2010

At the end of 2010 I made several goals for myself. I wouldn't call them new year's resolutions, just things I want to do but didn't have the time. When I graduated I decided I was going to do the following things:

1- Spend more time with both my sweetie pies. Unfortunately, Nick and B got to see a lot of each other and I didn't get to see much of either one of them from August - December. Luckily, all that is behind me now and my only obligations are Monday afternoon staff meetings. It sure is nice to come home after work and still have the afternoon to spend with my two favorite people!

2- READ! Over the past two years of grad school I have accumulated a list of about fifty books I want to read. When I see an author promoting a book on tv, a family member, friend, or professor recommends it, or I just have seen it on visual bookshelf (a facebook application), I add it to my list. For Christmas, Nick's parents bought me a Nook, which arrived on Thursday!! It is basically an electronic reader. I spent Thursday night deciding what to download and was overwhelmed with my choices, so I didn't download anything. 15,000 books at my fingertips waiting to be downloaded in 60 seconds or less, I couldn't handle the decision! Nick, however, had no problem and has started reading Dracula (which I have just added to my growing list). Last night, after a day of thinking, I finally bought my first book for 6.99. Did I mention the books are cheaper electronically? Yet another reason to love the Nook. Thanks Andy and Karen!

3- Run a half marathon. I started running last spring after Brooklynn was born and then ran into some problems with my foot. After some very pricey visits to the orthopedic, I was told at the end of the summer I would need physical therapy five days a week for 30 minutes. Yeah right, as if I had the time and money for that. So, I just put running to the side. I visited the running store on Augusta Road at Thanksgiving. The staff there look at your feet, talk about your running, and foot problems and then pick the perfect shoe. I learned more from the 21 year old working at a shoe store about my foot than I did from the orthopedic. He picked out my shoe and cut ridges into the bottom of them to allow my foot more motion. Nana bought the shoes and gave them to me for Christmas. I have been running now for two weeks and haven't had one foot problem! So on April 2nd, Blake, Clayton and I will run our first half marathon (13.1 miles) in Clemson. We are all training hard and my goal is to just finish without throwing up. I plan to run another one shortly after with Dan in hopes of setting a better time.