Half Marathon

Well, my first Half Marathon is officially complete!

I wish I would have been able to train a little more. But given where I live and that this is my first year teaching...I think I did the best I could.  Throw in a week where I was so sick I couldn't run (and only a few weeks before the race), I am pretty proud of how I did.

Sore as nothing else I have ever experienced! But so so so glad I can now cross that off the Bucket List. And surprisingly, I am way more excited about running than I was before I did this!

Sorry for the crappy quality, they were taken by a friend and downloaded so not as high quality as they should be.

 I have never felt such pain. Why is this uphill!?!?!?!?!

Almost there!

 Crossing the finish line!! I'm still alive! I think?

I was a little slower than what I was aiming for, but well under what I was expecting. Gotta run another one to get that time! Haha.

Picture Update on 2014

Life has been insanely insanely busy with the start of a new school year.  Here are some updates:

I decided it would be a good idea to sign up for this:

A little over two months of training? Suuuuure, I'll be ready. 'Specially since I run all the time...

Anyways, here's a little picture update on my life. 

Such a heartbreaking game...and I'm not even an Auburn fan

 Definitely in Bama country

 I guess this is why they warn us about pipes bursting.

 Meet Nagini / Stevia / Queen...the class pet who doesn't have a name

 Snowpocalypse...aka State of Emergency. What?

 It's here! New Belgium is now being sold in Alabama!

 Waaaaaaaaaaaaant

 How adorbs!

 First New Belgium beer purchased in Alabama!!

 A little teacher fun...

 As a former lab tech...I am insanely jealous of these things (Flash Gels)

 Who thinks of these things?!

 

Humans of New York

The past few weeks have been somewhat rough for me.

I think it has largely been due to the fact that I got to spend 2 glorious weeks back in Colorado.  Coming back to AL, where I have such a tiny support group and no real friends outside of my coworkers...it was hard. Leaving behind family and friends, coming back to an empty apartment. Trying to get back into the swing of things...not fun.

I longed to get back to Colorado, or at least go on a vacation. Everything would be better if I could just be somewhere else. 

Today I stumbled across this post from Humans of New York. 

"...if you can't figure out your problems in your present circumstances, you're probably not going to figure them out by running away from them."

A very true statement, and one that I am going to try and keep in mind when things get tough. 

Life

Life has been busy...so instead, some photos:

Happy Halloween! Mine is the one with the crooked smile...third from the right. 

 "Campfire Marshmallows"

 Nerdy science things

 New class pet...Daisy

 Overcast days are the best days for long drives and nature

 How cute does TP look?

 Brunch at Five...omg amazing

 Mitosis under the microscope

 HeLa Cell Chromosome Splat

Kentuck 2013

There is a local Art Festival called Kentuck that some of my coworkers told me about.  TP & I went and had a great time. Here are some pictures from our day!

Making my own metal casting

 Fried alligator on a stick...I could only stomach one bite

 My mold waiting to be poured!

 The company prepping for the next batch

 Bags of ore (?)

 The nerdy Zoology teacher in me thought these were awesome!

UA vs CSU Football Game

I was fortunate enough to be able to watch my alma mater play against the University of Alabama yesterday. We began tailgating at around noon, opting to stay away from the Quad and instead have our own CSU tailgate at our parking spot.

The game itself wasn't terribly memorable, although I will say that Alabama didn't look like National Champions, especially when our lowly team was able to do as well as we did.

The best part was having a ton of good friends there...new and old!