As I mentioned in previous posts, I've started another blog, Thirty by the 30th.
Last night, Marie and I went to a cardio-kickboxing class that was amazing. Please forgive the cheapness of referencing another post, but I thought you may get a kick (pun intended) out of our experience. Check it!
P.S. If you're following me on here, I'd love you to also follow me on my new blog! (hint, hint)
Showing posts with label Exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exercise. Show all posts
Friday, July 16, 2010
Monday, July 05, 2010
Thirty by the 30th!
Three posts so far. Check out my "extra" blog. I'll still use My Palette for posting personal updates, but Thirty by the 30th will be my journey to lose weight by my 30th birthday.
Add yourself as a "follower" to both to get updates on when I add new posts. Readers are part of the experience. I love to hear from you all, even when you write and let me know that I am past due on a new post. You're part of my inspiration!
Thanks for following me on My Palette. I hope to also see you on Thirty by the 30th!
Add yourself as a "follower" to both to get updates on when I add new posts. Readers are part of the experience. I love to hear from you all, even when you write and let me know that I am past due on a new post. You're part of my inspiration!
Thanks for following me on My Palette. I hope to also see you on Thirty by the 30th!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The Winter Olympics
My blog hiatus has hopefully ended. Life was a bit crazy there for a while. Work has been pretty busy since we're preparing for our huge conference in two weeks. I'll be spending a week in Atlanta at the end of the month.
School work has slowed to almost nothing. I turned in my thesis two weeks ago and my adviser wrote back with only a few suggestions for revisions. I actually defend it on Thursday in front of a small panel. My defense is scheduled for 2 pm, so keep me in your prayers! The defense is basically a 25-35 minute presentation of my paper followed by a 10-15 minute Q & A session (in which I am the one answering the questions).
This week was record breaking for DC and it's been cool (figuratively and literally) living here this winter. We saw record breaking snow fall and the most days on record the Federal Government has closed. DC has had the snowiest winter than all other cities in the United States, second only to Syracuse, NY.
I ventured out yesterday to clear my car from the 3-4 foot snow drifts, clear the front sidewalk for us and pedestrians, and shovel the snow from the driveway so I could get my car into it. It took me over three hours and I couldn't help but think if it as the DC Olympics. There are a lot of sports in which residents took part: car and parking spot clearing, sledding, sidewalk clearing, dodging cars as they walked in the streets due to buried walkways, and general walking since the Metro was closed and buses weren't running.
Surprisingly, I'm not hurting too much from my three hour adventure and now have a cleared sidewalk, driveway, and car of which to be proud. Here are some pics of the Snowpocalypse as we have lovingly nicknamed out storm:
It's kind of hard to tell, but the snow piles were 3-4 feet high.
The picture below was taken before the second storm came and dumped another 15" on the ground.
We helped to push our neighbors out of snow-stuck spots.
This neighbor caught a lucky break as a Caterpillar came by and made the snow-freeing much faster!
My car after I cleared off the snow and dug it out of the snow drifts.
Another car I found while clearing out the snow.
Below: A finished walkway, with the shovel stuck in the snow to show how deep it was.
The snow was about 5-6 inches taller than the top of the shovel.
Below: Ryan's (a roomy's) care buried in our driveway.
You can see where I had already started clearing the drive behind it.
Below: The finished product with my car parked in it! Hard to tell from the pictures,
but the drive is about 30 feet long.
And Done.
School work has slowed to almost nothing. I turned in my thesis two weeks ago and my adviser wrote back with only a few suggestions for revisions. I actually defend it on Thursday in front of a small panel. My defense is scheduled for 2 pm, so keep me in your prayers! The defense is basically a 25-35 minute presentation of my paper followed by a 10-15 minute Q & A session (in which I am the one answering the questions).
This week was record breaking for DC and it's been cool (figuratively and literally) living here this winter. We saw record breaking snow fall and the most days on record the Federal Government has closed. DC has had the snowiest winter than all other cities in the United States, second only to Syracuse, NY.
I ventured out yesterday to clear my car from the 3-4 foot snow drifts, clear the front sidewalk for us and pedestrians, and shovel the snow from the driveway so I could get my car into it. It took me over three hours and I couldn't help but think if it as the DC Olympics. There are a lot of sports in which residents took part: car and parking spot clearing, sledding, sidewalk clearing, dodging cars as they walked in the streets due to buried walkways, and general walking since the Metro was closed and buses weren't running.
Surprisingly, I'm not hurting too much from my three hour adventure and now have a cleared sidewalk, driveway, and car of which to be proud. Here are some pics of the Snowpocalypse as we have lovingly nicknamed out storm:
It's kind of hard to tell, but the snow piles were 3-4 feet high.
The picture below was taken before the second storm came and dumped another 15" on the ground.
We helped to push our neighbors out of snow-stuck spots. This neighbor caught a lucky break as a Caterpillar came by and made the snow-freeing much faster!
My car after I cleared off the snow and dug it out of the snow drifts.
Another car I found while clearing out the snow.
Below: A finished walkway, with the shovel stuck in the snow to show how deep it was. The snow was about 5-6 inches taller than the top of the shovel.
Below: Ryan's (a roomy's) care buried in our driveway. You can see where I had already started clearing the drive behind it.
Below: The finished product with my car parked in it! Hard to tell from the pictures,but the drive is about 30 feet long.
And Done.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Life Comes at You Fast
So, I was pretty slack in my posting during October. What's even more slack is that I almost wrote "March" instead of October. Guess that's a Freudian slip. Where did the time go since March?? We're well into November. The holidays are pressing at the window and I'm still wondering where summer went.
Somewhere in the past month was a trip to Mississippi and Louisiana. I experienced my first solo site visits as I checked out some hotels where we're hoping to host a conference. I saw Mal and Dave's new home. It really is a home now. Their apartment is completely decorated (as only Mal can do) and now full of memories. They're both enjoying their jobs, have made new friends, and are settling into their life as newlyweds in the military. It was quite a different trip than the one I made in August, where Mal was finishing rooms, walls were bare, her job was a big question mark, and not a local friend had been made. It was a joy to go down there again and see smiles and know that they are both content.
Back in DC, I've just begun my final class for grad school. Tonight I met my last professor and reviewed the final syllabus I'll have as a student. There was an electricity in the air as my fellow cohorts and I recognized where we'd arrived. Although the celebration is still in the distance, I can't help but see the light. How has it passed so quickly? Time is really a blink.
As school wraps, I've started training for the half-marathon that I'm doing in March. The 13.1 miles is on the distant horizon, but my training schedule is posted on my bedroom wall. It will be the longest run I've done and I'm looking forward to tackling it. Mal has signed up for it as well. Plus, I have a couple DC friends who are running the full marathon (26.2 miles) that is the same day. I'm looking forward to the change in my body that comes with training for an event. Mentally, there's something that sparks. When the muscles are tired and hot, the brain kicks in and provides the extra drive to make it to the next sign or that hydrant or just past that car. A game begins, with the distance and time being the other players. Can I beat my time? Can I push myself an extra few blocks? Running can be boring, but it's also quite therapeutic. Not as therapeutic as writing, but it's pretty close!
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to go to the first "adult party" I'd been to in a while. The attendees were a mixture of ages, a "real meal" was served, and there were conversations filled with purpose and aimed at bettering society. My "DC parents" (Rich and Kathy) hosted a party in their home and invited about a dozen of us over to learn about Act One, a writer's and executive training program for people in Hollywood and the film industry. I was invited because of my relationship to the hosts and for my appreciation for film and the arts. I met some really interesting people, such as the writer/director of a film I saw two years ago called As We Forgive, which focuses on healing and forgiveness being done in Rwanda after the genocides. Laura Waters Hinson is a beautiful woman who studied at American University and created the film as a student. She's since graduated and is using it to promote healing and racial reconciliation. Our worlds got smaller as we talked and I realized that she is married to a guy with whom I went to high school! Besides Laura, I also met Ben Lobato, a writer for the show The Unit and a graduate of the Act One program. He spoke extensively about the program and gave some of his life story. He came to know Christ later in life, while doing some time in the military, and has been a Christian in Hollywood. His story is fascinating and it was interesting to hear how God has worked in his life and in Hollywood.
I can't promise that my postings will be more frequent than the rate they were last month, but I can write this: I've at least tied the number! Here's to hoping I'll up it...
Somewhere in the past month was a trip to Mississippi and Louisiana. I experienced my first solo site visits as I checked out some hotels where we're hoping to host a conference. I saw Mal and Dave's new home. It really is a home now. Their apartment is completely decorated (as only Mal can do) and now full of memories. They're both enjoying their jobs, have made new friends, and are settling into their life as newlyweds in the military. It was quite a different trip than the one I made in August, where Mal was finishing rooms, walls were bare, her job was a big question mark, and not a local friend had been made. It was a joy to go down there again and see smiles and know that they are both content.
Back in DC, I've just begun my final class for grad school. Tonight I met my last professor and reviewed the final syllabus I'll have as a student. There was an electricity in the air as my fellow cohorts and I recognized where we'd arrived. Although the celebration is still in the distance, I can't help but see the light. How has it passed so quickly? Time is really a blink.
As school wraps, I've started training for the half-marathon that I'm doing in March. The 13.1 miles is on the distant horizon, but my training schedule is posted on my bedroom wall. It will be the longest run I've done and I'm looking forward to tackling it. Mal has signed up for it as well. Plus, I have a couple DC friends who are running the full marathon (26.2 miles) that is the same day. I'm looking forward to the change in my body that comes with training for an event. Mentally, there's something that sparks. When the muscles are tired and hot, the brain kicks in and provides the extra drive to make it to the next sign or that hydrant or just past that car. A game begins, with the distance and time being the other players. Can I beat my time? Can I push myself an extra few blocks? Running can be boring, but it's also quite therapeutic. Not as therapeutic as writing, but it's pretty close!
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to go to the first "adult party" I'd been to in a while. The attendees were a mixture of ages, a "real meal" was served, and there were conversations filled with purpose and aimed at bettering society. My "DC parents" (Rich and Kathy) hosted a party in their home and invited about a dozen of us over to learn about Act One, a writer's and executive training program for people in Hollywood and the film industry. I was invited because of my relationship to the hosts and for my appreciation for film and the arts. I met some really interesting people, such as the writer/director of a film I saw two years ago called As We Forgive, which focuses on healing and forgiveness being done in Rwanda after the genocides. Laura Waters Hinson is a beautiful woman who studied at American University and created the film as a student. She's since graduated and is using it to promote healing and racial reconciliation. Our worlds got smaller as we talked and I realized that she is married to a guy with whom I went to high school! Besides Laura, I also met Ben Lobato, a writer for the show The Unit and a graduate of the Act One program. He spoke extensively about the program and gave some of his life story. He came to know Christ later in life, while doing some time in the military, and has been a Christian in Hollywood. His story is fascinating and it was interesting to hear how God has worked in his life and in Hollywood.
I can't promise that my postings will be more frequent than the rate they were last month, but I can write this: I've at least tied the number! Here's to hoping I'll up it...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)