Not That Theres Anything Wrong With That.........

I know it’s a couple weeks late, but I just had to come out of hiding and speak on something real quick.  Do you remember a little while ago when every media outlet and practically every sports (and for that matter, non-sports) fan was calling for the head of our resident short-shop to be served upon the metaphorical platter?  It has since fizzled down some, and everyone has seemed to have moved on, albeit not unto more pressing matters by any stretch of the imagination, but moved on nonetheless. However that doesn’t mean this situation gets a pass as far as I’m concerned.  They wanted Yunel released, by any means necessary.  On a train by sundown straight out of dodge, destination unknown.  Traded for a box of light bulbs and some 2-ply.  They hated him, called him a cluster of names, and completely wrote him off as an incumbent for next season’s team, let alone give him a chance to finish this year’s sad campaign.  Now two weeks in the sports world is an eternity in human years, so if you can’t recall the exact reason as to why this was going on, I’ll refresh your memory a bit.  The reason was simple really.  James Greenhalgh.  Who’s he Brad?  Well kids, he’s the morally piss poor crybaby, re; season ticket holder/amateur photographer who kick started this whole damn fandango in the first place.   Here’s old Jimmie, at the ball game eating a hotdog and admiring its phallic dimensions, when something dawns on him.  He’s in all actuality very insignificant and meaningless.  “This can’t be” he says to himself, something needs to be done, and quick.  But instead of coming up with a plan, rolling up his sleeves and accomplishing anything useful in this world, our hero remembers that as an amateur photographer (which roughly translated means unemployed) he always has a camera in his hand and is somewhat okay at pushing the little button on the side of it.  Now Mr. Greenhalgh here is part of a growing population in our society.  A demographic that has dedicated itself to standing on a soap box and screaming and crying about absolutely nothing of importance in an attempt to attract other members of their little sewing circle together so they can all whine and be unimportant together.  It’s slight in numbers right now, but with every convention held, its density seems to increase significantly based on the level of triviality that the current session is concerned with that particular day.  Sad, depressed and close to taking a bath with a toaster JimBoy pulls his thumb out of his ass, that’s where guys like him keep their thumbs in case you  wanted to know, sucked it clean and started snapping pictures like he’s never snapped pictures before, in hopes of finding something worthless to capitalize on.  Now after the game his routine was simple, he swung by Church Street for a Mojitio or three, went home and took his cat for a walk and finally loaded his snap shots onto his computer.  Sexy woman in LuLuLemon pants; delete.  Old fat bald men dancing during the 7thinning stretch, maybe later.  Wait, what’s this?  Skinny Dominican Baseball player rounding bases……  Jackpot!    Hold on, he’s got lettering on his eye black.  What’s that say?  Maricon?  I know that word, the guys call me it all the time.  Let me Google it.  And with a smile that hasn’t been that big since George Michael got caught in the washroom, our protagonist dug out his tiara, crawled into his pink satin sheets, and watched reality T.V. until he fell asleep, for tomorrow he will be King.   And of course, the rest is all history. 

Yunel Escobar writing “Tu Ere Maricon” (which in actuality is spelt wrong, it should have been “ERES”) is not a big fucking deal to anybody in this world.  And the guy who called it out and tried turning it into something important is even less of a big deal.  Period.  What was the insinuation here, really?    That Yunel hates gays?  How the hell did we draw that conclusion?  The direct translation from Spanish to English would be, “You Are A Faggot”, and in 34 years on this Earth I have probably said that exact same phrase approximately   9, 217 times, and not once was it directed at or referenced to for that matter, any homosexual content or person.  “You are a faggot” has no correlation with being gay, just as “I banged your mom” has no association with me having relations with your mother.  And any assumption otherwise could only be made by a man who obviously spent most of his time in ballet or figure skating instead of the change room with the rest of the boys whooping it up and doing what Y chromosomes do.  But Jimmy G, he got his 5 seconds of fame alright, because the media ran with it, and run they did.  They got a little carried away if you ask me though.  One respected analyst, who will remain nameless because I actually like him, even went as far as to call this a travesty, and said “this is the most embarrassing moment in Blue Jays history”.  Excuse me Bob McCown, but are we being serious here?  If I wrote “You’re a faggot” on my face and went and played some baseball, that wouldn’t even break into the top 100 embarrassing moments of my life, and if you don’t believe me, ask around.  That wouldn’t even garner honorable considerations in my world.  Am I supposed to assume that because I’m just a bus driver I don’t get held to the same level of respect and dignity as a baseball player?  I’m pretty sure the code of conduct I signed is almost word for word the exact same as the one Escobar signed when he joined the Jays a few years back.  Why in the hell would anyone think for a split second that a professional athlete of all things should do, say or act any different than the rest of us do on a daily basis?  In fact, an argument could be made that they should if anything, (not all players mind you but most) be held to a lesser level of maturity due to the simple fact that they are nothing more than men playing games for a living.  And even by a code of conduct or anything else directly related to such, as far as I’m concerned (and I’m only joined by just about everyone I fucking know) that he didn’t do anything wrong in the first place.  Immature, yes.  Stupid, maybe.  But malicious, hateful or spiteful, absolutely not.  And if you hate Yunel Escobar for this act, then you must hate me, and you must hate 98 percent of the people I come into contact with on a daily basis.  And although you may have trouble admitting it, you must hate yourself, because I know for a fact that you have done it too.  All the poor man’s Peter Parker over there did was prove once again that the general public is nothing more than a flock of hypocritical, unable to think for themselves moronic sheep.  How many times do I have to say this, worry about that which concerns you, nothing else.  And definitely not what some baseball player thinks is funny (and for the record I thought it was), and even more definitively not what some do gooder with nothing better going on in his world thinks is slander (which it was most certainly not). 

But anyway……………….
That’s enough for this go ‘round, I’m going back underground for a bit.  I’m currently consumed in this book I got that contains practically every philosophical and scientific essay pertaining to the Mayans and their predictions for 2012.  And it’s actually pretty amazing.  No the world isn’t going to end, as Hollywood would have you believe, but a conscious change is definitely on the horizon.  I’ll school you on all that in the not so distant future though, I promise.  Oh, and nothing for nothing but you wouldn’t believe this chick I’ve been hanging out with recently.  Let’s just say to call her perfect would do her an injustice.  It’s still early, so I won’t go into it too much right now, but between me, you and the overflowing laundry basket to my left, a change in relationship status could be imminent.  I know, I know, I said never again, but hell, even Michael Jordan had to retire eventually, right?  I’m outta here, I’ll see you all in a couple of weeks.  Until then, hang in there…………………………    You fag.

WILW: Engaged!!


What am I loving this Wednesday?


I'M ENGAGED!!
As of this past Saturday, September 22nd, I became engaged to the most wonderful man of God and of my dreams! :) I am over the moon blessed and excited. I can't wait for this wedding planning adventure to begin!
More than likely you will be seeing some "Wedding Wednesday" posts in the future ;)

Moments after "the moment!" We couldn't be any more ecstatic!!

Sometime this week I will have an engagement story post up, for those of you who asked!

Thank you so much for all of your kind words on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! I can't wait to put my engagement journey on the blog and share in the excitement with all of you! :)

Much Love,

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Prayer Request



Please, if you have even a few moments, lift up your thoughts and prayers for my grandmother today.
She has had some on and off heart problems in the past, and today they are putting her under for a heart catheterization to check and make sure everything is okay with her heart.

I know that the Lord is faithful, and will do with my grandmother what his will is.
God is good, and he gives us the power of prayer to send him our requests.
I'm hoping that the power of prayers keeps my grandmother safe and healthy!

Thank you, friends :)

Much love,
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p.s. Thank you so much for all of the Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook congratulations for Josh and I's engagement!! All the love and support means so much to us :) An engagement post will be coming your way in the near future!!

Pumpkin Obsession


Fall in Love - classic - 8x10"

It is officially Fall tomorrow! :)

I am oh so very excited for it to finally be here.
One of my favorite things about fall are the PUMPKINS! I love the smell of a pumpkin candle, pumpkin pie, or a hot cup of PSL :)

Like many of us on Pinterest, I'm sure we have all come across some delicious looking "pumpkin inspired" recipes gracing everyone's food boards.
So in honor of the first day of fall, I wanted to share a few recipes that I have found on Pinterest that look divine!

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Gluten free pumpkin cinnamon rolls
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Pumpkin French Toast
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Make your very own PSL :)
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"Skinny" Pumpkin Roll
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"Skinny" Pumpkin Pie :)
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"Skinny" Pumpkin Banana Bread
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A Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Shake
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Okay, now I'm hungry!
Have a lovely, fun-filled, Fall weekend :)

Much love,

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Around The Way Girls 2

In the next part of my book, it talks about two teenagers named Danada and Diamond. They are 14 and 15 in high school and get caught up in the gang life. They have abrutal initiation in which they get raped by 3 men. However, the girls accept it and have to prove that they are willing to be down with the gang. So they have to rob a single mother and her children. The regular job in the gang is carjacking. They make alot of money from this and are able to afford luxurious thimgs that they're parents could never get for them. After the gang rape that Diamond experienced she gets pregnant by the leader. She finds out in the hospital at 5 months because she sees that she has picked up some weight. Diamond has her baby and her evil mother Rhonda tries to jeoparadize its help and gave it a foster home. In the end , everything works out well for Diamond. She gets her baby back, goes back to high school and lives with her loving aunt. Oh and her friend Danada was killed on impact in a car crash.

Though We Go Together Like Nike Airs And Crips T's......


     It’s happening again, isn’t it?  I knew it was about that time, I could just feel it in the way you’ve been acting lately.  Why do we insist on going through this travesty of ours time and time again?  It’s been happening as long as I can recall and to be honest, I’m not sure I like it one bit.  Although I suppose you can’t be blamed, you’ve never promised me forever now have you?   But this on again off again thing is getting to be unbearable.  You waltz into my life, regardless of whom I’m with or what I’m doing, make me feel like a king for a brief period of time, and before I know it you leave again, sometimes without even saying goodbye.  We go from nothing to full time to semi part time, until one day I wake up and realize I haven’t seen or heard from you in however long, and just like that it hits me, you’re gone.  When will I see you again?  I don’t know.  I know I will, but when is completely up to you.  There’s nothing I can do but be patient I suppose.  You’ll come back, you always do.  You have for as far back as I can remember.  And of course I’ll welcome you with open arms, as I have done for practically forever, until it’s time to repeat, and go through this all over again.  Such a horrible painful routine, but there’s nothing I can do about it, it’s the way it is, has been, and apparently always will be, regardless if I like it or not.
     I know the only thing you want from me is appreciation, and believe me, I try.  But you have to understand, it’s hard.  I’d love nothing more than to dedicate every minute of every day to you and nothing else.  But the reality of it all is I do have a job that takes up 8 to 9 hours of my every day.  By the time you factor in the commute, we are looking at about 10 hours altogether.  The gym daily is another 2 hours, even though you tell me all the time to skip the gym, and just take a walk with you and enjoy our time together, as if you know exactly when that time is going to be up, and from time to time I do that for you gladly, but I unfortunately can’t do it every day.  Mix in about 7 hours or so for sleep, although sometimes you make it so hot, that gets downgraded to about 4 or 5, and before you know it I only have a handful of hours left to myself.  In that time I have to shower, cook, eat, drink coffee (which for the record always tastes a little bit better when I’m drinking it with you), tidy up, get caught up on the news and sports of the world and do whatever errands I may have to do.  Whatever is left over I try to bide equally with you, but I know that’s just not enough, is it?  We have talked many, many times before about relocating somewhere that you and I can be together forever, but that’s just not as easy as it sounds.  Albeit I would love that more than I would love anything else in this world, right now it’s just not feasible.   What a life it would be though.  I think about it all the time.  I think about how you make everything better just by being present.  I think about how much more I enjoy things not necessarily because of you, but just because you’re there.  Little things like how clean I try and keep the car, or how I always want the windows open just to enjoy the breeze that you somehow make better.  Or how music turned up real loud sounds better when it’s shared with you.  Long walks with nothing but a coffee or a soda or an ice cream and us. A patio isn’t even the same without you.  Every facet of my life you improve, just by being there, and I love that.  Hell, you can take my favorite thing in this entire world, baseball on the radio, and I probably wouldn’t even enjoy it without you.  How I get by after you leave is no secret, I just keep my chin up, truck through my days, and wait patiently until you come back.  You always do.  You have for as far back as I can remember.  Sometimes sooner, sometimes later, but always.  Eventually. 

      I just wanted to let you know before you take off again, that this time was different.  I don’t want to say it was the best time we ever spent together, because I would never want to devalue any of the other times we spent together.  But this time was special.  Maybe it was because I wasn’t with anyone in particular when you came around.  Maybe it was because unlike most other times I didn’t need you to show up this time, I just wanted you to show up, and you did.  Perhaps it was because when you did show up I was moderately stress free and you didn’t have to spend the usual amount of time you normally spend relaxing me (which by the way, no one in this world can do like you).   I don’t know what it was, but it was special.  We spent a lot of time together this go around, and had a lot of good moments.  We never did get a chance to just sit on that park bench and do nothing for an entire day, did we?  Maybe next time we can do that first.  We did get down to the SkyDome though, and watched some baseball.  You always love that.   We saw some great movies.  Batman was incredible wasn’t it?  Hey, maybe before you take off on me again we can finally see Spiderman?   I doubt it though, you metaphorically speaking already have your bags packed don’t you.  Its ok, you didn’t want to see that anyway.  I’ll watch it by myself.  Mom’s birthday was nice, thank you for all you did there.  You know she loves you too, right?  Of course you do.  She can’t hide her happiness either when you show up.  Everything was just really great this time around, and I truly enjoyed it.   I enjoyed it so much, that this time, more so than any other time, I don’t want to see it end.  Or maybe it has already, who knows.  This is what you’re famous for isn’t it?  Here one day, gone the next.  Without so much as even a good bye.  Its ok, I’m used to it by now.  I can practically feel it in the air when our time together is just about up.  I just try to not think about it and enjoy every moment we spend together as if it were our last.  That’s the key.  That to me is appreciation.  And besides, you’ll come back.  One day.  You always do.  You have for as far back as I can remember.  I’ll just hang in there patiently until that day comes.   Until then.....
I Love You,
Dear Summer...............................





Around The Way Girls 1

Nina has found out that her new "boo thing" is also dating her arch enemy. This isn't the first time that the two have been with the same man at the same time. So as you can imagine Nina is heated right now and can't go to her friend Rochelle about the situation. She can't go to Rochelle because Mercedes is Rochelle's lover ! However, Nina goes to her friend Mariah sometimes when she's in a predicament like this. Mariah reassures her of all the good things that Nina has going on for her and that she shouldn't stoop down to Mercedes' level. Back to Nina's love life. Right now , she is legally married to a man named Mouse. He owns a club and sometimes sleeps around with the women that work there. Nina is married but she also has a man on the side that plays basketball. He and Nina met one night when she was on the job and the two had an immediate attraction towards one another. They haven't seen each other since that  night but they have talked everyday since. That's pretty much all I've read about today.

OOTD: J. Crew Bubble Neckalce


I got it, it's finally here!
The coveted J. Crew turquoise statement necklace I have been eyeing up is finally here!


Ever since seeing numerous bloggers rock this necklace {Christina Julie and Natasha just to name a few!} and the adorable outfit inspirations on Pinterest

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I had to have this necklace!
And the best part, it cost $13.56 with FREE shipping!
Pretty sweet deal if you ask me :)
You can get the necklace off of Ebay HERE 

Here's the first outfit that I decided to pair with my necklace this past Monday :)

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Shirt: EXPRESS
Jeans: Abercrombie
Necklace: Ebay

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And we can't forget my Cheetah Flats! Love them :)
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Happy Hump Day!

Much Love,
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1/2 Marathon Re-cap!



I'm linking up with Amanda from "For Love of a Cupcake" for "Motivate Me Monday" to share my re-cap of my 1/2 marathon that I ran at the end of August. The Race was the Madison Mini Marathon in Madison, WI. It was a gorgeous race route, and if you're from the mid-west, I would definitely suggest running it!

If you have never done a race, my advice is to DO ONE!
I loved having a goal to work for and reach throughout my summer vacation.
I had a love/hate relationship with running before I started training, but now I have an addiction to it! No weights, jump ropes, workout videos, or medicine balls. Running is all about you and the pavement!
Besides the confidence and gratifying feeling that comes with running. You also get some killer legs! Seriously, my legs have never been so lean and strong. I love what running does for your body and mind, and I think you will too :) So just go out and run!!

Up at 4:30 to eat breakfast and get ready for the 7:00 am race!

At the start line all ready to go

With my biggest fan, my mom, before the race :)

Getting excited!

Okay...so my mom didn't get any pictures of me actually running but here's me after finishing my 13.1 miles!
Post Race! Time: 1:57:44

It's Wisconsin, of course the medal is in the shape of a beer mug...

After the race by the lake with my mommy :)

As far as training is concerned, I followed a 10 week program for beginners. It is advised that you be able to run 3 miles consistently or be able to run for 30 minutes 

       10-Week Half Marathon Training Schedule

WeekMonTueWedThuFriSatSunTotal
13Rest33Rest4Rest13
23Rest43Rest5Rest15
33Rest43Rest6Rest16
43Rest53Rest8Rest19
53Rest53Rest10Rest21
64Rest54Rest11Rest24
74Rest64Rest12Rest26
84Rest54Rest9Rest22
93Rest43Rest8Rest18
103Rest3Walk 2Rest13.1Rest21.1

 On the days of rest, I tried to do "cross training" exercises. These exercises consisted of some type of aerobic exercise other than running. I loved to bike, go on the elliptical, do some interval training, or a HIIT workout! 

I also found that working out in the A.M. worked best for me. I went to work at 8 in the morning, so I would usually get up around 6 a.m. and get my run in for the day. Not only is it great to start the day with a workout, but the weather is fantastic! It's cool and perfect for a long distance run.

Before my morning run, I usually wouldn't eat anything. I know a lot of runners will "fuel up" and many running magazines suggested it, but if my run was under 6 miles I would run on an empty stomach. My reason for this is that I was also trying to lose weight this summer (which I did successfully! More on that in another post) so eating for "fuel" wouldn't necessarily show results on the scale. When you work out on an empty stomach, your body is searching for something to burn off. When it can't find food to burn, it hits up the fat storage. That's right! You burn more fat!! If I was running a longer distance, I would usually eat some oatmeal, a banana, or a small granola bar so I had some more energy for those extra miles.

Another piece of advice: STRETCH! I will admit that I was a culprit of failing to do this well enough after my runs. Your muscles and entire body will thank you for this, and there will be a better chance you'll steer clear of injuries.
  
I hope I inspired and motivated you to get off of that couch and see how amazing running can be, and how much you can truly enjoy it!
If I can run 13.1 miles, trust me, YOU CAN TOO!

Happy Monday :)

Feel Good Music.


Happy Weekend!
This weekend I'm headed out of town to play some volleyball in the Twin Cities!
Wish us luck as we play our four matches :)

I thought I'd share with you a couple songs that are my favorites right now.
I love starting my weekend by coming back to my dorm and cranking some weekend music!
Here are the two songs that I would start out with.
Hope you like!

I am in love with The Lumineers at the moment :)

Some of you may recognize this one from the Olympics...and now it's getting some serious radio time, but I love it a lot :)


Much Love,