As I mentioned in my last post, there was a 5K this weekend that I was bummed about. Boyfriend was running in it and we had people coming into town to run it as well. So I’ve been debating for weeks whether I was going to run or not. I was nervous about not running and feeling like a failure for not trying. But I was also nervous about attempting to run it, since the most training I’ve done lately is scampering in my heels from my car to the office when I’m late (typical) and I was afraid of humiliating myself in front of these extremely talented runners. Then, Friday afternoon I got an email from Boyfriend. He knew I was feeling pretty bummed about the whole thing. He very simply asked me if I’d consider jogging and walking the race so that we could cross the finish line together. Now this doesn’t seem like a big deal but let me give you a bit of background. Boyfriend placed in the top 10 last year of this same race and has been looking forward to running in it again for the entire past year. He got 3 people from home to come down to run the race with him. This race was no little spontaneous thing to do on a Saturday morning. 
I read his email and got a little teary. He was completely forfeiting his chance of placing. He was completely forfeiting the chance of finishing with his friends and sister- something he is totally capable of. Instead he wanted to run with me. He knew that he’d spend half of the race walking and half of it slowly jogging. And he didn’t say, oh I’ll just jog with you. He made sure that it didn’t seem like he was sacrificing something. It was simply because he wanted to do it with me and cross the finish line with me. 
And so I ran.
It took me a long time. But he was right by my side the whole time, encouraging me and helping me. He didn’t make me feel bad when I had to walk, but did get me to run again when I didn’t think I could muster the energy to bring a water cup to mouth let alone manage another mile of torture. It was one of the best memories I have with him now. It took me 44 minutes to cross that damn line- but those excruciating 44 minutes that made me want to chop off my own legs just so that I’d never have to do it again also gave me that tingly feeling when you feel like the universe opened and something in your crazy life clicked into the place it was meant to be. 
It also gave me that tingly feeling of terrible, horrible pain coursing through my entire body the next day. 

Totally worth it. 

OUR NEW HOME!!!! 

We did it! Or I guess I should say he did it. We have a house! After a couple weeks of hunting, we found the perfect house. And though we were only looking for a “starter home,” we ended up with something very close to the “dream home.” It’s brand new and completely gorgeous. We were originally hoping for something that had some older trees and natural landscaping, but we did have to make some compromises. (Yes, there will be grass by the time we move in… they  promised to sod it!)The house is totally worth the compromise. 

The master bedroom is amazing with the most incredible bathroom complete with a walk-in closet, a HUGE tub and separate shower, double sinks, and beautiful marble. We have a 2 car garage (as you can see), and a full basement, gas fireplace, and brand new stainless steel appliances. I can’t wait to get in and paint, wallpaper, and accessorize! (If we have any money left!) We couldn’t believe the deal we got on this brand new house! 

We are hoping to close at the end of September and get in on October 1st. But the house is officially ours (his) unless something crazy happens. I can’t believe it! We will be moving into a house like real growed ups. haha! 

Enjoy some of the pics! 

 Living Room    

Kitchen (appliances are not installed yet)

Master Bathroom (looking into the bedroom)

So when I got nominated for a Kick Ass Blogger Award- it basically made my day. So I’d like to make someone else’s day and nominate the 5 bloggers that I think are kick ass! 

Here’s the criteria from Mammadog- 

Do you know any bloggers that kick ass?

Maybe they’ve got incredible, original content. Or they’re overflowing with creativity. Is it someone that helps you become a better blogger? Or a bloggy friend you know you can count on? Or maybe it’s someone who simply inspires you to be a better person… or someone else who sends you to the floor, laughing your ass off.

Whatever the reason may be, I’m sure you know at least a couple of bloggers that kick ass. Well… why not tell ‘em so?

LOVE ON ‘EM

• Choose 5 bloggers that you feel are “Kick Ass Bloggers”
• Let ‘em know in your post or via email, twitter or blog comments that they’ve received an award
• Share the love and link back to both the person who awarded you and back to www.mammadawg.com
• Hop on back to the Kick Ass Blogger Club HQ to sign Mr. Linky then pass it on!

SO here are my 5 nominations for Kick Ass Bloggers:

So I got into work this morning thinking it was going to be a horrible day. My Account Manager is out at the Ad Tech conference in Chicago- leaving me with a swamp of client work and barely half the knowledge of actually how to get this stuff accomplished. I thought I was doomed. 

But then something happened. 

I put my head down and got my ass to work. That motivational speech to myself seemed to kick in just when I needed it. I thought I’d have to hand off some work that I was actually looking forward to doing because I had to get the grunt work done first. But instead, I just started one task at a time and slowly started checking off the items on my list. And I didn’t even need caffeine! Not one cup of coffee today!

Since when did I learn to manage time, you might ask? I haven’t. But somehow the stars aligned and everyone got to their portions of my projects and it just seemed to go smoothly. This is an extremely rare occurrence- practically non-existent. So for it to occur on a day like today was like the heavens were shining down on my crazy cubicle. I even stayed an hour late to do a little extra to help out the Account Manager process all the crazy emails and projects that got done. 

After work, I decided to treat myself and scheduled a massage for myself. Boyfriend got home and was getting documents together for our house hunting tomorrow and he nicely asked me if it was alright if he ate without me tonight since I was on my way out. Of course I said no, I didn’t mind. But then after an hour of peaceful bliss- I came home to an amazing dinner anyway! Healthy too! 

Then as I open my laptop to write this post- I find that I’ve been nominated for a Kick-Ass Blogger Award! Which just about made my night, thanks Jenny!! Don’t you worry- I’ll be making my nominations soon enough as well!

So a big thanks to everyone who helped my day turn from bad to good. It was a nice surprise. Now I’m going to bed a little early (woohoo!) and taking my productivity into tomorrow. It’s nice to show that when left alone- I’m not going to fall apart. Sometimes you just need the reassurance that you’re stronger than you think! And let me know if you need some assurance- I’m happy to come by and let my optimism wear off… get it while it’s still here- who knows how long this one might last…