Whoa. Christmas.

So, I pretty much let this Christmas vacation swallow me whole. I have loved every. minute. of. it. I have not had an honest to goodness winter break in YEARS. Last year I had some crazy school work hanging over my head and was never able to fully relax, before that I was a regular working person and regular working people actually have to work. So I tried very hard to make up for it this year; I have slept till 9 every day, seen almost every movie in the theater, spent a ton of time with my family, and I even got to see one of my very best friends who lives about 40 minutes away 3 times (if I am lucky, I usually get to see her once a month)!

I have hardly done anything productive at all and I am THRILLED with that fact. I have my very last semester of grad school coming up and I am going to be more than plenty productive for the next 4 months. If you haven't noticed, one of the things I haven't done much is blog. So, I will give you a quick photo update of Christmas and then get back to the regularly scheduled programming. I hope that you all had a great Christmas and that you are busy setting goals and planning parties for the New Year!

Traditional Christmas breakfast at our house. I don't know how it started, but oreos and hot chocolate are seriously all we eat Christmas morning. 

Is that sushi for Christmas dinner?  Yup. This one isn't so traditional. We decided that after Thanksgiving we were ready for something besides turkey and potatoes. 

I tried to get my family to do a band photo (you know, every band just stares at the camera in an effort to look infinitely cool). I love all of these people SO MUCH!

This is my stocking. I have had it since I can remember. It is always bitter-sweet seeing it as a grown up.

This is my favorite gift that I gave. My niece loves Justin Bieber. I love to feed  that love.  That is what a good auntie does. We are trying to make Bieber faces in this picture.  You can be jealous if you want to. 

This is my favorite gift that I got.  It gets dark early here and now I can run without getting hit by cars! YAY!  I got several great running gifts and it made me feel super legit to know that my family has caught on that this something that I love. :) 

Hope you had a very Merry Christmas! 

Happy Christmas to Me!

So, finals ended a couple of days ago, and I am just now resurfacing into the normal world again.  As soon as I shut the computer on my last take home final, I grabbed my keys and drove away from this crazy place.  My dear friend, The Blur, had a layover in Salt Lake and so I headed up there to spend an hour or so with her before she caught her connecting flight home for the holidays. After our visit I drove another hour or so up to Logan where I found respite at the home of one of my very best friends who I certainly do not get to see as much as I would like. 


We spent the whole weekend doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Nothing included taking in Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in the new Sherlock Holmes flick, making our traditional stop at the Olive Garden, and watching too many chick flicks to mention, as it might be embarrassing to tell you that we were in for the night at 7:30 and more than happy to curl up with the likes of Josh Duhamel, among others . It may also be embarrassing to tell you that I spelled his name correctly on the first try. Yeah. Not sure if I should be proud of that.  


Anyway, the weekend was a total success and speaking of success, I rocked an incredible 9 miler Saturday morning.  It was 15 degrees out and once again my water froze in my hydration belt. SERIOUSLY? Seriously - you're not hardcore unless you live hardcore. I had a good looking half-inch boarder of frost on my hood when I came in. Running in Florida is going to be so blasted easy! 


Some of the best news of the week was that when I finally got home from Logan there was a package waiting for me in the mail! As a part of Jill's @ Run with Jill secret Santa runner gift swap I got an AWESOME water bottle from Heather @ Just a Colorado Gal. (PS besides that fact that she is totally adorable - you should check out her blog cause she is having an Aspaeris compression shorts giveaway. Those things are the bomb. Get you some now!)   


Here is a picture of my water bottle.  It is very possible that I carry it with me everywhere. It says "I run like a girl. Try to keep up." Talk about hardcore. Not only is it super cute, but it makes me look way cooler than I could ever claim to be on my own. 

Yes, our tiny tree is decorated with sticks of Shaun White gum. I have mentioned that we are in grad school, haven't I? 

Thanks a million Heather, I hope that you have a great Christmas! And Merry Christmas to all of you out in the blogosphere. I hope that Santa brings you everything on your list!

Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday!

Guess what came in the email today?! There is only one month left until the WDW Half Marathon! I am really excited.  REALLY. EXCITED. I can't believe that this is finally going to happen.  I keep imagining how I am going to feel when I cross that finish line and let me tell you what, if it feels half as good as I think it is going to...it is going to feel very good. 

In other awesomeness, my roommate and I discovered this video as we were in the midst of last week of classes stress this week. I have loved the song since it came out, but somehow had missed how absolutely delightful Andy Grammer is. Wow. Seriously. Who knew? And if you knew, why didn't you tell me earlier? If you didn't know, just click on the video below and let the weekend begin. As for me, I am going to go procrastinate my finals for a bit...

PS My 8 miler is scheduled for tomorrow. I am entering unfamiliar territory. This will be my longest run ever! Yikes! Put good things out in the universe for me!

What do you watch or listen to when you need cheering up or just when you need a break from the world?

LAST WEEK OF CLASSES!

Yup. That's about it. 

Just buried in my computer and the pile of ethics reading that I have to make up before 8:00am tomorrow :)

Looking forward to running 4 miles tonight is about all that is keeping me going.



Dear Running,


Thank you for keeping me sane.


Love,

Jennica


Dear Training Schedule,

Thank you for making me run when I don't think I have the time, and therefore keeping me sane.

Love,

Jennica

Nutrition is not a bad idea

I woke up this morning and the first thing I had planned to do was to head out for my long run. I finished half a power bar and half a piece of peanut butter toast for some quick fuel and then I looked out the window. It had snowed. I suddenly didn't feel quite so inclined to lace up my shoes and get out in the thick of it. Honestly, my biggest worry was ice. As I live in Utah, I figured that everything would melt if I just waited a bit, but I ended up waiting about 3 hours. Between homework and chatting with my roommates, it just took a little longer than I thought to get out the door. 

I left and started out slow, not wanting to burn out at the beginning of my run. But that slow start lead to a slow middle, and a slow end. I simply had no energy to move any faster than my painfully slow pace.  I didn't get it, I got plenty of sleep last night, and I had eaten so healthy yesterday. Then it dawned on me, I had eaten practically nothing this morning. I have still been getting over a cold and my appetite has been the last thing to come back. So, after waiting so long to start my run, I simply hadn't realized that I would be running on an empty tank! 

I powered through the run, and finished my mileage, but it was a poor excuse for a run. More like a 7 mile slow jog. Oh well. I think that sometimes we take our bodies for granted. We forget that we need to treat them well and give them a little respect for all that they do for us - especially when we are asking them to go on long runs on Saturday mornings! It is vital that we stay well hydrated and well fueled. Lesson learned. Again :)

I will tell you this, I spent most of the rest of the day pampering myself. I had to try to make up that morning to me, right? What is your favorite thing to do to be nice to yourself? 

THE DREADMILL!

In training for my first half, I fear that I will hit the peak of my training right when the snow comes. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind (actually I kinda dig) running in the cold, but the ice just will not do! This girl has sprained her ankles 4 too many times to tempt fate with black ice. So tonight I headed back to the gym to take my run indoors. I figure that if I go back to the treadmill of my own free will and choice, it won't be as bad as if I am forced inside on a Saturday and have to struggle through a long run after a 5 month hiatus from the tready. Now, I will say that some of my misery came from the fact that the only thing on the tv at the gym was the 6:00 news, but I know that wasn't all. The treadmill KILLS me when I haven't been on it for a long time. It seriously takes some getting used to. I fought with the silly thing and cursed the heavens through 4 very messy miles, but ended up deciding that I should probably just be grateful that I have somewhere to go when the weather gets contrary. So here is my list of why I am thankful for treadmills:

I am grateful for the treadmill because:

I don't have to wear multiple layers in the winter
I don't have to worry about black ice
I don't have to worry about traffic
I can watch tv while I run (next time I am going to make sure I have something cool on my ipod to watch)
I can set my pace and then forget about it
I don't have to carry water

That is about it for now. Are any of you grateful for treadmills? I would love to hear why! I could use some more treadmill love in my life!