It's fun to stay at the YMCA

Some stuff I love about my YMCA:

1. Those treadmills are some hearty, stout machines. They can take all kinds of abuse and still keep on runnin' (ha-get it?!).

2. The little old ladies that sit on the bikes for an hour and move their legs about 5 times per minute are adorable (I might add that their mouths move much faster than their legs-this is quite the social scene for them, I gather).

3. There are no tiny little bikini models in skin-tight pants with their boobs hanging out. At the YMCA, the tiny little bikini models at least have the decency to dress modestly.

4. (This should be #1, really) I can go to any YMCA with Ryan and we can have treadmill dates...so cute!

5. The weight machines are as luxurious as weight machines get.

Some stuff I don't love about my YMCA (but I think some of these might happen no matter what gym I might be in):

1. We have no audio for the TVs that are so conveniently placed above the cardio equipment. Sad.

2. The people who choose the stationary bike directly behind my running butt when every other bike (and treadmill) is wide open, bug me. Really? You really want to stare at my backside for 30 minutes or so? Wow.

3. When people "cheat" by jumping onto the side rails of the moving treadmill (instead of pausing) to take a break, fix their hair, do their nails, or whatever. The point is, those are not honest calories or distances, people! Just press "pause!" Your personal trainer would be all over you for that!

4. Um....I'm out of things I don't like. I'm now a die-hard, gym-loving girl. I love it. Try it-seriously. It's fabulous.

Put a fork in me...

As of Friday, December 18 at 1:20 p.m., I am officially on vacation. For two weeks. And instead of elation, I feel...more....shocked than anything else. This is the big one, the mid-year break every teacher lives for throughout the fall months; the re-set button that makes January-March (or April) possible for us. It's the carrot that's dangled in front of us starting on the first day of school. We work, we plan, we teach, we review, all with the promise of Christmas Break just a few months, weeks, days down the road.
Let me tell you that this year, those last few days felt like years. Even with fun Christmas-y things going on, Friday dragged its feet and dug in its heels. So when that bell rang on Friday afternoon, and the sounds of kids running for their lives away from their classrooms reached my ears, I just stood there in puzzled silence. What? It's done? Now I'm on vacation? Really? I'm not going to wake up to my alarm Monday morning and find that I still have one more week to go?
And then I stopped mid-task. The stack of copies that needed to be sorted and stapled was plopped down on my desk, my computer shut down, and I'm pretty sure that I was in my car and out of the parking lot before about half of the students in the school had even made it out of their classrooms.

Peace out, yo!

A Christmas Story

Once upon a time, there was a young girl who loved a particular Christmas movie. She could watch this Christmas movie, "All I Want for Christmas," over and over again and never get tired of it. She loved the spunky heroine, Allie, and her cool yet awkward older brother, Ethan. It was the perfect mix of comedy, romance, Santa, and New York City.

Many years later, the girl who loved this movie met a handsome prince. They began dating and he soon became her handsome prince. One day while discussing each other's past embarrassing adventures, the prince made a startling confession. When he was a young teenager, he had appeared as an extra in a movie. He and his brother had been part of a boys' choir in the opening scene of an obscure Christmas movie. But, "you wouldn't know it," he told his girl. She,however, thought it was the coolest thing the world that he had been in any movie, so she pestered him until he caved in and told her the name of the movie. For almost a whole minute after he revealed the name of the movie, she was speechless, overcome with shock and excitement. Her prince was a movie star in one of her favorite Christmas movies of all time!!!! How blessed she was to know and be the girlfriend of a star in such a wonderful, heartwarming, feel-good family Christmas film!!

And that was when she knew that it was meant to be. It could only be destiny that brought together an actor in a fantastic yet unknown Christmas movie and that movie's biggest fan. Kismet, I tell you.

And the girl and her prince lived happily ever after, she watching the movie's opening scene repeatedly, squealing all the while, and he rolling his eyes at her in mild amusement and long suffering. The End.

Who am I?

In October, I ran 13.1 miles for the first time in my life. That half marathon itself was actually a heck of a lot more fun than the 7, 8, and 10 mile training runs I had done before the race (ha, like I actually tried to be fast!). So fun, in fact, that I made a semi-impulsive buy the other day and signed up for 1/2 Marathon #2 in February.
$91 later, I'm wondering just how crazy I've become. Three years ago, I could not run for 2 minutes at a time, and now I'm paying almost a hundred bucks to go run around Huntington Beach for almost 3 hours straight (remember the "not trying to be fast" part?). To make matters worse, I sometimes get more excited about sales on workout clothes and Nikes than I do about sales on dresses, tops, and high heels. Seriously?! Whoa.
I mean, I now know things I never thought I would have any clue about. For example: running on a closed-down freeway is really flippin' cool; fruit flavored protein gels are horrific, while Power Bar raspberry flavored energy gels are to die for; wearing a water bottle strapped to your butt gets old after about half a mile; eating a big Mexican meal after running 8+ miles is actually not a good idea; and Eminem's "Lose Yourself" is one of the best motivational running songs ever, even though I am so not an Eminem fan.
Did I mention that the finishers' medal for this race is a surfboard? As a surfer's girlfriend, I have to represent, right?

Sometimes, ok, often, I wonder how someone with as little self-control as I have managed to lose 75 lbs (give or take a few on any given day) and keep it off for about a year now. The only answer I have for that wondering is that God's strength is made perfect in my weakness. It is His power, not mine, that has allowed me to become a healthier person. While I have learned how to "just say no" to many less-than-stellar food choices, like fast food, butter, and frozen burritos, among other things, there are still some whose calls I can't quite drown out. If they are in the room with me, they're gone in no time flat, and any morals and manners I may ordinarily have go out the window. They are like crack, and I am the addict:

1. Pop Tarts
2. Cinnamon rolls
3. Reese's peanut butter cups
4. Spinach and Artichoke Dip
5. Hummus

Be warned-if you step between me and any of these things, you may lose a limb, an eye, or a significant chunk of hair...and I'm only sort of kidding.

Simple Joys

After a school year full of about 35-40 students, 50+ IEP meetings, and 3-hour evening classes 2 nights a week, I'd say I've earned a nice, long summer break, with time for big, exciting adventures....Except that it's usually the smallest, simplest things that are the ones I look forward to most about summer.
Most people take some big vacation over the summer, or study abroad, or minister to naked orphans in some impoverished third world country (not that that's a bad thing! Quite the opposite, really). However, I am just looking forward to things like:

-sleeping in, drinking coffee, and watching the Today Show in my pajamas
-going for a run at 10 or 11 am on a weekday
-watching day time TLC, MTV, HGTV, and Style networks while doing my nails
-reading! for FUN!!
-spending lazy days on the beach in Oxnard watching my honey surf (if the surf would actually get good one of these days)
-wandering around B & N
-really, really cleaning my bathroom (seriously-I barely have time to clean it at all during the school year)
-Martha Stewarting: scrapbooking, sewing, and folding fitted sheets correctly
-COOKING!! Rachael Ray, I miss you!!
-wearing shorts-real shorts, not just bermudas-for the first summer in YEARS!
-spending hours and money in teacher supply stores
-seeing my hot boyfriend more than once a week!!
-Dodger games, No Doubt concert, and maybe some really bad local theater productions

All of those things make me sigh in contentment. I'm already relaxed.

Saturday Morning Coffee

One of my favorite things to do on Saturday morning is sit in front of Saturday morning cable tv and sip home-brewed Starbucks coffee. I love that this is the one time during the week (and sometimes it's not even that often) that I have the luxury of time to lazily wake up and enjoy of my most favorite of life's simplest pleasures. It soothes me to watch home renovation reality tv and indulge in a tall mug of Starbucks with Splenda and tiramisu-flavored coffee creamer. The rest of the day seems to hold endless possibilities during this hour (or so). Running, shopping, pampering my face with free samples of Clinique's "15 minute facial" goo, finally cleaning out that dresser drawer full of too-big workout clothes, baking something (wow, NEVER get to do that anymore)...even homework feels less daunting when I've got coffee and HGTV.

Here's to a great Saturday....when you can do anything you want.

Chocolate

My boyfriend is not a fan of chocolate. I absolutely do not understand this about him. It baffles me. How do you NOT like chocolate? He doesn't even have much of a sweet tooth, but he does have a HUGE weakness for any kind of fruit-flavored candy. This makes his tastebuds slightly more comprehendable to me. All morals concerning selflessness, theft, and sharing go out the window when he is in the same room with sour gummy worms, gummy bears, jelly beans, you get the picture. THIS I get, because I'm almost as bad about chocolate. However, when it comes to our preferred desserts, we agree to disagree. We just shake our heads in bewilderment at each other in the candy aisle as we reach for our Sour Patch Kids (him) and Reese's Peanut Butter cups (me). The plus side: we'll never have to share our candy with each other.

Last night, while on a family vacation in San Diego, my parents and I visited the Ghirardeli's Ice Cream Shop, because we heard that their hot fudge sundaes are to die for. Personally, I was all in after just hearing "Ghirardeli's." Bring on the chocolatey goodness- I don't know the meaning of "too much" chocolate. We arrived in the Gaslamp Quarter, found our destination, and I all but floated through the front door of the shop. The smell was amazing-melted chocolate and fresh-made waffle cones. I was already on a chocolate high. We looked at the menu and each picked out our own decadent sundae: Mint Dream, Espresso Escape, and Peanut Butter Hot Fudge. We did NOT plan on sharing at all. The three beautiful confections arrived at our table, and my eyes grew by about 10 inches.

Isn't that beautiful? I dove in head first. Savored every bite, while whatever happy chemical it is that chocolate has went straight to my head. This was the best. dinner. ever. Then, about halfway down, I ran smack into a chocolate wall. I have never in my life hit chocolate overload, but there is a first time for everything. This was unprecedented. I almost didn't believe it, so....I kept going. I got to the melty-chocolate ice cream end, and the only thought my brain could form was, "whoa!" You can clearly see that thought on my face:

Now, my boyfriend knew about this impending sundae adventure, and as we were walking back toward the car, my phone rang. My first words after I hit the answer button were, "I never want to see another piece of chocolate ever!" Somehow, he didn't believe me, and I had to relive the whole glorious, overwhelming experience for him all over again. Then I restated my new anti-chocolate stance, to which he replied, "Yeah right. I give you until tomorrow morning before you want chocolate again." Okay, so he knows me way too well, but I'm sticking to my guns for another 8 hours or so.

Outlet Malls

Why are outlet malls so addictive? I love them, and will drive hours out of my way for a good day of bargain retail therapy. Add that day to a week of vacation, and you've got one happy girl. The idea of getting a $80 top for only $9.97 seems to give me the freedom to spend hundreds of dollars in one short 6-hour span of time. Sometimes I wonder if my method of outlet shopping is normal. Some people innocently choose an outlet mall, show up, and meander around. I go armed with a mission, a website printout of store listings, and shopping center maps (the only thing I was missing was a budget. Ha!). I went into 8 stores today (all of them pre-screened and selected thanks to the Las Americas Premium Outlets website), and am now the proud owner of full bags from 6 of those stores. I Banana Republic-ed, J. Crew-ed, and Nine West-ed till I dropped. I'm still on that "yeah! New clothes!" high with no sign of buyer's remorse in sight. The purple Nine West wedges are keeping any negative repercussions far, far away. =)

Back Home

Wow, I must say, it feels odd and really fun (in a nerdy kind of way) to be back in the blogging saddle. I was quite the addict in college, and then a dry spell hit. I had plenty to say, but couldn't find the time or the energy to write it out. Ha. Like I have that kind of time now. My life is blessedly full: full time work, full time school, a boyfriend/best friend combo (that's my favorite), and part-time trying to keep my parents and church family happy (and yes, guilty. I'm a people pleaser. I also love parenthetical expressions). All of that leaves less than zero time for the blog world. But I miss it. I miss ranting, I miss sharing stories that are funny (to me, anyway), and I miss pretending like I'm profound or insightful. And so, here I am again.