C25K Update

So we are a little over 5 weeks in to our C25K training, and coming up on the most terrifying day thus for, so I thought I would share an update on my progress and the program has been treating us so far.

First of all, I have to say how immensely helpful it has been to have a workout buddy throughout the program!  Tutor Girl keeps me accountable, and chatting her while we run is the best way to make the running intervals fly by!  I am so glad we are doing this together, not only to help me with the actual working out part, but because we have also grown much closer now that we are seeing each other a minimum of three times a week.

I have to admit that I was a totally skeptic that I could ever really be a runner, or that me running a 5K would ever happen.  While I still won't quite believe that until I cross the finish line, my body has already made some huge strides toward becoming fit.

At the beginning of training, I could literally hardly run 90 seconds without feeling like my lungs were burning, and my chest was about to explode.  Now I can do a full 8-minutes, and while it is still hard, it's not impossible.  I know running for 8 minutes might seem like nothing to a lot of people, but for me - it's huge!  I really am going from the couch to a 5K, so going from nothing to 8 minutes at a steady pace without stopping is an accomplishment for me.

Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, we are fast approaching (as in, Monday) the scariest day of training yet.  Day 3 of Week 5 is 20 minutes of running...no stopping.  That is more than double the length of time I've been able to run up until now.  I am utterly terrified of this run, but after talking to Tutor Girl about it, I feel a bit better.  After reading Jenna's synopsis on her C25K Training over at That Wife, I feel like maybe it takes a little longer than just 9 weeks for the entire program for some people.  She expressed that it took her days, even weeks, just to master one day in the program.  Tutor Girl and I decided we would give it our all, but if we need to stop or can't do the entire 20 minutes, we will just keep trying.  While I would love (and be seriously proud of myself) to do the whole 20 minutes during our next run, I feel much more at ease knowing that if I can't...there's always Tuesday!

Are you following any kind of fitness regimen? 

Grateful Sundays

This week I am grateful for my Mother.  (As cliche as it might be on Mother's Day - it's true!)

I love Gardening Mom and feel so grateful to have a mom who I have such respect and admiration for.  She is the smartest woman I've ever known, and she has accomplished so much.

I have always been lucky in that my mom is truly my best friend - she is most often the first person I look to for advice, the first person I want to tell exciting news to, and the first I want to cry to.  We have a mutual respect that not all mothers and daughters have between each other, and for that I feel blessed.

My mother has never handled me with baby gloves and does not hesitate to tell me when I am wrong.  She is like looking in a mirror that is constantly encouraging, but also glaringly honest.

We are not "mushy" or overtly affectionate, but I love my mother and I know she loves me.  For me, true success in life would not be complete without her satisfaction and pride for how I turned out and the way in which I choose to live my life, and I hope she will always be proud to call me her daughter.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

One of my favorite pictures of Gardening Mom and myself - from my LVN pinning ceremony last fall.

Wedding Recap: Me and My Gang

After taking some solo photos with the lovely ladies of D2 Photography Studio, I got to take some pictures with my very best friends and bridesmaids!  These are some of my favorite photos of the day, because they are literally the last photos of us as all single ladies!  I hope I am lucky enough to be in all of these fabulous ladies' weddings, but there will never be another picture of all of us together unmarried, so I am so happy to have these pictures.

**Warning - this post is going to be very picture heavy!  Way too hard to narrow these ones down!

(Bridesmaid Cute Apartment, my little helper)

(Everyone so excited!)

(Maid of Honor Fashionista, Bridesmaid Does it All, Bridesmaid Kindergarten Teacher, Bridesmaid Swagger, Sister Singer, Sister Swimmer, and Bridesmaid Cute Apartment help me with dragging my dress around)

(One of few moments of seriousness during our photo shoot)

(Sister Singer)

(Sister Swimmer)

(Me, MOH Fashionista, BM Does it All, and BM Kindergarten Teacher)

(Sister Singer, Sister Swimmer, Bridesmaid Cute Apartment, Me, Maid of Honor Fashionista, Bridesmaid Kindergarten Teacher, Bridesmaid Cute Apartment, and Bridesmaid Swagger)

(Kindergarten Teacher, Swagger, Sister Singer, Me, Fashionista, Sister Swimmer, Cute Apartment, and Does it All)

(Kindergarten Teacher, Swagger, Sister Singer, Fashionista, Sister Swimmer, Cute Apartment, and Does it All give me a group hug!)

(All the giggling totally led to mass amounts of gum-smiling!)

(Quick shot of me and my sisters while we still shared a last name)

(Even Gardening Mom got in on the photo shoot!)

(Love this photo of me and Gardening Mom)

Up next?  The boys take pictures, and Handsome Husband has his own personal photo shoot!

All amazing pictures courtesy of D2 Photography Studio in Riverside, California.

Happy Hour and a Little Boob Tube Babble

I am (shamefully) sipping on coca-cola at 10:30pm on a Friday night, while sitting on my couch doing homework and watching Friday Night Lights - wild life I live over here (try not to be jealous).

This week for Happy Hour, I'd like to also link up to A Complete Waste of Makeup's Boob Tube Babble.  I can't believe I missed their first week, because if I haven't mentioned it yet here, I am a total TV addict.  Like - it's a problem.  If I didn't have a DVR, I would have a hard time leaving the house.  I get invested in my shows, no matter how cheesy or ridiculous their story lines might get.

I am really into reality TV, but one drama that I am a die-hard for (even after many fans - Cute Apartment included! - have jumped ship is Grey's Anatomy.  I started watching a couple seasons in and had to backtrack a bit, but ever since them, I've been hooked.  It's one of the rare shows I have been known to get emotional during, and no matter how tired I am on Thursday nights, I rarely miss watching the episode before bed.

This week, two of the characters on the show got married - in Grey's first ever lesbian wedding!  It was beautiful, and so well done, I thought.

Is it weird that I totally feel like I know these characters, and was like inordinately happy for Callie and Arizona?  Also, though I totally don't think Handsome Husband would be on board, I adore the name 'Arizona'!

Also, how totally rude was it that these two thunder-stealers skipped the wedding to finally make their stupid post-it legal?  I was so flabbergasted that they did this!  As Gardening Mom so succinctly said - "couldn't they have, like, done that tomorrow?" - weird!

That's what I'm thinking about during my (late-night) happy hour.

If you're popping over from Happy Hour or Boob Tube Babble, please feel free to take a look around!  You can catch up on my wedding recaps, find out how I met Handsome Husband, or learn a little bit more about me.  If you like what you see - please consider following me!

Things Thursday: Things That Look Totally Cute on Other People, But Totally Don't Work For Me

1. Bermuda shorts

2. Ankle boots

Source

3. Headbands that go across your forehead instead of on top of your head

Source

4. Skinny jeans

5. Capris - really only full-length pants and short-shorts work on these stubs I call legs.

6. Cat-eye eyeliner

7. Red lips

Source

8. Hats - of pretty much all kinds.

Adios, April!

In April...

Our sweet little second cousin, Teeny Girl, celebrated her 3^rd birthday.

Tutor Girl and I started our Couch 2 5K training.

Two of my favorite girls ever, Fashionista and Swagger, hosted their first ever party in their new apartment in LA – so glad to be celebrating their successes with them!

 (From L-R: Fashionista, Me, Swagger)

We walked to raise money for research to find a cure to MS – and plan to do so again next year.

Handsome Husband and I  visited San Diego for the first time since we moved away in December, and got to spend some quality time with our friends.

 

Best Friend Swagger turned 23 and we had a blast in LA on her birthday!

(From L-R: Fashionista, Me, Birthday Girl Swagger!, Cute Apartment, and Dimples)

We celebrated another Easter (Lil C’s first!) with Handsome Husband’s family.

(From L-R: Handsome Husband, Me, Lil C, Tutor Girl, and Cousin Ronomon)

Gardening Mom and I got to spend some much needed quality time together at the Stagecoach Music Festival and listen to some down-home country music!

Quotable Tuesdays

Target Tuesday: Clearance Tops

Back at it again for Target Tuesday at Fabulous But Evil!  After reading quite a few posts from What I Wore Wednesday last week, I was inspired to check out Target's clothing departments.  I don't usually shop there, unless looking for something in particular, but there were so many cute outfits with Target pieces, I had to check it out!

Last week, I went by my local Target and picked up 3 (totally cute) tops - all on clearance!  I have a really hard time buying stuff not on sale when it's not things I need, so I live in the clearance department.

So for this week's Target Tuesday, I am showcasing some adorbs tops that can be found in Target's clearance section!

Would be so cute with leggings and little sandals.

I'm a sucker for a cute button-up - just never seem to wear them!

This is so me, it looks like it came out of my closet.

I love this color, and think it would be great with jeans and big platform heels for a night out!

I think this would be adorable for office work - even with a cute fitted blazer on top.

Come and join us over at Target Tuesday!

Country Music, and Why I Was Born in the Wrong Region

I'd like to expand a bit on my Grateful Sundays post from yesterday.

I LOVE country music - like, love it.  I like a lot of different types of music, but there's just something about country.  I love that country artists are unafraid to talk about anything - no matter how raw, real, or politically incorrect.  I love that the music speaks to me, and when there's a song that I can really relate to, I feel like it was written just for me.

When I was younger, where I grew up, country music was not popular.  More often than not, on people's Myspace pages (yes - I was a part of the Myspace generation!) under "Music," it said "anything but country"!  For a long time I was genuinely ashamed of being a country music fan, because it was so different than everyone else.

Well lots of growing up, and a big heaping helping of "not giving a crap" has lead me to be proud to declare my love for the genre!  Carrie Underwood - I adore you!  Rascal Flatts - you speak to me!  Miranda Lambert - total girl crush!  Darius Rucker (aka Hootie) - there are no words!

I firmly believe I was born in the wrong region - I'm truly very certain I was meant to the a Southern Belle. I love the music, the simple kind of life feeling you get from listening to it, I think I would have made a fabulous toddler with a tiara, and often times I start speaking with a southern accent for no explicable reason.

Do you ever wonder what it would have been like if you were born and raised somewhere else?

Grateful Sunday

This week, I'm grateful for country music - no shame.

I love this music and this weekend. More on the Stagecoach Music Festival when I get back!

Tutor Girl suggested I make this a weekly link-up party - thoughts? I'd love to, but only if I'd have some lovely participants! Let me know, bloggers!

Goodnight for now and yee-haw, stagecoachers - see you tomorrow!