a little more.  He asked all the right questions.

He read my post yesterday.

He understood why I had been such a raging ball of hormones and ugliness over the previous 2 days.

My routine…my life was uprooted.  Again.

You guys.

I have moved 16 times since 1995.  That is 16 times in 15 years.

1. 1995: Utica, NY (for college)
2. 1998: Binghamton, NY (for a job)
3. 1999: Ft. Meade, MD (to run away from NY and my job)
4. 1999: Columbia, MD (to share a house with a cat lady)
5. 2000: Baltimore, MD (to get out of the cat lady’s house)
6. 2000: Baltimore, MD (to rent a bigger townhouse)
7. 2001: Baltimore, MD (to move in with “his” parents and save money to buy “our” first house)
8. 2001: Baltimore, MD (to buy “our” first house)
9. 2001: Pasadena, MD (yeah…that didn’t work out…moving back in with the friend from 1999)
10. 2002: Chase, MD (moved in with my (now) ex-husband when things got hairy with my friend)
11. 2003: White Marsh, MD (first condo with my (now) ex-husband)
12. 2005: Pasadena, MD (because SURELY a big house on the water will cure my failing marriage!)
13. 2006: Silver Spring, MD (yeah…that didn’t work out either.  Moving in with another friend)
14. 2007: Columbia, MD (aahhh…my own condo.  Mine.  Mine.  Mine!)
15. 2008: Laurel, MD (I’ve barely moved into my condo…why am I moving?  Oh yeah…love…and debt…and THE FUTURE!)
16. 2010: Columbia, MD (back to the condo that I love!)

Are you exhausted?  Me too!

I need roots.  I don’t want to move anymore.  I’m tired of moving.  I’m tired of being uprooted.  I need some stability!

For someone who lived in the same house for 18 years while growing up, moving is sort of a strange experience.  I never realized it until recently, but moving is very upsetting to me.  More than anything, I just want to plant my feet somewhere and stay put.

We’ll move again in a few years, but until then, I will do my best to become as connected as I can to our bigger (although still cozy) “new” condo.  He’ll sit close on the sofa, and we’ll eat dinner with the TV off.  Because it just feels right.

I’m tired of keeping my life in a box.  Over the next few months, I’m going to make it a point to “unpack” my life.  It should be a fun process.

What do you do to stay connected with your family?  Do you sometimes feel like you don’t see each other enough, even though you live under the same roof?

But I kind of miss our old, small, 675 square foot condo.

I kind of miss being piled on top of each other like sardines.

It’s weird that I don’t have to shut the living room blind before I take a shower with the bathroom door open.

And furthermore, I don’t know how I feel about not having to take turns in the bathroom.

I liked the fact that “all of us” had to be in the same room 90% of the time.

We have different “projects” happening in the same 1200 square feet of space, and we’re spread out all over the place.  We have 3 TV’s now, so we don’t have to compromise about what to watch anymore.  We can just be in different rooms.  I have to cook dinner by myself without the benefit of an open floorplan to chit-chat as I chop and slice.

Cooking is lonely now.

I am not complaining.  I’m just adjusting.

I’ll be fine.

It’s different.

I’ve been dying to tell you all about it, but yesterday I was completely wrapped up in this little project…

(you know…in addition to working)…

Who knew that it would be so difficult to retro-fit cabinets and counter tops into a kitchen that already has appliances?!  It’s turning into more math and spatial planning than I originally anticipated, but I’m really excited for the finished product.  Although technically nothing has even been ordered yet, I’m hoping that the whole project will be done before the end of July–praying for minimal downtime in the kitchen.

But…I’m willing to sacrifice having a kitchen for a while, because when it’s all said and done I’ll have a fun little kitchen that I love!  Small, yet functional.  That’s all I need!

So.

For the past 2 months, it’s killed me that I had to keep a secret from you.  I couldn’t tell you, but I was planning a surprise party for My Gazelle, which went down last Saturday.  After 2 years of hard work and complete devotion, as well as 6 months of being on his Black Belt Cycle (read: no sex, no sugar, no fried food, no sex, no red meat, no sex), he passed his black belt test!

The black belt test was on July 10th, which just happened to be the day before The Boilermaker, which meant that your girl was out of town and could not be in Maryland to celebrate this momentous occasion with her man.  I was very sad that I missed his testing and demonstration, but the knowledge that I was about to surprise him with a super fun surprise summer crab feast was enough to keep my guilt at bay.

I told him 2 months ago that I wanted him to keep Saturday, July 17th free for us to do something fun together with his niece and nephew.  Along the way, I “suggested” that we take the kids to our favorite park (a.k.a. the park where I rented a pavilion), and have a little picnic with them.  I rallied his family together to help me (he has the most amazing women in his family, and they eagerly jumped in and prepared all of the food), and for the past 2 months, have been dying on the inside because I couldn’t really tell anyone about this grand scheme!

The morning of the party, I left the house early to go to the gym, got in a quick workout, and then went over to drop some ice off at the pavilion for the drinks which hadn’t yet arrived.  After that, I went back to the house and helped get the kids ready for our “picnic”!  By the time we left, it was a little after 12PM, and I received word that everyone was running late.  My Gazelle’s Grandma and uncle hooked us up with 2 bushel of crabs fresh from the wharf on the morning of the party, and they were behind schedule due to that trip out to DC.

On the way to the park, I had to waste some time, so we stopped at a local farm stand and bought some fruit and corn, and showed the kids the farm’s turkey’s.  La la la la la la…wasting time…la la la la la…

Eventually, we got to the park, and Grandma still hadn’t yet arrived with the food, but I couldn’t stall any longer.  I parked on the opposite end of the park from where the pavilion was, in the hopes that while we took 15 minutes to walk over, Grandma, the food, and the rest of the family would arrive.  She didn’t arrive until 30 minutes after us, but it was OK.

He had NO CLUE.

We walked right up on the pavilion, and some of the family was outside with their backs turned.

NO CLUE.

His step mom popped her head outside of the door of the pavilion and yelled “SURPRISE!!”, and THEN it clicked.

He cracked up and said “OK, you really got me…”

The bottom line…he was happy.

Very, very happy.

The day was very hot and sweaty, but it didn’t stop everyone from having fun.  Some sang and danced.

Some relaxed and/or tried out their MMA moves on unsuspecting children.

Some taught the little ones where their feet are supposed go when they throw a ball.

Others just hung around.

Me?

I basically just sat and gazed at the lake.

You know…that same lake that I recreated a horror film in did the Celebration Sprint Tri in just a few short weeks ago?

Yeah.

…and I nonchalantly appreciated all of the hard work that this one has put into his body over the past 2 years…

There was a lot of appreciation.

Because what’s not to appreciate?

In all seriousness though…

The party was so fun.  I’m really really glad that he didn’t find out in advance, and that I was able to keep my big mouth shut (not my forte).  We had a ton of food, and it made me realize (again) what an awesome family I’m joining.

So proud of My Gazelle!

Didn’t I just have a race like 4 minutes ago?

Yeah. I thought so.

I’m mildly nervous about running The Boilermaker 15K on Sunday because I only had the opportunity to do ONE long run after my triathlon. I’ve come to a conclusion about me, races and running: I am not forward-thinking enough to focus on more than one race at a time. If the necessary training period for two events happens to cross, I get all jacked up.

The longest run that I’ve done since March (the Disney Princess 1/2) is the 6 miles that I just ran on Tuesday. So, I have complete faith in myself that I’ll finish, but I make no guaranties about whether I’ll need a wheelchair to do so.

Since that run on Tuesday, my knees have been feeling like their old selves in the evenings (swelled, tight, uncomfortable).  This makes me nervous, but I’ve been relying on ice to relieve the discomfort.  Today they seem fine.

I think I’ll be OK.

I hope.

*****

In other news (and what is REALLY on my mind), I’m moving! Aren’t you so excited? Me too!

It’s not a major move in terms of location or reason for moving, but to me it’s UBER exciting. Back in January 2007, I bought my very own 2 bedroom condo in a location that I love. It’s a 10 minute walk to a beautiful lake, 3 minutes to a bagel shop, and excuse me, but I can WALK to the MALL. Yes. Oh yes.

The other draw for me is the fact that the entire city is connected by paved paths.  It is possible to get to virtually anywhere within the city just by following paths and sidewalks.  I love the fact that I can always safely run and walk without having to worry about cars.

Before I moved into the condo, I completely renovated it with new stainless steel appliances, marble floors, crown molding, built-in bookshelves, surround sound. Seriously, this was like “pimp my crib” (well…the single, poor-person-on-a-budget version anyway). I really loved my condo, and I was proud and happy to have a place that I could call my own.

Then, in March, at the most unexpected time ever, I met the love of my life.

After a little over a year had passed, we knew that we needed to make a change.  Armed with the knowledge that My Gazelle and I would “someday” get married, and also the fact that we had collective credit card debt to the tune of $30,000, we decided to combine our lives into one of our condos. As it were, my condo was more marketable and would fetch more rent than his, so we have lived in his 1 bedroom condo for the past 2 years. My condo stayed leased out as a fully-furnished corporate rental, and I have had 3 tenants in the past 2 years.

**Sidebar: corporate rental is THE way to go if you can furnish the joint yourself. From my experience, the tenants have been solid, reliable, and mature.

I had to rent a storage unit for 2 years in order to contain all of the wonderful things that I wasn’t able to bring to My Gazelle’s condo.  They just wouldn’t fit within our 675 square feet.  My book and cookbook collection, scrapbooking supplies, beautiful decorations and framed art.  These are all things that I’ve missed for the past 2 years, but I knew that they were just things, and I would eventually be reunited with them.  In addition to missing my things (and probably more-so), I’ve missed having a space of my own to be creative.

At noon today, I’m meeting my soon-to-be former tenants so that we can do their move out inspection.

At 12:16, I’m going to begin moving in my art, scrapbooking supplies and cookbook collection.

Well, not really…but if I didn’t already have a prior engagement, you can trust that I would.

Oh, marble floors that are never clean enough!  I love you, but I hate you.

Oh, kitchen without enough counter space!  I have missed you so much…and we’ll get you some more counter space soon enough.

Oh, sunroom!  You look completely different now, with no crazy internal sliding door and new blinds!  I can’t wait to sit in you and relax.

As an added bonus, I also had all of the windows and that huge sliding door on the sunroom replaced in late February.  I am very anxious to move back in so that I can enjoy the space as it should be enjoyed.  I feel like I never really had a chance to enjoy and appreciate what I had because I was all up in “New Loveville”.  This time, I will have at least 3 years to devote to making this place our own (thankfully with no more credit card debt).  It’s funny how things come full circle.

And I will have a craft area.  Even if I have to share it with My Gazelle’s workout equipment.  It’s OK.  I”ll make that sacrifice for love.

]]> http://www.joggerslife.com/2010/race-prep-living/feed/ 3 http://www.joggerslife.com/2010/our-wedding-the-dinner-party-and-registry-decisions/ http://www.joggerslife.com/2010/our-wedding-the-dinner-party-and-registry-decisions/#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:13:51 +0000 http://www.joggerslife.com/?p=3381 It’s been quite some time since I provided you guys a wedding update, so how about now?

So far, I told you about The Chapel, My Dress, My Hair, and The Cake.  However, I’ve changed my idea on how to wear my hair.  I decided a few weeks ago that a finger wave is just too similar to my regular-every-day hair, and I’d like to do something a little more ‘finished’ looking.  So.  I basically have no idea yet what I’m doing.  I plan to make an appointment with Lisa at Cavallaro & Company to discuss what she thinks I should do.  She masterfully pulled off my finger wave trial, and it took like 3 hours…so I’m nervous about telling her that I’ve changed my mind now.  Luckily, we still have over 4 months to come up with a plan.

If I have to be completely honest here, I’m really thankful that the last race on my calendar for this year is in August.  I am feeling a little overwhelmed with everything going on (work, school, triathlon/race training, wedding planning), and I’ll be thankful when I have some time to breathe.  I’m fully tossing around the idea of not scheduling any races for 2011 so that I can focus on basic fitness goals instead.

Anyway.  That is a different post for a different day.  I’m a little scatterbrained today, clearly.

When My Gazelle and I were planning our wedding shin-dig, we knew one thing for certain: we didn’t want a crazy party.  Neither one of us are heavy on the partying, he doesn’t drink, and I don’t drink all that much (unless I’m on an NKOTB bender).

For that reason, as well as keeping costs low, we decided to have only a dinner party for 50 people.  The dinner party is still not going to be cheap (as is NOTHING when it comes to weddings), but it’s a little more manageable than spending our entire budget just on a reception.  Since it’s a dinner party, we won’t be having a DJ or any of the standard ‘reception’ hoopla, but everything else will pretty much be the same.

We are having our dinner party at the restaurant where we had our second date.

(DJ, please cue the “aahhhhhh’s”)

Red Sky Steak and Fish House in Laurel.  It’s a very nice restaurant without being stuffy or over the top.  Since we’re not into the fancy schmancy side of things, but we love good food, this place is ideal for us.  For the party, we will be renting out the back of the restaurant, which is somewhat secluded from the remainder of the restaurant.

The seating is going to be slightly awkward, but my plan is to push 2 or 3 tables together along the right wall (which has a full bench seat all the way down) to create the “head” table.  My mom is making large pillows that will also act as wedding favors to fill up the empty table-less areas on each end of the bench.  The other tables in the center of the room will be moved against the head table to create a “U” shape.  Some people will have to sit in the booths to the left, I think that this arrangement will keep them from being excluded from the group.

Also, the area in the middle that we’ll create with the “U” arrangement will make a fantastic little dance floor.

We are lucky to have a budding opera singer in the family (My Gazelle’s little sister is amazing), so in addition to her playing the piano at the chapel for us, she will also be singing a song for our first dance (”At Last” by Etta James).  We are making a 5 hour long playlist that will be played for the remainder of the dinner party.

Our guest book will be on a (currently imaginary) table at the right of the entrance to the room, and our gift table will be the first one on the left:

This is where my dessert table creation as well as our wedding cake will go, but the table will be larger and most likely be turned sideways or at a bias (I’ll probably fill that bench seat in with more pillows or something as well):

This is a view looking from the back of the room to the front of the restaurant:

Gift table (to be turned sideways), as well as the challenge that is bench seating:

I was kind of upset when I realized that all of the bench seating was immovable, because I had a vision that the room would be open and we could just slide all of the tables into a “U” shape.  I got my initial inspiration for the “U” shape from this collage (which is basically my dream wedding neatly packaged into a photo collage):

However, it’s just not going to be fully possible.  Since we really like the sentimental value of keeping the venue at Red Sky, we decided to just work with what we’ve got and do part of the seating in a “U” shape.

I’m going to do a sample table decoration this week, so I’ll fill you in on that when I’ve got it finished!

Next up, our wedding registry.

This is not a shameless promotion to get you to buy me a wedding gift.  I’m merely satisfying my own need to be nosy, and I’m assuming that you also have this need.  So go ahead.  Look at the sheets and china that I covet for a moment.

Also, I’m really afraid that I’m forgetting something important.  Keep in mind that both of us have fully-functional homes.  When we moved in together, we opted to use his ’stuff’ because I rented out my condo fully-furnished.  At this point, my Target-purchased dinnerware and things need to be replaced, and much of what I was using in my condo was purchased/gifted in my last marriage.  It just feels kind of gross.  I’d like to have a set of ’stuff’ that is specifically OURS.

Namely, new linens, bedding, and most importantly I want a set of nice(ish) china and silverware.  I was married before.  I didn’t want china then.  Although things like china aren’t super important to me even now, each time I used the toaster as a child, my Mom would say, “your father and I received that as a wedding gift 20 years ago!”  So, I understand that the material things aren’t insanely important, but I would like to have these things to attach a memory to.

So that I can remind little Junior about Mommy and Daddy’s wedding day each time I make him eggs in my Logic cast iron frying pan.  You know.  Because I probably will.

If you’re married…did you receive anything from your wedding registry that you absolutely can’t live without =or= what was the best gift that you received from your registry?

If you’re not married…what is the thing that you will MOST DEFINITELY put on your registry when you get married?

Also…does anyone having a constructive suggestion on my seating challenges?

There were a few things about this past weekend that left a huge impression on my life:

• The things that we write everyday touch other people’s lives. I was struck by how many times people that I didn’t ‘know’ came up to me and knew who I was, and told me that I had made an impact on their life in one way or another.  The fact that I have the ability to inspire others to do things that they might not otherwise do is very inspirational for me personally.  That is truly the reason why I blog.
• Just because someone is a ‘blogging rock star’ does not mean that they’re going to act like one. I’ve been to another blogging conference.  I felt like an outsider.  I felt like I didn’t ‘belong’ at the conference because my blog is not uber-popular, and doesn’t receive 10,000 page views per day (more likely around 25!).  As soon as I entered the cocktail party on Friday, I felt welcome.  I felt loved, and as I was chatting with MizFit (LOVE!!), I was surprised when Workoutmommy (LOVE!) immediately recognized me and came over.  So, excuse me…but I think that constitutes two bloggie rock stars for the price of one.  Amazing, and nice, and absolutely NOT elitist.  They wanted to talk, they engaged, and they had no delusions of grandeur.  Thank you very much.
• I can socialize without being socially awkward.  I’ve mentioned it before…I’m passionate.  If I like you, there is no question about that fact.  I come on too strong at times, and some get the impression that I’m ‘trying too hard’.  I realize that good friends are very hard to come by, and I guess I become overzealous when I find someone that I connect with (it doesn’t happen often).  For that reason, I tend to turn people off at times.  I ramped it back quite a bit for Fitbloggin’.  I basically wanted to invite you all up to my room for a slumber party, but I voted against that.  As fun as it would’ve been, I didn’t want to be annoying.  I know that I was still myself, made many friends and connections, but I didn’t go overboard.  And I didn’t feel self-conscious or awkward.  In my book, that’s a smashing success.

I did, however, almost walk out of my room on Saturday morning with this on my pant leg.

(Nearly Awkward Size Sticker Left on Leg)

That would’ve been uncomfortable.

Besides the deep realizations from above, I was also very happy with the extremely generous swag that we all received.

Free Runners!

Not only did we receive a brand new pair of New Balance running shoes, but we also got a pair of NB socks and shorts, as well as several other cool things inside of the swag bag.  Clearly, I was really impressed by the swag!

In addition to the swag bag, we also got the opportunity to receive another pair of New Balance shoes by mail…the ones that shape your booty and legs as you walk around.  This is very exciting news in my world because I’ve been wanting a pair of those bad boys.

My only regret from the entire weekend?  Not taking any pictures of people that I was hanging out with.  I don’t know WHY I missed this minor detail, but I think I was so caught up in the whirlwind and having so much fun that I forgot!  Hopefully someone else took pictures and they’ll turn up in blog posts to come.

There are some that I wish that I had more time to chat with, and some who I laughed with for hours!  Thanks to everyone for making my Fitbloggin’ experience such a fun one.  It really wouldn’t have been fun without you.

* Have you joined my Facebook Group yet?

* See how my training is going over here!

* Looking for my eBook?

*Check out my body image project!

]]> http://www.joggerslife.com/2010/fitbloggin-recap/feed/ 10 http://www.joggerslife.com/2010/sweatfest-sometimes-she-cries/ http://www.joggerslife.com/2010/sweatfest-sometimes-she-cries/#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:15:19 +0000 http://www.joggerslife.com/?p=2567

[source]

I have been slacking on the Sweatfest updates lately.  It’s not that I’m not working out/sweating/running.  Rather, I seem to be ALWAYS working out/sweating/running, so I have no time to update!  Lately, you can count on the fact that I’m doing one of the following things:

• Working
• Sweating (from some type of physical exertion or another)
• Cooking
• Cleaning
• Studying

That is all, with very few moments in between.

Little did I know that when My Gazelle started his black belt cycle, it would cause me to recommit myself to my true fitness goals.  Little did I know that I would be waking up at 4:45AM three days per week to sweat and cry and pout and be grumpy until my sweat was officially broken.

Because really…after I start sweating, I just want to suck it up and get it over with.  Especially at 5:30 in the morning!

I also didn’t know that I would be signing up for kickboxing class at My Gazelle’s martial arts school.  So, on two of the days that I wake up prior to the buttcrack of dawn, I also go to kickboxing class at 7PM.  After waking up at 4:45AM.

Not a short day.

I’m tired and usually in need of a nap by 10AM on most days, but I don’t feel that typical ’sickandtiredofexercising’ exhausted feeling.  On the contrary, I feel exited about working out, and I look forward to the positive motion that I’m feeling.

I can do 20 push ups in a row, and that is equivalent to a miracle in my world.

The worst thing that can happen to anyone’s workout routine is boredom.  Personally, when I get bored, I start to mentally quit.  After spending so long training for races, and doing something that I’m not particularly good at (running), it’s nice to divert my attention to something that I am more suited for.

No, not women’s wrestling.

Although…I’m totally built for that.

Adding a little body weight training into my life has been very beneficial.  I’m stronger, getting leaner, and I feel much more stable when I run.  I’m still just as slow as I always was, but the important part is that I feel better.  My knees don’t hurt, my bursitis seems to be under control, and I’m not experiencing all of the discomfort that I was feeling from June-October while training for the marathon.

All of the workouts that I do in the morning with My Gazelle are workouts that he has written.  As you may or may not know, he is studying for his personal training certificate, and it seems that I have become his personal guinea pig.  He believes very strongly in the principles of plyometrics and using your own body weight as your challenge.  If you can’t lift your own body weight efficiently, then you’re not working out right.   As a result of our mornings together, I am getting stronger, we have an extra hour to spend together, and he is getting experience with training an unruly, whiny candyass crier.

I’m really just testing him…helping him become a better trainer.  Yep, that’s it.

Our workouts generally consist of several sets of many exercises, presented circuit-style with very little rest between circuits.  In the end, this basically just equates to an hour of pure sweat and agony.  The goal is always to combine cardio with ‘weight-training’ (used loosely, since it’s our own weight that we’re lifting), in order to get the most bang for our buck.

The workout this morning was especially hurtful.

• 10 Push ups

• 10 (he calls them) CannonBalls (I call them) Squat Thrusts

(we did the second type that are demonstrated in this video, with the jump)

• 20 Walking Lunges

• 20 Squats

(yes, I realize the quality of this video is terrible, but it was one of the only ones I could find that I agreed with).

• Sprint back to the starting line

We did five sets of these on the basketball court of the gym.  By the time we were done with the walking lunges, we were at the foul line on the other end of the court, and after doing 20 squats, we sprinted back.

Ok.  I confess.  HE sprinted back.  I jogged back.

I told you I’m a wussycandyass.

By the time that we did 3 sets of these, I was ready to keel over.  After getting yelled at and browbeaten by my trainer (who will be doing extra dishes this week…and ‘oops…I forgot to buy dishwasher soap…looks like you’re washing them by hand’), I was able to finish the last 2 sets and then we did abs.

If you haven’t tried a circuit-style workout of this type, I strongly suggest diving in.  It is a great way to keep your workout life interesting, while also turning up your effort level a few notches.

What’s your favorite way to sweat?   (Try to keep it clean, kids.)

Don’t forget that you can be a part of No Excuses Tuesday!  Just contact me to nominate yourself or someone else, and they’ll be featured on the blog.  As of today, I have exactly ZERO nominations for tomorrow, so unless someone comes through, I’ll have to dig into my bag of tricks and come up with something on my own!

* Have you joined my Facebook Group yet?

* See how my training is going over here!

* Looking for my eBook?

*Check out my body image project!

I’m happy if you enjoy, and kind of sad if you’re indifferent, but ultimately, I’ve found the blog to mainly be a great place for me to journal, share thoughts, and it’s also an awesome way to reference back to things in my life that I might forget along the way.  Besides all of these things, I have “met” so many wonderful and truly supportive people along the way.  Love you guys.

I originally started the blog because I made the decision to run my longest race up until that point: The Boilermaker 15K.  That first post on November 18th last year is actually quite a hoot for me to read now.  What a difference a year makes, huh?  From that initial race motivation spawned the decision to run my first half marathon–The Frederick 1/2 (which actually occurred before The Boilermaker), then I moved on to my very first marathon–The Baltimore Marathon.

Along the way, I’ve hurt myself several times, seen my PT more times than I can even recall, been fitted for my own personal pair of orthotics, freaked out about my family history of chronic disease, became a pescetarian, freaked out about food and diets and my history with bulimia (also more times than I can recall).  Now, I’m planning a wedding.

I’ve covered everything with you guys.

And, I may not have specifically expressed it here on the blogola, but one of my life goals was to run a marathon before getting married and having babies.

I ran the marathon.

Soon, I’ll be trying to have babies.

Babies?!

Yes, babies.

Despite my childish good looks and complete lack of wrinkles and crows feet (lie, lie, and lie), I am no spring chicken.  My Gazelle and I will be officially tying the knot on October 16, 2010.

The ceremony will begin at 5PM.

Thirty minute ceremony.

Thirty minute drive to the dinner party.

Eat, drink, and be merry from approximately 7-10PM.

So, I estimate that the conception process will commence at around 10:01PM on October 16th, 2010.

Although I’m probably running the risk of sharing too much on the blog, I do think that these things are important to bring to light.  And I don’t intend on throwing you the “play-by-play”, so you’ll be fairly safe from any unwanted mental imagery.

Fairly.

But, I can’t really make any promises to that effect either.

I’ve been taking synthetic birth control for many years.  I’ve had a history of irregular cycles when I wasn’t on the pill.  It took my sister a long time to get pregnant with my niece.  These things are all at the forefront for me, and I am highly aware of them, but I don’t necessarily think that they preclude me from getting pregnant within a reasonable time frame.  I do, however, plan to take measures so that it will be more likely that we are able to conceive before I reach menopause.

That was a joke.  I know I’m way too young to worry about menopause, and women are having babies into their 40’s now, but personally, I’d like to have my child-rearing done before I hit 40.  You know, by like 39 1/2 or so.

I have done a lot of reading and learning over the past few months.  I’ve also followed Kristen’s story of conception (and her difficulty) very closely, and I have taken her advice very much to heart.

My doctor has recommended that I stop taking birth control ASAP in order for my body to be cleansed of the synthetic hormones well before we start trying to conceive.  To me, this is a huge relief because I hate taking pills/medications of any kind.  The added fact that birth control is technically a synthetic steroid only adds to my neurosis about taking it.

Today, I took my last birth control pill.

And, I jumped for joy.

And, I bought this book.

The whole scenario kind of makes me feel a little bit “tree-huggerish”, but it also feels incredibly good that I’ve made a decision to listen to my body.

Does anyone have experience (positive or negative) with Natural Family Planning (NFP)?  Please do share in the comments!

p.s…I promise to bring a running update soon.  You now, since this is “JOGGERSlife” and all.

p.s.s…I also plan to give you that soup eBook that I promised so very long ago!

p.s.s.s…I also plan to bake massive quantities of cookies between now and Christmas Eve, so look for some new recipes!

* Have you joined my Facebook Group yet?

* See how my training is going over here!

* Looking for my eBook?

*Check out my body image project!

• Full-time accountant
• Freelance writer
• Part-time Mother
• Pretend blogger
• Exerciser
• Full-time crazy person
• Wedding planner

In essence, I took a 12″ plate fit for a buffet, piled it high, and then decided to order a side of fruit, yogurt, and granola.  And cookies.  And ice cream.  Lots of cookies and ice cream.

Ironically, that kind of sums up my dietary selections lately as well.

Despite all of the crazy that I have birthed, I welcome the chaos.

Besides my problem of taking on too much at once, I also can’t stand having responsibilities looming over my head.  I like the idea of getting a job finished quickly so that I don’t have to worry about it anymore.  For that reason, I’ve almost planned my entire wedding.

Already.

Six days post-proposal.

That’s kind of just how I roll.

Also ironically, My Gazelle and I had discussed the wedding basics last week on Wednesday (he proposed on Friday).  We decided at that point that we would get married in a tiny local church called Dorsey Chapel.  It holds historical significance in the area because it was  built in 1900 to serve the black farming community of the area because there was no other Methodist church within comfortable walking distance.

The church was abandoned around 1971 when the congregation merged with another local congregation due to low attendance.  The church was planned for demolition in 1980, but was instead acquired by a group of local citizens, who then renovated the church and turned it over to the local Park Police.  Now, the restored church is adorable, and is rented out to people for weddings and such.

We looked at the chapel on Wednesday morning, and knew immediately with no hesitation that it was the place we wanted to be married.  The chapel itself has five pews on each side, and each pew seats 5 people.  Since it only seats 50 people, it is ideal for the intimate wedding that we’re planning.  Since this is my second wedding, I want to celebrate, but I’m not interested in going all out.

There are two old-school outhouses located behind the chapel, but luckily they have since been replaced by a separate building that contains two restrooms, an office, and a large room that can be used as a sitting room or a changing room.  It’s small, simple, and perfect for us.

Since the chapel sits on a beautiful wooded lot, it’s perfect for photographs.  Our wedding date is October 16, 2010, so the fall foliage is going to be amazing.  **sigh**  I always wanted a fall wedding!

I was so touched by all of your nice comments and congratulations on my Love and Marriage post.  Hopefully now you’ll all stick around while I manage my wedding craziness and get all of the details ironed out.  I’ve already planned my save the date announcements and invitations, and (shocker), I’ll be making them by myself.  So, stay tuned for my wedding series!  =)

p.s…I know Kobe is a gross cheater.  But he still looks good.  lol.

p.s.s…to all of you wonderful resort owners:  I would be happy to compose several very SEO friendly articles in return for a free honeymoon.  **wink, wink**  There’s no shame in my game.

* Have you joined my Facebook Group yet?

* See how my training is going over here!

* Looking for my eBook?

* Everyone loves a giveaway!

I mean seriously.  Al Bundy could never hold this Matrix-esque pose while sitting on the couch sipping a brew with his hand down his pants.  Nope.

And I’m sure that Al Bundy would never allow himself to be pinned down by a 7 pound Kitty Dog like this.

A couple of weeks ago, on his birthday, I told you all of the wonderful things about my man.  I could really talk about it for days, but I’d rather if you guys stuck around.  If I began talking about him again, you’d be gagging and barfing within minutes.  Trust me.  I promise.

Ok, so he’s not quite my DREAM MAN.

p.s…is there anything sexier than Kobe Bryant adoring his daughter?!  Goodness.

p.s…is there anything sexier than Kobe Bryant holding a basketball shoe?!  Goodness.

Oh.

I digress.

Kobe is aight.

But I have Rizzle.  My Gazelle.  My boo boo.

For life.

Oh yes.

He’s mine.  Forever and ever.  Amen.

Let the planning begin!

* Have you joined my Facebook Group yet?

* See how my training is going over here!

* Looking for my eBook?

* Everyone loves a giveaway!

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