Firsts & Lasts

First- Running
I didn't want to go running last Thursday. I wanted to stay in and keep away from the cold and the sidewalks I knew would be icey and unplowed, but I thought, what the heck. So I went. And I had fun catching up with my great friend, Chelsea. We ended up doing four miles, and walking a bit of it, but as long as I'm getting out there, I'm happy! I got hometo receive some bad news (more on that in a sec), showered, and went to bed.
It wasn't until sometime Saturday morning that I realized I had been right all along. I shouldn't have gone out. The cold had caught me and I was now sick. Bah Humbug.
But four miles is still four miles and I a chain of awesomeness to attend to. My four chains read as follows:

Sweating Beauty
Run like there's a hot guy in front of you and a creepy dude behind you.
When there is no enemy within, the enemies  outside cannot hurt you.
What defines us is how well we rise after fallin.

Last- Citrus AKA Cit Bit Bitter Butt

I came home from the run, pretty proud that I had ventured out into the cold. Then I was given the news that my little angel, Citrus, had passed away. Now, this isn't something to be sad about (although I did, obviously, cry). She had a wonderful life and I am so glad I was able to spend the last 15 years with her. RIP my little Citty Bitty Angel Baby! I hope you have fun killing birds in heaven!

Runs Can Wait

Tomorrow at 10am is the first race that I am registered for in 2014. I'm super bummed because I've been fighting a cold for two weeks and it's supposed to be rainy. And in the 30's. I have no intentions of getting sick if I can help it, so I'm going to skip my race.

In other news, I've decided that I'm not going to weigh myself until the end of my companies challenge. I want to be able to feel the change, not just see it on a scale. I figure, no matter how much I weigh, what matters is how I feel about myself. So, this is getting off to a slower start than I had hoped for, but that isn't going to get me down.

In other, other news, I just finished a 45 minute workout. 30 minutes on the machine and 15 minutes working my arms. All from the comfort of my own home. Now for kitty cuddles, and and baths with bubbles <3

Paper Chain Dreamz

I want to be healthy. I want to be healthy so bad it makes me cry some nights. The big problem is, I lack the motivation. I miss how it feels to run but that still doesn't change the fact that I don't do it. As I was trying to come up with a plan of action to motivate myself, I thought of what helped when I was a child.

 Paper chains. 

I mean, think about it. Is Christmas coming? Who knows, let's make a paper chain and find out! Are you having a birthday soon? Well, I think so, but I would know for sure if I had a paper chain to tear apart every day. Is it the last day of school? Ugh, no, still five links on that damn thing!

So I took that idea and I elaborated on it. I grabbed a ton of colored paper (because yes, as a 28 year old woman, I do still keep a large stock of colored craft paper at my desk) and I cut it into random sized pieces. 

I didn't count how many pieces of paper I had, or how many little strips I was cutting. I just cut, because I was leaving my goals up to fate.

For 2014, I decided I would run as many miles (more if I can!) as the number of links I'd made, but first, I would have to do something with the pieces of paper. So I wrote on them.

I wrote inspirational quotes. "A healthy outside starts from the inside."

I wrote goals to keep on top of the running. "Do a 30 day squat challenge."

I wrote what I like to call the "Oh No's!" which means once I run and I pull the link off there is a possibility that I still have more to do with my workout. "100 crunches."

And of course, I rewarded myself. "You've won a small DQ Blizzard!" (I'm really looking forward to the rewards)

Each time that I run a mile, I pull a chain off. Whatever is written on the paper, I will have to do or reflect on. I didn't organize them in any way, so if I run 4 miles one night, I may have to do 4 "oh no's" that night, too. (I maybe should have thought that part through a wee bit more.)

I have to say. I'm pretty thrilled for this. I mean, what grown up doesn't want to have a paper chain reminiscent of their six year old self just chillin' around the house? The lame ones, that's who. 

So I wrote. And I stapled. And I built a glorious chain.

You know what the end results looks like? It looks like 493 miles and I'm ready for it.

Welcome to my 2014, where I will run at least 493 miles, do more crunches than I've done the rest of my life and hopefully eat a blizzard or five.

"Begin, the rest is easy."

Puppy-puppy play time!!

The snow is deep and my doggies are glad for that. So many people are complaining about the snow, but heck! I'm enjoying this impromptu snow day and cuddles from all of my adorable animals.

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. I really can't get over my dogs face in the first two. 

I LOVE SNOW!

 Such happy puppies!

We can't be bothered with this winter nonsense! Hmph!

I look forward to more posts this year. I'm excited to get to run a race with one of my good friends from elementary school in July, among other things! I can tell this year is going to rock!