A Change of Scenery is in Order

I have to admit, I've felt a bit lazy today and yesterday. This weekend I went down to visit my mom and my best friend back home in Virginia Beach. Why I decided Memorial Day weekend was a good weekend to go down, I have no idea! Traffic was terrible! I left Charlottesville at 8am on Sunday, made a pit stop at the Williamsburg outlets and got to Virginia Beach a little after noon. Although, I do have to admit that I didn't actually run into any slow or standstill traffic on the way down. Rather, I decided to take a longer route because one of the highway signs said that the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel was blocked because of debris. The longer way took maybe an additional 20 minutes, but when it's that hot outside (in the 90s!), I just wanted to be home already!

When I finally got there, it was nice and relaxing. My mom started my laundry for me (I get spoiled with laundry services when I go home...and since I don't have a washer/dryer in my new place), and we just got to catch up since so much has happened since last weekend. My best friend, Katie, invited me to her family's cookout at 4:30, and I jumped at the opportunity to see her! And her new puppy Delilah! Just a bit of background information--I never had a pet growing up and she had a german shepherd, Abby. Abby ran into a bit of poor health last summer and had to be put to sleep. We were all devastated. I got the news when I was at work and started bawling. I still tear up to this day thinking about her--she was like my dog too. We used to joke that she was my "girlfriend" since I am not in the family and she seriously loved me. She would come up to me before I even got in the door...

I'm glad they found a replacement for Abby and Lilah (Delilah's nickname) is perfect! She's also a shepherd cross and just so curious about everything. So naturally, I had to take some pics with my new "girlfriend"... Don't mind my gross face/hair--I had been in a hot car all day (windows down most of the time til it got WAY too hot.

Isn't Lilah gorgeous?! She loves me!!

Confession: before I got Archie, I had my eye on some shepherd mixes. Unfortunately I didn't have the yard/room for a large dog. But everything worked out, and I'm just love Archie even though he is still "vacationing" with my mom!!!

Now for my next confession: I was so BAD at the cookout! Ate completely off plan! It was so bad that I wasn't even gonna fess up to Pleasants. But I did. He doesn't know how bad the damage was, and I'm too ashamed to say, even on here, but it is out of my system. All I will say is that last weekend I was good, though I probably under-ate on my carb load day and moving day. I didn't even have cake for my graduation! Unheard of, right?! So for as guilty as I felt feel, I'm half-ass justifying it. I know it doesn't work that way...

So why did I crumble? Well, it was a cookout--it was the nature of the event that got me started. And that darn plate of brownies that was staring at me from the counter...that's all I'm gonna say on that. I don't even usually eat red meat, but I ate a burger (before he even started grilling, Katie's dad assured me they were super lean). Gah, kicking myself just writing this now! Also, I got caught up in the excitement of the day--Katie got down on one knee and...OFFICIALLY ASKED ME TO BE HER MAID OF HONNOR!!! The wedding isn't until October 6, 2012, when both she and her fiance will be done with their respective graduate and law degrees, but it's been unofficially known (since we left for college...without boyfriends) that I would be her MOH when the day came. I'm too excited for words! Katie's my BFFTTDID (that's Best Friend Forever Til The Day I Die, for all of you that aren't aware of our soon-to-be trademarked saying** ha)! I love her as much as I love my sister. Although, I never get in fights with her, but I do get in fights with Sissy...

My 18th Bday at PF Chang's with Katie (BFFTTDID).
Aren't we so pretty?!?!

The other reason I gave in was because the stupid scale. I had major losses this week. Down in body fat and lost another 2.2 lbs (I re-weighed myself Sunday morning since Saturday is my last carb depletion day each week)!! I need to remember that I can't celebrate after losses, or there aren't going to be any more to follow. And it's so close to the competition that I don't have room for error.

This just leaves me nervous. I've been trying to make up for the cookout the past day and a half by further cutting my carb intake, hoping things will balance. I missed my second cardio session yesterday since by the time I was back in C'ville (yeah, traffic blew on the way back--TERRIBLE), Gold's was closed. They closed at 2 for the holiday, I didn't get back til around 3:30. It was too unbearably hot to go outside when it wasn't 100% necessary. Yes, it was 100% necessary for me to do cardio, but I would rather not get heat stroke or anything. Okay, that's probably an overstatement, I'm without a valid excuse. 

I did, however, have an amazing run along the beach in Sandbridge yesterday morning, at the crack of dawn. Literally. I got up at 5 5:30 (after hitting snooze) and was at the beach before 6am--iPod on, headphones in, shoes laced up (coulda done without these), and ready to roll run! Not before a quick sunrise pic though--

Beautiful right? I do miss living down in Sandbridge. Coming down here brings back a lot of memories.We used to rent live in a house 2 blocks back from the beach, right along the Back Bay Wildlife Preserve (think swampy woods--yeah that made for some scary nights home alone) in the off-season. One of these days I will get into my life growing up, but that's a different post. Let's just leave it at this--my mother is the most amazing woman I know, and raising 4 children (all 3-4 years apart) is tough. But now that we've been through those times, we are definitely stronger.

After running down and back along the coast--which wasn't easy, let me tell you!--I took to the streets. The beach run was great, don't get me wrong, and my glutes felt it the entire way (sloping, soft sand makes for a tough run!), but I wasn't at my 30 minute mark and I wanted a bit of hard, level asphalt for a bit. The transition was funny. My body didn't like it. It would have preferred to stay on the beach :) and soak up some sun. When I hit the ground (ha!) running, I made sure to go down my old cul-de-sac and take a look at the house I grew up in. It was bittersweet. If I wasn't running/had my phone, I would have taken a picture of the street sign--Bluefish Lane--but alas, I was running/didn't have my phone. Next time, guys. Next time.

The rest of my "holiday" was spent driving/getting the left side of my body sunburned. Oh, and of course I realized when I was halfway back to Charlottesville that I left all the new workout clothes I had bought from the Nike and Under Armour outlets back at my mom's place! Now that I'm back, I'm more determined than ever to make sure I don't fall off the wagon (or any sort of wagon) again! Gym this morning was calves, abs, and 30 minutes of increasing speed on the treadmill (starting at 7.2, increasing to 9.0). And of course I'll return in a couple of hours for lifting and more cardio :) All I'm saying is I better be down to what I was when I weighed in Sunday or I'll be very angry with myself!! And I'm sure Pleasants won't be too pleased either.

**BFFTTDID has not been copyrighted or trademarked...but it should be (by us)!!