My Mail Obssession & It's "Fix"

I love getting mail. Don't you?

When we were younger, my little sister wanted mail so badly that I would hide notes in the mailbox addressed to her from a "Secret Friend." She was too little to know that they weren't "real" letters, and she always seemed so happy to get them. I probably loved giving her those fake notes as much as she liked getting them. Mostly because I like to make my little sister happy, but also because I love mail.
 I liked mail so much that as a kid, I collected both stamps and postcards. Family would give me unsent postcards from places they had been or with pictures they knew I would like, and  I received stamps as Christmas gifts. Often, I would have pieces of my grandma's mail soaking to retrieve the stamps before she knew the mail had been delivered.

My love of mail didn't stop with stamps and postcards. I loved stationery, post-its, note cards, unique papers, weird envelopes, and oddly shaped pieces of mail. I have things like a giant foam kissing lip mailer and  plant-able notecards.

Now that I'm older, I still love sending and receiving mail. When I saw +Postcrossing, I knew I had to sign up and at least give it a shot. Not only have I had quite a bit of fun seeing sights from around the world and across the country, but Postcrossing.com has reminded me of how much I enjoyed collecting stamps and postcards.

Postcrossing is a free website that connects postcard and mail lovers from around the world. From their "About" page:
"The goal of this project is to allow people to receive postcards from all over the world, for free. Well, almost free! The main idea is that: if you send a postcard, you will receive one back from a random Postcrosser from somewhere in the world."

One of my favorite cards, from Taiwan.

I enjoy travel and would love see the world. Realistically speaking, I know that will never happen. Receiving postcards with amazing and unique sights from around the world helps soothe my wanderlust without putting my bank account in intensive care.

Postcards are easy to find, often for $.30 or so. International postage is $1.10. Because I get a card for every card I send, for $1.40 I get to see something new!

The postcards are fun and seeing all the different stamps is a treat. I also hearing from random people all over the world, even just tiny snippets of their life.

Being a numbers and lists kind of person, I really enjoy the section of Postcrossing where it tells you how far the cards have traveled. The postcard above traveled 12,593 km over the course of 10 days in order to reach me. Another card, from India, traveled 13,843 km and took 30 days to reach me.

My current goal is receive at least one postcard from each state in the United States. I have Delaware, Nebraska, California, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Florida. Some are from Fitocracy friends and some are from Postcrossing direct swaps. A direct swap is where if a person has it enabled, you can contact them to request a swap, without having to wait for the Postcrossing roulette to achieve your goal. I was recently contacted by a lady in Australia whose goal is to collect a card from every county in the U.S.!

Check out some of the postcards I have received in my postcard album on Picasa. Even if you think I'm crazy, you're likely to appreciate at least a few of the cards. If you think it sounds fun, head over to Postcrossing and sign up. Maybe our cards will cross.

Viva la Post Office!

Progress

I had one of those moments today where I was like "Wow! I've come really far!" and it wasn't just because I had ran 4.5 miles.

In Sept. 2011, I officially didn't run a lick.

In Sept. 2012, I ran 15 miles. I was getting ready for the Color Run 5K that was going to be that following November.

Sept. 2012 Smashrun Overview

 In Sept. 2013, I ran 26 miles! I'm getting ready for the Mississippi River Marathon's half marathon that's in February 2014.

Sept. 2013 Smashrun Overview

I'm super excited, not only about my progress but about training for a half marathon. I'm using Hal Higdon's half marathon Novice 1 training program. I picked it because it has 3 running days and includes cross training, strength training, and stretching.

Today I completed week 2 of the training. I changed the days to match my work schedule, so I do the Monday workouts on Friday, making my long runs on Thursday, my normal day off. For strength I've just kind of been doing random stuff. Cross training has been hiking and riding a bicycle.

I've decided I need to get a little structure for strength training. I went to the library and borrowed "Body by You" by Mark Lauren. It's a body weight training program specifically tailored for women. I've been reading it and have decided to give it a shot. Tomorrow will be the initial evaluation for me, where I see which exercises I will use to continue the program.

Even though "Body by You" is fairly anti-cardio, and it isn't really intended to be used like this, I plan to use it on days that call for strength and on the major cross training day. I've been taking measurements, but I think tomorrow I'm going to take one of those half naked "before" photos (not for sharing!) and see what happens after a couple months.

I'm a little excited about doing this combination, though "Body by You" is going to get tough.

Let's see how it goes!

The Color Run is Complete!

I promised photos and am finally going to deliver.

The Color Run in New Orleans was fantastic. I loved every minute of it. In fact, the whole New Orleans trip was great. It had been way too long since I'd been in New Orleans, and my guy had never visited the area. Plus, I was super excited about my first 5K.


On Friday, I had to pick up my race packet, but otherwise, we were free to explore. My guy is a man of history, so there were a few Civil War graves he specifically wanted to visit.  Which meant cemeteries were high on the list, and I had to get him to the French Quarter.

We visited the Metaire Cemetery to scope out Jefferson Davis's temporary tomb,a few notable monuments, and some history. If I'm not cremated, I want to be buried New Orleans style. The Moriarty monument, among others, would be a good model for me. ;) Next time we go back, we'll have to take a list of graves, their locations, and possibly a GPS unit. It'd be like geocaching for history! At least, that's what it'll be in my head. And maybe I should pack a lunch; he still has quite a list to visit. 

We went to the Quarter that afternoon. We had such a good time! Our lunch was in a place called Yo Mama's Bar & Grill. They had delicious hamburgers with what seemed like limitless toppings. The side choices were interesting, too.
My guy had never ran into Zydeco music before. Once we found it though, he didn't want to leave! I couldn't blame him. The first band was good and the margaritas were great. We watched a street performance dance that was really entertaining. Most of the living statue guys were angry with the NFL for some reason.(And my guy loved it!) 
All of the bands were fun. All of the drinks were tasty. I kept sipping on his drinks instead of getting my own. I was worried about being dehydrated during the run the next day. Josh and I decided that we'll have to go back some time when we can spend the whole evening in the French Quarter. We left before dinner that night. I missed the chance to have dinner with a couple of old friends from college, but maybe some other time. My guy and I had dinner at a hibachi grill on St. Charles Street. 

Race Day!

I knew there would be a lot of people, but I never realized there would be that many people! I couldn't see the end of the line behind me, and I was in the sixth wave! Once I started running, I couldn't believe I had been worried about the run just a few months earlier. The color stations were fun. You could see them from a distance as huge clouds of color. There were people around me dancing through the color while some people just completely stopped and played in it. 
As I got closer to the finish line, I realized there were still people that hadn't started yet. Boy, was that an ego boost! (Yes, I know that it doesn't really mean anything, but don't tell my self confidence that!) Just as I was approaching the finish line, I called my guy, so I could find him. He had already spotted me and started snapping photos of my victorious moment!
The finish line party was just as fun as the run. There was music constantly playing and every 10 minutes, there was a color throw. The color throws were when on a single countdown, everyone in the crowd with a color packet would toss the color into the air. There were many different colors and the effect was something like this:

The color throws were so much fun! In between the throws, the race crew would throw prizes into the crowd. The prizes mostly consisted of more packets of color for throws, but they also threw frisbees, socks, hoodies, &stuff! I caught a couple packs of color & had a lot of fun chunking them into the air. I was covered in color and so was my favorite race cheerleader.




I still can't believe I ran an entire 5K! It was amazing! I can't wait to do it again. Even better, my guy is all kinds of ready for the next one! And the next trip to New Orleans. We're talking about going to the Color Run in New Orleans again. I don't know if we'll make that one, but I plan on going to another Color Run. I also plan on running in a half-marathon, maybe longer! 

Forty Days of Fitness

I use Livestrong.com to track my workouts and meals. So far, I've lost 50 lbs using it. I also really like their blogs and articles. I read one that I particularly liked about taking a Forty Day Fitness Challenge. If you don't want to read the whole thing, though I do recommend it, the writer states that there are 40 days from the day after Thanksgiving until New Years. It's a 40 days full of parties, cocktails, and family feasts! Nearly everyone's fitness falls to the wayside during the holidays. It's not just because of all the yummy food, but the holidays can be extremely busy for most people, with traveling and get-togethers.

I decided to join in on the fitness challenge! Holiday fanfare aside, winter is my workout killer. It tends to make me melt into a lazy pile of goo. I plan on working out every day of the challenge, including doing yoga and tkd forms every day.

So! CHALLENGE SO FAR!

Friday, 23 Nov. : I did Yoga and my tkd forms.
Saturday, 24 Nov.: I did yoga, my tkd forms, and went running. I ran 1.27 miles in 15 minutes.
Sunday, 25 Nov.: I took Boudreaux for a hike, did yoga, kicking drills, shadow boxing, and kata.

I plan on yoga and running tomorrow! I'll blog it every few days to keep me honest. :)

Color Run!

A week from today, I will be running in my first 5K ever!

The pre-race documents are online now, for the New Orleans Color Run. It makes me feel all tingly and official-like. Like I'm a real runner!

I'm excited about running, but I'm also excited about going back to New Orleans. I loved my time there and sometimes wish I had stayed. Of course, Hurricane Katrina always pops into my head and I'm like "maybe it's a good thing I didn't!"

There are no crazy obstacles, no big prizes. The race isn't even timed. I think it's perfect for my first run. I recently ran 4 miles, so I know I can do it.

My wonderful guy is going with me to be my personal race photographer and cheerleader. Isn't he amazing?

In case anyone is vaguely curious, the course for the Color Run is all located around UNO's campus and is laid out here on google maps.

Soon there will be picture proof of me covered in color that I ran a real event! Later!

Crappy Blogger!

I've been crappy at social media and blogging, I know.

I quit baking bread around the world or posting about it, at least. And I've not written about any of the new things I've started doing. This will improve, I promise! (Not that many people actually read this, but hey, I like writing it, when I remember!) I do plan on continuing my baking project, but it's taken a back seat to some things. I did make homemade polish bagels for Poland, which I will post about, eventually.

I went to Florida with my guy and the kiddos.  I loved the ocean!

I started running again in April. I began with a running plan to take someone from running 0 minutes to running for 15 minutes. I tweaked it a little and taped it to the fridge. I started April 20. I signed up for the New Orleans Color Run to give myself good motivation. I'm cheap and knew that paying a race fee would light the proverbial fire.

It worked! I'm hooked on running. On October 20, I ran 4 miles and I decided I will eventually (Feb. 2014) run in a half marathon!

Christon and I went to see the Human Body exhibit at the Musuem of Discovery in Little Rock. If you haven't been to the Discovery Museum, you should go. I got to spend the afternoon with her and Nicole!

This semester I'm taking an E.M.T. class at Tech, for work. I'm really enjoying the class but the work load is kicking my butt! My final is December 10th. Which is actually the day that I'll get back from my week long work trip to Maryland that I've gotten super excited about. 


 I'm going to Arkadelphia as much as possible to try to get in shape for my black belt test. I'd like to try for it in May 2013 or December 2013. I've got a lot of work to do, but I finally feel like I can do it. I've only put it off for what? Two or three years?

I've lost 50 lbs so far this year! And got a new haircut that I'm pretty fond of.
 
So stay tuned! Photos of traveling & races, some soap, craft, and cooking projects, and the chance to make me run a race dressed as Xena are all coming up!

Irish Soda Bread

I thought I would be a tad cliche and make an Irish bread for March. Despite being corny, I am very glad I chose Ireland as my second international bread stop. It was a very educational experience.

The Emerald Isle

 I had a grocery store gimmick cookbook for St. Patrick's Day that I bought a couple of years ago. I immediately went to it for my Irish bread recipe, which turned out to be soda bread. It sounded like a dessert bread, with lots of sugar and some fruit. I wanted to see if I could find something more dinner-like and less dessert-ish.

So I fired up google. That's where I learned about recipe morphing. It turns out that originally, Irish soda bread was NOT a dessert-ish bread, but over time it became one. The website I found most interesting is here.I also learned that it was traditionally baked in a covered pot called a "bastible," which as it turns out was basically one of my favorite cooking tools!

A Dutch oven!

Wal-Mart is taking over....

Irish soda bread is pretty simple, so here goes:

4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
14 oz. buttermilk (by the way, powdered buttermilk is great!)





Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients together.
 
Then slowly add the buttermilk to form a sticky dough. Place on floured surface and lightly knead.






 Shape into a round flat shape and cut a cross in the top of the dough.


Pop the round loaf into the Dutch oven and bake it for about 45 minutes. If you want to make it in a regular oven, put it in a round cake pan and add a lid for the last 15 minutes of baking.

Tasty Soda Bread!

Try it out! It's pretty good, especially with stew. But just a heads up, it doesn't keep well for more than a few days.