Back in action!

Wow, I haven't blogged since early may. And, get this, I GAINED follower. Thank you guys for not ditching me. I want to get back in the saddle of blogging.

I did, as I said in my last blog, finish the Nashville Country Music Half Marathon at the end of April. It was a wonderful experience and a lot of fun. I will touch on it more (when I FINALLY finish my race recap, ha....3-4 months later!), but I felt a bit "blah" soon after the race. That's a feeling I never would have expected. There was no doubt in my mind that I could finish, but the time I finished in was a bit slower than I would have liked. I actually raced slower than many of my training runs....you will find out about all of this when I finish my race recap.

My dad (fasha) is doing the Roots 'n Blues half marathon in less than two weeks. I had originally planned to run this with him. And by with him - I mean we were going to run the same course. He would definitely kick my arse. Dude is speedy! I am so incredibly excited for him and even more proud of him. This will be his first half. I would have loved to have run his first half "with" him. Unfortunately, football season calls. Mizzou plays at Arizona State so Justin and I are heading southwest for the game. I have enjoyed sharing training stories, trials, and tribulations with my fasha. I know he is going to rock this half marathon and totally kill my official time in Nashville. It's all good - that gives me a time to beat when I run my next half (which I hope to be in the Spring).

I want to jump back on the blogging bandwagon because it seems to go hand in hand with my running schedule. This summer has kicked my ass as far as running goes. The humidity has absolutely killed me. My pace has been a good 1.5-2 minutes slower per mile. When I do get out to run - my mileage has been poor. I have, honestly, run 3-4 six mile runs since Nashville...and nothing longer than six miles. In conclusion for this paragraph - F YOU, heat and humidity!!

It's all good though. Football season starts this week (college, WOOT!) so that means the air is about to get a bit more crisp...and hopefully my pace will return with the turning of the leaves.

So to my trusty followers who haven't "unfollowed" in my hiatus...please, show me some love. I need the motivation and support as I go after my goal to run a sub 25 5k for 2011. I definitely thought I posted a 2011 goal post, but I guess not. So to fill you in (8 months later, from what I remember)....I had a goal to blog more (fail), run a sub 25 5k (fail by 8 seconds, UGH!), and run a half marathon (winning!).

In closing - keep following my blog. Show some love. I hope to recap my runs, live, and the like as time goes by. Enjoy, y'all! :)

Just gorgeous, darling!

I received the 'gorgeous blogger award' from Tiffany from Baby Fish. Thanks, girl!

Yes! Something to blog about...sad, isn't it??

Rules:
1. Accept and thank the blogger who gave this to you.
2. List 10 things about yourself.
3. List 5 additional things that you don't like.
4. Award this to 10 fellow bloggers.

10 things about me:
1. I was born in a hospital who is nicknamed "Deathwell."
2. I have always wanted an old VW Bug.
3. I learned (just last night, actually) that my dad has always wanted an old VW Bug. I guess that's where I got the idea.
4. Cinnamon toast is my favorite breakfast food...especially when it's made in the broiler.
5. I am the only person I know who likes the taste of red bull. I really wish that they would make caffeine free (and sugar free) red bull - I would LOVE it.
6. The only major injury I ever had during my 14 years of playing soccer was a head-on-head collision with another girl during the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college. It resulted in about 36 stitches and a broken nose. Other than that, just a few sprained ankles.
7. During one of our trips moving from KC - I stopped to meet my cousin to give her some wedding stuff and I managed to lock my keys in the car with it running. Justin had a spare key, but he was about 90 minutes behind me. I have locked keys in the car before, but never with it running.
8. I did the electric slide to 'Achy Breaky Heart' in 2nd grade.
9. Also in 2nd grade was the election that Bill Clinton became president. My elementary school did a ballot, etc. I voted for Bill Clinton - totally uneducated vote, but I think it's crazy that I even remember that.
10. I love the Shrek movies. I am excited for another one to come out, but I hope it doesn't ruin it for me.

5 things I don't like:
1. Spiders.
2. Heights.
3. The sound of styrofoam being scratched.
4. This haircut I got today (I might post pics if my camera decides to work today).
5. Pineapple.

From what I can tell - just about everyone has already been awarded this. If you haven't, then I award YOU! It's genuine, I promise.

Academy of Country Music awards 2009

I am a huge fan of country music so whenever there are country music awards on, I watch. Last night was the Academy of Country Music awards so I set my DVR up to record it since I had to work. Here is my little recap and reaction post to the show last night.

First of all, Reba McEntire hosted the show. I am a very big fan of her so I was thrilled to find out she would be hosted. I thought she did a great job. She also performed her new song, which was ok. It did not sound like a "typical" Reba song, but was still all right. It might be one of those songs that has to grow on me.

Some of the winners:
--Carrie Underwood was voted entertainer of the year. She was up against Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, George Strait, and Keith Urban. I have never been to one of her shows so I cannot speak on how entertaining she is. This is fan voted so it's not quite like the rest of the ACM awards as the members of the ACM are not choosing it.
--Male vocalist was Brad Paisley.
--Female vocalist was Carrie Underwood.
--Julianna Hough won top new vocalist. I love her music and her dance on Dancing With the Stars.
--"In Color" by Jamey Johnson won song of the year. Such an awesome song. If you have not heard it, please do so...right now.

There was a really cool performance to start the show. It consisted of Brooks and Dunn singing "Play Something Country" while they introduced a few other performers do do snippets of some of their very popular songs. Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Carrie Underwood, and Rascal Flatts were the featured artists. It ended with all of the artists together finishing off "Play Something Country." It was really stinkin' cool.

Carrie Underwood performed "I Told You So." Great performance, weird ass dress. Weird. Weird. Weird. As you may or not not be able to tell from the pic it was a really pretty red color. In my opinion, the color was the only pretty thing about that dress. It was super poofy and the train was really long. It took over the stage. Carrie let out some secrets of what the dress was going to look like before the show was taped...she described it as being like "red water, lava, or red icing." I think lava nailed it on the head. I was definitely not a fan.



Miley Cyrus did a performance of her new song, "The Climb." It was a good song and a good performance. However, at the end she stepped on to this platform that gradual lifted her in the hair to signify a climb. It was probably a cool idea to most people, but when I watched it I immediately thought of the game on Price Is Right where the yodeler climbs the mountain and eventually falls off if you guess prices incorrectly. Any agree? I can't find a pic of her during this part of her performance, but you can watch it on youtube here. It started out very awkward anyway because her father, Billy Raye Cyrus, introduced her and did some promoting of his new album coming out and the premier of the Hannah Montana movie.

I thought there were some cool performances, neat presenters, funny outfits, and all the other normal stuff in an awards show. Nothing too exciting. Just some good music and deserving winners of awards.