short & sweet

our *mysterious* honeymoon destination has un-free wifi at dial-up speed so this is going to be a quick one.

the wedding was perfect! could not have had a smoother, more perfect day. the weather held up beautifully and i think everyone had a good time (i hope anyway! we sure did). thanks for all the thoughts and weather-prayers. thanks for the congrats and well-wishes too! i've certainly felt loved all weekend long. you guys must have some pull with the Man upstairs. yes, more details and pics to come i promise!

don’t forget to enter the $60 csn giftcard giveaway! leave a comment on that post or this one, i'm not picky. i am enjoying the honeymoon guesses, so keep 'em coming! :o)

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going to the chapel

i'm taking a mini hiatus... 'cause i'm getting married this weekend! i've been running around all week on some last minute errands, and not running-running 'cause i've been feeling like crap (great timing for that). i haven't slept all week either; not because of nerves or cold feet, but because of the feeling-like-crap part.

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running on cake

cake topper (n.) - a cute decoration that goes on top of a cake. also known as a very tough decision that cannot be made months in advance, and must instead be shopped for at the last minute and rush delivered.

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sowl: produce love

the first challenge (i think) in the sowl (summer of weight loss) is to try a new fruit and vegetable. i'm probably cheating on this one....

v8 is made from vegetables, and even though i've had these veggies individually, i haven't had them in the form of v8. hence, my "new" vegetable. it tasted like cold tomato soup with garlic seasoning (or something). it wasn't that bad, but i also used to eat ketchup straight from the packets so i'm not sure how valid my opinion is.

so what if i have had grapes before... i haven't had this wine before, and it's made of grapes, a fruit, so here we have my "new fruit" (meramec vineyards - catawba blush). it was tasty, i savored it with a plate of quinoa spaghetti. my wine 'glass' is classy, i know.

what, wine isn't the secret to losing weight?

{disclaimer: i purchased the v8 on my most recent trip to the food store, and the wine was a gift from my mom for dog sitting. the opinions are my own.}

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sowl

i'm only a few weeks late here, but i've joined in on kerrie's (of mom vs. marathon) summer of weight loss (sowl) from now until september 22nd. or well, hopefully i'll survive that long without giving up and gorging on m&m's. i've hopped in a few of these friendly challenges before with mixed results, and of course i'm hoping this one will go down successfully.

and now for some embarrasing stats. yes, i'm putting it all out there. i hope you'll still be my friend.

bust: 36.5"
chest: umm. i have no idea where you measure this one as a female.
waist: 33.5"
hips: 39.5" (including as much junk from the trunk as possible)
midway: 36.5" (guess i need a tummy-bra; kerrie defines this as the largest area between your hips and waist -- for her it was leftover baby tummy... i don't even have that kind of excuse!!)
left thunder thigh: 23.25"
right thunder thigh: 22.5"
left calf: 13.75"
right calf: 13.75"
right upper arm: 11.25"
left upper arm: 11.25"

and to further stock you up on blackmail:

 

no, i'm not pregnant. i swear.

the tank top used to fit in college, now my buddha belly pokes out the bottom.

no, i'm not sure why i still own it.

when i suck in, i don't look quite as bad.

you'd think i'd have a 6-pack with all the sucking-in i do...

so, here's to the next 10 weeks!

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rings and 'roids

don't listen to what "they" say. a wedding can totally be thrown together in 2-3 months. a master procrastinator myself, i put it off the entire time i was in kentucky. it was easy to say "oh i'll do that when i'm home, it will be easier". it's not any easier being in town, but everything came together just fine. although, i suppose this wouldn't work if you actually cared about most of the typical wedding details.... snooze.

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bad apple

my beloved, four-month old macbook quit working last thursday-ish, taking my garmin connect and spreadsheets with it. i'm hoping since it was still so young it falls under some sort of warranty, but with the holiday weekend i haven't had a chance to take it to the apple doctor yet. luckily i was backing my things up on backblaze, so i can recoup most of my stuff. in the meantime i get to use my glamorous work laptop, but at least i have something.

i spent all last week at the beach - soaking up sun, playing in the waves, making piles of sand, reading books, golfing whacking balls wayyy off to the right and some running too. it was great to get away and of course the week flew by all too quickly. i know i have little room to complain though since i had the first week of june off too. really though, who wants to work?

week in review (6/28 - 7/4)
total miles: 36.91 (semi-victory -- upward motion, but not by much)
time spent running: ~ 5 hrs 18 mins
avg hr: unknown. didn't feel like wearing the strap.
avg run pace: 9:11/mile
off days: 1-ish (from running)

i was back home for july 4th and after being a dedicated little runner all week long, my mojo tanked and threw a temper tantrum about going for a run on sunday morning. i was, however, randomly in the mood for a bike ride and tagged along with josh for 27+ miles. i stuffed some chomps and gu's in my shirt pocket and josh pointed out "you know 27 miles is like the equivalent of 5-6 miles running". hey, like i need an excuse to eat chomps here.

wow was it tough. there was one particular loooong downhill that as i coasted my only thought was "this is going to suck on the way back" (turns it out it was only about 350ft climb over 2 miles, i'm such a wimp). i don't know how you cyclists/biathletes/triathletes do it. i'd like to blame my slowness on my bike, a trek 7000 hybrid. c'mon that's like 30 lbs heavier than all you carbon fiber riders! :)

mine is complete with a bell and kickstand! don't hate.

sunday (7/4) am bike ride: 27.40 miles, 1:53-ish, so about 14-14.5mph? yeah, totally blaming that on my heavy bike.

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htfu (and go lite!)

after not sleeping well tuesday night, i woke wednesday morning not quite in the mood to run. however i also knew that i would be in a bad mood all day if i did not go running and that i'd probably be too lazy in the hot afternoon heat to run later. so begrudgingly, out the door i went. i made it maybe a mile and a quarter before telling myself i should just turn around and rest. i turned around, and made it about 6-7 houses before telling myself i really needed to suck it up and run. i turned back around, and htfu'd my way through (almost) 7 miles. i wonder if anyone saw my indecisive running.

the run actually went well - i found my old easy pace and hopefully reminded myself that i can, in fact, run better than i have been.

wednesday (6/30) am run: 6.91 miles, 1:01:34 (avg pace 8:55), 80*/86% humidity

go lite is giving outdoor fanatics 93 chances to score free gear. they're giving away a free piece of gear every day, all summer long! go to golite.com to enter for your chance to win; winner's will be shown on the go lite facebook page.

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