Friday, September 21, 2012

Friday, Friday

Happy Autumnal Equinox!  Did you know that today we will have equal hours of sunlight and darkness?  Well, now you do.  And your life is much better because of it, isn't it?

It is finally Friday! And I, for one, couldn't be happier!  This week has dragged on slower than a snail carrying a pebble.  I don't know why.  Perhaps it was because I had three tests?  Or perhaps it was because I was waiting all week to get the iPhone 5 today?

Yes.  This morning, I woke up at 6 and drove to the store to be one of those people who wakes up really early and goes to wait in line for a phone.  And you know what?  It really wasn't a bad experience at all.  The people in line around me were nice.  The store employees were passing out free water bottles and donuts.  I got to do a little reading for school.  And by 8:30, I was leaving the store with my shiny new iPhone 5!  Hallelujah!  My 3GS took a little rise through the spin cycle of my washing machine a few weeks ago, so I've been using my 1st Generation.  I was so ready to upgrade.

Y'all.  It's awesome.  And that's all I'm going to say about it because this is not a blog post about the iPhone. It is.....

Fill in the blanks on your own blog and link up here!

1) Something I am very proud of is the fact that I've gotten myself running again.  I really have surprised myself with the awesome things I can do if I just get off my butt and do them. 

2) My favorite thing about myself is my hair color.  I inherited it from my grandmother and it reminds me of her daily.

3) My favorite color for fall is deep purple.   Really, I just love purple.

4) Something I've been learning lately is sign language.  I'm taking a course at school in manual communication, and part of that class is learning signs so that we can sign in English word order. This is different from American Sign Language.  ASL is a completely different language.  This class is making me really excited about using sign in my therapy in the future.

5) My favorite Pandora station is the Ben Folds stations for music and the Louis C.K station for long car rides.

6) This weekend, I will rest, rehearse, and study.  Tomorrow, I have a 12 hour tech rehearsal for The Importance of Being Earnest.  I'll hopefully be able to use downtime during that rehearsal to study for the test I have next Thursday. I've got another rehearsal on Sunday evening.  I'm hoping I'll be able to use all my non-rehearsal time to rest.  But before that, I'm having a baking night with my roommate tonight!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Surprising Myself

So far, this week has been slow and stressful.  I've had three exams in the past two days as well as a quiz.  I am also in the last week of non-technical rehearsals for The Importance of Being Earnest, which is coming along wonderfully! I am so proud of this show and my work in it. I'm loving every minute of rehearsals.  But, I'm taking it very seriously.  Therefore, it is adding some stress. Good stress, but stress, nonetheless.

And on top of that, I'm running again.

By far, one of the most positive changes to my life since I met Boyfriend has been running.  I've never had a good relationship with running.  I used to spend all of my recesses and lunch periods in the school library.  I dreaded the President's Physical Fitness test in elementary and middle school because I was always the last person to finish the mile run and my time was always over 25 minutes.  In high school, I took a year of yoga to avoid all the running that was required in the general P.E. classes.  Running and I just didn't mix.

Then enters boyfriend.  Boyfriend runs.  A lot.

When we first started dating, running didn't play a huge part in our relationship.  Boyfriend would go running.  He would return.  I wouldn't let him touch me until he showered.  End of story.  Let's go get pizza.  Then one day, after complaining about the weight I'd gained recently, I declared that we had to start eating healthier and that I had to go back to my really strict, pre-Boyfriend diet.

"Or," Boyfriend said, "You could start running with me."

"HA!"

End of conversation.

But after that point, every time I mentioned my dissatisfaction with my weight, Boyfriend would suggest I start running.  And every time, I responded with a bitter "HA!"  Me? Run?  Never.  That's insane.

Then one day, instead of laughing in his face, I said ok.  I don't know why. Maybe the moon was in the seventh house and Jupiter aligned with Mars? Maybe I had been hypnotized?  Maybe I was just sick of him bringing it up and thought that if I just showed him how hopeless of a case I was, he would give up.

That first run was a total disaster. We took off in the Louisiana summer heat and after what seemed like a lifetime, Boyfriend said, "We're almost to the half mile point."  And I almost stopped and cried right there. And the sad part was that I hadn't even run that entire half mile.  I had walked a good bit of that.  I tried not to show it, but I felt so defeated and useless.  I was really that out of shape.  I convinced Boyfriend to let us head back to the car.  As I walked back, my mind was changing.  I had to accept that, in the case of a Zombie Apocalypse, I would definitely be one of the first ones bitten.  And I was not ok with that.

Source: obstacol.com via Tamara on Pinterest

I tried again the next day.  And the next day.  And the next day. And I kept trying.  Everyday I ran was a personal victory.  My running time around a small lake near LSU's campus (approx. 1.8 miles) kept improving.  I was able to add distance and increase my speed.  Every run was a new test.  Somedays were better than others, but everyday I ran was a day I could be proud of.  At my best, I could run about 2.75 miles around the campus lakes in just over 30 minutes.  Take that, Presidential Fitness Test!

Then, the running stopped.  Don't ask me why.  I have a million excuses.  None of them were good.  I was too tired.  Or my head hurt.  Or I had eaten a heavy lunch.  Or my legs were sore.  Or it was too hot outiside.  Or the treadmills were all full.  Or Toddlers and Tiaras was on.  Excuses, excuses, excuses.  And it wasn't just me.  Boyfriend had stopped too.  Life was crazy and unpredictable.  It was hard to keep any sort of routine when you didn't know where your life was going to take you in the next few days.


This week, I ran out of excuses.  Boyfriend has found time of top of his full time job to start running.  My entire family started running this year and has never let excuses stop them.  If they could do it, then there was absolutely no reason why I couldn't do it.  So this past Saturday, I dragged myself to my apartment's fitness center and made myself get on the treadmill.  While I was proud of myself for making myself go and do it, I was discouraged at how much I had regressed in my time off.  After a mile and a half, I had to stop.  My running:walking ratio was a little too even for my taste and my time sucked. So I went back the next day and pushed myself just a little further.  And then a little further the next day. 

Last night was a rare night.  I didn't have rehearsal, so I was able to run with Chris around the lakes at LSU.  He likes to run the larger like, so it was just me, my iPod, and the small lake.  Honestly,  I didn't have high expectations for the run.  I was exhausted and I had a killer headache.  I thought I would just go through the motions and get my legs reacclimated to running on solid ground again.

So, with that in mind, I started my run. 

Imagine my surprise when I didn't stop until I returned to that same starting point 1.8 miles and 22 minutes later.  My best run ever!  I had never run that far without stopping before!  I actually danced a little with I reached my finishing point.  I may have even cheered!  I'm sure I looked silly, but who cares!  I had just done something that seemed impossible to me just six months ago!

Something clicked within me after that run.  Not only did I feel amazing and unstoppable.  I felt a new sense of control over my life that I didn't realize I was missing.  I was no longer kicking myself for taking so long off of running.  Instead, I felt empowered.  Instead of focusing on the choices I've made in the past, I was thinking of all of the new choices that I will be able to make tomorrow—not just in running, but in every aspect of my life.  I was reminded that I have the potential to do amazing things, like run 1.8 miles without stopping.  All I have to do is lace up my shoes and take those first few steps.

It's funny how we can surprise even ourselves.



Friday, September 14, 2012

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things?

Hey, what's this dusty old thing?  Oh yeah...I have a blog....

....oops.

Hello friends, real and imaginary!  I hope that life has been kind to you!  It has been for me :)  It's also been hectic and unscheduled.  And how can one be expected to keep up a regular blog schedule when one's life has no structure?  One can't, I tell ya!  But now that the school year has begun and my life has structure again, I'm ready to get back to blogging!

But before we begin, let me catch you up on my life :)

  • I have been cast as Cecily Cardew in The Importance of Being Ernest at Baton Rouge Little Theater.  It opens on Friday, September 28, and, y'all, this show is going to be awesome!  I've been having a blast with the rehearsals.  Call 225-924-6496 or visit Baton Rouge Little Theater's Website for tickets.
  • I have begun my senior year at LSU in the Communication Disorders program.  I have  good feeling about this semester!  I genuinely like and am interested in my classes.  My teachers are fantastic!  There's only one catch...
  • Grad School.  I have to apply for it this semester.  I am so freaking terrified.  I have a meeting with my advisor on Monday that will hopefully quell some of my fears.  I've talked to some of my classmates and they seem just as terrified and bewildered as I am, so at least I'm not alone.  Right now, my plan is just to apply to as many schools as possible and pray that at least one of them wants me.  
  • I am officially a football fan!  Well, at least an LSU football fan :)  Boyfriend was appalled that I had never been to a single football game as a student (and only 1 game otherwise) and convinced me to buy season tickets this year.  Y'all...football is fun!  I love every part of it—from the tailgaiting to the tiger band to the clothes to the food to the game itself!  It's all awesome.  I feel kind of silly for not going to more games before now.
  • Speaking of boyfriend, tomorrow marks 6 months with him.  Just a cute little tidbit :)
And now...to the fun!

Fill in the blanks on your own blog and link up here!

1) Right now, the weather where I live is improving.  During the football game last week, I began to feel breezes blow through Tiger Stadium.  When I walked outside on Sunday morning, the weather was so wonderful I wanted to skip!  It felt like fall!  Fall is my absolute favorite season!  While the weather since then hasn't been as perfect, it has been pretty awesome!  Hotter on some days than others, but the delightful breeze has remained.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's nice for the game tomorrow.

2) The best piece of advice I've ever been given is "Things fall apart so that they can come back together."  A Rockefeller Center security guard after she mistook my crying with my head on the table for me being a homeless person in the days following my break-up last October. 
She was right.  She was so right.

3) My most favorite person in all the world is boyfriend.  I even tell him "You're my favorite," on a regular basis. (I didn't include my blood family in my pool of possible answers.  It's understood they they're held on a pretty high pedestal in my life.)

4) If I were to have a mission statement for my life, it would be Live. Love.  Laugh. Repeat. 
I just came up with that.  I've never actually thought about a mission statement for my life before...haha.

5) My favorite thing in my closet is....don't make me choose!  I love everything!  The shoes! The dresses! The cardigans! I can't pick a favorite!

6) The best cure for a bad day is a hot shower, a cozy bed, swedish fish, and a really fattening meal.

7) Today is ....
I couldn't resist.