Turkey Trottin'

This Thanksgiving, my family went to Myrtle Beach to celebrate with Dad's side of the family.  His aunt and uncle have a big, beautiful house where the entire Burns-McCoy-Skinner clan (yes I said clan as a nod to our Scottish-Irish roots) gathered for a delicious meal and time of thanks!

This year we did things a little differently. Back at the end of summer/early fall, I got an email about a Turkey Trot in the Myrtle Beach area. They had a 5K and a 10K, and if we signed up then we could sign up for a (very) discounted price. I tried to convince Jacob to do the 10k, but he didn't want to run at all so we settled on the 5k (looking back - thank goodness!).  I figured I would definitely be back in shape by then, I mean I was going to be running in the 34-mile Hope Relay two weeks before that! Easy Peasy.

Well, if you've read this blog at all, you know the Hope Relay wasn't my best and neither was my shape! The whole family woke up early on Thanksgiving to drive the 20 minutes to the Surfside Pier where the race started. We were all quite tired and COLD! It was freezing that morning. And of course, neither Jacob nor I brought cold weather running gear. I don't know what we were thinking. I even looked at the weather channel to check the temperature when I was packing!
                      
We got to the Pier and got there about 30 minutes before race time. After we checked in and got our race packets, mom ran Jacob and me over to the beach near the pier to take pictures. They were great- no makeup, sleep still in our eyes and trying our best not to shiver long enough for her to take the pictures.  Finally, an announcer came on saying the race was getting ready to start.

 So, Jacob and I headed over to the start line and got in the back (not the very back but close enough).  I had my Garmin watch, although I had forgotten to charge it so it died before the race even started. Whoops. At least I had my running ipod. Thankfully, mom let me wear her gloves because I was slowly losing feeling in all my extremities. Again, it was COLD!  Poor Jacob, shorts and a t-shirt. I think he did finally put on a sweatshirt.

While we were waiting on the race to start, I kept saying over and over in my head "Keep Running. Don't Stop. Its just a 5k. Run the whole thing."  I am determined to run again so I wanted this to give me the boost I needed to get back into things. Well Jacob, the sweet kid that he is, decided that since I made him run this race with me he would run with me at my speed. To paint a pretty picture, my "little" brother is a 5'11" cross country runner who ended up running Varsity his freshmen year of high school.

Finally the race started. Jacob took off before he looked back and saw I was way behind him. He jogged back to me and fussed about how slow I was going. I had my headphones in and was just focused on going slow and steady. As Jacob kept pointing out how slow we were going, his favorite phrase at the beginning was "We're never going to get warm if we keep moving this slow." Mostly I just rolled my eyes and kept on chugging. Every 2 minutes or so, Jacob kept asking how long we had been running. By the time hit the mile and a half point, Jacob kept telling me "I'd be done by now" and five minutes later "Id've been done for 5 minutes now" and so on. Not only was he telling me that, he was giving me a running commentary of his life. I mean the boy never stopped talking! As he says, he was going so slow talking was not a problem!

We finally hit the 3 mile marker and it was a straight stretch of road to cross the finish line.  Unbeknownst to us, mom and dad got so cold they went and sat in the car in with the heat on! Luckily, they got out in time to see us finish. Anyways, because I had been going so slow (without stopping), I was determined to cross the finish line before Jacob. About 100 yards away from the finish line I started sprinting. It only took about 10 steps for me to realize that was too far out to beat a kid with legs that are twice as long as mine. So I went back to my jog/run speed a little bit further. Well at this point Jacob starts running backwards. "Oh no he didn't" was all that went through my head before I took off sprinting again. He continued to run backwards for about 4-5 more steps before he turned around and took off in a sprint as well. I'm still not sure who crossed the finish line first, but we were duking it out all the way across!
                           

                      

Well, I did it! I may have literally been "trotting" I was so slow, but I did it. Three point one miles without stopping. It's not much but its a start. And to reward us, the Myrtle Beach running club had Krispy Kreme donuts they were dipping in chocolate on site! So what better way to celebrate all that I had accomplished by erasing it all with one donut!

It was my first Turkey Trot, but it won't be my last! However, it will be the last one where I "trot!"

Tonight, Anything Goes

"In olden days, a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking but now God knows, anything goes!"

From November 12-17, the musical "Anything Goes" was playing at the Peace Center in Greenville.

For those who know me, I love musicals! I was so excited when I saw this one was coming to the Peace Center.  I didn't know too much about it beforehand, but what I did know made me super excited to see it! It had recently won 3 Tony awards so I knew it was going to be great.

The other KB and I went on Wednesday, November 13, and had a blast! The music and dancing were absolutely phenomenal! The performers in this show are absolutely amazing and in great shape! There is so much dancing and simultaneous singing and nobody ever loses their breath- amazing!! The storyline was fun and cute as well! I fell in love from the very first song! We had great seats- smack dab in the middle of the lower balcony! The view was great, the company was great, and the musical was great!  If you ever get the chance to see it, I recommend you do!


(something neat... a couple of days later, I was watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and lo and behold, what is she singing in the opening number... Anything Goes! I've seen that movie so many times before and never paid attention to what she was singing. But now you better believe I'll be singing along!)

                   

Running is Easy. Names are Not.

Saturday morning, November 9, 2013, dawned bright and COLD!  I had my thermal leggings on and my favorite running tank and I was ready to go. It was HOPE RELAY day!

The Hope Relay is one of my favorite races! It is a relay run that benefits my former employer, the Project Hope Foundation. Project Hope serves the autism community in the upstate of SC through many different services such as ABA Therapy, an award winning alternative inclusion school, a program for teens and youth who need continued support in daily life activities, and supporting families dealing with the challenges of autism.

The relay was redesigned for the 2013 race and it was a blast!  Like before, there were two relay races: a long course and a short course. Teams could be made up of 2-4 runners, each running at least one leg. For the 14 mile relay, each runner would run one 3.34 mile leg.  For the 34 mile relay, each runner runs 2 legs: the first being 3.34 miles and the second one being 5 miles.  The course was designed for runners to explore a scenic route through beautiful downtown Greenville, SC.  Each runner started at the Kroc center, ran their leg (which was a loop), and then handed off the slap bracelet to the next runner.  After all legs are completed, all four runners joined together and run the tunnel together to cross the finish line. 

All in all it is a fun day! This year we added two new members to the relay team! Since we were no longer just Tigers and Hokies, a new name was needed. After much thought, nothing came about so we became "Running is Easy. Names are Not."  A great name for us, however it was a bit long for the official race documents. The names on the bibs have to be short so our bib names only said "Running is Easy."  Whoops. For three of us, that name still worked (me, not so much).  

I am still not quite back in shape from the back problems sustained during the marathon in 2012. So, when deciding our running order, I kept joking about doing it "Olympic swimming relay" style. We had our Ryan Lochte (second fastest runner) go first, our third fastest runner go second, the slowest (me) go second, and our Michael Phelps (aka the fastest) go last.   Because we were no longer driving from leg to leg, all the teams got to hang out in the field. It was a great day to catch up with old friends and new! While each runner ran their leg, the rest of us hung out on our picnic blanket, filled up on PB&J sandwiches from Whole Food,s and just got to catch up on each other's lives.  

That part of the day was really nice. For me, the running... eh, not so much. I was still out of shape and the first leg was awful. I ran the first mile and was struggling from that point on. Then between mile 1 and 2, we ran uphill for a nice little chunk. I knew I needed to save energy for the second leg, which was even longer, so I did a lot of walking.  After our first runner came back from the second leg she said it was much easier: curvy, but much flatter. That made me feel a little better, but at that point I was starting to wish we were doing the 14 mile relay instead of the 34!  Well it came time for me to run my last leg and it started out ok. Then it became clearly evident I was out of shape. And when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I started having back spasms. I ended up having to walk all the way from mile 4 to 5. Finally, because I'm stubborn and prideful, I ran the last 0.1 mile to pass off the slap bracelet to our final runner. Some friends of mine were manning the chute and cheering me on. Afterwards they wanted to know why I looked so mad when I finished!  Needless to say, I don't like people watching me run, especially when I'm in pain. After my leg, I found a bag of ice and just laid on it.  Oi. When our final runner came in, the rest of us met her at the beginning of the finish line chute to run (more like sprint) with her across the finish line.

We may have come in last in our division (my bad, ladies) but we definitely had a blast! Everyone who participated (and came out to cheer us on) said they wanted to do it again next year! And I will be in better shape by then for sure!

For more information on the Hope Relay and why we run, check out www. hoperelay.org and join us next year at a great run for an even greater run!

Mum's the Word!

Back on a wonderful Wednesday evening in September, I went to a concert for a group named Mumford and Sons. You may have heard of them (NOTE: if you have not heard of them, stop reading. No really, stop reading this post and go listen to them. You'll thank me later).

It could not have been a better night for good music and good friends. The weather was great and the music was phenomenal.  I went with my friend MM and pretty much the entire city of Greenville.  

Because I'm me, I took the opportunity to sing the chorus of "I Will Wait" anytime we had to wait that night... in the parking lot, for the bathroom, for meeting up with friends. I know, I'm so cheesy.

MM and I got there about a hour before the show, got a good parking spot and headed on over to the Amphitheater. Once we got into Heritage Park, some of MM's friends called and we waited (guess what I sang) on them to catch up to us.  MM introduced us and we all walked in together.

Now, the funny thing about the tickets is that I knew a friend of mine loved Mumford, yet had never been to one of their concerts. Well, as soon as I heard that Mumford was coming I texted him. The tickets for this show were lottery based- you had to register for them and not everybody got them. Well I never win anything, so I didn't even bother signing up for the lottery. However, my friend did and they had two extra tickets! Guess who got those? So, I bought those from him for me and MM.

So as we were walking to the gates of the show, I was telling MM all about the awesome people who got us the tickets and who do we see? The people who got us the tickets! That was pretty cool because we got to thank them in person!

Once we got through the gates, we all got some snacks and drinks and went to find spots. MM and I had general admission tickets so we were on the lawn whereas her friends were down in the standing room only area right below the stage. MM and I were happy with our seats, we got to sit (it was hot!) and listen to some awesome music with a pretty good view. Mad props to the Charter Amphitheater in Simpsonville for giant screens everywhere!

While the second opening act was playing, MM's friends texted us saying they had two extra tickets for the standing room area under the stage. I think we were headed down there before she even responded back "yes!" We kept joking all night that "my friends got us in the door, her friends got us on the floor!"

And then we got to enjoy the great music of Mumford and Sons. We even got to see some of it too (until some 6'7" guy stood in front of us). The pictures don't do justice to where we were standing or the wonderful things we heard. 

Overall, it was a great night with good music and awesome friends! Can't wait to do it again!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I love the idea of a blog. The actual upkeep and continuous writing...not so much.   That being said, I'm back (and hope to get back in the swing of things)!

A little over a month ago, I packed up my car after work on Friday, picked up a friend, and headed down to Edisto Beach for a girls weekend! It was an absolute blast and just what I needed!  

After a great 3+ hour car ride full of laughs and good times, we made it to the beach around 10:45 pm Friday night.  We unloaded the car and then plopped down at the table with the rest of the group for even more laughs. Five other women plus myself sat around the table til about 1:00 am before we headed to bed.

Thanks to my internal clock that doesn't understand the concept of sleeping in, I woke up around 6:30 am on Saturday. I laid in bed until 7, and then headed out to the deck to do my morning devotions. It was absolutely beautiful! I got to see the sun come up over the water and got to see a pod of dolphins swimming by! You just can't be that on a sunny Saturday morning.  

As a few other started waking up, we began working on a puzzle. By the time 4 of us started working on it, we realized it was missing pieces and had pieces from another puzzle. It made it quite a challenge!

By about 11, everyone was up and ready to start the day. Two of the ladies ran (literally) down to the market to get some seafood for dinner, while the rest of us stayed back to do some yoga. After our morning "workouts" we gathered around the kitchen for lunch.  We finally headed down to the beach around 2. It was amazing-- not very crowded, a slight breeze, and not too hot! You could not have asked for a better setting!  At 3:30, half of us scrambled back up to the beach house to watch the Georgia- Carolina game.  Clemson was playing a noon game against SC State that wasn't televised, so I got updates on my phone while we were at the beach- can't beat that! After the game, everyone returned to the beach house to shower and clean up. While prepping for dinner, some one busted out the Wii and Just Dance!  It was hysterical- and another workout!  We danced and danced. Apparently there are a few videos floating around that keep getting threatened to be posted to YouTube! Ha!  After a delicious meal, we ended up watching videos on YouTube and then dancing to Just Dance some more! Saturday was a long jam-packed day that was absolutely fantastic!

Sunday morning came early for me, so I wondered to the deck for my quiet time. There is nothing more peaceful that the sound of the ocean and the Word in front of you. 

After reveling in my time with the Lord, I went inside to finish our puzzle! In the end we were only missing a few pieces, so it wasn't as bad as we first thought.

After that, we called one of the local adventure companies and ordered paddle boards for the day. It was awesome- we called and they brought the boards, lifejackets, and paddles, and then picked them up when we were done with them that day. I have paddle boarded before, but never on the ocean. It was... there are no words for it. The sun was rising up over the water, the water had a nice, steady wave to it- just peaceful. Moving along through the water was just refreshing. 

Now that I've painted a pretty picture, let me tell you how it really was before we got to the beautiful moments. One of the ladies and I took the boards out first. Well, where we tried to enter the water had a huge drop off about 3 feet in. I know this because while we were walking the boards out, all of a sudden my 5'1" self went completely underwater! The board and paddle went flying. Once I recovered from the ground disappearing under my feet and watering gushing in my mouth and up my nose, I climbed onto the board.  I use the word "climbed" loosely as words cannot be truly used to describe how I was able to get on that board. Once we both got on the boards, we sat up on our knees to paddle the rest of the way out. Being the adventurous one that I am, I was the first to stand. It was a little shaky getting up, but once I was there I was good, or so I thought.  The great thing about the sun shining on the water was that we could see ALL the jellyfish in the water. And there were A LOT of them-small, medium, and large ones! Naturally, since we could see that the water was full of jellyfish, the one thing we didn't want to do was fall into the water. So of course I fell in three times. The current was pretty strong that morning, so the first time I fell in was while I was turning around to see how far away we had gotten from the house and whether or not we needed to turn around. I turned so far back, that I lost my balance. I turned around quickly to try and regain my balance and went right into the water. Luckily I was able to escape the jellyfish. Getting back on the board, I stayed on my knees for a bit to make sure I was balanced. When I tried standing up again, guess what happened? Back to the water I went. I quickly got back on the board and stood up right away.  For awhile, it was smooth sailing. And then, all of a sudden I was back in the water. I still don't know how that happened. After the third fall, I guess I finally figured out how to stand and had a wonderful time.

When we came back in, we were about 20 yards to the right of where we entered and lo and behold- NO DROP OFF!  That made things so much better! Of course, the next group of ladies that went out made sure to go to the spot with no drop off.  While they spent time on the boards, the rest of us enjoyed our last few hours on the beach. After about an hour or two, we all headed back up to the house to clean up ourselves and the house.

All in all, I could not have asked for a more relaxing and wonderful weekend with a bunch of awesome women! The stories and friendships from that weekend were absolutely amazing. I can't wait for next year!

Take a Hike!

Over a year ago, I was given a backpack and I've been dying to use it ever since! Well, this Memorial Day weekend I was finally able to put it to use!  I packed my pack to go on a quick overnight camping and hiking trip with my dad!

Ready to head off into the woods!

On Sunday afternoon, I met my Dad in Clemson and together we drove up to the Walhalla Fish Hatchery in Mountain Rest, SC.  From there, we took the East Fork (or Fish Hatchery) Trail to the Chattooga River.  It's a fairly easy 2.5 mile route with lots of beautiful sights, including the Fish Hatchery Falls! After we got to the Chattooga, we took a few minutes to watch the trout jumping in the rapids, and then we set up camp for the night! The entire walk in Dad gave me a speech about how the SC bear population is the largest its ever been, so needless to say we "bear-trapped" our food for the evening once we were done. But oh my- our dinner! We had chicken marinaded in sesame ginger sauce with carrots and broccoli over brown rice!  We wrapped everything in tin foil and cooked it over the open fire! It was so delicious!  We ended our evening sitting by the fire, listening to the river and enjoying the glow of the full moon!

Sleep wasn't exactly our friend that night. My yoga mat did nothing against the ground and I have a mummy sleeping bag. Mummy bags are great for the cold (which it definitely was), but are terrible options for people toss and turn and like to curl up in their sleeps (me).  And poor dad- he forgot his sleeping bag! Needless to say, neither one of us got much sleep that night. 

Ellicott's Rock

We started Monday morning off with grits over the campfire and then an early morning hike up to Ellicott's Rock. Ellicott's Rock is a giant rock placed in the middle of the river that was used by a surveyor to mark the boundary between Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It was about a 3.4 mile round trip.  We did this hike without packs and it felt wonderful! Both of us were not looking forward to putting our packs back on to hike out later on in the day!

After the early morning hike, we came back and broke camp and then headed back out to the East Fork Trail. Once we got back to the car and dropped off our packs (and stretched our backs out), we headed over to the Fish Hatchery to take a look around! I had never been before, although Dad had so he had a good time explaining to me about the different types of trouts and how the hatchery worked. 

This was a great introduction to backpacking! I loved spending time with my dad, hiking through such a gorgeous place, and learning about the different plant life (Dad used to be a Forester- every trip into the woods is an education)! Even though it was a quick trip- over 8 miles in less than 21 hours- it was still a blast! I can't wait to do this again!

 The Fish Hatchery Falls (kinda hard to see)

 The Chattooga (and our view from our campsite)

the campsite

Dad showing off how to use a headlamp

 Our "Bear-Trapped" Food

Cooking Dinner over the fire

The result- yum!

The Two Trails we hiked!

Side Note- Mad props to Burt's Bees Herbal Insect Repellent. That stuff worked wonderfully and didn't smell terrible!

I Work Hard for the Money

      As of last week, I am officially a working girl. Last week was my first week at my new job and it was great!  I loved trying to figure out all the new words and programs I'll be using and getting to know my new coworkers better!

      Monday felt like a long day because it was mostly paperwork and reading document after document trying to familiarize myself with words and phrases that I would be using/needing for my job.  I was supposed to do some online training but the system was down so that got pushed back a few days. Overall, it was still a good day as I got a feel for the office and my new computer!

     Tuesday picked up a lot more! I shadowed one of my coworkers and dove right into the work! I'm very much a hands-on learner so this was awesome for me! Before I knew it, it was 2 o'clock and we figured we should probably stop for lunch then!

    Wednesday and Thursday were just like Tuesday- busy! I enjoy this new job because the day really does fly by and I am constantly doing work!  It's also great because when I need to buckle down and do a task, I can plug in my headphones, turn on itunes, and get down to business!  Thursday evening I finished all of my training and received my administrator credentials/access for one of the programs we use for work! Yay!

     Before I knew it, it was Friday evening and my first week of work was done! I had an awesome week and my coworkers thought so too! They gave me a checklist of things to get done for the week and I got it all done and more! This week they're going to give me a bit more responsibility and let me "dip my toes in the water" with being responsible for one our classes! As I go along, I'll get more and more classes until I'm completely responsible for all of our North America classes! Whoo!

     The one downfall to this new job is that my office could be used as a training facility for people going to Antartica! It's soo cold! I keep saying I'm going to bring a blanket. I'm pretty sure they think I'm kidding, but you just wait- I don't like to be cold! But, as long as I can drink Diet Dr. Pepper and listen to music while I work, I think I can suck it up and deal with it!

     All joking aside, I love my new job! I'm really excited for what's in store for me and what the future holds. I'm so thankful to all the people that prayed I would find a job and that it would be good for me. God has blessed me immensely this year and I am so excited to use this new job for His glory!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered... I'm Hired!

My year started off with a bang, just not quite the one I wanted. I found out in early January that I did not get into the Second-Degree Nursing Program at Clemson. After an hour, I was completely ok with that. I knew God had a plan for me and realized I had to quit trying to pursue my own.  

I've been chasing after a career path in the medical field for quite some time now. It seemed every time I tried to go further in the field it didn't work out for me. Looking back I completely realize that it was all a part of God's plan.  Each of those steps is not the path I would have chosen for myself. Throughout this entire journey, I had to rely on God because each decision I made for myself was wrong. Through Him I came to be where I am today.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105

Since my senior year of college, I've had to truly turn to God for direction in my life. If I had gotten into grad school, I wouldn't have moved to Greenville. If I hadn't moved to Greenville, I wouldn't have gotten my job with Hope Reach. If I hadn't had my job there, I wouldn't have met the Martin Family.  If I wouldn't have met the Martin Family, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to try and pursue further education. And, if it wasn't for the Martin Family, I wouldn't be able to say,            

"I have a job!"

I am so incredibly thankful for the Martin Family. They have done so much for me in the almost two years that I have known them. They invited me in to big moments in their family's lives and helped share in mine as well. As I was leaving their house on the Friday that I received my rejection letter from Clemson, Mrs. Stephanie said, " Don't worry about. If you don't get in, we'll help you find a job. If God closes this door, He will open another one." Little did she know how prophetic her words were. 

Less than a month later, Mrs. Stephanie came to me with a job opportunity at the place where she works. Over the next few days, she told me more and more details about the job. All I could think was "this sounds perfect- and it's really different from the medical field so it would be awesome to explore that avenue!" 

I went home the weekend of February 8th to do my taxes and talk to my parents about this opportunity. Initially, I was told it would be contract position, which would mean I would have no benefits and have to pay my own taxes quarterly (yuck).  After looking at a possible salary and calculating having to pay my own taxes, and buy all the extra insurance, I was still able to budget enough to live on, contribute to savings, and pay off my school loans!  I was pumped! As soon as I came back from that weekend, I set up a meeting with the boss of the company.

On Friday, February 22, I had a Skype interview with the boss (it's a good thing it was a skype interview- I was sweating bullets!).  After discussing my skill set and why I thought I would be a good candidate for this position, we actually started talking about the job. And this is where the good news begins- it was actually a 

FULL- TIME STAFF POSITION WITH SOME BENEFITS 

and the salary was a bit more than I thought it would be as well! The phone interview went extremely well, so we then arranged an in-person interview so I could meet the rest of the office and make sure I got along well with them.

After much traveling and sickness, we finally arranged to meet in-person on Monday, March 25. That was an awesome experience. I got to check out the office (where employees work on Macs- score!) and meet the rest of the staff who were amazing. 

The next day, I arranged another phone interview with the CEO who lives in NY. We talked for quite a while and it went fairly well! After that, I was just waiting to hear back about the job. On Thursday, March 28, I got an email saying "Welcome!" I just had to send them a few things before the official contracts came out. 

I received the official offer of employment on Wednesday, April 3. After looking over it for a few days and talking to the boss on the phone to clarify some things, 

I officially accepted the offer of employment 

on Monday, April 8, 2013 at 4:08 PM! 

On Monday, May 6, 2013, I will officially start working at PPS International as a Project Coordinator for a Major International Company! What will I be doing, you ask? Well, lets just say if I described my job to you, I would feel a lot like Chandler from Friends because nobody will ever remember what I do! The best way to describe it is that I'll be doing logistics (think the UPS commercials) for the North America Branch of a major company! 

This past Sunday, I heard a sermon on bold prayer. One of the points was from Luke 7: 23,

 "And blessed is the one who is not offended by me." 

The preacher then paraphrased that verse by saying "blessed is he who doesn't run away when he doesn't get exactly what he wants- God says no to good, to give us awesome."  I never got what I thought I wanted, yet God continued to bless me- with amazing people and opportunities I didn't deserve but by His grace received. There were good opportunities He gave me along the way, but they were all in His plan to get me to awesome!

Oh, and the best part of my new job- they keep Diet Dr. Pepper stocked in the fridge :)

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 

I, I, I Work[ed] Out!

(in a sing-song voice)  I'm baacck!

Considering my last post was in late January and it is now one week into April, one could say I've been on a blogging hiatus. While that's true, yes, I've also just been really busy!

As mentioned before (see "The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Marathon) I hurt my back last October while running my first marathon.

I had a 4-mile race shortly after and did no more running until the day after Christmas- I just had to check out my new Garmin GPS Running Watch! Both experiences were not very good so I decided that the best thing for my back was to take a break from running. From past jobs at a physical therapy clinic, I knew back injuries were serious and I didn't want to do anything that could permanently stop me from running.

My plan was to take a full month off from running. Well, I did. And then I took some more.

My back was still bothering me and time just really wasn't my friend for the next few months so I continued to take time off from not only running, but all exercise as well.

In late February, I went to see a chiropractor and felt much better! I wasn't too sure about seeing one at first, but once I did, I realized why everyone goes to one! It was a wonderful experience!

I started doing some sporadic exercising in March- a 1-mile run here, yoga there, but nothing consistent like I needed to be doing.

That all changed this week.

I worked out 5 out of 7 days this week!  Before the marathon, I was working out 6 of 7 days, so I'm still not back to where I was, but it's definitely a start!   Either way, this is a big accomplishment for me!

I'm coming back, baby!

Who needs Resolutions?

Since this isn't about New Year's Resolutions, it is completely fine that it is coming at the end of January!

Instead of resolutions, I thought a really fun thing to do for the New Year would be to make a New Year's Bucket List because everyone wants to get those lists accomplished!

So I, along with a group of friends from church, have come up with our 2013 Bucket List! Some of it is stuff we've done before, some we haven't done in a long time, and some we've never done before! So, bucket list may not be the best name, but it is shorter to say than "that stuff we really want to do, or do again list!"

1. Play Paintball. 
2. Go to the Shooting Range
3. Shoot Clay Pigeons ( this kinda goes hand in hand with #2)
4. Go Camping
5. Go (Real) Hiking ( also can be done with #4)
6. Do the 47-Mile Hope Relay
7. Hit Fastballs at the Batting Cage

I'm sure as the year progresses more will be added, but for now this seems like a fun filled way to have a great year!

not MY plan

" For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."     - Jeremiah 29:11

Since Last August, I have been back in school taking some prerequisite classes for the accelerated nursing program at Clemson.  Right after last semester ended, I emailed the people at Clemson for some last minute questions and found out that I would be hearing back from the admittance committee the first week of January.

I didn't really think about it over Christmas break, but on January 1st the email came to the forefront of my mind.  I had been continually praying about this process, but on January 1st my prayers changed. Jeremiah 29:11 became my constant prayer as well as peace and serenity in following God's will in whatever it may be.

On January 11th, I had just finished watching the Grey's Anatomy episode I had missed the following night and decided to go check the mail for that day.  I know it's just a TV show, but I have followed Grey's since the beginning and for the hour that I'm watching it, I am fully invested in that show. That particular episode had me tearing up a bit so I was already emotional when I went to check the mail.

Heading down to get the mail I just had this feeling I was going to get a Clemson letter in the mail. Each step toward the mailbox made my heart beat a little faster. Then, as soon as I opened the mailbox the Clemson letter was the first thing I saw. I knew right away that I had not gotten into the program because it was the smaller envelope and nowhere did it say Tiger Town Bound. As I headed back up to my apartment I opened the enveloped (in reality it was more like I ripped it open because of course the thing had to be sealed with something akin to superglue) to confirm what I already knew.

Once I read it, the tears came right away. I called my parents and one of my best friends right away, knowing that my other best friend would be home from work soon.  From opening the letter and talking to everyone, it seemed like a lot longer that an hour had passed.  Looking back, once I initially told them I didn't get in, the next thing I was said was "now I'm in all of this debt!" I think I may have been more upset about that than not getting in.

But, after that initial hour, I was all cried out and I realized that I was ok with not getting in. After talking with my parents and friends about what that meant and what comes next, I was genuinely ok and actually a little bit excited. I figured out I am going to go ahead and finish out this semester, so if it is in God's will for me to try this again, I will already have the classes done. Then, once the semester is over I am going to head back out into the workforce for awhile and get out of debt. Being back out in the workforce became more and more appealing to me as the night went on and brought a great sense of peace to me. Immediately I was able to recognize that this peace did not come from me.

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."  - Mark 11:24

I had been praying for peace and serenity for whatever God's will for my life was and I had it.  My prayers were further affirmed because by Sunday night I had three different people with connections offer to help me find a job or that would send my resume out to people.  Laying in bed on that Sunday night I thought it was so fitting that I had spent so much time working with the sheet music for It Is Well With My Soul, as it was the constant refrain running through my mind:

IT IS WELL, WITH MY SOUL, IT IS WELL, IT IS WELL, WITH MY SOUL 

                                                              

A Pinteresting Christmas

As is the usual with this blog, this post is late. In my defense, I just gave my final Pinterest gift on Friday so I have an excuse this time!

Along with the vast majority of females in America, I turned to Pinterest when it came time for Christmas! I used it for decorating ideas, party food ideas, wrapping ideas and gift ideas! This is mostly a picture blog of how everything turned out!

DECORATING IDEAS:

•  little tree on a table 
• ornaments in the lantern 

PARTY FOOD IDEAS:

• When it comes to Christmas treats and snacks, I had that covered way before Pinterest came around!
• However, I did find this fun idea: Hot Chocolate Bar!

WRAPPING IDEAS:

• Pinterest showed all these cute ways to wrap using brown shipping paper, so I gave it my own little twist!
• I bought tan paper (not as dark as shipping paper and had a hint of shimmer to it!) then I used either red or green ribbon on top. Then, I used a red paint pen on the green ribbon presents and a green paint pen on the red ribbon presents to write out who it was to! Since all my presents looked the same, I didn't need to write who it was from!

• This may have been my favorite present to address! Can you guess what/ who its for?

and last but not least....

PRESENT IDEAS:

• So, as of December I officially have two uncles that are music ministers. I was planning on doing the present ahead of time for the first music minister and when I found out the other was accepting his call into Ministry, I thought to myself "this is perfect for both of them, especially since Uncle Ryan will have a new office to decorate!" ( and if you know my Uncle Ryan, you know he could care less about decorating- he put up stuffed deer, antlers, and fish on his wall)
• I made the It Is Well Music Shadow Painting. The pictures are a semi step-by-step of how I made this.

• After about 4 layers of orange paint, I could still see the sheet music through the paint, so I threw a coat of tan over it and solved the problem! Then once it was dry, it got another coat of orange!

• I stenciled on the caribou/moose for the hunter and the bird on the branch for the first music minister.

• For my second pinterest gift, I made long-distance mugs! One of my best friends is moving to Louisville, KY, so of course I had to make these for her!