The 'Eyes' Have It!

Monday. Ugh.

I hate Mondays. It is such a letdown from the weekend. Although, this weekend was kind of a letdown. The highlight of my weekend was dinner with one of my oldest friends (no, she's not old, I've just known her a long time!), Aimee. We went to Cheese-ology for some yummy mac and cheese and then topped it off with some FroYo. I always enjoy getting to catch up with her and we are attempting to make it a monthly get together. Saturday my friend Sara and I were supposed to hang out and we ended up at Applefest, a local church's fair. I was expecting a big deal and got nothing in return. I had bad nachos and the entertainment that we saw left a lot to be desired. We managed to somewhat save the evening with dinner at Tony's. Sunday, I was supposed to go apple picking but Mother Nature decided to show us her ugly face and poured most of the day.

Today I get to go see my eye doctor, making Monday even less pleasant. I seem to have accquired an eye infection and haven't worn my contacts in days. So now not only will have to get medicine, but I'll have to get more contacts too. This comes just after I've had a sick doggie and a sick air conditioner. Oh, and last night it seemed like the air was starting to go out again.

Ugh, Monday.

I'm so tired...

Why am I so exhausted lately? I don't know if my body isn't fully adjusted to working (although it has been over a month since school started, how long can it take?!) or what but I am so tired lately. I can't even use winter as an excuse because it isn't even cold yet. I'm supposed to be running a half marathon, 10K, and 5K in the month of October and I'm slightly panicky that I won't make it. Hopefully things will begin to ease up and I'll start feeling more rested. Something has to give, right?

Feeling Wicked?!

Last night I took my mom to see Wicked at the Fabulous Fox Theatre! It was an amazing show and one I'd never seen before. It seems everyone I've ever met in life had already seen the show and they'd been raving about how wonderful it was. I was slightly concerned it wouldn't live up to the hype, but it did. The women who played Elpheba and Glinda were outstanding!

Perhaps more interesting and entertaining than the show were the people seated around us. One of the many reasons (and there are many) that I love my mom is that we both like to people watch and comment on what is happening around us. For instance, the lady sitting behind us was a musical, Fox, and all around theater virgin. And she was 51. How has a person never even been to see a play in all of their 51 years?! No idea, but she was pretty psyched. Moving on to the other people seated behind/in front of us was a couple seated with the virgin. They must have bought their tickets from a scalper (I don't really think this but they were pretty dumb) because they ended up in two completely different rows. And they couldn't figure out how this could have happened. Add them to the lady that walked around writing down row numbers and bugging people about their seats (so she could buy better tickets for the next time she came) and my mom and I were pretty entertained. Until.....

Enter the couple sitting next to us. We aren't sure if they were friends or a couple, but man were they funny. The guy told the girl that the dragon head was moving and making him nervous before the show even started. He even said the dragon shook his head no when he asked if the show would start on time. Then at intermission he exclaimed that the guy who played Fiyero was a terrible dancer. The girl with him assured him he wasn't going to be dancing any further and to "get over it." Seriously, the gems this guy kept tossing around made us giggle.

Finally, the row right in front of us held the jewel of the night. A mother and her children and their spouses. She had a Mary Poppins bag that contained at the very least: kleenex, floss, gum, fruit rollups, granola bars, water bottles, and something wrapped up in a napkin (we think it may have been a cookie or roll). My mom and I actually discussed everything we saw come out of that handbag on the way home. One of the men with her flossed his teeth during intermission. He was also not impressed with the musical, except for the song Defying Gravity. He liked that one. The other guy was really into it and at intermission wanted to go down and ask them to change the ending so that Elphaba didn't "turn bad." Honestly, I could have just sat and watched this family all evening.

All in all, 'twas a good night!

Summer, where have you gone?

I had every intention of spending this summer doing many things. One of those was to get my booty back into running full time and lose the rest of the weight I need to in order to reach my goal weight. Another was to faithfully blog about my summer. So far, I'm 0 for 2.

Since my computer at home is almost dead and I find it hard to blog on iPhone, I will attempt to be more faithful in my blogging. Also, I'm dedicating myself to running. I started my half marathon training on the 4th of July so that I can run the Lewis and Clark Half in October. My nemesis in this training will be the humidity. I may need oxygen but I will complete my training!

Some things I have managed to do this summer include reading almost all of the books on my list for the Truman Committee, hang out with some great friends, and work. Oh, wait, work was not something I was looking forward to accomplishing.

It seems like summer should be in full swing and I'm already looking at the start of the new school year! Crazy! The best part of my summer is almost here....my trip to DC and Philly! I get to spend time with Erin, Jered, and Baby Jude in DC and then hang with my brother and Cara in Philly for the weekend. I'm super excited to see everyone and explore some new cities. Hopefully, I'll be able to take some photos to share.

More later!

So much to do, so little time...

It seems like every time I promise myself I'll start blogging more, I fail. This time I feel I have a valid excuse...I've been training for a half marathon!!

The race is less than a week away now. YIKES! I'm definitely nervous, but I know that the training I've had will help me get through all 13.1 miles. I managed to get 12.5 done a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't nearly as terrible as I thought it would be so I know I can do it! Plus, I met some nice girls and ran with them which makes the time go by so much faster.

Today marks the one year anniversary of losing my grandpa. I can't believe that it has been a year since he was here with us. I can't wait to feel him with me on race day because I know he'll be watching and cheering me on!

Sorry this post is a little depressing, I promise the next one will be more upbeat!

Help Me Help Others

This was definitely not the blog entry I was planning to post next, but it is definitely fitting.

I have officially decided to run a half marathon! I've joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training to run the Go! St. Louis Half Marathon. I'm either crazy or really motivated and at this point I'm not sure which one it truly is!

I suppose this all started a few years ago when I was inspired to start running from a friend I worked with. She is awesome and has run the Chicago marathon twice! I had no intention of ever running a marathon or even a half, but wanted to get moving. Last year around this time I was convinced I was going to run the very race I'm training for now. Unfortunately, my grandpa got sick and I lost focus after he passed away. Not succeeding has been haunting me all year. I decided this year that I needed to actually do it for a few reasons:
1. I wanted to finish what I started.
2. The race is two days after my 30th birthday (what better way to end my 20s and start my 30s!).
3. Last year, when I was training, I mentioned to my grandpa my goal. He laughed because he didn't think I'd do it. In a way, I'm doing this for him as much as for myself.
4. I want to focus more on helping others and this is a great way to help myself and bring help to others-all through exercising!!


Part of training with TNT is raising money for LLS. They require that you raise a certain amount of money for their organization and in turn give you resources and a training schedule to succeed. For my race, I must raise $1700. That is a lot of money in a short amount of time! If I don't raise the appropriate amount, I will be forced to forfeit running in the race. I really don't want to let myself down or the people at the LLS who are counting on this money. If you'd like to donate to my cause please follow this link to make an online donation:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/gat/stlouish10/azakrzewsk

I'm nervous about the training because the race is April 11(!) but I'm super nervous about raising the funds. I'm trusting that God will provide, but also begging everyone I know just in case!

Gotta run (literally!)!

Yikes!

Holy time flying Batman! I can't believe it has been so long since my last entry! I promise I will try to do better this time around. Look for a great entry on giving next!