Love the Life you Live, Live the Life you Love

I can't even believe this was just suggested to me! And mom I KNOW you're reading this - never again, okay? You were the one who told me to never give up on anything, even if it's hard and you don't think you can possibly go on, find the inner strength to just. keep. moving. And that's exactly what I plan to do. Okay so yes I wake up every morning limping, I nap with ice packs taped to my knee, and I look slightly deformed because I wear a knee brace under my jeans...But for some reason I can't break out of the mindset that it's all worth it when I cross the finish line or get a new PR. The sick muscles don't hurt, either. So now that it's settled that race officials will literally have to drag me kicking and screaming, let's never make the "Why Don't you just Quit" suggestion ever again, k? Oh speaking of sick muscles. My back hurts. Why? Because THIS ONE did TWO pull ups at the gym. TWO. Can I just say it's been my goal since ...

My mom once told me one of the most important things to learn in life is you should always have a plan. And the next most important thing to do is lay out a direct path on how to get there, and not stopping until you get exactly what you want. Taking her advise seriously, I made multiple to do lists, both long and short term, check lists, goal sheets, and my ever coveted, "ten year plan" which included getting into a college, working my ass off, marrying a doctor, buying a house in the city...the whole, American Dream ten yards. I practically made plans to make plans. Just now I'm realizing what the REAL plan is, and I'm going to let you in on a little secret: The plan is there is no plan . Life is this huge paradox where you can use your reason and intuition to organize, schedule, and map until your little heart bursts. You can put as many sticky notes around you desk and fill every empty space in your planner and meticulously permanent marker cross out each task. I...

Sometimes I honestly think the quad's relationship is verging on slightly unhealthy - the quad being Al, Anya, B and I. Today I was walking from the GSU to the beach and I saw Al come around the corner - and I knew it was her even before I realized it was her because my heart skipped a beat when I saw her bright turquoise running shirt. It took all my restraint not to squeak an "eek!" and run up to her. I had to at least PRETEND I wasn't stoked out of my mind to see her when it wasn't planned. Same thing happened this morning when I saw Anya behind me in line at Starbucks, literally got so excited I almost jumped up and down. I think it gets even more intense because I NEVER get to see my girls anymore. Gone are the 3 hour dinners every single night of the week and sitting in each other's rooms for hours on end laughing at our weekends of debauchery...we actually had to grow up this year and we all have resume-building lives - how boring. B is always folding p...

So I'm sitting in the GSU, listening to Tracy Chapman (Duh.) - Nevermind the song just switched now I'm listening to Tom Petty. This song brings me to last summer, driving in my Trailblazer down highway 44 in the fast lane, all the windows down, doing that thing that terrifies my mom when I drive with one knee bent, with my foot up on the seat...I love that feeling. There's something about knowing you're driving 125 feet per second that just can't be described, at least not in any way that gives it justification. Plus my aviator sunglasses look so badass. I think they give me the mindset of a policeman; if I ever got pulled over my allibi would be, "...It's the sunglasses." And, as the policeman would be wearing aviators too, he would understand. Which brings me to a question: do speed limits count for bikes? Multiple times I've questioned this when I'm going down Highland in 37 when the MPH sign CLEARLY says 35. Do speedometers even read bike ...

You know when you find a song and it's so incredibly perfect for your mood or what's going on in your life at that moment you play it over..over.. and over... ..and over? You feel as though you'll never get sick of it, you just want to blast it in your room and you only wished it were socially acceptable to sing it in public? I'm in one of those right now. I've been in my "Kids" and "Electric Feel"by MGMT phase, "bedrock" by lil wayne phase (definitely needed to get some in this phase), "Begin again" by Colbie Caillat phase. I get in my Michael Buble phase and, embarrassingly enough, I definitely went through a huge "nasty girl" by Nitty phase (that one is embarrassing - this did not reflect my mood, it's just so. damn. catchy..in a raunchy kind of way.) Two weeks ago I couldn't stop listening to "Need you now" by Lady Antebellum. Last week it was, "Just like heaven," the Tristan Prettyman...

I look like I have conjunctivitis. My eye has been red for the past two days - for TWO DAYS I have been walking around with a bright red, watering eye. Not like that's not the most attractive thing I've ever seen in my life. I was sent home an hour early from work because my boss said it hurt to look at it and it scared the customers. Gee whiz, thanks for the support Brooke! Actually that was probably a blessing because it's now 1 am and I'm still writing about, you guessed it, China currency policy. ...but the whole 1 am thing is probably because I can't concentrate and, well, I'm blogging. So in addition to the fact that I got a sick cycling burn on my shoulder that would put an Irishmen in the Caribbean to shame and my water bottle had a hint of rasberry vodka/Tropicana strawberry mango taste to it because a poor decision on my part last week, my cycle today was sub-par. For some reason I'm STILL sore from cycling with Kipp over the weekend (but maybe th...

In my effort to procrastinate on figuring out China - seems to be a common thing to do in the USA- Oh good listen to me I'm making semi political/economic jokes...who am I becoming? Though I DID stumble across one funny one the other day: "Democrats were quick to point out that President Bush's budget creates a 1 trillion dollar deficit. The White House quickly responded with 'Hey, look over there, it's Saddam Hussein.'" —Craig Kilborn Okay enough of this madness, and no I'm not getting back to researching the growing coastal and rural divergence in China. i just wanted to comment that in January I made a check list of things to do this year..and I've only done ONE. I went to the Boston Aquarium. I gotta pick up the pace here. I still have to... -Finish A Walk in the Woods -Run 1/2 marathon -Knit a scarf -Eat a piece of pizza without feeling guilty -Take a tour of the USS Constitution -Go to the Boston Aquarium -Complete a second century ride in le...