The time I wasn't ready for 13.1

This summer I thought I'd give it another shot to get a marathon under my belt. I started training with a local running store and all was well until the week after Labor Day. I had a long run (15 miles) on Saturday, my first Sprint Tri on Monday, and after 10 minutes of running the following Thursday my calf started cramping something awful. It felt like a rock had been inserted into my leg, but like most runners, I decided to ignore it and wait for it to loosen up. I ignored for a few more days, but when I was still limping 5 days later, I headed to a sports medicine chiropractor to check it out. Turns out it was a tear...not a complete tear, just a moderate one. And turns out it took me about 6 weeks to recover and even be able to run 3 miles without stopping. So the marathon training was over. I'd have to rebuild and consider trying again for next Spring. Then over dinner one night, my friends were talking about the Dallas Marathon (the one I was training for), and how several of them signed up with Team Volkswagen which included a free registration and some swag. The next week I found out VW had a few more spots, so I became #150 of 150 runners on the team. I figured if I'm not ready to run 26.2 miles, but I could work my way slowly through 13.1 why not give it a shot? So I ran it. Well, almost ran it. I had to stop and walk off and on once I hit the 4 mile mark thanks to a shooting pain that crept in - one more issue courtesy of the calf tear. I knew from the beginning this would be an easy, laid-back run, and I would just enjoy myself since I had no idea how well I could run this thing. I saw a few friends, ran over and gave them hugs, enjoyed seeing parts of Dallas I'd never seen up close, and soaked the experience in. Oh, and, most importantly, I got a medal:

When I started running a few years ago, I read something that I remind myself of often, especially this past Sunday - "Nobody cares whether you run, they're more concerned that you finish."

Busy bee

I can't for the life of me manage to be a good blogger. Well, if my life was actually on the line I probably could be, but it's not so this has been the furthest thing from my mind. There are days where something happens that I think "I should blog about that." Sometimes my friends suggest I blog about my photo shoots. And then there are times when I tell another story of a day in the life of a single girl and where it seems so obvious that I need a whole site devoted to the joys of trying to find a guy I'm attracted to that's equally (if not more) attracted to me. Yet I still can't seem to sit down and do anything about it. Now that works died down maybe I'll get on here more. For now here's a quick update... Since April (aka the last time I blogged) I've managed to: -celebrate the youngest nephew's 1st birthday

-hit up Six Flags and have a totally awesome 80s skate night

-enjoy New Orleans

-start training for a marathon -ride a mechanical bull

-complete my 1st triathlon

-tear my calf muscle(OUCH!!!!) -wonder when I'll ever fully come back from the calf tear -pull off a very convincing Rosie the Riveter

-keep a giant dog alive (She turned 1 on October 30 so we celebrated)

-cheer on friends running the Marine Corp Marathon and sight-see during my 1st (and definitely not last) trip to DC

-feel like a big girl for my 2nd opportunity to fly to another big city to interview for a job -actually turn away clients for the 1st time in ever because I had too many photo sessions scheduled (score!) during the holiday season

Oh and I've made some awesome friends, some awesome memories, and just all around enjoyed this awesome life -- but maybe I should wait till December 31st to get into all that "year in review" stuff. This is assuming I'll be back in December, of course.

Say hello to my "little" friend

I now own a horse dog. I'm the girl that always watches the American Kennel Club dog show, loves to dog-sit, wastes spends hours on petfinder.com, and constantly tells myself my job doesn't allow me to have a dog of my own. But then I got this email from a friend asking us to consider helping out a puppy who needed a new home. The puppy was 5 months old, and her owners just couldn't devote the time to her. She was free to a good home, and she was a registered Great Dane. Sold!! So I called my friend, got in touch with the current owners, and 3 days later I drove to meet my new friend. For 3 days, I was all over the place in my head trying to figure out how this would work, especially during my busy time of year in the Fall, but every con I had managed to have a solution. My biggest con...what do I do with her when I need to be in Phoenix for a week?? Take her to some friends who have lots of land and want to starting breeding Danes. See? It was meant to be, and a month later, I couldn't imagine not having a 65 lb (and growing) pup lounging on my couch, flying through my house at lightning speed, giving me whiplash with her tail, and adding so much energy to my house. Jessie will disagree with me across the board, but I think in another year she'll finally stop hating her new roommate. Without further ado...Meet Juno (Roman goddess of protection)

Vintage-y

Sometimes I take pictures of objects so I can edit them and possibly print them and possibly hang them up in my house. Then months go by and sometimes I remember about those pictures I was going to possibly edit and possibly print. Case in point, I forgot about these, and I actually took a few minutes to turn them into something I like. I don't know what I'll do with them yet, but at least I have the option now.

HD

About 5 1/2 months ago my sister birthed another beautiful boy, and I absolutely adore him!! He's all smiles and loves to cuddle, so clearly he took after his aunt - ha!

My mission is to make sure he gets just as many photos of himself as his big brother (the first child and grandchild) did. I'm the baby of my family, so I know how painful it is to see so many photos of your older sibling compared to the 20 that were taken of you. I'm surprised I've never gone to therapy for this. Actually, I'm not. Therapy is much too expensive! So far it's been a challenge since he didn't even get a Halloween costume, and to help my cause, I had my cousin make a little bear hat and matching diaper cover for him. Granted, the photo below is only him wearing the hat because it was much too cold the day I saw him to put him on a tile floor in nothing but a diaper and hat, but he is still so flipping cute! I may not have kids of my own, but I have common sense...most of the time. We have a make-up shoot scheduled soon, and I can't wait to see if he can look even cuter than he did that day.



Something about his smile makes me heart hurt, but in a good way of course!

Occupation:

Full-time Recruiter, Part-time Photographer, Seasonal Pie Maker



And I thoroughly enjoy it!

You gotta grow up sometime.

I turned 30 in February. I was and am completely fine with that, but I knew the days of not caring about certain parts of growing older were behind me (i.e., wrinkles). I read a Q&A section Family Circle magazine recently - yes, I do have a subscription to Family Circle courtesy of my Mamaw, and yes, I am the only grandchild she has that is both single and without children. My Mamaw told me it has good articles, and it really does. I can't do much right now with topics on raising pre-teens or keeping my kids safe online, but the recipes and the home decor ideas are pretty nice.

This particular Q&A I read was about skin care. A reader asked, "when should I begin an anti-aging skin regime?" The answer, "if you are asking the question, it probably means you should start now." Well, I've asked myself that question a few times here and there, but never done anything about it. Today, though, I've reached a new chapter in my life, and I will now be using these products on a daily (hopefully) basis. It really helps that they all smell so amazing! If I'm going to use a night creme, I'm all for it being good smelling and moisturizing as I drift off to sleep.



If this new habit I'm trying to form goes well, I fully expect that the way I look today is the way I'll look 30 years from now.