Thing 20

30 things, in 30 days, before my 30th birthday...

Thing 20: Run in a race - SUCCESS!!!


Sooo... this actually will kill two birds with one stone. I know I know it's a little like I'm double counting, but you try to think of 60 goals or things to do in one year... its a LITTLE tiring! If you all remember my blog about my new year's goals, you will remember that number 11 was do a charity run or walk.

So my friend Anna is able to participate for free by lottery in some running events, and she sometimes tells me which events she might sign up for, so one of them was happening this past Saturday in the west end. It was to support the organization SCAN which stands for Stop Child Abuse Now. The mission of this organization (as stated on their website) is "to prevent and treat child abuse and neglect throughout the Greater Richmond area by protecting children, promoting positive parenting, strengthening families and creating a community that values and cares for its children." 


Obviously this is a great organization to support, so I signed up for the 5K. I, like the procrastinator I am, did NOT train for this event. In fact, I have NOT run (really) since like 2008. So, the week before the race I am thinking... oh lord, this race is going to be awful! I have not done anything except sometimes walked outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. 


Well, 8AM on race day comes. We drive out to the west end, pick up our race shwag and get in line to start our run. It was a little chilly that morning, so we're all dressed in long sleeves and pants. We get ready to start and I tell Anna I want her to stay with me at least while I'm running, but when I have to stop that she can go ahead and come back for me after she finishes. So we start our run... I'm alright for a while... We run down the street, around the houses, down another street getting to the lake I'm starting to lose my breath, and about 2/3 of the way around the lake I'm like... ok I can't do this anymore. So I told her to go on... (I think we were like 1 mile in or so). So... she kept going and I gave myself a point where I would start running again. Soooo... I did... I ran (jogged really) all the way to the halfway point (which happened to also be the start because you had to run two times around.) then I walked through the water stop. Then I ran the whole second half of the course all the way around. I finished in 34:40, which is pretty darn good considering I didn't train and I haven't run since 2008. When I saw Anna again she told me we ran the first mile in 9 minutes... ummm I don't think I've EVER run a 9 minute mile, not even when I was in the best of shape, so that kind of makes sense why I was tired. 


Needless to say, it was a great run for a good charity and I'm glad I did it, even if I am a little sore and was terribly dehydrated for most of yesterday! Thanks Anna for being my cheerleader!

Just Anna, me and NUTZY our Flying Squirrels mascot before the race

Anna and me AFTER the race!

My reward to myself was a gooood brunch!

CJ and Mimosa

Anna and Mimosa

Thing 19

30 things, in 30 days, before my 30th birthday...

Thing 19: Sing karaoke - SUCCESS!!!

This is me singing "Defying Gravity", the Glee Version! :) Because WHO got GLEE KARAOKE for her birthday?!?! THIS GIRL!!! Thanks Laura! :)

Thing 18

30 things, in 30 days, before my 30th birthday...

Thing 18: See a movie at the Byrd - SUCCESS!!!

If you're not from Richmond, you probably don't know what the Byrd Theater is. Well, it's a really old landmark theater in Richmond and is now our $2 theater which shows movies that are out of the theater but before DVD. It's a great place to go see a movie, even though the seats are lumpy! Last night Kathryn, Laura and I saw Identity Thief at the Byrd. It was funny and cute. I would totally recommend you going to see it!

So True :)

Midwest-mania

Alright folks... we have DECIDED our route for the midwest trip and it is NEITHER of the ones I posted before, although it is closer to plan B. Nearly 2700 miles will be traveled and 11 states will be visited (Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois).

Soooo... why the change in heart? Welllll... Laura read this book called "Devil in the White City", which is actually a pretty cool book with a lot of history about the World's Fair in Chicago. The book pretty much made her want to visit Chicago! I can't say I'm complaining about that, because I get to see my friend COURTNEY, whom I haven't seen in a year and a half!

So there we have it, we added Chicago for sure and also St. Louis, so I'll get to check the "arches" off my list too! :)

PS We leave two weeks from TODAY!!!

Mmmmm.... Cleannn

Yesterday, when I got home, my house smelled SO CLEAN!!! That's because it was... for the past six months or so, I have been paying someone to come in and clean my house about once every three weeks. Some of you may think that I must just have a whole lot of extra cash flow to be able to afford a cleaning person. That's not true... what IS true, though, is the fact that I HATE CLEANING! I mean, I like things to BE clean, but I actually hate doing it. I always get started on cleaning and then a couple hours later am exhausted from doing it... So, I finally just made the decision to treat myself to a cleaning lady. 

And let me tell you... MONEY WELL SPENT! :)

So, thank you Barbara for coming in, hanging with Millie, and cleaning my house! :)

Thing 17

30 things, in 30 days, before my 30th birthday...

Thing 17: Eat a Bunny??? - SUCCESS!!!

Don't worry... it wasn't a REAL bunny! Kristi made a bunny cake for easter! :)

Bunny Cake (Sans coconut, THANKS KRISTI!!!)

Easter bunny left droppings at my house!

1/4 of the way through 2013!

April 1st! Can you believe it??? Try not to get fooled by someone today! Soooo... for those of you who don't remember I gave myself a list of 30 goals to complete before the year. You can read that blog here if you want. But see below to see how we're doing here!

Honestly, I think April is going to be a pretty pivotal month on completing items on this list, but we shall see at the end of the month!

1. Start a blog (check) AND write a post at least once per month (January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December)

2. Visit three or more new places

3. Lose at least 15 pounds (I would love to lose 30, but I want to make a realistic goal) (still 9 lbs down since January... I guess I'm a little over halfway there!)

4. Get back in shape or at least become more active by doing some form of exercise frequently - I have gone on a few walks here

5. Be specific about doing something kind for someone at least once per month 

• January  - I brought my older neighbor's recycling bin out to the curb for her 
• February - I sent a card/gift card to a family who is going through a rough time and needed some encouragement
• March - Went with my friend to go hang out with her mom, and brought dessert!
• April 
• May 
• June 
• July
• August
• September 
• October
• November 
• December

6. Try six new recipes (Who saw the blog posts about Chicken Delicious, Turkey Breast & Turkey Tetrazzini?, Creamy Italian Chicken - Thing 5, 4 down, 2 to go!)

7. Make a new friend

8. Watch the sun rise

9. Enjoy a sunset

10. Swim in the ocean

11. Do a charity run or walk

12. Raise money for a charity (Can be combined with number 11)

13. Donate to a new charity - I did actually donate to the organization for Sharon to go help orphans in China

14. Get a facial

15. Take a dancing lesson of some sort (salsa, country line, etc.)

16. Go to more than two Flying Squirrels games

17. Go to at LEAST one Hokie football game

18. Participate in a murder mystery dinner - Murder at the Juice Joint was AWESOME!

19. Try to re-finance my house for lower interest and a conventional loan (so I can get rid of that darn PMI. And obviously this goal is only going to be applicable if the rates stay where they are) -I don't think this is actually going to happen this year, so I'm going to update my goal here soon enough

20. Pay off my car?!?! Or at least come close (Used some of my tax refund to pay down the car, it will definitely be paid off before the end of the year!)

21. Ride my bicycle more than once

22. Read a non-fiction book (I know this might not be a big deal, but I 100% stick to fiction books)I read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand I would SERIOUSLY suggest it!

23. Build something

24. Go through my house and get rid of things/clothes/etc that I haven't used in the last year (This is partially complete. I went through my closets and got rid of 6 paper grocery bags full of clothes & shoes. I still have more things to get rid of but that is definitely a start!)

25. Organize my basement (especially the workroom)

26. Hang the rest of the pictures, art, and shelves that I haven't hung

27. FINISH UNPACKING from when I moved (yup, that's right folks, there are still boxes in my attic)

28. Volunteer for something I helped with Laura's Church (West End Pres) at their annual Stop Hunger Now event and we packaged 80,000 meals for kids in Haiti

29. Spend some serious time in my backyard weeding, killing weeds, and planting pretty things that don't take much effort to keep up

30. Have the BEST 30th Birthday party EVER!!! :) (Especially since Laura is planning it!)