A Nerd Like Me

Sweet Girl

I believe I’ve introduced you to Molly before. She’s our youngest – only four and a half lively years old. The old lady in the house is Sammie, our 11-yr-old mutt who doesn’t have a care in the world (unless there is thunder, of course). But today’s post is all about Molly.

Molly was one year old when we got her. You could say we rescued her. We were paid by a lovely family to take her off of their hands. They just didn’t have time for her. She wasn’t house trained and she wasn’t even spayed. That’s where the payment comes in. I refused to take her unless they paid us to have her spayed, so it all worked out. We all instantly fell in love, and Molly became a vital member of our family.

You can’t help but love this beagle. She is seriously too cute for her own good. Its impossible to stay mad at her for eating poop or tearing something up because she’s so damn easy on the eyes and the heart. And when she looks you straight in the eyes and howls at you? Geez! Kills me every time.

Unfortunately, Molly is in so much pain right now that she’s gone from “crazy adolescent” to “crippled old lady” in a matter of days. The Molly we once knew has taken on a completely different personality. It took over a week and two vet visits to learn that she has Intervertebral Disc Disease, which is essentially like arthritis of the spine. It is pretty progressed for a girl her age, but can be controlled with plenty of rest and anti-inflammatory meds.

I know it might seem silly to some people, but these girls are our children. They are essential to this family. They are our precious babies (well, technically Sammie is Drew’s step-kid since she came into the marriage with me, but I digress). It breaks my heart and makes us so sad to see Molly the way that she is. I just wanted to get that out there and explain to some friends and family what is going on. I would also like to thank Dr. Justin Mims for treating Molly with such care and devotion.

Now please look at these old pictures. Is she not the CUTEST thing?!?!?!

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Runners Update

It turns out that people think I’m crazy for running. Whenever I say “Drew and I started running!” with a big smile on my face, they look at me like they want to take my temperature or check that I’m really Evan. But yes, Drew and I are beginning our 3rd week of running today and I wanted to give you an update on how its going. Here is the 8 week guide that I’m using to get us started:

Week one: Walk for 6 minutes, then jog at an easy pace for 1 minute. Repeat 3 times. Aim for three sessions with that same sequence for week one.

Week two: Walk for 5 minutes, then jog for 2 minutes. Repeat 3 times. Aim to do three sessions in week two.

Week three: Walk for 3 minutes, then jog for 4 minutes. Repeat 4 times. Aim for four sessions in week three.

Week four: Walk for 2 minutes, then jog for 5 minutes. Repeat 4 times. Shoot for four of those sessions in week four.

Week five: Walk for 2 minutes, then jog for 8 minutes. Repeat 3 times. Do four of those sessions in week five.

Week six: Walk for 2 minutes, then jog for 9 minutes. Repeat 3 times. Try to do four sessions for week six.

Week seven: Walk for 1 minute, then jog for 11 minutes. Repeat 3 times. Do four sessions this week.

Week eight: Congratulations on making it to week eight! For your first run this week, try walking for 5 minutes to begin and end the workout, and run for 20 minutes in between. By the end of the week, try to run for 30 minutes without stopping.

The first week I was having trouble simply because my shoes were too heavy and bulky. After purchasing these little gems, I was a much happier walker/runner:

{buy here}

Then the 2nd week came around and I was sadly nursing a hangover during our first session. Bad idea. Unfortunately, that may be the case again today, when we double our running time to 4 minutes. Ugh. Kill me now.

I will say that the first session each week is the most difficult, but it really does get easier each time I run. I’m very happy to get outside an be active, hangover or not!

And finally, let’s talk food. I’m pretty much always a hungry girl and I snack every couple of hours anyway, but running has made me feel like I’m starving ALL THE TIME! Does this happen to other runners? Does the feeling eventually go away when you get into a routine with running and eating? At least I’m eating healthy things:

Breakfast: Low-Fat String Cheese

10am Snack: Apple

Lunch: PB & Honey Sandwich or Ham & Cheese Wrap on Whole Wheat Tortilla

3pm Snack: Edamame or Roasted Nuts

Dinner: Pasta w/ Veggies, or something along those lines

I’ve decided to amp up my lunch menu this week with this Mediterranean Turkey Wrap from Dishing Up Delights. It is packed full of veggies, protein and whole grains, which should keep me feeling nice and full the rest of the day.

So what are your running tricks? What keeps you going even when you feel like you can’t run another step? What keeps you feeling happy and full throughout the day? This one inquiring mind wants to know!

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Green Dreams

Hey, The Hubs! Can we do this in our dining room? Beautiful!

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On Running, Vacationing and Selling

Ya’ll. It turns out running wasn’t so bad when I followed this plan! Starting out really slowly is making it not seem like such a daunting task. My neighbor saw me yesterday and questioned my sanity, since she knows me well enough to know that I hate sweating and I hate strenuous exercise. She was most concerned, since I had an actual smile on my face.

Maura is moving back from Key Largo and I can’t wait to see her! We are going to have so much fun! The first thing we will do together is drink beer. I miss her face and must drink with her ASAP. The second thing we will do is plan our upcoming girl’s vacation together! Will we go to Rome? On a cruise? To Chicago??? If you have any good recs for online travel package sites, please let me know. I have only used EuropeanDestinations.com, which is perfect for a trip to Europe (obvi) but not so much for here.

Finally, to pay for said future vacation, I must make money. Therefore I must sell some of my clothes. My cute ones. The ones that I haven’t worn in a while, but are too adorable to just drop off at the local Goodwill. Hopefully I will have a small online shop ready by next Sunday. There will be between 20-25 items, including trench coats, dresses, skirts, cardigans and dressy shoes. All items will be priced at either $5, $10 or $15. Stay tuned and please tell your friends about it when it is up!

So what did YOU do this weekend?

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Not my thing.

This is what I’m reading this morning: The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Getting Started with Running and How to Get Started with Running.

This is crazy. I wouldn’t run from a man with a gun in his hand, which I why I take ninja classes. So why am I running? Because I’m out of shape and I need to do SOMETHING. I can’t join a gym right now because the aforementioned ninja classes are too expensive. The gym will have to wait until I’m a black belt.

For now, I must venture into the world of uncomfortable tennis shoes, hot pink shorts and nasty sweating. Ugh. Here goes nothing.

P.S. Billie, you better not ask me to join you in your quest to run a marathon. I love you, but that doesn’t mean I won’t PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE!

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Strengths Finder

My boss gave 25 of us this book yesterday, along with homework. We must read this book, take the Strengths Finder test, and determine our top 5 strengths by Friday. All of our strengths will then be compiled together so that we can learn how to work better as a team by focusing on our strengths.

I just have to say that I love this. I love focusing on strengths instead of weaknesses, which is evidenced by my top 5. Out of 24 different strengths, these are my top 5, which I believe are categorized with the first one being the most dominant and the last one being the least dominant. It sure seems that way.

My Top 5 Strengths:

1. Communication

• animated give-and-take of dialogue is likely to help me appreciate life and the world
• forthright and plainspoken

2. Empathy

• place high premium on being liked
• good at helping others develop strengths
• cheerleader when needed
• numerous individuals trust me

3. Positivity

• contagious enthusiasm
• look for the good in each person
• optimistic outlook on life
• compliment others frequently

4. Woo

• love connecting with new people
• feel affection for a wide variety of people
• expend a lot of mental, physical and/or emotional energy earning the affection of others

5. Futuristic

• inspired by the future and what could be
• innovative, inventive, original and resourceful
• create orderly and detailed tactics
• reach goals by finding as many opportunities as possible to use unique abilities and natural gifts

I did not post all of this to simply brag about my good qualities (and I certainly wouldn’t call “placing high premium on being liked” a good quality). My point is to encourage you to get the book and find your strengths as well. I really feel that this will create very positive growth at my workplace. So do it!

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Books Galore

I’m reading a couple of books right now, with quite a few more in the queue. Here they are, so you can read them too!

Now reading: The Passage, by Justin Cronin

I’m almost to page 200 in the book that has over 800 pages. I also have only one week left to read it before the Atlanta library steals it away from my Nook. Don’t know that I will make that deadline, but oh well. If you like spooky, government run vampire experimentation with lots of twists and turns, this book’s for you. It is definitely for grown-ups – not that sappy Twilight kind of vampire shiz. I’m not even 1/4 through this and I’m already telling you to read it. Good stuff.

Now reading: The DaVinci Code, by Dan Brown

I just love his books! They always start out the same way and I think they are so predictable at first, but then it all changes. I read Angels & Demons (set in Rome) while we were in Italy, and I read The Lost Symbol (set in DC) just before we went to DC. I guess this means I have to go to Paris now!

Next up: City of Fallen Angels, by Cassandra Clare

This is the 4th and much anticipated book in the Mortal Instruments series. In my personal opinion, this series is way better than Twilight – and that’s saying a lot because I LOVE Twilight. Its got vampires, werewolves, angels, demons – the whole mythical crew. I’m having trouble finishing The Passage because this was just released and downloaded to my Nook today. Lord help me. I need to wait a week before I get my Jace fix.

Next up: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, by Stieg Larsson

See what kind of pressure I’m under?!?! This is a lot of books! This series begins with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo which, if you haven’t read, you should. That is all I’m gonna say. Oh, and I’m also going to warn you that the first book takes about 200 pages to get good, but its TOTALLY worth it. I promise. This is coming from one of the most impatient readers ever.

Next up: The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

I honestly don’t know why I’m going to read this book. I saw a couple of other people on facebook say its one of the best they’ve ever read, so I bought it and that’s that.

Next up: Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater

Maura just sent me this gem. Don’t know what its about but I’ve heard a bit of buzz. Looking forward to it!

Next up: Stealing Athena, by Karen Essex

This has something to do with art. Maura bought this for $1 and said it was actually pretty good, so now it is mine.

And finally…….

Delirium, by Lauren Oliver

Over the last year or so, my taste has slowly evolved from reading only teen fiction to mostly adult. This one, however, is all teen and I can’t wait to read it! I read this author’s other book, Before I Fall, and was absolutely blown away. Definitely a must-read.

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