Tempting Fate at 28

Tomorrow I turn 28. Like other years when I've been either super excited for or even somewhat dreaded my birthday (or looked for hidden meaning/had an existential crisis), this year is different. I feel very calm with my life and where I am. In fact, I've never felt more sure that I'm doing this dang thing my way, and it's the right way. Shit, have I grown up? Or am I just delusional? OR am I just tempting fate? At 28? (Catchy, eh? Well, it's better than "Oh God, I'm 27.")

This year, I've decided to go with "Tempting Fate at 28" for a number of reasons. First, I feel like for the last 10 months or so, my life has changed dramatically and even though I work really, really hard, it's all totally worth it. FBG is kinda my baby, and Erin is the other parent. Not to mention that I recently landed a new, more rewarding day job where I'm respected, complimented when I do a good job and just generally valued. It rocks.

In addition, Miss Siena has been a joy to have in the house and watch her grow and change. It's really hard to imagine that at this time last year, she was just a fur ball. And while the Nut renovations are by no means complete (failed to meet a lot of these resolutions, whoops, lol), I love our house, and we've made great strides.

I also have the best family and friends possible. From a hot, loving husband to super supportive parents to friends I can't thank the universe enough for, I'm a lucky, lucky gal. Throw Obama in the mix and it's almost too much! [Head exploding with hope and happiness!]

However, I feel like things are only going to get better in 2009. FBG is gonna be bigger and better this year (read: profitable!), Siena might actually stop destroying things and the atrocious daisy wallpaper in the bedroom could get removed. I'm seriously so thankful for every moment and for every person in my life. And at 28, I'm only tempting fate to continue the mad love and grow it.

Since I never did an obligatory New Year's resolution post here, I thought I would do a combo resolutions/new-year-of-life goals to coincide with my birfday. Here goes:

1. You've probably already heard, but I'm vowing to run a 1/2 marathon this year. Running has always been my workout nemesis, and it's going down Saturday, March 28 in Olathe.

2. Eat more local fruits and veggies. The garden will continue and be expanded, as well as Ryan and I's consumption of produce from the KC area. I'm planning to join a CSA and hit up the farmer's market often.

3. Drink less. I love wine, so this one will be challenging. lol.

4. Play more. The computer must be off 30 minutes before bed. No exceptions!

5. Read more novels. I read an ishton on the computer and in the news, but there's nothing better than a good novel. A secondary goal to this is finishing Gone with the Wind. Only 100 more pages to go...

6. Replenish my soul/build creativity. These kind of go hand in hand, but this year I'm gonna love myself up by taking more breaks, doing less, buying less, taking more long baths and watching bad TV when I need to. Life isn't a to-do list. 

So, with that, I embark on 28, renewed, happy and very excited. Bring it fate. Bring it.

(My next post will look at my dream board...how darn near everything I put up there last year happened and what new things I've added to the board for this year. Stay tuned.)

Two Interesting Items

1. This is the strangest thing I've seen in at least a week:

DEAR JENNIPHER SHAVER, Offer good at Kansas City area stores only.

A hardware store giving out fruits and veggies as a promotion? Are they free? Are they snacks? Is Sutherlands now a grocery? I'm confused, but it's healthy, so I'm not going to complain. I'm just going to scratch my head.

2. I'm insane. I signed up for a 1/2 marathon. Yep, all 13.1 miles of it. The insanity will ensue on Sunday, March 29 in Olathe. I begin officially training on January 4, but goodness knows I'm getting my ass to the gym to run plenty before then.

Silver Ain't Too Shabby

Every year, I put myself through sports-related hell. Maybe you've heard of it? It's called Kansas City Corporate Challenge? For some reason, year after year, I sign up for a multitude of events, many of which I am not talented in (swimming, track, tug of war, to name a few).

However, I am talented in tennis, so each year I get really pumped to play doubles tennis. My partner and I, who eerily look related, have similar styles of play and make for a great team. The first year we played we took bronze; the second year we took silver (only because I was in Disney World at the time -- for work, people. I was WORKING HARD). This year, J Squared, as we like to call ourselves, was hoping for the gold. But no. I, my friends, was a headcase. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

We were supposed to play Saturday, and I was psyched for it. Then I spazzed out, forgetting what time we were meeting to warm-up or play and arrived at the courts more than an hour early. Then, once it was time to play, our competitor didn't show, and we won by forfeit. This was good, but bad because we only spent 30 minutes playing with another team who was in the same situation, but, like us, refused to go home without doing anything. (Seriously, I don't wear a skirt for nuthin.)

Then on Monday, during our semifinals match, I came with no game face. I kept over thinking, over hitting, under hitting and doing anything else besides getting the ball in the court. It sucked. I can't believe the other "J" in J Squared didn't smack me. The team we played was good, no doubt, but we ended up playing a grueling three set match that lasted darn near three hours. It should have lasted one hour, but we pulled it out. Barely. Sheesh.

Then, after 20 minutes of rest and six baby carrots (we didn't intend on the marathon tennis), we hit the court again...for....another...three setter (another 2+ hours of tennis). Dear Lord, help. We ended up losing, but I swear it was only due to muscle fatigue and brain failure. And for our state, we really did make some hella good shots. (I finally pulled my ish together for this one; I was too exhausted to continue being a headcase.)

Here's a pic of us before the match:



Thank GOD we didn't take one after.

Back from Sabbatical, for the Moment

Today marks a special day. First, it's my mom's birthday, which is awesome cause she's a pretty wonderful chick. I think I did a good job of spoiling her today with Pei Wei, cupcakes and a mosaic-coaster-making kit, too.

Here are the cupcakes:



In addition, today also marks the first day of this really cool blog "I found." You might want to check it out, nudge nudge. Sorry that I've been busy lately. But, I think it's been worth it, don't you?

p.s. Siena is still growing. Big surprise, right? Here she is, sacked out in the back of the car after spending a night at my parents and playing non-stop. She loved her little puppy vacation. (Thanks again, Mom!)

Running, Running and Running, Running

My plan was to wait to blog about the Trolley Run until after I had received my official race photo, but apparently that’s going to take until Friday, and I don’t feel like waiting that long. (I’ll post it later if I can, but just imagine an awkward me running, red-faced with a less than flattering expression. No matter how good I feel or how hard I try to look normal and healthy, I always look like hell in the end of the race photo.) So…drum roll please…my official time was… 39:12! Not too shabby considering I drank my weight in sangria and got little sleep the night before. Before the race, I had set my goal at a very attainable 40 minutes. So, go me!

Next year, Ryan wants to run it in 30, but he’s crazy. I’m going to shoot for under 36 (under 9 minute miles), which puts me just barely in the next fastest wave. I can do it.

On another fitness-related note, my boss and friend Darryl just competed in a natural body building competition. He totally rocked it! The KC Star's magazine Ink recently profiled his journey from fit man to uber fit man. Be sure to check out the photos -- Neo ain't got nothin on him!

I'm baaaaaack...

I'm happy to report that I have survived the eye pink ordeal and am back to living and working with the normal people of the world. (For a few days there I was having to go into work from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm to not infect anyone, and seriously, the people who are at the office that late and aren't cleaning the building are a tad odd. Some of them seemed to enjoy being there at that time. Weird.) Although I had to push back my work trip to San Diego a day due to my Quasimodo-like appearance and insanely low energy levels, I was a trooper and survived the show. I even managed to get in a few workouts while away. (However, that's really not that impressive of a feat because I'm technically required to cover early morning workouts for the mag, but I did get in a good 30 minutes each day I was there.)

While away in beautiful Cali, I took some time out to capture more than just the fitness equipment on the trade show floor. Pictured below is some of the beauty my hotel was surrounded by. My photos only do it partial justice, though. It was really like heaven in San Diego; not to mention that on the day these photos were taken it snowed in KC.

When I got back to KC, I was very excited to see the hubby and puppy. (That kind of rhymes.) According to Ryan, Siena frequently wandered around the house looking for me and whining while I was away. That simultaneously breaks my heart and makes me feel loved. Interesting combination.

Here's Siena waiting by the front door/chewing on her rope:

The last few days have been great for me. I'm feeling healthy and normal again. I'm back to working out. I'm cooking and eating nutritious foods. I'm back with the family (and Ryan can look at me without wincing). And, perhaps best of all, I'm working a regular work week with my usual hours. I'm not sure if its that darn Tolle book or what, but I feel like things are looking up for me professionally and personally. I'm taking more accountability for my happiness, and it's totally working.

Not to mention that on Thursday morning, I'll be heading to Chicago (AKA Chee town, Tish) to spend time with my kiwi pal for her 27th birthday. This trip is going to be so great, it's almost like I'm having a second birthday this year. Good times abound!!!

Success!

Two people came to my core training class tonight. Yay!!!

And, not to brag, but, um, they totally loved it. Oh yea.

Oh God, I'm hungover.

I seriously had the best birthday yesterday. Friday evening, my parents came over to drop off my birthday gifts and go out to dinner. They got me the latest Biggest Loser workout DVD and Guitar Hero for the Wii. So awesome:




Saturday morning, I opened my package from Tish. It's this awesome photo album along with stickers with words like hyperbole, food for thought, bad as I wanna be, and my personal favorite, beans and toast. The idea is that I take a photo to represent each title in my own creative way. How cool is that?!


I spent the afternoon at KCFitnessLink, celebrating Yoga Day and the studio's open house. After enjoying an hour of yoga, I spent a couple hours chatting with new clients and promoting my core class (Mondays, 6-7 pm, btw. hehe.). I also had a delicious lunch of sushi and this ginormous cupcake that Darryl got for my bday.

Note how its size dwarfs my hand:


That afternoon, I came home to a clean house (yay Ryan!). I took a leisurely 40-minute nap, talked to some friends and family on the phone, and played some Guitar Hero. (I'm still on the easy level, but I'm getting better.)





Then we went out to Lulu's for a tasty din-din. That's when the drinking began. lol. The circumstances that lead to the above title are as follows:

• Mojito at Lulu's
• Sangria-tini at Swizzel
• 2 K Ciders, upside-down pineapple cake shot, lemon drop shot and 2 irish car bombs at Hoopers

Here's some of the gang after a couple shots:

And here's Ryan and I towards the end of the evening. Ryan is in pensive mode, I'm in feelin-it "happy cow," as Ryan calls it.

It was a late night, but seriously so much fun. Granted I have a massive headache today, but it was worth it. It's not a good b-day unless you feel it the next day, right? ;)

Also, I'd be a bad puppy mommy if I didn't mention that my b-day marks Siena's 3-month b-day. Here's a few pics of how much she's grown and what she's been up to.

Siena has taken over the papasan, which is awesome because it's really not safe for people to sit in anyways because it's falling apart. Also, we can tell Siena to, "go to papa." And she does!

Siena has two poses, crazy and sad Orphane Annie. Here's two of Annie:

And one of crazy:

In conclusion, here's a Ryan and Siena moment of Zen. Ryan's probably mad at me for putting this on You Tube, but whatever. It was my birthday, and I can post video of him dancing if I want to.

Born to Run

Since we've had the dog, I've been to the gym once. ONCE. That's just not cool for me. I heart the treadmill. But, I heart my hellion/snuggler (depending on Siena's mood and energy level) more. Thankfully, we got the okay from the vet to run small amounts with her, and Ryan and I are training her to chew a bone while we jump around like idiots and lift weights to the Biggest Loser DVD. (I can't imagine what she thinks we're doing. lol.)

So, yesterday, for the first time, we took her out to the trail and ran her for 5 minutes, rested and then tried another 5 minutes, plus some walking. Turns out the little bugger loves it. She runs like a little sled dog. Now, if I want to run some I take the pup out for a jog. Granted, she can't run for long, but we'll build that up. She'll be out-running me in no time.

In honor of this fitness-related post, here's a video of her on the Bosu ball. She stumbled up on it while I was working out one day and hilarity ensued. She's a brave little thing at times.

Obligatory New Year's Day Post

As Outkast once sang, "Feeling good, feeling great. Feeling great, feeling good, how are you?" And, dang, I'm feeling good! Mizzou just won the Cotton Bowl by a landslide, and it's 2008, baby!

And to recap, I feel very blessed for the last year. 2007 was full of some major life changes: buying a home, moving, getting married and even welcoming a fuzzy new member into the fam. It was one hell of a year.

Next year, I have just a couple of simple things I'd like to do and continue doing. Here's my goals/resolutions for the next 365 days:

1. Play more (Siena can help with that quite a bit)
2. Don't take life too seriously (goes nicely with #1)
3. Continue eating well and working out regularly (not too much, not too little)
4. Develop a regular meditation practice (eventually doing yoga and/or meditation almost every day, even if it's just for a couple of minutes)
5. Try lots of new stuff (get Zumba certified, continue cooking new foods, host events, meet new people, continue taking photos, etc.)
6. Finish de-wallpapering and painting the Nut
7. Travel to see my long-distance BFFs! (I have 15 days of vacation this year!)

Happy New Year, everyone!!! May 2008 be grrrrrr-eat!

Shameless self promotion: Get your workout on

I've got a new gig, kids. Come Monday, I'll be teaching a core-training class from 6-7 pm at KC FITNESSLINK at 39th and Main in KCMO. The beautiful mainly mind-body studio is run by my old pal and fitness mentor Darryl from Mizzou. He's talented guys, so you should totally come check the place out (and my class, of course -- hehe).

Here's a shot of the studio that was taken a few weeks ago. He's given the place a little more pizazz with art, but this gives you the gist of the space -- peaceful!


If you want more info, go to: http://www.kcfitnesslink.com/schedule.html. All classes are free next week, so it's the perfect time to check it out!