First Things First: Me

Hello world!

I am still alive! I've been so on the go with work and everything in between that I really haven't spent much time taking care of myself. It sure has been exhausting, but I'm ready to do the things that make me happy and follow through with my plans. Whew - feels good to say that!

The first "me thing" on my agenda for this year is running! What I'm most excited about at the moment is my new half-marathon training plan. And the best part about it is that I don't even have a half-marathon to run at the end of it! I just want to be able to run 13+ miles and feel good. I'm doing it for myself!

I'm following this simple training schedule my friend Stacey shared with me. She's currently blogging about her experiences training. I enjoy reading her blog since we're both on the same schedule. It helps keep me motivated knowing somebody else is going through the same obstacles.

I do have one race planned, which I'm beyond excited to run. It's the Wachovia Tar Heel 10 Miler on April 9th. It's supposed to showcase the beauty of Chapel Hill's community. Chapel Hill is by far my favorite place to run. It puts me in such a good mood to run through Carrboro and then pass the charming southern homes that line Franklin Street. Did I mention I'm excited to do this run? Also, there is a half-marathon the week after in Charlotte, which I think I'm going to do, but right now I'm on a kick where I don't want to have to do it...I just want to do it. I'll probably be one of those last minute applicants who sign up the week or night before the race. However, if I sign up early I get a dry fit shirt compared to a cotton shirt if I wait. Hmmmm...decisions...decisions. Another reason to just do it is because I really want a medal!

My next "me thing" is to really try and save my money. It's hard to save when you don't have much to work with, but nonetheless I'm going to try! Justin said to me the other day, "You're not good at budgeting your money are you?" My response: "I am! I just need more money to budget." The best tool to help me with this is mint.com. It's such a great website to help you pull all your finances (ie. loans, credit cards, checking account, etc.) into one place. It sets goals and tells you how you can improve your savings or it creates a plan to help you pay off that dreaded credit card. I highly recommend you check it out!

My final "me thing" that is going to be hard to make time for is reading. I would like to complete at least one book a month (baby steps). I really enjoy books that help you refocus and improve yourself (ie. Eat Pray Love or The Road Less Traveled). I really want to read George Bush's book Decision Points to help me understand the challenges he faced in his presidency and give me some legit ammunition in my political debates. Maybe this will help me balance out my bias to Obama after reading both of this books.

Either way, I'm going to start using this blog as a tool to keep me accountable for my goals as well as share stories that make me smile and hopefully motivate others to see the glass half full!

My smile of the day:

Finding out the awesome news that I'm going to see Taylor Swift in concert this summer because my friend Steph's mom pre-ordered us tickets!!!!