The dogs we love!

In just 3 days Hubby and I will be flying out to Miami to visit family and friends for a wonderful week! We are sooo excited. Really. It's a little ridiculous how excited we are to be taking a vacation together. The past few trips I've taken to Miami have been by myself. I'm very much looking forward to just relaxing in mom & dad's backyard by the pool. Their yard is a slice of heaven as far as I'm concerned. Our plan is to make as few plans as possible! Our hope is to have some time to just relax in the sunshine and enjoy being together, hit the beach, maybe visit the Everglades, definitely hit the Dade County Youth Fair with some friends (yum!) and chill with family. All the while getting as much sun as possible. :)

Since we'll be out of town, Lucien will be enjoying a week long stay at K9 Estates (a nice kennel in our area). I hate leaving him anywhere, but the people at K9 Estates take good care of him and always have wonderful things to say about him. Needless to say, I feel guilty about going for a vacay while leaving Lu here. This said, today's blog post is dedicated to all the lovely DOGS in my life. These guys add soooooo much to our lives. I can't even imagine my life without my Lucien.

Lucien's first day with me. It was love at first sight.

My Lu was so tiny!

Lucien & Jack at Mom & Dad's in Miami. BFF!!

Luna & Gordy at Jason's in Miami.

Rocco, Basil and Micca at Jonathan's in Indy.

Cadbury Eggs everywhere I look!

So, Easter is fast approaching and everywhere I look, I'm surrounded by delicious looking Easter candies. So far I've been really good about not grabbing yummy things while standing in line to check out. Today my will power dwindled just long enough for me to get two of my favorite candies...

The only thing I didn't get is some jelly beans. I'm a HUGE fan of jelly beans. Usually I go for Jelly Bellys. They are soooo yum. So many flavors, too! But during Easter time I go for Starburst jelly beans. They're really yummy too.

So, in honor of Spring go out and get some yummy treats!

P.S. This is why I continue to run - so I can indulge in yumminess when the urge strikes :)

Harry Potter Mania!

Hello. My name is Damaris, and I am a Harry Potter fanatic. It all started when I was a sophmore in high school. It's been twelve years and it's only gotten worse. Thank goodness my Hubby is a dork too! :) He's so good that he's waited in lines for books with me at midnight and gone to more than a few midnight movie openings with me. That's love. ::contented sigh::

This year is going to be HUGE for HP fans. Not only is the first movie installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows due to be release on November 19th, 2010, but there's something even BIGGER happening this Spring. Back in 2007 Warner Brothers announced that they would be starting development of a theme park land based on HP's world. This year the Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be opening at Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. The official opening date hasn't been released yet, but it looks like it'll be the weekend of May 28th (I've gathered this from the fact that vacation packages are listed on the website and available starting 5/28/10). I will be in Florida in 6 days and was REALLY hoping, by some lucky miracle, that the park would be opening like NOW. But alas, I'm out of luck. Oh well. That just means I'll have to make another trip when it finally opens!!!

Here's a link to the park's website.

http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/

It looks amazing so far! I can't wait to stop and eat at the Three Broomsticks and have a glass of butterbeer, or send a letter from the Owl Post, or take a tour of Hogwarts - we'll actually get to see some of the classrooms featured in the films and, of course, the Gryffindor common room. :) Here's another link: http://screenrant.com/wizarding-world-of-harry-potter-construction-photos-pauly-48645/all/1/

This one actually shows some of the construction photos. Very cool stuff.

Funny Feet!

Hello friends!! Today has been a gorgeous day. Lots of sunshine and temps at almost 60 degrees. :) I just got back from a nice walk with Lucien. He was very excited to be out of the house and there were a lot of people out with their kids and their dogs. Just the kind of day we love.

You're probably looking at this picture and thinking, "What in the world?!?!" Well, this is what I wore to the gym today. Goofy, huh? Last month I bought these "shoes". They're called Vibram Five Fingers. They mimic barefoot walking/running and help to increase flexibility and build the muscles in our feet and legs that get used so infrequently when wearing normal running shoes. Because running shoes are so flat, there are tons of muscles in our feet (for balance and whatnot) that we just don't have to use when running in them. I've decided to give VFFs a try to help strengthen my ankles. Last year I rolled my right ankle several times and had to take time off from running. I'm hoping that running in my VFFs will help to strengthen the muscles in my feet and ankles, so I can overcome my running problems.

Prior to today, my longest run in the VFFs had been two miles. I've read on running forums that you have to build up barefoot (or minimalist if using VFFs) mileage slowly in order to allow your body to transition without getting injured. Because you're using all kinds of new muscles, you ache in different places. I was also having an issue with rubbing, which was causing blisters. There's a company (Injinji) that makes toes socks specifically for use with the VFFs. I bought a pair on Saturday in hopes that they would correct my rubbing issue. Of course, there weren't any pairs in my size in a normal color. The only ones in my size had rainbow-colored stripes. Just my luck.

Needless to say, I got some funny looks while I was on the treadmill. I did four miles in my awesome socks and VFFs. :)

Come on, Spring!!!

Happy Saturday, everyone! Here in IL, the past few days have been pretty rainy and dreary. After such a long and cold winter, I'm more than ready to usher Spring in. I'm here and waiting with open arms for longer days filled with sunshine and warmth. In this spirit, I'm posting some pics of a trip that Hubby and I took together to California in December of 2007. These are sure to get me in the spirit for our trip home to Miami in just 10 days!

Across The Universe

Today was a day for reading & watching movies. I finished reading Good Omens. Loved it. I will definitely be picking up some of Neil Gaiman's other stuff. I also watched 17 Again. Cute and fun. Hubby walked into the living room during a part with Elf speak. Needless to say, he wants to watch this one with me tomorrow. Dork. :)

I just finished watching Across The Universe (directed by Julie Taymor). Here's a brief synopsis: An American girl (Evan Rachel Wood) and a British lad (Jim Sturgess) fall in love amid the upheaval of the 1960's in this musical featuring classic Beatles songs and a mix of live action and innovative animation. When Lucy's brother is drafted, Jude and Lucy take a stand as anti-war activists.

Loved this film. The music is pretty amazing. I think I'm now in love with Jim Sturgess (he's British AND he can sing!!!). All the music is actually sung by the cast - which makes me that much happier. Visually it was very interesting - there were some trippy parts. And Evan Rachel Wood - I'm getting to really like her. I watched Thirteen (she plays a starring role as a teenager who becomes good friends with a wild girl at school and quickly descends into a world of sex and drugs) recently and was pretty blown away by the gritty performance she put in. I also like her as Sophie Ann Leclerq in season two of TrueBlood. I'll be keeping an eye on her. :) If you get a chance, check out Across The Universe.

Enjoy!

Reading & Running...

So, my running schedule called for 6 miles today. I was totally NOT looking forward to this. Thus far, the longest mid-week run I've done is 5 miles. It may not seem like a big increase, but just 2 months ago my longest mid-week run was like 3.1 miles. This said, I'm making inprovement and I just hope it pays off on this next half marathon. My best time for 13.1 so far is 2:41 and I'm hoping to break 2:30. I think I can totally do this. As a matter of fact, I WILL do this!

Anywho, since I was procrastinating on my run all day, I spent it reading. I'm more than half way through Good Omens and I'm enjoying it. Yay for my trip to the library yesterday. Today was beautiful, sunny and around 64 degrees. I actually sat out on the steps in the sunshine with Lucien for a bit. I read and he just enjoyed being outside without freezing. Poor guy. I'm pretty sure he hates these long winters just as much as I do. Hopefully the weather will be nice again tomorrow. Maybe we'll hit Douglas Hart Nature Center. We went on Saturday afternoon and it was beautiful. We walked through the trails in the woods and then out on the prairie trails. I'm really hoping that Spring is hear to stay.

When Hubby headed out for work I decided it was time to stop procrastinating and head to the gym. I've gotta say, I often do NOT enjoy running. It takes a lot out of me mentally to make myself get on the treadmill for an hour+ at a time. The fact of the matter is that I always feel fantastic when I'm finished. This feeling makes it all worthwhile. My friend Joanna said it best the other day: "Fun? No. Rewarding? Yes."

This January my dad and my aunt ran their first half marathon with me at Disney World. Neither of them have ever been runners, but they wanted to do it - and they rocked Disney. I was so proud of them. They both finished in under 3 hours. :) They're both already talking about which event they want to run next. I'm glad that this is becoming a family thing. Here are a few pictures of race weekend in Orlando.

This is after we finished and got back to our resort. We were exhausted and freezing.

Running down Main Street in Magic Kingdom with the castle behind me. It always makes me smile :)

Daddy before the race started. It was like 25 degrees and sleeting. (I can't figure out how to flip this pic!)

Excited/Nervous before the race.

Packet pick-up at the race expo.

Books, books, books!!

So, since I'm only taking one course this semester (pharmacology, online), I've been getting a lot of reading done. I've spent a pretty penny on books since last summer, and since I haven't been working since last May, it's time for me to start hitting the local library. I decided that today would be the day to reacquaint myself with Mattoon's small library. Here's what I picked up:

• Good Omens by Terry Pratchet & Neil Gaiman: I was talking to my brother today (he's always got good reading suggestions) and he told me to check out Neil Gaiman. This book is a satirical look at the days leading up to the Apocalypse. It's supposed to be very funny.
• The Shack by William P. Young: I've been told to read this by a bunch of people. "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" This is the tale of a father dealing with the abduction (and possible murder) of his young daughter. Sounds hard to read, but I really enjoyed The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.
• Greek Mythology by Edith Hamilton: Last summer I read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, which I really enjoyed. The books are based on Greek Mythology and I've been wanting to brush up on my knowledge of mythology.
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: Don't laugh at me, but this title came up several times while I was reading the Twilight series. I can't remember which book it was in, but Bella talked about Catherine & Heathcliff and their toxic relationship. I graduated with my undergraduate degree in English - you'd figure I'd have read more of this stuff in college! :)
• Kushiel's Mercy by Jacqueline Carey: This book falls into the science fiction/fantasy category. Full of adventure and a little bit of unconventional sex (at least the first few books in the series were).

I'm at Common Grounds (a local coffee shop) while I write this. The always have the Sirius satellite CoffeeHouse channel playing. Sometimes I hear some really great stuff on here. A few minutes ago they played my favorite acoustic/live version of Satellite by Dave Matthews Band. I can't hear this song without imagining a warm, sunny day. :) I usually listen to a local college radio station that plays all rock/alternative rock, so I'm not really up on new music. I recently heard this song called Dark Blue by Jack's Mannequin. Come to find out the song came out back in 2005, but I totally dig it. I can't stop smiling/singing when it comes on. Anyway, that's all for now.

Happy reading!! Send me any book suggestions if you've read something interesting lately. :)

I'm a rookie

So, hello! This morning I logged into Facebook and noticed a few links to friends' latest blog posts. I then spent about an hour and a half reading through various blogs. I've got to say, I know some pretty witty people. :) After reading about all the nifty stuff going on in other people's lives I sat and thought about what's going on in my own life. The past year has been pretty great. I figured I'd start my own blog, and so, this is my first post.

A quick list of things that make smile:

• sunshine
• my wonderful friends & family
• seeing Justin & Lucien cuddled up
• fair food
• summer time
• music i can sing to
• the amazing colors of fall
• HALLOWEEN!
• cheeses of all sorts
• driving with the windows down, the sunroof open, and the music blasting on a sunny day

I'll give you a quick rundown on me. I'm 26 and a happy wife to a wonderful husband. We don't have any munchkins, but we have a FANTASTIC black lab mix named Lucien. He's a handsome devil. ::wink:: I am a Miami transplant and have been living in Mattoon(middle of nowhere), IL since May 28, 2006. Last year hubby became a police officer with Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, IL. This summer I will be starting grad school at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale to become a Physician Assistant. I'm pretty stoked to get started. It was a long road getting all of my pre-req's completed and I'm so blessed to have gotten accepted into a program that only admits 30 students each year. <--- Feels good to know that someone thinks I'm qualified and up to the challenge! ::wink::

So, I have to report to school on May 27. Carbondale is about 2:15 south of Mattoon. The program requires one year of classroom/PBL instruction on campus in Carbondale and then 14 months at a hospital for the 2nd year of clinicals. This means that in two and a half months I'll be moving to Carbondale for year while husband remains in Mattoon to work. Depending on the work load, I'll hopefully be able to come home 1-2 times a month. According to current PA students, the program is pretty intense and there's not a lot of free time. Being away from Justin for such an extended period is going to be rough, but we've gotta do what we've gotta do. No point bi*ching about it. A year will be over before I know it (I HOPE!!).

On another note, I'm participating in a 1000 mile running challenge this year. Initially I thought this was a group challenge where the group had to *collectively* log 1000 miles over the space of a year. Yeah, I wasn't quite so excited when I realized that each *individual* has to log 1000 miles. Anyways, I'm already committed so I've been trying really hard to stay on schedule. I'll have to average 20 miles a week for 50 weeks of the year. Killer. I began running in May of 2008. I logged 413.8 miles in 2008 and 543.3 miles in 2009. You can see that my mileage goal for 2010 is a HUGE increase on previous annual totals! I'm trying not to freak out about the whole thing. One mile at a time, right? I'm currently at 171.9 and will be running 5 this evening.

I've been training on a treadmill since late November (we've had a really nasty winter) and I usually tune into Animal Planet to make it a little more bearable. :) This past Saturday was my first outdoor run in a while. The forecast looked fantastic, so I drove up to Lake of the Woods park in Mahomet to meet up with my TNT buddies. The day was perfect - it was sunny and bright, no clouds, about 40 degrees, and I was surrounded by other runners. PERFECT. Running is so much more enjoyable when you can look forward to seeing friends along the path. We did 10 miles. The IL half marathon in Champaign is less than 2 months away. It'll probably be my last event with my TNT buddies for a while since I'll be going down to school. We'll also be losing JG - she'll be moving to STL this summer. So, I'll be making the most of these Saturday morning runs for the next few months. I'll be sure to suggest breakfast after each long run. Cause honestly, what's better than stuffing your face after running 10 miles with close friends?!?!