Upgrade

I'm not a Black Friday shopper.  Inconsiderate people drive me bonkers and I never really need anything, so it's best for everyone if I just stay in bed.  Sleeping is one thing I do love more than shopping.

This year though... this year I went BIG for Black Friday and replaced my driveway decoration with a 2013 Ford Escape.  And no I didn't go out at 1am to buy it or stand in line, win-win.

Upgrade!

It was a sad goodbye to my beloved Cavalier.  It was my first car, and it has been so good to me for over 6 years.  I won't miss the manual door locks or having to physically wind down my windows for certain.  Despite the huge upgrade, my heart is a little sad without my "little engine that could".  We were also so darn close to hitting 6-figures together!

99366... we were so close!

My new commute had me concerned though.  I am driving 35+ miles each way, much of it off the major roads... and it is Pennsylvania after all.  We get snow, and I felt like 4WD and a reliable car were just a must at this point considering my long and early morning driving habits on back roads.

Oh, and I'm finally a grad school graduate... I deserved a new car!  Actually, the hubs had to cosign because I didn't have enough credit, despite having excellent credit.  To which our lovely salesman told the bank "But she's a DOCTOR!"  That didn't work, but showing the dealership my diploma did get me a nice little rebate for being a recent grad!

I'm a loser

Today was a rest day after hitting the gym hard the last few days.  I haven't been this sore in a long time, and it really hurts feels pretty amazing.  With the tackling of a new challenge, I had a new fire under my feet to get serious in the gym again.  My abs hurt when I laugh, my coffee mug feels like a 10 pound weight, and my quads burn on the stairs... time for a rest day.

As for the new challenge... I joined a group of friends and friends-of-friends-of-friends for a "Biggest Loser" style challenge.  There is a small fee to join and money prizes for largest percentages of weight loss in 16 weeks.  The hubs joined as well after he took it home with a win on the last challenge.

Not surprisingly, I didn't get a ringing endorsement with those that I've mentioned the challenge to.  I realize that I really can't drop a huge percentage of my body weight, and I've conceded I won't be racing for the win.  I don't consider myself overweight, and I'm not in it to win it!

I'm in it for the motivation to get healthier and commit to a gym routine.  I am way too awesome at talking myself out of stopping at the gym after work.  Weekly weigh-ins will keep me accountable.  I also like the idea of tackling a healthier lifestyle with the hubs.  It makes things so much easier when neither of us is asking for nightly pizza or ice cream!  

I did let myself have one last indulgent ice cream bar before weighing in last week... and a huge root beer and an entire order of crab rangoon.  If you've haven't had one of these Costco ice cream bars, you really aren't enjoying life to the fullest.  For the dozens of times I've eaten at Costco, I don't know how it took this long to discover this little slice of heaven.  Hand-dipped in chocolate and almonds- sign me up!

Half eaten before I paused long enough to take a picture.

Half the bar is half as big as my steering wheel!  And for $1.50 you too can have half your daily calorie intake (870 by the way).  Despite calories, it was so hard for me to walk out of there yesterday without an ice cream bar to eat on my way home.  I ate applesauce instead... disappointingly so.

Question of the day: What's your favorite way throw your healthy-eating caution to the wind?

That ice cream bar ranks right  up top right now!

A return with staying power

Life has been busy and exciting full of family, friends, and as many weddings as we could possibly handle in recent weeks! I even found a little time to squeeze in working... running my first half marathon... and embarking on some other exciting new adventures.  All of which I will share more about later I'm sure.

For now, I'm just enjoying that my place of work is closed tomorrow, and I can ignore my usual 9:00 bedtime.  You get pretty lame as a nighttime party animal when you wake up at 5am.  

I don't think I'll ever stop loving the perk of getting to follow a school schedule either.  My next three work weeks are only 3 days each... before I start the countdown to Christmas "vacation".  Thankfully Unfortunately(?) we've also already had our first 2-hour delay of the year.  I felt like a little kid all over again, watching the school names scrolling across the tv screen and hoping to see mine pop up.  Modern technology kind of ruins that moment though when I get the text message alert first.  I would never complain about 2 hours to sleep in though, regardless of how I hear about it!

Though the pretty leaves have long blown away, we are having some unseasonably warm weather continuing into tomorrow that might be just perfect for a mid-day run.  One more reason to love a weekday off.

Yes, running in a cemetery.  It was an oddly comforting place for a run, and the foliage made it outright gorgeous!  The iphone pics don't even do the colors justice.

Where is the oddest place you've laced up your running shoes?

Reflections

I found my new favorite place to run.  It's the second treadmill on the right.  There's nothing fancy about, or really anything different at all compared to the other 20 treadmills I could run on.

The only special thing is that I can see the reflection of my feet in the window.  Right.  Left.  Right.  Left.  I never would have imagined that's where I would find running inspiration, in a window reflection.  It has been such a push for me the last few weeks though, watching myself just put one foot in front of the other.  When I finish a mile I can look at my reflection and know that those feet can take me one more.

I was walking on clouds after today's run.  I'm not a strong psychological runner; my head convinces me I need a break long before my body really needs it.  Not today.  Today I cranked out 6 miles at a good (for me) pace, and it felt incredible.  No tv and little people-watching, just watching the reflection of my feet in the window for an hour.  And I loved every second of it.

I think my print screen skills need some help

Question of the Day: Where have  you found unexpected inspiration and motivation?  To run, or for anything else?

Settled

I think I've finally started to settle into my post-graduate life.  With a school-based position, it has been a hectic and fast adjustment to the new job with the start of a new school year.  We are starting into the 4th week of school already though, and it's going so fast!

While getting summers and school holidays off is the obvious perk to working for a school.  I'm finding new perks on a daily basis..

- I drive by Costco on my way home every day.  The nearest of our dearest Costco's is 30 minutes away, but now conveniently on the drive home.  Clearly a weekly stop is necessary.  Now all I need is a conveyor belt to move my purchases from car to kitchen.  I hate carrying groceries...

What I drool over before heading for the fresh fruit and veggies.

- My butt is out the door at work at 3:30 every day.  It's like I've discovered the holy grail of extra time, extra hours magically appearing every day.  It is such an incredible change from getting off at 7pm!

- I work 5 minutes from a lovely and spacious YMCA.  It's busy enough to give me good people watching while I run, but it's quiet enough that there are always plenty of open treadmills.

- When it cools off a little more, I can also use the cute town I work in to take after-work runs.  It boasts a major piece that my own neighborhood lacks... sidewalks!  Oh, and the best frozen custard ever.

- The frozen custard joint next to the YMCA also serves Mexican food.  Mexican+Custard = Heaven.  Don't doubt it until you try it!  I've successfully resisted stopping here for 3 weeks, but I imagine one day I'll just really need it and it will be there to save the day.

- The hubs bought me a cute new messenger bag for me to carry back and forth to work (that matches my gym bag), and I treated myself to a new lunchbox.  With breakfast and coffee in hand, I feel like I am moving when I leave my house every morning.

6am move out every morning

Question of the Day: What are your work hours?  Pre or post work workouts?

I work 7:30-3:30.  With an hour long commute, I can pretty much guarantee that morning workouts will never, ever happen.