kona spot

Kona has found her spot. :) She loves looking out the window. She always has. So, even though Rob shook his head a little bit at me, I shoved the couch all the way over to the window. And, no surprise, she was a happy girl.

a new year, and some old goals

So, last year for new years, i decided to run a half marathon. And, I did!!
My time was around 3 hours and 12 minutes - I think. Nothing to be proud of, but my only goal was to finish. I remember thinking around mile 10 or 11 of the run "i'm glad i'm doing this, but i'll never do this again" as my hips were KILLING and the rest of my joints weren't really happy with me either.
So, what is it about a new year that does this thing to our brains?? Why is it so inspiring to promise yourself you'll do something on January 1 instead of May 17? I don't know. But, I'm feeling it. I've already googled some DC half marathons coming in 2012. One of them - the national half marathon & marathon, I wouldn't have made with my time of last year. The time limit is 3 hours. So, why should i think that i could do it this time? Arg. Decisions. I haven't decided yet if I'll try or not ....
Most of my push to do the half last year was to try to lose a few pounds. This year, it's more of the accomplishment thing. Although, if you ask my pants - they would gladly take the few pounds again as well. :)
With all of these thoughts swirling in my head, I've been taking full advantage of the exercise room in our new apartment complex. Running, using the stair climber, and the elliptical. As I was about halfway through the 60 minutes I promised myself I'd do this morning .... my feet started to burn and I was getting bored with my playlist. I thought, eh - I've done a lot already, probably good for today. Then I thought about my super supervisor, Maisha. She totally wouldn't quit after 30 minutes. She would go the whole hour & then seriously consider if she could do another mile. So, I continued. Thanks Maisha - for pushing me through this morning. :) I already miss my Texas gals!!!

merry christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!
To celebrate christmas in a non-traditional way, Rob showed kona, my mom, and me around. First we went to southern maryland to see Rob's office & the Pax River bridge. His office is awesome & brand new. And southern maryland is so peaceful looking. There are red barns dotting the countryside and little white churches. Then, after lunch & a skype session with Rob's family opening christmas presents, we went into the city. We found my office (yay!) and I was on a mission to find the national christmas tree. I googled it before we went. And, the google internet machine told me that we could find the national tree on the ellipse, right across from the white house. And, I thought that's where we went. .... but, i just can't believe that what we saw was the national christmas tree (take a look for yourself in the picutres). So, maybe next year.


Hope you had a great christmas too!

Maryland, by way of Texas

Early thursday morning, after a slightly late wednesday night, my mom, kona, and I started a 1400 mile trip from Houston to Waldorf. Yay. Exciting and scary all at once. It rained the ENTIRE first day, in which we made it to Auburn, AL. The second day was nothing but sunshine - and we made it the rest of the way to MD. :)
The dog ... and the humans were super tired. But, I'm glad to be in my new home, and my little family back together. So, here we go. A new adventure. Lots of new country to explore. Stay tuned ...

book em danno, i drank 50!

YEAH! So, i finally finished my little woodrows big 50 club!! and just in time too :).
I had so much fun doing it & i'm really going to miss this place when i'm gone. I love it because it's a little rustic around the edges, the nicest girls work there, and they let me bring my dog.


So, in order to achieve this fine accomplishment, i had to drink, in order, the following:
1. lonestar
2. st. arnolds brown
3. shiner black
4. real ale fireman's #4 (clever, huh?)
5. real ale pale ale
6. estrella (reminded me of spain)
7. st. arnolds elissa IPA
8. sam adams pils
9. anchor steam (one of my favs!)
10. abita turbo dog
11. abita purple haze
12. tank 7
13. bohemia
14. carta blanca
15. sol
16. tecate
17. pacifico
18. landshark
19. redstripe
20. session lager
21. molson
22. labatts
23. boddingtons
24. young's chocolate
25. 3 philosophers
26. foster’s
27. snakebite
28. strongbow
29. leprechaun cider
30. Austin amber
31. spaten
32. grolsh
33. carlsburg
34. harp
35. paulaner
36. franziskaner
37. Victoria
38. sunset wheat
39. hoe garden
40. spaten optimater
41. boulevard
42. full sail pale ale
43. dogfish 60 min IPA
44. duvel
45. chimay
46. maredous #8
47. maredous #10
48. trois pistols
49. maudite
and ...
50. la fin du monde.

after that, try la fin du my pants. it was fun. now, i need to run all this extra beer weight off. ...

last trip to houston arboretum

So, mama came up a couple of weekends ago to go see the King Tut exhibit @ Museum of Fine Arts Houston & we made an impromptu visit to the Houston Arboretum while we were in the area. So lovely. We saw so many turtles ... and girl scouts. :)
Something about the weather this winter/year has actually allowed for the leaves on a few of the trees to turn yellow/orange/red & it was beautiful!