Elmo's got moves!

Yesterday I got back on the horse, folks. And by horse, I mean the pavement in my neighborhood...in my running shoes. I decided to switch it up and, instead of running for a certain mileage, I ran for an hour. It turns out, running for time instead of distance makes me feel much less stressed during the run.

When I got home, after running almost six miles in 56 minutes, it occurred to me that not too long ago, six miles was a long run. This is my longest weekday run so far. I'm planning on keeping it up.

Since it was also yet another dizzy run, I had to take a couple of breaks to lean over on the side of the road to keep from falling over. This normally annoys the crap out of me, but yesterday it was lucky.

I hope it's a sign.

I was almost ran over by an older lady in a white car who apparently didn't think my life was very important. I attribute the fact that I'm still alive to the clovers...or, you know, because I jumped out of the way.

I was a good girl afterward and foam rolled and I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but no pain in my left calf today! WEE!

best friend/worst enemy

Now for the home stuff. No actual updates until after tomorrow, but I've been decorating in my head. Since I bought the tumblers this weekend, I found some amazing place mats online. (No, I don't have a kitchen table yet. What's your point?)

My best friend's mom makes magic with a sewing machine and I asked her if she'd make me these magical place mats. I can't wait! (Never ever did I think I'd be excited about place mats :)

I'm also thinking of using stencils throughout the house (in small doses) to add some interest for cheap.

I love this one for a kitchen back splash.

Pebbles. Reminds me of the Flintstones :)

I saw a tutorial online on how to paint on curtains. So, buy cheap curtains and make them look expensive. Sounds like my kinda project! This pattern reminds me of the sun rising or of mountains. Great for curtains, right?

...except probably a purple color scheme...DUH.

Also, I'm totally making this to go in the hallway at the top of the stairs.

Oh, and it WILL be sweet!

And two must-haves:

Good stuff for the back door and hallway.

I am also in very dire need of new running clothes. I was grossing myself out during my run yesterday from the smell of my shirt. It's a stinky time to be saving money, folks!

On another random note, my friend introduced this video to me this weekend and it cracks me up every time. It will make your day brighter, I promise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRfarDLRkSA&feature=fvst


Do you run for time or distance, or do you switch it up? Which do you like better?

Any fun home decorating ideas to share?

Mother Nature is a jerk

I'm waiting! No one has come to beat me up yet. I did not run twice since Friday like I had planned. Due to the fact that the entire weekend we had thunderstorms and tornado warnings, I decided to have my way with the elliptical for an hour on Saturday and then yesterday I lost all motivation after running errands and cleaning until 3pm. I'll be running today instead of taking my usual Monday rest day.

I think it's safe to say I will not be sufficiently prepared for my second half marathon in three weeks and if I PR it will be a miracle. I guess Hartford will have to be my redemption half.

Saturday morning I met my best friend and her daughter (who is almost six months old already!) for breakfast and some Target shopping. This little lady's smile is intoxicating.

"You'd be smiling too if you just downed a bottle of
boobjuice!"

Yesterday I went to Costco with Jeremy and Amanda and made my first (non-wall decoration) home purchase!

The puppy feet are an added bonus.

I just thought they were cool, AND they are plastic which is awesome news for me, Clumsy McBumpsintowalls. I think I unknowingly just decided the color scheme for the first floor.

After we got back from Costco, Amanda and our friend Korie went to get their nails done. I need a pedicure, but since I can't afford it right now, I stayed home and cleaned. Shitty trade-off, right? Well, I took care of my own toes for free.

Purple was probably not the best color choice, in retrospect.

So, this weekend was overcast and rainy with thunderstorms, the entire weekend. Today, Monday, it's beautiful and sunny, in the 70s.

I really want to punch her.

Don't be a dummy

Ok, don't beat me up for this, but I can't believe it's already Friday. I feel like this week has swallowed up all my time. Somehow.

I may be crude at times, but I would not
wear this.

One thing I'm officially sick of thinking and talking about? MONEY! For the love! The process of buying a house is mentally draining and I'm now more anxious than normal about saving money. The highlight of my week was being pre-approved for a home loan. Somehow I've got the bank convinced I'm a responsible adult. Suckers ;-)

I wonder if I can get one of these at
Lowe's.

NOW before I can continue moving forward in the process, I have to meet with a financial counselor (MORE talk about money) next week. I made an appointment for Wednesday but if I have to wait that long, I think I'll end up in a straight jacket. I'm trying to get it over with on Monday but we'll see how that goes. I hate waiting for people to call me back.

I've now been out to see the town homes I'm on the wait list for three times, and we plan on going back on Sunday to get a look at the progress on the inside. They've made a ton of progress, and I decided which one I want (no, but really, not getting my hopes up...)

I want my porta potty back!

Speaking of money, I've got something to run by you because it makes no sense to me.

I have two credit cards. They are both 0% interest cards and one of them is going to be charging interest starting in April, but has a "0% interest until 2013 on balance transfers" deal. Now, that's awesome, right? I transfer the other card to this one and continue paying no interest until next year. Sweet! Just to make sure, I talked to someone at the company who let me know that the balance transfer has a 0% APR, but the payments after that will have a 19.99% APR. Umm...what?! How is that a deal and why on God's green earth would anyone sign up for that? No wonder people are in such debt crisis in this country. So, if someone has a balance of $2,000 on their card, they are paying $400 extra dollars in a year that they didn't actually spend?! America, DO YOUR RESEARCH! This puzzles me so much. Yeah, I won't be taking part in that "deal".

This weekend I will be resuming running! If that Daily Mile app over there --->  doesn't reflect at least two running workouts between today and Sunday, I give you permission to come beat me up. Yes, I really just wrote that.


Any fun weekend plans?

Have you ever met with a financial adviser? If so, was it helpful?

Do you know where I can get a money tree?

Balls all over the furniture

This morning my friend asked me if there's any furniture I've been looking at. If I'm being totally honest, the only furniture I actually own is my bedroom set. He seems to think that I'll get a lot of things if I have a house-warming party. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't people get, like, wine and spatulas and brooms at house-warming parties? Apparently he's only been to house-warming parties of people with rich friends and family.

You think I can convince anyone that I need this?

Colorful BALLS!

Aaaaaand the ottoman. Amazing.

I think as far as furniture goes, the only things I'm not getting handed down to me are guest room furniture, a living room TV and stand, and random end tables and things. My mom has a couch (that they hate but haven't found anyone to give it to yet :-P), my brother and SIL basically want to replace everything and are looking for an excuse to give things to me...the kitchen table, silverware, and they want me to take the couch, but I'm pretty sure it would take up the entire first floor. I can only hope someone has bedroom furniture they don't want for a guest room. :)

Two things I've decided I want to do somewhere in my future dwelling are a "wall of letters" and a striped wall.

...but not in alphabetical order. How lame!

I question my ability to paint straight
lines.

So far I have an "H". If you have any ideas for fun (cheap!) letters, let me know. They all need to be different. If I were a teacher, I'd give the most awesome homework assignments.