Sometimes (meaning most of the time) these days I feel like this whole school thing is such a waste. I'm craving some kind of evidence that it's not.

Flashback!

I decided that once a week or so I am going to post old photos from my childhood and reminisce. Should be fun for two main reasons:

1. I get to remember growing up, which is usually pretty awesome.
2. You get to see me as the nerdy child I was, and we can all have a giggle together.

Today's post is about something I noticed while looking for the perfect photo to blog about. I never realized it until now, but I think most of my childhood consisted of me wearing clothes that were much too big.

Exhibit A:


Disney...sometime after the first Toy Story came out, judging by the Toy Soldiers. Just LOOK at that jacket. Where are my hands? I don't know. (I'm also digging the pink sweat pants...aren't you?)

Exhibit B:


Disney again...I'm guessing the same weekend but different day. In front of some sort of Pirates of the Caribbean display? Anyways, I'm rocking the Sarasota sweatshirt but my hands are still nowhere to be found.

Exhibit C:


This may be the same year as well (or maybe a bit earlier, since I don't have glasses yet). I remember that dress...it was my favorite dress ever, and I wore it almost every Sunday for church. But look...my fingers are barely poking out of those puffy sleeves.

So it seems that my hands were in hiding for much of my young life. I wonder why Mom and Dad had so much trouble finding shirts that didn't eat me alive? Hahaha.


Note: Young children can not be held responsible for pink, high-water sweat pants and oversized sweatshirts bearing the name of the town they actually live in. Pleaseandthankyou.

This is ridiculous...

Did I really not post anything on here for almost a month? What is wrong with me?!

I promise....I'm still running. No joke...its been over four weeks. That's a milestone for me!

In case you're wondering, I haven't lost any weight...but I do feel thinner around the stomach (my rear feels and looks the same. Oh well).

I'm also running twice as much as walking in my workouts, now. The last week was a 5 minute warm up (I run part of it), 3 minutes running, 1.5 walking, 5 running, 2.5 walking, 3 running, 1.5 walking, 5 running, and a 5 minute cool down (I also run part of that). My shins are starting to feel the pressure now. Yesterday was the toughest run yet, and today I'm feeling sharp pains and burning. Hopefully tomorrow will be better because its a new week and a harder workout.


Last Thursday I also had the privilege to photograph a great new band called The Reverie. My husband Alberto is the bassist and I've known the drummer and electric guitarist for several years. Would you like a sneak peek?



From the left: John-Michael (acoustic and vocals), Eric (electric guitar), Dan (drums), and Alberto (bass).










Hope you enjoyed that!

Progress...

So I had a day of rest after my first day of walking/running.
The next day, I was supposed to do 8 minutes walking, then 8 1-minute intervals of running and walking. Then walking 4 minutes. Alberto, however, had a different idea. He wanted to go biking in the Flatwoods. I agreed, and we spent about an hour and a half out there.

IT WAS INSANE.

I had a bike when I was a kid, and on and off through college...but the extent of my bike riding was on the road in my old, quiet neighborhood, and around campus. Nothing crazy. I ride on one gear: fast. Yes, it makes pedaling harder, and yes, its harder to get going...but thats how I like it, no matter how many times Alberto tells me to shift gears. :)

I had never ridden a bike on anything that remotely resembled dirt or sand. In the Flatwoods, there was dirt and sand and leaves and roots, and HUGE roots, and hills, and drops, and narrow paths, and armadillos, and unseen animals rustling around in bushes menacingly. It was fun, but frustrating. We got lost. We were exhausted. I wanted to go home.

And my butt...OH MY GOODNESS. The bumping along on the roots was excruciating, and the soreness as a result was even worse and lasted longer.

But wow, it was an amazing workout. The skin on my arms did the same thing my legs had done before...they got all itchy and burning. The skin became all red and blotchy, too.

It was fun, though, and we're hopefully going again tomorrow, if I can borrow a bike.


Today I got back to my walking/running.
This time it was on the treadmill in our apartment's gym since it was dark outside and I don't feel safe running alone at night. I did a total of 1.12 miles...the workout I describes in the beginning.

The treadmill said I only burned 85 calories, and I'm really hoping thats an underestimate. >:/



Also, I've been trying to eat healthier! More on that later.