The joys of adulthood

I've been MIA in blogging, I know. I mean, HARDCORE MIA in blogging. As in, I don't remember the last time I made a post.

There have been plenty of things that have come up that I could have posted on... But haven't. It seems I'm to that lovely point of adulthood where I work 40-50+ hours a week... And then I sleep.
DH even jokes about my routine. I get up, have a bowl of cereal, go to work, come home, sometimes take a nap, sometimes read... Go to sleep. Add a shower in there somewhere, maybe add in a run - which is lovely for someone who has a number of long-distance runs coming up in the next 7 months, I know.

Nobody tells you that growing up means working a lot and sleeping instead of having a life, do they? (yes, I just rolled my eyes)

Let's see... I know a picture is worth a thousand words, but I'm kind of lacking pictures at the moment.

• Just over a month ago (on May 4th) I graduated with my M.S. in Community Counseling :D
• On May... 12th I completed the Runway Run. I was either 5th or 6th from the end, but I did it! Other than the Princess Half Marathon, THAT was the event that got me interested in running :D 7 miles in 1:29:06... I admit to being a little miffed that it was 3 second slower than I thought, but I beat my goal of 1:30:00! :D
• On May 29th, the hubs and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary.
• Two days later my hubs celebrated his birthday. No clue why I married him so close to his birthday. Shopping for gifts was a pain! :P
• Two days later was our 6-year dating anniversary. See above, but this time no gifts.
• Aaaaaaaand, good ol' June! On the 6th I apparently was issued my PLMHP (Provisionally Licensed Mental Health Practitioner). Got it in the mail on the 7th, started supervision this week to work toward a license that DOESN'T say "provisional"!
• Lacking running motivation. I think part of it is related to the heat.
• What I lack in running motivation, I make up for doing three walks a week with my clients at work to improve physical (and hopefully mental!) health. Nothing like getting out and getting moving!
• Speaking of which (see also: reminder to self) I've got clients who often pace due to not being able to sit in a group/class for 45 minutes... I need to invite them on the walks
• Today... I realized that I have walked and run at least 280 miles this year. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay less than I'd hoped to have achieved at this point, but let's face it... I'm doing better at this than I ever have. I may not reach my Moon Jogger goal of 2,013 miles this year (and I still have 6.5 months to go!!!), but I'm doing so much better than I EVER thought I would have done as far as running, walking, and overall exercise.
• Speaking of which, my ILs and DH got me registered for the Dopey Challenge as a graduation present!! SO excited. NEVER would I have thought I'd be doing a marathon. But in 7 months time, I will be sticking it out there and trying my best - and doing it. I won't be the first to finish, but it'll be a first for me. And I'm excited.

Random blurb, that I may have mentioned before: After the Boston Marathon events, I had a friend text me to make sure I wasn't there.

Let's face it, there's no way I'm getting a BQ - at least, not any time soon, not without a whole lot more effort and all.

But, HELLO, love and support. I know she doesn't know a person has to qualify, but the feeling was "She thinks I can BQ!" Add that to the other supportive people in my life, and it's all golden.

So, being an adult is busier than I thought, considering I have pretty similar hours the ones I kept in high school - only difference is I'm in bed by 11 usually. Or at 9:30 I'm asleep on the bed until DH pokes me and tells me to get ready for bed. LOL.

Oh, the joys of being an adult.

And yes, I am surprised that it's just barely 9. I thought I was 22, not 222! haha

Women's Running Series Bloomington, MN Half

I can't remember if I posted on this before (what kind of blogger am I?! haha, kidding), but I talked it through with DH and I signed up for the Women's Running Series Half Marathon in Bloomington, MN in June!
It'll be my second half marathon, my first one by myself. That latter part is  intimidating  terrifying, but I have to remind myself that not only am I doing the Dumbo Double Dare by myself over Labor Day Weekend, I'll be doing the Dopey Challenge by myself in January. And maybe a couple other runs in between.

I always  expected  knew that I would be doing many of my runs and races by myself, but when it's only happened once then it's something you forget about.
I also can't help but remember the Princess Half back in February. I was in such a nasty mood, and my legs just hurt so badly that, of all things... I contemplated giving up.

Now, obviously I didn't, and I have the medal to prove it. And now that I have the experience under my belt, I know what I should and shouldn't be doing (for the most part) pre-race. And that includes not burning myself out (physically, mentally, and emotionally) in addition to putting more effort into my training.

Unfortunately, as much as I can remind myself of what I have "learned" (kinda already knew, but had verified), it's easy to get caught up in the negativity of one event.

One of my goals after we move into our new apartment next month is to get a medal hanger.The search has been... Interesting... But I think I'll be going with one from Allied Medal Displays:

I think at the point I'm at in my running, this sums it all up for me. I started running because I knew I could. I always told myself I couldn't, I'm not fast enough, I'll look stupid, etc... But one day I realized the only thing holding me back is me.
That goes for running longer distances. Running races by myself. Heck, just getting the guts to sign up for one!
Because I know my husband is behind me. My family is behind me (that includes his folks, too, even though dear FIL thinks I'm nuts - then again, the magnet on my car says "13.1 - cuz I'm only HALF crazy!" haha). My friends are behind me.

Speaking of support systems... One of my friends actually texted me to make sure I wasn't in Boston. I told her no (obviously), and then on Friday I realized... She thinks I could run Boston. Nevermind getting into a discussion with her on the details of BQing and such, because I don't think we discussed it. And I'm pretty sure a BQ isn't in my future.

But the fact remains:

It's great to have people who have your back and have confidence in you,

but you have to have your back and have confidence in yourself.

Even so, I wouldn't trade my support system for the world ♥
And before I forget, other medal hangers I'm contemplating:

(both from Heavy Medalz)

I am determined to reach my goals.

I did W4D1 last night, and I tried something a little different with it. I stayed around the same speed that I usually do, but instead of walking at 4.0 MPH (which I usually try to do) I decided to jog it!

I tell you, I now know the purpose did sweat bands.
They say that females glisten - or at least that's what they used to say?? I'm a real female, and I was sweating like you wouldn't believe.
But it felt good to have another accomplishment under my belt :)

And I really am excited at the possibility of being able to do a run on the base's runway. I just hope I can work my way up to it (for this year as opposed to next year, I mean).

When one of my friends graduates college next year, we're going to look at starting a photography business. I'm beyond psyched for it! We both love photography. And talk about perfect timing, because I'll have graduated (again) then, too!
We've already got ideas about setting up a website, promotional photographs to draw people in, getting models, backdrops, you name it. I think it would just be a matter of getting everything gathered and getting it ready to go - you know, in addition to working on our Photoshop skills, and working to hone the photography skills we have.
One way or another, I think it'll be amazing.

I started working on one of my provisional counseling licenses, and it turns out I may have to find a new place to go so that I can get my hours.
My supervisor doesn't have any disciplinary action on her license, but the petition for it is there. I'll have to call the DHHS on Monday to see if I should go ahead and find a new place to get my hours.
It's all a little frustrating, and rather daunting. I finally decided to do it, and then found a place to get my hours in (after calling many places). I just hope I can do it. I just may have to branch out a little as far as distance, because I was trying a little closer to home.

You know what? I know I can get it done. It may just take some time, that's all.

A way to restore your faith in people

So I'm just going to make the assumption that FH does a rather nice job in choosing his friends.

That's not to say that I don't have some pretty awesome friends myself because, let's face it, I love my friends some kinda fierce.

And I wouldn't trade them for the world.

But this morning/afternoon I had a flashback to freshman year in college, where this jackass talked over me the whole time I tried to explain something and didn't bother to let me get a word in edgewise. And after he left I just bawled.

Needless to say, my next two years of college up through graduation... I hated his guts.
He's a pompous jerk, and is apparently only nice when he's smoking weed. No joke. It was weird when I heard that, especially when I heard that he could be nice AND not be a smarmy jerk about it.

And this flashback came about because of... My cousin. Yup, my own flesh and blood.

She has decided to pull herself out of the wedding. And I'm finding that I don't care. I cared more about whether or not people I cared about would be there, regardless of whether or not they're standing up there  with us.
Then she said she's not coming, and that she wished she hadn't wasted her money on a ticket.

Ok, ouch.

THEN she said she was done with me and called me a bitch.

And with that, I can guarantee you that she is not welcome at our wedding or anywhere NEAR our apartment, I don't care if she gets on the plane or not.

There's far more to the story, including -you guessed it!- her not listening to a word I had to say.

But I'm through with it.

I finalized our wedding cake today!
I would've gone with FH, but he got his wisdoms out this morning. I ran a few ideas by him, and then just went with those and had the cake baker/decorator help out with a few ideas here and there.
It's similar to this, but with some definite changes:

I went and bought some of the decor for our cake, and I'll be getting the rest of it taken care of tonight after work.

Sometimes people amaze me.
Just this morning I was saying to FMIL that I hate people.
No offense to anybody reading this. I really like some people. But sometimes people just make me want to smack them. HARD.

Then FH's best woman in the wedding (well, other than me, but you know what I mean! hahaha) texted me saying she was excited for the wedding. And one of the ushers texted me to ask about what his guest should wear, and THEN he told me he was sure I would look beautiful in my dress.
Yeah, I'm a softie. And that totally made my day.

And I've been getting more work in so, while it's been tiring (we're talking that between late Saturday night and the end of tonight I'll have gotten at least 40 hours, and with this weekend I'll have just over 60 if I added correctly)... It's making me feel so much better that the next paycheck in will be rather decent as far as us taking care of rent and all. I mean, even though I know we'll be fine either way, it's still nice to have that extra little bit of security blanket.

I can't believe that we're getting married in 16 days.
Yeah, that's all for now.