30 Before 30 #15: Run A 10k

If you had told me a year ago I'd be running a 10k, I would've been SHOCKED!! Running a 5k had been on my yearly goals for a good three years before I even started Couch to 5k. No I don't know what took me so long! LOL After my first 5k I definitely knew I'd want to do a 10K and eventually a half-marathon. I am still currently completely disinterested in a marathon. I rule nothing out for the future but for now... yeah...

To the 10K! Friday night I picked up my race packet with my number, the shirt you see to the right (ain't it cute?? Of course I don't like the orange on it but since I'm a Florida Gator I happened to have some orange ribbon) and gobs of advertisements and coupons from sponsors. My favorite? Free Chick-fil-a Chik-n-minis!!!!! That place has my favorite fast food breakfast. Those buttery biscuits! Yes, Lord! Evidence of your will and your way!

When I walked in to pick up my packet just 15 minutes after packet pick-up started, the line was wrapped around the gym. INSANE! Then someone said that was the 5k line and the 10k line was over there... aka the table with one person in line. Yes! I felt so proud walking over there! But when I left, despite there being well over 100 people in and around the school, not one person greeted me, or said hello. The sign out front says all welcome, this is a Catholic school and my participation directly helps your cause. OPEN YOUR MOUTH. People not speaking to me is my BIGGEST pet peeve when I'm spending my money. And most of all, this is my fourth race. I'm used to the excitement from volunteers. It's usually a very festive atmosphere. This was not. But I chalked it up in part to chaos and kept it moving as I got my race gear together. I laid out my outfit including the green socks with the shamrocks you can't see and reviewed my race morning preps.

Me and my sister!

I'm always crazy amped the day before a race and have a terrible time sleeping for more than a few hours at a time so I skimped on sleep a little the night before to make myself more tired. I know that's probably bad but... IT WORKED! I actually slept! The next morning I got dressed and my sister was here!!!! Yay! It was her first time seeing me run and we were both excited about it! Rashan was much less excited. He's been to all of my races and hates waking up early (I feel him on that) to do it and standing around waiting for me to return (he should always be happy to wait for me!!!). He was quite salty about it. Side eye to that dude.

This race actually had food available before it started and INDOOR BATHROOMS!!! I'm delighted to never have experienced a race without actual bathrooms! I realize that as I enter larger races this will change but I will rest on my porta potty-free running laurels for a while. Back to the food. I couldn't finish my oatmeal that morning because it made me feel queasy. So I was glad to note there was a ton of food there! I had a bagel portion (probably 1/5), an orange slice and some (intentionally) watery coffee. I need that to enter my pre-race fuel list. I felt AWESOME during the race!

I planned to pace myself for at least the first half, then push for the last half and almost sprint for the last mile or so. I paced myself pretty well. The course was an out and back AGAIN (every race I've been in now) so I got to see all of the early people pass me. I also got to see who was behind me. I had passed two women around mile two. They were behind me, a couple and that's it. A man SPEED WALKING with walking sticks passed me around mile two. My goal remained during this race NOT to let him beat me. Now I could tell early on my Runkeeper app was about .3 of a mile off but I did not estimate how much that distance discrepancy would throw off my pacing.

I originally wanted to come in under 1:19:00 but as long as I came in under 1:23 (my previous longest 6.2-mile run while training), I decided that would be okay. While I was excited about this race, I felt like my training period was off, I didn't know enough about the 10k distance. And my former running partner, who though I need a break from training with, I like racing with, told me three days before the race that she wasn't doing the race anymore. ????? I blamed both of us for that poor training but really more myself. It's my responsibility to prepare myself to run the race I want to run. I'm still upset about it. I thought I was over this race but writing about it is bringing it all back.

The whole race I was smiling and waving at people as I passed them. It made it really fun to race! Unlike the people at the front of the pack. They were so focused they looked angry. Please make me stop running when it stops being fun. I understand being focused. I can be focused for free. I race because it's fun. Around 4.5 miles in, the cutest little girls came out of their house cheering and offered me water! So cute! They buoyed me up! Especially since this was where I saw a guy who stone-faced me. A COURSE VOLUNTEER did not smile, wave or in any way acknowledge me. He was one of multiple. Y'all. These were HANDS DOWN the worst course volunteers I've ever encountered. There were some great ones. The lady right after mile five was AWESOME! My favorite all day! The timekeepers were great. There were others. But I passed multiple people who looked annoyed to be there. YOU'RE A VOLUNTEER!! I DIDN'T MAKE YOU COME OUT HERE!! Twas bad.

Around mile five, I caught back up with walking man. He was always in view but I just closed the gap in mile four. When we hit the five-mile mark, I passed him. It was awesome! I almost thanked him for pacing me but thought that might come off as rude. At this point I was sprinting. My version of sprinting. I felt GREAT! When I got near the 6 mile mark, there were lots of people cheering so that was cool. But then there were others who turned their backs as I passed. I kid you not. HORRIBLE PEOPLE!!!! But right after them, I passed another woman. I felt a little bit bad about that because I could tell she was struggling and I knew it would only make her feel worse. I started to say something but thought it would sound bad. IDK.

After that I saw Rashan, my sister and her friend. They were cheering me on so that was fun! I love seeing my people at the race! Then I saw I the finish line clock was getting close to 1:21:00. UGH!! But I felt great so I was actually kind of okay. I just wanted to get under 1:21:00 so I pushed even more. I was pretty sure I made it so I was cool when I crossed the finish. I walked to get my legs back (your legs feel SO WEIRD after long runs) then got some food. All the Krispy Kreme doughnuts were gone by this time. Jameil wept.

Then I looked at my Runkeeper. Y'all. Why did this app have me thinking I was averaging 12:28/mile when I was actually averaging 13:04/mile!?!?!? I didn't even realize it until I saw the times posted online. I knew I felt great for the first 5 miles and that I was obviously holding back and pacing myself but 13:04?!!? I wanted to cry. With the way I felt at the end of the race? I bet I could've shaved off 2 minutes, maybe more. And my unofficial time was 1:21:01. UGH!!!!!!!!!! I consoled myself thinking the official time would be different because I didn't start right when the gun went off. You let the fastest people get at the front. So I hung back a little. EXCEPT it was a gun start. Everybody gets the same start time marked as the time the gun went off. AND NO ONE TOLD US. What!? Can you tell me the point of having chip timing (tracking my finish time) if everyone gets the same starting time???? How does that create official timing??? I can't describe to you how annoyed I am by that. I need every future race to be specific. It's so OBVIOUS that I wouldn't have even thought to question it.

Post-race, I like to hear the fastest runners. Most races announce the three fastest male and female. This race announced the fastest three males and females in every age group from 10 to 70+. In multiples of five. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!? It took AT LEAST 45 minutes. The only reason I stayed was for the door prizes which they said you had to be present to receive. There were some FANTASTIC prizes. $100 gift certificates to running stores and expensive restaurants, travel vouchers. It was great. But then the woman drawing decided to look at a list of names and pick the first one that her eye landed on. Then they announced that because so few people stuck around, if you knew someone you could get their prize for them. A group of women got 4 prizes for people they knew. TOTAL CRAP. Of course I won nothing. I was so annoyed by the overall experience that I wrote a letter to the organizers. They offered me free registration for next year's race. I'll accept it, already praying in advance I'm not here this time next year and will kindly hope to never see any of those people again.

To shake off that awful, awful experience, I almost immediately found another race. My next 10K is April 10th in Cary, NC near my sister. I WILL come in under 1:18:00. I've done a lot of research. I will get what I want. Here are some things I learned from researching and from my own experience.

1. I feel great when I get a tiny bit of food in me within 30 minutes of the race. I'm sticking with a piece of bagel and an orange.
2. Gummy worms don't work for me. Just one spiked me WAY too much in a bad way.
3. 10Ks are hard to pace because there's so little room for error if you start out too slow.
4. I MUST write down my projected times for each mile. My app won't be an issue if I have my hits worked out ahead of time.
5. Most importantly: get in the game. Train the way I want to to be READY, willing and able to race.

#25: Read 10 Classic Books

I was always an avid reader. I was that kid who read everything she could get her hands on. Yes, that included every book that was assigned. I found some I never would've read that I really enjoyed (The Count of Monte Cristo, All Quiet on the Western Front) and others I found horrid (Siddhartha). Okay okay. I didn't finish Siddartha. I finished Anna Karenina for AP English my junior year out of spite. I wanted to prove that I could do it. Especially once most of my class didn't finish it. I HATED that long, long book. I wanted to read ten classic books before I turned 30. I wanted to pick a mix of books that were on English teachers' book lists, things a lot of people I knew had read in middle or high school and classic works by black authors.

This list was just like a trip back to school. There were some I loved and wished I read earlier and others I never want to even think about again. Let's start with the highs. Number one hands down is.... PRIDE AND PREJUDICE!!!!!! I love this book!!! I want to read it again and again and again! It's so awesome!! I also loved Their Eyes Were Watching God. Awesome. The Grapes of Wrath. I did NOT expect to love this book! I was marginally optimistic about the first two but this was the sleeper hit! So good! I'll tie these at number two! The top three are COMPLETELY different books set in different times, different countries but they have one thing in common: they're all incredibly well-written.

I really liked Oliver Twist but it would come in fourth on the list of the ten books I read. Invisible Man was the most thought-provoking for me, though it got off to a slow start. After the first 150 or so pages (there were 400 more), it was quite good.  It's number five. Coming in at number six, Uncle Tom's Cabin. It was just there for me. I liked it at times, other times didn't. Overall, it was fine. Number seven: Lord of the Flies was similar but more toward the don't like side.

Number eight is Catcher in the Rye. Not at all my kind of book. Overly-indulged rich kid goes around doing whatever he wants. Stream of consciousness. It made me exasperated with people who relate to this book. No thanks. Number nine is The Great Gatsby. I know! It's a true classic. Whatevs. I couldn't connect with the characters or relate to them. That normally doesn't matter to me. But in this case, the characters all felt frivolous. Number ten is Catch 22. I picked it because I've seen the cover blown up to poster size on the walls of Barnes and Noble. It took me months to read. MONTHS. No more picking books like that. Yech.

Overall? This was a great goal! AND my reading bug is officially reignited! For my 35 before 35 (LOLOL), I'm going to read 35 more classic books that I've never tackled. I only need 5 more. Suggestions?

#9: Run a 5k

In July 2008, I found a 5k I wanted to run.  Now finding a 5k to run and running a 5k or even training to run a 5k as you know are not the same thing.  They don't even look like the same thing.  One's all talk, the other is ACTION!  For the last 3 Januarys, I've made a new year's resolution to run a 5k.  What took me so long?  I've never liked to run.  Ever.  Not even when chased.  On the playground, I preferred to just say, "Okay okay! You caught me!"  Seriously.  LOL  I never ran all the way through the mile in school.  I just didn't like to run.

But back in 2008, Losangelista & 1969 ran a marathon and a 5k respectively.  And I was like now wait a minute.  I DON'T WANT TO BE LEFT OUT!  And I felt like if Liz can run for 26 miles, I can run for 3, right?  I'm already in great shape so it shouldn't be too big of a leap!  Then I went to grad school.  And not only did I not run, I barely worked out.  Twas bad.  I knew when I created my 30 Before 30 list, running a 5k absolutely had to be on there.  It was one of my easiest additions.

Once again I found a race, I even hired a trainer (then fired her when I found out she wasn't a runner) and hired a new one who runs marathons to get me in shape to run.  Then 7 weeks ago, I started the Couch to 5k (C25K) running plan.  The general idea is that through interval training you build up to be able to run 30 minutes or a 5k.  I was hooked from the first week!  In week one, I felt very capable.  Week 2 was a bit harder, but still cool.  Each week I felt more and more proud of myself as I hit new milestones.  Then I registered for my first 5k.

I decided to run the Oyster Festival 5k at Ocean Isle Beach partly because my family used to vacation down there but mostly because you got free entry to the Oyster Festival!!!!  Do y'all know how much I love oysters?  I love them as much as Bubba loved shrimp!  I'll eat them however you'll serve them. Raw, steamed, broiled, fried, in stew, with toppings, with only a bit of lemon and some horseradish, with cocktail sauce, just gimme the oysters!!  So I trained and trained but before the race, I'd only ever run about 1.6 miles, which is about half of the 3.1 miles required for a 5k.  That made me a little nervous but I figured if I ran for the 22 minutes I was scheduled to run for Week 6, Day 3 of C25K, I could probably go a little further and if I needed to walk, I could do that, too.  But I also knew if I stopped running, it would be harder to start up again.  I went ahead and set a goal of 45 minutes.

Rashan and I spent the night in the city where my dad was born and raised (more on that later) and took this picture at nearby South of the Border so we'd only have to drive about an hour and 45 minutes as opposed to 5 hours before my race.  I had oatmeal, a banana and water on the drive down. We picked up my race packet which included a shirt, a wristband for the festival and chapstick and I was ready to go... but there was still over an hour until the race started. 

The ocean object of our ogling

I wasn't nervous, just READY!  It was kind of cold when we got there but I knew it would warm up even without me running since the high was 78 that day.  We ogled the ocean for a little bit then sat in the car, then watched the kids run the one-mile fun run, then I paced.  Can we get started yet???  Please???

The horn sounded at 8:30 and we were off!  Now I wish I could say I had photos of me running but the start and finish were at the same location and the official photographer was apparently only at the start and took sporadic pictures.  That means I have 0 pics of me racing until the end.  No matter.

I had carefully prepared my playlist so that I would be pumped and ready to go and keep going.  I didn't have a watch but I hoped there would be some sort of timing system.  Couldn't use my shuffle because it has no screen!  But I knew most of my songs were about three minutes so that was my way of pushing myself through.

I'm wearing lipstick because I couldn't find my lip gloss. 

I breezed through the first 10 minutes but then I see these two guys barreling toward me (one of whom I later found out finished the 10k in 32 minutes!!!).  Part of the course looped back for both the 5k and simultaneous 10k so I got to see allllll of the people who were passing me about to hit the one-mile mark.  That was a bit demoralizing.  I immediately wanted to know how many people were behind me but I decided to just wait until I hit the loop to peep that.  It turns out I was the slowest of the people continually running but there were a good 30 or so people behind me so I was cool with that.  I was just so excited to be out there I really didn't care at this point!  I was waving and smiling at all of the course-directing race officials.  I did a little cheer for myself at the one-mile mark and said, "All right! Let's keep going!"  I was sailing along smoothly here and feeling fine!  I kind of lost count of where I was on time but I knew I was around 26 or 27 minutes.  I did a big cheer when I hit 2 miles.  That's both further and longer than I'd ever run!  I felt like a rockstar!!! 

I also realized that while some songs are fun and work for other workouts, they are not so much for me when running.  One of those songs is Ciara's "Bang It Up."  Love it for other workouts.  Blech for my run.  Outkast's "Bombs Over Baghdad" and "Pump It" by Black Eyed Peas?  Got me dancing on the course.  That's right!  I was running and dancing!  Lol.  I was having a ball!  And it helped that there were people standing on the decks of their beach houses cheering us on!  Somewhere after mile two the inside of my ankle started hurting and I couldn't shake it out.  Usually I can shake it, mid-stride and fix it but that wasn't working.  Then the outside started acting up but I really didn't want to stop.  Once I hit two miles I figured I might as well run the whole thing in. 

Why do running & walking look the same???

At about this time I got to the water station where they did a great job of cheering me along!  It is there that I discovered I need to practice running and drinking because I almost choked myself.  Wait.  I choked myself but managed to get it under control.  That was scary, but then I went back to being my excited, self-motivating self.  I knew I was getting close but I couldn't tell how close.  A lady speedwalking said, "Almost there" as she passed me and I replied, "THANK GOD!!!"  LOL  Shortly after I passed the three-mile marker, gasped and cheered and looked ahead and wondered why in the WORLD was .1 miles so long???  I saw Rashan and smiled and waved, then looked at the back of the encouraging speedwalker and decided she wasn't gonna speedwalk and beat me across the finish line when I ran the whole thing.  I kicked it into high gear and crossed at 44:12.  Woohoooo!!   I beat my goal!!!  I was PUMPED!!  And shocked!  I kept saying, "I did it! I did it!"  I guess it's a compliment that Rashan wasn't surprised that I ran the whole thing under my goal but I wanted him to be amazed with me!

Look! A medal!

My brother via text told me he was so proud he's gonna tell everybody his sister runs marathons.  LOL.  That is absolutely not my goal at this point in my life.  I want to run my next 5k either at Thanksgiving in Savannah or a "Mistletoe" run locally in under 40 minutes.  I'll do a few more 5ks, then do the Bridge to 10k, then run a few 10ks and see how I feel.  I do need to stretch better after races and cool down.  But overall, the race was very exciting!

Seafood Bog

The festival?  A complete fail.  It's an OYSTER festival, right?  So why did the majority of the vendors serve 0 oysters?  It was typical fair food!  There were tons of beach-specific vendors which also included things I don't care anything about but the food was the reason we traveled that far for a 5k.  We wandered over to the festival around 10 and many people were just setting up.  We did a (disappointing lap) and saw $20 plates of fried oysters or steamed oysters you have to shuck yourself.  I don't know how to shuck and do you know how many oysters I can get for $20 elsewhere?  I just couldn't bring myself to do that. 
There were some oyster gumbos and stews but the non-oyster food far outweighed it.  AND NO RAW OYSTERS!!!!!!  This murdered my poor little heart.  I got a seafood bog that had shrimp, fish & oysters with a tomato, onion & celery seafood broth and rice.  It was quite good but I was stuck on the lack of oysters.  We left after less than an hour and I fell into a deep sleep in the car.  Then the next day I slept for 12 hours!!  Phew!  I RAN MY FIRST 5K!!!!!!!!!!

#11: Go Wine Tasting in NC Wine Country

For some reason, vineyards have exploded in this region in the last few years!  I know some have been around for decades, while others have capitalized on a nation with a renewed interest in wine and the availability of wines at all price points.  For my birthday, Rashan and I went to Raylen Vineyard right in the middle of harvest season!  I LOVE driving past vineyards and this one was not a disappointment!  Grapes were dangling from the vines on our drive up to the main building!

 We did a tasting that you'll have to take our word for because there is no photographic evidence!  He was really moving through those wines!  They produce a ton of wines here.  They were out of my fave, the pinot grigio.  Sad face.  But they had two of Rashan's faves aka any kind of sugar wine.  They had a riesling he liked and a rosé.  On the latter, the tester said was made for people here raised on Kool-aid & Pepsi.  WOW.  Then he (pseudo-snobbily) said he knows someone who mixes the rosé with frozen fruit and blends it.  We looked at each other like, we shall be buying a bottle and doing that.  Thanks for the tip.  And we tried it and it was quite good.  Here's one of the barrels they use to ferment the wines.

 Here are the cases of wines stacked to the ceiling!  They'd had a bottling session recently I believe.

 Here's me!

 Don't I look like I know EXACTLY what I'm looking at?  It's a grape! For the wine!

 So beautiful!

 This dude here... LOL

 Is he playing with the soil??  I can't... LOLOL

 Yay us!

Tada!  So that was my first NC wine experience and it won't be my last!  There are at least 10 more within an hour drive!

#26: Go To An Opera

Since I'd never been to an opera, for my 30 Before 30 list, I decided the time is NOW!  I thought I would be going to one in Charlotte but I found an opera right here in Winston.  Then I saw a Groupon for a show and it was kismet.  Rashan and I went to see "Il Trovatore" about a girl torn between the rich man who loves her (in whom she has no interest) and the poor man she loves.

Verdict?  Really not that great.  My mom says I need to go to a show with a big name.  I'm willing to give opera another shot... but not in the next week... maybe not in the next month or few months.  Know what I want next?  Salsa lessons, then "The Nutcracker"!!!!  Yay!!!  Here are a few more pics of us on our adventure.

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 68

1) When it's rainy for 2 days... I don't feel gloomy or depressed... because I've survived YEARS of that in Pittsburgh.  I know MONTHS of sunless skies.  Outside of Pittsburgh?  I know it'll be sunny and beautiful in a few minutes by comparison.  Lol.  I sound noncommittal and vaguely disinterested when people mention it to me... because I am.
2) Google instant isn't fast enough to me.  I'm so serious, too.
3) I LOVE NEW TWITTER!!  Can you make people stop automatically hating things just b/c they're new?  I was immediately drawn to the sleekness of the new look.  Please find a real reason not to like something.  "It's not like it used to be" is not enough.  P.S. I seriously cannot explain twitter to people who don't get it because I don't "get" what they don't "get."
4) When I'm creating my PowerPoints for class, it takes me almost as long to choose the design and font as it did to write the rest of the stuff.  Creativity can be such a curse.  But not so much that I want it gone.  Lol
5) I have 7 million pet peeves and things that make me crazy.  They have all become more apparent since I've been in Winston-Salem.
6) Somebody make me eat better.  What's the point in working out if your food is all of the fast variety.  Ok not all just some, you know who you are.  Bojangles, Cookout (with your dumb delicious strawberry cheesecake shake that tastes EXACTLY like GOOD strawberry cheesecake), both of you are just shameful in your taunting.
7) Son.  Did you really just schedule something for a Sunday morning?  I don't care if you go to church, you have to be here instead.  Fail.

8) Remember last week when we talked about going NOWHERE on the weekends?  Didn't happen this weekend and I have an idea it'll bite me in the booty this week.  That picture?  That would be my schedule for the month of October SO FAR.  But I'm still very happy about my life. :)
9) I'm going to the opera tomorrow!!!!  I'm so excited!!  I love getting all fancy!  And crossing stuff off of my 30 Before 30 list!  Wheeeee!!!
10) I'm horrible at blog tags.  I can never remember to add them.  I do it for 3 posts then forget again.  It's a little more intuitive on my food blog for some reason.  Can you imagine how many tags I would have if I had been tagging for 5 years?  You would never have to wonder where "that post" was.  You'd just go to the tag and it'd take you to 90 related posts.  LOLOL.  For the record, they didn't have tags when I started blogging lo these many years ago.  LOL.  I think future-dating posts was also impossible or really complicated.
11) My neighbors on either side both smoke (which I can smell through the walls... GROSS) & have at least one small, yippy dog.  How?  How did this happen to me?  I don't like either of those things!!  And snarl at both of them!  Yep, I snarl at small, yippy dogs.  If that thing's gonna bark, it should bark like a man. 
12) I did these exercises that are supposed to help runners with their hips... and now my hip hurts... FAIL, ExerciseTV.  FAIL.
13) Not riding the bus is really murdering my magazine-reading schedule.  I just can't convince myself to give myself time to do that.  I'm two months behind in BOTH of my food mags.  Uhhh... oops.  Also, don't tell anyone, but I just bought two more cookbooks because they were on sale at Borders.... (after I told Aretha not to buy anymore books until she read what she had.......... *waves at kettle*)

August Goals

As you see, I'm doing these challenge days when I want to!  Hmph.  What I ate today?  That's silliness.  But for the record, (yesterday) I ate Mexican for lunch (an enchilada, a taco & a chile relleno) with a delicious lime margarita on the rocks with salt.  For dinner, Rashan & I went to the Vortex with Bakima (they are so fun!!).  I had fried dill pickle spears & a chili cheese burger with tater tots & it was delicious.  But today's discussion will be about my goals for August!!!

Here's what I set out to accomplish in August in keeping with my yearly goals and my 30 Before 30 goals and what I have planned for August.

1) Work on my relationship with God.  I surpassed my goal of 120 total chapters in the bible, reading 135 chapters.  My goal for August is to get to 185.  That originally included the approximately 20 chapters I had remaining in Genesis to complete the book but the end was so good, I read at least 10 chapters in one day and finished it before I could get this on the blog!  Here's how I reach my numbers: I estimate an additional 50 chapters knowing there will be some days I can't stop at 1 or 2 because it's too interesting... which I love!  And actually happened!!  Also, I will visit at least 2 churches in my new city this month via bible study or a Sunday service.  I like bible study first as an intro to the church.  If a pastor can't really open up a passage there, at least I've only lost an hour instead of 3.

2) Start my next film.  Wow...  WOW!!  We completed our 40-minute short as you know but seeing super shorts at the film festival in June made me want to complete a film that's 20 minutes or shorter.  I really can't wait.  I feel like there are some great possibilities right around the corner.

3) Take the next step in my career.  There was a significant step in July that I should be able to tell you about by Monday.  :)

4) Try new restaurants.  I just did okay on this but since I'm moving TOMORROW, I'm sure I'll try at least 3 new restaurants in my new city this month.

5) Cook at least 3xs a week, 2 of those new recipes.  I am STILL BACK!!!  I TRIED 11 RECIPES LAST WEEK ALONE!!!  I still really, REALLY like when people ask me for food advice or try recipes I recommended.  Recipes and reviews with pictures are up on my food blog, The Record Dish, including my favorites this month, layered vegetable torte, green chile burgers with tomatillo-lime salsa, Italian flag pasta & falafel.  I really liked almost everything I cooked this month.  For August I want to try at least 2 vegetarian recipes each week.  I really enjoy getting something new out of vegetables and not missing meat in my meals.  Plus some of my vegetarian homies are starting to request it!

6) Watch more movies.  I still have plenty of time to get to 300 movies by the end of the year but I need to pick up the pace.  Honestly, this month I don't even feel like I have time to watch movies and I'm not really in the mood.  If I can watch 10 movies this month, it will be a miracle.  So far I've watched one.

7) Workout more.  I was shooting for 3xs a week.  I did 3-4xs a week 3 weeks of the month and 2 days one week.  Best so far but in August I want 3xs a week EVERY WEEK!  Can't wait to make that happen!!

8) Statecations.  For July, I had no statecation goal.  This month I want to go wine tasting for my birthday!  I think that will be awesome!  I would also be okay with a helicopter ride!  :)

9) Contact my grandma once a month.  I was supposed to finally send her a package of my stuff from graduation & screening.... I didn't do that or call her.  I should fix that.

10) Do FAFSA.  ............ DONE!!  And my financial aid package is nice.

30 Before 30: Tour A Brewery

My first completion on my 30 Before 30 List!!  I must say, I really hope the rest of them go more wonderfully than this one.  Rashan & I went to the Sweetwater Brewery in Atlanta.

The tour was very underwhelming.  I read the reviews that said don't expect to learn anything on the tour but this was ridiculous.  You could barely hear the guide, it was short and you didn't see any bottling or filling of kegs.  What is the point exactly?  It was clear people just come here to drink. 

When you get there, you walk right into the tasting room with your glass and 6 drink tickets, both courtesy of the $8 fee.  If you are a beer drinker, it's worth the cover.  You get to taste a nice amount of beer.  I can't say I loved any of them, though.  There was a bitterness I didn't find appealing... though interestingly enough when I've had the 420 in restaurants with food, I liked it.  Not sure what that's about.  Since I'm cutting back and Rashan isn't sure if he still likes beer, this was a sad experience. 

Not sad per se because we did see some one's spiritual leader in there...........

Sir!!! 

I just hope the winery is better.

Monthly Goals: July

Here's what I set out to accomplish last month in keeping with my yearly goals and my 30 Before 30 goals and what I have planned for July.

1) Work on my relationship with God.  Something really cool is happening.  I have less of a desire to listen to non-gospel music (to the chagrin of some of those I love).  I wanted to have a more than one year Bible-reading plan so I wouldn't try to rush through it.  I decided to use Our Daily Bread as my jumping off point.  I read the verses associated then read ODB, then the chapter or more. There are some great stories and I like to try to figure out how they apply to my life.  The ones I REALLY don't understand, I look up a commentary for (usually Matthew Henry who I only discovered this month even though he did commentary on the ENTIRE BIBLE and died in the 1700s... I feel SO LATE! LOL).  But it's very cool.

What was at first a, "Really???  Why does this chapter have 55 verses???  Let me pick a shorter one." is becoming, "I'll read that one and then the next one because I want to know what's next.  Ooh!  And I wanted to read more of Ecclesiastes!  Let me go find that!"  Anyway, I wanted to bring my total for the end of June up to 60 (partly because I had read more books than I thought I had).  I read a lot faster than I expected.  I got up to 84 chapters in 28 books.  For July I want to get to at least 120 chapters read.  There are enough stories I'm intrigued by that I'm okay not upping the number of books read.

2) Finish my film.  I wanted to get our film festival submissions up to 10-- DONE!!  This month we wait.  We won't hear back from any until August, but the bulk we will hear back by September.  SO CRAZY!!!  So next month this goal won't be on the list anymore.  Wow...

3) Take the next step in my career.  I pitched my film (present it to a panel of executives from various television stations) at a film festival-- HUGE STEP!!  I got some great feedback, learned, saw a lot of  films & networked.  My first film festival experience was a great one!  I'm so excited that there are many more for me in the future!

4) Try new restaurants.  Of course I did well with this.  I always do.  I want to cut back on this to save money but also by virtue of being in 2 cities where I haven't lived full time ever or in years (Charlotte and Atlanta), it's likely I'm going to be trying lots of new restaurants.

5) Cook at least 3xs a week, 2 of those new recipes.  I am SO BACK!!!  I've tried 4-6 new recipes EVERY WEEK!!  So exciting!!  I love it!!  I love the trial and error, I love the successes, I even like (not love) the failures because I learn something.  I really, REALLY like when people ask me for food advice or try recipes I recommended.  SO COOL!!  Recipes and reviews mostly with pictures are up on my food blog, The Record Dish, including my favorites this month, garlicky butternut squash, velvet potato purée, & south by southwest sliders.

6) Watch more movies.  I'm up to 145 on the year.  That means I still have plenty of time to get to 300 (about 180 days).

7) Workout more. I was shooting for 3xs a week and that didn't happen every week BUT I'm a lot closer & really excited about that!!

8) Statecations.  As mentioned, I went to St. Augustine!!  When I move to NC I'm going to carry over the statecations goal and make it double up on some of my 30 Before 30.  For this month, no statecation goal.  I'd kind of like to go to Augusta but I don't think that's going to happen.

9) Contact my grandma once a month.  Last month I was supposed to finally send her a package of my stuff from graduation & screening that she'll love.  I'll do it this month!!  Very cool & exciting! :)

10) Do FAFSA.  ............

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 53

1) I like reading the New International Version of the Bible... but I like memorizing the King James Version.  It just sounds more Bible-y to me.  Reminds me of my childhood.
2) Georgia is in a really aggressive anti-meth phase right now... the commercials-- radio & television-- and billboards are omnipresent.  Somebody rich apparently has a momma, son or daughter who was obliterated by meth.  I'd just like to know the appeal of a drug that's a bunch of household cleaners boiled together.  I'm gonna have to pass on that.
3) What is wrong with my boyfriend?  This dude has exposed more of his ridiculous rap stuff in the last week than in the previous year.  This is exactly why I excuse myself from the room or the phone when he starts going.  I DON'T CARE!!  He critiqued a rap using the term, 'non-sequitur.'  For real?  And still can't stop listening to the hood rat rap on ATL stations.
4) I made the Ultimate Sunday Meat & Potatoes dinner with steamed asparagus in a paper bag from Tyler's Ultimate per my 30 Before 30 goal.  OMG!!!  That was one of the most delicious, most impressive-looking dinners I've ever made!  I was so excited & proud of myself!  :)
5) I can't watch soccer.  One goal in 90 minutes?  I'm gonna have to pass.  Show me the highlights.
6) I don't get the becoming a UniversalLife minister for your friend's wedding thing.  I mean I do and I don't.  I don't personally want it at all.  So that's what I mean.  I can kind of understand why people do it.  It just seems so hippie-ish.
7) Rashan's mom is way more physically affectionate than my mom.  It's an adjustment being around her.  Lol.
8) I frequently think there's someone who doesn't believe I cook as much as I have in the last few weeks.  I make myself crazy with something I have no proof of.  I DO like posting failures, though because who believes EVERYTHING you make tastes awesome?  Nobody.
9) Once again, I watched ONE movie last week... wow...  I blame car issues & 3 days at Rashan's mom's house.
10) Rashan left me alone in his mom's house... several times.  The most okay times were when I was in the kitchen.  Lol.  His 2nd youngest nephew now treats me like an expected addition.  He ran to me and gave me a hug before he went to sleep the other night.  Too cute.
11) I don't know why all the newspaper websites now have this giant ad that covers the screen and you HAVE to x out of to read the site but it's really really annoying.
12) Why didn't any of you guys tell me about KindleForMac??? I can read free books on my computer w/o needing to own a Kindle!!  You people care nothing about me.  Why is this?

Monthly Goals: June

Normally this is to update you on the previous month's goals and get into the next month's goals.  They are versions of my yearly goals.  This time I will do that AND update you on the relevant 30 Before 30 progress.   AND I actually posted these goals in a timely fashion!!  AMEN!!

1) Work on my relationship with God.  I was on a roll toward the end of the month and since I've added read the entire Bible to my 30 Before 30 list, I have 9 chapters of the Bible down, 1180 to go!  I'm already enjoying it and very glad I decided to undertake this goal.  I figured out yesterday that if I read 2 chapters each day I can finish in a little more than a year and a half.  I know the Bible is achievable in one year but I need to make it an experience I enjoy and get something out of rather than do just to say I did it.  I know how I operate.  So my goal for the end of the month is to have read at least 51 more books to bring my total for the end of June up to 60.

2) Finish my film.  We completed our slightly shorter cut for film festivals so we fit into the shorts category.  We also completed our trailer so we're in great shape!  I'm very excited!  This month, this goal is to apply to at least 7 more festivals.  (We've already applied to 3.)

3) Take the next step in my career.  Film festival applications sent out, as mentioned.  This month I'm going to pitch my film (present it to a panel of executives from various television stations) at a film festival-- HUGE STEP!!  I'm also going to use that time to learn, see films & network.  CAN'T WAIT!!  I'm crazy excited as this is my first film festival.

4) Try new restaurants.  Of course I did well with this.  I always do.  I want to cut back on this but also by virtue of the amount of traveling I'll be doing surrounding this trip to the film festival in Maryland, I'm going to be trying lots of new restaurants.

5) Cook at least 3xs a week, 2 of those new recipes.  I really got back into the swing of things in the last 2 weeks of May and feel quite comfortable proclaiming to have my cooking & baking mojo back!!!  Recipes and reviews mostly with pictures are up on my food blog, The Record Dish, including cardamom rhubarb muffins with a lemon glaze, vanilla pancakes, lamb meatballs with honey-rosemary polenta & tangy red onion & fire roasted tomato sauce, super easy blue cheese penne and lamb burgers with feta sauce.

6) Watch more movies.  I had a goal of getting down to just 11 behind before the end of the month... yeah... about that...  I'm still working on it.  I'm still 27 behind my goal of 365 films this year but the film festival will help.  Plus... I'm not really too worried about this particular goal.  I have a lot of things I need to accomplish in the next few weeks.

7) Workout more. I was shooting for 3xs a week and that didn't happen... again.  Once a week would STILL be an improvement over my current lack of activity.  I CAN DO BETTER!!  I added this to 30 Before 30 as well and am getting underway TODAY.  I can't afford to procrastinate any longer.

8) Statecations.  I managed to go to St. Augustine yesterday!!  That was June but I'm so excited that I did it that I'll forgive May for being disappointing on this front!  :)  When I move to NC I'm going to carry over the statecations goal and make it double up on some of my 30 Before 30.  (Yes, I talk about that list right now as much in life as I have in this post!!!)

9) Contact my grandma once a month.  She got 2 cards-- birthday & Mother's Day and a birthday phone call.  This month I'll finally send her a package of my stuff from graduation & screening that she'll love.  Very cool & exciting! :)

10) Do FAFSA.  *Hangs head in shame*

30 Before 30

When I told my mom about this list, she said, you better get a move on, you don't have much time.... FACE, MOM!!  I still have 2 years and almost 3 months!!  Such a hater, that one.  I wanted this list to encompass things that are achievable but still not too easy, some things I've always wanted to do and some things I feel like I should have accomplished by now!  I'm sure you'll see some that you think are unworthy of this list.  To that I say, MAKE YOUR OWN LIST!!  Then blog about it!  :)  The ones with asterisks are the ones I'll need some assistance to accomplish and haven't yet had any volunteers.

1) Get married.  Can you believe I used to want to get married and have my first child by 23?!?  Very glad I didn't.  I'm such a different person now.
2) Get pregnant.  I know you need to hear it, so no comments necessary on 1 & 2. Move along.
3) Go skydiving.  I've always wanted to do this!
4) Ride a mechanical bull for at least :08.  I know I can!  :)
5) Go on a helicopter ride.
6) Go white water rafting.
7) Use my passport again.  It's been 10 years!!  My passport expires this month. :(
8) Read the entire Bible.  I want this to be something I enjoy and learn from so I want a 1.5 to 2 year plan.  I feel like a one-year plan would make me rush through it.  Do you have a program you love?
9) Run a 5k.  I've been saying this for years so it's time to actually do it!!
10) Take a cooking class.  I would LOVE to do this!
11) Go wine tasting in North Carolina Wine Country.  Gotta enjoy my home state on my triumphant return! 
12) Cook my way through Tyler's Ultimate cookbook.  It's achievable by sheer volume (there are about 100 recipes) but still difficult enough because of the techniques required to be interesting.  And with some of those ingredients, it will be a true stretch of my ability to follow a recipe.  I decided to extend this beyond the end of the year because some of the ingredients are expensive.
13) Go to a gun range and shoot it out!*  Don't ask what IT is!  Lol.
14) Work out 3xs a week for a full year.  I've done it before (for almost 2 and I'd love to do it again).
15) Take at least one picture every day for a year.  Haven't decided when I'll start yet but I'm excited about the prospect!
16) Go to a Carolina Panthers game.  Me & Rah on opposite sides-- him for the Falcons, me for the superior team!!
17) Go to a Duke-Carolina basketball game.  I LOVE Duke basketball!!! Can't wait to make this happen!!!
18) Learn how to hem clothing.  I'm way too short not to know this already & the granddaughter of a seamstress!!  The $48 a woman tried to charge me for a dress I paid $20 for tipped it for me, though.
19) Ride on a hot air balloon.*  This will also require conquering my mild fear of heights! :)
20) Make a house a home via decoration!  I've only lived on my own the last 2 years but as a student moving way too much I only got a start on this but not a real chance to do it up.
21) Tour a brewery!  :)
22) Find my perfect shade of red lipstick.  Easy in theory and to a man.  Reds & pinks are hard on medium and dark skin.  I'm gonna make this happen soon!
23) Make AND KEEP a budget.  Starting this summer!!
24) Take a dance class for some dance you have to get pretty for! :)  Samba, salsa, tango, so many options!
25) Read 10 classic books I've never read before: Pride & Prejudice, Oliver Twist, Catch-22, Catcher in the Rye, Grapes of Wrath, The Great Gatsby, Invisible Man, Lord of the Flies, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Uncle Tom's Cabin.
26) Go to an opera!  I've already found a date for Opera Carolina in October!
27) Get my name in the newspaper a minimum of 5 times!  With my film, this is very achievable!
28) Enter a food competition with my own recipe.  So cool!  I'd love to win, too!  :)
29) Watch AFI's Top 100 movies.  I know I should be excited about this but I'm really not.   This might be more like a chore.  I'll have to get some really good movies but there are some long ones.  By coincidence because Rashan did this, I've seen 47.
30) Get a job I love.  I've never had one of these.  I've been happy for periods of times at my old jobs but I can't say I've ever had a job I loved.