What Have I Gotten Myself In to?

One of the goals on my 30 Before 30 list is to run a 5k. Luckily, my BB wants to do this as well, so I have a partner in crime. We decided on the August 1st Challenge Cancer 5k in St. Paul. Neither one of us has ever run a 5k, so this could be interesting.

First, I want to thank a couple of people who sponsored me so that I could donate more to Challenge Cancer than just my entry fee.

My Grandma & Grandpa K!

My boy!

My pup (I think daddy may have lent her the money!)

Ok, now let me tell you the history of me and running. I don't like it therefore I don't do it. It's hard. I have been trying my whole life not to run and now here I am registered to run over 3 miles. You know in high school how you have to run the mile twice a year...well I barely ever did that. I used every excuse in and not found in the book. One time I told my gym teacher I had a dance competition that weekend and didn't want to be sore or risk injury, I was on a competitive dance team but we certainly did not have a competition. Another time I pretended to fall down the stairs on the way to the track and "sprain my ankle." It would much rather embarass myself falling down the stairs than I would coming in last in the mile...especially when all the boys in the class finished in like minutes and then just got to sit there and watch me struggle.

One of my favorite high school stories has to do with the mile. I had made up excuse after excuse and had finally run out....I was set to make up the mile with three other girls during the soccer week of gym class. Me and the other girls walked down to the track with a timer...we were instructed to time ourselves. One of us (and I swear it wasn't me) suggested we just walk around the track once and then multiply the time by 4...brilliant! And that's what we did. Well, turns out another gym teacher was spying on us and was a big fat tattle tale. My mom received a phone call that, as she tells it, went something like this:

Gym teacher: "Mrs. K...your daughter was caught cheating on a test."
My Mom: "What? That doesn't seem like something she would do."
Gym teacher: "Yes, Mrs. K. Kristin was caught cheating on the mile."
My mom (holding back laughter): Ok....I will talk to her.

My did talk to me....and she was not surprised I "cheated" on this test and thought it was riducious this damn gym teacher was so worked up about it. This is why I love my mom.

This past year I've been getting more into running...just because it's good for me. I still don't enjoy it but hope maybe one day I'll get to the point where I do. The furthest I've ever run, however is 1.57 miles and I've only run a full mile less than 10 times. Needless to say, I'm in trouble. PLUS, it turns out running outside in infinitely more difficult than running on a treadmill. So, to help me out I took a recommendation from a friend and checked out this Five Week 5k Training Program from the Runner's World website.

I got pretty excited thinking this could really help. 6 days a week is a lot, but I need to do this if I want to survive this 5k. I pulled out the calendar and counted back 5 weeks from August 1st and was completely shocked and panicked when I found out it's TODAY! I will be running a 5k five weeks from today!

WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF IN TO?

Dr. Corona

Growing up my dad would always take my brother and me to Canterbury Park, the horse track here in Minnesota. We always had a blast and I then continued to go frequently with my friends. Growing up at the track I would never have guessed in a million years that I would one day be standing in the winner's circle!

J's mom and step-dad live about and hour and a half north of the cities in Milaca, MN. They have a great house on a huge property. They own four horses, two really fat goats (I mean really fat), two German Shepards, and a promiscuous barn cat (when I say promiscuous I mean pro-mis-cuous....she's had three litters in the past year!) One of their horses, Dr. Corona (don't you LOVE the name?) is a race horse at Canterbury! This summer is his third summer racing, and last year he got his first WIN!!!

 Dr. Corona right after he won his first race!!!

Me and J with his parents IN THE WINNER'S CIRCLE! The tall boy behind me is my little brother! He comes to a lot of Corona's races and I was super excited he was there for the win and could come in the circle with us!

Even though I grew up going to the track I have always been afraid of horses. I have never ridden one. They are so massive and so strong, they could kill you without even trying. And, after the Christopher Reeves incident I vowed to never get on a horse. It may be hard to keep this vow considering who my boyfriend and his parents are....but I've made it this long. Two years ago on Thanksgiving after many adult beverages I was pretty much forced to go out to the barn and see the horses. Before I knew it I was in the pen with Dr. Corona...the biggest horse ever!

Now that I got over my fear...I love him! I love watching him race and it's such a fun activity we get to do with J's parents. His first race this season he got 4th place but had his best time to date and last weekend he came in 5th and ran a not-so-good race. We found out after that he has a cold that has been going around the stable so he wasn't breathing well during the race. He's on some antibiotics and is set to race again tonight! Cross your fingers and hopefully I will have another winner circle picture for you on Monday!

Also, just briefly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the American public and the judges of So You Think You Can Dance for giving Cristina the boot! I couldn't take her massively large braces for one more minute. Now if we could all just will the same fate to Melinda 'Hot Pants' Sullivan. Thank you.

And one last thing....

Today's topic over at Jen's blog is:

Celebrity Couple (That DIDN'T Make It!)

Of course the first one I think of is

BRAD & JEN!

C'mon....do us all a favor dump the skank and get back together! PLEASE?

Then more recently....

REESE & JAKE

I love both of them and thought they were SOOOO cute together! 

Ok, I'm really done now. Is it just me or are my posts getting dangerously long?

Awards!

This week I received TWO awards! Whoop Whoop! Thank you to my BB, Carolyn and Ms. Emily Ann!

 Here are the rules...

Thank the person who gave you the award, share ten things about yourself, pass this award onto ten bloggers who you recently discovered and think are fantastic and finally contact the bloggers to let them know you’ve picked them for an award.

10 Things about Me....

1. I'm Greek (blood Greek and sorority Greek) and super proud of it. I once took a shot of olive oil to prove my Greekness (right, BB?)

2. I am OBSESSED with the Backstreet Boys (seen them in concert 6 times)....always have been and always will be! 

3. I hate winter and am extremely crabby for the duration of those awful months.In addition, I love summer and am addicted to being tan.

4. I have known my boyfriend for 25 years, and I'm 25. 

5. I am deathly afraid of birds. DEATHLY. If I see a group of birds in front of me I will cross the street and walk on the other side before I get close to them. 2 years ago I was at the Phoenix Zoo and started to cry when a peacock was walking around out of a cage. It's a problem.

6. I don't like socks! I love flip flops and love being barefoot. I am not, however, one of those weirdos who thinks its ok to be barefoot wherever I am....sometimes shoes need to happen.

7.I am incredibly good at rapping Shoop....in college my friend would pretend to have a remote and she would speed me up, slow me down, and pause me...it was a great party trick and comes in handy for karaoke! 

8. I am a recovering chip addict. I used to each a small bag of chips and a mountain dew every day for lunch. When I was confronted about my problem and tried to stop I would hide chips in my car and lie about eating them. I gave chips up on July 25th of last year and have only relapsed a couple of times.

9. My senior year of high school while all of my friends were in Mexico getting drunk, me and my best friend, Libby, were at Disney World. We bet one of our friends we could go on every.single.ride (and attraction) in the Magic Kingdom in one day....we did it.

10. I love sports, probably more than most girls. In fact my boyfriend once said these exact words to me, "You can never leave me cuz if you do i'll have to become gay and be the bitch just to find someone who watches sports as much as you do."

Now for the fun part! Giving this award to 10 of my favorite blogs! 

I'm going to cheat and give it back to the girls who gave it to me because they really are two of my favorites!

Life, Love & Puppy Prints

My Heart Shaped Life

Real Housewife in Minnesota

Life in the Fulmer Lane

Hitting My Stride 

.:.Miss Kriss.:.

That Girl in Pearls

Just Being Frank

Think Happy Thoughts

Love, Lipstick and Pearls

Thoughtless Thursday

It's Thursday! Which means everyone needs to go Katie's amazing blog and link up for...

I was looking through some old picture the other day and came across one of my all time favorite pictures....

This picture was taken three summers ago and is of me and my two best friends in the entire world...Christina and Libby. I have been friends with these two since middle school. Libby and I took drivers ed together, Christina helped me through my first semester of college when I was completely miserable. We stood by each other through boyfriends and breakups, the death of a parent, the drama of high school, and the struggles in college. I love these girls so much and feel so lucky to have two such amazing friends! If you're reading this, I Love You! I thought I'd better throw in a few of my other faves with my buddies....just for good measure.

This last one is St. Patrick's Day two years ago and that is my little brother, Nate...the four of us are trying to make a human four leaf clover. One of the MOST FUN nights ever!

All right...now it's time to get down to business, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!

Was it just me or were the judges particularly cranky last night? They were so harsh and overly critical if you ask me. I realize this group of dancers is amazing and we're already down to the Top 10, but sheesh, they were so nit-picky!

Contestant: Cristina
Routine: Paso Doble
Choreographer: Jean-Marc and France
All-Star: Pasha

I know the judges LOVED this routine but I wasn't overly thrilled. It was a good routine and Cristina did very well, but I just don't like her...AT ALL.I felt she could have been stronger and more dominant in her movements, but what do I know? She'll probably be in the bottom again and the judges will wrongfully save her, yes I'm still bitter.

Contestant: AdeChike
Routine: Contemporary
Choreographer: Mandy Moore 
All-Star: Allison

Again, I was pretty underwhelmed by this routine. I know there wasn't supposed to be a story and it was supposed to be all about feelings but the routine just felt really disjointed...like there were very seperate parts to the routine, instead of a full flowing routine. I thought AdeChike did really well. I know the judges want him to show more emotion, and I agree...he tried this time but I felt the smiles were really forced and awkward and didn't really match the routine. That goes for Allison as well. This was my least favorite routine of the night and I think AdeChike may end up in the bottom three.

Contestant: Alex
Routine: Broadway
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
All-Star: Lauren

Blah, I do not like Alex. He has the personality of a wet mop. I LOVED this routine though! I wish Kent or Billy could have danced this one...they would have rocked it! How hot was Lauren? I watched her the whole time! It was such a fun and quirky routine and I was bummed that Alex kind of brought it down. Totally agree with the judges on that one....I think he'll be safe though.

Contestant: Ashley
Routine: Jazz
Choreographer: Travis
All-Star: Mark

Ok, I agree with the judges that this routine was more contemporary than it was Jazz....but cripes! Give Travis a break! With the ever-expanding talents of dancers and choreographers the line distinguishing different styles is getting thinner and thinner. I mean, Alex's "Broadway" routine could have been "Jazz." I just feel bad for my boy Travis because I thought this was an amazing routine and all they focused on is how it wasn't Jazz. Lame. I love Ashley, she's my new favorite girl, sorry Lauren. She is so stinkin' cute and such a great dancer. I think and hope she'll be safe tonight.

Contestant: Billy
Routine: Krump
Choreographer: Lil C
All-Star: Comfort

Billy Bell and Krump go together like oil and water and the judges made sure to make that point known....over and over again. I thought Billy did GREAT! This is a style that is polar opposite to his own, and no it wasn't a perfect routine and no Billy Bell is not "buck" but I think he did a hell of a job and the judges were WAY to hard on him! I think he'll be safe.

Contestant:Robert
Routine: Tango
Choreographer: Jean-Marc Genereux
All-Star: Anya

WOW! This routine was HOT! Pretty sure my TV was steaming! Favorite routine of the night!!! The Tango is my favorite of the Latin dances and this one was amazing! I thought Robert did awesome considering how fast the routine was, how much footwork there was, that is isn't his style and he was dancing with the Latin queen! Again, the judges were way too hard on him! Robert is definitely one of my faves, maybe even my #2 behind little Kent. Geez, just look at this picture....great, now my computer is steaming!

Contestant: Melinda
Routine: Contemporary
Choreographer: Stacey Tookey
All-Star: Ade

Yuck! I can't decide who I dislike more...Melinda or Cristina. Melinda got extremely lucky with this routine. She had a great partner, a great choreographer and a great routine with a great meaning. That dress however was the opposite of great...I agree with Mia, it was really distracting. I get she was the earth, but couldn't the costume department come up with something that wasn't so literal? Anyways, I thought she danced this well but not great. I would have LOVED to see Ashley or Lauren dance this! Anyways, I think cocky, overly-confident, self centered Melinda will be in trouble again tonight, at least I hope so.

Contestant: Jose

Routine: Bollywood
Choreographer: Nakul Dev Mahajan
All-Star: Kathryn

I LOVED THIS! I love Bollywood routines in general (Josh and Katie season 4 anyone?!) I really liked the Genie in a Bottle theme. I thought Jose did really well considering he has no formal dance training, is a B Boy and Bollywood is frickin' hard! It definitely had some mistakes but it was so fun to watch and Jose is just so cute and happy and excited and I love him. I think he will be just fine tonight.

Contestant: Lauren
Routine: Hip Hop
Choreographer: Tessandra Chavez
All-Star: Dominic

I liked this routine. I think it was good for Lauren to do something outside her comfort zone and challenge herself to prove she deserves to be there and isn't just a fan favorite for no reason. I agree with Mia that the "fight" scenes needed more emotions, it looked like a hip hop battle not a domestic dispute. Overall, I thought it was really good. Lauren took the judges criticism from last week and improved! I still love her and think she'll have no problems sliding by tonight.

Contestant: Kent
Routine: Jazz
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
All-Star: Courtney

LOVED IT! What a great routine!!! And I don't think Courtney "ate Kent alive," I think he really held is own and did a great job portraying the character. Of course, it's hard to believe the character when we all now how damn cute, sweet and funny Kent is. I think he needs his own reality show where he just sits around and says funny stuff.....who's with me? He is still my favorite, I thought this routine was way better than last weeks and I think he'll FOR SURE be safe.

All photos from Fox.com

Alright, my prediction this week may be biased because of hatred, but once again I am choosing MELINDA to be sent home.

Wow, that was long! Kudos if you got through the whole thing! Have a great Thursday everyone!

I Love Tuesdays!

First of all, this is a very special Tuesday because it is J’s step-mom, Judye’s birthday! Judye has known me since I was three years old and is one of my mom’s best friends.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUDITH! 

I hope you have a wonderful day! 

 Judye and J's little sisters, Nicole and Ally

The main reason I love Tuesdays is because it’s my one day off a week. Sometimes I use it to lie in bed all day and catch up on sleep and other days I try to cram in as much as I possibly can. Today….I’m doing a little of both. I’m picking up and dropping off my nanny girl at lacrosse camp. Then I have an appointment with my personal trainer which will most likely suck because he hasn’t trained me in two months and he is going to kick my bootay! But, as long as I live through the work out I’ll be rewarded because I’m getting a FREE one hour massage! A new place opened down the street from Coffee Buzz and they were nice enough to give J and I each a gift certificate for a free massage! Wahoo! Then I’ll probably make a pit stop at the shop for a large soy chai. After that I’ll most likely squeeze in a nap with my puggle, then head out to pick up Alexa from lacrosse camp.

Alright, alright enough about my day…I know you’re really only reading this for the Bachelorette re-cap…so let’s break it down by guys.

KASEY

We all know he’s psycho, I could use this entire post to go on and on about his straight up weirdness and creepiness….so, instead, I am going to recap some of my favorite Kasey quotes from last night.

“I’m not just trying to just stick around. I’m trying to be the man of her dreams.”

“I’m Kasey. I’m a dreamer, I’m a believer. I love to love, I love to give, I love to share.”

“We’re circling around the erupting volcano and I’m like what is going down?”

“I promise to guard and protect your heart” (times) a million and a half!

*Also, my favorite part of the episode is when Kasey was sitting outside the glacier by himself, drinking and then coughing. High-larious!

THANK THE LORD HE IS GONE! I can’t take that voice for one more second.

FRANK

Is it just me or is Frank slowly becoming as creepy as Kasey? He’s so jealous and it’s SO annoying. He needs to go. NOW! 

CHRIS N.

How great was Chris N’s poem?!? No wonder he hasn’t talked once during this season…he’s terrible at it. Not shocking he went home. I should have predicted him to go home last week…but I forgot about him!

CHRIS L.

He’s still my favorite. I LOVED his poem! I was cracking up….and don’t even get me started on him riding the horse. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. Ali doesn’t deserve him, she’s too annoying.

TY

I really like Ty. He needs a one-on-one date…not sure if they’d have much chemistry, but we’ll never know until we see it and from the previews it’s looking like we’ll get to.

ROBERTO

So smokin’ hot. That’s all I need to say.

JUSTIN

What a coincidence that he went on the two-on-one with Kasey. Wow. Never could have seen that coming! The drama. We all know neither one of them will be along for much longer, so might as well put them head to head. Justin is starting to turn douche. I’m over it.

CRAIG

He’s fine. Not drama. Not great. Not ugly. Not cute. Just there.

KIRK

I love Kirk. But why was there so much drama leading up to him telling Ali about him being sick. I didn’t get it. Is he still sick? I feel bad he went through that and of course it’s something he should tell Ali about it….but why was he so nervous about it. I thought he was going to say he was in jail, or got a girl preggers, or something waaaay more dramatic than asbestos.

I am DYING to know which one of the guys has a gf. If I had to guess I’d say it was Justin. Ok, fine….spoiler alert….it’s Chris L. and his girlfriend is me! :) (sorry if you’re reading this, J. I love you.)

Once again I'm linking up with A Girl in Pearls & A Boy with Toys for

So, my FAVORITE is Chris L (duh) and my TOOL is Frank.

I hope you all have an awesome Tuesday!