Shades of Gray

nice and icy

2012-01-21T23:02:00.002-05:00

This morning Charlottesville was covered in ice. All the trees were white, and looked almost like blooming cherry blossoms. It was beautiful. It was also cold. Josh, his roommate, and myself headed out at 10am in about 34-degree weather for an eleven-mile run. I planned the run and made sure it had plenty of hills, which was good for training but not always fun. It drizzled for most of the run, but I never felt too cold. The guys were a little colder because they wear five-finger minimalist shoes and their toes were frozen for a while. The coldest part was after we stopped for a bathroom and water break at the bus station. I guess all the rain and sweat had a chance to thaw, which made things feel more brisk when we went back outside. By the end our legs were pretty achy and we were all glad to finally be done with the eleven miles, but I think we all agree it was a good time, too.

a little obsessed

2012-01-17T21:43:00.003-05:00

Okay, I'll just come out with it.

I want to run a marathon.

And since the bug has bit, I want to do it sooner rather than later. So I'm training for an April marathon. Josh is doing it with me. (In turn, I'm supposed to do Tough Mudder with him later this year. That scares me.)

I think about my marathon training all of the time now. I bought new running shoes last week, and I got a foam roller. I even tried yoga for the first time ever by finding a "yoga for runners" video online and trying it out in my apartment. I'm thinking about getting a sports watch with gps. I've discovered a whole new world of running blogs, and spend way too much time reading them. I'm obsessed.

DC

2012-01-08T13:59:00.003-05:00

(Gasp, two posts in one day!)

My parents have still been around since before Christmas. Last Monday they came to Charlottesville and stayed in a hotel for three nights doing touristy things while I worked. Then Thursday the three of us drove to DC for a few days. Our first stop was Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home. We toured the house and visited the museum and I finally got to experience the multi-media film where it really snows on you!

After Mt. Vernon we took the scenic route along the Potomac and drove from Alexandria to Leesburg, where we went to dinner with Uncle Richard. Then we stayed at his place.

Friday after breakfast we drove to a metro station and took the train to the National Mall, where we walked around the WWII memorial and the new MLK Jr. memorial. Then we went to the American History museum for a couple hours, and to the Portrait Gallery for a couple hours. We ate dinner in Chinatown, then headed back to Leesburg for the night.

Saturday we had breakfast with Uncle Richard and he showed us around his condo complex, and then we drove to the National Cathedral. We spent a couple hours there, then drove to Old Town Alexandria to eat. After walking around a little more and getting ice cream, it was time to head back to Charlottesville.

It was a fun little trip, and now my parents are on their way back to New Mexico.

NYE

2012-01-08T13:35:00.004-05:00

I know this post is a week late, but I want to backtrack to New Year's Eve. Last Saturday I was in Richmond with my parents and grandparents, but after lunch and hanging out all afternoon (and I guess by "hanging out" I mean shopping with my dad for a new coat) I came back to Charlottesville.

Josh picked me up and we headed to the Downtown Mall, where we ate sushi for dinner. After enjoying a few fancy rolls we decided to order the two specials: a plum and avocado roll, and roasted garlic. As you might imagine, we thought the roasted garlic would come in a sushi roll. Turns out roasted garlic was really just cloves of roasted garlic on a plate. So we had that for dessert, then headed out to wander the busy pedestrian mall.

While walking Josh found a pistachio shell!

For a new view and to kill time, we rode up to the top of a parking garage and looked around some more. Parking garages are often good for views around here.

At 11 we went to the pavilion to listen to a local cover band, and then at 11:30 there was a laser show that ended with a laser ball counting down the last ten seconds of 2011. A little cheesy but free and fun. After that we had a garlicky kiss and headed home.

Happy 2012!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T21:00:00.003-05:00

My family spent Christmas in Richmond this year. My parents and Ryan flew out from the West and the four of us stayed at a hotel downtown by the state capital. Here's how the holiday went down:

Thursday after work I drove to Richmond and met the family at my grandparents' house. Then my parents and I went to our hotel for the night, and Dad and I walked to Capital Ale House for a beer.

Friday morning Dad and I went to the airport to pick up Ryan. Then we wrapped a bunch of presents before meeting up with the whole family (including Grandma!) for pizza near Carytown. After that my parents and I visited the art museum, where I finally got to see the giant whale! After that my parents dropped Ryan and me off at the hotel for naps. Friday night the four of us saw the lights at the botanical garden, then had pho for dinner.

Saturday (Christmas Eve) I got up early-ish to go for a run, then we went to the grandparents' house where Mom got to work cooking posole, I made cookies (Sunni helped), and Dad and I ran last-minute errands, including stopping at four different stores looking for eggnog. Saturday evening we all went to church at 7, then went back to the house for our traditional posole dinner.

Sunday (Christmas) I woke up earlier than planned (too much Christmas excitement I guess), so I got Dad up to go for a Christmas walk with me. Then we headed back across town to the house, where cooking was underway. I made rolls. Everyone (including Grandma!) came over for lunch, which was delicious Beef Wellington. Then we opened presents. Later in the afternoon my family headed back to the hotel for naps, and once rested went back to the house for more eating and hanging out. I finally ate some pie, and we had a fire in the fire pit out back. Josh had joined us by this point, and he and I performed a song ("It's Cliched to Be Cynical at Christmas") for my family with his ukulele.

Monday we slept in a little, then Dad, Ryan, Josh, and myself went for a long walk downtown. We walked along the canal and then back through Church Hill, and everyone (including Ryan, despite what me might say) had a good time. After the walk we ate lunch at the Tobacco Company. That afternoon we went to the mall (a mad house) so Ryan could get new house slippers, and that evening lots of us saw Tin Tin.

It was a pretty good Christmas, I'd say.

pistachio sightings!

2011-12-21T22:29:00.004-05:00

On Saturday I took a break from working on my papers (which are over now, whew) to go to Richmond for lunch with the whole family. Then some of us went and saw The Muppets, which I thoroughly enjoyed. When we got out of the theater I had a text message from Andrew with a pistachio sighting! He said it was "Outside the movie theater." Now this confused me for a minute, because I was outside the movie theater, and there happened to be a guy named Andrew with us. But he doesn't have my phone number, or I wouldn't have him in my phone as "Andrew," and thus I deduced this pistachio sighting was coming from Colorado, where my pal Andrew must have just seen a movie. Or at least he was hanging outside a movie theater. Either way, pistachio sighting!

This sighting reminded me of the two I had in Santa Fe at Thanksgiving, which I never posted. So let me share them now.

Happy sightings y'all!

semester wrap-up and the Christmas season

2011-12-12T18:14:00.003-05:00

The problem with being in school is that stressful schoolwork butts right up against the holidays. Today I received a choice of essay questions, and I now have exactly one week to write two ten-page papers. That has to happen after work in the evenings and this coming weekend. So I'll finally be done next Monday, and that means you probably won't hear from me again any time soon.

But today I got a Christmas card from Uncle Richard and in it he said he likes my blog, so I thought I should write something quickly before tackling my first essay. I will take this opportunity to let you know that I haven't put up my little Christmas tree yet, and probably won't unless I succumb to a good bout of procrastination later in the week. But I did buy a little poinsettia and my parents sent me a nutcracker, which is displayed on a bookshelf with Christmas cards, so I'm not completely missing out on a holiday feeling in my apartment.

Okay, gotta get to work. After I eat something...

Thankful for Grandmothers

2011-11-29T21:44:00.003-05:00

The week before Thanksgiving I decided I should probably go ahead and fly home to Santa Fe for the holiday weekend. I'll be here in Virginia for Christmas, so I wanted to see my New Mexico grandparents sooner rather than later. The week before Thanksgiving my Grandmother had surgery on her spine, which was a pretty big deal. She's still in the hospital but is doing well and has moved to rehab. Obviously she couldn't join us for our Thanksgiving meal, but I got to visit with her three days in a row during my short trip.

On the other side of my family, another pretty big deal is going on this week in Richmond. In the past few months my Grandma has been severely affected by Alzheimer's, and tomorrow she will move into the memory care ward of an assisted living facility. As you might imagine, the whole family is struggling with this change in various ways. I got to visit with Grandma on Sunday after I got back from New Mexico. We went out for lunch and had a good time.

I'm very blessed and grateful to have such great grandmothers. I also have great grandfathers, and my heart goes out to both of them during these difficult times.

a list of things I've squeezed in between homework

2011-11-03T19:21:00.003-04:00

Sorry I never post anymore. I'm pretty busy these days. And by "these days," I mean this semester. It's the same old story about work and reading, blah blah blah.

Anyway, I do manage to fit in a few fun things, and I'd like to share them here, mostly because this blog is the only journal-type-thing I keep and maybe I will want to remember these some day.

Last weekend I went to Richmond to spend time with my family. My grandma isn't doing so hot these days, but it was good to be with her and the others. I had to spend a lot of my time reading, but we enjoyed meals together, including a good Indian lunch.

The weekend before that I spent most of Saturday at Wintergreen (a ski resort) watching Josh and four other guys on his team complete the Tough Mudder challenge. It was a nine-mile course with lots of obstacles, including a pool of ice, dark tubes, ropes to climb, and live wires to run through. They had a good time and no one broke any bones, so that was good. I took pictures when I could actually get to the obstacles, but there were about two hours when I didn't see them so I ate lunch, drank a beer, and rode the chair lift.

The weekend before that Josh and I went to his grandparents' house. We ate food and played games, and I got a little reading in there, too.

I'm not exactly sure on the timing because we're going back several weeks here, but I think two weeks before the trip to Josh's grandparents I was in Richmond for the weekend while my mom was there, so I got to spend time with her and the rest of the family.

There was another weekend sometime before that when I went to Fredericksburg on a Saturday night to visit my friend Ryan and his wife. They made good Japanese food, and we played poker.

So, as you can see, my nose isn't always stuck in a book. But after doing fun things I have to make up the homework I missed, and then I don't have time to blog. Sorry.

keeping busy

2011-10-13T23:07:00.004-04:00

Today after work Josh and I worked out at the gym. But then we both had homework to do (me: read about the California Gold Rush; him: study anatomy). Usually I come home from the gym with great intentions to get lots of homework done, but after a shower and dinner, I'm pretty tired. So tonight we went to the library straight from the gym. Yes, that means we smelled very bad. But I'm finding myself short on time for homework a lot these days, and desperate times call for desperate measures. I didn't get quite as much reading done as I'd hoped, but overall I'm pleased with how it went. I'm also pleased with this picture Josh drew of me on his whiteboard while he took a short study break:

P.S. I'm also having a bit of a fruit fly problem in my apartment (and "bit" is an understatement), so going to the gym saved me from wasting a lot of time wandering around trying to kill them. My traps seem to be working though, so here's to hoping they're all gone soon.

they're baaack

2011-09-26T08:34:00.003-04:00

The first stink bug (that I've seen) of the season has entered my office space. They sprayed outside the building last week to try and keep them out, but I'm afraid we'll just have a hoard of mutant stink bugs now.

same ol' same ol'

2011-09-16T19:58:00.002-04:00

I don't have anything much to report y'all. I go to work, I sometimes go to the gym or for a run, and I read for school. That's about it. Today I met with a professor on Skype, which wasn't as awkward as I thought it might be. Oh, and today was chilly outside. I'm not ready for cold weather. Okay, that's all for now.

recent goings on

2011-08-30T21:49:00.002-04:00

A week ago I experienced my first earthquake. That was exciting. I was at work and the building was rumbling quite a bit. In case you don't know, Charlottesville is only about 35 miles from where the epicenter was. But even though I had an armchair and coffee table precariously set upside down on my couch to make way for the carpet cleaners, they didn't fall off or anything. I also woke up a couple nights later to an aftershock.

Then a hurricane headed for Virginia. I went to Richmond on Saturday to visit with my family, which meant I headed closer to the hurricane. After lunch we lost power at my grandparents' house, which we were pretty sure was going to happen eventually anyway, and it was then that it finally dawned on my aunt and myself that maybe Grandma and Grandpa shouldn't be stuck in a house with no power. So with wind and rain and branches thrashing the windows, we frantically ran around the house packing up food and clothes and bedding and loaded up the van. Then we all headed through the storm to my apartment in Charlottesville, where it was only lightly raining. Five of us and Danny the pug spent two cozy nights in my one-bedroom apartment, and while it wasn't ideal, it wasn't so bad either. They got their power back Monday morning and didn't waste time getting back home.

After the crowed cleared out I had a little time to straighten out my apartment, join Josh for lunch, and then head up to Fairfax for my first night of classes. I'm taking seven credits this semester instead of the four I took each semester last year, so I'll be keeping busy. I sure enjoyed my summer break, but I'm also ready to get back at it.

Arizona was pretty great, too.

2011-08-19T20:03:00.011-04:00

So Wednesday (the 10th) we arrived in Flagstaff around 7:30 or so. We stopped by Ryan's house, which was fun to see, and then drove on to Sedona. He works at a resort there, where Josh and I stayed. After checking in the three of us had some dinner, but then we had to drive back to Flagstaff (45 minutes and over 2000 feet up in elevation away). That was so we could drop Ryan off but keep his truck. That also meant I had to drive back to Sedona on a windy mountain road and through a canyon in the dark in Ryan's giant truck that I don't recall every driving before. So that was scary, but we lived.

The next day we used his truck to drive to the Grand Canyon. That was pretty exciting. And first things first, we had a pistachio sighting!

We also hiked down about a mile and a half.

While hiking we saw two California Condors, and a big horned sheep. Plus lots of greedy and bold squirrels.

After the Grand Canyon we drove to Flagstaff for dinner. Then it was back to Sedona. Ryan was working, which was lucky for us because when a group of javelinas ran through the grounds of the resort, he called us so we could run out and see them. Those things are big!

Other than wild javelinas running around, the resort was really nice. Friday morning we had breakfast sitting down by the creek.

After breakfast we explored Sedona a little. But then we got roped into going to a timeshare sales talk, which was not so exciting. (And don't worry, we didn't buy.) On the way back from the timeshare talk we stopped to take some pictures of Sedona's red rocks.

As our reward for enduring the timeshare ordeal, we got a free jeep ride!

We did that Saturday morning. It was lots of fun and our guide was great. The views were amazing.

After the jeep tour we had lunch with Ryan. Then we used his truck to drive back up past Flagstaff to...Bearizona! At Bearizona you drive around like a safari looking at western animals.

After driving you get out and there is a small zoo with the baby animals. Look at these adorable bear cubs.

They also have a petting zoo.

Saturday night we had dinner back at the resort in Sedona and played a little Scrabble. We also said goodbye to Ryan when he got off work that night. Sunday morning we caught a 7:15 shuttle to the airport in Pheonix, and spent the rest of the day traveling back home.

This trip out West was really really great. We saw lots of stuff, and I got to spend time with my family. An excellent vacation, I would say.

say cheese

2011-08-18T08:33:00.001-04:00

I forgot to tell you all that our time in Durango also involved taking this gem:

then we went to Durango

2011-08-16T17:27:00.005-04:00

Now for more trip updates. Let's see, Monday morning Josh and I had breakfast at the Chocolate Maven, then went downtown. He bought himself a knife made out of dinosaur fossil, which is pretty awesome, and we looked at art on Canyon Road. We also ate green chili burgers for lunch.

Monday afternoon we all drove to Durango, Colorado. That included my parents, Ryan, Josh, and me. It took about 4.5 hours, so we got there in time to check into our hotel and then head downtown for dinner. After dinner we walked around a little bit and got dessert at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Then Josh and I hit the swimming pool back at the hotel for a few minutes before it closed.

Tuesday everyone but Mom rode the narrow gauge train to Silverton. It took 3.5 hours to travel about 45 miles, but it was a lot of fun. Here we are waiting to leave from the station.

And here is the cute station.

There were lots of great views from the train, including steep drops into a canyon with a roaring river.

The train takes you up to Silverton, an old mining town that is now just a tourist stop for people riding the train.

Mom drove up to meet us there, and we all had lunch. Then I bought some shoes.

Instead of taking another 3.5 hours to get back to Durango, we just rode back with Mom. It took about an hour. We stopped on the way at Honeyville and bought some honey. Ryan even got a bag with 100 flavored honey sticks. When we got to Durango we had a little bit of time to kill, so we walked around downtown again and made sure to drink caffeine. Because next up was the chuckwagon!

Josh and I wore our boots for the occasion.

At the chuckwagon you eat outside off of tin plates and listen to a western stage show. My favorite song was "Old Matt Palmer had a misfit farm."

The next day we headed to Durango Mountain Resort to ride the alpine slide. Here we are at the top.

And here Dad is at the bottom.

After that we went back to downtown Durango for lunch, and then Ryan, Josh, and I hit the road for Arizona while Mom and Dad stayed another night in Durango before going back home. It was a 6 hour drive from Durango to Flagstaff, and we made sure to stop at the Four Corners Monument.

Josh wanted to run around the four states, so we did that, too.

As we continued on the drive we saw this ominous western rock formation. Pretty cool.

Stay tuned for the Arizona portion of the trip!

we got to Santa Fe

2011-08-07T23:44:00.002-04:00

Saturday was our travel day. First there was the drive to Richmond, then the flight to Dallas, and then the flight to Denver. We had a long layover in Denver, so my Colorado friends Katie and Andrew came to the airport to hang out and eat a meal, which was very nice of them. We also stepped outside of the airport to look at mountains and take this photo.

After Denver was the flight to Albuquerque, where my dad picked us up at the airport and took us to dinner near UNM. Finally there was the drive up to Santa Fe, where we arrived about midnight and went straight to bed.

This morning Josh and I got up and went for a run. Only running at 7,000 feet when you're not used to it is pretty hard. We did at least three miles though, and Josh even threw in some other exercises because he is more hard core. After getting cleaned up we (including Ryan, who drove in from Flagstaff the night before and got in at 3am) met up with dad at church. After church we had a Mexican lunch with my grandparents, which left me stuffed for the rest of the day. This afternoon we walked around downtown for a while and visited shops and the Basilica. We also stopped for this photo at Burro Alley.

The evening was spent at my grandparents house, eating dessert and visiting with family on the back patio.

This is a super short trip to Santa Fe for me (I guess my shortest ever), because tomorrow we all head to Durango!

headed west

2011-08-05T18:09:00.002-04:00

Josh and I are headed west tomorrow for a nine day vacation. I'm pretty excited. We'll spend time in Santa Fe, Durango, and Sedona. Lots of sights will be seen, and we'll get to hang out with my family. Stay tuned for updates and pictures!

drive-in

2011-07-30T14:16:00.003-04:00

Last night Josh and I joined a few of my co-workers for a night at the Goochland Drive-In. It's about thirty miles away, but worth it considering you get to see two movies for only seven bucks. We got there in time to grab dinner from their snack bar. Between the two of us we had two cheeseburgers, a Goochland dog, a regular dog, fries, popcorn, and two large drinks with refills. Yikes.

The first movie was Captain America. I thought it was fun. And I was pleasantly surprised by the sound quality since it was through the radio. Our group sat outside in chairs we all brought, so we used portable radios. The second movie, which I was hoping we wouldn't bother staying for since it didn't start until about 11:30pm, was Transformers 3. I had never seen any of the Transformers movies, and to be honest, I still wish we'd left early.

Overall we had a really fun time though. It was nice to sit outside where you can also see stars and bats flying around. A perfect summertime excursion.

day 2 of Philly conference

2011-07-15T21:15:00.002-04:00

So that wasn't my UPS advisor getting in the elevator. I was just overzealous I guess. But professors from two schools combined with current work colleagues means this is still a clash of worlds for me, which is kind of fun.

Today I went to two morning sessions, then a graduate student lunch session, and then an afternoon session. I skipped the last session and instead walked a few blocks to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. I only had 40 minutes before they closed, but I went ahead and paid my admission and walked around anyway. It was worth it. They have several paintings by various members of the Peale family, and recently I've decided I really like Charles Willson Peale. Not just for his art though. He was an awesome guy I think. My favorite piece at the museum was his Self-Portrait with Spectacles. I used to think portraits made for really boring art, but as a history lover (especially of early America) I've come to really appreciate portraits because they let us see the people we read about. And some of them, including Peale and his contemporaries, made some really good portraits.

Philly

2011-07-14T21:47:00.003-04:00

So I'm in Philadelphia for a history conference. It doesn't start (for me) until tomorrow, but I actually got up here yesterday so I could spend today doing some research for work. So let me give you a rundown of my day.

This morning I wandered around the streets of Philadelphia looking for breakfast, and I finally found a nice little cafe where I got oatmeal, fruit, and coffee. It was a great start to the day. Next I went to the Library Company of Philadelphia and looked at some old stuff.

From there I walked over to the American Philosophical Society and looked at some more old stuff. I also took a lunch break and wandered the streets of Philly a little more until I found this place where Josh and I ate lunch a few years ago. I had a sandwich. After finishing up at the APS I decided I would forgo museums or historical sites and instead I trekked many blocks to drink some beer. On the way I passed this gem:

Seriously, how awesome is that?! The beer I was walking so far to imbibe was at the Yards Brewing Company. When I finally arrived at their tasting room I sat right down at the bar and ordered a flight of their "Ales of the Revolution." They have a George Washington porter, a Thomas Jefferson ale, and a Benjamin Franklin spruce ale (that tastes like a tree). I also ate a cupcake, to reward myself for all the walking and successful navigation. And just as I finished tasting all my beers they announced that they were doing an impromptu tour of the brewery, so I went on that.

By this point I decided I should head back downtown and toward my hotel. I walked along the Delaware River and had a pistachio sighting! It took three tries crouching on the sidewalk to get this shot with my phone.

After more walking I happened upon Christ Church, so I looked at that and walked around its gardens, and then a couple blocks later I came to the rest of the church's burial ground and saw where Franklin lays. This day was pretty full of that guy. From there I kept walking and finally arrived back at my hotel. I dropped off a few things, and then headed out again, because apparently my feet weren't tired enough yet. After more walking in search of a light dinner, I finally came upon a Whole Foods, where I secured dinner and tomorrow's breakfast for under $9. Score.

So back to the conference. It starts tomorrow. And my history worlds are colliding. I had dinner last night with my NCSU advisor. I will see my GMU advisor tomorrow. And I think I saw my UPS advisor just step into the elevator. I'm excited.

holiday hike

2011-07-08T17:01:00.005-04:00

For the 4th of July, Josh and I went for a hike at Humpback Rocks in the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's a short hike but steep, and then the views are amazing.

We also had a pistachio shell sighting!

After the hike we had lunch at the Blue Mountain Brewery. We sat outside with views of the hops farm and mountains, and it was pretty great.

Rain spoiled our fireworks-watching plans so we just watched the show from the Capitol on TV. Overall it was still a good holiday.

Weekend(s) Update

2011-07-05T17:08:00.002-04:00

Let me tell you (briefly) what the haps have been. Last Saturday (er, the one almost a week and a half ago) my parents flew into Richmond. Sunday we celebrated Grandma's birthday and Sunday night Dad and I enjoyed brews and live tunes at Legends Brewery. Monday Dad went with me downtown and wandered around while I did some research for work. My parents stayed in Richmond all week while I came back to Charlottesville, but then I took off of work Friday to get ready for Grandpa's recital. He had a professional pianist come to the house Friday night and give a salon concert, so we got all dressed up and had the event catered and everything. It was very nice. The next day Dad, Josh, Jay, Sunni, and myself all went tubing on the James River, and Saturday night was a sort of "girls night out" with my mom and aunt.

So there you go, two fun weekends with family (including my parents!).

(This post is short because I'm writing from work [after hours] while I figure out how to get the internet to work at my apartment again, after a big thunderstorm Sunday. Just FYI.)

I want one of these

2011-06-24T18:43:00.003-04:00

Last night I got together with some ladies from work for dinner and a movie. The movie was Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and we planned the rest of the meal around a Spanish theme to match the movie. We started with ceviche (not really Spanish, but from places where they speak Spanish...), then some manchego cheese and bread, and our main course was gazpacho. But between the cheese and the gazpacho came chorizo, cooked in a Portuguese pig!

One of the co-worker ladies is from Portugal, so she brought her pig. You put alcohol in the bottom, light it on fire, and it cooks the chorizo. It was delicious.

Ole!

Timo 5k

2011-06-19T15:38:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I ran in a 5k race. Other than the Montalto Challenge, I haven't raced a 5k before (only 3.1 miles), but a coworker helps run the Timo 5k, and all the proceeds benefit the rescue squad where Josh volunteers. He and his roommate ran, too. It was hot and the course was cross-country with grass and hills and dirt and stuff. So pretty tough for a 5k. But we all did very well!

I won 3rd place for women overall (prize = technical shirt from local running store), and 2nd place for women in my age group (prize = red ribbon). Josh's roommate also won 2nd place in his age division.

Afterwards the three of us celebrated with lunch and a beer.

summer fun

2011-06-17T20:19:00.002-04:00

Last week/weekend was fun. My Richmond family (plus Ryan, who flew out from Arizona) had a rental house at Lake Anna, so I went and joined them Wednesday after work and stayed until Friday. There was lots of hanging out, swimming in the lake (even after dark), playing games, eating, and even a little kayaking.

Friday we headed to Richmond so the fun could continue over the weekend. We had pho Friday night and celebrated Sunni's birthday, and we went swimming in the James River on Saturday. More fun stuff happened Sunday.

I'm enjoying my summer so far. It's pretty nice getting to hang out and relax and not do homework.

geocaching adventure

2011-05-30T17:15:00.009-04:00

For Memorial Day Josh and I wanted to do something exciting outdoors, but weren't quite up for a long hike (the original plan), so instead we broke out his new handheld GPS and went geocaching right here in Charlottesville. We printed off the coordinates for seven caches at a local park, and headed out...

We found the first one! As you can see, it was a micro cache.

Josh is recording our find.

We ran into a creek next to the river at one point and had to find our way around. This part of the park was wooded and felt like we could have been miles away in the mountains.

The GPS is kind of fun because you know what direction to go, but you don't necessarily know where the trails are. Sometimes the GPS seems confused though, and you have to wander around in clearings until it figures itself out.

We couldn't find two of them, and we bipassed one when there were people around (apparently you're supposed to be secretive about geocaching and not let "muggles" see you). But we found four, so that's exciting. Here is Josh finding another one in a tree.

People trade out little toys and other random stuff. We added this to the cache.

At a different cache, we traded a finger puppet for this sweet eraser.

All the walking and searching for two hours, plus the 90 degree heat, meant a break by the river was necessary. Here you can see my first temporary tattoo of the summer.

We also ate snacks.

Overall we had a lot of fun being outside and finding "secret" caches. It was also nice to be reminded that the river and wooded parks are so close by. It was a successful first try at geocaching, and I'm sure we'll do it again.

montalto challenge take 2

2011-05-14T12:00:00.001-04:00

So last Saturday was the Montalto Challenge, the all-uphill 5k that Josh and I did last year. We did it again, and we both improved!

This year I got word that a particular fourteen-year-old boy had the goal of beating me up the mountain. It's pretty nerve racking knowing you have to actually race an individual up a mountain, rather than simply run up with a friendly group and hope you do better than last year. Anyway, he was ahead of me for the first mile and a half, I passed him and was ahead for just a little while, and he was in front of me (but close and always in sight) the rest of the way up. Unfortunately the mountain part is just so awful that I couldn't care anymore, and the kid beat me. Sigh.

But I beat my time from last year by a minute, so I'm happy about that.

Here's the starting line. (Per usual, Josh took these photos.)

Here I am getting ready to start, wearing perhaps the most awesome running shirt ever. This is the shirt Josh made me for my birthday. (Also note the looong legs on the kid behind me in red...)

Did you want to see a closeup?

Here's how it looks down on the trail part.

And here's how it looks going up Montalto. Almost everyone has to stop and walk a little. (Also note that Josh must have stopped to turn around and take this. He's a hard core runner slash race photographer.)

See how high we're getting?

Josh got a couple of shots of me nearing the finish line, but I was dying, having just run up a mountain, and am not willing to share the unflattering pictures. Sorry.

Aah, the obligatory flared-nostrils-because-I'm-trying-to-catch-my-breath photo.

You can see Monticello just to the right of my arm.

Josh did great. He beat last year's time by 4:20, AND he came in second in his age group! Here he is with the other winners (he's over on the right end.)

EMT

2011-05-01T14:14:00.003-04:00

Josh spent six months last year taking an EMT class, and now he's a real-life EMT. He started volunteering one day a week at a local rescue squad a couple months ago. Here he is sporting the stethoscope my grandpa gave him. Thumbs up for helping to save lives!

quick update

2011-04-26T08:07:00.004-04:00

Quickly, here's what's been going on:

My birthday was almost two weeks ago. I had to work and go to class that day, but they had dessert for me at work and then the Friday night following my birthday Josh and I went to a German restaurant with another couple and we all gorged ourselves on delicious food. Josh also gave me this really awesome shirt he painted that you will have to wait another couple of weeks to see. Get excited.

This past weekend Josh and I went to his grandparents' house over by the bay. We were there less than 24 hours, but we ate good food, enjoyed good company, and even kayaked on a little pond.

Saturday night we joined my family in Richmond for a sushi dinner, and then Sunday was Easter. I went to church with the grandparents and Sunni, dyed eggs with Sunni, and we all ate at my aunt's house, which included hanging out on the porch because warm weather is back!

My semester is coming to a close quickly, and that means a huge final paper is coming up quickly, too....Luckily I just got a new computer (my old one was from 2006 and the guy at Best Buy told me that was like being 75 years old in computer years) so now I won't have to "warm up" my laptop every time I need to use it, and it won't take a billion years to look at anything on the internet. I might even blog more often now that using my computer doesn't make me want to pull my toe nails out, but let's not hold our breath.

exciting Mondays

2011-04-12T20:39:00.002-04:00

Occasionally for work I get to go do research away from the office. Last Monday was special because I got to do that at the Library of Congress in D.C. for the first time. My class met there later in the evening, so I went up early and spent the whole day there. Well, really I got into D.C. (after the 2+ hour drive to the metro station and the 45 minute ride into the city) around 10:30 and stopped by the National Archives to copy some things from microfilm, then I walked down and across the Mall to the Library of Congress. I ate my lunch on the grounds of the Capitol. After working and class I even got to hang out a little and have dinner with fellow students. That was exciting since I commute to school and I never get to hang out with other students, which makes me sad. Of course taking the time to hang out meant I got home at 1am, but it was worth it.

Yesterday I also did some research away from the office. This time I spent the day at the Library of Virginia in Richmond. I mostly copied things off of microfilm, which isn't too exciting, but I did get to grab a delicious lunch and eat on the grounds of the state capitol next to a statue of Stonewall Jackson, among the dogwood trees and tulips. It's the little things.

connecting with history

2011-04-01T19:57:00.002-04:00

As you know, I like history. I like it so much I'm making it a career and working toward a second graduate degree in it. But just because I like it doesn't mean I always feel especially "connected" to it. Maybe that's part of its appeal--it's like a different world. Like fiction, only more awesome (and sometimes more tragic or unbelievable) because it's not fiction.

Often in my history classes someone speaks up in class with a personal story that is (or at least they think it is) connected to whatever we're reading that week. For example, when reading a book on suburbanization and consumer culture one guy shared that he grew up in the city the book centered on during the 1960s, and remembered learning to drive in the giant suburban mall's parking lot. When reading about mining in the West, a girl from Montana said her family got there back in the day specifically because they went to mine copper.

I've read a couple of books about New Mexico this past year, and they are always exciting because I'm from New Mexico. But honestly, I don't feel very connected to striking Mexican-American miners in southern New Mexico in the 1950s, or to the Pueblo Indians and their Spanish conquerors in the seventeenth century. (Unless you count the that fact that I attended De Vargas Junior High, and our mascots were the Conquistadors.)

But this last week I felt a real connection. We read a book about the manipulation and control of rivers in the American West, and it dawned on me that irrigation and water control had a very large role to play in my family going to and staying in New Mexico. My great grandfather moved his family to Albuquerque during the Depression (or maybe just before?) to work as a dragline operator digging irrigation ditches. And his son, my granddad, was a civil engineer who worked in New Mexico for the Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Agriculture, and finally in the State Engineer's Office managing water resources. Irrigating the arid West has played a pretty fundamental role in the development of the region (and the country), for better or worse, and my family took part. I'm connected.

Charlottesville Ten Miler

2011-03-27T10:43:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I ran in the Charlottesville Ten Miler, and it was great! It was 37 degrees, but it wasn't so bad once I started running. My goal, which I wasn't so sure I would make, was to finish in 1:30. But I made it in 1:26:10! Josh had his bike and his camera, so he pedaled all over the place to take pictures and cheer me on, and you can thank him for these.

The hard core guys getting ready to start.

Me, cold, headed to the start.

It begins! There were over 2,200 runners.

So far so good.

Looking intense.

Coming into the finish line.

Got my medal and headed for waaaater.

Apparently I still had the energy to jump.

What a guy.

Brrr

2011-03-24T23:15:00.002-04:00

Forecast for temperature at race time on Saturday morning: low- to mid-30s.

Ugh.

still running

2011-03-19T19:55:00.003-04:00

So next weekend I'm running in a 10 mile race. I really liked training for and running the half marathon last year, and this year I chose this race instead since I don't have as much time to train anymore (plus the 10-miler is a lot cheaper). I've only been running three days a week, with medium runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays and a longer run on the weekend. Today I ran my last long run before the race, 8 miles. I haven't been getting a whole lot faster than last year, but I also haven't taken the time and effort to actually work at getting faster. But that's okay. For now.

As soon as the 10-miler is over I will begin training for the same uphill 5k I did last year. Josh decided he would do it with me again, so we are going to work at the gym on things that will make us good at running straight up for a mile. It'll be hard core.

Arizonan litter

2011-03-10T20:56:00.001-05:00

Look what Ryan found!

Thursday night show

2011-03-06T22:27:00.003-05:00

Thursday night Josh Ritter (my favorite) came to town. I wasn't sure I'd have time to see him, what with reading to do and the gym to visit and cookies to make for Retirement Day, but Josh (not Ritter) had actually showed some enthusiasm the night before about the show and I couldn't turn that down, since Josh (not Ritter) doesn't really like Josh (Ritter). So we went.

Josh (not Ritter) was feeling pretty sick with a cold, and we probably shouldn't have bothered going out, but he pulled through. After being fortified with pizza at Christian's on the downtown mall, we made it to the show at 10 just as Josh (Ritter) took the stage. It turns out the show was part of the same tour Josh (not Ritter) and I saw last summer in Richmond. But it was still good. Because Josh Ritter is always good. In my opinion.

Josh (not Ritter) said the vibrations of the bass helped clear his chest, and I say the music also cheered him up, and overall we had a very fun time.

on the road

2011-02-21T22:19:00.002-05:00

Sheesh, I haven't posted in a month. Anyway, let me tell you about how I'm always driving all over the state of Virginia.

I live in Charlottesville (in central Virginia), I go to school once or twice a week in Fairfax (100 miles northeast), and I frequently visit Richmond (70 miles east) on the weekends. Recently Josh and I have also traveled to other places on weekends. One weekend in January we visited friends in Fredericksburg (65 miles northeast). A couple weeks later we had lunch with his grandfather in Fishersville (30 miles west). The weekend after that we visited his other grandparents in Roanoke (120 miles southwest) and then went straight across to Richmond to watch the Superbowl (or play board games during the Superbowl...) and celebrate Josh's birthday. Last weekend we had to go back to Roanoke so Josh could get his new Roanokian (?) car, and this past weekend we were back in Richmond to celebrate more birthdays.

When I lived in New Mexico it's true that I went plenty of places, but for the most part I just traveled between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. When I lived in Washington I went a few places, but I mostly stayed between Tacoma and Seattle. When I lived in North Carolina I mostly stayed in Raleigh, but traveled north to Richmond a lot.

I guess my point is, I like getting to know more of a state. I'm going multiple places, in multiple directions, for multiple reasons. I'm on interstates sometimes, but also frequently on two-lane highways. I see the countryside, I cross mountains, and I visit big cities. Its kind of nice.

Virus Buster

2011-01-31T19:38:00.002-05:00

Over Christmas Josh let me borrow his Nintendo DS to play during my long layovers on the way to and from New Mexico. The game Brain Age 2 happens to have another game within in, meant for "relaxing" and not for trying to exercise your prefrontal cortex. The game is called Virus Buster, and is sort of like Tetris because pieces fall from the top and you have to line up four of the same color to get them to disappear (and some of the pieces already planted that you want to disappear are mean-faced viruses, hence the name).

I am addicted to this game, and could easily pass a four hour layover playing. The problem with the whole thing is that I also spent many hours (and many in the wee hours) playing while I was at home for the holidays, and I continue to play too much now that I'm back. In fact, yesterday Josh was going to come pick me up at a predetermined time and I planned to go for a run and get ready in the two hours leading up to his arrival. Only I wasted one of those hours playing the stupid game, and then had to run 4.5 miles, shower, and get ready all in one single hour. One hour! I believe that was the shortest shower I've ever taken in my life.

The whole thing was pretty out of hand if you ask me, and that's why I thrust the game at Josh as soon as he arrived to pick me up yesterday, and told him he needed to take it back. Apparently when it comes to Virus Buster, I just can't control myself.

Pie Day (Observed)

2011-01-24T10:42:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was National Pie Day, so today at work we have nine homemade pies to celebrate. By 10:30 I'd already tried six of them...

I made a peanut butter and chocolate pie, the only one without a pastry crust.

drowned bugs

2011-01-19T11:19:00.003-05:00

In case you were wondering, we are still infested with stink bugs at work. As you might imagine due to my Halloween costume and all those pictures I took a couple months ago, I have a sort of love-hate relationship with them. But sometimes they really drive me nuts.

Yesterday I decided to knuckle down, buckle down. A co-worker had a little plastic dish that she suggested we fill with soapy water and use to drown them. So I took the small tub of water and went around the office rounding them up. About sixty of them, in fact. Then I flushed 'em.

Of course that wasn't nearly all of them and they are still around the office today, but at least it made me feel a little better.

back at it

2011-01-11T21:38:00.002-05:00

It's 2011, and Josh and I are kicking off the year with new gym memberships. The place we've joined is pretty hard core. How hard core? you ask. So hard core that we flip giant tires and swing sledge hammers. Pretty crazy. Of course there's all the other normal stuff, too. I might have to get myself a pair of those fingerless gloves, because Josh has this silly idea that I should be able to do pullups, but those hurt my hands. (And the rest of my arms.) I also need to keep up with my running, because I probably want to do the Monument Avenue 10k and the Montalto Challenge again. Oh, and of course there's a new semester of PhD school coming up, so I will have a packed schedule. Exciting stuff.

Holiday Recap

2011-01-01T22:52:00.005-05:00

Christmas happened. It was pretty good. We had family and friends over to our house in Santa Fe.

Monday my family went bowling. I won one of our three games, and scored over 100 twice!

Tuesday I went with Dad to Albuquerque to shop for a new suitcase. After that we saw The King's Speech. It is very very good. You should all go see it.

Thursday we all had lunch downtown with my grandparents, then visited a special exhibit at the history museum that included lots of old maps and letters from Spain about early New Mexico and other Spanish-owned territories.

The first several days I was here were not very cold. But then temps dropped a whole bunch and it snowed and it's been well below freezing the last few days.

Friday, New Year's Eve, my family rode the New Mexico Rail Runner to Albuqerque. That is the (relatively new) commuter train that runs between Santa Fe and Belen. The best part? The doors "beep beep" at you when they are going to close, just like the road runner on Looney Tunes!

After the train ride we saw True Grit. Also a great movie you should go see. (And it was filmed in New Mexico.)

That night I went out with Ryan and his friend to hear the friend's brother's band at Second Street Brewery. That was pretty fun, but we didn't stay out late (well, I didn't stay out late, Ryan went out again after dropping me off) and I enjoyed a glass of Champagne with my parents at midnight.

Tomorrow we're going out for a nice lunch at Ryan's old hotel, and Monday I head back to Virginia.

It's been a good trip.

fuzzy but festive

2010-12-25T00:08:00.002-05:00

It's Christmas Eve and I'm in Santa Fe, so you know what that means... my family had posole and tamales for dinner, then walked Canyon Road. Merry Christmas everyone!

not much heat, but lots of atmosphere

2010-12-21T18:24:00.002-05:00

Last night Josh and his roommate decided to surprise their other roommate with a new fireplace, just in time for the holidays. Looks pretty awesome, I say.

Christmas festivities

2010-12-19T20:51:00.002-05:00

Last week I attended two work parties and joined Josh for his work party (which was at a bowling alley and therefore automatically beat mine). Then I finished all of my Christmas shopping this weekend. It's pretty exciting to know that I don't have to run around frantically shopping when I get to Santa Fe later this week. Tomorrow I'm going to bake cookies after work, and Tuesday night Josh and I will have dinner and exchange our gifts. Then Wednesday I'm headed west!

woohoo!

2010-12-12T12:54:00.004-05:00

I just submitted my last assignment, and I am now done with school work for the semester. (Well, I still have to go to class on Monday, but I just have to sit and listen.) It is officially winter break! Winter break with a full-time job of course, but now I don't have to do homework or feel guilty for not working on my homework. I think I will try to read a few history books over these several weeks to help flesh out some of what I learned in my course on recent U.S. history, and I want to organize my notes a little more so I can use them when it comes time to study for comps (way down the road), but I won't stress over that stuff until after Christmas.

We're getting festive in the office.

2010-12-10T14:09:00.004-05:00

time flies

2010-12-01T19:14:00.002-05:00

Sheesh, it's been three weeks since I posted here. Time flies when you're, uh, plugging right along.

I have two papers due next week, and then I'm more-or-less done with my first semester of school. It's gone pretty well. I'm hoping my little Corolla will last until at least the summer of 2012, but all this driving to Fairfax might shorten my desired time frame.

I spent last weekend in Richmond with family for Thanksgiving. My mom flew out, so it was nice to hang out with her. It was also nice of her to go to the outlet mall in Williamsburg with me on Black Friday (afternoon).

Some day I want to go to New York for Thanksgiving and see all the parade floats in real life.

I can't believe it's already December. It's cold outside. And dark. I don't think I will put up my little Christmas tree this year, since I'll spend the holiday in Santa Fe, but I'm going to hang up the chili lights Josh's grandma gave me last year.

I'm contemplating trying to fit some mosaicing in between the end of school and Christmas, but I haven't done any Christmas shopping yet and time is flying, so that might be wishful thinking.

random bits to share

2010-11-10T22:55:00.005-05:00

I just learned that the brontosaurus and triceratops didn't really exist. (Well, I guess I was late on not knowing about the brontosaurus, and the verdict on the triceratops might still be out.) Crazy.

On October 31st a bunch of New York City librarians and library supporters dressed up like zombies and marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to protest budget cuts. They had signs like "Better Undead Than Unread" and "No Libraries No Brains." How awesome is that?

I also just learned about the Random Acts of Culture project, and *may* have teared up while watching this video.

Halloween

2010-10-31T22:33:00.005-04:00

This year for Halloween I decided to dress up as something that has been on my mind a lot lately. So I dressed as a stink bug! Josh made the main component of my costume, and it. was. awesome.

I wore it to work on Friday:

Josh dressed up as a zombie, and on Saturday we went to Richmond so he and Jay could be in the Zombie walk:

Josh was the tennis player and Jay was the plumber.

Sunni had fun watching the zombies.

Saturday night Josh and I went out dancing in Shockoe Bottom.

Sunday Josh and I carved a jack-o-lantern at my grandparents' house and I passed out candy to trick-or-treaters. Jay brought Bobby over in his dinosaur costume. His "Raawr" was pretty cute.

I went to Philly.

2010-10-24T21:53:00.002-04:00

Hi guys. I know it's taken me a week to tell you, but last weekend I went to Philadelphia for a conference. Josh joined me for the trip, and we took the Amtrak train straight from Charlottesville into Philly. It was pretty great. I haven't traveled on a train in the states like that, but it was way better than trying to fly. No security or baggage fees, bigger seats with much more legroom, the ability to get up and walk around whenever you want, and more interesting scenery.

We got into the city around noon and checked into the hotel, then had lunch in Chinatown. Next I headed to a conference panel, but was informed I needed to go run an errand for work at the American Philosophical Society, so I grabbed Josh and we headed over there instead. It's a neat place, and from there we walked around the historic area a little and visited the printing shop by Ben Franklin's no-longer-existing house. That evening we went to a reception, then Josh and I wandered around the city for a billion years looking for the perfect place to eat. We finally found it, even though it turns out they only accepted cash and were a bring-your-own alcohol establishment. So we didn't drink or have appetizers or dessert because they either didn't serve it or we didn't have enough cash to cover it. But the food was delicious.

Saturday I was busy with conference stuff all morning and for part of the afternoon, minus a lunch break during which Josh and I wandered around some more and ate sandwiches. That afternoon while I was busy he visited the Academy of Natural Sciences, then we met up and did a whole lot more walking. We visited a brewery for beer and appetizers, then walked across the river over by the university and ate dinner at the White Dog Cafe, which a co-worker had recommended. The food there was also delicious, but we ordered way more than we could handle (we should have skipped the appetizer at the brewery) and pretty much rolled ourselves out of there. There was no way we could have walked all the way back (over twenty blocks) being that full, so we took the subway (or "el") back.

Sunday I spent the morning in the conference again, and as soon as it was over we hurried to the Franklin Institute, a science museum. We spent a couple hours there, and then had to hurry back to get our bags and head to the train station.

The weather in Philadelphia was perfect, the conference was good, and it was fun doing touristy stuff with Josh. I also look forward to another train ride some day.

Stink Bug Invasion

2010-10-11T18:34:00.008-04:00

We are currently experiencing an invasion of stink bugs over here. I don't actually smell them, but other people do because apparently they spray some kind of stink. Hence the name. They are an invasive species not native to the U.S., and while they don't actually bite or hurt or anything (well, I think they hurt crops), they are quite a pest. Thankfully I have not had a problem with them at my apartment and the two or three I've seen have been easy to get out right away. But they are going crazy at work.

Let me show you.

Here we have a stink bug on top of a cubicle divider.

And here is one climbing the blinds pull.

This one is on my chair.

These are actually outside my window, but still unpleasant to see.

They can be clumsy, so this one flew over to my window but landed on its back. It turned over eventually. They make a whirring noise when they fly, and you can often hear them thumping into the window or wall or wherever they are headed. They startle me every time.

This guy (see him on the corner of the folder?) tried to climb down on my pom-pom, but had to rethink that plan.

This gang hangs out above the door to our offices. I'm always sure they are going to drop on me when I walk through, but they haven't so far.

Sometimes they even go inside the folders. Not a pleasant surprise.

They are all over outside, too. When I go to my car they are all over the place, including inside the little gas door and once under my door handle. This one was outside my window while I was stopped at a light.

But this one was inside.

I haven't seen too many while driving, which is good because they freak me out and make the driving part dangerous. But obviously they are in my car, because in the back under the windshield I have a sort of stink bug graveyard going on. I plan to leave them until it gets cold and they go away, then I'll get some poor kid at a car wash to vacuum them out for me.

Josh had an invasion in his apartment, and about 80 came into his bathroom through the vent. He put most of them down the toilet. I'm glad I wasn't there.

The whole thing is pretty gross.

One space?!

2010-10-06T20:11:00.002-04:00

Three weeks ago I learned something shocking. Well, shocking to me. And maybe to you, too, if you're not in the know either.

Apparently, you are only supposed to put one space between sentences.

How did I not know this? When did this happen, and why did no one tell me? Where was the PSA, and how did I miss it?

I like to think that I'm still relatively young. But I did learn to type on a typewriter. I took a semester-long typing course in the seventh grade, and we were taught to put two spaces between sentences. Which was correct, because we were typing on typewriters. I haven't typed on a typewriter in a long time, but I have always kept two spaces between my sentences.

A few weeks ago a friend on Facebook posted a link to this, and it blew my mind. That was the first time I had ever heard about the one space rule. In fact, it was probably the first time I'd heard about any spacing rule since the seventh grade. Then on Monday night a professor at school also mentioned the one-space-for-word-processing rule, so I'm convinced it's official.

Now I just have to tame my eager right thumb.

State Fair

2010-10-03T23:03:00.004-04:00

Today I went to the fair with my cousin Jay and his son Bobby.

We saw baby animals and big animals, looked at big produce, drank cider and tasted honey, watched a mechanical pig sing and play the guitar, visited an Oregon Trail camp, walked through a redwood tree house, cheered for racing pigs, and ate a little fair food. Good times.

this and that

2010-10-01T19:39:00.004-04:00

I apologize for not blogging lately. Nothing too exciting is going on around here.

School is going well. I'm not overwhelmed (yet?) and I enjoy having reading to do again. Of course that means I always have reading to do... The drive up to Fairfax isn't too bad. It's not fun to do it two nights in a row, but that only happens every other week.

Last weekend Josh and I joined his grandparents in Lexington to see the Carolina Chocolate Drops perform. It rained so they had to switch venues at the last minute and the sound wasn't very good in the new place, but it was still a fun time.

In case you were wondering, I'm not running another half marathon any time soon. I know I talked a lot, but training takes so much time! I still run a few times a week for exercise, but only about 3-4 miles. Someday I want to do another half marathon, but not right now.

My parents sent me a fun fall package with lots of goodies to eat, including caramel corn, cookie and scone mixes, Girl Scout cookies, gummy bears, and gummies that are made to look like boogers (hehe). They also bought out the sale bin of glass tiles at a craft store, so I have plenty of tiles to work with for another mosaic.

A few months ago Josh and I read To Kill a Mockingbird together while on long drives. Now we're reading Of Mice and Men. It's like a book on tape only no tape! Sometimes we even do the voices.

nature

2010-09-28T09:40:00.003-04:00

This morning when I arrived at work I was greeted by a praying mantis peeking in at me through my window. That is more pleasant than being greeted by lots of stink bugs, which we also have around here.

productive

2010-09-18T19:34:00.002-04:00

Today has been a very productive Saturday. I did some reading (though not quite as much as I was hoping to do...), got my car inspected, took my recycling to the recycling center, went by the bank, took out the trash, picked up around my apartment (including unpacking and putting away the last few things from our camping trip two weeks ago), dusted, vacuumed, swept, cleaned the bathroom, and mopped. Whew. Now I plan to read a tiny bit more, then go out for drinks with Josh to reward myself for all this cleaning. And tomorrow? I will read in my clean apartment for most of the day.

Zozobra

2010-09-09T23:29:00.003-04:00

If you don't know about Zozobra, a Santa Fe tradition in which a very large puppet is burned in front of a giant screaming crowd, you can learn about it here.

I learned from Facebook friends that tonight was Zozobra, and I also learned that a New Mexico news station was streaming it live. So I started to watch. Then I called my brother Ryan and turns out he was watching it, too. So we watched it together, from Charlottesville and Flagstaff. That was fun.

Labor Day Weekend Camping

2010-09-08T17:59:00.005-04:00

This past holiday weekend Josh and I headed for the mountains. It was pretty great.

We went to Sherando Lake and luckily got the last spot available on Saturday. We set up camp, ate some lunch, and then went for a mini-hike around the lake. While Josh took an afternoon nap I read about history (hello grad school!), and then we made dinner. Saturday night was capped off with a blue grass concert down at the amphitheater.

Josh is a very fashionable camper. He is also well prepared. Check out the bug spray he has ready for me!

Sunday we had a relaxing morning (I read more), then went for an eight mile hike along Torry Ridge. It was a little scary because we kept seeing bear droppings on the trail, but I made sure we made lots of noise and kept asking the bears to please stay away while we passed. We hiked and hiked and hiked and when we finally got to the end, or what we thought must be the end, we stopped for lunch. It wasn't until we hiked back down that I looked at the map again and discovered we didn't go all the way to the Bald Mountain Overlook.

This was towards the top. In case you don't think it looks very high, that green mountain behind me is across a deep gorge or valley or something.

After the hike we rested a little more (I read), gathered a little wood for our marshmallow-roasting fire, and then made dinner. The evening was spent trying to get our little fire to survive and roasting marshmallows.

Monday we had another relaxing morning (I read more), then made breakfast and packed up camp. After leaving our site at 11 we went back to the lake. We laid on the grass and read for about an hour, then went for a swim to the island that our guide book said was 1/4 mile away but Josh says couldn't have been that far. I swam back and forth to the island again after that. Then we showered (yay for bathhouses!) and headed back home (so I could read more).

The weather was perfect (t-shirt weather during the day, grateful for a warm sleeping bag weather at night), and it was a beautiful weekend.

on the brink

2010-08-26T21:11:00.003-04:00

I'm sad summer is ending. Soon it will turn cool, and the days are already getting shorter. Plus, my free time is about to fly out the window. Monday I start school again. Admittedly I'm only taking 4 credits this semester, but I will have to commute to Fairfax once or twice a week for evening classes, will have to work a little longer each day at work to make up for that time, and will have HOMEWORK. I will also need to exercise and spend time with Josh. So my schedule is about to get pretty tight in a few days. But I'm looking forward to it. Getting a PhD will take a long time and will be challenging, but I like school, I like history classes, and I know that this degree will benefit me in the long run. Maybe even the short run, too.

just for fun

2010-08-23T18:52:00.003-04:00

I (finally) finished another mosaic. I started it a couple months ago and picked the design based on the board and tiles I already had at the time, so it's kind of random. I gave it to Ryan to hang in his new apartment. Because what college guy doesn't want a mosaic of a cable car hanging on his wall?

the rest of the fun in Santa Fe

2010-08-19T21:50:00.010-04:00

Okay, now let's backtrack to the first week of August. My friends left Santa Fe on Sunday, Ryan and I went to Flagstaff Monday and came back Tuesday, and on Wednesday Josh arrived!

Dad and I picked Josh up from the airport (after looking at art and history at the Albuquerque Museum) and headed to lunch so Josh could have green chili on a burger. Then we went to the Sandia Peak Tramway, the world's longest tram.

Wednesday evening Mom made dinner, then Dad, Josh, and I walked around downtown and went up to the Cross of the Martyrs. By that point Josh was practically asleep after his early morning flight.

Thursday Josh, Ryan, and I went out for Mexican lunch, which made us so stuffed we basically had to nap the rest of the day to recover. When we woke up it was time for dinner, so Josh and I joined my parents at the Plaza Cafe (Southside). Then I took Josh to a boot store, and he bought cowboy boots.

Friday Josh and I went to Bandelier. Yes, I'd already gone the week before, but I went again. It didn't rain this time.

Friday evening Josh and I visited five different museums (whew!), including one with cowboy boot art. Then we ate dinner at the Blue Corn Cafe and got commemorative pint glasses for Santa Fe's 400th birthday. Later that night we went out with Ryan for a few drinks, including a stop at a happenin' club.

Saturday there was an arts and crafts festival on the plaza, so we went down there to look around and so Josh could get souvenirs and gifts for people. That afternoon we went to my grandparents' house for watermelon and dessert with the whole family.

Josh was not too impressed with our mighty Santa Fe river. His favorite part was the clouds.

Saturday night we (Mom, Dad, Ryan, Josh, and myself) got a little dressed up and went to dinner. We had delicious spinach balls for our appetizer.

Sunday morning we stopped by Jackelope and Josh bought a buffalo jaw bone. Then it was time to head to the airport in Albuquerque.

Overall it was an excellent trip, I'd say.

interim

2010-08-17T17:15:00.002-04:00

I am going to finish telling you about my trip to Santa Fe. I really am. But not right now. It has taken me so long because I've been busy, mostly having fun. I became CPR certified. I celebrated two birthdays. I lost (pretty badly) at a pub quiz with Ryan. (Yes, Ryan is out here!) I screamed and waved my arms on rollercoasters at Busch Gardens. (And got Sunni to wave her arms too!)

So see? I've been doin' stuff, and haven't had time to post pictures yet. But I will try to do it soon.

Reunion in Santa Fe

2010-08-06T00:23:00.004-04:00

Now let me backtrack and tell you about my reunion with my two best friends from college (plus one of their husbands).

Katie and Andrew arrived in Santa Fe Thursday night, so Ryan and I went downtown to meet up with them for dinner and drinks. The next morning Katie and I picked up Amy at the airport in Albuquerque, then came straight back to Santa Fe in time for lunch at the Coyote Cantina. Then we walked around downtown and looked at lots of crazy animation art at Site Santa Fe. After that we drove to Ryan's fancy hotel for a tour and a snack. We also visited the Palace of the Governors and the New Mexico History Museum later that evening.

Saturday my mom made breakfast for everyone at our house, then we went to the farmer's market downtown. Next we grabbed some lunch to eat on the road and headed north of town. That's where we saw Camel Rock. Here is a better picture:

We drove on to Bandelier National Monument, where we were soaked with rain as soon as we started walking toward the ruins. So we took a rain break at the visitor center and tried again when the rain stopped. Banelier is fun because you have to climb ladders and go in ancient cave dwellings.

Saturday evening we ate dinner at Tomasita's, then walked up to the Cross of the Martyrs for a view of the city at night. We tried to drink a beer on the plaza but it rained on us and the waitress was mean, so we went to the St. Francis Hotel for drinks in a cozy atmosphere.

Sunday morning we had brunch at Cafe Pasqual's, and then visited the Loretto Chapel to see its famous staircase. After that Katie and Andrew left town, but Ryan and I took Amy up Canyon Road, and then I took her to Jackalope before dropping her off at the airport.

We hadn't seen each other since Amy's wedding two years ago, so it was great to hang out with old and good friends.

across the border and back

2010-08-04T01:14:00.005-04:00

Yesterday Ryan and I loaded up a bunch of second-hand furniture he's collected into a Uhaul trailer and drove to Flagstaff, Arizona. That's where he will be going to school at the end of this month. Yes, Ryan is finally going to college for reals!

Part of the drive looked like this:

But other parts looked like this:

Arizona has a bad rep these days, but he's still moving there.

This morning we got everything up into his second-story apartment. Including the ginormous entertainment center, the TV that weighs a ton, and a really big dresser. He has more (and bigger) furniture than I do.

Last night we walked around downtown Flagstaff and had dinner at a nice brewery. Flagstaff is very mountainy and in the middle of a big pine forest, so I think Ryan will like it there. However, he did not like me forcing him to get out of the car and take this picture:

He wasn't a big fan of this one either. I was a Logger in college, and now he's a Lumberjack!

To get back at me for making him get out of the car for embarrassing pictures, he made us walk to the football field to see the Arizona Cardinals practice. We didn't stay though, we still had to drive back to Santa Fe.

It was a quick and labor-intensive trip, but I'm glad I got to see Flagstaff and his first apartment, and I think we had a good time.

New Mexico is littered this time of year.

2010-08-02T00:11:00.003-04:00

I'm in Santa Fe and I just had a great weekend with my college friends Amy, Katie, and Andrew. I'll talk more about our fun times later, but for now let me say that we have had quite a few pistachio shell sightings.

Thursday night we saw this one while walking to dinner and drinks at Del Charro. Those are Katie's feet behind the shell.

Saturday we took a trip out of town, and we found a grouping of shells at Camel Rock. Camel Rock is a little hill with some rocks that look like a camel, and of course we stopped to take pictures. (See camel rock in the background?)

We passed Camel Rock on our way to Bandelier National Monument, where we took a short hike and climbed around ancient cliff dwellings. Here is a shell with Andrew's foot.

It poured while we were at Bandelier and we all got soaking wet. Here is a shell in a puddle, with Amy's feet.

Now the gang has all headed back home, and tomorrow I'm headed with Ryan to Arizona to move his stuff into his new apartment. I'll let you know if I see any Arizonan pistachios.

classy bison

2010-07-27T08:16:00.003-04:00

Want to see my buffaloes? Okay, here goes.

These are photos my parents got me at an arts and crafts show in Santa Fe. I framed them and now they're hanging near the kitchen in my apartment.

My mom sneakily bought this magnet for me when we were in Fort Worth for a Nascar race.

My friend Amy gave me this tiny buffalo when I visited her in Missoula.

And now for my newest acquisition, I bought this classy piece of home decor a couple weekends ago in Richmond.

Here's a closeup of its awesomeness.

Saturday's tats

2010-07-25T00:05:00.004-04:00

Today involved sleeping in, going to some second-hand stores with Josh, eating lunch and playing pool, taking a nap, running some errands, and watching a movie. Perfect day for temporary tattoos.

playin' tourist

2010-07-19T07:44:00.004-04:00

My parents were in Richmond this weekend to visit my grandparents. That meant Dad and I had time to do some touristy stuff, too.

Sunday afternoon we went for a canal ride in downtown Richmond.

Then we drove to Charlottesville and went up to Carter's Mountain so Dad could see the view, and we had peach cider.

After that we headed downtown and walked around the old Albemarle Courthouse (I guess it's still a courthouse?, but part of the building is old).

Next to the courthouse is a statue of a guy on a horse, and Dad was pretty pleased to discover it was Stonewall Jackson.

We wandered all over the downtown mall, and then went to dinner by UVA. That's where I spotted a pistachio shell!

We finished the night by swimming in the pool at my apartment. Monday he did more touristy stuff (Montpelier, winery, etc.) while I worked. Now my parents are back home, but I will see them again next week when I head to Santa Fe...

Camping!

2010-07-06T22:33:00.004-04:00

When I was a kid my grandparents in New Mexico used to take my brother and me camping a lot. I didn't always appreciate it, what with all the bugs and no shower for days at a time, but I still have fond memories overall. Other than my college orientation when I spent one night in a tent and another night under the stars (I went to a "granola-y" school), I haven't been camping in several years. Until this past weekend.

Sunday Josh and I loaded up my car (and boy was it loaded) and headed to the mountains. After our first choice of campgrounds was full (I'd checked out a book at the library with Virginia camping spots) we drove to Todd Lake, in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests (why doesn't TJ get a first name?). I think it was a great spot for our first camping experience. We had a picnic table, fire pit, tent pad (which was not padded, just a flattened area of dirt), and water pump just across the road. And one of the best parts, the camp ground had flushing toilets and hot showers!

After getting the tent set up we walked over to the lake, which was pretty small, and then hiked the four-mile Trimble Mountain trail. Pretty much the whole loop was uphill (he he). We sang to keep potential bears away, starting with patriotic songs for the 4th of July and ending with Disney tunes and Josh scatting when we couldn't come up with anything else to sing. Josh was quite the task master and forced us to sing everything to an uptempo marching beat (which worked well for the patriotic songs but required some artistic license for the Disney tunes) in order to keep moving up the mountain.

Once the hike was over we were more than ready for a swim, so we put on our suits and went back to the lake for a dip. Then we read on the sandy beach (in the shade) for a while. By then we were getting hungry so we went back to camp, took showers, and made dinner. My Aunt Judy lent us her camping stove, and with it we cooked hot dogs, beans, and green beans. Then we had to eat the beans out of the pot and cut Sobe bottles to make cups for the green beans because we forgot to bring the paper plates and plastic ware we'd set aside (doh!). It worked though.

After dinner we played Yahtzee, then we made a fire and roasted marshmallows. I love roasted marshmallows.

We slept okay, considering the raised alertness to scary forest predators and the hard ground (blankets don't cut it for padding, I'm getting a sleeping pad next time). I ended up sleeping in quite a bit in the morning, which wasn't my original intent because I looked forward to sitting outside reading. Oh well. When we finally got up we packed up the tent and then made breakfast: fancy scrambled eggs (fancy because they included onion, green pepper, cheese, and a little steak), bananas, and juice. Once again we ate right out of the skillet. After dishes and packing up the rest of camp, we were gone by 11:30.

So yes, we only camped one night, but it's a start, and hopefully we can go again this season.

Since we still had lots of our holiday from work left, we drove over to the Luray Caverns. There was a long line in the hot sun, but we endured and toured the place, including the history and car museums that came with our admission tickets to the caverns. Then we took Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Forest most of the way back home.

There were no fireworks, but it was a great 4th of July weekend.

whirlwind fun

2010-06-30T22:04:00.002-04:00

Last Friday after work Josh and I drove to Richmond to celebrate Grandma's birthday with my family.

Saturday we met up with Josh's step dad and step brother at the beach in Delaware. We ate fried chicken, lay in the sun (shade actually, thanks to an umbrella and clouds), swam, and even did a little boogie boarding. Then Josh and I went to his grandparents house near Bethany Beach for a big surprise party for his grandma's birthday (big weekend for grandmas...). All four of her children showed up from distant states, and she had no clue! After hanging with his family and eating Chinese takeout, Josh and I went over to the boardwalk Saturday evening to visit a couple touristy shops and to make our annual trip to the arcade, where we earned lots of tickets and spent them all on temporary tattoos.

Sunday morning was a big family breakfast and then lots and lots of swimming at the pool with Josh's half sisters. There was also lots of jumping into the pool, which I haven't really done in a long time. It was lots of fun. Sunday afternoon was the official birthday party, so we endured the 97 degree weather to enjoy food and cake and Josh's grandpa's homemade summer tea. After a little more hanging out inside with air conditioning, Josh and I finally had to hit the road and drive back to Charlottesville, with a stop in northern Virginia for dinner.

Fun times.

crazy weather

2010-06-25T08:08:00.002-04:00

Summertime around here often involves short thunderstorms in the afternoon. It clouds up, rain beats down for about ten or twenty minutes, and then the rain goes away and sometimes the sky goes on and clears up. So when a storm hit yesterday at 5pm it didn't seem out of the ordinary (except that usually the storms happen a little earlier and it's dry by the time I head to my car after work). It clouded up, rain beat down, and the power even flickered. Then the rain stopped.

But as I started to drive away from work the storm's effects quickly became clear. Debris covered the road. Trees were broken all over the place. Traffic backed up.

I was trying to get across town to pick Josh up from work and take him to get his car at the auto shop. The ride should have taken about 25 minutes in rush hour traffic. It took an hour and twenty minutes.

I have never seen anything like what this storm did to Charlottesville. I've never experienced a tornado or hurricane or anything like that, but this storm gave me a little idea of what those must be like. Most of the city lost power. Traffic lights went out right at rush hour. Emergency vehicles kept trying to weave through traffic. I saw a giant tree that had fallen over, its muddy roots vertical in the air and its leafy top resting on a house. At one point they directed my line of traffic through a parking lot because a tree was still on the power lines over the street and broken lines lay in the road.

Up where Josh was things weren't as bad. I was unwilling to hop back in the car and head into town after nearly an hour and a half, so we stopped in a shopping center to eat and get him a new phone at the Verizon store. I didn't get home until 10pm, and power was still out when I went to bed.

The whole thing was crazy.

Monster, I say

2010-06-24T12:21:00.002-04:00

This morning I opened my door to head off to work and a monster bug greated me. It was the biggest dragon fly I've ever seen in my whole life. Right there at my doorstep. Obviously I immediately shut the door. I had to shoo it with a broom because I wasn't willing to open the door wide enough for me to step out, but slipping the broom through the crack in the door was okay. I mean, I couldn't have that thing getting inside. Look how giant it was (and keep in mind that this photo was taken with a phone, through a crack in the door, and from high above because I wasn't going to get down close to it).

summertiiiiiimmmmmeeee

2010-06-21T21:20:00.002-04:00

It's summer y'all. And warm. And I'm lovin' it. Slowly but surely I think I am acclimating to the humid south (er, east/southish?). The key is not to move too much. If I move a lot I'm still a giant sweat ball. Anyway...

Friday night Josh and I went for another bike ride. We rode the trail by the river a little bit, then headed toward the downtown mall. We parked our bikes and walked around a lot, and on our walk we came upon a man giving a concert from a garage on the street. It was awesome. Then we ate Chinese food and had the nice little outdoor patio to ourselves. I was a little creeped out by the ride home in the dark, but Josh was prepared and got us both headlamps and flashing red lights to wear on the back of our shorts. We looked like total nerds, but "safety first!"

Yesterday everyone met at my grandparents' house in Richmond for Father's Day lunch. After that we played in the sprinkler with little Bobby, and later that afternoon at my aunt's house we played with him again in a wading pool. I also played lots of Pictionary.

This evening after work I came back to my grandparents' house and sat out on the front porch to work a crossword puzzle, eat dinner, and read a book.

Ahh, summertime.

Mason & Josh

2010-06-11T08:19:00.003-04:00

Last night I picked Josh up after work and we hurried over to Richmond to hear Mason Jennings and Josh Ritter play a concert at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. As you probably know, Josh Ritter is my favorite, and this was the fourth time I've seen him. I also enjoy Mason Jennings, and I saw him play once in college.

Josh Ritter. Oh how I love him.

Josh (not Ritter) came with me to the same show last year, and while he's an excellent sport he's decided Josh Ritter isn't really his thing. He agreed to come again this year, for my sake, and while he still wasn't thrilled with the music, I will go ahead and declare that we both had a good time. The weather was beautiful, the crowd was friendly, and the music made me smile.

Josh may not like the music, but he sure looked the part...

bicylcle riding redemption

2010-06-05T09:48:00.002-04:00

Yesterday evening Josh and I went for another bike ride, but this time I planned it to avoid all traffic. Turns out there is this really great trail that goes along the Rivanna River here in town, so we rode to a park and picked that up. The trail is only about 3 miles long, so we also rode around some residential areas with cute old houses. It was a really fun bike ride. There was lots of debris from a major rain storm the day before, and at one point we even had to stop and pass our bikes to each other under a downed tree, but that just made the ride seem more adventurous.

We ended the ride with a dip in the pool at my apartment. I look forward to more rides and swimming this summer.

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-02T20:24:00.002-04:00

This past weekend was excellent.

Friday after work Josh and I headed east to his grandparents' house. They live there all the time but it felt like a vacation home to me. I stayed in a cute little room that reminded me of a B&B, and they have a big screened in porch with an assortment of rocking chairs, swings, and couches to sit on. The porch also overlooks a pond. So Saturday I woke up early (without an alarm) and sat on the porch to read. Then I helped run a couple of errands before we had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. After than Josh and I loaded up the kayak and headed down the road to the Piankatank River. I ended up with blisters on my thumbs, but it was still a good time. When we got back to the house we ate lunch and took naps. After my nap I read on the porch while Josh went fishing at the pond. For dinner we sat on the porch and had barbecued chicken and corn, and that night we all played Quiddler.

Sunday Josh's grandpa gave the sermon at church for their special Memorial Day service. He wore his Navy uniform (he was a rear admiral and chaplain) and other men in the church wore their uniforms, and the service ended with a bugler and bagpipes. After church there was a cookout back at the house, and once all the food was consumed and everyone left I took a requisite nap. Then I went with Josh to the pond to sit in the boat while he fished. We rounded out the night eating leftovers and watching TV.

Monday we had a big homemade breakfast, then Josh's aunt and her boyfriend came over to go kayaking with us again. The sun was shining, the water was refreshing, and my blisters didn't bother me too much. (Also, I'll be honest, Josh and I were in the same kayak so if my hands hurt he took up the slack and paddled me around.) We found a teeny-tiny piece of beach and got out of the boats to swim and dig our toes in the sand. Overall I'm told we kayaked 5.25 miles that day. When we got back to the house we ate a late lunch, and then Josh and I took naps before packing up and heading back to Charlottesville.

The weekend was a really great mini-vacation.

I (don't really) want to ride my bicycle.

2010-05-27T18:52:00.002-04:00

I don't own a bike. Unless you count my old bike that's still in my parents' garage in Santa Fe. I do, however, still have my helmet with me. Because, you know, a bike might come along and I need to be prepared. And in fact, a bike has come along! Josh's grandma is lending me hers. It's not a "grandma bike" though, don't worry. (Well, except maybe for the side mirror attached to the handle bar, but if that makes it a grandma bike I'm really okay with it.) Tuesday Josh and I went for a bike ride, but I didn't like it too much. Sure, it was fun to ride (he kept saying gleefully "isn't this better than running!"), but it was also very scary. We were riding in town, and therefore on streets and in traffic. I never did that growing up. The only time I've ridden in traffic like that was once on a bike tour in Germany, and when a bus pulled over and I should have stopped but freaked out about losing my tour group and went anyway, a busload of people yelled at me in German. Okay, maybe not a busload, but one guy definitely yelled. Anyway, the point is that riding with cars scares me. And it's bad enough huffing and puffing up a hill on a bike, why add the extra threat that if you don't hurry that car trying to turn might run you over? It's all too much.

tidbits

2010-05-24T22:14:00.003-04:00

My mouth is coming along quite nicely! I still have some unsightly sutures in there, but unless I smile quite creepily, no one can see them. Thursday I have my check-up and they'll remove whatever is left.

I'm trying to figure out what I should run next. I need a running goal to help me actually work out regularly. Apparently I was mistaken by a lady at work who thought I was addicted to exercise. I'm not, but I can commit to following a schedule. I'm thinking about another half marathon at the end of August. That would give me the summer to train (at an intermediate level instead of beginners like the last half marathon), and I'd be done with the big time commitment in time for school to start in September.

I don't watch LOST. So I don't care about the series finale! But I'm really loving the new NBC show Parenthood.

I had an African violet back when I lived in Raleigh, but that didn't really work out. I'm trying to have plants again, and so far things are going much better. I was given some little baby spider plants several months ago and after planting them and giving them plenty of sun and water I have lots of baby spider plants of my own! I haven't decided if I want to pot or, uh, "prune" them, so in the meantime I've got some crazy long sprouts going on. I would take a picture to show you but I accidentally vacuumed up a couple of the plant's leaves once and I'm embarrassed to show you their tips. Anyway...I also have a beautiful orchid that Josh gave me for my birthday. I love orchids and have wanted one for a very long time, and I finally have one! He got one with a tag that says all I have to do is give it three ice cubes once a week to water it, and so far so good. Next up, I want a cute little jade plant.

Last week I went on a work field trip to Poplar Forest. That was Jefferson's other house, his Bedford County estate. It's still sort of in the reconstruction faze and isn't completely finished inside and furnished, but it's still pretty cool. The yard was filled with really annoying gnats, but the house was neat and worth the trip to Lynchburg.

gross fest

2010-05-16T21:18:00.002-04:00

Friday I took off of work so I could go to Richmond and have some good ole' oral surgery. No biggy really, just a little gum graft. But, you know, surgery. I was awake for the whole thing but the doctor's office was great because they gave me a blanket and an ipod to listen to, plus some dark glasses. So I snuggled up, put the ipod on shuffle, closed my eyes, and tuned out with my mouth wide open. A little over an hour later I was on my way back to my grandparents' house, where I proceeded to take a five and a half hour nap. It hasn't been too bad, and luckily I haven't had any pain at all. But the worst part? Looking in my mouth completely grosses me out. It's disgusting. Grandpa says it looks just fine, but he's a doctor so he can't appreciate how disgusting the whole thing is. And even if I'm not looking at my mouth in the mirror, just the thought of what's in my mouth grosses me out. So it's best if I don't think about it.

Montalto Challenge, WITH PICTURES!

2010-05-10T22:32:00.008-04:00

Turns out Josh is a miracle worker and he rescued my deleted photos! I know how disappointed you all were to not see pictures of sweaty runners, so you can thank him when you get a chance. And here we go!

At the bottom of the mountain waiting to start. Notice all the trees. The lower trail part was very woodsy.

By the time we got up to Montalto it wasn't woodsy anymore. If you think this looks like a pleasant hill, just realize those lines are all switchbacks. I think if you zoom in you can see a couple walking.

Josh took this one while still running.

I came in 65th, see?

Bagpipes greeted us at the top.

Swwweeeeeaaaatttttyyyy

TJ was lookin' pretty sweaty, too.

See that white building? That's Monticello.

There I am in my brown race shirt with all the winners. Because I came in second in my age group, remember?

Hooray for a successful Montalto Challenge!

Montalto Challenge

2010-05-08T14:13:00.007-04:00

Well I went through with the crazy challenge, and this morning I ran a 5k up a mountain. Josh ran up, too. The race is put on by Monticello here in Charlottesville and starts at the bottom of the Saunders-Monticello trail and continues all the way up Montalto. They say we rose in elevation by almost 900 feet, and when we reached the top we looked out over Charlottesville and the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was beautiful, and definitely challenging. I've run up the Saunders-Monticello trail a few times before and this time I did it in a minute less than I'd ever done it before. But after the trail came the really steep and winding road up Montalto, and unfortunately I had to take several breaks and walk up the extra steep parts. But just about everybody around me was also taking walking breaks. It was intense. I didn't quite make my time goal, but I think my goal was unrealistic. I came in 65th out of 122, but get this...

I came in second in my age group!!! They called my name in the awards ceremony and I got a prize and everything! So that is very exciting.

You know what is decidedly not exciting? The fact that I came home and proceeded to delete all the wonderful photos we'd taken. I thought there were duplicates so I deleted the second ones, but turns out there weren't really duplicates and I deleted all but two. Here they are:

Photos you do not get to see, because they no longer exist, include before and after photos with two co-workers who also ran, a shot up at Montalto to show you how high it is, a shot looking over and down at Monticello, Josh and me extra sweaty at the top, the bagpipe players who provided entertainment atop the mountain, and my Thomas Jefferson temporary tattoo that was bleeding ink down my sweaty arm by the end. Hopefully I can get some of the photos my co-workers took, but in the meantime I suggest you check out the photos from last year's race so you can get an idea about what it was like. And if I run next year you can be sure I'll be extra careful with the pictures I take.

Crabtree Falls

2010-05-01T20:46:00.006-04:00

This morning Josh and I went for a hike to Crabtree Falls in Nelson County. We live near mountains now, so we figured we should go check them out. Apparently Crabtree Falls is the tallest waterfall east of the Mississippi. Basically the entire 1.7 mile hike is up the mountain by the falls, so every time I thought we must be at the top of the falls we'd hike some more and find out I was wrong, the falls were still there. It was pretty cool. Then we kept walking another mile or so along the stream at the top. Some hikers passing us said they'd just seen a snake, but luckily it left before I had to see it. We also made sure to talk and sing so as to scare away any potential bear visitors. That might be what caused my nap-time dream about bears this afternoon.

still running

2010-04-29T19:50:00.002-04:00

Before I ran the half marathon I started to get worried about what I would do after the half marathon. Would I stop running? Would I sit around all the time and get fat? Would I get depressed because I didn't have a regular running schedule anymore? Or, conversely, would I start training for a full marathon?

Well, running the half marathon let me know that I don't want to start training for a full one. But obviously I will still run. I was silly to worry.

Right now I'm training for a crazy challenge that I don't want to say too much about just yet in case I wimp out and don't do it, but hopefully I will do it and you'll get to hear more later. That also means hopefully whatever feels wrong with my left leg will go away soon. I'm taking a few days off, so hopefully that will fix it.

Also, totally unrelated to running, I meant to blog earlier in the week about what I did last weekend because it was lots of fun, but I'll just say that Josh and I went to the Kiwanis pancake breakfast and then watched the Dogwood Festival Parade, and while the parade was nothing spectacular, it was still lots of fun to watch. So there you go.

13.1

2010-04-17T17:28:00.006-04:00

This morning Josh and I ran the Charlottesville Half Marathon! Looking back I think "ahhh, that was awesome!" but there were definitely points when running that I thought "I'm never going to run a full marathon" or "oh dear goodness, I might have to stop and walk." But I didn't stop to walk. And I did way better than I thought I would! My goal was to finish under 2 hours and 10 minutes (basically my usual 10 minute mile), but I finished at 1 hour 57 minutes!!! That is very exciting. Overall I placed 399 (out of 1077).

There were points when I looked around and enjoyed the scenery, struggled with a cramp, had to pee, passed several people at a time, and was passed by several people at a time. There were some serious hills, but Charlottesville is full of hills and I've been training here, so it turned out okay. Josh took off and left me just before the halfway point, but I caught up with him at the end (until he sprinted through the finish line), and he finished 390th.

My legs are sore and I spent the rest of the day lounging about and napping, but I enjoyed it and will probably try to run more half marathons and shorter races in the future.

6:30am and ready to go!

Lookin' good at mile 1. (Notice a similar picture wasn't taken at, say, mile 9.)

Josh running, I think between miles 1 and 2.

See little me waving? About to hit the turnaround point halfway through.

Josh's Grandma came to see us finish! Look how cute they are!

We did it!

thank goodness

2010-04-16T20:28:00.003-04:00

Dad got to leave the hospital today! They finally (two weeks later) got all the fluid from outside his lungs drained, and they think he's good to go and the fluid shouldn't build up again. Now he's home, and they say he can even head back to the gym next week!

half marathon countdown

2010-04-16T09:15:00.003-04:00

Well, I've trained for thirteen weeks, and tomorrow is the big day! Hopefully it won't rain. Hopefully I won't die. Hopefully I'll feel okay about my time.

Wish me luck!

thanks, friend

2010-04-13T19:09:00.001-04:00

Received in the [e]mail today:

thoughts and prayers please

2010-04-09T21:52:00.001-04:00

Monday my Dad had surgery to get fluid out of his chest. Three liters of fluid, to be exact. He's still in the hospital, waiting for drainage to stop so they can take out his chest tube and let him go home. We still don't have a diagnosis for why his chest is creating so much fluid in the first place. So keep him in your thoughts and prayers please.

three cheers for warm weather!

2010-04-03T21:53:00.002-04:00

Today I ran twelve miles (whew!), slapped on a whale tattoo, bought some books (and books on tape) at the library book sale, and headed to Richmond to hang out on the porch with family and dye eggs.

Pretty good day, I'd say.

bean pie

2010-04-01T18:28:00.003-04:00

Today I ate some pinto bean pie at work, but I thought it was pecan pie because that's what I was told.

Happy April Fools Day to me.

(It still tasted pretty good.)

Monument Avenue 10k

2010-03-28T11:04:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I ran my first race ever. With only about 37,000 other people. And a temperature in the 30s.

But it was great! I've been around Richmond for a few years now, but I've never even gone to watch the Monument Avenue 10k. So not only was it my first run, but it was my first time seeing all the costumes, bands, cheerleaders, and friendly spectators. I really made an effort to enjoy the race, so I said things to myself like "look at that adorable bulldog on the sidewalk!" or "I'm so happy there is a string band playing on that porch!" or "hello Uncle Stonewall!" when I passed the Stonewall Jackson monument.

Check out the running dinosaur shirts Josh and I painted!

Celebrating with a post-run beer at Capital Ale House

My goal was to finish in less that 60 minutes, which I did (just barely). However, the crowd was so huge in the beginning (I heard there were 1,500 in my wave) that I didn't make a serious effort to zoom around people and get ahead, I just went with the flow. Now that I've seen my results and I know I came in around 10,200th place (which, hey, was still in the top third), I'm itching to try again and do better.

ten miles plus!

2010-03-21T13:41:00.003-04:00

Yesterday afternoon Josh and I set out for our ten mile run but it didn't really work out and instead turned into a lovely spring walk. (Not a ten mile walk, however.) This morning I set out on my own, and I succeeded at the ten miles! It's kind of crazy how far you can get in a small city in ten miles. There was an unfortunate period where I made a wrong turn and ran several blocks in the wrong direction and had to double back. I tried to compensate by ending the run sooner, but it still turns out I ran ten and a half miles. Before today the farthest I'd ever run was eight miles, so this is pretty exciting.

It was a disaster!

2010-03-19T08:40:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I went to Northern Virginia to visit my new grad school for the first time. I was supposed to be there at 9:30am, so to be on the safe side I left my apartment at 6:30am. Or at least I tried to, before I locked my keys in my car. With the engine on.

It was still dark out. My purse and phone were already in the car. I was stuck. So I found another apartment with lights on and knocked on the stranger's door. Luckily the guy who answered was fully dressed. At 6:30 in the morning. He let me use his phone and he had the AAA number, so that was great. Then he left for work and I waited outside until 7:45 for the AAA guy to show up. Yesterday's high was in the upper 60s, and I was ready for it. But the temperature from 6:30-7:45? Not so high. By the time the AAA guy arrived I was a popsicle. When he handed me a pen to sign on the line I dropped it because my hands were numb. But at least I got into my car (which, by the way, was an inferno because I'd turned the heat up before the door locked).

Then I high-tailed it for NoVa and arrived by 10:10, and the rest of the day turned out much better than the morning.

time flies

2010-03-09T22:32:00.003-05:00

Today was my one year anniversary at my (not-new-anymore) job. This is the longest-running full-time position I've held. Not because I can't stay employed, mind you, but because my former jobs were mostly squeezed in around school semesters. And here's some news for you: I'm going back to school again! I've been accepted into a PhD program for history, so that's exciting. But this time I'm going to keep working at my current position full time, so the anniversaries can keep adding up.

more on the Vegas trip

2010-03-06T21:39:00.003-05:00

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten to tell you about my Vegas trip.

Last weekend was Nascar weekend in Las Vegas, so naturally my family went and I flew out to join them. (As you may recall, we did the same thing last year.) It was pretty great.

My parents and Ryan drove in Wednesday afternoon and I flew in later that evening. Thursday I went for a two mile run around our hotel, and then we headed to the strip. We ate lunch at Mandalay Bay and visited the aquarium there. Then we went to MGM to see the lions and watch bartenders dance on the bar. We also went to New York New York where Ryan and I rode the roller coaster. Ryan bought me a pair of shoes for Christmas at the Planet Hollywood mall, and we saw the Nascar trucks parade down the strip. That night we saw the Lion King.

Dad with the Crown Royal (Matt Kenseth's) car in Mandalay Bay.

Friday we met up with my aunt and uncle (who also drove from New Mexico for Nascar) for a breakfast buffet, then went to the strip. First we visited Circus Circus and Ryan and I rode more rides, then we watched an acrobat do circus tricks. Next we visited the Bellagio and rode the new tram through City Center. Then it was time for a snack so we went downtown for shrimp cocktails. We may have visited some other stuff in there too, but I can't keep it all straight. We ate dinner at Margaritaville because my aunt and uncle wanted to see the lady slide out of the volcano into a giant beer glass. Crazy stuff happens in Vegas.

Ready to take a ride at Circus Circus.

Later that night Ryan and I went back to the strip (we were all staying at hotels off the strip, same as last time) and ended up hanging out at a bar in the MGM trying to win a signed Matt Kenseth jacket for Dad (Kenseth is his Nascar driver). We filled out lots of (free) drawing tickets and got a free hat and flashing button, but when they finally held the drawing at midnight some Canadian guy next to us won the jacket instead.

Parents at the Bellagio.

Saturday was the first race, which I went to with Dad, Ryan, and my uncle. It was delayed for 1.5 hours due to rain, and once the rain left and the race started it was windy and freezing, so not the best of times. For dinner we had Mexican at my aunt and uncles hotel, then went next door to our hotel and I won eighty bucks on a penny slot machine. I then proceeded to lose thirty of that on the same machine, but I came out with fifty dollar profit!

Sunday the guys and my aunt went to the race, and I went to breakfast with Mom. Then I ran eight miles for my half marathon training. After my shower Mom and I went back to the strip and visited the dolphins and tigers at the Mirage. We also walked around the Venetian, but then my poor feet were sore so we rested at a trendy bar back at the Mirage. We met up with the rest of the gang after their race was over for a steak dinner. Then Ryan and I headed back to the strip to watch the volcano erupt at the Mirage and live it up on our last night in Vegas.

I hope we do it again next year.

still in the snow

2010-03-06T21:27:00.003-05:00

I'm more than ready for spring to hurry up and get here, but in the meantime there is still winter fun to be had. Today Josh and I met up with his aunt and cousin at Massanutten for two hours of snow tubing. There was lots of waiting involved (waiting to get up the moving sidewalk to the top of the hill, waiting in line, waiting for slow people to clear the lanes...), but we had a pretty good time. I went down sitting up, laying on my belly, spinning, and attached to Josh's tube. On my last run I spun around so much that when I reached the bottom and got up to walk away I was too dizzy and fell flat on my back. That was embarrassing.

Viva Las Vegas

2010-03-01T22:38:00.002-05:00

I just got back from a trip to Las Vegas. I'll tell you more soon, but in the meantime please enjoy this gem:

No backing out.

2010-02-23T22:04:00.003-05:00

Well, it's official and I am now registered and have paid my non-refundable fees for a half marathon AND a 10k. I've never run in a race or with a group of people before, but hey, go big or go home right? The 10k is a few weeks before the half marathon, and I figure that will be a good chance to see what this race-running is all about. Not that I plan to race, mind you. I just hope to finish without stopping and not be the last person across the line.