Bling, Birthdays, BBQ and the Oscars

That's pretty much what our weekend has been filled with so far. Yesterday morning I went
over to a friends house for some mimosas, girl talk and shopping for some Stella & Dot Jewelry. They have some really beautiful and unique pieces and since this is the 3rd party I go too I've started to collect a few. Last night we headed downtown to celebrate another friend's birthday. We hardly ever go out downtown anymore but there was no way we were going to miss her birthday bash. It was all fun and games until I realized this morning I left my camera behind. Had the case but no camera. I called to see if anyone had turned one in but of course they said no :( We've spent most of our Sunday lounging around the house. Robert has some meat out on the grill and I've been glued to the TV watching all the pre Oscar hoopla. Can't wait for them to start!

Enough Already

So for the past few months, I've become a major blog slacker. Although I log in almost daily, I've found myself perusing everyone elses blogs and never getting to mine to update. It's time to quit and get back to work on this thing. Not sure I can give a recap of all that has happened since my last post in NOVEMBER but I'll try.

November 15, 2009 - The week of my last post I was off to San Antonio to run my first marathon. The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon was the hardest thing I have ever done. Physically there is no doubt I was prepared thanks to Team in Training but mentally I struggled. I'm proud to say I made it to the finish line and although it took me longer than I had hoped I finished and have a medal to prove it. A lot of people have asked me if I'd do it again and the crazy truth is yes, I would!

December - Great month, two weeks of school, lots of fun times with family and friends and an incredible vacation. We spent three days in Washington D.C. and another three in New York! Oh, and a night in Atlantic City! The sights were incredible, people were great and when you travel with each other for a week straight boy, do you learn a lot from one another.

January - We brought in 2010 in Times Square with millions of others which was definitely an experience of a lifetime. A week later it was back to school for us and the vacation was over :( We spent a great time at my cousins wedding on the 16th. They had one of the most beautiful ceremonies I have ever seen and despite them playing the Aggie fight song at their reception we had a blast singing and dancing the night away.

So here we are two weeks into February. Wow, how time flies. Last weekend my crazy friends and I ran in the Edinburg 10K. I've really struggled with getting back into a regular running routine and boy did I pay for during the 6.2 miles. Lesson learned. Note to self: you must go out at least four days a week! Tonight we are off to Rock 'n' Bowl with family and friends. Although none of us will ever be invited to join a bowling league we enjoy making fun of one another and the great music. Also on the agenda today is the movie Valentine's Day. Hopefully it's 10x better than Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I saw that last night and was excited to go because I loved the book. Waste of money and just goes to prove the book is always better!

Much Better

Thank you for the get well wishes and supportive comments! They always bring a smile to my face. :) I was so happy this morning when I woke up and the stomach pain was GONE!!!! It made such a difference in my day. My class benchmarked almost all day today so there wasn't too much going on other than walking around, monitoring and some reading. I can't believe Tuesday is gone already, the week is just flying by and we can't wait to get to San Antonio this weekend. I loved today's quote the first time I saw it like this:

"The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win."
- Sir Roger Bannister

However, after looking at it again tonight I thought it needed some revising. So here is my version:

"The WOMAN who can drive HERself further once the effort gets painful is the WOMAN who will win."
- Jen

Rough Monday

I think Mondays are usually hard but today really took its toll on me. It started at about 3:30 this morning when I woke up with horrible stomach pains. It felt like I had just woken up the day after a killer ab workout. Problem was I haven't worke dout abs in a loooonngggg time. I think it may have been some seafood I ate for lunch on Sunday and maybe a slight case of nerves about this coming weekend. After waking up I had a hard time going back to sleep. When the alarm went off at 5:30 I contemplated calling in to work but sometimes its easier just to show up then to have to plan for a whole day of being out. Needless to say today was not fun but I got through it. Thank goodness for Robert who brought me some soup for dinner! Inspirational quote of the day to help get me past the finish line on Sunday:

"He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat."
- Napoleon Bonapart

A Week from Today

In exactly 1 week from today I will take on one of the biggest challenges of my life: running 26.2 miles in the Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Marathon!!! When I decided to do this five months ago I was so unsure of myself and capabilities. I didn't just doubt my running but also whether or not I would be able to raise $2,500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as part of Team in Training. Now, only seven days away I know there was no reason for doubt.

Since June, my Saturday mornings have been dedicated to waking up around 4:30 A.M.!!! I know, I know that's insane! I've heard it over and over. The thing is no matter how tired I am, once I arrive to our practice location and see all my other teammates stretching, laughing (yes, it is possible even at 4 in the morning!) and talking about their weeks that tired feeling is replaced with one of confidence, comradery and inspiration. We are all reminded that no matter what our aches and pains may be that day it is nowhere near to what a cancer patient battles with on a daily basis and that we are MUCH stronger than we may think we are.


The friendships that I have created, mental and physical strength that I have gained and difference in helping cure blood cancers will stay with me much longer than a TNT season, they will stay with me forever.

Starting today I'm looking for an inspirational quote each day to get me ready for next Sunday. Here is today's:

"Anybody can do just about anything with himself that he really wants to and makes his mind to do. We are capable of greater than we realize." - Norman Vincent Peale, author

Ready to Get Back in The Saddle

So during lunch yesterday one of my coworkers commented on how she really hadn't seen me on facebook or online lately. My response was "well, I've been on but just for a bit, my life hasn't been too interesting and exciting lately."

I came home that evening and logged on to Blogger and was shocked when I saw the date of my last post----almost a month ago!!!!!! I then spent the next hour or so catching up on everyone else's blogs and came to realize that I miss blogging and posting. It's such a release for me and for the last few weeks it is what I think has been missing. Also realized that I don't like pity parties and that I had enough of me thinking there was nothing going on for me right now.

Last weekend for example Robert and I escaped to San Antonio for the weekend and enjoyed watching the Norte Dame/Washington State game. We had so much fun and really needed a weekend to ourselves! The weekend before I ran 20 miles with my Team in Training group in preparation for Rock N Roll San Antonio next weekend!!!!! Work has been crazy busy but I'm grateful I have a job to go to every day. This morning I had this in my inbox from walkthetalk.com: "To live a great life is to discover the life you have right now, instead of trying to invent a whole new life." Soooooooo true and time to start living by it!!!!!

Even Men Wear Pink

We watch A LOT of football here. To the point sometimes that I think those are all the channels we have! Last weekend I was glad to see that even the NFL can go pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.







LOVE IT!