Cruise News

Hey, remember that time I said I was going on a cruise? Like over a month ago? Yeah, well that happened. And it came and went and we're back alive. No crazy norovirus, no loss of power, no toilets backing up. Basically, it was a normal and enjoyable cruise. Five days was the perfect amount of time to be away. It was enough time to relax, read a book or two, get a short-lived tan, and then want to return to your normal routine at home.

We went on an older ship, the Carnival Fascination. But it was still really nice and it lives in Jacksonville, which was such an easy drive to make. I had no idea how close the port was. If you live in Charleston, you could decide you want to cruise on the Fascination one day and then be at the port that afternoon. Hey...anyone wanna go? Anyone?

We had two days at sea bookending two days in port. The morning of our first sea day was a little disappointing, weather wise. It rained from about 10am-noon, so we wandered the ship and played trivia. The Jones family is a hardcore trivia team. We don't play around. We take trivia very seriously and always, always walk away with at least one gold ship on a stick to prove our vast knowledge. This time, we won in "general" trivia, which means we are geniuses in a myriad of areas, including but not limited to geography, history, sports, pop culture, bad 80s music, and Disney princesses.

In Nassau, we spent the day in Atlantis. This was probably my favorite part of the trip. I knew Atlantis was going to be enormous and beautiful and fun, but it was all those things to the tenth power. Every surface was sparkling and fancy. There was a gorgeous casino and luxury shops on the main floor of the resort. Based on how gorgeous the lobby was, I can't even imagine what the rooms are like. I would have loved to get a tour of some of the suites. I did find some photos online of the grand luxury suites and they are unbelievable... and of course cost a few mortgage payments. I know that because the prices aren't listed online, which can only be bad. We spent about an hour exploring the aquarium which ran along the bottom of the hotel's lobby. There were some huge Groupers, like the size of mini horses and yellow mini sea horses the size of the banana runt. You know the candy, runts...? That's what the sea horses looked like. Atlantis is home to an unreal number of pools and water slides and we took advantage of the coolest looking slides that day. There was one that went straight down into the fiery depths of hell, I mean into a shark tank, really into a shark tank. It was called the Leap of Faith, and I'd say the name fits. The drop is terrifying and really does feel like its a 90 degree angle. You fall so fast that your back kind of comes up off the back of the slide. You fall for a second or two in an open air slide and then you get shot into a closed clear tunnel that's in the middle of a shark tank. It all happens so fast, but you can kind of see the sharks swimming around you as you zip past. And even if you can't see them, you know they're there... which might even be scarier. But really, it was awesome. My dad and I went on it three times and laughed our asses watching each other get shot out of the tunnel at the end. Good times.  Just take a gander at this video and you'll get an idea of how awesome the water park is.

At Half Moon Cay, Carnival's private island, we did nothing. We laid in the sun and did nothing. And it was wonderful. 

Oh yeah, I did swim once, just to say I went in the clear Bahamian waters and had silver fish darting around my knees.

The last day was another sea day, so we spent it outside enjoying the sun, catching comedy and karaoke shows, and kicking ass in trivia.

On the drive home the next day, we spent two out of the three hours planning our next cruise, because that's just what we do. 

Here's the playlist of answers from the 90s music trivia game we played...and lost. You were given a snip-it of the song and then asked to identify it. It's a good list. The 90s had awesome music. There were some more songs too, but like I said, we lost.

1. I Want It That Way- BSB

2. Crossroads- Bone Thugs n Harmony

3. Hit Me Baby One More Time- Britney Spears

4. Fantasy- Mariah Carey

5. Gangsta's Paradise- 

6. Say My Name- Destiny's Child

7. Never Gonna Get It-

8. Killing Me Softly- Lauren Hill

9. Iris- Goo Goo Dolls

10. MmmBop- Hanson

11. Butterfly- Crazy Town

12. Return of the Mack-Mark Morrison
13. Bitch- Alanis Morissette


Here's some more photos. Thanks, Gart.

Yeah...this.

the leap of faith

models

good looking parents

cuties...and amazing dancers

aquarium 

ancient diving suit...cool right?

Preston, killing it.

P and me in front of some crazy sculpture in the Atlantis lobby 

Fascination from the shore 

towel dog holding a butter (chocolate)

Let's go Rays! 

groupers the size of a Toyota Prius

more fish

jellies

Nemo

another of P with the diving suit

moray eel

ancient diving pod. neato.

Half-Moon Cay

towel frog

creepy towel bunny

food and drinks ready to be packed aboard for the next cruise

Being a phenomenal indoor soccer player and an expert trail runner is so tough, I need a vacation.

This month has been a blur. Being a shorter month, February always comes and goes way too quickly. That being said, I feel like a bunch of things have happened these past 3 weeks. Let's recap.

I started playing arena soccer with my best friend from middle and high school. She and I played soccer together from the ages of about 10-18. Then we went to separate colleges and stopped playing for awhile. There was a summer during college where we played full field coed soccer. It was fun but once I got obsessed with running and krav, I just couldn't make the time for it each year. Until this winter when Eliza told me to join her weekly "indoor" soccer team. The games are outside but in an uncovered arena. You play off the walls and it's really face paced. Using the walls is exciting, because you can get awesome rebounds and goals by intentionally passing to another player off the walls near the goal. But you can also get duped on defense by players who wall pass to themselves and get around you. I am pretty familiar with this second example. 90% of the time, I'm the one getting duped. We aren't the best team out there but we aren't the worst either. I think we've won about half of them so far, but the weather has forced us to cancel some too. Ain't nobody got time to play in 30 degree downpours. #nothankyoupneumonia #gohome Anyway, it's been really fun spending time back on the "field" and catching up and reminiscing about soccer days with an old friend. (Our team name is the Pattaters in case you want to be a fan an follow the standings.)

Me attempting a wall pass.

I recently signed up for the Palmetto 200, which is a 200 mile team relay race from Columbia to Charleston. I'm on a team of 12 and we each run 3 legs, all with a few hours in between each leg. So there is only 1 person running from each team at a time. The race starts Friday morning and ends Saturday afternoon. That being said, there will be some runners who get night runs. Exciting! (Read as terrifying!) We meet soon to assign our legs. Speaking of legs, the way they broke out the legs is illogical. You would think they would divide 200 miles by 12 and get 16.67 miles for each runner. Right? Makes sense to me. But based on the "worksheet" I got via email, it's like leg distances were created arbitrarily. Some runners are running 12 miles total, while others are running 24. Say whaaat?!? If I get assigned to 20+ miles, I will kill my friend who pressured me into this. Anyway, I'll keep you posted mom and dad.

Krav life has been good. I'll start teaching my own Wednesday night class at 7:30 in March. It's going to be basic krav skills from level 1 and level 2 with a bunch of cardio throughout, because Lord knows I love cardio. Doesn't everyone? I am hoping to have a good steady following of students. I've had several women come up to me and tell me how excited they are to have a female instructor and to see a female that knows how to defend herself and fight if she needs to. I'm hoping to inspire more people to become more confident in self-defense techniques and also more prepared mentally and physically to do whatever it takes to get home safely.

On to more fun things...my family is going on a cruise this weekend. It's a five dayer out of Jacksonville. We have two days at sea, a day at Nassau, and a day at Half Moon Cay private beach. It should be nice little getaway and an escape from this awful and wet 30 degree weather we've had here. Counting down the hours to sunshine, cocktails, and a midnight chocolate buffet...less than 24 hours. BOOM. Can't wait.

cruisin'

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit

"My two daughters are in the habit of saying 'Rabbits!' on the first day of each month. The word must be spoken aloud, and be the first word said in the month. It brings luck for that month. Other children, I find, use the same formula." -- Notes and Queries, 1909

"Why," the man in the brown hat laughed at him, "I thought everybody knew 'Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit.' If you say 'Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit'—three times, just like that—first thing in the morning on the first of the month, even before you say your prayers, you'll get a present before the end of the month." -- Robert Lynd, Solomon in All his Glory, 1922

Yesterday was the first day of February, hence the title and allusions to start the post. The tradition of saying RRR has always been a thing in my family since I was little. My mom would remind my brother and me before going to bed that we had to say "rabbit rabbit rabbit" first thing when we woke up the next morning or we'd have bad luck all month. And even to this day, at the ages of 26 and 29, we will get a text message from her with the reminder, sometimes it's simply the three rabbit emojis. My mom is becoming quite the savvy tech and social media guru. :|

This past weekend was  Super Bowl XLIX, which means Super Bowl 49 for all you normal people. My parents came over to watch the game, but my bro and I had been sick for the last few days and he fell asleep at like 8:30. So our Super Bowl "party" was more of a boring coughing/dozing get together. And I was the only one rooting for Seattle. #cheatershouldntwin #ughwhy'dtheywin? 

Even if he lost, he'd still be winning. LOOK at that family. 

Monday was Groundhog's Day, and Punxsatawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. Womp Womp. But from my research, I've learned that Phil is pretty much an idiot. His accuracy rating is a  39%. He's made 119 predictions (even though groundhogs only live about 6 years). Because Phil is failing predictions class, I'm not banking on this cold continuing. But during my research to prove that Phil is a furry fat dolt, I came across the history of Groundhog Day, as well as several sites in honor of the Bill Murray movie. I actually think I had to scroll through an entire page of Google search results to find the holiday. Anyway, the Groundhog Day celebration is rooted in a Celtic tradition that says if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on February 2, the Pagan holiday of Imbolc, winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow was seen, legend says spring would come early. So now I wonder, why a groundhog? I suggest we choose a smarter hibernating animal or reverse the rule. 

Punxsatawney Phil pondering seasonal change.

Well, welcome to February. Let's hope spring gets here soon!

I cant even.

Now that we are well into 2015, I think it's appropriate that I write a bit. Let's talk about my goals and what I hope 2015 brings.

This year, I want a sub 25 minute 5k. That's an 8.02 mile. Sounds easy enough on paper. I am currently running about an 8:20 pace and can keep that for the duration of 3.1 miles, but I'm not as consistent as I'd like to be. I like to run almost every day, so I might hit this goal once or twice a week, but not on all 6 of my weekly runs. That's something I want to work on. So beginning of the year is time trials and end of the year I will be back focusing on half marathon pacing. (Hey! Remember that time I ran a half in December and it was one of the worst runs of my life because of some weird back pain...? Yeah, well it didn't go away. I had to go to the doctor twice for it this past month. And I found out it might have been a kidney stone. It also could have been severely strained back muscles, but whatever it was,  professional advice had to be sought. Anyway it's gone now and my speed is back (on most days). My next "big" race is the Cooper River Bridge Run on March 28 and I'm looking forward to it.

This year, I want to blog more. Haha...considering we are 4 weeks into 2015 and this is my first blog post, I might as well just write a big, fat F on my forehead. FAIL. But really, I just want to write more. Whether it's blogging or writing poetry or just nonsensical creative ramblings in my journal, I want that. I want to become a better writer this year, get more experience, learn from all the crazy creative people I work with, and produce more quality work.

This year, I want to read more. I joined a fantastic book club last year and it's been amazing. It's really kept me focused on making time to read. For me, reading is another way of getting away from the crazy (or boring) world we find ourselves trapped in on a daily basis. It's like running in a way. And I know that with more reading comes more inspired writing and hopefully better writing, so I'm excited for that evolution too.

This year, I want to travel. I've been debating bringing up the idea of moving to one of my company's other offices to my boss. We've got an office in Austin and one in San Diego, but more on that whole traveling thing later.

This year (in the next month or so really) I want to have my own Krav class. I have been assistant teaching since November and I love it. It's great to have a mat full of people working towards their fitness and self-defense goals. These people could be doing anything else they want with that hour of their day. But they chose to be there, getting stronger and learning how to protect themselves and their loved ones, with me as their instructor. I am always in awe of that and what I see my students do every day. It's awesome stuff.

This year, I want need to save money. I want to travel, and replace my car, Monty, soon and not having money makes these two things pretty difficult to accomplish. My brother and I have said that we are going to do the 52 week dollar challenge this year. Basically, at the end of the first week of 2015, you put a dollar away. At the end of the second week, you put two dollars away. And this process continues until the end of the year, so at the last week you put away 52 dollars. If you stick with the challenge, you should have something like $1326 at the end of the year. Not too shabby.

So those are just a few things I want this year. I'll keep you posted...more often. Promise.

What I've read in the past few months-

The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd  (Worth it.)
Defending Jacob, William Landay  (Meh.)
The Divorce Papers, Susan Rieger   (Zzzzz...)
The 13th Gift, Joanne Husist Smith  (An acceptable way to waste an afternoon.)
Wild, Cheryl Strayed  (Good. Bawled like a baby a few times. Just like the movie.)

I'm currently reading Paper Towns by John Green. (Started off fast paced and exciting, now it's just dumb.)

Wait, it's the end of the year?

I've got a few things to write about since I last blogged...

But first of all I can't believe its the end of the year. I honestly feel like it was just spring. Where did the year go? Talk about a Time Warp.

Half-Marathon:
Well, don't want to talk about it. But I died around mile 8 when my lower back started cramping. It really affected my form, crippled it really. My mom said when I crossed the finish I was so hunched over she knew something was wrong. My right lower back felt so tight and knotted for the last five miles and it forced me to run like a fool, bent over and hobbling. Not cute and definitely not fast.

Needless to say, I was super disappointed. I knew I had the cardiovascular endurance and I had trained way more for this half than I had for my other. I had logged 7-9 miles for several weeks leading up and ran 10 miles the week of the half with a great pace to finish 13.1 around 2 hours. But the back pain was something I'd never felt before while running. And I couldn't change my gait to abate it. So anyway, my time sucked, but I finished. And as soon as I got home I signed up for next year's race--for HALF the price I paid for this year. HUZZAH.

Should I do another half?

Moving on...Christmas:
I have several days off from work since Blackbaud is wonderfully generous and gives you a crazy amount of paid time off the day you start. Seriously, Thanksgiving came around and I had something like 17 days left to use. So I took off work from December 24-January 2. It's been great to get some errands done, run on my own time, decorate for Christmas, clean out my closet, figure out my NYE outfit, and try to rest and recover a bit.

OK. So, Christmas came and went. I can't believe it. I gave my brother a painting I did of Brinkley for one of his Christmas presents. He was so surprised and he loved it. I painted it with a bunch of friends at Paint Your Pet Night at Wine and Design. It was a lot of fun and everyone's painting turned out great. Preston already put it up in the living room. Haha.

Brinkles just hangin' out.

I got a ton of great things for Christmas. A lot of surprises and practical things. Preston got me a book called "712 Things to Write About". It's a workbook of 712 writing prompts. Some of the prompts include "Tell the story of one of your scars;" and "This is the last chance to tell someone what you really think..."; and "What is lint, really?".  I love it and I can't wait to get into the zone and start writing.

Just plain cool.

For Christmas dinner, I made this cheesecake (minus the lemon blueberry topping because that's NOT Christimas) and roasted butternut squash. The cheesecake tasted great but I absolutely refuse to ever make a cheesecake again. Water baths are THE WORST. I had to redo it five times and it still failed. It's impossible to keep the water from seeping into the crust. Impossible, I tell you. I killed it with the butternut squash though. I'll make that for you anytime.

Other News (Massages):
My daily runs since the half have been mediocre at best. I've been struggling. It's so odd. Before the half I was crushing 7, 8 miles regularly at a pretty good clip and here I was dying around mile 2. I thought a massage might help. I needed my muscles manually rung out. They weren't tight or sore, just weak and heavy. They were fatiguing so much quicker than normal. So one of my days off I went to Urban Nirvana (Heaven). About ten minutes into the massage, the therapist said my quads were solid and full of lactic acid. She said "Do your legs feel heavy, like you're having a hard time gaining your strength back?" Ummm... "YES."Apparently, the lactic acid build-up in my legs was pretty extreme and my magical mind-reading massage therapist could feel it "crunch" in her hands. She said the massage would help pull out the lactic acid and re-oxidize the muscle fibers that were clumping together. She also suggested a salt bath afterwards to reduce inflammation and continue to extract the built-up toxins. She was right. After those things, I felt like a champ. Almost instantly, my legs felt lighter. For two weeks straight I felt like I had 20 pound ankle weights strapped to my feet. Just walking up the stairs (not to mention my daily runs) was tough. So I was exicited to finally feel more like my old self. Now I know what to do in the future.

Current Happenings:
Today is New Year's Eve and I can't wait for my two best friends to get into town so we can all celebrate. A big group of us are going to The Alley for it's huge NYE party. Look out for a post in 2015 to re-cap the party. Could be a couple days or so...depending on the number of vodka waters consumed.

Here are some random fun photos...

Dad and me before our run on Christmas morning.

My dad's attempt at photographer. 

My mom's attempt at photographer. First try. 

What NOT to Agree to Do the Night Before Your Half Marathon...

Tonight I'm going to a Christmas party with a bunch of girls from the gym. I always have a great time with them, and when we aren't working out or punching the snot out of each other in class, we are usually enjoying the finer things in life including (but not limited to) delicious food, dancing in crowded clubs, strong cocktails, watching Dating Naked (a highly-recommended, thought-provoking and award-winning show) unhealthy brunch items like syrupy pancakes and refreshing mimosas, lots of chocolate, bottles of wine... I'll stop there. But tonight, surrounded by lots of those things, I will unfortunately have to restrain myself, because TOMORROW I'm running (crawling) in the Kiawah Half.

Let me just say, it's a terrible idea to agree to go to a Christmas party the night before you plan on running 13.1 miles in 30 degree weather. AND it's definitely not such a great idea to go when the party is a cookie swap. Great. I'm just going to come home from the party with 60 yummy homemade cookies and NOT eat them in one sitting. Right. This will go over well.

Anyway, because I'm such a Grinch good sport and rarely always in the holiday spirit I said, "Of course, I'll go! What can I bring?"

So, I just finished making my grandmother's pecan sands. They are so good and stupid easy to make.

1 cup butter, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 2 cups AP flour, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup chopped pecans. Get all that stuff acquainted with each other in a big ass bowl. Make sure every one is getting along and mixing well. We don't want the cool, popular kids (the butter and sugar, obviously) ignoring the nuts (really?). Next, roll those puppies into little balls. Bake at 325 for about 25 minutes. Cook them any longer and they will burn. I mean, I'm guessing they will burn. It's not like I burned a whole batch or anything. :|  Once they are out of the oven, fill a different, clean big ass bowl (come on, we aren't animals here) with powdered sugar and roll the cookies in it. Take them out, let them cool, and roll them again. Say what!?!? Yes, roll them in powdered sugar again.

So simple. My grandmother wrote on the recipe card, "Good for Christmas." But let's be real, they are good anytime. Now they are just sitting on my counter, whispering sweet nothings across the kitchen. Rude.

Look at 'em being all sweet and sugary, all snuggled up together.

Get a room already, cookies. I can't look at you.

We are also doing a white elephant gift swap tonight where you bring a gift from home to swap with someone. I saw this part on the invitation and read it as "Clean out your closet and bring all the stuff you don't wear." I hope everyone likes scarves and granny sweaters.

I took the day off from work today to try to relax (a.k.a. clean house, walk dog, bake cookies, scrounge closet for gift, make appetizer) before the race. I am excited to see all the girls tonight at the party, but I wish I could enjoy myself with a drink or two and not have to dip out early for my old lady bedtime. I am also pretty anxious about tomorrow. I just want to have a good run. Luckily, my feet have been fine the past few weeks. After my longer 7-10 mile runs, the once-injured tendons feel tired but not really in pain. I haven't had that sharp, debilitating foot pain in a long time. Let's hope it stays that way. Based on my recent training runs, I won't get anywhere close to my last half's time in February, but like my friend at the gym said maybe I'll surprise myself. That would be nice.

Stay posted (mom and dad and maybe one other creepy reader) for a post-race post. :)

Sunday Morning Rain is Falling

Woah... It's been a hot second (eight weeks) since I blogged. Sad times. It's pouring outside right now, so it's the perfect time to grab a blanket, sit back on the sofa with my pup, pop on the Food Network, and write a little.

Brinkles hangin' out on the sofa

Anyway, this Thursday is Thankgiving. My dad likes to call the holiday Thankgiving after one of my less than proud childhood moments. When I was younger I made hand-drawn turkey place mats for my family to use on Thanksgiving. I spent hours on this project, sitting Native American style (gotta be PC for Thanksgiving week), hunched over the coffee, my 120 pack of Crayola crayons strewn across the carpet. On a regular piece of white paper, I drew a turkey with multicolored tail feathers, a radiant snood and wattle (real parts of the turkey anatomy, look it up, you're welcome). I wrote the words "Happy Thanksgiving" in big letters across the top of the placemat. This thing was elaborate and I knew my craft project was bound to steal the spotlight at the meal. But when I presented my amazing hard work to my parents, they were quick to point out (nicely, I'm sure) that I had left out the "s" in Thanksgiving. FAIL. My dad still has the placemat in a drawer and takes it out every year. (Thanks, Dad.)

With Thanksgiving only four days away (say whaaat?), I've got to get my crap together and plan what I'm responsible for making and bringing to my aunt's house. One of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving day meal is all the delicious vegetable side dishes. My mom tasks me with making one side dish and one dessert each year. I get excited just thinking about all the different side options. It's a little overwhelming actually. There's honey glazed carrots, green beans with almonds and parmesan, roasted butternut squash, and let's not forget the new, popular kid in school- kale. But my favorite thing is simple, easy to make, and makes everyone happy-roasted brussel sprouts. They remind me of teeny, enfant cabbages and they are delicious just roasted in the oven. Here's the stupidly easy recipe that I'm using from Ina Garten. She's annoying as all get out, but she knows her shit.

little enfant cabbages

Alright, let's get down to business, dessert business. Anyone that says Thanksgiving is about the turkey is wrong. Don't trust those people. Thanksgiving is about the dessert. Dessert is the best and most important part of any meal. I will never, EVER turn down a fruit cobbler/crisp/pie. This year, I wanted to make an apple pie but I've always thought apple pie could be better, like something is missing. And it's NOT the ice cream. I don't forget that. I always feel like apple pie would be better with some type of crispy crumble topping. Why can't we have both? Like an apple pie and an apple cobbler got together and created a baby that was the perfect blend of their best parts. Introducing the apple crisp pie. BOOM. This is happening Thursday. I'll keep you posted.

the real deal

Writing about all that food has left me feeling pressured to write about what I'm doing to counteract those holiday calories. So...did a nine mile run yesterday. Super slow, but whatever. I've been recovering (again) from peroneal pain in both feet. It's beyond frustrating. I'm adjusted my running schedule to four weekly longer runs with a day to rest in between each one. I absolutely dread taking days off, but my feet seem to be telling me that I need the rest and recovery time. Ugh. #runningproblems

Four days until Thanksgiving means means four days until my favorite run of the year, the Turkey Day Run and Gobble Wobble 5k. My family does several races each year but this one is by far my favorite. I love it because it's on Thanksgiving morning, and it's great to see all these people and families up early and outside braving the cold, instead of sleeping in or worse- stressing about how they need to get home and put the turkey in the oven, or prep vegetables, or clean the house before company arrives for the big meal. People simply thankful for the day, that's what I like to see. And even though, it's a shorter run, when you're done it's still Thanksgiving and you can relax, knowing you've done something good for yourself.

new turkey day sweatshirt I'm debating on buying

It's the time of year to give back, right? If you run, walk, or bike check out these ways that you can give back without any more effort than you normally do. For every mile you run (or walk or bike) and track, you earn a certain amount of money towards a charity. You can even choose the organization your money goes to at Charity Miles. It's a pretty cool idea and a great way to help out others in need. All you gotta do is do you.

Well that's it. Enjoy your holiday and remember it's ALL about the dessert. Happy Thankgiving!