A night of puzzling = lack of blogging

URGH! This is my THIRD time attempting to write this post. Let me try again!

After the Derby, Michael and I came home and began to FINALLY work on a puzzle that we purchased before we got married and we have spent the evening intensely working on it, still not complete, but alas, no blog post due to that because it is now closer to 1:20 am. (this is the puzzle we are working on, it is sentimental to Michael because his Grandpa liked this picture!)

So I will take this post to dedicate the puzzling time Michael and I spent this evening to my mom, Gloria. She always loved doing puzzles and passed that on to me. I find it so relaxing and stress free and better than watching a movie! So Happy Mother's Day Mama, up in heaven! And to all you other mothers out there, I hope you have an exceptional day, you all are great influences on all of us!! Good night!

Margs, Running, and Orange Leaf

Bonjour readers!! Today was a pretty lazy Friday for me! But first, a real quick recap from yesterday since I was too tired to write.

Yesterday, after my awful CPA exam experience I headed into work for a few hours and then headed to Kroger to grab some avocados and guacamole fixins, cause it was cinco de mayo! Then I headed to meet some girls from my class at the local Mexican restaurant to enjoy margaritas on their "patio", aka the parking lot. It was great to be outside and just relax with the girls, not talking about school, awesome!

After our drinks I headed home to meet up with Michael and grab the guac and head over to the Robertson's casa where they were hosting a Cinco de Mayo partay! It was tons of fun, we had quesadillas and margaritas and my guac (which was totally consumed in it's entirety, yay!). So that basically quickly sums up my Thursday.

Friday:
I woke up this morning and caught up on tv and did some major vacuuming...the entire canister of the vacuum filled up TWICE with fur...NASTY! Like literally, that's gross! Around 11 I finally convinced myself it was time to run. Begrudgingly, I dragged myself upstairs to get ready and then grabbed a leash and Carson and headed outdoors. This was my first run since the half marathon and it was probably the best run I have had in a LONG time. It was great! We only did 5k but Carson ran really well, I felt great, legs felt good, good attitude, beautiful weather and we ran the entire thing at a pretty quick pace for the rookie runner, Carson. I am so glad that I decided to run, because it was great!!

After running I was starving so I made myself a lunch of mashed potatoes with a big bowl of peas mixed in and some strawberries (they were on sale at Kroger!). Yes, my lunch was weird, but that's what sounded good!!

After chowing down I was ready to shower, and for some reason that shower really tuckered me out and I passed out in the bed for an hour. It was wonderful!! Even though I should have been working on my paper, I did eventually get the paper done later this afternoon!

Tonight I actually made dinner, it seems like I haven't done that in a few days at least. We had chicken, rice, peas (I LOVE PEAS!), and I whipped up some Tastefully Simple Beer Bread. Michael had never had this glorious carb filled bread and he loved it!

Then I finally got my fix, ORANGE LEAF!! SO excited! Tonight I got some Pomegranate, Vanilla, and then Red Velvet Cake and Brownie Batter on the side (I hadn't had this 2 new flavors yet so I had little samples of them on the side). It was so yummy as usual!! Love me some Orange Leaf!

And that's about it for today. Nothing REALLY notable, but I can't complain...oh and Michael took this pic of me blogging, he said I should use it cause it would be good for my blog...so here it is, I had no idea it was going on, but I do have my running buddy by my side ! (the dogs are only allowed on the furniture on special occasions or when we feel they've been good) Hope you all have a great Friday evening!

Cinco de Mayo!

The latter part of my day was spent consuming margaritas with 2 different groups of friends.

And now I am tired. Drinking yummy goodness and actually being social for once takes a lot out of a person. It probably also doesn't help to normally go to bed at 10:30 and it is midnight. So I'm sleepy. I promise I'll write more tomorrow!!
Goodnight readers!

1 week --just 1

I have one week until I am done with this round of school stuff

1 week.

Just one.

Anyone can survive for 1 week.

A CPA exam tomorrow at 8am
A 5 page paper due next week
A debate on Monday
A final on Wednesday

Then I'm done.

The semester is complete.

And I will rejoice and be glad in it.

I can do it.

Cinco de Mayo tomorrow may also help. I am allowing myself to have the rest of the evening off after I get done with the CPA exam and work for like 3 hours. I will then celebrate Cinco de Mayo. With friends. And happiness. And then Friday, I will return to normal business. And probably re-introduce exercise into my schedule. Here it goes! Please let me find some focus, just for a week!

Things I learned today

Yesterday was the good, here are a few things I learned today!

1. That backpacks get tired

My backpack and I have been together since my Freshman year of high school. Light blue, Jansport, Cushioned straps, reversible zipper action backpack. It has always been there for me. But lately I feel that it is about as tired of school as I am. Today as I was walking out to my car the zipper just failed all together and my calculator fell on the ground as I was getting into my car. Sweet backpack. It's done that a couple of times now but I just need to reassure it that it can make it through the next couple of months and then it won't be put through such agonizing pain again!
 

2. Corn Tortillas definitely are not as good as Flour Tortillas

So Michael loves when I make enchiladas for dinner. So tonight was enchilada night. I decided to try making them with corn tortillas. Michael warned me that he didn't think he liked corn tortillas but I decided we would try them out anyway. I'll admit it, he was right. The texture of the corn tortillas are weird and different and they fall apart more. I think we will switch back to the flour. I just feel bad I let Michael down on one of his fav meals. .. .my bad ... I should have listened. BUT I did spice up dinner by picking a Mexican fiesta pandora radio station!!! It was fun!

3. After some good apples, you are going to get some bad ones

I've been on an apple a day kick for a little while now and I was really starting to enjoy eating my Gala apples until last Friday and today. It's lunchtime and I pull out my sliced apples and go to eat them. BLECK! They are gross, no flavor what-so-ever! And of course, I am eating the at the library or school and don't have another option for food (I will not spend money on food at school unless I MUST). So there goes a good portion of my lunch to the garbage can. sweet. What is up with my apple purchasing?! And why did I get 2 nasty ones in a row. I am disappointed. Maybe I shall try another kind of apple...any suggestions as to a good type?!

4.Uh... I forgot what I was going to write --- oh yeah --- I may be becoming more forgetful!

I have been TRYING to go to the student center for about the past week to pick up my friend Jennie's graduation cap and gown for her because she is out of the state now. And EVERY DAY I forget! Yesterday I wrote it in my planner in the hopes of remembering. Nope, that was a fail too. Today in class when I saw it in my planner I had to make the effort to write it on my hand, because on most days I don't forget my hand!!! This is not the only instance of forgetfulness! Yesterday as I got into the car and sat down, I began searching for the keys. How did I lose them in 20 seconds?! I searched all around, a few minutes later to find them in the handle of the door, right next to me. Not cool. I am so not cool!

So those are some of the things I learned today. It's always good to learn I suppose. And sometimes it's funny. I'll accept it!

In good news, I got a test back today that I thought I did terribly on and ended up with an 89! The professor gave us opportunities for 19 extra points though, so you all can't say I had no room to complain! :)

Things I liked Monday

1. Inspirational Stories : Legally Blind Marathon winner

2. Ice cream

Yeah, kinda gross right? I didn't want to dirty another bowl, seeing that we fly through bowls with our daily consumption of cereal, so instead of putting the 1-2 scoops remaining in a bowl, I thought I should just eat out of the container

3. Going to the gym and deciding what I WANT to do :) ... didn't have to do a particular mileage... it was nice... I did the elliptical and read a magazine and watch America's Next Top Model

4.Tulips

5. Husbands cooking dinner

6. Husbands randomly coming home during the day for 2 hours

7. AppleCare - the Mac is fixed! And the bill would have been over $500 if we didn't have AppleCare... WOOOO HOOO!!

8. Sleeping with the windows open and a cool breeze 

9. Empty buildings and parking lots on campus - The one good thing about graduate classes going 2 weeks beyond the undergrads

*uh thing I don't like, my blog changing font type and size and me not knowing how to fix it! ahh!*

And those are some of the things I liked today. Now I must get back to doing something I don't like. Studying for BEC, which is on Thursday ahhh!!!

Oh and thanks for the blog comments yesterday, it made me happy to finally receive some feedback! :)

The Derby Mini Marathon and weekend review

Hola! I can't believe it is already Sunday night! Crazy! You know what is even more crazy? That it is May! I can't believe I have not missed a single day of blogging for 4 months! I'm one third of the way!

So, you wanna hear about the half marathon?! Well I'll be perfectly honest, and please don't take this as complaining, I'm telling you as it was. The half didn't go that well for me. Not sure what it was, the weather was perfect, I followed the training schedule perfectly, I don't know. (Ok, well one thing, but I'd rather not mention it, cause girls don't do it! ) But I was not mentally in the right place during the race. This being my 5th half, I thought I would begin to progress. And I didn't. And I am very competitive with myself. So it has been kind of a bummer. The race wasn't even that much fun for me, but I did it, and I'm glad. And I know there are many people out there that would be very satisfied with my time, but it's a personal thing I suppose.  I ran about the first 5 miles of it was Becca and then convinced her to go on because I could tell I was slowing her down, although we rocked around 8 minute miles during the first 5, I felt TIRED! And Becca was having a great running day, she beat her personal record by many minutes, 1 hour and 42 minutes for her! Way to go girl!

I did right around what I always do in the way of time, 1 hour 59 minutes (my PR is 1:52), which was disappointing. I am tired of lingering around the same time and if I had kept up the positive attitude I would have done much better. But I let myself walk. a lot. too much. entirely too much. The only thing that made me finish was the watch on my wrist, I told myself it must be under 2 hours, so I dragged myself to the finish.

The race environment was great though. So much crowd support. BEAUTIFUL day! And lucky for me I was able to find Michael without a phone after the race (about 15,000 runners, so a lot of people plus spectators) because he was standing right by the finish line screaming my name and taking pictures as I finished! I also got to watch Andrea, Michael's sister, finish her first half marathon ever with a huge smile on her face! :) The only negative about the site was, due to all the recent rain and flooding, the finish area was very WET and smelled like a cow pasture, not the first thing you want to trudge through after running 13.1 miles!

This is where I hear someone screaming my name and I'm trying to figure out where he is, crossing the finish line

Michael screams turn around. I feel like death. Apparently this is my response

I finally find Michael and he snaps a pic of me with all of my post-race loot! I have a powerade, 2 water bottles, a bagel, choclate milk, 2 bags of chips, fig newtons, a banana, and a peanut granola bar! haha!

Had to snap a pick with my bestie and super fast runner friend Becca with our traditional bourbon chase shirts!

The love of my life!

Andrea bringing it in! (Blue shirt)

Bec and I were stretching, we wanted a funny pic!

The girlies!! way to go girl frannsss!

The rest of the day spent in Louisville consisted of the caravan of runners (me, Andrea, and her 2 friends) dragging our self down the street for lunch at a Mexican restaurant with our husbands and Michael's dad. We all ordered food, but the runners weren't particularly hungry, so we all just chattered a bit and headed our separate ways home on the last beautiful day in April. I had to pick my car up from Dustin's and got to say bye to him before heading back to Lex.

I had the privilege of driving myself back to Lexington and I did it with the windows down, sun roof open, and radio blaring, singing at the top of my lungs and hoping that the sun's warm rose would toast my skin! (I did notice more freckles on my forehead when I got home!)

As for the rest of Saturday. It consisted of laziness. Why? Well the weekend before when I did my 12-miler I was not in the least bit sore or that tired. But yesterday, dude, I was exhausted and I was feeling some pain, for whatever reason, so I napped here and there and then headed to bed.

Sunday consisted of some studying, church, lunch at the Kasten's, grocery store, and bible study you know the usuals, but I love the usuals, it makes for a good Sunday. The only thing missing was a good ol' nap! Speaking of nap, I'm going to wrap this up and get ready to catch some zzzz's. (Although I should wait up for the hubs, he decided to go to the gym at 9:30, I won't complain, I'm proud of him, way to be Michael!)