Half Marathon #3

I registered to run my third half-marathon.  This one will be a girls road trip with my friends Ann and Lisa. I'm so excited to run another 13.1 and do some serious shopping in Dallas.  We're going to have a blast!


I encourage you to register for the Dallas White Rock Marathon.  


This half-marathon will help me focus to reach the 13.1 necessary base to begin my full marathon training.  Yes, I'm registered for the OKC Memorial Marathon on April 29, 2012.  I'll be running 26.2 miles!

VOTE

Please VOTE for my BEACH COOKIES over at Sweetopia.net. They're featured in Sweetopia's Sweet of the Week Contest.  


It would be pretty amazing to win since this is only a hobby for me. My cookies are competing against creations by people who are actually in the baking business for a living. : ) Happy Voting! Thanks so much!

Kitchen Update

Jenn= 0; Ceiling fan= 1
Note to self: turn OFF the fan before getting on a ladder/stool to paint.

The orangish drab color is gone!  Take a look...

 This deep plum will look great behind my milk glassware.

It's a HAPPY gray!

I'm not calling the kitchen complete yet, because it's not.  I'll touch up a couple of areas with paint and our new SS Professional Range will be delivered at the end of the month.  We're planning on purchasing a matching SS dishwasher soon too.  We just haven't officially decided on one yet.  For some reason, dishwashers don't have very good reviews so we're going to have to conduct more research.

I'd like to eventually distress the cabinets and replace the light fixtures.  That'll all have to happen AFTER we move in.  I still need to pack up our apartment and put everything in boxes so it's ready for the movers.  Thankfully this will be the last move we'll make for a very long time.  

Kitchen: In Progress

I'm (yep, just me so far!) painting the kitchen in attempt to brighten it up a bit. 

Before

In progress.... the primer has been applied.

I'm also painting the breakfast nook.  The previous color was fine and all, but I really want to make this space feel more open, fun and cheery.  

Stay tuned for updates!

Refinished Floors

Our decision to have the hardwood floors refinished 

was well worth the investment.  They are gorgeous!

Before

After

Christmas In September

Here's what we've purchased this weekend:


Front-loading Washer
Front-loading Dryer
Elliptical and mat
Weight Rack and mat
Decorative Iron Fence to keep Ethan (our Yorkie) safely in the backyard
40" Stainless Steel Electric Range


The flooring company we hired started on our floors Saturday, Sept. 3.  They look and smell like new!  I picked out the stain already.  It was a tough job.  Oh, my!  The job should be completed this week.
After the floors are done, I'm hoping to hire a painting company to do a custom paint job for us.  It'll be awesome if we can afford it.  Everything is adding up so quickly.  It's exhausting, but fun and very nice to feel like a real adult again opposed to a college kid.


We still need to purchase a microwave, coffee table & end tables, kitchen table & chairs, and a grill.  After all that, I think we'll go on a spending fast for a while.

It's OURS!

Home, Sweet Home! 

We sold our first home and most of our belongings in May 2007 and have been living like poor college students ever since. The dream of owning a home again seemed to be exactly that... a dream.  

It turns out that dreams do come true.  

We purchased our first home TOGETHER today.  The closing was at 4 pm.  Everything went fabulous and we couldn't be more excited.  Thank you for your prayers along the journey.

We won't be moving in for a few weeks because we're having the original hardwood floors refinished.  The company we hired will start on the floors on Tuesday, Sept. 6.  After that, I'm hoping to hire a professional painting company to artistically paint the kitchen and the 2nd bedroom.  I look forward to seeing the finished product.  I'll be sure to post more photos soon.  

Apartment Living

"Luxury" Apartments are overrated.  


10:30 am:
GOOD: A vocal major that practices. BAD: The vocalist is your upstairs neighbor who practices while you're trying to sleep. 
If David weren't sleeping after working a 24+ hour shift, I'll pull out all my instruments and declare an obnoxious musical war. There's a reason I DO NOT practice while living in an apartment. Praying we close on our house on Wednesday at 4 and can get out of this awful place! (more firetrucks here this morning)

8:45 pm:  
Our neighbor just came to our door to inform us that she's a vocalist and will be practicing late tonight because she has auditions tomorrow.  My reply:  Aren't there practice rooms at OCU?  She replies, "It's OKCU and the practice rooms are really dead."  seriously.....  I feel like I'm living in a college dormitory.  

A Teacher's Life

Almost 10 hours later, I've finally completed 2 lessons (1 weeks worth) for the 3-day rotations for grades K-5. That's 12 individualized and very thorough lesson plans. I also completed 5 loads of laundry, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, cleaned up the bathrooms, went to Office Depot and Target to spend some POs and have had 1 LARGE cup of iced coffee, 1 glass of water, and some cottage cheese. I'm exhausted, dehydrated, and hungry. My poor husband and dog want me to watch TV/Movies and play. I want to cry.  I need 4 more of me AND a housekeeper. 


I did NOT get up for Week 4 Training with the OKC Landrunners.  I'm suffering from exhaustion and sore/tired feet.  Hopefully I'll make it out for a run tomorrow. 

Midnight Streak 5K

On Saturday, Aug. 13 I participated in the Midnight Streak 5K.  I had already been up since 4am and ran 5.4 miles for the training run, shopped at a fabulous estate sale, attended the RPSA (Resident Physician Spouse Alliance) Brunch, and hung out with Dave.  By the time 8pm rolled around, I was already tired.  My normal bedtime for the summer has been between 8:30-9:30, so staying up so late wasn't easy. 

I was dressed and had just put my bib number on when I took a sip of iced coffee.  The little seal was twisted up in the lid and I ended up wearing my coffee.  I quickly changed and went for my bright, happy "Run" shirt.  Anyways, I left home just a few minutes before 10pm.  I met up with my friends for some before race photos.  We're not responsible for our actions past our bedtime as seen in the photos.  Ha!  

Me, Cathy, & Jenny

 Me with my OKC Landrunner buddies

 Me, Holly, Jenny, & Cathy

Ann, Lisa, & Me

After the race, I went to IHOP with Ann, Lisa & her husband, and Evelyn.  It was a great time!  I hadn't laughed so hard in quite awhile.  I'm pretty sure all of our abs were sore the next day due to all the laughter.  Too fun!  

Here's my entry from DailyMile:  

I could come up with excuses, but the "excuses" are more impressive than anything. My day started at 4am with a 5.4 mile run/walk (trying not to overdo it) combo. The day was packed with events and NO time to rest. My bedtime is normally between 8:30-9:30, so it's impressive that I stayed up for the Midnight Streak 5K RACE that started at 11pm. It was late at NIGHT, in the HEAT and had to run up a monster HILL towards the end! It's impressive I finished. Whew! Afterwards, I went to IHOP with some running buddies and didn't get home until 2am and didn't go to bed until 3am.  I slept in until 10am the next morning.