30 and fabulous!

for a long time i thought this day would never come... i mean, 30 years old? thats OLD! growing up, 30 always seemed so far away....

and then, it started creeping its way closer, and closer....

until it was finally here...

and today i... feel... FABULOUS!


november 28th:

332 day of the year
33 days left of the year (and then what?.... hehe. i can hear the wedding bells now...)

today in history:

1895- the first american automobile race, illinois

1944- musical "meet me in st louis" featuring judy garland premieres in nyc

1960- the monkees "im a believer" is certified gold

1964- willie nelson makes his grand ole opry debut

1980- 4:52am... st. lukes west hospital, chesterfield, missouri... i was born! how exciting.

1992- hbo airs neil diamonds christmas special
1997- final episode of beavis and butt-head was aired on mtv

famous birthdays:

1949- paul shaffer, david letterman show (LOVE him!)

1959- judd nelson (who just happens to be from portland, me)- starred in the breakfast club

1962- jon stewart, comedian

1967- anna nicole smith, i think we all know her... internet describes her as: busty gold-digger

top 10 reasons why turning 30 is awesome:

10. no longer am i the "old person" in my road race age group (24-29)

9. i get 10 more years to prepare myself for turning 40

8. i dont have to worry about turning 30 anymore, cuz its here (and remember? its awesome!)

7. ill get to laugh at the checkout person who looks confuzed when they still check my id... yes, im really 30

6. i accomplished my "run a marathon before im 30" last year. ive run 3 already. the age of 30 will bring two more (maybe even 3)

5. im stronger than i ever thought i would be- physically, mentally, and emotionally

4. i can still act like im in my 20's if i want, cuz lets be honest... do i really look 30? ;)

3. i dont look like im 30
2. this year should bring a new house and a puppy (fingers crossed)
1. i get a new last name and a husband... does it get any better than this?

(despite its true awesomeness, i can still be in a little denial, right?)

thanksgiving day 4 miler

first and foremost... HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! seriously... how.in.the.WORLD is it thanksgiving already?! this year is going by so ridiculously fast i cant even believe it. but yeah, so i hope everyone had a safe, healthy, and happy turkey day. gobble gobble!

this year was my third year running in the portland maine thanksgiving day 4 miler road race and again it was a fun but slightly boring 2 loop course run. not gonna complain about 1,649 people coming out and enjoying a run on a holiday!

they got real creative with the tshirts this year (left-2009, right 2010)

i had signed up for the virtual turkey trot on daily mile to benefit st. judes childrens research hospital....

and i got a sweet certificate!!

bottom reads: has earned his turkey dinner... im a his? and id rather earn a beer... or 5.

i also donated to tims leukemia & lymphoma team in training virtual race.... no certificate from them (yet! hehe jk guys)

pre race photo- elizabeth ran philly 4 days ago! hardcore.

me, elizabeth, & nichole

overall it was a great race. my new outfit and new energy armor balance bracelet helped me to a PR...

2005: 35:28 (8:52)
2009: 32:58 (8:15)
2010: 31:29 (7:53)

427th/1,649 total runners, 99th/790 females, 28th/154 in age group. last race in the under 30 age group! eeeek!

after the race i went and visited with my gramps at his home for a little while and watched some of the macys day parade. he was in shorts, so i asked him if he thought he lived in florida. he didnt think that was very funny. i asked him what was for dinner and he said "why do you care, you dont eat anyway". i did not think he was very funny.

my parents and brother then headed up to skowhegan for dinner with tylers parents. the boys enjoyed shooting whipped cream cans with pellet guns off the back porch, so i was the camera girl. everyone was in bed early and while the boys went hunting this morning, the MIL and i headed into augusta to shop. the amount of people was ridiculous, the weather sucked (snow/sleet)... overall poor idea. i ended up with a scarf for myself and we had breakfast at panera. win.

good thing i got this MDI jacket... need it during hunting season!

race #11

theres not a whole lot to say about race #11, the 42nd annual turkey trot 5k. every year i run great for the first two miles and totally suck for the last 1.1 mile. let me go back and check if i wrote about this race on my blog last year.... i think i did.... please hold....

ah yes, there it is. the 2009 recap. it was at this race i decided i was never doing another 5k again. (since then ive run 8 more... i dont listen to myself very well).

last year: mile 1- 7:05. mile 2- 7:45. mile 3(+.1)- 9:12.

YEAH. you read that right. i know, total suckfest.

so how did this year go? mile 1- 7:32. mile 2- 8:00. mile 3(+.1)- 8:46.

getting better, but seriously... what is my deal with that stupid third mile? it obviously doesnt help there are two pretty good hills in that mile, but still! i need to run 5k's that are flat flat flat. thats all there is to it. or maybe just not run 5k's at all. although im still longing for that 22:xx 5k. but i still hate 5k's. whens the next marathon?

but overall i had a fun time before the race with my ladies (and andy & shaun, of course) and we did a lot of complaining about how cold it is and why we do these races, blah blah blah... the usual :)

special thanks to kevin for totally surprising me at the end and handing me water after i took off the stupid & seemingly pointless ankle timing chip (seriously... what race still uses those?! and if youre going to have timing chips, at least have a starting mat. 300 people cant lineup on the starting line folks! that lovely flaw cost me a whole 5 seconds. gosh.)

me and melissa pre race

lovin the socks ladies!

another exciting start line... with no timing mat

andy really wanted to be hardcore like me...and show off his legs

last .1 stretch

dont blame the camera, blame the camera man

andy, are you alright?

good thing we have a big couch.... 11 down, ONE to go!

2011 resolution & shutterfly

(pre warning... there seem to be a LOT of parentheses in this post. it happens sometimes.)

as the new year seems to be getting closer and closer (eeeeek!) and this years new years resolution is almost complete (race #11 of 12 was today, blog post to come tomorrow... stay tuned!), its about that time to come up with a resolution for next year. in 2009 i went 365 days & 7 minutes without eating one single potato chip. no tostitos (which means no nachos... i know, so sad). no doritos (no blue or red bag). no kettle chips or cape cod. no fritos (meaning no french onion dip). cheetos were NOT a potato chip, and i challenge anyone to prove me wrong (they are a cheesy crunchy snack!). it was a sad, sad year. getting engaged helped. and chocolate.

this years resolution was to run a road race each month. that is why this blog pretty much exists in the first place. so far, so good. 11 down, 1 left!

so with the last two years being a success, im hoping for yet another year of a complete resolution. i guess we'll have to wait and see. what i decided for 2011 is to do the "365 project". i really love taking pics and i think this will be a great way to get a better eye for photography... and will be a unique way to document our first year of marriage. i dont think ill have a theme... im just hoping i can make it all year! (im thinking i might get a new camera sometime next year too... but i love my current camera and know how to use it pretty well, so we'll see how long it holds out for me). and at the end of the year, i just might print out all the pics (or a good number of them anyway) and make an album. or maybe a book.

have you heard of shutterfly? ive used them before to make a wedding photo book or a friend of mine and i know a lot of people that use them for prints, books, holiday cards, etc. their photos come out so clear and the different gifts they have are awesome! seriously, check them out if you do anything with photos for yourself or others... you wont be disappointed.

im participating in a 50 free holiday card blogger giveaway through shutterfly (thanks, courtney for letting me know about it!). its so hard to decide which holiday card i want to use this year (especially since were getting married right after xmas... can i wait and send holday cards in january?! i just might...) but i think ive chosen a perfect one for us... cute, right?

picture cards and gifts are so easy to make on their site! check out all their holiday cards, xmas photo cards, design a calendar, or even a personalized mug! theres something for everyone :)

what was everyone elses new years resolutions for this year? did you/will you make it? are you making any next year? 40 days!

thursday thirty

1. next week is the last week of my 29th year. 30 sounds so old and im not yet sure how i feel about it.

2. ive had the music choice holiday music favorites channel all day. dont judge.

3. the xmas candles and snowmen coasters have also made their way into the living room. i mean, it IS the most wonderful time of the year... the most hap, happiest season of alllllll....

4. i got home from work wednesday morning and went to bed at 9am. i woke up at 5pm. i went to my parents house where we had a lovely feast of red hotdogs, baked beans, and tater tots. i drank a bud light, went home, watched biggest loser on dvr and was in bed at 10:30pm. i woke up this morning at 8:30am. in 24 hours i slept almost 19 hours! what a waste, but boy do i feel awake today!

5. i know its getting close to the holidays, and i know ive pushed charities all year long but here are a few more chances to donate that you at least need to give a little thought to...
sam
tim
courtney

6. i got my new 2011 daily planner last week and have started filling it in with important dates/birthdays and some of the notes i put in all my planners each year (websites, quotes, etc). yesterday i wrote my NEW name in the front, since the planner IS for 2011. it made me smile.

7. we just found out that 3 of our (30) still missing rsvp's were due to the fact that they didnt get an invitation in the first place! you can only imagine how annoyed this makes me... along with the fact that im just now finding this information out.

8. a few days ago my phone started blowing up with text messages from twitter with messages of the @ mentions to me. ive always wished this would be an option from twitter but i have no idea why its doing it all of a sudden. happy early birthday to me!

9. my current obsession is peppermint mocha coffee creamer. mmmmmm.

10. the other day i was ordering bridesmaid/groomsmen gifts online and decided i would just google search for any coupons there may be floating out there. some random site gave me a code for the online store i was shopping on for 30% off orders over $100 AND free shipping. what did i have to lose? punched in the code during check out.... success! saved us over $60. w.i.n.

11. i pick up my completely altered wedding dress in 11 days! holy smokes... im still amazed that i bought a wedding dress from a consignment shop, 4-5 sizes too big, and it now fits perfectly and looks awesome! (i know ive got a biased opinion... but im excited haha)

12. the other day sarah and i went to the mall and found a super sweet secret santa gift for family holiday party... and it was on sale for $9.99! a steal! well, while balancing my check book today (yes, im a super organized freak like that) i saw that the store charged me $20.98. i went and checked the receipt... they charged me for two super sweet gifts. i seriously only bought one. so now im going to be that person that goes back to the store looking like im trying to scam them for $10. ugh. but its still $10, and i only have one gift.

13. tuesday night at work i had a young patient with a croupy cough. his mom brought in some books from home for him to read while they were there. i started reading through one with him and came across this page... now it caught my attention first because of the jar of pickles on the page, but as i read what was written, i was horrified. (the story is about a siamese cat who thinks he is a chiwawa... no idea how to spell either of those things, so theyre probably wrong). regardless, i will always read through my kids books before buying them. i suggest you do the same.

i dont think i want my kids reading about popping a pickle in a puss... just sayin

14. i could live off of water and peanut butter. i would not like to go to jail though (thats what i think they eat there. i dont want to find out.)

15. im secretly excited for snow. maybe sarah will go skiing with me again this year.

16. our new car is rapidly approaching 10,000 miles. how is that even possible?! (i named him kurt... and every time we watch glee ty just shakes his head at me)

17. im two races away from completing my new years resolution. this will be the 2nd year ive actually followed through with a resolution. ive got a good one ready for next year, i hope i can stick with it!

18. after all the times ive said i hate my hair long, im so annoyed with it, i cant wait to cut it after the wedding, blah blah blah... i think im beginning to like it long. ha.

19. it was discussed at work today about ty and i going to town hall on dec 31st and getting married... then having our ceremony and reception as planned the next day. for tax purposes. hmmmm....

20. when i as 20 years old i had a fake id that said i was 34. and it worked at the bars in elmira, ny. seriously? i looked like i was 16.

21. somehow sarah and i convinced ashley, who lives in missouri, to come run reach the beach 200 mile relay with us in massachusetts next may. any single guys out there? ashley has said everyone is invited to tailgate at her wedding when that happens. someone get on that please.

22. for a long time i considered 22 my best year. i look back now and laugh at what i considered among those qualifications. im absolutely positive 30 will be the new 22.

23. tyler and his groomsmen have decided to do a "lobster dip" on the morning of the wedding. this involves jumping in the atlantic ocean at noon. each guy (8 in all, yeah i know. huge wedding party) have committed to raising $100 each for the special olympics. so in essence, ty will be "taking the plunge" twice in one day (hehe, i crack myself up). i hope theres a hot tub at the hotel or else im gonna have a frozen wedding party (average temp in maine on new years day: 15 degrees. average ocean temp in january: 34 degrees. enjoy, boys.)

24. my friends have this little running tradition where they write words on the bottom of their feet to help motivate them along through the race. at the end, they rip off their socks and see what someone else wrote for them. its fun. the other day i got this text message from my college friend, leni, who lives far far away in phoenix (boooooo). she had a baby 8 months ago and ran a half marathon last weekend! this was the pic i got. *tear*

"lyla ann & jrc love you!!!"

25. i have over 20 hooded sweatshirts. jeri and sarah are also "hoodie whores" just like me. so we came up with the idea to do a hoodie swap! so much awesomeness right there.

26. i think ive made more trips to "michaels" craft store than humanly possible. i go, buy one thing (with my 40% coupon, of course) and would ya look at that, another 40% off coupon prints off! see ya next week to get my next one item. this has occurred consistenly for the past 11 months.

27. ive picked out all the pictures and 3 songs for our wedding reception slide show. i think ive watched it almost 20 times. cried every time. im gonna need a xanax on january 1st. or an IV of bud light.

28. tylers parents bought us a kitchenaid for xmas (ive been doing the happy dance since i found out!). it arrived in the mail a few days ago but our apartment sucks and we have no room for it. ive lived this long without one im sure i can wait a few more months until we get a house, but im seriously considering turning our guest bedroom into a dining room....

29. i honestly dont know what i would do without ranch dressing. my maid of honor is already prepared to stash a bottle under the head table for me before the reception. i mean, thats what MOH's are for, right?

30. llbean really missed the boat on not having a wedding registry this year. big time.

loco moose pics

mile 1... you would think id know how to put a race # on by now

coming in for the 2nd loop

heading for the finish line. super gross leg photo

sweet pint glass age group prize

see right... high fives for ryan getting AG win as well. awesome photo

*all photos legally stolen from www.mainerunningphotos.com

loco moose 5k

so lets be honest, who doesnt love running in the fall in maine?! seriously, this is my favorite season for so many reasons, and when you get a 60 degree day in the middle of november, you will NOT hear me complain! (yes, i know... its pretty much almost winter but im gonna stretch fall out as long as i can!)

saturday morning was race #47 of my 9 year running career, the loco moose 5k. i had thought my friend melissa would be there but found out shortly before leaving my house that she in fact was not running. i was pretty bummed but i found a few friends when i got there so i wasnt running entirely alone. this was NOT one of my 12 in 2010 races, just a random one i signed up for in order to reach 50 races by the end of the year (50 over the last 9 years, haha, not 50 for this year. that would be way more hardcore than me).

i picked up my race number and tshirt and stretched/ran a little to loosen up. i had no idea what to expect for a time for this race since most of it was on trails and grass (apparently it was a cross country course) so i decided i was just going to have fun. my right foot has also been bothering me since the race last sunday too and i didnt know how that would feel. (i think this is residual from when the girl stepped on my foot at john & amys wedding with her high heel on the dance floor. im still convinced something in there is broken).

registration table

starting line- gotta love small town races!

the course was two 1.5 mile loops with an extra .1 to the finish on the second loop. i started close to the start line since there were no timing chips and as we started off quite a few people raced out in front of me. i kept a strong pace for the first loop but i could feel myself slowing down a little once i hit the second loop. i was not a fan of running on the grass and leaves before we hit the sidewalks... im definitely a pavement runner, hands down. i knew there were a few women ahead of me so i didnt think i had my age group in the bag, but there was a girl literally breathing down my neck for the last mile, and i was not going to let her pass me. im sure you all know that feeling... no matter how crappy you feel, that person will.not.pass.you....

and she didnt. i lost her on the last little hill to the bridge, then i coasted to the finish. i felt like my lungs were going to explode and i was happy to see 24:44 as i passed the finish (i didnt wear my watch so i had no idea where i was with time).

monique, andre, emly, me, ryan

somehow i managed to pull off 9th woman overall, 33rd place (out of 107), and 1st in my age group (actually, if you want to know the REAL truth, i was 2nd in my age group. BUT, just like in the 65 roses 5k i did recently, the real 1st person in my age group was the 1st overall female to win the race. so that puts me in 1st. ill still take it, and ill like it!)


my prize? a pint glass. as sarah pointed out - "this race was meant for you!" duh.

the awards table

im kinda in love with this tshirt

random wedding update: things are coming together rather nicely. we are still waiting on about 30 more rsvp's... i think the mailman must have gotten hungry and eaten them. surely people wouldnt wait until the very last minute to send them back post deadline?! i mean this will be the best party of the year, right? (*cough cough* i need to know what you want to eat pleeeeease or everyone is getting mcdonalds sosendthembacksoonmeaningNOW. k thanks)

were still going through pics and finding ones that just make me want to go "awwwwwww".... and also get my mother evaluated for parental therapy due to a) the sweaters she dressed me in and b) my hair. did i cut my own bangs? (actually, i did cut my hair once, with my bunny rabbit scissors... this may have been taken around that time)

sweet care bears radio headset. go 1984.

and God help us if we ever grow a human whose head is as big as tylers was. ouch.

i know im biased but he was pretty darn adorable, ginormous noggin and all

we also got our wedding bands the other day... it shouldnt come as a surprise to anyone that i went around our apartment searching for things i could photograph them with. i thought this one came out the best.

47 days!

its raffle time... click HERE!

are you a runner? do you read blogs about running? are you on twitter?
if you said yes to "are you a runner?" then you need to check out Jenn's super sweet raffle. click HERE!

if you said yes to "do you read blogs about running?" then you better be reading From Stilettos 2 Sneakers, and check out her super sweet raffle HERE!

if you said yes to "are you on twitter?" then you better be following @jenn_if_er.

jenn is training for disneys goofy challenge with team in training and is trying to fundraise... like i said in my last post, cancer sucks folks. any donation you can make for the leukemia and lymphoma foundation helps, and you have the chance to win 12 awesome prizes!

so head on over and check out the site... and incase you missed the site for the raffle, click HERE!

maine coast half marathon

in my attempt to run 50 lifetime road races before i turn the dreaded age of 30 (gasp!), i signed up for the maine coast half marathon back in september sometime (maybe it was october actually, i forget). anyway, i thought this was a good idea back when i signed up... i love fall in maine, the air is crisp but not freezing, the leaves are falling, colors are beautiful.... (and andrea kinda convinced me to do it, remember that for the next paragraph...)

somehow i forgot how quickly the weather can change. and the race was on november 7th, thats almost winter in maine. it snowed on halloween morning. my new t shirt and shorts i wanted to wear for this race was a bit of a stretch (but of course i wore them anyway along with a long sleeve shirt, gloves, and my zensahs). whose idea was this anyway?! oh yeah, remember? it was andreas. and then she got hurt, so she was out. sweet.

regardless, i knew i had to do this race if i wanted to get to 50 before november 28th, so i headed down to york beach on sunday morning. outside the temperature was a whopping 34 degrees. awesome. before the race started i decided to dedicate the run to my step dad, who was diagnosed with leukemia two years ago. i had all my livestrong gear on. cancer sucks, thats all there is to it.

this race was pretty cool... ive never run an all womens race before. there was also "one lucky guy" that got to run (they put out a lottery every year for that one spot). he passed me at mile 7, haha. it was definitely a different feeling to run amongst all women instead of competing with men mixed in there as well.


within the first 30 seconds of the race i stepped on a big rock and rolled my ankle. luckily my ankles are so shot from basketball that it doesnt affect me any more when/if i roll them. i started off strong and ran the first mile in 7:54. miles 2 and 3 were 8:04 and 8:10, then i lost count. im pretty sure i kept a similar pace for a few more miles but then felt myself slowing down along the hills through mile 6. i dont do math well in my head while im running, but i knew i had to run an average 8:32 to get a PR (i did not enter into this race planning to PR, but i certainly wasnt going to turn it down if i knew i could do it!). around mile 7 i figured i was going to run a 1:55, and i was ok with that. so i just kept going, enjoying the scenery, trying to avoid the crashing waves that were climbing over cars and hitting runners as we ran by the ocean! (check out the car pic stolen from andy- the cars are parked on the side of the road and there is a 3 foot wall and should be a beach under there!!)


somehow the miles, my watch, and my math all went wrong somewhere along the race. i looked at my watch and saw it said 9.4 miles, but i could have sworn i had just ran by the 8 mile marker. i knew my nike + has failed me before (said i ran 1.8 miles at the end of the marathon....) so i figured it was wrong. the time said i had been running 1:23, which is a little slow if i had just gone past mile 8, but who knows. i saw a mile marker up ahead and when i got to it.... mile 10! 1:25! (my 10 mile PR is 1:26:08.... so do i have a new 10 mile PR now?) i couldnt believe it but it brought the biggest smile to my face. i had a 5k left to run and had 28 minutes to run it in... i could do this!

the rest of the run was pretty flat and i pushed extra hard knowing i needed to give it all i had. at mile 12.5 i knew i had plenty of time to get to the finish, and of course right at this time journey's "dont stop believin" came on. this is one of my major pump me up songs... hello hysterically crying. were talking sobbing. many of you know ive had this problem in many of my races, and it doesnt fare well with trying to run and breathe at the same time. i had all my livestrong gear on and my shirt read "on a mission" so i screamed at myself (outloud too, people looked at me kinda funny) "GET IT TOGETHER, YOURE ON A MISSION!" i choked back the rest of the tears and pushed to the end.

i crossed the finish line with the clock reading 1:50:49, and i pumped my fist in the air and the tears fell once more. (kinda odd... online it says my time was 1:51:23. not sure how my official time is MORE than what the clock read when i crossed... this happened to my friend i work with as well, she crossed 25 seconds before what her time says as well. i have heard this company has had their fair share of mistakes in previous races)

pic courtesy of maine running photos

mission accomplished

audrey, me & melissa

it was freezing after the race which didnt help with the whole sweating thing, so i took off for home (i also had to work sunday night, huge planning fail). i decided to drive the course and take some pics since i had never been to the area before and thought it was a beautiful area. these are a few i shot...

the waves were just incredible... and i really wish i lived in that house, dont you? (it had a locked gate with a black skull flag flying at the gate. ive seen the same flag flying a top steven tylers lake house.... coincidence?)


on my way home i got a little lost and ended up passing this place... looks like a ton of fun. sign me up for a ride on that farris wheel!


all in all this was an awesome race and it just so happens to have been my 10th half marathon. official time 1:51:23, #158 out of 933 women finishers. ive come a long way from slowest half time of 2:18:32.


in other news, i came home from work monday morning and fell asleep on the couch, but i made sure to set my alarm for noon so i could get up and try to register for the 2011 new york city marathon lottery. i was able to get on the application site 12:03pm, filled out the contact info, user id and password, emergency contact info, bank account (*fun fact- i had to use my new last name and say i was married... the race is a year away!... not so fun fact, i spelled my last name wrong, lol)

things seemed to be going well... until i pressed submit. error after error. time out after time out. an hour later i was still hitting submit every couple minutes (i seriously hope it doesnt charge me the $11 each time that happened....)

i almost said screw it, but i tried again and was able to get in. and with one push of submit... this screen came up...... i was IN!

someones gonna need to remind me in april that i did this so i make sure i have enough money in my account to cover the ridiculous entry fee. until then im keeping my fingers crossed!