Foupht Wedding

Kim and Chris are married! It was beautiful. I will post pictures once I can get them off my mom's camera.

Poison Ivy

Finally getting over my bout with poison ivy! It was all over my legs and spots on my arms. I went to Urgent Care and got a steroid shot and two prescriptions. I think it helped it clear up faster than last time I had it. Good thing!

Kim's bachelorette party is this weekend, and I am excited!

Softball tomorrow night!!!

River Trail

I ran part of the river trail today. I started from the house and ran east on Kalamazoo to the entrance of the river trail on Clippert by 127. Then I followed the river trail all the way past Potter Park and to Pennsylvania. Then I ran home through the neighborhoods to avoid traffic. 4.55 miles in 43:27.

Riverbank Run

I did it. I ran a 10K! It was fun!

Then I went to Central and watched Stephen graduate from College!

Racking up the miles

I registered for the Riverbank run 10k last week. Yesterday I ran 6.2 miles (10K) on the treadmill, and I was sore all day at work and softball practice. At least I know I can do it. I do not like the treadmill, but it was raining, or threatening to.

May 8, 2010 is the day.

Today

Today turned out to be a pretty good day, weather wise. I got off to a slow start running, but I went 4.4 miles in 40:50 so I made up some time. Ran 2 miles Saturday. I want to check a trail that goes off of the one I run on, maybe I will do that soon. It's supposed to be in the 70's this week, so that is amazing!!!

Can we stop and pet the horsies?

I went on a 5 mile run with Marie today around the MSU farmlands...We stopped to pet the ponies for a bit. It is hard to start running again after you stop. The weather was perfect though! Well, it was a bit chilly, but still good to run in.

Five Miles

I ran 5 miles yesterday. I hadn't planned on it really. I just kept running...and then kept running. When I got back and logged on www.mapmyrun.com, I calculated I ran 5.02 miles. It took me 48 minutes. Not too shabby. I know I could do it faster next time.

My first 5K

I did it! I ran my first official 5K. The Irish Jig in East Grand Rapids. Worst day all month weather wise... I thought it might turn out kinda warm since it was 60 degrees on Friday, but on Saturday when I woke up, there was almost an inch of snow on the ground and the snow showed no signs of letting up. It was coming down pretty good the whole race, and my fingers were frozen. My goal was 28:30, but I beat that by a minute. 27:32 was my official chip time! Most likely because I had motivation since I was running with Kim for most of the race. I was pretty proud of myself! ...and by late afternoon we had three inches of snow on the ground. Sunday it all melted...haha. of course.

Brownies

I have brownies in the oven. I am doing the applesauce instead of oil/butter experiment. I hope they turn out. I calculated there to be 1250 calories in the 9X9" pan. If I cut them in 12 pieces it's just over 100 calories each. Not too bad. I really shouldn't be worried about it though. I ran 2.7 miles today in 25:10. Outside! I have been running outside for a week now. Last Monday and Friday I ran 3.65 miles on the paths around East Lansing. I did it in 35:40 on Monday and 33:48 on Friday. Last Thursday I ran 1.25 miles in 11:06 (an hour after eating a half batch of cookies and cookie dough...because I felt guilty). I think my times are pretty good. I have my first official 5K on Saturday. The Irish Jig in EGR. It should be fun. I know I can run it, so I am not too worried.

2010

I don't usually do new years resolutions. Actually, I don't think I've ever had one. This year is no exception. Instead, I did a few minutes of thinking and here's a couple goals I came up with.

1. Run a 10k ( if not officially, then unofficially works too since I'm cheap and may not want to pay to run)
   
2. yeah, I guess that was it, sorry.

Heh, so much for that list...

Six cent Christmas Present

My parents gave me $100 for Christmas. I had not really intended on using it at all...and technically I didn't because it is still in an envelope...somewhere. After I went running, I decided to go to Sears because I really need some boots, and I have looked mostly everywhere else. I see the coats when I walk in, and I remember how I have been wanting a wool coat. I find the perfect one. They were 50% off, I couldn't help myself. Then on the way back to the shoe department, I stop and look at belts. I really need a new belt too. I picked out a nice black leather belt. It was 40% off. I didn't find any boots I liked, so I walked around the store some more, tried a few things on for fun, and saw a coworker. I was getting a little bored, so I figured I might as well go check out. I made the cashier put my coat in one of those hangy bags...only because he offered. The total came to.....$100.06!!! score! Then i realized I could consider it a Christmas present from my parents. I spent six cents on myself today. Now I just need to deposit that money into my account.

First Week of September

It's been a busy month so far. I have done so much in September so far. Let's make a list!

1. Omi and Applebees on my birthday
2. Smokey Bones with Natalie for my birthday
3. Lugnuts game
   
4. Breakfast at Real Food Cafe with family
5. Lunch the same day at BDubs and watched the State game with Troy
6. Parents took me to Chili's for my birthday dinner Sunday
7. Shopping with Mom
   
8. Hung out on the boat with Kim and Chris and the Redneck Yacht Club
9. Party at Seaman's
10. A little time to relax!
    

And that was just the first 7 days of the month... This week I've been working a lot. I have to get everything done before I leave for Colorado very early Sunday morning. Yesterday I spent 10 hours at work with only a 2o minute lunch. I don't know why I do this to myself sometimes...

Now it's shower time. Going to Bdubs again tonight. $0.50 boneless wings here I come!!!

year 24 or something

Apparently they have karaoke at Applebee's on Tuesday nights. Who knew!

Everyone at work made my day wonderful. Then seeing friends I haven't seen it in a long time made it even better.

Thank you.

Candybar Brownies

I took a basic recipe for brownies (found inside the Baker's unsweetened chocolate box), and added some stuff to it, and maybe even made it a little healthier (if you don't add in the extra twix bars)...

4 (1oz.) squares unsweetened chocolate
1/4 c. butter
2/3 c. unsweetened applesauce
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract (not imitation)
1 c. all purpose flour
1/4 c. quick oats
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1 (1 oz.) square semisweet chocloate chopped
1 Twix candybar chopped


Melt chocolate and butter in microwave on medium heat until melted. Mix in sugar, applesauce, and eggs. Add flour and oats. Mix. Add walnuts, chocolate and twix and mix. Other candybars coule be added, all I had on hand was twix. Pour into tin foil lined and greased pan and bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

All The Small Things

It may be a song title, (Blink-182) but today it is the title of my post. The small things, correction, ALL the small things, are what makes the difference between a good and bad day. Sometimes I can be quite pessimistic, especially at work, but I try not to be. Usually it depends on the mood of people around me and the level of stress I bring upon myself. Anyways, I got to thinking about this because of what someone said to me at work today. It was simply, "You made my day." How did I do this? Well I didn't go about planning to make this person's day. On Tuesday I ordered some new Tygon tubing to use for filling our carboys with water and other various tasks around the lab. I did it myself because I knew if I left it up to one of the managers it would never happen. I submitted the purchase request Tuesday. Today it arrived. WOW! So I go yelling through the lab, "Dolores, we got our tubing!" Then I go and hook it up to the faucets and cut it to the correct length and stuff like that. Now we have tubing that doesn't have mold growing inside it... woo hoo. A little later on Dolores informed me that I made her day and how excited she was for the new tubing. I was pretty happy I could do that... Really, it's not every day I get the opportunity to do that. I said something that I thought made sense at the time, "You have to be excited about the little things or you will never be excited about the big things," but the more I think of it, it's not exactly true. Maybe for some people it is, but here is a new and improved version I like a little better: "You have to be excited about the little things because there won't always be big things to be excited about, but when they come you will know how to be excited. It's well worth the wait." So that's the deep thought I had today at work...

And other small things to be excited about:

1. Potluck lunch for Melinda's birthday! YUMMY
2. Finishing the word jumble in two minutes. It's a good start to pretty much any day really.
3. Rearranging the cabinets under the bench so I have some leg room when I am working! Exciting!
4. Dre telling me my hair looks good the way I wore it today. (no work: no brush, with headband)
5. Hopefully finding an answer to a problem I've been testing with Listeria for the past month and a half. It's always the last thing you can think of. yeah yeah yeah.
6. A hug from LeeAnn. (and I don't normally like hugs or close human contact)
7. Being sore from running last night.
8. Working till 4:45. I know I'm a dork, I don't get paid overtime, but I occasionally like working past 3:30. Definitely depends on the day though. I've been working a lot of unpaid overtime lately, and some days I just want to be home.
9. Giving my cat a Wisker Lickin's Dreamy Duo cat treat. He loves them (and me).
10. (I had to have ten, it's a good list number) Coming home to eat a gooey brownie!
    

I'm thinking maybe I will update my blog more often. Who knows...

Disappointment: Where is the food?

Four times a year at Neogen we have a "Hallway Meeting" that is mandatory for everyone to attend. Basically it's over 200 people packed into a gymnasium, fed lunch, and forced to listen to how awesome our company is (a good waste of an hour if you ask me). In the past they have gotten subs or pizza or lasagna or something similar to that. Similar meaning good food, or at least food. Yesterday we were a little late getting there. Everyone else had their food and was sitting down. I was just worried about getting a seat, but then I saw the salad and garlic bread, so I took a small portion in anticipation for the actual main dish and found a seat. Then I realized that was it. We got salad and garlic bread for lunch. I kept asking, "where is the food," but no one had an answer. The president of the company started his little speach thing, and I again realized this was all we were getting to eat. Had I known, I would have piled on the garlic bread... Then I saw the small chunk of chicken in my salad. Yup. Complete meal right there. Soggy ceasar salad with soggy croutons and a small chunk of chicken. The salad was soggy enough to be made in the morning and tasted like nothing. I ate two or three bites. For starters, I hadn't taken much at all because i really don't like salad and I was anticipating additional food to be served. Really, the stuff on my plate is what animals eat, and I eat animals.

So I was very disappointed, and maybe even a little mad. I was very much regretting my decision to go to this mandatory meeting. On the way back (yes I had to drive 3 miles to this meeting) I told Luisa that I might have to stop somewhere and pick up lunch. I didn't do it, but I really should have because I was in a bad mood the rest of the day.

I wasn't the only one disappointed. Everyone I talked to was. That made it better.

Fun at Work?

Sometimes you have to do little things to make work more interesting...and brighten peoples day at the same time. Yesterday the maintenance guys were fixing a ballast at work and they had a few of the lights shut off so they wouldn't get electrocuted. They didn't tell anyone what they were doing though, they just shut the lights off. So obviously people walking through a pitch dark hallway are going to have the desire to turn the light on to aide there travel through the hallway. Someone turns the light on, someone else freaks out, and so on. So, I have this GENIOUS idea to put tape over the light switches. And what do I write on the blue lab tape??? "Do not turn me on!" It made my day a little better, and I'm sure others' too.

Tail Pipes

Well, part of the tailpipe after the muffler fell off today. In the middle of the intersection of Lake Lansing and Abbott. Now there is nothing to hold the muffler up. I think I may end up needing at least a new muffler and tail pipe with brackets to hold it up. At most a whole new exhaust system. I spent a good half hour under my car today trying to rig up something to hold up the muffler so it won't drag, but I don't really have the tools to do it. It's kinda just resting on the shocks like it has been for the last few days before the pipe fell off.

It's only Thursday?

It's been a long week. For starters, I have been working an extra hour or so every day for the last two weeks which is pretty exhausting, especially when I only eat a granola bar in that 9-10 hours I am at work.

Monday after work I hung out with my brothers. Troy drive to Central and picked up Stephen to come down here. I took them out to dinner, then Stephen had to head back to Central with the car. Troy had the car for the week he was home. Troy and I hung out playing video games and stuff till midnight. Then we woke up at 4 am to get to the airport. I drove him to the airport and then came home, took a shower, got dressed, took a short nap, and went to work. I was super tired all day. It was pretty noticeable too. Oh well. I couldn't really catch up on sleep that night because we had dinner at Martha's and I didn't get home till after 10...then I had to watch American Idol. I don't know why I say I had to, because I didn't. I watch it occasionally so I can talk about it at work the next day. It makes for some pretty good conversations. I decided to skip the shower and go for the oily look at work Wednesday. Meh, I don't care.

And now it's Thursday night and I have yet to make up that lost sleep. I heard somewhere that you can't really make up sleep, but I still think I can. Personally it helps me. Definitely won't make up the sleep tonight because of The Office.

This was a pretty pointless post. I should have slept instead...but the news is on, and I like to know what's going on in the world.