To match or not to match?

My love life is non-existent. The last date I went on? This summer! With Houston-guy, a fella I met at a sorority sister's wedding in April. We dated some for a few months, but as you can guess by the nickname, he lives in Houston and it didn't work out. Since then... nothing. Absolutely. nothing. It's kind of depressing! It becomes especially depressing when people ask me about my prospects and I have to continue to reply with something along the lines of "I've got nothing."

I have to admit that I really haven't had time to date. Or to even look, obviously. There's been the 1/2 Marathon training and some traveling that has kept me just a little occupied. I will definitely never be "that girl" who has some mid-life crisis when she wakes up and realizes she never had time to find out who she was because she jumped into a relationship/marriage/children before she was really grown up herself. I have had plenty of "me" time. Tons of "me" time. So much "me" time, I'm kind of sick of "me." Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty dang awesome... but at some point you hit a wall where you get pretty bored with all of the "me" time.

So, with all of that being said, I have to admit that in the last few days I've become slightly intrigued with idea of signing up for something like match.com. My cousin Ryan signed up not too long ago, and we often find ourselves chatting online while we work for most of the day. Naturally, he has been keeping me updated with his findings and all of our random friends he is finding on the site.

I've always been a cynic when it comes to online dating, but I have to admit that I'm not doing the greatest job at finding potential suitors (wow, that sounds so 18th century) on my own. So the question is: to match or not to match? I want to hear your thoughts!

Recovery from the 1/2 is going well. I've laid off of exercise all week long so my foot can heal, and I'm now going stir-crazy. I have to keep reminding myself that it's best to make sure I'm fully recovered so there's a less likelihood of re-injury, which would mean even more time off. My weekend plans aren't solidified, but I'm going to be spending some time with some high school friends who will be in Austin for a bachelorette party, seeing Quantum of Solace tomorrow afternoon with friends, and doing a little work at Bath and Body Works.

What I've done...

To participate just copy and paste in your own blog, and bold all of the things you have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Smokey Mountains
13. Watched a lightning storm
14. Laughed 'til I cried
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept overnight on a boat at a lake
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon (does a 1/2 count?)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Been to Vegas
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language3
7. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone water skiing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait drawn
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Quit a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in D.C
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

2 hours, 49 minutes, 19 seconds

"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)

I did it! I completed my first 1/2 Marathon! And what an experience it was!

Andrea and I left for San Antonio a little after noon on Saturday. We headed to the Fitness Expo and met up with Dre and Laura to pick up our packets and do a little exploring. From there, we ventured to Andrea's Uncle John's house where we were spending the night. I met up with my parents, cousin Amy, her husband Steve, and their daughters Rachel, Stephanie and Valerie at Jacala for some tasty Mexican food for dinner. I have always referred to Rachel, Stephanie, and Valerie as my "hellian" cousins. They were quite the handful and troublemakers when they were younger! It's hard to believe that Valerie is now in college and the twins are looking at colleges. After dinner I found myself exhausted and was in bed at 9 pm! I had anticipated that it would be difficult for me to get a good night's rest because of nerves, but that was definitely not the case!

We were up at 5:30 am on Sunday to get ready and eat breakfast before the race. Andrea's sweet Uncle John prepared our breakfast of strawberries, bagels with cream cheese, bananas, and yogurt. Naturally, we were running late so we had to take it with us in the car. And of course, me being the clumsiest person in the world, had to trip down the stairs in the garage while carrying my breakfast to the car. I'm not going to lie, it was a bad fall. I felt something pull in my ankle and it took me a few seconds to be able to stand up. However, I wasn't going to allow a last second injury keep me from running this race!

John dropped us off at the race and we arrived at our Corral a little after 7 and found our friends Dre, Laura and Heidi. It was a freezing 34 degrees outside! The race started at 7:30, but it was a little after 8 before we made our way to the starting line. They placed everyone in Corrals and then released a corral every minute and a half to two minutes to ensure that the course didn't become too crowded, because that was definitely a possibility with 30,000 runners in the race.
Laura and I had paced together during the Human Race and found that we ran well together, so we did the same during this race. We let the rockstars Andrea, Dre, and Heidi run ahead of us. The course was really flat, which was awesome. There was a slight hill around mile 3 1/2 and then a large hill right at the end (talk about unfair) at mile 13. Every time we would get to a mile marker I'd get really excited about how fast it was all going by. We did well at the beginning and only walked while we drank our water at the water stops, but after about mile 5 Laura's foot started to hurt (crazily enough, my injury seemed fine and wasn't bothering me). We had to stop a few times to let her take her weight off of it and walked a little ways before she finally made me go ahead of her around mile 10.

Everyone always tells you to "finish strong" at a race, and I've never really understood that statement before now. On any of my long runs I have had to push myself towards the end and have found my energy lacking. This was not the case yesterday. I somehow found a new motivation the last few miles and ran faster and stronger than I had the entire race! It was such an exhilarating feeling to begin passing everyone who had started to walk the last few miles. It also helped that through out the race the crowd was so amazing and motivating. You don't realize how much of an effect complete strangers can have on you while you're running and they're cheering for you. The bands stationed every 1/2 to full mile also made the race go by quickly.

I crossed the finish line with a time of 2 hours, 49 minutes, and 19 seconds, which I am pleased with. It wasn't the rock star time of Andrea at 2 hours and 13 minutes, but I finished and I ran this race, and that is an accomplishment not to blush at! As I turned the corner I was welcomed by the bright, smiling faces of my Mommy and Daddy. It was so great to have them there! I got a hug and a kiss on the cheek (to which my mom made the comment that I tasted like salt) and I headed back to meet them.

While my parents were on their way to meet me they saw an old, familiar face... Virginia Wallace! Virginia and my mom taught together at Diboll when I was in grade school, and she had kids around our age. Her daughter Korie, who is a year older than me, also ran the 1/2 marathon and it was also her first race. Her brother Travis was also there because his fiancee was running as well. It was good to see them and catch up a little. I seriously was just thinking about them a few weeks ago when I was going through old photos and came across a picture from one of mine and Jay's birthday parties. And it just goes to show just how small of a world it really is... I always see at least one random person I know at a race!

After we met up with my racing buddies, my parents took Andrea and I back to her Uncle's house but not before stopping for a yummy lunch at Olive Garden. We finally arrived back in Austin around 4:15 and I had just enough time to get ready for our Post-1/2 Marathon celebration at Trudy's. I'm so thankful for our wonderful friends who showed up to congratulate us and who also braved the cold of the patio at Trudy's since our party was so large (we had close to 20 people there, it was probably a good thing that not everyone showed up!). After dinner Andrea and I met up with two of our former co-workers Marissa and Courtney for drinks at Sherlock's... it was so good to see them and catch up, it's been way too long since we all got together.

I woke up this morning and my ankle was sore (surprisingly nothing else was with my lack of stretching before and after the race). I went to see the Capitol nurse and he agreed with my self-diagnosis: I have a slight sprain. It's not swollen and I don't limp when I walk, but there is definitely a continuous feeling of pain in my foot. I am going to lay off the running this week and ice it and take aleve for the pain, and hopefully I will heal quickly!

I have to say thank you to all of my family and friends who have been so incredibly supportive while I've trained for this race. Your encouraging words helped to keep me going when I was having doubts. I am so lucky to have such wonderful support in my life! I apologize for the length of this blog, but I knew that inquiring minds would want to know all of the details! I am going to leave you with some pictures from the weekend and another Bible verse that I saw along the course that helped to keep me motivated.

"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings of eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:31)

Heidi, Andrea, Laura, me and Dre before the race

Me with my Mommy and Daddy at the Finish line

Andrea and I... we ran our first 1/2 Marathon!

Friends at our Post-1/2 Marathon Celebration

Courtney, Andrea, Marissa and me at Sherlock's

Missing friends

While I'm doing my personal training on Thursday mornings, Sam likes to jam out to the 90's alternative station on XM Radio, which often makes me think back to the days of high school. Today as I did various foot drills on the ladder Garbage's Stupid Girl came on. My friends and I enjoyed taking the lyrics to songs and changing them to make fun of each other, and this particular song was changed to say "Stupid booooys... Jay and Luke. Stupid boooooys... Jay and Luke." I giggled as I told Sam about this habit and shared the other songs we changed for our friends with him.

As I was driving home from training, I couldn't help but think about Luke. Almost 5 1/2 years after his death, I still miss my friend. I have so many fond memories that I can think back on and smile just remembering the fun. I've thought of him often lately, whether it's because his birthday would have been this month or the approaching Christmas season always reminds me of my Show Choir days, or that football season always reminds me of L Man and P Man, or a little of it all. I can say for sure that my life has more joy in it because Luke was my friend.

Just 3 days left until the 1/2 Marathon!

Taking stalking to a whole new level

I saw a commercial on television last night that almost gave me nightmares. It was an iPhone commercial about a fun, new application you can download on your phone called Loopt. Here is the tagline of info I pulled from the Loopt website: With Loopt, turn your iPhone into a social compass. Pinch, tap and drag an interactive map to find where your friends are and what they’re doing. Connect on the fly, share photos and tips on cool places.

We have now taken stalking to a whole new, frightening, level, my friends. Granted, I'm sure you can only view the location of people who agree to be your friends. And the program even allows you to put yourself into hiding so that your location can not be viewed. But I just can't imagine that this is a GOOD thing.

I'm not going to sit here and say that I don't enjoy a little facebook and blog stalking myself. My life would be incredibly dull without it. But there's a line that is crossed when you allow yourself to be GPSed to be located by your friends. And while I'm not exactly afraid of "Big Brother" and don't expect black helicopters to be landing outside my house at any moment, you have to think that even though you can turn off the GPS tracking feature for your friends to see, once you open yourself up to that sort of tracking there's no complete closing of that door.

So I'm asking all of my friends out there with iPhones to just say no to Loopt. Thank you, iPhone for making my decision to stick with Blackberry come December so much easier...

Name in the news...

I had an e-mail from my Aunt Joyce this morning. My dad had told her about a picture of me that was recently in the Lufkin Daily News, and she wanted to know all about it. The funny thing is, I had no clue what she was talking about! No one had told me my picture had been in the paper. I called my dad to ask him about it and he said he opened the paper a few days ago, to a section he never even reads, and there was my picture staring up at him.

Now, my picture has graced the pages of the good ol' LDN on many occasions in my life. C.A.R. and DAR enjoy putting things in the paper, and pictures seem to get the most notice. However, this particular occasion caught me off guard because 1) I haven't done anything requiring recognition lately and 2) I am no longer a member of my Lufkin DAR Chapter, and being the only active person left with the C.A.R. Society, I would be the only person sending something to the paper.

At the beginning of September I attended the annual DAR Fall Forum here in Austin. It's something that I go to every year since it's 10 minutes from my house. This year I was on paging duty for Lynn, our State Regent, for whom I am a personal page. I was the only one out of the four of us going this year... so I got to do the honors. Well, Polly and another woman from Lufkin were at the meeting (I don't know the other woman because she became active in the Anthony Smith Chapter after I moved to Austin). They came up and chatted with me and then snapped a picture with me and Lynn, and I guess sent it to the Lufkin Daily News. And I probably wouldn't have ever known about it if my Aunt Joyce hadn't asked! My parents are HORRIBLE with telling me things, my dad hadn't even remembered to show my mom yet. The paper would have probably stayed in the truck for the next 2 years until one day I noticed it when moving it out of the way to make room to sit. No really, that's probably what would have happened. It made me laugh.

Candice and I gave Smokey a bath last night. She was NOT a fan. She's getting these weird patches in her hair where it's matted together... we figure it must be dander build-up. Her sister Giada has shorter hair and has not been prone to this problem. The bath didn't even help the situation, and we took the scissors to her hair to cut out the patches... so she's looking really pretty at the moment. I'm thinking we may need to get her shaved...

And in response to the Election, I really wish people would take a look at the Constitution so they could get a full understanding of what exactly the Separation of Powers entails. The President doesn't make policy, he makes policy SUGGESTIONS. And while I realize the Democrats now hold a stronger majority in Congress, they haven't been able to get any "change" accomplished while being the majority for the last two years (And don't blame Bush, at 10 vetos he has vetoed fewer bills than ANY other modern President), so I'm going to believe in "change" when I actually see it... the only actual change that comes with election to office is the name plate on the door. That being said, you will not find me making an empty threat to move to another country nor making any personal attacks against our President-elect. He deserves our respect because of his position, though it entertains me immensely that most people demanding we give him that respect have not been the most respectful to our current Commander-in-Chief.

Election Day '08

Don't worry, I'm not going to get political on you. I'm not going to talk about how this is an historical election day. As you can imagine, my life is plenty full of politics to begin without having to bring it here. I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, I'm not going to tell you who I voted for (because if you know me AT ALL, you don't even have to ask those questions). I do want to make a few observations, though.

It kind of irks me that people are talking about how monumental this election is. I realize that it has historical significance because it is the first time there has been minority candidates on both tickets (African-American male and a female). Here's why it irks me... EVERY election is important. EVERY election holds historical significance, rather it be good or bad, because with every election comes the responsibility to govern. We are going to have to live with the decisions we have made as Americans today for the next two to four years. We aren't just electing a President, we are electing Senators, Congressmen, State-wide officials, State Senators, State Representatives, County Commissioners, etc. So no matter how you choose to vote, I hope that you have each made a thoughtful decision on who you are choosing to put into power. I also hope that everyone realizes that one person can not be held responsible for everything that happens to us, and I hope there aren't unrealistic expectations as to what will happen once there is a change in power (no matter what change that is).

This is my first Election Day to not be in Lufkin. I have to tell you, it makes me a little sad. I missed voting at Fairview Baptist Church (even though our polling place changed during the last election cycle). I'm going to miss watching the election return results with my family. I'm sure there will be phone calls, but it just won't be the same. The first year I was old enough to vote was Election 2000. Jay and I stayed up well into the night waiting for the results... which of course ended up taking weeks. Jay drove home last night so he could vote. My mom had told me to call him and let him know she would pay for his gas if he came home to vote... he was already on his way. He was excited to hear about the gas money offer since he had already planned to hold his vote hostage for gas money anyways.

I've been spending my weekday mornings watching The West Wing on Bravo the last few weeks. I can't even tell you how happy I have been that they've been replaying the last two seasons. This morning they showed the Election Day episode where Santos is running against Vinick for President. I'm starting to think that I may need to get a life because it should be wrong how happy I get every time I see Josh and Donna finally get together. It made my morning.

And that is all I have to say about Election '08.