Fashionably Late

It's probably more than obvious I've fallen off the blogging bandwagon for the last month. I've also been terrible about reading blog posts, but I'm determined to catch up!

The lovely and inspiring Jessica of A Student Runner's Blog left me this little gift... 

I'm completely flattered - stylish is something I aspire to, but feel I never quite attain. (Hence my current hairstyle. I'll totally post a picture as soon as I figure out how to manage its new awesomeness.)

So, here's the rules... the recipient needs to:

1.  Write a post and link back to the person who awarded this award.
2.  Share 7 random things about yourself.
3.  Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
4.  Contact these bloggers and tell them they’ve won!

1. I didn't eat anything but Ramen Noodles until I was six years old. This resulted in a life-long nickname of Nike Noodles. Yeah, that was fun in Junior High. (Also, I can't stand Ramen now and haven't eaten them since I was 12 or so.)

2. I've become a morning person and a gym rat in the last couple weeks. Never saw that coming, but I'm loving every minute of it. It's become my sanctuary.

3. I'm very impressionable. Run Oregon posted something about exercises to  prepare you for the Zombie Apocalypse yesterday and then a couple of my girlfriends were talking about how they talk about zombies too much. Last night I had a dream about running from zombies and racing Kenyans while holding hands with Jason. I've never seen a zombie movie or read a zombie book. 

4. In my mind I'm a Kenyan, which makes it really frustrating when Green Garmin or the treadmill tells me what my real speed is. 

5. I struggle with where I stand on the Pro-Life/Pro-Choice arguments. I identify Pro-Choice, but am not necessarily pro-abortion. I think there are shady dealings in both camps and I think the heart of the issue is a lack of education and resources. I saw a sign yesterday that said, "Consistent Birth Control is the Sexiest Way to Prevent Abortions." That's very much in line with my thinking.

6. I've had a baby name book since I was 13 years old. It started as a resource for finding character names for my short stories. Yesterday the boy and I finished highlighting all the names we agree on (47 girl names and 49 boy names) in hopes of having a smaller field of names, and ones we both agree on, when we do decide to have children. 

7. It freaks me out when people call their baby by the name they've chosen while the baby is still in utero.  

15 is a lot, we'll see how far I get... 

1. Evie of Treble Maker

2. Laura of Make Yourself at Home 

3. Jogging With Fiction 

4. McDancing Through Life 

5. Leslie & Shanwa of Pink Spandex 

6. Heather of Running with Sass 

7. Silly Girl Running 

8. Jordan of Southern Hospitality 

9. Laurie of The Corner Slice

10. Norma of keep it simple 

11. Alanna at Blood, Sweat, and Cupcakes 

12. K at (Just) Trying is For Little Girls 

13. Kayla at Running Through Life 

14. Nicole at Marine Wife Unplugged 

15. JJ at The Confetti Party 

Thankful Thursday: Blogs

I discovered blogs a few years ago. With the help of my professor, George, the blog world opened up to me in a whole new way in 2009. So, here is my thanks:

To you (and you, and you) who inspire me to lace up my running shoes - thank you.

To you who show me the beauty in the world - thank you.

To you who remind me to never give up on my goals - thank you. 

To you who create beautiful things - thank you.

To you, you, and you who make me laugh - thank you.

And thank you, Jordan at Southern Hospitality, for sharing this beautiful piece of encouragement today: 

I hope this year, when you are spreading your wings to reach for more, you remember embrace that there will always be people trying to bring you down. Those people who are jealous or intimated by you and your potential. Those people mistake their own insecurities for confidence and try to justify themselves by attempting to belittle another person's character. It's so important not to allow those people to influence your attitude. It's true when they say he who anger's your, conquers you, so rise above it and believe in yourself. The past is behind you, the future is looking promising and life is such a beautiful ride. You CAN do it!

The list could go on and on. The blog community is incredible and I have learned so much from each of you. Thank you.

Feeling the Love

Yesterday I received this blog award from Momma Zen. My very first! I found her through a blog hop and have enjoyed seeing her beautiful photography. Go stop by and say, "Hi!" Her husband just deployed, so she could use some extra love. 

Now the rules... 

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog, and link back to the person who gave it to you.

2. Pay it forward to 15 bloggers you have recently discovered.

3. Contact those blog owners and let them know that they've been chosen. 

My picks - fifteen is a lot, so I'm using "recent" loosely:

Tall Mom on the Run - a mama and a runner, she's also dang cool.

SkinnyRunner - funny and runs like a mad woman

Racing With Babes - another mother/runner who PRed at her last 1/2

Wife of A Wounded Soldier - this lady has been through hell and back with so much grace and inspires me every day

Rough and Rede - my former blog prof, I love the variety of his posts

Marine Wife Unplugged - another inspirational military spouse with a beautiful eye for photography

Make Yourself at Home - Laura is a peach, you should get to know her

Aki's Instant Noodles - Ingredients: Recollections (62.4%), Observations (27.3%), Opinion (9.1%), FD&C Yellow #5 (1.2%); go give it a try

Pink Spandex - randomness of two twenty-somethings balancing life, work, beer, and exercise (Plus they're my favorite people in the world.)

Ok, just one more beer... - discovered this awesome gal yesterday she's amazing and hilarious!

one step at a time... - mother, retired military spouse, crafter of beautiful ornaments

Treble Maker - talented singer friend of a friend who is both witty and inspiring

A{muse}ing Mommy on a Pink Park Bench - Nikki makes me laugh, and think, every day

Southern Hospitality - need to be refreshed? Go visit this lovely Southern belle

In My Own Words - retired Canadian teacher with a refreshing sense of wit and insight

Imagine My Surprise...

Today has been full of surprises. First off, I went to class and was visiting with a gal who I had two classes with last term (PSU is the largest university in Oregon with 27,000+ students, it's kind of a big deal to have multiple classes with someone of a different major - especially Senior Capstone, which only runs about 10 people). So we're talking before class and she mentions she just submitted her degree/commencement application for Spring Term. My response, "Wha-AT?!" She says, "Um, yeah, it's due the 9th if you want to graduate in Spring." And I do.

It turns out you must submit that application two terms before you graduate. Who knew? Apparently not very many people as my classmate had only found out the day before from someone who had just mentioned she'd submitted her form. I read all the e-mails PSU sends (which are few and far between) and check the webmail notices, how did I not know this?

All is well that ends well, as I had to go to Neuberger anyway to change my name. So, I changed my name and submitted my degree application. Now I just need to register for Spring Commencement. Yahoo!

In other news, I was also surprised to log on to my blog and find not one, not two, but three posts of the post I had been trying to post that I kept getting errors for. That's kinda amusing.

Happy Wednesday!