Happy Memorial Day!

What a crazy few days.

Work has been SLAMMED. It was, hands down, my best week to date since I started as an esthetician. I can’t wait for my paycheck next week! The downside to being so slammed is that I come home and am exhausted from work/working out every day last week. Thus no blogging for the past few days.

I was able to muster enough energy to go Saturday night to watch the UFC fights with some friends. It  was a very fun night; we laughed until we cried, ate some horrible buffalo wings, and some drunk girl tried to bite me. Yes, bite me. The only explanation I have is that she was drunk and reved up into looking for violence thanks to the fights. We left after that.

Sunday, I ran my 3rd 5k at the Delaplane Strawberry Festival. Its a cross country course out at Sky Meadows State Park and boy, did it kick my ass. It starts out on a paved road then veers off into the woods/cow fields. We ran through mud, cow patties, over a creek, gravel roads…and LOTS of hills. My pace was ALL OVER the place!!! My first mile was 9:27, my second was 11:21, my third was 12:27, and the last .1 was a 9:47 pace. The  3rd mile was almost all uphill, you’d get to the top of one hill only to see another in front of you. On top of that it was at least 75 degrees out there. Needless to say I did a very slow 34:42. But who cares because it was SUCH a beautiful course and so neat to run somewhere SO different (I live downtown so almost all my runs are on sidewalks, in the park, or on the road)

The road the race started and ended on.

what a gorgeous day…and view!

Me & my BFF Katie. This is our third 5k together…its crazy to think a year and half ago we could barely run 1 minute! We always run a little bit together and then Katie goes out on her own as she is MUCH faster than me.

Katie and I after the race. She of course looks GORGEOUS and I look like a tomato.

Despite it being a very difficult course, Katie and her husband BOTH won 3rd place for their age groups. Even cooler, this was the first race they have ever run together!

The festival had a bunch of craft booths, food, music, a petting zoo, and a bunch of other neat odds and ends.

Strawberry stand.

Matt and I shared a delicious strawberry sundae after the race.

Kodak made a new friend. I think both of them were wondering if the other was a dog.

Playing ball and charming everyone in sight.

SLURP!

Kodak was such a trooper. It was VERY warm out and he only started to really get tired as we were leaving. Here he is showing us where we should go to cool down.

I found the cutest halter for Roxy from this vendor. (Kodak’s argyle halter is also from her)

Here she is modeling her new cupcake halter:

The giant batch of strawberries I bought!

To celebrate an awesome race, I made an extra awesome smoothie:

1 cup kale

6 BIG strawberries

1 cup frozen pineapple

1/2 cup frozen mango

1 cup vanilla ultra soy milk

It was soooooo delicious.

Today Matt ran the Loudon Street Mile and freakin’ dominated! He ran a 4:51 mile this year, shaving off 11 seconds from last year! He also won 3rd in his age group AND was 16th overall. I am very very proud of him.

Walking home, I was struck with how BEAUTIFUL it is here.

After the race, we went to the grocery store and then to Matt’s dad’s for a cook out.

I thought this “burger” cake would be an excellent addition to the cookout…but Matt said no.

Matt snuggling his nephew.

After the cookout we went to the Winchester National Cemetary to take photos.

Its been a really nice weekend. If only we had had another day…it all feels like it flew by.

What did you do???

Posted in life, matthew, pets, running | 5 Comments »

They said it would snow…and boy, did it!

This weekend we got ROCKED by a snowstorm like no other. I havent seen snow like this since I was in 5th grade or 6th grade! They told us it would hit Friday morning with heavier snow later in the day anddd it pretty much didn’t stop until maybe 3 or 4 Saturday. Unfortunately we are supposed to get MORE snow tomorrow…like 10 inches possibly. UGH.

I am so sick of the snow.

Without further adieu I present to you the adventures of Snowpocalypse 2010:

Friday the snow started almost exactly at 9. I went to work and had one client for two services. I quickly high-tailed it out of there around noon as I wanted to get home before the real fun began (plus Virginia drivers can’t drive in snow…myself included) At home I fed the cat three million scoops of food and grabbed Roxy plus a packed bag in order to get to Matts.

Roxy and I made a pit stop at Sonic for lunch for Matt& I. Roxy looks so thrilled in her Where’s Waldo sweater…

She sneezed. I captured the fabulous face.

Sonic was fabulous…I expected nothing less.
We took the dogs out later in the afternoon to play outside.

Kodak in his jacket which actually was an awesome buy at Walmart. It kept him dry all weekend whenever he went out in the snow. Plus he looks killer in it.

Trudge trudge trudge.

Roxy was not a fan of this snow from the very beginning.

This is Kodak’s ball i.e. his crack.

He will do just about anything for a ball. He seriously will play fetch until he is almost falling asleep standing up. Even cuter, is that he doesn’t just play ball like a normal dog…he plays soccer. You throw the ball, he runs at lightening speed to get it, and after fetching it then drops it, and either noses the ball and/or kicks the ball BACK TO YOU. Inside he will actually grab things (blankets, socks, pant legs) and hold said item while he kicks the ball up and down the hallway. Matt needs to make a video because it’s the funniest thing I have ever seen. It’s kind of insane and I don’t know how he decided this was the way to play ball but it’s how he does it.

I like him.

Most of the time…I think he likes me too

Also I know you are jealous of my fancy houndstooth elmer fudd hat….

and my shitty rainboots which make for the WORST snowboots ever. My feet were FREEZING this weekend!

The snow really got going a little later on Friday afternoon and that was the end of that…by the 9 or 10 the news said we were in full-force blizzard conditions. GROSS.

We zonked out on the couch until 6 am the dogs decided it was time to WAKE UP and Matt went out to begin shoveling. The snow was still going with no signs of stopping.

Matt asked for breakfast so I made blueberry pancakes with eggs. One of the few easy things I can make…haha.

The world outside.

Matt is awesome and shoveled 9 times from Friday to Sunday. This was smart because a) it kept him from going stir-crazy and gave him some exercise since he couldn’t run and b) meant there wasn’t 2 feet of snow to have to shovel once the snow stopped.

Matt also dug tunnels for the dogs!!!! Kodak OBVIOUSLY played with his ball in them.

While Matt shoveled every other hour, me and the puppies did a lot of this:

Roxy makes a good pillow apparently.

I love these two little dogs more than I could possibly describe.

After some good napping Matt shoveled some more and we measured the snow. We used Matt’s car since the ground wasn’t very accurate due to snow we had previously gotten Tuesday (seriously we have had so much snow this winter)

That, my friends, is A LOT of snow.

Mr. Lofton’s Opus.

Roxy trying to swim through the snow (which I may or may not have plopped her in….)

The snow FINALLY ended later than afternoon and we even got a bit of sun as well.

Sunday was all about waiting for the snow plow. Matt left for a 10 mile run and I sat around, played online, dreamed of leaving the house, and fed my new addiction that I discovered during the snow storm…Toddlers and Tiarras. Pure TV GOLD!

I also discovered that in a pinch, fake vanilla lattes are ALMOST as good as real coffee. Almost.

Around 4 the snowplow finally came and Matt and I left the snowy confines of his house to venture out into the real world.

Now for the most embarrassing part of the weekend…Around 7 I started to worry about my cat who was at my apartment still. I decided to jump in my car, drive the 2 miles over, check on her, and then come back to watch the Superbowl with Matt. I got back to my place fine, enjoyed the angry death glare of the cat while I fed her, and then got back in my car to go back. Because one of the main roads was blocked off I INGENIOUSLY decided to take a side road UP A HILL to take a back route I go sometimes.  I might mention that this back route takes you through a pretty yucky part of town. While driving up the one way hill, a girl was walking along and I turned my wheel slightly to make sure she had enough room. BAD BAD BAD IDEA.

I got stuck.

I tried going forward while turning the wheel. I tried reversing while turning the wheel. I tried going straight. I tried everything. Meanwhile people are trudging by with their 40s and giving me weird looks and cars are starting to wait behind me.

I call Matt slightly panicking and hoping he will have some magic recipe to tell me how to get unstuck FAST. Unfortnately there is no recipe and with a sigh he told me to wait and he would be there. Being the brilliant driver that I am, I decided to turn off the car (I cannot tell you why I decided to do this). When I tried to turn in back on to once again try to move the car a single inch….

THE BATTERY DIED.

WTF!?!?!?!!?!?!!

Of all the days and times to die, my battery chooses this time? Of course it would…

because it’s me and stuff like this ALWAYS happens to me.

I was in full-on freakout mode by now.

Matt came and was obviously exasperated by the turn of events. Luckily thanks to his car knowledge, some cables I kept in the back of my car, and some fine young gentlemen who decided to stop watching from the porches and help…my car got restarted and moved out of the snow I was stuck in.

I would like to use this space to thank Matt who left the warm couch to help me and ate it hard on the ice while doing so. Thank you baby!

The rest of the evening was THANKFULLY uneventful. We made some nachos and watched the superbowl (I read and snuggled Kodak…and then fell asleep.)

This morning I came back home with Roxy and began the song and dance called “I dont wanna run but I know I have to”. My 4 miler should have happened on Sunday but I didn’t feel safe running on porrly plowed roads and decided to give it a day. The half marathon is 2 months away and every day I skip a run is a day wasted. So despite my EXTREME reluctance to go out and do it…I went out and did it.

To feel more hardcore, I busted out my “miss new booty” running tights.

It was a joyless 4.2 miles…but the feeling of accomplishment once I got to the end was awesome. I started the day thinking I wouldn’t even run at all…and yet somehow found it in myself to run longer than I have in over half a year IN THE SNOW which sucks in my opinion.

Andddd just to reiterate how much FREAKING snow we got…here’s a shot of the porch of my bedroom:

Theres so much snow Roxy cant even see over it all. Its just this massive snow wall as soon as you open the door!

I suppose I better learn to like it because they’re calling for 1-3 inches tomorrow with 5-8 inches tomorrow night…and more damn snow Wednesday. FML.

Thank goodness for netflix and the ability to watch every criminal intent known to man on my instant queue while I hole up in my apartment during the snowpocalypse part 2!

My 5 gratefuls for the past few days:

1. Having power.  A lot of people lost it and I cannot imagine how much that sucked.

2. Matt and his ability to put up with my antics.

3. Puppy snuggles.

4. That my car actually started back up and didn’t have to get towed.

5. Enjoying today with my friend Kate.

Posted in cooking/baking, matthew, pets, running, winter 2010 | 2 Comments »

So yes…I ,Genevieve, am a complete slacker and havent written in here at all.

I really have no excuse other than I haven’t felt motivated to write. Money is REALLY tight lately and its set a cloud of perma-funk over my life. Its all I think about but the last thing I want to do is sit around and just complain about how little money I have. Yet here I am…doing so. I know I am far from the only person dealing with this but this is my first foray into the world of  ”I just bounced my rent check and god am I ashamed”. It is far scarier than I could have ever imagined. I just keep saying to myself over and over and over “it will get better” and “this is good and teaches you things you didn’t know before” I know for a fact that money does not bring happiness but I am also learning that being stretched SO thin can be an ugly awful feeling and leaves you lying awake at night wondering if you will be able to pay all your bills, let alone have money to get the dog some food.

Maybe I need to pay more attention to the things I tell myself in my art journal?

One good thing about being tight on $$ is that I have been cooking A LOT more! I actually like cooking…who knew?

Among some of the things I have cooked:

Poblano, Black Bean, and  Mango Quesdillas

My friends Ellen, Lauren, and I made these one night and they were DELICIOUS.

Spaghetti Squash with Avocado Pesto

First off let me say spaghetti squash is just weird! I wanted very much to like it but it really is just odd.

It really just in no shape or form will EVER replace spaghetti for me. Sorry squash. Its fun ripping it all up after you cook it though…just not really fun eating it.

BUT

the avocado pesto sauce was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

Mmmmmmmmm.

And last but not least,

(image by skinnychef.com)

rosemary sweet potato fries.

So amazingly delicious. Add in a garlic basil dipping sauce and you are in HEAVEN. I changed the dipping sauce recipe and instead of mayo used greek yogurt. EVEN MORE AWESOME!

In case you didn’t get the memo, greek yogurt is my new downfall and I will never go back to regular yogurt again.

Lucky for me Costco sells it (not my favorite brand boo-hoo) so I dont go even more broke by buying copious amounts of yogurt. If you want to really go hardcore buy the 0% Fage and just add some honey. It’s so simple, so yummy, and 120 calories with 20 grams of PROTEIN and NO FAT!

Side note: since I have been spending so much more time in my kitchen, I realized the other day that my FAVORITE PART of my kitchen is all damaged from a leak

This is very sad.

On the running front, I am on week 4 of my training for my half. All systems go! This Sunday I will conquer 4 miles! The race is 80 days away. I have so far to go and I know I am going to really be hating myself for even doing this the closer the race gets…but I want it so bad.

All the animals are wonderful and make me happy when nothing else does.

It was VERY cold here for awhile so the puppies bundled up outside.

GOOOOOOOOOOO!

A very dashing Kodak.

Roxy braving some icy winds.

HELLO!

anddd Stubbs, who never fails to be weirder and weirder each week.

This is where she now hangs out during the day…halfway under the couch with her legs sticking out.

Oh hai.

One last Roxy photo because she is teenytinytinytiny and cute!

I am so proud of her. She has bounced back from her surgery so well and been so brave and every day I am so happy she is still here being her barky huffly burrowy snuggley self.

I’ll end this entry with two photos that make my ovaries explode…

Matt and his adorable nephew jamming out with some chopsticks.

G-Money out!

Posted in cooking/baking, life, matthew, pets, running | 2 Comments »

Time for the survey I do every year….

01 What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
fell in love with a tailless kitty, ran a 8k, took on my fear of doing brazilian waxes, ran a 8: took spinning classes (and loved it), went to Hawaii.

02 Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
My goals from last year:
FITNESS/HEALTH GOALS:
1. Run the Apple Blossom 10k in an hour and 5 minutes or less. (did not do. thanks hip)
2. To run the Rock&Roll Hal Marathon in 2 hours and 15 minutes.(did not do. thanks hip)
3. To start adding fitness dvds back into my exercise routine. (did this every so often. now that i belong to the gym theres really no point)
4. Taking my vitamins/fish oils more regularly (meh)
5. Lose 15 more lbs. (FML)
MENTAL HEALTH GOALS:
1. Stop picking at myself so much. Its a horrible ocd habit I have and it makes me really embrassed. It’s def. gotten better but I’d really like to put it to rest. (still not 100% no picking. i suck)
2. Make sure that my exercising stays healthy and that I lose weight in a healthy manner. (I struggled with this some this spring but I think my relationship with exercise is the best it has ever been. I do it, I do it regularly, and I dont JUST do it to lose weight.)
3. Write in my lj more. (Did not do. No biggie)
4. Start taking pictures and posting them. (Did not do)
MISC:
1.Decorate my stupid apartment and stop feeling so embrassed of it. (done )
2. Find a really awesome place to live once my lease is up. (DONE!)
3. Buy clothes out of my safety zone. (sometimes)
4. Read the following books:
eat pray love (DONE)
gaining (did not do…i need to)

03 Did anyone close to you give birth?
YES!
My cousin Alicia gave birth to the beautiful Miss Austen in January and a few months later my dear friend Micah gave birth to the equally beautiful Pru.

04 Did anyone close to you die?
No.

05 What countries did you visit?
N/A

06 What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Confidence.

07 What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January 4-The guy I dated through high school and college was in a cycling accident and ended up in a coma for 16 days. Those two weeks taught me a lot about forgiveness and letting go of what people may have done and simply wanting the best for someone.
January 8- my 10 year sobriety anniversary.
March 1-the day my hip started hurting. It may seem dumb to people but my hip injury really impacted a lot of my year in terms of all the things I planned to do but couldn’t not to mention there were periods of time where I was in a fair amount of pain.
March 21-Matt qualified for Boston! I dont know if I have ever been so proud of him. Seeing him run by after the 3:10 group and realizing he had made his goal made me SOSOSO happy I had tears in my eyes.
April 4- The day my dad told me my step-mom left him.
June 16-My bosses closed the spa, left town with our paychecks, and turned out to be completely different people than I could have even expected.
July 19- HAWAII!!!
Dec 16- Roxy’s surgery.

08 What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Learning to move on.

09 What was your biggest failure?
Letting my insecurities dictate my behavior. (same as last year)

10 Did you suffer illness or injury?
Whats up hip bursitis!!?!?

11 What was the best thing you bought?
My handy dandy portable facial machine!

12 Whose behavior merited celebration?
Mine…sometimes.

13 Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My previous employers. Nuff said.

14 Where did most of your money go?
The animals<3, groceries, books, food. I wish I could say I spent my money on more exciting things.

15 What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Work! The animals! Matt! Spinning! Running! HAWAII!!!!!!!!

16 What song will always remind you of 2009?
Good Life by Kanye West.

17 Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? HAPPIER.
b) thinner or fatter? About the same :/ But wayyyy stronger!
c) richer or poorer? poorer.

18 What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish I had gotten to do more running and completed the goals I had planned.

19 What do you wish you’d done less of?
Obsessing and feeling bad about the way I look. Crying over stuff I couldn’t change.

20 How will you be spending Christmas?
Well since Christmas is gone…we spent the morning together unwrapping gifties and then the rest of the day at my mom’s with my family.

21 How will you be spending New Years?
Watching Matt play.

22 Did you fall in love in 2009?
Always. I am in stupidly in love with my dream boy.

23 How many one-night stands?
Homie dont play that.

24 What was your favorite TV program?
CRIMINAL MINDS followed by Hoarders, Meet the Natives…and JERSEY SHORE.

25 Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Yup.

26 What was the best book you read?
Eat Pray Love

27 What was your greatest musical discovery?
Lady Gaga.
I hate even saying it but I listen to her ALL THE TIME at the gym or while I run.

28 What did you want and get?
I dont know how to answer this. Life threw some curve balls this year and thus the things I planned and wanted didnt happen. But thats ok. Thats life. At the end of the day I have everything I need.

29 What did you want and not get?
I wanted to start working with a plastic surgeon and doing laser work. That didnt happen.

30 What was your favorite film of this year?
The Blindside!!!

31 What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
For my 26th birthday Matt, Ellen, and I got up early and went on a 16 mile adventure (we biked & matt ran) Afterwards Matt and I ate Burger King because it was Saturday, took a glorious nap, went clothes shopping for me, and prepared for our trip to Hawaii which was the next day. Awesome and laid back..just the way I like it!

32 What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Hard to say.

33 How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Black…with a white lab coat.

34 What kept you sane?
Medication DUH!

35 Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Fuck celebrities.

36 What political issue stirred you the most?
The economy…it terrifies me.

37 Who did you miss?
All the friends I’ve made along the way who I never see or hardly see.
Katie…her not being here is really hard sometimes.

38 Who was the best new person you met?
Stubbs, she was a wonderful surprise.
And Communikate!

39 Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
Sometimes, its too good to be true…and everything happens for a reason, even if that reason isn’t made clear to you yet.

40 Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

“Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No, it won’t all go the way it should
But I know the heart of life is good”

Posted in body image, life, matthew, pets, work | 3 Comments »

I am thankful..
1. to be alive. to be well.
2. for my family. i could be biased but i think my parents and brother are pretty amazing. they aren’t perfect and we each are really good at driving one another crazy but at the end of the day, i am blessed to be related to 3 really wonderful funny smart kind people. my extended family aint so bad either…
3. to be employed. i tasted the fear of losing a job for the first time this year but was incredibly lucky in how quickly i found another one. i know that this isn’t the case for many people in america right now. i love what i do and the people i work with, and i feel blessed i get to do it every day. like any job there are really crummy days i want to hide and cry but the good ones always out weigh the yucky ones.
4. for matt. there’s so much i could say but if you have taught me anything in the time we’ve spent, its that actions speak louder than words. i hope i act thankful for having you because i am, every day.
5. for the furkids. an animal loves you when you are having a bad hair day, in grumpy mood, and can’t do anything right. and i love them right back inspite of their dumpster doggie breath and kitty dingleberries.
6. for my friends, near and far.
7. to run again. its been a bit of an uphill battle (both literally and figuratively) trying to heal my hip bursitis. A long road paved with doctor and chiropractor appointments, x-rays, a cortisone shot, and lots of tiny needles being poked into me by my accupuncturist. i ran my first steep hill the other day for the first time since july 4th. it’s taken a long time but i am FINALLY getting back to where i want to be. and thanks to the hip injury, i discovered spinning!!!
8. that I am learning to think/process before i open my mouth/act. i’m still working on this…but i have seen a lot of improvement since i tried to implement this into my day-to -day thinking.
9. for my “newish” apartment. i moved here early july and i don’t think i have ever loved living anywhere so much.
10. for grand plans, big dreams, and the desire to be a better version of myself.

Tags: lists
Posted in life, matthew, pets, work | 1 Comment »