Achey Breaky

Hey friends! Hope you're all having a great week so far! I have been so busy lately...between cranking out the last few weeks of marathon training, celebrating Cory's birthday and maintaining a life, I have little room for much of anything else!

I'm now on to week 13 of training, only 3 more to go! I don't know if I'm excited to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel or scared out of my freaking mind/nauseated that it's so close. Physically, I think I'll be ready. Mentally is a different story.... (Cory can attest to that).

I haven't had much to report on as far as training lately. We don't have another "big" push until the 29th, so we've been maintaining mileage and upping our weekday training runs a little. BUT, this weekend is very exciting. I'll be running the Rocktoberfest Half Marathon with several of my running friends. I've promised myself that I'm just going to be running this for fun. I would be crushed if I pushed too hard (which...I've been known to do) and get hurt before The Big One. Hopefully I can throw my competitive nature aside and just have fun!

Besides running, there's been a lot of this lately:

Not as fun as you might think....

I'm not hurt...but you better believe I'm hurting. Small aches and pains all day long. Luckily, it's been nothing major and where it hurts one day, will be ok the next...of course there will be a new pain that day. Right now, my right shoulder is ACHING. I think I'm too tense when I run... and that's the hand I carry my phone in (if I'm running with it) so I'm probably squeezing it extra hard or something. My right ankle is also bitching today. I wish she would shut it. I've got better things to do than worry over her. Oh and my left foot. I've been rolling it over a freezing cold Coke I stole out of the work fridge all morning.... I should probably throw it away (or give it to Cory) when I'm done. <gross>

Speaking of the hubs...he celebrated a very special birthday last Friday. Happy Belated 25th Birthday to my wonderful husband! :) We went to eat with the family Friday night and this was Cory's meal:

Ho-ly Cow (pun intended)

Yep. Ate the whoooole thing :) You only turn 25 once!

In other news... it's almost Halloween!!! Me and Cory were invited to a costume party next weekend. I need some ideas for couples costumes...

I think we're going to be Burger King and Dairy Queen (Cory doesn't know this yet).

Have a great week!

PS- Even though my blogging skills are slack, I have been updating the workout page... try the newest arm workout. Did it this morning...and it is a struggle for me to be typing right now. You won't be sorry.

I'm not dead.

So, let’s be honest.  I haven’t written in like 3 weeks. Yeah, I said it.

I’ve been excruciatingly busy lately and the blog is one of those things that’s easy to put off, no offense.

Here's something to make it all better...

You forgive me now, right? She eases the pain, with her good looks and all.

Let’s back up to that 14 miler I gawked about in the last post - it went GREAT. One of the best runs I’ve ever had. Of course, it ended with a few casualties (toe nails) and new blisters, but it was perfect. Fall is in the air and the crisp breeze makes running so much more enjoyable. I guess I can thank God for humidity, because I appreciate this weather SO much more.

Last week I was in Atlanta, GA all week for work. It was nice to get away from the office, but the days were really really long and I missed my little family. Not to mention that the hubs got bronchitis and a sinus infection while I was away (Good for me, bad for him) With the help of vitamin C, I’ve not caught it… yet.



Oh, heyyy 1996 Olympics





That tall building was where our conference was held- tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere. It was alright ;)





Getting ready for the conference. I know I looked really hot. ha.



I ran the majority of my mid-week runs via treadmill which was kind of a nice change. I ran in the mornings at the hotel’s gym and had the whole place to myself every day. Had to work off all the wining and dining we did! After last week, I never want to go out to eat ever again. I’ve had my fill for the year. It’s amazing what some people will order when they’re on the “company’s tab.” But that’s another story for another day.

So I got home Friday and got settled back into our little home just in time to take a “nap” that turned into bed time. 6pm bed time? Am I an infant?? Whatever, I’ll take it. So I caught up on sleep and then woke up fresh for Saturday’s 16 mile run.

Can I just say that going into this, I was very flustered. (Definitely not because Cory took my car key to work with him-again- and I had to hitch a last minute ride, thanks Mom, then forgot my Garmin and had to go back and was late to meeting the group…not because of that). J I was scared that the added nervousness and stress would screw up the run and my body would tire out easier.

So I started my run saying “Here goes nothing.” Of course, this would be the longest run of my life. Pretty exhilarating if you ask me. I took the first couple miles to just breath. I needed to de-stress from the week and the morning and just take it all in. After that, I was game for a long run. My legs felt strong and my breathing was easy- again, thanks to the 60 degree (amazing) weather we had.

Have I ever mentioned that I have THE BEST running group? I’ve gotten to know these women pretty well over the course of our runs (2+ hours of sweating next to someone will do that to ya!) and they are each so inspiring and genuine good people. My runs have taken a new direction because of these guys- they push me, entertain me, and keep my laughing the whole way.  

I can say with all seriousness, 16 miles was AMAZING.

A-MAZE-ING.

I didn’t want it to end. I know some of you are thinking that’s crazy or whatever, but it’s true. Pushing yourself to new limits and distances is truly one of the most rewarding things God can give a person. Now, I only have to add 10 more miles to that distance for the big one. No big deal, right?! J haha. I just pray that I have that same I’m-On-Top-Of-The-World feeling I had at 16 that I’ll have at 26.

Immediately following the run, we had a trainer waiting to stretch us out (perks of the Y).  I stretched every muscle in my body, chugged some chocolate milk, rolled out my legs with my stick, and threw on my hot compression socks. I was good to go.

This week is kind of flying by. I ran 8 miles Monday and attended a “Strength for Runners” class last night that was pretty awesome. I’ve got 4 planned for today and tomorrow and then 12 for Saturday.  

So there ya go. The last 2 weeks thrown together. I’ve got some ideas for posts in the near future so look for those! :)

Thanks for hangin with me!!

Mini-Vacay

Hey Friends! I hope you all had a great weekend! <3

I had a nice and relaxing mini-vacation in Raleigh this weekend- me and Jen left Friday afternoon to visit with family we hadn’t seen in awhile!

We arrived late Friday night and stayed with my grandparents in their new “retirement” home. Ya’ll. This place was no retirement home. It was more like a resort- seriously. They have a 5-star restaurant on site, gym, pools, and every amenity you could dream of.

Oh, retirement, where are you?! ;) kidding!

Saturday morning, I forced myself up around 6am to run a quick 6 miles; the group back home did a 10k around Fort Mill, so I tried to run at race pace. Ran a few laps around the community’s lake before venturing out to the road- this place was HILLY! Good practice for the monster race in November, I guess!

After my run, I came back to eat breakfast with my sister and grandparents. Luckily my g-rents are big fans of Chobani and had a fridge full- paired with fresh fruit and coffee and I was right at home!

After breakfast we made a quick stop at my uncle and aunt’s house a few minutes away- I’d never been to the new house and had the get the tour and visit for a few minutes. Then, we met my other uncle and aunt at their house to go out on the lake for the day. Jen and I laid out, went tubing, swimming, and caught up with the fam- had a great time!

That night, we ate dinner at the amazing restaurant on-site with my grandparents before heading out for some cousin bonding time at a cute little roof top bar.

Jen and I left Raleigh Sunday morning to head back to our lonely hubbies- I sure missed Cory and the babies! Have I mentioned how amazing my husband is? By 2pm on Sunday, he’d finished all the grocery shopping, laundry, and house-cleaning. How lucky am I?

Of course, I missed my baby Rea, so Sunday afternoon we headed out to visit with Cory’s family and eat an early dinner. Reagan is growing sooo fast I can’t hardly believe it! She’s started smiling all the time, which absolutely melts my heart! She’s also quickly learned how to fake cry to get her way- she’s got everyone wrapped around her teeny finger.

This week starts week numero quatro of Marathon Training! Almost one month in, and everything's running smoothly. This week, I'm really going to focus on getting in a protein and carb with every meal and snack to get my body ready for when it screams from "runger" (after 10+ mile runs, I'm literally starving the entire day, and sometimes even the next day. Protein helps keep me full, longer). The miles are quickly adding up!

Marathon Training Week 4

Sunday- Rest Day
Monday- 3 mi run + something else... (starting a new gym today, maybe a spin class?)
Tuesday- 5 mi run
Wednesday- AM Strength Training, PM Cardio Challenge class
Thursday- 3 mi run, + another new group ex class (haven't decided yet)
Friday- AM Strength Training
Saturday- 10 mi long run

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

When hard work pays off...

Okay, so I've been a bad blogger. I know, it's been a week and I haven't posted anything! But, life over at the Hinton House has been quite exciting/chaotic lately.

Last week, Cory was called in for two interviews at two different YMCAs (not the one he currently works for). Both opportunities where for promotions and we were so so thrilled, nervous, excited, wanted-to-pee-our pants (ok, so just Cory on that one).

Somewhere in between my 2nd week of Marathon Training, working, keeping Cory fed, hydrated, relaxed, ironed and un-sleep-deprived, I somehow missed blogging! I hope you'll forgive me.

The interviews went great (and by great, I mean Cory is the shizzzzz) and by Friday, Cory had a job offer! Of course big celebrations were in order- meaning, I ran to the store to buy Cory a case of beer and a cake on my lunch break- while planning a bigger party for Saturday night (obviously I couldn't help polish off the case Friday night, with an 8-miler lingering on Sat morning!!)

So, Saturday after my glorious run- literally... it was one of those rare "amazing" runs that leaves you wanting nothing more but to run and run and run...either that or I was just hit with runner's high...either way, it was a great run. BACKONTOPIC- We planned a cook-out celebration at the in-laws for Saturday night that consisted of good food, more amazing cake, great wine, and lots of congratulations to my awesome husband!

Cory and I were already getting all these crazy ideas in our heads about moving closer to the 'new' Y and buying a house, and getting a(nother) puppy, and, and ... well, apparently we were a little ahead of ourselves.

Monday morning, Cory went in to work to tell his boss that he was planning to accept the position at the new Y, when he was offered a second (YES, THAT MEANS TWO) job offer at his current Y- meaning a huge promotion (even bigger than the position he had applied for at the other places), great benefits, and the most importantly- Cory was given the opportunity to have his "dream job."

After a little discussion with the Queen (me) Cory graciously accepted the Sport Director position! He is now one of the youngest Directors in the Carolinas!!!

I couldn't be more proud of my husband! He has literally worked his ASS off to get where he is now- many long hours and tough obstacles, but y'all? He is by far the most diligent human I've ever met. He's been through an awful lot but has not let anything stop him. He has this fight in him that nobody can falter and is a prime example that hard work really can PAY OFF! Watch out, America! We've got an ambitious one on our hands! :) I'm so glad I have the privilege to go through this huge step in his career with him, and know that only great things are ahead!

Congratulations Cory, I'm SO proud of you!!!! :) :)

Remember When

YEAR ONE

Wow. Crazy to believe that Cory and I are moving out of our very first place together today. It's funny how the days go by so slow, sometimes monotonous, but the weeks go by quicker, the months even quicker and a year? When did that even happen?

It's a very bittersweet feeling to be leaving our first place- or as we liked to call it, our "room." -Not quite worthy of the term 'apartment' due to it's immaculate ability to make us feel like we were crammed into a closet and wrapped in cellophane. It wasn't all bad though, Cory and I are very much people, people... meaning, even if we had a 15 bedroom house, chances are, we'd still be sitting right next to each other 98% of the time with Anney snuggled between us.

One of the reasons I love blogging is because I can constantly update my scrapbook of life- people, stories, pictures, websites- things I would never have time or patience to create in real life, are immediately formed in a matter of seconds.

So, in an effort to remember our first year, a few stories to go back to....

Cory and I had our first "post marriage war" one night. God knows what it was about. In an effort to piss me off, Cory grabbed one of my beloved bananas off the counter, squeezed it between his fist and gauged my reaction. In an effort to get back, I grabbed his lunch off the counter (for him to take to work the next day) and threw his newly made pbj at him. The anger war quickly transformed into a full blown food fight that was incredibly hilarious. We still have peanut butter, jelly, and banana remnants around the apartment. We intend to leave a little for the new tenants as a gift from us. I'm sure they'll welcome it with open arms.

I have 2 pets that Cory adopted when we got married. He still calls them "mine" and frequently lets me know they aren't "his" (ahem, like when Anney's gotta go out). Anyway, for his bday, he was bound and determined to get a pet of his own. Insert a 10 gal fish tank- filled complete with 5 fish, 2 snails and a pirate ship- that smelled god awful and was planted right at the kitchen sink, to make cooking a joyous experience. Well, a week later, we had 2 fish left. Want to know how long those dang things lived? They died a month ago.... they musta known mama bear wouldn't be taking the tank with her to the new place...Cory's first pet(s)? Fail. BUT, we're working him up to a dog of his very own.

One night, probably around midnight on a weekday, Cory and I were sound asleep when the door bell rang. No one EVER rings our door bell. I freak out, swearing it's a killer (...that rings a doorbell) and make Cory go see. He looks out the peep hole, runs back to me and says it's a pregnant woman standing at our door.  He sneaks back a few minutes later and she had vanished. I was so creeped out and confused and slept horribly. The next morning, I couldn't find my keys anywhere and I was freaking out, late for work. I open the door to go look in my car for them, and there they are, still in the keyhole on the outside of the door. Turns out? It wasn't a mass murderer or a preggo...it was our friendly neighbor offering some public service.

I like to pretend sometimes that I'm a cook- one of those that can just whip up some delicious homemade food- no recipe needed. I was in the mood for some homemade cookies one night and decided to surprise Cory with a treat when he got off work. So I threw together a conglomeration of ingredients I had on hand, just knowing they would turn out delicious. A smoke-filled, fire alarm ringing apartment later, my concoction was finished. Cory will laugh on the spot at the mention of my "pancake cookies." He said he had to pretend he left something in his truck so he could go outside to bust out laughing, so I wouldn't see. He also told me (months later) that he threw away my creation the entire following week when I packed them in his lunch.

Going waaay back to when we first moved in- it was the Thursday before our wedding. I wanted my engagement ring to sparkle on the Big Day and was in our bathroom cleaning it. Well, the dang cleaner made the ring slippery and just.like.that. it was out of my hands and on the floor. I immediately grabbed it up and noticed something looked...different. Yep, a tiny side-stone, the size of a pencil tip, popped out. I hit the floor- I'm sobbing, screaming for Cory, swearing that we couldn't get married because my ring was ruined (drama queen). After a few minutes of my histericalness, Cory pushed me out of the bathroom so he could get down to business looking (I think I was distracting). I ran outside bawling on the phone to Mom. Cory searched for about 10 minutes- nothing. He sat back on his heels, prayed to God, asking to please let him find the diamond. He put his hand down on the ground, felt something on his finger- and whaddayaknow? God was on our side. The diamond was stuck onto his finger. Hallelujah.


One night, Cory was trying to be a stud (he really just likes the shock factor) by coming out of the bathroom dancing butt naked to see my reaction... my reaction? "Cory, you have a giant red ring around your ass." Apparently, he'd been sitting too long...

I was dead asleep in the middle of the night when Cory jumped out of bed, lifted the blinds up, threw open the window and started yelling at a car in the parking lot to turn off Billy Currington. I had absolutely no Earthly idea what is going on or even heard the slightest of sounds, much less what song and singer. Apparently it was keeping him up.

Me and the hubs were catching some rays when a 40+ year old woman molested a 10 year old boy in the friendly apartment pool. The line- "Get off me you drunk fat B****!" is probably one of the funniest moments of my life.

Cory and I literally went into panic mode one night when we had strong hail and tornado warnings. Looking back, we totally overreacted... we've been watching too much TV. We each grabbed our most prized possession + Anney, said our condolences to Lilly and were out the door. We were certain the 3rd floor of the apt would blow away and we'd be goners. We high-tailed it across town to Mom's, stayed there for a total of 5 minutes, realized the storm was over, and returned home. Poor Lily.

We've had some seriously great times at the "old place" but we're excited to see what the next year has in store for us!

Oh and I can't forget... a sincere goodbye, love-ya-don't-mean-it to "Charlotte," the ridiculously enormous spider that taunted me every single day with her grossness and ginormous webs. Happy to say SEE YAAAAA. Def won't miss you- nothing personal.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

PSA:

Do not, I repeat, do NOT buy Lloyd's BBQ.

My man friend was craving BBQ last week, so trying to be sweet, and since I don't know how to actually make BBQ, I bought the prepared, refrigerated kind at the store this weekend. The stats weren't bad and had ingredients I could read, so I though it wouldn't hurt to try it.

It would have been great......if I was a cat.

Cory and I took one bite, looked at each other, took one more repulsive bite (trying not to offend the other; him because I'd "made it"; me because he'd requested it) and both of us said in unison "ohemgee, I can't eat this!"

The best cure for a dinner-gone-bad? Fro-Yo, please! :)

Maybe I should sabotage dinner more often. muahaha

Weekend Royalty

Heyyy everyone! I had a wonderful weekend and hope you did as well! :)

My mom has been out of town, keeping her brother's kids in Wilmington, NC so I've been dogsitting her babies while she's been gone. Of course, her babies are my baby's sister and mama, so naturally they need excessive love and attention!

They seemed to be a little love deprived this week and hadn't eaten much, so Cory and I decided to have a sleep over at mom's to keep them company. They were beyond ecstatic, leading to no sleep for me and the hubs! :(

Unfortunately, that resulted in a slight delirious AM run....




Me and runnin buddy taken by another group member


I must have been sleep running when I hit a crack in the sidewalk and busted it on the busiest road in Fort Mill. I'm sure I'm on YouTube somewhere... I hit the ground and rolled into the grass...I imagine it was quite entertaining. With skinned up legs and hands, the last 2 miles of the run were so awesome and painless.


Road Rash is hott. You didn't know?

After cleaning up my battle wounds, I did something that was so far beyond over due... went shopping! Got a few new things, some shorts (!!) since summer's almost over now and I haven't had a single pair unless you count sweet running shorts. Also a few cute dresses and accessories. yessssss
I got our weekly grocery shopping/cleaning done since me and the hubs had some pretty sweet plans for the rest of the weekend, which is foreign to us. Plans I mean (cleaning sometimes, too).

Then napped until around 5 when I got my clean on...

Shopping? Showering??? You know that's outta the norm! Where were we going, you ask? Cory and I planned our First Wedding Anniversary celebration dinner for Saturday night! We were in for quite a treat! :)




Bam!

 Oooooh yes, we did.

And we tried our very, very best to not seem like tourists while we were there... but that's a feat a little too tough for us.

They seated us in this aaaaamazing table beside the lobster tank (honestly, it was prob the best seat they had in the place) We think it was compensation for losing our reservations (we had them, I swear). Naturally I had to prove to the hostess that we had them by whipping out the iPhone to show her the email confirmation. Classy.




Lobster staring at me. Poor guy.

 All plans of acting like we knew what we were doing went out the door when Cory yelled out:

"Oh sweet, look at those CRABS!"

fail.

Dinner was out of this world good. If anyone needs a place to go to get treated like royalty and eat food that you don't want to ever end, go. there.



Sweet bar...grabbin a drank while we waited

I swear I'm not drunk

Well heyy there good lookin

King Cory

  

And the chinese Queen

 Dinner started with amazing bread that we were afraid to cut
"No sudden movements. Don't. Break. Anything."

And then salads mmmm.



Mine-
Oven-roasted double chicken breast stuffed with garlic herb cheese and served with lemon butter




Plus creamed spinach.



Cory's-
The most tender cut of corn-fed Midwestern beef topped with crispy onions and served sizzling
They forgot his "crispy onions"...the nerve.

Plus garlic mashed potatoes

Finished off with a dessert trio (no pic, sorry!) Which included Raspberry Sorbet, Chocolate Sin Cake, and Traditional Cheese Cake. They were each TO DIE for.


Sunday morning, we woke up, went to breakfast and then headed for Crowder's Mountain for the day.



Happy ONE YEAR!

 Crowder's Mountain is so beautiful and peaceful. It was the perfect place for us to talk and spend all day together. And we couldn't have asked for better weather! Naturally, we chose the "strenuous" trail to climb, and it was a work out! Had us both sweatin at the top!!

After hiking to the top and back, we ate our little romantic picnic pb&j's and then headed back for a real treat....



Anyone for some year-old wedding cake?



Cutting our cake

Y'all. This cake was the bomb. Even a year later. It was awesome! Wish we had more
... someone wanna get married? Please.

In all seriousness, this has been the best year of my life and I completely owe that to my wonderful husband. We've roughed it this past year and through all the marriage, job, home and life adjustments, Cory has done nothing but support me 110%. He's everything I could ever ask for in a husband and I can't wait to see what year 2 has in store for us. I love you Cory!





Bad to the Bone

This weekend began like any other- got off work, went home, asked my hot man what we were gonna do, sat around, pondered over why we still live in Rock Hill, wondered more about what we could go and do… and then met the in-laws at El Cancun for dinner (yes, 2 nights in a row, don’t judge).
This wasn’t just any ole dinner though- it was Reagan’s very first El Cancun experience. As excited as we all were, she must have been absolutely bored with the place and slept through the entire dinner.

Apparently, loud obnoxious drunk rednecks chugging down fish-bowl sized margaritas aren’t her thing.
She’ll convert.

Even though I drank absolutely no alcohol Friday night, I woke up Saturday feeling stiff and tired and dragging. The 6-miler was gruesome…and the 100% humidity didn’t help the sitch.
I kept getting really light headed and was so thirsty…I need to do better about hydrating the day before/during the run.

I got this Nathan hydration belt:

and used it the whole time at the beach, but haven’t on a group run yet. I just hate having so much stuff on…the 305 is clunky enough and I hate feeling restricted. Even so, I woulda killed for it Saturday….a gas station bathroom sink woulda worked too.

I was scheduled for my first placement at the Junior Welfare League’s consignment shop, Twice Is Nice, on Saturday. As a new member, I have to volunteer for 13 3-hour sessions during the year. Knowing I had to be there, dressed, and non sweaty at 10am, I raced home to get ready right after the run. I got ready in record time and arrived right on the dot; worked from 10 to 11 and then realized that there is no way on Earth someone should
have given me a college degree or a driver’s license. I didn’t have to be there til 1.

Wahhhh. Nothing makes me madder than making retarded mistakes that impact my whole day. See… me and Cory scheduled our lease signing for 2pm that day… but since I only have ½ a brain and can’t read a schedule, we had to cancel. L Hoping for next weekend.

After finishing at Twice Is Nice around 4:15, Cory and I headed out to get some errands done. One thing that both of us love is getting Anney new “babies.”
The look on her face when she gets a treat is hysterical and so worth it.

We name all her toys and have basically taught her the names….so when we tell her to get her favorite, “Turk” she runs and gets her mangled, chewed up, one-eyed Turkey baby that used to be really cute.

Saturday we introduced her to “Moo Cow” and also brought her a rawhide bone.

She loves Moo Cow, but the bone really stole the show; she didn’t put it down all night, apparently the bone didn’t love her back. Around midnight, she came around to my side of the bed and woke me up- which typically happens 12+ times a night (She's afraid to jump on the bed in the dark) but when I went to pick her up, something was obviously wrong.

She was gasping and looked horrified- a piece of the bone was lodged in her throat! I started screaming for Cory and since he’s nocturnal and still awake at that crazy hour, he came in and saved the day! Lucky he knows the Heimlich for dogs. :( Anney is fine now, but it was hard to get back to sleep!

No more bones for her!

Sunday, went by way too fast. We spent a few hours at Chad and Page's, hanging out with them and Reagan, grocery shopped, etc. and before we knew it, it was time to start a new week! :( Booo

This coming Sunday is mine and Cory's One Year Anniversary! So exciting, and crazy to think what I was doing this time last year! Time FLIES!!!! (when you're havin fun!)