September 2011
5 posts
Things I'll teach my (future) children: Vol. 1
Get up when your alarm goes off. Do not push snooze.
Make your bed. It greatly decreases the likelihood of you climbing back into it.
No matter what else is on your to-do list, you will feel accomplished if you start your day with exercise.
Don’t worry about what you look like. No one cares; they are too busy worrying about what they look like.
They say no food...
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Not sure which was more awesome: The shooting star...
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“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is...”
– Mark Twain
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April 2011
16 posts
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it...”
– Hebrews 12:11 (Aka, my Bible’s way of saying “Get up off your butt and go run?” Sounds like it!)
It's my birthday and I'll buy if I want to...
I’m growing up! No, I don’t mean the fact that today, April 14 at exactly 4 p.m., I will turn 26. (Whoa? Seriously? So old?) I mean that today I have graduated in the running world. Today I will purchase my first pair of Brooks! Stoked!
I spent a good amount of time yesterday trying on tons of brands (thanks for the recommendations, all who gave them!) and decided Me + Brooks =...
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The race countdown begins...
Went on a hikety-hike with my brothers and had a jolly good time. We played baseball with sticks and pine cones and later did our best Sasquatch impressions. Mom would have been proud.
Funny though, I used to get anxious on hikes that I would become out-of-breath and need to stop, or be unable to keep up with others. I realized yesterday I had forgotten to worry about any of that. It was a good...
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Comes now, the biggest most pathetic lie J ever told:
One hundred and forty-five pounds? Ha! Me thinks not. I was sitting pretty at 225 pounds about the time this photo was taken. Gee, I sure fooled the Department of Motor Vehicles nobody.
Also of note: Yes, I have my motorcycle endorsement. I’m cool like that.
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The Mighty Life makes a move
That’s right folks: J is blogging for you now from a top secret compound (mom’s house) in a classified and very exotic locale (Eastern Washington state).
This weekend, in five points:
U-haul trailer for moving your stuff across the state to pursue a Masters degree: $150. Gas for the road: $70. Two brothers and a dad who will lift everything for you: Priceless.
I ran 5.5 miles...
Notes from a Past Life
I recently stumbled across a journal I kept briefly in 2009. At the time I weighed more than 200 pounds, and decided out of sheer exhaustion (and much pressure from my mom) to see a counselor, in hopes of pulling my life together. I had been depressed and overweight for more than two years, and seemed to exist in a lethargic sort of solitude between real life and daydreams (which were more like...
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Didja hear? It's Last Day at Dead-End Job Day!
Thank you all so much for your comments on the Great Pizza Dilemma. It sounds ridiculous (and probably it is) but I really struggle with trusting myself to eat in moderation. It isn’t so much bad food that scares me, it’s my questionable ability to not lose control that I fear. (Confession: I’ve often considered trying an Overeaters Anonymous meeting; that’s how fierce my...
A Very Important (not so much) Question:
The Situation: Thursday is J’s last day at work and The Coworkers want to throw a pizza party to commemorate. This will involve copious amounts of greasy and delicious pie hanging around the newsroom, begging to be devoured. The Dilemma: J has not had pizza in exactly 186 days. She has abstained from eating it with her coworkers on a weekly basis since October, and while doing so has lost...
School is cool, or haven't you heard?
I’ve been a little cryptic lately, posting about job interviews and relocation with few details, but I wanted to hold out until everything was sorted before announcing to the world my anonymous little blog just what is going on.
The time has come! (Sheesh, over-dramatic, I know.)
For a little over three years I’ve been working (aside from a hiatus spent hitchhiking around Bavaria) as...
J goes with the flow...
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)
This has been my mantra lately. I’m no good when it comes to relaxing, and I like my details settled neatly in order, thankyouverymuch. So when life change comes along and decides not to fall prettily in the pattern I’ve laid out for it,...
Boxes, boxes, everywhere...
Shoes much?
That’s right, I am a packing machine!
Ok, well, maybe not quite, but it’s coming along. T-5 days until the move, and I’m gonna be ready, yo.
Put in a 5-mile run this morning before unstoring my storage and collecting empty boxes. Now to organize, pack and label… it’s wrong I’m slightly excited for the labeling, isn’t it?
Also slept off...
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March 2011
42 posts
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No Numbers March Madness | A recap
It was toward the end of February and I was feeling pretty accomplished, having eaten well for the month, run my first 5k and stayed active in general, so when I saw my weight rise 3 pounds on the scale, I chalked it up as a fluke. Then, when I appeared to have gained another two pounds by the next morning, I became worried. I weighed myself obsessively — more than once that day alone — and...
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I’m joining the fun: Here’s (as I’ve been told since high school) my celebrity look-alike, the Sneaking-this-Self-Portrait-in-at-Work-was-Awkward edition.
What do you think?
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I submitted my two weeks notice...
On my publisher’s birthday. The day after her father-in-law died.
I am working hard at feeling bad about this. (Lie.)
Seriously, you guys!
I have wanted to kiss this gig farewell for many months, and am so thankful I now have the opportunity to do so. I’ll write more on what exactly I’ll be doing next as the details solidify, but they’re shaping up to include some...
There's no place like home...
Heading back to the Emerald City today, after a weekend of home cooking, baseball games at my Alma mater and one really great coffee date with a dear friend.
These next two weeks will bring some exciting life changes, and I can’t wait to post about them (soon!).
Until then, come find me on Twitter! I’d love to follow you. (And while you’re at it, add me on DailyMile so we can...
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Bowling with my favorites after gorging on organic homemade black bean and vegetable enchiladas with pumpkin sauce (no clue on the calories, positive they were delicious) and taking the bikes out for a spin.
Home = Love.
[P.S. Ran into a boy who broke my heart in high school (and again in college) at the alley. He asked for my number. Ah, sweet justice…]
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They offered me the job!
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Made an executive decision last night and (gasp!) put my health before deadline. Checked a round on the elliptical machine off the ol’ To Do List, along with three of the five stories I have due before I leave town today.
After filing those reports I managed a quick workout this morning, plus some cinnamon-doused oatmeal and banana for breakfast (if you haven’t yet, try this,...
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Ran a four-miler along the bay on a morning made for being outdoors.
Then I got my grocery shopping on. This week’s fruits and veggies, freshly gathered from the shelves of my local grocery store:
A good start to the weekend indeed.
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St. Pat’s Dash photos: The free, screen capture edition!
Seattle’s soggy weather on display at its finest.
(Be sure to check out my mad levitation skills in the second photo. Oh yeah, it’s how I roll.)
Now I go run four miles.
XO,
J
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Things I'm Thankful for Thursday
That I am a girl with meat on my bones, with curvy hips and strong thighs.
That I have access to good running shoes and organic foods. That I’m blessed enough to be able to afford both.
That I can now use the front pockets of my jeans. There is enough give between me and the fabric that the pockets are (hip-hip-hooray!) actually functional.
For No Numbers March Madness, and the freedom...
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Ninety minute cross-training done before work. Now to meet deadlines sail through the day with that already in the can. Boom son!
(Did I mention I PR’d on my 3-miler after work yesterday? Made it in 30:25, a 10:08 pace! [Insert jaw drop, fist pump here.])
In related news, and being the total stickler for breakfast-eating that I am, I got my protein shake on this morning. I normally...
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Reason no. 64 to get in shape:
Discovering your dimples.
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Tried this new recipe for lime-and-soy-sauce marinated chicken for dinner. Verdict? Win!
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I like to check my work email from home some mornings, to get a jump-start on the day avoid going into the office as long as possible. Here’s the text from a missive that arrived from my publisher this morning: Donuts for everyone in the Lunch Room!!! Not going to lie, I started crying. I don’t know what it is with me and junk food today (see: this morning’s novella on...
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On cravings...
All my life I’ve heard it said that those who eat healthy crave healthy foods. I’m here to say I, for one, of healthy eating practices involving a great deal of fruits and vegetables, can and most certainly do wish I could gulp down a slice of pizza supreme. Or three.
And to be honest, if I could, I would. Even my desire to be fit and healthy has its limits, and if the Good Lord is...
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