Power Project

It's a new year, and a whole new me. Yeah, yeah, how many times have you made new year's resolutions only to break them within a week? Of course, my resolutions were just like everyone else's 1) eat healthier 2) exercise more 3) blah blah blah. And just like everyone else I broke them when I drank too much wine on New Year's eve.

One of my classes this semester requires a "power project." We are supposed to pick something we are interested in, always wanted to do, then set about to accomplish it. Some classmates are scrapbooking, eating healthier, blogging, etc. I've decided to run a half marathon. I've always wanted to run one, I like goals; so now's my chance. It's now or never.

In order to keep my self accountable, I will be blogging about my loooong journey. According to Wikipedia (the most trusted source online) a half marathon is a road running event of 21,097.5 meters, or 13+7⁄64 miles, about 13.1 miles. 

The breakdown:
Who: Me
What: A half marathon
When: March 27
Where: Lamesa (the proceeds go to families to help offset medical costs http://www.cornerstonelamesa.org/HOGGRace.html)
Why: I'm crazy.

I found a great training program that is designed to build up to a half marathon. The program takes 12 weeks to complete, but I only have 9. I guess if I'm dying during the half, then I'll resort to walking (I just won't tell you I did).

As with any new exercise program, you gotta have the proper equipment.

The best running shoes ever, Asics.

A pink Ipod complete with all of the lastest music.

A very old, but free treadmill, just in case.

A spunky dog named Paisley.

Day 1: I took Paisley on a run through the neighborhood on a path that I usually follow. Paisley is a tough running parter. First of all, she runs faster than I do, so she is constantly pulling (dragging me) on the leash. I guess I get some resistance training in. She also will stop dead in her tracks at a moment's notice. Dogs, cat, food, people, trash-- you name it, she investigates. The weather was really nice, all in all, it was a great start to my power project. Distance: 4 miles

Day 2: I went jogging solo today. Honestly, I forgot to take Paisley. I get out of class at 12 on Mondays, so I jogged before Andy or Samantha got home. It is much easier to movtivate myself when I am the only one home, than when everyone is here watching TV. Distance: 5 miles.

Day 3: Umm, today wasn't so great. The wind was blowing, and I get out of class late on Tuesday. By the time I got home, I only had time to run and walk on the treadmill. I had homework to do, and dinner plans for the night. Distance 2.5 miles.

Day 4: Today called for 3 miles. Paisely and I ran around the neighborhood. It was 63 degrees outside, and it is only January. What a great day. Distance: 3 miles

Day 5: Luckily, the schedule has today as an off day.

Only in Texas does it go from 63 degrees to 4 inches of snow in a night.

2010

This is the first blog of the new year. It is also my first post since October. I'd like to think that I've been too busy to blog, but I've just been lazy.

We celebrated our first Christmas together. Andy insisted on a real tree; so on the coldest day of the year, not to mention the wind was blowing 75 mph, we loaded up and went to the local Allsups. We were on a quest for the finest tree Floydada had to offer.

Andy held up three trees, all of which I thought were perfect. On the third tree, I knew we had found a winner. The tree was green and had needles. What else would you want in a Christmas tree?

We brought the tree home, trimmed the end, and put it in the stand....

Whoa!!! Don't fall! Look at that beauty. The tree is perfectly straight in the stand, but it grew crooked. It is about 5 feet from the top of the wall.

Obviously, green and with needles aren't the only two qualities a tree needs.

Weekend Shenanigans

The duck hunt was a success, or at least in my opinion it was. The guys shot 27 ducks (that is a lot, right?).

Kade, Tory, Andy, and I went to the West Texas A&M vs. ASU football game in Canyon Saturday afternoon. ASU is my alma mater, and Andy's uncle coaches at WT. Who is a girl to cheer for? Where do the loyalties lie? I decided that blood is thicker than water and cheered for the Buffs. I must be good luck, since WT won easily.

We went to church on Sunday morning, then I did homework the rest of the day. Grad school involves a lot of homework. I am getting pretty tired of it.

On Monday, Andy was super-husband, while I was doing homework again. He cooked dinner, vaccuumed, and even cleaned out the fireplace. I have been encouraging (nagging) him to clean the ashes out since last winter. The fireplace had two huge grocery bags full of ashes. This is my first fireplace to have, so I'm not savvy about all of the rules, but I am pretty sure our ash pile was a huge fire hazard.

Beer and Wine, and Hunting, OH MY!

Well it's a Friday night in Floydada, and the town is hoppin'. I think Dairy Queen closes late, Allsups is open even later, and that is about it. Ok, I neglected to mention that Floydada is home to the one and only Boston Terrier museum. (At least I HOPE it is the one and only.)

Andy's best friend, Tory, and cousin, Kade, are spending the night so they can wake up at the butt-crack-of-dawn and go duck hunting. A group of about ten men are going duck hunting. If the hunt is successful, Andy said, "We will let the duck sit in the freezer a year, then throw them away. Duck is nasty."

Oh boy, a freezer full of duck. How did a girl get so lucky? If anyone wants Tur-duck-tin for Thanksgiving, give us a call. We'll supply the duck, you supply the turkey and chicken.

Besides the display of men being men tomorrow, err, I mean hunting, not much is  going on in F-dada.

I subbed for Samantha this morning.  I told her students, "Miss Lee is my sister."
One boy replied, "No, way, I thought you were Miss Lee's sister!!!"

 "I am, she is my sister, I am her sister, we have the same parents." What a hard concept for a 5th grader to grasp; our future is in good hands.

Bloggity-blog-blog

This is our first post (obviously). We are just breaking into the blog world. Everyone that's cool blogs, and we want to be cool. We've tried wearing sunglasses, even at night, but it didn't launch us into the cool status we were aiming for. So, alas, we are bloggers. We vow to write about all of our meaningless, daily tasks, that keep you coming back for more. Yeah, you'll be wasting your time, but it is so darn addicting.

All of the cool blogs have great photographs, so I guess Andy and I should get a new camera, or at the very least "borrow" pictures from the internet. I have a sneaky feeling that everyone also has a new MacBook Pro, we definitely should get one too (I am not sure Andy agrees).