Tuesday Tangents in Bullets

My dad made a comment over the weekend how it's been awhile since I've blogged- I blame the fact that now that I have a different spot at work which is more 'high traffic' that I no longer blog during down time, or laziness... I'll blame the former. Time to catch up in bullets

• Two weeks ago I went to an "Art for Animals" show - tickets, silent auctions, and live auctions all went toward providing medicine and vaccine to rescues in Nashville area as well as low income families that may not be able to afford proper care. My friend Heather did an incredible job putting it together and that one event raised $33,000+--- not bad for her 2nd year putting this on. 
• 2 favorites from the night:

love stick prop photo opps

  And of course there is Bella- the adorable 4.5 month old puggle (pug + beagle) I adopted her and my parents flipped out. What better way to prepare to have children then to have a puppy?? And how can you say no to that face?!?! 

• Rest assured mom and dad, I only adopted Bella for the night, she belongs to my friend Herb and he let me take all sorts of photos with her to mess with you guys. I have decided when I'm done with my 50 quest that I will be getting a dog---- not a puppy but a grown rescue. 
• Running is going AHhhhhhhhhhh mazing right now. My knee pain that I have been dealing with is gone and my mileage is consis... wait for it.... tent. CONSISTENT! (doesn't have the same ring to it as legendary does) Consistency is huge and one of my priorities for 2013, so this is a big deal for me
• My speed is coming back, had a few runs at 8 min/ pace, however my stamina still needs work. Most runs are b/n 4-7 miles so now I need to actually do some long runs now that my legs remember what to do. 
• I made a new speedy friend Bryan--- we run together 2-3x week, large part of why I've been consistent,and in addition he also absolutely LOVES running which I think rubs off on me. Thankfully he just agreed to go to Chattanooga with me so I can go ahead and do the Scenic City 1/2 next weekend-- first race back followed by Vegas the weekend after!
• Race schedule is filling up, registrations and flights are now getting paid. I have 14 states left, Nevada will be in 3 weeks, then I won't run another new state till April 4th and 5th- I'd like to do at least 1 new state a month, but having issues with July--- anyone know any good races for the following states in July: VT, AK, OK, ND, MN, or MD?? Saving Hawaii for last and the rest of the states are planned- eek! 
• Work has been extremely manageable lately- When I started in  August it was a crazy period and I was thrown to wolves to figure out everything on top of having a full workload, now that its a slower time frame coupled with supporting less people, I find myself constantly not having anything to do. I spoke to my manager about it and she agreed to start slowly changing what I do to support our market--- and depending on how things pan out, potentially creating a different role for me down the road; change is good :) 
• My free time is filled with running, catching up on shows via www.mobilevids.org (best website invented.. EVER), studying for my CEBS (certified employee benefit specialist) exam- part 1 of 3 I have to take over the next 1.5 years., and just enjoying not having anywhere to be since travel doesn't pick up till end of month.
• Didn't realize till lunch today that its officially Fat Tuesday... I haven't even begun to think of what I should give up, but considering I'm having horrible digestive issues re-introducing dairy back into diet, maybe I'll just give that up altogether. 

That's what's been going on thus far in February- love that its been laid back as its such a nice way to enter in the new year. 

How is February treating you?

Anything planned for Fat Tuesday / giving up anything for lent?

nothing exciting planned-  in the past I have given up chocolate, soda, dairy, meat. Dairy was the most successful, so might be worth revisiting.