the three year anniversary.

it was 1 week ago today that i got to officially celebrate my 3 year anniversary with my love:) we did do most of our celebrating the weekend before since we only really see each other late at night when comes home during the week. so lets rewind to that saturday...

after a 12 miler that morning, a long nap, and the normal saturday errands we were finally ready to celebrate! richard kept telling me we had somewhere to be on the strip at 730p so we needed to dinner early. so we decided to on red lobster (after many hints from him about crab legs) and it was just as good as always! and seriously who can resist those cheesy bisquits:) we hightailed it out of there later than he was hoping because he got caught up talking to the waiter about who knows what.

now i was sure this whole time i knew we were going to see a cirque de solei show. richard talks about wanting to see one often (i do too) but i was really hoping for something different. as were driving i notice we keep passing all the ones i was pretty sure he wants to see. we pull into caesars and again i am sure i know what we are going to see, celine dion. i love her, its true, but i have seen her once already. she was amazing just not what i was hoping for. then he totally surprises me with il divo playing that night instead!! they are an amazing opera/pop/broadway type foursome from all over the world, literally. they had an amazing orchestra for this us tour and it was so different than i even imagined. i had seen commercials that they were coming to town and told richard i would love to see them, but it was something i never expected! seriously people, if you havent heard of them or have skipped out on seeing them you need to asap.

afterward we walked around for a bit stopping in the nike store to check out the olympic stuff in which i proceeded to buy another tank top (but i am in love). next we stopped at the cheesecake factory to take home some dessert. i was wayyy too full after dinner to have anything, but a few hours later i was ready for something sweet :) we took it home and enjoyed it in our pjs after a insanely long line to get out of the caesars parking lot. check out my absolute favorite song by them :)

sunday i slept as long as possible and then we decided to venture out to see the new spiderman movie. omg was it good! kinda long, but you dont really notice until you get out of the movie and look at the time. the theater was pretty empty which was nice and we could pick our seats. that night we picked up pei wei on the way home and i noticed i had only really eaten 2 meals at home all weekend. something i was definitely ok with :)

as wednesday came i started to get a little nervous in giving richard his present. you see i wasnt totally sure what to get him until early the week before. and when i tried to add on in the nike store he immediately said no, i apparently had told him no clothes. then i really started to get nervous. he was very set in that he didnt want it until our actual day, which really meant he couldnt have it until he got home that night. waiting seemed to take forever! earlier that day when i returned to work from lunch i had the most beautiful pink roses waiting for me :) they smelled fantastic!

be-a-utiful.

finally richard came home and immediately tore into his present sitting on the couch. the smile on his face when he realized it was the shoes he had been eyeing from adidas for the last month made the wait definitely worth it. i knew i had made the right choice.

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we have come a long way, he and i. there have been ups and downs, crazy adventures, changes for us both, and more laughs than either of us knew when we started this thing 3 years ago. happy anniversary to us!

love. love.

the numbers game.

recently i have been thinking about numbers and what they really mean.

for example:
*i have run 388 miles in 2012 so far!
*i only have 3 classes left to complete for my masters degree, whoa.
*it was 97* on my way to work today at 830a. welcome to the desert.
*i have completed 7 half marathons in the 3 years with another 2 on the way.

numbers often lead me to countdowns oddly enough:
*there are 96 days to my dream race, the nike womens 1/2 marathon!
*i will finish school in 186 days, omg.
*only 4 more days until payday!
*in 25 days i might see a ufo at the et midnight race hehe.

now that is a lot of numbers and just a sample of all the ones i have running through my brain at any given moment. (dont even get me started on my work numbers, phew.) the last few weeks have been pretty hectic and completely overwhelming in my job, my family life, school, my relationship, my body, my friendships, and my training. there have been a lot of changes recently in all of the above, some i have responded well to and some i havent. it seems as if the age old philopshy is true...



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while change and numbers seem to be happening at an alarming rate these days, there is one thing i need to remember...


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 i know this sounds simple but it can actually be quite difficult when you really try. if i keep going at full speed ahead and only worry about getting to the countdown days i am going to miss the fun things in between. like the 2 super fun bbqs i have gotten to go to the last 2 weekends with great friends. they werent big productions or things i counted down to, but low key where i actually got to take a step back and have really fun nights. or the phone call i got from my brother from another mother (my brothers bff from preschool) that said he was in town and  i needed to meet them for dinner on friday night so i could have a milkshake, when the plan wasnt to meet up until sunday. and the student from chicago who only gave a few word answers on the phone, but enveloped me in a huge hug with mom and dad the moment i met them face-to-face on campus for the 1st time. plus the sunday i finally got to sleep in as long as i wanted without an alarm (glorious).

they will come, the countdowns will all eventually fall to zero, but what did i miss along the way just to check off one more day? these are just a few things i need to remember to treasure on the way to those big planned days.


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the june 2012 running recap.

total run mileage: 83.95 miles
highest weekly run mileage: 21.01 miles
# runs: 14
# rest days: 9

# xtraining workouts: 7

favorite run: the one completed on national running day! i was so in the mood plus my legs just took off with no chance of slowing down, have to soak up every step on those days:)

boom!

 most hardcore run: my 9 miler last weekend for sure. we were in california for some family things so i took full advantage of new scenery. but only 4 hours of sleep and massive hills the entire first half was probably more then i was really ready for. my legs/whole body was screaming the rest of the day!

current reads: well my new class started again and its all about theory which equals lots of textbook reading/research. i did start the 2^nd book in the fifty shades of grey series and am seriously trying to figure out any amount of time i can to finish it soon!

current shame-inducing guilty pleasure: i recently found out that the gas station right near our house has an amazing iced coffee drink. i was reserving it for days when i get gas (once a week) but it may have crept into my car a few more times than that. oops. but how can you say no to an ice mocha with 105* temps outside??

current obsession: the olympic trials! any kind diving, gymnastics, swimming, track and field. i love them!

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current drink: see my shame-inducing guilty pleasure above hehe.

current song: call me maybe. not even kidding, i really love it :)

current wish-list: new work/life clothes. i had a great plan to purchase some soon and then the dentist informed me i need some work done on a crack that will take the extra fun money :/

current need: book at least our hotel for nwm. i have heard rumors things are already booked and i need to just make a decision about it already!

current triumph: signing up for my next official race!! ok, i havent officially signed up, but i am training for it. its called the et ½ marathon and it is on the extra tresstrial highway right next to area 51! they bus you up there from the hard rock hotel and you are dropped off at the “black mailbox” then run to the little alien dinner. you think im kidding…check it out.

current bane of my existence: the lack of extra fun money lol. it seems like everytime i get some and even when i try to do the responsible thing like pay off some debt something bigger comes up, like registering my car, dentist bill, etc. oh to be an adult haha.

current goal: to not dwell on the future and remember to enjoy things now! i have some really cool things coming up in the next couple months and if i don’t slow down and stop looking toward just graduation i will miss them.  

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current indulgence: july marks the next block of things to clean out of my diet for my race on august 4^th. so that means i have been loving on my ice cream as much as possible. oh and pizza, yum.


yummy!

current excitement: the 8 DAY BREAK that is coming my way from school in only 15 days!!!! they are changing the academic calendar with the start of a new school year so intsead of our usual 4 days we get 8. i don’t even know what to do with myself for that many days:)