Item Number 4? Double Check.

S0. When I turned 25, I made this list.

One of the things on it, number four, was to run a 10k (that's 6.2 miles).
I'd recently kind of sort of started thinking about running again (I started running for the first time when I was nine, and then I stopped by mid-high school), and that seemed like a lofty but achievable goal.


{We didn't exactly remember to take pictures. So roomie Emma and I did a reenactment in our living room. It went down just like this, promise.}

This past weekend, I finished a half marathon. That's 13.1 miles, or more than twice my goal. Once I started really running last fall, I just kind of realized I liked it, so I kept going. Suddenly, a half marathon made sense. I signed up for one in February, but then I got horribly sick the weekend of the race, and it snowed, so instead, I raced yesterday, in New Bedford. The weather was perfect- it was sunny and not too windy, and I kept a pretty steady pace right through to the end, where they gave me orange slices and a medal.



You guys, it was amazing. It was so much fun, and the weather was nice, and we got to run along the ocean, and I pushed my body to go faster than I thought I could, and it was just awesome. Now, I think everyone should do a race like that.

Really, though, I only did it because seven months ago I told the internet that I wanted to do a whole bunch of things. I'll do a recap closer to my birthday, but now, I think everyone should make a list like that, too.

p.s. Thanks to Christine for being my super awesome race buddy and Nicole who doesn't read the blog for SCREAMING for me at the finish line. That was so super motivating.

Happy Monday!

I've got big plans for this week:

I'm going to get my learner's permit*, I think.

I need to try to do a least a teeny tiny bit of Christmas shopping, so my friends and family receive thoughtful presents, not the usual last minute junk I pay too much money for and they don't like.

I'm moving next week, so this week I need to start packing and pick out a paint color for my new room. Any suggestions? It gets lots of light in the morning.

How about you? Anything exciting this week?

*No, I don't have a driver's license. I keep meaning to get one, and one summer a couple of years ago, I even took driver's ed, but the actually taking the test has always evaded me. This time, I will do it. I swear.

Honest Scrap

Last week, Anna tagged me as an Honest Scrap!

Thanks, Anna! (You should all read her blog- it's so cute, and makes me think that maybe grad school isn't so scary, after all.)

Anyway, Honest Scraps tell you ten honest things about themselves. I talk about myself so much already, I tend to avoid these things, but I love Anna's blog and I was touched that she tagged me (nobody had ever been tagged me before, then she and Rhianne went and did it within 24 hours of each other!), so here goes:

1. I am a crier. I cry when I'm sad, but mostly, I cry when I'm angry. Whenever I argue with someone, before I can get my point across, I usually burst into tears. The loud, dramatic, ugly kind. I'm not sure why, but I think it has something to do with the fact that. . .

2. I'm not very articulate. It takes me forever to get to the point, and I usually don't realize exactly what I'm trying to say until a couple sentences in. When I write, I can fix it with editing, but when I talk, it's just awkward.

3. I can be really shy. I have a loud voice and I shout a lot, so people don't believe me, but I developed those habits in part to cover up the fact that I just didn't know what to say or how to talk to new people. It's gotten lots better as I've gotten older, but it still comes out every now and then.

4. I secretly worry that I'm really, really stupid.

5. I am one of the more melodramatic individuals you'll meet. I feel all my feelings in a big way. Sometimes, I feel bad about it. Sometimes, I like that about myself.

I know that's only five, but it's late and I need to get to bed. I'm not going to tag anybody (I'm shy about stuff like that), but please, do play along. It's fun to be an honest scrap!

Here's to Happiness

Inspired by the Here's to Happiness Project, I've made my own happy list. Here goes:

Ten things that make me Terribly Happy

1. Friends who know you so well they can guess exactly what you're going to say before you say it.

2. When Pandora guesses the song you needed to hear right when you needed to hear it.

3. Rituals and Traditions (especially my new favorite, Two Oceans in 12 Hours)

{Pacific Ocean, Ocean Beach, San Francisco, August 15th, 2009. two-thirty p.m. pst.}

{Atlantic Ocean, Revere Beach, Revere, MA August 16th, 2009 five-thirty a.m. est.}

4. Peach Pie at midnight.

5. Having two chapters left in a really good book.

6. Sitting in a cafe, drinking a latte, writing in my journal and watching the people go by.

7. Church on a Sunday morning.

8. Going to the farmer's market, talking to the farmer and finding the most delicious produce.

9. Fresh flowers on my windowsill.

10. Sleeping under tons of covers with the windows open all the way (really, there is nothing cozier).

What makes you terribly happy?

If my life were interesting, I'd post more

Here is a list of the things I have done since I last posted:
-applied for the late election of a minor.
-talked to the people in charge of p.e. credit about why they suck.
-done a trivial amount of homework.
-spent a day in second grade for my student teaching job.
-stressed about life after college without actually doing anything about it.

Don't you wish you were me?

Important, Yet Dangerous, Discoveries

I have made two important, yet dangerous, discoveries recently:
1. They sell baggies of chocolate-covered espresso beans at Novack, the snack bar in the library.
2. You can use the built-in webcam on MacBooks to RECORD VIDEOS on people's facebook walls.

In other news, I just realized that I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. Enlighten me, oh internet- what should I do with my life?

Things I was thinking about during my Abnormal Psych midterm today

My red fingernails.
My CVS shopping list.
The song that Alpha Xi sings at round 1 of rush, to the tune of Build Me Up Buttercup.
What I would eat for lunch before going to CVS.
Occasionally, Abnormal Psychology.