Traveling To The Outskirts Of Town

All Things Running

badblueduck — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:37:50 +0000

I’m a bit ashamed to say that I’ve been so focused on my new running blog that I haven’t updated this one in nearly a week! It’s a bit embarresing to say but I think I’ve found that I am obsessed with anything running.
Just in the past week I’ve designed this new blog, set up four pages for it, and updated it five times! Besides the fact that I am now obsessed with running it just goes to show that since school ended I really have nothing to do. I take that back, I’m working part time and still have yet to pack one box in order to move, but besides all that.
Yesterday was my first run outside since physical therapy. It was tough at first but after about ten minutes I got used to the point that I’m going to be out of breathe for the first few runs until I get back into my routine. I took a run downtown while a friend of mine was in class, a bit chilly but really perfect weather for a run. I’m still looking at races to sign up for but until than I’m just going to continnue running to get back into shape.
On another note… I haven’t started packing my apartment and Im suppose to be taking the first load of boxes home in six days. I don’t even know where to start! Surely there are a number of things that I won’t use in the next three weeks that I can bring home now… I just don’t know what.
Why was packing so easy at my last apartment and so hard here?

Three Things Thursday – Running Edition

badblueduck — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:00:29 +0000

I’ve decided that 2012 will be the year of running for me. Which means I need to get my bum into gear! I haven’t done much running since I got out of physical therapy, but now that I’m cleared to run again I have nothing that is holding me back.

1. MY GOAL
I have two goals when it comes to running in 2012. First one is to find a half marathon (perferably in a state I haven’t done yet) and sign up before January 20th. That only gives me nine days to put my name down and swip my credit card away to another 13.1 miles! The two that I’m bouncing between right now is the Kentucy Derby Festival Mini Marathon in April and the Virginia Beach Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon in September. I’ve done the Virigina Beach half acouple of times before and have pretty much fallen in love with that race!! I would even go as far to say that (besides the Walt Disney World half) it’s my favorite run! I haven’t done a race in Kentucky though so if I choose that one it would take care of completing a run in a state I haven’t done yet.

My second goal for 2012 is to run a race every month! WOAH… crazy goal, right? Especially since January is nearly half over and I haven’t even looked for races this month! So what I’m thinking is that I’ll start this in Febuary and end this goal next January completing a race on New Years Day wherever I’m located at that time. There are ALWAYS New Year Day races going on so if I plan everything out correctly I think I can do this. My goal (within this goal) is to run at least two half marathons in this 12-month span and than fill in the other months with 10k’s or 5k’s. I would love to do more than two half marathons but I suppose the biggest thing that really holds me back with bigger races like that is the expense. They usually range between $60-$90 per race (depending how far in advance you pay for it) and than on top of that you have to factor in gas/flight money and hotel cost (which are usually super expensive if it’s a big race and there are heaps of people coming in from out of town).

2. WORKING TOWARDS MY GOAL
Ever since I moved into my current apartment I’ve had access to the gym here but, I have to be honest, I didn’t use it until after I graduated. I guess I was just too busy or (hate to say it) too lazy to go. Since graduation I’ve been going more often though. I started doing alot of working out on the elipticle and more recently on the treadmill trying to get my running back up to speed.
I think what has helped me out alot is all these races I have in mind and how much easier they will be the more I train. In one of the running blogs that I read, the writer mentioned something about having a dollar jar and everytime you go for a walk or run or do any type of workout you put a dollar in that jar. Than when it comes time to do a race you take that money and use it to sign up for the race. I LOVE THAT IDEA!!!

Something else I found a few days ago was this GREAT website to track your running, walking, biking, and swimming excersises!! I’ve fallen in love with this website now, I’m on it everyday! It’s called Dailymile.com and like I said, you just put all the information in and it shows you all of your progress in a bar graph. I think that’s why I like this running site more than others I’ve used. When I see information on a graph it really helps me take what I’m seeing. I’m much more of a picture person than just words on a paper type of person. At the end of the year they email you a huge graph filled with all the workouts you’ve done. How many workouts you’ve done, how many miles you’ve gone, and my favorite… how many donuts you’ve burned off!

An example of the end of year review

3. MOTIVATION
I have so many things that motivate me to go running it’s probably impossible to name them all! I suppose the biggest things are my family and my health. My Mom is the one that got me into my obsession of running. I’m sure she regrets it sometimes because ever since than I’ve been dragging her to workout with me a number of times a week and although, like everyone, she likes the results it gives her it’s hard to take that first step and go do it. I shouldn’t be talking though, I do the same exact thing. Once I take that first step out of the house though I’m usually good. Give me some headphones and my IPod and I’ll be gone for hours.
My Dad is also a big motivator for me. He didn’t get into these big races until after Mom and I did but it’s rare that he misses one now. Doesn’t run as much as Mom and I, he is more of a walker, but he finishes the races and that’s really all that matters! Dad is always talking about going on walks, or even bike rides, more and getting the whole family out of the house to excersise and I think he’s the one that really drives us to get up and get going alot of the time.
Of course my health is always on my mind. Not only will running make me a healthier (and happier) person but I think it will also draw me closer to healthier meals and better snacks for me to munch on throughout the day. That’s pretty much all there is on that point.
The last thing that REALLY motivates me are my medals. Sounds silly, and a bit selfish I think, but to see all my running numbers and medals hanging on my wall everyday and to see what I’ve acomplished is such an amazing feeling! My medals are what push me to continnue running races. They show me that I’ve completed 13.1 miles (a number of times) and that one day I’ll be able to do a 26.2 race. They tell me that I’m not a quitter. I deserve every single one of those medals and have worked hard for them. A half marathon may be hard but when you recieve that brand new medal it’s a great feeling!

My Fortune Cookie Told Me This

badblueduck — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:45:55 +0000

“Next time, order the shrimp.”

Apparenetly these chinesse people don’t know I’m a vegetarian…

Now What…?

badblueduck — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:11:59 +0000

Well I’m done with college, don’t have a full time job at the moment, and just over a month until I move from Wilmington… what to do, what to do?
I finally got my graduation portraits done! That’s one thing off my to do list… and by done I mean I went to a friends house, we set up the lighting, the tripod, and the camera and did the photos ourselves. I figured with my background in photography and my new tripod my Dad gave to me I could put together some good lighting and do portraits the cheap way. I wish the lighting was better but we did what we could and I have to say I’m pretty pleased! We also made it onto campus just as the sun was setting to get photos in front of the big seahawk that sits on a round-about. I wanted to get photos there on graduation day but there was an extremely long line that my family didn’t want to wait in because we had dinner plans. Of course, a few days ago when I went it was the coldest day of the whole week and I was in a skirt and tank top with nothing but my gown to keep me warm. We didn’t even bother with the tripod because it was sooooo cold and windy and the sun was setting so we would have lost light, so this was really a five minute shoot!

I have a huge to do list of things that should get done before I move, some more important than others like making sure my power & internet get turned off. These are things that I just don’t have energy to do… unfortunetly. I mean, who wants to stay on the phone for long amounts of time listening to music while you’re waiting to talk to a real person about something as simple as canceling your power! UGGGG, this is the part I dread about moving! Surprisenly I don’t mind the packing as much, though unpacking the boxes that hold stuff from an ENTIRE apartment into my bedroom at home may be an issue.
I have a feeling this next month and a half are going to go bye entirely too fast! I’m planning to pack some boxes and do a drive home by the end of this month so I can at least get a head start on moving.
Speaking of getting a head start on things, I have other goals that I’ve started but haven’t gotten done yet. New Years Resolutions are not for me! In 2009 I decided not to make New Year Resolutions anymore and instead focus on yearly goals. I just feel that if I have resolutions & I don’t accomplish them than I get upset at myself. If they are goals though than I won’t be that upset if they don’t get done. I don’t start these goals on New Years either, I feel like so many other people start ‘resolutions’ & ‘goals’ on January 1st that it’s just too much pressure on me to compete with the rest of the world. Instead I make a ‘Things to do Before my Birthday’ list. If I don’t get stuff done than it just carries onto my next birthday list, but I do try really hard to get almost everything done.
I’m currently knocking stuff off of my ’24 Things to do Before I Turn 24′ list. (WOW, just typing that makes me feel old…. 24?!?!?! ::sigh:: ) Some of the big things I want to get done, in the next eight months may I remind you, is to run TWO half marathons, finish the ‘Hunger Games’ series (still on book one), detail plan my trip to Austraila & New Zealand (& hopefully buy a ticket), finish my photography portfolio, complete my oversea scrapbooks, etc. I guess those are the things I am SUPER excited about on this list. These are the more fun things too, believe it or not there are more ‘I should really get this done soon’ items on there too… like decide on graduate school and work-out a certain number of weeks (that took a tole when I broke my ankle & couldn’t do much of anything for awhile, but like I said, these are just goals so I don’t really get upset if something doesn’t get done… especially if it’s because I broke a bone!).
I feel like life is just full of ‘to-do’ list. “Things to do before I move out”, “Things to do before I turn 24″, “Things to do before the end of the week”, etc. Will these lists ever end??? I have a feeling a know the answer to that question… :/

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

badblueduck — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:47:50 +0000

I love the holiday season! It’s been a bit odd feeling this Christmas though because, until today, it’s been quite warm outside. Even though I’m not much for cold weather I wish it would get just a little colder so it would feel a bit more like December outside. The weather hasn’t stopped the holidays from coming though! Our houses is decorated with lights, a Christmas tree sits in our living room streamed with lights and holiday ornaments, presents covered the floor underneth the tree just afew days ago, and last night we even had a fire in our fireplace while making a gingerbread house! Nope, the weather definetly hasn’t stopped us from celebrating Christmas!
I always get sad after Christmas break is over and I have to return to school because, let’s face it, no one wants to return to classes after Christmas. This year is different for me though… I graduated from college a week and a half ago!! I do have to say it’s a bit of a relief not having to go back to school right now but I honestly think I’m going to miss it… a little. I’m thinking about going to graduate school but for the time that I’m out of school right now, I’m just going to work and figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. That’s ok, right?
I have another month and a half until I move out of my apartment with no job and no classwork. I’m thinking for the next month and a half I’m going to be working alot with the productions that are being filmed in Wilmington and when I’m not doing that I want to get my running back up to where it was before I broke my ankle. May be hard to do since I depise cold weather, but if I plan to run some half marathons this year I have to train sometime.
Hopefully I’ll be blogging more as well! I really don’t have an excuse NOT to blog since I won’t be in classes, so keep checking back for updates!

‘The Amazing Race’ Auditions

badblueduck — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 03:05:28 +0000

Last weekend was such a great weekend, especially Saturday! My older sister traveled down to Wilmington to come with me to the open casting call of The Amazing Race where we got a whole 60 seconds in front of the camera to say why we should be on the next season!
My sister thought it would be a good idea NOT to plan a script and just “wing it” in front of the camera, only planning a few bullet points to bring up. I on the other hand thought it would be more awesome to write a song and sing it, needless to say she didn’t like that idea. We ended up talking about our relationship as sister and how we get along while bring up where we have traveled together but our main point was how we’ve both been a huge part of Girl Scouts for most of our lives and how we think that would definetly help us win the race! My sister even wore her bear hat (with an attatched scarf and mittens) on camera so we’re hoping that makes us at least a little memorable… though later on in the day we saw a couple wearing full out body suits! They definetly thought ahead! It was a bit nerve wrecking at first to have mikes on and be under huge camera lights with the camera rolling in front of us but after a few seconds we got used to it and started telling our story.
There weren’t as many people at this open casting call as I thought but than again I didn’t see or hear it advertised too much prior to the event. I actually heard of it from a friend who works at the location it was held, so my sister and I had a hand up there.
Even if we don’t make it on the show this season it’s so awesome to say that we had the opportunity to apply and get our name in!!!

After we finally got moved inside from the chilly outside weather!

We did it! We auditioned!!

My sister wasn’t the only person I brought with me to the audition…

Flat Daisy taged along too!! Who knows, maybe she'll be our lucky charm!

A lady actually walked up to me while I was taking this next photo and asked if this was a Flat Stanley doll… I explained it was the same concept and she preceded to tell me about her son who is in boy scouts and does the same thing. WAY COOL! Love it when this happens!!

If we do get onto the show and we end up “racing around the world” next season I plan to pin Flat Daisy to my bookbag so she gets to travel around with me!

I Made Truffles!!

badblueduck — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:51:37 +0000

Lately I’ve been in a cooking mood. I love to cook, like many though, I just don’t have the time. Last week on one of the cooking blogs I read it explained how to make cookie dough truffles. Now while reading cooking blogs there are two things I look for. 1) If the dish contains meat and 2) photos! If it doesn’t look good I don’t tend to want to make it. This recipe for cookie dough truffles looked EXTREMELY easy and fast so I thought, “Why not!”
You should probably know another little side note about me and cooking blogs. I don’t like to read them. Like I said before I love looking at the photos and if a photo is appealing to me THAN I may read through the intro paragraph, maybe the ingredients, and quickly glance through how to make the dish. But I rarely read the entry word-for-word.
When I found these cookie dough truffles I looked at the photo and thought, “So simple! Just take cookie dough, roll it into small balls, dip them in melted chocolate, and drizzle white chocolate on top.” So this is what I came up with.

My first hand at making truffles!

Unfortunetly by not reading the blog entry I didn’t realize the site where I got it from made their OWN homemade cookie dough… WITH NO EGGS! Instead, I went out and bought the pre-cut cookie dough from the store. Oops! When I brought heaps of them home to my family last weekend they all tried some and liked them until my sister asked if the cookie dough was raw.
“huh?” was my reply.
“is the cookie dough raw?” she repeated. I honestly thought that as long as the cookie dough was already in a package it was alright to eat. I thought that it’s only considered raw when you’re mixing your own dough with eggs in it. I was informed that I was wrong. :/
I still have heaps of (raw) cookie dough truffles that I’ve been munching on and I’m not ill yet so as long as I don’t eat a crazy amount in one day I think I’ll be alright.

Forget Pumpkin Carving…

badblueduck — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:54:38 +0000

The Halloween season has come and gone and you know what that means… we are that much closer to Thanksgiving! The holiday filled with so much yummy food! Than shortly after that school will be over (I’ll be graduating) and than Christmas will be here… WOW! 2011 has flown by!
Last weekend was Halloween weekend and I must say, I am still recovering from the lack of sleep I got. Not because I was out partying but because of the insane hours I was working at the Halloween store! I worked my normal evening shift Friday night but than Saturday and Sunday I worked nearly all day! I have to say I had a huge intake of coffee and caffine through the whole weekend to keep me going. I’m a little releaved that it’s all over.
I do have to point out that I had a great time carving pumpkins with a friend of mine… pumpkins and watermelon that is! The day of Haloween my friend and I, last minute may I point out, decided we wanted to carve a pumpkin. Well OF COURSE the church up the road who was selling them all month was out and Wal-mart was out, so what’s the next best thing to do? Carve a watermelon! I spotted small watermelons on the way out of Wal-mart so we decided to get it a shot and it worked great! Once we got to my friends apartment to start carving the watermelon while watching Halloween movies, one of her roommates came in, saw our unique carving object, than offered up her baby pumpkins to us to carve. So afterall we did get pumpkins! Here’s what they all look like!

My pumpkin is the one on the right. I carved a dog paw print for Buddy Bear! I also carved the heart in the watermelon, which was surprisenly easier than carving a pumpkin! I think I’ll be carving watermelons from now on!
As we were carving the melon we were eating the inside part until we realized it was actually a really bad watermelon! The juice was REALLY yellow (not a good sign for a melon) and the actual melon was a light pink. We couldn’t tell right off the back because it was the top pieces we were eating but as we carved deeper into it the color and juice (and smell) was more obvious to us. I ended the night not feeling great, probably because of the watermelon, but besides that it was a great Halloween night!!
Now I’m looking forward to relaxing Friday afternoon! It’s the first day I haven’t had to work in WEEKS so it will be nice just to chill and enjoy the rainy weather, from inside my home that is.

“We Love You! Love, Mom & Dad”

badblueduck — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:39:54 +0000

I got flowers in the mail yesterday from my Mom & Dad! I love getting surprise packages from them! They are still recovering a bit from being shipped to me in a box but aren’t they lovely!! <3

J.E.R.K.S.

badblueduck — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:17:51 +0000

Last weekend I traveled to Nags Head at the Outer Banks to attend a good friends wedding. It was just what I needed too, a weekend just to get away from school and work and go to the beach and relax. It’s funny I say that because I currently live at the beach but believe me, it’s different going to another beach especially with a group of friends you don’t get to see often… we refer to ourselves as the JERKS.
Long story short, in highschool me and four other friends became really close and Sarah (or as we like to call her Smurf… lots of nicknames back in the day) found out that if you take the first letter of all of our names it spells out JERKS. Hence, we became the JERKS and that’s what people refer to us has, even now… ten years later!
Last weekend Justin (the J of the JERKS) got married and though the ceremony and reception was beautiful, it was so weird to see one of us JERKS get married! The first JERKS to get married!! It was crazy to think about and I don’t think it really hit me until the ceremony when they were saying their “I do”‘s (at sunset may I add, which was gorgeous!). They seem really happy together though and such a perfect fit for one another!
*CLICK THE IMAGES TO MAKE BIGGER

the JERKS all lined up (Justin, Emmalea, Rachel, Kevin, & Sarah)

We were also given BFF bracelets to wear on the day of the wedding. Didn’t match my outfit entirely but it was pretty awesome that we all wore them! Even Justin wore his under his sleeve!

A little out of order in this photo, but that's alright. We were given the color that best represented ourselves back in highschool when we all met.

It’s rare that all of us JERKS get to see each other all at the same time so it was SO great being able to hang out for the ENTIRE WEEKEND!!!
Come January, Sarah and I will both be moving back closer to the other JERKS so we’ll all be able to see each other more often.. hopefully. Sarah is starting a dinner party club (which I’m sure you all will hear plenty about when she gets it going and we start eating LOTS of yummy food) here in Wilmington but when she moves back home she’ll continnue it there so we can see each other heaps more, which will be wonderful!