Sometimes it’s funny how things all fall into place.

I ran a 5K last week. Tonight I ran in the rain. Nathan brought me an old art project of mine. I listened to the Two Fit Chicks podcast where they were talking about setting goals- about how it’s good to keep your goals in mind even if you’re not accomplishing them right now. They talked about having goals in the holding pen – things you want to do and will do when your life is more able to achieve them.

I’ve wanted to be a runner forever. Ever since I ran out of spite when my college boyfriend and I split up. I loved the feeling of running then. The problem? Once I was over him, I was also over running. And then the problem with running became the pounds. And running got put in the holding pen for things like grad school and planning a wedding and moving several times and (honestly) a lot of pizza and fancy coffee.

But I always wanted to be a runner.

Last week, Nathan brought this home for me. I had done this for him and he found it in his desk drawer.

My best estimate is that I colored this sometime in the spring of 2007. I was still working with kids in the after school program. I had just got my first iPod (white, as you can tell in the picture). I didn’t have the jacket, but my favorite exercise pants were grey with a green stripe and my tennis shoes were black with a blue sole. (What can I say? I’m accurate.)

I’ve done it. I’m a runner. A goal I put in the holding pen forever ago. I’m there. And I’m just going farther. I am still running.

It makes me feel better about my career, about my photography, about the books I want to read. Just because I’m not accomplishing something right now doesn’t mean it’s not important to me. It’s just in the holding pen. Waiting for it’s turn to be set free.

So what’s in your holding pen? And what needs to be taken out for a ride?

(By the way, I think this might be next for me. Seriously.)

Meatless Monday returns! With a bang, if I do say so myself. A soup based on a meal I had at Take the Cake last time we visited FatBridesmaid.

Give a nice, hearty welcome to Spicy Sweet Potato Soup.

(It waves to the crowd…)

I must preface this by saying that it is difficult to take cooking pictures after dark. Kitchen lighting is just not conducive. Just so you understand. I can carry on now.

Olive oil in the big blue pot.

(Does anyone else see Chester from Sifl and Olly? Am I the only person who watched that show?)

A big onion, chopped up and about a tablespoon of minced garlic.

Once that is soft, I added a box of chicken broth. I ended up adding about half of a second box as well.

2 cans of chunky tomato bisque

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and chunked

These are scary, but necessary.

Pull out one pepper. Cut it in half and remove the seeds. Chop it up nicely and add to soup.

I also added a teaspoon of the pepper paste. It was just enough. Any more heat would have been too much, I think.

I also added a teaspoon of smoked paprika. Because I love smoked paprika.

I let that cook about 10 minutes or until the sweet potatoes were almost soft. Then I added half a box of macaroni. You could use any pasta. I feel kinda guilty for using white pasta. But I did.

Let it cook until soft, adding more chicken broth if necessary.

and then you have wonderful soup!

It almost had a very nice hot and sweet conflict going. I loved this. LOVED this.

Next time? I’m going to add big chunks of green peppers. Because I can.

Thanks so much for all your 5K congratulations! You are all so sweet!

I’ve spent today working on my 2009 summary page and I also created a recipe tab. I know recipes can be hard to find since I even use song lyrics for those posts. I’ve just added this year’s, but I’ll stay in my archives and should have them all in the tab before long.

The rest of my evening? Run. Sausage balls. That’s it. My goal for today is to not get out of the house other than the run. No makeup. No real clothes. I’m loving it.

Happy Sunday, everybody!

So tonight we did something exciting. And I didn’t tell y’all about it before hand because I wasn’t sure.

For the last 2 years, we’ve walked the 5K at Southern Lights. It’s awesome. All the Christmas lights are out. Just awesome. And for the last 2 years, we’ve said that the next year we’d run it.

Nathan has a problem, though. He gets very focused on running. I’ve passed him on the other side of the street before, waved and yelled, and he hasn’t noticed me. So we had decided to walk the 5K again this year so we could enjoy the lights. But a few days ago we decided to run after all.

I was full of nervous energy all day. I tried to think of food as fuel. I thought about what I would wear and how I would pace myself and everything. I was ready.

We pull into the horse park and were greeted by lights!

The run was neither easy or even fun. Lots of rolling hills. My legs were like lead. We kept playing leap frog with these girls who would walk up the hills and then run really fast down them. But I didn’t walk a single step. And I cut a minute per mile off my usual pace. (I’ve gone back to see my best time and I don’t know how I ever managed that.) We finished at 36:59.

We walked around for a while – looking in the gift shop and such – and I finally stopped feeling physically crappy and was very proud by the time we got back to the car.

Here’s my number!

And here we are after!

Now it’s time to lather myself with my Lush massage bar and watch Grey’s.

but, just cause I love ya, here are moments from past Southern Lights 5Ks.

2008 it snowed and was beautiful! It was also much colder last year. (Isn’t his hat adorable?)

2007 -I don’t guess I wrote about it. But he still has his winter coat. And he was wearing contacts that year. No link for you. I’m bummed. Sorry.

We are also going to run another 5K on Thanksgiving morning. T-shirts are first come. Entry fee is a can of food. I think it should be flatter. I’m excited.

I think I can call myself a runner now!

The other night, Nathan and I were talking about running. About how I was a runner, but was struggling with running. How I don’t like the dark not because I’m scared, but because dark makes me want to get cozy.

So I made a decision. My goal for the next month or so was to just get out there and run. The details of the run were not important – how far or how long – I just need to get out every evening I can. If I get out and only ran a mile, great. I didn’t set a goal of how many evenings a week, because sometimes things happen. But if possible, every evening, I will run some.

We spent an awesome weekend with FatBridesmaid. We got home, ate, I blogged, and I thought about settling in. I mean, I was tired. Nathan didn’t feel like running. But I did. So I ran. I didn’t set my iPod for any length at all. Just set to the Two Fat Chicks podcast and off I went. It was definitely dark when I set off at 8:11. I didn’t even take Jake (the iPod) out to check my distance. I ran around and around and finally home. And it looked like this:

It’s kinda strange, you know? My runs were hovering right around the 2 mile mark for a few weeks after a few longer runs. As soon as I gave myself permission to be happy with whatever my body was comfortable with, the more comfortable my body is becoming with the 3 mile run.

It really makes me wonder about the mind and body connection, you know? Do expectations make it harder for me to meet them? Do I psyche myself out?Do I perform better when my goal is just to “do” the activity rather than to acheive a specific goal or number?

I just find it interesting, and something to think about. Any of you had anything similar happen?

Since you all asked, and because I love to take pictures, I thought I’d share the highlights (and maybe a few lowlights) of a weekend visit with FatBridesmaid.

Since she tweeted a few days ago that the only thing she had in her fridge was wine, I had to branch out from my usual housewarming gift. I ended up getting her a beautiful (Christmas wrapped!) gift set from Lush.

After coffee and lunch at Take the Cake (dude – best. cupcake.ever), we headed to Ikea. Nathan and I hadn’t ever been to an Ikea before. (We’re small town peeps, okay?) We debated shelving and different shelving and butcher blocks, but ended up with only a small bag of baby little spoons and baby little bowls. For yogurt and such.

We watched a little tv while we hung out before dinner with Nikki and Chris. I just love this tv room setup. The couch was so comfy and the mirror covering the fireplace is so cozy!

Dinner was an awesome shrimp salad that reminded me of Bang Bang Shrimp from Bonefish and a hot, coffee drink + spirits. So yummy. (How in the world did I take zero pictures at dinner? How did you all let me get away with that?)

We get back to the house and FB shows us the guest room.

I mean, she inflates the guest room. What you don’t hear is Nathan’s “Woman, make my bed!” comment. And what you don’t see is that she puts a BEDSKIRT on an inflatable mattress. I mean, is that classy or what? (I don’t know if Nathan was puzzled or amazed here. And notice the beautiful piano. She’s going to play beautiful Charlie Brown Christmas music as soon as she gets it tuned.)

She then made the mistake of introducing her to her arch-nemesis: the possum.

Sleep was nice. Coffee and CBS Sunday morning were nice. And her bathmat is hilarious. (“Claaaasic FB.”)

Nathan chilling with the local paper…

Me putting on my makeup in the cute floor mirror…

Here’s a close-up of the dishes on the kitchen wall behind me. The green and cobalt are beautiful. I love this girl’s sense of style.

Although we dreamed up hilarious things to do with the possum while she was in the shower (hang him from the ceiling fan, put him in the dryer or the freezer, etc)…

We left him in his home, knowing he was guarding hers. He is so underappreciated.

Speaking of the washer and dryer we thought of putting him in…I know her space is small, but really? And his friend is already in there! Somebody help!

Lunch? Melt. Magnetic poetry. Resulting in several rounds of “That’s what she said!!”

FB and I had the same lunch: the Monkey Melt. Somebody smack me now.

We visited Create and Barrel (Nathan’s first time – not mine) and the Container Store (where I spent under $12 combined, thank you very much). And our last foodie stop: Yagoot. Real frozen yogurt – tang and all. So so yummy. And guilt-free.

My last first? Anthropologie. I found SO many things I wanted, and things I’ll want 10 pounds from now. But so many things made us think of Lorrie! (Go say hi to her in her second home, or at least go see the cute pictures of Oliver the bunny!) These gloves were so her!

We made it home in an hour and a half. Nathan finally stopped sneezing. And we are settled back in our own home. That now feels much bigger.

All in all? I think my eating went very well with being out of town. The only snacks I had was coffee before lunch yesterday and a banana before brunch today. We walked a lot yesterday and I’m getting ready to go for a run right now. So I am very pleased.

And FB? We love her! I can’t wait to go back next month!

Thanks so much for having us, Friend!

Just a quick Friday night check-in!

Tomorrow morning, Nate and I are off to check out FatBridesmaid’s new digs (holla!). So I really wanted to make sure I got a good workout in tonight.

By the time I got home (from buying a housewarming gift), I was starving. My body is doing some really strange things and I’m finding that I’m hungriest around lunchtime but I really don’t want a big dinner. This makes the second night in a row that I’ve had Fage Greek yogurt and granola for dinner. It fills me up nice and it’s sweet without feeling gluttonous. I love it.

But by the time that settled, it was definitely dark. As dark as it was gonna get. I told myself I would run 3K. Our area is very well lit, so I’m not nervous or scared or anything. I just tend to get settled at dark, your know? I just want to be under a blanket, watching tv, in drawstring pants.

Anyway, I told myself I’d run 3K. I set my iPod (Jake) to the Two Fit Chicks and a Microphone podcast.

Let me just say, I loved it! It just might fill the void that Jillian’s podcast left. I’m so excited to have this podcast! Thanks so much ladies! And it was so fitting that the second episode is about running.

I ran the 3K and felt strong. So I ran the 5K and felt okay. And I ended up running more than twice my goal – 6.2K (3.85 miles)!

Maybe I’ll be able to handle this cold, dark running thing after all.

I love my Nathan.

I ask him all the time why he loves me (in a playful way, not a self-doubt way). So I thought I’d tell you today why I love him!

He loves Christmas. (And could he get any cuter?)

He loves books.

He loves his mandolin. He plays for me all the time.

He loves his family.

He likes to figure things out. (Mount Mitchell is two humps left of the scoop!)

He is awesome with my family.

He loves to be silly.

He is completely at home outdoors.

He loves socks and coffee.

He always wears his wedding ring. And he is proud of it.

Did I mention that he loves to be silly?

He is so freaking cute.

And he loves me!

I’ve had a really challenging week food/exercise wise. I’ve had so many weeks where it has felt easy. When I was on a roll. In a routine. I came home, cooked, ate, blogged, worked out, showered, and went to bed.

But the last week has changed some of that. Things got hard.

• Darkness. (Literally, not emotionally.) I get home from work around 5. It is pretty close to dark by 6. I do not want to run on a treadmill until I have to. That means I need to run pretty much as soon as I get home. I’m a little resistant to that. But I did it today. I know that if I wait until I settle in, I’m not gonna get back out in the dark. So I just gotta do it. I did today.
• My birthday. Great day. But that has meant multiple dinners out, cake, etc. And dinner out has usually disrupted my workout schedule on top of not having as much control over what I eat. AND eating out has meant not having homemade lunches either. So we’re eating in now. I made this awesome soup tonight. I’m cooking. Amen.
• Sweets. I’m back to spending 32 cents a day on a mini Reese cup and a Hershey miniature. Almost every day around 2:30. It’s eating out of boredom. I’m counting them, but not double like the deal I made with myself. So I’m back to doubling calories for things eaten out of emotion – anger, boredom, celebration, encouragement.

Okay, so that’s really not that hard. I was over calories last week, but I still saw the scale go down. And this week? We ate out last night but my deficit today and my excess yesterday cancel each other out.

With the holidays coming up, the past week has really encouraged me. I can do this. I am doing this.

I had a week that was off, and I jumped right back on. That’s so reassuring to me. I didn’t let a few meals out and 3 consecutive days without working out knock me right back to where I used to be. So I overate and had alcohol at Bonefish. I ate a lot of the chips that came with my Hoppin Juan at Lynn’s. I ate cake that made my lips tingle and swell.

But you know what? I’m still able to wear my clothes. I didn’t wake up back at 237. I’m still a runner.

And I’ll still be the same new me after the new year. Bring on the holidays!