February Wrap-Up

February has been a pretty lackluster month. It's been filled with training runs, homework, work, and classes. It's also been a pretty beautiful month, weather wise. We had a brief cold spell where the temps dropped into the 50s. (I KNOW! And we complained. We are winter wimps.) Other than that, it's been hitting the upper 70s most days with a slight breeze - perfect weather.

Looking back, February has had it's share of ups and downs...

• The Green Bay Packers won the Superbowl. I was really rooting for the Packers to win, mainly because I think Aaron Rodgers is adorable but also because the Steelers have won enough and it's time for some fresh faces! It was a great game with an awesome outcome. (But it's not looking good for a 2011 NFL season. I'm getting worried.)
• My mom and I booked our cruise! I'm over-the-moon thrilled about our upcoming cruise in late May and cannot wait to travel a little! I've never been out of the Eastern timezone so I think it's going to be a memorable five days, to say the least.
• I developed shingles. AKA adult chicken pox. It's no fun, but definitely not as painful as people are telling me. I'm uncomfortable, but my pain is minimal. I think the most annoying part of it is the pills I have to take five times a day. Yuck.
• I'm down 7 pounds. It wasn't a stellar month for weight loss, but I did stick to the plan every week. I'm not positive much weight loss will occur until I'm recovered from my shingles, but I just want to stick to the plan as best I can and track, track, track! I'm losing it slowly, but I'm losing it nonetheless.
• I decided to take a big step back from blogging. No more five posts a week for me! I really need to focus on school, getting well, and learning how to de-stress better. I know blogging can get stressful for me when I try to stick to a rigid schedule so it's back to posting when I can for me.

How did your February turn out?

Thursday Tidbits

• First of all, today I’m guest-posting over at Becky’s blog! She asked for a theme of love so I wrote about the boy I love the most: my nephew! This blog post was so much fun to write, even moreso that Becky is also an aunt and knows exactly how I feel! Check it out here.
  
• Today is supposed to be the day I recap my weight loss and tomorrow is supposed to be the day I vlog. I haven’t had time to record a vlog this week and to recap this week in weight loss: Super Bowl. Gained 1.2 pounds. The end. 
  
• I’m finding myself busier and busier with school and kind of loving it. My five-week break was incredibly delightful and relaxing, but I’m realizing that I like to keep busy. It also helps that my classes are quite fun and I get to explore my creative writing side, which is a big no-no when it comes to journalism. The papers I’m writing for my literature and creative writing classes are so much fun and so interesting to write that a part of me is glad I’m taking them at the end of my undergraduate career and not a few semesters ago because it seriously would have tempted me to switch majors. No joke.
  
• Half-marathon training-wise, it’s going okay. I missed my long run on Sunday because it was raining and I just didn’t have it in me to run 5 miles on the treadmill. My training runs have been better than I expected, even though I’m still not running the whole time but I am running more than I’m walking. I’m still extremely nervous leading up to my runs, but they’re getting done. I’m ready to tackle this upcoming week. I have a 3.5-miler scheduled for today and a 5-miler scheduled for Saturday. 5 miles will be a new (running) distance record for me so fingers crossed!
  
• I want to run one of the Gasparilla races at the end of this month. I’m debating on whether I should run the 5K on Saturday or the 8K on Sunday. I’m only scheduled to run 3 miles that weekend, but I’ve never run an 8K distance in a race and it kind of interests me. Make the decision for me! ;)
  
• By the way, March 24th is the day the world will end for me. Also known as the day I have to present my short story for critiques. I’ve never shown my fiction work to anyone and to say I’m nervous is an extreme understatement. I have a million different ideas of what I want my short story to be but nothing I feel comfortable writing down and showing.

January Wrap-Up

Today marks the end of the first month of 2011. Can you believe we’re already 31 days into the new year? (Only 10 months until the Christmas season!)

It’s been a busy month for me but in the past few weeks, I’ve just been happier. There’s nothing on the horizon to look forward to, just a lot of work, a lot of classes, and a lot of homework and studying. But I’m happy. I wake up happy (well, sleepy, but also happy) and there’s just a joy surrounding me. I hope I can keep up this good attitude because life is so much more fulfilling when you’re happy!

January had it’s share of ups and downs.

• I welcomed in the new year on my living room couch, watching the ball drop on TV with my dog and my mom. We had a quiet night at home, which was simply perfect.

• My mom completed her first-ever marathon. (I see at least one more in her future!)

• I began my last semester as an undergrad, which was filled with it’s own set of headaches.

• I spent my weekends buried in homework and cleaning, but feeling more relaxed and fulfilled than those weekends spent doing absolutely nothing.

• I had an eye appointment (my first since September 2008!) where I found out my eyes had indeed gotten worse and my astigmatism in my right eye was stronger than before, meaning contacts are probably not the best everyday option. (Even contacts used for astigmatism, they still jump around in my eye.)

• I completed my goals of getting on track with my eating (and subsequently lost almost 6 pounds this month!), as well as establishing a cleaning chart to help me get motivated to help out more around the house. And I disconnected 3 out of the 4 Saturdays in January.

• I did not complete my goals of establishing a budget or paying off my largest credit card (all I have to do is call the collection agency and set up the payment! Procrastinate, much?). I failed miserably on my water intake, although it did get a teensy bit better once I started back at Weight Watchers.

• Turning off electronics at 9pm? It didn’t happen once in January. I usually didn’t remember about this goal I set until 9:30pm or later, if I remembered at all!

• Tomorrow’s post will outline my goals for February, but I am going to “treat” myself to a new sports bra (or two!). The ones I’m wearing now I’ve had for about 3-4 years so I’m pretty sure it’s more of a necessity than anything. No Otterbox, though. Maybe next month!

How was the first month of January for you?

Thursday Tidbits

• Can I just say how amazing the comments on yesterday's post were? I was so nervous about the response I would receive, but every single comment made me smile - and some even made me tear up a little! I love you guys.
  
  
• I still have a week to go before my next hair appointment and my hair is driving me crazy! While it's still maintaining a semblance of blonde (thankfully, my natural color is closer to blonde than brown!), the length is driving me nuts. It's hitting about half an inch above my shoulders which makes it flip out. I'm definitely going to have to keep my appointments 7-8 weeks apart.
  
  
• Every time I hear about someone working on a freelance article, my heart sinks. A big part of me really wants to start trying to score some work this way, but a bigger part is too nervous about failing.
  
  
• My ankle is pretty much completely healed. It's still a little tender after work and standing on it all day, but I can run on it with no problem! This makes me so happy!
  
  
• Speaking of running, is it weird that I find motivation in how I'm going to tweet about my run? Sometimes, it keeps me running if I tell myself, "Think about what an awesome Twitter status you could write!" (OK, don't answer that. It's definitely on the crazy side.)
  
  
• I've been sick all week, which has really messed with my healthy eating/exercise. I only managed to get in 2 runs on Saturday and Sunday, but have been way too exhausted during the week to do more than work, come home, take a long nap, and sit on the couch. Plus, being sick likes me makes me super hungry and feel nauseous when I don't eat. It hasn't been good.
  
  
• I've been looking around at where to buy my domain and I found that you can do it through Wordpress, which costs $5 more than if you were to buy it from a place like GoDaddy and use Wordpress. Is this the best option, or should I still use GoDaddy? This domain buying stuff is very confusing!
  
  
• After reading BlogHer tweets/recaps from the past two years, I'm making it a priority to get to BlogHer '11 in San Diego. I just need a roommate and someone who's not afraid to be tied to a socially awkward girl who finds it hard to talk to people in big groups. (Oh, I know. I sound like a CATCH!)
  

Friday Odds and Ends

• I ended up dropping two of my courses. I received an e-mail on Wednesday saying that if my tuition wasn’t paid in full, I would be dropped. I called the cashier’s office and was told I may or may not be dropped if I didn’t pay the whole thing. All in all, it came down to money. My books for the semester were going to cost close to $200. And on top of that, tuition was going to be $1,600. To be quite honest, I don’t have that kind of money. My mom is not rolling in dough and I need to help her out with bills as much as I can. So I’m back to square one: learning Spanish myself. Any tips?
  
• My hours were cut slightly at work. Our numbers are usually low in the summer and they’ve really been dropping like flies in the past week. We lost three toddlers in one week. The classroom I was in now only has five toddlers on roll, so I’m not needed in there. My boss has found things for me to do, though, and I’ve actually gotten a lot of hours this week due to people calling in. Yay for that?
  
• Honestly, the comments on my last post were the best ever. I was worried I would get a lot, “BUT YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL!” and people would think I was being self-pitying and looking for comments. I wasn’t. I think it’s something every girl struggles, or has struggled, with. Also, as a side note, I did not mean to take a boob pic. It was supposed to show my non-collarbones and I really didn’t think as I posted that picture. But thanks for the sweet comments.
  
• Today, I start Level 3 of The 30-Day Shred challenge. I am proud to admit that I’ve done this challenge for 20 days straight. I’m surprised at this fact and that I’ve stuck with it. Honestly, the video is only 28 minutes long and I cannot understand how Biggest Loser contestants deal with her for hours and hours for four straight months! (Well, I do. And believe me, Jillian is good at pushing people to accomplish things they never thought they could.) I plan on giving a full report on the workouts, pounds/inches lost, and how I liked this when May is up. I will say that now every time I see Jillian outside of this video, I want to punch her in the face.
  
• Lately, I’ve been struggling with lunch. Luckily, my schedule permits so I can go home for lunch but I have such a tough time thinking of what to eat. I did the sandwich thing for a while (tuna, PB&J, turkey with lettuce) but it got old. Then I did the salad thing for a while but honestly, I can only have so much salad before it makes me want to vomit. I’m at a loss. Blog friends, or real life friends if you’re reading this, what do you eat for lunch? It doesn’t have to be quick and easy but I need some ideas!
  
• This post title and idea was stolen from Ashley. That is all.

By The Numbers…

I’ve seen other bloggers do these type of blog posts but never felt as if there was anything that significant I was counting down to. But I definitely am now:

16 hours until I’m finished with Spring Semester 2010

2 days until my Recuperate Day (where I’ll spend the majority of my time, cozied up in bed, reading and relaxing.)

12 days until my advanced reporting class starts, a 6-week intense class

25 days until I complete The 30-Day Shred challenge

2 months until a (tentative) weekend trip to Orlando

3.5 months until my (hopefully!) last semester of college begins

7 months, 1 week, and 3 days until graduation

What special events are YOU counting down to?

Because I’m Too Worn Out For a Real Post

• I took a little unannounced blogging break, mainly because I worked all last weekend on my law term paper (about a topic I was clueless on) and finishing up some law journals to hand in on Thursday. And then I was busy with that little magazine project you might have heard me mention a time or two. The semester is slowwwly winding down (only 10 days left!) so I’ll be blogging less until I get my feet back from under me.
• In completely awesome news, I finished my magazine today! It has to be the best feeling ever to know I am done and still have over a week to tweak it until it’s due. I’m going to send the file to my professor so he can give me his opinion and critique so I know exactly what I need to fix. This project caused me so much stress and tension but once I found out that my professor liked my magazine, it became so much fun! It didn’t feel like I was doing homework when I was working on this project. And I’m super happy with the way it’s turned out.
• I signed up for 4 courses over the summer, forgetting that my scholarship doesn’t pay for summer classes and my financial aid still hasn’t been reinstated. So I might have freaked out a little bit when I saw my tuition would be around $2,500 which is just a little unaffordable. So I’ll be taking two classes and then hoping to get my scholarship back/financial reinstated for fall so I can take 5 classes and finish up my undergraduate degree!
• I’ve made a lot of changes to this blog while on my “break.” First off, I changed the layout and I love, love, love it! And since I paid money for it, I’m hoping I don’t get bored with it in a month. I tend to do that. I also fixed my blogroll and made a new 101 days list. I loved how clean and simple Lauren’s looked and went for one like hers with the categories which makes it so much easier for me to look at. I had to make some new goals for the ones I already completed, since I started my 1,001 days over, so check it out!
• I have a short three-day workweek next week which I’m thrilled about! That’s two days where I don’t have to wake up before 5am! I took those two days to help with getting everything completed before finals weeks starts and I think I’m going to manage to do everything. Wow! (And the week after that, I took Friday off to recuperate from this semester. I can’t wait!)
• In May, I’m taking on The 30-Day Shred challenge. I think I need a challenge for my exercise life, since I do everything in my power to get out of it. Anyone up to doing the challenge with me? Pretty please?

Another List for Friday

One of these days, I'm going to think of a catchy name for this. I was thinking on it a few days ago and thought to myself, "Oh! How about Five on Friday?!" And then I realized how familiar it sounded. So...yeah. Still thinking.

• My grandma went in for a PET scan last week. Her last 3 have been clean, although on her last one, they found a spot of something on her lung. Since the doctors didn't know what it was, they weren't too concerned. Well, that spot has grown and is now cancer. Boo. There is good news, though. The cancer is small and treatable. It's only 10 millimeters long and she'll have to have surgery to remove it, and then take a chemotherapy pill. (Yes! A pill!) Luckily, the chemotherapy won't be as strong as it was her first time around so she won't be as incredibly sick and weak as she was before. Still, it's scary and I'm not very happy about this!
• I've run into a big problem this week: lunch. I'm not a girl who likes to skip meals. I like to eat and get extremely cranky and weak if I don't get my nourishment. But I didn't seem to schedule enough time between work and classes and my internship to have time for lunch. The two days I'm having the most trouble with are Tuesdays and Thursdays when I go straight from work to a class and then have about 30 minutes between the end of class and the start of my internship. Only I have to use that time to change from Preschool Teacher (i.e., uniform, no make-up, messed-up hair) to Professional Intern. It doesn't leave a lot of time to eat lunch. I know I need to start scheduling my time better, because this can't continue! A busy girl needs food!
  
• I'm really, really interested in buying my own domain. And I want to move this blog over to WordPress. I talked to two girls about it and am fairly certain of how to make the switch. But I need your help! Who would you recommend me buying a domain from? I've only really heard two names thrown around: Go Daddy and BlueHost. Please, please, please, please, PLEASE give me some ideas! I will love you forever and ever, amen.
• Well, I'm now a freelancer for my school's newspaper. I was really upset I didn't make it on as a full-time staffer but this is probably a better situation for me. As a full-time staffer, I would've had to write 2 stories a week but a freelancer only has to write 2 stories a month. It'll probably be much easier to handle, but now I have to think of something to write about! Yikes!
• Also, for all you football fans! GO COLTS this weekend! I'm not too picky on the NFC Championship game because it would be great to see Brett Favre in another Superbowl but then the Saints deserve a Superbowl trip, too! Both are extremely great football teams and I'm looking forward to a good game! (Although, I could care less about a good game with the AFC Championship game. I just want the Colts to beat up the Jets!)
  

A List for Friday

• My first week of the semester is done. It's been exhausting, exciting, and extremely stressful. Monday was horrible, Tuesday was fantastic, Wednesday was tiring, and Thursday was lovely. Luckily, I was able to get into the Tuesday afternoon class which is the best news of my week. I'm excited about this semester! I think I'm going to learn so much about journalism itself and where I fit in the journalism world. And I'm going to be tired. Very tired.
• I have applied to become part of my school's newspaper. I don't remember how many staff writers they're hiring, but if I don't make the staff position, I can be a freelance writer. It was really nerve-wracking to be in the meeting and hear people throwing out story ideas. Newspaper journalism is not somewhere I want to be but I think it'll be such a great learning experience and also give my confidence a boost.
• I really, really want to redesign my layout for this blog. I know exactly what I want my blog to look like but I'm not HTML-savvy at all and have no idea how I would even begin to create my own blog layout. Any tips?
• The first week of my internship went really well. I didn't do much this week but some amazing opportunities have presented themselves for next week. I really think this internship is going to help me have some belief in myself. I can't wait to get more involved with the company!
• My weight loss efforts really stalled this week. I'm so upset with myself and I just want this year to be different and for me to finally start living a healthy lifestyle and drop the weight. I just need to stop making excuses. That is what this whole week has been - excuses. And it's really hard to start each week, worrying about when I'm going to fail. Not if, when. It's such a sad mentality to have.
• I've been doing fairly well on achieving my monthly goals. After my utter December failure, I've been really focused on them. I've started running and have made two brand-spankin'-delicious meals in the Crock-Pot. (Well, I made one and my mom made the other.) I've been working towards credit card payments and loved all the comments about paying them off. My balance on the cards are $300, $500, and $3,000 so it's not going to take me long to pay off the first two. I'm hoping I can get them paid off by June. The third credit card is going to take a while to pay off but I will do it! Somehow, someway. Unfortunately, I'm still having trouble "finding" time for God. I don't want to make it leftover time, as in "OK, God. I finally have time to sit down and talk to You! What's up?" I want it to be meaningful and it might require me to fast something (i.e., TV, Internet) to make this time meaningful. And my 101 in 1,001 list is coming along fabulously. I have set aside some goals I want to start accomplishing soon, have a few in progress, and even got to complete my goal of getting 20 comments on a blog post! It's happened TWICE! This excites me immensely. IMMENSELY!