Paying Rent for the Year...

In December, I did something that was quite surprising to the Parentals… I took them out to a nice dinner. I am what some would call a tight wade (I prefer poor grad student/non-profit worker), so the rare occasion I treat my parents to Mexican or Dominos… they are shocked. Well with our three-year anniversary of me moving in with them sometime in December 2010 (ask my Dad, he knows the exact date I moved back in) I wanted to treat them to something fancy to show my appreciation.

I have pretty much the best parents ever… you can try to debate me on this, but you would lose. They have always supported me no matter what… even when I changed my major numerous times (only three official times, thank you!)… even when I said I am going to major in art and art history... even when I wanted to study theater and literature in London... even when I called from the SPCA begging to bring home the cutest little dog ever… even when I asked to move home with that little dog after graduation until I could find a job... they supported me wholeheartedly (even if they were cringing on the inside!).

Well it took about 6ish months to find a job out of college and of course, I wanted to work at a non-profit, which I quickly learned does not pay well and could not afford rent in the area. They still let me stay. Then I came to them and said “I am going to get my Masters degree!” They asked in what… I said Public Administration (I want to save the world!) and later changed to Education (Okay, I’ll just save the children!). Like I said, they are veryyyyy supportive!

Fast forward, it has now been three years that I have been occupying the future movie room aka the room over the garage. I figured it was about time I at least took them out to dinner… that’s worth three years of rent right?

So I surprised Mom and Dad (well had to tell him beforehand so he could drive) by taking them to dinner at 456 Fish in Norfolk. This place is seriously the bomb and thought it would be a perfect place to show my appreciation for putting up with my (and Lexi's) crap for the past three years. The food was seriously amazing… calamari with a basil dipping sauce… lobster hush puppies… and that was just appetizers! Dinner was even better with fresh fish and delicious accompaniments.

While the food was amazing, it was really about wining and dining the parents... take them out to a nice dinner to say thanks. Seriously, they are the amazing and I am so lucky they are my parents. Be jealous, they rock.

Watching my Weight...

This time last year, I made a huge stride to get control of my health… I joined Weight Watchers. I was spiraling out of control, gaining weight rapidly and it was only at my Grandpa’s funeral that I recognized what I was doing to my body. After I returned home from his funeral, I immediately made a promise to myself to get my weight under control, so I could have a chance at living a great long life, like he did. In the past, I had attempted many different diets to lose those pesky pounds, but nothing ever worked. I decided to join WW as a way to keep track of my food and keep it under control. Many times I would tell people I was on WW and they would say, “But you’re so young” or “You’re not that big”. But I decided to ignore those people (haters!) and keep on with what I felt would help me. Now that I am about a year into the program, I have lost about 28 pounds and counting. Woot woot!

Look at that decline... so pretty!

Looking back at my old eating habits… and putting it into the Points Calculator to see the equivalent… it is astonishing that I was not even worse off! Back in high school, I could polish off a whole box of macaroni and cheese (ah the good ole’ days). Given at the time I was playing soccer, field hockey and swimming… and a teenager, so calories burned off quicker than I could take them in. But after high school, my love of cheese continued and manifested into a love of Mexican food (who am I kidding, I have always loved Mexican food!). In the past couple years, I could easily down an entire Moe’s nachos… you don’t even want to know how many calories that is. Ouch.

Which brought me to WW. My view of food has changed and I have learned how to enjoy the foods I like without popping buttons off my pants. I still love my burritos, but now I take off the sour cream and cheese. I still love my nachos, but now I make them at home so I can control the calories. Don’t get me wrong… I still splurge (you gotta live right?). But I am now more aware of the food I eat and am conscious of the crap that is in a lot of food.

I decided to do the online version, which is perfect for my lifestyle (I’m too lazy to go to a meeting once a week). I still feel accountable because I am paying for it every month, so motivation is not an issue with me. I will definitely forever be a little spokesperson for WW and endorsing it for anyone trying to lose weight. It is seriously an awesome program to help with weight loss and healthy eating. Go Weight Watchers!!

Now I am going to go watch the Biggest Loser and eat some ice cream... it's WW ice cream, only 3 points... give me a break!

First 5k in the Books

I ran my first 5k this weekend! You might have noticed that I kinda do things backwards. I signed up for a 10k and did it with little training and figured I would do the 5k eventually. Well that time is now! A few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to get things moving and start running again. I had taken time off of running since my hip was pretty bothersome and I was trying to finish the semester. I finally signed up for a 5k in January to get my year off to a good start!

So I woke up the morning of the race, not feeling so great. I was having, uh, well, let's say G.I. issues. I was a bit worried and was not ready to do a little 5k, having to stop every 5 minutes to go to the bathroom! Porta potties or not... ew. I ended up getting a later start just because I wanted to make sure I was all good before heading to the race.

Once I got on the road, I ended up zoning out and missing the turn to Mount. Trashmore... I think it was my subconscious trying to drive me to Target instead of this race. I finally make it to park about 45 minutes before the start and did not see the start or anyone that looked like they were there for a race. I had a mini panic moment that I missed the start time or got the location wrong. The packet pick up the night before was less then glamorous... it was in a local running shop and consisted about 5 old men who looked like they were taking a nice nap before I walked in. Must of been a slow packet pick up! I realized later, I could have picked up my stuff the day of which would have saved me a trip to the beach. O well!

Anyhoots, after driving around for 5 minutes, I finally spot a person with a race number and figured the start is around that general area. Then I had the image of like only 10 people racing and I come in last! I even came up with a plan that if it looked like I was last, I would just do a lap around the lake and then hop in my car and go home. Then I would just tell my mom (my personal cheerleader) that she got the location wrong and the race was actually at the beach and she missed it, o well. But thankfully, more people showed up.
The start was pretty uneventful... lots of people jumping around trying to stay warm while the main race guy made announcements no one could hear. Finally the horn went off and we started. The course was really boring because it was two loops around the lake at Mount Trashmore, I was just happy it wasn't up the hill. That would bring back nightmares from high school field hockey training, eck. I had a nice pace going during the first lap and only walked a couple times. My hip was still bothering me, but tried not to think about it. As I was coming around the corner to complete the first lap, I see my little Mom standing there obviously freezing, cheering for me. That was definitely the pick me up I needed, so I told her where the finish line was and that I had one more lap to go and trotted on my way. A little after that the first place dude wizzed by me to finish. That was a bummer to be lapped, but he was so flipping fast!

So I kept a nice pace for the second lap and tried to stay with the group of ladies around me. The last lap was tougher, but I was still feeling good. Once the finish line was in sight, I kicked it up a bit. It is amazing how even though you don't feel like you have any gas left you kick it up for the finish. As I was running to the finish I saw that it was within 37 minutes, so I wanted to make sure I got in under 38 minutes. That's when I saw Mom again too and definitely turned on the jets. The crowd at the finish line started cheering for me too since I was so close to under 38... or there was a celebrity sighting and I just didn't notice because I had my headphones on. Regardless, I'm going to continue to believe everyone was cheering for me!

And the final time was... drum roll.... 37 minutes and 55 seconds. Woot woot! I'm feeling good about that... my goal was to get under 40 minutes. Success!

All in all, I had a good time with this race. I still don't feel like I was 100% prepared, but feel like I did better in general than my 10k. This race I think I walked only about 25% of the time... I'm getting there!

My hip started hurting around mile one, which was annoying, but I dealt with it. I also had some major snot issues, since it was really cold I kinda expected it, but it was still annoying. I wore gloves just so I could blow my nose. Needless to say I threw those gloves away the moment I finished. I learned I need to perfect the art of blowing my nose while running. I had to stop a few times to blow my nose. Hott!

This was the inaugural Frosty 5k and it was pretty apparent, but they made up for it with enthusiasm! It was run by our local Lions club, who according to my mom, sell brooms and collect old reading glasses. Well, they also do races now too! They were cute... great little cheer sections throughout the loop, which was encouraging.
This was definitely a lot of fun and am ready for the next one. I always get nervous about these races and many times don't want to do them the morning of, but as soon as I finish I want to do it again. I'm feeling good (besides the nagging hip) and want to step up my weekly runs to actually prepare for the next one. Right now, I have an 8k in March, but we'll see what comes up between now and then. :)