InstaFriday

Another Friday, another installment...

There's a "snow" button on my car. Apparently it starts the car in second gear instead of first to avoid tire spin-age. I thought about pushing it on my way home from work. In my mind, my car was going to be a transformer. Go go gadget, snowmobile!

I know I already posted this picture on Monday, but it was on Instagram so I'm sharing it here too. I finished the WORS series. So fun. And muddy. Every single race! 

Last Sunday was National Margarita Day. You don't have to tell me twice! The roommates and I went to the closest Mexican restaurant for Margarita bongs! Yep, you read that right...

We also inhaled some salsa, queso, and guac because I'm pretty sure that it's like a rule at Mexican restaurants!

The hospital is in the middle of changing the sign out front. We are officially partnering with UT...

Sisters

Yesterday was my sister's birthday. She and the family and coming into town this weekend so we'll get to celebrate all together in a few days, but until then...

Happy birthday, Jessica! So thankful for you and so glad you're my big sis! I love you!

What's Up Wednesday

Bet you didn't expect a post on a Wednesday! Well don't get used to it. It won't happen often.

I saw this on another blog and thought that I would join in the fun...

What I'm Eating This Week:

Fiesta Chicken is one of my staples. Mainly because it is super easy. Throw everything in the crockpot overnight or in the morning before I go to work and then I can wake up/come home from work to the smell of deliciousness. Then I just shred the chicken and have food for the week. This will be my dinner for a least a couple nights this week.

What I'm Reading:

This is the next one on the list. I like it so far, but I'm still pretty early into it. I also have 4 more books that I checked out from the library to read after this one. 

What I'm Reminiscing About:

Vacation. I want to go somewhere. Preferably somewhere warm. Maybe with sand. Somewhere to explore and be adventurous!

What I'm Looking Forward To:

Spring. Warm weather. Getting off work and still having hours of daylight. Patio sitting. Need I go on...?

What I'm Loving:

Coffee. Seriously. And I've probably been drinking way too much of it. I've also been binge-watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix, which I think has really made me up my coffee intake!

What I've Been Up To:

Nothing. At least nothing exciting. Working, trying to run some, planning some trips, thinking about going back to school (Yep. See how I threw that in. Not back to school full-time, just take some classes. There is a post coming soon about the height of my nerdiness...)

What I'm Dreading:

Dreading...? Nothing really. Blissful!

What I'm Working On:

Nothing really. Being sick kinda takes any motivation out of me to work on anything. Blah! I'll get back to a project eventually...

What I'm Excited About:

Today is my sister's birthday so she and the girls are coming in town this weekend. I'm excited about seeing them and just getting to hang out at my parents' house. They are pretty awesome!

What I'm Watching:

3 little words makes me realize that I watch way too much TV. I didn't watch anything last night so technically tonight I'll catch up on the season finale of Master Chef Junior, New Girl, and Parks and Rec. Tonight Modern Family is recording and the new season of Amazing Race starts! I've also been re-watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix.

What I'm Listening To:

By listening to, I assume that they mean podcasts because you know... me and music. So I'm listening to the usual. My most recent favorites are This American Life, Invisibilia, and Death, Sex, & Money. These are some of the good ones! I'm planning an entire post just on podcasts soon.

What I'm Annoyed By:

Being sick. This is the conversation that I had with my roommate last night when I was making some hot tea...

Roommate: What are you doing?

Me: Making tea.

Roommate: Are you sick?

Me: Yes...

Roommate: But you never get sick!

Me: I know!

I honestly rarely get sick. My friends joke that it's because I was breastfed for like 2 years. (Thanks mom!) I tell people that I have an immune system of steel. After working in a hospital for 4 years, I'm pretty sure I've been exposed to just about everything and have remained unscathed. But Monday morning, I woke up sick. Well Sunday night I started feeling like I had a sore throat. My throat feels better now, but my nose is still stuffy. It's just annoying!

What I'm Hoping For:

Harsher punishment for parole violators. Oh, and world peace. :)

What I'm Wearing:

Right now I'm still in pajamas, but I'm about to get dressed for work in my favorite navy pants from Loft and a cute/warm top.

What Else Is New:

Nothing. Not a thing. I think that about covers it.

Feel free to join in! Share what's going on in your life!

#MemRun

Yesterday I finished the Winter Off Road Series. It is a series of 4 races, one every other week. A 3k, 5k, 8k, and 10k. It's super fun. I didn't make it to the 3k this year. But I'm sure I got a mile and a half in at some point that week. So that counts, right?

The 5k was a fun course. But it was muddy. And started raining about halfway through the race which made it even worse. There were a couple places that we had to slow down and walk through because they were hills and steep and muddy and slippery. You had to go one at a time. Overall, super fun.

A few weeks later was the 8k. It was at the same place- on a different course. This was the driest race. No mud. Just lots of dirt. And tree trunks to maneuver around. It ends with running down a steep hill, across a creek, and back up the other side. There were volunteers standing on the other side with rope to help people get back up the hill. Thankfully, it was dry this day so not impossible...

And yesterday was the 10k. It was the muddiest and slickest, by far. A few days ago there was ice everywhere. Then it warmed up a little, everything melted, and it rained all night. Then we ran. We ran through mud, then freezing cold creeks and then through more mud. Super slippery! But lots of fun. Also, it was freezing. It was 47 degrees when I started running. One hour and 6 miles later and it was 36 degrees. Brrr!

I totally recommend this series to anyone- beginner and advanced runners. You can register for the entire series or each race individually. But one disclaimer: Do NOT do this race expecting to get a PR. This race is tons of fun, but it is slick and the courses are narrow and, for the most part, single file which makes it hard to pass anyone. So. Much. Fun.

Sunday Smiles

{Source}

The one that calls you is completely dependable. If He said it, He'll do it.

-  1 Thessalonians 5:24

InstaFriday

I'm back for another installment of InstaFriday. I am not very good at social media though, so this is now so much "Insta" Friday, but more like "look at the pictures I took throughout the week that I never actually posted. Oh well.

I know last week I talked about the hidden gem that is Shelby Farms, but here I go again. I was running the Chickasaw trail and turned a corner and started down a hill when I came face-to-face with 2 deer. They literally just stood and watched me. I had to stop running to take a  picture. Sadly, one of them ran away before I could get my phone out. And this picture isn't the best. I think that's part of my issue with posting pictures. The image I have in my head of turning the corner and being awed by these 2 beauties is nothing like the picture that I actually took. If only I could share my mental pictures...

This is the one and only picture I have from Galentine's Day. Notice I stayed posted up by the food.

We call my brother and his girlfriend "Gayla." It's their couple name. Because they are basically celebrities. I couldn't pass up sharing this picture.

Monday morning, I woke up to this. It may look pretty but don't be fooled. That's not snow, it's pure ice. I didn't even leave footprints when I walked to my car. Just slid across the top. I got into my car with an extra large cup of coffee to let it defrost before work and the doc that I was working with sent me a text that the census was low and there was no reason for us both to come in. She told me that I could stay home! She didn't have to tell me twice! I told her to let me know if it got busy and I would come in, but otherwise I would enjoy a 3-day weekend.

I went back in the house and curled up on the couch and watched the SNL 40 year reunion. So good! The unexpected day off was great. Although I would have loved to have been somewhat productive, I wasn't. Oops!

Tuesday, I ventured into work. This was my drive. Streets weren't bad. Schools were still out and a lot of businesses were still closed or opening late so there was no one on the street. And work wasn't super busy either. Win-win!

And it was Mardi Gras so we had King Cake in the office and I got the baby!! Six years of elementary school French and I never got the baby. I'm pretty sure that means that I have magical powers and will be lucky forever. Something like that...

I went to Kroger after work one day. Grocery shopping is a necessary evil. Some guy comes up and starts talking to me. He is a manager and says that he has seen me in there before. Our conversation starts off fairly innocent. And then he asks for my number so we can keep in touch (for semi legitimate reasons that I may talk about on here later). I reluctantly gave it to him. At that point, I was thinking that the conversation was getting too long. I had things to do. I have grocery shopping down to a fine art. I have my list that I make throughout the week as I run out of things or think of things I need. The list is in order of where things are in the store and I can grab things quickly and only go down the aisles where I know I need something. But alas, he was holding me up. Then before we ended the conversation, he said that we should hang out sometime. Umm... I'm pretty sure my response was "Umm. Yeah. Maybe." How am I supposed to respond to things like that?

My Favorite Christmas Present

I have a Pinterest board of gift ideas. If you know me at all, this is no surprise to you. Consider it like a registry of sorts. Why do you only get to register for gifts when you're getting married or having a baby? I want to pick out the gifts that I get too. So enter my wishlist. It has presents of all sizes and in all price points. I add to it randomly as I see something I like. It also helps me not spend money unnecessarily and frivolously. If I see something that I really want, I pin it instead of buying it. Then before my birthday or Christmas, I go through and clean it up and see if there is anything I can take off. I have some big gifts and also some little happies. This is the latter...

It is the One Line a Day, A Five Year Memory Book. Each page is one day divided into 5 years. There are only a few lines for each day. It's fun. I like journalling but never feel like I have the time so this is the perfect solution. Every night before bed, I write a couple sentences about the day. A couple sentences is totally not overwhelming. And I think it will be fun to look back on a single day through the years. If you're looking for a quick happy, this is a fun one.

Anyone else neurotic like me and "register" for gifts? Any ideas to add to my wishlist?

The V-Card

Well, it's February. I've officially blogged for an entire month consistently. I'm already off to a better start than most years. And we are now entering the month of love and cupid and hearts and candy. I'm trying not to be too bitter...

This weekend was Valentine's Day. I have a love/hate relationship with Valentine's Day. Some years I love it; some years I just want to hide away until it's over. This year was just meh. I wanted to go to a class at the gym, but I overslept and then I never really got in a good rhythm of the day. I felt like I was tired all day and ended up taking an afternoon nap. I also binge-watched Gilmore Girls on Netflix (which makes me feel like I need to step up my coffee game. As if my usual 4 cups a day isn't enough...)

That night I had been invited to hang out with some girls. I wasn't super excited about it, but the girl hosting specifically said that I didn't have to get dressed up. I threw on some leggings, channeled my inner Leslie Knope (which I really should do more often), and headed out to a Galentine's celebration.

It was great! I am always a little bit pleasantly surprised by how much fun I have at these things. I don't know why. It's always the same thing every time. Girls nights are so needed! Everyone needs good female friends- Taylor Swift style!

And then I finished the weekend with some much needed retail therapy!

Sunday Smiles

{Source}

I have loved you with an everlasting love.

- Jeremiah 31:3

InstaFriday

Happy Friday the 13th!

If you read Life Rearranged (and you should, because Jeannett is my hero!), you know that she does a weekly Instagram roundup every Friday. I am not very good at social media. I go through stages of posting all the time and then forget about it for a while, so maybe this will force encourage me to be more regular about posting. And it makes me plug in my phone weekly and dump everything to my computer. Win-win.

I didn't post very much this week. Oops! But since this is my first InstaFriday, I can cheat the system and post things from the past few weeks. Ha!

Hardcore training session at 6am. It doesn't happen often. So when it does, I have to document it. I would love to get workouts done in the morning. It makes me feel so much more productive and like my day is going to be infinitely better. But the gym doesn't open until 6 so I can't usually go before work. I'm petitioning to get it opened earlier. Other people like to wake up when it's still dark and go to the gym, right?

"Throw kindness around like confetti!" I love Kid President. If you haven't watched his newest video, check it out here. Our look at the pep talk that got everyone's attention. He is awesome! And bursting with positivity. I randomly met his sister last summer. She was working at a food truck at the Tennessee Brewery and she's pretty awesome too!

Seriously. Does this even need an explanation?

I did the Winter Off Road Series a few years ago and it was so much fun so after I joined MRTC, I thought I would do it again. It is a 3K, 5K, 8K, and 10K. Each of them are 2-3 weeks apart. I missed the 3K because I had too much going on, but this was after the 5K. It's an off-road course and rained pretty much the entire time so it was muddy! But so much fun!

Do people realize what a gem Shelby Farms is? Seriously? Thousands of acres of green space in the middle of the city. Miles of running and biking trails tucked away between interstates. An oasis in the midst of chaos. This is one of my happy places. Leaving the park at sunset after a good run just makes me smile. This picture looks so peaceful. It's like the last bit of peace before you turn off and enter back into civilization. Le sigh.

"Someone is thinking of you right now..." I wonder who it is. If it's you, just fess up and let me know. I'm very intrigued. Ha!

The Winter Off Road 8K was this past weekend. It was not raining and not muddy, but still super fun. Lots of hills and dirt and tree trunks to watch out for. The 8K runs through Stanky Creek, which is... running through a creek. Steep hill down  across the creek and then back up the steep, muddy hill. There were people on the other side holding rope in case you need help getting back up the hill. But after the race, I got this sweet "I survived Stanky Creek" towel.

What did you do this week? Feel free to link up and join along in the fun.

I Don't Get Mad

* This was originally written over a year ago and I never published it, so here it is...

That's a lie. I get mad. Not a lot, but sometimes. I don't express it very often though. It's the introvert in me that doesn't like confrontation and the middle child in me that always want to keep the peace- at any cost. And the cost is, more times than not, my own sanity.

But every once in a while when I get upset, I tell people about it. Sometimes I let my frustrations show. Right away. In the moment. Not very many people get to see that. But it happened a while ago. I wrote the other day forever ago about how I had been crying. It's all related to that. Usually I get mad in my head, process things in my head- or on paper, and then decide that it's not worth bringing up to the other person/people involved. But this time I got upset out loud and then processed things. Which also meant going back and actually having a conversation with the person and explaining myself.

That conversation has already happened. I think that I said everything that I needed to say, and I know that the person that I had the conversation with is probably never going to see this, but this whole thing is more for me anyway so I'm still going to write it.

I'm sorry. I probably need to work on better controlling the things I say–or the way that I say them. But there are not very many people that actually get to see the real me. In the moment. Raw and unedited. Not very many people that I care about strongly enough to tell them when they hurt my feelings and make me upset. You are one of the few and I know that, at the time, you are certainly not thankful for my wide array of emotions. I'm sorry that you have to put up with it. But thank you for being a faithful friend. You are my favorite person to fight with!

Always. No Matter What.

A friend of mine got engaged last week and I am so excited for her. I found out when she posted the picture on Instagram with the caption, "God is good. We are getting married."

Both of those things are true. So true and so good. I initially liked the picture and moved on. But later I started thinking about it, because that is what I do. I overanalyze everything to death. As I was thinking about her engagement and the caption, something pricked my heart. I thought about Jeannett and the #TeamJilly bracelets.

Yes, God is good through my friends engagement and I am so excited for her and want to rejoice with her. But God is also good in my singleness.

God is good when someone finds out she is pregnant with another baby without even trying. But He is also good in seasons of infertility. God is good when a couple finally gets a letter that all the adoption papers have been signed and they can meet their child after years of waiting. He is also good when a precious girl chooses adoption for her son and receives pictures from his adoptive parents to update her on how he is growing. God is good when you receive a clean bill of health. He is also good when you find out that the cancer is back and more aggressive than ever.

God is good. It's who He is. It is His character and it is not dependent on your circumstances or mine. God is good. Always. No matter what.

Sunday Smiles

{Source unknown}

Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with glory that will be revealed in us. 

-Romans 8:18

Ladies Night

Whew! I finally made it through my New Year's resolutions. I thought I was never going to get through! So now on to the more fun things...

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Hillary's birthday which ended up being a lot more of an ordeal than I ever intended it to be. But it initially was a surprise party. Hillary apparently hates surprises so her mom told her about it so that she wouldn't be upset. Or freak out and cry and walk out or something. Once that I knew that she knew about it, we were able to talk about it and what she wanted and didn't want. It basically ended up being a surprise only for the hostess. Everyone else was in on it. Oh well!

Then there was the issue with our "reservation." The restaurant doesn't do reservations so I called an hour in advance to put our names on the list. Then they sat us in this lounge area thinking we were going to stay there the whole night. We ended up having drinks in the lounge and then finally being seated at a real table, but by that time everyone was hungry!

Aside from all that though (and the fact that it was a bar scene so it was loud and I felt like I was yelling all night), it was a really good night. I forget how much I miss fun times with girls just talking and laughing until I actually go out and do it. I need that more often. Hence the "be a better friend" resolution.

Hillary, I'm sad that I didn't get a picture with you but I know it was crazy! Happy Birthday! I'm glad you were born. Thanks for sticking by me and listening to my venting and drama without judgment. I am so grateful for a friend like you!!

Spiritual Growth

Congratulations. You've made it to the final section of my resolutions: spiritual goals.

#1. I have tried multiple ways to be more intentional about prayer over the years. Some that I have liked more than others. This year I've decided to create a prayer board- a visual representation so that I can quickly see prayer requests. And also so I can easily see prayers that have been answered throughout the year. I think this will be a good one.

#2. I used to be really good at memorization. Not just scripture- memorization in general. I think it was because of my impeccable acting skills. ("We wear the mask that grins and lies...") But I haven't had to challenge myself to memorize anything recently and I have been slacking on scripture memory the past few years too. I want need to get better. Better at hiding His Word in my heart. This is the year.

#3. This is a hard one to talk about. Maybe that's why I saved it for last. And why I haven't brought it up here before, but here it goes...

I left my church. It was a hard decision and I prayed about it for over a year. But something was missing. I feel like I need to stop here and give a disclaimer. This is only my opinion and my experience. I know that there are a lot of people that love this church and that it is a great fit for many people. I don't want my opinions and my reasons to come across as negatives about the church as a whole. This is just my experience. Okay, now that I have said my disclaimer, I can continue.

As I said, something was missing. I needed community. I felt like I could go to church on Sunday morning, sit in the back, listen to the message, and leave without talking to anyone. I needed more than that. The sermons were good. They were great. But I can get sermons on a podcast. In the comfort of my own house. I needed more than that from church. I wanted a home and a family.

I talked to a few friends about it. They seemed skeptical. They asked questions and asked why. I told them what I was looking for and then I said something that I didn't even know I had been thinking until it came out of my mouth. I said, " If I were married or in a relationship, I would have left a long time ago." And that's when it hit me. The reason I was staying was because I didn't want to venture out and visit places on my own. Isn't it ironic? The same reason that I wanted to leave was the thing that was keeping me there. After I verbalized that, there was no getting around it. It was time to leave.

So I did. And life went on- unchanged. I didn't hear from anyone. It took about 4 and a half months before someone from my small group sent me a message that they hadn't seen me in a while. (In comparison, it took about a month and a half before I got a message from a trainer that hadn't seen me at the gym...) It was sad. To be honest, my pride was hurt a little bit. But it was also the conformation that I needed to be certain that I had done the right thing. If people had reached out to me early on, I think it would have been easy to ignore the negatives and go back. But no one did. I felt secure in my decision to leave. I also think that I was a little burnt out and frustrated so I took a break- that turned into a longer break than I had planned. I'm ready to get back though and I'm hoping that this year I will find a true church family.