Running Total Week 4

Once again I only went out twice this week to run, and neither of them were with my regular running buddies or my usual routes. I had the awesome chance to run with my other running bestie, Megan. She's 4259 in the picture below. Since her role at BFA has changed, I see her much less often and finding time for our schedules to intersect is very difficult. This week was the first time we'd run together since September and as we set out for our first run together on Monday afternoon, it felt just like old times.

A miscommunication between us resulted in us running 13 kilometers that day! It actually felt pretty great, but I was WIPED.OUT afterwards, more exhausted than I usually am for a long run. I went to a dinner party at some friends' house, itching to replenish all the calories I'd burned that day with a delicious meal and celebrating my loss of 3.6 pounds that week. While filling my plate generously with fixings for taco salad I was suddenly overcome with a horrible feeling and knew immediately that I would not be cleaning my plate that night. Not wanting to draw attention to myself I asked my host and hostess if there was a place I could lie down for a few minutes, out of sight from the other guests. They graciously and discreetly ushered me upstairs to their guest room, gave me a glass of water, and told me I could stay as long as I needed. I curled up under the huge duvet feeling beyond miserable and wondered if I was finally coming down with the flu that had been going around...and woke up two and a half hours later to find that I'd completely slept through dinner. I was mortified, but again my hosts were so gracious and understanding, and obviously my body needed to recover (it ended up not being the flu, just exhaustion) so I'm thankful that they were so understanding and hospitable.

My second run that week wasn't nearly as exciting. Sadly my routine was interrupted a lot this week as I was away at a conference from Thursday morning to Sunday night and was completely overwhelmed preparing to leave beforehand. I'm looking forward to getting back into my regular routine this week, as my first race of the season, the Rock'n'Roll 10-miler in Nice, France, is two weeks away! I can't wait!!

WEEK 4
Monday: 13 km
Wednesday: 5 km

2014 Running Total, Week 4: 68.9 km

KBL Weigh-in: +2 pounds (which I don't understand at all, because I worked out extra hard while I was away on my conference and was super careful about what I ate. Needless to say I'm not happy.)

 

Project November Day 15

Day 15: Five weird things you like

The smell of crayons. It brings back memories of visiting my Grandma Forrider's house and cracking open her huge Tupperware container full of Crayolas so that my cousins and I could color together.

Shopping alone. During my first year after college, I did a lot of solo shopping since I had moved away from all my friends and family. It sort of turned into a routine. Now I prefer it over shopping with a crowd!

Vegemite. I had the chance to try this craziness when I visited Australia in 2005. I wouldn't necessarily eat it every day, but I enjoyed it more than my WCC girls did!

Wearing glasses. I've had to wear some form of corrective lenses since I was about two years old. When I finally got contacts in 11th grade, I thought I had finally arrived. But hard lenses are a hassle, and lately wearing my cute brown and turquoise glasses has been way more convenient than dealing with painfully dry eyes and putting drops in between every class!

Oral hygiene. I am incredibly vain about my teeth. I never had cavities as a child, and after my parents put a ton of money into my orthodontist, I decided I wanted to keep these pearly whites, well, pearly. So I brush and floss rather obsessively. And I LOVE my dentist. I've gone to the same dentist for my entire life!

Project November Day 13

Day 13: Five words or phrases that make you laugh

Quimakinfuname! This one stems from a silly memory of my brother. We were goofing off one day and I had blurted out "Quit making fun of me!" but it came out as one big word. It's not quite enough to just say it though, it has to be said by my brother, and in a certain tone of voice.

Are those real? Another family memory, this one much more awkward. If you know me personally there's a good chance you've heard this story already. Let's just add to the awkwardness and admit that my grandma is responsible for this one.

Obviously. Whenever possible, my roommate and I respond to a statement by saying the word "obviously" using the Snape voice. See video below for reference.

Pivoooot! Just watch this clip.

Whaaaa? ... and any other phrase uttered by the Minions of Despicable Me.

Project November Day 10

Day 10: Five guys whom you find attractive

Ok, I have to admit this was a hard one. There are plenty of guys in my own life whom I find attractive for various reasons. Admitting it to them, however, is another story. In an attempt to avoid creating awkwardness for everyone, I'm going to limit this to people I will most likely NEVER meet in real life. Also, note that for each of these guys, physical attractiveness is a given...I'm trying to explain their other, more significant attractive qualities. Go ahead, judge me for writing a post about attractive guys. But before you do, hear me out.

Adam Young

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Based on his tweets and blog posts, he has a very quirky sense of humor that I enjoy greatly. Even though I've been listening to Owl City for years, I still catch something new each time I listen. His natural talent for writing such beautiful poetry is another quality, as well as his deep love for and dependence upon Jesus. I appreciate that he is able to communicate theological truths in a way that even nonbelievers enjoy hearing, and I love that one of his songs is almost always stuck in my head. They make me super happy. If I ever knew Adam Young in person, I think I would enjoy his company very much.

Zachary Levi

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He is one of my favorite TV actors (Chuck!) AND he has an amazing voice. Did you know he did his own vocals for the songs in Tangled? Swoon. Also, I tend to geek out over his nerdy tweets and Facebook posts referencing StarWars and other topics. Perhaps the icing on the cake is that he is a Christian, and openly so in the Hollywood setting. I remember how excited I was when I read this Relevant article and found out! My respect for him grew even more when I read this article, in which he shares a bit of his personal testimony. If Zachary Levi and I ever met, I think I would definitely like to be his friend.

Jordan Taylor

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He, along with his brother Josh and sister-in-law Kelli, is the face of Messy Mondays. Their videos use humor, hyperbole, and alter-egos to drive home a point. He addresses issues such as dating, church culture, and trending controversies.  Jordan's videos are the cheese to my macaroni Mondays. I think we would be great friends.

Ridiculously Photogenic Guy 

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In the middle of running a freaking marathon, he looks like THAT, while I, on the other hand, look like this ...

I think that says it all, folks.

Channing Tatum

That is all.

No seriously, I can't find a decent picture of him because recently he always seems to be half naked, and I'm not about to post that. But allow me to be a female for five seconds and admit that he is definitely attractive. Disclaimer: I prefer him pre-Magic Mike. I'm not thrilled about him becoming a sex object for middle-aged women ... or any women for that matter. Instead, I'd rather remember the uncorrupted version of Channing Tatum, as seen in Step Up, She's the Man, and GI Joe.

Project November Day 5

Day 5: Zombie Apocalypse Playlist

Put your music player of choice on shuffle and answer the questions.

Overall theme of the apocalypse: Wreck-It Ralph - soundtrack

What plays when you kill your first zombie: Softer to Me - Relient K

What plays when getting chased by the hoarde: Hakuna Matata - Disney's Greatest Hits

What plays when you have to kill a loved one: My Friends Over You - A New Found Glory

Song that plays when you find a group of survivors: Without You - Ben Rector

Song that plays when you meet the love interest: Old Fashioned Letters - Jason Reeves

Song that plays during the final stand: Dear Vienna - Owl City

Song that plays when you think you’ve survived it all: Be My Escape - Relient K

Song that plays when you discover a bite mark on yourself: I'm Taking You with Me - Relient K

Song that plays over the end credits: Never Gonna Let You Go - Ben Rector

Project November, Day 1

Clearly my lofty goals for this year's photography project have failed miserably, since my last post was five months ago. I originally started this second blog to be an outlet, a place where I could express myself creatively with topics or ideas completely unrelated to my service at BFA. So, for the month of November I'm tackling a 30-day writing challenge that I spotted on Pinterest. I can't find the original source, otherwise I would give credit to the person responsible for the list. Also, I'm not using every single prompt - some I am rewriting to be more pertinent to my own life. So without further ado, today's topic.

Day 1: Five ways to win your heart.

This is probably referring to a romantic heart winning, but I've included ways that women can win my heart in non-romantic ways, too.

1. Serenade me. It doesn't matter what instrument you play, or what song you sing. Music speaks to me. What can I say? I'm a sucker for guitars and pretty harmonies. Extra winning if you write a song just for me.

2. Speak my love language, which is words of affirmation. I'm ridiculously sentimental. This past summer I cleaned out boxes and boxes of stuff from my childhood and threw away over ten years' worth of notes, cards, and letters from friends that I had saved because I was too sappy to throw them away. Now that I'm a teacher, I'm amassing a collection of handwritten notes from my students and encouraging letters from their parents, because their words speak to my heart and affirm my decision to become a teacher.

3. Give me chocolate. Obviously. Even better if the chocolate includes coconut, mint, or peanut butter in some form.

4. Make me laugh, or let me be free to laugh at stupid/nerdy/quirky things without feeling like a loser. Sometimes it's like I never left middle school.

5. Love Jesus.

P52 / 19 / crazy

It's been awhile since I've had time to post on here - I am three weeks behind!! This was my week just prior to leaving for Lugano - CRAZY. Pics for this week are courtesy of a last minute spirit day. I dressed as Miss Frizzle.

P52 / 19 / crazy

P52 / 15 / break, part 2

As you might have guessed, the second week of spring break was also uneventful. For whatever reason, it involved a lot of scrambled eggs. Do you see the face?

P52 / 15 / break, part 2

P52 / 11 / green

This week I attended my very first St. Patrick's Day party. A couple from BFA hosted a green dinner, at which everything we consumed was green. The evening began with a walk around town where we found shamrocks with St. Patrick trivia written on them. Then, our meal was served in three courses:

• Course 1: Salad, cucumber dressing, broccoli, cucumbers. Pretty normal, until you add in the green cheese (Wasabi gouda! You have to see it to believe it.).
• Course 2: Here's where things start to get weird. Green noodles, Swedish meatballs in green sauce, and homemade sweet rolls with butter, both tinted the most magnificent shade of mint I have ever seen.
• Course 3: Green applesauce, green cottage cheese, and green lemon bars.

The beverage of choice was "pond water" - apfelschorle (bubbly apple juice) tinted green.

It was a fun evening spent with people I don't have the chance to spend nearly enough time with!

P52 / 11 / green

*TMI: I was concerned that there would be awkward ramifications of consuming so much food coloring, but today everything appears to be normal. Just thought you should know. :)



P52 / 10 / excitement

So, this post is almost a week late but that's what happens when life gets busy!

These shots are from our middle school activity day - we loaded the vans and headed off for a morning at the bowling alley. Watching these third culture kids attempt a rather American sport was fun to watch! And for whatever reason, I managed to score a 122 on my first game! Excitement abounded that day.

P52 / 10 / excitement

P52 / 08 / spirit

My friend Katrina hosted a Dominion tournament for her birthday, and when she first announced the party I followed her around announcing that it would also be a costume party. I started rumors on Facebook, telling everyone who RSVP'd to the event that they needed to wear a costume. She laughed, thinking I wasn't serious. I convinced a few others to go in costume with me - after raiding the drama closet we put together costumes representing various action cards: the Schmied (smith), the Dorf (a royal villager), the Jester, and the Hexe (witch). I also brought along Katrina's monk costume, which represented the Kappelle card (the chapel). The ones who didn't think to wear a costume jockingly mocked us, but we know that deep down, they were just jealous of our epic costumes.

I dressed up in costume to play a strategy card game tournament on a Saturday night.

I am officially a nerd.

P52 / 08 / spirit

P52 / 03 / random

This week's topic is Random. The collage I made sums up what was quite possibly the most random event of my week. Our staff office has two large windows that overlook a field and a small driveway. One afternoon I just happened to look up from my desk to see a group of students dressed in colorful wigs, capes, and oversized sunglasses running wildly towards Brandon, a teacher who was holding up a camera. The whole scene was quite entertaining but SO random. Turns out they were filming a commercial for an upcoming spirit day!

If I weren't relying solely on my webcam I would have much better pictures than this but a crappy picture is better than no picture at all, right?




P52 / 03 / random



#364: got milk??

Today is the last post for 2011 (even though it's being posted in 2012!). I've known for awhile now that my numbering is screwed up because obviously this post should be titled #365. I went though every post and couldn't find my mistake, so just go with me on this one.

We bought all this cereal in one shopping trip. Don't judge, it was on sale!! I might smuggle some of it back into Germany...

Happy New Year!

show&tell #364: got milk??

#363: sideliner

The position for which I am most qualified - the sidelines!

show&tell #363: sideliner

#360: happyccino

Had my first McDonald's peppermint mocha today. The cup was happy to see me. (I know, you probably can't see the face, but it's there!!)

show&tell #360: happyccino

#351: SADCC Day 18: the waterfall...sorta

I tried to do the waterfall today, but my scarf is too short to wrap around twice. So, this is the modified waterfall. I almost like this better than the actual waterfall.

Yes, it's snowing in my living room. Today we got snow in Kandern for the first time! It was during church and they opened the blinds so we could see it softly falling while we sang.

Also, by now you have noticed my epic hat. Today was my Elf Party, wherein we watched the movie and partook in the four main food groups of elves: candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup. Well, we didn't have syrup so it wasn't a balanced meal...

show&tell #351: SADCC Day 18: the waterfall...sorta

#345: SADCC Day 12: the twist & pull

This is my Vulcan pose. Life long and prosper. With scarves.

show&tell #345: SADCC Day 12: the twist & pull

#344: SADCC Day 11: the fake knot

Forgive the poor quality of today's pic - all my batteries are dead so I had to resort to using the webcam on my computer.

Also, I've graduated to Roman numerals because, well, I only have 10 fingers. Can you see the XI? It kiiinda looks like I'm flashing a gang sign but I promise I'm not. Word.

show&tell #344: SADCC Day 11: the fake knot

#342: SADCC Day 9: the boa

True confessions: I'm slightly repulsed by this one. In the video, it looks like a giant donut around her neck, and it just seems so constricting. The look on my face says it all. But, I gave it a shot today because I didn't want to cover up too much of my awesome Phantom tee, and purposely wrapped it looser so avoid feeling constricted by the boa.

show&tell #342: SADCC day 9: the boa

#337: SADCC Day 4: the european loop

This is probably the first (or second) most common way to wear a scarf.
PS, Today I actually had time to take my picture during daylight hours! Hooray.

show&tell #337: SADCC Day 4: the european loop