lent and running

ah lent.  i'm so glad it's almost over.  40 day and 40 nights is definitely a long time to give up something.  but it is also a good amount time to remind myself that Jesus died for me... he gave up his life for me, so anything i do is nothing compared to that and i love him even more for it. :)  thank you Jesus!

that said, i have bought things online.  nothing tangible, which was my goal.  no STUFF.  i registered for Comic-Con, running events, and WonderCon (more on that in this post), and purchased plane tickets for Vegas.  so i've been good at not buying stuff.  :)

and my husband did get me a Lunartik ZX Tea, but he won't tell me which one it is and i have to wait until my birthday (in october to open it).  sigh...

anyway, i've been running 3 times a week and ran my first race in over 15 years this past weekend! :)  it was St. Patty's day, and oh how fun it was!  it was pouring rain, but we all had a great time! 

LA Big 5K
Dodger Stadium
Saturday, March 17, 2012


waiting for the race in the rain!
(my phone didn't like taking pictures in the rain... sad, that it's all blurry! and of course, it might be that i'm not the photographer either. haha)




me and my co-worker running buddies


starting line!




my cupcake reward for finishing! :)


my bib and my medal! yay!

stats:
my chip time: 0:29:33
my clock time: 0:30:17
over all place: 428 (not bad out of 2600+ runners!)
my division place (females 30-34) : 22

i'm quite pleased with how fast i ran. i was shooting for a <10 minute mile pace. glad i could keep it pretty quick and i didn't have to stop on any of the hills (even though i haven't been doing any hill training!). :)

hopefully my times will get faster! and my endurance will improve, 'cause i am training for a half-marathon!

FEDS get FIT!

yes, i'm one of your "beloved" federal employees.  i'm overpaid and under-worked. right.  in my office, we're completely overworked because we are understaffed.  only thing we have going for us as essential federal employees is job security. 



(that's me all the way on the left)


anyway, that's not what i wanted to talk about.  i joined other federal employee in southern california this weekend for a training run for the LA Big 5K in a few weeks on march 17 (the 5k is a fun warm-up on saturday morning for the people running the marathon on sunday).  we met at bluff park in long beach. it's a nice route right on the beach.





thanks to the great coordinators in our area, a bunch of us got together to run a few miles.  2.25 to be exact.  we started with a yoga stretch






then ran the course they set up (i ran the course twice with my friend so we totalled about 4.5 miles for the day).









they even had waterstations. how nice! thanks for the water!



and booths promoting good health. we got a t-shirt, a set of resistance bands, a waterbottle, a pedometer, and a bag (to take home all our goodies) just for coming out and participating. awesome insentives right?!



and they had a photographer (which i borrowed this pictures from) to document the day. thanks awesome photographer! :)

all in all, it was a nice cool day for a run.  i felt good after the workout and had lots of fun spending time with my co-workers outside of work.  we should do this more often!

lent is so hard...

i really am not doing a good job of giving things up for lent.  yesterday was only the second day and i already found something i NEED to have online... and so i asked my husband to get it for me for my birthday.  yah, my birthday is in october.  not anytime soon. 

here's what i want:



they have them in with different colored eyes.  the set is limited to 30 pieces each (making 210 pieces total).  the figurines are a larger (6-inch) size of the little mini blind box guys i got over the summer.

they came packed like this:


i would like to have one of each of all of these, but i only have 3 little ones. 
but my husband picks blind boxes really well, and he got me one of these Mr. T ones! woo hoo!

i really want a big one!  there's a whole set:

The ZX Teas are a Limited Edition run of Black Tea, super-infused with flavour.
There are seven different SUPER INFUSIONS to choose from, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Pink, Purple. Each one standing 6.5" tall, and come complete with cup & saucer, silver stirrer & two sugar cubes!

i only want one, but since there are only 30 of each... i'm thinking that by the time Easter comes around they'll all be sold out.   :(

it's not that they are cute... i am completely addicted to TEA.  i drink at least 2 cups of tea everyday.  somedays i drink 5.  i have a kettle at work and a kettle at home... i have a growing collection of tea cups and mugs... and i have at least 6 different tea balls/strainers.  i swap teabags on Swap-bot and Flickr. 

anyway, i better stop looking at these.  makes me sad to think i can't have one because my husband said it's cheating... that he's shopping online FOR ME.  ahhh... well... i love you too, honey. :(

observing lent

i am a Christian, so i try to be a good Christian.  for the past few years, i've observed lent.  yes, i know usually this is associated with Catholics and not eating meat, but for Christians (like me) we usually just give something up to remind us that Jesus gave up his life for us.  so, a small sacrifice to remind us this for 40 day and 40 nights is not much to ask.  i've also started reading a new daily devotional for Lent on my iPhone.  hopefully it will help me connect with God and hear him more clearly (his love, guidance and encouragement).

i don't remember what i gave up last year.  it wasn't that difficult i guess.  i think i gave up chocolate.  but for me, out of sight/out of mind... so that was easy. 

this year, it'll be harder.  for 2012, i'm giving up buying craft supplies, shopping online, and eggs.  these are all things i'm addicted to.  but... i can do without for lent.  it really will be a struggle, since i sit at a computer all day and want to check things out on Amazon (new dvds and books and gadgets) and etsy (craft supplies and handmade goods).  also, i LOVE eggs.  i really could eat eggs everyday and be happy.  i don't eat a lot of eggs because i'm trying to keep my cholesterol down, but when we go out i always want to have an omelet or over-easy fried eggs or a breakfast burrito or quiche. 

dietary restrictions are not that hard for me.  recently i went to the doctor and was scolded because my triglycerides were too high.  so i've started a low cholesterol diet.  i rarely eat beef or pork, once a week i'll have fish, occasionally i'll have some chicken or other seafood... but mostly i'm vegetarian eating lots of whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat bread and pasta)... and keeping my proteins limited to tofu and some cheese. 

lent started yesterday (on Ash Wednesday):  February 22.  it ends on Easter Sunday:  April 8th.

i'll hopefully be blogging my progress as the weeks go on. 

what are you giving up for lent? 

Day 25: a song that makes you laugh

haha, so i'm months behind... i totally forgot about the "30 day song challenge" i was doing!
so, here's my day 25.  i hope it makes you laugh. :)

tiptoe through the tulips by tiny tim

52 weeks of mail - week 1

http://www.facebook.com/52weeksofmail

i send lots of mail for Swap-bot swaps and Postcrossing postcards, but most times, i'm not sending to somebody i know just to say HI.

The idea of the project is to mail a letter or a card to a friend or family every week for a whole year. So, for week 1, i sent a letter and a postcard to my penpal in Spain.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Octopode Friday Challenge #14: MEN

Here's my entry for the Friday crafty challenges at The Octopode Factory.

This week's challenge is themed: MEN.



stamped the bat boy stamp from Octopode on white cardstock and cut him out, then stamped "Happy Halloween" using a craft store's dollar bin stamp and cut it to create a strip, and colored in both stamps using my Zig markers.  Covered the CD using the wicked witches background scrapbook paper (i bought from Zinnia). accented a few of the witches using the Sakura Clear Stardust pen (though you can't see it in the picture).  then, i cut a strip of shiny red paper (from Martha Stewart Halloween crafts) slightly larger than the sentiment.  adhered the sentiment to the shiny red strip and stuck the whole thing down towards the bottom half of the CD.  Adhered the bat boy to the CD over the strip,and added glow in the dark Martha Stewart Crafts glitter to the outside edge using double stick tape.  Punched holes in the top and bottom addiing eyelets using my Crop-a-dile, so i could add a ribbon to hand the cd from and a dangle at the bottom:  a black aluminum rose, a glass blood drop bead, and a clear Swarovski crystal crescent moon (from a bit of leather cord).

i've missed most of the Octopode challenges, but i did get a chance to complete this one!