run!

i had an amazing run yesterday.  i think it was a combination of the cooler weather, i hit a great spot in my playlist, and the fact that i really pushed myself in my 10k on saturday - but my run yesterday was a breeze.  i did a little over 4 miles in 38 minutes.  which i can't do.  i felt great.
i started out thinking, man i'm going too fast - i'll pay for this on the way back.  but, my feet just kept going the whole way.  here's to 6 miles on thursday.

challenges

I'm an engineer - so my brain does well with numbers, logic, cause and effect.  I dislike things that you can't find patterns in or that can't be explained (logically).  It hurts my brain.  HOWEVER, I'm also pretty superstitious.  Which makes no sense.  I know.
I've been piecing together my PE application all spring & early summer, and got a non-acceptance (not so much a rejection, more like an insufficient information) Thursday before we left for the lake.  I've had so much stress in my life lately between work, moving, getting ready for vacation, plus all of the other little things that you have to do all the time (like eat, sleep, and clean).  I literally kind of lost my cool on Thursday and cried all the way down Wilson Blvd. to my lunchtime pilates class.  Thank god for lunchtime pilates when you're having a bad day (or week) (or month) (or quarter).  Also, I may have farted during class - which made me giggle.  Sorry ladies.  That's what happens when you do jump squats "angrily".
Well, anyways, the point was - in the aftermath of all of this PE BS, I had to make some choices (more about timing than direction).  And, I couldn't for the life of me decide whether I was being given these hardships to build endurance or to learn flexibility. ???????????  Is the universe teaching me to try harder and keep pushing? Or is the universe teaching me to listen more to its plan/gods plan and less to my own schedule.
Well, ladies and gents - the universe it funny.  I didn't know it 11 days ago, but it didn't matter which one I picked.  Needless to say, I didn't want to be a wimp, so I kept pushing and I tried harder - but the universe put something else in my way - something I couldn't move this time.
I was upset at first, but I can now say that it's the right thing for me.  I think sometimes, the universe watches out for us when we're really close to cracking. 
And, now I can study for way longer ... and totally kick ass in the spring.

chillin at the lake!

Last week, Rob & I packed up the dog and the car and headed to Missouri, to Lake of the Ozarks to visit family and ... lets be honest ... drink a few beers.  It was a fun and short week.  Between Rob & Morgan writing papers for school and me fielding a few last minute tasks for work, we had the "library" or the "internet cafe" set up each morning with out laptops all in a row on the dining room table.
Kona even made it in the water and didn't hate it too much.  Plus, her life vest was pretty cute!!
Here's the evidence:

yep, i'm holding a doggie fetch tennis ball

in Paradise ... the restaurant

so, these are the walkways to the boat docks at Paradise, and underneath the walkways are about a million carp.  they've been trained over the years to expect people to throw them scraps from their yummy lunches.  so, we obliged them & threw them some leftover fries.  although, i tried to aim for the ducks, because the fish grossed me out!

i'm on a boat! in my flippy floppies

KONA! with her life vest and on her own raft :)

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

rob ... with kona and the beer-lake-ball cooler

you got one point for getting a ball on the sides, 2 points for getting a ball in the middle, and 3 for getting a crushed up beer can in the middle.

steve, making delicious queso!

steve & tim

P.S. How about the freaking United States!!!! U-S-A ... U-S-A!!!

Way to go olympics.

konichiwa (part ni)

I'll throw out an excuse as to why it to me so freakin long to post the rest of my Japan pictures.  And that is, that I actually left my camera cable in the hotel room in Okinawa.  oops.  I had to order another one from amazon - a whole 3 dollars.  Thanks amazon.  So, here they are.

On the list for Japan?? A temple! definitely.
So, I looked through the guidebooks for a temple on Okinawa and found some good things on Kin Kannon temple - beautiful, secluded.  And there's a cave adjacent.  So, Mike and I struggle just a little to find the sign on the road and go down some crazy tiny alleys to get to this place.  We pay the nice lady our money and start looking around.  We start to go down in to the cave.  One funny story is that Mike and I kept seeing signs every 50 feet or so.  We kept joking that we hoped they didn't say things like "Do NOT go past this sign" or "extreme danger ahead".  To us they just said "stick stick stick stick stick" (that was Mike's translation of the Japanese characters :) ).  So, anyways, we get about halfway through the cave when we realize that this is no meditation cave for the monks of the temple - no, this is a distillery.  A booze cave!!

and this was just an awesome little tree with cute little birdhouses :)

And, I've saved the best for last: Hiji Falls! 比地大滝
Hiji Falls is a National Park on the northern side of the island.  Hiji Falls is about halfway down Hiji River, which flows through the Yanbaru forests.  I wish I knew more about it, but it is beautiful!