Saturday, October 31, 2009

Florida/Georgia

So, I have SO MANY pictures to post. but it will have to wait til tomorrow! Today's tailgagte and game was AWESOME!!! We won, duh! Not to mention, all participants were funa nd fantasitc. I got to visit both sides of the fam today and was so Happy about that! Tomorrow will be a fun detailed post, but beed #12318094 is keeping me from detailing. Will document tomrrow! Love you blog stalkers, Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Almost the weekend!

I am very thankful that my Wednesday is going by quickly. I actually switched late days with a co-worker so I could get off By 6pm tomorrow to start my weekend!
John has to leave tomorrow to go to Charlotte for work, so I will have lots of time to wear-out the dog and get my to-do list checked off.
Tuesday was a very Loooong day. Being start day, we had to be into work at 7:15am to get all our morning students signed in and in class. We left at 7pm and after 2 quick errands I went home and wanted to crash, I managed to break my internet and postpone all homework and cleaning to this morning since I wasn't going in until 11am. A hot bath and early bedtime were most certainly in order and I slept like a rock until John and I both heard Peachie Yelp in the middle of the night! That's right, the dog that doesn't speak or bark is a dream talker!
Today I managed to wake up before my alarm and get in a 3 mile run. I was scheduled for 4 but since John is running after work and it was wet I decided to go run at the gym. I did 1.5 miles at race pace to warm up and then decided I would do 5 1/4 mile speed intervals to help kill the time and distance. Well, when I got about half way through my 3rd sprint I really felt like I was going to throw-up so I finished the 3rd set and called it a day. I did an extra half mile Sunday so I will take Peach for a 1/2 mile to mile run tomorrow to make up for my defecit today. As much as I like morning running, gives me lots of energy and gets it out of the way, I really feel that I do better at night as I have gotten used to it, and it helps to have a little fuel still sitting in my stomach to burn off (I usually eat my daily apple on my drive home at night which I have found to be the perfect pre-run fuel!). After that I came back, took a quick shower and started to tackle my to-do list.
I have been eating toast and yogurt for breakfast, and it has become my new favorite thing. I have 2 slices of whole wheat toast, 1 covered with apple butter and the other with Peanut Butter and Banana. I have been wanting to try almond butter per several recommendations- I will report on that once I try some. I have gotten into plain greek yogurt for bfast with blueberries. Today I also put in some granola which I haven't had in a while and it was an excellent compliment.
I did 3 lectures with corresponding homework problems, emailed my test notes to my professor. cleaned the bathrooms, did laundry, washed towels, put away clean dishes, washed and loaded the dirty ones, cleaned the cabinet faces and counter tops and sorted all the mail by 9am. Peachie and proceeded to go on our walk where we met a neighborhood Bulldog Puppy that John and I have seen walking many times. Well Peachie seemed to enjoy him very much- she was calm and friendly. The bulldog was a little hyper, but to be expected of an 11-month old puppy, and very curious and friendly. His owner was nice and told me how they rescued him from a family that was not properly taking care of him. I immediately texted John to tell him and remind him of how much Peachie wants a playmate-Lets see if he catches the hint;)
I am now at work, where I am stuck until 8pm and then home to put away all the laundry I did, get Peachie into the bath and get the office cleaned up- It never ends!
This weekend John built us a wonderful shelf for the office to make our printers/scanners more accessible and give us more shelf space for the other things we need it for. I must say I was VERY impressed, it has turned out great, and I will display the finished product tonight once stainesd! Knowing how crafty he is, I will be using him to build me all sorts of fun things in the future!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Sluggish Monday

Happy Monday to all, we seemed to have regained a bit of a fall breeze today, I hope the temperatures follow suit. Today both John and I found ourselves commenting on how sluggish we felt today, probably the busy/stressful weekend plus the fact that today was a Monday.
Our Monthly start at work is tomorrow morning, and I am SO glad for this month to be at its closing point. I am also looking forward to my short 4 day week, I have switched my late day this week so my weekend starts at 6pm on Thursday! I have errands and some prep to do Friday and then will be spending time with fellow Gators (and Dawgs)!
Today I had a fantastic fall breakfast of Pumpkin Oatmeal! I used instant oats with 1/2 cup pumpkin, pumpkin spice and little honey. It was So good and Super filling! Today was also our monthly 'Thank-You' Lunch at work where they bring in a catered lunch and we have our monthly staff meeting, but today they brought in Chick-fil-a which normally I like but I knew it would leave me feeling gross (plus they got all the really yucky sauces) so it was not worth the calories and regret that would come later on, so I stuck with the lunch I brought!
John and I did a 3 mile run tonight which I was a bit hesitant about as I was not feeling my best today, but I am happy to admit that it helped me feel a lot better and I did all 3 miles in under 32 minutes (with 2 stretch breaks). It was a pretty easy run I felt like and I am glad to see the speed work is paying off, I may go to 2 speed workouts per week instead of just 1 until I get up to the pace I want and then can run race paces from there.
In more fun news, I found a fun new recipe to make football shaped brownies and draw the laces on with white icing- I will be trying this recipe for the game this weekend! Off to catch up on some reading and sleep!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Happy Birthday Granny!

I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to my Grandmother today! She is an amazing woman and I am so thankful she is my grandmother! I did not get a chance to see her today as I was locked in my house with my 3rd Calc test of the semester, and let me tell you, it kicked my Butt!!!
With about 5 hours of work today and some serious help from John I managed to get all the questions answered. Then I had to login to answer all the questions, and scan and email all my work to my professor.
I managed to squeak in a quick publix and costco trip for this weeks grocerys and some dinner- made pork chops, not so successful. I tried a new recipe and they came out quite bland.
John took Peachie out to Lawtey both yesterday and today as he was building us some shelves for the office and did a great job! All thats left is to stain them. He took the Corvette out for a long spin today which I know he enjoyed, and the car certainly needed to stretch its legs. All that being said, we have one Exhausted Puppy, she had already crawled into bed and left us here catching up on the last few things.
I did 2 runs this weekend- 4 miles yesterday as 2 miles early today. Today was specifically for speed work. I did .25 miles sprinting at a 7:47 min/mile pace. and .25 miles alternating an 11 min pace and a quick walk. I am really hoping to get my average time down to 9:30 miles consistently by our next race on Thanksgiving Day, and 1-2 speed workouts per week is the best bet. Tomorrow night is 3 miles followed by our Monthly Start at work Tuesday morning.

Luckily this is a 4 day week for me:) Happy Birthday Granny! Hope Everyone had a great weekend!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Busy Week-Busy Weekend

Happy Friday night to all, I am trying to update you all at the end of a hectic week- orientation came and went yesterday but not without a lot of hassle that will keep me working the majority of the weekend. I have my 3rd calc test of the term to complete by Sunday evening as well- this is usually an all day task.
So I will pre-update you on my weekend:
Friday night: John and I went to dinner at PF Cheng's, Yum Lettuce Wraps! Brief trip to Vitamin Shoppe (they only had half of what I was looking for:() And then Transformers on Redbox...and of course, Peachie Time!!!
Saturday: 4 mile run, work, few errands, TEST, Football Game!!!
Sunday: 3 mile speedwork, more test, errands, more test, cleaning, MORE test!!!
Hope everyone has a great weekend, will update Sunday with test results and a running update. I am seriously considering signing up for 2 half marathons in the spring, crazy? Jury is still out.

Go Gators!!!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Restaurant Wars!

So tonight's episode of Top Chef is my Favorite every season: Restaurant Wars!!! They split the contestants into 2 even teams and each tem is responsible for opening a "restaurant" and it is SO much fun to watch. John will be watching it off the DVR in the morning which I normally do, but I am taking my car (Maggie) to get her 10,000 mile Oil Change and check-up. That's right, my new car just hit 10,000 miles TODAY! That is about right though, I have had it for right about 9 months and it has also made Two 700+ mile trips to Gulf Shores so it is right about where it should be. We do want her running in top condition as we are hoping to put her on the road again in about 6 weeks for the SEC Championship Game!
Ok, enough football. This week at work is crazy with Orientation tomorrow and out Monthly Core Start coming up on Tuesday. I will be SO happy to see this start go, October is one of the most difficult months we have, and as I told my boss today, "Orientation day is nothing like Christmas" despite his repeated attempts to tell us it is. Christmas does not leave me panicked and sweating, praying to God that my students decide to be truthful for Once in their lives and show up when they say they will. Orientation is stress, anxiety, panic, running, phone harrassment, and never usually ends on a positive note; so No, This is NOTHING like Christmas
John and I did our 3 miles as scheduled tonight, and I am glad to see that my average time for all 3 miles is coming in at under 11 minutes per mile! I have done 5 straight days of running and am taking the next 2 off. I plan to bike or do yoga on one of those days and then we have our 4 mile run this Saturday!

Back to Top Chef now. Enjoy!

Coincidence

So last night I skipped the blogging to fold laundry and go to bed early...an exciting life I live, right? Well while watching Sex and The City last night John noticed that the hotel that this particular episode was being shot at was the same hotel he stayed in last summer during his 6 week training in NYC! It was a very modern hotel with an escalator to get up to the lobby where you are greeted with a huge chandelier and then a very swanky bar immediately to the left. It has neon green accents and a floor that lights up. We were very excited to see the hotel he had spent so much time in. For those who are interested in Viewing it was in Season 6: Part 2- Disc 1, Episode 2.
Going back to Tuesday it was a very long day, I was super tired for some reason. Yesterday was supposed to be a rest or cross-training day but I felt like I needed some activity and did not want to ride the bike so I decided to do some speed intervals to see if I could further help to improve my speed in my long runs. I have been doing these about once a week and have seen it help reduce my average time on my runs so I figured 2 miles of intervals wasn't too strenuous and could still be considered cross-training since there was definitely walking involved as well!
Last night John had already eaten our leftover tacos when I made it home, so I made some veggies for dinner that I have really been wanting- Portobello Mushrooms and some Asparagas, quite tasty.
Off to make breakfast and resolve today's wardrobe issues!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Looooong Weekend Update

So lots of updates! So after a 2 mile treadmill run due to cold weather Saturday morning, John and I went to Gainesville for the game. We stopped in Lawtey to deposit Peachie with her dog family for a play date and then headed for Gainesville early so we could watch the Texas/Oklahoma game that came on at Noon. We watched the 1st half at The Copper Monkey while grabbing lunch, then went and saw our friends at the normal tailgate for about 15 minutes before going to meet up with Paul, Rachel, and Jared. We sat on the student side which I really enjoy because nobody fusses at you when you scream too much which I Certainly did:)

After the extreme nail-bitter of a game we pulled out a win, but I had lost my voice. We stopped back in Lawtey to visit John's Cousin and her new baby (who is absolutely adorable!), say hi to the family, and scoop up The Peach before heading back to Jacksonville.

Sunday morning started with some sleeping in and then we met up with Mom and Granny for breakfast. We ended up going to The Pancake House which is one of my favorites and breakfast was fantastic! It was Granny's first time meeting Peachie and let me tell you that the little dog LOVED the attention! After they headed out John and I started to watch My Life in Ruins that we had gotten from Redbox, but were not overly impressed. We then took Peachie out to the Tennis courts while John and I attempted to play and she just chased the tennis balls. I then ventured to costco and publix, I really love going grocery shopping alone, it is one of my favorite things to do. I can make a list and get right in and out as well as any person, but I love to browse the aisles and look at all the different products and start thinking of ideas for recipes I have either never tried or haven't made in a while. I especially love browsing at costco because they have SO many fun things! Sunday was a 2 mile run, steak and Sunday night football! Oh and the Jags won, Yay!

So Monday morning comes, John, Peaches and Myself all ignore BOTH alarms and end up getting out of bed an hour later than usual-we obviously needed the extra sleep (or maybe we didn't want to get up and brave the 48 degree cold we had this morning!) Work was work and then tonight called for our 3 mile run! I finished all 3 miles in about 33 minutes which comes out to an 11 minute mile but we took a couple walking breaks, but I have been down between a 10 and 10:30 mile, especially with the cool weather and nice breeze!

I was SO excited all day today to get home and make Tacos for dinner (which I had been wanting for about a week!!!!)
Please ignore my Monda y night Fine China:) But they were super delicious!
We planned to watch House, our regular Monday night show, but as I type this, Fox has decided that some Playoff Baseball game is more Important than my Monday night House routine, and we are 25 minutes past when the show should start and I am STILL being forced to watch Baseball:(

I am protesting Fox and going to finish my Calc HW, take a hot bath and crawl in bed early with a magazine! Night!!!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Homecoming

Hello fellow Gator Fans! We are off to Gainesville shortly- waiting on the other woman to finish getting ready...
We are making a stop in Lawtey to drop off The Peach to play with her brothers and sisters and visiting with the family a bit, and then off to Gainesville. We will be meeting up with my Uncle and cousins at some point to visit and procure the tickets! We will be sitting in the student section today which I miss, I like that no one over there gets fussy if you cheer too loud or stand up too much ( I do both!)
Hope my Picks end up better today then they did last week, and maybe I can knock John our of his #1 rank in our pool!

Go Gators!!!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Happy Friday!

After a lot of anxiety and even more sweet talking, I managed to make it to the weekend with Two Whole Days ahead of me!
John and I are VERY excited for the Arkansas game tomorrow, we did not make it last year so we are happy to be going back for homecoming, my 1st one as an Alumni :(
I got in touch with an old friend today that I found via facebook and found out she is living in Germany right now with her husband who is in the military and their children. It is amazing where we all end up years later, but it is Always great to catch up with old friends!
I am excited to break into my cool weather Gator clothes for tomorrow's game, and hoping we can maintain these temperatures for the next 2 weeks until we get through FL/GA (if you wonder I mention it so much, Yes this is the highlight of my Fall!)
I did do the first shopping trip yesterday for FL/GA- did all of the dry and non-parishable things like plastic silverware, trashbags, etc.
Next weekend is the big costco trip for the food!
Have a great weekend! Go Gators!!!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Almost Friday

So today was an exhausting day, frustrated at work, sore knees, but on a postivie note...LOVING the Roasted Red Pepper Hummus I bought!

Over the last couple of weeks I have done some researching into different things that I am adding to my wish list, and finally came to the conclusion that I have 2, Make that 3...very big wants for Christmas (Its coming soon folks, better get your wish lists together). So, on my list...
1. Mahogony Diploma frame (No! After almost 2 years I STILL do not have my degree framed! But I hope to change this soon)
2. Garmin Forerunner 305- I have done a lot of research into this one and am now obsessing over it. This little device has a heart rate monitor, GPS (tracks mileage during runs), pace clock and timer! Am very excited to see how this baby works!
3. Something Big and Sparkly !!! This specifically from John, the rest of you can focus on the gadgets and home decor:)

Peachie has now been licking my arm for a solid 10 minutes as I type this and that means 1 of 2 things- I need to go out...or pay attention to me now or i will keep licking you until you do!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

New Recipes

So I will say first off that today was a pleasantly uneventful Wednesday. Normally there is always some small fire to put out on a Wednesday, but I managed to make it through the day with no glitches!
After my Hummus post yesterday I got some excited recipe suggestions from several people, and I am very excited to put a few to the test. One of the things I always say I am going to do more of it try more new recipes, things I have also had for years given to me by someone or tabbed in one of my favorite cook books so I am making my October Resolution to try more new recipes. I made Kabobs for John and I last night, with left overs tonight- nothing new there, but it had been a while and forgot how fun and Easy they are! I am debating my first endeavor and I am tempted to go with Enchiladas which I have never made, although it seems like a cop out since I have definitely eaten enchiladas before. My other consideration was a sausage and pepper pasta-says it has got some spice, and I have been all about the spicy food recently, we will see...
I did a three mile run after work today, and was very pleased with my times for each of the three miles. I would like to get down to where I am running at a consistent pace of about 10:30/mile by early next week. I am starting off about the 10 minute mile rate but going up to 11:00 and 11:30 on my 2nd and 3rd miles. I also had an epiphany tonight while running: I finally got into the mental aspect of detaching mind from running legs and being able to just crank it out without focusing on the tiredness or dehydration. After following many runners blogs and doing some research in runners world and various other places I have seen so many people reference this and felt i could never really get to that point. I feel that I can say with some serious confidence at this point that I have caught the running bug!

Enough ranting, time for Ms. Peach's nighttime walk and then Top Chef!!!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

I was a Brave Girl

So for anyone who knows me at all, you know that I am not a big fan of trying new or strange foods. Well I was a big girl today and after a short pep-talk I decided to dig right into a tub of hummus my co-worker had brought in. Chick Peas really freak me out, so the idea of them all mashed up gave me a vision of a moss-colored cottage cheese. But I mist say I was Pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. I had always read great things about hummus and how it was a healthy dip alternative and quite flavorful, so I have now added some roasted red pepper hummus to this weeks grocery list!
Today was my rest do, no running, and I can honestly say my legs needed a little break. Back at it tomorrow. I have started looking into a Garmin Forerunner 305 as a possible Xmas present for myself! It is a combo watch/GPS/Heart Rate monitor that I have heard great things about and would be great for running and races because it keeps track of your pace, distance, time and HR while running:) If anyone has something similar they like I would love recommendations or any input on the Garmin brand in general!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Is it Fall yet?

So today was an especially hot day on the First Coast, and the 90 degree weather felt even grosser when I walked into work today to discovered that the air conditioning had broken Again! It was our very own Sauna until I left today at 5:30pm, and boy was I thankful for my little fan!

But I was very pleasantly surprised to read today that we are expecting a partly cloudy 75 degree day with only 20% chance for rain this Saturday for the FL/Arkansas Game!


It is nice to have a solid team coming in for homecoming, and we have the last few years which has been nice. Growing up we ALWAYS had the Friday of homecoming weekend off, and going into my 2nd year in the real world (and not in Gainesville) people don't seem to understand that Homecoming Friday is supposed to be a Holiday, needless to say we will be making our pilgrimidge on Saturday morning. I am hoping this will be the last game with which I will be sporting my summer Gator Gear and that I can be bringing out my colder weather Orange and Blue for the rest of the season! During the off season I purchased a pair of Orange Alligator Print Flats for this season, and I am DYING to give them their first appearance!

In other news, John and I tried a new route today for our run. We mapped it out on Sunday and gave it a shot tonight doing 2 miles. The road that runs kind of behind our apartment and gives us the ability to do as short as 1 mile or up to 4 miles, so we arehoping this will provide us with some more variety for our runs! Once we start to make 4 miles look easy, we can add more to it with a long loop around a very large block that our apartment complex is on. I was pleased I finished the first mile tonight in 10:37 and John and I decided that our goal times for our next 5k (Nov. 7th) were going to be 30 minutes for him and 32 minutes for me, 10 and 10:30 min miles each!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Not so Lazy Sunday

I do want to congratulate my Gators on their win last night, great game all around!
Today has been a surprisingly busy Sunday. Normally we clean and grocery shop, but not much else, John and I both like to take Sundays to relax and prepare for the upcoming week. We made trips to walmart and costco to pick up supplies for the week, my newest food obsessions have been frozen blueberries ( frozen since they are out of season and are super expensive to buy fresh ones) and greek yogurt! For those who have not tried greek yogurt I do recommend it, but I recommend buying the flavored ones, the plan tastes a bit like sour cream, but it is a healthy alternative to sub in for Mayo or
Sour cream!
I just finished my 2nd calc test for this semester, a grueling 2 hours later and my brain is officially fried! Instead of a normal run today I am going to try a speed interval training workout I read about from a fellow blogger. It tells you to spring as fast as possible for 1/4 mile and then run a moderate pace for 1/2 mile and repeat until completing 3 miles. We will see how this goes, but it is supposed to help increase your time when you are doing a long run. I really need to start strength training more, so will be attempting to add this in today as well. After the run will be laundry, bathing the dog, dust, vacuum, prepare lunches for the week and start dinner.
Hoping that the expected cold front this week brings the cooler weather permanently, 90 degrees in October is just not fall. I am ready to start breaking out the sweater and peacoats!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

GameDay

Happy gameday to all football fans out there! We are anxiously awaiting the Florida/LSU game tonight as well as the announcement of the status of our beloved QB. For those who are not aware, our Saturdays are football centered. We have starting doing our longer runs on Saturday morning which is great it lets me eat and drink what I choose without feeling guilty. I have been trying to find more healthy but still tasty tailgate recipes which can be challenging when you are trying to accomodate hungry boys! Please let me know if you have any suggestions!

Last night John and I went on a date to see the new movie Couples Retreat, it was FANTASTIC! I recommend it to anyone who need a good laugh. Also, the movie sent me a sign that we should get our Peachie a Bull Terrier friend to keep her company!!!
John and I have also picked our next two races which will be...
Free to Breath 5k on November 7th and
The Outback Distance Classic (6k) on Thanksgiving day- I love the idea behind this, work off all the food before you eat!!!

Go Gators!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Key Lime

SO today is my late day at work and I am sitting here by myself trying to stay out of trouble. Well, while sitting at the front desk talking to Miss Margaret our evening receptionist, I stumbled on the key lime pie left from our potluck lunch last week. 2 days ago when I inquired about said pie, Eliza (who made the pie) informed me it was probably not good any more. Well too many minutes of being left alone later, I Disagree!!! Liza if you are reading this, the pie is still Fantastic, and there is None left for you!:)

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Gotta Love Hump Day

So I have found Wednesday to be my favorite day of the week, not only do I get to leave work on time, but it is Top Chef night! It is an added bonus that the night of my late TV show is followed by the morning I get to sleep in. For those who have not watched Top Chef, it is fantastic! Even if I have just consumed a 5 star meal right before it always makes me hungry, so I always try to eat a little later on Wednesdays.
Today was a little out of the ordinary as well, I went to get my hair done and for anyone in Jacksonville who is still looking for a hair stylist, I highly recommend Rhonda at Miracles Salon on Baymeadows. I had a bad experience at another salon and then found Rhonda through a co-worker and she is Amazing! After finishing up there I came home for a 2 mile run, I was able to cut my time down tremendously and ran my first mile in 9:54, followed by a slower 2nd mile, but 2 miles is better than none. I came home and made one of my favorites Breakfast for dinner! Ham, spinach and onion omlet, toast with Apple butter, and some fruit. In my efforts to eat better and maintain a healthy lifestyle, it seems only appropriate to be accountable for what I eat, so I will try to be accountable to any readers out there.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Peachie




Happy Tuesday to everyone, and a very Happy Birthday to Richard! Tuesdays are usually a pretty uneventful day here, not much schoolwork to do and no TV shows that we follow so we took our extra time tonight to play with Peaches! For those of you who have not met Peachie, she is our 4 year old Jack Russell that we took from John's Parents in January. John had always had a soft spot for her, and she has made a very exciting addition to our lives.


She is your atypical Jack Russell- she does not bark (at all!) and would rather sit in your lap all night then run around like the stero-type of her hyperactive bread.


I would love to get a playmate for her as I do feel that she is lonely with nobody to play with while we are gone all day, but lets get through one thing at a time, right? In my ideal world we would get her an all white Male English Bulldog Puppy and name him Gator!!! However, the high cost and bad karma associated with it will probably keep this as a dream rather than a reality. For now I will stick with Miss Peach decked out in her Gator Attire!




Miss Peach in her Game Dame outfit

Peachie Love to watch other dogs on TV

Monday, October 5, 2009

Planning Party

So after what was truly a Monday:( I met my friend Crystal to begin plotting this year's Florida/Georiga Festivities!
We both felt that we had learned some valuable lessons last year as far as what we did and didn't like and would move forward with this now 'experienced' knowledge. This year we will be bringing far more quality with less quantity, but certainly enough to feed (and drink) the 20-25 people we are expecting.

For all planning to attend, be ready for a fantastic day no matter what team you are routing for! 26 days and Counting!

It was fantastic to get the chance to catch up with Mrs. Colston! With her new work schedule we have not had the chance to see each other much the last couple of months-it was fun to hear about their new house and the whole building process. I am excited to see the finished product.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

It's About Time

So after months of blog-stalking others I have decided it's about time to start my own! Having moved away from so many family and friends now I feel this is a good way to keep everyone updated on what is happening in Jacksonville! We will see how successful I am with keeping up with it with all.



John and I just ran our first 5k race yesterday and it was so much fun! We have decided that we are going to try to do 1 each month and we are also hoping to run the 26.2 With Donna half marathon at the end of February 2010. For those of you who know me at all I have NEVER been a runner, but after my knee surgury in June of this year it has been something I have very much gotten into. I love that it is a good cardio workout that is still core stabalizing and I have found it to be a HUGE stress-reliever after a long/bad day at work. I hope to be able to update everyone more as to our running endeavors and successes!

Also to update anyone I haven't spoken to in a while, I am currently pursuing my Masters in Mathematics and will be starting my Masters classes at Jacksonville University in the Spring. I am taking 2 additional Calculus Courses at FCCJ right now to make sure I am up to speed with everything they may throw at me. I am hoping to be an adjunct for an online math class at the local community college in the upcoming semesters, and once I finish with this degree to teach as a full-tme professor at the community college. After working for about 18 months I came to the conclusion that I wanted to have something I could always use and that would offer a lot of flexibility.
My current job is going well and paying for the school bills which is always nice, and I feel that finally after about 18 months here in Jacksonville that things are finally starting to feel normal. The non-numbered roads are becoming more familiar and I absolutely love it here! I am suprised that I haven't missed Gainesville more since I have been in Jax, but John and I have both been very pleased with our new life here and are excited to see what comes in the next few years!

Look forward to updating everyone on the latest and greatest from the first coast!