triple T... tie-dye, tongs and tiles.

Happy Labor Day, friends and readers! I hope you all have had a nice little holiday.

A few months ago me and a friend (link to her blog is provided but don't worry about clicking because she never updates... xoxo JMT=) began talking about how we wanted to start doing races. You know, 5k here... 10k there... maybe a marathon one day-in the FUTURE. Well, she has been committed to training all summer while I have been... not committed to training. After much encouragement from her, we both signed up for Macon's Labor Day Road Race. This would be our first 5k together. She arrived in town last night from Atlanta to be here for our race that started at 7:30 this morning (GASP!). So in preparation for our first event of many to come in the future, I told her that when she came down to Macon she had to have some ideas on traditions we could create for every race we ran. Well she failed miserable and had nothing ready. Not one single thing. But lucky for her, neither did I! But we both liked the idea of coming up with ideas so we thought of some together... = )

A few weekends ago, we created tie-dyed tees. While maybe not the most flattering color on me, we decided that we would wear our matching tie-dye tees for our race day. Tradition Numero Uno: TIE DYE.

Since I have not been training, I knew I at least needed to have a good play list that would hopefully inspire me for 3.1 miles. This brought about the idea to have a race day song for each race. Tradition Numero Dos: TONGS. *Well actually its song but since I like to have things all start with the same letter, we decided to change it to tongs. Stupid and ridiculous you may say, but I say memories, my friends, MEM-O-RIES... (oh and by the way, here was our tong choice... so gewwwd.)

The third and final thing took the most time but is one of my favorites. I told JMT that I wanted to have something to show for each of our races. This is something that also has to be done in various cities since we never know where we could end up running our next race. We decided that we would paint a tile at a local pottery shop, with memories from our race. Tradition Numero Tres: TILES.

So in preparation for our big race, I suggested we rent the movie Run Fat Boy Run, because who doesn't like watching a movie that will basically play out the upcoming hours and events for me? That's what I thought. Well it was as good as I had heard it was. Hilarious. So good. So much fun to watch before our big race.

So here we were the night before our race and we had mentioned to Ruch that she should come cheer us on to the finish line and more importantly be there to shuttle us home. This seemed like a great idea to us and Ruthie and even her friends that she had to spend the night. We EVEN offered to buy them all Starbucks since they would be getting up several hours earlier than they should on a holiday. (*note: if you ever want teenagers to do anything for you, offer them Starbucks. they fold like a deck of cards.) So we told them we had to leave at 6:35 in order to get there a few minutes early. Well, 6 a.m. rolls around and we get up and begin getting ready but what did I hear coming from the other room? What did I see coming through the door???

NOTHING.

The four girls that were so excited about Starbucks and cheering us on the night before were sound asleep. Oh no no no. You made a promise, RCQ. So I tried to wake her up by sending texts, calling her, even playing her alarm clock. She didn't budge. None of them did. So me and race friend were off to our race all by ourselves, without a fan section and without a shuttle.

sorry girls, when you lie, I play DIRTY.

p.s. - can't wait to see you at the finish line of our next race! xoxo!

So friend and I arrived at the race and saw lots of interesting things... a.k.a. people. And I also realized that I am not as serious of a runner (if at all) as ANY of these people were. For instance, we are about to run a race and what are people doing before? RUNNING. Won't they get tired? Apparently not if there shorts are short enough! I have alot to learn.

pre-race.

I won't explain alot of how the race felt (like I was going to faint the last kilometer) or anything else because I am sure you are extremely bored by this point. I will say however it was good to have a faithful friend that could have outrun and finished way earlier time to run by encouraging me on and letting me know each kilometer we finished. She is a good friend. And a good race friend.

post race.

(don't let the clock deceive you; our time was much better thanks to JMT)

After we finished, we headed to ride on an unplanned tour of Macon, courtesty of a very confused bus driver. My legs thank you, Mr. Bus Driver, for the 1.5 miles we had to walk back after you took us in the wrong area. We celebrated our finish of a few seconds over 30 minutes by visiting Panera for coffee and bagels and of course to complete our first Tile for our first race. Below are the rest of the pictures from our adventure!

not excited about our "tour de Macon" on the C&H bus.

so we decided to walk back to the start instead.

and we FINALLY made it back to the car to get a picture with our AWE-OME race shirts.

and this is at Amphora, where we finished our third T for the day...

before painting.

during painting.

finished painting. (front)

finished painting. (back)

Thanks JMT for a memorable Labor Day... Here's to many more! NEDA!

Stratified Squamous Epithelium

Stratified Squamous Epithelium

structure - multiple layers of cells that are cubodial in the basal layer and progressively flattened toward the surface; the epithelium can be nonkeritanized (moist) or keratinized; in nonkeritanized stratified squamous epithelium, the surface cells retain a nucleus and cytoplasm, in keratinized stratified epithelium; the cytoplasm of cells at the surface is replaced by a protein called keratin, and the cells are dead

function - protection against abrasion, barrier against infection, reduction of water loss from the body

location - keratanized-skin; nonkeratinized(moist)-mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, anus, vagina, inferior urethra, cornea

________________________________________________

And there you have one (ONE!) of my notecards. Caleb said that I should have bought the english version of Anatomy & Physiology. I agree.

oooooooooo-kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

I really don't feel qualified. Have you ever been in a situation where everyone seems to know what they're doing except you? Well, that is how I have felt for the last 4 hours of my life.

Actually, the first hour and forty-five minutes weren't too bad. It was the part where we were sitting in lab trying to go over our "activities" is what got me. Where I come from activity means one of the following: banana boating, rock wall, giant swing, corn-hole or archery. Not describe all the different ways you can talk about the location of your hand in relation to your elbow or select a cheek sample and look at it underneath a microscope. All of this to say, I have alot to learn.

I read an interesting quote this morning that I've thought alot about today. It says, "Sometimes the only way we can find out what we are meant to be doing in life is to step out and try some things." So here I go, trying.

a new adventure

hello friends. it's the start of a new week! and with this new week comes a new adventure.

i've been absent the past couple of weeks due to a few reasons, the main being time to think. while I've wanted to write out my thoughts, i felt the need to be on "hiatus" for a little bit and figure out a few things for myself.

some of you may know how i feel about school. it was not my friend. i enjoyed being involved with things associated with school, but the thought of sitting through lectures, reading countless pages of texts, studying for hours and not really knowing what i am studying for - well, it didn't really appeal to me. my last year of school i took 37 hours over two semesters and when May came I was more than ready to graduate. i was so very glad not to have to think about school and the thought of another semester being just two months away. i was done.

D-O-N-E. done with college forever.

when i was in school and told people i would rather work than sit through classes, most of them laughed and made the face as to say, "just wait... you won't be saying that once you start working." well, i have proved them wrong. i can honestly say that i would much rather go to my job for 40 hours a week than sit through classes. call me crazy.

but here is where i am a little bit confused. the summer before my senior year of college, with 83 hours of core and mass communication classes under my belt, God put me in Mexico. God put me in Mexico with a group or aspiring medical/current medical students and we did clinics there.

whenever I was growing up and anyone asked me what i wanted to be, i always had an answer. a neonatal nurse. the fact that i was young and really had no clue what neonatal nurses did, was not a problem. that was what i wanted to do. my junior year of high school came and i changed my way of thought and decided i did not want to wear scrubs everyday... yes, sadly the scrubs factor was a part of my decision in not wanting to become a nurse. foolish. but i digress.

so there i was, in Mexico, with other students who actually knew how to take blood pressures and actually knew somewhat about clinics (or appeared to anyways). luckily, they were kind and did not hold my lack of knowledge against me and God used my skills in other ways. on that trip, I began to freak out. did i make the wrong decision? should i have gone to nursing school? looking back, i see that my path so far has been where God has wanted me. through the people I met in college and the people i now work with, i know God had me go a different route from nursing for a reason.

see I told you, they're smart.

this is what they did in their free time. who knew blood pressures could be so fun?

this was one of the little girls that came to our clinic with her sick mother.

she had the best laugh i've ever heard.

however, since that trip, i've had the desire to at least try it out. and tomorrow i begin to try it out. this past week, i registered at macon state for a nursing pre-req: anatomy & physiology I. the thought of the class freaks me out, but i don't want to live my whole life wondering if i should have done it. this re-entrance to school could last two days, a semester or if i like it, with another diploma. it all depends really. the most incredible part of it all is the peace that i have. yes i realize what a&p is and how ridiculously difficult it will be. but like i said, i'm not pressuring myself.

so as i begin this new trial period, i will keep you posted. it should be interesting. i've already looked at ratemyprofessor.com and unfortunately, the man i will spend time listening to for the next 5 hours a week has gotten less than exciting reviews. but maybe i will have good stories. who knows. God wants me in this class for a reason... like i said, whether it be two days or the whole semester. pray for me as i begin this new adventure. pray for wisdom, clarity and an open mind to what the Lord has for me.

so, time to get my pencils and notebook ready... i'm going back to school!

why yes, I'll be out of town... on business.

The last time I wrote, I was tired and weary of looking at the computer. To be honest, that's one reason I haven't really written in awhile. I have been spending more time looking and working on a computer at work so sitting and writing on a computer sounded a little less than exciting.

But I have good news to report! The big project is finished! WOO-HOO! It took about a week total and that was with lots of interruptions and of course doing all the other things that my job requires. I am proud of myself for taking ownership of a big project at work and doing it from start to finish. To continue learning more and to really maximize our new database, I am flying out to tomorrow for a Tuesday/Wednesday training! Luckily for me, it's in a place that I've never visited which means new adventures and a dear friend (who happens to be getting married 20 days from today!) currently lives there! So here I am, finding myself at another "grown up" moment... going on my first business trip and spending time with a friend who is about to start a new life in a new place. It's fun growing up, seeing and experiencing new things!

here are some pictures of me and that dear friend I will see soon...

I can't believe these pictures were taken 3 years ago!

at the staff party

at a Sunday orientation...

I'm suggesting she wear a red hat like this instead of a veil on her wedding day...

what do you think?

me + desk job = bad

This morning when I woke up at 6:30 little did I know what was in store for me today.

One of the things I love about my job is that it is constantly changing from day to day. There are responsibilities I have but its not a set schedule like from 8:30-8:45 do this and 9:00-12:00 do that. I like having a different schedule everyday.

Last week, we upgraded our database we use for just about everything in our Marketing Department. Now I'm not talking about a simple upgrade... actually we went from version 4 to version 12 (stick with me here, I will not dwell on the tech side of things too much because its just as over my head too). So with this upgrade comes lots of new features that will be helpful with doing all sorts of reports, scheduling, etc.

Going from version 4 (ancient) to version 12 (shiny and bright) requires alot of "computer time". I thought I didn't mind spending time on the computer but I guess that was just because I was reading realsimple.com, looking at photos on facebook or reading blogs.

So when I put myself in front of my computer this morning determined to get all 167 apartments entered with the correct resident, I was being a little too ambitious. Oh, and did I mention that I get a little bit o.c.d. about projects like this? I am. Well about 6 hours later I was ready to claw my eyeballs out and couldn't mentally or physically focus on anything. And the worst part about it? I'm not finished. So going into work tomorrow I know that this little machine will be waiting to laugh in my face and overtake my day.

you don't look too bad, but deep-down, on that cold hard-drive of yours, i know, you are not my friend.

Actually, I was wrong. That is not the worst part. The worst part is that I am tempted to begin working on it right now at 10:48 p.m. on a Tuesday night instead of going to sleep.

Macon just got a little bit cooler!

... and it wasn't as hot today either.

All last summer I really wanted to go kayaking. But this proved to be difficult because, well, I do not own a kayak. So before summer came around this year, I was considering purchasing my first water toy. Well, time passed me and summer came and here I was, no kayak and no playing on the water.

Well that was until someone kindly directed me to a little place called Ocmulgee Expeditions. You see, the Ocmulgee River (pronounced ok-MUHL-gee) just happens to go through Macon and two (genius) guys created a place where you can rent kayaks or canoes and have a day on the river. Luckily, I have a friend that wanted to try it also, so we visited this place today. Even though the river was bare-reeee-lyyyyy moving, it was a fun couple of hours to relax on the water and spend some time with my friend, Jill.

two color pics:

and two b&w:

So thank you, Ocmulgee Expeditions for reintroducing me to the water. And thank you Jill Marie, for being a fun friend who is willing to spend a whole day with me talking your ear off.