Failure

My alcohol induced weekend was a lot of fun.  Except it kept me from my post yesterday.  Which means I am a NaBloPoMo failure.  Oh well.  I will continue to do my best the rest of the month and see what happens.  Anyone want a recap of my crazy weekend?  I do…ha ha!

Started out on Friday with a LONG day at work.  I guess no one got the memo that we should secure early on Fridays.  I didn’t get out of there until almost 6.  A friend was in town for the weekend, so once I get home and showered, I met up with four friends and we went downtown Carlsbad for the night.  LOTS of beer later, I stumbled into my apartment and proceeded to fall fast asleep.  But for some reason I watched Fridays episode of Days of Our Lives first.  I totally love that show and am addicted.  Any one else?  It is getting REALLY good now too.  Okay, tangent over.

Saturday, I slept in and then decided to go shopping.  Seriously, I was looking for something specific which means I bought NOTHING.  I believe it is a scientific fact that when you aren’t looking for anything, you find EVERYTHING to buy and when you want something specific, you find nothing.  Then I watched “The Proposal”.  That is one funny movie!  I really enjoyed it and recommend it.  Then, met up with some of the same friends from Friday night and we made our way to San Diego for the night.

Have you ever been the only girl out with three guys?  Hysterical.  Tons more beer was consumed and we played the LBD game.  Haven’t heard of it before?  Well, that is probably because I came up with it on the way to San Diego.  Basically, we counted the number of girls wearing “little black dresses” that we saw throughout the night.  I think the final count on the way out-of-town was 94.  Watching the guys scream “74!” while point to a girl across the street was a blast.  I took a “nap” on my friends couch and finally drove to my apartment around 5 this morning.  Needless to say, I slept in again today.

After some cleaning and some more movie watching (“The Ugly Truth” was really cute) I decided it was time to purge all of the weekends festivities from my system with a run.  I had a six-mile run on my training plan scheduled for today and that is what I did.  Just and out and back and I felt really good.  I was slower than my long run last week, but I ran the whole time and felt good.  My knee is pretty sore and I have already iced it once.  Will probably do that again later tonight.

Now I am off to meet up with friends for pizza and some Rock Band.  Yes.  And no beer.  At all.  Are you bored with my weekends ramblings?  If you are still reading this, bless your heart.  I would have been bored after Friday.  :)

Kisses

Okay…I apologize in advance.

I am drogging (drunk blogging).

At least I am not driving!  :)

Had a great night out with some friends and “reconnected” with an old friend.  What is it about kisses after a few drinks?  They seem so different.  And fun.  And exciting.  And different.

I came home alone, of course, but had a fun night kissing and holding hands with an old friend.  And I hope to do this again tomorrow.  Okay, time for sleep!

Whittle My Middle Challenge

I have been noticing recently that my abs have become horribly neglected.  I have been so focused on running lately that I forgot about my core.  So when I saw Angela throw out the Whittle My Middle Challenge yesterday, I knew this was just the kick in the pants I needed to get my core back up to snuff!  The challenge specifics are pretty easy.  Take pictures of your abs before, at the half way point, and at the end.  The entire challenge will be a month and in addition to pictures at these times, you also take your measurements.  It is 6-10 minutes of core work, 5 days a week.  I can easily add this into my routine.  Yesterday, I kicked this off and I started with my pictures and my measurements.

Here is the frontal view.  I can see some definition still, but I know I can do better.  I am already curious how my abs will look in a month.  I know that with my recent back pain, that strengthening my core will be really good for me.

And here is the side view with my starting measurements.  I have always had a small waist and have always been hippy.  I am six feet tall, so these measurements aren’t that bad!  Ha ha!  Next update will be on 25 November.  We will see how this goes!

Regret…or something like it

I guess the title of this post is a bit misleading.  I don’t regret.  Anything.  I never have.  It is my philosophy that every decision I have ever made has brought me to the place I am today.  I like where I am today so I can’t regret things that brought me here.  Regret is a wasted emotion.  You can’t do anything about the past.  All you can do is learn and move on.  Therefore, I don’t do regret.

I do have a tendency to every once in a while fall into the “coulda, woulda, shoulda” trap.  Sort of like that song… “what might have been”.  While I don’t regret my decisions, I do sometimes wonder how things might have been different had I chosen a different path.  This is a natural thought process though.  Could I have left that situation?  Would I have been happier with him?  Should I have looked at all of these things before deciding the way I did?  Yes.  No.  Maybe.  I have these thoughts a lot more when I am feeling nostalgic about good times from the past.  And I was definitely feeling that way last night.

I couldn’t sleep.  My mind kept spinning.  I had opened up “the box”.  I have an old cigar box filled with letters and pictures and memories from my relationship with one person.  I have had a lot of relationships, but only this one has a box.  I have it stuck in the corner of my closet.  I will forget it is there.  But every once in a while, I start thinking about him.  I pull out the box and sit on the floor of my closet and read the letters.  I look at the pictures.  And I am reminded of the amazing times we had together.  I don’t think about the tears he made me shed.  I don’t think about the uncertainty he brought into my life.  I just remember how he made me happy.  After I am done looking through the box, I close it up.  I put it back in the corner and I go on with my day.

He is married now.  I haven’t talked to him in years.  I wonder if he is happy.  I hope that he is.  I wonder how things would be different now if I had said yes to his proposal.  But I don’t regret any of it.

Happy 234th Birthday Marines!

Happy Birthday to all Marines, past and present!  Semper Fi!  Watch this and learn a little about us!

Steeler Nation

I am currently sporting my Troy Polamalu jersey and supporting my Steelers as they beat up the Denver Bronco’s in Monday Night Football.  So this is going to have to be quick.  But I was so excited about my run this morning, I had to share!

I had to push my long run back one day because of the party I went to yesterday.  But I pounded out my five miles this morning down by the ocean and it was awesome.  I didn’t stress about my speed and just enjoyed the run.  And enjoy I did!  After the run, I hit the gym and did some upper body lifting and then took a 75 min restorative yoga class.  It was great!  Just the stretch I needed!

I leave you with my new favorite running t-shirt.  Go Steelers!

Birthday Fun

Today I had the pleasure of driving to 29 Palms, California to celebrate the birthday of my favorite 2-year-old, Camille.  I met Camille the day she was born and she is adorable.  Don’t believe me?  Check out this cutie pie…

Seriously cute, right?  And she is so freakin’ smart!  I listened to her sing her ABC’s (the entire way) and she speaks Spanish!  Her day care provider speaks to the kids pretty much exclusively in Spanish.  How cool is that?  Well, I have been Camille’s unofficial photographer her whole life.  I photographed her on the day of her baptism…And her first trip to the ocean.  It was a blast to get to celebrate with her today.  And I took a lot of pictures (over 100!) and some video.  This is one precious girl.  Happy birthday Camille!

Marine Corps Birthday Ball

Last night, I attended the 1st Marine Logistics Group Officers Ball in celebration of the 234th Anniversary of the United States Marine Corps.  That is a long way of saying…I went to a birthday ball!  The Marine Corps makes a really big deal about celebrating our birthday every year.  This year, November 10th marks the 234th anniversary of the Marine Corps.  Marines, past and present, have accomplished so much and we have so much to be proud of as an organization.  I am incredibly blessed to be able to serve as a Marine.  I often joke that I don’t know what I would do if I were a civilian, but I truly believe I was meant for this career.  While being in the military isn’t for everyone, being a Marine is definitely for me.

Part of the birthday ball celebration involves a ceremony.  There is a lot of pageantry involved and I was in the ceremony.  I received many compliments on my performance and was pleased with how it turned out.  I stayed around for a few hours after dinner and then made the drive home from San Diego.  I was exhausted by the time I got home, but it was a fun night.  What other job makes you go to a formal ball once a year to celebrate the anniversary of the organization?

I will leave you with a self portrait of myself from last night.  I felt dorky asking someone to take my picture, so I took matters into my own hands.  I have a more detailed post about the Marine Corps scheduled for the 10th.

Oh, my food journaling and half marathon training are going really well!  I am one week in and still on track!  :)

Party Time

I have the Marine Corps birthday ball tonight in San Diego.  It should be an interesting night.  I am in the ceremony, so I am here at the hotel already in my uniform.  I will post all about it tomorrow.  But now it is time to party!

So Sad

I am so sad about what is going at Fort Hood right now.  I feel for the families of the soldiers affected by this.  I am in complete and utter disbelieve that it was another soldier that was responsible for the tragedy.  I have no words.

Please keep the families and friends of those killed and injured in your prayers.  And keep all of the soldiers at Fort Hood in your prayers also.  Military bases are communities and something like this can really rock a community.  You think you are safe when you are on base.  I speak from experience.  To have that comprimised…I can’t even imagine.