Fall Already..

I've slacked off once again and didn't blog for four months..whoops.. So much has a happened and I've made a commitment to start blogging more often so my posts aren't so long.

In August I began temping at Shoebuy.com, doing data entry.. Nothing close to what I want to do at all but at least I am keeping myself busy.. and becoming a pro at Excel!!

In September my mom and I planned and hosted a baby shower for my (at that time) soon to be nephew. It was beached themed, and we went all out..as we always do. I focused on the cupcakes (of course!) as baking is my favorite stress reliever.


Baby fruit salad, my AMAZING cupcakes and the table arrangements.


October brought the removal of my wisdom teeth as well as the birth if my nephew.. one right after the other. Grady Collings Phelps was born on 10/11/12 :)

Then came Halloween, or the weekend before Halloween, a holiday I will never get sick of. I love it because I get to make my own costume and use my creativity.. which is put on a back burner everyday at work. This year my friends and I decided to go on a pub crawl and be Three Olives bottles. For those of you who may not know Three Olives is a vodka that comes in an assortment of flavors, but what I really enjoy is the artwork on the bottles. I have a collection of them in my room so we decided to make costumes based on the bottles. Then we added the idea of tutus for a fun addition. I hand made my tutu because what they charge for store bought tutu's is a little ridiculous. I also made my friends tutu and you can tell the difference. The red and pink tutu's are homemade!

Then came Sandy, the hurricane that destroyed much of the East Coast. Here at home we lost our power for three days. A family friend lent us a generator so we were able to keep our food from spoiling.. which I am so thankful for! People in parts of New York and New Jersey have yet to have power restored!

Next was the election..enough said.

This past weekend my boyfriend and I and a few of our friends participated in the Rebel Race in Haverhill, MA. It was so much fun despite the freezing temperatures. I think I am going to do two mud runs a year and one half marathon.. in order to keep in shape!!

Today I had the day off from work as I went to a job interview. I need help with interviewing.. I get very nervous before them and I think that is why I have not received a job offer yet.

I will keep chugging along and updating my blog.

tootles :)

night owl..

Insomnia is making a comeback in my life. I think my body is getting used to not being on a set schedule. It's tough but I've found ways to combat it.. like rekindling with my old love READING! Since graduation, a little over two months ago I have read four books. I figured I would take sometime to review them.

The Hunger Games- Nothing much to say here, since I am a bit behind the bandwagon. I refuse to see a movie without reading the book first, and like the saying goes, the book was a hundred times better then the movie. The movie was pretty accurate, there was a minute detail that was skipped, which plays a little bit of a bigger part in Catching Fire, so I wonder how it will be played out. Very easy read.

Defending Jacob- Not knowing what to read next my mom brought home this novel from work. It was hard to get into, I don't typically read books where a male is the voice and main character. However after awhile it got really good! The main character is a DA who is put on the case of a murder of a middle school aged boy, one who attended his own son's school. This is until the son becomes a suspect. This book is full of twists that you wouldn't suspect and the last page is shocking! It takes place in Newton, MA so I loved reading about a plot so close to home!

Catching Fire- Next I wanted to get back into an easy read so I went down to Ugly Dog Books a used bookstore in my town and purchased Catching Fire. For those who do not know, this is the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. It was fantastic, better than the first book. I don't want to give too much information away because I know many will want to see the film. READ THE BOOK FIRST.

Heart of the Matter- This book I had been meaning to read way back in January, when I expected second semester senior year to be a breeze (that was a BIG joke). It is an Emily Griffin novel (she has written more popular novels, one being Something Borrowed, which was recently released on film). It follows the lives of a plastic surgeon (for children, who are burn victims), his wife and the mother of one of the paitients. It turns out to be a love triangle, and I won't tell you how it ends, but I was not happy, only becuase it does not follow my beliefs on marriages. I love the format of Griffins writing, each so called chapter is from the perspective of one of the characters and it changes back and forth. I hope to find more authors who write like this.



Now comes the big question..what do I read next. Of course I want to read Mocking Jay.. but I am scared, I hate ending series of books, I feel lost, the last series I finished was the Twilight Saga and I was deeply saddend after. Then there is always the the possiblity of starting the Fifty Shades trilogy...I guess I'll have to sleep on this decision!

Goodnight world..

a new road lies ahead..

Still no job, which can get me down once in awhile. Having no job right now however, is kind of acting like a blessing in disguise. I am able to do tons of things that I wouldn't  be able to do if I was busy in a career. For starters, I have read three books; the first two books in the Hunger Games trilogy, as well as another novel titled Defending Jacob. I am also able to travel into Boston every so often to meet Ryan for dinner.

In the fitness department I have been lacking motivation, this usually happens when I do not have something to train for. I've tossed a few ideas back and fourth and decided that in October I will complete my first ever duathlon. It will be great way to end the competitive season, and I am looking forward to it.  The format of the race is; run bike run.

Although I do not begin my twelve week training schedule until next weekend, I began riding my bike today. Early this morning my parents and I traveled to Cape Cod to ride along the Cape Cod Canal. It was a 14 mile course and took me about 50 minutes. I will be training on a regular bike hoping to build strength, but come race day I will be riding my mom's racing bike.

and the beat goes on..

I think by now I could tell you everything word for word that is on my resume, in order. I could also tell you word for word the basics of my cover letter. I have applied for so many jobs its driving me ABSOLUTELY insane, blah.

At least today I didn't focus my entire time awake on the job search, in fact I spent some quality time with my neighbor catching up! Last year she got married and moved to Hawaii and has been back for the month visiting. It was also the first sunny day in a few days, so I could no longer sit inside. We took our puppies for a walk and played fetch with them, they're so precious together. :)

My mom brought me home a new book to read today, since I finished The Hunger Games last week, and tomorrow I am going to visit my grandmother. I guess in a way I can take this brief period of unemployment as a blessing in disguise. I have time to relax, spend time with family, and read. I am able to do all the things that I want to do, before I have to work for the next forty years of my life.

Quote for the day: "Everything comes to him, who hustles while he waits." -Thomas Edison

my how the time flies..

I cannot believe that it has been an entire year since I have posted. So much has happened and my life has been absolutely crazy! I have accomplished so much in the past year it is unbelievable!

1. I ran not one, but two half marathons, improving my time for the second race!
2. I completed an internship with the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition where I learned a great deal about the non-profit industry, fundraising initiatives, and how to utilize social media effectively for organizations.
3. Lastly, I graduated college which I would have to say is what I am most proud of.

Now, here I am jobless, but searching. I think this is what I am going to focus my blog on for the time being, my job search. It has been a long, time consuming aspect of my life. So far I have applied to a little over 200 jobs (since January), which has yielded a handful of interviews.

They weren't lying (whoever they are), it is tough a gruesome out there! I will not give up, I can't, student loans are coming!!!! I will continue my daily ritual, (wake, apply, gym, apply, apply, apply, sleep) and I will hope that one day my hard work will all pay off. When I am nice and successful, I will look back at my database and say "wow 200+ job applications, countless hours, have all led me to this job!"

Back to applying!

when the going gets tough the tough get going..

its april 4th which means less then a month until my first half marathon. last week i was sick with broncitis and a sinus infection so was unable to run for a few days. today it was rainy and i was not in the mood to run, but i knew i had too.. with so little time to go i need to follow through with my training.

the weather was gross it had just finished raining and was very windy but i completeled a seven mile run in a little over an hour. i was almost hit by a car, which made me very thankful that i have recently purchased a roadID, and i think that ever runner and bicyclest should purchase one because accidents do happen.

tomorrow will be a short run, followed by my longer run on wednesday.

it feels so good to be back again..

home finally..back to the cold, more realistic weather. today is saturday, and saturdays in training world means long runs. i don't know why they choose saturdays but i was not really looking forward to it this morning.

i woke up at about 8:00am and it was a chilly 47 degrees, i mean i guess thats not that cold for new england. i looked at my training schedule and it said that today would be an hour and a half run. i ran down my street and headed into rehoboth the next town over and further into tauton the town next to that. i glanced at my watch and saw that i was nearing the 40 minute mark so i decided to turn, figuring i would tire out and needed to make up the extra time toward the end of my run. boy was i wrong. as i neared my house i glanced at my watch and saw that i had run for an hour and twenty five minutes, five minutes short of my perscribed time.
i realized today that the adreniline kicks in and you get a second wind after the hour mark, and also the pizza (carbs!!) from last night probably gave me an extra energy boost.

i learned two things from todays run:
1. run the full time.. your challenging your body!
2. carb load the night before long runs.. you'll really need and use the energy the next day!!

oh by the way.. tracked my run 9.23 miles!!!!!! the furthest i've ever ran in my entire life :)