Weekend Rewind

It's been a long, but wonderful week starting my new job. I was telling one of my friends from my old store last night- I don't remember the last time I slept until my alarm went off for an entire week. Usually I'm up way before then, stressing or worrying about something ridiculous. It's been nice to have that stress lifted and put those things behind me, even if there are new stresses (but exciting ones) about starting my new job. 

This weekend was short and sweet for me. I picked up an overtime shift on Saturday to make some extra money- I've been enjoying my bike so much, I want to eventually upgrade to another one that is super fast. 

On Saturday while I was at work, Brandon found our long-lost cat, Boo-Boo, who you can read about here. We still can't believe it!

Sunday, by default, was my lazy day. It was awesome. I slept in, watched Hulu Plus, and relaxed all morning. In the afternoon, I went over to Kelly's to see Anniston and my parents. Kelly has a few pictures from the afternoon here. 

Kelly and I decided to go for a bike ride, and ended up riding for a little over an hour! Thank goodness, because I needed some exercise. When we got back, we were starving, so we headed to Swanky's for dinner. 

Don't you love how my mom is looking at some random object 10 feet to the right of me for no reason? I love that too. Love how easy it is to get a good picture of these two. {insert sarcasm}

After dinner, I headed promptly back to my bed to continue my day of laziness. More Hulu Plus was involved, and then a long, wonderful night of sleep. Sleeping until my alarm went off, again.  I could get used to this!

He's Alive!

When Brandon and I started dating he had just adopted Carl, who is evil and wakes us up every morning at 5am (after taking up 1/3 of the bed all night).

About a year after that, we adopted Booger, aka Boo-Boo. He was sweet and fat and cuddly but still a little bit annoying sometimes with all his meowing.

I'm sure you're all aware (since I talk about her all of the time)- in 2007 I found the love of my life.

I make jokes, but all three of our animals were loved and incredibly spoiled. 

Until December of 2009, when Boo-Boo had gotten into the habit of thinking he needed to go outside to play like Phoebe did. Well, one day he never came back inside, and we couldn't ever find him. Brandon was heartbroken, and I was too. He walked around the neighborhood for weeks looking for him. We couldn't stand the thought of something happening to him, or of him going hungry. (You can tell by looking at him he never went hungry)

Boo-Boo was the sweetest, cuddliest cat I've ever met. I AM NOT a cat person, but I loved Boo-Boo. 

Well, today Brandon was running in Chickasaw, which is a really nice neighborhood that is exactly 1 mile from our house. Running along, just enjoying the day.... and then he saw Boo-Boo.

Sprawled out on the front porch, being all fat and content. 

He spoke with the lady who found him, and she said he's been living there every since we lost him. She feeds him wet and dry food, he sleeps with her daughter every night, and a girl who lives next door who isn't allowed to have pets comes to visit him almost every day. 

I'm sure you can imagine our shock and happiness that he is alive and well!  

Just in case you aren't convinced- here is a side-by-side comparison. I knew from the second I saw this picture it was him!

I'm sad he isn't here with us, but I honestly think it was meant to be. Boo-boo belongs in a nice, rich lady's house where he gets to eat fancy wet food, bathe in the sun on the front porch and snuggle in a bed that isn't over-crowded with 2 other animals. 

This made my day!

Get Ready Memphis!

It's that time of year again- time to get registered and begin training or preparation for the St. Jude Marathon!

This race has become an annual event for us, not only because it's local and convenient, but also because we truly believe it is one of the best races to support and participate in. The half-marathon last year was one of the best experiences of my life- running through the St. Jude campus literally brought tears to my eyes, and the support from spectators throughout the course was amazing. Also, you get to finish in the stadium! Rounding that corner to enter the stadium was pretty intense. 

I want to challenge anyone reading this to sign up- even if you aren't a long distance runner, the 5k is a blast! Want to do more than the 5k, but don't think you can train for 13.1 miles? This Memphian was 7 months pregnant last December, but was determined to participate- so she walked the 13.1!

If you don't live in Memphis- you can come and see Graceland, Sun Studios, eat some BBQ (or BBQ Tofu, my favorite!), and hang out on Beale St. The weather is usually around 50* which is perfect for a marathon. 

I'll be running the half-marathon, and Brandon will be running the full- just like last year. I'm really hoping my sister will get to participate this year as well. Last year, she supported me by running 3 miles with me and giving me the gift of a Lush bath, and so I'm hoping if her time/schedule allows, I can return the favor and support her to the finish line of her first half! (In all honesty, she'll probably beat me to the finish line.)

  Registration opens on May 1st (that's next week!) , and I expect the race to sell out significantly faster this year (Last year it sold out in July).  So get your spot- I hope to see you there!

http://www.stjudemarathon.org/

Thankful Thursday + It's Ok Thursday

I'm so very very happy right now. I got to start my new job this week, and so far I love it! So of course, I'm thankful for that. And I'm thankful that sometimes I get to wear pretty outfits instead of scrubs. 

But it's OK that my husband cannot focus a camera even when it is set on Auto-Focus with a touch screen guider to help with face detection to take a picture of my outfit. (I took this one myself with a timer.)

But also, I'm thankful for my Grandmother, who in true southern lady fashion made her famous homemade cheese straws for me to take to the office on my first day.

And It's OK that I was so proud of myself for only eating one before I took it to them, but now I'm very sad because I don't have any. 

I'm thankful because I have been looking for a simple gold necklace for a long time, and I finally found one. 

It's OK that the only reason I loved and bought this one is because it makes me think of Katniss and how awesome she is. 

I'm thankful for J.Crew, and that I am slowly but surely building a solid and classic wardrobe. 

It's OK that I stalk their website/catalog so much that I can spot a J.Crew item from a mile away.

Example:

I also spotted the Cece ballet flats in several episode of New Girl, and the dotted jacquard pullover in a different episode of Glee. 

Which reminds me, I'm also thankful for Hulu Plus, which is so much cheaper and so much better than cable.  I think it's around $9.99/ month, and we can watch pretty much any TV show whenever we want, AND you can even watch on your iPad or iPhone! 

Have you seen New Girl? It's my new show. (The first 2-3 episodes aren't great but after that they get so much better)

Lastly, I'm thankful that I ran into Kelly and Anniston yesterday while they were running and I was riding my bike, + I got to visit them this morning for a few hours before work. I love double doses of Annie. 

And it's OK that Annie totally peed all over me this morning. Really, all over me. But I promise, it's OK. I told her I would get her back. You know, when she's 16 and trying to impress a boy... I'm going to embarrass her by showing pictures and telling stories. 

Soak Up The Sun

I had the day off yesterday and several things on my to-do list, but I took some time to play with Phoebe outside, and practice some manual focusing with my camera. 

Carl thought about playing too, but she decided to be angry and sneaky instead. 

With Phoebe's seizures, I've been very worried about her lately. Even though my wonderful vet assures me that epilepsy has not been shown to shorten lifespan, I still can't help but worry sometimes about how long she'll be with us. She's only 5 this summer, but I want her to be able to stay with me as long as possible. 

She's been acting different lately- going into her "safe place" more often to sleep at night instead of sleeping in the bed cuddled next to me. For anyone who knows anything about Phoebe, this is odd behavior for her. She is usually attached to me 24 hours/day when I am home. As much as I miss her and wish that being with me was always her "safe place", I have learned not to force her and to just let her be. 

Thank goodness, as soon as the sun comes up she is attached to me like old times. It makes me so happy to see her having fun and playing.  One of her favorite things to do is enjoy the weather. In the Fall, she loves to sit outside and let her hair blow in the wind. When it's sunny out, you will find her bathing in it, like so. 

I think I need to take a lesson from her, and just soak it up. Enjoy her while I have her, and try not to worry so much. Just live in the moment, and don't worry about when the moment will end. That is true for everything in life, really. 

My Granny scared us all a bit this weekend, as well. She has such a carefree, positive spirit that I hope with some rest, a few medication changes, and some prayers, she'll be back to normal in no time. 

I'm Moving On...

The past weekend was my last at my current job/store. It was bittersweet, since I'm so excited to start my new job, but very sad not to be working with some of my favorites everyday. Ernie and the technicians working on Friday surprised me with Jason's Deli for lunch, yummy cupcakes, and a card. 

I made everyone promise me that they would call me every 5 minutes. They didn't seem to get the "Elf" reference, but they did promise to keep in touch. A few of us girls have plans to go out to dinner soon, and Dominiece and I are going to get together to play with our cameras. 

 Of course, I took my camera all weekend to take pictures with everyone. I only included the one with Dominiece because I know she (hopefully) won't care, and also because she can wake up 10 minutes before leaving for work and look better than everyone in the pharmacy. 

It seems silly, because they are all just a phone call or a short drive away, but when you work with someone 10+ hours a day, 3-4 days a week for months and months, keeping in touch on Facebook just isn't the same. I'll miss them lots. 

Princess Anniston

Just practicing my photog skills on my favorite model......

Some Crewlade and Random Thoughts

Guess what? Three days this week, I got dressed in clothes that were not scrubs or workout clothes! That must be a record for me this year. I've been so proud of myself lately- I've held out on purchasing all of my J.Crew items until they went on sale. And I mean sale, plus 25% off!

For example, this skirt- I got for about $60. 

And this bag, about $70. I treated myself to it because I knew the large size would come in handy once I start my new job. Which- good news- is next week! 

That's been my "excuse" for my MANY J.Crew sale purchases recently. I get to wear fancy clothes at my new job when I want!

In running news---

My post-funk success has continued! I'm still not running as much as I'd like, but I'm trying to take it slow and still have fun with it. I think May 1st will be my official day to start training for San Francisco.  I'm still really, really enjoying riding my bike. So much so that I want a real cycling bike so that I can go super fast. I figure if I can't be super fast while running, I can be super fast while cycling. 

Also, I own these beauties now.

Source: store.nike.com via Judith on Pinterest

Problem is, they are so beautiful I've been scared to wear them because I don't want to get them messed up!

I took pictures of a beautiful 2 year old last week. She was a little shy and nervous, but I somehow managed to pull out a few (IMO) good ones.

When I'm not working, exercising, or spending time with family, I'm online. Lately I've been shopping way too much, but the majority of that time I'm stalking other photographers and reading anything I can about photography.  

Really that's what's going on with me in a nutshell. I work. I shop. I run. I bike. I take pictures. 

In a Funk

I tried to pretend like it wasn't happening for a while, but eventually I had to admit it to myself. I have been in a running "funk" for almost three weeks now. 

It started one Sunday morning, when Kelly and I went for an early morning job in Chickasaw. Brandon had made me a very yummy breakfast, but it was a lot heavier than my normal cereal. Well, I could feel that "heavy" in my stomach the entire time. I made it about a mile, then had to stop and take walk breaks.

Walk breaks?!?

I don't take walk breaks on a 3 mile run! Especially when I'm running with Kelly. Once she got back in her groove after having Anniston, Kelly and I always do well when we are running together. 

After that, each time I tried to run there was another excuse for why I was doing so terrible. It was suddenly hot and humid, I didn't have time to go to Chickasaw and was forced to be bored while running in my neighborhood, I simply didn't feel motivated, etc. etc.  It was so frustrating. 

Luckily, Brandon and I decided to buy new bikes, so I've still been able to get a fair amount of exercise. 

But this morning... this morning everything came together perfectly. It was beautiful weather, I started early enough to have time to go to Chickasaw, I stuck to my normal cereal for breakfast, and...... just for good luck..... I wore my beloved, never-fail-me, I-will-now-be-faithful-to-you-until-I-die Nike Free's. 

I don't know why I even try other shoes....

Ok, I do know.

 It's because on longer distance runs, (6+ miles) my feet start to hurt from the lack of support in the Free's. But from now on, if it's 5 miles or less, I'll be in my Free's. 

Let's hope my good fortune continues tomorrow, and maybe even the rest of the week! I'm trying to not worry about my "funk", but a few dramatic thoughts about not being a runner anymore and being forced to try to get into serious cycling did cross my mind. (But being a runner AND a semi-serious cycler does sound appealing and fun.) As much as I like to have fun running, I do have a half-marathon with the most brutal hills in the U.S. in 3.5 months.... It's about time to start getting serious and get my butt in gear. 

I just feel so much better after a good run. For like, the rest of the day. I love endorphins. I might still be high on them. 

I also love this commercial. And Nike Free's. I might need that pink pair...