He Is Mighty To Save

As I was on my lunchtime run this afternoon, enjoying the "cool" 81 degree weather, the song "Mighty to Save" came on.  I don't remember adding that to my running mix, but I was glad for my "mistake" and the train of thought it led to while I was huffing and puffing.

Just those three opening words:
"Everyone needs compassion"

I could stop there.  Everybody that you see/meet/know needs compassion. Even that person you avoid or ignore or constantly roll your eyes out.  They too have an innate need for compassion.

My husband's sermon this week was about obedience and included a challenge to do something small this week... whether it be extra prayer time, reading a little more of the Bible, or being patient with someone.  I got a tinge of what my "small thing" might be this morning at work, and my run just confirmed it.

I need to be kind where I am reluctant to do so.

Part of how I know is because of my reluctance.  When you [read: I] are doing something that you wish you didn't have to or think "mm yeah, not this time," you should check yourself, especially if it's something like extending kindness or compassion to someone.

I'm really picking this song apart but the chorus/main theme of the song is, "My God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save." 

Do you get it?  [Might: great and impressive power of strength.]  It sometimes takes a lot for me to be kind to someone that I don't have great impressions of.  You could say it takes a lot of might.  But God is mighty to save.  That means that He looks down on this broken, sinful world, full of people constantly running from their Creator, and even though we fight Him, He uses all of his might to love us.  He has compassion on us.  He saves us.

He is mighty to save.

My Blogging Dilemma

This morning I was going through some of my old tweets, and recounting past memories.  Then, I was trying to remember what I did for New Year's Eve 2012.  I could not for the life of me remember what I did!  Then Manda tweeted at me asking if I had blogged about it.  (No, I hadn't.)  And then, after jogging my brain for a few minutes, I remembered. (I went to Billy Bob's with Paula and we saw Chris Young perform, if you're curious.)

From the NYE in question.

So this made me think about why I don't blog more often.

My problem is that I view blogging like journaling.  If I'm going to take the time to sit and write out an occurrence or event, I want to remember all the details, and frankly that's not for everyone to read.  I want to respect other people, my husband, my family, my friends, and myself.  Especially now, with the added title of "Priest's Wife," I want to be mindful of privacy.

Best day ever.

I want to share my frustrations, the highs and the lows, the good, the bad... all of it!  But I can't. (Well technically I could, but I won't.)

Also, I'm too scatter-brained to stay on one topic.  I could possibly designate a day for each topic, but I'm definitely not type-A and therefore not motivated to do anything like that.  (Which frustrates me because I admire so many other bloggers out there who can blog all week about DIY and home happenings and I try to compare myself to them... which is unhealthy.)  I also don't always feel like taking pictures of what I want to talk about or organizing them.  Therefore, this is my blog and I'll do what I want.  :)

I want to do a post of before/afters of our apartment...
once we get to the "after" stage!

Things I want to blog about:

-Wife Life
-My cat, Bella
-My job  
-Food
-Fitness
-Adventures
-Future dreams
-Photography


I also don't want to do this for people to read, because if I have that mindset I'll get a little hurt when people don't read it, but for those of you that do read... thank you!

Wife Life: Last Name Limbo

Amy Polley Amy Polley Amy Polley.

I have to keep reminding myself that I have a new last name, as made official by the US Social Security Office!  I will, however, keep my blog URL and website/photography company as Amy E. Frost, mostly because A- I don't want to go through the hassle of changing my domain and B- Amy Polley, Amy Polley Photography, Amy E. Polley, etc. are all taken and C- It's part of my email address and Lord knows that's in too many places and more of a pain than necessary, I believe, and D- I still want to cling to Frost, if just in some areas.

What does it mean to be a wife?  Surprisingly, this is today's verse of the day:  "A wife of noble character, who can find? She is worth far more than rubies." - Proverbs 31:10

I also read this today: "He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord." - Proverbs 18:22

...is this what a wife looks like??

Parts of me still feel like I'm playing "house" or "pretend" and it's all giggles and fantasies.  I'm sure it will come with time and life events and shared experiences, but I just have to note for historical purposes that it's weird!!

What I hope and pray for right now is that I will be a good wife to Mark, support him and love him and comfort him and help him to be the man that he is supposed to be, and to help guide and not hinder him from God's will for his/our life.

Don't get me wrong, I am still very much a Frost.  It kind of hurts to not have that as my last name anymore, but that doesn't mean that I'm losing that part of me.  I'm taking everything that has made me into a Frost, determination, loyalty, overwhelming love, lightheartedness, (a love for margaritas!!), and so much more, into being a Polley.

So, as of now, we've only been married 31 days and it feels weird.  Like an identity crisis in the best way possible.  Everything has changed, but it will just get better.

And praise be to God who made it all happen, and gave me the most incredible family to raise me to be a woman (that word weirds me out) lady with the potential to be a great wife, and who will continue to support me and help me grow into this weird new identity, even though I won't have the same last name anymore.

I feel like this post has been really strange, but that's just where I'm at for the moment!  Weird last name limbo.  I love my family, I love Mark, I love being a Frost and I love being a Polley!

Addicted

Hi.  My name is Amy, and I'm addicted to chips.

No, not CHiPs...

source

CHIPS.

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I'm that girl that crunches on her chips at her desk and probably annoys her coworkers but can't resist the crunchy, salty, delicious taste of chips.

I probably knew I had a problem back when I used to eat tortilla chips at Plato Loco with BUTTER on them, but I think it really set in this past week.  I ran out of my snack-sized bags of chips and I decided I wasn't going to buy any as a way to try and use the groceries I already have lying around.

For what it's worth, I get the Smart Mix

I tried to substitute them with roasted chickpeas.

Sample recipe

Although they are delicious, and when cooked right have that same satisfying crunch, they're no chips.

I did something I probably shouldn't have done last Friday.  I went to the Dallas Rock and Roll expo on an empty stomach, with the hope that the samples would be in abundance and suffice as my lunch.

Then I found the mecca.

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With my mouth still full of some other treat (I think a protein bar?) I saw where they were handing out small bags of chips.  The Better Chip, to be exact.  I grabbed a bag of the spinach & kale chips, and with my mouth still somewhat full (I'm a classy lady), asked the guy where I could get them.  "I'm sorry, what?"  I repeated the question after chewing a few more times.  "Oh! HEB, Central Market, Whole Foods..." Excellent.

At the time I was just being a polite sampler.  Not wanting to just grab a bag and go, I wanted to act like I was genuinely interested and not just starving.  So glad I did, because they were DELICIOUS.  OH man. Salty, vegetable goodness.  I might be drooling just thinking about it.

Fast forward to today.  I made the mistake adventured to Central Market on my lunch break.  I was almost out of fruit and I wanted to see if they had THE chips.  After traipsing through the aisles, almost guilting myself into buying a $13 bag of huge honeycrisp apples (seriously?? for FIVE), I made it to the chip aisle.

As I was looking for the delicious chips, I found these:

Olde Cape Cod Popped Crisps source

They had set out a sampling station so you could scarf your face sample at your leisure.  Heaven.  I broke sampling etiquette and went back three or four times.  And then decided to just buy a bag.

Well, I looked and looked but could not find The Better Chip.  SAD DAY.  So I paid for my consolation prize and left.

If that was the end of the story though it wouldn't be worthy of the title.

I just got on to the Dallas Rock and Roll website, looked up their vendors (because I couldn't remember the name of the company), searched for "chip" and found The Better Chip.  Clicked on their website and BINGO.  I clicked on the "where to buy" button, to make sure local groceries have them, and it claims that Central Market does.

Don't worry though, there's a link that reads, "No chips in your store?" which I promptly clicked on and filled out the form because it's not just about store awareness, it's about the free bag of chips I'll get in the mail because of it!!  Yes!

It was when I saw this screen that I realized I miiight have a problem:

Yes.  I did just save the letter and will print and take it to both Central Market and Kroger.  My name is Amy, and I'm addicted to chips.

Choose your words

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This might be my most unpopular post to date, but I have to say something.

Please, people, stop using the word "Thinspiration."

Please.

It's no secret I'm an avid blog reader, as well as a lover of teen fiction, so my inner teenager got a tumblr a couple of years ago.  Scrolling through blogs quickly showed me this new phenomenon of "thinspiration"... pictures posted by girls of what they want to look like.

More digging showed more pictures of girls with bones sticking out, tips on how to fast, an obsession with getting a "thigh gap," and so much more, all linked to "thinspiration" or "thinspo."

Do you know what happens when you look up "thinspiration" on Wikipedia?  A definition of pro-ana and pro-mia, or pro-anorexic and pro-bulimia.  The very WORD promotes eating disorders.  

It is heart-breaking.  Most of these girls are teenagers.

I felt a little better when I started finding the healthier alternative in "fitspiration" which promotes a fit and active lifestyle with a balanced, healthy diet. The problem with this is still the images that girls post as their "fitspiration!"  They're still aspiring to look/be like someone that they aren't.

The other downfall of this is the unhealthy obsession with getting fit.  It can take over your mind and lead to disordered thoughts.  It can mean "punishing" yourself for having too many cookies with an extra 500 push-ups.  (Although this is more like exercise anorexia.)

I am not a nutritionist.  I am not a doctor.  I am not an expert on this. 

All I'm saying is to choose your words.



On a lighter note, I used to use the word "redonkulous" all the time and apparently my mom picked up on it and used it in conversation one day.  This was met by an unknowing party who exclaimed something along the lines of, "Do you even KNOW what that MEANS?!" (Drama added, I'm sure.) So my mom was left wondering what on earth her daughter had taught her.  (The word is just an exaggeration of ridiculous, completely harmless.)

Point being, I know a lot of you probably have no idea what I'm talking about, could care less, or won't come across a situation with this, but I wanted to put it out there.

Rant over.  You are beautiful, people. Every last one of you.

100 Days!!

In 100 days I will be getting married to the one my heart loves!

The to-do list is slowly dwindling down (allegedly) and the wedding dreams are getting a little more relaxed. hahaha.

I just had one last night that I saw Mark as I was hurrying to finish getting ready but I was okay about it because I wasn't in my dress yet, and I also had the feeling that I didn't care about anything else at that point!

I've had others... like how I started walking down the aisle and had to wave to the organist to start playing music, got to the front and nobody else was up there so I decided to do it again, etc.

Big shoutout to my mom who I'm pretty convinced will become an official wedding planner after this is over! She helped plan my sister's wedding and then 4 months later started planning mine.  She has always been a great deal-finder and I love seeing how excited she gets when she finds a good deal with a vendor or some decorative detail!  The words "thank you" don't seem to be sufficient!!  (And there's the fact that I probably don't say them enough because this stresses me out so much.  Sorry, Ma.)

I for one am not a planner.  No thank you.  I'm trying to be... at least where organization and lists are concerned, and more importantly with budgeting, but I feel like I'm fighting the inner fiber of my being.  haha. (So dramatic.)

[Edit:  I'd like to add that on my theknot.com checklist there's "Start a Beauty Regimen"... which for me means not biting my nails. hahaha]

But, back to the heart of the matter.

I can't wait to marry the guy who is smart, funny, loves Jesus, loves my weirdness and quirks, can be just as awkward (Markward) as me, encourages me, and loves me.  Please pray for us as we work our way toward a God-centered marriage.

100 days!!

The Big Day! Part 1

...I suppose I have another big day coming up soon but for now I'm talking about the marathon. :)

The whole weekend was a little bizarre.  It came out of nowhere and felt incredibly surreal.  Wait, we're driving to Austin?  So I can run a marathon?  It's almost my birthday?  ...What??

Yeah.  Strange.

My dad and I have had a few conversations about electrolytes and how he uses Elete drops in his water for his electrolyte replacement, and how doing that the day before is what really matters because it's preparing your body for the loss.  So I used some in a water bottle (you can't taste it really) on the way down.

By the time we stopped at the Oasis on Lake Travis for lunch, my hands were swollen.  ... I guess it was working!

For lunch I had a chicken wrap, and dinner later I had butternut squash ravioli with a chicken breast. and some of my dad's fries.  okay a lot.

My dad and I went for a little warm-up run to try and see what some of the hills would be like, but we didn't really get far enough out to experience them.  It was still a nice little 2-miler though, and I always enjoy running with my dad!

As expected, I hardly slept that night.  I woke up around 5:50 and started getting ready.

All the "oh crap this is really happening" feelings hit me as I was fumbling to get my hair in a ponytail and situate my bib.  Hand's shaking.  Trying to breathe.  Trying to think if I was forgetting anything.

Things on me:
-NB shoes
-Feetures socks
-BodyGlide... all over my feet, thighs, ribs
-Target running capris
-Nike top (one of my faves)
-Amphipod arm band that holds my phone
-SPI belt that I turned into a tutu!! (using a tutorial like this one, minus the elastic band since that's what the SPI belt is)
-Birthday Girl headband... that surprisingly stayed on the entire race!
-5 packs of GU

I didn't take a water bottle because I knew that the water stops would be frequent enough to not have one.  I also wore gloves and a zip-up jacket to the start line and tossed the jacket to my dad at mile 3.


My dad walked me to the starting line and I was really glad to have his company.  Why did I decide to do this alone?  

We got to the starting line around 6:57ish, right before we were supposed to be starting.  I wasn't worried about it though, I knew that I wouldn't get to the actual starting line for another 20 minutes or so.  (Which gave my dad time to walk back to the hotel and grab my mom for where they would see me first.)

I had my jacket on at this point, but I had already given my gloves to my dad before he left.  I took my time walking to the start to save as much energy as possible, and then took off, starting my running app and "Insurgent" (thanks to Mark who got my an iTunes gift card for Valentine's Day!).

Here we go!

...quite possibly the weirdest picture of me in the history of ever.  I'll blame the "7 a.m. waiting by myself to run" factor.

Survey

Going to work on my marathon recap, but first!! a survey!!  Please take 5 seconds to take this!! Thank you!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

My First Crack at #CRAK

So my first #CRAK came up all on its own, but wasn't all that random.

The Pier 1 Imports home office was having a blood drive on Ash Wednesday, and I had beefed up on my B12 just for the occasion.  :)  (I have a deficiency and it affects my iron or "hemoglobin" levels which they test for.)

If you know me well enough you've heard me talk about giving blood every chance I get because of knowing what it can do for someone.  Commercials for the American Red Cross or Carter talk about how one blood donation can save up to 3 lives, but it can prolong one too.

My dad's mom, my Mammaw, had Leukemia, which is a blood cancer.  Any sort of treatment like radiation or chemotherapy would have just taken her from us faster than the disease, so she relied on blood transfusions.  Instantly they would perk her up and give us back our grandma.

She lost her battle with Leukemia early in the morning of February 15, 2008.

Wasn't she a babe??

When I started considering long distance running, I didn't want to run just to run.  I wanted it to have a purpose.  And then, by chance, I was at the Southwest health fair and Team in Training had a booth set up.  It was just what I was looking for!

I called them up immediately and the girl on the phone kept trying to let me know that I could have time to decide if I wanted to commit to training/fundraising but I was 100% sure I wanted to.

I got to spend a summer training with my sister and then running in San Francisco in my first half marathon in memory of my Mammaw.  I also raised $2,810 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society with the help of many many friends, family members, and acquaintances.

So obviously, I love the woman.  And I miss her so much.  Long story short, cancer SUCKS and it sucks more when it takes someone you love away from you.

When you donate blood you might be helping someone else's grandma or grandpa or family member or child have a little more time with their family... for free.  That is the ultimate kindness.

5 days!

The countdown is on!! 5 days until I lace up and hit the streets of Austin for my second full marathon.

Collection of thoughts...

-What am I going to wear?
-Is the weather going to be crappy like it has for all my long runs?
-I need to make my tutu
-...or something else that shows it's my birthday
-What am I going to eat the night before?
-What am I going to eat on race day?
-Is it sad that I'm already looking forward to my GU Chomps??
-No, not sad at all, those things are delicious.
-I can't wait to start Insurgent!!
-I'm ready to be done running on the treadmill during the week
-I'm ready to be done training
-I'm ready to start doing some other fitness plan
-I'm hungry
-Need carbs

-What mistakes will I make?
-What unnecessary things will I have? (Last time I had a trashbag... that I tried to put on a little too late and just got frustrated with.)
-How are those hills going to feel?

-Will my ankles look like this again?  (Sidenote, I'm sorry if this picture grosses you out the millions of times I reference it, it just makes me feel hardcore.)

-How will I feel at this point?  (Mile 20, where the "wall" typically hits.)

-What other crazy stories will I have?
-...Will I want to run another one?

*Somebody please slap me if I say I want to run another full marathon within the next year. Please.

....No wait, don't.  I might want to.


Looking forward to the adventure!!

#CRAK

image from here

Sorry, had to throw a little Mean Girls reference in there.

Amy... What does CRAK stand for?!

I'm so glad you asked.

It's an acronym for Christian Random Acts of Kindness! 

The girls’ Bible study I’m a part of came up with this list of Random Acts of Kindness (RAKs) to complete during Lent.  We had been inspired by sites/ideas such as #26acts and me personally by Dana of Make Them Wonder.  We would love if you joined us in this challenge! 

If there is anything you can take a picture of, or if you want to tweet about your RAK, tag it on Instagram/Twitter with #CRAK.  Spread the kindness!


Starting sometime on/after Ash Wednesday (February 13th) I will be blogging about my personal journey with this as well as whatever I get from the other girls.  :) 

Download file here!

And, a little kindness verse for you:

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. -Colossians 3:12

Have fun!!

2013 Resolutions!

So I've been putting some thought into my 2013 resolutions and I thought I'd give myself a month to really think about it and focus on what I'd like to do/have done/be doing by the end of this year and really it all came down to one idea...

Just relax. 


Seriously.  My marathon is in 13 days, my sister's 30th birthday is in 68 days, my wedding is in 124, and there are so many to-do lists between and following these dates.  So honestly I just need to calm down and let life happen.

Relaxing things to do in 2013:

-Schedule time with no social activities 
-Take more bubble baths
-Read read read
-Read the Bible (already in Deuteronomy!)
-Take more "just because" pictures

But also maaaaybe convince my dad to run a half marathon with me.  :)

[I'm addicted.]

2013, let's be friends.

20 miles

Less than 3 weeks, people.

I know I haven't updated in a while.  Don't worry, I have excuses.  (I know you were concerned.)

So what I failed to mention in my last post was the stomach bug.  I ran my 18 miles on the 12th and then on the 14th I caught some sort of nasty 24-hour stomach bug. I can't remember the last time I was that sick.  Seriously.  It was horrible.  Just my luck to have to call in sick during my second week of my new job.  And there's probably nothing more humbling than throwing up in your coffee mug while driving home.  (Yup that went straight to the trash.)

Thankfully I have a ton of amazing friends who were willing to help me in my time of need, a fiance who brought my gatorade and comfort, and a saintly sister who stocked me up with soup, crackers, bananas, and applesauce. (BRAT diet anyone?)

So needless to say I missed some running that week.  I did run that Wednesday, Thursday, and I think Friday, but I again didn't do my long run, which was supposed to be 12 miles.  Instead I decided to make up for it by trying to run ~20 miles throughout the next week to prepare for the longest and most important long run.

Sunday the 20th I ran 7 miles, and then I spent some time on the treadmill throughout the week.  (I think I did 4/5/3 miles? But since it was on the treadmill I don't have it recorded.)

And then my shining moment came on Saturday.  I actually did my long run somewhere other than my neighborhood.

Yes, you read that right.  After all my griping I finally headed out to White Rock and did 2 loops plus 2 miles.  20 miles baby. Averaged 10:18/mile... more than I wanted but at least I got 'er done.

My excuses for that include taking a while to get started so I could get to the right place in my audio book, and having to stop to take a rock out of my shoe.  OH!  and stopping to take a look at these:

 

Those are Monk Parakeets!  There was probably 5 or so of them along the trail.  Little cuties!

Also, I'm currently listening to Divergent by Veronica Roth

Buy it on Amazon!

It was recommended to me by my friend Megan, I believe (thanks Megan!!).  It's on the list of books that you're supposed to like if you loved The Hunger Games trilogy... which I DID.  I'm loving this right now!  And it's a trilogy so if I finish it before my marathon I can start on the next one!  Perfect.

Anyway, that's enough over-sharing for today.  :)

Stay away from stomach bugs.  Do your long runs.

Best. Long Run. Ever.

18 miles.

First of all, is anyone getting sick of this yet?? I know I am!! Come on February 17th!!

Anyway.

So long runs are... long.  (Obviously)  I was estimating this one to be around 3 hours.  That's a long time to listen to the same playlist or just music in general.  So this time I decided to download an audio book. 

Best decision ever. 

I was looking through the featured audio books on iTunes and found "The Art of Racing in the Rain," which a friend had raved about and sounded really good, AND it was raining outside... Perfect!  The run-time was around 6 hours so I figured I could divide it up between long runs.

Well, the book ended up being so good that I finished listening to it 2 days later.  SO GOOD.

Seriously, read it!

I averaged a 10:46 pace for my 16 miler, and for this run I averaged 10:21.  I would love for my pace to average out to 10 minutes/mile... and I think it will be more attainable come race day because:

1- I'm teaching myself how to "GU" while I run (instead of walking) and
2- I won't have to wait at any stop lights!!*

Listening to this book made it easier for me to just keep running and not stop to walk as much (minus the 50,000 intersection lights), and it just didn't feel like such a chore!

*Side note: This is exactly why I should quit running in my neighborhood and run around White Rock or the Trinity Trails. 

Back to the book... it's written from the perspective of a dog and it is hilariously entertaining, heartfelt, and exciting.  I cannot recommend this book enough...  Especially if you have a dog!  Of course it has its sad parts, but you know they're coming from the first chapter of the book.  I did tear up while running a few times though, I'm sure that was a sight. ;)

So after my run I rinsed off, changed, and went to try wedding cake.  haha.  What a treat.

8 miler

This wasn't a very significant run, except for the fact that I skipped another long run.  Oopsy.

I did this 8-miler on the Tuesday following the missed run.  (I skipped it because I was out at camp, yet again, and just too busy to fit in 12 miles.)

This run... was fantastic.

Yes, you read that right, I referred to running as fantastic.

My splits were beautiful.

• SPLITS

MILE	TIME	CHANGE	AVG PACE
1	9:25	--	9'25"/mi
2	19:01	+ 0:10 (-2%)	9'36"/mi
3	28:35	- 0:01 (0%)	9'34"/mi
4	39:06	+ 0:56 (-10%)	10'30"/mi
5	48:47	- 0:50 (7%)	9'40"/mi
6	58:20	- 0:07 (1%)	9'33"/mi
7	1:08:59	+ 1:05 (-12%)	10'39"/mi
8 *Fastest	1:18:05	- 1:33 (14%)	9'05"/mi

Look at that!! My fastest mile was my last!! And I have good excuses for long 4th and 7th miles!  4th:  Trying to figure out where I should turn and if I could go up farther before I turned, and 7th because I was busy playing a game called, "It's a dark and stormy night and I can't find the sidewalk."

It poured down rain at some parts.  And it was glorious.  I powered through.  I might have even pictured myself going at warp speed at one point when the rain coming down, illuminated by the street lights, looked a lot like the set of Star Trek.

(Yes, I just nerded out that much.)


New favorite running items:  the North Face running jacket my dad gave me for Christmas (glorious), and a hat.  Who knew a hat would be such a life saver?? (Answer: A lot of people, but I'm just now catching up!)

And then.  There was THIS:

That, friends, is the most painful toe cramping I have EVER experienced.  It came out of nowhere, and then it wouldn't go away.  (I'm thinking maybe I didn't hydrate enough during my run?  I'm unsure.)  The first time it caught me off guard, but then no matter what I did it wasn't going away.  Hot shower.  Standing up.  Toughing it out.  Pulling my toes back into position temporarily relieved the agony.

Yes, I bit my lip long enough to get a picture mid-cramp before promptly grabbing my foot and pulling the toes back to where they should be.  

Horrible.  At one point it hurt so bad my eyes actually welled up with tears.

DRINK WATER, PEOPLE.  Replace your electrolytes.  And eat your bananas.

NYE Not so Sweet 16

This. Long Run.  Sucked.

I don’t know how else to say it.  There is no other way to say it.  Who wants to run 16 miles on New Year’s Eve?  Not me!  But since I procrastinated my long run, yet again, there I was.  For 2 hours and 52 minutes.  Running.  And running. 

In order to avoid having to come up with a path or getting too far out or not far enough, I just ran on the same sidewalk for 8 miles, then proceeded to turn around, and head back.

Disgusting. 

My first mile was 8:55 and my last was 12:37.

Also disgusting. 

It was cold.  Rainy.  Grueling.  Boring.  And yes, disgusting.

Whatever.  I finished.

And then I went and had a fabulous NYE.  Boom. Shaka. Laka. 

2012 In Review

College retreat 2012!

Olympic marathon trials to watch Matt! 

Roger Creager!

Visited Flat Creek Vineyard. 

Snuggie pub crawl!

About to get an ultrasound of my neck. Weird.

I'm awkward on camera.

Won my age group!

Valentine's Day trip to Houston!

Painted on my wall! :)

Had to drive from Phoenix to Las Vegas.

25th birthday in Vegas!

Stumbled upon a red carpet!

Worked a water station!

Took a flower arrangement class

Designed the Pilot hiring brochure

Packed up my apartment, yet again, in the 'burb!

Got ready for a first date ;)

Got to see a dear friend get married!

Witnessed the 800 reveal!

Prepared for the Hunger Games movie! 

Hiked in Ruidoso

Moved home again 

Worked the ramp in Vegas

Showed this cutie how to use Instagram

Stalked Met one of my favorite bloggers, Elsie!!!

Met this cutie and formed a great relationship with his momma!

Practiced childlike faith!

Got to stand next to my Little at her wedding! 

Shot a lot of gorgeous weddings!

Met Screech! 

Partied in Vegas some more!

Was a part of this couple's special day!

Experienced the craziest hail storm I've ever seen. 

Got to counsel at Senior High!

Went to NOLA for the first time!

Cafe Du Monde!

America

Pat Green!

Road trip to Austin!

Met Pudge!

Sister's wedding!!

First plane ride together!

Florida!

Laureen's bachelorette party!

Hot chicks reunited!

   

Met a sloth!

Played dress up! :)

GARY KELLY!!

Went to San Juan... for 15 minutes!

Took my Aggie to Okie-land!

Visited Pi Beta!

Got "hit by a car" :)

Started training again, and this blog!

Visited Red Velvet!

Visited the center of the universe!

Chinese lantern festival!

Witnessed/shot this proposal!

Frosty Trot!

Mark's first 5K!

Tree lighting in FTW.

Got to go inside Poolie!

Studied Esther!

Realized the greatness of cherry sours.

GOT ENGAGED!!

AHHHH!

Found a new talent after all!

Got my wedding dress! (lolz, this isn't it sillies)

Dressed up my cat!

White Christmas!

So I was looking through all the pictures on my phone and it really hit me what all I did this past year.  So. many. good. things.  And the pictures above are just the tip of the iceberg.  I traveled a lot, grew spiritually, fell in love, and just had an amazing year.

(Also if you're wondering about the ultrasound picture, apparently I have a weird-shaped neck that makes doctors think something's wrong with my thyroid.  Welp, turns out just a weird-shaped neck.)

I got to be a maid of honor for three amazing friends, one of which was my sister, and I'm so glad I got to share their special day right next to them!

Such a great year!!  I'm so pumped for 2013 already.  New job, second full marathon (EEK), more bridesmaid fun, marrying the most amazing man I know, moving to Fort Worth (hopefully), and hopefully traveling and plenty of good times!  Bring on the adventures!!