Hoody Hoo

6 Year Anniversary

2011-07-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

Today is a big day for me and Lexi. Exactly six years ago today, I picked her up from the local SPCA. When I walked into the SPCA that day with my roommate at the time... we were just going to look around. But while just looking around, I saw a sweet scared black dog hovering in the corner of the cage while the other dog in the cage was barking and jumping around. I immediately felt something for that puppy and asked to take her out to see her. Upon spending a few minutes with that pup, I knew I had to take her home. She was so sweet and looked at me with those big eyes and looked so scared and nervous. After many phone calls with the parents and SPCA and with three anxious days of waiting... she was mine.

Without even really planning for it, I had adopted a 6 month old black dog with big ears and long legs... soon after her arrival that sweet, scared puppy from the SPCA broke out of her shell and Lexi as we know her emerged.

Over the years we have grown so much together. She's been there for everything... good times and bad. There's been many destroyed shoes, socks, reading glasses, consumed pork loins, chewed baseboards, and even walls... but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I couldn't imagine life without that little pup.

And now of course... photo montage of Lexi over the years!

She looks so young!

This was her favorite spot in Greenville... the backyard of the townhouse... can you count the number of stolen socks back there?

She did go to puppy school... and graduated top of her class!

At Barefoot on the Mall... awww.

Like I said... many destroyed belongings.

We learned last year how much she loves snow!

Happy 6 Year Anniversary Lexi!

Butterfly Container Class

2011-07-28T19:07:00.000-07:00

I have been lucky enough to work at a fantastic garden for the past three years. I work in the wedding department and for most of my hours at the garden I am in a windowless office dealing with stressed out brides, but some days I actually get out. They offer some awesome classes and finally after three years of working there, I decided to take one. It's a nice perk of the garden to be able to take them for free... just have to help check in people, clean up and whatnot... yay!

So I signed up to take the Butterfly Container Workshop where I would learn how to make a container garden that will attract butterflies. The Propagator at the garden taught the class... who is basically the coolest person that works at the garden... so I knew I would have fun.

The class started with a basic overview of the life cycle of the butterfly and what it takes to attract and keep butterflies around the garden. Like mama butterflies lay their eggs on host plants... so when the baby caterpillars hatch... BAM instant food. Crazy. So after the little overview, we had the chance to pick out the plants we wanted. I wish I knew the names of the plants I picked, but the only one I recognized was parsley, which is food for caterpillars.Really I was grabbing pretty flowers that she said would attract lots of butterflies!

Then came the really fun part... we all took a tram out to our butterfly house to have a personal talk with the gardener that designed the butterfly house. So cool! Now even though I work at the garden, I don't really get to see the gardeners (except for meetings and stuff) so I never get to actually talk to them about the work they do. So I was super interested to hear from her all the cool stuff behind the house.

While I was listening intently on the gardener... I really don't remember much of what she said. Doh! I was so in aw of the house and all the butterflies around. The main thing I took away was that butterflies drink (nectar from flowers) and caterpillars eat. There were some plants that were eaten to sticks from the caterpillars. And let me say... there were some BIG caterpillars in that house. Some really weird looking ones too.

After the tour we headed back to the classroom to put together our containers. After looking around the house I got some good ideas about how I wanted it to look. There were lots of containers in the butterfly house that were so well put together, I wanted to try and recreate it.

In the end, I decided to use red and purple colored flowers with lots of green from the parsley. The main thing with containers is to have the different heights for visual interest, so I had some that would grow up and some that would grow out and down. The final product ended up being very green, but I am really happy with it. Once the flowers start to bloom it will be so colorful. I'm excited to see how it develops.

Another perk is that I was able to snag a bunch of left over plants after the class was over. So I ended up coming home and making another butterfly container... plus a couple extra.

I really love how they turned out and am so excited to start attracting some butterflies. I'll be moving them to the front porch though... I want to attract butterflies and caterpillars, but don't want them wrecking havoc on my Mom's garden. So we will try to direct them to the front yard!!

My Forever DIY Project

2011-07-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

So am coming clean, I am a wanna be DIY-er. I really like creating things and changing things to suit my needs... maybe a reason I studied art in college. I love making things pretty. However, sometimes I run into the problem of not actually finishing what I start. I have numerous art projects from college that I have yet to finish from glaze on pottery to making a chain for a pendant, I just never got around to finishing them. This also stems into projects around the house. I really love interior design and sometimes come up with ideas, that I start and never finish.

Case in point, the dresser I bought at a thrift store the summer before my senior year at ECU. I bought it for like $20 bucks and lugged the massive thing all the way from VB to Greenville. The finish on it was horrible (white chipped paint with crayon markings everywhere!) and it was obvious that there were many coats of paint on it. So I painstakingly started scraping off each layer at a time with a razor blade. I could have used some chemicals to help, but I was living in an apartment at the time and didn't want to kill myself or Lexi with fumes. So I scrapped and scrapped and scrapped. I remember finals week right before graduation, scrapping at the dresser thinking ... I should be studying instead of working on this stupid dresser! Still not finished, I lugged the thing back to VB where it stayed in the garage while I putzed around. Eventually I gave up and slapped a coat of white paint on it. I didn't even sand it, so to say it looked like crap is an understatement. But I called it shabby chic, so I could get away with it.

So fast forward to about around December when I had a break from school... I decided to redo it again! But this would be the last time and I was going to do it right! So I started scraping away... using little wood carving tools. There are some pretty intricate spots, so the little knives worked well... they just took a really long time. There were also a lot of layer of paint! Not only the white paint I put on it, but there must have been about 4 other layers including gold, black, teal with speckles and more white.

It took quite a lot of effort to scrape it down to a relatively smooth surface, but it was worth it. After I finished the initial scraping, it sat for a few months bare while I made it through the semester. Finally about a month ago, I decided to get moving on it and I started the sanding!

After a lot of sanding it was onto the priming. During my first attempt of painting white was that I had a lot of bleeding through from the other layers and such. There were a lot of orange streaks in my original fix years ago. So this time around, I decided to use some Kilz on it to make sure it was protected! Well one thing I forgot to mention was that I did all of this work in my room. The dresser is very heavy, so moving it into the garage would have been a pain! So I did all of the scraping, sanding, and painting in my room. So using the Kilz inside was probably not to best idea, but I had to make it work. Luckily, it was pleasant weather outside, so I had all of the windows open. Although, I don't know how much that helped... I know I killed a lot of brain cells during this process.

Forgot to mention too, that in my first redo job, I had the bright idea to paint the inside of the drawers orange. I saw it on one of the blogs I read and thought it would be great for a pop of color. The only problem is that I didn't use orange anywhere else in my room. I ended up going with a different color scheme in my room... so the orange was totally out of place! So I had to get that covered up too... which was a bit annoying, but totally necessary!

So after all of that scraping and sanding and priming it was time to pick colors!! I knew I wanted to get away from the white, but was having a tough time picking what I wanted. I thought about a nice glossy black, but I already have a lot of black furniture, so I needed to mix things up. I ultimately decided on gray, but when I got to Home Depot... I realized the crazy number of grays there are in the world.

It took a few days to pick out the gray, but I finally picked the perfect one. Stay tuned for the final result...

I'm Back!

2011-07-03T18:11:00.000-07:00

So I have fallen off the wagon with this blog... well with many things over the past few months. School took over my life through May and I am slowly getting back into the grove. Lots of things have happened over these past few months though.

First off, I am finally done with my actual graduate classes. Whew! And I made it through with a 4.0... quite an accomplishment I think... I am super proud of myself. All I have left is my student teaching in the fall (which is pass fail, hence the 4.0). That will be quite a challenge in itself... mainly the whole working for 3 1/2 months in the school for free, but is necessary. I'm looking forward to it... but more looking forward to getting it done and moving on to a real job!!

Second, I bought a new car! I had to say goodbye to my old Trooper and hello to my lovely brand new Mazda, named Rita. I had the Trooper for 7 years and I absolutely loved it, but it was slowly falling apart. Every month was a new repair, so it was time to move on.

Things just fell into place so perfectly that I ended up buying my Mazda. My new car just showed up in my driveway when I came home from work and I signed on the dotted line that night... no really. (I love having neighbors in the car business... takes a lot of the hard work out of car shopping!) Now I am super neurotic about this car... no eating in there... I wash and vacuum it way too much... trying to hang on to that new car smell! I am slowly starting to let Lexi in it more, but am still in search of the perfect car seat cover to protect my lovely interior from the hair and dog drool.

Lexi had to say goodbye... this was her last drive in Troops.

I have also fallen off the wagon a bit too as far as my fitness goes. After Shamrock, I just didn't have time for any running or anything. Between school, work, and practicum... I was just swamped and that was the first thing to go. Now that the semester ended... I still had trouble getting into it. I was planning on doing my first triathlon in June... but when the semester ended in May, I felt totally unprepared to do a tri. In the past I have been know to just wing it and run a race even if I am not prepared... but a triathlon is a bit different. I decided to postpone it until I had the time to devote to training. I don't want to half ass things anymore!

Which brings me to today! I am slowly getting back on track as far as my fitness goes. I have started the Couch to 5k program over and am slowly getting back into the grove. The next race I am officially signed up for is the Wicked 10k in October, but am looking on adding on more. But I want to make sure I am back on track before I start signing up for things again.

There are lots of other bits and bobs going on, but I can't give it all away now! I have lots of DIY, cooking, frugalness and yes, work out posts to come. Get ready!

Shamrock 8k

2011-03-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

To say I didn't want to do the Shamrock 8k last weekend would be an understatement. All week I was bitching and moaning about the race and trying to figure out ways to get out of doing it. Stomach ache? Leg strain? Paper cut? I would try anything. But with my sister running the marathon the day after my race... it was kinda hard to back out. So with a kick in the butt from the family, I did it.

After a long day of work on Friday I came home and the last thing I wanted to do was drive to the beach to get my packet. But the Momsters convinced me to go and went with me. The expo looked cool, but I was ravenous, so hanging around the expo did not interest me. So we went home, ate dinner, and all headed to bed for an early morning wake up call.
The morning of the race I was feeling better and getting in the mode of racing. I figured it was too late to back out now since the Mom, Jen and Scottie were all going with me. Traffic was horrendous and my oatmeal started to taste more and more like Elmer's glue with every bite, but we eventually made it. The start line was crowded and the spitting rain was not fun. Since we got there at the crack of dawn, there was lots of waiting around, which did not help my nerves.

I finally made it to my corral and waited to scoot to the start line. I ended up basically walking the whole way up to the start next to the family. Which provided great photo opportunities...
Finally at the start and we were off. I had a nice steady pace in the beginning since my past couple of races I found myself start off with too much umf.
I was almost at the 1st mile marker when I saw a friend from high school, so I slowed down to say hey. After a quick chat I took off because they were already walking and I was not trying to walk the whole thing. I did get a fun crown out of the chat because my friend did not like running with something on her head. I said I'm used to running with things on my head... think Wicked 10k.
The rest of the race was just a normal race, nothing odd or bad went wrong. No cramps, pain, nothing. I was super pleased. I ran with no ipod, so I had the chance to take in the scenery and interact with the people around me. There was a little girl who was running about the same pace as me, so jokingly I asked her Dad if she could be my pacer. He laughed and said sure and the rest of the race the little girl would look around to make sure I was near. She was super cute, but as I saw the finished I picked up the pace and had to leave them. I did thank her for pacing me and she smiled... what a cool kid. I always find the kids in any situation to hang out with.
As I was approaching the finish, I saw the family and kicked it into finish mode. It is amazing the juice your legs get when the finish line is near. Crossing the finish line felt great and I was super happy I ended up doing the race. My final time was 1:04:40. I was hoping to get a little closer to an hour, but I am still very happy with it. Especially since I didn't really train for it... like at all.
After the race we started to wait in line for the beer tent, but it was sooooo long and I was not ready to wait. So we ended up heading over to Pelon's for some breakfast burrito. Yes, now I remember why I run.
As usual, the race made me feel really good and now I want to sign up for another one. But I think I will stick to the 5k for now until I can get into a regular training routine. For now though, I will look forward to my first sprint triathlon in June. I promise I am really training for that one!

30 Day Challenge

2011-03-24T08:07:00.001-07:00

I have had a problem making my bed in the morning for as long as I can remember. I am not a morning person, so I try to minimize what I have to do when I wake up. I would rather sleep 5 more minutes than make my bed. Plus I feel like in about 14 hours I am going to get back in it... so why make it in the first place?

I know it looks nice and neat or whatever, so I am going to try to get in the habit of doing it. Part of my 25 list is to make my bed everyday for a month. Well today is day one.

I changed over to my summer time bedding, so I am taking the opportunity to start off right! I'll take a picture everyday to document the bed making. (Don't worry I promise not to post a picture everyday of my made bed) But I'll definitely update about my progress.

Here's day one:

Lexi doesn't care if it is made or not... she just wants to sleep on it.

Travel Bucket List: Grand Canyon

2011-03-12T09:57:00.000-08:00

As most know, I am getting my Masters in Education in hopes to become a teacher. There are many pros and cons to becoming a teacher, but in my mind, the pros definitely outweigh any con. I am basically a big kid, so hanging out with kids all day is awesome. However, one big pro is the idea of having summers off. I know in the future when I have some kiddos, it will be nice to have the same vacations off as them or whatever. But for now, I am really looking forward to the opportunity to travel. With around a month and a half (or two) off a year, my mind is already swirling with the ideas of what I could do and where I could go during my summers off.

Now this brings me to my new series, Stephanie’s Travel Bucket List. As a way to dream a little and put down into words where I would like to go in this World, I will highlight various locations on my Travel Bucket List. I know that some of the places on my list might never actually happen, but that is why it is a Bucket List, right? A girl can dream!

This brings me to my first location on my list, the Grand Canyon! I am currently observing in a 4^th grade class (which is awesome by the way) and they just started learning about the Southwest states. Their teacher read a book about the Grand Canyon and even showed pictures of her sister’s travels there, which got me thinking about visiting there. The photos she showed were simply amazing and I would love to experience that one day.

And I have never been an outdoorsy person, but I would love to camp there! Growing up I always wanted to go camping, but I only got as far as sleeping on my back deck with my neighbor friend. And if I recall, we actually came in after an hour because of the bugs! I think to hike and camp in the Grand Canyon would be simply an amazing experience.

So let this be my first entry onto my Travel Bucket List: The Grand Canyon!

*Photos from wikipedia

Loss for Words

2011-03-08T17:47:00.000-08:00

I have been at a loss for words recently. Since my Frost 5k... nothing really has been going on. I feel like I am in the same routine of work, school, practicum, work, school... you get the point. So there is really nothing interesting going on! Whenever I think about what I could write in this blog... it is crickets... nothing... nada. Then while reading one of my favorite blogs it came to me as she discussed how she manages to have something to post everyday. It is not always about the big moments... it is about the little moments too. I don't run a race every weekend, nor do I even workout everyday... so why try to make my blog all about stuff like that??

So I have decided that I will now blog about... well... whatever! This will be a Smorgasbord of Stephanie. I'll admit, the posting will still be light for the next month while I try to figure out how to cram 100 more practicum hours somewhere in the middle of school and work, but after that get ready... there will be good stuff. Don't know about what... some days education topics, some days weddings, some sports talk, some days Lexi, whatever!

I will no longer focus solely on the big events, but the little things that actually make up my life. Will it be random? Yes. But that's me... so get ready!

And for now... cute Lexi picture! We are certainly counting down the days to Spring here at la Casa de James!

Paying Rent for the Year...

2011-01-26T11:00:00.000-08:00

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...

2011-01-25T17:38:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-15T09:58:00.000-08:00

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. :)

Get ready 2011

2010-12-29T16:22:00.000-08:00

I am so stoked for 2011. I feel like it is a chance to start fresh and take on the world. My favorite number is 11... so I think that is a sign for good things to come this year. I'm really not a huge New Years resolution person, mainly because I always break them. Also I have the list of 25 Things to do before I turn 26 so I don't really need to add another list of things to complete. That would be overkill. This year, I just have a few goals that I want to maintain throughout the year.

Goal One: Stay connected with friends and family.
Over the years, I sadly have lost contact some of my friends. Life takes over and they get busy and I get busy and we just lost touch. After graduating from ECU, I moved back to Virginia while many of my friends stayed in NC or moved else where. I want to make it a goal this year to stay connected to friends and family. The majority of my friends live many miles away, which makes it difficult to stay in touch,but this year is going to be different... it is a priority. Also the friends that are here in Virginia, I want to soak up time with them before I move.

Goal Two: Enjoy good, healthy food again.
I have been a very bad non-meat eater this past year. I have slipped into old habits, which include lots of cheese and carbs, which leaves me feeling icky. Recently, I feel like I just don't love food... some nights I wish I could just get an IV of nutrients, so I wouldn't have to eat (not in an anorexic way, I just don't feel like anything). This year I want start cooking healthy food that I enjoy eating (with the occasional nachos), so I can start feeling fantastic again!

Goal Three: Love the life I'm living!
Sometimes I have the tendency to look at other peoples lives and get jealous or get sad about where I'm at in my life. I look at Facebook and see a lot of my friends getting married, having kids, some on their second kid... and it makes me a little down about where my life is. But no more... I am going to embrace where I am in my life and know that I am on the right path. This year, I am cutting the complaining and upping the positive outlook. I want to enjoy my life and live it to the fullest. Cheesy, kinda... but I feel this is going to be an awesome year.

So those are my goals for the coming year. I think they are better than resolutions... they are more things to keep in mind throughout the year and strive to maintain them. I think this will be an awesome year... Watch out 2011!

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder?

2010-12-28T09:15:00.001-08:00

Yea, yea, yea... I know... I've been a bad blogger. But in my defense, I was busy finishing up my semester... and honestly I've had nothing good to talk about.

But I have some fun stuff coming up. Christmas recaps, home DIY project, taking parents out to a fancy dinner, and a look forward to 2011. Good stuff I tell you, good stuff! So hang tight... I promise to be a better blogger in 2011.

In the mean time, I leave you with Lexi in the snow...
This dog loves her snow... she won't walk outside if it is raining, but willingly prances through the snow. Crazy dog!

A Letter to Nacho

2010-12-10T09:39:00.000-08:00

Dear Nacho,

I am so sorry I have neglected you these past couple months. October was all about preparation for the Wicked 10k and November has been overwhelmed with school work. Now it is so cold and windy, I doubt you even want to go out for a ride now. You give me the evil tire every time I walk through the garage, and yes, I feel very guilty.

I feel like such a bad bike owner for not taking you out, but I promise as soon as it gets less freezing we will go out for many long rides. But don't worry, I am going to pull you out of that cold garage and get you in my room. After the holidays, I swear I will buy a trainer so you can come upstairs in the warm and get moving. We will spend long "rides" in the toasty room while watching the Real Housewives and eating popcorn. So while you are cold and frozen right now, soon, very soon you will move in my room for the rest of winter. I promise not to do this to you again, I hope you will forgive me!

Sincerely,
Stephanie

Last Day of Preschool

2010-12-10T08:43:00.000-08:00

I ended my practicum time in the preschool yesterday and I have to admit, those little boogers melted my icy heart. In the beginning, I really hated being there... the kids were snotty, cried at the drop of a hat, and I just found it very difficult to relate to them. Well fast forward a couple weeks and man, I really enjoyed going and hanging out with the little kids. I ended up doing couple centers (one we made turkey headbands and the other cotton snowmen, come on so cute!) with the kids and ended up really enjoying the satisfaction of working with them. Once I got to know them and learned how to deal with the crying and snot... it really became fun.

I had a great interaction with a little boy on my last day, we hung out for the majority of the day playing and reading books. He stayed in my snowman center for like 45 minutes and we talked while he colored (in the lines btw, what a champ). When it was time for me to leave he asked "Why can't you just stay here forever? You can come back tomorrow and then next day." And as I was walking out, he gave me a hugggge bear hug and a big kiss on the cheek. *melt*

So my time there wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be. While it probably is not my first choice to teach, I really wouldn't mind if I ended up teaching preschool. Well as long as my immune system builds up against their germs!

Here I Go Again...

2010-11-21T09:01:00.001-08:00

Whew the semester is winding down which means I am in the slow process of losing my mind. All viable brain cells goes to school, which means there is nothing left to get me through daily life. There have been a few instances in the past few weeks where my family gave me looks of "Oh God, she's losing it". That's when I nervously laugh it off and hope they don't commit me to the loony bin.

This has been nutty weekend with lots of cleaning, grading and homework, which led me to do something that is probably a product of too much cleaning fumes. I signed up for another race...

Don't worry I haven't lost my mind to the point I signed up for a marathon.. I'm doing the 8k! I had so much fun at the Wicked 10k, I'm going to do it again! While I haven't been running much since the 10k due to my hip hurting and a ton of school work, I wanted to do a race that gave me plenty of time to train and really be ready. The training plan for the 8k starts in mid December which is perfect because I will be done with school by then. I will finally have the time and energy to get back into it. I am super excited! The Sister is running the marathon the next day, so it will be a super fun weekend of running! Yay, can't wait!

Wicked 10k

2010-11-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

So the day after I turned 25, I knocked out the first thing on my list of 25 things to do before turning 26. Run a 10k (think I planned that one ahead of time, o yea!). Now I use the term running, very loosely... it is more of a trot/walk... but I did it! From the day I signed up for this race I was nervous, but knew I would have fun... and fun was definitely had!Jen and I first headed down to the expo on Friday night (aka my birthday) to pick up our packets. The expo was pretty cool... lots of vendors and people... the energy was high. After we picked up our stuff, we walked around the expo and then sorted out our corral issue. When I signed up for this race I had to google "how long does it take to run a 10k"... apparently one hour was a bit ambitious for my first race. After working that out we headed back to the house for some dinner and birthday celebration.

The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to get down to the beach and find parking. I made my oatmeal to go because I was so freaking nervous I couldn't even eat and that is never a problem for me! Well we were basically the first people there, so we had out choice of parking spots... so we had some time to relax while I tried to choke down my oatmeal aka Elmer's Glue. Finally we decided to make our way into the convention center to get our costumes judged and hang out. Let me tell you one thing I was nervous about was the freaking porta pottys... I hate using portapottys... so much to my surprise, the bathrooms in the convention center were open. Praise the lord... I was so happy!
We finally made our way to the start line after relaxing inside for a while. The energy was electric and everyone was so stoked to be there. It was so fun to look at the different costumes I almost forgot I was running a 10k. After like 5 corrals ahead of us, we were finally ready to go! My stomach was turning so much I could have lost my Elmer's glue... but thankfully I kept it together.

Once we started we were trotting along and dodging around people like crazy. The first .8 was a straight shot to the beach, so I was determined to keep it up for the first mile. I had come into this race hoping to trot at least half, while walking the rest. So after the first mile we walked and then proceed to trot again. I'd say right under 2 miles, I noticed my fingers and hands were swollen to the point it was tough to make a fist and had to loosen my watch... that's about the time I realized I had no water that day... only coffee. Greatttt, dehydration... I am like the queen of drinking water and totally forgot to drink water. Ugh. But we kept up a walking/trotting pace... I threw my plan of run a mile/walk a mile out the window and just followed what felt right. I wasn't trying to die on my first race... so I just went with the flow.
After running on the boardwalk for a little bit we jumped back on the road... this was the time we saw Mom and Dad, which was quite a pick me up. I was already getting tired and walking, but seeing them put a pep in my step. (Gotta look alive for the parents!) Shortly after seeing them we hit a much needed water station where I grabbed two cups of Gatorade in hopes to combat the dehydration. Then I proceed to down the Gatorade in like 15 seconds.... not a good idea. We started to trot a little and I felt like I was going to vomit... and a mixture of Elmer's glue oatmeal and lemon Gatorade would not have been pretty.

After some time walking, I managed to get my stomach under control, but then got a cramp. Awesome. It just kept getting better. I was really trying not to complain, but come on! Once we made the turn back onto the Boardwalk it added a pep in my step since I knew the finish was coming. They also had some funny, stupid Halloween joke signs that helped to distract me. It was about this time I started noticing my right hip feeling funky... this is something that never hurt before so I was a bit confused. When I told just my hip hurt even though I've never had problems, she reminded me I have never run 6 miles before... good point. Well that nagging hip didn't help the final stretch to the finish line, but once I saw the finish I was pumped. I could hear the music and smell Blue Moon in the air. I wanted to sprint out the final stretch, but was really tired... and faster paced trot would have to do.
I tell ya, crossing that finish line was quite a rush. It was such a great feeling of accomplishment to finish... no I didn't win the race, set any records, or even run the entire thing, but I did it! As soon as I finished I almost forgot about all the struggle it took to get there and just enjoyed the moment. I had a goal of finishing the race in under 1:30... and I did it! My official time was 1:22:17... woot woot! That's about a 13 minute mile... not horrible. I'm actually pretty proud of that... I mean I gotta start somewhere!

Soon after the finish, we walked (well Jen walked, I wobbled) our way right to the beer tent. Us James girls get right to the point! Eventually met up with the parents and got some food. They had chili with no vegetarian option which was a bummer... but at least the bread bowl was good. We waited around for the announcement of the costume contest winners... much to our disappointment we did not win. Boo, I want a recount! But our costumes were for sure a hit! We are already planning our costumes for next year... they are definitely going to be fly ;)

All in all, this race was an awesome first race! I had so much fun. As always my personal cheerleader, Jen, was a huge part in this race. Her constant encouragement was totally necessary and helped push me to the finish. The race was awesomely organized and had some great goodies... tech shirt, winter hat, metal water bottle, grocery bag... score! Jen said don't get too excited, not all races are like this... for every nice tech shirt there is a crappy cotton shirt... bummer!

After hobbling my butt an extra mile back to the car, we went home and I took an EPIC nap. Oooo, it felt so good... I hardly got my costume off before I hit the bed and passed out. It was the best sleep ever. Once I woke up from my nap, I had a moment of... uh oh, I can't move my legs... I managed to get things moving. We celebrated later at Big Sam's and then called it an early night.

I definitely dealt with a lot of soreness right after the race and then for the next couple days. There was no moving fast for this girl. I know it will take more time and training to improve and not be so sore, but I'm ready for it. I am officially HOOKED! I cannot wait to do it again. :)

The Hard Knock Life of Preschoolers

2010-11-15T15:23:00.000-08:00

I started my practicum in the preschool last week and let me tell you it is quite eye opening. I intended to teach 4th or 5th grade, so it is a bit tough for my to relate to these 4 year olds. Don't get me wrong, they are all cute as a button... but this is not my thing. Here's a scenario from last week...

The scene: Playing on the play ground when all of a sudden I hear a little girl crying... I look around to see little Lucy* hovering next to a tree crying her eyes out. I go over...
Me: Lucy, what's wrong?
Lucy: I, I, I, I tripped on the ground and and and fell down and hurt my leg *cries harder for extra emphasis*
Me: Ohhhhh, nooooo are you okay?
Lucy: Noooooooo
Me: Do you think it's broken?
Lucy: I don't think so *more tears*
Me: Well let's stand up to see if it works.
Lucy stands up
Me: Well wiggle around to make sure.
Lucy wiggles around... leg is not broken... crisis averted.
Me: So do you feel better?
Lucy: Yes.... but do you want to know the real reason I'm crying? *wipes tears from big blue eyes, sniffle, sniffle*
Me: Sure.
Lucy: This playground is too big... my last playground was smaller and I like it better... this is too big.
Me: Oh... uhhh.... okay.
Point her in the direct of the swing and slowly walk away. End Scene.

Oooo to be 4 again where my biggest worry is the size of the playground. Tough life. Also a kid came in dressed as a pirate on my first day (it was not Halloween)... I wish it was socially acceptable for me to come to work dressed as a pirate.

I think every teacher is meant to teach a certain grade... preschool is not my grade. I like the age where kids do not have the instinct to stick a marble up their nose, can verbalize their concerns without screaming/crying, know how to use a tissue, and don't suck their thumb. God bless all of the preschool teachers out there... I have major respect for them! This is not my thing, but am sticking it out and chalking it up as experience. I'm sure there are more stories to come since I have four more weeks of this. Oy vey, I need a glass of wine!

*Names of kids changed :)

On the Eve of Mid Twenties

2010-10-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

Well I am approaching the end of my early 20’s… I’ll be turning 25 tomorrow… it is all downhill from here. I am going to spend about 5 minutes sulking about being old before I move on and look forward to an awesome year. I’m not going to lie, 24 was a tough year, so my outlook is very bright that my 25^th year of life will ROCK! To continue with this feeling, I have decided to make a list of 25 things to do during my 25^th year of life. Now I am making this list mostly realistic (no climbing Mt. Everest here!) with a some major goals for good measure! On a side note, I think my parents will be excited about a couple on the list. Of course, I will blogging when I finish a task, complete with commentary and lots of photos! So, without further ado… 25 things I’m going to do before I turn 26…

1. Run a 10k

2. Go to a musical/play

3. Visit the west coast

4. Read 5 books for enjoyment

5. Go kayaking

6. Visit the Smithsonian

7. Volunteer somewhere cool

8. Go to a professional sport event

9. Take my parents out to a nice dinner

10. Learn a song on the piano

11. Run a half marathon (wait, what?!)

12. Take a class for enjoyment

13. Go to a concert

14. Organize my teaching stuff

15. Learn and perfect a new recipe

16. Teach my mom how to watch football

17. Learn a dance

18. Go hiking

19. Participate in a 60 mile bike ride

20. Make my bed every day for a month

21. Stop biting my nails

22. Do a triathlon

23. Get my teaching portfolio together

24. Lose those last 10 pounds

25. Move out of my parent’s house!

Le Tour de Femme

2010-10-27T20:34:00.001-07:00

Finally, the post you have been waiting for… le Tour de Femme recap! I have been having so much fun biking that I was dying to go on another organized ride. So I made a little trip to Raleigh earlier this month to take part in this awesome women only ride.

Before I get started with the actual ride, let me tell you a little something about topography. I live at the beach and constantly ride on flat land, like really flat land. The only “hill” I have ever been on while riding is a highway overpass during the Elizabeth City ride. I think I have used two gears since I have owned my road bike… literally the highest point in Virginia Beach is a grassy mountain (hill) made out of trash (Mount Trashmore, google it!). So I’ve made quite a few trips to Raleigh, and I know it is soooo hilly there (remember this is coming from the girl who thinks a mountain is a grassy bump made of trash). Let’s just say I was a tad nervous to learn how to actually use my gears on the open roads of Cary.
Anyways back to the ride. The night before we all went out to the ladies night at the bike shop to pick up our packets. That was a fun time, cupcakes hello! Enough about the bike stuff… let’s talk about the cupcakes… chai vanilla and some kind of Guinness chocolate… yes please! Alright focus, the ladies night was fun, but we didn’t stay too long. They had some contortionist girls that were kinda freaking me out! We also had to stop by Target so I could get some extra layers because all I brought was a sleeveless jersey… I guess I forgot that it is fall and it is cold in the morning. Opps!

So the next morning we get out to Cary, grab some coffee and get ready. After an almost deadly safety pin incident, (I will never let my sister pin my number on again!) we made our way to the start. This was very exciting; you could feel the positive energy flowing as we waited to start. The ride was for an awesome cause that is close to my heart, so it was great to see all the ladies that support cancer research.

After the hard-core 60 milers take off, we were on! Let me tell you, the start of the ride included police escorts that allowed us to go through stoplights. Awesomeness! I felt so cool. I could see the pissed look on the car drivers that had to wait for us…. Haha! Love it! Well once we get out of town, I was feeling good, riding a nice pace and all in all feeling awesome. And then. We arrive at our first mountain.

Holy moly, my thighs have never burned so much and I have never seen my speedometer hit single digits while putting forth so much effort. I felt like I was moving in slow motion, women were grunting, and some even stopped to walk. Oy vey, it was ugly! Then to make things even better… the photographer drives by and takes pictures of us. Greatttt, I’m sure those photos looked awesome! Well after what felt like an eternity, I made it to the top. Woohoo! But then there is something that I didn’t even think about when it came to these hills.

Yes it was difficult to go up the hill, but there is another side to that hill... that is a decline. Well for most that sounds great, go down a hill really fast and give your legs a break. Yea that’s fine unless you have never hurled yourself down a hill on a little bike going a million miles per hour! Oh my goodness that was terrifying!! I felt like such a baby, but the whole time I kept thinking “OMG I’M GOING TO DIE, I’M GOING TO HIT A BUMP AND GO FLYING! AHHHHHH!” Well obviously, I did not die going down the hill, but it was definitely scary! It’s going to take me a while to get used to that.

The first half really felt great, I was getting used to the hills and having a lot of fun. We had a rest stop at 15 miles which included Gatorade, Luna Bars, PB sandwiches, and a porta potty with hand sanitizer station next to it (can you tell this is a ladies only ride?) Then we set off for the rest of the ride.

The second half was just as fun… the weather was awesome and I was feeling good. Then all of a sudden, I just notice I was going really slow… like slow motion again. I was so confused, I felt like I was working hard, but not going anywhere and I wasn't going up a mountain. I also notice that my sister is not going much faster than I am, so I’m like what is going on? This is when I was introduced to the gradual hill. Probably worse than a mountain because the pain lasts a really long time! I mean really, come on… gradual hills go one forevvver and are now my archnemesis. Again, once we got over that I was feeling good again.

After a short trip through Apex (got a little scared that we took a wrong turn when I saw we were in Apex, but I trusted my leader Jen) and headed back through Cary to the finish. Coming around the corner to finish was awesome… cowbells ringing, people cheering… it was awesome! Far cry from the Elizabeth City ride where there was no one but my parents and grandparents at the finish, and the actual finish was a spray painted circle on the ground, bummer!

After we finished, I managed to get myself a nice little massage (my shoulders were a bit tense after hanging on for dear life going down those hills) while the sister got some acupuncture. We then proceeded to eat our weight in Greek food (mmmmm hummus and pita) and enjoy a beer. O don’t forget the cake.

All in all the ride was AMAZING! I learned how to use more than two gears and ride up hills (and go down them), it was awesomely organized and the people were amazing. I had so much fun and cannot wait to do it again next year!

Run Like a Girl 5k

2010-10-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I experienced my first 5k! A co-worker of mine is trying to take up walking, so she mentioned doing a 5k. I immediately told her I would do one with her, so we signed up for the Run Like a Girl 5k.

The day before, I picked up the packet at a triathlon store by the beach, nothing too crazy… just a table in the store to pick them up. A little different than my previous packet pick up at Le Tour de Femme (promise a recap on that coming soon) but still the ladies were very nice. They handed over the goods and told me how to put my chip on. I was only half listening to the chip instructions, so later I had to Google “how to put a timing chip on your shoe”. Thankfully, there is a YouTube video for that!

So the night before I laid out my cute outfit for the race so I could just wake up and go. (Yes, I bought new running shorts for the occasion!)

However, that changed when I woke up and stepped outside… it was cooooold! So I had to completely switch my outfit plan, but I made it work. After a quick stop for some Dunkin Donuts coffee, I headed down to First Landing State Park to meet up with Shelley. Now I always go down to First Landing to walk Lexi or ride my mountain bike, so I was super excited to race there.

The atmosphere was fun and very relaxed. It was the first year they were doing this race in Virginia Beach, so it was very low key. Just a few tents and everyone was mingling around. Finally, it was time to line up. There were only about 60 women doing the 5k, so everyone was cheering each other on. Finally, we were off and started with a nice walking pace. I’m not going to lie… as soon as we started my competitive juices kicked in and I wanted to take off! But I was there to be a cheerleader for Shelley, so I resisted. There was a pack of about 15 walkers, and we all kept together for the first mile and a half.

The scenery was great, one reason I love this park so much, and Shelley and I talked the whole way. It was nice to catch up with her since we work opposite schedules most of the time. (We needed to catch up on the office gossip!)

Finally, we were getting close to the finish and could hear the cheers! At this point, I could tell Shelley was getting tired but with the finish near we picked up the pace. We were both excited to see the finish! As we crossed the finish line, they announced our name, which was a fun touch!

We officially finished in 54:17… which is awesome! Shelley was so amazed because she didn’t think she would finish under an hour. She was fantastic!

After we finished we walked over to the tent to grab some water and a banana. Again, nothing too fancy just water and bananas. The post party was at a local bar, and we agreed we didn’t feel like going to a bar at 10 in the morning. (We both had homework to do, boo!) Therefore, after chatting some more we parted ways. Overall, we had a great time and agreed we would do it again soon!

Now onto the good stuff… the freebies! At first I was a bit bummed because the website said nothing about a t-shirt… come on, why do you think I do these races? Ooo I mean for personal fulfillment, not the stuff you get, duh. Well when I picked up my packet I was immediately looking at the stuff they gave us (probably why I didn’t hear the chip instructions) we got a sling bag, water bottle, and another bag. Saweeeet! Good stuff!

This great low-key race definitely got me in the mood for my big 10k this weekend. I’ll definitely be doing it again next year.

I'm Alive!

2010-10-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hello avid readers! I know, I know you are probably thinking… did you fall off the edge of the earth? Why yes, I kinda did. This semester has been crazy, but it’s really my own fault… I took on too many things this semester and I am feeling the pain. Let me break it down for you:

3 grad. classes at ODU (which includes a 75 hour practicum)

1 gifted ed. grad. class at JMU

1 math class at a local community college

20 hour G.A. position (actually two 10 hour positions)

20+ hours per week at the Garden (which involves wrapping up a nutty wedding season while my co-worker is on maternity leave)

To say I am busy is an understatement… I’m tired! It’s definitely tough trying to find that balance of school, work, and working out. When I go for nice bike rides, I always feel like I should be doing schoolwork. When I’m sitting on my butt all day working or doing schoolwork all I want to do is work out, but when I get around to it… I’m exhausted! Ugh! This has definitely been one of my most tiring semesters. But enough with the complaining… it’s midterm time which means I am half way done with the semester. Woohoo! Less than 60 days til freedom!

In the mean time, I do have some great posts coming up. Including my recap of Le Tour de Femme and updates on my running adventure. Let’s just say I am happy to finally figure out that a 10k is not 8 miles… whew! (Don’t ask, I’m losing my mind)

Weekend Recap

2010-08-26T18:33:00.001-07:00

Hello there blog world… long time no talk! I have actually had a very busy week. Last weekend I had an awesome trip to Raleigh (more on that is a minute) and have had a busy week in the office. My co-worker went on maternity leave last week, so running the wedding office minus one is busy! So like I said, I visited my sister and her posse in Raleigh over the weekend. As usual, it was an awesome weekend filled with food, wine, exercise and fun! First night had great pizza and vino while catching up. The next day was spent with running errands, and dilly-dallying around until we went to a restaurant that we had been anticipating all week… a Noodle and Dumpling Bar! Holy moly! I had been thinking about this meal all week… I looked over the menu determined what I would get and was so excited. Then we arrive to find the noodles weren’t handmade and they didn’t have vegetarian dumplings! WHAT! Talk about a letdown! In the end, I got some great Italian style dumplings (yes, my taste buds were so confused) and some lo mien. The place was decent, but nothing amazing. Then after a few more drinks with their Raleigh peeps, we called it a night because Jen and I had a run/ride in the morning.

So, the sister is training for like a million different races and triathlons, so Sunday was going to be her running day. Perfect, I brought my mountain bike so I could ride while she ran… and then after her run I would get my little 20 minutes jog in. Well about half way into the run/ride, my tummy started to growl… that little English muffin was long gone! So my tactic was to begin to try and make my sister forget that I was supposed to do a run too. The plan was to start taking about the food we were going to eat and what we were going to do after the run, in attempts to make her forgot. If we happened to forget about my run, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. So I tried to fill her head with Bojangles, Whole Foods, Skinny Dip, Trader Joes, oh my! Well darn if she didn’t forget my run… after she just ran for 2 hours! Damn. So I buck it up and we set out for my little walk/run. I am hesitant to call it a run because I am sure if the sister stopped running with me she would be walking as fast I as I “run”.

Well the first couple sets of running were fine and then my body started to revolt… the stomach was growling and rejecting the popcorn I just ate to hold me over, my legs were pissed because they just pedaled my ass for 2 hours, and the rest of my body was just angry at me. So needless to say, I was struggling! The tomato face was in full effect and the lungs were gasping for air. But I could not stop or complain because the sister just ran for freak 2 hours with no problem! A main reason I wanted to run with her was so she could help me with my running form. Well she gave me one look and said looked like I was running fine which I snapped back Well why do my shins still hurt!?!?!?! Opps, running doesn’t put me in a good mood, yet, sorry. So after a few pointers, my shins don’t hurt and I am actually moving faster (More on the running improvements later) Bless her heart she tried to distract me by talking about our costumes for the 10k… but I just wasn’t having it. Had to conserve the air for my lungs… no talking! Oy vey, how am I going to run a 10k in two months! Well, I ended up finishing the run in once piece and after owning a Bojangles biscuit and Gatorade, I was feeling much better. I know I have a long way to go… but gotta start somewhere right?

The weekend ended with some great grilling and relaxing and I left in the morning. I can't wait til I go back because Raleigh is way cooler than this place with way cooler people in it. So planning a little trip in October for an organized bike ride… so the countdown begins!

Oh how far I've come...

2010-08-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my butt was glued to the seat of my new bike! Saturday I went on a short 16 miler at the Dismal Swamp, just to get the feeling of the road bike and try to get used to the new position on the bike. The next day I set out to do another short ride, but ended up doing 30 miles! And I have to say I felt amazing after the ride! It is so amazing to think about how far I have come this year as far as my fitness goes. Back in April, I did my first organized bike ride in Elizabeth City of 33 miles. While I managed to finish it… I was definitely struggling towards the end (like the last 10 miles!) and took a big ole nap after I finished the race.

During the Elizabeth City Race... don't let the smile fool you... I was tired!

Fast forward to this weekend, I finished 30 miles no sweat! (Well a lot of sweat, but you know what I mean)

Feeling good after my 30 miles this weekend!

Now I am sure the new road bike helps, but I also have to think about how far I’ve come in these past 5 months. I have managed to lose 20+ pounds, which surely helps to lighten the load! I can now ride for 30 miles at a steady speed without wanting to die after. I never could imagine I’d be where I am today earlier this year. Back in January/February, I was at a pretty low point personally, emotional, and physically I was the heaviest I have ever been in my life. I knew there could be only one way to go… and that was up. It is amazing how sometimes it takes getting to the bottom in order to work your way back up. I have found new inspiration through my family and have managed to turn my life around to the positive. I am now having so much fun riding and running… something I would have never imagined months ago. All I know is I have come a long way in these past 8 months and I can only imagine how things will be a year from now.

Diversifying my posts...

2010-08-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

Well my mom told me the other day I need to diversify my blog posts in order to appeal to all of my readers. All two of my readers. So this one is for you mom!

I wrapped up the semester this weekend and I do have to say I ended up having a very good summer session. I was taking a pretty hard class this semester...Child Theory... it was so hard I actually almost cried during the first week of this class, eck! So I told myself if I could just pull out a B in Child Theory I would consider it a success. Well I didn't get a B...

I ended up getting straight A's again. Woot woot! It was a tough semester with hard subjects and hard professors, but I still worked it out. I am very happy the semester is over with and I have all of one week off before I start my fall semester.

Fall should be interesting, mainly because of the amount of classes I will be taking. I have three grad classes at ODU, one undergrad math class online at a local community college, and one online class at JMU for my gifted ed endorsement..... whew, I am tired just thinking of the amount of work coming up. But they are all interesting classes (yes even the math class... it is math for liberal arts, very cool) so I am actually looking forward to it. Weird. I know.

Three Part Running Post

2010-08-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

Part One

I picked up some new running shoes. My old ones were at least two years old… so replacements were long overdue. They were so bad they were causing blisters on my heel pad, they would cut my Achilles heel, and would cause me shins to hurt… yep time for new shoes. Well after three weeks of researching and trying out road bikes, the last thing I wanted to do was spend a lot of time picking out running shoes. So I walked into Running Etc. showed the lady my old shoes, did a little jog for her, she brought out a new pair of the same brand shoe, I tried them on, did a little jog again, and SOLD. Less than five minutes in and out. That was easy!

Now I am ready to get my running training moving now that I have proper shoes. Great investment and I know now not to wait two years before I by my next pair.

Part Two

I have fired my running training partner, Lexi. Well maybe I didn’t fire her, but after a long walk/jog this was her…

I promise she's not dead... just very tired

I took this as her resignation as my training partner. Lexi and I are very much alike… we love to sleep and lay around… so running is not really her thing. She loves to jog at Seashore where it’s shaded and cool, but 3-4 times a week, just isn’t her style. Plus it is just too hot for a little black dog, so she will now be my rest day walking partner with the occasional Seashore run.

Part Three

I am restarting my 10k training plan. I began my running plan a few weeks ago and things were going really well and my endurance was building. Then finals week hit and school just got a bit too busy and my running plan went on the back burner. Plus when I was on the running plan, I didn’t abide by it as strictly as I should. When you are running with a dog like mine, you stop every so often for sniffing and laying down (the dog does that, not me)… that really interrupts the idea of running for 60 or 90 seconds straight. Now that I will be training solo, I will be much more disciplined with my running. I want to do really well for my first race and really want to do more after… so I need to be sure I am as prepared as I can be. So I spent the evening writing out a new plan (on the computer incase a certain dog tries to eat it during my visit to NC this weekend) that starts this week and builds up to the 10k… it combines the couch to 10k plan with a 10k plan and is now the “Get Stephanie Off Her Ass and Running Plan”. We will see how it goes!

New Addition to the Family!

2010-08-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

So there is a new addition to the James family...

That's right! I made a decision and brought home the Trek 2.1 wsd today! I am so excited and super happy with my choice. I could hardly sit through work today because I knew I was going to get it as soon as I got off. So I arrive and my main man, Aaron, pulls down the bike to give it a once over before I go home. Then he asks if I want to get water bottle cages and he will install them for me. Well of course! So I start to look at the the cages and was trying to decide between two... one was $7 and the other $10... I was sitting there staring at them, kinda stressing about which one to get. Then I realize I was stressing out over a 3 dollar difference when I about to drop a grand on this bike! Come on! So I got the nice ones, in black since they didn't have purple :)

So my new bike is safely home and in my room for me to stare at all night. Now I just need to decide on a name for it... hmmm. I will take it for its first spin tomorrow at the Dismal Swamp... so excited! Although Lexi looks very curious and a little bit jealous of the new addition to the family...

Road Bike Shopping Part II

2010-08-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

The road bike shopping continues! Yes, I am supposed to be studying and grading right now... but shhhh, I'll get to it. The next stop on my shopping journey...

Since Saturday, I have visited Bike Beat three times and they have been super helpful each time. The first time I stopped by it was really on a whim, just to see what they had to offer. One of the guys, Aaron, gave me a great overview of what they had to offer within my price range and sent me home with a Trek catalog to begin my research. Initially my price point was at the very lowest of the entry level bikes, but after some more research... it increased. I definitely learned you get what you pay for. So a few days later, I dropped in just to see what they had in my new price range... and went back home to research more. I have quickly learned bike shopping involves a lot of research! More research than my previously posted Vygotsky essay! So I finally narrowed it down to these two Trek bikes...

The 2.1 wsd and the 1.5 wsd.

And that brings me to today. I went by to see Aaron to give these bikes a whirl. So I went in and he started to fit and measure me. Very scientific and precise! While he inputted my info into the computer, I was almost soothed to sleep with their calming classical music... don't worry I woke up and was ready to ride! Once he adjusted the 2.1 and I gets on the trainer, I start riding (is it sad I worked up a sweat?) Then he makes some more adjustments... mainly on the seat which was super uncomfortable at first! Finally everything was in its place... except my posture... I am a hunchback rider. Maybe that explains why I am always sore in the shoulders after rides. He said that my body posture will change once I start riding on it... so hopefully that will work itself out.

So then I took the bike out on the open road... or around the building. At first I was a bit wobbly and almost ran into my car. Opps! I'm sure he was thinking.. does this girl know how to ride a bike? Get her off that thousand dollar bike! Well, riding a road bike feels quite a bite different than a mountain bike. Once I got myself together I took off around the building. The bike felt really nice and smooth. Tested shifting gears and the brakes... well I tried the brakes out right away when I almost ran into my car. But I really liked it... okay kinda loved it... just one loop around the building and I'm in love... uh oh, I'm in love... that was too easy. I had to get off before I started riding home.

So we went in to talk details and figure out what they have in stock. Well turns out Trek just released their 2011 bikes... which means they won't be able to order anymore 2010 bikes, which is what I have been researching this whole time! Then I find out the one I was test riding was the last one in my size in the 2.1 and the 1.5 isn't even available! Eck!

Well I know I really love this bike and after a lot of research it seems like a solid choice for my first road bike. But I wanted to sleep on it to make sure I am not rushing into anything or buying just because it is the last one available. So Aaron nicely put a hold on the bike for me until tomorrow... so I am going to sleep on this one and think about it all day at work tomorrow and we will see what happens!

Pardon the Interruption

2010-08-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

Pardon the interruption, but I will be MIA for the next few days. The semester ends on Saturday which means I am up to my eyeballs in grading for my GA position and studying for finals. I am counting down the days til this weekend when I can R-E-L-A-X. In the mean time, here's an excerpt from a paper I submitted last week. It's a real gem.

Apparently I fell asleep right in the middle of that paragraph... but I still got an A, so I guess it is all good! (The red text is my professor's comment)

Road Bike Shopping Part I

2010-08-11T07:35:00.000-07:00

So I began my road bike shopping and researching this week. I have visited three bike shops, but I will begin my journey with the third one I visited.

I got my lovely mountain bike from Conte's and I was extremely happy with the help I received when buying that. I returned because I knew they had a giant selection of bikes. So I go in with my Mom to take a gander at their selection and walked out with a ton of information! We walked in an were instantly greeted by someone and he began to answer some of my questions and gave me lots of information about group rides. He began to show me a couple bikes and then brought on another sales person to continue to help us. The second salesperson began to tell us about the two different bikes, both were Specialized Dolce, one was around $900 and the other was well over $1,000. A touch over my budget, but it was worth looking at. After giving us more information he brought over the fitter, Danny, to get me on the bike to test out. Danny actually sold me my mountain bike, so I knew he would be super helpful. Then the second guy had some parting words for me "Don't ride the expensive bike, you are going to want it if you get on it." In my head, I'm thinking, no worries.. I'll be fine... I know my budget and I am definitely going to stay within it! Well Danny set up the more expensive bike on the trainers for me, only because the cheaper bike was too small for me, so he wanted to make sure he could fit me properly. So he sets the bike up and answers all of my questions along the way. And then I get on the bike. and fell. in. love. Uh oh.

I just did a badddd thing. I test drove the BMW when I am on a Hyundai budget. Of course I am going to want the BMW! It has better parts, looks better and feels so gooood! The only thing the cheaper one has going for it is that it comes in purple.

The whole time Mom just shook her head and said I told you not to get on that bike! (Well she said that after we left the store... I do not remember these objections while I was in the store!). So I ended up leaving so I could research these two bikes and determine if I should go ahead and bite the bullet and get the bike I really want. Walking out of the store I thought... I don't need textbooks this fall... I don't need to eat for the next month... Lexi can get a job... I can make it work.

I still have a many more bikes to test ride and lots of research ahead of me before I make my decision, but I really like the Specialized and it is definitely on the list.

What't more stressful than finals?

2010-08-11T07:34:00.002-07:00

Well I am officially making the switch to a road bike. I've had some great rides on my Giant Boulder, but it is time to make the change to a big girl road bike. But now I am quickly learning how stressful it is to figure out my way through all of the options that road bikes have to offer. There are so many questions that are asked of me...

What kind of riding do you want to do? Is this your first road bike? Do you want to do races or just organized rides? Do you plan on doing triathlons? How much do you want to spend?

Agh! This is more stressful than the two finals I have coming up this week. There are so many options and the more bikes I see the more confused I get (and the bigger my budget gets). I have been to three bike shops so far and the guys at the shops that helped me have been uber helpful and have given me lots of information. Once I do more research I will be posting about my final choices and the stories that come along with trying them out, but til then my mind is swirling with thoughts of bikes, tires, carbon, aluminum, brakes, fit, shift, ooo my! I have lots of researching and pondering ahead of me, but hopefully it will all pay off with an awesome new bike!

In a moment of insanity...

2010-08-11T07:34:00.001-07:00

So a few weeks ago, after visiting my sister in NC, I became super motivated to get back into riding my bike and working out. Earlier this year, I had the same spurt of motivation and actually managed to lose 20 pounds, but after a few months, I began slacking. It was a mixture of being peak wedding season and school taking priority, but the idea of working out was the last thing on my mind. So after my visit, I was super motivated to get back on track. Well to start off my new found motivation I decided to go on a nice long bike ride. 20 miles later, I was feeling amazing! So, I get home, endorphins pumping, feeling good and I did something I thought I never would do...

I signed up for a 10k!

What?! I have never ever been a runner. I played lots of sports that involved running through high school like field hockey and soccer... but you know what position I played? GOALIE! The one position that rarely ran. And when I did run it was short sprints. My sister was always the long distance runner and I envied her for that, but never had the urge to run. I tried a few times to get into it, but was instantly discouraged and stopped. Well during my visit to NC, I had talked with my sister about signing up for the Wicked 10k where you get to dress up in costume and run a race. How awesome?! Well I don't think she actually thought I would sign up for it. (I didn't think I would either!) And after my amazing bike ride (keyword I was riding a bike, not running) I signed up for the 10k. Then I woke up the next morning and realized... now I have to run a 10k. Uh oh.

So now my journey to becoming a runner has officially begun. I definitely have a new perspective on running... a positive outlook. I think the major difference in my past attempts at running and my present attempt is that I have a goal I am working towards. I have come up with a plan, which combines the Couch to 5k program and another program for a 10k. After a couple weeks of training, things are definitely progressing. Still doing a run/walk combination, but my endurance is definitely picking up. Plus, I have the cutest training partner... no not Zac Efron... Lexi!

Revival of Hoody Hooo

2010-08-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

So here we go again. The revival of Hoody Hooo... but this time it is going to stick! I've got lots going on with my life right now, so I actually have interesting things to talk about!

I am in grad school studying elementary education. I work as a graduate assistant. I also work as a wedding sales coordinator at a Botanical Garden. I am training for a 10k. I am back in the dating game. I am absolutely loving cycling. I am a huge sports fan. I love design and pretty things. I love my ECU Pirates. My family and friends are awesome. And I have a crazy dog named Lexi.

the journey begins...

2007-06-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

i leave tomorrow for london for a few weeks. check out my other blog that will document my food finds in europe.

http://thewanderingveg.wordpress.com/

stephanie's travels

2007-06-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

the countdown is on! only 4 days until i get on a plane to london. but before i get to start that journey, i get to go up to d.c. with my lovely dad and get a passport. after months of waiting anxiously for my passport i am less than a week from leaving and my passport is stuck in new hampshire. so now i get a mini road trip with the dad before i leave. this sudden road trip has sped up my plans a little bit, i'm having to pack a little earlier and get shifts covered at work, but it'll get done! i can now say i'm almost completely done packing. throughout this process of packing i have come across a few tips i'd like to share, some you probably know and some you might not.
1. travel sized fabreeze
like my mom i was in search for a travel sized bottle of fabreeze to bring with my in case my clothes need a little refreshing. since i have come to the conclusion it doesn't exist, i had to make my own! i went to sally's beauty place and got a little 2 oz. squirt bottle and filled it with fabreeze and voila.. travel sized fabreeze. just be sure to label the bottle so you're not spraying your hair with fabreeze thinking its hairspray

2. list making
i think list making is in the james genes, we all do it. but in the case of traveling, i make a very detailed list to be sure i don't over pack (which i probably did anyways) and that everything is in its place. in this list i separate things into three main categories: luggage, carry on, and purse. this way i can be sure that i bring all the necessary stuff with my on the plane and nothing extra. another category was "to buy" this is just for the miscellaneous stuff that you know you need to pick up before you leave and don't want to forget.

3. make all necessary reservations ahead of time
yes this sounds like a "duh" tip, but in my case it was very important. this is because on the plane ride from charlotte to london we will be served a lunch. as a vegetarian i needed to make special accommodations on the plane to be sure to get a vegetarian meal on the plane. now with these special requests be sure to put your patient hat on. first time i called us air i got hung up on when i was supposed to be transfered to international services. and the second time i got my first dose of offshoring when the operator had an almost indecipherable indian accent. but i think i managed to get my meal changed.

so i just have three tips for now, but i am sure once my trip gets going i will have many more! stay tuned i'm hoping to post stories as much as i can while i'm over there. i'm not sure exactly what the internet situation will be like over there, but i will try to keep everyone updated.

lazy sundays

2007-02-25T21:08:00.000-08:00

so i set aside all of sunday to catch up on homework and do some studying. well it is officially monday morning and i have yet to crack open a book. school has recently become so uninspiring to me, the teachers are uninspiring, the subjects are uninspiring, i'm just all around uninspired. i'm so close to graduation but i feel i no longer love art as much as i did when i started. i am now at a crossroad where i am questioning everything i have been learning the past four years and might take a whole new direction. it's scary, growing up and all. making these decisions sucks.. i might just buy a magic 8 ball and let that figure it all out, or maybe i'll go to a hand reader or something and see what's up. but nonetheless the point of this post was to share the great information i found out tonight when i should of been doing homework but instead was browsing around on wikipedia... the creator of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich is from Hampton, VA. fascinating.

that's all for now.

ho ho ho

2006-12-24T20:54:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!

best invention ever!

2006-12-10T12:45:00.000-08:00

jennifer and i were on a nice christmas shopping trip today when i found the best invention ever! that would be the laser pointer key chain. now i bought it for a christmas present for the best dog ever (lexi) but i just couldn't wait until christmas to find out if she liked it. i was skeptical in the beginning whether she would fall for it... i mean like it... but alas she is mesmerized by the little red dot and i am one satisfied customer. i am offically buying them for all the dog owners i know because after 15 minutes of chasing the dot lexi is now sleeping like a baby.

101 in 1001

2006-11-04T21:40:00.000-08:00

stop procrastinating
go ice skating
fly a kite on mount trashmore
adopt another animal
get a hot rock massage
send a package to any soldier
learn to play the piano
learn to knit
get into graduate school
make a blanket for project linus
get something from tiffany's
throw a penny in a wishing well
make bread from scratch
learn to write (neatly) left handed
meditate daily
do a disney marathon
buy myself flowers
throw a dinner party for friends
buy a hybrid car
get an internship
get straight "a"s one semester
volunteer at the humane society once a month
donate to charity once a year
walk lexi atleast four times a week
run a half marathon
learn a new word everyday
go on a picnic
go on a road trip
grow a vegetable garden
go a week without tv
vegan for a week
read 5 recommended books
play bingo with some old ladies
learn sign language
build a piece of furniture
go on a wine tasting
buy a piece of art
make my bed everyday for a month
ride a hot air balloon
play capture the flag
become EARS certified
visit a zoo or aquarium
sell a piece of art
complete 26 things challenge
renew passport
go to the movies alone
learn to drive stick
get first aid certified
ask 6 people for a number then play the lottery with those numbers
get a tattoo
learn cpr
visit marc at virginia tech
volunteer for a new cause
start an herb garden
put together a portfolio
donate old clothes
go rock climbing
send thank you cards for gifts
wash my car inside and out
get a facial
stick my toes in the pacific ocean
release a message in a bottle
take the gre
plant a tree
start playing cello again
buy a pair of sevens
change all my light bulbs to energy saving ones
carve a pumpkin
send a secret to postsecret
watch the sunrise at the beach
go camping
teach lexi a cool trick
try a new fruit and vegetable
invest my money
reduce, reuse, recycle
do a painting for jen's house
adopt an angel tree child
write and update my resume
study abroad
sew an entire outfit
bring my gpa to 3.0
learn a phrase in 5 languages
send handmade christmas cards
get lexi certified k9 good citizen
drive with no destination
stop swearing
meet a famous person
take 10% of each pay check and save it
vote in an election
go to london with the sister
learn to scuba dive
ride a horse
visit 5 states i've never been to
go whale watching
learn to invest my money
lose 10 pounds
drive the speed limit from greenville to virginia beach
take a yoga class
get a 100 on an exam
backpack through europe
have a party on august 8, 2009 when this is all over

7 years bad luck

2006-11-04T16:28:00.000-08:00

so i am finally 21! and might a say what a birthday. i have such amazing friends that really know how to treat a girl on her birthday. but all of this joy was quickly overshadowed by a horrible, horrible event. after stumbling home from the club on saturday night, i go upstairs to pass out when, i knock over the mirror on my vanity and break it. now i am a super superstitious person, so of course i am horrified. the next morning immediately google how i can reverse the 7 years bad luck that normally come with breaking a mirror. they say wait 7 hours and then bury the pieces under moonlight. so to be sure, i am waiting 7 days (which will be tomorrow) and then burying the pieces. but until i do that i figure the bad luck is still haunting me. so this week has been such a nightmare. i won't go into detail, i'll just list my unluckiness that has happened this week:

didn't know i had a world religions test and flat out failed it
a water pipe broke in my front yeard
cut my finger on the glass from the mirror
cut another finger while dusting
a lizard got into the house and is taunting me from the basement
got a massive bruise on my leg, from running into something
got shut out of the piano class i want to take, by like minutes
i have a cold... again!!

there's more but i can't think of it right now. but the only thing that has kept me going this week despite the ghost of bad luck haunting me is that i have a date tonight. wooooo.

remote whore

2006-10-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

lexi says, "if we don't watch what i want to watch, i will eat the remote so no one gets to watch tv!"

random memories

2006-10-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

there are certain smells, sights, sounds, and taste that remind people of particular moments in their lives. everyone has them and they can trigger the most random events. well this week i finally got my screen door installed on the front door of my town house. well it was a wonderful investment (thanks to dad!) i can now take the trash out or go get the mail without deadbolting the front door and it lets so much light and air in. (scary i sound like a homeowner, bah!) basically i love it. well everytime i open or close the door i get this random memory of my grandparents house. for as long as i can remember they have had a screendoor. and i just have this memory of granddaddy showing my how to lock the door when i was little. i've seen many screendoors in my life, but it's funny how the sound of my new screendoor immediately reminds my of my grandparents house.

noah's ark

2006-10-04T21:34:00.000-07:00

my house is slowly turning into noah's ark. (even though in case of a huge flood, my apartment might not be the place to be.) but recently i have noticed an increase of animals in and around my house. all include... of couse my little girl, lexi...my two fish noodle and gus (formerly peanut.. but after his suicide attempt and lots of counciling peanut changed his name to gus)...a stray cat that hangs out in my backyard in the afternoon, finn...a little tree frog that chills on my front porch at night, henry... a little turtle that sometimes visits my front yard, pepito.. and the neighbors dog that basically lives on my porch during the day because i leave water out for her. as long as there are not snakes or lizards in my house... bring on the animals! now if only i could have a cat that wears a helmet made of limes, i think i will call him oscar.

some philosophy with your coffee?

2006-10-03T18:10:00.000-07:00

in every college students life there are professors that truely make an impact on who you are as a person and how you look at things. that professor for me was dr. handron, my psychology teacher from sophomore year. he was one of the only professors who looked at his students as real scholars and not just another herd of sheep he needs to move along to the next semester. he was so engaging and insightful i feel like i learned so much from him.
this semester i am lucky enough to meet another one of those professors, dr. jones, my world religions teacher. this class is only once a week from 6:30-9:30pm... normally this means naptime for stephanie. but dr. jones is one of those people who you can only hope that a little bit of his knowledge will rub off on you.
last night in class dr. jones went off on one of his tangents and started talking about education. he talked about how a student at ecu and a student at harvard can get the exact same education. he said your education is what you make of it. now this sounds so simple, and almost common sense, but it really got me thinking about my time here at ecu. i have reached the point where i will graduate in a year, and i feel like i haven't learned everything i wanted to learn. i feel i am at a turning point in my college career where i really need to make the best of what is offered to me.
so this next year i am making it my goal to exhaust all the resourses ecu has to offer. i don't mean reading every book in the library, but i am going to make it a point to attend lectures i wouldn't ever think of going to, concerts, plays, and take classes off the beaten path. i want to be sure that when i look back at the 4 and 1/2 years i spent here, i am truely satisfied with what i did.

happy world vegetarian day!

2006-09-30T22:32:00.000-07:00

happy world vegetarian day!

spend the day eating like a rabbit or maybe a faux chicken patty would tickle your fancy.
give it a try, it's not as bad as everyone thinks.
and if you missed it... friday was hug a vegetarian day... seriously... so be sure to hug your local vegetarian next time you see them... which is probably me... so i expect a lot of hugs in my near future!

greetings and salutations

2006-09-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

why hello there. after much deliberation i have decided to break down and make a blog. mainly to document the crazy, funny, sad, stupid things that happen to me everyday. expect many stories about my dog, my fish, my cousins, my family, my cooking disasters, my daily college whoas and much much more. and never ever expect any capital letters. so hold on to your pants... (got em?)... this is going to be an interesting ride.